by PlanetOut, www.PlanetOut.com, a Worldwide Online Community of Gay, Lesbian, Bi and Trans People
International Violence And Harrassment
Rome, Italy: Police suspect there may be a serial killer of gay men at work
because of the strong similarities between the recent death of U.S. university
lecturer and New York Times journalist Louis Inturrisi and the January killing of retired Sotheby's Italia managing director Count Alvise di Robilant, according to a report in the London Daily Telegraph. Inturrisi was found bludgeoned to death in the bedroom of his own apartment in Rome, wearing his pajama bottoms, with no sign of f orced entry or attemped robbery although the place had been "disturbed." di Robilant was found battered in his home in Florence under similar circumstances. Investigators are looking for connections between the two victims, suspecting they may have had common acquaintances in the U.S., where both travelled frequently. Police say Inturrisi was the 23rd gay man to be murdered in Rome in the last 7 years.
Adelaide, South Australia: Popular openly gay disc jockey Geoff "DJ Jef" Plew was found bludgeoned to death in his home last week, having received death threats the week before. The 39-year-old former Navy officer had for a dozen years spun records in Adelaide's gay clubs and for many charity events, and was well-liked both in the community and by his neighbors, according to the gay and lesbian newspaper "Brother Sister." Police are carrying out a major investigation and would like to hear from anyone who spoke with Plew since July 31, at 1.800.333.000 (toll-free in Australia); callers can remain anonymous.
Moscow, Russia: A report from Evgenia Debrianskaya, a leader of Moscow's recently-closed gay and lesbian Triangle Center, says that Moscow police wearing camouflage raided the gay club "Chance" on July 25, ostensibly in search of drugs. Some 40 people were arrested, some of them brutally beaten, and were held for 6-8 hours without medical treatment, water, or access to toilet facilities, while guards called them "fags" and told them they deserved to die. Although no drugs were found, and some detainees were found clean of drugs in independent tests performed the next day, police forced those arrested to sign off on phony positive test results. Debrianskaya says the raid is most likely part of a "clean-up" effort in preparation for the celebration of the city's 850th anniversary.
Kline-Selleck
In & Out Kiss
The world premiere of In and Out, a "comedy/thriller" movie inspired by Tom Hanks' recognition of his high school drama teacher while accepting the Best Actor Oscar for Philadelphia, is set for next month's Toronto International Film Festival-and yes, it will include a steamy gay kiss between Kevin (A Fish Called Wanda) Kline and Tom (Magnum, PI) Selleck. Said smooch was reportedly threatened as fearful Paramount exec's thought of cutting it OUT, but preview audiences loved it so much that it had to stay IN. The liplock climaxes a fight between the two stars' characters, and is said to be no mere peck but a long and passionate osculation, during which Kline wraps his legs around the vertically well-endowed Selleck. Of course, rumor has had Selleck rehearsing for this moment for years, which may be the reason his character, a gay entertainment broadcast journalist, is tagged as "jaded."
In and Out has a lot going for it, even aside from Academy Award winner Kline and hunky Selleck: a $35-million budget, direction by Frank Oz, script by open gay Paul (Addams Family) Rudnick, Matt Dillon as the Hanks-esque prizewinner who "outs" his high school teacher (Kline) on the eve of the latter's marriage to a woman played by Joan Cusack, Debbie Reynolds as Kline's mother, Wilfrid Brimley, and Bob Newhart-in his first big-screen appearance since he appeared with the late Gilda Radner in First Family in 1980 (no one can say he hasn't kept busy doing TV, though). Scott Rudin produced.
More Tales Filming Begins
At last--there will be--More Tales of the City. The cooperative effort of Showtime cable network, Britain's Channel 4 Television, Working Title/Propaganda Films, and Canada's Productions La Fete began principal filming July 28 on the sequel to the beloved gay-themed 1994 miniseries that nabbed a Peabody Award and set new ratings records for PBS. Like its predecessor, Armistead Maupin's More Tales of the City will be a six-hour miniseries, and will feature the return of many of the original's cast: William Campbell, Barbara Garrick, Thomas Gibson, Laura Linney, and Olympia Dukakis as the mysterious pot-growing landlady of 28 Barbary Lane in San Francisco.
The script is adapted by Nicholas Wright from More Tales of the City, the second book in openly gay author Maupin's Tales of the City series (originally published as a daily newspaper serial), picking up the story in 1977 where the first TV miniseries left off. The director is Genie Award winner Pierre Gang.
