PHOTOS: John Cameron Mitchell Returns in 'Hedwig and the Angry Inch'
The creator and star of the original 1998 off-Broadway production of Hedwig and the Angry Inch steps back into Hedwig’s heels on Broadway.
Brandon Voss
On the "A" w/Souleo: OUTMusic Awards Postponement Doesn't Stop The Celebration of LGBT Music
On the "A" w/Souleo: OUTMusic Awards Postponement Doesn't Stop The Celebration of LGBT Music
This past Monday on Martin Luther King Day the themes of social justice, equality, and perseverance resonated strongly for those in attendance at the 9th annual OUTMusic Awards (OMAs). Marketed as “the biggest night in LGBT music,” the OMAs almost didn’t happen. About three days before the awards show was to be held at New York City’s Town Hall Theater the OMAs executive director, Diedra Meredith was forced to notify the public that the ceremony was postponed for reasons that remain undisclosed.
In its place Meredith presented an intimate reception for honorees at the W New York – Times Square, where she underscored the challenges facing the LGBT music movement. “This is what struggle looks like,” she told the gathering of tastemakers and nominees. “Financially this community has not received equivalent funding like mainstream industries get from corporate sponsors.”
But funding hasn’t been the only issue plaguing the awards show. In 2010, pop culture columnist Michael Musto wrote a scathing review of the OMAs that questioned the organization’s professional reputation. In the column he highlighted several instances of miscommunication, lack of organization, and even an alleged onstage fight. For many the postponement of this year’s OMAs will further call into question the organization’s professionalism and ability to produce a viable awards show. Yet, for others it remains worthy of supporting as one of the few avenues of exposure for LGBT music artists.
Openly gay rapper Tavon who has been a member of the OMAs for the past year falls into the latter category. “It makes me want to invest much more,” he said. “The entertainment business is not easy especially when it is an organization focused on the LGBT voice.”
Monifa Carter & Deidra Meredith/Credit: Rowena Husbands
R&B singer Monifah Carter was given the Vanguard Award for breaking ground with the first televised African-American lesbian wedding in the U.S. to her wife, Terez Thorpe, which aired on TV One’s R&B Divas: Atlanta. For Carter, the OMA honor reflected the MLK day message of pursuing social justice. “Equality is a fight we have to fight unfortunately,” she said. “But here we are and we are doing a really good job. I am proud to be acknowledged for my part.”
Even though she lives in Miami, Deborah Cox still made the trip to NYC to accept the Pillar Award. As an ally to the LGBT community, Cox revealed that she catered to the LGBT audience against her record label’s wishes after the success of her club dance remix to the 1996 hit “Who Do You Love.”
Deborah Cox/Credit: Rowena Husbands
“A lot of people think it was calculated but it wasn’t. The song resonated with the community and I supported that because they showed love. So I would do clubs and things even though the label didn’t understand and they didn’t support it back then,” she shared.
With the support shown to her by artists such as Tavon, Carter and Cox, Meredith is committed to forging ahead in her quest to celebrate LGBT music and raise its profile. The OMAs plan to return with a full-scale awards show this spring and the organization is currently filming a documentary about the rise of LGBT music titled For Which WE Stand (One Queer Music Nation In the Visible). For Meredith now is the perfect time for the OMAs to grow in an age of openly LGBT artists from various musical genres such as Sam Smith, Frank Ocean, and Azealia Banks.
“I think this generation is so about who we are. We hold the key to our own freedom by stepping out and being authentically ourselves. This generation is so fierce and I am glad to be in the position to usher this moment,” she said. “When you’re born in the South like I was you’re born into the civil rights movement so this struggle to me is easy.”
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The weekly column, On the “A” w/Souleo, covers the intersection of the arts, culture entertainment and philanthropy in Harlem and beyond and is written by Souleo, founder and president of event/media content production company Souleo Enterprises, LLC.
Japanese pro soccer star denies he did gay porn in college
Japanese pro soccer star denies he did gay porn in college
But do you think he’s lying? See the evidence here
joem
www.gaystarnews.com/article/japanese-pro-soccer-star-denies-he-did-gay-porn-college220115
Arthus And Nico’s Boudoir Is Grand And Gay
Arthus And Nico’s Boudoir Is Grand And Gay
It looks like Arthus and Nico Saumur are staying at a quaint bed and breakfast. It also looks like they packed for a not-so-quaint weekend. This Petit Q photo shoot, called “Arthus Nico’s Boudoir,” shows some of the brand’s most crazy sexy designs. Cut into shockingly revealing shapes, the underwear looks not only defy our expectations, but appear to defy gravity. You wonder how those strap-y pieces of fabric stay on. Then later in the photo shoot you realize, oh, they don’t.
Some of Petit Q’s tamer looks are modeled in the photo shoot, too. Two full-coverage styles are shown — a brief and a boxer. The pair of guys — an actual couple from France — wear different color options, both underwear styles rocking black/red and white/blue contrasts. On the opposite end of the spectrum is the Petit Q C-Jock. The design is a waistband, rear straps, and a tiny pouch that’s like a literal cock sock.
You can see more of this photo shoot on The Underwear Expert.
Photo Credit: Petit Q
Underwear Expert
feedproxy.google.com/~r/queerty2/~3/neH0nT-vAPk/arthus-and-nicos-boudoir-is-grand-and-gay-20150122
Why it is vital that straight people support the #LGBT cause; that men support women's rights.MP4
AIDS day 2014
Q&A: Former Exodus Staffer Randy Thomas on Identity, Faith, & 'Ex-Gay' Therapy
Q&A: Former Exodus Staffer Randy Thomas on Identity, Faith, & 'Ex-Gay' Therapy
Following last week’s blog post in which he identified himself as ‘gay with some level of bisexual tendencies,’ former Exodus International employee Randy Thomas talks about his path away from the ‘ex-gay’ movement.
Stevie St. John
'Crazy Cukkad Family' screened for LGBT community – 2015 !!!
'American Horror Story: Freak Show' Season Finale Recap: The Freaks Shall Inherit The Earth
'American Horror Story: Freak Show' Season Finale Recap: The Freaks Shall Inherit The Earth
*** WARNING: Contains spoilers! Please do not read on unless you’ve seen the season finale of “American Horror Story: Freak Show,” titled “Curtain Call.” Or if you don’t mind spoilers, go right ahead! ***
The curtain finally went down on the insane eye candy that was “American Horror Story: Freak Show.”
Dandy meets his maker in the form of the freaks he so adored throughout the season, but not before he assassinates the majority of the one-off characters. You name it: Seal Boy, The Strongwoman, Meryl Streep Jr., our beloved Toulouse. All murdered unceremoniously by Dandy’s golden revolver. It felt a bit cheap watching him wander through the show grounds, picking them off one by one, and yet, at the same time, there was suspense that someone might be able to get away. I was rooting for the torso woman to escape somehow, but alas, the only one who survives is Desiree. So all the characters we grew to know and love are offed in about two minutes. Such cruelty.
Jimmy and his wooden claws return to the campground to find the pile of freak bodies in the main tent (yes, another “Nooooooo!!” from Peters. That must be some kind of record). He and Desiree, along with Bette and Dot, band together to take down Dandy in the only way that feels right: torture. His constant lust for attention does him in, and this time the freaks get to watch him suffer instead of the other way around. Letting the serial killer drown in Houdini’s tank is appropriate, but some might say that’s not enough, considering all he’s done. I fall into the latter category; surely Dandy deserved more than that five-minute sendoff. Oh well, at least he ended up in a jar like the other freak specimens. The ultimate freak, the worst of them all.
But if we’re going to be real, this fourth season was all about Jessica Lange’s Elsa, who at the beginning of “Freak Show” had the classic redemption-story plotline: woman brutally wounded, rebounds with the help of mysterious stranger Massimo (Danny Huston), finds a home with a group of people who need a leader, then lives out her days providing a life for said people … but it doesn’t turn out that way. Elsa’s need for fame, like Dandy except minus the outright insanity, drives her away from her one true desire — love. And since Massimo has no soul/no capacity to love, plus a recent cancer diagnosis, she can’t find it with him. Hollywood rejects her just as her beloved freaks did. So, what else does an ex-freak do? Sacrifice yourself to a two-faced Wes Bentley, of course!
Elsa’s ending, though poetic on some level, also felt cheap. In many ways, Elsa is responsible for the deaths of several of her “children.” In some cases, she’s directly responsible (i.e. – she murdered Ethel). If I learned anything tonight, it’s that if you face that spirit ready to take you to Hades, and you tell him to “take you now,” he’ll sympathize with you and send you to a wonderful version of Hell where everyone treats you like gold, you can once again perform your David Bowie song as many times as you want (I never want to hear “Heroes” or “Life On Mars” again), and none of the people you harmed/killed/tortured/belittled/treated like garbage seems to mind that you’re there, getting off scot-free. Why does Elsa deserve to be vindicated? I kept hoping for a crazy surprise twist, but nothing came.
A microcosm of the season, the “Freak Show” finale is disjointed and all over the place, scrambling to find a cohesive, sensical ending. While all of the storylines were closed off (except for Stanley, where did he end up? And Chester. I guess he’s rotting in jail for life), at this endpoint the story has been cut up and re-sewn so many times it’s missing its main thread. There is nothing connecting the premiere with the finale except for Elsa. We had a focus at the start with Twisty terrorizing the town, but once he was killed the direction of the season was lost. Even Dandy, who made for a terrific Twisty replacement, was all but gone from the show for several episodes in a row.
With Elsa as the connection, “Freak Show” had no choice but to focus on her at the end. Sure, we see that Desiree and Malcolm-Jamal Warner hook up (aside: what, exactly, was the point of his character?), and Bette & Dot and Jimmy are pregnant (called it last week!), but that’s all that happens outside the Elsa sphere. This is Jessica Lange’s last “AHS” season, so maybe Murphy et. al. were trying to give her a proper send-off in the spotlight.
In a way, it would have worked better to say farewell to Lange’s excellent work on this show by killing her off in a disgusting, horrible, memorable way. Instead we’ll remember her last moments on the show with her eyes caked in blue eyeshadow, singing to a crowd of people in the afterlife.
I’m not sure if I’d ever buy a ticket for a repeat performance of this particular show. Now a spinoff, featuring Seal Boy and Meryl Streep Jr.? That I’m interested in.
Freak Of The Week: Dandy. Even though you knew he was going to die tonight, part of you still kind of wanted him to live. Finn Wittrock has been a pleasure this season, and I’d be surprised if we didn’t see more of him.
Random Thoughts:
- “I’m going to be a bizarre footnote in Hollywood history!” says Elsa. She could also be describing “AHS: Freak Show.”
- The names of Elsa’s two dogs — Showbiz and Box Office — are amazing.
- Dandy: “I’ve always found babies to be boring … but FREAK babies!”
- Angela Bassett eats popcorn like a pro. I would love a GIF of her eating it while watching Dandy perish.
- All of those characters dead by minute 15. Then the last 15 minutes felt completely disconnected from the rest of the finale. It should have ended with Dandy floating in that tank.
- I know some of you loved my recaps, and a lot of you hated them. Sorry, opinion can be dividing. But thank you to those who stayed with me and sent me supportive, positive emails and tweets. Perhaps I’ll see you next time around, wherever Murphy may take us.
“American Horror Story: Freak Show” airs on Wednesday nights at 10 p.m. EST on FX and FX Canada.
Episode 12 Recap
Episode 11 Recap
Episode 10 Recap
Episode 9 Recap
Episode 7 Recap
Episode 6 Recap
Episode 5 Recap
Episode 4 Recap
Episode 3 Recap
Episode 2 Recap
Premiere Recap
LGBT Rights – Government Project
LGBT Rights – Government Project
All Rights Reserved. None of these pictures are mind and I do not take responsibility for any of these being incorrect facts, I researched these all. All pictures are off of google search….
www.youtube.com/watch?v=rroUC0u6BZI&feature=youtube_gdata
