Commentary

The Christmas season is a difficult time of year for me. I am always bothered by our culture's egregious forms of commercialism - and its either lack of, or its anemic recognition of other forms of religious holidays like Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Ramadan, and the celebration of the winter solstice during this season.

As I prepare for the Thanksgiving holiday, I am reminded of the autumnal harvest time's spiritual significance. As a time of connectedness, I pause to acknowledge what I have to be thankful for. But I also reflect on the holiday as a time of remembrance - historical and familial.

Editor's Letter:

We go to the places that welcome us with open arms and wide smiles. Whether it is a gay bar, a leather bar, a home of your friend's, a vacation in Uganda... No, you wouldn't go on vacation in Uganda, because if you are an LGBT person, you know that you are not celebrated in Uganda.

Editor's Letter:

For many people, summer means spending time with family, going on vacation down the shore, taking road trips, or going to camp with friends. But for many LGBT youth whose parents have disowned them, summer will be another sweltering season with no place to go and no one to turn to.

African American female servicemembers comprise the highest percentage of women in the military. And with these sister servicewomen enlisting in the military at higher rates than their white, Asian and Latina sisters to serve and die for our country, the last thing the military should be squawking about is our hair.

June is the month when our visibility is most prevalent and pride is celebrated all over the world, we come out in droves to show that we are proud of who we are. We stand together. New Jersey has been showing its pride for 23 years with their spectacular celebration in Asbury Park, but June is not the only month that we are visible.

In New York City, building 1644 on Park Avenue is gone. So, too, is building 1646. On March 12th witnesses and residents of the area all reported hearing an explosion before the buildings leveled leaving plumes of dust where they once stood. Tremors from the fiery blast were felt more than a mile away. The night before the conflagration the smell of gas was detectable.

commentary.

Watching "The Dallas Buyers Club" on the big screen this past week, the new film about the early days of the HIV/ AIDS epidemic, had me recalling those dark days when we as a community were literally fighting for our very lives, and appreciating the real heroes of the era. For those with delicate sensibilities, you might not want to read my following memories of those early days.

commentary.

Alec Baldwin has done it again — caught on camera in a cussing tirade hurling anti-gay epithets at the vulturous paparazzi on his heels. This time Baldwin's accused of spewing out the phrase, "c-ksucking f-g."

REMINDER:

Today is election day in New Jersey. Polls open early and close at 8 pm. At the moment, it looks like Republican Chris Christie will once again rule the Garden State, no matter what. Gubernatorial hopeful Barbara Buono, a progressive democrat, is devoutly pro- LGBT but appears to wither under Christie's notoriety. Nonetheless, we have to vote into office her and many others who can protect and advance the banner of LGBT rights in New Jersey.