Denmark, Bianco Footwear - How To Double Your Collection

I love these little ads, from Denmark's Bianco Footwear, about doubling your collection of shoes.


How To Double Your Collection - Women


How To Double Your Collection - Men



Sweet, and a nice way to end the year.

Cheers everyone!

Kollaboration - Empowerment through Entertainment

Hat tip to Angry Asian Man!

Check out the trailer for Kollaboration 9, which features David Choi, Kina Grannis, Jane Lui, and the group Jazmin performing an acoustic version of Chris Brown's "Forever."



Kollaboration is an annual event and movement created by a small group of professional young Asian Pacific Islander Americans/Canadians (APIA/C), volunteering their time and skills to celebrate the vast talents of their community with the mission and mantra, "Empowerment through Entertainment."

From the Kollaboration website:

"In addition to encouraging the diverse talents of APIA/C youth, Kollaboration seeks to empower (1) APIA/C youth by providing them with a creative outlet and leadership training that serves as an alternative to gang-activity and delinquency for those at-risk, (2) APIA/C families by offering a platform for communication that bridges the gap between 1st generation parents and latter generation youth and (3) the APIA/C community at large, by raising awareness for other critical community issues and NGOs."

Stellar!

Read more.

Barack Obama, Rick Warren, Scrutiny, Racism, Homophobia

You know, I understand that Barack Obama is and will be under the microscope in the next few years as President of the United States. As a matter of course, many will be ready to pounce on even the slightest sign of weakness that he might exhibit. This happens to almost all world leaders, I suppose, and really anyone in the spotlight of history. Frank Rich's op-ed "You’re Likable Enough, Gay People" in The New York Times well summarizes some of the current discussions surrounding Obama's assignment of the inaugural invocation to the Reverend Rick Warren.

Partly as a function of being a person of color, I am often compelled to racialize situations, and I wonder if Obama is sometimes being scrutinized, to a certain degree, because of his racial identity.

Putting someone under scrutiny can be a very subversive, very quiet, very hidden form of racism in itself that replaces a flagrant use of offensive language with attacks on a person's character and choices without even a mention of skin color. Similar parallels can be drawn between racist and homophobic dynamics. And, since few people want to be called out as racist or homophobic, and since many who are racists or homophobes don't even actually believe so, scrutiny can be a vehicle for these people to express discrimination without actually appearing discriminatory. A simple example would be calling people "stupid" when you really want to say something like, "I hate you because you're [insert race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, etc.]."

We're all subject to being marginalized at points in our dynamic and ever changing lives. In our complexity and multi-dimensionality as human beings coexisting on an ethnically, racially, sexually, politically, linguistically, and religiously diverse planet (to say the least), we can all lay claim to being Sesame Street's one of those things that is not like the other at certain moments, some fleeting, some less so. While we may form part of a majority at a dinner party, in a church, or in a nation, at the same time, we may be in the minority in a neighbourhood, in a bar, in an airplane, or in the world at large. I have had to accept that it's not a bad thing to be different from most. Otherwise, I'd be miserable, and there are valuable perspectives from the margins that you can't get anywhere else. But, it is bad when difference is the reason you are treated or evaluated unjustly.

Sometimes, we need to go deep into our minds and those of our friends, family, colleagues, politicians, and media outlets and question why, how, and who we choose to scrutinize. Of course, scrutiny productively enables facts to emerge and results in the conveyance of "the news" to the general public. But, finding out whether scrutiny has with it homophobic or racist intentions is a bit more complicated and personal. It involves asking questions that some people might not want to answer, ever.

Shelter, Trevor Wright, Brad Rowe

Last night I was looking for a good movie to watch, and I came across Shelter, from 2007. I think it's a sweet film with excellent acting and an interesting storyline about aspiring young artist Zach (Trevor Wright), who spends his days working at a dead-end job and helping his sister Jeanne (Tina Holmes) care for her son Cody (Jackson Wurth). Zach likes to surf, draw, and paint, and generally leads a lacklustre life, that is, until his best friend's older brother, Shaun (Brad Rowe), returns to town.

Here's the trailer.



Shelter has won several awards, including the Favorite Narrative Feature at the 2007 Seattle Lesbian & Gay Film Festival, the People’s Choice Award for Best Feature at the 2007 Vancouver Queer Film Festival, and Best Film at Dallas Out Takes.

And yes, both Trevor Wright and Brad Rowe are straight.

If you're into realistic and convincing portrayals of the complexities of love, family, and self-acceptance, along with a pleasant soundtrack featuring Shane Mack, then Shelter is for you, and for me! I enjoyed it a lot.

Read more.

The Celluloid Closet

For those of you wanting to learn a bit of gay history, The Celluloid Closet, from 1995, is a comprehensive and moving documentary film showing a century of gays and lesbians in cinema. Here is a clip I found on YouTube.



As Lily Tomlin narrates:

"In a hundred years of movies, homosexuality has only rarely been depicted on the screen. When it did appear, it was there as something to laugh at, or something to pity, or even something to fear. These were fleeting images, but they were unforgettable, and they left a lasting legacy. Hollywood, that great maker of myths, taught straight people what to think about gay people, and gay people what to think about themselves. No one escaped its influence."

Based on the 1981 (revised 1987) book of the same name written by Vito Russo, The Celluloid Closet is a great informative and entertaining artifact that reveals how films shaped the psyches of generations of gay men and women throughout the twentieth century.

A classic.

Learn more.

Michael Rogers, Eugene Rivers, MSNBC's Hardball - Rick Warren

Check out this discussion on MSNBC's Hardball, between Reverend Eugene Rivers and PageOneQ.com's Michael Rogers, about Barack Obama's invitation to Pastor Rick Warren to give the invocation at the US presidential inauguration in January 2009.



Way to say it eloquently Mr. Rogers!

Christmas Identity

I grew up as a Roman Catholic and renounced any kind of organized religious belief by the time I was a young teenager, but I remember appreciating the festive colors of the season, working on holiday projects at school, enjoying the delightful television specials featuring Frosty, Rudolph, and the Peanuts gang, and hearing bible stories at midnight mass. Everything it seemed was orchestrated to lead me to believe that Christmas was indeed a moment of great and sacred import.

The Christmastide atmosphere of decoration, consumption, and myth, however, was a momentary distraction from what was really going on deep in my consciousness - the loneliness, the self-hatred, the never feeling like part of any collective whole. I was without faith in a god-fearing community, brown in a white society, a Montreal native frequently mistaken as an immigrant, and an English-speaking Québécois in a predominantly French-speaking province. Also, with my emerging sexuality, I was gay in a straight world. Who I was supposed to be, in hindsight, was a question that left me insecure and bewildered.

But, I can make choices now, something I didn't think about too much as an adolescent. Everything had seemed forced and out of my control. As I grew older, I began to understand that I didn't have to be what anyone wanted me to be, and my identity was not solely composed of just one element, like language, race, ethnicity, creed, nationality, or sexual orientation. I could fit in if I wanted to, or stay away from groups I knew wouldn't accept me. Similarly, I have come to appreciate that Christmas can be many things outside of its religious implications, including a pleasant time with friends, family, or even being alone. Without the pressures and expectations of thinking that Christmas should be one thing, it's a much more worthwhile part of life.

Best wishes everyone.

Prayers for Bobby, Sigourney Weaver, Pope Benedict XVI, Rick Warren

While religious leaders like Pope Benedict XVI and Rick Warren have made recent headlines for their homophobic beliefs, out comes the trailer for Prayers for Bobby, a new film based on a true story, which stars Sigourney Weaver as devout Christian Mary Griffith, a woman who questions her faith after her son Bobby (played by Ryan Kelley) kills himself because his parents could not accept him as gay.

Check it out!



"Bobby's death was a direct result of his parents' ignorance."

For four years before he committed suicide, Bobby was encouraged by his mother to "cure" his homosexuality through prayer.

Prayers for Bobby is based on the book of the same name by Leroy Aarons and premieres 24 January 2009 on the Lifetime Television Network.

Read more.

New Jersey, possibly the next state to legalize same-sex marriage

Check out this editorial from the New York Times that describes some of the inequities between New Jersey's civil union and marriage laws and encourages state Governor Jon Corzine to sign a measure granting the right to marry to couples of the same sex.

An excerpt about the recent commission report on the state's two-year-old civil union law:

"The commission noted the hurt and stigma inflicted by shutting out gay people from the institution of marriage. It also found that civil unions do not assure gay couples of the same protections, including the right to collect benefits under a partner’s health insurance program and to make medical decisions on behalf of a partner who is unable to do so. The panel concluded unanimously that the state should enact a law to remove the inequities."

Yes folks, it's about having the same rights that are given to heterosexual couples if they choose to marry. Equal rights. Civil rights.

If New Jersey does legalize same-sex marriage, it would become the first state in America to do so through legislative action.

Read more.

Narelda Jacobs, Penny Wong inspire in Australia

The Australian gay and lesbian lifestyle website Same Same, has come up with a list of the 25 most influential gay and lesbian Australians, and two of the inspiring individuals on the list happen to be women of color!

Narelda Jacobs is the first Aboriginal openly gay newsreader in Western Australia. A single mother at the age of 18, Narelda has been successful in managing both her family life and her media career. This year she became the lead news anchor for Ten News in Perth.

Malaysian born Penny Wong arrived in Australia as a child in 1977 and is the first openly lesbian member of Australian parliament, as well as its first Asian-born female, and Australia’s first Minister for Climate Change and Water.

The Same Same 25 list "was created to bring together a group of the most inspirational, aspirational and influential gays and lesbians in Australia, shining a spotlight on people and issues that should be talked about and debated, while creating the next generation of gay and lesbian role models." The list also includes Olympic gold medalist diver Matthew Mitcham, singer/songwriter/producer Sam Sparro, and Portia de Rossi, actress and wife of Ellen DeGeneres.

Congrats to all!

See the full list here.

Color vs. Colour - Revisited, Nationalism, Language, and the Blogosphere

I wrote a post about this a while ago, but feel the need to address what has once again become an issue since I have recently received some less than kind comments and emails about my use of the American "color" instead of the Canadian and British "colour." For starters, the phrase "of color" is used primarily in the United States to describe all people who are not white. For example, it was used by Martin Luther King Jr. when he talked about "citizens of color" in 1963. The term is meant to be inclusive, emphasizing common experiences of racism.

When I started this blog, I made a conscious choice to call it "Gay Persons of Color" instead of "Gay Persons of Colour," and at the time, as a writer and editor, I considered the implications of breaking Canadian grammatical rules. But also, I wondered if the rules really applied in this case? Standards are generally created based on the most common form of usage. Typing "color" into Google gets about 965,000,000 results compared to the 189,000,000 that "colour" retrieves. Hence, I decided to think big and to create my own standard of English for one word, "color," based on its prevalent global usage.

The Internet has opened up the world for many of us, and in the process, has put in question the practicality of applying conventional geopolitical boundaries to a sphere that evidently traverses boundaries. What is a nation in the blogosphere anyway? What is a Canadian blog? Is it a blog written by a Canadian citizen? Could it also be one written by an American living in Canada? Does a Canadian blog only address issues that relate to Canada? You get the point.

Having been born and raised in Quebec, a Canadian province where issues surrounding language and culture incessantly inhabit the collective consciousness, looking back, I stand by my "color" choice. I actually love "color" because it simply implies economy. Why use more letters when we can use less to communicate the same idea, that is, unless both "color" and "colour" somehow represent American, Canadian, and even British identities. Can "colour" reflect an allegiance to British colonialism, or even an anti-American statement? Sure.

But, that's not why I don't use "colour" on this blog. At a time in history when we all seem to be making special efforts to save money, the planet, and its resources, it just makes good sense for us to unite, to increase our reach to effect social change for the better, and to use less instead of more, at the very least symbolically, on the World Wide Web.

Aspiring to Whiteness, Dichotomies, Diversity

Have you ever wondered why some people would want to be another color (or as some pedantic Canadian nationalists might write, "colour")?

If so, check out this article from Tanglad, which relates the specific perspective of Filipinos who have immigrated to the United States in their adult lives and who aspire to be - white.

An excerpt:

"This aspiration to whiteness is not new, of course. It has been evident in our history, as Filipino elites supported revolution not because of nationalism, but on the grounds that elites were honorary whites themselves, or at least figuratively white enough to take on the 'white man's burden.' Decades later, this valorization of whiteness is truly entrenched in Filipino society. Just consider the popularity of those skin bleaching lotions that let the brown masses show their 'natural whiteness.'"

I was born in Montreal, from parents who had first immigrated to the US and then settled in Canada, so my context is a bit different than that referenced in the above article. But, I did grow up with a set of challenges caught up in the battle between colonial British and French systems of value that has resulted, in one way or another throughout my life, in me feeling like a second or third class citizen, not only in terms of being placed on an ethnic hierarchy, but also on a sexual one. Sure, gay people, people of color, and gay people of color in Canada enjoy, to a large degree, the same protection under the law as our straight and white counterparts, but homophobia and racism still manage to continually infiltrate much of Québec and Canadian society. Insert powerful American influences into the equation, and the situation gets even more complex.

Dichotomies can really mess us up one's self-esteem. Focusing on White/Non-White, English/French, Gay/Straight, Québécois/Canadian, Canadian/American, Color/Colour, etc. is at odds with the notion of diversity, which involves so much more than just two predominating elements. Once we fully accept this reality, maybe only then can we move towards a better appreciation of each other and of ourselves.

Hat tip to Racialicious.

2008 Canadian Blog Awards - Results - Second Place Ain't So Bad...

Especially since I lost to the great Mark at Slap Upside The Head!

He thinks, he writes, he jokes, he draws! He's a true original and an inspiring blogger.

Congrats Mark!

And a million thanks to everyone who voted!

Love is Love

I came across this short comedy about straight people living in a predominantly gay world.

Give it a watch, and look for the special appearance by Margaret Cho!



I suppose showing this video to people who come to this site is sort of like preaching to the choir, but I hope that viewers like you can share it with straight colleagues, friends, and family members to help further their understanding of what it's like to live as a minority.

Snow Day

Gay Marriage: Out of the Bedroom and Into the Living Room, The New Gay

Check out this excellent post promoting the good idea of letting everyone know that our gay relationships comprise the same daily vicissitudes as those of our straight counterparts.

An excerpt:

"…The point is that there are people who overwhelmingly support efforts to deny LGBT people our right to marry. We have to provide them with every opportunity to see that our relationships are just as ordinary and mundane as theirs...I am not saying we need to 'prove' ourselves worthy. Screw that. I am saying we need to wage an in-the-trenches, person-to-person, public education campaign. They hear homosexual and think bedroom. We need them to think living room. Sure, the people we love are of the same sex, but guess what? We have relationships with our partner's parents and siblings. We are Jewish, Agnostic, Christian, Muslim, and Atheist. We pay our bills and bitch about taxes. We have hobbies, pick up our dry cleaning, check the air in our tires, and use compact florescent light bulbs. Sure it sounds boring, but that's who we are and what we do."

Read more at The New Gay.

Harvey Milk, George Moscone, the San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus, 30 Years Later

In 1978, the San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus, the first of its kind in America, grew from an impromptu performance on the steps of the San Francisco City Hall where demonstrators had gathered following a candlelight procession on the eve of the 27 November assassinations of Mayor George Moscone and openly gay city supervisor Harvey Milk. Choral music, in this sense, became a protest in concert.

The day after the 30th anniversary of the assassinations, San Francisco remembered the heroes with a concert featuring performances by the San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus, the San Francisco Lesbian/Gay Freedom Band, the Lesbian/Gay Chorus of San Francisco, and the GLAM Youth Choir, as well as speeches from various individuals including Supervisor Tom Ammiano, Jon Moscone (son of George Moscone), Willie Brown, Stuart Milk (nephew of Harvey Milk), Carol Ruth Silver, and Harry Britt.

Check out the inspiring video I found of the event.



Go see Milk!

Brokeback Mountain in Italy - Like "the Mona Lisa without a head..."

That's what Vladimir Luxuria, a transgender former member of the Italian parliament, said in an interview with The Guardian about the version of Brokeback Mountain that was broadcast this week on the state television network.

Luxuria was referring to the fact that love scenes showing male on male intimacy between actors Jake Gyllenhaal and the late Heath Ledger had been excised from the movie. Radiotelevisione Italiana claims the cuts were an honest mistake and promised to broadcast the full version of the 2005 film.

Coincidentally (or not), the cuts came days after the Vatican's decision to oppose a European Union proposal that the United Nations formally condemn discrimination against gays.

Hmmm.

Read more.

Adidas Ad, Break-up Service in Japan

Check out this hilarious Adidas ad featuring a break-up service in Japan.



Hat tip to Edgar!

US National LGBT Blogger and Citizen Journalist Initiative, Washington D.C. - Summary

My weekend at the 2008 National LGBT Blogger and Citizen Journalist Initiative Summit in Washington, D.C. was fantastic!

I am still processing much of what I gathered and learned, but here are some of the highlights.

The opening reception on Friday 5 December was at the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) where bloggers could meet HRC senior staff, directors, coordinators, and others attending the Summit.





The same evening, the Victory Fund welcomed us at the D.C. Jewish Community Center to a screening of Milk, which was followed by a Q&A session with the film's screenwriter Dustin Lance Black (center), producer Bruce Cohen (right), and gay rights activist and Harvey Milk's close friend, Cleve Jones (left).





The next day Summit attendees were invited to the lunch program of the Victory Fund International Gay and Lesbian Leadership Conference with Keynote by Rep. Barney Frank at the historic Mayflower Hotel.



Aside from these events, most of the Summit sessions were held at The Center for American Progress Action Fund where we were treated to lectures by, among others, Matt Stoller, Tim McFeeley, Joel Silberman, Cathy Renna, and Andy Wibbels.



Amazing stuff.

Most important, however, was meeting all the brilliant people I had only heard about or read, as well as those with whom I became newly acquainted. My blogroll is now substantially longer.

Many thanks to Michael Rogers and Zack Rosen for helping me get to this very special event.

US National LGBT Blogger and Citizen Journalist Initiative, Washington D.C.

I am at the US National LGBT Blogger and Citizen Journalist Initiative Summit in Washington D.C. for the weekend, partnering with fellow bloggers and some American national and statewide organizations to discuss strategies for further improving the networks, skills, and reach of LGBT citizen journalists worldwide.

Exciting times for this excited blogger!

Details to follow.

Until then,
James

Xtra.ca, 2008 Canadian Blog Award Interviews

The Canadian Blog Awards seem to get bigger every year. This time around, Angelina Chapin, from Xtra.ca, interviewed four of the top five finalists (including yours truly) and two of the runners-up thus far in the event.

You can check out the interviews here.

And, if you haven't already voted for Gay Persons of Color, please take a few seconds to show your support here.

Thanks again everyone!
James

"Less Attractive" Men have Riskier Sex, University of Toronto Study

A new University of Toronto study, published in the current issue of the Journal of Health and Social Behavior, has found that gay men who are not generally considered to be "sexually desirable" or attractive are more likely to engage in risky sexual behavior.

According to researcher Adam Isaiah Green, who interviewed 70 gay men in Toronto to determine what qualities made some men more sexually desirable than others, and what the consequences of being undesirable might be on mental and physical health:

"I found that young, white, middle-class men are considered much more sexually desirable than men who are racial minorities, over 40 and poor."

Green also indicates that this "sexual status order" privileges caucasian, middle-class men in their twenties and early thirties, while it disadvantages black and Asian men, men over 40 years of age, and poor men.

This kind of news makes me heartsick. A very sad state of gay affairs in a multicultural city like Toronto, and probably representative of similar situations in cities across the globe.

I think we are all beautiful. I really do. Even if we may not be white, middle-class, in our twenties or early thirties, we are all beautiful. And even if most people think otherwise, we are, nonetheless, beautiful.

Here's a task for not only today, but for as long as you live. Tell a gay person of color that they are beautiful, because they need to hear those words of validation, and most important, because it's true. We are beautiful, intricate, constant, and necessary threads in the fabric of contemporary society.

Russell Crowe, The Sum of Us

With much buzz surrounding actors Sean Penn, James Franco, and Emile Hirsh and their portrayal of gay men in Gus Van Sant's Milk, I am reminded of an Australian film I saw a while ago that starred another A-list actor in a gay role.

In The Sum Of Us, from 1994, New Zealand-born Australian Academy Award winner Russell Crowe plays Jeff Mitchell, a plumber and football fan living with his father and searching for Mr. Right. Check out the trailer.



Charming, and one of the happier films of quality and substance in gay cinematic history.

Hawaii, Tradition of Tolerance

Once upon a time, in the middle of the Pacific Ocean lived cross-dressers, queer concubines, and a society in which sexuality was fluid and where no shame was associated with same-gender relations. This was pre-colonial Hawaii as documented by the crew of explorer Captain Cook, the first official non-Polynesian to happen upon the Pacific island chain in 1779.

In his book, The Out Traveler: Hawaii, travel writer Matthew Link not only reveals some of the detailed writings of Cook's ensemble, but also informs us with maps, illustrations, and travel tips for each of the islands of the tranquil Aloha State. Both a chronicle of queer history and a travel guide, The Out Traveler: Hawaii just might be your great read of the season.

Learn more about Hawaii's polysexual past here.

World AIDS Day 2008

1 December 2008 marks the 20th anniversary of World AIDS Day, the concept of which originated at the 1988 World Summit of Ministers of Health on Programmes for AIDS Prevention.

While undeniable progress has been made in the world's response to AIDS, thus giving hope to those who live with or care for people who are infected with HIV, knowledge of these gains risks leading the general public to erroneously believe that the war has been won against the deadly pandemic. The truth is that AIDS continues to weaken global society as a whole, and complacency just gets in the way of progress.

This is the World AIDS Day Message from UNAIDS Executive Director Dr Peter Piot.



Learn more.