Rupert Everett Blasts Gay Parents, GLAAD Calls ‘Insult’ ‘Outdated’
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Though Rupert Everett blazed a trail for homosexual actors when he came out decades ago, he’s now saying that gay men don’t make good parents. You may remember Rupert in the gay themed play then 1984 movie, “Another Country.”
The actor best known for “Shakespeare in Love” and “My Best Friend’s Wedding” told Britain’s Sunday Times Magazine that his mother has met his boyfriend but “still wishes I had a wife and kids.”
“She thinks children need a father and a mother and I agree with her,” he said. “I can’t think of anything worse than being brought up by two gay dads.”
“Some people might not agree with that. Fine! That’s just my opinion,” he said, adding that he doesn’t consider himself part of the “gay community.”
In response, GLAAD president Herndon Graddick said, “Since Everett shared his outdated opinion, gay parents, as well as their friends and families, have voiced overwhelming disappointment. Children aren’t hurt when raised by caring gay parents, but they are when uninformed people in the public eye insult their families.”
The Family Equality Council combated Everett’s opinion with statistics, saying in a statement that “more than 30 years of scientific research shows overwhelmingly that children raised by parents who are LGBT do equally as well as their counterparts raised by heterosexual parents.”
Everett, 53, angered gay rights advocates in 2009 when he said coming out in Hollywood is “not that advisable” and “just doesn’t work” for actors seeking longevity in their careers.
National Coming Out Day: Key Moments in Fight For Equal Rights
Twenty-five years ago today, half a million people participated in a historic march on Washington, D.C., for gay rights.
Fired up from the march, organizers found a way to keep the march alive. The first National Coming Out Day was celebrated on Oct. 11, 1988.
The goal of the day is for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people and their allies to celebrate coming out and encourage those who haven’t to make their voices heard.
“It’s a day to be visible,” said Candace Gingrich-Jones, associate director of youth and campus outreach with the Human Rights Campaign.
“What we know today is people who know someone who is queer are much more likely to understand the issues of inequality and be supportive of the work to gain that equality,” she said..
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Press Contact: Brandon Williams brandon@108productions.org
Corpus Christi: Playing With Redemption
TAMPA, FLORIDA- September 18, 2012. The I AM Love Campaign announces its official tour dates to West Central Florida in October, with an exclusive two-night event at Metropolitan Community Church of Tampa on October 19 and 20. Corpus Christi is a passion play written by Terrence McNally and was first staged in New York in 1998. The play depicts Jesus and the Apostles as gay men living in modern-day Texas. Corpus Christi is performed by the internationally-acclaimed touring company, 108 Productions.
“Recommended! In director Nic Arnzen’s heartfelt take, a multiracial, gender-bent ensemble led by the affecting James Brandon lands its core message …” – Los Angeles Times
“Staged with admirable delicacy, this 108 Productions revival has moments of hard-won sentiment that will win over the biggest skeptic.”
-New York Times
“The performances are remarkable… it is undeniably moving.” –The Advocate
“GO! The entire cast gives great performances… creating an ending that is almost cinematic in its scope.” – LA Weekly
“5 stars! The pure talent and genuine faith demonstrated by these actors was enough to warm the cockles of even the hardest heathen heart, and in this show I found the answer to questions I had always asked
about how one could reconcile being gay and Christian.” –Scotsgay Magazine, Edinburgh
WHAT: 108 Productions’ exclusive two-night fundraiser showing of Terrence McNally’s Corpus Christi: Playing with Redemption documentary preview and live play performance. Proceeds will help fund and support the future tour dates and also support Metro Wellness and Community Centers, and MCC Tampa.
WHEN:
Friday, October 19, 2012
7:30 pm – Sneak Preview Screening of the film, Corpus Christi: Playing with Redemption, followed by a community forum with Special Guests from the Film and Community
Saturday, October 20, 2012
8:00 pm – Performance of Terrence McNally’s play Corpus Christi
WHERE:
MCC Tampa, 408 E Cayuga St., Tampa, FL 33603
TICKETS: $10 for the film, $20 for the play or $25 for film and play combo (general admission). A limited number of VIP tickets for the play are available and include a reception with the cast after the play. VIP play tickets are $35. Film and VIP play combo is $40. Tickets can be purchased at http://www.metrotampabay.org/corpus-christi/
Corpus Christi, a passion play by four-time Tony Award-winner Terrence McNally (Kiss of the Spider Woman, Master Class, Ragtime), depicts Jesus as a gay man, and ignited a firestorm of controversy upon its release in 1998. Lauded by worldwide critics since its humble beginnings in 2006, 108 Productions’ resounding success of CORPUS CHRISTI continued to sell-out audiences for months at Los Angeles’ Zephyr Theatre and went on to tour across America. In Europe, the play was an Amnesty International Freedom of Expression nominee at the 2007 Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and was awarded the Intercultural Dialogue Award at the International Dublin Gay Theatre Festival in 2008.
Following, the company celebrated the show’s 10th anniversary Off-Broadway at the Rattlestick Theatre, benefiting the Matthew Shepard Foundation and New York’s Gay Community Center. Deemed by the playwright as “the definitive production,” the show continued to tour nationally and internationally, while a documentary crew followed their travels to less tolerant communities.
Now, six years later, CORPUS CHRISTI: PLAYING WITH REDEMPTION will screen a Tampa Sneak Preview. In this feature documentary, anti-gay religious groups meet “the gay Jesus play.” The film follows the troupe, playwright, and audiences across the U.S. and around the world on a 5-year journey of Terrence McNally’s passion play, where voices of protest and support collide on one of the central issues facing the LGBT community – religion based bias. Challenging issues of civil rights, marriage equality and separation of church and state, this production has become a remarkable vehicle of positive change for a community struggling to find its voice. Meanwhile, the company of actors finds itself on a journey that would forever change their lives.
108 Productions will bring together these two events for a unique experience like no other: the “I AM Love” Campaign. The I AM Love Campaign’s mission is to ignite dialogue on religious bullying and homophobia, in all ages and walks of Life, by teaching self-empowerment through artistic endeavors, community collaboration, and educational outreach, through a nationwide tour of the combined play performance and film screening.
MORE INFO: www.corpuschristi-themovie.com or www.108productions.org
Press Contact: Brandon Williams
brandon@108productions.org for photos, interviews, stories
Local Contact for tickets and info: www.metrotampabay.org, or contact@metrotampabay.org
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To register for any class or event, email LGBT@metrotampabay.org with the name of the class as the subject line. Or call 727-321-3851 ext 245.
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Suncoast AIDS Theatre Project
Phone: 941-758-6399
Contact: Garry Allan Breul
garallan@msn.com
Suncoast AIDS Theatre Project
Presents:
Keith Haring: Radiant Child
A Play by Jeff Norton
Saturday, December 1st, 7:30pm
freeFall Theatre, 6099 Central Ave. St. Petersburg
Suncoast AIDS Theatre Project commemorates World AIDS Day by presenting Keith Haring: Radiant Child, Saturday, December 1st, 2012, at freeFall Theatre in St. Petersburg. This one night only performance will benefit Metropolitan Charities of Pinellas, HIV/AIDS programs.
Keith Haring: Radiant Child, is a play written by actor/writer/teacher Jeff Norton, directed by Kerry Glamsch, and starring Chris Rutherford as Keith Haring. This amazing solo acting piece will inform and in some cases, introduce audiences to the artist’s creative process and work.
The play examines how the artist and his work emerged from the New York City graffiti street culture of the 1980s and gaining notoriety and tremendous commercial success as he began to reflect on more socio-political themes, such as Apartheid, AIDS, and the crack cocaine epidemic. Haring became friends with such luminaries as Madonna, Jean Michel Basquiat, and Andy Warhol.
In 1988, Haring was diagnosed with AIDS and established the Keith Haring Foundation, its mandate being to provide funding to AIDS organizations and children’s programs. Haring died February 16, 1990 of AIDS-related complications. Haring stated, “The greatest lesson that I’ve ever learned in my life was to realize that I can have an effect, that I can change things that maybe need to be changed.”
This one night only performance will benefit HIV/AIDS programs at Metropolitan Charities of Pinellas. Admission is $10.00.
Suncoast AIDS Theatre Project is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization whose mission is to raise awareness, provide assistance, and perpetuate a life of dignity for those affected and infected by HIV and AIDS.
Keith Haring: Radiant Child will perform one night only: Saturday, December 1st, 2012 at freeFall Theatre, 6099 Central Ave. St. Petersburg, FL, 33710. For more information visit www.freefalltheatre.com or call (727) 498-5205. Doors open at 7:00pm, curtain time is 7:30pm. To learn more about The Suncoast AIDS Theatre Project contact Garry Allan Breul, Artistic Director at 941/758-6399.
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