Gay And Lesbian

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.

The patriotic souls of the Catonsville Celebrations Committee come up with a new reason every year to prevent a group of gay and lesbian veterans from marching in the local Fourth of July parade.With each passing year and each new reason, the committee serves painful reminders of how little it understands the concepts of equality and freedom that are honored on Independence Day.A county law passed before the 1992 celebration required permits for parades, thus granting control of the events to their organizers.

Showtime cable channels tonight will launch the first nationally distributed, weekly block of gay-targeted programming with Night Out on Sho Too, four hours of films, short features and its highly successful Queer as Folk drama every Wednesday starting at 9. In and of itself, tonight's debut of Night Out is no big deal. For one thing, Sho Too (Showtime 2) is one of the multiplex digital channels, which means fewer than one out of five American homes probably has access. Nor is the programming strikingly unusual.

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.

Gay Bingo at the Hippo Where: 1 W. Eager St. When: 8:30 p.m.-11:30 p.m. on Wednesdays Why: Because this is one of the most entertaining (and possibly most profitable) ways to spend a Wednesday night. For $15 you can play 25 games of bingo at this hip Mount Vernon bar. A few weeks ago, one contestant took home $2,400. A portion of the proceeds benefits the Gay and Lesbian Community Center of Baltimore. Roughly $45,000 has already been raised. Information: Call 410-547-0069 or visit www.clubhippo.

WASHINGTON -- The Pentagon ordered revisions yesterday in its "don't ask, don't tell" policy aimed at curbing complaints that military officials have failed to prevent harassment of homosexuals and have engaged in aggressive legal investigations of suspected gay and lesbian troops."

"Basic Instinct" is the mega-controversial murder mystery starring Michael Douglas as a cop and Sharon Stone as his bi-sexual suspect and lover. The movie has enraged gay and lesbian groups in its portrayals of lesbians as ice-pick wielding murderers and it has enraged moralists in the frankness of its sexual encounters (it just barely avoided an NC-17). Rated R."Shadows and Fog" is Woody Allen's new film, an account of a long, foggy evening in a middle-European city in the '20s where a strangler, a schlemiel, the townspeople and a black and white cameraman wander about, going bump in the night.

Fearful that medical care is being compromised by administrative mismanagement, several doctors and staff members at Baltimore's Chase-Brexton Clinic say they are considering resigning since the board of directors has refused to fire the head of the gay and lesbian health-care clinic."

WASHINGTON -- In a gaffe rich with symbolism, gay and lesbian lawmakers who trooped into the White House this week for unprecedented talks were detained outside the executive mansion while security guards found and then donned blue rubber gloves."

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.