Celebrate the Night!

Celebrate the Night is a wonderful little event held each October in honor of National Coming Out day.  It is a variety show with female entertainers including singers, comedians, more singers, spoken word and usually some more singers.  :-)     Its actually very nice and has grown to the point of having to move from the Penn Brew House to East Liberty Presbyterian Church.  One of those events where you see women that you have never met or seen before, which is always interesting. 

They are still accepting applications for talent through July 31.  Send them an email at CTNpgh@verizon.net  or call: 412-655-4444

Just this past week, I realized that Correspondent favorite Eve Goodman had performed last year doing a very fun version of Dancing Queen on her acoustic guitar.  I was working at the refreshment table and could not easily see over top of all the thirsty lesbians, so I didn't put two and two together. 

CTN tends to be an older crowd so it would be really interesting if some of the performers from the Steel Queer N'At collective got involved.  Maybe that's just my generation gap speaking --- I get a little tired of either being one of either the oldest or youngest persons at an event. 

This caught my eye last night while lounging around Tuscany cafe in Southside.  (Doesn't that sound like I do cool things on week nights?  LOL)

You Had to Ask
6/22/2006

I’m still wondering about the Pittsburgh Left. No one can tell me where it comes from. Question submitted by: Catherine Stephens

That's a very good question Catherine.  And Mr. Potter does a fine job exploring this unique phenomenon.  Even I, a lifelong Pittsburgher, did not have a precise understanding.  I'm a bit of coward when it comes to pulling in front of people without clear signals that its okay. However:

No one can pinpoint the origins of the practice, of course. But when executed correctly, the Pittsburgh Left is a justifiable, and maybe even inevitable, response to Pittsburgh’s history and topography.

That's one of the awesome things about the City Paper.  You learn things that seem so obvious, but no one at West Mifflin High School ever made a point to teach us.  About the 1988 boys basketball team, I learned too much.  About Pittsburgh history and topography, not so much. 

The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) has issued the 2005-2006 State of the Workplace report. 

Take note of these facts:

* 51% of Fortune 500 companies offer domestic partner benefits

* 86% include sexual orientation in their non-discrimination policies

* 81% include gender identity in their non-discrimination policies

Obviously, corporate America recognizes that a LGBT friendly workplace is good business. 

This does not bode well for Pennsylvania given our legislative obsession for ramping up anti-gay initiatives.  How will we attract the companies so necessary to create jobs for PA families if we are creating a hostile environment?  It would be interesting to see the Democrats suddenly become the champions of economic development by creating an environment conducive to attracting private investment.  Not gonna happen anytime soon while so many Dems are cowering in fear for losing their seats for even consorting with homosexuals. 

I found this while browsing the Post-Gazette website.  Since the writer LA Johnson does A LOT of homosexual themed stories, I am presuming that the Post-Gazette was being clumsy by using "spouses" instead of "partners"    I could be wrong but hey -- let's give it a shot anyway .... all you homo spouses who fit this bill, give 'em a call.

Seeking Your Help: Spouses and friends

Thursday, June 15, 2006

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Do you and your spouse have mostly couples as friends or do you and your spouse have separate, individual friends? Has it changed over time? What works well for you? What are some of the pitfalls? If you're interested in discussing this topic for a future story, contact L.A. Johnson at Ljohnson@post-gazette.com or 412-263-3903. Be sure to leave your name and day-time phone number.

Frankly, this issue is so utterly complicated that I often avoid posting about it.  The American Episcopal church seems to be falling apart over the ordination of gays and women.  And there's all this gray in the middle sort of language that is meant to appease, but only succeeds in angering everyone.  I'm confused.  Read what the PG and the AP have to say about it. 

The Episcopal Church elected a female bishop as their head honcho.  The larger Anglican Communion is not pleased.  The conservative wing of the Episcopal Church was already angry about both female ordination and the ordination of an openly gay bishop.  The Episcopal Church expressed formal regret that the ordination caused turmoil, but not over the decision to ordain this man. 

So now the conservatives in the Episcopal Church led by Pittsburgh's very own Bishop Duncan want to break away and form their own diocese who does not answer to the duly elected female head bishop.  They want a floating non-geographic diocese led by someone specially appointed by the Archbishop of Canterbury.

Meanwhile progressive Episcopalians here in Pittsburgh are not sure how they fit into this whole schema.

I mean no disrespect because obviously this is a very painful issue for the entire Anglican Communion and the American Episcopal Church in particular.  Especially for Episcopalians here in Pittsburgh. 

But is it just me or does it seem pretty apparent that there is no real way to keep the church in union?  How does a diocese that refuses to ordain woman reconcile itself with a female bishop? If the Episcopal/Anglican strain of homophobia is so rampant that Archbishop Peter Akinola of Nigeria would openly support legislation making homosexuals illegal (not just homosexuality), how do you expect them to accept a gay bishop? 

It just seems that this band-aid is being pulled off very slowly and hurting a lot of people who grow ever more divided over these issues.  Kind of like the looming divorce which sometimes is much better for everyone, especially the kids.

Just my non-Episcopal observation ...