Coming Out Support Newsweekly: 5/23/11

Coming Out Support (COS) Newsweekly
Volume 14 No. 20 May 23, 2011
Newsletter Editor: M. G. Auerbach Email: COSNewsweekly@gmail.com

The Fine Print

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The Gay Agenda: Datebook: May 23-29, 2011

For Pride Events worldwide: www.interpride.org. or http://www.gayfriendlybiz.com/calendar.html

thru SAT: 6/04: Nationwide: David Sedaris continues his book tour with his new bestseller “Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk”. http://www.barclayagency.com/speakers/appearances/sedaris.html

thru SAT: 6/18: Chicago, IL: Windy City Gay Idol talent competition. www.windycitymediagroup. com

MON: 5/23: Los Angeles, CA: Chaz Bono does a reading and booksigning of his autobiography “Transition: The Story of How I Became a Man “. 7PM. Barnes and Noble, Grove Drive.

MON: 5/23: New York, NY: Harvey Fierstein hosts the 2011 Drama Desk Awards. www.dramadesk.com

MON: 5/23: New York, NY: Out Music Awards, 7th edition. Hosted by LARA, LGBT Academy of Recording Arts. http://outmusicawards.com/

TUE: 5/24: New York, NY: Talk Out Tuesday at “The Normal Heart”. Post-performance conversation. http://thenormalheartbroadway.com/talkout.php.

WED: 5/25: San Francisco, CA: dot429 Inspire for LGBT professionals. http://dot429.com/events

WED-MON: 5/25-5/30: Toronto, ON: Annual Gay Bowling Tournament. www.igbo.org

THU: 5/26: New York, NY: The Bronx LGBT Career Fair. Hostos Community College. http://www.bronxpride.org/

THU-SAT: 5/26-6/04: Hartford, CT: Connecticut Gay and Lesbian Film Festival. http://www.OutFilmCT.org/.

THU-MON: 5/26-5/30: Atlanta, GA: Mondo Homo Dirty South. queer-centric festival featuring music, dance, crafts, performance & more.www.mondohomo.com

FRI: 5/27: Oakland, CA: COLAGE Booksigning: “Let’s Get This Straight” with author Tina Fahkrid-Deen. Laurel Bookstore. Also: SUN: 5/29: San Francisco, CA: Modern Times Bookstore. http://www.colage.org/events/lgtsoakland/

FRI-MON: 5/27-5/30: Oakland, CA: Voices Raised ! The first conference for people of color with LGBTQ parents. Presented by COLAGE. http://voicesraised.eventbrite.com/?ref=ebtn

Newsworthy:

Resource: Free LGBT News E-Newsletter. Gay Politics Report comes out twice-weekly with news briefings. From Smart Brief. An excellent resource for LGBY officials, business organizations, and community leaders. http://www.smartbrief.com/lgbt/

The 5/17/11 edition: http://www.smartbrief.com/servlet/ArchiveServlet?issueid=870133B7-CDD5-4EC4-B987-F269E3DFA341&lmid=archives

Resource: Gay Rights Media. News and resources of interest for the LGBT Equality Movement. http://GayRightsMedia.org/

New Data: Anti-Gay Bullying Linked with Suicide, HIV, STDs. A Family Acceptance Project research study indicates that: that LGBT youth who experience high levels of school victimization in middle and high school report impaired health and mental health in young adulthood. The San Francisco Chronicle reports: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2011/05/15/prweb8433605.DTL#ixzz1MXFE2528

Presbyterians Approve the Ordination of Gay People, after 33 years of debate. The New York Times reports: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/11/us/11presbyterian.html?_r=1&src=rechp

New York: Republican donors are backing the Gay Marriage push in the state. The New York Times reports: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/14/nyregion/donors-to-gop-are-backing-gay-marriage-push.html

Cuba: There was a colorful Pride march in Havana to celebrate sexual diversity and to oppose anti-gay discrimination. The Washington Post reports: http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/colorful-march-in-havana-celebrates-sexual-diversity-opposes-anti-gay-discrimination/2011/05/14/AFPrSd3G_story.html

The Buzz (People Making News)

Coming Out: Don Lemon, the CNN news anchor, has come out in a new book.
The New York Times reports: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/16/business/media/16anchor.html
NPR reports: http://www.npr.org/2011/05/16/136338277/livelihood-on-the-line-anchor-reveals-hes-gay?sc=fb&cc=fp

Coming Out: Rick Welts, president of the Phoenix Suns has come out. He hopes his coming out breaks the silence surrounding gay men in team sports. The New York Times reports: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/16/sports/basketball/nba-executive-says-he-is-gay.html

Coming Out: Will Sheridan, Villanova basketball starter, tells his coming out story to ESPN. http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/columns/story?columnist=oneil_dana&id=6488036

Ben Cohen, the British rugby star, has announced he’ll retire from the sport, to devote his time to fighting homophobia and bullying through his foundation. The Advocate reports: http://advocate.com/News/Daily_News/2011/05/16/Ben_Cohen_Quits_Rugby_to_Fight_Homophobia/

Awards and Honors:

Winners: GLAAD Media Awards in San Francisco, CA. http://www.glaad.org/mediaawards/22/recipients

Winners: Outer Critics Circle Awards for New York Theatre excellence. “The Kid”, the musical about Dan Savage and partner adopting a child; “The Book of Mormon”, “The Normal Heart”. From Talkin’Broadway.com: http://www.talkinbroadway.com/allthatchat/d.php?id=1974278

Photo Shoots, Audio and Video

Video: Chaz Bono explains TG to David Letterman. via Towleroad.com: http://www.towleroad.com/2011/05/chaz_letterman.html

Video: SNL: The Ambiguously Gay Duo. Live action version. Gawker reports: http://gawker.com/5801987/watch-snls-live+action-version-of-the-ambiguously-gay-duo

Photos: Broadway’s “The Normal Heart” gave Freedom to Marry a $10,000 check as part of a Facebook promotion. BroadwayWorld.com reports: http://broadwayworld.com/article/Photo-Flash-THE-NORMAL-HEART-Presents-10000-Check-to-Freedom-to-Marry-20110504

Video: Rory O’Malley, Tony nominee for “The Book of Mormon”, plays a closeted Mormon and talks about being closeted for 19 years. TheaterMania reports: http://www.theatermania.com/video/rory-omalleys-happy-day_188.html

Features

Update: Jim McGreevey was America’s first out governor (New Jersey). After coming out and leaving office, he went through a nasty divorce; he enrolled in seminary, and now works with the drug-addicted. The New York Times reports: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/17/nyregion/mcgreevey-out-of-politics-and-closet-hopes-to-join-clergy.html?_r=1&hpw

New York Couple: Richard Adrian Dorr and John Mace. After 60 years, they want to make it legal. The New York Times reports: http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/05/11/after-60-years-an-unfaded-desire-to-make-it-legal/

Op-Ed: Jaye Cee Whitehead, author of “The Nuptial Deal: Same-Sex Marriage and Neo-Liberal Governance” cites some of the wrong reasons for same-sex marriage: economic gain. from The New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/16/opinion/16whitehead.html?_r=1&hpw

193 Reasons to Have Pride. The Advocate’s recap of positive change for the LGBT community. http://advocate.com/Print_Issue/Cover_Stories/193_Reasons_to_Have_Pride_in_2011_Part_One/
http://advocate.com/Print_Issue/Cover_Stories/193_Reasons_to_Have_Pride_in_2011_Part_Two/

The Resource Center:

Fairfax Open House, a supervised safe gathering place for LGBTQ Jewish teens and their friends. Jewish Community Center of Northern Virginia. Fairfax, VA. www.fairfaxopenhouse.org.

Modern Tonic, the website with gay-approved pop culture gems before they’ve been co-opted by everyone else, is back with a newly designed website. They offer a newsletter. www.moderntonic.com

In Print:

Let’s Get This Straight: The Ultimate Handbook for Youth with LGBTQ Parents. by Tina Fahkrid-Deen. Seal Press. A book reaches out to young people with one or more gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, or queer parents to provide tools to combat homophobia, take pride in their alternative family structures, and speak out against injustice. This short but thorough book profiles forty-five diverse youth and young adults, all of whom voice their opinions and provide advice for other youth living in LGBTQ households.

In Performance: Onstage:Theatre/Music/Dance

New York City (and Broadway)

***Book of Mormon, the new musical penned by "South Park" co-creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker and “Avenue Q” Tony winner Robert Lopez.
***The Intelligent Homosexual’s Guide to Capitalism and Socialism with a Key To The Scriptures. Tony Kushner’s new play. to 6/12/11.www.publictheater.org
***Lucky Guy. Varla Jean Merman and Leslie Jordan co-star in a new musical set in Nashville. to 7/24/11. http://www.luckyguythemusical.com/
***The Normal Heart. Larry Kramer’s, landmark story of the early days of the AIDS pandemic. First produced 25+ years ago, it makes its Broadway debut. Talkbacks will be held after Tuesday performances.
***One Arm. Moises (“The Laramie Project”) Kaufman’s adaptation of Tennessee Williams unproduced screen play about a boxing champ who loses his arm and returns to hustling to survive. www.thenewgroup.org.. to 7/02/11.

Elsewhere...

***Armistead Maupin’s Tales of the City, world premiere of a new musical based on Armistead Maupin’s stories. By Jeff Whitty (”Avenue Q”), Jake Shears (Scissors Sisters) and John Garden. to 7/19/11. San Francisco, CA. www.act-sf.org
***Dooley. The world premiere of William diCanzio’s portrait of Tom Dooley, a gay Navy Doc who worked in Southeast Asia before the Vietnam war. to 5/29/11. San Diego, CA. www.diversionary.org.
***Follies. The legendary Sondheim musical about a reunion of show girls. Bernadette Peters stars. to 6/19/11. Washington, DC. www.kennedy-center.org
***The Pride. Alexi Kaye Campbell’s play about two men and a woman caught in a love triangle. to 7/03/11. San Francisco, CA. www.nctcsf.org
***Queer, a chamber opera interpertation of William Burroughs’ novel. to 5/29/11. San Francisco, CA. www.sfiaf.org

On Display

***Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty, a collection of the out designer’s works from 1992-2010. through 7/31/11. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY. http://www.metmuseum.org/special/se_event.asp?OccurrenceId=%7B55189B0E-51CF-4801-BC24-1D7CC67F7633%7D

On Screen (and Video & DVD)

Out on Screen...

***Beautiful Darling: The Life and Times of Candy Darling, Andy Warhol Superstar. James Rasin’s documentary about the transgender Andy Warhol superstar, who died in 1974, at age 29.
***The Broken Tower, written, directed by, and starring James Franco, who plays gay poet Hart Crane. At film festivals.
***Gen Silent,Stu Maddox’s new documentary about six LGBT elders and their caregivers in Boston. http://stumaddux.com/gen_silent_screenings.html
***Hey, Boo: Harper Lee and To Kill A Mockingbird. Mary McDonagh Murphy’s documentary about the illusive and reclusive aiuthor. At film festivals.
***Making The Boys. A documentry about the production of “The Boys in The Band”, the first commercially-successful gay-themed drama which opened just before Stonewall. Screening schedule on Facebook.

Out On Video & DVD

***Christopher and His Kind. The BBC adaptation of out author Christopher Isherwood’s autobiography. Isherwood wrote The Berlin Diaries, which as adapted as “Cabaret”, the musical.
***Rabbit Hole, John Cameron Mitchell (“Hedwig” and “Short Bus”) directs the movie version of the Broadway drama which stars Nicole Kidman. www.rabbitholefilm.com.
***Stonewall Uprising: The documentary about the beginning of the American gay rights movement. Available online: http://video.pbs.org
***Violet Tendencies. Mindi Cohn (“The Facts of Life”) plays a hag in this new romantic comedy. www.violettendenciesmovie.com.
***William S. Burroughs: A Man Within. Documentary about the Beat Generation icon and one of the first writers to explore queer culture in the 1950’s.

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

***May: In the Life. LGBT news magazine. PBS. Check local listings. http://www.itl.tv/inthelife/episodes/
***WED: 5/25: Oprah: The Finale. Syndicated. Check local listings.

Conferences, Seminars, Benefits, and Special Events

For Pride Events worldwide: www.interpride.org. or http://www.gayfriendlybiz.com/calendar.html

5/31/11-6/06/11: Orlando, FL: Gay Days Orlando. including Disney. www.gaydays.com

5/31/11: New York, NY: Talk Out Tuesday at “The Normal Heart”. Post-performance conversations. Also on Tuesdays through 6/21/11. http://thenormalheartbroadway.com/talkout.php.

6/01/11-6/30/11: San Francisco, CA: National Queer Arts Festival. LGBT performances and exhibits throughout the Bay Area. www.QueerCulturalCenter.org

6/02/11: Chicago, IL: PFLAG National Celebrates The Heartland. A fundraiser. http://community.pflag.org/chicago

6/02/11-6/05/11: Fort Worth, TX: Q Cinema annual celebration of LGBT-themed movies. www.qcinema.org

6/02/11-6/05/11: Pittsburgh, PA: The Gay and Lesbian Leadership Institute candidate training program. http://www.glli.org/programs/candidate_campaign

6/03/11: Chicago, IL: Unite With Pride: A Community Celebration, a civil union fete to benefit the Civil Rights Agenda and the Families United Project. http://www.jointcra.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=62&Itemid=75

6/05/11: Boston, MA: AIDS Walk Boston & 5K Run. www.aidswalkboston.org

6/10/11-6/12/11: Falls Village, CT: Neherim GLBT Jewish Culture and Spirituality East Coast Gathering. http://www.nehirim.org/east

6/10/11-6/12/11: San Francisco, CA: Queer Women of Color Film Festival. www.qwocmap.org

6/15/11-6/19/11: Provincetown, MA: Provincetown Int’l Film Festival. www.ptownfilmfest.org

6/16/11-6/26/11: San Francisco, CA: Frameline: San Francisco Int’l LGBT Film Festival. www.frameline.org

6/19/11: New York, NY: Folsom Street East. Leather street festival. http://www.folsomstreeteast.org/

6/19/11: New York, NY: Broadway Bares XXI: Masterpiece. The annual Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS benefit. www.broadwaybares.com

Last Week’s Trivia Quiz: Anti-Gay on the Outside / Gay on The Inside

1. Question: Name this anti-gay crusader and former Republican politician, who got busted for lewd conduct in an airport. His “wide stance” cost him $575 in court costs and fees, and his 28 year career in politics. Answer: Larry Craig, former Idaho Senator and Congressman. He’s featured in the documentary “Outrage”.

2. Question: Name this anti-gay crusader, a former Florida Republican, whose AOL instant messages with a page got steamy. More pages came forward, and he resigned from office. Answer: Mark Foley, who resigned from Congress in 2006. He’s now a realtor and he’s come out.

3. Question: Name this anti-gay crusader, and Evangelical preacher with a large ministry. In 2006, a hustler outed him for both being gay and using crystal meth. The preacher went to rehab blaming his behavior on his drug use. Answer: Ted Haggard, who today calls himself “a heterosexual with issues”. His feelings about homosexuality are echoed in the documentary “Jesus Camp”. Alexandra Pelosi featured him in a documentary “Friends of God: A Road Trip with Alexanda Pelosi” for HBO.

4. Question: Name this anti-gay crusader, a Calfornia State senator, who came out last year, after being busted for driving under the influence after leaving a gay bar. Answer: Roy Ashburn, a California State Senator (Republican) with an anti-gay voting record. He came out after his arrest.

This Week’s Trivia Quiz: Gays and the Military

As we commemorate service people who gave their lives for their country, we must also remember LGBT service people who have served against all odds under “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”.

1. Question: Name this former US Navy sailor, who won his case against DADT, after he was outed by AOL. The Navy asked AOL for his information based on a screen name and a profile, and AOL released private information without a search warrant or a court order. Hint: he shares a name with a notorious killer. .

2. Question: Name this DADT activist, an American infantry officer in the US Army, who came out on the Rachel Maddow Show. He has been a leader in demonstrations to force the repeal of DADT, and he applied for re-enlistment in October, 2010.

3. Question: Name this American infantry soldier, who was murdered by a fellow soldier in 1999, because he was believed to be gay. He was outed by a fellow soldier who learned that his buddy was dating a transgender entertainer. His life story was made into a Peabody Award-winning film.

4. Question: Name this pioneering gay American journalist, who brought the issues of DADT to the American public, after chronicling the AIDS epidemic in America, and one of the nationa’s most important LGBT civil rights activists.

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/