Lavender Magazine - Minnesota’s GLBT Magazine - Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender News - Minneapolis / Saint Paul
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In April, DFLer Al Oertwig left the St. Paul Board of Education after nearly 20 years of service. First elected to the Board in 1983, he advocated adequate school funding, along with regional and national coalition-building. Oertwig came out as gay publicly in 1990. He lost his 1991 re-election bid, but made a triumphant return […]
The Life of Reilly is not only one of the most marvelous success stories of a gay man set to film, it belongs in the Hall of Fame of ‘Great Films About The Theater’. Alongside All About Eve, The Dresser, and All That Jazz. Measuring right up there, The Life of Reilly is a bloomin’ […]
Everyone at Whelihan Fine Art was very impressed with the quality of entries for the Summer Dreams Photo Submissions Contest.
And the winner by popular vote is… Jody Herold, for the photography of Jennie Smittkamp.
Congratulations, Jody! Anthony Whelihan will incorporate your winning photo into the cover art of the 2008 Lavender Pride Edition, to be released […]
With the musical Wicked, a takeoff on The Wizard of Oz, we knew we were not in Kansas anymore. But with Avenue Q, the musical that upset Wicked for the 2004 Best Musical Tony, we’re certainly not on Sesame Street, either.
Photo by Carol Rosegg
Writer Jeff Whitty, along with composer-lyricists Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx, not […]
The temptation to round once more on the Senator from Idaho is nigh onto irresistible. Now, a cadre of eight more individuals voluntarily have added themselves to Larry Craig’s lengthening list. One of them is Reverend Ted Haggard’s nemesis, Mike Jones, who pops in and out of A-list boudoirs faster than a cuckold in a […]
The Williams Institute at the University of California Los Angeles School of Law is one of our community’s most important think tanks, producing high-quality studies on sexual orientation and public policy.
The Institute’s latest study, Geographic Trends among Same-Sex Couples in the U.S. Census and the American Community Survey, points to significant increases in the number […]
Ah, another Monday morning. Rise and shine. Make some coffee. Go to work. Oops, forgot to brush the cat’s teeth!
Here, many of you are probably thinking, “Brush the cat’s teeth? What the heck does that mean?” (Those of you under 20, however, are most likely thinking, “Go to work? What the heck does that mean?”)
Anyway, […]
For the first two installments of this Dateland Mystery, go to www.jenniferparello.com.
I’m not certain why Lucy asked me out, because everything I did seemed to irritate her. The only reason I decided to go out with her was that I enjoyed irritating her.
On our first date, she ordered me to pick her up at her […]
Dear Ms. Behavior:
My girlfriend, Molly, and I are breaking up, but still living together (in separate bedrooms) until our lease is up next month. We’ve tried to break up six previous times. She usually dumps me until she feels lonely, and wants me back.
This time, the breakup was my idea, and it’s having a strange […]
I can think of lots of reasons to visit Portugal—don’t get me started!—but somehow, they all end up involving wine. The premier hotels (wine!); engaging restaurants (wine!); low prices (more wine!); astounding natural beauty (vineyards); and hospitable, beyond-charming people (many of them vintners) combine to make a memorable journey following the Douro (“Golden”) River, as […]
A realtor is many things: an investment analyst, a sales dynamo, and an expert in government deals and how to get them. With all those skills imperative, one easily can forget the biggest requirement of all—to be a great communicator.
Dean Eichaker, who has spent the past 15 years as a realtor in the Twin Cities, […]
The US sports industry is twice as big as the American automobile industry, and 10 times larger than the movie industry. Clearly, size matters.
Ted Rybka.
Those figures come from Ted Rybka, and he should know. Since mid-September, he has served as Director of Sports Media for the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD). For 20 […]
“Don and I live on a three-block street in Edina, and we have a ball,” Paul, a management consultant with a firm in Atlanta, says.
Across the table is Dave, a postal employee, who sits next to his partner, Harry.
“When we were moving into our house,” Dave recalls, “a woman ran out of her house, and […]
Horoscope for Dec 7-20 Keep your thoughts and opinions under wraps this period, lest they take you on a joy ride that is less than joyful. Mercury in mouthy Sagittarius squares volcanic Uranus. You wanna make something of it? Oh, you will!
ARIES (MARCH 21-APRIL 20)
Forget about keeping any secrets secret, when Mercury squares Uranus. No […]
U of M Transgender Commission Spreads the Word
The University of Minnesota Transgender Commission hosted its second annual Open House on November 13 in the President’s Room at Coffman Memorial Union. Attendees enjoyed an evening of socializing and networking. The event included remarks from commission members, and talk on how to get involved in creating change.
Moxie […]
How’s your GLBT political consumer IQ? Take a look at these competitors, and pick which of each pair is the more GLBT-friendly:
Lipton Tea or Celestial Seasonings
Barnes & Noble or Borders
Land’s End or L.L. Bean
Federal Express or UPS
General Mills or Kellogg’s
Chances are, you just made some wild guesses. But if you chose Lipton Tea, Borders, Land’s […]
If you don’t feel like leaving the heat-blasted comfort of your home, cozying up next to a fire with a good book is a wintertime favorite. Although getting out and having some winter fun is necessary to avoid the seasonal blues, some good alone time—or quality time spent with a loved one—can be equally necessary. […]
For more than 50 years, I have endured every conceivable slander, ridicule, condemnation, and insult because, among other things, I happen to be gay. While I have tried in my own simple way to effect some social change in the acceptance of gay men and women in our society, I also have tried to keep […]
During this holiday season, visions of sugarplums were dancing in my head, so I was ecstatic to hear that Larissa LeMay, owner of the fantastic Bellaria Bakery & Chocolatier in St. Louis Park, was able to find time in her busy schedule for an interview.
Passion Fruit Cake. Photos by Hubert Bonnet
Tell us a little bit […]
In the reign of skim milk lattes, fat has become a nutritional villain. And the chemical cocktails found in many convenience foods also are viewed as suicidal. So, back off beef—right? On the other hand, just listen to proponents of the Atkins Diet.
So, what to eat? What’s the true story?
Fact is, beef has changed in […]
The holidays are a time for gathering around a warm, glowing fire, and telling stories—not just holiday stories, but also family stories, stories of times gone by.
So, gather around whatever fire you currently are near, be it a roaring fireplace, or the glow of 56 candles in the dungeon just waiting for a hot-wax scene, […]
“Can anything good come out of Nazareth?—er, Hibbing. Well, Chi Chi LaRue did, and the legendary local-boy-makes-good adult video director, drag diva, and fab DJ has been a worldwide sensation since leaving Minnesota 21 years ago.
Making her third annual holiday appearance at the Bolt Underground on December 22 to spin her unique picks, our homegrown […]
American Masala: 125 New Classics from My Home Kitchen
Suvir Saran with Raquel Pelzel
Photographs by Ben Fink
$35
The very cover looks edible….But don’t linger—manifest the real thing: smells, tastes, and textures, right in your home kitchen.
Author of Indian Home Cooking, Saran takes the title of American Masala from a word meaning both the spices that add zing […]
Sandra Sees Kirk and Sieber in September
The cult following of lesbian entertainer Sandra Bernhard is a rare commodity. Buoyed by her take-no-prisoners, one-woman cabaret and Broadway shows, she enjoys a fan base that will follow her just about anywhere (unless the project is called Hudson Hawk).
Justin Kirk. Photo ©Showtime
Romeo, who is one of those fans, […]
A Christmas Carole Petersen. Photo by Rick SpauldingA Christmas Carole Petersen
Through Dec. 29
The Sound of Music
Through Dec. 30
Ordway Center
345 Washington St., St. Paul
(651) 224-4222
www.ordway.org
One of the gayest Christmas shows ever, Theater Latte Da’s A Christmas Carole Petersen moves to the Ordway’s medium-sized McKnight space this year. It’s yet another indication that Tod Petersen’s affectionate biocomedy […]
Something I was abundantly thankful for at the turkey dinner: This year, an iconoclastic alternative (is it ever!) to the season’s smarmy Christmas crap. For those who prefer naughty to nice, Chanhassen Dinner Theatre saves us from death by sugarplums by introducing a different Joseph to the (nonmanger) scene.
Brendan Bujold as Joseph. Photo by Act […]
A bit more than two years ago, Chastity Brown decided to leave Knoxville, Tennessee, for the bigger city—in this case, Minneapolis. Brown recalls, “My first thought was, ‘Holy shit! I don’t know anyone here, and this is a big city’”
Chastity Brown at the Rainbow Families Masquerade Gala on October 27. Photos by Sophia Hantzes
After a […]
“Gay men have taken to their hearts the music of Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893) because it is perceived— rightly or wrongly— to contain all the longing and despair of homosexual angst in a homophobic world. Although he was one of the great musical thinkers, it is for his melodic lyricism and suffering so audible in […]
Many stories in the media present Islam as the unmovable stone, a religion that cannot be touched or changed. When Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad spoke at Columbia University in September, he remarked that there are no homosexuals in his country. Both shocking and tired, his remarks were met with snickering and groans. We laugh, because […]
The death of author and raconteur Quentin Crisp at the end of the 20th Century represented the passing of one of the last grand queens of a bygone era.
Crisp, originally named Denis Charles Pratt, was born on Christmas Day in 1908 in the London suburb of Sutton, the youngest child of a “middle-class, middle-brow” family. […]
We were in Province -town for a much-needed vacation this year the week after “Family Week.” Not much evidence of the thousands of kids and parents who made the pilgrimage. No broken strollers strewn about like urban detritus. No echoes of children crying. All that was left were the contents of cash registers of local […]
National News
Retired Officers Urge Don’t Ask Repeal
Twenty-eight retired US generals and admirals have released a letter calling for an end to the military’s Don’t Ask, Don’t tell policy. It urged Congress to repeal the law, which allows gay men and lesbians to serve in the military so long as their sexual orientation is kept a […]