There’s a lesbian angle to low concert-ticket sales this summer:

Lilith Fair, a hugely popular event with lesbians, has been canceling dates nationwide.

“This is supposed to be one of those things you do this summer if you’re a lesbian in Philly,” said one fan, surveying the light turnout there. “You go to a Phillies game, you go to Lady Gaga, you go to Lilith Fair.”

Read more.

It was civil rights versus religion in Jerusalem yesterday as 3,000 Israelis marched in that city’s gay pride parade. 

The march “infuriated Orthodox Jews,” according to Voice of America.

But Yonatan Gher, one of the parade organizers, told VOA:

“There is no religious monopoly on the Holy City… We’re here because we’re Jerusalemites.  This is our city as much as anybody else’s.”

Amen.

Read more.

More proof that the dumber you are, the more likely you’ll enjoy a successful television career:

The View‘s Elisabeth Hasselbeck said, on-air, that she knows why lesbians come out later in life:  There are no available men.

Her theory is that older men tend to date younger women, “leaving older women with no one.”

When we’re confronted by this kind of stupidity, we’re never sure whether to laugh or cry.

More at SheWired.

If there’s extra money burning a hole in your bank account, the Bay Area Reporter this morning published a list of gay and lesbian archives across the country.

“They deserve support, donations of time, materials, energy and money, in saving our 60 years of history in working for the civil rights of LGBT Americans.”  Amen.

Who knew there were so many?  The list:

Burritt Library (CT) gagliardi@ccsu.edu

Gay & Lesbian Archives of the Pacific NW (Portland) info@glpn.org

Gerberhart Library (Chicago) info@gerberhart.org

GLBT Archives of Philadelphia Archives (gay center) archives@waygay.org

GLBT Historical Society (San Francisco) info@glbthistory.org

GLBT History Month (Equality Forum) (PA) info@equalityforum.com

GLBTQ Inc. info@glbtq.com

Gulf Coast Archive & Museum (Houston) info@gcam.org

Happy Foundation (Gene Elder) (San Antonio) elder4tomato@yahoo.com

Homosexual Information Center (Inc.) (Cal State, Northridge) tangentgroup.org, ctgrant@mac.com

James C. Hormel Gay & Lesbian Center (San Francisco, part of city library) www.sfpl.org

June Mazer Lesbian Archives (West Hollywood) mazerarchives@earthlink.net

Kinsey Institute (not just LGBT) Kinsey@indiana.edu

Lambda Archives of San Diego info@lambdaarchives.org

Lavender Library, Archives & Cultural Exchange of Sacramento info@lavenderlibrary.org

Leather Archives archives@leatherarchives.org

Lesbian and Gay Archives Roundtable

Lesbian Herstory Archives (New York) www.lesbianherstoryarchives.org

LGBT Religious Archives Network info@lgbtran.org

Lombardi-Nash (has Urania manuscript) (FL) mal123nash@aol.com

Madeline Davis GLBT Archives of Western New York-Buffalo phoenix.md@verizon.net

Milwaukee LGBT History Project webmaster@mkelgbthist.org

Museum of Sex (not just LGBT) info@museumofsex.com

Nancy & Joe McDonald Rainbow Library (OK) www.okeq.org

National Archives of GLBT History (gay center) archive@gaycenter.org

National Museum of Women in Arts (not just LGBT) (DC)

Northeast Ohio LGBT Archives (Cleveland) reference@wrhs.org

Northwest Lesbian & Gay History Museum Project www.lgbthistorynw.org

Ohio Lesbian Archives ohiolesbianarchives@yahoo.com

ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives LA (USC) askone@onearchives.org

outhistory.org (CLAGS, New York project)

Pacific Northwest Lesbian Archives lisa@pnwlesbianarchives.org

Phil Johnson Historic Archives & Research Library & Gay Center (Dallas) library@rcdallas.org

Quatrefoil Library (MN) info@qlibrary.org

Sexual Minorities Archives (Northhampton, MA) betpower@yahoo.com

Stonewall Library & Archives (FL) info@stonewall-library.org

Sunflower Archives (KS) mfarchives@aol.com

Terry Mangan Memorial Library (gay center, CO) info@glbtcolorado.org

Tretter Collection in GLBT Studies (MN) trett007@umn.edu

William Nichols Archives (University of Louisville)  willnich@aol.com & kyarchives@aol.com

World Erotic Art Museum (not just LGBT) (Miami)  info@weam.com

A team of researchers is arguing that their new findings on child development should lead to the end of existing bans on adoption by same-sex couples in the United States.

“From a policy perspective, our results provide no justification for denying lesbian and gay adults from adopting children,” Rachel H. Farr and Charlotte H. Patterson, of the University of Virginia, and Stephen L. Forssell of George Washington University write in an article titled “Parenting and Child Development in Adoptive Families: Does Parental Sexual Orientation Matter?” in the August issue of the journal Applied Developmental Science.

If all this sounds too wonky to you, keep in mind that three states — Florida, Mississippi and Utah — explicitly prohibit gay couples from adopting, and a similar law is being challenged in the Arkansas courts.

All of this comes from The New York Times Motherlode blog.  Read more.

Laws granting equal marriage rights have helped South Africa move toward enlightenment around gay issues, The New York Times reports.

But advocates worry that “the law, like so much of the new South Africa’s promise and prosperity, has bypassed many of the country’s citizens, particularly in the black majority.”

“Marriage is a commodity that’s been branded and packaged,” says one. “The law hasn’t gotten to the depths of prejudice if gay marriage ignores our collective trauma in favor of clothes, makeup and honeymoons.”

Read more.

American Idol has a lesbian judge, Ellen DeGeneres, on the panel, but that doesn’t leave them immune to criticism over discrimination against the gays.

Idol reject Ian Bernardo is suing the show for $300 million in reparation for supposed “mental distress” he endured.

Bernardo claims Idol ‘exploited my non-conforming appearance and sexual orientation. They did this by directing me to ‘gay it up’ in any appearance I made on camera.’”

Um, sweetie, if you’re auditioning for American Idol, aren’t you kind of asking for it?

More at LezGetReal.

Judith Peabody—a well-known New York socialite, philanthropist and early AIDS advocate—died July 25 in her Fifth Avenue apartment.  She was 80.

After the AIDS-related death of a friend in the 1980s, Peabody volunteered at GMHC, where she served as a “care partner” (someone who accepts responsibility for helping a person with HIV/AIDS) to dozens of men, led support groups and raised as well as donated money to GMHC.

More at Poz.

Before you get on the 6 train to check out Harlem’s new Target store, consider this report from the Associated Press, via DC gay site MetroWeekly:

Target Corp., the parent company of Target Stores based in Minneapolis, has donated $150,000 in cash and brand consulting to ‘a Republican-friendly political fund.” Adding that the recipients of the donation are running ads for Tom Emmer.

The AP calls Emmer “a fiery conservative who opposes gay marriage…,” then contrasts that donation with a donation from the company to the annual Twin Cities Gay Pride Festival.

Here’s a heart-warming quote from Emmer’s election web site:

“I believe marriage is the union between one man and one woman. As a legislator, I have consistently supported the constitutional marriage amendment that protects traditional marriage.”

It’s your money, people.  Use it wisely and vote with your wallets.

Read more.

Tel Aviv is spending about $88 million to tell gay travelers what people like Michael Lucas already know:  Israel’s a hot destination for LGBT travelers.

The campaign, set to run in England and Germany, will include ads on gay community websites and magazines and “will display everything the city has to offer by way of gay tourism”, according to YNetNews.

Designated Facebook and Twitter pages will be created to support the effort and promote Tel Aviv as a new gay capital.

Read more.