Erie Gay News

For quite a few years, Erie Gay News has listed birthdays for our friends and supporters on the left sidebar at the Erie Gay News web site. We believe that it is important to recognize people on their special day as a way of emphasizing that we are a friendly and caring community. We having expanded this by also posting birthdays for the current day to both our Twitter account (http://www.twitter.com/ErieGayNews) as well as the Erie Gay News group on Facebook. Please feel free to add your birthday here!

Author: Michael Mahler

The car won’t start. The bicycle has a flat tire. Your neighbor left for work 20 minutes ago.  The bus line is 14blocks away. The number for the cab company has been busy forever. Your pulse quickens, sweat beads on your forehead, you furrow your brow, and you realize you may have to….WALK! Loosen your tie and put on those sneakers and “Walk Like a Man”. It’s going to be different today!

Author: Ron Blake

Win The Road Home, by award-winning author Michael Thomas Ford. Erie Gay News is giving away 5 copies! To enter the contest, fill out the form here from July 16 though August 6.

NEW YORK, July 14, 2010 – As jury selection for the murder trial of Lawrence “Larry” King’s attacker, Brandon McInerney, is began on July 14 in Ventura County, Calif., GLSEN is deeply saddened by the loss of two young lives to homophobia.

WASHINGTON, July 15 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A coalition of organizations and leaders from the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT), immigrants' rights, civil rights and faith communities issued the following statement today as members of Congress gathered on Capitol Hill to call for passage of immigration reform legislation that ends discrimination against LGBT binational families:

WASHINGTON, July 15 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A coalition of Congressional leaders joined Immigration Equality and advocates for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) immigrant families on Capitol Hill today to press for passage of an immigration reform measure which would end discrimination against the LGBT community.  Members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, Congressional Progressive Caucus and the Congressional LGBT Equality Caucus all expressed support for a legislative package which includes the Uniting American Families Act (UAFA) and the Reuniting Families Act (RFA).  The UAFA and RFA include provisions to allow LGBT Americans to sponsor their foreign-born partners for residency in the United States.

NEW YORK, July 14, 2010 – GLSEN, the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, will honor the hit ABC show “Modern Family” at the Respect Awards – Los Angeles, Presented by Centropolis Entertainment, on Oct. 8 at the Beverly Hills Hotel. Also being honored are Out & Equal Workplace Advocates and the GLSEN Educator of the Year, presented by Sodexo.

From Gay Rights blog at Change.org, by Michael Jones: Put your Evita soundtrack on this morning, and head on down to the track "A New Argentina." There's a line in that song, "A new Argentina, the chains of the masses untied!" How apt, given that in the middle of the night, Argentina's Senate cast a historic vote breaking the chains of inequality that the country's gays and lesbians have faced when it comes to civil rights under the law. In a 33-27 vote, Argentina now becomes the first Latin American country to fully recognize marriage equality.

Author: Michael A Jones

NEW YORK, July 15 /PRNewswire/ -- Logo announced today that it has acquired the off-cable syndication rights to the groundbreaking dramatic series "Nip/Tuck" in a four-year licensing agreement with Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution.  This deal marks the premiere for the series in syndication.  The agreement includes all 100 episodes spanning the complete seven seasons of the Golden Globe® Award-winning and multiple Emmy® Award-nominated drama.

Last month, Freedom to Marry, the campaign to win marriage equality nationwide, announced our Summer for Marriage tour in response to the "National Organization for Marriage's" anti-gay bus tour through 16 states and the District of Columbia.  The Summer for Marriage tour begins today.  With our local, state, and national partners, we've planned pro-marriage events across the country in July and August. 

Plenty of people have focused on bringing “sexy” back.  But, perhaps it’s time to dig a little deeper.  What about romance?  You know, that desire to be wined, dined, paid attention to, courted, wooed (I like that old-fashioned word).  I hear from a lot of clients in their 20’s and early 30’s that they’re over quick hookups and fast sex. They’ve done it, had fun, but now they want more.  They read about “old” ideas like “courtship” and find it appealing.  Perhaps the days of no impulse control are over.  Is it time to try going slower?  Could there be joy and bliss in slowly getting to know someone?  No sex right away, but yes to kisses and stuff to lead up to it.  It is amazing how many handsome young Gay/Bi/Trans men and women tell me that they don’t want to have sex on the first date.  Perhaps it’s time to bring back romance.

Author: Michael Kimmel

New York, N.Y. and Washington, D.C. - July 13, 2010 - As media trends accelerate towards citizen-journalism and blogger-created news content, a new national survey again validates that gay and lesbian adults online today are among the nation's most loyal and heaviest blog readers and social network users.

Author: Bob Witeck

WASHINGTON – In a critical acknowledgment of the discrimination surrounding HIV/AIDS, the Obama administration today, in its newly released strategy, emphasized the government’s responsibility to enforce nondiscrimination laws and made clear that education about the transmission of HIV is crucial to fighting the stigma that many living with HIV face. The administration’s strategy is aimed at reducing HIV infections, redirecting resources to alleviate health disparities of those infected with HIV and increasing the accessibility and quality of health care.

July 13, 2010—Pittsburgh, PA—The Western Pennsylvania Advocacy Initiative has announced that they have changed the name of the project to Equality Partners of Western Pennsylvania.

Author: Thomas C Waters

It’s the "Season of Love" at the Erie Playhouse as they present the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical Rent August 5-28.  The musical follows a group of young artists who live in New York's East Village during the 1990s. http://www.siteforrent.com/home.php Rent is a passionate story of friendship and love that challenges many tough subjects like AIDS, poverty, homophobia and drug addiction.

NEW YORK, July 13 — A coalition of New York City elected officials and organizations today released a report that documents the hate-motivated violence against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people in Puerto Rico. This report comes out just a week after the most recent transgender victim was found shot to death in Loíza, Puerto Rico. In the past eight months, seven LGBT individuals have been killed on the island.

New York, NY, July 12, 2010-- In a full page ad running in today’s Variety Magazine, the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) the Black AIDS Institute and the National Black Justice Coalition (NBJC) call on the ABC Television Network and its popular morning program The View, to correct misinformation put forth on the June 22 edition of the show.

Win Hit Parade DVD, from Ariztical Entertainment.. To enter the contest, fill out the form here from July 13 through August 3.

New York, NY, July 8, 2010-  The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) today praised NBC's decision to open the Today Show's "Modern Day Wedding" Contest to same-sex couples. This afternoon, after GLAAD met with NBC executives and shared our community's concerns, the network agreed to the changes.

Win Between Boyfriends, a fun, fresh, sexy beach read by Michael Salvatore. Erie Gay News is giving away 5 copies! To enter the contest, fill out the form here from July 9 though July 30.