Yiddish Muzikalisher Tango

Metropolitan Klezmer's "Yiddish Celluloid Closet" version of Muzikalisher Tango. Live band footage intercuts with pivotal revelatory moments in the nightclub scene of Yiddish screwball comedy "American Matchmaker" [Americaner Schadchen, 1940]. This bittersweet lyric from the film is revealed to have a coming-out subtext, and while onscreen text elucidates some of the film's wordplay and plot twists, the band plays fabulous horn section and accordion solos in the octet's arrangement of the same song. Leo Fuchs plays dapper closet case Nat Gold in the original soundtrack version, meeting his matchmaking client (Judith Abarbanel) at a swank New York nightclub. Director Edgar Ulmer and his cast enjoy plenty of onscreen in-jokes, even feygele triple entendres. The "musical" tango can be enjoyed on many levels... an homage to Vito Russo's original 'Celluloid Closet.'

Band:
Deborah Karpel, vocals
Ismail Butera, accordion
Debra Kreisberg, alto saxophone
Pam Fleming, trumpet
J. Walter Hawkes, trombone
Michael Hess, violin
Dave Hofstra, upright bass
Eve Sicular, drums

Videography by Bill Poznanski a.k.a.
Bill Imprint
Additional camera by Sasha Wortzel
Edited by Rich Brotman & Eve Sicular, facilities by Magnetic Post Production

Deu no New York Times: hotel em Buenos Aires disse que aceita também heterossexuais

Buenos Aires Journal

In Macho Argentina, a New Beacon for Gay Tourists

Joao Pina for The New York Times

Mauricio Urbides, above left, and his friends spend an evening at the Axel Hotel in Buenos Aires.
The Axel is the first luxury hotel in Latin America designed to cater to gay customers

By ALEXEI BARRIONUEVO

The New York Times

BUENOS AIRES — Home to the sexy tango and strapping meat-eaters, this South American capital has long been thought of as a bastion of macho attitudes. But a new hotel here is adding to the city’s growing image as a bastion of gay-friendliness.

The Axel Hotel, a Spanish import that opened in November, has come to symbolize Buenos Aires’s increasingly aggressive effort to court gay dollars and euros. It is Latin America’s first luxury hotel built exclusively with gay customers in mind.

That Buenos Aires would be chosen for such a marketing experiment is a result of a marked change over the past several years in the acceptance of gay men and lesbians in Argentine society. This city of three million people has come a long way from the years of military dictatorship, when being openly gay could lead to jail. Five years ago this was the first major Latin American city to legalize same-sex unions, and this summer it was host to a World Cup for gay soccer players, a first in the region.

“There is so much more freedom these days,” said Mauricio Urbides, a 28-year-old fashion designer, who sipped red wine with two male friends at the hotel recently. “You see gays on television here, in government. Just 15 years ago it was a completely different situation.”

The three friends were among a mixed crowd of homosexuals and heterosexuals who laughed as Kyra and Sharon, drag queens from Barcelona, Spain, poked fun at Argentina’s president-elect, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, and sang a Marilyn Monroe-inspired “Happy Birthday to You” to a male guest.

In other parts of the world, like the Castro district in San Francisco, gay people have struggled recently to maintain a cultural presence in the face of gentrification. Buenos Aires has no traditional gay neighborhood, but acceptance of gay people has slowly grown. The first gay bar here opened in 1983. In 1992 President Carlos Menem signed a decree promising equal legal protection for gay men and women.

Argentine social mores began loosening in the 1990s, when the pegging of the peso to the dollar gave Argentines more spending power, allowing many to travel abroad. “People traveled and found there were other ways of living that were completely different than what they were used to,” Mr. Urbides said.

After Argentina plunged into economic chaos in late 2001, discrimination based on sexual orientation seemed to many like a petty concern. “When people are eating out of garbage cans it really doesn’t matter if you are gay or not,” said Osvaldo Bazán, a journalist and the author of “History of Homosexuality in Argentina From the Conquest of America to the 21st Century.”

The devalued currency made Buenos Aires a relative bargain for Western tourists, including many who are gay and like the city’s European sophistication. In recent years marketers have more aggressively sought to promote the city as a gay tourist destination. Gay tango bars and wine shops have sprouted up, and a new “friendly card” helps travelers and local residents alike to get discounts at gay-friendly shops and restaurants.

Travel industry experts estimate that about 20 percent of the tourists here are gay — 300,000 a year — and they spend $600 million here annually.

Even as tourism has been flourishing, so, too, has local gay activism. It was young gay rights advocates who successfully pushed to legalize same-sex unions, despite resistance from the Roman Catholic Church. At the end of November the lower house of Congress in Uruguay, Argentina’s neighbor, legalized homosexual unions there, too. If the Senate approves the law, Uruguay would be one of only six countries with such a law. Advocates in Argentina, meanwhile, are pushing Congress to extend health benefits to gay couples.

Argentina’s more liberal treatment of sexual orientation on television has also stoked acceptance. Florencia de la Vega, who is transsexual, made a splash when she played a transvestite in the 2004 soap opera “Los Roldán.” In 2005 the dating show “12 Corazones — Especial” featured gay men who kissed on camera.

Yet some visitors still complain of homophobic treatment, said Marcelo Suntheim, secretary of the Community of Homosexuals in Argentina, an activist group. He said the group received three complaints this year from gay couples who said hotel concierges in Buenos Aires “asked them not to kiss in the lobby because children were present.”

So some local residents say they hope that the Axel will offer another place where same-sex couples can feel more comfortable. The hotel, which has billed itself as “hetero-friendly,” is the second gay-themed hotel to be built by Juan Juliá, an entrepreneur from Barcelona, where the first Axel opened three years ago.

The 48-room Axel promotes itself as a place for fun, complete with a glass-bottomed rooftop pool, and free condoms. “We provide everything for you to have fun,” Mr. Juliá said. “Be safe, but have fun.”

He said he hoped the hotel became popular not only with tourists, but also with local Argentines who would see it as a place to socialize.

“The majority of the gay community is looking more and more for hetero-friendly places,” instead of exclusively gay places, said Luciano Fus, a 29-year-old translator who watched the drag queen show. “But this will be another after-work spot.”

Mr. Urbides said he would “definitely come back.” He smiled. “Especially if the hotel brings Madonna back to Buenos Aires, or better yet, if it brings Cher here.”

Vinod Sreeharsha contributed reporting.

Radar contra o preconceito

Time pioneiro brilhava na época em que o futebol feminino era proibido por lei

Gian Amato

Os sinais de que o futebol feminino poderia ser um sucesso foram captados pelo Radar na década de 80. Antes de Marta & Cia. conquistarem a medalha de ouro no Pan sob os olhares do Maracanã lotado, o time tinha sido tetracampeão carioca em 1986 diante de mais de cem mil pessoas no estádio.
Criado nas areias de Copacabana, o Esporte Clube Radar era sucesso absoluto durante uma fase de amadorismo total.
Proibidas por lei de praticarem o futebol, as jogadoras viviam quase na clandestinidade de um esporte que penou para chegar até a disputa da final de hoje, contra a Alemanha.

Apesar de a primeira partida internacional oficial ter sido disputada no século 19, entre Inglaterra e Escócia, no Brasil havia um decreto-lei, de 1941, que proibia “práticas de desportos não compatíveis à natureza feminina”, como futebol e até futebol de mesa.

Em 1978, a Holanda organizou um campeonato nacional com 26 clubes e tinha uma seleção. No Brasil, o esporte ainda era coisa de homem. Mas, quando o Radar surgiu, em 1981, o país descobriu que as mulheres também batiam um bolão. O advogado da CBF na época, Athos Pimentel, reconheceu a prática, mas ressaltou ser “atividade espúria, sujeita a medidas disciplinares do Código Desportivo”.

O Conselho Nacional de Desportos (CND), que regulamentou o decreto-lei, vetava a realização de jogos em estádios oficiais e só desistiu da norma em 1983, quando o Radar já tinha feito uma excursão pela Espanha, em 1982, durante a Copa do Mundo masculina.

O radar do CND detectou os novos tempos muito tarde. O Radar da praia captava os sinais das mudanças e revelou para o Rio a primeira craque: Pelezinha. Nascida no Lins, Marilsa Martins da Silva era uma jovem negra que media 1,60m, mas jogava futebol de gente grande. Recebia dez cartas por dia — a maioria de meninas.

Na sexta-feira, a CBF anunciou a criação da Copa do Brasil para mulheres.

Mas, em 1983, o Radar conquistava a primeira Taça Brasil. O time ficou com o título ao vencer o Goiás por 5 a 0 no campo do Olaria, na Rua Bariri, no primeiro campeonato oficial. A seis minutos do fim, o juiz Jorge Emiliano, o Margarida, foi agredido por Andréia, jogadora do Goiás. Com os gestos espalhafatosos que pontuaram sua carreira, ele expulsou todo o time e a partida acabou em pancadaria. O árbitro negou que tivesse dado um soco em uma jogadora, mas foi surpreendido ao saber que a imagem fora registrada pela TV.

— A tecnologia moderna me mata — disse ele na época.

Até a metade dos anos 80, o Radar disputou 135 jogos e sofreu uma derrota. Era o favorito no Mundialito de Cabo Frio.

Goleou a Argentina por 9 a 0, porém ficou com o vice ao empatar com a Alemanha em 1 a 1, no Estádio Alair Correa, o Correão, construído especialmente para o campeonato e que hoje é a sede da Cabofriense.

O fim da década trouxe a decadência. Sem estrutura, o Radar foi desfazendo o time aos poucos. Em 1991, a Fifa organizou o primeiro Mundial, iniciando a era do profissionalismo. Os anos 90 foram marcados pelas embaixadinhas de Milene Domingues, no Corinthians, e pela beleza de Susana Werner, do Fluminense. Em 1996, o Vasco foi campeão estadual com cinco jogadoras da seleção das Olimpíadas de Atlanta: Pretinha, Marta, Fanta, Suzi e Meg. O São Paulo foi o primeiro campeão brasileiro (torneio que existiu de 1998 a 2001), com Kátia Cilene, Sissi e Formiga. Na mesma época, Pretinha despontava no Vasco, hexacampeão carioca (1995 a 2000).

Antes da ressurreição no novo milênio, o futebol feminino enfrentou preconceitos e promessas desfeitas. Foi preciso chegar à final de um Mundial para renovar as esperanças de apoio e investimento. Vencendo hoje ou não, tudo que as meninas desejam é continuar aparecendo no radar do esporte brasileiro.

Mídia fácil

Nhenhenhém
coluna de Jorge Bastos Moreno
O Globo (para assinantes)

Lucrariam mais os líderes dos movimentos que defendem a homossexualidade se, em vez de ganharem mídia criticando senadores politicamente incorretos, os pressionassem a referendar o projeto aprovado pela Câmara contra a violência física aos gays, estagnado no Senado.

As estatísticas sobre violência provam ser essa uma pauta urgente e inadiável.

Dia desses, por exemplo, um jogador de futebol tentou assumir sua condição sexual, mas foi ameaçado de morte por torcedores do time.

O rapaz entrou em pânico, a ponto de ser obrigado a contratar uma namorada de aluguel dessas agências que normalmente servem a políticos que não saem do armário.

E fez pior: anunciou casamento e desejo de construir uma prole.

Existe violência pior que essa? Esse sim é um dos mais importantes projetos em defesa da homossexualidade que o Senado não quer votar.

Coluna de Ancelmo Gois - O Globo

Duas mães

A juíza Ivone Caetano, da Vara da Infância, autorizou, esta semana, a adoção de um menino de três anos por duas mulheres homossexuais. A juíza determinou ainda, em decisão inédita no Rio, que a certidão do menino tenha o nome das duas mães.
O casal estava lutando pela criança na Justiça desde 2005. Causa ganha pela defensora Eufrázia das Virgens.

Calma, boneca

Em carta à Associação Brasileira de Gays, Lésbicas, Bissexuais, Travestis e Transexuais, o senador Tasso Jereissati explicou que não quis ofender os homossexuais ao usar a expressão "calma, boneca", no bate boca com o colega Almeida Lima.
O tucano que recebeu carta de protesto da ABGLT, insiste que é contra o preconceito.

Iowa Permits Same-Sex Marriage, for 4 Hours, Anyway

Joshua Lott for The New York Times

Sean Fritz, 24, left, and Timothy McQuillan, 21, sealed their union in a ceremony performed by the Rev. Mark Stringer, right.

By MONICA DAVEY

Published: September 1, 2007 by The New York Times

DES MOINES, Aug. 31 — From towns around the state, places like Cedar Falls, Ames and Cedar Rapids, same-sex couples converged on this city as early as dawn on Friday as word spread that a judge had overturned a state law banning gay marriage.

Enlarge This Image

Joshua Lott for The New York Times

Enlarge This Image

Joshua Lott for The New York Times

Sean Fritz, left, and Timothy McQuillan, awaiting their marriage certificate at the Polk County Clerk’s Office.

“Imagine this — right here in Iowa,” Amanda Duncan said as she and her partner of three years, Aleece Ramirez, filled out their application for a marriage license and put down $35. “Hopefully, this starts a fire that spreads to other places.”

The chance was fleeting. After four hours, Robert B. Hanson, the same county judge who had deemed the ban on same-sex marriages unconstitutional, delayed further granting of licenses until the Iowa Supreme Court decided whether to consider an appeal.

Still, national advocates for same-sex marriage pointed to the developments as significant. An issue that has largely been battled on the coasts in states like Massachusetts and California, they said, has made its way squarely to the more conservative middle.

“There are some people

scratching their heads and saying, Iowa?” said Jon Davidson, the legal director at Lambda Legal, which worked on the case that led to the marriage applications here. “But this shows that there are lesbian and gay people everywhere who would like to get married.”

Opponents of same-sex marriage said they viewed the decision as a rallying cry, a reason that a federal amendment defining marriage is needed and a reason that an amendment to the Iowa Constitution, not just a statute, is needed.

“This is the misguided decision of one person,” Chris Stovall, senior legal counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund, which opposes same-sex marriage, said of Judge Hanson’s ruling on constitutionality. “I don’t think it represents at all what Iowa thinks. People across America and certainly in Iowa, in the heartland, understand that marriage is the union between one man and one woman.”

Massachusetts is the lone state that allows same-sex marriage. A handful of other states, including Vermont, New Jersey and Connecticut, allow same-sex civil unions. A few others, including California, allow other legal partnerships.

Judge Hanson’s ruling on Thursday, and the fallout on Friday, have also raised once more the issue of same-sex marriage among the presidential candidates who devote so much time in this state leading up to its early caucuses.

It is welcome for those candidates firmly opposed to or supportive of same-sex marriage, political experts said Friday, but has created an unwanted and thorny issue for those who have tried to walk a careful line somewhere in between.

“It really is a monkey wrench that sort of is thrown into the process for some of them,” Steffen W. Schmidt, a professor of political science at Iowa State University, said. “It’s potentially more dangerous for the Democrats, where the front-runners have been trying to finesse this issue.”

At least two Republican presidential hopefuls, Senator Sam Brownback of Kansas and Mitt Romney, former governor of Massachusetts, swiftly issued statements opposing the judge’s decision.

Mr. Romney called it “another example of an activist court and unelected judges trying to redefine marriage and disregard the will of the people.”

Asked about the ruling, Phil Singer, a spokesman for the campaign of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, spoke of civil unions, not marriages.

“Hillary Clinton believes that gay and lesbian couples should have the same rights and responsibilities as all Americans, and that civil unions are the best way to achieve this goal,” Mr. Singer said. “As president, she will work to extend benefits at the federal level to same-sex couples in committed relationships.”

Here, the brief flurry of applications for marriage licenses was low key. About 20 couples applied before a stay was granted. No protesters appeared. Few passers-by near the Polk County administration building said they were aware of the ruling.

The legal case here began in 2005 when six same-sex couples sued the county recorder, who declined to accept their applications for marriage licenses.

The question now goes to the State Supreme Court.

In the hours before the case was suspended, just one couple, Timothy McQuillan, 21, and Sean Fritz, 24, managed to obtain their license, and also to marry. Trailed by reporters, they raced around Des Moines in search of someone who could officiate at their wedding and found a minister who agreed to conduct the service.

“We had to get married — we’re at that point in our life,” said Mr. Fritz, who said he proposed to Mr. McQuillan in a parking lot after he heard about the ruling on Thursday night.

The men, who live in Ames, met on Facebook more than a year ago, Mr. Fritz said. Whatever the outcome of the legal case, he said, “As far as I’m concerned, I’m married in the state of Iowa.”

John Sarcone, the Polk County attorney, who is representing the county recorder’s office in the case, said the marriage could be considered legitimate. Ultimately, though, it, too, may depend on the decision of a higher court.

Patrick Healy and Michael Cooper contributed reporting from New York.