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Purity on Parade
the biggest story of the past cycle was un-
doubtedly the ousting of several women from the chicago dyke
march in July. their crime: carrying rainbow flags on which
were superimposed a Star of david. According to reports, on
seeing the contingent the dyke march collective stopped the
three flag bearers and questioned them about their views on is-
rael, trying to smoke out if they were anti-palestinian (a major
no-no). Also asserted was that their banner bore an israeli flag,
which also sports a Star of david, though it’s surprising that the
collective couldn’t see the distinction. eventually, the women
were judged to be insufficiently pro-palestinian and told to
leave; and things blew up from there on the blogosphere. For
anyone in new york or boston, this action brings to mind the
many St. patrick’s day parades from which LGbt groups were
excluded. only now it seems to be not the presence of the group
or even the flag they held but instead their ideological purity that
got them thrown out—grist for the right-wing propaganda ma-
chine, to be sure, which lives for this kind of thing.
Ken Just Got a New Look!
Lots of new looks, in fact: new
body types (“slim,” “broad,” and “original”), new skin tones,
and nine hair styles (including the man bun). And those outfits!
take the three ken dolls pictured here: you’ve got your basic
surfer dude, a construc-
tion worker, and a jock—
kind of like the various
“macho” roles in the vil-
lage people, which were
basically drag versions of
a sailor, a policeman, et
al. in ken’s case, he can
also be undressed (hold
the jokes), and here the
offer of three body de-
signs is intriguing, as the
many barbie models must have different “types” when it
comes to men. then, too, if the rumors about ken are true,
there
should
be a range of types to choose from. indeed it was
always vaguely unsettling that two kens stuffed into a toychest
or dollhouse would each be making out with his clone.
The Vatican Rave
A “drug-fueled gay orgy” is how the police
report described what they found upon arriving at an address
just outside vatican city. its host was a catholic priest who
was the personal secretary to cardinal Francesco cocco-
palmerio, one of pope Francis’ top advisers. this isn’t the first
time a church official has gotten into trouble in approximately
this way right under the pope’s nose, but this guy decided to do
it in style. using his position under the cardinal he managed to
commandeer a special apartment that’s reserved for high-rank-
ing vatican officials but
not
support staff. to transport the
drugs, he used a car with an official vatican license plate,
BTW
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The Gay & Lesbian Review
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