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Olivia Newton-John will perform in concert on NYC's Governor's Island on the Saturday of Pride weekend.
Set off shore on Governor’s Island for an expected crowd of 4000, the event will bring Australia’s infamous beach stateside, complimented by Manhattan’s illuminated skyline as backdrop. Top notch billing will be paired with visuals worth marveling at: a stunning firework display over the East River, the largest outdoor video projection wall in New York’s history, massive sound and light installations, and over-the-top décor. All features of course, adhering to the event’s Australian theme.Advance tickets at the link. I don't think this show has any official relationship with NYC Pride.
"I think the gay community seems to like old ladies, they always have. And when we were on live with Golden Girls on Saturday night they'd shut down the music, stop the dancing, watch the show, then turn the music and the dancing back on. We were very grateful and they've been dear friends." - Betty White, speaking to WNYC.
The U.S. Senate has passed a Boxer/Feinstein-sponsored resolution honoring Elizabeth Taylor. It reads, in part:
Whereas Elizabeth Taylor used her fame to raise awareness and advocate for people affected by HIV/AIDS;(Via - LGBTPOV)
Whereas, at a time when HIV/AIDS was largely an unknown disease and those who were affected by HIV/AIDS were ostracized and shunned, Elizabeth Taylor called for and demonstrated compassion by publicly holding the hand of her friend and former costar, Rock Hudson, after he had announced that he had AIDS;
Whereas Elizabeth Taylor testified before Congress saying, “It is my hope that history will show that the American people and our leaders met the challenge of AIDS rationally and with all the resources at their disposal, for our sake and that of all humanity.”;
Whereas, in 1985, Elizabeth Taylor became the Founding National Chairman for the American Foundation for AIDS Research (commonly known as “amfAR”);
Whereas, in 1991, Elizabeth Taylor founded the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation to provide direct support to those suffering from the disease;
Whereas the extensive efforts of Elizabeth Taylor have helped educate the public and lawmakers about the need for research, treatment, and compassion for those suffering from HIV/AIDS;
Resolved, That the Senate recognizes and honors the courageous, compassionate leadership and many professional accomplishments of Elizabeth Taylor; and offers its deepest condolences to her family.
Not a moment of actual live singing, but that has never seemed to trouble her fans.
Most of Elizabeth Taylor's massive fortune will go to the two AIDS charities with whom she was most famously associated.
Screen queen Elizabeth Taylor has left behind a fortune worth at least $600 million, much of which is expected to go to the AIDS charities she championed for decades. Her famous jewelry collection, valued at an eye-popping $150 million in 2002, is likely to be auctioned off with the bulk of the proceeds going to the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation and amfAR, the AIDS charity she helped found in 1985, according to WFLD/Fox TV Chicago. "From what I understand, she seems to have been very wise about her investments," said a financial planner who has worked with other Hollywood A-listers. At the time of her 1994 divorce from her last husband, Larry Fortensky, Taylor's net worth was estimated at $608.4 million. That figure could now be well in excess of $1 billion. During the 1990s, Taylor reportedly earned about $2 per second, or about $63 million per year. Her famed perfume, White Diamonds, earned more than $70 million last year, according to reports.Our hero, even in death.
If you're down for an hourlong interview with Lady Gaga, here it is as hosted by Google.
Details are sketchy, but it's being reported that Elizabeth Taylor died of congestive heart failure this morning in Los Angeles. She was 79. Gay men will perhaps most fondly recall Taylor for her early and relentless work as an HIV/AIDS activist.
Disco legend and gay favorite Loleatta Holloway has died at the age of 64. One of the most powerful and instantly recognizable voices of the genre, Holloway got her start in the 60s as an R&B singer, but in mid-70s she become better known as "the" voice of Salsoul Records, where she fronted the famed Salsoul Orchestra on smash disco hits that continue to be heavily played to this day.
Holloway achieved her greatest international fame in 1989 when her vocals for Love Sensation were sampled without credit on the Black Box hit Ride On Time, forcing her to sue. Two years later Love Sensation was again on the world's radios when Marky Mark sampled it heavily in his debut hit single, Good Vibrations. Most recently Holloway's We're Getting Stronger formed the basis for Whitney Houston's 2009 chart-topping Million Dollar Bill.
My favorite Loleatta Holloway tracks are her 1979 classic collaboration with Dan Hartman, Relight My Fire, and her two biggest hits with the Salsoul Orchestra, Hit And Run and Runaway, both from 1977. I last saw Loleatta perform during IML 1999, when she charmed the audience at the Chicago Eagle by threatening to put her foot up the ass of the audio man when the sound malfunctioned. You totally had to be there.
"Do people choose to be gay, or are they born that way? Here’s a tip: Don’t turn to Lady Gaga for an answer. For the Christian, thinking in terms of dichotomies such as 'nature versus nurture' and 'genetics versus free will' is the real problem. For us, it’s not either-or. Who we are cannot be reduced to any one thing. For instance, Christianity teaches that biology and the rest of creation has a great deal to teach us about how we should live. This is part of what we mean by “natural law.” An obvious example is the biological facts that lie behind the teaching that marriage should be between a man and a woman.
"But saying that biology is somehow normative is not the same thing as saying that is determinative. We are free to choose how we behave, both for good and for ill. We are not 'slaves to our biology' unless we choose to make ourselves so by believing it to be the case. To say we are is beneath our dignity as humans made in the image of God, not to mention a denial of the power of God to transform us." - Convicted felon and Manhattan Declaration author Chuck Colson, joining the Christianist attacks on Lady Gaga for saying we were "born this way."
RELATED: The fastest-selling single in iTunes history, Born This Way has already sold millions of copies worldwide and has gone to #1 in more than 30 countries. Whether you're a Gaga fan or not, you cannot deny the unprecedented impact of hundreds of millions of people singing out loud, that yes, we were born this way. Lady Gaga is pushing the movement forward in ways few could have possibly fathomed.
