An inanimate child’s toy becomes the source of family crisis in the new gay-themed play “The Boy and the Pink Bear,” making its world premiere June 20 here in Atlanta.
The second play by local writer Ted Johnson turns on an innocent act: A five-year-old African-American boy starts playing with a beloved possession, a pink bear. His father, Jake, does not react well, projecting that this means that the kid will grow up to become gay.
What Jake doesn’t realize initially is that his brother Bill is dealing with his own household issues – his star football player son is involved with another man. The two brothers do not have a strong relationship and there’s an eventual tragedy before the entire family is able to come together and make some sort of peace.
“The Boy and the Pink Bear” is based on a real experience where Johnson’s own son — 16 months old at the time — started playing with a pink bear.
Although LGBT-themed productions are something of a rarity the next few months in the ATL, the upcoming theater season nonetheless has some snap to it.
One of the plays with a gay character in it is Horizon Theatre’s “The Book Club Play” (May 17 – June 23) by playwright Karen Zacarias, in which the leader of a book club discovers that she and the members of the group — including a gay man — are being featured in a documentary, and the camera is always running. Directed by Jeff Adler, the comedy has a great cast including Wendy Melkonian.
Several of Atlanta’s popular LGBT directors are busy this season. Heidi S. Howard, the openly lesbian new artistic director of 7 Stages, is directing “Lady Lay” (April 25 – May 19).
For the last three and a half years, my husband Preppy and I have shared our home with Daisy, a Jack Russell beagle. The breed is called Jackabees by some, but not by us. Not everything needs to be a damn portmanteau, people. Sometimes we can just expend the effort and utter multiple words. Preppy has a very healthy relationship with Daisy, in that he treats her like a dog.
Me? I’m not quite so adamant about labels like “human” and “dog.” I don’t have a pet as much as a cohort — someone to sit on the couch and watch “Mad Men” with while we eat a whole bunch of carrots. When we are alone, I turn on my favorite music from high school and we dance. When I see Daisy eating a sock, I take her picture and put it on Instagram.
When Preppy gets up to go to work, she moves from the end of the bed to his pillow. I wake up to her staring at me. I have no idea how long she lies there waiting. Preppy finds that unsettling. I think it is conclusive evidence that I am Daisy’s favorite person in the whole world. She is totally my best friend.
The U.S. Supreme Court hears arguments in two cases this month that could decide the course of the fight for marriage equality for a generation.
The Supreme Court will hear a challenge to Proposition 8, the ballot measure that ended same-sex marriage in California, on March 26.
“This case is about the fundamental constitutional right of every American to marry the person they love,” said Adam Umhoefer, executive director of the American Foundation for Equal Rights, which represents two gay couples challenging the law.
Both a federal district court and a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals have already found the measure unconstitutional.
What’s at stake as the U.S. Supreme Court takes up same-sex marriage
Janet reclined on her sofa on a Saturday evening. Her partner of 15 years, Beth, was in the kitchen making dinner – fried tofu with kimchi and organic green beans cultivated on a local farm called Ye Olde Bean Eden.
Beth shopped the Grant Park Farmers Market every Sunday in search of the perfect Brussels sprout or strawberry uncontaminated by deer feces swimming with E. coli.
Beth’s rather recent vegetarian diet drove Janet crazy and that was just one more reason she liked to eat out frequently with Robert. She could eat bloody red meat and not hear about the horrors of factory farming.
LGBT Campus Pride ED says Chick-fil-A tax forms show no donations to ‘most divisive’ anti-gay groups
Atlanta-based fast food chain Chick-fil-A found itself in a world of controversy last year after reports surfaced that the company was funding anti-gay groups like Exodus International and Focus on the Family through the company's WinShape Foundation.
The controversy was only heightened when the company's President and COO Dan Cathy said Chick-fil-A was “guilty as charged” in opposing same-sex marriage rights. Cathy's comments sparked protests, counterprotests and a series of boycotts by LGBT activists.
But a new first-person column published today by Campus Pride Executive Director Shane Windmeyer suggests that the chicken chain's WinShape Foundation has suspended donations to groups that advocate against same-sex marriage rights.
Magazine launch, awards dinner to feature Scissor Sister Babydaddy
Retired rugby star and now full-time anti-bullying advocate Ben Cohen launches his new magazine and hosts a sports awards dinner in Atlanta on Wednesday — and informed sources say Babydaddy from the famed Scissor Sisters will be on hand to join in the celebrations.
The Compete Sports Diversity Awards and StandUp Magazine launch will be held together on Wednesday, Nov. 14, at TWELVE Atlantic Station, located at 361 17th St. NW, Atlanta, GA 30363. Tickets are still on sale for both events and can be purchased here. Nov. 14 also marks the Second Annual StandUp Day marking the anniversary of Cohen's father's death after he was killed trying to stand up for an employee who was being attacked.
From Cohen about the Second Annual StandUp Day:
My friend had the opportunity to attend the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte earlier this month, and I asked her to be my guest columnist and give some insight into what impacted her about the trip. These are her words: What has the Democratic Party done for us that we have never been able to do for ourselves?
During the three days of the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, nearly every major speech openly celebrated love, no matter whether that love comes in the form of two guys, two girls or a guy and a girl.
One after another, speakers walked up to the podium and found a way to remind gay voters that they are loved, accepted and needed by the Democratic Party.