Andrew Garfield's amazing performance in Arcade Fire's new video "We Exist"

This is astonishing!  I love both Andrew Garfield and Arcade Fire even more now!   Enjoy! 

Michael Sam becomes 1st openly gay athlete to be drafted into the NFL...

What a beautiful and sweet moment!  It's so very nice to share in it on TV.  Congrats to Mr. Sam!

I'm not much of a football fan, but I'll have to find a way to catch a St. Louis Rams game when Sam starts to play for them.

Prince Harry might "experiment with gay men" if his relationship doesn’t work out (which apparently it has not!)

What a lovely headline!:

Prince Harry might experiment with gay men if my relationship doesn’t work out

It certainly caught my eye, although Harry never has to try too hard to get my attention (or most gay men's). 

And of course, this story yesterday seems to confirm the handsome prince is back on the market.  Well, Harry, perhaps it's time to put those sexy words into action and give some hot dude a try? 

Here's the full Pink News story below:

Prince Harry has said he might try relationships with men if he “changes his mind” about women, while on a night out with his current girlfriend.

Harry and his girlfriend, Cressida Bonas, were taking a night out together at The Rum Kitchen in Notting Hill on Friday, when Harry was slipped the phone number of Vincenzo Ianniello.

He reportedly accepted the number happily, and promised to call Mr Ianniello if he changed his mind about dating women.
 
Mr Ianniello later tweeted about the exchange: “I gave Prince Harry my number tonight, he promised he’ll call me if he changes his mind about women. Or men. #epicwin”

Kick attention-seeking, mischief-making American bigot Peter LaBarbera out of the country, please!

It seems hatemonger Peter LaBarbera's temporary detention by Canada Customs at Regina's airport last week was quite justified, considering what the bigoted troublemaker got himself into on the University of Regina's campus today. 

LaBarbera, along with infamous hate propagandist Bill Whatcott (whose guilt promoting hatred against gays and lesbians was upheld last year by the Supreme Court of Canada), tried to force their drug-inspired hatred against LGBT people onto the University of Regina today (religion being one of several legal drugs, of course.)  They were refused the ability to set up a table to promote their illogical hatred, but they proceeded to set one up anyway.  In the end, Regina police arrested them both and charged them with mischief. 

No one has the right to enter a university campus to commit crimes or promote hatred.  No one even has a right to set up a table on a public sidewalk to promote anything without a city permit.  As Whatcott rightly should know, there are limits to freedom of expression, which doesn't include the right to distribute pamphlets which read, "Kill The Homosexuals!", as he did about ten years ago.  These two merely wanted some more attention for their pathetic cause and sadly they got it.

Whatcott is a loser who deserves to be forgotten along with his drug-inspired nonsense.

And LaBarbera has shown his contempt for Canada by engaging in this kind of behaviour so soon after last week's warning at the Regina airport.  You'd think a good Christian man might be inspired to behave himself in a foreign country after that.  But no.

Charged with mischief, LaBarbera should be put on a plane and flown back to the U.S. as soon as possible.  Good riddance, you jerk! 

Hurray for Ellen Page!

Very glad to hear this news today.  Plus she's cute.  Makes me wish I were a lesbian ;-)

"In a speech at the Time to Thrive conference Friday, actress Ellen Page came out as gay. 
“I’m here today because I am gay,” she told the audience of LGBT youth at the Bally’s 
Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.

"The 26-year old star of “Juno” appears in the upcoming “X-Men: Days of Future Past.”

“I am tired of hiding and I am tired of lying by omission,” Page said. “I suffered for years 
because I was scared to be out. My spirit suffered, my mental health suffered and my 
relationships suffered. And I’m standing here today, with all of you, on the other side of 
all that pain.”

"The sponsor of the conference, Human Rights Campaign, tweeted “Congratulations 
@EllenPage for taking the steps to live openly and come out as lesbian.”

"She told the audience she felt a personal obligation and a social responsibility to be 
honest. “Maybe I can help others to have an easier time. I am tired of hiding,” she said.

Time to boycott Russia's celebration of its bigoted self

I will not be watching Russia's disgusting celebration of itself tomorrow.  The opening ceremonies for the Sochi Games will not be playing on my TV at work, nor at home on Friday night.  I can't bear to watch a celebration of Russia's history knowing full well this is a country that is actively trying to destroy its LGBT citizens with lies and religious bigotry.

The only thing that could make me watch would be news coverage featuring the repeat of some disaster that strikes during the event.  A mechanical failure, hopefully, causing embarrassment to Russian hosts and the bigot himself, Vladimir Putin.

Even better would be a brave protest by some athlete who unfurls a rainbow flag, perhaps.  It would be nice if some enlightened athletes from the enlightened parts of the world don rainbow buttons or symbols that promote equality and dignity amid such utter hypocrisy.

I will tune in over the course of the next two weeks to cheer on Canadian athletes.  Those events will not be about the repulsive host country; they will be about athletes from around the world, including our own country.

I wish Canadians the best of luck as they compete.  I wish all the athletes a great games.

Sad news about Philip Seymour Hoffman...

"Philip Seymour Hoffman, who won the Oscar for best actor in 2006 for his portrayal of writer Truman Capote in “Capote” and created a gallery of other vivid characters...was found dead Sunday in his Greenwich Village apartment with what law enforcement officials said was a syringe in his arm. He was 46."

What a tragedy!  He was a great character actor who made his mark on cinema and will be remembered for years if not decades.  This is a real loss for everyone who loves cinema and great acting as we will now be denied more of Hoffman's immense talent.

It's sad how hard drugs can take possession of people's lives, as seems to have been the case with Hoffman.  I'm glad I've never tried anything remotely considered "hard" amongst such substances still banned by law.  And I never intend to.

A friend remarked on her Facebook page simply that "drugs are bad...don't do them."  Sure, hard, addictive drugs like heroin, cocaine and others absolutely are to be avoided.

Drugs like caffeine, sugar, alcohol, marijuana, religion, etc.?  Definitely okay in MODERATE amounts.

But I digress.   We've lost a great artist today to a very addictive and destructive drug.  Very sad indeed!

HBO's new 'Looking': Link to Full Episode on YouTube

I'm hooked!  HBO has posted the first episode of its new 30-minute gay drama, 'Looking', set in beautiful San Francisco, on YouTube. Genius marketing.  I'll be watching this one all the way to the end!  LINK TO THE FULL EPISODE ON YOUTUBE HERE!  

Putin resembles Hitler as he suggests Russia needs to "cleanse" itself of homosexuality

How horrible it must be to be LGBT in Russia these days. My heart truly goes out to all LGBT people living in Russia and their allies.

Next month's Sochi Olympics are shining a light on that country's despicable treatment of its gay people and rightly so. Ignorance about LGBT people seems to underpin the mainstream culture in Russia (as expressed by its leadership), where the lessons learned in other countries by people just as smart as Russians seem to go unheeded and unlearned.

Now Russia President Vladimir Putin is talking like Adolf Hitler by equating gays with pedophiles and saying Russia needs to “cleanse” itself of homosexuality if it wants to increase its birth rate.

This kind of thinking is horrifying.

Congrats to writer Warren Kinsella for his article today on this very subject in which he too makes the comparison between Putin's Olympics in 2014 and Hitler's Olympics in 1936. Our international failure to launch an effective boycott of Putin's games will only have dire consequences for gays in Russia. It's an ominous warning considering what happened to the Jews in Nazi Germany after Hitler's Olympic success.

I hope I'm not being naive in doubting a Russian version of the Holocaust against gay people. But without a doubt, the Russian law against the presence of homosexuality in any part of public society in that country is already having violent consequences for LGBT people.

But just as insidious is the impact Russia's law will have on LGBT youth and Putin's demand that Russia "cleanse" itself of homosexuality to increase its birth rate. I guess Putin hopes that more LGBT Russian men and women will stay in the closet out of fear of violence, and embrace fake heterosexual lives that are wrong for them and for society as a whole, creating phoney marriages and lives lost in clouds of lies and hopelessness.

Putin is either ignorant or deliberately ignoring the fact that homosexuality exists as an inherent, unchangeable attribute in about the same percentage (around three to five percent) in every society, across all demographics, classes, races, etc. including in Russia. He reportedly refused to answer a question today posed by the BBC to him about whether or not he believes the truth that people are born gay.

Holding Gay Pride parades, allowing gay people to exist openly in your society, and even teaching children about the importance of treating all human beings including homosexuals equally and with dignity and respect, will not turn any of those children who are not already destined to be LGBT into an LGBT person. Banning such "gay propaganda" will only further isolate the vulnerable gay Russian youth in that society and promote violence against anyone who doesn't fit in.

Treating LGBT people with equality, dignity and respect is not a Western value; it is a human value as homosexuals are present in all parts of the world, not just the West.

Sorry for the platitudes, which are obvious to most of us here in Canada. But sadly, these truths need to be repeated again and again as old world notions about sexuality continue to dominate in many parts of the world.

And heroes like the brave, gay Russian man (pictured below) who unfurled a rainbow flag today at the Olympic torch relay as it passed through his hometown of Voronezh, 910 kilometres north of Sochi, only to be arrested, need to be honoured and supported.

'My Prairie Home' documentary about transgender musician from Alberta makes it to Sundance Film Festival

I'm excited about seeing this documentary this year, the only Canadian feature to make it to the Sundance Film Festival, which opened this past week.

'My Prairie Home' follows a transgender musician named Ray from a staunch Christian family in Alberta.   Based on this CBC story on it that ran last night, it looks amazing.

NOW Magazine's movie critics simply suck! (With the exception of Norm Wilner perhaps...)

Filmmakers (including myself on occasion) struggle greatly for years to get their stories on the big screen, from writing dozens of screenplay drafts, to finding money, to shooting, to post-production, to the agonizing process of distribution.

Audiences invest as little as nothing (if illegally downloading) or perhaps $13 if going to a theatre to view them.  

There's an old saying: those who can, do, and those who can't, teach.  This could also apply to film critics: those who can, make films, and those who can't, sit on the sidelines and attack the work of those who can.   

Some publications employ film critics who are fair, open-minded and willing to judge filmmakers' labours of love with a bit of humility, free of any personal agendas.

But not NOW Magazine in Toronto, where mostly amateurish writers in most sections spew their baseless subjectivity every week.  With the exception of Norm Wilner, whose opinions are generally top notch and take into account the actual art of the films and sometimes the intentions of the filmmakers, NOW's film critics frequently let their subjective b.s. opinions, prejudices and political agendas get in the way of their thinking.  

Glenn Sumi never saw an Asian-themed gay film he wasn't prepared to massacre due to his own self hatred and subjective tastes.  

Even worse, Susan G. Cole, an otherwise delightful woman, puts her highly sensitive, left leaning/lesbian political filter on before watching anything.  She once talked down Gus Van Sant's historic epic 'Milk' simply because there weren't enough lesbian characters in it.  Yes a story about an openly gay man who surrounded himself mostly with other gay men in his pursuit of political office and authentically portrayed him as such was simply not lesbian enough for Ms. Cole.  Thus, the weak three star rating for a modern gay classic.

Of course, when films about lesbians have cropped up with zero gay male characters in sight, Cole has been more than eager to hand out five stars and gushing reviews.

Today, I read her review of the decent film 'Saving Mr. Banks' (starring Emma Thompson, pictured above playing the not-lesbian-enough lead character) and once again we don't get a fair reading of the film's artistic merits, but instead its failure to impress Cole's political agenda. 

"The older Travers is portrayed as an old lonely prune who only lightens up after she's been in Disney's orbit. I don't expect a Disney pic to highlight Travers's lesbian love life or her very serious spiritual pursuits, but this rendering is insulting," writes Cole.

See my point?  True, I don't much care for Disney's willingness to present sanitized versions of stories.  But 'Saving Mr. Banks' had its great strengths and was enjoyable.  Certainly, it was worth more than a pathetic two stars out of five. 

Oh well, as those familiar with NOW Magazine already know, one can't expect much in terms of fair, decent, objective reporting from them, either in their news section and of course in the film section.   Perhaps their music writers are qualified, but I'm not enough of a music aficionado to tell.

Most movie lovers are smart, discerning individuals.  Most of us know which reviewers and which organizations publish decent, fair, objective reviews we can trust and which ones don't.  I'm happy to remind everyone of NOW's considerable deficiencies in that department.  

My sincere condolences to George Smitherman and his family at this tragic time...

It was startling late last night hearing the news that Christopher Peloso, husband of George Smitherman, was missing again, just a few short months after a similar incident that ended positively.  

George tweeted the following yesterday night: "Freedom from depression has been elusive for Christopher and once again he is missing and we fear for his safety."

And it was heart-breaking this morning getting the email from George Smitherman to his supporters and friends stating the following: 

December 30, 2013 Toronto Police just confirmed that my darling Christopher Peloso has been found dead. We will celebrate his life and we will find comfort somehow in knowing that he has found peace from the depression that has wreaked havoc on his mind. A son and brother, a husband and father of 3 he will always be remembered for his dedication to others. We have been greatly aided by the compassion of the Toronto Police service and we will find strength going forward from the legions of people in our extended family who loved him so.    George Smitherman

You can read more about this sad story here.  My sincere condolences go out to George, their two adopted children as well as to Christopher's birth daughter, the Peloso family and to all of their extended family on this tragic loss.