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Fi Fa, Foe, Chum

Georgia debt retrieval law may sculpt Atlanta’s gay media landscape.

By Xanna Don’t for Don’t Label It!

On June 8, Bibb County Superior Court granted Page Enterprises Printing Solutions of Marietta, GA, a “fi fa” (lien) against Gaydar Magazine, Inc., owners of now defunct publications Gaydar and ATL Free Press who purchased the renowned Southern Voice (SoVo) and David magazines.  Page Printing has been chasing a $40K debt from Gaydar since 2009. 

     On February 25, 2010, Gaydar ignored their financial responsibility to Page and instead acquired David and SoVo in a court room yard sale of remaining assets from Window Media, the inflated glbt publications conglomerate that went belly up under a defaulted $38 million loan from the Small Business Administration.  Gaydar plucked the two well known, established Atlanta-based glbt publications by outbidding the owners of the new Georgia Voice (GA Voice or GaVo) who, as former SoVo owners and employees, assumed they would win them in court for $8,000.  Gaydar bid $9,000 and legally acquired exclusive use of their brand names, paper archives, distribution boxes, and some dilapidated office equipment and furniture.

     Last January, as Contributing and then Interim Editor of ATL Free Press (ATL-FP), I found myself in the same predicament as Page Printing: unpaid by the Gaydar folks.  When my art director and I stopped producing content for nonpayment, Matt Neumann, Gaydar owner and publisher, told Atlanta’s arts weekly, Creative Loafing, we were fired for making the newspaper “too lesbian.”  Project Q Atlanta, a web-based glbt publication helmed by two former Window Media-era David/SoVo editors, picked up the story and their bulletin board below it exploded.  Neumann scraped our reputations further and I clawed back.  David Page, owner of Page Printing, joined in, going public about Gaydar’s debt to him in support of my claim of owed money.  On March 5, Project Q followed up with a story about the David/SoVo acquisition juxtaposed against the announcement that the Page debt had manifested into a lawsuit.  That story’s bulletin board burst at its digital seams.   The melee went on in subsequent coverage for weeks.  

     Bibb County Superior Court records indicate the month of April as the most recent default judgment for Page against Gaydar during the suit’s months-long process.  It was granted for the principal amount ($37,246.94) with fees and pre-judgment interest totaling $43,131.28.  Post-judgment interest is currently accruing at 12% annually.  The judgment specified a payment plan for Gaydar to follow: $1,000 on the spot, $3,000 on April 16, four consecutive payments of $4,000 due 4/30, 5/14, 5/28, and 6/11, and a final balloon payment of $15,000 due on June 25.  It also specifies no “fi fa” is to be issued if the payment plan is fulfilled. 

     Fi fa is the abbreviation for “fieri facias,” which in Latin means “cause it to be done.”  It is the first legal step in acquiring personal assets to satisfy a debt.   

     David Page, owner of Page Printing, told Don’t Label It! (DLI) the first check for $1,000 signed by Gaydar CFO Brian Sawyer bounced and no other payments have been made.  Page Printing was granted a fi fa against Gaydar by the court on June 8.

     “We’ve negotiated twice and twice they haven’t followed through,” Page said.  “I’ve gone through this for months.  I’ve given up and turned it over to an attorney.”  

     Todd Poole of the Poole Law Group in Decatur, GA, confirmed the rubber nature of Gaydar’s check and stated that Gaydar has made no further payment attempts.  He also characterized the nature of the fi fa granted his client.

     “It’s a lien on any real property Gaydar has in Bibb County, like land or buildings.  But a sheriff can also levy personal property which could include their rights to names such as David and Southern Voice,” Poole explained.  

     On Monday, I met with both Neumann and Sawyer to discuss the sale of Southern Voice to me.  I had joked with them at a recent GA Voice party that I was a little sorry I hadn’t gone to court that morning back in February and bid on it myself.  Saturday afternoon, Sawyer texted me, “Do u want to by [sic] sovo?”  I replied, “Really?”  

     While I promised the dollar amount the Gaydar guys quoted me to purchase SoVo would stay “off the record,” I can disclose their proposal would have kept them firmly in the ad sales seat (why would a former unpaid employee consent to them being the filter for ad revenue?).  Brian Sawyer told me that Page Printing’s fi fa didn’t pertain to Southern Voice because it was registered with the state as its own corporation (SoVo, Inc., as of March 18).  When I balked by pointing out that Page’s legal debt complaint went back to November of 2009, he assured me that the David/SoVo purchase was not made by Gaydar but by him and Neumann with another investor. 

     The Report of Asset Sales from U.S. Bankruptcy Court of Northern Georgia obtained by DLI clearly indicates the sale of Southern Voice and David Atlanta on March 1, 2010, by the trustee for Window Media to Gaydar Magazine, Inc.

     When confronted with this fact, Sawyer stipulated he would not discuss anything further with me unless I signed a non-disclosure agreement.  When I declined and asked if he had any final comment, he replied, “No comment and sorry.”

     An element of Gaydar’s sales pitch to me was that GA Voice had made overtures to them about acquiring the Southern Voice name due to confusion in the marketplace and that GaVo was in need of the bargaining value of the established SoVo name. 

     David Page told Don’t Label It! that Project Q Atlanta, comprised of former Window Media-era David/SoVo staffers, has been sitting on the bulk of their recent legal rulings documents for weeks now and that he had hoped they’d do a follow up story on it.  When contacted by DLI, Matt Hennie, co-owner of Project Q, said it was something they were considering, but that he wouldn’t discuss their editorial process.  When asked if he knew whether GA Voice was negotiating with Gaydar to purchase the name Southern Voice, Hennie replied, “No comment.”

     While difficult to contact during Georgia’s primary election cycle this week, Laura Douglas-Brown, Editor of GA Voice and the former Editor of Southern Voice under Window Media, confirmed today that discussions had begun to acquire the SoVo name.

     “We have had an informal conversation,” she said.  “If we acquired it, our plan would be the same as when we originally bid on it in bankruptcy court: to use the distribution boxes [for GA Voice] and retire the name because it has sentimental value to us.”   

     But Douglas-Brown emphasized that they had not reached a formal negotiation stage.

     “We’ve had a couple of emails and voice mails going back and forth, but nothing formal at all,” she stated.

     Meanwhile, Page’s attorney, Todd Poole, is undeterred by Gaydar’s attempts to sell this asset and is looking forward to using Page’s fi fa execution.

     Of it, he said, “David Page and I will be tenacious in chasing them down and holding them accountable.  We’re going to figure out what assets to get and then go take them.”

Matt Wilkas stars in Gayby (and in Curious Thing)

Some short films stand as complete works and others show shimmers of what their feature length versions could promise.  But mostly they are great vehicles to get new filmmakers started and new ideas on the screen.  Since 2008, Atlanta Film Festival has labeled their GLBT offerings Pink Peach.  This year, its short films program presents glistening slices of gay life.

Pink Peach Gay Shorts

Bedfellows (Pierre Stefanos, 16 minutes):  Bobby and Jonathan meet in a New York City gay bar.  From there on, they are engulfed in glowing art direction.  The intuitive scoring and smart dialogue make the narrator from Little Children superfluous.  This tender story speaks for itself.

Curious Thing (Allain Hain & Jason Mills, 9 minutes):  This exploration of how a gay man (Matt Wilkas) handles a bi-curious friend is presented in a rational faux-docu style with a stream of consciousness flow.  It’s a predicament every gay person encounters at some point.  What is the responsible thing to do?

Gayby (Jonathan Lisecki, 12 minutes):  A “gayby” is a baby a straight woman has with a gay man.  In this case, she’s a “a hag since birth” and the gayby daddy is her best friend from college (Matt Wilkas, again).  The logistics of making it happen produce a literally dry, awkward between-the-sheets comedy.  Unfortunately, some obvious health concerns are not addressed in its short run time.

Feast of Stephen (James Franco, 5 minutes):  Sometimes negative attention is still welcomed attention?  It’s a relief that this film’s brutality is shot in black and white.

Rubbuds (Jan Chen, 4 minutes):  A cleverly animated fraternity of condom elves frolics.  It’s not a “gay” short, but it is amusing.

Danny (T. David Field, 24 minutes):  Danny knows what a two-wheeled connection with “that faggy-ass boy down the street” can lead to in his abusive household.  And at school.  How will the introspective teenager in this thoughtful drama deal with his feelings?

Non-Love Song (Erik Gernand, 8 minutes):  This super sweet short is comprised of crisp black and white shots of two creamy looking 1980s dudes on the beach preparing to separate for college.  Is having a common song “faggity?”  Dude?  Worthy of feature length treatment and perhaps even a mixed tape.

This program shows Saturday, April 17 @ 4:50 pm and Wednesday, April 21 @ 4:35 pm at Midtown Art Cinema.

Pauley Perrette in "To Comfort You"

Pink Peach Lesbian Shorts

Yulia (Antoine Arditti, 6 minutes):  This crunchy little pop tart of a short uses black and white pencil drawn animation to illustrate that happiness can be found by thinking outside the box.

Public Relations (Gianna Sobol, 18 minutes):  Some of the groovy, over-the-top characters fleshed out here would fit nicely into a GLBT series version of The Devil Wears Prada, where the devil spews mantra like, “I own you ‘til I fire you!”  But that’s not all because this coming-of-age story has more to do with finding out who you are as opposed to who you are professionally.  It’s a refreshing love story that also features Jessica Tuck (True Blood, Judging Amy, One Life To Live) and the most annoying alarm clock, ever.  Bouncy pop songs by Hello Stranger spur the fun discovery.

Simple Pleasures (Matthew Mendelson, 10 minutes):  Don’t worry if you don’t know what’s going on for the first couple of minutes; isn’t that usually the blurry experience of infrequent business travelers?  None of George Clooney’s Up In The Air assuredness is displayed here.  The protagonist’s experience is messy, but each moment of it is intriguing, sexy, and voraciously photographed.  

The Roe Effect (Kiel Scott, 19 minutes):  If you’ve seen Precious, you may or may not be prepared for the gritty dilemma of this high school lesbian with a comparable level of trouble.  But her coping mechanisms are different and illustrated competently by actress Nia Fairweather.

One Night (Laura Jean Cronin, 14 minutes):  The next morning, a Seattle sporty spice lesbian (Lezlie Moore) recalls an encounter gone very wrong.  A breezy vibe darted with sharp story twists make this flick worthy of feature length exploration.  

To Comfort You (Mark Saltarelli, 15 minutes):  HIV positive lesbians are not often depicted, but the nimble banter between one (Pauley Perrette—Almost Famous, NCIS) and her geographically distant yet concerned mother (veteran actress Susan Blakely) conveys a level of understanding that make the clinical aspects of the disease less intimidating.  Although all the dialogue is in the form of a telephone call, their fine acting expresses a familiarity befitting their onscreen relationship.  This short deserves to be expanded into a feature length film; its subject matter is important and the actresses are proficient and well suited.  

This program shows Monday, April 19 @ 7:20 pm and Thursday, April 22 @ 12:10 pm at Midtown Art Cinema.

www.atlantafilmfestival.org

Please check the DLI blog section during ATLFF, April 15—23, for updates and reviews.

Southern Voice, a 22-year old name in southern gay media, is embroiled in a garden of controversy (again) as its new owners allege former staffers of using the brand illegally to raise funds for a new newspaper and deceive advertising customers.

Today, Gaydar, Inc., the company that brashly bested a bid by those former employees of Southern Voice (SoVo) and David Magazine in bankruptcy court on February 25, 2010, to legally gain control of the glbt publications’ names and assets, served SoVo’s former editor and its original founder with a not-so-sweet-smelling Cease and Desist Notice from using its name.

Scott M. Herrmann, an Atlanta attorney who composed the six-page notice on behalf of Gaydar, Inc., confirms that Laura Douglas Brown, Editor of SoVo at the time it ceased publishing in November of 2009, and Chris Cash, the paper’s founder who sold out to Window Media a decade ago, received their copies of it early this afternoon.  Window was the largest conglomerate of gay publications in the country when it went belly up last year under a defaulted $38 million Small Business Administration loan.  Since then, the two women have formed The Georgia Voice (GA Voice) with other former SoVo employees and funds derived from a campaign called “Save SoVo.”  Their new for-profit company did this by soliciting non-tax deductible donations from the public using the Southern Voice name via Facebook, MySpace, and most notably from a web site called SaveSoVo.com that currently brings web surfers directly to The Georgia Voice website.  In Mr. Herrmann’s snarky prose, this is a big no no, and that money may now belong to Gaydar.

“Ms. Cash started the website ‘www.SaveSoVo.com’ on November 20, 2009, to raise money to save the publication from perishing, illegally using Southern Voice’s legally protected intellectual property.  Ms. Brown then posted a letter on the website asking for donations, which eventually came from former employees of Southern Voice, people in the community, subjects of Southern Voice articles, and the Lloyd E. Russell Foundation, to name a few,” he asserts in the notice.  “As you have been in the publishing industry for many years,” he addresses them, “I am sure that you know what you are doing is completely improper and illegal.”

Herrmann also refers to the incorporation of SoVo in the site’s name as “a violation of federal and state copyright law” and directs Brown and Cash to the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act (ACPA) of 1999, “making these acts illegal and entitling the proper owner to civil, criminal, and punitive damages.”

The “proper” owner, in this case, is an entity comprised of individuals with a list of reportedly improper dealings attached to their own resumes.  Gaydar, Inc. is a relatively new company moniker formed by Nightlife Media’s Matt Neumann, publisher and editor of Gaydar magazine (replaced by David magazine last week) and Pearl Day’s Brian Sawyer.  Both former companies have a weeded trail of debts that extends to this author in my capacity as Contributing and then Interim Editor of ATL Free Press (defunct since January) along with other employees and a couple of printers.  Pearl Day, which includes Sawyer’s partner in that venture, Chip O’Kelley, also a current Gaydar employee, has been accused of shortchanging three reputable glbt charities $9,000 combined, which stingingly is the same amount of money for which they plucked SoVo and David in court.

In a humorous turnabout, the notice also alleges that over the past couple of days, GA Voice has been putting stacks of their debut print issue in Southern Voice distribution boxes located around Atlanta.  ATL Free Press was accused of the same transgression this past winter.  But the less comical augmentation this time around is the reported use of GA Voice stickers over the SoVo logo on the boxes, another major no no to which Herrmann exasperates, “I am amazed in wonderment that [Cash and Brown] have gone to this extreme step in corporate espionage in clearly usurping the name, identity, and property rights from my client.”

But the real spoils in this war of the roses are the advertisers, and Gaydar, Inc.’s Cease and Desist Notice cites Brown and Cash as misrepresenting themselves to many of them as “the ‘new’ Southern Voice,” and mentions that prominent gay businesses, including Amsterdam, Mixx, and Flora Dora, have confirmed this.  Herrmann told Don’t Label It that sales representatives for Southern Voice have had to clarify to potential ad buyers that they have not already purchased ads in Southern Voice because of GA Voice’s “false representations.”

Herrmann closes by disclaiming that his “damage assessment is continuing” and promises Cash and Brown that he “will be in touch about the financial injuries [they] have caused.”

Eagle Organizing Criticism
Thursday, October 22, 2009 5:09 PM
From: “Laura Gentle Guerry”
To: “Todd Vierling” , “Xanna Dont”

Todd and Xanna,

I received the below e-mail today. I ask that you please read it and respond to my comments to both of you below.

———- Forwarded message ———-

From: Anonymous Remailer (austria)
Date: Thu, Oct 22, 2009 at 4:15 PM
Subject: The Eagle
To: dictatorlaura@gmail.com

Dear Laura,

You don’t know me, but I now know of you. I’ve heard you are manipulating innocent people in the community, abusing the trust of the Eagle owners, and victimizing people in the gay and lesbian community who do not know better to see through your actions. People like you are vile and destructive. You are a fraud and your actions by organizing this last protest, refusing to include the rightful community organizers who are so critical of you, demonstrate this. To suddenly jump on board for a cause clearly shows your intentions for the future will be to tarnish and destroy the respectable gay and lesbian image Midtown citizens have spent years building.

You need to stop before you do any further damage to our community. I agree with the good citizens who criticize your actions and I will stand by them in demanding you step away from the Eagle and the Midtown community. No on has ever heard of you before this, and no one will hear of you again if you don’t cease your detrimental, offensive and hate-filled agenda.

*My Full Address & Apartment #

Do you want people knowing where you live.

*My cell #

Or calling you endlessly.

*My work name, job and job title

Or showing up at your job, waiting for you.

*The Marta station I use for transportation (I do not own a car so I use Marta often)

Or waiting for you to get off work.

Anonymous (but watching.)

———————————————————————————-

This is hopefully a very misguided attempt to shake me up, and it has considering it contained personal information that is not all easily available knowledge for the general public. I’m writing to the both of you because the very harsh criticism you have both been making public on forums and Facebook. You have every right to criticize my actions and involvement, given I am involved in organizing that has put my name out there. I am deeply concerned about the misinformation that I am being criticized for, and the overtly hostile image it has created for me on this online sites. Much of the criticism you’ve both made and truly misunderstandings, and I could very easily sit down with you both and address specifics.

To the random community member who reads these constant and very harsh criticisms, it would appear I’m a character that I can assure you I am not. I am honest in my intentions of simply trying to help & the majority of people involved in this movement seem to recognize that. I can only be true to my heart and let my actions for justice (for everyone in our community) speak for me. The most productive thing we can do is encourage people to put Eagle Atlanta staff and patrons back in the focus and cease putting energy into fostering counter-productive divisions.

I am asking both of you, since you are both at the helm of much of this criticism, to please meet with me and discuss these concerns and to cease voicing your criticism so openly and harshly on these online forums where context is lost, and confusion about what’s really going on is high. I mean this in all sincerity. Please let me know your thoughts.

Peace,

Laura

On December 3, my wife and I attended the Atlanta debut screening of “black./womyn: conversations with lesbians of african heritage” at The Plaza Theatre. The filmmaker, tiona m., was in attendance for this single showing. Now a resident of Philadelphia, she began her film career in Atlanta, attending Clark Atlanta University. Her documentary’s participants spanned three countries, and some of the Atlantans featured in it were in the audience. Its subject matter could initially be dismissed as a no-brainer: just a couple of gay black chicks sitting around talking, right? But tiona’s thoughtfully prepared interviews and well-paced editing revealed insights about this demographic that were enlightening. It’s a good film.

When it ended, the credits rolled to enthusiastic applause and we eagerly adjusted ourselves in our seats to lean in for the audience of about 75 people to now pose questions to the filmmaker. But tiona cut us off cold. She declared in a strained but clear voice that she had just heard and witnessed the concession stand cashier holler “faggots” at two young African-American gay men from Macon, GA, who had arrived at The Plaza by mistake. They had driven all the way to Atlanta to see “Noah’s Arc: Jumping The Broom,” playing at a theater a few blocks away. Their request for directions to another theater was met with hostility and hate. Refusing to stay in The Plaza for another minute, tiona asked the audience to meet her outside. Everyone got up immediately and solemnly marched out with her. We all stood in a semi-circle around her as she broke into tears; she was not the only person in tears. Her big night had been ruined. Still, she prevailed and bravely conducted her post-screening Q&A on the sidewalk.

tiona m. spoke to the owner of The Plaza Theatre that night in person, as did the two young gay men from Macon at her urging. He refused to take any action regarding his offending employee, because, despite three people hearing it, the employee denied using the word “faggot.” Out On Film, Atlanta’s annual GLBT film festival has been confirmed for May 28—31, 2009, at The Plaza Theatre.

This letter appeared in Southern Voice, Atlanta’s gay news weekly, on November 28th.  I am no longer involved with Out On Film (again!).

———————–

Re: “NO OUT ON FILM IN 2008″
Oct. 10 issue

Is Out On Film, Atlanta’s GLBT Film Festival, really “all grown up?”  No.  Not by a long shot.  It’s been around for 21 years, but it’s still short of reaching its mature potential.  Out On Film is more like a teenage foster child that nobody really wants, except for the income it can generate, and the poor thing has had some questionable foster parents these last couple of years.
In 2007, I resigned as Volunteer Coordinator from Out On Film when it was still under the directorship of Image Film & Video (now called Atlanta Film Festival 365, or ATLFF 365, to reflect its primary focus).  I strongly objected to a request to keep one of the few GLBT staff members in the closet, and I also objected to Atlanta’s GLBT community being lectured to by heterosexual staff and panelists about the state of our own film community.  My grumblings resonated, rousing Image/ATLFF 365 to create an all-gay advisory board that later morphed into its own separate board of directors.  On August 27, this all-gay board voted to reject an “assistance” proposal that would have paid Image/ATLFF 365 a total of 7% of Out On Film’s gross sales, and to separate from Image/ATLFF 365 entirely.  The reasoning for this separation was twofold: I spoke to the board before they voted about my experience working for Out On Film last year; and of course, there was the money—that whopping 7% gross of all sales.  If Image/ATLFF 365 was going to be “on call” for the welfare of Out On Film, it would not be out of the goodness of their hearts, as has been implied.  Neither of these reasons has been mentioned in any press articles about Out On Film’s transition, nor was it mentioned in a facetiously congratulatory email blast from Image/ATLFF 365 last week.
Immediately after the vote to separate, I was voted onto the Out On Film Board of Directors.  So how are Out On Film’s new foster parents doing?  I’m afraid the minor in custody is still in crisis.  I’m the only current board member with any film festival or any major performance festival experience.  More significantly, I am the only board member who is not representing or does not own a benefitting local business.  While this “small-business-owner-run” formula may work for other festivals, my observations thus far have proven to me that some, but not all, of these businesses are motivated by their own agendas, from resurrecting a community theater to the incredulous notion of promoting triple-x porn.  Official communications with the media have been clumsy, with no effort to refute erroneous reports that Out On Film skipped 2008 (it didn’t; Image/ATLFF 365 subtly sandwiched Out On Film into Atlanta Film Festival last April to cleverly retain its sponsorship funding from a major corporation).  And recent voting procedures to decide on festival dates, venues, and bylaws have been clouded in secrecy by select members of the executive committee.  I’m not really telling tales out of school; all 501(c)3 non-profit corporations are accountable to the public.  In that spirit, I invite anyone who thinks they might be able to serve the best interests of Out On Film to join me.  This ward of our GLBT state really needs you.

Xanna Don’t
Atlanta, GA

If you haven’t already been watching, check out Tracey Ullman’s new series on Showtime, now in reruns. It concluded last week and it’s even better, if that’s imaginable, than her previous works. Her characters have always been insightful and fascinating, but in this thematic context, the series takes on a new brilliance, because there’s never been a better time to lampoon our very vulnerable America. This country is a mess! With the faux stoicism of our entire media and the lubricious nature of our news commentators, maybe we need a “foreigner” to show us a truly fresh take on the crazy nature of our national existence. Tracey does this very well, not just because she’s a supreme satirist, but also because she’s lived here for awhile. She has done her homework in her new home. And she has done it well.

I can appreciate her research in a very personal way, because I empathize on a regional basis. I’ve been in Atlanta for almost five years and my observations continue to be an amazing curiosity for this Boston-bred yankee. My last blog was about my incredulity at being expected to answer to a closeted boss, who then answered to straight people, all the while working for what is supposed to be a gay entity. That bizarre situation would never happen in a major northern city. In the months that have passed since that blog, I’ve encountered native southerners who often respond with a glazed over tolerance towards such hypocrisy. But luckily, I’ve also encountered some key players who “get film” and get the importance of gay people being in charge of gay events, especially gay money-making events. So it looks like things may change for the better on that front sooner than later. I’ll keep y’all posted.

Still, in the slow progress I’ve made with my verbal rants, I wondered if I should just borrow some of Tracey’s wigs and put on a little show of my own. So that’s what I did (sans the wigs, I style my own real hair). My Atlanta debut at Blake’s On The Park last week went really well. I had been happily retired from performing. I was done with it. But when Blake’s all-GLBT music series called Southern Exposure asked me to make a comeback, I admired the sentiment of Bruce Well’s project so much that I had to accept his offer. I had created and co-produced an all-gay showcase for SXSW in 2001, the proudest accomplishment of my life. I love that Bruce is doing this on an ongoing basis. So, much like Al Pacino in The Godfather 3, I have been “pulled back in again.” Now what was that urban myth about the gay mafia really all about…?

Two weeks ago, I attended a panel, the only panel, just 45-minutes long, for 2007’s Out On Film, Atlanta’s GLBT film festival. It had a very generic title: The State of Queer Film. The moderator opened with what appeared to be a simple question: the criteria for queer cinema. The panel of four quietly concurred that it simply meant queer-themed film. Sure, that’s digestible. Then one of the panelists hastily added, “It doesn’t matter who makes the films.” I was taken aback by this unexpected aside and the accompanying nodding of the rest of the panel (although the two lesbian filmmakers seemed less enthusiastic as they concurred). It was an odd moment that was followed by an even stranger one: one of the panelists came out to the audience of about 25 people as a heterosexual. The panel awkwardly meandered after this revelation with defensive statements like, “I don’t feel the need to bring my sexuality into the workplace,” and “I don’t feel the need to shout it.” I felt uneasy about these comments. Where had I heard this kind of thing recently? A similar quote by Ben Elliott had been published in a ferociously fact-based story on the former Atlanta bar owner by Southern Voice, our gay newspaper. Mr. Elliott said of his dealings with anti-gay Republican politicians to whom he frequently contributes money that he “doesn’t wear [his homosexuality] on [his] sleeve.” Why? Because he wants to be a recipient of that favor bank. Was something similar going on here?

I thought so. And two weeks later I still do. But I had knowledge that I’m sure most of the filmgoers that week did not have. I worked for Out On Film just prior to this year’s festival. I’d been approached by its managing director because they recognized that with their staff of six, only two could identify as GLBT, and they needed a warm gay body. Adding me still didn’t even make it a 50/50 split, but it seemed to me at the time that they were earnest in this effort. Then one day, in anticipation of my much-needed gay expertise being extended to a straight co-worker from Alabama who was hired to coordinate the parties, my boss sent me an email asking me not to “out” her as bisexual to this person.

I couldn’t believe it. In my subsequent phone calls and emails with my boss, she rabidly defended her right to be in the closet. My position was that if she worked for the kind of corporate entity where her livelihood could be threatened, I could understand. But this was not the case. Just the opposite! She was now a self-appointed leader in our arts community. How could she be the managing director of Atlanta’s gay film fest and be selectively, defiantly closeted?  I couldn’t reconcile this, and I refused to be put into a position where I was expected to lie. So I resigned.

My resignation left the team with only one member who is openly gay and two-thirds of it straight. Should the gay community of Atlanta simply be grateful that there is a predominance of straight people willing to put on a gay film festival for us? Considering they’re pulling down paychecks from it, it’s difficult for me to accept that it’s completely altruistic.

Now let’s go back to that lone panel they presented for us and it’s seemingly generic title: The State of QUEER Film. Yes, queer. It now occurred to me that a lot of straight people, including the moderator of the panel, felt very comfortable using this word. Our word. The word we use with each other.  I think the state of “queer” film is that we need to take it back.

I feel comfortable sharing with the gay community that Ray McKinnon is the real deal. The wife and I spent time with him last week, and he actually gives a damn about us. Yes, us. He really does.
TUESDAY: We saw the advance private screening of his new film, Randy and The Mob, in Atlanta, and even got to talk with him at the party after it. The film is about twin brothers, one straight and one gay, both played by Ray. The straight brother, Randy, has a real hard time accepting his gay counterpart, Cecil. Although my real life brother is not my twin, we have shared this difficulty, and I told Ray how much this story resonated for me. As I was amongst only a handful of gay people in attendance, he expressed great appreciation in hearing this. In the film, the shit hits the fan, and Randy needs Cecil. It’s a blessing for Randy, because Cecil is an exceptional human being for any orientation, the kind of person we all hope we can be. It’s lovely. Ray’s performance as Cecil reminded me of Frances McDormand’s in Fargo. Being gay could easily be seen as a disability when dealing with the mob, much like McDormand’s character being pregnant could have been a hindrance to her crackerjack police work. But Ray delivers this character to us with that same kind of sincere focus and some very well written nuances. Heck, Ray wrote it. He’s our renaissance Southern dude, and, though Cecil, he’s going to bring us all together. Like Superman in his tights and cape, Cecil can do anything wearing his teal pantsuit. See the film and you’ll agree that teal is the new black.
WEDNESDAY: The mrs. and I hit the opening night party for the Atlantis Music Conference. Hmm, seems they were giving away a car! Since Oprah was not available, they enlisted the talent of Ray and his lovely wife, Lisa Blount (also his deadpan funny co-star in the film) to do the honors. Now the food and free beer ran out much too early and we got tired of making the rounds, so we’d been killing time on a lush leather sofa when Ray and Lisa walked in late. Since it wasn’t a film crowd, they didn’t gravitate towards anybody. Then they eyed our supple digs. We waved them over and they parked it. Ray regaled Ann with stories of gay high school teachers who inspired him and I got the 411 from Lisa about her album coming out next year, RuPaul’s fascinating parties with charades and stripper poles, and how they choose to live in Little Rock to be near family. These are real folks! They chatted fluidly with nary an eye for future schmoozing conquests until they suddenly heard the raffle beginning without them from the stage. So, this is what Golden Globe nominees (her) and Academy Award winners (both of them) are really like? I’m gonna guess these two are exceptional.
THURSDAY: Ray was going to be speaking at the film and music panel for Atlantis this day. Hmm, what to wear? In the back of my closet, that color now bounced off the corner of my cornea! Teal. Like Cecil’s pantsuit! A silk shirt, slightly blouson, but tailored. Perfect. I really felt empowered! The panel itself was somewhat disappointing with the moderator pressing the panelists for a description of who we (the musicians) should be in terms of genre to get music into films. Attorney Phil Walden, executive producer on Randy and The Mob, tried to explain that “it’s all about the relationship,” like the one that they’ve shared with Drive By Truckers, and that there are no quick answers. Then Ray had the insightful quote of the day. The whole room of hungry musicians, confused by the moderator’s misdirection, finally nodded in agreement as they all scratched his words into their notes. Ray simply clarified, “Everything is second to you being authentic.” Cecil would’ve been proud.

Rick Perry. Hmm. Is the governor of Texas gay? As a former Texan myself, I’ve been participating in a long-running, Austin-based email list that is currently, feverishly debating it. It’s good dish. One list member knows about the apartment Mrs. Perry obtained in an effort to leave the governor and also about the gay lover she caught him with being exiled to Houston. Another list member contends it’s only an urban myth with no journalists publishing any proof. But how many heads of state issue public denials in the Austin American-Statesman to dispel an urban myth?

I re-watched the Oscar-nominated film, The Insider (1999) on HD cable this week. Hadn’t seen it in a few years and its whole message of journalism being in serious trouble because of corporate domination and profits seems more relevant now than ever. In the film (true story), CBS is on the verge of being bought by Westinghouse while big tobacco is threatening CBS with a multi-billion dollar law suit if the producers at 60 Minutes air an intensely revealing interview with downsized tobacco vice president Jeffrey Wigand (Wigand had signed a confidentiality agreement with his former employer). The corporate executives at CBS are more worried about their lucrative buyout being compromised than they are about the ethics of news. The main producer of the story, Lowell Bergman, is ordered by CBS to go on vacation and his segment is re-edited without his participation to exclude Wigand. Again, all of this happened about a decade ago. Before 9/11. Before the Iraq war.

Today we mostly complain about the news being all Paris Hilton, all the time, with very little coverage of Iraq. But before you buy into the sex (and scandal) sells excuse, consider this: how well would the gossipy Perry-being-gay thing fit in with the Paris-all-the-time thing? Very well. But we don’t get that story. It seems reasonable to conclude that corporate interests who have suppressed public health news and war news could easily bury a damaging story about the Republican succeeding Bush as governor of Texas. Seems like that would be pretty easy to do considering everything else they’ve done.

Earlier this week in Provincetown, Massachusetts, we witnessed 90 minutes of genius.  This show deserves to be an HBO Special Presentation. The HBO people will come to see it and be as astounded by it as I was. They must come. I’m sure of it. It blew me away.

Scott Thompson was the gay scallywag of the well-known Canadian television comedy troupe, The Kids In The Hall. Scottastrophe is his autobiographical one man show in which he darkly illustrates the competitive spirit of tragedy and misery in families. It’s wickedly funny. On the precious little Monday night that we saw it, Lea Delaria was in attendance and laughed as heartily as we did. I have a strong feeling that Scottastrophe could do for Scott what Dressed To Kill did for Eddie Izzard: make him a really big star. With this show, there’s no doubt he’s worthy of that level of success.

If you’ll be in P-Town this month, go to Vixen and see it. (Didi and bartender Brad are marvelous!)

SiCKO (2007)
The only filmmaker for whom I feel the need to make a paid appearance on his opening days is Michael Moore. Because he consistently brings to celluloid the themes of American life that urgently need to be discussed, I want to represent. It could almost be more important than voting at this point. Think about what he’s covered thus far:  downsizing of the American worker in Roger & Me (gee, we don’t make anything anymore); in Bowling For Columbine he illustrated how we routinely kill each other; and in Farrenheit 9/11, he made it obvious for even the most aloof of citizens that our democracy is in serious crisis. Now comes SiCKO, which may be his most important film yet, because you can’t always evade getting sick. Paris Hilton won’t be holding your hair back when you’re vomiting from chemo, so pay attention to this one. It just may save your life. That said, don’t fear a lecture. It’s informative for sure, but it’s also entertaining and even suspenseful. On his boat trip to Cuba with sick Americans sitting on deck all around him, I felt deep fear in the pit of my stomach for him. Michael was at the helm gripping the American flag flapping rapidly in the ocean wind. I wondered if Michael was just a little bit scared himself. Feel the fear and do it anyway. I’m grateful Michael Moore does.

Rating your friends and making that public to the world is kinda weird, isn’t it? I’ve decided that I don’t really want to do that. Or some people fill their Top 8 with the most famous people who approved them. I don’t want to that either. What I want to do is fill this space on the page with cool black and white photography. So if you’re near and dear to me and got bumped, don’t feel bad. Even my wife’s photo was in color. It means nothing.

That Touch of Mink (1960)

In this classic romantic comedy, Cary Grant’s character is a wealthy business man and philanthropist who, in the midst his whirlwind wooing of Doris Day, addresses the United Nations. He says: <<< The wealth of a nation is in the well-being of its people, both spiritually and materialistically. It’s not a question of lowering our standards, but of helping others to raise theirs. If all people everywhere could be content and their living standards even and compatible with ours, there would be no envy in the world and therefore, less provocation of war. When you encourage and help people to develop their own natural resources, you do more than put bread in their mouths. You put dignity in their hearts. >>>

This screenplay was nominated for an academy award almost 50 years ago. I wonder if 50 years from now some Arabic or Indian business man will feel that way about the United States? After the last seven years, what resources will we have by then to offer anybody? We’ve been drilled and strip mined to death, and we don’t make anything anymore.  The problem with the current administration’s planning, or lack thereof, is that they’re counting on some religious rapture in 2012. It finally dawned on me. I’d wondered for years how the Bushies could blatantly sell us out. It’s because they’re not going to be here. They’re going to be in Dubai. They’re already setting up house to kill some time in close and comfortable proximity to that coveted rendezvous point with their savior. What’s an American atheist to do? Oh to be Doris Day in the 1960’s…

Republicans have long complained about entitlement programs in government. All these programs have ever been is a basic safety net so that we, as a society, don’t leave anybody behind in such a way that they can’t simply survive. But so persuasive was the “entitlement” rhetoric in the 1990’s that even Bill Clinton joined a scarily conservative congress in gutting essentials for poor people. They invoked that tacky little feeling buried deep inside of us that cries out if we think somebody else is getting something for free that we don’t get. A very tacky feeling indeed. These days, Paris Hilton is detested for seemingly having a sense of entitlement, so much so that a judge, buckling to public sentiment, overrode the normal application of her generic jail term. Even Paris herself is now more afraid of any continued entitlement perception than she is of doing time! Meanwhile abroad, there are heirs to thrones in fabulous countries who are revered for their entitlements. But in this part of the world, that concept is, well, foreign. What isn’t foreign in this southern part of the United States is the strange sense of entitlement that accompanies taking. Just plain taking. It could be soft pedaled into bullying. However you phrase it, moral assertiveness, that entitled sense that you know what’s right, slips easily into hateful domination. And as scary as that gets, it’s about as lofty as the entitlement gets here. You’re not going to bump into very many young New England bluebloods stumbling around wasting their trust funds. This is the south. It’s poor. And southern hospitality is a dead concept in a city like Atlanta. This is a city of thugs. When you combine poverty and an undereducated, ignorant thug mentality, then blend in some of that pervasive American desire for new, more, better, “gotta get me that” capitalism gone wild, you get crime. There’s no other solution here. Sometimes it’s blatant, like “the bleeds” that lead our news every night. But often it’s that passive aggressive knife in your back that you missed while you were admiring a seemingly friendly southern smile. Go north, young gays. Go north.

Rosie O’Donnell is off licking her wounds from her self-imposed premature departure from network television’s only real political discussion show, The View. That’s it. It’s over. As a fellow big-mouthed-lefty-lesbian, I’m hurt and disappointed, and not by the onscreen verbal bitch slapping, but by Rosie’s decision not to return to work for three more lousy weeks and keep fighting the good fight. Her sudden retreat has left the rest of us like her holding our dicks. Rosie seems to think that standing her ground is detrimental to Elisabeth Hasselbeck’s pregnancy? That kind of thinking in any workplace rockets the feminism Rosie claims to love back to the 1950s. See how insidiously these blonde conservative babes win?

But let’s get back to Rosie’s perceived wounds. How could she really expect this Bush lover she’s been “friends” with for less than a year to publicly rise to her political defense? That would be bizarrely unrealistic. For Mrs. Hasselbeck to not defend Rosie personally from unpatriotic accusations, however twisted as perpetrated by that right-wing-mothership Fox News, is typical Republican behavior. Sane people with closer relationships to these aliens of democracy have been far more seriously disappointed. Chastity Bono, Candace Gingrich, and Mary Cheney have suffered bigger public betrayals from family members of this ilk. Wake up, Rosie. That’s just how they roll.

Bush is scared of The View. It’s the only network talk show that takes him on, and people talk about it. A lot. By now, everyone has heard about The View’s big on-air political spat between Rosie O’Donnell and Elisabeth HasselFuck. I thought it was great and that Rosie needed to do it. Some people freaked. I cheered. So today’s “episode” was gonna be a ratings grabber, even though Rosie was already scheduled not to be there (it’s her mrs.’ birthday). In Rosie’s place today, Kathy Griffin, my personal choice to take that seat on the panel when Rosie leaves the show at the end of next month. Perfect. But we didn’t get to see it on the East Coast. President Dubya seized this highly anticipated hour of television for a lame press conference. Well, how else could he get people to watch him? The only way I want his face preempting The View is for his impeachment hearings.

Considering how “off book” the producers of The View allowed the show to go during Rosie and Liz’s big fight, I think today they should have put Bush in a small window in the corner of the screen while the ladies debated his gibberish in real time. That would’ve been great television.

One of my favorite shows is Bill Mahr’s Real Time on HBO. The guy was too brilliant and honest for network television, so it was natural for him to land there. This week, besides my favorite Greek goddess Arianna Huffington, super funny Boston gal Paula Poundstone was on the panel. In a discussion over what to call global warming (climate change, etc.), Paula suggested that if they changed it to “Extended Allergy Season” people might pay attention, because she’s been coughing for six years. As my eyes tear up, my nasal cavities wince, my cough continues, and I sneeze at the most inappropriate times, I think she could be right about this. People only really care about what affects them directly.