Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters

Friday, March 19, 2010

Know Your LGBT History - The Boys in the Band

So much is going on today - the health care vote, the situation involving the arrest of the activists who chained themselves to the White House fence (there was more than one) in protest of DADT, and a certain attorney general in Virginia who, like the rest of his cohorts in the religious right, seems to be so obsessed with his definition of "gay acts," that it's clouding his mind.

But it's Friday and that means time for another segment of my Know Your LGBT History. For this segment, I decided to spotlight THE penultimate movie in lgbt movie history, The Boys in the Band.

The Boys in the Band (1970), originally an off-Broadway play, tells the story of a group of gay men who gather together for a friend's birthday party. They drink too much and suddenly the catty atmosphere of the party becomes venomous. Things are said, friendships take a hit, and someone collapses under the weight of his self-hatred.

There has been so much said about this movie but allow me to say one more thing.

I hated The Boys in the Band. I will always hate it.

I know that it's a landmark in gay cinema and had to be true to life when presenting the lives of gay men back then but I still hate it.

It's not that I hated certain characters, be it super-flamer Emory, hateful Michael, or the prostitute who was supposed to a birthday gift.

It's just that if you turn those catty men into catty women, what do you have? A comedy - which I reviewed a while back - called The Women.

But no matter how catty and vicious those women in that movie were, the love that many of them showed to each other and themselves was a redeeming factor.

There is nothing but self-pity and self-hatred in The Boys in the Band. There is simply nothing redeeming about it except for the fact that it's just a historical commentary on the lives of gay men.

But that's hardly redeeming.

Past Know Your LGBT History postings:

Know Your LGBT History - Christopher Morley, the crossdressing assassin

Know Your LGBT History - Midnight Cowboy

Know Your LGBT History - Dracula's Daughter

Know Your LGBT History - Blacula

Know Your LGBT History - 3 Strikes

Know Your LGBT History - Paris Is Burning

Know Your LGBT History - The Women

Know your LGBT History - Soul Plane

Know Your LGBT History - The Player's Club

Special Know Your LGBT History - Fame

Know Your LGBT History - Welcome Home, Bobby

Know Your LGBT History - Barney Miller

Know your lgbt history - The Jerry Springer Show

Know your lgbt history - Martin Lawrence and that 'gay guy' on his show

Know your lgbt history - The Ricki Lake Show

Know your lgbt history - Which Way Is Up

Know your lgbt history - Gays in Primetime Soaps

Know your lgbt history - Boys Beware

Know your lgbt history - The Boondocks

Know your lgbt history - Mannequin

Know your lgbt history - The Warriors

Know Your LGBT History - New York Undercover

Know Your LGBT History - Low Down Dirty Shame

Know Your LGBT History - Fortune and Men's Eyes

Know your lgbt history - California Suite

Know your lgbt history - Taxi (Elaine's Strange Triangle)

Know your lgbt history - Come Back Charleston Blue

Know your lgbt history - James Bond goes gay

Know your lgbt history - Windows

Know your lgbt history - To Wong Foo and Priscilla

Know your lgbt history - Blazing Saddles

Know your lgbt history - Sanford and Son

Know your lgbt history - In Living Color

Know your lgbt history - Cleopatra Jones and her lesbian drug lords

Know your lgbt history - Norman, Is That You?

Know your lgbt history - The 'Exotic' Adrian Street

Know your lgbt history - The Choirboys

Know your lgbt history - Eddie Murphy

Know your lgbt history - The Killing of Sister George

Know your lgbt history - Hanna-Barbera cartoons pushes the 'gay agenda

'Know your lgbt history - Cruising

Know your lgbt history - Foxy Brown and Cleopatra Jones

Know your lgbt history - I Got Da Hook Up

Know your lgbt history - Fright Night

Know your lgbt history - Flowers of Evil

The Jeffersons and the transgender community

Lie about gays in the military gets smacked down HARD and other Friday midday news briefs

Dutch officials call Sheehan’s theory blaming gay soldiers for the Srebrenica massacre ‘complete nonsense.’ - At the DADT hearings yesterday, a retired general blamed gays in the military for a historical massacre in the Netherlands. Dutch officials say he is full of it. READ this one. I love how they tore him down. We need more of that in THIS country.

CWA's fundraiser: Now with much better access to spine alignments - Ain't this a trip? The Concerned Women for America are now hawking "liquid nutrition" drinks. Well they are already pushing mental laxatives for the ignorant so I guess why not?

Ex-Gay Ministry Admits Sexual Abuse; Grateful At Not Being Found Out - Shame, shame, shame!

Anti-Gay Mailer Sparks Controversy At Post Office - Paul Cameron vs. the post office.

Lesbian Bishops Get Africans Killed - This isn't good at all.

After yesterday's activism, what's next?

I neglected to post videos of Dan Choi and the sit-in at Nancy Pelosi's office:

Do you agree or disagree with the actions? I'm in the middle but leaning towards the positive. I'm not going all out and calling the folks here heroes but it was very commendable that they took a risky stance because let's face it - sometimes stances like this are needed.

But I'm also for tactics with coordination. People always remember the sit-ins and marches of the African-American civil rights movement but they are always willing to forget that these sit-ins and marches didn't happen spontaneously nor singularly. They were a part of a huge coordinated plan.

I guess I'm saying that I want to see what happens next. Have there been any planning and will we see other actions designed to spur attention to our issues or were these actions the result of scatter shot frustration?

So my immediate reaction is "way to go," but my pragmatic reaction awaits satisfaction.

Related posts:

Some thoughts about this day of civil disobedience

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Some thoughts about this day of civil disobedience

By now, the lgbt blogs are buzzing about Dan Choi chaining himself to the fence at the White House in protest to slow movement on DADT and GetEqual's sit-in at Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi's office to get some action moving on ENDA.

It's been an interesting day to say the least.

Now at the expense of riling up the negative emotions of those who are throwing out words like "civil disobedience" or those who are waxing nostalgic about the days of Act-Up and Queer Nation, or getting "the troll" after me yet again (i.e. a former friend who every now and then takes my posts and spins them to talk about how me and others have done him dirty), allow me to offer a few comments.

1. The actions today are awesome. But our reactions suck. Already some of us throwing personal attacks at each other. We seem to always forget that lgbts come from different background and therefore not everyone has the same opinion on things such as what is happening today. But here is the thing we should all remember. NO ONE has the single correct solution or blueprint for gaining equality. At the very least, we owe each other respect. We get enough negativity thrown at us as it is without contributing to the ugliness.

2. Let's not get so caught up that we forget other important matters.

Might I remind everyone that Oklahoma is trying to pass a bill that allows the state to destroy evidence rather than cooperate with the federal hate crime law.

We are in the middle of a huge battle in South Carolina to get the Legislature to restore much needed funding to organizations dedicated to fighting the spread of AIDS.

Virginia seems to have gone anti-gay buck wild.

And I haven't even mentioned the fact that across the country, there are over 30 of those phony moral values groups just waiting to create havoc on a state-by-state level.

Last but not least, there are our lgbt youth - the next generation. Let's never forget about them.

My point? Today's actions do not mark a start or a finish but a chapter in a huge book which we must continue to write.

Girl Scouts attacked with fradulent story and other Thursday midday news briefs

Girl Scouts Ensnared in the Right's Hatred of Planned Parenthood - A lie told against the Girl Scouts. Watch how there will be no apology or correction.

BLOGSWARM: For a good and non-discriminatory time, call Nancy - Blogswarm Speaker Nancy Pelosi on ENDA.

Peter LaBarbera, Expert on Nothing, Disagrees with UNAIDS Expert on AIDS Prevention - Strangely enough, when religious right folks throw out their opinion, their lack of expertise is really never questioned.

Some clinical trials exclude gays and lesbians: study - But of course the religious right groups will omit this fact when they cite their junk science.

'A Closer Look' at Elaine Donnelly's "1100 Flag Officers" Letter - A chief opponent of allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly in the military seems to be passing around a fradulent letter. Should we be surprised?

A 'tribute' to gay and lesbian characters in children's television shows and cartoons

I don't care what anyone says, there were a lot of subtle gay characters in children's television. And I'm not saying that in the spirit of ~~James Dobson~~ Jerry Falwell when he went after the Teletubbies years ago.

I'm just noticing something that probably a lot of us knew and this youtube clip from dangoist bears out (in its own way, that is). Feel free to laugh if you want (or not):

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

South Carolinians: 'AIDS is not in remission and the funding shouldn't be either'

From the Midlands Connection:

The number of people in this state living with HIV and AIDS is on the rise. According to the South Carolina HIV and AIDS crisis task force, more than 14,000 people have the disease. Nearly 25 percent of them rely on government money for medication.

Earlier this week, House lawmakers asked the feds for more than $170 million to fund services for prescription drug programs and the department of disabilities and special needs. However HIV/AIDS was left out of that mix.

"AIDS is not in recession and the funds to fight AIDS should not be in recession either," said Columbia Pastor Andy Sidden.

Hundreds gathered at the State House Wednesday to protest recent cuts to state funded HIV and AIDS services. Earlier this month, South Carolina budget writers slashed the "AIDS Drug Assistance Program's" entire $5.9 million budget.

"Cutting funding for ADAP is like a death sentence for the people who do not have health insurance or can't afford all of their medicines out of pocket," said AIDS activist Jean-Elizabeth Smith.

I was there and was impressed by the numbers who came out in support of the restoration of the funds. To use a tired cliche, a picture is worth a thousand words:

By the way, you will all be happy to know that an amendment has been submitted to restore $2.2 million back into the program. But according to the article, those who gathered at the State House said that until the money is restored, they won't be silenced.

And they shouldn't be either.

Editor's note - the pictures were taken with a Blackberry so I apologize in advance to those not happy with the quality of some of the photos.