A Wish for the New "Blade"

As the former staff of the Washington Blade plans their new publication, with pleas to the DC local community for support, I hope they will revisit their practice of keeping the local community at arms length.


For 10 years I was conductor of the DC's Different Drummers Symphonic Band. During that time we couldn't pro-actively talk to the reporters or editors at the Blade covering us. A PR professional -- a person who makes his living dealing with the media -- who we had engaged to help us with publicity says he had never encountered such unprofessionalism and unresponsiveness as he did at the Blade. Meanwhile, the Blade, when they did cover us, would take our press releases and edit them, making what they published about us totally factually inaccurate. No surprise -- they kept us at arm's length. This was not a DC's Different Drummers complaint only. I heard similar frustrations at meetings of the LGBT Arts Consortium meetings I attended at the time. The complaint was a familiar refrain: the Blade did not know or interact with the local DC LGBT community.

Now that they need community support -- and I am not opposed to giving it -- I hope they will change that practice.

Obama and Gay Rights -- Don't Get Your Hopes Up

I was a gay cheerleader for Obama, no question, and am thrilled and relieved he won.

But this quote from Joe Solmonese, leader of the Human Rights Campaign, is just insane:

“I think this is a milestone moment in American history and a milestone moment for the GLBT community,” Solmonese said.

What? The election of a Democrat is automatically a "milestone" moment for the GLBT community?

Shouldn't we wait until Obama has actually delivered something for the gay community before declaring victory for our community?

The WashBlade article that quoted Solmonese is rife with swooning statements from other gay rights leaders. Feeling the euphoria, you'd have thought voters defeated the anti-gay initiatives in three states instead of the depressing opposite.

Hey guys -- by declaring victory for gay rights and your love for Obama before he's actually done anything, aren't you taking the pressure off of him to actually do anything? You've not so subtly telegraphed that a democratic victory in and of itself = gay victory. And it ain't necessarily so. Remember Bill Clinton and Don't Ask Don't Tell not to mention DOMA?

We gays have our noses so far up the Dems asses they don't need to stick their neck out for us to retain our votes and our money. After all, where else will we go, right?

Can you name me one Democratic office holder of national prominence who has taken a risky stand for gay marriage when it would matter? If Obama is so eager to help gays, he could have taken a vocal stand against Prop 8, which he was said to be against. It could have made a difference.

So, I'm skeptical. And I would think it'd be smart politics if our so called gay "leaders" would be too, and not wet themselves just because we elected more Democrats to office.

Queery -- 20 Gay Questions

The Blade feature with my answers to their 20 "gay" questions. Let me know what you think.

The Blade Queery Update

Well, I completed my questions and I don't think I sound too much like a geezer. A little, maybe. I'll post a link here when the article is published.

The Blade photographer, Henry Linser, came buy last night to shoot me. I hate having my photo taken. It didn't help that I found Henry to be very attractive and his tee-shirt kept creeping up when he lifted the camera and my eye so wanted to wander to see if he had a happy trail.

Okay, so I'm old and resorting to troll-like behavior. It's inevitable, isn't it?

Questions I'm Afraid to Answer

I got this note from an editor at the Washington Blade:

Yes, we'd really like to have you be the Queery feature for next week's paper. This is where we ask someone 20 questions and then print the answers alongside an introductory paragraph and a photo. People really seem to enjoy doing it, and I know it's a popular feature among readers. Given your long history with the Different Drummers, I think you'd be a great person for this.

The problem is, this isn't going to reveal my "long history" with DCDD, it's going to reveal my long history as a post 20 30 40s gay man (my 44th birthday is later this month. Mourners may send a charitable donation to DCDD in lieu of flowers).

Consider some of the questions:

7. What has been the most memorable pop culture moment of your lifetime?

Do I answer truthfully that I remember when Roots was first aired -- the first mega mini-series on network TV? The release of the first Star Wars movie in 1977? The death of Elvis? When Marcia got hit by the football when the Brady Bunch was not yet in syndication but still on the air? I can even remember when Sonny was married to Cher.

Or how about this one:

9. What item of clothing has been in your closet since high school?

I'd like to say I have nothing that I wore in high school 26 fucking years ago but today while cleaning the house I actually found a belt I wore back then with a (no kidding) tuba-shaped belt buckle. Hey, I was a band geek. But is that an answer I really want in print? Do I really need to let the world know how much of a nerd I was back then? (And looking back on it now and thinking about me wearing that belt it's no wonder I didn't go on many dates)

And then there's this one:

3. What is Washington’s best nightspot, past or present?

Well, let's see...past best nightspot: my bedroom. Okay, not really, but back in the day my club of choice was Rascals on Connecticut Ave. Three floors of gay fun, first floor dancing and drag shows, second floor bar and movies (non-porn), third floor strippers. Anyone but me remember Joey or Francois? And the LTR and I had our first Friday night date there...we ended up sucking face on the third floor ignoring (and annoying) the strippers. It's long gone now, having been swallowed by Riggs Bank (now PNC) which bought out the block back in the mid-90s.

Present nightspot? Once again, my bedroom, where the LTR and I are usually fast asleep by 10. Let me climb off my bedpan so I can take some more Geritol.

Here's one question I can answer:

2. Who’s your gay hero?

Batman.

I mean, that one's easy.

NH Provides Opportunity to Ask Probing Questions in Tonight's Dem Debate

NH's passing of civil union rights for same sex couples provides an opportunity for Democrat presidential hopefuls to answer the question posed by Evan Wolfson, executive director of the same-sex marriage advocacy group Freedom to Marry, in the WashBlade:

With the 2008 presidential election already drawing widespread publicity, Wolfson said gay advocacy groups and their allies should be asking the candidates to spell out what they mean when they express support for equal rights and benefits for same-sex couples through civil unions.

“When they try to do that, they will realize that there is only one system for doing it and that is marriage,” he said.

With various states now allowing gays to enter into Civil Unions, the federal government acts as a barrier to other states recognizing those unions and offering the same 1,200 federal benefits that are provided to straight marriages. To fix that, a portion of the Defense of Marriage Act has to be repealed. The Dem candidates should be asked, if you stand for equality for gay people, where do you stand on that specific issue? And if they don't want to repeal DOMA...then how can they say they are for "equality?"

And...why doesn't the gay press ask this? In the WashBlade article linked to above, there is no indication that reporter Lou Chibbaro asked the question of the candidates posed by Wolfson. Why not? The MSM is unlikely to ask it. Chibbaro is a reporter -- and a good one. Why not take the question directly to the candidates instead of merely reporting on what others are saying about the candidates?

A Journalistic Cat Fight

A bit of a slug-fest has emerged between former Washington Blade editor Chris Crain and the editor of Metro Weekly, Sean Bugg.

First Crain, then Bugg.

It would be interesting if this bitch fight would evolve into a more constructive discussion of gay media, its quality and direction. The role of gay media seems to have evolved from cheerleading coverage to more critical analysis -- and that's a good thing. But it also seems to be dominated -- like everything else in our culture, by the entertainment industry. Not so good -- as who's really more important...Lance Bass? Or Michael Shackleford?

At any rate, it would be fascinating to see Bugg and Crain debate the direction of gay journalism, balancing local community coverage vs. national, the role of gay newspapers in promoting the community vs. holding it accountable, the trend toward national chains, etc, and get past the personalities. How about it, boys?

Pro Gay Tax Legislation, Blocked by Dems, Part Two

A reader writes that the Democrats are not trying to block legislation in the Senate that would extend a tax break for domestic partners to small business owners, as I posted previously, citing a Log Cabin Republican news release. The reader writes:

Democrats are not blocking this bill. They support it - they wrote it. It will be Democrats (specifically Senator Baucus) who will move it into law. I suspect that an over-zealous staffer at Log Cabin either doesn't know the situation, or is just trying to cause trouble.

Actually, they are exploiting a procedural move by the Democrats to make trouble. Baucus may indeed support it, but he in fact did prevent Smith's amendment from moving forward. So we'll have to wait and see what happens -- I remain skeptical of the Democrats real commitment to gay issues.

The WashBlade has more.