MASALA Mela gets political
Originally this year's Massachusetts Area South Asian Lambda Association (MASALA) Mela, an annual party celebrating the local South Asian LGBT community, was conceived as purely a night of dancing, socializing, performances and tasty food, as it has been in the previous four years that the event has been held at Machine nightclub. But Amit Dixit, a MASALA steering committee member, said in the past few weeks the committee decided that this year's event would be more overtly political.
MassResistance petitioners spotted at Burlington Mall
MassResistance, the anti-gay group based out of Waltham, has until Oct. 15 to collect 33,297 signatures to try to overturn the legislature's repeal of the 1913 law, but in the months since they have begun collecting signatures <i>Bay Windows</i> had received no reports of sightings of petition gatherers out collecting signatures until this week, when a tip was received from a Quincy man who said he encountered three people gathering signatures for the 1913 law petition at the Burlington Mall in Burlington the afternoon of Oct. 4.
Startling images
Ten years ago Matthew Shepard's murder caught the attention of the mainstream media and the public in a way that no anti-LGBT hate crime had done before or since, but it also accomplished another feat: it touched a chord in pop culture and the arts and led to a wave of plays, films, songs, poems, and other creative works, many aimed at mainstream audiences, that depicted his death and grappled with what it meant for American society.
Coma chameleons
Naming your band for a song by one of your idols automatically raises listener expectations, but for Girl In A Coma, when the idols in question are the infamous and legendary The Smiths, there's a lot to live up to. With their debut record "Both Before I'm Gone", released last year on Blackheart Records (started by another music legend, Joan Jett), sisters Nina (vocals/guitar) and Phanie Diaz (drums) alongside bassist Jenn Alva, placed those legendary influences on their sleeves.
The Bird and The Bee get bizzy
Maybe it was the trimmed down, bare bones set-up, maybe it was the band's infectious arrangements of dance infused indie-pop - heck, that cover of Hall & Oates classic "I Can't Go for That (No Can Do)" didn't hurt either - but ultimately, what The Bird and The Bee showed to the small crowd inside Great Scott on Sept. 28, making music can be a shitload of fun.
Attackers plead guilty in Lowell trans-bashing
Three men charged with assaulting a transgender woman in Lowell in June 2007 pled guilty this week to charges of assault and battery for purpose of intimidation due to sexual orientation and civil rights violations. Middlesex District Attorney Gerry Leone's office had urged Superior Court Judge James Lemire to sentence each of the men to one year in prison, but the judge instead sentenced each of the men, Jonathan Artis, Jules Ruggs, and Jeffrey Buchanan, all 20 years old and all from Lowell, to two years probation, 50 hours of community service, and diversity training.
Dialing for equalilty
For those hoping to have an impact on the presidential race and on the effort to protect marriage equality both at home and in California, MassEquality's offices will be one-stop shopping. From now until Election Day, Nov. 4, MassEquality will be holding marathon phone-banking sessions six days a week at its Beacon Street headquarters.
MMTPC, MassEquality call on LGBT orgs to oppose Question 1
In 2007 the LGBT community and its allies succeeded in preventing a ballot question to end same-sex marriage from reaching this year's ballot. Now there's another question on the upcoming ballot that's making Gunner Scott nervous. Scott, executive director of the Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition (MTPC), is working to organize a coalition of LGBT organizations to formally oppose Question 1, which would eliminate the state income tax and lead to an estimated $12 billion cut to the state budget.
Obituary: James E. Fritz
James E. Fritz, PhD, 62, formerly of Cass City, Mich., died unexpectedly June 4, 2008 at home. He was born July 27, 1945.
Rushing encourages support for transgender, intersex community
State Rep. Byron Rushing told the attendees at Greater Boston PFLAG's annual meeting Sept. 25 that with marriage equality secure in Massachusetts the community and its allies need to turn their attention to helping other communities that are lacking in basic civil rights, including the transgender and intersex communities.
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