My most embarrassing Thanksgiving

This is a turkey baster used to baste turkeys
This is a turkey baster used to baste turkeys.

I have always had Thanksgiving at either my aunt’s house on Long Island and more recently Florida or at my friend Diane’s house in Richardson. My aunt is now well into her 80s and decided not to cook. Instead, she went to my cousin’s house in California. Diane is having her kitchen redone. She’s going elsewhere.

So this year, I’m making the turkey.

I got the turkey, the ingredients to make stuffing (yes, Tammye, we STUFFED the turkey. No dressing in my New York/Bolivian household). Yams. A variety of fresh vegetables. And that traditional Thanksgiving dessert, cheesecake.

And to cook the bird properly, I realized this morning that I needed one of those things that you soak up the juice from the pan and pour it over the turkey.

So I was at my neighborhood Oak Cliff Fiesta and an assistant manager was in the kitchen utensil aisle. I didn’t see one of those squeegie things so I asked him:

“Do you have one of those things that you get the juice off the bottom of the pan and pour over the turkey?”

He showed me the wrong item.

“No, I can’t think of what it’s called,” I said and did some pantomime about how you squeeze it and shpritz.

“You know, one of those things that lesbians use to get pregnant,” I finally explained in desperation.

“Oh! A turkey baster!” he said.

It was in the next aisle. $1. Marked turkey baster. Not labeled lesbian fertility kit.

Happy Thanksgiving.

—  David Taffet

In case you hadn't noticed …

The hard copy won’t hit the streets till Friday, but content from this week’s issue is now posted over on the main page.

—  John Wright

Mexico City lawmaker proposes legalizing gay marriage

As lawmakers in New York and New Jersey this week put off long-promised votes on legalizing same-sex marriage, Mexico City lawmaker David Razu has proposed changing the city’s civil code to allow gay marriages, according to an Associated Press report.

Razu said the changes he is proposing would give same-sex couples the same rights that opposite-sex married couples have regarding social security and other benefits.

The proposal has been sent to committees for consideration, but no date for a vote has been set.

Mexico is a heavily Roman Catholic country, and the church — of course — opposes Razu’s proposal. But the leftist Democratic Revolutionary Party, which dominates Mexico City’s legislature, has already approved legalizing abortion andcivil unions for same-sex couples.

The church was against those moves, too.

—  admin

'If they suffer because of society, they suffer even more when the family condemns them'

Jorge Steven Lopez Mercado, the openly gay teen who was murdered and dismembered two weeks ago in Puerto Rico, was laid to rest Monday. Above is footage from Lopez’s funeral. In case you can’t bear to watch, here’s what Lopez’s mother says, according to the subtitles:

“I said to him, ‘Steven, tell me the truth, trust in me. What’s going on?’ And he lowered his head and started to cry and told me, ‘Mommy, I am gay.’ And I said to him ‘Aw, son, if I loved you, now I will love you even more. … I will love you more.’

“I said to him, ‘What gives me fear is what’s waiting in the streets, the rejection, the stares.’ But he said, ‘Mommy, now YOU know, and that is enough.’ And he was happy for that reason. It took a weight off his shoulders. … And I urge everyone, particularly parents, that if they suffer because of society, they suffer even more when the family condemns them. Steven was happy, I know, he loved me and I loved him. I, who am dumb. But I also gave him advice, because I told him, ‘Steven, there is a lot, a lot of perversion here and there,’ but I loved him. I loved him.”

Michael Lavers, national news editor for Edge Publications, has a post about the funeral on his Boy in Bushwick blog. Lavers says about 1,000 people attended the event in Toa Alta.

El Nuevo Dia further reported López’s aunt and his ex-boyfriend, Luis Rivera, opened the urn that contained the murdered teen’s ashes and placed a necklace and a white rose inside it at the end of the funeral Mass. The newspaper further reported López’s parents hugged their son’s friends and cried.

“We definitely hope people and society wake up and demand justice,” López’s friend José Alicea told el Nuevo Dia (as translated from Spanish into English.)

López’s friends carried balloons and white roses as they walked to the cemetery. Lady Gaga’s “Poker Face” played during the procession.

Lavers follows up today with a post saying that Puerto Rican authorities, after meeting with the ACLU, have agreed to investigate the case as a hate crime.

—  John Wright

Adam Lambert responds to critics on CBS' 'Early Show' today

Without ever watching an American Idol episode or having heard Adam Lambert sing, I think I may be a fan after this week alone. His bold and brash performance on the American Music Awards this past Sunday is already legendary. For a new artist with no substantial cred behind him, to shake things up like that is pretty amazing. The new kid on the block is already getting canceled because of that one gig.

This morning on the Early Show, he’s gives this well-spoken response to being criticized for his performance that night. He handled it like a seasoned pro without ever apologizing.

You go, boy!

—  Rich Lopez

Fahari Arts Institute hosts third Queerly Speaking Friday

QueerlySpeaking
Queerly Speaking October event

Since we’re outie after today, I can’t be trusted to come out of a tryptophan coma to write this up later in the week. The Fahari Arts Institute will be hosting their third Queerly Speaking event this Friday. It’s becoming quite the buzz around Facebook with already a decent number of confirmed guests.

QS is a “monthly spoken word event featuring black gay poets, their allies and friends.” They are hoping for an even stronger attendance if people are back in town for the holiday. But this month, they mention a slight format change. They say for people planning to speak or share work, arrive and sign up before 9 p.m. At that time, the show starts and runs till midnight.

Queerly Speaking takes place at the Backbeat Cafe & Listening Room.

The Institute has made great strides this fall with some fantastic community events. Last week they hosted the Queer Film Series of Black Cinematheque and in October they held a discussion with lesbian artists Lovie Olivia and Billie Simone.

We can’t wait to see what’s next from these guys.

—  Rich Lopez

Morning News covers Youth First Texas

YFT

The Dallas Morning News did a wonderful job in its Youth First Texas story this morning. Of course, in the comments, the crazies are out gay bashing a group that first and foremost prevents teen suicide.

The Morning News does a great job of explaining just what the organization does.

“Members help maintain the group’s Web site. Some take dance lessons, while others sing or watch movies,” the paper explains. Scandalous, huh?

Well, you know the crazies. Mention the word gay and they see red. Or pink. Might be worth a comment or two or – as Shelley Koeffler (then with Channel 8 ) once said to me at a demonstration where the right wing was out in force, “We’ll just let the bigots speak for themselves.”

—  David Taffet

One more reason to love Maple & Motor Burgers and Beer

You might recall our lovefest for the new(ish) Maple and Motor Burgers joint. In fact, it’s making my mouth water right now and I’m totally regretting the 7-11 tuna sandwich I opted for instead. Today, they give us a reason to be thankful for the place. They posted this to help out peeps with their Thanksgiving dinner.

Bring a cooler in tomorrow between 1:30 and 3:00 and I’ll fill it with ice for your Thanksgiving feast. You can also pick up beer for Turkey Day and take it with you.

Free ice? Very nice. Maybe it’s just me but I think that’s a pretty awesome gesture. Or maybe my family uses too much ice on Thanksgiving that I appreciate it differently. But it gave me one more reason to dig the spot as did this.

The beer, however, not free.

—  Rich Lopez

Atlanta police sued over bar raid

Eagle

Lambda Legal has filed a lawsuit against the city of Atlanta and the Atlanta police department over a bar raid that happened after the Rainbow Lounge raid in Fort Worth.

The raid happened at the Atlanta Eagle in September. None of the patrons was arrested, but eight employees were charged with code violations.

Lambda Legal charges that patrons were illegally searched and made to lay on the beer soaked floor while the police did background checks and hurled anti-gay epithets at them.

“If it is APD procedure for elderly men and wounded veterans to be thrown to the floor and harassed simply for being in a bar having a drink after work, then the APD should change its procedures,” said Greg Nevins, a Lambda Legal attorney in Atlanta.

—  David Taffet

Train at House of Blues last night

Train may seem random to review for Instant Tea-baggers but if our own avid concertgoer Chance hadn’t made it to the show last night, we might not have been privy to the girl-to-girl proposal that happened. He caught some of it on camera as you can see in blurred glory above as well as some Train action. My personal favorite moment of the whole video though is marked at :56. Priceless.

And here’s Chance’s take on the show.

—  Rich Lopez