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August 31, 2007
NY Blade column: Out Professionals Discriminates
By Michael Lucas
Friday, August 31, 2007
http://nyblade.com/2007/8-31/viewpoint/opinion/outpros.cfm
Something absolutely outrageous is going on in our community. One particular company, hiding behind its name, Out Professionals, is practicing an odious gay-against-gay form of discrimination. I in turn am speaking out against its President, Michael Tracy, and hoping that others will too, in order that this form of discrimination be utterly squelched.
Out Professionals is a gay networking organization that includes on its web site help-wanted advertisements relevant to LGBT job-seekers. In the past, I have placed ads on that site for positions in the Lucas Entertainment corporate offices. By that means I have come to employ more than a dozen professionals in positions as diverse as that of cameraman, operator, accountant and computer programmer. These employees work happily in their jobs and are compensated with competitive pay and benefits.
A few months ago, we were rejected when we tried to post additional ads for a cameraman and an editor. So I called Michael Tracy, introduced myself and asked why our ads had been refused. He said it is the policy of Out Professionals not to accept listings from adult entertainment companies. Make no mistake about it; Out Professionals is not where I look for my actors. The positions I advertise on OP are every bit as professional as those placed by any other business.
When I told Tracy we had previously given gainful employment to out professionals who found us through the site, he said that OP is now enforcing an anti-adult-entertainment-jobs-announcement policy. I told him that was a form of discrimination.
HE’S AN ARROGANT HYPOcrite. If he will prove that he never has and never will look at adult entertainment and get pleasure from it, I will say I was wrong to call him an arrogant hypocrite.
On the phone, he said, “Do you, Mr. Lucas, misunderstand the meaning of our organization’s name? It’s called Out Professionals. How can you possibly fit in?” I asked whether he thought my company was not professional. I asked whether he thought my company was not out. I told him he should know of all my activism in promoting the well-being of the gay community, including my speaking up about, and placing community service ads against, drug abuse and in favor of safe sex. I told him that my life partner had been President of the Board of the LGBT Community Center for eight years.
My life partner, Richard Winger, and I, make joint decisions, just like any modern married couple. We have given hundreds of thousands of dollars to New York’s gay community in the past 10 years, and our fund-raising efforts have produced substantially more. Next time Michael Tracy or anybody else from Out Professionals uses The LGBT Center’s rest facilities, they should take a good long look at whose name is on a plaque for having donated the money to build them. I let Tracy know all this and told him not to forget that his meetings are held in The Center. He told me he was paying a fee to The Center and wasn’t intimidated by me. I was not trying to intimidate him. I was trying to show him how wrong-headed he is.
I don’t want to let pass as though it were of little importance the fact that my life partner Richard Winger for so long put his whole heart and soul into seeing that The Center would flourish and be a place where the gay community in all its wonderful diversity could thrive and feel welcomed. Richard wants all members of the community to feel welcomed; not just those of whom Michael Tracy approves. Tracy doing this is a violent slap in Richard’s face. It goes against everything he believes in, and the motivations he has for so selflessly giving to the gay community. Richard does not want to see this tin-pot tyrant dividing the community into upper-class gays and lower-glass gays.
I CAN FIND PEOPLE to work in my corporate offices without Out Professionals. Michael Tracy’s obnoxious behavior illustrates the tendency of certain gays and lesbians to treat others in our community as second-class citizens.
Richard Burns, executive director of The LGBT Center, when hearing this story called Tracy’s behavior “ridiculous” and said that professionals qualified to work in my corporate offices should be able to learn of opportunities to do so through the Out Professionals site. In fact, he said that Out Professionals are “crazy” not to take our ads and thus deprive their members of the chance to be gainfully employed.
I now call on Burns to exclude Out Professionals from using the LGBT Center’s facilities unless and until the group changes its policy.
In my 10 years of producing gay adult films that so many have enjoyed, have I done anything to merit this banishment?
Almost all gay people have been discriminated against for various reasons; Michael Tracy is no exception. He got himself into a position of power and now behaves like a KGB agent, discriminating against other gay people, in this instance based on who-knows-what Puritanical impulse that virtually nobody in the community shares.
I don’t believe that most members of Out Professionals agree with this policy; I think this is Michael Tracy’s position, and that he wants to enforce it because he has deep-seated psychological disturbances related to when he was discriminated against earlier in life for being gay. Hip, hip, hooray and 10 Bronx cheers for him that in doing this, he feels superior.
I call on the members of Out Professionals and others in our community to speak out against Michael Tracy’s odious behavior. Who knows how many straight-and-narrow lines all the Michael Tracys out there will decide LGBT people have to toe next? If he won’t change his position, he should be dismissed.
Posted by Michael at 03:14 PM | Comments (28)
My new photoshoot from last week
Beautiful, no?
See more here.
Posted by Michael at 10:27 AM | Comments (13)
August 29, 2007
The Intern BONUS SCENE: Michael Lucas & Zack Randall
Piss and kink fans will LOVE the bonus scene available ONLY on the Director's Edition of "The Intern" (available in our online store). It's the much talked-about watersports bathroom scene between myself and Freshmen magazine 2007 Freshman of the Year Zack Randall (below).
Get this: I piss in Zack's hungry mouth and even drink up some of my OWN piss to spit it back in Zack's mouth. Then Zack pisses into his OWN mouth and on my dick before I jack my load into his mouth, which, of course, he swallows. Zack then blows his own load all over himself, and I bring it full circle and once again pee on him, washing all the cum, spit and sweat away!
You must see it to believe...
• Full Production Stills Gallery
• Full Michael Lucas Gallery
• Full Zack Randall Gallery
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Posted by Michael at 10:48 AM | Comments (10)
August 27, 2007
The Intern: Ben Andrews & Derrick Hanson
The climactic scene in the plot of "The Intern" (available NOW in our online store) is the transformation of Lucas exclusive Ben Andrews (below left)'s dorky intern Benny into horse-hung porn super-stud Ben Hardwick. His on-screen partner, Lucas favorite Derrick Hanson (below right), is so shocked when Ben pulls out his monster dick that his jaw drops to the floor.
Then, of course, that very same jaw works its way around that giant cock and set of balls, followed by a good butt-pounding in multiple positions. Derrick sure can take it like a man!
• Full Production Stills Gallery
• Full Ben Andrews Gallery
• Full Derrick Hanson Gallery
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Posted by Michael at 02:24 PM | Comments (1)
August 26, 2007
Full list of "The Intern" Director's Edition features:
Available ONLY on the Director's Edition of "The Intern," out NOW:
• Bonus Watersports Scene: Michael Lucas & Zack Randall
• Bonus Sex Scene: Ray Star & Christian Cruz
• Bonus Video: Behind The Scenes of "The Intern"
• Bonus Video: Bloopers & Outtakes
• Bonus Video: The Pie Incident
• Cast Interviews by Robert W. Richards
• Audio Commentary by Tony Dimarco, Michael Lucas & Bryan Christopher
• Interactive Script: Tony Dimarco' entire 38-page script
• Production Blog by Official Intern Blogger Mike Kashey
• "The Intern" XXX-rated & R-rated Trailers
• Hardcore Previews
• Photo Galleries
• Model Bios
• Web Link
• 3 Hidden Video Easter Eggs!
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Posted by Michael at 10:55 AM | Comments (0)
August 21, 2007
The Intern: Jimmy & Zack Randall
The most buzzed about scene in "The Intern" (available NOW in our online store) features Lucas favorite Jimmy (below left) and Freshman of the Year Zack Randall (below right) as two straight stockroom workers who drop a box of Liquid Spanish Fly... to hilarious results.
Yup, the two scruffy dudes end up getting it on all the while asserting their love for pussy. Well, not all the while... they have their mouths too full of each other's hairy balls, dicks, and asses to really talk. There's a lot of moaning instead. And a lot of pubes.
Did you know that the multi-talented Zack (whose love for piss will be featured in a future post) can suck his own dick? Well he can! And he does just so in this scene... and Jimmy gets so turned on by it that he shoves his own giant, throbbing, uncut member into the action too!
• Full Production Stills Gallery
• Full Jimmy Gallery
• Full Zack Randall Gallery
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Posted by Michael at 03:55 PM | Comments (2)
From 365Gay.com: Sentencing Delayed For 18 Accused Of Homosexuality In Nigeria
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff
Posted: August 21, 2007 - 1:00 pm ET
http://365gay.com/Newscon07/08/082107nigeria.htm
(Lagos) An Islamic court judge in Northern Nigeria has put off sentencing until next month for 18 men convicted of homosexuality in the Muslim state of Bauchi.
A prosecutor told the court on Tuesday that the government will not seek the death penalty.
Bauchi is one of a number of northern states which recognizes Sharia law. Elsewhere in the country gay sex carries sentences up to 14 years behind bars.
The 18 were convicted earlier this month.
They were arrested wearing women's clothing at a hotel where police say they had gathered for the wedding "of two men". An attorney for the men said they were at the hotel for a "graduation party".
Whether the men are gay or transsexual has not been fully explained by authorities. They were charged and convicted of sodomy but that was later reduced to a conviction of violating Islamic law by dressing in female garb when it could not be proved any sex had occurred.
On Tuesday police brought suitcases into court containing handbags, high-heel shoes and women's clothing.
The government frequently alleges that men arrested for being gay were dressed as women and were attending or preparing to attend gay weddings.
More than a dozen men have been sentenced to death in recent years for alleged homosexuality. In most cases their fate is unknown. Officially the government denies there have been any executions.
Meanwhile, the government is moving ahead with legislation that would strip gays and lesbians of all civil rights.
The bill started out as a ban on same-sex marriage and has been revised to make it a crime for more than two gay people to be in the same venue at the same time.
It prohibits LGBT social or civil rights groups from forming. It would be illegal to sell or rent property to same-sex couples, watch a gay film or video, visit an LGBT web site, or express same-sex love in a letter to one's partner.
The legislation goes so far as to make it a criminal offense to impart information of HIV/AIDS to gays or for non-gays to meet with any group of gays for any purpose.
The penalty would be five years in prison with hard labor.
The most recent arrests have sparked outrage in Britain and is likely to scuttle Nigeria's bid to host the Commonwealth Games in 2014.
The southern half of Nigeria is predominantly Anglican. The primate of the Nigerian Church is Archbishop Peter Akinola who has been at the forefront of opposing gay clergy in the denomination. Conservative Anglican churches in the US have aligned themselves with Akinola.
Posted by Michael at 02:23 PM | Comments (2)
August 20, 2007
The Intern BONUS SCENE: Ray Star & Christian Cruz
One of the two Bonus full sex scenes of "The Intern" (shipping NOW from our online store) features the hot pairing of Lucas exclusives Ray Star (below left) and Christian Cruz (below right).
Bad boy Ray plays the porn company night editor who gets a much-needed late night visit from office assistant Christian. The two suck and fuck all over the editing room, which, yes, is our very own editing room in our very own Midtown Manhattan offices!
• Full Production Stills Gallery
• Full Ray Star Gallery
• Full Christian Cruz Gallery
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Posted by Michael at 04:27 PM | Comments (0)
August 19, 2007
My NY Blade interview with Charles Merrill: Gay Activism as Art
Charles Merrill takes on Christianity, Islam, politics
By Michael Lucas
Friday, August 17, 2007
http://nyblade.com/2007/8-17/arts/thearts/merrill.cfm
Charles Merrill’s artistic temperament was evident right from the start of our interview. Defining himself as three-quarters gay and one-quarter straight, he said that whatever the gender of his partner, he likes smooth skin and the smell of night blooming jasmine.
He lived the earlier parts of his life—he’s now 73—on a grand scale, starting off in the fashion business in New York City, then studying acting with Stella Adler. After a stint with the Navy in Japan, he met his wife, Evangeline—who collected Kandinskys and Pollacks—at a gallery show of his work in Palm Beach. They remained together for 28 years until her passing in 1990.
A self-made millionaire (he co-founded Merrill-Lynch), he moved among high-society during the years of his marriage. Later, he moved to North Carolina and immersed himself in Native American culture.
Today, Merrill is an activist (as a protest for inequality, he refuses to pay taxes) and an artist who views religious zealots as dire threats. His oil paintings include LGBT and religious symbolism. Recently, he edited the Bible with scissors and ink to eliminate the Right Winger’s hit parade of anti-gay passages. He knows the Koran in translation, but burned a valuable antique edition of it given to his late wife by King Hussein Jordan.
We spoke with Merrill about his latest works before the opening of his New York art exhibit, which includes his oils and a video installation.
You cut out specific verses from the Bible, but burned the entire Koran. Why is that text is dangerous?
The Koran is responsible for 9/11. This kind of thing is foreseen in the Koran, actually, with the non-believers heaped in piles and set afire. The non-Muslims who don’t believe that the book talks about that very obviously have not read the Koran. They have their silly fantasies that the Koran is peace and light and Khalil Gibran [the Lebanese artist and poet], but it is not. Even [President] Bush goes around calling Islam “a religion of peace.” He’s full of crap; it isn’t.
Why don’t we hear more criticism of the text?
[The Muslim] strategy is to intimidate people out of saying the least bad thing. But if everyone cowers like the media does, what chance do we have of preserving our freedoms and our legal system over time? It is up to the artist to edit the Bible and burn the Koran, because artists have the courage to do things that so-called leaders in politics dare not do.
When I was in my 20s and 30s, I had many phobias of death. Now, though, I think, “If I get to that deathbed in the hospital and feel remorse that I haven’t made this warning against violence, then my life hasn’t been worth much.”
How did the gay community respond to your religious-based performance art?
About 50 percent applauded me, and 50 percent were strongly against. Many people were concerned about the concept of burning a book, particularly a religious book. They’re clinging to the religious brainwashing they underwent when they were children. They hang onto that childhood father figure in the sky and twist it to where their make-believe friend Jesus helps them come out. I see faith-based gay organizations popping up all over the place; to me, that’s oxymoronic. Maybe if they would read the apocalyptic Book of Revelation, the end of the Bible, they wouldn’t think they had such a great pretend friend in Jesus. If you’ve matured as an adult you will get rid of all those tooth fairies in your mind, take responsibility for yourself and live out your potential as a human being.
How would you describe the role of religion in our country’s current presidential debates?
It’s very important for the candidates to specify what is in their minds. John Edwards, for example, reverted to his childhood Southern Baptist religion when he had the tragic crisis of his son’s death. Well, a president simply is going to face many crises. Is he or she going to be adult, and effectively handle the crises, or are they going to revert to mythology and imaginary friends? Is there any proven connection between praying and the successful resolution of a crisis? When Hillary says that faith brought her through Bill’s sexual indiscretions, I want her to elaborate.
All a candidate need do when asked about their religious beliefs is to say, “Oh, that’s very personal to me” and they get the knee-jerk reaction of “Oh we understand; don’t bother to explain.” That mindset has prevented our society from making an objective assessment of the complete text of the Koran.
Finally, how do you see these issues playing out in upcoming years; are you an optimist?
I think that the spirit of the Age of Enlightenment will prevail, despite any setbacks.
Paintings by Charles Merrill, through Aug 31, at Broadway Gallery, 473 Broadway, 7th Fl., 212-431-1079. Visit his web site at merrillcharles.com.
Posted by Michael at 05:40 PM | Comments (1)
NY Blade column: What We Learned From Prez Forum
By MICHAEL LUCAS
Friday, August 17, 2007
http://nyblade.com/2007/8-17/viewpoint/opinion/lucas.cfm
MOMENTS AFTER THE Logo forum on gay-interest issues, news anchor Jason Bellini asked, “Did we learn anything new tonight from the candidates?”
Well, Jason, I suppose we learned that Bill Richardson thinks homosexuality is a choice. He’s since clarified that he does not. So we didn’t learn anything there. What’s more, Richardson has all the charisma of a greasy pizza box. His ideas jump up on you like a garlic and onion burp three hours after you’ve eaten the pizza. We also learned that he was, for real, only joking when he used the word maricon on a radio show. Ha, ha, ha! So funny I forgot to laugh, though I guess you could laugh your rear off at his candidacy.
We also learned during the Human Rights Campaign forum that Sen. John Edwards’ resistance to using the word marriage for gays and lesbians when they get married has nothing to do with his faith, even though he can’t say for the life of him what that obnoxious bit of bigotry might be based on. Edwards also clarified that he is not uncomfortable around (shhhhh!) homosexuals, though Melissa Etheridge, one of the forum co-hosts, read in a book that he was. Raise your hand if you think Edwards is going to win the Democratic nomination.
We further learned that Melissa Etheridge likes injecting religion into political discussions. Kept talking about “her creator,” as though that wasn’t her parents.
One of the troubles with bringing religion up in a political context is that the religious texts say what they do about us homos. It ain’t pretty. Can you say the A word? (Abomination). The people who really believe in the “holiness” of the religious texts actually think that some supernatural being either wrote or dictated them and that therefore, the texts are the ultimate authority on all human matters. Aren’t we as a nation intelligent enough to leave religion out of politics? Please don’t answer that.
Barack Hussein Obama only belongs to the Church of Christ, which supports gay marriage, yet he cannot bring himself to do so. ‘Nuff said.
WHAT JASON REALLY should have asked was, “Did we learn anything new that was worth learning?” A long resonating Bronx cheer please! Take the live audience for the event. There were some great souls in it, including my friend, the former Mayor of Hollywood John Duran. As a group, though, this bunch seemed to think they were the studio audience for Oprah and that she was about to give them all a new set of wheels. Almost everything said got applauded. I really wondered if a stage hand was holding up placards telling them when to clap.
Truth to tell, for me, this whole thing was the most boring and predictable event one could have imagined. I think any of the candidates could have taken a big stinking dump on stage and they still would have gotten applause. In a way, they did. Politicians, after all, wouldn’t hesitate to appeal to the radical scat fringe if they thought by doing so they could win.
The event was set up and conducted more or less like a talk show, and those posing questions were tough as wet noodles on the candidates. This was not shown on CNN; it was a strictly by gays for gays event. Who else in the country is watching Logo? Couldn’t these panelists have asked more pointed questions? How else is Sen. Hillary Clinton going to learn that we’re not going to automatically hand her oodles of dough?
THE SUBJECT CAME UP of the time Clinton made a blooper over a Peter. General Peter Pace. Hillary, you’ll remember, had been asked if, like Pace, she thought homosexuality is “immoral.” At the time she said, “Well, I’m going to leave that for others to conclude.” At the Logo forum, her excuse for having said that, instead of, for example, “No,” was that she wanted to talk about repealing Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, and that she should have “set it in a broader context.” What was that supposed to mean? A broader context? Huhn? When you figure that out, let Hillary know.
She should have gotten pinned to the mat over that Peter thing. It’s the kind of ambiguity toward us we don’t want repeated.
We should be realistic about what we face with Hillary Clinton. Elsewhere than the Logo forum, she is playing a religious woman for, I suppose, Ted Haggard’s followers, or whoever goes for that kind of thing. That doesn’t mean she is completely, totally and utterly insincere in some of her pro-gay statements, but it just might mean that she is conflicted due to religious brainwashing. Back in January 2005, she appeared in Boston beside the Reverend Eugene Rivers III, a rabid opponent of same-sex marriage. On that occasion, she actually praised so-called faith-based initiatives. So much for separation of church and state, boys!
She said she is a praying person and that had she not been she would have become one after a few months in the White House. I’m just saying. The real reason Clinton couldn’t just say “No” when first asked if she thinks homosexuality is “immoral” is that her religious upbringing wouldn’t allow her to. Her political cunning, however, did allow her to clarify her position after the dirt hit the fan.
Hopefuls Rep. Dennis Kucinich and former Sen. Mike Gravel, it is true, are for absolute and total equality. But I can’t get excited over a dark horse candidate in any event, and Kucinich’s ideas other than those he has about gay issues seem so ridiculous that I’m not going to waste my time saying why.
In sum, what we learned is that those who believe we are not still up against formidable odds are kidding themselves.
Posted by Michael at 05:37 PM | Comments (0)
August 17, 2007
The Intern: Michael Lucas & Matt Cole
My personal favorite scene in "The Intern" (available for pre-order NOW in our online store) is, well, between myself (below left) and Matt Cole (below right), who plays a delivery guy who wants to give me a little more than a brown paper package.
Matt won Best Newcomer this year at the GAYVNs, and my experience with him completely justified why to me. He's one hell of a performer and one of the nicest guys to work with as well. When I did a "helicopter" move of spinning around while fucking him from above... on a hard table... he was all for it. (It's too bad he recently announced his retirement from the biz!)
Check out pics from our wet fuck session below, which was shot in my real office in Midtown Manhattan!
• Full Production Stills Gallery
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Posted by Michael at 11:32 AM | Comments (2)
August 15, 2007
The Intern: Jonathan Vargas & Jason Ridge
In their "scene within a scene" for "The Intern" (available for pre-order NOW in our online store) Lucas exclusive Jonathan Vargas (below left) and favorite Jason Ridge (below right) play porn models doing what else but... shooting a sex scene!
These two have the hottest chemistry and absolutely no problem flip-flop fucking and taking on a double-headed dildo at the same time.
And really, who can say no to a double-headed dildo?
• Full Production Stills Gallery
• Full Jonathan Vargas Gallery
• Full Jason Ridge Gallery
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Posted by Michael at 04:55 PM | Comments (3)
August 14, 2007
The Intern: Ben Andrews & Christian Cruz
The buzz for "The Intern" (available for pre-order NOW in our online store) has gotten so huge, I've decided to designate it our biggest movie of the year. And rightfully so! The scene between the film's stars alone—Lucas exclusives Ben Andrews (below left) and Christian Cruz (below right)—is one of the hottest of the year.
Playing a porn office intern, Ben gets confronted by office assistant Christian, who suspects Ben has a huge dick. And guess what—he does! The two get it on in the office's big bathroom, with Christian inhaling Ben's monster cock before getting fucked in various humorous positions around the room. (Check out the Bonus Materials to see a hilarious sped-up mash-up of this scene!)
And of course it ends with Christian gulping up every drop of Ben's sweet splooge. How could it not?
• Full Production Stills Gallery
• Full Ben Andrews Gallery
• Full Christian Cruz Gallery
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Posted by Michael at 12:34 PM | Comments (2)
August 13, 2007
From 365Gay.com: 18 Face Death In Nigeria For Homosexuality
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff
Posted: August 10, 2007 - 11:00 am ET
http://www.365gay.com/Newscon07/08/081007nigeria.htm
(Lagos) Eighteen Nigerian men have been found guilty of sodomy by a Sharia judge in the Islamic northern part of the country. The men are awaiting sentencing and under Sharia, or Islamic law, they could be sentenced to death.
The official government news agency Nan reports that the men were arrested in a hotel in north-eastern Bauchi State.
Bauchi is one of a number of northern states which recognizes Sharia law. Elsewhere in the country gay sex carries sentences up to 14 years behind bars.
If sentenced to death the court decision would need the approval of the state governor.
Nan reports that the men were wearing women's clothes when they were arrested and had gone to the hotel to celebrate a gay wedding.
The government frequently alleges that men arrested for being gay were dressed as women and were attending or preparing to attend gay weddings.
More than a dozen men have been sentenced to death in recent years for alleged homosexuality. In most cases their fate is unknown.
Meanwhile, the government is moving ahead with legislation that would strip gays and lesbians of all civil rights.
The bill started out as a ban on same-sex marriage and has been revised to make it a crime for more than two gay people to be in the same venue at the same time.
It prohibits LGBT social or civil rights groups from forming. It would be illegal to sell or rent property to same-sex couples, watch a gay film or video, visit an LGBT web site, or express same-sex love in a letter to one's partner.
The legislation goes so far as to make it a criminal offense to impart information of HIV/AIDS to gays or for non-gays to meet with any group of gays for any purpose.
The penalty would be five years in prison with hard labor.
The most recent arrests have sparked outrage in Britain and is likely to scuttle Nigeria's bid to host the Commonwealth Games in 2014.
A movement by LGBT rights activists to block the Nigerian bid began before the arrests and appeared to be gaining broader support on Friday.
Mike Hooper, the chief executive of the Commonwealth Games Federation - the organization that will make the decision about the games venue - said Friday that Nigeria should be rejected on the grounds of the country’s homophobic oppression.
The southern half of Nigeria is predominantly Anglican. The primate of the Nigerian Church is Archbishop Peter Akinola who has been at the forefront of opposing gay clergy in the denomination. Conservative Anglican churches in the US have aligned themselves with Akinola.
Posted by Michael at 02:27 PM | Comments (1)
August 08, 2007
My Interview with Charles Merrill this Friday
Hey Guys,
This Friday I'm going to interview a personal hero of mine and someone who I believe should be a hero and role model for all gay people, for everybody who believes in the freedom of speech and freedom of expression, and for those who fight against bigotry and hate without living in fear. I'm talking about Charles Merrill, artist and political activist who edited out homophobic paragraphs from the Bible and burned a rare, $60,000 copy of the Koran for its homophobic messages and direct call for killing gay people.
As you know, I wrote about him for the New York Blade this week in my column titled "Burn the Koran? It's Gay Artwork".
I'm doing this interview for the Blade for the issue out on August 17th and will be recording it live at the same time, the video of which will go up on YouTube.
If any of you have questions that you would like me to ask Charles, post them in the comments section.
XXX
-Michael
Posted by Michael at 02:50 PM | Comments (4)
August 07, 2007
Jonathan Vargas at Paradise Club in New Jersey!
Don't be shy... say hi!
Posted by Michael at 11:00 AM | Comments (3)
August 06, 2007
NY Blade column: Burn the Koran? It’s Gay Artwork
By MICHAEL LUCAS
Aug. 03, 2007
http://nyblade.com/2007/8-3/viewpoint/opinion/koran.cfm
Gay artist Charles Merrill, peace be upon him, is a most intriguing figure, socially engagé in the fine tradition of Albert Camus. He says: “The role of the artist is to fix unjust laws in the fabric of society that need to be fixed.”
Back in the summer of 2006, a Muslim member of the Israeli Knesset, Ibrahim Sarsur, of the United Arab List party, warned gays that “if they dare to approach the Temple Mount during the World Pride 2006 parade in Jerusalem they will do so over our dead bodies.” In response, Charles Merrill, at the time 72, said: “I will be approaching the Temple Mount out of love and forgiveness to those who hate us. If the three major religions in the Middle East want us stoned to death as it dictates in their ancient scriptures, then our gentle innocent blood will be on their hands. Gays are the meek in society and love all of humanity.”
More recently, Merrill took ink and scissors to a copy of a Bible, editing out the anti-gay passages. He followed that up by burning a rare copy of the Koran with a reported value of $60,000 that had been given to his late wife by the King of Jordan. You can hardly find a reference to Jordan that doesn’t claim it is a “moderate Muslim” country. Funny, though, that you don’t just as often get a reminder that no Jew may be a citizen of Jordan, or buy land there. There are elements in Jordanian society that regularly assert the notion that all homosexuality in the Middle East is Israel’s “fault.”
Merrill edited the Bible in the open, but he burned the Koran at “an undisclosed location in Chicago.” What does that tell us about the reactions to be expected of Muslims as opposed to those of non-Muslims on such occasions?
GAY BLOGS HAVE been abuzz with commentary on Charles Merrill’s gay-positive artistic statements. Some of those comments irk me, especially those that suggest respect is automatically due religious texts and traditions. Just what about anti-gay religious texts should be respected? The Bible is dead wrong to call homosexuality an abomination, and the Koran and the Hadith are even more dead wrong to call for human beings who engage in same-sex intimacies to be killed.
As Americans, we shouldn’t suffer any naïveté regarding the thoughts of the Muslims within our borders. The recent Pew Research study with the misleading title “Muslim Americans; Middle Class and Mostly Mainstream” found that only 40 percent of those American Muslims surveyed believe that the 9/11 attacks were carried out by Arabs. Furthermore, 69 percent of all American Muslims said that society should discourage homosexuality, and 59 percent believe that government should do more to “protect morality in society.”
There’s a very important point to be made here. Islam by its nature as defined in the Koran is a religion that demands to be an integral part of human political organization. People following what the Koran says believe that the laws of a land and indeed the world should be Islamic laws, the original Islamic laws as dictated by Mohammed. If they don’t believe that, they aren’t following the Koran. Muslims are engaged in a struggle—a jihad, sometimes violent, sometimes political—to bring about a worldwide Islamic system. Never mind that they will enthusiastically slaughter each other in the fight over whether that system should be Sunni or Shia. Non-Islamic countries, by contrast, do not base their laws on religious texts. They are, rather, pluralistic, and tolerate people of all religions, with the understanding that all must follow the society’s civil laws.
ANOTHER ARGUMENT I see some gay people advancing in blog comments is that of moral relativity. According to the illogic of that position, because Christian and Jewish religious texts call homosexuality an “abomination,” those two religions are as bad toward gays as Islam.
I recommend anybody stupid enough to believe that to buy an airplane ticket to Iran. They can save themselves the need for and the expense of buying a round-trip ticket by standing in downtown Teheran, kissing another gay man. The Koran is choc-a-bloc with absurdist and often vicious fairy tales; but what’s happening to gay people today in Iran is literally bloody murder—it’s real, and it’s inspired directly by the Muslim murderers’ devotion to Islamic religious texts.
Look, Charles Merrill burned the Koran specifically to protest the horrendous anti-gay crimes of Muslims. Some gay people commenting on blogs get it. But enough don’t for me to find their attitudes extremely disturbing.
Between the Koran and the Hadith there is no question but that Mohammed, fatuously and ridiculously claiming to be speaking the thoughts and words of a Supreme Nincompoop called “Allah,” believed that two men caught having sex with each other should be put to death. The Koran and the Hadith continue in our day to inspire Muslims to murder gay people. So in the name of reason, how could any gay person criticize Charles Merrill for burning a Koran in protest of that?
The Koran is today’s “Mein Kampf.” By the way, “Kampf” and “jihad” are, respectively, the German and Arabic words for “struggle.” If enough Germans had burned Hitler’s book before the Nazis overpowered Germany, perhaps the Germans wouldn’t have wound up having to rebuild their entire country over the ashes of countless millions of dead.
So I salute Charles Merrill for his artistic and social bravery in burning a Koran. I encourage you to show your support for him by attending his exhibit “Gay Activism Into Art Form,” which will be shown August 16–31 at the Broadway Gallery.
Posted by Michael at 05:26 PM | Comments (2)
August 01, 2007
Auditions 19: Danny B. & Nick Rider
I'm all for cum-eating, and have been featuring it in many of my movies as of late. When Danny B. (below left) auditioned his boyfriend Nick Rider (below right) for "Auditions 19" (available in our online store) I made sure they would do it. As you can see below, Danny even licked his own cum up off of Nick's chest! How considerate of him.
This is definitely a hot scene you should not miss.
• Full Production Stills Gallery
• Full Layout Gallery
• Full Danny B. Gallery
• Full Nick Rider Gallery
Posted by Michael at 05:21 PM | Comments (6)
From the AP: Minister charged with indecent exposure
Tue Jul 31, 5:52 PM ET
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070731/ap_on_re_us/minister_arrested_1
The minister of a Baptist church has been charged with indecent exposure and driving under the influence, and police officers say he propositioned them.
Tommy Tester, 58, of Bristol, Va., was wearing a skirt when he was arrested last week after allegedly urinating in front of children at a car wash, police said.
Police also said Tester offered to perform oral sex on officers who were sent to the scene.
Authorities identified Tester as the minister of Gospel Baptist Church in Bristol and an employee of Christian radio station WZAP-AM in Bristol.
There was no immediate response Tuesday to calls to the church and Tester's home.
WZAP issued a statement Monday asking for prayers and saying Tester had been suspended during an investigation.
"We pray this matter can be quickly resolved," WZAP owner Al Morris said in the statement.
Tester was released Friday on $1,000 bail. A hearing is scheduled for Oct. 25.
Posted by Michael at 10:14 AM | Comments (3)