LGBT Entertainment
Stewie Griffin Becomes World's Youngest Openly Gay Person
Published August 13, 2009 @ 02:25PM PT
At one-years-old, Stewie Griffin has likely made history for becoming the youngest openly gay person ever. Sure, he's an animated cartoon character from the TV show "Family Guy," but still....
But it's true. "Family Guy" creator Seth McFarlane outed the character in an interview with Playboy hitting newsstands. Not only is Stewie gay, but there was almost an episode where Stewie traveled back in time to rewrite a Biblical passage often misquoted by anti-LGBT activists. Here's what McFarlane told Playboy:
We had an episode that went all the way to the script phase in which Stewie does come out. It had to do with the harassment he took from other kids at school. He ends up going back in time to prevent a passage in Leviticus from being written: ‘Thou shalt not lie with mankind as with womankind. It is an abomination.’ But we decided it’s better to keep it vague, which makes more sense because he’s a 1-year-old. Ultimately, Stewie will be gay or a very unhappy repressed heterosexual...He has a lot of aggression, which comes from confusion and uncertainty about his orientation."
Kind of sounds like some Republican politicians, perhaps....
Carnie Wilson is Looking for Gay Newlyweds
Published August 11, 2009 @ 04:32AM PT
Carnie Wilson is looking for a few good men. And a few good women. So long as they are same-sex couples, married in a state where marriage equality is recognized. Seriously, what is this, some sort of game?
Yup, in fact it is. It's a relaunched version of The Newlywed Game, hosted by the former Wilson Phillips band member, and the Game is looking for some same-sex couples to participate in some upcoming tapings. They've even taken to Craigslist to find their next contestants. See the announcement:
NOW CASTING!!!
The Game Show Network is currently casting season 2 of
“The Newlywed Game”Producers are seeking fun, outgoing couples to participate in the next season of this classic television game show!
Gay Couples: *Marriages must be legally recognized in 1 state
If this sounds like you or someone you know, please contact the Casting Team IMMEDIATELY at:
TheNewlywedGame@embassyrow.com
PLEASE INCLUDE: Names/Ages, City/State, Phone Number (with area code), Email Address, Wedding Date, and PHOTO.All participants must be 18 years of age or older and married 2 years or less.
Isn't it great when television breaks down barriers? As Lisa Derrick over at HuffPost notes, The Newlywed Game actually played an interesting role in integrating television back in the 1960s, with its decision to include African-American couples in its original broadcasts. Now Derrick notes that, as far as pop culture goes, the Newlywed Game could perhaps do the same thing for same-sex couples.
The original version, which aired on ABC from 1966 to 1974 with Bob Eubanks as the host, had African American couples sharing the dias with white couples. This broke down the color barrier for the daytime television viewer, so it would be really awesome if the show would have same-sex couples on with opposite-marriage couples, rather than ghetto-izing them.
Now we'll just have to see if Carnie Wilson has the game show host capabilities of Bob Eubanks :)
Daniel Radcliffe Says No To LGBT Suicide
Published August 10, 2009 @ 06:30AM PT
When it comes to celebrity support for LGBT rights, Daniel Radcliffe is giving everyone a run for their money. Two weeks ago Radcliffe gave an interview to the UK's Attitude magazine, where he talked about how much he loathed homophobia, and the people that foster it. Now he's giving a major donation to one of our favorite organizations, The Trevor Project, to combat suicide among LGBT youth. Talk about putting your money where your mouth is.
The Trevor Project announced today that Radcliffe would be joining its circle of major donors, to help support the organizations work among LGBT youth. Trevor works on a number of different issues, from combating violence against LGBT youth to fostering education programs that spotlight issues facing LGBT youth. They are perhaps most famous for their Trevor Helpline, a 24-hour suicide hotline for LGBT youth. That Help Line provides an invaluable service for LGBT populations, and the organization has said that call volume to the suicide hotline is up more than 300 percent since last year. Wow.
Maybe that's one reason why Radcliffe wants to support the organization so badly. There's perhaps never been a more critical time to deal with the issue of LGBT suicide, especially among young people. Here's what Radcliffe said in announcing the donation:
It's extremely distressing to consider that in 2009 suicide is a top three killer of young people, and it's truly devastating to learn that LGBTQ youth are up to four times more likely to attempt suicide than their heterosexual peers. I deeply hope my support can raise the organization's visibility so even more despondent youth become aware of The Trevor Helpline's highly trained counselors and Trevor’s many other resources. It's vitally important that young people understand they are not alone and, perhaps even more important, that their young lives have real value.
LGBT lives have real value. What a message for the most famous 20-year-old in the world to proclaim loudly. For more information on The Trevor Project, check them out here.
Dismantling Homophobia with Some Big Gay Ice Cream
Published August 08, 2009 @ 07:14AM PT
Big gay ice cream is peaking at the right time given the August heat. For those traveling to (or living in) NYC this summer, there's another item to add to your 'must-see' list. It's a Big Gay Ice Cream Truck, and it seems to be gaining in popularity with each passing summer day.
What is the Big Gay Ice Cream truck? It's an ice cream truck service started by Doug Quint, who is part professional bassoonist and now part ice cream truck guy. Quint is gay, and he drives around an ice cream truck with a giant rainbow soft-serve cone plastered on it. Sounds kind of funny, right? Well, it's gone from a quirky little adventure, to a seemingly NYC culinary experience. In the past two weeks alone there have been stories on NPR, Gothamist, Heeb, and Metro Weekly to name a few. And Quint's ice cream truck now has more than 2,300 followers on Twitter (and counting), looking for a daily dish of dessert.
But how can ice cream dismantle homophobia? Well, for that, check out Quint's own words, courtesy of Heeb. Yes, ice cream is not political. But it seems like in a small way, Big Gay Ice Cream is having an impact on people's hearts and minds:
The Big Gay Ice Cream truck has become more than a summer gig for Doug [Quint], who recently blogged about the kids—most seem to be tourists—who are amazed about the GAY truck.
"Usually the kid is between seven and 12, I’d say. You can tell that they only think of the word ‘gay’ as an insult. The parents brush it off. I can see that some of them do so naturally, and others take a brief moment while they decide how to react. They shrug, or tell their child, ‘Yep, it’s the Big Gay Ice Cream Truck.’ Sometimes they even come over for a cone.
I wonder if my silly banner, and the child/parent reactions to it, might be a good thing. Maybe one or two of the kids that pass by my truck will now think twice before using ‘gay’ as an insult. If that keeps one kid from hearing it the way I (and lots of you) did—as a personal attack— I’m proud."
Who knew ice cream could be so powerful? So if you're in NYC, or heading there soon, check out the Big Gay Ice Cream truck on twitter.
Was Julia Child Homophobic?
Published August 07, 2009 @ 11:55AM PT
A lot of people are about to make a lot of money this weekend, with the release of Nora Ephron's Julie & Julia, the new movie starring Meryl Streep as the iconic Julia Child. But as Julia Child is remembered this week for her lasting impact on the world of cooking, a few publications and bloggers are pointing something else out about the late chef: she might have been a bit homophobic, too.
JoeMyGod harkens back to an 2007 Boston Magazine article, which features some comments from chef Child that are not only a bit mean-spirited, but quite colorful in how they refer to gay people.
Homophobia was a socially acceptable form of bigotry in midcentury America, and Julia and Paul participated without shame for many years. She often used the term pedal or pedalo—French slang for a homosexual—draping it with condescension, pity, and disapproval. “I had my hair permanented at E. Arden’s, using the same pedalo I had before (I wish all the men in OUR profession in the USA were not pedals!),” she wrote to Simca. Fashion designers were “that little bunch of Pansies,” a cooking school was “a nest of homovipers,” a Boston dinner party was “peopled by 3 fags in an expensive house…. We felt hopelessly square and left when decently possible,” and San Francisco was beautiful but full of pedals—“It appears that SF is their favorite city! I’m tired of them, talented though they are.”
That excerpt certainly is vivid. But it doesn't exactly tell the whole story. Yes, reading the Boston Magazine article, it's pretty clear that Child wasn't entirely comfortable with how "gay men" populated the cooking business was during the 1960s, 70s, 80s, and 90s. But it also seems that late in her career, Child started to have a change of heart when it came to the issue of homosexuality. And it was mostly influenced by the onslaught of HIV/AIDS. Here's more:
But by the 1980s, when the AIDS crisis began to unfold, the horror of what was happening to people she knew, and people she loved, dealt a significant blow to her longtime prejudice. “Last year my husband and I stood by helplessly while a dear and beloved friend went through months of slow and frightening agony,” she told a crowd at the Boston Garden in 1988 during an AIDS benefit sponsored by the American Institute of Wine and Food. “But what of those lonely ones? The ones with no friends or family to ease the slow pain of dying? Those are the people we’re concerned about this evening. And food is of very special importance here. Good food is also love.”
Hmm...so is she or isn't she homophobic? It's a tough call. As a few others have noted, Julia Child had a lawsuit filed against her in 1992 for $3 million, after allegedly preventing an openly gay man from taking over a leadership position at American Institute for Wine and Food, which she helped launch. Child and a few allies dismissed the lawsuit, with Child telling the LA Times that she had nothing to do with the hiring practices of the Institute.
So the truth probably remains a bit of a mystery. But here's something that's definitely factual: Meryl Streep, who is taking on the role of Julia Child in Julie & Julia, is probably one of the most vocal Hollywood supporters of equal rights for LGBT folks. She even decried President Bush's efforts to pass a federal same-sex marriage ban at the 2004 Golden Globes.
Whatever Child's legacy may be, and it seems a bit of a mystery, Streep's legacy certainly isn't in question.
Brad Pitt on Gay Marriage: Everyone Should Have the Same Rights
Published August 05, 2009 @ 06:21PM PT
A few years ago, Brad Pitt said that he wouldn't marry Angelina Jolie until everyone had full and equal access to marriage, specifically committed gay and lesbian couples. To stand by that decision, Pitt even gave a significant sum of money to help defeat Proposition 8 in California last fall.
A few years later, Pitt is still standing by his words. He's interviewed in this coming week's issue of Parade Magazine, and among other things he waxes on about, he dishes a little on his thoughts about marriage. Here's the quip:
I have love in my life, a soul mate - absolutely. When someone asked me why Angie and I don't get married, I replied, 'Maybe we'll get married when it's legal for everyone else.' I stand by that, although I took a lot of flak for saying it - hate mail from religious groups. I believe everyone should have the same rights. They say gay marriage ruins families and hurts kids. Well, I've had the privilege of seeing my gay friends being parents and watching their kids grow up in a loving environment.
Pretty cool to have probably the most famous male celebrity in the world take such a progressive stand on marriage equality.
Incidentally, Pitt also talks a bit about the subject of love. His thoughts are pretty relevant to his positions on marriage equality. Namely, true love should be fostered and protected at all costs. And everyone deserves that. Take it away, Bradley:
Do you know how you tell real love? It's when someone else's interest trumps your own. I like to put it that way: trumps your own. Love of somebody else--of family, of your kids--becomes the most important, most worthwhile thing in your life. It's what you foster and protect. You have to recognize real love when it's there and know that in going after it there is always risk. To live with love, you have to chance losing it. That's also true when you decide to have kids. It's the risk you take for love.
Miss Do-Gooder Says No to Intolerance
Published August 05, 2009 @ 01:17PM PT
What do you get when you fuse fashion with philanthropy and a commitment to eliminating homophobia in the classroom? You get Miss Do-Gooders brand spanking new T-shirt, which not only declares zero tolerance for homophobia and intolerance, but backs up that pledge by making sure that every T-shirt purchased forwards some proceeds to the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN).
Miss Do-Gooder is a fun fashion venture from California that has already released T-shirts championing animal rights and the fight against illiteracy. Or, in other words, she's just a modern day superhero out to "kick the butt of one injustice at a time."
We heart our progressive T-shirts here at change.org. Especially when they send proceeds to organizations we love, like GLSEN. Here's what GLSEN's Executive Director, Eliza Byard, had to say about the new T-shirt campaign from Miss Do-Gooder:
With this wonderful new design, Miss Do-Gooder continues to represent a cool way that people can show their support for important causes, such as GLSEN's goal of ensuring that every child is safe in school.
Making schools safer. Rooting out homophobia. Stamping out intolerance. Now there's a fashion craze worth getting behind.
