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Kiss Me I'm Irish and Gay Photos
Repent America’s Response
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Boy of Summer

Groundbreaking Queer Civil Rights Rulings Jesse Archer Returns Happy Anniversary Butch  Hawaiian Paradise  Flipped On Flip Flops Men in Speedos Gay Day's @ Citizens Park

QUEERtimes NEWSLETTER
August 3, 2007
v.1 - i.12
It's on the Qt!

Use the
IN THIS ISSUE

links below to navigate QUEERtimes newsletter
IN THIS ISSUE
queerNEWS in Review - Local, National & International
queerVIEW - Groundbreaking Federal Rulings
What It Looks Like From Here - Jesse Archer Returns
Thom's Table's Tips - Hawaiian Paradise
QuickTakes
Featured Events on the Qt - Boys of Summer - Gay Days @ Phillies
Thom's Closet - Flipped on Fip-Flops
queerNEWS in Review - Continued
fueled by BUCKmonkey
Boys_of_Summer_Sq
QUEERtimes Features

queerNEWSA review of weekly Queer news from around the world

queerVIEW: News with opinion - ok - it's news with an attitude

queerARTS: - who needs an explanation.

queerVOICE: Opinion - no, you're right, - attitude

queerVOICE: Opinion - no, you're right, - attitude

QuickTakes: Queer-centric photos by HughE Dillon

Thom's Table on the QT:  Thom Cardwell brings us the art of celebrating great food.

Thom's World on the QT: Thom offer us queer travel destinations.

Back talk on the QT: Guest Opinion

Queer Links

Mazzoni Center
Your LGBT Health Center


The Attic Youth Center


Boys_of_Summer_Tall
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Publishers
Thom Cardwell
James Duggan

Editor
James Duggan

Editor-at-Large
Thom Cardwell

Associate Editor
Timothy Ferretti


Photographer
HughE Dillon

Copyright 2007
fueled by queerNEWS in Review
Local

Gays Voted as a Block in Philadelphia Mayoral Election

In Civil Unions, New Challenges Over Benefits (NJ)

Lesbian minister reaches out in faith (Bristol Township, PA)

Senior U.S. District Judge: Probation can't split gay pair (Montgomery County)

Philly Refines Pitch to Gay Tourists

UPS gives package deal to gay couples (NJ)

National

"Gay White males" Suit (NYC)

Banned from a bar, Arizona transgender woman claims discrimination

BIBLICAL TOYS TO INCLUDE GAY ACTION FIGURE AND A BAG OF SMALL STONES

International

Hong Kong sets up first centre for gays

Gay men arrested for 'kissing' outside Colosseum (Italy)

Singapore bans photo exhibition on gays, lesbians kissing
_______________________________________________________

VIEW MORE NEWS LINKS BELOW
________________________________________________________
James Duggan queerVIEW
Federal Bench Agrees
UPS Okay, NJ Not
James Duggan
©2007

Federal Bench Recognizes Queer Rights

This week two separate Federal Courts issued rulings that recognize the civil rights of queers.  As reported in various media sources from San Francisco to Philadelphia, Chief Magistrate Mikel Williams of the Federal District Court for the District of Idaho ruled that the State of Idaho is obligated to provide hormone therapy for a transgender person, and in a ruling against the U.S. Probation Office, Senior U.S. District Judge Marvin Katz in Philadelphia ruled that a long-term gay couple on probation has the same right to associate as a married couple.

Both of these rulings are groundbreaking. Their significance will be felt far and wide.

In Judge William's ruling, in favor of the transgender prisoner, he held that "gender identity disorder, left untreated, is a life-threatening mental health condition," and that based on extensive expert medical testimony, the prisoner is entitled to receive female hormone therapy.

In Judge Katz's 10 page ruling, he wrote that the "defendants were in every way a family," and that "the Due Process Clause [of the Constitution] protects highly personal relationships of deep attachment and commitment."

Now we know that the fundamentalist right will argue that these are simply activist judges who are trying to legislate from the bench.  But nothing indicates that these Regan appointees (Katz - '83; Williams - '84) are "activist" judges and noting indicates that they support the concept of "legislating from the bench."  Nor have they succumbed to the so called "gay agenda."  They have simply applied the logic that is found in our Constitution, and, like other judges during the Civil Rights movement of the sixties, they recognized that the queer minority share the same civil rights and protections as all other Americans.

We look forward to the appeals. Anything that moves the Queer Civil Rights Movement before the U.S. Supreme Court is a good thing.

UPS Comes Around but the NJ Still Needs to Get it's Act Straight

As reported by the Star-Ledger, United Parcel Service (UPS) had reversed its earlier position that its union contract, which provides health benefits for "spouses" of employees, including gay couples married in Massachusetts, did not permit it to unilaterally extend coverage to same-sex partners in New Jersey civil unions.   UPS cited the fact that New Jersey does not use either the term 'married" or "spouses" in its civil union law and, therefore, their contact with the Teamsters prohibited them from offering partner benefits to their union employees.  It should be noted that UPS has offered these same benefits to non-union employees since 2004.

But does the problem really lie with UPS?  Unfortunately, the Garden State has created a mess with its Civil Union Law and they owe it to the people of the state to fix it immediately.  New Jersey's Legislators and Governor need to change the law to allow full and equal marriage, that includes the words "married" and "spouses" to New Jersey queers.  Anything less is a lie.

_______________________________________________________
A Four Letter Word What It Looks Like From Here
Thom Cardwell ©2007

Jesse Archer Book

Jesse Archer just can't get enough from the City of Brotherly Love!  The actor, screenwriter and travel journalist will be returning to Philadelphia for an exclusive book signing "You Can Run: Gay, Glam and Gritty Travels in South America" (Haworth Press, 2007) at Giovanni's Room, 345 S. 12th St., at 5:30-7:00 PM, on Thursday, August 9.

The handsome native Oregonian caught wanderlust at an early age and has been traveling ever since, including living aboard in Paris and Buenos Aires in addition to being bi-coastal residing in both Los Angeles and New York City

Archer's book chronicles the two intrepid years the author spent glittering through the rough and tough of South America with a co-dependent ex-boyfriend, a prissy Argentine, and a
hot pink wig. The writing fiend also contributes a popular monthly column in Out Magazine.

Jesse Archer Movie

The multi-talented Archer recently starred opposite Rising Star Award recipient, Charlie David, at the opening night premiere of director Caspar Andreas' "A Four Letter Word," 
which he also co-screen wrote, on July 12 at the 13th Philadelphia International Gay & Lesbian Film Festival (PIGLFF) 2007 where he was in attendance. Archer previously worked with Andreas in first queer feature, starring in "Slutty Summer." The team of Andreas-Archer recently won a best screenwriting award at OutFest in Los Angeles.

The event is being held in conjunction with Where Magazine's publisher Laura Burkhardt and BUCKmonkey's Thom Cardwell and James Duggan, publishers of QUEERtimes.

For more information, call (215) 923-2960.

Are you sick of
Perez Hilton yet? 

perez hilton.

Is he just a media flash in the pan?  Will he become last year's news next year Perhaps. Perhaps not. It's hard to tell with a self-proclaimed "Queen of All Media." But you have to love that a queer Cuban-American, far away in Miami, gathered the attention of the media and the entertainment industries in New York City and Los Angeles, enough to have achieved in a relatively short time possible "overexposure" in the mainstream media.

Yet one more unemployed (or unemployable) actor, transplanted in Manhattan, after studying acting for a while at the prestigious New York University, Perez started his now-famous, even infamous, celebrity gossip blog, Perezhilton.com, as a whim, a hobby, for fun, in 2004. Now he's become his own industry. His name recognition alone is the easily the envy of every public relations agency on both coasts. (Perez himself claims that he doesn't actually have a publicist. He says that he's too good at it and self-promotes as well as the next person.)

He actually "wished himself on 'The View' by mentioning how much he love to be a guest on that day time hit show while he was appearing, as a guest on another TV talk show.  Most recently, Perez had made appearances on "The View," on Victoria Beckham's reality special on NBC, Kathy Griffin's reality TV show on Bravo, "Nightline," and Gossip on VH1. And that was just a few highlights during the month of July. The financial worth of that level of national exposure is the wet dream of any topnotch entertainment publicist. But in his hands, it's Perez just being, well, Perez

In the fall, the no-longer 15-minutes-of-fame queer celebrity tell-all expert will have a five-part series on VH1, directed by queer filmmaker/TV director (and my personal long time friend) Glenn Gaylord of "Lez Be Friends," that premiered last month at PIGLFF 2007 in our city.

"I'm doing things on my own terms," Perez told writer Mireya Navarro in The New York Times (Sunday, July 29, SundayStyles), "I don't have to answer to anyone but me."

Nowadays the 29-year-old  Mario Armandoi Lavandiers, Jr. (his real name), the orange-haired pop cultural icon himself has clearly parlayed the art of talking about celebrity into the success that he currently enjoys as a "celebrity" expert.

"I'm like Madonna. I'm not afraid to offend," Perez told the newspaper's interviewer.  You'll want to stay tuned for future developments with Perez who, Madonna-like, I have a feeling, will be back again and again as a recreation of himself.

Butch Cordova

Hometown TV queer celebrity host Butch , of "In Bed with Butch,"  will be taping the premiere of his eighth season with queer adult superstar Michael Lucas and guest pop recording artist Ari Gold on August 26 for air