Keepingitreal

Gay R&B Vocalist Rahsaan Patterson Applauds 'Courageous’ Frank Ocean

Gay R&B Vocalist Rahsaan Patterson Applauds 'Courageous’ Frank Ocean As the debate rages on whether or not Frank Ocean truly came out as gay, bisexual or was just detailing his personal memories of falling in love with a male friend four years ago, the fallout has truly been surreal. Before the buzz-heavy R&B vocalist posted a July 4 letter addressing rumors of his sexuality, Ocean tweeted of his conversation-igniting revelation, “my hope is that the babies born these days will inherit less of the bullshit than we did I figured it’d be good to clarify.”

Rahsaan Patterson can more than identify with Frank Ocean. The veteran R&B singer—who scored a top 50 Billboard album and strong radio airplay in 1997 with his self-titled debut—was one of the first African-American soul artists to come out officially as gay during a 2007 interview with BET.com. For Patterson, Ocean’s statement represents a big moment. “I thought Frank coming out was bold; I thought it was courageous,” Patterson tells VIBE. “Particularly since he reps more of the hip-hop realm I found it even more courageous because that’s an area that a lot of folks that support hip-hop and the lifestyle of hip-hop don’t like to really confront and address. Kudos to him.”

Reactions within the R&B/hip-hop community to Ocean’s public statement have been surprisingly on the positive side (Solange Knowles tweeted “I salute you, brave soul. Independence Day” and veteran Queens rhymer Cormega offered, "Frank Ocean is more honest than the average industry person!"). Still, amongst the general African-American music buying public Ocean’s announcement has been a hard pill to swallow (derogatory comments like “Frank Ocean is gay. It’s been confirmed…So no more listening to him” have been omnipresent on the Web).

Historically, African-American musicians have rarely been upfront about their sexuality. For every Sylvester (the flamboyant disco icon never tried to hide the fact that he was gay) there is a Luther Vandross (the legendary vocalist reportedly kept his homosexuality a secret until his 2005 death). And in the overtly masculine world of hip-hop, homosexuality is viewed as a death knell; the sort of news that can literally derail a career. On the flipside, white pop and rock acts like David Bowie, Elton John, and Melissa Eldridge have experienced a more positive acceptance after coming out. It’s a dichotomy that bothers Patterson. READ MORE

Anniversary Issue of Swagga Digital Magazine

Daily Blog Buzz Feed 07.13.08

NAACP CONVENTION BEGINS IN CINCINNATI, this year's convention is themed "Power, Justice, Freedom, Vote," begins in Cincinnati, Ohio, and as always, will include delegate meetings, inspirational speakers, important issues about minorities in business and the economy, youth programs and much more....Continue Reading Comedy Central to launch Black Satire Show....HI-positive Kenyan Woman wins $35,000 in lawsuit...Continue Reading In a NEWSWEEK Poll, Obama, McCain in statistical dead heat...., Former Bush spokesman Tony Snow dies, Hagel to join Obama on Iraq Trip, For every 100 adults in Phoenix's South Mountain district, 6.1 are serving time behind bars, more than five times the national average...Continue Reading, What's Hot in Hip-Hop? -- writes Marc Lamont Hill, "Over the past few years, I've grown increasingly disenchanted with the state of hip-hop music. Every once in a while, a few albums come along that give me hope." Continue Reading... Smith's Rules for Global Domination, Rule No.1: Don't let them know you're black...Continue Reading Speaking Ill of the Dead, Republicans insist on calling him a patriot. But, Jesse Helms was no hero...Continue Reading New iPhone faster, but lacks vital features..Continue Reading 18th Annual Black Expo on July 19 and 20, after 18 years, the Black Expo is continuing a tradition of empowerment and community. but this year Rejoice! and interdenominational faith and community celebraton has been added to allow attendants to participate ina church service as well...Continue Reading  Angelina Jolie gives birth to twins, Dr. Michael Sussman told the Associated Press...Continue Reading... 2010 Census won't count CA Same-Sex Marriages, Judge Prevents seniors eviction from Oakland, Ca., hotel...Continue Reading Grey's could dump Heigl, E-Online is reporting that "Grey's Anatomy" star Katherine Heigl might be sacked...Continue Reading Bernie Mac makes off-color joke at Obama Event, and endured some heckling and a campaign rebuke during a surprise appearance Friday night at a fundraiser for Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama...Continue Reading

Scene in brief: Aretha Franklin set to perform during Black Gay Pride

Aretha Franklin, the legendary singer known as the Queen of Soul, appears Sept. 1 at Chastain Park as part of Atlanta’s annual Black Gay Pride celebration. The performance is a joint effort between In the Life Atlanta, the organization that plans the official festival events, and the Montreux Jazz Festival.In the Life spokesman Anare V. Holmes says that the event raises the caliber of offerings to the festival’s attendees. “To have [Aretha] be a part of our Pride celebration is a testament to the kind of rebirth and renewal that In the Life Atlanta is really going through,” Holmes says. “It solidifies our reputation as not only the official organizer of the Black Pride celebrations, but as one of the leading and largest Pride celebrations in the country.”Holmes is excited about the prospect of Franklin’s association with Black Gay Pride.“Aretha will always deliver,” he says. “We are so grateful to be witnessing history. [She is] a living legend and an American icon.”Also planned for Black Gay Pride is a film festival to be opened with a talk by Jonathan Plummer, the now out ex-husband of author Terry McMillan, as well as workshops, performances and the traditional march to the capital. SOURCE OF THIS STORY

Don’t rain on their Pride parade

April isn’t the perfect month to plan an outdoor event. Youth Pride, which is usually held during the rain-prone month, has suffered from bad weather and low attendance the past two years. Organizers are hoping for sunny weather and increased numbers this year.“It’s hard to say who’s going to show up because I think hopefully this year, knock on wood, it won’t rain,” says Sara Mindel, this year’s director of Youth Pride. “[We’ve had] 1,000 youth the past couple of years, so we’re looking at over that [number].” Even if the weather is bad, the event has plenty to tempt attendees. This year’s keynote speaker is recently out former NBA player John Amaechi. After Mindel saw Amaechi on HBO’s “Real Time with Bill Maher,” she thought he’d be well-suited for Youth Pride and attended an Amaechi reading, staying afterward to ask him to speak at the event. “He’s very dedicated to youth,” Mindel, 29 and a lesbian, says. Amaechi founded the Amaechi Basketball Centres, a Manchester, England-based non-profit athletic organization for urban youth. “He’s also coming out, which really applies to our young people as well, so I thought that he could be a great spokesperson,” Mindel says, adding that his “humbling, dedicated” approach to the gay community and young people in general contributed to Youth Pride’s decision to have him speak at the event. Amaechi joins queer performance artist Hanifah Walidah, Baltimore singing group Positive Voices and local gay dance group D.C. Cowboys as highlights of the daylong event. MORE ON THIS STORY

Life slowly gets easier for gay people in Kenya

Luzau Basambombo spent six months in a Kinshasa prison, being abused over and over again.
The Congolese human-rights activist suspects that he was put behind bars because he openly admitted being homosexual. "If you are gay in Congo, you become an outlaw," Basambombo says. After being released from prison, he left the Democratic Republic of Congo for Uganda, where he was granted asylum. "When the authorities found out that I was gay, I was asked to leave the country," he says. Today, the 38-year-old Basambombo lives in Nairobi and feels comfortable there. "Things are changing here in Kenya -- in favour of us," he says. Gay and lesbian people are prosecuted in most African countries. In some Nigerian federal states, where the Muslim sharia law is in force, homosexuals are stoned to death. Changes to the law are planned, after which even people who only talk about homosexuality can be sent to prison. In Zimbabwe, head of state Robert Mugabe has compared gays to pigs and dogs. Namibian police are instructed to arrest homosexuals and expel them from the country. MORE ON THIS STORY

Transgender Student Runs for Prom King

FRESNO, Calif. - When school officials announce the name of the Fresno High School prom king on Saturday, Cinthia Covarrubias will be wearing a tuxedo just like the six boys vying for the honor. School officials this week added the 17-year-old's name to the ballot for prom king, reversing a previous district policy that allowed only males to run for king and females for prom queen. Gay youth advocates called it a landmark victory for campus gender expression and said they believe it's the first time in the U.S. that an openly transgender student has run for prom royalty. Covarrubias, who wears black-and-white Vans, baggy shorts and close-cropped brown hair, sometimes identifies herself as Tony. Her date, a close female friend, plans to wear a black dress and red corsage to the prom at an outdoor reception hall surrounded by man-made waterfalls. "I would never have run for anything if I had to wear a dress," Covarrubias said. She considers herself transgender, an umbrella term that covers all people whose outward appearance and internal identity don't match their gender at birth. "My freshman year I just started feeling different," she said. "When I decided to change to be like this, all of a sudden I said, 'Wow, I feel OK. I feel like finally I'm being me.'" She has no current plans, however, to permanently alter her gender through hormones or surgery. A native of Jalisco, Mexico, Covarrubias said she has bucked rigid expectations of how a girl in her culture should behave. Explaining the meaning of terms like "queer" and "transgender" to her parents and eight siblings has at times been painful, she said. Covarrubias said she was honored her classmates nominated her for prom king last Friday, but administrators quickly dampened her enthusiasm by saying she could only run for queen. Tiffani Sanchez, a science teacher who advises the school's Gay-Straight Alliance, complained. "Cinthia is still really learning who she is," she said. "We want her to know that there's a safe space for her here and we support her."On Wednesday, school officials shifted course, saying the district's lawyers had recommended adding Covarrubias' name to the ballot to comply with a state law protecting students' ability to express their gender identity on campus. "We always want to do the right thing by our students," Vice Principal Sheila Uriarte said. "This is why we came to this decision." The law, passed in 2000, requires schools to protect students from discrimination on the basis of their sexuality, gender or "gender expression."Gay and lesbian advocates say that means creating a comfortable environment for students like Covarrubias to cross-dress. "It's really important for an individual student like Cinthia to be able to feel she has the same access to participate in this rite of passage," said Caroyln Laub, director of the Gay-Straight Alliance Network. "We are growing as a society to accept much more diversity in gender expression, and that's a positive thing."Some students criticized the decision to put Covarrubias on the ballot."I like lesbians, but they shouldn't be allowed to run for king," said senior Erich Logan, 18, as he stood outside the stately high school building. But Leanne Reyes, 16, said Covarrubias had her vote."It's not like the stereotype where the king has to be a jock and he's there with the cheerleaders anymore," said Reyes, a senior. "We live in a generation now where dudes are chicks and chicks are dudes."Covarrubias is giddily looking forward to the prom, but acknowledged being a little nervous."I'm happy I actually made a difference about changing the law and the policy so you can run for your choice," Covarrubias said. MORE ON THIS STORY

Coach Dungy caught up in Same Sex Debate

Coach Dungy caught up in same-sex marriage debate
His appearance with Indiana Family Institute upsets gay group
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) | Mar. 11 at 5:52 PM Mar. 11 at 5:52 PM
Colts coach Tony Dungy’s acceptance of an invitation to speak to a conservative Christian group should not be construed as an endorsement of the group’s opposition to same-sex marriage, the head of the Indiana Family Institute said Saturday. Some local and national gay rights groups have questioned Dungy’s decision to appear at a fundraising banquet this month for the institute, which has been a leading supporter of a proposed state constitutional amendment defining marriage as only between one man and one woman. MORE ON THIS STORY

Institute president Curt Smith said the invitation was based on Dungy’s pro-family activities.

A deepening challenge for America's gay men

Meet the new players in the great American debate about values: Ryan, a 25-year-old newlywed, who is helping other men find husbands; Doug, 50, who is helping gay men in San Francisco create their ideal community; and Chris, 36, whose pursuit of happiness has switched from chasing New York hotties to seeking down-home enlightenment. They and others across the country are engaging gay men in conversations about their goals and values -- both personal and collective -- and challenging the sense of who gay men are and what makes their community. This introspection is happening as gay men are able to move away from the AIDS crisis, which had demanded their full attention for two decades, and now have the time and energy to look inward, these leaders say. MORE ON THIS STORY

Logo Targets Lesbian Audiences

Logo Targets Lesbian Audiences

By Jasmyne Cannick

Still no official word on Noah's Arc, but Variety.com is reporting that Logo, Viacom's ad-supported network aimed at gays, is ramping up programming for the lesbian half of its constituency, including a variety special featuring the entertainment on a cruise ship hired by lesbian vacationers, and 107 hours of "Bad Girls," a scripted series from the BBC set in a women's prison. Also in the mix is a weekly online talkshow, "Second Opinions," featuring four lesbians discussing news of pop culture and entertainment, to run exclusively on the Web at Logoonline.com and wholly owned sibling AfterEllen.com. The one-hour Logo special is called "Cruising the Caribbean With Olivia." Olivia is the name of the ship. These initiatives follow Logo's November greenlighting of two series: scripted comedy "Exes & Ohs" and reality half-hour "Curl Girls." "Exes & Ohs," which has a commitment for six half-hour episodes, follows a group of six women enduring the angst of lesbian dating in Seattle. (Vancouver will serve as a stand-in for Seattle to keep production cost down.) Michelle Paradise, the star of the series, is also a co-exec producer with Lee Friedlander, Billy Grundfest, Noreen Halperin and John Morayniss. Halperin and Morayniss run Blueprint Prods., which produces Logo's first scripted series, "Noah's Arc." "Curl Girls" trains its cameras on six lesbian friends in Los Angeles who have regular jobs but devote their spare time to competitive surfing.

Mum’s the Word

Written by Dustin Fitzharris  - My mother’s friends and siblings don’t know I’m gay.  No one on my father’s side of the family knows I’m gay.  Of course, everyone probably suspects, but my parents are not going to confirm.  Are they ashamed?  Are they worried about the old stigma that people will judge them for how they raised me?  Or, do they believe it’s no one’s business?
I never thought much about their attitude until I read “Guess Who’s Not Coming to Dinner” in the December 11th issue of the Blade.  Author Steve Koval wrote, “Although my mom is very accepting of me being gay, it has caused her some discomfort in dealing with others.”  Koval details how his mom admitted she faced a “dilemma” when it came time to displaying a picture in the house of her son with his partner.  She liked it, but didn’t want to deal with the questions that would inevitably come from guests. MORE ON THIS STORY

Ladies in Love The L Word is Back

Charlene E. Cothran

Black Lesbian Publisher Says She’s "Saved" And No Longer "In the Life"

Black lesbian publisher Charlene E. Cothran tells all in the latest edition of her newly transformed VENUS Magazine. In an article entitled, "Redeemed! 10 Ways to Get Out of ‘The Life’ If You Want Out!," Cothran shares her testimony of finding Jesus and her way out of "the life." Cothran says, "…I must now come out of the closet again. I have recently experienced the power of change that came over me once I completely surrendered to the teachings of Jesus Christ. As a believer of the word of God, I fully accept and have always known that same-sex relationships are not what God intended for us."For the record, you don’t ever have to worry about this Black lesbian doing a 180. I am a lesbian, I love women, and I always will. But I digressed…

Cothran also says that, "Homosexuality...is no greater sin than any of the others, but it is a sin." Cothran credits her pastor Reverend Barbara F. Brewer of Interfaith Tabernacle Church and the Reverend Linda Hill-York of St. Phillips Missionary Baptists Church for her newfound reality. And as for the ten things us gays can do to get out of the life…

1. Establish and accept for yourself that God’s word is As-Is

2. Seek the truth within the scriptures about homosexuality

3. Do not resist God’s call on your life

4. Know with certainty that you are loved by God exactly where you are

5. Say Yes.

6. Make your salvation real

7. Experience paradise Now!

8. Walk carefully

9. Have fellowship with believers

10. Stay in touch

Miss Cleo Comes Out

Miss Cleo comes out
The queen of late-night infomercial psychics tells us what you might not predict: She’s a lesbian.

By Greg Hernandez

Excerpted from The Advocate October 10, 2006

She’s known for the catchphrase “The cards never lie,” and now Miss Cleo, the controversial former infomercial psychic, is finally telling some truths—about herself.

From the late 1990s through 2002, the woman whose real name is Youree Dell Cleomili Harris was a late-night staple who, in a thick Jamaican accent, urged viewers to dial a charge-by-the-minute 900 number to have their fortunes read.

What those viewers didn’t know, and what some members of her own family still don’t know, is that Miss Cleo is a lesbian. Four years after the infomercials were pulled from the air under a cloud of various lawsuits and federal and state investigations, Harris says she has been inspired to come out publicly by a teenage godson.

“He and I started talking when he was concerned about coming out. He was 16. When he made the decision I told him I’d be there to support him 100%, and he embraced [coming out] wholeheartedly,” Harris says. “It’s a different vibe than when I was his age, being raised Catholic in an all-girls boarding school. But he was afraid of nothing, and I thought, I can’t be a hypocrite. This boy is going to force me to put my money where my mouth is.”

On the late-night infomercials, Miss Cleo said she was a mystical shaman from Jamaica. Doubt was cast on that claim when a Florida newspaper reported that she had been born in Los Angeles. But Harris simply says, “I am who I say I am,” and insists she has Jamaican roots. She says she’s actually not a psychic but more of a spiritual counselor or spiritual adviser.

“I’m more a shaman, an elder in a community who has visions and gives direction to people in their village. My clients and my students are my village. I take care of this community. If you sit down at my table, you have to take away a lesson and not just learn what is going to happen tomorrow. I also perform weddings—both gay and straight marriages—and house cleansings and blessings.” http://www.advocate.com/currentstory1_w.asp?id=36683

Dolls House

Welcome to the Dolls house
Paper Dolls is an affectionate glimpse into a unique Israeli drag world.
By Beth Greenfield

News from Israel tends to be grim. And so the new film Paper Dolls, which tenderly chronicles the lives of five gay Tel Aviv men—undocumented Filipino immigrants who are drag queens by night and health aides by day—is a welcome relief. “Arab-Jewish, Arab-Jewish—we’re tired of it,” says director Tomer Heymann, whose past documentaries have focused on coming out and the career of Israeli rock star Aviv Gefen. A few years ago, a producer friend said she had another great idea for him and directed the filmmaker to the Paper Dolls—the self-named drag troupe whose members describe themselves as women who are “not real,” as one member put it. Heymann was intrigued. “I was surprised there was something going on in the gay community that I didn’t know about,” the director admits. “I didn’t even understand. Filipinos? Transsexuals? Drag show? Something about this was interesting.” He tracked down the Paper Dolls and befriended them and, though a bit of unavoidable Israeli tragedy creeps in—there were bombings in Tel Aviv twice during the filming—the director mainly keeps his focus on the bonds that the Filipino men form with each other and, more surprisingly, with the elderly Orthodox Jews they care for. He was especially taken with the relationship between the gentle, elfin-faced Sally Comatoy and her octogenarian charge, Chaim Amir (who died before the film’s completion). http://www.timeoutny.com/newyork/Details.do?page=1&xyurl=xyl://TONYWebArticles1/571/gay_lesbian/welcome_to_the_dolls_house.xml

Former NJ Governor on Oprah Show

TRENTON, N.J. - Former New Jersey Gov. James E. McGreevey, who has remained publicly silent since resigning from office two years ago after announcing he was gay, is set to tell his story on "The Oprah Winfrey Show." Winfrey landed the exclusive interview with 49-year-old McGreevey because of her sense of faith and spirituality, according to friends of the former governor. McGreevey is said to be a fan of Winfrey's education and anti-poverty work, two issues to which the former governor is devoting more time in his post-political life. About a dozen friends accompanied McGreevey and his partner, Australian financial adviser Mark O'Donnell, 42, to Chicago for the taping scheduled for Tuesday afternoon.Some segments of the show, including clips from the Union County home McGreevey shares with O'Donnell, were filmed previously. The interview will air Sept. 19. Source: AP