Antigone Rising Rocks For LGBT Equality

 

In this exclusive audio interview Emmy Winner Charlotte Robinson host of OUTTAKE VOICES™ talks with Kristen Ellis-Henderson and Cathy Henderson cofounders of the all-female alternative country rock band Antigone Rising. After touring with acts such as The Rolling Stones, Aerosmith, The Allman Brothers Band, The Bangles and traveling to Israel and the West Bank as cultural ambassadors for the United States Embassy, the band has introduced their latest single "That Was The Whiskey". It’s featured on the first of their two five-song CDs entitled "Whiskey & Wine - Volume 1" set for release on March 25th. ("Whiskey & Wine - Volume 2" will be out October 28th 2014.) Earlier this month Antigone Rising appeared on Olivia Travel’s Caribbean Equality & Leadership Cruise with Edie Windsor, Maya Angelou, Suzanne Westenhoefer, Meredith Baxter and Judy Gold among others. We talked to Kristen and Cathy about their music and their spin on our LGBT issues.

 When asked what her personal commitment is to LGBT civil rights Kristen stated, “For me you know I’ve got family and I’ve got kids and I think it’s really important to set the best example possible for them, obviously. It’s also something that Sara my wife and I have naturally moved towards. Sara was Chairman of Out At Time Inc. when she was working at a magazine called Real Simple and so we often went out to events hosted by HRC or GLAAD, things like that so we became part of the movement. Then we ended up writing a book Sara and I because we got pregnant on the exact same day but that’s a whole story to itself. With that we realized we’ve got a voice here and we can be part of this movement and we want to be. So we ended up working with GLAAD quite a bit and going out and being spokespeople during the marriage equality movement here in New York, which is the state we live in. We’ve become involved in the movement and very passionate about it. My wife and I want to be sure that our kids see that you can be whoever you want to be. You can do whatever you want to do and you should be proud of who you are and so that’s kind of our mission.”

Antigone Rising consists of Kristen Ellis-Henderson on bass guitar/vocals, Cathy Henderson on lead guitar/vocals, Dena Tauriello on drums and Nini Camps on rhythm guitar and lead vocals. Last spring Kristen Ellis-Henderson and her wife Sarah Kate Ellis who was recently appointed President and CEO of GLAAD were featured on the cover of TIME Magazine's groundbreaking marriage equality issue. Antigone Rising has also launched a fundraising campaign at pledgemusic.com to support their music and touring, with 5% of the proceeds to be donated to GLAAD. Update: “That Was The Whiskey!” has been nominated for Country Song of the Year by Independent Music Awards.
For More Dates & Info: antigonerising.com
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LGBT Sports Activist Anna Aagenes Speaks OUT

In this exclusive audio interview Emmy Winner Charlotte Robinson host of OUTTAKE VOICES™ talks with Anna Aagenes, Executive Director of GO! Athletes, which is the first national educational organization dedicated to LGBTQ student athletes. GO! (Generation Out) Athletes connects current and former LGBT student athletes and allies at high school, collegiate and post-graduate levels to educate and empower future generations of LGBT athletes. They also serve as a united voice to encourage schools to create safer spaces for LGBT athletes. GO! Athletes is also dedicated to educating coaches, administrators and fans to foster athletic communities that are accepting of all athletes regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. GO! Athletes has created the #Out4Olympics campaign in response to the public outcry over Russia's anti-LGBT policies. We talked to Aagenes about the importance of this campaign and her spin on our LGBT issues.

When asked what her spin is on the Sochi Olympics with Russia’s anti gay laws Aagenes stated, “You know it’s been very disheartening to see the stories of brutal harassment attacks and the laws that are obviously really discriminatory against the LGBT community and those who have traveled there for the Olympic Games. We began a campaign last year which we call Out 4 Olympics. So we hash tag Out the number Four and Olympics. (#Out4Olympics) We’ve done grassroots campaigns before but this is really LGBTQ athletes supporting fellow athletes. You know some of us have the privilege of being able to come out and those who do we hope can show support and solidarity to those in Russia, those traveling to Russia and those who can’t come out yet or don’t feel comfortable coming out yet. It’s really been exciting to see high school students, college students, coaches, even professional players some of them, utilizing the campaign. We have a Twitim which means you can change you profile picture on Twitter and Facebook and what we’re going to do with that is compile that into a culmination at the end of the games.”

Anna Aagenes was captain of the University of Pennsylvania Women’s Track and Field and Cross Country Team, a school record holder in three relay events and an NCAA Regional qualifier in the 800m and 1500m. Currently she is the District Office Director for openly gay Pennsylvania State Representative Brian Sims. February 28th will conclude GO! Athletes #Out4Olympics campaign and all photos will be compiled into a book to be presented to the USOC and the IOC.
For More Info: goathletes.org

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Rea Carey National Gay & Lesbian Task Force Update

In this exclusive audio interview Emmy Winner Charlotte Robinson host of OUTTAKE VOICES™ talks with Rea Carey, Executive Director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force about the 26th National Conference on LGBT Equality: Creating Change that recently took place in Houston, Texas. Over 4,000 people from all over the country attended this five-day program that featured over 390 workshops, training sessions, meetings and events. This year’s Keynote speaker was Laverne Cox best known for her work on “Orange is the New Black”. Carey gave the State of the Movement address, looking forward to critical legislative issues specifically affecting our LGBT community, including passing the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) and fair immigration reform. She also included the need for access to quality, affordable health care and racial and economic justice-related issues. We talked to Rea about this important conference and her spin on our LGBT issues.

'When asked what her personal commitment is to LGBT civil rights Carey stated, “Well it started in a few places. My parents were very politically active in the progressive community and in grassroots politics going door-to-door talking about issues they cared about and I grew up with that. I also grew up in a community that cared very much about racial justice in the 1960’s and 1970’s and it’s really been my life’s work. I started my activism and advocacy working on issues that effect LGBT queer youth as well as HIV/AIDS. In fact, at the same time, I was a member of Act Up DC and I was an LGBT lobbyist. So that also has formed my commitment which is that there are many strategies that we have to engage in grassroots organizing, legal strategies, sometimes taking to the streets, talking to decision makers, in order to achieve change. So I have truly devoted my life to evolving justice for LGBT people.”

Rea Carey is one of the most prominent leaders in the U.S. LGBT rights movement. She became Executive Director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force in 2008 after serving as their deputy executive director since 2004. Through her leadership she has advanced a vision of fairness and justice for LGBT people and their families that is broad, inclusive and unabashedly progressive. The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force was founded in 1973 and works to build the grassroots political power of the LGBT community to win complete equality.
For More Info: thetaskforce.org  

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Harvard India Conference To Address LGBT Rights

In this exclusive audio interview Emmy Winner Charlotte Robinson host of OUTTAKE VOICES™ talks with Pothik Chatterjee who has organized an important panel entitled “LGBT Rights in India: The Way Forward” that takes place at Harvard University on Sunday February 16th from 4:10P to 5:10P. The panel will be addressing the recent re-criminalization of homosexuality by the Supreme Court of India with Section 377. The panel will focus on how this anti gay law will affect the lives of our LGBT community in India and how to channel this setback into productive policy and effective strategy. It’s all part of the Harvard India Conference 2014: ‘Turning the Page: Prospects & Paradoxes” that takes place February 15th and 16th. We talked to Pothik about “LGBT Rights in India: The Way Forward” and his spin on our LGBT issues.

When asked what his personal commitment is to LGBT civil rights Chatterjee stated, “My personal commitment to LGBT civil rights began when I was an undergraduate at Georgetown University, which you might know is a Catholic/Jesuit university. While I was an undergraduate I was part of the student movement to establish an LGBT resource center on our campus to help undergraduate students with coming out to their family and friends, being out on campus and deal with bullying and some harassment that was taking place on campus. We faced a lot of opposition initially because of the Jesuit administration and fears about how the alumni would react but ultimately we were successful and Georgetown has an LGBTQ Student Center and so that was a great victory. Since then I have marched with the Human Rights Campaign at Washington D.C.’s Pride and before that I use to live in Toronto, Canada where I volunteered for the Alliance for South Asian AIDS Prevention and I helped facilitate a queer support group called DOSTI for South Asian gay men and many of them were recent immigrates so they were new to Canada and new to North America. It was a great experience and I continue that LGBT activism here at Harvard with my involvement with the gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender student alliance and I think it’s a good time to be at Harvard Business School where people have a more open mindset and people are more willing to talk about being gay and being out and open in the context of business in the professional world. So it’s quite an exciting time.”

Pothik Chatterjee is currently finishing his MBA at Harvard Business School and will graduate in May 2014. Speakers for the “LGBT Rights in India: The Way Forward” panel will include Ashok Row Kavi, Mesma Belsare, Apphia Kumar, Amit Dixit, Ramakrishnan Kazhiyur-Mannar, Siddharth Narrain and Jonathan Ripley at the Harvard Kennedy School Sunday February 16th from 4:10 to 5:10P.
For More Info: harvardindiaconference.com 

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Ted Allen Is Dining Out For Life To Fight HIV/AIDS

In this exclusive audio interview Emmy Winner Charlotte Robinson host of OUTTAKE VOICES™ talks with Ted Allen, television personality and host of Food Network’s “Chopped” about Dining Out For Life the HIV/AIDS fundraiser. Dining Out For Life hosted by Subaru® takes place in 60 cities across North America on Thursday, April 24th. The event was conceived 23 years ago in Philadelphia and the concept is quite simple. More than 3,000 participating restaurants donate a generous percentage of that day’s proceeds to support service providers in their region to fund care, prevention, education, testing, counseling and other essential HIV/AIDS services. An estimated $4 million will be raised in just one day of dining. We talked to Ted about being a spokesperson for this fabulous event and his spin on our LGBT issues.

When asked what his personal commitment is to LGBT civil rights Allen stated, “Well you know I’m living this life. I’m a member of this team. I don’t profess to be any sort of hero. I think there are a lot of activists who devote their whole lives and work a lot harder than I do and I’m grateful for all of those folks. The one thing that all of us can do is just the fact of being out. That’s one thing that the “Queer Eye” boys and I were able to do. Just that even today has an impact on young people. It’s a nice first step.”

Ted Allen is host of the hit primetime Food Network series “Chopped” which received two James Beard Awards; one for the show itself, the other for Ted as host. Previously Ted was a judge on the first four seasons of Bravo’s “Top Chef” and Food Network’s “Iron Chef America”. He first appeared on the reality TV scene as the food and wine specialist on the groundbreaking Bravo series “Queer Eye,” which was nominated twice for an Emmy Award and took the prize in 2004. 2014 will mark his seventh year as spokesperson for Dining Out For Life. He’s joined by three other celebrity spokespeople for this fabulous fundraiser including actor Pam Grier (Foxy Brown, The L Word), designer Mondo Guerra, winner of Project Runway All-Stars and chef Daisy Martinez from Food Network’s “¡Viva Daisy!”
For More Info: diningoutforlife.com 

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“Desert Migration” Senior Gay Men Living With HIV

In this exclusive audio interview Emmy Winner Charlotte Robinson host of OUTTAKE VOICES™ talks with filmmakers Daniel Cardone and Marc Smolowitz about their new documentary "Desert Migration" for The HIV Story Project. Since HIV treatments have improved, many HIV positive men ages 50+ from all over the US decided that Palm Springs seemed like a viable place to retire where health services are great, housing is affordable and it’s always sunny. Filmmakers Cardone and Smolowitz who are both HIV positive are telling these men’s stories in their new documentary “Desert Migration.” We talked to Daniel and Marc about their relevant new film and their spin on our LGBT issues.

When asked what their personal commitment is to LGBT civil rights Cardone stated, “My personal commitment to LGBT civil rights is just to live an open and affirmative life where I’m not apologetic for who I am and be proud and active and engaged and interested and I think that is key. You don’t necessarily have to be in a march or a rally or something like that but you do have to be interested and I do think you have to be engaged in your community and know and be informed. That’s what I try and do; I just try to know what’s going on. I don’t want to be a clueless person and just say ‘my little corner is just fine, so I’m fine’. I think everything I do comes through I can’t hide under a bushel. I have to be out and I have to be gay and pride is something I had to earn. For a long time I was not proud to be gay. I didn’t understand the concept of gay pride and I think as I’ve gotten older now I know why we do this.” Smolowitz added, “When I think about my personal commitment I feel like that it is a lifelong commitment. I think with each new phase of my life and my work whether I’m talking about my work as a filmmaker or how I envision the world as an activist or as a person who is committed to social change, I’m consistently learning and relearning how to move through the world as an LGBT person. I feel very committed to making films about LGBT issues. The vast majority of my work touches the lives of LGBT communities and stories and today we’re talking about a film that has to do with HIV and AIDS. So when I talk about LGBT civil rights, when I talk about HIV and AIDS, I’m talking about the same thing and that’s how I bring those commitments together.”

Director/Producer Daniel F. Cardone was born in Australia and worked in production on critically-acclaimed films such as “The Home Song Stories”, “Animal Kingdom” and the HBO mini-series “The Pacific”. Daniel was also an Associate Producer on the groundbreaking Australian sitcom “Outland”. Marc Smolowitz is an Academy Award® nominated film, TV & new media producer of “The Weather Underground”, “Trembling Before G-d”, director of “The Power of Two” and executive producer of “Still Around” and The HIV Story Project with over twenty years of experience across all aspects of the entertainment and media business.
For More Info: DesertMigration 
 
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Brian Silva Marriage Equality USA Update

In this exclusive audio interview Emmy Winner Charlotte Robinson host of OUTTAKE VOICES™ talks with Brian Silva, Executive Director of Marriage Equality USA (MEUSA) which is the nation’s oldest and largest grassroots organization working towards full civil marriage equality at the state and federal levels. Since the US Supreme Court ruled DOMA and Proposition 8 unconstitutional in June, legally married gay and lesbian couples will qualify for federal rights and protections this year. Eighteen states have now passed marriage equality including Utah though that state has taken an illegal position on the wrong side of history refusing to legally recognize gay and lesbian marriages. We talked to Brian about this, what advancements he would like to see happen for our LGBT community in 2014 and more.

When asked what his personal commitment is to LGBT civil rights Silva stated, “As a gay man I think it’s very personal. It’s fighting for my own equality and my own ability to live in a world where I’m treated no differently than anyone else. Just with the same equality, the same protections and the same opportunities afforded to my straight friends and colleagues. For me it’s extraordinarily personal and I think for many people that are involved in LGBT equality work it’s extraordinarily personal and that’s why we do it. That’s why we volunteer, that’s why we get involved, that’s why we do all these things to make a better world for ourselves and also make a better world for future generations of LGBT kids who are growing up.”

Brian Silva’s leadership has expanded MEUSA’s grassroots education and advocacy work into communities across the United States. MEUSA has helped lead 12 field campaigns that brought marriage equality to nine additional states via the nationally recognized National Equality Action Team (NEAT) coalition. In addition, MEUSA co-led the United for Marriage Coalition events in Washington D.C. and around the country for the Supreme Court hearings and Decision Day for the 2013 Windsor v. United States and Perry v. Hollingsworth cases. Silva has spoken and been published in numerous venues and received multiple awards for his work both in and outside of LGBT equality.
For More Info: marriageequality.org

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“Styled To Rock” Andre Soriano Speaks OUT

In this exclusive audio interview Emmy Winner Charlotte Robinson host of OUTTAKE VOICES™ talks with fashion designer Andre Soriano who appeared on Bravo’s Reality TV Series “Styled To Rock” hosted by Rihanna. Soriano is one of the industry's hottest up-and-coming designers everyone’s buzzing about. Andre who has been featured in Italian Vogue left LA Fashion Week audiences speechless and amazed with his runway show. His vision and fashion interpretation is inspired by Old Hollywood glamour for today’s women and men maintaining a standard of unparalleled quality. Through his career in design he has embraced the idea that “fashion is freedom.” We talked to André about life after “Styled To Rock” and his spin on our LGBT issues.

When asked what his personal commitment is to LGBT civil rights, Soriano stated, “I love LGBT and I have always supported the lesbian, gay, transgender community and bisexual as well. We did a fashion show a long time ago where it supported kids to be positive that it’s okay to be gay and everything. So I’m an avid supporter and at the pride parade in San Diego, which is really great to support that cause. In 2014 now that marriage is out in the open I think people are more acceptable. Of course there are still like different areas, just like how everyone is staring at me because I’m wearing high heels right now. It’s quite interesting because I think it’s a little more accepting now but a lot of young people especially just like me growing up in the south need mentors and stuff. You know I never really had that so in this position I like to mentor the young kids in the LGBT community. Sometimes in San Diego I will volunteer and just go out and support the younger generation as well.”

Andre Soriano was born in the Philippines and gravitated toward fashion as a way of expressing himself after moving to America as a child. Recently he organized and participated in a fashion show benefit for the victims of Typhoon Haiyan that tore through the Philippines. Currently he’s designing couture for celebrities attending the 86th Academy Awards in March 2014. Andre’s fashion mantra is “Peace, love, glamour and fashion!"
For More Info: andresoriano.com 

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Kate Clinton Reviews LGBT Progress In 2013 & More

In this exclusive audio interview Emmy Winner Charlotte Robinson host of OUTTAKE VOICES™ talks with Kate Clinton, our favorite lesbian political humorist. As we head into the New Year it’s time to reflect on 2013 and chat about what 2014 will bring our LGBT community. This has definitely been the year of marriage equality for our community with US Supreme Court ruling Proposition 8 and DOMA unconstitutional. Perhaps the state-by-state marriage equality concept may be working faster than we thought because within a few days after talking to Kate, New Mexico’s Supreme Court ruled in favor of gay marriage and in Utah a Federal judge found the state’s ban of gay and lesbian marriages unconstitutional. However, as we move forward with LGBT equality in America, countries like Russia, Uganda, India and even Australia have implemented anti gay laws. We talked to Kate about these tribulations and her spin on our LGBT civil rights.

When asked what she would you like to see happen for LGBT Civil Rights in 2014 Clinton stated, “I think we really need to work and be more cognizant of trans issues. You know be they immigration issues, be they imprisonment issues, I think that we can in Obama’s last years, we can really push agencies to just make changes. You know, do executive orders to say that when a trans person is put in jail, if it’s a woman you don’t put that trans person into jail with men. That’s just a recipe for rape. I think that there are a lot of agencies throughout the government that are ready to have some really simple ideas that President Obama through executive order or whatever, can just put into effect. That’s the kind of thing that I would love to see. I know places like GLSEN (Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network) and the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force have really been working hard with agencies throughout the government to make that kind of change. I hope they can do it before we lose the support of President Obama; just because he’s leaving office, not that he’s changing his mind.”

Clinton is also very involved with LPAC (Lesbian Political Action Committee) conceptualized by her partner Urvashi Vaid and founded in July 2012 by committed activists and donors to positively influence the current political and social landscape in this country. LPAC’s agenda is to give lesbians a real and meaningful seat at the political table. Currently Kate is working on a new book and has revealed the name of her new 2014 national tour #KATECLINTON2014 coming to Houston, Boston, Boulder and Provincetown with additional cities to be added soon.
For More Info: kateclinton.com

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