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

Bruno — Based on a Real Gay Austrian?!

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Bruno: Satire, Humor and Stereotypes

Rashad Robinson writes:

In April, when the first trailer for Sacha Baron Cohen’s new movie Bruno debuted online, many of us in the LGBT community were cautiously optimistic about what we saw – and I was among them.

I first became familiar with Sacha Baron Cohen through his Da Ali G Show on HBO, where he played different characters who conducted squirm-inducing interviews with political leaders, media personalities and everyday Americans. The characters’ clueless questions – and the actor’s impressive ability to never break character – allowed them to call attention to people’s hang-ups, biases and intolerance.

One of those characters, Bruno, was a flamboyant gay correspondent for the fictional Austrian TV show Funkyzeit mit Bruno — itself a satire of programs that feed people’s obsession with fashion and pop culture. Bruno interviewed fashion designers, nightclub owners and models – but he also spoke to people with anti-gay attitudes, using the setting to send up the homophobia of some of his interview subjects.

Sacha Baron Cohen’s 2006 blockbuster Borat made him a household name. Audiences and critics loved the movie. And based on what I had seen on Da Ali G Show, I had hoped that I might be able to say similar things about the forthcoming Brüno.”

See Bruno: Satire, Humor and Stereotypes

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California appellate court rules La Crescenta property belongs to Los Angeles diocese

A California appellate court’s June 9 ruling was the latest in a series of recent developments that return disputed church properties to three California Episcopal dioceses.

On June 9, the San Diego-based Fourth District Court of Appeal ruled unanimously that the Diocese of Los Angeles is legal owner of property currently occupied by St. Luke’s Anglican Church. The congregation had cited theological differences when severing ties to the Episcopal Church (TEC) in 2006 and realigning with an Anglican diocese in Uganda.

In unrelated agreements, displaced Episcopalians will return July 1 to two other disputed properties, St. John’s Church in Petaluma, in the Diocese of Northern California and St. Paul’s Church in Modesto in the Diocese of San Joaquin.

“The long history of the Episcopal Church in La Crescenta will continue with new leadership and the potential for sustained growth, and as an open source of full inclusion for all humanity,” Bishop Jon Bruno of Los Angeles said June 9 after learning of the court’s decision.

“It is important that we preserve the essence of St. Luke the healer and the ongoing maintenance of the historic church building. It is a jewel in the crown of La Crescenta, and a blessing to the people of the Diocese of Los Angeles.”

Los Angeles: ‘property held in trust’ for wider church

The appellate court ruling affirmed a 2007 trial court decision that the church, located about 15 miles north of Los Angeles, was held in trust for the mission of both the local diocese and the wider church. In issuing the ruling, the ten-member panel cited a January 5, 2009 California Supreme Court decision, which returned St. James Anglican Church in Newport Beach to the diocese. Attorneys in that case, New v. Kroeger, have appealed the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court.

John Shiner, chancellor for the Diocese of Los Angeles, said a timeline for transition will advance in accordance with court procedures.

The Rev. Rob Holmann, rector of St. Luke’s Anglican Church, declined to comment June 10. “I know the general direction of the ruling, but I am withholding all comment until I see it” and until he could speak with attorneys, he told the Episcopal News Service.

A few days earlier, Holmann had told the Glendale News Press that he and the 200-member congregation “would very much like to stay” in the 83-year-old river-rock building, considered a cultural, architectural and historic local landmark.

Bruno said the future mission of St. Luke’s, now under his direct pastoral control, will be to focus on “deepening our understanding of what it means to be reconciled, welcoming and healthy people of God.”

Petaluma and Modesto: Episcopal congregations set to return July 1

After a bitter split and three years of “homelessness,” members of St. John’s Episcopal Church in Petaluma are returning July 1 to the 118-year-old church, the Rev. Norman Cram said in a telephone interview June 10.

“We are jubilant, overwhelmingly jubilant,” said Cram, priest-in-charge. “We celebrated our homelessness and we overlooked the inconveniences of living and worshipping out of a laundry basket but now that these things are almost behind us, it’s almost overwhelming.”

Citing disagreement over the ordination of a gay bishop, a majority of the 250-member congregation in December 2006 had voted to sever ties with the Episcopal Church and the Diocese of Northern California but declined to vacate church property. They formed St. John’s Anglican Church, displacing about 55 continuing Episcopalians who initially met in homes.

The Rev. David Miller, rector of the Anglican congregation, had sought a transfer of his canonical residence to the Argentina-based Anglican Province of the Southern Cone and was eventually deposed by the Rt. Rev. Jerry Lamb, then bishop of the Diocese of Northern California.

Miller did not return ENS telephone calls June 10. Mike McIntosh, parish administrator for the disaffiliated group, said a news release would be issued eventually, but declined further comment. The congregation’s last service in the church will be Sunday, June 28.

The continuing Episcopal congregation eventually began meeting on Sunday evenings at the Elim Lutheran Church in Petaluma who “magnificently sheltered us,” said Cram. He added that he hopes: “to present a healthy Christian perspective of love, compassion and kindness to our community, to be the yeast for the values of unity and inclusiveness in Petaluma.”

Meanwhile, Bishop Jerry Lamb of San Joaquin told ENS that discussions are underway with St. Paul’s Church in Modesto for return of that property by July 1, which several years ago affiliated with the Anglican Mission in America.

The Rev. Michael McClenaghan, rector, did not return ENS calls.

Lamb was already planning an organizational meeting, seeking lay leaders to begin the work of transition. “I have been making calls this week to laity who are or have been members of St. Paul’s and have signaled their desire to remain in the Episcopal Church,” he said in a statement posted on the diocesan website.

– The Rev. Pat McCaughan is Episcopal Life Media correspondent for Provinces VII and VIII and the House of Bishops. She is based in Los Angeles.

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KATHY GRIFFIN, BISHOP GENE ROBINSON, MILK, DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES, THE NEW ADVENTURES OF OLD CHRISTINE, THE ELLEN DEGENERES SHOW, AQUÍ Y AHORA HONORED AT 20TH ANNUAL GLAAD MEDIA AWARDS PRESENTED BY IBM

Los Angeles, Sunday, April 19, 2009 – Ellen DeGeneres, Portia de Rossi, Jessica Alba, T.R. Knight, Kate Walsh, Teri Hatcher, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Megan Mullally, Bill Paxton, Jennifer Beals, Alan Cumming and Gus Van Sant were among the celebrities who joined the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) as the organization honored Kathy Griffin, the Rt. Rev. V. Gene Robinson, and the best in film, television and journalism last night at the 20th Annual GLAAD Media Awards in Los Angeles.

Photo: Kathy Griffin received the Vanguard Award at the 20th Annual GLAAD Media Awards at the Nokia Theatre L.A. Live in Los Angeles, April 18, 2009. © 2009 Vince Bucci/WireImage. All Rights Reserved.

GLAAD, the nation’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) media advocacy and anti-defamation organization, present the GLAAD Media Awards to recognize and honor media for their fair, accurate and inclusive representations of the LGBT community and the issues that affect their lives.

At the ceremony, T.R. Knight presented the Vanguard Award to Kathy Griffin, a strong ally of the LGBT community, who regularly includes LGBT people in her Bravo reality program Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List and in her live comedy shows. In media outlets around the world, Griffin is a vocal advocate for marriage equality for same-sex couples, and regularly supports LGBT community organizations. The Vanguard Award is presented to individuals who, through their work, have increased the visibility and understanding of the LGBT community in the media.

“This is a thrill and an honor and an awesome night,” Griffin said in her acceptance speech. “You guys have been so good to me. I appreciate you, I get you, I love you, and I’ll keep making you laugh as long as you’ll let me! Thank you!”

Also at the event, Oscar-winning screenwriter Dustin Lance Black and Cleve Jones, creator of the AIDS Memorial Quilt, presented the Stephen F. Kolzak Award to Bishop Gene Robinson, the first openly gay Bishop in the history of the Episcopal church. The Stephen F. Kolzak Award is presented to an openly lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender person who has made a significant difference in promoting equal rights for the LGBT community in the media.

Photo: (l. – r.) Cleve Jones and Dustin Lance Black presented the Stephen F. Kolzak Award to Bishop Gene Robinson at the 20th Annual GLAAD Media Awards with GLAAD President Neil G. Giuliano (r.) at the Nokia Theatre L.A. Live in Los Angeles, April 18, 2009. © 2009 Jeff Vespa/WireImage. All Rights Reserved.

“It is such an honor to be here, and to be honored by the Board of GLAAD….To have you say thanks in this way just means the world to me,” Robinson said accepting his award. Speaking of the LGBT movement, Robinson continued, “We need to be in this for the long haul…Just because we achieved civil rights in the sixties for African Americans, it doesn’t mean racism is gone. Because we achieved rights for women in the seventies, it doesn’t mean sexism is gone….But we can stay in this fight because we know how it’s is going to end. This is going to end with full equality for LGBT people in our churches and in society. I have no doubt of it.”

Alan Cumming presented a Special Recognition Award to The L Word which completed its sixth and final season on Showtime in March. Show creator Ilene Chaiken accepted the award with cast members Jennifer Beals, Leisha Hailey and Katherine Moenning. At the 17th Annual GLAAD Media Awards in 2005, The L Word received the award for Outstanding Drama Series.

In her remarks, Chaiken commented on the continuing need to advocate for the inclusion of LGBT characters in the media. “At this moment in history, when marriage equality is virtually inevitable and maybe even imminent, when we’ve welcomed new LGBT civil rights legislation in Iowa, Colorado, Washington D.C., New Hampshire and soon New York…how can it be that LGBT people – after years of slow but promising momentum – have careened backwards in terms of representation in mainstream popular entertainment media?” Chaiken said.

Chaiken continued, “GLAAD has been working vigilantly to ensure that the defamation of LGBT people does not go unchecked. GLAAD’s been working to ensure that our lives are visible in the news and in the media. GLAAD’s work is vital and critical to helping us to achieve the milestones that are lifting LGBT people to our rightful place of full, unfettered equality. Thank you, GLAAD. And thank you Showtime, for six wonderful years…Thanks for breaking ground and for having the courage of your convictions. Now let’s do it again. Let’s do it more. Let’s do it often. Let’s do it always.”

GLAAD also recognized Prop 8: The Musical, a video created for FunnyorDie.com in response to the passage of Proposition 8, a California ballot initiative which eliminated the right to marry for same-sex couples. Directed by Adam Shankman and written by Marc Shaiman, the video received over one million hits on its first day online. During the show, Miss Coco Peru and the Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles performed the song live onstage. Shankman accepted the award on behalf of the team of creators.

Milk received the GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Film – Wide Release. The award was accepted by director Gus Van Sant, screenwriter Dustin Lance Black, and producers Bruce Cohen and Dan Jinks. Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi accepted a GLAAD Media Award for the episode “Ellen & Portia’s Wedding Day” from The Ellen DeGeneres Show nominated for Outstanding Talk Show Episode. Show creator Marc Cherry, along with Teri Hatcher, Dana Delaney, Kyle MacLachlan, Tuc Watkins, Kevin Rahm, Andrea Bowen and Brenda Strong accepted the award for Outstanding Comedy Series for Desperate Housewives. The episode “Unidentified Funk” from The New Adventures of Old Christine received the award for Outstanding Individual Episode (in a series without an LGBT character), and show creator Kari Lizer, cast members Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Clark Gregg accepted with award with episode guest star Megan Mullally. Finally, Univision news program Aquí y Ahora received the award for Outstanding TV Journalism – Newsmagazine for its story about the murder of transgender teenager Angie Zapata. Monica Zapata, Angie’s sister, accepted the award with Univision producer Belissa Morillo.

Photo: (l. – r.) Director Gus Van Sant, screenwriter Dustin Lance Black, producer Dan Jinks and producer Bruce Cohen accepted the award for Outstanding Film – Wide Release for Milk at the 20th Annual GLAAD Media Awards at the Nokia Theatre L.A. Live in Los Angeles, April 18, 2009. © 2009 Jeff Vespa/WireImage. All Rights Reserved.

GLAAD Media Award-winning performer Miss Coco Peru hosted the show, and award-winning Broadway stars Cheyenne Jackson and Jennifer Holliday performed for the black tie audience at the Nokia Theatre. Photo: Miss Coco Peru hosted the 20th Annual GLAAD Media Awards at the Nokia Theatre L.A. Live in Los Angeles, April 18, 2009. © 2009 Vince Bucci/WireImage. All Rights Reserved.

Other celebrity guests at the event included: Jessica Alba, Chad Allen and Jeremy Glazer, Jensen Atwood, Jennifer Beals, Bebe Zahara Benet, Dustin Lance Black, Andrea Bowen, Ilene Chaiken, Justin Chambers, Marc Cherry, Bruce Cohen and Dan Jinks, Matt Cohen, Jennifer Elise Cox, Wilson Cruz, Alan Cumming, Katelynn Cusanelli, Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi, Dana Delaney, Kirby Dick, Ileana Douglas, Randolph Duke, Joely Fisher, Scott Michael Foster, David Furnish, Robert Gant, Rebecca Gayheart, Thea Gill, Spencer Grammer, Clark Gregg, Kathy Griffin, Greg Grunberg, Leisha Hailey, Teri Hatcher, Cheyenne Jackson, Maurice Jamal, Paul James, Cleve Jones, Dan Karaty, T.R. Knight, Rex Lee, Jeff Lewis and Ryan Brown, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Jane Lynch, Justina Machado, Camryn Manheim, Alec Mapa, Kyle MacLachlan, Katherine Moenning, Megan Mullally, Mary Murphy, Ryan Murphy, Mandy Musgrave, Nichelle Nichols, Lupe Ontiveros, Cheri Oteri, Peter Paige, Bill Paxton, Miss Coco Peru, Patrik-Ian Polk, Kevin Rahm, Bishop Gene Robinson, Gabriel Romero, Howard Rosenman , Brad Rowe, Adam Shankman, Sean Smith, Darren Star, Darryl Stephens, Amber Stevens, Brenda Strong, George Takei and Brad Altman, Bruno Tonioli, Gus Van Sant, Christian Vincent, Kate Walsh, Tuc Watkins, Trevor Wright, Monica Zapata, and GLAAD President Neil G. Giuliano.

Following is a complete list of GLAAD Media Award recipients announced Saturday in Los Angeles. Additional awards will be presented in San Francisco on May 9 at the Hilton San Francisco. Previously awards were presented in New York at the Marriot Marquis on March 28.

  • Vanguard Award: Kathy Griffin (presented by T.R. Knight)
  • Stephen F. Kolzak Award: The Rt. Rev. V. Gene Robinson (presented by Dustin Lance Black and Cleve Jones)
  • Special Recognition: The L Word (Showtime) [Accepted by: show creator Ilene Chaiken, with Jennifer Beals, Katherine Moennig, and Leisha Hailey]
  • Special Recognition: Prop 8: The Musical (FunnyorDie.com) [Accepted by: director Adam Shankman]
  • Outstanding Film – Wide Release: Milk (Focus Features) [Accepted by: director Gus Van Sant, screenwriter Dustin Lance Black, and producers Bruce Cohen and Dan Jinks]
  • Outstanding Comedy Series: Desperate Housewives (ABC) [Accepted by: show creator Marc Cherry, Teri Hatcher, Dana Delaney, Kyle MacLachlan, Tuc Watkins, Kevin Rahm, Andrea Bowen and Brenda Strong]
  • Outstanding Individual Episode (in a series without an LGBT character): “Unidentified Funk” The New Adventures of Old Christine (CBS) [Accepted by: Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Megan Mullally, Clark Gregg, and show creator Kari Lizer]
  • Outstanding Talk Show Episode: “Ellen & Portia’s Wedding Day” The Ellen DeGeneres Show (syndicated) [Accepted by: Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi]
  • Outstanding Spanish-Language TV Journalism – Newsmagazine: “A juzgar por las apariencias” y “En otro cuerpo” Aquí y Ahora (Univision) [Accepted by: Univision producer Belissa Morillo and Monica Zapata, sister of murdered transgender teenager Angie Zapata]

GLAAD also announced that Brothers & Sisters (ABC) received the award for Outstanding Drama Series and Secrets of the Trade by Jonathan Tolins received the award for Outstanding Los Angeles Theater production.

Support from corporate partners allowed GLAAD to offer free or low-cost tickets to the event to over 1000 youth and young adults from the Southern California area. Fox television network also sponsored a special youth after-party, which included appearances by the cast and producers of Fox’s upcoming series Glee, as well as celebrity attendees from Milk, The L Word, Greek, Grey’s Anatomy, and Noah’s Arc.

Many of last night’s guests wore white ribbons provided by WhiteKnot.org. These ribbons symbolize support for marriage equality for same-sex couples.

More than 100 corporate sponsors are showing their support, including National Presenting Partner IBM and Local Presenting Partners ABSOLUT® VODKA and Prudential. GLAAD is also grateful to the event’s Platinum Underwriters Comcast, TimeWarner and University of Phoenix. AT&T, Allstate Insurance Company, American Airlines, Barefoot Wine, Disney/ABC Television Group, HMS Media, Herb Ritts Foundation, New York City Marriott & Renaissance Hotels, Renaissance New York Hotel, MillerCoors, NBC Universal, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, Southwest Airlines, The Terry Watanabe Charitable Trust and Wyndham Hotel Group support the 20th Annual GLAAD Media Awards as Underwriter Partners.

For a full list of corporate sponsors or information on how to become a corporate sponsor, purchase tickets or a tribute journal ad, please visit www.glaad.org/mediaawards or contact Stamp Event Management at (877) 519-7904 or glaad@stampeventco.com.

About GLAAD
The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) is dedicated to promoting and ensuring fair, accurate and inclusive representation of people and events in the media as a means of eliminating homophobia and discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation. For more information, please visit http://www.glaad.org/.

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Gays, God, the Bible and the bishops

The wrangling over faith, homosexuality and Proposition 8, which overturned the legalization of gay marriage in California, is taking some interesting turns this week — all based in some way on how one reads the Bible.

Archbishop of Los Angeles Cardinal Roger Mahony said in a letter to homosexuals in the weekly archdiocesan paper, The Tidings, that the Catholic Church’s vociferous support of the ballot initiative “does not diminish in any way (your) importance” nor “lessen your personal dignity and value as full members of the body of Christ.”

Mahony wrote:

We are saddened that some people who opposed Proposition 8 have employed hurtful and accusatory language, and even threatening actions, against those who voted for Proposition 8. This is most unfortunate since such strategies obscure the basic matter at issue: the preservation of the ordered relationship between man and woman created by God.

In a blog, LA Weekly wasn’t buying this, calling it “wacky double-speak.”

And the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles and seven other dioceses announced they would ask their national denomination to retract its General Convention’s 2006 ban on the election of more gay or lesbian bishops. (The election of actively gay bishop Gene Robinson in 2003 was the rallying cry for a splinter group of about 10% of U.S. parishes to pull out of the Episcopal Church and form their own new conservative Church, the cornerstone of which is a literal reading of the Bible which they say forbids homosexual behavior.)

To make the point even sharper, Bishop of Los Angeles Jon Bruno announced a new policy on the Sacramental Blessing of Life-Long Covenants and included an official liturgy for the diocese — another step officially discouraged by the national denomination.

 See Gays, God, the Bible and the bishops
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LA Episcopal diocese OKs gay bishops, unions

(Riverside, California) The feud between liberals and conservatives within the worldwide Anglican Church has grown wider with the decision by the Los Angeles Episcopal Diocese to call for the lifting of a moratorium on consecrating gay bishops.

Bishop J. Jon Bruno also told clergy in the diocese they could bless same-sex …

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