Win Tickets to the NYC GLAAD Media Awards Show on Facebook and Twitter
March 4, 2010 by GLAAD Blog
Are you interested in attending the 21st Annual GLAAD Media Awards show on Saturday, March 13 in New York City? GLAAD will be giving away two tickets to one of our Facebook fans and two tickets to one of our Twitter followers.
The 21st Annual GLAAD Media Awards, presented by IBM and Prudential, will be held March 13 at the Marriott Marquis with host Alan Cumming, Special Honorees Joy Behar and Cynthia Nixon and a performance from the Broadway cast of HAIR.
For tickets and nominees visit www.glaad.org. You can also check out the GLAAD Media Awards in Los Angeles on April 17 and in San Francisco on June 5.
Oscar-nominee Gabourey Sibide, Sigourney Weaver, Nigel Barker, Rosie Perez, Dustin Lance Black, Meredith Viera, Bryan Batt, Jill Zarin and more join GLAAD to honor stories that build understanding and acceptance of gay and transgender people.
The evening includes auction, dinner, and Awards show benefiting GLAAD’s work to share culture-changing stories and amplify the voices of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people to build support for LGBT equality.
Twitter Contest Rules
To enter the contest on Twitter, your tweet must include @glaad and the hashtag #GLAADMediaAwards.
- Follow @glaad on Twitter – twitter.com/glaad
- Tweet your answer to this question: Why do you want to attend the 21st Annual GLAAD Media Awards in New York City?
- Include @glaad and the hashtag #GLAADMediaAwards in your tweet!
- Tweet by noon Eastern Time on March 5th, 2010.
Facebook Contest Rules
- Become a fan of GLAAD’s Facebook page - facebook.com/GLAAD
- Comment on this post on GLAAD’s wall: “NYC Facebook fans – Win 2 tickets to the 21st Annual GLAAD Media Awards show in New York City on March 13th. Just comment on this post and tell us why you want to attend the GLAAD Media Awards in NYC on March 13th…”
- Answer the question in your comment: Why do you want to attend the 21st Annual GLAAD Media Awards in New York City?
- Comment by noon Eastern Time on March 5th, 2010.
GLAAD staff will review all and choose the most compelling answer. What is it about the mission of the GLAAD Media Awards that is important to you? Which honorees are you most excited about?
If you don’t win the tickets, be sure to buy your GLAAD Media Awards – New York tickets before ticket sales close on Monday, March 8, 2010 at 5 p.m. Purchase your tickets today and see which LGBT TV shows, movies, theatre and news stories win!
Please note that the Balcony Tickets do not include travel or transportation to/from the event in New York City.
Related Posts:A look Back at Black History Month: Famous Black LGBT Writers
In honor of Black History Month which wrapped up yesterday, GLAAD’s COAD Program recognized black LGBT writers who illuminated the black experience during pivotal eras in American history. While we know that there are countless talented pioneers, here are a few of those who have made significant contributions to the black arts movement, and who are emulated today through the work of other prolific writers, artists and activists.
Lorraine Hansberry (playwright) 
Lorraine Hansberry is best known for her play, A Raisin In The Sun, which tells the story of a working-class black family struggling with classism and racism during the 1950s in Chicago. The play was inspired by her father’s legal battle against racially segregated housing laws in the Washington Park subdivision of the South Side of Chicago. The Hansberry home was recently nominated as a Chicago landmark, and is pending review by city council.
Hansberry contributed to the black feminist and lesbian movement through her writing, which included articles published in The Ladder for the Daughters of Bilitis (DOB), the first lesbian rights organization. Hansberry joined DOB in 1957 and supported issues contingent to feminism and homophobia. Hansberry’s past works also include To Be Young, Gifted and Black and The Drinking Gourd.
“When you starts measuring somebody, measure him right…Make sure you done take into account what hills and valleys he come through before he got wherever he is.” – A Raisin In The Sun
E. Lynn Harris (author)
The black LGBT community lost author E. Lynn Harris too soon in 2009, who took a bold leap in the fiction genre by writing the first book series on black romance/drama featuring open and closeted gay male athletes. His first novel, Invisible Life, catapulted Harris’ career in 1994 and thereafter, he continued to write 10 New York Times bestsellers.
Born in Flint, Mich., and raised in Little Rock, Ark., Harris’ motivation to break new ground began at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville where he was the school’s first black yearbook editor, the first black male Razorbacks cheerleader, and the president of his fraternity. His work includes the memoir What Becomes of the Brokenhearted and the novels, A Love of My Own, Just as I Am, Any Way the Wind Blows, I Say a Little Prayer, If This World Were Mine, Just Too Good to Be True, and Basketball Jones. He died shortly before the release of his last novel, Mama Dearest, at the age of 54.
“I couldn’t believe it, but it felt so natural. It was the first time I had ever kissed a man. I had never felt a spasm of sexual attraction toward a man. Honest to God. But his kiss. I had never kissed anyone like this, not even Sela.” – Invisible Life
Sapphire (author and poet)
With the release of Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire, author and performance poet Sapphire emerged on the scene quietly, yet unrelenting. The film is a complex and gritty tale told in the words of Clareece ‘Precious’ Jones, a 16-year old who has suffered sexual and emotional abuse from her mother and father, but finds salvation from her teacher through writing and learning to read at the same time. Sapphire’s career as an educator and social worker during 1980s Harlem and the Bronx inspired her to construct a story that is an interwoven piece depicting the real-life socioeconomic struggles her students confronted. The film continues to be a staggering success: actresses Mo’Nique and Gabourey Sidibe were both nominated for Golden Globes and Academy Awards for their roles in the film; and the 21st annual GLAAD Media Awards also recognized the cast in its “Outstanding Film” category.
Sapphire is also an acclaimed poet and has been a part of the black lesbian arts movement since the 1970s. She is a former member of United Lesbians of Color for Change, Inc., and self-published a collection of poems, titled “Meditations on the Rainbow” in 1987.
“Ms Rain tell me I don’t like homosexuals she guess I don’t like her ’cause she one…Ms Rain say homos not who rape me, not homos who let me sit up not learn for sixteen years, not homos who sell crack … It’s true. Ms Rain the one who put the chalk in my hand, make me queen of the ABCs.” – PUSH
Langston Hughes (poet, playwright and author)
One of the Harlem Renaissance’s greatest writers, Langston Hughes delivered the African-American experience with colorful diction through jazz and folk poetry. His engagement with jazz music produced some of his greatest works, including “Montage on a Dream Deferred.” Depicting the black aesthetic was the highlight of Hughes’ career along with his entourage, which included Zora Neale Hurston, Wallace Thurman, Claude McKay, Countee Cullen, Richard Bruce Nugent, and Aaron Douglas, all of whom collectively created the quarterly magazine, “Fire!! Devoted to Younger Negro Artists.”
Hughes gained popularity with the younger black generation because of his bold efforts to speak against racial inequalities during a time period when blacks suffered at the hands of white supremacy with no remorse. Here is a quote from his article, “The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain” published in The Nation in 1926 that exemplifies his contempt of hatred from whites and his intolerance for blacks who presumed that Hughes’ was an elitist:
“The younger Negro artists who create now intend to express our individual dark-skinned selves without fear or shame. If white people are pleased we are glad. If they are not, it doesn’t matter. We know we are beautiful. And ugly, too. The tom-tom cries, and the tom-tom laughs. If colored people are pleased we are glad. If they are not, their displeasure doesn’t matter either. We build our temples for tomorrow, strong as we know how, and we stand on top of the mountain free within ourselves.”
Staceyann Chin (poet and author)
Fifteen years ago, spoken word poet and author Staceyann Chin moved to Brooklyn, N.Y., to free herself of a constricted life in Jamaica and has since evolved into a brazen political activist for the LGBT community. In her new memoir, The Other Side of Paradise, Chin delivers poignant details about her identity crisis as a child after her Chinese father blatantly disowned her, and the threats on her life from the men in her hometown in Jamaica because she refused to be a closeted lesbian.
Chin was featured on HBO’s Russell Simmons Presents: Def Poetry Jam, and included as a cast member for the Tony-award winning Broadway production of the show. Her essays and feature stories have been published in the New York Times, Essence, and the Washington Post. She has also coordinated media campaigns with national organizations, including GLAAD, to speak out against anti-gay lyrics from Jamaican reggae artists.
“I am only poison when you seal me in a transparent coffin.” – Stain Me a New Heart
Audre Lorde (poet and author)
Audre Lorde’s perception of herself was multi-faceted: “black, lesbian, mother, warrior, poet.” As a black feminist, she recognized the lack of inclusiveness for black women within the larger “white-led” feminist movement and challenged her colleagues to address the fact that racism and classism prevailed. As a lesbian, she surrendered a large portion of her essays, poetry and activism to liberate the LGBT movement, and became the voice of reason by tackling the issue of sexual fluidity.
In 1994, two years after her death, the Audre Lorde Project was founded in 1994 in Brooklyn, N.Y. The organization’s centralized work includes community organizing and radical non-violent activism for LGBT people of color, and is a testament to Lorde’s activism in the gay community in Greenwich Village.
“…But I, who am bound by my mirror as well as my bed, see causes in color as well as sex, and sit here wondering which me will survive all these liberations.” – Who Said It Was Simple
Octavia E. Butler (author)
Octavia E. Butler is well-known for her science fiction writing, which included ambiguous themes around race and sexuality. She was raised by her mother and father, who worked as a maid and shoeshiner, respectively. At the age of 12, Butler’s writing began to blossom after taking an interest in sci-fi films. To date, she is the only science fiction writer to receive one of the genius grants from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.
Butler continued to explore other fictional genres, while still encompassing themes around identity. Her last novel, Fledgling, was published in 2005 and received critical acclaims from the Washington Post and The Seattle Times.
“I think people really need to think what it’s like to have all of society arrayed against you.” – Butler’s response to the vision behind her novel, Kindred
James Baldwin (author and playwright)
James Baldwin’s legacy has inspired many American novelists and he is well-cited for his accomplishments in the black arts, civil rights and LGBT movements. Baldwin attended The New School in New York and resided in Greenwich Village. Disheartened by the prejudices against blacks and LGBT people, he decided to move to Paris, France. During this time as an expatriate, Baldwin’s work was published in literary anthologies and he worked alongside mentor Richard Wright to ultimately publish a collection of essays on Wright’s Native Son. His first novel, Go Tell It on the Mountain, was published in 1953, but it was Baldwin’s second novel, Giovanni’s Room, that pushed the envelope with critics because of its homoerotic content.
Baldwin continued to write other novels that echoed his tormented life as a black gay man in Another Country and Tell Me How Long the Train’s Been Gone. His life and work continues to be celebrated through organizations such as the National James Baldwin Literary Society, and outreach services including Hampshire College’s James Baldwin Scholars program.
“I love America more than any other country in this world, and, exactly for this reason, I insist on the right to criticize her perpetually.” – Baldwin
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A Conversation With…E. Patrick Johnson, author of “Sweet Tea: Black Gay Men of the South – An Oral History”
February 17, 2010 by Stephanie Barnes, GLAAD's Communities of African Descent (COAD) Media Intern
In black Southern culture, a strong family unit is the premise for nurturing, growth and success. However, like any family, there are secrets and sometimes an unspoken pact that these secrets are never to be discussed. But author and Northwestern professor, E. Patrick Johnson recognized another subset of the black family unit, some of whom are pillars of respect in their communities. A deacon, a hairdresser and a transgender woman are just a few of the subjects Johnson interviewed for his book, Sweet Tea: Black Gay Men of the South – An Oral History.
Johnson edited a series of narratives between 2004-2006 from black gay men born and raised in the South, and who have continued to live there, either closeted or openly. He is currently on tour for “Pouring Tea: Black Gay Men of the South Tell Their Tales,” a one-man performance based on the narratives of Sweet Tea.
Johnson spoke to GLAAD’s Stephanie Barnes about his personal experiences growing up in rural North Carolina and the paradigm the narratives provide—validating self, exploring self-love and hate, family and the beloved South.
GLAAD: What are some of the stories in “Sweet Tea” that still resonate with you and have become an intricate part of your life?
EPJ: I relate to stories about how people ca
me out to their families, the reactions that their families had, to the euphemisms people in the South use for gayness, and their relationships to the geography of the South. One of the things that make growing up in the South different from the North is that you play outside in the yard, field or garden. And that really shaped how people explored their sexuality. For instance, a number of men talk about being in an open field and finding places to experiment. It was in the country, so you weren’t under the watchful eye of an adult, and it provided opportunities to explore your sexuality that northern urban places don’t allow you to do. So, I definitely can relate to that and of course religion.
How big of an impact did religion have on their sexuality and were some of them forthcoming about it in their churches?
EPJ: I think black churches are complicated because some are homophobic, explicitly and implicitly. On the other hand, the church is a place where black gay people can find community and explore their sexuality. One of the people I interviewed said, “It’s not the Army where you can ‘be all you can be’ – it’s the church” [laughs]. Church folk will give you your props. Especially to children. You can be the worst singer ever, but if you’re standing up in front of the church, they’re going to encourage you to, “Sing baby!” For a little gay boy who’s doing that and being supported, that’s a way for him to express his sexuality. There’s flexibility in performing to express your sexuality. That was certainly my experience when I was soprano – singing with all the little girls and I would wear my robe, twirling down the aisle and leading the song.
A lot of men have also said that even though their churches may be homophobic, they go to have a communion with God. So, they’re not concerned about what the church members think about them. Or even the pastor. They want to have a personal relationship with God and they separate God from the church.
Why do you think the men you interviewed have this unyielding loyalty to the South and religion? And, why did they choose to remain in the South, especially for those who’ve dealt with extreme cases of homophobia?
EPJ: For some of them, it was about not being able to leave the South for economic reasons. Some of these men are working class. Their families depend on them and vice versa. Leaving was not necessarily an option. For others, it was privileging one’s race and family over one’s sexuality. Or, it was about not wanting to disappoint their family so they tried to conform to what their families felt they should be, which was straight. And some said “to hell” with their families and they chose not to have a relationship with them.
As far as the church goes, I try to explain it to people this way: Imagine going to church from conception until you’re an adult [laughs]. I talk about going to church while in my mother’s womb and experiencing “gospel comas.” When you’re born into the church and grow up in the church, that’s the center of your community and your family. Later, when you start to come into your sexuality, you can’t just turn off or turn away from it. It takes some negotiating.
I think we sometimes seek out homogenous ideologies and we forget that we all have different cultural backgrounds and experiences as black gay people. What do you think are some of the issues that are unique to the black LGBT community?
EPJ: I’ve been thinking a lot about the acronym “LGBT” because that “T” is often silent. And the “B” is often silent. We have a lot of work to do in our own community around discrimination of folks in our group. There’s femme phobia, transphobia, biphobia and we need to work on that because we can’t ask people outside of our community to accept us until we accept us.
Our history as black folk, regardless of our gender and sexual identity, makes us different. We have experienced our race alongside those identities. Within the black LGBT community, we have discrimination and we also deal with discrimination with the black community. Religion also plays a huge part in this. But, I never buy into the ideology that black people are more homophobic. Homophobia is simply homophobia.
You also mentioned in your book that while growing up, you felt the need to overcompensate in other areas of your life because you weren’t comfortable with being gay. Do you still feel that pressure now as an adult?
EPJ: I don’t, but it took a while for me to work through that. I would be lying if I said I don’t feel some sort of claustrophobia when I go home. Everybody knows that I’m gay, but it’s something about being in that home context that takes me back to this different place in my life and I do still work through that. I’m actually going back to do a reading of Sweet Tea in my hometown library in the black neighborhood. There’s a circle of older black women who are reading or have already read Sweet Tea, which I think is so cool.
Being gay has been peripheral to the other accomplishments I’ve made over the course of my life. I think some people wish I wasn’t gay, but they’ve never expressed that to me or to my family, and it hasn’t diminished their pride in one of their own.
Watch a preview of E. Patrick Johnson performing “Pouring Tea: Black Gay Men of the South Tell Their Tales”:
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Share Your Love Story This Valentine’s Day
February 12, 2010 by GLAAD Blog
Who do you love?
This Valentine’s Day, share your love and your story with GLAAD. Tell us who you love in the comments below. Remember words and images matter, so take a moment to share your love story.
Singer/songwriter Candice Anitra made this video sharing important love stories and asked GLAAD to share it with our community. Watch it now!
Happy Valentine’s Day from GLAAD!
Help us continue to amplify your voices. Make a donation today.
Download Candice Anitra’s song on iTunes.
Please view our resource kit for journalists writing about LGBT people on Valentine’s Day.
Remember, tell us who you love in the comments below!
Related Posts:Communities of African Descent (COAD) News Buzz
February 11, 2010 by Stephanie Barnes, GLAAD's Communities of African Descent (COAD) Media Intern
Here’s a look at some COAD-related stories in the media:
Playwright Lorraine Hansberry’s House Nominated for Chicago Landmark
The Chicago Tribune reported that the home of Black Renaissance writer Lorraine Hansberry has been nominated for landmark status in Woodlawn, Ill. Three years ago, a teacher, parents and students from Amelia Earhart Elementary School on Chicago’s South Side decided to nominate the house through city council after the students studied the Hansberry family’s turbulent case involving racial segregation for their history projects. The house will join the ranks of the George Cleveland Hall Branch Library, Richard Wright House and Gwendolyn Brooks House, which are now historically significant properties that are part of the city’s Black Renaissance Literary Movement of the 1930s through 1950s. They reported:
“The teacher, Stacy Stewart, says the students were struck by the family’s courage and how their challenge of discriminatory housing practices paved the way for integrated neighborhoods. She said they believed the home’s history needs to be remembered and studied by others.
‘The house is a symbol that anything is possible in America,’ said student Ishmael Smith, who is now a junior at Mount Carmel High School on the South Side.
The house’s current owner could not be reached for comment. The owner did not sign a consent form for landmark status and did not attend a hearing on the issue, but owner consent is not required for landmark designation. Before the Hansberry court ruling, African-Americans in the city were restricted to living in what was known as the ‘Black Belt,’ congested, impoverished neighborhoods on the South Side, said Tim Black, a historian and former professor at the City Colleges of Chicago, who knew the Hansberry family.”
LGBT People of Color Need More Than Health Insurance
In light of the health care debate that will ultimately affect all Americans, new research from the Center for American Progress 
shows that LGBT people of color have needs and challenges that are different from the rest of the population. The Root reports that risks involving diabetes and not receiving mammograms are just a few of the issues that must be uniquely addressed, particularly for African-American lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. The article suggests possible solutions, including adding questions to health data to include sexual orientation and gender identity which could possibly provide researchers with information to better identify the health care needs of LGBT people of color.
Research also shows that the elderly are also significantly affected. Lack of health insurance, comprehensive health care and the potential threat of harassment and discrimination from health care providers and nursing homes are just a few of the challenges this demographic faces. And, because data collection is sparse, it is difficult to understand why and how cultural competency is vital in serving the health care needs of this underrepesented segment of the population.
Reporter Jeff Krehely writes:
“For example, lesbian and bisexual black women are the least likely to have had a mammogram in the past two years. Only 35 percent of these women have had mammograms recently, compared to nearly 70 percent of heterosexual African-American, Asian or Pacific Islander, or white women. One out of every five lesbian/gay/bisexual African-American adults has diabetes. Straight African-American and straight, lesbian, gay or bisexual Asian or Pacific Islander, Latino, and white adults are much less likely to have diabetes—fewer than 8 percent of these populations have been diagnosed with the disease.
Mental health needs are also a concern. For example, lesbian/gay/bisexual Asian or Pacific Islander adults are more likely than other groups to report experiencing psychological distress. Lesbian/gay/bisexual Latinos are similarly much more likely than all other racial or ethnic groups—gay or straight—to report problems with alcohol abuse and addiction.”
He offers these possible solutions:
“A clear first step to improve health treatment for LGBT racial and ethnic minorities is building the medical community’s knowledge of their unique needs. Unfortunately, no national government health survey regularly asks about a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity. The federal government already collects health data based on race and ethnicity, and adding questions on sexual orientation and gender identity would provide researchers with this much-needed information to better identify the health care needs of LGBT people of color. In turn, advocates could then fight for programs and funding that better and more competently serve this population. Medical schools and other institutions could also incorporate this information into their curricula and training programs to prepare future practitioners to treat and care for these patients.”
Read the piece in its entirety here.
AOL Black Voices Spotlights Gay Couple in Online Feature
Damien Ramsey and Seanmichael Rodgers are the epitome of a unique black love story that has gone largely untold. AOL Black Voices interviewed the couple in “Damien and Seanmichael: An Untold Love Story.” The couple has been in a committed relationship for three years and and are engaged to be married this spring in New York City. Ramsey, a singer/songwriter, and Rodgers, a producer/vocal coach, said the secret to their love is simple.
Darian Aaron writes:
“‘It’s like falling in love again every week,’ says Damien, ’sometimes for the same reasons and sometimes for new ones. We take these days seriously because it allows us the time to stay fresh and revisit one another and the reasons why we love each other the way that we do,’ he added.
Those reasons were made perfectly clear during Seanmichael’s traditional ‘down-on-one-knee’ proposal along with an ageless silver ring with diamonds inscribed with roman numerals from Tiffanys.
‘I am in love with you for many reasons. For the rhythms that only our two hearts can beat, for the strengths you show in my weaknesses, for the passion that burns every time you kiss me, and for the joy you give me everyday. I want to give you the depth and the shallow of me with all transparency. I want to love you through this eternity into the next.’
It’s been said that black men loving each other is a revolutionary act, given the pervasive homophobia that exists in American culture and the black community . The fear of losing the support of family and friends, a vital element to the success of black unions can become a major hindrance for a black same gender loving couple. But even with support of family and friends, it is still no guarantee of a successful relationship when both partners are of the same sex.”
Watch their video: “Coupled Up”
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GLAAD President Featured in My Latino Voice/Presidente de GLAAD Fue Destacado por My Latino Voice
February 11, 2010 by Monica Trasandes, GLAAD's Director of Spanish Language Media
GLAAD President Featured in My Latino Voice
GLAAD President Jarrett Barrios was recently a featured voice on the web site myalatinovoice.com. Jarrett discusses his work at GLAAD, his family life and the factors that influenced him to attend Harvard, law school and then to run for the senate in Massachusetts. Get to know our president better by visiting the site at:
Presidente de GLAAD Fue Destacado por My Latino Voice
El presidente de GLAAD Jarrett Barrios ha sido destacado como una personalidad importante en el sitio de mylatinovoice.com. En la entrevista, Jarrett nos habla sobre su trabajo en GLAAD, su vida familiar, y los factores que influyeron a que asista a la Universidad de Harvard, luego a la facultad de derecho, y finalmente de entrar a la política y convertirse en senador estatal en Massachusetts. Para conocer mejor a nuestro presidente, visite al sitio: http://mylatinovoice.com/featured-voices/27-features/1513-jarrett-barrios-president-of-glaad-chats-with-my-latino-voice.html
Related Posts:GLAAD Helps Promote New Jersey Based HIV Awareness Campaign
February 3, 2010 by Stephanie Barnes, GLAAD's Communities of African Descent (COAD) Media Intern
On Feb. 4, the African American Office of Gay Concerns (AAOGC) and Newark’s LGBTQ Commission will launch “Status Is Everything,” an HIV/STD testing and prevention social marketing campaign that aims to reach African-American gay men in Newark, N.J., and the greater Newark area. This is the first HIV prevention social marketing campaign in New Jersey to use text messaging to provide 24-hour instant access to Newark-based testing centers by texting to 36363 with “NJ” and a zip code (i.e., “NJ07102”).
The full-day event will include: a continental breakfast with AAOGC staff and key campaign spokespeople; a press conference with Mayor Cory A. Booker, President Mildred Crump of Newark’s Municipal Council and representatives from partnering HIV testing centers; mock HIV testing sessions for media opportunities; and a LGBTQ community social mixer.
AAOGC teamed with marketing firm FEMWORKS to design StatusIsEverything.org, which includes PSAs of local African-American gay men discussing their personal stories and speaking out about why getting tested is key. They have also worked to create a social media presence on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Causecast; and large-scale movie theater and outdoor advertising in the greater Newark area.
GLAAD worked with FEMWORKS to pitch the launch of this much-needed campaign to the media in hopes of raising awareness around the growing HIV rates among gay black and bisexual men. Kimberlee Williams, marketing director of FEMWORKS, spoke to GLAAD about why this campaign is crucial to the health and morale of Newark’s African-American gay community:
“This campaign came with a bundle of stories. When AAOGC approached FEMWORKS, they presented statistics and the results from five focus groups conducted by Rutgers University. The focus groups included in-depth conversations with Newark-based African-American gay men from various socioeconomic backgrounds and age groups. We learned that these young men are afraid to get tested alone. They are afraid of finding out that they may have HIV and possibly dying. And most importantly, they are afraid to approach the conversation directly. With the focus group data as our basis, we created a new media-driven campaign that was sensitive to those issues, and would motivate African-American gay men to get tested for HIV.”
She continues:
“Newark is the epicenter of new contractions of HIV and it is hitting the African-American community the hardest. This campaign targets African-American gay men because that is the mission of the AAOGC, but HIV is increasingly affecting African-American women as well. The existence of ‘Status Is Everything’ sounds the alarm that the African-American community must be especially targeted, and that is a void that this campaign is trying to fill. Hopefully, ‘Status’ will serve as a catalyst for other municipal departments of health across the state of New Jersey to focus on the epidemic that is ravaging the African-American community.”
“Status Is Everything’s” launch also precedes National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day (NBHAAD), held on Feb. 7. NBHAAD was founded by five national black organizations in 1999 (Concerned Black Men, Inc. of Philadelphia; Health Watch Information and Promotion Services, Inc.; Jackson State University – Mississippi Urban Research Center; National Black Alcoholism and Addictions Council; and the National Black Leadership Commission on AIDS), and is funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The four objectives of NBHAAD are education, testing, involvement and treatment, all of which are designed to better serve African-Americans and members of the African Diaspora.
In honor of NBHAAD, several testing sites and non-profit organizations in Newark will have a full day of events including candlelight vigils, health fairs, testing services, testimonials and performances/skits. For more information, please visit NBHAAD online.
GLAAD recognizes the distinguished efforts of the African American Office of Gay Concerns, LGBTQ Commission and other HIV/AIDS testing and prevention sites in Newark, N.J. GLAAD also looks forward to future collaborations with these organizations.
For more information about AAOGC or Status Is Everything, please visit www.AAOGC.org or www.StatusIsEverything.org.
View a “Status Is Everything” PSA below:
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Civil Rights Icon Julian Bond Discusses Race and LGBT Equality on “In The Life”
February 2, 2010 by Stephanie Barnes, GLAAD's Communities of African Descent (COAD) Media Intern
NAACP Chairman and civil rights icon Julian Bond will be featured on a 15-minute segment of “In The Life Presents: Best of a Conversation With …”, airing on Tuesday, Feb. 2. Bond sits down with Jonathan Capehart, editorial writer for the Washington Post to discuss his successful career tenure with the NAACP and the push for LGBT rights, including marriage equality.
Bond’s persistence to speak in favor of LGBT equality has been criticized by some black activists because of his comparison of anti-gay sentiments to racist overtures that were endured by blacks during the civil rights movement. In 2009, he testified before New Jersey’s Senate Judiciary Committee on marriage equality, stating:
“Black people, of all people, should not oppose equality. And that is what gay marriage represents. It does not matter the rationale – religious, cultural, pseudo-scientific. No people of good will should oppose marriage equality. And they should not think civil unions are a substitute. At best, civil unions are separate but equal. And we all know separate is never equal.”
He continues:
“It’s not that these movements are taking from us because the black movement took from other movements before us.
We took from the labor movement. And I never heard anyone from the labor movement complaining about this. We ought to be proud of this and say, ‘Look what we did. We created a model that other people are following.’”
Bond has traveled around the country to advocate against anti-marriage equality amendments in multiple states. His most notable work with national LGBT organizations includes guest speaking at the Creating Change conference in Dallas and the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) gala in Los Angeles. In 2009, Bond and California NAACP Chairwoman Alice Huffman became co-chairs of the LGBT Equality Task Force, which is the result of a combined partnership with the NAACP and the National Black Justice Coalition.
GLAAD continues to applaud this spectacular news program, which highlights pressing issues facing the LGBT community through captivating interviews with pioneers of the LGBT movement. For airtimes on your local PBS affiliate, visit In the Life’s official website. View the trailer below:
About In The Life:
In The Life Media produces media that produces change for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender communities. In an era of sound bite news, inch-deep celebrity profiles and reality shows, our public television series, IN THE LIFE, documents the full range of the gay experience and the issues that impact our lives and our communities through stories on politics and public policy, personal and community health, religion and spirituality, and more. (Source: In The Life)
Related Posts:What to Watch: This Weekend (January 29-31)
January 29, 2010 by Lauren Mattia, GLAAD's Entertainment/Advertising Media Fellow
Zoe has an existential crisis this week on Caprica, Bill’s dreams of a political career may not come true on Big Love, and Rosie O’Donnell’s new documentary premieres on HBO!
Friday, January 29
9:00 pm Caprica, SyFy (1 hr) NEW
Zoe’s avatar has trouble with a new existence inside a robot’s body, while the Graystones and the Adamas try to deal with their recent loss. Lacy has dinner with Sister Clarice, and Will hangs out with his uncle.
Spartacus is enslaved this week on Spartacus: Blood and Sand.
10:00 pm Spartacus: Blood and Sand, Starz (1 hr) NEW
An enslaved Spartacus is sent to gladiator school, where he butts heads with Crixus and gets whipped into shape (literally) by Doctore. Meanwhile, Spartacus’ owner Batiatus makes him an interesting offer.
10:00 pm Shameless, Sundance (1 hr) NEW
Jamie’s old cellmate pays him a visit, and Karen does her best to keep him out of trouble.
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Saturday, January 30
11:00 pm The Wanda Sykes Show, Fox (1 hr) NEW
Move over Leno! The queen of funny is taking over with her own late night talk show! Don’t miss Wanda comment on everything from news, politics, sports, and pop culture mixed with field pieces, comedy segments, and panel discussions.
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Rosie's new documentary about LGBT families premieres Sunday on HBO
Sunday, January 31
7:00 pm A Family is a Family is a Family: A Rosie O’Donnell Celebration, HBO (1 hr) NEW
What is a family? This documentary is a portrait of diverse, stereotype-challenging families, from same-sex parents to adoptive families.
9:00 pm Big Love, HBO (1 hr) NEW
An audit of Home Plus threatens Bill’s career in politics, while J.J. offers Alby a solution. Lois, Frank, and Jodean experience something unexpected while searching for exotic birds, and Bill thinks Ben needs a change.
Golden Globe Winner Mo’Nique Tells Black Gay Men, “God Loves You”
January 28, 2010 by Kellee Terrell, COAD Media Strategist @ GLAAD
On Jan 25th episode of BET’s variety show, The Mo’Nique Show, host and Mo’Nique along with her guest, soul singer Miki Howard discussed numerous topics including sexuality, acceptance and the black church.
Howard said to Mo’Nique:
“One good thing I want to talk about is the gay aspect to our church. We don’t talk about it in our community. I grew up in James Cleveland’s church in LA and it was gay back then, really gay. And we weren’t didn’t know that people thought was bad, that outsiders thought that was bad. So that’s one thing we talk in the church and explore, and how I came to be me.”
Mo’Nique responded by saying: 
I applaud you for addressing this …because people don’t want to talk about it and for not judging because most times we run from it. And for all of our gay brothas watching, we love you this is the no judgment zone. You are always welcome and you are always loved. If you’re in the church and you’re gay, God is not judging you. Be who you wanna be.”
In the beginning of the show, Mo’Nique, whose film Precious is nominated for a GLAAD Media Award this year, also made a comment about African-American lesbians.
She said:
“Sistahs, if you are laying next to your man right now give him a kiss. Or next to your woman.. no judgments here, as long as you got somebody.”
Watch the episode below (The segment begins at around the 27 minute mark of the show)
Rod McCullom, head blogger for Rod 2.0: Beta, praised this episode and expressed why this type of dialogue is necessary:
It’s about time someone mentioned on national television that the black church and black gospel music are “really gay” and they should not be ashamed. There are so many talented black gay men in the church and black gospel music. Unfortunately many are told otherwise and most believe they should remain (semi) closeted.
Given many of the struggles of acceptance that the black LGBT community faces in certain African-American churches, these types of conversations are much welcomed and needed. While GLAAD encourages people to sound off when the media gets it’s wrong, it is also important to praise those who get it right.
If you were touched by Mo’Nique and Miki Howard’s comments, please let The Mo’ Nique Show know by writing a letter to the following address:
The Mo’Nique Show
P.O Box 7868
Atlanta, GA
30357
Related Posts:What to Watch: Thursday, January 28
January 28, 2010 by Lauren Mattia, GLAAD's Entertainment/Advertising Media Fellow
The designers’ egos clash in Paris this week on Project Runway, and tune in to what Booth and Brennan dig up this week on Bones!
Thursday, January 28
8:00 pm Bones, Fox (1 hr) NEW
Booth and Brennan investigate remains found in and old Civil War trench, only to discover that they are actually the remains of a modern day dentist. Booth’s brother Jared visits with some news.
Will young and out designer Jesus make it work?
10:00 pm Project Runway, Bravo (1 hr) NEW
The designers’ egos clash as the competition heads to Paris. Will out designers Ben, Jay, Jesus, and Jonathan crumble under the pressure?
COAD News Buzz
January 22, 2010 by Kellee Terrell, COAD Media Strategist @ GLAAD
Here’s a look at some COAD-related stories in the media:
Rev. Irene Monroe Wonders if Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Would Have Defended LGBT Equality
To honor MLK Day, African-American lesbian Reverend Irene Monroe wrote an op-ed for Bay Windows, the largest LGBT newspaper in New England. In her piece, “Would the public King have spoken out on LGBTQ justice?” she revisits an on- going question that many civil rights and LGBT leaders have pondered over the years.
“As I comb through numerous books and essays learning more about King’s philandering, sexist attitude about women at home and in the movement, and his relationship with Bayard Rustin, I am wondering would King be a public advocate for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer rights?”
She strongly believes so, but believes he would have paid a price for doing so. She writes:
In the public address I gave at the Gill Foundation’s National Outgiving Conference in 2007, I said, “If Dr. Martin Luther King were standing up for LGBTQ rights today, the Black community would drop him, too.”
King understood the interconnectedness of struggles. An example of that understanding is when Dr. King said, “The revolution for human rights is opening up unhealthy areas in American life and permitting a new and wholesome healing to take place. Eventually the civil rights movement will have contributed infinitely more to the nation than the eradication of racial justice.”
This statement clearly includes LGBTQ justice, but would King have spoken on that subject at that time and even now? Yes, according to King’s now deceased wife.
In 1998, Coretta Scott King addressed the LGBT group Lambda Legal in Chicago. In her speech, she said queer rights and civil rights were the same. “I appeal to everyone who believes in Martin Luther King’s dream to make room at the table of brother and sisterhood for lesbian and gay people,” she said.
Sadly, Bayard Rustin, the gay man who was chief organizer and strategist for the 1963 March on Washington that further catapulted Martin Luther King onto the world stage, was not the beneficiary of King’s dream.
In the Civil Rights movement, Bayard Rustin was always the man behind the scenes, and a large part of that had to due with the fact that he was gay. Because of their own homophobia, many African American ministers involved in the Civil Right movement would have nothing to do with Rustin, and they intentionally rumored throughout the movement that King was gay because of his close friendship with Rustin.
In a spring 1987 interview with Rustin in Open Hands, a resource for ministries affirming the diversity of human sexuality, Rustin recalls that difficult period quite vividly. Rustin said, “Martin Luther King, with whom I worked very closely, became very distressed when a number of the ministers working for him wanted him to dismiss me from his staff because [I was gay]. Martin set up a committee to discover what he should do. They said that, despite the fact that I had contributed tremendously to the organization … they thought I should separate myself from Dr. King.”
Read her piece in its entirety here.
14 Gay Men Killed While HIV Clinic is Destroyed in Haiti
Fourteen men who worked for or accessed services from SEROvie, Haiti’s largest organization serving gay and transgender people with HIV, were killed during last week’s earthquake in Haiti, according to International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission.
The message of the men’s tragic death came from an e-mail SEROvie’s leader Steve La Guerre managed to send to IGLHRC asking for help.
“We were having our usual support group meeting on a quiet Tuesday afternoon when the worst happened.” La Guerre wrote. “The sound is unforgettable. I can’t even describe the horror as the ceiling and the wall of the conference room started to fall and the chaos started.
“It is now more than ever that SEROvie and ACCV (Civic Action Against HIV) are needed to provide the quality services we provide to our beneficiaries: food, clothes, and any type of help,” La Guerre continued. “Light a candle for these souls and for Haiti. Lord help us.”
IGLHRC executive director Cary Alan Johnson says that his group has sent funds directly to SEROvie to allow their services and supplies to continue to reach their clients. The group is also sending funds to Colectiva Mujer y Salud, a feminist Dominican organization that has crossed the border into Haiti to assist with direct relief to the LGBT community there. IGLHRC has provided a donation page, where Johnson said 100% of the funds collected “will go directly to our friends and colleagues in Haiti.”
Inside Higher Ed publishes article about murdered English professor Don Belton
Don Belton, openly gay novelist and University of Indiana professor was found dead in his apartment on December 29. The Chicago Tribune reported that that Michael J. Griffin confessed to killing Belton, claiming that Belton had “sexually assaulted” him on Christmas Day.
In his piece “Love and Death in Indiana,” for Inside Higher Ed, journalist Scott McLemee discusses the murder, the “gay panic” defense, Belton’s loved ones and his broad scope of work.
He had been friends with James Baldwin and lectured on him at the Sorbonne; the influence of the novelist and essayist on his own work was not small. One of his friends has quoted a passage from Baldwin that seems to epitomize Belton’s work: “Love takes off masks that we fear we cannot live without and know we cannot live within.” Although I did not know the man himself, this touches the heart of his writing, which suggests a desire to go beyond, or beneath, the prescribed roles and rules governing “identity.”
This is easier said than done, of course. It is also dangerous; love can be dangerous. Belton wrote in his journal (to quote from the detective’s statement again) “that he is very happy that an individual by the name of Michael has come into his life.” It is not necessary to use pseudopsychological terms like “gay panic” to describe the response this created. Keep in mind that the killer brought his own special knife and a change of clothes. Arguably another vocabulary applies, in which it is necessary to speak of evil.
One of the remarkable things about the response to Belton’s death is just how much of it there has been. Hundreds of people turned out for a vigil on New Year’s Day (see video). There is a website called Justice for Don Belton. An open letter from the chair of his department has appeared on the departmental Web site. A memorial service will be held in Bloomington.
And Josh Lukin tells me that he is proposing a session called “Remembering Don Belton” for the next MLA — a panel “engaging his scholarship, art, journalism, and pedagogy.” Possible topics might include “his writing and teaching on black masculinity, Baldwin, Brecht, Mapplethorpe, Morrison, Motown, jazz, cinema, abjection,” to make the list no longer than that.
“The guy’s range of interests was huge,” Josh says, “and he kept surprising me with his knowledge of critical texts, both recent (‘Bowlby, Just Looking? Great chapters on Dreiser.’) and more traditional (‘Why not talk about Morrison using R.W.B. Lewis, American Adam?’).”
Read his piece in its entirety here.
Related Posts:What to Watch: Thursday, January 21
January 21, 2010 by Lauren Mattia, GLAAD's Entertainment/Advertising Media Fellow
There’s a healthy dose of drama at Seattle Grace this week when Richard gets a reality check on Grey’s Anatomy, the designers make it work for the second time on Project Runway, and Michael gets nostalgic about The Office.
Thursday, January 21
8:00 pm Bones, Fox (1 hr) NEW
The Government orders Brennan and the team to investigate the death of a person whose identity must remain classified, while Cam suspects Michelle is hiding something. Also features bisexual forensic artist, Angela.
Richard gets a wake up call on Grey's Anatomy.
9:00 pm The Office, NBC (30 min) NEW
Everyone is on their best behavior when a prospective buyer visits Dunder Mifflin, while Michael reflects on the good times. Also features gay accountant, Oscar Martinez.
9:00 pm Grey’s Anatomy, ABC (1 hr) NEW
Derek confronts Richard about his alcoholism, and Izzie comes back to make amends with Alex. Tensions flare between Owen, Teddy, and Christina. Will Callie and Arizona be a part of the drama this week? Watch and see!
10:00 pm Project Runway, Lifetime (1 hr) NEW
The design battle continues this season in the Big Apple. The designers face their second challenge this week—will the four out designers: Ben, Jay, Jesus and Jonathan, make the cut?
COAD Related GLAAD Media Awards Nominees Announced!
January 13, 2010 by Kellee Terrell, COAD Media Strategist @ GLAAD
On Wednesday, January 13, GLAAD announced its nominees for our 21st annual GLAAD Media Awards. Here is a list of all of the COAD-related noms:
Outstanding Film (Wide Release):
Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire (Lionsgate Films)
Outstanding Drama Series:
True Blood (HBO)
Outstanding Reality Program:
The Amazing Race (CBS)
Making His Band (MTV)
RuPaul’s Drag Race (LOGO)
Outstanding Talk Show Episode:
“”Hell to Pay – Gay Teen Exorcism” The Tyra Banks Show (The CW)
“Sirdeaner Walker Interview” The Ellen DeGeneres Show (syndicated)
Outstanding TV Journalism – Newsmagazine
“Bullied to Death?” Anderson Cooper 360 (CNN)
“Uganda Be Kidding Me” (series) The Rachel Maddow Show (MSNBC)
Outstanding Newspaper Columnist
Leonard Pitts, Jr. (The Miami Herald)
Rev. Byron Williams (The Oakland Tribune)
Outstanding Magazine Article: 
“Either/Or: Sports, Sex and the Case of Caster Semenya” by Ariel Levy (The New Yorker)
“Trouble in Paradise” by Jeannine Amber (Essence)
Outstanding Digital Journalism Article
“On the Road to Refuge” by Pete Muller (ColorLines.com)
Outstanding New York Theater: Broadway & Off-Broadway
The Brother/Sister Plays by Tarell Alvin McCraney
Watch GLAAD President Jarrett Barrios talk about the important work that GLAAD does and see all of the nominees.
The Media Awards will take place on March 13 in New York, April 17 in Los Angeles and June 5 in San Francisco.
Related Posts:COAD News Buzz
January 12, 2010 by Kellee Terrell, COAD Media Strategist @ GLAAD
Here’s a look at some COAD-related stories in the media:
Denise King, Mother of Hate Crime Victim, Dies
Denise King, a gay rights advocate in South Florida, died of a heart attack on New Year’s Eve. King’s son, Simmie Williams who was gay, was gunned down in February 2008. Since his unresolved murder, King made educating others about the violence LGBT people face a priority:
Since her son’s death, Mrs. King “brought the conversation of love, acceptance and compassion into a community where black [gays and lesbians] are invisible,” said Michael Emanuel Rajner, a co-founder of Transgender Equality Rights Initiatives, who became a family friend after the murder.
“The night of her son’s viewing, she left early because she had gotten a call from someone that evening that there was a youth, about 16, thrown out of his home because he was openly gay,” Rajner said.
“Denise, not even knowing the child’s name, hit the streets with her car up and down Sistrunk looking for this child. She would take them in. Her home became this safe haven for people to run. In her pain she was moved to make certain no child was turned away.”
Mrs. King’s aunt said she was committed to justice.
“Everything she did, she did it from her heart as a mother,” said Rose Barnes, of Fort Lauderdale.
Julian Bond Chosen For Marriage Equality Advisory Board
The American Foundation for Equal Rights today announced that it has chosen champion civil rights leader, Julian Bond for its advisory board, which includes a diverse and prominent roster of civil rights leaders. The American Foundation for Equal Rights launched its groundbreaking federal court challenge to Prop. 8 in May, and brought together attorneys Theodore Olson and David Boies to argue the case, Perry v. Schwarzenegger.
The Windy City Times reported:
Julian Bond is Chairman of the NAACP Board of Directors. He co-founded and was the first president of the Southern Poverty Law Center and was a founder of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) . He served more than 20 years in the Georgia legislature after a 1966 U.S. Supreme Court ruling held that the Georgia House of Representatives unconstitutionally denied him the seat he had won.
“The humanity of all Americans is diminished when any group is denied rights granted to others,” Bond said. “This is not a special interest case, but one that should be of great importance to everyone who believes in the principles of equality on which this nation was founded.”
The Los Angeles Times op-ed on being black, gay and African:
In the Los Angeles Times, Douglas Foster, a journalism professor at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, addresses the anti-gay belief that being gay is “un-African,” his experiences in South Africa and the anti-gay legislation in Uganda. Here is an excerpt from his op-ed.
South Africa is far from nirvana for lesbians and gay men: There’s certainly no shortage of homophobia within its borders. But it’s the one place on the continent — and one of the few places in the world — with a constitution that explicitly prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation.
In 2007, when I spent a year in Johannesburg, I heard the deputy chief justice of the Constitutional Court of South Africa, Dikgang Moseneke, address the Gay and Lesbian Film Festival. In his speech, he paid tribute to liberation heroes like the late Simon Nkoli, a courageous black revolutionary and an out and proud gay man. Nkoli, like the men and women with less well-known names who regularly turn up at Simply Blue, countered the lie that same-sex attraction is a relic of colonialism.
The theme of homophobic African politicians is that gay identity is a perversion imposed on black people by white oppressors. The historical fact is the reverse, of course: Legal prohibitions on homosexuality were originally imposed by white colonial rulers. So it’s no small twist in the plot that the new wave of threats to Ugandan gays should be reinforced by American religious extremists.
The proposed legislation places in stark relief the persistence of deadly prejudice. The roots of hatred can be traced to myriad traditions — indigenous and foreign, white and black. What’s more important than identifying the sources of the poison is to find the antidote. The first step is listening to the voices of African lesbians and gay men, and taking our cues from them about how to offer the most effective support.
I’ve been logging on daily in recent weeks to the Box Turtle Bulletin, the website widely credited with alerting Americans to the Uganda legislation, and also to Gay Uganda, the distinctive, irrepressible blog of a partly closeted young gay blogger who’s broken important news, and provided bracing perspective, ever since the anti-gay panic began to build in Uganda. “I am fighting for our lives and freedom in my country,” the Gay Uganda blogger wrote on New Year’s Day, as government officials and preachers called on Ugandans to join in a nationwide demonstration against homosexuality on Jan. 19.
Read the piece in its entirety here.
Lala Vazquez Poses Topless for Marriage Equality 
The VH1 host follows in the footsteps of her friends Kim, Khloe and Kourtney Kardashian and poses for the grassroots campaign against the passing of Prop 8 in 2008.
MTV/VH1 veejay Lala Vazquez bares all and lends her famous form to the NOH8 marriage equality campaign, a photographic protest speaking out against California’s Proposition 8 gay marriage ban.
N0H8 is a photo project and silent protest created by photographer Adam Bouska and his partner Jeff Parshley. Other African-American celebs who have posed are the cast of The Real Housewives of Atlanta, actors Isaiah Washington, Jenson Atwood, Rachel True and Daryll Stephens ; singers Dawn Richardson (Dantity Kane) and the girl group Rich Girls; and Entertainment Tonight Reporter Kevin Frazier to name a few.
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