Corey Ramps Up Mayoral Fundraising

Being the only minority in any public space isn’t a pleasant position. As president, Barack Obama put forth a relaxed public persona probably grounded, in part, on a fear that white voters would otherwise take him for... Show more

or a stereotypical “angry black man.” Pete Buttigieg goes out of his way to be inoffensive. The first out gay candidate for president to achieve traction on the campaign trail constantly emphasizes his military service, Christianity, and marriage. Buttigieg’s popularity says something about the progress we’ve made, but the fact that he relies so heavily on this carefully constructed image also shows its limits. Early in his campaign, Buttigieg put himself on the map in part by targeting the homophobia of Vice President Mike Pence, a fellow Hoosier. One wonders how many heterosexuals, especially if they didn’t follow politics, knew just how extreme Pence’s beliefs are. In April, Buttigieg said, “If me being gay was a choice, it was a choice that was made far, far above my pay grade… And that’s the thing I wish the Mike Pences of the world would understand. That if you got a problem with who I am, your problem is not with me — your quarrel, sir, is with my creator.” Buttigieg couched

When Butches and Femmes Ruled the Scene

Out gay City Council Speaker Corey Johnson faces an uphill battle in his quest to fundraise against his — to date — deeper pocketed rivals in the race for mayor in 2021, but his grassroots, people-powered approach appear... Show more

pears to be paying off. Johnson, who is capping donations at $250 and has vowed to reject donations from lobbyists, corporate PACs, and real estate developers, has outraised City Comptroller Scott Stringer and, apparently, Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr., in the most recent filing period encompassing January through July of this year. The speaker pulled in $375,628 in net contributions from 2,616 donors during that period, according to campaign finance data. Stringer hauled in slightly less than Johnson — $313,087 — in net contributions from 1,447 donors, while Adams raked in an impressive $511,533 in the period, far outpacing any other candidates who have released financial disclosures for the period. Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr., who has yet to post his numbers for the period, yielded slightly less than $250,000, according to published reports. In total, the New York City Campaign Finance Board estimates that Johnson has $431,549 on hand, including $88,780 tr

Rockaway Holds First Pride Celebration

It takes a unique person to find the bright side in having your house and all its contents burn down. But when her 6,000-square-foot backwoods-Tennessee home caught fire in 2016, “The ashes rose,” said writer Merril... Show more

rril Mushroom. For 40 years she’d shared the giant space with the “second gay guy I married” and several adopted children, orphans, plus a revolving cast of visitors in need. But overnight, “Everything turned to gold.” The tragedy prompted an outpouring of support from a wide network of feminists and friends, offering not only money and supplies but also copies of incinerated writings from Mushroom’s lost archive. One such work, “Bar Dykes” — expanded from an essay on 1950s butch courtship rituals — was given new life by art press Pegacorn. Undervalued and overlooked like so much female art, “Bar Dykes” hadn’t seen the light of day since Mushroom wrote it in the early ’80s, even as iconic male works like “Boys in the Band” continued to be offered repeated seats at the mainstream table. Decades after producing “Dykes” in Los Angeles, playwright Robert Patrick sent the new art book to Kathleen Warnock of TOSOS, the queer theater company founded by Stonewall veteran Doric Wilson. Wa

Abel Cedeno Found Guilty on All Counts

Who said Pride was over? The LGBTQ community in the Rockaways made history on July 13 with the peninsula’s first-ever Pride celebration. OutRockaway, an LGBTQ organization encompassing the Rockaways and surrounding Que... Show more

ueens neighborhoods, partnered with the Joseph P. Addabbo Family Health Center to host to a four-hour block party complete with music and a DJ, health-related resources, giveaways, food, and refreshments. Numerous community groups were on hand at booths sprinkled around the event. The Pride festivities at 6200 Beach Channel Drive were scheduled to begin at 11 a.m., but people couldn’t contain their excitement about the festivities: They started showing up at 10 a.m. on what was a warm, sunny Saturday. After it was over, folks stuck around and continued partying on the beach. “It was really successful,” OutRockaway’s executive director, Jim Burke, told Gay City News. “It was lots of fun.” Several elected officials also stopped by, including Attorney General Tish James, Assmemblymember Stacey Pheffer Amato, out gay Councilmember Jimmy Van Bramer of Queens, who is running for borough president, and Councilmember Donovan Richards, whose Queens district includes Far Rockaway. OutRocka

Sophisticated “Lady” Emerges from the Shadows

Abel Cedeno, the gay teen who used a knife to defend himself from a Bronx classroom attack in September 2017— killing one classmate and slashing another — was pronounced guilty of manslaughter, assault, and weapons possess... Show more

session Monday by Judge Michael A. Gross in a bench trial, which the defendant chose over a jury trial. The case attracted a lot of press attention because it was the first killing in a New York City school in 40 years — and it involved a bullied gay student fighting back. The top charges of first-degree manslaughter and first-degree assault carry sentences of five to 25 years each — but only one and a third to four years if Cedeno, who was 18 at the time of the crime, is granted youthful offender status given that he has no previous criminal record. Gross rejected a defense request that their client continue to be allowed out on bail before sentencing on September 10 and remanded him to Rikers Island. Impassive throughout the proceedings, Cedeno was led out in handcuffs. His mother, Luz Hernandez, collapsed in tears and was escorted out of the court by her daughters. Outside the courtroom, the family and friends of Matthew McCree, the 15-year old killed in the fight, shouted, “

Ritchie Torres: I’m in It to Win!

The legendary musical “Lady in the Dark” (music by Kurt Weill, lyrics Ira Gershwin, book by Moss Hart) opened on Broadway in 1941. The incandescent Gertrude Lawrence starred as fashion editor Liza Elliott and an unknown... Show more

nown comic Danny Kaye debuted as her fey staff photographer Russell Paxton. On a mid-spring weekend, MasterVoices presented three performances of a semi-staged concert version of “Lady in the Dark” at City Center featuring Victoria Clark as Liza. This was also the debut of the Kurt Weill Foundation for Music’s critical edition of the Kurt Weill/ Ira Gershwin score. In its way, “Lady in the Dark” created just as much of a game-changing revolution in musical theater as “Show Boat” (1927) and “Oklahoma!,” which opened two years after “Lady” in 1943. What was revealed in this concert performance is that this now-rare musical landmark is something of an odd duck. Hart, inspired by his own experiences in analysis, originally conceived “Lady in the Dark” as a straight play starring Katharine Cornell with one or two interpolated songs. Liza Elliott, a busy editor of a fashion magazine, finds herself suffering from disturbing musical dreams and public emotional breakdowns. She seeks out Dr. B