Kate Bornstein

Scientology Chooses an Odd Time to Open a "National Affairs" Office in DC

Today at 6 pm, Scientology will hold a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a building in Washington DC's Dupont Circle neighborhood. For the last couple of years, Scientology has opened "Ideal Orgs" -- fancy, superfluous new churches in cities around the world in an expensive ploy to make it look like the ... More >>

Voice Readers Raise Thousands For Couple That Refused to Spy for Scientology

We've always been suckers for the final scene of It's a Wonderful Life. No matter how many times we see it, we tear up at the sight of George Bailey's friends coming to his aid in his time of need, proving to him that he really is the richest man in town. Over the last couple of days, we watched so ... More >>

Scientology's Obsession With Hollywood Proving Costly In Its Time of Crisis

In 1955, Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard announced "Project Celebrity," coming up with a list of Hollywood stars he wanted his followers to treat as "game" to hunt down for the church. And while Hubbard didn't succeed in bagging Danny Kaye, Sid Caesar, or Liberace (!), his organization did event ... More >>

Scientology's Homophobia: Even the Church's Token Gay Guy Was Disgusted

One of Scientology's enduring mysteries is that it has attracted Hollywood stars when it has such a reputation for homophobia. The sexual orientation of its top celebrities is always a matter of popular speculation, and even those with the barest understanding of Scientology seem to know that if cel ... More >>

The Secret to Eternal Youth! Now Available on the Cruise Ship Freewinds!

Scientology watchers, we have a treat for you this morning. This video has been making the rounds the last couple of days, and we can see why it's generating so much interest. Mike Napier, the captain of Scientology's private cruise ship, the Freewinds, stars in this film and tells us about the bene ... More >>

(2012's) Top 25 People Crippling Scientology, Nos. 14-16

Last summer, we put together a little list that took on a life of its own. We counted down the 25 people and groups who had been doing the most to get word out to the wider world about the Church of Scientology's many alleged abuses, and who have contributed to its steep recent decline. A year la ... More >>

(2012's) Top 25 People Crippling Scientology, Nos. 17-20

Last summer, we put together a little list that took on a life of its own. We counted down the 25 people and groups who had been doing the most to get word out to the wider world about the Church of Scientology's many alleged abuses, and who have contributed to its steep recent decline. A year la ... More >>

(2012's) Top 25 People Crippling Scientology, No. 21 & 22

Last summer, we put together a little list that took on a life of its own. We counted down the 25 people and groups who had been doing the most to get word out to the wider world about the Church of Scientology's many alleged abuses, and who have contributed to its steep recent decline. Our list in ... More >>

The Top 25 People Crippling Scientology -- 2012 Edition!

In the doldrums of August last year, we put together a little list that took on a life of its own. We counted down the 25 people and groups who had been doing the most to get word out to the wider world about the Church of Scientology's many alleged abuses, and who have contributed to its steep rec ... More >>

Neil Gaiman, 7, Interviewed About Scientology by the BBC in 1968

Former Scientologist Patty Moher was going through her collection of old church magazines and other materials when she spotted something pretty remarkable. I visited her this weekend at a gathering of other ex-Scientologists and Scientology researchers, and several of us marveled at her find. It w ... More >>

Video from the Memorial of Alexander Jentzsch; Also: Scientology Commenters of the Week

Filmmaker Mark Bunker put together this video of Friday's memorial held Friday for Alexander Jentzsch aboard the ship Spirit out of Long Beach Harbor in California. It's a simple event with a few people on a boat. But don't underestimate its significance. Since she sent out a message to thousands ... More >>

Prehistoric Aggression: More Reasons Katie Holmes Was Smart to Avoid Scientology Marriage Counseling

In its print edition today, the New York Times is catching up to something we printed on Wednesday about the weirdness of Scientology's marriage counseling. After news broke that Katie Holmes was divorcing Tom Cruise, various news outlets relied on Scientology PR to give the impression that, as ABC ... More >>

Scientology Wins a Major Award Again! Galaxy Press Vindicated!

Last June, we told you about how proudly Scientology crowed in its press releases that it had won "Telly Awards" for some of its DVDs. We went on to explain that it's kind of difficult not to win a Telly, which gives away thousands of awards to up to about a quarter of the businesses that bother t ... More >>

Amanda Palmer Dramatically Answers Questions About Her Connection to Scientology

A few weeks ago, we noted that Amanda Palmer -- the musician who performs as a solo act and as one half of the Dresden Dolls and Evelyn Evelyn -- made a rather dramatic appearance at Kate Bornstein's book party, held at Dixon Place. Right about that same time, Palmer was also making news for taking ... More >>

How You Can Help a Film About Kate Bornstein Happen (Plus: Scientology Sunday Funnies!)

Filmmaker Sam Feder has opened Kickstarter funding for a documentary about recent Village Voice cover gal Kate Bornstein. Go to Sam's page to find out how you can help finish the project!

Ursula Caberta on Scientology: "You Have to Be Always Watching Them"

This week, a 90-minute documentary about Scientology's intelligence-gathering wing, the Office of Special Affairs, aired on the French and German cultural channel ARTE. Titled "Office of Special Affairs: Der Scientology-Geheimdienst" (Scientology's Secret Service), it included interviews with seve ... More >>

Lisa Marie Presley Says "So Long" to Scientology

Last month, we noted that Lisa Marie Presley's single "You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet," which she released ahead of her new album, Storm and Grace, came with lyrics that read like a kiss-off to the Church of Scientology, even using some of Scientology's jargon -- like the very telling word suppressive. ... More >>

Sunday Funnies: Birmingham Raises the Odds on Ideal Orgs!

Scientologists don't really have a Sunday service. They like to say that they do, because they crave mainstream acceptance. But unless Xenu rested after six days and L. Ron Hubbard just forgot to mention it, there's no reason for Scientologists to treat Sunday any differently than every other day of ... More >>

Amanda Palmer Loved Kate Bornstein's Memoir So Much, She Crashed the Book Party

Tuesday night, we were invited to play a small part in Kate Bornstein's book party at the experimental theater Dixon Place, to celebrate the release of her memoir, A Queer and Pleasant Danger. Earlier that day, our cover story about Kate had popped up on the website, and the print version of this ... More >>

Kate Bornstein's Amazing Voyage

America's gender outlaw takes us on a wild tour of trans-formation

This Week in the Voice: Kate Bornstein's Amazing Voyage

This week in the Voice, out today: Tony Ortega tells gender outlaw Kate Bornstein's story, and her attempt to rekindle a relationship with her daughter: "I told her that it did seem like an odd strategy -- that in order to reach out to a daughter who has shunned her for more than 30 years, she would ... More >>

Scientology 451: Commenters of the Week!

We used the news from Russia this week as an excuse to mix up a shaker of vodka martinis. After quite a few glasses garnished with olives, we got a bit lightheaded, but we never felt the desire to ban L. Ron Hubbard's books. This was a strange week of Scientology news around the world, but we kept ... More >>

Scientology Greenery: Commenters of the Week!

Note: We'll have a special St. Patrick's Day report at 1pm this afternoon. Please come back for that after you check out these comments of the week! We went to Mecca and back this week -- Scientology's Mecca that is, the town of Clearwater, Florida to celebrate L. Ron Hubbard's 101st birthday. And ... More >>

Scientology Intervention: Commenters of the Week!

It's not often that things are calm and soothing here inside the underground bunker. But after Judge Stryker gave the order yesterday for everyone just to chill out, we took it to heart. Even the cats are taking a break from tearing up the furniture. There was plenty of activity this week, though, ... More >>

Scientology Campout: Commenters of the Week!

It never seems to be a quiet week here in the underground bunker where we keep an eye on all things Scientology related. The cats had barely settled down from our brief trip to Texas when the bat signal on the Antipodean circuits went off, alerting us to an imminent bombshell. But let's not get ahe ... More >>

Scientology Dramaturgy: Commenters of the Week!

Things back at the underground bunker are peaceful and calm -- the cats dig the new scratching post, we hear, and they're finally getting some quiet time while we're on the road frantically trying to keep up with Scientology's ongoing implosion. Things started out quietly enough as we began another ... More >>

Scientology: L. Ron Hubbard Still Surfing the Galaxy

Twenty-six years ago today, L. Ron Hubbard decided to leave his body after using it for 74 years. A young David Miscavige, a Sea Org member who behind the scenes had been clearing the way to become Hubbard's successor as leader of the Scientology movement, announced Hubbard's death to his followers ... More >>

Scientology Viscosity: Commenters of the Week!

It was an amazing week here at the underground bunker, where we keep an eye on all things Scientology. Let's take a look back at how the week unfolded before we recognize the work of our illustrious commenting community. We starting things out by having fun with the Tone Scale in our regular weeken ... More >>

Scientology Recon: Commenters of the Week!

And we thought it was going to be tough to follow Debbie Cook. We're glad that we got those improvements to the underground bunker in place before the new year; we don't know if the old setup could have handled the hurricane-force enturbulation that hit with the coming of 2012. While we were still ... More >>

Scientology, Cooked: Commenters of the Week!

"This Debbie Cook show is just too much!"​If the rest of 2012 is going to be like this first week, the hooch reserves in the underground bunker are going to need some bolstering. Things started off one second after midnight as 2012 began, when our pre-loaded first story of the year, "What is ... More >>

Scientology Spectacular: Commenters of the Year!

"M-A-R-C-O-T-A-I. They'll never figure out it's me with this fake Italian accent!"​Here on this final day of 2011, we're replacing our usual Saturday morning celebration of the week's best comments with a special announcement. Our IT department has done the math, we've run those numbers throu ... More >>

Scientology Succession: Commenters of the Week!

[Image blatantly stolen from shoopers at WWP]"Finally, a country that treats its people right!"​We had a feeling that this week leading up to Christmas would be pretty quiet around the underground bunker. And boy, were we wrong! What a crazy week, and it all started Sunday morning with our usu ... More >>

Scientology on the High Seas: Yuletide Cheer, Including Dickens Adapted with Evil Psychs

​On November 18, we started a new feature here on Fridays: the Voice has obtained hundreds of copies of L. Ron Hubbard's previously unpublished "Orders of the Day," which he gave to crew members as he sailed the Mediterranean. Our documents cover the period from 1968 to 1971, and this time we' ... More >>

Scientology Capsize: Commenters of the Week!

The scene here in the underground bunker is like the quiet after a major storm. A hurricane blew up out of the Caribbean this week and hit us square on. The place is a mess. The cats are skittish. But the excitement has finally died down a bit, the lights are low, the empty bottles have been cleared ... More >>

L. Ron Hubbard Schools Richard Nixon: Sailing on the Apollo Nov 27 - Dec 3

On November 18, we started a new feature here on Fridays: the Voice has obtained hundreds of copies of L. Ron Hubbard's previously unpublished "Orders of the Day," which he gave to crew members as he sailed the Mediterranean. Our documents cover the period from 1968 to 1971, and this time we're look ... More >>

Scientology Leftovers: Commenters of the Week!

​We're still recovering here in the underground bunker from this week's big feast. The leftover turkey is still holding out as we look back on the past week of Scientology watching here at Runnin' Scared. We started things off Sunday morning with a look at Part 3 of "The Money Machine," the g ... More >>

Scientology Effervescence: Commenters of the Week!

​Here in the underground bunker, this was something of a strange week. While enduring a middling but annoying cold, we tried to get back in the swing of things after a week out of town. And while things started a bit slow, by Friday this had turned into one slammin' sevenday. Things kicked of ... More >>

Scientology Symposium: Commenters of the Week!

It was an unusual week here for us at our Scientology watching operation. We left the underground bunker for a trip to Southern California, but still managed to put together a few stories while on the road. And our commenters did not let us down, with some of them carrying over debates they were hav ... More >>

Gay Pride's Here! And I'm So Ashamed!

We're asking, so tell us: What about our civil rights?

Kate Bornstein Is Ticked Off With Ticked-off Trannies With Knives

​The Tribeca Film Festival entry Ticked-off Trannies With Knives has irritated groups like GLAAD for what they deem is the insensitive portrayal of hate crimes against transsexuals. Well, now trans author Kate Bornstein takes on both the movie and GLAAD, intelligently finding fault with both ... More >>

HEY MISTER

Tranny chasers, this one's for you

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Pride Guide

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Giving Gender the Shakes, Four Performers Prove There's Life in Drag Yet

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Kiki and Herb's Blight Christmas