You can purchase an autographed copy of Anything But Straight by sending a $35 check or money order to:
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Wayne Besen
PO Box 25491
Brooklyn, NY 11202
(A Can't-Miss Movie by Award-Winning filmmaker Tom Murray)
Is religion something that only belongs to a few? Taking a secular point of view, FISH CAN'T FLY explores the lives of Gay men and women of faith as they recall their journeys to put their sexuality and spirituality in harmony. While the whole concept of changing ones' sexual orientation may be viewed with a high level of skepticism, ridicule and even humor by the larger GLBT community, these are the stories of people who have tried.
This exciting film contains candid, fascinating and heartfelt discussions about God and being Gay. There are even some surprisingly humorous events in hindsight. With the current social and political climate, this feature length documentary by award winning filmmaker Tom Murray, is timely.
The much-anticipated film will premiere at NEWFEST, Sunday, June 12th, at 3:45 PM. The festival is held at Loews Cineplex which is located on 34th street, near Eight Avenue in New York City.
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Am I the only one who has had enough of Tom Cruise's very public obsession with Scientology. I think he is a very good actor and I enjoy his movies. But, I have no desire to hear more about his bizarre cult-life.
It seems odd that so many actors who are rumored to be homosexuals end up in this wacky cult that supresses sexual desire. Is Scientology Cruise's religion or beard? Now, I have no idea of his sexual orientation. But the more he talks about this strange sect, the gayer he appears.
According to reports, Cruise raised eyebrows while working on "War of the Worlds" when he asked movie executives to take a four-hour tour of a Scientology temple in Los Angeles in January. He also demanded that a big cult tent be on the movie set.
"War of the Worlds" is a perfect movie for Cruise because homophobic Scientologists pray to aliens. Enough, Tom. Just act, and stop acting like a fanatical fool.
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In April, I wrote a column blasting networks, particularly CNN, for producing nonsense disguised as news.
"I used to watch CNN Headline News and in thirty minutes I was updated on the day's incipient events. Today, the morning show is nearly devoid of substance and has devolved into the Cackling Nonsense Network. The consequential decisions of world leaders have taken a back seat to what or who Britney Spears does in the backseat. Headlines have been replaced by punch lines and serious business has been supplanted by lightweight banter. By the end of a half hour show, the chances are you have laughed more than you have learned."
I got a huge response from readers who were also frustrated by the explosion of drivel-driven news. Finally, Ted Turner - the founder of CNN - has spoken up and questioned the downward spiral of news content that infects today's airwaves. At an event honoring the 25th year of CNN, Turner told employees:
"I would like to see us to return to a little more international coverage on the domestic feed and a little more environmental coverage, and, maybe, maybe a little less of the pervert of the day. You know, we have a lot of perverts on today, and I know that, but is that really news? I mean, come on. I guess you've got to cover Michael Jackson, but not three stories about perversion that we do every day as well."
I know it is important for Americans to win, and as a person who is competitive I always strive to come out on top. However, if you win the news ratings battle by eliminating news content, can you really be considered victorious? In my book, you are a big loser, even if you come in first place, if you are catapulted by a cattle call of convicts and creeps.
News divisions should only be considered true winners if they are victorious in the categories of respectability and trustworthiness, rather than simply ratings achieved by sinking to the lowest common denominator. Fox's Republican ranting may get ratings, but no fair-minded person respects their partisan product.
This is important because democracy depends on an informed citizenry. We saw the disaster that took place when President Bush was able to trick a majority of Americans into believing that Saddam Hussein was responsible for the 9-11 terrorist attacks. He was only able to do this because the compliant media did not do their jobs and challenge the president.
Ted Turner is right. America needs less ridiculous repartee and more robust reporting. We need less silliness and more seriousness in network news. Only a media disseminating the truth can keep America from plunging into conflicts like Iraq. They failed us, and now this nation suffers dearly. It is time to change the news paradigm in America.
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For the good of the country, I really wish I was making this stuff up. Unfortunately, I'm not. I hate to say it, but the president really is as stupid as he looks. Take a gander at these fabulous Bushisms and enjoy the weekend.
In 2002, San Francisco 49ers' tailback Garrison Hearst was asked by a Fresno Bee columnist how he would feel about playing with a gay teammate and responded: "Aww, hell no! I don't want any faggots on my team. I know this might not be what people want to hear . . . I don't want any faggots in this locker room." (Hearst later apologized for his remarks after considerable criticism.)
Following this remark, I wrote an op-ed for the San Francisco Chronicle that blasted the persistent homophobia in sports.
"The anti-gay comments made by 49ers running back Garrison Hearst were shocking. An athlete on a San Francisco team disparaging gays is about as smart as a Utah Jazz player deriding Mormons.
Yet, homophobia is so pervasive in the sports world that Hearst was seemingly oblivious at first to the fact that he might have said something offensive. Unfortunately, the sentiments he expressed are shared by many in the professional game, and these prejudices filter down to locker rooms at the most grassroots level of team sports across the nation."
Sadly, it appears nothing has changed in the 49ers organization, even though the team plays in the gayest city in the world.
According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the 49ers' front office created an in-house training film that featured off-color racial jokes, lesbian porn, a spoof of gay marriage and a trio of buxom, topless blondes frolicking with team public relations director Kirk Reynolds.
Basically, the 49ers turned their diversity video into a vehicle to mock gay people and ethnic groups in the Bay Area. How stupid are these people? My solution is fire everyone in management and start over from scratch. It is obvious that the current folks calling the shots don't get it and probably never will. When you have a team run by ignorant dirtbags, it is time to clean house.
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(The Oleaginous Charles Colson Up To His Old Dirty Tricks)
The Nixon Administration slugs still don't get it. They almost brought down this nation once with their moral turpitude and illegal behavior. Now that the American hero W. Mark Felt has acknowledged that he is "Deep Throat", the Nixon mob is up to their old dirty tricks and smear tactics. According to former Nixon speechwriter Pat Buchanan,
"I think Mark Felt behaved treacherously. I am unable to see the nobility of the enterprise, sneaking around in garages, moving pots around, handing over material he got in the course of the investigation."
If you read between the lines, what Pat is doing is attempting to obscure the issue by focusing on Felt's perfectly legitimate methods of uncovering Nixon's scumbaggery. It is almost amusing that Buchanan demeans the whistleblower because he takes issue with how he blew his whistle. And, exactly how does moving pots around diminish Felt's heroic act of saving this nation from a wannabe tyrant?
"I can understand that he may have had some moral reservations about what was happening, but the right way to do it is to look the President in the eye and tell him, it isn't to go sneaking around in dark alleys and talking to reporters."
Perhaps, he was in alleys because this is where the unpatriotic sleaze of the Nixon Administration lurked. These traitors should consider that Felt was probably terrified of Nixon and his goons, considering he was privy to information that showed that they had no compunction about committing high crimes and misdemeanors.
It is amazing that this despicable Nixon crowd is still slithering around trying to bring down this country. Colson, a moral relativist on Felt's courageous actions exposing corruption, now spends his time undermining the Constitution with his phony talk of moral absolutism. Buchanan is most famous for his outbursts of Anti-Semitism, gay bashing and stirring up anti-immigrant sentiment.
Thank God for patriots like Felt. We can only imagine what would have happened to our freedom and liberty if the fascist impulses of Nixon and his cronies had continued unchecked.
3 Comments
The American Family Association - the wacky right wing group that once accused Mighty Mouse of snorting cocaine - is at it again. Fresh off thier miserable failure to boycott Disney, the AFA has a new target - Ford. This toothless tiger has launched a new website to hurt Ford for treating gay people with dignity and respect. According to the website:
"From redefining family to include homosexual marriage, to giving hundreds of thousands of dollars to support homosexual groups and their agenda, to forcing managers to attend diversity training on how to promote the acceptance of homosexuality, to sponsoring a 'commitment (marriage) ceremony', to sponsoring Gay Pride Parades, Ford leads the way."
This sounds like a pretty impressive record and a great reason to support Ford. As the AFA points out, Ford also makes Lincoln, Mercury, Mazda, Volvo, Jaguar, and the Land Rover for butch queens. Clearly, there are many options to choose from for different lifestyles. Personally, I like the Jag. - but my bank account doesn't. (Hint, Hint - there is a "donation button on this web-site)
BUY A FORD TODAY AND KEEP FUNDAMENTALISM AWAY
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A few weeks ago, I wrote a controversial column, "Losing the Battle", which sounded the alarm that the GLBT movement is going backwards. This remains indisputably true on a political level, as our sworn enemies are increasingly sworn into office. Each morning we rise, we live the long nightmare of George W. Bush, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-TN., and House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-TX.
Nonetheless, I still remain hopeful as our community progresses in this most hostile of environments. The following is an excerpt from a speech I gave at South Carolina Gay Pride reflecting my confidence in our strength, resourcefulness and ultimate victory
At a state department briefing, Secretary of State Condi Rice was asked an interesting question. Her answer was welcome. However, maybe her recent trip to Europe fooled her into thinking that she represents a more open-minded nation. She seems unaware of the mounting persecution against gay people in America. Does Rice's rhetoric match the Bush Administration's dismal record? If you believe it does, I have a mushroom cloud to sell you. While I'm glad she is concerned with China, maybe she should take a trip to the American south to see how gay people are mistreated.
QUESTION: Moving on from Iraq, let's talk about human rights a bit. We are here in San Francisco and there's a question, what are you doing to ensure that countries like China and Egypt uphold the civil rights of its gay citizens, of their gay citizens?
SECRETARY RICE: Well, obviously, from our point of view, a democratic and tolerant society is exactly that. It is a society in which all people are included. It does not matter what race, what gender, it does not matter what sexual orientation -- all that matters is that you are a citizen of that country. And indeed, we note that in countries that are democratic, in countries where there can be pressure on government, in countries where there can be checks and balances on government, then the rights and -- the rights of the most vulnerable in society tend to be more protected.
And so we are concentrating in places like China and in Egypt and in other places on human rights. Whenever we have discussions with these countries, we talk about human rights. And the United States issues something called a Human Rights Report every year that talks about the human rights conditions in each country and so -- very much in line with the notion that every citizen needs to be represented and rights protected. We believe that this is the way to handle this situation.
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