Steve Buescher's blog

Pride 2010

Fri, 07 May 2010 16:33:24 +0000

With the traditional Pride season approaching, I thought it was time for an update. This year sees Cincinnati Pride Parade and Festival return to Downtown. Equinox Cincinnati - Gay PRIDE 2010 runs July 2-4, with the Parade stepping off from the corner of E 5th & Sentinel Streets at 11am on Sunday, July 4, and ending at the Festival on Fountain Square.

This year's events are presented by the Greater Cincinnati Gay Chamber of Commerce.

UPDATE: In answer to a comment, there is a schedule of other Pride events HERE.

The Census: Redux

Thu, 06 May 2010 22:50:17 +0000

Census workers came to our door this evening. Seems the form I sent in didn't arrive in time, or some such. They asked questions and refilled out the form. When I answered, "husband or wife" to the relationship question, he didn't want to accept that answer, suggesting maybe "roommates." I insisted "husband or wife."

"It's just a jump to the left. And then a step to the right."

Rainbow Cincinnati gets Emails

Fri, 30 Apr 2010 03:50:07 +0000

Every once in awhile I like to share an example of the sort of email that sometimes comes to Rainbow Cincinnati. This is the latest, from Jerrymaineville@aol.com, unedited:

"first of all. i do not hate gays.i do not hate any one.i just dislike.you people want to get married and have kids.you teach your gay crap to young boys and girls as young as 10 to 12 years old.you do not tell their moms and dads what you teach them.why is that.you want pass new gay laws.you want to get rid of dont ask dont tell.you wants yo know their sleeping next to gay guy.when i was in the army. we had one gay guy.we all knowed he was gay. but he kept hid mouth shut.and he did not act gay.i want to ask you. why do you teach young kids about gay sex acts.i am so happy i do not have kids in school.i sure would not like it all. bye"

I can't tell whether he doesn't have kids or just doesn't send them to school. I hope it is the former.

As I like to paraphrase Pogo, "we have met the enemy and he is illiterate."

The Census: What Box Do You Check?

Mon, 29 Mar 2010 22:46:17 +0000

Wondering how to fill out your Census form? From an article on gayrights.change.org:

If you are in a relationship and you live together ... There are 16 choices, but the two that concern you are "husband or wife" and "unmarried partner."

This is the important part: You do not answer based on the actual legal status of your relationship, you answer based on how you personally categorize your relationship. If you are legally married, you will probably mark down “husband or wife,” though if you are in a civil union or domestic partnership, yet you still feel married, than you should also mark “husband or wife.” If there is no legal recognition of your relationship where you live, but you still consider yourself married, it’s also important that you mark “husband or wife.”

If this box doesn’t accurately represent your relationship, you have the option of the “unmarried partner” box. If this sounds like a vague catch-all, that’s because it is. The Guide to the American Community Survey says “An ‘Unmarried partner,’ also known as a domestic partner, is a person who shares a close personal relationship with Person 1.” If this better describes your relationship, than please mark the “unmarried partner” box.

You should also take a look at Queer the Census.

Haiti Earthquake: How to Help

Thu, 14 Jan 2010 01:52:36 +0000

When deciding where to put your Haiti relief money, check out the list of charitable organizations active in Haiti on this page from The Rachel Maddow Show on MSNBC. You can go to Charity Navigator to evaluate your chosen charity. Rainbow Cincinnati chose UNICEF.

Or, donate $10 to Red Cross Haiti relief by texting the word HAITI to 90999. From the Red Cross site, "There has been an outpouring of support from the public. To help, people can make an unrestricted donation to the International Response Fund at www.redcross.org or by calling 1-800-REDCROSS (1-800-733-2767). The public can also help by texting “Haiti” to 90999 to send a $10 donation to the Red Cross, through an effort backed by the U.S. State Department. Funds will go to support American Red Cross relief efforts in Haiti."

Greater Cincinnati GLBT News January, 2010

Tue, 12 Jan 2010 02:37:58 +0000

Hurricane Summers "The 12 Cocktails Of Christmas"

Sat, 19 Dec 2009 19:38:24 +0000

Greater Cincinnati GLBT News December, 2009

Thu, 03 Dec 2009 15:28:33 +0000

Just in Time for Thanksgiving - Encore Presentation

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 22:21:05 +0000

Now that Mark Bailey is posting more of the Gay Cable Network videos to YouTube, this was the perfect time for Rainbow Cincinnati to repost this piece and alert you to the GCN-Cincinnati Channel on YouTube.

Historical Note: When originally aired in 1986, a caller to a powerful right-wing AM talk radio show said GCN "sodomized a turkey" on TV. GCN was immediately invited into the station to "answer" this charge. The program became more famous that night to many people who, otherwise, would never have given it a 2nd look.

Greater Cincinnati GLBT News November, 2009

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 22:27:40 +0000

Now on Facebook

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 02:45:34 +0000

Become a fan of the new Rainbow Cincinnati page on Facebook.

We hope in the future to move some of the features of Rainbow Cincinnati over to Facebook. In particular, the local Forums here will be closed. They've fallen into disuse and keeping them free of spam is never-ending.

Currently, you'll find the link to our Facebook page in the upper-right corner.

UPDATE 12/10/09: The old Forums have been retired. The Forums link has been replaced by a Facebook link which shows recent Rainbow Cincinnati Facebook posts.

Equality Cincinnati PAC Endorsements

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 20:33:49 +0000

Equality Cincinnati PAC endorses:

MAYOR, CINCINNATI - Mark Mallory

CITY COUNCIL, CINCINNATI - Chris Bortz, Roxanne Qualls, Leslie Ghiz, Cecil Thomas, Laketa Cole, Laure Quinlivan, Nicholas Hollan, Greg Harris, Kevin Flynn

SCHOOL BOARD, CINCINNATI - Eileen Cooper Reed, Jason Haap, Joyce E Hooks, Catherine D. Ingram

GLBT History Month 2009

Mon, 05 Oct 2009 01:47:43 +0000

Gay Games IX Comes to Ohio

Tue, 29 Sep 2009 16:52:16 +0000

Today, the Federation of Gay Games announced that Cleveland, Ohio will host Gay Games IX in 2014.

Boston, Cleveland, and Washington, DC were finalists for the 2014 Gay Games. The bid for Cleveland was put together by the Cleveland Synergy Foundation.

So if you can't make it to Cologne, Germany for Gay Games VIII in 2010, you have time to get ready for something a little closer.

Cincinnati Equinox - July 3-5, 2009

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 17:49:19 +0000

Thanks to Barry at Queer Cincinnati:

"Cincinnati Equinox comes out of no where and promises to be one of the highlights of Cincinnati's queer calendar. No, organizers are quick to point out, it has nothing to do with Pride and it certainly does not replace the event. Rather, Equinox promises to be different and special in its own right. When I heard about it, probably at Below Zero Lounge one evening, I was a little taken aback. My thoughts are probably your own: can it be successful? Well, if George's assurances are true, and he's talking that there are literally hundreds (maybe over a thousand at this point) of people bussing in from out of town for a big old gay party at... FOUNTAIN SQUARE."