Want To Reach Gay Denver? Advertise With Denver's Best Gay Blog!

Do you want to advertise to Denver’s gay community? Of course you do, it’s the 7th largest in the United States! And the best way to reach them is with MileHighGayGuy – Colorado’s Best Gay Blog.

 Just click the Advertising page or email sales@milehighgayguy.com to get started today.

The Feline Fix, Colorado's Leading Spay/Neuter Source for Community Cats

Divine Feline is Colorado’s leading spay/neuter source for free roaming (“community”) cats and a significant provider of spay/neuter services for pet cats, all through their in-house clinic, The Feline Fix. 

To date The Feline Fix has performed more than 27,000 spay/neuter surgeries, preventing the births of hundreds of thousands of unwanted cats in Denver and surrounding communities. 

For more information about the clinic, or to request a reservation for your tame, stray or feral cats, please click here. 

Divine Feline is a Colorado nonprofit corporation and a 501(c)(3) charitable organization. All contributions are tax deductible. To make a donation please click here.

Raymond Braun and People's Sexiest Teacher Alive Talk LGBTQ History

Nicholas Ferroni (People magazine's Sexiest Teacher Alive) and Raymond Braun discuss a few LGBTQ historical figures who aren't mentioned in textbooks.

Can a Hollywood Movie Actually Prevent HIV? The team behind the film 'Blackbird' thinks so.

For its September/October 2015 cover story, Plus magazine covers the new initiative from the cast and crew of the film Blackbird. The creative team has teamed up with AIDS Alabama to bring awareness to an epidemic that disproportionality affects the African-American community – especially black gay and bisexual men.  Plus talks to former football star Wade Davis, Academy Award winner Mo’Nique, actors Julian Walker and Gary L. Gray, and producer Keith Brown about the coalition they have formed through Blackbird and AIDS Alabama called PrEP Up Alabama to educate and provide resources to the community.

Blackbird addresses the alarming fact that black gay and bisexual men are vulnerable to the stigma of homophobia within their community. Many are left to battle discrimination and homophobia without traditional support networks like church, family, and community, and the result, experts say, is the perfect storm for a health crisis.  Young gay and bisexual African-American men bear the terrible brunt of the HIV epidemic today.  The Center for Disease Control and Prevention reports that this group has more than twice the rate of new HIV infections as white or Latino men in the same age range. At the current rate of HIV infection, a black gay or bisexual man has a 66% chance of being HIV-positive by the time he turns 40.

The filmmakers and actors hope this new partnership will raise awareness on the issue. “Someone of a Mo’Nique stature, to use their platform to have these hard conversations in a very public way? Hopefully that will spark another person to think that they should educate themselves on the issue,” says Wade Davis, the former pro football player and PrEP Up Alabama ambassador.

Racism, poverty, and homophobia are key factors in this epidemic. So how does society even begin to address such entrenched problems? One major tool is media. Blackbird is an ambitious and far-reaching film, insofar as it takes on issues that few, if any, other Hollywood projects are talking. Homophobia among African-Americans, the so-called down-low culture, interracial relationships, abortions, the hypocrisy or religious leaders, and the plight of missing black children are among the hot-button issues addressed.

Gary L. Gray says he learned a lot from the film and hopes that others will do the same. The film, he says, takes a strong stand against “the fear that comes along with coming out, being free,” the same fear that “causes things like health to be overlooked in many cases.”  He also thinks it’s important for the public to remember that “HIV is not just a gay issue, it is an issue.”

Those behind Blackbird are hoping PrEP Up Alabama will also educate the public about the new medications and treatments available. “There’s no reason – no logical reason – for the infection rates of gay black men to still be as high as they are,” notes director Patrik-Ian Polk, whose other projects include Noah’s Arc and Punks. “The medical advancements are there…we just need to make them more widely known and more widely available.”

Read Plus’ full September/October 2015 cover story now at:

The Young Professionals - 400 Lux (Lorde Cover)

The Young Professionals is kicking off Monday in style with a new video for “400 Lux” (Lorde cover).  The performance video is filmed in Tel  Aviv.  The track is taken from their latest album, "Remixes & Covers” 

This fresh and summery compilation includes 12 of their remixes. Many of them, like the one for Tove Lo on "Talking Body" ended up # 1 of the Hype Machine. Others like the one made for Borns, Imagine Dragons or the alternate version of their new single "All Of It But Me" are exclusive. Three covers performed by the band come added to this cocktail. The first is none other than their famous resumption of Lana Del Rey’s “Video Games”. This version surprised by the quality and originality of its reinterpretation. It should be the same for the other two covers: 400 Lux (as initially performed by Lorde) and SOS (ABBA, of course!).

Original Broadway Cast Members LaChanze, Anthony Rapp and James Snyder To Join Idina Menzel In Denver for National Tour of IF/THEN

Tony Award-winner LaChanze (The Color Purple, Once on This Island), Anthony Rapp (Rent, Six Degrees of Separation, You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown) and James Snyder (Cry-Baby, Rock of Ages), the original Broadway stars of IF/THEN, will join Tony Award-winner and Broadway superstar Idina Menzel (Wicked, Rent, Frozen, “Glee”) in the National Tour.  LaChanze, Mr. Rapp, Mr. Snyder and Ms. Menzel will reprise their critically-acclaimed performances in seven select cities.  IF/THEN is an original Broadway musical which reunites composer Tom Kitt, book writer/lyricist Brian Yorkey, and director Michael Greif, the creative team behind the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning musical, Next to Normal.
 

Ms. Menzel, LaChanze, Mr. Rapp and Mr. Snyder will launch the National Tour at The Buell Theatre in Denver (October 13-25), and will then play the Paramount Theatre in Seattle (November 3-8), the SHN Orpheum Theatre in San Francisco (November 10 – December 6), the Hollywood Pantages Theatre in Los Angeles (December 8 – January 3), San Diego Civic Theatre in San Diego (January 5-10), ASU Gammage in Tempe (January 12-17), and Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa (January 19-24).

The Best Of Times Is Now! La Cage Aux Folles Premieres Tonight

By Mona Lott

“Remember, your eyebrows don’t have to be twins, just sisters,” elicited a laugh from the rather small dressing room stage right that houses the “Cagelles” in Ignite Theatre’s current production of La Cage Aux Folles. I got to spend some time with the “girls” during their first dress rehearsal as I was asked to come in and give them some basic instructions in “drag” makeup. For those of you who are not in the know, La Cage Aux Folles, at over thirty years old is the masterpiece of Harvey Fierstein and Jerry Herman and features a chorus of boys dressed as girls, known as The Cagelles and a leading lady who, like The Cagelles, is a man.

IgniteTheatre will bring this show back to life when it opens on Friday August 14th at The Aurora Fox.

A show that has been sitting on my “bucket list” for some time, I was thrilled when my husband of over twenty years was cast as the husband of the star attraction Albin and owner of the club that houses Albin and her bevy of beautiful show girls. Georges the character is a whole “Lott” like the actor portraying him, Jim Hitzke . Being married to a drag queen and creating all her costumes in real life gives Hitzke more than enough life experience to draw on as George. Hitzke looks at John White, who plays Albin, when he says, “we just put the face of our husbands on each other” while describing how they have managed in creating the characters Georges and Albin.

White is rather new to Colorado. Having moved her seven years ago from Florida where he had a long career with Disney performing among other things as the costumed character, The Queen Of Hearts, La Cage Aux Folles is his first show since coming to Denver. White states that he had decided to take some time away from the stage, but when he saw the casting notice for La Cage he thought, “that could be fun, why not give it a try?” Hitzke, on the other hand, is a long time Denver performer having recently tackled roles in Urinetown, Spamalot and The Drowsey Chaperone. Directing these two accomplished performers is Denver director, Bernie Cardell.

When asked about the challenges in casting this show Cardell states, “Finding the right Georges and Albin is always a challenge with this show. You’ve got to have two men of a certain age who can sing, dance, act AND have that spark of chemistry between them. We got very lucky with two talented men who showed up to auditions.” That “certain age” Cardell speaks of is one that makes possible having a twenty something year old son who is about to be married, as in the character of Jean-Michel played by Darren Koehler.

Jean-Michel, the biological son of Georges and the much loved “step” son of Albin comes to see his father early on in the play announcing his engagement to the daughter of some very conservative parents. To make matters worse, Jean-Michel’s future in-laws are coming to have dinner with Georges. Therein lies the crux of the show as Jean-Michel in an effort to shield the in-laws would like his “surrogate” mother Albin to leave for a couple of days.

For those of you who have seen the movie, “The Birdcage” this may all seem rather familiar as the movie is based on the same 1973 French Play that the musical is also based on. The play by Jean Poiret was adapted by Fierstein with music by Jerry Herman and made it’s Broadway debut in 1983. Since then it has lived many resurrections including a 2004 Broadway revival, a 2008 London revival and another revival in 2010 that at one point featured Fierstein himself in the lead role ofAlbin. La Cage Aux Folles is the first musical to ever win two Tony Awards for Best Revival and a best musical for the original production.

So I asked Cardell, in light of the recent Supreme Court ruling in favor of marriage equality, why bring this show out of storage again. Cardell answered, “One of the first things I said to my cast at our first rehearsal was, Love wins.” He went on to tell them that, “love wins” would be the theme of the production, that the Supreme Court decision was a momentous occasion and a show that features a gay couple who have been together for over twenty years is a great way to celebrate that. White echoed those sentiments stating that the court decision had not come out yet when the show was auditioning and that Ignite was smart in choosing to do the show now. Hitzke agreed saying that the show represents so many of the kind of relationships that will benefit from the ruling on marriage equality.

Being a show also of that “certain age” I asked them all what they had done, if anything to make the show more relevant. White states that they have updated a line or two with the name of a more modern celebrity, just to bring it more up to date. Cardell said he’s given it a more modern setting which will help the themes come through to a younger audience.

White went on to explain that playing an iconic role like Albin was a challenge just in trying to make it his own and not a copy of any of the stars who have played it before. That is a huge challenge, considering that George Hearn won a Tony in the original production as did Douglas Hodge who won The Laurence Olivier award in the 2008 London Revival and a Tony in the 2010 Broadway revival. Hitzke has his work cut out for him as well, taking on the role ofGeorgesin the shadow of Gene Barry, Van Johnson, Peter Marshall, Robert Goulet,KelsiGrammer and George Hamilton.

My makeup tutoring session with the Cagelles came to a somewhat clumsy end as the “girls” hurriedly tried on costumes for the first time, discovering that they might have some uncomfortable shaving to do before opening night. I quickly gave a few last second tips to a few of them who still lingered as “places” was called for the rehearsal. Next time you should soften that crease line a bit more and be more bold in those highlights under your eyes, I suggested to one and have fun I told him…errr her. Fun is the operative word when I asked Hitzke and White why anyone would want to come to this show. Cardell elaborated by stating, “This is the type of show that will make you forget anything bad going on in your life.” “Run for tickets” he says, “Run!”

La Cage Aux Folles runs Friday and Saturday nights at 7:30 PM and Sunday afternoons at 2:30PM from August 14th to September 6th. Tickets can be purchased at 866-811-4111

Mona Lott is an entertainer performing regularly in clubs, theaters and seedy bars. To laugh at her OUTstanding comedy follow her on Twitter at https://twitter.com/Queenmonalott, friend her on Facebook at www.facebook.com/mona.lott.5891 or stalk her on monalott.org.

Denver Joins Global Effort to End the AIDS Epidemic by 2030

Cary Kennedy, Deputy Mayor and Chief Financial Officer for the City and County of Denver, will join community members and local public health officials at 9 a.m. on August 15 in signing an agreement to end the HIV/AIDS epidemic during the opening ceremony of the AIDS Walk Colorado at Cheesman Park. By signing on to the Paris Declaration agreement, Denver becomes the fourth North American city to join the Fast Track Cities Initiative to end the AIDS Epidemic by 2030.

Launched in Paris on World AIDS Day in 2014 led by the International Association of Providers of AIDS Care (IAPAC), the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), and the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat),  this global initiative aims to dramatically reduce new HIV infections and future AIDS-related deaths through increasing testing, treatment and education.

“Ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030 is feasible if the world’s major cities act immediately and decisively to fast-track their AIDS responses by 2020,” said Benjamin Young, MD, PhD, Chief Medical Officer and Senior Vice President of IAPAC.

In signing the Paris Declaration, Denver agrees to achieve the following Fast Track targets by 2020:

·         90% of people living with HIV know their HIV status.

·         90% of people who are HIV-positive are on treatment.

·         90% of people on treatment have suppressed viral loads.

·         Zero discrimination, including stigma. 

Denver, which already has 74 percent of people diagnosed with HIV in treatment, is poised to be one of the first cities to achieve these targets through collaborative efforts implemented by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, Denver’s Office of HIV Resources, Denver’s HIV Resources Planning Council, and Denver Public Health. Together, these partners will expand HIV testing and prevention services, expand HIV care and adherence to treatment, and end discrimination through expanded access to care and support services, education and public information campaigns.

“Despite a 60 percent decrease in new HIV infections since 2005 and improved engagement in HIV care over the past few years, Denver continues to be significantly affected by HIV,” said Sarah Rowan, MD, Director of HIV and Viral Hepatitis Prevention with Denver Public Health. “Being a part of this global initiative will help raise awareness and motivate the community to come together and take the steps necessary to put an end to this epidemic.”

Chris Christie to Transgender Community: You’re “Beyond the Pale”

Today, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) released the following statement after media reports that New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie “laughed on Thursday about his recent veto of legislation that would have streamlined the process in his state for transgender people to change the gender marker on their birth certificates.” Christie made his comments on a right-wing radio talk show. On the show, Christie defended the veto by saying, “certain things go beyond the pale.”

“It was bad enough that Governor Christie vetoed this bill. Now he has added insult to injury by demeaning the entire transgender community,” said HRC Senior Vice President of Policy and Political Affairs JoDee Winterhof. “What’s really beyond the pale is that a sitting governor, much less a candidate for the presidency, would use such offensive and harmful rhetoric in 2015. Chris Christie should immediately apologize.”

This week marks the second time in two years that Gov. Christie has shamefully vetoed a bill that would have made it easier for transgender residents to obtain an appropriate birth certificate reflecting their identity. The bill he vetoed (S1195) would have allowed state agencies to change a birth certificate as long as proof was provided that the individual was undergoing gender transition. Currently, transgender New Jerseyans can only obtain an updated birth certificate if they have undergone gender reassignment surgery, which is not always necessary or safe and can be cost-prohibitive for low-income people. This year, states like Delaware, Connecticut, Hawaii, and Maryland have updated their laws to remove these barriers for transgender people. Nationally, only 1 in 5 transgender people (21%) have been able to update all their identification documents and records, including birth certificates, to reflect their appropriate name and gender.

Colorado Court of Appeals Rules Masterpiece Cakeshop Guilty of Discrimination

Today the Colorado Court of Appeals upheld the decision of the state’s Civil Rights Commission in Craig and Mullins v. Masterpiece Cakeshop. The Colorado Court affirmed the Commission’s ruling that the store violated Colorado law by refusing services to a gay couple based on the owner’s disapproval of their wedding.

Statement from National Center from Lesbian Rights (NCLR) Senior Staff Attorney Christopher F. Stoll:

“It is wrong for public businesses to refuse service to customers because of who they are. As the court’s decision today recognizes, businesses’ decisions to turn away customers based on irrelevant factors like race, sex, or sexual orientation have a negative effect on the economy and lead to unacceptable economic and social division. For more than 50 years, our laws have recognized the severe harm to individuals and society that occurs when businesses discriminate against customers. We congratulate our colleagues at the ACLU LGBT Rights Project and the ACLU of Colorado for this important victory.”

In February NCLR filed an amicus brief in support of Craig and Mullins, the appellees, describing the serious physical, psychological and social harms caused by discrimination.

Meet the gay basketball player removed from his Kentucky high school's yearbook

Today, YouTube content creator Raymond Braun spoke with Dalton Maldonado about his recent exclusion from his high school yearbook in rural Kentucky for being gay. Dalton attends Betsy Layne High School where he’ll be starting as senior point guard for the boys’ basketball team this coming year. 

 Dalton was intentionally excluded from the yearbook spread that featured all of the seniors on the boys’ basketball team. Raymond talks to Dalton about the discrimination he has faced from his own high school administration and opposing basketball teams and how coming out strengthened his bond with his own team.

LAWSUIT: Florida is Breaking the Law By Refusing To Acknowledge Married Same-Sex Couples As Parents on Birth Certificates

Just days ago, Cathy Pareto and Karla Arguello—the first same-sex couple to be married in Florida—celebrated the birth of their twin son and daughter. But the couple’s joy was soon mixed with fear and frustration when the hospital denied Cathy the right to add her name to the children’s birth certificates.

Almost a year since Florida’s marriage ban was declared unconstitutional, the Florida Bureau of Vital Statistics is still refusing to allow hospitals to list both same-sex parents on their baby’s birth certificate.

Today, Cathy and Karla, who were lead plaintiffs in Florida’s marriage lawsuit, are joining two other married same-sex couples in a federal lawsuit challenging Florida’s refusal to issue them accurate birth certificates listing both spouses as parents of their children. Equality Florida, the largest organization representing lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Floridians, is also a plaintiff in the case.

“Attorney General Pam Bondi could have avoided yet another costly lawsuit by directing all state agencies to simply comply with the law. Instead she turned her back on repeated requests to take action,” said Nadine Smith, Executive Director of Equality Florida. “Birth certificates are the first official document that represent a new born baby's family. Having an inaccurate birth certificate hinders parents’ ability to take care of their child and access important legal benefits and protections. Denying our families this is not only spiteful and harmful, it is illegal.”

DDFL Offers Free, Discounted Adoptions for International Homeless Animals Day

This Saturday, Aug. 15, is International Homeless Animals Day—a day dedicated to bringing awareness to those pets who have no place left to turn and inspiring compassion in our community to give them the second chances they deserve. Because the Dumb Friends League wants nothing more than to see all of the wonderful pets at their shelters find loving homes, they’re offering 50% off the adoption fee for all adult dogs (1 year and older), and free adoptions for adult cats (1 year and older) on Saturday, Aug. 15 and Sunday, Aug. 16.

Pet Portraits By Maurice Becnel

Immortalize your furry friends with a pet portrait by Maurice Becnel. Clients admire Becnel's ability to capture the essence of a pet's personality in his work.

Says Becnel, "Painting animal portraits, for me, is more fun than it is work. I began painting them several years ago. The first one I did was for a friend on her birthday. Because it was a gift it never dawned on me that other people would commission me to do more. Word got out and before I knew it more and more of the emails I was receiving from my website were going to the dogs! And cats!"

Hot Male Strippers and Vampires Duke It Out in Trailer for Vampire Strippers Must Die!

A new trailer has been released today for Vampire Strippers Must Die!, a hilarious and sexy horror-comedy set to star America’s Next Top Model’s Bryant Wood and underwear supermodel Pablo Hernandez, in their first feature film acting roles. The script for the film previously won the New York LGBT Film Fest’s Screenwriting competition in 2010.