By Bill Redmond-Palmer This year the twenty-fourth census is currently underway, and it’s important that everyone participates, to ensure that Maryland receives all the funding and representation it deserves. The United States Constitution requires that a census of the entire population, citizens and noncitizens alike in all the states and territories be made every ten years. The Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution directs that the census will be used to determine the number of members of the U.S. House of Representatives from each state, and it is used to allocate hundreds of billions of dollars in federal funding and services […]
Remembering A Quiet Persistent Hero – Terrence McNally
Some heroes wear capes. Others march, protest, or pass legislation. Still others work to change people’s hearts and minds. Terrence McNally was the latter. He believed that the theatre’s most important function was to create community and bridge rifts between people caused by differences in gender, race, religion and in particular, sexual orientation and HIV status, and dedicated his life to that work. In an address to members of the League of American Theatres and Producers he said, “I think theatre teaches us who we are, what our society is, where we are going. I don’t think theatre can solve […]
Dinner and Drag Shamrock Shindig, March 8th
Host KC Florence invites you to join them and some of Marylands finest drag queens on March 8th at Ellicott Mills Brewing Company (8308 Main Street, Ellicott City) for a Dinner and Drag Shamrock Shindig. Doors open at 5 pm, and youre encouraged to get there early for the best seating. Parties of four or more should call ahead for reservation seating at 410-313-8141. They will be serving off the regular menu, together with $5 drag themed cocktails. There will be a $15 cover, with tickets available online at Bit.ly/38R7vBA. The event will include games and is open to all […]
City LGBTQ Commission Announces Openings
The Baltimore City LGBTQ Commission was established by the mayor of Baltimore to represent the various needs and experiences of Baltimore’s LGBTQ residents. It collaborates with the mayor’s LGBTQ Affairs office to advise and guide the mayor and city governments on issues of importance to our community. The commission currently has five vacancies and is accepting applications for new members. The commission has six primary areas of focus: education and youth law, policy, and advocacy public safety health and human services unity and pride economic development. Commissioners assist in convening committees composed of community volunteers in each of the focus […]
‘Love is Love’ to Host HRC in B’more
The Love is Love Boutique hosted the Human Rights Campaign to announce the boutique as the new HRC headquarters in Baltimore. Members of the Washington, DC, HRC steering committee were there to host. HRC staffer JoDee Winterhof spoke about the importance of the HRC’s presence in Baltimore, as it seeks volunteers to canvas in Maryland and surrounding states. She cited Alice Walker’s bon mot, “We are the people we’ve been waiting for.” The Love is Love Boutique and the HRC are planning more events throughout the year, and look to have increased presence in this year’s Baltimore Pride. For more […]
What You Don’t Know About AIDS Could Fill A Museum
As time marches on, memories of the darkest years of the HIV/AIDS epidemic – and the political organizing that government inaction spawned – are gradually disappearing. Art, culture, and community play a huge role in our understanding of both the past and present of the ongoing AIDS crisis, and through exhibitions, videos, books, and storytelling, we have a chance to share and witness the many varied experiences of HIV/AIDS. Two people using those mediums are writer and curator Theodore Kerr and artist and performer Rahne Alexander. Together with storyteller Louis Hughes, they will be hosting an opportunity to share stories […]
‘Sur/reality’: Trans Art Show at B’more City Hall
“Sur/reality” is Baltimore City Hall’s first-ever art exhibition highlighting the work of local transgender artists. Come to the proverbial “place you can’t fight” on Thursday, June 27th from 6 to 8:30 pm when the office of the mayor and the LGBTQ liaison invite you to the opening reception and lecture. The show “explores the dual existence of transness both as an experience and as an identity.” The show will feature a “multitude of mediums, motifs, textures, and concepts,” which curator Jamie Grace Alexander, of the Gender Museum, will guide attendees through. The event is free, and all are welcome. Some […]
GLCCB Renamed ‘Pride Center of MD’ – Plans Building Purchase
At the cusp of major changes, the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Community Center of Baltimore and Central Maryland – widely known for decades as the GLCCB – is changing its name to Pride Center of Maryland and has taken the first step toward purchasing a building which will serve as its new home. With the support of State Senator Mary Washington and State Delegate Maggie Macintosh, the center secured at $500,000 bond from the Maryland General Assembly which will allow for the purchase of a five-story building in the Charles North and Old Goucher neighborhoods. Following the passage of […]
City Schools Consider Groundbreaking Trans Policies
Baltimore City Schools are considering a set of policies regarding transgender and gender nonconforming students according to the Baltimore Sun, which if enacted would put them far ahead of most other school systems in the state, by more fully protecting the rights and dignity of those students. Only Frederick County currently has a specific, progressive policy supporting those students in a similar manner. These policies, currently under consideration by the city school board would allow transgender students to use the names, pronouns and bathrooms that align with their gender identity. The policy also outlines a specific grievance reporting and investigation […]
An Intimate Look At Conversion Therapy
With his new documentary, The Sunday Sessions, Baltimore based filmmaker Richard Yeagley provides an intimate portrait of one man’s struggle to reconcile his religious convictions with his sexual identity. The film is an observational documentary chronicling the film’s subject, Nathan, on his turbulent journey as he attends conversion therapy, hopeful he can change his sexual orientation. Conversion therapy is the controversial, non-scientifically based practice with the aim of changing a person’s sexual orientation from homosexual to heterosexual. Despite it having been discredited by all major American medical, psychiatric, psychological, and professional counseling organizations, the service continues to be offered by […]