Pitt laughs over New Orleans mayor T-shirt push
(New Orleans) The idea of Brad Pitt running for New Orleans mayor has generated a lot of buzz around the city even though he isn’t eligible. It also generated some laughs for the actor in a Thursday television interview.
Many residents have been sporting “Brad Pitt for Mayor” T-shirts since mid-June, …
Tags: Brad Pitt, Buzz, New Orleans, Running, T Shirt, Television InterviewAmerican Apparel: ‘Legalize Gay’ T-Shirts Provoked Vandalism, Threats
SILVER SPRING, Md. - An American Apparel store’s decision to prominently display a pro-gay T-shirt has resulted in vanadalism and death threats, a spokesperson for the chain told ABC 7 News. Vandals smashed the windows at the Silver Spring American Apparel store, apparently upset over a display of T-shirts that read: “Legalize Gay” “Repeal Prop 8 Now!”. The message refers to California’s Proposition 8, which banned same-sex marriage in the state.
The broken store windows in Silver Spring were discovered Monday morning.
On Tuesday, the Georgetown American Apparel received a threatening phone call related to the T-shirts See American Apparel: ‘Legalize Gay‘ T-Shirts Provoked Vandalism, Threats
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A Long Road Traveled
The last time I got as close to the White House as I did this week was many years ago—six years after the Stonewall riots, when I was a 13-year-old National Spelling Bee participant from St. Margaret’s School in Lowell, Mass. We spelling bee kids didn’t make it into the White House that day—we stood outside as first lady Betty Ford spoke to us from a balcony. By then I already knew I was gay. Raised in a staunch Catholic home and taught (and tormented) by nuns, I was certain that an open homosexual (that was the only term I knew back then) could never be allowed inside the White House. I knew nothing of the nascent gay-rights movement—it hadn’t reached Lowell in 1975. All I knew was that that whatever words there were to describe what I was, it would have to be suppressed forever. I assumed that I would have to either become a priest or figure out some other way to hide.
Thankfully, time marched on, and I eventually became a politicized college student rather than a candidate for the priesthood—and ultimately I kicked open my closet door and came out. But I can’t help thinking about that personal history as I replay the reel of yesterday’s visit to the White House in my head. As the executive director of SAGE, an advocacy group for LGBT senior citizens, I was invited, along with some 200 other LGBT leaders, to join the Obamas in commemorating gay pride—which falls this year on the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall riots.
I was accompanied by three SAGE members: a lesbian couple who are 86 and 91, who reminisced about voting for FDR and described Barack Obama as “the most inspiring politician since Adlai Stevenson,” and a Stonewall veteran and founder of the Gay Liberation Front, an activist group formed in the aftermath, who proudly chose his SAGE T shirt over the ties worn by every other man in the room.
Apart from celebrating, we had gone to the White House to make a point: that older people have to be included in the Obama agenda for LGBT progress. And we did what we came to do, with one of our members (the Stonewall vet) even receiving a personal meeting with the president and Mrs. Obama. But as I stood with my partner, in the front row, some five feet from the presidential podium, I realized how intensely personal this experience was for me. I thought about how each member of the SAGE contingent has had our own life’s journey—and each of us was moved deeply and differently by that moment.
See A Long Road Traveled Newsweek
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‘Happy and Gay’ in Pakistan? ABC News
It wasn’t until she was 16 years old, when she’d left her Pashtun family in Peshawar for an elite school where the teachers were nuns, that Minot realized she was gay.
“I found out when I dated my literature teacher [a nun],” she said. “I got an A.”
It is virtually unheard of in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan for a lesbian to be willing to discuss her sexuality openly, especially a lesbian who is also Pashtun. The Taliban, who are overwhelmingly Pashtun and were born in Pakistan’s northwest tribal areas near Peshawar, have pushed walls of bricks on top of gay Afghans.
But Minot, now 42, who asked that only her nickname be used because of societal stigma, sat recently in jeans and a T-shirt in the Pakistani city of Lahore, confidently talking about her sexuality, her girlfriends and her attempts to be with men.
“I have been with men, two men,” she said. “But that was to get the confusion out of my mind. Since then,” she said, pausing, “happy and gay.”
See ‘Happy and Gay‘ in Pakistan?
ABC News
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Any day now the California Supreme Court will issue its ruling on the Prop 8 legal challenge.
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Gay marriage debate at Big Bear school over anti-Prop. 8 shirt
Attorneys for the ACLU have sent a letter to Big Bear High School saying that school officials cannot prohibit students from wearing anti-Proposition 8 T-shirts.
Proposition 8, which amended the state Constitution to ban gay marriage, was among the most divisive issues on the November ballot and continues to inspire protests and boycotts.
The day before the election, sophomore class president Mariah Jimenez wore a home-made T-shirt that said “Prop 8 Equals HATE.” Her sixth-period teacher sent her to the office, where the principal told her that she would have to take off the shirt before returning to class because the shirt’s message was divisive.
But attorneys for the ACLU have argued that schools cannot prohibit speech simply because it is controversial; only speech that incites a disturbance can be prohibited, ACLU attorneys said.
See Gay marriage debate at Big Bear school over anti-Prop. 8 shirt
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Urban Outfitters Responds to Controversy From Yanking Same-Sex T-shirt
The Cut @ NY Magazine reports:
“Urban Outfitters landed in some hot water earlier this week when consumers started to question company standards after an “I Support Same-Sex Marriage” T-shirt mysteriously vanished off shelves in California. Yesterday, Urban Outfitters reached out to us to comment on the situation: “The T-shirt was pulled because it was not selling,” a spokesperson for the company told us. “This is a common practice because sales space is so valuable, especially in this challenging economic climate.” See, the trickle-down effect of the economy? T-shirt sales are suffering, people! “The move was in no way indicative of a political agenda or our personal beliefs. In retrospect we wish that we had held onto it as a show of support.” That said, don’t expect them to balance the situation by returning the shirt to shelves. “We wouldn’t bring back the same T-shirt because it didn’t sell well. But the head merchant is open to finding other products that support gay marriage and carry the same message but will be more popular with our customers.”
“Meanwhile, the spokesperson also confirmed what our commenters speculated: Glen Senk, the CEO of the parent company, Urban Outfitters, Inc., is an openly gay man who has been in a committed relationship for over 30 years. However, Richard Hayne is still the founder and current chairman and does indeed have a record for supporting right-wing Republicans who are against abortion and gay rights. Lest we get cynical and think Senk was appointed to divert attention from Hayne, let’s hope instead that he got the job based on his merits and that maybe, just maybe, Hayne has changed his views a little. We can hope, right?”
Photo: Courtesy of Support Shirts
See Urban Outfitters responds to gay T-shirt controversy
New York Magazine
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