Author: Brett

Our Voice: Pougnet Should Continue as Palm Springs Mayor

Brett

http://www.mydesert.com/article/20111027/OPINION01/110260370/Our-Voice-Pougnet-should-continue-Palm-Springs-mayor?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|Frontpage|p

Steve Pougnet has earned a second four-year term as mayor of Palm Springs.

Despite the worst recession in 80 years, this world-renowned tourist destination is showing signs of economic recovery. The City Council has made tough choices to balance the budget. And it has proposed an ambitious plan to revitalize downtown by bringing the Desert Fashion Plaza back to life.

Much of the progress can be attributed to Pougnet’s leadership.

Former Giffords Intern Elected to Arizona School Board

Brett

http://articles.latimes.com/2011/nov/10/nation/la-na-daniel-hernandez-20111110

Daniel Hernandez Jr., who came to Rep. Gabrielle Giffords’ aid after she was shot, is elected to the board of a Tucson-area school district from which he graduated in 2008.

Daniel Hernandez Jr. achieved a strange sort of celebrity when, a few days into his internship with Rep. Gabrielle Giffords’ office, the congresswoman was shot outside a Tucson supermarket.

Hernandez propped up a gravely wounded Giffords (D-Ariz.) and applied pressure to her bloodied head. His actions were credited with helping save her life.

CBS News “De-Gays” America’s Youngest Gay Mayor

Brett

This month’s election saw big victories for gay and lesbian candidates across the country.  Fifty three LGBT politicos were elected to city and state races, according to The Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund, a group which helps gay candidates win.

Notable among the winners was America’s youngest openly gay mayor, 22-year-old Alex Morse of Holyoke, Massachusetts.

His victory was significant enough for the CBS Evening News to do a story on him Sunday night – an important newscast which airs right before the ratings-winner “60 Minutes.”

Openly Gay Businessman Elected to Lake Worth City Council

Brett

http://www.southfloridagaynews.com/news/local-news/4982-openly-gay-businessman-elected-to-lake-worth-city-council.html

Polling is over, the votes have been tallied and for the first time ever an openly gay man has been elected to the Lake Worth City Council.

A 32 year Lake Worth resident and business owner Andy Amoroso, 47, was sworn in Nov. 14 after defeating incumbent Jo-Ann Golden in a Nov. 8 election which saw Amoroso receive more than 59 percent of the vote.

Amoroso is one of the founding members of the Lake Worth Downtown Cultural Alliance and a member of the Community Redevelopment Association – a post he had to relinquish due to conflict of interest with his running for office. In order to get elected he harnessed his support as a local businessman to flex his political muscle.

The Lesbian Star of Criminal Minds Goes Noir

Brett

http://www.advocate.com/Arts_and_Entertainment/Television/The_Lesbian_Star_of_Criminal_Minds_Goes_Noir/

Criminal Minds star Kirsten Vangsness has flown just under the radar, but in seven seasons on the hit drama, she’s earned a ferocious fan base — gay and straight.
Shemar Moore isn’t the kind of guy you’d expect to turn a girl gay.

In fact, the former fashion model, who spent much of the ’90s on the steamy daytime drama The Young and the Restless is considered one of the sexiest men in Hollywood. He’s more likely to be joked about as someone who could make men gay.

Yet in 2005, Moore unwittingly helped his Criminal Minds costar Kirsten Vangsness figure out that she is, as she says, “super queer.” Over brunch at her favorite café in the Larchmont Village neighborhood of Los Angeles, Vangsness laughs as she tells the story.

Aishwarya Rai Baby Born

Brett

http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20545840,00.html

Aishwarya Rai, the Indian actress and former Miss World, gave birth to a baby girl on Wednesday, her husband confirmed on Twitter.

“IT’S A GIRL!!!!!!” wrote Abhishek Bachchan, 35, a Bollywood actor who married the former Miss World, 38 – who has been called the most beautiful woman in the world – in 2007.

“Thank you all for your prayers and good wishes,” Bachchan later added. “Both Aishwarya and the baby are doing great and taking some much needed rest.”

What Happens to Kids Raise by Gay Parents?

Brett

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07161/793042-51.stm

Rebecca Meiksin, 22, is white, middle-class, college-educated, with plans to earn a graduate degree in public health.

Terrance McGeorge, 20, is black, grew up in the Hill District, has a high school degree and works in an AmeriCorps service program at Beginning With Books.

Despite their differences, both of these young people have something in common with the new grandson of the vice president of the United States, who was born to Mary Cheney and her partner, Heather Poe, on May 23: They grew up in a family with a gay parent.

And both of them believe they have turned out just fine– in no small way because of how they were raised.

Son of Iowa Lesbians Fights Gay Marriage Ban

Brett

The latest Internet hero is Zach Wahls, a 19-year-old University of Iowa engineering student and Eagle Scout whose parents are lesbians.

Wahls gave a three-minute speech Tuesday before Iowa legislators urging them not to pass a constitutional amendment that would ban gay marriage and civil unions.

His words went viral across the Internet and had nearly a half million hits on YouTube today.

“In my 19 years, not once have I ever been confronted by an individual who realized independently that I was raised by a gay couple,” said Wahls. “And you know why? Because the sexual orientation of my parents has had zero affect on the content of my character.”

Introducing himself as a “sixth-generation Iowan,” Wahls said he had achieved the Boy Scouts’ highest rank and attained a 99th percentile on his college aptitude test.

“If I was your son, Mr. Chairman, I believe I would make you very proud,” he testified.