However, yesterday’s conference at the Morehouse School of Medicine signaled that the discussion about gay America’s HIV/AIDS epidemic is taking place at a presidential level.

“Certainly, I think one of the very significant things about it is that this is sponsored by the White House,” said Jeff Graham, executive director of Georgia Equality. “The fact that the White House is the sponsoring organization and that the White House has pulled this together really allows us to elevate these issues, many of which we’ve been talking about for years if not decades, to the highest level of leadership here in the country.”

On hand at the conference was the White House’s newly installed AIDS czar, Grant Colfax, as well as Kevin Fenton, head of the CDC’s anti-AIDS efforts.
While Thursday’s event didn’t reveal new data or strategy, Emory University researcher David Malebranche warned attendees of expecting to get solutions to the AIDS crisis at a conference.

“I don’t come to conferences like these for answers, and I hope you’re not looking to me for the answers, because I may not have them for you,” Malebranche said during his lunchtime presentation. “People have come from all over the country to this session today, and a lot of people I hear complaining at conferences, saying, ‘We talk about a lot of stuff and then there’s no solutions. Where’s the solution?’ And I’m like, ‘Why don’t you look at yourself, and why don’t you go back home and figure out what the solution is. And take what the sharing was, that happened at this conference, and bring that energy with you back. The conference isn’t always supposed to give you the answers.

“It’s in you, it’s within ourselves,” he added. “We’ve been so traumatized to think that we don’t know the answers, that we have to wait on the CDC to give us money, that we have to wait on the [National Institutes of Health], that we’re waiting for someone to hand us something, or give us an idea, or tell us what the [silence] to do, and they’re not going to. So we have to look at it within ourselves.”

AIDS conferences like the one on Thursday often highlight how forces such homophobia, racism, classism and sexism contribute to higher infection rates among gays and people of color. Malebranche urged AIDS activists to think beyond how various minority statuses burden a person, and form prevention and care strategies that use minority status to affirm positive decisions.

In what the organizers of the Long Beach Lesbian & Gay Pride Festival called “a staggering first,” Queen Latifah has been announced as the headline act for the gay California celebration in May.

“This will be Queen Latifah’s first-ever engagement at a Pride celebration anywhere in the world,” organizers said in announcement earlier this week.

Latifah’s sexual orientation has been a hotly debated topic throughout her three-decade career, although the Queen has consistently been coy about whether she’s a soft stud. Her appearance at Long Beach Pride will undoubtedly raise the volume of whispers about her possibly being gay.

Long Beach Pride organizers say that Latifah’s participation says more about the popularity of the event than it does Latifah’s sexual orientation.

Ken Britt, a 2010 Fenuxe 50 honoree who has been a pillar of gay Atlanta for decades, announced this morning that he will be seeking the state House of Representatives seat for District 56, which runs from Ansley Park, through Midtown and to the Capitol View neighborhood just south of downtown.

The seat is currently held by the lovely LGBT ally Kathy Ashe, who has represented the district and battled on behalf of gay rights since the early 1990s. Ashe has decided not to run for re-election.

Britt has been a tireless champion of LGBT issues, from being instrumental in the early days of AIDS activism to recently chairing the national board of the Human Rights Campaign. He has lent his passion and generosity to organizations from Georgia Equality to YouthPride, and as the executive director of one of the most powerful law firms in Atlanta, Britt defied the notion that you could not be openly gay while excelling professionally.

“Being a gay man in many ways defines who I am,” Britt told Fenuxe last year. “From my personal experience, living in the closet thwarts the development of your personality, limits your ability to fulfill one’s potential, and probably, most damaging of all, it squelches your spirit. The lesson here is an obvious one—always be true to yourself, be proud of who you are, don’t try to live up to the expectations of others, and know that you were created just the way you are for a special reason.”

Wise words from a wise man who deserves our community’s full support in his attempt to become the first openly gay man elected to the Georgia General Assembly (Rep. Rashad Taylor is openly gay, but came out after being elected).

In addition to launching a handful of music careers, “American Idol” has created a cottage industry of entertainers who headline gay events across the country.

Today, the organizers of the Atlanta Human Rights Campaign Dinner & Silent Auction announced that “Idol” alumna Frenchie Davis will provide entertainment for the May 5 affair, marking Davis’s third appearance at an Atlanta gay function in the last four years.

Davis, who was also a finalist on NBC’s “The Voice” and starred in “Rent” on Broadway, will be singing at the black-tie dinner, showcasing tracks from her upcoming album, “Frenchie.” DJ Mike Pope, one of the resident spinners at the Heretic, was announced as the entertainment for the HRC after-party.

The return of an “Idol” diva to gay Atlanta got us reminiscing about other crooners from the Fox reality show that have played to Gay-T-Liens:

Fantasia, MLK Weekend, 2008

It’s not just “Idol” runners-up that frequent the gay scene, as season three champ Fantasia rocked the crowd at Traxx for its legendary MLK weekend party in 2008.

Frenchie Davis, Atlanta Pride 2008

Davis provided one of the highlights of what will forever be known as “Parking Lot Pride,” kicking off the three-day celebration with a performance at the Atlanta Civic Center.

Blake Lewis, Atlanta Pride 2009

The adorable beat-boxer brought his eclectic sound to Atlanta as Pride returned to Piedmont Park.

Frenchie Davis, Black Gay Pride 2010

The powerful songstress provided the soundtrack for Traxx’s Pride pool party at Piedmont Park.

Kimberley Locke, Atlanta Pride 2010

Last week, the National Organization for Marriage suffered an embarrassing lapse in its cyber-security when its Facebook and Twitter accounts, as well as its blog, was hacked.

The virulently anti-gay organization began sending out Tweets such as “There’s a mutiny taking place…the New NOM Supports #marriageequality,” while its Twitter image was changed to a Gay Pride flag.

The hacking sent ripples of chuckles across the internet, and whoever was responsible doesn’t seem to be done having fun at NOM’s expense. Late last week, the Twitter account for NOM President Brian Brown was hacked and used to send out messages such as “Our strategies have been Hitler and Stalin-esqe. Stifling free speech, targeting minority groups, pushing our beliefs onto all of society.”

These incidents are humorous, and somewhat akin to seeing a schoolyard bully get punched in the nose by a pint-sized sissy.

So what happens when the sissy does become the bully?

As I watched the celebrations over the hacking of NOM, I couldn’t help but wonder what gay people’s reaction would have been if anti-gay forces had hacked the online identities of the Human Rights Campaign, and used its Twitter account to post homophobic scripture. I can already hear cries of a high-tech hate crime.

Lately, it seems that gay people have claimed a monopoly on being the victims of bullying; we don’t recognize that bullying can be a two-way street, and that we are just as capable of being the aggressors. In addition to the NOM hacking, several other recent incidents make me wonder if we are bullying our way to equality:

Scribbling on Facebook

The hacking gave me my first ever reason to visit NOM’s Facebook page, and I was not surprised by what I found. Every posting on the NOM page generates dozens – sometimes thousands – of comments, and the vast majority seem to be from NOM detractors who complain about the organization being whiny haters.

Out of curiosity, I also visited the Human Rights Campaign’s Facebook page. The postings on the HRC page generate fewer comments, but there is scant evidence of anti-gay individuals flooding the fan page in order to disrupt it.

Internet civility is almost an oxymoron, but we need to be mindful when we are a bigger ogre on the net than our tormentors.

 Labeling Our Opponents as Haters

Last month, the Southern Poverty Law Center identified 27 organizations in the U.S. as anti-gay hate groups. While SPLC is not a gay organization, its findings were once again celebrated in LGBT circles and are being used to discredit conservative organizations.

These conservative groups – including the Family Research Council, American Family Association and the Windsor Hills Baptist church – are devilishly misguided and are known to put forth hurtful lies to oppose LGBT equality. However, there is a difference between the activities of the Ku Klux Klan and the Windsor Hills Baptist Church opposing a non-discrimination ordinance, or United Families International supporting sodomy laws that were in place until 2003.

Labeling our opponents as hate groups seems to be a cheap, lazy way to win a debate, no different than the centuries of arguments won by those who claimed homosexuality was evil and sinful.

Bullying the Bullies

Few people have done more to combat anti-gay bullying than Dan Savage, the gay writer who founded the It Gets Better Project to deliver encouraging videos to downtrodden gay youth.

Yet, the man who attempts to make martyrs out of LGBT students who have been bullied has himself been engaged in the mean-spirited cyber-bullying of Rick Santorum since 2003.

Yes, there is much hilarity in Savage’s efforts to have Google searches for “Santorum” lead to a website describing the “the frothy mixture of lube and fecal matter that is sometimes the byproduct of anal sex.” Bullying is usually funny, at least to everyone who isn’t the target of the bullying.

Given his anti-gay hostility over the years, Santorum deserves no sympathy; but that doesn’t negate the hypocrisy of the LGBT movement’s leading anti-bullying crusader using the internet to defile the senator’s (and his children’s) last name, as if he were writing rumors on a bathroom wall or cafeteria table.

What do you think? Are gay people simply fighting fire with fire, and giving conservatives a taste of their own medicine? Or are we establishing a double standard where we complain when we are bullied, and cheer when our opponents are harassed? Is it necessary to be civil with those who want to deny us basic human rights? Or have we been the “nice guys” for too long, and it’s time we fought back?

In 2012, the gay rights movement ought to no longer be afraid of addressing ballot initiatives head-on, instead of trying to convince voters that a proposed ban on same-sex marriage is really an attack on senior citizens or single moms who suffer domestic violence. The “de-gaying” of campaigns has been a hallmark of our strategy for decades, and this strategy has been an unmitigated disaster.

It’s time for us to have faith in our argument, have faith in the intelligence and empathy of our fellow citizens. It is time for us to “lose forward”: where we advance the discussion about gay people and our place in society, even if we lose the vote. Below are a couple of hypothetical scripts that embody the language and focus that will propel society’s understanding of gay people forward:

Male: Hello, my name is John Doe, and this is my partner, Marcus. This here is my nephew, Ricky, who Marcus and I are raising as our son. I became Ricky’s guardian when his mother, my sister, passed away in 2007. Marcus and I have done our best to love Ricky, to provide him with a comfortable childhood and to raise him to be a good human being.

The state of North Carolina has decided to make that job harder for us, because some people think that it is wrong for two men to love and pledge and their lives to each other as Marcus and I have. Well, I think those people are wrong, and they have no business coming into our home and casting judgment upon us when we are doing our very best to be good people, good parents, good neighbors. The government of North Carolina has no right to come into any family’s home and declare them unworthy of the rights afforded to other families.

I know this is a difficult issue for many of you, but I ask that you take time to meditate about fairness, about family, and about whether your faith asks you to make life harder for good people such as yourselves. I pray that your faith compels you toward kindness, and that you will help protect our family by voting against Amendment One.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Man: My name is Rev. Shannon Roe, and this is my wife, Linda. In 2009, our son, Ryan, told us he was gay.

Woman: It was devastating.

Man: I was so ashamed.

Woman: I was scared. I just thought it would make life so hard for my baby, and I thought about heaven. Would Ryan get into heaven?

Man: Would Ryan get into heaven? I apologized to God on my son’s behalf. I begged God for forgiveness and deliverance.

Woman: It’s an issue we continue to struggle with, but the heartache we felt has been comforted by what we continue to see in Ryan every day.

Man: He’s still the same brilliant, compassionate, and faithful son that he was before he told us he was gay.

Woman: But he’s a better Ryan, too. I can feel the freedom that he lives in, I can feel the weight of shame that has been lifted since he told us.

Man: We are not at the point where we’re ready to go marching in a Gay Pride parade.

Woman: But we’re also not at the point where we’re ready to vote to make our son a second-class citizen.

Man: Disagreement over an issue is one thing, but discrimination is another, and we’re not about to discriminate against our son.

Woman: And we ask you to not discriminate against our son.

Man: Or your family member.

A 25th anniversary is supposed to be all about silver, but for the Atlanta Eagle, every anniversary is about leather.

The iconic gay bar has persevered for a quarter century, and celebrates 25 years of revelry this weekend with a line-up of events in conjunction with Atlanta Leather Pride.

Tonight, the Eagle hosts a meet-and-greet with the contestants in this year’s Mr. & Mrs. Atlanta Eagle contests, giving patrons a chance to rub shoulders with the pageant hopefuls before Saturday’s competition.

The Saturday festivities begin with a 1 p.m. cookout in the parking lot of the Eagle, then at 8 p.m. the Mr. & Mrs. Atlanta Eagle pageants begin. This marks the fourth year that the pageant has been hosted after a half-decade hiatus, and the winner represents Atlanta in the International Mr. Leather competition in Chicago during Memorial Day weekend.

Contestants compete in four separate category: bar wear, fetish wear, play wear, and a Q&A. The Mr. & Mrs. Atlanta Eagle contests will be emceed by Southeast Leatherboy Sean Pendlebury and adult porn star Colin Steele, while there will be six judges, including Mr. Atlanta Eagle 2011 Wayne Turpin.

On Sunday, the festivities conclude with a Leather Brunch at Roxx restaurant.

The Eagle, of course, has much to celebrate, having survived a downturn in the economy and a ill-advised police raid in 2009. There was great uncertainty among both the owners and patrons about whether the bar could survive in the weeks and months after the virulent raid, but since then the Eagle has won a financial settlement from the city, and the Mr. Eagle pageant has grown in popularity every year.

Worry not, young boys — It Gets Bigger

“I’m a CCOKC, and Kirk, you’re just a dick!”

Madonna Plays Truth or Dare With Gay Fans

Atlanta Falcon wide receiver Roddy White apologized Thursday night after after a string of White’s postings on Twitter were considered by some to be anti-gay.

“OK people I apologize for saying the word gay I know it’s a sensitive subject and a athlete of my stature should not use it,” White posted on Twitter Thursday.

However, Friday morning, White wasn’t as apologetic, Tweeting: “I would like to thank all of my loyal fans for backing me today #foruhatersmiddlefinger”

Thursday morning, a fan on Twitter asked White what his goals were for the 2012 NFL season.

“To lead the league in every statistical category at [wide receiver],” White responded.

“You would rather lead the league in stats than win a Super Bowl???” another fan asked.

“Would u rather be gay or straight come on u know that answer,” White replied.

Another Twitter user immediately took offense to White’s language, but White responded that he didn’t use the word gay in an offensive way.

“every time somebody says the word gay u want to get your panties in a bunch relax #whyusoemotional” White Tweeted.

Lastly, he added: “Freedom of speech. I don’t care how much money I make. I should be held to my own standards and not the standards of others opinion.#period”

Do you think what White originally Tweeted was offensive, or is it an example of gay people and/or their supporters being too sensitive?