Its day three or four of PRIDE 2012 depending on how you spin it. And just say that "it is what it is." So what some folks don't even know that its "gay pride" in the city or that some people are not sure what to make of the schedule of events. Togas and wrestle mania? Really? I guess you have to be ready to stretch you imagination or comfort zone to get into these activities. Of course as I've said previously, if you wanted something more then stepping up and making it happen was the order of the day. Unfortunately this forum will do its best to cover it all and hopefully many of you will share your views, observations and thoughts on the weeks events. We'll do a wrap up as time allows. Stay tuned as we keep bringing you "what's really going on."
Rupaul on Saturday Night Live
How can we even talk about Gay Pride without mentioning one of the iconic "dragons east of the Mississippi," known as Rupaul "You better work" Charles. In case you missed the antics of this "goddess" of glam mayhem from his duo of "dragathon" programs of "Rupauls Drag Race" and now another spin off entitled "Drag U" in which straight women go through the "dragulator" to reveal their inner drag vixen. I've seen this mash up and who ever green lighted this madness must have been smoking some good stuff. In the meantime Charles has done his best to be "queen of mixed media" ranging from video's, talk shows, music, movies and now executive producer of her own production company. Plus there was even some craziness about "Ru" being touted as a presidential candidate that got some notice until Mr. R decided that it was just a cute notion, not to mention a great publicity perk for those drag programs. So what's left?, of course its "Saturday Night Live," as a recent petition has been launched to favor such an appearance. Over 20,000 folks including many of you locally have signed up to encourage the producers or SNL to bring Rupaul to the hot lights of Rockefeller Center. If Betty White could get a nod, then surely why not the "supermodel of the World." Want to join in the fun, then hit it Facebook and share your enthusiasm for Rupaul to go on the show and in her immortal words, " drag for your life and don't fuck it up." We'll keep you posted...
President Barack Obama highlighted HIV/AIDS during his remarks at an LGBT Pride Month reception hosted at the White House on June 15, 2012.
Paying tribute to the generations of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Americans who have devoted their lives to the fight for equality, the President also called attention to his Administration’s work to put forward the National HIV/AIDS Strategy, and to lift the HIV entry ban, leading to the fact that the XIX International AIDS Conference
(AIDS 2012) will be held in the United States next month for the first time in two decades.
“So we still have a long way to go, but we will get there,” the President said. “We’ll get there because of all of you. We’ll get there because of all of the ordinary Americans who every day show extraordinary courage.” View the President’s full remarks on the White House’s YouTube channel. Read more at the White House blog. The above material was sourced from blog.aids.gov which is the official blog page for Aids.gov. Since this posting, there was some controversy involving a few of those invited guest whom posted pictures of themselves flipping off a portrait of former President Reagan during the event. After the event the situation went viral and was reported from numerous sources including a piece in the Advocate which posted this:
Gay Activists Flipping Bird at White House Flips Off Americans
Yesterday Philadelphia magazine published photos of three Pennsylvania gay activists making hand gestures in front of presidential portraits after being invited by President Barack Obama to the White House’s recent LGBT pride reception. While Philadelphia Gay News publisher Mark Segal did a sarcastic thumbs-up pose in front of the portrait of George W. Bush and remained above most of the media criticism, his colleagues Matthew Hart, National Director for Public Engagement at Solutions for Progress, and photographer Zoe Strauss (pictured here) gave former President Ronald Reagan's portrait the middle finger. According to Philadelphia, Hart posted his photo on Facebook with the caption, “Fuck Reagan" and later told reporters,“Yeah, fuck Reagan. Ronald Reagan has blood on his hands. The man was in the White House as AIDS exploded, and he was happy to see plenty of gay men and queer people die. He was a murderous fool, and I have no problem saying so. Don’t invite me back. I don’t care.”
That's just what happened. After the Drudge Report picked up the story yesterday, it made its way to D.C. and the White House issued a statement, telling Fox News that the two bird flippers won't be invited back.
"While the White House does not control the conduct of guests at receptions, we certainly expect that all attendees conduct themselves in a respectful manner. Most all do," said White House spokesperson Shin Inouye. "These individuals clearly did not. Behavior like this doesn’t belong anywhere, least of all in the White House."
Even some gay activists came out against the bird flippers.
Christian A. Berle, Deputy Executive Director of the gay organization Log Cabin Republicans says, "It is unfortunate that the image conservative America is seeing today of LGBT people is of gay leftists misbehaving at the White House, rather than
the millions of patriotic, decent LGBT citizens, many of whom, like Log Cabin Republicans, hold President Ronald Reagan in high esteem. Log Cabin Republicans are particularly offended by these images, given that our organization's founders sought and received the aid of then former-Governor Reagan in support of gay rights in California in the 1970s. These photographs have hurt our community and make advocating for inclusion and equality more difficult. The participants should be ashamed."
Rupaul on Saturday Night Live
How can we even talk about Gay Pride without mentioning one of the iconic "dragons east of the Mississippi," known as Rupaul "You better work" Charles. In case you missed the antics of this "goddess" of glam mayhem from his duo of "dragathon" programs of "Rupauls Drag Race" and now another spin off entitled "Drag U" in which straight women go through the "dragulator" to reveal their inner drag vixen. I've seen this mash up and who ever green lighted this madness must have been smoking some good stuff. In the meantime Charles has done his best to be "queen of mixed media" ranging from video's, talk shows, music, movies and now executive producer of her own production company. Plus there was even some craziness about "Ru" being touted as a presidential candidate that got some notice until Mr. R decided that it was just a cute notion, not to mention a great publicity perk for those drag programs. So what's left?, of course its "Saturday Night Live," as a recent petition has been launched to favor such an appearance. Over 20,000 folks including many of you locally have signed up to encourage the producers or SNL to bring Rupaul to the hot lights of Rockefeller Center. If Betty White could get a nod, then surely why not the "supermodel of the World." Want to join in the fun, then hit it Facebook and share your enthusiasm for Rupaul to go on the show and in her immortal words, " drag for your life and don't fuck it up." We'll keep you posted...President Highlights HIV/AIDS at LGBT Pride Month Reception
By , MD, Director, Office of National AIDS Policy
Dr. Grant Colfax
President Barack Obama highlighted HIV/AIDS during his remarks at an LGBT Pride Month reception hosted at the White House on June 15, 2012.Paying tribute to the generations of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Americans who have devoted their lives to the fight for equality, the President also called attention to his Administration’s work to put forward the National HIV/AIDS Strategy, and to lift the HIV entry ban, leading to the fact that the XIX International AIDS Conference
(AIDS 2012) will be held in the United States next month for the first time in two decades.“So we still have a long way to go, but we will get there,” the President said. “We’ll get there because of all of you. We’ll get there because of all of the ordinary Americans who every day show extraordinary courage.” View the President’s full remarks on the White House’s YouTube channel
. Read more at the White House blog. The above material was sourced from blog.aids.gov which is the official blog page for Aids.gov. Since this posting, there was some controversy involving a few of those invited guest whom posted pictures of themselves flipping off a portrait of former President Reagan during the event. After the event the situation went viral and was reported from numerous sources including a piece in the Advocate which posted this:
Gay Activists Flipping Bird at White House Flips Off AmericansThat's just what happened. After the Drudge Report picked up the story yesterday, it made its way to D.C. and the White House issued a statement, telling Fox News that the two bird flippers won't be invited back.
"While the White House does not control the conduct of guests at receptions, we certainly expect that all attendees conduct themselves in a respectful manner. Most all do," said White House spokesperson Shin Inouye. "These individuals clearly did not. Behavior like this doesn’t belong anywhere, least of all in the White House."
Even some gay activists came out against the bird flippers.
Christian A. Berle, Deputy Executive Director of the gay organization Log Cabin Republicans says, "It is unfortunate that the image conservative America is seeing today of LGBT people is of gay leftists misbehaving at the White House, rather than
the millions of patriotic, decent LGBT citizens, many of whom, like Log Cabin Republicans, hold President Ronald Reagan in high esteem. Log Cabin Republicans are particularly offended by these images, given that our organization's founders sought and received the aid of then former-Governor Reagan in support of gay rights in California in the 1970s. These photographs have hurt our community and make advocating for inclusion and equality more difficult. The participants should be ashamed."
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