Daily Archives: April 22, 2015
Antigay Repairman Hit By Vandals, Promptly Uses It For Publicity
Antigay Repairman Hit By Vandals, Promptly Uses It For Publicity
Brian Klawiter manages to keep his name in the news for the second week.
Neal Broverman
www.advocate.com/business/2015/04/22/antigay-repairman-hit-vandals-promptly-uses-it-publicity
The Iceman Becometh Gay: Realism Over Diversity
The Iceman Becometh Gay: Realism Over Diversity
Surveying the boards out there, it appears that many a young, heterosexual comic-book fanboy has become agitated by the recent news that Iceman of All-New X-Men is gay.
To these colicky fanboys I say: Aside from completely missing the point of the spectral pluralism that the X-Men themselves have come to represent, you’re ignoring the time-travel element involved here.
The young Bobby Drake of 1963 didn’t feel that, in 1963, he could live his life as a gay man, so he became the woman pursuer we’ve known his older incarnation to be all these years — with even the film version of Iceman choosing for himself a woman (Rogue) whom he can’t (and doesn’t have to) touch.
However, that same young Bobby Drake of 1963, now newly living in the world of 2015, discovers that he can live his life as a gay man and doesn’t try to change himself into someone he’s not, as his original-timeline counterpart had done.
What would be the point of bringing 1963 X-Men into the present if nothing about any of them were to change?
Forgetting even the 10-percent figure that is often alleged, the complainers out there would suggest that not even one of the first 30 X-Men (that is, 3 percent of X-Men team members from 1963 to 1999) could or should or would ever evolve into being openly gay or bisexual before going to the grave.
Having Iceman be gay means exactly that: that a whopping 3 percent of the first 30 X-Men has now evolved into being openly gay.
And somehow this isn’t realistic or legit?
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South Carolina’s DMV Settles Lawsuit
South Carolina’s DMV Settles Lawsuit
South Carolina’s Department of Motor Vehicle (DMV) has settled a lawsuit by Chase Culpepper.
HRC.org
www.hrc.org/blog/entry/south-carolinas-dmv-settles-lawsuit?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed
The Justice League and Avengers Battle in Epic Homemade Throwdown: VIDEO
The Justice League and Avengers Battle in Epic Homemade Throwdown: VIDEO
Viral video aficionados will recall the Harry Potter vs Star Wars battle that took place in a suburban driveway last year.
Well, Danny and Michael Philipou have returned with an epic throwdown between the Marvel and DC universes that has to seen to be believed.
Superman, Batman & Wonder Woman take on Hulk, Ironman and Thor in a destructive battle of wills.
Check it out, AFTER THE JUMP…
Andy Towle
Activist Hijacks Domain Names of Antigay Indiana Politicians
Activist Hijacks Domain Names of Antigay Indiana Politicians
The domain names will redirect to HRC until the politicians support LGBT equality in Indiana.
Daniel Reynolds
www.advocate.com/politics/2015/04/22/activist-hijacks-domain-names-antigay-indiana-politicians
Univision Highlights Latino Transgender Community
Univision Highlights Latino Transgender Community
Last week, Univison aired a special on Latino members of the transgender community.
HRC.org
Let’s Celebrate John Waters’ Birthday With Some Of His Most Unforgettable Moments
Let’s Celebrate John Waters’ Birthday With Some Of His Most Unforgettable Moments
John Waters is celebrating a milestone birthday today. The influential filmmaker and beloved raconteur, who was proclaimed “the Pope of Trash” by no less than William S. Burroughs, is turning…wait for it…69! Although Waters, who’s given us such inarguable classics as Pink Flamingos, Female Trouble and Hairspray, hasn’t directed a feature film in eleven years, he’s kept busy writing books, being commemorated with prestigious retrospectives at New York’s Lincoln Center,as an in-demand guest on talk shows and lecturer and will be honored with Lambda’s Trustee Award for Excellence in Literature in June. So this is the ideal time to rewind and think about just a few of the many, many indelible reasons John Waters has become America’s most beloved pervy uncle.
After making a number of no-budget renogade flicks such as the evocatively-titled Hag in a Black Leather Jacket all starring his equally-legendary muse Divine, Waters first came to national renown with the 1972 release of his seminal Pink Flamingos. Seriously, this is required rite-of-passage viewing for gay folks. The clip below which portrays the delicate bond between an egg-loving mother (Edith Massey) and dog feces-eating daughter (Divine) is probably the only scene from the cult classic that we can post on this family-friendly site.
Waters has called 1975’s Female Trouble his favorite film and many critics agree that it’s his strongest work. It’s certainly his most deranged, as it features Divine raping himself and Mink Stole as the ultimate bad seed Taffy Davenport. It also offers the quintessential heartwarming Christmas scene that should be de rigueur viewing around the holidays.
After a few years working individually Waters and Divine reunited for 1981’s Polyester. For the send up of suburban melodramas, Waters employed his first big star Tab Hunter and provided audiences with scintillating Odorama™ scratch-and-sniff cards that allowed fans to smell what they witnessed on screen.
The director’s most acclaimed film and his biggest mainstream hit was Hairspray, a musical-comedy about racial injustice inspired by his own youth in Baltimore. Check out Waters’ cameo as psychiatrist who attempts to cure Penny Pingleton of being a checkerboard chick.
The success of Hairspray led to Waters’ biggest budget yet in 1990 with another teen musical-comedy Cry Baby starring Johnny Depp and a dazzling supporting cast that included Traci Lords, Joe Dallesandro and Iggy Pop. Note his still-timely use of mandatory vaccinations in the clip below.
Five years later, Waters lured another big star, Kathleen Turner, to play the lead in Serial Mom, inspired by his life-long love of true crime. In this scene (NSFW for language) Waters’ regular Mink Stole becomes unraveled by Turner’s continued prank calling.
It almost goes without saying that Waters gives good interview. Here he is chatting with Roseanne Barr (remember when she had a talk show?), discussing his 1998 comedy Pecker. If you haven’t already watched the film, which features a memorable supporting turn by Martha Plimpton and an educational bit on tea-bagging, check it out so you can tell your mom you saw John Waters’ Pecker.
The man knows about romance, too, and even released a compilation CD of his favorite date-night ballads. It features such previously-undiscovered gems as “Tonight You Belong To Me” and “If I Knew You Were Comin’ I’d Have Baked a Cake.”
Of course, there are so many other film and interview clips that celebrate the subversive artistry of this master auteur but we can’t include them all so join us in wishing him many happy returns and tell us what you love most about John Waters in the comments section.
Jeremy Kinser
India's Mr. Gay World Entrant Drops Out of Competition, Goes into Hiding After Family is Threatened
India's Mr. Gay World Entrant Drops Out of Competition, Goes into Hiding After Family is Threatened
Thahir Mohammed Sayyed, the sole entrant from India in the 2015 Mr. Gay World competition, has dropped out and gone into hiding, citing threats to his religious family who lives in Kochi, DNA India reports:
“I am withdrawing from the contest.”
I hope the organisers appreciate the difficulties I faced. I cannot take this pressure,” he said in a message, refusing to come on the phone. “I have switched off my phone to prevent getting any ‘unwanted’ calls,” he added.
When asked whether he and his family are safe, he said, “It would be unfair for me to drag them into any trouble.” He also refused to comment on any ongoing pressure from his community, saying, “Talking about this will only worsen things”.
Sayyed and his family had remained incommunicado and couldn’t be found at both their Kochi and Kottayam homes. Human rights and LGBT activists in Kerala were alarmed after dna front-paged the plight of this part-time model and fashion designing post-grad from Brisbane, Australia. His family was prevented from praying at the local mosque and threatened with ostracism after his entry into the pageant became public.
The Hindu adds:
Eric Butter, who together with Dean Nelson started Mr Gay World in 2009, said the event was created precisely to combat homophobia, which appeared to have denied Mr. Sayyed his opportunity.
TIME reports on the withdrawal:
The weeklong event will begin in Knysna, South Africa, on Sunday and will feature contestants from 20 countries. Sayyed would have been the only Asian participant.
Andy Towle
Will Italian Court Decision Pave Way for Marriage Equality?
Will Italian Court Decision Pave Way for Marriage Equality?
A precedent may have been set by a same-sex couple, where one of the women is transgender.
Thom Senzee