Female Editors Reject AfterEllen, Other Sites’ Anti-Trans Agenda
A show of solidarity against an iconic website’s recent transphobia.
www.advocate.com/women/2018/12/19/female-editors-reject-afterellen-other-sites-anti-trans-agenda
Monthly Archives: December 2018
Why Bogota’s massive Theatron may well be the wildest gay club on earth
Why Bogota’s massive Theatron may well be the wildest gay club on earth
I’d visited my share of wild parties all over the world, and seen some pretty amazing crowds. Yet even the wildest nights of the White Party paled in comparison to the scene at Theatron.
REVIEW: ‘The Cher Show’ Inspires and Dazzles
REVIEW: ‘The Cher Show’ Inspires and Dazzles
There are few superstars who are as deeply bonded to the LGBTQ community as Cher- and specific to GLAAD, she’s been working with us for years to help accelerate acceptance. She was honored with the Vanguard Award in 1998 for her allyship, and she presented the Stephen F. Kolzak Award to her son Chaz in 2012. So, when given the opportunity to see the new Broadway musical based on her life, I jumped at the chance…and you should too!
The glistening, over the top, 2 ½ hour spectacle now showing at the Neil Simon Theatre has some definite queer references (more on that later…) but more than anything, the show is both uplifting and inspiring (we all need more of that these days!) as we learn that the larger-than-life diva we all recognize today was once a shy, awkward girl trying to find her place in the world.
In a situation that many of us can relate to, we see young Cherilyn Sarkisian (aka Cher) having a tough time fitting in. The kids at school make fun of her for her looks, especially because she is “darker” than most of them. Her mother, Georgia (played by Emily Skinner) reassures her “You’re not a freak.”
A lot of the dialogue in the show speaks directly to Cher’s queer fan base- at one point she addresses the crowd as, “Ladies and gentlemen—and flamboyant gentlemen!” The show has A LOT…I mean A LOT of guy candy- the company of male dancers are always dressed to show off their impressive physiques. But perhaps taking the cake for the show’s most “fabulous” moment is the Bob Mackie fashion show number where we are taken on a walk down iconic-Cher-fashion-moment memory lane! And yes even one of the male dancers dresses in one of her most risqué, body-baring ensembles.
I was thrilled to see that the show only referred to Chaz with he/him pronouns and the name he uses today.
WATCH: Cher On The First Gay Men She Ever Met
By now, you’ve probably heard that there are three actresses who play Cher at varying points in her life. Micaela Diamond plays timid and insecure, Babe; Teal Wicks is the spitfire finding her voice, Lady; and Stephanie J. Block sparkles as Star, the icon who will always be ready to re-invent herself. Without giving away too much, you will be surprised to see how much these actresses get to work TOGETHER on stage.
The production which is directed by Jason Moore and choreographed by Christopher Gattelli, does an impressive job at working in Cher’s smash hits into the big moments of her life. For example we hear the actors sing lines of her 1998 comeback smash “Believe” decades earlier when she is just starting to get her footing. All of her hits from the past six decades are included. Expect to be lip-synching along to “Half Breed,” “If I Could Turn Back Time,” “Strong Enough,” Heart Of Stone,” “I Got You Babe” and even a big finale that includes “A Woman’s World” and “Take Me Home.”
Tickets for “The Cher Show” are available now.
December 19, 2018
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www.glaad.org/blog/review-%E2%80%98-cher-show%E2%80%99-inspires-and-dazzles
Why Sylvester Is Still ‘Mighty Real’ 30 Years Later
Why Sylvester Is Still ‘Mighty Real’ 30 Years Later
Thirty years ago, disco superstar Sylvester died of complications from AIDS. But, as the AIDS Memorial recently noted, with his openness of his sexuality and identity, he is still an LGBTQ icon for today.
Earlier this year NPR in a segment lauding the legendary artist and his hit ‘You Make Me Feel (Mighty real)’ they said of the disco impresario, “For him to be celebrated for all of his strangeness and all of the ways he inhabited who he wanted to be — who he felt himself to be — felt like you being celebrated for that.”
They continued: “And it wasn’t just how Sylvester looked and sounded. The song’s lyrics openly celebrated that liberation:
When we’re out there dancing on the floor, darlin’
And I feel like I need some more
And I feel your body close to mine
And I know, my love, it’s about that time
Make me feel mighty real
“You’ve got the words of a person who is just matter-of-fact about their sexual desires, about the freedom to do with their bodies and their desires whatever they want to do,”said Joshua Gamson, Sylvester’s biographer. . “And you can dance to it!”
Long before people identified as gender fluid and challenged the status quo, Sylvester did it in legendary fashion.
Sleep in peace, Sylvester.
Watch him perform ‘You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real) below.
The post Why Sylvester Is Still ‘Mighty Real’ 30 Years Later appeared first on Towleroad Gay News.
Hunter Boots and rainbow flag
Cuba Strikes Marriage Equality From New Constitution
Cuba Strikes Marriage Equality From New Constitution
LGBT Cuban residents have been excited about the possibility of the legalization of gay marriage since Cuban president Miguel Diaz-Canel expressed he was in favor of the constitutional amendment back in September. Speaking in a television interview on TeleSur he said, “the approach of recognizing marriage between two people, without limitations, responds to a problem of eliminating all types of discrimination in society.”
Diaz-Canel went on to say “We’ve been going through a massive thought evolution and many taboos have been broken.”
The commission currently drawing up the constitution claims that the decision to strike the amendment was made in the interest of “respecting all opinions.”
The Cuban National Assembly tweeted that the commission proposed “removing the concept of matrimony from the project of the constitution as a way to respect all opinions. Matrimony is a social and legal institution.”
According to Gay Star News the assembly “furthermore tweeted that ‘Article 68 was the one most discussed by the people in the popular consultation, in 66 percent of the meetings (of citizen debate).”
“Of the 192,408 opinions, 158,376 propose replacing the measure now in force with the one proposed,’ they furthermore continued, as reported by local state-owned media.
The Catholic Church is powerful in Cuba and has said “the notion of same-sex marriage in Cuba was due to ‘ideological colonialism’ being imposed by richer countries.”
A final version of the new constitution will be put to a vote later this week before Cuban citizens have an opportunity to vote on the popular referendum on February 24 2019.
The post Cuba Strikes Marriage Equality From New Constitution appeared first on Towleroad Gay News.
Merry Christmas <3
Stonewall Children’s Book Timed For 50th Anniversary
Stonewall Children’s Book Timed For 50th Anniversary
In April 2019 in advance of the 50th Anniversary of the Stonewall uprising this June — Random House will publish the first picture book about the uprising and its critical role in the gay civil rights movement, Stonewall: A Building. An Uprising. A Revolution.
Written by award-winning author Rob Sanders and illustrated by Jamey Christoph,
the powerful and timeless true story of Stonewall will for the first time allow young readers to discover the rich and dynamic history of the Stonewall Inn and its role in the ongoing fight to achieve equal rights for all. On June 28, 1969, New York City police officers raided the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in New York City’s Greenwich Village. In response to the violent raid, patrons and neighborhood residents bound together for six days of protest against the injustices of that night. This uprising is credited with spurring the gay rights movement in the U.S. and beyond.
Sanders says he was inspired to write the book, “When President Obama designated the site as the Stonewall National Monument in 2016, I realized that this part of our LGBTQIA history, story, and struggle for equality was something I wanted all children to learn about and celebrate.”
Sanders is also the author of Pride: The Story of Harvey Milk and the Rainbow Flag, the first picture book about the history of the Gay Pride Flag and its impact on the gay rights movement, just released in April 2018.
You can pre-orderStonewall: A Building. An Uprising. A Revolution here.
The post Stonewall Children’s Book Timed For 50th Anniversary appeared first on Towleroad Gay News.
Artist Shea Diamond Joins HRC’s Equality Rocks Campaign
Artist Shea Diamond Joins HRC’s Equality Rocks Campaign
Gay Killing Video Game Caps Off the New Year
Gay Killing Video Game Caps Off the New Year
In a particularly ghoulish alt-right video game released in time for the New Year called Jesus Strikes Back, you can take on the point of view of characters ranging from Hitler to Jesus, to Donald Trump, Benito Mussolini, and Vladimir Putin (or a very close likeness).
Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to kill LGBTQ people, feminists, “radical social justice warriors,” and a “radical, frenzied NON-BINARY, GENDER FLUID pansexual humanoid berserker.”
You know, your friends.
Yes while normal gamers are getting addicted to Fortnite this holiday season your rabid Republican cousins can crawl out of the Catskill holes they’ve dug themselves into — hope to catch a WiFi tower masquerading as an ever green — and kill all the queers they want.
There’s an antidote to the hate of Jesus though: a funny alternative fighting game where you can play as Jesus and battle other gods like Buddha and Anubis called Fight of The Gods.
Although it was totally overshadowed by the recent release of Smash Bros it’s still good heathen non-hating fun.
Watch the trailer for Fight of The Gods below:
The post Gay Killing Video Game Caps Off the New Year appeared first on Towleroad Gay News.
