Margaret Cho – Queen Fag Hag
Margaret Cho is the undisputed Queen Fag Hag. This title is not one given lightly. It’s one earned through a life of being the constant companion to gay men, and an outspoken voice of the women who love them. In the 90s it was people like her who spoke out for gay rights, not with a tepid whisper, but with a loud shit talking bull horn. She boldly said the things other comics and artist were afraid to say. She is the very embodiment of living a life unapologetically out. This week Margaret Cho was in Austin, and I was invited to see her performance and meet with her after the show. She’s every bit as lovely in person, as I’d always imagined her to be watching her comedy programs on TV.
Austin Gay Radio
When you think of the state of Texas, images of tough cowboys, big hats, wranglers, and boots come to mind. About the last thing you associate with Texas is anything gay. Let alone a gay radio program that airs weekly in Austin, TX. However, Austin has always held the special distinction of being the small island of blue in a deep red state. OutCast Radio is an award winning gay radio program that airs every Tuesday at 6pm CST on KOOP 91.7FM in Austin. It’s currently hosted by Heath Riddles, Stephen Rice, and Kate Messer. What is the history of gay radio programming in Austin, and what are the plans for it’s future? I recently got the opportunity to sit in on one of their programs and see first hand the men behind the program.
Gay Conservatives
This week Ken Mehlman, former top Bush aid and former head of the Republican National Committee, declared he was gay. Mehlman, was one of the chief architects of Bush’s 2004 re-election campaign, which was won primarily by promoting wedge issues like anti-gay marriage amendments in critical swing states. With his new public admission of his sexuality, and with political trends moving towards popular acceptance of gay rights, what will conservative politics in the future mean for gay rights?
2G3…Fated Reality
If you’ve ever watched an episode of MTV’s The Hills, or The Real World, and thought, “Hey I could do that!”, that’s exactly what Thomas Simmons, David Coley, and Dani Elkins did when they created 2G3. It’s a low budget, independent online reality show, filmed out of Raleigh, NC. One day Dani and David were talking and having fun and thought to themselves, “Why isn’t this being filmed?” All three of them are big personalities with lots of character. To watch their show is to believe that they had been literally best friends forever. However, their relationships just began in the early summer of 2009. They filmed their first episode in July of that summer. Without even realizing it they had chronicled their entire relationship together. In interviewing the three of them, it became clear that their lives really didn’t begin until they found each other. So how did they come together? What were they like before they became 2G3? What are their plans for the future?
Mikey V, Beyond the Headlines…
Detective Verdugo, better known as Mikey V, the fourth place contestant on HGTVs Design Star Season 3, has had a lot of headlines written about him recently. He’s already famous from his reality TV experience, he’s a gay cop, and he was fired from his job as a Hollywood, FL (not to be confused with Hollywood, CA), police officer after they found out he had been in a gay porn video. While the media likes to place labels on people and declare in big bold print what and who a person is, none of them truly depict the struggles of a man who regardless of how well he performed at his job, was treated with anti-gay harassment and discrimination. So why does he want to go back? If he’s already a famous designer, why doesn’t he just do that? We spoke with Mikey V, about these very questions, and got the full story directly from the person at the center of all this media attention.
