Avi presents an eclectic mix of refreshingly original songs, finding inspiration in classic Brazilian bossa nova, acoustic American folk, 1950’s west-coast jazz, and contemporary pop. A wordsmith as well as a composer and performer, Avi’s clever lyrics give a knowing nod to those that came before, while his smooth vocals and deft piano skills assure you that this is truly something new.

Listen to our interview with Avi here.

Subscribe to SistersTalk Radio on iTunes here.

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Listen to the interview here.

Subscribe to SistersTalk Radio on iTunes here.

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#3 – Gregory and Jonathan: A Love That Beat the Odds – Currently has 1736 votes

THEIR LOVE STORY: Boy meets boy, boy falls for boy, and boys get engaged. The pure existence of our love is not always accepted. We had to deal with hatred from outsiders and support one another in recovery. Our love story involves the evolution of the meaning of love and the perseverance that allowed two people such as us to openly experience happiness. We knew that we were right for each other from the start, we knew that we would always be by one another’s sides and that as best friends we could truly experience our love openly.

#6 – Mikey and Earl: They said no, but he said YES! – Currently has 865 votes

THEIR LOVE STORY: What a story we have! The short of it is that we met at a strip club in Baltimore while I was on a date with someone else. When Earl and I started chatting I learned that he lived in New England. Another long-distance relationship was the last thing I wanted. But, I’ll be completely honest here, Earl was just too cute to resist. Three-and-a-half years later and here we are.

#9 – Emily and Rachel: Past in Present – Currently has 791 votes

THEIR LOVE STORY: We both knew that we had been struck the moment that we laid eyes on each other in the summer of 2006 but we couldn’t seem to get the timing right until exactly 2 years later, when the stars at long last aligned and I asked Rachel to join me to see Feist in concert at the outdoor venue Ravinia. For the record, “The Reminder” will always be a shared favorite album, as we have Feist to thank for setting the scene for a most perfect, long awaited first date.

Head on over and vote for one of these couples – or scroll through the list and find another couple you like!

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The President & Executive Director of The Applied Research Center stated that Black female service members are affected by DADT more than any other group of service members. I found it a tad bit annoying that I didn’t hear that statistic in the DADT workshop – especially since 2 of the 3 presenters were women (white women, but women nonetheless).

Anyway . . . after leaving the Racial Justice workshop I felt extremely energized and, quite frankly, extremely sexually turned on. There’s something about passionate people who work diligently to secure equality for all people that’s a major form of pseudo-foreplay.

Enough about that.

I had an opportunity to speak with Willow (from Join the Impact) and socialist LGBTQ activist Sherry Wolf. I planned to remove the background noise but decided against it because I wanted the interviews to maintain their authenticity. Hope you enjoy hearing these two phenomenal activists speak about their passions as much as I did.

Willow’s interview:
http://sisterstalk.net/willow.mp3

Sherry Wolf’s interview:
http://sisterstalk.net/sherrywolf.mp3

More #CC10 commentary coming throughout the weekend. Stay tuned. And, if you’re on Twitter, follow the #CC10 tweeters.

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ttp://sisterstalk.net/suehyde.mp3

She is a seasoned community organizer and advocate whose issue portfolio at the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force has included repeal of sodomy laws, rescission of the military’s ban on openly gay, lesbian and bisexual servicemembers, passage of local and state civil rights laws, training leaders to effectively oppose right-wing incursions in their communities, directing the annual Creating Change Conference, and securing marriage equality for same-sex couples.

Sue joined us on SistersTalk Radio to discuss the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force’s 22nd annual Creating Change conference being February 3 – 7, 2010 in Dallas, TX.  Hear her discuss:

*The NGLTF’s mission

*The conference agenda

*Changes made to the conference in its 22 year history

*What a new conference attendee can expect

*Kate Clinton and other guests speakers at the conference

*How to secure a scholarship so you can attend the conference

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http://sisterstalk.net/justinreed.mp3

*His childhood; how he ended up homeless at the age of 10

*Why homeless kids turn to prostitution to survive

*Statistics associated with homeless queer youth

*Areas of the country where homeless youth are more prevalent

*What’s happening with social service programs for homeless youth

*The importance of mentors, how they can help homeless kids

*His book, STREETCHILD

You can learn more about Justin Reed Early on his web site.

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One of my Facebook friends asked me to help her promote her book project.  She’s collecting coming out stories and she needs to collect quite a few more so she has enough to get her book published.  I think this is a great cause because I believe visibility is an important piece in the fight for full equality for the LGBTQ community.

If you want to participate, send your answers to these questions to:  welcomeout1@gmail.com

1.  When did you know you were gay?

2. What made you realized you needed to come out?

3. How did you come out to your family and friends?

4.  How has your life changed since you came out?

Please try to be as detailed as possible.  If you have any questions, contact Amber.

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http://sisterstalk.net/chrisfreeman.mp3

He is a Monette-Horwitz Trust Prize Winner and a Lambda Literary Award-winning writer and editor of several books including Love, West Hollywood: Reflections of Los Angeles and Under the Rainbow: An Intimate Memoir of Judy Garland and Rock Hudson and my Life in Old Hollywood.

He is one of the foremost Christopher Isherwood scholars and has appeared in numerous documentaries including Chris & Don: A Love Story.

Dr. Freeman joined us on SistersTalk Radio to discuss coming out in the classroom. What are the risks? What is the value in showing that we are “everyone?”

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The perpetual slide down the slippery slope of irrelevancy for the NAACP was never more clearly seen then when Julian Bond testified before the New Jersey State Legislature on the behalf of Same-Sex Marriage rights. If LoJack could be installed on the legacy of the Civil Rights movement, the alarm would have surely sounded December 7th, 2009, and you would have found the engine running at that state’s judicial hearing. It should be quite evident to all that the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community, and its supporters, will go to no end to hijack the legacy of the Civil Rights movement to further their agenda. Such prostitution of those representing this legacy should outrage its members, and the demand for accountability of such, should now be at the forefront of discussion.

Of course I have an opinion about this; but, I don’t think anyone from either side (pro-gay or anti-gay) will like it.

I agree with Dr. Childress: the LGBT community is definitely trying to hijack the Civil Rights Movement. Pro-gay web site The New Civil Rights Movement has made no qualms about it, even going as far as calling the struggle for gay marriage rights the “new” movement – which basically implies (purposefully or not) that the Civil Rights Movement of the 60s is old, outdated and . . . over.

Those of us who are Black and gay and still struggling with racism – even within the LGBT community – know better. But, we’ll let the white gay guys have their “new” Civil Rights Movement because they have every right to it. Every tax-paying US citizen has a set of basic civil rights that are owed to them us.

Childress goes on to state that Bond misrepresented Dr. King’s opinion on homosexuality:

Mr. Bond testified erroneously that, Bayard Rustin and Dr. Martin Luther King, philosophically and morally agreed on the issue of homosexual rights and nothing could be further from the truth. Bayard Rustin, a practicing homosexual, was the chief organizer of the March on Washington, DC. When confronting Dr. Martin Luther King with the demand that he include homosexual rights in the platform, Dr. Martin Luther King vehemently refused and it was suggested that Bayard Rustin leave the movement.

Childress carefully avoided stating that Dr. King suggested that Rustin leave the 60s movement; instead, Childress says “it was suggested that Bayard Rustin leave the movement.” Yes, it was suggested – by Rustin himself. Rustin stepped away from the movement because Adam Clayton Powell – in an attempt to derail the movement – threatened to tell the world that Dr. King was having an affair with Bayard Rustin (scroll to minute 2:30 in this YouTube video for clarification). When Rustin suggested he should leave the movement in order to save the movement, King didn’t stop him. Later, King asked Rustin to return to the movement because his skills were necessary to push the movement forward.

Childress neglected to mention that Powell was later removed from office following allegations of corruption. But then again, those good Christian folks only tell ya what they want you to know.

I find it ironic that Childress would quote this part of Dr. King’s speech:

“The urgency of the hour calls for leaders of wise judgment and sound integrity — leaders not in love with money, but in love with justice; leaders not in love with publicity, but in love with humanity; leaders who can subject their particular egos to the greatness of the cause!”

Not once does Dr. King suggest that religious leaders should bulldoze anyone; instead, Dr. King called for justice. It’s my opinion that treating all tax-paying US citizens as equals in the eyes of the law is justice.

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Howard Fine, Hollywood’s most sought after acting teacher and Broadway director has worked with hundreds of stars, including Brad Pitt, Will Smith, Bradley Cooper, Justin Timberlake, Lindsay Lohan, Salma Hayek, Simon Baker, Amanda Bynes, Gerard Butler, Jennifer Connelly, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Michelle Williams, Val Kilmer, Sela Ward, Sophia Bush, Jason Priestley, Kerry Washington, Amy Smart, Jared Leto, Wilmer Valderrama, Brooke Shields, Daryl Hannah, Rick Fox, Estella Warren, Christopher Meloni, Enrique Murciano, Garry Shandling, Alexa Vega, Heather Locklear, Geri Halliwell, James Belushi, Diana Ross, Jon Bon Jovi, and Josh Groban.

He joins us to discuss coming out in Hollywood.

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