HRC President Chad Griffin Talks Same-Sex Marriage, Transgender Equality on ABC’s “This Week”
This morning, HRC President Chad Griffin sat down with George Stephanopoulos to discuss the importance of the marriage equality case, Obergefell v Hodges, currently before the U.S. Supreme Court.
HRC.org
Obama Makes Two Excellent Gay Jokes During White House Correspondents’ Dinner
With his presidency nearing an end, you’re likely wondering whether President Obama has a bucket list. As he made very clear during his speech at Saturday’s annual White House Correspondents’ Dinner that he has something that rhymes with bucket list. Boom! Yes, folks, we have a very witty president and no one was safe during his address to the crowd.
He delivered a laser-sharp barb at the expense of Michele Bachmann and her recent prediction that rapture was upon us. “Michele Bachmann actually predicted that I would bring about the biblical end of days. Now, that’s a legacy. That’s big. I mean, Lincoln, Washington, they didn’t do that.”
Good stuff. However, it’s his two jokes made about marriage equality that really impressed.
On former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum’s announcement that he would not attend a same-sex wedding if invited, Obama stated what we all said when we heard the blessed news: “Gays and lesbians across the country responded, ‘That’s not going to be a problem.’”
Wrapping his close relationship with Vice President Joe Biden and homophobic Indiana Mayor Mike Pence into one delicious bon mot, the president offered: “I tease Joe sometimes, but he has been at my side for seven years, I love that man. He’s not just a great vice president, he is a great friend. We’ve gotten so close in some places in Indiana, they won’t serve us pizza anymore.” Cue loud applause and raucous laughter.
Bravo, Mr. President. We’re happy to see you have a fallback career when you’re presidency ends. Watch some of the zinger-filled speech below.
ABC Breaking US News | US News Videos
Jeremy Kinser
New York City Gay Men's Chorus Cancels Fundraiser at The Out NYC Over Owner's Intimate Reception with Ted Cruz
On Friday we told you about Broadway Cares pulling out of a planned Solo Strips fundraiser at the NYC club 42West because organizers could not “in good conscience hold an event at a venue whose owners have alienated our community.”
Now you can add the New York City Gay Men’s Chorus to the growing list of groups pushing back against multimillionaire gay hoteliers Ian Reisner and Mati Weiderpass over their ill-thought decision to host an intimate “fireside chat” with rabidly anti-LGBT senator and presidential hopeful Ted Cruz.
The chorus org. announced yesterday it would be cancelling its Lily Garden fundraiser at The Out NYC Hotel that was scheduled for Saturday.
From the NYCGMC Facebook page:
We wish we could say this was a clear, easy decision. It wasn’t. We believe in nuanced, complex discussion, and we think that dialogue with your opposition will always lead to positive change in the world. We cannot say who is right and who is wrong, and we hope the debate will continue.
We can say, however, that we made the decision because we want to be 100% clear in our support for the LGBTQ community. NYCGMC has a 35-year history of campaigning for human rights through our music. Our mission must always come first.
We are sorry that we cannot spend the afternoon with our friends and supporters. Besides being an important fundraiser, The Lily Garden is a fantastic event due to the tireless effort of Matt Levison aka Lily Putian. We are grateful that Matt has volunteered to reschedule the event later in the year.
In related news Honey, Urban Bear NYC’s official dance party that was scheduled at XL Nightclub on May 15th has been put on hold until further notice.
From Urban Bear NYC Executive Producer Robert Valin:
With talks of a protest as well as a boycott of the venue, and with others pulling out of their contracts, we have decided to put our dance party HONEY, scheduled at XL Nightclub on Friday, May 15th ON HOLD until further notice.
At this time, we believe this to be the best decision, as numerous members of our community and their families are employed by THE OUT and XL Nightclub, and an impending boycott could adversely affect their livelihoods. We want to do the right thing and believe that waiting until all the facts are in before making any final decisions is best. We welcome your thoughts as we consider alternate locations for the dance event.
Kyler Geoffroy
7 Institutions of HIV Infection
The spread of HIV is bigger than two people having sex or sharing needles.
Tyler Curry
www.advocate.com/health/hiv-aids/2015/04/26/7-institutions-hiv-infection
Bruce LaBruce, Queer Filmmaker, Get His Own Retrospective At NYC's MoMA
Bruce LaBruce is one of the most iconic names within the world of queer film. Now the artist is being honored with his very own retrospective at New York City’s Museum of Modern Art, which recognizes his work as a whole from over the past several decades.
Having opened on April 23, the retrospective showcases all nine of the films LaBruce has made as he reaches what he describes as a “mid-point” in his career. The exhibition is also features LaBruce’s latest film “Gerontophilia,” a project that explores intergenerational queer love.
The Huffington Post chatted with LaBruce this week about what the retrospective means for his career and what we can expect from the filmmaker in the future.
The Huffington Post: What is your overarching vision for this exhibition at the MoMA?
Bruce LaBruce: The film exhibition at MoMA is a retrospective, so it’s an opportunity to look back at my work at a more or less “mid-career” point and ponder how I got this far making the kinds of films that I make. The exhibition corresponds with the US theatrical debut of my film “Gerontophilia,” which opens May 1st at the Village Cinema East in NYC, and with the recent release on Blu-ray of my movie “Hustler White” for its 20th anniversary. MoMA is showing all nine of my feature-length films and a program of my short films.
I started out making short, experimental super 8 films in Toronto in the mid-80s, showing them in alternative art spaces and punk venues. My first no-budget feature, “No Skin Off My Ass,” was shot on super 8 and blown up to 16mm. My next two films where shot on 16mm, and then I transferred to digital but still incorporated some material shot on film. My latest features, including “Gerontophilia” and “Pierrot Lunaire,” have been shot entirely on HD digital. So my work has bridged the gap between film and video, which has had interesting implications in terms of aesthetics and process.
I also started making fanzines and films before the Internet popularly existed, and I promoted and exhibited much of my early work myself. I considered promotion and distribution part of the creative process, and still do to this day. And in terms of queer politics, I was one of the first filmmakers to be showing sexually explicit and even pornographic gay imagery in films that were playing at major international film festivals (four of my films have played at Sundance and three as world premieres). So it seems like a good time to reflect back on that trajectory, and figure out where I’m headed now.
As an artist, what does this moment in your career represent for you?
Although I’ve always shown my work at more “queer” and alternative venues and festivals, I’ve also avoided only preaching to the perverted, and have tried to reach broader audiences, even with very provocative and (homo)sexually explicit work. So to be shown and recognized by MoMA is a great way to give my work more visibility, and to put it in a larger context of the gay movement and the avant-garde. The MoMA film department is also talking to me about including my films as part of their permanent collection, so it’s a good opportunity for me to have my work properly archived. I’ve made mostly no- and low-budget films, so there have been very few restrictions on my imagination as a filmmaker. I’ve been allowed to do pretty much whatever I want, without interference, which has encouraged me to really push the envelope and explore some unchartered territory. So it’s great to see MoMA supporting this kind of work.
What are your thoughts about the possibility of viewers truly getting an accurate sense of who you are as an artist by experiencing this exhibition?
The MoMA retrospective is presenting all of my movies, even the most controversial ones. My film “Skin Flick,” an art-porn film that takes as its subject a gang of neo-Nazi skinheads, was my first film to be picketed when it played a three-week run at the ICA in London. “L.A. Zombie,” a gorn movie (mixing gore and porn) was banned in Australia and caused a ruckus when it was screening in competition at the Locarno Film Festival. So I’m happy that MoMA is not shying away from showing these films as well, because they really do give the full picture of my work. “Gerontophilia,” which opens the retrospective, is my first and only non-sexually explicit feature film to date!
What’s next for Bruce LaBruce?
I’m hoping to continue to make more of both kinds of films, both no-budget and experimental, and more mainstream. I have three projects in development. One is unannounced, one is called “Twincest,” which is a feature film without sexually explicit content, and one is a no-budget sequel of sorts to “The Raspberry Reich” entitled “Ulrike’s Brain.” Hopefully there will also be more photography, more writing, and more controversies!
The Bruce LaBruce MoMA retrospective is running through May 2. Head here for more information.
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Watch Tonight: HRC Global on CBS’s Madam Secretary
Tonight, HRC Global will be featured on the hit CBS series “Madam Secretary.”
HRC.org
Eating like a Caveman: An Argument for the Paleo Diet
You see, I hate counting calories.
I don’t have time for that. I don’t like keeping track of how much I’ve eaten nor do I obsess over how many grams of a particular nutrient I’ve had. One of the reasons I hate counting calories: not all calories are created equal. Stuffing 400 calories worth of Doritos in my mouth (mmmm!!) definitely does not affect my body in the same way as 400 calories of high-quality vegetables and proteins. I also just hate math.
Enter the Paleo Diet – I don’t have to count calories anymore! Ever! And it’s helped me lose weight, build muscle, and get in the best shape of my life.
So what is it? Basically, if a caveman couldn’t eat it, neither can you. The Paleo Diet is an effort to go back to eating how we’re biologically designed to eat. And cavemen didn’t eat grains. Grains are composed primarily of carbohydrates, and those are turned into glucose (a type of sugar) in our system to be used for energy and various other tasks to help our body function. But here’s the thing – any glucose that isn’t used as energy is stored as fat.
Who wants that? Well, turns out a lot of people do. But it’s not for me. The Paleo Diet also almost completely erases sugar from your diet. Unless you’re getting your sugar from a fruit, forget it. Sugar is a dangerous drug, and the sooner you start thinking that way, the healthier you’ll be.
So, no grains, no sugar, and no processed foods. Bye bye, late night Taco Bell runs!
To help, here is a basic scheme of what to eat on the Paleo Diet:
Eat:
Grass-fed meats
Fish and seafood
Fresh fruits and vegetables
Eggs
Nuts and seeds
Healthful oils (Olive, walnut, flaxseed, macadamia, avocado, coconut)
Don’t eat:
Cereal grains
Legumes (including peanuts)
Dairy
Refined sugar
Potatoes
Processed foods
Salt
Refined vegetable oils
Here are a few easy ways to start changing your daily meals for the better:
Breakfast is easy – make an omelet. Sauté some onion, peppers, mushrooms, and broccoli in olive or coconut oil; add omega-3-enriched or free-range eggs and diced turkey or chicken breast.
Lunches are a snap. At the beginning of the week, make a giant salad with anything you like. Need some ideas? Here you go: mixed greens, spinach, radishes, bell peppers, cucumbers, carrots, avocadoes, walnuts, almonds and sliced apples or pears. Store the salad in a large sealable container. Each morning prepare a single serving for lunch, and then mix in a meat of your choice. Toss with olive oil and lemon juice and that’s it.
For dinner, try spaghetti squash as a substitute for pasta. Top with pesto, marinara and meatballs. Any other grilled meats and vegetables topped with olive oil and garlic will also do nicely.
Sweet tooth? Turn to berries and other fruits, and skip the ice cream.
There are many more ways to Paleo your life but these simple suggestions should get you started.
The Phoenix Effect, a metabolic bootcamp that gets you in shape fast, is offered exclusively at Mansion Fitness, 7914 Santa Monica Blvd., West Hollywood.
Jeremy Kinser
Bruce Jenner's E! Docuseries on Gender Transition Gets Premiere Date
An eight-part docuseries chronicling Bruce Jenner’s gender transition will premiere July 26 on E!, the network has announced.
The series will be produced by Bunim/Murray Productions (Keeping Up with the Kardashians). Jenner will executive produce with Gil Goldschein, Jeff Jenkins, Farnaz Farjam and Andrea Metz of Bunim/Murray Productions.
“Bruce is incredibly courageous and an inspiration, and we are proud to be entrusted with this deeply personal and important story,” said Jeff Olde, executive vp programming and development at E! “This series will present an unfiltered look as Bruce boldly steps into uncharted territory and is true to himself for the first time.”
Missed Jenner’s interview with Diane Sawyer? You can watch it in full HERE.
Kyler Geoffroy
www.towleroad.com/2015/04/bruce-jenners-e-docuseries-on-gender-transition-gets-premiere-date.html
PHOTOS: The Art of the Hookup
In this series by photographer Mauricio A. Rodriguez, our ‘selfie’ is obscured.
Christopher Harrity
www.advocate.com/arts-entertainment/art/photography/2015/04/26/photos-art-hookup
