HRC Arkansas Remains Committed to Advancing Equality in the Natural State
Following a vicious, months-long campaign by anti-LGBT activists, a citywide non-discrimination ordinance that was recently passed by the Fayetteville City Council was repealed.
HRC.org
Is There A Whiff Of Homophobia In The Attacks On Chris Hughes?
The brouhaha over Chris Hughes and The New Republic continues unabated. Hughes remains the subject of vituperative attacks that are amazingly and uncomfortably personal. And at some point you have to wonder if there isn’t just a wee whiff of lingering discomfort about Hughes’ sexuality playing into the attacks.
Now, this isn’t Westboro Baptist Church “God Hates Fags” homophobia. These writers to a man (and, one might add, to a white man) have been supporters of LGBT rights. They have risen to the community’s defense on numerous occasions.
But there’s something about the way that Hughes is being portrayed as the “other” that gives you pause. A lot of it has to do with the loathing Hughes’ critics have toward Silicon Valley. Some of it has to do with Hughes’ age–31. Some of it has to do with what seems a lot like resentment over Hughes’ fabulous wealth.
And then there’s a little something else. For example, in his nuclear-tipped column attacking Hughes, Washington Post columnist Dana Milbank keeps talking about Hughes’ in ways that make him less than a man: “lost boy,” “childish,” “moist-eyed.” He also alleges that Hughes killed a story unfavorable to Apple proposed after its CEO Tim Cook came out.
Milbank’s postscript?: “R.I.P., TNR. You deserved better than Chris Hughes.”
Nice touch.
Yes, it’s the gay Mafia come to smother the rich journalistic heritage of The New Republic, which includes supporting the war in Iraq, questioning the IQ of black people and ensuring that Clinton’s health care plan died.
More to the point, there have been few openly gay editors and writer at The New Republic over the years. Former Editor Andrew Sullivan is, of course, the notable exception, but Sullivan’s conservative politics, often hostile to the gay rights movement, helped him meld into the boys club that has always run the magazine.
The attacks have also come to encompass Sean Eldridge, who happens to be married to Hughes, as if Eldridge wasn’t his own person. No question that Eldridge’s failed run for Congress was an exercise in chutzpah enabled by Hughes’ money. But what does Eldridge have to do with the changes at The New Republic? Try imagining this story with a straight couple in which the other spouse is suddenly dragged into a workplace controversy. Or a story in which the couple’s photo is the one repeatedly used to illustrate the attack.
Of course, the attacks aren’t just coming from the straight world.
“[Hughes and husband Sean Eldridge] are little more than entitled brats who, like most fabulously wealthy arrivistes who attain their fortunes through sheer luck rather than hard work, are used to getting everything they want, when they want it, and throw temper tantrums when they don’t,” writes James Kirchick (not surprisingly a former New Republic writer) on The Daily Beast. (The headline of his story dubs the couple “America’s worst gay couple.” We could introduce him to some folks who have a better claim on that title.)
Remember these are the very same people who were praising Hughes when he was spending his money the way they wanted him to. Now that’s he’s making his own decisions, well, all bets are off.
Of course, Hughes is nothing like the previous owner of The New Republic, Marty Peretz. Peretz attained his fortune through hard work. He married an heiress. And Peretz upheld the highest standards of journalistic excellence, writing, among other things that, “I wonder whether I need honor [Muslims] and pretend that they are worthy of the privileges of the First Amendment which I have in my gut the sense that they will abuse.”
At this point, Hughes is a blank slate upon which people project all their strongest feelings. He’s mild-mannered and low-keyed, in a milieu not noted for a surplus of modesty.
“Chris Hughes is history’s greatest monster,” Washington Post columnist Chris Cillizza wrote, making fun of the viscous tone of the coverage. Cizilla also argues that Hughes is essentially right to try to change The New Republic.
“Hughes told the dirty secret of modern journalism,” says Cillizza. “That secret? That it’s, you know, a business.” Cillizza also notes that “largely left out of the debate about what ring of hell Hughes should be relegated to is the idea that maybe he has correctly diagnosed what ails TNR.”
In fact, Jeff Bezos, the non-gay Amazon.com founder who now owns The Washington Post, has embarked on his own re-imaging of a journalistic institution. No one suggested that he’s singlehandedly destroying American journalism.
Could Hughes have handled the changes at The New Republic better? Without a doubt. It was a particularly graceless transition. But the exodus that followed the dismissal of two editors raises an interesting question, which Hughes himself pointed out in an op-ed Sunday. If people were so committed to The New Republic, why did they leave so fast? Not just that, but by declaring it dead, they were doing their damnedest to ensure the magazine dies.
You can disagree with what Hughes did. You can disagree with the way Hughes did it. But perhaps the critics could do with a little more self-awareness. Yes, Hughes isn’t like them. That doesn’t make him a lesser person. But then again, if you ever wanted proof that the Washington elite is a giant club, here’s it is. And the less you’re like the other members of the club, the less welcome you’ll be.
JohnGallagher
These Stars Want LGBTQ Youth to Know Their Lives Matter
Stars including Paul Wesley, Dan Bucatinsky, Matt McGorry, and more shared why they’re passionate about LGBTQ youth and the battle against bullying on the red carpet of TrevorLIVE L.A.
Jase Peeples
The Golden Girls Xmas Drag Show Is All Sorts Of Holiday Magic
The holiday season is all about traditions that bring us closer together, and while there are plenty of intimate celebrations we share with our relatives or close friends, it’s rare to find an event that leaves you feeling connected to total strangers. That’s what makes San Francisco’s ninth annual Xmas all-drag Golden Girls show so extra special.
Four formidable queens bring to life two full episodes of The Golden Girls on stage, proving definitively that Dorothy, Sophia, Rose and Blanche were made to be played in drag (as if there was any doubt).
This year, the girls chose “From Here To The Pharmacy” in which Blanche has no memory of her former lover who’s returned home from the Persian Gulf and “Journey To The Center Of Attention” which pits Dorothy against Blanche as the most popular patron of Blanche’s favorite bar, The Rusty Anchor. Meanwhile, Sophia decides to throw a living wake for herself. Hilarity naturally ensues.
And while the performances were rock solid, the laughs constant and uncontrollable, and the costumes justly fabulous, the real magic of the show was the audience.
The crowd packed every seat of the cozy 500-seat Victoria Theater in the Mission District, painting a picture of something that’s not always easy to find — a real community. Straight, gay (OK, mostly gay), young and old all shuffled in with the only clear intention being to have a damn good time.
Between scenes, pianist Tom Shaw played Christmas classics, and without fail, the audience burst into impromptu singalongs each time, belting out the words to Rudolph and White Christmas like it was the first chance they’d ever had to sing them.
It’s the fans who’ve made the event what it is, supporting the show since its 2006 inception in the front parlor of a Victorian Mansion in the Western Addition through increasingly larger venues.
And it’s never too late to jump on the bandwagon. Last year every show sold out, and this year won’t be any different. But you’ve still got time to get last minute tickets — the show runs Thurs-Sun through December 21st.
If you’re tired of the same old holiday mush, get your ass in one of those seats and pass the cheesecake.
The Golden Girls: The Christmas Episodes runs through Dec. 21 at the Victoria Theater and stars Pollo Del Mar (Rose), Cookie Dough (Sophia), Heklina (Dorothy) & Matthew Martin (Blanche). For tickets, click here.
Dan Tracer
NEWS: The Cambridges, 'America's Worst Gay Power Couple', Torture, Barbra Streisand
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge meet Queen Bey and the new Sinatra.
And King (LeBron) James, though he evidently breached royal protocol.
Hugh Jackman shows off and pumps some iron.
Justin Timberlake will be the only former N*Sync-er not present at Lance Bass’ wedding.
Jason Momoa bares his bod while vacationing in Brazil.
Meanwhile, his Aquaman will apparently be “bad-ass.”
Out country singer Ty Herndon makes first public appearance with boyfriend.
The Daily Beast publishes scathing piece on Chris Hughes and Sean Eldridge, calling them “America’s worst gay power couple”: “Chris Hughes and Sean Eldridge have always been entitled brats. And now the media has finally noticed….In just the past two months, one half of this pair managed to single-handedly destroy a storied journalistic institution [The New Republic], while the other suffered a crushing electoral defeat in New York’s 19th Congressional District.
Disney/Pixar divulges plot details for Finding Nemo sequel Finding Dory.
Sons of Anarchy may be ending, but shirtless Charlie Hunnam GIFs are forever.
Senate Intelligence Committee releases report on the C.I.A.’s use of torture, faulting the agency with “brutality” and “deceit.” From the NYT: “The long-delayed report, which took five years to produce and is based on more than six million internal agency documents, is a sweeping indictment of the C.I.A.’s operation and oversight of a program carried out by agency officials and contractors in secret prisons around the world in the years after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. It also provides a macabre accounting of some of the grisliest techniques that the C.I.A. used to torture and imprison terrorism suspects.”
The latest James Bond film, Spectre, has begun filming.
Macaulay Culkin is in a “pizza-themed” band?
Nicole Kidman likes to marry a person then get to know them.
Sy-Fy is working on Superman prequel series Krypton.
Sen. James Infhofe (R-OK), most likely the next chair of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, thinks Barbra Streisand invented climate change.
God help us! This man is going to head the Committee on the Environment in the US Senate. Like giving a fox the keys to the chicken coop
— Barbra Streisand (@BarbraStreisand) December 3, 2014
Sean Mandell
Egyptian Police Arrest, Humiliate 'Gay' Men at Cairo Bathhouse
A late-night raid of a Cairo bathhouse included a humiliating march in the nude to police vans outside.
Thom Senzee
www.advocate.com/world/2014/12/09/egyptian-police-arrest-humiliate-gay-men-cairo-bathhouse
Tony Yazbeck, Lillias White And Perez Hilton Join Scott Nevins For 'Sparkle: An All-Star Holiday Concert' In New York
In what’s become a yuletide tradition, “People’s Couch” hunk Scott Nevins rang in the holidays Dec. 7 amidst of bevy of stage and screen talents at New York nightspot 42West.
Broadway performers Tony Yazbeck, Bobby Steggert and Anthony Rapp were among the many stars to take the stage for a spirited set of carols at “Sparkle: An All-Star Holiday Concert,” which also featured Erich Bergen of the “Jersey Boys” film and celebrity blogger and entrepreneur Perez Hilton.
Yazbeck, who is currently starring in “On The Town,” had the distinction of crooning “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” which was introduced by Judy Garland in 1944’s “Meet Me In St. Louis” and is a longtime favorite of Nevins.’ Meanwhile, singer Kelly King brought the crowd to its feet with flawless renditions of “Oh Holy Night” and Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas Is You.”
“I’m such a holiday fanatic and I love all of the buildup to Christmas,” Nevins, who was born and raised in Queens, told The Huffington Post earlier this month. The show itself, he added, is his way of “getting together with loved ones and friends for a great holiday celebration. I want this to feel home-spun and like a real love fest between friends, performers and fans.”
The West Coast installment of “Sparkle: An All-Star Holiday Concert” plays Los Angeles’ Rockwell: Table & Stage on Thursday, Dec. 11 and will feature performances by Steve Kazee, Laura Bell Bundy and Eli Lieb, among others. Head here for more information.
Proceeds from both the New York and Los Angeles performances will benefit The Actors Fund.
Check out photos from the Dec. 7 performance of “Sparkle” below:
Kentucky State Government Asks U.S Supreme Court to Hear Marriage Equality Case
Today, Kentucky officials filed a brief in support of a writ of certiorari calling on the U.S. Supreme Court to take up Love v. Beshear.
HRC.org
NEW MUSIC: Naomi Pilgrim, Son Joan, Static Waves 3, Ummagma, Pretty Sad, R I T U A L
New Music is brought to you weekly by Deadly Music!, which covers mostly indie/alternative music as well as electronica, ambient/modern classical, pop and anything really, really good.
Most tracks are available on a Soundcloud playlist, some of them on a Spotify playlist….both of which are embedded at the end of this post.
Enjoy!
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Naomi Pilgrim: “It’s All Good”
Naomi Pilgrim is one of the biggest breakout European electro pop artists of 2014.
Born in Barbados and raised in Sweden, she’s dropped a few singles and EPs this year including debut gem and one of our favourite songs of the year “No Gun.”
Going for the 80s europop revival via more restrained R&B, Naomi’s last video for “It’s All Good” sees her “waking up alone in the desert with a retro DeLorean conveniently parked nearby. She proceeds to burn down a desert road, passing by a series of men digging ditches and hapless skateboarders.”
As you do.
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Son Joan: “Sucker Punch”
Son Joan is a one-man act from Hampshire in the UK.
A label-mate of Hannah Lou Clark who we covered last week, Hannah collaborated with Son Joan on “Sucker Punch,” which is down and dirty old-school indie rock for fans of Simple Kid, Jamie T, early Primal Scream and The Rolling Stones.
“Sucker Punch” is taken from Son Joan‘s debut EP Menagerie Melodies which is set to be released soon.
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Listen to new tracks by Lillies On Mars, Ummagma, Pretty Sad and R I T U A L, AFTER THE JUMP…
Sainte Marie Records: Static Waves 3
Sainte Marie Records is a label based in Texas that focuses mostly on dreampop and shoegaze music.
A perfectly curated label, the most high profile release this year was probably When Shapes of Spilt Blood Spelt Love by The History of Colour TV.
For the third year in a row, Sainte Marie is releasing an end-of-year compilation.
A must-have for fans of dreampop, shoegaze, indie fuzz and indie pop, Static Waves 3 is available on Spotify and to buy as a 3-CD set / download for only $9.99.
Have a listen to an inspired cover of Slowdive’s “Crazy For You” by Lillies on Mars, one of the 42 tracks on the album.
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Ummagma: “Kiev”
Sticking with the dreampop theme, Ummagma is a duo from Canada/Ukraine who’ve been busy over the last couple of years with a number of new releases and remix albums.
Dreampop in the classic mode, Ummagma will appeal to fans of mid- to late-career Cocteau Twins, Stereolab, Curve, Broadcast and Dubstar.
Have a listen to “Kiev” taken from the 2012 album Antigravity along with a cut from a recently released 10-track remix album.
Kiev Remixes is available on Amazon, Spotify and iTunes.
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Pretty Sad: “Wish You Knew”
Continuing the theme, Pretty Sad is an indie pop / dreampop / twee pop act based in the UK and Denmark.
Just released via Shelf life is the their self-titled three-track EP.
Have a listen to EP track “Wish You Knew” which will appeal to fans of acts like The Cure and The Pains of Being Pure At Heart as well as twee 90s acts like Belle & Sebastian, the recently reformed Ride and Sister Vanilla.
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R I T U A L: “Amnesia”
Finally for this week, London-based R I T U A L have just dropped “Amnesia,” the final track from the EP The Fall.
A minimalistic haunting electro / piano-based downtempo R&B piece, “Amnesia” is bolstered by outstanding vocals and a verse from U.S. rapper Chester Watson.
RIYL: Halls, James Blake
Soundcloud Playlist
Spotify Playlist
Jim Redmond
Jesse Tyler Ferguson Performs 'Shake It Off' At TrevorLIVE LA (VIDEO)
Awwww, Jesse!
The “Modern Family” star took to the stage last weekend at The Trevor Project’s TrevorLIVE Los Angeles event to perform one of the hits off Taylor Swift’s new album, “1989.” Ferguson was even joined by a slew of back-up dancers to support his antics.
Not only that, but the performance seemed to have earned the stamp of approval from Swift herself after it went viral on the Internet.
YES YES YES THIS therealsarahhyland’s video t.co/3JWZVuKHZ3
— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) December 8, 2014
Check it out for yourself above!
(h/t Towleroad)
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