The Advocate (The national gay & lesbian newsmagazine) articles from February 2008

The Advocate (The national gay & lesbian newsmagazine) archives from February 2008

Hollywood is dead. Long live Hollywood!(FROM THE EDITOR)(Editorial)
February 26, 2008... IT ALL SEEMS to be falling apart, doesn't it? Hollywood, the monolith that used to be known as the Dream Factory, is getting shook up harder than Jason Bourne on a motorbike. At press time there was no end in sight to the writers strike. And as...

Bass notes.(FEEDBACK)(Letter to the editor)
February 26, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] I just read your interview with Lance Bass ["Why Wasn't This the Year of Lance Bass?" January 15]. I agree that Lance has gotten a bad time. We tend to forget what it was like when we came out. The experience is...

Another first.(FEEDBACK)(Letter to the editor)
February 26, 2008... In "A Year of Firsts" [January 15], The Advocate reported that Melissa Etheridge "made history as the first lesbian Oscar winner to thank her wife and children." However, a full 15 years ago, in 1992, the same year Jodie Foster won an Oscar for...

Was 2007 a turning point for gay rights?(THE ADVOCATE POLL)(Table)(Brief article)
February 26, 2008... "We made no large advances. Many smaller ones, yes, but that is evolution, not a turning point." "In Colorado we got a mini ENDA, hate-crimes legislation, and a bill supporting gay adoption--this was a great year]" "There were some...

A very good year.(FEEDBACK)(Letter to the editor)
February 26, 2008... "A Tipping Point Year?" [January 15]: This is what The Advocate does best--insightful commentary with varied points of view. It shows we are strong enough as a community to embrace differing opinions. Too often I find myself troubled by the...

Primary primer.(FEEDBACK)(Letter to the editor)
February 26, 2008... Thank you, Advocate staff, for the primary primer ["Candidates by the Issues," January 15]! We all need to be informed! FYI, I am voting for Dennis Kucinich, and here's hoping everyone else in the country votes for Dennis Kucinich, especially...

Your country or your partner?(FEEDBACK)(Letter to the editor)
February 26, 2008... Congratulations to Andrew Solomon and John Habich on their June 30 marriage in England [First Person, January 15]. I wonder, however, if Mr. Solomon knows how lucky he is! By being a dual U.S.-U.K. citizen, he and his U.S. citizen partner, Mr....

We asked a sampling of LGBT people in Los Angeles: "What film or TV show has most accurately portrayed gay life?".(Out on the Street)(Brief article)
February 26, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Ana Veselic, 29 editor "Show Me Love is shot in this verite style, and I totally identify with the main character--a girl who's really alienated and in love with a girl with a more fluid sexuality." ...

Kiss it.(HEALTH)(DNA 11)(Brief article)
February 26, 2008... [ILLUSTRATIONS OMITTED] AS VALENTINE'S GIFTS GO, this sounds better than a tired box of chocolates: Canadian company DNA 11, which made a name for itself creating portraits of people's chromosomes, is turning lip prints into art. For about...

Meet the bloggers.(Forward)(Sandi T. of The Lesbian Mafia)(Website overview)(Brief article)
February 26, 2008... Sandi T. Age: 37 Location: New York City Blog: TheLesbianMafia.podomatic.com, a kind of sapphic Jerky Boys in which Sandi crank-calls hapless straights to hilarious effect Date launched: March 2007 Visitors per month: 45,000 Why...

Best Dad Ever? Offended by Wisconsin's ban on gay marriage, one straight Christian Republican father takes his state to court.(Forward)(Bill McConkey)
February 26, 2008... WHEN Wisconsin voters passed a constitutional ban on gay marriage in 2006, Bill McConkey, 65, was outraged. Saying he was too old to stage a riot, the hetero University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh political science professor filed a lawsuit against...

By the numbers: don't-hold-your-breath edition.(Forward)(constitutional amendments)(Chronology)(Brief article)
February 26, 2008... 1865 Thirteenth Amendment abolishes slavery. 1920 Nineteenth Amendment grants suffrage to women. 2003 Supreme Court decriminalizes gay sex. 2008 The United States has its most viable African-American and female...

Life without puberty: hormone blockers for minors, the trans movement's new frontier.(Forward)
February 26, 2008... MANY TRANSGENDER people have just one regret: not transitioning sooner. That may soon he a thing of the past as a growing number of trans kids turn to puberty-blocking hormones. The Food and Drug Administration has long approved hormone...

Scott Jordan.(CAME OUT)(Brief article)
February 26, 2008... Scott Jordan, 21, a swimmer at Saint Bonaventure University in upstate New York, in a first-person essay posted January 6 on Outsports.com. Now in his senior year and hoping to qualify for the Olympics, Jordan said the Catholic school's...

Thomas Morgan.(DIED)(Obituary)(Brief article)
February 26, 2008... Thomas Morgan, 56, a former New York Times journalist and the first openly gay president of the National Association of Black Journalists, of complications from AIDS, in Southampton, Mass., December 24. After reporting for The Miami Herald and...

Lee Sherman Dreyfus.(DIED)(Obituary)(Brief article)
February 26, 2008... Lee Sherman Dreyfus, 81, the former Wisconsin governor who signed the nation's first statewide gay rights law, in Waukesha, Wis., January 2. Elected governor in 1978, Dreyfus, a Republican, signed groundbreaking legislation in 1982 that made it...

Sean Massey. (SWORN IN).(CAME OUT)(Brief article)
February 26, 2008... Sean Massey, 41, as the second openly gay city council member in Binghamten, N.Y., January 7. Massey, a Democrat and professor of human development at Binghamton University, defeated Republican incumbent Chris Papastrat by 12 votes, joining the...

Philippe de Montebello.(STEPPING DOWN)(Brief article)
February 26, 2008... Philippe de Montebello, 71, as director of the Museum of Metropolitan Art, as announced in New York City, January 8. Since his appointment as head of the renowned institution in 1977, Montebello, a native of France, who is straight, almost...

Rants & raves.(Forward)(Quotation)(Brief article)
February 26, 2008... "I'm very honored to have the tag of gay icon. Maybe it's things like [the fact] I like to look after myself, I like to look smart and presentable most of the time." --Soccer star David Beckbam, on BBC Radio 2, December 24 ...

Datebook 01.29-02.26.(Forward)(Calendar)
February 26, 2008... FEBRUARY 10 Will beleaguered Grammy nominee Amy Winehouse make it to Los Angeles for the awards show? Tease your beehive and cross your fingers. Live on CBS at 8 P.M. EST. GRAMMYS.ORG (->) [ILLUSTRATIONS OMITTED] FEBRUARY 7 ...

Going clubbing with Mini: the new Clubman gives Mini's city chic new allure--and serious size where it was needed. Gaywheels's Joe LaMuraglia drives the hot new hatchback around Madrid on a tour of tapas and torque.(FAST LANE)(Mini Cooper Clubman)(Product/service evaluation)
February 26, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] SOME CLUB DOORS GRANT access to hot and steamy nightlife--yes, we saw you there last weekend, and no, you probably shouldn't put us in your "fives"--but the club door on the new Mini does something a lot more...

Antiaging creams: they're not just for women anymore.(FAST LANE)(Buyers guide)(Brief article)
February 26, 2008... GOOD NEWS FOR GUYS--your skin ages at a slower rate than women's. That's right, men start out with higher levels of collagen and elastin in their skin and lose it more slowly. But that doesn't mean men are off the hook. You're still prone to...

South of the border: want to save money and still enjoy a nice lifestyle in retirement? Join the hundreds of other gay retirees relocating to Mexico and other countries where the dollar still goes far.(MONEY)
February 26, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] WHAT IF YOU COULD RETIRE today? Sure, your investments haven't reached their target value yet, but what if you could live large on a smaller nest egg than you originally thought--as much as 30% less? And what if you...

Taking inventory: a weekly breast cancer support group teaches one lesbian how to value what she has by embracing what she's lost.(FIRST PERSON)
February 26, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] THE EIGHT OF US SITTING around the large round table in the restaurant are as boisterous as any group of women can be. But the unique roll call we perform before even looking at the menu sets us apart. "OK, OK,...

Seth MacFarlane.(BIG GAY FOLLOWING)(Interview)
February 26, 2008... He's not "family," but Emmy-winning Family Guy and American Dad creator Seth MacFarlane consistently packs his irreverent animated sitcoms with queer gags and subplots, even devoting entire episodes to hot-button gay issues such as marriage and...

Objects of suspicion: love a man, love a woman, either way they distrust you. What is it about bisexual women that lesbians hate so much?(SEXUALITY)
February 26, 2008... AFTER LOOK BOTH WAYS, MY RAH-RAH BOOK ABOUT HAVING A LOVE LIFE WITH MEN AND WOMEN, was published last year, I pummeled by dating rejection from folks I had never met (and probably never would), as in these choice words responding to a review:...

homo.phobo.sphere n An environment created by antigay postings on Internet blogs that spreads hate, produces fear, and is still protected by free speech.(MEDIA)
February 26, 2008... "ONLY A STEREOTYPICAL FECES-EATING FAGGOT would get this emotional over celebrity gossip," reads comment number 57 under Chris Crocker's emotive "Leave Britnev Alone!" YouTube clip. If nothing else, you've got to give the writer credit for...

The Hollywood issue: starring Kathy Griffin in ... my life on the gay list: the hardest working woman in showbiz made a career playing to gay men--and in the process became one.(Interview)
February 26, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] OK, I'VE GOT TO ADMIT IT. I was a little disappointed when I met Kathy Griffin. I know. Don't hate me. When I arrived at her palatial Los Angeles estate, I was surprised to find that I had only an hour with her...

The gay M.L.K.: after years in making, focus features brings Harvey milk to the big screen.
February 26, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] When Harvey milk was ELECTED as a San Francisco city supervisor in 1977, he became the first openly gay man to hold such a post in a major U.S. city. Focus Features, the studio that's finally dramatizing Milk's story...

A sketch of our own: The Big Gay Sketch Show is the gay Saturday night live--only, you know, funny.
February 26, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] IF "EVERY TELEVISION SHOW IS A MAGIC TRICK," as Logo network president Brian Graden believes, then a successful sketch comedy show is a rabbit pulled from a hat, sawed in half, and transformed into a flock of doves....

Snoop speaks: in the midst of the fifth and final season of the wire, Felicia "Snoop" Pearson talks about life on set, dealing drugs, dating "miss fine" ... oh, and that murder rap.(Interview)
February 26, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] HBO'S COP DRAMA The Wire has quietly evolved since 2002 from being one of the best shows on TV to being one of the best shows of all time. At the heart of the series about life in gritty Baltimore are vivid,...

Five films you didn't know were gay.(List)
February 26, 2008... I'm not the kind of person to go looking for homo subtext when it's not there. And really, you shouldn't be either. Queer moviegoers aren't obliged to see everything filtered through a subtext-decoding spyglass. But I saw nearly 400 movies in...

Where have you been, K.D.? After seven years off center stage, the lesbian crooner returns with a new philosophy on life and music.(MUSIC)(K.D. Lang with her new album Watershed)(Interview)
February 26, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] WHEN K.D. LANG LAST PUT OUT AN ALBUM of original songs, she hadn't yet turned 40 years old. September 11th, iTunes, and A Shot at Love With Tila Tequila hadn't happened. Ellen DeGeneres was still dating Anne Heche,...

Fitting in by standing out: two films make a play to join the canon of misfit cinema.(FILM)(Penelope)(Charlie Bartlett)(Movie review)
February 26, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] PENELOPE DIRECTED BY Mark Palansky STARRING Christina Ricci, James McAvoy, and Catherine O'Hara SUMMIT ENT./STONE VILLAGE PICTURES CHARLIE BARTLETT DIRECTED BY Jon Poll STARRING Anton...

Across The Universe.(DVD PICKS)(Brief article)
February 26, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] ACROSS THE UNIVERSE SONY PICTURES Julie Taymor directs this Vietnam-era rock musical of Beatles songs, so expect highly stylized, almost hallucinogenic cinematography, tightly choreographed dance scenes, and...

Monty Python's Life of Brian.(DVD PICKS)(Brief article)
February 26, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] MONTY PYTHON'S LIFE OF BRIAN SONY PICTURES Considered controversial when released in 1979, this story of a misidentified messiah--played by out gay Python Graham Chapman--is still hilarious. Includes commentary...

Joan Crawford Collection Vol. 2.(DVD PICKS)(Brief article)
February 26, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] JOAN CRAWFORD COLLECTION VOL. 2 WARNER HOME VIDEO Add to your collection with the latest five-disc set of films honoring the silver screen legend. Contents: A Woman's Face, Flamingo Road, Sadie McKee, Strange...

Personal Best.(DVD PICKS)(Brief article)
February 26, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] PERSONAL BEST WARNER HOME VIDEO As if a young Mariel Hemingway and slow-motion shots of running, jumping legs weren't enough, this classic of lesbian cinema details what can happen when you let a pentathlon...

Celine Dion Live In Las Vegas: A New Day.(DVD PICKS)(Brief article)
February 26, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] CELINE DION LIVE IN LAS VEGAS: A NEW DAY SONY PICTURES Didn't make it to Vegas for the chanteuse's five-year Caesars Palace residency? Take heart. This concert DVD has all the songs from her show, interviews, and...

Molding Bob Mould: on his latest release, the eclectic musician fuses his many identities.(MUSIC)(District Line)(Sound recording review)
February 26, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] BOB MOULD District Line ANTI IN YOUTH, BEING PEGGED as a type can have advantages. Whether you wind up a punk, a jock, a queer, or a poet, belonging to a tribe provides identity and safety. Hopefully, with time...

Dolly Parton: Backwoods Barbie.(MUSIC PICKS)
February 26, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] DOLLY PARTON Backwoods Barbie DOLLY The busty one gives Nashville a second chance on her first mainstream country album in 17 years.

American Music Club: The Golden Age.(MUSIC PICKS)(Brief article)
February 26, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] AMERICAN MUSIC CLUB The Golden Age MERGE Everyone's favorite indierock curmudgeon, the out Mark Eitzel, and his cohorts remain very glad to be unhappy.

Atlas Sound: Let the Blind Lead Those Who Can See But Cannot Feel.(MUSIC PICKS)(Brief article)
February 26, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] ATLAS SOUND Let the Blind Lead Those Who Can See But Cannot Fed KRANKY Bradford Cox of Deer-hunter creates a woozy soundtrack for the senses as winding, evocative, and odd as its title.

Colton Ford: Tug of War.(MUSIC PICKS)(Brief article)
February 26, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] COLTON FORD Tug of War OUTSIDER MUSIC The hunky former adult-film star displays a different but equally impressive body of work: Blue-eyed soul vocals paired with seductive club grooves.

Michael Jackson: Thriller 25.(MUSIC PICKS)(Brief article)
February 26, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] MICHAEL JACKSON Thriller 25 EPIC/LEGACY/SONY This 25th anniversary edition includes new remixes featuring Kanye West, Akon, and Fergie and will.i.am from the Black Eyed Peas.

Cartoon.
February 26, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] "The mere fact that you're a gay Republican means you have a credibility problem."