Talk Magazine (12/-1/1/02) in an article “Requiem for a Heavyweight” delves deeply into the life of New York fire department chaplain Mychal Judge, who was gay. Father Judge, who was killed at ground zero, has already become an icon of sorts because of the picture of his body being carried away from the World Trade Center. The chaplain made no bones about being gay, but followed the Vatican rules, and was celibate. (The other vows of the Franciscans, his order, are poverty and obedience, which he also followed.) At age 68 he was on the verge of taking up roller-blading, and did go dancing in the Village in the company of men. Because his order does not report directly to the local hierarchy, he welcomed the gay Catholic group Dignity to Franciscan headquarters when New York Cardinal John O’Connor expelled them from diocesan property. Judge, in his Franciscan habit, marched with the gay Irish group Lavender and Green in the first inclusive St. Patrick’s Day parade. “Donations given to him by crusty Hibernians had a way of ending up in gay and lesbian coffers.” And lest there be any doubt about his gayness, listen to a quote from a friend and fellow priest at Father Mike’s funeral: [On the morning of 9/11] “He jumped up took off his habit, got his uniform on, and I have to say this in case you think he’s perfect—he did take time to comb and spray his hair.”
The Chicago Tribune (11/9) in its on-going obits on WTC victims reports the death of Luke Dudek, domestic partner of 24 years of George Cuellar. Dudek was a food and beverage controller at Windows On the World, the restaurant on the 106th floor of One World Trade Center.
You are no doubt relieved to hear via USA Weekend (11/24) that Jonathan Taylor Thomas (formerly the son on Home Improvement), now 20, says he is not gay. He said this to The Advocate after playing a gay teen in Common Ground and a bisexual hustler in Speedway Junkie. Perhaps if there was a straight boy in some of his roles people wouldn’t wonder.
Several movies to watch for from The NY Times (11/16) : The Fluffer takes up where Boogie Nights left off. A fluffer, by the way, is the—ahem— techie who keeps the stars of male porn up and running, so to speak. Movie #2 from India, called Bombay Eunuch, is about that country’s hijras, castrated men who dress as women. They once officiated at births and weddings but are now high-priced street-walkers and/or debt collectors.
The Chicago Tribune (10/24) had an extensive article on gay aging. It estimated that of the 35 million Americans 65 and older, 1 to 3 million are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgendered. Many of the gay elderly face problems now, says John Yoakam, chair of the Lesbian and Gay Aging Issues Network, because of how discreet they’ve had to be living through WWII and McCarthyism. There is also much heterosexism in medicine, a built-in bias against gays. There are still legal problems, since lesbigays cannot legally marry—if partners become ill, doctors may not even talk to the ill person’s partner. There are few social services for elderly gays, and many gay people resort to organizing their own support systems. Remember AIDS circa 1980??