Sexy Poster for Gay Play Banned by London Underground

A revealing new ad for the 20th anniversary revival of Kevin Elyot’s My Night With Reg, a classic AIDS-themed comedy, was rejected by Transport for London authorities.

read more

Brandon Voss

www.advocate.com/arts-entertainment/theater/2015/01/19/sexy-poster-gay-play-banned-london-underground

Florida Reluctantly Lets Gay Couples Drive Cars

Good news, Florida queers: you can now get have a marriage license and a driver’s license. At the same time! Miraculous!

That’s thanks to Scott and Daniel Wall-DeSousa, two Floridians who got married in New York, hyphenated their last name, and then tried to get updated drivers’ licenses in Florida.

Florida didn’t care much for that, and took away their marriage licenses. Basically, if you get gay-married and you want to drive, Florida was saying that you have to do it under your old, no-longer-legal name. But now they’ve reversed course, and the two men (and presumably anyone else who gets married) are free to drive wherever they like. Unfortunately, they live in Florida, so they’ll have to drive pretty far to get to anything good.

As goofy as Florida’s rules were, other states are looking into laws that would be far worse: one lawmaker in Virginia wants to give hospitals the right to turn away gay people. And a bunch of other states want to make it legal to take away housing, employment, or access to basic businesses and services.

Being denied the services of a florist is annoying and insulting, but what happens when it’s a bank, or a school, or the one grocery store in town?

matt baume

feedproxy.google.com/~r/queerty2/~3/fkUoH28oHxI/florida-reluctantly-lets-gay-couples-drive-cars-20150119

Colin Farrell: My Brother Suffered 'Absolute Shameful Cruelty' Because of Anti-gay Hate

Jim Redmond

www.towleroad.com/2015/01/colin-farrell-my-gay-brother-suffered-absolute-shameful-cruelty.html

Billy Crystal: Gay Scenes On TV Sometimes 'Too Much For Me'
Billy Crystal was one of the first actors to play a gay character on television, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t wary of some of the gay content that ends up on the small screen.

The beloved comedian opened up about his feelings regarding the nature of gay scenes on television while speaking at a panel for the Television Critics Association on Sunday in Pasadena, California, the Independent reports.

“Sometimes I think, ‘Ah that’s too much for me,'” Crystal said. “Sometimes, it’s just pushing it a little too far for my taste and I’m not going to reveal to you which ones they are.”

As Deadline reports, Crystal also spoke about his groundbreaking gay character, Jodie Dallas, which he played on ABC’s “Soap” from 1977 to 1981.

Crystal spoke about the role on Sunday, ET Canada reports:

There were times where I would say to [the actor who played his boyfriend], ‘Bob, “I love you,’ and the audience would laugh nervously, because, you know, it’s a long time ago, that I’d feel this anger. I wanted to stop the tape and go, ‘What is your problem?’ Because it made you sort of very self-conscious about what we were trying to do then. And now it’s just, I see it and I just hope people don’t abuse it and shove it in our face — well, that sounds terrible — to the point of it just feels like an everyday kind of thing.

Crystal is currently promoting his upcoming new FX series “The Comedians,” which is his first television series since “Soap.”

In recent years, more and more queer content is making its way onto the airwaves. Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender characters and storylines can be seen in popular shows like “Looking,” “Modern Family,” “Empire,” “Transparent,” “Orange is the New Black,” “American Horror Story” and “Glee.”

Earlier this month, comedian Kevin Hart also sounded off on gay roles in Hollywood. “I can’t [play a gay character] because I don’t think I’m really going to dive into that role 100 percent, because of the insecurities about myself trying to play that part,” he told hosts of the Breakfast Club on New York’s Power 105.1. “What I think people are going to think while I’m trying to do this is going to stop me from playing that part the way I’m supposed to.”

www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/01/19/billy-crystal-gay-scenes-tv_n_6501156.html?utm_hp_ref=gay-voices&ir=Gay+Voices

HRC Celebrates Legacy of Civil Rights Pioneer Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Today HRC is commemorating the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
HRC.org

www.hrc.org/blog/entry/hrc-celebrates-legacy-of-civil-rights-pioneer-dr.-martin-luther-king-jr?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

Gay Dad Teaches His Sons About The Importance Of Celebrating Martin Luther King, Jr.

On this Martin Luther King, Jr. weekend, and after my 1960s-era interaction over the holidays with dated, narrow-minded views, I’ve thought more about a few simple concepts I hope my toddler boys can internalize as young as possible (though they’re concepts some — or many — adults are incapable of understanding.)

So a few concepts to share with my two kids:

Boys: you are white. By the luck of your skin color, you’re pre-set for success.

You will not know what it means to grow up “of color” in your country.

I need you to try to understand four things:

1. You will not be racially profiled over and over and over again. You will never know the frustration of being eyed suspiciously in a store, in a restaurant or on the street. “Stop and Frisk”, no matter how effective it might have deterred crime, will only ever be an inconvenience for you, not harassment.These elements of harassment are very, very, very frustrating for Black people and anyone who might be a regular subject. But you will never know what it feels like. Count yourself lucky.So you must have empathy for those who are the targets. You don’t walk in their shoes. You can’t tell them how to react or how to feel.

2. When forming your opinions about people, you can’t prosecute an entire population due to the behavior of one. Comments like “they’re lazy, they’re dangerous, they’re disrespectful” will have no place in our household about any group of people. Plenty of people of all colors are lazy, dangerous or disrespectful. But most people aren’t. You can’t even say “those people”. Would you want your entire preschool to be judged by the actions of one little jerk who steals the blue paint?

3. It’s not about skin color, because racial issues are scapegoats for socio-economic issues. What on earth do I mean by that? Poor people are often driven to do bad things to survive in our country. It’s not because they’re Black, or Asian, Latino or White. It’s because they want to have what you have: food, warmth, a few toys. It’s not because of their skin color. It’s because of money. But because of the actions of a few desperate people, an entire population is found guilty. And that’s wrong.

4. The system is stacked against poor people. Some kids don’t do well in school, but it’s not because of their skin color. It’s because of a whole host of reasons: they have underfunded schools, they didn’t eat breakfast, no one ever read to them like I read to you. Some teens drop out of school not because of their skin color. It’s because they don’t have the educational background or support at their house to strive for greater academic achievement. Some parents can’t give successful tools to their kids, but that’s unrelated to their skin color. They never had those tools in the first place, because they weren’t born into a lucky position with support and resources. It’s a repeating cycle throughout generations. But it’s about economics, not race.

Boys: you can strive to empathize, listen and study. But it’s not easy to judge the behavior of other people, because you don’t know what it’s like to walk in their shoes on a tired, hungry, harassed, beaten-down day.

So give credit, treat with respect, and listen to understand, not just to respond.

And try to see the world from others’ perspectives. You’ll understand a lot more about people and about yourself.

Gavin Lodge is a Broadway performer, father and blogger. This essay was first published on Daddy Coping In Style.

Jeremy Kinser

feedproxy.google.com/~r/queerty2/~3/40BzUKs8oDQ/gay-dad-teaches-his-sons-about-the-importance-of-celebrating-martin-luther-king-jr-20150119

The British Muslim Who Founded A Controversial Gay-Friendly Mosque
Dr. Taj Hargey says he became radicalized after 9/11.

“I went to mosque in Oxford that week, after the largest political event of the age concerning Muslims, and did anyone mention it? No. Not at all,” he says. “I mean, it wasn’t entirely clear to what extent this concerned Islam just then, but where was the basic human compassion? I thought, Something’s wrong here.'”

www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/01/19/gay-friendly-mosque_n_6479950.html?utm_hp_ref=gay-voices&ir=Gay+Voices