I don’t usually comment on the work of critics’ from rival publications, but I had to make a mention of something Joy Tipping at the DMN said today in a review of “High School Musical:”

“Whatever its artistic merits, Disney’s ‘High School Musical’ has accomplished something possibly never before witnessed at the Music Hall at Fair Park: Throngs of children and teens lined up giddy with excitement over like theater.”  

(I reviewed it too this week; you can read that here.)  

 The thing is, I saw what she described just last week. If you want to expose your offspring to good age-appropriate theater, take ‘em to DCT’s “Frog and Toad.” But please don’t take them to the kind of show that would put most discerning kids off their feed. We want to encourage theater-attendance, not bore them.

While we’re on the subject of Log Cabin Republicans (and when are we not?), here’s a fascinating look at what members of the “Austin 12″ think about presumptive Republican nominee John McCain. The Austin 12, of course, was the group of gay Republicans who met with George W. Bush in 2000. It appears as though many of The Austin 12 are now fed up with the Republican Party and, in part due to Bush’s record in office, don’t plan on voting for McCain.

David Greer, who was appointed to Bush’s AIDS advisory board in 2003, left the Republican Party that same year and has been a registered Democrat since then. He said gay Republicans would never be a strong enough voice to influence the GOP and that the party is more interested in exploiting gay Republicans for political gain.

“As long as there’s a far right in the party, gay Republicans are way too small in numbers … to have any effect on the party,” he said. “We actually end up doing greater and lasting harm to the whole GLBT community.”

DFW just beat out Palm Springs in GayRealEstate.com’s annual Top 10 Gay Ghettos list. I’m not sure if we should be offended, but acording to a press release, the report, “elects the top 10 GLBT enclaves in the USA by cross-analyzing demographics against real estate sales data. The carefully chosen ‘Top 10 Gay Ghettos’ represent popular and diverse communities with outstanding real estate value and strong potential for future growth and equity appreciation.”

DFW came in at number 6, tied with Short Hills, NJ. Here’s what the list said about us, “The “Big D” is big in terms of GLBT communities that can be found throughout the sprawling city. Neighboring Fort Worth is smaller but offers big-city GLBT amenities including its own gay film festival and rodeo.”

Read the whole press release after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »

Blogger Hugo Schwyzer recently opined, with help from Andrew Sullivan, that jurisdictions that approve same-sex mariage create a boon… for their sports teams. Consider: Since Massachusetts pulled the trigger in 2003, the Boston Red Sox have finally shed the curse of the Bambino — twice! — and the Celtics broke a 22 year losing streak to win the NBA championship this year.

And that’s just in the U.S. Spain: legalizes same-sex marriage in 2005, nation wins the Euro 2008; Canada: marriage in 2005, in 2006 more Winter Olympic medals go to the Great White North than ever before; South Africa: marriage in 2006, country wins the 2007 World Rugby Cup; Denmark: introduces gay unions in 1989, wins the European World Championship in 1992.

Smart money in 2008 and 2009 is on UCLA, the L.A. Kings, the Lakers, the 49ers, and for the Dodgers to face the Angels in the World Series — assuming the constitutional amendment doesn’t pass in November.

It’s funny how when there are problems, Republican county commissioners and The Dallas Morning News want Sheriff Lupe Valdez to take full responsibility for the state of the county’s jail system. But when it comes to the issue of whether a Discovery Channel crew can film inside the jail, Republican county commissioners say they should have full control, and The DMN runs wild with it. So which is it? Well, the answer is pretty obvious: whatever’s politically advantageous at the time. (Note that initially, Democrats Jim Foster and John Wiley Price appeared to be backing the sheriff, but by the time of today’s story, they had totally caved. Could this have something to do with the fact that the Commissioners Court is about to decide how to deal with a $34 million budget shortfall, and Price and Foster don’t want to see their pet projects gutted?)

Read the rest of this entry »

Boy George will not be coming to the House of Blues in Dallas as scheduled in August, the Associated Press reports. In fact he’s cancelled his entire U.S. tour this summer because he couldn’t get a visa. According to AP, that’s because he’s awaiting trial on allegations that he chained and threatened a 21-year-old man at his London flat in April. The alleged victim had apparently gone to Boy George’s apartment to work as a photo model. The 47-year-old Boy George, whose given name is George O’Dowd, said he plans to reschedule his U.S. tour for next winter. In the meantime, he vowed to kill and eat anyone he imprisons so they won’t be able to tell on him. Just kidding. But seriously, who doesn’t get a little carried away from time to time with the bondage?

Ben: The Ugly Homo on gayborhood.tv just posted this vlog about the lack of diversity in LGBT media. Here at the Dallas Voice we try to represent all voices of the LGBT community, but we know that we can always continue to improve our coverage of minority groups. If you have any ideas on how to help, please drop me a line at briscoe@dallasvoice.com.

In my story last week on Dallas County government, I talked about how LGBT advocates are looking forward to the opportunity to replace Republicans on the Commissioners Court with Democrats in 2010. What I didn’t mention is that openly gay Couny Judge Jim Foster, a Democrat who chairs the Commisssioners Court, faces an uphill battle for re-election if he decides to run. Foster is not well known, and he’s had more than his share of criticism during his first 18 months in office. Unfair Park, the Dallas Observer’s blog, reports today that as many as three potential Democratic challengers to Foster have already emerged, including openly gay former Dallas City Councilman John Loza. To me, this means that if Foster plans to seek re-election and he wants the support of the LGBT community, he’ll need to help bring the county into the 21st century on gay-rights issues in the next two years. Foster says there aren’t enough votes on the Commissioners Court to get a nondiscrimination policy or domestic partner benefits passed, but I don’t think the general public will accept that as an excuse. Part of being an effective politician is doing the wheeling and dealing necessary to get things done.

UPDATE: According to Southest Dallas Dem’s comment below, it might be easier to compile a list of people who AREN’T considering running for county judge two years from now. But here’s just one more name for the rumor mill: openly gay former Dallas City Councilman Chris Luna. And if Luna, Loza and Foster all decide to run, I’ve already got our headline written: “GAY THREE-WAY FOR COUNTY JUDGE!”

A company out in Hollywood, called “Start With a Laugh Productions,” is now offering a must-have service: Daily Drag Queen Affirmations.

Yes, for just $20 a year, you can get “a daily video of a man dressed-up as a lady delivering a humorous, life-affirming message,” according to the press release I just got.

Here is more: “Each of the 365 G-rated videos are professionally produced and edited featuring a cast of 27 L.A. based Drag Queens, including comedienne Jackie Beat, Willam Belli (Nip Tuck) and Mr. Dan, (Dragstrip 66).

‘Some are hysterical and some are sound advice. We’re first and foremost providing affirmations.’ says Alex Dorn, one of the co-founders of Start With A Laugh Productions, ‘People buy it as a gift or as a personal pick me up. It makes us happy to know that our clients are smiling and feeling better every day.’”

Who wouldn’t love to wake up to that kind of message each day?! Trust me, the little song that plays when you go to their site is almost worth the $20 all by itself. Maybe we should all pitch in and pay for subscriptions for folks like Fred “God Hates Fags” Phelps and James Dobson at the American Family Association.

Here’s the link so you can check it out for yourself.

Tyson Gay, America’s top sprinter and certain to be in the running for an Olympic gold in Beijing in a few weeks, doesn’t get the credit he deserves — literally. The American Family Association’s news feed about Gay (that’s his last name, not his orientation) “corrects” his credit by… well, you’ll just have to read it here.