Jared Leto Was A Male Stripper When He Was 16: VIDEO

Sean Mandell

www.towleroad.com/2015/03/jared-leto-was-a-male-stripper-when-he-was-16-video.html

Oklahoma Advances Bill to End Government Role in Marriage

The lawmaker behind the bill says some public officials are uncomfortable with issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples, so he wants to take them out of the process.

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Trudy Ring

www.advocate.com/politics/marriage-equality/2015/03/11/oklahoma-advances-bill-end-government-role-marriage

Martha Wash And Tony Moran Get Free On A New Collaboration
What do you get when you put the soulful and legendary voice of Martha Wash together with the award-winning remixer and songwriter Tony Moran: A hit! Over the years the duo has made music together that not only found a place on dance floors across the world, but also on the charts. Last year their collaboration “I’m Not Coming Down” reached #2 on the Billboard Dance Club Charts. Now their back with a new anthem called “Free People.”

“In a time where people Photoshop their faces because they worry about if their too thin or too fat or too ugly or too dark, you should just care about the way you want to look for yourself. You have the power,” Moran says about the song he wrote and produced.

For years Wash has personified the message in “Free People.” From her early days with Sylvester with singing partner Izora Armstead to hits like “Just Us” as Two Tons O’ Fun and then later as The Weather Girls with “It’s Raining Men,” Wash has never let preconceived notions on image stand in her way. She set the music industry on fire in 1991 when she sang the lead vocals on C&C Music Factory’s #1 hit, “Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now),” but failed to receive credit because her size was deemed unmarketable. She won a lawsuit, and by speaking up for herself, it is now mandatory for artists to receive rightful credits on albums and music videos.

“Free People,” which is already climbing up the charts, is a continuation of both Wash’s and Moran’s positive outlook on life. Over the years I’ve talked with Wash many times. When I begin asking her questions she starts giggling and says, “Lord, don’t you have enough info?” The fact is no matter how many times you speak to Wash, you always leave feeling inspired and free.

Tony, on your Facebook page recently you said of Martha Wash: “She is still undisputed.” What do you like about working with Martha?

Tony Moran: I’ve worked with a lot of artists over the years of all different calibers. She’s been able to find something that defines herself to generations older and younger. I know every time I cut a record with her, something good is going to come out of it.

Martha, what is it about Tony that you love?

Martha Wash: He’s worked with the best over the years and made hits for them. He’s been able to do that year after year. We just go in the studio and talk about what needs to be done and basically do it. We’re comfortable enough with each other that we can read each other and figure out where a song needs to go.

Tony: People are constantly being introduced to her voice. We are basically underdogs working together. It’s not like we have Clive Davis’ staff with us. We’re looking to put out good music in a time where music is in such a state of purgatory with streaming and mashups. The one thing you can really hold on to is an artist’s performance, and Martha has always been there to make herself available.

“Free People” is about being comfortable with yourself. Martha, Tony mentioned how new generations are always discovering your music. What would you like new and old fans to know about you? Who is Martha Wash?

Martha: Just little ol’ me. I’ve been around for a minute. I just like all types of music. Music has been the big mainstay for me as a person and an artist. As a child I could only listen to gospel music. Then as I got to be a teenager, I started listening to the radio, and I learned to appreciate all types of music–rock music, Motown and R&B. I’ve been an artist who doesn’t want to be put into one particular box. Although people know me for doing dance music, I’m always trying to move ahead of that and go into different types of music like my last album “Something Good.” It was pop and rock and people were really surprised I did that, but that was the direction I wanted to go in. I wanted to get out of dance music for a little bit to show people that I did other types of music.

And now you’re back with dance music! What keeps drawing you back in?

Tony: What pulls her back is that I know her address, and I’m there waiting outside wearing a street blanket with new material!

Martha: I’ll do a little bit of that [dance music], but the focus is still on other genres of music or something totally out of the box.

The gay community has consistently supported you, no matter what style you’re singing. Why do you think they have always been there for you?

Martha: I think it really goes all the way back to working with Sylvester and then Two Tons O’ Fun. It’s been good for over 30 years. They have been supportive of Two Tons O’ Fun, The Weather Girls and then the solo career. I’ve always appreciated that.

One of your hit songs is “Carry On.” Over the years how have you managed to do just that during some of the down times?

Martha: Oh, a lot of faith and a lot of prayer! There have been times when I thought of giving up. Then I think, “Okay, so you’re gonna quit; now what are you going to do?” I never came up with an answer, so here I am!

Do you ever get tired of singing “It’s Raining Men?”

Martha: Oh no! No! It’s a song that everybody is waiting to hear. I can do a whole show, but if I don’t sing that song, people get upset!

What is next for you, Martha?

Martha: Probably do some more pop and rock. I have a new song coming out with Evelyn Champagne King and Linda Clifford—The First Ladies of Disco. We recorded a song called “Show Some Love,” and it’s all about positivity. We have to show love to everybody. This world is really kind of crazy. We’ve gotten off the track of being nice to one and other and loving people. You have to show positivity to everybody regardless of who or what they are.

You’ve both always been able to convey that message.

Martha: I try, and you have to love yourself as well. Sometimes when you show kindness to someone else, it makes you feel better about yourself.

Tony: That’s my nature, too. Live and let live. I get so much satisfaction watching other people learning and doing their thing.

“Free People” is available now on iTunes. For more information on Martha Wash visit: www.marthawash.com. For more on Tony Moran visit: www.tonymoran.com

www.huffingtonpost.com/dustin-fitzharris/martha-wash-and-tony-mora_b_6848060.html?utm_hp_ref=gay-voices&ir=Gay+Voices

Report calls for statewide employment protection for LGBT workers in Florida

The Williams Institute says that hundreds of thousands of LGBT employees in the Sunshine State are vulnerable to discrimination in the workplace

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davidh

www.gaystarnews.com/article/report-calls-statewide-employment-protection-lgbt-workers-florida110315

Senator Al Franken To Be Featured Speaker at HRC Los Angeles Gala Dinner

Today, HRC announced that U.S. Senator Al Franken (D-MN) will be the featured speaker at the 2015 Los Angeles Gala Dinner this Saturday, March 14, 2015.
HRC.org

www.hrc.org/blog/entry/senator-al-franken-to-be-featured-speaker-at-hrc-los-angeles-gala-dinner?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

The 'Dynasty' Themed 'Empire' Opening Sequence We've All Been Waiting For Is Here – WATCH

Charles Pulliam-Moore

www.towleroad.com/2015/03/the-dynasty-themed-empire-opening-sequence-weve-all-been-waiting-for-is-here-watch-1.html

How Gay Porn Helped Build the Gay Rights Movement
In 2002, pornographer Chuck Holmes’ name was installed over the San Francisco LGBT Center, and public outrage was swift. Detractors called the move — in recognition of the late gay mogul’s $1 million bequest to the beleaguered center — “insane,” fearing it would only fuel right-wing allegations about the gay community’s obsession with sex. What those critics missed, and what continues to missed over a decade later, is the role pornographers like Holmes played in building the gay rights movement we know today.

Several years ago, I set out to make a documentary about Holmes, Seed Money, which premieres this spring. During the process, I discovered how much we, as a community, owe to intrepid smut-peddlers like Chuck who risked their lives to help us live out ours.

You see, when the early homophile movement began in the early 1950s, the U.S. government didn’t differentiate between homosexual rights manifestos, gay erotica or dirty pictures. All were considered illegal, and using the postal service to distribute any of them could and did result in long prison sentences.

So perhaps it’s not surprising that pornographers, who had years of experience fighting those battles, were often prominent figures in the emerging homophile movement’s leadership. Jim Kepner, founder of the ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives, was a noted author of gay erotica. Hal Call, one of the first presidents of the Mattachine Society, the pioneering gay rights organization in San Francisco, was an adult film director and owner of the Adonis Bookstore.

Rather than be a liability, pornographers could provide a strategic advantage to the movement. They not only knew the legal restrictions (and how to get around them), they had the money to fight the obscenity battles that cleared the way for greater discussions of sexuality. Pornographers were the advance troops of our sexual revolution.

Homophile organizations like Mattachine and Daughters of Bilitis had publications, of course, but their reach — often just a few thousand circulation — was miniscule compared to that of “posing strap” magazines like Physique Pictorial and Tomorrow’s Man. It wasn’t political tracts, but pornography that provided most gay men with their first connection to — and awareness of — a larger gay culture.

Perhaps that’s why in the early days of gay liberation, porn was embraced as a vital part of our cultural fabric. The very first issue of The Advocate celebrated a court victory won by two pornographers, Conrad Germain and Lloyd Spinar — who had faced 145 years in prison for sending nudes through the mail — on its front page. Gay sexuality was dangerous and subversive, and any chance to speak it, explicitly or otherwise, was a strike for freedom and visibility.

And at a time when mainstream media portrayed homosexuals as pathological, depressive and criminal, porn offered a sunny alternative. We might scoff at porn theaters now, but looking up at that screen, a closeted man could see a promise of gay life that was open and positive, with larger-than-life men who were bold and unashamed in ways he might only aspire to be.

For those who lived outside city centers, that same promise came in the form of mail-order magazines and 8mm loops — Chuck Holmes’ business. As the owner of the legendary Falcon Studios, Holmes had the widest reach of the early pornographers, and he was vocal about creating imagery that would make gay men feel proud of their sexuality. For tens of thousands of closeted customers in small towns across the country, those Falcon films were the “It Gets Better” videos of their day.

Pornographers contributed in thousands of other ways, of course — by funding the movement directly, by lending resources and distribution, by educating audiences about safer sex during the AIDS crisis, and by lending their mailing lists to fledgling organizations like the Human Rights Campaign Fund. (Chuck Holmes was a prodigious donor to the HRC, and later served on its Board of Directors.)

But as the movement moved more into the mainstream, adult filmmakers were less and less welcome; their contributions pushed back into the closet. Checks, literally and metaphorically, were returned. Despite his tireless work on behalf of gay and progressive causes, Chuck often remained closeted about his business. Even in death, his name and money carried a stigma.

It’s one reason I chose to make Seed Money — as a way of talking about what these early gay filmmakers contributed to our culture, and to finally give pioneers like Chuck the recognition they deserve.

It hasn’t been easy. Some I’ve talked to still see this history as a black eye on the movement, something that will hurt us in political fights over issues like marriage. But I say if we allow our sexuality to be a source of shame, and hide our history to appease our critics, we’re not nearly as out or proud as we think we are.

Seed Money: The Chuck Holmes Story, premieres Friday, April 10 at the Boston LGBT Film Festival.

www.huffingtonpost.com/mike-stabile/how-gay-porn-helped-build-the-gay-rights-movement_b_6840848.html?utm_hp_ref=gay-voices&ir=Gay+Voices