Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters: Jan 22, 2010

Friday, January 22, 2010

Know your LGBT History - Soul Plane

I hope that Monique gets the Oscar for Precious.

But if you ask me, she should have gotten some award for being the only funny spot in the movie Soul Plane (2004).

The fact that GLAAD missed raising hell about this movie will irk me until my dying day.

Soul Plane was an urban movie about a black man who sues the an airline (after his dog is killed in an accident while he was stuck on the toilet mid-flight) and proceeds to start his own airline with the proceeds.

This movie was so bad that it ruined black movie watching for me for a long time.

And the worst was the gay character, Flame, played by Gary Anthony Williams. To this day, I still ruminate over the various things about Williams' portrayal which continues to piss me off:

1. The character goes beyond being a stereotype. He crosses new dimensions of offensiveness.

2. Almost every time he is featured, he is talking about sex or having sex. It was also annoying how the other male characters would give him backwards glances as if to say "what is THAT doing here"

3. Then there is that very offensive scene where he and other various unnamed gay characters (and Catholic priests - this movie just offended everyone) mistake a request from the cockpit for one of oral sex and proceed to knock the other passengers down trying to get there.

4. But the worst is the scene at the end where he hits on another character played by bad black movie mainstay John Witherspoon. Witherspoon's character is a blind man who earlier manually copulated with a baked potato (you read that right). What gay man in his right mind would hit on him?

If I had time to analyze Flame's character, I would definitely make the cause that he is representative of how the black community as a whole sometimes view lgbts of color.

But it's Friday and I don't have that time. So I will just show you this clip (probably the tamest clip featuring Flame. It features him and the other "stewardesses" in a music video) which more than proves my point. It starts at 39 seconds. And by the way, the Osama Bin Laden joke was crass also:

More backtracking from Miles McPherson and other Friday midday news briefs

The reliable writer's remorse of one Miles McPherson - Jeremy from Goodasyou.org adds more details to McPherson's habit of scrubbing away past homophobic statements.

Uganda anti-gay bill may change, says MP Bahati - He should do the right thing and get rid of the bill, period.

Who Was The Reporter The Lexington MA Wirthlins Spoke To About Their Child's Book? - Or how to gain a religious right fix in anti-lgbt initiatives.

Ruby-Sachs: Supreme Court Campaign Finance Decision Puts Gay Rights At Risk - Everyone seems to be reeling from the Supreme Court decision yesterday regarding campaign finance. This is a look on how it could harm lgbt rights.

D.C. visitors help rescue woman from Union Station Metro tracks - A little positive news for your Friday.

Congressional leaders vocal in opposing Ugandan anti-gay bill

Yesterday, Rep. Tammy Baldwin chaired a Congressional hearing on the Ugandan anti-gay bill. Her words should be taken to heart by those who would dare to support the measure (i.e. Peter LaBarbera and Robert Knight.)

In addition, 90 U.S. Congressional leaders have denounced the bill:

In the letters, the Members of Congress call the Ugandan Anti-Homosexuality Act of 2009 “the most extreme and hateful attempt by an African country to criminalize their LGBT community.” The Members asked President Obama to use his “personal leadership, and that of our country, in seeking to deter these legislative proposals,” and warned President Museveni that, “Should the bill be passed, any range of bilateral programs important to relations between our countries and, indeed, to the Ugandan people inevitably would be called under review.”

The Ugandan legislation would increase the penalty for same-sex sexual acts to life in prison, limit the distribution of information on HIV by criminalizing the “promotion of homosexuality,” and establish the crime of “aggravated homosexuality” punishable by death for anyone in Uganda who is HIV positive and has consensual same-sex relations. Further, the bill includes a provision that could lead to the imprisonment for up to three years of anyone who fails to report to the government within 24 hours the identities of everyone they know who is lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender, or who supports human rights for people who are.

Hat tip to Box Turtle Bulletin.