An Interview with Lewis Payton »
06/15/2006
When I read the news reports about the beating of Kevin Aviance over the weekend, there was casual mention of another gay bashing in Astoria, Queens. While I have yet to find any kind of official report on it. Here's a first-hand report, however, from one of the victims in the attack: "Once we escaped the scuffle we were chased down the block by one of the guys wielding a baseball bat. My friend was struck in the head with the bat and fell into the street. His cell phone and eyeglasses were destroyed. We ran to the St. James Deli on the corner of 34th ave and 34th street but were refused entrance to the deli by the clerk only to be told 'This is your fight. They will destroy the place.' Because of this, my friend was again struck with the bat."
About 100 books in the gay and lesbian section and African-American section of the John Merlo Branch Library in the Chicago Public Library system were destroyed by fire on Tuesday. Police are investigating the blaze but are not currently treating it as a hate crime. Proceed at your Own Risk offers up a short history of book burning.
The return of the short-sleeved dress shirt: "It's a particular look. You can look very cool in it, but you're never going to be chic. It's easy to slide into schlumpy office worker."
Openly gay Episcopal Bishop Gene Robinson pleaded with the Episcopal General Convention on Wednesday to not impose a moratorium on electing gay bishops: I am not an abomination before God. Please, I beg you, let's say our prayers and stand up for right."
A guide to this weekend's Pride parties in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
A gay cast member on the upcoming Real World, now shooting in Denver, has changed his name for the show: "Whatever his real name is, he’s a smart guy, perhaps guessing that he won’t want to be known as 'so-and-so from The Real World' the rest of his life. Instead, he’ll just be known as 'the guy who looks a lot like Jeremy from The Real World.'"
Anderson Cooper gives woman a boner. Cooper: "Haha, i'm scandalized!"
LOGO unveiled a new slate on Wednesday: The Service, "a one-hour drama that looks at the lives of enlisted LGBT men and women at a military base, where they covertly combat rising persecution under new commanders," Sordid Lives: The Series, "a half-hour comedy that follows an eccentric Texas family whose intertwining off-kilter lives ultimately lead to the death of the family matriarch," and the That Gay Ghost, "a half-hour sitcom pilot that centers on the members of a conservative family whose lives are changed when they discover that a gay ghost named Cosmo is living in the closet of their new home."
Posted 12:25 PM EST by Andy Towle in Anderson Cooper, Crime, Elsewhere, Fashion Men, Gay Pride, Religion, Television | Permalink
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dear andy....yet again, beautiful images and one's creative endeavors and expression are far more endearing and uplifting than recent hateful stories that seemingly convey something far more inferior and anything but productive in the greater sense of the very idea. genius.
Posted by: ricardo | Jun 15, 2006 1:16:26 PM
SOMETHING FOR MARY...
Dear Mary Cheney,
I understand how difficult it must be for you to walk that fine line that exists in your mind to be both queer and "acceptable" to Mom and Dad. The problem is, no matter how hard you try Mom, Dad and their Republican friends will always LOATHE you. Oh yeah, they will say they "hate the sin and love the sinner," but DEEP DOWN they know the "sin" is attached to your chromosomes.
read more... at PINK PANTHERS BLOG!
http://www.pinkpanthersblog.com/
Posted by: cowboyNEOK | Jun 15, 2006 1:44:46 PM
Yes! I love short sleve dress shirts! I'm wearing one right now. I picked it up in the UK at a school uniform shop. Only cost £2.00
But wasn't "geek chic" all the rage, only like 5 years ago? Fashion recycles so fast these days. Does anything really go out of style?
Posted by: Barry | Jun 15, 2006 2:26:15 PM
Re: short-sleeved dress shirt: "It's easy to slide into schlumpy office worker."
haha, so pretty much it's cool if you're hot, but not if you're not. Just like, um, everything else. . .
Posted by: Rottin' in Denmark | Jun 15, 2006 4:14:49 PM
Hmmm Why isn't this getting more news coverage? The Queens bashing is a human disaster across the board (The Deli guy should pack lightly for his trip to the afterlife) and definitely turns the racial argument others have been employing, regarding the complexion of urban homophobia, on its head - I guess it's back to the (scapegoat) drawing board.
On the "other peoples lives" tip, you sorta have to wonder what the asian dude's life is like. I mean, what does he see when looks in the mirror after a night out of gay bashing and beating up "niggers" with his euro pals ? The mind, and its capacity for deception, is a most curious thing.
Posted by: Giovanni | Jun 15, 2006 5:26:59 PM
Is there such thing as a double hate crime? Just askin...
Posted by: Giovanni | Jun 15, 2006 5:32:33 PM
I'll wait and see in terms of LOGO.
So far, their content is softer and more milquetoast that network TV. In short, it's boring. And I still haven't forgiven them for not running that inclusive church commercial.
Posted by: jjabely | Jun 15, 2006 6:16:08 PM
Bash the gaybashers1
Posted by: Jason | Jun 16, 2006 10:05:04 AM