Gay And Lesbian

A large "glass slipper" carved in ice stood in the center of the Baltimore Hilton ballroom, encircled by a series of casino games. On one wall, a dinner buffet offered a regal banquet. Against another, the backdrop of a castle, in front of which sat a throne. After all, this was the Gay and Lesbian Community Center of Baltimore's "Cinderella Ball" -- the throne providing a perfect photo op for any aspiring royalty. As far as Prince Charming went -- "You have to supply your own," quipped party co-chair Richard Oloizia.

When Maryland merchants talk about the recent legalization of same-sex marriage, they sometimes talk of broad, lofty themes: Equality. Justice. Civil rights. But there's another practical concept at work: Dollar signs. The financial motivation was on display Sunday at the second annual Gay and Lesbian Wedding Expo at the Tremont Suites Hotel & Grand Historic Venue in downtown Baltimore, where dozens of vendors competed for the attention of dozens of couples whose weddings now carry the official blessing of the state of Maryland.

"Queer Cafe 2," a follow-up to last season's evening of short gay and lesbian plays, opens tonight at the Theatre Project. This year's five offerings, produced by the PussyCat Theatre Company, are all world premieres."Penelope and the Sterile Field," by Center Stage resident dramaturg James Magruder, is about the barriers facing a gay man searching for the ideal mate. "The Mirror of Love," by Alan Moore, is a monologue tracing homosexuality throughout history. Pretzels and Longing," by Linda Eisenstein, focuses on the lesbian dating scene.

Amid the cheers of President Barack Obama's victory rally in Chicago, Keesha Patterson reached into her bag for a tiny box, dropped to one knee, turned to her girlfriend of 11 years and told her, in front of everyone, how much she loved her and wanted to marry her. Word that Maryland's Question 6 had passed had just flashed on the screen, and Patterson, who grew up in Baltimore's McCulloh Homes and now lives in Prince George's County, knew the moment...

The 1993 Baltimore Lesbian and Gay Film Festival opens today with acclaimed filmmaker Derek Jarman's "Wittgenstein" at 8 p.m. at the Baltimore Museum of Art.The festival, sponsored by the Johns Hopkins University Bisexual, Gay and Lesbian Alliance, the Gay and Lesbian Community Center of Baltimore and the Baltimore Film Forum, will show more than 48 films in 14 programs over the next 10 days. Screenings will be at the museum and at Bloomberg Hall on the campus.Jarman, who achieved worldwide attention with his brilliantly stylized "Edward II," tells the story in his new movie of the Cambridge philosopher who dazzled the intellectual world while treating the working-class man who was his lover rather shabbily.

It seemed like a typical summertime festival in Baltimore: the aroma of grilled burgers filled the air while people sat on blankets in the shade and danced to music in the sun.Only this was a little bit different.Here was an event in which gays and lesbians said they could be themselves without fear of harassment or rejection.Several thousand men and women gathered in the grassy Wyman Park yesterday to affirm their sexuality and commemorate their struggle for civil rights at the annual Gay and Lesbian Pride Day festival.

WASHINGTON -- President Clinton has invited gay and lesbian leaders to the White House today to talk about their legislative agenda and his apparent reluctance to participate in a major gay rights march here on April 25.It is the first White House meeting ever between a president and gay and lesbian leaders.Organizers of the march, which could draw as many as one million people, said they will lobby Mr. Clinton to address the demonstrators and ignore warnings that his identification with gay and lesbian causes will hurt him politically.

Baltimore Housing Commissioner Paul T. Graziano met with members of the gay and lesbian community last night, part of a promised fence-mending effort after a drunken December incident in which he made homophobic remarks during what he now calls "a blackout." The meeting at the headquarters of the Gay and Lesbian Community Center was one of several conciliatory gestures Graziano promised when he returned to work last week, after receiving treatment for a drinking problem. The meeting was off the record -- media members were allowed to attend but not to take notes during the session or identify anyone who spoke without permission.

Performing at a big benefit concert is usually perceived as enlightened self-interest. Neil Young, who has an autistic child, organized the Bridge Concerts to raise money for the Bridge School, which treats such children. Adam Yauch of the Beastie Boys is a Buddhist, so he helped organize the Tibetan Freedom Concerts. Because Sting is big on environmental activism, he's a regular part of the annual rain forest benefit concerts. So it's not surprising that Melissa Etheridge was the first artist brought on board for Equality Rocks, the gay and lesbian rights concert being held at Washington's RFK Stadium today.

"It's Elementary: Talking About Gay Issues in School" teaches a simple truth: It is better for children to be informed than ignorant.There is a world of information in this public television documentary that looks at six classrooms across the country in which teachers and elementary-school-age pupils are discussing gay and lesbian issues. And it is presented in an engaging, intelligent and straightforward manner appropriate for family viewing."It's Elementary" is public television at its best, offering thoughtful, provocative programming about issues of great cultural import.

Marriage, as it has existed for hundreds of years, goes far beyond the commitment of two individuals to each other. It is more about the formation of new families. The parents of marrying spouses eagerly look forward to the arrival of grandchildren after the marriage. The natural family unit has been, is, and will always be, a father (male), a mother (female) and a child. By themselves, gay and lesbian couples are by nature unable to create new human life. For this reason, gay and lesbian couples are not equal to heterosexual couples and their commitment should be recognized in a different legal institution.

More than 30 years of scientific research have shown that children do best when raised by two loving, committed parents, regardless of gender. This is the conclusion reached by a comprehensive review of virtually every study on the subject conducted by sociologists Judith Stacey and Tim Biblarz in 2010. Moreover, the so-called "studies" that claim that children of gay and lesbian parents fare worse than children of heterosexual couples have been exposed as deeply flawed by the Chronicle of Higher Education and The Baltimore Sun, among others.

Gov. Martin O'Malley, who continues to campaign for same-sex marriage in advance of a likely referendum aimed at overturning the law he signed this month, will speak Friday at a conference in Baltimore for gay and lesbian Catholics. Also scheduled to appear at the conference organized by the Maryland-based New Ways Ministry are Barbara Johnson, who was denied Communion at her mother's funeral Mass in Gaithersburg last month because she is a lesbian; former Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, who has written a book critical of church involvement in politics; and Geoffery Robinson, a retired Catholic bishop from Australia.

In the Laurel Leader letters of Feb. 2, there were comments made by Virginia W. Staniak concerning bag charges, and Thomas M. Crawford concerning the right to marry. Using re-usable bags for the past five years has led me to the belief that charging for bags at the market is a good way in which to help to treat our ecology, and possibly save damage to our planet. In addition, I have earned a 5 cent credit for every bag that was used to package my groceries. It is my belief that my bags have helped to rescue our earth in some small way, and in addition, I will do the bulk of my grocery shopping at one store if for nothing else than to save on the use of fossil fluids.

Sgt. John Kowalczyk wasn't hiding his sexual orientation; he just wasn't broadcasting it. But word was spreading through the police academy, and he sensed tension. He asked to address his fellow officers and got right to the point. "I'm gay," he said. "What do you want to know?" He answered questions for the next hour - some inquisitive, others downright insulting - and spent the rest of the training academy working to show his peers that he could hold his own as a cop. Seven years later, Kowalczyk, 31, remains one of the few openly gay officers in the Baltimore Police Department.

Selection of Warren is disrespectful to gays The reason so many gay and lesbian Americans are absolutely outraged over President-elect Barack Obama's choice of Pastor Rick Warren to lead the inaugural invocation is very simple: Pastor Warren has compared the marriage of two same-sex adults to incest and pedophilia ("Obama defends choice of conservative pastor," Dec. 19). Unfortunately, in many TV and newspaper reports since this story has broken, this critical fact has been left out. And indeed, those of us who are irate and sickened by Mr. Warren's selection are often being described as whiny and being told we need to get over it. Mr. Obama says he wants to bring together people with divergent opinions - and that's a completely respectable goal.

One captain in the Marine Corps had to sign the confining orders to send a lesbian to jail, but was so disturbed that the next day the officer, who was also gay, submitted his resignation papers. Another man, from the Naval Academy Class of 1958, was kicked out of the military because his name was found in the address book of a "known homosexual." Other gay men and lesbians left the service because like Steve Clark Hall, a nuclear submarine captain who retired after a 20-year Navy career, they could no longer bear the burden of harboring an enormous secret about their identity.

Were Walt Whitman, Gertrude Stein and James Baldwin writing today, they'd be hard-pressed to land a mainstream publisher. The work of these luminaries of American literature is just too queer. Full of overt descriptions of same-sex love (and, more importantly, lust), devoid of kitsch, camp, celebrity dish, anti-sex polemics or expressions of religious conviction, their work lies at a radical remove from current publishing trends.And yet, gay and lesbian books have never been more popular - or more numerous.

One captain in the Marine Corps had to sign the confining orders to send a lesbian to jail, but was so disturbed that the next day the officer, who was also gay, submitted his resignation papers. Another man, from the Naval Academy Class of 1958, was kicked out of the military because his name was found in the address book of a "known homosexual." Other gay men and lesbians left the service because like Steve Clark Hall, a nuclear submarine captain who retired after a 20-year Navy career, they could no longer bear the burden of harboring an enormous secret about their identity.

Veterans like to say that the difference between fairy tales and war stories is that the former start, "Once upon a time," while the latter start, "There I was." Recently, I became a conscientious objector in the only kind of war we professors have the courage to fight: a culture war. At a political science academic conference, I had the temerity to suggest that rather than refusing to hold our conventions in states without gay marriage, we academics should encourage reasoned exchange between gay rights supporters and opponents to find solutions everyone can live with.