Here's to Herbert Muschamp

“We were the children of white flight, the first generation to grow up in postwar American suburbs. By the time the ’60s rolled around, many of us, the gay ones especially, were eager to make a U-turn and fly back the other way. Whether or not the city was obsolete, we couldn’t imagine our personal futures in any other form. The street and the skyline signified to us what the lawn and the highway signified to our parents: a place to breathe free.”

Herbert Muschamp, January 8, 2006, “The Secret History of 2 Columbus Circle” in the NYT


Herbert Muschamp, architectural critic for the New York Times from 1992 to 2004 died this week in Manhattan at the age of 59.

When I read Muschamp’s critiques, I never quite knew what he would say or where he would go. One thing I did know – they would be interesting, usually quirky and always insightful. He connected the social and political currents of the day to the architecture of that time and often in a way that startled and amused readers.

Take for instance his 2006 essay on 2 Columbus Circle, where he said, “No other building more fully embodied the emerging value of queerness in the New York of its day.” How could that line not get my attention and make me want to read all 5,900 words he wrote about Edward Durrell Stone’s controversial Columbus Circle building?

Muschamp was from a generation of gay men that migrated to New York in the 1960s. They -- and I’m quite sure there were also good numbers of LBT people too – would build zones of freedom in New York and every big city across the country. And once freer than they could ever be in the small towns and suburbs they came from would build communities and families and eventually acquire political power.

Now New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, DC, Atlanta and so many other big cities are our community’s political engines, projecting our voices for equality and freedom across our states and the country and sooner or later back to those small towns or suburbs so many of us came from.

So here’s to Herbert Muschamp. You realized your potential and you lived as free as you could live during the time that was given you. You were part of our community’s great awakening. Let’s hope we can all do just as well.

Log Cabin's anti-Mitt Romney ad

Log Cabin Republicans have been running this ad in Iowa so that GOP voters there are clear on exactly who Mitt Romney is and what he's said in the past (despite what he's saying now to win over the Party's base).

Very interesting the approach taken here--no mention of LGBT issues, but the point comes across clearly.

Morning Sweep

The U.K.'s PinkNews, Europe's largest LGBT news source, takes a look at the U.S. Presidential race.

Good As You has a thorough update on what's going on with the ENDA craziness.

How scary is this?

The Episcopal/Anglican row over whether or not to allow the consecration of gay bishops seems to be getting more complicated by the moment.

According to a recent Columbia University study, white gays and lesbians have more mental issues than black or Hispanic gays and lesbians.

New Mexico Senator Pete Domenici is to announce his retirement today, which will mean another Republican Senate seat will be up for grabs in the 2008 election. There is a good chance that the seat could be filled by a LGBT-friendly Democrat.

Morning Sweep

The national press finally realized that something was going on with ENDA.

The Hudson Valley LGBTQ Center, based in Kingston, is filing a lawsuit against the city for alleged discrimination in a decision denying them tax exemption status. Kingston's mayor--a supporter of the group--says that the LGBTQ Center is simply being treated equally.

In a State Senate race in a Democratic-leaning Northern Virginia district, both the Republican incumbent and the Democratic challenger openly support a number of pro-LGBT bills and oppose the state's constitutional amendment limiting marriage to opposite-sex couples.

Morning Sweep (Afternoon Edition)

We apologize for the delay in getting the Sweep up this morning. It's the beginning of October and we at the Pride Agenda have been busier than a one-armed paper hanger!

HRC joined the call to Congress against stripping trans-inclusive language from ENDA and Rep. Frank and Speaker Pelosi announced that the bill would be delayed to allow more time for review. Good As You posted Stonewall Democrats' "ENDA--Accept No Substitute" petition. Pam Spaulding reports that there was many things wrong with the "revised" version of ENDA.

More strange details of the defendant in the Michael Sandy murder trial who claims to be gay (and therefore shouldn't be convicted of an anti-gay hate crime).

You may have already seen this, but if not check out The Advocate Editor-in-Chief Sean Kennedy's love fest to Hillary Clinton.

David Mixner profiles two actors who have come out of the closet and are dispelling the myth that gay actors cannot play straight roles.

Lots of action on college campuses: Georgetown students are protesting a hate crime allegedly committed by the 19-year old son of a former member of the Bush administration. And Yale Law School students come out against "Don't Ask Don't Tell."

New York State Democrats pass resolution calling for passage of GENDA

In light of the great news that the New York State Democratic Committee has stated its support for the passage of the Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act (GENDA), we asked Melissa Sklarz to tell us in her own words why GENDA is important and what needs to happen next. Melissa was at the New York Democrats’ semi-annual meeting today in Garden City when they passed the resolution in support of GENDA. She’s the Director of New York Trans Rights Organization (NYTRO).

Today, on October 1, 2007, the New York State Democratic Party passed a resolution supporting the quest for transgender and gender variant civil rights and the Gender Expression Non Discrimination Act (GENDA) in an effort to bring New York State in line with what other states have done throughout the US.

In 2002, an attempt was made to amend the Sexual Orientation Non Discrimination Act (SONDA) to include language added to protect “gender identity and expression”, with a legal definition to explain this phrase. However, the amendment was defeated in the New York State Senate, and so a go-alone bill called GENDA was created.

In 2002, a similar bill was passed in New York City that created legal protection for trans people in areas like employment, housing, and public accommodation. In the subsequent years, guidelines were created by the trans community in an effort to add depth to this new idea. Areas included protection in schools, shelters, and public restrooms.

But outside of New York City, Albany, Ithaca, Suffolk Country and a few other areas, trans people in New York can still be fired from their jobs, arrested for using public restrooms, and denied apartment leases.

Many of us have horror stories about changing gender. Many of us have lost jobs, lost the love of our families, or wandered lost in a maze of inadequate or inappropriate health care. Many of us have stories of substance abuse that make a difficult situation almost impossible. Many of our young people turn to street sex or sex work to survive. And I know from my own experience, there are certainly no prizes for a young male to decide to live life as a female and cope with the lack of compassion from an uncaring culture.

We do not think GENDA will necessarily change the culture overnight, but it is a beginning. With state-wide legal protection, the culture of transgender people and the non trans majority will change. Options will grow, behavior will modify, and some conflict will be resolved. Like all struggles, they will not happen immediately. One only needs to view the issue of marriage equality over the last 10 years to see how public dialog can change an idea and culture.

As a trans woman in New York, I am grateful for the effort of the New York State Democratic Party and look forward to the Legislature passing the GENDA Bill in 2008. To make this happen, it is imperative that all progressive and caring people join together to help educate New Yorkers and our legislators that we are your sons and daughters and desire a level playing field in which to survive.

Melissa Sklarz
Director of NYTRO

See the full version of the resolution here.

Morning Sweep

An openly gay New York City police officer is bringing harassment charges against the NYPD. The officer has faced threats, name-calling and career stagnation while serving in precincts in Brooklyn and Greenwich Village.

Washington Post's Jonathan Capehart writes a column about what he calls "Pink Panic" in the Republican Party, and specifically calls out Romney, Giuliani, Thompson, McCain and Huckabee for their lack of courage or leadership.

The new ENDA, stripped of trans-inclusive language, is set to move through committee and onto the House floor for a vote this week. New Mexico Governor and Democratic presidential candidate Bill Richardson released a statement calling for gender identity to be included in ENDA.

Gays and lesbians are intensely brand loyal, according to a new study--and loyalties are often tied to a brand's visibility in LGBT media or how publicly supportive a brand is of LGBT rights.

Proud Parenting notes that the the radical Christian right is losing its grip on the Republican Party and may, therefore, consider running a third-party presidential candidate.

The New York Times on Sunday reported on gay life in Iran, directly refuting the comments made last week by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

And Saturday Night Live had this to say to the Iranian President.