Rod 2.0:Beta #gay #news #lgbt #gaynews

News: Wilson Cruz, Paterson and Marriage, Billy Porter, Kentucky

· Activist and openly gay actor Wilson Cruz (Noah's Arc, Rick & Steve) will host the 16th Annual Lambda Liberty Awards on October 2 at the Directors Guild in Los Angeles. This year’s honorees include the fabulous actress and HIV/'AIDS activist Sheryl Lee Ralph and lawyer David Codell "who as co-counsel with Lambda Legal represented Equality California and numerous same-sex couples in the historic [California] marriage case."

· Jewish voters in Florida and at least one other state are being targeted by a telephone "push-polling" which tries to link Barack Obama to Palestinian causes.

· New York Times editorial praises a state trial judge's decision to uphold Gov. David Paterson’s directive for state agencies to recognize legal same-sex marriages performed out of state.

· In a "harshly worded opinion", the Kentucky Court of Appeals bars judges from allowing gays and lesbians from adopting their partners’ children as though they are a step-parents. "Ruling 3-0, the court said that stepparent adoptions are allowed only when the stepmother or father is married to the biological parent, and marriages between gays are forbidden by both statute and Kentucky's constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage."

· Rochester, NY: Four police officers who were accused of misconduct in their investigation of a gay-bashing case say they have been unfairly targeted and will sue the city.

· The ridiculously talented Billy Porter directs the Caribbean-infused revival of Once On This Island in Los Angeles. Blogger and critic Darian Aaron reviews: "The musical is a loose adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen's The Little Mermaid with some Romeo and Juliet sprinkled on top. ... In this new production Porter directs an amazing ensemble cast that includes vocal powerhouses Ledisi in the role of Asaka and Bryan Terrell Clark who plays Papa Ge. Critics are praising Porter's skillful direction and the brilliance of his talented cast."

· Report: Sexual and racial harassment and discrimination are commonplace at an enforcement branch of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. According to one special agent at the Criminal Investigations Division in Dallas: Female employees were routinely referred to as "pu__ies," Native American co-workers were "called names like 'Squatting Eagle' and 'Two Dogs F__king' while an African-American colleague was ridiculed as mentally slow."

GLAAD About Billy

GLAAD nominates Billy Porter to the 17th Annual GLAAD Media Awards for Ghetto Superstar, his tour de force one-man show. Also, Oprah was nominated for an outstanding talk show episode for When I Knew Was Gay—where Billy's journey to self-discovery was just one of many compelling stories. Both the one-man show and appearance on Oprah were phenomenal.

Several lgbt-poc artists and producers were recognized by the awards in the Broadway/off-Broadway category. In addition to Billy, Staceyann Chin was recognized for Border/Clash: A Litany of Desire and Marsha Norman was given the nod for her book of The Color Purple, based on Alice Walker's novel.

January Clikque

2006 brings a new look for Clikque—as you know, one of the premium sponsors of Rod 2.0—which by now should be in your mailbox or at a friendly neighborhood newsstand or bookstore. This year, the magazine celebrates its seventh year of publication and now boasts an impressive new design and layout. But before diving into the issue, there are a few production notes: At close to 70 pages, it's the largest issue yet. With the heavier paperstock and perfect binding introduced last month, the extra pages add even more weight to the publication. Just a few months ago, the magazine was produced in the smaller, digest format that many of us had grown accustomed to; now, it's a slimmer Genre, Vibe or Out.

Let's go between the pages. There are some engaging editorials, fashion layouts, lifestyle news and the monthly Clikque hottie.

 

Billy Porter on Billy Porter

The first time that we heard Billy Porter was on the fab First Wives Club soundtrack, where he sings Love Is On the Way. Later, we heard him in concert once or twice and caught his phenomenal one-man show. Just last week, Billy was on Oprah and related his coming out story.

Before his concert next week at Joe's Pub, there's one more place to catch Billy Porter: he's the latest one-on-one in Keith Boykin's My Favorite Things series. Work it out, boys.

Billy Porter: My Favorite Things (Keith Boykin) Another Night On The Town (Keith Boykin) Ghetto Fabulous! (Bejata) When I Knew (Rod 2.0)

When I Knew

There's good news and even better news after watching Thursday's Oprah—When I Knew I Was Gay, the collection of stories by celebrities and everyday folk based around Robert Trachetenberg's book, When I Knew. Here's the good news: most of the stories were amusing, inspirational and touching, and almost everyone confessed that they "knew" at an early age. The even better news: most of those interviewed—and Oprah herself—took pains to explain the difference between self-realization and self-awareness, ie, it's entirely possible to know at eight or eleven years old that something is different about your personality ... but, it may be many years until you are aware that you are gay and are wiling to come to terms with that aspect of your life. There's a great 11-minute clip of the show at The Malcontent.

For some, the moment when they realized there was something different was early in life. For a very few, that moment was much very early ...