Read This Mich. Democrat's Epic Response to Antigay Group's 'Pile of Excrement'
‘The Homosexual Lobby has already dug their fabulously manicured claws into me,’ Josh Derke wrote in response to an antigay group’s ‘Michigan Family Values Survey.’
Sunnivie Brydum
Marilyn Rosen Talks Marriage, Pink Martini and LGBT Equality (AUDIO)
This week I talked with my new wife, Marilyn Rosen, a symphony booking agent, about our recent marriage, which took place at Scullers Jazz Club before an intimate gathering of 80 friends and family members. Marilyn and I have been together for almost 17 years and began planning our wedding after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) unconstitutional in 2013. Elyse Cherry, CEO of Boston Community Capital and one of the architects of marriage equality in Massachusetts, performed our ceremony. It was a nontraditional Jewish service that included the exchanging of vows and rings and the breaking of glass. The guests were then entertained by the world-renowned band Pink Martini, which Marilyn represents nationally for symphony performances.
Marilyn and I talked about our marriage experience and gave our spin on LGBT equality. When asked about our wedding day, Marilyn stated:
We felt like we shared so much joy, so much pleasure, and so much fun with the people we love the most that it excited us even more. We are also fortunate that we are surrounded by people who believe in marriage equality, who believe in equality on every level, and that the people who were coming were, so to speak, pure of heart and only wanted something beautiful for us, and to share something beautiful with us. We were surrounded by so much love without judgment, without a second thought about who was dancing with who, and it made for just a wonderful evening, a wonderful memory, and these people will then take it out into the world and spread it.
LISTEN:
Marilyn is CEO of Marilyn Rosen Presents, a boutique agency specializing in symphonic and international bookings with an emphasis on the American songbook, Broadway and cabaret, as well as global sounds and nostalgia. A 22-year veteran of the music industry, she spent nearly two decades booking tours internationally for artists including Pat Metheny, Wynton Marsalis, Nina Simone, Chris Botti, Chick Corea and Sonny Rollins while developing a new symphony division representing over 20 artists. One of the first groups she signed to her symphony division was the Portland, Oregon-based band Pink Martini, which has since reached worldwide acclaim. In addition to Pink Martini’s staggering achievements, Marilyn has bolstered the symphonic profiles of artists including Ann Hampton Callaway, the Von Trapps, New York Voices and many others.
Photos by Paul Robinson
For more information on Marilyn Rosen Presents, please visit marilynrosenpresents.com.
Listen to more interviews with LGBTQ leaders, allies, and celebrities at OUTTAKE VOICES™.
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Same-Sex Couple Attacked in Minneapolis
A man allegedly attacked a same-sex couple with a BB gun in a well-known LGBT bar in Minneapolis last week.
HRC.org
www.hrc.org/blog/entry/same-sex-couple-attacked-in-minneapolis?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed
Ben Affleck Discusses The Cinematic Debut Of Ben Affleck’s Penis In “Gone Girl”
“Correct me if I’m wrong, is this the debut of Ben Affleck’s penis on the screen?” asks an MTV interviewer in a press junket for the upcoming film Gone Girl.
Ben starts off treading a bit of word water:
“I don’t know, I try to get it in every movie…[Director David Fincher] said to me from the beginning, “this is a ‘warts-and-all’ movie. You can’t have any vanity. You have to see the naked underbelly of this character. It’s got to be, like, in Europe they just don’t give a shit about any of that stuff, and they just play real people, you know? And so that was the spirit of the thing, and we kinda stuck to that.”
But realizing he’s veering, Ben steers himself back on track like a seasoned pro:
“The penis is in there! It costs extra — it’s IMAX penis. You’ve gotta pay fifteen bucks to see it in 3-D — it looks better in 3-D,” adding, “you should know it was a very cold set.”
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Dan Tracer
South Dakota Police Identify Two Wanted For Questioning In Assault Case Tied To Anti-Gay Slur
Police in Sioux Falls, South Dakota have identified two people wanted for questioning in connection to the assault of local resident, 27-year-old Drew Bartscher, KELO reports.
Bartscher, who is straight, was brutally attacked after he told a woman who called him and his friends “faggots” that she should not use that word. “It’s rude,” he said. Bartscher was then attacked by the woman’s boyfriend:
“Then I hear this guy yell at me, ‘What the F did you say to my girlfriend?!?!’ I turned just a little bit and then the next thing I know, my friends are picking me up off the sidewalk, (because) I had gotten punched pretty good,” Bartscher said.
Just hours after releasing photos to the media of two individuals wanted for questioning, police were able to identify both. However, it is not known “if the man or woman in the photos had anything to do with the assault or if they just saw what happened.”
KELO also points out that the incident has not gone unnoticed by local elected officials: “Mayor Mike Huether mentioned the attack in a recent news conference calling on the city to do more to fight domestic violence, bullying and prejudice.”
Sean Mandell
Tv fetiche ,cobrindo parada LGBT São Gonçalo
Nightividade, e amigas na parada LGBT São Gonçalo de 31 de agosto.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNcGRPPAtf4&feature=youtube_gdata
STUDY: Number of Married Same-Sex Couples Up by 50 Percent in Three Years
By the end of 2013, there were an estimated 130,000 married same-sex couples in the U.S., a 50 percent increase from three years earlier, says a new Williams Institute study.
Trudy Ring
'Selfie,' 'Manhattan Love Story' And The New Fall Comedies To Embrace And Avoid
Recently, I posted a roundup of reviews of the new dramas on the broadcast networks, and that list of capsule reviews was preceded by some thoughts on the State of the Network Drama.
This roundup doesn’t require much of an introduction, because all you really need to know is that most of the new fall comedies are not that great. (And far too many of them have burly, bearded, often red-haired friends wandering around for no particular reason. Why this crime against gingers, television? Why?)
There are a few bright-ish spots, but generally, the comedies I’ll watch on the broadcast networks this fall will be the returning gems. The new stuff is constrained by something critic Alan Sepinwall has repeatedly (and rightly) complained about: Networks want high-concept premises for their comedies, but those premises often hobble attempts to make the shows good in the long term.
Of course, many of the good network comedies airing currently were once were struggling newbies, so there’s a chance these shows could turn things around. Except for “Manhattan Love Story,” that is, which needs to fall into a subway grate and not come out again.
“Selfie,” 8:00 p.m. ET Tuesday, ABC: Karen Gillan is a treasure, and it’s only by dint of her presence that this comedy works some of the time. Yet in a larger sense, “Selfie” does not really work, because there are a lot of unpleasant and judgmental elements lurking in its premise. Gillan plays Eliza, a social-media loving career gal who is continually shamed regarding every aspect of her existence, and John Cho plays Henry, an executive who takes on the allegedly arduous task of making her over. It’s fine that Eliza’s self-absorption is called out, but the big problem with “Selfie” is that it doesn’t make it clear that Henry is just as much in need of a personality intervention, and thus all the “comedy” leans on jibes at the expense of Gillan’s character. Ultimately, the whole enterprise comes off as shrill and mean-spirited, though given the talent of the cast and given that Emily Kapnek (“Suburgatory”) is at the helm, I’m hoping this show is able to course correct. #TryAgain
“Manhattan Love Story,” 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, ABC: This annoying show is not quite as drenched in dumb and/or sexist assumptions as “Mixology,” but that is the lowest possible bar to clear. Much of my podcast rant about this show centered on its highly questionable casting: Jake McDorman is a bland dudebro with little presence; Analeigh Tipton is equally charisma-free. Together they both fail to enliven this generally lunkheaded material, which tries for rom-com lightness but falls conspicuously flat at every turn. Did you know that women like purses and men like breasts? Would you like to watch a comedy in which these observations are treated as amusing revelations? Didn’t think so. This show is part of a rom-com trendlet on the broadcast networks, a mini-trend that is wobbly at best and has made me recommend a much better option in this arena: FX’s “You’re the Worst,” which has all the specificity and intelligence many of these shows lack.
“Bad Judge,” 9:00 p.m. ET Thursday, NBC: Nope. The likable and skilled Kate Walsh tries hard to make this strained comedy work, but it keeps resorting to broad gags and dopey jokes, and, just to mix things up, every so often it lunges at sincerity. None of it lands, unfortunately. The show can’t really make up its mind about whether Walsh’s irresponsible-judge character is someone to emulate or dislike, and in any event, there just aren’t many laughs here. Motion denied.
“A to Z,” 9:30 p.m. ET Thursday, NBC: Ben Feldman and Cristin Milioti are good actors and undeniably adorable together in this competent pilot, so I’m hoping this high-concept comedy will turn out to be one of the new season’s few comedy keepers. The voiceover narration, supplied by Katey Sagal, states that the show will chronicle the entire duration of the couple’s relationship (though I’m sure the producers will find ways to extend the show if it does well). There’s a bit of “How I Met Your Mother” DNA here (let’s hope it’s the good strands of that DNA), but this is basically a much tamer, constricted version of “You’re the Worst.” Still, the charm of its cast and, ideally, sharp writing from the NBC show could keep it afloat.
“Mulaney,” 9:30 p.m. ET Sunday, Fox: Who thought this particular format — a multi-camera comedy loaded with unamusing stock characters — would work for John Mulaney? I have been scratching my head over that question for a couple weeks, and I’m no closer to an answer. Mulaney’s standup work and his “Saturday Night Live” resume reveal that he’s a very funny guy, but this contrived, airless comedy is not a good vehicle for him, nor is there much enjoyment to be found in the show’s musty supporting characters (a bitchy female friend, a gay neighbor whose characterization is so full of stereotypes as to be offensive, a Black Friend, a burly, bearded friend, etc.). John Mulaney should be part of comedy ventures that many people see — as long as they’re not this show.
“Cristela,” 8:30 p.m. ET Oct. 10, ABC: I am glad this solid and confident show exists and I hope it succeeds. That said, it’s made for people who like multi-camera sitcoms and family-oriented sitcoms, and I have never gravitated toward either of those things. The good news is, comic Cristela Alonzo created the show based on her own experiences, and it rings with the kind of authenticity you don’t often find on family sitcoms. Alonzo is smart, knows what works for her, and she and co-creator Kevin Hench have crafted a vehicle that serves her very well. I won’t often be checking in, because this kind of thing just isn’t my cup of tea, but this is well done and I hope “Cristela” runs for a long time.
“Marry Me,” 9:00 p.m. ET Oct. 14, NBC: I am going to stick with this show and I have reasonably high hopes for it, even though the pilot is on the manic side (especially the first few minutes, which are frankly grating). Executive producer David Caspe and one of the show’s stars, Casey Wilson, are veterans of the late “Happy Endings,” which I still miss a lot, and flashes of that show’s skewed/sweet vibe come through here and there in the first episode of “Marry Me.” More good news: Ken Marino co-stars as Jake, the would-be fiancé of Annie (Wilson), and he’s been in too many wonderful comedy project to count, and he (like Wilson) is very good here. The pilot is high-strung but basically acceptable, and I’ll keep watching in the well-founded hopes that it will find consistently entertaining groove and use its fine cast (which includes Tim Meadows and Dan Bucatinsky as Annie’s dads) as well as “Happy Endings” used its fab ensemble.
“The McCarthys,” 9:30 p.m. ET Oct. 30, CBS: As previously noted, CBS is in the habit of snatching up fantastic actors of a certain age and putting them in unthreatening, formulaic shows. The latest in that nest-egg crowd is Laurie Metcalf, who, in this tame comedy, plays the matriarch of a Boston family that is obsessed with sports. One son comes out as gay, a development that occupies much of the pilot, but it’ll likely be a typical CBS sitcom going forward: full of broad characters and predictable moments but reasonably amusing and decently made. The main thing I appreciated about this pilot was Joey McIntyre’s epic Bah-ston accent.
Ryan McGee and I discussed “Selfie,” “Mulaney” and “Manhattan Love Story” in a recent Talking TV podcast, which is here, on iTunes and below.
Steven Petrow Talks Etiquette in Politics
In this week’s advice column for The Washington Post, Steven Petrow took on a question from a gay Republican.
HRC.org
www.hrc.org/blog/entry/steven-petrow-talks-etiquette-in-politics?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed
Brooklyn Man Who Shot Drag Queen Has Extensive Rap Sheet, 16 Prior Arrests
The 21-year-old Brooklyn man arrested after shooting a drag queen during an unprovoked assault last Saturday has an extensive history with the police, including 16 prior arrests and a “menacing” charge for shooting his gun in the same neighborhood a night before his latest attack.
Three men were arraigned on multiple charges over the weekend, including attempted murder, after harassing a man dressed as a woman near the corner of Broadway & Putnam in Brooklyn’s Bushwick neighborhood.
According to criminal complaints, 21-year-old Matthew Smith, 17-year-old Tavon Johnson and 22-year-old Cody Sigue began harassing the victim and two other men in drag on Saturday morning around 7am, calling them “faggots” and “trannies.” That’s when Smith decided to pull a gun and shoot one of the men “in the buttocks.”
All three suspects were pursued by police on foot after the attack and apprehended shortly thereafter. The victim, later taken to Brookdale University Hospital, was treated for minor injuries.
All three face charges with hate crime status — Johnson and Sigue were charged with menacing and aggravated harassment; Smith was charged with the same, including extra charges for assault, criminal possession of a weapon, and attempted murder in the second degree.
Department of Corrections records show that Smith has been arrested 16 times prior, and DNAinfo reports he’s been “in and out of the city’s incarceration system since December 2012.” They also claim he was “charged with firing off his gun” on his block the night before he was arrested.
While the victim and his two friends have chosen to remain unidentified, a spokesperson from AVP told BuzzFeed that “advocates don’t believe the victim identified as transgender, but was target in part because of his feminine clothing.”
Either way, this final crime is expected to get him some time behind bars.
Seemingly by coincidence, the Brooklyn DA announced this morning that the borough is launching a new hate crimes unit to deal with the shocking recent uptick in hate crimes.
Queerty Editor
