Out in America Features» advocate

Senate Confirms Openly Lesbian Judge to Federal Bench

OIA Staff — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 16:54:43 +0000

The Senate confirmed Obama nominee for the federal bench Alison Nathan on Oct. 13 in a closely divided vote of 48-44. Nathan’s confirmation marks the second out of four openly gay or lesbian nominees for federal judgeship the president has nominated, following J. Paul Oetken’s confirmation in July , noted Advocate.com on Oct. via. Read [...]

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ENDA’s Absence

OIA Staff — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 13:48:35 +0000

It wasn’t supposed to be like this for the Employment Non-Discrimination Act. As the members of Congress put in place the final priorities for the lame-duck session of the 111th Congress, nary a word has been heard about the bill – the longest-standing piece of legislation, in one form or another, sought by LGBT advocates. [...]

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Carrie Fisher Admits John Travolta Is Gay

OIA Staff — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 13:41:01 +0000

Like this juicy tidbit. It’s been rumored since the 80’s that John Travolta was gay, but his legal team and his church (Scientology) have worked very hard to keep the rumors to minimum. But apparently Carrie Fisher cares not about being sued or attacked by aliens because she publicly outed her buddy John Travolta in the [...]

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Interview: Carol Channing Talks LGBT, Career & Causes – dot429

OIA Staff — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 17:25:36 +0000

dot429 Exclusive For decades, Carol Channing has entertained audiences with her outrageous personality and one-of-a-kind voice. With her 90th birthday around the corner, the famed actress sat down with dot429 to discuss her secrets to success, views on LGBT affairs, and how celebrity has changed over the years. With one of the longest and most [...]

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Australian Hunk Ryan Kwanten Says He Has A Gay Brother

OIA Staff — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 17:01:19 +0000

Australian actor Ryan Kwanten, star in the hit HBO series True Blood as Jason Stackhouse, revealed that he has a gay brother. Kwanten made the revelation in an interview with The Advocate, a magazine in the United States. Kwanten tells The Advocate: “My youngest brother, Lloyd, is gay. He was probably about 18 when he came out, [...]

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Dept of Justice to Appeal DOMA Rulings

OIA Staff — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 15:35:08 +0000

Today, the Department of Justice filed a notice of appeal in the case of Gill v. Office of Personnel Management, the challenge brought by Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD) to Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). Representing seven married same-sex couples and three widowers, GLAD filed Gill in March 2009. [...]

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James Franco Sets Record Straight – He’s Not Gay

OIA Staff — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 13:26:16 +0000

James Franco is doing some profiling, on himself. For the record, he’s not gay – or bisexual, or high. “Everyone thinks I’m a stoner, and some people think I’m gay because I’ve played these gay roles,” the actor, 32, tells the Advocate magazine in its October issue. “That’s what people think, but it’s not true. [...]

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Lady Gaga Denounces Arizona Immigration Law

OIA Staff — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 17:26:06 +0000

Lady Gaga denounced the new immigration law in Arizona when she took the stage in Phoenix for her Monster Ball tour Saturday. The pop icon stopped short of calling for a boycott of the state, saying that it was preferable to “peaceably protest” the controversial measure, which includes harsh penalties against illegal immigration. VIA. Read [...]

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White House to meet gay military veterans

OIA Staff — Wed, 05 May 2010 14:57:55 +0000

Hundreds of openly gay military veterans are scheduled to lobby White House officials in an effort to repeal the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, according to a report in the Advocate. The vets will gather next Monday at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in the White House compound in a meeting arranged by Servicemembers United. [...]

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Activist Harry Wieder fatally struck by yellow cab

OIA Staff — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 16:21:31 +0000

A colorful dwarf activist for gay rights and issues affecting the disabled as well as a transportation advocate was hit and killed by a taxi late last night as he left a community board meeting on the Lower East Side, authorities said. “We had all just left the meeting and his car was parked across [...]

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Lutheran Church Abolishes Antigay Policies

OIA Staff — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 18:25:22 +0000

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America voted without dissent recently to abolish all antigay policies, effective immediately. The Rev. Dr. Cindi Love reports on the welcome change at the Huffington Post. After twenty-five years of deliberation, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Church Council has abolished its anti-gay policies, effective immediately. Following from discussions [...]

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Cyndi Lauper to Open Shelter for LGBT Youth

OIA Staff — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 14:48:55 +0000

Pop singer and Celebrity Apprentice Cyndi Lauper is planning on opening a shelter in New York for LGBT young people. Lauper, who campaigns for equality and has been an advocate with her True Colors Fund, says the shelter in Harlem will be called True Colors Residence. Her plan is to support people between the ages [...]

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Former Advocate Publisher Michael Phelps Dead at 45

OIA Staff — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 13:59:24 +0000

Michael Phelps, who started at The Advocate in 1996 and worked up the ranks to become publisher before being let go from the magazine, was found dead in his Los Angeles home Wednesday. He was 45. The cause of death is unknown. [ via Queerty ] Read the full article @ Former Advocate Publisher Michael Phelps [...]

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Sarah Silverman Sticks to Gay Rights Marriage Vow

OIA Staff — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 16:29:03 +0000

Sarah Silverman tells The Advocate that she’s sticking to a vow she made in 2007 to not get married because gays can’t. “Not only that, but lately I’ve been really annoyed by any liberal person getting married who says they stand for gay rights. How can anyone in good conscience get married right now? How [...]

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Poltergeist Star and AIDS Activist Zelda Rubinstein dies at 76

John — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 17:19:06 +0000

Zelda Rubinstein, the diminutive character actress with the childlike voice who was best known as the psychic called in to rid a suburban home of demonic forces in the 1982 horror movie “Poltergeist,” has died. She was 76. Rubinstein, who also appeared as the mother figure in a high-profile mid-1980s public awareness campaign in Los [...]

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If Gays Serve Openly, Will Straights Want To?

OIA Staff — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 16:59:02 +0000

Stephen Vossler was an 18-year-old from a conservative Nebraska family when he joined the Army. So when he found out his first roommate was being kicked out of the service under the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” law — and soon afterward that his new best friend was secretly gay — he was stunned. Today, [...]

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The Not-So-Sudden Death of The Advocate

OIA Staff — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 17:26:30 +0000

In case you haven’t read the “official stories” or the gossip, Regent Media, the latest owner of The Advocate–once the national LGBT newsmagazine of record for America (41-years-old exactly!)–is reducing the publication to a 32-page mini-mag, taking it off the newsstands, and packaging it up with its “sister” publication, Out magazine. Subscribers will get a [...]

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True Blood Gets Gayer In Third Season!

OIA Staff — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 16:42:31 +0000

Bring it on!!! Everyone is LOVING True Blood and next season, writer-director Alan Ball is giving everyone even more juicy story lines to suck on! The big news for season 3 is the introduction of the much awaited homo-erotic vampire king of Mississippi. Alan sat down for an interview recently and discussed how the show [...]

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Straight spouses advocate same-sex marriage

OIA Staff — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 18:12:04 +0000

Of all the constituency groups that advocate allowing gay couples to wed, none is perhaps more counter-intuitive than the heterosexual spouses of gay men and lesbians. Yet as the issue plays out in the nation’s courtrooms and statehouses, some of the wives and husbands who learned that their partner was attracted to other women or [...]

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This Week in HIV/AIDS News

OIA Staff — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 16:40:26 +0000

Controversy Surrounds CDC’s Consideration Of Circumcision Guidelines A Chicago Tribune health column discusses recent findings indicating routine male circumcision could help prevent the spread of HIV, evidence which has “led both the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Academy of Pediatrics to consider issuing first-ever recommendations on routine circumcision of boys.” According [...]

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ABA, NEA Come Out for Gay Rights

OIA Staff — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 16:02:23 +0000

LGBT causes got a major boost last week when two large professional associations announced their support for same-sex marriage recognition. The National Education Association (NEA) and the American Bar Association (ABA) recently adopted resolutions supporting gay rights. [ Read the rest @ Advocate.com ] Read the full article @ ABA, NEA Come Out for Gay [...]

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No Hope?

OIA Staff — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 19:23:52 +0000

The GLBT community has become increasingly impatient with the perfomance of the Obama administration. In the September issue of the Advocate, they detail the history of Obama’s hope and promises to the gay community. “As a candidate Obama promised us a lot; as president he’s delivered very little — and many gay people are getting [...]

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Is Obama A Champion For Gay Americans?

OIA Staff — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 15:25:31 +0000

President Obama, who has come under harsh criticism from gay rights advocates for not yet acting on many campaign promises on gay issues, Monday afternoon said that his administration has made some progress on behalf of gay Americans and plans to do more. “I know that many in this room don’t believe that progress has [...]

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Census Bureau to Count Married Same-sex Couples in 2010 Census

OIA Staff — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 17:39:25 +0000

The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force applauds reports that the U.S. Census Bureau will count married same-sex couples in the 2010 census, reversing an earlier decision made under the Bush administration. Previously, same-sex couples only had the option of checking off “unmarried partner,” which will remain an option. The Task Force has played a [...]

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Statement on the Obama Administration’s Defense of the “Defense of Marriage Act” In the Smelt v. U.S. Case

OIA Staff — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 18:31:45 +0000

“We call on the President to send legislation repealing DOMA to Congress,” said HRC President Joe Solmonese WASHINGTON – The Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) civil rights organization, issued a statement today regarding the Obama Administration’s decision to defend the discriminatory Defense of Marriage Act in a lawsuit [...]

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Rachel Maddow Takes On Obama Over Gay Rights Lack Of Progress

OIA Staff — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 15:27:02 +0000

MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow Takes On President Obama Over Gay Rights Progress And His Claim He Is A “Fierce Advocate” Of Gay Rights And Interviews Congressman Rush Holt On Repealing “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” – 06/08/09 [ NewsPoliticsNews ] Read the full article @ Rachel Maddow Takes On Obama Over Gay Rights Lack Of Progress Read [...]

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This Week in HIV/AIDS News

OIA Staff — Thu, 21 May 2009 14:25:11 +0000

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This Week in HIV/AIDS News

OIA Staff — Fri, 15 May 2009 14:01:26 +0000

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Obama: Which Water Fountain Should Gays Use?

OIA Staff — Thu, 14 May 2009 17:44:22 +0000

We’re tired. Tired of the Obama administration backpedaling on promises it made to the gay community. Tired of pointing out the many ways the president is failing on equal rights. Tired of showing how Barack is not our buddy when we need him the most. After reneging on the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, [...]

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This Week in HIV/AIDS News

OIA Staff — Fri, 01 May 2009 13:04:33 +0000

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Right Sounds False Alarm On Hate Crimes Legislation

OIA Staff — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 19:48:54 +0000

Religious Right leaders’ portrayal of the hate crimes bill as an attack on religious liberty is false; it reflects a larger political strategy to portray equality advocates as enemies of faith and freedom Why the controversy over a hate crimes law? Hate crimes are violent attacks on people who are targeted because of who they [...]

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Lady GaGa’s Poker Face

OIA Staff — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 16:52:26 +0000

In the wee hours of Sunday morning, Lady GaGa took the stage at the 20th annual White Party in Palm Springs. While the boys went crazy for her, GaGa opened up about her recent chart-topping hit “Poker Face,” suggesting that the song is about bisexuality. Of the catchy dance anthem, GaGa explains that the song [...]

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