Banksy on 9th St. SF. Photo: Gay Highwaymen, Dec 2010.
Banksy! We snapped this shot on 9th St between Folsom and Harrison Streets in San Francisco’s SOMA (South of Market) district some time back. Popped up “just so” during last year’s run of Exit Through The Gift Shop.
Hey, B,…if you ever want to extend your marvelous marks into the rural fabulosity of NorCal, you are invited. Hospitality, anonymity, great groovy walls and other cool surfaces guaranteed!
Posted in Activism, ANIMALS: Human and otherwise..., Art and Artists, Collecting, DIY and Maker Culture, Photography, San Francisco, Signage, Street Art, Grafitti, etc., Subcultures
Tagged Art, Banksy, Culture, Exit Through the Gift Shop, Film, Folsom St, Grafitti, Photography, Rat, San Francisco, SCANDAL: Politics, Crime, Revolution and More., Signage, SOMA, Street Art, Grafitti, etc.
Skinhead Picks Fight With ‘Boxing Club Champion’ and Loses.
via Accidental Bear. As we used to say back in the Queer Nation/ACT-UP days: Queers Bash Back! Does a heart good. And the racist basher boy looks alright all messed up. Poor thing…
Posted in Boxing, Crime, Internet, Subcultures
Tagged Accidental Bear, Boxing, Gay, Gay Basher, Headlines, Homophobia, Queers Bash Back, Racism, Skinhead, Violence
These two are just too cute. Barely more than kids, as soldiers usually are, they are caught in a complicated history, their own personal stories intertwined with that of their country at war. Vets, and children of vets, understand how one can despise war and still honor warriors. Many of us still carry the physical and emotional effects of conflicts long past. “It’s complicated” – as they say on Facebook. War is hell, but it is also boredom. In these media days, that’s easily taken care of with a camera and a YouTube account. The Internet is awash with interesting videos made by soldiers with time on their hands. These two mess around to Soulja Boy’s Donk. For a great Lady Gaga Telephone re-do, click here. For an interesting musical political commentary, based on a lyrical re-working of the Beach Boys’ classic Kokomo, click here.
Posted in Afghanistan, Internet, Iraq, Middle East, Military, Music, SCANDAL: Politics, Crime, Revolution and More., Subcultures, Video
Tagged Beach Boys, Culture, Dance, Donk, Hot, Internet, Kokomo, Lady Gaga, Marines, Military, Music, Sexy, Silly, Soldiers, Soulja Boy, Telephone, USMC, Video, War, YouTube
Mumbai Gay Rights Parade - Photograph: Sajjad Hussain/AFP/Getty Images
We hear this over and over and over again from our gay friends in and from countries and regions that were once under colonial occupation. Homosexuality is cast as a disease brought in by European conquerers, foisted upon an unsuspecting population that had never know of such evils before. Sort of like smallpox-infected blankets.
As a Ugandan pal (not named here – for his protection) pointed out, in the case of sub-Saharan Africa, this nefarious discourse has the effect of making being gay not only a crime, not only a sin, but worse, a sort of Pan-African treason, a wholesale capitulation to the white man and his evil ways. In Uganda, the Anglican Church (which IS a Western import!) is the main vehicle for this evil propaganda.
This thinking is in full effect in India, too. Ghulam Nabi Azad, India’s minister of Health, addressed a conference on HIV/AIDS in New Delhi on Monday, saying: “Unfortunately this disease has come to our country too … where a man has sex with another man, which is completely unnatural and should not happen but does.” For the article published by The Guardian UK, click here.
Purity Parade - Screenshot from Belize News video
News from Belize: A “Purity Parade” protesting LGBT activists’ legal motion to decriminalize homosexuality. (Here is a little more information on the motion, put forward by LGBT human rights group UNIBAM.)
Their arguments aren’t too interesting – the same old “marriage should be between a man and a woman,” and the same old, tired (and inaccurate) reasoning: “Why? Because Jesus said so.”
The concept of an a “Purity Parade” is kind of interesting, but the execution is rather disappointing. I must say, Pride parades are much more interesting to watch. Maybe they should ask us for lessons.
-AidanAbroad
1953 Boston Police - James "Whitey" Bulger
His early mug shots attest to a certain brooding criminal sexiness. Whitey Bulger, the inspiration for Martin Scorsese’s The Departed, was arrested in Santa Monica earlier this month. The 82 year-old mobster ran Boston’s south side for decades and was responsible for dozens of gangland killings. Jack Nicholson portrayed him in the movie.
Posted in Boston, Crime, Film, History, Photography, Signage, Subcultures
Tagged Boston, Crime, Film, Gangster, Mobster, Mug Shot, Photography, Sexy, The Departed, Thug, Whitey Bulger, Wise Guy
Gay marriage passes in NYC. On the same night, the Eagle NYC is raided. Some insiders think this is the beginning of the end for the bar. Will this be the latest Leather institution lost to the forces of gentrification? Jeremiah from Vanishing New York seem to think so. Unicorn Booty reports from Gotham. For the death throes of the SF Eagle, click here, here, and here. For the graffiti that sprouted after the doors shut, here.
…bringing up the rear of today’s parade. Keeping us all safe. One of the most important and under-appreciated committees in the Parade and Celebration, diffusing difficult situations and keeping things running smoothly. Thank you, fabulous Safety volunteers! And happy Pride, everyone!
-AidanAbroad
Photo from the first-ever SF Trans March, 2004. (Photographer unknown.)
In honor of Pride, I wanted to share three Pride-related articles, two old and one new.
1. “Watching the Defectives”
Joe My God’s annual Pride column, shared on this blog a couple weeks ago. Since then I’ve heard a lot of grumbling in the community about queer queers “making the rest of us look bad,” so I decided to re-re-post this. The column provides a brilliant answer to anyone who’s ever said or thought “I don’t like that there are so many drag queens, leather people, dykes on bikes, etc. in the parade, they make us look bad and hurt our chances for mainstream acceptance.” Read it and get excited for the parade!
2. “First Successful Pride March in Moscow!!!”
Ken Coolen (of Vancouver Pride Society)’s moving firsthand account of
Moscow Pride 2008. It was a 1-block-long, flash-mob style event that
formed and dissipated before the skinheads could attack, or the police
could arrive to break it up and arrest anyone. It’s an amazing story,
and reading it from California, really a good perspective to keep in
mind.
3. “Lust for Life: The true meaning of Gay Christmas” (New – Hot off the presses!)
SF writer Gina de Vries just got a sex & culture column in the San Francisco
Bay Guardian. She’s been a queer activist since she came out at age 11
(yes), and she’s an excellent writer. Her inaugural column, in time
for Pride week, is a beautifully-written reminder of the true meaning
of Pride. (If you like it, please leave comments or share on Facebook
– this will help ensure that the Guardian continues her column.)
Happy Pride!
-AidanAbroad
It is the middle of the SF LGBT Film Festival, high holy days are underway in the City by the Bay, Pride is coming, and outside the festival’s host venues, gay film buffs are rubbing their bleary eyes after marathon sessions in the dark. The cinematic apparatus, not that other dark! There is something for everyone at this annual festival, now in its 35th year. The shorts programs are some of the best, and for those with short attention spans, are just the ticket. One film is not doing it for you? Wait 5 minutes. The next one could be all that.
“All that glitters is indeed gold in this wonderful collection of shorts featuring several gems from our very own Bay Area filmmakers… Take a look at disgusting alien bodies and eavesdrop on the deaf relay system. Follow a camera off a bridge in a memorial for lives lost. A dispute on the high seas can only be settled by a dance off (of course), and we’ll see just how campy an AIDS camp can be. Rounding out the program is a silent comedy set to Tchaikovsky and starring Peggy the Peg-leg Ballerina.” via festival director Jennifer Morris
“Glitter Emergency” shows at the Victoria Theatre, 9:30 pm on Tuesday, June 21st, 2011. The Victoria is located at 2961 16th Street in the Mission district. Built in 1908 as a Vaudeville House, it is the oldest operating theatre in San Francisco.
Posted in Activism, AIDS, DIY and Maker Culture, Film, History, San Francisco, Subcultures, Video
Tagged Art, Culture, Experimental, Film, Frameline, Gay, Glitter Emergency, LGBT, Mission district, Music, Queer, San Francisco, SF LGBT Film Festival, Shorts, Victoria Theatre, Video
The Gay Highwaymen 