Planet Homo

Is Twilight anti-gay?

So I had no idea, but Stephenie Meyer, the author of this Twilight Series I’ve VAGUELY heard about, grew up Mormon. Her family is Mormon, she donates to the Mormon church and after the $140 million opening of New Moon this weekend, is now nearing Oprah-rich.

So there’s a database of Prop 8 contributers and Stephenie Meyer is not one of them listed publicly, but the New York Times is currently sleuthing around after a tip off that she is indeed putting her fist into the Prop 8 money bowl. This wouldn’t be the first time that someone has decided to strike their name from the record though is it? I wrote a Saturday Submission back in August, pre-cast member days, on how the president of Cinemark is a contributor towards Prop 8 and how I won’t put my money into the company in good conscience. In it I also mentioned Richard Hayne, owner of Urban Outfitters, and how he has decided to strike his name from the records, probably in an attempt to keep the gays shopping at his chain. Honestly, without them, he’d be a squeegee kid.

Well, Stephenie Meyer has not said a word in favor for or against anything to do with gay marriage, except for one thing. Under Mormon Church tithing, 10% of church donations go to charity and like-minded causes. So in theory, the money Stephenie Meyer is giving to the Mormon Church is going towards publically advocating anti-gay propaganda, as we know the Church does and has done with their tacky and disgusting public service announcements like A Storm is Coming. Kinda busted.

I’m not gonna’ wave my rainbow flag QUITE YET, but it’s all a little iffy, and I hope the Time reporters get more dirt soon.

Does it bother you that someone with so much power could be furthering human rights in a positive light but could be contributing against it? Or do you think that she has a right to believe what she believes in?

Did you see the movie this week, and if so, are you bothered that you could be funding an anti-gay agenda by just buying a ticket? Or is the trickle down effect inevitable no matter where you put your money?

via www.homorazzi.com

Veteran Trans Sportswriter Dies

Veteran Los Angeles Times sportswriter Mike Penner, who made headlines in 2007 when he announced that he was transitioning from male to female—from Mike Penner to Christine Daniels—has died, the Los Angeles Times reports. The 52-year-old, who last year began identifying as a man again, was found dead at his L.A. home. Suicide is the suspected cause of death.“He was one of the most talented writers I’ve ever worked with,” said Times Sports Editor Mike James, adding that Penner covered numerous beats including the National Football League and sports media during his more than two-decade-long career at the paper.In April 2007, Penner wrote a column announcing that she would be transitioning. She received strong support and some criticism from readers. In 2008 he told coworkers that he was returning to his male identity and started using the Mike Penner byline again.

via www.advocate.com

The Politics of a Kiss

Adam Lambert was on CBS this morning and while showing a clip of his Sunday American Music Awards performance, they blurred the moment when Lambert throttled the keyboardist with a deep-tongue kiss, a moment that has raised a lot of controversy. Perhaps Lambert was trying to prove how gay he is to Out magazine editor Aaron Hicklin, who recently wrote an editorial about the lack of gay-friendliness on the part of Lambert's PR machine. Perhaps Lambert, who recently broke up with is boyfriend, was giving his ex a message. Perhaps Lambert thought his first AMA performance should be memorable and wild. Or perhaps Lambert just thought keyboardist Tommy Ratliff was hot.

It doesn't matter. It's hard to believe but in 1968, a young and histrionic actor by the name of William Shatner planted a kiss on the lips of Nichelle Nichols on what would be the first African-American interracial kiss on a network television drama. Shocking, indeed. So listen up America, get ready. For most gay people we have spent a lifetime watching you wiggle your tongues into one another. Lambert, who is certainly not the first, but it may well be because there felt like there was some sexuality behind it, that this kiss has caused some such a stir. We have all seen the exchange of kisses between Kevin and Scotty on Brothers & Sisters, but these are kisses without a penis. 

If it makes America uncomfortable, if it makes American squirm, if it makes a network blur the image because the audience is not ready, get ready. Because in time, with time, we will be in your households, on your TV screens, in your movies, on your streets, making out.

Enrique Iglesias Strips for David LaChapelle

 
Enrique Iglesias come davvero non si era mia visto. 1999, culmine del successo dell'artista, è l'anno, per intenderci del duetto con Whitney Houston "Could I have this kiss forever". C'è un brano però, il secondo singolo di Inglesias, "Sad Eyes", il cui video, girato da David La Chapelle, non era mai stato diffuso. Almeno fino ad oggi. Il filmato lo immortala mentre guarda una chat erotica con protagonista una ragazza, per inciso una vera pornostar. Quindi l'incontro bollente fra i due... il video non lascia quasi nulla all'immaginazione...

Adam Lambert's GMA Performance CANCELED: Good Morning America Calls Off Morning Concert

ABC has called off Adam Lambert's Wednesday morning concert following his controversial performance on the ABC-aired American Music Awards Sunday night.
During that performance, he simulated oral sex, had a dancer on a leash, flipped the bird and kissed a male band member. Lambert has since defended the controversy, while ABC has fielded thousands or angry calls.
A spokesperson for ABC said, "Given his controversial American Music Awards performance, we were concerned about airing a similar concert so early in the morning."

via www.huffingtonpost.com

Xtube: GONE, not quite

Mega popular Xtube.com seems to have vanished over night to the dismay of porn lovers everywhere. In an Internet world where everything is made news instantly, this is one of those stories that doesn't seem to be capturing people's attention—yet. As for the history:

Xtube is a Canadian pornographic video hosting service which allows unregistered and registered users to share adult video content with others. Among other things, the terms of use of xtube.com state that users must be 18 years of age or older.
Xtube claims that it has over two million registered users and an Alexa Internet traffic rank of global average of 305, and a United States ranking of 175. The site receives 4.5 million unique visits per day. Xtube's main competitors are PornoTube and YouPorn. Amateur content producers can sell their videos and webcam shows, with the website taking a commission. One gay man is known to make $1,300 a week from his Xtube videos, with the site earning the same amount. Xtube distinguishes itself from its competitors by hosting a wiki engine on its site called Xtube Sex Wiki. Xtube was reportedly the first site to allow uploading of home-made adult content to a web site. Previously such content had to be shared either via Usenet newsgroups or via peer to peer file sharing networks.

A reader sends up this update:

I was able to get the following from their site: "Last night our DNS provider screwed up meaning no one could access the site last night between 10pm and 2:30am EST. The error is corrected and don’t worry, XTube is not going anywhere. As of this blog, there are still some connection errors so somethings wont work correctly until all the server errors are cleared, believe me we are just as frustrated as you are about this. We are working on it as I write this and we should have it all sorted out and back to normal shortly."

Tom Ford Hints at New Film and Sparks Controvery

Star fashion designer turned acclaimed director Tom Ford says that he is working on a second film, but he declines to discuss it in light of the whirlwind surrounding his current feature, A Single Man.Ford spoke recently with Marc Malkin of E! Online at the GQ Men of the Year party. "I have something I'm working on but I'm not ready to talk about it," said Ford, according to Malkin. "I just finished [A Single Man] in August and then we went to Toronto, Venice, Tokyo and London promoting it and my head is spinning. Maybe six months after we're finished with all this I'll be able to figure out what I want to do next."However, Ford was clear on his refusal to try acting again. The 48-year-old acted in television commercials early in his career after dropping out of New York University. "You know, I used to act when I was younger, but I quit," said Ford to Malkin. "I did it from about 17 to 24. I was too self-conscious. I didn't like it. I wasn't in control." 

Ford also has stepped into the light of controversy with a recent statement:

"I wasn’t trying to make Terminator 12. But this is not a gay film. I don’t even think about that. There are so many gay characters on TV that it’s almost become a cliché.”

While A Single Man is certainly not Terminator 12, it is one of the best gay films ever made and to to deny it is not only weird it begs the question: what drug are you on Tom Ford?  A single man is about a gay professor who has lost his lover of 16 years, is stalked by a beautiful young male student, is solicited by a handsome male prostitute and forced to listen to his girlfriend moan about his gay life. Yep, that's not a gay film.

via www.advocate.com

1,500 Americans complain over Adam Lambert’s gay kiss

More than 1,500 US viewers have complained over a gay kiss and simulated oral sex in American Idol star Adam Lambert's performance at the American Music Awards on Sunday.

The gay singer closed the show at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles with his new single For Your Entertainment. During the performance, he simulated oral sex with one male dancer and kissed a male musician.

Lambert had already promised fans the show would be "very sexy".

Viewers contacted the FCC, which is the US television industry's watchdog, to complain that his performance was inappropriate for programme shown when children were watching.

The Parents' Telvision Council also complained, calling it "tasteless and vulgar".

Lambert brushed off the criticism, saying he was "in the moment and sometimes things just happen".

When asked by CNN whether he had been making a political statement, he said: "I was just really in the moment to be honest with you, but as an afterthought I do feel like there's a bit of a double standard in the entertainment community, on television and on radio.

"Women performers have been pushing the envelope sexually for the past 20 years and all of a sudden a male does it and everybody goes, 'Oh, we can't show that on TV'. To me that's a form of discrimination and it's a double standard, and that's too bad."

via www.pinknews.co.uk

Gay Kiss Performance

First Levi Johnston Playgirl pictures hit the web

The only way to describe the Levi Johnston photos that have emerged today on the web is TAME. Giving us what can only be described as a come hither look, Levi seems to beckon us with his eyes and perfectly shaped eyebrows. It is a fact that Levi will NOT be revealing his baby-making tool. 

Boy George to Be Locked Up on Big Brother

Pop star Boy George, recently released from jail for imprisoning a rent boy in his London apartment, is to be locked up again, but this time in the Celebrity Big Brother house, reports Daily Star. The former Culture Club singer, 48, will join other celebrities in the next season of the popular British reality series and says he is the happiest he has ever been and that his stint in jail made him change for the better. “I had prison coming to me. It wasn’t that big a surprise, I kind of knew it was going to happen,” he reveals. “I just thought I’m going to make this work for me. I got a job quite quickly and worked in the kitchen,” he adds.

via www.advocate.com

Palin ReEdited

Exclusive Q&A with Adam Lambert on OUT Magazine scandal

American Idol runner-up Adam Lambert has been in the news this week for more than just the upcoming release of his debut album, For Your Entertainment: After putting Lambert on the cover of OUT magazine, Aaron Hicklin, OUT’s editor, wrote the singer an open letter, complaining about certain stipulations placed on the interview and cover shoot by Lambert’s management team — allegations to which Lambert fired back via Twitter. (Read EW Idol Expert Michael Slezak’s take on the matter here.)

via music-mix.ew.com

Yes, They Can Dance

 

It couldn't get any stranger then sitting in the Save Mart Theater in Fresno, California watching a live version of the Fox show, "So You Think You Can Dance". The series first premiered on July 20, 2005 and has a similar premise to the American Idol series of singing competitions, with nationwide auditions leading to the discovery of the next big star. The dancers are all quite young and perky and the judges not so young but distinct in personality. The Fresno show was a live recreation of season five of the show. With about as little overhead as can be imagined, the show is essentially reviewing their acts from season five to a screaming live audience. In particular, a young Jason Glover seemed to garner a lot of attention—a standing ovation simply for stepping onto the stage kind of attention. Jason is from nearby Bakersfield and Fresno adores him as one of their own. What’s not to adore? Jason, who is much leaner in person, is of African American-Mexican descent. He has the face of a Disney character and when he smiles, audiences, judges and pederasts everywhere melt. The dance routines are a mix also: some Hip Hop, Tango, Salsa, Ballet, Broadway. even Russian Folk styles all congeal in a stew of energetic dance steps. It's a little like seeing a Broadway show without a plot. Every dancer gets a moment to solo, but it is the pairings that reveal some intricate choreography and expression. What is notably missing in the live show is the show's judges, the deafening Mary Murphy and the curious Nigel Lythgoe, though enough lip service is paid to them as to turn one's lips brown ("Nigel said this, Nigel said that"). Nigel, who seems slightly effeminate and of an  indeterminate age, has had a few sharp remarks about gay people on the show in the past. No worries in Fresno, there are no gay duets of any kind. Even as one ponders, which is natural, as to the sexuality of all the athletic young men (Kupono?) it is the dancing ultimately that provides the greatest thrill.  And until you have visited a live show of this kind, you have no idea how popular this kind of television has become. American Idol certainly started it, and So You Think You Can Dance puts it foot into it.

Gay Men's Chorus Sings Praises of Blade

Members of the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington, D.C. presented the former Washington Blade with a check Wednesday night for a full-page ad in the newspaper’s new print iteration, the D.C. Agenda, which will be available on Friday. Former Blade editor Kevin Naff, who will head up the D.C. Agenda, called the ad buy, one of six pages’ worth that have poured in unsolicited this week, a pleasant surprise. “They took a full page ad in this first modest issue and they went out of their way to deliver it in person,” said Naff. “It was unexpected and very heartwarming.”The chorus made the offering at a previously scheduled party for former Blade readers in Washington, D.C. that turned into an impromptu transition party after the publication’s closure was announced Monday. Naff told The Advocate that the party at the Hard Rock Café was a blast, so much so that early Thursday morning he could not immediately recall the amount of the check the chorus presented."That I don’t know,” he said. “It was kind of a chaotic night.”Naff said the eight-page issue of the D.C. Agenda, which he calls “very modest,” will be distributed on Friday in and around Washington, D.C. It will also be available online at savetheblade.com, and at dcagenda.com, the latter site becoming operative on Friday.“There are two pieces on the cover,” said Naff. “One is a letter from me reintroducing the staff and publication and assuring folks that our mission continues. The other is a new story about the domestic partner federal benefits bill reported out of committee Thursday night.”

via www.advocate.com

Exclusive: HIV film ‘dangerous and misleading’

House of Numbers features interviews with a number of scientists and medical experts, along with campaigners who believe HIV medication causes the symptoms of AIDS and the disease can be cured through lifestyle choices. It has won an number of international awards and has been screened at several film festivals.

via www.pinknews.co.uk

VMAN for Winter

 

Stylish, bravely art directed and uniquely published on the web, VMAN is in many ways the model for the saving of print media.

Palin Satire

The Final Hours at the Blade

The Washington City Paper took an inside look at the last few hours of the Washington Blade as management told its staff that it was shutting down on Monday afternoon.The process started about 12:30 p.m., when movers arrived to evacuate boxes of personal and work-related items, and lasted through 3:30 p.m., the time designated for staffers to leave. Steve Cheverton a friend of those on staff, told the City Paper that he arrived at the Blade offices at the National Press Club with his Ford F-150 truck. “I know a lot of the employees, and I’ve supported them throughout, in all the gay pride marches and stuff like that,” he said. “I just think it’s really without integrity the way they did this. ... The least we can do is help these people take their stuff home.”Read the full story at the Washington City Paper.

via www.advocate.com

Out Editor's Letter to Adam Lambert

Dear Adam,I like you, I really do. Although I’d never watched American Idol, I became a fan this year thanks to your unapologetic flamboyance and sexual swagger. It was refreshing to see someone playing by his own rules among so many cookie-cutters. And although you narrowly lost to Kris Allen, you were the real winner for those of us who saw your success as a test of America’s growing tolerance. That’s why we’re proud to have you in this year’s Out 100, along with all the other men and women who don’t believe their sexuality should be a barrier to success. It’s unfortunate, therefore, that your record label and management don’t share the same view.We’re curious whether you know that we made cover offers for you before American Idol was even halfway through its run. Apparently, Out was too gay, even for you. There was the issue of what it would do to your record sales, we were told. Imagine! A gay musician on the cover of a gay magazine. What might the parents think! It’s only because this cover is a group shot that includes a straight woman that your team would allow you to be photographed at all -- albeit with the caveat that we must avoid making you look “too gay.” (Is that a medical term? Just curious). Luckily, you seemed unaware that a similar caution was issued to our interviewer.Perhaps we should have had you and Cyndi in a tongue lock. That would be radical. It’s odd, because this magazine has done covers with Pete Wentz and Lady Gaga -- getting straight men and women to do Out is easy these days. It gives them cred. Getting gay stars like yourself is another matter. Much easier to stick you in Details, where your homosexuality can be neutralized by having you awkwardly grabbing a woman’s breast and saying, “Women are pretty.” So are kittens, Adam, but it doesn’t mean you have to make out with them. Imagine how much more radical it would have been to go down on a guy instead of that six-foot Barbie. We don’t think you would have a problem with that -- why should you? -- but your record label would, and letting them dictate the terms is the very opposite of rock ’n’ roll. And did you read the article? You would think your entire fan base was made up of women and heterosexual men, or “straight dudes” as the writer describes them, just so we can all be clear. No mention of your gay fans, which is kind of disappointing, don’t you think, given what your success represents?We don’t want to sound ungrateful -- you agreed to do our cover, and your interview is gracious and frank -- but if the Out 100 has a purpose it’s to challenge the kind of apartheid that lays down one rule for gay mags and one for all others. We think you probably feel the same way -- you even say as much -- so we don’t mean to diminish your achievements this year. That’s why you’re in this issue. You’re a pioneer, an out gay pop idol at the start of his career. Someone has to be first, and we’re all counting on you not to mess this up. You have to find your own path and then others can follow. We just hope it’s a path that’s honest and true and that you choose to surround yourself with people who celebrate your individuality. The irony is that right now it would be easier to get Kris Allen to do a solo cover shoot for us. But only because he’s straight.

Aaron Hicklin, Editor in Chief

via www.out.com

Ruby-Sachs on Why Newspapers are Needed

Yesterday, we found out that the Washington Blade, along with many other local LGBT papers and media were closing. It’s another blow to the LGBT advocacy project and a blow to print media.

Now maybe I shouldn’t knock blogging. I do it, after all, three or four times a week on two different websites. But as a blogger, I am all too aware of the pitfalls and shortcomings of our particular form of media. Blogging is generally unpaid, or paid very badly. No one is giving you budgets for investigative reporting, interviews, travel. Your greatest asset is the internet, the reporting of other papers and your own particular expertise.

So, I can pore over a recent court decision and give my opinion, but I certainly cannot go to Puerto Rico and find out exactly how the police force handles hate crimes when a 19 year old gay boy is murdered.

When you lose publications that actually report on LGBT events, you start to notice how bloggers are everywhere and reporters are scarce. You start to notice how no one is going to Puerto Rico to report on the LGBT angle.

This is a problem in all media: the rise of blogging, of recycled media, and the fall of investigative journalism. However, when a community is fighting for recognition, against discrimination and for legal equality, reporting is even more important. Officials aren’t always willing to give us the facts about LGBT related events. Reporters aren’t always worried about LGBT issues. Investigative media IS the backbone of our civil rights struggle.

I hope, against hope, that a new publication dedicated to reporting and investigating the news springs up to replace the Washington Blade and it’s sister publications. We need that more than any lobbying effort or any new liberal politician.

http://www.365gay.com/blog/ruby-sachs-why-we-need-newspapers/

Length of Levi Not to Be Revealed

There is no wang. We repeat, there is no wang! Playgirl's seen the results of last week's photo shoot, and while there may be glimpses of Levi Johnston's baby maker, there is no full-frontal shot. Let the blame game begin!

via gawker.com

The Out Magazine 100 for 2009

 
In it’s 16th annual Out 100 issue, Out magazine anoints Adam Lambert breakout star after the musician catapulted from Wicked chorus boy to American Idol cover boy earlier this year. In an extended online interview, the star candidly discusses his sexuality, his newfound fame, and why he finds it hard to sustain a relationship: “Being in the gay community, we don’t grow up with any role models for that. We don’t know what we’re supposed to be.”
  This year’s portfolio of 100 gay men, lesbians and transgender people, plus ally Cyndi Lauper, was shot entirely by award-winning photographer Jason Bell, and is the largest annual magazine portfolio in the world. Bell’s portraits draw inspiration from the classroom and the schoolyard as the unifying theme for this year’s portfolio. Actor Neil Patrick Harris smokes in the bleachers, director Pedro Almodovar sports a hickey, Top Gun icon Kelly McGillis stares moodily from a school bus, and playwright Tony Kushner coyly aims a slingshot at an unsuspecting target.

For the complete Out 100 go to www.out.com/Out100 <http://www.out.com/Out100

Mike Alvear on the "gift" of HIV

"If I hear one more HIV+ man tell me he's "grateful" for the disease because it made him a more peaceful, loving, open, honest person I'm going to scream. Those afflicted by disease --whether it's cancer or HIV-- have taken a pernicious slide toward rationalizing their conditions as something "necessary" for them to achieve some kind of enlightenment. And we can lay that awful trend on the likes of Louise Hay, Deepak Chopra and that whole positive thinking guru crap that passes for spiritual insight."I don't want to be mean to my friends and acquaintances that have the burden of a terrible condition, but I just can't be silent anymore. I simply can't listen to anyone who tells me he's embraced the virus as a gift because it's made him a better person. Just last week an acquaintance said, 'HIV has given me a new life. I needed it to open my eyes to the joy of living. I'm emotionally stronger and I have a new sense of priorities.'"What a crock of caca. HIV as the path to God? The virus as your friend? This is the kind of fertilizer the fields of Ireland long for. Here's what I say to all my HIV+ friends: Don't be grateful; be angry. Don't carry the burden of trying to make HIV your friend. Like all friends, it'll expect you to be loyal and introduce it to your other friends. [snip] While HIV is not your friend, it isn't your enemy either. It just *is.* Learning to deal with it is an admirable accomplishment, but please, don't tell us it's a gift. Or that your grateful." - Author Mike Alvear, writing for the Bilerico Project.Labels: Bilerico, HIV, HomoQuotable, Mike Alvear

via joemygod.blogspot.com

The Washington Blade Shuts Down

Incredibly sad and surprising news for the LBGT media world, not to mention the local media scene: The Washington Blade has been shut down. The LGBT publication's twitter feed first alerted us to what was going on just a little while ago: "Washington Blade, like all Window Media publications, is closing today. Thank you for your support. (Keep following us for developments.)" Sure enough, even the Blade's web site has been taken down.

via dcist.com

Dolly Parton: I'm For Gay Marriage

 Country legend Dolly Parton appeared on the Joy Behar Show on Friday, and was asked whether she supported marriage equality. “Would you say that you are pro gay marriage?” asked Behar, noting that Parton’s background might suggest otherwise.“I know that’s true,” acknowledged Parton. “I always say, ‘Sure, why can’t they get married? They should suffer like the rest of us do,’” she said.Behar also quizzed Parton about the secret behind the size of her large gay following, and what she thinks of Houston megachurch pastor Joel Osteen, who recently said that, "homosexuality is not God's best."Watch the video below.

via www.advocate.com

Carrie Prejean Has Eight Sex Tapes

Former Miss California and antigay spokesperson Carrie Prejean has called her recently leaked sex tape the biggest mistake of her life -- a mistake she made at least seven other times, according to RadarOnline.com.The Website reports there are more 30 nude photos and eight sex tapes of Prejean. All of the videos are solo performances and Prejean can be seen touching herself and moaning in a few of the videos.Prejean, who made headlines in the Miss USA competition when she said she believes marriage should be between a man and a woman, has been touring the talk show circuit to promote the release of her book. She sparred with Whoopi Goldberg and Joy Behar last week on The View, and then threatened to walk off Larry King Live when she didn’t like his line of questioning.In her book, Prejean writes: “God gave us our bodies, and it’s perfectly right that we use them in ways where we can give glory to God by making our bodies, our temples of the Holy Spirit, strong and fast.” 

via www.advocate.com

Oh Levi!

PRIVATE PRACTICE : The Hard Part Is Watching

Episode Synopsis: PRIVATE PRACTICE “The Hard Part” Season 3 Episode 7 - Addison and Sam go for a hike in Malibu, and must perform urgent field care when they stumble upon an expecting couple, trapped in their car after an accident. Meanwhile at Oceanside Wellness, Charlotte, Cooper and Violet treat a newlywed who, out of nervousness for his wedding night, has taken too much Viagra, and Pete and Sheldon hit the bar scene together but fall for the same girl, on “Private Practice,” THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 12 (10:01-11:00 p.m., ET) on the ABC Television Network.

If you have never seen this program, prepare to roll your eyes as you wonder who in the world thinks of these plot lines. This must be the silliest drama ever presented to an audience. First lets tackle the fun part, the title of last nights show: The Hard Part. The couple referred to in the synopsis are newlyweds and the groom has consumed a little much Viagra and has a condition known as priapism. He is hard. Bravo for addressing the medical condition suffered most by porn stars, but of course, that is not all of it. The bride is not a virgin! Meanwhile back at the hike, exquisitely dressed-for-a-hike Addison is confronted with a woman in a car who has suffered an accident—Addison is a baby doctor, so of course the woman must be pregnant. And she is. What we viewers learn is that a baby can apparently be turned in the womb by shoving your hand in there and physically turning the baby. It hurts. This of course is also, the hard part. The hard part for Cooper and the Tennessee Williams inspired character, Charlotte is that she has been married before and thinks about her first love now and then. The hard part for moody Violet is that all moral lessons must spring from the heart and the truth. The hard part for Pete and Sheldon is simply getting along.  And did we mention that Sam (Taye Diggs) suddenly has a lust for Addison? People actually make a lot of movie to come up with these ideas. Missing completely is any homoaction. A lesbian relationship was beautifully presented a while back, but boys kissing boys does seem to be on the radar. Although Dell, (Chris Lowell) who seems to have disappeared from Oceanside Wellness, always seemed  like a character who might well have a homopast. But that would really be the hard part.

Confusion Over Whether Chris Colfer is Gay or Not

Personally, my next question would've been to clarify that Colfer was indeed saying he was gay, but Goldberg and The Advocate seemed certain enough of what Chris was saying that they not only ran the interview that way, but pitched it as Chris talking about being gay. 

via www.afterelton.com

Victory: Adios, Lou Dobbs | Media Matters for America

Media Matters for America released the following statement last night responding to late breaking news that controversial CNN host Lou Dobbs, best known for his relentless anti-immigrant rhetoric, would be leaving his long-time cable news home effective tonight.

via mediamatters.org

Rock Hudson’s Lover Dies | Entertainment News | Advocate.com

Marc Christian, lover of the late actor Rock Hudson, has died, reports Michael Musto in The Village Voice.
 
Following Hudson’s AIDS-related death in 1985, Christian sued Hudson’s estate on grounds of “intentional infliction of emotional distress.” Christian tested negative for HIV, but claimed Hudson continued having sex with him until February 1985, more than eight months after Hudson became aware that he had AIDS.
 
Musto’s source says the cause of Christian’s death was a drug overdose.

via www.advocate.com

A Single Man Sensation

Perhaps the most elegant gay film ever made, Tom Ford's adaption of Christopher Isherwood's novel, A Single Man, should make film schools nervous. In what has to be one of the most startling debuts as a director, fashion designer Tom Ford manages to mix style and substance in a sexy blend of images and sound all with the confidence of someone making movies for a long time.

The 1964 novel is about an English professor in Los Angeles who has lost his lover of sixteen years in an auto accident. Forward eight months and professor George Falconer (Colin Firth) is preparing to commit suicide. Everything about Falconer is elegant—his dress, his house, his car and even as he prepares for his own death he neatly lays out everything, leaving notes for his funeral, noting that his tie should be a Windsor knot. Even the gun he plans to use is elegant. On an ordinary day, George delivers a lecture on minorities and fear, is confronted by a beautiful student (About a Boy's Nicholas Hoult), a Spanish rent boy and the peculiar musings of a neighbors young daughter in a bank. And yet is taken back by memories of his lover Jim (Matthew Goode) through the most seemingly inconsequential of moments— a random encounter with a dog, for example.

His best friend Charlotte (Julianne Moore) is equally elegant and lonely as the two recall their momentary sexual relationship that she has never quite gotten over. She is torn between sympathy for him and regret about what might have been if he hadn’t turned into a “fucking poof”. Suffice to say we see the return of the beautiful student and George's life takes on a new clarity and calamity—all beautifully art directed and photographed and accompanied by a lush score by Abel Korzeniowski.

Certainly Tom Ford pays homage to directors Ang Lee and Todd Haynes, but it is Douglas Sirk who most comes to mind as the score and visuals seem to rise up in melodramatic fashion. Ford stays just shy of "fashion" delivering an emotional film that is completely homoerotic. It is Colin Firth, who is already winning many film awards, that singularly holds the film together in a performance that is as complex as it is stylish. Firth moves through a series of emotions like a hand in water and for a film that takes place in 1962, his homosexuality is shockingly confidant. But that would be Christopher Isherwood after all. In a reminder of the inequality of that period, George is told he cannot attend the funeral of his dead partner, because it is "for family only."  How we deal with grief is always an entirely private matter and indeed, the ending may be a little convenient, but the journey getting there is one beautiful ride.

http://planethomo.com

The Advocate RIP?

Gay media leader The Advocate will be trimmed down from a standalone magazine to an insert, insiders report.

The Advocate quickly evolved from a newsletter titled The Los Angeles Advocate in 1967 to the nation's only publication dedicated to gay news and politics by the mid-70s. It remains the only gay glossy available on newsstands nationwide.

Its former owner, PlanetOut, shored up the magazine with related businesses, including industry-leading LGBT websites Gay.com and PlanetOut.com and other gay-oriented publications such as gay-glam monthly Out.

But one decision, which followed a receding publishing market, continues to haunt the gay media empire.

In 2006, PlanetOut made the devastating decision to purchase gay cruise line RSVP. Less than a year later, the company chalked up its loses and sold RSVP to Atlantis Events, Inc. for an undisclosed sum. 

Yet, the company could not regain its footing. By 2009, after selling several more properties, PlanetOut agreed to be bundled into Here Media, Inc. and relinquish control of the company as it faced possible NASDAQ delisting.

The move gave CEO Paul Colichman a gay media empire for a song. Colichman controls all-gay cabler here! and the gay-friendly movie studio Regent Releasing, as well.

But turning around a gay icon amid a recession that has hit publishers harder than most businesses has turned out to be easier said than done. Last week, gay blog Queerty.com reported the magazine faced another round of staff cuts, which included managing editor John Jameson, a 15-year veteran. 

And The Advocate will be trimmed down from a standalone magazine to a 32-page insert bundled inside Out.