LGBTQ+ Issues

The new film Brokeback Mountain, directed by Ang Lee, stars Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger. Based on a short story by Annie Proulx, it describes the relationship between two young men in the West in the 1960s.

Actor and singer Tab Hunter's new book, Tab Hunter Confidential: The Making of a Movie Star, reveals his secret status as a homosexual in Hollywood. Hunter was a teen heartthrob in the 1950s and 1960s, starring in over 50 films including Damn Yankees, That Kind of Woman, and more recently, John Waters' Polyester.

Don Roos wrote and directed the new film Happy Endings, starring Tom Arnold, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Lisa Kudrow and Laura Dern. Roos, who also directed The Opposite of Sex and Bounce, is known for creating dysfunctional characters who bump into one another in unpredictable ways.

Judas Priest has a new album out, Angel of Retribution, and is on tour this summer. Originally from Birmingham, England, Judas Priest pioneered the heavy metal sound in the 1970s and '80s. Lead singer Halford left the band in 1991, citing internal tension, and in 1998, he disclosed that he is gay during an interview on MTV. Nicknamed the "Metal God," Halford returned to Judas Priest in 2003.

Writer, actor, lawyer Edwin John Wintle has written his first book, a memoir about what happened when his 13-year old niece came to live with him. His book is Breakfast with Tiffany: An Uncle's Memoir.

Film critic David Edelstein reviews the new German film Head-On about a marriage of convenience in Hamburg between two troubled Turks. It won the Golden Bear award at the Berlin International Film Festival

Bishop Robert Duncan is the moderator of a group formed in opposition to the ordination of Bishop Robinson. It's called the Network of Anglican Communion Diocese and Parishes. Their stated mission is to allow "Episcopalians to remain in communion with the vast majority of the worldwide Anglican Communion who have declared either impaired or broken communion with the Episcopal Church USA." For many Episcopalians, the ACN has come to represent the hope for a return to the historic faith and order of Anglicanism." Duncan is Episcopal Bishop of Pittsburgh.

On Nov. 2, 2003, Bishop Gene Robinson became the world's first openly gay Episcopal bishop. He was elected by the Diocese of New Hampshire. His appointment and confirmation have caused some division in the Episcopal Church. Robinson was married for 13 years. He continues to be close to his ex-wife and two daughters. For more than 16 years, he's been in a relationship with a man.

Also we remember mystery novelist Joseph Hansen, who we just learned died last month at the age of 81. He created one of the genre's first gay protagonists, the private eye Dave Brandstetter.

We remember the gay journalist who was the founder and first president of the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association. He died Sunday at age 70. He worked at The Washington Post for 14 years, with posts as bureau chief in New York and Los Angeles.

Edmund White has been writing about gay culture in fiction and nonfiction since the 1970s. His new book is a collection of his essays, Arts and Letters. White is director of the creative writing program at Princeton University.

Journalist David Kirkpatrick reports on the conservative movement's issues and leaders for The New York Times.

Cott is a professor of history at Harvard University. She testified before Vermont's judiciary committee. Vermont became the first state in the country to make civil unions legal for gay and lesbian couples. Cott is the author of Public Vows: A History of Marriage and the Nation (Harvard University).

Witte is Jonas Robitscher professor of law and ethics, and director of the law and religion program at Emory University in Atlanta. He is the author of From Sacrament to Contract: Marriage, Religion, and Law in the Western Tradition.

He is the editorial page editor of The Rutland Herald in Vermont, where he won that paper's first Pulitzer for his series of editorials in support of same-sex unions. He's the author of the new book, Civil Wars: A Battle for Gay Marriage. Vermont became the first state in the country to make civil unions legal for gay and lesbian couples. In 1999, the state Supreme Court ruled that gay couples were due the legal rights of marriage, and told the state legislature to decide how best to do that.

Lewis is The Boston Globe's state House reporter. He'll discuss the ruling by the Massachusetts high court yesterday that gay couples in that state will be accorded full equal marriage rights rather than civil unions. The ruling is a clarification of the court's November decision that same-sex couples have a constitutional right to marry. The state Senate asked for clarification on the decision, because they felt it was worded vaguely.

He talks about living as a closeted homosexual in the priesthood, finally having an affair with a man, going into therapy and then leaving the ministry. All this occurred by 1992, years before the sexual abuse scandal. Schiavone wrote about his experience in an article in the December 8, 2002 issue of the Boston Globe Magazine.

He is on the brink of becoming the world's first openly gay bishop of the Episcopal Church. He was elected by the Diocese of New Hampshire, but the appointment must be approved at the church's national general convention next week. His nomination has divided the church. Robinson, who is 56 years old, was married for 13 years. He continues to be close to his ex-wife and two daughters. For the last 15 years he has been in a relationship with another man.

TV critic David Bianculli on the new Bravo cable makeover show, Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. NBC will broadcast an episode of the show tonight.

Her new book, Highsmith: A Romance of the 1950's, is about her two-year affair with the writer Patricia Highsmith. They met at a Greenwich Village bar and were both writing lesbian pulp novels under pseudonyms. Meaker wrote Spring Fire (1952) under the pen name Vin Packer. It sold 1.5 million copies. She also wrote under the name Ann Aldrich. Meaker writes young adult novels under the name M.E. Kerr. Highsmith is known for her classic novels Strangers on a Train and The Talented Mr. Ripley.