John Waters: I've Committed Voter Fraud

"I have committed voter fraud, yes, but she didn’t win so it didn’t matter. I voted for her twice, because in those days they didn’t have picture ID. So in California, I would ask people, ‘Are you gonna vote?’ and if they said no, I would go vote for her. I wouldn’t do that today. I get carried away—I’m such a good citizen I vote more than once." - John Waters, referring to the 1972 presidential campaign of Rep. Shirley Chisholm, the first black woman elected to Congress and the first black major party candidate for the presidency.

RELATED: Although Chisholm entered the Democratic Convention having won only 28 delegates in the primaries, former Vice President Hubert Humphrey symbolically released his delegates to Chisholm when it became clear that Sen. George McGovern would overwhelmingly win the nomination. Chisholm's final tally of 152 delegates placed her fourth behind McGovern, Sen. Henry Jackson, and Alabama Gov. George Wallace. It was also at the 1972 convention that a major party considered a gay rights platform plank for the first time. The plank, which included a call for repealing laws against same-sex marriage, was rejected by the platform committee in a 54-34 vote. Forty years later the Democrats formally included same-sex marriage rights in the party platform at the 2012 convention. That committee vote was unanimous and the plank was adopted by voice vote from the convention floor following a rousing speech by then-Newark Mayor Cory Booker.

Lambda Literary Awards: June 1st In NYC

John Waters and Rita Mae Brown will be honored at the 2015 Lambda Literary Awards in Manhattan on June 1st. On the list of attendees: Gloria Steinem, Liz Smith, Michelangelo Signorile, Janet Mock, Alan Cumming, Justin Bond, Susie Bright, and many others. Get tickets here.

John Waters' Kiddie Flamingos

"For a new multimedia show at Marianne Boesky Gallery, the perennially tongue-in-cheek provocateur reimagined his X-rated 1972 cult classic with a cast of children."

RuPaul Drives John Waters (Part 2)

Waters drops an interesting tidbit about Allen Ginsberg.

RuPaul Drives John Waters

Among other topics, Waters chats with RuPaul about his coming book Carsick: John Waters Hitchhikes Across America, which comes out in early June.

Divine Foundation: I'm So Beautiful

Two minutes of self-affirmation from John Waters, Mink Stole, and the I Am Divine Foundation. "Be your own filth god or goddess!"

(Tipped by JMG reader Fritz)

HomoQuotable - John Waters

"When I was young there were beatniks. Hippies. Punks. Gangsters. Now you're a hacktivist. Which I would probably be if I was 20. Shuttin' down MasterCard. But there's no look to that lifestyle! Besides just wearing a bad outfit with bad posture. Has WikiLeaks caused a look? No! I'm mad about that. If your kid comes out of the bedroom and says he just shut down the government, it seems to me he should at least have an outfit for that. Get a look! I'm not judging what they do; I hope they don't shut me down." - John Waters, writing for the Wall Street Journal.

TRAILER: I Am Divine

Photo Of The Day

What does this MEAN?

(Source)

HomoQuotable - John Waters

"I don't even think there is bad taste anymore. American humor is bad taste — that's what we import, that's what television is about, reality television is based on that. I think it kind of ruined bad taste, because you're asked to feel superior to the subject matter, which I don't think I ever do. I think I always look up to my subjects, which is maybe what good taste is. Extreme taste is more interesting to me now than good or bad."- Director John Waters, lamenting that reality TV has destroyed the kitsch value of his work.

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.

HomoQuotable - John Waters

"I don't think my generation is better or had it better. The one thing you’ll never see again—and I’m not so sure it’s bad you missed it—was the sexual revolution. You can’t imagine what it was like to go home and have sex with someone different every day … People really did! In Provincetown there was a bar called Piggies, totally mixed, gay and straight, but it was outside of town and everyone had to walk home and every person would just have sex in the graveyard along the way.

"I mean, those days will never happen again. Going to places like Hellfire in New York City, you look back and it’s so amazing, and that certainly did lead to terrible things like AIDS—and AIDS ruined everything for the rest of our lives. It ruined people taking chances. That’s over. You missed that." - John Waters, in New York Magazine.

John Waters: Don't Tell Your Parents You're A Bear

John Waters is doing stand-up these days, it seems. Some funny stuff here, but unsurprisingly, totally NSFW.

HomoQuotable - John Waters

"If Travolta was homophobic, dancing in that fat suit with as many gay people as are working on this film, he would have had a heart attack and been dead." - John Waters, responding to yesterday's Daily News story about a brewing boycott of his upcoming movie, Hairspray. Waters: "First of all, he is playing a loving mother, not Harvey Milk. I'm all for gay troublemaking, but is this journalist going to police the religion of all actors? Do we boycott Nicole Kidman because she's Catholic?" (Sounds like a lot of the commenters here. Does Waters read JMG? Say "Hi", John!)

Referring to Washington Blade editor Kevin Naff, Waters took issue with the story's headline, "Travolta in 'Spray' Revolts Gays", saying, "It should have said 'Revolts Gay,' because it's just one person." As for Naff's contention that Divine would be upset over Travolta's casting, Water's adds, "Believe me. Divine was not political. Once, accidentally, because he didn't know better, he did a tour of South Africa during the apartheid era. ... He wouldn't be rolling in his grave except for the fact that he didn't get the part."
.

Hairspray Boycott Gains Visibility

In a story picked up by today's NY Daily News, Washington Blade editor Kevin Naff is joining the chorus of critics calling for a boycott of the new movie version of John Water's Hairspray, charging that star John Travolta's faith, Scientology, is homophobic. I haven't mentioned the boycott previously, because I didn't think much would come of it, but the story has gained a lot of traction in the last couple of days, with coverage yesterday in the Huffington Post and on Hollywood.com.

The Daily News contacted the New York Scientology headquarters to request their position on homosexuality, and were told, "Scientology doesn't try to tell people what their sexual orientation should be. The emphasis is on helping people survive better in the world. If a person comes into Scientology and they are involved in doing anything that they consider detrimental to their survival, then they can change that compulsion." Yeah, compulsion, that's the word for it.

I'm a bit torn on this. Travolta has never uttered an anti-gay peep, as far as I know. And while I can guarandamntee you that I will never again view a Mel Gibson or Tom Cruise movie, that's because they opened their big yaps to spout their batshit philosophies. For the moment, I'm happy to let Travolta be privately crazy, without it affecting my attendance of his movies. However, I'm also ready to spin on my heel and go the other way, should Travolta's private crazy go public.
.

HomoQuotable - John Waters

"[Divine] was (going to be) the first gay male character, a gay uncle, which could have been hugely successful at the time." - John Waters, revealing that at time of his death in 1988, Divine was about to begin appearing on Married With Children. Interesting news, but despite what the linked article says, wasn't Billy Crystal's character on Soap tv's first regular gay character? Little help out there? I was crushed when Divine died, especially coming at the time of her greatest success in Hairspray, which on some days I call my favorite movie of all time. "She can't hear you!" Still kills me. What was your favorite Divine role?

HomoQuotable - John Waters

"I'm a big fan of K-Fed, that's who I want to marry. What did he do that was so wrong? She's the idiot. She's the one who gave him the Ferrari. Who gives a Ferrari to rough trade? Who could blame him for taking it?" - John Waters.
.