My, My, My. Isn’t it inspiring to see all those religious leaders in Jerusalem of the Christian, Muslim and Jewish faiths united in common cause. And were they united against, for example, AIDS, or world poverty or war? No, no, no—they were standing firm against the hideous threat of a … gay pride parade. The NY Times (3/31) quoted Hagai El-Ad, the head of a group sponsering the parade and a gay pride festival as saying he’d never seen such ‘… an attempt to globalize biogotry.’
The Wasington Post (3/28) had a long portrait of Sgt. Brett Parson, the head of the D.C. police Gay and Lesbian Unit. Brett and his squad partners are not only liaisons, but real investigative and protective officers who can, and do, arrest law-breakers. Parson, who among other things teaches ‘Gay 101’, an intro to gay life, to other cops, has something of an attitude. When Japanese tourists asked him what was going on as they watched hundreds of men in chaps and biker caps parade by for a leather convention, Parson told them ‘The inauguration.’ When Parson first joined the force in 1994 as an openly gay officer, someone taped heterosexual porn to his locker. He taped gay porn on all 375 lockers in his squad house. He has become virtually a 24-hour hotline for gay people in distress and has equal numbers of commendations and citizen complaints against him. Parson says aggressive policing brings complaints. Parson barely has the time to see his partner (as in boyfriend), a jazz pianist, Cris Grasso. Parson, widely recognized, is practically a gay sheriff to gay Washington. A number of other cities, Atlanta, Philadelphia and Chicago have liaison officers to the gay comunity but none have a separate squad like Parson’s.
Concept Alert! Concept Alert! How about a film which shows real lesbians playing real lesbians? The new flic Girl Play as least steps in that direction, though it may be a tish talkative. The film seems to be a critique of L Word-like depictions in which lesbians appear as lusty supermodels (or vice versa) who never seem to advance to monogamous pairing. Apparently catering to popular tastes, many lesbian portraits are all chase, no catch (at least past the bedroom). The review in The NY Times (4/1) says even this movie is ‘… too soft, too kittenish’ and recommends that film and TV producers ought to go directly to ‘… the caustic musings of Marga Gomez and other lesbian comics’ … who transmit the frenzy and outrage that Girl Play lacks.