Oakland Pride Welcomes Families: September 4

In a cheering voice, “Who’s got pride? Oakland Does!!” At this point in pride season, some of us may be all prided out! But I am sure you can squeeze a little more out for our brothers and sisters on Oak-town. Mike Enders

Organizers are preparing Oakland’s second annual LGBTQ Pride festival, hoping to draw families and collect money for establishing a community center in the city.

This year’s Oakland Pride will be from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday, September 4. The Labor Day weekend festival takes place at 19th and Franklin streets in the city’s Uptown neighborhood. (BART riders should exit at the 19th Street station).

The event will feature four stages with over 75 performers, including headliners Jennifer Holliday, from the cast of the original Dreamgirls, and disco legend Thelma Houston (“Don’t Leave Me This Way”). Admission is $10, or $5 for seniors and youth 12 and under. More at B.A.R.

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Smuggled Dogs Rescued From Slaughter By Thai Authorities (DISTURBING VIDEO)

Over one thousand dogs intended for consumption were rescued by Thai authorities on Thursday evening, reports AFP.Four trucks were stopped in the Nakhon Phanom province of northeastern Thailand. According to theDaily Mail, police swooped in with two raids near the Laos border. The trucks were stacked high with dogs stuffed into tiny cages, and 119 dogs were already dead.

 ‘Anonymous’ BART Hackers: Bay Area Transit Website Hacked, Information Leaked In Protest

SAN FRANCISCO — Hackers broke into a website for San Francisco’s mass transit system Sunday and posted contact information for more than 2,000 subscribers, the latest showdown between anarchists angry at perceived attempts to limit free speech and officials trying to control protests that grow out of social networking and have the potential to become violent. Bay Area Rapid Transit officials blocked underground cellphone service for a few hours Thursday at several stations as protesters tried to use social networking to organize a demonstration over the recent fatal shooting of a 45-year-old man by police. The decision was criticized by many as heavy handed, and some raised questions about whether the move violated free speech.

Jailing Undocumented Immigrants Is Big Business

Bachmann: I ‘Probably Would’ Reinstate DADT Because It ‘Has Worked Very Well’

This morning on CNN, contender for the GOP nomination and Iowa straw poll winner Rep. Michelle Bachmann (R-MN) told host Candy Crowley that DADT “has worked very well,” and if she were president she would “probably” reinstate it.

Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Repeal: Gay Military Members Have Tough Time Returning To Service

SAN DIEGO — Former Air Force officer Michael Almy’s five-year battle to get back into the military after being discharged for being gay is still far from over despite the end of the policy that halted the decorated war veteran’s 13-year career and left him curled up on his bathroom floor, crying. The repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell” coincides with the most competitive time in recent history to get into the military because of the sluggish economy, and the Defense Department says it has no plans to give priority to those discharged for being gay, even if they still meet the military’s age limits, fitness standards and cutoffs for time out of service.

Oregon gay-rights supporters aim for 2012 marriage vote

The 2012 general elections may be more than a year away, but Basic Rights Oregon — the state’s largest gay-rights organization — already is planning a voter-education campaign on same-sex marriage.The group plans to begin collecting signatures in October for a possible 2012 ballot campaign, said Jeana Frazzini, executive director of Basic Rights Oregon.

Prague ‘gay pride’: Czech capital hosts maiden march

Several thousand people have marched through Prague in the Czech capital’s first “gay pride” festival. Revellers in fancy dress waved rainbow flags and blew whistles as they marched through the city centre. Some 300 police guarded the colourful event, which had stoked controversy and counter-marches. Earlier this week, a top aide to conservative President Vaclav Klaus, Deputy Chancellor Petr Hajek, labelled gay people as deviants. Mr Hajek criticised Prague Mayor Bohuslav Svoboda for supporting “deviant fellow citizens.”

Gay Service Members March in Germany Pride Parade

On Saturday, 13 service members, joined by some civilian supporters, participated in the CSD Mannheim 2011 parade, according to OutServeGermany chapter co-leader Capt. Carlos Coronado, who is stationed at Buechel Air Base. Their presence — perhaps the first American active-duty contingent to march in an overseas pride parade — follows a group of about 350 active-duty and veteran service members who participated in the San Diego pride parade last month.

F1 fan receives bionic hand from Mercedes team

 Matthew James, 14, who was born without his left hand, sent a cheeky letter to Ross Brawn, boss of F1 team Mercedes GP Petronas, asking for £35,000 to pay for a top-of-the range artificial limb. In return, shrewd Matthew said he would allow the company to sponsor the hand by putting the Mercedes logo on it – like ads seen on F1 cars. But Mercedes where so touched by Matthew’s ”intelligent and moving letter” they agreed to help him and teamed up with firm Touch Bionics, who create and fit hi-tech artificial limbs.

O’Fallon High pranksters could face charges over pot-laced brownies

O’FALLON, Ill. • Three high school students could face criminal charges after allegedly passing out brownies secretly laced with marijuana to 23 of their  classmates at a summer band camp last week. Police say none of the students at O’Fallon Township High School experienced any ill-effects from the apparent pot brownie prank, but the Aug. 1 situation could have ended badly. “Any time anybody is given drugs or something else without their knowledge that can obviously be a health hazard,” O’Fallon police Sgt. Rob Schmidtke said. “We won’t let this slide. It could have been a very big deal.”

Raising chickens legal in Chicago, and people are crowing about it

Seven-year-old Hadari Grayer knows that cows and pigs live on farms. He saw them there during a kindergarten class field trip. Chickens, though, live in Little Village, next door to the apartment building he lives in. The four neighborhood hens — all named after female revolutionaries — and one unnamed rooster are the feathered emissaries for the 2800 block of West 21st Place.

Chicago Pride Floats Get Cut

Really? This is like picking on a child. Thankfully the damage was just superficial and pride marched on in the windy city. Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me. I call low blow.

In what could be a hate crime, dozens of tires on floats headed for Chicago’s Pride Parade were cut with knifes just hours before the Parade Sunday.

Chuck Huser, owner of long-time Pride float provider Assocated Attractions at 4834 S. Halsted on Chicago’s South Side, said the floats were fine when he left 8 p.m. Saturday night, but when he returned 5 a.m. Sunday to start preparation for drivers to depart, he found two tires punctured each on more than 30 floats.

Alaska Pride Parade Canceled After Fatal Crash: Tragic

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A gay pride parade in downtown Anchorage on Saturday was canceled after a convertible carrying the grand marshal fatally struck a man, authorities said.

Anchorage police Lt. Dave Parker said James L. Crump, 50, was killed while participating in the Celebrating Diversity Parade. He said the car accelerated and ran over the man just minutes after the parade scheduled for 11 a.m. started.

Officers “immediately started CPR, but were not able to revive him,” Parker said. “He was declared deceased at the scene.”

Pink Triangle Organizers Seek Volunteers; SF CA

It’s Pride Month and that means Patrick Carney and others at Friends of the Pink Triangle are looking for volunteers to help with this year’s installation.

This year marks the 16th installation of the pink triangle on Twin Peaks. The triangle is intended to help educate the public to what can happen when hatred and bigotry become law; the symbol was used by the Nazis to identify gay prisoners during World War II.

New SF police chief discusses Pink Saturday, Homosexual officers

San Francisco Police Chief Greg Suhr is looking forward to a safe Pink Saturday and the eventual promotion of out gay officers, he told theBay Area Reporter last week.

Discussing plans for Pink Saturday Suhr, 52, who was once the captain of Mission Station, which oversees the largely gay Castro neighborhood, said, “I consider myself somebody from the community,” and “I wouldn’t miss” the event.

Handpicked News: Wingnuts Say, Abducted Lesbian Syrian Blogger, He’s HIV-Positive, “Hate Group”

 

AIDS/LifeCycle Stories: Young Man Calls Mom At Rest Stop To Tell Her He’s HIV-Positive At Rest Stop 3 on the third day of the Ride, Kenny approached the embedded Press Corps, which IFD is a part of, and informed us that he was about to call his mom to tell her for the first time that he’s HIV-positive. He told me the decision came after having a lot of alone time to think about it while cycling and also the amazing community that’s been surrounding him the past few days. He invited us to film his end of the phone conversation which lead to an incredibly emotional moment on the Ride.

Wingnuts Say Indianapolis Police Will be ‘Howled at by Homosexuals’ in Force’s First Gay Pride Parade “The majority of Hoosiers and probably the majority of folks in Indianapolis if they actually went to the Gay Pride Parade and see the activities that goes on there would be shocked to see our taxpayer dollars going to have our men and women in uniform through the police and fire department march in that kind of a parade,” says Ryan McCann of The Indiana Family Institute.”

Catholic School Bans Rainbows Administrators at a Catholic high school in Canada told students they couldn’t use rainbows for an antihomophobia event last week, but the students found a clever loophole. Sixteen-year-old Leanne Iskander established an unofficial gay-straight student group at St. Joseph Catholic Secondary School in Toronto in March, according to Xtra. The school board told her the group could not use rainbows to publicize its information after the students brought in signs and posters with rainbows on them.

Perry and “Hate Group” Team Up for Rally

 

 

Summers Are Going To Get Hotter, Stanford Scientists Say The summer season has not even officially started yet in the U.S. and already people are cranking up the a/c, boxing away the sweaters, seeking out the best swimming hole, and plotting how to avoid sweat stains. It’s about to get a lot worse. A recent study conducted by Stanford University scientists has concluded that if greenhouse gas concentrations continue to increase, many regions in the world will probably experience an irreversible rise in summer temperatures within the next 20 to 60 years.

Sacha Baron Cohen As ‘The Dictator’: First EXCLUSIVE Look (PHOTO) And you thought Borat and Bruno were wild disguises. Debuting exclusively at The Huffington Post, here is the first image of Sacha Baron Cohen in his Saddam Hussein-inspired costume for his new film, “The Dictator.” About a Hussein-like dictator who gets secretly replaced by a lookalike goat herder and now must find new meaning in a life in New York City, the film is inspired by “Zabibah and the King,” a book about a benevolent dictator that was revealed to be written by Hussein himself.

 

Related articles

• Censorship Gone Too Far? Canadian Catholic School Bans Rainbows (censorshipinamerica.com)
• Does Gay Girl even exist? (theage.com.au)

Andrew Johnson, Gay Prison Guard, Barred From Wearing Uniform in WeHo Pride Parade by Homophobic Dept. of Corrections

I have often wondered while at a gay pride, street fair or parade in SF if there are any regulations about wearing official uniforms while off duty as costumes. I mean, (coughs) I have been around the block a few times and have been felt up, flogged and had my boots shined by men in uniform. Basically anything you can think of on this side of legal. It was all for fun and games, I never asked for identification for legitimacy of costume. Good luck regulating this one California Department of Corrections. You have obviously never been to a gay pride parade and see the way you are emulated. ~AB

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via blogs.laweekly.com

​We at the Weekly usually beef with the California Department of Corrections on more budget-related issues like the rich, powerful prison-guard union’s ability to twist the state Legislature to its will and preserve bloated benefit packages in a time of fiscal crisis.

 But on a more basic human-rights note, prison guard Andrew Johnson reveals today that the department has a raging case of homophobia, to boot. Johnson claims he was denied permission to march in this Sunday’s West Hollywood gay pride parade (so stoked) while wearing his really quite fabulous CDCR uniform.

Gloria Allred to the rescue!

READ MORE

Bernhard to Headline SF Pride -Hooray!

Image via Wikipedia

Yes!  I was hoping that, with the reoccurring favorite phrase of the past year, “budget cuts,” that our SF  pride committee wasn’t going to have to scrape the bottom of the pond to come up acts for this year. They went fishing and came up with our favorite lesbian actress, singer, and comedienne Sandra Bernhard.  I quote her daily , “As long as I have a face, you always have a set. Table for two!” Sandra is the bomb. I suggest arriving early to be able to get up close and personal with Ms. Bernhard.

For more information, visit http://www.sfpride.org

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Via B.A.R.

Actress, singer, and comedienne Sandra Bernhard has been confirmed as a headliner for Pride’s main stage this year, the San Francisco LGBT Pride Celebration Committee announced this week.

Bernhard, who is bisexual and among other achievements once starred on TV’s Roseanne, will be performing Sunday, June 26, the second day of the festival.

Pride also announced that rainbow flags along Market Street, which are hung annually, will be going up two weeks earlier this year. The flags will start appearing next week, with a scheduled completion date of May 18.

This year, the flags will go up early in coordination with SF Travel to help greet attendees of the U.S. Travel Association’s International Pow Wow, which is May 21-25.

Pride will also extend festival hours on Sunday at Civic Center Plaza. Officials said in a statement Tuesday night that the June 26 celebration will start an hour earlier this year, at 11 a.m. and till 6:30 p.m. READ MORE

BEARS, REPRESENT ( FIST CLENCHED IN AIR) SF CASTRO

The Historic Raising of the Bear Flag

VIA sanfrancisco.gaycities.com

What the organizers say:
“Come join Bears of San Francisco Friday morning for the historic raising of the Bear Flag We will meet at Harvey Milk Plaza above the Castro Muni Station What makes it historic? Until now only the Gay Pride and the Leather Pride flags have been allow to fly…”

“Come join Bears of San Francisco Friday morning for the historic raising of the Bear Flag

We will meet at Harvey Milk Plaza above the Castro Muni Station

What makes it historic? Until now only the Gay Pride and the Leather Pride flags have been allow to fly over the Castro, Today we will make history and raise the Bear Flag starting at 9 a.m. followed by a Champagne Toast at Under One Roof at 10 a.m. All part of the Bears Invade the Castro. If champagne is to strong for you at 10 a.m. All weekend long for IBR Tag Holder Starbucks aka Bear-bucks or Star-bears will have specials for you.

Yes the image is of BOSF marching the flag in the Gay Pride Parade the same flag that will fly above Castro.”