Hashtag Debbie Harry

Last night Debbie Harry held up the above sign at the end of a Daily Show "celebrity elevator violence" PSA.  Watch the clip here.

Debbie Harry Comes Out As Bisexual

Debbie Harry has revealed that she is bisexual in an interview with a German magazine. Britain's Daily Mail tabloid has the story:

When asked whether long-standing rumours of her affairs with girls were true, she said, "Yeah," adding: "Let’s say women are more sensual." Harry, who enjoyed a long-term relationship with fellow band member Chris Stein, did not name any of her female lovers. She also insisted that her most enduring relationships had been with men and that she longed to fall in love again. "I don’t know if I have any specific requirements," she said. "Just somebody nice, who has a good sense of humour and loves to have sex. What more could you ask for?"

Harry also referred to Blondie's refusal of an offer to perform at the Sochi Olympics and denounced Russia's crackdown on LGBT people. "Why make such a big thing out of a personal choice or a natural instinct? It seems barbaric and idiotic." Harry's use of the word "choice" is somewhat unfortunate, but perhaps less so in the context of bisexuality.  (Via Towleroad)

Blondie Rejects Sochi Gig

It's not clear when the offer was made, but today Blondie published its response to an offer to perform next week at the Red Rocks Festival in Sochi. In 2012, prior to the passage of Russia's "gay propaganda" law, the headliners at the festival were Scissor Sisters. Thank you, Blondie!

Debbie Harry For Vanity Fair

From Blondie's Facebook page: "Debbie photographed by Annie Leibovitz for Vanity Fair, February 2014. We always thought Deb should play Boudica anyway."

Miss Guy & Debbie Harry - God Save NY

Debbie Harry For Spanish Vogue

More photos here.

Supersonic Female

Debbie Harry turns 67 today. And Fred Schneider turns 61. Therefore here's the B-52's 1998 tribute to the "queen of the underground." (There's a stupid ad first because the clip isn't on YouTube.)

Atomic

Eternally glamorous Debbie Harry attended last night's amFAR benefit in New York City. (Via Boy Culture)

Headline Of The Day

Poor Debbie Harry.

Blondie - Mother

Bootleg copies of the clip are leaking onto YouTube, hence the lower quality of the video. Watch it now if you're interested, this will likely get yanked. From their coming album Panic Of Girls.

Seriously?

It's actually pretty good, despite.

Back In The New York Groove

Debbie Harry and former Toilet Böys lead singer Miss Guy performed Kiss member Ace Frehley's solo 1978 hit New York Groove at Monday's NGLTF New York Leadership Awards. New York Groove will appear on Miss Guy's upcoming album and you can stream the single on his MySpace page.

And here's Debbie Harry's lovely latest single, If I Had You, from Necessary Evil.

NGLTF's New York Leadership Awards

Last night Aaron and I attended the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force's New York Leadership Awards at the new New York Times building, where although the honorees of the evening were filmmaker John Waters, Gov. David Paterson, and the National Gay & Lesbian Chamber Of Commerce, the night was really one long tearful goodbye to outgoing Task Force Executive Director Matt Foreman.

BELOW: The evening kicked off with a two-song performance by Debbie Harry and Miss Guy. The second number was a great cover of Ace Frehley's New York Groove. I'll have a video clip of the performance up later today. BELOW: After accepting his award from Debbie Harry, who spoke about her role in Hairspray, John Waters launched into what has easily got to be one of the most raunchy speeches ever given at the podium of a gay rights event, touching on glory holes, back rooms, muff diving, and shrimping. It was classic John Waters. Waters also amusingly spoke about (paraphrasing here) reverse assimilation, saying instead of blending in with straights, we should work to make them gayer.BELOW: I ran into activist Brendan Fay and filmmaker Gréta Olafsdóttir, director of The Brandon Teena Story, who were there to film Gov. Paterson. I was so happy to be able to personally congratulate Brendan on he and his partner's recent public relations triumph over the president of Poland.BELOW: When the Task Force invited David Paterson to the awards, he was still Lt. Governor, so with the budget deadline looming in Albany, the governor was unable to attend. Accepting for Paterson was his openly gay First Deputy Secretary Sean Patrick Maloney, who you may recall ran for Attorney General of New York in 2006. Maloney introduced a hilarious video message from Paterson, which opened with: "Help! If you are seeing this video, please call the FBI or Interpol as I'm strapped to this chair with a gun to my head until we finish the budget!" If David Paterson wasn't a politician, he'd have a career in stand-up. BELOW: Empire State Pride Agenda Executive Director Alan Van Capelle and Task Force Board of Directors Co-Chair Mark Sexy Sexton, both of whom lauded Matt Foreman's legacy.
BELOW: Downtown scenesters Kenny Kenny and Patrick McDonald added flash to the room of power suits.BELOW: Matt Foreman and myself. While Matt leaves an enormous legacy of LGBT activism in New York, he will undoubtedly continue his trailblazing work at the Haas Fund, where he will oversee the largest grant program for LGBT rights outside of gay organizations. From the podium, Matt recognized his partner of 18 years, Frank De Leon, and spoke tearfully and eloquently about the battles both won and lost during his time at the helm at the Task Force. Speaking to critics who complain of "mission creep" in LGBT orgs, Foreman avowed that abortion rights are a gay issue and that racism is a gay issue and he pledged that after his departure the Task Force will continue to work with a broad coalition of progressive groups towards fairness and equality.In all, it was an inspiring evening, just being in the presence of so many people who have devoted their lives to LGBT equality. Aaron and I left feeling newly energized for the fight. On a personal note, while Matt Foreman's departure surely leaves a (temporary) void in an organization that has fought loudly and fiercely for all our LGBT brothers and sisters, I'm confident that his star will only continue to rise. I'm proud to call Matt Foreman my friend.

Debbie Harry Announces Tour Dates

Shell-shocked supersonic blonde. Hyperphonic female, dark sunglasses on. Debbie Harry has announced the tour dates in support of her new album, Necessary Evil, which is her first album in 14 years.

What's your favorite solo song by Ms. Harry? My vote would be 1987's freestyle (yes!) mix of In Love With Love. And we always loved mis-singing, Fresh Dressing In The USA. She's 62! Unbelievable.

Tour Dates:

11/8, New York, NY (The Fillmore at Irving Plaza)
11/9, Glenside, PA (Keswick Theater)
11/10, Ledyard, CT (Foxwoods Casino)
11/13, Washington, DC (9:30 Club)
11/14, Asheville, NC (Orange Peel)
11/16, Miami, FL (Jackie Gleason Theatre)
11/17, Tampa, FL (Tampa Theatre)
11/20, Milwaukee, WI (Turner Hall)
11/23, Toronto, ON (Phoenix Theater)
11/24, Indianapolis, IN (Vogue)
11/27, Tulsa, OK (Brady Theater)
11/28, Dallas, TX (House of Blues)
11/30, Kansas City, MO (Ameristar Casino)
12/1, Denver, CO (Bluebird Theatre)
12/4, Anaheim, CA (House of Blues)
12/7, Los Angeles, CA (Henry Fonda Theater)
12/8, Las Vegas, NV (Santa Fe Station Casino)
12/9, San Francisco, CA (The Fillmore)