LGBT Stories: Alan Cumming Discusses Childhood Crush On Elton John And The Media's 'Coming Out' Obsession

NATHAN MANSKE

Nathan Manske and Marquise Lee just finished a 4 month, 50 state tour of the United States collecting stories for their I'm From Driftwood site. We'll be sharing some of the stories they collected along with some of the insight into what they saw. They're still encouraging people to submit their written stories via IFD.

It was a dreadfully dreary and rainy day when we met Alan. He was out walking his two dogs — one which insisted she sit on my lap during the storytelling — when we arrived. Even when the camera wasn't rolling, Alan seemed to talk from an outsider's perspective, like he'll always be the Scotland farmboy making it in the big city. He seemed fascinated by and curious about everything, which made him a a pleasure to speak with.

Watch, AFTER THE JUMP...

Recently in this series...
A Repressed Memory of a Traumatic Gym Class and an Abusive Father [tr]
Mormon Church Excommunicates Young Man, Forcing Him to Come Out [tr]
Gay Love Story in Bible Leads to New Belief System [tr]
From Cancer Diagnosis to Fairytale Wedding [tr]
Yale Student Jake Conway on His 'Ultimate Sense of Pride' [tr]

News: Brenda Namigadde, Halifax, Dennis Kucinich, San Diego

NYC Mayor Bloomberg taps Giffords intern Daniel Hernandez for anti-gun campaign.

Ugandan lesbian Brenda Namigadde faces deportation from UK, threat from "kill the gays" bill author. Brenda: “I’ll be tortured, or killed, if I’m sent back to Uganda. They’ve put people like me to death there.”

Glee creator Ryan Murphy and Kings of Leon at each other's throats.

Point Foundation to honor Margarethe Cammermeyer, Johnson & Johnson, and Andy Cohen at Point Honors benefit.

Rise in some head and neck cancers tied to oral sex.

Military can't link Army Private Bradley Manning to Wikileaks founder Julian Assange: "The officials say that while investigators have determined that Manning had allegedly unlawfully downloaded tens of thousands of documents onto his own computer and passed them to an unauthorized person, there is apparently no evidence he passed the files directly to Assange, or had any direct contact with the controversial WikiLeaks figure."

Jason Statham mans up for Men's Journal.

San Diego police investigate series of paintball attacks at potential hate crimes: "I can't say the words they used on television, but it was pretty clear they were specific to sexual orientation."

Shiloh Fernandez: big bad wolf?

Anti-gay graffiti investigated at Western New England College: "It happened over the weekend in a residence hall. Students say this isn't the first incident of its kind since the beginning of the school year."

Frito-Lay distances itself from gay Doritos contest entries.

Russia's lost Space Shuttle clone.  

Two Halifax, Nova Scotia men face charges for targeting, robbing gay men after meeting them on a dating website.

GLAAD President Jarrett Barrios criticizes Jay Leno for ongoing use of gays as punchlines.

Alan Cumming on gay actors playing straight: “It’s not about your work… It’s about how you exist as a person in the world, and the idea that your work is more important than you as a person is a horrible, horrible message. I always think about a little gay boy in Wisconsin or a little lesbian in Arkansas seeing someone like me, and if I cannot be open in my life, how on earth can they? Anyway, it’s an academic question: how can you know [that coming out affects your career]? Some people get less work than others, and it has nothing to do with sexuality.”

HIR: A spoken-word performance about the dualities of being transgender.

The Rahmen Emanuel tumblr.

Cher not happy about being snubbed for an Oscar: “We didn’t get a nomination 4 best song ! That sucks ! Diane’s song Is so beautiful ! It’s hard to understand how u win … The Golden Globe 4 BEST SONG & not even get nominated by the OSCARS? Oh well it is..what it is ,,,,the sun is still shining !”

One-fifth of Anglican leaders are protesting international conference over Episcopal Church's ordination of gay and lesbian bishops and blessings for same-sex couples.

Dennis Kucinich sues House cafeteria for selling him a sandwich wrap with an olive pit in it. "The Cleveland Democratic congressman's lawsuit seeks $150,000 in damages from companies that operate the Longworth House Office Building's cafeteria."

Pride Toronto nearly bankrupt: "Last year wasn’t one of the best on record for Toronto Pride. It had the controversy around Queers Against Israeli Apartheid (QUAIA), which split the city’s gay community and 'threatened to bankrupt' the organization. Pride Toronto also had its federal funding pulled, even though Canadian Press reports that it had qualified for federal cash. This year doesn’t seem to be treating the organization any better, with the revelation that it will have to tell its annual general meeting it’s effectively bankrupt."

Alan Cumming On Obama: He's Done "Diddly Squat" For Gays

Alan Cumming has, in the past, vocally supported Barack Obama politically and in other ways. It seems like these days, the bisexual actor has completely changed his tune. He's now come out against the president and has some pretty harsh words for him. He tells the Herald Scotland:

“We keep hearing that Obama is an ally, that ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ will end under his watch, but what do we actually get? Diddly squat thus far on a federal level, and in addition to that some very offensive statements that would have made the Republicans look bad. When America is full of hatred of all kinds, but especially hatred towards young gay people, what message is the President sending when he repeatedly goes out of his way to spread the message that the gay population is not worthy of the respect that everyone else is?"

Fashion Week Front Row: Manganiello, Balfour, Cumming, Jackson

A serious front row at G-Star. Seriously good-looking. (via cheyenne jackson)

Newsweek Writer Ramin Setoodeh Accepts Set Invite from 'Glee' Creator Ryan Murphy; Alan Cumming Slams Setoodeh

Ryan Murphy, the creator of Glee who called for a boycott of Newsweek following Ramin Setoodeh's controversial article asserting that gay actors are unconvincing as heterosexuals, says that Setoodeh has accepted an offer from him to visit the set of Glee, watch the casting process, and discuss why Murphy found the article so reprehensible.

Writes Murphy in an open letter:  

"Ramin Setoodeh, the author of the article, reached out to me today and accepted my offer to sit with myself and the writers of Glee — Brad Falchuk and Ian Brennan — to discuss not only why we found the piece so offensive, but also to observe our creative process and see how we construct a TV show dedicated exclusively to the idea of inclusiveness and acceptance for all — ideas solely absent in his ‘Straight Jacket’ article... On Glee, straight actors play gay roles, gay actors play straight roles and no one is discriminated against. I hope observing this process firsthand — and talking with our cast — will be illuminating to Mr. Setoodeh, and inform his future journalistic endeavors."

Murphy also says he's awaiting a better response from Newsweek:

"I want to issue a personal thank you to GLAAD president Jarrett Barrios, writer/director Dustin Lance Black and countless others who have joined me in condemning Newsweek magazine and asking for an apology for their recent article ‘Straight Jacket,’ a hurtful bigoted diatribe in which they basically asserted that gay actors should not play straight roles because they are not “believable.” So far, Newsweek magazine has declined to issue an apology, other than to say they are big fans of the show I co-created, Glee — even the straight dudes around the Newsweek offices. I say thanks for your support, however glib, and continue — with many others offended by the article — to wait for a more substantial articulate response."

Read the full letter at EW.

In related news, actor Alan Cumming writes a long piece on the Setoodeh controversy.

Writes Cumming:   

"Ramin Seetodeh is gay. He is a self-hating gay, and he is a danger to us all, not just gay people - as is apparent by the above, hideous quasi-apology for the classroom shooting of a boy - but everyone on this planet because Newsweek is allowing his dangerous and insidiously warped messages to be published and enter society to fuel the flames of shame, fear, anger and, in this case, homophobia. His words allow people to validate their bigoted and fearful views of gay people, especially because he is gay himself. Which brings me to the crux, and I promise, the swansong of my thesis...

It is my contention that Ramin Seetodeh is not happy with himself. He has particlaur shame about being gay. He sees gayness, paricularly open and unabashed gayness, or effeminacy, as a reminder of what he does not like about himself. And so he attacks it. His own shame translates into his paralysis when thinking of others who might have his own curse and yet be able to function fully and happily within the rest of the world: a child chasing his friends around a playground in high heels; an actor who he knows is publicly gay but feels he needs to re-out to make himself feel better about his own self-loathing and lack of acceptance of his most basic needs and happiness. As someone who is a only a decade or so immigrant to these shores, I have noticed that shame is one of America's biggest exports, imbibed more domestically than overseas, and Mr Seetodeh could easily manage its Gay division."

Gay Print Publishing Puts Itself 'Out There'

 

Here's something that isn't written about so often anymore — the launch of a new gay magazine. The makers of Out There are defying publishing's hard times with "an international queer Culture, Voices, Arts and Travel bi-annual targeted at professional, discerning gay men in major cities across the globe."

The first issue's cover star is actor Alan Cumming, photographed by Minh Ngo.

It's on sale in London this week, and they're planning an international launch beginning in New York in May. Or you can visit them online here.