| The Pridelets Files for June 26
by
Thomas Allen Heald
ON THIS DAY
On this day in 1992, on ABC's 'One Life to Live', 16-year-old Billy
Douglas talks with Reverend Andrew Carpenter, telling him he's the new
kid in town; his parents don't understand him; he feels trapped and
lonely. Oh, and he's also gay -- thus becoming daytime TV's first gay
teenager.
His coming out does not go smoothly as the (straight) priest comforts
him and the revelation is witnessed by eavesdropping town bad-girl
Marty, who's been spurned by the Reverend. Marty will thus accuse the
town preacher of being gay and "recruiting Billy."
The show's producers tell "Entertainment Weekly" that "in July,
Llanview's emotions will flare when the minister's kindness to Billy
sparks a whispering campaign that leads to ostracism, gay bashing, and
vandalism. As the story line continues through Labor Day, we will not
flinch from the ugliness of it. It will bring out the very worst in some
people, their cruelest impulses. It's quite a challenge."
By the time the plot winds down, it will also includes a TV visit from
the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt.
The storyline garners much critical acclaim, with most of the praise
going to the acting of Billy's 17-year-old portrayer Ryan Phillippe.
BIRTHGAYS (and the occasional straights)
* 1550 - French king Charles IX
* 1869 - Anarchist / feminist / writer / "dancer" Emma Goldman
* 1941 - Virginia Apuzzo -- As an openly gay lesbian delegate to the
Democratic National Convention, Apuzzo co-authored the first gay and
lesbian civil rights plank of a major political party.
* 1970 - Publicly asexual over-actor Sean Hayes
Q.UOTE
"I'm all for guys being butch and guys being men. I identify with that
and appreciate that. But if I'm going to stab my gay brother in the back
who isn't butch and who maybe acts a little bit more effeminate, what
good is that?" -- Kyan Douglas
THE BEDSIDE TABLE
"Anarchism and Other Essays" by Emma Goldman
This work is the classic collection of Emma Goldman essays which were originally published in 1910. Emma Goldman is widely known as the first major female radical and became the female face of leftist politics in the early 20th century. Anarchism and Other Essays should be read by anyone interested in early works on women's rights or the origins of leftist female politics. includes "Marriage and Love," "The Hypocrisy of Puritanism," "The Traffic in Women," Anarchism," and "The Psychology of Political Violence."
This work is copyright© 2007 Thomas Allen Heald, all rights reserved.
Additional material provided by publishers. Contact the author at
tom@idontgetit.org. Archives, and the latest column, are always
available at www.Pridelets.com.
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Originally published on Tuesday June 26, 2007.
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