CHAPEL HILL — An associate professor at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill has been awarded the 2008 Marty Prairie Award.
Presented to Peter Leone, M.D., by the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services HIV/STD Prevention and Care Branch, the Prairie Award honors individuals or organizations whose work with HIV and other STDS “exhibits [...]

Almost 3,000 LGBT and straight North and South Carolinians joined in protests over California’s anti-gay Proposition 8 across the two states on Nov. 15. The protests ranged from as small as 30 participants in Greenville, N.C., to as large as 1,400 participants in Raleigh.
Planned with less than a week’s notice, community members used social networking [...]

The economic downturn’s got everyone buckling down and saving money, but the holiday season is quickly approaching. Besides shelling out the cash for gifts and home decor, many folks will be figuring out how to spend wisely when it comes to their winter sight-seeing and fun.
Here’s a few winter and holiday escapes right here in [...]

With at least 50 locations across the Carolinas — including Columbia, Charlotte, Winston-Salem, Greensboro, Raleigh, Wilmington and Myrtle Beach — Cold Stone Creamery is one of the most popular ice cream shops around. Its founders also happen to be supporters of Arizona’s anti-LGBT, anti-family marriage amendment, Proposition 102. Cold Stone parent company Kahala Corp told [...]

The Philadelphia Equality Forum has announced its slate of 31 LGBT icons and history makers for its observance of LGBT History Month this October.
Everyday from Oct. 1 to Oct. 31, the Forum will profile an LGBT icon with text and video on its website, glbthistorymonth.com. The videos and other materials are available for download for [...]

LEXINGTON, N.C. — A history of domestic violence ended tragically for a lesbian couple on Sept. 1.
Tammy Starlette Miller West, 44, of 367 Avenue K in Southmont, was charged Sept. 2 with murder. She is accused in the shooting death of her girlfriend, Samantha Leath Gutierrez, 35. The couple had lived together for about a [...]

The AIDS Memorial Quilt on display at the National Mall in Washington, D.C., in October 1996.
Photo Credit: The AIDS Memorial Quilt, The Names Project Foundation, 2006.
ASHEVILLE — This December will mark the 20th anniversary of World AIDS Day, an annual memorial and action day observed on Dec. 1 and set aside to remember those lost [...]

RALEIGH — St. John’s Metropolitan Community Church is preparing for “Bakker Mania.” Since the LGBT and allied congregation announced that Jay Bakker, son of PTL Club founders Jim Bakker and the late Tammy Faye Bakker-Messner, would speak at their church on Sept. 28, the response has been so great that worship leaders have decided to [...]

This year, visitors to the annual Pride Charlotte festival in Uptown Charlotte will notice two distinct changes. With larger crowds and more vendors, Pride organizers have responded by expanding the physical festival grounds and putting into place programs for recycling and environmental protection.
Since 2006, the Pride Charlotte festival has been held on the property of [...]

ASHEVILLE – Rainbow Wedding Network, the publishers of Rainbow Wedding Magazine, are gearing up for a summer full of same-sex wedding and marriage expos in cities across California.
To be held in July, the four back-to-back GLBTQ Wedding and Family Expos and the Same Love, Same Rights Mobile Marriage Summit, will make stops in San Francisco, [...]

LAS VEGAS, Nev. — The International Gay and Lesbian Travel Association (IGLTA) gathered here for it’s global conference the first weekend in May. The event commemorated 25 years of service to LGBT travelers across the world, while simultaneously celebrating the glory of its own success.
With more than 430 registrations, IGLTA experienced a 67 percent increase [...]

An anti-homophobia awareness day begun in Canada is making its way across the border into America. The International Day Against Homophobia (IDAHO), a project of the Fondation Émergence, a Canadian LGBT foundation, is set for May 17.
The day received a promotional boost recently when Parents, Families and Friends (PFLAG) pointed its blog readers and chapter [...]

UNC-Charlotte students walk past Belk Tower, where LGBT students say they were verbally attacked by anti-gay preachers.

CHARLOTTE — When LGBT and allied students affiliated with the University of North Carolina-Charlotte’s PRIDE student group held their Day of Silence observances, they were confronted with loud and disruptive protests from anti-gay preachers. The events and their [...]

WASHINGTON, D.C. — New data has been released by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee showing the U.S. Armed Forces loosened recruiting guidelines to allow entry to applicants with serious criminal histories, including sexual offenders, kidnappers and arsonists.
The new data, which focused on the Army and Marine Corps, comes to light as the anti-gay, [...]

OMAHA, Neb. — Children of Lesbians and Gays Everywhere (COLAGE) are welcoming a new member. Recently, Buddy G, the starring animated character of the show “Buddy G, My Two Moms and Me,” an animated cartoon series for children starring a character with same sex parents, joined the organization.
“Buddy G is a perfect fit for COLAGE. [...]

Bishop-elect Tonyia Rawls, of Unity Fellowship Church of Charlotte, will be consecrated a bishop on Sunday, Apr. 27.

CHARLOTTE — The national mid-year conference of the LGBT-affirming Unity Fellowship Church Movement will meet here Apr. 21-27. During the conference, Charlotte-based pastor Tonyia Rawls, as well as another female pastor, will be consecrated as bishops in the [...]