The Advocate, The national gay & lesbian newsmagazine

Gay couples sue Ithaca, N.Y., for right to wed
Calling themselves the "Ithaca 50," 25 gay and lesbian couples filed lawsuits against the city of Ithaca and the state of New York for refusing them marriage licenses, claiming that their state constitutional rights to due process and equal protection have been violated. Read the full story>>>

SMALL SCREEN

American Idol out—so to speak
Four hours of American Idol finale-dom have our recapper on the floor, testing out his own rendition of “Summertime” and wondering just why Ryan Seacrest is so obsessed with Jim Verraros. And, oh yeah, they finally announce the winner. Surprise! By Q. Allan Brocka

LET'S GET TO WORK

Networking through the crossroads
Our career coach offers advice to an indecisive professional who’s reached an impasse and to a legal professional who can’t seem to get his foot in the door. By Ed Vladich

SMALL SCREEN

From the closet to the boob tube
The first segment of a new Bravo miniseries, Out of the Closet, highlights groundbreaking moments in gay TV history. The Advocate’s reviewer notes how the show details the evolution of gay identity on our television screens By Ann Caldwell

SILVER SCREEN

Wooden horse, wooden acting
Advocate.com’s feisty reviewer deciphers Troy and finds it to be borderline soft-core porn and nothing more than a technological wonder.
By Charles Karel Bouley II

COMMENTARY

Why conservatives should support marriage equality
President Bush isn’t wrong about “judicial activism,” this columnist argues, but that doesn’t make him right about same-sex marriage. In fact, Bush’s own pleas to Muslims to support his war on terror can be used to argue in favor of tolerance for gay weddings. By Mark Goldblatt

NEWS FEATURE

Gay students wage battle to be heard
Administrators at a high school in Salt Lake City say they were only upholding their school’s dress code when they banned an antismoking T-shirt that features the slogan “Queers Kick Ash.” But the students have a different story. By John Caldwell

NEWS FEATURE

The Real Jail: Kansas City
Out Real World Miami star Dan Renzi tells all about his recent arrest for indecent exposure in an adult movie theater in an exclusive Advocate.com interview. By Anderson Jones

FIRST PERSON

My first time
Single and feeling blue, a young gay man recalls the flush and blush of his first crush—only to realize his memories are far from warm and fuzzy. By Trent J. Koland

FAMILY MATTERS

This price is right
An ordinary day takes on new meaning when this lesbian mom stops by the town clerk’s office to cross an unordinary errand off her list: paying for her civil marriage ceremony.By Lisa Eisenbud

Q & A

Mothers know best
Never know just what to say to your mom on Mother’s Day? Out author Taro Gold’s new book, The Tao of Mom, has 365 answers. In a brief Q&A, Gold offers a few more pearls of wisdom just for gays and lesbians. By Bruce C. Steele

COMMENTARY

Virginia is not for GLBT lovers
Virginia’s antigay legislature recently passed a law to keep gay and lesbian couples from sharing any of the benefits that should come with long-term partnership. Now the state’s only openly gay lawmaker speaks out against the move. By Adam Ebbin

THEATER REVIEW

Best friends forever!
Writer-performers Mindy Kaling and Brenda Withers skewer celebrity relationships in their off-Broadway hit, Matt & Ben, now onstage in Los Angeles. But will showbiz outsiders appreciate the show’s pop-culture lingo? By Anderson Jones

COMMENTARY

Beyond the marriage debate
In 1996, when John Kerry was one of the few U.S. senators to oppose the antigay federal Defense of Marriage Act, he wrote for The Advocate a passionate column on the civil rights struggle for gay and lesbian equality. That article is reprinted here. By Sen. John F. Kerry

FIRST PERSON

Tears of elation and frustration
Thirty-one Advocate readers share their marriage stories from San Francisco, New Mexico, Vancouver, and beyond By our readers

COMMENTARY

Thanks for coming out
The onslaught of gay weddings is the endpoint in a long process of overcoming the closet. Because only once you’re willing to stand up to being labeled a “fag” can you demand equal access to a rite as conservative as marriage. By David Ehrenstein

BOOK EXCERPT

The case for gay marriage
In an excerpt from his new book, Gay Marriage: Why It Is Good for Gays, Good for Straights, and Good for America, a gay journalist makes his case for the importance of marriage both for society and for gays and lesbians. By Jonathan Rauch

COMMENTARY

Dear God, it's me...and I'm gay
A holy father from the Old Catholic Church answers readers’ questions and offers advice about dealing with homosexuality within the context of traditional Christianity. By Archbishop Bruce J. Simpson, Benedictine Order of St. John the Beloved (an Old Catholic order)

COMMENTARY

Talking points on marriage, part 2
In the second of Advocate.com’s series of “talking points” to counter arguments against same-sex marriage, we take on everything from “marriage exists only for procreation” to “doesn’t traditional marriage need to be protected?” By Mike Rush Talking points on marriage, part 1
In the first of Advocate.com’s series of “talking points” to counter arguments against same-sex marriage, we take on “civil unions are just as good” and “are you saying that mothers are irrelevant?”
By Ryan James Kim

WELL WOMEN

Sex with someone you love
For the new year, the good doctor answers new questions about masturbation, herpes, sex toys, oral joys, and what happens when one partner loses her libido By Susan Ball, M.D., MPH

THE INS & OUTS OF GAY SEX

Fear of sex
In his latest column, our gay-health specialist answers questions from a number of men whose problems are preventing them from having a healthy sex life, including an overriding fear of sexually transmitted diseases, impotence, ulcerative colitis, and a rare disease of the penis that’s not responding to treatment By Stephen E. Goldstone, MD

ARCHIVES OF ADVOCATE.COM EXCLUSIVES

Archives for previous online reports, news stories, and commentaries are listed here.

FEATURED STORY:
Patience is a virtue
At peace with his sexuality, George Michael produces his best and gayest record ever. By Charles Karel Bouley II

CONTENTS OF THE CURRENT ISSUE
LINKS TO SITES RELATED TO THIS ISSUE

More Michael
Six Feet Under star Michael C. Hall took time to share these great stories you won’t read anywhere else—even in the pages of The Advocate. Here Hall talks about getting inside the heart of a gay man who’s homophobic, pulling his weight in the show’s brilliant ensemble, and falling in love with his wife, fellow actor Amy Spanger. By Anne Stockwell

Chicago’s lesbian leader
Deborah Mell is trying to convince Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich to support same-sex marriage—after all, he is her brother-in-law. By Lisa Neff
Baldwin’s new battle
Capitol Hill’s only openly lesbian lawmaker preps for a tough reelection. If only she knew who she was running against. By Adele Stan

Patience is a virtue
At peace with his sexuality, George Michael produces his best and gayest record ever. By Charles Karel Bouley II
Suave. Sophisticated. Gay?
Five DVDs and a new documentary on TCM recall the continuing allure—and mystery—of Cary Grant. By David Ehrenstein

REVIEW ARCHIVES

BOOK REVIEW ARCHIVES
MUSIC REVIEW ARCHIVES
VIDEO/DVD REVIEW ARCHIVES

Aunties and uncles
My Perspective guest columnist John Tyler Connoley remembers the sense of extended family he knew as a child growing up in South Africa and how he and his partner embrace a meaning of family that is expansive enough to include the whole world.
Choosing the lesser evil
Generation Q guest columnist Owen O’Brien admits that “John Kerry might not be a poster boy for gay rights, but in this choice of two evils he isn’t the one trying to set us back 100 years in the fight for equality.”
Weapons of mass homophobia
For weeks we have been pummeled with images of homosexual acts used as a tactic to humiliate and torture Iraqi prisoners. Such atrocities, writes Patrick Moore, arise directly from the vicious demonization of gay people in our society, from the White House on down.
Forever
R Family columnist Rosie O’Donnell experiences a variety of reactions upon her return home in Nyack, N.Y., after her high-profile marriage to partner Kelli in San Francisco.

THE ADVOCATE POLL

Election 2004
Will President Bush's vocal opposition to equality hinder the election of out gay candidates in 2004?

Election 2004 Web Archive Collection

Election 2004 Web Archive Collection