Coming Out Support Newsweekly: 10/11/10

Coming Out Support (COS) Newsweekly
Volume 13 No. 40 October 11, 2010
Newsletter Editor: M. G. Auerbach Email: COSNewsweekly@gmail.com

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The Gay Agenda: Datebook: October 11-17, 2010

thru SUN 10/31: Nationwide: LGBT History Month

thru SUN: 10/24: Chicago, IL: The Great Plays of Terrence McNally. A series of readings and performances of the out playwright’s major works. Pride Films and Plays. www.pridefilmsandplays.com.

thru THU: 12/02: Nationwide: David Sedaris tours with his new book: Squirrel Seeks Chipmunkhttp://www.barclayagency.com/speakers/appearances/sedaris.html

thru SUN: 10/17: Provincetown, MA: Women’s Week. http://www.womeninnkeepers.com/womens_week.html

MON: 10/11: Nationwide: National Coming Out Day. www.hrc.com/ncop

MON: 10/11: New York, NY: PFLAG New York Awards Dinner, 3rd edition. http://www.pflagnyc.org/dinner

TUE: 10/12: Los Angeles, CA: Michael Cunningham does a reading and booksigning of his new novel “By Nightfall”. 7PM. Los Angeles Public Library. Also: WED-THU: 10/13-10/14: San Francisco, CA. THU: 10/14: Seattle, WA: SAT: 10/16: Austin, TX: http://www.michaelcunninghamwriter.com/tour/

WED-SAT: 10/13-10/16: Atlanta, GA: The 2010 Atlanta Queer Literary Festival. http://atlqueerlitfest.blogspot.com/

THU-SUN: 10/14-10/17: San Francisco, CA: Sundance Stampede. San Francisco’s annual country/ western dance weekend. www.stompede.com

THU-SUN: 10/14-10/17: New York, NY: Queer Black Cinema International Film Festival. http://www.queerblackcinema.org/

THU-SAT: 10/14-10/23: Washington, DC: Reel Affirmations: The Nation’s LGBT Film Festival. www.reelaffirmations.org

FRI-SUN: 10/15-10/24: Seattle, WA: Seattle Lesbian & Gay Film Festival. www.threedollarbillcinema.org

SAT: 10/16: West Hartford, CT: Hartford AIDS Walk to benefit AIDS Project Hartford, and the Connecticut AIDS Resource Coalition. http://adiswalk2010.dojiggy.com

SAT: 10/16: Portland, OR Campus Pride College Fair and Prep Day. Northwest Region. http://www.campusclimateindex.org/events/default.aspx

SUN: 10/17: Atlanta, GA: AIDS Walk Atlanta. www.aidswalkatlanta.com

SUN: 10/17: Los Angeles, CA: AIDS Walk LA. www.aidswalk.net

SUN: 10/17: Westport, CT: Connecticut Cares 2010. http://support.lambdalegal.org/site/Calendar?view=Detail&id=101401

Newsworthy:

Coming Out: Teacher Reassigned for Coming Out. The Advocate reports: http://www.advocate.com/News/Daily_News/2010/10/04/Teacher_Reassigned_For_Coming_Out_to_Student/

National Sex Survey: 15% of adults are gay, according to Indiana University findings. The Advocate reports: http://www.advocate.com/News/Daily_News/2010/10/04/Sex_Survey_15_of_Adults_Gay/

Washington, DC: 52 area Starbucks will be converting their restrooms to gender-neutral in the wake of pressure from trans equality groups. Edge reports: http://www.edgeonthenet.com/index.php?ch=news&sc&sc2&sc3&id=111155

Alyson Books, a longtime publisher of LGBT books, will only publish e-books. Towleroad reports: http://www.towleroad.com/2010/10/alyson-books-nixes-print-to-only-publish-e-books.html

News: Gay Teens, Bullying and Suicide

Coming Out: Another Outing and Suicide. The New York Times reports: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/30/nyregion/30suicide.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

Recent Suicides Expose Pressures of Gay Teens. The New York Times reports: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/04/us/04suicide.html?src=mv

It Gets Better: the videos for LGBTQ teens: http://mashable.com/2010/10/03/it-gets-better-youtube-videos/

Gay Teen Suicide: a round-up from Towleroad: http://www.towleroad.com/2010/10/suicide.html

Video: Celebrities combat anti-gay bullying on “Larry King Live”. via Towleroad. http://www.towleroad.com/2010/10/celebrities-combat-anti-gay-bullying-on-larry-king.html

Video: “We Give a Damn” with Ricky Martin and oithers. via Towleroad: http://www.towleroad.com/2010/10/ricky-martin-elton-john-and-wanda-sykes-help-fight-hate-crimes.html

Video: Margaret Cho speaks out on pride and anti-gay bullying on “Dancing With The Stars”. via Towleroad: http://www.towleroad.com/2010/10/margaret-cho-uses-dancing-stage-for-gay-pride-suicide-prevention.html


The Buzz (People Making News)

Vaughan Walker, the Judge who declared California’s Proposition 8 unconstitutional, will step down from the bench in February 2011. Towleroad reports: http://www.towleroad.com/2010/09/prop-8-judge-vaughn-walker-stepping-down-next-year.html

Features

Coming Out: “What It’s Like to Be a Gay Teen”. Brian Moylan reports for Gawker. http://gawker.com/5652378/

Judy Shepard speaks out on the Clemente Suicide. CBS reports: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/10/01/earlyshow/living/parenting/main6918173.shtml

Give a Damn Campaign: is for everybody who cares about gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender equality. www.wegiveadamn.org. For public service announcements about “We Give a Damn”: http://www.broadwayworld.com/videoplay.php?colid=171536

Profile: It Gets Better, the campaign aimed at gay teens by those who’ve been through it. NPR reports: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130268587&sc=fb&cc=fp

Larry Kramer talks about his new epic book on the history of gay America. The New York Times reports: http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/09/28/more-to-the-story-a-history-of-gay-america/

What a Drag! New York Times theatre writer Ben Brantley looks at female impersonators from Charles Busch to Charles Pierce. http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/09/30/theater-talkback-what-a-drag/

Profile: Annise Parker, Houston Mayor. America’s first lesbian big-city mayor talks with Business Week. http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/10_41/b4198096799595.htm

Profile: TR Knight. Out of the OR and back on-stage. The New York Times reports: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/03/theater/03knight.html?_r=1

Gay Fall Travel Getaways: The Advocate recommendations: http://advocate.com/Travel/Destinations/Fall_Gay_Getaways/

LGBT History Month

LGBT History Month: A short video about Serge Diaghilev, who changed the world of ballet, bringing luminaries like Picasso, Stravinsky and Chanel together. Diahghilev discovered the famous dancer Nijinski and later became his lover. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/constantin-bjerke/diaghilev-and-the-golden_b_744251.html

In Performance: Onstage:Theatre/Music/Dance

New York City (and Broadway)

***A Life in The Theatre. T.R. Knight stars with Patrick Stewart who plays an elderly actor and Knight’s mentor in David Mamet’s play. to 1/02/11.
***Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes. Tony Kushner’s award-winning epic. thru 2/20/11. www.signaturetheatre.org.
***As Is. William Hoffman’s 1985 drama, one of the first plays to tackle the AIDS crisis in America. to 10/31/10. www.applecoretheatercompany.org
***The Divine Sister. Charles Busch plays the Mother Superior driven to build a new convent school in his new play. www.DivineSisterOnstage.com.
***La Bête, David Hirson's Moliere-inspired satire, starring David Hyde Pierce and Joanna Lumley (Patsy in “Ab/Fab”). http://labetetheplay.com/
***Oklahomo: The Adventures of Dave and Gary. A new rock musical about two Midwestern mall food court employees who are also partners in love (and eventually justice). 10/14/10-10/16/10. www.nymf.org
***Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown. A new musical based on out filmmaker Pedro Almodovar’s film. Patti LuPone, Brian Stokes Mitchell and Sherie Renee Scott star. www.lct.org.

Elsewhere...

***Anita Bryant Died For Your Sins. Brian Christopher Williams play about 1977 global recession, double digit unemployment and the fight for gay rights. to 10/24/10. San Francisco, CA. www.nctcsf.org
***Becoming Walt Whitman. The coming of age story of the famous poet, set in pre-Civil War Manhattan. to 10/24/10. Santa Rosa, CA. www.6thstreetplayhouse.com
***Boys Will Be Boys. The musical about a fundraiser to fight gay attention deficit disorder. to 11/20/10. Theatre Out, Santa Ana, CA. www.theatreout.com
***The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later. The Tectonic Theater Project’s docudrama about the aftermath of the Matthew Shepard murder. 10/13/10-10/14/10, Cedar Falls, IA. 10/18/10-10/19/10, Whitewater, WI. http://www.tectonictheaterproject.org/Tectonic.html
***Priscilla Queen of the Desert, the musical based on the 1994 Australian film. Toronto, ON. to 11/28/10. www.priscillathemusical.com.
***Take Me Out. Richard Greenberg’s award-winning drama about a major league baseball player who comes out. to 10/31/10. Los Angeles, CA.
www.celebrationtheatre.com
***Transfiguration: Transgressing Gender in The Bible.Peterson Toscano finds gay Biblical people. 10/13/10-10/16/10, Phoenix, AZ. http://www.petersontoscano.com/Schedule

On Display

to 10/23/10: Los Angeles, CA: Jeff Sheng’s Portraits of service men and women who pose in response to DADT. Kaycee Olsen Gallery. http://www.kayceeolsen.com/

to 9/04/11: Kent, OH: Katharine Hepburn’s collection of costumes from stage and screen. Kent State University Museum. http://www.kent.edu/news/video/hepburn.cfm

On Screen (and Video & DVD)

Out on Screen...

***Beyond Gay: The Politics of Pride. Bob Christie’s documentary shows that Pride is more than a parade, it’s a giant step on the road to global human rights.
***HOWL, the docu-feature about Allen Ginsberg (James Franco) by Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman. Trailer: . http://www.broadwayworld.com/videoplay.php?colid=171820
***The Kids Are All Right. Julianne Moore and Annette Bening star in a two-mom family dramedy. Their kids seek out their sperm donor father (Mark Ruffalo). http://www.filminfocus.com/focusfeatures/film/the_kids_are_all_right
***Stonewall Uprising, a new documentary by Kate Davis and David Heilbroner covering the 3-day Stonewall riots in 1969.

Out On Video & DVD
.
***Glee. The Complete First Season.
***LA Mission. Benjamin Bratt is a barrio tough guy who discovers that his son is involved in a relationship with another boy.
***Mädchen in Uniform, the 1958 lesbian classic.
***The Matthew Shepard Story. Stockard Channing plays Judy Shepard in the Lifetime network film about Matthew’s murder. Her performance is incredible.
***Modern Family: The Complete First Season. Follow the story of Mitchell and Cameron.
***Score. Radley Metzger’s 1972 film based on an off-Broadway play. One of the first mass-market films to explore couples who swing both ways. A gay sex scene with Cal Culver (Casey Donovan) was restored for the DVD release.

On TV Of Note: All times listed are ET. Check local listings for times in your area.

Resource:TV Gayed, GLAAD's Weekly Guide to What's LGBT on TV: Updated frequently. www.glaad.org/tvgayed

***September/October: In the Life. LGBT news magazine. PBS. Check local listings. http://www.itl.tv/inthelife/episodes/
***Weekdays: The Nate Berkus Show. Oprah’s out protege goes hourly in syndication. Check local listings.
***WED: 10/13: Michael Feinstein's American Songbook, parttwo of a three-part series that explores the history of American popular music. www.pbs.org.
***THU: 10/14: Cheyenne Jackson guest stars on the live episode of “30 Rock”. 8:30PM. NBC.

Conferences, Seminars, Benefits, and Special Events

10/18/10: New York, NY: The Normal Heart. Joel Grey directs a 25th anniversary staged reading of Larry Kramer’s groundbreaking play. Victor Garber, John Benjamin Hickey, Joe Mantello and Patrick Wilson star. An Actors Fund and Friends in Deed benefit. 212.221.7300, ext 133.

10/21/10: Los Angeles, CA: The Legacy Award, a gala to benefit Outfest’s Legacy Project for LGBT Film Preservation. www.outfest.org/tla/

10/21/10-10/24/10: Laughlin, NV: International Gay Rodeo Finals. www.finalsrodeo.com

10/27/10: Las Vegas, NV: Leslie Jordan headlines the Aid for AIDS Nevada Benefit. www.afanlv.org.

10/30/10-11/01/10: New York, NY: Queer Shabbaton. A weekend for LGBT Jews. http://www.nehirim.org/qsny

11/04/10-11/13/10: Chicago, IL: Reeling: Chicago Lesbian & Gay Int’l Film Fest.
www.reelingfilmfestival.org

11/05/10-11/07/10: Spokane, WA: Spokane LGBT Film Festival. www.spokanefilmfest.org

11/05/10: New York, NY: Campus Pride College Fair and Prep Day. East Coast Region. http://www.campusclimateindex.org/events/default.aspx

11/06/10: Boston, MA: Campus Pride College Fair and Prep Day. Northeast Region. http://www.campusclimateindex.org/events/default.aspx

11/06/10-11/07/10: Bloomington, IN: Queering the Countryside: New Directions in Rural Queer Studies. Indiana University’s two-day, interdisciplinary conference and workshop. http://www.iub.edu/~gender/queering-the-countryside.html


Last Week’s Trivia Quiz: National Coming Out Day

1. Question: Name this real-life teen who came out to his all-American family on January 15, 1973, on television’s first “reality series”. Hint: He later became a musician and a magazine columnist. Answer: Lance Loud. the Loud family was profiled on PBS’ “An American Family”.

2. Question: Name the comic strip, whose major character came out on February 10, 1976. He was the first comic hero to do so. Answer: Doonesbury. The character was Andy Lippincott.

3. Question: Name this singer, the first major entertainment figure to come out in an Advocate cover story on October 16, 1992. Her career never suffered as a result, and she paved the way for other entertainers, from Amanda Bearse to Nathan Lane. Answer: k.d. lang.

4. Question: Names this high-level American elected official who came out under duress on July 20, 1983. A fellow Congressman from his home state followed four years later. They were amongst the highest-ranked out public officers prior to Wisconsin Rep. Tammy Baldwin and New Jersey Governor James McGreevey. Answer: Gerry Studds, Massachusetts congressman. Barney Frank came out after him on May 30, 1987.

5. Question: Name this Emmy winner, who came out on television and on the cover of Time on February 14, 1997. Other Emmy winners who have since come out include: Rosie O’Donnell (2002) and Cynthia Nixon (2004). Answer: Ellen DeGeneres.

This Week’s Trivia Quiz: Marching for Equality

1. Question: When did the first major National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights take place ? It drew over 75,000 people to the Nation's Capitol to demand equal civil rights and urge the passage of protective civil rights legislation. It drew major LGBT figures of the times, amongst them Allen Ginsberg, Troy Perry, and Leonard Matlovich.

2. Question: Name this activist, very much involved in last year’s Equality March. A contemporary of Harvey Milk (he was played by Emile Hirsch in the recent film), he was a co-founder of the San Francisco AIDS Foundation. His memorial initiative to people with AIDS was unveiled for the first time in public at the secondMarch on Washington.

3. Question: Name the initiative, which evolved from the second major March on Washington in 1987, which drew over 500,000 people to demand government action, especially by the Reagan administration, in the fight against AIDS. Today, this initiative supports an act of bravery in the LGBT community.

4. Question: Name this national center, which opened days before the 1993 LGBT March on Washington. It's part memorial, part history museum about the marginalization and extermination of minorities, gays included. One major gay rights symbol traces it roots to this dark historical period.

The first person to submit the correct answers gets their name in print right here. Email your answers to: COSNewsweekly@gmail.com. If you do not want your email address to appear in the blog format of this newsletter, please indicate that. http://cosnewsweekly.blogspot.com/