Transgender Women of Color are rarely seen on reality television, as are LGBT People of Color. But two African-American transgender women are changing that and breaking barriers on reality television this season.
When “America’s Next Top Model” starts in September, Isis will be competing along with the other women. Isis is the first ever transgender contestant on the popular reality show. And even though the show has yet to begin, Fox News has already started with the inappropriate and ill-informed commentary.
Laverne Cox, however, seems to have slipped by Fox’s radar screen for now. Laverne is currently competing in the reality show “I Want to Work for Diddy.” In this new VH1 reality show contestants compete for the opportunity to be P. Diddy’s personal assistant.
Laverne, who frequently posts at MyVH1Friends.com, tells Gay.com: “Mr. Combs is giving me an opportunity that can change the way people see trans people of color. I have a dream and am very ambitious, but if I can change the way people perceive trans people of color in this country, that’s something hugely important to me.”
HBO: After ‘Six Feet Under,’ making a show about vampires is a bit of a departure — what can viewers expect from ‘True Blood?’
Alan Ball: It’s based on a series of books written by Charlaine Harris, and it takes place in a world where vampires have made their presence known to humans. They’ve come out of the coffin, so to speak, because of the development by a Japanese biotech firm of synthetic blood for medical purposes, which the vampires claim fulfills all of their nutritional needs. So they’ve organized, and they’re struggling for assimilation and for equal rights. That’s sort of the big-world picture, and then in the small world of the show, which is a very small town in northern Louisiana, there is a waitress who works in a roadhouse, and she’s telepathic, which has been a seriously debilitating pain in the ass for her. Everybody thinks she’s crazy. She has no social life because of this, and then she meets a vampire. And because, technically, he has no brainwaves, she doesn’t really hear his thoughts. So for the first time in her entire life, she can relax and be herself and not be on guard about hearing people’s private, innermost things. And then there’s a huge array of other characters; it’s a really fun show. I remember when I was first pitching it, I said, ”This is popcorn TV for smart people.”
And because it’s cheesy, and campy, and kitschy, and because I had a crush on Elizabeth Montgomery (who had totally killer legs!) since I was, like, three, — oh, yeah, and because Darrin II was as gay as a daisy in May (just like half the supporting cast) — that’s why!
I still haven’t told you all about our (very positive) marriage license adventure, or the most productive marriage equality meeting we attended Monday night. I’m bad. Well, maybe not so bad as just pushed. I’m still digging out from under a million years’ worth of family belongings so we can move households, and trying to fix wedding plans (July 26th is the tentative date), and it was Mom’s birthday yesterday, and there’s a family friend impatient for me to pick out a new computer for her (lifelong tech support comes with the territory of being/having been an I.T. professional), and… just and, and, and.
But I will get around to both. Fingers crossed.
Hateful Sow, Hateful Sow, Hateful Sow!
I watched the “gay parenting” episode of “30 Days” last night with my mom (on her 87th birthday), and all I can say is that I’m not sure which of us was more disgusted — only that she gasped a lot more, and I exhausted my lexicon of Profane Words I Can Use In Front of Mom. Since Buffy had to go to bed before the show, I taped it for her, and all three of us re-screened it this evening, with me exhorting Buffy throughout to blog the thing, and Buffy telling me I’m better at long, analytical take-downs than she is (which is totally wrong; she’s way smarter and more analytical than I am, which is one of the things I adore about her). I argued that if I blogged the show, I’d end up with thirty paragraphs consisting of nothing but what I snarled at the screen, over and over: “Hateful sow! Hateful sow!” — directed, of course, at the anti-gay, terminally cognitive-dissonant B-word, “Kati,” from Fullerton, California (Heart o’ the Hateland), who can’t break through her bubble of utter wrongness and dimwitted bigotry disguised as What God Says to admit that her stubborn, numbskulled, Dark-Ages christendom is absolute bullshit when confronted by two fantastic men raising four good boys who would otherwise be languishing in some crap-hole of a foster home.
Hear that, Kati Whateveryourlastnameis? You are a hateful sow, and you make me thank the god I don’t believe in that I spent mere months living in Orange County, California’s magnet for sickening bigots like you. (You also make me thankful I was raised Catholic — Catholics look positively bohemian next to Mormons. Of which Kati is one. Of the most hopelessly brainwashed variety.)
As I commented on the excerpt Joe.My.God put up on YouTube:
I can’t decide who the more hateful sow is — “Kati” or that pr*ck Sprigg. Or maybe it’s the screwed-up daughter compelled to wreak vengeance of on her father (for… whatever) by airing her own neuroses over her father’s gayness, and slamming all gay people in the process. Hateful, hateful, hateful, stupid, and mean-spirited.
Now, Kati, you hateful sow, go pull a Sally Kern or an Ann Barnett and tell us all how hurt and surprised and shocked you are when people call you on your most un-Jesus-like dogmatism. May your fragile bubble of cognitive dissonance blow up in your proud, ugly face. And let me know when you want me to call the waaahmbulance.
(See, Buffy? I told you I couldn’t blog that show without dissolving into “Hateful sow! Hateful sow!”)
And those lies presented by the Farcical Research Council that GLAAD is (and I am) pissed about? That was nothin’ compared to the screwed-up daughter of a gay man, who was given the stage to wreak vengeance on her old man by slamming the gay community at large. Another hateful sow. And FX didn’t have the decency to counter her obvious exercise in airing dirty laundry, ’cause, like, maybe, she’s just an astoundingly annoying attention-seeker no shrink in the world would put up with for five minutes, so she has to bash Daddy Dearest on national TV and make the whole gay world look like a bunch of freaks. (That’s what I think.)
Speaking of Mormons, a straight, married Mormon ally has this to say to the LDS church. If we believed in his god, we’d thank Him for him.
We Love Antonio Villaraigosa (and not just because he took his ex-wife’s name)
L.A. mayor solid on gay marriage: With the clink of champagne glasses, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa on Monday became the latest politician to preside over the marriage of a same-sex couple, uniting a Hollywood producer and his five-year companion in a short ceremony at City Hall. …
Click the link and read how some religious wingnut called the “Angel of the Trinity” disrupted the ceremony.
Today in Anti-Gay Violence
Four Arrested After Anti-Gay Assault at Flagstaff, Arizona Pride: Two men, one of whom was a worker for Equality Arizona, were assaulted outside a Pita Pit restaurant in downtown Flagstaff, Arizona following the city’s “Pride in the Pines” festival. The attackers preceded their attack with anti-gay slurs…
Second Man Guilty In Murder Of Gay Author: (West Palm Beach, Florida) The second of two men charged in the 2006 murder of Alan Shalleck, the collaborator of the “Curious George” books and TV series, has been found guilty by a West Palm Beach jury. …
Today’s Anti-Gay Creep Forced to Be Nice Story
SC School Begrudgingly Allows Gay Club: (Irmo, South Carolina) A high school whose principal announced he would resign rather than allow a gay student club to meet on campus will gets its club after all. …
LOL-A-Palooza of the Day
Limbaugh: ‘Democrats will bend over’ for blacks and gays: On Monday, radio talk host Rush Limbaugh opined that, while Republicans will abandon their conservative voter base, Democrats are willing to “bend over, grab their ankles, and say ‘Have your way with me’” for the “kook-fringe base” backed by billionaire George Soros. …
Wishful projection, Rush?
Why We Need Full, Federal Marriage Equality, Part 849,284,223,197
Czech Government Bans Anti-Gay Protests: (Prague) Authorities have banned two anti-gay rallies that were to have taken place Saturday to coincide with an LGBT pride march in Brno, South Moravia. The parade is billed as the first gay pride march in Czech history. …
New York, NY, June 23, 2008 — The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) today urged community members to contact FX Networks to express their concerns about a defamatory claim by an anti-gay activist that will appear, unchallenged, in the June 24 episode of “30 Days.”
“30 Days,” FX Networks’ original series produced by Morgan Spurlock, “examines social issues in America by immersing individuals in a life that requires them to see the world through another’s eyes,’” according to the show’s Web site. In 2006, the series won a GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Reality Program for the “Gay/Straight” episode.
During the June 24 episode, entitled “Same Sex Parenting,” Kati, a woman who opposes gay and lesbian parents and their families, lives for 30 days with gay parents Dennis and Thomas and their four adopted sons. The episode includes the personal stories of kids raised by lesbian and gay parents.
Regrettably, the episode also features a defamatory statement by Peter Sprigg of the Family Research Council, an anti-gay activist organization, who claims:
“Homosexuality is associated with higher rates of sexual promiscuity, sexually transmitted diseases, mental illness, substance abuse, domestic violence, and child sexual abuse, and those are all reasons for us to be concerned about placing children into that kind of setting.”
While there is no credible scientific research that backs Sprigg’s claim — and much that disputes it — the episode presents his assertion as if it were fact and offers no credible social science experts or child health authorities to challenge Sprigg’s assertion. Indeed, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Psychological Association, the Child Welfare League of America, and many other child health and social services authorities who support parenting by qualified lesbian and gay parents dispute Sprigg’s claim.
After reviewing a screener supplied by FX Networks, GLAAD and the Family Equality Council, a national non-profit working to ensure equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender families, contacted FX Networks last week, requesting that the inaccurate claim be removed from the episode or that a credible social science expert or child health authority be brought in to provide an on-air correction. FX Networks, however, refused to remove the defamatory content or, at minimum, address it during the course of the episode.
“This is an episode of ‘30 Days’ that GLAAD would have liked to support for its commendable effort to share the authentic story of everyday lesbian and gay parents and their families and the opposition they face in trying to provide a stable and nurturing home for their children,” said GLAAD Senior Director of Media Programs Rashad Robinson. “However, FX Networks’ insistence on airing — and refusal to correct the record on — this defamatory misrepresentation makes that impossible. It is unacceptable that FX Networks and its parent company 20th Century Fox would provide a platform for the inaccurate and dangerous claims of anti-gay activists — misinformation that can put gay and lesbian parents and their families in harm’s way.”
TAKE ACTION:
GLAAD, the Family Equality Council and Children Of Lesbians And Gays Everywhere (COLAGE) are urging their members and the community to contact FX Networks, and 20th Century Fox, to express their concerns over providing a platform for such an inaccurate, misleading claim by the Family Research Council. Community members should let FX Networks know that it is irresponsible and unacceptable to put forth such a damaging, defamatory assertion about lesbian and gay parents, and worse, refuse to include the voices of credible experts to dispute it. GLAAD, the Family Equality Council and COLAGE honor the gay and lesbian parents and their children who are featured in this episode for sharing the real stories of their lives, and especially Dennis and Thomas and their family for opening up their home and the hearts and minds of millions through their participation on “30 Days.”
20th Century Fox Television, Inc.:
Jeffrey Glaser Senior Vice President, Current Programming (310) 369-0211 jeffrey.glaser@fox.com
FX Networks: Nick Grad
Executive Vice President of Original Programming (310) 369-0949 ngrad@fxnetworks.com
Chuck Saftler Executive Vice President of Programming (310) 369-0949 csaftler@fxnetworks.com
The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) is dedicated to promoting and ensuring fair, accurate and inclusive representation of people and events in the media as a means of eliminating homophobia and discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation. For more information, please visit www.glaad.org.
In case you missed it, the highly irritating Jay Leno made yet another in a long line of stupid, homophobic remarks the other night, then apologized for saying such a “dumb thing” (but not for any of the other countless stupid, homophobic remarks he’s made over the years).
Since then, Leno has demonstrated, again, that he never, ever learns.
Per towleroad, “Last Friday, Jay Leno spoke with KMXB radio in Las Vegas about the ‘gayest look’ controversy.”
You can listen to the audio and read towleroad’s transcript at the link — but this is the part that got us:
Leno: “To me I never made fun of gay rights or even gay marriage. Do what you want to do. But to me — fashion, lifestyle, hair, you know that kind of stuff — you’re a comic. Thats what you do.”
Hey, Leno, I’ve got a little newsflash for you: You put your foot in it again.
First, you called homosexuality a “lifestyle.” What, do I have to have “Being gay is not a ‘lifestyle’ — it’s my LIFE” tattooed across my forehead?
Second — and worse — you equated being gay with such meaningless crap as “fashion” and “hair” and “that kind of stuff.”
Jiminy Christmas on a trailer hitch, Leno, the stupidity that flows out of your big yap when you go off-script is astounding. Sadly, you don’t even know how offensive you’re being. That makes your nice, neat, canned apology utterly worthless. Until you learn why your words are hurtful, there’s no point in your going through the motions.
Next:
Leno: “Well, apparently ‘gayest look’ offended somebody and, you know.
“Somebody”? How about a whole lot of somebodys? Last I checked, the Web site in your honor had ten pages of folks giving you their “gayest look,” with 50 people per page (you can find my partner Buffy and me on page ten)… so at least 500 of us not at all shy about telliing you what we really think were, indeed, offended.
(Hmm, I wonder how many people who can’t be bothered to make such a statement we represent? I know that a single letter of complaint, or praise, to a single TV or radio station represents a whole bunch of viewers/listeners who feel the same way, yet won’t bother to write.)
Finally:
Leno: “But what happens in these things is it then builds to — I would read the blog, ‘I didn’t see Jay Leno’s anti-gay tirade but I heard he went on and on!’ So it’s one of these things where it just builds and builds and you go look, I’m a comic.”
I saw it. You weren’t funny. You were offensive.
And where you could have left bad enough alone, let your original apology stand and moved on, you’re compounding the insult by making light of your offense, and using your occupation as an excuse for your bad behavior.
You just canceled out any good intentions on your part. If you had any.
The word from Leno: “In talking about Ryan’s first role, I realize that what I said came out wrong. I certainly didn’t mean any malice. I agree it was a dumb thing to say, and I apologize.”
Fantastic. That takes some guts. But will it last until the next easy assumption comes along?
Until then, we’ll hold Jay’s feet to the fire. Our response these past few days has been overwhelming, but we will post each and every pic that was submitted.
. . .So, back to the site:
On Thursday, March 20, 2008, Jay Leno welcomed as his guest on The Tonight Show the actor Ryan Phillippe, who, early in his career, played a gay character on the daily soap One Life to Live. During the interview, Leno hounded Phillippe, telling him to look into the camera, pretend it was his “gay lover…Billy Bob,” who “has just ridden in shirtless from Wyoming” (still milking the Brokeback jokes), and give it his “gayest look.”
. . .
Jeff—who, in 2006, famously penned a letter to Jay Leno about his homophobic humor—completed another missive, in which he included a photographic sign-off (at left) of his “gayest look.” Melissa—who was similarly agitated in 2006—then offered up her “gayest look” (also at left), and soon her readers began to send in their gayest looks—and an avalanche began. Simultaneously, writer Dan Savage suggested to Jeff that he collect people’s “gayest looks,” and that, folks, is called synchronicity. Forces were joined.
And while we’re being a bit cheeky about all this, our message is dead serious: A 2005 study by GLSEN found that 90% of LGBTQ teens had been harassed or assaulted during the previous year. They were three times as likely as non-LGBTQ students to say that they do not feel safe at school and remain at increased risk for bullying, assault, and suicide. That doesn’t happen in a void. Gay jokes are not harmless; they contribute to a culture in which institutionalized homophobia has tragic consequences. We want Jay Leno to know that we, LGBTQ people and their allies, are not amused.
So now it’s your turn! Send us your “gayest look” for Jay here .
Now here are our Gayest Looks for Leno. Mine first, then Sapphocrat’s.
Now get to work, snap a picture and submit your Gayest Look!
In the latest in a long history of stupid, homophobic “jokes,” unfunny “Tonight Show” host Jay Leno asked guest Ryan Phillippe: “Can you give me, like — say that camera is your gay lover …”
And then, notes People — where you can see a video of the incident:
Despite Phillippe’s instant discomfort, Leno went on to say, “Can you give me your ‘gayest look’? Say that camera is Billy Bob — Billy Bob has just ridden in shirtless from Wyoming.”
“Wow,” replied Phillippe, 33. “That is so something I don’t want to do. Are you just going to embarrass me tonight, or … ?”
“No,” said Leno. “I got more stuff. This is the least of it.”
The least of it? No, just the latest of it.
Leno has long been compelled to take cheap shots at the gay community. Typical: Back in 2001 (in a double homophobic-sexist crack), he opined that if Popeye and Bluto find Olive Oyl attractive, they must be gay.
When you think of gay people, it’s funny. They’re funny folks. They wear leather. They like Judy Garland. They like disco music. They’re sort of like Stepin Fetchit as channeled by Richard Simmons.
Gay people, to you, are great material.
Mr. Leno, let me share with you my view of gay people:
When I think of gay people, I think of the gay news anchor who took a tire iron to the head several times when he was vacationing in St. Martin. I think of my friend who was visiting Hamburger Mary’s, a gay restaurant in Las Vegas, when a bigot threw a smoke bomb filled with toxic chemicals into the restaurant, leaving the staff and gay clientele coughing, puking, and running in terror. I think of visiting my gay friends at their house in the country, sitting outside for dinner, and hearing, within hundreds of feet of where we sat, taunting voices yelling “Faggots.” I think of hugging my boyfriend goodbye for the day on 8th Avenue in Manhattan and being mocked and taunted by passing high school students.
When I think of gay people, I think of suicide. I think of a countless list of people who took their own lives because the world was so toxically hostile to them. Because of the deathly climate of the closet, we will never be able to count them. You think gay people are great material. I think of a silent holocaust that continues to this day. I think of a silent holocaust that is perpetuated by people like you, who seek to minimize us and make fun of us and who I suspect really, fundamentally wish we would just go away.
When I think of gay people, I think of a brave group that has made tremendous contributions to society, in arts, letters, science, philosophy, and politics. I think of some of the most hilarious people I know. I think of a group that has served as a cultural guardian for an ungrateful and ignorant America.
I think of a group of people who have undergone a brave act of inventing themselves. Every single out-of-the-closet gay person has had to say, “I am not part of mainstream society.” Mr. Leno, that takes bigger balls than stepping out in front of TV-watching America every night. I daresay I suspect it takes bigger balls to come out of the closet than anything you have ever done in your life.
I know you know gay people, Mr. Leno. Are they just jokes to you, to be snickered at behind their backs? Despite the angry tenor of my letter, I suspect you’re a better man than that. I don’t bother writing letters to the “God Hates Fags” people, or Donald Wildmon, or the pope. But I think you can do better. I know it’s The Tonight Show, not a White House press conference, but you reach a lot of people.
In a CNN interview (which you can watch at the link above), it was noted that Whitty’s letter caught Leno’s “attention” — but did anything change?
Nope. Last year, Leno was tickled by “the gay bomb.” As recently as late February, Leno did a “Jaywalking” segment in San Francisco, in which he stopped people on the street, asked them questions, and had his studio audience guess whether they were gay or straight. Watch the video.
And now…
And now, Leno has apologized — for, as Hecklerspray so aptly puts it, being an unfunny tool:
Of course, Jay Leno is absolutely right to apologise to his offended viewers. As others have commented, Jay Leno wouldn’t have dreamt of asking Ryan Phillippe to pull his blackest face or his Jewiest face, would he?
By David Mariner, Temenos.net
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