LGBT Issues

UPDATED: At West Texas High School, One Student Pushes Against Principal To Bring Discussion of Gay Rights to Campus

Updated with comments from Sundown Superintendent Mike Motheral and Murray Lipp, who runs Gay Marriage USA's Facebook site. On Wednesday morning, an eighth grader at Sundown Middle School approached Morgan Sisk, a senior at Sundown's high school. The 1,400-strong town, located just west of Lubbock, ... More >>

Brickwall Firm: Dynamo Support Group Madly Backtracks from Homophobic Twitter Remarks

The Dyano's outreach to the GLBT community -- we assume they have one of sorts -- has hit another snag with homophobic tweets from one of the supporter groups that works closely with the team. Someone with control of the Brickwall Firm's twitter account apparently doesn't like Landon Donovan; the t ... More >>

KPRC Weatherman Frank Billingsley to Speak at Marriage Equality Rally Monday Night

Frank Billingsley is used to answering tough questions. He predicts the weather for a living. The longtime weatherman for KPRC channel 2 is one of the most capable and well liked meteorologists in the city. But when he came out as openly gay and even married his partner in a ceremony in New York Cit ... More >>

Gay Aggie Group Fighting Bill That Would Let Students "Opt Out" Of Funding Them

Those brave, lonesome souls who make up the GLBT Aggies have got another crisis on their hands. A bill introduced into the student senate would allow Aggies to "opt out" of having their student fees going to support the gay-rights group. Supporters of the bill say it's based on religious freedom: ... More >>

Game Changer

Chris Kluwe is prying open America's last closet: major league sports.

UT: Yeah, We're Totally Fine With Our Professors Publishing Anti-Gay Studies Funded by Anti-Gay Advocates

In its infinite wisdom, the University of Texas-Austin is backing a professor whose study, co-funded by one of the kookiest anti-gay-marriage groups out there, suggests a higher incidence of suicidal thoughts and unemployment among children of same-sex households. After blogger Scott Rose complain ... More >>

Comment of the Day: Annise Parker, Choosing Her (Non-Chick-fil-A) Battles

We have some great commenters here on Hair Balls, and it's time we paid some damn attention to them. So we'll be highlighting a Comment of the Day each morning or afternoon from the previous day's work. Maybe two comments, even. This will all be determined by a highly rigorous scientific formula i ... More >>

Sarah Palin Visits Chick-Fil-A in The Woodlands, Presumably to Hate On the Gays

Mike Huckabee did it. Rick Santorum did it (I don't mean having his last name irreversibly associated with a rather disgusting by-product of certain sexual acts). And now Sarah Palin has done it...in Texas. All three politicians have recently gone out of their way to promote Chick-Fil-A, in what so ... More >>

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Protecting Gay Kids

Schools are finally getting tougher on gay bullying.

Mary Gonzalez: The Lege Gets Its First Out Lesbian

Texas voters, even in the midst of a so-called "conservative uprising," managed to elect the first openly gay woman to the Texas House on Tuesday night. Mary Gonzalez, to be more specific, will be both the first woman to win House District 75 in El Paso and the second openly gay candidate to secure ... More >>

Dr. Robert Spitzer: "I Owe the Gay Community an Apology" for "Gay Cure" Study

Eleven years after his profoundly flawed study of "reparative therapy" to "cure" gay people of their rampant gayness, psychiatrist Robert Spitzer has written a letter apologizing to the gay community. Spitzer had already distanced himself from the study in 2004, when we interviewed Houston-area me ... More >>

Rappers On Gay Marriage: "Only An Issue To A Simpleton"

Some rappers happen to be thoughtful, intelligent people. Each week, Rocks Off will have some of them here discussing issues relevant to their culture. This Week's Panel: Scarface, D-Risha, O.N.E., Kyle Hubbard, Scooby, Chane, Renzo, Preemo, Show, Yung Truth, CB Kings Not Invited: Manny Pacquiao ... More >>

Montrose, Meet Your New Congressman: Ted Poe, Homophobe

It looks like Texas just might finally have a redistricting map, after several tries. If this one goes through, Montrose will be represented by...Ted Poe. Now, it's not like the neighborhood has been represented by a GLBT-friendly rep prior to redistricting; John Culberson is a hardcore rightwinge ... More >>

What's the Opposite of Homosexuality? "Holysexuality," Says "Pray the Gay Away" Group

Photo by Mandy OaklanderProtesters say you can't pray gay away.​Outside of the Sugar Creek Baptist Church on Saturday afternoon, about 70 protesters lined the service road waving rainbow signs. Cars honked along with their chants of "We are holy, we are queer!" A dozen protesters were students ... More >>

Men, Nail Polish and Gender Identity: Did You Know This Was a Thing?

fashionbombdaily.comDave Navarro: Indoctrinating young boys into a cult of nail polish?​Just as I was wrapping up researching and writing a lighthearted piece about what a man's nail polish color says about him, I happened to tune in to an episode of ABC's Primetime Nightline entitled "My (Ext ... More >>

HISD Adds Transgender Category To Its Anti-Discrimination Policy

HISD specifies transgenders as protected​The Houston school district has added categories for transgendered individuals to its policy against discrimination. In addition to the already existing "sexual orientation," HISD has added "gender identity, and/or gender expression" to its list of cat ... More >>

Texans Love Gay Marriage/Civil Unions, Kinda

If it's good enough for Springfield....​Texas, you are filled with homo-loving, or at least homo-live-and-let-live, people. You're supposed to hate the idea of gays period, much less giving them any sort of rights like straights have earned through their Leviticus-quoting ways. But a new poll ... More >>

Freedom to Marry: Gays Marching Through Downtown Today

Marching for marriage​Apparently eager to be forced to buy last-second Valentine's Day gifts to people they've been married to for years, gays and lesbians will have a march through downtown later this morning. They'll try to get marriage licenses at the courthouse, and after being refused wi ... More >>

Tyjanae Moore: Houston Still Struggling With Transgender/Bathroom Issues

We thought this had been ironed out​Two weeks after a transgendered woman tried to use the restroom in a city building, she and the city seem still to be recovering. A security guard at the downtown municipal library told police it was a man dressed in women's clothes that he saw entering the ... More >>

Sara Paretsky: Body Work

The author of the V.I. Warshawski series gives readers another thriller

Houston LGBT Pride Parade

Everyone loves a parade

Will Hip-Hop Ever Get Over Its Homophobia?

Some rappers happen to be thoughtful, intelligent people. Every Monday (that isn't a national holiday) Rocks Off will have some of them here discussing issues relevant to their culture. Photo illustration by John Seaborn Gray​Homosexuality in hip-hop is a polarizing talking point. So much so, in f ... More >>

Gay Panic in Cowtown: Houston Pride

This city's gay community pushed back hard.

Gay Panic in Cowtown

The police raid on the Rainbow Lounge rocked the calm world of Fort Worth gays.

Five Great Moments In Houston's Gay History

Gays, lesbians, transgenders, bisexuals, transsexuals and their friends will be marching in the 2009 Houston Pride parade Saturday night (this year's theme is "Out for Justice").To add to the festivities, we thought we'd recap some of the highlights of Houston's GLBT history. 1958: Ray Hill came ou ... More >>

Texas Punk Music Is Gay

The smartest people in rock and roll are queer.

Unholy Matrimony

Dubya would be aghast at Here Come the Brides

Lovable Lesbian Activist

Nancy Ford: a journalist and comedian committed to gay causes

Mixed Blessings

Opposing sides will grapple over gay issues this week

The Reorient Express

Some churches are still trying to "cure" homosexuals. And some people are still lining up to trade in their sex life for eternal life.

Murder Music in Sharpstown

Houston yawns as Jamaican homophobe Capleton blazes through town

Hope Floats

Get out to the Pride Parade

Gay Ride

The Pride Parade comes out like a light

The Two Faces of Womack

Is his campaign currying gays in Montrose, then bashing them in black areas?

The Transgender Menace Next Door

She's here. She's queer. The neighbors are used to it.

Ave Maria

Four years formed strong bonds here for a lesbian activist

Dodging Bullets

With a battle looming, gays and their supporters seek high ground

Brown, Gay Leaders Cut Deal on Antidiscrimination Legislation

Insider extra

A Diva in the Making

Chanel Dita wants to champion transgender rights. But first, she's got a date with Jerry Springer.

XX Marks the Spot

Christie Lee Littleton's chromosomes nullified her marriage, but paved the way for a groundbreaking one

Out of the Closets

Archiving Houston's queer history, one T-shirt at a time

Making Things Perfectly Queer

Ray Hill's tattling one-man show is a microcosm of gay rights in Houston

Poison Arrow

KKRW management ducks complaints about antigay slurs

Oil Giant's Policy Fuels Gays' Protest

Activists rally ExxonMobil for recognition of same-sex-partner benefits

Not in Kansas Anymore

What's in a Name (and Sex) Change?

A preacher accuses the judiciary of allowing same-sex marriage fraud

Left Standing at the Church Door

Bering Methodist stops all weddings if there can't be gay marriages

Rogue Elephant

Log Cabin Republicans want to be part of the GOP, which wants no part of them

Caught Dead In an Opera

Houston's beleaguered arts community talks to itself about Harvey Milk