Tag Archives: gay

’90s Flashback — Who Opposed DOMA [video]

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A few stunning voices speaking out against DOMA in 1996, assembled by Lawrence O’Donnell for MSNBC. Worth a listen, for sure — but especially to Georgia’s John Lewis, the grandfather — the godfather — of agitating for social change in America. From rising literally “bloody but unbowed” to walking the Edmund Pettus Bridge and nearly being killed, to simply and eloquently refusing to sit down, Rep. Lewis, rightly called “the conscious of Congress,” remains one of the true champions of what America should aspire to be.

H/T to Andrew Sullivan, who first embedded this in a great piece on The Dish.

Stuart Milk On LGBT Rights: ‘We Still Have A Long Way To Go’

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“There’s a misconception that we have now achieved everything but marriage equality, and that’s just not the case. We still don’t have societal equality,” Milk said. “You can ask any African American, any Latino, if they were not treated equally somewhere along the line. Whenever you have a group that can be marginalized, you have to be vigilant in protecting those rights. Equality requires constant vigilance and it doesn’t end with same-sex marriage.

“We can legalize all day long, but we need to change the conversation,” Milk added. “For so long we’ve taught the message of tolerance. But tolerance is such a low bar. Who really wants to be tolerated? As I always say, we need to celebrate diversity, not just tolerate it.”

via Stuart Milk On LGBT Rights: ‘We Still Have A Long Way To Go’|Huffington Post

I agree. Then again, tolerance is something. By and large, we are edging away from tolerance and into general acceptance, but it’s a progession. It’s immensely frustrating to be sure, but it’s happening. And, actually, it’s happening on an astonishing pace, not only in the U.S. but throughout the developed world.

Unfortunately, it remains important that Stuart Milk must prompt us to remember that the pleas of his uncle, Harvey, for gay people to come out, to stand out, to be proud, and to serve as models are still extremely important to our daily lives. But, thus far, we’ve been so successful in changing minds and opinions, we can have a day where this picture is (rightly) celebrated!

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Tenacious LGBT heroine Edith Windsor, 84, took her fight against DOMA to the Supreme Court of the United States and won. Here she is holding a fan bearing her image at the New York City gay pride parade just days after her June 26, 2013 victory. | Craig Ruttle/AP Photo

Oh, Myyy — Takei, Quinto, and I, Borg: A Long Journey into the Gay Recesses of Deep Space and the Soul

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This is a terrific quote by gay icon and social media zeitmeister George Takei. This jump takes you to the Backlot, but it’s source is really the Huffington Post.

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Takei on Star Trek: TOS, before he charted a course for icon staus.

“Some of the cast and creatives were aware that I was gay, and I did, on occasion, bring a male date to parties. Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry was aware of my sexual orientation and very supportive. That was the extraordinary thing about Star Trek. That we were a diverse crew of people representing so many colors, backgrounds and heritages. That was the promise of the future. And, now, in the J.J. Abrams reboot, an openly gay actor is playing a Vulcan in love with an African American. I’m not really surprised by this. Star Trek taught us to look ahead to a time where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.‘s dream was fulfilled. Being a part of that vision was — and has remained — a tremendous honor.”

via Meme: Gene Roddenberry Knew George Takei Was Gay During “Star Trek,” Justice Kennedy Denies Motion On Prop 8 Stay, Putin Signs Gay Propaganda Law – thebacklot.com.

And, ultimately, that’s why I’ve always loved Star Trek. The deep understanding of humanity that Roddenberry infused the series with was so important in effecting change in our culture over time. It’s place in the cultural landscape of the Western world cannot be ignored — even if you don’t give a crap about stories of space cowboys and turtle-headed aliens.

(And we won’t even get into the stories about the ST geeks who developed flip-phone and Bluetooth earpieces because they designed them to look like tricorders and Uhura’s audio receiver. [“Captain, I’m receiving a subspace transmission from the Vulcan High Command. It’s a distress call!”])

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Great photo of Del Arco, which prompts a remembrance of his iconic role as Hugh the Borg on ST:TNG and the fight for equality. (Seriously, if you don’t know what I’m taking about, just find the damn episode!)

All Trek fans have their personal favorite series. Mine was Star Trek: The Next Generation (TNG). It was clunky and, frankly, downright bad for the first couple of seasons, but then it got extremely good.  My favorite TNG episode of all time was one called, “I, Borg” (here’s a clip) about a Borg becoming it’s own entity (you have to know what the Borg are, but go with it). It was a breathtaking, beautiful story about the importance of being different, of standing apart from the collective, of saying that there is difference and there should be acceptance.

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Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto. Their “deep space bromance” is chronicled in OUT magazine. There is obviously a high hotness score required to get into Starfleet Academy these days!

The singular Borg was played by a marvelous actor named Jonathan Del Arco. He’s an out gay man who is a passionate LGBT activist as well as an actor. Catch him on TNT’s terrific Major Crimes as Dr. Morales.

That’s a long way around the track to get to the point, which is shown so beautifully in the photograph at right. We have gone through so much to get to a world here today’s Capt. Kirk and Mr. Spock look like this. Their on-and-off-screen “bromance” is chronicled in a great article in OUT magazine.  In the article, Zachary Quinto talks about how intelligent Chris Pine is and how he infuses all of his characterizations with that intelligence. And, ultimately, that’s why I think Pine’s so damn sexy. I mean, the abs are nothing to sneeze at, but ya gotta have a brain! Oh, myyy, indeed!

Sullivan and Savage go to the Library and Talk About Sex, Marriage, Being Gay and Writing Books

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I love both Andrew Sullivan and Dan Savage. In a recent event sponsored by the New York Public Library, the two got together for a long conversation about a broad range of topics. As ever, both were captivating and insightful. Spend some time watching this; you’ll be glad you did.

Andrew and Dan go to the Library

 

For Adam Goldman, a Place That Isn’t Out to Get Him – NYTimes.com

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(l-r) Hunter Canning, Sasha Winters and Adam Goldman star in the exceptional Web series, The Outs.
Photo: Interview/Unusually Fine Photography

Adam Goldman lives in one of those Brooklyn prewar buildings near Prospect Park where the buzzer doesn’t always work, and the vestibule and lobby doors are frequently left unlatched. “But I feel safe here,” said Mr. Goldman, the creator, director and star of “The Outs,” the cultish online TV series that chronicled the dissolution of a romance between two gay 20-something men in contemporary Brooklyn. “This apartment is a step up.”

via For Adam Goldman, a Place That Isn’t Out to Get Him – NYTimes.com.

Pretty good article about Adam Goldman and his Brooklyn apartment. I enjoyed his Web series, The Outs, immensely. I thought it was so well-written and acted. It was witty, urbane, gripping and had an edge. It was the opposite of the bland fodder which comes out of Hollywood. That’s why the note in this piece that Goldman now has “representation in L.A.” makes me want to cringe a little. I hope the Left Coast doesn’t eat him.

Supreme Court Rulings Loom On Affirmative Action, Gay Marriage, Voting Rights

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Supreme Court Rulings Loom On Affirmative Action, Gay Marriage, Voting Rights.

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SCOTUS – Image: Wikimedia Commons

The gay media world is all a-twitter over when the DOMA and Prop. 8 rulings are going to be handed down. There’s not a lot of time left, either. One suspects that the Supremes are going to issue these opinions on the very last day of the term — which will be June 27 — and run for the door until the first Monday until October because, I don’t know, Ruth Bader Ginsburg has a timeshare in the Berkshires?

Out — In Finland!

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Petteri Paavola (left) is out teen Elias and Ronny Roslöf is closeted hockey player Lari in the Finnish series Salatut Elämät.

I first wrote about the Finnish soap Salatut Elämät  back at the beginning of January. Since that time, my original post has been read hundreds and hundreds of times (thanks, btw) and is rarely not one of the most viewed pages of the week here on my little cranky corner of the Web.

YouTube user missfinlandia88, who has been captioning the storyline of Elias and Lari that has caught on with English speakers from around the world, informs us that today’s episode — a good soapy cliffhanger — ends the series until it comes back from its annual hiatus in September. For all you “Larias” fans today’s cut from what I call “Lots of Umlauts” will have to tide you over for the summer!

High School Same-Sex ‘Cutest Couple’ is Prom-Bound Internet Sensation

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Bradley Taylor and Dylan Meehan, voted their high school’s cutest couple. This montage courtesy the “Have a Gay Day” Facebook group.

Carmel High School students Bradley Taylor and Dylan Meehan hold hands as they discuss the whirlwind of publicity they have received these past few days.

Just hours away from their senior prom Monday, Taylor and Meehan donned tuxedos with coordinating blue and silver vests and ties, living up to their newfound class designation. Last week, the two were named “cutest couple” in their yearbook’s senior superlatives, sparking international attention for the gay teens.

via Carmel H.S. ‘cutest couple’ become Internet sensation | The Journal News | LoHud.com | lohud.com.

I love the idea that these kids don’t see anything abnormal about a same sex couple being voted “Cutest Couple” in their senior superlatives. I, on the other hand, find it breathtaking and utterly astounding. And also as evidence that these young people will be more capable leaders of the world than my generation — and most assuredly more capable than the generation or two that came before me.

The great video that accompanies this story shows Dylan and Brad and their friends getting ready for their senior prom in Carmel, New York, north of New York City.

My high school prom was held in 1982. If I would have said I was attracted to a yak and wanted to bring a yak to the prom and let it crap on the dance floor, it would have caused less stir than if I said that I wanted to bring another boy. It just wasn’t done. Not only that, no one — certainly no one that I knew — ever even thought about it.

I cannot even imagine the world that these young people live in, but I am ecstatic that it exists for them. I hope it exists for everyone soon.

Remember this: no old person ever changed the world. Let’s make way for our young people; they know better than we do. That’s how change happens.

(Also, every now and then it pays to know your history. Written by John Lennon and released by The Beatles in 1967 was an anthem with the following line: All you need is love, Love. Love is all you need. Truer words were never spoken [well, sung]. Note that there’s no gender inferred or implied. Love is love, Love.)

Archie Comics Stepping Up to the Plate in Next ‘Kevin Keller’ Issue

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Riverdale gay teen Kevin Keller and his boyfriend Devon draw some ire from a resident in the next issue of ‘Kevin Keller.’ Image: Archie Comics

Gay kiss in upcoming Archie Comics a poke at real controversy – LGBTQ Nation.

It’s a just quick kiss, but it’s a huge step forward for Archie Comics’ only openly gay character Kevin Keller.

The Riverdale teen finds his life turned upside down after locking lips with his boyfriend, Devon, in Pop Tate’s diner, drawing the ire of at least one disapproving Riverdale mom.

Remember when Archie and Jughead and company were beyond lame? Who knew that now Riverdale is on the cutting edge! Keep it up, Archie!

Bret Easton Ellis and the Magical Gay Elves

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The rush to embrace and console every gay man who comes out is infantilizing and condescending—but it’s a script written and promoted by GLAAD and reinforced by a sanctimonious establishment of gay men that rewards those who play by the rules—and punishes those who don’t. Novelist Bret Easton Ellis on why he refuses to take his bitch-slapping lying down.

via In the Reign of the Gay Magical Elves | Out Magazine.

Oh, Bret Easton Ellis, you insane, snarky old bastard. I actually agree with you on a lot of this, but as one gay man to another, can I also inform you that there is an enormous swath of the American public that needs to be nudged along a little softly. At least right now. Yes, it makes my eyes roll sometimes, too, but dial back the rhetoric just a bit — just a bit — and let’s let the rest of the country catch up.

And for the record, I vehemently disagree with you about Matt Bomer. He’s an actor. It shouldn’t matter that he’s gay playing straight any more than a straight actor playing gay. Get over yourself just a touch.