Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Page 1 Consider (05/26)

  • Gay of Reckoning: The world's LGBT population -- and anyone with a heart and a sense of decency -- eagerly awaits the California Supreme Court's decision today on Proposition 8, which could either change the course of history, or rob 18,000 married couples of their legal status as spouse and spouse. (NYT) Whatever the outcome, get ready to RALLY.

  • It's Showtime: The trial of the fake Rockefeller begins this week in Boston and I couldn't be more excited: "He told stories of growing up on Manhattan’s Sutton Place, of getting into Yale at 14 and of his work as an astrophysicist, venture capitalist or movie producer, depending on his whim." God, I love this stuff. (NYT)

  • The Real McCain: I know we helpless little homos are supposed to be all thankful when a member of the GOP is willing not to hate us for 10 seconds. But did it ever occur to Meghan McCain that the reason she doesn't endorse two of her party's favorite past times -- sucking Ann Coulter's cock and hating gay people -- is maybe because she's not really a Republican? (NYMag)

  • Top Seed: As he attempts to win a record fifth-straight French Open this week in Paris, Rafael Nadal decides to show the competition what he's made of with a shirtless cover shot on Men's Fitness. (MF)

  • Sister Excuses: No one adores Andrea Jaeger more than I do (moon balls and marble-rubber-banded pigtails? I'm in heaven!). But this "I threw the '83 Wimbledon final against Martina" over a bag of potato chips story sounds like the kind of crap I would have made when I was 10. (WashPost)

  • Military Rap: The White House is insisting that officials are working to overturn a policy that bans gays and lesbians from serving openly in the military, pushing back against Pentagon assessments a day earlier that such efforts were low priorities and Democratic activists’ complaint of slow progress. (AP) Meanwhile, gay and lesbian State Department employees and their partners will soon receive benefits equal to those of their heterosexual counterparts, according to a draft memo written by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. The new benefits granted same-sex partners include diplomatic passports, use of medical facilities, emergency evacuation from posts, transportation between posts, and training in security and languages. (Towleroad)

  • Mag Wars: How People magazine has managed to stay on top after all these years. (NYT)

  • Lavender Light: The Black and People of All Colors Lesbian and Gay Gospel Choir will be returning to Peter Norton Symphony Space in New York for its annual Gay Pride concert on Saturday, June 20, under the artistic direction of Ray Gordon. (Lavender Light)

  • Not Just for Jeffrey Dahmer, Anymore: Laos, the land where you find cute boys and good beer. (NYT)

    • Posted by Kenneth M. Walsh at 8:00 AM



    2 comments:

    Anonymous said...

    I guess it must be hilarious, if you're white and gay, to joke about a white serial killer who targeted asians and blacks. And simultaneously say that Laos is now a cool place to visit, by virtue of cute white boys drinking beer there. Because previously, it wasn't cool, right? Laotian boys only are attractive to disgusting serial killers, right? Oh, but it's funny when white serial killers kill Laotians! That was the original point.

    For a guy who preaches about equality, you sure have some skewed perspectives on race, kenneth, as well as some sensitivity issues. You know your audience though: vapid white gay dudes who whine about being denied civil rights and then write "no femmes, no fats, no asians" on their manhunt profiles.

    But it's all about privilege, right? It's your right apparently. It's the white gay community's right to determine standards of beauty, which third world countries are acceptably hip destinations (this season: white boys in Laos are in!), and which issues (i.e. white serial killers who preyed almost exclusively on gay men of color) are fodder for your humor.

    The average gay white dude is more racist than the average trailer park redneck. The community, dominated by the mores of middle class to upper middle class white guys, is based on nothing more than the satiation of desire, and there's not much of a way to get real equality out of that. It's consumerism, it's a marketplace, and it's a group of guys who couldn't care less about minorities within their own minority. So in "Milk," the one member of Harvey Milk's team who didn't get a follow-up in the end credits was the asian dude. Why would he? Who would care?

    He didn't have the fewest lines. His memoirs were one of the sources used to construct the script. But the typical white gay audience member doesn't give a crap about some asian queer. So Sean Penn can deliver a monologue about building a rainbow bridge into the future, but the end credits can say happily, "No asians."

    But keep on trucking, Kenneth. Like I said, you know your audience. And keep talking about marriage equality. As a minority, you're automatically an expert on that issue.

    12:42 PM
    Anonymous said...

    well, steven had his own axe to grind apparently.

    Anyway, I thought the Dahmer line was in poor taste & not funny.

    That's all.

    5:34 PM

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