Feature Story:
Bob Summersgill From childhood, when his father took him to Cape Canaveral to watch the last manned moon launch in 1972, to college when he served as president of the D.C. chapter of Students for the Exploration and the Development of Space, Bob Summersgill had an eye on the cosmos. His short-term cynicism, however, brought him back to earth.
"There just wasn't a future in it," says the 44-year-old. "I'm optimistic for the long term, I'm very cynical and pessimistic for the short term.... I wasn’t going to get to space by getting involved with this stuff. I want to be in a movement that's moving. I want to do things that actually result in some tangible change."
Summersgill did just that, turning his sights on moving legislation through the D.C. City Council, incrementally empowering the city's domestic-partnership laws. As a hobby, he's worked largely behind the scenes for years, crafting legislation, testifying and working with Council members to get GLBT Washingtonians to where they are today, with possibly the strongest partnership law in the country. He's also served as president of the local Gay and Lesbian Activists Alliance (2000-2003), was named a Capital Pride Hero (2008), and has advocated for the transgender and intersex communities with the D.C. Office for Human Rights. That's, of course, when we wasn't fighting for a smoke-free D.C. or planting trees as a "citizen forester" with the nonprofit Casey Trees. ...more
Bob Summersgill From childhood, when his father took him to Cape Canaveral to watch the last manned moon launch in 1972, to college when he served as president of the D.C. chapter of Students for the Exploration and the Development of Space, Bob Summersgill had an eye on the cosmos. His short-term cynicism, however, brought him back to earth.
"There just wasn't a future in it," says the 44-year-old. "I'm optimistic for the long term, I'm very cynical and pessimistic for the short term.... I wasn’t going to get to space by getting involved with this stuff. I want to be in a movement that's moving. I want to do things that actually result in some tangible change."
Summersgill did just that, turning his sights on moving legislation through the D.C. City Council, incrementally empowering the city's domestic-partnership laws. As a hobby, he's worked largely behind the scenes for years, crafting legislation, testifying and working with Council members to get GLBT Washingtonians to where they are today, with possibly the strongest partnership law in the country. He's also served as president of the local Gay and Lesbian Activists Alliance (2000-2003), was named a Capital Pride Hero (2008), and has advocated for the transgender and intersex communities with the D.C. Office for Human Rights. That's, of course, when we wasn't fighting for a smoke-free D.C. or planting trees as a "citizen forester" with the nonprofit Casey Trees. ...more
Gauge: The good news came in June. The bad news followed in July. Mayor Adrian Fenty (D) needs to find ways to close a projected budget gap of approximately $6 million, and The Center, D.C.'s GLBT community center, is being asked to take a dramatic hit -- following the budgeting of new funding that would have taken The Center to the next level.
While The Center cuts are just one component of a very broad fiscal strategy, there is a fear that the GLBT community is being asked to make a disproportionately large and, some argue, a possibly fatal sacrifice to its community center.
"It is important to note that these monies are not supplemental funding, but are core to The DC Center's functional operations and absolutely essential to its survival," offered Pat Hawkins, a member of The Center's board and a licensed clinical social worker and clinical psychologist, who has worked in the community for decades, in testimony delivered at a July 24 Committee of the Whole public oversight hearing. ...more
While The Center cuts are just one component of a very broad fiscal strategy, there is a fear that the GLBT community is being asked to make a disproportionately large and, some argue, a possibly fatal sacrifice to its community center.
"It is important to note that these monies are not supplemental funding, but are core to The DC Center's functional operations and absolutely essential to its survival," offered Pat Hawkins, a member of The Center's board and a licensed clinical social worker and clinical psychologist, who has worked in the community for decades, in testimony delivered at a July 24 Committee of the Whole public oversight hearing. ...more
Gauge: There’s a ticking time bomb on the Equality Across America Web site. At least, that's how some local activists, like Michael Crawford, might view the live countdown to the National LGBT Equality March, slated for Sunday, Oct. 11, in Washington.
Cleve Jones, gay pioneer Harvey Milk’s protégé, called for the 2009 march while speaking at a Utah Pride event June 7. It was then that Jones, also the founder of the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt, kicked off a four-and-a-half month countdown to an event aiming to bring GLBT activists and allies from across to country to the nation's capital.
Kellan Barker
(Photo by Ward Morrison/file photo) Equality Across America (EAA) is the umbrella organization that is currently being built by the event's steering committee to manage the march. ...more
Cleve Jones, gay pioneer Harvey Milk’s protégé, called for the 2009 march while speaking at a Utah Pride event June 7. It was then that Jones, also the founder of the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt, kicked off a four-and-a-half month countdown to an event aiming to bring GLBT activists and allies from across to country to the nation's capital.
Kellan Barker
(Photo by Ward Morrison/file photo) Equality Across America (EAA) is the umbrella organization that is currently being built by the event's steering committee to manage the march. ...more
By LOU CHIBBARO JR, Washington BladeMore than 150 people turned out Monday night in Dupont Circle for a candlelight vigil commemorating two gay Israelis who were killed and 11 others who were wounded during a shooting at an LGBT youth meeting in Tel Aviv.
Israeli authorities said an unidentified man wearing a mask barged into the Aug. 1 meeting at the Agudah gay community center, firing a gun at the mostly teen gathering in a city known for its thriving and vibrant LGBT community. Tel Aviv police say they are searching for the killer, who they
believe to be an Israeli.
“I am horrified and saddened by these barbaric murders,” Rab ...
PASADENA, Calif. (AP)Emmy host Neil Patrick Harris said he hopes industry resistance to streamlining next month's awards will ease when the plan is made clear.
More than 150 members of the Wr iters Guild of America, including Marc Cherry of "Desperate Housewives" and other prominent writer-producers, signed a petition criticizing the decision to pre-tape two writing awards and air edited clips during the live show.
Six other awards, divided among the a ...
SAN FRANCISCO (AP)Married same-sex couples will be counted as such in the 2010 census, reversing an earlier decision made under the Bush administration, census officials said Friday.
Steve Jost, a spokesman for the Census Bureau, said officials already were identifying the technical changes needed to ensure the reliability of the information, to be released in 2012, but remained committed to providing an accurate tally of gay spouses.
"They will be counted, and they ought to report the way they see themselves," Jost said. "In the normal process of reports coming out after the census of 2010, I think the country will have a good ...
Out and Equal Workplace Advocates, an LGBT-focused business advisory group based in San Francisco, has scored a major get for its annual summit this fall: John Berry, the openly gay director of the Office of Personnel Management.
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger today picked Ronald E. Albers for a judgeship on the San Francisco County Superior Court.
Theresa Sparks, the transgender woman who has served two terms as president of the city’s police commission, has ruled out running for a third term. When she first won the coveted seat by one vote back in 2007, Sparks became the first transgender person to head a city oversight panel. But her ascension led to [...]
Kalamazoo city commissioners voted unanimously on Monday to place a nondiscrimination ordinance on the November ballot for voters to decide rather than rescind the law outright, reports WWMT-TV. 
A former New York Post film critic warns director Guy Ritchie against the prospect of a gay Sherlock Holmes character, saying no one wants to see Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law "impersonating homosexuals." 
Portion of proceeds to benefit 3 non-profit groups. Kevin Thornton's one-man show is coming back to Nashville with a portion of proceeds from three performances benefiting PFLAG, TEP and Nashville Cares
Within weeks of Shelby County enacting similar legislation to protect county employees, the Metro Nashville Council has taken up a non-discrimination ordinance that includes sexual orientation.
Toned thighs, fishnet stockings, and girl-on-girl action - it's no wonder the Nashville RollerGirls have a solid lesbian fan base. But, what brings in the gay boys?
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To continue reading, please visit www.sovo.com
To continue reading, please visit www.sovo.com
CBS is promising it will beef up its gay character lineup
Voters will get the final say in a controversial gay protections bill approved by Kalamazoo city leaders in June
Jeffrey Heller's use of the word homosexual in coverage of a deadly attack on a gay club in Tel Aviv hints at a bit of homophobia
I’m working on a massive permanent page for Conservative Babylon regarding C Street / The Family / The Fellowship (haven’t heard of it? just Google it), because I need a reference point for the ongoing sagas of the three C Street-connected Repub sex scandal stories of the summer (John Ensign, Mark Sanford, and Chip Pickering), [...]
Sweet, sweet Schadenfreude (which was the first phrase that came into my head before I read my lovely wife’s post on the subject!): Feds can seize Dinosaur Adventure Land A federal judge has cleared the way for the government’s seizure of a creationism theme park in Pensacola. A ruling this week says the nine properties that make up [...]
Gay leader Allen Thornell passes away Longtime gay political activist and volunteer Allen Thornell died this morning after suffering a stroke yesterday. He was 38. Thornell’s family and friends released a statement aement at 12:23 p.m. confirming his death. … “He was surrounded by his loving partner, Chad Prosser, and friends during his final moments. His death is [...]
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