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queerVOICE
Will Court Ruling Make A Difference?
James Duggan ©2008
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I don't know whether to dance for joy or wallow in cynicism. This week the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit has ruled that the Philadelphia Police Department was justified in requesting that anti-queer protestors, who were arrested at Outfest 2004, move to a location on the periphery of the festival so as not to disrupt the permitted events.
On the surface of this ruling, it appears that the City of Philadelphia and its Police Department have the authority to restrict the activity of (anti-queer) protestors at permitted events.
In affirmation of the lower court's ruling of summary judgment against the protestors, U.S. Circuit Judge Dolores Sloviter wrote that "the right of free speech does not encompass the right to cause disruption, and that is particularly true when those claiming protection of the First Amendment cause actual disruption of an event covered by a permit." She continues, "this interest necessarily includes the right of police officers to prevent counter-protestors from disrupting or interfering with the message of the permit-holder."
This is not new case law as evident by reading the ruling by the Court of Appeals, so it saddens me more to read how Dan Anders, the counsel for Philly Pride, sent a letter to the Chief Deputy City Solicitor on September 15, 2004, in which he requested that "the City uphold Philly Pride's First Amendment rights to determine and maintain the expressive content of its own event . . . [by] keep[ing] anti-LGBT protestors from accessing the permitted city blocks of the party during the hours specified on the permits issued" to Philly Pride.
The Chief Deputy City Solicitor of Philadelphia and Philadelphia Police Counsel Karen Simmons, who believes that since "it's an open street event in the streets of Philadelphia . . . [the protesters] would be allowed in [to Outfest] with their bull horns and with their signs and any way they want to come in," must have been aware of case law supporting Anders, however, his request was still denied.
Due to the City's decision and actions, the Philadelphia queer community has been subjected to unfair protest by a hate-group that advocates the death of queers through capital punishment. They have been permitted to into our permitted events with bullhorns, marches, signs and derogatory language all for the purpose of disrupting our events.
(I am convinced that if the KKK or Neo-Nazis were to protest at another minority festival in Philadelphia the City and its Police would limit their access to such permitted events. Why does Philadelphia's queer community have to fight so hard to receive the same respect?)
So while this ruling affirms the validity of Dan Anders' request, I find I must fight off the cynicism in thinking that nothing will change.
Having stood on the battle lines of this event for a many years I fear that the Philadelphia Police Department will continue its practice of marching the protestors through our festivals and giving them access to multiple locations deep within our festivals. This has been the policy of the City of Philadelphia and its Police Department and there is no reason to believe that this will change.
For this reason, I respectfully call on Mayor Nutter and City Council to insure that (anti-queer) protestors are required to remain in an area on the periphery of a permitted event, that they not be allowed the use of amplification devices within the permitted event, and that the police be prevented from marching the protestors through the permitted event for any reason.
As Judge Sloviter wrote, "the City has an interest in ensuring that a permit-holder can use the permit for the purpose for which it was obtained."
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12th Street Gym |
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Lift The Ban |
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What It Looks Like From Here
A Qt Exclusive
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 Well, it's been an incredible and busy first weekend and week of the 14th Philadelphia International Gay & Lesbian Film Festival with plenty of exciting moments from eating oysters with 2008 Artistic Achievement Award recipient Jane Lynch at Cafe XIX at the Park Hyatt at the Bellevue to hanging out with porn diva Chi Chi LaRue with boy porn stars Blake Riley and badboy Johnny Hazzard (that tight, compact body doesn't have much more room for yet one more tattoo, though when I mentioned that fact to Chi Chi LaRue, she retorted, "Honey, he doesn't have a tattoo on his penis!") to my own highlight at this year's festival, the 40th Anniversary Tribute to Midnight Cowboy on, Saturday, July 12.
The origin of this idea of celebrating "the first gay urban cowboy movie" came from Hollywood photographer, lifetime domestic partner, and Philadelphia Film Society honorary board member, and my personal friend for 10 years, Michael Childers, who wanted to honor out director John Schlesinger (who died in 2003), and one of his seminal works (even the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences recognized that fact by bestowing several Oscars on Midnight Cowboy, including Best Picture, despite its X-rating, still retaining that distinction in terms of rating status and getting such awards, too).
 Legendary producer Jerome Hellman (Midnight Cowboy, Day of the Locust, The World of Henry Orient, Coming Home, Being There, etc.) drove down from New York City to participate in the question-and-answer period, offering his recollections and insights about the making of Midnight Cowboy.
Later, the audience assembled at the Prince were treated to a rare opportunity to see the then-unknown actor, Jon Voight's screen test for Joe Buck (another idea of Childers') loaned from the John Schlesinger Archive at The British Film Institute.
When asked who saved the screen test, something usually thrown away by the studios, Cardwell said that Childers and Hellman both spoke at once, concurring that "Schlesinger saved everything."
"Everyone in the audience could immediately see why Jon Voight was cast in the role over United Artists' pressures to have Lee Majors, Warren Beatty, Robert Redford or Alan Alda," WHHY/PBS' Patrick Stoner explained.
 Hellman clarified that the story by Dustin ("Dusty" to his friends) Hoffman about improvising the slapping of the hand on the hood of a New York City yellow cab while crossing the street wasn't improvised at all. "It was definitely in Waldo Salt's script despite what Hoffman claims," said Hellman to Stoner in front of the Philadelphia audience.
Much later, at dinner at Davio's, Childers and Hellman related all kinds of stories surrounding the making of Midnight Cowboy. With my own insider's relish, it didn't take much to get them started is admitting that the infamous party scene with the Warhol factory characters with superstar Viva in a prominent role were actually smoking real marijuana and some of the extras, also collected from Andy Warhol's real world, were spaced out on drugs.
Childers recounted how he was driving Voight "all over South Texas" so that he could learn to imitate the accent so that it would sound authentic. Evidently, he was also responsible for the opening shot of the empty driving movie theater (very William Eggelston), acquiring the inspiration for it during those drive-a-rounds for Voight's absorbing "local color" for the part of Joe Buck.
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Chiropractic and Sports Rehabilitation |
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I Wish I Had Said That: |
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"I was talking to a very well-known actress at an event, and we were talking about the difference between playing a character and being on a show--and now we're getting into the psychology of acting, but I never got that thing that people talk about escaping yourself. Maybe that's because I like myself."
Bravo's The Real Housewives of New York City's Alex McCord on being in a TV-reality show versus being an actor in a make believe world
(New York, June 30-Jul 7, 2008)
"When I'm writing the girls, they're not me. There's a part of me that's human and at the epicenter of everybody. It has nothing to do with your genitals but with your heart."
Sex in the City's out writer Michael Patrick on creating the characters and putting words in their mouths, literally, for the hit HBO series (now in reruns) and the movie on the big screen.
(OUT, June/July 2008),
"I love that Del's writing and characters are real people with quirky sides. We all have these habits or mannerisms, and by Del putting them on the screen, it really shows an honest look at a certain group of people and their lives. Those characters are so new to me as they are so vastly different from the world I grew up with in Australia."
Olivia Newton John on playing Bitsy Mae Harling in the upcoming Logo TV series, Sordid Lives, based upon the popular cult gay film of the same title, from queer writer Del Shores.
(Instinct, July 2008)
I'm Glad I Never Said That!
"Have our children not paid the price for our perverse adult activities fetishes enough? Do u think pedophilia is ok? Well, by supporting the gay agenda, yiu [sic] are saying perversion is ok, and do not be fooled- homosexual relationships are based on perversion, SEXUAL perversion-just as pedophilia, rape, sodomy and other perverted crimes..SHAME!SHAME! I will protect my family, but not supporting your cause with our $."
an anonymous posting on boycottmcdonalds.com, which is owned by the anti-queer organization American Family Association who has initiated a boycott against McDonalds because of their corporate support of the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce
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Frank DeCaro to be Co-Host @ Mr. Gay Philadelphia 2008 |
 Bruce Yelk of nightlifegay.com and Thom Cardwell and James Duggan of QUEERtimes and BUCKmonkey are excited to announce that Frank DeCaro will be co-hosting this years Mr. Gay Philadelphia, a regional men's competition, to be held on August 8th in Levitt Auditorium at Gershman "Y" Hall (401 S. Broad) to benefit ActionAIDS.
Writer / performer Frank DeCaro hosts his own live national talk show The Frank DeCaro Show every weekday on Sirius Satellite Radio and appears every night as a panelist on the Game Show Network's new version of the classic I've Got a Secret. For nearly seven years, he co-wrote and hosted the popular Out at the Movies segments on the Emmy Award-winning Daily Show with Jon Stewart on Comedy Central. A much sought-after pop culture pundit, he has appeared on numerous programs including TV Land's Tickled Pink, Logo's kickoff program The Evolution Will Be Televised, CNN's Showbiz Tonight, NBC's Dateline, VH1's The List with Ashton Kutcher, E! Entertainment Television's The E! True Hollywood Story: The Sopranos, and Bravo's Bravo Profiles: RuPaul.
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2008 Mr. Gay Philadelphia Tickets |
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DVLF Lawyer's Breakfast |
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Philadelphia Queer Film Festival Guide |
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Thom's World
Will Travel for Food (and More): San Diego
Thom Cardwell ©2008 |
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You should eat your way through San Diego if Ingrid Croce has anything to say about it. I did and I'm, frankly, chomping at the bit to return.
 A celebrated "adopted daughter" of San Diego, Croce has been credited with having single-handedly revitalized the now-famous Gaslight Quarter. There she founded Croce's Restaurant & Jazz Bar, named in memory of her celebrated singer/songwriter husband, Jim Croce. The female maverick chef/restaurateur has never stopped giving back to her adopted hometown. (She, like Croce, a native son of Delaware County, Pennsylvania, once had strong ties to Philadelphia.)
Against all odds and negative forces decades ago, the pioneer restaurateur Croce now lords over one of the most popular neighborhoods in San Diego with tourists and locals alike. It's one of the liveliest areas of the city for an exciting and lively nightlife in San Diego.
In The San Diego Restaurant Cookbook, Croce has compiled 260 signature recipes from her fellow chefs, restaurateurs, hoteliers and vendors.
The current dining scene, like the once-sleepy naval outpost, has undergone a dramatic transformation, attracting an ever-growing population that wants to live, work and play in Southern California's second largest but most laid-back city.
Even a decade ago, no one would "travel for food" to San Diego.
 My extended culinary weekend began with Kemo Sabe. Lesbian chef/restaurateur Deborah Scott has partnered with the city's leading husband-wife restaurant team of David & Lesley Cohn to offer a truly eclectic cuisine, an East meets West, textures gets flavors, ingredients become sculptures. The delicious food was so memorable that my travel companion still raves about it. [Editor's Note: Chef Scott's Roasted Nut Crusted Fried Brie is by far one of the best dishes I have ever enjoyed. Any trip to San Diego without experiencing this culinary delight is a missed opportunity.]
How much fun is it to discover favorite haunts frequented by the locals? Then you have to head straight for Rubio's Baja Grill for a fish taco, the best you'll ever taste, as a regional food staple.
 Chef Katie Grebow has created an authentic taste of French bistro at Cafe Chloe in the city's new and emerging arts district. I really indulged myself, eating everything in sight from the brunch and lunch menu. Even the wait staff and the room's inviting ambiance make this a "comfort zone".
Laurel has got it right when it comes to Mediterranean cuisine with French influences. Spending a little more for fine dining, foodies will enjoy the menu, from burgundy escargot to osso bucco, because it's worth it. The décor was elegant chic, one of my favorite spots.
 Lei Lounge features Asian fusion. I adore sitting outside but the food that always looks beautiful is also, happily, tasty, too. (Here's another Philadelphia connection to San Diego. Located in Hillcrest, the upscale residential gayborhood of San Diego, the bar/restaurant is owned and operated by the Weiss family of Woody's, Bump, Pure, Transit.)
Beyond the food, there's an impressively growing queer community, including out City Council members, and strong political clout from their community leaders. Their high-profile queer events like Gay Pride (happening this week and weekend) has attracted hundreds of thousands of revelers, including more and more of the crowd from Los Angeles. There's a rich queer arts and cultural groundswell of activity among the younger queer artists, writers, actors, musicians, dancers and filmmakers in San Diego that seemed to be embraced by the city fathers.
Okay, but back to the food, do you love meal deals as much as I do?
Fellow foodies take note--October is the perfect time to partake of the culinary delights of Chef Celebration when 50 chefs offer five-course dinners for $75 across San Diego, on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
Related Sites:
Croce's Restaurant & Jazz Bar: croces.com
The San Diego Restaurant Cookbook: sandiegorestaurantcookbook.com
Kemo Sabe: cohnrestaurant.com
Rubio's Baja Grill: rubios.com
Cafe Chloe: cafechloe.com
Laurel: sdurbankitchen.com
Lei Lounge: leilounge.com
Chef Celebration: chefcelebration.org
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Philadelphia's Paparazzo on the Qt
@ the Philadelphia International Queer Film Festival
HughE Dillon - photographer
©2008
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^ Jonah Blechman, of Another Gay Sequel: Gays Gone Wild!, joins Jane and adds his signature to this year's festival poster
^ Mark Stiffler, Richard Weinstock, Thom Cardwell, Charlie David, and Linda Carter celebrating at the VIP reception for the film Mulligan's, written by and starring Charlie David (A Four Letter Word).
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