LGBT Celebrities
Bill Maher on Scaring the Hell Out of Right-Wing Homophobes
Published October 10, 2009 @ 06:08AM PT
Today marks Day 1 of the National Equality March weekend, and in honor of the weekend of action, training and marching for equal rights, Bill Maher is out with a column that will likely provide fits for the anti-LGBT right-wing. His message for LGBT activists in D.C. this weekend is simple: scare the hell of out right-wing homophobes, and tell our President that everyone deserves equal rights.
Maher especially goes after "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," calling on President Obama to sign an executive order -- much like President Harry Truman did in the late 1940s to integrate the U.S. military -- ending the discriminatory policy that keeps gays out of the military (or kicks them out when they're discovered). While the legality of such an executive order is questioned by some groups, Maher's point echoes what Rep. Joe Sestak wrote here yesterday. Rep. Sestak said that as a former Navy officer, he lost good soldiers because of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," and that hurt America's national security.
Maher doesn't put it quite so elegantly, but his comments are still pretty effective.
"'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' has always been bad policy that was made out of a bullshit political compromise. You know, like [we're] doing now with health care. It never made sense to begin with," writes Maher. Ouch. Take that, moderate Democrats who slow progress down.
Will Obama touch on "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" tonight in his Human Rights Campaign speech? A few leaks coming out of the White House suggest that maybe he will, albeit in a measured tone. He certainly owes it to the more than 200 soldiers discharged for being gay under his watch to say something.
Lady Gaga: Get Your Ass to D.C. for Gay Rights
Published October 06, 2009 @ 01:57PM PT
Celebrity support for the National Equality March is pretty widespread, from Charlize Theron to Dustin Lance Black to Annette Benning to the NFL's Scott Fujita. Lady Gaga, perhaps the denmother of the LGBT population, added her name to that list, and she did so with a message for everyone: "Get your ass to D.C."
And while that might not be dinner party language, it's a pretty darn good call for people to get together to fight for equal rights. Here's LG:
I was thinking to myself, 'If everyone in this room were to go and bring 10 friends -- which I don't think is a lot to ask because you all have lots of friends -- just from this one night, there would be 10,000 more people marching....' I really believe in this cause, and as a woman in pop music, I think that this is really an important weekend, and it's not a f*cking joke. So, get your asses to DC and wear something fabulous.
Just please, don't wear anything with little frogs plastered all over it. Or don't be covered in bubble wrap.
And putting her money where her mouth is, Lady Gaga had a sign up sheet at a concert this weekend recruiting folks for buses to D.C. for the National Equality March.
Joy Behar Smacks Ukraine Over Gay Adoption
Published September 23, 2009 @ 02:57PM PT
When Elton John announced that he and his partner wanted to adopt a 14-month-old HIV positive orphan named Lev from Ukraine, the world-renowned pop star was told by the country that he was (1) too gay, and (2) too old to adopt a baby. If that seems pretty effed up, it's because it is. And Joy Behar isn't going to let it slide by the international news circuit without taking her own gloves off.
Behar, co-host of The View and about to launch her own news-like TV show on a CNN affiliate, has a piece just utterly blasting the Ukranian government for not acting in the best interest of children. It's one of the best riffs out there on gay adoption bans, especially on the international scene. Behar's message for the Ukranian government? Children belong in homes, not in shoddy orphanages.
"Family doesn't mean a huddle of orphans sharing a few soiled mattresses," Behar writes. "it's not youth if you die of AIDS before you reach kindergarten, and wrestling over dinner scraps is not a sport."
Family means love and support, and two LGBT parents are equally as qualified to provide that as two straight parents. And that's just not coming from some liberal blogger or TV show host; it comes from the American Psychological Association, the National Adoption Center and the American Academy of Pediatrics -- to name a few of the professional organizations that support LGBT adoption.
As Behar writes, it's not LGBT adoption that hurts kids. It's growing up with no parents, because the Ukranian government (and let's not forget that Arkansas government) are too damn homophobic to put the best interests of a child ahead of their own bigoted, 14th century views.
Charlize Theron Won't Get Married Until All Her Gay Friends Can, Too
Published September 17, 2009 @ 05:56PM PT
Looks like the latest Hollywood trend is to pledge not to get married until all people -- straight folks and gays and lesbians -- have the right to do so. Earlier this week, True Blood actor Mechad Brooks said he wouldn't tie the knot until same-sex marriage was legal, and now Charlize Theron adds her name to the list of celebs who'd rather not walk down the aisle until the aisle is inclusive of everyone.
Theron has long been a supporter of marriage equality, famously saying last year that laws like Proposition 8, which banned same-sex marriage in California, reminded her of South African apartheid. Discriminatory laws are discriminatory laws, according to Theron, whether they're on the books in 1980s South Africa or 2009 America.
Theron made her marriage equality comments on The View, where she was promoting her new movie, The Burning Plain.
"I don't want to get married because right now the institution of marriage feels very one-sided, and I want to live in a country where we all have equal rights," Theron said. She's been dating actor Stuart Townsend for more than eight years.
At eight years, you're already practically married, right? Still, making it official while so many folks aren't given access to marriage rights goes beyond Charlize's sense of decency.
"I think it would be exactly the same if we were married, but for me to go through that kind of ceremony, because I have so many friends who are gays and lesbians who would so badly want to get married, that I wouldn't be able to sleep with myself," Theron said.
Lack of sleep -- reason #419 to sign the National Marriage Boycott.
Principled and heartfelt stances -- reason #120 to love Charlize Theron. Video of her appearance on The View below.
A True Blood Celebrity for Marriage Equality
Published September 15, 2009 @ 04:12AM PT
Mechad Brooks, also known as Benedict "Eggs" Talley from the HBO show True Blood, is taking a page out of the Brad Pitt book when it comes to the issue of marriage. For Brooks, he'd rather wait until every person -- gay or straight -- has access to marriage before getting hitched himself.
Huh, does that make him a good candidate for the National Marriage Boycott?
Sure sounds like it. Brooks told Honeymag.com that he was offended by Proposition 8 last year in California, and the destruction that the initiative caused in the lives of so many gays and lesbians. As a sign of solidarity, he'd rather not take any vows until laws like Prop 8 are overturned and buried (to use another HBO reference) six feet under.
"I haven’t even gotten that far (thinking about settling down). But yeah, I want a wife, I want kids. The whole thing. But I’m also not even concerned with marrying somebody until it’s legal for everybody to get married. And what I mean by that is the whole Prop 8 thing. I find it really offensive," said Brooks. "I just find it really problematic when you start throwing people’s rights away. Until we get our gay brothers and sisters back into a realm of consciousness that everyone else is in, it’s just not right. A woman who’s getting married — it’s probably going to be a gay man who made her dress, and a gay man who’s doing her hair and makeup, but he can’t get married. How messed up is that?"
Pretty damn messed up. Just ask the folks in Maine who are living through their own version of Prop 8 right now, in the form of Question 1. Bigoted ballot measures know no state borders.
Tom Ford Thinks Banning Gay Marriage is...
Published September 12, 2009 @ 12:15PM PT
Fashion designer turned film director Tom Ford has a few choice words for countries and states that decide to ban gay marriage. Or, rather, one choice word. Any guesses?
Take it away, Tom.
"It is, I have to say, quite disgusting that in America and in other countries you cannot have a civil union or something equivalent to marriage," says Ford.
Ford has a new movie coming out, "A Single Man," which delves into the storyline of a middle-aged gay man who loses his partner in a tragic accident, and is left wandering through life lonely, afraid, scared, and -- in many ways -- looking to reignite his spark. Though "A Single Man" itself is not bent on politics, it's not hard to see how this story lends itself to many of the arguments made by marriage equality activists. Ford himself drew these connections while speaking at the Venice Film Festival.
"I have someone I’ve lived together with for 23 years. Recently he was in hospital for something. I had to carry papers on me at all times that he had signed saying that I could visit him in his room and make medical decisions for him if anything happened. Our taxes, by the way: if I died tomorrow my estate would be completely taxed and then the remainder go to him whereas if we were a couple his life wouldn’t have to change and my entire estate would move to him," says Ford.
And those are just some of the 1,100 benefits not given to gay and lesbian couples, but that are given to heterosexual couples in marriage.
That, frankly, is disgusting. Not to mention unequal, unfair, and unjust.
"A Single Man," by the way, is winning rave reviews at the Venice Film Festival, with Colin Firth's performance as the middle-aged man who loses his lover receiving the best actor award. Check out a trailer for the film below.
American Idol Gets Its First LGBT Judge: Ellen DeGeneres
Published September 09, 2009 @ 06:05PM PT
Well, she certainly doesn't have the chart-topping history that Paula Abdul has, but American Idol has named Ellen DeGeneres as its fourth judge for its upcoming season. Which means that the show is about to get a lot funnier, and about to launch Ellen DeGeneres' career into the stratosphere.
"I'm thrilled to be the new judge," said DeGeneres. "Think of all the money I'll save from not having to text in my vote."
It's also likely to be a boon to the nearly nine-year old television show, which has seen its ratings dip these past few years to their lowest ever this past May. Guess they need, as DeGeneres might put it, "a homosexual standing in a suit" to get viewers watching again.
Either way, it's a good day for LGBT pop culture.
(Photo courtesy of ronpaulrevolt2008's photostream on Flickr.)
