Cover Stories
A proud history: A look back at the pioneers of Kentucky’s LGBTQ movement
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is synonymous with any number of features from its loud and proud culture. Among them, horse racing, bourbon, basketball and Bluegrass come to mind – “masculine,” traditional pursuits peppered with a few less-flattering stereotypes. It may be surprising to some, then, that Kentucky is home to the first and only statewide…
Our neighbors from afar: Stories of immigrants we know
At the heart of any national issue are the people affected by policy changes, new laws and executive orders. In Jefferson County, the people affected by Donald Trump’s xenophobic messages and actions number about 52,000, or almost 7 percent of the population. They are immigrants. Some of their past lives have been marked by fear,…
Country club schools: Why charter schools make no sense for Kentucky
In social media’s endless wisdom, one glorious meme summed up the charter school debate perfectly. It displayed a woman explaining: “My husband and I have decided the local parks just aren’t good enough for our kids. We’d rather use the country club, and we are hoping state tax dollars will pay for it. We are…
A warm-up for President Trump’s visit next Monday, the people behind Saturday’s protest against VP Pence and Gov. Bevin
[All photos by BRIAN BOHANNON] Next Monday, President Trump will speak at a rally at Freedom Hall, and area protesters got a warm-up Saturday as they turned out by the hundreds for Vice President Mike Pence’s visit with Gov. Matt Bevin and local business leaders in Jeffersontown. Pence was here to sell the Trump administration’s changes to…
10 things to do under $5 this week in Louisville (3/13)
MONDAY UofL Women’s Basketball NCAA Tournament Selection Show The Sports and Social Club at Fourth Street Live! Free | 6 p.m. The NCAA men’s basketball bracket has been filled, but the women’s tournament selection is happening this Monday. Join the UofL women’s basketball players as they awaits the announcement of their placement in the tournament, and celebrate with them on…
Educating for Equality: University of Louisville School of Medicine Leads the Nation in LGBT Competency Training
With open enrollment for the Affordable Care Act having just recently closed for 2017, many have healthcare at the forefront of their minds. For those in the queer community, once you have made it through the Labyrinth – insurance providers and Medicaid eligibility; bronze, gold, silver or platinum (are we talking Mariah Carey album sales…
The Roots of Pride: Kentuckiana Pride’s Enduring Legacy
The dictionary defines pride as, “a becoming or dignified sense of what is due to oneself or one’s position or character; self-respect; self-esteem,” and “pleasure or satisfaction taken in something done by or belonging to oneself or believed to reflect credit upon oneself.” Both of these definitions capture the essence of the varied gatherings of…
A Place to Play
When members of the LGBTQ community are planning a night out on the weekend – or on a weekday for that matter – we admittedly have an abundance of choices. The city is lucky to boast a diverse and eclectic array of various watering holes oriented for LGTBQ folks, and while you truly can’t choose…
Read every food review from Robin Garr’s immigrant restaurant series
For a month, LEO food writer Robin Garr joined with other Louisville food writers to celebrate some of the immigrant chefs and restaurateurs who bring us so much culinary joy. Below, you can read every installment of the four-part series. Guaca Mole soars over all walls with Mexican delights “Guaca Mole’s dinner menu offers ‘Chefs…
An All-Inclusive Affair: The Rainbows & Roses Soiree
The Kentucky Derby is not just a time to celebrate and cut loose but also a time to come together in celebration of the fabulous culture of Louisville. This year, revelers can add one more party to their Derby calendar that will of course be a grand affair – as is expected for this time…
5 Things To Do This Weekend in Louisville (3/10)
FRIDAY Rise with Standing Rock March in Louisville Big Four Bridge Free | 10-11:30 a.m. Red Road Awareness, a group dedicated to educating people on Native-American issues, is holding a march in solidarity with the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and noDAPL movement. The march begins at 10 a.m., and will cross the Big Four Bridge…
Immigrants: How to help
This is not an exhaustive list, but here are a few organizations offering services to immigrants and refugees. They always need more volunteers. Americana World Community Center 366-7813 americanacc.org Kentucky Refugee Ministries 479-9180 kyrm.org Catholic Charities of Louisville 637-9786, ext. 204 cclou.org And…. the Louisville Free Public Library hosts an English conversation club several times…
LGBT Catholics — this is our faith, too
The Rev. Joseph Fowler has been a priest for 56 years, but he stood with other Catholics on the steps of Louisville’s cathedral again this year to disagree with Archbishop Joseph Kurtz, urging him to change his stance on LGBT rights. Fowler, along with Catholics for Fairness, gathered Sunday to ask Kurtz to support Fairness…
Thorns & Roses: The Worst & Best
The little state that should | Rose Kentucky is a small state, but somehow we seem to get more than our share of national attention, good and bad. It happened again last week as President tRump, in his remarks to Congress, extolled Gov. Matt Bevin for his lie about Obamacare in our state. And then…
Two sides of the same coin: Otis Junior and Dr. Dundiff’s ambitious new record ‘Hemispheres’
The juxtaposition between Otis Junior and Dr. Dundiff is stark. Otis is calm and reserved, the kind of cool you’d expect to match that silky voice. Dr. Dundiff is all energy, enthusiastically sharing stories about the best prank he ever pulled off and the general history of the J Dilla classic “Donuts,” both prefaced by…
Show preview: Boner City, Scuzz Master, Drool, Tycoons of Teen, The Archaeas
These five bands have a hard-hitting, yet slick, style that’s messy, catchy and loud, with raw power and golden hooks. And on Friday, March 10, they all perform at The Cure Lounge for $5. Boner City With two-minute punk burners, Boner City captures the no-frills, aggressive aspects of the prototypical godfathers of the genre, but…
‘I Now Pronounce’ is escapist fare of a high order
Sometimes “new” just means new. For some years, the word “new” in Actors Theatre of Louisville’s Humana Festival of New American Plays has seemed more like an aesthetic manifesto than a straightforward assertion of contemporaneity. Festival plays far more often than not have fallen into such categories as “radical experiments in narrative structure,” “revisionist remixes…
The World As It Is, As We Are: ‘I Am Not Your Negro’
Sitting on the pew among the mourners at the funeral of Martin Luther King Jr., author James Baldwin admits that he held back his tears because he felt, echoing what he undoubtedly knew everyone in that room struggled with, that if he began crying he would never stop. As a white man, and one born…
Jenny Lawson: ‘Build a fiery moat around your pillow fort…’
‘You Are Here’ by Jenny Lawson (Flatiron Books; 150 pgs., $15.99) This is not going to be a standard book review/author-appearance preview. Start with the author. Known as The Bloggess (with online presence at thebloggess.com, naturally), Jenny Lawson is a humorist whose métier is essay-length pieces about being a wife, mother and friend, while living…
Funmi’s favors us with Nigerian flavors
What do Americans know about Nigeria? Not much, to be frank, and sadly enough, a lot of it isn’t good. Beyond internet scammers with wacky schemes and Boko Haram terrorists, what do we know? The most populous country in Africa, whose Yoruba culture goes back more than 1,000 years, and one of the world’s top…
Yuengling comes to Indiana, Holsopple is pouring
So, it finally happened: Yuengling beers are now in the Louisville area. All you Yuengling fans can rejoice and go buy case upon case of this often-elusive Pennsylvania-brewed lager. Last week, Wick’s Pizza in New Albany held a launch party with some bigwigs from the brewery, and The Keg Liquors is already announcing on social…
The Eagle is flying right in the Highlands
The bald eagle was chosen June 20, 1782, to be the symbol of the United States because of its strength, majesty and long life. While many Americans may be enraged by what our current presidential administration seems to consider truly American, the bald eagle still soars on our seal perhaps offering hope that America will…
Ask Minda Honey: Too Fast, Too Slow, Just Right
In a relationship jam? Lemme unstuck your life: AskMindaHoney@leoweekly.com. Q: Is there a way to tell a woman that you are not ready for a long-term relationship without her suspecting you of being immature and/or promiscuous? A few weeks ago, I got out of a long-term relationship. Last weekend, I met someone, and we hit…
Savage Love: Defining Decency Down
Q: My wife and I have a decent sex life. Pretty vanilla, but we’re busy with work, chores and life in general with two small kids, so I can’t complain too much. About a year after having our second kid, I went down on my wife. As usual, we both enjoyed it greatly. Unfortunately, about…
What would Charlie say?
In the middle of this photo is Charlie, probably around 1940. The first line of the caption on this photo is the reason I bought it from a bin of forgotten lives. “Doesn’t this man look like God himself?” There is no irony. In the photos, he is standing next to a man draped in…
Joe, We’ll be seeing you by and by
As the years of your life stack up, you will spend more and more time in a state of bereavement, the people you cherish will be snatched away, their warm glow rendered to a weak dim until it’s done, a sheet pulled over the cold husk of a person who had a profound impact on…
Go west, Louisville City FC
The success and support of a new soccer stadium will depend almost entirely on the site location. There is little debate that professional soccer is a hit in Louisville. Despite its undersized, ill-suited home field at the Louisville Slugger Field baseball stadium, Louisville City FC last year drew the second-largest attendance in its 29-team league.…
Your Voice
on louisville fc, build it, or they may leave If it’s such a good idea, Louisville City FC can go get a loan and build it themselves. —John Whitney Jr. Amen. — Lisa Ellen Phillips Lots of cities’ sports share a stadium for a couple of years. The Dallas Stars and Mavericks shared Reunion Arena…
