COMPILATION: Gay News In The 1980s

JMG reader Dave Evans has compiled an hour of gay-related news reports that aired in the 1980s. Among the topics: hate crimes, housing rights, HIV/AIDS, immigration rights, pride parades, Barney Frank, Ronald Reagan, the 20th anniversary of Stonewall, the NAMES Project,  and rather interestingly, Houston's 1985 battle for LGBT rights.

PREVIOUSLY ON JMG: Compilations of gay news in the 1970s and the first ten years of HIV/AIDS.

AFA Host Buster Wilson: Stonewall Was A Hotel-Full Of Violent Homosexuals

President Obama's Inauguration Speech

Never before has a president mentioned us in an inauguration speech.

Our journey is not complete until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else under the law – for if we are truly created equal, then surely the love we commit to one another must be equal as well. We, the people, declare today that the most evident of truths – that all of us are created equal – is the star that guides us still; just as it guided our forebears through Seneca Falls, and Selma, and Stonewall; just as it guided all those men and women, sung and unsung, who left footprints along this great Mall, to hear a preacher say that we cannot walk alone; to hear a King proclaim that our individual freedom is inextricably bound to the freedom of every soul on Earth.

As the president spoke, my mother sent me a one-word email: "STONEWALL!"

Tweets Of The Day

BRITAIN: Gay Rights Group Names Catholic Cardinal "Bigot Of The Year"

The British LGBT rights group Stonewall has named Cardinal Keith O'Brien its 2012 Bigot Of The Year. Joseph McCormick reports at Pink News:

The title was announced at the Stonewall Awards on Thursday evening, which took place at the V&A museum in central London. Upon nominating the cardinal, Stonewall wrote on its website: “Keith O’Brien has been a prominent opponent of marriage equality and made headlines with deeply offensive comments about same-sex couples”. He’s stated that same-sex relationships are “harmful to the physical, mental and spiritual wellbeing” and compared equal marriage to slavery and child abuse. The cardinal was a staunch critic of government plans to introduce equal marriage rights for same-sex couples, describing the measure as “grotesque,” earlier this year. Stonewall added: “Under his leadership the Catholic Church in Scotland has pledged to ‘declare war’ on marriage equality and has committed an additional £100,000 for the fight”. Cardinal O’Brien beat Lord Ken Maginnis, the former Ulster Unionist MP, who referred to same-sex marriage as “unnatural and deviant behaviour”, as well as Simon Lokodo, the anti-gay Ugandan Ethics and Integrity Minister, who presided over a homophobic crackdown of LGBT orginisations in Uganda back in June.

Two major British banks threatened to withdraw their sponsorship of Stonewall earlier this week in protest that the "Bigot" category existed at all.

War Poets - Close Enough

From the all-straight four-man band War Poets. The below track should be available on iTunes later today.

“These couples are in love, just like people in other relationships,” says War Poets front man and songwriter Rex Haberman, who co-wrote the track with Grammy winning producer Kevin Bowe (Paul Westerberg, Meat Puppets, Jonny Lang). “They want to get married. It’s a portrayal of what they go through to make that happen.” Directed by Toni Trussoni and produced by Chris Bueckers, the music video for “Close Enough” brings the controversial issue of gay marriage to life. Archival footage and still photographs are sprinkled throughout, showing a pro-gay rally one minute and an anti-gay demonstration the next. The story is set in New York’s Greenwich Village, home of the Stonewall Inn, where the 1969 riots culminated in the first Gay Pride Parade. The video is dedicated to the memory of the Stonewall uprisings. Trussoni’s choices of locations were both idyllic St Paul and upscale Minneapolis, and St John the Evangelist Episcopal Church -- a gorgeous building in St Paul, MN, not far from the band’s Minneapolis headquarters -- serves as the location where both couples finally get married.

(Tipped by JMG reader Tom Goss)

At NYC's Drag March

Complete with a Judy Garland singalong. Photos here. It fascinates me how the Occupy-ish this was.

NYC Gay Bloggers At Pride 2010

Oh what a difference Section Two makes, as yesterday we crossed the finish line at 2:30pm, four hours earlier than last year. At times we moved so quickly it felt like a Pride run, so kudos to the volunteers and organizers at Heritage of Pride. As is our tradition, near the end of the route we posed for the above shot in front of the historic Stonewall. Visit Queer New York Bloggers for the names and blog URLs of some of this year's participants. Thanks to everybody for your cheers and waves, we felt the love. And feel free to embed any photos in the comments of this post.

[Photo credit - Baad Lamb]

Swag Tuesday / New York City

Courtesy of Outmusic and the Saint At Large, this Swag Tuesday prize is two VIP tickets to Stonewall: A 40th Anniversary Commemorative Concert & Benefit, a star-studded gala of gay performers which takes place at 8pm on Saturday, June 27th at the Nokia Theater Times Square.

Featuring A Star Studded Line Up: Ari Gold, Billy Porter, Deepa Soul, Colton Ford, Lavendar Light Gospel Choir, Jason Walker, Jen Urban & The Box, DELI, Montalfish, Rachel Sage, BARON, Jasper James & She Dick, Jonny McGovern, Lori Michaels, Ron Morris, Christine Martucci, Ajoshua, KIN4LIFE, Ariel Aparicio & The Hired Guns, The Maine Attraction. With Appearances By: The Legendary Queen Mother Sabrina Flawless, Murray Hill, Kenny Kenny, and Mildred “Dred” Gerestant.

The first 400 tickets to the Stonewall Concert are $35. General admission standing: $50, general admission seated: $75. VIP premium seating, which includes open bar and backstage access is $125. The three latter ticket categories all include admission to the Love Ball featuring DJs Alyson Calagna and Chris Cox, which also takes place at the Nokia Theater (later that same night). Purchase online tickets here. Tickets are also available at these NYC outlets: Nasty Pig, 265A West 19th Street; Wear Me Out, 353 West 47th Street; Village Apothecary, 346 Bleecker Street; Screaming Mimi's, 382 Lafayette Street.

Enter to win two VIP tickets to the Stonewall Concert by commenting on this post. Only enter once and please remember to leave your email address in the text of your comment. Entries close at midnight on Wednesday, Pacific time. If you cannot be in NYC on the day of the event, your winning entry is transferable to your favorite gay music fan. Publicists: If you'd like to take part in Swag Tuesday on JMG, please email me.

UK Gays To Country: Get Over It

Stonewall, the UK gay rights group , will post 600 billboards around the country over the next two weeks with their "Some people are gay, get over it!" message. The ad campaign was originally designed for and rolled out to secondary schools and was created with the help of students and teachers. After the posters were well-received in the schools, the national campaign was devised.