Box Turtle Bulletin
News and commentary about the anti-gay lobby“Now you must raise your children up in a world where that union of man and box turtle is on the same legal footing as man and wife…”
News and commentary about the anti-gay lobbyMay 8th, 2011
Mom and me
TODAY’S AGENDA:
What, You Can’t Pick Up A Phone? Today is Mother’s Day. Happy Mother’s Day, Mom!
New Yorkers Family Research Foundation RV Tour: That anti-equality group has painted up an RV and are touring the state with their message against marriage equality. Today, your grumpy uncle’s RV stops at the Eastview Mall in Victor, NY, just a few miles southwest of Rochester at 1:00 p.m. They “urge concerned citizens to attend these events and remind their elected officials that base voters care deeply about this issue.” If you’re a concerned citizen in the Rochester area, consider yourself invited.
BIRTHDAYS:
Tom of Finland: 1920. Born Touko Laaksonen, Tom of Finland was famous for his stylized homoerotic and fetish art. Over a forty year career, he produced some 3500 drawings in his unique exaggerated style. If Barbie dolls proportions represent an anatomically impossible ideal for women, Tom of Finland’s hypermasculine characters were portrayed in similarly fantastical idealization of manly men. His style was partly influenced by “beefcake” and “physique” magazines which skirted on the edge of U.S. censorship codes in the 1950s and 1960s. But as the codes were struck down in the 1960s over First Amendment issues, his drawings became more explicit and more overtly homoerotic. His depictions became the definitive style guide for leathermen through his portrayal of policemen, lumberjacks, sailors and bikers. Several examples of his “dirty drawings ” — his unabashed term for his artwork — have been acquired by New York’s Museum of Modern Art. He died of a stroke brought on by emphysema on November 7, 1991.
Darren Hayes: 1972. The singer-songwriter was the front man of Savage Garden. Their 1987 album by the same name peaked at #1 in Australia, #2 in the U.K., #3 in the U.S. Their biggest American hit was “Truly Madly Deeply.” Their follow-up album yielded another #1 hit in the U.S. with “I Knew I Loved You.” In 2002, he launched his solo career, and by 2005 it was clear that Savage Garden was through.
Darren married his “childhood sweetheart” in 1997. They divorced in 2000 after he told her that he was gay. After years of public speculation about his sexuality, Hayes came out on July 18, 2006, when he announced that he had married (via civil partnership) his boyfriend a month earlier. In April, 2007, he told The Advocate, “First of all, it took me a long time to even accept that I was gay. And then it took me a long time to be happy that I was gay.” That summer he headlined London’s Gay Pride at Trafalgar Square. You can see his video for “It Gets Better” here. His fourth solo album is due out later this year.
Enrique Iglesias: 1975. I know, he’s not gay dammit, but he did say he could be my hero and that’s good enough for me. Plus, there’s this performance at London’s famous G-A-Y nightclub in 2007:
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anteros
May 8th, 2011
i enjoyed reading this:)
thanks Jim!
Lindoro Almaviva
May 8th, 2011
I love this new feature.
Bearchewtoy75
May 8th, 2011
Am I the only one creeped out that a pic of you with your Mom as a baby is on the same page as Tom of Finland?
Regan DuCasse
May 8th, 2011
I have always been trying to figure out why that clip from the Iglesias performance nearly brings me to tears.
I just figured it out. For all the years that I’ve participated in civil rights, there is a necessary depth of feeling you get for those in the trenches with you. You all know how much I empathize. But it goes to a sisterly affection and appreciation for who I know who needs me, and who I love helping out. I’m awed, but also humbled by what I get back.
I’ve been a performer myself, audience members and fans themselves have a hero worship for the performers out there, and it’s good to see Iglesias reciprocating so sweetly, regardless of the gender of his fan, or their orientation.
But MY hero worship is for the tenacity, bravery and compassion of gay folks. Especially the gay kids my life has been blessed with.
The anti would crack me up if their activity wasn’t so stone cold serious and mean hearted and influential.
They speak to me as if I’ve been spell bound or I must be mentally defective or stupid not to SEE what THEY do.
But I’m the one who lives with, works with, has intense, intimate and constant interaction…and I get LOTS of affection and concern back from the gay community.
Yet, the opposition thinks I’M the one missing out on something or lacking.
Iglesias and I would agree, we know LOVE when we see it, feel it and the energy it gives any of us in a positive way. We’re healthy, muscular people with NO fear of the people we care about and WANT to. The stars, my friends…are in OUR eyes!
Désirée
May 8th, 2011
could I request that the Daily Agenda’s be dated or numbered or something in the titles so that we can see which one they are when doing a search and when seeing the list of recent comments?
werdna
May 8th, 2011
+1 to Désirée’s request to add dates to the Daily Agenda’s title.
Jim Burroway
May 8th, 2011
and
Good idea. I’ll do that beginning with tomorrow’s Daily Agenda
It brings tears to my eyes everytime I see it. I’m glad I was able to find it again.
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