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West Coast Culture Vulture
The summertime has finally come to us on the west coast
And each neighborhood is trying hard to celebrate the most
The hippy hood The Drive begins with streets that are Car Free
And in Kits the Greeks are back and dancing while serving hot souvlaki
The Lesbians have already sang their hearts out in an East Side park
And the downtown is paved with Astroturf filled with buskers until dark
Drag wigs, gayliens, and a short film career that sets the bar | Hot Pink Shorts Exclusive
It’s time to rep some hometown talent: Michael Mew, queer short film director. Hailing from Vancouver, BC, this movie-maker has quite the career behind him to date. Six shorts under his belt (please don’t misinterpret that statement) and a few potential features on the docket, Mew is keeping active and influential in the west coast film community.
Most recently, Mew’s Q-Case premiered at the 13th Annual Seattle Lesbian and Gay Film Festival. Running just over 17 mins., Q-Case is an homage to X-Files, but all queered up…
Audition to be one of the Bobbers, from Tops and Bottoms
Once every six months The Bobbers, stars of OUTtv’s Tops & Bottoms and of the live show by the same name, hold auditions for queer-identified improvisational comedians. Be part of the funnest and funniest bunch of folks around Vancouver. If you are queer-identified and want to try out, they are looking to take on two new people. One of them may be you.
Auditions will be held Sunday, July 18. You must email for a time and location. Candidates will be brought in groups to play some games and work and play with some of the pro’s. It will be a fun and playful time. Contact derekbedry@live.com.
For more information, visit their Facebook event page.
Wood on gay masculinity: The short film “Made Up”
Masculinity is almost indefinable.
Whether we’re talking about masculinity or femininity, ‘acting like a man’ or ‘acting butch’, being faggoty, flamboyant, straight-acting or queer… these are all contestable terms, frequently used to describe segments of our community. Some may disagree with their usage, while others may use “queeney flambo” to describe their nearest and dearest.
Regardless, these terms are difficult to agree on; difficult to define.
Gender performance, or in this case masculinity, is almost indefinable.
Montreal-based filmmaker Owen Eric Wood explores this contentious subject in his short film Made Up. It’s a film that makes no attempt to explain/identify/define the m-word, but rather demonstrate its fluidity.
Hot Pink Shorts is on Fire
Ever wish you were sitting in a packed theatre at a queer film festival, an excited audience rumbling around you, when you catch the eye of that hot queer boy or girl sitting a few seats down and your heart thumps a little harder? Then the lights dim and the movie starts with a short film that takes your breath away? Recreate that experience at home with Hot Pink Shorts.com. Queer hottie not included.
Hot Pink Shorts.com is a queer short film festival online. Anyone can upload a film. Anyone can watch a film. Join the community and give filmmakers feedback with our real-time ratings. Watch, select your favourites, listen in on the queer film-making community. HotPinkShorts.com
The Kids Are Alright and Lesbians on the Mainstream Silver Screen
Buzz is building for The Kids Are Alright the new feature film from Lisa Cholodenko (Laurel Canyon, The L Word). The story centers on a lesbian couple, Jules (Julianne Moore) and Nic (Annette Bening), the mothers of two children conceived by artificial insemination. When the eldest child, Joni, turns eighteen, her brother Laser, asks her to contact the sperm bank in order to meet their biological father, Paul (Mark Ruffalo). Not simply content with meeting him, they bring him home and his involvement in their lives reveals cracks beneath this seemingly perfect family.
*SPOILER ALERT*
Jezebel has an interesting blog post about why lesbians might object to the movie. The trailer hints at a plot development that mirrors a much echoed frustration in the lesbian community. Jules kisses Paul. Once again, in mainstream media, the lesbian needs a man.
An interviewer with the the San Fransisco Bay Guardian puts it like this:
We don’t see a lot of queer characters on screen, and so when we do, many want them to be perfect: the queer voice, the lesbian, the gay man. And when they step outside those boundaries, suddenly it becomes an issue, politically.
Writing in Salon, Andrew O’Hehir suggests that
Cholodenko and co-writer Stuart Blumberg capitulate — in some people’s view — to a whole set of ‘Celluloid Closet’-type homophobic stereotypes, and possibly lend aid and comfort to the right-wing view of homosexuality as a ‘lifestyle choice.
On the other hand, it is a mainstream comedy-drama that portrays a lesbian couple raising kids. Hopefully it will do well at the box office and pave the way for more nuanced GLBTQ characters on the big screen! Where they don’t die at the end or simply offer fashion tips and wise-yet-cutting relationship advice! And maybe we don’t need the sexuality of our gay characters to be black and white.
What do you think?
Jezebel: Why Lesbians Might Object to the Kids Are Alright
Salon: “The Kids Are All Right”: The Gay-Marriage Movie America Needs
San Fransisco Bay Guardian: Lisa Cholodenko On The Kids Are All Right
Soccer Stud Cristiano Ronaldo is a New Dad
Real Madrid soccer superstar and gay pinup dream Cristiano Ronaldo surprised the press when he declared on Twitter he’s a new father.
Keep reading for details on how the hot Portuguese player became a Daddy. Read the rest of this entry »
Vote for Sean Horlor for Queer of the Year
Vote for Sean Horlor of Don’t Quit Your Gay Job infamy for Montreal Pride’s Queer of the Year contest. It’s true, he is really really out and really really gay! Also really really awesome!
Fire Your Manicurist Lindsay, She Doesn’t Have Your Back!
Oh Lindsay Lohan, our favourite sometimes-lesbian hot mess. Honey, don’t write “Fuck U” on your fingernail before you go to court to plead for your freedom. You were raised under the glare of high-def cameras, you should know better.
Earlier, Lindsay breaks down in court after being sentenced to 90 days in jail for a parole violation subsequent to her arrest for a DUI.
Prince George Pride Festivities
Prince George Pride kicks off this week with two lovely literary evenings and continues throughout the month of July!
Pre-Pride – An Evening with Kate Reid
July 6, 2010 Time 7:00pm Location: The Daily Grind
Kate Reid is a whip smart wordsmith with a knack for candid story-telling and songwriting that is charged with humour and social-political commentary. A straight shooter but definitely not straight, she is as charming as she is in-your-face and is one of the most original, incisive and entertaining songwriters to appear on the scene in a long time.
Pre-Pride – An Evening with Ivan E. Coyote
July 7, 2010 Time 6:00pm Location: 1177 3rd Ave.
Ivan Coyote was born and raised in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory. An award-winning author of five collections of short stories, one novel, two CD’s, four short films and a renowned performer, Ivan’s first love is live storytelling, and over the last thirteen years she has become an audience favourite at music, poetry, spoken word and writer’s festivals from Anchorage to Amsterdam.
Youth Pride
July 14, 2010 Time: 6:00pm Location: University of Northern BC
An evening of inspired young queer talent from Northern BC will start the annual Pride Celebrations with a BANG! Working with our local Gay/Straight Alliance, youth are bringing to the stage a night of fun, laughter and art to our community.
VIP & Members Only Night
July 15, 2010 Time 6:00pm – 11:00pm Location: Twisted Cork
A special evening hosted by Pride Prince George, is for Pride 2010 Sponsors, Pride Society Members and invited guests, where you will enjoy special guest entertainment and other Prideful delights to kick the festivities off.
Lavender Show
July 16, 2010 Time 7:30pm – 12:00am Location: Ramada Hotel
A Drag Show by any other name and with over 180 attendees in 2009; this long standing event host by GALA-North is a traditional event that brings our local Drag Queens and Kings together with Queens and Kings from across British Columbia, Alberta, and other distant communities.
With Ms. Rainbow Pride V, Electronica, will be holding her step down event in Prince George and not in Calgary. In addition, our own Mr. & Ms. Pride PG will be stepping down, and welcoming the our new Mr. & Ms. Pride PG for 2010/2011. Approximately 15 additional Drag Queens from across Canada and the United States will descend on Prince George for an event of a life time.
Pride Parade
Saturday July 17 Time 11:30am Location: Downtown PG
This colourful display of support and unity for the LGBT Community is our first and foremost signature event in Prince George as there is no other like it in Prince George. Each year the parade grows with now close to three hundred people in 2007. Our 14th Annual Pride Parade will
proceed from with steps of City Hall around the downtown core back to the steps of City Hall.
Pride Festival
Saturday July 17 Time 12:30pm Location: City Hall
Celebrations continue on the lawn of City Hall with over 150 attendees; live music and entertainment fill the afternoon, along with community groups and business setting up stage displaying the wide variety of services and Pride memorabilia for the entire community.
PRISM Film Festival
July 17, 2010 Time 5:00-7:00pm Location: Prince George Public Library
Each year, the Prism Film Society brings the best in Queer Film to Prince George. With this being the only event of its kind outside of Vancouver, these films bring out a diverse group of people with a different focus on what it means to be Queer.
Pride Party
Saturday July 17 Time 8:00pm – 1:30am Location: Civic Centre
Bring out your dancing shoes and celebrate with PG Pride’s largest party of the year…great music, great people, great prizes and lots food and fun. The Pride Dance has been our second signature event of the year after the parade, with over 250 people attending; we host the greatest night out for everyone.
Pride BBQ
Sunday July 18 Time 12:00noon Location Wilson Park
Prism North Film Society sends the open invitation to everyone for that last farewell to another gathering as we wrap things up, but we all leave behind a sense of community and take with us a bigger sense of Pride.
Califonia Gays Challenge Katy Perry For Supremacy, Win
This awesome parody gives Katy Perry’s California Girls video a run for it’s money. I’d pick the California Gays over saccharine-sweet candyland anytime. Yum.
Pride at the Art Gallery of Ontario
Show your colours and celebrate Toronto Pride Week at the Art Gallery of Ontario. Celebrations at the Gallery start on Wednesday, June 30 from 6 to 8:30 pm, when the ArtWherk! Collective will celebrate its second exhibition at the AGO. ArtWherk! is a place for lesbian, gay, bi, transsexual, transgendered, intersexual, queer, questioning and 2-spirited emerging artists to showcase their art, photography, painting, sculpture, fashion, video, spoken word, music and installation pieces during the Pride Week.
“ArtWherk! creates a space for youth to connect, and to participate within the arts community in Toronto”, explains Syrus Ware, Program Coordinator, Teens Behind the Scenes. “Check out the exhibition, see some performances, and hear one of the artists talk.”
On Saturday, July 3 and Sunday, July 4, tours by Gallery Guides will celebrate the history and culture of the gay, lesbian and bisexual communities. Highlights include works by Kent Monkman, Georgia O’Keeffe and Robert Rauschenberg. Tours begin in Walker Court at 11:30 am and 2:30 pm.
The AGO community ambassador team will be on-site during the Pride Parade at the Family Pride Area on Sunday, July 4, from 12 to 4 pm, making Pride inspired hats and promoting the AGO to visitors.
Wednesday June 30, 6 – 8:30pm: ArtWherk! Collective exhibition
Saturday July 3, 11:30 and 2:30pm: Pride Tours at the AGO
Sunday July 4, 11:30 and 2:30pm: Pride Tours at the AGO
Sunday July 4, 12 – 4pm: AGO at the Family Pride Area
Julianne Moore and Stars at LA Premiere of ‘The Kids Are All Right’
The much buzzed about new movie The Kids Are All Right opened the Los Angeles Film Festival on June 17th. The stars of the movie, including Julianne Moore (who with Annette Bening plays the lesbian parents of two children conceived by artificial insemination seeking to bring their birth father into their family life in the LGBT family film) came out to the premiere.
Out director/co-writer Lisa Cholodenko, stars Mark Ruffalo, Mia Wasikowska, and our favorite actress from Glee were also on hand at the event.
Buck Angel Surprise
On my lunch break yesterday I purchased the new issue of BUST magazine. It came encased in plastic and when I ripped it open, out fell Sexis magazine which appears to be a magazine published by sex shop Edenfatasys out of New Jersey. It has some pretty great articles for what is essentially an advertising supplement.
Guess who was on the cover? Buck Angel and April Flores! Transman/porn king and BBW, respectively.
The actual point of this blog point is the lovely hot pictures I found inside which are too awesome to not share. Enjoy!
Southern Alberta Anti-Hate Rally
Southern Alberta to send a bold and unmistakable message that crimes committed in the name of hate and homophobia must end.
SOUTHERN ALBERTA ANTI HATE RALLY
at Lethbridge City Hall
910 – 4 Avenue South
Thursday June 24 @ 6 pm
At 6 p.m. on Thursday, June 24th, 2010, citizens of Lethbridge and southern Alberta will stand together at Lethbridge City Hall in the wake of hate and violence in our community. This rally, hosted by the Gay and Lesbian Alliance of Lethbridge & Area (GALA/LA) and ULSU PRIDE follows the highly publicized, local hate crime that occurred in Lethbridge a week ago.
Statistics Canada recently released information about hate crimes reported to police in 2008. The report documented that the number of attacks motivated by sexual orientation more than doubled, with 75% of those attacks involving violence. The hate motivated attack in our community would seem to back up the disturbing reality that hate is still all too prevalent in our communities.
The program will include music and special guest speakers, including Mayor Bob Tarleck and Chief of Police Tom McKenzie. Additional speakers will include a number of community leaders involved in related human rights work.
Members of the public, and the media, are not only invited but encouraged to attend and bring posters and placards with messages of support. Discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity affects the whole community. Violence and hate are unacceptable. We must take this opportunity to educate our communities, and continue to fight for a more just and equal community for all people.
Contact:
Mickey Wilson
President – GALA/LA
403-593-5923
www.galalethbridge.ca
Queer Proms Popular Across the Nation
As stressful events go, proms can rate pretty high on a teenager’s barometer — but imagine if you are a gay, bisexual or transgender student.
To help make them feel accepted and welcomed, schools and youth groups across the country are increasingly turning to so-called queer proms. At least a dozen cities, including Halifax, Toronto, Kitchener, Ont., Hamilton, Edmonton and Vancouver, are holding high school graduations for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) students.
“It’s a place where we can be ourselves and feel comfortable,” said 15-year-old Aaron Stevens of Cole Harbour, N.S.
The gay student attended the Halifax prom last year and is getting ready for this year’s edition on June 30.
“What I like about the queer prom is the sense of community. You just go there and everybody is your friend, you don’t have to worry about what people are going to think. And it’s a really good feeling,” added Aaron. Read More at the Vancouver Sun online.
OUTtv-produced special “Queer Prom” will be airing at the 2010 Queer Film Festival. Queer Prom is a 3 part documentary series following the kids of GAB Youth Services as they plan and execute their biggest event ever, a wonderland themed prom. The Festival runs August 12-22.
Daniel Radcliffe for The Trevor Project
The actor best known worldwide as boy-wizard hero Harry Potter continues his commitment to the LGBTQ youth charity the Trevor Project with a new PSA video clip.
Radcliffe appeals to the public, pleading for confused or troubled teens to take advantage of the organization’s services. “If you’re feeling helpless or hopeless,” the British actor says, “there’s always a safe place to turn. You can talk to someone 24 hours a day.” Radcliffe advises that one need only call — (866) 4-U-TREVOR — for free and confidential support. Read the rest of this entry »
RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 3 and Drag U!: we’ve got ‘em!
Airing this fall on OUTtv: RuPaul’s Drag U
RuPaul and your favorite queens are back! The Dean of Drag has finally opened her “school for girls!” at RuPaul’s Drag U, where biological women (the kind who don’t have to tuck) undergo extreme transformations…drag queen style. Our pupils are frumpy, shy and anything but self-confident; but with the insight and instruction of beloved Drag Race alums, our once demure dames unleash their inner Divas and perform a musical number in front of a live audience that includes their loved ones. Only one woman can be valedictorian of her class, but all drag-uate with sass, self-respect, and the sense that anything is possible.
ANNND We will be airing Season 3 of Drag Race at the same time as LOGO! No longer will you have to choose between pirating your fav show to keep up or avoiding all spoilers for months! Woohoo!!
Morgan Freeman Snuggles Up to Matthew McConaughey
Thomas Jane Says He’s Not That “Hung”
The star of HBO’s Hung doesn’t want any fans taking the title too seriously.
The fetching and fit Thomas Jane shared workout tricks with Men’s Fitness and ended any speculation that he himself was Hung. Jane spells it out after the jump. Plus his sexy scowl is in behind-the-scenes video for the men’s mag shoot.
It’s not just about size, right?! Read the rest of this entry »