50 Essentials of LGBT Fiction

An interesting list of 50 Essential Works of LGBT Fiction from Flavorwire. Some of the choices are undeniable, others are unexpected. Most surprising of all, as Band of Thebes points out, are the omissions.

Still, if you're looking for something to read, you'll find plenty of suggestions.

Just Married

  How amazing is it that for the first time in the history of the United States we have someone serving in Congress who is not only openly gay, but legally married to their partner? Congratulations to Congressman Barney Frank and his new husband, Jim Ready, who got married yesterday.

"Gay rights are human rights, and human rights are gay rights."

In an amazing speech yesterday in Geneva, Switzerland, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton announced to the world that the Obama Administration considers LGBT Rights to be Human Rights:

"To the leaders of those countries where people are jailed, beaten, or executed for being gay, I ask you to consider this: Leadership, by definition, means being out in front of your people when it is called for. It means standing up for the dignity of all your citizens and persuading your people to do the same. It also means ensuring that all citizens are treated as equals under your laws, because let me be clear – I am not saying that gay people can’t or don’t commit crimes. They can and they do, just like straight people. And when they do, they should be held accountable, but it should never be a crime to be gay.

And to people of all nations, I say supporting human rights is your responsibility too. The lives of gay people are shaped not only by laws, but by the treatment they receive every day from their families, from their neighbors. Eleanor Roosevelt, who did so much to advance human rights worldwide, said that these rights begin in the small places close to home – the streets where people live, the schools they attend, the factories, farms, and offices where they work. These places are your domain. The actions you take, the ideals that you advocate, can determine whether human rights flourish where you are."

The next part of her speech was the one that moved me the most, though:

"And finally, to LGBT men and women worldwide, let me say this: Wherever you live and whatever the circumstances of your life, whether you are connected to a network of support or feel isolated and vulnerable, please know that you are not alone. People around the globe are working hard to support you and to bring an end to the injustices and dangers you face. That is certainly true for my country. And you have an ally in the United States of America and you have millions of friends among the American people."

It is truly a step forward for LGBT Rights worldwide to have the Secretary of State of the United States making such a declarative, powerful statement. You could well argue that this (and more) should have happened a long time ago, certainly earlier in this particular Administration, but I don't think that takes anything away from this moment itself.

Check out a video of the speech here, or read the full transcript here.

Don't Enforce, Don't Discriminate

I'm sure you all know by now that Federal Judge Virginia Phillips issued an injunction last week that prohibits the Department of Defense from enforcing their discriminatory Don't Ask Don't Tell policy.

The Government then requested that she stay her order pending their appeal of her decision and today she denied that request. All of which means that, for now at least, the United States military is required to allow gay and lesbian service members to serve openly!

That's a huge step forward for gay rights, even if it's not yet an overall victory against this particular means of discrimination. All of this could have happened in January of 2009 with a single stroke of President Obama's pen, of course, and it's ridiculous that this administration continues to drag their feet on this, even now.

Check out author/blogger Matthew Rettenmund's account (with video) of Lt. Dan Choi re-enlisting in the army this afternoon as an openly gay man.

Prop 8 Overturned

I couldn't let the great news from California today go unremarked upon.

If you haven't heard (and how could you not have?!), Federal Judge Vaughn Walker ruled today that California's Proposition 8, the state constitutional amendment that revoked the rights of same sex couples to marry in that state, was unconstitutional.

This is obviously fantastic news for equality in California and in the United States as a whole. We're getting ever closer to the day when LGBT Americans have the same civil rights that heterosexuals take for granted.

Of course, it's also just the latest step in the process, since from here the ruling will be appealed to Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and from there to the Supreme Court.

Towleroad has a fascinating round up of reaction quotes from both sides of the issue that's worth taking a look at. Those from the supporters of Prop 8 are irritating, to put it mildly, but they do illustrate the mindset of those we're up against in this fight for equality.

Kristin Chenoweth, I Love You

The other night, I wrote about Ramin Setoodeh's homophobic review of Promises, Promises and his views about the inability of gay actors to ever play straight roles successfully.

Kristin Chenoweth, who co-stars with Sean Hayes in Promises, Promises and is one of my very favorite people on the planet, has responded to Setoodeh's ridiculous piece in detail:

"As a longtime fan of Newsweek and as the actress currently starring opposite the incredibly talented (and sexy!) Sean Hayes in the Broadway revival of “Promises, Promises,” I was shocked on many levels to see Newsweek publishing Ramin Setoodeh’s horrendously homophobic “Straight Jacket,” which argues that gay actors are simply unfit to play straight. From where I stand, on stage, with Hayes, every night — I’ve observed nothing “wooden” or “weird” in his performance, nor have I noticed the seemingly unwieldy presence of a “pink elephant” in the Broadway Theater. (The Drama League, Outer Critics Circle and Tony members must have also missed that large animal when nominating Hayes’ performance for its highest honors this year.)

I’d normally keep silent on such matters and write such small-minded viewpoints off as perhaps a blip in common sense. But the offense I take to this article, and your decision to publish it, is not really even related to my profession or my work with Hayes or Jonathan Groff (also singled out in the article as too “queeny” to play “straight.”)

This article offends me because I am a human being, a woman and a Christian. For example, there was a time when Jewish actors had to change their names because anti-Semites thought no Jew could convincingly play Gentile. Setoodeh even goes so far as to justify his knee-jerk homophobic reaction to gay actors by accepting and endorsing that “as viewers, we are molded by a society obsessed with dissecting sexuality, starting with the locker room torture in junior high school.” Really? We want to maintain and proliferate the same kind of bullying that makes children cry and in some recent cases have even taken their own lives? That’s so sad, Newsweek! The examples he provides (what scientists call “selection bias”) to prove his “gays can’t play straight” hypothesis are sloppy in my opinion. Come on now!

Openly gay Groff is too “queeny” to play Lea Michelle’s boyfriend in GLEE, but is a “heartthrob” when he does it in Spring Awakening? Cynthia Nixon only “got away with it” ’cause she peaked before coming out? I don’t know if you’ve missed the giant Sex and the City movie posters, but it seems most of America is “buying it.” I could go on, but I assume these will be taken care of in your “Corrections” this week.

Similarly, thousands of people have traveled from all over the world to enjoy Hayes’ performance and don’t seem to have one single issue with his sexuality! They have no problem buying him as a love-torn heterosexual man. Audiences aren’t giving a darn about who a person is sleeping with or his personal life. Give me a break! We’re actors first, whether we’re playing prostitutes, baseball players, or the Lion King. Audiences come to theater to go on a journey. It’s a character and it’s called acting, and I’d put Hayes and his brilliance up there with some of the greatest actors period.

Lastly, as someone who’s been proudly advocating for equal rights and supporting GLBT causes for as long as I can remember, I know how much it means to young people struggling with their sexuality to see out & proud actors like Sean Hayes, Jonathan Groff, Neil Patrick Harris and Cynthia Nixon succeeding in their work without having to keep their sexuality a secret. No one needs to see a bigoted, factually inaccurate article that tells people who deviate from heterosexual norms that they can’t be open about who they are and still achieve their dreams. I am told on good authority that Mr. Setoodeh is a gay man himself and I would hope, as the author of this article, he would at least understand that. I encourage Newsweek to embrace stories which promote acceptance, love, unity and singing and dancing for all!"

God, I love this woman!

The First Hearing on Don't Ask, Don't Tell

One of the strongest feelings I was left with after watching today's hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee on the military's Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy was of how glad I am that this country didn't elect John McCain to the Presidency last year.

Don't get me wrong, I've always been very glad about that, but today just drove home the point that no matter how much President Obama has been dragging his feet, things would have been far worse if McCain were in the Oval Office.

The Senator from Arizona had a letter signed by 1,000 retired officers and generals (i.e. people out of touch with today's military, much like McCain) who do not support repealing the ban on gays in the military. McCain actually referred to the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy as 'effective'.

The true highlight of the hearing was the surprising testimony of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen:

"Mr. Chairman, speaking for myself and myself only, it is my personal and professional belief that allowing homosexuals to serve openly would be the right thing to do. No matter how I look at the issue, I cannot escape being troubled by the fact that we have in place a policy which forces young men and women to lie about who they are in order to defend their fellow citizens. For me, it comes down to integrity -- theirs as individuals and ours as an institution. I also believe the great young men and women of our military can and would accommodate such a change. I never underestimate their ability to adapt. That there will be some disruption in the force I cannot deny. That there will be legal, social and perhaps even infrastructure changes to be made certainly seem plausible. We would all like to have a better handle on these types of concerns. And that is what our review will offer."

This is the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, remember! Back in 1993, the Joint Chiefs were all very opposed to repealing the ban on gays serving, which of course lead to the 'compromise' we've had to live with ever since. I think it's pretty amazing that Admiral Mullen spoke out the way he did today.

The bottom line, of course, is that the Secretary of Defense and Admiral Mullen announced a year long study on how to end the policy. Now, taking a year to study this is ridiculous and Gates also stated that it could take up to a year to implement it after the study is finished, which means that we're probably still two whole years away from LGBT citizens being allowed to serve openly.

The only real upside to this was that Gates specifically stated that the study is not on whether or not to end the policy, but on HOW to end it.

Gates also said that in the next 45 days he'll be recommending changes within the existing Don't Ask, Don't Tell law to make sure it is more fairly enforced.

Given that it has already been stated that the law is unfair and needs to go, shouldn't they be ceasing to enforce it altogether while they do this year long study followed by a year long implementation? Why bother to 'more fairly' enforce something that is admittedly unfair in and of itself?

The truth of the matter is that President Obama could effectively end this policy today if he wanted to. As Congressman Joe Sestak pointed out after the hearing, the President could sign a stop-loss order halting any discharges under Don't Ask, Don't Tell. In fact, he could have done that the day he took office.

The Republicans seem to be jumping on the 'We can't afford to change the policy while fighting two wars' bandwagon (because anything that increases the ability of people to serve hurts the military in wartime?!), and Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama even implied that Admiral Mullen was influencing the outcome of the study by stating his own opinion. I loved Mullen's reply:

"This is about leadership, and I take that very, very seriously."

Putting leadership above politics, what a novel idea!

For more details on all of this, check out David Dayen's assessment of the hearing or watch the hearing itself.

An Essay on Don't Ask, Don't Tell

After a very busy few days, I have two Nuke episodes of As the World Turns to catch up with. Hopefully I will be writing about those episodes tomorrow.

In the meantime, I wanted to direct your attention to the matter of Don't Ask, Don't Tell. It is expected that the Obama Administration will be announcing their plan for moving forward on the matter tomorrow before the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Karen Ocamb has a very insightful essay up on LGBT POV about what she calls President Obama's 'Clintonian Compromise' on repealing the policy:

'Let’s face it: the Commander-in-Chief and Congress are secretly afraid of the old men in the military. And the old men in the military, so accustomed to automatic deference by all branches of the US government, are afraid of losing their power as times and the culture change. They cannot fathom that younger soldiers and leaders, the ones the old men are sending to fight two wars, are no longer afraid of dropping their soap bar in the shower.

How else explain the compromise the Obama Administration, the Pentagon and Congress are expected to announce at Tuesday’s Senate Armed Services Committee hearing?

...............

But what will that hearing do? Will it be an hour where Gates simply announces the “stricter” evidentiary rule for discharges? Or will discharged personnel be able to testify how DADT ruined their lives when all they wanted to do was to serve this country? Will evidence be admitted from the Joint Force Quarterly which called “don’t ask, don’t tell” a failure and said openly gay servicecmembers do not undercut unit cohesion? Will the Rand Corporation report – requested by Clinton and Congress in 1993 – be admitted? That report concluded that sexual orientation has nothing to do with military service.

During his State of the Union address, Obama talked about providing greater support for veterans and made note of how First Lady Michelle Obama and the Vice President’s wife, Jill Biden, have taken on a special mission to help military families. Monday, Obama followed through on those promises in his new budget.

But will the Armed Services hearing include evidence about how gay and lesbian veterans are left to fend for themselves – and how the families of the estimated 65,000 gay servicemembers currently serving under DADT are not receiving any support and are not allowed to talk about their loved one for fear that such information could lead to a witchhunt and discharge – in a time of war! Will the hearing include testimony about how any new policy or repeal legislation should include retroactive funding to support vets and LGBT families?'

This is just a small highlight of the essay. The whole thing is very much worth reading. Ocamb goes into a lot of detail on how the original 'compromise' that created Don't Ask Don't Tell came about in 1993 and on the progress of President Obama's own campaign promise to end the policy, as well as what we can expect tomorrow at the hearing.

Setback in New Jersey

The fight for marriage equality in the United States suffered the first setback of the new year in New Jersey today, where the state Senate voted 20-14 against a bill that would have legalized same sex marriage.

It was especially crucial for the bill to pass at this point, since outgoing Governor Jon Corzine, a Democrat, had promised to sign it into law, while incoming Republican Governor Chris Christie is on record as being opposed to the bill.

Still, as painful as it always is when a vote goes against us (and honestly, nothing could be more painful or downright infuriating then the idea that our basic civil rights are something people can vote to deny us!), this was just a setback, not a defeat. Stephen Goldstein, the director of Garden State Equality, had this to say:

"Though we didn’t achieve our final victory today, we’re better positioned than we were a few months ago to win marriage equality. On the one hand, we resent, more than you can imagine, remaining second-class citizens a bit longer. On the other hand, the ball has moved forward."

It sounds like the New Jersey courts are the next stop in the fight for equality there.

The new year started with joyous wedding ceremonies for same sex couples in New Hampshire, and that is the image I'm going to carry in my mind all year, through the inevitable ups and downs of this ongoing fight.

A Great Start

Starting today, LGBT citizens of New Hampshire are enjoying marriage equality under the new law passed last year. Many chose to ring in the New Year with wedding ceremonies just after midnight last night.

I can't think of a better way to begin a brand new year and I hope that it is a sign that in the next twelve months more and more LGBT citizens all over the country will be victorious in the fight for our civil rights.

Secretary Clinton on Uganda

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton spoke at Georgetown University earlier this week on the subject of Human Rights and addressed the issue of Uganda, where legislation is pending that would make being gay or lesbian punishable by death. You can check out the full video of the speech on LGBT POV.

I've always admired Hillary Clinton a great deal (I supported her in the primaries over President Obama) and I think she's been far stronger on LGBT issues within the confines of her role than the President has been with far greater power at his disposal.

Speaking out on Uganda is crucial, especially at a time when even the BBC seems to think they can pose the question 'Should Homosexuals Face Execution?' as if there were a legitimate discussion to be had on the matter! Genocide doesn't come with a pro and con list. Uganda isn't the only place where LGBT people are facing grave Human Rights violations, though, and Secretary Clinton demonstrated her awareness of that fact.

After the speech, the Secretary of State was asked a follow up question by one of the students attending the event:

QUESTION: Hello, Secretary Clinton. Thank you so much for speaking to us today. You spoke about the situation in Uganda. Could you please talk to us a little bit more about how the United States can protect the rights of LGBT people in areas where those rights are not respected?

SECRETARY CLINTON: Yes. And first let me say that over this past year, we have elevated into our human rights dialogues and our public statements a very clear message about protecting the rights of the LGBT community worldwide. And we are particularly concerned about some of the specific cases that have come to our attention around the world. There have been organized efforts to kill and maim gays and lesbians in some countries that we have spoken out about, and also conveyed our very strong concerns about to their governments – not that they were governmentally implemented or even that the government was aware of them, but that the governments need to pay much greater attention to the kinds of abuses that we’ve seen in Iraq, for example.

We are deeply concerned about some of the stories coming out of Iran. In large measure, in reaction, we think, to the response to the elections back in June, there have been abuses committed within the detention facilities and elsewhere that we are deeply concerned about. And then the example that I used of a piece of legislation in Uganda which would not only criminalize homosexuality but attach the death penalty to it. We have expressed our concerns directly, indirectly, and we will continue to do so. The bill has not gone through the Ugandan legislature, but it has a lot of public support by various groups, including religious leaders in Uganda. And we view it as a very serious potential violation of human rights.

So it is clear that across the world this is a new frontier in the minds of many people about how we protect the LGBT community, but it is at the top of our list because we see many instances where there is a very serious assault on the physical safety and an increasing effort to marginalize people. And we think it’s important for the United States to stand against that and to enlist others to join us in doing so.

Marriage Equality in D.C.!

Today the City Council of Washington, D.C., the Capitol of the United States, voted 11-2 to allow same sex marriage. Mayor Adrian Fenty has promised to sign the bill into law.

As with any laws passed in D.C., the U.S. Congress has 30 days in which to review it, but Congressional leaders have apparently indicated that they won't be weighing in on this particular law. This means that Washington D.C., though not a state in its own right, will be joining the five states that currently (or, in New Hampshire's case, will soon) have full marriage equality.

The leading force behind this was Council Member David Catania, who is himself openly gay and who voted "I do!" today.

It would be easy, of course, to remember this year for the setbacks in California (where Prop 8 was upheld by the State Supreme Court), Maine, and New York, but let's not forget that it was also the year that saw Iowa, Vermont, New Hampshire, and now Washington, D.C. legalize same sex marriage.

Even more notable was that most of these states (including Maine, where it was later overturned) legalized it not through the court system but through the legislature. The only exception to this was Iowa, where the victory was won in the State Supreme Court. Even there, though, the majority in the legislature refused to overturn the State Supreme Court's ruling by changing the state constitution.

It's nice to end 2009 with a victory in the fight for Marriage Equality to remind us of what a big year it really was. Let's hope that it is a sign of more to come in 2010!

Houston, We Have A Victory

Today voters in Houston Texas, the fourth largest city in the United States, elected out lesbian Annise Parker as Mayor, becoming the biggest city in the country to ever by lead by someone who was openly gay.

The new Mayor-elect won with 53.6% in a runoff election that saw religious groups and conservatives rallying around her opponent and launching homophobic attacks to try and sway the election.

Luckily, hatred and bigotry did not carry the day this time around! I look forward to the day when openly LGBT people being elected to office is so commonplace that it isn't even news and this is definitely another victory along that road.

Setback in New York

There was bad news in New York State today, where the chance to legalize gay marriage slipped through our fingers. The state Assembly had already passed the bill (for the third time) and Governor David Patterson had promised to sign it into law if the state Senate (which, after the 2008 election, now has a slim Democratic majority) passed it.

Sadly, eight of the thirty two democrats in the Senate chose to vote against the bill, bringing the final vote to 38-24 and leaving the number of states where same sex unions are legal standing at 5.

As with the vote in Maine last month, this sort of thing feels like a slap in the face. It's never fun being told that you are less than everyone else, that your rights can be denied you by politicians. That's just not what America is supposed to be. Shall we vote on mixed gender couple's rights to marry? To have children? The idea is absurd, as should the idea of voting on my rights to marry be.

We will get there, though, and sooner rather than later. Nothing worthwhile is ever given, it has to be demanded, fought for.

Rage Against the Dying of the Light

Last week, I wrote about the importance of buying LGBT fiction so that the powers that be in the publishing world will continue to see it as something worth investing in. I noted that the gay & lesbian fiction sections at the bookstore I work for (a major bookstore chain) have shrunk drastically in recent years and that independent LGBT bookstores are closing at an alarming rate.

Sadly, another bookstore devoted exclusively to LGBT authors and titles is closing its doors. This time, the store is Out Word Bound, the only store of its kind in Indianapolis, Indiana. They'd been open since 1998 and will be closing after Christmas.

While it isn't of quite the same cultural magnitude as the end of a legendary store like the Oscar Wilde Bookshop, which closed earlier this year, this is still a big loss for the LGBT community in Indianapolis, and for gay literature in general. It's also the loss of a gathering place for the community, which is an equally painful subject. In many communities, such bookstores may well be the only gathering place, outside of clubs or bars, and their loss has a real impact.

The most frustrating part is that they cite the inclusion of LGBT titles in major bookstore chains, like the one I work for, as a reason for the closure, noting that it was the death knell for independent LGBT bookstores. This is especially painful since, as I mentioned, even the big chains are carrying far fewer LGBT titles.

This means that soon there may be very few places left for readers to go at all when they're looking for gay themed books. A genre of literature that sprang up and flourished over the past forty years seems to be dying a slow death now.

We can't let that happen. If you have an independent LGBT bookstore in your area, please support it by shopping there as often as you can. If you don't, then visit a chain store and purchase titles, and while you're there, let the staff know that you'd like to see a wider selection of titles.

If you don't have any way of going to a brick and mortar store to buy these works or if you're not out and don't feel comfortable doing so (believe me, I remember what that was like!) then the Internet is your friend! A lot of independent bookstores have websites you can purchase from so that you can support them even if they're not in your city.

The important thing is to speak with your wallet and let the book world know that there is still an audience out there for gay literature!

Gay Apartheid

Last weekend, I was in a wedding. Since I do not live in one of the five states that currently have marriage equality for same sex couples, it should go without saying that this was a heterosexual wedding, though it could by no stretch of the imagination be called traditional.

There were a lot of moments in this particular wedding that will probably be talked about for years by those who were in attendance, but in the midst of all the fun there was a moment that struck a sour note for me.

The person marrying my friends (who was not a minister by profession) started his remarks by noting that "Anyone can get married, but..." I was standing there, beside the happy couple, and the thought that such a day may not be able to happen for me, at least not legally, for a very long time was already on my mind, of course.

To hear those casual words was a sharp reminder of not only my lack of rights but of the fact that even the most well meaning of straight people take marriage completely for granted. I'm not saying they shouldn't, mind you, it's just that I'd like to be able to take it for granted, too!

I'm very upset by the results of the vote in Maine yesterday, and that moment from the ceremony, along with the thought of all those LGBT couples in Maine who won't be able to have the ceremonies they'd been planning for themselves, has been very much on my mind all day.

Gay Rights Activist David Mixner had some very powerful words to say about the subject:

"...call this campaign against us what it is - Gay Apartheid.

Refuse to allow any of our fellow Americans, President Obama or our allies to view this as a political issue who time hasn't quite come. America is in the process of creating a system of Gay Apartheid. We will not quietly sit and accept it. All over the place, this nation is creating one set of laws for LGBT Americans and another set for all other Americans. That is the classic definition of Apartheid. Either our political allies are for Gay Apartheid or against it. If they are against it, they must fight with us and no longer duck like President Obama did in Maine and Washington. There is no half way in fighting Apartheid.

Today many will claim that we must surrender the word marriage or accept some sort of separate but equal arrangement. It didn't work in the African-American struggle for freedom and it doesn't work for us. We want full equality with the same rights, benefits and privileges as all other Americans now."

It's easy to become depressed when faced with results like we saw yesterday, but the fight is far from lost and Mixner's words reminded me that we won't be cowed by the results of any vote, that when equality is lacking, it's not given at the ballot box but fought for and won, no matter how long that takes.

Even our so called friends in power are busy relegating LGBT issues, such as Don't Ask Don't Tell, to some future time when all the other issues that seem to be more important to them than our equality have been dealt with. Clearly, we rank higher on the priority list of those who are against us than we do of those who are (supposed to be) our allies.

The National Equality March doesn't seem to have lit enough of a fire under those in Washington who have benefited from our votes and our contributions, so maybe it's time to give those votes and contributions to others.

Yesterday wasn't all bad news on the LGBT front, of course. Gaypolitics has a rundown of some of the openly gay and lesbian candidates who were elected in record setting numbers across the country.

Setback in Maine

It looks like we've suffered another setback in the fight for marriage equality. I'm talking, of course, about Maine, where last May the state legislature passed a law allowing same sex marriage. The law was put on hold until voters had their say on it, though, and today they went to the polls. The latest projections seem to indicate that 53% of those who voted today did so in opposition to equality.

As certain as I am that you cannot halt progress forever, that we'll get to full marriage equality throughout the country eventually, it still hurts when people go to the polls and vote to deny basic rights to a huge segment of the population. It hurts not only because I am a part of the group being denied their rights, but because that's just not the America that we're supposed to live in. In the America that they teach us about when we're growing up, the very idea that someones right to get married could even end up on the ballot would be unthinkable.

True Colors Cabaret

If you're lucky enough to live in or near NYC, please allow me to live vicariously through you and attend the True Colors Cabaret series. When I read about things like this, it's all I can do not to just get on a plane and go, expense be damned!

Cyndi Lauper hosted the October 26th show, which featured one of my favorite Broadway men, Gavin Creel. Another one of my very favorite men in entertainment, As the World Turns' Van Hansis, will be hosting the next show, on November 29th, and that show will feature Glee and Spring Awakening co-stars Lea Michele and Jonathan Groff, as well as Rufus Wainright! Jason Mraz will be performing in the December edition of the show.

Several of the names I've just typed are people that I would LOVE to see perform live, or even just host the show like Van and Cyndi. If you're lucky enough to go, please share the details and let me be sick with envy!

The best part is that 100% of the proceeds from the shows go to support LGBT Equality through the True Colors Fund and Broadway Impact. It doesn't get much better than that. Why must I live on the opposite side of the country?!

By the way, Gavin Creel and the newly out Jonathan Groff are said to be dating, which would pretty much make them Broadway's gay power couple! They do make a really cute couple, if it's true:

Thank You, Bea Arthur

I just noticed that the readers of AfterElton voted the late Bea Arthur as this week's Gay of the Week. I was a bit surprised to see this at first, since as much as I loved Bea Arthur and know that she's a gay icon, the voting is usually for someone -fictional or otherwise- who has stood out that week in the gay community.

Then I found out the reason behind the nomination: it was just announced that Bea left $300,000 in her will to the Ali Forney Center, a New York shelter for homeless LGBT youth. With Bea's bequest, the Center will be able to purchase another building and shelter 12 more LGBT youths.

There are a plenty of gay icons out there, but something like this proves that Bea was more than just an icon, she was an ally.

At Last

As you've probably heard, President Obama signed the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Act into law earlier today. He had this to say:

"After more than a decade of opposition and delay, we've passed inclusive hate crimes legislation to help protect our citizens from violence based on what they look like, who they love, how they pray, or who they are. I promised Judy Shepard, when she saw me in the Oval Office, that this day would come, and I'm glad that she and her husband Dennis could join us for this event."

Earlier this week, I finished reading The Meaning of Matthew, Judy Shepard's book about her son's brief life, his murder, and the impact it had both on the world and on her family. I basically cried throughout the entire book, for Matthew, for what his family lost, and for the countless others who have been attacked and killed both before and after Matthew.

This new law is long overdue.