Author: Randy Slovacek

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Anti-gay group AFA protests Old Navy supporting Pride and Love

Tim Wildmon and his anti-gay group American Family Association is mad that Old Navy is selling t-shirts that promote Love and Pride. How awful.

AND that Old Navy is donating 10% of the proceeds go to the It Gets Better Project, a campaign launched by writer Dan Savage that aims to help gay kids get through those beyond difficult teenage years by showing them videos that capture the lives of gay adults who made it.

Lord…

Old Navy selling ‘gay’ shirts – donates profits to activists.

How would you feel if you knew that 10% of your Old Navy purchase would be donated directly to a homosexual activist organization?

Old Navy is now selling “gay pride” T-shirts in support of President Obama’s proclamation designating June as “Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month.”

Old Navy’s rainbow T-shirts are part of its “Love Proudly: Pride 2011” campaign. The shirts reportedly went on sale June 1 and will be available at select stores throughout the country. Old Navy is donating 10 percent of the proceeds to the “It Gets Better Project,” a pro-LGBT campaign.

The T-shirt designs include a white shirt with “Love Proudly” written in the colors of the rainbow, and a black shirt with rainbow-colored stripes.

According to reports, the T-shirts are being sold at some Old Navy stores until the end of June or until supplies run out. Old Navy is already saying they may increase the number of stores next year.

Let Old Navy president Tim Wyatt know his decision to engage in corporate promotion and financial support of homosexuality is a bad idea, considering the number of mothers buying summer and back-to-school clothes.

Yeah, what a terrible message – Love Proudly.

Seriously AFA?

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Olivia Newton-John to headline NYC Gay Pride event

Olivia Newton-John is set to headline the NYC Gay Pride event – “Bondi Beach Bash” – on Saturday, June 25th, 2011.

The coveted crowning ingredient for the event’s Australian theme, Olivia is not only a cinematic icon, but also a multi-genre recording artist amassing over 100 million record sales worldwide. Thrown in conjunction with Josh Wood Productions, the festivities will place the acclaimed performer on the bill alongside internationally celebrated DJs, Phil Romano and Hector Romero.

Set off shore on Governor’s Island for an expected crowd of 4000, the event will bring Australia’s infamous beach stateside, complimented by Manhattan’s illuminated skyline as backdrop.

Top notch billing will be paired with visuals worth marveling at: a stunning firework display over the East River, the largest outdoor video projection wall in New York’s history, massive sound and light installations, and over-the-top décor. All features of course, adhering to the event’s Australian theme.

Olivia Newton-John “Magic” 2011

Saturday, June 25th @ 6:00pm // Bondi Beach on Governors Island. With Olivia Newton John, DJ Phil Romano and DJ Hector Romero. Governor’s Island.

Olivia’s newest CDs available on Amazon.

For more information, and to stay up to date on future events, please visit: www.fvevents.com.

For tickets, click here.

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New post by TIME Magazine’s Officer X on DADT repeal

New, moving blogpost by Officer X on Time Magazine’s website about closeted military getting through the DADT years and waiting for the repeal. Very moving.

I can speak from personal experience when I say the day to day aversions and posturing are exhausting and stressful. I also know it can be difficult to ask for help. It’s vital to have some sort of an outlet to be yourself and a place you can feel safe. Here’s an example from a page out of my own life story when I was particularly low, but was able to seek help. Thanks to the great friends I have surrounded myself with, I was able to bounce back and come out on top.

It was the year I was in pilot training. I met Tom through a mutual friend who is also gay. We hit it off rather quickly, but I stayed guarded as he was moving to his follow-on assignment shortly thereafter. Despite my best efforts to keep from getting attached, I fell hard for him.

When he left, the hardest part was going back to work and keeping a straight face. I can remember being in my squadron’s cramped mission planning room, surrounded by my fellow student pilots who were getting ready to fly. I avoided eye contact with every one of them. Part of me desperately wanted nobody to talk to me, while the other half just wanted someone to figure me out and ask “what’s wrong?”

For the first time I got to experience what I think every American teenager goes through in high school when they go on their first date and get to just hold hands. The truth is it was the first time in my life I felt normal. I couldn’t help but think this whole being gay thing might work out. I might even wind up happy.

Read more here.

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Rick Santorum on his Google problem: “there are vile people out there who do horrible things”

Rick Santorum discusses his Google problem with Chuck Todd on MSNBC.

Santorum has compared same-sex marriage to sex with dogs, has said that it’s “common sense” to keep gays from marrying and adopting children, wants to reinstate the ban on gays in the military, and has said that gays shouldn’t have the “privilege of government benefits” offered to heterosexual couples, yet Santorum claims he’s not a homophobe.

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“The Help” – new featurette available to view

I’m so excited about this movie!

I grew up at the end of this movie’s time period, and have faint memories from this time when inequality was done in a ‘polite’ manner.

As I rant and rail here on this blog for equality for everyone, I’m moved by the courage and decisions of those who did so when it wasn’t so easy to stand up for the right thing.

From the website: “Based on one of the most talked about books in years and a #1 New York Times best-selling phenomenon, “The Help” stars Emma Stone (“Easy A”) as Skeeter, Academy Award(R)-nominated Viola Davis (“Doubt”) as Aibileen and Octavia Spencer as Minny–three very different, extraordinary women in Mississippi during the 1960s, who build an unlikely friendship around a secret writing project that breaks societal rules and puts them all at risk.”

“From their improbable alliance a remarkable sisterhood emerges, instilling all of them with the courage to transcend the lines that define them, and the realization that sometimes those lines are made to be crossed–even if it means bringing everyone in town face-to-face with the changing times. Deeply moving, filled with poignancy, humor and hope, “The Help” is a timeless and universal story about the ability to create change.”

Click here to see a new ‘featurette’ about making the movie.

Then make sure you see it this August.

And remember I told you…. 🙂

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Straight NY Firefighter supports Marriage Equality

I admire our firefighters and police officers so much for what they do every day.

So these testimonials really get me. It’s really amazing to see these every day heroes support equality.

Mike Vissichelli is clearly comfortable in his own skin. I’m guessing that’s why he can do what he does every day, and why he can stand up for other’s rights.

Thanks Mike. More than you know.

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Rick Santorum Supports Constitutional Amendment Banning Marriage Equality

Presidential hopeful Rick Santorum tells John King that he supports a federal constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage:

I support a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage. I believe that marriage should be a consistent thing across the country. Marriage is the union of one man and one woman…

Once people realize the consequence to society of changing this definition — it’s not that we’re against anybody. People can live the life they want to live. They can do whatever they want to do in the privacy of their home with respect to that activity.

But now you’re talking about changing the laws of the country. and it’s gonna have a profound impact on society, on faith, on education. And once people realize that, they say, you know what, we respect people’s right to live the life they want to lead but don’t try to fundamentally change how society functions by changing that definition.

No, he’s not ‘against’ anybody, He’s just against gays having the same rights as he does.

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1 Minute Video showing growth of the federal deficit

June 7th marked the 10th anniversary of the first of President George W. Bush’s two tax cuts, which have played a disproportionate role in blowing up the deficit and debt.

As the Center for American Progress’ Michael Ettlinger and Michael Linden found, the federal debt would be at a sustainable level today — even with the wars and the financial crisis — were it not for the Bush tax cuts.

ThinkProgress has assembled this short animation showing how the Bush tax cuts drove the deficit and debt up and are still ruining the budget picture today.

Adding insult to injury, in 2001, Bush promised that he would pay off the federal debt within 10 years.

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Broadway: Million Dollar Quartet to move off-Bway

Million Dollar Quartet, the Broadway jukebox musical about the infamous 1956 recording session that united Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins, will end its run June 12 prior to an Off-Broadway transfer to New World Stages in July, producers announced June 7.

The Tony Award-nominated musical opened on Broadway April 11, 2010, at the Nederlander Theatre following an acclaimed Chicago run, where the musical continues to play the Apollo Theater. When it closes, Million Dollar Quartet will have played 34 previews and 489 regular performances.

Performances are expected to begin at New World Stages in July.

The Off-Broadway transfer will allow producers to continue the run in a smaller venue with less overhead expenses.

Million Dollar Quartet is among a handful of Broadway productions to transfer Off-Broadway recently. Avenue Q and The 39 Steps both made the leap Off-Broadway to extend their New York runs. In addition, the Broadway production of Rock of Ages transferred from the Brooks Atkinson Theatre to the smaller Helen Hayes last winter to streamline costs.

For more information visit MillionDollarQuartetLive.

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Interview: Vanessa Williams – “Icon of Style” Gala

As people who read this blog know, a few weeks ago I attended a terrific evening event in NYC honoring Vanessa Williams as a “Fashion Icon” and graduate of Syracuse University.

I went to college with Vanessa and we had a bit of a mini-class reunion the night of the event.

Watch the interview as Vanessa talks about being honored for the first time for fashion and her advice to the young designers of the evening who were showcased in a fashion show. Several pictures of the designers work are featured in the interview as well.