'Brokeback Mountain' Headed to London Stage

It started as a short story, became an Oscar-winning film and then an opera, and now Brokeback Mountain is going to be adapted for the legitimate stage.

Producer Tom O’Connell has acquired the rights to Annie Proulx’s short story about two male ranch hands who fall in love in the 1960s and carry on a clandestine affair for years, and the production is expected to premiere in London’s West End in 2016, Playbill reports.

“I am looking forward with sharp anticipation to the stage interpretation of the star-crossed lovers of Brokeback Mountain who moved from the page to the screen and now, under the skilled hand of producer Tom O’Connell and the sensibilities of the company, to the stage  — a strange journey for two messed-up wannabe cow-hands from Wyoming,” said a statement issued by Proulx. “The actors who pull on their scuffed-up boots will step into a difficult time in a hard place.”

The 2005 film adaptation, starring Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal as the lovers, was nominated for eight Oscars and won three — for director Ang Lee, screenwriters Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana, and composer Gustavo Santaolalla. It also had wins at the BAFTA and Golden Globe Awards. Read a 10th anniversary interview with the screenwriters here.

The New York City Opera commissioned the operatic version, which premiered at Madrid’s Teatro Real in 2014. American composer Charles Wuorinen wrote the music, and Proux did the libretto, in English.

To follow the play’s progress toward its premiere, visit BrokebackPlay.com.

Trudy Ring

www.advocate.com/theater/2015/9/13/brokeback-mountain-headed-london-stage

Why I Want You to Stare at Me as a Man With Disabilities
A smirk grows on my face as we pass each other on the street. It widens as you get closer to me. I notice you noticing me, and ever so slightly, my smile grows. For that millisecond or less, your eyes lock on mine, taking me all in. But when I look up at you, and smile back, my eyes inviting you into all that I can offer — all the possibilities that you have yet to consider, your eyes dart down and away from me, and the look on your face hardens — you seem ashamed of what you just saw.

Moments like what I just described happen to me as a man with disabilities almost everyday. I’ll be out running errands, grocery shopping, heading to the mall to hang out or silently lip-syncing every word to the latest trashy pop song while not paying attention to what I should be, and this will happen to me. Personally, I can’t help but laugh at how ridiculous people look from my perspective. It’s like they are going to give themselves whiplash, and they are trying to run their eyes away from the situation — like they have just committed the most cardinal of sins.

I know why we all do this: We have been taught from before we can even remember that to stare is extremely rude and that we should never do it to anyone. When it comes to people with disabilities though, this has been taken to the extreme. I have seen people pull their friends away, literally jumping out of my way, like I have some sort of explosive strapped to me. I’ve seen children be scolded for looking too long, and good-looking guys cower in fear at the fact they looked at all. Nobody wants to be offensive, and social graces dictate that we are not allowed to ocularly “other” someone. It just isn’t done.

I find that this type of behavior happens to me often in queer spaces, like the village or the dance-floor. The guy will start to look at me, either on the sidewalk, or in between the thumping of club beats, and just as they are starting to drink in all the deliciousness that is my disability, just as I am watching them act out our potential playtime in their minds eye, they break my gimp gaze. It’s like a trance has been broken, and they all of a sudden remembered that looking at that guy in the chair is “wrong.” That by looking at me in that way, they have somehow deviated from the cultural norms that my disability defies. What if I told you I want you to stare at me? What if I told you that in these spaces, I long to be stared at? Here’s why:

When you look at me, and then whip your head back faster than Willow Smith, or dart your eyes to the floor pretending like you never even saw me in the first place, two things happen: I am erased from your eyeballs and your queer experience. By not seeing me, you do not have to process me. In effect, I become invisible and unimportant. There have even been moments where guys in clubs have fallen over me, because they didn’t see me (sadly, they never fall on me in sexy positions). I have spent so much time wanting to be seen by someone, and doing anything and everything I could to achieve this goal. I want to be sexualized, scoped out and sought after. I want you to see all that which no one else notices.

The truth is, I love those moments where you look and see me in my entirety. It is in that split second interaction that I get to watch you really look at what a queer man who doesn’t conform to any standard actually looks like. I see that sly smirk you make as you wrap your brain around all the other things you might be wrapped around if you keep gazing in my direction. I love watching you nervously look away, all your synapses firing in both confusion and connection, but then seeing you get drawn back into all that could be yours to discover.

In that same fraction of a second, I am happy and content that you looked my way. It means that this space that I occupy, and the time that it took me to get to this space is valid. When I see you seeing me, it reminds me that I am sexy, seated and scrumptious. Your “stop, stare and smirk,” tells me that I have done my job. I have helped you to take your blinders off and see other boys who might blow your mind.

I hope the next time that I pass you on the street or in the scene, and our eyes meet in that crowd, you only whip your head back to get a better look. As I wheel away, and am just about to break my gaze, I hope the vision of me as the sexiest seated guy you have ever seen is embedded on your retinas.

— This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

feeds.huffingtonpost.com/c/35496/f/677065/s/49d15a67/sc/24/l/0L0Shuffingtonpost0N0Candrew0Emorrisongurza0Cwhy0Ei0Ewant0Eyou0Eto0Estare0Ea0Ib0I8127650A0Bhtml0Dutm0Ihp0Iref0Fgay0Evoices0Gir0FGay0KVoices/story01.htm

YouTubers share how they came out to their parents in beautifully honest video

Teens looking to YouTube for coming out videos can now watch an ultimate compilation of stories, thanks to Ashley Mardell.

The 23-year-old pansexual vlogger, who has more than 188,200 subscribers to her YouTube channel, decided to collaborate with four other YouTubers to share the unpolished reality of coming out to your parents.

‘Some stories are ridiculously happy and easy, while others frankly are hard to hear,’ she said.

‘But I didn’t want to present an exaggerated conversation, romanticizing and glamorizing coming out. I just wanted realness; for you to hear these people’s authentic vulnerable truths.’

The video is a collaboration with Chandler, who is agender and uses they/them pronouns, and also stars Timmy, who is gay, Damian, who is asexual, and Amanda, who is a lesbian. The group have a combined subscriber figure of more than 685,000 people.

Chandler, whose sister is transgender, explained how their coming out affected their family.

‘Being transgender never came up in my family prior to my sister coming out, so we didn’t know that my dad was really, really, really, really, really transphobic,’ they said.

Luckily, their mom was much more supportive.

‘I was talking about my sister, I was saying you’ve been a lot more supportive with my sister, which is great for me, so you know how I’ve been going as chandler in some of my classes? Well, it’s because I’m agender.’

‘I said ‘I’m gonna cry’ and she said ‘I am too’ and she said ‘But you know I love you’, and she stood up and she walked over to me and we hugged and as soon as we hugged I immediately started crying.’

Damian, who is asexual, initially confused his asexuality for homosexuality – and came out to his family as gay.

‘After I told my parents I was asexual they said ‘Yeah we kind of thought that was a thing the whole time, but we didn’t want to say anything cos we didn’t want to seem rude’,’ he explained.

19-year-old Amanda had never previously said she was gay on YouTube, but is now out to her parents after her dad confronted her when he noticed she had pictures of women as her desktop background.

She shared how he was initially supportive, but soon things took a sour turn.

‘But then he goes to hug me, and as he has his arms around me, he says ‘But you’re still going to Hell’. At that moment is when everything changed.’

Now Amanda is waiting to move out of her parents’ house, and is dealing with their negativity.

‘The thing I want people to know is that you don’t need acceptance from your family,’ she said. ‘I’m only going to be around this negativity for a fraction of how long I’ll be alive.’

Timmy, who describes himself as ‘gay a f!’ shared how his mom accepted him from the moment he came out.

‘This one day, I just decided I was going to do it,’ he said. ‘I opened that closet door and I just walked my gay ass out! I went downstairs, I saw my mom there and said ‘I have to talk to you. It’s something big’.’

As well as sharing their personal stories, the YouTubers share their tips for young people getting ready to come out to their parents.

‘Make sure you’re ready, in a safe place, and then shine your rainbow flag, be your complete self, it’s the best feeling in the world,’ Timmy said. 

‘And just know that if you do go through a hard time because of it that hard time will pass no matter what and your life will feel amazing afterwards.’

The post YouTubers share how they came out to their parents in beautifully honest video appeared first on Gay Star News.

Mel Spencer

www.gaystarnews.com/article/youtubers-share-how-they-came-out-to-their-parents-in-beautifully-honest-video/

Awesome Nature Video of the Day: Crocodile Torpedo

National Geographic photographer Trevor Frost shared a crocodile video to his Instagram account this week that might have you saying “nope” to your next swim in a murky river.

Writes Frost: “Crocodiles have incredibly strong tails. Their tails propel them in the water like torpedoes from a submarine. In fact, as you see here, their tails are so strong that they can propel their entire body out of the water. Crocodiles are so cool.”

Check out more of Towleroad’s posts on animals and nature HERE.

The post Awesome Nature Video of the Day: Crocodile Torpedo appeared first on Towleroad.

Andy Towle

Awesome Nature Video of the Day: Crocodile Torpedo

'Downton' Actor 'Humbled' by Response to Gay Character

Robert-James Collier has been humbled by viewers’ supportive response to the struggles of his Downtown Abbey character, gay under-butler Thomas Barrow.

Thomas, often involved in devious plots against other Downton servants, emerged as a more sympathetic character last season as he sought a “cure” for his homosexuality.

“We’ve dealt with Thomas’s sexuality and he always appeared to be happy, but we found out last year that he wasn’t,” Collier told reporters at a recent press event in London, International Business Times U.K. reports. “He never resolved it last year — he thought he could cure it by injecting himself [a common “treatment” in the 1920s]. It’s always underlying that he always has to reconcile who he is with himself, good or bad. That’s what this series is all about for Thomas.”

Teenagers who haven’t come out to their families have written to Collier about how Thomas’s struggles resonated with them, the actor said. “The worry about getting exposed and they’re yet to come out to their families and friends, their insecurities like: ‘Am I going to get accepted, how are my family going to deal with this?’ It’s a huge thing.

“To see something on the TV in a main show that they can identify with is quite rare, so I really tapped into that. It’s really humbling when you see letters like that, because Thomas is moving people and that’s what drama’s supposed to do. It’s supposed to evoke emotion. It’s lovely when you get that, it’s the greatest compliment of all. Very humbling, poignant, and heartfelt.”

There will be much drama for Thomas in the upcoming season, Collier said. “You are going to see Thomas right at the brink,” he told another U.K. outlet, the Sunday Mirror.  The popular period series returns for its sixth and final season in the U.K. September 20 and in the U.S. in January. Watch a trailer below.

Trudy Ring

www.advocate.com/television/2015/9/13/downton-actor-humbled-response-gay-character

Teen suspended from school for wearing ‘nobody knows I’m a lesbian t-shirt’

An American high school senior is taking a stand for freedom of expression after being suspended for wearing a t-shirt printed with the phrase ‘nobody knows I’m a lesbian’.

Openly gay student Briana Popour claims she was pulled out of class at Chesnee High School to be told her shirt was ‘disruptive’, and went against the dress code. 

‘I’ve worn this shirt before and nobody’s ever said anything,’ said Popour, speaking to News2.

When she protested the school administrator’s decision, explaining that there was nothing in the handbook forbidding students from expressing their sexual orientation, he is said to have responded that ‘not everything is in the handbook’.

The explicit wording in the dress code states that ‘clothing deemed distracting, revealing, overly suggestive or otherwise disruptive will not be permitted.’

An email from the school district clarified the situation, explaining the shirt was ‘offensive and distracting’.

‘She was asked by school administration to cover it or change it, but refused, preferring to be suspended instead,’ the district said.

Popper’s mother is now searching for answers as to why the shirt was seen to be offensive.

‘[The administrator] does not like people in his school wearing anything that says anything about lesbians, gays, or bisexuals,’ she said. ‘There’s other stuff that could be against religion, that could be against anything else, but that wasn’t listed in his comments.’

Now Popour is keen to share her story so other gay teens feel comfortable in expressing their identity – however they see fit.

‘Isn’t that what school is supposed to teach you? To be happy with who you are?’ she said.

‘Maybe people will be more comfortable showing who they are because you should be able to wear what you want to wear.’

The post Teen suspended from school for wearing ‘nobody knows I’m a lesbian t-shirt’ appeared first on Gay Star News.

Mel Spencer

www.gaystarnews.com/article/teen-suspended-from-school-for-wearing-nobody-knows-im-a-lesbian-t-shirt/

The ‘First Amendment Defense Act’ is the Vilest ‘Religious Freedom’ Bill of Our Time

Earlier this summer we reported on a a disgusting new bill dubbed the First Amendment Defense Act, introduced by the two bigots pictured above, Rep. Raul Labrador (R-Idaho), left, and Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah).

The Human Rights Campaign explained the measure:

The legislation would prohibit any adverse action by the federal government against an individual or organization for discriminatory actions against legally married same-sex couples as long as they claim they are acting in accordance with their religious beliefs. “Adverse action” is broadly defined to include the denial or revocation of a federal tax status or deduction; denial of a federal grant, contract, loan, benefit or employment; or any other act of discrimination. The bill provides individuals and organizations the right to sue the federal government for monetary damages in federal court.

If passed, this legislation would create a breakdown of government services and runaway litigation.  It would permit a federal employee, for example, to refuse to process tax returns, visa applications or Social Security checks whenever a same-sex couple’s paperwork appears on his or her desk.  This legislation would also permit recipients of federal grants and contracts, including those for social services programs like homeless shelters and substance abuse treatment programs, to turn away LGBT people.  It allows any of these individuals or groups, or anyone else who believes they have been somehow required by the federal government to approve of married same-sex couples, to file a lawsuit and potentially receive damages from taxpayer money.

Yesterday, The New York Times editorial board attacked the bill, warning that it would “it would deliberately warp the bedrock principle of religious freedom under the Constitution.”

They add:

As critics of the bill quickly pointed out, the measure’s broad language — which also protects those who believe that “sexual relations are properly reserved to” heterosexual marriages alone — would permit discrimination against anyone who has sexual relations outside such a marriage. That would appear to include women who have children outside of marriage, a class generally protected by federal law.

This bizarre fixation on what grown-ups do in their bedrooms — which has long since been rejected by the Supreme Court and the vast majority of Americans — is bad enough. The bill makes matters worse by covering for-profit companies, which greatly multiplies the potential scope of discrimination against gays and lesbians.

Though the bill’s chances are slim, its broad right-wing support (“The bill has 148 co-sponsors in the House and 36 in the Senate — all Republicans but one, Representative Daniel Lipinski of Illinois. It has been endorsed by the Republican National Committee and at least four Republican presidential contenders”) should serve as a warning that the fight to retain LGBT rights and protections is far from over and we must continue to be vigilant against efforts to take them away from us.

The post The ‘First Amendment Defense Act’ is the Vilest ‘Religious Freedom’ Bill of Our Time appeared first on Towleroad.

Andy Towle

The ‘First Amendment Defense Act’ is the Vilest ‘Religious Freedom’ Bill of Our Time

S.F. Announces Jail Integration Plan for Trans Women

Transgender women in San Francisco’s city-county jails will be able to access programs for other female inmates and eventually will be housed with them if they wish to be, under a plan unveiled Thursday by Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi.

Trans women are currently housed in a separate unit for their own protection, but they will be fully integrated with other women by the end of the year, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. Because there are few transgender male inmates, the sheriff and the organizations working with him prioritized addressing the situation of trans women.

Next month inmates and Sheriff’s Department staff will begin “education and training designed to smooth the way for female transgender inmates to participate with other women in programs such as drug and alcohol abuse education and women’s empowerment groups,” the Chronicle reports. That is the first step toward integration, said Mirkarimi (pictured above).

“The high majority of municipal jails and prisons in this country make invisible, suppress or isolate inmates who are transgender,” said a statement issued by the sheriff. “The driving reason is for their protection. However, this practice comes at a dehumanizing cost, often resulting in abuse and high recidivism rates due to in-custody and post-release neglect.”

Trans women who wish to stay in the separate unit or with male inmates will be able to do so, an aide to Mirkarimi told the Los Angeles Times. Those who wish to be housed with other females will be subject to a review process, but the decision on where to place them will not be based solely on whether they have undergone gender-confirmation surgery or have a diagnosis of gender dysphoria.

“It’s not going to be based on genitalia alone. We will have an advisory committee, experts that help represent the transgender population,” Mirkarimi told the Times. “There will be complicated incidences where we’ll have to decide if this is the proper fit or not.”

The National Center for Lesbian Rights, the Transgender Law Center, TGI Justice Project, and the Human Rights Commission worked with the Sheriff’s Department on the plan.

“Our number 1 priority is to take care of our sisters who are housed in prisons and jails,” Janetta Johnson, executive director of the TGI Justice Project, told the Chronicle. “This policy is a step in the right direction, but our community as a whole has to do a lot more to keep these women out of jail in the first place and to make sure that transgender women of color, in particular, can live safely and freely.”

Michael Silverman, executive director of the Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund, praised San Francisco’s move. “If implemented effectively, San Francisco’s program can turn out to be a model for the nation,” he told the Times. “It’s a positive step towards ensuring transgender people in San Francisco’s jail are protected.”

Trudy Ring

www.advocate.com/transgender/2015/9/13/sf-announces-jail-integration-plan-trans-women

Are We Putting Too Much Pressure On Caitlyn Jenner?

If you’re confused by Caitlyn Jenner’s recent comments on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” about her seemingly lukewarm opinions on gay marriage, you’re not alone. DeGeneres herself subsequently told Howard Stern that she feels Jenner “still has a judgment” about marriage equality. But are we putting too many expectations on Ms. Jenner as she grows into a pioneer for the transgender community? Trish Bendix, editor-in-chief for AfterEllen.com, joined HuffPost Live on Thursday to discuss. Check it out in the video above. 

Sign up here for Live Today, HuffPost Live’s new morning email that will let you know the newsmakers, celebrities and politicians joining us that day and give you the best clips from the day before!

Also on HuffPost:

— This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/09/11/after-caitlyn-jenners-confusing-marriage-equality-comments-are-we-putting-too-many-expectations-on-her_n_8130594.html?utm_hp_ref=gay-voices&ir=Gay+Voices

Ellen Page rails against GOP presidential candidates Cruz and Huckabee

Don’t expect Ellen Page to donate time, or money, to the campaigns of Ted Cruz or Mike Huckabee. In an interview with the Daily Beast, the out actress pointed to the anti-gay positions both of the Republican presidential candidates share.

‘To me, it seems like they’re homophobic people,’ the Juno star said. ‘I’ve seen multiple videos and read multiple quotes of Ted Cruz discussing gay issues, as well as Mike Huckabee, and it goes exactly as you’d expect.

‘They don’t answer the question. They say you’re cutting them off when you try to ask the same question again because you’re not answering it, because the reality is that they might be homophobic.’

The video of the 28-year-old confronting Cruz about his discrimination of LGBTI people, in the name of ‘religious freedom,’ went viral earlier this summer.

Page, as to be expected, is not a fan of Kentucky clerk Kim Davis. She compared the state employee, who Cruz and Huckabee enthusiastically support, to 1960 officials battling against racial equality.

‘The same religious liberty arguments have been used to discriminate with regards to gender and race,’ she said. ‘It’s not new. That being said, has religion been used for propelling beautiful movements? Of course. But this is not new, and it’s destructive, and it’s sad.’

h/t: The Hill

The post Ellen Page rails against GOP presidential candidates Cruz and Huckabee appeared first on Gay Star News.

James Withers

www.gaystarnews.com/article/ellen-page-rails-against-gop-presidential-candidates-cruz-and-huckabee/