First, business. New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, appointed to fill Hillary Clinton's seat, has decided to pull an amendment to the defense bill -- the same one with the Matthew Shepard Act -- that would put a stay on discharges from the military based on "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." She decided that the Senate did not have the necessary 60 votes to end a filibuster. So many things wrong with the thing, including the question of whether we really need to overcome a filibuster every time to get anything done anymore. Remember, it only takes 51 votes to pass, not 60. Meanwhile, Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA) and Rep. Patrick Murphy (D-PA) have promised to propose legislation to end the discriminatory policy. No word on when though.
And, second, you know all how much I love beefcake. Well, the 2010 New York Firemen calendar has come out for purchase. Though, for the most part, it is an experiment in the thought that "men in groups look better than a man alone," it's still quite tasty to look through. Thanks to Queerty for the full photo set and the below video of the making of...
Joe.My.God. points out, astutely, that it's labeled the FDNY calendar -- not the NYFD calendar as in past years after a 2008 model was found performing in Guys Gone Wild video (link -- NSFW) with his massive schlong. The department pulled its support for the calendar soon after.
Thanks so much to Wolfie at Back2Stonewall for posting this. You do not know how much I love Tim Burton. I used to say (in high school) that my favorite movies were "dark, Gothic surrealism -- you know, things like Batman, Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands, and The Nightmare Before Christmas." Then, I realized they were all done by the same guy. Though I think his love affair with Johnny Depp borders on homoerotic, you have to admit the two are made for each other.
I mean check out the trailer for 2010's Alice in Wonderland:
Oh, and wander over to Tim Burton's IMDB page, do I see the following as one of his next projects: Whoa, dude. I think I just squealed a little bit.
And this is why the blogosphere is fabulous. Rachel Maddow makes Pat Buchanan look like a racist asshole, and, the next morning, though few of us watched the actual show, we all know about it. A bit from HuffPo:
When asked why the overwhelming majority of justices have been white, Buchanan declined to explicitly cite discrimination, but explained that "White men were 100% of the people that wrote the Constitution, 100% of the people that signed the Declaration of Independence, 100% of the people who died at Gettysburg and Vicksburg, probably close to 100% of the people who died at Normandy. This has been a country built basically by white folks, who were 90% of the nation in 1960 when I was growing up and the other 10% were African-Americans who had been discriminated against. That's why."
When Maddow asked whether the reason that 108 out of 110 justice were white is because "white people deserved to have those positions," Buchanan answered: "A lot of people get up there for a lot of reasons."...
Later, Buchanan attacked Maddow for being out of touch and seemed to slam judges who support affirmative action when he stated, "You know what they ought to do? They ought to defend the rights of white working-class folks."
Maddow cut him off and snapped, "I don't need a lecture from you about whether or not I know, what I think about working class Americans... For you to privilege race... and say that what we need to tap politically is white people's racial grievance, you're playing with fire and dating yourself."
I'm perusing YouTube this morning, watching more Broadway performances, and I thought I'd share.
First, John Barrowman's rendition of the La Cage Aux Folles classic, I Am What I Am, also a Gloria Gaynor disco hit and one of the many songs every drag queen tries to do in their careers.
And a mashup I never thought I'd see... Alan Cumming and Joel Grey performing Willkommen from Cabaret. I think this vid shows how drastically different the two actors are, and what amazing talents the two of them brought to the role.
I watched it on HULU after a huge response on Twitter after it premiered this past Spring, but then it got pushed aside for new episodes into the Fall and I nearly cried.
How could they tease us with a halfway decent show and then strip us of a follow up?
Because it's on FOX.
That's ok, here' the preview for the next season and I am positively GIDDY with the upcoming season!
And for those who have not checked it out yet, here is the entire Hulu archive of GLEE footage and the Pilot.... which, I just discovered, I could embed:
I actually have to give a nod to, of all places, ManhuntDaily -- Manhunt, which despite its operator's support of John McCain in 2008 and provides for the sexual outlet of innumerable gay boys in the world, runs a damned good blog... so much so it's been blogrolled.
Today is MJ's funeral. Bad was the first album I ever bought. I was being selfish and wanted the cassette, which my mother couldn't dub (we had a single deck) so other people couldn't have a copy of it. But The Wiz sticks with me as amazingly, simply Michael. But you know my fondness for Broadway. He was the king of showmanship, afterall.
Don't try to read anything into my choices of music this morning. The videos suck, by the way. Just turn 'em on while you're doing something else. You'll be doing yourself a favor.
On the one hand, we have the Fort Worth Police Department, responding to the raid of a Fort Worth gay bar called the Rainbow Lounge. Seven men were arrested and one was sent to the ICU for a brain injury. Police called it a routine bar raid, but this was police chief Jeff Halstead's response, however:
"You're touched and advanced in certain ways by people inside the bar, that's offensive," he said. "I'm happy with the restraint used when they were contacted like that."
Oh, what? So you can attack someone if you're touched inappropriately -- isn't that called the gay panic defense?
Meanwhile, in Minneapolis, a gay man was followed and gay slurs were shouted by a group of Somali youth that included "I hate gay people," and "Fuck gay people," as reported by Joe.My.God. and demonstrated in this YouTube video:
Please note the almost Zen-like restraint the gay man uses while being followed down the streets. The Minneapolis Police Department, in response to accusations that the man was seen in the video passing possible local police officials, released this statement (again, thanks to Joe.My.God.):
June 30, 2009 ( MINNEAPOLIS ) Currently, there is a video on YouTube of an incident that occurred sometime during the Minneapolis Gay Pride Festival. There has been some speculation that Minneapolis Police Officers were in that video. The Minneapolis Police Department wants to assure the public that those security officers who casually walk by during this incident were not from our department. We have a strict uniform policy and those were not our uniforms or our police officers. This is unacceptable behavior that would not be tolerated by the Minneapolis Police. Action would have been taken immediately to stop the harassment that is depicted in the video. We want all people, no matter of color, race, creed or sexual orientation to feel safe and welcome while they are in the city of Minneapolis. PIO contact for this incident is Sgt Jesse Garcia III.
Which one represents tolerance, understanding, and an attempt to make things right; and which represents idiocy and homophobia? I'll let you decide.
In the most high-profile case of its like, Lt. Dan Choi, an Arabic interpreter in the National Guard, was recommended for discharge yesterday from the military by a panel of four officers due to breaking the infamous Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy. So, he's out, and now he's out.
Lt. Dan Choi would be the first New York National Guard member discharged for violating the so-called "don't ask, don't tell" policy, said Lt. Col. Paul Fanning, a spokesman for the New York Army National Guard.
Choi, a combat veteran, said it amounted to firing him "for nothing more than telling the truth about who I am."
"I'm a leader. A setback is an opportunity to keep fighting, and I'm going to do that through my actions," said Choi, who on Sunday was a celebrity grand marshal in San Francisco's Gay Pride Parade.
Choi says he will go on to fight the decision, but it is unlikely that he will win due to the recent setback on the federal level on Don't Ask, Don't Tell where the Supreme Court refused to hear a case.
My suggestion? Let's expand the 1964 Civil Rights Act -- as suggested by the group The Power -- to include sexual orientation and gender identity/expression, and then move on to court cases. We need some kind of law on our side first, right? Seems reasonable, yea?
Thanks to Wolfie at Back2Stonewall for the heads up on this video of Keith Olbermann's take on DADT:
It's shockingly difficult to find a good copy of this on YouTube, but it's one of the most amazing songs ever from Broadway. And she sings it beautifully...
...especially when she breaks into her home accent and you're like, "Whoa!"
I didn't post today, nobody did... So I thought I'd squeeze one in before the day ended.
Les Miserables was the first musical I ever saw -- in fact, my mother took me because she got a free ticket from a friend, and I fell in love. It's amazing. Here's the original Les Mis version of I Dreamed a Dream... not by Susan Boyle.
And to show you just how much I've grown up, in relation to my musicals taste, here's the song I listen to need now when I need something to lift me up, from Wicked:
The transcript, thanks to Towleroad, after Pat Robertson was asked on The 700 Club what to do if your child tells you he's gay:
"I am not at all persuaded that so-called homosexuals are homosexuals because of biological problems. There may be a very few, but there are so many that have been made homosexuals because of a coach or a guidance counselor or some other male figure who has abused them and they think there's something wrong with their sexuality. So you need to get deep into why he is what he is, instead of just saying, 'Well, he's a homosexual so how do I handle him, and how do I be Christian?' Well, I think you ought to tell him, 'Listen, son, you know, here's what the Bible says about this, and it's called an abomination before God, so I've got to tell you the truth because I love you'...I mean, if somebody's on their way to hell, they'll -- I mean, you've got to love them to rescue them."
I once worked as the sound master for Company at the Footlight Players in Charleston, SC. It's one of the first musicals I've ever seen, and I still love it. Aside from other songs previously mentioned on this blog, this is one of my favorites. From the newest revival of the show, the most unbelievable elocution you will ever find by the amazing Heather Laws:
Previous incarnations by both Madeline Kahn and Carol Burnett, though slower for both, are also amazing and worth a check out.
From the Daily Beast, via every LGBT blog on the web...
In short: Obama has, possibly, made a deal with LGBTQ rights leaders (ahem -- HRC -- ahem) to delay on the repeal on Don't Ask, Don't Tell. I don't know if it's true, and it seems far sketckier than I would want to believe, but it's something to think about, innit?
Thinking more about it, I wonder if this is one of those things where Obama said, "You know, we might be able to do that next year, can we focus on something else right now?" Rather than the more evil sounding "deal making." Meanwhile, this is another video that's popped up from yesterday where Obama reassures homosexuals that we have a friend in the White House:
Gillette, a division of P&G, has released a series of YouTube videos depicting how to, well, shave. One of them has caught the interest of a lot of watchers... specifically, how to shave around male genitalia. First of all, WTF? It's too funny to watch. Second of all, totally worth it for all you boys out there. There are some great tips in the little video above.
And, seriously, a company putting out that if you trim the underbrush, the tree looks bigger -- simply priceless.
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2009 Local Elections
Candidates -- Cincinnati City Council
Democrats Laketa Cole (inc.) Jeff Berding (inc.) Greg Harris (inc.) Cecil Thomas (inc.) Wendell Young Laure Quinlivan Nicholas Hollan Tony Fischer Bernadette Watson
Republicans Chris Monzel (inc.) Leslie Ghiz (inc.) Amy Murray Charlie Winburn George Zamary
Charterites Chris Bortz (inc.) Roxanne Qualls (inc.) Kevin Flynn
