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Phelps In San Francisco
Less than 12 members of the clan of Topeka, KS's professional homophobe Fred Phelps observed the anniversary of San Francisco's domestic partnership requirement for city contractors recently by picketing outside the Castro district's Gay-affirming Metropolitan Community Church of San Francisco. In announcing his pending visit, Phelps had asked Mayor Willie Brown for "adequate police presence and protection," and he surely got it: more than 30 police officers were present for the half-hour protest, and they arrested one man who tried to throw paint-filled balloons at the Kansans (one hit their van). A more effective counter demonstration was staged by some three dozen Gays and Lesbians who were able to drown out the Phelpses from the other end of the street with chants of "Bigots go home." [NewsPlanet]
Genius Grant For Historian
Among 29 winners of five-year, six-figure, no-strings "genius" grants announced June I by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation is open lesbian Bernadette Brooten of Brandeis University in Massachusetts, whose scholarly readings of the Bible and other texts from the same time period challenge popular understandings of what they have to say about gender roles and sexuality.
"I want to persuade the Christian churches to rechannel their energies away from opposing Lesbians, Gay men, and Bisexuals and toward preventing the sexual abuse of children and adults," said Myra and Robert Kraft and Jacob Hiatt Professor of Christian Studies. "We need new theologies and church policies and a better understanding of history and of the Bible. In this effort, I wish to cooperate with Jewish and Muslim feminist scholars and religious leaders in creating humane sexual ethics."
Brooten described anti-Lesbian feelings among early Christians in "Love Between Women," arguing that the hate of that time should not be carried forward into current religious practices. Her other best-known work is "Women Leaders in the Ancient Synagogue."
Brooten is already scheduled to spend this year at the University of Oslo on a Fulbright grant. She'll be receiving $290,000 from the MacArthur Foundation, which establishes the dollar amounts of its so-called "genius" grants based on the recipient's age. The grants are intended to allow talented and productive people in a wide range of fields to explore their particular interests without hindrance.
Sixth Annual Day Of Compassion 1998
Media outlets across the country will call attention to the continuing crisis of HIV/AIDS on Fri., June 19. On this sixth annual Day of Compassion, network and cable television, print media, Internet providers and radio stations will air special programming specifically geared toward educating and raising awareness about those living with the disease, those working on research and advocacy fronts, and friends and families who have-on a multitude of levels-been touched by HIV/AIDS.
Among those scheduled to appear on morning news programs are Jeanne White (mother of the late Ryan White) on Good Morning America and reigning Miss America Kate Schindle on CNN. Talk shows scheduled to participate on June 19 include: Leeza, Sally Jesse Raphael, Jenny Jones, Cristina and Maury Povich. Daytime dramas include Days of Our Lives, All My Children, General Hospital and The Young and the Restless. Over 300 cable networks and systems will be telecasting AIDS-related PSAs and programming, including E! Entertainment Television and MTV.
"Over the past five years, Day of Compassion has demonstrated the unparalleled ability of the media to call attention to compelling social issues such as HIV/AIDS," said Joan M. Garry, GLAAD Executive Director. "While it is important to highlight the remarkable progress being made in the medical arena, it is critical to remind the public that this is not a time to be complacent. Now-more than ever before-education and accessible information are essential elements in the prevention of this disease."
Day of Compassion is an annual project of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) and is co-sponsored by Until There's a Cure Foundation, the Names Project Foundation and Cable Positive, the cable industry's AIDS action organization. Day of Compassion began in 1993, when Los Angeles-based actor Neil Tadken viewed an AIDS-themed episode of One Life to Live. Inspired by that candid portrayal of the AIDS crisis, he contacted other daytime drama producers, many of whom agreed to air episodes devoted to people affected by HIV/AIDS.
The Day of Compassion Web site can be accessed via GLAAD Online, located at www.glaad.org. Those who wish to participate in "Show Compassion On Your Site" by displaying a button linking to the Day of Compassion site may download their button from that same site. [GLAAD]
Cannes Festival AIDS Benefit
Hailed as "the Cannes Film Festival's most opulent party"--and there's some serious competition for that title--the annual Cinema Against AIDS benefit for the American Foundation for AIDS Research (AmFAR) raised over $1.2 million on May 21. The $2,500/person dinner was hosted ably by film star Sharon Stone (who first made a large splash with Basic Instinct, a movie intensely protested by Gays and Lesbians during its making). At a press conference before the event, she cried as she recalled the death from AIDS of her acting teacher, Ray London, five years ago, and said of her work for AmFAR that, "I can't think of a better thing to do with the ridiculousness of fame."
Open Gay Elton John joined with former Beatle Ringo Starr to pound out "Great Balls Of Fire" and "Twist And Shout"--to the tune of $20,000 per minute in contributions. Among the other tems up for charitable auction were a week on the world's biggest private yacht; jewelry, including amulets by Stuart Devlin, jewler to Queen Elizabeth; and, front-row tickets to the Holyfield-Akiwonda fight including dinner with Don King. Glitterati in attendance included openly Gay film star Rupert Everett, Chiara Mastroianni, Jeanne Moreau, Lena Olin, Miami Heat coach Pat Riley, Winona Ryder, openly Gay REM member Michael Stipe and Sigourney Weaver.
From S & M To B & B?
The Provence, France chateau where Donatien Alphonse Francois, Marquis de Sade, lived through some life-shaping experiences from ages 5 through 11 in the 1740's, is being made over into a bed-and-breakfast guesthouse following its sale Mar. 25. Some local officials, including Saumane Mayor Christian Challet, tried to block the move because of the historic significance of the writer whose name became the root of the term "sadism."
The Vaucluse council has owned the 12th century palace since 1980, but could no longer keep up with the high cost of maintaining it, while the current buyer, entrepreneur Jerome Casalis, has contracted to keep the building open to the public. The Chateau de Saumane is believed to have been the model for the Chateau de Durcet in de Sade's The 120 Days of Sodom.
Update From
Gay Games Amsterdam 1998
by Faye Jenkins & Paul YperenThe Amsterdam Dockland, in Northern Amsterdam, will be the gigantic location for the official opening party and grand final party of Gay Games Amsterdam 1998. Organizers Mega Swingpaleis De Danssalon and Turnkey Events will present international artists such as Jimmy Somerville, Right Said Fred and Grace Jones. The huge halls of the Amsterdam Docklands will be turned into a Palace of Swing with large stages, an indoor luna park and even a complete indoor street of entertainment.
International top DJs will spin the discs. The organizers expect thousands of visitors, among whom will be many VIPs and organizers of Gay Games Amsterdam 1998. Special boats and busses will transport the party goers. Tickets are available through the Gay Games Ticketcenter. There are special discounts for people buying tickets to both parties.
In addition to the sensational Eurovision Song Contest winner Dana International and Dutch star Matilde Santing, three new attractions have been added to the program of the Opening Ceremony of Gay Games Amsterdam 1998. Bjorn Again will perform everybody's favorite ABBA songs to kick off the program. The Weather Girls will sing their legendary hit song "It's Raining Men" in a sequence involving hundreds of dancing sailors. As director Jan-Eric Hulsman announced recently, the Italian star Riccardo Cocciante is the newest attraction signed.
Another surprise will be the stage: a catwalk of 130 metres in the middle of the Amsterdam Arena Stadium.
Tickets for parties and ceremonies are available through the Gay Games Ticket Center, +31 20 4200200.
Texas Paper Blasts Book Ban
Thou shalt not steal? In the midst of a small-town battle over library books, the Wichita Falls, Texas Times Record News featured an editorial on May 16 criticizing those who seek to censor available books to suit their own narrow moral agenda.
Robert Jeffress, pastor of the First Baptist Church, and his board have taken Heather Has Two Mommies and Daddy's Roommate from the public library and refuse to return them. Jeffress and the board are also going to the City Council to demand that the books not be replaced.
"Who should decide what is available in the public library?" the editorial asks. "Clearly, Jeffress and the deacons believe they should decide.... Can a relatively small group, even acting on what its members believe to be moral principles and in what they believe to be the best interests of the community, be allowed to dictate what the rest of the community will find on library shelves that have been paid for by all within this community? No, that cannot be allowed.... City government represents all of us. It must protect the rights of minority groups [and] act out of the best interests of the majority, preserving and protecting our freedoms and assuring public order." The Times Record explains that a policy for selecting books in light of this balance is already in place, and asks, "Once the banning of books starts, where does it stop? The demand that is apparently going to the City Council is a demand that a certain moral code be institutionalized.... That's not the business of government. In the end, the banning of books deals with symptoms, not causes. Banning books does not right any wrongs or overcome evil and, in the long run, may do more harm than good."
Please commend the Times Record News for this thoughtful and articulate defense of liberty and free access to knowledge in America. Contact: Sonny Bohanan, Managing Editor, Times Record News, 1301 Larar St., Wichita Falls, TX 76301-7091, fax: 940.767.1741, E-mail: wilsonc@wtr.com. [from GLAAD]
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