Know your LGBT History - Partners

The 1982 movie Partners is one of the single most ugly movies about the gay community I have ever seen.

There is no other way to put it. To label it as a "hot mess" would be too kind. In the immortal words of Bart Simpson - "I never thought it was possible for something to suck and blow and the same time."

Partners was supposed to be an action comedy starring Ryan O'Neal and John Hurt as two policemen who go undercover as lovers in the gay community to find a possible serial killer of gay men.

Laughs a plenty, huh?

The hook is that O'Neal is a super macho heterosexual man while Hurt is a mousy, quiet gay man afraid of his shadow. Apparently he is not only a desk clerk but also totally oblivious of the fact that everyone knows that he is gay.

Are you laughing already?

The whole point of the movie is supposed to an evolution of O'Neal's character from uncomfortable homophobia is somewhat acceptance of gays, but that falls flat because there are absolutely no positive gay characters in this movie. None whatsoever. The gay men are either spooky, oversexed, violent, so stereotypically nelly that they cry at the drop of a hat or worse - all of those characterizations at once. The only gay characters seen in a positive light is only due to the fact that they have very little screen time.

Even when the movie tries to send a message (via an absolutely nasty scene in which the police humiliate a gay man by making him walk naked to his cell), it falls flat. It's just one more indignity in a movie full of indignities.

The worst thing in the movie has to be Hurt's portrayal. He is just hideous and constantly bears an expression on his face that says "oh brother, I just have to keep thinking about my paycheck to get through this shit." And he really should have known better. In 1975, he received critical acclaim for his awesome portrayal of gay icon Quentin Crisp in The Naked Civil Servant. Why he chose to make a 360 degree turn and do this movie is one of the greatest mysterious of life. Anyhow, here is a scene from Partners:



Past Know Your LGBT History Posts:

NAACP to talk about gay issues and other Friday midday news briefs

NAACP Talks LGBT Issues - The NAACP will be holding a first ever town hall meeting about gay issues. Panelists will include Wanda Sykes Hall and Julian Bond. All I can say is it's about time!

Right-Wing Activist Says Homosexuality Creates "The Most Violent Societies" - Hallmarking yet again why the charges of the religious right about "in your face homosexuals" is bogus. I mean come on - what other groups of Americans have to deal with being called all of these names by someone who will hide behind religion?

NYT feature: Young New Yorkers united for marriage equality - 14 very good reasons why we are going to win this argument.

REPORT: Pentagon to Certify "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" Repeal Today? - Just in case you haven't heard THIS news.

Maggie Gallagher's hypocritical whine about corruption

Sunday will be the day that gay couples in New York will be able to legally marry. And naturally the National Organization for Marriage isn't happy about it. The organization has planned protests across the state.

Maggie Gallagher, NOM chairwoman, conducted an interview with the American Family Association's One News Now talking about the situation. And if you ask me, based upon what she said, Gallagher is fortunate that lightning didn't strike her during interview:

She (Gallagher) reports that her group is hearing from "voters all over the state ... [who] are really upset, not only about marriage, but about the lying, the deceit, [and] the flip-flopping. It's really a symbol of the corrupt, insider politics which has dominated Albany for years and is now reaching a new height," Gallagher laments.

Is Gallagher for real? How can she whines about the "deceit" of the NY legislators while her organization are guilty of the following offenses:

sent out mailers and commercials claming that gays are using the marriage argument to corrupt children,

 unsuccessfully tried to skirt disclosure laws in six states in an attempt to hide its donor list,

cynically played the black and gay communities against one another,

gave misleading testimony during a Congressional hearing on DOMA,

knowingly faked an argument about legal scholars bothered by the NY law for marriage equality, and

is presently teaming up with the Minnesota Family Council to stop marriage equality in the state in spite of the fact that the organization claims that gays engage in bestiality, pedophilia, and the consuming of bodily wastes.

If Gallagher wants to talk about deceit, she should look to the organization she helped to start. If it weren't for deceit and corruption, NOM wouldn't have any victories to speak of.