The Daily Sheet - July to September 2024

[CellarDweller115]

Tuesday, July 2nd, 2024

A Force In Movies

At just 20-years-old, Heath Ledger rose to fame as the world’s newest heartthrob after he starred as Patrick Verona in 10 Things I Hate About You in 1999. He quickly got pegged as the pretty boy from this role, where he portrayed the love interest of Julia Stiles‘ character. It was a solid start, but Ledger booked plenty of other major roles after this film. Unfortunately, just as Ledger was at the height of his fame, he tragically died from an accidental drug overdose in 2008. Before then, though, the actor touched many lives around him, and co-stars and friends alike shared their heartbreak upon hearing the news. In the early 2000s, after his role in 10 Things I Hate About You, Ledger’s fame only continued to flourish. He continuously booked lead roles back-to-back and starred in a few very popular movies, among them Brokeback Mountain (2005) and The Dark Knight (2008), which solidified the star’s astounding career. The actor, born April 4, 1979 in Perth, Western Australia, got his start in acting early on when he had to choose between a cooking or drama elective in junior high. Naturally, Ledger chose the latter, which led to his major TV and film career. His first role was a minor one in the Australian children’s TV series Ship to Shore (1994), but he was only in three episodes. A Force In Movies

Coming Out On Live TV

Minnesota news anchor Jason Hackett recently attended a basketball game with his partner of five years. And for the first time, he didn't care if anyone was watching them. “He had his hand on my knee, and we were obviously together and I didn’t give a damn about what people thought,” Hackett, 36, tells TODAY.com. “A lot has changed in the last two months,” he adds. In May, Hackett came out as gay on NBC affiliate KARE 11’s “Sunrise” show, where he’s worked since January 2023. “I lived in this glass closet where my friends and coworkers knew I was gay, but never my audience,” Hackett, a 13-year broadcast veteran, explains. “I kept it to myself.” Hackett says there were knots in his stomach before the camera threw to him on the morning of May 3. “There was a moment where I was like, ‘Oh my God, am I really going to do this?’” Hackett recalls. “When that red light came on, my heart was beating through my chest." Coming Out On Live TV

Stacy London Comes Out As Lesbian

Stacy London didn’t “say gay” for ages, but now she calls herself a late-in-life lesbian. The What Not to Wear alum has been with her partner Cat Yezbak since 2018, publicly revealing their relationship via Instagram on New Year’s Eve 2019. “So I used to date men. Now I date her,” she wrote. London, 55, spoke with Us Weekly exclusively this week at the American Ballet Theatre presents Woolf Works premiere at The Metropolitan Opera in New York City. London opened up about her sexuality and how she is finally able to be unapologetic about who she is. “I came out at 48. I love the fact that people can say the words pansexual, bisexual and have it be a spectrum,” she said. “In the '50s and '60s, there was none of that. When I was growing up, there were none of those words that made people feel seen.” She credited those who came after her for helping her generation find a way to be more open. “You have Gen Z breaking all the systemic rules and me, Gen X, breathing a sigh of relief that we thought we had to be straight and perfect,” she explained. “It was only, ‘Be like a duck, calm where everyone can see and then flail underneath.’ Now I feel like we can own our identities in a universal way without fear and without shame.” Stacy London Comes Out As Lesbian 6 Facts About Bisexuals In June every year, Americans celebrate LGBTQ+ Pride Month, marking the anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising of 1969 – a series of encounters between police and LGBTQ+ protesters in New York City. Pew Research Center previously has explored topics including the experiences and views of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Americans and transgender and nonbinary Americans. The Center has also studied public attitudes about same-sex marriage in the United States. This analysis highlights key facts about the largest group among those who identify as LGBTQ+: bisexual Americans. 1.  Overall, 4% of U.S. adults say they identify as bisexual, according to an August 2023 survey by the Center. A similar share (3%) say they identify as gay or lesbian. Among adults who are lesbian, gay or bisexual, meanwhile, bisexual Americans are the largest group, accounting for 60% of the total. (This survey did not ask respondents if they were transgender, so transgender adults are not included in this group. Other Center research has estimated the share of Americans who are transgender or nonbinary.) 6 Facts About Bisexuals Remembering Cecilia Gentili Since the unexpected passing of their sister Cecilia Gentili, Victoria Von Blaque, a consultant at New York City-based firm Trans Equity Consulting, has not had a chance to process their grief. “I kind of flinch when I hear her name,” they say. “It is still so raw.” Gentili—a beloved transgender activist, artist, and founder of the consulting agency where Von Blaque currently works—passed away only four months ago, and has left an enduring mark on the lives of her family, who describe Gentili as “radiant,” “loving,” “hot as hell,” and above all: “Mother.” “I'm still processing a world without my sister, my best friend, my everything,” says LaLa Holston-Zannell, a senior campaign strategist at the ACLU. “Being a black trans woman, having someone that you can share everything without judgment, without asking anything of me, without using [their] power over me. [It] is a genuine love.” Holston-Zannell and Von Blaque’s grieving journey, and that of many of Gentili’s loved ones, is also happening in the midst of the month-long, typically celebratory, season of Pride. Remembering Cecilia Gentili My Child Is Non Binary A few years ago, our youngest child shared they were nonbinary at 13 years old. At the time, I didn't know what that meant and didn't know anyone to turn to for advice. As their mother, I felt lost, confused, and uncertain of how to support my child. Over the last few years, my teen has taught me what nonbinary means — going beyond the definition. They've helped me understand how to be an ally, how to support, how to help face day-to-day challenges, and how to be a safe space. The day they shared that they were nonbinary, I started searching for definitions and experiences to have an educated conversation with my child. I found a definition that spoke to me. The Human Rights Campaign defines nonbinary as "an adjective describing a person who does not identify exclusively as a man or a woman. Nonbinary people may identify as being both a man and a woman, somewhere in between, or as falling completely outside these categories." I learned that my child is the true expert on their own experiences and meanings. From there, I asked my teen to share what nonbinary means to them and their preferred pronouns. My Child Is Non Binary The Year of The Ally As a subdued Pride Month comes to a close this week, it might be tempting to conclude that Pride is passe or that the world has passed Pride by—replacing it with fear and loathing about the state of the world, the November federal election in the US, extreme heat and its link to climate change and more. But after the rainbow-colored logos and pride flag-bedecked websites disappear with the changing of the calendar, we must remember that Pride is year-round. Now, more than ever, we need everyone to understand that this is no time to disengage. In fact, the opposite is true: 2024 should be the Year of the LGBTQ Ally. Borne out of protest, Pride has become a celebration. But let’s remember that it’s also a necessity. Pride is more important today than ever before. LGBTQ people continue to be targeted in legislation, attacked in the streets and labeled as threats. It’s a tough time to be LGBTQ, which may seem odd given how far many people assume we have come in the past several decades. We have made progress, but the path to equality is not a straight line and progress is not always achieved at a steady pace. In fact, a number of factors make the LGBTQ community's need of broad, vocal, engaged support more important than ever. The Year of The Ally Your Laugh For The Day! Contributors: CellarDweller115 The Daily Sheet is a production of The Ultimate Brokeback Forum at http://www.ultimatebrokebackforum.com. Today's edition by CellarDweller115 Editors emeritae: CactusGal, Marge_Innavera, tellyouwhat, Stilllearning, MissYouSoMuch, gnash We count on you to send us your news items, questions, and nominations for posts of the day. If you have items you’d like to see published, send them to CellarDweller115. To subscribe to The Daily Sheet, click the “Notify” button at the top or bottom of the page. When a new issue of TDS is posted, you will be notified by e-mail. The Daily Sheet Archives Respond to The Daily Sheet

[CellarDweller115]

Tuesday, July 9th, 2024

Annie Proulx Interview

Annie Proulx talks with The New Yorker about her story, The Hadal Zone. TNY:  Your story in this summer’s Fiction Issue, “The Hadal Zone,” opens with a man named Arwen Rasmont flying back to the U.S. from Iceland. When did this scenario come to you? Had you already established the world of the story? Or was this the starting point? AP:  I wanted to write a story about the ocean deeps—why? Because they exist, and their unexplored charms are alluring. The most likely place an ordinary human would encounter the odd names and distant views of underwater features is flying above them. So it is logical to have our protagonist—our Virgil—peering out of a plane window at the unknown below. TNY:  Arwen is a handsome man—he has his dead father’s high-arched nose and his yellow hair—but it’s not clear that his looks have brought him much luck. How much has his physical appearance shaped his life? AP:  Alas, not even fiction can insure that a handsome face guarantees a life of good luck. Annie Proulx Interview

Elder Gay Prom

Mel Weiss was filled with dread as his high school prom approached. He didn’t want anyone to know he was gay, so he brought a girl as his date. “This was a time where people were not out,” said Weiss, now 88. “I just felt uncomfortable.” Prom night certainly was not the formative experience he had in mind. But Weiss and hundreds of other gay seniors recently had the chance to redo their prom night, as their true selves. Last week, the Los Angeles LGBT Center held its 27th annual Senior Prom event, which invites members of the LGBTQ+ community over age 50 to celebrate being gay — something many of them were ashamed of as teens. “Many of our older adults grew up in a time where coming out was really hard. This was before gay marriage was even possible,” said Kiera Pollack, director of senior services at Los Angeles LGBT Center. The June 28 event closed out Pride Month — which can sometimes be difficult for seniors to participate in. Elder Gay Prom

Nancy Valverde is Honored

From the age of 17, Nancy Valverde was repeatedly arrested by the Los Angeles police department for wearing masculine clothing. By the time she died, at age 92, the city had named a square in her honor, its first public monument to a lesbian. Valverde, a proud Chicana butch lesbian, had refused to conform to social norms, even in the 1940s and 50s, when the city’s racist and homophobic police force frequently arrested people under anti-“masquerading” laws that criminalized them for wearing clothes officers judged to be unsuited to their gender. “They wanted me to be someone else. I could not be someone else. This is me,” Valverde said in a short documentary film about her life. As states across the US pass laws criminalizing drag performances and banning gender-affirming healthcare for transgender youth, Valverde’s battle against police harassment feels deeply relevant, said the director Gregorio Davila, who featured Valverde in his documentary LA: a Queer History, and also created an award-winning documentary short about her. Valverde became a queer Los Angeles icon for her early resistance efforts and her refusal to hide who she was, even at a time when many people were afraid to be gay in public. For decades, butch lesbians and other gender-nonconforming people could be arrested for their clothing choices not only in Los Angeles, but across the country. Nancy Valverde is Honored Jason Mraz Didn't Want to Be A Punchline Six years after he first publicly identified as bisexual, Jason Mraz is looking back on his path to living truthfully. The two-time Grammy winner and Dancing With the Stars contestant appeared on Jesse Tyler Ferguson’s Dinner’s on Me podcast earlier this week, and explained why he kept quiet about his sexuality early in his career. “I didn’t have too many sexual experiences in high school,” said Jason, who grew up in Virginia. “I was bullied and was just ready to get out of town. So that’s why New York City was great and then, even eventually, California was great.” He continued: “The romance in my songs was just copying other romance in songs – these are things that you sing about to please others or something. “It wouldn’t be probably until I got to California that I met a community of people that would see me in a new way that I’d never fully been seen before. And I liked how I was being seen and heard.” Jason Mraz Didn't Want to Be A Punchline Transgender Community and The UK In the United Kingdom, a thriving radical feminist movement has popularized and radicalized opposition to the transgender population, capturing the narrative and heavily influencing media, society, and government as it rails against 'gender ideology.' The transgender community lies beneath the wreckage of this juggernaut. Once acclaimed for its progressive stance on queer rights, the U.K. has become notorious for its hostile treatment of transgender people and legitimizing anti-trans hatred. When I was a trans kid in rural England, I learned to survive life in transphobic spaces by kicking a hole in the back of the closet and hiding in Narnia. Even as a teen, I knew the National Health Service's (NHS, the U.K.'s publicly funded healthcare system) trans healthcare system was fundamentally broken. I soon learned, too, that I could not access care or treatment without a supportive family. As the wait time for an initial appointment takes years, I felt and watched as puberty changed my body. Though I've since moved to the States, making Boston my home, my trans childhood casts a long shadow. I mourn a lost decade, a life at the edge, and what could – and should – have been. Time is everything. Those diagnosed with gender dysphoria should receive timely access to the care they need. For a child, this might include psychosocial support and delaying puberty, and at 16, possible hormone treatment. For trans adults, they will often receive hormone therapy, and many pursue gender reassignment surgery. Time means better treatment prognoses and resources. But it also means limiting the time before someone can transition and maximizing the time they have after. Transgender Community and The UK Non-Binary Firefighter "Told Lies" in Trial A defense lawyer says a rookie non-binary firefighter, who alleges they were a victim of a hate-motivated assault, told “bald-faced lies” while under oath. Ash Weaver testified Eric Einagel, then a fellow firefighter, grabbed their wrists and “slammed” them into the kitchen counter before Einagel’s hands went for their neck, picking up and shaking Weaver as he choked them on Sept. 14, 2022, at a Barrhaven fire hall. Other witnesses characterized the alleged assault as a mutual fight over dishwashing duty, with the two exchanging hip-checks and shoves. During closing arguments for the judge-alone trial before Justice Mitchell Hoffman, Einagel’s lawyer, Dominic Lamb, said Weaver lied under oath when they were asked multiple times if they had been choked before, and gave conflicting answers. “How do you reconcile that? How does anybody?” Lamb said. “This is the sign of somebody who has such disrespect for the oath, for criminal justice, that they just say whatever they want.” Einagel faces charges of assault causing bodily harm in choking Weaver, as well as harassment. The Crown alleges Einagel threatened Weaver and caused them to fear for their safety. Capt. Gregory Wright is also accused of failing to take reasonable steps to prevent bodily harm against Weaver, as well as disciplining Weaver or threatening to do so and adversely affecting their employment with the ultimate goal of stopping Weaver from going to police about the alleged assault. Non-Binary Firefighter "Told Lies" in Trial Why We Need Straight Allies P.S. Gear goes on morning runs and swims with his gay workout partner. He regularly attends Sweet Spot, a recurring queer dance party. He’s marched in the Baltimore Pride Parade for the past six years. And he won’t bat an eye when correcting someone who intentionally misgenders someone. He’s also a happily married heterosexual. The Hampden resident is an ally to the LGBTQIA+ community. Heterosexual is not a part of the LGBQTIA+ acronym, which stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer, transgender, intersex, asexual, but the group is just as important, advocates say. Allies, those who are not part of the LGBTQIA+ community but support their causes, play an integral part of the success of gender minorities by bridging the acceptance gaps between these groups and heterosexuals. They defend, advocate and advance the causes of a marginalized group that might not always be present to speak for themselves. But true allyship is more than having a gay friend, according to experts. It involves taking a strong stance on issues that face LGBTQIA+ people, even when facing pushback. Pride Month in June is a time to bring attention to some of the inequalities and celebrate gender minorities. But LGBTQIA+ people also say that the fight relies heavily on meaningful straight allies who will vote in their interests and be vocal in their defense beyond Pride Month. Why We Need Straight Allies Your Laugh For The Day! Contributors: CellarDweller115 The Daily Sheet is a production of The Ultimate Brokeback Forum at http://www.ultimatebrokebackforum.com. Today's edition by CellarDweller115 Editors emeritae: CactusGal, Marge_Innavera, tellyouwhat, Stilllearning, MissYouSoMuch, gnash We count on you to send us your news items, questions, and nominations for posts of the day. If you have items you’d like to see published, send them to CellarDweller115. To subscribe to The Daily Sheet, click the “Notify” button at the top or bottom of the page. When a new issue of TDS is posted, you will be notified by e-mail. The Daily Sheet Archives Respond to The Daily Sheet

[CellarDweller115]

Tuesday, July 16th, 2024

Devil Wears Prada Sequel?

A sequel? To The Devil Wears Prada? Groundbreaking (no, really). Entertainment Weekly can exclusively reveal that all major stars from the first film — including Anne Hathaway, Meryl Streep, Emily Blunt, and Stanley Tucci, plus director David Frankel and producer Wendy Finerman — are in talks to return for a sequel currently in development at Disney. A source close to the production tells EW that original screenwriter Aline Brosh McKenna is also working on the sequel's screenplay. Disney declined EW's request for comment. EW has further reached out to representatives for Hathaway, Streep, Blunt, Tucci, Frankel, and McKenna, as well as author Lauren Weisberger. Released to stellar box office numbers ($326 million globally) and positive critical reviews ahead of scoring two Oscar nominations in 2007, the original Devil Wears Prada followed Andy Sachs (Hathaway) as she navigated the dizzying world of New York fashion journalism while working as an assistant to the intimidating Miranda Priestly (Streep), the cold, condescending editor-in-chief of the fictional Runway magazine. No original cast members are fully confirmed to return, though Puck News first reported Monday that only Streep and Blunt — who portrayed Andy’s rival employee, Emily Charlton — were in talks to reprise their roles in a story that revolves around the downfall of print media in the 21st century. Devil Wears Prada Sequel?

Formula One Driver Ralf Schumacher Comes Out

Former Formula One driver Ralf Schumacher, younger brother of seven times world champion and Ferrari great Michael, announced on Sunday he was in a same-sex relationship. “The most beautiful thing in life is when you have the right partner by your side with whom you can share everything,” he wrote below an Instagram photograph of himself and another man with their arms around each other, watching a sunset over the ocean. The only other known male gay driver in the history of Formula One was the late Briton Mike Beuttler, who raced from 1971 to 1973 and died in 1988. Ralf Schumacher, 49, won six grands prix in an 11-year career that ended in 2007. He was previously married to Cora, with whom he has a son, David, 22. “I am very happy that you have finally found someone with whom you really feel that you feel very comfortable and secure…I am 100% behind you dad and wish you all the best and congratulations,” David wrote on Instagram. German actress Carmen Geiss, a close friend, named Schumacher’s partner as Etienne and published a photograph of the couple on her own Instagram account. Formula One Driver Ralf Schumacher Comes Out

Happening in Cameroon

A lesbian from Cameroon is reminding of the daily reality of being LGBTQ+ in the country after the president's daughter came out. Brenda Biya, daughter of President Paul Biya, revealed in a recent post to her Instagram that she is in a relationship with Brazilian model Layyons Valença. Biya posted a photo of the two kissing, writing in the caption: “PS: I’m crazy about you & I want the world to know.” Biya currently lives in both the United States and Switzerland, using a private jet to visit Cameroon multiple times per year. Her coming out has LGBTQ+ Africans and activists wondering if she will be subject to the same punishments as those who do not share her resources or status, or if her being the daughter of the president will instead shield her. One lesbian living in the country recently spoke to DW News about her daily reality, sharing that she is “afraid for my life every day, afraid of being hit in the street, afraid to hold hands on the street with the person I share my life with because they can arrest and throw me in prison without any respect for my rights." The woman, named only as Anita for safety, said that she and her partner were attacked by their neighbors when they discovered the two were in a relationship. Anita and her partner were threatened with rape, while police threatened them with arrest, as Anita recalled them saying “if you’re lesbians, we’re going to arrest you and lock you up. It will be worse than what happened to you." Happening in Cameroon 9-1-1 Deleted Scene Queer fans of Ryan Murphy’s drama 9-1-1 had all their prayers answered in April, when fan-favourite firefighter Evan “Buck” Buckley came out as bisexual. Although there were some pretty intense calls from the fandom to set up Buck, played by Oliver Stark, with best friend Eddie, the character eventually fell for pilot Tommy Kinard (Stargirl’s Lou Ferrigno Jr – the son of TV’s original Hulk). The pair first met in episode three of the show’s seventh season, when Tommy helped Buck and his co-workers rescue Bobby (Peter Krause) and Athena (Angela Bassett) from their ill-fated honeymoon cruise. Fans then watched as Buck grew resentful of Tommy and Eddie hanging out too much, leading to a confrontation between the Buck and Eddie. After the incident, Tommy headed to Buck’s to apologise, and the pair realised quickly that they were both after the same thing and they kissed. In episodes that followed, fans saw the pair go out on a (toe-curlingly awkward) first date, but then they slowly introduced themselves to their friends and colleagues as a couple. 9-1-1 Deleted Scene Denied Updated Birth Certificates In the past year, Florida’s health department has declined to amend gender markers on birth certificates for both transgender adults and minors. Although the agency says it is basing denials on pre-existing state statutes, transgender Floridians had previously been able to update their birth certificates for at least a decade. Now, they face an opaque process that seems designed to reject all applicants. Transgender Floridians have been denied updated birth certificates even when all of their other government-issued identification reflects their current gender identity. When applicants provided paperwork detailing clinical treatment for their gender transition and their legal name change, they were still denied. This is at odds with how the agency has handled this approval process for years — and is the latest example of Florida’s state agencies enacting anti-LGBTQ+ policies even when anti-LGBTQ+ laws fail to pass. In 2023 and 2024, trans minors and adults who applied for amended birth certificates received denial letters from the state health agency’s Bureau of Vital Statistics. In those letters, reviewed by The 19th, the bureau says the paperwork that has long been accepted to update gender on birth certificates — like proof of clinical treatment and a legal name change — no longer works. “Specifically, the documentary evidence does not establish that the sex identifier on the birth record contains a misstatement, error, or omission,” one denial letter from March 2024 reads. Denied Updated Birth Certificates Gender Spectrum Lessons in Virginia A Northern Virginia school board will vote Thursday on a proposal to add lessons on the “gender spectrum” to elementary school curriculum—despite opposition from a majority of parents and community members. The Fairfax County School Board reviewed recommendations from the 2022-2023 Family Life Education Curriculum Advisory Committee that it had not yet acted on. That included a proposal to add instruction on the so-called gender spectrum at the elementary school level and “a more inclusive curriculum overall.” “The exclusion of gender identify at the elementary level does not create an environment that is open and accepting of all students or provide a safe space for students to learn about themselves and others,” the recommendation reads. “Students who do not ‘see’ themselves in the curriculum do not feel valued and may feel that there is something wrong with them or they are being dismissed.” Fairfax County Public Schools also proposed teaching kindergartners about families with “two moms” or “two dads.” “This recommendation broadens examples of family structures to be more inclusive of the many different families in our schools,” the Family Life Education Curriculum Advisory Committee recommendations say. The district proposed teaching 10th graders to “recognize the development of sexuality and gender as aspects of one’s total personality.” Gender Spectrum Lessons in Virginia Why We Need Straight Allies P.S. Gear goes on morning runs and swims with his gay workout partner. He regularly attends Sweet Spot, a recurring queer dance party. He’s marched in the Baltimore Pride Parade for the past six years. And he won’t bat an eye when correcting someone who intentionally misgenders someone. He’s also a happily married heterosexual. The Hampden resident is an ally to the LGBTQIA+ community. Heterosexual is not a part of the LGBQTIA+ acronym, which stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer, transgender, intersex, asexual, but the group is just as important, advocates say. Allies, those who are not part of the LGBTQIA+ community but support their causes, play an integral part of the success of gender minorities by bridging the acceptance gaps between these groups and heterosexuals. They defend, advocate and advance the causes of a marginalized group that might not always be present to speak for themselves. But true allyship is more than having a gay friend, according to experts. It involves taking a strong stance on issues that face LGBTQIA+ people, even when facing pushback. Pride Month in June is a time to bring attention to some of the inequalities and celebrate gender minorities. But LGBTQIA+ people also say that the fight relies heavily on meaningful straight allies who will vote in their interests and be vocal in their defense beyond Pride Month. Why We Need Straight Allies Your Laugh For The Day! Contributors: CellarDweller115 The Daily Sheet is a production of The Ultimate Brokeback Forum at http://www.ultimatebrokebackforum.com. Today's edition by CellarDweller115 Editors emeritae: CactusGal, Marge_Innavera, tellyouwhat, Stilllearning, MissYouSoMuch, gnash We count on you to send us your news items, questions, and nominations for posts of the day. If you have items you’d like to see published, send them to CellarDweller115. To subscribe to The Daily Sheet, click the “Notify” button at the top or bottom of the page. When a new issue of TDS is posted, you will be notified by e-mail. The Daily Sheet Archives Respond to The Daily Sheet

[CellarDweller115]

Tuesday, July 23rd, 2024

McMurtry and Small-Town Loneliness

The Last Picture Show is a story about loneliness so biting you can feel it in your bones, like the freezing northers that blow throughout Larry McMurtry’s 1966 novel and Peter Bogdanovich’s exquisite 1971 film adaptation. It’s a brutally specific loneliness, because McMurtry lived it, growing up in Archer City, about 25 miles south of Wichita Falls (in the novel, his hometown becomes Thalia; in the movie, Anarene). It’s a small Texas town, and, as in most small Texas towns, everyone knows each other’s business, because they’d really rather not examine their own. McMurtry, who died in 2021, describes this particular kind of solitude in the book’s first sentences: “Sometimes Sonny felt like he was the only human creature in the town. It was a bad feeling, and it usually came on him in the mornings early, when the streets were complexly empty, the way they were one Saturday morning in late November.” The flush of victory in World War II has subsided; the malaise in Korea awaits. Sonny and his friend Duane have just played their last high school football game (in which they were trounced). There isn’t much to look forward to, except hanging out at the pool hall, the diner, and the movie theater, all owned by the rare honorable adult in town, the gently irascible Sam the Lion. Both pitiless and deeply sympathetic, McMurtry’s novel is somehow timeless and very much of the time in which it was written. The youth of Thalia have been left rudderless by their elders. That’s true for Sonny and Duane, who choose to live in a rooming house rather than at home, and also Jacy, the spoiled rich girl whose ruthless mother, Lois, disappointed with her own life, teaches her daughter to be a romantic mercenary. Not that the guys who court her are much better. McMurtry and Small-Town Loneliness

Gay Rights Win in South Korea

South Korea’s top court has said that the state must provide health insurance for same-sex partners. The Supreme Court delivered the landmark ruling on Thursday, opening the way for common-law couples of the same sex to now register as dependents on their partner’s health insurance. Chief Justice Jo Hee-de said that denying same-sex couples such benefits because of gender constitutes discrimination based on sexual orientation. “It is an act of discrimination that violates human dignity and value, the right to pursue happiness, freedom of privacy and the right to equality before the law, and the degree of violation is serious,” Jo said. The case was brought by So Seong-wook and Kim Yong-min, a cohabiting gay couple whose marriage in 2019 is not considered legal under South Korean law, which does not recognise same-sex marriage. So sued the National Health Insurance Service (NHIS) because it terminated benefits for his partner – registered as a dependent – after discovering they were a gay couple. Gay Rights Win in South Korea

The Best Lesbian Movies

When I first took on the task of revamping Autostraddle’s best lesbian films list in 2019, I thought I could see every lesbian movie ever made. How many could really exist in the world? 200? 300? But as I continued my research I discovered more and more, each year more and more being made. (I’ve now seen over 600.) The question of what constitutes a lesbian film also came into question. What was subtext and what was text? What if subtext sometimes is text? The 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023 editions of the list were voted on by our team of writers with my voice being the most prominent since I had seen the most films. But this year that felt insufficient. Canon-making cannot be the work of one individual, nor even a handful of individuals. Even with its recent number one pick, the famed Sight & Sound list is never as cool to me as the individual ballots that determine its ranking. There is value in the aggregate — there’s even more value in the specificity of each individual’s knowledge and taste. That’s why this year’s update was decided beyond our team. At first, I wanted to just expand to anyone with an Autostraddle byline. Then, to anyone Autostraddle has ever interviewed. But as I chatted with queer artist and critic friends about this project, the enthusiasm from people to share their own picks of the best lesbian movies was impossible to resist. The Best Lesbian Movies The Boys and Bisexuality I first knew The Boys was something special by the way it handled the sexuality of Queen Maeve (Dominique McElligott) in Season 2. And now, after this week’s Season 4 finale, it’s clear that—despite some fans’ reluctance to go along for the ride—it’s a show that is breaking ground when it comes to depicting bisexuality in mainstream TV, something so many series still struggle with. Maeve’s Season 2 storyline was about a woman who’s already comfortable with her sexuality, but less comfortable with having it trotted out to the masses for corporate PR points. When Homelander (Antony Starr) outs Maeve on live TV, Maeve’s more concerned about the implications this has for her ex-girlfriend Elena (Nicola Correia-Damude), who will now be forced into a public life and made a potential target of Homelander’s wrath. The storyline’s sharpest moment comes when Elena and Maeve are being pitched a press angle by Vought VP Ashley (Colby Minifie), in which Maeve is sold to the nation as a “proud lesbian” who has courageously embraced her true self. It’s the easy, expected narrative, with the sort of “Be Yourself!”-style rhetoric that most people wouldn’t be offended by. There’s just one problem, which Elena’s quick to point out: “You know Maeve is bi, right?” For a lot of bisexual viewers, this was a cathartic scene, simply because the show had actually said the word “bi” without any beating around the bush. It would’ve been easy for the writers to characterize Maeve as a lesbian, especially since her only established romance besides Elena was with the coercive Homelander, but they didn’t. Instead they explicitly clarified her as bi, refusing to erase any of the messier implications of her past relationship with Homelander in the process. The Boys and Bisexuality Treating Transgender Kids When Victoria Atkins, then the health secretary, introduced the temporary ban on puberty-blocking medication for transgender youth a day before parliament was dissolved, I saw it as a last-ditch attempt by the Conservative party to win votes before the general election. Many of us had been hopeful to see how Labour would approach the ban, which is due to lapse in September. In a recent statement on X, however, Wes Streeting, the new health secretary, revealed his intention to make the ban permanent, subject to consultation. As a professional with expertise in this field – I am a clinical psychologist and I worked at NHS gender services from 2016 to 2023 – I can see that Streeting is clearly misinformed about the treatment, and his rationale for making the puberty-blocker ban permanent is unsound. For example, he focuses on the use of the medication in a particular developmental stage (adolescence) as the reason for taking an exceptional approach in banning the medication for transgender teens and not in children with precocious puberty or adults with pancreatic cancer. However, he overlooks the fact that this ban does not include teenage patients with a difference of sex development (DSD), more commonly known as intersex. These individuals are prescribed puberty-blocking medication when they unexpectedly commence a puberty that is at odds with their gender identity. DSD patients are taking the medication for much the same reason as transgender patients – ie the puberty they are undergoing is causing distress, and pressing pause will probably manage that distress and minimise harm while a continuing care plan is developed. If we follow Streeting’s logic, the medication would also be banned for this patient cohort. Treating Transgender Kids My Gender Fluid Child I’m sorting through the never-ending pile of art supplies, beads, yarn and other detritus strewn about the living room when I come across a trans pride flag. I smile at the pastel stripes as I hold it up. “Should we hang onto this?” I ask my youngest child. “Sure,” they answer, barely glancing over. Not long ago, this flag — and the others we accrued as my child moved through a myriad of gender identities — was a prized possession. My child would wear them like capes and race down our neighborhood streets, letting their literal flags fly to convey their gender identity of the moment.  They went through many moments, many flags and many identities. But now, three years after first coming out as gender-fluid — a non-fixed gender identity that can change over time and shift depending on the situation — they seem indifferent about it all. “What pronouns should I use for you?” I ask. “I don’t care,” they answer, exasperated with me in ways that 14-years-olds can uniquely express. Still, I think it’s important to ask. I want to ensure my child feels seen. My Gender Fluid Child Why We Need Straight Allies P.S. Gear goes on morning runs and swims with his gay workout partner. He regularly attends Sweet Spot, a recurring queer dance party. He’s marched in the Baltimore Pride Parade for the past six years. And he won’t bat an eye when correcting someone who intentionally misgenders someone. He’s also a happily married heterosexual. The Hampden resident is an ally to the LGBTQIA+ community. Heterosexual is not a part of the LGBQTIA+ acronym, which stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer, transgender, intersex, asexual, but the group is just as important, advocates say. Allies, those who are not part of the LGBTQIA+ community but support their causes, play an integral part of the success of gender minorities by bridging the acceptance gaps between these groups and heterosexuals. They defend, advocate and advance the causes of a marginalized group that might not always be present to speak for themselves. But true allyship is more than having a gay friend, according to experts. It involves taking a strong stance on issues that face LGBTQIA+ people, even when facing pushback. Pride Month in June is a time to bring attention to some of the inequalities and celebrate gender minorities. But LGBTQIA+ people also say that the fight relies heavily on meaningful straight allies who will vote in their interests and be vocal in their defense beyond Pride Month. Why We Need Straight Allies Your Laugh For The Day! Contributors: CellarDweller115 The Daily Sheet is a production of The Ultimate Brokeback Forum at http://www.ultimatebrokebackforum.com. Today's edition by CellarDweller115 Editors emeritae: CactusGal, Marge_Innavera, tellyouwhat, Stilllearning, MissYouSoMuch, gnash We count on you to send us your news items, questions, and nominations for posts of the day. If you have items you’d like to see published, send them to CellarDweller115. To subscribe to The Daily Sheet, click the “Notify” button at the top or bottom of the page. When a new issue of TDS is posted, you will be notified by e-mail. The Daily Sheet Archives Respond to The Daily Sheet

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Tuesday, July 30th, 2024

Ang Lee's Ride With The Devil

Ang Lee is renowned for his versatility, with his impressive cross-genre filmography exploring diverse human conditions while depicting complex emotions and societal issues. His films often emphasize intricate character development with a keen eye for detail. His two Best Director Oscars, one for the 2005 neo-Western romantic drama Brokeback Mountain and the other for the 2012 adventure Life ofPi, are proof that his work has piqued cinephiles. In his characteristic exploration of uncharted paths, Lee revisits the Civil War in the revisionist Western Ride with the Devil. In his take on the war in the film based on Daniel Woodrell's novel Woe to Live On, Ang Lee eschews the dichotomous North versus South narrative, instead plunging us into the horrors of war. Ride with the Devil goes beyond the effect of war on ravaged battlefields, showcasing its capacity to shatter communities, warp loyalties, and inflict lasting emotional scars. Ride with the Devil is an unflinching look at the Civil War, with Ang Lee's relentless barrage of graphic violence underscoring his candid message that there are no winners in war. Ride with the Devil is set in Missouri against the backdrop of the Civil War. The film follows a group of young men who join the infamous "Bushwhackers," a Confederate-aligned informal group known for their brutal tactics within the Missouri-Kansas border region. Ride with the Devil stars Tobey Maguire, Skeet Ulrich, Jeffrey Wright, Jewel, Simon Baker, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, James Caviezel, Thomas Guiry, and Jonathan Brandis. Maguire plays Jake Roedel, also known as "Dutchy," a German-born Dutch immigrant residing in the American South who defies his family's pro-Union leanings to fight for the Confederacy. From the outset, Ang Lee sets the film's graphic tone. We witness, alongside Maguire's Jake, the brutal killings of his friend Jack Bull Chiles' (Ulrich) parents at the beginning of the film. Then, the story takes us on a journey with Jake as he joins forces with Jack Bull and other young men in the guerrilla war against the Unionists. Among this group of young men is Wright's Daniel Holt, a recently freed slave fighting alongside his former enslaver-turned-rescuer, George Clyde (Baker). Ang Lee's Ride With The Devil

Michigan Bans "Panic" Defense

Michigan became the 20th state on Tuesday to bar defendants from using a so-called gay or trans "panic" defense in court. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed legislation, House Bill 4718, that bans the use of a victim's actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity in defense arguments. Supporters of the bill have said that these defenses play into anti-gay and anti-trans biases and reinforce the belief that LGBTQ lives have less value. The bill passed the state House along party lines, but four Republicans in the state Senate voted with Democrats to green-light the bill. State Rep. Laurie Pohutsky, who sponsored the bill, said in a statement through Whitmer's office on Tuesday that the legislation is "a huge step toward securing a safe and inclusive state for all Michiganders." The law goes into effect in October. According to a 2021 report from the Williams Institute at the University of California Los Angeles School of Law, no state in the U.S. “recognizes the gay and trans panic defenses as free-standing defenses under their respective penal codes.” Rather, they have been used to support arguments of provocation, diminished capacity, insanity or self-defense. Michigan Bans "Panic" Defense

Sperm Donor Wins Custody Over Lesbian Couple

A sperm donor has won parental rights over a lesbian birth mother's only child in a landmark case. The ruling was handed down in June by the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia which denied the mother's parental responsibility for the nine-year-old. The court instead ruled in favour of her former partner and their sperm donor. A sperm donor has won parental rights over a lesbian birth mother's only child in a landmark case. The ruling was handed down in June by the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia which denied the mother's parental responsibility for the nine-year-old. The court instead ruled in favour of her former partner and their sperm donor. The sperm donor met the boy when he was born and has continued to spend time with him regularly, which has included overnight stays. Sperm Donor Wins Custody Over Lesbian Couple Bisexual Women and Dark Triad Traits She’s a guy’s girl. A new study published in the Archives of Sexual Behavior revealed that bisexual women are more open to casual sex and possess more “Dark Triad” personality traits — that is, narcissism, psychopathy, and Machiavellianism — putting them closer to heterosexual men than women in this regard. Such “dark” qualities have previously been associated with promiscuity and a propensity for casual sex, and tend to be more present in men, while women are considered more cautious and inhibited, particularly when interacting with the opposite sex. “Understanding how traits vary across sexual orientation groups gives scientists clues about better ways to classify and understand them. Patterns of personality variation also tell us what theories are more likely to apply to the development of these attraction patterns,” said study author Scott W. Semenyna, an assistant professor of psychology at MacEwan University, in a statement. For the unscathed, narcissism is marked by extreme self-importance and a lack of empathy for others; psychopathy is characterized by antisocial behaviors and a lack of remorse for wrongdoing; and Machiavellianism refers to those who manipulate others for personal gain. The three traits combined make up the so-called Dark Triad personality. Bisexual Women and Dark Triad Traits JD Vance's Emails As Senator JD Vance seeks the vice presidency, a former Yale Law School classmate and friend has shared about 90 of their emails and text messages, mostly from 2014 through 2017, with The New York Times. The emails add to an existing body of evidence showing how Mr. Vance pivoted from a strong opponent of former President Donald J. Trump to his running mate. They also provide an insight into a cultural willingness by Mr. Vance to accept his classmate, Sofia Nelson, who is transgender. Nelson, now a public defender in Detroit, said the two were once close friends, but had a falling out in 2021, when Mr. Vance said publicly that he supported an Arkansas ban on gender-affirming care for minors. Now, Nelson, who opposes the Trump-Vance ticket, hopes the emails will inform the opinion of voters about Mr. Vance. In response, a spokesman for the Vance campaign said in a statement that it was “unfortunate” for someone to share “decade-old private conversations between friends.” “Senator Vance values his friendships with individuals across the political spectrum,” the statement said. “He has been open about the fact that some of his views from a decade ago began to change after becoming a dad and starting a family, and he has thoroughly explained why he changed his mind on President Trump. Despite their disagreements, Senator Vance cares for Sofia and wishes Sofia the very best.” JD Vance's Emails Asexuality and The Spectrum When I first submitted my memoir Unsexed: Memoirs of a Prostitute’s Daughter to my publishing company’s project manager, she came back to me with a long email explaining that she had issues with me labeling my book as asexual. She confessed that she was asexual and, as this was a personal matter for her, she didn’t think it was right for me to call myself asexual or to plug my memoir as one belonging to the asexual spectrum. I was sex-averse, she told me. But not asexual. That moniker only belongs to the “real” asexuals. The ones who have no sexual desire or sex at all. Her response confused me; it also irked me. I was asexual for over ten years of my twenty-six-year marriage. I called myself asexual for those ten years. It was the identity that I used to wrap around my body for comfort and protection against the norms and implications for married people that pressure them into having sex even if they don’t want it. Don’t need it. Don’t want to have anything to do with it. It irked me because I am a women’s studies professor and have taught a slew of topics related to sexual identity, including asexuality, for over ten years. Her connection to asexuality was hers. It was not mine. I had my own experiences with asexuality, and my connection to it was not hers, even though she felt inclined to tell me that because my experiences with asexuality did not reflect hers, my relationship with sex was mislabeled and wrong. My first objection is that no one has a right to label anyone. As a professor of women’s studies, I insulate my students from outside labels, explaining what they already know: that society (and people in general) attempts to label us, define us, long before we choose how to label ourselves. Our identities are always in flux, always on the spectrum of one designation or another, because we are not born knowing ourselves. We grow into ourselves. We discover who we are and who we want to be, and we are constantly evolving until the day we can face ourselves in the mirror and acknowledge the version of ourselves that we are proud of and love despite societal outcries that say we are wrong, wrongly built, defective, and “othered”. Asexuality and The Spectrum President Biden's LGBTQ Legacy President Biden bowed out of the presidential race on Sunday after weeks of pressure following his debate performance in June. He leaves a long record of support for the LGBTQ community as a key part of his powerful legacy and he has raised the bar for future presidents when it comes to fighting for our community. We’ve never had a fiercer ally in the White House — a president who pledged to make LGBTQ rights his top legislative priority and described anti-transgender discrimination as the “civil rights issue of our time.” He has celebrated Pride month with us each year as well as the Trans Day of Visibility and taken criticism from the right for it. He includes us in the State of the Union Address and other high-profile speeches. Young voters mustn’t get complacent; such sentiments from a sitting president are not the norm. Biden’s leadership on LGBTQ equality means the next Democratic president has big shoes to fill. Vice President Kamala Harris would certainly continue Biden’s work toward equality, specifically by pushing for passage of the Equality Act, which Biden backed and which passed the House but died in a Senate filibuster in 2021. Biden has changed the game in myriad ways, especially when it comes to LGBTQ inclusion in federal appointments. The country has never had a Senate-confirmed openly LGBTQ Cabinet member before (no, Ric Grenell doesn’t count as he was not confirmed). Pete Buttigieg’s tenure as Transportation Secretary has seen its challenges, but he has proven himself a capable, polished executive unafraid of taking on Fox News antagonists. As the Victory Fund noted this week, “LGBTQ+ people have received a record number of federal appointments, including Cabinet members, judges, and around 14% of the administration.” In addition to Buttigieg, he appointed Dr. Rachel Levine as the first out transgender person to hold an office that requires Senate confirmation. And Biden made more history, naming Karine Jean-Pierre, a Black lesbian, as his press secretary. President Biden's LGBTQ Legacy Your Laugh For The Day! Contributors: CellarDweller115 The Daily Sheet is a production of The Ultimate Brokeback Forum at http://www.ultimatebrokebackforum.com. Today's edition by CellarDweller115 Editors emeritae: CactusGal, Marge_Innavera, tellyouwhat, Stilllearning, MissYouSoMuch, gnash We count on you to send us your news items, questions, and nominations for posts of the day. If you have items you’d like to see published, send them to CellarDweller115. To subscribe to The Daily Sheet, click the “Notify” button at the top or bottom of the page. When a new issue of TDS is posted, you will be notified by e-mail. The Daily Sheet Archives Respond to The Daily Sheet

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Tuesday, August 6th, 2024

Cardellini Added to ‘No Good Deed'

Netflix's upcoming dark comedy "No Good Deed" has added Linda Cardellini, Luke Wilson, Teyonah Parris, Abbi Jacobson and Poppy Liu to its cast. The series comes from "Dead to Me" creator Liz Feldman, making this a reunion of sorts with Cardellini. They join Ray Romano, who was previously confirmed to also star in "No Good Deed." "No Good Deed" revolves around three different families who are all trying to buy the same 1920s Spanish-style home. "But as the sellers have already discovered, sometimes the home of your dreams can be a totle nightmare," the logline teases. Feldman is the creator, exec producer and showrunner behind "No Good Deed," which has been picked up for eight half-hour episodes. Silver Tree is set to direct the pilot and additional episodes; Tree is also an executive producer along with Will Ferrell and Jessica Elbaum for Gloria Sanchez Productions. Cardellini, whose credits include "Dead to Me" and the upcoming feature "Murder Party," plays Margo Starling, "A perfectly-coiffed status seeker with buried secrets to spare, Margo knows how to get what she wants – and what she wants is the in-demand Morgan house so she can flip it for profit with her lover, a high-end developer." Cardellini Added to ‘No Good Deed'

Slur Left As Tip

A Kansas waiter has garnered community support after a customer called him a homophobic slur instead of tipping him. According to local ABC affiliate KAKE, 19-year-old Noah Bierig was working his usual shift at the casual restaurant Bubba's 33 — a bar and grill chain owned by Texas Roadhouse — on Sunday, July 21, when he began to get the sense that one of his customers was becoming agitated. The server told KAKE he is openly gay and always felt supported in his identity. He even received a pride bracelet from his mother when he came out in the eighth grade. However, Bierig recalled one table of patrons staring at his painted fingernails and bracelet, the same one his mother gave him. "The first time I went up to the table, they were just shooting me a couple dirty looks. And every time I would walk away, they would kind of just start laughing a little bit," Bierig told KAKE of the incident in an interview on Tuesday, July 23. "I'm not used to sort of blatant homophobia like that," he added, noting that he tried to go about his business and serve the customers as he normally would — until the customer left and Bierig took a look at what they had written on the tip line of their receipt. Slur Left As Tip

And They Were Roommates

The Olympics are hella gay! Whether it's the nearly 200 queer competitors, the opening ceremonies, the Gay Twitter thirst generation, or the commentary — thanks to out-and-proud two-time Olympic medalist Laurie Hernandez. Case in point, the sly lesbian joke she made yesterday while commentating on the Women’s Gymnastics Team Finals. The moment begins with fellow commentator Rich Learner asking Hernandez about her Olympic history with gymnast Simone Biles (who has been busy winning gold medals in the Paris games.) “You were teammates in Rio, that team won a gold,” Learner begins. “You were roommates. Did you know even before then that she was going to be special?" “And they were roommates.” jokes Hernandez. This is, of course, a call back to the famous “and they were roommates” Vine that took over and then Tumblr in 2014. In the original Vine user @mattsukkar shared a clip of a woman speedily walking by talking on her phone saying “And they were roommates!” The camera then pans to him and he repeats it. For obvious reasons, this was immediately snapped up by queer culture because of the long history of referring to closeted queer couples as roommates. And They Were Roommates Nico Keenan and Rob Jetten Field hockey player Nico Keenan is at his second Olympic Games but this time around, he’s in the tricky position of being a reserve player. In Tokyo three years ago, he was a key part of the Argentina team that reached the quarterfinals. In Paris, he had to watch from the stands as his country lost to Australia and drew to India in Group B. However, on Tuesday, he got the call, coming into the squad for their 2-0 win over New Zealand. He started on the bench but was substituted on in the second half. Keenan is also one of over 190 out LGBTQ athletes in Paris. Also in the city for the Games is his boyfriend, Rob Jetten, who is the former Deputy Prime Minister of the Netherlands. Yes, you read that right. This is a rare power couple that combines elite sporting and political talents. On Monday, Keenan was pictured smiling alongside Jetten away from the pitch in a post shared on the latter’s Instagram account. Nico Keenan and Rob Jetten Ruling In Florida A federal judge has ruled that Florida’s transgender health care ban discriminates against state employees and violates their civil rights. Chief U.S. District Judge Mark Walker ruled Thursday that the state's ban violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which protects employees and job applicants from employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex and national origin. The lawsuit was filed in 2020 by three current and former state employees against the Florida Department of Management Services. The employees had challenged the denial of medically necessary treatment for their gender dysphoria under the state’s categorical exclusion of coverage for “gender reassignment or modification services or supplies.” The plaintiffs are represented by Southern Legal Counsel, the ACLU of Florida and Legal Services of Greater Miami. “We are so grateful that the court is holding the state accountable for its facially discriminatory policy that carves out transgender state employees for unequal treatment,” Southern Legal Counsel attorney Simone Chriss said in a statement. “There is no nondiscriminatory reason for the state to categorically deny coverage of safe, effective, medically necessary treatment only when it is needed to treat gender dysphoria but not for the treatment of any other condition.” Walker wrote in his ruling that health and pension benefits frequently represent a crucial component of an employee’s compensation, so the practical effect of denying or reducing such benefits on the basis of sex is to deny the employee an employment opportunity on the basis of sex. Walker found that the treatment of all medical conditions, including gender dysphoria, should be based on the unique needs of the patient rather than blanket exclusions. Ruling In Florida Imane Khelif Despite outcries from anti-trans celebrities and politicians, the International Olympic Committee confirmed Imane Khelif is eligible to compete in women's boxing at the Paris Games. Khelif went viral on social media after winning her opening bout Thursday against Italy's Angela Carini, who stopped fighting after 46 seconds. Khelif, along with Taiwanese boxer Lin Yu-ting, were both disqualified from their championships in 2023 after the International Boxing Association said they failed gender eligibility testing, a move that the IOC has called a “sudden and arbitrary decision." The two boxers also competed in the 2021 Tokyo Games, but did not medal. "The IOC is committed to protecting the human rights of all athletes participating in the Olympic Games," the organization said in a statement. "The IOC is saddened by the abuse that the two athletes are currently receiving." Khelif is a woman, who is not transgender, nor identifies as intersex, according to GLAAD and InterACT. Khelif reportedly has differences of sexual development, known as DSDs, the organizations said in a Fact Sheet released Friday. Having DSD is not the same as being transgender. Imane Khelif Kamala Harris & LGBTQ Support GLAAD is documenting the records of presidential candidates on a number of areas of significance to LGBTQ people. Vice President Kamala Harris’s record including her policies and efforts that affect jobs, inflation, LGBTQ participation in the economy, and access to housing, can be found below. The Biden-Harris administration has focused on economic recovery, job creation, and housing affordability, with particular attention to supporting marginalized communities, including LGBTQ people. LGBTQ people in the United States have the same worries as others when it comes to finding housing, good jobs and saving for the future. But according to the Movement Advancement Project, research consistently finds that LGBTQ people and their families are more likely to struggle economically, experiencing higher rates of poverty and food insecurity. According to The Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law, social and legal exclusion of LGBTQ people creates economic hardships and can negatively affect the economy. LGBTQ people continue to face discrimination in many aspects of daily life—including at work, which can result in unemployment or lower wages; and when seeking homes, which can result in instability—all contribute to this economic insecurity.  Kamala Harris & LGBTQ Support Your Laugh For The Day! Contributors: CellarDweller115 The Daily Sheet is a production of The Ultimate Brokeback Forum at http://www.ultimatebrokebackforum.com. Today's edition by CellarDweller115 Editors emeritae: CactusGal, Marge_Innavera, tellyouwhat, Stilllearning, MissYouSoMuch, gnash We count on you to send us your news items, questions, and nominations for posts of the day. If you have items you’d like to see published, send them to CellarDweller115. To subscribe to The Daily Sheet, click the “Notify” button at the top or bottom of the page. When a new issue of TDS is posted, you will be notified by e-mail. The Daily Sheet Archives Respond to The Daily Sheet

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Tuesday, August 13th, 2024

New Ang Lee Project

Oscar-winning filmmaker Ang Lee has boarded 76 Days, a documentary from Joe Wein, based on Steven Callahan‘s New York Times bestselling memoir Adrift: 76 Days Lost At Sea, as an executive producer. Lee comes to the project after collaborating with Callahan on his 2012 Oscar winner Life of Pi. He had the author serve as a consultant on that film, examining an unbelievable story of survival at sea, after learning about Callahan’s own incredible tale in the same vein. On the eve of February 4, 1982, in the middle of the night, there was a loud boom as a whale collided with Steven’s boat. Within minutes, his small craft was flooded with a rush of water. He grabbed what he could, heaved his life raft into the ocean, and snatched his emergency kit. Without food or water, for an incredible 76 days the inflatable raft was his home as he drifted across the Atlantic Ocean. Forced to come to terms with his own shortcomings and limitations, Steven finds a strength he never knew he had. 76 Days brings the story to life through found 8 mm footage, original stills from the voyage, and first-person recreation. Joe Wein produced the pic and also with it made his directorial debut, with Fall Out Boy’s Patrick Stump penning its music. Callahan also served as an executive producer. While speaking about Life of Pi at the New York Film Festival, Lee said of Callahan’s contributions, “When I started thinking about the script for Life of Pi, I visited him in Maine. I brought Steven back to Taiwan with me to work on Life of Pi as a consultant, not only for the spiritual side but also for his experience, details, and what he went through. [Callahan] is a man we all cherish, who cherishes what’s good in life, and whose faith indeed helps us make the voyage.” New Ang Lee Project

Remembering Billy Bean

Billy Bean, who came out as gay after finishing his baseball career in the late 1990s and then became an executive for Major League Baseball, died yesterday after battling acute myeloid leukemia for the last year. He was 60. While he played in the majors from 1987-1995, I had never heard of him. Then in 1999, when he came out, he stayed on my radar for the rest of his life. By 1999, I wasn’t the obsessive baseball fan that had been through the early stages of my life. There was a time, in grade school, when I would take a piece of chalk, and write down the starting line-ups of all 24 teams in the Major League Baseball on chalkboards in my grade school classes in the 1970s. I was 35 in 1999, and a hard-working professional. Life’s increased demands supplanted my encyclopedia mind of all things baseball. I remained a Pittsburgh Pirates fan — always have been, always will be — and had cursory knowledge of the best players in the game, but that was the extent of it. Then in that year, Billy Bean, who had retired from major league baseball in 1995 after a lackluster career, came out as gay. I was stunned. Not because I knew Bean and never suspected that he was gay, but because, well, there were no gay baseball players. In fact, in my mind, gay was the antithesis of a Major League Baseball player. Remembering Billy Bean

Cindy Ngamba Makes History

Boxer Cindy Ngamba made history on Sunday by becoming the first athlete competing as a refugee to clinch an Olympic medal. The 25-year-old originally from Cameroon offered hope for the Refugee Olympic Team that was created to call attention to the plight of refugees across the world. Ngamba’s victory at the Paris Games comes after a fierce bout with French boxer Davina Michel in the women’s 75-kilogram quarterfinals in front of a passionate French crowd. Ngamba, who screamed and pumped her fist when she won, has scored at least a bronze medal as she advances to the semifinals Friday night. She will face Atheyna Bylon, who ensured that Panama would get its fourth-ever Olympic medal with her own win shortly after Ngamba’s fight. “It means the world to me to be the first ever refugee to win a medal,” Ngamba told reporters. “I want to say to all the refugees around the world ... keep on working hard, keep on believing in yourself.” She was a flag bearer for the 37 athletes making up the biggest Refugee Olympic Team since the idea was born ahead of the 2016 Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro. The International Olympic Committee created the team as a way for displaced athletes and migrants to participate fully in the Olympics without help from national federations. Cindy Ngamba Makes History What Maren Morris Wants In A Woman Country singer Maren Morris, who celebrated June's Pride month by announcing that she's now bisexual, is ready to dive head-first into the dating game. It's a brand-new world for Maren. Going from exclusively guys to now girls AND guys is a dangerous little game, and Morris isn't taking it lightly. In fact, she recently sat down with People! Magazine – the one you quickly browse while waiting at the Publix checkout counter – and outlined exactly what it's gonna take for her to be wooed. The good news, guys and gals, is that Maren's ego isn't too big, so you have a chance! "I just have to put 100 percent into myself, and you truly have to be a spectacularly impressive individual to add something to my life because — and I don’t mean to sound full of myself — but the life that I’ve built, I am really, really happy with," she said. "I love my career, I love my baby, I love my home, I love my friends. Those are all things that matter to me, and those are self-made." What Maren Morris Wants In A Woman Transgender Woman Murdered Tai’Vion Lathan had an infectious laugh that made everyone around her smile. She loved getting creative with her hair, make up, and cooking, and was especially known in the family for her homemade chicken Alfredo. But more than anything, she loved her mother and never skipped a day without speaking to her. Her family is now mourning Lathan, a 24-year-old known affectionately as ‘Tai,’ who was found fatally shot in an alley in Baltimore’s West Baltimore neighborhood on August 4, according to city police. Police had not publicly speculated on a motive or announced an arrest in connection with the killing as of Thursday. At least 24 transgender and gender-expansive people, including Lathan, have been killed so far in the United States this year – 42% of whom were Black transgender women, and more than 70% of whom were victims of color, according to the Human Rights Campaign. “She was fun, loving, and caring,” Lathan’s great aunt Carolyn Robinson-Owens told CNN, adding that just next month, Lathan was to start school to become a nurse who cares for elderly patients. “One thing I would like for the world to remember is to not just put the first definition of transgender in front of Tai’s name, and to remember that Tai’Vion was a person, and a beautiful person at that, inside and out, that she was loved by many and respected by many, and her family is going to miss her tremendously.” Transgender Woman Murdered Imane Khelif Files Complaint Imane Khelif, the Algerian boxer at the centre of a gender dispute at the Paris Olympics, has filed a formal legal complaint, citing being the victim of online harassment, her lawyer said on Saturday. Khelif, who won the gold medal in the women's welterweight category on Friday, has along with Taiwan's Lin Yu-ting been in the spotlight at the Games in a dispute that has dominated headlines and been the subject of heated debate on social media. Khelif's lawyer Nabil Boudi told Reuters the complaint was filed on Friday. "All that is being said about me on social media is immoral. I want to change the minds of people around the world," Khelif said on Saturday. Imane Khelif Files Complaint Tim Walz is An LGBTQ Ally Tuesday morning’s announcement that Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz would be Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate in the 2024 election electrified Democrats and their allies across the country. Everyone from progressive Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York to notorious centrist Democratic-turned-independent Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia praised the pick, bringing long elusive unity to the top of the Democratic presidential ticket for the first time in several election cycles. One small but beleaguered voting constituency in particular breathed a sigh of relief at the choice: trans people. Trans issues have emerged as one of the primary political targets of the Republican Party, and many of the party’s legislative accomplishments over the last few years involve the systematic persecution of trans people’s rights in red-state legislatures. Because of that, Harris needed to choose someone with a track record of handling the inevitable gender identity attacks. Enter Walz. First and foremost, Walz was the creator of the “weird” attack line that has knocked Republicans on their heels over the last month of the campaign. Branding Republicans and their gender-based obsessions with pregnancy and trans people as creepy and “weird” brilliantly defuses the emotional manipulation conservatives are trying to achieve. It is, indeed, weird to be worried about children’s genitals, it is weird to obsess over Olympic athlete’s chromosomes, it is weird to criticize women for being childless (but never childless men).  Tim Walz is An LGBTQ Ally Your Laugh For The Day! Contributors: CellarDweller115 The Daily Sheet is a production of The Ultimate Brokeback Forum at http://www.ultimatebrokebackforum.com. Today's edition by CellarDweller115 Editors emeritae: CactusGal, Marge_Innavera, tellyouwhat, Stilllearning, MissYouSoMuch, gnash We count on you to send us your news items, questions, and nominations for posts of the day. If you have items you’d like to see published, send them to CellarDweller115. To subscribe to The Daily Sheet, click the “Notify” button at the top or bottom of the page. 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Tuesday, August 20th, 2024

Anna Faris on Working With Matthew Perry

Anna Faris has fond memories of working with Matthew Perry on the final season of Friends. "It was an honor, and he was just an incredible person," the My Spy The Eternal City actress tells PEOPLE of working with Perry, who died suddenly at age 54 in October 2023. Faris says, "I wish I knew him better. It feels a little audacious for me to speak too much about somebody that I felt like I had brief interactions with, but they were wonderful and I am honored to be a part of the show." The actress appeared in four episodes during the final season of Friends back in 2004. She says Perry suggested her for the role of Erica, a pregnant woman who gives birth to twins, whom Chandler (Perry) and Monica (Courteney Cox) adopt. "That was my understanding at the time. He told me that he'd seen me in Lost in Translation and he thought I was good," recalls Faris, who would go on to headline seven seasons of her own comedy series, Mom. "I worked mostly with Courteney and Matthew, and they were unbelievable to me. They were so kind," she says. "I mean, it was such an intimidating idea. I mean, to give birth on Friends. Friends? The final season?" Anna Faris on Working With Matthew Perry

David Testo on Gay Footballers

Gay players are still “fighting for the right to exist” in men’s team sports, says the first American professional soccer player to come out publicly. David Testo also believes that closeted players may feel an even greater sense of pressure and discomfort today as a result of Pride Nights and similar initiatives. Testo played two seasons in Major League Soccer with the Columbus Crew before moving to Canada to continue his pro career with the Vancouver Whitecaps and Montreal Impact. In November 2011, a month after being released by the Impact, he said in an interview with Radio Canada that he had been out to his teammates and management during his time at the club. Nearly 13 years later, MLS has expanded to 29 teams and there have been major advances in LGBTQ visibility across pro soccer in North America, such as team Pride nights, the annual “Playing for Pride” fundraiser and special edition jerseys. However, in all that time, only four more MLS players have come out as gay. In 2013, Robbie Rogers returned from England to play for L.A. Galaxy; in 2015, former San Jose Earthquakes midfielder Matt Hatzke wrote for Outsports about how he had struggled with his sexuality; three years later, Collin Martin shared his truth while with Minnesota United; and in early 2019, former Columbus Crew goalkeeper Matt Pacifici introduced the world to his boyfriend. David Testo on Gay Footballers

Banned by American Airlines

It was only after Erin Wright tried to check-in for her recent American Airlines flight that she learned she had been banned from flying. The TikToker had first tried to check-in on her phone after a two-hour drive to the Albuquerque airport to catch a flight to her sister's bachelorette party but was instead met with an error message. Because that "had never really happened" before, Wright "assumed it was just glitching" and instead went to a kiosk. After entering her information, she was met with another error, which she also "had never seen before." "At that point I wasn't really thinking much of it, because why would I ever think that I was banned from flying?" Wright told The Advocate. The content creator then went to ask for help at the airline's counter. The employees "didn't seem concerned at all" as she explained the situation, and then made a call to resolve the issue. Wright waited as they "were on the phone for a while, and then got off." "That's when they were so uncomfy. They were like, 'We actually can't check you in. You've been permanently banned,'" she said. "Of course, I very genuinely don't know why. I'm very confused, I'm starting to tear up." Shocked, Wright asked why she had been banned, which the employees would not reveal. She said that they instead told her "You should know why," which she thought was "the craziest thing to say." Wright asked again to know why and the employees refused still, though Wright could tell they "felt really bad." Banned by American Airlines Scooby Doo and Bisexuals Contrary to what conversion therapy might have you believe, it’s impossible to turn someone gay or bisexual. That is, unless you watched the first “Scooby-Doo” movie at a young, formative age. If that’s the case, then you’re almost definitely bisexual now, even if you don’t know it yet. Sorry you had to find out this way. Despite giving us this great gift, critics at the time were still pretty harsh on cinema’s first-ever live-action portrayal of Scooby-Doo. “Get out your pooper-scoopers,” warned Rolling Stone’s Peter Travers. “It’s like an amalgam of ‘Ghostbusters,’ ‘Alien’ and the ‘Pokemon’ movies — minus all the good parts,” added Michael O’Sullivan at The Washington Post. I, on the other hand, couldn’t get enough of this film and the DVD I would eventually wear out in the years that followed, even if I didn’t yet understand why I loved the film so much at that point. At the time, there was a case to be made for the “Scooby-Doo” being terrible, just as its (outrageously unfair) Rotten Tomatoes score of 32 percent might suggest. But that only applies if you’re straight. If you identify as queer, and especially if you’re one of the bisexual generation that “Scooby-Doo” raised, then these bad reviews — and not one, but two Razzie nominations — are meaningless. If anything, they make us love Raja Gosnell’s film even more. The gays do love an underdog, after all, even if said underdog is a CGI dog who already looked dated back in 2002. Gays also love hot people, another clear draw when it comes to the “Scooby-Doo” movie. From Linda Cardellini and (a blonde) Isla Fisher to Matthew Lillard and Miguel A. Núñez Jr., any one member of the principal cast could have easily been your bisexual awakening. Except Scrappy-Doo. Probably. For me, Sarah Michelle Gellar’s Daphne was particularly confusing at the time. Did I want to be her, did I want to be with her, or did I just want to wear those purple gogo boots? Fifteen-year-old me didn’t have the answers back then, but what the film did confirm for me was my lifelong love of himbos like Fred, aka Freddie Prinze Jr., with that full-blown gay-crisis bleached blonde hair. Scooby Doo and Bisexuals Temp Block by Supreme Court The Supreme Court on Friday rejected the Biden administration’s request to be allowed to temporarily enforce most of an April 2024 rule implementing Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, which prohibits sex discrimination in education programs that receive federal funding, while its appeals continued. Friday’s ruling leaves in place for now decisions by federal appeals courts that barred the Biden administration from enforcing any portion of the rule, including three provisions that target discrimination against transgender people in schools. The Biden administration had not asked the Supreme Court to intervene with regard to two of those provisions. The justices divided 5-4 on whether to temporarily bar the government from enforcing the entire rule. Justice Sonia Sotomayor dissented, joined by Justices Elena Kagan, Neil Gorsuch, and Ketanji Brown Jackson. They called the lower courts’ orders “overbroad.” The orders came in two separate challenges – one filed in Kentucky by six states and one in Louisiana by four states. Both challenges focused on three provisions of the April 2024 rule that target discrimination against transgender people. The first provision recognizes that Title IX’s ban on sex discrimination includes discrimination based on gender identity. A second provision at issue in the case makes clear that schools violate Title IX when they bar transgender people from using bathrooms and locker rooms consistent with their gender identity. And a third provision defines “hostile-environment harassment” to include harassment based on gender identity, which the states say could require students and teachers to refer to transgender students by the pronouns that correspond to their gender identity. Temp Block by Supreme Court Acting Categories Declined The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) has decided not to introduce gender-neutral acting categories at its awards ceremony. Despite increasing calls for inclusivity, particularly for non-binary performers, BAFTA has chosen to stick with its traditional male and female categories. This decision effectively requires non-binary stars to select a category, either "actor" or "actress," if they wish to be recognized. The move has sparked significant debate on social media, with varied reactions from fans. According to the Daily Mail, BAFTA will continue to use gendered categories and expects nominees to specify their gender or gender identity when applying. The guidelines released last week state that film producers must confirm the gender identity of each nominee. A source noted that it remains up to the individual entrant to choose their category. This issue has been under discussion since 2022 when the Brit Awards, BAFTA's music counterpart, transitioned to gender-neutral categories. BAFTA had previously stated they were engaged in thoughtful consultation on this topic with industry experts. Despite this, the latest update maintains the status quo, although winners can choose to have their awards refer to them as "performers" if they prefer. The decision has elicited a range of responses from the public. Some fans criticize BAFTA for not aligning with the broader industry trend toward inclusivity. One commentator lamented the lack of a non-binary category, suggesting it would provide a more equitable solution. Another expressed frustration, arguing that the refusal to adopt a gender-neutral option contradicts the push for inclusivity seen in other areas. Acting Categories Declined Tim Walz Gave Students Refuge A straight, football-coaching National Guardsman wasn’t the LGBT+ ally that Seth Elliot Meyer expected. But Meyer, who came out as queer in his freshman year of high school in 2000, admits he was wrong about Tim Walz. “I just sort of naively believed that someone who was a big, masculine dude with a deep voice was never someone who’s going to be on my side,” Meyer says. “As much as those younger students who were courageous enough to be out in those years, it was just as important to have those very kind of ‘normal,’ strong, straight, masculine allies backing us up.” Before he was governor of Minnesota, before he was a member of Congress, and before he was a candidate for the next vice president of the United States, he was “Mr Walz,” a geography teacher at Mankato West High School, roughly 80 miles south of Minneapolis. In 1999, Walz agreed to be the faculty adviser for the school’s first-ever gay-straight alliance. Walz and his wife Gwen, who also taught at the school, were a refuge for their LGBT+ students, alumni tell The Independent. Dozens of those former students are now campaigning for him to reach the White House.  Tim Walz Gave Students Refuge Your Laugh For The Day! Contributors: CellarDweller115 The Daily Sheet is a production of The Ultimate Brokeback Forum at http://www.ultimatebrokebackforum.com. Today's edition by CellarDweller115 Editors emeritae: CactusGal, Marge_Innavera, tellyouwhat, Stilllearning, MissYouSoMuch, gnash We count on you to send us your news items, questions, and nominations for posts of the day. If you have items you’d like to see published, send them to CellarDweller115. To subscribe to The Daily Sheet, click the “Notify” button at the top or bottom of the page. When a new issue of TDS is posted, you will be notified by e-mail. The Daily Sheet Archives Respond to The Daily Sheet

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Tuesday, August 27th, 2024

Ang Lee's Path to Hulk

Being born and educated in Taiwan before continuing his studies in the United States gave Ang Lee one foot in each world, a sentiment he applied to his filmmaking career from the very beginning before ultimately deciding Hollywood was where his future lay. The director may have only helmed one of his 14 features to date entirely in the country of his birth, 1994’s Eat Drink Man Woman, but the culture clash was pivotal to his early work. His debut, Pushing Hands, follows an elderly Chinese expat struggling to adapt to life in New York, while The Wedding Banquet is a rom-com in which a gay Taiwanese man marries a Chinese woman to keep his parents happy. For his first full-blown mainstream picture, a Jane Austen adaptation wasn’t what anyone expected from an international auteur, but the star-studded Sense and Sensibility nonetheless earned seven Academy Award nominations, including ‘Best Picture’ and a win for Emma Thomspon for ‘Best Adapted Screenplay’. Intimate period drama The Ice Storm and western Ride with the Devil continued showcasing Lee’s versatility before Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon elevated him to the next level. A rousing wuxia epic shot with modern style, it was a critical and commercial sensation that gave the director the freedom to make whatever he wanted for his hotly anticipated follow-up. Once again defying convention, he plumped for a CGI-laden comic book adaptation, with Lee so invested in the technological advancements required to bring 2003’s Hulk to life that he squeezed himself into the unflattering grey leotard and performed the majority of the title character’s motion capture work. Ang Lee's Path to Hulk

Gay Penguin Sphen Dies

Sphen, one-half of the world's most famous gay penguin couple, has died, staff at Australia's Sea Life Sydney Aquarium said Thursday in a news release. He left behind his long-term partner Magic — and an iconic legacy. Aquarium staff said the duo's love story appeared in books, documentaries, an education syllabus and even inspired a Mardi Gras float. The aquarium said it was able to use Sphen and Magic's story to teach lessons about conservation, plastic pollution and global warming. The same-sex gentoo penguin couple shot to global fame in 2018 when news of their pairing made headlines. Dubbed "Sphengic" and "Sydney's hottest couple," the two penguins became close during that year's breeding season and started collecting pebbles to create a nest. Encouraged by their bond and loyalty, aquarium staff gave the duo a "dummy egg" to nurture and then eventually a real egg from another penguin couple who had two. The pair protected the egg, swapping roles between incubating the nest and guarding its perimeter. The egg hatched, revealing the pair's first adopted penguin baby, "Sphengic," named after its dads' celebrity moniker. Two years later, in 2020, the couple became proud parents for the second time with the birth of Clancy. Gay Penguin Sphen Dies

Here's Maura Healey

Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey, one of the first Democratic governors to suggest that President Joe Biden should end his reelection bid, will address the DNC Thursday night in Chicago. Healey is scheduled to speak shortly before Vice President Kamala Harris accepts the party’s presidential nomination. Healey was elected governor in 2022, becoming Massachusetts’ first female chief executive and the nation’s first openly lesbian governor. Like Harris, she is a former two-term attorney general. Her office initiated or joined dozens of legal challenges against the Trump administration. Healey is expected to highlight her experience working with Harris and talk about “the stark choice in this election between a convicted felon and a dedicated prosecutor for the people,” according to her office. In July, shortly after President Biden’s disastrous debate performance, Healey, a campaign surrogate for Biden, released a statement urging the president “to listen to the American people and carefully evaluate whether he remains our best hope to defeat Donald Trump.” Soon after that, Healey joined fellow Democratic governors on a call to the White House, telling chief of staff Jeff Zients that Biden’s political position was “irretrievable,” according to the New York Times. Here's Maura Healey Deportation Stopped After exhausting all possible options, a Toronto resident, undocumented migrant and member of the 2SLGBTQ+ community was hours away from being deported from Canada when he received an 11th-hour miracle. Charles Mwangi was supposed to board a plane on Sunday morning, leaving behind family and friends from the Jane and Finch community that he has called home after fleeing Kenya and arriving in Canada in 2019. “It has been a milestone for five years, fighting every day. This is God,” said Mwangi. Charles is a healthcare worker and worked on the frontlines during the pandemic. He is also bisexual and feared for his life if he were to return to his homeland. “It was the end of me.” With the dangers he was potentially facing, Charles made one final attempt to save his life on Saturday morning. “We filed for a United Nations application. I was like ‘What will I do tomorrow?’ I don’t know what I can say, I was like it was hard, it was sad.” Deportation Stopped The Trans Continental Pipeline Transgender Texans, frequently the targets of antagonistic state legislation and policies, continually weigh the threats to their civil rights against the costs of relocating to safer, more survivable states. A recent directive at the Texas Department of Public Safety’s Driver’s License Office instructs employees to disregard court orders for sex marker changes, which are currently legal under Texas law. It also told employees to report any Texans who present such an order, which stirred fears that state law enforcement may create a list of transgender people. Only 0.43% of adult Texans and 1.42% of Texans aged 13-17 identify as transgender, according to the UCLA Williams Institute. That’s around 122,700 people — less than the population of College Station. Conversations in Texas transgender communities this week included talk of “escape plans” to flee eroding civil rights. Similar conversations came during the 2023 regular legislative session, when state lawmakers filed more anti-LGBTQ+ legislation than any prior session. Moving to another state can cost thousands of dollars, disconnects a person from their community and medical care. Remote work may remain an option for some, but most Americans would also need to find a new job after such a move. Those prohibitive factors are ones that Denver-based nonprofit Trans Continental Pipeline (TCP) hopes to ameliorate. The Trans Continental Pipeline I'm Demisexual When I was a teenager, I didn’t think I’d ever be in a ‘real’ relationship. I was the only one in my friendship group who didn’t get excited about flirting with boys at parties; but I did it, because it was what everyone did. I hooked up with people because I didn’t want to get left behind in the race that was centred around which ‘base’ we’d each managed to get to, rather than because I was actually attracted to anyone. After lights out at my all-girls boarding school, my peers would whisper on the phone to guys they’d met at the weekend, their half-smothered laughs flitting their way around the dormitory — while I lay there, fixating on how to get a decent role in the school play. It wasn’t just that I had no interest in covert digital flirting or that I was too scared to break the rules — I never fancied anyone. Studying for my GCSEs at the peak of the Gossip Girl hype, I tried hard to hide my lack of attraction to the male sex symbols my classmates were obsessed with. To fit in with the all-pervasive, school-wide infatuation, I randomly picked Chace Crawford as my ‘Gossip-Girl-guy-I-was-obsessed-with’. I pinned a photo of him to my wall as tangible “evidence” of my celebrity crush, and tried to inject my voice with some sort of plausible lust and longing whenever someone brought him up. But inside? I felt nothing. This was all a decade ago, and I know something now that I didn’t know then: I’m demisexual. If I’d been aware of demisexuality at school, I might not have felt the need to cosplay as Chace Crawford’s number one fan. I might not have lain awake at night while my peers furiously texted their crushes, wondering why I’d never had a crush on anyone myself. I'm Demisexual Phil Donahue Was An Ally In 2007, when I was media relations director for Sears and Kmart, my team and I ran the Kmart-sponsored green room at the Daytime Emmys in Hollywood. I greeted all the celebrities as they came in, and when Phil Donahue entered, I said, “Hi, Phil, I’m John Casey with Kmart,” and without missing a beat he replied, “Of course you are!” I thought that was just hilarious and still do! I sat down and spoke with him for a few minutes, and one of things I told him was that as a closeted gay man in the 1980s, how much his show meant to me. He said simply and humbly, “I know.” When he died Sunday at the age of 88, I not only thought about meeting him, but how in almost desperation, I watched his show because he brought on people who spoke about being queer and also guests who spoke about having AIDS when no one else would. It’s hard to explain to anyone who wasn’t around then how comforting it was to see someone like you — not a television or movie character — who was a real queer person and have those people talk to a culturally influential person like Donahue. The younger generation has no idea how riveting that was to see. Donahue cut to the chase, and if someone said something stupid, well he wasn’t afraid to let them have it. I remember feeling like a pariah during those dark days of the 1980s. If you were gay, you were automatically assumed to have AIDS, so there was something reassuring about having Phil Donahue on your side. Phil Donahue Was An Ally Your Laugh For The Day! Contributors: CellarDweller115 The Daily Sheet is a production of The Ultimate Brokeback Forum at http://www.ultimatebrokebackforum.com. Today's edition by CellarDweller115 Editors emeritae: CactusGal, Marge_Innavera, tellyouwhat, Stilllearning, MissYouSoMuch, gnash We count on you to send us your news items, questions, and nominations for posts of the day. If you have items you’d like to see published, send them to CellarDweller115. To subscribe to The Daily Sheet, click the “Notify” button at the top or bottom of the page. When a new issue of TDS is posted, you will be notified by e-mail. The Daily Sheet Archives Respond to The Daily Sheet

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Tuesday, September 3rd, 2024

Spa Weekend for Anna Faris

Here’s a hot one. Black Bear and Suzanne Todd Productions are checking in for female ensemble comedy, Spa Weekend, which will be led by Leslie Mann (Knocked Up), Isla Fisher (Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy), Michelle Buteau (Babes) and Anna Faris (Scary Movie). The buzzy package has been written by and will be directed by Bad Moms writer-directors Jon Lucas and Scott Moore. The film follows three best friends, Jane, Coco and Sophie, as they embark on some much-needed pampering during a luxury spa break in Palm Springs. But when their trainwreck friend, Mel, turns up, the relaxation quickly descends into chaos with hilarious consequences. The picture will be produced by Suzanne Todd (Bad Moms) for Suzanne Todd Productions and John Friedberg (The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare) for Black Bear, with Teddy Schwarzman and Michael Heimler executive-producing. Black Bear reps international rights on the film and will also co-rep U.S. rights with CAA Media Finance and UTA Independent Film Group. Buyers will be introduced to the project at the Toronto International Film Festival next week. Jon Lucas and Scott Moore were also the writers behind The Hangover, as well as writing The Change-Up, Office Christmas Party and 21 & Over.      Spa Weekend for Anna Faris

Was Abraham Lincoln Gay?

Historians have long argued over whether Abraham Lincoln, revered as one of the greatest American presidents, had romantic, sexual relationships with men. A new documentary, Lover of Men: The Untold History of Abraham Lincoln, comes squarely to the conclusion that he did. “Our greatest president, our greatest military genius, the man who saved the Union, also was in love deeply, sexually, emotionally with other men,” Thomas Balcerski, a professor at Occidental College and Eastern Connecticut State University, says in the documentary. “These relationships aren’t ‘So what?,’ they’re defining, because this is an individual who struggled his entire life to make sense of this duality within him.” Lover of Men, using interviews with historians, documents, and reenactments, goes into Lincoln’s relationships with four men: Billy Greene, Joshua Speed, Elmer Ellsworth, and David Derickson. Lincoln moved to in New Salem, Ill., in 1831, after growing up in Kentucky and Indiana, and he became fast friends with Greene, a cousin of the local schoolmaster. The two shared a small cot above the store where they worked. The historians in the film believe both men gained pleasure from the arrangement. Bed-sharing was also the case with Joshua Speed, who ran a store in Springfield, where Lincoln moved a few years later. Given that Lincoln lacked money for the materials for a bed, Speed invited him to share a bed above his shop, and Lincoln quickly took him up on the offer. “This was lust at first sight,” Michael Chesson of the University of Massachusetts at Boston says in the documentary. Was Abraham Lincoln Gay?

Medals At The Paralympics

We waited four days for Team LGBTQ to win its first gold medal at the Paralympics in Paris — then three came along in quick succession! Great Britain’s Lauren Rowles, Australia’s Nikki Ayers and Israel’s Moran Samuel are all celebrating success after Sunday’s conclusion of the rowing regatta at Vaires-sur-Marne. The morning medal rush began with Samuel triumphing in the women’s single sculls final. The 42-year-old completed the trifecta of Paralympic medals in the discipline, having taken bronze in Rio and silver in Tokyo. Samuel had set a new Paralympic best time when she won her heat on Friday, and although she was not as quick on Sunday, she still finished more than eight seconds ahead of her nearest challenger, defending champion Birgit Skarstein of Norway. It is Israel’s first-ever Paralympic rowing gold medal. Following her win, Samuel thanked her wife Limor, who she married in 2011 and with whom she has three children — Arad, Rom and Segev. “It means a lot of hard work, dedication, determination, and perseverance, not just of me, but of my wife, my children, and the whole country of Israel,” she told the Paris 2024 website. Medals At The Paralympics Coming Out As Bi Sitting in a dusty field surrounded by inebriated, sunburned festivalgoers dancing in thong bikinis and assless denim chaps to “Temperature” by Sean Paul, I confessed my crush. It didn’t happen as I had planned. My stomach was swirling, and the loud music was distracting. I dropped my water bottle to hide my shaking hands. More importantly, I was 31, not 14. I was nearly two decades too late. Frances was an old high school friend. We lost touch a few years after college, and reconnected virtually over a shared love of pop star Chappell Roan’s rise to fame and our upcoming trip to the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival. We caught up on years of history and past relationship woes, and everything spilled out of me at once. After years of dwelling on our short, intense friendship and not knowing if what I had felt then was all in my head, I couldn’t help myself. “I had a huge crush on you,” I admitted to her, my breath catching at the last syllable. “I just didn’t realize it until a few years ago.” I’m a cisgender woman married to a cisgender, heterosexual man. I only recently began explicitly acknowledging and exploring my bisexuality. Throughout my 20s, it was easier to ignore this side of myself and lean into my heteronormative identity ... until it wasn’t anymore. Coming Out As Bi Students' Privacy Protected The New Hampshire Supreme Court upheld a school district’s policy Friday that aims to support the privacy of transgender students, ruling that a mother who challenged it failed to show it infringed on a fundamental parenting right. In a 3-1 opinion, the court upheld a lower court’s dismissal of a lawsuit filed by the mother of a Manchester School District student. She sued after inadvertently discovering her child had asked to be called at school by a name typically associated with a different gender. At issue is a policy that states in part that “school personnel should not disclose information that may reveal a student’s transgender status or gender nonconfirming presentation to others unless legally required to do so or unless the student has authorized such disclosure.” “By its terms, the policy does not directly implicate a parent’s ability to raise and care for his or her child,” wrote Chief Justice Gordon MacDonald. “We cannot conclude that any interference with parental rights which may result from non-disclosure is of constitutional dimension.” Senior Associate Justice James Bassett and Justice Patrick Donavan concurred. In a dissenting opinion, Justice Melissa Countway said she believes the policy does interfere with the fundamental right to parent. Students' Privacy Protected The Queer South Although it has become a lot easier to access the stories of our LGBTQ ancestors over the last 20 years, there is still so much missing from how we narrate our queer past in the U.S. Many of our community traditions, like our annual Pride celebrations, harken back to sanitized and widely-circulated moments in our history that happened in what people assume are the most “progressive” parts of this country (namely, New York City and Los Angeles). Naturally, pointing this fact out to people is always a daunting task, especially when it comes to discussing the queer history of the South. Many will incorrectly assert that, by nature, these more “elite” geographical locations have been and are much more radical spaces of possibility than the South. Or they will, even more egregiously, write the whole region off as conservative, backwards, unfriendly to difference, and utterly unsalvageable. The framing of the North as forward-thinking and the South as a land of systemic horrors did not emerge without some basis in historical truth, of course. But it also fails to paint an accurate picture of both regions and their impact on both queer history and the history of all marginalized people in the U.S. The South and its people — whether you want to hear it or not — have been at least as equally important to the struggle against systemic oppression, if not more than, the North and the West. Collectively, the states that make up the South are home to more Black people, more people of color, and more LGBTQ people than any other region of this country. It’s true that the region is also still plagued by the leadership of white supremacists who have been able to keep themselves in power through the mechanisms of racial capitalism and exploitation. But how is that any different from the rest of this country? The Queer South Phil Donahue Was An Ally In 2007, when I was media relations director for Sears and Kmart, my team and I ran the Kmart-sponsored green room at the Daytime Emmys in Hollywood. I greeted all the celebrities as they came in, and when Phil Donahue entered, I said, “Hi, Phil, I’m John Casey with Kmart,” and without missing a beat he replied, “Of course you are!” I thought that was just hilarious and still do! I sat down and spoke with him for a few minutes, and one of things I told him was that as a closeted gay man in the 1980s, how much his show meant to me. He said simply and humbly, “I know.” When he died Sunday at the age of 88, I not only thought about meeting him, but how in almost desperation, I watched his show because he brought on people who spoke about being queer and also guests who spoke about having AIDS when no one else would. It’s hard to explain to anyone who wasn’t around then how comforting it was to see someone like you — not a television or movie character — who was a real queer person and have those people talk to a culturally influential person like Donahue. The younger generation has no idea how riveting that was to see. Donahue cut to the chase, and if someone said something stupid, well he wasn’t afraid to let them have it. I remember feeling like a pariah during those dark days of the 1980s. If you were gay, you were automatically assumed to have AIDS, so there was something reassuring about having Phil Donahue on your side. Phil Donahue Was An Ally Your Laugh For The Day! 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