Planet Homo

Anderson Cooper Races Michael Phelps, kinda.

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Harvey Milk

Reflections on the Piano and the Human Voice

The American Music Awards gave Annie Lennox  a special merit award. Justin Timberlake introduced her, and she quietly sat down at a grand piano and in the key of C she began to sing: "How many times do I have to try to tell you that I'm sorry for the things I've done..." It was simple, a woman and a piano, singing about a broken relationship, and it was devastating.
There has always been something about this combination that reaches deep into the psyche and the heart. Long ago, singer-songwriter Laura Nyro, at a very early age, did the same thing—she revealed herself through song, that mysterious four minute journey into lyrics, major and minor chords, that so often produce emotion. Joni Mitchell turned to the piano in 1974's Court and Spark, leaving behind the folk-infused and often strangely tuned guitar in favor of the chordal orchestrations that the piano so eloquently delivers. Annie Lennox sat down at the piano and made the world have a breakdown. Maybe it’s the intensity of the lyrics, maybe it’s the simplicity of the music (it’s a three chord song), we never really know what makes us feel. It just does.

Kiss Off

How I wish actor would talk about kissing an actress in this manner.

At Long Last: Milk Reviewed

It's been nearly a month since I saw the movie in a small private screening theatre on Sunset Strip in West Hollywood. Screening rooms are not the best place to watch a film—its usually a larger than TV size screen with a muffled, deadened sound. It's a small audience, maybe about twenty five people in all. For whatever reason, there was what's called an "embargo" against writing reviews for the film until this week. What occurred was everyone, especially the Hollywood Reporter, writing so-called non-reviews, or just ignoring the embargo as some kind of marketing ploy, which it was. There has been a lot of discussion as to why the film was released after the elections, especially in light of the defeat of Proposition 8 in California. At the screening, a well-known writer of gay cinema told me that the film was being released in late November for Academy Award consideration. There is much irony to this: Milk is a movie that actually motivates one to want to get involved in politics. This is, at this point, marketing under the bridge.
The film begins with some rare, revealing and painful scenes of gay bars being raided in the 50s. It is a poignant reminder that it wasn't that long ago, that just going to a gay bar was dangerous. Gay life was fraught with danger from being fired or blackmailed and basic civil rights were denied. We meet a 40 something Harvey Milk, who as played by Sean Penn is nothing less than a revelation. Charming, witty,  and persuasive, we believe that this man could bed the much younger Scott Smith, played beautifully by James Franco. A relationship develops and we see Harvey Milk evolve from a deadened insurance agent to a shop owner in the increasingly gay Castro neighborhood of San Francisco. We witness many, many marches through the streets of San Francisco and the rise of a politician who is as cunning as he is clever. There is a lot of realism in Milk, from the kissing exchange between Penn and Franco to the use of many of Harvey Milk's old friends in the film. The question really is, in film, do you make it more interesting than life? The character of Jack Lira played by Diego Luna is so annoying that by the time he makes his exit, there is actually some relief. And in some ways, this is the missing emotion in Milk: you can be devastated by the murder, the sorrow of what might have been, but director Van Sant has chosen to see this through history not someones eyes.
Is it a great film? Probably not, because great films have enormous emotional impact. The greatness lies in Sean Penn's performance, which is inspired. Nearly everyone shines even if their character doesn't (Advocate owner David Goldstein takes a beating). Josh Brolin is haunting as Dan White, a man who finds he cannot compete with the charm and political abilities of Harvey Milk.
What this film does exceedingly well is tell a story about a man who had courage. A hero, not just in gay history but in the context of San Francisco itself. It is clear that in an age such as ours, Harvey Milk's are needed to define, explain and compel people into action. That is greatness in itself.

God Love 'em

Ancient, paranoid, God-fearin’ Pat Boone delivers his sermon on current events. It’s best to just let him go on:

Marriage itself, the sacred institution around which all society is built, is being attacked and shaken. Yes, attacked with intent to contaminate it in a way that will eventually cause the collapse of American social order.
And this same young man has taken a stand against any constitutional defense of marriage, proclaiming that though he doesn't personally approve of same-sex "marriage," he will do nothing to prevent it. This must have encouraged the already wildly inflamed opponents of California's Prop 8 who attack churches, synagogues and business people who dared support marriage as between one man and one woman. These radicals publicly announce their well-organized plans to overrule the expressed will of the voters in California. Believing the newly elected president gives them his tacit approval, as does Gov. Schwarzenegger, the homosexual activists are mounting frontal attacks on all who disagree with them, determined that neither the democratic process nor law itself will deprive them of their wishes. With the salivating support of the ACLU, the same four California judges who thumbed their noses at the voters previously will have the opportunity to do it again. And their apparent intent is to keep thwarting the will of the majority until supporters of traditional marriage just give up.

As the nation is wrenched by the tectonic economic crisis, a young man has been elected on promises he'll fix it all, though he has no experience whatever in such matters. And while we are still at war on two fronts, this new commander in chief, who never wore a uniform or carried a gun, promises to settle all that military stuff, bring our troops home and keep us secure against implacable enemies through diplomacy. These enemies are the same ones who destroyed the World Trade Center in one morning, killing 3,000 Americans. But his middle name is Hussein, so he proposes to "reason" with them.

You may well wonder why, in this Thanksgiving season, I'm thanking God for all this shaking. Well, let's look again at what brought the Twin Towers down. The first time the Islamic jihadists tried to destroy the WTC, they did it the smartest way – they attacked the foundations, down in the subterranean garages, planting huge bombs that would surely have toppled the massive buildings. But they were foiled at the last minute, and had to try again. So on Sept. 11 in 2001, 23 trained and disciplined terrorists attacked the Towers at a much higher and totally unexpected level. They commandeered some jetliners, filled with unsuspecting passengers, and plunged them into the upper floors of the Towers, accomplishing the unthinkable. Two giant buildings, with thousands of people in them, crumpled to the ground in cataclysmic annihilation.

Be thankful for any of that? No, of course not. But yes, I give thanks for the brief period of galvanizing unity and the outpouring of goodwill that drew our people together. Out of that national quake came a refreshing promise of the kind of spirit that created America in the first place. It dissipated, but while it lasted, it was real.

And now a much greater shaking is affecting our national life. In a terrible pincer movement, an assault is taking place on two fronts simultaneously – one all-out attack on the foundations, the very pillars of our society, and the other on the executive suites in the ivory towers of business and finance. The jihadists in these organized, hugely funded attacks on our morality and virtue are not Middle Eastern – they're homegrown Americans who actually believe they're promoting a better America by destroying the foundations on which this nation was built!

Recall that George Washington declared, "Religion and morality are the twin pillars of liberty" … two foundational supports.

Well, on one front, our jihadists would grant homosexual activity "marriage rights," which outweigh the will of the majority and defy the societal structuring of all human history. And they believe that destroying babies in the womb is a woman's "right" – oblivious to the divinely and constitutionally ordained rights of the unborn American citizen. What if one of those had been Obama?

First hand journalism

From UPI, this wonderful story that should teach all editors a lesson:

A Swedish magazine geared toward gay men said members of its editorial staff underwent cosmetic surgery for an article about the practice.

The editors of Dorian Magazine, which bills itself as a commercial lifestyle magazine for gay men, said they underwent procedures including nose jobs, lip augmentations, liposuction, facelifts and muscle enhancement surgery for the article, which appears in the current edition of the magazine, The Local reported Friday.

“Dorian Magazine represents an artistic fantasy world with an idealized beauty. Having the editorial team undergo plastic surgery in order to get insight into the ideal we promote was almost a question of credibility,” said creative and fashion director Jake Rydqvist, who had some excess skin removed from above his eyes for the cosmetic surgery feature.

Editor-in-chief Benjamin Falk, who had liposuction performed on his chin, said that while cosmetic surgery can be beneficial, it will not automatically cure self-esteem problems.

“I absolutely recommend it to people who want to freshen up their looks a little, but people shouldn’t believe that plastic surgery will change one’s life if they are not already happy and feel good about themselves,” he said.

So that's how it is.....

Strange...

Advocate Interview Goes South

Brandon Voss, fresh from his years at HX magazine interviewed Adrien Brody for the December issue of The Advocate. Brody, as his face would suggest is a serious man. Here is an example of what happens when the interviewer runs out of pertinent questions:

Do guys still hit on you?
I guess I'd be disappointed if they didn't.
What if a man had presented you with your Oscar instead of Halle Berry? Were you so wrapped up in the moment that you might've have kissed him too?
That's a pretty silly question. No, obviously not. Part of the excitement was that it was a beautiful woman presenting me with such a beautiful moment in my life.
Is there any actor for whom you would've made an exception?
No.
Let's try another approach: For your next gay role, who'd you choose for your on-screen love interest?
You want me to name an actor? No, I can't answer that question, Brandon. See, you ask me how I deal with rumors, and I also have to deal with not adding fuel to them. Something that would be a completely innocuous comment on my part will be completely taken out of context by the next journalist, so I'd appreciate it if you were understanding about that.
Have I put you in a bad mood?
I'm still in a good mood, but I'm also a relatively serious person, so these questions are difficult for me.
So I guess I shouldn't ask if it's true what they say about a man with a prominent nose?
Why would you do that to somebody? You and I don't know each other, right? We're complete strangers, actually. I'm being respectful to you, so you have to extend the same courtesy.
Oh, Adrien, it's all in good fun. I'm trying to show your sense of humor here.
I didn't sign up for that.

We call this SASSY!

Miami New Times' Kyle Muzenrieder is nothing if not sassy. This editorial appears on their blog today in which Mr. Muzenenrieder offers sound advice as an alternative to the vaguely challenging "Call in Gay" (we call in gay everyday!) protest scheduled for early December. Here are his words:

Oh the proud history of Facebook-spread protest boycotts. Never forget the great Facebook strike of October, or those twenty times everyone was going to not purchase gas for a day. The latest to pop up in our news feed was "A Day With Out A Gay."

"LGBT workers, business owners, consumers and taxpayers contribute over $700 billion to the U.S. economy each year and should not be treated as second class citizens." OMG, the Gays paid for the bailout! So now they are going to "call in Gay" for the day, skip work, and not spend any money thus temporarily devastating Calvin Klien's underwear industry, and leaving fashion reality tv shows with out bitchy hosts. That'll learn 'em good.

Whatever, this is ten times better than threatening the Mormons with faux-anthrax (honey, that is so William Ayers) and whatever tiny bits of irresponsible protest that the right wing blogs can zero in on (though, this could be alleviated if a right wing wacko scrawled a rainbow on her cheek and blamed it on a gay).

Note to Shepard Fairey and whoever designed this logo. The fist symbol may have a strong protest history, but, well, let's just say you try putting in "Gay Fist" into Google image search with safesearch off and see if your eyes don't pop out into a pool of your own vomit. Or maybe you'll learn something new about yourself, who knows.

Anyway, protest can be awesome sometimes. But you know what works more? Talking to the homophobes nicely in slow monosyllablic word they can understand, doing the ol' write a letter to your congressman routine, and politely remind your local religious officials that they could spread the word of Jesus a lot more effectively, by, um, doing just that instead of spewing down hellfire upon what basically amounts to a contract. We half-heartedly suggest just calling up every number in the phonebook and asking "Are you a homophobe?" and talk to them rationally or something. Seriously, half of them are ready to be onboard with civil union, and I'm pretty sure most of them aren't even aware that in the case of Amendment 2 they voted against them. That'll really call it in gay.

We're Not Gonna Like This

A rapper who is best-known for his work with Eminem has warned gay and lesbian people that his new album contains extreme homophobic lyrics.

In an interview with All Hip Hop, performer Trick Trick said:

“I’ma go on the record right now with this. Homosexuals are probably not gonna like this album.

“I don’t want your faggot money any goddamn way. I don’t like it. Carry that shit somewhere else.”

His latest album, The Villain, was produced by Eminem. In it he refers to lesbian stars Ellen Degeneres and Rosie O'Donnell as "dyke bitches."

"Every time that you turn on the TV, that sissy shit is on," said Trick Trick.

"And they act like its f**king okay.

“The world is changing for the worst when shit like that happens. And I address that issue. I address it hard as hell.”

The album features Eminem on the track Who Want It and Let It Fly features Ice Cube. 50 Cent also appears on the album.

Great Misunderstood Song

Bono has offered a more ambiguous meaning to the lyrics, saying "It is a song about coming together, but it's not the old hippie idea of 'Let's all live together.' It is, in fact, the opposite. It's saying, We are one, but we're not the same. It's not saying we even want to get along, but that we have to get along together in this world if it is to survive. It's a reminder that we have no choice".

Prince: sticking it wherever

In the bootleg song, "I'll Never Be Another Fool", Prince sings, "I'll never open my legs, again, to a man, who's insecure/I'll never open my legs again, unless, I'm really sure".

And that may have been the documentation of Princes' foray into the forbidden world of gay sex. In 2001, Prince had a conversion and was baptized a Jehovah Witness. Now he's sure. In the current issue of The New Yorker magazine Prince reveals his feelings about a few current events:
“People with money—money like that—are not affected by the stock market, and they’re not freaking out over anything. They’re just watching. So here’s how it is: you’ve got the Republicans, and basically they want to live according to this.” He pointed to a Bible. “But there’s the problem of interpretation, and you’ve got some churches, some people, basically doing things and saying it comes from here, but it doesn’t. And then on the opposite end of the spectrum you’ve got blue, you’ve got the Democrats, and they’re, like, ‘You can do whatever you want.’ Gay marriage, whatever. But neither of them is right.”

When asked about his perspective on social issues—gay marriage, abortion—Prince tapped his Bible and said, “God came to earth and saw people sticking it wherever and doing it with whatever, and he just cleared it all out. He was, like, ‘Enough.’ ”

Eat off of this...

This was a placemat at a Chinese restaurant in Monterey Park, Ca. The ABC Cafe to be exact. How or why a restaurant would get political while serving food is a mystery. We won't be going back there.

Debate

Two authors go at it. Maggie Gallagher is the author of "The Case for Marriage: Why Married People are Happier, Healthier, and Better Off Financially" and Michelangelo Signorile wrote "Queer in America". You decide.

Welcome to our Twilight Zone

"The tools of conquest do not necessarily come with bombs and explosives and fallout. There are weapons that are simply thoughts, attitudes, prejudices to be found only in the minds of men. For the record, prejudices can kill, and suspicion can destroy, and a thoughtless, frightened search for a scapegoat has a fallout all of its own; for the children, and the children yet unborn. And the pity of it is that these things cannot be confined to The Twilight Zone.”
It was a suspicion that one of the neighbors might be an alien that provided the tension in 1960's classic "The Monsters are Due on Maple Street" written by Twilight Zone creator Rod Serling.
This morning an email declaring that a Roland Spongberg and his company WKS Restaurant Corp. (El Pollo Loco, to you) had contributed $6000 in favor of Prop 8. Yesterday it was El Coyote's Marjorie Chrisoffersen, a Mormon, coughed up a scary $100, and has likely regretted it. Tomorrow, it could be you. There are lists. The Los Angeles Times publishes one such list. The "follow the donors" list (see above) is a compendium of people who gave for and against the Proposition. People have been microscopically investigating these lists looking for people to blame.
The facts seem to indicate that blacks and Latinos made the crucial difference: “California's black and Latino voters, who turned out in droves for Barack Obama, also provided key support in favor of the state's same-sex marriage ban. Seven in 10 black voters backed a successful ballot measure to overturn the California Supreme Court's May decision allowing same-sex marriage, according to exit polls for The Associated Press.”
But, let’s talk about these lists. They are public record, so each time, any contribution is made to any party or cause, it becomes public record. It seems nothing could provoke wanting to be less involved in politics than this— should you be on the “wrong” side of an issue.
We are angry. We take to the streets to make clear our frustration and opposition to our rights being taken away. And we scour these lists to find out who thought differently and contributed to that difference of opinion. The monsters have arrived on Maple street. While all this fingerpointing suggests a new vigor in gay politics, it also points to some paranoid, extremely undemocratic behavior. Elton John recently declared that he didn’t find the cause great for gay marriage when there is a legal partnership. He was called a an old queen, a wash-up, and many more personal insults, this of course by people who have contributed significantly less that Elton John to gay causes like AIDS research. We have become intolerant of anyone who holds an opinion different than ours. There is no discussion.
And while the lists may condemn those who supported the Proposition, it must be said: the person who sent the email this morning, did not contribute against it. Sadly, it works both ways.

The El Coyote Massacre

Scandal in the making! Dateline: Hollywood Ca. Background-El Coyote is a Mexican restaurant located on the neo-trendy Beverly Blvd. in Los Angeles. It has been around since 1931, serving the most mediocre of Mexican food, but the margaritas are cheap and the atmosphere is always festive. It has some notoriety as the restaurant that Sharon Tate visited the night of the Manson slayings. It has many, many gay waiters and clientele. Owner Marjorie Chrisoffersen donated a whopping $100 against Proposition 8, she is a Mormon. Word got out and it is now a scandal. She held this meeting to clear up her sorrow for hurting the gay community yet unrelenting on her personal position on the matter. Watch.

Great Song, Great Video

New video from Boyzones new single, Better, out on December 8th. Be sure to check out composer Tom Baxter's version

Out 100

Every year Out presents its 100 LGBT heroes. Presumably this is a smattering of people who have influenced gay life and culture. The honorees do not have to be gay. This years list includes director Gus Van Sant (Milk), Cheyenne Jackson, Katy Perry, Sam Sparro (who?), Edward Albee, Luke McFarland, Alan Ball, Rachel Maddow, Ian McKellan and on and on. In addition to the usual suspects, they did discover Joey Arias and Basil Twist, and of course nouveau gay icon, Christian Siriano (pictured, or contorted here) winner of Project Runway. The picture is fierece! While the entire 100 can only be seen by actually buying the magazine (for now), the list, which is extremely subjective, includes heavyweights and newcomers alike. What can be said is that the photography is stunning. This is portraiture at its finest. Photographers Greg Lotus, Roger Erickson and Lee Jenkins have done a superb job of making these people interesting and in the process created a portfolio of portraits that is quite astounding. While not completely buying Out's mission statement: "These artists, activists, athletes, and aesthetes embody triumph, daring, ingenuity, and integrity." (Seems just showing up qualifies for some.) we do applaud many of their choices and we celebrate their photographers who should make next years list! The issue will be on the newsstands November 25th.

This is about the... human heart, and if that sounds corny, so be it.

Notes on a Proposition: For What It's Worth

Everyone attacks the results of Proposition 8's defeat in various ways: some have taken to the streets, some have written letters to various political representatives and many have blogged endlessly about it. It is news. The fact is, organized, the gay community can effect change. It is a question of where we want to create change. But first, here's a true story: while driving back from Palm Springs a few weeks ago, we stopped in  Alhambra, a city a few miles east of downtown Los Angeles. There was a baptist church on a corner with Yes on 8 signs on their lawn, many of them. Maybe what many people don't know is that churches are tax-exempt in this country for some completely unknown reason. They are forbidden by IRS law to be political proponents of anything. There is something called separation of church and state. Here is how the law is written:
Section 501(c)(3) describes corporations, and any community chest, fund, or foundation, organized and operated exclusively for religious, charitable, scientific, testing for public safety, literacy, or educational purposes, or to foster national or international amateur sports competition (but only if no part of its activities involve the provision of athletic facilities or equipment), or for the prevention of cruelty to children or animals, no part of the net earnings of which inures to the benefit of any private shareholder or individual, no substantial part of the activities of which is carrying on propaganda, or otherwise attempting, to influence legislation (except as otherwise provided in section (h)), and which does not participate in, or intervene in (including the publishing or distribution of statements), any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for public office.
The Mormon church is said to have paid up to 70% of the advertising to defeat Proposition 8. The Mormon church is the same church that years ago politicized the Boy Scouts by barring gays and lesbians from participating in scout activities. How rich is the Mormon church? TIME magazine has been able to quantify the "church's extraordinary financial vibrancy. Its current assets total a minimum of $30 billion. If it were a corporation, its estimated $5.9 billion in annual gross income would place it midway through the FORTUNE 500, a little below Union Carbide and the Paine Webber Group but bigger than Nike and the Gap." It's big.
The infamous Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in downtown Los Angeles was built for a staggering 169 million dollars. This church is also one of the most biggest landowners and landlords in the city. Churches are big business. Tax-exemption guarantees it. And it needs to stop. Churches are political and as such should have their tax-exempt status stripped. One organization doing something about this mormonsstoleourights.com. I urge everyone to read their website and sign their petition. It should be added that a certain chinese restaurant in Alhambra had the audacity to use Vote Yes on 8 placemats in their restaurants. At least there we can not leave a tip.

Friday

T.R. Knight recounts campaigning for No on 8

Grey's Anatomy star T.R. Knight spent Election Day volunteering for No on 8, standing 100 feet away from poling places handing out palm cards and urging people to vote against the same-sex marriage ban. Here he recounts the well-wishers who brought cookies and cheered from cars and the Prop. 8 supporters who yelled and spat -- one even got violent. But Knight says all he ultimately felt was sadness when Prop. 8 passed. To read T.R.'s story go here

A Letter from Leland

Leland Frances is one of the more vocal and opinionated readers of Towleroad. In fact, his Google profile reveals nothing but comments made by the man. I have always liked his comments, they are usually provocative and very opinionated. At the moment, the fate of Proposition 8 in California is undecided though its passage seems somewhat quaranteed. There has been talk of blame-was it black people, asians, lazy gays? The irony is, that Prop. 2 passed with flying colors saving chickens and small animals, but the rights of gay people in California just didn't make the grade. Leland spreads the guilt around:

Make no mistake: the real responsibility for the apparent victory of religious fascism with Prop 8 and its ugly sisters in other states rests at the feet of the "leaders" of the gay movement.

While I am one of those who believe that most members of oppressed minorities should be AUTOMATICALLY more sensitive to the oppression of other groups, blaming the blacks who voted for 8 for its passage, when they make up only 6% of the CA population is selective perception. In hard numbers, more whites, Latinos, and Asians voted against us.

And ALL of them can do that and STILL claim, as their leaders are, that it's "not about discrimination" because of the decades of failure of OUR leaders. They don't know any better because WE have not taught them while they have had their ignorance and bigotry actively reinforced by decades of direct action by OUR ENEMIES.

Other minorities have advanced by legislation and court decision [do you think discrimination against blacks, Latinos, and Asians would have been outlawed if left up to the state ballot boxes] but the gay movement's counting on that for marriage equality at the exclusion of a multi-pronged approach was political suicide. The score: Gays - 1; Bigots - 32.

Our "leaders" have hobbled our progress repeatedly by ignoring hoi polloi, putting their trust in the enlightened elected rather than working tirelessly to enlighten the electorate [except at the last minute]. They've sold t-shirts and key chains, they've held black tie galas and Tina-saturated circuit parties. They've killed entire forests for their paper blizzard of press releases almost universally ignored. And they have perfected preaching to the choir rather than enlisting them to FIGHT for their rights. They act as if we all live on Planet Gay, and our enemies live on another planet so we need not really worry about them. Dance on, Darlings.

Over their history, HRC has surely taken in close to half a BILLION dollars. We are still Human. Where are our Rights? What was their Campaign? NGLTF has collected far less, but has entirely failed at the Task of our Liberation.

We are still Gay and Lesbian, but what has GLAAD done with the millions we sent them to stop our Defamation?

And, yes, the fault, Dear Brutus, is also in our stars that we are underlings. While the American Taliban was firing missles of lies and deceit, Ellen mewed like one of her kittens about marriage equality, but she reached into her $70 MILLION fortune too late and for too little to save anyone but herself and HER wife. Is anything changed around their Bel Aire mansion other than her doing her happy dance that what she really fought for, Prop 2, and the duckies and the moo cows in California will have more room to move—before they're slaughtered.

Rosie broke her promise to SF Mayor Gavin Newsom to "be there" if he ever needed her, and effectively gave the blog finger to anyone who asked why.

Elton couldn't directly give money as a non-citizen, but couldn't he at least have donated his time for a fundraiser?

When you go see "Milk," remember that, at last look, its director Gus Van Sant only donated $2500 against 8.

When you tune in to watch Kevin and Scottie on "Brothers & Sisters," remember that its rich creator, Greg Berlanti, apparently gave less than $40,000. Readers of Towleroad collectively donated at least twice as much.

When you replay your CDs by millionairess Madonna or consider buying a ticket to her current concert tour, remember that she just threw some WORDS against 8 out to people paying as much as $400 a piece for their tickets.

I was outraged by the early mistakes of the NO "leaders," but kept sending them money hoping they'd do better, and they did in the last two weeks. THAT's WHY talking about how much MORE money might have helped is important. Imagine our having a half hour TV ad in CA telling our story the way Obama did hisnationwide. Not everything he did worked either, but the success of what he did right was ENTIRELY dependent upon the unpredendeted amounts of money he had to spend.

And the betrayal of Ellen, et al., remains a FACT irregardless of anything else.

No, don't blame rabid dogs for biting you—and celebrating afterward. Ask why our paid leaders and praised idols have let them run loose for decades, only trying to stop them when they're already at our jugular veins.

Within days we will start getting e-mails and snail-mailes from HRC, EQCA, NGLTF, GLAAD, NCLR asking for money. Reply saying FUCK OFF! Write RETURN TO INCOMPETENT SENDER on the envelopes. DEMAND the resignations of Joe Solmonese, Kate Kendall, Geoffrey Kors, and the what's-their-name heads of GLAAD and NGLTF.

Their collective 30-years of ignoring reality has resulted in our worst defeat since DADT [yes, DOMA, merely affirmed our pre-existing inequality]. It's back to the drawing board for the liberation of our people. It's not going to come through the magic sword of Obama. We must educate and, yes, we must agitate. For fear of civil disobediance was a MAJOR factor in the passage of the Civil Rights Acts of 1964 and 1965.

CHOOSE, Gay America

"FINDING ME" finds a home

TLA Releasing has acquired all non-theatrical, theatrical, home video, television and VOD entertainment rights for North America and Caribbean basin to FINDING ME (USA, 2008), which marks the directorial debut of Haitian-American filmmaker Roger S. Omeus Jr. The film will be released in the Spring of 2009 through the TLA Releasing label.

 “FINDING ME is refreshing entertainment that turns its lens on the gay, black experience.” Said Raymond Murray, President of TLA Releasing. “Director Omeus Jr.’s debut blends romance, drama and a “pop” sensibility and is an important voice as gay cinema continues to find diversity within the community.” 

Faybien Allen (RayMartell Moore) sorely lacks direction in life. His overbearing, homophobic father (Ronald DeSuze) certainly doesn’t help his self-esteem, but life takes a sharp turn when Faybien is hit on by Lonnie (Derrick L. Briggs), the hunky, self-assured guy he keeps encountering at the bus stop. This is great news to close friends Greg (Eugene Turner), a down-to-earth and upbeat bisexual, and Amera (J'Nara Corbin), a sassy “honorary gay man.” Not everyone is such a good influence, however. Greg’s new roommate, Jay (Maurice Murrell), is downright shady, and could be the type of person Faybien becomes if he makes the wrong decisions now. Can Faybien finally come to peace with his relationships with his father and the uber-flirtatious (and hot) Lonnie? A true labor of love shot on a shoestring budget over the course of a dozen weekends, FINDING ME marks the discovery of a promising and humanistic new talent, first-time Haitian-American filmmaker Roger Omeus,

"I'm so excited, honored and blessed to have my first featured film distributed by TLA Releasing," said Roger S. Omeus Jr., director/writer of FINDING ME. "It is something that I hoped for, but never did I think it would happen on the first try. Working with TLA has been a true pleasure.  I'm so glad they believed in, "the little film that will" as I like to refer to FINDING ME."

Catch a glimpse of FINDING ME at : http://www.thanks4findingme.com/

Happy to be an American

Being Gay: An Evolution

This election will mean many different things to many people. If all goes well, for many of us, we can be proud of our country once again, we can enjoy the respite from Sarah Palin and get on with the business of living. And yet, this election in some odd ways points to another subtle but true aspect about ourselves: we are becoming one nation and while the separations of race and sex continue, with this election the divisions become less and less. There is another aspect to this election for which we, as gay people can be proud: we did not let our selfish concerns control our vote.Obama has said that he supports civil unions, but he is against gay marriage. In an interview with the Chicago Daily Tribune, Obama said, "I'm a Christian. And so, although I try not to have my religious beliefs dominate or determine my political views on this issue, I do believe that tradition, and my religious beliefs say that marriage is something sanctified between a man and a woman." And that's fine. The bigger picture, which Obama represents, suggests that although it would be nice to have a president who fully supports gay marriage, it isn't going to happen at this moment.
Gay marriage and gay life will, in another decade become so assimilated into the culture that gay culture as we know it will all but have vanished. There will be little need for gay blogs, gay magazines and other media outlets. Here! and Logo television channels will be gone. Towleroad will be a blog about one middle-aged man facing the summer heat of Florida in retirement.  The Ohlalaparis boys will have become overweight parents presiding over a media empire. President Obama will sign a Constitutional Amendment in the first year of his second term allowing for homosexuals to marry nationally. Rachel Maddow will be the head of NBC news and cranky eighty year old Pat Buchanan will occasionally comment from his retirement suite in Virginia, which he shares with his haggard sister, Bay.  There will be a lot of porn. Gay bars will have banished and meeting up now becomes an Internet ritual of endless emails with the infrequent real encounter. Everyone will have mastered Photoshop, so everyone looks good. The peculiar truth about this evolution is that there will be a time when being gay is not really a story at all. With yesterday's announcement that Out Traveler was going out of the the print business it confirms a suspicion: We don't need to travel "gay" we just need to travel. There is one cultural benchmark and we seem to be nearing it: the kiss. When society accepts men kissing, we are assured that we have have gone mainstream. In the movie "Milk" Sean Penn makes out with James Franco, and although it is making out, it's not gay making out. Gay men are passionate about kissing. They deep-tongue, swirl, dip and dive for corners and crevices of the mouth. Gay men are hungry when they make out. Sean Penn, God bless him, was not hungry, even if it was James Franco. There will always be gay men, gay writing, fiction, movies, indeed culture, but when the homogenization (pun intended) of gay men and women occurs, and it will, we should celebrate our differences and similaries. There are battles ahead: gay marriage, gays in the military, discrimination, violence against gays. We haven't found the magical land of Oz quite yet, but we are on our way.

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Exit: Yma Sumac

LOS ANGELES (AFP) — Legendary soprano Yma Sumac, the "Peruvian Songbird who dazzled music lovers in the 1950s and 60s with her incredible range, died at an assisted living facility in Los Angeles, her website said Monday. She was 86.During the 1950s, Yma Sumac produced a series of legendary lounge music recordings featuring Hollywood-style versions of Incan and South American folk songs, working with the likes of Les Baxter and Billy May. The combination of her extraordinary voice, exotic looks, and stage personality made her a hit with American audiences. Sumac even appeared in a Broadway musical, Flahooley, in 1951, as a foreign princess who brings Aladdin's lamp to an American toy factory to have it repaired. The show's score was by Sammy Fain and E. Y. "Yip" Harburg, but Sumac's four numbers were the work of Vivanco. Capitol Records, Sumac's label, recorded the show. Flahooley closed quickly, but the recording continues as a cult classic, in part because it also marked the Broadway debut of Barbara Cook. During the height of Sumac's popularity, she appeared in the films Secret of the Incas (1954) and Omar Khayyam (1957). She became a U.S. citizen on July 22, 1955. In 1959, she popularized Jorge Bravo de Rueda's classic song "Vírgenes del Sol" on her Fuego del Ande long playing album (LP).

Another Magazine Down

The PlanetOut/Regent magazine, the travel offshoot of Out, has ended its print run according to a source, adding to the growing pile of publishing refuse. Foreshadowing the magazine's closing, Out Traveler's editor Ed Salvato just told one newspaper, "Like the frozen credit markets now, the travel market froze after 9/11. The only group that proved itself resilient was the gay and lesbian group, and marketing recognized this and started to target the market. 2001 was a watershed year." 2008? Not so much.
One of the better designed magazines, Out Traveler was until recently actually a magazine, not a supplement to the slowly dying Out and Advocate magazines. It is, to some degree, the end of print. In this case, it actually makes sense: what better than an interactive website where one can link to airlines, hotels and hookers?

Google Ads Nonsense

Many companies, including one I work for, found that their websites today contained many Yes on Proposition 8 ads in rotation from Google ads. The ads have even appeared on anti-Prop 8 websites.
The ad links to protectmarriage.com (the good domain - yesonprop8.com - redirects to noonprop8.com, which must frustrate the gay-haters to no end). Many companies are offering apologies and taking down Google Ads until the election ends tomorrow night.
Meanwhile, “Yes on 8” has outraised the opposition by $9 million—with a large chunk coming from out-of-state interests, especially the Mormon Church. “Yes on 8” has saturated the airwaves with ads showing Gavin Newsom gloating about the Supreme Court ruling.