T.R. Knight Hosts A Celebration of “LOVE and PRIDE” In an Effort to Erase Hate

National Gay Pride Month Kicks-Off with Commitment Ceremony
June 4, 2008 at The Abbey in West Hollywood

West Hollywood, CA. - On June 4, 2008, T.R. Knight will join the Matthew Shepard Foundation to help kick off National Gay-Pride month with a symbolic dusk commitment ceremony at the famed West Hollywood hotspot, The Abbey.

At 8pm, couples from around the nation will “tie the knot” in an event officiated by the Mayor of West Hollywood and witnessed by Judy Shepard. Couples will be wearing the Matthew Shepard Erase Hate pendant courtesy of Love and Pride jewelry designer, Udi Behr. Love and Pride is the first online jewelry destination for people who believe in equality, diversity and tolerance for all. http://www.loveandpride.com/

Behr created the Erase Hate pendant for Judy Shepard, in memory of her son, Matthew Shepard, who was the victim of a brutal anti-gay hate crime in rural Wyoming ten years ago. His murder brought national attention to the issue of hate crime legislation and was a watershed moment in the fight for gay civil rights.

Behr remarks, “A public commitment ceremony is a great way to join together and strengthen our two messages; ‘Celebrating Love’ and ‘Erasing Hate.’” 100% of net proceeds from sales of the pendant assist the Matthew Shepard Foundation.

full article

WEST HOLLYWOOD: IHOP discrimination

The iconic breakfast restaurant that has anchored West Hollywood’s West side for decades recently changed hands.

The new owner immediately removed all gay-related publications from the restaurant’s foyer, a signal read by some that gays were no longer welcome at the popular dining place.

When it was discovered that the most popular gay waiter was also let go, an informal gay and straight ally community boycott of the restaurant began. Two council members who regularly dined at IHOP let it be known their IHOP visits were ended.

Gene Piva, age 57 and openly gay, had worked at IHOP for seven and a half years since giving up his catering business.

more

Ann Coulter dines in gay restaurants?

Ann Coulter: On the Gay Circuit in West Hollywood

We had dinner last night at Murano, a new West Hollywood restaurant, owned by gay circuit party promoter Jeffrey Sanker, and lesbian night club owners Robin Gans and Sandy Sachs.

Toward the end of dinner, one of my companions insisted that the painfully thin, emotive, long blond haired thing in a small black dress with nearly exposed bosoms was none other than Ann Coulter. I did not believe him. Why would Ann Coulter, who hates homosexuals, go to dinner at gay ground zero? Why would she spend her hard earned gay-bashing royalties to enrich Jeffrey Sanker and otherwise support gay-owned businesses?

Clearly, Ann Coulter was caught in a lie. There she was, burbling like a fountain about her interview on Donny Deutsch's show in which she says Jews should be Christians, completely at ease in the heart of the gayest city on the planet. She was a natural with the gay men who surrounded her. She enjoyed the fawning attention by her two not so masculine male escorts, clearly in her milieu.

I was therefore shocked that when we tried to engage her in conversation, she became embarrassed, turned away, nestling her head inside her long, blond hair, much as would an embarrassed school girl caught stealing the answers to an exam.

Ann Coulter had nothing to say last night because anything she could conjure would have been too absurd. So she ducked her head, embarrassed at being caught where she most likes to be, hoping to disappear. Ann Coulter is a coward who uses evil speech in the safety of a studio to make money. She obviously does not even believe the obscenities she hurls at America, a country she says she hates.

How many adolescents in mid-America have heard Ms. Coulter saying they are "faggots," subhumans who should die, just so she could eat dinner at a gay-owned establishment and pay with blood money? How many lives have ended so that Ms. Coulter can giggle and guzzle in West Hollywood?