Buzzcocks’ Out Bi Pete Shelley Dead at 63

Ahead of the new legislative season in January, 152 out LGBTQ elected officials nationwide have penned a letter addressed to members of Congress seeking action on four main initiatives to advance queer rights. The group ... Show more

of officials, ranging from state legislators to local school board members, are calling on federal lawmakers to pass the Equality Act, utilize stepped-up measures to eradicate HIV/ AIDS, protect the transgender community, and uphold and improve the rights of LGBTQ asylum seekers. The letter comes on the heels of the Democrats’ major gains in the House of Representatives, signaling a new wave of momentum that could rally support for measures that have stalled under Republicans control of both chambers of Congress. LGBTQ candidates also enjoyed strong showings at the polls, including in Arizona, where candidate Kyrsten Sinema became the first openly bisexual US senator and the state’s first Democratic senator in a quarter century, and Colorado, which elected the nation’s first gay governor, Jared Polis. The letter, which will formally be delivered to members of Congress in early January, was drafted in a closed-door meeting held by elected officials at the LGBTQ Victory Institute’s In

Lesbian Co-Parent Loses in Kentucky

Pete Shelley wasn’t the only LGBTQ musician involved in the 1970s punk scene, but he was the most talented and the one whose legacy has proved to be the most influential. Born Peter McNeish in Lancashire, England in... Show more

in 1955, he formed Buzzcocks in Manchester with singer Howard Devoto in 1976. Quickly becoming disenchanted with punk, Devoto left to form the band Magazine, and Shelley became Buzzcocks’ lead singer and main songwriter. In 1977, they released the EP “Spiral Scratch” on their own New Hormones label and signed to EMI. Buzzcocks broke with the notion that punk should consist solely of angry expressions of alienation and direct political accusations. If the Clash and the Sex Pistols inadvertently reinforced a tradition of rock’n’roll machismo while trying to rebel, Shelley’s songs spoke eloquently about the vulnerability and rejection that come with love and sex. His more philosophical songs looked inward. Buzzcocks’ first major label single, “Orgasm Addict,” got banned from many radio stations, but it addresses the downside of the sexual freedom of the ‘70s with a campy wit. The band queered the Ramones’ bubblegum through blown-out speakers sensibility, borrowing as well from the pop

Rapper Seeks to Have Assault Conviction Thrown Out

Adopting a narrow construction of the Kentucky Supreme Court’s historic 2010 same-sex co-parent decision in Mullins v. Picklesimer, a three-judge panel of the Court of Appeals of Kentucky, ruling on November 30, he... Show more

held that Teri Whitehouse, the former partner of Tammie Delaney, is not entitled to joint custody and parenting time with a child born to Delaney during the women’s relationship. The appellate ruling reversed a decision by Jefferson Circuit Court Judge Deana D. McDonald. Comments in the three concurring opinions in the case make clear the panel views the 2015 US Supreme Court Obergefell marriage equality decision as requiring a bright-line test, under which it will be extremely difficult for unmarried partners to claim parental rights. In that sense, the opinion confirms the fears of some marriage equality movement critics who predicted that achieving same-sex marriage could undermine the interests of LGBTQ parents who choose not to marry. In her Circuit Court ruling, Judge McDonald had found that Teri Whitehouse and Tammie Delaney were in a romantic relationship and both fully participated in the decision to have a child, jointly chose a sperm donor, and held themselves out to th

Pastor Charged in Slaying of Detroit Trans Woman

“Citing “prosecutorial misconduct” and a judge’s “erroneous rulings,” the defense in a Brooklyn assault case that was originally charged as an anti-LGBTQ hate crime has asked that the defendant’s conviction be vacated... Show more

ion be vacated and he be granted a new trial. “The prosecution went forward and opened to the jury in a highly inflammatory opening statement that the defendant committed these assaults because of an anti-gay bias — making this a hate crime —prejudiced the defendant’s right to a fair trial,” Barry Krinsky, the attorney for James Thomas, wrote in a motion that was submitted to Donald Leo, the Brooklyn Supreme Court judge who heard the case, as Thomas was about to be sentenced on December 12. Thomas, 34, faced multiple felony and misdemeanor assault charges with some charged as hate crimes. He was convicted on November 21 on first-degree assault and other charges, though at that point all of the hate crime charges had been dismissed because witness testimony did not support them. In March 2017, Thomas attacked three men in a restaurant near Langston, an LGBTQ nightclub in Brooklyn. He slashed one man’s face with a knife, a wound that required 18 stitches, and stabbed a second. That s

Far From Heinous

A pastor who shot and killed a transgender black woman in Detroit on December 7 targeted her because of gender identity — and evidence of that will be presented in court, Wayne County prosecutors told Gay City News. Poli... Show more

lice found the body of 36-year-old Kelly Stough, who also identified as Keanna Mattel, on Friday morning at 6 a.m. at the corner of East McNichols and Brush Sts., about seven miles north of downtown Detroit. Following an investigation, Albert Weathers, 46, was arrested and charged with open murder and use of a firearm in commission of a felony. He is being held on $1 million cash/ surety, and a probable cause conference is slated for December 20 at 8:30 a.m. A preliminary examination in front of Judge Michael Wagner is set for December 27 at 1:30 p.m. It is not clear whether Stough and Weathers knew each other personally before the fatal shooting. The county’s assistant prosecutor, Maria Miller, was reluctant to divulge further details surrounding the case. “There are aspects of the case that are under investigation, so very few facts have been released,” Miller told Gay City News in a written statement. New St. Paul Missionary Baptist Church, which lists Weathers as a pastor from

Woman Suffers Fractured Spine in Anti-Gay Subway Assault

When jukebox musicals falter, and they often do, critics are quick to blame the book. Unlike traditional book musicals, where score and story are conceived hand-in-glove, jukebox musicals attempt to shoehorn a narrat... Show more

ive between beloved, preexisting songs. The fit inevitably feels off. “Clueless, The Musical,” based on the delightful — some might say “bitchin” — movie draws from the 1990s jukebox, but solved that approach’s inherent dilemma by grafting new lyrics onto iconic pop hits. That way songs and story are in sync. They’ve invented a new subgenre I’m anointing the “jukebook musical.” It should be noted that other tuners based on cult movies, like “Mean Girls” (currently on Broadway), “Legally Blonde,” “Heathers,” and “Far From Heaven,” are book musicals, bringing their familiar stories to life with original songs and music that were tailor-made. “Head Over Heels” (about to close on Broadway) which borrows tunes from The Go-Go’s catalog, is a jukebox musical. The jukebook conceit is perfect for the sly, whimsical tone of this reimagined “Clueless.” The movie, you may recall, was a goofy reworking of Jane Austen’s “Emma,” transported to 1995 in a Beverly Hills high school and starring the