Tag: Pride Month

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My Special Pride/Tony Awards Playlist

Folks, don’t forget The 2018 Tony Awards are tonight on CBS at 8PM ET hosted by Josh Groban and Sara Bareilles.

My fellow LGBT blogger Larry over at The OUTFront asked me to come up with a special “Sounds of Pride” Tony Awards playlist as a guest post, and I figure why not share it here as well?

My goal was to share some magical moments from The Great White Way that also have a connection to the ideas of Pride Month for different reasons.

Let’s begin with the 1979 Tony Awards and “The Aggie Song” from Carol Hall’s The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. My dear friend Thommie Walsh (the original “Bobby” in A Chorus Line) was among the six nominations for the show at the Tony Awards that year, his for Best Choreography with Tommy Tune. While he didn’t win that year, his choreography was honored with Tony Awards twice – for A Day in Hollywood/A Night in the Ukraine and My One and Only.

A sexy, naughty topic with hunky football players, the performance on the Tony Awards that year had to be edited for the national telecast 😉

In 2001, Thommie directed and choreographed a national tour of the show starring the on-and-only Ann-Margret.

Thommie passed away on June 16, 2007. I miss him every day. What an unbelievable spirit. Watch his work in action below.

Since the title of the post is “Sounds of Pride,” I’m going to go a little out-of-the-box and to include Paul’s monologue from the Pulitzer Prize-winning A Chorus Line.

Originated by Sammy Williams, who won a Tony Award for his performance, standing in a single spotlight for seven minutes, “Paul” shared his journey from bullied gay student to drag queen to aspiring Broadway dancer.

For the record-breaking “longest on Broadway” performance at the Shubert Theater in NYC, genius director/choreographer included past and present cast members in the ultimate celebration of the show.

For this moment, Bennett utilized a Greek chorus of “Pauls” chiming in with Sammy Williams as he re-created his Tony Award winning performance.

As I wrote earlier this year when Sammy passed away at 69, never before had a Broadway audience experienced such a raw, unfiltered version of our experiences in life as gay men. I remember seeing Sammy in the role in NYC and he was heart-stopping.

I wish I had the full monologue by Sammy but this gives you a sense of the incredible power of his performance.

Idina Menzel’s awesome performance of “Defying Gravity” from Wicked at the 2004 Tony Awards might seem like an unlikely choice for a Pride playlist, but her fearless rendition reveals much about the awesome sense of power we discover within ourselves.

Like countless audience members, I’ve enjoyed the show several times. But in this performance, check Idina’s expression at the :23 mark – she’s almost in awe as she realizes her own power.

“Something has changed within me, something is not the same.”

I never saw another “Elphaba” embody that specific thought.

And coupled with the blond, totally mainstream “Glinda” (by a perfect Kristin Chenoweth) who stands in admiration of her friend (check that 3:14 mark), I feel like this is such a metaphor for those who feel “other” and our allies.

“Unlimited – together, we’re unlimited.”

The message, at least to this gay writer, is clear. Our mission every day is to realize our own power. Even in the face of our haters.

“Look at her, she’s wicked. So we’ve got to bring her down.”

And of course, they do not.

From the ground-breaking RENT, the reprise of “I’ll Cover You” delivers in wide-ranging depth the sense of loss felt during the height of the AIDS epidemic.

Early in the show, this song is a flirty, fun moment of discovery between “Collins” and new boyfriend “Angel.” But in the aftermath of Angel’s passing, the same song takes on an entirely new meaning.

I wish I could find a great video of original “Tom Collins” Jesse L. Martin bringing this to life. But my friend Michael McElroy, veteran of 9 Broadway productions and who in 1999 became the founder and director of the Broadway Inspirational Voices definitely has the goodsin this clip from the official live-from-Broadway recorded version of the show.

“Live in my house – I’ll be your shelter. Just pay me back with 1,000 kisses. Be my lover and I’ll cover you.”

And finally, the gayest of the gay – the Tony Award performance by the original Broadway cast of the 1984 smash hit, La Cage Aux Folles.

I mean, seriously. Not only was this the first time Broadway musical audiences were presented with a loving same-sex romance, the indomitable Jerry Herman handed us our own anthem – “I Am What I Am.”

Plus – tap-dancing drag queens! Do I need to elaborate further?

Check out this performance from the 1984 Tony Awards where La Cage won 6 Tonys including “Best Musical as well as acceptance speeches from Jerry Herman, Harvey Fierstein, Arthur Laurents, and George Hearn.

“And now, I beg you – open your eyes…”

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‘Queer As Folk’ Cast Reunites For EW Magazine

Cast members from the first season of Queer As Folk

It’s hard to fathom but it’s been 13 years since the ground-breaking Showtime drama Queer As Folk left the air.

The cast reunited for the first time since filming the series finale for Entertainment Weekly’s Pride Issue. During a photo shoot and group chat, the actors and creators shared their memories of the series – and all those sex scenes.

Taking a trip on the ‘way-back machine,’ EW begins it’s profile the same way the series did.

“The thing you need to know is, it’s all about sex.”

That’s the first thing audiences heard from Hal Sparks’ character “Michael Novotny” in the first seconds of the premiere of the series back in December 2000 as dozens of sweaty, shirtless young men dance at the club Babylon

And, that was very much a part of the truth.

“I can tell you what everyone here’s genitals look like,” says a still boyish Randy Harrison. “I won’t, but I could.”

“I think the sexuality — and the honesty of that sexuality — propelled us throughout the whole series,” adds Thea Gill.

Michelle Clunie, who played girlfriend “Melanie” to Thea Gill’s “Lindsay,” shared the preparation for their first sex scene together.

“I remember Thea and I got together the night before our first sex scene, and we actually practiced kissing because we felt it was very important that it was a real, intimate connection between these two women who had been together for so long,” says Clunie, 48.

(photo credit: Sami Drasin for EW)

Not everyone participated in the overt sex scenes. Sharon Gless, who played Michael’s over-the-top supportive mom, “Debbie” says, “They paid me to keep my clothes on!”

While the actors and creative team were ready for backlash from the conservative right, executive producer Ron Cowen says it never really materialized.

But the LGBT community had plenty to say.

“The show received criticism from gay people and gay organizations, but they never said we weren’t telling the truth,” says Cowen. “As we often said, ‘If you don’t like the reflection you see in the mirror, don’t blame the mirror.’”

“We saw it as an opportunity to address a lot of issues that had never been shown on American TV before,” Cowen told EW about creating an American version of QAF. “That was very important to us because we, gay people, didn’t really see a true reflection of ourselves on TV very often. Back then, you couldn’t get married. There was ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ in the Army. In 14 states, there were still sodomy laws on the books. It was a very hostile atmosphere.”

And yet, the series was a major hit for Showtime becoming the most-watched series for the cable network by the end of the first season.

The series lasted for five seasons following Michael and friends often addressing serious issues for the LGBT community as the world entered the new millenium.

From left to right: Michelle Clunie, Thea Gill, Robert Gant, Hal Sparks, Gale Harold,
Randy Harrison, Sharon Gless, Peter Paige, and Scott Lowell
(photo credit: Sami Drasin for EW)

That said, the cast was informed at the end of the fourth season that the fifth would be the last.

“The last year, every scene was important,” says Sharon Gless, who played Sparks’ mother. “‘This is the last scene I’ll do with Randy.’ ‘This is the last scene I’ll do with Thea.’ Even though it was sad, it was complete.”

With the current spate of TV reboots, EW asked the cast if there could be a new season of Queer As Folk?

“God knows the clothes and the hairstyles have changed, but the emotional stories are eternal,” Paige shares. “I often say people came for the queer, but they stayed for the folk.”

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YouTube’s Official Pride Video Gets Swamped By Haters

YouTube has released its official 2018 Pride video with the caption, “You don’t just imagine a better future – you create it. This Pride Month, we’re celebrating LGBTQ voices that shape our world – past, present, and future.”

But with 113K downvotes and only 43K “thumbs up,” it looks like the video didn’t quite land as expected.

Tons of haters swarmed in to denounce the Pride message.

And additionally, some LGBT folks commented regarding the ongoing issues with gay-centric videos being listed as “restricted” limiting the audience for those vloggers.

“Thanks for screwing over creators for the past year,” read one comment.

“But you guys still demonetize people for acknowledging their LGBT lives in video titles?” said another referring to an issue where LGBTQ videos were blocked from earning money. YouTube blamed the demonetization on “the algorithm” and promised to fix it.

Here’s the video.

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Andy Cohen Serves As Tel Aviv’s “International Ambassador” For Pride 2018

Andy Cohen (photo: Chris Williamson)

Today, a quarter of a million people from around the world gathered in Tel Aviv today to march in the largest ever pride parade in the Middle East where Bravo’s Andy Cohen served as this year’s International Ambassador.

Andy Cohen told the media:

“I live in New York City and this is my first but definitely not my last time in Tel Aviv. I am a proud gay Jewish man and the only gay host in late night TV. I have been struck by how incredible it is, not only to be here, but as a proud gay Jewish man surrounded by my people.”

“It’s also an amazing thing seeing gay pride flags flying everywhere next to the flag of Israel.”

“Celebrating Pride in Tel Aviv is a beautiful celebration of gay rights and visibility in a region where many of the neighbors cannot live as their true selves or be who they were born to be, which makes it all the more special for this massive coming together in support of equality to be taking place in Tel Aviv.”

This year’s parade marked 20 years to the City’s first pride parade and payed tribute to the pioneering activists who played a key-role in promoting LGBT rights and visibility in Israel.

Andy Cohen at the Western Wall in Jerusalem
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Sexy PSA: “Don’t Hate The Player Or The Game”

Check out this sexy new PSA from medsEXPERT Pharmacy based in Toronto, Canada.

Featuring a handsome young urbanite named “Bradley,” the short vid follows his adventures before and after picking up his prescription for PrEP.

Taken on a regular basis, PrEP (Pre-exposure prophylaxis), also marketed as under medication name Truvada, can reduce the risk of HIV infection by over 90%.

It certainly seems to set Bradley free.

Produced by Bulldog Productions and featuring Sofi Tukker’s “Awoo,” busy-boy Bradley’s social calendar gets turbo-charged once he’s in the PrEP swing of things.

“There is still a lot of stigma out there around the sex gay men have, it’s not always easy to find friendly or knowledgeable doctors and healthcare providers for LGBTQ+ folks,” Micheal Fanous, the owner and pharmacist at medsEXPERT told INMagazine. “Through this campaign, medsEXPERT wants to acknowledge the sex that men have and for all of us to be proud of who we are.”

The video ends with this message: “Don’t hate the player or the game itself. Take pride in your health!”

Oh – “And never apologize for who you are.” #duh

For more info about PrEP, click over to the Centers for Disease Control site.

Watch the sexy video below.

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Crossfit Fires Executive After Anti-LGBT Tweets

Former employee Russell Berger was fired on Wednesday for attacking the LGBTQ community for celebrating Pride Month
Russell Berger

Earlier this week, the management of a Crossfit gym in Indianapolis cancelled an LGBT-themed workout via an email sent to members. The email explained that the event was cancelled because “the owners of the gym value health and wellness, and they believe that this event does not.”

From the email:

“Our underlying goal for the staff and members at CrossFit Infiltrate and our other gyms CrossFit White River and University Ave CrossFit, is total health and well-being for the individual and the community. Total health involves the body, the emotions, relationships, and the spirit. At the foundational detractor from health, as we believe God sets the parameters for, is pride. We believe that true health forever can only be found within humility, not pride. Humility is seeing oneself as they truly are, and as God truly defines them to be. As a business we will choose to deploy our resources towards those efforts and causes that line up with our own values and beliefs.”

Russell Berger, “Chief Knowledge Officer” for CrossFit, attacked the LGBTQ community saying all expressions of “pride” are sin in a series of tweets which have now been deleted.

One of the tweets read, “As someone who personally believes celebrating “pride” is a sin, I’d like to personally encourage #CrossFitInfiltrate for standing by their convictions and refusing to host an @indypride workout. The intolerance of the LGBTQ ideology toward any alternative views is mind-blowing.”

CrossFit CEO Greg Glassman placed Berger on unpaid leave shortly after that tweet.

He then before fired him Wednesday evening. In an interview, Glassman called Berger a “zealot” who needed to “shut the fuck up.”

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AT&T Announces $1 Million Donation To The Trevor Project And More For Pride 2018

AT&T announces huge donation to The Trevor Project

As the country celebrates Pride Month, LGBT ally AT&T has announced a $1 million donation to The Trevor Project, the nation’s leading organization providing crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to LGBTQ youth.

These funds will help modernize and transform The Trevor Project’s suicide prevention capabilities and help them serve up to four times more LGBTQ youth through their digital platforms than previously possible.

This means more LGBTQ youth experiencing a crisis will be able to reach trained and caring crisis counselors.

Suicide is the second leading cause of death for youth aged 10 – 24, and LGBTQ youth are almost five times as likely to have attempted suicide compared to their heterosexual peers.

In addition to the huge donation, the single largest in the 20-year history of The Trevor Project, AT&T will also donate more than $675,000 worth of AT&T products and services as well as technology & connectivity expertise. Plus, AT&T will also actively recruit employee volunteers to further support the life-saving work of The Trevor Project.

AT&T has a long history of supporting the LGBTQ community stretching back to 1975, when the communications giant was one of the very first American companies to prohibit discrimination against employees based on sexual orientation.

In 1998, the company adopted one of the very first domestic partner benefits programs for LGBTQ employees. And in 2006, AT&T was a leader once again as one of the first companies to offer transgender-inclusive health care benefits.

Also, look for the exclusive premiere of Alone In The Game, the AT&T original feature-length documentary which follows a group of athletes and sports figures from the biggest stages in American sports, including the NFL, NBA, MLS, and NCAA, among others, to explore the ongoing struggles LGBTQ athletes are facing at the professional, collegiate and Olympic levels.

You can catch Alone In The Game on June 28 at 8 p.m. ET/PT exclusively on AT&T AUDIENCE Network – DIRECTV ch. 239 and AT&T U-verse ch. 1114 and via streaming services on DIRECTV NOW, DIRECTV, and AT&T U-verse apps. DIRECTTV is a subsidiary of AT&T.

And, beginning June 1, DIRECTV and DIRECTV NOW customers can find the “Celebrate Pride” carousel across all their devices featuring some of the best and brightest LGBTQ TV shows and films available! From the new Ryan Murphy series “Pose” for FX to fan favorites on-demand like VH1’s “RuPaul’s Drag Race” and FOX’s “Empire.”” and classics like NBC’s “Will & Grace” and Showtime’s “The Real L Word.”

Beyond Pride Month, on July 28 in Salt Lake City, there’s the second annual LOVELOUD Festival founded by Imagine Dragons frontman Dan Reynolds and powered by AT&T.

LOVELOUD is designed to ignite the relevant and vital conversation of what it means to unconditionally love, understand, accept, and support LGBTQ+ youth in our communities.

See the message below from Dan Reynolds about the LOVELOUD Festival:

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United Airlines Claps Back At Anti-LGBT Hater – “Pride Is Not About Politics, It’s About Humanity”

I’ll begin this post by stating upfront that United is my airline of choice.

And one of those reasons is the company’s commitment to supporting LGBTQ inclusion and equality.

Please note the rainbow logo United switched to immediately on the 1st of June to recognize Pride Month.

Everyone, however, wasn’t thrilled with the pic.

A certain hater – Pastor Ron York – had to chime in and tell the airline the logo was “inappropriate” and “political.”

United wasn’t having any of that, though.

The company that invites you to “fly the friendly skies” clapped back at his hate letting him know, “Pride is not about politics, it’s about humanity.”

SNAP!

United then shared a link to the airline’s “Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion” statement 🙂

(h/t Boy Culture)

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NJ Police Veteran Lt. James Tracy Is One Of NBC Out’s #Pride30

Lieutenant James Tracy (click image to enlarge)

For Pride Month, NBC Out is putting the spotlight on 30 individuals who are bringing positive awareness to and for our LGBTQ community not only through their actions but living by example.

The series is called #Pride30.

So, meet Lt. James Tracy of the Englewood Cliffs Police Department in New Jersey.

Yes, let’s stop and take in the photo and all. It’s pretty fab.

Now, aside from the biceps and chest on display (when you got a Porsche, you don’t keep it in the garage), Officer Tracy has been instrumental in bringing LGBTQ inclusivity to police departments all across Bergen County in the Garden State.

From NBC Out:

Tracy, 40, helped to initiate the Bergen County Police Academy’s very first LGBTQ bias training program in 2016. Now, the New Jersey native is working to expand this program throughout the whole state.

Last June, during LGBTQ Pride Month, Tracy started an initiative where every officer in his department wore “rainbow pride bracelets.” The program was intended to show the town’s LGBTQ community that their police officers are dedicated to inclusion and are supportive of everyone’s rights. The program also initiated a dialogue between officers and numerous residents who asked questions about the bracelets and how they could get one for themselves.

In addition to LGBTQ equality, Tracy has also been dedicated to engaging with youth and training the next generation of law enforcement officers. Tracy is the co-founder and leader of the Junior Police Academy, which is held annually in Englewood Cliffs. It’s a weeklong summer program that trains young people who may want to pursue a career in law enforcement. The program is now in its 14th year.

In true Pride Month fashion, the 40-year-old police veteran shares that he was ‘in the closet’ for the first 10 years of his career as a police officer.

Acknowledging he worked with great professionals in the police department, he was still wary of telling his co-workers the truth about his sexual orientation for fear that they would not accept him.

Eventually, the weight of his personal truth became too much to carry and he slowly began to share with his co-workers.

“The relief that I experienced after coming out can’t be described with words; it was just this enormous weight off my shoulders,” says Tracy. “After experiencing that, I wanted to help other gay officers who may be dealing with the same struggles. Ten years of hiding who I am was much too long; life is too short to hide anything about yourself.”

Because of his personal experience, Tracy helped to initiate the Bergen County Police Academy’s very first LGBTQ bias training program in 2016. And now the native New Jerseyan is moving to share that program throughout New Jersey.

Tracy says he finds “do’s” and “don’t” in bias training shuts down interaction due to fear of saying or doing the wrong thing.

“If you train people from a diversity and inclusion perspective, you don’t need to spend a lot of time on ‘don’t do this’ and ‘don’t do that.’ The LGBTQ population is the only demographic that crosses into every race, ethnicity and religion. Essentially, we are a minority within a minority, and if agencies are not providing bias training on LGBTQ issues, they are missing a huge minority segment.”

NBC Out closes it’s profile of the handsome officer by asking what pride means to him. His answer is spot on.

“Pride to me is about being proud of yourself, accepting yourself, and everything about yourself — regardless of what other people think.”

I couldn’t agree more.

Make sure you follow NBC Out’s series #Pride30 which includes Tracy, Parkland shooting survivor Emma Gonzalez, trans Virginia lawmaker Danica Roem, Hollywood producer Greg Berlanti, and a whole bunch of way impressive/inspiring LGBT folks you should know.

One more thing: I’m gonna say normally I resize photos for The Randy Report so the images fit my blog.

In this case, however, I couldn’t bring myself to deprive you of the full-size awesomeness that is Lt. James Tracy.

So click the image to enlarge the pic above.

#HappyPride2018

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Will & Grace Pride Mash-Up: “You Are Exactly Who You Are Supposed To Be”

Sean Hayes in ‘Will & Grace’

“You are exactly who you are supposed to be.”

You could say that’s one of the ineffable messages of Pride Month.

And underscoring yet again the impact Will & Grace has had on LGBTs and allies alike, this one minute video gets to the center of what has made the show such an enduring success.

Humor with heart.

The newly-released mash-up from the iconic sitcom in honor of Pride Month reminds us why the Will & Grace reboot been an amazing revival for NBC and the LGBT community.

Take, for example, the clip from the latest season between Will and guest star Ben Platt:

Will: “My coming out was pretty typical – my mom cried, my dad drank…”

Ben: “I told my parents when I was 8. They both threw me a coming out party on the same weekend.”

Will: “That’s not a coming out story. How’s James Franco supposed to win an Oscar playing that???”

While it gets a good laugh, the brief scene combines comedy and light with a subject many experienced as painful.

The quick video tribute offers coming out moments from Will and Jack, as well as the infamous “television kiss” between the two dashing urbanites.

Eric McCormak (L) and Sean Hayes (R)

We’re also treated to moments of pride by parents on the show, something most of America had never seen before W&G.

And why? Because as Jack tells us, “That’s what we do in the community – we ‘gay it forward.’”

Because Pride Month isn’t just about a party, or history, or a slogan.

“The minute you forget what we went through to get here, is the minute it could all be taken away.”

Well done, NBC.

Happy Pride, folks.

(h/t The OUTFront)