1 Out of 10 Ain't Bad!

BY: COLIN MURPHY – SENIOR WRITER

    Whether it constitutes a lifestyle or is your weekend wear at the bars, leather has played an important role in the LGBT community since Marlon Brando and James Dean transfixed their generation in the 1950s. Still it wasn’t until the early 1970s that an organized leather community would take shape with the appearance of Levi/Leather and Motorcycle Clubs in cities across the country.

BY: COLIN MURPHY – SENIOR WRITER

     When Chuck Atteberry and the late Dean Dingler and Michael Lavin formed the comedy drag trio Sex, Inc. in 1972, they couldn’t have imagined the 13-year run that lay ahead of them.

BY: COLIN MURPHY - SENIOR WRITER

    I’ve always been a bit of an Olympics nut. I love the pomp and ceremony, the competition and the cultural coming-together of the many nations of the world. So it goes without saying—I’m a big fan of the Gay Games to boot.

BY: COLIN MURPHY - SENIOR WRITER / WEB EDITOR

    Happy Pride everyone! As this year’s parade rolls by, the contingent from Growing American Youth will invariably receive one of the loudest receptions.  The support group for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) and questioning youth 21-and-under celebrates 30-years in The Lou this month. So as a former alumnus of the organization, let me lead the cheer—you all are doing us proud!

BY: COLIN MURPHY - SENIOR WRITER
   
    Chances are you’ve never heard of Wilbur Wegener. He wasn’t famous—but he was among the countless foremothers and forefathers who helped to shape and document the St. Louis lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community.

BY: COLIN MURPHY – SENIOR WRITER

    To date, Scott Emanuel and Ed Reggi of Show Me No Hate have ferried some 48 same sex couples on three chartered buses to legally wed in Iowa. What’s more—they’ve helped an additional 50-couples navigate the paperwork and bureaucracy to make the trip and marry on their own. That’s almost 100 St. Louis area gay and lesbian couples who’ve tied the knot in The Hawkeye State over the past year—impressive.

BY: COLIN MURPHY - SENIOR WRITER

    The Carnival season is again at hand and Mardi Gras, as it must from time to time, falls in early February with coats and hats being the costume of choice over scantily clad women and shirtless men. But the cold has never stopped revelers of every stripe—both gay and straight—from converging on historic Soulard. This year marks the 31 - annual celebration of what has become a destination event for our fair city—where the beaded and bedazzled celebrate day and night.

BY: COLIN MURPHY - SENIOR WRITER

    With the relaunch of Vital VOICE magazine, we continue the proud legacy of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) media here in the Gateway City. I’m very proud of what we’ve achieved over the past nine years under former Publisher, Pam Schneider and am equally excited about the new direction and style the publication is taking as Darin Slyman takes the helm.

BY: COLIN MURPHY

    There is nothing quite so empowering as standing on the National Mall amid the monuments and marble of our Nation’s Capital with one million of your gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) brothers and sisters.

BY: COLIN MURPHY

As the 30th Annual St. Louis Pridefest approaches, our community finds itself gearing up for what will be the largest celebration yet. One can feel the anticipation and given last year’s historic election, and the fact that the number of states to allow full marriage equality for gay and lesbian couples now stands at five, one can sense the winds of change carrying the day.