Queer Update: The State of a Gay Nation

There were several stories that have hit the news wires over the last two weeks so I want to highlight and expand on some of them slightly but not use up a whole post on just one, you'll get the idea. I will probably choose to add to this post during the next couple of days; so feel free to check back with this post on Friday or Sunday for the full Monty.

COMIC OF THE MONTH!

PINK KRYPTONITE: Boy Meets Hero (MySpace), written by Chayne Avery & Russell Garcia, was picked as the LGBT COMIC OF THE MONTH for June. BMH is now available in a 120 page hardback format starting around thirty dollars. Also readers will be interested in knowing that BMH newest release in the series Blue Comet and Fusion is now for sale online for a $1.99 you can soak up the delicious first installment featuring an out 'n proud, gay super hero couple!

PASS THE MEATBALLS AND THE MESSIAH?

Praise the Lord and pass the menu, please
In Indiana Bible Belt, restaurant-church catering to gays
By Ron Grossman Chicago Tribune 1st of June, 2008
[*EDITOR'S NOTE: twenty paragraphs were removed for space and time]

LA PORTE, Ind. — Some first-time visitors to Holy Macaroni pass through an entrance hall separating its sanctuary and dining room, glance at a display of local newspaper notices, turn on their heels and leave. Apparently they weren't prepared to find the building contains not only the Italian restaurant but a gay-friendly church, both of them operated by co-chefs, co-pastors and lovers Randy Duncan and Daniel Wright. This part of northwest Indiana is just a few miles to the south of the Lake Michigan sand dunes that draw Chicago urbanites to summer homes, but it is Bible Belt country.

Still, on a recent visit some diners said they resented any suggestion their gustatorial taste should be influenced by their hosts' love life. Among them is Brian Buck, who was eating at Holy Macaroni with his girlfriend and her parents. The young woman wore a necklace dangling a cross. "Arab, gay, or straight, there's no difference between people," said Buck. He resents those who blame a whole people for the terrorist acts of a few, and ditto for condemning someone's sexual orientation. In a restaurant, Buck said, the only issue should be: How's the food? He expressed this with a vigor suggesting that, should his questioner not agree, a dinner plate might be headed toward his face. But "no, I wouldn't do that," said Buck. "This calzone is too good."

The religious side of the enterprise is the New Life Community Church of Hope, a "gay-affirming" Christian ministry that recently celebrated its 10th anniversary. Sunday services here, which draw 40 to 50 people, show that when Duncan left the United Pentecostal Church he took with him the denomination's enthusiastic approach to prayer. These are foot-stomping, hand-waving events accompanied by an electric organ, keyboard piano and a full set of drums....

Shortly after they met, Duncan asked Wright to come to La Porte and become co-pastor of what became the New Life church. It initially met in Duncan's basement, but 5 1/2 years ago the pastors went looking for a new home. The men found the right place in a take-out pizza business with an antique shop tacked onto the back of the building. The shop became the sanctuary, while the pizzeria was transformed into a full restaurant to support the congregation financially. Neither Duncan nor Wright had any experience in the food-service industry, but Wright in particular turned out to be a natural at rolling out pizza crust and making red sauce. Today at the highly successful restaurant, diners can choose among pizza, pasta and improbable mélanges of Italian and Middle American cuisine, like Momma Mia's Bread Pudding.....

ANOTHER FULL FAITH AND CREDIT CLAUSE COMING DOWN ON STATE'S RIGHTS!

The Virginia Supreme Court ruled on the 6th of June that a Vermont child custody order in a civil union must be upheld, meaning that Virginia must honor it even though the state prohibits same-sex marriages, according to the Richmond Times-Dispatch. Lisa and Janet Miller-Jenkins entered into a civil union in Vermont in 2001, and daughter Isabella was born shortly thereafter. ( Lisa was artificially inseminated. ) After the couple broke up, Lisa - who changed her surname to Miller—moved to Virginia and renounced her lesbianism. A Vermont court gave Miller primary custody and awarded Janet Jenkins visitation rights. Then, a Virginia court granted Miller sole custody and denied Jenkins visits. However, the state's supreme court employed a federal statute to enforce the Vermont court's ruling. [Copy Windy City Times]

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