One million strong: NYC gay pride commemorates Stonewall anniversary

New York City’s annual gay pride parade not only represented a celebration of pride on Sunday, it also marked the 45th anniversary of the Stonewall Inn riots of 1969, which are credited as the triggering point of the modern gay rights movement. Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio were in attendance as parade participants marched to the beat of more than 1 million observers cheering and applauding.

According to CBS 2, the parade route kicked off at noon starting at 36th street and Fifth Avenue and ending at Greenwich Village and Christopher streets at the Stonewall Inn. Ending at Stonewall was symbolic as New York marchers commemorated the 45th anniversary of the riots. The NYC pride parade was also just one of many parades kicking off around the world on Sunday.
Celebrations took place in big cities like Chicago, Seattle, and San Francisco. Globally, festivities were held Saturday in France, Spain, Mexico and Peru. Pride events have been going on throughout the nation and the world in the month of June. This year has been extra special with the sticking down of the federal Defense of Marriage Act and California’s Proposition 8 last June that has served as a catalyst of the marriage equality victories that have been taken place in many U.S. states. Not only have there been victories in the progression of marriage equality and gay rights, there have been a series of firsts in the fields of politics, sports and entertainment.
As New York’s Fifth Avenue became decorated in rainbow colors and music, many onlookers celebrated the freedom of expression. Lola, who attended the parade after moving here from Puerto Rico told the Associated Press, “Back home this is not acceptable. I still haven’t come out to my parents. I plan on coming out to them by showing them a picture. I’m gonna send them a picture.”
In recognizing that there are nations with strict anti-gay laws and places like where Lola came from where homosexuality is not acceptable, the pride events taking place in major cities like NYC show a since of belonging and support as well as remembrance to those who fought for the voices of the gay community to be heard 45 years ago and a realization that there is still a ways to go. But to march forward, there needs to be a sense of pride and that pride is being heard loud and clear.



Contributed by: examiner.com

Ian McKellen ‘Vicious’ TV Show PBS Season '1'

Watch Online PBS Season 1 Episode 1: Best Way To Celebrate Pride NYC 2014

Contributed by: By Sophia Steele | June 29, 2014 10:47 AM EDT

Tonight is the premiere of Ian McKellen's Brit TV show 'Vicious'! Click here to watch online season 1 episode 1. If you ask me, watching Ian McKellen in a TV show about a gay couple is the best way to celebrate Pride NYC 2014. Even if you aren't in NYC this year, make sure to catch the episode 1 of 'Viscious' when PBS airs it for the first time in the United States.

Click here to watch 'Vicious' season 1 episode 1 online.

Major networks in the U.S. refused to pick up 'Vicious'. It's not that it's about a gay couple (which 'Modern Family' and 'The New Normal' already portrays), it's about an old gay couple who has been together for 50+ years. Ever wondered why there isn't any show about older people in American networks? The TV executives seems to think that there is no market for shows starring 65-year-olds.

PBS is hoping that 'Vicious', another Brit import since 'Downton Abbey',  is looking to tap into that unused market of TV watchers. And Ian McKellen definitely is the man for the job!

It looks like 'Vicious' always wanted to cross the pond! The TV show is co-created by Gary Janetti of 'Family Guy' and 'Will & Grace' and British playwright Mark Ravenhill.

According to Variety, "the shamelessly broad comedy centers around the busy living room of egomaniacal small-time actor Freddie (McKellen) and his partner of nearly 50 years, Stuart (Jacobi, also featured in PBS' "Last Tango in Halifax").  They're frequently visited by randy best pal Violet (Frances de la Tour) and the happy-go-lucky young hunk from upstairs, Ash (Iwan Rheon, 180 degrees from playing vile villain Ramsay Snow on "Game of Thrones"), the perpetual target of misguided flirting from Freddie and Violet alike".

So why the name 'Vicious'? Turns out Freddie and Stuart aren't some sedated calm cold couple that likes to just play cards. According to Variety, "Freddie and Stuart prove unrelenting in their bitchy barbs about age, appearance, intellect and background, directed both at each other and their friends. The mean-spirited (if ultimately loving) nature of the series could easily be a turn-off for some."

Watch online PBS's new Brit import 'Vicious' to celebrate Pride NYC 2014. When you are done with this short 20-minute episode, jump on a float in the Pride parade. Who knows, maybe you'll see the man Ian Mckellen himself taking in the revelries!
 

SET YOUR DVR/VCR/DVD PLAYERS

NYC gay-pride parade draws grassroots crowd

EMILY NGO  emily.ngo@newsday.com

Members of the Sirens women's motorcycle club ride toward the start of the New York City gay pride parade on Sunday, June 29, 2014, in Manhattan. The parade this year marks 45 years since the raid on the Stonewall Inn, and the riots that followed, starting the American gay-rights movement. 

About a million celebrants -- some wearing elaborately sequined or feathered costumes, many waving rainbow-print flags exuberantly -- turned out Sunday for the New York City gay pride march marking the 45th anniversary of the Stonewall riots in Greenwich Village.
The 1969 riots sparked the American gay rights movement, and the parade has since blossomed from a grassroots demonstration into a national affair.
Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo used Sunday to introduce an initiative to increase AIDS and HIV awareness. Before stepping off in the parade, he said the state's goal was to ensure HIV was no longer an epidemic by 2020.
New York State was "in many ways was ground zero of the HIV and AIDS crisis when it started about 30 years ago," Cuomo said. "I think it's fitting that New York should then be the state that is the most aggressive in eradicating this disease and actually ending this disease."
The "Bending the Curve" program would attempt to identify people with HIV who are undiagnosed and link them to health care, get diagnosed people on anti-HIV therapy to keep them in good health and prevent further transmission, and provide access to pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PREP, to high-risk people to keep them HIV-negative.
Yesterday's gay pride parade was the third citywide since the state legalized same-sex marriage. Some spectators wore shirts that read, "Love is love." Many celebrated the milestone, but said there is more to be done in the realms of workplace discrimination, permitting openly gay Boy Scouts troop leaders and beyond.
"We're not going to be united until everything is done," said Efrain Kilfoyle-Blocker, 28, of Lindenhurst, who attended with his husband of one year, Michael.
Marni Halasa, 48, of Chelsea, wearing a bride's veil and in-line skates, brandished a sign that read, "Everyone deserves the freedom to marry."
New York was among just 19 states to legalize same-sex marriage, she pointed out. "We have a long way to go," she said. "The whole nation has to get on board."
Openly gay City Councilman Daniel Dromm (D-Queens) said he's been attending the parade for 41 years, since he was 18.
"Every time I come just reinvigorates me . . . and it's enough energy to last me the whole year," he said.








Contributed By EMILY NGO




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Orange Is The New Black...Is Back!

The smash-hit Netflix series returns June 6 with a 13-episode second season.

photo by LESLIE VAN STELTEN

To say that the upcoming sophomore season of Orange Is the New Black is highly anticipated would be an understatement. Fans of this dramatic prison series have been on pins and needles, anxiously awaiting the next batch of episodes. Well, as they say, good things come to those who wait. Plan your viewing parties now and make sure you’re stocked up on beer, cocktail mixers and snacks. Oh, and above all, make sure your PS3, Wii, Xbox 360, laptop, tablet or other streaming device is in working order.

The second season doesn’t disappoint. We get a closer look at those darkly amusing prisoners in a baker’s dozen of new episodes. Jodie Foster directed at least one of them.

The ensemble cast includes Lea DeLaria, Taylor Schilling, Jason Biggs, Laura Prepon, Kate Mulgrew, Danielle Brooks, Uzo Aduba, Natasha Lyonne, Taryn Manning, Laverne Cox, Michael Harney and many more talented actors. Lorraine Toussaint joins the cast in the second season as Yvonne "Vee" Parker.

To refresh your memory on the first season’s episodes, check out the Orange Is the New Black page on Netflix.com. You can get summaries, read cast bios and watch trailers. There’s also a comments section for your opinions, reactions and thoughtful analysis.

And to get exclusive access to sneak previews and clips, like OITNB on Facebook!




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4 Gay-Themed Movies You May Not Know, But Should

Though the struggle to legalize gay marriage continues across the country, there's some cause for celebration. Today, in 19 states (and D.C.), same-sex couples have the freedom to marry. Advances in gay rights have been hard-won, and there's still much work ahead, but Sunday presents an opportunity to embrace all the progress to-date. It's a day for Pride.
Gay-themed movies have been gaining traction for years, though some of the finest still don't get the recognition they deserve. Here are several titles new to my list that merit a wider audience.
Love is the Devil: Study for a Portrait of Francis Bacon (1998)

This caustic, stinging biopic, set in "swinging sixties" London, casts a harsh, unsympathetic light on Francis Bacon (Derek Jacobi), the British painter renowned for his raw, almost grotesque imagery. The story begins when handsome small-time crook George Dyer (Daniel Craig) breaks into Bacon's studio, and ends up being seduced by his intended victim. Bacon is initially enthralled by the raw sexuality of his new lover, but as his feelings cool, the unschooled younger man becomes an annoyance. The emotionally abused Dyer then turns to drugs and alcohol, eventually reeling out of control.
Making the Boys (2009)

It was impossible to predict the effect Mart Crowley's Off-Broadway play, "The Boys in the Band" would have on the public during the transformative 1960s. In fact, it became a smash hit (later on Broadway), and its movie adaptation was the first mainstream, gay-themed Hollywood film. However, controversy arose over whether it actually enhanced society's understanding of gay life or merely perpetuated hateful stereotypes. Featuring evocative clips and period footage, this documentary reignites the debate forty years later, via incisive interviews with artists, writers, critics, and Crowley himself.
We Were Here (2011)

This moving doc presents the true stories of five San Francisco residents who were present when the mysterious and deadly virus soon to be known as AIDS arrived on the scene. Through eloquent, brutally honest testimony from these survivors, directors David Weissman and Bill Weber re-examine the social and political issues arising from the crisis, while conveying the devastating personal toll the disease took on scores of lives. Fittingly, the film also pays tribute to a group of people who found the strength to work for positive change, and help those in need.
Stranger by the Lake (2013)

Franck (Pierre Deladonchamps), is searching for love- or at least sex- at a bucolic summer cruising spot along a lake in rural France. He notices the hunky but mysterious Michel (Christophe Paou), and is immediately attracted. When Franck surreptitiously witnesses Michel drowning his lover in the lake, the crime only fuels Franck's desire. The two finally meet and start a torrid affair, which continues even as they become suspects in the murder investigation. An unnerving study in irrational, erotic obsession, this daring, sexually explicit film shapes up as a first-rate thriller, irrespective of your sexual preference.
There are more gay-themed films to choose from on my list, and any one is sure to enhance your own Pride festivities.




Story contributed by: John Farr                                                                                                             


Editor, bestmoviesbyfarr.com

Day One

I'm very pleased with the response I'm getting to the LGBT Social Calendar - I've received dozens of messages throughout the day from so many people checking in. I'll use this blog to post relevant information for the community.