Congratulations, France!
Showing posts with label gay. Show all posts
Showing posts with label gay. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
Congratulations, France!
Today, France became the world's fourteenth nation to approve marriage rights for same-sex couples. The lower house of the French Parliament passed the "marriage for all" law, sponsored by President Hollande, by a vote of 331 to 225. Although protests continue--even after the law has won--from the far right and the radical Christian agenda along with Jews and Muslims, this is certainly a time to celebrate.
Friday, April 19, 2013
Monday, April 1, 2013
Day of Silence 2013
I am not sure how many high school or middle school students stop by "Oh, By The Way," but if you are, consider joining the Day of Silence. And if you are an adult who knows a teen, especially a gay teen, who might benefit from this, please pass it along. The Day of Silence started seventeen years ago as a way to protest bullying and harassment in schools. In recent years, the destructive Radical Christian Agenda has attempted to thwart or stop this student outreach, effectively claiming that it is their religious right to harass and attack human beings for being gay. Because of this, it is even more important to counteract such hurtful, hateful, backward beliefs. A religious freedom is a personal choice, not a ticket to ostracize, punish, intimidate, shame, or attack (mentally, psychologically, socially, verbally, OR physically) another person.
I am posting this ahead of the date so there is time: to organize a Day of Silence in a school or to learn how to participate, please visit the GLSEN website linked below.
http://www.dayofsilence.org/
Friday, February 22, 2013
The Evolution of Love by The Irrepressibles
"New World," "Arrow," and "Two Men In Love" by The Irrepressibles, from "Nude."
It's the last song that slays me...turn it up...
http://www.theirrepressibles.com
Friday, February 15, 2013
Welcome, Robbie!
Another professional athlete has come out... and we have another hero.
U.S. soccer star Robbie Rogers today made two simultaneous announcements: he is gay, and he is retiring from football. Rogers played several seasons for Major League Soccer's Columbus Crew before joining Britain's Leeds United team last year. In 2007 he played for Team USA in the FIFA World Cup tournament, and he competed for the United States at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Whatever you do now Robbie, we wish you continued success.
Read his inspiring statement on his website:
http://www.therobbierogers.com
Thursday, February 14, 2013
Monday, January 21, 2013
MLK/ Inauguration
“Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity”
— Martin Luther King
Thank you, Mr. President.
But we still have a long way to go and a lot of conscientious--willful--stupidity to overcome.
Monday, November 12, 2012
Thursday, November 8, 2012
And the good news just keeps coming...
...Gay marriage wins in Washington state! R-74 prevails along with fairness and equality.
It is laughable and predictable to hear the anti-gay foes of marriage equality claim that they lost because they were simply outspent in fundraising and advertising. They apparently can't contemplate the idea that they were simply wrong. What they fail to realize is: allowing someone to have a right that you yourself enjoy does not in any way diminish or harm that right for you.
Congratulations Washington!
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
And even more good news!
Marriage equality WON in Maryland and Maine! It is the first time in United States history that marriage equality has been approved by popular vote on a ballot measure. I have renewed faith.
This is indeed a great moment.
Images via Joe Jervis' ever-informative and valuable site Joe.My.God.
This is indeed a great moment.
Images via Joe Jervis' ever-informative and valuable site Joe.My.God.
Friday, October 19, 2012
Spirit Day 2012
Today is the third annual Spirit Day. The movement was launched in 2010 by teenager Brittany McMillan in conjunction with GLAAD (Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) as a day to remember the young people who have taken their lives due to homophobic bullying and soul-destroying lies perpetuated by homophobic groups, both political and religious in nature (and some who think they are above the law and combine both without paying any taxes!). To show support to the young gay people still with us and to combat the rampant bullying and frantic hatred that seems to be sweeping our country at cultural and political levels, today is a day to wear purple and demonstrate to anyone who might be feeling alone and worthless that there are many people in the world who believe in the value of their lives and souls.
"Dear gay teen contemplating suicide:
You are not wrong. You are not “bad.” You are not sick, defective, or evil.
You are perfect and beautiful just the way you are.
You have done nothing wrong and you have done nothing to deserve being humiliated, punished, or hurt, either physically or emotionally.
Bullying and discrimination are never ever innocent: the bullies are the ones who are wrong, bad, and sick for hurting you.
Don’t let anyone tell you that you are any less of a human being than they are. Don’t let them tell you it is a choice or that being gay is about behavior; you are who you are. Embrace yourself and be proud of being alive.
You have value. You have as much right to be here on this planet as anyone else.
It may seem like the world is against you, but there are people for you out there, there are places for you out there. You will be happy, you will get to live YOUR life the way YOU want to, without having to pay any attention to the bullies or whatever “bible” nonsense some people might throw at you… you are not "impure," "immoral," "unnatural," or "against nature." Those are just ridiculous lies they tell to hide their hatred, fear, and prejudice.
You will survive and thrive! You get to live here. This is your RIGHT.
You might turn out to be an important author, a doctor who cures a disease, a famous designer, someone who invents a new type of metal, an inspiring performer… or you might end up working with kids who need to hear that they have value and are perfect the way they are.
Please stick around.
Please.
We need you.
Love,
JEF"
To help, please visit:
The Trevor Project
Dan Savage's "It Gets Better Project" on Youtube
Please spread the word about this issue and these sites--you never know who might need to hear about them.
http://www.glaad.org/spiritday
Thursday, October 11, 2012
GLBT History Month
October is GLBT History Month. The website http://www.lgbthistorymonth.com/ is observing the month by featuring the contributions and achievements of thirty one important gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgendered figures. Each day in October, a new GLBT figure is featured with a video, bio, bibliography.
Below is a wonderful and very partial list of GLBT figures throughout history. To the people who say "Well, I don't care if (insert famous GLBT person's name here) is/was gay. It's none of my business who (famous GLBT person) sleeps/slept with," I say that it is important to know in order to combat the still-persistent belief present in many quarters of the country that gay men or lesbians or bisexual or transgendered individuals are sick, useless, incapable of success, and have nothing to do with society or culture at large.
Happy National Coming Out Day!
Today is the 24th annual National Coming Out Day. This celebration started in 1988 as a way to raise awareness of the GLBT community and civil rights movement. It may be called "National" Coming Out Day but it is observed internationally in many countries including Australia, Canada, Croatia, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.
http://www.hrc.org/resources/entry/national-coming-out-day
Thursday, October 4, 2012
Welcome, Orlando!
Not only is it currently GLBT History Month, but today boxer Orlando Cruz came out. This marks the very first time ever that an active, professional boxer has come out. I do not follow boxing at all (it puzzles me), but I am happy to see anyone come out with confidence, pride, and determination. He is quite brave to have come out in such a traditionally masculine sport, and in a country that is suffering such a sick backlash against gay men and women.
Continued success to you, hero.
"I've been fighting for more than 24 years and as I continue my ascendant career, I want to be true to myself...I want to try to be the best role model I can be for kids who might look into boxing as a sport and a professional career. I have and will always be a proud Puerto Rican. I have always been and always will be a proud gay man.
I don't want to hide any of my identities...I want people to look at me for the human being that I am. I am a professional sportsman that always brings his best to the ring. I want for people to continue to see me for my boxing skills, my character, my sportsmanship. But I also want kids who suffer from bullying to know that you can be whoever you want to be in life, including a professional boxer, that anything is possible and that who you are or whom you love should not be impediment to achieving anything in life."
Continued success to you, hero.
"I've been fighting for more than 24 years and as I continue my ascendant career, I want to be true to myself...I want to try to be the best role model I can be for kids who might look into boxing as a sport and a professional career. I have and will always be a proud Puerto Rican. I have always been and always will be a proud gay man.
I don't want to hide any of my identities...I want people to look at me for the human being that I am. I am a professional sportsman that always brings his best to the ring. I want for people to continue to see me for my boxing skills, my character, my sportsmanship. But I also want kids who suffer from bullying to know that you can be whoever you want to be in life, including a professional boxer, that anything is possible and that who you are or whom you love should not be impediment to achieving anything in life."
Thursday, August 30, 2012
Just watched...
...Alan Brown's 2011 film "Private Romeo."
SPOLIER ALERT!
I hesitate to call “Private Romeo” an adaptation of Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet.” It is something more akin to a variation on a theme.
At McKinley Military Academy, eight cadets are left behind when the rest of the school goes away for “land navigation exercises.” These eight are expected to continue as if nothing is different: rise at the same hour, line up for inspection, go to class and study their subjects. We see them in a classroom studying “Romeo and Juliet” with each cadet reading aloud the different roles from the script which neatly introduces Elizabethan English into the common, 21st century speech we have already heard from the cadets.
As one can guess, the microcosm of relationships in this small group shifts. Our Romeo, Private Singleton (played by Seth Numrich) falls in love with our Juliet, Private Mangan (played by Matt Doyle), who falls in love right back. We continue to slip back and forth between modern American English and Elizabethan English as Singleton flirts with Mangan, telling him he likes his “kicks” (shoes for those not up on current slang—sneakers in this case). But we immediately begin the classic scene where Romeo and Juliet meet for the first time.
This switching back and forth between old and modern English, and between the reality of the military academy and Shakespeare’s story, creates a peculiar phenomenon. It is clear that we are not witnessing Shakespeare’s original play or even the play with a different time and setting. Much like Carlos Saura’s classic film “Carmen,” in which the director of a flamenco dance troupe rehearsing a production of “Carmen” falls for the lead actress playing Carmen, echoing Don Jose’s infatuation for Carmen, “Private Romeo” seems to be a story within a story. One almost gets the feeling that these eight cadets have memorized the play in class and are now acting it out. But they could be acting it out consciously or perhaps they are compelled to act it out because of the budding love between Singleton and Mangan. The play gives them the ideas and language to express their feelings and reactions. Their isolation, the flip-flopping between two styles of language, and the fact that there is no one-to-one correlation of characters or roles—the eight cadets play a variety of characters young and old, male and female—gives the film a disorienting, dream-like quality. These layers are cumulative and appealing.
And the fact that there is no one-to-one correlation, and the fact that the director is not slavishly following the original script or story means that liberties are taken. Some of these liberties work, and some are confusing. But in the end, it does not matter. SPOLIER ALERT: I will say however, that one of the biggest liberties taken is that we have a—relatively—happy ending. No one dies! The young men drink water laced with, what, Vicodin or Oxycontin (?), but are free to pursue their love when they sober up. At the end we see private Mangan singing a lovely and heartfelt version of “You Made Me Love You” directly to the camera. This must be an homage to Derek Jarman—I instantly flashed on Annie Lennox singing Cole Porter in Jarman’s “Edward II.”
Oddly though, there is no real mention of homosexuality despite the fact that we are watching two young men fall in love. Openly gay director Brown says he made the film to reference the now defunct “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy of the United States military. But there is no homophobia to be seen in his film. The other cadets are driven by Shakespeare’s family conflicts between the Montagues and the Capulets. I can’t decide if I think this is refreshing (how nice that the love between the young men is accepted and treated not unlike any other love) or completely unrealistic (no homophobic slurs or violence?… in an AMERICAN MILITARY ACADEMY where young men are still trying to figure out their own sexuality and personal power? REALLY???).
The film is beautifully photographed by Derek McKane and the cast is quite good at handling all they are asked to do, including speaking Elizabethan English. The leads are very good and their falling in love is believable—as much as it can be within an iambic pentameter structure. But for me, the standout talent was Hale Appleman who played Private Neff as well as delivering a riveting rendition of Mercutio.
Recommend? Yes. It is uneven in many spots but in the end, it manages to be successful.
http://www.privateromeothemovie.com/
SPOLIER ALERT!
I hesitate to call “Private Romeo” an adaptation of Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet.” It is something more akin to a variation on a theme.
At McKinley Military Academy, eight cadets are left behind when the rest of the school goes away for “land navigation exercises.” These eight are expected to continue as if nothing is different: rise at the same hour, line up for inspection, go to class and study their subjects. We see them in a classroom studying “Romeo and Juliet” with each cadet reading aloud the different roles from the script which neatly introduces Elizabethan English into the common, 21st century speech we have already heard from the cadets.
As one can guess, the microcosm of relationships in this small group shifts. Our Romeo, Private Singleton (played by Seth Numrich) falls in love with our Juliet, Private Mangan (played by Matt Doyle), who falls in love right back. We continue to slip back and forth between modern American English and Elizabethan English as Singleton flirts with Mangan, telling him he likes his “kicks” (shoes for those not up on current slang—sneakers in this case). But we immediately begin the classic scene where Romeo and Juliet meet for the first time.
This switching back and forth between old and modern English, and between the reality of the military academy and Shakespeare’s story, creates a peculiar phenomenon. It is clear that we are not witnessing Shakespeare’s original play or even the play with a different time and setting. Much like Carlos Saura’s classic film “Carmen,” in which the director of a flamenco dance troupe rehearsing a production of “Carmen” falls for the lead actress playing Carmen, echoing Don Jose’s infatuation for Carmen, “Private Romeo” seems to be a story within a story. One almost gets the feeling that these eight cadets have memorized the play in class and are now acting it out. But they could be acting it out consciously or perhaps they are compelled to act it out because of the budding love between Singleton and Mangan. The play gives them the ideas and language to express their feelings and reactions. Their isolation, the flip-flopping between two styles of language, and the fact that there is no one-to-one correlation of characters or roles—the eight cadets play a variety of characters young and old, male and female—gives the film a disorienting, dream-like quality. These layers are cumulative and appealing.
And the fact that there is no one-to-one correlation, and the fact that the director is not slavishly following the original script or story means that liberties are taken. Some of these liberties work, and some are confusing. But in the end, it does not matter. SPOLIER ALERT: I will say however, that one of the biggest liberties taken is that we have a—relatively—happy ending. No one dies! The young men drink water laced with, what, Vicodin or Oxycontin (?), but are free to pursue their love when they sober up. At the end we see private Mangan singing a lovely and heartfelt version of “You Made Me Love You” directly to the camera. This must be an homage to Derek Jarman—I instantly flashed on Annie Lennox singing Cole Porter in Jarman’s “Edward II.”
Oddly though, there is no real mention of homosexuality despite the fact that we are watching two young men fall in love. Openly gay director Brown says he made the film to reference the now defunct “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy of the United States military. But there is no homophobia to be seen in his film. The other cadets are driven by Shakespeare’s family conflicts between the Montagues and the Capulets. I can’t decide if I think this is refreshing (how nice that the love between the young men is accepted and treated not unlike any other love) or completely unrealistic (no homophobic slurs or violence?… in an AMERICAN MILITARY ACADEMY where young men are still trying to figure out their own sexuality and personal power? REALLY???).
The film is beautifully photographed by Derek McKane and the cast is quite good at handling all they are asked to do, including speaking Elizabethan English. The leads are very good and their falling in love is believable—as much as it can be within an iambic pentameter structure. But for me, the standout talent was Hale Appleman who played Private Neff as well as delivering a riveting rendition of Mercutio.
Recommend? Yes. It is uneven in many spots but in the end, it manages to be successful.
http://www.privateromeothemovie.com/
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