wes bentley

Gladys Bentley (1907 -1960), was born in Philadelphia, and ran away from home as a teenager. Like many African Americans of her generation, she traveled north to the black metropolis known as Harlem. Bentley, a 250-pound African-American lesbian (who today we would consider transgender), was known as “America’s Greatest Sepia Piano Player” and the “Brown Bomber of Sophisticated Songs.”

In celebrating Black History Month, I want to personally celebrate the courage and strength of sistah-warrior Gladys Bentley (1907-1960).  Bentley a 250-pound African-American lesbian (who today we would consider transgender) was known as "America's Greatest Sepia Piano Player" and the "Brown Bomber of Sophisticated Songs." Her fall from the entertainment spotlight, however, is a cautionary tale about what can happen to us during a repressive political era when both church and state are our enemies.

Fitness guru and former The Biggest Loser trainer Jillian Michaels’ home, which she shares with her partner Heidi Rhodes and their two children, was burglarized earlier this week and Michaels’ Bentley was stolen.

Described by one attorney as a game changer that could bring parity to LGBT individuals in the U.S. immigration system, two district immigration offices have recently decided to put on hold marriage-based green card applications in cases involving binational gay couples. Immigration offices in Baltimore and Washington, D.C. were putting green card applications and alien relative petitions involving married, binational gay couples on hold, effectively deferring potential deportation proceedings. The move comes just weeks after the Obama administration announced it would no longer defend Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act in several legal challenges against the 1996 law.

March Madness is upon us and it’s expected to be a wild ride for the team’s vying for a trip to the big dance in New Orleans on April 7th.

Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley recognizes the federal court system's authority, but Roy Moore still doesn't — and is worried that bisexuals and transgender people want polygamous marriages.

This week begins the 43rd anniversary of Stonewall. The piece below is the story of how I accidentally happened upon the first night of the Stonewall Riots, and is one of several pieces in the newly released June 2012 anthology Love, Christopher Street: Reflections of New York City, edited by Thomas Keith with intro by Christopher Bram. The names in the story have been changed to protect identities.

As we get close to prom season again, may we remind you that women have been sporting men's formal wear for over 100 years?