Today's Out Spotlight can be summed up like this.
San Francisco
California
Atlanta
Austin
Iowa City
Boston
Chicago
Jacksonville Florida
Washington DC
New York - Thursday
Indianapolis
Philadelphia
Phoenix
Big and small, East West North South, Middle of America - No on 8.
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Out Spotlight XXXXIX
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46 comments:
So wonderful. :')
You forgot Philly Spesh.
Austria was beautiful but wet. I stayed in Vienna but also visited Salzburg. My friend Ron has friends that live right in Vienna so we had our own personal tour quides. My German is very poor so thank God most folks who live in Vienna speak English. I love the old cities of Europe but it is great to be home.
I am so happy that folks are speaking up about Prop 8. Hopefully the ammendment never becomes a reality.
Looks like things are pretty quiet on the reeke front. It should be interesting to see what happens during 4 xmases premiere and the holidays. While on vacation I read Tab Hunter's bio. It seems that very little has changed since the 1950's in HW. PR runs the show and the studios or companies like Disney make the rules and no one dares break them. It is a good read. Tab has his own website if anyone wants to take a look. www.tabhunter.com
Hi Tom!
Welcome back - glad you enjoyed Austria. I'll take a look at Tab's website. I'm hoping Prop 8 gets overturned too - I can't see how it couldn't be. :)
Welcome back Tom. I read the Tab Hunter bio, and it is sad to see how nothing has changed. I've got another book on my shelf I keep meaning to read about Henry Willson, the man behind the scenes with all those gay boys from the 50s. It was given to me by a friend along with a bio of Reese!!!. I haven't cracked the latter. :-D
Wanda Sykes is right, people need to start coming out to change things. As long as everyone is willing to stay in the closet or worse, people are going to roll all over their rights. And it is very important that highly visible people come out because the more human faces you can put on the issue, imo the more difficult it is take away their rights.
I like what Wanda Sykes had to say. I recognize her - I didn't know that was her name. She was the voice of the skunk on Over the Hedge. I like how she said she was just trying to live her life. That's all anybody wants to do. This is about being able to love and how can anyone argue that. Kudos to everyone at the rallies yesterday and those are some wonderful pictures.
What I don't like to see is all religions lumped together & badmouthed. Not all people who believe in God or any other Higher Power feel that way. I have to remember that I worked with a Mormon gal years ago at my job. She & I became good friends; actually, she tried to lead me to her church. At the time, I was looking for a church home and I was visiting everything: Baptist, Lutheran, and yeah, Mormon. I quickly saw that Mormon wasn't for me but they are good people. She is good people. That I didn't choose to go Mormon didn't affect our friendship. I don't know how she feels about this issue, but it's one of those topics where even though you disagree, I couldn't let it affect our friendship.
It hurts to see some of the signs & stuff on the internet badmouthing all religious persuasions and the Bible. It's too bad that the beliefs of some cast a bad light on everyone. I suppose that applies to alot of other things where prejudice and discrimination are concerned.
Some pretty big stars/leading men were gay in Tab Hunters era. Along with Tab there was Rock Hudson, Montgomery Clift, Anthony Perkins, and Sal Mineo. Eventually all these men came out but not till after their careers were over. Sounds like evryone in Hw knew who was gay but like today no one broke the code. Unlike Jake Tab played the field and dated many women. Usually for HW events and premieres. One of his closets friends and someone he was rumored to be involved with was Debbie Reynolds.
Special, how did your fair go yesterday? Did you all have alot of traffic? Did you guys serve lunch? Did you have crafts?
Is that enough questions, lol?
It's not for nothing that gawker and others have referred to Reeke as the new Rock Hudson and Debbie Reynolds. I"m sure everyone in HW knows about Jake, it's only with the public and his fans that he is not out. I'm convinced one of the reasons for reeke was to prove to HW that he was going to be a "good" boy and not rock the boat. IMO people who beard are the Jim Crows of the gay community.
Now for someone who is not going to take it anymore, here's a link that takes you to Wanda Syke's speech and a short interview.
Wanda
Sophia Bush spoke at the rally in Wilmington yesterday. I always thought she seemed like a classy dame because she uses her interest in fashion to promote herself, rather than her relationships. It's nice to have another reason to love her.
Sophia
Destiny, bearding is like taking 2 steps back for every step forward taken towards acceptance and equality. I can understand not coming out but to take on a false relationship is not the way to go, imo. Because what are you saying to your fellow GLBT friends? And how does that affect how they treat you? Bearding just seems to give others ammunition to try and shame those who choose to do it.
Rained on and off here in DC. The skys opened up at times. Minutes before sunset a Great big Rainbow dwarfed the city. It was almost a double rainbow from where I was looking in the direction of the Capitol Building.
It was AWESOME!
Hmmm, the different bold colors reminded me of something!!!
^^ did any east coast people see this??? ^^
A rave review from THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER...
Film Review: Milk
Bottom Line: Superb biopic of Harvey Milk reaches out for cross-cultural audience.
By Kirk Honeycutt
Nov 2, 2008
"Milk"
Opens Wednesday, Nov. 26 (Focus Features)
"Milk," written by Dustin Lance Black and directed by Gus Van Sant, is the first great film to look at civil rights from the perspective of the gay movement. The subject, of course, is the late, charismatic San Francisco gay activist and politician of the 1970s, Harvey Milk, played with extraordinary depth and wisdom by Sean Penn. "Milk" resists bumper-sticker identifications: Yes, it's a biopic, a love story, a civil rights movie and sharp political and social commentary. But it transcends any single genre as a very human document that touches first and foremost on the need to give people hope.
The audience for this film is all over the map but probably modest -- the gay and lesbian community for sure and anyone with politics on the brain. And anyone who cares about acting too, not just for Penn but persuasive performances from a large and talented cast.
The film is superbly crafted, covering huge amounts of time, people and the zeitgeist without a moment of lapsed energy or inattention to detail. Even the opening moments -- black-and-white archival footage of cops rousting men covering their faces from gay bars of the '50s and '60s, the kind of harassment that led to the 1969 Stonewall Riots in New York -- offer a poignant reminder of what was not that long ago.
The narrative device is a tape recording Milk makes in his final and 48th year to be played in the event of his death. (He received many death threats.) Here he tells the story of his eight years in San Francisco, how he moved there with his lover, Scott Smith (James Franco), founded a camera shop that became a center for the gay community and took up activism to become the "Mayor of Castro Street."
Van Sant and Black cover a lot of distance with a simple approach: The key people in Milk's life deliver the key moments, political strategies emerge from personal convictions and emotions spring from the close relationships among the activists. Thus, the film brings in young street punk-turned-activist Cleve Jones (Emile Hirsch); Milk's surprising new lover, Jack Lira (Diego Luna); his campaign manager, Anne Kronenberg (Alison Pill); and fellow supervisor and eventual murderer Dan White (Josh Brolin).
Black's screenplay is based solely on his own original research and interviews, and it shows: The film is richly flavored with anecdotal incidents and details. "Milk" surfaces in a season filled with movies based on real lives, but this is the first one that inspires a sense of intimacy with its subjects.
This allows for unusual moments, such as a couple of phone conversations Milk has with a handicapped gay youth from the Midwest or his electrifying observation that he looked into White's haunted eyes and believes White may be "one of us."
Van Sant moves beyond his experimental filmmaking of the last half-decade for a restrained, unembellished approach. The style is classic filmmaking of the '70s, a film that watches and observes everything and everybody. He makes excellent use of archival footage throughout the period film, especially such images as the Castro district undergoing sweeping demographic changes and the awful moment of Dianne Feinstein's City Hall steps announcement of the assassinations of Mayor Moscone and Milk.
Penn is one of those actors in complete control of his entire instrument. He uses voice, body movements, line readings and something indefinable within his own psyche to transmigrate into another person's body and mind. Franco, meanwhile, demonstrates the dilemma of a person who signed up for a committed relationship but not necessarily a revolution.
Luna is loopy and sometimes, seemingly, just looped as Milk's erratic boyfriend. Brolin is surprisingly sympathetic as a man in over his head, unable to differentiate between friends and foes and clinging to traditional mores in a city caught in the ferment of radical change.
With top contributions from his entire crew, Van Sant captures in "Milk" an entire panoply of clashing passions, opinions and personalities within the gay rights movement that changed a country forever but drove a wedge between its people that remains to this day.
Back in Black
Reese Witherspoon is stunning in this one-shouldered, lace cut-out Marchesa gown, complete with bold red lips and a bouncy bob, at the CMAs in Nashville. It's been a while since we've seen Reese out and about -- looks like being back in her hometown agrees with her.
I agree she looks great ALONE.
Tom - had the picture of Philly and in my haste didn't get it uploaded. But is not corrected - refresh and see.
PG - Got back from cleaning up from the fair. We didn't do as well as we did last year but made around $4,800. Yes we had breakfast and lunch at our snack bar. A friend who's the exec chef at of the big Boston hospitals ran it for me. I made my famous corn chowder that has no recipe. Now - Tied very tied and ready to relax.
I guess you must indeed be very "tied". :-D Sorry you didn't do as well as previous years, but that still sounds like you did pretty well. It's probably going to be a tough year for the holiday retail business.
PG, I do make a distinction between not coming out (which I can understand) and the bearding.
Nice to see a good review for Milk. The industry reviews are usually a good indicator of the kinds of reviews a film is going to get generally. Speaking of Milk, I read somewhere that Van Sant proposed to his boyfriend last week.
Wonderful to see all the support the new anti 8 movement is generating. It all reminds me of a phrase used back in WWII after Pearl Harbor. "I think we have awoken a sleeping giant." I did not attend any rallies myself. I'm basically a big stay at home, but my heart is with them.
Sorry tired. I didn't even see the typo.
You go, guys - it's good to see all this protest. Cool about Sophia too.
Welcome back, Tom :)
Does anybody still like those Rakin Bass shows?
This is PG's comment from a previous thread about Christmas cartoons. Oh yeah, PG, I love Heat Miser and Snow Miser. :)
So great about Wanda Sykes and wonderful to see these pics. I don't usually go to rallies and marches anymore. Now I donate money, write letters, sign online petitions, and get in touch with legislators. Gotta participate in whatever way you can.
Special K said...
Tom - had the picture of Philly and in my haste didn't get it uploaded. But is not corrected - refresh and see.
Thanks Spesh. I feel guilty I didn't go but man I was tired yesterday and today. Bad case of jet lag. Back to work tomorrow.
Oh I'm so glad EastCoast fan, I saw one here in the Boston area too, and I was hoping the people at the rally did as well - I wasn't able to go up here in Boston, although I had planned to. I was there in spirit, and I will go to others.
Thanks for posting the rallies in all the diff cities Special. That was great to see.
Welcome back Tom. I'm glad u had a good time. I'm going to look at Tab Hunters website when I get a quiet moment.
Wow, thats alot of money Special. Sounds like a success to me.
I cant WAIT to see MIlk. Ok..i'm waiting patiently...lol.
I'm making Moroccan Chicken tonight for the first time. If it's a success I can add it to our recipe list. It's so quick and easy.
^^at other rallies.
I'm praying and hoping with all my heart for Prop 8 to be overturned. And for gay people to keep on fighting if it's not.
m!!!!! Good to see you.
Clarity, what is in Moroccaan Chicken? Is it spicy?
I can understand you being ti(r)ed, Special, lol. See? Your finger was even too tired to get that "r" out. Those kinds of events are alot of work but they are also alot of fun to do. It sounds like you guys had a pretty good day, you know, especially considering the tight pursestrings for alot of people. And hopefully you got alot of donations for your food and supplies; that always helps.
Right, Destiny. I thought you did. I was totally agreeing with you.
I'm mister heatmiser, I'm mister sun; I'm mister snowmiser, I'm mister 101. They call me heatmiser, wherever I go....
LOL!
I didn't see a rainbow in NYC, but it poured Saturday morning, cleared up and was sunny and warm for the rally, then turned overcast at the end and poured later that evening. Almost all of the speakers made jokes about it being a sign of whose side God is on.
I haven't gone to many rallies since my college day--and I'm old enough that one of the things I did in college was picket Anita Bryant. The last protest I went to before this past week was the one in D.C. for Darfur. But with this issue I just really felt compelled to go; I think it is really important to put a face on this issue. And because this comes right on the heels of the election, the rallies are getting attention they normally wouldn't get. I also felt the need to do something because I think the people running the No on 8 campaign wasted mine and a lot of other person's money with an inept campaign.
Here's the video of Wanda Sykes at the rally in Vegas.
Eonline
From the Marc Malkin's article that's with Wanda's video.
In L.A. yesterday, an estimated 12,000 people (I was one of them) protested in downtown L.A.. (Dozens of similar events took place throughtout the country, and even in countries including Canada and the Netherlands.)
Among the celeb speakers in L.A. were Ricki Lake, Marisa Jaret Winokur, Noah's Arc television star Daryl Stephens, Ugly Betty’s Alec Mappa and Lucy Lawless and Matt Lucas of the comedy series Little Britain.
Rocker/hitmaker Pink was seen in the crowd, as was former Queer As Folk star Peter Paige.
Will there be a boycott of Sundance over Prop 8?
Boycott Sudance?
One question, though, and my sister is the one who brought this up. How does this work? Can you actually overturn Prop. 8.
Wouldn't you rather have to put it on another ballot instead? Or is that what you mean by overturning it, by getting it on the ballot again?
The issue has gone before the for Supreme Court, by lawsuit of several groups and individuals, and they will decide the constitutionality of the amendment. It says right in the court decision that an initiative by the electorate cannot rescind he right to marry, so it will be interesting to see what happens.
^^CA Supreme Court
So in other words, in matters of civil rights, the highest court in the state is the final arbiter, not voters. I love how certain voters are saying that they don't want to be told what to do by the courts, and yet they feel they can tell others what to do. :(
It says right in the court opinion that an initiative by the electorate cannot rescind the right to marry, because it is a fundamental right of every human being, no matter what their race or sexual orientation. Sorry to spam, but I feel very strongly about this. :)
That whole argument drives me crazy. Who gets the right to have civil rights should not be based on democracy/a 52-48 vote. I get very passionate about that too rainbow, regardless of the issue. I'm a strong believer in the need for courts and the constitution to protect our rights.
Me too, Destiny!
Here's the passage from the opinion:
We conclude that, under this state’s Constitution, the constitutionally based right to
marry properly must be understood to encompass the core set of basic substantive legal rights and attributes traditionally associated with marriage that are so integral to an individual’s liberty and personal autonomy that they may not be eliminated or abrogated by the Legislature or by the electorate through the statutory initiative process. These core substantive rights include, most fundamentally, the
opportunity of an individual to establish — with the person with whom the individual has chosen to share his or her life — an officially recognized and
protected family possessing mutual rights and responsibilities and entitled to the same respect and dignity accorded a union traditionally designated as marriage.
Now, I'm far from an expert, but I think this is pretty definite. :)
There's so many questions and challenges as well,
1. Whether or not Prop 8 is a revision or amendment to the State constitution (does it need to even get this far in light of the above?)
2. Church and state separation
3. Yes campaigns and influences from outside the state of California on her electorate
:(
Don't forget Phoenix!
Thanks Valentino! Great to see you.
I put up Phoenix just now.
Thanks Spesh :) it's great to catch up around here.
I love this particular Out Spotlight because it's about all of us.
Hi Valentino. Hope all is well with you.
I haven't forgotten about Phoenix, as someone who used to live in Arizona. I gave money to that campaign too just because of my former ties. Unfortunately gay marriage has a longer struggle ahead of it in Arizona, which is why the focus has been on California.
Rainbow, No. 1 is key. The wording of the decision says you can't have a statute, but Prop. 8 is a constitutional amendment. Now what doesn't make sense to me is that in California you can vote to amend the constitution by just a majority vote, which is all that would be required for a statute.
I would think this would be a revision of the constitution, in light of the fact that the court found the right to marry was already in the constitution. But this is new territory, and the court has rarely found a change to be a revision, so the outcome is far from certain. :-(
Sorry, I took the comment about Phoenix to mean the attention on California, not the pictures. :-D
Thanks Destiny for the clarification. The whole thing has made me very uneasy. :(
I know this is probably out there somewhere but if it is unconstitutional to go against rights (quite fairly), how did this even get put on the ballot?
Welcome back Tom.
No PG, its not spicy at all. It actually has a little ginger and honey which gives it a sort of zingy sweet flavor. It came out great by the way. I think everyone would really like it.
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