Posted 11 months, 1 week ago at 7:27 am. 0 comments
Following this week’s elections in Germany, Guido Westerwelle, the leader of the Free Democratic Party, is in line to become foreign minister in the new coalition government. He and his partner, Michael Mronz, were prominently featured in election night coverage.
Westerwelle’s homosexuality has not been an issue during the eight years he has been head of the pro-business party, but his increased prominence has ruffled some feathers. On Monday, Peter Langner, the city treasurer of the western city of Duisburga had to apologize for remarking that “I don’t want a gay foreign minister.”
Westerwelle’s does not see himself as a gay activist but hopes his success may be “encouraging for some young gays.” He told Berlin’s gay magazine Siegessaeule, “I can only tell all young gays and lesbians to not be disheartened, if not everything goes their way. This society is changing for the good in the direction of tolerance and respect … though slower than I would wish.”
Posted 11 months, 1 week ago at 4:15 pm. 0 comments
The BBC has upheld a complaint against TV host Graham Norton for “potentially offensive stereotypes” of lesbians. One person complained, resulting in a review by the BBC editorial board, which swung into action against the producers of the gay TV host’s chat show. The episode aired 6 months ago.
The offending joke occurred during a conversation with Ruth Jones, the star and co-writer of Gavin and Stacey.
Referring to a sketch that accompanied a patent application for a jumpsuit, Norton remarked, “I don’t know why they’ve got some strange lesbian to be the model.” Jones pointed out that, “She may not be a lesbian, come on now. What does a lesbian look like?” Pointing at the photo, Norton said, “That.”
In its indictment, the BBC noted, “Although the initial references might have been inoffensive if considered on their own, they prompted an exchange with one of the programme’s guests which gave the references the appearance of perpetuating or reinforcing a potentially offensive stereotype. The programme team were reminded of the need to avoid any possibility of being seen to endorse offensive sexual stereotypes.”
For those who are not so easily offended, the video is below — bad joke at about 1:20.
Posted 11 months, 1 week ago at 10:44 am. 0 comments
Legal documents and salacious allegations criss-crossed last week as hearings proceeded in the death of model/actress/TV personality Anna Nicole Smith. Her lawyer/lover, Howard K. Stern has been charged along with two of her doctors with felony conspiracy to furnish drugs to Smith and prescribing, administering or dispensing a controlled substance to an addict (Smith.) Eleven prescriptions were found in her hotel room following her death in February 2007, all apparently signed by her psychiatrist, Dr. Khristine Eroshevich.
Also found at that time were a number of photos showing Dr. Eroshevich sharing a bathtub and “various intimate embraces” with Smith. Clearly this was not a conventional doctor/patient relationship. Eroshevich claims she was a friend/neighbor of Smith’s before their friendship evolved into a medical relationship. No comment was forthcoming in regard to the lesbian photographs, which were found on a computer in Smith’s hotel room.
The other doctor charged, Sandeep Kapoor was also accused of having a physical relationship with his buxomy patient. This would be a true testament to the sex appeal of the woman who was the widow of 90-year-old John Howard Marshall III, as Dr. Kapoor claims to be gay.
These are in addition to earlier allegations that Stern was involved in a homosexual relationship with one of Smith’s other boyfriends, Larry Birkhead. DNA tests established that Birkhead fathered a child with Smith that had once been claimed by Stern as his daughter.
Stern and the doctors have all pleaded “not guilty” and face a hearing October 5.
Posted 11 months, 2 weeks ago at 6:54 am. 0 comments
A documentary on the Topp Twins, New Zealand’s duo of lesbian country/folk singers, has won the award for best documentary at the Toronto International Film Festival. The film, directed by Leanne Pooley, tells the story of sisters Jools and Lynda Topp, who grew up on a dairy farm, began touring as comedians/singers, became active in politics and the gay rights movement, and starred in their own award-winning TV show. They were inducted into the New Zealand Music Hall of Fame after more than 25 years of performing.
The doco includes interviews with the twins in some of their better-known characters such as Ken and Ken, the Bowling Ladies, Camp Mother and Camp Leader. The film also documents Jools’s chemotherapy and mastectomy after she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2006. Interviews with their family are also included.
The film has been a box-office successs in New Zealand, taking in over NZ$1 million in the first four weeks of shows.
Posted 11 months, 2 weeks ago at 6:25 am. 0 comments
For the first time, a same-sex couple is competing on the Fox TV show So You Think You Can Dance. Jacob Jason and Willem De Vries performed a Latin ballroom dance in their audition on Wednesday’s show, determined to demonstrate to the judges and the audience that there is “a world of same-sex dancers.” They’ve moved on to the next stage of the competition.
The show’s producer, Nigel Lythgoe, has been criticized for remarks he made last May when he rejected another gay couple, expressing fear that their appearance might “alienate” viewers. Lythgoe later tweeted that he was “not a fan of Brokeback Ballroom,” a remark some thought was disparaging. So You Think You Can Dance has a significant gay following, many of whom were upset by the remarks. Following a call to action from the Gay and Lesbian Alliance against Defamation, Lythgoe and Fox execs met with GLAAD, and Lythgoe apologized. Gay choreographer Adam Shankman, who directed the film Hairspray, was appointed to the panel of judges.
Following Jason and De Vries’s performance, Lythgoe told them, “Thank you for showing me that same-sex ballroom dancing can be very strong and very good.”
Posted 11 months, 2 weeks ago at 7:33 pm. 0 comments
Cherry Jones, who played President Allison Taylor in “24″ last season, was named the winner in the supporting actress category.
Jones is one of the brightest stars of American theatre. She won the Tony for Best Leading Actress in 1995 for The Heiress and again in 2005 for Doubt. At the awards ceremony in 1995 she made a point of acknowledging her partner at the time, architect Mary O’Conner. In 2005 she indirectly outed her current partner, actress Sarah Paulson, by thanking Laura Wingfield, the character Paulson was playing in The Glass Menagerie at the time. Paulson didn’t seem to mind.
Posted 11 months, 2 weeks ago at 8:51 am. 0 comments
Magician Derren Brown continues to amaze audiences in Britain, successfully predicting the National Lottery results live on Channel 4 last week. This week he managed to “suggest” to at least 50,000 viewers that they were immobilized in their living rooms. Following a short film including “safety instructions,” Brown told the audience in the studio and at home to sit back in their chairs, put their feet flat on the floor, and put their hands on their legs. The result left many unable to stand until he played a “clearing tone.” A Channel 4 spokesperson announced that within 3 minutes they had received phone calls from over 50,000 people who succumbed to the suggestion. As one viewer said, “It’s just very bizarre. I’m trying hard to get up but I can’t.’”
Various theories have been proposed for the effect, with “sumbliminal images” in the film being a prime candidate.
Posted 11 months, 2 weeks ago at 11:23 pm. 0 comments
A new book by Joe Joyce, The Guinnesses: The Untold Story of Ireland’s Most Successful Family, is set to be published next week by Dublins’s Poolbeg Press. For 250 years, the Guinness family has been brewing one of the world’s most popular beers, Guinness Stout. Breweries are among the most profitable types of business, and the family fortune created by Arthur Guinness (1725-1803) and passed on to his many descendants, is legendary. Sales in Ireland alone were over 2 billion euros last year.
The Guinnesses have played a prominent role not only in British business, but in the nation’s politics and social life as well. The family tree is sprinkled with barons, earls, and marquesses. Four members of the family in a row were MPs for Southend, causing the district to become known as “Guinness-on-Sea.” The family tree also sprouted its fair share of gay men, as documented by Joyce.
The third Arthur Guinness, grandson of the founder, is known to have had an affair with playwright Dion Boucicault (1820-1890).
The fourth Arthur Guinness (later Lord Ardilaun) represented Dublin in the House of Commons in the 1860s and ’70s. He’s remembered as the donor of St. Stephen’s Green, the central park of Dublin. His conventional public image led author James Joyce to use the Old Etonian as a prime example of Victorian respectability in the novel Ulysses. In private, Lord Ardilaun had an “unconventional marriage,” and according to Joe Joyce, “was probably gay.”
Sheridan Frederick Terence Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood, 5th Marquess of Dufferin and Ava (1938-1988) was a descendant not only of Arthur Guinness, but of playwright Richard Brinsley Sheridan as well. Lord Dufferin played a prominent role in the London art scene of the 1960s. Art historian John Richardson recalled, “[Sheridan] led a very gay life . . . he used to come over here [to the United States] and have these big gay affairs. And he made no bones about it — he was quite open.” Dufferin died at age 49 of AIDS-related illness.
Perhaps the most famous relative, the great actor Alec Guinness (1914-2000) tried to live privately as a quiet and devout Roman Catholic, but was widely known to be bisexual.
Posted 11 months, 2 weeks ago at 9:40 am. 0 comments
Tampa mayor Pam Iorio has appointed 25-year veteran officer Jane Castor to be Tampa, Florida’s next chief of police. Castor will be the first woman, the first mother (she has two 10-year-old sons) and the first lesbian to hold the position.
Castor, a Tampa native, rose through the ranks, starting in the narcotics, sex crime and child abuse squads. Promoted to major in 2001, she worked interagency drug operations, and as assistant chief beginning in 2005 she oversaw the $56 million “homeland security” budget.
Castor has also served as liaison between the force and the LGBT community, improving communication that resulted in crime reduction and developing leads in murder and other cases.
Although Castor has never kept her orientation secret, she downplays its significance and claims she’s never experienced homophobia on the job. “When I came on the department 25 years ago, the trails had already been blazed,” Castor said. “I’ve never had any issues within this department or within this city.”
Posted 11 months, 2 weeks ago at 7:04 am. 0 comments
Renowned actor Ian McKellen, who recently contributed the foreword to Keith Stern’s new book, Queers in History, will receive the “Will” Award at the annual Gala for the Harman Center for the Performing Arts, Sunday October 25 in Washington, DC. The Harman is home to the Shakespeare Theatre Company. The 2009 Gala will feature performances in a myriad of artistic disciplines based on A Midsummer Nights Dream. The awards presentations will be followed by dinner and dancing. Read More
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