Mike Seate of the Tribune Review posits some new additions to Pittsburgh's lexicon.  One of these is the term "gaybee" referring to children parented by gay people.

Huh.  Funny? 

I like this one:

Recent Square:  Person who moves from suburbs to Regent Square and immediately adopts the heavily pierced, thrift-store fashion sense of local hipsters. i.e., "Those two are definite Recent Squares because their tattoos haven't even healed yet."

This wasn't funny.  Am I too senstive b/c of the lesbian reference?  Or is it just not funny?

Skullet  Haircut that's long in back but short in front and, sadly, interrupted by a bald spot the size of a softball. Popular in South Hills and among lesbian couples from Regent Square.

This is pretty much the only reference to lesbians the Trib has made in weeks.  What do you think?

Craig Galik of Duquesne is not pleased.  Apparently, when he tunes in to the Ellen DeGeneres show, he doesn't expect to see any lesbian claptrap. Imagine his horror when Ellen spoke about her plans to marry partner, Portia De Rossi.  On television.  In front of viewers.  Gay stuff. 

Either Craig is the only person on earth who doesn't know that Ellen is a lesbian or he is just an idiot.  Actually, I'm pretty sure its the latter based on these statements:

Isn't it funny that we can talk openly about gay affairs on TV, but we cannot freely talk about Jesus.

Is this what the Founding Fathers had in mind when they wanted freedom for all?

This is exactly the narrow-minded thinking that is so seductive to people lacking the capacity for original thought.  Craig postulates that there is more discussion of gay issues than Jesus-flavored religious issues on television.  That's simply preposterous.  You can't turn on a news station without smacking into some religious advisor or another commenting on the latest political issue.  We can't have a discussion on anything -- from access to healthcare to hemlines -- without contemplating what Jesus would do about it.  Craig also seems to forget that entire stations devoted to Jesus flavored religions dominated the airwaves long before LOGO came churning along.  It has been a long, long time since it wasn't cool to talk about Jesus on television.  Exactly one day longer than there has actually been television. 

What Craig is trying to do is pit any discussion of gay issues as a suppression of his religious liberties.  He does it poorly and with a distinct lack of poetry, but I'm sure he got a few amens out of the PG readers.  It is just amazing that Christians can somehow redefine themselves as a persecuted minority on one hand and yet force all three Presidential candidates to prove their Jesus-love in order to win the nomination.  Amazing.

To answer Craig's question about the Founding Father's wanting us to talk about gay issues as freely as religious issues, I say a resounding YES.  Freedom to exchange ideas was a big Founding Father priority, not the content of said ideas.  See the difference, Craig?  They wanted a society where you get to be a small-minded bigot and I get to love a woman without impinging on each others liberties. 

If you don't want to hear about the personal life of a lesbian, stop watching a television show named after and starring a lesbian.  There's nothing radical about that. 

You probably saw the giant face and know that we have a new dog.  I've been blogging like mad about her over at http://pghmona.blogspot.com.

But the LGBTQ worlds needs some attention, too.

First up, the latest letter to the editor in the Post-Gazette. Jay Jarrell of McMurray drags out the arguments that marriage is about purpose, ie. the next generation.  He uses big fancy words to make his point, completely ignoring the evidence that many non-human life forms engage in non-purposeful sexual activity.  Because it feels good.  Ah, poor Mr. Jarrell.  Maybe someone needs to buy him a few early Prince albums and help him understand that marriage does not equal sex and procreation.  (I'm secretly guessing that he is one of those guys who watches news stories about parents who make disastrous choices and thinks that there should be laws about who gets to parents.)

Second, there was no mention of PghLesbian Correspondents (PLC) in the Cutting Edge this week.  Sigh. 

The Philadelphia Boy Scouts are suing the City.  Philly is tossing them out of a publicly funded building b/c the Scouts discriminate against adults and children who are LGBTQ, not to mention the Scouts with LGBTQ family members.  The Scouts are crying foul because other homophobic groups still get to rent some space at a public rate. 

I try not to support the Boy Scouts.  In fact, one of my favorite work moments was when a heterosexual coworker spontaneously spoke out against the agency participating in a Scouting for Food drive because the Boy Scouts policy conflicts with our own nondiscrimination policy.  I felt so good!  I mean, let's do our own food drive.  Hurrah!

The GLCC is looking for volunteers to help staff a LGBTQ volunteer team for the upcoming WQED pledge drive. This sounds like fun.   

 WQED has approached the GLCC about being a pledge partner -and is requesting LBGT volunteers to help staff phones during Pride month.  Volunteers will be well fed during their shifts and be representing the greater LBGT community.

Below are the dates for WQED's June pledge drive.  GLCC volunteers are needed to work as phone operators in WQED's studio.  The programming listed will be airing while you are in the studio.  We have some fun nights coming up!

Please note:

 1.) The specific dates, times, and programs they would like to volunteer for

2.) GLCC volunteers should call or email me (Peter) directly to sign up for the shift (not just show up!) so we can keep a record of how many folks to expect during each shift

 

If we can staff at least two or three of these nights with GLCC volunteers/members, we'll go along way towards meeting our pledge drive goals. 

 

Thanks,

Peter

 

Sunday June 1

5pm-11:30pm

Righteous Brothers 21st Anniversary Concert

Frank Sinatra: A Man and His Music

Under the Sea With Al Giddings

Celine Dion: A New Day

 

Wednesday June 4

7:30pm-11:30pm

American Soundtrack: Doo Wop's Greatest Hits

Celine Dion: A New Day

 

Thursday June 5

7:30pm-11pm

Steel City Chefs III Cooking Marathon

 

Saturday June 7

7:30pm-11:30pm

My Music: The 1960's

Steve Miller Band Live in Chicago

IF INTERESTED IN COVERING ANY OF THESE SHIFTS (even for a few hours)  contact Peter directly to sign up at:

priesbeck@wqed.org