Raquel Welch‘s TV Special Raquel With Love was filmed in 1980 and it’s vintage trip. About 4:15, is the start of a very gay, Mine Shaft, Tom of Finland-inspired sequence shot on the subway which then lapses into a disco free-for-all. Watch.
LGBT
JACK EARLY ON GROWING UP GAY, AVOIDING "THE ODD COUPLE" & CRUSHING ON DAVID LACHAPELLE
I met Jack Early decades ago when he was part of the art duo Pruitt-Early. He split with Rob Pruitt who is an art star on his own and stopped making work but he’s been back in the last several years with some powerful new work. His latest show just opened at New York’s Fergus McCaffrey gallery. He was born in Raleigh, North Carolina and his current work goes back to the early days with a focus on his own storytelling. Early has an eye for icons, both old and new and a fascination with popular culture of his period. Most of the large scale works are painted on canvas that were silk screened with a reworking an old photo of his childhood bedroom. (He altered it slightly by have the toy soldiers hold hands.) There are photo-realist paintings of Popsicles, breakfast cereal, and gay porn with freestanding sculptures of family members and household objects, backed with the same wallpaper design on bean bags.
I had a chat with Jack about his early years and growing up gay in the south.
Jack (right) and his partner, Geoff
So, were you ever bullied in our out of school?
I was bullied once but not because I was gay but because I was cute. I tell it on my life story recording. But I was super-aware all the time as a kid that the bullying thing could happen. I was so aware of it in fact that I think I became a master of keeping it at bay. I knew what acting fem looked like and I was, or so I thought, super careful not to act that way. I don’t think people had great gaydar back then, even I didn’t really know what gay was.I skipped school, smoked cigarettes, threw rocks, started fires – that gave me some clout as to not get bullied. I was never outed. I had friends on both sides of the fence, the really bright kids liked me but so did the tough bad kids.
Did your parents know…?
Well, I was very careful for my parents not to catch me watching ‘The Odd Couple’ and I tried to casually leave the room when Gay marches were on the news and my parents were watching TV. It made me a loner in a lot of ways. I’d rather be shut in my room, than have to hear a comment about gays… my dad had a book and there was a chapter about homosexuals sticking light bulbs up their asses. It was hateful really. I saw it mostly as gay porn but it was also traumatizing.When did you have your first gay experience?
…I stole ‘Looking Good’ from the bookstore. I learned later Bruce Weber took the pics… it was like the fist thing I jerked off to. Funny, years later I dated one of the models.My first sex was with girls. It was hard for me. So, I had sex for the first time with this weird guy that played the organ. I was like, 18, 19…
Anyway, I was grasping to know what gay was… I finally figured that the men that owned Flowers of Henry (a hometown florist) were. So, I had fantasies of them on the table that they made bouquets on.
I did have a crush on David LaChapelle. We were at NCSA high school together and I fell in love with him. He liked me too, but he was so worldly, even in high school. He had lived in New York. I didn’t even know what a bagel was.
So, no one called you fag?
I learned early on that people were nice, but if you got into it they could say some really awful things about gays and blacks. I knew that very well. We had a cook who was my second mother. She was a friend. We knew this truth together and we loved each other and looked after each other. She was black I was a gay boy. We had a unpoken understanding for each other and we knew we both were navigating in a world that was not really built for us.Does she figure into this show in any work?
She gave me a lot of faith in how to love the people that just did not know any better. She is in my life story in the show…I guess I meant visually…
Ha! She used to dish out the Popsicles!
Jack asked if I REALLY liked the show, and I said yes… do you know how I know? I was jealous –but in a good way. You can see more of Jack’s work here. The works are musically accompanied by a Victrola playing Early’s own performance of his autobiographical Jack Early’s Life Story in Just Under 20 Minutes, on SoundCloud here. Listen, it’s good. The work is on view at Fergus McCaffrey through April 9, 2016.
(Installation photos, courtesy Scott Rudd, Fergus McCaffrey)
COME FOR THE POISONED WATER – STAY FOR THE REGRESSIVE, ANTI-GAY LAWS!
Yes, that could be the new slogan for Michigan. For those who violate the ban on anal sex in the state, they are now facing up to 15 years in prison. The Michigan Senate passed the controversial bill last week. While the bill does not specifically target the gay community, the legislation outlaws anal sex completely. Sponsored by Senator Dick Face –I mean RICK Jones, the bill is linked to the prevention of bestiality,
“A person who commits the abominable and detestable crime against nature with mankind or with any animal is guilty of a felony punishable by imprisonment for no more than 15 years.”
It reads.
"If the person is found to a ‘sexually delinquent person’ or an existing sex offender, they will face a life term in prison.”
Eleven US states join Michigan to include anti-sodomy legislation, even though the US Supreme Court ruled them unconstitutional in the 2003. Back to the future is NOT just movie, kids. (via Attitude)
PEOPLE WERE REALLY PISSED THAT THE NFL WAS PROMOTING A GAY AGENDA... HUH?!
Sunday’s Super Bowl 50 Halftime show closed with Beyoncé, Bruno Mars, Coldplay and the entire stadium audience sending the message:
“Believe in Love”
Beautiful thought, right? WRONG! Because the colors in the cards were considered a “rainbow,” the anti-gay crowd on Twitter went crazy.
“Soooo we’re gonna overlook the fact that the Super Bowl halftime performance sent out a CLEAR homosexuality message –God’s Princess @iMamazing_RENEE”
It was actually a recreation of Coldplay’s new album cover. If you’ve seen their amazing new video, Hymn For the Weekend with Beyoncé, you know bright colors play a big part in their image and graphics.
So, I’ll ask again; What IS wrong with people? The comments below give you some clue...
NORA BURNS HITS NYC IN THE FACE (& HEART) WITH "DAVID'S FRIEND"
My old pal Nora Burns is at it again. She of the comedy troupe Unitard (along with David Ilku & Mike Albo) as well as her ongoing New York Stories series. This Monday she premiers a new one-woman show at NYC’s Dixon Place, David’s Friend,
“I met my best friend on the speaker of a gay disco in Boston; it was 1979 and we were seniors in high school. We moved to NYC and our early days were a cacophony of drugs, sex, clubs and antibiotics. The show is a love story about my friend and my city. Working on it has been the most exciting, fun, thrilling, emotional thing I’ve ever done…”
Nora is amazing on and off stage and she really specializes in smart & poignant theater–but most all SHE'S FUNNY! This new show is about love, loss, cruising, disco, drag queens, strippers, sex, AIDS and New York City –minus loss and AIDS, some of our favorite things! It’s written and performed by Nora with direction by Adrienne Truscott and Lucy Sexton and creative collaboration from Len Whitney. A self-described,
“multi-media celebration of friendship, fun, freaks, fag hags, youthful passion, change, memories, Manhattan and the power of love and disco.”
Monday, January 25th 7:30 PM at Dixon Place, 161A Chrystie St. Tickets are just, $12 in advance, $15 at the door. The Dixon Place Lounge is open before and after the show, and you can bring your drink into the theater! Bar proceeds directly support DP’s mission & artists. You can get tickets here. Stick around after and tell her I sent you. In honor of National Hug Day, you’ll get a hug, I promise.
THIS 8 YEAR-OLD BOY'S DREAM JUST CAME TRUE...
This 8-year-old boy named Ethan just realized one of his dreams when a MAC cosmetics artist taught him the art of drag makeup. When Ethan and his Mom walked into the MAC store, he told Joey Killmeyer that he wanted to learn how to do makeup like he had seen on the Internet. Florida makeup artist Killmeyer, who’s worked in the makeup industry for 15 years told the Huffington Post;
“When Ethan and his mom, Season, came into the store, I felt an immediate connection. He reminded me of myself at that age. It touched my heart that I was able to help him learn what he wanted to know.
I was so touched by his mom and that she was allowing him to do this. He also wants to learn to do makeup on others. He thought learning to do makeup on himself that it may be easier to do on others… It is about being creative, having fun and being yourself. And that is what Ethan’s mom is letting him do.”
Ethan’s mom, Season Wilwert said that she hoped her openness with her son’s creative desires would inspire other parents to embrace the unique qualities of their own children.
“Children need to be loved unconditionally, nurtured and encouraged to discover themselves through their true talents and passions. By doing so, and receiving the necessary support from parents, they are building confidence and security in who they are. We as parents should be our child’s biggest cheerleader.
Society needs to steer away from what is typically known as the gender roles and stereotypes and accept the fact that it’s OK for a boy to wear makeup to express himself as an artist. This does not define his gender identity nor his sexual preference. He’s just exploring and being a kid! Being judgmental and close-minded on such issues not only is hurtful to our children, but it also inhibits their freedom of self-expression and prevents the opportunity for them to embrace their true identities.”
Way to go Mom, Joey and especially Ethan. You are flawless, in more ways than one, kiddo.
(via Huffington Post)
TRUMP'S DUMB SLOGAN JUST GOT HIJACKED, LET'S "MAKE AMERICA GAY AGAIN!"
Orange Is The New Jackass candidate Donald Trump’s campaign slogan has been appropriated by an LGBT rights group. The reality TV star/ blowhard-turned-politician just found himself in the sights of the Human Rights Campaign who is is selling baseball hats with the slogan
“Make America Gay Again”
The back of the cap has HRC’s equality logo, and “LGBTQ Equality”.
As you may know, Trump has a pretty poor record on LGBT rights, though he has signalled a shift away from opposing same-sex marriage directly. Trump made an off-the-top-of-his-head speech to the anti-gay, right-wing hate group Family Research Council in which he bizarrely did not once mention God, Jesus, gay people, LGBT rights or any of the group’s goals once. He also failed to mention or acknowledge the guest of honor, anti-gay marriage clerk, Kim Davis.
When asked flat-out whether he is homophobic, Trump said:
“No, I think that I’m a very nice person. I love people.”
Stunned silence.
Well, anyway, isn’t there someone on your list who would love (or hate) this hat? It’s available from the HRC store for $26, with all profits going to the group’s advocacy work, so it’s a win/win. How about homophobic Uncle Jim in Alabama?
(via Pink News)
"LOST IN SPACE'S" MOM, JUNE LOCKHART OUTS DR. SMITH!
If you ever saw 5 minutes of Lost In Space, you would think Jonathan Harris, who played Dr. Zachary Smith on the 60s TV show was gay too. The Robinson’s Mom on the show, June Lockhart recalls that Jonathan did not try to tone it down and "would be the first to tell you"... She tells Cary Harrison that he was a hoot on set and she once laughed so much she was written out of 2 episodes as punishment –at full pay. Watch.
VINCENT PRICE'S LESBIAN DAUGHTER CONFIRMS HER DAD'S BISEXUALITY
In her book, Vincent Price: A Daughter’s Biography, Victoria Price explored the many faces of her famous Dad who died in 1993. His career on both stage and screen lasted some 60 years and he remains THE preeminent horror icon of our time. (Of course, that chilling voice at the end of Michael Jackson‘s Thrilleris Price.)
In an exclusive interview with Boom Magazine Victoria shed some light on the the speculation.
“Everybody asks me was your dad bisexual, was he bisexual. And it was Roddy McDowall who said to me, you know, we didn’t have any idea what bisexuality meant in that sense, and if we didn’t know, then how can we know the answer to that question.”
The out designer, art consultant, author, and public speaker has been wrestling for decades with just how much of her father’s private life is public domain, as recounted in this 2012 blog post:
“I was standing at the bar in West Hollywood, Calif.’s club of the moment one night in the spring of 1989, talking with a group of hip Hollywood women I hardly knew, when a blond woman with a wry expression came over to me and said,
‘You’re Vincent Price’s daughter. Your father’s gay, isn’t he?’
I don’t remember my mumbled reply– except that, sadly, it wasn’t very witty – ‘I don’t know’ or ‘He was married three times.’ But I do remember that I was shocked. Not because it was the first time someone had suggested that he might be gay or at the very least bisexual, but because, until that moment, I hadn’t really understood the degree to which my 78-year-old father’s sexuality, whatever it might be, had become public property to be discussed, analyzed, bandied about, as one might share a recipe or chat about the weather. I found it a discomforting revelation.”
Victoria is well aware of our fixation with celebrity and the news-driven, “prying eyes” culture that we now live but she also aware that as a member of the LGBT community that there’s a yearning for history and heroes and a connection to the past…
Victoria Price
“To me, it’s interesting, because as I’ve learned more about my dad’s sexuality, and more than I knew then about different things, I’ve had the choice of what to reveal and what not to reveal. Since I didn’t hear it from his mouth, I think that everything I hear comes with a measure of hearsay, right?
But I would like to say something here because I might as well. I am as close to certain as I can be that my dad had physically intimate relationships with men. I know for 100 percent fact that my dad was completely loving and supportive of LGBT people.
Now, we lived across the street from Rock Hudson and we had a lot of gay friends growing up. I mean, ‘Uncle Rupert and Uncle Frank’ came to every dinner party and it was very clear that they were together. And while the word [gay] was never mentioned, it was very much the norm.
I remember at nine-years-old going to drop something off at Rock Hudson’s house – of course, I was super excited because I was a huge Rock Hudson fan. So this absolutely beautiful man came to the door and in my nine-year-old mind, I thought, oh, that’s – I don’t know if I had a word for it – but that’s his ‘Uncle Frank or Uncle Rupert’, right?”
In 1977 Price played the openly gay Oscar Wilde to great acclaim and rebuffed the anti-gay Anita Bryant efforts of the day in television interviews saying Wilde had already written a play about Ms. Bryant: A Woman of No Importance. (Good one, Vinnie!) He was an early advocate who joined PFLAG as an honorary board member and was one of the first celebrities to do public service announcements quelling public fears of AIDS.
“He married a bisexual woman [British actress Coral Browne] and everybody assumed their marriage was a fraud. It wasn’t a fraud. It was a totally sexual relationship but they were two people with very open minded approaches as to what life should look like. And that to me – people who lived this truth in all aspects of their lives – they should be heroes to every community.
The interesting thing for me is that when I came out to him and he said to me, ‘you know, I know just how you feel because I have had these deep, loving relationships with men in my life and all my wives were jealous.'”
In a funny way, and I think I’m going to cry, he understood me at 22 better than I understood myself then. Of course, he was in his 70s and lived a hell of a lot longer than I had and he understood that at the end of the day it’s about who and what and how we love. And I have not been a person who has been very successful at conventional relationships, but loving well and loving deeply has been the most important thing to me.”
Great of her to talk so openly about her father. I would imagine an unenlightened straight person would think such talk would “tarnish” their father's image, implying some sort of shame. There’s no shame. The only shame is that Vincent Price didn’t live in a world where he was able to truly be himself, but he raised a daughter who can.
(via Boom LGBT)
HERE'S WHAT YOU'RE LEFT WITH WHEN YOU CUT THE GAY OUT OF YOUR CULTURE
Really, I have NO idea. They’re called Little Big and they are Russian –and after 10 seconds you can mute and just enjoy the insanity. Yeah, everyday they’re drinking. Duh. You do get a little bit of half-naked guys with tatts and some bear fucking but this IS pretty what happens when you cut the LGBT influence out of your country. Watch.