State & Lake

Since the passing of Prop 8 here in California, a few of my friends went from having the “itis” to now having the “osis”.  If you don’t know, in medical terminology, the suffix “itis” means “inflammation of” and “osis” means “condition of”.  A few of my friends went from experiencing extreme inflammation to having a [...]

Photo:  Deborah Johnson married her 11-year partner Valerie Joi Fiddmont a month ago, the night of Nov. 4 was bittersweet. An African American woman and founding minister of Inner Light Ministries, Johnson says she had never felt more proud of her country than when she watched Barack Obama take the stage in Chicago and deliver [...]

Geez, I almost forgot about this.  Well, honestly, after giving up FemmeNoir I have not been up on much lately so this easily escaped my radar, or should I say “gaydar.”
Anyway, today people will celebrate National Coming Out Day in many ways, and you can learn some of those ways — even participate — by [...]

Some of my best friends are straight women and they are a diverse group too.  I have held the phone and listened to them talk of divorce, separation, hardships in their relationships, their new beaus and more.  Nothing stirs them more than their suspicion of the man they are dating possibly being gay or on [...]

I’ve talked about this often and have heard many say “but we are all Americans.”  True, we are, but we all have a different view of our America and that view is brought to us by wealth, poverty, life itself, and sometimes the color of our skin, whether we are here legally or illegally, all [...]

I made a mess of things this weekend by causing a few near and dear to me to question my sanity.  Admittedly, I gave in to my insanity years ago but this weekend’s little play was not a giving in to my insanity, it was more about creativity.
So, what happened?  Last week I helped lay [...]

Natasha Kai came out publicly just before the start of the Olympics, when she revealed in an interview with NBCOlympics.com that she had “a hard time” when she initially joined in January. “I had missed the first camp in early-January because I had bronchitis, and I was going through a nasty break-up with my girlfriend,” [...]

A lot has come out since Bernie Mac’s death this past weekend; specifically, I learned he had been in the hospital three weeks, not two and I learned he had been put into an induced coma with hopes this would cause him to heal better and perhaps faster.  eFluxMedia is reporting in an article Bernie [...]

I have to admit, seeing Laurence (aka Mr. T) brought a little joy to my soul.  I remember him years ago, way before he became a hit on television, as the favorite bouncer at a near north side club called Dingbats.  My friends and I were regulars there.  We would hit many of the Rush [...]

I stumbled across an article in the Village Voice entitled Parties With a Girl Flavor and immediately I remembered something I heard years ago about women over 50, they are either cocooned at home somewhere or as one young woman put it, we become invisible.
After reading the first paragraph where a woman comments “It’s so [...]

Just as I was pleased the read the article in Essence Magazine in May 1991, featuring Linda Villarosa and her mother, I was also pleased to see the article at Bay windows on a father and his daughter, Governor Deval Patrick and his daughter Katherine.
The article at Bay Windows entitled With love and pride, Governor [...]

First, no, I have not read it but I am bouts to go gets it. After spending a little time on AfterEllen.com watching Brunch With Bridget, Episode 24, which features an interview with Linda Villarosa, oh yes, I was sold, gots to gets the book.
This is Villarosa’s first novel and according to Bridget, it’s [...]

���The Other Side: Back In The Gay” or “The Other Side: A Queer History” is the title of a documentary by Jane Cantillon which gives a history lesson on a club in Silverlake now known as “The Other Side.” The club has gone through numerous name changes since the 1960s – the [...]