When it comes to gays and Hollywood, what needs to change? With Fox News’ John Gibson making it clear that not everybody is okay with gay plotlines, let alone gay actors, Queerty editorial director David Hauslaib sat down with BigThink.com to discuss that issue.
Also touched upon, in the clip below: what David believes to be the most important issues facing the gay community today, as well as the responsibility gay men and women have toward the younger generation.
ggreen
And David’s expertise on these subjects comes from? David’s credentials as a commentator/opinion shaper are based on?
marc
Well he has run this website, about gay issues, for a few years, so I think he might have some idea about issues in the gay community. And I’ve seen him on TV a few times, so clearly someone must value his opinion.
I watched the clips, and I’d say I have to agree with most of it.
DCLadyGov
He is not very articulate. He seems to have a mouth full of marbles. He is cute though – I love his lips.
seitan-on-a-stick
Put the text of his speech up. I don’t really find him at all interesting but I want to respond. 5 years experience on a queer blogsite does not make one an expert. Marc is either his publicist, boyfriend or housemate (or ALL three)
M Shane Walsh
There is no question that gay people have in many cultures been undermined, and submissive to mainstream heterosexual sensabilities. Anyone who does the incredible job of bringing gay pertinent agendas to the forum of thought so well deserves our attention and thought. We can sit on our butts and whine, or become proactive when the time is right for us to get a culture. We need a platform to bring forward if we believe we deserve anything.
tom
im gay and i believe gays shouldnt be allowed to marry read my thoughts at http://www.liltomtom.com
Paul Raposo
Tom, if you’re gay, then I’m the pope. You’re a snot nosed punk kid using the anonymity of the internet to spread your ridiculous bigoted views. Grow the fuck up.
yalesing
of course,gay have equal right as common,if you thought gay undermine the basis of the society,you make a big error.i am a gay,i and my current gay partner meet on gaysinglehunt.com live a delighted life as normal people.we work,travel,all is ok
Paul Raposo
Educate yourself, Mr. Ocker:
http://tinyurl.com/2oayff
And,
http://tinyurl.com/2hgpwn
Stupid punk kids needing constant adult supervision so they don’t harm themselves. Maybe I should just leave you alone and allow you to become the newest candidate for the Darwin Award.
Dame Daxx
The most important issues facing gays today is who is going to win “Project Runway”.
I’m for Chris March. I bought tons of futures on Leopard Skin fabric in hopes that he will buy them to make himself a shirt.
Dame Daxx
I’m a longtime reader of the Weddings Section in the Sunday “New York Times”. Since 2004, the section has regularly featured 3 or 4 gay couples each week, either marriages or civil unions or celebration of partnerships. But nowadays there’s rarely any gay couples in it.
I doubt that this is due to any editorial decision by the NYT. I just think that most gay folks aren’t all that interested in getting married. But I do think that those who want to should be able to.
Paul Raposo
DD, because you don’t see many marriage notices in one paper, the NYT, you’ve arbitrarily decided that most gays are not interested in marriage? That opinion is as vacuous and empty as your blog–and you.
Marriages are not legal, nor available in the States, so obviously you will not see all that many notices for them in papers. In Canada, where we legalized equal marriage, over 1200 couples have married up here.
Don’t confuse inaccessibility with disinterest.
Dame Daxx
Gosh, Paul. You’re quite the prick, aren’t you?
Paul Raposo
“Gosh, Paul. You’re quite the prick, aren’t you?”
You’ve set the standard, DD.
Toot LeMonde
Dave looks a little like Matthew Broderick which reminds me that the biggest gay issue for ME is: Is there any chance Matthew Broderick can be seduced? I hear he’s straight, and he’s getting a little long in the tooth, but still…?
Mikey
I didn’t watch the videos but I felt like responding to the title of this entry…
For me the most important gay issue is marriage. I want to see full marriage and adoption rights. Until then I will feel like a second-class citizen in this country. Tolerated, but in a “why won’t you just come along now and conform” kind of way.
Dame Daxx
Toot, I say go for it. Matthew is married to a gay icon SGP so in my book that places him firmly in the David Gest and Peter Allen category of “married men”.
Best of luck. But be gentle.
Always a Bridesmaid, and Loving It
Why does any gay person in their right mind think that legalized marriage and the right to adopt children is some sort of political end all and be all when it is clearly just a validation of the straight life style?!?!?!
I have no wish to be assimilated into straight society any more than I have to be, thanks anyway — I don’t even know how to carry on a decent conversation with one of them. And all day long at work, all I hear is nothing but rotten kids, cheating spouses, arranging schedules so someone’s at home when the kids get out of schools, do I want to buy band candy, I have to leave early ’cause my kid’s gotta game, girl scouts, boy scouts, etc., etc. If I had to hear that crap from my friends, I’d shoot myself.
Charley
I think he is wonderful. Sincere and passionate.
Mike
This is simple. Some people believe in marriage- Some don’t. Just like straights, so do some gays.
I’ve been in a 23 year relationship. No other men for each of us in those many years- Ever.
Maybe because we didn’t have that “Jesus” stigma over us, or maybe because we just trust, honor and love each other. (obey, sorry-we at least are our own men, a part, but more importantly-together)
But why deny those who want to marry? Every one loves a good party and are happy to see those we love happy and heathly!
We all sooner or later figure out what works for us. Either together-or alone.
P.S. I do have the most beautiful ring that’s 22 years old, and tho it’s not “blessed” by God or the goverment- it’s totally beholdin’ to me!
spg
The most important gay/lesbian issue has never changed – the creation and expansion of gay positive and safe space – jurisdiction by jurisdiction. Our history traces that growth of safe space from the post World War 2 anonymous urban ghettos to the beginning of openness at the Stonewall Riots, Lance Loud’s coming out on PBS , Harvey Milk’s election as Supervisor, the radical fairies, and the evolution of gay specific political action organizations. And we remain unfinished in our work.
All of the specific statutory rights derive from it whether it’s adoption, school registration, DNC Affirmative Action delegate seats, marriage rights, and so on. It is not relevant that gays and lesbians exercise the aformentioned rights. The point is that they be available if they are available to others.
If we have convinced most of the body culture that we are Proud, and Meaningful, (check the polls, they want our taxes from our productivity) then why separate rules for us?
M Shane Walsh
Ditto for “always a bridesmaid and…” I myself don’t see why any gat person would want to be assimilated into the hertonormative lifestyle.
We need to build a community and platform based on our own experience and lives.
As mundanre as it may sound the strongest and most universal character that we need to develope a sense of community and political platfom is our capacity for rich friendships-these are the makings of our families.
Ed Wilson, the author: “dancer from the dance ” noted that in urban areas where there were enough people develope any public sense, that sex is mostly casual. rmance short lived; that the real continuity of peoples lives came from friends: to recieve sustenence from a dozen or so close friends, pairing off gives too little and expects too much. Marriage is just an attempt to seem straight-the original intention of was babymaking.
Why souldn’t straight society assimilate to us .
Something that Foucault claimed was that the biggest thing that scared straight people about queers was our ability to have “passionate , durable friiendships.”.
Since we are totally alienated from the Heterosexual “nuclear family we have to get off our butts and develope our own families and have laws made that alow us rights in keeping with oour own need toi inherit etc. We especially need to take care that gay chjildren are welciome in the world and to take special care the older people are loved, that htey don’t die before thier times.
Always a Bridesmaid, and Loving It
Just because heterosexuals are pressured to get married and produce grandchildren for overzealous grandparents doesn’t mean that I am going to pick up the torch and make it my personal political issue. There are other, more pressing issues that concern me at the moment, like the totally senseless war and the fact the the economy is in the toilet. Yes, it totally sucks that same-sex partners can’t make important medical decisions or automatically inherit (although, as far as I’m concerned they can keep gays out of the military, and straights, too. Just make the people who decide to go to war and their children fight it). But that’s not going to stop me from voting against every MFer who got us in this mess, even if she promised gay marriage AND a week in the Bridge Suite at the Atlantis resort in the Bahamas.
M Shane Walsh
Sorry , I tried to write too much in a very short time span(above). Hope you can make some sense of it, nonetheless, since think that the issue is really important. I wanted to add that re: Hollywood, I have argueed elsewhere that it was worth considering that Heath Ledgers role was posibly a meaphor for the closeted life that Hollywood actors are most often forced to lead. As a consequence of the overzelous press and fans who live trheir lives thru alter egos in Hollywood. It is virtually impossible for an actor to be a leading man unless he is putting it to women. I can offhand think of actorrs who have currently made it by virtue of closing a faustian deal with the devil to exchange their emotional lives for weath and fame. I have been astonished at how many GAY people were offended by that thought. How brainwashed. Heath may well have overdosed.
Offhand, I can think of at least two and perhaps three up and coming actors who were openly out and in order to get top billing
whitewashed thier gay lives and histories to become “straight” Ioan Guffould(?) and Guy Peirce are who I’m thinking of. The cute Irish actor (?), used to run around to gay clubs in Dublin. If you’ve been around stage actors, you know that a large percentage of them are gay.
The truth is , regardless of any extraneous facts related to industry operation., we need to have role models who do well as actors and since we have to watch movies all the time it is unhealthy to not have gay people in significant roles. We need to read books about queers’ emotional lives. We need to know that we are important, that we are different but that there’s are ways for us to live.
david gabriel
wow
i agree
with meth and the real mafia and sick gays providing baths,and both in major cities
who needs those types of gays..
i recently signed up for a gay convention in a Major city and was shocked to find out that part was a all inclusive day a la baths….Ew..so much for getting laid that nite .Then at dinner the host,in drag reminded all to swallow..Sad….
Davidgabriel ,medium
expect more to Come..hmm also how much attention was given to last week’s national alert about new strains of hiv….
A word to the wise is what we just heard..and i get that a book is following..send me a copy asap..it will be an honor to read..
much love
dg