IN THE NEWS ON GAY USA THIS WEEK:A man is shot by a cop in a Newark, NJ park, allegedly after being caught cruisingA Senate vote on ending the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy is predicted by Sen. Carl Levin for September as Sen. Harry Reid is confronted about the policy by Dan Choi. For more, go to www.GetEqual.org re civil disobedience and www.hrc.org to find out who your representatives are and take actionA court finds Arizona was wrong to end domestic partner benefits for state employeesThe high court in New Jersey orders the case for marriage equality back to a trial court. For more, go to www.gardenstateequality.orgThe ACLU sues Montana for partner benefits. For more, go to www.aclu.org/lgbtSonoma County settles a lawsuit brought by an elderly gay man who was cut off from his life partner and had their belongings sold out from under themThe anti-gay National Organization for Marriage Tour is a complete disaster, but that’s not what they say. Go to www.marriagetour2010.com and www.NOMTourTracker.com for more information on the tour and how to protest it in your areaAIDS pioneer and philanthropist Judy Peabody dies at 80Pre-exposure prophylaxis for HIV found to be safe. Effectiveness trials next.

IN THE NEWS ON GAY USA THIS WEEKARGENTINA opens marriage to same-sex couples, the first Latin American country to do soIRELAND'S President signs their civil partnership bill into lawLT. DAN CHOI AND CAPT. JAMES PIETRANGELO, arrested for chaining themselves to the White House fence to protest the exclusion of out gays in the military, have the charges against them droppedIN PALM SPRINGS, a city with an out gay mayor, police and the DA's office collude to entrap gay men into public sex and then register them as sex offendersCONSTANCE McMILLEN, who was stopped from going to her HS prom in Mississippi, won a settlement in her lawsuit against the school and a policy that will protect LGBT students going forwardIGLHRC wins recognition from the UNTHE INTERNATIONAL AIDS CONFERENCE gets underway in Vienna with protests and some possible good news for womenANDY REVIEWS a show about tricky dicksAND ANN TELLS US ABOUT "The Kids Are All Right"LINKS IN THE NEWSANTI-SAME-SEX MARRIAGE GROUP: www.marriagetour2010.comVIREAD AND BONE DENSITY: www.Poz.comINTERNATIONAL ARCHIVE: www.actup.org

OUR GUEST THIS WEEK FOR OUR FIRST HALF-HOUR IS JAMES ESSEKS, director of the ACLU’s LGBT Project . He will discuss in depth the big win in Massachusetts where a federal judge declared that the 1996 federal Defense of Marriage Act is unconstitutional insofar as it denies certain federal benefits to legally married same-sex couples. That case was brought by Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders and Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley. You can read all about it atwww.glad.org/domaEsseks will also analyze the pending Prop 8 case and tell us about the ACLU’s lawsuit to win full civil union rights for same-sex couples in Hawaii following Gov. Linda Lingle’s outrageous veto of the civil union bill there.James Esseks, Director, ACLU LGBT Projectwww.aclu.org/lgbtphoto by Bill BahlmanALSO IN THE NEWS ON GAY USA THIS WEEKTHE DEFENSE DEPARTMENT’S SURVEY of servicemembers on Don’t Ask, Don’t tell is condemned as offensive as the Log Cabin Club’s lawsuit against the policy goes to trialNEW REPORT ON ANTI-GAY VIOLENCE is out. Go to www.avp.org to read itTHE FBI KEPT CLOSE TABS ON THE MATTACHINE SOCIETY in the 1950s and ‘60s. To read the reports, go to www.governmentattic.comNBC’S TODAY SHOW reverses course after protests from GLAAD and allows same-sex couples back into their dream wedding contestA HOAX IN UGANDA: There was indeed a murder by beheading in Uganda recently, but it was NOT of a gay activist there as we reported based on press accounts last weekARGENTINA’S SENATE VOTES TONIGHT on whether to open marriage to same-sex couples. You can see the great interview (with subtitles) with Argentine President Kirchner supporting the legislation and taking on its opponents at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ixVrmrQg9AMPRESIDENT OBAMA UNVEILS THE NEW FEDERAL STRATEGY TO REDUCE HIV INFECTIONS by 25%. You can see the President’s remarks and read the report at: http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/07/14/national-hivaids-strategy-reducing-new-infections-improving-care-ending-health-dispaAND THE EMMY NOMINATIONS THIS YEAR ARE VERY, VERY GAY

GUEST HOST COREY JOHNSON, a gay activist and correspondent for www.towleroad.com is filling in for Ann Northrop who will return next weekIN THE NEWS ON GAY USA THIS WEEK:1) Elena Kagan gets questioned on same-sex marriage; we'll show you how she answered during Senate hearings2) A Congressional sponsor of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act predicts that passage is five years away.3) Controversy over a hormone treatment to prevent lesbian babies4) US Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) comes out--as straight!5) The Today Show bars gay couples from its "Modern Gay Wedding Day Contest;" go to www.glaad.com to learn how to protest6) A gay activist in Uganda is beheaded on "Martyr's Day"7) A huge settlement for an Indiana man whose HIV status was disclosed by his insurance company8) It looks as if Larry Kramer's "The Normal Heart" is finally being made into a movie starring Mark Ruffalo and produced by the makers of "Glee"PRIDE COVERAGEAll that, plus more "Voices from Pride," interviews with community members during the NYC LGBT Pride March and produced by Bill Bahlman.Our New York Pride Coverage will be available on our podcast and will be archived at our website at www.gayusatv.orgABOUT GAY USAThe Gay USA website and podcast are available at GayUSATV

IN THE NEWS THIS WEEK ON GAY USATWO MAJOR SUPREME COURT DECISIONS favor the gay rights sideELENA KAGAN gets gay questions in hearingWHITE HOUSE LGBT PRIDE reception; we will show you what President Obama saidNYS PASSES AN ANTI-BULLYING BILL that is inclusive of sexual orientation and gender identity and expression; we talk to Governor Paterson about whether he will sign it and Assembly Member Danny O'Donnell, its chief sponsor, and Council Member Robert Jackson, the Education Committee chair, about what it will do.THE 40TH MARCH MARKING THE STONEWALL REBELLION is held in New York; we'll bring you on-scene coverage. We'll show you what the Grand Marshals--Lt. Dan Choi, Judy Shepard, and Constance McMillen--had to say as well as show you a contingent of veterans of the FIRST march in 1970RUSSIAN GAYS are again stopped as they march to mark the Stonewall Rebellion, this time in St. Petersburg A VERDICT IN BROOKLYN in the re-trial of a murder case where Ecuadorian immigrants were attacked with bats and anti-gay slursWe'll look at the controversy over AN ANTI-GAY PASTOR who attended a support group for self-hating gay peopleANDY REVIEWS A.R. Gurney's new "The Grand Manner" at Lincoln Center starring out gay Bobby Steggert in a play about Gurney meeting theatre legend Katharine Cornell in 1948. It reclaims some gay and lesbian history.ANDY'S LONDON REVIEWS are now online at Gay City News at:http://www.directv.com/DTVAPP/search/programGuideSearchResults.jsp?category=&totalCountNF=0&resultsPerPage=20&displayPageType=DrillDown&prevPage=0&dbMatch=EPG&startPage=1&curPage=1&nextPage=0&sortBy=&searchText=%22Gay+USA%22&endPage=0

BREAKING NEWS: NEW YORK STATE ANTI-BULLYING BILL PASSES
 
After our taping this week's show, the New York State Senate finally passed the Dignity for All Students Act, a comprehensive anti-bullying bill for all schools in New York State. It was a long struggle--much too long, in fact. But now schools will be compelled to address the bullying epidemic directly including on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity and expression and students will have more power to make it stop. Despite years of delays, when the final vote was taken it passed 58-3 which makes you wonder what all the controversy was about. Governor Paterson will sign the bill.
 
For the full story in Gay City News, go to: http://www.gaycitynews.com/articles/2010/06/22/gay_city_news/news/doc4c217c0724b93526108584.txt
 
THE FORTIETH ANNIVERSARY OF THE FIRST MARCH COMMEMORATING THE STONEWALL UPRISING
 
Happy Christopher Street Liberation Day! That's what LGBT Pride Day was called when it was first marked 40 years ago this week as a group of LGBT activists decided to remember the Stonewall Uprising with a march up Sixth Avenue from the Village in New York, ending with a rally of thousands in Central Park that surprised and moved even those who bravely participated. Now it is marked all over the world, including in places such as Russia where governments continue to do everything they can to stop public demonstrations for LGBT rights.
 
There is a Drag March on Friday, an AIDS Candlelight Vigil on Friday, Harlem Pride on Saturday, the Dyke March on Saturday and much, much more. For information on all the NYC Pride Week activities, go to www.nycupandout.com
 
The New York Pride march is, as always, on the last Sunday of June--this Sunday, June 27 and it will kick off at noon from Fifth Avenue and 39th Street. Many will march with their own groups. For those of you looking for a group to join, consider these:
 
1) TAKE BACK PRIDE, an effort to put the protest back in the pride march, is gathering at 11 AM on W. 39th St. between Fifth and Sixth Avenues and are encouraging anyone who joins them to bring a sign about the issue you are marching for.
 
2) The AIDS crisis is far from over and ACT UP is marching for a comprehensive, non-discriminatory, sex-positive HIV prevention strategy to reverse the rise in HIV infections we are experiencing. ACT UP will start from E. 38th St. between Park and Madison Avenues.
 
3) Veterans of the first march 40 years ago will gather on E. 40th St. between Fifth and Madison. For more information, go to http://www.infotrue.com/hop.html
 
 
IN THE NEWS ON GAY USA THIS WEEK
 
PROP 8 TRIAL CLOSING ARGUMENTS were made on June 16th before Judge Vaughn Walker in San Francisco. We'll analyze this historic case, but you can read the transcripts at www.EqualRightsFoundation.org
 
PRESIDENT OBAMA expands the rights of same-sex partners with kids and holds his second LGBT Pride reception in the White House. You can see his remarks at: http://www.whitehouse.gov/photos-and-video/video/lgbt-pride-reception
 
More progress in OKLAHOMA and UTAH
 
BRITAIN will expunge the records of men convicted of consensual sex with men
 
THE CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS hockey team will be part of the Windy City's pride march
 
The REAL story of how ELTON JOHN came to sing at the wedding of anti-gay bigot RUSH LIMBAUGH
 
ANOTHER COUNTRY SINGER COMES OUT, this time a bisexual
 
"THE REAL L-WORD" premiers on TV; Ann has a review
 
'OUT IN THE SILENCE," a thoughtful documentary about a persecuted gay youth in a small Pennsylvania town is on PBS stations around the country, including NY on June 26 at 3 PM on channel 21 and June 27 at 11:30 PM on channel 13. For screenings and airdates elsewhere go to: http://wpsu.org/outinthesilence/airdates_index
 
ANDY REVIEWS LONDON THEATRE, including some new gay plays but the best turned out to be by American playwrights Arthur Miller, Tennessee Williams, and Eugene O'Neill--though there's a great and rarely produced Terrence Rattigan play at the National Theatre, "After the Dance." Full reviews will be posted on the Gay City News website later this week at www.gaycitynews.com

The Gay USA website and podcast are available at GayUSATV.org

IN THIS WEEK'S NEWS:

Chris Cooper sits in as co-host with Ann Northrop this week.

The case challenging the constitutionality of California's Proposition 8 wraps up this week with closing arguments. Chris and Ann dissect some of the 39 questions that Judge Vaughan Walker posed to both sides.

Stupid politicians say really obnoxious things about gay people serving openly in the military.

Last week--a report that lesbians make great parents. This week--a small study that says parenting is good for gay men.

The State Department announces new streamlined, easier procedures for changing gender on your passport.

The Iceland Parliament legalizes same-sex marriage.

A Health and Human Services review committee decides not to lift the ban on gay men donating blood, but will continue to research the issue.

And we'll review the Tony Awards, several movies and report on Andy's opinion of a couple of plays.

With Andy away for a couple of weeks, Chris Cooper sits in as co-host with Ann Northrop this week and next. 
 
In the news: 
 
More small incremental progress for the LGBT community from the Obama administration as the President issues a memo ordering more benefits for the families of LGBT federal employees, and... 
 
The IRS equalizes some tax-filing procedures for certain same-sex couples. 
 
A new study says lesbians raise better, happier children. 
 
Legal same-sex weddings begin in Portugal. 
 
The jailed and paroled Malawi couple breaks up. 
 
The national hospital accreditation commission says all hospitals must adopt LGBT non-discrimination rules. 
 
Jane Lynch of "Glee" marries her girlfriend in Massachusetts BUT Elton John performs at Rush Limbaugh's 4th wedding. 
 
A great new documentary, "Stonewall Uprising," opens around the country next week.

THE US HOUSE VOTES TO ALLOW THE REPEAL OF DON’T ASK, DON’T TELL pending a Pentagon review of the policy. The Senate won’t vote on it until summer and repeal could take until well into next year. We will give you a comprehensive summary and analysis. While most mainstream LGBT groups such as The Servicemembers Legal Defense Network www.sldn.org are accepting the compromise, some gay servicemembers have embarked on a fast until the ban is lifted. Go to http://www.facebook.com/#!/DignityFast?ref=ts for more information. The SLDN press release on how all this is going to proceed is at the end of this e-mail for those who care to read it.
 
AMERICAN ACCEPTANCE OF THE MORALITY OF HOMOSEXUAL SEX HITS 50% for the first time in history in the Gallup Poll.
 
THE ANTI-GAY CALIFORNIA STATE SENATOR who was forced out of the closet turns pro-gay.
 
THE SAME-SEX COUPLE IN MALAWI that was sentenced to 14 years hard labor a week ago has been pardoned by the President of their country after international pressure including from President Obama and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
 
RUSSIAN GAYS manage to have an LGBT pride march in Moscow—for ten minutes
 
A NEW DOCUMENTARY ABOUT STONEWALL is coming to movie theatres this month around the country and will be on PBS next spring. To see where “Stonewall Uprising” is playing, go to: http://firstrunfeatures.com/stonewalluprising_playdates.html  To see a discussion by the filmmakers and historian David Carter, who wrote the book on which it is based, go to: http://firstrunfeatures.com/stonewalluprising_playdates.html
 
“GLEE” does a great putdown of anti-gay language—we’ll show the clip. You can see it now at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjMXEoJsVGE
 
A MEMORIAL SERVICE FOR BOB CARTER, the first out gay Catholic priest in the US who was a founding board member of NGLTF and Dignity/New York and who died on February 21 at 82, will be held this Saturday, June 5 at noon at the LGBT Community Center in New York at 208 W. 13th St. Among those who will speak at Andy Humm, Sue Hyde of NGLTF, Rev. Bernard Lynch, and Brendan Fay. All are welcome and refreshments will be served.
 
ABOUT GAY USA
 
The Gay USA website and podcast are available at GayUSATV

IN THE NEWS ON GAY USA THIS WEEK

Looks as if a deal is reached on Congressional repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell, but many questions remain about whether it will pass this week and when it and if it will take effect

Speaker Pelosi is still promising a House vote on the Employment Non-Discrimination act, but when?

Harvey Milk's birthday was observed across the country in a week where we learned that the FBI kept a file on him

Maryland's Governor orders state government to recognize out-of-state same-sex marriages in compliance with an opinion from the Attorney General of the state

That Malawian same-sex couple is sentenced to 14 years at hard labor and have since been totally separated from each other as worldwide protests mount including from the White House and the Secretary General of the UN

Violence shuts down the first LGBT pride march in Slovakia

Congressional hearings are planned on lifting the ban on gay male blood donations

Andy reviews "My Big Gay Italian Wedding" and Billy Crudup in Adam Rapp's "The Metal Children"

And Sean Hayes will be the host of this year's Tony Awards

IN THE NEWS ON GAY USA THIS WEEK
 
PORTUGAL STANDS UP TO THE POPE: Days after a vicious condemnation of same-sex marriage by the Pope during his visit to Portugal, the conservative Portuguese President begrudgingly signs the bill opening marriage to same-sex couples passed by the left-leaning parliament
 
A US SENATE VOTE ON REPEALING DON'T ASK, DON'T TELL is expected next week, but the Obama administration isn't pushing it
 
CRIME NEWS: The murderer of a gay man in Puerto Rico pleads guilty and gets 99 years while the trial of an anti-gay murderer in Brooklyn. NY ends in a mistrial
 
LGBT PRIDE comes to North Charleston, SC but is attacked by police in Minsk, Belarus
 
THE PUSH FOR ENDA will include demonstrations by GetEqual.org
 
UPDATE ON MALAWI where a gay couple that tried to get married faces 14 years in prison
 
THE GMHC MESS ESCALATES
 
THEATRE REVIEWS of "The Kid," a news musical based on the book by Dan Savage, and Leslie Jordan's "My Trip Down" the Pink Carpet
 
ABOUT GAY USA
 
The Gay USA website and podcast are available at GayUSATV
Photo by Bill Bahlman

IN THE NEWS ON GAY USA THIS WEEK
 
PRESIDENT OBAMA'S NOMINATION OF ELENA KAGAN to the US Supreme court sets off criticism from the right and left as well as a debate on her sexuality. Politico just ran a story with friends of Kagan saying she is not gay:
http://dyn.politico.com/printstory.cfm?uuid=8A882123-18FE-70B2-A8A8667A106A0FCC
 
More on THE ANTI-GAY RELIGIOUS RIGHT LEADER WHO HIRED A MALE PROSTITUTE
 
THE REPEAL OF DON'T ASK, DON'T TELL is in jeopardy as veterans hit Capitol Hill to push for repeal. Military personnel can go to www.defense.gov/dadt to comment on repeal.
 
ENDA AND THE REPEAL OF DON'T ASK, DON'T TELL have the votes to pass in the House, sponsors say
 
Opening arguments in the Boston FEDERAL COURT CASE ON THE DEFENSE OF MARRIAGE ACT
 
May 15-17 for the International Day Against Homophobia. Go to www.IDAHOmophobia.org for more information
 
Marriage equality moves forward in ARGENTINA and ICELAND
 
GMHC's PLANNED MOVE of its headquarters in New York sets off a firestorm of controversy led by Larry Kramer, the group's co-founder
 
Huge blow up over a NEWSWEEK PIECE ON GAYS PLAYING STRAIGHT on stage and in the movies
 
GAY AND STRAIGHT BROTHERS WIN "THE AMAZING RACE"
 
ANDY'S THEATRE REVIEW: "In 'A Rap Guide to Evolution' at 45 Bleecker, white rapper Baba Brinkman buries Creationism in an intelligently designed mix of rap, high brow discourse, and low humor. Unlike 90 percent of what’s on the stage and screen today that insults our intelligence, Brinkman audaciously engages our minds and hearts in this tour of Darwinian theory and evolutionary biology. If it sounds dry, believe me it ain’t. In a season of cynical, witless offerings like 'The Addams Family,' 'A Rap Guide to Evolution' restored my faith in what the theatre and live performance can do."
 
CHORALE ON MARRIAGE EQUALITY:  Concluding its 17th season of concerts, the Empire City Men's Chorus premieres a newly commissioned choral work, by award-winning American composers Charles Norman Mason and Dorothy Hindman, exploring "the timely and politically charged issue of marriage equality."  Based on secular poetry and prose concerning marriage, relationships and partnerships of all communities and including texts by Gertrude Stein and Walt Whitman, the piece adds a classical music voice to the growing dialogue around us.  The chorus will also perform works by Heitor VIllla-Lobos, Claude-Michel Schoenberg, Morten Lauridsen, and Randall Thompson. Noted organist Christopher Johnson will accompany the Chorus. Performances Sunday, May 23, 3 pm, Riverside Church, 490 Riverside Drive and Tuesday, May 25, 8 pm, Church of St. Ann & the Holy Trinity, 157 Montague Street, Brooklyn Heights. $20-30.  Tickets at door or www.empirecitymenschorus.org  
 
ABOUT GAY USA
 
The Gay USA website and podcast are available at GayUSATV

IN THE NEWS THIS WEEK ON GAY USA....
 
THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION SAYS NO to quick action on the repeal of the ban on open gays and lesbians in the military while LGBT groups and some Congressional leaders push back. The Servicemembers Legal Defense Network is urging action. Go to: http://www.sldn.org/pages/not-another-year
 
THE US SUPREME COURT rejects a suit from the Boy Scouts seeking special treatment while looking askance at the plea of anti-gay campaigners to shield those who sign their ballot petitions
 
HAWAII PASSES A CIVIL UNIONS BILL, but the Republican governor has yet to say whether she will sign it
 
We pay tribute to our comrade NY GAY AND DISABILITY RIGHTS ACTIVIST HARRY WIEDER who was killed in an accident last week
 
NY MAYOR BLOOMBERG fights subsidized housing for people with HIV/AIDS and appoints a socially conservative out-of-towner as his new deputy mayor
 
A COUNTRY SINGER COMES OUT
 
ANDY REVIEWS Broadway shows starring Denzel Washington, Linda Lavin and Sean Hayes
 
LINKS IN THE NEWS
 
Get Equal: www.getequal.org
 
The Homecoming Project: www.liveoutloud.info
 
Report on HIV and Aging: http://www.gmhc.org/news-and-events/press-releases/growing-older-with-the-epidemic-aging-and-hiv.

GAY ACTIVIST HARRY WIEDER DIES:
 
After our taping this week, we learned that our dear comrade Harry Wieder died at age 57 after being hit by a cab while crossing the street. Harry was a tireless activist in the LGBT movement and for the rights of the disabled and people with AIDS, a longtime member of gay and disabled political clubs, and a member of his neighborhood Community Board as well.
 
For more on Harry’s death and life, go to:  http://dnainfo.com/20100428/manhattan/community-advocate-harry-wieder-struck-killed-by-cab-on-essex-st
 
GUEST HOST THIS WEEK:
 
COREY JOHNSON, a New York gay activist and reporter, is filling in for Ann this week. Corey, who works with Towleroad.com and Sirius Radio, did that great interview with Ted Olson and David Boies that we showed several weeks ago. (The Prop 8 trial is now set for closing arguments, we just learned today.)
 
We send birthday wishes to Corey today as he turns 28 and birthday wishes to Ann on Friday as she turns a little older than that. Ann will be back next week.
 
IN THE NEWS ON GAY USA THIS WEEK:
 
PUSHING THE CONGRESS: GetEqual confronted House Labor and Education Chair George Miller (D-CA) during a Congressional hearing to demand that he mark up the Employment Non-Discrimination Act and get it to the floor as House leaders have been promising for months. We will show you the videotape. And a group called HERO sat-in at Sen. John McCain’s (R-AZ) district office demanding he support the repeal of the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy. For more info, go to www.getequal.org
 
THE ARIZONA GOVERNOR who signed a fascist anti-immigration bill also just cancelled a rule under which state employees were entitled to domestic partner benefits
 
ORGANIZERS OF THE GAY SOFTBALL WORLD SERIES are being sued for limiting the number of non-gay players on a team
 
A BIG AMERICAN LABOR UNION has elected an out lesbian as its new president
 
ILLINOIS passes its anti-bullying bill for the schools
 
ANDY REVIEWS “Sondheim on Sondheim,” “La Cage” with Kelsey Grammer and more

IN THE NEWS ON GAY USA THIS WEEK:
 
ACTIVISTS FROM “GET EQUAL” PROTEST PRESIDENT OBAMA for not moving fast enough to repeal Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. We’ll show how he responded to them confronting him at an L.A. fundraiser for Sen. Barbara Boxer and six LGBT discharged veterans protesting the policy by chaining themselves to the White House fence. After we taped, the group confronted Democratic Rep. George Miller in a House hearing about moving the Employment Non-Discrimination Act to the floor. For more information go to  www.Getequal.org
 
PRESIDENT OBAMA ISSUES MEMO TO COMPEL U.S. HOPSITALS TO ALL GAY PARTNERS to visit and make medical decisions
 
SONOMA COUNTY OUTRAGE: The government there ignored the legal relationship between two elderly gay men and sold off their assets from under them. The National Center for Lesbian Rights is now suing on behalf of the surviving partner.
 
A GAY TEEN IN RURAL GEORGIA attends his prom with a male date and without incident—in fact, they were cheered
 
THE U.S. SUPREME COURT IS HEARING TWO GAY-RELATED CASES, one already done this week on the right of a campus Christian group to discriminate against LGBT folks and still receive funding and next week on whether those who sign ballot petitions against gay rights have the right to remain anonymous
 
A RIGHTWING LEADER ATTACKS SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM for being a closet case
 
MAINE GOV. JOHN BALDACCI makes spaghetti for hundreds of people to raise funds for a homeless services group that were rescinded by the Catholic Archdiocese when the group’s fiscal sponsor opposed the referendum against same-sex marriage
 
THE VATICAN tries to weasel out of its outrageous anti-gay pronouncements
 
THE TV SHOW “GLEE,” which features lots of diversity, is under fire for transphobia
  
ANDY REVIEWS "AMERICAN IDIOT,” “MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET,” AND “THE ADDAMS FAMILY” on Broadway
 
LINKS IN THE NEWS
 
May 11 town meeting, NYC: www.Takebackpride.org
 
 
ABOUT GAY USA
 
The Gay USA website and podcast are available at GayUSATV

IN THE NEWS ON GAY USA THIS WEEK
 
The same week that the POPE's fingerprints were found on the cover-up of sexual abuse of children by Catholic priests, the Vatican's #2 guy, Cardinal Bertone, says that the sexual abuse crisis is not the result of priestly celibacy but homosexuality. We give you our reactions to this outrage. Since we recorded the show, reaction from around the world has poured in. You can read about that at:
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5h5xC4dRPdB7po-Y1d8C8ZWOnqmMQ
 
LGBT rights come to MISSOULA, MONTANA
 
CONSTANCE MC MILLEN from Mississippi did not get to be a prom queen, but the out lesbian teen will be getting some higher honors including being one of the grand marshals of the New York City LGBT Pride March
 
CALLING ALL VETERANS: There will be a Veterans Lobby Day in Washington, DC to push for the repeal of the ban on gays and lesbians in the military. To learn more, go to www.VeteransLobbyDay.org
 
PORTUGAL AND ICELAND are on the verge of legalizing same-sex marriage
 
PRESIDENT OBAMA CUTS BACK AIDS FUNDS FOR AFRICA, breaking a campaign promise
 
ANDY REVIEWS "LEND ME A TENOR" and "RED," about artist Mark Rothko, on Broadway. His "Red" review is online at the Gay City News website:
http://www.gaycitynews.com/articles/2010/04/12/gay_city_news/arts/doc4bbf72438c546195608666.txt

IN THE NEWS ON GAY USA THIS WEEK:
 
CONSTANCE MC MILLEN, THE MISSISSIPPI TEEN who won the right to go her high school prom in Itawamba was tricked into going to an ill-attended prom while most of her classmates secretly partied elsewhere
 
THE US DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE defends the constitutionality of the policy that excludes out gays and lesbians from military service
 
A WIN FOR TRANSGENDERED INMATE in Wisconsin
 
PARTICIPATION IN THE CENSUS gets a funny boost from actor George Takei and his husband, Brad Altman, who urge us to be counted as who we are. We'll show you the video tape. Got to www.ourfamiliescount.org for more info
 
AN ACADEMY AWARD WINNING ACTRESS comes out as bisexual
 
ANOTHER GAY MUSICAL is headed to Broadway
 
LINKS IN THE NEWS
 
International Day Against Homophobia is May 17
www.IDAHOmophobia.com
 
True Colors Fund
www.StonewallFoundation.org

KATE CLINTON

photo by Bill Bahlman
 
Our guest this week on Gay USA is Kate Clinton, the Queen of LGBT Comedy, who will join us for our last fifteen minutes to provide her usual funny take on the news and tell us how she is surviving as a comedian without George Bush as president. Her book "I Told You So" is just out in paperback.
 
Kate is appearing on St. George, Staten Island with Lily Tomlin on April 17 as a benefit for the SI Community Health-Dr. Susan Love Foundation. She is at Penn State tonight and in Boston on April 10 and in San Francisco on May 1. For details on all her personal appearances, go to www.kateclinton.com
 
IN THE NEWS ON GAY USA THIS WEEK
 
As the White House drags its feet on repealing DON'T ASK DON'T TELL, the Marine commandant says he will move to segregated barracks if the policy ends and the Secretary of Defense announces a more "humane" enforcement of the discriminatory regulation
 
LOTS OF STUDENT NEWS including a victory in upstate New York including a victory in upstate New York over gaybashing in schools and a new student prom hero in Georgia
 
MIDGE COSTANZA, the then-closeted lesbian who welcomed the first delegation of gay and lesbian leaders to the White House in the Carter administration, dies at 77
 
THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN MAINE withdraws funding from a homeless services organization over their fiscal sponsor's support for same-sex marriage as the POPE IS UNDER INTERNATIONAL ATTACK for his cover-up of child abuse by priests
 
RICKY MARTIN finally tells the world what we already knew. He's gay.
 
LINKS IN THE NEWS
 
Direct Action Group:  www.getequal.org
 
Census info for LGBT folks: www.ourfamiliescount.org
 
How to Fight Don't Ask Don't Tell: www.sldn.org
 
International Lesbian and Gay Association: www.ILGA.org
 
ABOUT GAY USA
 
The Gay USA website and podcast are available at GayUSATV

BREAKING NEWS:
 
MISSISIPPI PROM: A federal judge ruled today that Constance McMillen was denied her constitutional rights when her high school told her should could neither attend her prom with a female date nor wear a tuxedo. The court did not order the school to reinstate the prom which was canceled rather than let Constance attend as herself. She will be allowed to attend the "private" prom that was organized by parents outside of the school to continue her exclusion. Read more about the decision at www.ACLU.org
 
GEORGIA PROM: Derrick Martin, 18, asked if he could go to his Bleckley County High School prom with a male date and it was approved. His principal said, "I don't judge him. I'm taught not to judge. I have to push my own beliefs to the background."
 
GUESTS THIS WEEK:

Frank Mugisha (left) of Sexual Minorities Uganda and Rev. Dr. Kapya Kaoma of Political Research Associates
photo by Bill Bahlman
 
THE LGBT CRISIS IN UGANDA: We are honored to be joined by Frank Mugisha, a gay activist from Uganda who leads Sexual Minorities Uganda, and Rev. Dr. Kapya Kaoma, author of "Culture Wars: US Conservatives, African Churches, and Homoiphobia." Rev. Kaomo, a native of Zambia now working in Boston, is a project director at Political Research Associates. These brave men are fighting against a brutal anti-gay atmosphere in Uganda that has been stirred by the American religious right. They join us halfway through this week's program for a compelling 20-minute interview.
 
For more information, go to www.sexualminoritiesuganda.org and www.publiceye.org
 
We strongly urge you to support these organizations.
 
ALSO IN THE NEWS THIS WEEK ON GAY USA:
 
THE NEW DIRECT-ACTION GROUP 'GET EQUAL' announces its presence with actions in Washington, DC, San Francisco and elsewhere protesting the exclusion of gays and lesbians from the military and the failure of the Congress to act on the Employment Non-Discrimination Act. We will bring you footage of out soldier Lt. Dan Choi's arrest at the White House and his plea for more of us to take direct action. You can learn more about the group at www.getequal.org
 
THE HEALTH CARE BILL passes without LGBT-specific provisions as Rep. Barney Frank is subjected to gay-bashing by Tea Party miscreants
 
VIRGINIA'S ATTORNEY GENERAL continues to go off the deep end, now justifying arrests for sodomy even though the law against it was declared unconstitutional in 2003
 
IN THE FIGHT OVER DADT, a retired US general blames gays in the Dutch military for the atrocity at Srebrenica in the Bosnian War and the Dutch are now fighting back against his bigotry and ignorance
 
THE AMAZING RANDI finally comes out at 81.
 
MORE LINKS IN THE NEWS:
 
CENSUS INFO:
www.ourfamiliescount.org
 
NEW YORK STATE SENATE RACES:
www.FightBackPAC.org
 
MARRIAGE REPORT:
www.EQCA.org
 
EXPERIENCED HOUSING DISCRIMINATION?
http://portal.hud.gov/portal/page/portal/HUD/LGBT_Discrimination_Study
 

VICTORY IN QUEENS, NY, Jose Peralta, a longtime supporter of marriage equality, resoundingly defeated former State Senator Hiram Monserrate, a treacherous opponent of marriage equality, in the special election for the Senate seat that Monserrate was expelled from after a domestic violence incident. The new group Fight Back New York which is dedicated to replacing anti-gay Senators with pro-gay Senators played a major role in the contest and will be continuing to do so in the primaries and general election this fall. We will show you Cynthia Nixon's pitch for the group on this week's show. You can read more about them at:  www.FightBackPAC.com
 

Irish Queers today sponsored the 19th protest of the New York St. Patrick's Day Parade over its exclusion of LGBT Irish groups. Police Commissioner Ray Kelly was the grand marshal this year, but Irish Queers is contemplating a lawsuit against the City for allowing police and firefighters to march in uniform in a discriminatory parade.
 
IN THE NEWS ON GAY USA THIS WEEK:
 
MISSISSIPPI TEEN CONSTANCE MC MILLEN'S quest to take her girlfriend to her high school prom has become a national cause celebre
 
ERIC MASSA, who just resigned from Congress after charges of sexual harassment were brought by a male aide, has become the butt of jokes from coast to coast
 
VIRGINIA'S ANTI-GAY GOVERNOR says that discrimination based on sexual orientation is against the US constitution, but his directive does not have the force of law and the state's anti-gay Attorney General says that state universities still may not ban discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity or expression.
 
OKLAHOMA'S LEADING GAY ACTIVIST, PAUL THOMPSON, DIES AT 70
 
TED OLSON AND DAVID BOIES tell Corey Johnson of Towleroad.com about the progress of their suit to overturn Proposition 8. We will show you this ten-minute interview at the end of the program with thanks to Corey and Andy Towle.
 
IN CHILE, gay organizations are devastated by the earthquake
 
UGANDA'S LEADING GAY ACTIVIST, Frank Mugisha, and the Rev. Dr. Kapya Kaoma, author of  "Globalizing the Culture Wars: U.S. Conservatives, African Churches, and Homophobia," are speaking at Riverside Church's Maranatha group on Tuesday March 23 at 7 PM in Room MLK 411. THEY WILL ALSO BE OUR GUESTS AT THE TOP OF NEXT WEEL'S SHOW.
 
TV SOAP "ONE LIFE TO LIVE'" drops a gay story line while "As the World Turns" adds some in its final days
 
LINKS IN THE NEWS:
 
CONSTANCE MCMILLEN
www.aclu.org
 
CENSUS INFORMATION
www.ourfamiliescount.org
 
DIRECT ACTION WEBSITE
www.getequal.org
 
LGBT OLDER ADULTS
www.sageusa.org
 
DC IMMIGRATION MARCH THIS SUNDAY MARCH 21
www.immigrationequality.org
 
STATE DEPARTMENT HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT
www.globalequality.org