Here's something new to read ...

If you are not at the peace rally Friday night, you should be glued to your television watching one of our 2 favorite political junkies duke it out with WQED's Off Q panelists..  These include Alan Cox, Fred Honsberger and Ruth Ann Dailey. 

WQED Friday, March 24, 7:30 PM

And, if you do make it to the rally, you can catch David on a repeat at 11:30 PM

Give 'em hell, David!

Sunday evening's edition of 60 Minutes included Lesley Stah's report "The Science of Sexual Orientation"  in which she explores recent research into sexual orientation. 

Today, scientists are looking at genes, environment, brain structure and hormones. There is one area of consensus: that homosexuality involves more than just sexual behavior; it?s physiological.

The show interviewed two sets of male twins to explore issues of nuture vs nature. While overall the piece is interesting, I was somewhat disturbed by how close Stahl danced to the line of stereotyping, such as when she tried to identify gay mannerisms in an attempt to understand how gay men are "feminized" physiologically. 

I was also somewhat disappointed that Stahl neglected to clarify sexual orientation from gender identity.  One of the younger male twins is very "girly" and clearly said he is like a girl, even that he thought he was a girl in the womb but became a boy b/c his mother preferred boys. 

Lesley, wanting to be a girl is not the same thing as being gay. 

Other nuggets ...

* Sexual orientation may be more closely connected with hormones than genetics.

* The more older brothers a man has, the greater his chance of being gay.

* Well, only for man who are right handed.

Hurrah for Catherine Specter! This week's version of the PG column Cat's Call manages to avoid being racist or sexist.  She even musters up a little "catty" rant that is mildly amusing if not actually funny.  Otherwise, it was boring as can be. I guess that's the best we can expect. 

Note that this week Cat adroitly defended her advice on premarital tweezing.  I can't wait for her to defend her advice on kowtowing to racism.    She should talk with Jane Little of Mt. Lebanon about complicit silence.

      During the Thursday evening broadcast, KDKA news stepped over the line covering a local fire.  A Trafford fire left 10 people homeless; everyone made it out alive and unharmed. 

But to get the sensational angle, David Highfield  stuck a camera in the face of one victim who was clearly distraught over the deaths of her pet cats not to mention the destruction of her entire home.  Her despair was so sad to watch and not something anyone of us viewers needed to witness directly in order to understand the magnitude of her losses.  I felt like a voyeur and it pisses me off that KDKA violated her anguish. 

Last night at 6 PM, Patrice King-Brown took a few moments to express compassion for the gentleman whose home was vandalized days after a school bus crashed into it.  That's what I like about Patrice -- she's seem cool, collected AND compassionate. 

So why couldn't David Highfield show some of the same restraint and given us some real reporting instead of a voyeuristic show?   Ick.

Last night, we went to see Crash at The Manor in Squirrel Hill.  This is one of your lesbian correspondents stating that Crash deserved the Oscar for Best Picture over Brokeback Mountain.  I loved Brokeback and believe it to be one of the best movies in my 35 years of movie watching.   But Crash resonates through America and was one of the best movies in my 35 years of movie watching.

People are creating a false racism vs homophobia dichotomy.  Both rip apart the heart of this nation of equality and justice for all.  Rather than pitting them against one another, we should take a closer look at their crossover messages. 

I walked out of Crash deeply shaken and contemplating how I identified with the white characters in the movie.  And how I as a lesbian identified with the minority characters.  And I don't have any answers this morning. 

Crash deserved the Oscar.

I'm not a fan of Catherine Specter's alleged advice column in the Post-Gazette.  In fact, I'm secretly convinced she was planted by the Mellon-Scaife contingent to subtly shift PG readers back to "when men were men and girls were girls."  Her advice has mostly been ridiculous and demeaning.

Today, however, she took herself to a new low endorsing silence in the face of overt racism for the sake of self-preservation.  The question stemmed from a renter whose landlord made racist comments about other (african American) tenants.  Her question:

Question:  I don't feel right paying money to someone with those values, but I have a lease. Can you put my mind at ease until I can move out?

Cat's Call: Stay cool, remain friendly with your neighbors, and hightail it outta there when you get the chance.

Apparently, Catty was too busy applying lip gloss to pay attention in history class.  Because guess what?  Silence is complicit endorsement.  This reader wants to feel better for not speaking out against injustice and racism.  She doesn't get a pass from me or any other reasonable person. 

Guess what Catty?  There are LAWS to protect people from racist landlords.  Including retaliation by turning off your heat.  There are resources right here in Pittsburgh that your reader could call if she felt the need ... Fair Housing Partnership which enforces fair housing laws is a good place to start.  So your argument for self-preservation is complete crap.

Catty, this woman wanted to rationalize remaining silent in the face of racism. You had the opportunity to provide a thoughtful answer to educate people on how to respond to overt racism.  You blew it by minimizing the real issue. 

In 2003, PG columnist  Tony Norman wrote this about Ms. Specter "She believes the burden of living a good life means acting generously, even when it's against her best interests."

I don't see it.

Pgh Lesbian Correspondent's Call:  Tony Norman's sabbatical cannot end soon enough. 

In the final strip from the recent gay cowboy thread, Aaron McGruder's Granddad comes to the startling revelation that he can appreciate gay-themed movies and music without turning gay himself!  GASP!  Click on strip to read it. 

Unproclaimed lesbian idol Jodie Foster will be the commencement speaker for the University of Pennsylvania's Class of 2006.  The university will bestow an Honorary Doctor of Arts degree upon Ms. Foster.

My commencement speaker was the CEO of some chemical firm that had financial investments in apartheid South Africa.   :-(

Congratulations to the Penn lesbians!

The Post-Gazette's Scott Mervis faces down Brokeback Mountain's impending dominance of the Oscars ...

With a nod to "Brokeback Mountain," the PG brings you its first-ever gay-cowboy 12-question movie quiz. Because, to no one's surprise, the genre doesn't run deep, our focus here is not on cowboy movies with gay people, but rather, with Oscar-related films with cowboys and/or gay people.

I learned new things about cowboys AND homos.  Click here for the online interactive quiz