07/06/2007
Afternoon Headlines: Gay Gone St8, Island Justice, French Toast
A Change'll Do You Good: Wondering how gay rights leader Michael Glatze got over his "weakness" for ass? Read his firsthand account here and then check out Matt Rettenmund's thoughtful analysis of it all over it here. Apparently intestinal cramps are the first step toward recovery from gayness (huh?) and not feeling any lust for your sexual partner helps too (which shouldn't be a problem for Mr. Glatze next time he "bags a babe," I'm sure).
Island Justice? Michel Steeve “Duracell” Javois., the thug who was convicted of attacking CBS News employees Dick Jefferson and Ryan Smith with a tire wrench while they were vacationing in St. Martin last year, had his six-sentence cut in half by a the Joint Court of the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba on Thursday. The reason? New witnesses say he's not the guy with "the pom-pom hairstyle" after all. Another blow to Jefferson, who after launching a campaign to seek justice from lax prosecutors on the island has since been fired by the Tiffany Network and is now suing them for gay-biased discrimination.
French Toast: Marion Bartoli of France, whose two-handed on both wings game is modeled after Monica Seles, shocked Justine Henin today, 1-6, 7-5, 6-1, to reach her first Grand Slam final. She will face three-time All England queen Venus Williams, who beat French Open runner-up (and total cutie) Ana Ivanovic, 6-2, 6-4. Meanwhile, another French player, Richard Gasquet, knocked out Andy Roddick in five thrilling sets and will now face four-time defending champion Roger Federer in the semis.
Dewey Beach police broke up a melee involving about a dozen patrons at the Big Mike's Frozen Tundra nightclub in Dewey Beach, Delaware, on Tuesday. Several of those who were ejected from the business claim they were kicked out because they are gay men. One of the men who was asked to leave, Silvano Melgar, 21, of Fairfax, Va., explains" "Things were fine until we had eight or nine gay guys join us,. Then someone said, 'You guys need to leave because we don't roll that way.'" Melgar claimed a bouncer allegedly ordered him and his friends to leave. At about the same time, patrons of the bar allegedly used gay epithets to insult the men, at which time a fight broke out. Melgar claimed one of his friends was punched in the face twice and also sustained a sprained or broken finger but has not sought treatment. Melgar says that when the police arrived they backed the attackers and ordered him and his friends to leave. "The guy who punched my friend in the face was allowed to go back into the bar," Melgar said. "I completely understand that people say things they don't mean when they're drunk, but how can they make the gay people leave and let the straight people stay? I'm familiar with prejudice, but this is the first time I've experienced something like this."
Evangelically Yours: Wondering how Ted Haggard's former dealer and hooker Mike Jones is doing? Queerty has the latest.
Vote for Hate: A Miami Beach man who flies a huge banner over his front lawn denouncing gays -- but insists he's "not a homophobe" -- is now running for mayor.
Bad Cop, Bad Judge: A San Francisco police officer who was suspended for producing videos that the mayor and police chief in 2005 as sexist, homophobic and racist has had his suspension overturned in court. The Court of Appeals said that Police Chief Heather Fong had not followed legal procedure when she ordered Andrew Cohen suspended.
Posted 6:59 PM EST by Kenneth Walsh | Permalink
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Oh, MIchael...you've opened my eyes. Yeah, being gay is sooooo boring and bad. I just read an article about some straight people who just raped a woman and then forced her son to have sex with her before the gang poured cleaning fluid in the son's eyes. That's what being straight will do for you....violence and hatred. And don't get me started on the straights who started a war in Iraq where soldiers raped and killed a teenage girl. And it goes on and on. Talk about not understanding what real love is.
Posted by: woodroad34 | Jul 6, 2007 8:04:47 PM
Glatze is clearly now a big mess, but, with all due respect, Matthew Rettenmund's bitchy comments about the magazine and Website that Glatze cocreated, YGA [Young Gay America} reflect more poorly on him than Glatze. That Rettenmund was not familiar with YGA magazine only suggests that his knowledge of gay "boy culture" is more limited than he thinks.
There's no defense for Glatze's present crusade, particularly in his literal demonization of gays and defense of antigay laws, but there is much to be admired and respected in his past. He and his former partner Benjie Nycum both worked for XY magazine and wrote the critically acclaimed and popular "XY Survival Guide, Everything You Need to Know About Being Young & Gay." Copies ordered by a Canadian gay bookstore were confiscated by Canadian customs.
They left XY as it devolved more and more into teen soft porn. Out of their desire to provide emerging gay kids with something more grew YGA magazine which perhaps Rettenmund never heard of because it wasn’t about him—or me for that matter, or most Towleroadies. Its success [read survival] ironically was negatively impacted by the limits on their very target demographic, few of whom could have delivered to their parents’ home. I met both Glatze and Nycum at Equality Forum [have you heard of that?] in Philadelphia in 2005 and Nycum spoke of how difficult it often was to get some distributors/stores to carry it, particularly in places where positive messaging to gay kids was most absent. That two guys on their own were trying to bankroll and publish such a unique needed resource rather than, e.g., the rolling-in-money Human Rights Champagne fund is but further evidence of how little many national gay groups and PAID professional activists actually care about gay kids [after all they can't yet be groomed as cash cows for such groups or buy those expensive dinner tickets to watch Reichen and Lance canonized].
They also produced the moving documentary about the suicide after years of harassment in school, including being urinated on, of 19-year old Jim Wheeler called "Jim in Bold," and toured the country with an exhibit of pictures and interviews with gay kids they'd put together. In 2003, Equality Forum gave them the Tom Stoddard
National Role Model Award presented by Wheeler's mother who called them HER role models. How many of you have heard of Jim Wheeler or Tom Stoddard? http://www.equalityforum.com/2003/gallery/jiminbold/05.jpg
It appears to have been a very sad emotional slide for Glatze from that day and others such as those when he shared the stage at Harvard with Judy Shepard and her message of acceptance and hope for gay kids. And the bloodthirsty antigay industry wolves have already locked their fangs around him and are shaking him in our faces.
Yes, we have every right to fight back as they do that and while he equates homosexuality with death But to trash him with so little knowledge of what came before both demeans the good that was done then as well as Nycum who as far as I know is still proudly gay, and the ongoing need to prevent others be they 13 or 30 like Glatze from falling into such pits of self-hatred. With apologies to Shakespeare, it’s not that Glatze is doing less but that the older, out gay community needs to do more.
Posted by: Michael | Jul 6, 2007 8:47:45 PM
Rather surprised to see intolerance at Dewey Beach, considering the extent of the G/L community in neighboring Rehoboth; but there's always been a undercurrent of tension between the "family beach-town" crowd and the G/L-friendly business community. Not quite a "war for the town's soul", but tension that gets ugly every so often. And southern Delaware is way-below the Mason-Dixon line. North of the D&C Canal is the industrial Northeast, but south of the Canal is rural-South Carolina....and acts. Every few years some bar or restaurant gets a "too gay-friendly" reputation; and some of the locals and staff get out their hoods.
It's a shame that burning a Lambda in front of someone's business just doesn't carry the same "weight"....a flaming BMW convertible is just a double-entendre'.
Posted by: Ted B. (Charging Rhino) | Jul 6, 2007 9:15:04 PM
Michael,
Thanks for posting about Michael Glatze. I had never put two and two together and realized that he was the same Michael Glatze from YGA and Jim in Bold. It makes the whole thing just stranger and more heart-breaking still.
Posted by: Ed | Jul 6, 2007 11:28:42 PM
Michael Glatze's story reminds me of the Thomas Moore's little story about the three monks:
Three monks knelt in the chapel in the dark morning hours before dawn. The first thought he saw the figure of Jesus come down from the cross and rest before him in midair. Finally, he said to himself, I know what contemplation is.
The second felt himself rise out of his place in the choir. He soared over his brother monks and surveyed the timber-vaulted ceiling of the church, and then landed back in his place in the choir. I've been blessed, he thought, with a minor miracle, but in humility I must keep it to myself.
The third felt his knees growing sore and his legs tired. His mind wandered until it came to a stop on the image of a luscious hamburger laden with onions and pickles.
'No matter how hard I try," said the devil's helper to his master, "I can't seem to tempt this third monk."
from Thomas Moore- "The monk who dwells in daily life"
Posted by: Ed | Jul 6, 2007 11:44:12 PM
Dewey Beach is a heinously gag-inducing town; I have no idea why any person who is a Kinsey 2.5 or greater would go anywhere near it. That is, unless you enjoy strolling along on a sidewalk covered in adolescent vomit, and are amused by a place where each bar has at least one girl sitting alone in front, on the curb, crying. Stay in Rehoboth, ladies.
Posted by: Kevin | Jul 7, 2007 12:58:57 AM
13 years of shame. I can't help but feel sorrow for this man. I'd hope my experiences, memories and friends of thirteen years would be of significance to me at then end. Apparently Mr. Glatze is not over his confussion. Perhaps this "ex-gay" was never gay to begin with. I can tell you that my life is not a state of lust or for that matter a state of the mind, for this I know where I stand, for this I hope Mr. Glatze finds peace at last.
Posted by: Rafael | Jul 7, 2007 1:47:30 AM
I meant to say 16 years. After reading it, I guess I was confused myself : )
Posted by: Rafael | Jul 7, 2007 2:08:43 AM
Michael --
Funny how you criticize Matt Rettenmund for his "bitchy" comments and then proceed to
A. all but stick your tongue up the arse of a gay man who is ready to vote for any law that would encourage your demise; and
B. deliver your comments in a tone that's nothing short of ... uh, bitchy.
P.S. Matt's post read more witty than bitchy to me. The fact that you don't see the difference speaks volumes.
Posted by: Pot Calling the Kettle | Jul 7, 2007 2:09:03 AM
Glatze is either a nutjob or milking nutjobs for all they are worth. His religious verbiage suggests that he just mouthing platitudes without saying anything concrete. WND is for people who think the earth is flat. Just wait until he "sins" again.
Posted by: anon (gmail.com) | Jul 7, 2007 2:17:54 AM
glatze is clearly delusional. my best guess is that he is schizophrenic. why should we care what he says?
Posted by: nic | Jul 7, 2007 3:30:04 AM
Daniel DiRito wrote an excellent analysis of the Glatze story on his blog, Thought Theater:
http://tinyurl.com/yqc52s
There's also some good discussion in the comments section.
Posted by: Zippy | Jul 7, 2007 12:57:59 PM
What a pathetic loser. I read his whole article, I laughed, I didn't cry. How do the delusionally religious write so much without saying anything? The whole thing is drivel. I don't even know what any of that crap is supposed to mean. What "Truth" is he talking about? Everything he said equals "blank" to me. Utterly devoid of meaning unless you're clinically insane. (And I don't mean that to offend the religious, but the intelligent religious people I know translate their faith into positive, uplifting messages and works, not self-hatred and bigotry.) To have put so much effort into what seem to have been really good programs with his magazine and the film and then to turn into a self-hating God freak must be a hard expereience, but he can fuck off as far as I'm concerned.
I wish him good luck with resolving his guilt through empty platitudes, and if that makes him feel better, good for him. I'll be waiting for the inevitable news story down the line when he's caught sucking dick in some bathroom off some Bible belt interstate.
Posted by: So Left I'm Right | Jul 7, 2007 4:03:59 PM
Michael: I'm perplexed by your vitriol over my comment that Glatze overemphasizes the importance of YGA. I think some of your anger might come from a frustration that more in the gay community are not aware of the political and social strides some in our community are trying to make.
First, even though I'm gay and keenly aware of (commercial) magazine publishing, I simply had never heard anything about YGA, which is why I said that. That makes sense since I was ancient by the time it was published. (I did know about the fun, "what do you mean am I porn?" XY, which I was featured in just before I turned ancient.)
While I certainly commend Peter Ian Cummings and the others who put XY and/or YGA together, my point in commenting on the importance of YGA was not to belittle anyone, it was to underscore that Glatze—now turning ex-gay—is trumping up his importance in the gay community as a way to endear himself to our enemies and to make himself into a much bigger "catch" than he is. "A former rising star in the gay rights movement" (paraphrasing) is how some (anti-gay) articles have described him, and that is like Michael Jackson demanding to be called the King Of Pop. Except that Michael Jackson could arguably be termed the King Of Pop, and for all his accomplishments, I don't think Glatze could rightfully be termed an ex-rising star.
I hope this clears things up.
Posted by: Matthew Rettenmund | Jul 7, 2007 10:46:25 PM
I agree with @so left I'm right.
Who cares about these so-called ex-gays? Its laughable. Delusional idiots.
Posted by: athiest | Jul 8, 2007 11:38:41 AM