At a press conference for their new film "Bandidas," Penelope Cruz's hand was busy feeling up Salma Hayak's ass. Why? Cruz now says that caressing her best friend's buttock was the result of the flu and the pair are not lesbians. She was apparently just feeling a little delirious when she let her hand slip down and linger on Hayak's booty, which might make anyone delerious. "I grabbed Salma's ass just to keep things moving, because everyone was a little slow. And, of course, the energy changed when I did that. There are magazine covers in Mexico describing us as these lesbians because of that. A lot of people were saying we were lovers." The denial rings true, but Queer Day remembers Cruz revealing that her best on-screen kiss ever was with - Charlize Theron. Who knows?
While the purpose of this article is promoting Le Chat Revue's revisiting of it in a new production, there's still plenty of information on New Orleans' fabled Club My O My, a nightspot that at its height was as well-known as Finocchio's. The club that closed in 1972 boasted "the world's most beautiful boys in women's attire," including Mr. Sandy Rogers, pictured, "The Reason Gentlemen Prefer Blondes." It's a trip to yesteryear "when female impersonation was an art, artistes actually sang instead of lip-synched and calling a male chanteuse a "drag queen" could get you a good left hook from a velvet glove."
The United Methodist Church reversed itself today, deciding to reinstate lesbian minister Elizabeth Stroud who had been defrocked after revealing she was in a relationship with another woman. This church panel voted 8 to 1 to set aside the earlier decision. "The church is not free to disregard the standards of justice and inclusiveness that are preached by Jesus Christ ... and are a part of church law," Stroud said after church authorities read their decision at a hotel. "The ruling gives us hope that the United Methodist Church has the resources to do justice," she said. (Thanks Sioux)
Page Six reports that Jeff Gannon, former White House reporter/male escort, can't believe he wasn't invited to tomorrow's White House Correspondents Dinner. "It seems to me to be odd to exclude the one person who has brought more attention to the White House press corps than anyone else in years," Gannon told Jared Paul Stern. "Probably many who would want to extend such an invitation already assume I will be in attendance." Somehow, we think not, especially since Gannon, aka James Guckert, quit his job with Talon News after it was revealed he was a hooker and a fraud. Meanwhile, the Secret Service has furnished logs of the writer's access to the White House as requested by two Democratic congressmembers and they reveal Guckert made 202 White House appearances over two years and only 155 of the visits were press briefings. What (or who) was going on the other 47?
Last year the Los Altos City Council in California denied a proclamation for a city Gay Pride Day proposed by local high school GSA members. Later, they were persuaded to change their minds, a proclamation was issued, and Los Altos' had its first official Gay Pride Day. And now, it's a year later, and the council passed a new law prohibiting the council from passing resolutions that don't directly involve the city, prohibiting proclamations that could specifically promote racial, sexual or religious discrimination or intolerance against a person, organization or event. When asked how this might affect requests for such things as Gay Pride Day, Mayor David Casas, pictured, said, "It depends on how the request is structured." (Thanks JR)
The Gershwin Hotel in Los Angeles today is something akin to the Chelsea in New York during the 60's. In other words, it's a freak show of the greatest caliber. Edith Massey of John Waters fame originally convinced self-proclaimed gay Satinist Garilyn Brune to move to the city of angels. Years later, Brune, a 350=pound drag queen known as The Amazing Ruby, found himself living and working the graveyard shift at the Gershwin. Brune won a Tom of Finland art award for his piece Cocksuckers for Christ, which depicts a priest sucking off an aroused Jesus. He also draws fat drag queens in Prismacolor, a wax-based colored pencil.
The second annual Trans Day of Pride in Montreal promises to be a bigger than its inaugural year, according to organizer Daniel Chégnier, pictured. The aim, however, remains the same. "We want to demystify transsexuality and discuss people's experiences, from workplace issues and beyond." Roger-James says, "I'm going through it myself and I know how difficult it is, and one of the best ways to deal with it is to laugh at it. The medical services, the suicide rates, these are really bad. People tend to learn and listen more when you make them laugh. ... Ideally I'd like to get the [most expensive] surgery, if I can pull the money out of my ass, and hopefully my cock doesn't get infected and fall off."
Jake Eakin, 14, one of two boys believed to be the youngest murder defendants to be charged as adults in Washington state history, changed his plea to guilty of second-degree murder by complicity today in Ephrata, claiming Evan Savoie, also 14, killed special education student Craig Sorger. At the time of the crime Eakin said he tried to leave, but Savoi called him "a fucking faggot," so he returned and hit Sorger about a dozen times with a stick. Prosecutors and defense attorneys both recommended an 8 year sentence so that Eakin would be released when he was 21, but judge Ken Jorgensen imposed a 14-year sentence with two years credit for time already served.
With Microsoft's image for fairness and equality in the toilet, things get worse with the discovery that Microsoft has social conservative Ralph Reedon the payroll, and he's earning $20,000 a month! Reed got his start in politics by running the Christian Coalition for super homophobe Pat Robertson. Reed also had a senior role in the 2004 Bush campaign. Microsoft spokesman Mark Murray said Reed was hired to provide advice on "trade and competition issues" and the consultant relationship extends back "several years."
Continue reading "Microsoft gay rights flip flop tied to right winger Ralph Reed" »
Five years ago Lois Farnham and Holly Puterbaugh made their 27-year relationship official before 200 guests at First Congregational Church in Burlington, Vermont, one of the first same-sex civil unions to be recognized. "Every once in a while, I step back and say, 'Oh, my gosh, we started all this, didn't we?'" Puterbaugh said. "And in all honesty, I have trouble believing it. I look back and say, 'It's just me,' but then I realize the difference we made and it's wonderful and it's amazing and humbling." An in-depth and interesting read.
Lactobacillus bacteria that appear to target and trap HIV may be the key to preventing future infections. Researcher Lin Tao of the University of Illinois at Chicago presented the findings at the 2005 American Society for Microbiology - Beneficial Microbes Conference. "I believe every life form has its natural enemy, and HIV should not be the exception," said Tao. Lactobacillus strains, commonly found colonizing the oral and vaginal cavities of humans, do not cause disease and they feed on the sugar mannose coating of the virus.
Several mayors in Spain announced they'll refuse to marry gay and lesbian couples, despite a bill passed by parliament's lower house that will allow us to do so. The measure has moved now to Spain's Senate. Valladolid's Mayor, Javier Leon de la Riva (pictured left tightly embracing Juan Represa) said, "Even if the law allows me to marry homosexuals, I will not exercise this authority." Curious. While Pontons' Mayor, Lluis Fernando Caldentey, called gays and lesbians "defective," adding, "I have never seen two male dogs trying to make love, it is not natural." Actually Mayor Calendentey, many dogs will hump the arm of a sofa if given a chance to.
Continue reading "Gay marriage in Spain refused by mayors, compared to Nazism" »
Governor Ted Kulongoski, pictured, told representatives from Oregon's businesses he's prepared to fight "for as long as it takes" to pass legislation that will provide and protect rights for gays and lesbians. Meanwhile, if the state's Senate Democrats get their way, Oregon will follow Vermont's lead and enact civil unions. But if House Republicans prevail, Oregon will follow Hawaii's example and pass a "reciprocal benefits" law, offering a more limited range of rights to couples who have lived together for a long time, gay or straight.
There appears to be more to the Merry Stephens story, and her name is Sheila Dunlap. Dunlap has lived in Bloomburg, Texas, her entire life. For 15 years, she worked as a bus driver and office assistant at the Bloomburg school, where her children were students. Then, on December 8, she was fired without explanation. A few days later, as we've told you, basketball coach and teacher Merry Stephens was fired by the school board in a 4-3 vote. Now both women are saying they were fired for only one reason: They are living together, the only lesbian couple in Bloomburg. Stephens appealed her termination to the Texas Education Agency and got a settlement from the school board. Now Dunlap, who wasn't a teacher and had nobody to appeal to, is preparing to file a federal discrimination lawsuit.
Babyshambles vocalist Pete Doherty, pictured, apparently likes to play both sides of the fence. Doherty, who is currently involved with Kate Moss, admitted in a book this week that he was once a £20-a-time rent boy. And ex-lover Katie Lewis has gotten into the mix, claiming that "Pete Loves romping with men and women. It broke my heart the day I walked in on Pete in the shower delicately soaping a naked man. ... I'd just warn Kate Moss it might not all be in her direction."
UC Santa Barbara's Queer Pride Week kicked off with a rally and organizers were happy to see a sign wielding homophobic protester turn out, because it had an unintended effect. Paul Johnson's tirade helped spread the importance of tolerance like nothing else could. With his six-foot-tall sign and biblical quotes, the more he ranted, the bigger the rally grew. “I really appreciated his presence,” Tanya Paperny, QSU co-chair said. “Because of him, I handed out more fliers. He brought all our allies out of the woodwork. ... The [goal] of this week is to make the queer community on campus more visible. We’re here and we’re not going anywhere.”
Olympic medal winner Ji Wallace never saw his sexuality as a big issue. In the lead-up to the Sydney Games his sole focus in life was trampolining and there wasn’t time to think about anything else. But after winning the silver in 2000, Wallace hung up his leotard to focus on other things – like himself. Now, five years later, he's coming out of retirement and out of the closet, making him one of the first Aussie Olympians ever to do so. “I'm not exactly announcing to the world that I’m gay. I’ve been out to my family and friends for a very long time,” he told Sydney Star Observer. “Having said that, I guess I am really, because from a media and a public perspective nobody was aware of it."
When Reverend Irene Elizabeth Stroud told her Philadelphia congregation two years ago that she was living in a committed lesbian relationship, she correctly foretold that she'd be defrocked as a United Methodist minister as a result. She has her appeal today of the December ruling that said she violated church law against "self-avowed practicing homosexuals" in the clergy. Stroud is amazed by the hate mail she's received, often from fellow Christians who have called her relationship "an abomination against God." "They say it's sick ... that a person like me has no right to serve in any way in a church. I lose sleep over it. They're talking about my life."
After a ten-month investigation the San Francisco Human Rights Commission found that Badlands, a Castro gay bar, discriminates against African American patrons and job applicants, violating local laws. Owner Les Natali called blacks "non-Badlands customers," denied entry by requiring multiple forms of I.D. be shown, inconsistently applied a dress code and a "no bag" rule... Badlands isn't a city contractor, so the HRC can't fine or take punitive steps, but The Entertainment Commission, issuer of Badlands' dance permit, plans to review the report.
When President Bush asked his Galveston, Texas, audience whether the area still hosts "Splash Day," we have to wonder if he knew that the annual beach party that dates back to the 50s became an unofficial gay and lesbian event. Galveston backed off from the event years ago when it turned into a very gay and rather nude event. Drawing another round of laughter, Bush said, "I'm not saying whether I came or not on Splash Day. I'm just saying, 'Do you have Splash Day?'"
Denver drag queen Nuclia Waste knew that when Noodles and Company launched a national search for the first Asparagus Queen, she was it - and she's become a top five vote getter. "With my big green hair already the color of asparagus, I felt this would be the natural next step towards queendom," Waste told us. "Plus I promise to use my winnings for scientific research to get rid of that asparagus pee smell - And world peace of course." Go cast your vote.
John Waters is obsessed with the "Michael Jackson case. I don't know how it's going to turn out. I don’t know if it’s going to have a good end. I'm really glad I'm not him." Commenting on his role in "Seed of Chucky," he jokes with the Diamondback, "I did (the film) because I actually wanted a date with Chucky because he’s 18 now, so he's legal. At least now I couldn’t get arrested. But they kept him in his box."
UK lesbian candidate Nikki Sinclaire was arrested for refusing to leave a debate called "Queer Question Time," hosted by a gay group no less, that didn't invite her because she's not from the three major parties. About 50 people protested her arrest outside a Birmingham police station. Sinclaire, 36, running for the Black Country seat of Halesowen and Rowley Regis, was released without charge after two hours in custody. "I think it's important to remember I am a parliamentary candidate and I don't expect to be arrested for debating. For a group of people who have been discriminated against for decades, for them to discriminate themselves... it's a bit ironic isn't it?" Indeed Ms. Sinclaire, indeed.
It's not every day you see three openly gay candidates standing for election, but that's what is happening in Hove. Three parties are fielding gay candidates for the first time in general election history - the Conservative, Green and Liberal Democrats. James Hakin, editor of gay magazine 3sixty says, "It's a chance for people to really decide on the policies of the candidates, not their sexuality." The 40,000 gay and lesbian residents of Brighton and Hove make up 15% of the city's population.
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