Category Archives: Gay History

Arts, Bo Young, Community, Culture, Current Affairs, Entertainment, Food and Drink, Friends, Gay Health, Gay History, Health, History, Homophobia, Marriage Equality, Men, Politics, Religion, Right Wingers, Television

Top Chef

Leave a comment

Like any self-respecting Gay Foodie, I’m a long time fan of Top Chef…and I must admit to a crush on Tom Colicchio (both a culinary crush and a flat he’s-hot-crush). Now I have another reason. An upcoming episode of the show has one of the Lesbian chefs balking at a “wedding challenge”.  Kudos to her.  But to add complement to spine, Colicchio had this to say in a blog post of his own:

Colicchio“I’m going to go out on a limb and say a few words about same-sex marriage: First of all, part of the problem with the issue is that it is framed by opponents as a discussion of whether gay people should get special rights. This is specious – yes, special legislation or court decisions grant them the right to wed in a particular state, however this is done to ensure that they share equal protection under the law by finally being able to avail themselves of the same rights as everyone else.  They are not seeking special treatment, just equitable treatment. Second, religion has no business being part of the discussion. When a couple is wed in a house of worship, the officiant may be performing a religious rite, but as far as the law is concerned, that officiant has been authorized to perform a civil function, plain and simple. And even were same-sex marriage to be legalized by the state, no one would be holding a gun to the heads of the clergy to require them to perform a ceremony that their faith or personal creed does not condone.  Just as some rabbis would not perform my marriage to my wife because I wasn’t Jewish, clergy can decline performing same-sex marriages; gay couples can either find clergy willing to officiate or can be wed in a civil setting. The idea that religious leaders are continuing to shape state law is just wrong. The institution of marriage should be available to all. The idea that you can have a life-long partner and not make decisions for them in a hospital, not share in insurance benefits, not automatically have parental rights unless you are the birth parent, is just flat-out wrong.”
 
I don’t think I’ve seen it expressed quite so well, anywhere, by anyone else. Bravo, indeed.
Bo Young, Community, Current Affairs, Gay Health, Gay History, Homophobia, Men, Politics, Religion, Right Wingers

Disturbing Video of the Mormon Kiss Couple Arrest

1 Comment

Apparently a security camera caught security guards confronting a gay couple after they kissed on the LDS plaza in Salt Lake City, Utah, on July 9, 2009. YouTube processed this file at double speed and shows a group of Mormon goons in suits arguing with Matt Aune and Derek Jones before handcuffing them. Charges against Aune and Jones have since been dropped.

Ancestors, Arts, Bo Young, Call for Submissions, Community, Culture, Elders, Entertainment, Film, Friends, Gay History, History, Homophobia, Literature, Men, Politics, Right Wingers, Television

Looking for a Map

Leave a comment

Our friend, White Crane contributor, and author of Stonewall: The Riot That Sparked The Gay Revolution, David Carter sends this…

Dear Friends, The first rough cut of the full-length PBS film on the Stonewall Riots — now one and a half hours longStonewallHRDCVR — is close to being assembled and we are looking for era maps of Greenwich Village to use in the film. 

I will make inquiries at the usual and obvious archives and collections, but we all know that one can't assume that one will find the best such map in any one collection … and that any friend who either lived in New York at the time or has moved here since and who loves the Village might have a much better map than even New York's most famous archives might own: so if any of you happen to own a map that was made in the late 1960s or early 1970s of Greenwich Village, especially one that is detailed or features the area around the Stonewall Inn, and you would be happy to share it with the world in an American Experience documentary … please let me know.  The filmmakers are on deadline for submission of the rough cut to a film festival and need a PDF of such a map ASAP … they'd like to receive the PDF this coming week if possible.

If you have a map that they can use and can help, please contact David at History69@aol.com or the editors at White Crane at editors@gaywisdom.org