Line-Up For NewFest, New York's Biggest LGBT Film Festival, Announced: VIDEO

In late June, Outfest, in partnership with the Film Society of Lincoln Center, announced the lineup for New York City's largest and most esteemed LGBT film festival, NewFest! Running from July 24th through July 29th, the nearly week-long event will consist of sixteen narrative and five documentary features.

Write the organizers:

Lesli Klainberg, Film Society of Lincoln Center's Executive Director said, “This marks the fourth year of having NewFest at the Film Society and we couldn’t be happier to continue our collaboration with Outfest. LGBT films and filmmakers are a vital part of cinema worldwide, and we are thrilled to offer this showcase on our screens each year.”

“In the year following spectacular LGBT civil rights advances across the country, the dynamic and fresh slate of 2014 NewFest films decisively demonstrates that artists and storytellers lead the charge in creating social change,” said Kristin Pepe (KP), Outfest’s Director of Programming.

NewFest's goal is to support "diverse film communities and voices from around the world," and the lineup for this year's festival has international entries from Brazil, Canada, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Israel, and several other countries, as well as films focused on the experiences of lesbian, gay, and transgender characters. 

The opening night film, Futuro Beach, is a joint Brazilian and German production:

"When Brazilian lifeguard Donato fails to save a swimmer from drowning, he seeks out the victim’s friend Konrad, a handsome German biker. The two men begin a passionate affair, and Donato soon decides to follow Konrad to Berlin. Years later, their seemingly peaceful life is threatened by a visitor from Donato’s past. Director Karim Aïnouz...delivers a visually stunning, emotionally resonant tale about three men struggling across oceans of love, loss, and heartache."

And the closing night slot is filled by legendary filmmaker Bruce LaBruce's Gerontophilia:

"Lake refuses to feel shame about his unquenchable appetite for older men. The handsome teen defiantly signs up as an orderly at a local nursing home and quickly falls for Mr. Peabody, a charming, flirtatious soul with one last wish. Forget everything you know about filmmaker Bruce LaBruce: in what is easily his most romantic work to date, he dares us to look beyond fetish to embrace the beauty of all stages of life."

NewFest tickets will go on sale on July 10th. For more information, visit the NewFest website.

And check out the trailers for Futuro Beach (not in English) and Gerontophilia, AFTER THE JUMP...

Short Film '420' Celebrates The HomoStoner Lifestyle: VIDEO

Jacob Brown's new short film "420" is straightforward, sexy, and psychedelic. A prolonged, lip-lock-filled toking session, the movie aims to promote respect and acknowledgement of a hybrid cultural niche: that of the 'homostoner'. One part homosexual, one part stoner, both parts woozy fun, the film is a fantasia acted out by a real-life couple.

Brown's Vimeo descriptions reads:

In the past few years, mainstream America has warmed to two formerly taboo trends: gay rights and marijuana. New York boyfriends Carlos Santolalla and John Tuite sit at the intersection of the two––their shared Instagram handle @jarlos420 is a showcase of their homostoner lifestyle. This video celebrates 420 and homoeroticism. “It’s about how weed can act as an aphrodisiac,” Santolalla explains. “A fantasy about when ‘lemme hit that’ becomes ‘lemme hit that.’”

Enjoy the short film, AFTER THE JUMP...

(Warning: work-unfriendly)

420 from Jacob Brown on Vimeo.

Authorities Cancel March for Equality in Kiev, Ukraine

A March for Equality scheduled for Saturday was canceled after authorities said they could not provide adequate protection from marchers, Human Rights First reports:

Despite months of negotiation with LGBT activists, the Kyiv authorities today said they could not protect the March for Equality scheduled for tomorrow. Organizers told Human Rights First that the march was designed as an opportunity for Ukrainians to demonstrate unity and shared values. Kyiv's first equality march took place in 2013 with police protection, and local activists hoped that once the precedent had been set this year's march would be able to take place safely.

"Kyiv Mayor Klitschko's statement that 'this is not the right time for a celebration' is a huge disappointment. He should have a better understanding of what a demand for equality is. You can't have a hierarchy of human rights," said Olena Shevchenko, co-chair of the organizing committee of Kyiv 2014 Pride. "It seems like it's never really the right time for LGBT rights."

Kiev's first such march was held in May 2013 and faced similar concerns, but police stepped in at the last minute and provided security, arresting 13 for trying to disrupt the event.

 

John Boehner Pens CNN Op-Ed: 'Why We Must Sue The President'

House Speaker John Boehner has written a column for CNN attempting to justify the House Republicans' latest waste of time and taxpayer money.

Writes Boehner:

...later this month, we will bring legislation to the House floor that would authorize the House of Representatives to file suit in an effort to compel President Obama to follow his oath of office and faithfully execute the laws of our country.

The President's response: "So sue me."

What's disappointing is the President's flippant dismissal of the Constitution we are both sworn to defend. It is utterly beneath the dignity of the office. I know the President is frustrated. I'm frustrated. The American people are frustrated, too.

Millions Hit Streets of Madrid for LGBT Pride, Including Conchita Wurst: VIDEO

More than a million people took to the streets of Madrid, Spain yesterday for one of Europe's largest LGBT Pride celebrations, Expatica reports:

Tens of thousands crammed one of the Spanish capital's broad central avenues, the Paseo del Prado, in the early evening to the din of drums and whistles in a parade scheduled to last seven hours.

Organisers expected more than a million people at the evening parade, the main event in five days of festivities by defenders of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights.

The festival kicked off on Wednesday night with an open air appearance by Conchita Wurst, the bearded Austrian transvestite who won the Eurovision song contest in May. That was followed on Thursday by an annual highlight of the festival: men in high heels and dresses raced on foot through Madrid's gay district, Chueca, cheered on by crowds.

Wurst sang on Friday evening alongside various Spanish stars at a concert in the Vicente Calderon stadium, home to Atletico Madrid football club.

Watch highights from Madrid's Pride parade and part of Conchita's appearance in which she sings "And I'm Telling You", AFTER THE JUMP...

Anti-Gay Mississippi Law Takes Effect

Senate Bill No. 2681, a law allowing businesses to refuse LGBT identified people service went into effect on Tuesday.

Better known as the Mississippi Religious Freedom Restoration Act, the provision enables businesses to cite religious beliefs as a legitimate reason to turn customers away.

Sponsored by conservative Baptist pastor and state senator Philip Gandy, SB2681 was met with unabashed support from Mississippi's governor, Phil Bryant (pictured, below). “I am proud to sign the Mississippi Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which will protect the individual religious freedom of Mississippians of all faiths from government interference,” Gov. Phil Bryant said in a statement.

Opposition to the bill, however, is widespread. If You're Buying, We're Selling is a coalition of local Mississippi businesses dedicated to stand against SB2681. The group distributes stickers to organizations wishing to display their opposition to the bill in their storefronts, letting consumers know that they're more than glad to serve any and all patrons.

John Curence, a Mississippi-based chef, has become one of the most prominent and vocal voices opposing the bill. "More than anything else, the law sends a terrible message about the state if consciousness in the state of Mississippi," Currence told the New York Times. "We are not going to sit idly by and watch Jim Crow get revived in our state."

Currence recently found himself face to face with Gov. Bryant through the 35th annual Central Park summer picnic thrown by the New York Mississippi Society. Booked months before Bryant threw his support behind SB2681, Currence turned the awkward conflict of interests into an opportunity. The following evening Currence and fellow chef Kelly English organized The Big Gay Mississippi Welcome Table, a protest dinner.

If, as supporters of the bill claimed, the law was simply trying to protect freedom of speech, the the governor need only attend Currence's protest dinner and state as much. Rather than accepting the invitation, Currence explained in an interview with Buzzfeed, the governor's office responded with hostility: “I got a phone call, a dressing down by the governor’s office — they wanted to know why I would embarrass the governor like this. And then it f**king dawned on me: You a**holes don’t f**king talk to me like a sixth-grader in the principal’s office, I’m a 50-year-old man. More to the point, I’m on the right f**king side of this thing. All you a**holes have to do is come to dinner.”

Read the full text of SB2681 AFTER THE JUMP...

Mississippi Religious Freedom Restoration Act [SB 2681] SB 2681 Mississippi by Leonardo Blair