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I just received this new poster for the upcoming Sing for the Cure concert event featuring Resounding Harmony. And it sounds like it’s off to a good start, according to marketing chair Jan Harrell.

“Ticket sales are going incredibly well, and we are still two and a half weeks out from the concert.  There is no doubt in my mind that this event could be sold out well in advance of concert night. Many people are buying their own tickets and then sponsoring a survivor at $25 each. It’s a great way to honor someone who has come through such hardship. There will be over 400 survivors at the concert, ” she says.

After their Meyerson appearance, they do an encore in New York at Carnegie Hall June 6. Harrell expects the same response there as well.

“We expect the same thing will happen in New York at Carnegie. Music takes the message of breast cancer across all cultural, language and political barriers in a way that words cannot,” she adds.

Tickets are $25–$100 and can be ordered here.

Five trees down. Numerous branches. Lowe’s finally got restocked. Using my first chainsaw ever.

Today (actually right now) on NPR, This American Life re-airs the episode “81 Words” looking at the American Psychiatric Association’s decision in 1973 to no longer consider homosexuality a mental illness. Or you can go here to catch the show in its entirety.

The Magnolia Theater claimed that their shorts programs — all of the Oscar-nominated live action and nominated short films this year — was a one-week only engagement, so I rushed over there last weekend. Now it turns out the programs will play for another week. So if you didn’t catch both already, try now. Just think what an advantage you’ll have in your office Oscar pool!

Both programs are worth a look. Unlike past years, there’s only maybe one entry that doesn’t seem to warrant a nomination (Instead of Abracadabra in the live action category) — it’s a hard guess as to which will win. And unlike most of the major categories, you can find gay content here.

The best of the gay content is in the live action short The New Tenants, written by gay humorist David Rakoff, who also plays one of the central roles: One of two gay men who move into a troubled apartment complex. You can also find gay stuff (briefly) in the animated Logorama (dazzling) and some campy stuff in The Lady and the Reaper and Wallace & Gromit: A Matter of Loaf and Death.

Last night, I would imagine that many religious experiences were had at the Tegan & Sara show. With each first note from their more than substantial playlist, there was jumping, screaming and yelping that were all just short of falling on the floor and speaking in tongues. And clearly, Tegan & Sara were goddesses to the packed house of hip lesbians and the people who love them.

I underestimated the drawing power of T&S because initially I thought they were at the Loft. Shah, right! After talking to Sara and researching them more, I would have figured a Granada-sized venue . Well, shut my mouth,. they filled that huge Palladium more than I had ever seen. With an army of T&S clones donning vests and spiky haircuts, the girls (and guys) were under their spell well before they started promptly at 9:30.

As performers, the duo isn’t at all flashy (Sara was working the mom jean look). They sing, play guitars (several of them), play keyboards and stand. But knocking out song after song with consistent conviction throughout the almost two-hour set made for a killer show. The crowd was perhaps where the energy was coming from but T&S knocked it out without ever looking exhausted. Although, standing in the same positions all night could be tiring. Opening with music from their newest album, Sainthood, released back in October, the die-hard fans (which was everyone) knew all the words as if they had memorized their prayers and ABC’s. No song, new or old, went unsung by both the band and the crowd.

They finished with an acoustic set of just the two which turned out to be just as satisfying as they were with the full band. Sara told me that they seem apologetic to even be onstage receiving this kind of attention and it shows. They gave humbled “thank you’s” after every song. They look no older than 21 (the twins are 29) but their seasoned career has taught them how to talk to an audience and give ‘em a thrill without ever being silly. T&S are cute women and they can work it even when it doesn’t look like they are. Banter about the Canadian women hockey team winning gold and their grandmother predicting they would be lesbians had the crowd roaring. And even if they repeat that stuff every night on tour, they are convincingly sweet, tender and genuine.

They are transparent in all the right ways and charming as heck which makes them easy to swoon over. I’d dare to say the straight couple who happened to get passes to the show but didn’t know the band had left as fans because T&S showed they were purely about music. Which is refreshing when so many shows rely on distractions.

Karl Rove, right, and President George W. Bush

Just a little heads up for all our friends out their in Instant Tea Land: Karl Rove is coming to the DFW Metroplex.

The World Affairs Council is bringing the man who was President George W. Bush’s senior advisor and deputy chief of staff to town to talk about his newly-released memoir, “My Life as a Conservative in the Fight.”

Rove will speak at the Hyatt Regency Dallas, 300 Reunion Blvd. in Dallas, on March 15 and at the Fort Worth Club, 306 W. Seventh St. in Fort Worth on March 16. Both programs start at noon.

Tickets are $55 for WAC members and their guests, and $70 for nonmembers, and can be purchased online DFWWorld.org or or by calling the council’s events hotline at 214-965-8412.

I am sure you will all want to get your tickets early. Wonder if he will stay with the Bushes while he’s in town?

Resource Center Dallas is urging people to contact DART board members in response to the transit agency’s alleged discrimination against a transgender employee. Representatives from RCD and other groups this week asked the DART board to add gender identity and expression to the agency’s nondiscrimination policies. Here’s RCD’s Facebook message:

If you live in the DART service area, Resource Center Dallas urges you to contact your representatives on the DART board and urge them to take action. The next board meeting is Tuesday, March 9. DART’s Customer Response Center is 214-749-3333. Please pass this along.

Also, a quick clarification to my story in today’s Voice: LGBT advocates who attended this week’s DART board meeting were Pamela Curry, a friend of the employee’s; Patti Fink of the Dallas Gay and Lesbian Alliance; Erin Moore of Stonewall Democrats; Rafael McDonnell of RCD; Latisha McDaniel of Equality March Texas; and Blake Wilkinson and Corbin Bates of Queer LiberAction.

I was hesitant to share this, lest I be accused of navel-gazing, but above is a photo of a plaque and card I received this week from gay AT&T employee Bryan Dickenson of Garland, thanking me for reporting on his struggle to get FMLA leave from the company so he could care for his ailing partner of 30 years, Bill Sugg. Bryan is at home with Bill now, having been granted discretionary leave. Dallas-based AT&T enacted a new policy granting FMLA-equivalent leave to same-sex partners, regardless of whether their relationship is recognized by the state in which they live. However, because Dickenson is a member of union, he must wait for the new policy to be approved by his labor representatives. In the meantime, he’s been granted discretionary leave so he can care for Sugg, who’s undergoing physical therapy and remains on a feeding tube, but is gradually improving.

Of course, the real credit for this victory goes to Rob Wiley, Dickenson’s attorney, who had the foresight to contact us when his other efforts failed; to the countless advocates across the country who spoke up in response to my original story; to Dickenson and Sugg, who sacrificed their privacy to fight for equal benefits; and, yes, even to AT&T for responding swiftly and favorably.

Still, I felt compelled to post this here and say that in 10 years as a working journalist, I’ve never received anything quite like it from a source. And I can tell you that it means much more than any award from a press association. In a profession where you so frequently become the target of anger and blame (including for this story), it’s nice to know when you’ve helped make a difference in people’s lives.

Thanks, Bryan and Bill.

Three-time national figure skating champion Johnny Weir is too gay for that super straight sport of figure skating. The other two team members are regularly referred to by their titles. I’m the first write to refer to Weir as “three-time national figure skating champion” since the Olympics have begun.

Rather than three-time champion, NBC reporters regularly refer to him as “flamboyant Johnny Weir” or “over-the-top Johnny Weir.”

Earth to NBC: HE’S FIGURE SKATING. Let’s see you do a triple axle followed by a triple lutz and then we’ll listen to your homophobic slurs.

Current TV did a wonderfully tongue-in-cheek piece about the coverage of the wonderfully talented skater.

Mariska Hargitay, left, and Kathy Griffin

Okay, I am a Kathy Griffin fan. She makes me laugh, even if sometimes I am ashamed to admit I am laughing at something she said (She says so herself: She tells inappropriate jokes). But I have never found myself thinking, “Hey, I want Kathy Griffin’s job.”

At least, not until now.

Griffin is guest starring in the March 3 episode of “Law and Order: SVU.” She plays a lesbian activist in the episode and SHE GETS TO KISS MARISKA HARGITAY!

Below is a video clip of Griffin talking about her guest star role on the show and about how “really hard” it is to act in a scripted TV drama, as compared to doing her own thing as a stand-up comedian and her own reality TV show. But from my perspective, getting to kiss Mariska Hargitay makes up for any amount of hard work!

And I know I’ll be watching that episode next Wednesday!

Harold Ford

The race for the Senate seat in New York could hinge on a very usual issue — gay rights. But not in the way we’ve come to expect.

Incumbent Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand has been at the forefront of repealing Don’t ask, don’t tell. Gillibrand was appointed by Gov. David Paterson (New York’s liberal governor who issued an executive order to recognize same-sex marriages performed elsewhere and submitted a bill to the legislature to legalize same-sex marriage in New York).

Gillibrand was appointed to fill the unexpired term of Hillary Clinton when Clinton became Secretary of State.

Former Tennessee representative Harold Ford is thinking of running to replace her. The problem is that Ford may be too conservative for New York on issues including LGBT rights.

While in the House of Representatives, Ford voted for the so-called Defense of Marriage Act and was against repeal of DADT. But now that he’s thinking of running from New York, he says he’s changed his mind.

Ford’s argument is that the only way we win marriage rights is with votes from people who have changed their mind and now support us. But, so far, New York’s LGBT community isn’t buying it. Ford is being booed at every stop. The New York Daily News reported on a recent visit to Greenwich Village.

And the obvious problem that would sink a campaign in Texas — that he’s from another state? That isn’t usually a problem in New York politics. Clinton moved to New York to run for Senate in 2000. In 1964, Bobby Kennedy resigned as Attorney General to move to New York, where he also successfully ran to represent the state in the Senate.

When Ellen DeGeneres was announced last fall as the new permanent judge on American Idol, replacing spacey, perpetually upbeat Paula Abdul, the cry went out that Ellen (a) wasn’t a singing expert and (b) would be an even softer touch than Paula. That has turned out not to be true.

Last week when Ellen had to make cuts during “Hollywood Week,” she showed she could be harsh, but that could have been because she really needed to parse the finalists by 70 percent. Surely once the live performances began, with the judges not making any decisions but only offering opinions, she would be perky.

Not so much. Over two days this week — first 12 women, then 12 men — Ellen seemed to agree most often with Simon. She wasn’t afraid to express her disappointment with a performance and point out pitch problems or colorless stage presence. 

She had good reason. Most of the performances this week were listless, deer-in-the-headlights failures that tried too hard to mimic current pop artists. (Randy continued to prove himself useless with advice that criticized both too MANY chances or NOT ENOUGH. He and Kara also seemed preoccupied with their ability to sell a singer’s style more than their substance.)

But ultimately, the week proved that Ellen has her own style and has added a dimension to this nine-year-old series.

The Advocate.com is reporting that Citibank may be in some hot water after someone at the bank shut down, without notice, the business checking account of a new online gay social networking and travel site, Fabulis.com, before the site even went online. Bank employees reportedly told Fabulis founder Jason Goldberg that the account had been frozen due to the “objectionable content” on the site’s blog, which was operating prior to the site’s launch.

What was the objectionable content? Mainly photos of men in hoodies printed with the word “Fabulis.” As Advocate.com reports: Two other bank representatives said Fabulis’s content was not in line with Citibank’s standards and the banking relationship would be terminated — even though the pre-launch blog features no sex, nudity, or violence.”

Of course, once somebody started complaining, someone else from Citibank called Goldberg — who by the way is also the founder of Jobster.com — to apologize most profusely and to assure him that whoever told him there was a problem with the site’s content was just wrong. The bank even issued a statement today saying it had to do with a tecnical error and some incomplete paperwork and everything is fine now and Goldberg is a valuable customer, etc.

Richard Socarides, former LGBT advisor to President Clinton who is also a Fabulis board member, surmised that perhaps some people at the bank couldn’t handle the videos by young LGBT people talking about coming out and living as out LGBT people.  (He said the videos had been sent in as part of a contest asking people to talk about their lives, and maybe it was all just too “jarring” for some at Citibank.)

Socarides also noted that Citibank has a good record on LGBT issues nad has consistently received a 100 on the Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index. But, he added, “if the frontline customer service people at the bank are not educated on these [gay-inclusive] policies, it doesn’t do anyone good.”

It all sounds, as Socarides said, rather “fishy.”

In this week’s paper, I profiled the monthly women’s dance event, Once in a Blue Moon. I had a pleasant chat with Cynthia Schepps as she filled me in on the goings on. We just heard, however, that she is in the hospital recovering from a heart attack. A Facebook friend of Schepps has posted her condition on her page. The latest we know is the following:

Last night Cynthia stable after having surgery   This morning she was rushed back to surgery 2nd time. Has 2 stints after arresting  3x in surgery – . Still in ICU, long way to go – keep prayers coming for her, the family, and her partner Karen.

We all here wish her a speedy recovery.

UPDATE: This message has just been passed on to us. Cynthia is resting well, sleeping most of the time and stable.

The headline pretty much sums up the response I’ve been hearing to news today that the city of Fort Worth is moving forward with its prosecution of patrons arrested during the Rainbow Lounge raid, including two who were injured while in police custody.

In other words, the city is willing to throw away all the good will it’s worked so hard to build in the LGBT community since the raid — over a few $500 fines.

It’s just a matter of time before protests are organized to call attention to this decision. The only question is, has the city learned enough in the last eight months to recognize what a horrible idea these prosecutions are and drop the charges before it’s too late?

Jon Nelson

Chad Gibson and George Armstrong appeared in court this week to answer misdemeanor charges related to the Rainbow Lounge raid. Gibson and Armstrong were both injured in the raid.

Jon Nelson, an attorney who was a founder of Fairness Fort Worth, said, “Apparently with Chad, he’s being charged with public intoxication and assaulting an officer by groping him. That’s absurd.

“This is the TABC officer who, according to TABC’s own rules and regulations, had no business being in there. This is the same TABC officer who couldn’t go in the Rainbow Lounge a few days earlier because there was no officer with him so he peeked in and saw a dancer in a bathing suit and was going to write it up as lewd behavior.

“That shows quite a bit about his state of mind. As a TABC officer, I’m sure he’s been in a number of gentlemen’s clubs. I doubt he ever wrote up a female dancer in a bathing suit and wrote her up for lewd behavior. So why was he doing that for Rainbow Lounge?

“I think a jury, when they hear this case, will judge his credibility,” Nelson said.

Gerald Pruitt, Fort Worth deputy city attorney, said Gibson is charged with class-C misdemeanors for public intoxication and simple assault. Armstrong is charged with one — public intoxication. A class-C misdemeanor carries a maximum fine of $500 plus court costs.

Four other Rainbow Lounge patrons were charged with public intoxication. Two pleaded guilty but have now rescinded their pleas. All four of the others are expected to go to trial at a later date.

Pruitt said, “We’re proceeding with these as we would any other case. That’s all we can do.”

Gibson and Armstrong’s criminal defense attorney is Adam L. Seidel, past president of the Dallas LGBT Bar Association.

Seidel said, “The city’s own investigation revealed serious misconduct. TABC’s own investigation revealed serious misconduct. Officers were fired and/or suspended. The city’s message was, ‘We made a mistake.’ That’s not the message they send by prosecuting these two victims.”

No trial date has been set for Gibson and Armstrong.

Win or lose, the city gets a black eye. If they win, Fort Worth appears to be bullies, prosecuting someone who spent a week in intensive care as a result of the raid. If they lose, they just appear to be gay bashing.

Gaga gets a little manly (OK, a lot) in the current issue of Q Magazine with one of the best cover headlines ever. She told Q, “”We all know that one of the biggest talking points of the year was that I have a dick, so why not give them what they want? I want to wear a dick strapped to my vagina.”

And there’s not much to follow up with after that.

In other Rainbow Lounge news, the city of Fort Worth is moving forward with its prosecution of two patrons who were injured in the raid, Chad Gibson and George Armstrong, according to NBC. Gibson, who spent a week in the hospital with a head injury after the raid, is charged with public intoxication and assaulting a state agent for allegedly groping TABC Agent Chris Aller. Armstrong, who suffered severe bruising and muscle strain while being arrested, is charged with public intoxication.

Adam Seidel, the attorney for both men, said his clients were unwilling to accept a plea bargain and asked the case to be set for trial.

//

He declined to say specifically if prosecutors offered a deal, but said he was surprised they did not drop the charges entirely.

“The city’s message has been, ‘Let’s learn from this and move forward and get past it,’” Seidel said. “That doesn’t seem to be consistent with prosecuting these two victims.”

Mother Jones magazine has weighed in on the Rainbow Lounge raid, and it ain’t pretty. In a piece posted on the magazine’s Web site this morning, MJ’s Adam Weinstein (a former Dallas resident) takes a look at how law enforcement officers in Texas allegedly use the state’s public intoxication statute, which Weinstein calls the broadest in the nation, to harass gays and other minorities. Here’s a snippet from Weinstein’s blog post promoting the piece, “Lone Bar State”:

The Lone Star State, it turns out, is still a place where “undesirables” can be rounded up, humiliated by authorities, tossed in jail cells, and even have their skulls cracked—legally. It’s made possible by a catch-22 in the state’s penal code: a public-intoxication law that permits peace officers to go virtually anywhere, anytime, and arrest anyone they want. Except who they really want to arrest, it seems, includes mostly gays, Latinos, and blacks. As one cop told me, “We go after the disenfranchised, the people who can’t stand up and defend themselves.” Another lawyer who represents folks arrested for PI put it even more bluntly: ”If you’re brown and you’re around,” he says, “you’re going down.”

Lauren Ashley

According to Fox News (so you know it HAS to be true), Lauren Ashley, Miss Beverly Hills 2010, has been speaking out against same-sex marriage.

The Beverly Hills City council has condemned her remarks and said that she does not represent the city.

The Donald Trump-owned Miss USA pageant interviews contestants and the winners can decide which city they want to represent. Ashley is from Pasedena, Calif.

Maggie Gallagher, the divorced pro-marriage-for-straight-people-only founder of National Organization for Marriage, called on Beverly Hills to show tolerance for people who think differently from them. Poor Miss Ashley. She’s being discriminated against just because she thinks other people should be discriminated against.

Carrie Prejean is last year’s Miss California who stirred up controversy by answering that she was against same-sex marriage at the Miss USA pageant last year. She has propelled that statement into a career as a religious martyr.

And OK, gotta say it. She’s trying to be Miss USA. Is it me, or is that skanky skirt she’s wearing in the pic I found just a little too tight and little too short? Or is this what straight pigs like Donald Trump think is hot? No, really, that’s question. I really, really don’t know.