Post-Pride post

San Francisco LGBT Pride 2009; I had a ball.

Old Gays, New Gays

Mark Harris' interesting take on the gay generation gap. Note the photo by SFer Marc Geller of the still-adorable now-successful actor Romain Frugé, who would later star in The Full Monty on Broadway:
The Gay Generation Gap

Forty years after Stonewall, the gay movement has never been more united. So why do older gay men and younger ones often seem so far apart?

This week, tens of thousands of gay people will converge on New York City for Pride Week, and tens of thousands of residents will come out to play as well. Some of us will indulge in clubbing and dancing, and some of us will bond over our ineptitude at both. Some of us will be in drag and some of us will roll our eyes at drag. We will rehash arguments so old that they’ve become a Pride Week staple; for instance, is the parade a joyous expression of liberation, or a counterproductive freak show dominated by needy exhibitionists and gawking news cameras?

(edit)

And here’s the awful stuff [young gays] throw back at us—at 45, I write the word “us” from the graying side of the divide—a completely vicious slander (except that some of us are a little like this): We’re terminally depressed. We’re horrible scolds. We gas on about AIDS the way our parents or grandparents couldn’t stop talking about World War II. We act like we invented political action, and think the only way to accomplish something is by expressions of fury. We say we want change, but really what we want is to get off on our own victimhood. We’re made uncomfortable, or even jealous, by their easygoing confidence. We’re grim, prim, strident, self-ghettoizing, doctrinaire bores who think that if you’re not gloomy, you’re not worth taking seriously. Also, we’re probably cruising them.

To some extent, a generation gap in any subgroup with a history of struggle is good news, because it’s a sign of arrival. If you have to spend every minute fighting against social opprobrium, religious hatred, and governmental indifference, taking the time to grumble about generational issues would be a ridiculously off-mission luxury; there are no ageists in foxholes. But today, with the tide of history and public opinion finally (albeit fitfully) moving our way, we can afford to step back and exercise the same disrespect for our elders (or our juniors) as heterosexuals do. That’s progress, of a kind.

I'd be happy to debate such issues with younger gays, if they'd unplug their frackin' iPods or get off their cell phones long enough to share a complete sentence. Until then, just call me Gramps.

Another lying adulterous Rethug

But not according to Fox "News!"

Funny how whenever a Rethuglican is caught in a scandal, they run out of R's and deliberately and falsely label the crooks as Democrats.

Fortunately the New York times got it right this time:


Gov. Sanford Admits Affair and Explains Disappearance

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Mark Sanford, the governor of South Carolina, said he had conducted an extra-marital affair with a woman in Argentina, ending a mystery over his week-long disappearance that had infuriated lawmakers and seemed to put his rising political career in jeopardy. He apologized for the affair and the deception surrounding his trip in a rambling, nationally televised news conference Wednesday afternoon.

Sanford, the lying adulterous rightwing tool, is a staunch opponent of gay marriage. Obviously, he's got his own definition of it.

Another rightwing lying thief

View co-host Hasselbeck accused of plagiarism

BOSTON (AP) — "The View" co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck has been accused of plagiarism.

A lawsuit in federal court in Massachusetts alleges that Hasselbeck lifted "word for word" content from a book on celiac disease written by a self-published author on Cape Cod.

Hasselbeck's book, "The G-Free Diet: A Gluten-Free Survival Guide" has appeared over the last month in several best-selling lists.

The lawsuit was filed by author Susan Hassett, who says she sent Hasselbeck a copy of her "Living With Celiac Disease" book as a courtesy after the TV celebrity disclosed she had the illness last year.

A lawyer for Hassett declined to comment Tuesday. A phone message left with Hasselbeck's agent, Andy Cohen, was not immediately returned.

--

Hasselbeck, at left, with the evil Sarah Palin, who has a rightwing hireling to pen her "autobiography."


I despise plagiarists. That's why I despise Jonathan Larsen's Rent, the Harry Potter books, the Mor(m)on Twilight series, and anyone who steals someone else's ideas. It's lower than that of a bicycle thief.

The Call

In Iran, One Woman's Death May Have Many Consequences

Of the dozens killed, hundreds arrested, and even more injured and MIA, Iran has an iconic new martyr, a woman killed on camera, shot by a militia

Iran's revolution has now run through a full cycle. A gruesomely captivating video of a young woman - laid out on a Tehran street after apparently being shot, blood pouring from her mouth and then across her face - swept Twitter, Facebook and other websites this weekend. The woman rapidly became a symbol of Iran's escalating crisis, from a political confrontation to far more ominous physical clashes. Some sites refer to her as "Neda," Farsi for the voice or the call. Tributes that incorporate startlingly upclose footage of her dying have started to spring up on YouTube.

"Neda" is already being hailed as a martyr, a second important concept in Shiism. With the reported deaths of 19 people Saturday, martyrdom also provides a potent force that could further deepen public anger at Iran's regime. (See the Top Ten Players in Iran's Power Struggle.)

The belief in martyrdom is central to modern politics as well as Shiite tradition dating back centuries in Iran. It too helped propel the 1979 revolution. It sustained Iran during the eight-year war with Iraq, when over 120,000 Iranians died in the bloodiest modern Middle East conflict. Most major Iranian cities have a Martyrs' Museum or a Martyrs' cemetery.

Prtests got worse over the weekend, but are slowing this week, it seems.

Iranian police use force to break up protest

The country's highest electoral authority, the Guardian Council, acknowledged on Monday that there were voting irregularities in 50 electoral districts, the most serious official admission so far of problems in the election. But the council insisted the problems do not affect the outcome of the vote.

and Iran

Despite a fascist crackdown on protests, online activism, and foreign journalists, the truth about the massive, growing protests against the obvious election fraud in Iran continue to make headlines. with seven people killed and hundreds injured,

Twitter feeds have helped organize and spread truth.

Flikr image search shows daily updates.

"Lost" ballots are turning up dumped all over the country.



Ahmadinejad, your time is over.

Diss-turbia

Obama waited a few months before unleashing his Bushco leftover underling's horrifyingly specious attack on gays in his administration's official defense of the Defense of Marriage Act.

I'm so pissed off, I can't do more than post links:

http://www.towleroad.com/2009/06/hrc-calls-on-president-to-send-legislation-now-repealing-doma.html

http://www.towleroad.com/2009/06/doj-defends-doma-says-good-for-budget-invokes-incest.html

http://www.towleroad.com/2009/06/hrc-calls-on-president-to-send-legislation-now-repealing-doma.html

HRC's Joe Solomese wrote a stern letter: http://www.hrcbackstory.org/2009/06/a-letter-to-the-president-from-joe-solmonese/

Remember when Obie made those sweet pro-gay promises?

http://joemygod.blogspot.com/2009/06/obamas-promises-flashback.html

In the firm grasp of the obvious department, the Obama honeymoon is over.

Also:
Gays get falsely arrested in NYC: http://www.gaycitynews.com/site/index.cfm?newsid=20247264&BRD=2729&PAG=461&dept_id=568864&rfi=8

See Me, Feel Me, Read Me

Readings in June!


June 12: Quilts and Bedsheets: Gay Men Write About Love, Relationships and Community
at the LGBT Center - Ceremonial Room. 7:30pm. Tickets: $12-$20
Buy Tickets on-line:

Get under the covers with the talented men of GuyWriters! We’re celebrating our fifth anniversary by spinning a few yarns about love, relationships and community. Sex, romance and other fabrications unravel themselves in this powerful evening of poetry, prose and plays featuring M.S. Allen, Alan Chin, M.L. Heath, Rik Isensee, Enzo Lombard-Quintero, Robert McLaughlin, Jim Provenzano, Eric Rose, Steven Salzman, Anthony Williams and special guest Brian Freeman. www.guywritersonline.org

This is part of the expansive month-long Queer Arts Festival.

And then, June 23:


SIMON SHEPPARD, ROB ROSEN, JACK FRITSCHER (with introductions by JIM PROVENZANO) will celebrate Pride by sharing their latest gay romantic fiction from "Best Gay Romance" 2008 & 2009. "Best Gay Romance" is short fiction at its finest on the subject of love. The romantic possibilities range from a surprising encounter between two blue-collar buddies to a brief airport rendezvous that becomes something more, and a reminder to us all that it is never too late for love. A self-confessed true romantic, Richard Labonte has gathered a sensational collection of stories about finding love at home, at work, at any age, and often, in the most unexpected places.

At Books Inc on Market St.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009 7:30 p.m.
Location: Books Inc. in the Castro, 2275 Market Street, San Francisco, CA 94114
Phone: 415-864-6777

And God Created Adam

Yep. he's gay. American Idol runner-up (and real champion, for many) Adam Lambert did the "official" coming out, not in The Advocate, but in Rolling Stone.

Here's a Yahoo Music News article:

"I don't think it should be a surprise for anyone to hear that I'm gay," Adam correctly states, adding: "I'm proud of my sexuality. I embrace it." (As if there was ever ANYTHING about Adam Lambert's public persona that seemed shy or self-effacing!)

Yeah, yeah, I know--not so shocking. Not nearly as shocking as Lambert losing on Idol, really. It's not like Adam ever even slightly denied that he is homosexual. This is a guy who, on the most exciting Idol finale ever, not only performed in drag-queen-supplied Bob Mackie angel wings and platform Kiss boots from his "private collection," but also took on the Freddie Mercury role for the gay-rights Queen anthem "We Are The Champions," after all.

But Adam's sexuality was likely something he wasn't allowed to officially discuss before now (past gay Idol contestants like R.J. Helton, Jim Verrarros, and Danny Noriega have all publicly claimed that the show ordered them to keep mum regarding their sexual orientation--how very "don't ask, don't tell," huh?). Or frankly, his sexuality just wasn't something he felt was necessary to discuss within the context of the Idol competition.

As Adam says in his RS interview: "I was worried that [coming out] would be so sensationalized that it would overshadow what I was there to do, which was sing. I'm an entertainer, and who I am and what I do in my personal life is a separate thing."

Still, his doing so, and doing it in a classy gradual way, may do more for the visibility of LGBT Americans than a lot of gay activism. It's acknowledged, understood, and we can move on to the gossip columns following him in the same way they would any other instant celebrity, hopefully.

I'm still hoping Adam and Queen come to a deal where he can perform with them. Although no one can top Freddy Mercury (so to speak), and their recent replacement singer has left the band, and Lambert has his own record deal, still, he's one of few singers who can approach Mercury in vocal range and sheer fabulousness.

That's Six

New Hampshire is sixth state to grant marriage rights to gays
by Lisa Keen
Bay Area Reporter

Everyone expected a close vote on the same-sex marriage bill in the New Hampshire House on Wednesday, June 3, but it wasn't. The bill passed 198-176, after passing the Senate, 14-10, that morning. Governor John Lynch signed the bill about one hour after the House vote, said openly gay state Representative Jim Splaine.

New Hampshire is now the sixth state to approve equal state marriage rights for same-sex couples, following Massachusetts (in 2004), Connecticut (2008), and Iowa, Vermont, and Maine (in 2009). California briefly allowed same-sex couples to wed for five months last year before voters approved Proposition 8, which banned such unions.