Recently I weighed in on Tyler Perry’s Temptation: Confessions of a Marriage Counselor, Mr. Perry’s parable about young woman who has the temerity to want more from life than an unfulfilling sex life with her milquetoast husband and for her trouble get raped by an internet mogul/Satan and ends up a drug addicted, HIV infected, broken shell of a human being who—by the end of the film—is forced to hobble into her ex-husband’s pharmacy to get her medication (because apparently in Tyler Perry’s world there is only one pharmacy and HIV also causes scoliosis).

Unsurprisingly, I wasn’t the only HIV advocate who found Perry’s ignorant, sexist, stigmatizing, steaming pile of a feature to be problematic. The outrage from the HIV-positive community was both universal and impassioned. The best response by far came from the Positive Women's Network of the United States of America (PWN-USA) whose carefully worded and compassionate open letter to Mr. Perry is light years beyond anything I was capable of composing, both in its eloquence and its patience. Read More

After a long, hard,  fight of almost two year, voters have chosen Los Angeles City Councilmember Eric Garcetti to be the next mayor of the nation’s second largest city. And while many expected the contest between Garcetti and City Controller Wendy Greuel to be close, by 3:16 Wednesday morning the results showed Garcetti with a whopping 181,995 votes (54 percent) to 155,497 votes (46 percent) for Greuel. Even with outstanding mail-in ballots to be counted or contested, a new age of youthful, green liberalism has begun in the City of Angels.

Openly gay attorney and Democratic stalwart Ron Galperin’s overwhelming defeat of City Councilmember Dennis Zine for City Controller—56 percent to 44 percent—also signaled a changing of the guard. Zine has been a fixture for years in  L.A. law enforcement and city politics as a moderate Republican before becoming an independent. Galperin’s quick broad smile and rabbi husband lend a kind of kitchen-table understanding to his commitment to deal with the city’s fiscal issues.

Our hearts go out to the victims of the tornado that devastated Oklahoma earlier this week. Among the 24 people killed by the twister in the suburb of Moore outside Oklahoma City were 10 children, two of whom were infants 4 and 7 months old, according to NBC. 

If you want to help the victims, the Red Cross has posted this: 

“HOW TO HELP Those who would like to help people affected by disasters like tornadoes, floods and other crises can make a donation to American Red Cross Disaster Relief. People can donate by visiting www.redcross.org, calling 1-800-RED CROSS or texting the word REDCROSS to 90999 to make a $10 donation. These donations help provide food, shelter and emotional support to those affected by disasters.”

Among the heart-wrenching stories of loss comes this surprising little miracle.  As survivor Barbara Garcia was being interviewed by CBS News—struggling to come to grips with the loss of her beloved dog—someone spots the dog buried alive in the rubble.  Dog lovers grab a tissue! 

Sunday night's Gay Men's Chorus of Los Angeles 2nd annual The Voice Awards at Universal Studios brought many celebrities yet surprisingly very few paparazzi. Kanye West would have loved it.

Here's who photographers caught walking The Voice Awards' red carpet. The soccer player with supermodel looks—no not David Beckham, but Robbie Rogers; Glee's Alex Newell; former Voice constant De'Borah; makeup and hair genius Brandon Liberati with his partner, fitness expert Craig Ramsay; GLAAD East Coast spokesman Omar Sharif Jr.; The Advocate Editor Matthew Breen; NYPD Blue's Sharon Lawrence; Hart of Dixie's Ross Phillips; E! News' Robbie Laughlin; Joan of Arcadia and Twilight vet Michael Welch; American Idol's first transgender contestant, JDA; Adam & Steve's Craig Chester; and Sordid Lives cast members Emerson Collins and Ann Walker.

As one of the evening's themes was being out and proud, I found it ironic to learn from True Blood and Cougar Town vet Carolyn Hennesy that she used her mother's closet to borrow a beautiful black vintage Jax bolero-style jacket.

Opening the evening were co-emcees Wilson Cruz and talk show host Stephanie Miller, who had trouble using the correct initials for GMCLA. But that's why alcohol is served at these functions—it's something to blame when your lips and tongue aren't communicating.

Cruz, as always, was prepared and quick to ad-lib when needed, holding composure yet spreading a sense of fun from the stage. He's that Neil Patrick Harris-type actor who's more than stage eye candy but great at hosting, fast-witted and never ruffled. Comedy writer Bruce Vilanch took the stage and brought expected laughs when he claimed to be using the dating site Christian Mingle and had just come from a rehearsal with his new boy band, A Different Direction.
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