The really big show(s)

The 2008–2009 arts and entertainment season promises to be jam packed with must-see concerts, shows and performances, and you’ll find some of the biggest in our A&E Guide.

Theater

Music

Dance

Visual Arts

Culture

To Blue, the executive director of the new Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community Center of Metropolitan St.Louis, her facility is more than just a place for people to meet and network, it is also a home.

“This is where you can be you,” she said. So far, Blue said, she’s welcomed more people home than she was initially expecting.

“I’ve had some folks looking for help, and I was delighted to give what I could,” she said. “Community members have been coming in to see and congratulate and to see what their house looks like.”

Erise Williams Jr. has been a part of St. Louis Black Pride since it emerged eight years ago from the B Boy Blues Festival, an intervention program sponsored by Williams and the now defunct BABAA (Blacks Assisting Blacks Against AIDS).

With average nationwide gas prices sitting at $4.05 a gallon (as of July 22), American budgets are suffocating under the crude-slicked blanket of energy costs. Finding alternatives to increasingly costly traditionally powered passenger vehicles is becoming an absolute necessity for many tottering on the brink of economic collapse—but fuel costs aren’t the only reason that the gas-powered internal combustion engine is quickly becoming a pariah.

A Ventura County, Ca. judge has ruled that 14-year-old Brandon McInerney, who shot and killed an openly gay classmate in February, will be tried as adult, according to the Advocate.

McInerney’s attorney, William Quest, had filed a motion to try his client as a juvenile on the grounds that if he were convicted as an adult, McInerney could face anywhere from 51 years to life in prison, which Quest deemed cruel and unusual punishment.

By: Lee Rice

Last week, I crowned “Hellboy II” as possibly the best superhero movie of the summer. Now, I have to snatch that crown back for “The Dark Knight,” Christopher Nolan’s second entry in his brilliantly re-imagined Batman franchise.

Although “Batman Begins” was a breath of fresh air from the horrific mess that Joel Schumacher made of the series with “Batman & Robin,” (Neon in Gotham? Bat-nipples?) "Begins" did have several flaws, namely the poor action cinematography and some of the dopier elements of the plot (Batman’s a ninja? Since when?).

Gov. Matt Blunt has signed into law a bill that grants same-sex partners the right of sepulchre, which is the right to choose and control the burial, cremation or other final disposition of a dead human body, according to the official Web site of PROMO.

Usually when a person dies the control of their remains automatically goes to their spouse, but because same-sex unions are not legally recognized in Missouri, those rights were not automatically extended to same-sex couples prior to this legislation.

Most people I know would jump at a chance to hear live music or see a visual art exhibit – but they get a bit reluctant when I mention poetry readings and contemporary dance. Luckily, the Contemporary Art Museum has created an event that allows people to enjoy what they already know they’ll like, while getting a taste of something that might be a bit new to them.

As the Aug. 5 primary fast approaches, the Vital VOICE spotlights two hotly contested Democratic races for the Missouri General Assembly. Due to weak Republican opposition, the winners of these primaries will likely win the general election.

St. Louis attorneys Joan Landmann and Mike Colona are the front runners for the open Missouri House seat for the 67th District being vacated by term-limited Democrat Michael Daus.

2008 Vital VOICE Primary Candidate Interviews
By: Lucas Hudson, Editor
& Colin Murphy, Senior Writer

VITAL VOICE INTERVIEW
REP. RODNEY R. HUBBARD (D-58)
JULY 3, 2008

Colin Murphy, Senior Writer: We have a marriage amendment here in Missouri so nothing’s going to happen on that front for some time, but as a civil right, how do you view marriage equality for gay men and lesbians?