Congress to Hold Hearing on ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ | Newsweek Politics

MUSIC
Gay-Pride Grenade
Joshua Alston 4/11/2009 12:00:00 AM
The stereotype is that gay men's music tastes favor pop divas and show tunes, while lesbians dig sensitive folk, and to let Jon Ginoli tell it, that stereotype is truer than it is false. That's why, in 1991, Ginoli founded Pansy Division, an out-and-proud punk-rock band. Pansy Division's sound was influenced heavily by '70s-era punk bands like the Ramones and the Sex Pistols. Like those groups, Pansy Division keeps the songs short, sweet and snotty. And after taking a six-year break to work day jobs—homocentric rock music isn't exactly reaping a windfall—the band has returned with "That's So Gay," its seventh album. And not a moment too soon—"Gay" is a catchy call to arms for the gays and lesbians who say they want a revolution while their iPods tell a different story.
DRAMA QUEENS
Judy, Barbra, Liza—And Little Edie
4/4/2009 12:00:00 AM
"Grey Gardens" is not a gay movie, but there is no question that it has a huge and loyal fan base among those of us who enjoy same-sex stimulus plans. But why? Is there a gay-icon awards committee? Do shaved-headed lawyers in Dolce & Gabbana swimming trunks carry black briefcases full of votes to some unmarked gay bar where John Waters, Russell Simmons and Cher mull over the merits of the homo-nees? Do Ethel Merman and Rock Hudson welcome new inductees to the Gay Hall of Fame with vodka cranberries and power bars? Oh, my, I wish. But it's not like that. Spotting a gay icon is like being double-jointed or riding a unicycle: to laymen it is imperceptible, but to gay men it's like, well, duh.
The End Of An Error
Anna Quindlen 4/4/2009 12:00:00 AM
The most unlikely blurb of this publishing season is on the back cover of Nathaniel Frank's "Unfriendly Fire" and comes from John Shalikashvili. The former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff lauds a book that systematically trashes a policy the general once oversaw: the ban on openly gay men and lesbians in the military known as "don't ask, don't tell."
MY TURN
Fresh Start
Julie Halpert 4/3/2009 12:00:00 AM
My daughter, Alyson, began checking out colleges in her junior year of high school. On one of our first visits, she and I were finishing up an interview with the dean of admissions when she asked if I could step outside so she could have a moment alone with him. Later that night, I asked her what she had said to him. "I asked him if the college was gay-friendly," she said, "because I am." That was when I first learned that my daughter, then 16, was a lesbian.
Facing Death

Cunanan was a skillful fraud. He knew enough, was practiced enough, to fake his way into glittery worlds far beyond his means or station. In 1990 he was standing in a crowd of partygoers in the VIP room of Colossus, a San Francisco club, when the fashion god Gianni Versace, in town to be feted for the costumes he designed for the opera ""Capriccio,'' made his entrance. Spotting Cunanan from a distance, Versace walked over and greeted young Cunanan, who was then 21. ""I know you,'' said Versace. ""Lago di Como, no?'' Cunanan, flattered, answered, ""Yes. It is good to see you again, Mr. Versace.''
Battling The Bias

Gay activists are pounding at the door of their longtime antagonists--big-city cops. With bias crimes against homosexuals on the rise , gay-rights leaders demand that police not only provide more protection, but hire gay cops and offer sensitivity training to the law-enforcement rank and file. In some cities, especially where gays have political clout, activists have made inroads with police. But in others, they risk deepening the divide: the combative tactics of radical groups such as ACT-UP and Queer Nation have alienated many cops. A report from some key battlegrounds: