Kimpton Teams With National AIDS Fund to Raise Money, Awareness
(San Francisco, CA) – Upscale boutique hotel chain Kimpton Hotels and the National AIDS Fund have joined forces in a partnership to raise awareness about HIV and generate funds for the cause. This marks the third year Kimpton has put its support behind the National AIDS Fund with hopes of raising a a minimum of $25,000 in 2005. Campaign sponsors include Absolut Vodka, Level Vodka, Moet & Chandon

Two-Years of Fairness in Massachusetts
On the second anniversary of marriage equality in Massachusetts, it seems an appropriate moment to salute Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD), the seven plaintiff couples who sacrificed their privacy in the name of equality, as well as MassEquality, the coalition that has preserved marriage after continuous attacks from the far right. Since Nov. 18, 2003 when the Supreme Judicial Court

HIV/AIDS Programs Devastated by House Budget Vote
(Washington, D.C.) - As the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention released startling new statistics about the impact of HIV and AIDS on communities of color and gay men, the Human Rights Campaign released a statement claiming the U.S. House of Representatives put the lives of hundreds of thousands of Americans at risk in passing a budget reconciliation package that would slash Medicaid

20,000 British People May Have HIV Without Knowing It
A third of people who have HIV in the UK remain undiagnosed, a report by the Health Protection Agency has found. Despite over seven thousand new cases being diagnosed in the UK over 2005, almost twenty thousand people with the disease do not know that they are infected. Deborah Jack, the Chief Executive of the National AIDS trust says the results should be a wake up call to gay men to get

PlanetOut Inc. and Q Television Network (QTN) Form Broadband Video Partnership
(San Francisco, CA) - PlanetOut Inc., a leading global media and entertainment company serving the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, and Q Television, have announced that QTN original programming will be distributed on PlanetOut Video. QTN is a groundbreaking 24/7 premium television network organized to create, develop and feature television programming for the LGBT community. Its

Tacoma School District Bans Gay High-School Book
(Tacoma, WA) – School officials at University Place have removed a book about gay teens from the Tacoma school district's library shelves after receiving what they say was a “number� of parent complaints. Superintendent Patti Banks said she was alarmed by the “romanticized� portrayal of sex in Geography Club, written by Tacoma resident Brent Hartzinger. In the book, a teen meets a stranger at

Alanis Morissette: The Collection
When Alanis Morissette’s Jagged Little Pill first came out, I was 16 years old, but I sewar to you, I remember it like it was yesterday. It was the angst ridden collection of anthems every girl in our school swore “spoke� to her. And, since I hung out with just about every angst ridden girl in our high-school, I too, by association, connected with Alanis. Then, she turned around, grew up and got

Gay artists sing out (Independent)
It was Amy Ray, the straight-talking lesbian singer-songwriter with the Indigo Girls, who perhaps best summed up one of the main challenges facing gay musicians.

Indianapolis Entertains Reintroduction of Gay Discrimination Ban
(Indianapolis, IN) – Seven months after a proposal to ban discrimination against gays and lesbians in the workplace and housing market failed to pass, the Indianapolis City-County Council, supporters reintroduced the measure this week. The proposal could put the council back in the spotlight by addressing a divisive issue just a week after efforts to merge city and county police forces failed in

Gay groups try to stop same-sex suit (UPI)
SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 23 (UPI) -- Gay rights groups are trying to halt a federal lawsuit that argues the U.S. Constitution gives homosexuals the right to marry.

Media Blender
Rent's Poster Lesbians Tracie Thoms and Indina Menzel The highly anticipated film version of the Broadway hit musical Rent opens in theaters nationwide this week. Although the movie has so far received mixed reviews from critics, lesbian viewers will most likely give it a thumbs-up for two very good reasons - Tracie Thoms and Indina Menzel. The two women play Rent's poster lesbian couple

Gay Rights Group Slams 'Idol' Judges' Remarks (Fox News)
The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation says 'American Idol' judges made possibly homophobic comments during the hit show's premiere episode.

Spokane Mayor’s Questionable Computer Contents Released to Press
(Spokane, WA) – A Washington judge granted a newspaper's request to make public the gay-themed contents of Spokane Mayor James West's city-owned laptop computer, but stopped at releasing some 3,300 pictures from Gay.com. Adams County Superior Court Judge Richard Miller ordered the release of an index of the dates and times West used the computer to access Gay.com and other similar Web sites, but

Reform Leader Accuses U.S. Religious Right of Bigotry
(Houston, TX ) – The attitude of American 'religious right' leaders toward gays and lesbians is akin to the anti-gay policies promoted by Adolf Hitler, according to the president of the Union for Reform Judaism, Rabbi Eric Yoffie. Yoffie made the controversial comments Saturday during the movement's national biennial conference in Houston. �We cannot forget that when Hitler came to power in

Gay couple loses lawsuit over advertisement photo (The Advocate)
An Oregon judge has thrown out a lawsuit brought by a gay couple who charged that a photo taken at their wedding was used illegally in an attack ad by a conservative group, the New York Sun reported Monday.