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  Lt Dan Choi In an ironic bit of news today MTV reports that A Pentagon memo leaked today, appropriately Veterans Day supports the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell.
Washington Post, quoting two people familiar with a draft of the report, said that it will say that the military’s lifting of the ban would result in “minimal and isolated incidents of risk to the current war efforts.”
According to the Post, more than 70 percent of respondents to a survey sent to active-duty and reserve troops this summer said the effects of a repeal would be “positive, mixed or nonexistent.” Those results reportedly led the survey’s authors to conclude that objections to gay troops would drop once they were able to live and serve openly with their peers.
In some other gay and vet’s day news, a service was held for gay vets:
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  Bulimianne Rhapsody and Melody Awesomeazing host Mrs. this Saturday If you’re not too busy fighting the crowds at the newly opened international budget fashion boutique H&M there’s still plenty of good nightlife to catch out this wintery weekend.
Friday
Bent – Nopo favorite Bent is back for to squeeze your ass into that tiny dancefloor and do it queer underground style. With guest DJ Il Camino, Jodi Bon Jodi and Roy-G-Biv on the decks turning the Foggy Notion (3416 N Lombard) into the Faggy Nation I swear it will only hurt a little bit. Besides what else will you talk about of Craigslist the nest morning?
Babe Cave – For those more inclined to stay in the southeast DJs Lifepartner and Chelsea Starr are bringing the hotties to Holocene (1001 SE Morrison) and when Ms. Star says “crawl back into my cave” you don’t say no. For a hint of the music you can expect check out LP’s mix below.
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  Charles Kane now with his fiance I may be part of the sensationalizing media for even mentioning the story of the man who had sex reassignment surgery once to become a woman and then again to regain his manhood, but I can’t help but comment on his assertion that they should be banned because those who want a sex change are “completely deluded.” Unfortunately, I think it is Mr. Kane (formerly Ms. Kane and Mr. Hashimi) who is misguided.
In the 1980s a one Sam Hashimi, a powerful investment fund type, had a sex-change procedure to become “glamorous interior designer Samantha Kane,” a woman so convincing he says he had no problem attracting men.
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  Joanne Pedersen, left, and Ann Meitzen are planning to sue because federal law does not recognize their Connecticut marriage. Photo by Christopher Capozziello for The New York Times State and Federal laws often come into conflict, and gay marriage is a prime example of how confusing that confluence can be. Couples that are married in states where it is/was legal (5 states plus DC) may get all the state benefits to which they are entitled, but many benefits are given at the Federal level…which is where things get sticky…but not in a good way.
One big example of this is health insurance, which is a tough subject to tackle in itself. The New York Times reports on two cases where plaintiffs are suing the government in an effort to strike down the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), a 1996 law that prohibits the federal government from recognizing marriages of same-sex couples.
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  Former Providence mayor and RI Congressman-elect David Cicilline. Why are gay polticians always hotter than straight ones? Although Nationally the Senate managed to keep Democratic control and locally Kitzhaber narrowly beat out Dudley, it was a pretty bleak election for queers and liberal allies. Three Iowa Judges were voted off the bench when opponents of same-sex marriage targeted them in an intense campaign to boot them off the state Supreme Court because of a unanimous ruling last year that legalized same-sex unions. But there were a few meager bright spots for queers.
Only recently have gay mayors of major cities started to become common….well at least not unheard of since the election of our own Mayor Sam Adams and Houston Mayor Annise Parker. Now, one has emerged in the South as Lexington, Kentucky elected its first openly gay mayor. Vice-Mayor Jim Gray was victorious Tuesday night in his second campaign for the city’s top job, beating incumbent Mayor Jim Newberry.
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  Rev. Mark Kiyimba at the 2009 UUA General Assembly Uganda has been in the LGBT news a lot lately for its upcoming bill that proposes executions for gays. Introduced in Uganda’s parliament last year, the bill would give the death penalty to any homosexual person who tests positive for HIV, and up to three years in jail for anyone who knows a gay person and does not report them. The proposal emerged after ex-Oregon Citizens Alliance communications director Scott Lively spoke to Uganda’s parliament.
It it likely to pass but there are still Ugandans working for justice in their country. One of them, Rev. Mark Kiyimba, will be in Portland this weekend.
Kiyimba, one of a small number of straight supporters of gay rights in Uganda, has risked his life by holding an LGBT conference last February in Kampala, attended by 200 people. His church runs a school for 150 orphans who lost their parents to HIV and AIDS, as well as an orphanage for 22 children infected with the virus.
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  Riley and Flo sport matching denim onsies at Dirtbag Thursday
Weekly or monthly, neighborhood or downtown Thursday is a night for favorites Dirtbag! and Drop Shop. I’ll be swillin’ at the perfect little party that could in one of my favorite just big enough locations on Alberta St. Of course, don’t forget the first night of artsy schmoozing at the exciting and all ages Siren Nation festival, which continues all weekend.
Friday
Homomentum: Rebels & Outlaws – The monthly variety show of thematic queer fabulousness is back from summer break with more mayhem and a new location. Downtown’s Fez Ballroom (SW 13th and Stark) should be a much better venue with more room for watching than last year’s now defunct E Room. I have been especially devoid of Catitude in my life lately and I can’t wait to see what they do with such a rebellious theme. Little Tommy Bang Bang & Slim Pickins, Swagger and the long missed All of the Above, should also have some hilarity mixed with hotness that I just can’t wait for.
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  Tara Jane O'Neil performs Friday at the Someday Lounge Portland is no stranger to alternative and women-centric music. But for a while little sister Olympia seemed to have the best fests, Homo-a-gogo, Ladyfest, Yo-Yo. All of those have evolved beyond the PacNW but Portland has taken on its own women’s festival. Now in it’s 4th year Siren Nation, is no longer a fledgling fest but the real deal.
Music is a big part of Siren Nation, taking up Nov 5th and 6th Friday and Saturday nights at Someday Lounge (125 NW 5th) with folks like sultry folkstress Erin McKeown, experimental multi-instrumentalist Tara Jane O’Neil and bhangra bright spot DJ Angiali.
But it’s actually visual art that kicks off the festival, as well as representing a true northwest flavor, with Thursday Nov 4th’s “Sometimes a Great Notion” group art show.
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  Oh my, this already feels icky. The Oregonian is reporting today that a transgender motorist is suing the Portland police for more than $200,000 for alleged groping during traffic stop. The plaintiff, Chloe Lucero, claims that the officer, unfortunately named Kevin Macho, grabbed her breasts and genitalia during a search instead of waiting for a female cop.
Macho claims that, although the alleged victim’s driver’s license states she is female that she appeared outwardly male in appearance.
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 The Tampon Troupe with Hamburger Mary
Halloween weekend is already off to a ghoulish and garish start. Last night qPDX stopped by Hamburger Mary’s Haunted Opening before heading over to the Local Lounge for Junktion’s Zombie Formal and got photos from both.
Marys hosts ChiChi and Chonga riled the packed crowd with their musical drag prowess but the Tampon Troupe truly stole the show.
The Zombie Formal […]
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