Allison Moorer is set to release her Ryko debut, Crows, today, February 9.

Produced by R.S. Field (Buddy Guy, John Mayall) at the House of David Studio in Nashville, TN, the 13-track album is a refined and lyrically honest collection of songs that is a marked stylistic departure from her previous work. Crows is the anticipated follow up to her critically acclaimed 2008 album, Mockingbird, which was a celebration of songs composed by a stunning cast of female songwriters including Nina Simone, Patti Smith, Cat Power, her sister Shelby Lynne, and more. It also follows Moorer’s first Grammy Award Nomination for the song “Days Aren’t Long Enough,” a composition she co-wrote with her husband, Steve Earle, for his Grammy Award Winning 2007 album Washington Square Serenade.

Speaking with Billboard Magazine regarding Crows, Moorer stated “I really just set myself free and just threw all the rules out the window.” Regarding the album’s title, Moorer offered “We have crows in the yard at our place up in Woodstock. I am a little obsessed with birds, and have been told that they are indeed our messengers from the other side. So I decided that instead of letting the crows make me uneasy, I would start to consider them as friendlies, and that they were actually bringing me a message of comfort.”

Ruby Marchand, head of A&R for Ryko, stated “Ryko is enormously proud to welcome Allison Moorer to our family of artists. Allison’s extraordinarily evocative songs and vocal style capture her unique signature in the singer/songwriter community.”

Moorer’s 1998 song, “A Soft Place To Fall,” was included on the soundtrack to the feature film The Horse Whisperer, which led to an appearance in the film itself, as well as an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song. The opportunity gained her worldwide attention and set the stage for her career. Since, Moorer has been featured on releases by Joan Baez, Kid Rock, The Chieftains, and Los Straightjackets. Most recently Moorer appears on Here Lies Love, the upcoming release by David Byrne and Fatboy Slim which also features appearances by Cyndi Lauper, Tori Amos, Martha Wainwright and others. Moorer was seen in 2008 starring in Rebel Voices, a play based on Howard Zinn and Anthony Arnove’s best-selling book Voices of a People’s History of the United States. Moorer also appeared in The People Speak, a beautiful and moving film inspired by the aforementioned book. The film, presented by The History Channel, also features Bob Dylan, Morgan Freeman, Bruce Springsteen, Matt Damon, John Legend, Rosario Dawson and more.

For more information, please visit www.AllisonMoorer.com.

Time: February 9, 2010 from 10pm to 11pm
Location: World Wide Web
Organized By: Dj SirRah

Event Description:

We’ll be discussing the music industry, where it’s been and where it’s going with regards to OUT/GAY artists. And we’ll be breaking down the music industry to show ways for all artist to get heard, played, paid.

With her mixtapes “Haters Is My Success Story” and “Respect My Music” creating a huge buzz with OVER one thousand downloads each, J Blakk has a lot to say about promotions and marketing.

Tune in, check it out, and call 347.989.1080 with your questions and comments.

See more details and RSVP on Gay Music Revolution:

http://gaymusicrevolution.ning.com/events/event/show?id=2924050%3AEvent%3A8097&xgi=4mgbFfPtKkteJk&xg_source=msg_invite_event 

Sure, they talk about bullying in schools being a major reason children commit suicide. They mention that children ages 5 to 12 can certainly be depressed, something thought impossible just a few years ago. They have anxiety, pressure, trauma.

But they leave out one important fact. According to the National Anti-Violence Coalition, a group I met this week at Creating Change, 25 to 40 percent of child suicide is among gay and lesbian youth. Yes, some estimates are as high as 40 percent. Bullying is certainly a top factor, but most bullying in schools is related to sexual orientation and gender identity.

Omitting this fact, leaves out any possibility for a cure. Stop anti-gay (and all other) bullying in schools. Force parents to accept their gay and lesbian children or provide safe places for these kids to live.

More at: Dallas Voice!

PALIN: I don’t think so right now. I’m surprised that the President spent time on that in his State of the Union speech when he spent only about 9 percent of his time in the State of the Union on national security issues. And I say that because there are other things to be worried about right now with the military. I think that kind of on the back burner, is sufficient for now. To put so much time, and effort, and politics into it, unnecessary.

Right, like she did the math. (Not to mention, that “throw me down the stairs my shoes” sentence: “I think that kind of on the back burner, is sufficient for now.” Would it kill the Republicans to finally elect a president half a brain?) That aside, it’s telling that one of the lead conservative presidential hopefuls for 2012 felt the need to not oppose DADT on principle, but rather to oppose the “timing” of it “now.” Great, so is Sarah Palin willing to commit to when she thinks the Congress should repeal DADT?

More at: American Blog!

Suffolk Republican Fred Quayle broke ranks with the GOP and joined the 22 Democrats in the chamber in supporting the bill.

If passed into law, the measure would define a state non-discrimination employment policy that includes the category of “sexual orientation” along with race, religion, gender and disabilities, among other classifications.

Several past governors have signed executive orders establishing that as a state policy; former Govs. Timothy M. Kaine and Mark Warner included the sexual orientation clause in their orders.

More at: Hampton Roads!

Many gay politicians in San Francisco and lawyers who have had dealings with Walker say the 65-year-old jurist, appointed to the bench by President George H.W. Bush in 1989, has never taken pains to disguise – or advertise – his orientation.

They also don’t believe it will influence how he rules on the case he’s now hearing – whether Proposition 8, the 2008 ballot measure approved by state voters to ban same-sex marriage, unconstitutionally discriminates against gays and lesbians.

“There is nothing about Walker as a judge to indicate that his sexual orientation, other than being an interesting factor, will in any way bias his view,” said Kate Kendell, head of the National Center for Lesbian Rights, which is supporting the lawsuit to overturn Prop. 8.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/

There’s an interesting perspective on this debate over at L.A. Progressive. Below is an excerpt:

As the Obama Administration moves (slowly) toward repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, one argument in opposition is that the nation is at war, and fundamental changes in the military should not take place during wartime. One response to that point is that all hands are needed during heightened military deployments, and it harms American national security to dismiss trained soldiers. But there is a more fundamental reason why the argument against change during wartime doesn’t work: there is no end in sight to the war on terror. And endless war cannot be a reason for permanent stasis in military policy.

The no-change-during-wartime argument is an example of conventional thinking about war and American society. “Wartime” is imagined to be a temporary condition. It is a special kind of time. Wartime, by definition, is preceded and followed by “peacetime.” American history is thought to consist of the movement from peacetime to wartime and back again. In this conceptualization, wartimes always comes to an end.

This idea that wartime is by definition a temporary time is an essential ingredient of the argument that social change shouldn’t happen in wartime. This is presented as an argument that does not challenge change itself, but simply asks advocates of change to be patient. Change can come after the war is over.

But what if there is no end to war?

United States military deployment overseas has been on-going since at least World War II.

The last sentence in the excerpt above is what strikes me as the “a-ha” of the argument against repealing the law. To dissect that a little more, the U.S. hasn’t gone two complete decades without being involved in a “war”, counting the “police action” of Vietnam.

So what does this tell us? No startling conclusions. The whole “war-time” excuse, is exactly that…an excuse. And again, if gay and lesbian men and women are serving their country in the armed forces, why should they be denied the right to marry…or denied any other right that any other American citizen is granted?

This is just another ploy by the anti-gay right right to keep the LGBT community as second class.

Oh, and one last thing, just in case the anti-gay right wasn’t aware, gays and lesbians have been fighting for the U.S. Armed Forces since they were established.

The Palm Center has announced plans to convene a Washington, D.C. summit of officials and experts from military forces that allow gay men and lesbians to serve openly, including the Israel Defense Force and NATO member militaries. The summit, which is planned for early spring, will focus on the implementation of personnel policies for openly gay troops. British and Israeli experts have confirmed their participation.

“As military and political leaders anticipate the end of ‘don’t ask, don’t tell,’ the lessons from the twenty-five foreign forces that allow open gay service are instructive,” stated Dr. Aaron Belkin, Director of the Palm Center. Belkin cited three questions that generally dominate the comparison: Did the decision to allow open gay service undermine military readiness? How was implementation managed? To what extent can lessons from abroad help U.S. officials plan for an inclusive policy?

More here!

Prince Harry has just been named a top gay icon, thanks to his bad-boy good looks and athletic physique.

Harry, 25, is one of Google’s most searched-for male celebrities. Having washboard abs and a sexy smile doesn’t hurt, either.

“Red hair is getting very, very trendy in the gay scene,” says Haydon Bridge, a columnist with U.K.-based gay magazine QX.

The 6′3″ Harry, who plays competitive polo, rugby, skis, and motocross, cultivated a reputation as a wild child during his early 20s for his underage drinking and late-night partying. Prince_Harry_British_Army

Harry, who is a lieutenant in the British Army, was just named vice patron of England’s Rugby Football Union.

In 2008, Harry was photographed shirtless (above) in camouflage fatigues kicking a rugby ball during his 10-week deployment to Afghanistan.

In November 2009, Harry earned the affection of the gay community when he kissed a male fan in exchange for a beer.

More here!

A majority of Iowans think the issue of gay marriage doesn’t deserve lawmakers’ limited time.

Among six hot-button topics, a new Iowa Poll shows a majority of Iowans consider only a ban on text messaging while driving worth the Legislature’s time during a session shortened by 20 days to cut costs. Iowans are not enthusiastic about devoting time to debates on gay marriage, puppy mills, gun control, payday loans or gambling.

The Democrats who control what comes up for a vote say budget issues will dominate the 2010 session as the recession continues to pinch state revenues. But lawmakers have introduced hundreds of bills on other topics.

Friday marks the first so-called funnel, a deadline that winnows the workload by letting some bills move forward and others die.

Of the six topics, Democrats are most likely to push ahead toward passing four:

• Banning texting while driving.

• Beefing up inspections of dog breeders.

• Standardizing the way concealed-weapons permits are issued throughout the 99 counties.

• Expanding gambling to bring in fresh state revenue.

So it would look as though some Iowans may have decided that car accident and the deaths as a result there of, along with a few other issues that affect tax-paying citizens are a little more important than religious issues that don’t affect anyone outside of the couple entering into a marriage! Hopefully a lasting trend.

However, that’s not keeping the state’s anti-gay lawmakers from pushing the issue…and the worst part of that, just as many religious righters have, they’re exploiting children to do it.

According to WHOTV.com:

Two Iowa legislators are getting heat from the gay community. The lawmakers want to remove protection to lesbians, gay and transgender students from the Safe Schools Law, in and effort to reverse the Iowa’s Supreme Court decision to legalize same-sex marriage.

Rep. Jason Schultz says he’s not doing this to hurt gay, lesbian and transgender students, he’s just trying to forward his agenda to make same sex marriage illegal here in Iowa.

“The Bully Bill or Safe School Act doesn’t protect anyone anyway. Schools are already doing this, so to remove few words doesn’t change the intent or effect of the law,” says Rep. Jason Schultz.

Last April, one of the reasons the Iowa Supreme Court pointed to for legalizing same sex marriage, were bills like the Safe Schools Act, which protects gay and lesbian students. He wants to take out the wording in the Safe Schools Act, and all Iowa legislation, so lawmakers can debate same sex marriage on the floor.

However, the Iowa Pride Network says the bill singles out gay, lesbian, and transgender students, and makes them a target for harassment.

They accuse the bill’s authors of playing politics with student’s lives, and gay students fear the harassment will only get worse.

“People smeared paint on my locker and pushed me in the hallway and I’ve been made fun of for who I am. Why would lawmakers want that to continue? Why wouldn’t they want to protect me and better my education and time in my community?” says gay Stephen Boatwright.

Rep. Schultz admits the bill won’t go anywhere, but that’s not the point. He hopes it will renew the efforts to make same sex marriage illegal here in Iowa, and start a debate on the house floor sometime this session.