This post from one of our most dedicated contributors marks a departure from our stated editorial focus so let us know what you think. If you want to to read more arts, entertainment, or travel posts of a general nature without a queer slant please let us know by posting a comment below.


The Metropolitan Opera’s 2009-10 season is anything if not eclectic, representing a judicious mix of old warhorses and operatic rarities. The new season will feature eight new productions – four of which are being billed as "company premieres" – and 18 revivals.

Among the "tried and true" are new productions of two of the most popular operas in the repertoire: Bizet’s Carmen and Puccini’s Tosca. From the French repertoire, the Met will be offering new productions of Jacques Offenbach’s Les Contes d’Hoffmann (The Tales of Hoffmann) and Ambroise Thomas’s Hamlet, the latter based (somewhat loosely) on the Shakespeare play of that name.

But perhaps most interesting to veteran operagoers will be the four new productions of operas never before heard at the Met: Rossini’s Armida, Verdi’s Attila, Janáček’s From the House of the Dead, and Shostakovich’s The Nose – all of which deserve the appellation "rarity."

Update (8/20/2009): You can now download "Transgender Health Care Provider Directory" in PDF (8MB).

On July 21, the New York Association for Gender Rights Advocacy (NYAGRA) will distribute copies of the first public directory of transgender-sensitive providers in the New York City metropolitan area ever published. The Gender Identity Project (GIP) of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center (208 W. 13th St. in Manhattan) will host a special event from 7-9 p.m. at which hundreds of copies of the provider directory will be distributed to members of the transgender community. The directory – which includes of physicians, mental health professionals, acupuncturists, and AIDS agencies as well as other health care providers – is a project of the Transgender Health Initiative of New York (THINY), a community organizing project whose goal is to ensure that transgendered and gender non-conforming people can access health care in a safe, respectful and non-discriminatory manner. THINY was established by the Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund (TLDEF), NYAGRA, and the Center GIP in 2004 and has been coordinated by TLDEF staff since then.

I listen to the Brian Lehrer Show almost every morning on WNYC (the New York City affiliate of National Public Radio) and I'm a huge fan of Brian's, so I was excited to get a call from one of his producers inviting me to the Greene Space on June 23 to participate in a panel discussion with a live audience on the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall riots and the future of the LGBT movement (From Stonewall to Gay Marriage, 6/23/09).

Because there were so many people on the panel, I only managed to get in three sentences during the whole segment. But Brian had me back on the show for a solo appearance on June 26 to talk about transgender rights (Follow-Up Friday: Transgender Rights and Cell Phones and Planes, 6/26/09). In the course of the 20-minute interview, I took the opportunity to talk about the need for enactment of the Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act (GENDA) as well as the Dignity for All Students Act (DASA) -- both of which are pending in the exceptionally dysfunctional New York State Senate. In addition to pending state legislation, Brian and I discussed local issues, including the failure of the openly lesbian New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn to support a progressive and LGBT-inclusive legislative agenda in the City Council.


Chris Quinn represents the 3rd Council district, which includes Greenwich Village and Chelsea. Quinn is facing a strong challenge by another 'out' lesbian, community activist Yetta Kurland. More about that race later.