Sundance Channel

Gay hip hop is here to stay: Syd tha Kid digs in

Paul Ohan — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 21:30:58 +0000

Last week, Odd Future affiliate, DJ, producer, singer, and overall badass Syd tha Kyd decided to do what young urban punks do in an interview, she flew off the handle giving her unedited opinions on the state of culture. And that’s a polite way to say Syd is frustrated at the lack of gay role models in urban music. She went as far as to question the legitimacy of Alicia Keys' marriage, along with Queen Latifah and Missy Elliot’s sexuality. “You know she loves her some bitches,” is an exact quote.

2012 New Year’s resolutions for a best girl friend

Alida Nugent — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 19:33:30 +0000

Happy 2012, everybody! It's the year the world might end, but as old "Lady Spears" might sing, until the world ends we’ve got to keep on dancing! However, in my case, dancing means trying to lose the ten pounds I gained after freebasing an entire turkey into my mouth on Thanksgiving. Or maybe trying to stop drinking because my body is starting to look like a leather shoe after the abundance of cocktails I've been slinging at it. However, forget about me. As a gay man’s best friend, there are a couple of NYE resolutions I’ve got to have to keep our relationship alive and flourishing, like a plant that is a gay best friend. Here are my top five:

Looking for that out NBA player

Paul Ohan — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 15:00:55 +0000

It’s a strange world we live in when TMZ Live is a source for discussions of social progress and political sound bites. I refer to the news, I mean entertainment source, when I want to verify rumors like the untimely demise of Jon Bon Jovi (false!). But when its daily show had Mark Cuban on, [...]

Top 10 gay commandments for girl friends

Alida Nugent — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 17:08:13 +0000

If you have a gay best friend, consider yourself lucky–they’re the best of the best. However, you should know that there are certain rules that come with such a friendship, certain rules that make or break even the best of friendships. Learn them here, now: Top 10 Gay Commandments for Girl Friends.

Our favorite, courageously gay viral videos

Alida Nugent — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 21:35:03 +0000

It's been a pretty good week for those of us obsessed with watching courageous kids kick ass on the internet. Nineteen-year-old Zach Wahls made a case for his two moms and reminded us all why Iowa rocks. Who doesn’t love a great speech for a great cause by a very smart young man? Meanwhile, over in California, 14-year-old Jonah Mowry lit up the internet with his vow to stand his ground in light of incessant bullying. Since we can’t just watch these videos over and over again (our neighbors have started to complain), we decided to take a trip down memory lane and list some of our other favorite gay videos. Do you remember them?

Ladies — Is your best friend turning you into a gay man?

Paul Ohan — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 15:08:48 +0000

The best parts of having a stylish gay man by your side are trusting his opinion to help create an outfit and taking his advice on handling new relationships. However, sexuality aside, your friend is still male and, by nature, has a different perspective on situations. So we’re sure blindly following his strong opinion can sometimes leave you wondering, is he turning me into gay man? Keep your head up for a couple tell tale signs and gauge whether or not your platonic paramour’s pointers have you teetering on the edge of an inadvertant sex change or not.

Top 10 Gay stereotypes that just need to stop

Alida Nugent — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 16:00:18 +0000

We see them television, we see them in movies, we see them in small-minded people who saw Will and Grace twice and have a sudden understanding of the gay community as a whole. Here are stereotypes we’re sick of seeing.

Top ten Hollywood dream couples

Alida Nugent — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 22:32:15 +0000

Okay, most of the people in this article are not couples, let alone gay. A girl, however, can dream and fantasize because the imagination is a wonderful thing where everybody is gay and nothing hurts. I'm no matchmaker, but I personally think these couples would be absolutely fabulous together, and perhaps just putting it out there to the cosmos will get a few of these fellas moving on up to the other side. I'm kidding. I'm the best matchmaker--me and Paul Rudd are perfect for each other!

Top 10 Tips for the Straight Girl at the Gay Club

Alida Nugent — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 17:00:42 +0000

Jared and Tenisha at the GWLBWLB premiere party in Nashville.

If you’re a girl like me, you’ve taken a Saturday night off from sitting in your sweatpants or going to the dive bar next door to talk to some ‘starving artist’ that will never call you. Instead, you pregame heavily with your Mr. Right Gay and take a 20 dollar cab to his favorite gay club, where you watch him flirt with a sea of mostly shirtless men to dance remixes of Robyn. Believe me, it’s not a sacrifice. However, if you’re a newbie to the whole ‘straight lady in a gay pond’ thing, you might need a couple of tips on how to maximize your night of fun. Check out these Top 10 pointers for the Gay Clubbin' Straight Girl.

Decriminalizing gay: Belize with a ‘Z’, like Liza

Paul Ohan — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 20:10:27 +0000

Before today, the only way Belize was ever topical was when I was discussing chic places to escape winter with my nouveau riche fashion friends. Inevitably the eco-resort off its coast where the petit bourgeois, and Tiger Woods, go to getaway from the drama, came up. But now it seems the former British colony is going to be the test case for progressive politics on a global level as its court prepares to hear an argument to decriminalize homosexuality. Belize is poised to be the Tunisia of a Gay Spring. As if there weren’t a cruising scene in that jungle already.

Will Country Music come out of the closet?

Chris Willman — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 15:00:36 +0000

A few years ago, Willie Nelson released an iTunes single called “Cowboys are Frequently Secretly Fond of Each Other.” As a novelty tune prompted by the popularity of BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN, it hardly represented a serious attempt to introduce gay subject matter into country music. But, in its own jocular way, it did break through a verboten barrier for the genre and cause some folks in Nashville to look around at each other and think: Just how many music-industry “cowboys” are we talking about here? And just how necessary is the secrecy?

Buckle Up, Bible Belt! Welcome To The Gay South

Paul Ohan — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 18:00:37 +0000

Thought you knew everything there was to know about the South? Well, it’s not all cotillion parties and gratuitous displays of your Second Amendment rights, though both are pretty fabulous in their own right. The Nashville cast of GIRLS WHO LIKE BOYS WHO LIKE BOYS is about to show us a kinder, gentler (OK, sometimes bitchier) side to living out and proud in the South.

Gay self-hating re-examined in new film

Michael Musto — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 20:57:31 +0000

Mart Crowley’s landmark play The Boys in the Band was first produced in 1968, a year before the Stonewall rebellion changed the face of modern gay movement with defiance and pride. In its bitchy and witty portrayal of a group of friends sharing dangerous New York party games that often verge on the sadistic and self-loathing, it represents a darker moment in gay identity—one the LGBT community has long wanted to turn its back on in shame. But enough time has passed that people are more willing to embrace the play (and the 1970 film version, directed by Wiliam Friedkin) as an important step forward in gay representation and catharsis. In fact, Boys has engendered so much new lovin’ that it’s the subject of a documentary, Crayton Robey‘s Making The Boys, coming out this month in an attempt to put the work in its proper historical place. As one of the talking heads in the film—along with Crowley, Edward Albee, Tony Kushner, and many more—I’m qualified to make several defenses of the original play.

Still Faithful

Bradford Shellhammer — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 19:05:31 +0000

I really have my sister Angie to blame for my homosexuality. Maybe not entirely. But I am sure she had a hand in it. Because the year was 1987 and she was a George Michael die-hard. She made me, and our entire house, dance to Michael's album Faith. Looking back through time it's obvious that Michael and I were nelly, nelly queens in 1987. But that was a different time. And a different place. And the world's most famous homosexual was actually a straight sex symbol.

Born This Way

Bradford Shellhammer — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 19:11:35 +0000

Born This Way may be the name of Lady Gaga’s upcoming album, but it is also the name of my absolute favorite new blog. Collecting the images of gay people’s childhood, the site, in a humorous way, shows that many gay people have been gay, gay, gay, gay for, um, basically forever. According to the [...]

Marvel Swimsuit Special

Bradford Shellhammer — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 18:45:22 +0000

The folks over at io9.com have an amazing visual slideshow of the Marvel Swimsuit issues, which were published in the early 90s. They're like Sports Illustrated's Swimsuit Issue. But with comic book heroes. They're also the gayest things I've ever seen. From io9.com:

The Marvel Swimsuit Specials were a unique breed of Nineties comic double-you-tee-effery. They took sober, serious superheroes and made them flaunt their décolletage and banana hammocks (more so than usual). Here's the ripest cheesecake we could find.

Beefcake Blog

Bradford Shellhammer — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 21:00:53 +0000

Michael Denison’s blog Male Models Vintage Beefcake is really fun to get lost in. The blog is “dedicated to photographs of our favorite vintage beefcake photographers and models” and Denison does not dissapoint. Their is plenty of penis there too, so be careful as you click from work. What I find most remarkable about the [...]

SEDUCE ME gets queer

Bradford Shellhammer — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 19:43:53 +0000

WATCH NEW EPISODES OF SEDUCE ME HERE Crossing an iconic actress, who has always fallen far outside the Hollywood norm, with the concept of animal mating habits sounds like tricky business. But like most genius things in this world, on paper they may first seem strange. Unimaginable. Downright odd. And that was what I thought when I first heard of GREEN PORNO, Isabella Rossellini's opus of animal sex shorts. Since renamed SEDUCE ME, a much more PG choice, nothing has changed. It is still a wonderful and educational trip into biology as art. Rossellini deadpans as a spider or a deer and even tackles Noah and his arc in the new season, premiering today. And while I adore the simplicity of the paper costumes and sets and laugh at Isabella's spot-on acting (not too serious, but serious enough for, you know, a biology lesson), there is one thing I am super excited about in this season: it got really queer!

BUTT Relaunches

Bradford Shellhammer — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 21:22:31 +0000

Jop and Gert, the dynamic duo behind BUTT, the high-art/lowbrow magazine, are at it again. BUTT’s relaunched and it’s looking pretty rad. I especially love their Fag Maps. Yes, you read that correctly, FAG MAPS, an interactive map to various cities highlighting BUTT reporter’s favorite hangouts. According to those guys “starting today, this fabulous community [...]

Coming Out With SNL

Bradford Shellhammer — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 16:42:14 +0000

I could get all serious and talk about the recent gay suicides or NY Governor candidate Carl Paladino’s rant about gays. I could lament our loss earlier this year regarding Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (or celebrate yesterday’s victory). But instead, in honor of this past Monday, National Coming Out Day, I will just let you [...]

Lady Gaga asks for the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell

Sundance Channel — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 20:03:42 +0000

In the clip, Gaga addresses several senators by name — including Republicans John McCain, Kentucky’s Mitch McConnell and Oklahoma’s James Inhofe — and asks them to vote in favor of the Defense Authorization Bill, which includes language that would repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” She says: “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” is a law that was [...]

A sad day for the gays

Bradford Shellhammer — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 19:54:06 +0000

If you look at my Facebook account you’d think that the recession never hit us gays. One glimpse at my newsfeed and you’ll find many a fairy gallivanting around the globe like peacocks with charge cards and speedos. One good thing about being gay: no children to feed during harsh economic times. But then, this [...]

Gay Pride: things we Love Love

Sundance Channel — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 01:40:22 +0000

To celebrate Gay Pride all month this June, we’ve assembled a great collection of films, documentaries and series that celebrate the diversity that makes our world a better place. We call it LOVE LOVE – and we hope you have as much fun celebrating love in all its forms, shapes and colors as we do. [...]

Reply To This Post

Bradford Shellhammer — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 17:38:38 +0000

Gay men will find sex anywhere. Just look the saunas and bathhouses across the world. Remember the celebrities, and politicians, caught in public urinals. And think of the myriad of sex sites out there on the internet. We don’t all cruise for sex. But I’m betting a huge percentage of us does. Craigslist has always [...]

Fabulis videos

Bradford Shellhammer — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 22:10:23 +0000

As someone who is a shameless self-promoter I have no issue whatsoever in showing SUNfiltered readers the videos I have been collecting over at my day job. I recently became Creative Director of a soon-to-launch gay networking site, fabulis. In the months ramping up to the launch we asked gay men across the country to make videos asking "what makes you fabulis?" What started as simple exercise has turned into a remarkable collection.

21 years later: Erasure’s The Innocents

Bradford Shellhammer — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 16:03:26 +0000

The duo of Andy Bell and Vince Clarke have been making techno-pop for decades now. Formed in the mid-80s after Clarke's successful turns in both Depeche Mode and Yaz, Erasure never quite got the respect they deserved. Which is odd for a band that has scored multi-platinum albums on both sides of the Atlantic.

How to butch up your gay son this Halloween

Bradford Shellhammer — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 20:05:10 +0000

How To Find A Masculine Halloween Costume For Your Effeminate Son The Onion is rather hit-or-miss these days. But the above video really made me laugh. And as a gay guy, who was once an effeminate little boy, it also resonated. All over this great land of ours on Saturday night moms and dads will [...]

Vanity Smurf and other queer cartoons

Bradford Shellhammer — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 18:16:10 +0000

As a child of the 80s I was obsessed with three things: Cyndi Lauper, Madonna, and Vanity Smurf. Um, yeah. You do the math. Out Magazine has listed the The Gayest Cartoon Characters of all time. And, yes, Vanity Smurf is represented on the list.

Absolutly no label

Bradford Shellhammer — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 17:23:33 +0000

Absolut has never been a stranger to courting gay dollars. The Swedish vodka maker featured Keith Haring in ads in 1981 long before marketing teams saw dollar signs at Gay Pride rallies. I don’t care for the stuff (strictly a Ketle One drinker here), but I have always admired their ad campaigns and attitude. Very, [...]

Steak house or gay bar?

Bradford Shellhammer — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 14:30:09 +0000

JRs? Social House? The Dug Out? Do these fine establishments sound like your local gay bar? Or your neighborhood steak house? Hmm. Since you’re only one day into the week and already cruising blogs rather than focusing on your work, I suggest this site as a way to spend (waste) your time. It lists the [...]

Bear love: Grizzly Bear fan animates new video

Bradford Shellhammer — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 14:37:00 +0000

Two Weeks – Grizzly Bear from Gabe Askew on Vimeo. The gay indie rock band Grizzly Bear are darlings of the press and members of Radiohead consider them the best band in the world. While not your typical gay music, the band’s songs are layered and melodic and float in beautiful ways. It’s complex pop-rock [...]

Iconic gay film roles: After Elton’s list

Bradford Shellhammer — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 16:42:50 +0000

Since Sundance Channel shows so many GLBT-themed films, I’d be remiss to not point out After Elton’s recent list of iconic gay movie roles. They based their inclusions on cultural significance and cultural impact, spotlighting “10 performances that we believe changed the popular perception of gay men in some important ways.” The list is thorough [...]

Bat/Boy love

Bradford Shellhammer — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 21:20:39 +0000

Thanks to the folks over at World of Wonder we finally have proof of what most gays have presumed for years. Now if only someone somewhere would make this movie.

G.I. Joe characters brought out of the closet

Bradford Shellhammer — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 17:54:59 +0000

Many thirtysomething men are anxiously awaiting today’s release of GI JOE: THE RISE OF COBRA. We grew up in the 80s, obsessed with the action figures, and the film offers another chance to feel young again. While GI JOE is a macho Hollywood film, the toys themselves were always a bit homo. Think about it. Action figures? [...]

Green meets gay: Seattle’s OUT for Sustainability

Jeff McIntire-Strasburg — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 19:58:44 +0000

From Queer Eye for the Straight Guy to Bruno, the portrayal of gay men and other members of the LGBT community in popular culture almost always include a healthy dose of materialism/consumerism. Seattle's OUT for Sustainability doesn't necessarily exist to challenge those stereotypes, but its mission of "[bringing] the LGBT community together with social and environmental sustainability" could have that effect.

The other penguin

Bradford Shellhammer — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 13:58:07 +0000

Gay penguins everywhere must be upset over the news out of San Francisco this week. Harry and Pepper, once a happily coupled gay duo, have split up according to zoo officials. And no, the reason does not seem to be another man. Another woman has gotten between the love birds.

A Dilettante’s Dispatch: Paris Couture

Sundance Channel — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 21:12:09 +0000

A Dilettante’s Dispatch is a series of posts from a jet-setting friend of ours, Arturo. Watch for more in the coming days. Just got in to Paris for my first couture, eating a croque monsieur on Charlot, admiring the cute scrawny French boys (though really wanting the fresh, curly haired and slightly brawny youth covering the street in tar).

Gay Icons: portraits selected by Elton John, Billie Jean King, Alan Hollinghurst and more

Bradford Shellhammer — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 19:02:25 +0000

Last week in London the National Portrait Gallery launched the exhibit “Gay Icons,” a collection of portraits selected by a diverse group of gay who’s who: Elton John, Billie Jean King, and Alan Hollinghurst among them. Their selections are broad, including “include artists Francis Bacon and David Hockney; writers Daphne du Maurier and Quentin Crisp; [...]

Premiering Bruno

Bradford Shellhammer — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 18:41:26 +0000

Sacha Baron Cohen, the mastermind behind Borat, this week unleashes the limp-wristed Bruno on theatregoers everywhere. While some gays are upset at the portrayal of the super-effeminate character, I feel just the opposite. Cohen’s act is obviously done with love, much like a drag queen’s lampooning of a woman. It’s an homage, not a mockery. Bruno has [...]

Scanwiches

Bradford Shellhammer — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 17:40:39 +0000

This weekend is Gay Pride in NYC and many a gay have been on that water and Tic-Tac diet for sometime in preparation. Not so, apparently, among my circle of friends. My boyfriend, who if he did not work out religiously would easily become a bear, just sent me this link to Time Out New York's article on NYC's best looking sandwiches.

Ugly porno

Bradford Shellhammer — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 20:44:46 +0000

Michael Lucas, the flamboyant Russian-American porn mogul, will soon be heading mainstream with a walk-on role on ABC's hit Ugly Betty. Not cast in the traditional sense, and no, I do not mean on the director's couch either, Lucas simply bought his way onto the show.

The hanky code

Bradford Shellhammer — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 21:02:07 +0000

Just doing my bit around here to prepare you for all the upcoming Gay Pride events throughout the month of June. And there's no better way to prep for such an event than to really learn the hanky code.

Gay for dummies: bears

Bradford Shellhammer — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 19:45:33 +0000

In an effort to educate the straight masses and promote the gay agenda across as many platforms as possible today, we debut a new feature for the month of June, Gay Pride month: Gay for Dummies. This is the 2nd installment.

A time to rage and resist

Bradford Shellhammer — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 18:50:48 +0000

Yesterday I wrote about the meaning of the rainbow flag to the gay community and its origins. So it seems rather appropriate that today I stumbled upon this fantastic video of Gilbert Baker, the creator of the rainbow pride flag.

Somewhere over the rainbow

Bradford Shellhammer — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 18:41:03 +0000

Rainbow flags are flying high this month, not only on this blog, but also in cities across the world. Gwendolyn Horton over at Design Notes, my former home, explains the origin and design of the striped symbol of freedom.

Big, gay and sprinkled

Bradford Shellhammer — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 20:53:21 +0000

If lucky enough to spend your days sunning yourself on the Christopher Street piers you may hear the familiar jingle of an ice cream truck in the not too far distance. Only this one's probably playing Judy Garland.

All in the family

Bradford Shellhammer — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 19:15:59 +0000

Cher's long been an icon to the gay community. She embraced camp from the beginning of her career. She was inappropriately sexy at ages most retire. She embraced disco, and later, house, music originated in gay nightclubs. And there are countless drag queens who owe a bit of inspiration to this lady. Hell, all drag queens have been inspired by her in one way or another.

Boys beware

Bradford Shellhammer — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 20:00:56 +0000

The short film BOYS BEWARE, made in 1961, is an anti-gay PSA directed by Sid Davis. It is proof that we've come such a long way in the struggle for equality. It would also make me angry, that is, if it was not so damn funny. Beware!

Gay animal kingdom

Matthew Rodriguez — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 17:00:52 +0000

While the issue of same sex relationships ruffles the feathers of various tribes among the supposedly higher brain functioning bipedal primate sub species of homo sapiens, this is barely a controversy in the rest of the animal kingdom who seem to all shrug their collective shoulders or fins or wings at gay and lesbian lifestyles. Scienceray lists ten animals comfortable with same sex partnerships.

Gay challenge

Perrin Drumm — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 17:30:04 +0000

At a flea market last week I stumbled upon this little item. I’m not sure what caught my eye more, the hard bodied day laborers or the price tag (Seriously flea market vendor, $20 a yard? You can get it for much less at eQuilter), but it seems that I also inadvertently stumbled upon a quilting subculture.