FEATURES
By Kevin Rector | May 15, 2013
Welcome to Gay Matters, a new home for gay news and commentary at The Baltimore Sun. As website real estate, this blog is something new and perhaps long overdue. But we've been doing this work -- covering news relevant to the gay community -- for a very long time. I took a look back -- all the way back to microfilm -- and found the evidence. In 1955, for example, there were 162 men and women arrested on charges of disorderly conduct at the Pepper Hill Club on North Gay Street in "the largest night-club raid ever made in Baltimore," after male patrons among the club's largely gay clientele were seen kissing each other.
FEATURES
By Kevin Rector, The Baltimore Sun | May 14, 2013
Organizers of this year's Baltimore Pride celebration have chosen Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake to serve as grand marshal in recognition of her support for the gay community. The GLBT Community Center of Baltimore and Central Maryland is hosting the annual parade and block party in Mount Vernon and the festival at Druid Hill Park - the largest gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender gathering in the state - on June 15 and 16. "Mayor Rawlings-Blake's commitment to the LGBT community has been undoubtedly one of the best records in Maryland and for the City of Baltimore," the center said Tuesday in a statement.
NEWS
By Justin Fenton, The Baltimore Sun | January 9, 2013
Baltimore police have charged a man in the Christmas Day beating of Kenni Shaw, though it was not announced for several days as the city's gay community remained on edge amid fears of violence. Shaw says he was attacked because he is gay, though police have not suggested a motive in the case. The beating, illustrated by images taken in the hospital of his badly swollen face, helped spur a rally Saturday in East Baltimore that included Police Commissioner Anthony W. Batts. Records show Marcus Evans, 26, was picked up two days before the rally on a warrant filed Dec. 29. When asked about the case the day of the rally, police said it remained under investigation.
NEWS
March 13, 2012
I was amazed and appalled that nowhere in your article on the rise in HIV infection among African-American women do you mention the need to use condoms to prevent the spread of the disease ("Black women in city infected with HIV at higher rate than national average," March 8). The idea that women should ensure their partners have been tested is good, but between the time of the test and intercourse, the individual could have been exposed. The idea of being "particular" about the type of man you date is nice but not safe.
NEWS
By Lori W. Hollander | August 25, 2011
A state delegate from Virginia recently wrote on this page that "Sexual orientation is not limited to same- or complementary-sex attractions but includes attractions to children, prostitutes, multiple wives (polygamy), dead persons (necrophilia), animals, inanimate objects and others that could not printed in the Baltimore Sun out of deference to readers. " Not only is this statement erroneous and misleading, it demonstrates a reckless disregard for the gay community. As licensed marriage and relationship therapists in practice with straight and gay couples for 23 years, my husband and I have seen firsthand the relationships of gay and lesbian couples.
NEWS
February 23, 2011
It constantly amazes me what liberals find important. Unemployment is over 9 percent, the budget deficit is at a record high, states across the country are in fiscal disarray, gas prices have risen 75 percent since President Obama took office, and the Middle East is engulfed in political turmoil. Yet with all these nightmare scenarios, Martin O'Malley and the legislature want us to focus on gay marriage . Are they kidding? Less than a year ago, representatives of the so-called "gay" community sat down with the Maryland legislature to discuss "civil unions.