Bring the 'Battle of the Sexes' Home

My favorite movie of the year -- and the first truly great tennis film -- will be available for digital viewing on Dec. 19 and on Blu-Ray and DVD on Jan. 2. Read my rave review HERE and pre-order it now HERE.

On the Rag, Vol. 478

A weekly look at what's making news in the gay mags:

Get Out!: Alan Cumming camps it up as Ted Tinling in "Battle of the Sexes" / Read HERE.

Gay Times (U.K.): Are you still crushing hard on Aaron Samuels of "Mean Girls"? Read HERE.

GCN (Dublin): Gilead continues to block Ireland from sourcing generic Truvada / Read HERE.

The Advocate: U.S. refuses to condemn the death penalty for gays / Read HERE.

The Gay U.K.: Just 15% of the world has marriage equality for gay people / Read HERE.

Grab (Chicago): Demi Lovato on her own terms / Read HERE.

Curve: Tegan and Sara hit the road / Read HERE.

Lavender (Twin Cities): “Ex-Gays: Not a Str8 Remount” Satirizes Praying the Gay Away at SpringHouse / Read HERE.

QX (London): Travis Alabanza: The critically acclaimed artist and performer talks harassment, visibility and perceptions of gender / Read HERE.

What's hot this weekend in the U.K. / Read HERE.

HotSpots (South Florida): OUTshine Film Festival Honors ’13 Reasons Why’ Star Tommy Dorfman / Read HERE.

Flip Flops' October Sunday Tea Dance looks fun / Read HERE.

Out: Lena Waithe on Her Emmy Win, the Power of ‘90s TV & MoMA’s 'Black Intimacy' Film Series / Read HERE.

A&U Magazine: Barney Frank Talks AIDS, Government, and Fending Off the Homophobes in the Early Years of the Epidemic / Read HERE.

Paper: Ex-doorman on surviving NYC's sexy, drug-fueled '80s / Read HERE.

Metro Weekly (D.C.): A man with his own unique story, Louie Ortiz-Fonseca uses both his work and his art to champion queer youth of color / Read HERE.

LGBTQ community demands gun control in wake of Vegas massacre / Read HERE.

Rage Monthly: Trick or treat? Online edition HERE

POZ: I'm not interested in much lately -- am I clinically depressed? Read HERE.

San Francisco Bay Times: Photos from the SF AIDS Foundation's 35th Tribute Celebration HERE.

DNA (Australia): Maybe Russia isn't all bad / From HERE.

Gloss (San Francisco): Meet Miss Juliet Pries, the queen of ice cream / Read HERE.

Winq (U.K.): Madonna's greatest ever gay moments / Read HERE.

Edge Media: Sam Smith spotted canoodling with "13 Reasons Why" star Brandon Flynn / Read HERE.

The Fight: Your complete guide to Palm Springs Leather Pride HERE.

Q Salt Lake: How LGBT-inclusive are the three leading Utah gubernatorial candidates for 2020? Read HERE.

Echo (Phoenix): All about AIDS Walk Arizona 2017 / Read HERE.

'Battle of the Sexes' to Include Billie Jean's King's Litigious Lesbian Lover

Tennis films have been historically awful.

Regular readers know I'm strangely immune to the charms of the famed Battle of the Sexes between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs, so you can only imagine how not-interested I was in the big-screen version starring Emma Stone and Steve Carell. (Yes, I know it was culturally enormous, but tennis exhibitions always leave me flaccid. Plus there's all that crap about the match being fixed by the mob.) 

But that was before I saw that Andrea Riseborough had been cast as Marilyn Barnett, BJK's former hairdresser turned lover who outed the tennis legend with an explosive galimony suit in 1981 -- which stated she had been promised a home and financial help "for the rest of her life" -- and that Stone had nailed Billie Jean's voice! 

Jan. 28, 1948-April 12, 1996 

Barnett lived in the Kings' Malibu beach house between 1972 and the time of her lawsuit, which was reportedly sparked by the Kings' attempt to evict her so they could sell it. Barnett became a paraplegic as a result of a fall from the balcony of the house. It had been reported that Barnett's fall was actually a suicide attempt, but King declined to ever comment, other than to say she knew Barnett had been "unstable" for some time. 

Check out the scenes of Billie Jean and Marilyn in bed -- I don't see BJK listed as a consultant, so I wonder how she feels about this delicate subject.

I remember the summer this story broke like it was yesterday. As I wrote in my memoir, it was the first time I understood exactly what "homosexual" meant -- and that I was one.

The Daily News made the "confession" front-page news.

I'll never forget that press conference with her mortified parents looking on.

And how the Kings tried to save their "business" by pretending they were working through the affair and were considering adopting a child. (It didn't work -- BJK lost all her sponsorship deals and Avon dropped the women's circuit.)

Only Abscam tops lesbianism!

Emma Stone and Steve Carell Hold Court in 'Battle of the Sexes'

Here's our first look at Emma Stone and Steve Carell as Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs on the L.A. set of their upcoming movie named after the infamous "Battle of the Sexes." While I'm certainly a fan of giving tennis more exposure, the doubles alleys are lined with disastrous films about the sport. What's more, despite realizing what a huge moment it was in history -- not just for women, but for every underdog -- the fabled 1973 showdown at the Houston Astrodome never really captured my attention (exhibitions rarely do), so I have a hard time believing the public is going to care, either. That being said, they both look the part very nicely!  

Some say the match was an elaborate mob set up, an allegation King denies.

Didn't Ron Silver and Holly Hunter already double fault?