tag:,2007-10-31:/4 2007-11-04T08:23:37Z Movable Type Publishing Platform 4.0-rc1 tag:queerday.com,2006://4.11694 2006-03-01T23:18:02Z 2007-11-04T08:23:37Z

Hey Kids! My apologies. I flew the coop unexpectedly. Now that I'm gainfully unemployed I can do these sort of things, like skip town on a moment's notice, for example. Now I'm back for a couple days before I...

Philo http://www.philohagen.com Hey Kids! My apologies. I flew the coop unexpectedly. Now that I'm gainfully unemployed I can do these sort of things, like skip town on a moment's notice, for example. Now I'm back for a couple days before I head down to Los Angeles (a photoshoot for Hoop: The Movie) and then I'm off to Miami to warm up with some friends. Once my great American vacation is over and the dust settles Queer Day will be back with a vengeance, or maybe I'll just stick a fork in it, or maybe we'll turn it into a group experience. Want to be a part of a big love community project? Let me know. As for what will happen, I guess we'll all have to wait and see. I'm more or less out of town until later this month. In the meantime you're beautiful, I love you and hope you're having the happiest queer day possible.]]> tag:queerday.com,2006://4.11693 2006-02-17T11:28:16Z 2007-11-04T08:23:37Z

Heath Ledger is in negotiations to take on another big gay movie role that isn't entirely clear cut. The Brokeback Mountain star who earned himself a Best Actor Oscar nomination is currently the frontrunner to play Hollywood icon and...

Philo http://www.philohagen.com Heath Ledger is in negotiations to take on another big gay movie role that isn't entirely clear cut. The Brokeback Mountain star who earned himself a Best Actor Oscar nomination is currently the frontrunner to play Hollywood icon and rather legendary closet case Rock Hudson who died of an AIDS-related illness in 1985. According to Aint it Cool News, a major movie spoiler site, an inside source said, "After playing a straight man who has a gay relationship, Heath Ledger will do a 180 and play a gay man who has a straight relationship." His next role is playing a heroin addict in Neil Armfield's "Candy." The film is based on a Luke Davies novel.]]> tag:queerday.com,2006://4.11692 2006-02-17T10:40:49Z 2007-11-04T08:23:37Z

Feast of Fools has truly become a driving force in the world of Podcasting. Co-hosts Fausto Fernós and Marc Felion spend their weekdays crossing global lines and barriers while striving to reach listeners from all walks of life via...

Philo http://www.philohagen.com Feast of Fools has truly become a driving force in the world of Podcasting. Co-hosts Fausto Fernós and Marc Felion spend their weekdays crossing global lines and barriers while striving to reach listeners from all walks of life via the internet. As thousands of new podcasts have become available for download the boys remain on top. Feast of Fools is Chicago's #! Podcast, regularly ranked in the top 15 comedy podcasts on iTunes, and is the only gay-themed production to make iTunes “Top 100 Podcast" list - and with good reason. Whether it's an intimate rummage through Illinois State Representative's Sara Feingenholz’s office refrigerator, a walk through the deep parts of the Puerto Rican rainforest or a frank discussion of Chicago's sexual underground at the world's largest Leather Conference, Queer Day thinks you should be giving these Fools a listen.]]> tag:queerday.com,2006://4.11691 2006-02-17T10:39:40Z 2007-11-04T08:23:37Z

Colorado based Focus on the Family, the wingnuts who've made it a mission to teach the world that gays and lesbians lead dangerous and deviant lifestyles, the same ministry that has long lobbied against recognizing same-sex couples as spouses...

Philo http://www.philohagen.com Colorado based Focus on the Family, the wingnuts who've made it a mission to teach the world that gays and lesbians lead dangerous and deviant lifestyles, the same ministry that has long lobbied against recognizing same-sex couples as spouses or even parents, has endorsed a bill that would give same-sex couples in the state some of the same rights as heterosexual spouses. For the record the bill's GOP author, Senator Shawn Mitchell, doesn't support gay marriage or even civil unions. Colorado Clergy for Equality and Marriage has announced its opposition to the proposed state constitutional amendment that would place a ban on gay marriage in the state. Gil Caldwell says, "My concern as a civil rights activist is that we have not learned lessons from our history," Caldwell said. "We've been through the segregation of women, the segregation of African Americans. Now it appears we want to segregate same-gender loving couples."]]> tag:queerday.com,2006://4.11690 2006-02-17T10:04:04Z 2007-11-04T08:23:36Z

World of Warcraft's online game community, which draws more than five million players worldwide, has found itself in the middle of a big gay controversy. A player, Sara Andrews of Nashville, Tennesee, was threatened with expulsion from the virtual...

Philo http://www.philohagen.com World of Warcraft's online game community, which draws more than five million players worldwide, has found itself in the middle of a big gay controversy. A player, Sara Andrews of Nashville, Tennesee, was threatened with expulsion from the virtual Warcraft world after she sought to recruit others into her gay-friendly team. An uproar ensued, spurring the game's maker to review its treatment of gay players. Blizzard Entertainment, the game's maker, apologized to Andrew, saying the warning was a mistake and that it will make some changes to prevent a repeat. Of course Andrews' attorney from Lambda Legal may have had something to do with that too.]]> tag:queerday.com,2006://4.11689 2006-02-17T09:40:00Z 2007-11-04T08:23:36Z

Speaking at the Berlin Film Festival where he received a lifetime achievement award, out gay British actor Sir Ian McKellen lashed out at Hollywood saying that openly gay US actors are prevented from having successful careers. "It is very,...

Philo http://www.philohagen.com Speaking at the Berlin Film Festival where he received a lifetime achievement award, out gay British actor Sir Ian McKellen lashed out at Hollywood saying that openly gay US actors are prevented from having successful careers. "It is very, very, very difficult for an American actor who wants a film career to be open about his sexuality, and even more difficult for a woman if she's lesbian. It's very distressing to me that that should be the case. The film industry is very old fashioned in California," McKellen said. As for the lifetime achievement award, McKellen says he's enjoying a late burst of global fame and that he still has a lot of life left. He told the audience, "I still hope I've got a lot of life left on stage and making films." Queer Day hopes he'll keep telling it like it is as well.]]> tag:queerday.com,2006://4.11687 2006-02-17T08:28:45Z 2007-11-04T08:23:36Z

Philo http://www.philohagen.com · #1: Remember the shootings nightmare earlier this month at Puzzles Lounge? A fund has been set up for the victims. Send donations to: St. Anne's Credit Union, Puzzles Victim Fund, P.O. BOX 0 (zero), Fall River, MA 02724. · #2: Garrett, a long time reader of Queer Day, writes: "Can you help spread the word that the GLBT-SA at the University of North Carolina is hosting the 4th annual UNITY Confernce on April 7th-9th and already over 150 students have registered!" Consider it done Garrett and it's great to see the such hardcore support from the administration.]]> ·: #3: Hey Philo! Glad I found the site....Thank you for the time and effort you put into it - a refreshing blend of serious news with items that give me the giggles! I thought it was great that you put the spotlight on Coretta Scott King at the time of her passing - truly a woman who deserves to be honored by the Gay community. Now that she's gone, I have real concerns about how the daughter and niece are going to twist the King legacy to suit their own homophobic agendas. I don't think it's racist to note that many of the King's supporters came from the Black, Southern Baptist Church - millions of them in fact. This organization is NOT known for it's acceptance and tolerance of Gay folk..... Frightening as it is to think of it, a large percentage of the King's followers are ripe for the picking and the aforementioned relatives are going to make the most of this opportunity to recruit millions of people to their homophobic way of thinking. That's just not going to help us at ALL! They may not LIKE us now, but with a Fire and Brimstone preacher named King leading them they'll surely HATE us within a very few short years. And then they'll go to the voting booths..... What can we do? I know you're not a political leader or anything, but you DO have a voice that is being heard. Can you work to shine a light on the doings of these two prejudiced women, both past and present, thus helping to get our community worked up to the point where we are willing to fight to preserve the King legacy of equality for all? Listen Honey, you are NOT the only one I'm laying this heavy ass trip on. I know I've got to do my part - Strangely, Oprah has yet to respond...... So as a journalist, and a damn fine one, I hope you'll look into this and do what you can. Thanks again, J. Clerkin-Whitcomb Philo responds: I hear you loud and clear. Given the mountain of information for Queer Day to cover I regularly draw the line at stories that have a clear LGBT specific angle to them. I'll be keeping my eye out for them, and the rest of you - do keep an eye on the legacy.]]> tag:queerday.com,2006://4.11685 2006-02-17T08:00:02Z 2007-11-04T08:23:35Z

The state Appellate Division, combining three separate cases brought by gay couples, rejected the argument that New York's marriage law is unconstitutional, throwing out the lawsuit - but the American Civil Liberties Union made a promise to appeal to...

Philo http://www.philohagen.com The state Appellate Division, combining three separate cases brought by gay couples, rejected the argument that New York's marriage law is unconstitutional, throwing out the lawsuit - but the American Civil Liberties Union made a promise to appeal to New York's highest court after an intermediate court refused to strike down a state law that bars same-sex couples from marriage - and the hundreds of family protections afforded to married couples. Jeanne Vitale and Amy Tripi, pictured, want their relationship legally recognized. The New York Court of Appeals has already accepted review of the issue of marriage for same-sex couples in another case, Hernandez v. Robles, which was brought by Lambda Legal.]]> tag:queerday.com,2006://4.11684 2006-02-16T20:29:59Z 2007-11-04T08:23:35Z

The financial costs to the U.S. military for discharging and replacing gay service members under the nation's "don't ask, don't tell" policy are nearly twice what the government estimated last year, according to a new University of California report....

Philo http://www.philohagen.com The financial costs to the U.S. military for discharging and replacing gay service members under the nation's "don't ask, don't tell" policy are nearly twice what the government estimated last year, according to a new University of California report. I find it odd that South Korea only discharged eight gay servicemen last year by comparison. Anyway, speaking of protecting the homeland, on the backs of people of color, I find it very disconcerting that the Justice Department asked a judge to approve Patriot Act e-mail monitoring without any evidence of criminal behavior - and instead of asking to eavesdrop on the contents of the e-mail messages, which would require some evidence of wrongdoing, prosecutors requested the identities of the correspondents. [Gay terrorist photo snagged from Robotic Kid's rather genius self-portrait collection.]]]> tag:queerday.com,2006://4.11683 2006-02-16T19:59:07Z 2007-11-04T08:23:34Z

President Bush signed legislation giving $500 million to faith-based programs to promote and strengthen opposite-sex marriage, a provision that's part of the deficit reduction bill passed by Congress. How this reduced the deficit is anybody's guess. Bush himself noted,...

Philo http://www.philohagen.com President Bush signed legislation giving $500 million to faith-based programs to promote and strengthen opposite-sex marriage, a provision that's part of the deficit reduction bill passed by Congress. How this reduced the deficit is anybody's guess. Bush himself noted, “It allows faith-based groups that provide social services to receive federal funding without changing the way they hire,” Bush noted at the White House signing ceremony. Translation: We're giving money to groups that specifically discriminate in their hiring process. Assistant Health and Human Services Secretary Wade Horn said that the financial windfall is not intended to specifically oppose same-sex marriage, although the President is a major supporter of a proposed amendment to ban gay marriage in the Constitution. Like I said yesterday, Bill Frist is bringing it in June. Yep, it's happening all over again.]]> tag:queerday.com,2006://4.11682 2006-02-16T11:30:26Z 2007-11-04T08:23:34Z

Quite awhile ago I told you about India's first film about drag queens - The Pink Mirror (Gulabi Aaina). Sridhar Rangayan�s debut film even won the best feature award at the Fire Island film festival. Well, the Bollywood comedy...

Philo http://www.philohagen.com Quite awhile ago I told you about India's first film about drag queens - The Pink Mirror (Gulabi Aaina). Sridhar Rangayan�s debut film even won the best feature award at the Fire Island film festival. Well, the Bollywood comedy is finally available for purchase on DVD. While I don't ordinarily plug such sales, I've had particular interest in this film and supporting it supports queer cinema in India while providing funds for more future endeavors. Watch the trailer here.]]> tag:queerday.com,2006://4.11681 2006-02-16T06:36:14Z 2007-11-04T08:23:34Z

Our favorite drag queen porn director Chi Chi LaRue has stopped directing straight productions for Vivid because they've changed their condom-only policy. "As a person who has been very vocal about condom usage in every aspect of the gay...

Philo http://www.philohagen.com Our favorite drag queen porn director Chi Chi LaRue has stopped directing straight productions for Vivid because they've changed their condom-only policy. "As a person who has been very vocal about condom usage in every aspect of the gay business as well as the straight, and as a person who went to work for Vivid because of their mandatory condom policy, I had to stop directing for them once it became condom-optional." Larue said, adding, "It's my policy to use condoms and it would be very hypocritical of me after how vocal I've been in this industry in the gay and straight sides to continue to do movies and not use condoms. Vivid's Howard Levine said, "My hat is off to Chi Chi for his commitment to his beliefs and I wish him the best, but I do wish he would return the dress he borrowed from me for the AVN Awards." (Thanks Dan-x)]]> tag:queerday.com,2006://4.11680 2006-02-16T02:28:40Z 2007-11-04T08:23:34Z

Philo http://www.philohagen.com · Russia: Talgat Tadjuddin, pictured, Russia's senior Muslim cleric, called on Muslims and Orthodox Christians to "thrash" homosexuals yesterday if the gay pride parade that is scheduled to take place in Moscow this May takes place. "This should in no case be allowed, but if they still take it to the streets, then one will have nothing to do but thrash them," he said. · Botswana: The Voice newspaper earlier this month published an advertorial on gay life, breaking a long standing journalistic taboo against positive representations of gays and lesbians in the country. The advertorial was sponsored by LEGABIBO (Lesbians,Gays and Bisexuals of Botswana). · United Arab Emirates: An United Arab Emirates court sentenced each of 26 men to five years in prison for participating in a gay wedding. They were "busted in a hotel 'dressed in women's clothes and make-up in preparation," the Emirates Today newspaper reported." The November arrests took place when police raided the hotel. You may recall that a cop who took photos was arrested.]]> tag:queerday.com,2006://4.11679 2006-02-16T01:34:35Z 2007-11-04T08:23:33Z

Fresh from his big stint in the Big Brother Celebrity UK house, Dead or Alive singer Pete Burns has announced that he's tying the knot with his partner Michael Simpson. For those who watched Big Brother, Burns always had...

Philo http://www.philohagen.com Fresh from his big stint in the Big Brother Celebrity UK house, Dead or Alive singer Pete Burns has announced that he's tying the knot with his partner Michael Simpson. For those who watched Big Brother, Burns always had a photo of Simpson attached to his person throughout the series. The couple showed off their identical diamante skull rings - designed by Vivienne Westwood - live on Richard and Judy's show (pictured). Regarding the rings Burns explained, "It symbolises that underneath all this there is bone and underneath that is soul." On the show Burns also told the world, "I lost him a lifetime ago and I've been looking for him ever since. He's a physical part of me." It's enough to make a person misty.]]> tag:queerday.com,2006://4.11678 2006-02-16T00:21:51Z 2007-11-04T08:23:33Z

Philo http://www.philohagen.com · Massachusetts: The state's highest court announced that their decision regarding out-of-state same-sex couples being allowed to marry there has been delayed and it would be weeks, possibly months before a decision. The court will not be meeting its 130-day self-imposed deadline for ruling on a challenge to the 1913 law that prevents clerks from issuing marriage licenses to people from states where that marriage would be illegal. You probably recall, but in case you don't, the nearly hundred-year-old law, previously ignored for decades, was written when most states did not recognize interracial marriage. After the US Supreme Court ruled that laws barring interracial couples from marrying was illegal the Massachusetts statute fell into disuse. · Iowa: Governor Tom Vilsack says he supports allowing civil unions in the state, noting that the Legislature would never pass civil unions.]]>