Gay/Lesbian band at Inaugural: Musings and Details
Steven Levine
on the national political scene. "Of course" it is possible
to elect openly gay congressmen. "Of course" the overturning
of the military ban against homosexuality was a campaign
issue. "Of course" the New York Times would have four or five
separate articles in one day on lesbian and/or gay concerns,
and would include a cover story in its Sunday magazine
section (boring as it was) on national gay political influence.
It is great that we take these things for granted. They
should never have been issues in the first place. But
there is one "of course" that has stopped me in my tracks
of jadedness:
Of course the Presidential Inaugural Committee would invite
an openly lesbian and gay marching band to participate in
the Parade festivities.
I know that on our list of priorities this is not exactly
at the top, but I believe it holds representative significance.
It is, on the face of it, such an innocent thing. And yet
it would have been inconceivable under a different administration.
It would have been inconceivable to me under any circumstances
at all when I was first coming out.
I think about the invitation (which I happen to have a copy of
right in front of me), and I get teary:
(Inaugural seal of Capitol at top of letter)...Congratulations!
Your band has been selected to participate in the preparade
activities of the 52nd Inaugural Parade, "An American
Reunion -- New Beginnings, Renewed Hope."...
It is a sappy phrase -- New Beginnings, Renewed Hope -- and
yet for 10, 15 seconds at a time I convince myself that I believe
it.
I am not yet clear on all the details of how this came to be,
but I know the outline. A couple of months ago, a member of the
Great American Yankee Freedom Band of Los Angeles suggested to Lisa
Strongin, President of the Lesbian and Gay Bands of America,
that LGBA should look into fielding a band for Clinton's Inaugural Parade.
There are 21 member bands throughout the country and we have often
had representatives from the bands combine to form a single band.
Lisa contacted the members of the Executive Committee, and most
of us had a similar response of "Well, why not?" We are a national
band -- there are very few such animals. It is a long shot, and
there are hundreds of applicants, but there is no reason why we would
be less appropriate for this parade than any other group.
While we were working on our application, a post appeared
in soc.motss (forwarded by Greg Parkinson) from the SO of
one of the parade organizers indicating that no lesbian and
gay groups had applied. Our application may have crossed in
the mail with this post, but Julian Lander picked up the
contact information from this and got Lisa in direct touch
with the Parade organizers.
Then the political string-pulling began (though to what effect,
I really don't know). Lisa had to do a lot of selling
over the phone. Band members with political contacts throughout
the country tried to solicit letters in our support. One
member of the LGBA Executive Committee lives in Houston, and
she went to aske Ann(e?) Richards to write a letter in our
behalf. Ms. Richards said, "Letter, hell, I'll call," and picked
up the phone right there.
We found out Monday that we were selected to be part of the
preparade festivities. We will provide entertainment before
the parade to the folks sitting in the bleachers waiting for
the actual procession.
Those of us who were following the progress of our application
were, naturally, disappointed that we were not to be in the
parade (although we were superstitious about it all along, and
never counted on it happening). But as we get over this initial
disappointment, we are growing more and more excited about
the significance of the performance we *were* asked to give. I
am starting to tell my co-workers and friends and family, and everybody
reacts with heartening enthusiasm. I would be a fool not
to take advantage of this opportunity (despite borrowing money
and taking the unplanned vacation days that this requires).
And then there's the publicity. We are one of 15 groups selected
for the pre-parade stuff, and yet our group -- words "lesbian
and gay" prominent -- is at least mentioned in nearly
every article about the Inaugural. Some reporters took out
their press packets and found Lisa Strongin, who is doing her
talented best to give them good sound bytes. I suspect we won't
know the full publicity impact of these for weeks, and
there may be even more publicity at the Inaugural itself.
This is all good news, I hope. Not just for the bands,
but for the lesbian and gay community.
Now come some difficult logistical steps to make sure this
comes off. Wish us luck, and cheer for us if you see
us on the news.
-Steven Levine
ste...@cray.com
Emily Rizzo
>I think about the invitation (which I happen to have a copy of
>right in front of me), and I get teary:
[parts deleted]
>reacts with heartening enthusiasm. I would be a fool not
>to take advantage of this opportunity (despite borrowing money
>and taking the unplanned vacation days that this requires).
After reading Steven's wonderful post on how his band will go to the
Inaugural, it occurred to me that if a small community can hold bake sales
and car washes to send their high school marching band to the Macy's
Thanksgiving Day Parade, surely we can make sure that the Gay/Lesbian Band
and its members can go in style. So, Steve, can you please publicly post
an address for contributions? I'll pass on the bake sale, but I will be
happy to write a check!
And thanks again, Steve, for a terrific post! This is why I read soc.motss!
Emily
Andy
Here's one that I haven't seen mentioned. I caught Roseanne and the
cast of the "Jackie Thomas" show (Her husbands new show) being
interviewed on Oprah last week or so.
When they were speaking to Martin Mull about him playing a gay
character on Roseanne, he said something to effect "I didn't
know at first my character was to be gay, then they dropped
the (frown, snicker, pause) *bombshell" on me".
The whole comment had a very negative connotation to it. Nobody
flagged him on it. Oprah just smiled. I was very disappointed
in Martin Mull for portraying a gay character and then suggesting
that he wasn't happy about having done it.
Did anyone else catch this bit?
Steven Levine
riz...@FASECON.ECON.NYU.EDU (Emily Rizzo) writes:
>
>After reading Steven's wonderful post on how his band will go to the
>Inaugural, it occurred to me that if a small community can hold bake sales
>and car washes to send their high school marching band to the Macy's
>Thanksgiving Day Parade, surely we can make sure that the Gay/Lesbian Band
>and its members can go in style. So, Steve, can you please publicly post
>an address for contributions? I'll pass on the bake sale, but I will be
>happy to write a check!
Emily --
Thanks for your show of support and enthusiasm! I'm a little
bit overwhelmed (as you can tell by my use of an exclamation point).
This is the story: The band that will be performing at the
Inaugural is not a single band, per se, but what we usually
call the LGBA "festival" band: representatives from the
different lesbian/gay bands throughout the country who meet
to play together. Although we are working to change this,
currently all funding and fundraising to get people to these
gatherings -- in style or otherwise -- comes from the individual
bands. The LA Band, for example, is actively soliciting donations
from the gay community of LA to sponsor musicians
from their band to represent California at the Inaugural.
So there are two answers to your question:
1. Donations to the national band organization -- Lesbian
and Gay Bands of America -- can be sent to LGBA, PO Box 57099,
Washington DC 20037-0099. Donations earmarked for
the Inaugural would probably be used to pay for music
and rehearsal space. Sad to say, there is no procedure
in place for distributing donations to the member bands
to defray transportation costs (which is the biggest need).
2. I am confident that any of the individual bands would be
thrilled to have donations, even donations restricted to getting its
members to Washington. There are currently active bands
in the following cities, and I would be happy to
provide addresses and contact names to anyone who asks via email:
Baltimore
Boston
Chicago (a very small group currently)
Dallas
Denver
Houston
Los Angeles (2 bands)
Long Beach
Miami/Fort Lauderdale
Minneapolis/St. Paul
New York City
Philadelphia
Portland OR
San Diego
San Francisco (2 bands)
Tampa Florida
Vancouver BC (I do not know if they will want to send representation)
Washington DC
There are also small groups in Atlanta, Cleveland, and Phoenix,
but I am not certain whether they are actively rehearsing at
the moment.
Thanks for asking for this, Emily. The publicity surrounding our
presence at this event is starting to take off.
-Steven Levine
ste...@cray.com
Paul Isaacs
>
>Here's one that I haven't seen mentioned. I caught Roseanne and the
>cast of the "Jackie Thomas" show (Her husbands new show) being
>interviewed on Oprah last week or so.
>
>When they were speaking to Martin Mull about him playing a gay
>character on Roseanne, he said something to effect "I didn't
>know at first my character was to be gay, then they dropped
>the (frown, snicker, pause) *bombshell" on me".
Figures. I hate Martin Mull. White male heterosexual yuppie scum.
Probably thinks he's so straight that it "probably can't hurt his
career".
pauli. (white male homosexual yuppie scum, to be perfectly honest)
adolphson
j...@spdcc.com (Joseph Francis) writes:
> Does anyone remember the Tom Snyder show in the '70s?
<Raises hand>
> Talking about
> 'gay' on TV reminded me of this 70's oddity. It was really
> unpredictable, and usually ran at 1am. I remember once Paul Williams
> followed by Johnny Rotten (Williams grabbed the camera and said "the
> guy after me is reeeealy weiiiird", which, if you know how williams
> comes across, is the height of irony).
Tom Snyder's show (called "Tomorrow", since it came after
"Tonight" and before "Today") was incredibly strange, even
for a 1970s TV show. And whatever happened to Paul Williams?
He was ubiquitous in the 1970s, but I haven't heard about him
in ages.
> Th highlight of one show was
> the episode where Snyder went into a gay disco full of half-dressed
> clones covered in sweat and talked about his 'feelings'. Very good
> stuff for a 14-year-old fag in backwoods Tennessee to watch.
I remember a show he did once on groupies. One of the
groupies, a screaming queen named Chuckie who I knew
slightly, seemed to freak Snyder out almost as much as
he intrigued him. Chuckie claimed that Snyder came on
to him, but then Chuckie claimed that *everyone* came
on to him.
Arne
Joseph Francis
I've heard things about Snyder but... that's beside the point.
"Tomorrow", though now it seems like ordinary public access cable
("Hollywood Kids"), actually was quite influential to me in defining
one of the primary functions of television - to get people to perform
self-consciously. There are documentary film styles which do that, but
none so well; you don't have the same feedback systems. People mug and
go on for TV in ways they just never would for film (outside of "The
Factory"). Is that interesting? It is when you've got great
personalities. (who said: one doesn't rehearse for television - it is
all reherarsal).
The second functions is the highlighting the random nature of life.
The discontinuities between episodes of any show, from "Dallas" to "I
Love Lucy" are perfect; no character development, no morals, no
antecedent/consequence; and most importantly, no
thesis/antithesis/synthesis. It all becomes crablike, scuttling from
scenario to scenario, endless repetition of a few basic forms without
rhyme or reason. All serialized fiction forms are inferior to
television.
No ObMOTSS.
--
US Jojo; damp, slighly soiled, but tasty nonetheless.
Joseph Francis
If there was a scale for being a screaming queen, Mull would be around
9. I saw him on an interview once talking about living in Silverlake,
and he then started on a strange tangent talking about "You know,
swish alps..., PPlatinum Pond...". Not having seen the interview, I
might add that a "frown skinker pause" is usually his way of being
sarcastic.
Does anyone remember the Tom Snyder show in the '70s? Talking about
'gay' on TV reminded me of this 70's oddity. It was really
unpredictable, and usually ran at 1am. I remember once Paul Williams
followed by Johnny Rotten (Williams grabbed the camera and said "the
guy after me is reeeealy weiiiird", which, if you know how williams
comes across, is the height of irony). Th highlight of one show was
the episode where Snyder went into a gay disco full of half-dressed
clones covered in sweat and talked about his 'feelings'. Very good
stuff for a 14-year-old fag in backwoods Tennessee to watch.
--
adolphson
j...@spdcc.com (Joseph Francis) writes:
> I've heard things about Snyder but... that's beside the point.
> "Tomorrow", though now it seems like ordinary public access cable
> ("Hollywood Kids"), actually was quite influential to me in defining
> one of the primary functions of television - to get people to perform
> self-consciously.
Yes, and this self-consciousness was particularly
noticeable on "Tomorrow". There's Tom, lounging
around in casual clothes, chain-smoking, talking
to his camera operators, floor manager, director.
There are his guests, trying to look just as at
ease as guffawing Tom, but usually not succeeding.
> There are documentary film styles which do that, but
> none so well; you don't have the same feedback systems. People mug and
> go on for TV in ways they just never would for film (outside of "The
> Factory"). Is that interesting? It is when you've got great
> personalities. (who said: one doesn't rehearse for television - it is
> all reherarsal).
Addison DeWitt in "All About Eve" to Miss Caswell after her
disastrous audition. (Paraphrase: "Next stop is TV." "Do they
have auditions for TV?" "That's all TV is: one long audition.")
> The second functions is the highlighting the random nature of life.
> The discontinuities between episodes of any show, from "Dallas" to "I
> Love Lucy" are perfect; no character development, no morals, no
> antecedent/consequence; and most importantly, no
> thesis/antithesis/synthesis. It all becomes crablike, scuttling from
> scenario to scenario, endless repetition of a few basic forms without
> rhyme or reason. All serialized fiction forms are inferior to
> television.
I have always assumed this repetition of a few basic forms,
these odd discontinuities, were the result of writing by
committee and pandering to the lowest common denominator.
> No ObMOTSS.
Ah, but that's in the eye of the beholder. There's lots of MOTSS
content here as far as I'm concerned.
Arne
Joseph Francis
>In article <1992Dec19.0...@spdcc.com>
>j...@spdcc.com (Joseph Francis) writes:
>
>> I've heard things about Snyder but... that's beside the point.
>> "Tomorrow", though now it seems like ordinary public access cable
>> ("Hollywood Kids"), actually was quite influential to me in defining
>> one of the primary functions of television - to get people to perform
>> self-consciously.
>
>Yes, and this self-consciousness was particularly
>noticeable on "Tomorrow". There's Tom, lounging
>around in casual clothes, chain-smoking, talking
>to his camera operators, floor manager, director.
>There are his guests, trying to look just as at
>ease as guffawing Tom, but usually not succeeding.
I did hate his haircut, if you could call it that. I think "Tomorrow"
was as close as american television has come to French 'intellectual'
television (which is really horrible). The "Tomorrow" show was also
extremely '70s. I wish I had old tapes of it. That and Nina Symone
singing on SNL, and a PBS episode with a very old woman (I always
imagined her name was Nazimova) playing Violin concertos on a Theremin.
>> There are documentary film styles which do that, but
>> none so well; you don't have the same feedback systems. People mug and
>> go on for TV in ways they just never would for film (outside of "The
>> Factory"). Is that interesting? It is when you've got great
>> personalities. (who said: one doesn't rehearse for television - it is
>> all reherarsal).
>
>Addison DeWitt in "All About Eve" to Miss Caswell after her
>disastrous audition. (Paraphrase: "Next stop is TV." "Do they
>have auditions for TV?" "That's all TV is: one long audition.")
I remember that, but I thought someone like John Simon had a similar
line. Actually all DeWitt's lines to iss Caswell (Marilyn Monroe) were
fabulous. In fact, the entire movie was fabulous, I have read the
script several times. Unfortunately it wasn't the working script for
the film.
>> The second functions is the highlighting the random nature of life.
>> The discontinuities between episodes of any show, from "Dallas" to "I
>> Love Lucy" are perfect; no character development, no morals, no
>> antecedent/consequence; and most importantly, no
>> thesis/antithesis/synthesis. It all becomes crablike, scuttling from
>> scenario to scenario, endless repetition of a few basic forms without
>> rhyme or reason. All serialized fiction forms are inferior to
>> television.
>
>I have always assumed this repetition of a few basic forms,
>these odd discontinuities, were the result of writing by
>committee and pandering to the lowest common denominator.
Well, "I Love Lucy" invented modern television, the way cameras were
used and the way the stage was set up for interior'ness'. The
scripting was pretty tight, and grafted classic burlesque with
Broadway, don't you think? with radio serials structuring the
continuity. George Burns and Gracie Allen seemed, to me, to evolve
into things like "Leave it to Beaver", "The Brady Bunch", and "The
Cosby Show", "I Love Lucy" created, of course, "The Lucy Show", but
also "Three's Company", "All in the Family", "Good Times", "The Mary
Tyler Moore Show", "Gilligan's Island", "Alice", "One Day at a Time",
"The Jeffersons", etc. Radio Westerns (and film serials) evolved
directly, without visual change into, naturally, TV westerns "The Big
Valley", "Gunsmoke", "Bearcat", "The Wild Wild West", "Little House on
the Prarie", and by extension, "22 Sunset Strip", "The Waltons",
"Battlestar Galactica", "Star Trek", "Daktari", "Gentle Ben", "Mr Ed",
"Flipper", "Sea Hunt", etc. Soap Opera's are obvious, in antecedent
and progression, up to "Twin Peaks", but obscure as a source to ,
realistically, medical drama - "Medical Center", "St. Elsewhere", etc.
Crime Drama, of course, went from serials, radio, then via
"Untouchables" and "Dragnet" to "The FBI", "Mission Impossible",
"Columbo", "Hill Street Blues", "A-0Team", and so on. I feel Crime
Drama has essentially the same 'look' as TV Western; this also brings
up hybrids and mutations. "Barney Miller" - "I Love Lucy" direction
with "Dragnet" content. Medical Drama - "Medical Center", et al. Very
'western' but with disease replacing 'crime drama' focus. "MASH" - A
medical "Barney Miller". Where did "Dennis the Menace", and "Hazel"
go? Into Hanna-Barbara; cartoons, whether live-action or animated are
the same - "The Flintstones", "The Simpsons", "Bewitched", "Wonder
Woman", "Fat Albert", "The Jetsons".
Someday I'll have to tackle Judy Garland, Carol Burnett, and the
medium of 'revue' on television. It is too complex, and too perfectly
television - completely 'self-conscious', as I mentioned in my
original part of the post. I see little difference between a given
episode of Carol Burnett (structurally), Saturday Nite Live, America's
Favorite Home Videos, and Johnny Carson.
Ronald Hayden
When they were speaking to Martin Mull about him playing a gay
character on Roseanne, he said something to effect "I didn't
know at first my character was to be gay, then they dropped
the (frown, snicker, pause) *bombshell" on me".
The whole comment had a very negative connotation to it. Nobody
flagged him on it. Oprah just smiled. I was very disappointed
in Martin Mull for portraying a gay character and then suggesting
that he wasn't happy about having done it.
Martin Mull has a very dry sense of humor. I'd be very surprised if
he's homophobic.
--
- Ronald Hayden
----------------------------------------------------------------
| Documentation Manager, Oracle Toolkit Group |
| Co-chair of Oracle Lambda, Oracle's Gay/Lesbian/Bisexual group |
| Writer, magician, and various other things |
----------------------------------------------------------------
Ronald Hayden
Figures. I hate Martin Mull. White male heterosexual yuppie scum.
Probably thinks he's so straight that it "probably can't hurt his
career".
Martin Mull has spent his career making fun of his heritage. As for
"can't hurt his career" -- boy, his resume is just filled with shows
done strictly because they'd appeal to a wide audience, right?
Shows like "Fernwood Tonight" and "The History of White People in
America". Not exactly Tom Cruise material.
Ronald Hayden
If there was a scale for being a screaming queen, Mull would be around
9. I saw him on an interview once talking about living in Silverlake,
and he then started on a strange tangent talking about "You know,
swish alps..., PPlatinum Pond...". Not having seen the interview, I
might add that a "frown skinker pause" is usually his way of being
sarcastic.
Mull is married. Doesn't mean anything about his sexuality, of
course, but tarnishes the "screaming queen" image...
Steve Giammarco
song he used to play.
Then I became a club jock and discovered that Dan Hartman's tune
_Vertigo/Relight My Fire_ was the culprit. Indeed the same Dan Hartman
from The Edgar Winter Group. Didja know ol'Danny wrote "Free Ride" ?
Makes me smile everytime I wander into Dallas' Venereal... umm.. I mean
_Village_ Station to listen to Trash Disco on Sunday nights.... :)
<sigh> Sorry. We now return to our regularly scheduled program.
)
--
Steve Giammarco/5330 Peterson Lane/Dallas TX 75240
ma...@sdf.lonestar.org
loveyameanit.
Ron Buckmire
at the head of the procession, is that true?
--
RON BUCKMIRE, 11 Colvin Circle, Troy, NY 12180-3735. ``D.C. in 93!''
vox:(518)-276-8910 fax:(518)-276-6920 buc...@rpi.edu buc...@rpitsmts.bitnet
92 of the 400 richest Americans *inherited* their wealth. Source: _Details_.
Julian C. Lander
|> I think I read somewhere that the glb marching band is going to be somehere
|> at the head of the procession, is that true?
|>
Not quite. The Lesbian and Gay Bands of America are providing a band to
entertain along Pennsylvania Avenue between 9th and 10th Streets, NW,
before and after the inauguration itself. We are not marching in
the actual parade.
Although this is a lesser honor, it makes sense for non-lgb reasons.
We're not a precision marching band by any means, and we won't have
time to get together a routine. We also don't have uniforms. (The
individual bands have uniforms of different types; there is not
national uniform.) I suspect that our performance is better
suited to standing still than marching.
There has been a great deal of press interest in this. The
Washington Post reported on it as part of their coverage of
the inaugural festivities. It seems as though our presence in
the official events is remarkable enough--that we're not marching
is very much a secondary issue.
Julian C. Lander
jcla...@mitre.org