gayboomers and the middle aged queer

Marie Osmond’s son commits suicide

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Marie Osmond

PEOPLE.com
3:09 PM EST February 27, 2010
Marie Osmond’s teenaged son, Michael Blosil, has killed himself by leaping to his death around 9 p.m. Friday in Los Angeles, reports Entertainment Tonight, which quotes Marie’s brother, Donny Osmond, as saying, “Please pray for my sister and her family.”
According to ET, Michael left a note explaining he intended to end his life after a lengthy battle with severe depression that left him, he said, feeling as if he had no friends and could never fit in.
In 2007, Michael, then 16, entered a rehab facility.The reason for the visit to rehab was never disclosed. Michael is one of eight children Osmond has raised with ex-husband Brian Blosil.
By March 2009, Marie told PEOPLE that Michael seemed to be turning his life around. He was finishing up his last year of high school while living with his mom in Las Vegas, where she and Donny headline a show.
“I couldn’t be more proud of him,” Marie said at the time. “He’s got a 3.9 GPA in high school. He’s looking at scholarships to some wonderful colleges.”
Marie Osmond, one of nine Utah-bred Osmond siblings, began performing with her brothers at age 3. She has been outspoken about the trials of her own life in the spotlight.
In her 2001 memoir “Behind the Smile,” she detailed her battle with postpartum depression following the birth of her son Matthew.
A rep for Donny and Marie Osmond confirmed to PEOPLE that the show at the Flamingo Hotel was canceled Saturday night. It is being determined how long the hiatus will remain in effect.

Gay Republicans out at CPAC

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CPAC

By Ruth Schneider, 365gay.com
There’s a new crew in the same-sex marriage fight, and they’re coming from the right.
GOProud – a name that combines their conservative ideals with gay pride – was founded by former members of the Log Cabin Republicans. The group is a sponsor of the Conservative Political Action Conference.

In an ironic coincidence, the GOProud booth was two spots away from the National Organization for Marriage booth, which wants marriage to be defined as between one man and one woman.
“It’s the ultimate Washington power grab to say let’s have a federal constitutional amendment that will federalize the question of marriage,” GOProud chairman Christopher Barron told CNN.
GOProud’s sponsorship of CPAC was not taken well by at least one group – the late Rev. Jerry Falwell’s Liberty University Law School boycotted the event.
But younger activists seem more open to marriage equality. And young people are not in short supply at CPAC – of the 10,000 expected to attend, a conference spokesman told CNN at least 60 percent of the attendees are expected to be younger than 30.

Technorati Tags: Christopher Barron, CPAC, Gay Republicans, GOProud, Rev. Jerry Falwellâ, Ruth Schneider

Gay Toronto Mayoral Candidate and Husband Approved to Adopt

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Toronto mayoral candidate George Smitherman and his husband Christopher Peloso

Gay Toronto mayoral candidate George Smitherman and his husband Christopher Peloso have been approved to adopt a 14-month-old boy, the Toronto Star reports:
“No other details on the boy have been released. ‘Christopher and I are very proud to share the news,’ Smitherman said in a statement Sunday. ‘Despite our overwhelming joy at the prospect of being parents to a beautiful baby boy, we must ask for your complete cooperation in respecting our privacy and the important legal process that governs our potential adoption.’ Smitherman stressed that under Ontario law, adoption is not finalized until the completion of a ‘carefully planned process.’ The process allows prospective parents to begin a relationship with the child and will take at least six months. ‘Until that time, our adoption is not official,’ Smitherman said. ‘I look forward to sharing more details when I am able.’ Smitherman is Ontario’s first openly gay MPP and married businessman Peloso in 2007, 13 years after the pair met and two years after they began dating. Nicknamed ‘Furious George’ for his aggressive political style, Smitherman has served as Ontario’s deputy premier, health minister and energy minister before resigning in November to run for mayor.”

Technorati Tags: Adopt, Approved, Christopher Peloso, George Smitherman, Mayoral

Still Needed

Filed Under AARP, Finances, Healthcare, Hot topics, Politics, Social Security | Leave a Comment

NY Times Published: February 20, 2010
Here is another chilling indicator of how Americans are struggling in the recession: In June 2009, some 46.9 million people were enrolled in Medicaid programs throughout the country, nearly 3.3 million more than in the previous June. That is the biggest one-year increase ever, according to a survey just released by the Kaiser Family Foundation. This year’s Medicaid enrollments are almost certain to rise even higher and faster.
Medicaid, which is jointly financed by the federal and state governments, provides health insurance for poor people whose annual incomes fall below levels specified by each state. The insurance pays their medical, hospital and nursing home bills and makes it more likely that they will receive the health care they need.
As part of last year’s stimulus bill, Congress made the sound decision to temporarily enhance — by a projected $87 billion — the federal matching money for state Medicaid programs. The money has already proved enormously important in offsetting the cost of new enrollees, avoiding harmful program cuts, stabilizing state budgets, and saving jobs in the health care industry.
Unfortunately, the extra stimulus money runs out at the end of this year. Unless Congress acts soon to extend the funding for at least six months, many hard-pressed states will be forced to reduce Medicaid benefits or make other cuts in services that are likely only to deepen the recession.
That will be bad news all around. State budgets are continuing to be badly battered, as company profits, family incomes and the taxes they generate plunge. Meanwhile, businesses continue to lay off workers, which means that more newly poor people will seek coverage from Medicaid, putting an even greater strain on state budgets when they are least able to afford it.
The president’s new budget calls for extending the enhanced Medicaid payment until mid-2011, at a cost of around $25 billion. The House has put such an extension into two separate bills. The Senate has yet to act.
The hard times are not over. The enhanced Medicaid match is necessary — both to help ease the states’ budget problems and to ensure that low-income residents get health care.

Technorati Tags: benefit, government, health insurance, nursing home, recession