Stonewall Gazette

Written by Shane Smith, Editor, Stonewall Gazette


I haven't featured an Eye-Candy Interlude for quite some time. Here's Micah Brandt demonstrating his workout routine! 😉😜 Enjoy!

Posted by Shane Smith, Editor, Stonewall Gazette


34 Public Displays of Affection That Straight People Take for Granted

How Does Your State Rate In Terms Of Statewide Laws For LGBTQ People?
The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Foundation and the Equality Federation Institute released their annual State Equality Index (SEI), a comprehensive state-by-state report detailing statewide laws and policies that affect LGBTQ people and their families and placing states in one of four categories based on their pro- and anti-LGBTQ state laws. MORE

Dario

Pop Singer and Dance Artist Dario Talks About His Latest Album, Alpha, and His HIV Advocacy Work
When your last name is too long or too difficult to pronounce (think Madonna), you might just decide to skip it altogether and go only by your first name. It keeps things simple, and it really works, especially when you are a celebrity. Enter Dario, Billboard Top 40 pop singer and dance artist, and also a strong believer in doing one’s part and in the power of giving back to the community. MORE



Your Guide to the Three Billboards Backlash
Amid the hubbub over #TimesUp, Oprah’s speech, and James Franco elbowing Tommy Wiseau, you may not have noticed something else that happened at the Globes: With its four wins Sunday night, Martin McDonagh’s Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri not only became the Oscar front-runner, it was also officially inaugurated as this year’s La La Land, the movie whose awards success is seen as emblematic of America’s various ills. MORE

Straightsplaining and ‘No Homo’
“Oh, so because I’m straight I’m not allowed to have an opinion on [insert LGBT issue here]” Listen. MORE

Young Black Lesbian Found Murdered in Burning Car in D.C.
A lesbian found shot to death in the trunk of her car that someone set on fire in Southeast D.C. on Dec. 28 was friends with two other people shot to death on the same day, and detectives are looking into whether the three murders may be linked, according to D.C. Police Chief Peter Newsham. Police said the body of a woman they later identified as Kerrice Lewis, 23, a resident of Hyattsville, Md., was found about 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 28, in the trunk of her burning Lexus in an alley in the 800 block of Adrian Place, S.E., near Fort Dupont Park. MORE

Trump Touts "Great Reviews," Says He's "Unlikely" To Grant Interview With Special Counsel Robert Mueller
Donald Trump, who claims he has no time to watch cable TV, says he got rave reviews for his "performance" yesterday during the televised 54-minute meeting with Congressional leaders. During the first cabinet meeting of 2018, Trump told the press the "reviews" were so good, he says he got "letters" from news anchors congratulating him on his "performance." Later, when asked about "letters" of praise, the White House released a list of links to video clips showing positive feedback on the bipartisan meeting. MORE

Gay Short Film - The Favor

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.

Check out this funny short film "which tells the story of Jake, who is leaving town to visit his parents for the weekend. His roommate Lucas is acting in a strange manner. He tries to find out why but all he receives is a mix CD. As he is driving to his parents he discovers what is on this mysterious disc."

Official Selection: 2015 Melbourne Queer Film Festival, 2015 Tampa International Gay & Lesbian Film Festival

Directed by Ryan Davey and written by Brandon Bushman

Cast: 
Luke Cosgrove as Jake
Brandon Taylor-Cotton as Lucas

"ADAM: Next Generation Robotics" is a gay short film raising awareness of the importance of self-acceptance. It is directed by Mike Buonaiuto and features Alex Gray as "Adam". This is very well done and I enjoyed watching it. Buonaiuto received Best Sci-Fi Director Award at London Limelight Film Awards in 2012 for the film, "Jouet".

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) 

Written by Shane Smith, Editor, Stonewall Gazette



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.

Please share this post on your social media (Facebook, Twitter etc). Thank-you!


Guy Shalem directed this 2013 short film, "Ronny & I." The modern day romance was written by Shalem along with the two leads, Luke Humphrey and Adam Berry.

Watch Movie: "Ronny & I"

Written by Shane Smith, Editor, Stonewall Gazette


A High School teacher in North Carolina was suspended after showing the anti-bullying film, Love is All You Need? to her class (watch video below). It's the story of young teen girl, Ashley, who lives in a world where homosexuality is the norm. Ashley has a secret, however.

Antonio Da Silva makes short erotic films combining elements of pornography, narrative and the art film – they could as easily be shown in an art gallery as in the cinema. His work has been shown in film festivals around the world and he has a website dedicated to their dissemination, where people can pay to view them, and contact him with feedback and ideas for future projects. Recently, Fringe! Film Festival presented an evening of his work, as had Queer Lisboa, in his native Portugal, a few months before. His work has attained a certain status that being on the festival circuit affords and the aesthetic of voyeurism, well established in porn, seems to be in all of the films – the eroticism of watching and looking and peeping. Watching the films as a corpus, I began to ask myself certain questions: what the stories are that Antonio da Silva wants to tell, do they have anything to offer beyond the porn element, and do they even need that, what statements might he be trying to make? I got the chance to ask him these questions and more. Read the interview with Antonio Da Silva HERE.

Watch Video


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.

You can follow LGBT Snapshots on Twitter

Watch Video

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.

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!

Watch Video

Last month, I posted about the Gaydar Gun and how it was originally just a prop for the gay short film, GAYDAR . The movie is available to view for free so I thought I would share it. Terry Ray plays the lead character and he's supported by a great cast that includes: Bryan Dattilo ("Days of Our Lives" hunk), Jim J. Bullock, Jennifer Echols, Thom Cagle, Robert Casey and the late great, Charles Nelson Reilly as Uncle Vincent.

Synopsis:
"Randy (Terry Ray) has a huge crush on hunky co-worker Jack (Bryan Dattilo) and Randy is not alone. Everyone at the office seems to be infatuated with Jack, especially Randy's gal pal Frankalina (Jennifer Echols), but no one can quite figure out if Jack is straight or gay. At an impromptu yard sale by a scorned lover (Jim J. Bullock) Randy discovers a GAYDAR gun -- which could change everything."

This award winning short film was directed by Larry LaFond and co-written by LaFond and Terry Ray.

Via Youtube Channel: Terry Ray Watch Video

"ADAM: Next Generation Robotics" is a gay short film raising awareness of the importance of self-acceptance. It is directed by Mike Buonaiuto and features Alex Gray as "Adam". This is very well done and I enjoyed watching it. Buonaiuto received Best Sci-Fi Director Award at London Limelight Film Awards in 2012 for the film, "Jouet".

Written by Shane Smith, Editor, Stonewall Gazette


Who was Gladys Bentley? 

In the video below, LGBT Snapshots delves into the life and career of the acclaimed jazz performer from her early beginnings in a life of poverty to her new life as a drag king performer in 1930's Harlem Renaissance. Chad, the host of LGBT Snapshots shares, "audiences adored her bawdy rewrites of contemporary popular songs."

Afterward, watch Gladys Bentley perform on the TV show "You Bet Your Life" with host, Groucho Marx. Enjoy!

Written by Shane Smith , Editor of Stonewall Gazette


"Hookers" is a comedy written and starring Robert Alex (Robert Alesandro). The basic premise of the story is about a man who discovers his sister is a hooker and decides to give it a try himself. However, the story is much more than that, it's a sweet brother-sister relationship tale.

This short film is directed by actor Trevor LaPaglia, who does a great job of capturing just the right emotional beats between comedy and drama. The fine cast also includes: Kylie Lewallen and Vanessa C. Morgan with cameos from Jacob Lapp, Mark Grabianowski and Trevor LaPaglia.

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.

Written by Shane Smith, Editor, Stonewall Gazette


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.

Director Jeff Warden's 2007 short film, "Secrets" received the Hollywood HD film festival prize for Best Short Drama. Gay Celluloid describes the film as a, "... delectable variant of the Spin the Bottle theme sees five friends, three male, two female, deal a deck of cards, only for two thereafter to promptly head to the bathroom for two minutes worth of sexual intimacy, before someone checks up on them, just to see that everything is ok." The friends get high and kinky sexual hijincks ensue!

The film stars: Bryan Endress-Fox, Casey Graf, Najarra Townsend, Dustin Belt and Lindsay Gareth. This short film is only 15 minutes in length and the young cast deliver satisfying performances. I hope you enjoy it. Share your thoughts in the comments below!

Watch: Jeff Warden's 2007 short film, "Secrets"

Secrets from k3ven on Vimeo.