(Originally Published on The Huffington Post on 7/13/2012)

My grandfather is turning 100 years old next month, which completely blows my mind. I’m flying to South Dakota with my partner to do strange Americana activities at Mt. Rushmore and then celebrate his century of life with everyone on my mother’s side of the family. It’s going to be a very special time, and I am really looking forward to it. I wish my aunt could be there with us, but this year has brought with it big heartaches, as well, and she is no longer here. It’s devastating to think about my grandpa having to endure losing his daughter so late in his life, but he is a very wise old man, and he has handled her passing better than any of the rest of us.

I suppose that sort of deep understanding about death is to be expected of a person who has lived 100 years. He has already said goodbye to his grandparents, his parents, his cousins, his siblings, all his friends, and his wife. He is at peace with having loved and lost, and he seems to be fine with his own mortality. Clearly, this man knows something about life that I have yet to learn.
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(Originally Published on The Huffington Post on 6/15/2012)

Happy Pride Month, everybody! I am preparing to be neck-deep in an array of Portland’s gape ride festivities this coming weekend, then I’m flying east to New York City with my man to promote my new single, relax, and do Pride all over again. There is much to celebrate this year! For me, this time is about honoring our love, valuing who we are as people, and remembering the brave LGBT folks who have paved the way for us.

For this (third) round of “Queer Celebrities Need Love, Too” I chatted with pop legend Fred Schneider (The B-52s, The Superions), Bravo’s Chris March (Project Runway, Mad Fashion), transgender rapper Katastrophe, electrorock lovechild Seth Bogart (Gravy Train!!!!, Hunx and His Punx), queercore pioneer turned folk powerhouse Kaia Wilson (Team Dresch, The Butchies), Joan Jett‘s indie rock prodigies Girl in a Coma, self-proclaimed drag terrorist Christeene, artist/author Slava Mogutin, and English singer/songwriter Scott Matthews. They all answered the same five questions about what queer pride means to them:

1. If you could sum up in one word what it means for you to have queer pride, what would it be?

2. How will you celebrate pride this year?

3. Would you ever be in a relationship with someone who was still in the closet and planned on remaining that way?

4. In thinking about your own experience with relationships and just what exactly we are celebrating this Pride Month, please tell us about the first time in your life when you felt proud of who you are and of your queer love.

5. If that personal pride experience were adapted into a film, what song would be the soundtrack to that scene?