Rev. Irene Monroe

The presumptive Republican presidential nominee, Mitt Romney, likes to play it safe. Romney avoids controversy, by any means necessary—even if he has to lie, flip-flop for, or somersault. When the news hit on the evening of April 19th that Richard Grenell, an openly gay Republican, was appointed to be Romney’s national security and foreign policy [...]

If you love John Grisham’s fictional legal thrillers, you’ll be riveted to Dale Carpenter’s real life page-turner Flagrant Conduct: The Story of Lawrence v. Texas. Carpenter is a Law professor at the University of Minnesota and is involved with LGBTQ legal issues. Told from the perspectives of the plaintiffs, arresting officers, attorneys, judges and prosecutors, [...]

There’s a frenzy surrounding the blockbuster film and book The Hunger Games. But the fan attention around the movie has taken a decidedly different turn from the fervor the book caused. The schism originates from the difference between reading ­— where one’s visual images of characters can be both personal and individual — and watching — [...]

What does Trayvon Martin’s murder have to do with gay civil rights protection? The quick answer: The Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Hate Crimes Prevention Act (mostly known by Matthew Shepard’s name). And this might be the only option the Florida Justice Department has in moving forward to arrest George Zimmerman and charge him with [...]

When Viola Davis lost the Oscar for best actress portraying an African American maid in Katherine Stockett’s The Help to Meryl Streep portraying former Britain Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady at the 84th Academy Awards ceremony, there was a collective sigh of relief from many of us African American sisters. Tulane University [...]

Cleo Manago is despised by some in the LGBTQ community. Descriptors like “homo demagogue,” contrarian, separatist, and anti-white are just a few that can be expressed in polite company. But to a nationwide community of same-gender loving (SGL), bisexual, transgender and progressive heterosexual African American men, Manago is the MAN!, seen as a visionary, game [...]

Robert Champion, Jr.’s murder may never be solved. Those who struck the fatal blows may never disclose whether they used the guise of hazing as an accidental homicide to cover up an intended hate crime. Champion was an unusual student to be at one of the Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU). He was openly [...]

Today is MLK Day. I am proud to count myself among the many people working for social justice today who stand on the shoulders of Martin Luther King, Jr. Too many people think King’s statements regarding justice are only about race and the African-American community – thus excluding the LGBTQ community. But King said that, [...]

Seldom do I see my image anywhere, especially portrayed in non-stereotypical and non-heterosexist ways on the silver screen. As a matter of fact, if you Google “black lesbians” or “black lesbians in film” you’ll get a plethora of porn sites to visit. But writer-director Dee Rees’s semi-autobiographical coming-of-age drama “Pariah” gives me a glimpse of [...]

Just last month, Gay Black Men News (GBMNews.com) folded. It was a unique online eZine because it brought a perspective of the news as it related specifically to gay men of African descent. And its circulation was global. “We are blessed with a large following of avant garde, artistic people. While most of our site [...]