San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus

On March 25th & 26th the San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus will present “LUSTER – An American Songbook” featuring special guest star Ann Hampton Callaway & the world premiere of Tyler’s Suite. Tyler’s Suite is a choral song-cycle that pays tribute to Tyler Clementi the 18-year-old Rutgers University student who took his life 3 years ago after being bullied that brought national attention to the bullying epidemic against LGBT teens. The suite features brand new pieces by 8 of America’s most celebrated composers including Stephen Schwartz, John Corigliano, John Bucchino, Nolan Gasser, Lance Horne, Ann Hampton Callaway, Craig Carnelia & Jake Heggie, with lyrics by Pamela Stewart. Ann Hampton Callaway stated, "There won’t be a dry eye in the house on March 25-26 at Davies Hall in San Francisco, when I join Tim Seelig & The San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus to perform the world premiere of ‘Tyler’s Suite,’ a work that honors the young violinist, Tyler Clementi, who took his life after being bullied online for being gay. It's going to be historic!" The concert will also include a celebration of 20th Century American music. LUSTER will feature the 300 men of the chorus & Callaway singing timeless classics from George Gershwin, Cole Porter, Duke Ellington & Irving Berlin. Tyler’s Suite will be presented in the second act. The evening is presented in collaboration with the Tyler Clementi Foundation & features San Francisco violinist Kevin Rogers.
LISTEN To Ann Hampton Callaway Talk About Tyler’s Suite  
For More Info & Tix: sfgmc.org 
Listen: Ann Hampton Callaway Full Interview
Listen: Pam Grier Is Dining OUT to Fight HIV/AIDS

Hear Audio Interviews w/ LGBT Leaders @OUTTAKE VOICES™
OUTTAKE VOICES™ NOW ON HUFF POST...:)
SUPPORT OUTTAKE™ @ OUR EQUALITY STORE
View Our Historic Short Trailer on Gay Marriage

HOME

Lambda Literary Award Finalists

The LGBT 26th Annual Lambda Literary Awards or the "Lammys," as they are affectionately known were announced by the Lambda Literary Foundation (LLF) in Los Angeles after reviewing a record 746 submissions which is up from 687 last year & from 352 publishers which is up from 332 last year. Submissions came from major mainstream publishers & from academic presses, from both long-established & new LGBT publishers as well as from emerging publish-on-demand technologies. Tony Valenzuela LLF Executive Director stated, "Today is a day to celebrate the richness of our literature & to give hearty congratulations to our outstanding shortlisted authors & their publishers. The deep commitment to advance our community's literature by our highly qualified volunteer judges who read & deliberate on the submitted books - & often anguish over the selection of finalists - make the Lammys possible." S. Chris Shirley LLF Board President added, "This is our fifth straight year of record-breaking Lambda Literary Award submissions. We're especially excited to add an LGBT Graphic Novel category to accommodate their explosive growth over the past few years & to recognize the extraordinary talent behind them." Now in their 26th years the Lambda Literary Awards celebrate achievement in lesbian, gay, bisexual & transgender writing for books published in 2013. Winners will be announced during a ceremony on Monday evening, June 2, 2014 at The Great Hall at Cooper Union, 7 East 7th Street in NYC. Details on the annual after-party location are forthcoming. Congrats to Richard Bowes For Dust Devil on a Quiet Street...:)
Listen To Richard Bowes OUTTAKE VOICES™ Interview
For More Info & Tix: lambdaliterary.org 
Listen: Pam Grier Is Dining OUT to Fight HIV/AIDS

Hear Audio Interviews w/ LGBT Leaders @OUTTAKE VOICES™
OUTTAKE VOICES™ NOW ON HUFF POST...:)
SUPPORT OUTTAKE™ @ OUR EQUALITY STORE
View Our Historic Short Trailer on Gay Marriage

HOME

Gay Military File Amicus Brief

Out Serve Service Members Legal Defense Network (OutServe-SLDN) & the American Military Partner Association (AMPA) jointly filed a friend of the court brief (Amicus Brief) with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit on Monday. This is in support of the cases of Kitchen v. Herbert that was decided by a federal district court in Utah & Bishop v. Smith that was decided by a federal district court in Oklahoma, arguing that the uneven patchwork of states providing marriage equality harms military families, undermines national security, complicates the payment of earned veterans benefits & harms veterans. The brief filed by the law firm of Chadbourne & Parke urges the Court to end the discrimination caused by the lack of marriage equality by recognizing a constitutional right for people of the same gender to marry with the same terms as opposite sex couples. Jeffrey Mueller, Co-Chairman of the Board for OutServe-SLDN stated, "Our families are no different than any other families in the Department of Defense & Veteran Affairs & they deserve to be treated the same. The extra burden of marriage inequality is affecting military readiness & ultimately affects our national defense. Moving with the military is hard enough, but the added stress of moving to a state that will not recognize your marriage impacts their ability to do their job & just isn't right. All military families should be treated the same no matter where they serve our great country."
Listen: Pam Grier Is Dining OUT to Fight HIV/AIDS

Hear Audio Interviews w/ LGBT Leaders @OUTTAKE VOICES™
OUTTAKE VOICES™ NOW ON HUFF POST...:)
SUPPORT OUTTAKE™ @ OUR EQUALITY STORE
View Our Historic Short Trailer on Gay Marriage

HOME

Gay Mainstreams The Oscars

Besides “Dallas Buyers Club” there weren’t too many big wins for gay issues at the 86th Academy Awards. The highlight was Jared Leto who won Best Supporting Actor for his transgender role in “Dallas Buyers Club” who did make a reference to our LGBT community in his acceptance speech stating, “To those of you out there who have ever felt injustice because of who you are or who you love, tonight, I stand here in front of the world with you & for you.” Gay icon Ellen Degeneres who hosted the show has matured a lot from the last time she hosted the show in 2006 & for the most part her performance was flawless. She should have refrained from her tasteless joke to Liza Minnelli calling her “one of the most amazing Liza Minnelli impersonators that I have ever seen in my entire life.” Liza was there to take a bow with her siblings at the tribute 75th anniversary of “The Wizard of Oz” with Pink singing “Over the Rainbow” who has a huge gay following. We’re very happy with iconic gay producers Craig Zadan & Neil Meron second year producing the Oscars. However John Travolta who starred in their film production of “Hairspray” took center stage & then totally mispronounced Idina Menzel name but the show went on & she sang the Oscar Winning Song “Let It Go” from “Frozen” beautifully. Another highlight was gay favorite Bette Midler's performance for the In Memoriam segment singing "Wind Beneath My Wings” brought the house to their feet. Overall it was a fabulous show.
Congrats to All The Winners…
Listen: Antigone Rising Rocks For LGBT Equality

Hear Audio Interviews w/ LGBT Leaders @OUTTAKE VOICES™
OUTTAKE VOICES™ NOW ON HUFF POST...:)
SUPPORT OUTTAKE™ @ OUR EQUALITY STORE
View Our Historic Short Trailer on Gay Marriage

HOME

Anti Gay Bill In Mississippi

Even though Governor Jan Brewer vetoed Arizona’s anti gay bill SB1062 we still have more states that are trying to pass similar homophobic legislation especially in the South. In Mississippi Senate Bill 2681 which would give any business or individual a license to discriminate against lesbian, gay bisexual, or transgender people is moving through the Mississippi House of Representatives. Lance Bass stated, “This bill doesn't represent the Mississippi I knew growing up. It doesn't represent the folks I went to church with every Sunday with my parents & my sister. And it certainly doesn't reflect the Golden Rule I learned about sitting in those pews – a simple moral code that says we should treat others the way we would want to be treated ourselves. My sweet Southern mother has been a churchgoing woman her whole life & for a long time I was afraid to come out to her. But recently she made me so proud when she wrote a letter to our church in support of me & other LGBT people like me. ‘Seven years ago, we found out that Lance was gay,’ she wrote. ‘I will tell you that the first thing I did was fall to my knees and ask, 'What would Jesus do?' I almost immediately knew the answer: love my son.’ HCR is asking us to sign a petition against this bill.
For More Info: hrc.org 
Listen: Antigone Rising Rocks For LGBT Equality

Hear Audio Interviews w/ LGBT Leaders @OUTTAKE VOICES™
OUTTAKE VOICES™ NOW ON HUFF POST...:)
SUPPORT OUTTAKE™ @ OUR EQUALITY STORE
View Our Historic Short Trailer on Gay Marriage

HOME

Carole Pope Rocks Toronto

Gay pop icon Carole Pope who pushes the boundaries of sexuality, sexual politics & the status quo, making you think & dance at the same time, is appearing live in Toronto, Canada. Catch her unplugged & uncensored Friday Feb 28th at The Flying Beaver Pubaret accompanied by storied guitarist Tim Welch at 9P. Carole stated, “Excited to be back in Toronto for a show at The Flying Beaver with Tim Welch. So fun to be all loose cannon crazy with him.” Pope’s music has provided LGBT anthems for our community on The L Word, General Idea Art Aids & the fin de siecle, The Trailer Park Boys Movie, Queer As Folk, This Revolution, Miami Vice, Cruising & numerous TV shows. Her work has earned her three Canadian Juno Awards, multiple independent music awards & a Genie Award. She's also been awarded 4 gold, 1 platinum & 1 double platinum album. Her new album, "Landfall" featuring a duet with Rufus Wainwright was written with Hawksley Workman. When asked how that duet came together Pope stated, “I’ve known Rufus for a few years & I’ve always wanted to sing with him. I asked him & his manager called & said that Rufus has an hour on a certain day so we had the song ready so we totally got it together. So we went into the studio & banged it out in an hour. It was pretty amazing. He was great to work with.” More good news, Pope's autobiography, "Anti Diva" published by Random House has been optioned & a film is in development. The Flying Beaver Pubaret is at 488 Parliament Street Toronto, Ontario.
For Info & Tix: eventbee.com
Listen: Carole Pope Talks About "Landfall" & LGBT Issues

Hear Audio Interviews w/ LGBT Leaders @OUTTAKE VOICES™
OUTTAKE VOICES™ NOW ON HUFF POST...:)
SUPPORT OUTTAKE™ @ OUR EQUALITY STORE
View Our Historic Short Trailer on Gay Marriage

HOME

 

Another Reason To Pass ENDA

According to a new report released by the Center for American Progress more than a million LGBT veterans would benefit from civilian workplace protections that ENDA (Employment Non-Discrimination Act) would provide. The report shows why civilian workplace protections are especially important to LGBT service members & veterans who must shoulder the burden of LGBT discrimination in addition to overcoming challenges to employment that veterans face when they return home from war. Winnie Stachelberg, Executive Vice Present for External Affairs at the Center for American Progress stated, “The repeal of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ meant that the brave men & women who volunteer to defend this country no longer have to hide who they love in order to serve the country they love. Unfortunately, the minute a service member & hangs up the uniform, his sexual orientation once again becomes grounds for discrimination, as a majority of states do not have laws prohibiting discrimination against LGBT Americans. It’s unacceptable that we send men & women overseas to defend our values, such as equality, only to deny them these basic freedoms as soon as they return home.” The report highlights some federal government actions to combat service member & veteran unemployment & ways in which these actions fall short for LGBT people. Subsequently, the report reviews the barriers to economic stability experienced by some LGBT workers in the general population & identifies additional challenges facing LGBT service members & veterans specifically. Read Report… 
Listen: Antigone Rising Rocks For LGBT Equality

Hear Audio Interviews w/ LGBT Leaders @OUTTAKE VOICES™
OUTTAKE VOICES™ NOW ON HUFF POST...:)
SUPPORT OUTTAKE™ @ OUR EQUALITY STORE
View Our Historic Short Trailer on Gay Marriage

HOME