Did They Make Michael Ovitz an Offer He Couldn't Refuse? First, former Hollywood honcho Michael Ovitz, in a Vanity Fair interview, accuses a tinsel town "gay mafia" of undermining his reign as superagent and motion picture powerhouse. Next, he apologizes for statements that were "inappropriate."
Of course, Ovitz didn't mean there is a real gay "mafia"; he meant a circle of gay insiders including his nemesis, David Geffen. Still, there's nothing like a Hollywood Homosexual Hullabaloo to liven up the summer doldrums.
Proud Mary. The right-wing Christian newswire, CNS
News Service, reports that
while answering questions after a recent speech, the
vice-presidential spouse, Lynn Cheney, "tried to dodge a question
from the audience that referenced her daughter, Mary, who is
rumored to be homosexual." Actually, Mary is quite out, lives
openly with her partner, worked at Coors as their corporate liaison
to the gay community, and is now helping the Republican Unity
Coalition reach out to gays and lesbians.
Back to the CNS report:
"With an openly gay daughter, why aren't you and the vice president more supportive of gay and lesbian civil rights that could ease her burden?" one audience member asked. "If you met my daughter Mary, you wouldn't think of her as a burdened young woman," Cheney first offered. "She is a wonderful young woman who is just about to finish business school. We are very proud of our entire family." When pressed about the need for getting involved in "the issue of gay and lesbian rights," Cheney cited her husband's comments during the 2000 vice presidential debate with Democratic candidate Joseph Lieberman. "I think that Dick had exactly the right answer when he was asked about this," she said. "He really said that people in our society should have the right to live their lives as they choose."
An affirmation of tolerance, but not quite an endorsement of full equality before the law. On the other hand, I"m glad she told the activist-questioner that not all gays and lesbians go through life seeing themselves as perpetual victims.
Further Fuming by Fundies. Also from the always
partial CNS News Service this week was an item headed "Bush's
Choice for CDC Head Not Popular with Conservatives" It seems Dr.
James Dobson, head of the anti-gay Focus on the Family, is
"baffled" by President Bush's decision to name Dr. Julie Gerberding
as the new head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
According to Dobson:
"There is nothing in the record to indicate her opposition to 'safe-sex' ideology. She has no apparent concern about the ineffectiveness of condom usage, nor any stated disagreement with the positions of the homosexual activist movement, or with the provision of free needles to drug users. -- The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is already the world's largest promoter of homosexuality and 'safe-sex' programs, and now the president has appointed someone whose positions indicate that the organization will continue dishing out more of the same."
Sounds like another first-class appointment by President
Bush.