Transgender Zombies Take Manhattan in Music Video

Just in time for the Right Out TV Music and Video Awards, transgender cantador StormMiguel Florez has released first music video to celebrate his nomination. The video for Florez's popular song "I've Been To Manhattan" has a heartbroken zombie who finds his true nature in this ode to the legendary cocktail of the same name. Sounding like a sexier transgender answer to Johnny Cash, Florez is a Mexican-American folksinger to watch out for, and the video is chock full of of other trans pop-cultural cameos from other San Francisco-based artists including indie rocker Shawna Virago and dancer Sean Dorsey.

Florez is up for a Right Out Award in two categories: Best Video DIY (along with Blinded by Stardust, Charles K Brown, Kat Devlin, Brett Every, Sonasfly, Corday) and Fan Favorite (along with a number of other LGBT artists including Melange LaVonne, Ladi G, and Grrlz Will Be BoiZ).The awards are meant to honor the contributions of out LGBTI musicians and fans can vote on the latter category until tomorrow at RightOutAwards.com.Winners will be announced October 29.

Is James Bond Bisexual?

That's the question on everyone's mind after the flirtatious scene between Daniel Craig and Javier Bardem
Well of course the answer is yes. Haven't we always detected the crackle of sexuality in all his interactions—whether with a woman or a man? But to many, James Bond is seen as a heterosexual icon, as he womanizes his way through his many daring exploits. Now that the question as to whether Bond could be bi has become a big topic of discussion with the latest film in the franchise, Skyfall (out November 9), we wonder if it really is that surprising after all these years.
 In an early reaction to the film, Frank Digiacomo noted that Javier Bardem's villain Silva, a former MI6 agent, seems to have a thing for Bond. And when Bond and Silva meet, the latter "caresses the bound MI6 agent's chest. In response to Silva's attentions, 007 replies, 'What makes you think this is my first time?' "

So the Movieline writer asked Craig about it at a recent press conference, wondering if it was just a bluff.

"What are you going to do?" Craig replied breezily, getting a nice laugh from the crowd, but then he added: "I don't see the world in sexual divisions." He then changed the subject from Bond to to Bardem's wonderfully flamboyant character, Silva. "Someone suggested that Silva may be gay," Craig said with a big smile. "And I'm like, I think he'll fuck anything."

Bardem made some statements of his own—"It was part of the game, but it’s not entirely the game"—that seemed to reflect an idea that it wasn't about sex, it was about power.

But whatever the case, there's always been air of around Bond, and his ease with jumping into the sack with anyone, no matter what the consequences, seem to point more to his sexual slipperiness rather than any clearly defined roles.

In fact, the homophobic nature of the secret services was a reality and U.S. and U.K. secret agents were gay was often seen as a security risk. In Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, the adaptation of John le Carré's novel, an agent is revealed to be gay, and he must break up with his partner due to a security risk. So even though it was a feeling that pervaded the Cold War era especially, now that Bond has been rebooted for a post-Cold War era, we should wonder: Would a bisexual Bond really change his image all that much?

Meet Adam Pally, the Actor Behind TV's Funniest Gay Character

Max Blum is a complex guy. He’s a scruffy, lazy sports fan with a mean streak. He’s a pigheaded friend who’s incapable of backing down from a stupid challenge. He’s tone-deaf when it comes to dating, but is a savant kisser capable of inspiring unrequited love from the ladies with a simple smooch. And thanks to actor Adam Pally, Max, a main character on ABC’s lauded comedy Happy Endings, is also the most relatable, offbeat, and compelling gay character on network television.
In the hands of 30-year-old Pally, Max isn’t just comic relief. He’s a beer-swilling, prank-playing, decidedly schlumpy everyman, but at the same time, he’s not just playing against type to teach us a lesson that not all gay guys sparkle. When Max becomes interested in bear culture, it means hibernating all winter, eating honey, and eventually straddling a unicycle. Yet it’s not entirely surprising when his all-guy Madonna cover band -- who go by the name Mandonna -- stage a reunion. You just can’t peg this dude.
For Pally, playing Max isn’t a matter of plotting the layers of his personality. His method is a bit simpler. “I just try to play him for the moment and make him as funny and real as possible,” he says. “If you start thinking about repercussions or stereotypes or ideas to break down, it stops being fun and it’s not pure. I try not to think about the end result.” Embodying Max is something that comes naturally to the actor. “There’s not a lot about Max that’s a stretch for me,” Pally says. “I am slovenly, I like sports, I drink too much, I have a gambling problem, and I’m highly competitive. And do I know someone like Max? Yeah. My best gay friends just got married, and in the middle of their big, lavish wedding they were telling us how they were moving to a better school district. I was like, ‘Wow, you’re really mature. In my mind, you guys are always just drinking or at the gym.’ ”
Comedy is something that practically runs through Pally’s veins. The New Jersey native grew up with a performer father -- his parents were once in a Borscht Belt rock group called Pally and Pal -- and knew early on that show business was for him. “When I was about 17, my parents took me to the Upright Citizens Brigade to see a show,” he recalls. “I loved it and knew that it was what I wanted to do.” After a stint at the University of Arizona (“I went and kind of fucked up for a couple of years and almost died.”) he moved to New York to attend college and join UCB, where he took and taught classes for nearly a decade. A relocation to L.A. turned up Pally’s breakout role in Happy Endings, a series that can be summed up as a richer, more bizarro, more self-aware take on Friends.
In the midst of filming the show’s third season, Pally is penning a script for a film being produced by Will Ferrell and Adam McKay, though he’s sworn to secrecy about its details. He’s less tight-lipped, however, about whether Max will get another chance at love when Happy Endings returns. “I think he really liked his old boyfriend, and when that didn’t work, it made it tough for him to recover,” Pally says. “We’ll see a lot of dates, but we might not see the boyfriend.”
And what about his admirers? Surely, Pally has raised a few eyebrows from fans who mistake him for Max and are surprised to spot him with a wife and kid? “Not really,” he says. “I feel like it used to be a much bigger deal to have a straight actor playing a gay character. Now people just don’t give a shit. They see me on the street and most of them are like, ‘Didn’t I go to high school with you?’ ”

Over Half of Native Trans People Have Attempted Suicide

As Native Americans celebrated Indigenous Peoples Day last week (the reclaiming of Columbus Day that's taken root in recent years), the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force and National Center for Transgender Equality released the fourth and final piece in a series of reports designed to specifically shine a light on the experiences of transgender people of color. Injustice at Every Turn: A Look at American Indian and Alaskan Native Respondents in the National Transgender Discrimination Survey measured transgender people's experiences of discrimination and showed that the combination of anti-transgender with structural and individual racism meant that transgender people of color experience particularly devastating levels of discrimination.
Among the startling results:
• American Indian and Alaskan Native transgender and gender non-conforming people often live in extreme poverty with 23% reporting a household income of less than $10,000 a year. This compares to a rate of 15% for transgender people of all races. It is about three times the general American Indian and Alaskan Native population rate (8%), and nearly six times the general U.S. population rate (4%).
• American Indian and Alaskan Native transgender and gender non-conforming people were affected by HIV in devastating numbers: 3.24% reported being HIV positive and an additional 8.53% reported that they did not know their status. This compares to rates of 2.64% for transgender respondents of all races, and 0.60% of the general U.S. population.

• Fifty-six percent (56%) of American Indian and Alaskan Native transgender respondents reported having attempted suicide compared to 41% of all study respondents.

Officer & A Gentleman: Rockmond Dunbar

When he burst onto the small screen in 1994, on TV’s sci-fi semiclassic Earth 2, Rockmond Dunbar was just a wide-eyed, fresh-faced kid from Northern California who was happy to be working in Hollywood. Dunbar was a rather green 21-year-old who shared the screen with other young notables (Rebecca Gayheart and Antonio Sabato Jr., to name two), but he caught the attention of fans—and Tinseltown insiders—right from the start. Today, fans know the 39-year-old Dunbar best for his iconic characters from acclaimed series—Kenny Chadway on Soul Food, C-Note Franklin on Prison Break, Pookie on The Game, Jalen on Girlfriends, Detective Mark Gustafson on Terriers, and his latest turn, as Lt. Eli Roosevelt of the sheriff’s department, the rare “good” guy on FX’s outlaw biker drama, Sons of Anarchy. With fame came an increasing presence as an activist, for gay rights (after appearing in the gay-themed film Punks and on gay TV series Noah’s Arc), African-American visibility in Hollywood, and HIV awareness. For years he’s been one of the few celebrities who has used his fame to push for more HIV testing among black men—with the Black AIDS Institute’s Greater Than AIDS campaign—and he’s taken on roles that show that people with HIV are not stock characters. He played a closeted married man with HIV on Private Practice and the conflicted brother of an HIV-positive man (played by Hill Harper) on Soul Food. Dunbar, who was named one of Television’s 50 Sexiest Stars of All Time by TV Guide, took a few moments on the set of Sons of Anarchy (which returns for its fifth season September 11) to talk about his iconic roles, what it will take to stop HIV, and how a DNA test changed his life.

 Your Sons of Anarchy character, Sheriff Eli, upends TV tradition. Too often when we have black men on-screen, they’re the criminals, not the cops. How do you see the character of Eli?

 Rockmond Dunbar: Not only a groundbreaking role in general, but he is another representation of a positive African-American male character in a stable, powerful, and impactful job. Sheriff Eli is acknowledged as being the greatest nemesis for the lead characters to date on the show.

There’s a scene on Sons where Jax, who the show centers around, is reading his dad’s journals about his motorcycle club. One line is “A true outlaw finds the balance between the passion in his heart and the reason in his mind. The outcome is the balance of might and right.” Do you think Eli has found the balance between the passion in his heart and the reason in his mind?

 Yes, he has. In the last episode, when Eli gives Juice [the bikers’ intelligence officer] back his case file he tells him, “You are a criminal, you do bad shit. I’m a police officer, I try to stop you.” This to me clearly demonstrates that Eli knows who he is and what he is really willing to do to bring righteousness and justice to his part of the world. Finding, knowing, and living that balance. 

What about the Rockmond in real life? Have you found the balance between the passion in his heart and the reason?

 No.

It’s been said that Sons of Anarchy is based loosely around Hamlet. If so, where does Eli come in?

 Hamlet: Part II.

You’ve starred in some really interesting crime dramas: Terriers, Prison Break, Sons of Anarchy. Why are you drawn to those roles?

 Not drawn to them, but their spirit and energy are drawn to me. The roles sought me out. I enjoy each of the characters I have played in these series because they are well written and the characters live off the screen.

One of your more notable roles, Kenny on Soul Food, was another rarity on TV: a stable black businessman with a family. There was a lot of talk when you didn’t get the NAACP award for the role. What did you think about that?

 Everyone has voiced his or her opinion. It is not for the accolades or check that I work. It is for the chance to do great work. Accolades may come in the future, but everything comes in its time.

A lot of fans were pleased to see a show about African-American lives that didn’t have violence.

 It was a great show that was one of the longest-running African-American dramas featured on television. It was historic and needed. I wish it were still on.

One of the storylines on Soul Food revolved around your character’s brother, Kelvin, played by Hill Harper, coming out as HIV-positive. It was a struggle for both men. Do you think either of the characters was emblematic of how black men feel about HIV?

It was a story that reflected real life. One of the millions of stories that can be portrayed.

Sometimes it seems like TV is still quite segregated. Shows with largely black casts, like Girlfriends, Soul Food, The Game, Moesha—well, white people, by and large, don’t watch those shows. Why do you think that is?

 People watch what they relate to. The networks are marketing to the masses and look to make money off their programming choices. Again, everything has its season.

UPN’s Girlfriends was a hundred times better than, say, Whitney, which gets decent ratings on NBC. What’s the difference?

 My friends created Girlfriends, and it was a positive reflection of their lives. Political agendas play into what is shown these days, and we need to understand how this figures in the choices being made on what to broadcast.

You had a really well-received role in the indie film Punks, a film about black gay men. What was the reaction to it?'

 I was punished for taking that role. Equally applauded and parodied.

Did that change how you felt about the role?

 I still believe you do a role because it will change someone’s life. Regardless of the stones that are thrown, I did it with no regrets. I am an artist.

At the time, you told The Advocate that other actors wouldn’t take the role because of the kissing scene with another man. That was a decade ago. Is that fear still there among actors?

Yes, the fear never goes away when your concern is how you will be perceived in the industry.
What kind of support have you gotten from the gay community?

 Tons of support. The most inspirational support was from E. Lynn Harris, a great writer and human being. I was invited to his house for dinner, and not only did he welcome me, but he was overt in his support and celebration of me as a heterosexual actor and the work I had done on-screen.

You also said that “we need to show that unicorns do exist,” which is a lovely statement. Do you think growing up in the San Francisco area helped you be more accepting?

Growing up in the Bay Area gave me exposure that helped me be proud of where I am from, of who I was, and who I am today. It was a great melting pot of ideas and cultures.

You’ve joined other actors in promoting HIV testing in black communities. What’s the biggest misconception that prevents folks from getting tested?

 You can’t get results right away. Wrong. There is a cure for AIDS, so why get tested? Wrong. You can get tested, and in 15 minutes you’ll know the answer. A rapid test helps one know so that you can act immediately. And cost is not a determinant—testing centers all around the country offer free testing. Knowledge is power.

The HIV rate for black men is still soaring. What do you think will stop that? Education.
You played a closeted gay man with HIV on Private Practice. That was a really interesting arc. Did you empathize with the character?

Yes, because being who you are and living freely is the most important thing we can do as people. His wife knew that he was sad because he was living a lie, and all she wanted for him was to embrace the truth—be who he was and she would still love him.

One of the charities you work with is the Black AIDS Institute. Why that organization in particular?

 The Black AIDS Institute is headed by Phill Wilson. Here is a man who not only talks the talk but also walks the walk. He’s a survivor for over 20 years with HIV. He knows what it means to be tested and receive that call. He also knows that hope can be found and full, productive lives created with the support of organizations like the Black AIDS Institute and the community at large. As they say, we are Greater Than AIDS.

You have a production company, Flypaper Entertainment, with Carol Ann Shine, who you worked with on Punks. Does that give you some freedom to create stories that aren’t out there?

Yes. Carol and I are as different as night and day but alike in that we take our differences and create stories that reach out to all types of people. Stories with impact and meaning that show reflections of faces and lives on the silver screen we don’t usually see. We look beyond the apparent to the hidden, the surprising, and the story that you might pass in the blink of an eye and miss a lifetime of wonder. Different types of heroes who more broadly reflect those around us of every hue and belief.

You’re a diplomatic goodwill ambassador from Gambia, the smallest country in Africa.

 His Excellency President Yahya Abdul-Azziz Jemus Junkung Jammeh invited me to Gambia for an official state visit. The purpose was to build a bridge of art and communication between the people of Africa and African-Americans, to develop communication via storytelling that creates a commonality of language and emotion so that we change perceptions, break down stereotypes, and create new opportunities. This action may take time, but all involved are dedicated to making it happen.

You did a DNA test a few years ago. What did you learn?

My DNA test was from my mother’s chromosomes. I utilized AfricanAncestry.com to run my test. I discovered I was from the Yoruba tribe in Nigeria. My new name, given during a ceremony in September 2011 in New York City at a gathering of the Nigerian tribes, is Omobowale (“the child returns home”) Adunbarin (“a man of the people”). I learned more about my heritage and ancestry and have shared that amazing experience with my family and my fans. Recently I took another trip with my mother, my girlfriend actress Maya Gilbert, and her mother to Nigeria and the Ivory Coast. This was a first-time trip for our mothers, and it was an experience that left us all speechless with wonder. We were able to celebrate the current talent in Nigeria as I awarded the best director prize and Maya the best leading actress award at the Africa International Film Festival.

Why was it important to find out about your heritage?
Everyone should know about their past, their legacy, the accomplishments of our forefathers, and the accomplishments of our living relatives in Africa. [It offers] a richness of life that expands one’s heart and mind beyond the borders of the United States.

You probably did a lot of odd jobs to support yourself before your acting career really took off. What was the worst one?

 Everyone has that one job that teaches us how to dream, appreciate, and to never look back but keep on getting up when reaching for the dreams leaves us beaten. For me that job was the grocery store night stocker clerk, aisle 25, dog food. Dog food cans explode in the heat. There was a lot of work each night. Second job was a cow lot where I would shovel shit for compost all day in the heat and sun. Both jobs taught me humility, patience, and commitment. I had made a goal at the start of that summer and I did it. I bought a car and have been driving toward the future ever since.

Bisexual Women and Gay Men at Higher Risk for Intimate Partner Violence

Bisexual women and gay men face elevated risks of intimate partner violence, according to a new Williams Institute report published in the Journal of Interpersonal Violence.
“As Congress considers reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act and we reflect on Domestic Violence Awareness Month, our report’s findings highlight that these issues also impact the LGBT community,” said Naomi G. Goldberg, MPP, who created the report along with Ilan H. Meyer, Ph.D., senior scholar for public policy at the Williams Institute.
Among the key findings:
* Bisexual women had elevated risks of experiencing intimate partner violence compared with heterosexual women, lesbians, and women who have sex with women over the course of the lives and in the past year. But significantly, in 95% of intimate partner violence annual incidents reported by bisexual women, the perpetrator was a male intimate partner, so the violence occurred outside a same-sex relationship.
* Gay men had elevated risk of experiencing intimate partner violence compared with heterosexual and bisexual men, as well as men who have sex with men but do not identify as gay or bisexual. Almost all (97%) of the annual incidents of intimate partner violence incidents occurring to male victims involved a male intimate partner.
* Binge drinking and a history of psychological distress predicted intimate partner violence, but these factors did not explain disparities between bisexual and heterosexual women or between gay and heterosexual men.
The researchers’ findings are based on a 2007-2008 sample of the California Health Interview Survey. The authors compared patterns of intimate partner violence among four groups: heterosexual men and women, bisexual men and women, gay men and lesbians, and men and women who have had sex with members of the same gender but are not identified as gay, lesbian, or bisexual. The study defined intimate partner violence as physical and verbal abuse, or threats of physical abuse, by a current or former wife, husband, boyfriend, girlfriend, or someone else an individual has lived with or dated.

A Drug That Prevents HIV?

The Food and Drug Administration in July approved the prescription drug Truvada for use in HIV prevention, making it the first medication OK’d for preventing, not just treating, HIV. Truvada is already widely used to treat HIV, but studies have indicated that it can help keep people from contracting the virus. The FDA approved its use by HIV-negative people who are at high risk of acquiring HIV.

“Today’s approval marks an important milestone in our fight against HIV,” said FDA commissioner Margaret Hamburg, MD. “Every year, about 50,000 U.S. adults and adolescents are diagnosed with HIV infection, despite the availability of prevention methods and strategies to educate, test, and care for people living with the disease. New treatments as well as prevention methods are needed to fight the HIV epidemic in this country.”

The FDA is changing the warning literature boxed with Truvada to emphasize that those using it for prevention need to be confirmed as HIV-negative and tested for the virus every three months. The agency is also starting a training and education program to help doctors inform their patients about the necessity of adhering to the recommended dose, engaging in safer-sex practices, receiving counseling, and getting tested regularly as well as their small but real risk of still contracting HIV while on the drug.

Some doctors have already been prescribing Truvada off-label for prevention to the HIV-negative partner of an HIV-positive person, but they did so at their own discretion. FDA approval now allows its maker, Gilead Sciences, to explicitly market the drug for the purpose of prevention. Truvada, a combination of the drugs Emtriva (emtricitabine) and Viread (tenofovir), is one of the class of drugs called nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors, so called for the way in which it suppresses replication of HIV in infected people.

AIDS activists and service providers were not universally enthusiastic about Truvada’s approval for preventive use, expressing concerns about adherence, side effects, and declining condom use. Michael Weinstein, president of the Los Angeles–based AIDS Healthcare Foundation, issued a statement calling the action “completely reckless and a move that will ultimately set back years of HIV prevention efforts.”

Numerous others, however, said Truvada for prevention is a necessary additional weapon in the fight against HIV. It “won’t end AIDS by itself, but we certainly can’t end the HIV epidemic without it,” San Francisco AIDS Foundation spokesman James Loduca told the San Francisco Chronicle.

Memphis Moves Forward on Law Protecting Gay City Employees

Gay city employees in Memphis, Tenn. are breathing easier as the City Council moved forward on an ordinance protecting them from being fired for their sexual orientation.
The ordinance initially passed 7-5, but will take a month before its officially law, as officials gather information on the bill's affect on the city charter. Before the ordinance, the city did not have any law on the books that specifically protected city employees from discrimination based on age, race, gender or sexual orientation. The new legislation will not affect transgender employees. A bill passed by Republican Tennessee governor Bill Haslam last year made it nearly impossible for state municipalities to pass protections for LGBT people that go beyond what the state offers in nondiscrimination protections, which is none. Haslam's bill, though, was not so far-reaching that it banned cities, towns, and counties from protecting its own employees from being fired or passed over for promotions because of who they are.

Pocatello to Ban Discrimination Against Gays

Pocatello, Idaho, the city made famous by Judy Garland's "Born in a Trunk" from her 1954 musical A Star is Born, may become the second city in the sate to ban discrimination in housing and employment based on sexual orientation, according to NPR.
The lack of statewide protections has impacted the LGBT citizens of the largely conservative and heavily Mormon city. Susan Matsuura, director of the city’s Human Relations Advisory Committee, told NPR that she's heard stories of people who've had to take extraordinary caution to keep their housing.
“People who are doing their best to hide their living situation, and who brought in extra furniture and made it look like they were just roommates,” Matsuura said. “I mean, I wouldn’t want to have my comings and goings scrutinized by my neighbors.”
Jessica Robinson reported that the city council voted unanimously to draft the anti-discrimination ordinance, and, so far, it faces little opposition.