Zac Efron strips for upcoming raunchy comedy "That Awkward Moment"

Okay, let's put aside all seriousness and celebrate the release of a new, rated-R movie trailer for Hollywood heartthrob Zac Efron's upcoming raunchy comedy called 'That Awkward Moment.' The film is set to be released in January, but already the producers are making us salivate over the quick shot of the 25-year-old hunk's nude body while planking on a toilet (apparently after taking Viagra and then needing to urinate.)

Watch the trailer below to get more details.

I've been waiting for young Mr. Efron to show off a little nudity for years. For an actor who has traded so much on his sexy good looks, it seemed strange that Efron hadn't yet done nudity on the big screen (only instead offering shirtless or even underwear-only scenes, which have been enjoyable to watch, but still aren't quite the full monty we hope to see). Apparently, the drought will be finally over in early 2014 with 'That Awkward Moment.' I can't wait.

Until then, we can stare at this photo and dream of seeing this shot scrolled wide across the big screen with hopefully much more to see of Efron, co-star Miles Teller and perhaps even handsome Michael B. Jordan thrown in. Enjoy!

John Greyson, Tarek Loubani return to Canada after imprisonment in Egypt

Today, October 11th, is National Coming Out Day.

That fact made this article today by J. Lester Feder on Buzzfeed all the more poignant. Entitled, "How A Gay Canadian Filmmaker Jailed In Egypt Went Back Into The Closet To Save His Life," it details how gay Toronto filmmaker John Greyson's partner, Stephen Andrews, was forced to go back in the closet in order to help keep Greyson safe. If you haven't heard about Greyson and Doctor Tarek Loubani's incarceration in Egypt (because you haven't read a Canadian newspaper or watched much TV news for two months), you can read about it here in their own words.

Greyson and Loubani returned to Canada tonight after being released from prison last weekend. It's great that this ordeal is over for them and they're back in seemingly good spirits.

I once met Greyson through my friend Cuong Ngo at an Inside Out film festival party a few years ago. Greyson's documentary film 'Fig Trees' won the Best Canadian Feature Film award that night. My own film 'The Golden Pin' won Best Canadian Short that night as well, and my film's director, Cuong Ngo, was a student of Greyson's at York University.

I've always been a fan of Greyson's films, especially the gay classic 'Lilies.' I don't share some of his politics, but I respect his opinions and his obvious bravery. It would take an immense amount of bravery for any openly gay man like Greyson to make his way into Egypt or Gaza in order to document stories we rarely get to see in the West.

I've also found it repulsive that so many on the conservative right in this country have taken to attacking Greyson and Loubani for their political views and for being in Egypt at all, taking the opportunity to attack the men when they were down (behind bars in an Egyptian prison), something conservatives are often happy to do. The worst may have been this column by bozo writer Margaret Wente, who outed Greyson as gay while he was still in Egypt this week (although at least he was out of prison by the time this went to publication.)

I don't believe criticizing Israeli government policies in the occupied territories is tantamount to being "anti-Israel" as so many commentators continue to falsely allege. I will admit that I've never been a fan of the group 'Queers Against Israeli Apartheid' and I do sometimes detect a disturbingly hateful streak in some of the criticism leveled against Israel by some activists. But I've never observed such extremism in Greyson's opinions, who has been forceful but also intelligent in his comments. I was glad to see the two men take the time tonight to thank both Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird after they landed in Toronto.

One final note: As a hot-blooded gay man, I must say that one aspect of this story that wasn't lost on me is Tarek Loubani's immense good looks (in my opinion, of course.) Just look at his smiling face! Combined with an activist mindset and the brains to earn a medical degree, let's just say I was enchanted. I also sensed that Loubani might be gay, an impression that was reinforced by that video Greyson and he released on their website yesterday before returning from Egypt. But I read quite curiously in Feder's article today that Loubani's "heterosexual." But a guy like me can still dream, no? Maybe now it's Loubani's turn to come out on this special day? ;-)

Time to revoke charitable status for "Living Waters" and other Christian groups like it...

I got very angry reading this investigative journalist piece today in the Toronto Star by undercover reporter Graham Slaughter. It's part one of two stories the Star is publishing this weekend into the dubious Christian program called "Living Waters," that claims to heal gay people through an intensive 22-week program that costs $550. The Toronto chapter is run out of a church in the north part of the city.

In the story today, Slaughter writes:

"During my time undercover in Living Waters’ Toronto chapter, I posed as a depressed gay man who hoped to become straight. The Star sent me inside the Toronto program because many respected psychological authorities have denounced gay conversion programs, saying they pose serious psychological risks, including depression, anxiety and suicidal thoughts.

"The movement to “heal” homosexuality is on its last legs in the United States. Exodus International, an American group, shut down in July and publicly apologized to those it had counselled. Yet in Canada, similar programs still exist.

"At Living Waters Toronto, the program is led by a team of volunteers, including a preschool teacher, a personal trainer and a pastor. Leaders give hope that God can heal participants’ “sexual and relational brokenness,” an umbrella term that includes such issues as homosexuality, masturbation and pornography addictions.

"But some of those former participants told the Star stories of personal anguish and spiritual crisis when their attempts to become straight failed. (Their stories appear in Part 2 of the investigation..)

"These stories chip away at Living Waters’ facade as a healing ministry, revealing instead a religious organization that hurts some participants in its attempts to heal sexual dysfunction and relationship problems."

Despite this, this bogus Christian group continues to enjoy the benefits of charitable status in Canada, something it obtained in 1998. Slaughter's article confirms:

"Living Waters must meet certain requirements to keep its charity status, one of which is to provide a “public benefit.” In the CRA’s guidelines for registering a charity, it describes “benefit” as “directed toward achieving a universal good that is not harmful to the public — a socially useful endeavour.”

If the information in the article is to be believed, it's clear that Living Waters did not include its plans to run gay reparative therapy sessions when it applied for charitable status. The program's leaders promote lies about the origins of homosexuality in individuals and follow lines of thought in their "healing" that have proven deeply damaging to those who are unfortunate enough to come into their misguided clutches.

I'm sure tomorrow's story will detail many tragic experiences by people who have gone through Living Waters' program. If those stories are similar to many others I've read from similar Christian programs, Living Waters will be exposed as doing great "public harm" and "destruction," not the "public benefit" needed to continue its dubious charitable status in Canada, where in the past three years donations have accounted for 62 per cent of the group's total revenue.

In fact, the Star reports that Canada Revenue Agency documents show that Living Waters has grown significantly in the past nine years, more than tripling its annual revenue from $227,035 in 2003 to $769,204 in 2012. The idiots who are giving this money to this group do not deserve a tax receipt for it, that's for sure.

It is well past the time that these types of bogus Christian groups be cut off from the public trough.

UPDATE*****

As expected, the stories shared in Part Two of this Toronto Star piece by reporter Graham Slaughter illuminate further the damage being done by Living Waters and other religious programs like it. Here's how the experiences of one former participant in the program are described:

"After a year and a half in the Living Waters program — the end of a 10-year journey of denying his sexuality — [Darin] Squire left the program feeling ashamed. He said Living Waters indoctrinated him to believe that as a gay man he could be only three things: a prostitute, a pedophile or a recklessly promiscuous swinger.

“I was told there was no such thing as a healthy happy homosexual. They do not exist,” he said.

He accepted this supposed fate and descended into a self-destructive “depraved lifestyle,” he said. “No one walks out of there and says, ‘It just doesn’t work for me.’ We walk out of there broken. People go in there unhealthy and come out unhealthier.”

Clearly, there is no credible "public benefit" to this Living Waters program. I hope they and other groups like them lose their charitable status as soon as possible in Canada!