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The Oxford Union is one the world's most prestigious debating societies which brings international guests and speakers to Oxford. In July of 2017, American screenwriter Dustin Lance Black gave a very inspiring speech about his life as a gay man. In the video below, Black shares his very personal story of how his queerness influenced his career. Enjoy!
MORE ABOUT DUSTIN LANCE BLACK
Dustin Lance Black is an American screenwriter, director, film and television producer and LGBT rights activist. He has won a Writers Guild of America Award and an Academy Award for the 2008 film Milk. He is also a founding board member of the American Foundation for Equal Rights and writer of 8, a staged reenactment of the federal trial that led to a federal court's overturn of California's Proposition 8.
Dustin Lance Black and British diver Tom Daley married on May 6, 2017 at Bovey Castle in Devon, England.
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Physique model John Pruitt was one of the most iconic adult film stars, ever. Leather Archives and Musuem explains that they "...are working hard to digitize all [VHS] 1,000 tapes in the collections". This 22 minute video clip, Legendary Bodies 2: John Pruitt, is an example of their collection. Watch the video below (NSFW)
When Christina Crawford's 1978 memoir "Mommie Dearest" was published it sent shock waves throughout Hollywood. The book alleged that Oscar-winning actress, Joan Crawford was a mentally unstable woman who abused her children. The author of the book was Crawford's own daughter, Christina. A film based on the book was released in 1981. In the title role was another Oscar-winning actress, Faye Dunaway. The film was said to have ruined Dunaway's career.
What price Hollywood? was the title of an early George Cukor film, but it's a question every closeted movie star has asked themselves.
In 1930, the top box office star was a gay man, William "Billy" Haines. Billy lived with his partner, Jimmie Shields. Unlike other closeted stars then and now, Haines never posed on the red carpet with a beard on his arm.
By 1933, Billy's his Hollywood career was over. However, by 1936, Billy Haines had become hugely successful in an entirely new line of work as an interior decorator.
Watch the video, Out of the Closet, Off the Screen: The Life of William Haines, below.
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Written by David France
As movements go, the one Act Up spearheaded against HIV was unique. The virus made its traumatic appearance at different times across the globe – perhaps as early as 1920 in what is now known as the Democratic Republic of Congo. After sporadic cases through the 1970s, the viral epidemic was first reported in New York City and California.
On 3 July 1981, Centers for Disease Control released a report stating that symptoms now known to be typical Aids-related illnesses had been exhibited by 26 gay men. That same day, the New York Times reported 41 cases of Kaposi’s sarcoma – “a rare and often rapidly fatal form of cancer” – affecting 41 gay men in New York and California. Health authorities in the United Kingdom acknowledged the first cases there later that year, and outbreaks reached a handful of European and African nations in 1982. Today, no country has been spared, and 35 million are infected.
But throughout the plague years – when no effective treatment existed, and death was quite nearly guaranteed – New York City remained the epicentre of the disease, and America the main obstacle to research and treatment. It took two years for the city’s mayor, Ed Koch, to acknowledge its existence publicly. President Ronald Reagan waited six. But their words were hollow. Both continued to practise obfuscation, budgetary strangulation, and aggressive apathy even as the number of dead Americans passed 20,000, and 1.5 million more were believed to be infected.
By the end of 1986, the city’s gay ghetto was a tinderbox. Along Christopher Street you could see the dazed look of the doomed, skeletons and their caregivers alike. There was not even a false-hope pill for doctors to prescribe. The estimates we heard were that half the gay men in New York were already infected, and for the rest of us it was simply a matter of time.
Then one morning in December, bus shelters and bank windows in a large part of Manhattan were covered with large, ominous posters, featuring a pink triangle floating against a black background. READ MORE
You can follow David France on Twitter
Note From The Editor of Stonewall Gazette David France directed the 2012 American documentary feature, "How to Survive a Plague". This outstanding film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature and for Best Documentary at The Independent Spirit Awards. "How to Survive a Plague" won a GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Documentary.
You can purchase the film and book on which it is based here.
The homeless are everywhere, from the largest urban centers to the smallest of heartland towns. They 'live' in doorways and alleys, abandoned buildings and vehicles, and their numbers are overwhelming. Did you know, for example, that approximately 40% of homeless youth are LGBT? According to a report from the Williams Institute at UCLA, "... nearly all homeless youth service providers in the U.S. now serve LGBT youth."
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The Freedom to Marry is an "intimate, behind-the-scenes documentary that reveals the masterminds of the marriage equality movement, and their epic and historic battle to win same sex marriage" throughout the United States. The documentary was directed by Eddie Rosenstein.
The Freedom to Marry traces the marriage equality movement’s historic progress and delves into the masterminds behind one of the greatest civil rights movements of this generation. The film follows Evan Wolfson, attorney, founder and president of the organization Freedom to Marry, and pioneering civil rights attorney Mary Bonauto, who argues the landmark “Obergefell v. Hodges” decision, which argued the fundamental right to marry was guaranteed to same-sex couples under the Constitution. The documentary celebrates the historical day and profiles the numerous LGBT advocates and heroes that worked for decades to see that dream come true. READ MORE
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Filmmaker and activist Sridhar Rangayan’s pathbreaking film [BREAKING FREE] on Indian LGBT community has been awarded the Barbara Gittings International Human Rights Award at the recently concluded qFLIX Philadelphia film festival in USA. “LGBT rights are human rights. The human rights award underlines this very basic truth, that somehow is not understood by our politicians, judges and the moral brigade,” said Rangayan, “Gay, lesbian and transgender persons too need their right to live freely as citizens of this country without being criminalized by a law like Sec 377. They have a right to love and live with dignity. The law of the land denies that.” READ MORE
About the film:
Journeying across India, filmed over seven years, BREAKING FREE chronicles the history and the struggles of the Indian LGBTQH (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Hijra) rights movement, in its two decades of long fight for justice and equality.
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The independent documentary short, Home Isn't Always Where The Heart Is, sheds light on LGBTQ youth who are homeless. Watch the video below.
This documentary, which was a labor of love, is a prelude to a feature film project, A Place Called Home. The upcoming film will be a fictionalized story about a young teen girl dealing with her sexuality after coming out of the closet and subsequently finding herself homeless.
YOU can help the filmmakers of the independent feature A Place Called Home by contributing to their GoGetFunding page HERE.
You can follow A Place Called Home on Facebook
You can follow A Place Called Home on Twitter
In this engrossing documentary, presented by the University of California Television (UCTV), Professor Robert H. Lustig, examines in great detail the damage done to the human body by sugary foods. Lustig explains that insulin can not regulate itself even in a healthy individual if they consume too much fructose. The results of such an unhealthy diet is obesity and Type 2 Diabetes. Watch this very interesting video below!
Who were William Haines and Jimmie Shields? To answer that question we will have to go back to the Golden Age of Hollywood when William Haines was one of the most popular young movie stars of the 1920's. But he had a secret. One fascinating aspect of the Haines and Shields love story was the fact that they remained a couple even though Haines was forced to give up his Hollywood career to be with the love of his life. As Chad, the host of LGBT Snapshots, shares, Haines and Shields were once described as, "the happiest married couple in Hollywood" by none other than Oscar-winner, Joan Crawford.
This video is from Network Q Out Across America and it aired in September 1993. As you will see from this fascinating presentation it's quite the time capsule! Author Martin Duberman is interviewed about his then recent book "Stonewall". Duberman's book was one of the very first to tell the true story of how patrons of a little known bar called Stonewall fought back against police brutality in New York City on June 28, 1969. This rebellion ushered in the modern LGBT rights movement.
This video presentation from AARO Media is from 2009. It celebrates the 40th Anniversary of The Stonewall Riots. It has original footage of the rebellion and interviews with notable gay and lesbian leaders such as Eric Marcus, Sabrina Sojourner, Craig Rodwell, Dr Frank Kameny and others.
A police raid on the Stonewall Inn in New York City on June 28, 1969 sparked a riot and became the genesis of the modern gay rights movement. In this video presentation from a few years ago, veterans of the riots, along with author David Carter, recount what happened the night history was made.
When Christina Crawford's 1978 memoir "Mommie Dearest" was published it sent shock waves throughout Hollywood. The book alleged that Oscar-winning actress, Joan Crawford was a mentally unstable woman who abused her children. The author of the book was Crawford's own daughter, Christina. A film based on the book was released in 1981. In the title role was another Oscar-winning actress, Faye Dunaway. The film was said to have ruined Dunaway's career.
In this short documentary, the film's screenwriter and producer, Frank Yablans shares his experience of making the movie. Also featured is actress Diana Scarwid, who played adult Christina in the movie, and Mara Hobel, who played Christina as a child. The film has become a cult classic and is particularly popular with queer audiences. Lending a gay perspective to the documentary is filmmaker, John Waters. Overall, it's a fascinating insight into Hollywood and the deconstruction of a movie legend.
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Proud Vision has a short documentary with Raymond Boney as he hosts a group of men in a discussion of what it's like being Black and Gay in America. The men share their life experiences with religion, racism, dating and their sometimes conflicting identities. Good conversation. Enjoy the video!
HOW WE GOT GAY is a short documentary which tells the incredible story of how gay men and women went from being the ultimate outsiders to occupying the halls of power, with a profound influence on our cultural, political and social lives.
A few years ago ABC's "Dancing with the Stars" contestant Nyle DiMarco and pro-dancer Keo Motsepe danced the Tango together. Having a same-sex couple perform the famed Argentine dance on the program created some controversy. In fact, many viewers found it shocking.
In the short documentary below by actor/host/producer, Charlie David, the Argentine Tango has a seldom spoken of queer origin.
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Nathan Leopold (L) and Richard Loeb (R)
This documentary tells the true story of the murder of Robert Franks. In May of 1924, Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb, two wealthy students, kidnapped and murdered 14-year-old Robert Franks. The subsequent trial was a sensation at the time. In this video, the trial of the two killers, Leopold and Loeb, is presented.
It's a fascinating story and one that has captured the imagination of Hollywood many times. In 1929, Patrick Hamilton's play "Rope" was staged. Director Alfred Hitchcock based his 1948 film of the same name on it. Tom Kalin wrote and directed "Swoon" in 1992. His version was different than Hitchcock's, in that, it depicted an overt homosexual relationship between the two killers.
"Crimes of The Century" first aired in 1989 and was hosted by actor Mike Connors of "Mannix" fame. Each 24 minute episode included re-enactments of the crime as well as interviews with some of the people actually involved in the case.
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Written by Matt Mills
(Canada) On Feb 5, 1981, 30 years ago, more than 150 Toronto police descended on that city’s gay bathhouses, arresting more than 300 innocent men. It was part of a deliberate and organized campaign by government and police to push gay baths and bars out of business, to silence the gay press and to remove gay voices from public discourse. Gay people were not new to discrimination in 1975 when Montreal police raided that city’s Sauna Aquarius. But that is really where the story of the 1981 bathhouse riots starts. For at least the next six years, police in various cities across the country steadily increased their harassment of the gay press and gay men in gay spaces.
Gay people had, of course, previously fought police harassment, but the events in Toronto in the first half of 1981 were watershed for the liberation movement in Canada. The activist chops refined then equipped gay people across the country to fight censorship, win partnership and employment rights, demand reasonable treatment from government, face HIV/AIDS, fight homophobic violence and win marriage rights.
Track Two is a documentary film about the 1981 Toronto bath house raids and riots and the events that precipitated them. It is a rare and unique record of a watershed moment in the gay liberation movement in Canada.
