Lavender Magazine - Minnesota’s GLBT Magazine - Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender News - Minneapolis / Saint Paul
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Dear Ms. Behavior:
I got back in touch with an old friend, Shelly, through Facebook. We took it offline, and recently started hanging out socially. She now is involved with a woman (Joan) who tore through my circle of friends a few years ago. Joan is a woman everyone I know once voted “The Least Likeable […]
Home & Yard Blvd. Section
So, the lackluster housing market made you decide to stay in your less-than-spectacular home. Or maybe you just finally realized why it isn’t selling. A little remodeling is in order.
Now comes the question: Who’s going to do it. The obvious answer: you. Why not? You have the tools. You built a […]
Kudos to Dean
Good for the guy [Jeff Dean, interviewed in “Senator Larry Craig Adopts Local Attorney’s Defense, Lavender, April 11] who fought this, and good for Lavender for publicizing it! The whole story makes you wonder what’s going on when the police waste taxpayers’ money using unconstitutional “enforcement” techniques.
Dave Schmalz
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Letters are subject to […]
Home & Yard Blvd. Section
Someone should let Mother Nature know that she really needs to start springing spring. April is a time for sun, showers, and something, not winter storm warnings. I’ve been sitting at home in a dusty, dank apartment, eating popcorn and watching Bravo, dreaming of being able to put away my thermal […]
Home & Yard Blvd. Section
The truth is, I haven’t got the kind of cash it takes to stay green these days. I’m not in the market for a new Prius, and I look horrible when lit by florescent lighting, no matter how ecofriendly. I’d love to buy a slew of those canvas shopping bags, but […]
Home & Yard Blvd. Section
According to one global warming Web site, the United States contains only 4 percent of the world’s population, yet creates 22 percent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions. Although industries probably account for much of those total emissions, and are responsible for more than half of our water pollution, individual consumers […]
Community health is often the starting point—and the catalyst of renewal—for community organizing that positively transforms society. Think of the often-interrelated efforts to address HIV/AIDS, environmental racism, or massive disparities in access to health care. For many transgender and gender-variant people, engagement with health-care institutions and professionals is central to physiological health and, indeed, to […]
National News
Schwarzenegger Against Gay Marriage Ban
California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger said he would oppose a state ballot initiative to ban same-sex marriage, The Sacramento Bee reported. Speaking to a gathering of gay Republicans in San Diego, Schwarzenegger called the initiative to amend the California Constitution “a total waste of time,” according to the newspaper, citing an […]
At times, it seems a gargantuan task to get GLBT folks politically motivated, when our priorities seem to be gay men dancing in their underwear at circuit parties or lesbians convening in Palm Springs for the Dinah Shore classic. For many, the allure of “tighty whiteys” or the libations of the 19th hole far outweigh […]
For more than two decades, the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) has served as the queer community’s watchdog against biased portrayals of GLBT people in the media.
In 1985, the New York GLBT community, which was embroiled in a debate about closure of the city’s bathhouses, grew increasingly alarmed about sensationalistic AIDS coverage in […]
John Kander and Fred Ebb’s Cabaret looms as an emblematic work on queerness and the specter of fascism. The classic 1972 film is said to have been bolder in its queer representations than the original 1966 Broadway production. But, since ’72, the queerness has been fleshed out more deliberately in most major stage productions. Sam […]
Have You Seen steve Steven?
Through May 4
Red Eye Theater
15 W. 14th St., Mpls.
(612) 870-0309
www.redeyetheater.org
In recent years, the innovative Red Eye Collaboration has been the place for new work by young women playwrights: Trista Baldwin, Anne Washburn, Sheila Callaghan—and now, Ann Marie Healy’s Have You Seen Steve Steven?. Its absurdist satirical edge suits Red Eye’s signature […]
Attack of the Theater People
Marc Acito
Broadway Books
$12.95
“Now fly, little bird, and be free!” A lovely admonition, except that in this case, the admonished, Edward Zanni, is being pushed not so gently from his class for having “hands too jazz for Julliard.” Edward first appeared in Marc Acito’s How I Paid for College, which detailed how […]
The 12th annual Leather Leadership Conference, April 11-13 in San Francisco, included three major keynote speeches.
(Top to bottom) Race Bannon, Michael Thorn, Patrick Califia. Photos by Steve Lenius
Friday night’s opening keynote speaker was noted leather author and publisher Race Bannon, who discussed recent trends in the leather/BDSM/fetish community, including:
• The prevalence of the Internet as […]
The late August Wilson’s 10-play The Pittsburgh Cycle is a milestone of both American and world drama. Gem of the Ocean, chronologically the first of the cycle, currently is a joint Guthrie-Penumbra production on the Guthrie’s new McGuire Proscenium Stage.
The Pittsburgh Cycle tracks 10 consecutive decades of African-American life and culture, from the 1900s Gem […]
Since 1986, the Minnesota AIDS Trek has been a major supporter of HIV/AIDS organizations, growing larger each year as more and more people join to help fight for those affected by the disease. The event, an annual two-day, 160-mile bicycle ride from Minneapolis to Duluth, takes place September 6-7.
Representatives of Minnesota AIDS Trek beneficiaries:(from left) […]
Istanbul: Just saying it, your lips form a smile. And that’s as it should be—for, what’s not to love (OK, the traffic) about this magic city? In my book, it’s the most romantic destination in the world. The very name conjures visions of sultans’ palaces, exotic bazaars, domed mosques with slender minarets that pierce the […]
Horoscope for Apr. 25-May 11 Plant a bevy of May flowers, and expect some budding surprises over the next four weeks. That’s because Mercury retrogrades, and sparks an imaginative jaunt with Neptune. Don’t ask, “May I?” Just forge ahead, and bloom.
ARIES (MARCH 21-APRIL 20)
Your thoughts and speech cannot be reined, although you may try to […]
Originally called the Adult Only Superstore, Midwest Triple X is an entirely new establishment owned by James Simmons and Mike Braddock, who had been employed at the previous incarnation.
Simmons explains, “Our background is as auto mechanics and debt collectors and customer service reps. We didn’t have this huge massive bank account, but we knew we […]
First National Bank of the Lakes Announces Promotions
Small and locally owned, First National Bank of the Lakes has five locations throughout the west metro. The institution prides itself on a long tradition of customer care, with the ability to bring personalized service to each client.
First National recently announced the promotion of two employees: Justin Hendrickson […]
Two news stories printed back to back caught my eye the other day.
One was about Edna Parker of Shelbyville, Indiana, recognized by the Guinness World Records as the oldest known person, who turned 115 this past week.
The next was about an unfortunate accident in which a Chicago toddler, strapped into his stroller, was blown into […]
April 25—when this issue of Lavender is published—marks the 30th anniversary of one of the darkest days in local GLBT history. On this date in 1978, St. Paul voters by a two-to-one margin in a ballot initiative, repealed the city’s gay-rights ordinance, which had been enacted by the City Council in 1974.
This defeat for our […]
Practicing religion leads to imprisonment. So does sodomy. Church and homosexuality go hand-in-handcuffed-hand. That was my reality growing up through the collapse of the Soviet Union. Much has changed since mid-1980s, and the world is objectively quite different now. However, in a bizarre twist of fate, some things remained the same.
As an activist in America […]
“I Want Your Sex” Is Back!
George Michael
The man who is as famous for his public restroom scandal as for his musical hits is coming to the Twin Cities. George Michael’s first North American tour in 17 years will be stopping at the Xcel Center in St. Paul on July 7. The 25 LIVE tour, which […]
Home & Yard Blvd. Section
Photo Courtesy of Sterling Cross Communications
Interior Design Meets Technology
Today’s interior designers are working with technology systems contractors like never before. No longer does the appearance of speakers have to interfere with the interior designer’s requirement for an “invisible” sound system.
Today, manufacturers like Polk Audio pre-generate products that rival and even outperform […]
Home & Yard Blvd. Section
So, the lackluster housing market made you decide to stay in your less-than-spectacular home. Or maybe you just finally realized why it isn’t selling. A little remodeling is in order.
Now comes the question: Who’s going to do it. The obvious answer: you. Why not? You have the tools. You built a […]
The Midwest may be late in getting the hottest and newest trends, but the GLBT community is only fashionably late, and we know how to work our entrance—no matter if it’s Prada or a new imported Italian leather couch.
Photo Courtesy of Sterling Cross Communications
Estimates by Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies are that US homeowners […]
Home & Yard Blvd. Section
“I’m a scientist and an artist at the same time. I create new things.” That’s how Robert Quene describes his eight-year-long tenure as a horticulturist at Orchids, Limited, a specialty store with an international customer base. The balance between science and art also applies to his hobby—which, naturally enough, is gardening.
Photo […]
As I left the amusing folly of Seventh and Hennepin in Minneapolis, walking through the glass revolving doors of r.Norman’s: The Steakhouse (and its Seven Sushi Ultralounge), I immediately was struck by nostalgic thoughts of Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Joey Bishop. As I was shown to my table, I smiled at the black-and-white photos […]
The Twin Cities rivals Chicago as the Midwest’s cultural Mecca, which our great arts institutions have been pivotal in fostering. They bring scope and breadth to human experience, creating tolerance and understanding that pave way to insight. Their populist nature means a broad swath is exposed to various art forms—not just through performances and exhibits, […]
The Stone Gods
by Jeanette Winterson
Harcourt
224 pages
$24 hardcover
Not too many fictional years from now, the planet Orbus has been devastated by a global war and is on the edge of environmental meltdown. The hope for humanity is just-discovered Planet Blue, where—if the dinosaurs could only be wiped out—humankind might resettle. That’s the core of Winterson’s post-apocalyptic […]
If you haven’t been to Baltimore in a while, you owe yourself a visit. This friendly, unassuming city has experienced a virtual rebirth over the past 15 years, rehabilitating its handsome Inner Harbor by converting dilapidated piers and wharves into museums, shops, restaurants, hotels, and condominiums.
Often featured in the movies of camp filmmaker and native […]
Sure, the Internet has made shopping for sex easier than ever. But that doesn’t mean that all’s well on the Web. Recalls one often-horny fellow, “I met this guy online who seemed really, really sweet, and I invited him to my place. It was only after he left that I discovered he’d stolen a bunch […]
Across
1 Key West storm prelude
5 Go lickety-split
10 La ___ aux Folles
14 Diva’s piece
15 Score for Billy Bean
16 Cumming on The L Word
17 Actor Adams
18 Train that comes quickly
19 Diana of The Avengers
20 Proposing marriage in Massachusetts?
23 Parts of hard heads
24 “A Couple of Guys” panels
28 When queening usually occurs
31 Lip-smacking
32 Cut it
35 Did Rex Reed’s […]
Today, we’re going to discuss one-night stands. Let me preface my remarks by making clear that what I’m about to tell you is not a moral indictment. Rather, it is a bit of wisdom earned from some very long nights spent with some very sad strangers.
That said, here’s my first piece of advice: Avoid one-night […]
The United States is increasingly becoming a nation of very rude people.For example, whatever happened to basic manners, such as removing one’s hat, if indoors, before randomly firing an assault weapon?
Now, I’ve never thought of myself as an inconsiderate person. So, you can imagine my surprise when a woman recently made it quite clear that […]
Like many a fabulous gay youth of the late 1980s, I, too, could be found on any given Friday night belting out pop hits on skates at the local roller rink. Deborah Gibson’s “Shake Your Love” and “Only in My Dreams” were two particular favorites. So, it was indeed a surreal treat when I had […]