LGBT Entertainment
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Should South Park Get Away With Using the F-Word?
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Sir Ian McKellen's Grudge with Leviticus
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Harry Potter and Support for Gay Marriage in Maine
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.
Gay Penguins Fight Back
Published October 02, 2009 @ 06:14AM PT
And Tango Makes Three, the book about two gay male penguins that raise an adopted little penguin, sends shivers down the spines of anti-LGBT people, many of whom race to their nearest library to request that the book be banned from the stacks. The book is the most banned book in the world, according to official library statistics, but this year the penguins aren't taking homophobic rage lying down. Instead, they're the focus of Banned Books Week, a celebration of reading materials that are targeted by extremely conservative forces in communities across the globe.
And that celebration has paid off, literally. Because of the renewed attention on And Tango Makes Three during Banned Books Week 2009, the book has shot up the Amazon.com charts, racing to the top of Amazon's "Movers and Shakers" list, which monitors books that see sudden surges in orders and demand.
And that has both gay rights supporters, as well as the book's publisher, Simon & Schuster, feeling pretty darn smug (and rightly so).
"The current boost in its popularity during Banned Books Week will only spread its positive message to more families," Simon & Schuster's Ingrid Selberg told the Guardian. ""And Tango Makes Three is a charming picture book about love and family. We are proud to have it on our list."
Even more touching? The authors of And Tango Makes Three just became fathers themselves this year, proving that life imitates art, at least just a little bit.
(Image courtesy of Simon & Schuster Children's Books.)
There are More Gay Characters on Broadcast Television Than Ever Before
Published October 01, 2009 @ 06:36AM PT
A new report from the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) finds that there are more LGBT characters on broadcast television than in the history of the medium. In 2009-2010, three percent of all characters on broadcast television are gay. That's up nearly two whole percentage points from just three years ago and proves that when it comes to flipping the channels, it's getting harder and harder to find a network that doesn't feature at least one (or several) LGBT characters.
"This past year, we’ve seen real progress from many networks toward making their scripted programming more LGBT inclusive," GLAAD President Jarrett Barrios said in a statement.
Real progress, for sure. But three percent is just the tip of the iceberg...especially when conservative estimates suggest that nearly 10 percent of the U.S. population is LGBT.
On a network by network comparison, ABC rates the highest in terms of number of LGBT characters featured, with eight shows featuring LGBT characters (including "Modern Family," with two gay dads pictured above). Fox, NBC and the CW all followed. Dead last? That title belongs to CBS. The network has no love for LGBT characters, with none of their series for 2009-2010 featuring any LGBT characters, save for some reality game shows.
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.
Logo's Gay Blackout for Equality
Published September 14, 2009 @ 09:23AM PT
In less than a month, folks will be converging on Washington, D.C. for the National Equality March, the first nationwide gathering of LGBT folks and straight allies in the nation's capital in nearly ten years. It'll be a weekend-long event meant to bring the excitement, energy, and commitment of LGBT activists working across the country together for a weekend -- October 10-11, 2009 -- for media trainings, lobbying trainings, and of course, a march.
Logo, the LGBT television network famous for its Big Gay Sketch Show and Noah's Arc (among other things), will go dark during the hours of the march as a symbol of solidarity for equality. Instead of TV, viewers that stumble upon Logo will receive a message about how they can get involved in organizing for LGBT rights.
"The National Equality March resonates strongly with Logo's gay and straight audience because we all expect equality in all aspects of our lives," said Lisa Sherman, Executive Vice President & General Manager, Logo. "Our unprecedented action of 'going dark' underscores the significance of the event and what Equality Across America is hoping to achieve. Supporting the March reaffirms Logo's ongoing commitment to the campaign for equality for everyone."
That's a pretty bold step for a television network to take. The blackout itself will run from 11:00am-3:00pm EST on Sunday, October 11. In addition to Logo, the Broadway musical Hair will shut down on 10/11 so that the cast and crew can travel down to D.C. to participate in the March.
Don't worry...change.org won't be shutting down :) But we'll be down in D.C. blogging, snapping photos, interviewing folks, and tweeting. Stay tuned! And for more info on the National Equality March, click here.
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.
