The Sunday Reader

[Lucky]

Articles from today’s Sunday New York Times that have some particular interest for the gay reader, and not in order of importance!

In Weddings, we see the cutest story of the day:

Alexander Mackay-Smith Kempson and Zachary Clayton Altman, both baritones, were married Saturday evening at the Tribeca Rooftop, an event space in New York. Dona D. Vaughn, a Universal Life minister who taught them in the opera program at the Manhattan School of Music, officiated.

The couple met in 2007 at the music school, from which Mr. Altman graduated and from which both received master’s degrees in voice.

(Among the biographical details, we learn that Mr. Kempson’s father is a senior tax counsel for General Electric. He must be pretty good. Wasn’t GE noted recently for paying zero taxes?)

Our story ends with this: The couple began dating in 2008, a year after they met. The next year they appeared in a Manhattan School of Music production of “Die Fledermaus,” directed by Ms. Vaughn. Mr. Altman sang the part of Dr. Falke and Mr. Kempson Gabriel von Eisenstein (normally a tenor part). Both characters were vying for the affection of Rosalinde.

In real life, Mr. Altman recalled, “we were pretty entrenched in our relationship at that point.”

He said that Ms. Vaughn lightheartedly reminded them, “You need to make gaga eyes at Rosalinde, and not each other.”

(The other gay couple who received a Times announcement today was also married by a friend who had become a Universal Life minister for the occasion.)

Cute Wedded Baritones

THE SUNDAY Review includes an article by a woman who stayed married to her husband for nine years after he announced that he was gay. They thought they were doing it for the children, but, as she notes: “We thought they didn’t notice any change, and we were mistaken. Secrets have a way of seeping into the atmosphere. Kids are natural observers. They watch parents like hawks, and they know when something is wrong, even if they don’t know what. I desperately wanted the charade to work at home — we were doing this for the children.”

The sad conclusion of the article is: “When they finally learned the truth, our sons were more disturbed by our deception than by the facts. Our reasons didn’t seem to matter anymore. Truth trumps lies every time.”

Article on Parents' Secret

Another piece in the Sunday Review begins: “JUST before Christmas in 1952, J. Edgar Hoover, the director of the F.B.I., let President Dwight D. Eisenhower know that the man Eisenhower had appointed as secretary to the president, his friend and chief of staff, my godfather, Arthur H. Vandenberg Jr., was a homosexual.” Whereupon Mr. Vandeberg’s gay godson writes of the damage the possibly closeted Hoover did to the closeted godfather (and no doubt, countless other gay men and their families.). It’s worth reading in whole: Hoover's Gay Damages

It’s not a column on a gay subject, but The Haggler, a columnist who purports to solve problems for individual consumers, takes up the subject of a site that posts reviews of consumer opinions on car transportation companies. The site receives all of its revenue from those very companies, so its fairness is called into question. Other review sites have been criticized for removing bad reviews when the offended company bought advertising on the site. Good thing this doesn’t happen with escort review sites!

The Arts & Leisure section headlines with “Switched at Rebirth,” a story of the new version of On A Clear Day You Can See Forever, opening soon on Broadway with Harry Connick, Jr. The gist is that the new show switches the character Daisy with one named Davie. It didn’t interest me either.

You Can See Gay Forever

If you are a fan of cute Irish actor Cillian Murphy, you may be happy to learn that you can see him up lose and personal in his new one-man show Misterman, opening Wednesday for a three week engagement at St. Ann’s Warehouse in Brooklyn.

Article on Murphy Show

Did you see something of interest in your Sunday paper? Post it right here,if you choose.

After all, this is NOT the Lucky Reader!

[Guest FourAces]

Does anybody recall the California gay teen shot in class four years ago? If so here is a follow up.

Gay Teen Murder Illustrates Schools’ Challenge

There were many missed opportunities to prevent the murder of a 15-year-old gay student at E.O. Green Junior High School in Oxnard.

Teachers and students saw a simmering feud between Brandon McInerney and Larry King but said they were either ignored by administrators or did little or nothing to intervene. King’s mother said she pleaded with school officials to help tone down her son’s increasingly flamboyant behavior. One teacher encouraged King to explore his sexuality and gave him a dress.

Nearly four years after McInerney, then 14, shot King in the head before stunned classmates, plenty of questions remain about what went wrong and what can be learned to prevent future tragedies.

King’s death illustrates the difficulty schools have balancing a gay student’s civil rights with teaching tolerance to those who feel threatened by or uncomfortable about someone who’s different. It also highlighted the importance of setting clear policies to eliminate confusion among educators.

"Something was brewing and lots of people were uncomfortable and people didn’t know what to do and where to turn," said Eliza Byard, executive director of the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network. "It reflects a profound inability for the adults to provide them with support and intervene when problems are developing."

McInerney, 17, pleaded guilty this week to second-degree murder and two other counts for killing King, which will send him to prison for 21 years. He’s scheduled to be sentenced next month.

Read Entire Article.

[Lucky]

From the online version of the San Francisco Chronicle, we learn that the new owner of the Golden State Warriors basketball team is gay:

It's news because not many in the world of professional sports are out:

Gay Warrior

[TotallyOz]

Gay man comes out to deny charge of moorland camper van sex assault

This was an interesting article in which a group of guys in a camper van got drunk and had sex. The next AM, the 23 year old woke up to realize he had gay sex and started hitting the guy he was with. The older man told police on several occasion he was straight, but, alas, he was not. Not an easy way to come out.

http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2011/11/23/gay-man-comes-out-to-deny-charge-of-moorland-camper-van-sex-assault/

Today in Gay History:

November 27, 1978 - Conservative Dan White, after discovering that he would not be re-appointed to his seat on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, took a gun and extra ammunition and goes to City Hall. He entered through a lower level window to avoid the metal detectors and went to the office of Mayor George Moscone, who was supportive of the gay community, and fired four shots, two to the head. Those who heard the gunshots did not realize what they were hearing, giving him time to reload his gun and go to the office of Supervisor Harvey Milk (the first openly gay man to be elected in a major American city) and fire five shots. Both men were pronounced dead. Dan White would later be convicted of manslaughter and serve only about five years.

A Look at the Macy's Thanksgiving Gay Parade

Covering All the Basics: Google Benefits Now Include Transgender Employees

Think Progress / News Report

Published: Thursday 24 November 2011

The company was able to negotiate with its current insurance providers to remove exclusions and to affirm that coverage is available for all services that a doctor has deemed medically necessary for a transgender employee.

http://thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2011/11/23/375458/covering-all-the-basics-google-benefits-now-include-transgender-employees/