“There was part of me that had this sick feeling in my stomach and this sense that it was all just theater and that the deal had already been done,” said Yetta Kurland, an openly gay civil rights attorney who is planning to run for Quinn’s seat next year. more>

Barack Obama’s presidential campaign this week agreed to respond in writing to a series of questions regarding the presidential candidate’s attitude towards the LGBT community and its rights. more>

In an open letter to gay voters titled “Obama Pride,” the candidate pledged to put the weight of his administration behind two key federal bills. more>

“We would like to have the same rights as hetero couples,” said Laura Randall, 38, of Queens. “Things like property when your spouse dies, sharing income, stuff like that. But I don’t think gay issues are a hot button this time around. I think the war and economy are more important, to be honest, and the mortgage crisis.” more>

Prison movies don’t exaggerate, says former Rikers Island inmate Stefanie Rivera: Life behind bars is just as cut-throat, just as nasty, just as terrifying as it’s often portrayed on the big and small screen. But it was much worse for her, Rivera tells the Blade, because she was a transgender woman in a men’s facility. more>

About 36,000 same-sex bi-national couples live in the United States today, according to a Human Rights Watch report titled “Family Values.” This number represents about 6 percent of all gay couples in the country, according to Immigration Equality. more>

The Uniting American Families Act (UAFA) would add the phrase “or permanent partner” to sections of the Immigration and Naturalization Act that apply to legally married couples, thereby allowing gay Americans to sponsor a foreign-born “permanent partner” for U.S. residency. more>

Churches from New York to Los Angeles were asked to demonstrate their support by delivering a sermon, or offering other messages, that affirmed gay rights. more>

The campaign hopes to give parents an alternative to the gut reaction of throwing their children – as young as 13 – out of the home when they come out, ending up on the street with no resources and enduring more trauma and violence. more>

The Empire State loses to the South in battle for anti-AIDS funds. more>

Two filings by Comptroller William C. Thompson Jr. to bar discrimination based on sexual orientation, are the latest in a persistent and powerful 15-year campaign mounted by three successive New York City comptrollers to influence corporate America. more>

A gay Egyptian seeking US asylum talks about a life forced to secrecy. This is an article from New York Blade, an independent gay weekly newspaper in New York City. more>