TRAILER: Best Of Enemies

Vulture raves:

You might see a film about William F. Buckley and Gore Vidal’s ten televised debates during the 1968 presidential conventions as an opportunity to bask in eloquent, pointed repartee. You might also enjoy the spectacle of two of the foremost intellectuals of their time coming very close to physically beating the crap out of each other. You might not expect, however, to find yourself weeping — for the state of the republic and the poisoned media landscape, for the decay of the American social contract. Yet here we are. Robert Gordon and Morgan Neville’s masterful Best of Enemies leaves you with an overwhelming sense of despair. It’s not just a great documentary, it’s a vital one.

The setup is simple, and beautiful — so simple and beautiful that I’m shocked nobody’s tried to make this movie until now. In 1968, the struggling ABC network, dead last behind CBS and NBC (“They’d be fourth, but there were only three,” quips one talking head), didn’t have the resources for the kind of convention coverage that their competitors did. So ABC decided to let the flamboyant, unapologetic Vidal and Buckley — one a dapper left-wing bomb-thrower, the other the very backbone of arch-conservatism — debate the issues of the day. Point-counterpoint. A novel idea at the time for television news.

The film began a limited run on Friday.

TRAILER: History In The Making

Clip recap:

This feature-length documentary, History In The Making: The Marriage Equality New York Archives 2007-2015, follows an all-grassroots organization, Marriage Equality New York (or MENY) from the NYC streets to Albany and eventually to the Supreme Court. Directed & edited by Fred Anguera. Filmed by Cristina Wolff, Rob Martin, Reed Davis, Fred Anguera, Emmanuel Migrino, Carmine Nicholas Tzavis. Appearances by Cathy Marino-Thomas, Edie Windsor, Brendan Fay, Margaret Cho, Maggie Gallagher, Sen. Thomas Duane, Christine Quinn, Danny O'Donnell, Candy Samples, Gilbert Baker, Chic, Ann Northrop, Gov. David Paterson, Sassy, Ron Zacchi, Fred Anguera, Sheila & Jackie Marino-Thomas, Cynthia Nixon, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Kate & Darcy Tuscano and more.

Get tickets to the screening.

Freedom To Marry: Celebrating Victory

Via press release:

Today, as it begins the promised campaign wind-down having achieved its goal of winning marriage nationwide, Freedom to Marry released a video celebrating the victory and featuring some of the many people, milestones, and hard work that paved the way. The video premiered at Freedom to Marry's Victory Celebration event last Thursday, July 9, where Vice President Joe Biden joined Wolfson and offered remarks that were a personal and powerful tribute to the Freedom to Marry campaign and the movement it spearheaded. Over 1,000 movement leaders and supporters attended, and the event included performances by Carly Rae Jepsen and Lena Hall. Freedom to Marry will be closing down many of its operations by September 30 and will shut its doors completely in the following months.

Coming Soon: Obergefell, The Movie

Via the New York Times:

With an eye toward the mainstream success of gay-themed films like “Philadelphia,” 20th Century Fox has secured the rights to make a movie about the Supreme Court case that effectively legalized same-sex marriage. Fox said Tuesday that it had bought the life rights of Jim Obergefell, the lead plaintiff in a lawsuit that last month resulted in recognition of the right to same-sex marriage in the United States. His lawyer, Al Gerhardstein, sold his life rights as well. Additionally, the studio has secured screen rights to a still-unwritten book by Mr. Obergefell and the journalist Debbie Cenziper. A proposal for the book, to be titled “21 Years to Midnight,” has been submitted to publishers, with a deal expected as soon as this week. Wyck Godfrey and Marty Bowen will produce the movie. The project will be handled by Fox 2000, a division known for literary adaptations like “Life of Pi” and “The Devil Wears Prada.”

The film is expected to be released in 2017.

50 Years Ago In Philadelphia

Via the Associated Press:

Gay rights activists gathered in front of Independence Hall in Philadelphia on the Fourth of July to mark the progress of their movement and pay tribute to those who launched it a half-century ago — but also made it clear that the fight for equality was far from over. "In too many communities, you can still get married on Sunday and then fired on Monday . Marriage equality was a critical milestone but not the final destination," said activist Aisha Moodie-Mills, referring to the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision legalizing same-sex marriages nationwide. "If history has taught us anything, it's that no community's rights are one and done with a simple piece of legislation. . Equality is not set in stone," Moodie-Mills said. The event was part of a weekend-long celebration of some of the earliest gay rights marches, including a gathering of about 40 protesters calling for equality at the same location on July 5, 1965.

More from the Wall Street Journal:

Most people associate the beginning of the LGBT rights movement with the Stonewall Riots in 1969, when a police raid at the Stonewall Inn caused many patrons to fight back. But four years earlier, on July 4, 1965, a group of 40 activists, led by organizers Frank Kameny and Barbara Gittings, held what was at the time the largest demonstration in support of gay rights in the world. This began what became known as the “Annual Reminders” demonstrations, strategically held each year at Independence Hall where the Liberty Bell then resided, reminding people of the Declaration of Independence’s proclamation of the right to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” After the Stonewall riots, Kameny and Gittings suspended the annual reminders to focus on organizing a demonstration to commemorate Stonewall, launching in 1970 what has since become known as NYC’s first-ever Pride Parade.

RELATED: From Philadelphia's tourism agency.

White House Celebrates Historic Week

Jim Obergefell Joins Twitter

Excited to be on @Twitter and to be a champion for #LGBTEquality

— Jim Obergefell (@JimObergefell) July 1, 2015

Todd Starnes Posts USA Tribute (With Music By Gay Communist Aaron Copland)

Presumably to celebrate the Fourth Of July, anti-gay activist Todd Starnes has posted a star-spangled Fox News tribute to the United States, recounting how preachers "prayed on bended knee, asking God to bless our land, to shed his grace on thee." Soundtracking the clip is Fanfare For The Common Man, which was composed by gay communist Aaron Copland. Bonus giggle: Copland was also an agnostic.

Quote Of The Day - Evan Wolfson

"I always believed we would win, but what a joy and relief it was when our victory came. As I read the Supreme Court opinion, as I followed the stories across the country of couples getting married, and as so many people wrote me with wonder, attaching pictures of their families, their kids, their weddings ... well, I cried and cried again.

"We won. We did it. The freedom to marry is now the law of the land throughout our whole country. At long last, loving and committed same-sex couples are able to share in the joy, the protections, the vocabulary, and the institution of marriage.

"We've been fighting this campaign for decades, and not a single step has come easily. To overcome the obstacles and to seize the opportunities, with stumbles and then successes, we built a machine that could guide and leverage a movement, driving a strategy — and machines take fuel. Without your support, this transformation and triumph would not have happened.

"And our win is America's win. Love won. We all did.

"Now — as Freedom to Marry prepares to wind down — we must remember that there's still much work to do in our own LGBT movement and in the broader movements we are part of.

"I am grateful to my incomparable Freedom to Marry team, our close movement colleagues, the entire family of supporters and partners in the work, our allies, and our country. How lucky we are to see our work rewarded with the change and victory we sought and deserved.

"All that's left is to say, with all my heart, is congratulations — mazel tov! — and thank you." - Freedom To Marry founder Evan Wolfson, via email.

White House Lights Planned For Months

Politico reports that the idea to bathe the White House in rainbow lights was conceived months ago.

SPOTTED, at 4 a.m. Sat. at the White House: Jeff Tiller, 32, the White House director of specialty media (includes LGBT outreach) and former press-advance marvel, who had the inspired idea of bathing the North Portico (“The President’s Front Door”) in rainbow lighting. The crowds were gone, sunrise was coming, and the lighting contractors who had installed the rainbow were long asleep. After spending the night at the White House in a lawn chair, Jeff climbed downstairs to the tradesman entrance to unplug the lights that he had conceived of months earlier.

You can thank Tiller on Twitter. (Tipped by JMG reader Mike)

That Moment Outside The Supreme Court

Today's Editorial Cartoons

US Flags To Lead London Pride

Wonderful! If you're in London, look for me tomorrow at the Pride Life tent in Trafalgar Square.

That Moment At The Supreme Court

SCOTUS RULES FOR MARRIAGE!!!

TRAILER: Larry Kramer In Love & Anger

Kramer tells TIME: "I don’t regret anything I’ve done or said. No matter what you say, some people are going to like it and some people aren’t. So it hasn’t shut me up at all. Inside I’m just as tempestuous."  The documentary debuts on June 29th at 9PM. Set the DVR now.

Comcast Donates $1.5M In PSA Airtime For LGBT 50th Anniversary Celebration

Via press release:

Organizers announced today that Comcast Corporation is the lead marketing sponsor of the National LGBT 50th Anniversary Celebration. Comcast is providing $1.5 million worth of airtime to broadcast a 30-second National LGBT 50th Anniversary public service announcement (PSA). “Comcast NBCUniversal is a longstanding supporter of national and regional LGBT organizations. We are grateful to Comcast NBCUniversal for its generous support of the National LGBT 50th Anniversary Celebration. Through Comcast’s support, the 50th Anniversary PSA will be the most broadcast LGBT television PSA in history,” stated Malcolm Lazin, Chair, National LGBT 50th Anniversary Celebration. “The PSA commemorates the launch of the organized LGBT movement at Independence Hall, civil rights progress, and shared American values." The organized LGBT civil rights movement was launched when activists from New York, Washington D.C., and Philadelphia staged demonstrations for equality each Fourth of July from 1965 to 1969. When 40 activists picketed in front of Independence Hall in 1965, it was the largest demonstration for gay equality in world history.

Philadelphia's Annual Reminder Day was launched by pioneering activists Frank Kameny and Barbara Gittings. The celebration runs from July 2nd - July 5th and most events are free. Learn more here.

Feds to Induct Gay Rights Pioneer Frank Kameny Into Labor Hall Of Honor

Via press release from the US Department of Labor:

Frank Kameny, who for decades fought to end discrimination in the federal workplace, will be honored by the U.S. Department of Labor in June with an induction to its Hall of Honor. Kameny's legacy as a civil rights leader has made a monumental difference in improving the lives of all workers all across America. A World War II veteran and Harvard-educated doctor of astronomy with the U.S. Army Map Service, Kameny was discharged and barred from federal government employment in 1958 after U.S. Civil Service Commission investigators asked if he was a homosexual.

Kameny fought the injustice, eventually taking his case to the U.S. Supreme Court, which denied his petition in 1961. The setback led him to become a co-founder of the first gay rights organization in Washington, D.C., and began his tireless fight to force the nation's largest employer — the federal government — to end discrimination in its employment practices based on sexual orientation. "Frank Kameny was a groundbreaking leader in the LGBT civil rights movement. He fought tirelessly to live out his truth and to end workplace discrimination," said Secretary of Labor Thomas E. Perez. "At the Department of Labor we work every day to carry on his legacy and ensure that all workers, no matter who they are or who they love, have equal access to opportunity."

Kameny died at age 86 in 2011. Earlier Hall Of Honor inductees include Ted Kennedy, Bayard Rustin, Mary Harris "Mother" Jones, and the 9/11 Rescue Workers. Kameny's ceremony will take place on June 23rd and the Labor Department suggests the Twitter hashtag #ThankFrank. (Tipped by JMG reader Jeremy)

AG Eric Holder Lauds LGBT Triumphs In Goodbye Speech To Justice Department

Attorney General Eric Holder has left the building. But not before a press conference in which he righteously spiked the ball about the LGBT triumphs seen during his tenure. Moments ago the Department Of Justice joined in on Twitter by posting the above photo. Earlier today the DOJ posted the below recap of Holder's life and six years with the Obama administration. When the history books of this time in our movement are written, Eric Holder should have his own chapter. Maybe two.

NORTH CAROLINA: Lawmakers Seek To Place Billy Graham Statue In US Capitol

Yesterday we learned that California is seeking to place a statue of lesbian astronaut Sally Ride in the US Capitol Building. Ride's statue would replace the statue of 18th century Spanish missionary Junipero Serra, who is about to be canonized by Pope Francis. Now North Carolina lawmakers want to make a switch of their own.

A move is afoot to replace a statue of a racist former governor with one of evangelist Billy Graham in the U.S. Capitol building. General Assembly lawmakers have proposed replacing the statue of Charles Brantley Aycock with one of the Montreat-based preacher, according to joint Senate and House bills filed in the last two weeks in Raleigh. The change would mean North Carolina is represented by two Western North Carolina notables in the National Statuary Hall. The other leader honored is former governor and Buncombe County native Zebulon Vance. Aycock was seen by many as a champion of education and in 1960 Democrats gathering from around the state honored him by naming their annual Asheville gala after Aycock and Vance. But following recent attention drawn to Aycock's role in the 1898 Wilmington Race Riot, Democrats in 2011 changed the gala's name. Aycock was chief spokesman for the White Supremacy Campaign when the bloody riot resulted in the overthrow of the elected local government in the only documented coup d'etat in U.S. history.

Replacing a racist with a homophobe? North Carolina, you are so au courant.