Austria passes civil union law

Austria will allow same-sex couples to access some of the rights of marriage not related to procreation.

GLAAD asks studio bosses to add positive message to ‘Bruno’ San Francisco Chronicle

America’s leading gay rights group is asking the studio heads behind Sacha Baron Cohen’s new movie “Bruno” to add a tolerance message at the end of the film because activists fear the funnyman’s stereotypes in the film go too far.

The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation claims Cohen uses every negative gay stereotype in his portrayal of outrageous Austrian Bruno, and leaders feel executives should make amends for the movie’s depiction of gays by adding a positive message at the end.

GLAAD spokesman Rashad Robinson tells Eonline.com, “We have very mixed emotions about the movie. Those of us who saw the film agreed that you can’t critique it as a single film because it’s more like 90 minutes of individual sketches. Some are funny and hit their mark but others hit the gay community instead.”

Universal studio bosses have refused to add the pro-gay message.

A statement from the studio’s press office reads, “Bruno uses provocative comedy to powerfully shed light on the absurdity of many kinds of intolerance and ignorance, including homophobia.”

But Robinson insists, “This movie does not unmask stereotypes. … As someone who sat at the back of a focus group audience … I felt they were laughing at us at times.”

See GLAAD asks studio bosses to add positive message to ‘Bruno’ San Francisco Chronicle

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Bruno — Based on a Real Gay Austrian?!

The dude caught in the middle is Alfons Haider — he’s proud to be gay, he’s into fashion, and (just like Bruno) he’s also been known to compare himself to Zac Efron.

Want more evidence? — Alfons is the highest-paid presenter on Austrian state broadcaster ORF. In the film, Bruno works for a channel called OJRF. Coincidence?

The controversy has been raging in Austria

for a while, but Haider just told The Telegraph newspaper, “I never understood the comparison to myself at all. The only comparisons I can think of is that I’m Austrian, I’m gay, and I work for television, but the rest is completely fiction.”See