Check back regularly and read the latest offerings from our leading team of bloggers. Updated throughout the week, our bloggers give you insight and opinions on everything from popular culture to sport, books to movies, stage to spoken word and fashion to politics - both within our community and the world at large. Current bloggers include Gavin McGuren, Daniel Smith, Fiona Wong, Nigel Etherington, Danae Gibson, Ania Anderst, Damien Douglas-Meyer and Kieran Bycroft. We are always looking for new bloggers too - so if you have something to say, be it once or on a regular basis, please send us an email.
American voters have finally delivered the right verdict on George Bush
Junior, with voters choosing to abandon the Republican Party and hand
control of Congress to the Democrats.
However, Daniel Smith concludes that this result is more a case of "too
little, too late" than a case of "better late than never".
Working on the assumption that no-one wants to see bingo wings in a
singlet on a Saturday night, I turned to my companion and lamented not
having worked out before putting on my outfit for the G-spot Commando
dance party at Gilkisons.
Patently one of the best things about getting out amongst it all is
meeting new people. Shiny new people bring with them new stories and
fresh perspectives, and if we're lucky they enrich our lives and maybe
even become the type of friends who will pick us up from the airport.
Maybe even the kind of friend who will actually stop the car, pay the
exorbitant parking rate and greet us at the gate.
The glorious liberation of Iraq has not only been good for women,
democracy and ancient artefacts, it's also given gay and lesbian Iraqis
a reason to applaud the Coalition of the Willing as their champions.
According to a post on US site Indybay, homosexual Iraqis across
Baghdad are being hunted down and murdered by Islamic militants and the
police/insurgents being trained by the US.
Resident
GAYinWA blogger, Gavin McGuren, brings you details of this disgrace and
updates on you on the activities of Rose, yes THAT Rose, and Take
That's dig at Robbie.
The Gay and Lesbian Equality email list hasn’t seen this sort of
action since students were allegedly brutalised by police officers at a
rally following the Queer Collaborations conference last year. The
topic? Is John Howard foisting Christianity onto Aussie school children?
Former Pride Co-President and resident GAYinWA blogger Daniel Smith
concludes that his Parade soundtrack idea was a mistake after watching
floats like those from Connections and Climaxx in this year's Pride
Parade.
Resident GAYinWA blogger Fiona Wong reflects upon an evening of
beautiful smiles, shiny things and all things Pride. Where DID
they park that big magic gay CAT bus???
Resident GAYinWA.com.au blogger Gavin McGuren notes the "Gaybyboomers" march towards retirement and gives us a sneak preview of Shortbus, a controversial new film by John Cameron Mitchell.
The 2008 Pride Parade may have been among the smallest, and certainly
the fastest in Pride's 19 years, but it remains a relevant and
important event according to this year's convenor, Charles Denham.
Gay favourite Rachel Berger is among the headliners this year as the Wild West Comedy Fest returns
to Perth for 26 days of hilarity and hijinks. Other Australian comedy
stars on the bill include Bob Franklin, Tom Gleeson, Fiona O’Loughlin
and Scared Little Weird
Guys.
Rebuilding trust was the key to the success of this year's Pride events
according to festival convenor, Kieran Bycroft. While some events did
less well than expected, many attracted good crowds and some film and
theatre sessions were sold out.
African-American and Latino voters were a powerful force in electing Barack Obama and also in passing Proposition 8 to ban same-sex marriage. Exit polls
showed 70 percent of black voters, and a majority of Latino
voters, voted yes to the ban. More here.
Three US states ban marriage
Three US states passed amendments banning same-sex marriage in the historic vote that also saw the election of the nation's first black president. Voters in California, Arizona and Florida approved proposals to outlaw same-sex
marriage. More here (free registration retired)and here.
California's marriage war rages on
Having failed to save same-sex marriage, GLBT Californians are taking their fight to court. City attorneys from San Francisco, Los Angeles and Santa Clara will seek to invalidate Proposition 8 on the grounds that it conflicts with the equal
protection pillars of the state Constitution. More here, here, here and here.
Caught with their pants down in Malaysia
Malaysian police raided four gay "parties" on the weekend and arrested some 70 people after finding DVDs, gay magazines, lubricants and boxes of condom. A small reminder to be cautious in Malaysia and Singapore, where the aptly named Straits Times gleefully prints your photo. Details here.
Burning in hell on Earth
God Hates Fags! posters have become one of the symbols of the great divide in America. Now the son of
vile and crazy Rev Fred Phelps speaks out for the first time about the violent abuse he
suffered at the hands of his father. Read it here, along with
the response from his delightful sister, Shirley.
Circumcision HIV benefits in doubt
US analysis of data on 53,567 men who have sex with other men has
found that circumcision is ineffective in reducing HIV rates.
African trials have shown circumcision cuts the likelihood of male to female HIV transmission by up to 60 per cent. More here and here.
Only gay in the village proud but sad
Australian Olympic gold medalist, Matthew Mitcham, is proud but also sad to have been the only gay in the village at Beijing. The champion diver says his decision to come out before the games was a vital part of the gold medal performance that denied China a clean sweep. More here.
Lover cooked and served with herbs
A plague of gay cannibals threatens to overrun the planet, with the latest outbreak reported in Leeds, where a former Mr Gay UK is on trial for killing a former lover and attempting to eat part of his thigh. Anthony Morley, 36, is accused of murdering Damian Oldfield and cooking parts of his flesh. More here.
Big HIV rise among China's gay men
HIV infections have increased alarmingly among gay and bisexual men in parts of
China according to new data. There were an estimated 700,000 HIV/AIDS cases in China as of
October 2007, up 8 percent from 2006. Cases among gay and bisexual men jumped to 3.3 percent in 2007 from 0.4 percent in 2005. More here.
Dancing in a circle with your friends, it's quickly becoming the
perfect night out. However amid the fifth round of drinks and
renditions of I Kissed a Girl, you can't help but feel a rift over the
dance floor.
From the Pride theatre and film seasons through to the Great Gay &
Lesbian Debate, Parade and Party, I thoroughly enjoyed this year's
Pride Festival. View footage from the debate and Parade and read about my festival highlights and the challenges I think Pride faces next year.
In winning today’s Presidential election, Barack Obama has provided the
world with the opportunity for a new beginning and his country with the
opportunity to put the disastrous Bush years behind it.
For some time now it's been popular among members of Generation Y to
declare that something is "so gay" to indicate that it's dumb, silly,
bad, ugly, unattractive, geeky, embarrassing, gaudy or even just plain
dull. That’s so gay. That’s so gay.
That’s so gay. It's the dull that hurts the most.
While I may not be the first person to go out on a limb and declare
that Barack Obama will win this year's Presidential election, I may be
among the first to declare that Sarah Palin will win the Republican
nomination and challenge him in 2012. That is, if she hasn't
bankrupted the Republicans with her wardrobe expenses first.
The global financial meltdown and impending economic Armageddon may
have an unexpected upside. For the first time in half a generation,
there may finally be a pool of people with the time on their
hands necessary to build exciting Parade floats.