by Peter DelVecchio

Tutu accepts LGBT award amid S.F. Olympics protests

Nobel laureate and Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu received an OUTSPOKEN Award at the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission’s annual awards ceremony in San Francisco on April 8.

“Every one of the 500 people who attended last night’s event honoring and thanking Archbishop Tutu was aware that we were in the presence of a living legend, a man whose work and words have changed the world for us all,” said IGLHR Executive Director Paula Ettelbrick in an e-mail to IN Los Angeles magazine.

“How sad it is,” Tutu said, addressing the crowd at Grace Cathedral, “that the Church should be so obsessed with this particular issue of human sexuality when God’s children are facing massive problems—poverty, disease, corruption, conflict,” the Los Angeles Times reported.

Tutu, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984 for his leadership in the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa, said he could not remain silent “when people were frequently hounded ... vilified, molested and even killed as targets of homophobia ... for something they did not choose—their sexual orientation.”

He apologized for churches’ treatment of LGBT people, saying, “I ask your forgiveness for the ways in which the institutional church has often treated you, ostracized you, made you feel as if God had made a mistake in creating you as who you are.”

Tutu’s visit occurred on the night before the Olympic torch was to be carried through San Francisco. In a separate address, the San Francisco Chronicle reported, he spoke to thousands gathered in United Nations Plaza to support freedom for Tibet and to protest China’s treatment of that country, which it has ruled since 1951.

“We have come to say this is a moral universe,” Tutu told the cheering crowd. “That right and goodness and compassion and freedom are going to remain. … We want to say to China, ‘We thought that the Olympic Games would help you improve your human rights record.’ We still hope … but what we are saying to the heads of state, to President George Bush, is, ‘For goodness sake, don’t go to the Beijing Games … for the sake of our children, for the beautiful people of Tibet. Don’t go!’”

Log Cabin Republicans convene in San Diego

“We have a lot to be optimistic about, both in the Republican Party and the gay rights movement,” Patrick Sammon, president of the Log Cabin Republicans, told IN Los Angeles magazine just before LCR’s national convention April 10-12 in San Diego.

That holds particularly true for LGBT Republicans in California, where Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (who addressed the LCR convention and announced his opposition to the anti-gay marriage ballot initative) has made more than 30 openly LGBT appointments and has apparently signed more pro-LGBT laws than any other governor.

“We’re making progress on both fronts,” Sammon said, with the Republican Party becoming more inclusive and passing pro-LGBT legislation.

“We’re seeing more Republican allies step forward and understand that basic fairness for gay and lesbian people is in the finest traditions of the Republican Party,” Sammon said. “We’ve taken some tough punches in the last five years. But it’s the best they’ve had to offer, and our movement is strong and still moving forward.”

This year, LCR invited John Bolton, the former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, to be a keynote speaker.

“We’re excited to have Ambassador Bolton with us. He’s certainly one of the leading intellectual forces in conservative foreign policy, and a lot of our members are very supportive of an aggressive war on terror. From a gay rights perspective, the dictatorial regimes that this president has confronted are regimes that are not only hostile to gay rights, but the very survival of gay people is at risk. It’s an interesting perspective—to think about why they might want to be more supportive of a more aggressive foreign policy that challenges extremist Islamic regimes who ignore basic human rights for gay people. Democrats’ attitude seems to be, ‘Well, we’ll look the other way, and we’ll meet with [Iranian President] Ahmadinejad and pretend nothing is wrong.’ People like John Bolton want to take a more aggressive approach that aims to provide liberty for many more people throughout the world.”

Scott Schmidt blogged from the convention at www.boifromtroi.com.

MCC leaves WeHo for Los Feliz

The Metropolitan Community Church/Los Angeles will hold its last service at its home in West Hollywood (8714 Santa Monica Blvd.) on April 27 before moving to its new church in Los Feliz, the Rev. Neil Thomas told IN Los Angeles magazine. The first MCC/LA service in their new home at 4953 Franklin Ave. (at the corner of Franklin Ave. and Kenmore, a few blocks west of Vermont) will be on May 4. Rev. Neil, as he prefers to be called, has posted several messages about the move, as well as explicit directions to the new home with maps, at www.mccla.org.

Online soap opera a hit

The online soap opera In the Moment had 30,000 hits for its first episode on www.weholife.org.

“We’ve expanded the opportunities for visitors to the site to interact with each other. Now they can create their own profile, interact with other users directly, start new discussion threads and post video comments,” said In the Moment director and co-creator, Dave O’Brien. “[It] reaches anyone with a computer, anywhere, enabling people to engage anonymously if they prefer.”

The soap opera is produced by the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center, with funding from the city of West Hollywood, so young gays can discuss actions that could result in HIV infection.

“We don’t want to lose another generation to AIDS,” said the Center’s Susan Cohen.

According to the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, in 2006, young men (ages 13-34) accounted for 41 percent of all the HIV/AIDS cases among males in the county.

Hear Ye! The Royal Court of West Hollywood is hereby established

On April 5, after a warm greeting from Desiree Jade Sol, a brunch reception and a musical interlude, Lord Chamberlain Ricardo Rivera welcomed the gathering to the launch of the Royal Court of West Hollywood.

Incoming West Hollywood Mayor Jeffrey Prang (who will be installed on April 21) said, “West Hollywood is built on diversity,” and welcomed the Royal Court as “an important part of the fabric of the city,” calling Queen Victoria Elizabeth Ortega “a strong civic leader.”

Queen Victoria praised the city for its commitment to diversity, but cautioned that much education remains to be done, a sentiment with which incoming Mayor Pro Tem Abbe Land agreed.

“West Hollywood is important in my life and my transition in the transgender community,” Queen Victoria told IN.

(For more information on the Court, contact LordChamberlain@royalcourtweho.org).

April is Child Abuse Prevention Month

April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month. Among those involved in prevention activities are the Los Angeles County GLBT Child Abuse Prevention Council, the first of its kind in California which focuses on educating social workers, teachers and the general public to reduce abuse and neglect as well as harassment of LGBT youth and their families.

While there is no hotline specific to LGBT-related abuse (the number to report child abuse and neglect in L.A. County is (800) 540-4000), the council is working to train the operators of the hotline to be sensitive to these calls, councilmember Howard Jacobs, who works at Gay and Lesbian Adolescent Social Services, told IN.

Stanley Kamel dead at 65

Openly gay actor Stanley Kamel was found dead in his Hollywood Hills home, April 8, by his longtime agents and friends. He was 65. The cause of death was a heart attack.

Kamel was perhaps best known for his role as Dr. Charles Kroger on the hit USA series Monk. But for three decades Kamel played numerous TV character roles, including an eight-episode arc on Beverly Hills, 90210 in 1995.

Kamel, who was clean and sober for over 20 years, was often seen around West Hollywood.

GMCLA thanks longtime supporter

The Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles is used to whistles, cheers and foot-stomping standing ovations. But on April 6, at the Alex Theatre in Glendale, the 100-plus singers and the entire audience at the Sunday concert of Broadway show tunes, Only in America, roared their thanks for Molly Pier.

Since 1983, after her son died from AIDS, Molly has attended every Sunday concert—and brought cookies.

“It’s just a small way to express my love for the talent manifested in these beautiful, beautiful people,” she said.

“Molly Pier’s cookies—and her support—have been a part of GMCLA for years,” GMCLA Executive Director Hywel Sims said. “We’re deeply grateful to her; she’s a wonderful example of the kind of love and commitment which makes our music and advocacy possible.”