Larry Gross on Truthdig: Drilling Beneath the Headlines http://www.truthdig.com/about/staff/14/ Truthdig, a Web magazine that provides expert in-depth coverage of current affairs as well as a variety of thoughtful, provocative content assembled from a progressive point of view. Editor, Robert Scheer. Publisher, Zuade Kaufman. en editor@truthdig.com Copyright 2008 2008-11-26T08:46:00+00:00 http://www.truthdig.com/ http://www.truthdig.com/images/rss_feed_promo.gif Truthdig logo Hollywood’s Closet Still Closed for Business http://www.truthdig.com/arts_culture/item/20081126_hollywoods_closet_still_closed_for_business/ http://www.truthdig.com/arts_culture/item/20081126_hollywoods_closet_still_closed_for_business/ actor, brokeback mountain, closet, film industry, gay, harvey milk, hollywood, larry gross, lesbian, milk, movie, queer, sean penn, Milk

Gus Van Sant’s “Milk” is the first major Hollywood “gay themed” film since “Brokeback Mountain,” and moreover (unlike “Brokeback”), this one is about openly gay activists, not tortured closet cases. Yet, once again, the lead gay roles couldn’t be filled by openly gay actors. What’s going on here?

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]]> 2008-11-26T08:46:00+00:00 Merv Griffin’s Bodyguard of Lies http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20070827_merv_griffins_bodyguard_of_lies/ http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20070827_merv_griffins_bodyguard_of_lies/ closet, gay, gross, hollywood, homosexuality, journalism, media, merv griffin, obituary, outing, Nancy Reagan and Merv Griffin

The not-so-secret gay sex life of Merv Griffin has once again raised the specter of the obituary outing, not to mention the power of prejudice to intimidate even the rich and famous.

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]]> 2007-08-27T12:21:00+00:00 Larry Gross: Abe Rosenthal’s Reign of Homophobia at The New York Times http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20060516_larry_gross_abe_rosenthal_homophobia/ http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20060516_larry_gross_abe_rosenthal_homophobia/ abe rosenthal, aids, civil rights, editor, gay, homophobe, journalism, lesbian, new york times, stories, Abe Rosenthal

Former New York Times Executive Editor Abe Rosenthal, who died this month, was a raging homophobe—a failing that proved tragic when the AIDS crisis erupted on his watch. Gay and lesbian studies pioneer Larry Gross explores what happened when America’s paper of record ignored one of the major civil rights stories of our time.

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]]> 2006-05-17T00:42:00+00:00 Down to the Wire http://www.truthdig.com/dig/blogitem/20060227_brokeback_oscars_downtothewire/ http://www.truthdig.com/dig/blogitem/20060227_brokeback_oscars_downtothewire/ academy award, brokeback mountain, fox, gay, glaad, hollywood, nominations, oscars, queer, Gay Cinema OK, the votes are in and now we all, or those of us who care, will have to wait till March 5 to find out whether the high water mark of the Year of the Queer in Hollywood will have been the nominations sweep by “Brokeback Mountain,” Hoffman, Huffman, etc.  In other words, did the Academy voters actually mark their ballots for this year’s apparent favorites?  Will the foxy stalwarts of cable talk shows be proved wrong again?

When the Brokeback wave first broke over the industry the predictable consensus of the bloviators was that the “gay cowboy” film would bomb once it ventured outside the coastal enclaves into the heartland, but that it would clean up at that March madness of the lavender left known as the Oscars. 

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]]> 2006-02-27T17:13:00+00:00 Year of the Queer: Hollywood and Homosexuality http://www.truthdig.com/dig/item/20060131_year_of_the_queer/ http://www.truthdig.com/dig/item/20060131_year_of_the_queer/ brokeback mountain, entertainment, gay, gender studies, hollywood, homosexual, jewish, larry gross, movie, Gay Cinema Year of the Queer

Truthdig’s Larry Gross, a pioneer in the field of gay studies, argues that for all the hoopla surrounding “Brokeback Mountain” and this year’s spate of gay-themed films, there is little about them that upends Hollywood conventions or challenges popular ideas about homosexuality. “Hollywood and much of the media may be awash in liberal self-congratulation,” Gross writes, “but they—and we—are also soaking in the familiar hypocrisy of homophobia.” Update: Down to the Wire

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]]> 2006-02-27T17:08:01+00:00 The More Things Change… http://www.truthdig.com/dig/blogitem/20060207_queerblog_brokeback/ http://www.truthdig.com/dig/blogitem/20060207_queerblog_brokeback/ agents, career, closet, ed asner, gays, hollywood, homosexual, lesbian, sag, screen actors guild, Gay Cinema In 1983, Ed Asner, then president of the Screen Actors Guild, spoke to the Golden Gate Business Association, a gay and lesbian business and professional organization.  Asked about his advice to gay and lesbian folk not to come out of the closet in the entertainment industry, Asner replied, “Out of my own gut instinct, I [do] not consider this wise.  I know that within the gay acting community itself, many of the agents who are aware of the conflict, the bind, the grief that occurs with actors who cannot proclaim their sexual preference, [know] there’s a lot of suffering and a desire to be open about it.  And these agents and actors support me to a very large extent in advising non-publicization.”...

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]]> 2006-02-07T23:36:00+00:00 Onward Christian Soldiers! http://www.truthdig.com/dig/blogitem/onward_christian_soldiers_20060117/ http://www.truthdig.com/dig/blogitem/onward_christian_soldiers_20060117/ abortion, calgary, catholic, italy, pope, same-sex marriage, sexuality Pope Benedict XVI has intervened in the upcoming Italian elections, specifically on the issues of abortion and same-sex marriage—no extra credit for guessing what side he’s on.  The topic of same-sex marriage is especially touchy, as Spain, another predominantly Catholic country, recently legalized same-sex marriage despite the Church’s explicit opposition, something the pope seems to have taken as a personal affront.  If the same thing were to happen in Italy it would be truly insulting to the newly installed Bishop of Rome and Vicar of Christ….

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]]> 2006-01-17T16:01:00+00:00 Pat Robertson and Theodicy ad Absurdum http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20060110_pat_robertson/ http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20060110_pat_robertson/ explanation, god, pat robertson, punishment, religious, right, sharon, stroke, No sooner had Ariel Sharon been rushed to the hospital with a “significant stroke” than the Rev. Pat Robertson informed the viewers of his cable TV 700 Club that this was God’s punishment for Sharon’s decision to unilaterally withdraw from Gaza.

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]]> 2006-01-07T18:29:01+00:00 Scapegoats Talk Back http://www.truthdig.com/dig/blogitem/scapegoats_talk_back/ http://www.truthdig.com/dig/blogitem/scapegoats_talk_back/ abandoned, abuse, church, gay, instruction, priests, scandal, scapegoats, sexual, vatican, religion, sexuality Scapegoats talk back, and the boys in black squabble over the meaning of the Vatican “instruction.”

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]]> 2005-12-14T18:37:00+00:00 Meanwhile, Back at the Parish… http://www.truthdig.com/dig/blogitem/meanwhile_back_at_the_parish/ http://www.truthdig.com/dig/blogitem/meanwhile_back_at_the_parish/ bishops, conservative, diocese, episcopal, gay, judges, los angeles, parishes, priests, superior court, religion, sexuality The fight between several conservative Southern California episcopal parishes and the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles escalated…

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