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Daily Archives: November 25, 2016
Jill Stein Files for Recount in Wisconsin
Jill Stein Files for Recount in Wisconsin
The Green Party presidential candidate is seeking volunteers to help in the process, which begins next week.
www.advocate.com/politicians/2016/11/25/jill-stein-files-recount-wisconsin
Lawmaker Introduces Bill Banning Conversion Therapy in Mike Pence's Name
Lawmaker Introduces Bill Banning Conversion Therapy in Mike Pence's Name
The Prevention of Emotional Neglect and Childhood Endangerment — or PENCE — would block the harmful practice of trying to “change” the sexual orientation or gender identity of LGBT minors in New York’s Erie County.
LGBT Twitter on Dealing With Family During the Holidays
LGBT Twitter on Dealing With Family During the Holidays
Not sure how to handle your Republican relatives during the holiday season? Here are the hilarious ways LGBT people are dealing.
www.advocate.com/comedy/2016/11/25/lgbt-twitter-dealing-family-during-holidays
Freddie Mercury’s Isolated Vocal Track From “We Are The Champions” Will Send Shivers Down Your Spine
Freddie Mercury’s Isolated Vocal Track From “We Are The Champions” Will Send Shivers Down Your Spine
He boasted an over four-octave range — that’s no joke.
Give Thanks for These Gay Movies: Moonlight, Lazy Eye, Best Worst Thing, From Afar, and More…
Give Thanks for These Gay Movies: Moonlight, Lazy Eye, Best Worst Thing, From Afar, and More…
“Lazy Eye,” now available on iTunes, is a stirring romantic drama
Since it’s Thanksgiving weekend let’s get reflective about gratitude, cinematic and otherwise.
One thing we need to remind ourselves in this frightening time for the LGBTQ community (with homophobes and racists soon in power) is that this backlash came from very real progress. The world is so much better for gay people than it was 30, 20, even 10 years ago. We must fight to maintain those rights, yes, but at least we now have them!
Progress for our community is also reflected at the movies where there’s always a new LGBT picture to see. It’s especially true if you keep your eyes peeled for American indies and foreign imports that aren’t playing on thousands of screens.
If you’ve already seen the tremendous Oscar hopeful Moonlight (our write-up here), the story of a black gay man in Miami, try one of these films next:
LAZY EYE
This indie, available now on iTunes, has been labelled a ‘gay Before Sunrise’ and though that’s slightly misleading it’s not a bad comparison. It’s also a romantic two-hander that’s filled with engaging conversation. A middle age graphic designer (Lucas Near-Verbrugghe) and a free spirit whose also the man that got away (Aaron Costa Ganis) 15 years earlier when they were new college graduates.
It helps that both actors are talented and the sex scene is hot, but movies like this live or die by the conversation. It’s revealing, engaging, sometimes uncomfortable and leaves you with plenty to discuss with your friends or significant other once it’s over.
The stars of the musical in 1981 and in 2016
BEST WORST THING THAT EVER COULD HAVE HAPPENED
After a string of Broadway classics and hits in the 1970s gay composer / genius Stephen Sondheim’s “Merrily We Roll Along” was a surprise flop in 1981, closing just sixteen performances into its run. This documentary is now playing in New York and LA and will expand to additional cities soon.
It’s directed by original cast member Lonny Price and he’s unearthed rare clips and reassembling the cast to examine the way the musical changed their lives. It will surely leave you humming the classic Sondheim songs but it also left me thinking about an unrelated Broadway standard (not by Stephen Sondheim) – A Chorus Line’s “What I Did For Love.”
This is an insightful, fascinating documentary about commitment to your dreams, the way those dreams change as you age, and what people sacrifice along the way.
“From Afar” is Venezuela’s Oscar submission
FROM AFAR
Next month the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will narrow the 85 Oscar contenders for Best Foreign Language Film down to 9 finalists. There’s only two gay films in the mix this year (Cuba and Venezuela) but one of them is readily available on Netflix.
The Venezuelan film From Afar stars Chile’s great actor Alfredo Castro as an older gay man who falls for a rough young street hustler who surprisingly sticks around after their hostile first encounter. You can safely guess that it’s depressing but the performances are very strong so give it a chance.
Best Actressing & Movie Musicals
Yes, yes, I am fully aware that not all gays are into the worship of great actresses or the joy of the movie musical, but let us not dwell on those less fortunates. The Gay and Lesbian Critics Association just released their list of “10 Greatest Actresses of All Time” and the list is like so:
- Ingrid Bergman
- Cate Blanchett
- Bette Davis
- Viola Davis
- Jane Fonda
- Katharine Hepburn
- Isabelle Huppert
- Julianne Moore
- Barbara Stanwyck
- Meryl Streep
Isabelle Huppert slays in “Elle”
Two of them have new movies this season: French icon Isabelle Huppert probably didn’t need a victory lap for her remarkable career, but it’s hard to argue that her chilly video game executive / rape victim in the darkly comic French Oscar submission Elle (now playing) isn’t one of her greatest roles; You have to wait until Christmas to see Viola Davis in Fences but I caught an advanced screening and am happy to report it’s just excellent. The adaptation of August Wilson’s classic play uses almost all of the Broadway revival cast and Viola Davis will finally be winning that Oscar she should have already won for The Help (2011).
Concept art for “Moana”
As for the movie musical, La La Land will be here soon (December 9th) to fight for the Best Picture Oscar but until then, see Moana. Though it breaks no new ground given the strict adherence to the Disney Princess Animated Musical template, it’s gorgeous, funny, and has music by Lin-Manuel Miranda. If he wins the Best Original Song Oscar with “How Far I’ll Go” he’ll complete his EGOT.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING WEEKEND !
The post Give Thanks for These Gay Movies: Moonlight, Lazy Eye, Best Worst Thing, From Afar, and More… appeared first on Towleroad.
Give Thanks for These Gay Movies: Moonlight, Lazy Eye, Best Worst Thing, From Afar, and More…
AFA Releases Its Annual “Naughty Or Nice” List So We Know Where To Shop This Holiday Season
AFA Releases Its Annual “Naughty Or Nice” List So We Know Where To Shop This Holiday Season
Just in time for the holiday shopping season, the American Family Association has released its annual “Naughty or Nice” list of stores that you should and should not frequent this yuletide season.
In a statement, the AFA explains its strict criteria for the coveted list:
AFA reviewed up to four areas to determine if a company was “Christmas-friendly” in their advertising: print media (newspaper inserts), broadcast media (radio/television), website and/or personal visits to the store. If a company’s ad has references to items associated with Christmas (trees, wreaths, lights, etc.), it was considered as an attempt to reach “Christmas” shoppers. If a company has items associated with Christmas, but did not use the word “Christmas,” then the company is considered as censoring “Christmas.”
So who made the list? Let’s take a look…
Noticeably absent from the list is AFA’s archenemy Target. That’s because the discount department store with gender neutral bathrooms is simply too sinful to be considered “naughty,” and is instead on the blacklist of businesses AFA wants everyone to boycott. The organization is even peddling “I Boycott Target” buttons and t-shirts, which would make a great stocking stuffer for your crazy uncle who watched FOX News all day:
Related: Yes, The War On Christmas Is Very Real And We’ve Got Proof!
In conjunction with its “Naughty of Nice” list, AFA has also launched its online Christmas store, which features a whopping six items, including a 10-pack of “Keep Christ In Christmas” rubber wristbands, some crappy Christmas DVDs, and AFA branded ground coffee.
Happy holidays!
Denver Gay Bar Defends Display of Bloodied Mexican Climbing Wall As Satire
Denver Gay Bar Defends Display of Bloodied Mexican Climbing Wall As Satire
The owners of a Denver gay bar which mounted a display of an injured Mexican person trying to climb over a wall have defended it as satire.
The display features a bloody-handed “Mexican person” wearing a sombrero attempting to climb over a wall decorated with a U.S. flag.
RELATED: Denver Gay Bar Found Guilty of Discriminating Against Drag Queen: VIDEO
Bar patron Gia Valverde, who visited X Bar in Denver last weekend, told Mic.com:
“The first thing I thought was like ‘What the hell is that?
“I was with one of my coworkers and he’s Muslim and we went there because we were invited by some of our friends and we both kinda gave each other the stink eye, like ‘This is really racist.’”
Valverde added that other bar patrons were taking selfies at the display.
Her friend Stephen Garcia (right), who posted an image of the wall on Facebook, said “it’s incredible that people would be OK” with the display. He continued:
“My Latinx family has always shown up for LGBT rights in this God forsaken country and this is how you show us support? As a Gay man I am so ashamed to be a part of Denver. I am hurt and I am angry. As if we ALL aren’t considered second class citizens here. I need answers and i need them now.”
The bar’s owners Steven Alix and Jorge Pesqueira said the wall went up without their permission and it “is not the image we want to portray.”
In an interview, Alix said “someone put it up as satire and we want to make sure everyone is clear that we don’t support any of the negative things behind this.”
Wrote Pesqueira in a Facebook post:
“Let me start by saying that this was NOT put up by the owners. I personally found comedic value in it because of our current state of affairs [following Election 2016]. Having said that, we still took it down in order not to offend anyone. We in no way support the building of any ‘wall’; in face we held a Hillary fundraiser at the bar, supporting the candidate that supported our diverse communities…I’m sorry you were offended while visiting us but rest assured, we are on your side.”
Pesqueira added that he was born and raised in Mexico and thinks some of the anger toward the bar’s ownership may be misdirected.
“This has turned into a fight that is really being pointed at the wrong people. We’re fighting for the same immigration rights. We had a Hillary support event at the bar. We should be fighting together, not putting blame on anybody or wasting all of our voices towards blaming the wrong people.”
He also reached out to Garcia on his original Facebook post. However, Garcia said he was less than satisfied with the bar’s response, which he thought the owners reduced to whether someone is offended and not the racially-charged sentiment behind it.
In another statement on Facebook posted yesterday, X Bar wrote:
The people involved in creating a visual statement, encouraged by a Latino customer, meant no offense and were actually trying to make light of a hard situation as satire (speaking on the ridiculousness of the Trump wall and not the plight of immigrants.) They feel terrible for causing anyone to feel saddened or discouraged and never meant it to cause these feelings. As more people are involved and we find how offensive this was, we want to make sure all of our patrons know where we stand.
Pesqueira and Alix have since instituted sensitivity training for staff and invited Garcia and Valverde to be involved. Both Garcia and Valverde have indicated that they would be willing to take part.
(Image via Facebook)
The post Denver Gay Bar Defends Display of Bloodied Mexican Climbing Wall As Satire appeared first on Towleroad.
Denver Gay Bar Defends Display of Bloodied Mexican Climbing Wall As Satire
The Road to Recovery: 10 Tips on How to Feel Better After Trump's Victory
The Road to Recovery: 10 Tips on How to Feel Better After Trump's Victory
www.advocate.com/politics/2016/11/25/road-recovery-10-tips-how-feel-better-after-trumps-victory
Where to Shop, Not Shop
Where to Shop, Not Shop
Donald Trump had a big effect on where LGBT people should shop this holiday season.
