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Gene Shalit Followup

According to The Advocate Peter Shalit, Gene Shalit’s son, has come out in support of his father after GLAAD issued a ‘Call to Action‘ in response to his review of Brokeback Mountain. The article reprints a letter from Peter Shalit to GLAAD including the following statement:

I say this because it’s important background for understanding that my dad has always been completely loving and supportive of me, my life, my partners, and my choices. He wrote a piece about me in 1997 for The Advocate (currently posted on their home page)—and agreed to have his picture on the cover of the magazine—because what the piece says is true about how he feels and how he has always acted.

The article also makes reference to a previous article in the Advocate by Gene Shalit about his sone and their relationship.

So.. my response. First, I’m very glad to hear that he is a supportive and loving father and is supportive of the community at large and this makes me feel somewhat better that we don’t need to look at him as one of our many detractors. That said, I still believe the comments in his review were insensitive an reflect a discriminatory attitude that we have to endure on a regular basis. The real sign of his sensitivity would be for him to indicate that, while he stands by his review (if he didn’t like the movie he shouldn’t pretend like he did just to be PC), he also recognizes that his commentary was insensitive and inappropriate.

And, with that, I’ll let it lie and move on to the other inane drivel that I fill this silly blog with! 😉 :):)

Happy monday! 🙂

Gene Shalit shows he’s a crusty biggot

This morning Kevin TiVo’d a review that Gene Shalit gave of Brokeback Mountain and, not to my suprise, it was … er… um… less than glowing… However what was surprising was the just nasty bigoted tone of the review. Now admittedly I’m a big fan of the movie however I also understand that not everyone will be and that its gonna get bad reviews. I even expect hateful reviews from places like the 700 club and the lot. But a review on NBC’s Today show that calls Jack’s character in that movie a ‘sexual predator’ crosses the line from bad review to being a flat out bigot. The only way you could come to that conclusion was to walk into the movie with an agenda to start AND THEN not pay attention during the movie. I’ve rarely agreed with his crappy reviews to begin with but I guess I’ve never picked up on him being hateful until now. NBC can’t get rid of him fast enough for my tastes…

I’ve got it on my tivo but i’m thinkin NBC’s lawyers will be on my ass if I post it so i’m just ganna hang on to it.. but stop by if ya wanna see it.. Screw it… Here is the clip i’m talking about. Check it out and let me know if kevin and I are overreacting.

Grrrr…. What an ass..

Ford does the right thing.

After a lot of drama, word of mouth, and conjecture it looks, based on an article in 365Gay.COM, like Ford Motor company has stepped up and issued a statement indicating that they will continue to advertise in the gay press.

Gay Ads Back On Track For Ford
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff

(Washington) Ford Motor Company on Wednesday agreed to almost all demands from LGBT groups following a hastily organized meeting earlier this week with the company over a claim by the American Family Association that the company had made a pact with it to end support of the LGBT community.

The only place where they hedged, according to the article, seemed understandible to me – business conditions often dictate that they can’t always continue to support all the same events and causes from year to year.

Once again, people are stepping up and doing the right thing. (The lure of the GLTB’s $610 billion a year buying power definitely doesn’t hurt i’m sure! :):))

So I have to stand up and thank Ford for its statement! :)… Thanks a lot – and in return Kevin’s all giddy to go car shopping!

Bad Morals in the Press

I just read this article on 365gay.COM today and it irritated the SHIT out of me:

Suit Seeks Publication Of Names, Pictures Of Mayor’s Gay Chat Buddies

by The Associated Press

(Spokane, Washington) The Spokesman-Review newspaper is asking a judge to rethink his decision not to allow the release of photographs — from a gay Web site — found on the city-owned laptop computer of recalled Mayor James E. West.

…

What possible valid reason could have for needing the names and pictures of the people this Mayor was talking to? While the people who have profiles on Gay.COM surely don’t expect absolute privacy when posting a profile to a site like this, i’m sure many weren’t aware they were talking to a public figure and regardless none would have expected to be part of the public record…

Smacks of a witch hunt to me… ‘Are you or are anyone you know now, or have ever been, a member of the homosexual party’….

*groan*

Wells Fargo and Colorado

So it seems that Focus on the Family has chosen to pull its money out of Wells Fargo accounts due to the bank’s support of Gay & Lesbian civil rights organizations such as GLAAD. Wells Fargo’s response in the San Francisco Chronicle article underscores why i’m going to continue to support Wells Fargo and other businesses like it:

…

A Wells Fargo spokesman said the $50,000 donation to the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation came from profits on accounts in the San Francisco area, not Colorado, where Focus on the Family has its headquarters.

“We absolutely made a $50,000 grant to GLAAD, and we’re absolutely proud of our support for the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community,” said Chris Hammond, spokesman for the banking giant, which gives about $2 million a year to gay and lesbian organizations.

There is a special place in hell for organizations like FOTF that attack companies for encouraging protection of civil rights for all Americans…

Ford Motor Company, on the other hand, has taken another tact according to this Forbes.com article.

An auto ad campaign has been put in reverse. Ford Motor said Tuesday that its luxury Jaguar and Land Rover brands are ending their advertising in gay publications. Its Volvo brand will continue its ad buys, however; the company’s Ford, Lincoln and Mercury brands have not advertised in gay media.

The automaker, headed by Bill Ford Jr., denied that the ad switch had been made under pressure from conservative Christian groups. “The decision with regard to advertising was a business decision,” a spokesman told The Associated Press. Ford’s Premier Automotive Group, which includes the Jaguar and Land Rover brands, posted a pretax loss of $108 million for the third quarter. Ford (nyse: F – news – people ) declined to say how much it had spent on advertising in gay publications.

Last week, a conservative Christian group ended a plan to boycott Ford vehicles. The American Family Association had criticized Ford for being too gay-friendly. “We are ending the boycott of Ford,” AFA Chairman Donald Wildmon said in a statement last week. “While we still have a few differences with Ford, we feel that our concerns are being addressed in good faith and will continue to be addressed in the future.” In May, the AFA ended a largely ineffective nine-year boycott of The Walt Disney Co. (nyse: DIS – news – people ), launched over its decision to give same-sex couples benefits and to hold gay-related events at its theme parks.

And if you believe the ‘business decision part’… 🙂

Wells can count on plenty more business from me as long as they have the balls to do the right thing! :):).. Ford on the other hand… :):)

Happy Tuesday..

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World AIDS Day 2005

HIV / AIDS Resources:

• The Body: The complete HIV / HIDS Resource
• Stop AIDS Project:
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• UCSF AIDS Health Project
• The Human Rights Campaign: World AIDS Day Report Card