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Filmmaker Lily Wachowski Comes Out As Transgender

Lily Wachowski, one half of the celebrated filmmaking duo who made the lesbian classic movie Bound, but are best known for The Matrix movies , came out as transgender yesterday in a very inspirational and eloquent statement to Chicago's leading LGBT newspaper Windy City Times.  After been door-stepped by a reporter from the UK's notorious tabloid newspaper The Daily Mail who threatened to out her, Wachowski decided to share the 'news' that her friends, family and work colleagues had known for years.  And after all her sister Lana had gone public with her own transition some years ago.

The very tongue in cheek headline Lily used was Sex Change Shocker -Wachowski Brothers Now Sisters. 

In her statement Lily Wachowski  said "Being transgender is not easy. We live in a majority-enforced gender binary world. This means when you're transgender you have to face the hard reality of living the rest of your life in a world that is openly hostile to you."

She went on to acknowledge the one factor that Caitlyn Jenner has studiously avoided ever since her 'reality tv' showy outing which is that as a wealthy woman she was one of the lucky ones who was able to comfortably afford all the expenses involved in transitioning " Having the support of my family and the means to afford doctors and therapists has given me the chance to actually survive this process. Transgender people without support, means and privilege do not have this luxury. And many do not survive. In 2015, the transgender murder rate hit an all-time high in this country. A horrifying disproportionate number of the victims were trans women of color. These are only the recorded homicides so, since trans people do not all fit in the tidy gender binary statistics of murder rates, it means the actual numbers are higher."

Lily added "And though we have come a long way since Silence of the Lambs, we continue to be demonized and vilified in the media where attack ads portray us as potential predators to keep us from even using the goddamn bathroom. The so-called bathroom bills that are popping up all over this country do not keep children safe, they force trans people into using bathrooms where they can be beaten and or murdered. We are not predators, we are prey."

queerguru applauds Lily Wachowski for her honesty, her bravery and her determination to continue the struggle to completely understand her own identity and this inspiring so many others who need to break free.

P.S. After Lana Wachowski came out as a trans woman, she received the 2012 Human Rights Campaign Visibility Award, and in 2014 she received the Equality Illinois Freedom Award. Lana said about her HRC award: "there are some things we do for ourselves, but there are some things we do for others. I am here because when I was young, I wanted very badly to be a writer, I wanted to be a filmmaker, but I couldn't find anyone like me in the world and it felt like my dreams were foreclosed simply because my gender was less typical than others. If I can be that person for someone else, then the sacrifice of my private civic life may have value." 

#RuleYourself

We had all thought at one time that after appearing in three Olympic Games and winning an unprecedented 22 Medals (of which 18 are Gold that swimming champion Michael Phelps would take it easy.  However he is set to join the American Olympic Team in Rio later this year to hopefully break more of his world records.

He as been very busy out of the Pool too.  He's grown a bushy beard (could he look any hottter?) and got engaged to his fiance Nicole Johnson an ex Miss California,  and they are expecting their first baby son in May.

Yesterday saw the launch of a powerful new advertisement Phelps starred in for Under Armour a sportswear company based in his hometown  of Baltimore.  The video shows Phelps putting himself through all the rigors of highly disciplined training with a very simple theme of #RuleYourself.  The message is one that we would happily share with Phelps:

It's What You Do In The Dark That Puts You In The Light

Naked Boys Reading Brunch Special

Those naked bookworms are at it again this weekend and stripping off for BAPS.   Before you non-Brits go reaching for your Urban Dictionary, queerguru can tell you that 'baps' are a type of floury soft bread roll, a bit like a hamburger bun,  and also an affectionate term to describe breasts and bums.

With hostess Dr Sharon Husbands and the skankiest easy listener of them all DJ the Duchess of Pork, Naked Boys Reading promise "we'll serve you up something "literary" and "delicious" from motorboating to batty washes".   We've really no idea what that means, but hey, those hot naked Brit boys do make for a visual feast of the perfect  Sunday Brunch.

Sunday March 13th from 12 pm to 4pm at Dalston Superstore in London's East End and It's FREE.  For details click HERE

P.S. If you have more refined (and more pretentious?) tastes then you may like to make a note in your Diary of next month's NBR event.  The Boys bare all for the Bard.  Yep, its Shakespeare read in a way that they you were never taught back in school.


7.30pm April 28th @ Ace Hotel  Shoreditch · London

http://nakedboysreading.com/

Peter De Rome Grandfather of Porn : Special Event

There is a new documentary just about to be released about the late great gay film pornographer Peter De Rome whose erotic and explicit intimate sex short movies that he shot in the 1960's have become cinema classics. Despite the fact he and his work were the toast of the homosexual demi-monde in the US at that time, the films were never ever shown back in his native UK until the BFI unearthed them and finally showed them at London's Gay & Lesbian Film Festival in 2012.

Now this new profile talks about this disarmingly and charming gay pioneer and celebrates the resurgence of his excellent work. Filmed with De Rome just before he died on the eve of his 90th birthday,  this profile is somewhat uneven (click HERE for our full review) BUT the man himself and the very explicit clips of his very sensual work are sheer gems and worth overlooking the documentary filmmaker's rather rambling style.

There is a special screening of Peter De Rome Grandfather of Porn on Sunday 13th March at the ICA in London, and it will be followed by a Q & A with  David McGillivray, screenwriter, producer and friend of Peter de Rome. For tickets and information click HERE

Swan Division

When Swan Lake meets Joy Division.  A stunning mash-up from motion graphics designer & editor Evol  of the Mariinsky Theatre Ballet production of Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake starring Ulyana Lopatkina, with Joy Division's 'Transmission'.  Demi-pliés and Mancunian post-punk go hand in hand for a culture clash.

Hail Caesar ..... and more !

Here is a link to my latest video review filmed for Provincetown TV with the help of my Editor Rik Ahlberg.  

All our other videoed movie reviews can be viewed by subscribing to https://www.youtube.com/c/RogerWalkerDackReportsPtown

Brits always add a Touch Of Class to Award Ceremonies

After the 'big yawn' of the latest around of Award Shows which were so predictable, totally unfunny (except for Chris Rock) and full of tedious speeches thanking  countless executives who none of us have ever heard off (and hardly care about) comes a perfect example of how to really accept an Award properly.

It's British (of course) and from 1994 when actor/comedian/playwright and something of a National Treasure, Spike Milligan was given a Lifetime Achievement Award by the British Comedy Awards.  Milligan was best known for  being the co-creator, main writer and a principal cast member of The Goon Show the most successful radio show in the UK in the 1950's and in many ways a precursor to the Monty Python gang who also specialized in absurdist and eccentric British humor.

As Milligan accepted the Award he refused to thank anyone as he said he achieved it all on his own, and then Jonathan Ross the Presenter went on to read a special note of congratulations from a very important fan who couldn't attend the festivities.  Halfway through listening to all this praise being heaped on him, Milligan butted in and called the writer 'the little groveling bastard' which immediately brought the house down.   The letter had been written by none other than HRH The Prince of Wales, who we sure would have loved this response too.  (Milligan later faxed the prince, saying "I suppose a knighthood is out of the question now?")

Of course we Brits always know how to make people remember that we are real 'old-school' stars at Award Ceremonies, even when we may have had a little (!) too much to drink before we come on to the stage to announce the winner.  And who could possibly be annoyed with Elizabeth Taylor the very epitome of Hollywood Royalty when she got confused.  After all, as she reminded us, she was more used to winning Awards than handing them out to others.

Boys Beware

In the 1950's the US Government used to make anti-gay Public Service Announcements to warn cute young boys that getting a ride in a fast car with a stranger may take you much further than you may have wanted.   

Another 'classic' from 1957 called 'As Boys Grow' helps young men come to grips with the challenges and questions of puberty in an earnest and hilarious way.  "Coach" however seems to spend an awfully long time taping the ankle of one of his young charges ...... just saying!  It's a tad slow at the beginning but Coach ensures it ends with a great climax.

KFC Top Management are Not Chicken

queerguru never thought we would say this, but we love KFC!   Well, not the food ...... don't lets get too rash here .... but we have nothing but unfettered admiration for the great big set of  balls that their top Management showed that they had yesterday.

Georgia Carter, 27, from Virginia had gone for a job interview last week at her local branch of the chain chicken restaurant and was offered shift work. She was told she had the job, and so gave the manager her driver’s license to draw up the paperwork.  Carter was so elated and told her boyfriend how happy she was to be an ‘active member of society’ again when she received a call from the KFC manager.

Carter says the manager told her ‘My supervisor and I have a problem because on your license it says “male”.’ When she  explained it was because she was transgender, they said: ‘Oh, we can’t hire you because we don’t know which bathroom you can use.’

Now normally this would have been the end of the story but fortunately the franchise who owned this particular store heard all about it, and immediately launched an investigation. A senior executive  then contacted Ms. Carter and offered her employment at this restaurant or any of their Richmond area KFC restaurants, effective immediately. 

Better still they actually fired the offending manager  for violating the franchisee’s anti-discrimination policy, which is inclusive of gender identity and sexual orientation.  A KFC spokesperson said: ‘KFC’s policy is to treat everyone fairly, equally and with respect, and we do not tolerate discrimination of any kind.'

We take our hats off to KFC as we head off and go grab a bucketful of chicken wings to celebrate with.

Shit Gay Black Guys Say

Whoever thinks that we gay guys all talk the same shit then should just listen to the fast-talking actor/director Tré Melvin. We found this absolutely hilarious video on his You Tube channel and have not stopped laughing since.  He has a language all of his own, which strangely enough we could actually completely understand. 

Subscribe to Tré Melvin's channel HERE

Eddie Redmayne Asks for Help

Oscar winning actor and all-round good egg Eddie Redmayne was in Los Angeles recently hoping that he may collect a second Academy Award for his stunning portrayal of the transgender artist Lili Elbe in The Danish Girl. Ms Elbe in real life was one of first people in the world to undergo gender re-alignment surgery. Although her journey was not easy, she did come from a comfortable middle-class background so life generally was not too rough for her.  

So during Redmayne's visit to Tinseltown he visited  LA's LGBT Center which provides a total support system for LGBT homeless youth, , including a place to stay,  The actor was shocked to learn that 40% of youths experiencing homelessness in the city are LGBT or questioning, and he offered to record this PSA after learning more about how the Center provides to help the homeless youth establish successful and independent lives for themselves.

'The Producers' Bialystock & Bloom are Back

Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick brought back Bialystock and Bloom the other night on the Jimmy Kimmel Live TV Show to do a wonderful parody of the Tony Award winning Broadway Show (and movie) The Producers.  If you will recall the plot its about a pair of con-men Producers who hit on the idea that they could make more money from producing a really bad Show than they could for a big hit as no-one ever investigates the finances of a Loss.  The fly in the ointment was that they had to pick a surefire loser and by plumbing the depths of really bad taste they found one so very dire, that the audiences actually loved it and their plan backfired. 

Now they want to do the same and make some real money running a Presidential campaign if only they could find the worst candidate in history 'a schmuk, a putz, a real grade A world class grade A nicampoop .... but where would be ever find a buffoon like that?" asks Bialystock.

In real life there is nothing remotely funny at all about Donald Trump who queerquru usually totally avoids even mentioning, but seeing Messrs Bialystock & Bloom jump into the fray does make you laugh (a lot) and reinforces the fact of how the man and his ambitions are so incredible ludicrous, but also sadly extremely dangerous.  

You Are Not Alone Sam Smith

Congratulations to openly gay Brit singer-songwriter Sam Smith who, along with his writing partner Jimmy Napes, won an Oscar for Best Original Song for  Writing's on the Wall  for the Spectre movie.  In a year when the focus of the Academy Awards was all about diversity, Smith very passionately dedicated his win to the LGBT Community.   He however didn't stop there as he also added that it was an honor to be the first openly gay man to win one of these precious statutes, but on that account he was wrong, several times over.

One of the most high profile gay winners in the past was Lance Dustin Black who won a Best Screenplay Academy Award for 'Milk' the biopic about slain gay politician Harvey Milk in 2009 when Sam Smith was 17 years old. Black's win was matched with one of the most eloquent speeches the Awards audience had ever heard. In fact he relayed a copy of it to Smith last night with a very funny tweet which said if you have no idea who I am, it may be time to stop texting my fiancé.    Black is of course engaged to the very handsome diver Tom Daley.

The very first openly gay actor to win an Oscar was in fact Sir John Gielgud and it was for his performance in 1981 for the film, Arthur.

In 1969, it was the turn of yet another Brit John Schlesinger who won the Oscar for Best Director in Midnight Cowboy, his film about two New York hustlers. He would later go on to be collect one of four Oscar nominations that were given in 1972 to Sunday Bloody Sunday a movie about a young bi-sexual Brit who flitted between his older male and female lovers.

Even before this, in 1964 openly gay George Cukor who was known to be the head of the gay subculture in Hollywood during the 1930′s, was the recipient of the Oscar for Best Director in My Fair Lady.

                                                                     Cukor with presenter Joan Crawford

Quite how Sam Smith could forget about one of the world's gay-est singers ever is hard to believe,  and he should have known that Sir Elton John won an  Oscar in 1994 for Best Original Song with Can You Feel The Love Tonight.

In 2006, it was the turn of another gay rockstar when Melissa Etheridge won the Oscar for the Best Original song. Her song, I Need to Wake Up, was featured in the Vice President Al Gore's Oscar winning documentary, An Inconvenient Truth.

Gay songwriter Howard Ashman collected six Oscar Nominations and won twice . Both wins were for Disney songs he co-wrote which Alan Menken and were sadly awarded to him posthumously in 1992 and 1993 after he had died of AIDS just aged 40.

In 1991 Broadway legend Stephen Sondheim collected his Oscar for this little ditty that he wrote for Madonna to sing in the movie Dick Tracy.

Sam Smith claimed that his source of mis-information about the lack of openly gay winner was he claimed none other than Sir Ian McKellen, which is hard to believe as his friend Bill Condon won one for writing the screenplay of Gods & Monster a movie that McKellen starred in and picked up an nomination for too.

Another screenplay Oscar went to Alan Ball for American Beauty, one of five Academy Awards, including Best Picture, that the movie won in 2000.   

Rounding this list up to a neat dozen are two actors who came out as gay sometime after they had won their Oscars. Joel Grey won for his definitive performance as the Master of Ceremonies in Cabaret in 1973, but didnt talk about his sexuality publically until 2015. Jodie Foster got her first Oscar Nomination (for Taxi Driver) when she was just 14 years old, and then 12 years later she won her first Best Actress Award for The Accused, followed by another one for The Silence of the Lambs in 1991.  Foster had been in a same-sex relationship for years but never talked about it openly until 2007.

Trans actress Mya Taylor Makes History

Tonight at the Film Independent Spirit Awards Mya Taylor made history as the first trans actress to win a major acting award. When she collected her statute for Best Supporting Female from J.K. Simmons for her outstanding performance in the movie Tangerine she delighted the star studded audience with her funny feisty speech.

She related that when she was told by writer/director Sean S. Baker that Tangerine was to be shot using iPhones, “The first thing I thought, ‘The movie ain’t gonna be sh*t.”  

She was totally wrong and this offbeat gritty comedy about a day in the life of two trans hookers on the streets of L.A. has been getting rave reviews and picking awards as well as delighting audiences everywhere.  

After thanking all the people who helped her get this far Taylor finished her speech with  “there is transgender talent, and you better get out there and put it in your next movie.”

Dan Savage Wants Us To Watch More Sex

Dan Savage has been a sex worker now for the past 25 years.  Not the usual kind that stands on windy street corners late at night. In fact he does it all fully clothed sitting at a desk.  Ever since he told his friend Tim Keck that the weekly newspaper he was starting in Seattle would need a sex-advice columnist and inadvertently talked himself into a job, he has been talking to people straight about sex. Actually not that straight as what he brought to the job was a gay man's perceptive and sensibility that made him an instant hit with heteros and homos alike.

Now as a highly successful journalist, author, theater director, TV pundit and radio broadcast Savage has gained a remarkable reputation as both an activist and a highly and very visible opinionated leading member of the LGBT community.  queerguru takes it's hat off to Savage in particular for co-creating the It Gets Better Project to help gay teenagers in light of the suicide of 15-year-old Billy Lucas, who was bullied for his perceived sexual orientation. 

Savage hasn't forgotten about sex either.  Eleven years ago he had an unconventional idea in his column Savage Love and he asked people to send him homemade dirty movies, and surprisingly, they did. Before you could say 'Linda Lovelace', his mailbox was brimming with films so hot, so hilarious, and diverse that he felt compelled to share them with the world, and so Hump! was born.

Hump! Film Festival which tours across the US is the only public place to see creative, homegrown porn.  The films cover a very wide spectrum in every sense of the word and include all body sizes, shapes, ages, colors, sexualities, genders, kinks, and fetishes, and all under the welcoming umbrella of sex-positivity and sexual expression. Savage who acts as Editor and Curator of the Festival Program stresses that first and foremost Hump! is about acceptance and redefining conventional porn, with more than a smattering of humor in some of the pieces. 

Savage adds "We bill HUMP! as an amateur porn festival, but it's more than that. It's rare for people to watch porn that takes them outside their comfort zones— it's rare for people to watch porn that, if they were home alone in front of the computer, they wouldn't choose to click on and watch. At HUMP! straight people watch gay porn, vanilla people watch kinky porn, gay people watch lesbian porn. And people laugh, they gasp, sometimes they cover their eyes. But at the end of every film people clap and cheer."

We've been privy to seeing a preview of this years Festival Tour which kicks off in Pittsburgh next week and were shocked at how fresh and funny ..... and downright sexy it was ..... and Savage is right, there were times we really did have to cover our eyes.

For details of the Tour : 16 Cities so far and more being added all the time click here

A Cat's Near Purr-fect Oscar Predictions

Of all the pundits who have been making waves with their predictions of who will go home clutching their  gold statutes on Sunday, the Office cat at the best Cinema magazine in the UK ....Little White Lies ..... does an incredible job picking the winners. We actually think she has got them all right ......well almost .... sadly Charlotte Rampling will not be Best Actress as that award will go to Brie Larson for her stunning performance in Room,  and The Revenant will probably be voted Best Picture and not Brooklyn.

Shura is Touched Again

Out gay British electropop singer-songwriter Aleksandra Denton, known as Shura, has released a new music video called of her hit song 'Touch' which this time features the American hip hop artist Talib Kweli.

24 year old Shura artist first appeared in the spotlight and signed with Polydor Records after she released the video for her song Touch last March. The video, which shows various couples (women and men, men and men, women and women) approaching each other and slowly kissing, went viral with almost 25 million views so far.   Shura said at that time “There are many different kinds of love. It didn’t really feel like a political statement at the time. When you have a lot of gay friends, you don’t think of that as being different or divisive or weird, that’s just your reality."

BalletBoyz Hit New York

If you prefer your ballet when it is not all cluttered up with skinny ballerinas in pink tutus then you will love The Ballet Boyz : The Talent.  This celebrated rather stunning group of contemporary Brit dancers are just finishing their current US Tour with a week performing at The Joyce Theater in New York.

The show features two commissions from leading British choreographers: The Murmuring by Alexander Whitley and Mesmerics by Christopher Wheeldon. The cast of 10 dancers have been receiving rave reviews for their pyrotechnic performances which is part of the  newer, more approachable presentation that their Company has earned its reputation on.  

BalletBoyz; The Talent is the brainchild Michael Nunn and Billy Trevitt who met when they were principal dancers with Britain's prestigious Royal Ballet.  Now 12 years later loaded with a stack of Awards, the Company appearances have continued to attract enthusiastic young audiences that are completely new to ballet and who can relate to unconventional, often sensual male-male partnering.  

The BalletBoyz are at The Joyce Theater through to February 28th . For tickets and information click here

Jay Khan sings Naked

German singer Jay Khan takes the title of his song Naked literally in this video shot in a street in  Bucharest four years ago.  The very handsome Khan was born in the UK to Pakistani father  and a British mother but has lived in Berlin since he was 6 years old, was once part of  the multinational band US5.

Now Khan divides his time working  music label producer (Nexxus Music) and is gaining successfully attention with his new band “Großstadtfreunde” when he is not helping his father out in “Padre E Figlio” the italian restaurant that they own together in Berlin..  It's a pity though as the streets of Bucharest  (and us) miss him baring his  considerable talent.

Jay - Naked from Parcfilm on Vimeo.

Legends, Icons and Superstars

                                                                                                                                  Liza by Warhol 

There is a new rather spectacular exhibition in London that showcases the work of two giants of American postwar visual culture. Photographer Richard Avedon and artist Andy Warhol were both portraitists, obsessed with celebrity, and used repetition within their images.  They often used the same subjects, and Avedon even photographed Warhol a couple of times with not always very flattering results.  Despite their worlds overlapping they were not friends, and in his diaries Warhol describes Avedon as 'horrible'.

                                                                             Warhol and members of  The Factory by Avedon

Avedon  Warhol is at The Gagosian Gallery until April 23rd 2016.

Full details and information : http://www.gagosian.com

P.S.  Today is the 29th Anniversary of Warhol's death.