Human Rights Campaign

Whoopi Goldberg Honored At HRC Gala

The Greater New York's HRC (Human Rights Campaign) gala at the Waldorf was a big old gay jamboree, with the theme "Make Equality Count" firing up everyone from the silent auction through the dinner speakers and beyond. One of the honorees was Whoopi Goldberg, who's been quite progressive on the air ... More >>

Working The Red Carpet Was Intoxicating At The HRC Gala!

I could get used to that sort of thing. On Saturday night, publicist Ross Schwartz ushered me into a separate room at the Waldorf, where all the notables attending the Human Rights Campaign gala were asked to go onstage, one by one, and pose in front of the step-and-repeat, as photographers snapped ... More >>

The Skinny With Patrik-Ian Polk, the Gay Filmmaking Love Child of Spike Lee and Tyler Perry

Before meeting the director of The Skinny for lunch recently, I had seen Patrik-Ian Polk refer to himself on his Twitter profile as "The gay Tyler Perry. Shut up." But I'd also heard of him referred to as the gay Spike Lee. So which is it, I inquired when we met, especially since many people consi ... More >>

It's the First Anniversary of the Marriage Equality Act Passing and the Weather is Perfect: Happy Pride Sunday!

One year ago today, we had the chance to travel to Albany for our first and only day of reporting there. As days of political reporting go, it did not disappoint. On arrival, the halls were filled with passionate protesters: those demanding that gay and lesbian people not be allowed to "sully" the ... More >>

ACT UP Did March for Single-Payer Health Care

In this week's Pride Issue feature "Does 'Gay Inc.' Believe in Free Speech?" we report about how the mainstream gay organizations, even the AIDS groups, were largely absent from Zuccotti Park in 2011 and were not advocating a single-payer option during 2010's raging health care debates. Reader Eust ... More >>

Does 'Gay Inc.' Believe in Free Speech?

In the battle over gay rights, dissent during wartime isn't always tolerated

This Week in The Voice: 'Gay Inc.' and Free Speech

This week in the Voice, out today, Steven Thrasher wants to know whether "Gay Inc." believes in free speech: "Today's movement is quite unlike ACT UP, the Gay Liberation Front, or the Mattachine Society. In their use of confrontation, those groups looked far more like Occupy Wall Street than the Hum ... More >>

The Stonewall Stop and Frisk Summit - Or, Al Sharpton, Chris Quinn and the NAACP Walk Into a (Gay) Bar...

An historic coalition of traditional race-oriented civil rights organizations, labor unions, and LGBT groups met yesterday at the Stonewall Inn to endorse the upcoming SIlent March to End Stop and Frisk on Father's Day, June 17. The "press conference" featured an impressive roster of speakers -- inc ... More >>

Newt Gingrich's Gay Half-Sister Will Vote for Barack Obama

Last night, Candace Gingrich-Jones, the gay half-sister of Newt Gingrich, appeared on the Rachel Maddow show to talk about politics, gay rights, and Gingrich himself, whom she's (not surprisingly) clashed with over the years, though they've always been "mutually respectful," she says. "The catch is ... More >>

Documentary About Falcon Porn Creator! NSFW

Chuck Holmes founded Falcon Studios, helping to bring porn out of the bookstores and into the living room, but he did so much more than that. He helped fund the gay movement with his profits, being one of the people who erected HRC (the Human Rights Campaign). And Holmes found that though his mone ... More >>

Did HRC Drive Off with the NOM Defector's Marriage Equality Tour?

Did HRC steal the name or idea for their bus tour from the NOM defector, or is it a coincidence?​Last week, we broke the story that Kitty Lambert, one of the very first lesbians legally married in New York State, would be joining NOM defector Louis Marinelli, once a staunch opponent of gay mar ... More >>

Kitty Lambert Chats About Marrying Cheryle Rudd in First Legal New York Same-Sex Wedding

Kitty Lambert (left) with fiancé Cheryle Rudd​On Monday, we reported that Kitty Lambert and her fiancé Cheryle Rudd will be the first same-sex couple to wed in New York State. The grandmothers of 12 will tie the knot before a crowd of thousands, in front of the specially rainbow lit Niagara ... More >>

Barack Obama Ends Don't Ask, Don't Tell... Again

​President Barack Obama formally certified the end of the military's Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy today, the Human Rights Campaign is reporting. The repeal will take place on September 20th. The President signed legislation ending the policy in December of last year, but it had to occur aft ... More >>

Lottery Will Determine Who Weds July 24, First Day for Same-Sex Marriage in NYC

​Applications for marriage licenses in New York City have surged to nearly 2,600 since July 5, with 54% of those couples hoping to be married this Sunday, the first day same-sex marriages will be performed in New York. (1,728 of those 2,600 applications are from same-sex couples.) The city fe ... More >>

Anna Wintour Supports Gay Marriage in New York

The Vogue editor and fashion world icon took 31 seconds out of her day to vouch on video for New Yorkers For Marriage Equality as part of the Human Rights Campaign. (If she took more than one take to nail it we'll eat our hat.) Wintour joins a host of other notable New Yorkers and Barbara Bush, thou ... More >>

Who Do We Have To Blow To Get Gay Marriage? The 2011 Version

​AFTER THE JUMP: An update on the growing coalition behind marriage equality. Just who do marriage equality activists have to blow to get gay marriage in New York State? In the fall of 2009, when we asked that question, the obvious answer was the state Senate Democrats. A marriage equality ... More >>

Batali, Chang, and Colicchio Flash Their Mugs for Marriage Equality

Well, this is nice: Mario Batali, David Chang, and Tom Colicchio are showing their faces for a good cause.

Bush Daughter Endorses Gay Marriage

Barbara Bush, the half of George W. Bush's twins not on the Today show, stars in a new Human Rights Campaign video in support of marriage equality, "publicly breaking ranks with a father who, as president, pushed for a constitutional amendment banning such unions," according to the New York Times. B ... More >>

Obama Mentioned Gays Once in His State of the Union Address

​Said he about our troops: "Starting this year, no American will be forbidden from serving the country they love because of who they love. And with that change, I call on all our college campuses to open their doors to our military recruiters and ROTC. It is time to leave behind the divisiv ... More >>

Barack Obama Kicks Don't Ask, Don't Tell to the Curb

​We've been following Don't Ask, Don't Tell since Senator Barack Obama was campaigning on its repeal. After all these years, watching the ceremony in which he kicked it to the curb, in person, was a special kind of early Christmas gift. The event was not held at the White House, but in an aud ... More >>

"Don't Ask, Don't Tell" is Dead After 65-31 Vote to Repeal Policy

via​As expected, the repeal of the Clinton-era "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy banning gays in the military has passed the Senate by a vote of 65-31. President Obama must now sign the bill into law, which he is expected to do. On Wednesday, the House of Representatives voted to overturn the ban ... More >>

Move Over, Metrosexuals: Meet the Straight Bears

Furry, oversize guys are befriending the gays

"Don't Ask, Don't Tell" To Get Most Anticlimactic Death Possible

It's finally happening: the White House is officially behind Congressional efforts to end "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" this week.

David Letterman Joke About Transgender Amanda Simpson Draws Fire

Some LGBT groups are enraged that this joke about transgender Commerce appointee Amanda Simpson appeared on the David Letterman show this week, and are demanding that he apologize for it. Quick recap: Dave announces the appointment, and sidekick Alan Kalter reacts with horror: "Amanda used to be a ... More >>

City To Be Less Gay This Weekend

​Expect the city to be a little less gay this weekend. Thousands of gay and lesbian New Yorkers will be heading out of town to attend the National Equality March in Washington, D.C. City Council Speaker Christine Quinn and presumptive incoming Queens City Councilman Danny Drom have organized ... More >>

Malcolm Smith on Gay Marriage: "We Don't Have the Votes"

In December, it was reported that Malcolm Smith had scrapped a deal with dissident Democrats to make him majority leader rather than accept state senator Ruben Diaz' demand that gay marriage leave the senate's agenda. The Empire State Pride Agenda and other marrige equality advocates praised Smith. ... More >>

Buck Angel, A Man With a Pussy: LGB Without the T

As transgenders push for respect, a rift grows with traditional gay leadership

Thompson Uses NYC Pensions to Push For LGBT Worker Protections

Same-Sex Nups Squeeze Mayor Again

Bi-positional Bloomberg and the gay-marriage ruling

Mike's Mixed Message

Bi-positional Bloomberg assails gay marriage in court

Time for a Prayer Circle

Clinton and Kerry launch an unlikely crusade for religious freedom at work

'You Can Never Not Fight Back!'

A conversation with Larry Kramer about the current state of gay activism

Untying the Knot

Giving marriage a queer-eye makeover just might loosen up mom and pop

Get Back!

The Gathering Storm Over Gay Rights

What Gay-Friendly Republicans?

Homos Get the Glad Hand, Phobes Get the Power

Cheap Lay

The Myth of the Gay-Friendly GOP

Lesbian Mothers Making Men

The Lesbian Baby Boom Is Also a Baby Boy Boom. How Are These Lads Being Raised?

Bush's Gay Gambit

Does Silence = Support for Gay Rights?

Sites Unseen

Feinberg's Follies

Gay 9-11 Widows Left in the Lurch

Second Class Survivors

Gay and Lesbian Partners of 9-11 Victims Struggle to Receive Their Benefits

Agenda: Gender

Sex and Silence in D.C.

Virtual Marchers, Real Results

Fight Back Online

Fight Club

A Gay March on Washington Spawns a Major Movement Rift

Confronting the Pride Divide

Blood, Sweat, and Fed Up Queers at the Log Cabin Republican Conference

Letters

The 1998 Wacko Awards

Back To The Streets

Can radical gay organizers reignite a movement?

Good For The Gays?

A widening rift over the political direction of America's gay rights lobby