Yuletide Gay & Winter Solstice

It’s always a mental relief when the Winter Solstice arrives marking the shortest day of the year & also the longest night. Winter Solstice is also known as Yule. We love celebrating our Yuletide Gay. A little history about solstice as witches & warlocks celebrate this date as the birth of the Sun God since from this point forward the days get longer. Wiccan celebrations include Yule logs, Yule trees & Mistletoe which all sounds a lot like our traditional Christmas celebrations. The Winter Solstice is also celebrated by druids & pagans as the ‘re-birth’ of the sun for the New Year. In the UK thousands gather each year to mark the occasion at Stonehenge in Somerset. At the North Pole the sun actually never rises on this day. There are many customs associated with the Winter Solstice that derive from stories of a mighty battle between the dark & the light which is won of course by the light, even the Christian faith of a savior (the Sun-Child) being born to a virgin mother. Then there’s Albert Camus the French Nobel Prize winning author, journalist & philosopher famous Winter Solstice quote “In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer.” However our LGBT community celebrates the shortest day & longest night, whether alone or with family & friends in the northern hemisphere just remember that the southern hemisphere is basking in sunshine & enjoying the first day of summer.
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Elliot Tiber Speaks OUT (AUDIO)

Writer/producer Elliot Tiber talks about his third volume of memoirs entitled “After Woodstock.” The book completes his trilogy following the critically acclaimed “Palm Trees on the Hudson” & his breakout bestseller “Taking Woodstock” co-written with Tom Monte & made into a feature film by director Ang Lee. During the summer of ’69 Tiber helped start the gay liberation movement & saved the Woodstock Festival from cancellation. This must-read book & perfect XMAS present begins as Elliot heads to Hollywood to fulfill his dreams in the movie industry driving his recently purchased Cadillac with a duffle bag filled with $50,000 in cash all acquired from his Woodstock Festival windfall. Hollywood doesn’t quite turn out as he expected but the adventure continues. Along the way Tiber meets the love of his life Belgian playwright & director André Ernotte. Over the course of their 27 year relationship, Tiber realizes his potential as a humorist & writer & finds a way to cope with his difficult mother whose second wedding in the hills of Israel gives new meaning to the Wailing Wall. The relationship is tested by the AIDS crisis & a string of professional disappointments but ultimately endures the test of time. We talked to Tiber about the inspiration for his new memoir & his spin on our LGBT issues. Tiber stated, “It’s amazing to me there is such a movement & such an organization that’s worldwide because when I was coming out there were no groups, there was nobody to talk to. There were no companions, no people you could come out & say ‘Hey I’m gay & you’re gay let’s be friends’, no such thing. So seeing this develop into a movement it’s very inspiring to me and hopeful to me. I’m 80 years old now, it’s a little late for me & I’m in forced celibacy now at 80. I feel good that the new generation have a model someplace to look to find some answers & carry on with their own lives & hopefully these people go the next step further. I don’t know what that would be at the moment but the next step further so that we’re all equal which we should be.” Elliot Tiber has written & produced numerous award winning plays, musical comedies, television shows & films. Currently Tiber is a highly sought-after lecturer & hopes he can inspire new LGBT generations with his latest memoir “After Woodstock: The True Story of a Belgian Movie, an Israeli Wedding & a Manhattan Breakdown” published by Square One Publishers & available on Amazon.
For Info: squareonepublishers.com
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LGBT Creating Change Conference

The National LGBTQ Task Force has announced the award recipients for the 28th annual Creating Change Conference which is the nation’s largest LGBTQ advocacy conference that takes place January 20th to 24th at the Downtown Chicago Hilton. Russell Roybal, National LGBTQ Task Force Deputy Executive Director stated, “We are proud to announce our 2016 Creating Change award recipients all of whom have made significant contributions to advance basic freedoms, rights & protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender & queer people. We’re thrilled to be hosting Creating Change in Chicago which is expected to be the largest gathering to date. We look forward to welcoming, training & reconnecting with over 5,000 LGBTQ advocates & allies in the Windy City!” During the conference, Barbara Smith will be presented with the Susan J. Hyde Award for Longevity in the Movement. Smith, a life-long activist in the LGBTQ, civil rights & women’s rights movements, founded Kitchen Table: Women of Color Press & served two terms as a councilmember of Albany, New York. Marisa Franco, campaign director of the #Not1More campaign, will receive the Leadership on Immigration Award & Katherine Acey, who served as the executive director of GRIOT Circle as well as the Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice, will receive the SAGE Advocacy Award for Excellence in Leadership on Aging Issues. Additional award recipients include Bob Miller, Nick Sakurai, Kasey White & Hilton Worldwide. Creating Change is a unique four-day experience consisting of daylong institutes, dynamic plenary sessions & over 350 skills-building workshops, presentations & trainings. The conference also features networking sessions, film screenings, interfaith services, community caucuses, hospitality suites & special receptions.
For More Info: creatingchange.org
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LGBT Support For Hillary Clinton

As we head into 2016 it’s time for our LGBT community to come out & show their support for democratic presidential candidates. We at OUTTAKE VOICES are supporting Hillary Clinton. Ricky Martin has launched a new group for LGBT supporters of Hillary Clinton as well. Recently Martin released an email asking LGBT voters & their allies to join LGBT for Hillary by donating at least $1 towards her campaign. Martin stated, “Hillary has been a fighter for us for years, from supporting equal workplace legislation to working for equal rights for trans Americans. Now we’re standing with her. Growing up in the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico, I never dreamed that I would one day be a proud, out gay father of two beautiful little boys, in a country where marriage equality was the law of the land. Now, that’s just an average day — that’s what real progress is. Hillary knows this & she’s not going to stop fighting. But in order to protect & build on the progress we’ve made, we need to win this election.” Martin announced his support for Hillary earlier this year in a tweet, in which he called the former Secretary of State ‘a Latina at heart.’ We interviewed Martin on the Red Carpet at the 2011 GLAAD Media Awards in NYC. It’s amazing how far our LGBT community has advanced towards equality in the last 4 years.
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Elle King To Perform At The Dinah

It’s been announced that singer Elle King will be one of the headliners at the Dinah Shore Weekend in Palm Springs, California that runs from March 30th to April 3rd in 2016. King’s dominating the airwaves & ruling the Billboard charts with her hit single “Exs & Ohs” but Elle King’s world domination has only just begun. She just received her first Grammy Nominations in not one but two categories “Best Rock Performance” & “Best Rock Song.” The platinum blonde with the free-spirited personality, loads of rad tattoos & the perfect rebel attitude to go with it has already become a household name. Now the self-described soulful rock & roll artist who plays lots of banjo & a mean guitar is set to conquer the largest lesbian event in the world with a headlining performance at the epic Dinah Shore Weekend in Palm Springs. Elle King is having more than a breakout year. A force to be reckoned with, her sound shook up the music scene with her bluesy pop/rock anthem to ‘badass bitches’ (her words), “Exs & Ohs,” the lead single off of her 2015 debut album “Love Stuff.” “Ex’s & Oh’s” has been Top 10 on the Billboard Digital Songs Chart for the last 10 weeks, #1 on the iTunes Alternative Songs Chart for 13 weeks, #1 on the Billboard Hot Rock Songs chart for 8 weeks & #4 most viral track of 2015 on Spotify. Raised on everyone from AC/DC to Elvis Presley & Dolly Parton, the sexy sassy blonde with that raspy voice a la Janis Joplin, blends blues, country, rock, soul & honky-tonk into a sound that’s uniquely Elle.
For More Info & Tix: thedinah.com
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LGBT Federal Health Report

The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, or HHS recently released the 2015 annual report of the HHS Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, & Transgender or LGBT Issues Coordinating Committee in the “LGBT Health & Well-being: HHS Issues Coordinating Committee 2015 Report” which documents the department’s work over the past year & its commitments for 2016. Kellan Baker, Center for American Progress Senior Fellow stated, “Access to inclusive & quality health care remains at the heart of the fight for LGBT equality. In addition to the Supreme Court’s landmark ruling on marriage equality, 2015 has seen historic advances, such as new nationwide nondiscrimination protections in health care & coverage & data collection initiatives giving LGBT people the opportunity to share information with their health care providers that will help make sure they get the care they need with the respect they deserve. With these & other initiatives, the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services is helping lead the way toward equality for LGBT people & their families, allowing more Americans to live full, authentic & healthy lives.” The report documents major steps HHS has taken over the past year including establishing explicit nondiscrimination protections in health care, combatting conversion therapy & enhancing data collection efforts. It also outlines several important steps the department will take in the coming year to build on this progress, from updates to the Medicare & Medicaid Conditions of Participation for hospitals to improving LGBT-inclusive data collection in surveys, administrative forms, and electronic health records. The report release came amid the National LGBT Week of Action for Enrollment, a collaborative effort between HHS, the White House, Out2Enroll & LGBT organizations to promote access to quality, affordable health insurance coverage for our LGBT community.
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LGBT Stories Go Mainstream

In movies “Carol” leads the list of Golden Globes nominations including Best Picture after winning the New York Film Critics Circle for Best Screenplay & the New York Film Critics Circle for Best Film marking just the beginning for our LGBT stories finally making it to mainstream media. “Carol” is Phyllis Nagy's screenplay about two lesbians falling in love in the 1950s which earned nods for both of its stars Cate Blanchett & Rooney Mara while Todd Haynes was also nominated for directing after receiving the New York Film Critics Circle nod for Best Directing. Then we have “The Danish Girl” about the first ever recipient of male to female sex reassignment surgery earning both its leads Eddie Redmayne & Alicia Vikander Golden Globes nominations for their brilliant performances. In television “Transparent” has been nominated for 3 Golden Globe Awards including Best Television Series - Comedy or Musical, Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series - Comedy or Musical for the second year for Jeffrey Tambor & Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television for Judith Light. The show as you know has rocketed Amazon TV on the television credibility map with one of the biggest civil rights themes in modern-day America addressing the rights of a transgender person. In this exclusive audio byte we talked to fierce LGBT allies & now both this year's Golden Globes nominated actors Judith Light & Jeffrey Tambor at the 2015 GLAAD Media Awards about their hit Amazon series “Transparent”. Light & Tambor both talked about the importance of using their celebrity to make change for LGBT & gender equality stating, “What is most important is that lives are being saved."  
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