I love this part of the New York Times review of Reynold Price's latest book.
Mr. Price applies the word "queer" and dislikes "gay" because he thinks the latter hurt homosexual men during the early years of the AIDS crisis. It fit the assumption of bigots, he writes, that "homosexuals were giddy irresponsibles, negligible creatures." Mr. Price quotes a friend who says: "Please don’t call me gay. If you need an adjective, call me morose."
Lately I've seen a few gallery opening announcements where the beverage sponsor was Jamaican beer Red Stripe. This makes a good "teaching moment." Jamaica is the most dangerous place in the Caribbean for queer people, with a government that regularly issues anti-LBGT statements, and a dance hall culture whose musicians regularly call for violence against queer people in their lyrics. Much of Jamaica's income comes from investment, trade, and tourism from the United States. This is no time to do business with Red Stripe or for that matter Myers Rum. Visit Pam's House Blend and Boycott Jamaica for more information.
I can't get a bigger image thanks to the flickr settings on this photo, but click on it to see a larger version. The drawings in the style of Keith Haring at the bottom are a nice touch. Via the lovely and talented Jeff Simmermon.
Yes, the video is two years old, but I still love it. I think that might be Rufus Wainright playing a shoe salesman at one point.
Click here if you don't see the video above.
Gov. David A. Paterson, who has made advancing gay rights as central to his policymaking, was greeted enthusiastically at the gay pride parade in New York. James Estrin / The New York Times
Today was the first time a serving New York governor marched in the gay pride parade. He has walked in the parade, on and off, since 1976! I would like to think my headline above just made some conservative idiot's head explode.
From the NY Times:
If there was ever any doubt that gay people form one of Gov. David A. Paterson's most loyal and enthusiastic constituencies, that doubt was erased on Sunday by the howl of a drag queen on Fifth Avenue.
The drag queen, standing at the foot of the steps to the New York Public Library dressed in a green Afro wig, a red miniskirt and candy-cane-striped stockings, had the duty of announcing the notables marching down Fifth Avenue in the gay pride march.
She introduced Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and City Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn, and the onlookers who had gathered along the parade route politely applauded.
But when she bellowed, "Let's hear it for the governor of New York, David Paterson!" the crowd roared.
...
Sunday was not the first time Mr. Paterson marched in a gay pride parade. He said he attended his first parade in 1976 at the urging of a gay friend and had walked in them on and off ever since.
"Back then, we would march in the back," he said. "But then we learned that wasn't cool because you couldn't hear the music in the back. So we moved up." He added that in those early years, he did not generate quite the same amount of attention from the crowd.
Here is an excerpt from a related NY Times story from two weeks ago.
Gov. David A. Paterson's decision to direct state agencies to recognize marriages of same-sex couples elevated his status in the eyes of many gays and lesbians to something of a celebrity.
But Mr. Paterson has unexpectedly discovered that some of the people who are most grateful to him for issuing the order are, in fact, parents with a gay son or a lesbian daughter.
The governor said in an interview last week that he had been approached by several people who expressed their gratitude. "What struck me were the straight people who came up to me," he said. "This has happened four or five times since. They'll say: 'We're so glad you did this. Our daughter is gay or our son is gay.' I found that to be so very touching."
One evening two weeks ago, while he was having dinner with his wife, Michelle Paige Paterson, at a restaurant at 105th Street and Broadway, the governor said, a man and a woman approached him, introduced themselves, and then each hugged him. Their son was gay, they told Mr. Paterson, and they wanted to let the governor know how thankful they were about his policy.
...
The one memorable phone call that Mr. Paterson said he received shortly after his order became widely publicized was from the Rev. Al Sharpton, a supporter of civil rights for gay people. Mr. Paterson said Mr. Sharpton called to offer thanks, but also to take a friendly jab at the governor for disclosing that he became comfortable around gay people at a young age because two close Paterson family friends were gay.
"He was calling on behalf of Uncle Stanley and Uncle Ronald, saying I'd be in trouble for outing them," Mr. Paterson said, referring to a gay couple who often took care of him and his brother, Daniel.
For those of you following along, I'm wondering if the powers that be are realizing that appearing to be hostile to parades, especially queer ones at this time of year, is a bad thing. According to onNYTurf, The Audre Lorde Project is getting their permit to parade in the streets on Friday after having been denied several times. They received their permit as they were about to take the NYPD to court.
It will be interesting to see how "un-permitted" and historic protest marches such as the Dyke March and the Drag March are treated.
From the BBC:
Downing Street has said there will be no exemption from anti-discrimination laws for Catholic adoption agencies.But Tony Blair said they would get 21 months to prepare for change, calling this a "sensible compromise".
Adoption agencies had warned they would close rather than place children with gay couples, saying that went against their beliefs.
...
The proposed measures are likely to face a vote in Parliament next month before coming into effect on 6 April.
Mr Blair said he believed ministers had found a "way through" to prevent discrimination and protect the interests of children, which all "reasonable people" should be able to accept.
"There is no place in our society for discrimination. That's why I support the right of gay couples to apply to adopt like any other couple.
"And that way there can be no exemptions for faith-based adoption agencies offering public funded services from regulations that prevent discrimination."
This sort of thing seems pretty unlikely in the USA, and we don't even have a head of state who is also the head of the official church!
I saw the video first on FREEwilliamsburg where Bill Mahaer talks about closted GOPers and outs the party chair, Ken Mehlman. I don't think that was much of a secret in DC or among reasonably aware political bloggers. CNN has now arranged for it to be removed from YouTube.
Now John Avrosis of AMERICAblog is covering the story, including the fact that CNN edited that part out of the show before it was rebroadcast on the west coast.
Now he has received a cease-and-desist letter from CNN. John is a lawyer, so this should be interesting.
Note that they also edited the written transcript, including the discussion of why gay people would want to work against their own interests.
It is called "Larry King Live" after all. Is CNN in the news business, or something a bit more insidious?
I also find it interesting that people such as Maher are bringing this up now, rather than before the election. It's funny that more people in media feel they can challenge the Republicans now that they are weakened.
Update: Huffington Post has the two videos. This is a pretty good argument against using YouTube, isn't it?
I have never cared for the Human Rights Campaign (HRC). On a superficial level, I really dislike their equal sign logo (modified above for me by Art Fag City) which is designed to be as un-gay as possible. I remember a queer American friend, who lives in Europe, visiting around the time of the NYC GOP convention in 2004. He had no idea what the little blue = stickers were that some protesters where wearing.
Allegedly a gay rights lobbying organization, it has become so entrenched in the DC lobbying mindset that it is not merely ineffectual, it is actually harmful to gay rights in America. I am no fan of Charles Schumer, given his vote for the Defense of Marriage Act. A Jewish New Yorker representing Park Slope making an anti-gay vote? Yeah, that'll get you the Christian Right vote. However, when the HRC endorsed Al D'Amato over Schumer in 1998, I was shocked.
Their newest outrage? They have endorsed Joseph Lieberman for the Senate, even before the primary. Thanks to his snuggling up to the GOP and Bush on matters ranging from the Iraq War to the PATRIOT Act, he actually stands a chance of losing the primary to Ned Lamont. Guess which of the two is more pro-gay? Lamont. Of course, the HRC always argues this about realpolitik, or about preserving access, but ultimately they are working against the interests of the people they supposedly represent.
Why is endorsing Lieberman so bad? Here is an excerpt of a blog post by Firedoglake:
He told the New Haven Advocate that “homosexuality is wrong,” joined with notorious homo-hater Jesse Helms in voting to take away federal funding from schools that counsel suicidal gay teens that it’s okay to be gay. On gays in the military, Lieberman has enunciated the now-discredited canard that “homosexual conduct can harm unit cohesion and effectiveness.” (Tell that to the dozens of countries, from England to Israel, that permit openly gay troops in their armed forces.) In fact, Lieberman worked with Georgia’s Sam Nunn to fashion the destructive “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, which resulted in escalating expulsions of gays from the military every year after it took effect. Its Catch-22 provisions have directly stimulated a rising wave of violent gay bashing and harassment in the military because victims can’t complain without “telling.”
He also explains why Ned Lamont is a good candidate for the gay community, so go take a look. One more post worth reading on the subject is Howie Klein at Huffington Post.
Note: I use gay above, but I mean it more in a general sense of queer. I don't feel like listing a number of groups that follow under that umbrella, and I'm not offended by the word queer, but it seems to make some people (including my fellow homos) squeamish.
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