June 10, 2008
Tel Aviv Gay Pride -- June 6, 2008
Hello everyone, and particularly my dear liberal friends or, rather, all of the degraded left-wing ignoramuses. Check out these pictures from gay pride in Tel Aviv and let me know if Israel is, in your opinion, a gay friendly society or you still want to take a tour to Palestine, Saudi Arabia, or any other countries and fight for the freedom of the oppressed Mullahs and goat-fuckers in the desert.
Posted by Michael at 06:50 PM | Comments (5)
June 09, 2008
HX Column: To Go-Go or Not to Go-Go
You could wonder whether there’s some perverted sexual significance to the round window holes in The Maritime Hotel at 363 West 16th Street. Or you could just go to Erich Conrad’s Cuckoo Club there on Sunday night and contemplate the sexual meaning of the great dancers shakin’ their junk.
People sometimes get so into flexing glutes and waving glo-sticks that they don’t even stop to think that go-go dancing has a proud history. Once upon a time in New York City, at a place called the Peppermint Lounge, go-go dancing shot off its first titty-jiggle. Of course, the go-go pioneers were females, clearing a path for gloriously gay go-go boys. By the late 1970s, the Peppermint had morphed into G.G. Barnum's Room. Most of the patrons were trannies; the go-go boys danced on trapeze above a net over the dance floor. Xenon, also in the Big Apple, was the first club to place go-go boxes for any Tom, Dick or Harriette to shimmy their stuff.
And then came Madonna. As a go-go historian, I am here to tell you that without Madonna’s influence, there probably would not today be a gay club in Waikiki called Hula’s Bar and Lei Stand, advertising its go-go boys and the fact that it is just steps from Queen’s Surf Beach.
For the pros and would-be pros, go-go dancing is physically very tough. Porn stars moonlighting (you should forgive the pun with moon) as go-go dancers might bring in some decent money. But the average Joe pecs-and-butt has to get up on that cube for peanuts and pray to the sex gods for decent tips.
Hold on to your hats, gentlemen; I have a boner to pick. Uhm; didn’t come out exactly as I intended, but as long as they’re coming out, who are we to complain? I am sick unto death of seeing straight boys go-going in gay clubs. Mainly, they don’t smile, they don’t make eye contact with the audience and it’s a miracle if they even show a curl or two of pubic hair. How exciting, whoop-dee-doo; if I wanted to go to a bachelorette party I would find one. These straight go-go imposters in gay clubs act like it is a big deal to go down on their knees and take a dollar, without even giving a blow job. I ask you; doesn’t that suck? The correct answer is of course “Yes, it doesn’t.”
Nothing is as fascinating as etymology; “go-go,” you should know-know., has its roots in the old French word la gogue, meaning joy. It evolved into joie in French, gioia in Italian and go-go in an English word universally recognized and understood. So what are these joyless straight boys doing, polluting our gay clubs? Speaking of pollution, the standards for some of these so-called go-goers have to go. If you’re a go-go dancer, you absolutely can not eat carbohydrates as if each gram of carbs were a dick or an ass.
Posted by Michael at 12:32 PM | Comments (1)
June 05, 2008
Spider-Man Attacks Midtown New York
One of the benefits of an office on 8th Avenue is having a great view of the New York Times Tower!
Posted by Michael at 06:41 PM | Comments (2)
May 21, 2008
When Haters Hate
The Puritanical right-wing hate machine has recently gone into conniptions over the Michael Lucas Wikipedia entry as well as various other entries that include some sexual imagery.
Never mind that anybody can walk into major museums of the world and see equally graphic sexual imagery on urns from ancient Greece. The Puritanical haters, the morality police, come out in a show of force, convinced that if people are exposed to sexual imagery on the internet, the fabric of society will come ripping apart at its seams.
You can’t believe how far they will go. I can respect anybody for rationally expressing a point of view in an appropriate place. But in recent months, the Wikipedia entry about me was being sabotaged by haters and made into a muddle of idiocy having nothing to do with who I am and what I do. An obsessed hater or stalker doesn’t think twice before turning an entry into a hate-filled, disorganized jumble.
Enter David Shankbone, an accomplished journalist who has served as a Wikipedia editor. Among his credits are interviews with Augusten Burroughs, Shimon Peres, Evan Wolfson, Eric Bogosian, Al Sharpton and Larry Kramer. His work as a photographer is of a very high caliber; he has done photographic portraits of Susan Sarandon, Madonna, Jim McGreevey, Floyd Abrams and Julianne Moore, among many others. In February, David noted that the article about me was becoming a muddle and decided to put some order into it. For example, he fixed my name to reflect that my family name is Bregman, but was given at birth my mother's maiden name, Treivas, in an effort to circumvent the anti-Semitism of the 1970s.
For making such changes, David Shankbone was made the object of harassment and, believe it or not, death threats. He aimed to provide those interested with accurate information presented from an enlightened perspective. He wanted to rationally counter hysteria over allegedly ubiquitous victimization and drug use within the industry, and I naturally approve of that aim. Those who have worked with me and/or read me know that I take strong stands against drugs, and pride in treating my full-time and contract employees well.
Matt Barber of Concerned Women for America, and additionally the profoundly anti-gay fake journalism site WorldNetDail wrote a series of tirades against the sexual imagery on Wikipedia. They even targeted the image from the cover of Virgin Killer, an album by the German heavy metal band The Scorpions. The image is widely available elsewhere on the internet, including on Amazon, yet these parties are accusing Wikipedia of violating federal obscenity laws for leaving it on the site despite their protests.
That album cover depicts a young female, but most of the protests made against the sexual imagery on Wikipedia are made specifically because the imagery is gay. Yet my company is a model for producing safe sexual entertainment. Condoms are used at all times in Lucas productions. Besides, Wikipedia is informational. The images of fireballs in the World Trade Towers before they collapsed are also on Wikipedia, but Concerned Women for America and WorldNetDaily aren’t protesting those images. You could argue that those images empower terrorists. And maybe they actually do. But should those images be banned from Wikipedia? The Wikipedia article on Violence in Hockey shows violence taking place, but these loonies don’t protest it. Not that they should. It’s informational and illustrative of the accompanying text. So have been the pictures accompanying the article on me, some of them taken by David Shankbone himself.
Wikipedia has identified a particular IP in Northern New Jersey responsible for cyber-vandalism of many gay-related articles on its site. Both David and I have received death threats. I ask you!
Posted by Michael at 11:14 AM | Comments (1)
April 22, 2008
To the Americans who filled up Yankee Stadium to see the Pope:
I couldn't help but notice how much they look alike!
Posted by Michael at 10:46 AM | Comments (6)
April 14, 2008
HX column: Cheating, Infidelity, Break-Ups
The recent spate of sex scandals involving politicians and celebrities cheating on their partners has sparked numerous debates about monogamy, cheating and relationships. I know lots of couples who choose monogamy, some of whom actually stay monogamous. In others, one or often both partners are sleeping around and even having long-term affairs. Often, it's generated by the refusal of one or both partners to overcome jealousy. Or is it their desire to control the other partner? It's complicated. I don't want to talk about open relationships; I know of many that work and don't work. What about more "traditional" monogamous relationships with cheating partners?
I've always advised my friends not to snoop into their partner's computer or cell phone. What you will often find is a long buddy list, frequent access to Manhunt and, sometimes, even passionate affairs with explicit pictures and promises of eternal love. So what is better: not knowing, pretending not to know or a confrontation?
Confronting it often leads to a break-up, since we usually slip into a drama that lasts for days or weeks and makes everything seem nastier and more disgusting. So what would become of the relationship when one knows about their partner cheating, but refuses to confront it? Usually frustration that builds up over time and eventually turns to anger, hate, and the desire to inflict pain. So it seems like a choice between a dramatic break-up or hateful silence (which will probably lead to a break-up anyway).
I think the most important thing is to look at the root of the problem. Why is your partner cheating? Is it a sex addiction? Or maybe a loss of passion? In both situations, cheating will never bring you closer. If you want to keep your relationship, drop your affairs and try to re-light the fire. There is a certain theory that if you only sleep with the same person and don't look at other men as potential sex objects, you will automatically be sexually driven towards him. Otherwise, in the end you risk finding yourself alone with your Manhunt profile and a membership to the West Side Club, which really result in nothing more than disappointments, unsatisfying hook-ups, STDs and a feeling of guilt. Prioritize accordingly!
XXX,
Michael Lucas
4/11/08
Posted by Michael at 12:10 PM | Comments (9)
April 01, 2008
My Mother
My mother in our country house near Moscow in the early 1950s.
My beautiful mother has passed away in her home in Brooklyn at the age of 59, following a nearly ten year battle against cancer.
After undergoing numerous surgeries and courses of chemotherapy, she was told by doctors that the cancer had metastasized throughout her body. She decided she did not want to be under doctors’ care any longer. Whether that was the best possible decision for her to make, we respected her wishes. She was terrified to have anything more to do with doctors. She became tempted by people selling herbal remedies, whom in my dictionary are charlatans. We struggled within ourselves at times, thinking we should call an ambulance, and yet, we did maintain respect for her wishes.
My father was heroic in the care he gave to my mother. She refused to have a nurse. So for the last eight months, my father stopped working and instead cared for her twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, staying by her bedside. I don’t know which of them was suffering more, as the moral torture of seeing a loved one dying and not being able to help might be harder, but I can only wish for everybody to have a partner who loves them as much as my father loved my mother. This was an exceptional couple, and a great love.
The tragedy is especially acute for me, as my grandfather passed away, also from cancer, one year ago on December 31. And I will need to adjust to having most of my remaining family in Russia. My brother moved back to Moscow one year ago, having secured a job there, and meanwhile met a Russian girl whom he will marry. My father has decided to join them in living there, because staying in Brooklyn where he cared for my mother would be too difficult emotionally. He does have hopes for the future though, and especially, I believe, that my brother and his wife will give him grandchildren. My maternal grandmother is the only immediate relative to remain here with me.
My father has decided to have my mother interred in Russia, and will be transporting her there on Saturday. A service is to be held at a Jewish funeral home in Brooklyn this Thursday. People close to my mother, my family, my partner and me may contact Bryan Christopher in my office for details.
The pain is as great as the love was profound, but I will always remember my mother for her limitless values, culture, heart, and sense of family.
My mother with me at 6 months old.
Another of my mother with me at 6 months old.
My mother.
My father in 1972.
My family in New York in 2004.
04/16 ADDENDUM: I wrote more about my mother exclusively for Queerty here.
Posted by Michael at 06:00 PM | Comments (21)
March 27, 2008
NY Blade column: Oh No Bama
Hillary is stronger on security—and that is favorable to progress in gay rights.
By Michael Lucas
Friday, March 14, 2008
http://nyblade.com/2008/3-14/viewpoint/opinion/1211NoBama.cfm
GAYS SHOULD BE hoping that Hillary Clinton will be the Democratic candidate for president in the general election. Hillary isn’t stronger than Barack Obama on just gay rights; she’s also stronger than her opponent on national security issues. Obama, in my opinion, is feeding off a stupid and dangerous tendency among American voters to go for a fresh face over a seasoned mind.
It’s worth mentioning that firstly, I can’t imagine Obama beating McCain in November. Many current polls reinforce that idea for me. Parenthetically, I’ll state that McCain is not the worst person the Republicans could nominate.
In most other places in the world, political experience is valued as a prerequisite for holding high office. Unfortunately in America, we’ve seen relatively inexperienced people such as Jimmy Carter and the two Bushes leapfrogging over better candidates by virtue of, quite frankly, idiocy among the voters and the media.
When Al Gore ran against W. in 2000, the media for some reason never got tired of asking voters with whom they would rather have a beer—Bush or Gore. Bush won the beer drinkers’ opinion poll and the election. Why do so many Americans, when it comes to such serious matters as choosing a president, value supposed likeability over political chops?
Then too, I can’t understand why anybody would base his or her choice for president on the candidate’s gender, skin color, or religion. Political matters are too important to be decided on that basis. I know Americans understand very little about politics, so it is appropriate for me to remind readers that the word “politics” comes from a Greek noun which translated to English means “the science of the state, the art of governing and the art of administrating the destiny of the nation.” So no matter how tempting it might be to have a “first” this or that minority member as president, the decision regarding for whom to vote should be based exclusively on the candidate’s platform, experience, knowledge and ability to lead the nation. And I would not shy away from voting for the right person even if he happens to belong to the Republican Party.
I HOPE I DON’T have to go through all the details of everything good we know about Hillary: her education at Wellesley and Yale, her stands on issues, her support for gay rights, and her status as First Lady of Arkansas, a very involved First Lady of eight years, and then as a two term U.S. Senator. Among her many accomplishments as Senator are her taking a leading role in investigating health problems experienced by 9/11 emergency workers and her voting against the Federal Marriage Amendment twice. We should not forget that Hillary has been very candid and open about her long friendship with her lesbian college roommate Eldie Acheson. And it was also nice to see Sen. Clinton march more than once in gay pride parades.
Then you look at Obama, a typical example of an American presidential candidate rising from almost nowhere. He’s a first-term senator, and his greatest plus appears to be his perceived articulateness. Don’t get me wrong. Being articulate is great. We definitely have been stuck with a loser in that department for the length of the Bush presidency (his ability to speak could only be compared to one Yasser Arafat), and having a president who can speak English better than W. will be a humongous relief. But it isn’t as if Hillary weren’t articulate.
And we don’t know very much about Obama vis-à-vis gay issues beyond his flowery speeches. Here, by the way, is something Mr. Articulate said to the Chicago Tribune: “I’m a Christian. And so, although I try not to have my religious beliefs dominate or determine my political views on this issue, I do believe that tradition, and my religious beliefs say that marriage is something sanctified between a man and a woman.”
Every time that Obama’s campaign hits a snag with an anti-gay Obama supporter, Obama emerges to make one of his enchanting monologues. It happened with Donnie McClurkin; it happened with Louis Farrakhan. McClurkin is a bogus jerk suffering from internalized homophobia; he advocates for ex-gay ministries. Farrakhan on the other hand has as his occupation leading the Nation of Islam. He has said that the white man is “the skunk of the earth.” So much for rapprochement. As recently as February 2006, Farrakhan said “"These false Jews promote the filth of Hollywood. It's the wicked Jews, the false Jews that are promoting lesbianism, homosexuality.”
Yet Obama had to be prodded, by Hillary Clinton, towards a full rejection of Farrakhan’s support. As Sen. Clinton said: “There’s a difference between denouncing and rejecting.” Speaking of her 2000 campaign to become senator, she said “I made it very clear that I did not want their support, I rejected it. I would not be associated with people that make such comments.” Hillary said that to Obama’s face, whereupon Obama did say that he “would” reject Farrakhan. But where is the official communication from Obama rejecting Farrakhan and his support?
Do we really need a president who can’t be bothered to reject a supporter who says that it’s the wicked Jews that are promoting lesbianism and homosexuality? Isn’t it strange that Obama didn’t find the right words of complete rejection? Something like this would do: “You, sir, should never mention my name in any of your ‘speeches,’ because you and those who support you disgust me and I would rather lose my candidacy than have your support.” Instead, he carefully minced his words.
Then there’s the question of who is supporting Obama. I would like to rest my case by having you go to the website www.muslimsforobama08.com. It has an English audio translation of the Koran for you to enjoy. I’m not interested in voting for a candidate supported by terrorists and candidates for the terrorists.
It’s important to remember that progress in gay rights in the United States has a connection to what is happening in our international relations. Hillary offers sound experience and wisdom in dealing with friend and foe alike. Obama wants to talk directly with Iran’s President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. He’s the monster who has gays hung in public squares, and then denies that gays are hung in his country on the basis that there are no gays in his country. What is Obama going to talk to that eternal terrorist about?
If there were another terrorist attack on American soil, the electorate would vote for politicians even more conservative that Bush, and as a result, expanding gay rights would have a very low priority in the country. In the past seven years, terrorists have carried out attacks in Spain, Great Britain and many other places—but not in the U.S. We are doing something right, and I don’t want Obama to change that.
Hillary’s campaign was criticized for releasing a dramatic television advertisement in Texas intimating that she is stronger than Obama on national security. But if you look at these two candidates’ records, it’s clear that Hillary truly is stronger on security. And homeland security, when all is said and done, is favorable to progress in gay rights. Were a combination of Obama’s naïveté and greenness to result in a terrorist attack on the U.S., a certain casualty of that attack would afterward be gay rights. So I close as I opened: We should all be hoping that Hillary Clinton will be the Democratic candidate for president in the general election.
Posted by Michael at 01:59 PM | Comments (14)
March 26, 2008
HX column: Big Porn Star on Campus
I know this HX column is from a couple weeks ago (March 14th, to be exact), but I didn't have the chance to post it until now:
I was recently invited to speak at Stanford University. They thought I could help spread the Safe Sex message. Spreading that message is a hell of a lot better than spreading absolutely horrible, nightmarish things such as HIV, syphilis and gonorrhea.
What shocked me, though, was the ignorance on the part of the majority of Stanford University students regarding HIV. These supposedly intelligent students at Stanford revealed an annoying, camel-like stubbornness about understanding the ABC's of HIV transmission.
The truth is that condoms do work. I dutifully reminded people that one must always use fresh condoms with plenty of good, water-soluble lubricant. Some of these jerks were still whining at me about what would happen if a condom broke and the bottom getting joyously fucked wound up infected. With all the holes I have fucked (always using fresh condoms and good quality, water-soluble lube) I have never had a condom break. Could it be that these whining morons at Stanford are all just too stupid to check to see whether the condom they are about to use has expired? Or is it a money issue? Maybe somebody could take up a collection for them, so that when they're fucking in the back seat of their BMWs, they'll have fresh condoms to use.
These supposed scholars at Stanford argued at me using "statistics," and then weren't able to tell me the source of those statistics. When I invited them to reason, they reacted like the idiot in Mao Tse-Tung's famous saying: "If you point at the moon with a finger, the idiot looks at the finger and sees the finger. Not the moon." Mao also said, "Learn from the masses, and then teach them."
But I'm going to go one better than that. I've learned from the masses at Stanford University, and now I'm going to teach the elite, beautiful gay readers of HX that you should always, without exception, use fresh condoms and plenty of water-soluble lube. If Miss Thing has a tub of Crisco out on the night table, do not fuck her. Do not let her fuck you, either. If by some chance your condom does break, then please go to the emergency room. Remember that you have 72 hours to get a 28-day supply of medication to take religiously, and then you'll be just fine.
XXX,
Michael Lucas
Posted by Michael at 04:15 PM | Comments (0)
March 21, 2008
Give Me the Presidency and I Will Make America Post-Racial
Barack Obama gave a speech about race. It was a great speech and a greatly delivered one. But Obama's gift as a skilled orator is already well-known. So did we learn anything new about the mysterious front-runner?
First, and most importantly, Obama is just another politician -- typical and banal. He stretches the truth and lies when controversy arises, when momentum is lost, and when victory no longer seems to be simple and definite. "Did I ever hear [Reverend Jeremiah Wright] make remarks that could be controversial while I sat in church? Yes." Well, I've seen Obama being interviewed by everyone from CNN to Fox News. Each and every journalist asks him the same question: Did he ever hear any controversial remarks from his pastor? Each time Obama looked into the interviewer's eyes and said firmly "No, never." "But did anyone tell you about any such remarks?" insisted Anderson Cooper. "No, never," was the answer.
So what made Obama change this answer in just a few days? The answer is simple: Politics. We all knew way too well that Obama was lying when every television station was playing the numerous, nasty tirades by his pastor. Of course, how could he not know? Even if I were to imagine that he missed church every time Rev. Wright would blast against Whites, Jews and gays; praise his friend Louis Farrakhan (no stranger to blasting against Jews and gays); or speak about a trip to see Libyan dictator Qadaffi (whom both "Reverends" visited)... Even if I believed that no one were to say to Obama, "What a great speech you missed last week," I will still never believe that Obama didn't know the basic beliefs of a friend of twenty years.
Obama should never have tried to explain his relationship with Rev. Wright. He should have just denounced it, again and again and again. He also should have never defended the Trinity Church, which is so "full of righteous laughter, and sometimes bawdy humor." Your church is ugly, homophobic, and anti-Semitic, Mr. Obama, just like most other black churches and numerous white churches. Your relationship with Rev. Wright is nothing but an embarrassment and in my opinion, highly suspicious.
"Rev. Wright helped introduce me to my Christian faith," said Obama. I know this should sound like music for Christian Fundamentalists. And like every other politician, this is what Obama is going for. But I just don't think that in order to be introduced to convert from Islam to Christianity, one should turn himself to a fascist like Rev. Wright (and you don't even know how difficult it is for me to say "Reverend" when I speak about Jesse Jackson or Louis Farrakhan or Wright. In this country it's so easy to be respected... just shove the word "Reverend" before your name).
To say that we do not talk about race enough is just like hearing Paris Hilton say that we're not talking enough about dumb celebrities whose status has no substance. America talks more about race than John McCain talked about his time in Vietnamese captivity, John Edwards about his son, and John Kerry about his war record. So what kind of post-racial candidate are you if you think we need to talk about race more? If you really believe that we need to talk about race, then stop calling yourself post-racial.
I am post-racial. Or rather, I was never racial. The subject of race has always been foreign to me: I'm not interested in excusing Rev. Wright's crazed racism. I'm also not interested in treating minorities like retarded people. I'm not interested in degrading them by putting them on affirmative action programs. I also think that it's quite low to compare Wright's racism to Obama's white grandmother who apparently confessed to a fear of black men in the streets. Wright accused white people of inventing AIDS to kill black men, and you are comparing this man to your grandmother? A person like that can only be compared to Rosie O'Donnell, who believed that 9-11 is an inside job, something orchestrated by the U.S. government. In other words, to someone who hates America, and who wants others to hate it as well.
Obama is not looking for an excuse for his grandmother. His grandmother is guilty, full stop. It's Rev. Wright who is being excused throughout the whole speech. So what's Obama's way out? What is his solution? He gives it you throughout the whole speech: give him the presidency, and only then maybe, just maybe, all talks about race will be over.
Posted by Michael at 12:21 PM | Comments (10)
March 15, 2008
Per Your Requests
I've been asked by many to write about my take on Governor Spitzer's scandal. I don't think there's much controversy on the subject. As you can imagine, I don't have an issue with a governor hiring escorts.
I believe escorts are great for those who are stuck in their offices, be it in Washington, DC, or Albany. It's a good thing to have an escort who can be invited for an hour to relieve you from stress so you can get back to serving the country. My issue is not with hookers, sex, or issues Spitzer has with his wife... that's his private business. I think Monica Lewinsky was providing a great relief to Bill Clinton, a relief that his wife was too busy to provide (and no, I'm not blaming her for that at all). With apologies to the former president, it's the hypocrisy, stupid (those who remember the Monica scandal will remember what I mean).
All of the fellowing politicians are hypocrites: Bill Clinton (who instead of acting like French President Sarkoszy, decided to lie to the entire world and didn't tell everyone to mind their own business), Jesse Jackson, Larry Craig, Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, former Spokane Mayor James West, the Rev. Ted Haggart, Newt Gingrich, Strong Thurmond, Mark Foley, Rudy Guiliani, Gary Condit, Ted Bargin, Bob Packwood, Henry Hype, and let's not forget "gay icon" James MacGreevy (as I've always said, it's a mystery why he was endorsed by gay groups... do we really have to worship liars who come out of the closet only when forced to?). And of course, there are all those Catholic priests. This list covers just the last decade of hypocrisy. If I went back starting with Jim Bakker though John Kennedy and finally finishing with Thomas Jefferson, that would be a long, long list in between.
Hypocrisy is nothing new and has been talked about on so many levels and in so many words that there is nothing much left for me to say. However, I will tell you that Spitzer's actions would be perfect for serious psychoanalysis. How can a man climbing up the political ladder all his life (and in Spitzer's case, with the support of his billionaire father who paid for everything from universities to his apartment on 79th Street) flush everything down the drain... and all for a vagina? I wouldn't be surprised if the man committed suicide. Just imagine: this man will never be able to dream about becoming President (something everyone was predicting), never be able to look into the eyes of his supporters, never be able to go to the restaurants he frequented, to the Whitney Museum (which is right across from his apartment), to attend his daughters' school parties, etc.
What it all comes down to is that I have no pity for a hypocrite who was a crusader against prostitution. Spitzer is a disgrace to his class. But, sadly, so are so many others who came before him—no pun intended—and who will no doubt come after him, as well.
Posted by Michael at 03:45 PM | Comments (8)
February 29, 2008
Cairo, The City of Liars and Thieves
Did you know that when you arrive in the airport in Cairo, Egypt, what greets you is a sign saying that people with drugs will be punished by hanging?
Having just spent four days in Cairo, I repeat something I will never tire of saying; those who don’t go to these places have no business talking about them. I had an idea that Egypt would be like a majority of the other third-world Islamic countries I’ve visited, but nothing had prepared me for seeing people living in such wretched squalor. Cairo is far dirtier than Mexico City and Calcutta combined; the city is basically one big trash can.
The place is like the lowest ring of Dante’s Inferno, without the great poetry. Never have I been in a city with such disgusting and ubiquitous environmental pollution. No matter what kind of human depravity you might have witnessed in the traffic circulation in any other city, Calcutta, Mexico City, wherever, you have not seen true automotive barbarity until you have been to this place. The roads are wide but nobody understands the concept of driving in a lane. What passes for a car looks like a banged up anchovy can on wobbly wheels, with black smoke belching out behind it. Picture endless numbers of such contraptions weaving in and around each other in a chaotically violent muddle. Picture open trucks of cattle pooping away in the middle of that mess. There is an appearance that nobody has informed the civil engineers of Cairo of the invention of the traffic light. With the madness of banged up anchovy can cars in this driving hell, there is a very small chance that any driver will stop for a man to cross the road. But there is as good a chance of them slowing down for a woman as for a dog. It is hardly surprising that there are about 6,000 auto related deaths here every year.
Of 20 million people in Cairo, it seems to be that ten million are driving cars and that the other ten are using the subway and train system. I have seen unpleasant subways, but this takes the cake and the cake was baked from shit. Riding it is a cruel experience, which I decided to try one day. To board, mobs attack the train, pushing each other in groups to get on, working with their elbows. The doors don’t close all the way but the trains start moving anyhow, with dozens of people falling off as they do. Arriving at a stop, the mobs inside can’t get out because the mobs outside won’t let them. People get off where they are able to get off, not where they would like to. By the time I got out of that subway, I felt like I had been through a boxing match with Mohammed Ali.
Because Four Seasons hotels are dependable, I often choose to stay in them, and did so in Cairo. The opulence of this Four Seasons property, if anything, outshines that of most of their others. Extravagant floral arrangements, deep plush lobby seats and sofas, sumptuous décor, all in shocking contrast to the incredible poverty and filth right outside the sparkly front doors. While there are some American and European tourists, the majority of the customers are from other Muslim countries in the Gulf.
Employees of the Cairo Four Seasons Hotel and its restaurants were so servile that it troubled me. On the premises, one sees processions of rich sheiks surrounded by their many wives, some of those wives in full burkhas, some with facial veils only, but always carrying Louis Vuitton bags. The style of catering to these super-rich sheiks and their entourages involves the hotel and restaurant employees demeaning themselves in a preposterous way. For example, you can not take a few sips of a wine or water glass without having the servers ask if you would like for them to replace the glass with a fresh one. Whenever a server has finished interacting with a table, he takes his leave of the people there as though they were the Queen of England and her court, taking two steps backwards, bowing, practically in a prayer position. I asked a waiter who was requesting this humiliatingly obsequious service, if it was the Saudis demanding it. He told me no, that it was Americans asking to be treated that way. I told him that he was lying, that we in America do not force waiters to behave this way.
I asked the manager about this tradition, she was an American with Egyptian background and looking into my eyes she tried to lie to me that Americans request this. I briefly explained to her that this is making people behave like slaves. Of course I didn’t get any comprehensible response; but I did get an extra huge bowl of fruit delivered to my room.
Egypt is a nation of liars, they lie everywhere, and can not be trusted even when asked what time it is. The only time they are speaking the truth is when they talk about their hate for Israel and Jews. In a taxi, I passed a museum. When asked, the driver told me it was a ceramics museum. But then I saw that it was a museum dedicated to the 1973 war against Israel. I asked him who won that war. (This was the famous Yom Kipper War, which began when Egypt and Syria made a surprise attack on Israel on the High Holy Day of Yom Kipper. Israel quickly won.) Nevertheless, the driver told me that Egypt had won that war. I’m sorry I didn’t have time to visit the museum to see how these ratfinks distort history. These Egyptians lie, lie, lie, every step of the way.
The whole time I was there, looking around for openly gay men, I didn’t see one. I of course know they exist in Cairo. But after all the recent arrests and terror against them, they have probably changed their meeting places. Tourist guide books tell you they do that as a survival technique. As in every Muslim city, there are men wandering around together hand in hand, or with a hand around another man’s arm or shoulder. This is described by Muslims as their “local tradition.” Everything in the Muslim world gets explained away by the left wing Muslim apologists as “local tradition,” the new term for shit such as the mutilation of people accused of theft, and genital mutilation of young women. But let me tell you that the “local tradition” does not stop at hand holding; they also jerk each other off, and/or suck each other and/or fuck. Because of the extreme segregation of the sexes, there is no way for the men to have sex with women before marriage. Do you really think they all wait? When they see foreign gays, they see two main opportunities; 1) to get money; 2) to get sucked off or fuck, and usually, they are aiming to have sex and get paid for it. The proposition comes in the rudest, nastiest ways. They have actually learned a few words of English, and can say “me fuck you” or “you suck me.” One of them is still moaning over his genitals from the kick I gave him between his legs right after his proposal for me to suck him off.
Don’t get me wrong. There are stunning things to see in Egypt, especially the monuments of the Pharaonic culture. But to see those monuments, you pay a very high price in terms of what you have to put up with going on around them. Hoards of thieves loiter in touristy places, especially around the pyramids. They loiter around their “merchandise” and have many ways of getting into your wallet. At every step they accost you, some with their trays of ugly faux-Pharaonic souvenirs which they try to pass off as authentic objets d’art from antiquity. A simple “no” never works. They dog your steps with their shit. Often, they approach you with their camels and their donkeys, offering you to be photographed with the livestock. They swear they are doing it to show “hospitality” and that they don’t want any money for it. Afterwards, they demand unreasonable amounts. Their demands become even more absurd towards the evening, and can go like this; they come yelling “You have to give me money, because you were photographed with my camel in the background.”
These duty merchants slow everything down tremendously; you can barely take a step around those pyramids because they are clogging all walkways up with their garbage. Fake gold, fake stones, statues of Pharaohs, and other ugly things which stupid tourists buy out of lack of taste. God forbid you should trip over one of those objects in trying to avoid them. They’re going to yell that you have to buy it immediately, quoting some crazy price, as of course the object is from the ancient Egyptian period. If you refuse, they will curse you, all your relatives and all of your offspring. I doubt that when the Pharaohs were building their tombs that they thought they would become the operating grounds of a ragged Islamic mafia. It’s not as if that Islamic mafia cares about the Pharoahs’ tombs, anyway. The pre-Islamic culture means nothing to them. They shit and piss right on the walls of the pyramids. They throw their trash and their bags all around, polluting the place without end. And I’m sure they would blow them up just like the Taliban blew up the Buddhist relics of the 4th century, except that they know that without the Pharaonic monuments, they’d never attract even one tourist.
It would seem they gave up their Islamic tradition of mutilating thieves because the thieves are trying to steal from you everywhere you go, including in the bazaar Khan el-Khalili, where they sell plastic tchotchkes and cheap stones with, as usual, the claim that the things are ancient artifacts. They are there with this crap every step of your way, around the museums, around restaurant entrances; everywhere. “Muslim hospitality” in turns out extends to forcing you into a broken down store-front, forcing a nasty tea into your mouth and then trying to sell you some piece of garbage for $100. Some fools pay that. Others get into haggling over the price, and when they get the piece of crap down to $5 bring it home and brag to their friends about the great deal they made for a plastic piece of junk.
Tonight, thank goodness, I am leaving this cesspool and returning to Tel Aviv, where I will breathe fresh air and be surrounded by civilized people.
Gay sex tourists, including those who like rough trade, can take my word for it that in Egypt, even at the age of 25 the young men have swollen bellies like pregnant women. They dress and smell like camels. You should definitely instead go to a place like Puerto Rico where the air is cleaner and they know how to treat tourists as though their experience in the country mattered. Besides, those Boricua papis with their big dark hairy dicks and bubble butts have what it takes, if you are looking for a real hombre.
Posted by Michael at 02:49 PM | Comments (7)
February 21, 2008
I Stand With Israel, I Stand With Jews
Today was my first day in Israel in over a year. Yes, it's been a while since I last left, when yet another war had been unleashed by Muslim barbarians, at that time by Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah, who took over Lebanon, destroyed its churches, Muslim-ized it, and turned a once-beautiful Christian country into a terrorist's heaven.
I arrived to Tel-Aviv this morning and took a car to the King David Hotel in Jerusalem. I walked through the old city and sat in an open restaurant watching beautiful men and women passing by, laughing and kissing. The most beautiful free people of a free country that always amazes me with its optimism and the ability to enjoy life. I came back to the hotel and wrote something like a manifesto, which was derived from my independence of thought, from my curiosity, from my many travels though the world, and through the many books I've read on history, on Islam, and on all the issues that are important to me.
I will call it, "I Stand With Israel, I Stand With Jews":
It makes no sense that all over the world there are hordes of protesters who march with rainbow flags and paint swastikas on the eyes and foreheads of Israeli leaders.
It makes no sense why the so-called Left is putting on the same level the stabbing by the Hasidic Jew of gay demonstrators at the pride parade in Jerusalem three years ago, to the thousands of decapitations, stonings and hangings that are a part of a daily life in the world of Islam.
It makes no sense that all over the world they boycott Israeli goods. They, who do not give a rat's ass about Palestinians but are just so anti-Semitic that they are happy to ally with the most ghastly ideology in the world.
It makes no sense that American President Jimmy Carter can write an anti-Semitic book comparing Israel to the Apartheid regime, criticizing Israelis for everything and Muslims for nothing.
It makes no sense that the president of Iran, who voted to nuke Israel and who denied the Holocaust, can be hosted by the United States and receive standing ovations at Columbia University (by probably the same students who did boycott my talk on safe sex because of my views on Islam).
It makes no sense that all over the world there are those who burn synagogues, urinate on their walls, and destroy Jewish cemeteries.
It makes no sense that they give the Nobel Prize to the likes of Yasser Arafat, this eternal ultra terrorist who authorized the killings of thousands and poisoned the minds of millions. Who taught kids how to become suicide bombers until his death in a FRENCH hospital. It doesn't make sense to me that after keeping his people in shit and sending all their financial aid directly to his Swiss accounts, he still remains a symbol of a revolutionary, a symbol of a peace fighter.
It makes no sense that film producers and directors all over the world make films and documentaries sympathizing with Muslims and bashing Israelis. That TV stations, from CNN to BBC, cry for Muslim deaths and downplay Israeli deaths and 50 years of Israeli struggle for surviving.
It makes no sense that world politicians, American ones included, are demanding the withdrawal of Israeli troops from territories that we gained through the wars that were started by Muslim countries in order to destroy Her.
It makes no sense that the world governments (the most ghastly and totalitarian included) are demanding a Palestinian state (read: a terrorist state), built next to the state of Israel.
It makes no sense to me that the world is pushing for Israel to negotiate with barbarians, to attempt dialogue with those whom dialogue is impossible and with which dialogue will only become a monologue.
It makes no sense to me that the world does not understand that no matter how much Israel will give, how much land She will give up, how many compromises She will make, Her neighbors will not stop with their demands until the only democracy in the region is pushed into the sea.
It makes no sense that the sheiks and oil bags of Saudi Arabia, who are sponsoring terrorists, are sleeping over in the White House, shaking hands and kissing with our politicians, presidents included.
It makes no sense to me that the world news media undermined the death tolls of Israelis, stating that more of them are killed daily in car accidents.
It makes no sense that more than 60 years after the end of the World War II and the Holocaust, Jews are still not able to get their money from Swiss banks and their properties that were stolen from them by European Nazis.
BUT... Let me be honest:
I also do not understand and cannot make sense of the Israeli patience, which I more and more see as a masochism which one day will bring the Israeli Jews to extermination.
I don't understand how Israelis can be so patient with their corrupted governments, presidents, and prime ministers, who are so incapable of protecting their people from suicide bombers, from deadly missiles, and from Katyusha rockets.
I don't understand how Israelis can tolerate a government that lets their enemies build their terrorist infrastructures right under their very eyes.
I don't understand how Israel can tolerate the useless "politicians" who betrayed their army—which was once so glorious and capable of defeating not one but six invading armies—to the point of losing the war with Hezbollah.
I don't understand how Israelis can allow the deeply anti-Semitic United Nations and European Union to push on Israel their ridiculous resolutions.
It makes no sense to me why the people who have been tortured for millenniums are now keeping their watchful eye on Europe—scared to be disapproved by it—and would not take their own security in their own hands (Are Israelis so naive to think that the world would ever appreciate Israel for any "right-doing"?).
It makes no sense why the State of Israel is not capable of making a decision of blowing away the barbarians that are plotting against Her and keep of no secret of wanting to erase Her from the world maps.
I stand with Israel, I stand with Jews, regardless of how I will be viewed in America where I live, and in Europe where I regularly work, and by friends and enemies alike.
Posted by Michael at 08:03 PM | Comments (14)
February 20, 2008
A response
re: today's Stanford Daily article "Op-Ed: The power of knowledge"
Mr. Mohammed Ali, Sir.
The fact that you followers of the "Prophet" at Stanford University were trying to boycott me, just proved the fact that Islam is a religion that doesn’t allow for second opinions. And don’t tell me what subject I am qualified to talk about, because in this country, there is such thing as freedom of speech and freedom of opinion. Respect it.
You would have people believe that I can not possibly have knowledge of Islam because I am not a scholar, because I did not get some piece of paper from some university that panders to the fascistic Islamic point of view, which unfortunately so many European and American universities do.
I have a law degree, and access to the best of libraries with their great books, as well as access to the internet, which spreads news around the world within seconds. I read papers from all over the world, and I travel to the countries where your brothers of faith live.
There are so many things I could talk about here, but you see, I have a plane to catch. A plane to the only Middle Eastern country with a true democracy. It’s called Israel, the country that your brothers have not only vowed to wipe off the face of the earth, but actually tried to do on many occasions. Muslims have slaughtered Israelis there, and would slaughter every Israeli if they could, just as they were slaughtering Europeans in the Middle Ages you were referring to.
However, Mr. Student, your propaganda doesn’t really sit well with me or with anybody who has two brain cells to rub together. You want to tell me that Islam is a beacon of light that was leading us stupid infidels through the Dark Ages? You’re calling me a liar for calling your religion backwards? Like we don’t know who has been terrorizing the planet for the last 30 years, not to mention the last 1,400 years of history.
You want to tell me that Islam is a beacon of light, and that we stupid Westerners should thank you for guiding us through the dark centuries? I refuse even to compare your supposed culture to the Western one. This would not work on any level. If I would start listing for you the achievements of Western culture, it would take me weeks of writing, as the list is very long, from our literary figures such as Homer and Plato to Tolstoy and Doris Lessing. From Ancient Rome to today’s progressive West with its incredibly high standard of living. Yes, you’re right, there was the Catholic church that tortured people with its Inquisition. But the same church gave us beautiful art and contributed to the history of thought and finally changed and evolved. That’s when we went through the Renaissance with Da Vinci and Raphael, up to Rousseau and Voltaire. And let’s not forget the gorgeous music of Tchaikovsky, Bach, Brahms, Verdi, et cetera, et cetera. You benefit from our science and technology on a daily basis, and none of the associated advances were invented by your brothers of faith. Or maybe you would tell me that Darwin, Einstein and company were followers of the “Prophet?” Were rocket science, electronic devices and all the medical achievements from heart transplants to cancer and HIV treatments invented by some bearded Mullahs?
And now tell me, what did your “culture” give to this world in 1,400 years? You are giving me a fairy tale that you supposedly invented mathematics. Mathematics was not invented by Islamists. Here’s lesson 101. Mathematics was invented before the unfortunate birth of your “Prophet.” It was by Mesopotamians, Greeks, Arabs and Indians. Muslims did not invent numbers. They only invented a new way of writing them.
Now tell me; where are the Islamic achievements in the arts, in technology, in the garden of thought, in social welfare? Give me some names, Mr. Mohammed, because I can give you thousands of names. But let me help you out here, because I, who am not a scholar, I, a pornographer, whose speech you boycotted, know about Averroe and Omar Quyam and the fairy tale called The Thousand And One Nights. But a single swallow doesn’t make the spring, Mr. Bigmouth.
Progressive thought can find its way even through such a totalitarian ideology as Islam. But in all honesty, let me tell you that it would be silly to compare your Thousand and One Nights to my Shakespeare your Amarhaya to my John Milton. My ancient palaces, churches, monuments, and art to your gloomy mosques. There are some beautiful mosques, but many of those were churches forcibly turned into mosques during the bloody wars unleashed by your co-religionists all over the world. Like the Islamicization of Constantinople, transmogrifying it into Istanbul, killing the majority of people in the city, and the rest sold in the slave markets of the Muslims. Look at today’s Lebanon, which you began strongly Islamizing in the 1970s; today your dirty job there is nearly done.
So don’t try to tell me that your Islamic culture is superior to Western culture. The most important book connected to your culture is the Koran, and I will never get tired of repeating that in the name of that book, humanity has been tortured for 1,400 years. If you really want to go back in history to the period of the “Great Ottoman Empire,” then get off your duff and take a trip to the library. Read the real scholars of Islam, like Bat Ye’or. In those books you will learn how in the countries your predecessors Islamized, Christians had to bow whenever a Muslim was passing by. The only choice non-Muslims faced was to either pay unbelievably high taxes or convert to your miserable religion. In other words, non-Muslims under Islamic rule had the status of dhimmis, second-class citizens deprived of their rights. The only “art” you ever succeeded in was that of brutal wars, Islamicizations, and stonings. This art, Islam has indeed perfected.
Last but not least, as for your point that Stanford did not “buy into” my remarks regarding Islam; go check the many hundreds of comments under my previous article. Had you been present at my speech, (and since you were not, what gives you the right to talk about it?) you would have seen a long line of students waiting to get my autograph. Instead of attacking people who make legitimate criticism of the barbarities of Islam in the contemporary world, why don’t you criticize the Muslims trampling human rights and squelching free speech around the world?
In your “article,” you did not bring up even one crime of Islam in the contemporary world, crimes that I had addressed, as doing so would be too inconvenient for you, and you would have nothing to say about Islam in that context which would leave sane people believing it is “a religion of peace.” You are digging in the history of the Medieval centuries, hoping that other peoples’ lack of knowledge about the brutality of Muslims in the period will work to your advantage.
Posted by Michael at 01:08 PM | Comments (7)
February 17, 2008
Mystery around "Gigolo"
Though I was happy to win four GAYVNs last night to become the third most award-winning studio of the year, I wanted to express my big concern that all of my awards were for the movie "The Intern." "The Intern," I agree, is a great comedy, but it could not be compared or put anywhere close to the same level of "Gigolo." In fact, there were some absolutely ridiculous moments last night. For example, "The Intern" won Best-Renting Title of 2007. I am my own distributor, and I know we sold at least twice as much of "Gigolo" than "The Intern." My accounting is available for that.
The reviews for "Gigolo" were outstanding. After being in the business for 12 years, I can tell you that the packaging was absolutely stunning and incomparable to any other cover. It was created and shot by Tony Dimarco, who has been in photography for 13 years. The art direction by Tony was outstanding. Take a look at the cover once again... only a blind person wouldn't see what I'm talking about. The videography by Tony and Mr. Pam could only be compared to mainstream productions. So could the amazing screenplay, also written by Tony.
Last year I won the award for Best Actor in "Michael Lucas' La Dolce Vita," where I did nothing but walk around New York City with a sad look on my face. In "Gigolo," I had a very complex part, which, according to many reviews, was the best performance in porn. And how come none of the other actors were acknowledged? Ray Star was brilliant.
This film got raging reviews, where everyone was comparing it to a mainstream feature with five-star sex. What kind of mystery is there for such an acclaimed film not getting awarded at all? Not for one category? I talked to many reviewers last night who were stunned by this fact, reviewers who were in fact judges and who actually told me that they voted for this film. What I'm hearing now is that this movie didn't get to all the judges and was accidentally sent to Specialty Publications where it was sitting for some time before getting shipped to GAYVN. And I found out about that just now.
My company has many questions about this situation. I do want to be clear: I am NOT comparing "Gigolo" to any other company's work. I am making a simple comparison to this movie and "The Intern." Even a retard wouldn't make the mistake that "Gigolo" is on a totally different planet. It's like comparing champagne to Coca-Cola, like comparing a diamond to a rock. "Gigolo" is a serious feature that sold in comparably higher numbers and had higher production values, a serious storyline, and impeccable art direction, screenplay, and packaging.
I have many questions, and I need the answers.
I am fine for not ever being recognized as the Performer of the Year. I am fine having never being admitted into the Hall of Fame after all these glorious reviews about challenging the industry to create bigger blockbusters and raising the industry bar. I'm just asking about the comparison between my two films. If Tiger Tyson is more deserving, than I am, then I respect it. But I'm just talking about the reviewers own reviews, their own feedback about both of those films.
So what went wrong with "Gigolo" that it got nothing? If you praised "Gigolo" as a groundbreaking film, then acknowledge it. "Gigolo" is a serious feature that was raved about. "The Intern" is a cute comedy. What went wrong? Where is the common sense? I want the answers.
I don't want to hear from any other companies on this matter. I am not comparing my films to theirs... only to each other. And I cannot derive any sense out of this comparison.
-Michael Lucas
Posted by Michael at 12:49 PM | Comments (6)
February 15, 2008
My appearance at Stanford
First let me tell you that I had a wonderful time speaking at Stanford. It was a paid engagement, and I was honored to be hired by such an prestigious institution. They gave me the best reception, from accommodations at the best hotel in town to an enjoyable dinner with the organizers of the event—about 10 students—who were absolutely marvelous to talk with.
In my speech I addressed the controversy, talked about my life and business, discussed my stance on safe sex, and made clear my political views. It was followed by a Q&A session, where I answered over 30 questions in over an hour, but just like my engagements at Yale, NYU, and Rutgers, there wasn't time to answer all the questions. The students appreciated my straight talk and honest approach.
The only one controversial moment that I can recall in the two hours on stage was when one of the students asked me why the gay adult industry "segregates" African-American models. I answered that he probably has never seen my films, as my movies are all interracial. I've personally performed with African-American actors at least 20 times in my career, and numerous African-American actors are constantly featured in my films. That's why one of my very first awards at the GAYVNs was for Best Ethnic-Themed Video, as I've always used actors from all over the world, from South America to the Middle East. The student, however, tried to provoke me and kept asking about the issue, wondering why other studios don't use more African-American actors. I gave him a very straightforward and a very truthful answer, stating the fact that though we would all love to see more African-American actors applying to work in our films, we don't have as many of them doing so. And the reason is simple: homophobia in the African-American community, which prevents them from applying. This one particular student started arguing, and I repeated my statement and told him that the truth does not always stay in the middle... sometimes it's either on the right or the left, sometimes the truth can be unpleasant. But homophobia in the African-American community is a well-known fact. It's not even a subject for argument. Homophobia something that we should all be working on in every community, regardless of race.
I thanked the students for coming in such a large number, especially on the evening of Valentine's Day. I received a round of applause and spent about 20 minutes signing autographs. The entire event was filmed by my friend, cameraman Mr. Pam. I will release it in a couple of weeks. It will also be included in a documentary about my life which will be out sometime this Fall.
Below are three articles that appear in the Stanford Daily today. One is a report on the event, one is an editorial, and the third is my response to yesterday's Stanford Daily article about me, which I appreciate that they reprinted in full.
Report: "Lucas talks safe-sex, AIDS and controversy"
http://daily.stanford.edu/article/2008/2/15/lucasTalksSafesexAidsAndControversy
Editorial: "Silencing speakers"
http://daily.stanford.edu/article/2008/2/15/silencingSpeakers
Op-Ed: "Racism and intolerance: disappointing at liberal university"
http://daily.stanford.edu/article/2008/2/15/opedRacismAndIntoleranceDisappointingAtALiberalUniversity
And in case you missed it, here's the article the Daily printed yesterday, "Adult film star's remarks spark debate"
http://daily.stanford.edu/article/2008/2/14/adultFilmStarsRemarksSparkDebate
XXX,
Michael
Posted by Michael at 01:47 PM | Comments (5)
February 13, 2008
Three Men
I've had many lovers and a several boyfriends throughout my life, but for tomorrow's important-for-some and not-so-important-for-others Valentine's Day, I want to talk about three of them in particular. I'm choosing them as they are the three who really shaped me and my opinions on love, relationships, friendships, loyalties, life and many things that make me ME.
I met Sasha in 1994, the year I graduated from university and planned to leave Russia for the West. But I did not leave... I delayed my long, cherished dream of changing my life for what I thought would be love forever (well, I was 22) with a top Russian model.
Sasha was my first love. It was love at first sight, the kind of love that does not make any sense and was based on looks, nothing but looks. And he had looks! These badly-made amateur pictures above, taken by me with a cheap Russian camera in 1994, do not serve him any justice. Not a bit.
He was truly a stunner. Men and women would turn their heads as we passed by (and not because of me). With him I became an unnoticeable shadow. He became my obsession, my sickness. I realized that I was not only not thinking about myself, but I could not thinking about my family, my friends, or my future. I was robbed of the ability to think about anything but him.
Was my relationship with him pointless, or was that one year with him important? I think it was important, as it taught me a lesson: relationships cannot be based on an obsession with someone's pretty face and gorgeous body; it has to be more than that, much more. So I will never forget my Moldavian-Russian, and not just for his looks, his deep voice, his beautiful smile, and not even for all the sleepless nights, insecurity, and tears. He will always live in my memory as a reminder of how close one can get to losing one's dreams and one's identity for a person who is not worth it.
I left Sasha without leaving a note, without ever saying goodbye. Without ever speaking to him about it, I left for Europe the day after I decided to leave him.
I met Anthony in 1997 when I was visiting New York. He had everything I thought I needed in a man: intelligence and a great education (he was a doctor of philosophy, having graduated from Columbia University). At the time he was working on Wall Street and teaching in the evenings.
We shared all the same interests: opera, books, travel—it was like a dream. He was the man I was longing for. So I moved in with him after two weeks, leaving my boyfriend back in Germany and my lover back in France (neither of them was important).
I introduced Anthony to my parents during our trip to Moscow, and he introduced me to his in New Jersey, the place I had to visit every weekend! His parents were nice but common. I was bored there but thought that love was a lot about sacrificing. I still do think so, but I do not apply it to frequent trips to a partner's family.
Anthony and I traveled the world together. We fought and made up. It went on for three years, and we might have stayed together, but as one can not be perfect, my Italian-American was not the exception: he was a drug-addict. A functional one. A smart one. Very smart, in fact. So smart that I (who never knew anyone who did it and never even tried a cigarette himself) found out about it by accident a year into the relationship.
After finding out, I told myself that every problem we ever had was because of the damn drugs, and for two more years I tried to get him sober. With no luck, of course... after all the meetings that I took him to, all the numerous psychologists we saw together, all nights in the emergency room of St. Vincent's whenever he overdosed...
I left him, as all his promises to quit were broken and I finally understood that one can not help a partner with a drug addiction unless that partner makes the decision to help himself (and that's often not until he hits rock bottom). In fact, I realized that with me around he would never stop (drugs are always more important and more powerful than the one you love when you're an addict). We broke up, and it was a nasty one, with the police, friends and family all involved. It was the saddest thing.
I met Richard in December of 2001. A graduate from Yale, a smart business man, and a community leader, he was intelligent, wise, kind and respectful.
We did not move in together for nearly seven months. I was observing him. I wanted to know that at the age of 29, I was not making a mistake. And now I know I didn't.
After seven years together, he has proven to be the greatest life partner: one you can always rely on, one who listens and respect your opinion (without necessarily agreeing), one who never judges or pushes his opinion on you, and one who gives the best advice when asked. I know Richard will be there for me (as he has been many time) whenever I need him.
So I hope that this one will work in the long-run as it has been working now for nearly seven years. I hope I will not make a mistake. As after all these years, after all this experience and knowledge, I am still very human and very capable of making mistakes. I am an atheist, but I feel like saying: help me, God.
Posted by Michael at 11:09 AM | Comments (8)
February 11, 2008
Little Brit Behaving Badly
I was there, too. New York Magazine even wrote about me on their blog: http://nymag.com/daily/fashion/2008/02/we_explore_the_dark_side_of_th.html. They quoted me as saying some very true things about a totally ridiculous woman going by the name of Victoria Beckham.
Beforehand, I did not know who this absurd woman was. I don’t watch television, though my sources tell me that she has appeared on a show called "Ugly Betty." I don’t doubt that she has.
Imagine my nausea when at one point during fashion week I suddenly saw a diminutive, unattractive woman creating a stir among the crowds, not because of anything striking about her appearance, but because she was surrounded by a private security detail of at least ten bodyguards, each six feet five inches tall and 250 muscular pounds.
The genuine fashion A-listers moved out of the way for this foolish procession, as though at the center of it were Queen Elizabeth II, the President, or some other major potentate. We are talking about fashion kingpins with a strong say in giving direction to international style making way for a cameo actress from "Ugly Betty."
It was one of the most ludicrous and ironic things I’ve seen in my entire life. The question of where this ridiculous woman would put her little foot every time she wanted to move it another step forward or backward was handled like some major state of emergency. Her bodyguards were elbowing people, running around and clearing a path for her to walk.
As the group moved towards me, one guard in the group touched my elbow to move me out of the way. I said, "Mr. Bodyguard, Sir; you are in the United States of America. It’s a free country. I have a right to stay on this spot as much as your precious little charge with a cute little bottom. You are not escorting the President. So don’t dare touch me, because if you do, I will call the real security, the people with the power to move you and your entire ridiculous entourage out of these facilities."
After that, he backed off and left me alone completely, though he continued with his business of elbowing other people out of the way so the ridiculous little tacky woman could pass.
What was the necessity of so many bodyguards for the likes of Victoria Beckham at the Marc Jacobs fashion week event? What kind of alert did she get, that she treated this fashion show as though she were walking through Nairobi or Iraq? Or did she think she was Madonna, trying to get to the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem? As far as I’m concerned, she’s just the wife of a soccer player with good looks and waning talent for sports. Did she walk into this fashion event with all these hulking bodyguards because she needed to be protected from gays and women of a certain age?
The show was actually about Mr. Jacobs. It was his collection. He, the most celebrated of American designers, had no bodyguards. Nor does he ever use any, walking the streets of New York or going to the public gym or flying all over the world.
Who would consider Ms. Beckham a target for violence at a fashion show? She is a common woman with bad skin and utterly tasteless make-up. I’ve seen moneybags with oil fortunes running around with a few bodyguards all over Moscow, Dubai and London. I guess they were incredibly inspirational, and became role models, for this ex-Spice Girl.
Before I had a chance to learn who this presumptuous woman was, they took a picture of me with her. Afterwards, everybody was whispering "They just took your picture with Victoria Beckham!" Whoop-dee-doo!
I was left asking myself whether Americans actually buy into this nonsense. If they do, I’m disappointed. Brits often criticize Americans for being vulgar, loud, having bad taste, and having good teeth. With this Victoria Beckham, the Brits seem to have shipped us something louder, more vulgar and in worse taste than anything actually native to our country.
With legendary French Vogue editor Carine Roitfeld
With supermodel Karen Elson
In the press line with Debbie Harry
Chatting with Inside Edition
Interview with Extra
Posted by Michael at 03:01 PM | Comments (17)
February 08, 2008
Recent Awards Speeches
I've been in L.A. these past few days for some important business meetings and to attend the Cybersocket and XBIZ Awards shows. The following are the speeches I made at the shows. The XBIZ speeches were controversial, but I think it was the right time to make them. The Cybersocket speech was a bit more fun.
XBIZ AWARDS
First I presented the award for GLBT Feature Movie of the Year with XBIZ's lovely Joanne Cachapero. The winner was "Link: The Evolution" by All Worlds, so I said, "Hello, beautiful straight people! [The crowd was 95 percent straight people.] We're presenting a very important award for GLBT Feature Movie of the Year, and I'm very glad to say it goes to the most beautiful woman in the audience: ChiChi LaRue for All Worlds' 'Link: The Evolution'!"
After that I was presented with an award for GLBT Director of the Year (which I share with Tony Dimarco). My speech started with this: "Thank you, XBIZ, for your support and recognition of the GLBT community." As soon as I said that, I heard laughter from the front table, so I interrupted my speech, pointed to the person laughing, and said, "When I see people like you I feel really happy that I graduated from college!" Then I continued my speech as people started making more noise: "All of us, gay and straight, are together in this fight against the bigotry, backwardness, and hypocrisy of this world. So let's keep fighting together!"
I'm very happy and glad that the GLBT community is recognized by XBIZ. But it amazed me that straight folks in the adult industry can act so arrogantly and disrespectfully—in other words, so incredibly homophobic—towards their GLBT colleagues. We're in the same boat and facing the same enemies. I felt incredibly uncomfortable facing an audience with ignorant people. How much better are they than those who are persecuting all of us?
CYBERSOCKET AWARDS
I was presented with Best Personality, and when I went up on stage I said, "Thank you very much for this great award. I worked very hard for this award, but there is a very high price to pay for being the best personality. Some quotes I found in recent posts and comments about me on the web: 'Zoolander.' 'Fat bitch.' 'Skinny bitch.' 'Balding bitch.' 'Arrogant bitch.' 'Bitchy bitch.' 'Aging whore.' 'Old whore.' 'Mean whore.' 'Makeup whore.' 'Saggy-assed whore.' 'Ugly whore.' 'Victim of plastic surgery.' 'Plastic surgery gone wrong.' 'Fake lips.' 'Fish lips.' 'Cheap kike.' 'Ugly kike.' 'Old kike.' 'Self absorbed.' 'Self centered.' 'Egomaniac.' 'Sadist.' 'Gold digger.' 'Spotlight grabber.' And my personal favorite one: 'Shameless self promoter.' Please visit my website at www.LucasEntertainment.com. Thank you!"
Posted by Michael at 11:31 AM | Comments (4)
February 05, 2008
eBay sale news!
So our eBay sample sale proved to be a very effective!
After a week, we sold about forty percent of the old wardrobe which was used in our films like Dangerous Liaisons, The Intern, Michael Lucas' La Dolce Vita, Gigolo, and others. Not only have we emptied half of the numerous racks piled in our studio, but so far we have made enough to finance an incredible wardrobe for our big, annual blockbuster set to be filmed this summer.
There was a wide variety of buyers, from label queens bidding only on Dolce & Gabana shoes and Hermes sweaters to fans bidding on heavily-used sneakers. And of course there was my favorite item that sold—my Calvin Klein underwear, which received 22 bids and went for $123.50!
The good news is that I was emptying my storage over the weekend and now I'm going to get rid of another couple hundred items which I no longer use because, you know, how much clothing can one person have? :-) So here's the deal, folks: the eBay sale is going to go on!
Click here to see what's up! Have fun bidding!
Posted by Michael at 06:09 PM | Comments (2)
February 04, 2008
HX column: The Curious Notion of Romantic Love
Here's the unedited version of my Lucas Life column in this week's issue of HX:
It’s almost Valentine’s Day (not my favorite holiday to say the least, as I hate to see so many people feeling like they fell out of the parade: sad and miserably suicidal), so let’s talk about love. I do not mean love in the sense of loving humanity, but in the way it is usually associated with Valentine’s Day. I am talking about so-called “romantic love,” the kind of love that usually sparks from what is known as “love at first sight.”
What’s love at first sight based on? Physical looks, and nothing more. Love at first sight makes the brain produce endorphins that raise your mood and release adrenaline that exaggerates your feelings and causes a chemical imbalance of the brain. This leads two people to the delusion that they are experiencing something divine, something heavenly. But how long does this kind of love last? When we choose jobs, we are always rational. We think about the responsibilities, the payroll, the benefits, and the requirements. When falling in love we use no rationality. Our brains are clouded, and we can't think straight. In fact we cannot think about anything but the object of our love. We become slaves of love.
Things get worse, as falling in love gives us insecurity, mood swings, and, in the end, obsession. Obsession that robs one the freedom to think of anything but the one he loves. Obsession that gives us insomnia and a loss of any joy in life. And God forbid something actually goes wrong with the romance, causing a slip into deep depression. I know many whose love brings them to the state of madness and even schizophrenia.
What is love? Ecstasy and despair? Heaven and hell? In my own life and by observing the lives of others, I realized that we cannot be happy in love unless we try to love sanely, and this is possible only by understanding the origins of love and choosing your partner rationally, knowing that love can only be built on mutual understanding that takes time. You have to understand the intimacy of being rather than body, otherwise as soon as the passion is gone (and sooner or later it will be) you risk waking up in bed with a stranger.
I know that what I am saying sounds unromantic, but “love sickness” is not worth it. So before falling in love, stop for a moment and think: is this person right for you? Does he share your interests? Is he anything more than a pretty face? Do all the great qualities you see in him really exist or is it all just in your imagination?
Can you handle love, and can you love sanely? Without drama, melancholy, pointless jealousy, hate, and loss of comfort, all of which will make you forget about your work, your family, your friends, and yourself? Can you be in love without getting addicted to it like a drug? So many people get so addicted that they commit suicide; love has many vitcims. There’s that great song lyric: “The French are glad to die for love.” Are you ready to?
XXX,
Michael Lucas
Posted by Michael at 06:32 PM | Comments (8)
January 21, 2008
Michael Lucas' eBay SAMPLE SALE!
Hello Guys,
I am posting around 200+ items on eBay over the next day or two. Here's the link:
http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZmichaellucas72
They are all clothes that were used in my films and include items from fabulous designers like Dolce & Gabbana, Alessandro Dell'Acqua, and Armani, along with more simple stuff from the likes of Diesel and Gap. There's everything from suits and coats to belts and sunglasses, all in a great shape. And the prices are really incredibly low.
All the money will go back to buying more wardrobe for the big film we're producing late this summer.
Bid away! We ship worldwide.
Posted by Michael at 02:16 PM | Comments (3)
January 02, 2008
The Religion of Peace Kills Again
The recent assassination of the Pakistani political figure Benazir Bhutto reminds me that power, to those who crave it, is like a monstrously addictive drug.
Crack addicts know they should stop, but generally it takes hitting bottom for them to finally quit. Sometimes, the only way out of the crack house is the cemetery. Political power is similar for those addicted to it, and hitting bottom all too often means getting assassinated. How do you quit that addiction to political power once you’ve been bumped off? No pun intended, of course, with a bump of Tina.
To coin a phrase here; Bhutto was a corrupt riddle wrapped in a feminist mystery inside a Muslim-veiled enigma. I always thought she should have gotten her feminist veils washed in My Beautiful Launderette. On the one hand, she stood for enlightenment and modernization. On the other hand, back in 1994, she allied herself with the Islamists of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islami who headed up the ultra-Islamic schools that indoctrinated those of the Taliban.
Things just about came full circle in October 2007. Bhutto returned to Pakistan from exile, and was promptly the target of an assassination attempt that left 138 dead and more than 600 injured. Bhutto blamed the Taliban for that attack. And she’s right in a way, but the blame really rests with Bhutto herself. She knew very well that she was risking not only her own life, but also the lives of her supporters, of her “beloved people,” for whom she supposedly cared so much.
I also thought about Bhutto’s fabulous addiction to power while watching her speaking to the mob, to the crowds of illiterates, to the people that killed her father and two brothers. I mean, when you listened to Bhutto, you just had to wonder whether she could possibly really care about the people; I conclude that she did not. A person who steals from their own people can not possibly care about them.
Bhutto’s standing in international society was in some ways the reverse of Princess Diana’s. Lady Di had all the media attention she wanted, but very little money relative to her standing. Bhutto for the past eight years had tons of money and was materially way beyond comfortable, but she didn’t have the media attention she so helplessly craved. Henry Kissinger calls power the ultimate aphrodisiac. Hot as he is, he should know.
Did Bhutto realize she could well be assassinated if she returned to Pakistan? Of course she did. She was a practical realist. Nonetheless, she was hooked to her crack-and-tina-like addiction to power. Exactly what was she going to have power over, anyway, had she returned to power? 48% of the lunatics over there openly support al-Qaeda and bin-Laden. Did Bhutto think that by talking nice to them, or maybe reading Betty Friedan’s books out loud to them, they were in a flash of enlightenment going to allow girls and transvestites to wear mini-dresses in the streets of Rawalpindi? She was going to have power over a mob of starving bearded primitives stuck in the Middle Ages.
Did Bhutto really care about getting killed? Not any more than a meth addict cares whether the next dose could cause a heart attack. To follow in the footsteps of her father and brothers murdered by Islamic mental cases, she needed to be standing in front of all those unshaved unwashed hordes. She had the addiction to power, the desperate desire to be top dog.
Who actually killed her? Even though al-Qaeda has claimed responsibility, there are commentators insisting that the suicide bomber had a connection to Musharraf. People don’t kill themselves for political figures as uncharismatic as Musharaff. Allah butt-kissers and camel humpers will blow themselves up for Allah as well as for those they consider some kind of holy connection to Allah, such as Khomeini, bin-Laden or even Arafat. Musharaff is a target for Islamic assassins just as Bhutto was because he is not an Islamic religious leader, which is what so many Pakistanis want as the leader of their country. Ludicrous, given that according to all scientific evidence, Allah doesn’t exist. But in the warped worldview of an Allah butt-kisser, Allah does not want women to be more important than a camel or to look sexier than one. Bhutto died for Islam. How much better off the whole world would be if instead, Islam had died for Bhutto.
Posted by Michael at 05:11 PM | Comments (11)
December 21, 2007
Happy Holidays from Michael Lucas
Dear Friends,
I would like to wish you all a happy holiday season and a prosperous new year. It was a great year for Lucas Entertainment, kicking off with 14 GAYVN wins for "Michael Lucas' La Dolce Vita." I couldn't ask for better recognition for my work.
2008 marks my company's 10-year anniversary. It will be precisely 10 years, as I started Lucas Entertainment after living in New York for a year. The company has grown from a small one-man show out of my apartment in the West Village to the biggest gay adult entertainment company on the East Coast, with offices in the center of Manhattan and a great team of professionals who work hard to deliver my vision of male erotica.
I want to thank all of you who have supported me over the past 10 years, those who always believed in me.
I would also like to say a special thanks to New York, the city I love so much. It has made me feel so much at home.
Thank you to all the reviewers and members of the press who have supported my company with wonderful reviews, features, and gossip mentions.
To the hundreds of models who made it all possible.
To everyone who has worked for me over the years, even if at some point they moved on. You have all helped me bring it to the next level.
To everyone from around the world who buys my movies and to all the members of my website. I know you have many choices out there, especially in today's competitive adult world. So I am very grateful. Without you, none of this would be possible.
To everyone who reads my blog, articles, columns, and interviews. I'm thankful for those who share my opinions and for those who often disagree with me but still respect my opinion.
To my parents, my grandmother, my brother, and my boyfriend Richard. Thank you for your respect, support, and unconditional love. Thank you for always being there for me.
To all of you, best of health, prosperity, and love in 2008.
Love,
Michael Lucas
Posted by Michael at 12:15 PM | Comments (7)
November 21, 2007
Ridiculous Democratic Debates
What most struck me about the debate among Democratic presidential candidates in Las Vegas on November 15 was how incompetent and embarrassing this group is.
Let’s go through some hot topics.
On the subject of Iran, Obama appears to believe that the Ayatollahs and Ahmadinejad, and Syria too, are there to help us, and that we just have to talk to them to get their help. Well, guess what, stupid?! That’s not how it works.
I thought we weren’t supposed to talk to those who want to wipe Israel off the face of the earth, kill thousands of gay people, and deny the Holocaust while working hard and fast towards an atomic bomb to drop on New York.
Democrats have tried to rip Hillary to shreds for her support of a Senate resolution calling Iran’s Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution a terrorist group. Why are Democrats opposed to calling terrorists terrorists?
With the subject of President Musharraf’s declaration of emergency rule in Pakistan, the debate turned to the question of whether there are times when human rights concerns override concerns of national security. Loons like Richardson and Kucinich think it is perfectly OK for them to do so.
I was glad to see that from her White House days, Hillary still remembers the prime importance of America’s national security. Obama, who so often accuses Hillary of long-windedness, blathered on about this subject without really taking a position, turning around it like a slippery eel.
Who wants to sacrifice the security of the U.S. to the doomed democracy of Pakistan? Unfortunately, a lot of stupid Democrats applauded Richardson and Co.’s non-sense. For God’s sake, didn’t we learn from the example of Iraq that democracy does not and can not work everywhere?
During the debate, there was one Muslim with a U.S. passport who erupted from the audience, sending Kucinich and others into fits over racial profiling. Apparently, the poor thing was “profiled” in airports. Well, thank God if we have started using common sense. Because you see this U.S.-passport holder happened to look very much like the 9/11 terrorists.
I mean, tell me this. If the suspect in a particular case is a Hassidic Jew, should the police go search in the Hassidic community, or should they search absolutely everywhere? There is something called common sense and I don’t see why it shouldn’t be applicable to the nation’s security. The Democratic candidates lined up with lengthy apologies to the follower of the Prophet, impugning the Bush administration and the Patriot Act as well as Hillary for having voted for it. Why not have the guts to speak the truth? “Dear Mr. Muslim U.S.-Passport holder, sir, it is your brothers in faith who have been terrorizing the world for the last 30 years, so get over yourself. Get to the airport on time, which is to say 2 hours before take-off. You and your brothers in faith should be checked extra-carefully.
I myself look Middle Eastern, I get profiled, and that makes me feel safer when I’m on the plane. So our innocent, bearded guests (who love to travel between the U.S. and the native countries they are so loyal to) with U.S. passports should feel safer too, no?
The questions involving Musharraf put me in mind of the Russian-Afghan War. Russians are horrible no matter who is leading them , either Brezhnev or Putin, but in this case we had to say thank you to them for trying to battle Islamic insurgents. Americans, yelling “Hooray for the brave people of Afghanistan” gave weapons to the guy called Osama bin-Laden. The Soviets pulled out, Osama bin-Laden stayed, and sent his warriors to attack America. Happy now?
Democracy can not be imposed where people don’t want it. Even where people do want it, it’s a process that takes generations. If you ask me, democracy is impossible in Muslim countries, so we should be thankful to the Musharrafs of the world who keep the nuts from getting nukes.
Plus, Musharraf is not a violent dictator a la Saddam. He has not killed thousands of people. He put this fucking thief Bhutto under house arrest; big deal. Vladimir Putin has thrown many people in jail, a lot worse than house arrest, yet he does not draw the same fire from Democrats.
The topic of drivers’ licenses for illegal immigrants came up during this debate. Who believes that the richest country in the world can not afford the fucking wall? The communists built a very effective wall between East and West Europe and even found hundreds of policemen to patrol it, back in the 40s! And Israel is managing to construct a security wall between itself and Palestinian terrorists, which actually works, as there were no terrorist attacks in quite some time.
Our government for long has been allowing illegals into the country across the Mexican border, making them work for next to nothing. So why not take responsibility for that? Give them drivers licenses and legalize them. They pose no danger and slaved for this country enough.
In sum, dear liberals, or so-called liberals, Democrats, lefties, whatever; I believe you should vote for Hillary. She isn’t great, she’s two-faced, she changes her opinions depending on polls, et cetera. But, and it is a very big but; none of the other Democratic lunatics running against her will ever win the White House over Giuliani with his no non-sense approach to U.S. security at a time when it is endangered by Islam.
Giuliani at any rate is perhaps not that much worse than Mrs. Clinton. The guy marched in gay parades, dressed in drag, stayed with his gay friends through his divorce, supports gay partnerships, et cetera, et cetera. All of these gay interests that mean less to me than the security of our country, because if there is another terrorist attack on U.S. soil our human rights and freedoms will go straight into the trash can.
I might hate Giuliani’s Nazistic approach to porn. You’ll understand that it is very inconvenient for me. But I do like his kick-ass attitude towards unions. Unions that are destroying the European economy, and are the last socialist element in this country.
In closing, I realize I should do something to make this article gayer. As I am writing for a gay publication. Okay. Here goes. I think Hillary’s make-up artist made her look a bit like a tired drag queen. So there.
Posted by Michael at 03:35 PM | Comments (0)
Legal Update
The Judge in the case against me regarding Michael Lucas' La Dolce Vita and the unclear ownership of Federico Fellini's La Dolce Vita does not want us to disclose the letter I mentioned here in prior weeks. The judge is open to a renewed request for it to be disclosed to Raging Stallion, however, should they wish to see it.
I have always intended and will continue to abide by the court's rulings. So unless the judge orders it, I won't be revealing the document. My company is law abiding, and will continue to be. In the spring, the court ruled that my accusers had not shown a likelihood of success, and I am confident that the court will proceed to dismiss the claims which remain.
Posted by Michael at 03:00 PM | Comments (0)
November 01, 2007
GIGOLO News
Hey Guys,
I am finally back from all my travels and I want to give you a quick update on our production of the year, GIGOLO. We are about 80% done with editing the film and we're expecting it to be out by November's end.
In short, it's about a hustler living in New York City, a drama with a great story line, a wonderful cast, amazing cinematography, beautiful style, attention to details and of course hot sex. I would like to think about it as a real feature with sex.
Below you'll find the cover of the film. It's only the front, and it represents just a few of the actors, but the idea for the box is that the cover will have a flap that displays the entire cast when opened.
Also, you can check out http://www.xxxgigolo.com by blogger Mike Kashey. Please remember those shots are all amateur and taken by his own camera. The real shots start rolling in next week. ;-)
Love, Michael
Posted by Michael at 04:51 PM | Comments (2)
October 17, 2007
Update from Europe
Hey Guys!
Sorry for hardly any updates in the past week... I am in Europe, where I just finished 2 new "Cruising Budapest" movies in Hungary. One of them, Part 6, will be with Brian Bodine. I brought him along and gave him 2 scenes, one with the Mangiati twins and the other with the beautiful Flavio Valentino.
Now I am in Germany for the Venus Erotic Expo. I will be here until Monday and then will be flying to Los Angeles for a gay webmaster retreat.
I will try to make more updates next week when I am back in the States.
With all my love from Europe,
-Michael
Posted by Michael at 08:42 AM | Comments (7)
October 02, 2007
NY Blade column: Gay Left’s Soft Spot for Islamo-Facists
Why didn’t gays protest the Iranian president’s visit to Columbia so-called University?
By Michael Lucas
Friday, September 28, 2007
http://nyblade.com/2007/9-28/viewpoint/opinion/islamo.cfm
I AM DISAPPOINTED that the United States did not act with more vigor against Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s illicit visit to our shores. In the gay community’s wan reaction to it, though, I find an absolutely vomitous apathy.
I certainly hope that nobody reading this is unaware of how gays in Iran are deprived of their rights. But just in case, I’ll give a crash course in one paragraph: Under Iran’s Islamic theocratic government, if two men “stand naked under one cover without any necessity,” both are punished with up to 99 lashes. If a man kisses another “with lust,” the punishment is 60 lashes. Anal intercourse is punishable by death. Dear readers; how many times would you have been put to death by now if you lived in Iran? By law, the Iranian press can only mention homosexuality in the negative. Imagine that please. It is illegal in Iran for a positive word to be published about any topic whatsoever related in any way to homosexuality. Think how you would feel if you had to live in such a place.
So now I ask; what would a homophobic foreign monster have to do to get New York City’s gay community to protest his visit here? I was on the Columbia University campus at the time of Ahmadinejad’s visit. I saw Jewish protestors, I saw conservative protestors, but I did not see any gay protestors. Where was Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation in all this? We are talking about a monster who thinks people of the same sex deserve to die if they have anal intercourse with each other.
Ahmadinejad got a long ovation from portions of the Columbia audience. We should give some thought to who was doing the applauding. Were they homophobes who support the idea that sodomy should be punishable by death? Or were they perhaps Muslim students who not only support that idea but also believe the entire world should be subjected to Sharia law?
I hope you noticed that this dangerous charade took place at Columbia so-called University. Some American voices were saying that the most important issue involved was that of free speech. Ahmadinejad has already shown us the regard he has for free speech. Though he did nothing substantial to condemn Muslim violence and lunacy that resulted when a Denmark paper printed an editorial cartoon of Mohammed, he did support an Iranian newspaper’s “International Holocaust Cartoon Competition.” The event made fun of the Holocaust, allegedly to “denounce Western hypocrisy on the freedom of speech.”
I’m all for denouncing hypocrisy. The Holocaust cartoons came and went. Not one non-Muslim anywhere committed an act of violence over them. Not one. Yet Ahmadinejad did not say anything to the effect of “I was wrong. The West really IS dedicated to free speech.” What he did instead was to make the Holocaust cartoon contest an annual event. So why is it that we aren’t hearing about an annual Mohammed cartoon contest in Denmark? Can you imagine what would be going on if plans for one were made?
IN WHAT’S REFERRED to as “The West,” Muslim extremists demand tolerance but they do not reciprocate it. Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh made a film called “Submission” about the abuses against women in Islamic countries; shortly afterward he was slaughtered by a Muslim in the streets of Amsterdam. Wonder why no other Dutch filmmakers are touching the topic? Europeans are being robbed of their freedom of speech. You’d think we’d be concerned about that in the United States. Who is even making a peep about it?
And before the Holocaust cartoon contest, Ahmadinejad held what was supposedly a scholarly conference on Holocaust history. Where are the scholarly papers from that conference? What peer review of them has been published? Does the scholarship presented at that Holocaust conference meet the academic standards that Columbia University requires of its professors and students? These questions are rhetorical, but they are urgently relevant. It is not appropriate for a university to invite as a speaker somebody who advances ideas as though they were facts but then cannot back up his assertions with verifiable documentation.
The quote that Columbia invited Ahmadinejad because bin-Laden wasn’t available has gained currency quickly, but it would be more to the point to say they did so because neither Pinocchio nor Pee-Wee Herman in character was available. Columbia University should have more respect for its own intellectual heritage than to invite so shabby a scholar as Ahmadinejad to speak on its campus.
Millions of our tax dollars were spent on Ahmadinejad’s security while he was in New York City. God forbid that anything bad should happen to him. This man is a murderer of innocent gay people, yet his safety is paid for with your tax dollars. What is wrong with that picture?
Why was there not a huge contingent of gay protestors manifesting their outrage against this infamy? Italian journalist Oriana Fallaci, in her valiant support of human rights worldwide, would get sickened by people like those at Columbia who play Useful Fools for tyrants, and also by those who remained apathetic when they should have spoken up loud and clear for what is right.
This week, I was sickened by the gay community. I have in the past noted when large contingents of gay people participated in demonstrations against Israel. Where were those LGBT people when this murderer and oppressor of gays in Iran stood on his soapbox at Columbia University?
Posted by Michael at 09:42 AM | Comments (6)
September 28, 2007
NY Blade column: When Assaulted, Report It. I Did.
By Michael Lucas
Friday, September 21, 2007
http://nyblade.com/2007/9-21/viewpoint/opinion/lucas.cfm
We gay people have a duty to ourselves to demand that our rights be respected. The sickening truth is that despite supposed sensitivity training, there is still a lot of anti-gay bigotry in the New York Police Department.
I have heard of many gay-bashing crimes committed in Chelsea and throughout the city, to which the police have had responses that amount to additional victimizations of the gay people attacked.
I’ve had my own recent, negative experience with the NYPD. On July 27 in the evening I was heading home in a cab. The driver was singing at the top of his lungs. My cell rang. Wanting to take the call, I asked the driver to stop singing. He told me it was his cab, he could do as he pleased, and that I had to get out right there. I said he had to take me all the way home.
Upon arrival, I requested a receipt. The driver didn’t want to provide one. I put his identifying information in my cell, and then told him I would be filing a complaint with the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission. He locked the back doors from the front, rushed out, opened the door on my side, thrust himself next to me, and said that if I reported him, he’d kill me. I let him know that in addition to reporting him, I’d insist his license be revoked. He viciously assaulted me, clenching his fingers at my neck, punching at my head, causing a trauma to the flesh of my ear.
Freeing myself from the assault, I got out of the cab and dialed 911, running around the cab and opening its doors so the driver couldn’t leave. A police cruiser arrived immediately, with Officer Miller of the 10th Precinct. The police talked with me and the driver separately.
I might speak with an accent, but I’m an American citizen. The police, however, seemed more interested in needling me about where I was born and how long I have been here than in listening to details of my complaint against the driver.
Once they did listen, they said all I could do, since there were no witnesses, was file a harassment claim. They advised me not to, because it would be “a waste” of their and my time. They said if I was not bleeding, there was nothing to talk about. I told them to look at my traumatized ear, burning red. They took my claim, on file at Command 010, the precinct house at 230 W. 20th St. Then Officer Miller said, “You are fucking annoying me; now get the fuck out of here.”
There weren’t witnesses to this, so it’s my word against the police officer’s word. Yet I am working with the New York City Gay and Lesbian Anti-Violence Project (avp.org), a most admirable organization, and they are taking this seriously. The case will be investigated. If Officer Miller and the NYPD think I’m going to let this go, they have another thing coming. Even if the ultimate result is not satisfactory to me, this will be on the officer’s record.
NOW I’M GOING TO repeat my opening sentence. We gay people have a duty to ourselves to demand that our rights be respected. If a police officer mistreats you in any way, report that officer. Get the event known outside of the police department. The goal is to create an environment where the police know there are consequences for abusing a civilian.
I did pursue the case against the violent taxi driver. His license will be revoked; he will pay a substantial fine. The Taxi Commission did an investigation.
Turns out he had told the police that when he drove met to my front door, I said I had no money, offered sex to pay for the ride, reached my arm around through the window partition separating the front and back seats and touched his genitals. That line is so blatantly ridiculous that a police officer would only consider it true and hold it against the falsely accused if he were harboring anti-gay sentiments. Even if a person had done such a thing, it would not be appropriate for a police officer to curse them.
MANY FINE PEOPLE WORK in the NYPD. Yet homophobia remains so pervasive in society that even here in New York City, where LGBT people generally feel free to be themselves, there are officers who act with prejudice against sexual and other minorities.
It isn’t hard to find institutionalized bigotry nationally, either. The officer who snagged Sen. Larry Craig in the bathroom sex bust said to him, “I’m disappointed in you, sir. I expect this from the guy we get out of the hood. I mean, people vote for you.” I condemn that statement because it is racist. We should all realize that there are police using the same type of thinking against gay people. I do whatever is in my power to force change; so should you.
Posted by Michael at 03:20 PM | Comments (8)
September 20, 2007
My appearance on the Michelangelo Signorile Show
This is footage from the show on Tuesday. I was roasted by people who believe that Islam is a religion of peace and that my issues against it have no basis.
I am always interested in your thoughts.
Part 1 of 4:
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Posted by Michael at 01:30 PM | Comments (10)
September 18, 2007
The Michelangelo Signorile Show
My appearance on the Michelangelo Signorile Show came and went very quickly this afternoon. I will post the video clip from the show in a few days. If it will take too long to do so, I will post a transcript. It was a debate between myself and Andrew Belonsky from the website Queerty, a website that V magazine has called "toxic to the gay community."
The debate was about my position on Charles Merrill's burning of the Koran and my position on Islam in general.
Belonsky showed up with a bunch of notes and was reading his thoughts directly from them. I wasn't born in this country and my English is far from perfect, but I didn't do what he did as I thought it would be incredibly cheesy.
Signorile made it clear to both myself and his listeners that he did not share my point of view, however he did give me a fair enough time to get my point across. In a way it was easy to do, as Belonsky really had nothing to say. In fact, he only had one argument, which was that fundamentalist Christians, Jews, and Muslims were equally as bad and cause the world an equal amount of problems.
Can one imagine such a lunatic point? Apparently all the problems of this world, according to Belonsky, come equally from all the religions. Has this lunatic lived on Earth for the past 30 years or the Garden of Eden? Can you imagine someone who is more far away from reality than this cretin?
We only had 20 minutes, so I could only bring up a few arguments out of many possible. After the show, Signorile told me that he would like to invite me to the show again by myself to give me airtime without being interrupted. That would be really nice of him. Because let me say that if I, a gay man, a Jew by birth, a pornographer, an atheist, agreed with conservatives on one point, then maybe there might just be some truth in this point. Maybe this point is not possible to argue, no matter how big of a pacifist you are. No matter how open-minded you are. No matter how inconvenient the truth is.
And the last thing, the point which I think I didn't make but should have: the biggest mistake that the world is making right now, including Signorile himself, is separating the Islamic terrorists from the world which they come from. Which is the world of Islam.
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