Rock Out to Equality: Human Rights Campaign Playlist on Apple Music
Apple unveiled a new playlist on Apple Music featuring music from the 19th Annual National Dinner.
HRC.org
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Trailblazer Holly Woodlawn Desperately Needs Your Help To Live Out Her Days With Dignity
Trailblazer Holly Woodlawn Desperately Needs Your Help To Live Out Her Days With Dignity
Last July we learned that pioneering queer entertainer Holly Woodlawn was gravely ill and unable to pay for the health care she required and that a GoFundMe campaign had been set up to help make her remaining days peaceful ones by allowing her to be cared for in her home. Diagnosed with both brain and lung cancer, Woodlawn miraculously pulled through her latest medical crisis only to see the roof of her apartment collapse — twice — leaving her essentially homeless. [You can read some of the horrific details here.] Concerned friends moved the performer, forever beloved for her no-holds-barred turns in independent films such as Trash, as well as inspiring a memorable verse in “Walk on the Wild Side,” Lou Reed’s anthemic ode to the cast of characters who populated Andy Warhol’s Factory, into an assisted living facility. As you might guess, it’s not inexpensive and being a fabulous former Warhol star doesn’t bring in the big bucks so if you’re a huge fan or just have an oversized heart with a plus-sized wallet, you’re invited to help cover the defray the cost of keep this living legend alive and comfortable. Director Mike Stabile, whose Seed Money is a riveting doc about vintage adult film director Chuck Holmes you should seek out, is currently at work on a nonfiction film that will chronicle Woodlawn’s tumultuous life. Stabile chatted with Queerty to offer an update on Holly’s condition and the status of his new project, and why we’re still fascinated with the great Warhol superstars.
Queerty: Your film Seed Money has been a big, well-reviewed hit at festivals around the country. What’s been the overall response to it and where can people see it?Mike Stabile: The response has been really great. We’ll have played over forty festivals by year’s end, including New York on the 23rd. I knew this was an important story to me, but what I didn’t realize was how many gay men were affected by these films, and how many saw themselves in Chuck Holme’s story. I think a lot of people think it’s just about porn, or Falcon Studios. And it is, but it’s in some ways more about the role gay sexuality played in the fight for gay rights. People can see a full list of upcoming screenings here or on Facebook.
Your next project is a documentary about Holly Woodlawn. How did this come about?
I was introduced to her by director Jeffrey Schwarz (Vito, Tab Hunter Confidential), who had just shot an interview with her for his documentary I Am Divine! He had seen a short I’d done prior to Seed Money, and thought that I might be a good fit for Holly. I went over and talked to her, and by the end of the visit she was serenading me with “I Don’t Know How To Love Him” from Jesus Christ Superstar. I rustled up a little money, got a new credit card and followed her to Art Basel Miami that year, for a performance for the Warhol Foundation.
Photo credit: Mike Stabile
What is it about Holly that makes her a worthy subject for a non-fiction film?
Holly was one of our first trans icons. That intro verse in “Walk on the Wild Side” — Holly came from Miami F-L-A, hitch hiked her way across the U-S-A … — was certainly my first introduction to trans identity, and maybe to outsider culture in general. I don’t think I discovered Warhol, and certainly not her work in films like Trash and Women in Revolt, until much later. And, of course, she was at the Stonewall for the riots. Oddly, if you’ve read her memoir, Low Life in High Heels, these are in some ways the least interesting parts of her story. Holly really carved out an identity in the underground in a way that hadn’t been done before. She was both glamorous and a shit-kicker. I don’t think she’s ever given a thought to what other people think about her, she’s just living her life. She is an artist, a hustler, and someone who utterly without pretension. In an era when even fine artists are creating lifestyle brands, Holly stands out as someone who’s only interest is being true to herself. It’s tremendously inspiring.
photo credit: Mike Stabile
What are some of your favorite Holly stories?
Oh, there are so many. But I think what sums up Holly best is her relationship with champagne. She hates it. The carbonation make her burp, so no matter where we are, if someone hands her a glass she’ll just jam her fingers in it and swirls them around to get out all the bubbles. I can’t think of a better metaphor for popping high culture pretensions.
Holly has had some serious health concerns during the past months and there was even a crowdsourcing campaign to help her be cared for at her home. How is she doing lately?
She’s doing alright. She has brain and lung cancer, and because of issues with her liver, there’s no real treatment available. We’re just trying to make her as comfortable as possible. While she was in the hospital, the roof collapsed at her apartment building, so she’s now in an assisted living facility that is actually quite nice. She has a private room, and Turner Classic Movies, and a 24/7 nursing staff. And there’s a roof deck where she can get 360 degrees of Hollywood, including the sign. But none of this is cheap, hence the fundraising. Her 69th birthday is coming up, and she’s looking forward to having a party on the roof with all her friends.
How involved was Holly in the project before she became ill?She’s been involved from the beginning, and has been very vocal about what she wants and doesn’t want. For the past few years, I was wrapping up Seed Money, and struggling to pay for that, so for Holly, we shot what we could on what we had for that. We were really supposed to start shooting in earnest in June, when she got sick. But she doesn’t want this to be about that.
Why do you think people are still so fascinated with Holly and the other great Warhol superstars of her heyday?
They were trailblazers who didn’t give a fuck what society thought. I think now, with social media, even on the progressive end, we’re hyperaware of society’s reaction. The Warhol stars didn’t do things because they wanted society’s approval, they did them because they wanted to. And they were doing it at a time when nearly everyone regarded them as freaks, if not criminals. They defied categories and really took a hammer to the politics of respectability. I think we could stand to learn a few lessons from them still.
Jeremy Kinser
News: Male Model Monday, Matt Damon’s Member, Salt Lake City, Joe Biden, Kinsey Scale
News: Male Model Monday, Matt Damon’s Member, Salt Lake City, Joe Biden, Kinsey Scale
> Matthew McConaughey is unrecognizable as a balding man from the 80s.
> Male Model Monday: Chad Reeh.
> Apparently you can see Matt Damon’s member (or a stunt member) in The Martian.
> John Mayer thinks Miley Cyrus’ latest album is “whacky genius.”
> Alabama passes voter ID law, closing 31 of its drivers license offices in predominantly black counties.
> Britney Spears and Kate Hudson had a game night.
> Hamilton the musical may be filmed. Please, Lin Manuel-Miranda?
> American Apparel files for bankruptcy.
> Mike Huckabee says the U.S. doesn’t have a gun problem: “We have a problem with sin and evil.”
> Salt Lake City may rename street after Harvey Milk.
> Large turnout at LGBT rights conference in Honduras.
> If leaders in the Middle East were ‘Real Housewives.’
> Joe Biden will reportedly decide on whether or not he will make a presidential bid this week.
> Doctors Without Borders to leave Kunduz, Afghanistan after US airstrike hit hospital killing 22 people including 12 staff.
> Victims identified in the shooting at Umpqua Community College last week.
> Photographer Sage Sohier sought to dispel stereotypes about gay love in the 1980s with powerful photo series on gay couples in long term relationships.
> Princess Leia’s famous gold bikini from Star Wars sells for $96,000 at auction.
> FOX News: Australia doesn’t have freedom because no guns, no hate speech.
> Florida: Pagan Libertarian candidate for Senate admits he killed a goat and drank its blood.
> A Kinsey scale alternative created by a Redditor. “Useless or ingenious?”
The post News: Male Model Monday, Matt Damon’s Member, Salt Lake City, Joe Biden, Kinsey Scale appeared first on Towleroad.
Sean Mandell
News: Male Model Monday, Matt Damon’s Member, Salt Lake City, Joe Biden, Kinsey Scale
Conservatives Launch Antigay Salvo as Catholic Bishops' Meeting Opens
Conservatives Launch Antigay Salvo as Catholic Bishops' Meeting Opens
Conservatives have fired the first shot in the culture battles Roman Catholic bishops are taking up at their synod on family issues at the Vatican this month, with Hungarian Cardinal Péter Erdo speaking out against gay relationships in his opening address.
Erdo, whose role as general relator is to guide the synod’s work, reaffirmed the church’s opposition to such relationships in the speech Monday morning, reports Crux, a website devoted to news about Catholicism.
“There is no basis for comparing or making analogies, even remotely, between homosexual unions and God’s plan for matrimony and the family,” he said. He was “quoting a 2003 document from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith,” Crux notes.
Erdo also said international groups should not demand that developing countries recognize same-sex marriage as a condition of receiving aid. He did, however, cite church doctrine “to the effect that ‘unjust discrimination’ against gays and lesbians is wrong,” Crux reports.
Additionally, his address included statements reasserting the church’s opposition to contraception, abortion, and access to communion by Catholics who are divorced and remarried, sending a signal that conservatives plan to take the offense rather than the defense, according to the site.
In the previous family synod, a year ago, Erdo and his fellow conservatives “appeared to be sidelined by more progressive prelates, especially Italian Archbishop Bruno Forte, in producing a controversial interim report calling for greater openness on divorce, homosexuality, and other hot-button topics,” Crux reports. (That progressive language was taken out when the report was finalized.) “If the opening day of Synod 2015 is any indication, Erdo has no intention of letting that happen again.”
Meanwhile, in celebrating Mass for synod participants Sunday, Pope Francis appeared to walk a fine line, upholding long-standing church doctrine while seeking to welcome a diverse population of Catholics. He offered “a stirring defense of traditional marriage coupled with an insistence that the Church must, at the same time, be merciful and compassionate to those who struggle,” another Crux article notes.
The church is “not a museum to keep or preserve,” he said, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corp. “It’s a place where the holy people of God move forward.” He added that the church must have “its doors open to welcome all those who knock” and not “point the finger in judgment,” language that may encourage those who support a more inclusive approach to LGBT people.
LGBT issues are likely to figure importantly in the synod, which comes shortly after the pope’s visit to the United States — a visit in which he met both with antigay Kentucky county clerk Kim Davis and with a gay couple. It also comes just after the Vatican fired a priest who came out as gay and partnered.
“The emotional intensity of the synod is amped up because of perceptions that the pope’s position is still a work in progress,” wrote commentator John Allen on Crux. “Whenever topics such as homosexuality and divorce are on the docket, feelings will run strong. What’s new now is a sense, however exaggerated, that movement might actually be possible. That’s elicited strong passions both from those who see such movement as desirable, and those who view it as alarming.”
The synod, involving 360 bishops from around the world, continues through October 25.
Trudy Ring
October Is LGBT History Month: We've Come a Long Way, But There Is Still a Lot to Do
October Is LGBT History Month: We've Come a Long Way, But There Is Still a Lot to Do
Spandex grannies with perfect manicures, jeans-wearing gents in blazers and hot Jersey girls in tight dresses had some interesting company at the Borgata casino in Atlantic City the last weekend of September. Nine beauties in impossible heels and lavish wigs strutted across the stage at the Borgata’s Music Box Theatre, competing for the title of Miss’d America 2015-2016. About a thousand people shelled out at least $65 to cheer on their favorite queen, and the event – a fundraiser for the Greater Atlantic City GLBT (that’s what they call it) Alliance as well as the Shultz-Hill Foundation which supports the arts in New Jersey – has become a perennial fixture on the autumn social calendar for hundreds of same-sex couples from South Jersey, Philadelphia and New York. The mayor of Atlantic City, Donald Guardian, was in attendance, along with his husband and mother-in-law. And there were plenty of straight folks there as well, mostly older couples on dates, groups of girls having a night out, and random people like me who will go almost anywhere with anyone as long as there’s likely to be booze, music and some friendly faces.
No one who came to the Music Box in search of classic glamour could have walked away disappointed. The bathing suit competition, evening gown segment and talent portion were dazzling, far surpassing anything I’ve ever seen in the Miss America pageant — at least, what I can remember of it — from the last time I watched it when I was about eight. Beauty contests for cis women — which made perfect sense in the earlier half of the 20th Century when most women had few career prospects and their best hope for financial stability was to marry into wealth — were denounced by feminists and they declined in popularity after throngs of educated women entered the workforce. Sure, plenty of people still watch Miss America, but it’s not the Superbowl For Women anymore. In 2015, plenty of women watch football, so the Superbowl for women is, ya know, The Superbowl.
As I watched magnificent beings like Sapphira Cristal – a classically-trained composer and opera singer with a 4-octave range — strut across the stage, I couldn’t help but wonder if a pageant for female impersonators is still relevant in 2015, when traditional ideas about gender identity, sexuality and beauty are constantly being challenged and redefined by mainstream America? Now that the Supreme Court has legalized gay marriage and Caitlyn Jenner has been on the cover of Vanity Fair and Laverne Cox on the cover of TIME. And former Disney princess and popstar Miley Cyrus has tacitly identified herself as genderqueer. Not to mention, live drag shows can be seen in every major city in the country, and for those who can’t make it to Lips N.Y.C. or The Abbey in West Hollywood or Attitudes in St. Louis or Hamburger Mary’s in Tampa, there’s Logo TV with RuPaul’s Drag Race and its spinoffs.
“Drag was once on the level of avant-garde fashion expressionism,” says fashion commentator Simon Doonan, in the new book “Fashion Underground: The World of Susanne Bartsch.” “We’ve reached a point where the whole idea of avant-garde doesn’t resonate the way it did.” What was once underground has become mainstream largely because mainstream America has become far more open-minded than it was on, say June 28, 1969 when New York City police raided the Stonewall Inn and faced the wrath of its gay and lesbian patrons during several nights of protests.
Activist Mark Segal who was present at Stonewall and later went on to found the Philadelphia Gay News was a featured judge at Miss’d America and the recipient of a lifetime achievement award the night of the pageant. In his new Memoir “And Then I Danced: Traveling the Road to LGBT Equality,” he writes about how he was kicked off a television show in the 1970s called Summertime on the Pier because he was dancing with another man, but four decades later, he cut a rug with his husband Jason Villemez while the Marine Corps Band played Barbra Streisand at the White House’s first ever Gay Pride reception hosted by President Obama. In Segal’s acceptance speech at Miss’d America, there was a powerful sense of “look at how far we’ve come.”
Indeed, for the Miss’d America Pageant — founded by partners John Schultz and Gary Hill as an homage to the talented gay men backstage at the Miss America pageant who were not permitted to compete for the crown themselves — to have made it from a tiny rented studio to the glittering stage of the Music Box at the Borgata, is a journey of a nearly unfathomable distance. And the Borgata’s relationship with its LGBT patrons wasn’t just a quick one night thing. They’ve been working on a campaign called “Out at the Borgata,” which features special events and accommodation packages to welcome their “LGBT friends.” It’s refreshing to see that the top-grossing casino in Atlantic City — which also boasts several bars, a spa, two nightclubs, more than a dozen restaurants and as many retail shops as a suburban mall — welcomes folks from across the gender and sexuality spectrum, but really they are just being smart business managers. Bringing in gay business and tourism didn’t exactly hurt San Francisco’s Castro or Miami’s South Beach or New York’s Chelsea neighborhoods.
After a few hours of bathing suit poses, evening gown struts and resplendent musical performances, FiFi Dubois, a statuesque redhead who performed an interpretive dance to Maya Angelou’s recitation of “Phenomenal Woman” was crowned Miss’d America. “I grew up in Tampa, Florida and I went to a high school for the arts,” said DuBois at a press conference after the pageant. “But even at a high school for the arts, there was a lot of gay bashing and backlash from the people who were not part of the arts program. So to be on this stage tonight and hear a crowd scream my name and not boo or laugh because I’m a boy in tights was the greatest feeling in the whole wide world.” Runner-ups Pattaya Hart (a dance teacher who originally hails from the Thailand) and Alexis Michelle (an actor and make-up artist) similarly expressed how their drag personas enable them to make themselves who they want to be in life.
The celebration-of-life vibe continued at the after-party, which was held at a banquet room in the Borgata that seemed like the perfect setting for a bat mitzvah. And it kind of felt like we were all among family. Miss’d America host Carson Kressley (the breakout star of Queer Eye for the Straight Guy) was graciously posing for pictures, and the chorus boys who performed alongside the contestants in the pageant raised some extra money for charity by go-go dancing in their skivvies. “We’ve come a long way,” said Suzanne, a spiky-haired woman in her late 40s who works as a senior electrician for a utility company. “But there’s still a lot to do. It’s all about educating people and helping them understand that we all want the same things. To be ourselves.”
After the show, while thinking about the work ahead for LGBT folks, their supporters and everyone who supports human rights for all, I came across a website called 76crimes.com which details violence against individuals around the world based on sexuality and gender identity. And I got chills when I thought about Suzanne’s exhortation to “be ourselves.” India Clarke, a 25-year-old transwoman of color who was murdered in Tampa, Florida on July 21 was just trying to be herself. And so was Bri Golec, a 22-year-old transwoman who was stabbed to death by her father in Akron, Ohio last February. And teenager Cameron Langrell from Racine who took her own life in May after being tormented by bullies in school. And Francela Mendez from El Salvador. And thousands of individuals in the United States and around the world who died violently or suffered harm because of the hatred and fear and ignorance of others. Until there is an end to violence and discrimination based on sexuality and gender identity, and the laws change in the 76 nations around the world where homosexuality is illegal, the act of performing in drag isn’t really mainstream. It remains an act of courage. And those who can go to Lips or the Abbey or Hamburger Mary’s or the Borgata and just “be ourselves” must not forget how far the LGBT community has come. And this October, during LGBT History Month, we must also remember how much farther there is to go.
— This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
Margaret Cho opens up about online threats, urges people to take them seriously
Margaret Cho opens up about online threats, urges people to take them seriously
Comic, actress and activist Margaret Cho has long enjoyed interacting with fans on social media.
But she has not been enjoying it so much in recent weeks.
‘I’ve experienced numerous breaches of security, a couple of very troubling face to face interactions and so much online trolling I can’t help but believe it’s all somehow connected,’ Cho writes in a Facebook post.
She advises taking action.
‘I want everyone in the reach of my voice to keep their phones charged, film everything, screenshot and report ALL offensive people and ALL threats on social media. You can block the dummies but I report them for their outright stupidity, because I have to have a bit of fun too.’
Cho adds: ‘BUT UNDERSTAND ‘Haters’ are potential killers. We’ve seen this countless times now. They say it on social media, then they go DO IT. We’ve got to be vigilant and protect ourselves. Stay alive. I need you all here with me. I love you.’
Cho, who has nearly 400,000 followers on Facebook, sometimes takes things a step further by taking a screenshot of the offensive message and sending it to the sender’s employers, spouses, loved ones and even celebrities they like.
‘Ask their employers if they are aware of this person’s activity online and if they condone this type of behavior,’ she advises. ‘That usually shuts EVERYTHING DOWN. And it’s pretty gratifying. Bully the bullies with class and grace. It’s the BEST.
‘Sometimes Twitter is slow to help so take matters into your own hands by using their hateful words against them,’ she writes. ‘Omg it’s so fun. I’m so into #hateshaming.’
The post Margaret Cho opens up about online threats, urges people to take them seriously appeared first on Gay Star News.
Greg Hernandez
Raising Our Child in a More Welcoming and Fair Houston
Raising Our Child in a More Welcoming and Fair Houston
Allies and soon-to-be parents Ben and Caroline Garry support the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance.
HRC.org
HRC Gives Visibility Award to Apple CEO Tim Cook — See His Speech Here
HRC Gives Visibility Award to Apple CEO Tim Cook — See His Speech Here
Human Rights Campaign (HRC) gave its Visibility Award to Tim Cook, CEO of Apple Inc. (right), this past weekend at their annual dinner gala in Washington, D.C.
Cook, who was hired personally by none other than tech god Steve Jobs, has been with Apple since 1998, and took over as CEO in 2011, shortly before Jobs died due to complications from cancer. Cook publicly came out as gay in 2014, the first CEO of a Fortune 500 company to do so.
Cook’s speech, like so much in politics these days, took a bit of artistic license with the “facts”: for instance, he praises the work of HRC President Chad Griffin while listing the major LGBT accomplishments of recent years, including the Supreme Court decision for marriage equality. Slow down there, Cookie. That big win was not really a result of HRC, which is primarily involved in legislative matters; that victory was fought and won in the judicial system, after years of work by organizations such as ACLU and Lambda Legal, as well as Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders—a.k.a. GLAD, which had one of its lawyers argue the actual case on the floor of the Supreme Court. Although HRC did invent the red and pink equal signs that people posted all over Facebook. And they are cute, so thanks to them for that.
Cook’s speech was otherwise lovely, sincere and humble, sprinkled with delicious bits of activist poetry, such as “Together, we will pave the sunlit path to justice.” Imagine working for Apple and getting emails from him.
Cook mentioned the most significant aspect to his choice to be publicly out: the LGBT glass ceiling, and how people may presume they will encounter discrimination so they may hold themselves back, rather than risk fighting for success. “People need to hear that being gay is not a limitation,” he said. “People need to hear that being gay doesn’t restrict your options in life. People need to hear you can be gay or transgender, and be whatever else you want to in life.” This includes being a zillionaire CEO of one of the world’s most beloved brands. Not too shabby.
Watch Cook’s speech here:
Dan Renzi
Missouri High School Students Run Westboro Baptist Church Out of Town: VIDEO, PHOTOS
Missouri High School Students Run Westboro Baptist Church Out of Town: VIDEO, PHOTOS
Last week, The Westboro Baptist Church showed up at Oak Park High School in Kansas City, Missouri to protest the school’s election of a transgender homecoming queen. Knowing the kind of disgusting display they could expect, the students of Oak Park decided they would not allow WBC to spew their hate and attack their homecoming queen, Landon Patterson.
RELATED: Missouri Transgender Teen Crowned Homecoming Queen: WATCH
Hundreds of students were ready when Westboro rolled into town and sent them packing within minutes.
People in Gladstone, MO to counter protest Westboro Church, for protesting a Trans homecoming queen at Oak Park High pic.twitter.com/NtO8K0CPb9
— Revolution News (@NewsRevo) October 1, 2015
We are pleased to report that Westboro was run out in minutes. Bye! #longlivethequeen pic.twitter.com/kKzgMg2568
— Revolution News (@NewsRevo) October 1, 2015
Westboro was driven away from their picketing site by counter-protestors carrying signs with phrases such as “Westboro Baptist Church need Jesus” and chanting “long live the queen!”
“This isn’t just about supporting Landon, this is about supporting all our students,”Christina Palermo, an organizer for the rally, told a local news outlet. “Landon is just their scapegoat. They’re attacking everyone in the LGBT community.”
Check out a video of the students as they make clear that hate is not welcome in their town, below.
Also check out more photos from the day, below.
#longlivethequeen pic.twitter.com/2zRChXNzVU
— Winnetonka Newspaper (@GriffinRites) October 1, 2015
Pro-LGBT protesters following Westboro Baptist Church at 79th Ter. and N. Oak Trafficway. Chanting #Longlivethequeen pic.twitter.com/qecRegW4vj
— Cody J. Newill (@CodyNewill) October 1, 2015
#longlivethequeen @LandonHavok pic.twitter.com/ForadHge4y
— Mia (@haay_miaa) October 1, 2015
The post Missouri High School Students Run Westboro Baptist Church Out of Town: VIDEO, PHOTOS appeared first on Towleroad.
Sean Mandell
Missouri High School Students Run Westboro Baptist Church Out of Town: VIDEO, PHOTOS
WATCH: Sam Smith Shakes, Stirs Charts With New Bond Theme
WATCH: Sam Smith Shakes, Stirs Charts With New Bond Theme
The music video for Sam Smith’s latest release — the theme song for the upcoming James Bond film Spectre, titled “Writing’s on the Wall” — was just released this weekend, and with it came news that the single topped the song charts in the U.K.
The gay British singer’s latest track has sold over 70,000 copies and is the first Bond theme song to hit humber 1 in his native U.K., making this Smith’s sixth number 1 U.K. single, Forbes reports. Smith is the first out LGBT performer to do a Bond theme and the first male British solo artist to record one since Tom Jones did the title tune for Thunderball in 1965.
“This is one of the highlights of my career,” Smith wrote in an Instagram post in September, when he announced that he was chosen to sing the theme for the latest 007 flick. “I am so excited to be a part of this iconic British legacy and join an incredible line up of some of my biggest musical inspirations. I hope you all enjoy the song as much as I enjoyed making it.”
Watch the music video for “Writing’s on the Wall,” below.
Raffy Ermac
www.advocate.com/music/2015/10/05/watch-sam-smith-shakes-stirs-charts-new-bond-theme
