A blog about LGBTQ+ History, Art, Literature, Politics, Culture, and Whatever Else Comes to Mind. The Closet Professor is a fun (sometimes tongue-in-cheek, sometimes very serious) approach to LGBTQ+ Culture.
When I woke up yesterday morning, it was snowing. It continued snowing throughout the day, and when I went to bed last night, it was still snowing. The snow finally stopped sometime last night. Because the temperature was above freezing most of yesterday, we only had about 2-3” of accumulation, but we probably got about 5+” of snow in total. I walked out side a few times yesterday to take pictures of the snow for some friends, but mostly I stayed in and watched the snow from my windows.
I had a lowkey Thanksgiving, just me and Isabella. I had turkey and cornbread dressing along with some butter beans. I love cornbread dressing. It’s my favorite food for winter holidays. I’ve had other types of dressing and stuffing mad with stale bread, but for me, nothing compares to cornbread dressing. I ate way too much of it yesterday, but it was damn good dressing.
Fo those of you in the United States, I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday, and for those outside the U.S., I hope you have had a wonderful week. I will not be going Black Friday shopping today. I put in orders at two different places to get a few sales items that I needed, so I will be venturing out today but only to quickly run in stored and pick up my purchases. I hate the crowds at stores on Black Friday, but I am hoping the two places I have to go, CVS and Petco will not be as crowded. They are not the usual Black Friday shopping destinations. Is anyone actually going out Black Friday shopping? What about Small Business Saturday, when we are encouraged to shop at local small businesses? Or, are you waiting until Cyber Monday for those online deals?
Tomorrow, will likely be another lowkey day. It’s my birthday, and I will watch the Iron Bowl, i.e. the Alabama vs. Auburn football game. It’s a big rivalry game, especially in Alabama. I might watch the Egg Bowl today (Ole Miss vs. Mississippi State), and possibly the Lone Star Showdown ( Texas vs. Texas A&M) Saturday night. If you have ever seen The Best LIttle Whorehouse in Texas, then you should be familiar this particular rivalry. Besides, “The Aggie Song” is probably the best part of that movie, and the gayest football song and dance numbers in history (Do other football song and dance numbers exist?), but I digress.
The only thing that I might do this weekend is to go see the Wicked movie. Has anyone seen it yet? I’ve never seen the musical, but I read the book many years ago. I have always been a fan of The Wizard of Oz, and I always found the new perspective on the Wicked Witch of the West to be pretty interesting.
Anyway, that’s all I have for today. I hope all of you have a wonderful weekend!
A week or so ago, it snowed for the first time this season, but it was barely a dusting of snow. The night before last we got about an inch of snow and it snowed all day yesterday, although none of it stuck and most of the overnight snow had melted by mid-morning. This seems like one of the latest first snow fall we’ve had since I moved to Vermont. Most years, we’ve gotten snow in mid- to late-October and if we didn’t get any snow before Halloween, it has snowed the first week of November. Whenever it snows, I always hear the above song in my head, especially now that I live in Vermont.
Snow
It won't be long before we'll all be there with snow
Snow
I want to wash my hands, my face and hair with snow
Snow
I long to clear a path and lift a spade of snow
Snow
Oh, to see a great big man entirely made of snow
Once the snow starts, it’s here until May. And so it begins…
The sci-fi geek in me had to include this small clip from the show Babylon 5 because I always hear in my head the phrase “And so it begins,” in Kosh’s voice.
During It Gets Better Project’s 2021 Digital Pride Experience, they got a little surprise visit from the White House: President Joe Biden sent in a message of support for LGBTQ+ Youth.
🏳️🌈 The It Gets Better Project exists to uplift, empower, and connect LGBTQ+ youth around the globe. To learn more and get involved, follow us here:
I love Halloween; although it's subdued this year due to the pandemic, I still love the holiday. I have a few Halloween movies I love to watch, such as Hocus Pocus and the gay thriller, Hellbent (which if you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it) oh, and let’s not forget, the campy Rocky Horror Picture Show. Horror movies have never been great cinema, but they can be fun to watch. Many years ago, I used to love when AMC (when it still played classic movies) and TCM would play all the classic monster movies, especially those from Universal Pictures. I loved films like Dracula with Béla Lugosi, Frankenstein with Boris Karloff, The Invisible Man with Claude Rains, The Wolf Man with Lon Chaney Jr., The Raven, starring Vincent Price, Peter Lorre, and Boris Karloff, and even the silly horror-comedies with Bud Abbott and Lou Costello. How can you not love these classic movies for a little Halloween fun? I never cared for many of the more recent horror movies. Many of them tend to the more grotesque than the scary, but the 1993 Disney classic, Hocus Pocus, has one of my favorite scenes when Bette Midler sings “I Put a Spell on You.” Enjoy:
Autumn is here, and in Vermont, we will reach peak leaf season over the next two weeks. The beauty of these few weeks of autumn makes it worthwhile to live in Vermont.
"Autumn Leaves" is a popular song and jazz standard composed by Joseph Kosma with original lyrics by Jacques Prévert in French, and later by Johnny Mercer in English. Paula Cole sings my favorite version (above) and Nat King Cole sings another beautiful version (below).
One of my favorite characters in the Star Trek universe is a Cardassian. In general, the Cardassians were not known as the nicest of races. Captain Edward Jellico, who was briefly in command of the Enterprise-D, said of them, "Cardassians are like... timber wolves… predators... bold in large numbers... cautious by themselves... and with an instinctive need to establish a dominant position in any social gathering." The Cardassians were similar to the Romulans in their xenophobic tendencies, and also shared the Romulan belief there is no such thing as luck. Like the Breen, they treated their prisoners with little tolerance or sympathy; they had no qualms using torture to extract information. Some Cardassians were even known to enjoy torturing their prisoners whether there was information to be extracted or not.
Ideal Cardassian life was one of complete loyalty and servitude to the State and to the family. Like the Chinese, family was the building block of Cardassian society, and as such, the hierarchical system of respect also applied to one's rulers and one's family. The Cardassian government was assumed by its citizens to be omniscient, omnipotent, and benevolent; the government was anything but benevolent. An example of the Cardassian approach to life was found in their jurisprudence and criminal trials in which the conclusion was always determined beforehand: the ruling of each case was a guilty verdict; the purpose of the proceeding was not justice in the Human sense, but instead bringing the offender to recognize the power and benevolence of the State. A trial, therefore, was an opportunity for the State to reveal how someone's guilt was proven by what they considered, "the most efficient criminal investigation system in the quadrant."
Almost all Cardassians lived in fear of the Obsidian Order, the chief intelligence agency of the Cardassian Union, whose constant surveillance had led to the sudden elimination of numerous "traitors." It was said The Order was so efficient a Cardassian citizen couldn't sit down to a meal without each dish being duly noted and recorded including its preparation and the exact measurement of each ingredient. Dr. Julian Bashir wondered what happened to people who ate something that was "not in agreement" with the Order, and Odo noted that people had "disappeared" for less. Every Cardassian home was equipped with surveillance equipment to keep an eye on its citizens. Only members of the Central Command, the military leaders of Cardassia, could turn off the cameras and only occasionally. The Order was the ultimate Big Brother.
Some of the alien races of Star Trek, especially the enemies of the Federation, had an equivalent in Earth history especially during the Cold War era of The Original Series. The Klingons represented the Soviets, the Romulans were like the Communist Chinese, the Cardassians were representative of Nazi Germany, the Bajorans similar to the persecuted Jews of Europe. Cardassians took control of Bajor in 2319 establishing the Bajoran Occupational Government. Initially, the Bajoran people offered them little resistance. However, the Cardassians rapidly pacified the planet and began a coordinated scheme of strip-mining, forced labor, slavery, and genocide. The brutality of the Cardassian military drove many Bajorans to form a resistance to the Occupation. Using guerrilla and terrorist tactics, the resistance continually harassed Cardassian forces. Under constant attack and unable to subdue the Bajoran resistance, facing pressure from both internal civilian elements in the Cardassian Central Command and from the Federation, the Cardassians withdrew from Bajor in 2369. However, many Cardassians, such as Gul Dukat, continued to want to regain control of Bajor and to exterminate its people.
While the Cardassians were a brutal race, they sometimes showed signs of being a kind and warmhearted people. One of the most complex characters in Star Trek history is one of my favorites, Elim Garak. He was the Cardassian tailor and Promenade shopkeeper of Garak's Clothiers who lived on Deep Space Nine. He first appeared in the episode, “Past Prologue” where he introduced himself to Dr. Bashir who believed Garak was a spy. As soon as I saw this conversation, I knew Garak would be an interesting character. He proved to have some of the best lines in the series beginning with this: after Garak asks Bashir to stop by his shop if he desires new apparel or some interesting conversation, Bashir says, "You're very kind, Mister Garak." To which Garak replies, "Oh, it's just Garak. Plain, simple Garak." Right away viewers knew there was nothing plain or simple about Garak. He had previously been an agent of the Obsidian Order but had been exiled to Terok Nor, the Cardassian name for Deep Space Nine.
The true reason for Garak’s exile is never revealed during the series. When he does tell Bashir why he was exiled, he tells him three different stories all involving a man named Elim which Bashir later learns is Garak’s first name. When Bashir asks Garak, "Of all the stories you told me which ones were true and which ones weren't?" Garak replies, "My dear Doctor, they're all true." Bashir says, "Even the lies?" to which Garak replies in his standard obfuscation, "Especially the lies." Garak once told Bashir, "Truth is in the eye of the beholder, Doctor. I never tell the truth because I don't believe there is such a thing. That is why I prefer the straight-line simplicity of cutting cloth." Garak believed, "Lying is a skill like any other. And if you want to maintain a level of excellence, you have to practice constantly." Bashir once tried to tell Garak the fable of "The Boy Who Cried Wolf." While Bashir believed the moral to be that lying too much will cause people to never believe a person, Garak retorted he believed the point was, "That you should never tell the same lie twice." As his father, Enabran Tain, the one-time head of the Obsidian Order once said of him, one of Garak's basic philosophies is, "Never tell the truth when a lie will do." Garak once explained his belief that, "the truth is usually just an excuse for a lack of imagination."
Andrew Robinson
Garak, though, was more than just a pathological liar. Played by Andrew Robinson, originally a stage actor, he is also known for his portrayals of the serial killer Scorpio in the crime film, Dirty Harry (1971); Larry Cotton in the horror film, Hellraiser (1987); and as the title character in the ABC television film, Liberace (1988). Without Robinson, the character of Garak never would have become as intriguing as it did. In fact, the character might have had only one appearance in the series. Robinson commented, "Garak is one of those guys, we all know someone a bit like him who you can't trust as far as you can spit. The moment you see him you put your hand on your wallet, and the moment he opens his mouth you know he's going to lie to you, but yet, somehow, you'd rather be in his company than with almost anybody else. He's a charming rogue, you can't deny it. Even I get sucked in by him. Although it's me playing him. When I see Garak on TV, I swear to God this is true, I'm fascinated." Robinson also said of the character, "He's all subtext. If a smart guy like Garak says he's 'plain and simple', you realize he's not plain and not simple. There is a lot going on. Regardless of how innocuous or simple each line is, there's always something going on underneath that belies the line. And his eyes and the tone of his voice say something different than the words he's speaking. It's not an easy thing to work with subtext, but when you do it well, you really get people's attention."
Garak was also one of the most sexually ambiguous characters in Star Trek history. Robinson stated in an interview, "I started out playing Garak as someone who doesn't have a defined sexuality. He's not gay, he's not straight, it's a non-issue for him. Basically, his sexuality is inclusive. But, it's Star Trek, and there were a couple of things working against that. One is that Americans are very nervous about sexual ambiguity. Also, this is a family show; they have to keep it on the 'straight and narrow' so I backed off from it. Originally, in that first episode, I loved the man's absolute fearlessness about presenting himself to an attractive Human being. The fact that the attractive Human being is a man (Bashir) doesn't make any difference to him, but that was a little too sophisticated, I think. For the most part, the writers supported the character beautifully, but in that area, they just made a choice not to go there, and if they don't want to go there, I can't, because the writing doesn't support it." Ira Steven Behr, the executive producer of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, commented, "I wish we could have done a little bit more with the Garak character…. I mean, he was clearly gay or queer or however you want to say it. I think I would have loved to have taken that and seen where that went and how that affected his relationship with Bashir." I would have loved for the show’s creators to have explored that part of Garak. It took twenty-five more years before we saw LGBTQ+ characters in Star Trek: Discovery. There had been a few hints, or even winks, to LGBTQ+ characters. It could have come sooner and been bolder with Garak’s character, and we wouldn’t have had to wait twenty-five years.
Behr once said, "Garak is a mystery wrapped in an enigma. So, who he is, what he really is, who the hell knows? And I think it took a more sophisticated audience to really get behind that kind of a character, because back in the day, it seemed anyway, that mystery and ... I don't want to say subtlety, but something along those lines ... that's not what people wanted, they wanted their TNG good, bad, everything very clear, everything very clean, everything very understandable. And at the end of the day, everything was safe. Everything was basically safe. And Garak is not a safe character. The fact that now he's so popular says something about how the audience has matured. And that's a good thing." Hans Beimler, a writer, producer, and script editor of many Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episodes, commented, "To me, the guy that embodied the show was Garak. He was a fuckin' spy, man! He was a bad guy in a way. But you got to know and understand him. And he got to know us and understand us. Even appreciate us. He wasn't such a bad guy at the end of the show."
Garak had been intended to be a one-off character; Robinson said he first portrayed the character, because he needed money that month to pay his bills. The producers were impressed with Robinson's performance and decided to develop the character after Robinson agreed to return. The decision to incorporate Garak into more of the series led to Garak becoming a pivotal character transforming him into someone of importance, of unusual complexity, and of resonance. Garak became known throughout the series for the ruthlessness of his past with the Obsidian Order, but at various times, he uses contacts on Cardassia to help Starfleet and even the Bajorans. He was known to be a witty conversationalist and a skilled tailor, but underneath his friendly and charming exterior, he was a proficient assassin, saboteur, and expert liar able to adapt to a variety of situations. Occasionally, he was used by Starfleet as a backchannel to the Cardassians when a direct message was not possible. By the end of the series, he was a different man.
On numerous occasions, Garak was seen to have internal conflicts between his morals and his obligations to the Cardassian Central Command. One of my favorite episodes is, “In the Pale Moonlight.” This episode shows the Federation on the brink of losing the Federation-Dominion War. With mounting losses and the specter of defeat, Captain Sisko must put aside his Federation morals in an attempt to turn the tide of the war. Sisko enlists Garak's help to "persuade" the Romulans to join the Federation/Klingon alliance. Deep down, Sisko knew Garak could do things that he, morally, could not. Garak tells him at the end of the episode, "That's why you came to me, isn't it, Captain? Because you knew I could do those things that you weren't capable of doing. Well, it worked. And you'll get what you wanted: a war between the Romulans and the Dominion. And if your conscience is bothering you, you should soothe it with the knowledge that you may have just saved the entire Alpha Quadrant, and all it cost was the life of one Romulan senator, one criminal… and the self-respect of one Starfleet officer. I don't know about you, but I'd call that a bargain."
Being from the South, I love a good watermelon, and this song has been stuck in my head since I first heard it. I find it quite catchy. I decided to show the video of the song with just the lyrics instead of the official music video. Quite honestly, I am not a fan of Harry Styles' looks, especially him in this video, and considering that this song is rumored to be about performing oral sex on a woman (Ew!), the video just really turned me off. I couldn't even watch the whole thing. Styles tries to eat a slice of watermelon seductively, and it just comes off as gross, and the video consists of him eating watermelon and singing the song while being surrounded by big breasted women. While I don't like him, I do like the song, and men can be attractive while eating watermelon. Styles just isn't.
I came across this song the other day when listening to John Barrowman songs. The music video below is scenes from the movie "From Beginning To End.” The song itself is from the musical “Nine” by Maury Yeston.
I don’t often post songs for my poetry Tuesday posts, but this song really gripped my heart. It reminded me of the friend of mine that I lost. The first thing I thought when I heard this song was to send it to him, but of course I couldn’t do that. We had an extremely close but somewhat unusual friendship. So much of this song described our friendship. As the song ends:
The song playing at the restaurant I was at for lunch had the following lyrics:
Oh Lord, why have you forsaken me? Got me down in Mississippi where I don't want to be.
Switch Mississippi for Alabama and that was me 6 months ago. It was ironic because I went yesterday and got my new Vermont license plates and driver's license. I am now an official citizen of Vermont. I was even able to register to vote as part of my driver's license application. The bad thing is Becoming a Vermont citizen is quite expensive and I still have to pay for my car to be inspected and to get holes drilled on my front bumper to be able to mount the front license plate.
I'd planned to get them back on my birthday but had forgotten some of my documents and had to go home. By the time I got home, it had been almost 24 hours since I'd heard from my best friend and I tried desperately to get in touch with him only to find out that night that he'd died in a car accident. It has taken me this long to be able to go and try again. Plus, I had the afternoon off today.
Back to the song above, I had no idea who the artist was or the name of the song. I did some searching and found out that it is by The SteelDrivers and is called "Ghosts of Mississippi." Here are the full lyrics:
Late one night behind corn whiskey
I fell asleep with a guitar in my hand
I dreamed about the ghosts of Mississippi
And the blues came walkin' in like a man
Without a word I passed that guitar over
He tuned it up like I'd never seen
A crooked smile was his expression
Then he closed his eyes and began to sing
(chorus)
Oh Lord why have you forsaken me
Got me down in Mississippi where I don't want to be
Oh Lord why have you forsaken me
Got me down in Mississippi where I don't want to be
Confession: I've always been self-conscious about "sounding gay." It's one of the main things that "gives me away" as gay. I knew that my anxiety came from my internalized homophobia telling me: Gay = bad, so sounding gay = bad. A compelling new documentary is bringing together some of the biggest lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) celebrities to discuss a question that probably crosses the mind of every gay man at some point in his life: Do I sound gay?
From director David Thorpe, "Do I Sound Gay?" aims to present an intelligent and and provocative cultural analysis of the "gay voice." Throughout this process, Thorpe talks to linguists, celebrities, historians, voice coaches and total strangers to share their own thoughts and experiences surrounding the idea of 'sounding gay.'
In the tradition of funny-but-serious first-person movies like Supersize Me, Roger and Me and Good Hair, Thorpe encounters a colorful cast of linguists, historians, voice coaches, speech therapists, friends, family, and total strangers on the street, gay and non-gay, who share their wisdom and touching, funny stories about the "gay voice." There are also intimate confessions and hilarious anecdotes from LGBT icons - Margaret Cho, Tim Gunn, Don Lemon, Dan Savage, David Sedaris and George Takei - as they open up about the "gay voice." Over the course of three years, Thorpe did 165 interviews in four countries.
Here are five reasons David Thorpe gives for making this film and a few comments from me:
Reason No. 1:
Some gay men are self-conscious about "sounding gay," even famous ones like David Sedaris. Let's start hashing out this whole "sounding gay" thing, so we can all be OURSELVES in this small but crucial way. It's something about me that I've come to own and make it my own.
Reason No. 2:
"Sounding gay" is still a trigger for mockery, bullying and violence. LGBT kids are far more likely to commit suicide or drop out of school because they feel unsafe. Zach King, one of our brave young subjects, was viciously assaulted at school. I was always made fun of for my "gay voice," sometimes I still am, and it has always, even to this day, raises my hackles.
Reason No. 3:
Hard to believe, but nobody has comprehensively explored the phenomenon of "sounding gay." Voice and sexuality – two fundamental features of human existence, and yet most people don't have a clue how they're related. Instead, we have stupid stereotypes. Let's toss 'em in the trash. Knowledge is power.
Reason No. 4:
A lot of people think it's okay to be gay as long as you don't act - or sound - that way. The daily pressure to cover, hide or "pass" affects many minorities. Let's relieve the pressure.
Reason No. 5:
Our title isn't just a title. Combined with our rainbow tongue logo, it's an empowerment icon, a sneaky, fun, viral way to say it's OK to sound – and be – gay. When the movie gets made, you'll see rainbow tongues everywhere, asking, "Do I Sound Gay?"
The film is currently engaged in a Kickstarter campaign in order to fund post-production. Check out the video above or visit the project's Kickstarter for more information.
Sometimes a song really resonates with me, and as I think music should be, it is also beautiful poetry. I came across this song as a free download from my Starbucks app. One listen, and I was hooked. After listening to "Follow Your Arrow" from Musgraves' Same Trailer Different Park!, the Nashville-based singer-songwriter's first album for Mercury Records, it's clear that this is a girl who has something to say. A true language artist, Kacey nimbly spins webs of words to create the quirky puns, shrewd metaphors, and steely ironies that fill the record. She is also the recipient of the 2013 CMA New Artist of the Year award, the 2014 Grammy for Best Country Album and Best Countey Song for "Merry Go 'Round," and the 2014 ACM Album of the Year.
On "Follow Your Arrow," she points out the hypocrisies that society imposes on even the most conservative among us (If you save yourself for marriage you're a bore/If you don't save yourself for marriage you're a horr...ible person) which she balances with a chorus that preaches throwing caution and propriety to the wind: (Make lots of noise/Kiss lots of boys/Or kiss lots of girls if that's something your into/When the straight and narrow gets a little too straight/Roll up a joint/Or don't/Follow your arrow wherever it points.) Her message is clear: Be yourself and be happy.
Musgraves' first two singles, “Merry Go ‘Round” and “Blowin’ Smoke,” struck a chord with country fans because of Musgraves’ outspoken lyrics. Her third single, “Follow Your Arrow,” was released to radio this week and turns the real talk up to ten. In it she discusses a few controversial topics, including one mainstream country rarely — if ever — tackles: homosexuality. “Kiss lots of boys/Or kiss lots of girls if that’s something you’re into,” she sings.
“Well I hope it gets attention because I think it’s definitely time for those issues to be accepted in country music — I mean it’s 2013,” she said. “Regardless of your political beliefs, everybody should be able to love who they want to love and live how they want to live. We’re all driven by the same emotions; we all want to be loved and want to feel the same things. So, hopefully people will put aside their personal, political agenda and just agree with that fact.”
I am particularly excited because I am going to see Kacey Misgrave in concert on Saturday. She will be opening along with Kip Moore for Lady Antebellum. Besides being a fan of Musgrave and being very excited to see her, I am also excited to see Lady Antebellum, because Charles Kelley is one of the sexiest men in country music.
Here's the song "Follow Your Arrow" if your interested in listening:
Sometimes a song really resonates with me and as I thing music should be it is also beautiful poetry. I came across this song as a free download from my Starbucks app. One listen, and I was hooked. After listening to "Follow Your Arrow" from Musgraves' Same Trailer Different Park! the Nashville-based singer-songwriter's first album for Mercury Records, it's clear that this is a girl who has something to say. A true language artist, Kacey nimbly spins webs of words to create the quirky puns, shrewd metaphors, and steely ironies that fill the record.
On "Follow Your Arrow," she points out the hypocrisies that society imposes on even the most conservative among us (If you save yourself for marriage you're a bore/If you don't save yourself for marriage you're a horr...ible person) which she balances with a chorus that preaches throwing caution and propriety to the wind: (Make lots of noise/Kiss lots of boys/Or kiss lots of girls if that's something your into/When the straight and narrow gets a little too straight/Roll up a joint/Or don't/Follow your arrow wherever it points.) Her message is clear: Be yourself and be happy.
Musgraves' first two singles, “Merry Go ‘Round” and “Blowin’ Smoke,” struck a chord with country fans because of Musgraves’ outspoken lyrics. Her third single, “Follow Your Arrow,” was released to radio this week and turns the real talk up to ten. In it she discusses a few controversial topics, including one mainstream country rarely — if ever — tackles: homosexuality. “Kiss lots of boys/Or kiss lots of girls if that’s something you’re into,” she sings.
“Well I hope it gets attention because I think it’s definitely time for those issues to be accepted in country music — I mean it’s 2013,” she said. “Regardless of your political beliefs, everybody should be able to love who they want to love and live how they want to live. We’re all driven by the same emotions; we all want to be loved and want to feel the same things. So, hopefully people will put aside their personal, political agenda and just agree with that fact.”
