Web Site Story

Julie Niesen of Wine Me, Dine Me, Cincinnati posted this on her Facebook, and then I saw it on Neatorama, and I watched it both times and laughed both times, so, I figured, I'd share it.

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

The internet ... to the tune of the worst musical ever, West Side Story.

Democratic Candidate Fundraiser Raided

OK, after the bizarre story of Texas police raiding a Fort Worth gay bar and arresting drunk people, we have another story out of Encinitas, California, a suburb just north of San Diego. At the home of a lesbian couple, Congressional hopeful, Francine Busby, was holding a fundraiser until the cocktail hour was raided by eight sheriff's cruiser... and a helicopter.

Why? Apparently, a noise complaint.

Here's the story from Sign On San Diego:

The party was Friday night in the 1300 block of Rubenstein Avenue, the home of Shari Barman, a Busby supporter.

It ended with Barman, 60, being arrested and jailed on suspicion of battery on a peace officer, and resisting, delaying and obstructing a peace officer.

Pam Morgan, 62, a Rancho Santa Fe resident and one of the guests, also was arrested and taken to the Encinitas Sheriff's Station, where she was cited for resisting, delaying and obstructing a peace officer.

Other partygoers were doused with pepper spray, and seven deputies, a sergeant and a helicopter were dispatched to the neighborhood of expensive homes.

Busby, Barman, guests at the party and a Sheriff's Department spokesman provided varying accounts of what happened.

Busby, 58, a Democrat seeking the 50th Congressional District seat in 2010, said she will meet with Sheriff Department officials today to find out who made what she called a “phony” noise complaint.

The Sheriff's Department received the complaint at 9:33 p.m. from a man who said someone was talking on a loudspeaker and a crowd was cheering, keeping him awake.

From about 8 to 8:30 p.m., Busby said, she used an amplified microphone to talk to guests, whom she described as middle-aged supporters.

During Busby's speech, Barman said in a statement yesterday, a man on the property behind her house shouted “disparaging remarks” about Busby and gay people. Barman lives in the house with her partner, Jane Stratton, 55.

After her talk, Busby said, people chatted.

“It was a quiet home reception, disrupted by a vulgar person shouting obscenities from behind the bushes,” Busby said.

Neighbors on three sides of the house said yesterday there wasn't much noise from the party. One man said he slept through it.

“We didn't hear anything until the sheriff came, with eight patrol cars and a helicopter,” said Natasha Cortina, 43, who said she and her two children were home with the windows open.

Hugh Elliott, 53, who lives closest to the house, said he heard a deputy's radio, then arguing, coughing, crying and finally everyone spilling outside as the smell of pepper spray drifted over his back fence.

There is some indication that there may have been resistance to arresting by the owner of the home, but certainly not enough to justify a helicopter and pepper spray. Especially since the hostess was 62 years old. Seems... excessive?

Coming Up in Queer Cincinnati...

Cincinnati Equinox!!!

I feel awful, I was supposed to email George from Metronation, the mastermind behind the event, but I never did, but I wanted to make sure you heard about it.

Cincinnati Equinox comes out of no where and promises to be one of the highlights of Cincinnati's queer calendar. No, organizers are quick to point out, it has nothing to do with Pride and it certainly does not replace the event. Rather, Equinox promises to be different and special in its own right. When I heard about it, probably at Below Zero Lounge one evening, I was a little taken aback. My thoughts are probably your own: can it be successful? Well, if George's assurances are true, and he's talking that there are literally hundreds (maybe over a thousand at this point) of people bussing in from out of town for a big old gay party at... FOUNTAIN SQUARE.

That's right, folks, the Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce, recently reformed out of the ashes of the Queen City Careers Association, has teamed up with Fountain Square to put on the party of the year this coming weekend! How they did it on July 4th weekend, I'll never know, but you can be sure I'm going.

Here is the event line-up according to the website:

Friday, July 3rd: Welcome Party, 10pm-Close at various local bars

Friday, July 4th: Equinox Festival, 11am-4pm on Foutain Square

Friday, July 4th: Equinox Ball, 10pm-2am, Grand Ballroom of the Millenium Hotel

Friday, July 4th (ish): Afterhours Breakfast, 1:30am-4am, Millenium Hotel

Trust, kids, it's gonna be fun and I will be sure to update you later in the week as soon as I find out the various wonderful things all of the Cincinnati queers have planned. I probably won't be making it to the ball -- it's far too much for this poor queer to attend -- but you can be sure you'll see me out at the bars. *Checks little black book* Who's lucky enough to be my date that evening?

Oh, and after my interview with CityBeat around Pride, I got a lot of questions of how can large queer events really become political and change hearts and minds of Cincinnati and our neighbors. I think the Equinox founders answered it best from their mission statement:

The purpose of the event is to help heal the image of Cincinnati in the National LGBT Community. Although Article XII has been repealed, Cincinnati is still viewed by other cities as homophobic and unwelcoming to the GLBT Community. On any given weekend a large portion of our city's own community leave for the nearby cities of Columbus, Louisville, Dayton, Indianapolis and Lexington.

The Greater Cincinnati Gay Chamber of Commerce believes that by hosting Equinox, we can show the changing climate towards the gay and lesbian community in Cincinnati, therefore improving the attitudes of our own community, as well as, show other cities that times have changed in Cincinnati and we welcome them with open arms, as our city is a great place to shop, play and live.

And don't worry, word is that Cincinnati Guerrilla Queer Bar is very much working with Equinox planners for a huge party that night.

Great Cincinnati GLBTQ Youth Summit

A mainstay of all queers' calendars, the youth summit has now opened up for registration. I'll cover a little more later, but they are also looking for additional help and worshop proposals. Do you think there's a demand for "blogging for queers" workshop? Hrm. Maybe I'll put my two cents in. Check out the website here.

Super Secret Event

Well, for another week. Just put July 17th, 7pm-10pm on your calendar, kids. You'll be doing some good for the world, and having a great time in the process. Promise, promise.

MapHIV.org

A new atlas has popped up on the interweb, an interactive map bring the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the US into easy-to-see and simple graphics for easy comparison. Granted, it takes a little digging to get the detailed information, but it's an excellent exercise in comparisons, especially regionally.

Overall, Ohio tends to fair green, meaning that we tend to have lower overall HIV infection rates (per 100,000 of the population) than some parts of the country. Hamilton County, as well, tends to fair better than either Cleveland or Columbus. The picture above represents one of the higher rates you can find in HamCo -- eclipsed only by our AIDS rates amongst African Americans.

As a whole, the South is drowning in HIV/AIDS, outside of those traditional epicenters of urban America, a fact that shouldn't surprise anyone, but always seems to. A CNN story links the disparity to stigma, lack of testing sites, a decentralized population, lack of HIV-knowledgeable healthcare professionals, and difficulties in education. Georgia tends to do the worst.

Check it out -- MapHIV.org. Worth a few minutes of your time today. It's produced by the National Minority Quality Forum, an organization dedicated to making sure minority populations receive the highest level of service in the US healthcare system.

Avenue Q Closing

I got this from a brief perusal of PerezHilton's website, and I wanted to just make a quick point about using the man as a source before I continue:

I think Mr. Hilton is a silly little man with more readership than good sense. I think he is an attention whore, and I think it's absurd that we would somehow give credence for a celebrity blogger as an actual celebrity. I think he's hateful and mean spirited. But all those things describe most bloggers. More recently, Mr. Hilton decided to take his own hypocrisy to a new level, going to so far as to refer to will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas as a faggot, because, according it him, it was "the worse possible thing that thug would ever want to hear." GLAAD was right in condemning him for his actions, especially because, being open and queer, you'd think it would ring as an absurdity for the man who brought down Carrie Prejean for being against same-sex marriage would then launch into homophobic vitriole for the sole reason that it was hateful. In short, I have little love for Perez Hilton.

That said, he's very good at what he does and there is usually a snippet or two of interesting news on his site, this included from a post yesterday:

After 9 years on Broadway, Avenue Q is closing, PerezHilton.com has learned.

The Tony Award-winning musical will play its last performance on September 13th.

It was a very good run!

Sigh. It was a good run, and I thought I'd share another bit of music from the show that was just recently in Cincinnati to large crowds.

Ha -- I thought it was appropriate :-).

Gay Exorcism Response

In response to this seeming gay exorcism...

The preacher admits that yes, it is a gay exorcism.

And comes off sounding like a crazy, bigoted, blathering idiot. I like the question: "How do you know anything has changed?"

Zack Ford blogs has a great running commentary of the transcript.

Frakkin' A, Cincinnati Enquirer!

Seriously, as if the last round wasn't bad enough with the Chadea Thrasher case -- accused and now convicted and sentenced of sexually touching a patient at University of Cincinnati. Ms. Thrasher is trans, a fact that the Enquirer has delighted in reporting over and over and over again for no apparent reason. Despite the fact that what Thrasher did was very, very wrong, the Enquirer's ongoing inability to cover LGBTQ issues with any level of propriety and dignity is galling.

For example, from the story on the conviction on today's Cincinnati.com:

Two weeks ago when Thrasher was convicted of sexually touching a patient at University Hospital – where Thrasher was a working as a phlebotomist – he was wearing a woman’s wig with long hair, necklace, heels and carrying a purse.

Today, the female impersonator – who lives as a woman and uses the name Chadea Thrasher – was wearing the black-and-white stripes of an inmate. That’s the same outfit Thrasher will have to wear for the next 18 months after Hamilton County Common Pleas Court Judge Robert Ruehlman sent Thrasher to prison for that amount of time.

"Female impersonator?" Oh, is that the term we're using now. As of my posting (noon), there was only one brilliant comment: "Doesn't UC Hospital do background checks of the people that they hire? I am sure they would not have hired a female impersonator, if they had known that in advance!!! Good grief!!!" Be sure to check back and find out just how intelligent anonymous commentators can be on a newspaper site.

First On Screen Man-on-Man Kiss

Check out the story here about the first on-screen man-on-man kiss ever which occurred 10 years ago this month. The video above is the actual event on the TODAY show with Al Roker running over to chat with the young couplem whom he believed to be heterosexual with one of the guys proposing to his girlfriend back in Ohio. It's kind of a cool story.

Police Raid Texas Gay Bar

On the anniversary of Stonewall, police raided a gay bar in Fort Worth Texas, arriving with zip cuffs and paddy wagons, in what they are saying was a routine check of local liquor establishments. Protests were held today. From the Star-Telegram:

Witnesses say that police arrived at the nightclub about 1 a.m. Sunday and arrested seven people and that one of those arrested suffered a fractured skull during the takedown and is at a Fort Worth hospital.

About 75 people showed up Sunday afternoon at the Rainbow Lounge to make signs for the rally. Some of the signs read: "Give us Answers Now" and "We Have Rights Too."

Fort Worth police released a statement saying that the Rainbow Lounge was not the only bar targeted by six Fort Worth police officers and two agents from the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission and a supervisor. The group first went to the Rosedale Saloon and Cowboy Palace on Rosedale Street. Nine people were arrested, police report.

A Facebook group has sprung up to relay information about the raid and the ensuing protests. Witnesses were given the chance to post their first hand experiences. One of the club's dancers reports thusly:

I was one of the dance entertainers last night at Rainbow Lounge. I was dancing on a box in the VIP lounge and was looking right at the first guy who was arrested. The male patron was standing at the bar doing nothing but having a having a drink and a fun time (like people do in bars) when an officer entered that section of the club and made a beeline straight towards him. The officer forcefully spun the man around, shoved him against the bar and placed plastic restraints on his wrists. The officer then marched the man out the club. The guy was stunned and obviously really scared.

I was still standing near the entrance to the VIP lounge with a friend when an officer approached a man standing there. The man had water in his hand. The officer asked him how much he had had to drink and the man said that he didn't have to answer that. The officer then said that he was going to arrest him for public intoxication. The man said,"You can't do that I am just standing here right now drinking water." At the time the officer shoved the man over towards the wall near the dressing room and then back to the rear wall near the men's restroom, then down onto the floor. Several other officers, made their way back there to hold that ONE MAN down on the ground as they placed restraints on him. At the time I noticed that all of them did not have FWPD uniforms on. Some of them were actually State Police.

I came out of my horrified daze at that moment and told my friend that we needed to get out of there quickly. I just felt like everything was about to go crazy. Outside the bar, there were officers standing all over the place. I did a quick scan and counted seven squad cars. I heard one officer telling a young woman who was complaining to him about being harrassed by them that they were only there to protect the citizens of Fort Worth and to keep drunk people from being on the roads.

Whoa, dude. This was a weird choice of days to do this (A) and (B) I thought we were done with this 40 years ago. There may be a plausible explanation, and I'll be very curious to hear what the PD has to say about this over the next few days.

Thanks to Change.org for the story!

STUPID JOKE SATURDAY!

You only get one today:

A man rushed into the doctor's clinic and shouted: Doctor! I'm think I'm shrinking!

The Doctor calmly responded: Now settle down. You'll just have to be a little patient.

HA! But I'm going to give you a whole blog to check out -- WE MAKE YOU LAUGH!

National HIV Testing Day -- Repost

I got tested again about a month ago by my doctor, but today is National HIV Testing Day, and I thought I'd repost my story from 2008 that originally appeared on RainbowCincinnati here.

---

The last year has been rough, and I would be lying if I said I hadn't fucked up a time or two.

But, for the most part (I continue to tell myself), I did ok. However, when someone is naked behind and in front of you, the lines begin to blur on exactly how safe you are being.

I have been truly concerned about the results of an HIV test exactly twice in my life.

The first time was my first test. Fresh into the world of gay.com, this chubby 19 year old found a boy that liked him. He was 38 (ish), I was 19. It made perfect sense when I wanted him to fuck me that we should do so without a condom. HIV happens to other people (A) and (B) he likes me and would look after my interests. All I remember is desperately trying to clean myself out and seeing blood.

Three months later, he called to tell me that he was HIV+. That was the first time I was worried and it opened up a whole new world of learning, growing, and a career path that was unexpected.

Today was the second time I was worried, and I arrived via bus to the STOP AIDS offices promptly at... 8:40am. I got to sit out front, reading a book my father had recommended to me, and greet all of my former coworkers, having to make light of the situation with each new smiling face.

"I'm here to celebrate the day!" It being National HIV Testing Day, the ruse was plausible.

I didn't tell them that I was scared shitless, or that I was there only because a series of signs from the heavens were directing me there. No, no, I was just there doing my good, gay duty.

Having not been tested since March (ish) 2007.

You read that right. I am an HIV Counselor and Advocate and had not been tested in over a year. Let's ignore the lapse in judgment and move on with the story...

I had decided that my desire to be tested would also be mitigated by who was testing me. First, Libby. She and I had talked about it before, she's one my dearest friends in the world, and, if I had to have bad news, I wanted to hear it from her. I wanted a friend in that room. Second, Cheryl. It seems counterintuitive. She is an older, religious, dignified African-American lady. When you consider the game of identities, it's not that unusual because she is exactly the opposite of who I am.

And I always said that she would be the best person to hear that you were positive from because she's so much like a mother. I would guess that she would just swoop me into her arms and make me feel better.

Third, Todd. Todd is amazing at what he does, but none of this was necessarily his business. However, if it were positive, he would have to be called in to guarantee my anonymity. I figured the result would be safest in his hands, and he would treat it with the kind of respect that I would want.

Adam and Brent and the rest of the staff... I love them all, but I didn't want them to test me. Sorry, guys. I don't know any of you as testers, and I was really worried.

Todd drove up first. I called out: "I'm in need of your services!"

He looked flustered and said: "TODAY?"

"It's National HIV Testing Day! I wanted to be your first test of the day!" I know I have a bad habit of popping with random projects. I think it's funny he would not have thought that I would be there for an HIV test. When he realized, he looked visibly relieved that it wasn't another "Crazy Barry Scheme" (which he would buy into because he knows they work).

Libby pulled up immediately after, we worked out the details and Libby was going to test me.

I have been in that room many times, but this was the first time in the cushy chair which is now a big loveseat like monstrosity. I reclined and Libby and I gossiped.

If you've never been tested, I'll clue you in: you get asked a lot of questions. And since places like STOP AIDS have a 20-minute test, you are definitely going to have time to chat. Libby whipped out the list and answered the questions for me. We giggled about some of the answers, made light jokes, but that was because I was worried and I get the impression she was a little worried for me.

But she was being a professional, and I love her for it.

I learned one thing, though: don't look at the test. I was watching her eyes the whole time. I freaked out every time her gaze lingered. Kathryn once suggested you just turn the test around so neither of you can see it. Now that I've sat in the big cushy loveseat at the STOP AIDS office, I understand better why. When my job switches to the 20-minute test, I'll remember that then.

When I called her on her eyes, she said, "Honey, it's working. And I'm not seeing anything." She flipped the test towards me.

For most other people in the world, this would be a terribly unprofessional move. I have seen these tests turn positive. Ten minutes into it, I saw what she was seeing: there was no indication of an HIV infection.

Ten minutes in -- and it's a big secret that the tester can usually tell that soon, if not sooner -- and we knew it would be fine.

I texted my sister immediately after: TWICE I'VE DODGED THE BULLET ON THIS FUCKING TEST.

Her response: AND HOW MANY TIMES ARE YOU PLANNING TO HOLD THE GUN UP TO SEE IF YOU CAN.

OK, OK. I get it. Learned my lesson.

Carry on.

But I'm HIV-negative... today.

---

And today, and today, and today.

My old boss used to liken the penis to a deadly weapon, "except its not the bullets we're worried about -- but it's a shot all the same," she used to say. I thought it was worth a thought this morning.

Stonewall Anniversary

'We are the Stonewall girls
We wear our hair in curls
We wear no underwear
We show our pubic hair...
We wear our dungarees
Above our nelly knees!'

June 28th, 1969, 1:20am

Per Allen Ginsberg:

You know, the guys there were so beautiful—they've lost that wounded look that fags all had 10 years ago

Happy 40th anniversary, queer rights movement.

Oh and someone said it on Twitter the other day: Why do I feel like Stephen Colbert educated more of America on Stonewall the entirety of the American public education system?

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
The Word - Stonewalling
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor Mark Sanford

We're here, we're queer, you'll get to us eventually. Priceless. BTW, did you happen to catch the study where both conservatives and liberals enjoy the Colbert Report because they perceive that he is on their side? Seriously, folks.

And don't forget to check out Wolfie at Back2Stonewall.com's article he reposted that originally appeared in CityBeat, this time unedited. You know, that boy isn't such a bad writer. :-)

Tranny Alert!

This is making the rounds on Twitter -- click here to follow the tweetstream -- and GLAAD will be reaching out to the owners of the website, Tranny-Alert.com, but I was curious to know what you guys thought about the website and the ensuing controversy.

National HIV Testing Day

Don't forget -- it's that time of the year. I'll repost my story tomorrow. Jo Anne over at TheSkeptikOne (ha! I got it right!) has a great run down of where and how to get tested or learn more this weekend. If you are confused, call this number:

513-421-AIDS

(513-421-2437)

It's STOP AIDS' phone number. They'll direct you on how/where/when to get tested.

HIV is still out there; a great way you can be protected, and a great way to protect your partner, is to get tested today. (And don't forget the rubbers, boys and girls -- if you call that number or stop by their office at 220 Findlay, you can get a shitton for free. We used to give out grocery bags full, sometimes.)

Five Guys Burger: A Review

Yesterday, I had the distinct delight of doing lunch with @Kate_The_Great of Kate's Random Musings, whose company is always a welcome diversion in my week. We had another issue to discuss at the time, and we decided on the freshly minted Five Guys Burgers and Fries (website, twitter) that recently opened here in Clifton at 210 Calhoun Street.

I love burgers. I've said it before that, when I dine out, my eyes immediately seek out their cheeseburger because I see it as classic American cuisine and a meal that, I think, is easy to do poorly if ignored and hard to do very, very well. Five Guys does it very, very well. How they managed to maintain their semi-fast food sentiment, their diner look, and still make a delicious and juicy burger... I'll never know. But it's a definite, definite win for the owners, and for the city, I think.

Imagine this, if you will: you've heard about a chain restaurant, everyone raves about it, talks about how wonderful it is, it's lunch time in Clifton in the middle of the week, and the last few restaurants people raved about were disappointments. Sounds like a recipe for disaster, no? Wrong. We walked in -- immediately greeted by an employee who held the door for us, and walked by a sign that informed us just exactly where our potatoes were coming from that day (Driggs, Idaho) -- and were at the counter ordering our meal within three minutes. The menu was simple -- there's not much on it, dogs, burgers, brauts, drinks, and fries is about the whole of it -- so simple, in fact, that the lady who followed us in was confused enough to ask, "Are your burgers any good here? What should I order?" Seriously. You're at a freakin' burger joint.

Got my number, my drink, and waited. I will make a mild complaint that it's hard to hear over the hustle and bustle. To my count, there were no fewer than 15 employees working when we came in, and the crowd walked in shortly after. The cashier is screaming "I need two patties!" every time someone orders a burger, and then there are two guys at the end of the counter yelling your number. I got confused, but I'm sure this will all pass.

We unrolled our burgers. I got the bacon cheeseburger ($5.79) with lettuce, grilled onions, and ketchup, a side of small fries ($1.79, I believe), and a small drink ($1.39). Unfortunately, Five Guys suffers from the Penn Station syndrome: no meal deals, and kind of expensive. My whole meal was just over $10. The price was quickly forgotten. Kate and I considered each other, considered our burgers, and dove in. At first bite, it was love. The beef was exquisitely juicy and flavorful. The cheese was American, a disappointment, but the other add-ons were fresh and delicious. It was not a cheap piece of lettuce stuck on there, it was a nice hunk of iceberg piled on two patties with bacon that carried a touch of spice. The bread was soft and squishable, otherwise you would not have been able to fit my burger in my mouth.

The fries, of which you get a lot for your money, were not terribly impressive. They were fresh and thick and juicy, but I shudder now to believe that I have become so used to -- sigh -- fast food that I may never truly be able to enjoy a real fry. A tad oversalted, I felt like they could have used a touch of something to set them apart. A special spice, perhaps? Maybe just a little pepper? I had just grabbed salt (which I did not add), and I was too engrossed in my burger to go hunting for pepper, and I really didn't think about it.

Regardless, I ate every last one of the potatoes.

The set up is vaguely reminiscent of a 1950s diner. It's decorated in red and white checks. Considering the location of the line and the cashier, I was sure that the place would soon have people pouring out the door. Service was fast and efficient and pleasant, so there was nobody hanging outside waiting to get on the very hot and sticky summer afternoon. The crowd moved right through, and there did not seem to be a lack for seats. The place was full, but no one was left wandering or waiting.

Overall, I'm going back. And soon. Well, once I get paid again. I can't be eating $10+ meals every day. Perhaps just once a week. So much for my waistline.

It's an "A" -- and totally worth the hype.

Oh, and yes, we both picked up the 5chw4r7z habit of taking a picture of our food. LOL. The picture above is from my Twitter (via Twitpic). The bottom two are from Juliet's camera which I still have :-).

Farrah Fawcett Loses Her Battle with Cancer Today

It was just announced that Farrah Fawcett has lost her battle with cancer, she was 62.

She had been diagnosed with anal cancer in 2006. As she underwent treatment, she enlisted the help of actor Ryan O’Neal, who had been her longtime companion and was the father of her son, Redmond, born in 1985.

Her struggle with painful treatments and dispiriting setbacks was recorded in the television documentary “Farrah’s Story.” Fawcett sought cures in Germany as well as the United States, battling the disease with iron determination even as her body weakened.

“Her big message to people is don’t give up, no matter what they say to you, keep fighting,” her friend Alana Stewart said. NBC estimated the May 15, 2009, broadcast drew nearly 9 million viewers.

In the documentary, Fawcett was seen shaving off most of her trademark locks before chemotherapy could claim them. Toward the end, she’s seen huddled in bed, barely responding to a visit from her son.

May she now find peace.

Juliet

Webpages On My Phone

I don't know how other people's phone internet works, but mine isn't that great. If you don't have an "m." address (thank you google, facebook, and twitter), then it doesn't really work at all, and it's hard to read the website.

I've been developing a set of sites that I visit regularly though whilst on the bus that I can actually read, and I thought you might want to check them out as well:

• FMyLife.com -- My coworker showed this one to me and told me that it was a supreme time waster, and boy has it turned out to be. It's a series of little stories about how people's lives just suck sometimes. Every one of them ends with the rejoinder: FML. Such as: "Today, my adorable five and a half year old boy told me that when he grows up he's going to be my boyfriend. I thought it was kinda cute until I asked him why. "Because you need one. FML" I think most of it is written by high schoolers, though.
• Texts From Last Night -- Admit it. You do it, too, drunken text messaging. It's a mess and it's always a bad idea, but you do it and you wake up the next morning thinking, "G-f-d. What the hell was I thinking?" Thankfully, someone put up a website where you can post your silly text messages for all the world to judge such as: "(313): Every time there's an awkward silence a gay baby is born." The numbers at the beginning are the area code it comes from -- and yes, there is a 513 section, as well as selections from 937, 859, and 812.

And now you know two things: this what I'm reading on the bus, and I have the sense of humor of a 12-year-old boy.

Most Dangerous Neighborhood?

Facts? We don't want your stinking facts!

Well sort of.

The Department of Pulling Numbers Out of Our Asses An up until now unknown website known as NeighborhoodScout.com has published a list of the 25 most dangerous neighborhoods in the country. Much to the chagrin of bloggers, OTR residents, city leaders, newsstations, and, well, pretty much anyone living and/or working here... Cincinnati's Over-the-Rhine neighborhood was number one. I sometimes wonder if we should hang a sign over the Brent Spence Bridge saying "Cincinnati: Worst PR Department in the Country, and Damn Proud!"

To clarify, here is the published methodology:

NeighborhoodScout.com collects data from all 17,000 local law enforcement agencies in America, and uses a relational database to aggregate the statistics from each agency to the municipality that they protect. This provides an accurate representation of the total crimes and actual crime rates within any given city or town.

NeighborhoodScout then uses proprietary computer models it develops to statistically estimate incidences of both violent and property crimes for every sub-zip code neighborhood in the U.S based on the aggregate crime data for the municipality containing that neighborhood averaged across the most recent three years of non-preliminary (final) data available from the FBI (2005, 2006, and 2007). This moving three-year window helps stabilize data where a single year could be uncharacteristically high or low, providing a more accurate risk assessment. It is important to note that very recent changes in a neighborhood may not be reflected in our findings, as we use non-preliminary data in our models that take a year to be released.

My thoughts:

1. Who the fuck has ever heard of this organization and why do we suddenly care what they have to say? It's funny, in this world of blogging, I have to wonder about the source. I think it's a fair question. This wasn't a scientific study. It wasn't done by professionals. It sounds like they entered a bunch of date into the computer and said, "Hey look at this!"
2. I have no numbers to back this claim up -- but who needs numbers? -- but, at the ED, I think we see an even amount of gun shots/stab wounds/etc. coming from Clifton, Avondale, Queen City, and OTR... not substantially more in OTR.
3. For those of us who have spent time in OTR -- like Queen City Discovery has -- I call bullshit on the "likelihood of being a victim" numbers. I wonder what a lot of the victims were doing that made them victims? Were they innocents walking down the road, or were they involved in something else? Was your chances of becoming a victim (1 in 4, I might point out) change if you are using drugs, prostituting, or drinking? Not that anyone has the right to victimize another.
4. ...which brings me to my point about Chicago -- whose reputation is not destroyed by their four neighborhoods appearing on the list -- where drive by shootings are so common the newsstations don't even report on them. They are safer there?

In short: the news story is absurd and probably just plain wrong. I have lived, worked, played, and drank in OTR and, outside of one car break in, nothing has happened. Sure, people ask me for money, and a few people offer me drugs or pussy, but truly dangerous? Please. I am proudly one of the 3 out of 4 people who have not been a victim of violent crime... and I would bet that it's probably closer to 99 out of 100 people who have not been a victim.

Oh, and I meant to mention this: there will be anti-violence rally on Washington Park this Saturday. The details, via Impact Cincinnati:

Thanks to Anitra Brockman, Independent candidate for Cincinnati City Council, you will have an opportunity to raise your voice in favor of public safety for everyone. Her slogan is “PRIORITYCincinnati!” and it focuses on her platform: public safety, transportation, economic development and education. In efforts to support public safety and promote a safe city, the Brockman campaign will have a “Stop the Violence” rally this Saturday!

What: “Stop the Violence” rally! There will be a National Anthem performance, several guest speakers, local entertainment and a special memorial to honor the victims of crimes in Cincinnati.

When: Saturday, June 27th from 3-6pm

Where: Washington Park (1230 Elm Street)

RSVP in the events section of the IMPACT Cincinnati group page on facebook!

So, come!

On Mark Sanford

I didn't know the Governor of South Carolina was missing until yesterday morning when we were at the Subway, drinking at 9am, and we were joking that he probably was just off carousing with a lover somewhere. Excepting that we were joking that it would be a male lover... we were dead on.

For those who haven't followed, Governor Mark Sanford of South Carolina went missing, saying that he had to hike part of the Appalachian Trail. Wrong -- the married Governor was, actually, in Argentina with his paramour. On tax payer dollars. My dad's thoughts on the subject: how did he think he was going to get away with it? Well, how does anyone, really?

I voted for Gov. Sanford in 2004 because I liked him. There's been a lot of talk about how the arch-conservative southern governor has been shamed and how great is it for our side that he's gonna be out the door. Seriously, though, I voted for him. Not because he was a great guy, and certainly not because he was on my side. It's an idiosynchricity of southerners that we vote for the guy who's best for the state... the guy we trust... and I did. Sanford was quiet and unassuming, had a level head, seemed pretty smart, and had the right experience to make him a decent governor. He had the light southern drawl and the firm handshake and just a little bit of gumption to challenge the state legislature, at the time gutting the state budget for pork and pet projects.

To protest, once, he walked into the statehouse with two squealing pigs under his arms. It was very Huckabee-esque, the move, except there was no Huckabee then, and it was just something near awesome that Sanford had done.

So I voted for Sanford because he was good for South Carolina. In a lot of ways, I'm disappointed with him, severely and awfully disappointed with him because I believed he was genuine. I believed that he truly believed in this mantra of family values and morality that he campaigned on. Sure, they weren't in agreement with my values, necessarily, but there's something to knowing that the guy leading you actually believes in what he's saying rather than just saying it to get elected. And, in coming out with this awfulness, I am disappointed because I believed in Gov. Sanford. More importantly, I'm disappointed in a way with our (read: us liberal bloggers) quick judgment and death knell pounding of the "big evil southern governor." He wasn't evil, he wasn't a bad man, he was a good governor (though I'm sure someone will prove me wrong), and I think he was probably a decent man.

But we overlook the goodness in him in our rush to tell everyone he's lost every political aspiration he's ever had. And we overlook the fact that he does represent his state, and a lot of people in that state probably feel the same way as I do... disappointed.

The State newspaper today ran emails that allegedly are between Gov. Sanford and the woman, Maria, and I almost feel sorry for the man. The affair confused him, and it scared him. He knew what he was doing. I wonder what his wife thinks of the whole thing, reading those emails.

Sanford, quiet and unassuming governor of South Carolina, is now sad and alone.

Picture from The Washington Post.

Act NOW on Equal Housing and Employment Act!

And in the great state of Ohio, we have news coming out from Equality Ohio on the Equal Housing and Employment Act (EHEA): we are currently being out-called by the opposition at a rate of 2-1. That is, for every pro-EHEA phone call our representatives are getting, they are getting two against it.

For a quick reminder, the EHEA seeks to ban discriminatino in the state based on sexual orientation and gender identity/expression and is being spearheaded via the website, DoWhatsRightOhio.com (a project of Equality Ohio and Progress Ohio). It's a good thing, our little bill, and it's time for you to call and call now. Or email, or stop in, or send a note, or whatever the hell else you want to do ... so long as you get in touch with your representatives.

I know, you're probably thinking, like I do sometimes, that "Well, what good can my phone call do?" Seriously, they have thousands of people they represent, why would it matter if I called? Truly, they listen. If a representative is on the fence, it is often times the outpouring of phone calls they get that make the difference. A person sits at a desk with a little notepad, takes phone calls, and makes hash marks for every phone call, what they wanted, and, sometimes, more detailed information if they feel like the Rep should call you back. At the end of the day, that data is analyzed and presented to the boss man as a way of letting them know just what their constituencies are thinking.

We have to make sure that all the Representatives in the State of Ohio are contacted. To find yours, go here. And, if you are short on words, sometimes, check out TransOhio's post with a suggested wording for an email. All it takes is a little copying and pasting and you're done for the day. Less than five minutes. I promise.

And remember exactly what you are asking: VOTE YES ON H.B. 176, the Equal Housing and Employment Act.

HA -- I made that mistake once and told my SC Rep to vote yes on DOMA. "No! I mean! Vote No!" LOL. The guy on the other line was like, "well, which one is it sir? Do you want gays to marry or do you want to protect the sanctity of marriage?" Guess which way my representative was voting. I snapped back: "Listen to my voice: does it sound like I would be against equality?" Dude hung up. Memories.

National News: Kameny, ENDA, EHDLA

What a fabulous day it was yesterday for LGBTQ equality. Well, sort of, if only we can get the Matthew Shepard Act to move... or only if we could get rid of Don't Ask, Don't Tell... or only if... blah blah blah. You get the point.

• Frank Kameny is no longer unfit for unemployment by the Federal Government. Kameny is, truly, one of the pioneers for queer rights in this country having taken his firing from the Civil Service Commission over 50 years ago and challenging it, loudly, proudly, and without apology. HE would go on to coin the phrase "gay is good" (as a response to the "black is beautiful" movement). Today, the Office of Personnell Management, formerly the CSC, officially honored him. Neat.
• ENDA -- the Employment Non-Discrimination Act -- was introduced in the House of Representatives! Unlike in years past, ENDA is gender inclusive in its language. In 2007, some of you remember, the language was stricken at the suggestion of Barney Frank (D-MA) and the new bill -- only protecting sexual orientation -- was then endorsed by the HRC, which could probably be chalked up as one of the worst PR moves of all time. It passed the House, died in the Senate, and then-President Bush said he would veto it. Hrm. Already, HR 2981 has 10 cosponsors. Also, if you check out the Wikipedia article on ENDA, it has a great timeline that summarizes the history of the bill well (seriously, what was life like before Wikipedia?). In related news, Bil at Bilerico is -- justifiably -- aghast at Indiana Equality's decision not to support ENDA because: "ENDA doesn't make us equal - rather, it creates a new form of segregation. It does not provide protections in housing and public accommodations. There are no protections for LGBT children in the public schools where administrators continue to turn a blind eye to harassment and brutality. With ENDA, we are only marginally protected in the workplace." You know, it's a good point, actually. But, really, we're already pissed about everything else, why be pissed about progress? Of course, that's what I said in 2007 about a non-gender inclusive ENDA. Hrm.
• The Ending Health Disparities for LGBT Americans Act (EHDLA) was introduced by Tammy Baldwin! This bill is a bit of a sleeper and one I didn't even realize was being tossed around. 365gay.com reports the bill will do the following: "In addition to investing in data collection and research, the bill establishes non-discrimination policies for all federal health programs, provides funding for cultural competence training for health care providers, extends Medicare benefits to same-sex domestic partners, creates a new office of LGBT Health within in the Department of Health and Human Services, and provides funding for community health centers who serve the LGBT community." In short: it will start protecting the health interests of LGBTQ Americans. Fabulous. It is HR 3001 and currently has 7 cosponsors.

Isn't this fun, now, kids? Stuff is getting done, and quickly again. Apparently yelling and screaming worked, although I have a suspicion the ongoing drama over LGBTQ individuals pulling out of the DNC fundraiser in protest of inaction had more to do with it. A friend of mine -- was it JereKeys? yea, I believe so -- suggested that the reason going is so slow on a lot of these is because, so long as there is more to do, then the Democrats can continue to dangle the metaphorical carrot of equal rights and raise some serious cash.

They understand, I think, that the Republicans, if all other things were equal, would likely be the party of establishment queers if the GOP was better on our issues.

Rumor Mill Report: Bar Scene's A-Changing

Word on the street is... Golden Lion's Lounge, a mainstay of Cincinnati's queer bar scene for an untold amount of years, has closed two days ago. I have not confirmed this, but the report comes from a local bartender and regular at the bar. It is a bit of a surprise, however, because there always seemed to be someone at the little bar, though it was rarely full. However, their karaoke nights always seemed very popular.

Word on the street is... Simon Says is trying to expand either into the florist shop to the north or into the now-empty juice bar to the south on Walnut Street. I have not confirmed this, but the report comes from the same local bartender. The problem is that the city will not allow them to blow out the walls. A little bit of a surprise, to my mind, as no one ever seems to be in that bar. But I don't go much.

And, finally, word on the street is... two local community members are looking to open a new queer dance club downtown. I do, in fact, have a few details though I'm not sure what they want public. The goal is for an Adonis feel at the Dock prices, and dead in the middle of the city. We'll see where this goes. No theme announced yet.

Thought you might want the updates, which I had put out on my Twitter this morning.

The Drop In Center Is Forced To Move

So, I was just informed by a friend of mine about how the City of Cincinnati is asking...no telling The Drop In Center (Central Pkwy) to move or they lose their funding and will close. Maybe you already have heard about this...

Why do they want them to move? Because they fear for the safety of the students attending the new School of Creative and Performing Arts, which is nearing the end of the construction phase.

The Drop Inn Center has refused to move. Cincinnati Officials are telling them that if they don't move, their funding will be cut off.

I'm sorry, wasn't there girl that was murdered last year outside the current location of the SCPA? It doesn't matter where you live...there is crime everywhere.

This just isn't right.

Juliet

PS...I think I feel a protest coming on. What do you think?

Today, New York State

Out of New York State, Governor Paterson is pressing the legislature to do something, despite their recent insanity of Senators hopping parties and causing a fair aneurysm for party leaders of both sides. The Senate chamber now stands at 31 Republican, 31 Democrats, after this past election swept in a Democratic majority (32-30) for the first time in something like 40 years.

But Paterson says that they are just causing problems and blocking the process of getting shit down and is demanding they do something before they recess. And today? The first thing they will be dealing with? Same-sex marriage, which already passed the House.

Looks like we may have a vote today, kids.

Just this week, Reuters announced a poll showing a majority of New Yorkers support same-sex marriage:

The poll found 51 percent of voters supported gay marriage versus 41 percent who opposed it, with 8 percent undecided.

The poll was released as a bill seeking to legalize gay marriage languishes in the State Senate due to a leadership battle between Democrats and Republicans.

New York's State Assembly passed the bill on May 12, and Governor David Paterson has vowed to sign it if it passes the Senate.

In May a Quinnipiac poll found voters split evenly at 46 percent, while in April 2004 voters opposed gay marriage by a 55 to 37 percent majority.

Perhaps we will have marriage equality in New York by the end of the week, maybe not. But we'll see. It's too bad that it's a desperate move on Paterson's behalf to make a name before himself after his pitifully low approval ratings oust him in the next round of elections.

In related news, check out these two nifty graphs from Nate Silver over at FiveThirtyEight.com evaluating LGBTQ rights (click on the images to go to the actual postings. The first one is general support for a wide variety of issues from 6/13/09:


The second is about the changing view of same-sex marriage by state -- ha! check out Utah at the very bottom -- from 6/11/09:

Congratulations, SQPNTK and Back2Stonewall!!!

The Lesbian and Gay Foundation has announced its list of the best 100 LGBT blogs in the world, and two Cincinnati blogs made the list! Congratulations to Stuff Queer People Need to Know and Back2Stonewall.com for their success!

ER Bloggers

HA -- so I work in an Emergency Department at a large hospital in town, and I absolutely love it. There are more nights than I can mention that I would like to tell you stories, but I've always been terrified of the cursed HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act), which guarantees your privacy as a patient. I think it was a fabulous move on the part of the government to require things like, your consent for one hospital to send information to another. But, we run into 100 middling little details where we're never sure if we're breaking HIPAA or not. (And it's said like that, too, "Are we breaking HIPAA?" or, "That's a HIPAA violation.")

I was never sure, in other words, if telling you stories would be appropo and whether I would be tearing apart HIPAA by saying something.

But, after my morning meeting with Julie from Wine Me, Dine Me, Cincinnati, I discovered that there are other people who are risking HIPAA and posting stories that sound oh-so-familiar to me -- seriously. And I thought I'd share with all of you what we did tonight here at work when things got a little more peaceful; we read ER blogs about other people who work in ER's around the country and experience the exact same shit we do.

Crass-Pollination (the largest ER blogger in the country)

From June 15:

Patient #1 chief complaint: Tired
Patient #2 chief complaint: Weak
Patient #3 chief complaint: Dizzy
Patient #4 chief complaint: Fall
If you'd have lined all my patients up next to each other and told them to play-act their chief complaints, it would be like a flip-book or some shit.

20 out of 10 (named after patient's tendency to overstate their pain on a 10 point pain scale)She writes down funny chief complaints that people give her on their check in sheets, here are some:

heR thing is hurting
Bad tooth ache on Right side Bottem
Medical
Problems
my head poped
THROWT HURT / CANT EAT SWALLOW

Weird Nursing Tales

From a post on 1/4/08 entitled "What I've Learned in the ED"

If you're looking for a free meal in the ED, say you have chest pain, not "I wanna kill myself," that way you can leave after your meal.

Never leave your last refill of Percocet in plain site if one of these 3 is coming over for a visit: some dude, my friend, or that bitch

If you are a belligerent drunk, don't piss off the guy with the shotgun.

If you are afraid of heights but the gutters need cleaning, having a 'couple of beers' to alleviate those fears is a bad idea.

Tales from the Serenity NOW Hospital (written by a Psych and ER Doctor)

From a post on March 15, 2009:

For her reason to visit the ER, the patient wrote "I have an abscess in my vagina that squirts pus out when I squeeze it. Also, I think I got scabies from my baby." Quality mom....

HA! And while you're at it, here are some other great bloggers that, no doubt, will lift your spirits and make you feel special to be a part of the American Health Care system:

• WhiteCoats' Call Room (some gross pictures, but wrote an amazing piece on his malpractice suit that was featured in Emergency Physicians Monthly)
• ERStories (you can't fault 'em for not being direct with their title)
• madness: tales of an emergency room nurse
• A Day in the Life of an Ambulance Driver
• Ten Out of Ten
• ERNursery

One day, in a fit of genius, one of the attending's who has been with us for a better part of 20 years looked around, and said to no one in particular: "We could make our job a lot easier if we just set up four tables outside: one to hold the sandwiches and juice, one to hold narcotics, one for STD medications and other antibiotics, and then the actual triage desk. If you make it to desk four, you win... come on back."

Truth. Seriously, I love where I work.

Quick Columbus Gay Pride Video

One Penny's Worth - 06.23.09

Columbus Gay Pride Celebrations….All I can say is WOW! Will and I jetted up to Columbus after work on Friday for the Kick-Off at Score Bar where I got to host the strip show! Before making our way over to score we met up with the Lovely Beverly Ford. She was playing our hostess for the evening and had the AC cranked way down for us! Huge Thanks to Bev’ and Nina for hooking a sister up with accommodations (smile)

Then over to Score for the show. I’ve never actually hosted a strip show, so it was interesting. Funny thing, its not really any different than a drag show – though they are paid to take their clothes off and I’m paid to keep my clothes on LOL. It was PACKED in Score all night long with the Skyy Fusion guys doing their thing on the patio and us doing ours on the stage (and the pool table and on top of the bar and on the tables….it was quite a night!!)(smile) Big thanks to Shane, Brian and Tim for making it possible for me to be there. We had a great time and I mean to tell you it was PACKED In there.....Tony was a perfect DJ, Shane and Christina were fantastic Bartenders (smile)

Saturday was a Marathon of Pride! We started off at Somewhere else to get ready for the Parade. Lita had set up the truck and we headed down to the Parade route. Thankfully there was a lovely breeze for most of the day and we didn’t roast. It was warm, but no one died of a heat stroke! The Columbus Gay Pride Parade is Amazing! If you’ve not had an opportunity to make your way up there, do yourself a favor….it’s pretty incredible.

After the parade, we headed over to check into our hotel room and get a quick shower before we were supposed to head over to the Pride Festival and then to Paul and Lita’s for a little pre-show BBQ – well….a quick disco nap turned into sleeping the day away! We didn’t wake up until 6pm and had to do a quick rushing around to get ready! We missed the festival AND the bbq!

Nina West (www.superdragqueen.com) invited us to be a part of DragApalooza @ Axis and that started at 9 – so I put on some more lipgloss (LOL) and headed over to Axis with Paige Passion and Brent Fabian. It was a cast of thousands and we really had a great time. Nina, Virginia, Alexis, Aurora, Samantha, Vee, Pretty, Fancy, Maria, Leah….gosh – there were so many people there!! (oooh...and it was great to finally meet Miles!!!)

Then we jetted back down to SomeWhere Else for the Stars of Pride Show. It was a pretty wonderful cast of characters! Brionna Brooks, Paige Passion, Alexis O’Hara, Brent Fabian, Ethan West, Vivi Veloure, Akasha O’hara Lords and me….what a show! We partied with the gays until the wee hours of Saturday Morning before heading back to the hotel. Huge Thanks to Lita Manon for always putting together such amazing shows and for driving us down the parade route! You’re the best!!!! - Did I mention we finally got to meet Shaun too???

Sunday morning we headed back home with some well wishes for the gurls heading over to Baton Rouge to round out Columbus Gay Pride. We finally made it home, picked up the puppy, Ginger, and laid on the couch with a huge exhale!

This month’s Gay Pride Celebrations have been a really wonderful experience. You gay shave inspired me! Thanks for coming out in all of your respective communities and Celebrating! I’ll see you at our next Gay Pride Prelim – Miss Showgirl Gay Pride on August 7th.

What’s coming up this week???

Tonight is the first meeting for Nina West's National Entertainer of the Year Opening Production! We're heading up to Columbus tonight to join in on the festivities (and to see all the sleepy gays who've just finished a very long, very hard, very fun pride weekend)

I’ll be Spinning @ Below Zero on Friday – that’s right, I’m you’re all request dj the last Friday of every month – all the fun starts @ 10 – you pick the songs all night long.

Saturday I’ll be with the court helping with a fundraiser for the Anniversary of the Stonewall riots @ Adonis – bug Ed for tickets at ebcincy@aol.com

WHERE IN THE WORLD IS PENNY TRATION????
What to do if you're bored and are looking for a little Penny Tration - LOOK NO FURTHER! My Compete calendar is on Myspace - if we're not already friends on MySpace or Facebook - Look me up on twitter! (smile)

June 26 - Below Zero, Cincinnati, OH
June 27 - Anniversary of Stonewall Celebration - Adonis - Cincinnati, OH
- Get your tickets by emailing Ed at EBCINCY@AOL.COM
July 9 - Indiana USofA @ Large - Talbott Street - Indianapolis, IN
July 10 - Quasi and Friends show @ Old Street
July 17 - Interbelt Night Club - Akron, OH
July 31 - Below Zero, Cincinnati, OH
August 7 - ShowGurl Gay Pride Pageant
August 14 - Quasi and Friends' Show - Old Street
August 22 - Capitol City Gay Pride Pageant
August 28 - Below Zero, Cincinnati, OH
September 6 - Dayton Gay Pride Pageant
September 11 - Pride Night @ Kings Island
September 11 - Quasi and Friends' Show - Old Street
September 20 - Miss Metropolitan Gay Pride Pageant
September 25 - Below Zero, Cincinnati, OH


The Find Fred Story
In 2008 while the GLBT community & FINDFRED founders were fighting the Prop 8 battle and turning key states like Ohio blue to protect our rights, the country's largest m4m website (Manhunt) co-founder was contributing to McCain's campaign and the Republican Party. A party that for the past 8 years has worked to write discrimination into our laws, often successfully. Thus, FINDFRED.COM was born. We want the GLBT community to sleep safe knowing that a company they support is fighting FOR GLBT equal rights. FindFred will commit a minimum of 10% of profits towards grants and investments for GLBT charities, equal rights and community causes.
FULL ARTICLE ON MCCAIN DONATION http://www.towleroad.com/2008/08/mccain-takes-23.html
FindFred is start of the next generation of m4m websites. FINDFRED is focued on design, simplicity and features that will revolutionize the industry, including the first MATCH feature specifically designed for gay males. FindFred Launched on May 1, 2009 to Reserve A Screen Name (use PromoCode: PENNY).

--
Penny Tration - The Ugliest Drag Queen in Captivity
dqpenny@gmail.com - www.dqpenny.com

Reserve Your Screen Name Now at www.findfred.com - Use Promo Code: Penny - I promise you're gonna love this!

Wanna see my twats? Follow me on Twitter - Search PennyTration (no spaces)

NEW quote of the century -
"Love is the answer - no matter the question." Ms. Frazier

Long Silence and Shirley Bassey

I've had a long silence here on QueerCincinnati.com -- it's a long story, but everything's ok. But I did just want to offer one commentary as to why I haven't really said much lately: I'm taking everything in. A lot is going on in the world, and I'm not sure what of it I like, and what of it I agree with, so I'm trying to sort it out.

That, and some it is so complex at this point even I don't want to figure it out -- HA!

And besides, I seem to be in a good mood these days, and I wanted to share this song with you, as only Shirley Bassey can sing it -- and that dress!!!:

I don't know why this song has been stuck in my head for days now -- something must be going right in my world!!! (The first song, of course, but I love the second one, as well. I think all drag queens think they are some version of one of the grand dames of song, Dame Shirley Bassey included.)

Anyways, so, to everyone, stop screaming and shouting and cursing people's names. We're fabulous, we're ahead, and we're far more fun when we're just happy and in love and beautiful and young... and less so when we're pissed off and making demands. I know, I'm sickening today, who cares?

STUPID JOKE SATURDAY!!!

Yea Stupid Joke Saturday, post-exam portion!!!!

A rope walks into a bar and Sits down on a barstool. The bartender walks over to him, points to the sign above the bar and reads, "No ropes allowed". So the rope walks outside, beats himself against the wall, and then ties himself into a knot.

He walks back into the bar and sits back down. The bartender comes back over and says, "Look, I already told you NO ROPES ALLOWED. Are you or aren't you a rope?". "Nope," the ropes smirks, "I'm a frayed knot"

Q: What's the difference between Rush Limbaugh and the Hindenburg?
A: One's a flaming Nazi gasbag, the other's a blimp.

Why does Snoop Dogg always carry an umbrella?
Fo' Drizzle!

What does snoop dogg keep under his sink?
Blee-aaaccchhh

Q: What do you get when you cross an elephant with a kangaroo?
A: Potholes all over Australia.

“Waiter!” shouted the furious diner, “how dare you serve me this! There’s a twig in my soup!”
“My apologies, “said the waiter. “I’ll inform the branch manager.”

Q: What kind of animal needs oiling?
A: A mouse. It squeaks.

What's the difference between beer nuts and deer nuts? Beer nuts are $4.50 per pound. And deer nuts are under a buck.

What do you get when you cross a dyslexic, an insomniac, and an agnostic?
Someone who lays up nights and wonders if there really is a dog.

What do you get when you cross a Jehovah's Witness with an atheist?
Someone who knocks on your door for no apparent reason.

A dyslexic walks into a bra...

From @jeffelrod of Centsinnati:

Brogasm: when gay chicken goes wrong.

How do ducks pay for dinner on business trips?
With their bird-diems.

Happy Juneteenth!

Don't know what Juneteenth is? Well, thanks to Juneteenth.com we have an excellent explanation:

Juneteenth is the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States.

From its Galveston, Texas origin in 1865, the observance of June 19th as the African American Emancipation Day has spread across the United States and beyond.

Today Juneteenth commemorates African American freedom and emphasizes education and achievement. It is a day, a week, and in some areas a month marked with celebrations, guest speakers, picnics and family gatherings. It is a time for reflection and rejoicing. It is a time for assessment, self-improvement and for planning the future. Its growing popularity signifies a level of maturity and dignity in America long over due. In cities across the country, people of all races, nationalities and religions are joining hands to truthfully acknowledge a period in our history that shaped and continues to influence our society today. Sensitized to the conditions and experiences of others, only then can we make significant and lasting improvements in our society.

In short: it's a day to celebrate freedom, emanicipation, and equality. A beautiful thing, and a beautiful day! If you'd like to know what events are going on here in Ohio, click here.

Warning from Mt. Airy Park

Thanks to local porn blogger/afficianado/all around good guy, RandyXBoy, for the heads up on this one. Keep it in mind guys ... more importantly, keep it in your pants in parks.

Two guys were approached by a woman Monday evening who claimed to be an undercover cop and that the entire park was under camera surveillance. She instructed the men to get out of their car and and questioned if they had any drugs on them or in the car, or if they offered or were offered sex for cash by anyone. She then proceeds to tell the guys to turn around and face their car, put their hands on the roof and empty their pockets onto the top of the car. She goes through the contents behind their backs, instructing them not to turn around. When questioned for identification to prove she is a police officer, she tells them "Not right now" and to keep their hands on the roof of the car, and not to turn around. She inpects the men's wallets and pull out their licenses, inspects them, and tells them that she is not going to arrest them since they were cooperative. This happened to our reader's friends. The woman let them go, and they left the park. Later the men opened their wallets and all of their money was gone.

The woman is reported to be driving a dark blue, small Pontiac. According to our reader, Cincinnati Police have been notified and have been very cooperative. Someone else spotted her in the park yesterday and photographed her car and license plate, which was turned over to the police.

I cannot confirm this, but it's always a good reminder to, if you are approached by someone claiming to be a cop, to ask for an ID first before you turn around and spread 'em... unless, of course, that's what you were asking for while you were cruising on Gay.com :-). In which case, send me (or Randy) pictures. Wait, no. Maybe. Hrm.

Also: if you are cruising in public parks, go somewhere else. Don't get caught with your pants down. That's what the administration of Cincinnati Christian University is for.

UPDATE: HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! The origin of that picture is Bob Jones University, ultra-conservative, boys-and-girls have to walk on separate sidewalks Southern Baptists College!!! I didn't even KNOW!

More Stuff on Obama and the Gays

Perusing the internet, there's lots and lots and lots of interesting stuff out there to read about Obama and the LGBTQ rights movement. Here's exactly four to look over. :-) Good morning, Cincinnati! Wish me luck on my two finals today!

From the Washington Post yesterday:

Obama's memorandum, designed to be both incremental and pragmatic, typifies the cautious way he has approached gay issues since taking office five months ago. Although he has appointed gays to prominent positions in his administration -- including John Berry, director of the Office of Personnel Management -- the memorandum marked his first official foray into the issue as president, a delay that has angered gay supporters.

A number of other constituencies have likewise been disappointed by Obama's pace in addressing their issues, as he has focused much of his attention on the economic crisis and foreign policy initiatives. Hispanic groups have expressed frustration that he has yet to take up comprehensive immigration reform, for example, and human rights and civil liberties organizations have criticized his opposition to the release of detainee abuse photos and his adherence to other aspects of the Bush administration's national security policies.

"We are working on a large amount of things," White House press secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters yesterday.

Poor press guy Gibbs -- that man has not been able to catch a break, and I don't think his boss has been helping him out all that much. What a weak answer. But, again, you can't build Rome in a day. Is that the quote?

From the Huffington Post, entitled "Will Gays Divorce the Democrats?"

What does this mean for 2010? Who knows. But the sheen is off the Dream Machine known as Barack Obama. And Congress and the DNC -- well, Tim Kaine is no Howard Dean -- he's made no real effort to reach out to LGBTs outside the Beltway. And that Obama for America online money pitch for the DNC may also dry up.

My answer: not bloody likely. Which is better, people who give you lip service and do a few things here and there, or people who run on an anti-queer platform? Seriously, though I have long argued that most gays would be Republicans if the GOP went libertarian (seriously, I know at least one Republican reads my blog).

From Stampp Corbin, via the San Diego News Network (the what?!):

Last Thursday, the Attorney General filed a legal brief in a California federal case challenging the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) that made arguments that compared same sex marriage to incest. Thursday, President Obama announced the extension of some benefits to LGBT federal employees; just not the most coveted ones, like health care and pension benefits. Oh that’s right, Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) prevents that and you just wrote a legal brief defending it. When I wake up each morning, I feel a bit schizophrenic myself, “I love Obama, I hate Obama, I am ambivalent about Obama.” It’s maddening.

Someone get me a Prozac.

I ask, “Mr. President how can you argue for the legality of DOMA, when you are for its repeal?”

You really are talking out of both sides of your mouth and my community knows it.

Whoa, dude. There's some seriousness going on out there. I just think it's way too much.

On another note, my school has blocked all blogger.com websites (except for blogger itself) and wordpress.com websites (except for wordpress.com itself). I have no idea what's going on. Absurdities. Apparently, this counts as "social networking."

Spreadin' the Love - Guerrilla Queer Bar Announced!

As part of it's "spreadin' the love" series, where the fabulous people over at Guerrilla Queer Bar invade an underused queer-identified bar, this came out a few days earlier than usual on their blog:

Hello Beauteous Queers--

Three things!

1. CGQB's takeover of Cadillac Ranch was out-of-this-world-queer-fa
ntastic! For serious. If you haven't seen the "Two Boys, One Bull" video yet ( http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1158004716345&ref=mf ), watch it now. It's just the tip of the iceberg for all the crazy, world-changing fun that was had.

2. CGQB hopes you all had a wonderfully sexy Pride!

3. Have no fear, the queer fun doesn't have to stop! THIS FRIDAY is CGQB's "Spreading the Love" event.

Never heard of the "Spreading the Love" events? Find out more below. If you're a seasoned "Spreading the Love" go-er, feel free to skip to find out where it is!

****

Every THIRD FRIDAY, the folks that bring you GQB put on another raucous night of fun at an under-utilized QUEER bar in Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky.

Last month's "Spreading the Love" was at the glorious Little Bit Bar with a night of cheap drinks, sexy bartenders, great people, a "live-missed-connections" game, and a FIRE performance (for serious).

"Why a queer bar? I thought GQB was about taking over straight bars", you might ask. "Spreading the Love" is about spreading our queer-love (and dollars) around the queer community while also getting a chance to know our fellow CGQB-ers a little more intimately ;).

Don't worry, we'll still be exploring the straight and narrow bars every FIRST Friday of the month. (which reminds me, GET READY FOR JULY 3rd!!!)
****

This month promises to be the best "Spreading the Love" yet!
Where will we be coming together in the name of queer-celebration?

(***drum roll please***)

...

the CRAZY FOX SALOON!!!
901 Washington Ave
corner of 9th and Washington in NEWPORT, KY.

****

Those of you who have experienced or heard of the GLORY that is the Crazy Fox are probably jumping for joy right now. If you HAVEN'T had the privilege of going to this bar yet, start getting ready for a night of sexy-wonderful-fun this Friday.

We'll be getting there anytime around 9. There will be some sexy surprises. If you're feeling adventurous, they have ABSINTHE drink specials on Friday nights!

Mark your calenders now-- Friday the 17th, 9 pm, Queer-Fun-Time!

I think, btw, that the date is Friday the 19th, not the 17th, or else I think I would have heard about queers heading down there :-). Anyways, this will be the first CGQB I'll be missing. I'm kinda sad about that :-(. And I just realized I didn't know how to spell "Saloon."

Map to Crazy Fox / Crazy Fox Saloon website

EHEA and the Obama Memo

I'm almost through! By this time tomorrow, I will be done with my summer semester at school and will have 8 weeks off -- just enough time to complete all my clinical prep for year two at school! WHOO!!! Many thanks to my contributors for making sure the blog is updated in my intermittent involvement this week! You guys are the best!

But I wanted to just post two bits from the queerrevolution that you should know about:

First, the Equal Housing and Employment Act (EHEA) made it out of the State Government Committee of the Ohio House of Representatives. The EHEA (HB 176), as you may remember, is the law that will prohibit discrimination against sexual orientation and gender identity/expression, making Ohio the 21st state in the union to do so (in a related note, I wonder if, with all the marriage talk lately, we will confront a situation in the near future where we have more states with equal marriage than equal protections :-)). According to Equality Ohio's email, it was recommended to a vote by the whole House in a 8-5 vote. The vote breakdown:

• For: Gerberry (D), Lundy (D), Sykes (D), Williams B. (D), Stewart (D), Mallory (D - hell yea Cincinnatian!), Sayre (D), and Hite (the only Republican to vote for it).
• Against: Adams (R), Daniels (R), Grossman (R), Hall (R), and Stebelton (R).

What next? Well, it goes to a floor vote. If it passes there, onto the state Senate, where there are some questions as to whether it can pass but Lynne Bowman, Executive Director of Equality Ohio, says that she is confident that fairness will come to Ohio. Gov. Ted Strickland is likely to sign the bill due to a long history of standing with queer Ohioans.

This is the first time the Ohio legislature has voted for fairness for LGBTQ individuals... ever.

Second, Obama signed the partners memorandum, giving very limited benefits to same-sex partners of federal employees and, by very limited, we mean very limited. In fact, it has sent the world into a small uproar seemingly for two reasons:

• It doesn't go far enough, failing to provide for health, retirement, or pension benefits for same-sex partners and is probably equitable to little financial benefit other than relocation costs. It seems that anything else would be against the law, per the 1996 federal Defense of Marriage Act.
• It is a memorandum -- not an executive order -- which means that it expires when Obama leaves office.

A fact sheet provided by the White House is available on the Advocate website detailing the benefits covered. It confuses me, the whole hubbub, as everyone is still cursing Obama's name, saying that it's too little too late.

I seriously wonder if homosexuals have forgotten the last 8 years, and we are just so hungry for someone to listen to us, that we are willing to go rabid at the mouth, screaming shouting and cursing our President, for not doing everything right now. You know, through the Bush years, no one would listen to us. I don't remember the HRC -- for once, I'm kinda standing up for them -- getting a personal meeting with Bush II to reassure them that the President was still on their side, unless I missed it? I know, I know. I want more now, too; I think Obama should put an immediate stop on discharges from the military under Don't Ask, Don't Tell pending legal review, and I think the DOJ-DOMA brief was shameful... and I think Obama's ongoing silence on LGBT issues makes him somewhat of a political coward.

But this is the first time any rights were granted to LGBTQ people since, well, since Bill Clinton. And Mr. Clinton, I might remind you, signed DOMA and DADT, so maybe Obama ain't so bad... but I am still rather bored by the ongoing expectation that we, as queers, will pay for politicos campaigns, whilst they are never willing to step up and do anything for queers. Maybe that's the reason nothing has been done? If the carrot is still hanging in front of us, will we still work as hard for the Democrats?

But that's just my thoughts.