November-December 2006
WHEN I TELL those outside the dance world about my interest in same-sex ballroom, their first question is always the same: “but who leads?” This query never ceases to amaze me-how and why has ballroom become primarily about leading and following, about dominance and submission?
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IN HIS SOLID ANALYSIS of the contradictory status of “the gay person” in the United States at this moment, and the strategies that might advance the cause of social and legal equality, Shannon Gilreath shows himself to be well-armed with both knowledge and political passion, and with a gift for finding the right word.
MoreCHOREOGRAPHERS in the U.S. have repeatedly drawn men and metaphors from the world of sports to give their work a sense of authenticity on the concert dance stage. What’s more, the presence of male athletes and athleticism has worked to counter long-held anxieties about the supposed effeminacy of male dancers. To illustrate what I think is a heretofore unexamined use of male athletes in dance, I wish to discuss four dances …
MoreSIMEON SOLOMON, a gay, Jewish Pre-Raphaelite painter of the 19th century, has figured prominently in most studies of gay male painting, and there has been an upsurge in scholarly interest of late.
MoreFollowing is an excerpt from the author’s keynote address at the annual meeting of the Tides Foundation in San Francisco on April 28, 2006.
MoreLike most Americans, especially those of the gay persuasion, my husband David and I were debilitated by the shock and awfulness of the 2004 presidential election.
MoreEVEN BEFORE the morning paper was delivered to my door, I had a long string of e-mails from news groups and organizations announcing the decision in the New York same-sex marriage case. Once again, a major defeat. Over the next weeks, a few more piled up. In the last dozen years, in almost every one of the fifty states, overwhelming majorities in state legislatures or lopsided votes in ballot referenda have reaffirmed that marriage is the union of a man and a woman.
MoreReader’s opinions
MoreMOST PEOPLE today don’t know the name of Bruz Fletcher. In the 1930’s, however, all the right people knew his name. Humphrey Bogart, Louise Brooks, Howard Hughes, and Ronald Reagan are just some of the luminaries who laughed, drank, and blushed over the outrageous entertainment Fletcher delivered in his Sunset Strip nightclub. A modern saloon singer before Frank Sinatra or Bobby Short, Fletcher had as clear a voice as either of them, and a lyric wit that tossed off acrobatic rhymes and lavender-tinged triple entendres. This year marks the centenary of the birth of the gay wit known as “The Singing Satirist.”
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