Hi, it's Anne Stockwell, taking you with me on California Marriage Day. This morning, with my Advocate posse, I headed over to the LAGLC's Village, to hear from some of the heroes who helped make this day happen. In the sun-dappled courtyard I ran into old friends and comrades who, like me, were striving to get their heads around the size of this event.
My first hug of the day came from Torie Osborn, one of the most effective activists our movement has. Torie's resume is too long to go into here. But to my knowledge, she hadn't directly been involved in this court battle. But it turns out Torie did make her mark. Our conversation follows.
Torie and Anne on the greatest day ever.
Q: So? How do you feel?
A: I can't tell you... Last night I had the jitters, like the campaign-night jitters. I was so nervous I couldn't sleep. And I'm divorced. I have no partner, I have no prospect of getting married, so this is completely about us, about the community, about my own spending 30 years working on this, and having watched it go from a benefitless domestic partnership register that meant nothing, to Jackie Goldberg and Sheila—and Antonio, by the way! (She meant her longtime allies, Jackie Goldberg, out Democratic California Assemblywoman, Sheila James Kuehl, out Democratic State Senator, and Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, for whom Torie worked as a top aide until recently.) When he was elected—the same year that Sheila was elected, in 1994, we began to get our rights, finally. Finally got daughter of AB 101, job equity, we began to get domestic partnership, and I feel like our lives paralleled the unfolding of history, and I feel like today is the absolute apex of that.
Q: And there's another part to your story. Tell us?
A: Well, I wrote a piece for a much-loved, kind of cult-following column called Modern Love in The New York Times. It runs in the Sunday Style section. They ran it on April 20. And it's basically my story of getting married in San Francisco, being NOT in favor of gay marriage—like, I thought DP was enough—and then I got caught up in the history, the magnetic pull up there. And then of course last year my partner announced that she's leaving me, and I had to go through a divorce. So I basically wrote about my conversion from thinking the community was focusing too much on marriage equality, and my kind of feminism—you know, marriage is not a perfect institution, and blah blah—to my becoming a convert for marriage equality and then having to go through its dark side. So last week I'm visiting my friend Sheila Kuehl in Sacramento, and we're walking down the hallway in the Capitol, and there's Chief Justice Ron George. And she introduces him to me, and he says, "Torie Osborn! I just read your piece in The New York Times. It was very thoughtful, it was very compelling, and I thank you for writing it." Now, he's a judicious, reserved man, but Sheila and I both looked at each other after he walked away and said "This has to be good news." It just felt as if there was a little signal that was positive.
Next I found the fabulous Lorri Jean, the great leader of the LA Gay & Lesbian Center. How was she feeling? "I've been all over the map!" she said. I'd tell you more of our conversation, but this picture sort of sums it up.
At long last, (married) love!
After the press conference—with Torie as my guide—I made my way over to Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa for an exclusive interview. Keep in mind, the mayor had just told is, in English and in Spanish, that he personally plans to marry as many same-sex couples as he can. Here's our conversation.
Q: You supported the LGBT community long before it was fashionable. How does it feel to arrive at this historic day?
A: I feel proud to be a Californian. I feel that today we reassert the fundamental obligation of every freedom-loving Californian, that is, that life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness is essential and must be protected by the Constitution.
Q: You've been campaigning around the country. What's the mood? Of course we're anticipating this being an issue in the presidential race. When we lost the election in 2004, many people blamed us.
A: If you remember, I co-chaired John Kerry’s campaign and I stood up against those who tried to blame this community on the issue of same-sex marriage and marriage equality. I said then and I believe now that’s not why we lost that election. And I can tell you that since then that a lot more people have realized that this is an issue whose time has come. It’s time for us to bring every American out of the shadows and into the light, and this decision does that here in California.
I was headed to my next appointment and so was everybody else. But not before one very personal celebration took place on the sidewalk. Villaraigosa and Osborn, two veterans of many a good fight, shared a moment. We all stood back. They'd more than earned their privacy.
The official Bingham Cup 2008 Opening ceremony will begin on June 12th, with the start of the rugby matches slated for the following day, June 13th, in Dublin, Ireland. The sporting events will last three full days until June 15th, with the closing ceremony later that evening of the 15th. For those of us that have been involved in past Bingham Cups, 2 years is a long wait, (the last Cup was held in NYC in 2006). But, I am quite sure our Irish host will serve the right introduction, hospitality, and brew to its rugby guest (IGRAB) from around the world. For those interested in knowing more about the event, please visit www.binghamcup.com As Coach of the LA Rebellion, we are both excited and honored to be an integral part of this special upcoming sporting event. If your June calendar has an opening at all, please schedule a plane, train, or a boat trip now to what should be one of the most exciting gay sporting events in the history of our modern world. More details to follow as our club's preparation, travel and the actual sporting events unfold. Will Tabor - Coach - LA Rebellion RFC www.larebellion.org
My adventures in Miami have finally come to an end, and after a glamorous weekend in Miami, I'm trapped on an American Airlines flight where the lights are strobing on and off and the only entertainment option is to watch the CBS sitcom The Big Bang Theory (but without sound, because that's not working either). I'm tempted to liveblog what I believe to be happening in this episode but I'm too horrified by the lead actress's bangs to even get into it. So, instead I'll recap my last few adventures back in South Beach.
In addition to the reviews posted below, I saw two interesting documentaries that, either head on or indirectly, probed the difficult intersection between religion-dominated culture and sexuality. The first, A Jihad for Love, followed gay and lesbian Muslims as they struggled to obey a religion that had no use for them. The second, Through Thick and Thin, profiled "bi-national" gay couples as they dodged U.S. immigration issues that could simply be resolved if -- like straight people -- they could marry. In each film, Canada is eventually presented as sort of a holy grail, a place where religious and sexual tolerance go hand in hand and the persecuted can flee to be free. Couple these docs with the Toronto-set opening film, Breakfast with Scot, and you've got yourself a very pro-Canada message in the unlikely setting of sunny Miami.
After Were the World Mine closed out the festival last night, we all headed to Miami Art Space for a final party. While downing vodka cranberries (have these replaced appletinis as the gay drink of choice?), I got to meet Sebastian Cordoba, the filmmaker behind Through Thick and Thin, as well as A Jihad for Love's director, Parvez Sharma. I even had a fascinating conversation with a crime scene reporter for one of Miami's local newspapers -- well-timed, as a massive hostage situation had gripped Miami Beach all evening.
And now, after a little bit of sun, I'm on my way back to Los Angeles. Miami was a treat -- how fun to sit in the dark and explore subtle intricacies of the human condition, then emerge from the theater into bright light and gaudy pastels. I don't usually come back from film festivals with a sunburn -- eat your heart out, Sundance.
At the Q&A following the musical fantasy Were the World Mine, one audience member asked director Thomas Gustafson if he had any plans to mount a stage version. He didn't -- after adapting the film from his 2003 short Fairies, he was ready to move on to different material -- but it's not hard to see the film becoming a hit with musical theater geeks anyway. Cute gay boys, supple songs, a Shakespeare-derived pedigree -- Hedwig had better move over, because I can practically see the Livejournal shrines to Were the World Mine already.
For World's sensitive teenager Timothy (Tanner Cohen), all the world's a stage -- at least inside his head. There, he retreats from high school bullies by imagining musical fantasias that often star sexy jock Jonathon (Nathaniel David Becker). Still, despite his clear yen for the theater, Timothy has to be talked into trying out for the lead in the school's big production of A Midsummer Night's Dream, directed by unconventional drama teacher Ms. Tebbit (Wendy Robie). Soon enough, Shakespeare's plot plays itself out in real life as Timothy-as-Puck begins to scramble the sexuality of those around him, using a magic flower to drive Jonathon into his arms and send his school bullies screaming out of the closet.
For a low-budget production, World looks fantastic -- the cinematography is rich and the choreography is continuously inventive -- but its biggest asset is Jessica Fogle's beautiful score. Adapted from Shakespeare's own text, Were the World Mine's songs swoop and soar, and the actors nail every falsetto. The film's not perfect (a pointless subplot following Timothy's mother as she sells makeup seems to have wandered in from a completely different movie, and should be excised), but that's almost part of its charm. Like a high school musical, Were the World Mine has an infectious "let's put on a show" energy -- don't be surprised if at the end, audiences stand up and applaud.
Day 3 in Miami -- though the picture above is from Night 2 -- and I'm still marveling at the city's OCPC (Outdoor Couches Per Capita). What happens to them when it rains, as it's predicted to do tomorrow? We'll see, but until then, the weather is perfect: warm, but not as humid as I'd been cautioned to expect. I even spent some time writing reviews on the beach earlier, and while it's rare you'll find a shirtless film critic in the wild (take that, Manohla Dargis!) I was a little startled by all the women who followed my lead and doffed their tops. I haven't seen that much unencumbered silicone since I took advantage of my old roommate's uncanceled Cinemax.
Last night I went over to the penthouse of the Pelican Hotel for a party celebrating the festival's closing night film, Were the World Mine. There was a lot of great food and drink, but I was most excited by how much the penthouse resembled an apartment from MTV's The Real World. Colorful, eclectic decor, sofas shaped like commas, fish swimming in unconventional aquariums...I felt like I should be slapping my roommate, then trying to fuck her. Fortunately, professional decorum won out.
See? The walls are copper and that light is actually filled with fish. I love it. That is totally where I would sit down with my Real World roommates to discuss our producer-mandated jobs. Then there'd be a threesome.
It isn't often that a straight person is a sexual minority, but high schooler Tru is a special case. Not only does she have two lesbian moms, an openly gay friend, and a teacher played by Alec Mapa, but her musical theater-loving boyfriend Lo is exhibiting some serious DL tendencies. In fact, just about everyone drawn into Tru's orbit is queer, so when she finally meets a cute boy who might be into her (at a gay-straight alliance, no less), she assumes he's off-limits. That he turns out to be heterosexual is almost as much of a surprise as finding out his slender student's father is played by out funnyman Bruce Vilanch.
Welcome to the world of Tru Loved, the second feature from writer/director Stewart Wade (Coffee Date). It's a cute but overlong comedy that's best when navigating the tricky truce between Tru and her closeted boyfriend, Lo. Though Lo eventually admits to Tru that he's gay, he's not willing to come out publicly -- as the quarterback of the football team, he's got a macho reputation to uphold. Instead, Tru and Lo reach an uneasy detente that feels real: she'll go on dating him, even if neither one has their hearts in it anymore. Tru Loved is filled with TV veterans (including Star Trek's Nichelle Nichols as Lo's scene-stealing granny, who gets off the film's best -- and last -- line), but the film's young newcomers fare best. Najarra Townsend plays Tru as the perfect contradiction: she's so over just about everything, yet she's passionate about changing people's minds. In other words, she's a teenager -- and though teenagers always think they're right, this one might just be.
Do they make hotel room porn that actually stars hotel rooms? If they did, my beautiful hotel room at the Dorset would be getting quite a workout. Forgive me for gushing (and forgive the low-quality phone pic) but I spent most of my recent Australia trip staying in youth hostels, so this is quite the upgrade. I'd intended to write by the pool today and I still may, but for now, I'm quite content to lie in that big bed and pretend I'm not poor.
Not long after getting into Miami yesterday, I was off to the Flamingo South Beach for a screening of Stewart Wade's Tru Loved (my review should be posted shortly). We sat under the stars, ate popcorn, and I met two chatty lesbians who were at the screening on a blind date, "courtesy of Myspace." It seemed to be going well; the one with fire eng
ine hair was quite the charmer, interrupting us to give status updates or even just to show off pictures on her Blackberry. "This is Mr. Miyagi," she said, brandishing a picture of a schnauzer sitting in the stands at a baseball game. "My friend just sent this to me. It's 'Take Your Dog to a Game' Day."
Today I'm hoping to check out A Jihad for Love and Affinity, and I might stop by a party for tomorrow's closing night musical, Were the World Mine. I'll check back in later.
Hey guys! Kyle Buchanan here, and I'm preparing to jet off to Miami tomorrow for the Miami Gay & Lesbian Festival. This will be my first time in the city, and considering I know little about it other than what I've learned through Gloria Estefan, Will Smith, and Top Chef: Miami, I'm looking forward to the trip.
I'll be there for the festival's closing weekend, but I'm hoping to catch a few films including the comedies Tru Loved and Were the World Mine, the Gothic lesbian drama Affinity, and documentaries like A Jihad for Love and Through Thick and Thin. Also, I really need to even out this farmer tan I accidentally got in Sydney.
Hi, it's Anne Stockwell, just back from Sunday at the FOB, one of the biggest events on the L.A. cultural calendar and a swift kick in the pants to anybody who thinks Angelenos don't got culture. The weekend always involves hot sun, massive crowds, a lot of marching back and forth across UCLA's campus, and the reward of hearing dozens of A-list authors swap yarns.
This Sunday I split the assignment with my partner Rita, an author who also professors over at UCLA's big rival, USC. (She got just one catcall from a passerby for showing up in her SC baseball cap, which tells you what a mellow crowd this was.)
So here's our scene, if you multiply these booths and that far-off UCLA building by three or four hundred— and then imagine the whole campus flooded with people carrying armloads of books. Like a literary Mardi Gras.
This is like the Interstate of staircases. 20 can trudge abreast....
And some even make the climb in stilettos. Go, girl.
PANELS: ELECTION 2008
I hit the first half of this A-list political slugfest moderated by L.A. Times National Editor Scott Kraft and featuring Robert Scheer (lion of the left, long of the L.A. Times, now of truthdig.org), Garrett Graff (original online wiz for Howard Dean, before the "Hyaaaaahhhrrrggg" moment), David Frum (Bush speechwriter and faux-reasonable GOP pundit), and Hugh Hewitt (conservative radio host).
This got hot fast, with the applause denoting lots of Obamaniacs, a smattering of Hillaryheads, and NOT ONE conservative. Had anybody applauded the Republicans, I think it would have been like that scene from "The Producers" where one guy starts clapping after "Springtime for Hitler" and the women in the audience around him whack him with their purses.
My one contraband photo is blurred, but you get the idea. On the big blue screen is Scheer. Alone in his shirtsleeves, he had the hometown crowd at his back as he battled the suits on Obama, Clinton, Ayers, the Rev. Wright, and that interestingly named voting bloc, the Millennials. Unfortunately the Right suits had telling things to say. [Quotes are not word for word, but close.]
HEWITT: Hillary can beat McCain, but I do not think Obama can. [cites various "Chicago" dealings now coming to light in Obama's resume]. Will the Democrats throw this election so Barack Obama can have a chance to run?
GRAFF: But do we say to the Millennials, We know better than you do, so we're going to step in and nominate Hillary Clinton? Three of the last four elections, the candidate who won the most votes did not wind up in office.
SCHEER: Obama is the strongest candidate to come along in a long time. I thought politics had become so mindless, so frivolous, that it was impossible that a Barack Obama could emerge.
FRUM: Hillary Clinton's vast right-wing conspiracy is otherwise known as the United States of America. And to most Americans, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright clips are horrifying.
SCHEER: You guys just don't want to talk about the commander you backed—the experienced, totally vetted George W. Bush!
Scheer brought down the house. Frum responded with something chilling [I'm paraphrasing], Go ahead, cheer, but you're not doing Obama any favors. He's not hearing how the rest of this electorate feels about Wright etc.
I wish I could just shake off Frum's words. I can't, though. If we want to win this seemingly unlosable election, we'd better know how to counter every single punch the Reps can throw. And you know we ain't seen nothing yet.
FICTION: ALTERNATIVE VISIONS
LA Times Book Review editor David Ulin narrated this cool interchange among four writers who set their novels against larger-than-life cultural eras—real myths, if you like. Star of this panel for our LGBT readers was Nina Revoyr, thoughtful and elegant author of much-lauded "Southland" and "The Necessary Hunger" (lesbian teen basketball yearning, hyphens optional). Revoyr's latest, "The Age of Dreaming," just landed her a ginormous profile in today's LA Times and earned a new round of bragging rights for her publishers, my pals at Akashic Books.
Here's a Revoyrism for you, on the subject of writing against a period backdrop: "If you don't watch out, history will bite you in the ass, and often does. But that doesn't mean you don't have to deal with it."
MYSTERY: ABOVE THE LAW
Since Rita's the crime fan in the family, she headed over to hear the bestselling big-gun crime writers Catherine Coulter, John Lescroart, and James Sheehan.
A lot of how-to in this panel, but no revelations. Apparently San Francisco makes a great location. You don't say! But I liked the description of the city: "Beautiful and balkanized."
Coulter (above, with Lescroart) also said that since 9/11 she can't get into FBI facilities to do research. Five million square feet of FBI real estate have been repurposed for antiterrorism. She also said all Hoover's fiefdoms have been demolished. I can't help wondering if that means they did a sweep for any of Edgar's evening gowns that might still be stuffed in the back of a file cabinet.
AND NOW, JULIE ANDREWS
You know you're at a broad-based entertainment when Robert Scheer and Julie Andrews pack the same theater just a couple of hours apart. For this final event of the fest, crowds poured into Royce Hall. And why not? The star's new memoir, "Home," just hit #1 on the New York Times best-seller list.
What can I tell you? Andrews walked on, flanked by interviewer Patt Morrison. Major waves of love in the house.
We got an hour of great war stories, starting with London during the Blitz and going right up through "Mary Poppins." Best dish: Andrews's tattled tale about "My Fair Lady" costar Rex Harrison.
"Rex could be a very…WINDY gentleman," Andrews intoned. Apparently Harrison did his worst one night just as Andrews was trying to get through her toughest acting task of the play. It's the scene in which Eliza (if you don't know "My Fair Lady," you are not gay. Go at once and remedy this) is blurting out to Henry Higgins's mother that a lady is defined not by how she speaks but how she's treated. Henry himself is upstage, furiously pacing back and forth.
"Rex let fly with a machine-gun fart," Andrews said. "In the orchestra pit they turned their heads to listen. In the boxes, they were startled. And this happened just as his mother had to say her next line: 'Henry, dear, please don't grind your teeth."
And what could top that? Andrews proving she could still say SUPERCALFRAGILISTICEXPIALIDOCIOUS— backward.
I must admit, AFI Dallas is my kind of film festival. Laid back, warm, beautiful accommodations, and seeing films in nice venues where you can drink beer right out of the bottle. What more could one ask for.
Forget the snow covered buses of Sundance, at AFI Dallas, you are escorted from venue to venue in a chauffeured Lexus.
But the festival had to come to a close, and what better way than with a huge party at The House of Blues downtown. The special guest—besides Charlize Theron who was in town with her film Battle In Seattle—was Dallas' own Polyphonic Spree.
The somewhat straight laced Dallas crowd wasn't quite sure what to do with a 22 piece orchestra band, coming at them like a wall of sound, but the room was full of energy and the feeling was that this festival has really taken Dallas. It was big and expensive looking and yet still full of heart—so seemingly a good representation of this city. I think it will continue to grow.
To sign off, here is a nod to yet another sponsor of the festival, presented by my model Elliot. I mean why just drink beer when you can personally crown it with one of the metal key chains scattered along the bar.
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