The Advocate (The national gay & lesbian newsmagazine) articles from July 2003

The Advocate (The national gay & lesbian newsmagazine) archives from July 2003

Fathers' day. (reader forum).
July 8, 2003... Heaps of praise should be accorded B.D. Wong and his partner, Richie Jackson, for courageously sharing the story of their sad and wonderful journey to parenthood ["Baby Comes Early, Daddy Comes Out," June 10]. My eyes filled with tears when I...

Family drama. (reader forum).
July 8, 2003... I got very angry reading about the new book by Harlyn Aizley, Buying Dad ["The Parent Map," June 10]. It sounds like she did a total of four inseminations before she got pregnant (three with the first donor and one with the second). If this is...

Dangerous times. (reader forum).
July 8, 2003... The Advocate has done a great service for the community with the excellent material about Sen. Rick Santorum ["Why It's Still OK to Be Antigay," June 10]. We all need to be aware now of the harm this man and his extremist supporters represent....

Reader comments from www.advocate.com. (The Advocate Poll).
July 8, 2003... * "Positive steps like reaching out to the Human Rights Campaign have been completely overshadowed by the Bush administration's support for Sen. Rick Santorum." * "Since Bush took over, the lack of compassion has been frightening,...

Dick vs. Dennis. (reader forum).
July 8, 2003... Your article on Dick Gephardt's recent decision to try to win gay voters with his sudden public recognition of his lesbian daughter proves once again that many of the leading Democrats are willing to use voters even when they don't fully buy...

Answered prayers. (reader forum).
July 8, 2003... When I read the Cincinnati papers' coverage of the Reverend Stephen Van Kuiken, I prayed that national publications would do a better job of reporting his struggle and spreading the news. My prayers were answered ["An Ally Down the Aisle," June...

Manhandled. (reader forum).
July 8, 2003... In reading Christopher Rice's "I Hate Boys" [Last Word, June 10], I am at a loss as to what his motives were. His piece contains damaging stereotypes and statements that could easily be interpreted as feminist antimale propaganda. Rice calls...

My dad's gay rights bill. (my perspective).
July 8, 2003... Gay and lesbian Hoosiers made historic progress in the 2003 on of the Indiana general assembly, where I work. No, our legislature didn't endorse civil unions or pass a hate-crimes law. But one representative did give us our start down the road...

Rants & raves.
July 8, 2003... "I can talk about it now because I'm not afraid anymore." --Actor Richard Chamberlain, on coming out in his new autobiography, Shattered Love, on Dateline NBC, June 1 "What do you get when you lock six gay Jewish men in a room...

Kentucky tug-of-war: a series of pro-gay decisions in the Bluegrass State bodes well for gay and lesbian employees and brings on the usual backlash. (Equality).
July 8, 2003... Is Kentucky becoming a model for pro-gay change in the South? In light of the firestorm over the formation of a gay-straight alliance at Boyd County High School in Cannonsburg, several recent pro-gay actions by state leaders have turned more...

Harlow leaves Lambda. (Advocacy).
July 8, 2003... Ruth Harlow, legal director for the Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, has argued some of the highest-profile cases affecting gay and lesbian rights. This summer she will resign her post and start architecture classes at Columbia...

In search of Jesus' gay lover. (Research).
July 8, 2003... Was Jesus gay? That controversial question, subject of a 1992 book by J. Robert Williams and a 1998 play by Terrence McNally, continues to spur debate--including two recent scholarly works supporting the idea. In The Man Jesus Loved:...

New and improved Texas DOMA. (Legislation).
July 8, 2003... Texas lawmakers weren't satisfied that their state already recognized only opposite-sex marriages. Concerned that same-sex civil unions from other states might pose a dire threat to heterosexual marriage, they enacted a law on May 27 outlawing...

Ashcroft bans pride celebration. (Politics).
July 8, 2003... Attorney General John Ashcroft has, for the first time ever for a federal agency, banned a gay pride celebration. Ashcroft told Justice Department employees that they can't hold a pride event because President Bush does not recognize gay pride...

Across the Nation. (The Advocate Report).
July 8, 2003... Denver, Colo. The Presbyterian Church (USA) ended its national convention May 31 without reconsidering a proposal to end its ban on gay clergy. Opponents of the policy have vowed to keep pressing for change. Des Moines, Iowa Four...

Court frees four men arrested for gay sex. (Egypt).
July 8, 2003... The appeal of their convictions for having gay sex on a Nile riverboat has led to freedom for four men in Egypt, whose sentences were reduced to time served by an appeals court on June 4. The men were sentenced in March to three years in prison...

Opening old wounds: the arrest of bombing suspect Eric Rudolph brings back painful memories for one victim of an attack on an Atlanta nightclub. (Behind the Headlines).
July 8, 2003... Before a nail bomb went off at a nightclub where she was celebrating a friend's birthday, Memrie Wells Creswell lived a quiet life, revealing to few people that she is a lesbian. But that all changed after the 1997 attack at the Otherside...

Fraud in Philadelphia. (Crime).
July 8, 2003... People in Philadelphia were surprised to learn in May that a local longtime gay activist had allegedly used his respected reputation to swindle the city out of almost $200,000. According to court documents, Tyrone Smith, who used to operate...

SARS hobbles gay Toronto. (Tourism).
July 8, 2003... Just in time for Toronto's gay pride celebration, a recent and persistent outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome, compounded by a storm of media coverage of the often fatal disease, has hotels and inns reporting a 90% drop in business....

Exxon gets another push. (Policy).
July 8, 2003... Nothing has really changed at ExxonMobil. Still, gay rights activists were pleased with the results of the Fortune 100 company's May 28 shareholder meeting in Dallas. More than 27% of shareholders voted to include sexual orientation in a...

Transitions.
July 8, 2003... DIED: Adrienne Fuzee, 53, founder of Lesbians in the Visual Arts, of heart failure, May 18, DIED: Pepper LaBeija, 53, the queen of Harlem drag balls who appeared in the 1990 documentary Paris Is Burning, of a heart attack, May 14. ...

This week on Advocate.com. (On the Web).
July 8, 2003... BREAKING NEWS: Visit www.advocate.com for the latest news, entertainment, and health headlines, updated twice a day. COMMENTARY Don't ask, don't answer What do Rep. Mark Foley (R-Fla.) and American Idol runner-up Clay Aiken (left)...

Mary Cheney behind the scenes: September 12, 2000. (From the Advocate Archives).
July 8, 2003... Before Chrissy Gephardt came out as a lesbian and announced her support for her father, Dick Gephardt, in his pursuit of the Democratic nomination for the 2004 presidential election, there was Mary Cheney. When Dick Cheney became Bush's running...

The gay blogging revolution. (On the Web).
July 8, 2003... Looking for a safe outlet for your inner writer? Or perhaps your sexuality? Consider the burgeoning world of gay blogging. Short for "Web log," a blog is a personal online diary written by anyone who cares enough to sit down and write one....

Kissing for Columbine. (the Buzz).
July 8, 2003... OUT DIRECTOR Gus Van Sant scored a major upset at the Cannes Film Festival, winning the top prize--the Palme d'Or--as well as the directing nod for his Columbine-inspired drama Elephant. He also garnered a press windfall by upsetting viewers...

Straight like me. (the Buzz).
July 8, 2003... THE NEW SHOWTIME SERIES Dead Like Me--about a teenage girl's adventures in the afterlife--comes out June 27, but one of its main characters is going back into the closet. "The story was that [the lead character] would find out after she died...

Father-daughter alliance: Chrissy Gephardt comes out to help get her dad, Rep. Dick Gephardt, elected president. Can she make him more pro-gay than he already is? (Politics).
July 8, 2003... Chrissy Gephardt is going where no child of a presidential aspirant has gone before--out of the closet and onto the campaign trail to talk not only about her father, U.S. representative Dick Gephardt, but also about being gay. The...

Mary and Mary: still contrary: the actions by Mary Cheney and former Dick Cheney adviser Mary Matalin suggest gay issues remain a hot potato in the GOP. (Politics).
July 8, 2003... They were supposed to be gay rights champions in a White House filled with antigay activists. Mary Matalin, a former top adviser to Dick Cheney, and Mary Cheney, the vice president's out lesbian daughter, seemed poised to become the conscience...

Supreme opponent: on the eve of a major ruling on sodomy laws, the Supreme Court's top conservative, Antonin Scalia, takes no pains to hide his opposition to gay rights. (Court).
July 8, 2003... Just weeks before the U.S. Supreme Court was scheduled to announce its decision in Lawrence v. Texas, a historic legal challenge to same-sex sodomy laws, Antonin Scalia traveled to Philadelphia. In a packed ballroom at the elegant Union League,...

Dragging us down: new studies suggest that you're not alone in your blues--in fact, gay people actually may be more prone to depression than heterosexuals. (Our health: depression & antidepressants aids activism and men of color gay & lesbian health books).
July 8, 2003... We're out. We're proud. We're on Prozac? It's been nearly 30 years since the American Psychiatric Association ceased listing homosexuality as a mental disorder in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders--saying that gay...

What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About HPV and Abnormal Pap Smears.
July 8, 2003... * Joel Palefsky, MD, with Jody Handley * Warner * $14.95 The numbers are frightening: Almost 75% of sexually active adults have transmitted or will transmit human papillomavirus to a sexual partner. Almost 100% of HIV-positive gay men and...

While the World Sleeps: Writing From the First Twenty Years of the Global AIDS Plague.
July 8, 2003... While the World Sleeps; Writing From the First Twenty Years of the Global AIDS Plague * Edited by Chris Bull * Thunder's Mouth * $16.95 Stayin' Alive: The Invention of Safe Sex * Richard Berkowitz * Westview * $22 "Why hasn't there...

Fighting AIDS face to face: the nation's most successful blacks gays get together to battle the number 1 killer in their community. (Our health: depression aids activism and men of color health books).
July 8, 2003... When Doug Spearman left Los Angeles to be part of a group of 38 guys from around the country for a week-end on a Florida beach, he wasn't quite sure what he'd signed up for. All he knew what he'd been invited to particpate in a treatment with...

The dating game: meet reality TV's Gay Bachelor Number 1--and find out why some are concerned about the straight twist in Bravo's Boy Meets Boy. (Cover Story).
July 8, 2003... Surprises on reality television are so cheap and common these days that most new twists and turns generate little more than a cynical chuckle from seasoned viewers. So when word leaked out in May that the Bravo cable network was producing a new...

Naked boys vs. naked men. (notes from a blond).
July 8, 2003... Naked Boys Singing, the Cats of gay theater, is celebrating its 400th year off-Broadway. I'm proud to have had a hand in the show, although a hand was really not what I had hoped to put in. NBS, as the director is fond of calling it (this makes...

Boys will be bi: the bisexual director and young gay star of Confusion of Genders talk about sexual fluidity and getting naked. (film).
July 8, 2003... "It's less a film about bisexuality than a film about indecision," says writer-director Ilan Duran Cohen about his new comedy, Confusion of Genders. And for once the statement isn't a cop-out. His film may have a bisexual as its protagonist,...

Talking trash and truths: cult-classic road-trip documentary American Fabulous finally makes its cable TV debut.
July 8, 2003... American Fabulous * Directed by Reno Dakota * Sundance Channel * Premieres June 30 "Believe me, nobody could make this up, and if they did, why would they want to?" So goes Jeffrey Strouth's most self-summarizing bon mot from...

A visible life: superstar novelist E. Lynn Harris talks about his new memoir, from growing up "sissy" in the South to achieving success beyond his dreams. (books).
July 8, 2003... In his 1991 debut novel, Invisible Life, E. Lynn Harris captivated readers with his sexy yet romantic and emotional story of a young black man struggling to come to terms with his sexuality. A year earlier Harris himself nearly lost his own...

Household saint: never-before-seen photos highlight "Saint Harvey," a San Francisco exhibition honoring Harvey Milk. (culture).
July 8, 2003... Gay activist, elected official, and martyr Harvey Milk is nearly as busy in his afterlife as he was in his days on earth. Books, films, schools, even an opera have memorialized the self-made Mayor of Castro Street. Now a new exhibit, "Saint...

Lost world: a new traveling exhibition explores the Nazis' brutal destruction of Germany's once-thriving gay community. (culture).
July 8, 2003... Nazi Germany not only devised the pink triangle symbol and killed thousands of gay men but also decimated that era's world center of gay life. A half century later, that news seemingly has yet to reach most of America. The U.S. Holocaust...

Acting out. (last word).
July 8, 2003... Do you ever feel caught between those who think homosexuality isn't as bad as hooking up with a dog and those who think it's actually worse? Well, buck up, baby; time is on our side. Whether or not the Supreme Court overturns the Texas sodomy...

Billy in the out field.(reader forum)(Letter to the Editor)
July 22, 2003... After having read the June 24 issue three times, tears still come to my eyes. The pride material is very refreshing, especially "Billy Bean's Pitch." Bean has profound insight on the goings-on in pro sports. While he does not say so pointedly,...

Living color.(reader forum)(Letter to the Editor)
July 22, 2003... I have rarely seen your magazine cover issues of people of color, but the June 24 issue of The Advocate makes me hopeful of times to come. The articles, photographs, and editorials reflect the many different voices I see in the GLBT community....

Love the one you're with.(reader forum)(Letter to the Editor)
July 22, 2003... I feel sorry for Patrick Guerriero, the Massachusetts gay Republican who has been called "just another selfhating faggot" [My Perspective, June 24]. Oh, I don't feel sorry for him because he's being insulted--I'm sure a seasoned politician...

Reader comments from www.advocate.com.(The Advocate Poll)(Brief Article)
July 22, 2003... * "My partner and I will celebrate our 46th year together on July 18. Before I die, I would love to see my union with him made legal in the USA. Considering what gay life was like back in the '50s, we've come a long way," * "Yes, but they...

Paternal instincts.(reader forum)(Letter to the Editor)
July 22, 2003... Thank you so much for sharing the story of the two dads in Kentucky ["And Babies Make Six," June 24]. I am a gay dad who lost custody of my two wonderful daughters and am currently appealing the ruling to the Idaho supreme court. Our appeal is...

The water's fine.(reader forum)(Letter to the Editor)
July 22, 2003... What a nice surprise to see your story on scuba diver Judith Rubin ["The Poseidon Adventurer," June 24]. I was on a land-sea trip she was on in April 1993; the sea part of the trip was scuba diving in the beautiful, clear waters of the Red Sea....

Start your engines.(reader forum)(Letter to the Editor)
July 22, 2003... I think marketing analyst Bill Doyle would probably deduce that the black people who go to NASCAR races are really there for the fried chicken and watermelon served at the concession stands; Hispanics, because they can relate to pimping out...

Correction.(reader forum)(Correction Notice)
July 22, 2003... In our June 24 Nation item titled "Gay Families Ahoy," R Family Vacations cofounder Gregg Kaminsky was misidentified as Dan O'Donnell's life partner. The Advocate regrets the error.

Transformations.(our perspective)(transsexuals in film)
July 22, 2003... We two have come together to create change from very different backgrounds. Many people became aware of Calpernia's story when her boyfriend, Barry Winchell, was murdered by fellow soldiers in Kentucky in 1999, following months of harassment...

Rants & raves.(Brief Article)
July 22, 2003... "Naw, naw, that's not a question that I'm gonna answer. That's not my kind of question there, buddy. Naw, that's not gonna happen." "What kind of question is that? switch teams? No, dude, I'm on our team.... Yo, I can't even think that...

Savage suit: in a test of what constitutes free speech, far-right talk show host Michael Savage is suing the Web sites that have urged major sponsors to desert his TV show.(Media)
July 22, 2003... Should controversial talk show host Michael Savage have the right to demand damage.s from people who urge his advertisers not to support him? Savage, host of MSNBC'sSavage Nation TV program as well as a radio talk show, has earned a...

Guilty, but not of hate.(Crime)(Brief Article)
July 22, 2003... After the recent acquittal of a Georgia man on hatecrimes charges in the case of an apparent antigay attack at Atlanta's Morehouse College, some people are asking, What makes a hate crime? Less than a month after the college's upbeat...

Trouble for Philadelphia Scouts.(Discrimination)(gay Boy Scout leaders kicked out of organization)(Brief Article)
July 22, 2003... Just weeks after Philadelphia's Cradle of Liberty Council of the Boy Scouts of America had adopted a policy in May of not discriminating against gays, the council kicked a Scout leader out for publicly declaring that he is gay. Facing threats...

Flying in the face of protest.(Pride)(gay pride flag protested)(Brief Article)
July 22, 2003... Overwhelmed by protests over plans to fly a gay pride flag on the same pole as Old Glory, the mayor of Lakewood, Ohio, found the solution: erect a second pole. "We are trying to be responsive to the gay community," said Mayor Madeline Cain ...

Sodomy ruling.(The Nation)(Brief Article)
July 22, 2003... At the press time the U.S. Supreme Court had not issued its decision in the Lawrence V. Texas sodomo case. For the latest go to www.advocate.com.

Accused 9/11 gay con man arrested.(Fraud)(Brief Article)
July 22, 2003... After claiming his partner was killed in the September 11, 2001, attack on the World Trade Center, Patric Henn collected $68,000 from the Red Cross. But police came to believe his story was a fake, and Henn, who was arrested June 13 on...

Across the nation.(gay rights and politics)
July 22, 2003... Sacramento, Calif. In a nationwide first, the state supreme court on June 18 decreed that state judges who are members of the Boy Scouts of America may have to disqualify themselves from hearing cases in which homosexuality in an issue....

Tough pride in Jerusalem.(Israel)(gay pride parade postponed after suicide bombing)(Brief Article)
July 22, 2003... As gay pride celebrations unfolded in countries around the world, June proved to be a difficult month for gays and lesbians in Jerusalem. The city's second annual pride parade, set for June 13, bad to be postponed a week, following a June 11...

Saving the Baghdad Zoo: gay environmentalist Stephan Bognar from San Francisco spent two months dodging bullets in Iraq to care for zoo animals.(Behind the Headlines)(Interview)
July 22, 2003... Some of the most ferocious fighting during the war in Iraq took place near the gates of the Bagdad Zoo, located close to several palaces that once belonged to Saddam Hussein and his sons. By the time Stephan Bognar, employed by the...

Care for gay seniors.(Retirement)(Brief Article)
July 22, 2003... Gay and lesbian seniors are not only getting their own facilities to help them through retirement, they're getting a piece of the tax-dollar pie too. In August the first federally funded day care center intended for gay and lesbian senior...

The art of disclosure.(HIV patients and sexual health)(Brief Article)
July 22, 2003... If you're a sexually active gay man, the need to ask about a partner's HIV status may be more important than you realize. Of the HIV-positive gay and bisexual men interviewed for a recent study, 42% said that with recent sex partners they had...

Gay bishop is Episcopalian first.(Religion)(Brief Article)
July 22, 2003... I plan to be a good bishop, not a gay bishop," said the Reverend V. Gene Robinson, whose June 7 election in New Hampshire as the first openly gay Episcopalian bishop has further inflamed a global controversy that threatens to divide the 77...

Transitions.(The Advocate Report)(Obituary)
July 22, 2003... DIED: Nancy Diuguid, 54, an American-born director who pioneered gay and women's theater in England, of breast cancer, May 21. DIED: Glen Hilson, 51, a pioneering AIDS activist in Canada, of complications from AIDS, June 12. DIED:...

A grad alone.(High School Diary)(Brief Article)
July 22, 2003... The Advocate's high school correspondent attends his graduation without his parents, who are throwing him out of their house the day he turns 18. Read the final installment of Paul's diary, only on Advoca.com

After the race.(First-Person)(the life of a gay rights activist)(Brief Article)
July 22, 2003... Andrew Hyde, the youngest gay contestant in the third season of CBS's The Amazing Race, shares his busy life of gay activism in Kentucky, exclusively at Advocate.com.

Top 10 trips.(Advocate Travel)(Brief Article)
July 22, 2003... If you're planning a visit this summer to one of our top 10 weekend getaways [see page 38] such as Key West, Fla. (left),check out our free city guides and first-person travel stories, only at www.advocate.com/travel.

Pro-gay? Just clicks away.(On the Web)(Brief Article)
July 22, 2003... How many Web clicks does it take to uncover a presidential candidate's gay-friendliness? The Advocate surveyed the Web sites for the nine Democratic contenders in mid June (George W. Bush's site was not yet active) to determine how open each is...

Be my friendster.(On the Web)(social networking)(Brief Article)
July 22, 2003... people have always said that it's a small world. And the gay world, they say, is even smaller. So here's a chance to test that theory: Though not specifically a dating site, Friendster.com is using the popular "six degrees of separation"...

Musical theater rediscovered: May 15, 1980.(From the Advocate Archives)(Brief Article)
July 22, 2003... Before The Advocate looked at Camp, a movie about a musical theater summer camp, in the current issue, it ran a cover story on the gay-Broadway theater connection, 23 years ago. Sandy Duncan, then appearing in Peter Pan, told writer Harvey...

Reloaded, lesbian-style.(the Buzz)(lesbian kiss in the video game 'Enter the Matrix')(Brief Article)
July 22, 2003... Apparently there's gay action within the Matrix, even if it's virtual. Enter the Matrix, a mind-blowing video game-movie hybrid that ties into The Matrix's sequels, Reloaded and Revolutions, features a steamy lesbian smooch. Gamers can...

Meet the gay parents.(the Buzz)(television show It's All Relative)(Brief Article)
July 22, 2003... "WE'RE EXCITED because it's the first network series to have gay parenting," says Craig Zadan, speaking of his new fall ABC sitcom, It's All Relative. "It's also the first show to feature a gay committed relationship. " Executive-produced by...

Hasta la vista, babes.(the Buzz)(women in the Terminator films)(Brief Article)
July 22, 2003... OK, SO WE KNOW that the Terminator series is supposed to be a vehicle for Ah-nuld, but frankly, we've always found the women much more interesting. Linda Hamilton made a fascinating metamorphosis from beleaguered everywoman in the first...

Blame Canada: equal marriage rights in Canada will also allow U.S. gays to wed legally. How will that affect the fight for marriage rights at home?(World)
July 22, 2003... A few days before Prime Minister Jean Chretien's June 17 announcement that Canada would become the first nation outside of Europe to grant equal marriage rights to gay men and lesbians, Beth Hayes and Pam Trainor of Spencer, Ind., drove across...

The fight for the tiara: Donald Trump, who owns the Miss Universe pageant, stands in the way of a new drag pageant, Miss Gay Universe.(Culture)
July 22, 2003... Donald Trump is in trouble with another big-haired blond. Like all the other buxom blonds who land Trump in the news, this one's also a fox, namely drag performer Lauren Fox. When not in costume, Fox is Ben Kuhns, a 44-year-old interior...

Big blue wants you: IBM looks to make an eightfold boost in the number of gay businesses it buys supplies from.(Business)
July 22, 2003... Alongtime leader when it comes to diversity, IBM is now making another bold move. The Armonk, N.Y.-based computer giant has announced that it is actively seeking gay-, lesbian-, bisexual-, and transgender-owned businesses as part of its effort...

Top ten lists for summer: there's plenty of summer left. Here are our choices for fun ways to fill sunny days and hot nights.
July 22, 2003... WEEKEND GETAWAYS In the contiguous 48 states [1] Key West, Fla. The Conch Republic remains the queerest island in America. [2] Provincetown, Mass. With its scrumptious menu of gay B&Bs, strings of beaches, and quaint New England...

Happy campers: queer and straight kids bond in Camp, the all-singing, all-dancing gay feel-good movie of the summer.
July 22, 2003... High school student know instinctively what adults often need help to understand: Gays have to join forces with straight people to get Tht's the spirit behind the summer movie Camp, in which sexual orientation is secondary to talent. And time...

Go ask Alec.(minority retort)
July 22, 2003... Because gay Asians and their admirers face unique conflicts and quandaries, I'm devoting this column to advice from yours truly--America's gay Asian sweetheart. Dear Alec Mapa, I'm an attractive 28-year-old Vietnamese-American, and all...

Jazz lovers: for jazz stars Dena DeRose and Sheryl Bailey, being in love means finishing each other's sentences and sometimes even stealing a weekend at home.(music)
July 22, 2003... They're both top jazz artists, but their music is worlds apart. Singer-pianist Dena DeRose brings a modern-jazz hipness to the American standard repertoire. Guitarist Sheryl Bailey composes swinging, hard-bop instrumental and experiments with...

Delicious duo: the gay half of the Danish dance act Junior Senior tells how he's become an unlikely pop pinup.(music)
July 22, 2003... The walls of New York's famed Knitting Factory nightclub seem to be shaking. A capacity crowd of sweaty, downright joyful men and women are grinding and pogo-dancing in unison to a vibrant new wave-spiked dance groove that delightfully recalls...

Kissing Reese Witherspoon: Kissing Jessica Stein director Charles Herman-Wurmfeld guides the newly minted superstar through the think-pink sequel Legally Blonde 2.(film)
July 22, 2003... Talk about a dog-eat-dog town. A minute ago filmmaker Charles Herman-Wurmfeld (Kissing Jessica Stein.) was striding happily through a Santa Monica, Calif., coffeehouse when a large sheepdog shot out from his master's table and bit him in the...

The shallow end: Francois Ozon's Swimming Pool has style and great performances, but it's a rather lightweight summer fling.(Movie Review)
July 22, 2003... Director Francois Ozon is such a whiz that his wry, subversively sexy movies could spoil the hell out of us. The openly gay French filmmaker broke through to American moviegoers with last year's 8 Women, that whodunit hopped-up on estrogen and...

Boys on film: the quartet of gay-themed shorts in Boys Life 4 yields one gem and three earnest attempts.(Movie Review)
July 22, 2003... It's raining twinks. Boys Life, that omnibus film series for ageist gay white males with short attention spans, is back. While this fourth installment gallantly concedes that there is life after 25, the concerns of its characters remain more or...