Thursday, October 1, 2009
2nd Sunday movie for Oct 11 is "Total Eclipse"
This historical drama, directed by Agnieszka Holland, focuses on the rocky relationship between the renowned 19th century French poets Arthur Rimbaud and Paul Verlaine. Rimbaud (Leonardo DiCaprio) is a teenage wunderkind known for his rebelliousness against conventional society and his surrealistic writing. He disrupts the life of Verlaine (David Thewlis), a more conventional writer who is older and married to a dutiful young wife, Mathilde (Romane Bohringer). The drunken Verlaine is unkind to Mathilde, even though her father is providing him with a house and an income to live on while he pursues his writing. Rimbaud overwhelms Verlaine, mocking his conventionality, constantly disrupting his domestic life, and somehow attracting the maniacal love of the older man. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
2nd Sunday movie for Sept 13 is Swan Lake
Director and choreographer Matthew Bourne's acclaimed and groundbreaking production of Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake (which advances the story into the present day and features a supporting cast of male swans) is preserved in this home video release, which records the production with its original London cast. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Monday, August 3, 2009
2nd Sunday OUUT movie for Aug 9: Urbania
2nd Sunday OUUT movie for Aug 9 will be Urbania. Synopis can be found at bloockbuster.com
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
OUUT Movie for June 14--Rock Hudson's Home Movies
In this revisionist documentary, actor Eric Carr re-creates the character of Rock Hudson in order to take a look back at his films. It compares the actor's screen (and public) image with his real life and shows certain scenes, lines and situations in his films that seem to support the fact that Hudson was gay. ~ Brian Gusse, All Movie Guide
Theatrical Feature Running Time:
63 mins
Complete Cast:
Eric Farr
Theatrical Feature Running Time:
63 mins
Complete Cast:
Eric Farr
Monday, May 4, 2009
2nd Sunday movie for May 10 is Curosity of Chance
When a stylish gay student arrives for his first day at Brickland International High School, the threats he endures from the jocks and bullies is soon balanced by his friendship with two of the school's biggest misfits in director Russell P. Marleau's loopy teen comedy. For the most part, Brickland is your average European high school - with popular kids, athletes, geeks, and fashionistas all tallying for top dog status. When Chance arrives for his first day at Brickland decked out in a top hat and carrying a cane, football punter Brad Harden promptly singles him out for torment. Thankfully Chance has the kind of quick wits needed to deflect Brad's homophobic attacks. Upon making friends with sassy Twyla and geeky Hank, Chance quickly begins to learn the ropes at Brickland. Later, an excursion to the local drag bar, a bit of amateur sleuthing, and an burgeoning alliance with athletic musician and straight boy Levi finds Chance poised to achieve legendary status at Brickland. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Theatrical Feature Running Time:
- 99 mins
Complete Cast:
- Tad Hilgenbrinck - Chance Marquis
- Pieter Van Nieuwenhuyze - Hank Hudson
- Chris Mulkey - Sir
- Maxim Maes - Brad Harden
- Danny Calender
- Aldevina da Silva - Twyla Tiller
- Brett Chukerman - Levi Sparks
- Colleen Cameron - Sienna Marquis
- Magali Uytterhaegen - V.P. Ophelia Smelker
Friday, April 17, 2009
Gay Marriage Update
Big Wins Re-Energize Gay Marriage Activists
by Liz Halloran
Enlarge
David Paul Morris
Craig Winsor (left) and Victor Choban argue about Proposition 8 at a rally in front of the California Supreme Court building in San Francisco on March 5. Getty Images
Interactive Map: The Legal Battle Over Gay Marriage, State By State
NPR.org, April 16, 2009 · Same-sex marriage advocates have racked up big recent victories in Iowa and Vermont, where legislators on April 7 approved a same-sex marriage measure by overriding a gubernatorial veto. They joined Connecticut and Massachusetts as states where gay marriage is recognized.
Similar efforts are well under way in a handful of other states, including New Jersey, New Hampshire, Maine and New York, where Gov. David Paterson on Thursday introduced a bill to legalize same-sex marriage.
But though the national battle is still pitched — and even Paterson's bill faces an iffy future — there is a growing and powerful phenomenon that is expected to someday shape the debate over same-sex marriage: its wide acceptance among young Americans as a basic civil right.
Growing Acceptance Among Youth
Graham Gillette of Des Moines, Iowa, says he's always on the lookout for a teachable moment — a chance for his three children to learn from a real-life situation.
And the April 3 unanimous decision by the Iowa Supreme Court to legalize same-sex marriage provided just such an opportunity. Or so Gillette assumed.
"The day the ruling came down, I was taking my 13-year-old to baseball, and thought, 'Hey, big teaching moment,' " says Gillette. He imparted to his son the historic importance of the court's 7-0 decision to legalize what it referred to pointedly as "civil marriage."
"He looked at me and said, 'Duh. Why is this a big deal?' " said Gillette, a former Republican who supports same-sex marriage.
"To him, [the right to marriage] is a given, and it's stupid that we even talk about it," Gillette says.
Sixty percent of Iowans under age 30 support same-sex marriage, according to a recent University of Iowa Hawkeye Poll, numbers that are echoed nationally. Meghan McCain, the 24-year-old daughter of Republican Sen. John McCain, the party's most recent presidential nominee, weighed in this week as a "pro-gay-marriage Republican."
"The demographics are clear, the trends are strong and not reversible," says Charles C. Haynes, a senior scholar at the First Amendment Center. "It's all over but the shouting."
Though people feel "deeply and emotionally about the issue," Haynes said, "gay marriage is inevitable in the United States."
Nationally, Opinion Remains Divided
Opponents, while acknowledging the direction of youth sentiment, beg to disagree.
"Without some reversal of the trends, that could be the case, but I'm not resigned to that," says Tony Perkins, president of the conservative Family Research Council, noting that when put to a public vote in California, legalized gay marriage lost.
"I don't think anything is inevitable," Perkins says, adding that he considers the Vermont situation "an outlier" that has run ahead of public opinion.
Twenty-nine states have constitutional amendments restricting marriage to one man and one woman, and 13 states have laws that do the same.
A recent CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll found that a majority of Americans oppose the legalization of same-sex marriage. Fifty-five percent of those polled said such marriages should not be legally recognized; 44 percent said they should.
A CBS News poll released early this month also showed Americans divided on the issue: Six in 10 supported some form of legal recognition, but only one-third said that same-sex couples should be allowed to marry.
"Evidence does not suggest that the public is turning that quickly on this," Perkins says. "This is not a natural evolution."
Framing The Issue As One Of Civil Rights
The same-sex marriage movement has been historically speedy, says Marty Rouse, the national field director for the Human Rights Campaign, an organization at the forefront of the gay rights movement. It was only nine years ago that Vermont, amid turmoil and tumult, became the first state in the nation to approve civil unions for same-sex couples.
"As far as civil rights movements go and in terms of a change in culture, this has been a very fast evolution for American society," says Rouse, who has been instrumental in organizing state-based legalization efforts.
"But it's actually progressing the way we expected it would," he said.
For years, gay rights organizers have been working in targeted states to get sympathetic legislators elected, to organize grass-roots supporters, and to advance legislation that would soften the ground for same-sex marriage.
Four states allow same-sex couples to marry (Massachusetts, Vermont, Connecticut and Iowa.) Three other states (New Hampshire, New Jersey and Oregon) extend to same-sex couples the same spousal rights guaranteed at the state level. The District of Columbia and California offer same-sex couples almost all state spousal rights. And three states (Hawaii, Maine and Washington) extend partial rights. Seventeen states now give their employees domestic partnership benefits.
There's been a concerted effort to stay away from religion, Rouse says, and to frame same-sex marriage as simply a civil right.
"We're not trying to deal with religion at all, and we're not asking for sanctification," Rouse says. "This is not new, but we do need to clarify it, because a lot of people picture marriage as walking down an aisle in church."
The 1964 Civil Rights Act exempts "religious corporations" from compliance with anti-discrimination rules in the conduct of their religious work or activities.
None of that placates opponents like Robert Vander Plaats of Sioux City, Iowa, a Republican who plans to make a third run for governor next year.
"I really believe that as soon as a same-sex couple goes to a church where they may have met and fallen in love and demand to be married, it will be a perfect case for a lawsuit against the church," says Vander Plaats.
"This is playing games with marriage, a judicial effort to redefine the institution of marriage," he says. "It is the union of one man and one woman."
Bigger Fights Ahead
During a rally Monday on the steps of the state Capitol in Des Moines, Vander Plaats pledged that, if elected, he would attempt to halt same-sex marriages until Iowans had an opportunity to vote on a state constitutional amendment that would bar such unions.
So, in Iowa as elsewhere, the issue is still far from settled. And both sides are girding for bigger fights ahead.
"This has awakened the sleeping giant," says Vander Plaats. "I see people who have been on the sidelines for a long time now saying they need to get back in the game."
A recent advertisement aired by the National Organization for Marriage, a group formed to fight same-sex marriage, is called "A Gathering Storm." It uses actors to portray everyday people who talk about how gay marriage would affect their lives.
"Advocates," says one, "want to change the way I live."
The Human Rights Campaign has responded with a Web site called "End the Lies" — an effort, the group says, to expose the "deception and fear" being used in the battle against gay rights.
And just down the road, gay rights activists say they plan to expand their marriage efforts to states including Hawaii, Minnesota, Rhode Island and Maryland. Activists are also still waiting for a court decision expected by June 4 on their constitutional challenge of Proposition 8, the successful anti-gay-marriage initiative in California.
"If we can't turn that around in 2010, we'll go to 2012," Rouse says. "It's been a state-by-state march. Change is coming."
But just how fast it will proceed appears to be in the hands of not only gay rights activists and their opponents, but also the parents — conservative, liberal or somewhere in between — of kids like Connor Gillette.
Related NPR Stories
April 16, 2009Paterson Revives New York Same-Sex Marriage Bill
April 10, 2009Is America Warming To Same-Sex Marriage?
April 7, 2009Vermont Legislature OKs Gay Marriage
April 6, 2009Gay Marriage Debate Riddled With Bad Assumptions
April 3, 2009Iowa Court: Gay Marriage Ban Unconstitutional
E
by Liz Halloran
Enlarge
David Paul Morris
Craig Winsor (left) and Victor Choban argue about Proposition 8 at a rally in front of the California Supreme Court building in San Francisco on March 5. Getty Images
Interactive Map: The Legal Battle Over Gay Marriage, State By State
NPR.org, April 16, 2009 · Same-sex marriage advocates have racked up big recent victories in Iowa and Vermont, where legislators on April 7 approved a same-sex marriage measure by overriding a gubernatorial veto. They joined Connecticut and Massachusetts as states where gay marriage is recognized.
Similar efforts are well under way in a handful of other states, including New Jersey, New Hampshire, Maine and New York, where Gov. David Paterson on Thursday introduced a bill to legalize same-sex marriage.
But though the national battle is still pitched — and even Paterson's bill faces an iffy future — there is a growing and powerful phenomenon that is expected to someday shape the debate over same-sex marriage: its wide acceptance among young Americans as a basic civil right.
Growing Acceptance Among Youth
Graham Gillette of Des Moines, Iowa, says he's always on the lookout for a teachable moment — a chance for his three children to learn from a real-life situation.
And the April 3 unanimous decision by the Iowa Supreme Court to legalize same-sex marriage provided just such an opportunity. Or so Gillette assumed.
"The day the ruling came down, I was taking my 13-year-old to baseball, and thought, 'Hey, big teaching moment,' " says Gillette. He imparted to his son the historic importance of the court's 7-0 decision to legalize what it referred to pointedly as "civil marriage."
"He looked at me and said, 'Duh. Why is this a big deal?' " said Gillette, a former Republican who supports same-sex marriage.
"To him, [the right to marriage] is a given, and it's stupid that we even talk about it," Gillette says.
Sixty percent of Iowans under age 30 support same-sex marriage, according to a recent University of Iowa Hawkeye Poll, numbers that are echoed nationally. Meghan McCain, the 24-year-old daughter of Republican Sen. John McCain, the party's most recent presidential nominee, weighed in this week as a "pro-gay-marriage Republican."
"The demographics are clear, the trends are strong and not reversible," says Charles C. Haynes, a senior scholar at the First Amendment Center. "It's all over but the shouting."
Though people feel "deeply and emotionally about the issue," Haynes said, "gay marriage is inevitable in the United States."
Nationally, Opinion Remains Divided
Opponents, while acknowledging the direction of youth sentiment, beg to disagree.
"Without some reversal of the trends, that could be the case, but I'm not resigned to that," says Tony Perkins, president of the conservative Family Research Council, noting that when put to a public vote in California, legalized gay marriage lost.
"I don't think anything is inevitable," Perkins says, adding that he considers the Vermont situation "an outlier" that has run ahead of public opinion.
Twenty-nine states have constitutional amendments restricting marriage to one man and one woman, and 13 states have laws that do the same.
A recent CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll found that a majority of Americans oppose the legalization of same-sex marriage. Fifty-five percent of those polled said such marriages should not be legally recognized; 44 percent said they should.
A CBS News poll released early this month also showed Americans divided on the issue: Six in 10 supported some form of legal recognition, but only one-third said that same-sex couples should be allowed to marry.
"Evidence does not suggest that the public is turning that quickly on this," Perkins says. "This is not a natural evolution."
Framing The Issue As One Of Civil Rights
The same-sex marriage movement has been historically speedy, says Marty Rouse, the national field director for the Human Rights Campaign, an organization at the forefront of the gay rights movement. It was only nine years ago that Vermont, amid turmoil and tumult, became the first state in the nation to approve civil unions for same-sex couples.
"As far as civil rights movements go and in terms of a change in culture, this has been a very fast evolution for American society," says Rouse, who has been instrumental in organizing state-based legalization efforts.
"But it's actually progressing the way we expected it would," he said.
For years, gay rights organizers have been working in targeted states to get sympathetic legislators elected, to organize grass-roots supporters, and to advance legislation that would soften the ground for same-sex marriage.
Four states allow same-sex couples to marry (Massachusetts, Vermont, Connecticut and Iowa.) Three other states (New Hampshire, New Jersey and Oregon) extend to same-sex couples the same spousal rights guaranteed at the state level. The District of Columbia and California offer same-sex couples almost all state spousal rights. And three states (Hawaii, Maine and Washington) extend partial rights. Seventeen states now give their employees domestic partnership benefits.
There's been a concerted effort to stay away from religion, Rouse says, and to frame same-sex marriage as simply a civil right.
"We're not trying to deal with religion at all, and we're not asking for sanctification," Rouse says. "This is not new, but we do need to clarify it, because a lot of people picture marriage as walking down an aisle in church."
The 1964 Civil Rights Act exempts "religious corporations" from compliance with anti-discrimination rules in the conduct of their religious work or activities.
None of that placates opponents like Robert Vander Plaats of Sioux City, Iowa, a Republican who plans to make a third run for governor next year.
"I really believe that as soon as a same-sex couple goes to a church where they may have met and fallen in love and demand to be married, it will be a perfect case for a lawsuit against the church," says Vander Plaats.
"This is playing games with marriage, a judicial effort to redefine the institution of marriage," he says. "It is the union of one man and one woman."
Bigger Fights Ahead
During a rally Monday on the steps of the state Capitol in Des Moines, Vander Plaats pledged that, if elected, he would attempt to halt same-sex marriages until Iowans had an opportunity to vote on a state constitutional amendment that would bar such unions.
So, in Iowa as elsewhere, the issue is still far from settled. And both sides are girding for bigger fights ahead.
"This has awakened the sleeping giant," says Vander Plaats. "I see people who have been on the sidelines for a long time now saying they need to get back in the game."
A recent advertisement aired by the National Organization for Marriage, a group formed to fight same-sex marriage, is called "A Gathering Storm." It uses actors to portray everyday people who talk about how gay marriage would affect their lives.
"Advocates," says one, "want to change the way I live."
The Human Rights Campaign has responded with a Web site called "End the Lies" — an effort, the group says, to expose the "deception and fear" being used in the battle against gay rights.
And just down the road, gay rights activists say they plan to expand their marriage efforts to states including Hawaii, Minnesota, Rhode Island and Maryland. Activists are also still waiting for a court decision expected by June 4 on their constitutional challenge of Proposition 8, the successful anti-gay-marriage initiative in California.
"If we can't turn that around in 2010, we'll go to 2012," Rouse says. "It's been a state-by-state march. Change is coming."
But just how fast it will proceed appears to be in the hands of not only gay rights activists and their opponents, but also the parents — conservative, liberal or somewhere in between — of kids like Connor Gillette.
Related NPR Stories
April 16, 2009Paterson Revives New York Same-Sex Marriage Bill
April 10, 2009Is America Warming To Same-Sex Marriage?
April 7, 2009Vermont Legislature OKs Gay Marriage
April 6, 2009Gay Marriage Debate Riddled With Bad Assumptions
April 3, 2009Iowa Court: Gay Marriage Ban Unconstitutional
E
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Gay men concern over HIV figures from BBC news
Gay men concern over HIV figures
Gay men are being warned about their HIV risk after latest figures show high rates of new diagnoses.
The Health Protection Agency estimates revealed nearly four in 10 of the 7,370 cases last year were in gay men - twice the number of a decade ago.
Recent studies have suggested high numbers of gay men are engaging in unsafe sex.
However, the number of new diagnoses overall and within the gay community has fallen slightly year-on-year.
Dr Barry Evans, an HIV expert at the HPA, said: "Gay men continue to be the group in the UK most at risk of acquiring HIV.
“ But most importantly, we must remember that gay and bisexual men are still the people most affected by HIV here in the UK ” Deborah Jack, of the National Aids Trust
"Safe sex is the best way to protect against HIV infection."
The figures, which are estimated because the agency has not got all the data from clinics, showed overall new diagnoses had fallen from 7,660 in 2007.
Among gay men there was a slightly larger fall proportionally from 3,050 to 2,830, but it was still the second largest number since recording began in the 1990s.
The HPA also expressed concern about the high number of late diagnoses.
A fifth of cases among gay men were beyond the point at which treatment should have begun, raising the risk of death within the first year.
Proportion
Deborah Jack, chief executive of the National Aids Trust said: 'We welcome the fall in the number of new diagnoses of HIV - but we need to wait to see whether the trend is really downwards or still plateauing.
"But most importantly, we must remember that gay and bisexual men are still the people most affected by HIV here in the UK - with one 1 in 20 gay and bisexual men infected with HIV.
"If that proportion of the general UK population had HIV it would be headline news."
She also said it was worrying that the number of heterosexual cases from sex in the UK - most of the heterosexual diagnoses are from sex abroad, mostly within African communities - showed signs of rising.
In 2008 there were just over 1,000 new cases - up by 110 from 2007.
However, the charity said it was still a tiny proportion of the people engaging in heterosexual sex.
Lisa Power, of the HIV charity Terrence Higgins Trust, said: "Numbers of people diagnosed with HIV are rising for many reasons.
"More people are getting tested, which is good. But some people don't realise they could be at risk, and others take risks despite knowing them. HIV is not a risk worth taking."
Story from BBC NEWS:http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/health/7967881.stmPublished: 2009/03/27 11:27:28 GMT© BBC MMIX
Print Sponsor
BBC.adverts.write("printableversionsponsorship");
BBC.adverts.show("printableversionsponsorship");
Gay men are being warned about their HIV risk after latest figures show high rates of new diagnoses.
The Health Protection Agency estimates revealed nearly four in 10 of the 7,370 cases last year were in gay men - twice the number of a decade ago.
Recent studies have suggested high numbers of gay men are engaging in unsafe sex.
However, the number of new diagnoses overall and within the gay community has fallen slightly year-on-year.
Dr Barry Evans, an HIV expert at the HPA, said: "Gay men continue to be the group in the UK most at risk of acquiring HIV.
“ But most importantly, we must remember that gay and bisexual men are still the people most affected by HIV here in the UK ” Deborah Jack, of the National Aids Trust
"Safe sex is the best way to protect against HIV infection."
The figures, which are estimated because the agency has not got all the data from clinics, showed overall new diagnoses had fallen from 7,660 in 2007.
Among gay men there was a slightly larger fall proportionally from 3,050 to 2,830, but it was still the second largest number since recording began in the 1990s.
The HPA also expressed concern about the high number of late diagnoses.
A fifth of cases among gay men were beyond the point at which treatment should have begun, raising the risk of death within the first year.
Proportion
Deborah Jack, chief executive of the National Aids Trust said: 'We welcome the fall in the number of new diagnoses of HIV - but we need to wait to see whether the trend is really downwards or still plateauing.
"But most importantly, we must remember that gay and bisexual men are still the people most affected by HIV here in the UK - with one 1 in 20 gay and bisexual men infected with HIV.
"If that proportion of the general UK population had HIV it would be headline news."
She also said it was worrying that the number of heterosexual cases from sex in the UK - most of the heterosexual diagnoses are from sex abroad, mostly within African communities - showed signs of rising.
In 2008 there were just over 1,000 new cases - up by 110 from 2007.
However, the charity said it was still a tiny proportion of the people engaging in heterosexual sex.
Lisa Power, of the HIV charity Terrence Higgins Trust, said: "Numbers of people diagnosed with HIV are rising for many reasons.
"More people are getting tested, which is good. But some people don't realise they could be at risk, and others take risks despite knowing them. HIV is not a risk worth taking."
Story from BBC NEWS:http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/health/7967881.stmPublished: 2009/03/27 11:27:28 GMT© BBC MMIX
Print Sponsor
BBC.adverts.write("printableversionsponsorship");
BBC.adverts.show("printableversionsponsorship");
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