DVD REVIEW: Latter Days

Finally saw a movie which was in our Netflix queue for over a month (sigh!) when I was back home in Los Angeles recently. The movie is Latter Days, which is about the romance between a West Hollywood muscle twink named Christian and a blonde, innocent 19-year-old Mormon missionary named Aaron.

Latter Days had been on our list of movies to see for a long time, since the Other Half was a Mormon missionary and word-of-mouth described the film as being a heartwarming gay love story.

Even with that much information about the film, I was still pleasantly surprised by Latter Days in two ways: the script and the cast. The director, C. Jay Cox, also wrote the screenplay, and (according to IMDB) apparently based it on his own life as a Mormon missionary who went to Los Angeles and turned into a West Hollywood gay party boy. One would expect the script for what is essentially a low-budget gay film festival flick to be trite and predictable but it repeatedly surprised me with plot twists. I kept on saying "I didn't expect THAT to happen!"--this is the mark of a well-written film that captures your attention and never lets go.

The other even more pleasant surprise was the cast. The biggest star in the movie (currently) is Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who was a child actor in television's 3rd Rock from the Sun but more recently has become famous for his non-threatening boy-next-door good looks in (500) Days of Summer and my favorite film of 2010, Inception. Jacqueline Bisset is also in the film, as the older sage and "den mother" who owns a restaurant in West Hollywood where Christian works as a waiter alongside his roommate Julie, an aspiring singer. The actors playing Christian, Wes Ramsey, and Aaron, Steve Sandvoss, are both very attractive in theor own way. Ramsay has a very muscular, low-fat, smooth body and a handsome face while Sandvoss has a very fit and athletic body coupled with classic blonde hair and blue eyes and a permanently innocent expression. It's fun to watch movies when there "eye candy" on the screen!

The one detraction I would make about Latter Days, although I think this was intentional choice by the writer/director to broaden the movie's appeal is that it is trying to span multiple genres simultaneously, possibly too many at once. At different points it wants to be a musical about starving artists making it in the big city, an AIDS buddy film, a Romeo and Julio love story, a gritty drama about religion and homosexuality, a (gay) sex comedy and, finally, a heart-warming story about self-actualization. It's probably a good idea for a small film to be about just more than one thing, but trying to be too many things at once can lead to a bit of dissonance as the film switches rapidly between tones.

All in all Latter Days is a very enjoyable experience, very much worth renting.

Title: Latter Days.
Director: C. Jay Cox.
Running Time: 1 hour, 47 minutes.
MPAA Rating: Rated R for strong sexual content and language.
Release Date: July 10, 2003.
Viewing Date: September 24, 2011.

Plot: A.
Acting: B+.
Visuals: A.
Impact: A-.

Overall Grade: (3.75/4.0).

Researchers Need YOUR Views On Marriage Equality (Pro or Con)

Supporters and opponents of legalizing same-sex marriage are needed for an online research study concerning communication messages about legalizing same-sex marriage within the United States. 
Share your opinions by Oct. 25. Click here to take the survey, or copy and paste this link into your browser: http://pennstatecomm.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_5q0jBQGKH2DXFWs
The survey takes less than 15 minutes to complete. You are eligible to participate if you are at least 18 years old.

This research study is being conducted as part of a doctoral dissertation at The Pennsylvania State University. It is NOT funded or commissioned by any political, religious, or advocacy organization. If you have questions about this study, please contact Pamela Brubaker at pjb943@psu.edu.

POLL: Marriage Equality Support in MA Hits 60%

Massachusetts was the first state to legalize marriage equality, back in 2004 and there were all sorts of predictions that disaster would strike the Bay State. There were multiple failed attempts to amend the state constitution, or allow the majority to impose their will on the minority through a ballot measure. None of that happened.

A recent poll by PPP shows that 60% of respondents in Massachusetts now support marriage equality!

Q: Do you think same-sex marriage should be legal or illegal?

Legal: 60
Illegal: 30
Not sure: 10

Q: Which of the following best describes your opinion on gay marriage: gay couples should be allowed to legally marry, or gay couples should be allowed to form civil unions but not legally marry, or there should be no legal recognition of a gay couple’s relationship?

Gay couples should be allowed to legally marry: 56
Gay couples should be allowed to form civil unions but not marry: 30
There should be no recognition of a gay couple’s relationship: 12
Not sure: 2

Q: Has the legalization of gay marriage in Massachusetts had a positive or negative impact on your life, or has it not had any impact at all?

Positive impact: 18
Negative impact: 15
No impact at all: 67

My favorite number in this poll is that last one. 67% of respondents said that the legalization of gay marriage in their state has had no impact on their life. That has been the argument of marriage equality activists like myself all along. How does MY marriage (to a man) affect your marriage? If you are honest with yourself, you know that it simply doesn't, at all. The professional heterosexual supremacists at the National Organization for Marriage are simply lying about this fact, every single day.Happily, fewer and few people are believing their lies every day as well.

As former Chief Justice of the New York Court of Appeals Judith Kaye wrote in dissent in Hernandez v Robles (the unsuccessful marriage lawsuit ) "There are enough marriage licences to go around for everyone."

Boehner Triples Budget For DOMA Legal Defense

Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-OH)

This is pretty astonishing news. While Republicans are repeatedly bloviating about cutting Medicare and Social Security and reducing the size ofthe federal government, that doesn't apparently apply to defending homophobic laws in court.

Joe.My.God reports that the the "Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group" (which is controlled by the Republican House majority) has authorized a new contract with super-lawyer Paul Clement which triples the potential cost of defending the so-called Defense of Marriage Act in federal court.

Talking Points Memo has the details:

House Republican leaders have tripled theamount allocated for a legal team arguing in support of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) from $500,000 to $1.5 million of taxpayer money.

A modified contract between the General Counsel to the House of Representatives and former Solicitor General Paul Clement of Bancroft PLLC sets a cap of $750,000 which can be raised up to $1.5 million.

"It is absolutely unconscionable that Speaker Boehner is tripling the cost for his legal boondoggle to defend the indefensible Defense of Marriage Act," Drew Hammill, a spokesman for Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, said in a statement.

"At a time when Americans are hurting and job creation should be the top priority, it just shows how out of touch House Republicans have become that they would spend up to $1.5 million dollars to defend discrimination in our country," Hammill continued.

It should be noted that the Obama administration has concluded that DOMA is unconstitutional and is no longer defending it in court. DOMA has been declared unconstitutional by at least three federal judges this  year, in cases which are still under appeal.

Correlation Of Bigotry With Religious Belief?

MadProfessah Attending D.C. ImmigrationEquality Fundraiser

As close readers of the blog may realize, MadProfessah is now bi-coastal: spending time in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. With that in mind, it means that I can attend events which occur in either city. Tomorrow, I will be attending the 3rd Annual Capital Fundraiser for Immigration Equality:

3rd Annual Capital Reception & Fundraiser

Oct 4, 2011 6:00 PM - 8:30 PM

Description:
Featuring Debbie Wasserman Schultz, U.S. Representative from Florida’s 20th District and Chair of the Democratic National Committee.

Honorary Hosts: 
Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL-20)
Congressman Chris Van Hollen (MD-8)
Congressman Joseph Crowley (NY-7)

After a summer of sharing their story in major news outlets like CNN, MSNBC, Countdown with Keith Olbermann and in front page news stories across the country, Bradford Wells and Anthony Makk will be joining Immigration Equality in Washington. They will be meeting with key Congressional leaders ... and they’d like to meet you, too.

Please join them — and the Immigration Equality team — on Tuesday, October 4th, for our Third Annual Capital Reception & Fundraiser, hosted by Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams. We’ll have important updates on our work to help families like Bradford & Anthony ... celebrate the successes of the past year ... and build the support we need to continue our critical work on Capitol Hill.

The event is free, however your support is welcome, and critical to our success. We hope that if you're moved by our work, you'll help us reach our goal of $15,000 for our on-going work on behalf of LGBT immigrant families. Donations can be made online at ImEqActionFund.org/DCevent

Location:

Mitchell Gold+ Bob Williams 

1526 14th Street, NW (between P & Q Streets, Logan Circle)
Washington, DC

Contact:

Please RSVP by September 30th to Maria or on Facebook here.

If you're in the Washington, D.C. area, hopefully you can check out the event!

Largest Private Employer In U.S. Adds Trans Protections

Well this is good news! The largest private employer in the United States (and 3rd largest in the world!) is Walmart, and they just recently announced that they have changed their discrimination policies to protect transgender employees.

According to the Windy City Times:

Big box retail giant Wal-Mart has added transgender protections to its employee non-discrimination policy.The protections include gender identity and gender expression said Phillip Keene, a company spokesperson.
Keene did not confirm when the new policy went into effect, only that the change was made "several weeks ago."
News of the new policy has not been widely publicized.
Sexual orientation protections are already a part of the company's "Discrimination and Harassment Prevention Policy."

Unless the Employment Non-Discrimination Act passes Congress and  is signed by the President , this is probably the largest expansion of job protections that will happen in  the Congressional term.

Eye Candy: Eddy Barrena

Eddy Barrena is a smoking hot guapo from New York City who I found at ManWatch. His model mayhem page says that he is 27 years old, 5'9" and 167 pounds. On it, Eddy says "I'm a very outgoing, hard worker person. i'm very artistic.i'm a dancer, actor, fashion designer who's passionate about modeling and healthy lifestyle." Agreed!

SUCCULENT SUNDAY: Drop-dead magenta and red, Thelocactus bicolor

In my yard, I tend to overlook Thelocactus bicolor until it blooms. Its body is green, moderately spiny and round -- about 3 inches across in this particular young plant (globose... or actually ovoidal in this beautiful technical summary on Thelocactus). The problem is, hundreds or thousands of cacti fit a similar description, including dozens under my care.

When it does bloom, "The Glory of Texas" is impossible to ignore. From a distance the bright magenta petals catch your eye (faded to pink here by my cheap camera). Something about the deep crimson center and glistening yellow pollen also jumps out at you, even from 10 yards away... not to mention the bloom's size: on the young plant pictured, the flower is an inch wider than the entire body of of the plant.

Thelocactus bicolor is widespread in the deserts of Texas and northern Mexico (see the excellent map of its known habitat from the Thelocactus site), so it's in no danger of disappearing... either from habitat or from admiring eyes of home growers.

Thelocactus bicolor is widespread in Northern Mexico shown on this beautiful map at http://www.thelocactus.cactus-mall.com/Thelocactus_Site.html

Murray Routs Young To Win 19th ATP Title

AFP PHOTO / Pornchai KITTIWONGSAKUL

World #4 Andy Murray of Great Britain dismantled American youngster Donald Young 6-2 6-0 to win his 19th ATP Tour title of his career at the PTT Thailand Open. It was Young's first ATP Tour final of the year (and career) but his opponent's 4th of the year and 29th of his career.

Murray lost the  2011 Australian Open final to Novak Djokovic but won the Cincinnati Masters title after the Serbian retired and the Queen's Club final against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga on grass. The win today was Murray's 3rd title of the year.

WATCH: Obama Addresses HRC Dinner

2 Weeks Until Season 2 Of Walking Dead!

This show was my guilty pleasure last spring when I discovered it, in repeats on AMC. I watched the entire first season in about a week. Hopefully, the second season which starts Sunday October 16th will be just as good.

Donald Young Beats Monfils To Reach 1st ATP Final

Donald Young celebrates during his semifinal win against Gael Monfils

(photo credit: AP)

22-year old African-American Donald Young came back from 1-4 down in the 3rd set to win his first career ATP tour semifinal match 4-6 7-6(5) 7-6(5) against Gael Monfils of France at the PTT Thailand Open. Young, six years ago was the top junior tennis player in the world but had generally struggled on the ATP tour until this year's U.S. Open where he made the quarterfinals, losing to Andy Murray.

Unfortunately for Young, his opponent in his first tour final will be Andy Murray, who won his semifinal match against Gilles Simon in 3 lopsided sets. Interestingly, this will be the third time Young and Murray have played each other this year, splitting matches.

This is only the second time Murray has played the Thailand tournament, reaching the final both times. Very few players actually win their first tour final, it is doubtful Young will. However, by just reaching the final he shall probably be ranked #43 in the world on Monday, more than 80 places higher than he started the year.

Saturday Politics: DiFi's Low Poll Numbers, Cash Problem

U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, no longer California's most popular politician?

Dianne Feinstein, long thought to be the most popular politician in California, has been running into some rough times lately. MadProfessah blogged about her poll numbers approaching the danger zone in June 2011 and now comes word of a more recent poll (September 16) confirming the conservadem's fall from grace.

Reuters reports:

The Field Research Corp poll estimated voters who do not want Feinstein to win reelection in 2012 to another six-year term at 44 percent, compared to 41 percent who favor her.

That is the first time the Field Poll has seen a larger share of voters say they are opposed to seeing Feinstein win reelection compared to the percentage who favor her election.

Feinstein is chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and has a reputation for being more conservative than California's other Senator, Barbara Boxer, also a Democrat.

In nearly every Field Poll over the past two decades, voters who approved of Feinstein outnumbered by double-digit margins those who disapproved, researchers said.

But the Field Poll showed only 41 percent said they approved of her job performance while 39 percent disapproved, representing the lowest rating of Feinstein's tenure.

Besides the low poll numbers, Sen. Feinstein is also caught up in the burgeoning Kinde Durkee accounting scandal. Apparently her $5 millon war chest for next November's re-election has been wiped out. Feinstein is responding by using $5 million of her (husband's) money to replace the amount stolen by the corrupt Democratic political accountant.

Politico reported about Feinstein's troubles last week:

Feinstein’s campaign already had a cloud hanging over it: This will be the first major race she navigates without her longtime strategist Kam Kuwata, whose death in April stunned political observers and left a gaping hole in her operation.

Those developments, coupled with Feinstein’s age — she’ll turn 79 next year — have fueled retirement speculation. While a formal announcement isn’t planned until 2012, Carrick told POLITICO that Feinstein will pursue a fourth term. But a volatile environment that continues to punish politicians with longtime ties to the establishment could still provide an opening for a robust Republican challenge.

While most see a weakened Feinstein still sailing to a comfortable victory, some believe a legitimate GOP challenger could be a boon to both sides. The scandal forced Feinstein to begin fundraising from scratch, and donors are hesitant to throw money at a campaign that so far faces no serious threats.

“There’s nothing more frustrating than shadow boxing,” said Carrick. “That’s a fundraising issue too. You get some people to say, ‘I’ll give when she has a serious opponent.’”

I know that I will most definitely not donating to or voting for Dianna Feinstein, for anything, ever again. She lost me when she carried water for President George W. Bush to get some of his conservative federal judicial appointments through the United States Senate, teaming up with her "good friend" Joe Lieberman to give aid and comfort to the Republicans.

I don't care that she voted against DOMA in 1996 and supports the Respect for Marriage Act and  marriage equality. She's bad on a whole lot of other progressive issues, something which can NOT be said for California's other U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer, who I would walk 3 miles in the snow, barefoot to support. It's amazing that California has two Democratic female Senators who are so very different on the issues.d

Celebrity Friday: Brad Pitt Explains Marriage Equality Support

Brad Pitt, the once and future Sexiest Man Alive, gave an interview to the widely read Sunday newspaper insert Parade Magazine which explains his unconditional support for marriage equality:

“Can you believe that we’re still fighting for equality in America? To be against marriage for everyone is utter discrimination.  I feel strongly about that because if equality of marriage doesn’t happen now, the next generation will have to deal with it.

“It is an amazing thing that New York has finally gotten same-sex marriage. But the real problem is that the federal government hides behind states on this issue. It is blatant, ugly bigotry, and the federal government shouldn’t be doing that. You’re denying some Americans the right that all Americans have, to live their lives as they choose.

“What are you so afraid of? That’s my question. Gay people getting married? What is so scary about that? It’s complicated.  You grow up in a religion like that and you try to pray the gay away. I feel sadness for people like that. This is where people start short-circuiting—instead of being brave and questioning their beliefs, they are afraid and feel that they have to defend them.

“I don’t mind a world with religion in it. There are some beautiful tenets within all religions.  What I get hot about is when they start dictating how other people must live. People suffer because of it. They are spreading misery.    

I couldn't have said it better myself. Go Brad! Looking good at 47 years old, too!

Obama Comments on DOMA and LGBT Bullying

President Barack Obama appeared at a public forum for Hispanic media on  Wednesday and answered two questions of interest to LGBT folks.

One question was on bullying:

MR. SIADE:  This question comes from Florida:  Since bullying is increasing in an alarming way in the U.S., what can be done to avoid further discrimination or bullying within various racial groups, particularly for Hispanic kids in school?

     THE PRESIDENT:  I think it's a really important question.  We actually had the first-ever conference on bullying here in the White House -- because for young people it’s hard enough growing up without also then being subject to constant harassment.  And the kind of bullying that we’re seeing now, including using the Internet and new media, can be very oppressive on young people.

     So what we’ve tried to do is to provide information and tools to parents, to schools, to communities to push back and fight against these kinds of trends.  And a lot of the best work has actually been done by young people themselves who start anti-bullying campaigns in their schools, showing how you have to respect everyone, regardless of race, regardless of religion, regardless of sexual orientation.  And when you get a school environment in which that’s not accepted by young people themselves, where they say we’re not going to tolerate that kind of bullying, that usually ends up making the biggest difference, because kids react to their peer group more than sometimes they do adults.

And what we need to do is make sure that we’re providing tools to schools and to young people to help combat against bullying, and it’s something that we'll continue to work on with local communities and local school districts as well.

MR. LERNER:  So you’re going to have a conference on bullying in the White House?

THE PRESIDENT:  We already did.  We had it -- it was probably four or five months ago.  And we brought in non-profit groups, religious leadership, schools, students themselves.  And they have now organized conferences regionally, around the country, so that we can prevent this kind of bullying from taking place.

And another was on DOMA, the so-called Defense of Marriage Act:

MR. LERNER:  Mr. President, on the Defense of Marriage Act, also called DOMA, this comes from Kevin in North Carolina.  He says:  I'm a gay American who fell in love with a foreigner.  As you know, due to DOMA, I'm not permitted to sponsor my foreign-born partner for residency.  And as a result, we are stuck between a rock and an impossible situation.  How do you intend to fix this?  Waiting for DOMA to be repealed or struck down in the courts will potentially take years.  What do binational couples do in the meantime?

     THE PRESIDENT:  Well, we made a decision that was a very significant decision, based on my assessment of the Constitution, that this administration would not defend DOMA in the federal courts.  It's not going to be years before this issue is settled. This is going to be settled fairly soon, because right now we have cases pending in the federal courts.

     Administratively, we can't ignore the law.  DOMA is still on the books.  What we have said is even as we enforce it, we don't support it, we think it's unconstitutional.  The position that my administration has taken I think will have a significant influence on the court as it examines the constitutionality of this law.  And once that law is struck down -- and I don't know what the ruling will be -- then addressing these binational issues could flow from that decision, potentially.

     I can't comment on where the case is going to go.  I can only say what I believe, and that is that DOMA doesn't make sense; it’s unfair; I don't think that it meets the demands of our Constitution.  And in the meantime, if -- I’ve already said that I’m also supportive of Congress repealing DOMA on it’s own and not waiting for the courts.  The likelihood of us being able to get the votes in the House of Representatives for DOMA repeal are very low at this point so, truthfully, the recourse to the courts is probably going to be the best approach.

Any thoughts on how Herman Cain, Mitt Romney, Rick Perry or Michele Bachmann would answer these questions?

READ: Letter From 67 U.S. Reps To DHS Napolitano

LGBT Immigration Letter to DHS Sec Napolitano By U.S. Reps

Lost Producers Confess They Made It All Up Ad Hoc

Damon Lindelof (left) and Carlton Cuse were the showrunners on Lost

As you may recall, I was a huge fan of the television series Lost and was verklempt when it went off the air Sunday May 23, 2010.

The story was so complex that there was always a suspicion about whether the writers and producers really knew what they wanted to do all the time and was the intricacy intended genius or unintended confusion.

One of the main executive producers, Damon Lindelof, now admits it was more of the latter:

"The biggest issue with a desert island show was the audience is going to get very frustrated that the characters were not getting off the island," he said. "My solution was, hey, let's get off the island every week. And the way we're going to do that is we're going to do these flashbacks. We'll do one character at a time and there's going to be like 70 characters on the show, so we'll go really, really slow, and each one will basically say, here's who they were before the crash and it'll dramatize something that's happening on the island and it will also make the show very character-centric."

Abrams liked the idea, and also had another: "'There should be a hatch on this island! They spend the entire season trying to get it open. And there should be these other people on the island,'" Lindelof recalled Abrams saying. "And I'm like, ''We can call them The Others.' And he's like, 'They should hear this noise out there in the jungle.' And I'm like, 'What's the noise?' And he's like, 'I don't...know. They're never going to pick this thing up anyway.'"

Lindelof said the idea to tell the story out of chronological order came in part from "Pulp Fiction," in which John Travolta's character is killed about halfway through -- and viewers learn only at the end that he had failed to heed Samuel Jackson's speech in the diner about the path of the righteous man.

"That sort of flipped the switch in me, and was something that I really wanted to do as a storyteller and 'Lost' was really the perfect opportunity to do it," Lindelof said.

The most amusing revelation is that Lindelof really just wanted to get a job on J.J. Abrams' hit show Alias (which I also loved) which is why he originally met with Abrams and then was offered his new show while Abrams went off to direct movies like Star Trek  and Mission Impossible 3.

NFL Player-Owner Agreement Bans Anti-Gay Discrimination

This is another sign of the demise of the salience of homophobia in American life. The National Football League agreement between the players' union and the owners guarantees non-discrimination based on sexual orientation.

Section 1. No Discrimination: There will be no discrimination in any form against any player by the Management Council, any Club or by the NFLPA because of race, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, or activity or lack of activity on behalf of the NFLPA.

Hat/tip to Wide Rights! If you can't discriminate against gay soldiers or gay football players why should you be able to discriminate in 31 states against gay employees in private businesses?

Heterosexual Supremaists Caught Lying About SB48 (Again)

The above video shows that people are being told that they are signing petitions to increase penalties for child molestation when actually they are signing petitions to repeal SB 48, the Fair, Accurate, Inclusive, Respectful Education Act of 2011 which mandates the inclusion of LGBT people in school history curricula.That's all the law does. If you think teaching kids about Harvey Milk and Bayard Rustin and Gertrude Stein will turn them into gays and lesbians you need to get your nose out of the Bible!

This is not the first time and it probably won't be the last time that religious extremists and heterosexual supremacists will be caught lying, cheating and stealing to get SB 48 on the June 2012 ballot.