from:

http://gothamist.com/2009/12/05/new_jersey_senate_to_vote_on_gay_ma.php

Just days after the New York State Senate voted down a bill to legalize same-sex marriage, the Garden State is getting ready for the debate.According to the Times, the New Jersey State Senate’s Judiciary Committee is gearing up for a vote on gay marriage as early as Monday — with the full Senate preparing for a vote possibly on Thursday.

While the Judiciary Committee is expected to pass the bill, the full Senate vote will likely be closer. Democrats have the majority, but some do not support same-sex marriage rights, so in order for the bill to pass, some Republicans will need to vote for it. The paper of record notes that timing is also important because Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine, who supports gay marriage, will leave office on Jan. 19 to be replaced by Republican Gov. Chris Christie, who opposes it.

Despite the less-than-encouraging results of the Maine referendum and the New York State Senate vote, gay marriage supporters including Senator Raymond Lesniak (D-Union County) say there is a “momentum change” behind the bill, which seemed stalled until a recent petition boasting the names of more than 2,300 Democratic officials, advocates and residents began making the rounds. One insider said that the Garden State has a better chance of passing the bill than the Empire State. “New York is two different states, New York City and upstate New York,” said Assemblyman Reed Gusciora (D-Princeton). “We’re still the progressive suburbs of Philadelphia and New York City. I believe we’re a more progressive state.”

http://www.buffalonews.com/home/story/880990.html

Here are the email addresses of the seven NY Democrats who voted against marriage equality for NYers. Please repost this in your status. addabbo@senate.state.ny.us, kruger@senate.state.ny.us, diaz@senate.state.ny.us, shuntley@senate.state.ny.us, monserra@senate.state.ny.us, onorato@senate.state.ny.us, stachows@senate.state.ny.us

From rPulse.com:

Meredith Baxter said, “To come out and disclose stuff is very antithetical to who I am.” I sure hope you’re proud of yourself Mario.

Every gay person believes it is their own choice and decision about coming out.

Every gay person except Mario Lavandeira aka Perez Hilton who claims he is gay, and yet he lacks compassion for other gays who he publicly bashes into coming out.

Meredith Baxter, who starred on the successful television series “Family Ties” became Mario’s target on Tuesday of this week when he posted photos of Meredith with her girlfriend Nancy.

This is nothing new for Mario, he forced Neil Patrick Harris and Lance Bass to out themselves as well.

nd now Meredith was forced to publicly announced her sexuality because the rag-gossip media cannot be controlled, yet.

“I am a lesbian and it was a later-in-life recognition,” she told Matt Lauer on TODAY.  “Some people would say, well, you’re living a lie and, you know, the truth is – not at all.  This has only been for the past seven years.”

Meredith who is 62, was not ready to do this, and yet was forced because of the public tabloid chatter.   “I’ve always lived a very private life,” said the actress, who’s never even had a publicist.

“I did not want some tabloid to take the story and make it up — I wanted it to be in my own words,” she told Lauer.

Meredith has now had to explain her relationship with men, which says was complicated and took her decades to understand why.

In 1966 she married her first husband, Robert Lewis Bush, and they divorced five years later; she married her second husband David Birney in 1974, and they divorced in 1989; she married her third husband, Michael Blodgett, in 1995, and they divorced in 2000.

She explained that she deliberately chose to be with men with whom she clashed, so that she could blame them for the end of the relationship.“It never occurred to me to think, oh, [the problem is] me,”she said.

Then, seven years ago, she had a relationship with a woman and concluded that she was homosexual.  Suddenly, things seemed to make sense.

“I got involved with someone I never expected to get involved with, and it was that kind of awakening,” she said. “I never fought it because it was like, oh, I understand why I had the issues I had early in life. I had a great deal of difficulty connecting with men in relationships.”

Meredith has been with her girlfriend, Nancy, a contractor who she met through mutual friends, for the past four years.  Because Nancy is openly lesbian, their relationship has not been kept a closely guarded secret.

“I had to reach a level of comfort because it wasn’t fair to push her back into secrecy,” she said. “We live very out lives in Los Angeles.”

When “Family Ties” ended, Meredith went on to direct and star in several TV movies, winning a daytime Emmy award in 1993 for portraying a lesbian mom in the CBS School Break Special, “Other Mothers.”

These days, she’s taken on a few roles, including promoting her skin care line,Meredith Baxter Simple Works.

She is also a public speaker and advocate, traveling the country discussing her personal battles with breast cancer and alcoholism.

Now that she is coming out, she also sees herself as an advocate for gay rights.

“This is a political act, even though that’s not what it feels like to me,” she said. “If anyone knows someone who’s gay or lesbian … they’re less likely to vote against them to take away their rights. I can be that lesbian you know now…”

i was there. here. whatever. now i can relive the hazy experience in full-on coloured / clear vinyl souvenir clarity. despite my utterly vodka’d bonce being mong-full of nonsense that saturday night i remember some of this (‘specially the fear cover). though i recall more songs maybe so not sure if the full set’s recorded or i made my own one up. either way supersonic 08 was about as perfect a threedayweekend of soothe and tumult as you can imagine so it’s nice to wallow in a bit of nostalgia for a change. you know like when that band played that thing at that place in the sixties. or whatever that bloated non-fuck paul ross is shilling his shriveled stain of a soul for on those channel four programmes about lists of shit nobody cares about. or where you were when barry george shot liam gallacher…

for those unknowing of harvey milk (not the dead gay fella hammed up by sean penn) they are a band from athens georgia, home of the nothing-like-them b52’s and pylon (who’s chomp more record i’ve been chewing on recently). they play a slightly mad mix of every subgenre of the mighty riff imaginable, a slightly (20th century)schizoid mix of king crimson and melvins, ac/dc and big black, sunn o))) and sabbath. distilled down, reduced into, something you fools would call rock. they toiled in obscurity for a few years, peddling this fractured genius to mouthbreathers too stupid to listen. split up. reformed. added mighty multi-musically-limbed joe preston into the cement truck mix. all of which kindof brings us to last year and their like you know totally first ever performance in broken britain.

worth the goddam wait it was too.

self-effacingly: we had a pretty good show and were lucky enough to have it recorded. so here it is.

which understates things somewhat… yeah. nine tracks of their artfully downtuned blooze rawk racket. capped an almighty beast of a day with an almighty beast of a racket. like zz top on mogadon. from the gutrot howl and sub-tectonic bass growl of opener crush them all to the unhinged squall of closer, what i want and everything unpredictable inbetwixt. firing on all cylinders with their post-something de-whatevered un-thingumajigged mesmeric aural assault (as much on the head as the gut as the feet). and a tad more than a pretty good show fellas.

it’s all a matter of soul and fire sang sebadoh agesandages ago. i’ll misappropriate these words and meaning and say that these are two things harvey milk’s got in spades.

oh look, a sign-off. how very conventional of me…

myspace / harvey milk / capsule

From Yahoo.com:

NEW YORK, New York — Former “Family Ties” star Meredith Baxter has revealed she is gay.

Meredith, who starred as Michael J. Fox’s mother on the hit ’80s television show, confirmed the news to Matt Lauer on Wednesday’s “Today.”

I guess I wanted to… say that I’m a lesbian,” Meredith revealed on the NBC morning program. “It was a later-in-life recognition of that fact.”

Meredith, 62, has been living life as a lesbian for seven years and confirmed to Matt that she has been involved in a relationship for four years with contractor Nancy Locke. But it was only after becoming involved with another woman that Meredith realized why her three marriages to men didn’t work out.

I got involved with someone I never expected to get involved with and it was that kind of awakening and I never fought it because it was like, ‘Oh! I understand why I had the issues I had early in my life,’” Meredith said. “I had a great deal of difficulty connecting with men in relationships… Sometimes, I assumed I was a bad picker, which I was indeed, but I also was involved with people who made me think, ‘Oh, they’re the problem,’ because there were problems with the people I chose. It never occurred to me to think, ‘Oh, it’s me.’”

Meredith told Matt that sharing the news of her sexuality with her children, who range in age 25-42, was a lot easier than she expected.

The actress also revealed that her television family co-stars are aware she is gay.

“All my pals in ‘Family Ties’ know,” she said. “They all knew [when we had a reunion on 'Today' two years ago]. We all had dinners together and [TV husband], Michael Gross and his wife and Nancy and I go out, we’ve gone out many times. It’s all OK.”

Meredith said she and Nancy “live very out lives in Los Angeles” and the actress even went on a cruise with 1,200 lesbians not too long ago. But as for why she is speaking out now, Meredith said, in part, it was to share her story in her own words before a tabloid could put their spin on her life.

From: http://www.chinadaily.com

The idea was simple: Set up a bar to attract gay men and then use it to distribute information on AIDS/HIV prevention.

The media loved the idea – but all the attention kept the gay men away.

“They (gay men) refused to show up at the opening for fear of media exposure and potential discrimination,” said Zhang Jianbo, the bar’s founder and a local AIDS doctor in Dali, Yunnan province.

The bar, partially funded by the Dali Health Bureau in collaboration with two local anti-AIDS NGOs that Zhang heads, was meant to facilitate outreach efforts targeting groups facing a high HIV risk, particularly gay men.

Its opening was set for yesterday, World AIDS Day.

Zhang said intense media attention surprised him a lot.

“Had I known it, I would not have told the media,” he said.

Though there are gay bars in major cities in China, which experts estimate has 30 million homosexuals, including 20 million gay men, the one in Dali was dubbed “China’s first government-funded bar for AIDS control” and instantly got widespread media coverage.

“It’s understandable,” said Luke Zhao, executive editor of Beijing-based Gay Spot magazine. “Factors like government endorsement and support, gay men, HIV/AIDS, naturally made the gay bar so attractive to the press and the general public,” he told China Daily yesterday.

“As a long-term medical worker in HIV/AIDS prevention and control, I know how hard it is for us to reach these groups to promote self-protection messages like safe sex,” Zhang said.

He managed to establish contacts with more than 1,500 local gay men.

“To sustain and build more of that, I thought of opening a bar for regular get-togethers with them,” Zhang said.

“We could teach them about HIV/AIDS and how to protect themselves from it,” he said.

Now no one knows what will happen to a bar with no visitors or even a name.

“But it is at least a good signal that the government is beginning to pay attention to gay people as a vulnerable group facing HIV/AIDS and their health,” Zhao said.

The HIV/AIDS prevalence among gay men averages 6 percent in the country and same-sex transmission accounted for about one-third of new HIV infections last year, official tallies showed.

Don’t you just LOVE IT!

DREAMGIRLS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2Dy7UZvqnA

RAGTIME
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ja9I6k8b8No

From http://www.reuters.com:

On December 1, 2009, Harvey Milk, and 12 others, will be inducted into the California Hall of Fame.  Assassinated in 1978 after only 8 months on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, Harvey Milk was an outspoken advocate of the LGBT movement.   He was the first openly gay man elected to public office in California, challenging others to come out of the closet.  In 2009, he was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Obama.

From the California Museum’s website: “In a state of millions, it’s easy to get lost. But there are some who dreamt big and who persevered in the face of adversity. These stars of arts, education, business and labor, science, sports, philanthropy and public service exemplify the best of California and will continue to inspire generations to come.”

For a list of this years inductees, see the California Museum page, here.

To see the museum’s entry on Milk, go here.

Planet Out has a good article, here.

I have been OCD’ng on Harvey Milk’s last quote (Will) from the movie MILK. It’s resonating so hard for me, personally, with respect to Dear Thyroid and with what’s happening politically and health care wise in this country.

Sometimes I forget that all of our individual voices collectively make up millions of voices that have the power to invoke change.

Thanks to my good pal @SoCalVillaGuy for finding this quote for me.

I wanted to post about it and I wanted us to discuss. So, discuss.

Last week I got a phone call — –from Altoona, Pennsylvania, and the voice was quite young, and the person said… Thanks.” You’ve got to elect gay people so that that young child and the thousands upon thousand like him know there’s hope… hope for a better world… I ask this… If there should be an assassination, I would hope that five, ten, one hundred, a thousand would rise. I would like to see every gay lawyer, every gay architect come out– –If a bullet should enter my brain, let that bullet destroy every closet door… And that’s all. I ask for the movement to continue. Because it’s not about personal gain, not about ego, not about power… it’s about the “us’s” out there. Not only gays, but the Blacks, the Asians, the disabled, the seniors, the us’s. Without hope, the us’s give up– –I know you cannot live on hope alone, but without it, life is not worth living. So you, and you, and you… You gotta give em’ hope… you gotta give em’ hope.

Films are stories in moving pictures, and the following by Egyptian-born director and photographer, Hassan Said, are beautiful accounts of his story and artistry.

Will Remain Dear to Me by Hassan Said

Using dramatic characters and powerful images to explore the psychological impact of heartwarming and shocking events, Said’s works journey through stories of self-awareness and cruel realities.

Yesterday by Hassan Said

Alexandrie Encore et Toujours by Hassan Said

Said moved to New York at the age of 15 where two years later he studied Communication and Media Arts at Dutchess Community College. To him, films are about “glimpses of a person’s life, a situation, or experience; that’s what makes films more powerful than having a beginning, middle, and an end.”

In 2005, Said relocated to San Francisco to pursue studies in filmmaking and directing at the Academy of Art University. He has worked in a variety of roles in the industry, most notably for Focus Features on the 2009 Oscar award-winning film Milk. He also recently completed an experimental short film, Infamy, which is a surreal experience focusing on the chaotic events of September 11th as seen from his first-hand account. The abstract film is an official selection at the 2009 Edinburgh International Film Festival.

His latest short drama MUTE, chronicles the story of a father who comes home one night to finds his autistic daughter physically abused. The film ended up winning the award of merit for short film and direction at the Accolade film awards. The film also won the German Independence Award for best foreign language short film at the prestigious Oldenburg Film Festival in Germany.

Said currently lives in San Francisco, producing and directing creative projects.

Hassan Said’s Wesbsite: www.HassanSaid.com

Alexandrie Encore Et Toujours.

 

…Then you should really go and rent the movie MILK.  Better yet, watch the documentary entitled “The Times of Harvey Milk,” courtesy of YouTube.  This guy was a beautiful person and an important part of San Francisco’s history.

Watch: The Times of Harvey Milk

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

BLACK FRIDAY HERE I COME!!!!

Please know you have profoundly helped me grow to who I am today (I hope that’s not a bad thing!). I apologize off the bat for the bad grammar. This is a very stream of consciousness letter. I am thankful for so many people this is going to sound like an acceptance speech. If only I had an award to go with it!For some reason, I feel more thankful than ever. Going through a transformation of sorts puts everything in perspective. When I lost my job this past June, I would have never guessed I would have felt more alive and have met some of the most amazing people. I never dreamed I would be on television/radio and also have a blog, which has had to date over 15,000 hits. I am grateful for EVERYONE who visits day after day!

Thank you for following the journey.

If I could tell you one thing –change the world. Go out and make a difference. Stand up for what you believe in. Change someone’s life. We all have amazing stories to tell. Share them.

My blog wouldn’t have gotten off the ground without a few people. My publicist, George, whose idea it was to really go forward and create the blog. He always has a way of staying positive. A special thanks to ALL the people I have interviewed thus far: the wonderful Marti C., single-licious Melissa B, exceptional Jerry Mitchell, incredible forced to be reckoned with Frenchie Davis, life changing activities Ryan Janek Wolowski and Randy Wicker, and uber talents Richard and Dana. Elisa, Will, Angelo and Renee thank you for one point or another for being my camera bitch! There are many more people, so I apologize if I have forgotten you.

Liz S, you are an amazing woman who constantly gives me the chance to do what I love! You always astound me by the types of events you have me cover. Thank you for taking a chance with me!
Julie H. you have such an amazing heart. I never thought in a million years I would be on the Pat Field website! You have really made my year. You see things in me that I have overlooked. I can’t thank you enough for the dream come true it has been and will keep continuing!
Meagan H. – WE WILL GET KATHY!! You are such a joy to know and you never make my crazy idea is well…crazy! You are a great visionary at what you do!

My family has always been my rock. A special shout out to my relatives in PA, who are not only amazing, but I am so blessed to have reconnected with them on Facebook. Though sometimes we seem miles apart, BENNINGTONS know we are NEVER that far. Thanks guys for all the kick ass support!

My other “family” -my friends who have seen my light and my dark, I feel so fortunate to have had the opportunity to see each of you grow and become individuals who make me proud in the way you contribute and choices you make. Each of you has such a special gift. I truly love you all and you have been a place to look for advice, support and unconditional love. You have no clue how much I value all of you (though sometimes my sarcasm may make it seem otherwise)

My Old Tappan friends, it’s been a while but let me know when you’re around the NYC/NJ area. For me to see us all grown up seems a little freaky! It was only yesterday we were singing to Mr. Boscia’s music, seeing Mr. Rossi throw a desk, cutting class, going to the prom. Now some of you have your own families. Keep me in your heart, as I do with you.

Wagner College gave me amazing inspiration to find myself and meet professors and life-long friends who inspire me daily. There are many ways you can gain an education as I learned in my years at Wager!

Thanks to all the RENT friends I have made. Measure in love. We can always be grateful for Jonathan Larson’s lasting treasure. Thanks for all the RENT road trips!

Thank you, all the new friends I have made. I look forward to knowing you more and more (that DOES sound kind of creepy)

THANK YOU TO ALL OF YOU OUT THERE WHO INSPIRE!

This year, remember those who are not as blessed and keep them in your thoughts and prayers. It’s important for us –as teachers, friends, parents, lovers, brothers, sisters,-you name it, to go out there and make a difference. Anything small can help. We can be the change.

Please have a safe, healthy and happy Thanksgiving this year.

The best is yet to come,

Neal B
www.nealbinnyc.wordpress.com

From TheWashingtonPost.com:

One year ago, I stood with city leaders on a hill in Northeast as we broke ground for affordable housing in the District. When the St. Martin’s Apartments are completed, nearly 200 low-income families and individuals will get a fresh start on life in a wonderful example of the type of effective public-private partnerships the residents of our nation’s capital need.

St. Martin’s is being developed by Catholic Charities, on land owned by the Catholic Church and with funding sources that include the District of Columbia.

Catholic Charities and the Archdiocese of Washington are committed to continuing to serve the people of the District as we have for many decades. That includes partnerships such as St. Martin’s. Unfortunately, the D.C. Council is considering legislation that could end these kinds of partnerships.

It doesn’t need to be that way. While we do not agree with the council on redefining marriage, we recognize that it is firmly committed to opening marriage to homosexual couples. We are asking that new language be developed that more fairly balances different interests — those of the city to redefine marriage and those of faith groups so that they can continue to provide services without compromising their deeply held religious teachings and beliefs. The archdiocese has not been alone in requesting broader language. Other groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union, the InterFaith Conference of Metropolitan Washington and nationally recognized legal scholars all called for stronger protections for religious freedom in their testimony on the original bill.

For the archdiocese and Catholic Charities, two core tenets of our faith are at the heart of our concerns: our understanding of the nature of marriage and our commitment to expressing Christ’s love through service to others. Under the legislative language before the D.C. Council, the archdiocese would be forced to choose between these two principles. The archdiocese has long made clear that all people have equal dignity, regardless of sexual orientation. But marriage is reserved for husband and wife because of its essential connection with the creation of children.

The proposed legislation offers little protection for religious beliefs, including no protections for individuals, as is required under the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act. Under the bill, religious organizations would be exempt from participating in ceremonies or from teaching about same-sex marriage in religion classes and retreats in accordance with their faith beliefs, but they would be required to recognize and promote same-sex marriage everywhere else, including in employment policies, and adoption and foster-care policies, against their beliefs.

The proposed legislation offers little protection for religious beliefs, including no protections for individuals, as is required under the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act. Under the bill, religious organizations would be exempt from participating in ceremonies or from teaching about same-sex marriage in religion classes and retreats in accordance with their faith beliefs, but they would be required to recognize and promote same-sex marriage everywhere else, including in employment policies, and adoption and foster-care policies, against their beliefs.

So what does this mean?

The archdiocese and Catholic Charities are committed to continuing to provide services in the District. Despite the headlines, there has been no threat or ultimatum to end services, just a simple recognition that the new requirements by the city for religious organizations to recognize same-sex marriages in their policies could restrict our ability to provide the same level of services as we do now. This is so because the District requires Catholic Charities to certify its compliance with city laws when applying for contracts and grants. This includes contracts for homeless services, mental health services, foster care and more. Since Catholic Charities cannot comply with city mandates to recognize and promote same-sex marriages, the city would withhold contracts and licenses.

Each year, 68,000 people in the District rely on Catholic Charities for shelter, nutrition, medical and legal care, job training, immigration assistance and more. This assistance is offered to whoever needs it, regardless of race, religion, gender, nationality or sexual orientation. Many of the programs are offered in partnership with the city, which turns to Catholic Charities and other ministries when it cannot provide social services on its own. Catholic Charities has a proven track record of high-quality service, supported through caring, qualified staff, thousands of dedicated volunteers and millions of dollars in financial support from parishioners all over the region. This legislation won’t end Catholic Charities’ services, but it would reduce unnecessarily the resources available for outreach.

We recognize that the council is likely to legalize same-sex marriage. It is the hope of the archdiocese and Catholic Charities that council members will work with us to find a way to better balance interests so religious organizations that have served this city well for many decades may continue to provide services without compromising the tenets of their faith.

The writer is archbishop of Washington.

From the Associated Press:

ALBANY, N.Y. — New York’s top court ruled Thursday that gay couples legally married elsewhere are entitled to some government benefits, boosting stalled legislative efforts to legalize same-sex marriage.

The Court of Appeals rejected a Christian legal group’s argument that same-sex marriage was akin to incest and polygamy, although the court avoided declaring that gay couples are entitled to all the rights of other married couples.

The 4-3 decision was on the narrow question of benefits; the court did not address whether the state must recognize same-sex marriage but encouraged the Legislature to settle the issue.

The Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Alliance Defense Fund, which challenged the benefits, said it was disappointed that the high court chose not to rule on the validity of what it calls “counterfeit marriages.”

“In New York, the only relationship recognized as marriage is the committed union of a man and a woman,” said Brian Raun, senior counsel for the group. “State and local officials should not attempt to use marriage laws from outside jurisdictions to place their political agendas ahead of the law.”

Gay rights advocates said the decision is the latest in a string of wins that bolsters their case for the state Senate to give final approval to a bill legalizing same-sex marriage.

The Democrat-led Assembly passed a bill this year to legalize same-sex marriage, but it hasn’t yet reached the floor in the Democrat-led Senate, which has promised to vote by the end of the year but where the measure appears a few votes short of passage.

“It absolutely builds momentum,” Empire State Pride Agenda Executive Director Alan Van Capelle said. “It’s another court saying the state Senate should act and clarify the issue.”

Now, 20 New York judges in different cases have supported government rights for same-sex couples, said Susan Sommer, director of constitutional litigation at Lambda Legal, a New York-based gay rights organization.

“The ball is now in the state Senate’s court,” she said.

One of the judges in Thursday’s decision warned that failing to address the larger question of recognizing same-sex marriages will create a problem.

“The effect of the majority’s rationale in affirming these orders will be to permit an unworkable pattern of conflicting executive and administrative directives … (at the) individual discretion of each agency head,” Judge Carmen Beauchamp Ciparick warned in an otherwise concurring opinion.

“We ought to avoid the confusion that would arise from a same-sex couple considered legally married by one agency for one purpose, but not married by another agency for a different purpose,” the judge wrote.

Many gay New Yorkers have been married in a handful of states and Canada but reside in New York and seek hundreds of government benefits and rights they say they’ve been denied.

Gay marriage is legal in Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts and Vermont and was for a time in California. A New Hampshire law takes effect next year, and voters in Maine repealed a law this month that would have allowed same-sex marriage.

With Thursday’s court decision, legally married same-sex couples will be entitled to public employee health insurance coverage and certain other benefits provided to heterosexual spouses.

The lawsuit challenged the granting of those benefits by the state Civil Service Department and Westchester County, and was upheld in a lower court. That ruling was challenged by the Alliance Defense Fund, which has fought similar decisions nationwide.

Marriages performed elsewhere that are considered abhorrent in New York, including incest and polygamy, are exempt from government benefits for spouses. Raum argued that same-sex marriage should be regarded as another exception.

The defendants had argued that a state rule recognizing common law marriages meant that same-sex unions performed elsewhere should be recognized in New York.

The court said in its decision that it didn’t have to consider that argument because of the narrowness of the case, pertaining only to certain benefits, but said it hoped the Legislature would address the question.

Activists are pressing for a law allowing gay marriage in New Jersey, where a recent poll found residents narrowly favor the measure. But key legislators have said there might not be enough support for the bill to pass before Gov. Jon Corzine, a Democrat, leaves office in January.

His elected successor, Republican Chris Christie, has promised to veto it.

Um time de atores invejável, um diretor meticuloso e um roteiro baseado em uma história real fazem de “Milk” um dos grandes filmes da história do cinema norte-americano. E, segundo a lista do The Times, um dos grandes filmes da década.

Harvey Milk foi o primeiro gay assumido a ocupar um cargo político nos Estados Unidos, em 1977. Ao lutar pelos direitos civis dos homossexuais foi alvo da intolerância da ala conservadora wasp norte-americana e acabou assassinado quase um ano depois de sua eleição.

Sem dúvida, a grande estrela do filme é Sean Penn. O ator há muito deixou de se caracterizar para fazer um papel. Ao invés disso, ele incorpora as personagens e quase sempre nos premia com atuações intuitivas, impecáveis e emocionantes. Outras interpretações de destaque são dos companheiros de Milk interpretados por James Franco e Diego Luna.

A direção de Gus Van Sant é primorosa na reconstituição de época e na condução do roteiro. Por se tratar de uma história verídica, o trabalho tem uma dificuldade adicional: como o desfecho já é conhecido pelo público, cabe ao diretor envolver os espectadores com outros elementos cênicos que compensem essa informação. E, com muita maestria e um roteiro muito bem encaixado, sua narrativa flui sem dificuldades.

O que fica implícito na obra, pela sua excelente repercussão entre crítica e público, é o início da aceitação da temática homossexual em Hollywood. A primeira conquista foi no ano de 2005, com o premiado O Segredo de Brokeback Mountain. Mas, ainda naquele período, o trabalho de Ang Lee sofreu com a resistência de parte dos espectadores ao romance entre cowboys Ennys e Jack.

O sucesso de Milk denota que a história das personagens em si, ficcionais ou reais, está se tornando mais importante do que sua cor de pele, credo ou opção sexual. Essa é a grande vitória do filme: conseguir espaço nos ambientes mais inóspitos usando a arte como veículo para diluir preconceitos e transformar a realidade.

Filme: Milk – A Voz da Igualdade (Milk)
Diretor: Gus Van Sant
Elenco: Sean Penn, Emile Hirsch, Josh Brolin, Diego Luna, Alison Phil
Duração: 128 minutos

Oscar de Melhor Ator (2008)

Oscar de Melhor Roteiro (2008)

Outros prêmios

Não pisque: Quando Harvey Milk conquista o cargo político desejado.

Veja também:

Os Últimos Passos de Um Homem (1995)

Entre Meninos e Lobos (2003)

Na Natureza Selvagem (2007)

Click Logo for Video!

For  video from the Emery Awards 2009, click the logo to play!

I was lucky enough to do press for The 2009 Emery Awards & 30th Anniversary of the Hetrick-Martin Institute for rPulse.com (check them out!). For those who dont know, the Emery Awards honor individuals and corporations that exemplify The Hetrick-Martin Institutes mission of providing a safe and supportive environment for all young people regardless of their sexual orientation or identity as well as those who have demonstrated outstanding leadership within the LGBTQ community.

Featuring: Singer Lance Bass, reality television show star Kimora: Life in the Fab Lane, Kimora Lee Simmons, Academy Award winning writer of Milk Dustin Lance Black, actress Heather Matarazzo, activist Cleve Jones, actor Cheyenne Jackson, actor Victor Garber, actor Nicholas Rodriguez, comedian Judy Gold, actor B.D. Wong, Newark Mayor Cory Booker and Supermodel Veronica Webb, musician Caroline Murphy, actress Lisa Banes, actor Edward Hibbert, actress Debra Monk

Singer Lance Bass - Click Picture for More!

I was lucky enough to do press for The 2009 Emery Awards & 30th Anniversary of the Hetrick-Martin Institute for rPulse.com (check them out!).  For those who don’t know, the Emery Awards honor individuals and corporations that exemplify The Hetrick-Martin Institute’s mission of providing a safe and supportive environment for all young people – regardless of their sexual orientation or identity – as well as those who have demonstrated outstanding leadership within the LGBTQ community.

MORE INSIDE!

The Red Carpet - Click Picture for More!

Click each picture for view more pictures from the night!

Reality Star Kimora Lee Simmons - Click Picture for More!

Academy Award winning writer of “Milk” Dustin Lance Black - Click for More!

I have some gigs coming up so keep checking back for more…

But today’s BIG BIG NEWS IS…

NealBinNYC has only been open for approximately a month and a half and I have over 10,000 HITS!

Thank you to all the viewers who come back regularly  to check out all the stories, videos, photos and interviews.  I feel truly blessed to be sharing this with you!  Thank you again for all your support, and kind words in the past months or so!

TO CELEBRATE I AM HOLDING A CONTEST
HELP NEALB ON THE RED CARPET OF THE NEW MOVIE “TRUTH UNSPOKEN”

Click to View the Trailer

(HBO and Kodak Film Festival Selected)

THE WINNER WILL HELP  NEALB INTERVIEW THE CAST, AND CREW OF “THE TRUTH UNSPOKEN” ON THE RED CARPET ON FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2009 in New York City! You will get to stay for all the festivities of the night!

To enter you must be in the New York City area, be around Friday November 13, 2009 and also have Facebook.

Contest directions:

I am looking to see who could get the word out about my site in the most creative way and the biggest way!  On your Facebook wall, please place any Neal B in NYC images, links, or videos on there from Monday, November 9 , 2009 through Thursday, November 12, 2009.  The winner will be the person who shares my blog on their Facebook wall in the most creative way.  The more friends you share it with and more wall posts the better!

Anytime on Thursday, November 12, 2009 BEFORE 8:30 pm EST, contact me on Facebook or send a comment on here letting me know to check your Facebook wall.

The contest will end on Thursday, November 12, 2009 at 8:30 pm EST.  I will contact the winner that night no later than 9:00 pm via their Facebook e-mail and also I will announce the winner on NealBinNYC.wordpress.com and as well as the Facebook fan site (Neal B. in NYC)

Thanks again guys for all your support!!

Neal B

There are few times that I get down about living in a small town in North Carolina, but this weekend is one of them. I have been excited about the film debut of Precious for weeks. I thought I was going to see the film and do a bit of film analysis on the blog, since I have read and taught PUSH by Sapphire (the powerful novel that that film is based on), for years. But, alas it is not opening anywhere in the Raleigh/Durham area until Nov 20! So I can’t write about the film. I can, however, share a bit about how Sapphire’s coming into her own as a writer at 40, along with other writers and activists, who started their journeys later in life, have been an inspiration to me.

Two weekends ago, I was watching MILK, the incredible story of the gay activist Harvey Milk. Early in the film, he picks up a man who will become his long term lover. At this time Harvey Milk is a closeted gay man. Right after the clock strikes on his 40th birthday, he says to his lover plaintively, “I’ve haven’t done a single thing I’m proud of.” (I’m paraphrasing). With his lover’s urging, they move to San Francisco, reinvent themselves and within a year, he is on the path that will eventually shape the modern gay rights movement.

When I have students read PUSH, I ask them to also read an interview with her conducted by Patricia Bell Scott in Flat-Footed Truths: Telling Black Women’s Lives. Here is an excerpt from that interview:

“Although I had been writing for some time, I was almost forty before I claimed my identity as a writer. In 1990, when I did my last major performance, a fifty minute choreopoem, ‘Are You Ready to Rock,’ my business manager, a wonderful young African American woman, said to me, “If I’m going to promote you as a writer, where’s the writing? Where’s the book?” I was trying to do the performance work, trying to write, and none of it was making a living. I was exhausted. Dead tired. And I couldn’t go on.
I went through an intense midlife-turning forty crisis. I felt that I had not really done much with my life, when I compared myself to mentors like Ntozake [Shange], who had five or six books. Then I looked at some of the reasons I hadn’t tried. A lack of confidence-a belief that maybe I couldn’t do it or that I wasn’t good or smart enough. I also realized that I had never committed myself to any one thing. I had always tried to dance, act and write at the same time.
With this awareness, I decided to totally commit myself to becoming a writer. I said “I will put together a collection of writings for publication,” and that became American Dreams. I said, “I will go to school and get an MFA degree”; and I did.”

Witnessing Harvey Milk’s decision to begin over again at 40 and Sapphire’s commitment to writing at 40 makes me grateful about manifesting my creative work at this stage in my life (41). It’s only been recently that I’ve come to appreciate that the path to your heart’s desire is rarely straight and narrow, or, progress easily demarcated strictly by one’s age.

I’ve always been somewhat enchanted with child stars and people who seem to achieve big things early in their careers. And, it’s true that as an academic, I’ve had solid and early professional success, so I can’t complain on that front. I’ve, however, been creatively writing all my life, but it is has only been in the last ten years that I’ve made more space for that identity to flourish. I used to be more convinced that something needed to happen at a particular age: 20, 25, and 38. I’m now less worried about age being a gauge of inner or outer success. I do think that by midlife, people are usually getting intuitive prompts, urgings and guidance about new directions, if they have been blocked. This often leads to new commitments to pursue buried or unrealized dreams.

I am also cheered by examples of writers including Amy Tan and Toni Morrison that didn’t start their writing careers until their late thirties or early 40s. PUSH is a remarkable novel and I think the skill and focus it took to craft it might not had happened if Sapphire had not lived a full and complex life (sex worker, writer, incest survivor, performance artist, teacher), and faced her internal demons and doubts squarely in the face as a mature woman. Her life and other ‘over thirty’ creative bloomers are useful reminders of the arc of human potential.

I hope that you will read PUSH and see the film. So, if you’re lucky enough to live in a place where it is opening this weekend, go see it. Seeing the film sends a message to Hollywood that the viewing public is interested in being challenged and hearing new stories.

I’ve included a link to Sapphire being interviewed on NPR:
Sapphire’s Story: How ‘Push’ Became ‘Precious’
All things considered: NOV 6 – 2009
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=120176695

I recently watched the film Milk starring Sean Penn and directed by Gus Van Sant, a bio-pic about San Francisco’s first openly gay elected official Harvey Milk, on DVD. I was pleased I did as I found it very interesting and I’d not previously known much about him or his life. One thing did puzzle me though. In the 1970s in San Francisco there was a religious, marxist, socialist group calling themselves The Peoples Temple. Harvey Milk was a known and ardent supporter of the group, led by their ‘pastor’ Jim Jones. Jones billed himself as a humanitarian to the outside world and God to his followers. He was, infact, a maniac who led over 900 men, women and children to their deaths in the jungles of Guyana in 1978. Newspaper exposes on Jones’ brutal treatment of his followers and criminal activity had been reported as early as 1972 but were largely ignored until it was too late. Both Milk and San Francisco Mayor George Moscone, and other officials, were supporters of Jones and the temple and both were assasinated just over a week after the Guyana deaths by former SF City Supervisor Dan White. However, there is no mention of this in the film whatsoever. It’s not even referenced or alluded to. I understand that in a biopic it’s usually not possible to mention everything in a person’s life, however given the level of Milk and Moscone’s involvement in the temple, Milk wrote a letter defending Jones to then US President Jimmy Carter and Moscone refused to have Jones investigated even after his human rights violations became public knowledge. I really feel it should have been mentioned. Do check the film out just don’t expect to be getting the full story. Thanks for reading.