About.com names Blabbeando as a "2012 Best Gay Blog" Nominee!

The good people at About.com have just announced the nominees for their "2012 About.com Gay Life Readers' Choice Awards" and I am delighted to say that Blabbeando is up for the "Best Gay Blog" award (vote here).

Blabbeando is up against some of the best blogs out there including Rod2.0, JoeMyGod, Towleroad and Kenneth in the (212) and I feel honored to be in such company.

There are also a number of other categories including "Best Gay News Site" and "Favorite LGBT Celebrity".

For a full listing of categories, click here.

It's the first time that About.com's Gay Life is running the Reader's Choice Awards.  We thank Ramon Johnson and the readers of About.com for the consideration.

An interview with me!

I have been doing a few interviews as of late and by that I mean who could forget my incredible tête-à-têtes with the likes of Jennifer Lopez, Michael Musto, Tim Dax and Lisa M?

Now comes the greatest interview of all: An interview with me!

Don't worry, I am not as infatuated with myself to have conducted the interview.  It was just happy happenstance that my friend Enrique TorreMolina was gracious enough to reach out and ask a few pressing questions.  Some excerpts:

• Me on immigration: There is no reason why the wealthiest nation in the world cannot provide opportunities for immigrants to develop their full potential regardless of economic or educational background. 
• Me on blogging: Not every blog writer posts a daily entry or multiple daily posts. I’m sure most people don’t even realize how much perseverance, dedication, personal sacrifice and time it takes a blogger to keep up that sort of blogging rhythm but it’s almost a Herculean task. 
• Me on gossip: For a while I tried to be snarky and gossipy because I felt readers would enjoy it, but ultimately it wasn’t my style. I ended up erasing a few posts where I felt I had dished out at a couple of celebrities. It just made me feel dirty. Others do gossip much better than I do.
• Me on Latino LGBT priorities: Sometimes the question about community “priorities” bothers me –and I know you didn’t mean it that way– because it’s usually code speak for ‘your priority is not important, my priority is’.
• Me on my which other blogs you should be following: It might be an eclectic list but...

Heck, I'll let you read the whole interview, and check out some of the blogs I gave props to, here: Blabbeando with Andrés Duque.

If I may say so, it's probably the most important interview you will read in your life.

Thanks, Enrique, for having the great taste to interview me! You rock.

Blabbeando nominated for the 1st ever GLAAD "Oustanding Blog" award

Seriously. Seriously? --- OK, "Seriously" is probably the one of those 2010 expressions that I hoped wouldn't survive the new year but I can't help but use it as I express my surprise at being chosen as one of five nominees to the first ever Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) "Outstanding Blog" awards.

And the nominees are:

• The Bilerico Project / Twitter
• Blabbeando / Twitter
• Joe.My.God. / Twitter
  
• Pam's House Blend / Twitter
• Rod2.0 / Twitter

For a long time, GLAAD has used its awards ceremonies to highlight excellence in media and televised coverage of LGBT issues but this the first time they honor excellence in social media including blogs.

It's bizarre, though, to be named in the same list as Burlesque (a nominee for 'Outstanding Film - Wide Release'), Grey's Anatomy (a nominee for 'Outstanding Drama Series'). Modern Family (a nominee for 'Outstanding Comedy Series'), the Scissor Sisters (a nominee for 'Outstanding Music Artists) and others

A preview:

I wanted to highlight some of the other nominees that might not get as much attention elsewhere.  They include the incredibly moving Peruvian film "Undertow / Contracorriente" which I saw in December and thought was the best movie of the year (nominated as 'Outstanding Film - Limited Release').

And, under Spanish-language nominees, I wanted to highlight amazing Mexican singer Christian Chavez who came out a couple of years before Ricky Martin did (he released a solo album called 'Almas Transparentes' last year and is a nominee for 'Outsanding Music Artist - Spanish language nominees'').

The great thing about being nominated for this first-ever 'Oustanding Blog' award is not necessarily that I expect to win. It's that I know each and everyone who has been nominated and consider them to be friends.  It might certainly be a cliché, but I am truly honored to be nominated.

Thanks, GLAAD, for considering this blog worthy of the nomination.

Related:

• GLAAD website here
• GLAAD media awards page here
• GLAAD on Twitter here

One more 'Blabbeando' shout out from "Pura Politica" on NY1

Bear with me a little bit.  I know this might come out seeming as self-serving as the last time I mentioned something like this but this just tickles my bones.

Last week I shared a translated clip from the weekly political Spanish-language show "Pura Política" which airs Friday nights at 6pm on Time Warner Cable's NY1 Noticias. In it,  New York State Senator Ruben Diaz, Sr., who we have criticized profusely on this blog due to his homophobia, gave props to this very blog.

Well, I'd saved the show on DVR and decided to finish watching it today. Little did I know that the show's host, Juan Manuel Benitez, followed up the Reverend's comments by doing a small segment explaining this blog to the show's viewers (click on the clip above).

I know more than a few people have expressed dismay to me that I posted the Senator's comments last week telling me I had fallen hook, line and sinker for a strategy to paint himself more moderate and friendly. As I said then, I don't think there is any love lost on either side, even though I also think the Senator was being sincere.  It was just an acknowledgment of civility.

Something I didn't mention last week is that I did find his comments to the effect that I loved "Pura Politica" or, more specifically, Juan Manuel Benitez, to verge on a homophobic dig at the show's host. The Senator, of course, knows exactly what this blog is about, and obviously takes pleasure in telling Benitez that I like him.

Never met the guy before (actually maybe once when he was covering some event and I was there shooting a few pictures) but I insist he runs one of the best political television political shows in the New York City metropolitan area for the same exact reasons that the Senator says he reads this blog: Benitez is impartial and lets guests like the Senator dig their own holes.

I also wanted to point out the following: Benitez thanks this blog for not only covering the show but also taking the time to translate those segments that might be relevant to readers of the blog. He says that it helps the show to reach people who might not otherwise watch "Pura Politica".

I wish other media sources would take note of that. Others would ask for this type of content to be taken down. Instead, Benitez recognizes that the type of coverage I give the show increases the opportunity for people to find out about the show.  I thank him for his words about this blog and I thank him for recognizing just that.

A shout out from Senator Ruben Diaz, Sr.

Joe.My.God. and Towleroad might get shout-outs from the likes of Kylie and Gaga but, hey, I get shout-outs too!

"I respect him," New York State Senator Ruben Diaz, Sr. says in a new video clip, "Look, Blabbeando, I read you, and I admire the way he writes, because he is impartial."

That nugget comes from last night's edition of "Pura Politica" on Time Warner's NY1 en Español and I probably would have choked on my cereal if I had been eating my cereal.

It shouldn't have surprised me so much. In October, the Senator's office released a statement thanking me for admitting I'd been wrong in saying that Senator Diaz had been mum on the recent anti-gay hate crimes committed in the Bronx. But I had assumed it had been someone in his press office putting out the statement.

I've certainly been a longstanding critic of the Reverend for his homophobia and in the interview he says he doesn't think I like him that much. Well, I'm not sure there's any love lost on his side either. But, in this case, I do appreciate his kind words about the blog.

Thank you, Senator Diaz.

Senator Ruben Diaz to Blabbeando: Thank you

One more post on the Reverend Ruben Diaz, Sr. and the anti-gay crime that took place recently in the Bronx.

Yesterday I admitted I was wrong in stating earlier in the week that Senator Diaz had been mum on the attack. But I agreed with New York Daily News political reporter Bob Kappstater when he said the statement could have been stronger and not evade the use of the word gay.

I also said that the only way I found out about the statement was through an article that ran over the weekend in the Spanish-language newsdaily El Diario La Prensa.

Admittedly, it's not Diaz's fault that other newspapers didn't pick up on his press release but, yesterday, I also criticized that the statement was nowhere to be seen in what is arguably his most public presence on the web: His Senate page.

I wasn't expecting a response and the Senator's office has certainly not reached out to me but a Google alert just... ehm... alerted me to some developments.

The Senator's office has posted the Reverend's full statement online as a top news story on his website. It's titled "Senator Reverend Ruben Diaz Outraged by Depraved Acts of Violence" and it reads as follows:

I am appalled by news reports of depraved criminal acts committed by nine young men who tortured and robbed teens and men in a building on Osborne Place in The Bronx. My thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families.

No one deserves to be brutalized or victimized. Predatory crimes like these are among the most heinous. Our laws must be enforced. Each criminal involved deserves the maximum penalty upon conviction.

Violence in our society is out of control. Too many young people act on impulse and don’t think about the consequences of their actions for themselves or others. We need to teach our youth to respect each other and remind them about the importance of reflection.

There's a second story at the top of the page, though, and that one reads "Senator Diaz to Blabbeando: Thank You!". I. Kid. You. Not.  From the Senator's statement:

I deeply appreciate the honesty of blogger Blabbeando to correct himself on his website and through his twitter account about the press release I issued on Saturday expressing my outrage about the heinous crimes committed by Bronx youth on Osborne Avenue.

Even though Blabbeando criticizes me, I love honesty – and unlike Gerson Borrero – Blabbeando is honest.

I publicly thank Blabbeando for his sincerity and for his refusal to perpetuate any claim that I was “mum” over the weekend.

As you know, yesterday I also pointed out a blog post at the WNYC radio station's website in which Latino political pundit Gerson Borrero took Senator Diaz to task for the homophobia he has seeded throughout the Bronx as a political representative from the borough.  I'm not sure if the Senator - or his press handlers - missed it but I did categorize Mr. Borrero's essay as "a great, great, great - and important - column".

Mr. Borrero, as I did at first, probably wasn't aware of the statement because it was certainly not disseminated publicly and was only picked up by few media venues, making it easy for people to have missed it.

But, in his thank you statement to Blabbeando, the Reverend (or his press handlers) are directly evading the larger point that Borrero was making in his essay: Homophobia has an impact and the Reverend has blood on his hands for seeding it all over the Bronx all these years.

Yes, I sincerely thanked the Reverend for putting out the statement because I sincerely appreciated it.  But one single statement does not make up for the incredible damage the man has done to the LGBT community in New York throughout the years.

I am aware the two men - Diaz and Borrero - have a longstanding feud over Borrero's criticism of the Reverend (Borrero calls Diaz "a man of the Devil" so there is no love lost on either side).  I for one don't appreciate to be thanked in a statement that only serves to get back at Borrero.

Two final points: In releasing the Senator's statements against the crime in the Bronx, the Senator's office also state the following:

Last week, Senator Reverend Diaz joined with community leaders to denounce crimes committed against Bangladeshi residents in Parkchester. In August, he joined with members of the New York Hispanic Clergy Organization to denounce bias attacks against Mexican residents of Staten Island.

Well, he might have joined those communities publicly at press conferences and rallies, but he certainly was nowhere to be seen when advocates held a press conference over the weekend denouncing the crimes.  Now, think about the opposite: What would have happened if the Reverend had stood publicly with LGBT community advocates and deplored the homophobic basis of the attack? THAT, my friends, would have been big news.

And about Kappstater's comment on the avoidance of using the word "gay" in the statement Diaz released to media: As Kappstater noted, the word "gay" is indeed absent from the official statement and it's also absent in the Senator's 'thank-you' statement but, surprisingly, it appears in the intro to the note:

New York State Senator Reverend Ruben Diaz issued the following remarks today in response to online postings by Blabbeando about the Senator’s repudiation of the widely reported predatory attacks of two gay men in The Bronx... 

So, in a sense, the Reverend has yet to utter the word "gay" in deploring these attacks. As for the statement that two gay men were attacked, the alleged victims are four, not two, and, as far as I know only one was known to live an openly gay life.  The fact that two of the gang members who were victimized are alleged to have admitted to having sexual contact with the openly gay man does not necessarily mean either man was gay or identified as such.

PS: The Reverend is still blocking me from following him on Twitter. LOL!

Good things come in two?

Two things came my way today and I wanted to share.

The first one was wholly unexpected: The Lesbian & Gay Foundation, one of the largest LGBT-rights organizations in the United Kingdom, launched their first ever ranking of the Top 100 International LGBT Blogs today, and they graciously - and surprisingly - included Blabbeando in their list.

Also among the 100 were Andrew Sullivan, Canadian Hope, Gay Persons of Color, Kenyon Farrow, Michael in Norfolk, Andy Towleroad, Joe Jervis a/k/a Joe.My.God, Pam Spaulding of Pam's House Blend, Marisol Lebrón at Post Pomo Nuyorican Homo, New York's Empire State Pride Agenda's The Agenda, Rod McCullum at Rod2.0, Bilerico, long time bud Coming Out at 48, Jim Burroway at Box Turtle Bulletin, Jeremy Hopper at Good as You, Immigration Equality and Queerty. I'm not sure I would call it an 'international' list since they only focused on English-language blogs, but I can't help but feel honored.

At the same time, word also reached me today that online Latino web-portal "Mi Apogéo" (soon to be re-branded as a more 'Latino' focused site) had published a 10-question interview I did with them last week appropriately titled "10 Questions for Blabbeando's Andrés Duque".

Among the questions? "What do you think is the single most important issue that affect gay and lesbian Latinos in the US?

My response? "Two issues: The economic downturn as well as immigration reform. They might not be seen as 'gay' issues, per se, but, as part of the larger Latino community, they impact LGBT Latinos as much as the rest".

Read the whole interview here.

We WIN! No time for losers 'cause we are the champions of the WORLD!

So voting is over at the 2008 Weblog Awards for the best blogs of the year and the winner has been crowned. CONGRATULATIONS TOWLEROAD!!

I am glad to report that Blabbeando came in dead-last in the Best LGBT Blog category with 0.5% of the vote! As I said, though, we were stunned to be chosen as a finalist and we hardly had any chance to compete against the big guys and gals. Plus the general subject of this blog is rather narrow anyway. Or perhaps it's all excuses for being a looooosaah !

Being serious: I was actually honored to have been chosen amongst thousands of LGBT blogs out there and it certainly brought new readership to the blog (we went from a Technorati rating of 86 to 104 even if only nerds know what that means).

The breakdown?

• 10. Blabbeando (165 votes, 0.5% of the vote)
  
• 9. TransGriot (318 votes, 1.0% of the vote)
  
• 8. Susie Bright's Journal (341 votes, 1.1% of the vote)
• 7. Tammy Bruce (438 votes, 1.4% of the vote)
  
• 6. Gay Patriot (1,262 votes, 3.9% of the vote)
  
• 5. This Girl Called Automatic Win (1,459 votes, 4.6% of the vote)
  
• 4. Pam's House Blend (2,848 votes, 8.9% of the vote)
  
• 3. Joe.My.God (5, 173 votes, 16.2% of the vote)
  
• 2. The Bilerico Project (7,917 votes, 24.7 of the vote)
  
• 1. Towleroad (12,074 votes, 37.7% of the vote)
  

Pam and Joe have been past winners and Andy T. has now joined them in the pantheon. I am thrilled that This Girl Called Automatic Win pulled in 5th and also remain ever thankful to Monica Roberts at TransGriot for her encouragement and support. We are all winners in this game called life! Or, as ABBA said, "The winner takes it all / The loser standing small / Beside the victory / That's her destiny."

Indeed! Congratulations to all the top vote getters as well as all the nominees!

Blabbeando named as a 2008 Weblog Awards Finalist

This was totally unexpected: Yesterday morning Monica Roberts, who authors the TransGriot blog, e-mailed me and congratulated me for being named as one of ten finalists for the "Best LGBT Blog" category in the 2008 Weblog Awards.

I've certainly been aware of the Weblog Awards in the past and have perused them over the years to find out about some great blogs that I might have not known about. But I certainly wasn't aware that Blabbeando had been submitted as a potential nominee, much less had the chance to be selected as one. Well, it did. And it was!

There is a small window of opportunity for readers to vote for their favorite nominees (January 5th through the 12th) and I'll certainly put a direct-link badge so readers can vote for Blabbeando as soon as it is made available. But in some ways, as with the Oscars, the real win is being nominated since it makes people aware of the blog. Plus there is the itty-bitty detail of being matched up with Joe, Pam, Bilerico and Andy Towleroad as nominees. Beat them for the award? Yeah, right.

Anyhoo: It is bizarre how many of the nominated bloggers I know / have met. Here is a full list of the nominees in the "Best LGBT Blog" category:

• JoeMyGod
• Towleroad
• The Bilerico Project
• Pam's House Blend
• Susie Bright's Journal
• Tammy Bruce
• This Girl Called Automatic Win
• TransGriot
• Gay Patriot
• Blabbeando

For a full list of nominees in other categories, click here. All in all, a great way to end the blogging year! Happy holidays and may 2009 be just peachy keen, y'all. Peace, I'm out.

Je suis speechless

Pardon the hiatus

Third bloggaversary - Thanks Pablo!

On August 10th, this blog will turn three years old. Back then, I was trying the bald look which is, alas, no more.

I've always found it a little silly to celebrate 'bloggaversaries'. I mean, it's not as if a blog is a live, breathing thing. But this year I wanted to 'celebrate' by thanking someone.

You might have noticed that there have been a few changes to the blog layout in the past few days (it's the third major change in as many years).

Best of all has been a first-ever Blabbeando logo courtesy of my great bud Pablo Caro, who happens to be a graphic / web designer wiz (he works with some of the biggest media giants out there and it shows). Love it!

Like what you see? Pablo can be reached for your graphic design needs at Nuevo Studio. Thank you Pablo!

Blabbeando on EDGE New York

Cody Lyon who blogs at sbloglater, interviewed me a few days ago for an article that appears online today at EDGE New York ("New York bloggers make their mark," May 6, 2008).

Blabbeando is featured next to Eric Leven's blog (KnuckleCrack), the Empire State Pride Agenda's blog (The Agenda), Lady Bunny's blog (LadyBunny.net) and, of course, Joe Jervis' blog (you might know Joe better as Joe.My.Blog).

Thanks to EDGE Publications for stopping by and including the blog.

Bizarre: Blabbeando blocked for 24 hours

On August 10th it'll be three years since I began this blog. So far I haven't encountered any problems with Blogger (which is owned by Google) and - considering my time limitations - I haven't had the need for features available on other blog services other than the ones that Blogger offers.

I do remember when I first noticed that "FLAG BLOG" tab on the top of the page and wondering how Google would be able to determine if a "flagged" blog was indeed violating some of the content agreements or just being reported by people who simply did not like the content (which of course comes into play on issues such as LGBT rights which might draw the ire of a certain number of people).

This came to mind last night when I logged into my dashboard and - to my surprise - a message appeared on the editing page saying that I had been blocked from uploading additional posts because Blabbeando had been automatically identified by a Google bot as a "Spam" blog.

The message provided directions of how to click on a button and request that the blog be inspected for content and promised to investigate and solve the problem. Checking some online boards I discovered that some people had been waiting for more than 20 days for a response. Trouble is that the message also said the blog would be erased after 20 days if there was no action.

Today the warning message changed! It now said that the blog was being blocked for "possible content issues" which made me think it might be due to some trigger-happy people pressing that "FLAG BLOG" button. I mean, I talk about sexuality from time to time but so far I could see no reason why my previous posts might have violated content agreements.

I also discovered that while I wasn't able to do regular posts, I could still ad Page Elements to the right hand column which is why this afternoon I posted something that read:

SPECIAL ALERT TO READERS: BLABBEANDO ON STANDBY

Blogger has blocked my ability to post entries on this blog as of April 29, 2008, pending a content review. Apparently I can still post page elements on the side bar which makes it possible for me to post this notice.

Hopefully the issue will be resolved satisfactorily sooner than later. In the meantime thanks for visiting the blog!

Happily, the issue seems to have been resolved because I just regained access to the "New Post" area on my editing dashboard. Bizarre.

El Blabbeador on BBC News

And I thought people wouldn't notice but I have already gotten a few messages about this article posted online earlier today.

BBC News reporter Emilio San Pedro was in New York recently to cover issues related to the Latino community and the New York City visit by the Pope, among other stories.

When he called me he said that he was interested in meeting me to discuss the Latino LGBT community in the United States. He said that British press had been covering issues related to sexual orientation and the Middle East (most recently in the context of protests against the deportation of gay Iranians and the case of Medhi Kazemi in particular) and that he wanted to broaden the discussion to include issues faced by LGBT communities throughout the world.

BBC Radio broadcast a brief interview a few days ago and today BBC News posted a larger article based on San Pedro's conversation with myself and my great friend, Diana De La Pava. Here is the link:

• "Gay Latinos 'minority twice over'" (BBC News, April 29, 2008)
  

Although I did speak of sometimes LGBT Latinos being marginalized by both the Latino community as well as the mainstream gay community in the United States, I'm not sure I was trying to play on the "poor little us" angle which the title conveys. But I hope the rest of the article carries the message that despite some marginalization, the community has been able to become more visible and gain certain power as welll.

Touristin'

Been touristin' with visiting family. Blogging will be intermittent for the next few days. That's me at the top of the Empire State Building yesterday afternoon (behind me and the tourists is the southern tip of Manhattan).

I've been Bilerico'fied

Blabbeando has received The Bilerico Project's stamp of approval! We are now under the "Poject Recommended" blog roll.

Thank you guys! That's sweet!

Happy belated birthday

Hm, for some reason I thought tomorrow was the beginning of Blabbeando's third year (or our second anniversary, if you're counting). Just checked and realized that the proper date had actually passed (Aug. 10th). So happy belated birthday to me! Ah, and yes, I am back in the USofA but have been catching up with things at work and elsewhere. So it will probably be a few days 'til I can get back into the regular blogging swing of things.

For the love of Senator Chuck Schumer

Well, kiddies, it's time to bid farewell. El Blabbeador nearly went crazy these past couple of weeks dealing with the US Department of State and their processing of a passport I'd submitted for renewal more than three months ago.

We even called Senator Chuck Schumer's office (we saw a report on New York 1 last week in which they helped a woman get her passport as well) and they said they would submit an inquiry on my behalf last week.

So, I'm still not sure if it was the many hours I spent on the phone trying to push the issue (I was finally told that the passport had been processed and mailed on Friday) or the love of Chuck Schumer (well, at least the love of his courteous staff members) that minutes ago I finally got my hands on my new passport (and I travel early tomorrow).

I might check in in a few days if I get access to the internet. Otherwise we'll leave ya with a photo comparison:
























circa 1996

















circa 2007

Yeah, I know... Don't worry though! We'll be back in mid-August or so.

A blog is born: Sonnets from the Fireescape

August 15th will mark the 2 year anniversary of this blog. A quarter of a million hits later, we are struggling to keep up to date or to find the time to write about all that we would like to write about.

Still, blogs are born every single day and we still remember the warm reception that we got when we launched. So when I get an e-mail message thanking me for creating this blog and for showing the way, I can't fail but feel all warm and nice inside. That it comes from a Bronx-based married gal (and mom) means even more since it shows that what I write is having an impact beyond gay circles.

So, without further ado, join me in welcoming Sonnets from the Fireescape to the Blabbeando blog-roll. Thanks TS for the props!

Blabbeando in beta

So without much advance notice Google-owned Blogger decides to launch a nifty beta update on Monday with lots of juicy thingies (including the ability to ad labels to posts and to easily manipulate layout color and font changes as well as the ability to ad other third-party html and Java code without having to know much about either).

It's also a beta version which means that additional thingies will be added later (and issues resolved such as the fact that it apparently doesn't work well with Macintosh's Safari system).

Catch is: You have to be invited to convert your blog to the new Blogger in Beta and - guess what! - the invite popped up on my dashboard yesterday night! In one of those 'if you click here you can never go back to your old format' I decided to save the old html template just in case I lost some of the links I've built up and went ahead and did the crazy thing and hoped for the best. The switch also involved abandoning my old username and password (in Blogger in Beta you have to assign your blog to a gmail account).

Result: Minimal disruption (links survived as well as comments to older posts, third-party codes did not survive but can be added again, and been happy checking out some of the new editing options).

So bear with me through this week as I'll be playing with new colors, fonts and layouts. Yay! Nice way to celebrate the one year anniversary since I launched the blog!