The band released its last vinyl 7″ of “Average Men,” in February 2009
The band released its last vinyl 7″ of “Average Men,” in February 2009
Via The Guartdian: “Germany’s players placed hands over their mouths and wore rainbow stripes on their warm-up tops and boots in a powerful statement of defiance against FIFA before their Group E match against Japan. Their message was reinforced by the German interior minister, Nancy Faeser, who also wore a OneLove armband, which promotes tolerance, diversity and LGBTQ+ rights, as she sat next to FIFA’s president, Gianni Infantino. In a powerful statement published shortly after the game started, the German Football Association warned FIFA: “Denying us the armband is the same as denying us a voice. We stand by our position.”
Fuck you, FIFA! You try to silence positive expression (i.e. the pro-LGBTQ armbands) and you do nothing about hateful slurs] The FIFA president–or whatever his title is–is a disgrace. “We’ve discriminated in the past, so it’s hypocritical to complain about a country guilty of it today.”
ALL civilized countries should be protesting in some way or another but THANK YOU GERMANY for standing up and being the first.
And where is Team USA?
The International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia (IDAHO) is celebrated every May 17th and is coordinated by the Paris-based “IDAHO Committee,” founded and presided by French academic Louis-Georges Tin.
The day aims to coordinate international events to garner support for the respect of lesbians, gay and transgender rights worldwide.
The idea of the Day was launched in 2004. The date of May 17 was chosen to commemorate the World Health Organization’s decision to remove homosexuality from the list of mental disorders in 1990.
By May 17, 2005, as a result of a year-long campaigning effort, 24,000 people worldwide, and well-known international organizations like ILGA, IGLHRC, the World Congress of LGBT Jews, and the Coalition of African Lesbians, had signed the appeal to support the IDAHO initiative..
Organizations in more than 70 countries in the world now include the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia as part of their annual mobilization plan. In some of them, the Day has become the major focal point of action.
IDAHO has now been officially recognized by the EU Parliament, Spain, Belgium, the UK, Mexico, Costa Rica, the Netherlands, France, Luxembourg and Brazil. It is also recognized by numerous local authorities across the world, such as the province of Quebec or the city of Buenos Aires.
Please do your part. Now more than ever. PLEASE stand up and speak out against Homophobia and Transphobia wherever and whenever you see it.
Will Kohler
National Coming Out Day was founded in 1988 by Robert Eichberg, a psychologist from New Mexico and founder of the personal growth workshop, The Experience, and Jean O’Leary, an openly-gay political leader from Los Angeles and then head of the National Gay Rights Advocates. October 11th. was chosen because it was the anniversary of the 1987 National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights where over half a million LGBT’s and our straight allies participated in. It was the second such demonstration in our nation’s capital and resulted in the founding of a number of LGBT organizations.
NCOD’s first headquarters was located in the West Hollywood, California offices of the National Gay Rights Advocates. 18 states participated in the first NCOD, which was covered in the national media. In its second year, the headquarters moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico and participation grew to 21 states. After a media push in 1990, NCOD was observed in all 50 states and seven other countries.
The goal of the day is for gay, lesbians, bi, and trans people and their allies to celebrate coming out and encourage those who haven’t to make their voices heard.
The late great Harvey Milk firmly believed that the only way for us to break down homophobia–“the last major dam of prejudice in this country”– and to gain our equality was for us the LGBT community, and our straight allies to make themselves ourselves visible: to step out of the closet, and into the consciousness of the nation. Unless an individual makes the conscious decision to overtly express who they are we remain a member of an invisible uncounted minority. Harvey argued that this invisibility only fosters homophobic stereotypes, fear, ignorance and hatred.
He was right.
Every gay person must come out, As difficult as it is, you must tell your immediate family. You must tell your relatives. You must tell your friends if indeed they are your friends. You must tell your neighbors. You must tell the people you work with. You must tell the people in the stores you shop in. And once they realize that we are indeed everywhere, every myth, every lie, every innuendo will be destroyed once and for all. And once you do, you will feel so much better.” – Harvey Milk
Dr. Frank-n-furter, Tim Curry will will join his fellow “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” cast members for a live stream to benefit the Democratic Party of Wisconsin on Halloween night according to a press release.
Other original “Rocky Horror” stars will include Barry Bostwick and Nell Campbell, as well as several others, including Connie Britton, Wilmer Valderrama, Rosario Dawson, Lance Bass, Jason Alexander, Seth Green and David Arquette, will participate in the Rocky Horror Show Livestream on Halloween at 9 p.m. CT. (10 p.m. ET)
“Rocky Horror has been changing lives for decades, and now, with this reunion on Halloween Night to supercharge Wisconsin Democrats in the final stretch, it’s going to change the world again,” said party chairman Ben Wikler. “In the final sprint of this election, we don’t need a time warp.”
As for music, performances will be provided by the Dresden Dolls, Miss Peppermint, Eiza González, Josh Gad, Ben Barnes, Jenna Ushkowitz, Rachel Bloom, Karen Olivo, Marissa Jaret Winokur, Madison Uphoff, Kalen Chase, and Rumer Willis. You do have to donate to view the livestream, which goes live at 10 p.m. ET on Saturday, October 31, but there is no minimum amount required.
Blue Wave 2020! Don’t dream it. DO IT!
For decades the main event of New York City Pride has been its annual dance and music concert usually held in the West Village. But this year Stonewall 50 (aka Heritage of Pride) will be using New York City’s leading gay party producer, Jake Resnicow, to host the annual Pride music festival at the very un-gay Jacob Javitz Convention Center.
Via Press Release:
Located in the heart of Manhattan, the Jacob Javitz Center is a mammoth 1,800,000 square feet, covering the entire city block between 33rd and 34th Streets, 11th and 12th Avenues. It offers, by far, the largest capacity of all Pride venues. Tickets available now at PrideFestival 2019.com. “The 50th anniversary of Stonewall will bring millions of people from all over the world to New York this Pride,” explains Jake Resnicow, recently named “Most Influential Person of the Year” by Out Magazine.
PRIDE FESTIVAL 2019 | Saturday Main Event Teaser | WE Party from PRIDE FESTIVAL 2019 on Vimeo.
Nominations for the 70th Emmy® Awards were announced today by the Television Academy in a ceremony hosted by Television Academy Chairman and CEO Hayma Washington along with Samira Wiley from the Hulu series The Handmaid’s Tale and Ryan Eggold from NBC’s upcoming drama, New Amsterdam.
Among this year’s eight Outstanding Comedy Series nominees, there are three first-timers representing an exceptional range of storytelling. Freshman shows Barry, GLOW and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel join returning hits Atlanta, black-ish, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Silicon Valley and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.
Lead Actor in a Limited Series or a Television Movie
Antonio Banderas, Genius: Picasso
Darren Criss, The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story
Benedict Cumberbatch, Patrick Melrose
Jeff Daniels, The Looming Tower
John Legend, Jesus Christ Superstar
Jesse Plemons, Black Mirror: USS Callister
Lead Actress in a Limited Series or a Television Movie
Jessica Biel, The Sinner
Laura Dern, The Tale
Michelle Dockery, Godless
Edie Falco, Law & Order True Crime: The Menendez Murders
Regina King, Seven Seconds
Sarah Paulson, American Horror Story: Cult
Lead Actor in a Comedy Series
Anthony Anderson, Black-ish
Ted Danson, The Good Place
Larry David, Curb Your Enthusiasm
Donald Glover, Atlanta
Bill Hader, Barry
William H. Macy, Shameless
Lead Actress in a Comedy Series
Pamela Adlon, Better Things
Rachel Brosnahan, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Allison Janney, Mom
Issa Rae, Insecure
Tracee Ellis Ross, Black-ish
Lily Tomlin, Grace and Frankie
Lead Actor in a Drama Series
Jason Bateman, Ozark
Sterling K. Brown, This Is Us
Ed Harris, Westworld
Matthew Rhys, The Americans
Milo Ventimiglia, This Is Us
Jeffrey Wright, Westworld
Lead Actress in a Drama Series
Claire Foy, The Crown
Tatiana Maslany, Orphan Black
Elisabeth Moss, The Handmaid’s Tale
Sandra Oh, Killing Eve
Keri Russell, The Americans
Evan Rachel Wood, Westworld
Reality/Competition Series
The Amazing Race
American Ninja Warrior
Project Runway
RuPaul’s Drag Race
Top Chef
The Voice
Variety Sketch Series
At Home with Amy Sedaris
Drunk History
I Love You, America
Portlandia
Saturday Night Live
Tracey Ullman’s Show
Variety Talk Series
Full Frontal with Samantha Bee
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
Last Week Tonight
The Daily Show with Trevor Noah
The Late Late Show with James Corden
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
Limited Series
The Alienist
The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story
Genius: Picasso
Godless
Patrick Melrose
Comedy Series
Atlanta
Barry
Black-ish
Curb Your Enthusiasm
GLOW
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Silicon Valley
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
Drama Series
The Crown
Game of Thrones
The Handmaid’s Tale
Stranger Things
The Americans
This Is Us
Westworld
So what do you think? Discuss below!
Paul Lynde who was best known for his roles as Uncle Arthur on Bewitched and Harry MacAfee, the befuddled father in Bye Bye Birdie would have been 91 years old today. Lynde, a noted character actor with a distinctively campy and snarky persona that often poked fun at his barely-in the closet homosexuality
Lynde made his Broadway debut in the hit revue New Faces of 1952 had a prestigious career on both Broardway and in television. Over the years, Lynde made regular appearances on sitcoms such as The Phil Silvers Show, The Munsters, and I Dream of Jeannie, and variety shows such as The Perry Como Show and The Dean Martin Show. Then came Lynde’s first appeared in episode 26 of Bewitched, “Driving is the Only Way to Fly,” as Samantha’s driving instructor Harold Harold, before taking on the recurring role of Uncle Arthur, Endora’s brother. He was also a frequent guest on the 1976-79 variety show, Donny and Marie and the game show The Hollywood Squares.
But despite his remarkable career Paul Lynde’s personal life was far from happy.
Paul Lynde’s sexual orientation was something of an open secret in Hollywood, although, in keeping with the prejudices and social mores of the time, it was not acknowledged or discussed in public.
In 1965, Lynde was involved in an accident in which a young actor, reputed to be his lover, fell to his death from the window of their hotel room in San Francisco’s Sir Francis Drake Hotel. The two had been drinking for hours before 24-year-old James “Bing” Davidson slipped and fell eight stories to his death, an event witnessed by two policemen, yet the event was largely kept out of the press, thus saving Lynde’s career.
Despite his campy television persona, Lynde never publicly came out as being gay and the press generally went along with the deception. In a People magazine article the magazine featured Lynde and Stan Finesmith who was dubbed Lynde’s “suite mate” and “chauffeur-bodyguard.”
In 1978, Lynde career took a downturn after he was arrested outside of a gay bar in Salt Lake City. As a result of the arrest, he lost his guest starring role on The Donny and Marie Show and acting jobs became harder for him to find, although it is unclear if this was because of anti-gay prejudice or his substance abuse problems and noted erratic behavior, which often made him difficult to work with. He had been arrested for drunk driving and, while under the influence of alcohol, he was known to make rude and racist public comments towards people. Lynde finally became sober and drug free in the early 1980s, shortly before his death.
Paul Lynde was found dead in his Beverly Hills, California, home by friend Paul Barresi on Monday, January 11, 1982.
May he find the peace and acceptance in death that he was never able to find in life.
Happy Birthday Uncle Arthur.
* Watch this rare and hysterical clip below of Paul Lynde visiting WSPD, Ch. 13, In Toledo, OH in 1978 where he does a guest weather forecast with the (now) openly gay Boston anchor man Randy Price.
Via the Washington Post:
Last year, Gloria Gaynor’s disco anthem “I Will Survive” became one of 25 new additions to the National Recording Registry, a collection of sound recordings considered “culturally, historically, or aesthetically important, and/or inform or reflect life in the United States” and kept at the Library of Congress. The wide-ranging registry includes Thomas Edison’s early cylinders, Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech, Abbott and Costello’s “Who’s on First?” routine and singles by Bing Crosby, Chuck Berry, George Jones and Tupac Shakur.
In May, Gaynor is coming to the Library of Congress, where she’ll perform in the Great Hall as part of the Library’s “Bibliodiscotheque,” a series of films, lectures and events celebrating the disco era, capped with — what else? — a late-night dance party in the historic Jefferson Building. All events are free and open to the public. Tickets will be available beginning at 10 a.m. on March 30.
Shortly after the lineup for the desert music festival Coachella was released Wednesday, some not-so-savory details about the annual concert’s owner. Billionaire Philip Anschultz, who owns entertainment company/Coachella parent AEG also came to light namely that he supports a litany of conservative causes and has donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to anti-LGBT groups and climate change denial organizations.
Anschutz supports extremist “anti-LGBT hate groups like Gordon Kligenschmitt’s Pray in Jesus Name.” Pray in Jesus Name has delivered millions of petitions to Congress for “religious freedom”, anti-abortion and anti-gay marriage causes.
The Anschutz Foundation has extensively supported other more heinous openly anti-LGBT hate organizations. That includes $110,000 to Alliance Defending Freedom, $50,000 to National Christian Foundation, and $30,000 to Tony Perkin’s Family Research Council between 2010 and 2013, and since 2008, the Foundation has donated $175,000 to batshit crazy hatefrau Linda Harvey and the Mission America Foundation.
Anschutz is openly anti-union, having funded anti-teachers union movies like Waiting for Superman and Won’t Back Down through his holding Walden Media, and was a founding funder of the Discovery Institute, which according to the SPLC has on its agenda the promotion of “intelligent design”—creationism—in public schools. He has donated to the Koch Brothers’s ultraconservative Cato Institute, and, as the owner and operator of the pro-fracking Anschutz Exploration Company, he has sued entire towns for their anti-fracking regulation and has been an avid supporter of the Keystone XL Pipeline. In his capacity as a music promotions tycoon and with Coachella, Anschutz is essentially mining the spending power of an ostensibly liberal youth culture and using their our own money against them.
There has been no news of weather Beyoncé who will headline the 2017 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival along with Kendrick Lamar and Radiohead, or any other acts have or will drop out.
The festival, set for April 14-16 and 21-23
Stay tuned.