SGL Café

Oh, come all ye gay soldiers - DADT is dead! Just in time for Xmas...

It was a long time in coming. John McCain did is curmudgeonly best to stop it. Still, in a rare saturday session the Senate passed the repeal of DADT 65-31. An Obama Promise fulfilled - Equality for the gay and lesbian members of our elite armed forces. And just in time for Christmas. But of course, there are some Grinches who need a chill pill. Conservative blog the American Thinker described congress' actions as the "latest lame duck assault on the American people." Some odd thinking going on over there to equate allowing gay soldiers to risk their lives for Americans as an assault on Americans. Tony Perkins from the 'Hate Group' Family Research Council (FRC) shrieked that repeal was "jeopardizing national security". And, presumably, kicking out thousands of highly trained, willing troops because of who they love is not a threat to our nations safety. What a douche. But our favorite tops them all. Peter 'Porno Pete' Labarbera of Americans for Truth About Homosexuality (AFTAH) sent out an almost unhinged missive as the finale vote loomed after passing the filibuster in the Senate: Never, never, never, never--in nothing, great or small, large or petty--never give in"... to the political and culture forces seeking to normalize sinful behavior that is, thankfully, changeable through the power and grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. God bless you. -- Peter LaBarbera, www.aftah.org; you can write us at americansfortruth@gmail.com. Be sure to drop Peter a note of condolences.

Video du jour: Sylvester ~ The definition of DIVA (and the most beautiful song ever)

The definition of "Diva". You Are My Friend. What a moving performance of one of the mostbeautiful songs about true love I have ever heard! RIP Sylvester. Below is a rare appearance with Joan Rivers where he sings his hit "Someone Like You", talks about his "jewelries", and then possibly outs his man. Diva. Sylvester James (September 6, 1944 in Los Angeles, California – December 16, 1988 in San Francisco, California) was an American disco and soul musician, and a gay drag performer. Known for singing in falsetto (despite a rich baritone voice), he is also considered one of the first Hi-NRG artists. His grandmother was the jazz singer Julia Morgan. He performed under his first name only, Sylvester.

A Gay President? *yawn* Been there, done that

A recent 60 Minutes/Vanity Fair poll asserted that 50% of Americans would accept an openly gay President. Predictably, those pro-family, hysterically anti-gay Family Research Council bigots, through their twisted hyperbolic prism suggested that President is, in fact, Obama. My response to FRC's latest plea for donations to help them fight the gay agenda: Gay President? *yawn* Been there, done that. James Buchanan - the 15th President of the United States (1857-1861), is widely believed to have been totally 'mo. The life-long bachelor (wink, wink) had a live-in BFF (or just BF) - William Rufus King, who was referred to as "Aunt Fancy" by that era's Beltway crowd. Apparently, Buchanan's sexual orientation was so widely rumored around Washington, that King was called "Mrs. Buchanan." Had the Family Research Council existed in 1857, they would have had no time to harass poor President Buchanan and Aunt Fancy, they would've been solely focused on holding onto their slaves. The priorities of self-righteous bigots of that time was keeping their free labor force, not subjugating 'mos. The ambitious Buchanan had his sights on the presidency for many years before he actually attained the office. He tried for the White House in 1844, 1848, and 1852 before finally achieving his goal in 1856. But this isn't necessarily a feather in our collective gay cap, because under his leadership the Confederacy (which, in 2010, Virginia's governor wants to celebrate) began forming, and Buchanan, apparently, did nothing to stop it. Ironically, just before he began his successful campaign, Buchanan (who sided with the pro-slavery southern Democrats), said - "Before many years the abolitionists will bring war upon this land ... It may come during the next presidential term." He was only off by one term, and, possibly, who brought war on whom. From a 21st century perspective... Its difficult to understand what same gender loving people went through in the mid 19th century - when African Americans were still in chains, when abolitionists like John Brown clashed violently with pro-slavery forces, when the Supreme Court told Dred Scott (a slave who sued for his freedom) that "neither he, nor any person of African ancestry, could claim citizenship in the United States." In a country so morally and politically broken, how powerful could Buchanan (with 'Aunt Fancy' by his side) have been when his orientation was widely rumored? What is known is that under his Presidency his own party split apart, and soon after - as Lincoln entered the White House and Buchanan faded into obscurity - so did the country. ~

Bayard Rustin - the black gay organizer of the 1963 march on Washington

01.17.11 - In honor of King Day ... and because black gay history never sleeps. Update below: NAACP chapter president anti-gay rant! The man who organized MLK Jr.’s march on Washington was gay; so is Ben Jealous’s brother. The NAACP president thinks LGBT activists could find their staunchest allies in African-Americans—if they reached out more. Question: Why haven’t African-Americans fought harder alongside gay rights activists? Ben Jealous: We had to start from the fact -- somebody once said to me, I didn't march in the '60's so that men could sleep together. And I was like, well, that's all right because Bayard Rustin had that held down. You know, the man who planned the march on Washington was gay, was known to be gay, and that was okay with Dr. King, it was okay with Julian Bond and John Lewis then, and it's okay now. Our only regrets about Bayard Rustin are that he still isn't with us planning marches...

Update! Like a noisy, noxious fart during an elegant dinner, I unearthed this video of Rev. Keith Ratliff (an NAACP Iowa/Nebraska chapter president) rallying a crowd into an anti-gay frenzy. It was sad listening to such ignorance from an NAACP chapter President. I wonder if Benjamin Jealous is aware that this moron is sullening the name of the NAACP with his anti-gay sermonizing? Listening to him was sad and disgusting, and despite his claims that gay equality is not similar to The Civil Rights struggle, his own animus toward “two men kissing in public” makes him a mockery of the very civil rights he claims need to be enshined in a box labeled “Black and Hetero Only!” The man is a fool and a dusty relic of the past. I pray Mr. Jealous is reading this. Some house-cleaning is in order.

Black gay History Moment: The Entertainer

Who was Jean Williams? From Flickr This mugshot from 1938 inspires more questions than it answers. Described as a hermaphrodite entertainer (with "maroon" eyes), I wondered what led to his "disorderly conduct" arrest. Was he really disorderly or just defending himself, yet he was the one arrested because he was unusual? I wondered why he would leave NYC for Scranton Pennsylvania. Was Scranton more accepting of difference than NYC in '38? I highly doubt it. Was he really hermaphrodite? Transgender? Just a drag performer and the officer in question just labeled him any ol' way he wanted? Was he a good performer? A great one? Questions, questions. I don't know his story, but I'm gonna guess its sad. Jean, if still alive, would be 98 years old today. What I wouldn't give to hear his stories.