Tag Archives: Lesbian

03.22.13
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Screaming Out of the Closet

“Would the twink in the corner demanding an umbrella in his flirtini have grown out of his conceptually feminine behaviours by the age of ten if he’d been taught the words to Gloria Gaynor’s I Am What I Am instead of Jack and Jill when he was four?  Does it matter?  Am I in my own way being homophobic by thinking that?  Surely true equality comes when nobody is judged for being different”. 

Barry Church-Woods

300px-KennethWilliamsThey say the best way to make a lasting impression, is to make a great entrance.

I know a lot of gay men who do this on a daily basis.  Some enter rooms with a flourish, some jeté their way into a conversation while others squeal with delight to signify their approval.

I for one won’t get out of bed unless Barbara is being piped through the house in surround sound whilst a group of specially trained toy dogs bring me my underwear neatly laid out on velvet cushions.

My father wasn’t surprised that I was gay.  Maybe it was because I used to watch Dallas and sing I Want To Be Bobbies Girl. Or my Bucks Fizz impression with the tea towel.  Or the fact that I spent the summer of ’86 commandeering the video player in the living room so I could learn all the routines to the Virgin Tour. It never seemed like an issue that he’d given much thought to.  One night a couple of years ago over a whisky he mentioned that he was confused, as I don’t act like one.  Realising that the ‘one’ he was referring to was the ‘homosexualist’ I bit my lip and stopped my impulse to say, “You’ve just never seen me suck a cock”.  Thankfully.

On further evaluation I began to realise just how far we’ve evolved in the past sixty years.  My dad was 18 when homosexuality was decriminalised in the UK. He lived through a sexual revolution.  A social change where James Dean spoke for a generation of angsty teens determined to gain their own freedoms and make their own rules.  A time where centuries of repression finally gave way and gay men and women finally had permission to be who they really were.

The phrase ‘act like one’ jarred with me.  It seemed narrow minded and ignorant, but then I realised that he comes from a generation where his first experience of gay men was watching the screaming queens on the telly.  In-your-face activists were rightly, pushing in front of the cameras demanding to be heard after years of repression. Voices that had been silenced for eons eventually had volume, and people were listening!  They became role models, poster boys or girls for a new generation, one where gender roles were blurred, where boys could be girls and girls could be boys and nobody had ever considered the possibility of gender being a non-binary concept.

Yes, they were a true reflection of who they really were, but they were also an amplified sample of a much larger group of people emerging from the shadows?  People less camp.  People less confrontational.  Were these role models doing a disservice to the community?  Tarring everyone with the same Max Factor brush?

 

It got me thinking about why so many gay men come screaming out of the closet.  Is it a right of passage that I somehow tumblr_m1nkkivNNt1rsfsxko1_1280
missed?  Is it that for some of us, we’ve been so tightly wound that when we finally start becoming ourselves we can’t stop?  It’s like a tourette impulse.  I know a hundred gay men who left their girlfriends on Monday and by Friday night were teaching Cheryl Cole’s Fight For This Love dance routine to teenage girls outside chip shops at 2am, screaming like banshees and bitching about boys.

Is this how they’d be naturally if they’d been born into a society that didn’t condition children into behaviours based on their bits?

Would the twink in the corner demanding an umbrella in his flirtini have grown out of his conceptually feminine behaviours by the age of ten if he’d been taught the words to Gloria Gaynor’s I Am What I Am instead of Jack and Jill when he was four?  Does it matter?  Am I in my own way being homophobic by thinking that?  Surely true equality comes when nobody is judged for being different.

I can laugh heartily at the choice to list ‘straight acting’ in a Grindr profile that later states ‘rimming’ as an enjoyable past-time, but is this just perpetuating yet another lack of tolerance?  I’m not sure I’ll ever have an answer.  I’m not even sure I need it.  We are after all, all Jock Tamsin’s bairns and I for one love each sparkle and each bangle.

SHINE ON.

03.20.13
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Richard O’Brien: “I’m 70% man”.

“It’s my belief that we are on a continuum between male and female. There are people who are hardwired male and there are people who are hardwired female, but most of us are on that continuum and I believe myself probably to be about 70% male, 30% female.”

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Richard O’Brien, writer of hit musical The Rocky Horror Show, delighted in shaking up the conservative sexual attitudes of the 1970s.

His most famous creation, Dr Frank N Furter, brought the house down with his song Sweet Transvestite.

But the show’s creator was ashamed about his own long-held desire to be more feminine.

“I was six-and-a-half and I said to my big brother that I wanted to be the fairy princess when I grew up. The look of disdain on his face made me pull down the shutters. I knew that I should never ever say that out loud again.”

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03.01.13
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Why We Should Thank Our Lucky Stars For Madonna

“Why is it that these women have forgotten how great it was to have a role model that not only stuck it to the man, but then stuck it to herself, in herself and tasted it as if to say how dare you moderate my sexuality?”

Barry Church-Woods


SexyDesktop Wallpaper Image

I’m a Madonna fan.

For a lot of people of my generation it came with being gay. Like the pop culture equivalent of the gentleman’s lavender handkerchief or Truman Capote’s dickie bow, loving a certain someone from Rochester, Michigan whilst owning a penis has for a long time insinuated that you would like to get into the groove in a way that doesn’t just involve dancing.

Being a Madonna fan replaced the word bachelor for a while.

My grandmother used to introduce me to her friends as a ‘Madonna fan’. When I showed up at parties dressed in a conical bra with a fake head-mic on, it was because I was a ‘Madonna fan’. When I nearly set fire to the back garden, burning crucifixes and dancing in front of them, it was because I was a ‘Madonna fan’.

It seems that lately, Madonna had become a dirty word and the press are ready to crucify her at every step.

She’s recently been in the media for her shocking antics in Malawi.  The terrible thing she did last year?  She built 10 extensions to existing schools creating education opportunities for 500 children and young people.  She should have built 10 schools apparently, but lets be honest, progress is progress no matter how long it takes to get there.

She also got her boob out on tour, came on stage two hours late most nights and called famous nazi Marine Le Penne out for being a…wait for it…a nazi.

Oh, and we mustn’t forget this one.  She adopted two children from a third world country where they were sure to suffer disease and malnutrition from severe poverty, and she…she fed them.  And clothed them.  And gave them a nice home with a nanny.  The cheeky cow.  How dare she?

Around the time of the release of her film W.E., Madonna mentioned in an interview with Harper’s Bazaar that nowadays when anyone writes anything about her, her age is right after her name as if to limit her achievements or remind her that society would like her to stop soon.

A quick online search finds this to be true. It also finds that most of the negativity thrown at her in the past 10 years has been from women. Women that grew up singing along to True Blue in the mirror with a hairbrush, bleaching their hair in the 80s, and wearing lace gloves to weddings when they were kids. Women who it seems would now prefer her to crawl under a rock and stop doing what the world fell in love with her for in the first place.

Why is it that these women have forgotten how great it was to have a role model that not only stuck it to the man, but then stuck it to herself, in herself and tasted it as if to say how dare you moderate my sexuality?

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What has made them forget the sheer joy or behaving in complete contradiction to how society would expect them to? The role model that once told them that she wanted to conquer the world seems to have done just that and yes, dreams really do come true.

For some.

Sadly, it seems that many of those little girls being told there was a new tomorrow where anything was possible have now grown into the jaded bitchy fat girls in the corner, unhappy with their 9-5 existence in their cul-de-sac in Bury St. Edmunds (or equivalent), jealous of the continued success of the woman that defined a generation.

Madonna’s latest album MDNA seems to have been a commercial flop. While much of the media read it for what it is, a fun up-tempo record with some great production, the same women I’ve been writing about complained that it didn’t have the depth befitting of a 53 year old woman. That someone with children should be singing about heartbreak and pain. That Kate Bush just did an album about fucking a snowman that was brilliant and Madonna should do something similar or give up.

The fact that Madonna’s film W.E. depicts a very real time in history, where a man gave up his throne the be with the woman he loved is not without irony set against the backdrop of calls for a reigning Queen to abdicate her throne to a more suitable suitor. Someone more bendy, more youthful perhaps? Someone that doesn’t wear leotards? Someone that acts her age?

But really, deep down, we know what these critics want.

They want her to fuck off and stop reminding them of all of their failures and broken dreams.

But she can’t.  And shouldn’t.  And mustn’t. And here’s why we need her here to stay in the public eye.  At least another few years.

Growing up in the 80s, girls wanted to be her, boys wanted to fuck her and boyz wanted to fuck like her.  She was an instant role model.

She was the first voice I ever heard saying that homosexuality was an acceptable way of life.

Until then, the only other person I’d heard talk about homosexuality was Jerry Falwell. In 1968 he said that preachers are not called to be politicians, but soul winners, and sixteen years later, his hypocrisy shone through as he led a movement that helped put Ronald Reagan in the White House, conservatives on the Supreme Court, and turned the Democratic South solidly Republican.

Bad.  Yes.

But then he did this.

He funded an international campaign to recognize AIDS as “God’s punishment for being a faggot”.  Not just that.  It was also God’s punishment to the world, for allowing faggots to exist.

Imagine all that power; having a voice like that?  A voice that was heard all over the world.  A voice that was heard by this 13 year old “faggot” in a council estate in West Lothian, Scotland.

Now I was always taught not to speak ill of the dead.  But it is hard when the dead person was a hateful cunt of a man.

His harmful opinions were set against a backdrop of political inefficiency and lack of education about HIV and AIDS that allowed the disease to progress at a rate unheard of before for something that wasn’t airborne.

But then came Like a Prayer.

Amongst all of the controversy of the brilliant video and the scandal of a $5million Pepsi deal gone wrong, Madonna did something wonderful.  Something very simple and under the radar.  Something missed by most parents and God fearing Christians. In the album sleeve-notes, she inserted some writing about the dangers of HIV and AIDS.  And a safe sex message.  In one simple move, she’d countered the hatred and broken the firewall to information…for her fans at least.  Did I mention a lot of them were gay?

Prayerinsert

From that point on, Madonna started to raise her game.  Acting out in public to get her message across.  Bending the ear of her loyal army of fans and helping the message infiltrate society.

It’s OK to be gay. 

She pushed buttons, she changed fashion, she changed buttons, she pushed fashion.  Her impact was so endless for this 36 year old homo that it actually took me until I was 17 to realise that the Madonna/Whore complex wasn’t a statement about how my sister dressed and was actually rooted in a time before Madame Ciccone.

And to this day, she continues to support the LGBT community across the globe by using her position and status to keep hitting home with the same message:

“You cannot use religion to treat other people badly, you cannot use God’s name to treat other people badly, we all deserve love,”

Change is happening. One day, equality will shine through. But we’re not there yet ,and personally I don’t think it’s time for the LGBT community to lose a voice that defined a generation.

Thank you Madonna.

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01.30.13
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Open letter to ‘Administrator’: Homophobia is not welcome here

“Personally, I can’t think of anything more unchristian than taking it upon oneself to pass sweeping judgment on others, choosing exclusion and disrespect over understanding and kindness…talk of false prophets.”

Josef Church-Woods

Hmm...yeah, this seems perfectly sound, reasonable and fact-based.

Hmm…yeah, this seems perfectly sound, reasonable and fact-based.

A few weeks ago, we posted an opinion piece on here titled ‘Silence of the Gays’ by Joe Church-Woods, about famous, gay people and the fact that, sadly, they often choose to keep their public persona in the closet. The column referenced Jodie Foster, as it was her ‘coming out speech’ at the Golden Globe Awards that inspired it.

The blog entry earned us a lot of feedback – mostly good, although some readers questioned the premise of the column, offering alternative views on the complex issue of coming out and privacy. We’ve really enjoyed reading people’s responses, and as always, we welcome debate and constructive criticism.

However, as LGBT icons was set up by and for LGBT people, as well as supporters with an interest in LGBT issues, we feel strongly that this blog is not a suitable forum for those who are of the opinion that being (and living as) gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender is wrong or sinful.

One reader’s contributions in the comment section of the blog stood out in particular. WordPress user ‘Administrator’ posted a couple of remarks, expressing a whole host of unfounded and homophobic views, some of which were dressed up (rather scantily) as facts.

We are very well aware that the world if full of fundamental Christians and other (religious as well as non-religious) people who are firmly planted in the anti-gay, anti-equality camp. We’re just not sure what their purpose would be in choosing to interact with us on LGBT icons, telling us we are abominations, other than to harass.

Subsequently, Joe has drafted an open letter to ‘Administrator’, in response to their offensive comments. You can read Joe’s letter below if you are interested, and we have also pasted in Administrator’s original comment and the subsequent exchange at the bottom, for context.

Open letter to ‘Administrator’:

The sentiment and attitudes expressed in your comments on the ‘Silence of the Gays’ opinion piece, published on this blog earlier this month, are exactly the kind of arrogant, irrational, narrow-minded and mean-spirited views that make it so difficult for many (gay and straight) people to take anti-gay, religious arguments seriously.

Firstly, being gay is not a choice.

I’m not saying that it’s impossible to feel gay, or have ‘homosexual urges’ and experiences, but then ‘grown out of it’, or manage to find happiness and fulfillment in a straight relationship.

What I am saying is that any person going through that kind of sexual journey was never gay, in the purest meaning of the word, in first place. By definition, the ability to find both men and women sexually attractive would make them bisexual, or at least bi-curious. But perhaps you have some contradictory, personal experience in this matter that you can enlighten me with?

Really though, the question of whether or not some people can ‘choose to be straight’ is a sidebar and irrelevant, as far as I am concerned. Because I know for a fact that being gay was not something I chose, and I also know from first hand experience that not everyone can ‘pray the gay away’.

I tried for many years to ‘overcome’ my homosexuality and I spent a considerable amount of time begging God for help. Help which never came, by the way. At least not until I eventually, in my late teens and early 20′s, started to see that there was nothing wrong with me. If God does exists, I can only assume that this insight of mine must have been his will.

You and those like you call yourselves Christians, picking and choosing the bits of the bible that fit in with your subjective, hurtful views, while ignoring all the ones that don’t, including some of the most important and powerful messages to come out of that particular book – namely live and let live; love your fellow humans; and the importance of compassion and generosity of spirit.

Personally, I can’t think of anything more unchristian than taking it upon oneself to pass sweeping judgment on others, choosing exclusion and disrespect over understanding and kindness…talk of false prophets.

Because of people like you, and the ill-informed opinions and preconceptions that you bandy about, growing up as a young, gay person was pretty hellish for me. Why would anyone facing all that bullying, hate and discrimination choose to be gay?

As an adult, I figured out that the problem is not my attraction to other men, it’s the attitudes of homophobic people – even if I could force myself to be straight, I shouldn’t have to. As a scared, lonely teenager though, I wanted nothing more than to be ‘like everyone else’. But I couldn’t help who I was and I couldn’t change it – with or without God. My only choice, I eventually realised, was to accept my situation and try to overcome the fear of being myself.

Every single LGBT person I can think of, who I have every spoken to (a very substantial number over the years), has reported similar experiences growing up, so I know that my struggle is the norm, rather than an exception to the rule.

Thankfully, things are slowly getting better for LGBT people. The general consensus is slowly but surely changing and most people these days (including many decision makers) know that being gay is not a ‘chosen lifestyle’,  a perversion or an illness, just like we all now know that planet Earth isn’t flat, or the centre of the universe.

I would also like to point out that you are wrong when you say that “Homosexuality has always been historically seen as a symptom of the downgrading of any society.” There are lots of examples throughout history, and in communities all around the world, where homosexuality was – and is – considered a normal, functional part of society.

Homosexuality is a naturally occurring, normal variation of sexuality in a huge range of species, including humans. Homophobia, on the other hand, only exists among humans and, like the bible, it is a relatively recent invention in the context of human evolution as a whole.

Not only is homosexuality a natural variation in human beings; numerous scientific studies have also shown that it is not in itself a source of negative psychological effects. By contrast, prejudice and discrimination against gay and bisexual people have been shown to cause psychological harm.

Naturally, I can’t speak for all the gay and bisexual people in the world. However, I can assure you that personally, I am not looking for any ‘special privileges’, and neither are any of the LGBT people I have ever met and spoken to. I’m not sure which gay people and groups you have taken the time to meet and hear, but from your comments, I’m guessing not that many, if any.

We simply want the same rights, privileges and protections afforded everyone else in the society we live in. That, and the right to be who we are without fear of exclusion, discrimination, persecution and violence.

I don’t think that’s too much to ask of the mostly heterosexual and Christian (or otherwise religious) families that brought us into the world.

You may disagree, but if you seriously think that such a request could reasonably explain and justify sociopolitical upheaval, as well as the breakdown of the family unit, then you really need to rethink your world view, or at the very least try to understand someone else’s circumstances.

Please don’t bother visiting the LGBT icons blog again, or responding to this, unless you have something significantly more rational and less offensive to say.

Thanks,
Joe

Administrator’s comments on the Silence of the Gays blog post, with responses:

Administrator, January 18, 2013 at 8:20 pm

It used to be that people who ascribed to an alternate lifestyle wanted to have rights and be recognized. Now these same people want to take away the rights of everyone who disagrees with them. How much lower can we get before the bottom drops out?

Reply:

Tapman, January 28, 2013 at 3:35 am

I think maybe you have been listening to some conspiracy theories? What rights do they actually want to take away from us?

Josef Church-Woods, January 28, 2013 at 12:35 pm

Administrator – your comment illustrates perfectly the position of many conservative, religious and ‘anti-equality’ individuals in the UK. As you can imagine, I have a huge problem with the notion that encouraging an inclusive and anti-discriminatory environment – and introducing measures to give everyone in our society equal rights, privileges and protections – would somehow be unfair and mean towards people who feel homosexuality is wrong. It’s the equivalent of a racist shop owner arguing it’s unfair that they have to serve black people, or a misogynist complaining that letting ladies vote is infringing on his right to male superiority. They can think that if they want, but in this day and age, I’d like to think they’ll understand and accept that that the law, the government and the majority of the rest of the population won’t back them up. Some people may feel affronted and upset that not everyone wants to adhere to their belief system, but the fact is that they are still very much free to stick with it themselves. Take the issue of same sex marriage for example; no one is proposing to force religious organisations to marry gay or bisexual couples if they don’t want to, and those who do not believe in this type of union are under no obligation to be part of one in any way. Yet the mere idea that same sex couples could have a faith, and want to acknowledge that in their commitment to each other, seems to offend huge numbers of religious and anti-gay people no end. Like it’s somehow ruining religion for them. It’s got nothing to do with anyone other than the couple, their family and their church, so why would anyone else think that letting same-sex couples get married in church might take something away from them, or denigrate their own relationship? If their faith, or their marriage, is so fragile that its well-being is threatened by the lives of people they don’t even know, perhaps it’s time for them to reconsider their spiritual and emotional priorities? Bottom line is, we’re all free to our personal beliefs and opinions, but we still have to accept that other people have different beliefs. And provided they are law abiding citizens, they should have the same legal protection and recognition as everyone else in our society. As Jesus might have said: If LGBT equality is slapping you in the face, turn the other cheek.

Reply:

Administrator, January 28, 2013 at 3:53 pm

There is one thing that you fail to understand is that the homosexual choice cannot be put on the same level as gender or race. Placing choice of lifestyle on the same level those who did not choose their gender of race distracts from the real issue of what a homosexual is. The real issue is not that homosexuals should be a special class of persons who deserve to be protected, but that any society who truly seeks enlightenment and progress should learn from the past. Homosexuality has always been historically seen as a symptom of the downgrading of any society. The selfish nature and prideful position that the homosexual and homosexual groups have should serve to show us that our society, culture, and now the family unit is in deep deep trouble. Not only does the homosexual seek to gain special privileges, but they want to take away the common-sense and natural rights of those who ascribe to any universal absolute. Why do you think Isalm, Facism, and totalitarianism are growing trends in the west? People are frustrated that basic moral behavior is being lost and are will to turn to anything that would protect them… even if it’s been already proven to over-step other basic human freedoms. It’s time you re-thought impact of what you think you believe.

Reply:

Tapman, January 28, 2013 at 9:12 pm

Dear Administrator, since when has homosexuality been a choice of lifestyle? I think you may have missed thirty years of scientific discovery. You seem also to have received some history classes that none of the rest have. If your a Christian, please stop, your embarrassing the rest of us.

01.24.13
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Homo Nest Raided, Queen Bees Are Stinging Mad – Stonewall Revisited

“A beauty of a specimen named Stella wailed uncontrollably while being led to the sidewalk in front of the Stonewall by a cop. She later confessed that she didn’t protest the manhandling by the officer, it was just that her hair was in curlers and she was afraid her new beau might be in the crowd and spot her. She didn’t want him to see her this way, she wept”.

Schild_Christopher_Street

Barry Church-Woods

Last weekend, Joe and I embarked on a pub crawl with a difference.  Both of us had been to New York before but neither had ever hit the infamous Christopher Street.

In the 1970s, Christopher Street became the “Main Street” of gay New York. Large numbers of gay men would promenade its length at all hours. Gay bars and stores selling leather fetish clothing and artistic decorative items flourished at that time. It’s also the birthplace of Gay Pride, being the site of the original Stonewall Inn, the venue that was raided by police and became the catalyst for the Stonewall riots.

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@JosefCW on Christopher Street

Much has changed on Christopher Street since 1969.

It’s a wonderfully cosmopolitan street with beautiful architecture and many a classy joint (if you avert your eyes from Boots ‘n Saddle, a dive bar that sells $3 pints at happy hour).  But it struck me thinking about its history that the most significant change is in attitudes.

Indeed, this Monday past we witnessed the birth of a new era of equality.  An era where the President of the USA’s inaugural speech spoke of LGBT equality, where Richard Blanco, became the first openly gay person to deliver the inaugural poem and where the Benediction delivered by the Rev. Luis Leon included the paragraph:

“With the blessing of your blessing we will see that we are created in your image, whether brown, black or white, male or female, first generation or immigrant American, or daughter of the American Revolution, gay or straight, rich or poor.”

Times are changing and this is something we should celebrate.  It struck me that 1969 is not that long ago.  44 years to be precise.  The same year activist Spencer Cox was born, that Led Zeppelin released their first album, that John Lennon and Yoko Ono got married and staged their Bed In and of course it was the year of the first moon landing.  So in recent history, it was really not that long ago.

The following text comes from the New York Daily News, the day after the Stonewall Riots.  It’s a fascinating insight into how much has changed.

Homo-nest-raided

HOMO NEST RAIDED, QUEEN BEES ARE STINGING MAD

She sat there with her legs crossed, the lashes of her mascara-coated eyes beating like the wings of a hummingbird. She was angry. She was so upset she hadn’t bothered to shave. A day old stubble was beginning to push through the pancake makeup. She was a he. A queen of Christopher Street.

Last weekend the queens had turned commandos and stood bra strap to bra strap against an invasion of the helmeted Tactical Patrol Force. The elite police squad had shut down one of their private gay clubs, the Stonewall Inn at 57 Christopher St., in the heart of a three-block homosexual community in Greenwich Village. Queen Power reared its bleached blonde head in revolt. New York City experienced its first homosexual riot. “We may have lost the battle, sweets, but the war is far from over,” lisped an unofficial lady-in-waiting from the court of the Queens.

“We’ve had all we can take from the Gestapo,” the spokesman, or spokeswoman, continued. “We’re putting our foot down once and for all.” The foot wore a spiked heel. According to reports, the Stonewall Inn, a two-story structure with a sand painted brick and opaque glass facade, was a mecca for the homosexual element in the village who wanted nothing but a private little place where they could congregate, drink, dance and do whatever little girls do when they get together.

The thick glass shut out the outside world of the street. Inside, the Stonewall bathed in wild, bright psychedelic lights, while the patrons writhed to the sounds of a juke box on a square dance floor surrounded by booths and tables. The bar did a good business and the waiters, or waitresses, were always kept busy, as they snaked their way around the dancing customers to the booths and tables. For nearly two years, peace and tranquility reigned supreme for the Alice in Wonderland clientele.

The Raid Last Friday

Last Friday the privacy of the Stonewall was invaded by police from the First Division. It was a raid. They had a warrant. After two years, police said they had been informed that liquor was being served on the premises. Since the Stonewall was without a license, the place was being closed. It was the law.

All hell broke loose when the police entered the Stonewall. The girls instinctively reached for each other. Others stood frozen, locked in an embrace of fear.

Only a handful of police were on hand for the initial landing in the homosexual beachhead. They ushered the patrons out onto Christopher Street, just off Sheridan Square. A crowd had formed in front of the Stonewall and the customers were greeted with cheers of encouragement from the gallery.

The whole proceeding took on the aura of a homosexual Academy Awards Night. The Queens pranced out to the street blowing kisses and waving to the crowd. A beauty of a specimen named Stella wailed uncontrollably while being led to the sidewalk in front of the Stonewall by a cop. She later confessed that she didn’t protest the manhandling by the officer, it was just that her hair was in curlers and she was afraid her new beau might be in the crowd and spot her. She didn’t want him to see her this way, she wept.

Queen Power

The crowd began to get out of hand, eye witnesses said. Then, without warning, Queen Power exploded with all the fury of a gay atomic bomb. Queens, princesses and ladies-in-waiting began hurling anything they could get their polished, manicured fingernails on. Bobby pins, compacts, curlers, lipstick tubes and other femme fatale missiles were flying in the direction of the cops. The war was on. The lilies of the valley had become carnivorous jungle plants.

Urged on by cries of “C’mon girls, lets go get’em,” the defenders of Stonewall launched an attack. The cops called for assistance. To the rescue came the Tactical Patrol Force.

Flushed with the excitement of battle, a fellow called Gloria pranced around like Wonder Woman, while several Florence Nightingales administered first aid to the fallen warriors. There were some assorted scratches and bruises, but nothing serious was suffered by the honeys turned Madwoman of Chaillot.

Official reports listed four injured policemen with 13 arrests. The War of the Roses lasted about 2 hours from about midnight to 2 a.m. There was a return bout Wednesday night.

Two veterans recently recalled the battle and issued a warning to the cops. “If they close up all the gay joints in this area, there is going to be all out war.”

Bruce and Nan

Both said they were refugees from Indiana and had come to New York where they could live together happily ever after. They were in their early 20′s. They preferred to be called by their married names, Bruce and Nan.

“I don’t like your paper,” Nan lisped matter-of-factly. “It’s anti-fag and pro-cop.”

“I’ll bet you didn’t see what they did to the Stonewall. Did the pigs tell you that they smashed everything in sight? Did you ask them why they stole money out of the cash register and then smashed it with a sledge hammer? Did you ask them why it took them two years to discover that the Stonewall didn’t have a liquor license.”

Bruce nodded in agreement and reached over for Nan’s trembling hands.

“Calm down, doll,” he said. “Your face is getting all flushed.”

Nan wiped her face with a tissue.

“This would have to happen right before the wedding. The reception was going to be held at the Stonewall, too,” Nan said, tossing her ashen-tinted hair over her shoulder.

“What wedding?,” the bystander asked.

Nan frowned with a how-could-anybody-be-so-stupid look. “Eric and Jack’s wedding, of course. They’re finally tieing the knot. I thought they’d never get together.”

Meet Shirley

“We’ll have to find another place, that’s all there is to it,” Bruce sighed. “But every time we start a place, the cops break it up sooner or later.”

“They let us operate just as long as the payoff is regular,” Nan said bitterly. “I believe they closed up the Stonewall because there was some trouble with the payoff to the cops. I think that’s the real reason. It’s a shame. It was such a lovely place. We never bothered anybody. Why couldn’t they leave us alone?”

Shirley Evans, a neighbor with two children, agrees that the Stonewall was not a rowdy place and the persons who frequented the club were never troublesome. She lives at 45 Christopher St.

“Up until the night of the police raid there was never any trouble there,” she said. “The homosexuals minded their own business and never bothered a soul. There were never any fights or hollering, or anything like that. They just wanted to be left alone. I don’t know what they did inside, but that’s their business. I was never in there myself. It was just awful when the police came. It was like a swarm of hornets attacking a bunch of butterflies.”

A reporter visited the now closed Stonewall and it indeed looked like a cyclone had struck the premisses.

Police said there were over 200 people in the Stonewall when they entered with a warrant. The crowd outside was estimated at 500 to 1,000. According to police, the Stonewall had been under observation for some time. Being a private club, plain clothesmen were refused entrance to the inside when they periodically tried to check the place. “They had the tightest security in the Village,” a First Division officer said, “We could never get near the place without a warrant.”

Police Talk

The men of the First Division were unable to find any humor in the situation, despite the comical overtones of the raid.

“They were throwing more than lace hankies,” one inspector said. “I was almost decapitated by a slab of thick glass. It was thrown like a discus and just missed my throat by inches. The beer can didn’t miss, though, “it hit me right above the temple.”

Police also believe the club was operated by Mafia connected owners. The police did confiscate the Stonewall’s cash register as proceeds from an illegal operation. The receipts were counted and are on file at the division headquarters. The warrant was served and the establishment closed on the grounds it was an illegal membership club with no license, and no license to serve liquor.

The police are sure of one thing. They haven’t heard the last from the Girls of Christopher Street.

“The New York Daily News,” July 6, 1969

 

01.23.13
by

Angel of Retribution – Rob Halford

“It’s like when any of us step out of that closet and we set ourselves free there is a tremendous feeling of elation”.

Rob Halford Performing at Ozzfest August 22 2010 in Camden NJ USA

Barry Church-Woods with supporting material from SDGLN.com

I don’t know much about Judas Priest. I’m not really a fan of heavy metal.  In fact, it’s probably fair to say that the heaviest metal in my CD collection is a guitar mix of Madonna’s American Life.

My memories of Judas Priest are not really of them.  They are more accurately described as experiences about them.

I remember a skit by Sandra Bernhard where she portrays teenage boys listening to them while screaming “fuck that Jew man!”  I remember hearing that their music was making young people commit suicide and all about the trial to prove it.  I didn’t believe it, perhaps Shania could make happen, but not them.  I just couldn’t believe it.  In the same way I didn’t believe famous bigots like Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson talk about how they were devil worshipers.

A couple of days ago, I got an email from a reader who suggested Rob Halford as a subject for LGBTicons.  The name rang a bell though I couldn’t quite place him.  A quick google search sparked the memory of my intern sending me photos of him while proclaiming that he thought I’d be into men ‘like’ him.

Questioning why someone I’d known for two weeks would have any idea about my taste in men I quickly realised just how young and sheltered said intern was and that the ‘like’ he referred to, was men that are ‘gay’ and not men that are ‘butch leather daddies that look like they might want to wear me like a puppet’.

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Still, that’s twice he’s come into my life in a matter of weeks and as such, it’s about time to delve deeper into who he is and why he should be considered an LGBTicon.

A little bit of research and a lot of online trawling finds that very few vocalists in the world of heavy metal have been as influential and as EPIC as Rob Halford.  Yes, EPIC!  With his legendary band Judas Priest, Halford produced almost 20 albums. His voice is unparalleled in his field with a range of four octaves (that’s just one less than famous dog whistle Mariah Carey!)

The mind-blowing front man with considerable stage magnetism has been going strong for 30 years. Halford, a longtime San Diego resident, has been openly gay for the past 14 years.  Here, he talks about how things have changed since coming out:

“Well, musically they have not changed at all. On a personal level it has changed dramatically. It’s like when any of us step out of that closet and we set ourselves free there is a tremendous feeling of elation. You can be who you are without having to hide, without having to lie, and it makes you stronger, and more complete as a person. That’s the main thing that I was able to experience when I made the announcement, and from that point on my life, my personal life which has always been kind of a public life anyway was finally revealed, and it was a great lot of pressure lifting off of my back. It really was the best thing to do. It is the best thing for any of us to do if we find that we are able to step out and be who we are without having to be something that we are not”.

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Here, he talks to the SDGLN.com

When you came out, you were working on music with your band at the time called Two. You had been working with Trent Reznor. I heard in an interview where someone stated that it was easier for you to come out in the industrial music scene as people were more accepting. Did you find it easier to come out in the industrial music scene as opposed to the metal scene?

“Well, that is an interesting question. I don’t personally think that the location that I was at musically would have made any great difference. I think that what I was probably trying to say was that because I was away from the main band that was filling my life, Judas Priest, because I was always protecting Judas Priest, protecting the music, protecting the fans, protecting everybody except myself. I wasn’t able to say and do the things that I wanted to do until I was away and having these other musical adventures. So, I guess regardless of where I was musically at that time. The fact that I said and did what I did on that day wasn’t really much of an issue musically. But, anyway I think it is fair to say that I would have been probably more difficult. I probably would have not made the announcement had I been in Judas Priest at that time. Second, because as I said when you become protective of everybody else, you don’t protect your own needs. So, things happen in life for a reason, and that was the case with my coming out at that time.

There are areas of music that are more compassionate, more tolerant, more open, more accepting and more aware. What I think I have done is destroy the myth that heavy metal bands don’t have that capacity. It’s a different world now. Heavy metal now is a completely different world compared to heavy metal in 1980. The gay and lesbian world is very different now as it was in 1980. We have all grown to some extent. There is still a long way to go. There are still a lot of issues that need to be addressed, but I think slowly but surely our lives are getting better”.

Do you feel that your heterosexual fans received you well when you came out?

“The vast majority of them did, yes. Those that didn’t were the ones that have difficulty accepting people’s sexual orientation in general. I think I made some people confront issues they were not ready to deal with perhaps”.

Now some fans that completely idolized you had to come to terms with their metal role model and idol was a gay man. How do you feel this affected them?

“I think that it kind of demystifies this issue of masculinity. To say that if you are masculine you can’t be gay is ridiculous. Again, I can’t really say. That is a question you would have to ask my fans that felt this way. But, the vast majority of them were completely accepting of me, and it was tremendously powerful”.

Do you feel like the gay community received you well? Do you feel like you gained a larger fan base for Judas Priest, Halford, and the projects that you were working on?

“No, it didn’t change a bit. I am sure I picked up some gay fans due to my coming out. As far as anything changing dramatically, things stayed as they were”.

Being a legendary metal front man, when most people thing of metal and rock music they think, “sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll.” How did this expectation or stereotype play out for you as a gay man?

“I had the drugs and the rock ‘n’ roll, but I was not having the sex. That is how it worked out for me. (laughs)”

Did you feel like you had any pressure, from groupies coming around, and did other men in the bands wonder why you weren’t hooking up?

“Everybody in the band knew I was a gay man, and everybody in my crew knew I was a gay man, and those were the people that I associated with on a working level. So, those questions never really arose”.

Now it seems to me that your rock ‘n’ roll style is very reminiscent of the leather community. Can you shed some light on that?

“Yeah, that is the irony, if you want to call it ironic, that there is a portion of the gay and lesbian community that lives that type of lifestyle, and I never was. I never was into that leather lifestyle. I just chose that kind of look because heavy metal for many, many years didn’t really have the visual connections and their power connected to the music. So, I just kind of experimented and felt that particular image was more sensible and worked. So, that is something that is only an assumption. So, what I am trying to say is first that is the irony, and it is also a little bit disrespectful to look at somebody like that and there is an assumption that “oh they must be gay.” Personally I think it is disrespectful, not from you, but from people who are stating it that way. I think that that is all about stereotyping. And what we try to do consistently in the gay community is break away the stereotypical imagery of how we are perceived to be by straight culture. So it’s kind of an irony tinged with stereotypical assumption. But there I was you know, and suddenly some straight people were saying, “We should have got that all along, because look at what he’s dressed like.” I think that is very insulting and very narrow-minded. But that is all just part of the equation, of who I am and what I do”.

I can see that because the whole development of the musical persona, take Alice Cooper, Ozzy or Marilyn Manson, they all have some kind of look to them, and it may not mean that they are any particular sexual orientation or anything like that, but this just might be how they express themselves from an artistic point of view.

“Exactly, and again you know that is just the public talk of persona that you have no control over. The only way you can control it is confront the comments”.

You mentioned that your “Made of Metal” album is your most personal release in your solo career. Why do you feel that way?

“It is just that I think it is important to have messages that talk about things that are important to you on a personal level, moral, and the observations that you make, and things that you see or experience in life. And I think that there is an opportunity for me in my solo career to do those things that would not be right to do in another place. So, when I talk about my sobriety and when I talk about my belief in things that are important to me, it’s something that I have never really done to a great extent until this moment. So, it has been a really interesting time and opportunity to go into that area for the first time”.

From a spiritual perspective, sober living perspective and from life experience, that is the kind of stuff that this album will get into. Are there any songs on the new album that you hold particularly dear to you?

“Every one of them. They are like my kids. (laughs) Every one of them is important to me. Even the kinds of fun and adventure songs like the “Matador” are very important to me because I am testing my boundaries as a musician. I am testing my ability as a writer, musically and as a lyricist, so every one of them is important to me”.

I noticed that you won the Grammy. Congratulations! How was that for you, because this was the fifth time that you were nominated and you won! Was it just exhilarating and exciting to win the Grammy?

“It was exciting to be there and on TV. I firstly, never dreamed that I would get one. It was exciting to be there live to receive it. Grammy’s are a very important, prestigious event, and to get something like that is a wonderful achievement. It is very inspiring and motivational. It makes you feel good for what you have been able to achieve. But, it is also something that you share with a lot of other people, especially your fans. So, it is a very remarkable night. I will always cherish that moment”.

Another thing I noticed is that you introduced Adam Lambert at the GLAAD Media Awards. Was that interesting for you to be there with other well-known artists who have come out as gay like yourself?

“It was fantastic. It really was fantastic. I think Adam is a sensational singer and performer and entertainer. He’s got a long, long life ahead of him in show business. It was a great feeling. We don’t know each other, but we know a little bit about each other as far as what we feel we have tried to do within the gay community. So, it was like on the red carpet, the old god meeting the new god. The paparazzi went completely crazy. We couldn’t see each other because of the flashbulbs going off. Again, it was very, very important. It was another spectacular night with a lot of meaning attached to it for me”.

Now there are other musicians that have come out, Elton John, George Michael, Adam Lambert. There is also a female metal singer, I don’t know if you have heard of her, of the band Otep. Her name is Otep Shamaya, and she is a lesbian metal singer.

“Yes, yes I am aware. I think it’s great. I think it is wonderful. Those of us that are gay and lesbian, bisexual and want the rest of the world to know are stepping forward and it means a lot. It really does. Yes, I have heard Otep; her music it is very unusual and original”.

What do you have to say to help inspire other artists that are gay and are unsure about coming out and how it may affect their lives and careers?

“To not be afraid. To try to have the strength and courage to step forward and let the world know who you are, because it is very self-empowering, and you will get a stronger and clearer vision of who you are and what you trying to be and do in the music world”.

01.15.13
by

Silence of the Gays – why celebrities should come out and speak up!

“I’m not sure I would go as far as to say that gay celebrities have a social or moral duty to be open about their sexuality. But I am prepared to argue that by refusing to acknowledge that they are gay – or that once, not that long ago, they were scared to admit it in public – they’re perpetuating an inhibiting and heteronormative status quo.”

Josef Church-Woods

Jodie Foster

Jodie Foster

In case you somehow managed to miss it, Jodie Foster used her acceptance speech at the Golden Globe Awards on Sunday night, to plant her feet firmly outside of her admittedly already rather flimsy glass closet.

It was an emotional speech, in which she talked about a whole life lived in the public eye and the value of privacy, as well as her love for her female ex-partner, their joint children and her mother, among many others.

It wasn’t exactly a coming out speech, nor was it the first time she’s acknowledged her relationship with the co-parent of her children, but it was nonetheless a bit of a big deal, set in the unusual context of a major, Hollywood A-list event. So, good for you Jodie, and good for everybody else who believes in equality – we need all the positive, gay role models we can get, flying the flag for ‘modern families’ and the notion that love is love, regardless of sexuality.

However, watching the clip of Jodie on stage (see link below), I couldn’t help wondering why exactly, in the 21st century, such a successful, intelligent, supported and loved person would feel that talking freely about being a lesbian amounts to an invasion of her privacy.

I find it frustrating that so many people seem to confuse sexual orientation with their private selves. It’s perfectly possible to be open about your sexuality, without talking excessively to media outlets about your personal relationships, or sharing every aspect of your life with the world. Lots of people who are in the spotlight have mastered this balance. Even intensely private, straight celebrities do not hide or refuse to acknowledge the fact that they are sexually attracted to people of the opposite sex. Why would they? The fact that Paul Rudd likes women says virtually nothing about him as a person, how he lives his life or what kind of a family he has.

Obviously, coming out as gay is not quite the same thing as being openly straight. It’s not my intention to trivialise the struggle that many LGBT people face by likening a queer person’s experience of dealing with their sexuality to that of a straight person, who is automatically welcomed into the majority fold. Heterosexuality is the norm – the default setting – and homophobia is still a very real and tangible threat for most of us. For many it has devastating consequences, even in western countries with political leaders who candidly endorse LGBT equality.

And this is exactly why I think it’s so important that people who are considered role models speak out. It’s why it rubs me up the wrong way when someone like Jodie Foster stands in front of the whole world and half comes out, then swiftly makes it clear that the reason she still refuses to let the word ‘gay’ pass her lips, is because it’s a personal matter and sharing this side of her being with the public amounts to a violation of her privacy. There’s no need for a press conference or a reality TV show – but unless you think there is something wrong with being gay, why would you refuse to confirm something which is just as generic as the colour of your skin?

No offense Jodie; I know that you came out to your family and friends many years ago and I don’t mean to call into question your honesty or integrity. It’s just that I believe your long and somewhat ambiguous journey to that Golden Globe acceptance speech is symptomatic of an oppressive catch 22.

The reason famous, gay people keep their public persona in the closet is because they are worried about the reaction that their coming out might provoke, and the potential impact on their careers and families – not because they are ‘private people’. This is something I feel needs to be expressed, because when it’s brushed over, it sends a very clear ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ message. And even the US army has conceded that that particular approach to diversity is both unjust and harmful.

I do understand that there is a lot of extra pressure to handle when your every move is observed, recorded and generally regarded as public property. Fear of judgment, damage to career trajectory and potential loss of earnings are all valid enough reason to feel nervous about stepping out in public with your same-sex partner.

As such, I’m not sure I would go as far as to say that gay celebrities have a social or moral duty to be open about their sexuality. But I am prepared to argue that by refusing to acknowledge that they are gay – or that once, not that long ago, they were scared to admit it in public – they’re perpetuating an inhibiting and heteronormative status quo.

I hope, as we move forward, more famous men and women feel able to be open, not just about their sexuality, but also about the reasons why perhaps they hesitated within the familiar comfort of their closet walls.

Josef Church-Woods (@JosefCW)

Update:  Since the original publication of this blog entry, it has caused quite a stir.  Though most of the feedback has been very positive and it has encouraged debate, there have been some less than savoury comments regarding the subject matter.  Here, Josef Church-Woods responds to one such comment.

01.10.13
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How To Survive A Plague Gets Oscar Nod

We were delighted this afternoon to see the David France’s documentary about ACT UP and TAG has been nominated for an Academy Award in the Best Documentary category.  This recognition is particularly poignant with the death of one of the films subjects Spencer Cox last month.  Let’s hope it gets the win, which will ensure wider international distribution.

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01.10.13
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3 Words: Transgender. Timelapse. Transition.

Thanks to Dr Lesley Sloss for pointing us towards this brilliant transgender time-lapse transition clip.  In the words of the doctor… we love how she gets happier.

Follow @DrLes on Twitter.  She’s smart and very funny.