Five stories that have North Texas talking: One family's story of healing as Exodus International and its Texas affiliates close; possible changes experts are watching for in the electoral process besides Voter I.D., the unsung heroes behind David Bowie and Mick Jagger and more.
San Francisco鈥檚 City Hall on occasion of the Supreme Court鈥檚 decision to strike down Proposition 8 and part of the Defense of Marriage Act this week. For Samuel Taylor, 22, the sign of acceptance he sought came not on the face of a public building, but on the refrigerator. His mom, Connie Casey, had left a magnet with a rainbow heart that read 鈥淟ove Is Spoken Here.鈥�
She鈥檇 taken years to come to terms with Samuel鈥檚 homosexuality after he told her he was gay in high school. When he was 15, Connie sent her son to corrective therapy with an Exodus International affiliate. The head of that ministry apologized for hurting people in their mission to reorient those with same-sex attraction and Arlington, Midland, and the Austin area all had
The mom and son pair
- The Voter-I.D. Law鈥檚 Quieter Cousins: Experts are counting the ways election officials could complicate voting processes after Section 5 was dismembered this week in the Supreme Court, leaving areas once considered vulnerable to changes made without federal approval open to, well, many things. The Voter-I.D. law enacted in Texas is broadly known and contested for its possible discouragement of minorities and the poor, but there鈥檚 a more measured rift in cities like Philadelphia, too, where many people simply don鈥檛 own cars and are less likely to be vigilant about photo I.D. officials have used in the past: They can change polling locations just days before an election, for instance.
- 鈥楾wenty Feet From Stardom,鈥� Now Close Enough To See: Angelikas in Dallas and Plano are now showing Morgan Neville鈥檚 documentary about the unsung heroes behind some of the most important songs in the history of pop and rock: backup singers. Twenty Feet From Stardom features singers like Merry Clayton, who dragged herself to the studio at 2 a.m. pregnant with curlers in her hair to sing on 鈥淕imme Shelter.鈥� (Just like most of hadn鈥檛 heard of Clayton, she says she hadn鈥檛 heard of 鈥淭he Rolling Somebodys鈥� when she got the call.) NPR鈥檚 Mandalit Del Barco ; and our Art&Seek Big Screen podcast team . (Oh, and Morning Edition host Sam Baker saw the film and implores you to do the same.)
- Fort Worth Opera Banks For The 鈥楢mericas鈥�: The Fort Worth Opera just got a four year, $490,000 grant to make a new work as part of its Opera of the Americas program. The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation is the gifter. In January, FWO director Darren Woods told Think鈥檚 Krys Boyd
- 鈥淒rugs鈥� Makes Dallas CVB Look Sharp: A recent promotional video released by the City of Dallas set out to show off the adventurous spirit and steely determination of the city鈥檚 people, who have created a place that defies expectation. 鈥淲e say our name and everyone thinks they know us,鈥� the narration begins. Enter the lilting-then-urgent scramble of 鈥淒rugs鈥� by electronica outfit Ratatat, which scores the video. There are no lyrics; it鈥檚 perhaps an affirmation of the video鈥檚 message, though, that the vibrant and well-placed song wasn鈥檛 vetoed because of its title. The vid premiered at the Dallas City Council Inauguration this week and 鈥� watch it here on YouTube. []
