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Anthony Tirendi, president of Heartland Pride in the Omaha, Ne metro area, joined Corwin and Phil in the studio this week for a conversation about Pride, specifically about Heartland Pride. Anthony had never been on the radio before, but he did well. Pride this year in the Omaha air covers three days of official Heartland activities. Some of the local bars, churches and other organizations may also be hosting pride events around the metro area.

• THURSDAY JUNE 26th: 8:00 PM Candlelight vigil and 9:00 PM viewing of the movie “MILK” at Hanafan Park in Council Bluffs, IA
•  FRIDAYJUNE 27th: 6:00 PM Youth Pride festival and evening dance at Hanafan Park in Council Bluffs, IA
• SATURDAY JUNE 28th: 10:00 AM Heartland Pride Parade in Council Bluffs, IA followed by:  11:00 AM Festival and Entertainment to begin after the parade at Stinson Park in Omaha, NE

The Saturday festival has three main musical acts, all local to the area. Eckophonic, Voodoo Method!, and Recess Girls. The Recess Girls will also be in the Kid Corner after their stage appearance to meet with fans.

There is a small entry fee to attend the main event. Tickets can be purchased in advance through the website for $5 or at the gate for $10.

Lavender Hill being a news program, as well as a talk show, the hosts had some local, national and world news to talk about. Not nearly as much time for news as usual, but they squeezed some things in. It should be noted that many of the below links will take you to stories Corwin and Phil did not have to talk about this week.

Links to News Stories Covered During the Show

Marriage Equality

• A brief opinion piece from the Lincoln Journal Star expresses the disappointment many have with the recent decision to deny the divorce of a lesbian couple in Nebraska.
• Opponents to marriage equality in Pennsylvania missed the deadline to file an appeal to the decision to over turn the ban on same-sex marriage. Former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum remains largely silent on the matter despite his past vocal stance on the issue.
• South Dakota attorney general files to dismiss “implausible” marriage case. You can read the motion here.
• The Presbyterian Assembly affirms that same-sex marriage is Christian. A vote is pending from all 172 presbyteries over the course of the next year to make it official. Until then, effective now is an amendment to the church constitution allowing ministers to perform gay marriages in state and municipalities where it is legal with approval from local congregational leaders.
• A Michigan man is “shunned” by St. Michael’s Catholic Church in Marquette after his commitment ceremony shows that he “acts on’ urges.
• The National Organization for Marriage claims 10.000 people attended their anti-gay marriage rally in D.C. last week. More accurate estimates say between two and six thousand attended.

Across the United States

• Alabama finally enters the 21st Century by repealing the last of its anti-gay sex laws.
• A Pittsburgh, PA police officer is under investigation after a video shows that he punched a teenage girl at a Pride celebration.
• Lisa Weiszmiller‘s “other than honorable” discharge from the Army in 1978 has been changed to “honorable” after 35 years. She is now eligible for Veterans’ benefits.
• A Texas judge has denied two dads parental rights regarding their biological twin sons. Both boys have the same biological mother, both dads provided sperm. The judge even refused to allow the dads to be listed on their biological children’s birth certificates.
• A Change.org petition is asking U.S. Department of Education to allow a case-by-case basis be used to determine qualification on FAFSA for LGBT students who are estranged from the parents/guardians.
• A gender fluid gay man in Louisiana is harassed and loses his gym membership because he’s “not manly enough” for the gym. He was also barred from using either the men’s or the women’s bathroom in the facility.
• A North Dakota college football player is kicked off his team after coming out as gay.
• Radio host Linda Harvey sticks her foot in it again by saying that Laverne Cox’s “gender confusion” is part of Satan’s plot to “undermine America”.
• In South Carolina, the DMV denies a gender non-conforming teen from wearing make-up for his driver’s license photo.

Politics

• The Senate made history last Tuesday by confirming, unanimously, the first openly gay African American judge to a high court. Darrin Gayles now sits on the bench for the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.
• The Texas GOP has some wacky ideas on their current political platform. Everything from pornography, the elderly, immigration and marriage equality.
• Senator Ed Markey (D-Mass) has introduced a new bill that would create a special envoy for LGBT rights in foreign affairs. The International Human Rights Defense Act already has 20 co-sponsors, all Democrats.
• CNBC’s Joe Kerner schools Texas Gov. Rick Perry on-air after Perry’s statements in California that copared homosexuality to alcoholism.

Queer World News

• St. Petersburg has repealed it’s anti-gay law, the rest of Russia still has a similar law. This repeal is only on the city level, the national law can still be enforced even in St. Petersburg.
• Bishop Anthimos of Thessaloniki, Greece, has condemned the city for supporting gay pride, calling it a “perversion of human existence.”
• Anglican Canon Jeremy Pemberton has been “fired” by Bishop Richard Inwood after he married his partner in April.
• The Vancouver, Canada, school board has voted to approve gender neutral pronouns for students who do not wish to identify as either male ore female.

Health & Science

• Two male bears in Croatia have apparently mated for life, just more evidence that same-sex pairings happen in nature.
• Soon your contact lenses and your condoms might have something in common. Researches are developing a new condom made from “tough hydrogels”, a bio-material similar to that used in contact lenses.  This innovation could help reduce the excuse of “I can’t feel anything when I use a condom” and hopefully reduce STD and HIV transmission.
• Federal employees now can receive health benefits related to transgender care.
• Though the District of Columbia and five states require private health insurance companies to cover transition, 45 states remain. An op-ed piece in the New York Times calls this the next battle ground for transgender health care.

Arts & Entertainment

• A Kickstarter campaign. is in full swing to support the filming of the first transgender comedy, staring Canada’s first transgender lingerie model Julie Vu.

Remember to tune in every Sunday at 11am Central to KZUM-HD/KZUM-Lincoln to hear Lavender Hill live. You can email Corwin and Phil at lavenderhill89.3@gmail.com and follow the show on Twitter.