I adore Larry Kramer. He scowled at me at MoMA once, and it was like a little gift from baby jesus. He is one of my idols and I know that I'm forever in his debt, but...
This open letter is pretty awesome.
I'm forever defending my generation, both in LGBT rights circles and in the arts as well. I like my generation. I'm proud of my generation.
Here's a stock photo of some millennials, crackers all.
"Some people think little girls should be seen and not heard, but I think... OH, BONDAGE! UP YOURS! 1-2-3-4!"
One of the most important artistic influences of my entire life, Poly Styrene of X-Ray Spex, has died of breast cancer at the age of 53. I was obsessed with Germ Free Adolescents when I was in 9th and 10th grade and just discovering classic punk, and along with my simultaneous discovery of John Waters' films, the album was a major, tectonic life changer for me.
Poly Styrene was a little girl with braces who had a big, big voice and an even bigger attitude. She made me want to wear army helmets too. And I can't think of a single woman of color from the punk scene of the 70's, aside from Poly. Am I overlooking somebody?
One time, in high school, my best friend and I were watching Sid & Nancy and there's a scene where X-Ray Spex is playing, but the woman singing is a tall red head instead of a shortish, mixed race girl with braces like Poly really was. Also, we had subtitles on. Somehow, "Oh, bondage! Up Yours!' was translated to, "Oh, Mondays! No more." Which is a way lamer song.
Goodbye, Poly. I miss you. I miss you already.
Oh, Larry! You have my heart. You really, really do. Even when I saw you out and about and you scowled at me, my heart skipped a beat. Here you are again, playing my fucking jam, man.
Via Joe.My.God.
"I am a gay person before I’m anything else. I’m a gay person before I’m a white person, before I’m a Jew, before I’m a writer, before I’m American, anything. That is my most identifying characteristic and I don’t find many people who would say that. The polls say the same thing: People do not identify themselves as gay. And that’s too bad. In fact, it’s tragic. It will prevent us from ever having what we deserve, I believe." - Larry Kramer, in an interview with Salon.
BOOM. Totally. I feel the exact same way.
Now I must begin work on my musical version of Faggots.
EDIT. Also from Joe:
"I'm sure other people in the business have considered reasons why they're doing what they're doing, but I do think that if you're gay you have a responsibility to come out." - Rachel Maddow, in a profile by the UK's Guardian.
Again, yup.
1. This footage of the subway 25 years ago is fascinating to me. A lot of people I know, especially native New Yorkers, talk about how the city is so much nicer than it used to be. I don't know... I've always wanted to live in the grittier, tougher New York. The New York of After Hours. The New York of C.H.U.D. sans the cannibals in the seweres, I guess. It seemed like it was a lot more fun. I was hoping that when the economy crashed and everybody was as poor as I am the city might slide back, but no such luck. Another thing: where the hell did the K train go? A friend and I were just talking about the letters that were unused by MTA and wondered why: H, I, K, O, P, T, U, X, Y. I guess we can cross K off that list?
2. When I was in college I was obsessed with the band Gravy Train!!!! If you don't know them, they are (were?) a queercore electro band from Oakland, California who sang and rapped their way through hilarious and filthy songs like "You Made Me Gay" and "Cotton Mouth BJ". Now one of the gay boys from Gravy Train!!!!, Hunx, has a side project in Hunx and His Punx. This album combines so many things that I love, you don't even know. It's inspired by girl groups of the early sixties set through the lens of contemporary gay dudes.
It. Is. Awesome. This will definitely be the only thing I listen to for the next six months.
Here is the video for You Don't Like Rock N' Roll, which could have been my theme song when I was single and dating years ago. I once dumped a dude on the spot because he'd never heard of R.E.M. I'm not even an R.E.M. fan per se, but come on. That's 101 shit.
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