S.A.G. recognizes diversity.

With all the media chatter about how the Academy of Motion Pictures becoming an all-white affair, it was good to see that when it is left to the actors themselves,, then diversity is the name of the game. At last nights S.A.G. (Screen Actors Guild) Awards there was not just a fair share of African/Americans and people of color who ended up as winners, but also the LGBT Community was recognized for a fine body of work.

The multi-award winning 'Orange Is The New Black'  from Netflix collected yet another accolade when it picked up the Best Ensemble Award – with an extensive 35 cast members name-checked, including Laverne Cox, Ruby Rose, and Lea DeLaria who all squeezed on to the stage.

One of the show's stars Uzo Abuda picked up her second award for Female Actor in a Comedy Series for her role as Suzanne ‘Crazy Eyes’ Warren.

Queen Latifah deservedly picked up the award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries – for her stunning turn as bisexual blues singer Bessie Smith in HBO’s Bessie.  As she did bicep curls she gave a very moving and inspirational acceptance speech "I hope that anyone out there who does not come in the package people say you should, keep fighting for it," she said. "Flip those rocks over. Keep pushing. Keep turning, you can do it! You build your own boxes, not people. So knock that thing away and do you!"

Alicia Vikander was the recipient of one of two Awards that recognized the transgender community. She picked up Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role Award, for her turn as Gerda Wegener in the Eddie Redmayne drama "The Danish Girl".

Jeffrey Tambor took home the award for Actor for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series for his portrayal of trans woman Maura Pfefferman in Amazon TV show "Transparent". This is 6th major award for his sublime performance, and typical of Tambor he was very generous in his very touching acceptance speech  "I play Maura Pfefferman, she's very entitled and she has a lot of money, and I would just like to dedicate this award to the non-Maura Pfeffermans who don't have a lot of cash for their operations, for their medicines, for their freedom."

British actor Idris Elba was the big winner of the night picking up two SAG Awards. He won the Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture prize for "Beasts of No Nation" and the Actor in a TV Movie or Miniseries Award for "Luther". Whilst neither of these are gay roles, Elba scored big with the LGBT community recently when making a speech to the UK Parliament on diversity in the film industry.  “I’m not here to talk about black people, I’m here to talk about diversity. Diversity in the modern world is more than just skin color– it’s gender, age, disability, sexual orientation, social background, and – most important of all, as far as I’m concerned- diversity of thought.”

Let's hope all the Members of the Academy were watching and taking notes.

Dolce & Gabbana Try To Make Amends

                                                                                          Photograph: Pietro D'aprano/Getty Images

The out-gay Italian fashion designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana caused a storm of protest last year for their insulting and derogatory remarks about same-sex couples who have children. In an interview with the Italian magazine "Panorama", Dolce discussed his thoughts on gay families, saying he was not convinced by what he called “synthetic children” and “wombs for hire” and then added, “we oppose gay adoptions. The only family is the traditional one.” He went on to describe children born through IVF as “children of chemistry, synthetic children, rented uterus, semen chosen from a catalogue.”

It brought them the wrath of very many people including Sir Elton John, who has two children born with the help of IVF and a surrogate. After initially calling for a boycott of the designers, John at least, later said he forgave them after Dolce apologized.  

Now on the eve of a vote in the Italian Parliament where politicians are expected to decide on a proposal that would recognize same-sex civil unions and – in some cases – extend parental rights to couples in a same-sex union, Dolce & Gabbana appear to be trying to make amends. They have released of a very questionable line of handbags and T-shirts that seem to be celebrating gay and diverse families.  The items are for sale on their website which includes a T-shirt featuring an image of the two designers and their menagerie of pets with the #dgfamily hashtag.  It costs  a mere $745 (!) 

A spokesman for Dolce & Gabbana told The Guardian newspaper that the designers would not comment on the new line and its meaning.  Perhaps we should do the same.

Happy Birthday to 2 Friends of Friends of Dorothy

Carol Channing 95 today

Justin Timberlake 35 today

Set To Go : a Brazilian Dance-Off

Alice aka Ryan Neves dances the night away as performer in a Club in Recife in Northern Brazil and in this video by former photojournalist Bárbara Wagner he does a routine using a local dance style known as Faz que vai (Set To Go) step.  Set to an original composition by the Bomba do Hemetério Popular Orchestra, the result is quite stunning.

Joseph Wilson : Why Drag Is My Ecstasy

27 year old Joseph Wilson is a rising star Brit queer filmmaker and he is also a central figure in East London's burgeoning Alternative Drag Scene which has set the city's cultural scene alight just as the likes of Boy George and Leigh Bowery did in the 1980's. queerguru tracked down Joseph to a cafe in Hackney's Amherst Road and talked to him about his work and his life and tried to find out exactly why drag was his ecstasy.

Mille Brown : Performance Artist

Millie Brown appears to have few boundaries as what she is prepared to do to make her art.  In the past this British-born performance artist has vomited colorful milk onto a canvas (for Lady Gaga at SXSW) and now in this latest piece released in a video last week, she swings naked from a pendulum as paint is bound body.  The act and the art are both completely stunning.

Describing her work the artist said "I wanted to transform myself into a human pendulum: to act as a conductor channelling energy and intention directly through my body; to detach my mind and body from the ground below momentarily and experience new feelings physically and mentally; to push through discomfort and pain and to find light and growth. I wanted to allow the element of control to be eliminated and for the paint to fall and splatter where it wished and for myself to feel raw and human— present in that moment in time and space." 

http://www.milliebrown.co/about/

Suited

Suited is an extraordinarily uplifting documentary about a couple of NY Tailors who have found their calling making suits for gender non-confirming clients.  Their story started a few years ago when Rae Tutera (who had been born Rachel) came across a rather unassuming tailor called Daniel Friedman (who is straight & Jewish) who made him his first ever suit. Rae was so happy that he persuaded Daniel to take him on as an apprentice,  and that's when Bindle and Keep was born.

The movie is made by first time director Jason Benjamin who cut his teeth as a boom operator for the 'Girls' TV Show and landed him a producer in his boss Lena Dunham.  Benjamin chose to follow a handful of the clients who turn up in the Brooklyn Showroom. and it is all their stories that make this doc such a delight to watch. The life journeys that they have all taken to get this far have made them all both emotional and determined, and when the time comes for them to return and try on their suit it is impossible not to share in their sheer joy.

Suited had its Premiere at Sundance and is an HBO doc and will be aired in the US in the Spring, check back here for further details and our full review.

What Lies Beneath

Photographer Rick Guest's second series on the world on ballet focuses on the beautiful and brutal realm of that the dancers live and work in and is titled 'What Lies Beneath', an absolutely stunning exhibition on view at the Hospital Club Gallery in London until January 31st.

'I wanted to make a series of portraits of the dancers themselves, as opposed to dancers dancing. 'I wanted to see how their art has both shaped and etched itself into their bodies.'  explained Guest.  And he does just exactly that working with stylist Olivia Pomp and using dancers from The Royal Ballet and The English National Ballet and others.

A number of limited edition prints will be on sale during the exhibition, as well as an accompanying book designed by Loose Joints, which also features an essay by art editor Sarah Crompton. 

 Photography @Rick Guest

For further  information .......
Exhibition : http://www.thehospitalclub.com/
Book: http://rg-books.com/products

Triple Standard

From 2010 comes this provocative and sexy short film “Triple Standard” from award winning LGBTQ director Branden Blinn. It is the story of a homophobic ex professional athlete who relies on all the lucrative sponsorships to pay for his ex-wife and their children.  He claims he is not gay, yet he has lived and slept with his boyfriend for the past three years, but now he must face reality if he doesn't want his relationship to end.

Uncle Howard : a Tribute to filmmaker Howard Brookner

Unquestionably one of the best movies with LGBT content to premiere at this Sundance Film Festival was filmmaker Aaron Brookner's delightful tribute to his filmmaker Uncle that who he adored and who sadly died of AIDS in 1989 at the tender age of 34. 

Howard Brookner packed a lot into his short life and left a small but powerful and impressive portfolio of work when he passed. His thesis at New York Film School led him to making the definitive documentary on William S. Burroughs the seminal 'Beat Generation' Poet and novelist which was an enormous critical success.  It didn't just introduce the young filmmaker to other underground cult figures such as Lucien Carr, Allen Ginsberg and John Giorno, but the movie was shot by Tom DiCillo and the sound recordist was Jim Jamusch, who makes an appearance in this documentary.  

What comes over in Aaron's profile on his Uncle so loud and clear was how this enigmatic man was determined to leave his mark on the world, and even the diagnosis of the illness that would rob him of his life would not stop him working hard to finish his last movie "The Bloodhounds of Broadway" which starred Matt Dillon and Madonna.  

It's very easy to see why Aaron Brookner  wanted to get this all on film, as it's an excellent record of a remarkable man that made an important contribution to early queer cinema  ....... and he was also quite a handsome charmer at the same time.

P.S. Our full review of Uncle Howard will be published soon, and we will also be keeping track of the movie's journey, so check back here.

Sugar Baby Love

The screenshot above is from a rather wonderful animated French AIDS Public Service Announcement that we have just discovered. Directed by Wilfrid Brimo, it  chronicles a lifetime of gay sex, love and heartbreak, featuring a track from the 1970s by The Rubettes called "Sugar Baby Love".

Nothing Left Unsaid ; Gloria Vanderbilt & Anderson Cooper

One of the most wonderful premieres here at Sundance was the documentary on socialite and artist the heiress Gloria Vanderbilt and her son CNN's anchor the openly gay Anderson Cooper entitled "Nothing Left Unsaid". The 92 year-old Vanderbilt has the most colorful past and in some very frank and open interviews with her son we learned far more about her than just her famous 'Poor Little Rich Girl' custody battle stories.  So too did Cooper who was visibly shocked to learn about some of his mother's past boyfriends that he never knew about, such as 32 year old Errol Flynn she had dated where she was just a mere 17 years old.

It is a fascinating profile on an extra-ordinary privileged life, and kudos to Cooper for not shrinking away from talking to his mother about extremely sensitive subjects such as his brother jumping off the terrace of her 17th Floor New York Apartment to take his own life.

The pair, both extremely articulate and open with each other, have an undeniable close bond and are quite the devoted couple.  You do however get occasional glimpses of Cooper's sheer disbelief that through his mother he is a part of one of what was once of the leading families in the country,

This HBO documentary directed by Oscar nominee Liz Garbus will be aired in the US  and will be proceeded by a book from the film.

Mapplethorpe : Look At The Pictures

queerguru is at the Sundance Film Festival all week where this year that have a particularly strong LGBT content in their program. The first one that we have seen that has really got us very excited is "Mapplethorpe : Look At The Pictures" a wonderful documentary on Robert Mapplethorpe the controversial talented photographer who did such an exciting body of the work before he died of AIDS aged just 42 years old.

This new profile is the work of Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato, the out-gay filmmaking duo behind Reality TV series such as 'Ru-Paul's Drag Race ' and 'Million Dollar Listing"  but also some great classics such as 'Party Monster' and 'The Eyes of Tammy Faye'

This HBO documentary is due to be aired in the US in April : more details to follow.  Here meanwhile, courtesy of The Hollywood Reporter, is an exclusive clip of the doc.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/video/mapplethorpe-look-at-pictures-clip-858391

Teller + Keller Bare All for Viv Westwood

Dame Vivienne Isabel Westwood DBE RDI the British fashion doyenne who amongst other things, was largely responsible for bringing modern punk and new wave fashions into the mainstream is going right to the edge (and even beyond ) with her brand new advertising campaign shot by celebrated German photographer Juergen Teller.

Called 'Mirror the Word' and featuring her 2016 Spring/Summer Collection it stars avant-garde poetry-reading gay porn star Colby Keller.  True to his roots, even in some of these new photographs, there is very little clothing being worn as he proudly shows off his own not inconsiderable talent.

All photos @ http://www.juergenteller.com/

James Franco Is Finally Doing Porn!

It's official, James Franco is finally doing porn! Almost.  He has just signed on with HBO to do new TV series that follows the legalization and rise of the porn industry in New York's Times Square in the 1970's and 1980's.  Called "The Deuce", which is a nickname for 42nd Street at that time, it is inspired by real-life mobsters twins Frankie and Vincent Martino, and Franco, taking a leaf out of Tom Hardy's book, will be playing both parts. 

No word yet if Franco will actually get to join in (!) but we hear that his  role will comprise of scenes involving casual sex (on and off camera) and systematic cocaine abuse!  Sounds like fun.

The series will also co-star Maggie Gyllenhaal who will play entrepreneurial prostitute Eileen ‘Candy’ Merrell and act as a producer of the series too. Created and written by "The Wire's" David Simon and directed by "Breaking Bad's" Michelle MacLaren, this is definitely one to look out for this season ..... even if Franco is still teasing us all about if he will get down and get dirty at last.

Happy 70th Birthday Dolly : we will always love you ....

It's only Tuesday and its already turning to be a week of Dolly's and Divas. Yesterday we were celebrating that announcement that the Divine Miss M is going to be playing Dolly Levi on Broadway this year, and today we are breaking open the bubbly as it is the 70th Birthday of our favorite sparkly country and western superstar Miss Dolly Parton.

It's not hard to see why this effervescent pint-sized larger-than-life singer/songwriter/actress with her rags to riches story is such a popular gay icon. With her outrageous dress sense that glorifies her magnificent breasts, she has a style that would make her a perfect drag queen. If truth were known, in the past she actually entered a Dolly Lookalike Drag Competiton and lost!  When talking about her own appearance she once said  'it takes a lot of money to look this cheap". 

On a serious note however, she has not just been a big ally of LGBT rights but she has put herself and hosted very successful Gay Days at Dollywood even though the drew the ire of the local Klu Klux Klan.

Dolly is the most honored female country singer of all time, but that is not why we love her. It's the fact (amongst other things) that she starred in both" 9-5," and "Steel Magnolias" plus she wrote the ultimate gay 'grab-your-kleenex' anthem of all time with 'I Will Always Love You' which she was such a massive hit for both her and Whitney Houston.

Handsome L.A. based identical gay twins Gary and Larry Lane loved Dolly so much they wrote her a screenplay for a movie based on her life and then went all the way to Dollywood to present it to her personally.  They even made a documentary of the their journey "Hollywood to Dollywood" (available at Amazon).  Like all good fairy tales it had a happy ending and whilst Dolly never made their movie, the boys did get to hang out with their idol.

11 year old Elizabeth Alison Gray is not gay BUT she knows how to fantasize like one. When she discovered that she had been adopted she decides on a whim that her birth mother was in fact Dolly and she sets off across country to be 'reunited' with her in a delightfully quirky comedy called "The Year That Dolly Parton Was My Mum" (available from Amazon). 

We may not all go to quite the extremes as this but we do want to at least wish you a very happy 70th birthday, and tell you that we will always love you too.

Hello Bette

Every show-tune queen ( and more than a few others) are breaking out the bubbly to celebrate the news that The Divine Miss M will be back on Broadway next year.  And if that is not exciting news enough, she will starring in the first ever brand new staging of Jerry Herman's classic Tony Award winning show "Hello Dolly!". This new production will be directed by four-time Tony Award winner Jerry Zaks with choreography by Tony Award winner Warren Carlyle. 

This evergreen Show was originally written in the 1960's specifically for Ethel Merman who turned it down, as did Mary Martin who was the producers 2nd choice, and the part went to Carol Channing who still seems to be performing ever since. Although the role is closely identified with her (and a certain young Jewish actress about to make her first big movie) over the past six decades it has been played by every big (and small) star who can squeeze into a sequin frock and make a big camp entrance surrounded by pretty chorus boys. Including Miss Merman and Miss Martin who changed their minds when they saw that the Show was a smash hit.

Here are just a few of the divas and gay icons who have been Dolly Levi one way or another up until now.

                                                                                                                 Barbra Striesand

                                                                                                                                  Carol Channing

                                                                                                                                        Pearl Bailey

                                                                                                                                                   Dorothy Lamour 

                                                                                                                              Cuba's Rosita Fornes

                                                                                                  Sally Struthers  (the 50th Anniversary Tour)

                                                    Mexico's  Sylvia Pinal         

                                                                                    Britain's Anita Dobson

                                                         Britain's Danny La Rue 

                                                                                                  Eve Arden        

                                                                                                                     Jazz legend Marilyn Maye

                                                                                 Hong Kong's Mimi Lo

                                                                              Ginger Rogers

PS. How many could you name?