Harvey Milk Day

Today is Harvey Milk Day!  In my opinion Harvey Milk was a brave and intelligent man who used logic and humor to further equality for the GLBT community.  Many of this words are just as true and inspirational now as they were when he uttered them nearly 40 years ago.

12 memorable Harvey Milk quotes:

1. "Gay brothers and sisters, you must come out!  Destroy the lies and distortions.  For your sake; for their sake."
2. "I have never considered myself a candidate.  I have always considered myself part of a movement."
3. "I would like to see every gay doctor come out, every gay lawyer, every gay architect come out.  Stand up and let the world know!  That would do more to end prejudice overnight than anyone could imagine."
4. "You have to give them hope."
5. "If a bullet should enter my brain, let that bullet destroy every closet door in the country."
6. "Without hope, not only gays but the blacks, the seniors, the handicapped, the us'es - the us'es will give up... Because if a gay person makes it, the doors are open to everyone."
7. "Hope will never be silent."
8. "My name is Harvey Milk and I'm here to recruit you."
9. "Coming out is the most political thing you can do."
10. "Burst down those closet doors once and for all and stand up and start to fight."
11. "All young people, regardless of sexual orientation or identity, deserve a safe and supportive environment in which to achieve their full potential."
12. "All men are created equal.  No matter how hard they try they can never erase those words.  That is what America is about."

Source

Oscars

Last night we attended an Oscar party at our friends Paul & Steve's. There were 12 of us. We had food and drinks, watched parts of Barbara Walters' interviews with Anne Hathaway, Mickey Rourke, and Hugh Jackman, and speculated on who/what will win. We had a great time.

Although 3 1/2 hours long, I thought the Oscar show kept a pretty good pace. The delicious Hugh Jackman had a great energy level that kept the show from feeling heavy.

I really liked the way they presented the 'best actor' and 'best actress' awards, having 5 past winners enter the stage simultaneously, then describe and announce the current nominees. It really gave the award presentation some extra impact.

One thing I will never understand is why most winners feel the need to ramble off 20-30 peoples' names they need to thank in their acceptance speech. WE DON'T KNOW THESE PEOPLE, so to us it basically sounds like the teacher from the Peanuts cartoon talking. Blah blah blah blah blah. Why not just offer one big 'thank you' to the academy and to everyone who assisted in the production? This would significantly shorten the program, and leave more time for the more enjoyable parts, like performances of the nominated songs.

But there were 2 acceptance speeches I felt bear repeating.

The 1st was from Dustin Lance Black who won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay for 'Milk'. His heartfelt and emotional speech was inspiring, not only to me as an out gay man, but undoubtedly to all the young gays and lesbians watching last night, as he assured everyone that equal rights on a Federal level would soon be a reality. Click on his name to watch it.

The 2nd was from Sean Penn who won the Oscar for Best Actor. He took the opportunity to shame those who voted yes on Prop 8, and then stated his belief that all Americans, including GLBT folks, deserve equal rights. Click on his name to watch it.

This was probably the most enjoyable awards show for me in a long time. What did you think?

Crush du Jour: Alban Wurm

"Please don't divorce us"

Apparently it wasn't enough that Prop 8 passed in CA, which took away the rights of same sex couples to marry.

Now those horrible people behind "Yes on Prop 8" have hired prosecutor Ken Starr to file a legal brief to nullify the 18,000 same-sex marriages that were already performed in CA between May-Nov of 2008! Can you believe this?

You remember Ken Starr, don't you? He helped spend almost $80 million dollars of tax payer money to impeach President Clinton because he got a blow job and lied about it.

In the spirit of Harvey Milk, it is time to fight back!

Please take a few minutes to watch the photo slideshows created for the "Please Don't Divorce" project by Courage Campaign.
Then, please consider supporting the "Please Don't Divorce" project or the campaign to repeal Prop 8 by making a donation here. No amount is too small to help. Its time to fight back.

Crush du Jour: Maksim Chmerkovskiy

Got Milk?

Spouse & I went to see 'Milk'. We both loved it! Everything from the story to the acting to the cinematography was terrific.

In case you just crawled out of a cave, 'Milk' is the story of Harvey Milk, the very first openly gay elected official in the United States. He was a gay activist who became a city supervisor in San Francisco. He and then mayor George Moscone were assassinated in 1978 by supervisor Dan White, who is believed to have been a closeted gay man with a mental illness. White later committed suicide. Watch the trailer here.

The film had a star-studded cast, beginning with Sean Penn who gave us a vivid and beautiful portrayal of Harvey Milk. Although not exactly the spitting image of Harvey Milk, Sean Penn arguably did everything in his power to convince the audience he was Harvey Milk.
Milk's first partner Scott Smith was played by the handsome James Franco. Emile Hirsch and Joseph Cross did a great job as Harvey's friends and fellow activists Cleve Jones and Dick Pabich. Mayor George Moscone was played by veteran actor Victor Garber.

The film is 2 hours and 15 minutes long, but it didn't feel long at all. The pacing and editing were very well done to maintain the important details while keeping the story moving. I loved how they mixed in TV news coverage and Anita Bryant interviews from the 70s into the movie. Since I was a teenager in the 70s it was fun to see the clothing and hairstyles I remembered.

I felt a little guilty for 'learning' so much about Harvey Milk in this film. From a historical perspective the film really tells the facts about what it was like for gay men in the 70s. It chronicled the reign of hatred and discrimination that Anita Bryant helped many states add to their legislation. But this film is not a documentary; its a story of courage.

I think it is particularly hard for straight actors to play gay characters without overdoing it. In their quest for realism and not wanting to downplay the characters' homosexuality, straight actors often go overboard with the lisping and waving of the weak wrist. But not in this film. Gay men are certainly not all alike, but the straight actors portraying gay characters in this film did so with more integrity than I've ever seen. This kept the characters from becoming cliches. Now, I'm not saying I like my gay characters to appear straight. Far from it! I'm just saying that these characters seemed like real people I might know, rather than the overdone stereotypes we sometimes see in films.

Despite all the actors (presumably) being straight, the film did not shy away from male/male kissing, tasteful nudity, and scenes that insinuated sex. They belonged in the film, and in my opinion they appeared in the correct measure and in the correct places. These scenes are important, as they showed Harvey wasn't an asexual activist, he was a GAY activist. He went from camera store owner to city supervisor in order to make San Francisco a safe and welcoming place for gays and lesbians to live.

Although it will never happen, I'd like to see Harvey Milk added to the list of revered civil rights activists like Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King, Jr. that kids learn about in school, for indeed, Harvey Milk was an exceptional civil rights hero.

Crush du Jour: Yoann Gourcuff