The new owners of OUT magazine and the ADVOCATE are the stepbrothers Adam Levin and Maxx Abramowitz, they are the founders and operators of Oreva Capital, which last September under the umbrella of PRIDE Media acquired the two LGBT publications along with related brands and intellectual property. They are also, respectively, the chief executive officer and lead investor of High Times magazine parent High Times Holdings.
However, it turns out the two new owners have given money to anti-LGBT politicians who have worked against that community.
Levin has donated to a number of Republicans including Devin Nunes, Dean Heller and Josh Mandel (all of whom have publicly taken anti-LGTBQ stances, like supporting religion-based discrimination), and Dana Rohrabacher (who recently said gay people can be denied the right to buy a home and has consistently opposed legal advancements for the LGTB community).
At number 56 on their list was twenty-five-year-old, country singer and five-time Grammy nominee Hunter Hayes.
The only problem is Hunter Hayes has never come out as gay and is in all probability is straight.
Hayes has never mentioned anything about being gay, or even bi-sexual. An intensive search of Google has turned up nothing, and it is reported that he has a longtime girlfriend by the name of Libby Barnes which he recently recorded his last song for.
Do does OUT which is owned by Regent Entertainment Media, Inc., a division of Here Media which also owns the Advocate know something that we don’t and just outed the kid? (Which would probably not be good for him seeing that he is in country music) Or is this just another in a long line of mistakes by the LGBT media publication.
Superstar extraordinaire and gay icon Bette Midler started from the ground-floor and worked herself up. Well actually beneath ground-floor singing in the pool area of one of the most opulent gay bathouses New Your City had ever seen The Continental Baths in the 1970’s singing her ever-loving lungs out. So after almost 45 years of being every gay man’s best friend. Ms. Midler does know or two about the good ol’ days of being gay in New York City, don’t cha’ know.
In a recent issues of the once great and now mediocre Advocate the Divine Miss M talked about the good ole’ gays and what she misses about the gays gone bye.
“[I miss] the extreme characters you used to see in the Village in the old days,” she said. “You just don’t see them anymore.”
“I really do miss them because there was a feeling I used to get that people were expressing themselves in the most elaborate of ways. Now the [gay community] has kind of gone mainstream. It’s sort of ordinary now, and a little bit of the specialness has rubbed away.
“It used to be the love that dare not speak its name and now it’s the love that won’t shut the fuck up…but seriously, the great thing about the gay revolution is that it has become ordinary and I’m happy to see how far it’s come and to see the community be more at peace with itself and, I want to say, more homogenized. Even being considered a gay icon — which was something that used to be whispered and bandied about — has become sort of mainstream, and that’s a good thing.”
But really is it a good thing? The loss of our culture and our history? The march into the suburbs and the PTA meetings and the censored “family friendly” Pride Parades. Is that what we really want? Is this the way it has to be?
HRC executive director Chad Griffin has finally after over a week of silence said something bout Jo Becker’s controversial book Forcing the Fraud Spring, which documents the fight for marriage equality (in California only) in today’s Advocate im which which he talks about standing on the “shoulders of giants” and doesn’t really address the controversy at all.
Griffin in his op-ed provides nothing nothing more than a Cliff Note’s version of LGBT history, ending with a humble “I’m no Rosa Parks” kicker.
“The response to Jo Becker’s book from many of my friends and colleagues in the LGBT movement has had a profound effect on me. Most troubling of all is the impression that I personally am unaware or dismissive of the decades of hard work — often done in the face of personal risk and even harm — that made possible last year’s groundbreaking marriage equality decisions from the United States Supreme Court. I want to respond to that line of criticism in particular, because it could not be further from the truth. And anyone who treats the successes of the past few years as the full story of this movement is missing something essential. [snip]
I came out of the closet after many of these people had been active in the struggle for years. I’m not going to lie and say it wasn’t a challenge for me. I grew up in Arkansas, where I went to a Southern Baptist church every Sunday morning, Sunday night, and Wednesday night too. I spent my childhood thinking I didn’t know a single other gay person in my town. And when I did finally come out, it wasn’t due to some newfound personal fortitude; it was because the world had changed around me thanks to a national conversation on equality started by every single one of those advocates — and countless more. Simply put, I have nothing in common with the trailblazing courage of Rosa Parks.”
Today, I’m proud to call those heroes my movement colleagues — in the fight for marriage, and in every other fight we engage in every day. And when the day does come that the U.S. Supreme Court strikes down every ban on marriage equality across this country, it won’t be any one lawyer who carries the day. And it won’t be any one plaintiff who was so uniquely inspiring as to demand a sweeping ruling. It will be because of all of them — and all of us, who today are lucky to stand on the shoulders of giants.”
So Chad “I was born a poor gay boy in Arkansas” Griffin’s idea of commenting on the “controversy” is nothing more than naming names that Becker left out of her book while really NOT commenting on any of the inaccuracies or blatant disrespect to other activist involved at all. What a crock of santorum.
Griffin’s op-ed should be titled “Standing on the Necks of Giants”
For those of you who don’t know. Jo Becker will be at HRC Headquarters “Equality Center” Saturday morning 4/26 at 11:00 am shilling her piece of fiction. Since I won’t be able to attend (because of distance and no frequent flier miles) to fact check her I hope that some of you out there will go and do it for me.
Family Equality Council’s awards honoree Chris Kluwe of the NFL’s Minnesota Viking has become one of the LGBT Communities strongest and most outspoken straight allies thanks to his masterful use of language, well-reasoned sentimentally and passion for equal rights,.
Chris gave a heartfelt and rousing speech at the award event that not only brought the house down but laid his concern and passion for others all out on the table.
“‘The fight for gay rights is about the children, it’s about having access to the same laws, the same benefits, the same protections so these children can have every advantage and a chance to succeed at life. It’s about not having to worry about being bullied on your way to school or while you’re walking down the street. It’s about living in a stable home with parents who love each other and who just so happen to be the same sex.’
That’s why I wrote my letter, that’s why I spoke out, that’s why I’ll continue speaking out against every single hypocritical jackass’ because ‘those people aren’t thinking about the children at all, they’re thinking about themselves.’
So I say fuck those people! … I say live your own life however you want to live it, I say love who you want – it’s nobody’s business but your own. I say treat others the way you like being treated with compassion, dignity and respect – the way human beings are supposed to act”
Now THISis what you call a LGBT equality advocate.
Kudos to Chris Kluwe and on behalf of the LGBT Community I would like to say THANK YOU so very much for your great and powerful words and your selfless work on our behalf.
Larry Kramer the legendary American playwright, author, public health advocate, and LGBT rights activist who has devoted his life to the cause of LGBT equality returned to the Blue Whale in Fire Island Pines where he spoke about his life, career and activism.
Kramer’s 1978 book “Faggots” (which if you haven’t read I highly recommend) chronicled the fast lifestyle of gay men of Fire Island and Manhattan in the late 70’s who look for love while encountering the drugs and emotionless sex in the trendy bars and discos.
The novel caused an uproar in the community it portrayed; it was taken off the shelves of the Oscar Wilde Memorial Bookstore—New York’s only gay bookstore, and Kramer was banned from the grocery store near his home on Fire Island. Reviewers found it difficult to believe that Kramer’s accounts of gay relationships were accurate; both the gay and mainstream press panned the book. On the reception of the novel Kramer says, “The straight world thought I was repulsive, and the gay world treated me like a traitor. People would literally turn their back when I walked by. You know what my real crime was? I put the truth in writing. That’s what I do: I have told the fucking truth to everyone I have ever met.” Faggots, however, became one of the best-selling gay novels of all time.
The outspoken 77 year old Kramer also co-founded the Gay Men’s Health Crisis (GMHC), which has become the largest private organization to assist people living with AIDS in the world and was was the catalyst in the founding of the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP).
Kramer not only talked about the past weighed in on more contemporary gay issues-including the passage of New York’s marriage equality law on June 24. “I don’t think we have gay marriage in New York,” he said. “We have feel good gay marriages in New York. The only marriage that makes any sense is a federal marriage.” (And like it or not out there he does have a point.)
Kramer described President Barack Obama as a “wuss” for his stance towards LGBT issues.
“He says all the right things and he doesn’t do it,” said Kramer
Kramer also talked about his accomplishments and the current problems that face the LGBT community when it comes to what he describes as an ongoing complacency among gay people: “I don’t think I do anything that is special,” he said. “I use my brains. I use my voice and I point out the things I want. I am gay. I am proud to be gay and I want everybody else to feel that. And I don’t always see that.”
Love him or hate him Larry Kramer is a true LGBT hero. He stood up and fought through the darkest days days that our community have ever faced and still at his age speaks out more than those who are younger and who’s future is in jepardy
Lady Gaga performed at Euro Pride Roma 2011 at the Circus Maximus and called upon the leaders of the world in a passionate speech to fulfill the the quest for LGBT Equality worldwide. (And take a special swipe at American politics and gay rights)
“I stand here as a woman of the world and I ask governments, with you, worldwide to facilitate our dream of equality…let us be revolutionaries of love and use our very strong human powers to save lives and encourage unity around the world.”
Watch the entire empassoined and powerful speech below.
And President Obama and the HRC, THIS is what a REAL fierce advocate looks like.
Journalist, author, public speaker and radio host on Sirius Satellite Radio’s OutQ Michelangelo Signorile has just an awesome an article for The Advocate in which he takes on Chris R. Barron (who once referred to yours truly as “The gay left = The American Taliban”) and GOProud and shows just how grotesque Barron and his group of Auntie Tom’s actually are.
It’s a brilliant article. Allow me to whet your whistle with some excerpts:
First off, denialists and elitists who believe they are superior to other gays — even if the attitude masks a pitiful self-loathing — are clearly as prevalent as ever in the LGBT movement, except that they can now be out of the closet. Perversely, the fact that we can find such people in GOProud is a measure of our success…
Their motivations are probably unique to each but there are some commonalities: a desire to be close to power; a hunger for attention and GOP approval; a selfish devotion to Republican “fiscal” policies over civil rights; and a belligerence toward gay activists, whom they seem to detest.
GOProud’s Chris Barron fits right in, often appearing desperate for Republican acceptance, compromising his positions at a moment’s notice—if he even had any to begin with. Formerly political director for the Log Cabin Republicans, he broke away and cofounded GOProud, claiming that Log Cabin wasn’t conservative enough. Since its founding in 2009, GOProud slowly moved in the direction of not taking any pro-gay positions, all in an attempt to be included in the Republican Party, even though Barron oddly once tweeted that GOProud is “a gay organization, we only work on gay issues.”
GOProud is opposed to the proposed Employment Non-Discrimination Act and the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, which is now law. And fearing being cut out of the annual Conservative Political Action Conference — which for 2012 has banned groups that support any pro-gay legislation — Barron told the blog RedState last February, “Considering we don’t support gay marriage and DADT isn’t part of our 2011 legislative agenda [I’m] not sure how this affects us at all.”
Barron and GOProud now also support House speaker John Boehner defending section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act in federal appeals court after President Obama announced he believed the law is unconstitutional — though Barron himself is legally married to a man in Washington, D.C. Barron’s husband, to whom he refers a lot in his tweets, is a D.C. teacher who wrote a piece in MetroWeekly about how kids learn to be bullies from adults who bully one another. But there couldn’t possibly be a better example of an adult bullying other adults than Barron tweeting this: “The gay left = the American Taliban. Hateful, angry and dumb as shit.” He’s also tweeted that Andrew Sullivan is “fat,” “pathetic,” and “self-important” and that Meghan McCain is “intensely stupid.”
Barron’s impulsive tweets are telling in a variety of ways. He obsessively tweets about his abs and his workouts in a way that betrays a guy who’s pretty insecure about his body and perhaps his very manhood, out to prove he’s a real guy, not like those other gays, such as the “catty” Barney Frank, who Barron tweeted has a “purse” and wants to “sit in Scott Brown’s lap.”
This insecurity over masculinity seems to be a theme at GOProud. In a YouTube clip that received much attention over the winter, GOProud member Matt Hissey says he doesn’t like most gays: “I don’t really like gay people that much. Gay people frustrate me, the stereotypical gay people, it frustrates me…”
Signorile hits it out of the park. Covering every point from GOProud’s want of power and finacial gain over equality for the LGBT Community to it’s members own self-loathing of their own sexual orientation.
Michelangelo Signorile has written an essay for The Advocate that takes Chris Barron (who once called yours truly a member if the “American Taliban) and his organization GOProud to task.
Signorile, in ways that only he can, points out the hypocrisay, dellusions and megalomania of Barron and GOProud and prove that they are nothing more than pathetic people who love their money and hate themselves thier brethren in the LGBT community.
First off, denialists and elitists who believe they are superior to other gays — even if the attitude masks a pitiful self-loathing — are clearly as prevalent as ever in the LGBT movement, except that they can now be out of the closet. Perversely, the fact that we can find such people in GOProud is a measure of our success.
Their motivations are probably unique to each but there are some commonalities: a desire to be close to power; a hunger for attention and GOP approval; a selfish devotion to Republican “fiscal” policies over civil rights; and a belligerence toward gay activists, whom they seem to detest.
GOProud’s Chris Barron fits right in, often appearing desperate for Republican acceptance, compromising his positions at a moment’s notice—if he even had any to begin with. Formerly political director for the Log Cabin Republicans, he broke away and cofounded GOProud, claiming that Log Cabin wasn’t conservative enough. Since its founding in 2009, GOProud slowly moved in the direction of not taking any pro-gay positions, all in an attempt to be included in the Republican Party, even though Barron oddly once tweeted that GOProud is “a gay organization, we only work on gay issues.
GOProud is opposed to the proposed Employment Non-Discrimination Act and the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, which is now law. And fearing being cut out of the annual Conservative Political Action Conference — which for 2012 has banned groups that support any pro-gay legislation — Barron told the blog RedState last February, “Considering we don’t support gay marriage and DADT isn’t part of our 2011 legislative agenda [I’m] not sure how this affects us at all.”
Signorile hits it all on the head. Barron and GOProuds desire to be close to power; a hunger for attention and GOP approval; the selfish devotion to Republican “fiscal” policies over civil rights; and a belligerence toward gay activists.
GOProud are the Auntie Toms of the LGBT community and Chris Barron has his nose so far up Republican’s asses even though they loathe him that he’s gonna need MORE RINOplasty soon.
You can read the entire article at The Advocate by clicking HERE
England’s World Cup winner and LGBT Equality Champion Ben Cohen has announced his retirement.
Beautiful Beary Ben Cohen has OFFICIALLY been released by Sale Sharks despite being the club’s player of the season. Cohen has turned down offers from clubs. Cohen will be leaving rugby and instead will focus his future on heading up the Ben Cohen Stand Up Foundation, an organisation set up to tackle bullying and homophobia. “To be honest, I would never have imagined my career was going to move in this direction after my professional rugby career, but here we are.
from Amazon.com
