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12/02/09
First, let me explain how I wound up on Team Jacob. If you see The Twilight Saga: New Moon with a 14-year-old niece, you have to scream for at least one, preferably both of the two male heartthrobs or risk being uncool.Ten minutes into New Moon, I picked sides. My niece had already joined Team Edward (she’s read all four books and saw the first film in the Twilight series). But her teen vampire love from Forks, Wash., reminded me of my years living in the Seattle area, all pasty looking from 364 days of gloom each year. He also lost points for being undead. I just didn’t see the appeal.The dark and beautiful Jacob, however, came out brooding, muscles bulging, cute as a Washington husky, jarring fond memories of an ex-girlfriend—so the choice was easy for me.To sit on...
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11/25/09
Was it me or did celebrities outnumber members at Power Up’s 9th annual Power Premiere?The only movie studio dedicated to putting LGBT people and projects to work celebrated its ninth year at Social Hollywood earlier this month. I’m distracted by the swanky digs that once housed the legendary Hollywood Athletic Club on Sunset Boulevard. A solid B history student, I was admiring the woodwork and wondering if it was original when I spot Rose Rollins leaning over the sturdy wood bar, surveying the beverage selection. She doesn’t physically resemble her L Word character Tasha for some reason, but I recognize the “look,” when she doesn’t see her beverage of choice. So, is there life after The L Word? She admits that the ring-tones haven’t exactly...
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11/18/09
For 10 years I worked in The Times building Downtown, a block away from the historic Los Angeles gay district. Harold’s Bar, the Waldorf and the Dover were all hot spots in the 1950s, around 5th and Main. “The Dover was the site of a murder of a gay man in 1969, a few months before Stonewall, and Troy Perry organized a major action to object to police brutality,” says Tom De Simone, a co-founder of Roots of Equality.I knew about the original entertainment capital that sprang up in the neighborhood; some of the ornate movie theaters from the 1920s still remain. But I had no idea that this was also the heart of Los Angeles’ rich gay history, until I attended the opening of the Lavender Los Angeles exhibit on Nov. 7.Organized by Roots of Equality, a grassroots group...
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11/11/09
Does a ballroom full of gays make Jay Leno a little nervous? He gave a graceful and touching speech, presenting the Rand Schrader Distinguished Achievement Award to Wanda Sykes at the 38th annual LA Gay & Lesbian Center Gala, pledging his support to the gay community and for gay marriage. But about the funniest thing he said the whole evening came when he misspoke Cindy Lauper’s name as Cindy Lapper. Comedian and recently out lesbian Wanda Sykes was my schmooze target for the evening, but she was running late and wouldn’t make a red carpet entry. With time to kill, I explored the swanky Hyatt Regency Century Plaza in Century City—not an uncomfortable place to hang. I found a near-vacant ladies room two floors up from the noisy crowds of conservatively...
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11/04/09
Kicking it on the patio of the esteemed Directors Guild on Sunset Boulevard, waiting for the Outfest Legacy Awards to start, I notice actress Laura Linney mingling with assorted filmmakers, film lovers and supporters of Outfest, Los Angeles’ prestigious gay and lesbian film festival.Laura is presenting the Legacy Award to the evening’s honoree, her good friend Alan Poul, TV and film producer (Tales of the City, Six Feet Under) and fervent LGBT advocate. Laura looks lovely and relaxed, though her schedule doesn’t: “I just finished a film in Seattle called The Details, and I’m about to shoot a pilot for Showtime, then I’m going to do a play in New York,” she says, without a hint of exasperation. Of course the New York stage is “home,”...
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10/26/09
This is my first blog. I’ve made a career out of asking questions, usually of celebrities because the only reason a mild-mannered, Midwest J-school grad flees to the West Coast is for the glamour, right? Or to escape snow, or the frigid closet—take your pick. Writing and editing for the Los Angeles Times for years, it was obvious that a cause, a product or a politician got more attention with a celebrity name attached. Celebrities have done amazing things for the LGBT community. What would GLAAD, HRC, NCLR or Lambda events be without Elizabeth Taylor, Sharon Stone, Elton John, and other heavyweight celebs who show up, shake hands and ingest cookie-cutter chicken dinners to shed a little light on a worthy cause? I’ve been privileged to meet a lot of celebrities and...
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