Daniel, Margo and Brad
Michael Mahler posted a photo:
Greater Erie Alliance for Equality (GEAE) held their annual GEAE Hockey Night on February 18 at Erie Insurance Arena There was a yummy buffet and good times with friends and supporters.
Monthly Archives: February 2017
10 comforting queer flicks to soothe the soul in a discomforting time
10 comforting queer flicks to soothe the soul in a discomforting time
As the dog days of winter drag on, the odds of ending up sick in bed rise. Then again, with Donald Trump daily F-bombs, it’s a wonder every sane person in America hasn’t come down with a nasty case of nausea.
Fortunately there are plenty of options when it comes to movies to keep us company and distract us from reality. The list assembled here comprises of the equivalent of comfort food—gay films we love to watch again and again that put us in a good mood, rather like old friends. These are not necessarily the the “best” movies, flicks that challenge us artistically or intellectually and gobble up festival honors. Instead, they warm our hearts by reminding us of the beauty of same love, community and pride.
Check out or revisit these queer flicks for a little comfort, and some warm & fuzzy feelings…
1. The Broken Hearts Club
Before he produced superhero TV, Greg Berlanti (Arrow, Supergirl) tried his hand at writing and directing an indie film. The result, The Broken Hearts Club, became a latter-day classic of queer cinema, a love letter to the surrogate family of the LGBT community. These days it plays like a shocking who’s-who of stars on the rise: Justin Theroux, Zach Braff, and Timothy Olyphant all have early roles, as does Dean Cain before he became a Trump surrogate and spokesman for dermal filler. John Mahoney steals his scenes as an aging gay restaurateur, and becomes the emotional center of a film as tender as it is funny.
2. The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert
For a dragtastic good time, check out this gem from Oz about three cross dressers in the Australian outback. The film helped launch the stateside careers of Guy Pierce and Hugo Weaving, and reminded the world of the considerable talents of the great Terrence Stamp. With Oscar-winning costumes that have to be seen to be believed, and one of the most fabulous soundtracks to ever grace the screen, Priscilla, Queen of the Desert affirms the family-like glories of gay camaraderie. Even the most stoic viewers will get in touch with their inner drag queens, thanks to the sharp dialogue and irresistible music.
3. Trick
Two gay guys do their best to hook up in this romantic farce, and along the way, they realize something curious: they actually like one another. Christian Campbell (Neve’s brother) and John Paul Pitoc play said horny dudes, though the real joy of the movie comes from (of all people) Tori Spelling as Campbell’s ditzy friend. Who would have thought that the actress could actually steal all of her scenes as a wannabe Broadway actress? Likewise, noted drag performer Coco Peru gives a memorable performance as one of Pitoc’s one night stands. Trick’s premise is hardly original, nor are its characters. Yet, as a charming portrait of boy-on-boy romance, the movie succeeds and will no doubt leave a smile on the face of a queer audience.
4. Latter Days
The closeted Mormon sexual fantasy has far surpassed cliché in recent years. In fact, thanks to the Church of Latter-Day Saints’ role in the passage of California Prop. 8 and other anti-LGBT legislation, anything Mormon grates more than fascinates (ok, Book of Mormon notwithstanding). Latter Days came out in 2004, and memorializes the last moment when queer culture found Mormon culture fascinating. As written and directed by C. Jay Cox, Latter Days chronicles a flamboyant Los Angeles gay falling for his closeted Mormon neighbor. Much like several other films listed here though, the romantic leads get upstaged by the eccentric supporting characters, and a supporting cast that includes Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Amber Benson, Mary Kay Place and Jacqueline Bisset. Though ostensibly a comedy, Latter Days does feature some disturbing scenes of conversion therapy, suggesting that if made today, the film would veer more toward the dramatic. In that sense, the film has a certain innocence about it, making it a charming, if naïve meditation on coming out and first love.
5. GBF
If a mass hit like Mean Girls hinted at the dynamic between cliquish teen women and their gay besties, GBF indulges the idea, and becomes a hilarious answer to hetero-elitism. Part of director Darren Stein’s ongoing fascination with teen girls (his film Jawbreaker covered similar ground), GBF follows the rivalry between two young, gay high schoolers, one out and the other closeted. While their semi-feud provides plenty of laughs, GBF has a darker undercurrent—one highlighting the hypocrisy of straight women who want gay friends, but refuse to acknowledge gay relationships or homophobia. Even with the film’s serious edge, GBF keeps the humor coming, making it as familiar and comforting as other high school/queer interest movies like Mean Girls or Clueless.
6. Shared Rooms
A queer answer to holiday relationship movies like Love, Actually or The Family Stone, Shared Rooms follows a trio of gay couples all in various states of commitment over the week between Christmas and New Year’s Eve. A fresh-faced cast lends credence to what amounts to a meditation on love and family as a hook-up turns serious, a roommate arrangement masks hidden feelings, and a happy married couple takes in a young, gay ward. The unrated movie also features plenty of nudity from its very attractive cast, including the full frontal variety (actors Justin Xavier and Alexander Neil Smith might actually spend more of the movie’s runtime showing off the full Monty rather than dressed). Rather than titillate though, the nude scenes add a layer of honesty to the story, somehow making the characters all the more believable. The film’s one misstep lays in the film’s adoptive subplot: at times half of the married couple seems a bit too excited to have an adoptive gay teen, to the point it borders on creepy. Still, Shared Rooms has a great deal of charm, and some heartwarming scenes of a gay surrogate family becoming a real one.
7. Boy Culture
Q. Alan Brocka directed this adaptation of Matthew Rettenmund’s novel about a hooker with a heart of gold. Boy Culture doesn’t play like the gay version of Pretty Woman, however. In fact, it smashes the Cinderella nonsense of that film precisely by introducing a set of realistic characters, led by X. As played by Derek Magyar, X makes no apology for his questionable line of work. On the contrary, he seems to feel more shame for being part of a love triangle with his two hottie roommates, Andrew and Gregory. With a multi-racial cast and a melancholy backdrop of Seattle, Boy Culture unfolds less as a gay film about sex than a thoughtful drama about finding love in an oversexed world. For a queer audience, Boy Culture surpasses the fairytale silliness of most romantic comedies—gay or straight themed—with believable characters and some real introspection.
8. Billy’s Hollywood Screen Kiss
Sean Hayes burst onto the indie scene just prior to his tenure on Will & Grace with this queer romance. Hayes plays Billy, a Los Angeles photographer who falls for one of his models named Gabriel. But is Gabriel gay? Billy spends most of Billy’s Hollywood Screen Kiss trying to realize the issue isn’t Gabriel’s sexuality—it’s if he’s attracted to Billy personally. The premise does wear thin over the film’s 92 minute runtime, though Hayes gives such a winning performance, he buoy’s the film when its shortcomings should sink it. Billy’s Hollywood Screen Kiss belongs to that trend of late 90’s-early 2000’s indie films more preoccupied with gay characters being gay rather than telling an interesting story. At the same time, sometimes a queer audience just needs a movie that understands the life of LGBT folk, and in that sense, the film comforts, even when it wears thin.
9. Lazy Eye
Writer-director Tim Kirkman examines the One That Got Away in Lazy Eye, a film that postures as a love story. Loaded with sharp, naturalistic dialogue and featuring two fine performances from Lucas Near-Verbrugghe & Aaron Costa Ganis, the story centers on two middle-aged men rekindling a long-ago romance. As the film unfolds, it begins to reveal its true subject. Lazy Eye is less about lost love than nostalgia for youth, confronting past idealism and ultimately, growing up. In that way, the film could easily work as a sequel to one of those “I’ll never forget that summer” coming of age films. Ganis and Near-Verbrugghe have a magnetic chemistry, and like Shared Rooms, Lazy Eye features a good deal of nudity and graphic sex, though not in a pornographic way. Rather, the film has a voyeuristic quality which adds to the underlying feeling of realism. Gabe Mayhan’s photography captures the majestic beauty of the desert on par with the most glorious images of Lawrence of Arabia, and if the movie leaves a bittersweet taste, it feels like a comfort rather than revulsion. The two leads find something even better than closure—they find themselves.
10. The Wedding Banquet
Before Ang Lee raised the bar on queer films with Brokeback Mountain, the director helmed this heartwarming tale about a gay Chinese man reconciling his traditional family with his American queer life. For lead character Wai-Tung, that means marrying a traditional Chinese woman with the titular traditional Chinese ceremony, even while he keeps his longtime boyfriend Simon at home. The Wedding Banquet succeeds thanks to a perfect blend of drama and comedy, an appealing cast, and Lee’s astute direction. In the end, the movie isn’t so much about being gay or being Chinese as it is about balancing family expectations, and becoming a fully-formed adult. Years ahead of its time, The Wedding Banquet remains an overlooked classic of queer cinema, and a comforting one at that.
Catholic Illinois College Linebacker Comes Out as Gay: WATCH
Catholic Illinois College Linebacker Comes Out as Gay: WATCH
An Illinois college football player has come out as gay, and is “perhaps the first scholarship athlete who decided to end the charade while he was still competing at the collegiate level,” according to ABC7 New York.
Kyle Kurdziolek, a student at the University of St. Francis in Joliet, Illinois, hid his secret for years for fear that it could prevent him from playing.
Despite his fears, Kurdziolek was surprised to find that the reaction from friends, family and teammates was overwhelmingly positive.
RELATED: Meet The Adorable College Athlete Who Came Out on the Day of SCOTUS’ Gay Marriage Ruling
ABC 7 reports:
In May 2016, he told a coworker at a Joliet clothing store that he was gay. In August he started to tell some of his teammates. Among them was Alex Zlomie, a defensive end who turned out to be one of his best friends.
“We were hanging out over summer and we were going to a concert in Joliet and we were just walking in and he was like, ‘Hey, I wanted to let you know I’m gay,’ and I didn’t even break stride, I was like, OK,” Zlomie recalled.
The next step was informing his coach, Joe Curry.
“I was completely 100 percent happy for him. You know, everybody in their life desires to be part of something and be happy, and Kyle’s no different,” Curry said…
“I feel so relieved now, like, I’m so happy about the person I am today, just being able to get that off my chest and feel comfortable about who I am. I don’t have to hide behind this mask anymore, I don’t have to conform to some norm anymore. I can be Kyle Kurdziolek, I can be who I want to be and without no restrictions,” he said.
Kurdziolek added that his inspiration for coming out was Michael Sam. He is hoping that his experience coming out as a gay scholarship college football player might inspire other college athletes to come out.
Watch an ABC report below.
The post Catholic Illinois College Linebacker Comes Out as Gay: WATCH appeared first on Towleroad.
Catholic Illinois College Linebacker Comes Out as Gay: WATCH
The Sugar, Sex, Magic of Serge Lee (Photos)
The Sugar, Sex, Magic of Serge Lee (Photos)
www.advocate.com/photography/2017/2/25/sugar-sex-magic-serge-lee-photos
Tights Triplicate
Tights Triplicate
jessicajane9 posted a photo:
Red leopard print and black dress
Leather jacket
Pretty Polly tights
Black boots and bag ♥
Mysoginistic Billboard in Winston-Salem Wants to Silence Women (Video)
Mysoginistic Billboard in Winston-Salem Wants to Silence Women (Video)
What exactly is this advertising? The patriarchy?
www.advocate.com/women/2017/2/24/mysoginistic-billboard-winston-salem-wants-silence-women-video
Merriam-Webster Schools Kellyanne Conway on the Definition of Feminism
Merriam-Webster Schools Kellyanne Conway on the Definition of Feminism
Trump’s counselor equated feminism with hating men and loving abortions, but the 150-year-old dictionary wasn’t having it.
www.advocate.com/women/2017/2/24/merriam-webster-schools-kellyanne-conway-definition-feminism
California bans students and public workers from state-funded trips to anti-LGBT states
California bans students and public workers from state-funded trips to anti-LGBT states
hagmannreport posted a photo:
Just weeks after Donald Trump’s controversial “Muslim travel ban” was imposed and then lifted by judges, the state of California has implemented its own travel ban, which bars state-funded travel to “anti-LGBT states”.
The new law was issued by the Californian Department of Justice and is…
Depeche Mode has just been declared the “official band of the alt-right”
Depeche Mode has just been declared the “official band of the alt-right”
Further evidence that everything is terrible: Never-not-punchable neo-Nazi Richard Spencer has just declared Depeche Mode the “the official band of the alt-right.”
Of course, this is all news — fake news — to members of the long-running industrial-pop band.
Related: Are gay supremacists ‘literally’ Nazi stormtroopers? This guy thinks so.
Shortly before being whisked out of the Conservative Political Action Conference for being “repugnant”, he sarcastically invoked the band’s name to New York‘s Olivia Nuzzi:
Richard Spencer, asked if he likes rock music, says “Depeche Mode is the official band of the alt-right.”
— Olivia Nuzzi (@Olivianuzzi) February 23, 2017
To be clear, he made no mention of New Order, possibly due to the viral video in which he’s punched repeatedly in the face to the beat of 1983 romper stomper “Blue Monday” …?
While there’s no shortage of ’80s bands that decided to dubiously straddle the fine line between the fascistic and fetishistic —
— Spencer decided to settle on the band behind decidedly not-evil 1984 anthem “People Are People,” which features the following palpably humane lyric:
People are people / So why should it be / You and I should get along so awfully / So we’re different colors / And we’re different creeds / And different people have different needs / It’s obvious you hate me / Though I’ve done nothing wrong / I’ve never even met you so what could I have done / I can’t understand / What makes a man / Hate another man / Help me understand
Related: Bryan Fischer’s Gays-As-Nazis Slander Debunked By Holocaust Historian, Once And For All
Esquire, wasting no time in reaching out to the band for a quote, received the following from Depeche Mode’s apparently quite busy representative:
That’s pretty ridiculous. Depeche Mode has no ties to Richard Spencer or the alt right and does not support the alt right movement.
Which, duh.
Spencer has since — heh? — made it clear that he was “joking”:
I was joking obviously. I’m a lifelong Depeche Mode fan.
— Richard ? Spencer (@RichardBSpencer) February 23, 2017
If any clarification is needed as to what Depeche Mode could possibly think of this fresh taint on their name, look no further than new single “Where’s the Revolution?” —
— which, through our lens, roughly translates to:
National education and civil rights orgs are standing strong with transgender students
National education and civil rights orgs are standing strong with transgender students
In addition to the outpouring of support from celebrities, national education and civil rights organizations have also come out strongly in support of transgender students in response to the Trump administration’s decision to withdraw guidance outlining protections for trans students under Title IX.
National Education Association: “Schools have a legal and a moral duty to support all students, including transgender students. In fact, states, school districts, and schools nationwide are supporting and affirming transgender students, and we believe they will continue to do so with or without guidance from the Trump administration.” Read the full statement. NEA President Lily Eskelsen García added:
“Every student matters, and every student has the right to feel safe, welcomed, and valued in our public schools. This is our legal, ethical and moral obligation. The Trump administration’s plans to reverse protections for transgender students by rescinding the Title IX guidance, is dangerous, ill-advised, and unnecessary. We reject this discriminatory plan because it is a drastic departure from our core values. We don’t teach hate, we do not tell people how to pray, and we do not discriminate against people based on their religion, gender, or identity. Period.”
National Parent-Teacher Association: “National PTA is extremely disappointed that the Administration has rescinded the guidance. Every child deserves to receive a great education in a setting free from discrimination, harassment and violence. The vast majority of LGBTQ students, however, are bullied, physically assaulted and feel unsafe in school because of their actual or perceived sexual orientation or identity. There is a need for explicit protection of LGBTQ youth as it is critical to their overall health and well-being and long-term success.” Read the full statement.
The American Federation of Teachers: “Reversing this guidance tells trans kids that it’s OK with the Trump administration and the Department of Education for them to be abused and harassed at school for being trans. We want to be clear to those kids: It is not OK with your teachers or with us at the AFT, and we will continue fighting to protect you.” Read the full statement.
National Association of Secondary School Principals: “In rescinding the guidance, President Trump sends an equally strong and opposite message. It diminishes the value of transgender students, discourages educators’ efforts to support them, and emboldens their harassers. Principals will continue their efforts to support transgender and all other students in the face of new opposition and, sadly, with the knowledge that their president might not share their concern for the needs of each student.” Read the full statement.
National Council of Jewish Women: “Rescinding this guidance doesn’t change the law — transgender students are still protected under Title IX — but it does send a clear message to these students that their safety does not matter to this administration. Further, by couching this as a state issue, it also ignores the historic and critical role the federal government plays in protecting students from discrimination. NCJW denounces the rollback of this important guidance, which will make going to school more difficult for many students. We urge President Trump, Education Secretary DeVos, and Attorney General Sessions to reconsider their role in protecting vulnerable children seeking a safe education.” Read the full statement.
Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights with the National Center for Transgender Equality, GLSEN, the National Women’s Law Center, the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc., the ACLU, the Human Rights Campaign, and MALDEF uniformly condemned the administration’s decision to withdraw the guidance: “By rescinding the guidance today, the Trump administration has taken the opposite stance. They have sent a deeply troubling message to students that the administration will not stand up for students’ civil rights. We condemn the administration’s decision, vow to fight to enforce Title IX, which continues to protect transgender students, and call on individual schools and districts to treat students consistent with their gender identity and consistent with the rescinded guidance that accurately explained the law.” Read the full statement.
In May 2016, under President Obama, the Department of Education and the Department of Justice issued guidance to all public schools explaining that Title IX, the Federal non-discrimination law that prohibits sex discrimination in education, should be interpreted to mean that transgender students must be treated fairly and equally in school. This week, the same Departments under Trump reversed this guidance, which sends the message that states and local districts may choose to discriminate against trans students.
On March 28, the United States Supreme Court will hear Gloucester County School Board v. G.G., a case about a 17-year-old transgender student named Gavin Grimm who is suing his school district for discrimination under Title IX because the school singled him out and treated him differently simply because he is transgender.
According to the National Center for Transgender Equality, transgender students already face extremely high rates of harassment and bullying in schools.
- The majority of respondents who were open about being transgender while in school (K-12) experienced some form of mistreatment, including verbal harassment (54%), physical attack (24%), and sexual assault (13%)
- 17% experienced such severe mistreatment that they withdrew from school
- Forty percent of respondents (40%) have attempted suicide, nearly 9x the rate in the U.S. population (4.6%)
- Seven percent (7%) attempted suicide in the past year nearly 12x the rate in the U.S. population (0.6%)
This strong show of support from national education and civil rights organizations indicates an understanding that all students deserve the opportunity to learn in safe and affirming school environments.
February 24, 2017
Issues:
www.glaad.org/blog/national-education-and-civil-rights-orgs-are-standing-strong-transgender-students
