OUUT Omaha GLBT Blog

2nd Sunday movie for Oct 11 is "Total Eclipse"

2009-10-01T09:30:00.002-06:00

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

2nd Sunday movie for Sept 13 is Swan Lake

2009-09-08T11:23:00.000-06:00

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

2nd Sunday OUUT movie for Aug 9: Urbania

2009-08-03T09:27:00.002-06:00

2nd Sunday OUUT movie for Aug 9 will be Urbania. Synopis can be found at bloockbuster.com

OUUT Movie for June 14--Rock Hudson's Home Movies

2009-06-09T09:50:00.001-06:00

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

2nd Sunday movie for May 10 is Curosity of Chance

2009-05-04T15:04:00.002-06:00

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

Gay Marriage Update

2009-04-17T16:03:00.002-06:00

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, 2009
April 10, 2009
April 7, 2009
April 6, 2009
April 3, 2009

E

Gay men concern over HIV figures from BBC news

2009-03-31T14:30:00.001-06:00

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
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2nd Sunday movie April 12 "Stonewall"

2009-02-25T00:07:00.002-06:00

Theatrical Release Information See Details About All Versions
The birth of the gay rights movement gets a fictionalized treatment in this drama based loosely on the acclaimed documentary of the same name by Martin Duberman. In 1969, Matty Dean (Fred Weller) arrives in New York City's Greenwich Village hoping that life there will provide the sexual liberation forbidden to him by his small town upbringing. Matty falls in love with LaMiranda (Guillermo Diaz), a cross-dresser who introduces him to the regulars at the infamous Stonewall Inn, a popular gay bar. He is shocked, however, to learn that the NYPD regularly raids the Stonewall, harassing the clientele and closeted owner Vinnie (Bruce MacVitte). After one such incident, Matty ends up in jail, where he's attracted to Ethan (Brendan Corbalis), a gay activist preaching a moderate policy of conformity and peaceful protest. The latter is not possible, however, when police storm the Stonewall yet again and, led by Vinnie's lover Bustonia (Duane Boutte), enraged drag queens fight back in a riot of historical significance. ~ Karl Williams

2nd Sunday movie for Feb 8 is Shelter

2009-01-26T10:35:00.002-06:00

Love brings together two men who aren't sure where to fit a relationship into their lives in this romantic drama. Living in the oceanfront working-class community of San Pedro, Zach (Trevor Wright) is a young man in his early twenties who has been forced into the role of emotional anchor for his dysfunctional family; his mother his dead, his father is too ill to work, his sister Jeannie (Tina Holmes) is too busy partying to look after her five-year-old son Cody (Jackson Wurth), and Zach is the only one with the wherewithal to hold down a job and keep the rent paid. He's sacrificed his dream of attending CalArts in order to help Jeannie raise Cody. Between cooking at a diner and looking after Cody, Zach has little in the way of spare time, but as often as he can he heads to the beach to indulge his passion for surfing. While hanging out with his surfing buddy Gabe (Ross Thomas), Zach meets Gabe's brother, the struggling homosexual writer Shaun (Brad Rowe), who has taken a break from Tinseltown while rebounding from a dysfunctional relationship. Shaun goes surfing with Zach one day, and the two discover they're powerfully attracted to one another, and a flirtation turns into a love affair. As Shaun has to explain to his girlfriend why he no longer wants to be with her, Zach tries to make Jeannie and his father understand why he's come out of the closet. Shelter was produced for the gay and lesbian-oriented cable television network Here, though it enjoyed a brief theatrical release before its broadcast premiere. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

2nd Sunday movie for Jan 11 is DELOVELY

2008-10-01T07:12:00.003-06:00

De-Lovely (2004)

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Director(s):
Irwin Winkler
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Theatrical Release Information See Details About All Versions
The public and private lives of famed songwriter Cole Porter are both explored in this musical drama, in which the aging Porter (played by Kevin Kline) looks back on his life while watching a rehearsal of a stage musical based on his story. As Porter compares notes on the play with director Gabe (Jonathan Pryce), he shares thoughts on his rise to fame in the mid-'20s, writing witty and sophisticated tunes for a string of successful Broadway musicals. Porter seemed to be living a charmed life when he met Linda Thomas (Ashley Judd), a beautiful American woman who, like Porter, was enjoying a sojourn in Paris following the collapse of her first marriage. Thomas is immediately taken with Porter, whose intelligence and charm is a welcome change after her brutal first husband, and the two discover they share a remarkable understanding of one another. Porter and Thomas marry, even though she's aware that her new husband is gay; Thomas is willing to forgive Porter's indiscretions with other men in favor of the emotional support he brings her. However, as the years wear on and the couple takes up residence in Hollywood as Porter begins writing tunes for motion pictures, Thomas finds Porter drifting away from her as his liaisons become more frequent and more serious. Then tragedy enters their life when Porter loses the use of his legs in a riding accident and Thomas is diagnosed with cancer. De-Lovely features a number of noted pop singers interpreting classic songs from Porter's catalog, including Diana Krall, Sheryl Crow, Alanis Morissette, Elvis Costello, Robbie Williams, Mick Hucknall, and others. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Complete Cast:
Kevin Kline - Cole Porter
Jonathan Pryce - Gabe
Alan Corduner - Monty Woolley
Keith Allen - Irving Berlin
Kevin McKidd - Bobby Reed
Edward Baker-Duly - Boris Kochno
Leopold Lemarchand - Musical Performer
Alanis Morissette - Musical Performer
Caroline O'Connor - Musical Performer
Mick Hucknall - Musical Performer
Vivian Green - Musical Performer
Mario Frangoulis - Musical Performer
Angie Hill - Ellin Berlin
Lemar Obika
Ashley Judd - Linda Lee Porter
Kevin McNally - Gerald Murphy
Sandra Nelson - Sara Murphy
James Wilby - Edward Thomas
Richard Dillane - Bill Wrather
Robbie Williams - Musical Performer
Elvis Costello - Musical Performer
John Barrowman - Musical Performer
Sheryl Crow - Musical Performer
Diana Krall - Musical Performer
Lara Fabian - Musical Performer
Natalie Cole - Musical Performer
Peter Polycarpou - Louis B. Mayer
Nicola Dawn
Director(s):
Irwin Winkler
Writer(s):
Jay Cocks
Producer(s):
Irwin Winkler, Charles Winkler, Rob Cowan
Theatrical MPAA Rating:
PG13(Sexual Situations, Adult Situations, Adult

DELOVELY

2nd Sunday movie for Sept 14 is "A Very Serious Person"

2008-09-09T13:09:00.001-06:00

Theatrical Release Information See Details About All Versions
A young boy with an obsessive enthusiasm for old-Hollywood forms a warm bond with his effeminate Danish mentor as Psycho Beach Party and Die, Mommie, Die! director Charles Busch turns in his camp card to craft an uncharacteristically low-key and highly-personal rama about self-acceptance and personal perseverance. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
Theatrical Feature Running Time:
95 mins
Complete Cast:
Charles Busch - Jan
Polly Bergen - Mrs. A
Carl Andress
P.J. Verhoest - Gil
Dana Ivey - Betty
Julie Halston
Director(s):
Charles Busch
Writer(s):
Carl Andress, Charles Busch
Producer(s):
Daryl Roth, Richard Guay
Closed Captioning:
Check All Versions
Subtitles:
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2nd Sunday movie for Aug 10 is Naked Boys Singing

2008-08-06T09:17:00.001-06:00

As the title suggests, naked boys do sing (and dance) in this campy big-screen adaptation of one of the longest-running and most lascivious off-Broadway musical revues ever produced. Filmed in Los Angeles, this is essentially a basic recording of the live stage show, spotlighting songs such as "Fight the Urge," "The Bliss of a Bris," "Muscle Addiction," "Nothing But the Radio On," "Members Only" and "Window to Window."
Starring: Kevin Alexander Stea, Joe SouzaDirector: Robert SchrockGenre: Music & MusicalsFormat: Widescreen ...Language: English
Not rated. This movie has not been rated by the MPAA.

2nd Sunday movie for July 13 is "Sordid Lives"

2008-07-08T09:50:00.002-06:00

Writer-director Del Shores serves up a heaping helping of Southern-fried comic melodrama in this adaptation of his own play about infidelity, country & western music, and Airstream trailers. When their sister dies, Latrelle (Bonnie Bedelia), LaVonda (Ann Walker), and Sissy (Beth Grant) plan her funeral -- an unenviable task, considering that they must carefully hide the deceased's affair with amputee G.W. (Beau Bridges) from his wife, the vindictive Noleta (Delta Burke). Meanwhile, the trio has to come to terms with two cases of sexual orientation: Latrelle's openly gay soap-opera star son Ty (Kirk Geiger), whose sexuality she continues to deny; and their only brother, Boy (Leslie Jordan), who's serving a sentence in a mental ward for his adamant belief that he is actually country & western legend Tammy Wynette. Playing an aspiring singer-songwriter, Olivia Newton-John turns up to provide the film with the occasional musical interlude. ~ Michael Hastings, All Movie Guide
Theatrical Feature Running Time:
111 mins
Complete Cast:
Newell Alexander - Wardell Owens
Bonnie Bedelia - Latrelle Williamson
Earl Bullock - Ty Williamson
Kirk Geiger - Ty Williamson
Sarah Hunley - Juanita Bartlett
Olivia Newton-John - Bitsy Mae Harling
Terry Brannon
Mary Margaret Lewis
Rosemary Alexander - Dr. Eve Bollinger
Beau Bridges - G. W. Nethercott
Delta Burke - Noleta Nethercott
Bethy 13 is "Sordid Lives"

2nd Sunday Movie fro June 8 is "Fat Girls"

2008-06-04T09:06:00.001-06:00

Two misfits struggle to make their way through the living hell that is high school in this independent comedy drama. Rodney (Ash Christian) lives in a small Texas town where most folks don't have much use for musical theater or much understanding of the gay lifestyle. Since the barely closeted Rodney wants little else besides a boyfriend and the leading role in a Broadway show, this doesn't make life easy for him, and he has only one close friend -- Sabrina (Ashley Fink), a smart and funny girl who happens to weigh nearly three hundred pounds. Sabrina encourages Rodney to embrace his inner "fat girl," and he finds someone who understands his dreams when he strikes up a friendship with Mr. Cox (Jonathan Caouette), the school's drama coach, who also does a mean Liza Minnelli impersonation in his spare time. Written and directed by leading man Ash Christian when he was only 20 years old, Fat Girls was screened in competition at the 2006 Tribeca Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

2nd Sunday OUUT Movie "An Angel Named Billy" May 11

2008-05-04T12:45:00.003-06:00

2nd Sunday OUUT movie May 11

Filmmaker Greg Osborne directs this gay romantic drama concerning a young homosexual looking for love and another who is running from hate. Loving father Mark has recently suffered a stroke, yet even in his frail state he recognizes that his gay son James is in desperate need of a companion. When Mark and his best friend Thomas launch a search to find James a suitable mate, they soon make the acquaintance of troubled teen Billy. Having been recently kicked out of his home for kissing another man, Billy responds to a help wanted ad posted in a gay neighborhood café. It was Mark who placed that ad, and soon after meeting Mark introduces Billy to his lonely son James. While it remains to be seen whether Billy and James' relationship will blossom unto true love, the companionship that they provide for one another will help both to come to terms with their true sexuality and finally understand what it means to meet someone who is truly accepting. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Complete Cast:
Dustin Belt - Billy
Hank Fields - James
Allison Fleming - Donna
Kadyr Gutierrez - Guy
Brent Battles - Todd
Richard Lewis Warren - Mark
Buddy Daniels Friedman - James
Amy Lyndon - Nancy
Steve Houston - Allen Poe
Shawn Richardson - Rick
May 11

2nd Sunday movie for 4/13 is 3rd Man Out

2008-04-06T22:25:00.002-06:00

Third Man Out tells the story of homosexual detective Donald Strachey. He takes on the responsibility of protecting John Rutka, a controversial gay activist who outs prominent homosexual citizens. After Strachey feels Rutka may be planning to out him, he quits the job. However, after Rutka is killed, Strachey takes it on himself to solve the murder. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
Running Time:
99 mins

OUUT MOVIE FOR MARCH 9 @ 2ND UU 6:00 P.M.

2008-02-17T13:26:00.001-06:00

> Second Unitarian Church of Omaha presents> For the Bible Tells Me So> An award winning film by Daniel Karslake (2007, 99 minutes)>>>> Welcoming Congregation & Social Justice Potluck and Movie Night (free)> When: Sunday, March 9th, Potluck at 5:30 P.M., movie starts at 6:00 P.M.>> Where: Second Unitarian Church of Omaha 3012 S. 119 St, Omaha (just SE of> 120th & Center off Westwood Lane)>> Can the love between two people ever be an abomination? Is the chasm> separating gays and lesbians and Christianity too wide to cross? Is the> Bible an excuse to hate?>>> Winner of the Audience Award for Best Documentary at the Seattle> International Film Festival, Dan Karslake's provocative, entertaining> documentary brilliantly reconciles homosexuality and Biblical scripture, and> in the process reveals that Church-sanctioned anti-gay bias is based almost> solely upon a significant (and often malicious) misinterpretation of the> Bible. As the film notes, most Christians live their lives today without> feeling obliged to kill anyone who works on the Sabbath or eats shrimp (as a> literal reading of scripture dictates).>> Through the experiences of five very normal, very Christian, very American> families -- including those of former House Majority Leader Richard Gephardt> and Episcopalian Bishop Gene Robinson -- we discover how insightful people> of faith handle the realization of having a gay child. Informed by such> respected voices as Bishop Desmond Tutu, Harvard's Peter Gomes, Orthodox> Rabbi Steve Greenberg and Reverend Jimmy Creech, FOR THE BIBLE TELLS ME SO> offers healing, clarity and understanding to anyone caught in the crosshairs> of scripture and sexual identity.

OUUT Movie for Feb 10 is Cruising

2008-02-02T17:51:00.000-06:00

New York City detective Steve Burns Al Pacino receives orders from Captain Edelson Paul Sorvino to solve a series of brutal murders in the gay community. Steve scours the gay bars that caters to same-sex sadomasochism in a desperate attempt to solve the crime. As he infiltrates the scene, he slowly comes loose from the moorings of his own reality, and an innocent victim is tortured by the cops in an effort to exact a confession. The story is based on actual murders that took place between 1962 and 1979. The film gained considerable publicity because of the controversial subject matter while censor argued between an X and R rating for the feature. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
Running Time:
102 mins
Complete Cast:
Al Pacino - Steve Burns
Karen Allen - Nancy
Don Scardino - Ted Bailey
James Sutorius - Jack
Randy Jurgensen - Detective Lefransky

Rhode Island Churches Back Marriage Rights

2007-12-05T11:22:00.000-06:00

Churches back gay nuptials

Wednesday, December 5, 2007

By Bruce Landis

Providence, R.I., Journal Staff Writer

PROVIDENCE — Religious leaders from several denominations reaffirmed their support for same-gender marriage yesterday and announced an advertising campaign intended to get that word out and to dispel any impression that religion doesn’t support the policy change.

“We wanted to make the point that there are religious folks who are in favor of same-gender marriage,” said the Rev. Eugene T. Dyszlewski, pastor of the Riverside Congregational United Church of Christ and chairman of the Rhode Island Religious Coalition for Same-Gender Marriage.

“It’s a different kind of pulpit,” Dyszlewski said of the advertising campaign. “We want to put a public face on it.”

A dozen religious leaders and supporters showed off their signs on buses at the Rhode Island Public Transit Authority headquarters on Elmwood Avenue yesterday afternoon. The advertisements will run on 10 RIPTA buses for a month, the agency said. The advertisements depict two dozen religious leaders and carry the message, “Rhode Island Religious Leaders Supporting Same-Gender Marriages.”

OUUT Second Sunday movie for July 8 Hate Crime

2007-07-01T11:37:00.000-06:00

Full Synopsis:

A quiet community reveals an ugly underside in the wake of a horrible crime in this independent drama. Robbie Levinson (Seth Peterson) and Trey McCoy (Brian J. Smith) are a gay couple who've been together for six years; they've been sharing a comfortable home in suburban Dallas most of that time, and are planning to get married once the legalities work themselves. Robbie and Trey are good neighbors who get along well with the other folks in the community until Chris Boyd (Chad Donella) moves in next door. Chris is a youth pastor at a church run by his father (Bruce Davison), a fundamentalist Christian who preaches often and with great vehemence about the evils of homosexuality. Chris doesn't keep his feelings about gays to himself, and when Trey is found dead in a nearby park, the victim of a sadistic beating with a baseball bat, Robbie believes Chris may be involved. However, Chris' father and mother provide an alibi for him, and the police hand the case from Detective Fisher (Farah White), who investigates hate crimes, to Sgt. Esposito (Giancarlo Esposito) in the homicide department. Robbie is appalled to discover he's now the leading suspect in the murder, and begins making his own investigation into Trey's death. Hate Crime was the first feature film from writer and director Tommy Stovall. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Running Time:: 104 mins

2nd Sunday movie for June 10

2007-06-02T08:59:00.000-06:00

Ken Hanes wrote the screenplay for this adaptation of his controversial play about a reporter who finds himself torn between the firmly held beliefs of two psychologists. Frank Johnston (Andrew Elvis Miller) is an investigative journalist who is involved in a long-term relationship with Dr. Jonathan Baldwin (Paul Provenza), a psychologist. Both Frank and Jonathan are have an interest in the work of Dr. Arthur Apsey (Dan Butler), another psychologist who has become controversial for his claims that he can "cure" gay men of their homosexual orientation. Jonathan thinks Apsey is a fraud, and Frank thinks there's an exposé to be written about Apsey, so they come up with a plan: Frank will begin seeing Apsey as a patient, claiming he wants to be wants to be rid for his desires for other men, and Jonathan will use Frank's inside data on Apsey to reveal the flawed thinking behind his techniques. However, Frank soon discovers Apsey is shrewder than he imagined; it doesn't take long for the doctor to figure out what Frank is trying to do, and as he begins to question Frank, he forces the journalist to examine the flaws in his relationship with Jonathan that he's been willing to ignore, as well as poking holes in Frank's assumptions about Apsey's work. Fixing Frank was screened at the 2001 L.A. Outfest, a festival for gay- and lesbian-themed films. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Running Time:
104 mins

Nebraska Dept of Health and Human Services Bans Discussion about Gay Parenting

2007-05-13T07:02:00.000-06:00

Diversity committees for state of Nebraska Health and Human Services can celebrate food from around the world. They can bring in Polynesian dancers for a program on Pacific Rim and Asian cultures. They can talk about Mardi Gras, black history and the Chinese New Year. But they cannot provide any information that relates to people who are gay.

In fact, Nebraska state HHS leaders recently ordered a Lincoln-based diversity committee to remove one speaker from an informational forum focusing on family diversity because the woman was in a same-sex partnership. The team was told to remove the speaker involved in same-sex parenting from the lineup, even though the agency policy statement says the team should promote and encourage the appreciation of human diversity in the workplace and communities served by HHS, said Cathy Kingery, diversity committee co-chairwoman.

The forum was neither condoning nor condemning gay life but simply recognizing its existence and the special circumstances families may encounter, Kingery said in an e-mail description of the issue. The administration was unwilling to waiver, she said.
Concerned they were being asked to discriminate when their goal was to recognize and encourage appreciation of diversity, 11 of 18 committee members, including the two co-chairmen, resigned. In Omaha, at least 10 of 24 team members quit when administrators stopped a program and panel focusing on gay and lesbian issues.

One of the invited speakers said the administration first stopped a daylong training and then said the group could not host a shorter program offered after work hours.

Committee members were told they could not discuss gay, lesbian and transgendered issues on state time, said Betty Dorr, past president of Omaha PFLAG, a group representing parents, family and friends of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered persons.

"This is just another episode of the state denying an opportunity for stories to be told by the wonderful gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people we have in our community, in Nebraska," Dorr said.

HHS CEO Chris Peterson says the agency’s diversity teams must limit topics to the protected classes in federal law, which does not include homosexuals.

In response to a request for a short interview with Heineman on the diversity controversy, the governor’s chief spokesperson said: "I don’t think that is going to happen."

"I don’t think the governor is interested in commenting," spokeswoman Jen Rae Hein said. "The governor believes the director is handling it appropriately."

Hein was also unwilling to say whether Heineman agreed or disagreed with the policy.

"The governor does not want to interject himself into this discussion," she said repeatedly, offering a one-note answer to a number of questions about the governor’s attitude on the issue.

"He is not going to interject himself into this discussion."
At their most logical, these assaults on gay rights and the "gay lifestyle" are meant to make members of the LGBT community rethink their own identity... to second guess themselves. And in this sense they have succeeded: they have convinced many bright young men and women to question their identity as Nebraskans.

And who can blame them? If the wingnuts leading this anti-homosexual crusade really believed their rhetoric (that gay marriage is a threat to civilization itself, that gay adoption is a pox upon the children) there would be no need to silence this discussion. Those confident of their positions don't shy away from debate, they embrace the opportunity to respond and persuade.

But the anti-gay rights movement isn't about discussion; isn't about debate. It isn't really about anything. It's a senseless and classless attempt to use the law to bully a population that makes some people uncomfortable.

And it's worked. Discrimination is enshrined in our state constitution. It is a cornerstone of our campaign rhetoric. It is the undeniable, unquestionable, fundamental truth of Cornhusker politics.

But it is not Nebraska. Not the Nebraska I know. And not the place I call home.

web links:

DailyKos: http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/5/12/161650/821

New Nebraska Network: http://newnebraska.net/2007/05/state-agency-bans-discussion-about-gay.html

OUUT GLBT Film Festival - Second Sunday

2007-05-04T18:30:00.000-06:00

BEFORE STONEWALL will be shown on Sunday, May 13 at 7:00 PM at First Unitarian Church in preparation for Gay Pride in June. Please join us for the film!

"Ex-Gay" Video

2007-05-04T18:26:00.000-06:00

HIV Funding and Bush Administration

2007-04-29T18:11:00.000-06:00

I see it has been reported that funding for a federal grant program to help city and states fight rising HIV infection rates within minority communities has been suspended only days before the Center for Disease Control released a report calling for a “heightened response” to the “major health crisis” of HIV/AIDS in African American communities.
http://rawstory.com/news/2007/Minority_AIDS_initiative_threatened_by_funding_0426.html

But more ominous and not reported anywhere that I can find is the fact that 60 sites of the Adult AIDS Clinical Trials Group (ACTG)* have been de-funded, arguably the organization in which the best research on HIV and AIDS has taken place. That is 60 US sites in Minnesota, Nebraska, Iowa and other locations will no longer be able to offer HIV-infected persons the latest drugs and treatment approaches. At 60 sites seasoned HIV researchers, study nurses, and support staff will be left without positions. This is immoral! All because of budget cut-backs due to the Iraq war. Of course gay folks and other minorities, especially gay folks and others with HIV, have always been considered disposible by Republican administrations, beginning the Reagan himself. I would hope that if these cutbacks were more widely known, there might be some outrage expressed!

As many of you know, I previously worked at the HIV Clinic at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha and had 700 patients with HIV and AIDS. Many of them participated in various clinical trials at various stages of the investigative process. Now all those patients on the prairie and upper midwest will need to go to Chicago or Denver for the closest study. This is so wrong!

*From the ACTG website http://aactg.org/index.asp

"The AIDS Clinical Trials Group (ACTG), the largest HIV clinical trials organization in the world, plays a major role in setting standards of care for HIV infection and opportunistic diseases related to HIV/AIDS in the United States and the developed world. The ACTG is composed of, and directed by, leading clinical scientists in HIV/AIDS therapeutic research. The ACTG is funded by the Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health through the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases."

Ellen and Laura Dern remember Ellen's Coming Out Episode

2007-04-24T15:12:00.000-06:00

Ellen DeGeneres & Laura Dern Recall 1997 TV Smooch

NEW YORK (AP) - Ten years after they kissed on the "Ellen'' show, Ellen DeGeneres and Laura Dern reunited Monday (4-23-07) on DeGeneres' syndicated talk show to reflect back on the smooch and its aftermath.

DeGeneres, 49, made pop-culture history in 1997 by coming out of the closet in real life while her sitcom character did likewise. In her character's coming-out episode, Dern shared a smooch with the comedian during a guest stint on the ABC series as a lesbian love interest.

Dern, 40, recounted Monday how she couldn't get an acting job for more than a year afterward. "There was certainly backlash, I guess, (that) we all felt from it,'' she told DeGeneres, who said she was sorry and "had no idea'' that Dern was snubbed in Hollywood.

Not getting work felt "awfully terrifying,'' recalled Dern, who said she's grateful for the "extraordinary experience and opportunity'' to be a part of the groundbreaking episode, which also guest starred Oprah Winfrey, Demi Moore and Melissa Etheridge.

May 13 OUUT Movie BEFORE STONEWALL

2007-04-24T08:35:00.000-06:00

"Before Stonewall"

This documentary by Greta Schiller takes a look at the sometimes oblique American acknowledgment of homosexuals in the decades before a historical flashpoint in 1969. Late that year, the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in Greenwich Village was stormed by police and its patrons arrested -- resulting in two days of rioting. Allen Ginsberg and other celebrities talk about past police tactics, witch-hunts, censorship, and historical "cleansing" operations that violated human rights and civil liberties -- such as routing gays and lesbians out of the State Department. A certain openness about sexual preferences started appearing in the 1920s and accelerated during World War II, eventually culminating in the organized movements of the 1960s and later demanding an end to discrimination. Older and younger generations of gays and lesbians present different viewpoints on a variety of topics, and conflicts or disagreements between gays and lesbians are outlined. The seriousness of the subject of discrimination is balanced with humor, which makes this documentary more accessible to straight audiences unfamiliar with the topic. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
Running Time:
87 mins
Complete Cast:
Allen Ginsberg
Barbara Gittings

Oppose Focus of the Family "Love Won Out" Campaign

2007-04-09T08:30:00.000-06:00

Several weeks ago, Omaha PFLAG was notified that Focus on the Family’s one-day Love Won Out conference will come to Omaha on April 14.The anti-gay conference goes from city to city, drawing crowds of 1,000 or 1,500. Here, the host is Trinity Church at 156th St. and W. Dodge Rd. A lineup of speakers will try to make the case that, as the Love Won Out web site puts it, change is possible and “you don’t have to be gay.” That message unfortunately is welcomed by many parents who become confused and frightened when their child comes out as gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender. The Love Won Out message is wrong, and it is harmful.

In response to Love Won Out -- An ecumenical worship service at 7 p.m. on Friday, April 13, at 1st Central Congregational Church, 36th and Harney Sts., that will be joyful and affirming. Spiritual leaders of at least eight congregations will take part. A young man who went through the agony of “reparative therapy” at Trinity Church in an effort to change his sexuality will give his witness. The River City Mixed Chorus and First United Methodist Church ’s choir will sing.

Please join me at the church!

Link to Omaha PFLAG site: http://www.pflag-omaha.org/president.html

Couple kicked out of IHOP over sapphic smooch

2007-03-17T18:27:00.000-06:00

Just one kiss. That’s all it took — to get thrown out of the IHOP in Grandview.
“It was a kiss I would share with my uncle,” Blair Funk told me. Except it wasn’t her uncle she kissed. It was her honey, Eva Sandoval.

Two young women sharing a kiss didn’t seem inappropriate to the other couple in the restaurant booth that night, Jackie Smith and the woman with whom she shares her life, Toni Smith. But someone watching the scene was offended.

So later, the manager confronted them in the lobby and told them to get out. The way Blair tells it, “He said, ‘I have to tell you, we’ve had some complaints about public displays of affection, and we’re a family restaurant. We can’t accept it, and we won’t accept it.’

SNAP Productions "I Am My Own Wife"

2007-03-10T14:24:00.000-06:00

See this once in a lifetime performance by Nick Zudina in this Pulitzer Prize winning play! Now playing at SNAP! Productions. You will not be sorry! One of the best productions ever by SNAP!

http://snapproductions.com/Season2007/WIFE/Own_Wife.html

Gay hero dies

2007-03-06T18:02:00.000-06:00

A true hero to all gay and lesbian people died of AIDS complications this past week.

Bob Hattoy is dead
--Rick Jacobs

Bob Hattoy died this weekend. He was famous for a few minutes as the Gay Man With AIDS in the run-up to the first Clinton election who spoke at the 1992 Democratic convention. I did not know Bob then, noting only that he was bold to speak publicly about his fight with a disease that the Reagan/Bush-Bush/Quayle administrations had pretended did not exist. (Click on link above for remainder of this story)

Other links to Bob Hattoy

http://mpetrelis.blogspot.com/2007/03/bob-hattoy-gay-aids-hero-advisor-to.html#links

http://www.towleroad.com/2007/03/gay_activist_bo.html

http://americablog.blogspot.com/2007/03/bob-hattoy-someone-you-should-know.html

Bob's speech to the 1992 Democratic Convention:

(link to YouTube video of the speech: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RUashmbh1zQ

"Presentation on AIDS by Bob Hattoy"

Mr. Hattoy: Thank you. I love you. Thank you, California. Thank you, Gay and Lesbian community. Thank you, Congresswoman Pat Schroeder. Thank you, Aretha Franklin, God.
I am here tonight because of one man's courage and conviction, one man's dedication and daring and yes, one man's true kindness. He's my boss, Bill Clinton. (Applause)

You see, I have AIDS. I could be an African American woman, a Latino man, a 10-year old boy or girl. AIDS has many faces. And AIDS knows no class or gender, race or religion, or sexual orientation. AIDS does not discriminate, but George Bush's White House does. (Applause)
AIDS is a disease of the Reagan-Bush years. The first case was detected in 1981, but it took 40,000 deaths and seven years for Ronald Reagan to say the word "AIDS." It's five years later, 70,000 more dead and George Bush doesn't talk about AIDS, much less do anything about it.
Eight years from now there will be 2 million cases in America. If George Bush wins, we're all at risk in America. It's that simple. It's that serious. It's that terrible. (Applause)
(Chants of "No second term!")

This is hard. I'm a Gay man with AIDS and if there's any honor in having this disease it's because it's an honor being part of the Gay and Lesbian community in America. (Applause)
We have watched our friends and lovers die, but we have not given up hope. Gay men and Lesbians created community health clinics, provided educational materials, opened food kitchens, and held the hands of the dying in hospices. The Gay and Lesbian community is an American family in the best sense of the word. (Applause)

President Bush, we are a million points of light; you are just too morally blind to see us. Mr. President, you don't see AIDS for what it is - it's a crisis in public health that demands medical experts, not moral judges - and it's time to move beyond your politics of denial, division and death. It's time to move George Bush out of the White House. (Applause)

We need a President who will take action, a President strong enough to take on the insurance companies that drop people with the HIV virus, a President courageous enough to take on the drug companies who drive AIDS patients into poverty and deny them lifesaving medicine. And we need a President who isn't terrified of the word "condom." (Applause)

Every single person with AIDS is someone worthy of caring for. After all, we are your sons and daughters, fathers and mothers. We are doctors and lawyers, folks in the military, ministers and priests and rabbis. We are Democrats, and yes, Mr. President, Republicans. We are part of the American family and, Mr. President, your family has AIDS and we're dying and you're doing nothing about it. (Applause)

Listen. I don't want to die. I don't want to die. But I don't want to live in an America where the President sees me as the enemy. I can face dying because of a disease, but not because of politics.

So I stand here tonight in support of Bill Clinton, a man who sees the value in each and every member of the American family. And although I am a person with AIDS, I am a person with hope, because I know how different my life and all our lives could be if I could call my boss Mr. President.

Martin Luther King once said that our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter. Fifty thousands people took to the streets in New York today because they will no longer be silent about AIDS. (Applause)

Their actions give me hope. All of you came here tonight; millions more are watching in America. Obviously, we have hope and hope gives me the chance of life. I think it's really important to understand that this year, more than any other year, we must vote as if our life depends on it. Mine does; your could - and we all have so much to live for. Thank you.
(Standing ovation)

Act Up. Fight Back. Fight AIDS. Thank you.

Queer 101: A Guide for Heteros

2007-03-04T17:01:00.000-06:00

Conservative Americans may demonize gay people -- but how much do progressives really know about queer culture?

As last November's election neared and a Democratic victory appeared more and more likely, Republicans warned that Speaker Pelosi would impose her "San Francisco values" on average Americans. Americans to the right of the left coast felt in their gut that San Francisco values were a shameful thing, without really knowing what they were. If you remember that difference is good, you will strive to maintain American diversity while you also tend to the social safety net. In fact, many Americans fall through the cracks of government policies because those policies rely on legislators' limited guesses about who people are and what they need.
The lover of difference does not believe that all Americans do, or should, share the same set of values and habits. Who knows, if more Americans let go of their terror of the unknown, they might begin to find their own queerdom -- and find it both a liberating and meaningful way to connect with others.

Click on the title above for Cameron Scott's interesting piece for AlterNet or the link below

http://alternet.org/sex/48474/

Mexican Pop Star Outs Himself

2007-03-04T08:34:00.000-06:00

A 22-year-old pop star's announcement that he is gay, making him the first high-profile member of Mexico's show-business elite to "come out" in public, has caused a stir in the deeply conservative Catholic country. Christian Chavez, one of six members of the glitzy pop band RBD, told fans he was gay after photographs were published on a gossip Web site purporting to show him tying the knot with his partner in a ceremony in Canada.

First Combat Injured in Iraq Asks End To "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"

2007-03-01T15:08:00.000-06:00

Defending His Country,

but Not Its 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' Policy

Wednesday, February 28, 2007

Once a Marine, always a Marine. That pretty much sums up the life of retired Sgt. Eric Alva, who was sworn into the Marine Corps at 19, stationed in Somalia and Japan and lost his right leg when he stepped on a land mine on March 21, 2003, the first day of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
As the war's first injured soldier, Alva was an instant celebrity. He was on "Oprah." President Bush awarded him the Purple Heart. Donald Rumsfeld visited. And strangers in Alva's native San Antonio still insist on paying for his dinner at Chili's. Last fall Alva, 36, contacted the Human Rights Campaign, the gay rights group, and asked to be involved in its lobbying effort. Today he'll stand alongside Rep. Martin Meehan (D-Mass.) when he introduces a bill to repeal the military's "Don't ask, don't tell" policy on gay, lesbian and bisexual military personnel.

Q. Why didn't you come out sooner?

A.Eventually my notoriety -- "the injured soldier" -- will wear off. And I can almost hear it now -- "Oh, yeah, he's that gay Marine." I'm okay with that. The truth is, something's wrong with this ban. I have to say something. I mean, you're asking men and women to lie about their orientation, to keep their personal lives private, so they can defend the rights and freedoms of others in this country, and be told, "Well, oh, yeah, if you ever decide to really meet someone of the same sex and you want the same rights, sorry, buddy, you don't have the right." That's one factor. The other factor is, we're losing probably thousands of men and women that are skilled at certain types of jobs, from air traffic controllers to linguists, because of this broken policy.

Q.You come from a military family?

I come from a family of servicemen. My dad, Fidelis, is a Vietnam vet. My grandfather, also named Fidelis, was a World War II and Korean War veteran. I was named after them. My middle name is Fidelis. Fidelis means "always faithful."

Q. What does sexual orientation -- gay, straight, bisexual -- have to do with being a soldier? A Marine?

First, thanks for recognizing that I am a Marine. Second, to answer your question, I have tons and tons of friends that were in the military at the time who knew I was gay because I confided in them. Everybody had the same reaction: "What's the big deal?" . . . The respect was still there. Your job is what you're doing at its best. Your personal life, your private life, is something you do after work. What's funny is, when I was based in San Diego, Calif., people would go to a gay club and everyone would have a haircut like mine. They had their dog tags on. But come Monday morning, nobody talked about it, nobody dealt with it, everybody was back to work.

Q. So when you were applying to be a Marine in 1990, before "Don't ask, don't tell" was implemented, the application asked for your sexual orientation?

It did.

Q. What did you put down?

I lied, I lied. The lying is what I hated most -- why I had to do it, why I had to keep on doing it, the toll it took on me.

Q. You're wearing a wedding band. What do you tell people when they ask you about your wife?

That happens all the time. It just happened on my way here to Washington, waiting on the plank as I boarded a plane. This very nice woman next to me said she recognized me. She looked at my ring and asked about my wife. I told her I have a partner. His name is Darrell. She paused and said, "Good for you."

Link to Human Rights Campaign site: http://www.hrc.org/alva/

Welcome to the OUUT Blog

2007-02-25T10:18:00.000-06:00

Welcome to the OUUT -- Omaha Unitarian Universalists for Tolerance -- blog. We welcome your commentary and input.