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Clay Aiken Loses Bid For Congress in North Carolina

Clay Aiken Loses Bid For Congress in North Carolina

AikenVariety reports that American Idol alumnus and openly gay congressional contestant Clay Aiken has lost his bid for North Carolina’s 2nd district: 

Aiken, a Democrat, trailed incumbent Renee Ellmers 57% to 43% with 69% of the vote counted.

In a district that leans Republican, Aiken was an underdog. He downplayed his celebrity and instead focused on local issues, while Ellmers tried to dismiss his candidacy given his showbiz connections. She even tried to tie him to President Obama’s economic policies, calling it the “Aiken-Obama economy.”

As Lisa Keen pointed out previously, Rep. Renee Ellmers has a zero rating from the HRC for two terms.


Sean Mandell

www.towleroad.com/2014/11/clay-aiken-loses-bid-for-congress-in-north-carolina.html

MISC

Gay Serial, <i>The Prospectives</i>, Uses Instagram to Tell the Story of Gay Men in a Brand-New Way

Gay Serial, <i>The Prospectives</i>, Uses Instagram to Tell the Story of Gay Men in a Brand-New Way

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Author Adam Hurly (photo credit: Nate Poekert)

I was recently introduced to The Prospectives, a story, written by Adam Hurly, that follows a gay man making his way in New York City. Hurly is garnering attention not only because he’s telling a great story but because of the platform he’s using to tell it: Instagram. Every week a new part of this serial unfolds, paired with an illustration by Sam Kalda. I sat down with Hurly to talk about this exciting project:

Phillip Miner: Why did you choose Instagram for telling this story?

Adam Hurly: A couple things came into play at once. First, I wanted to write something that people could read without having to go out of their way. I wanted to find them where they already were looking. Also, telling a story in small pieces seemed like a manageable endeavor. I had heard about an app called Wattpad; essentially it’s a bunch of teenage girls writing fan fiction or romantic stories. And there are some 20-year-old writers on there who have millions of readers. Between classes they’d go publish a chapter — unedited and with typos. Within hours they would have thousands of comments. I looked at what they were doing and thought, “They’re pacing their creative projects in a really healthy way.” The platform wasn’t for me, but I thought I could adapt it to Instagram easily, so long as I had the perfect visuals. I immediately thought of illustrator Sam Kalda, a childhood friend and fellow Brooklyn resident.

PM: How did you come up with the story?

AH: It was fairly easy. It’s basically about people I might encounter in my own life and draws from the many experiences that my friends and I have had. This itself isn’t a unique idea. My job was to create the characters and nuances and to tell a story that makes accurate observations, all while retaining a plausible plot. The difficult part is in making those observations without trying to arrive at any conclusions. I want readers to sometimes admire and sometimes despise these characters. I need it to feel human and sincere to modern times.

PM: You do a good job of that. The Prospectives really mirrors being gay in New York City right now.

AH: Thanks! I’m happy you think so. I want this piece to be a time capsule. To do that I have to accurately represent how people communicate. There’s a lot happening with phones: Characters are communicating — or miscommunicating — via texting, they’re cruising Grindr and chatting with men who then ignore them in the bar, or they’re flirting with some guy in person who is too distracted by his hookup app to give him proper attention.

PM: All of this has happened to me.

AH: Me too! I passed someone on the street, and we looked each other in the eyes, recognized each other from apps, and we nodded at each other, like, “Oh, hello. You’re the guy who lives 967 feet away from me.” We both smiled in acknowledgment; it felt really neighborly. I think that’s the way it should be. I’ve also passed this guy on my block with whom I went on a date and then texted for a couple weeks after, and even though we both faded out amicably, he totally ignores me as if we’ve never met. I really don’t understand it. I don’t lose any sleep over that, but it’s such curious behavior.

PM: More than just apps, I noticed many different types of gay relationships are represented in The Prospectives. Was that intentional?

AH: Very much so. I try to use all of these characters to show different aspects of dating and sex. The main character, Eric, has dated two different people at this point. This first guy is his age and demographic, but the relationship isn’t taking off because of intimacy issues and the allure of hookup culture. Then Eric dates a much older man he finds attractive because he sees an ideal future version of himself. Conversely, I think the older man, Simon, is attracted to Eric’s potential.

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Adam Hurly and Sam Kalda (photo credit: Daniel Seung Lee)

PM: I noticed that identity was an important theme throughout your story.

AH: Yes. First of all, the name “The Prospectives” works on two levels. Most obviously it takes place in Prospect Heights, but more importantly each of the main characters is a “prospective” something. They’re all teeming with potential to affect their communities and industries. Because the story takes place in New York, a lot of this transformation occurs around work. In New York, your job is your identity; the first thing people ask is “What do you do?” A lot of people come here to define themselves professionally. These main characters are on that wavelength. They’re here to work hard. They’re here to make an impact that ultimately benefits their life. They’re in their late 20s, finding more responsibilities at work that affect their personal lives. This can only affect the way they see the world and the way they interact with one another. For example, the main character is given a fake name by his boss. This person with a different name becomes this really ugly version of himself, but a version who’s successful in his field. I spend a lot of time developing how he tries to hold on to his original identity and take the lessons he’s learned and try to branch out in his own direction. At the heart of all of this is exploring how identity is resultant of where these characters came from and where they’re going. It’s a story about growing up and how we adapt to a push-and-shove environment when we are most dynamic and susceptible. I think about this every day: The longer I live here, the more callous I am. However, I am also more sincere and more confident. I’m originally from South Dakota, and I feel further away from that mild-mannered foundation each day, for better or for worse. I’m just trying very hard to keep it in my rearview as my foot is pushing hard on the pedal.

You can check out episodes 1, 5, and 7 in the slideshow below, and you can check out the entire series at theprospectives.com or on Instagram @theprospectives.

www.huffingtonpost.com/phillip-m-miner/the-prospectives_b_6091284.html?utm_hp_ref=gay-voices&ir=Gay+Voices

MISC

Eddie Redmayne and Elle Fanning Set For Trans Roles: When Will Hollywood Learn?

Eddie Redmayne and Elle Fanning Set For Trans Roles: When Will Hollywood Learn?

eddie-redmayne_elle-fanningThe casting of cisgender actors in transgender roles in two upcoming films have us scratching our heads and wondering if Hollywood will ever learn its lesson about letting trans actors portray themselves on the big screen.

E! Online reports that Les Misérables heartthrob Eddie Redmayne is set to play Danish painter Lili Elbe (who, in 1931, was the first trans woman to have sex reassignment surgery) in The Danish Girl. Redmayne says he has been busy researching the part, meeting with many trans women and hearing their stories. “I have put on dresses and wigs and makeup. I’m beginning to embark on that and trying to find out who she is.”

In addition, Elle Fanning is scheduled to play a trans boy in the indie drama Three Generations, which will also star Naomi Watts and Susan Sarandon. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the film tells the story of Ray, a New York City teen who transitions from female to male, and his single mother, who struggles to come to terms with raising her only daughter as a son.

The casting of Fanning, 16, has already received criticism from transgender rights advocates who believe performers from their community should be getting a fair shot at these parts. But despite the success of Orange Is the New Black‘s Laverne Cox, it seems Hollywood still has a lot of work to do regarding trans visibility. With more and more films and television shows depicting characters who are transgender, one would expect there to be an equal rise in opportunities for trans performers. But for the most part, this does not seem to be the case. With the notable exception of Orange‘s Sophia, most trans roles still go to cis actors.

Scroll down for a look at some noteworthy portrayals of transgender people onscreen, some lauded, some blasted.

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John Lithgow, The World According to Garp (1982)

The actor told The Huffington Post that to play the part of former football player Roberta Muldoon, he “just decided to underplay everything [and] make her a perfectly normal person — in fact, a person who is utterly unaffected.” Lithgow, who earned an Academy Award nomination for his work, called the character’s self-actualization “revolutionary.”

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Rebecca Romijn, Ugly Betty (2007-2008)

Having based her character in part on some of her transgender friends, Romijn took a delicate approach when creating the role of conniving Alexis Meade. “I would never, ever, ever want to insult or offend,” the actress told Marie Claire. “The role is going to open itself up to people’s jokes — I mean, that’s just the way it is. But I want to make everybody aware that I am not the unofficial spokesperson for the transgender community.”

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Ted Levine, The Silence of the Lambs (1991)

Much criticism was hurled at the Oscar-winning film for its perceived demonizing of trans people. Not only was the character of Buffalo Bill a serial killer, which was perceived as a direct response to mainstream society’s transphobia, many felt it portrayed trans people as perverts, which then embedded the notion into the minds of moviegoers worldwide. The film’s director, Jonathan Demme, later acknowledged his “directorial failing” in the handling of the character.

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Hilary Swank, Boys Don’t Cry (1999)

While Swank’s portrayal of trans man Brandon Teena earned the actress an Academy Award, she angered Teena’s real-life family by referring to her character as “he” during her acceptance speech. Trans activists, however, applauded the actress’s use of the pronoun.

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Cathy Moriarty, Soapdish (1991)

Scheming opportunist Montana Morehead, a buxom blonde who plays on her considerable assets to advance her career as a soap star, is revealed to be a transgender woman during a live broadcast. However, the scene’s punchline (Garry Marshall gasping “She’s a boy!”) elicited plenty of groans from transgender moviegoers.

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Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers Club (2013)

Despite critical praise for his performance as Rayon, a trans woman battling drug addiction and AIDS, Leto was heckled at a film festival by a trans woman who called out his accolades as “trans-misogyny.” Leto countered that by insisting only trans performers play trans characters, “you’ve made sure people that are gay, people that aren’t straight, people like the Rayons of the world would never have the opportunity to turn the tables and explore parts of that art.”

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Felicity Huffman, Transamerica (2005)

Huffman received acclaim for her portrayal of Bree, a transgender woman who embarks on a journey with a son she didn’t know she had. But many viewers balked, calling the film cissexist and decrying its reinforcement of stereotypes.

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Glenn Close, Albert Nobbs (2011)

While not transgender in the traditional sense, Glenn Close’s portrayal of a woman who lives as a man in order to find work in 19th century Dublin opened a dialogue about gender identity and a person’s right to self-identification, which led all the way to the red carpet. The film was nominated for three Academy Awards and a GLAAD Media Award, among many others.

Winston Gieseke

feedproxy.google.com/~r/queerty2/~3/5ZJK1aXuK6k/eddie-redmayne-and-elle-fanning-set-for-trans-roles-when-will-hollywood-learn-20141104

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