NEW YORK CITY: Queer Nation Protests Russian Investment Event

Photos by Scott Wooledge. That's activist Ken Kidd in the bottom photo. Queer Nation is posting more photos and Vine clips on their Twitter account, where you'll see other noted activists such as Gilbert Baker, Bill Dobbs, and Ann Northrop.

Gay USA: Year End Wrap-Up

This week you'll find yours truly on the year-end episode of Gay USA, the nationally broadcast weekly LGBT news show hosted by Ann Northrop and Andy Humm.

Happy New Year! On this week's show, Ann leads an end-of-the-year roundtable discussion of 2009's events and issues. Our guests are Joe Jervis, author of the JoeMyGod.com blog; Pauline Park, veteran transgender activist and chair of the New York Association for Gender Rights Advocacy; and longtime gay and civil liberties activist Bill Dobbs. The panel discusses the scary implications of the Uganda anti-homosexuality bill and its evangelical authors, the sins of out LGBT politicians, the political usefulness of blogging, and the role of the fight for marriage equality in a larger liberation movement, among other topics.

You can view Gay USA podcasts online via their site. To watch on TV:

Gay USA is seen in Manhattan on MNN on Thursdays at 11 PM on Time-Warner 34, RCN 82, and Verizon FiOS 33 and simulcast at www.MNN.org channel 34/84. It is distributed nationally on the Dish Network (Ch. 9415) through Free Speech TV. Go to www.FreeSpeech.org for the schedule. In the Philadelphia area, Gay USA is on Global MiND (35.2 over the air, 265 on Comcast, and 475 on FiOS) Thursdays at 8 PM, Fridays at 2 AM and Saturdays at 9 PM.

I know you probably won't be home at 11pm this Thursday night in NYC, so I'll let you know when the podcast goes up. Recent episodes can be found here.

Gilbert Baker: "Where's The ANGER?"

At last night's Maine response rally in NYC's Union Square, rainbow flag creator Gilbert Baker said to me, "Where's the ANGER? Where are the pitchforks?" as he surveyed the glum crowd. I told him his opinion reflected much of what you folks here were saying yesterday. From the bullhorn came the usual speechifying to the usual audience of activist regulars. NYC Council Speaker Christine Quinn urged the crowd to continue to pressure NY's state senators, as did Marriage Equality NY head Cathy Marino-Thomas.

Here's a report from the rally by Our Scene TV reporter Blake Hayes.

False Arrests Protest At Mayor Bloomberg's House

Today a group of LGBT rights and sexual freedom activists gathered just down the block from Mayor Michael Bloomberg's Upper East Side mansion to protest the false arrests of gay men in NYC's adult bookshops. Robert Pinter, a victim of this campaign, gave interviews to a number of local and national newsmedia outlets as two dozen gay men marched with placards denouncing Bloomberg and the NYPD.

On hand were a number of familiar LGBT activists: Brendan Fay, Gilbert Baker, Ann Northrop, Father Tony, Eric Leven, John Weis and journalists Andy Humm and Duncan Osbourne. It was Osbourne's relentless pursuit of this story that brought the entire illegal campaign to light.

Also present were protest observers from the National Lawyers Guild and Susan Wright, the founder and spokesperson of the National Coalition for Sexual Freedom, with whom I had a chat about our mutual enemy, Peter LaBarbera. The NYPD was generally friendly and cooperative, although they did not allow the protesters within 100 feet of Bloomberg's home.

Curious passersby and tourists exiting Central Park took photos of the protest and were handed fact sheets about the action. Many of the men giving interviews to the press stressed that the entire "prostitution" campaign was in fact meant to close the city's adult businesses under nuisance abatement laws.

BELOW: Father Tony gets video of playwright George Tynan Crowley reading his special Valentine's poem to Mayor Bloomberg. Go to Father Tony's site for more on the rally, including photos and more video.

UPDATE: Robert Pinter tells his story to Eric Leven.

UPDATE II: The New York Times has published their coverage of the protest.