Category: Memphis Gaydar

This month’s Cherry party, billed as a “lezzie shindig,” will feature burlesque performers from three cities.

On Saturday, April 26th at Side Street’s RedBar, Memphis performers LadyDoo Moi, Macc Onner (with Boi-lesque), and Kissame Suga will join Bre Von Buxx Xom and Spyke Styletto from Little Rock and Mimi Magnolia from Hot Springs, Arkansas.

As usual, Julie Wheeler will host the event. And there will be giveaways. Doors open 8 p.m., and shows start at 9 and 10:30 p.m. General admission is $10, and VIP admission is $20.

On Thursday, April 24th, participating area restaurants have pledged to donate a portion of their sales from the day to Friends for Life, which provides food, housing, education, and support services to people living with HIV/AIDS. Friends for Life also offers free HIV testing.

Here’s a list of restaurants taking part in the annual national “Dining Out for Life” event. Some are giving a portion sales from all meals, and others are opting to give from just lunch or just dinner sales.

Chez Philippe — Donating 100% Dinner
The Elegant Farmer — Donating 50% Dinner
Grawemeyer’s — Donating 50% Lunch, Dinner
Imagine Vegan Cafe — Donating 50% Lunch, Dinner
Rizzos Diner — Donating 50% Dinner
Stone Soup Cafe and Market — Donating 50% Breakfast, Brunch, Lunch
Alchemy — Donating 25% Dinner
Amerigo — Donating 25% Dinner
Andrew Michael Italian Kitchen — Donating 25% Dinner
Bari Ristorante — Donating 25% Dinner
Bayou Bar and Grill — Donating 25% Lunch
Beauty Shop Restaurant — Donating 25% Dinner
Bogie’s Deli — Donating 25% Lunch
Cafe’ Eclectic-Midtown — Donating 25% Lunch
Cafe’ Society — Donating 25% Lunch, Dinner
Celtic Crossing — Donating 25% Lunch, Dinner
Cooper St. 20/20 — Donating 25% Dinner
Cozy Corner BBQ — Donating 25% Dinner
Felicia Suzanne’s — Donating 25% Dinner
The Four Way Restaurant — Donating 25% Dinner
The Green Beetle — Donating 25% Lunch
Hog and Hominy — Donating 25% Lunch, Dinner
McEwen’s Memphis — Donating 25% Dinner
Mollie Fontaine Lounge — Donating 25% Dinner
Molly’s La Casita — Donating 25% Dinner
Mulan Asian Bistro — Donating 25% Lunch
R.P. Tracks — Donating 25% Lunch, Dinner
Restaurant Iris — Donating 25% Dinner
SkiMo’s — Donating 25% Dinner
Central BBQ (Central) — Donating 10% Dinner
Central BBQ (Downtown) — Donating 10% Dinner
Central BBQ (Summer) — Donating 10% Dinner
Next Door — Donating 10% Dinner
Southward Fare and Libations — Donating 10% Dinner
Sweet Grass — Donating 10% Dinner

Tennessee Equality Project’s (TEP) monthly meeting for April will feature representatives from the FBI in a presentation about hate crimes.

The FBI representatives will talk about federal hate crimes law, outline the process for reporting a hate crime, share contacts for the local FBI office, and answer any questions from the audience. Sexual orientation and gender identity were added to federal hate crimes law in 2009 with the passage of the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act.

Also at the meeting, candidates running for local office will have a chance to introduce themselves.

• Rep. Joe Carr

Tennessee Representative Joe Carr (R-Lascassas) is pushing a resolution (HJR839) that criticizes the federal courts for granting a preliminary injunction to recognize the same-sex marriages of three Tennessee couples who were wed in states with marriage equality.

The resolution urges the state attorney general to defend the Tennessee marriage amendment, which says that marriage is between a man and a woman, in court. But the attorney general is already doing just that.

In mid-March, a federal judge issued the injunction that forced the state to honor the legal (in other states) same-sex marriages of Memphians Ijpe DeKoe and Thom Kostura and two other Tennessee couples who last year filed a federal lawsuit against the state’s ban on same-sex marriage. The state has appealed to the Sixth Circuit.

A Facebook status from the Tennessee Equality Project (TEP) says Carr’s resolution “has no effect other than to express a desire to see discrimination continue.”

“While Rep. Carr releases a last gasp of hate and discrimination before the 108th General Assembly goes home, the Tennessee Equality Project is preparing for marriage equality,” reads TEP’s Facebook post. “‘Tennessee Ready for Marriage on DAY ONE’ is our new initiative to make sure we are prepared for the inevitable march of real liberty in our state.”

Through its “Tennessee Ready for Marriage on DAY ONE” campaign, TEP hopes to gather unwed Tennessee same-sex couples who would be willing to tie the knot on the first day that it’s legal. Those interested can fill out this survey.

To view Carr’s resolution, go here.

A bill that has been dubbed the “Dignity for All Students” Act by the Tennessee Equality Project (TEP) was amended this week to become part of a bullying study to be conducted by the Tennessee Commission on Children and Youth and the Tennessee Department of Education.

The act, HB927, was an anti-bullying bill that would have included sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, disability, etc. in its list of things children could not be bullied for in public schools.

Chris Sanders, executive director of TEP, said the bill was amended to become part of the study because it did not have the backing of the majority of the House.

Yesterday, TEP released this statement on its Facebook page:

“We would like to thank everyone who worked so hard for HB927. We will continue to work for passage of a new Dignity for All Students Act. Tennessee students deserve it, but the majority of our legislators do not yet back enumerated policies that we consider essential. So more study, more work, and more discussion is required.”

Nonprofit same-sex marriage advocacy group Freedom To Marry launched their “Southerners For Freedom to Marry” campaign a few weeks ago, and now they’re asking Southern supporters of equality to sign a pledge. The $1 million campaign is designed to grow support for equal marriage in the South.

A March 5th Washington Post/ABC News poll found that 50 percent of Southerners support same-sex marriage and 42 percent remain opposed.

Lance Bass, the Mississippi-born N’Sync member and host of Sirius OutQ’s “Dirty Pop” radio show, appears with his fiancee Michael Turchin in the campaign’s latest video.

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So far, the campaign doesn’t have a Tennessee co-chair, but it does have co-chairs in Arkansas, Mississippi, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas, and Virginia.