The Advocate Launches LGBT Discovery App

Accessing LGBT news just got a whole lot easier. The Advocate, the world’s leading gay news source, has launched a new free, advertising-supported iPad application, Advocate Discovery, through a partnership with Web discovery engine Trapit. The new app allows users to aggregate LGBT content from around the world and tailor it to the reader’s specific interests. Advocate Discovery can now be downloaded through the Apple app store and will be curated by The Advocate’s editorial team.

 

"We are proud to partner with Here Media, publishers of The Advocate, to combine Trapit's advanced AI and content personalization with the most forward-thinking and largest LGBT media company. The new Advocate Discovery app will allow Here Media¹s loyal readership to get all their news and headlines from sources around the globe in one convenient and easy to use app through The Advocate brand,” said Gary Griffiths, CEO of Trapit.

 

The Advocate Discovery app allows iPad users to find news important to LGBT Americans in an user-friendly, comprehensive manner. The app delivers a selection of the most recent articles, features, blogs, and videos on the topics most important to individual readers. Each user can create new “traps” that pull content from Here Media’s network of websites — including Advocate.com, OUT.com, Gay.net, OutTraveler.com, HIVPlusMag.com, and SheWired.com, as well as hundreds of thousands of other LGBT-relevant and mainstream news sources. Additionally, Advocate Discovery learns more about each user as they continue to use and explore the app and provides them content related to their interests. 

The Real Meaning of Santorum

Social conservatives are searching for a hero, and Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum’s antigay views have helped him claim the mantle of religious freedom fighter. For The Advocate’s May issue, Lucas Grindley examines how Santorum shot to the top of the Republican primary field, rallied the party’s religious conservatives, and what his new influence means for the future of the GOP.

No one predicted that the man who once compared gay sex to bestiality and pedophilia, who had lost reelection to the U.S. Senate by 18 points in 2006, would upset  the monied juggernaut Mitt Romney campaign in state after state. LGBT activists always doubted Santorum could ever beat Romney, however what’s most shocking to them aren’t his chances of winning the nomination but that he can win anything at all.

“You could knock me over with a drop of Santorum. I am completely blown away by this,” Dan Savage, the mastermind of the Google-bomb that forever redefined Rick’s last name, told The Advocate’s Lucas Grindley. Savage, who had dismissed Santorum’s Iowa win as a chance for more moderate voters in other states to prove his views are big political losers, remains baffled by Santorum’s success continuing, “Whatever it is, it’s terrifying.”

Grindley points out that what is most worrisome is that Santorum’s public statements show he goes further than any other candidate in campaigning against LGBT people under the banner of “religious freedom.” Not only is he the only candidate to claim that amending the Constitution would retroactively invalidate marriages of same-sex couples, he once explained the difference between God-given rights and government-given rights.

In Rick Santorum’s view of the world, God has not given gay, bisexual, or transgender people any rights, Grindley continues. Instead, Obama and his liberal supporters have extended those rights in violation of God’s law and the religious beliefs of people like Santorum. In Santorum’s mind, Obama and the Democrats have played God, and that’s why they are to blame for the downfall of society.

Many on the right and in the GOP, however, praise and support Santorum for sticking to his socially conservative convictions. A high-level Republican strategist with experience in big campaigns sees this as winning leadership points for the candidate. Joe Solmonese, outgoing president of the Human Rights Campaign, tends to agree. “He absolutely represents people,” says Solmonese. “The problem with him is, he is true to his convictions. He means what he says, and that should give us reason to be deeply concerned and afraid about the prospect of Rick Santorum.”

Even LGBT conservatives are wary of a Santorum nomination, which Jimmy LaSalvia, executive director for the gay conservative group GOProud, says would be “disastrous” for his party. “If he is the nominee,” LaSalvia predicts with alarm, “the Obama-Santorum outcome will make Reagan-Mondale look like a squeaker.” LaSalvia, a loyal Republican and Romney supporter, doesn’t mince words except when asked whether GOProud could endorse a ticket that included Santorum’s name. “It would be a referendum on the most outdated and wrong beliefs of some conservatives.”

Read “The Real Meaning of Santorum” now at Advocate.com.

Advocate announces its "Newsmakers of the Year" list

Rep. Patrick Murphy, D-Pa., columnist Dan Savage (pictured), Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, Fort Worth City Councilman Joel Burns and California Judge Victoria Kolakowski are included on Advocate.com's list of the year's top figures in LGBT news.

Advocate's '40 Under 40'

This month the Advocate presents its annual 'Forty Under 40'issue, a selection of young activists, artists, and notable gay figures, all under the age of 40.

Some of those spotlighted in this year’s “Forty Under 40” include:

Chad Griffin — The 36-year-old Los Angeles–based political strategist has become the face of the marriage equality movement as he aggressively fights to end inequality for gay and lesbian couples once and for all.

Jillian Michaels (top left) — Michaels recently confirmed her bisexuality in an interview with Ladies’ Home Journal, telling the magazine she is looking for “healthy love.” At the age of 36, the star of The Biggest Loser has quietly built a fitness empire with workout DVDs, best-selling books, a Web community, and speaking engagements.

Jake Shears (bottom left) — Shears, the unapologetically gay Scissor Sisters lead singer, is in full bloom at 31, and fans have two new projects to look forward to: a new, as-yet untitled Scissor Sisters album in July and the stage musical version of Armistead Maupin’s Tales of the City.

Rostam Batmanglij — Vampire Weekend’s gay Iranian keyboardist embraces his heritage and sexuality as part of his identity. And that identity is becoming more and more public as Vampire Weekend’s Contra has risen to number 1 on the Billboard album charts. Additionally, the band has already made two Saturday Night Live appearances.

Gloria Bigelow — The stand-up comedian is making waves at comedy clubs around New York. But she also spends time working with the underserved students at East New York High School, helping the form a cheer squad for their school’s basketball team. The “Chocolate Cheerios,” as she affectionately calls them, now create their own cheers, costumes, and, most important, sense of self.

Advocate premieres The Advocate On-Air

The Advocate, the world’s leading gay news source, announces the premiere of its new television newsmagazine, The Advocate On-Air. The first installment is currently available on Advocate.com.

“The Advocate remains committed to leading the conversation on issues important to gay people,” said Editorial Director Jon Barrett. “The Advocate On-Air expands the reach of the growing Advocate brand by engaging new consumers. We are thrilled to have esteemed newsman Thomas Roberts hosting this exciting new program.”

Like the 42-year-old print publication, The Advocate On-Air is dedicated to examining current news, politics, lifestyle, and cultural trends. Veteran news correspondent Thomas Roberts hosts the inaugural episode, and The Advocate’s Editorial Director, Jon Barrett, offers his particular thoughts in a special segment called “I Advocate.” Additionally, contributing journalists will lend expert commentary and opinion.

Michael Lucas in Advocate.com: They don’t make gay leaders like Harvey Milk anymore

Porn impresario Michael Lucas bemoans the lack of gay leadership in a recent article for Advocate.com.

Is he right or is he wrong?

Who do you see as today's leaders in the gay community?

Advocate.com live streams signing of federal hate crimes act

Log on to Advocate.com as President Obama makes history by officially signing into law the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act.

Quote of the Day: Rep. Patrick Murphy

“I saw great officers, great leaders, who had to resign their commission because they wanted to live by army values, and they feel that it’s inconsistent with those values to live a lie," Rep. Patrick Murphy (D–Pa.).

Read what other straight guys have to stay about Don't Ask, Don't Tell at Advocate.com.

Quote of the Day: Jarrett Barrios

"It isn't on any elected official to make those changes -- it's on us. We're going to get that change as we continue to organize our efforts and ask for more. Ask for more, not of our politicians, but of our fellow Americans." - Jarrett Barrios, incoming GLAAD president, in The Advocate

Meet The Advocates young LGBT activists

Amy Balliett, a Seattle-based grass-roots organizer who has used her search-engine marketing skills to pull together national rallies against California's Proposition 8 marriage ban, is one of eight LGBT advocates profiled in <span style="font-style:italic;">The Advocate's "Forty Under 40" feature.

Amy Poehler has not met one gay in her 37 years who doesn't enjoy a dance party

Plus, she met Tina Fey when they were both members of an improv group named after a gay porno.

Recession hits GLBT groups

The bad economy means less financial support for GLBT groups like HRC, The Victory Fund, and others.

Read more at Advocate.com.

How you can make 2009 a year of change

The Advocate talks to five leading GLBT activists about five ways the rest of us can work for gay rights and equality in 2009.

One of the ways is as easy as wearing a t-shirt.

Don't let this swing state swing the wrong way

Just a reminder - if you haven't read The Advocate's online report about Colorado as a swing state, published earlier in October and reported on by MHGG, here are the links again to the articles:

The Big Four Report

Pat Steadman Fights to Turn Colorado Blue

The Swing State Factor

Colorado in The Advocate again

Seems like everywhere you look these days, Colorado is in the media. Advocate writer Michael Joseph Gross talks about what he learned at the DNC in Denver - and more.

The Naked Truth

The Advocate has a great video series on their site called "The Naked Truth," featuring people talking about bodies and body image. With the holidays coming up, it's time to either decide to let it all hang out and love yourself the way you are, or to get or keep yourself in shape through the pig-out season.

I'm a guncle

And if you aren't one, you probably have one.

Pat Steadman in Advocate.com

I don't know how I could have missed this in my last post about Advocate.com's Colorado Swing State article but one of Colorado's hardest working and most vocal GLBT activists, Pat Steadman, is also featured in the piece along with Matt Kailey.

Colorado is in The Advocate's swing-state spotlight

The Advocate, in the first of four profiles of battleground states, looks at Colorado, where out candidate Jared Polis is poised to win a House seat and anti-gay U.S. Rep. Marilyn Musgrave, author of the federal marriage ban, is battling to retain her seat. The article includes quotes from Out Front Colorado managing editor, and one of my closest friends, Matt Kailey.- via Advocate.com

Michelle Obama: The World As It Should Be

Over at Advocate.com, Michelle Obama states her case for why an Obama presidency would be good for gays.