New York City Gets Beckham's Bulge On A Massive Scale!!!

These men have the arduous job of depicting 'Golden Balls' in all his glory in this giant full length paint-by-numbers mural on Manhattan’s 34th street, by Madison Square Gardens.  It’s hard to tell from this distance, but colouring in Beckham’s bulge brick by brick could make anyone a bit hot under the collar. via The Daily Mail

Hudson Taylor Goes For No Pants Subway Ride This Past Weekend!

LGBT ally and wrestler, Hudson Taylor tweeted a pic of himself getting ready to leave the house for the 11th annual no pants subway ride in NYC this past weekend.

I am sure there were a lot of subway riders who were for once thrilled to be riding the subway when Hudson stepped on.  I sure know I would be!!!  Look at those thighs!!!! Not to mention the tightie whities, you have to love Twitter!

Julius’ NYC’s Oldest Gay Landmark Shut Down By The Department of Health

Julius’ the longest-running gay bar in NYC,  at the corner of West 10th Street and Waverly Place was closed by the city’s Department of Health late last week.

Established around 1867 – the same year as the Jacob Ruppert Brewery in the Yorkville neighborhood. Barrels stamped “Jacob Ruppert” are used for tables. Vintage photos of racing horses, boxers and actors are on the wall as well as an image signed by Walter Winchell saying that he loves Julius’.

In the 1950s Julius; was attracting gay patrons. And at the time the New York State Liquor Authority had a rule that ordered bars not to serve liquor to the disorderly, and homosexuals per se were considered “disorderly.” Bartenders would  evict known homosexuals or order them not to face other customers in order to avoid cruising. Despite this, gay men continued to be a large part of the clientele into the early 1960s, and the management of Julius, steadfastly unwilling for it to become a gay bar, continued to harass them until 1966 when members of the New York Chapter of the Mattachine Society staged a “Sip-In” at the bar.

Dick Leitsch, the society’s president, John Timmons and Craig Rodwell planned to draw attention to the practice by identifying themselves as homosexuals before ordering a drink in order to bring court scrutiny to the regulation. The three were going to read from Mattachine stationary “We are homosexuals. We are orderly, we intend to remain orderly, and we are asking for service.”

The three men went to Julius Julius, where a clergyman had been arrested a few days earlier for soliciting sex.  A sign in the window read, “This is a raided premises.” The bartender started preparing them a drink but then put his hand over the glass which was photographed. The New York Times ran a headline the next day “3 Deviates Invite Exclusion by Bars.” The Mattachines then challenged the liquor rule in court and the courts ruled that gays had a right to peacefully assemble, which undercut the previous SLA contention that the presence of gay clientele automatically was grounds for charges of operating a “disorderly” premises. With this right established a new era of licensed, legally operating gay bars began.

By the late 60′s  Julius’ became a full fledged gay bar and embraced it.  It kept its old New york saloon feel sevrving  burgers, booze and beers to mostly an ‘older” clientele and in the 70′s and 80′s older gentlemen would  sometimes buy burgers for younger men. (If you get my drift).  But times changed and Julius’t kept chugging along with a steady gay clientele and to this day the bar still holds a monthly party called Mattachine.

The current owners did not argue that there were problems that needed to be fixed, and said the bar was to have had multiple exterminations over the weekend hoped to re-open after another inspection on Wednesday or later in the week.

 Bars, Book Stores, buildings, so many LGBT landmarks are disappearing and with them our history fades.
Lets hope that Julius’s gets this current problem under control before we lose another.

NYC 2011 Slut Walk: Against Women's Classification as Sluts after Rape

Thousands marched through lower Manhattan yesterday at Slutwalk 2011, an event meant to encourage women to report rape and to denounce "slut shaming." The walk got its start in Toronto after a local cop told women to stop "dressing like they want to be raped." A similar thought was voiced just this week by Brooklyn police who are seeking a rapist in Park Slope. Many more photos and a video at the link.

One woman, Holly Meyer, explained why she was marching in a post on the Daily Kos:

One night in January after a lot of dancing at a friend’s house party in Brooklyn, a male neighbor and I made our way back to our building less than a mile away. We’d both consumed alcoholic beverages but nothing unusual for twenty-somethings on a Saturday night. My roommate had a new love interest at home with him, so to give him some privacy I went back to the neighbor’s apartment to crash, which I’d done several times before. I felt safe going back there as I’d spent a lot of time with this neighbor in a Will & Grace, Glee-watching, Katy Perry-listening kind of way. He’d had a homosexual relationship for more than a year prior to our being neighbors and for all intents and purposes I thought of him and treated him like a gay, male friend.

The next thing I know I’m feeling my pants being pulled down off my body. I heard the neighbor mutter, “Time to take charge of this situation.”

You can read most about Meyer's awful experience here—she adds, "When I finally felt able to tell people what happened, I was asked numerous times about what I had been wearing and if I had anything to drink. The fact that I was wearing grey pants and a black sweater and had consumed alcohol that evening should not have any bearing on what happened to me that night in January."




One woman, Holly Meyer, explained why she was marching in a post on the Daily Kos:

One night in January after a lot of dancing at a friend’s house party in Brooklyn, a male neighbor and I made our way back to our building less than a mile away. We’d both consumed alcoholic beverages but nothing unusual for twenty-somethings on a Saturday night. My roommate had a new love interest at home with him, so to give him some privacy I went back to the neighbor’s apartment to crash, which I’d done several times before. I felt safe going back there as I’d spent a lot of time with this neighbor in a Will & Grace, Glee-watching, Katy Perry-listening kind of way. He’d had a homosexual relationship for more than a year prior to our being neighbors and for all intents and purposes I thought of him and treated him like a gay, male friend.
The next thing I know I’m feeling my pants being pulled down off my body. I heard the neighbor mutter, “Time to take charge of this situation.”

You can read most about Meyer's awful experience here—she adds, "When I finally felt able to tell people what happened, I was asked numerous times about what I had been wearing and if I had anything to drink. The fact that I was wearing grey pants and a black sweater and had consumed alcohol that evening should not have any bearing on what happened to me that night in January."
One woman, Holly Meyer, explained why she was marching in a post on the Daily Kos:

One night in January after a lot of dancing at a friend’s house party in Brooklyn, a male neighbor and I made our way back to our building less than a mile away. We’d both consumed alcoholic beverages but nothing unusual for twenty-somethings on a Saturday night. My roommate had a new love interest at home with him, so to give him some privacy I went back to the neighbor’s apartment to crash, which I’d done several times before. I felt safe going back there as I’d spent a lot of time with this neighbor in a Will & Grace, Glee-watching, Katy Perry-listening kind of way. He’d had a homosexual relationship for more than a year prior to our being neighbors and for all intents and purposes I thought of him and treated him like a gay, male friend.
The next thing I know I’m feeling my pants being pulled down off my body. I heard the neighbor mutter, “Time to take charge of this situation.”

You can read most about Meyer's awful experience here—she adds, "When I finally felt able to tell people what happened, I was asked numerous times about what I had been wearing and if I had anything to drink. The fact that I was wearing grey pants and a black sweater and had consumed alcohol that evening should not have any bearing on what happened to me that night in January."

Ashes Of Slain Journalist Carlos Castro Poured Down Times Square Subway Grate

They gave his remains to Broadway.

Saying they were fulfilling his wishes, yesterday family and friends of slain Portuguese journalist Carlos Castro poured his ashes into a subway grate in Times Square, just steps away from Broadway's famed theaters.
Family and friends of slain Portuguese journalist Carlos Castro honored the dead man's wishes yesterday by pouring his ashes down a subway grate in Times Square.
A funeral was held in Newark yesterday for Castro, 65, who was allegedly castrated with a corkscrew by his 20-year-old lover, male model Renato Seabra, on Jan. 7 in a room at the InterContinental Hotel in Times Square.
After the service, his sisters and a friend took a limo to Broadway and 43rd Street and quickly dumped his ashes without saying a word, said photographer Leandro Badalotti.

Slain Carlos Castro's sisters Fernanda (left) and Maria and a pal put his ashes down a Times Square subway grate

It wasn't immediately clear if the family had authorization to dispose of his remains in public.

 Many subway grates are directly above passenger platforms and it's possible that Castro's ashes landed on riders. Today the mayor's office says Castro's family did not have permission.
New York code states that scattering cremated remains on public property "may be allowed only by written permit."
A source said that the sisters got approval from a City Hall official to pour the ashes at Broadway and 43rd Street Saturday.  Mayor Bloomberg's spokesman, Stu Loeser, said, "We did not give them permission."

Who's who in Fashion---Cameron Silver

Continuing with my weekly post, from an idea I had at the first of the year after reading "The Little Black Book of Style"by Nina Garcia I cam up with a list of 30 fashionable people in her book I had never heard of.  Thinking if I had never heard of them you hadn't either.  Here we are unto our third person in that list---- CAMERON SILVER

 

Named one of Time magazine’s “25 Most Influential Names and Faces in Fashion” in 2002, Cameron Silver has a Midas touch when it comes to fashion. He’s dressed A-list celebrities such as Nicole Kidman, Jennifer Lopez and Renee Zellweger in upscale vintage designs and contributes to Harpers Bazaar UK, C Magazine, and Departures. Cameron owns the vintage couture boutique Decades on Melrose and co-owns Decadestwo, the 21st Century Designer Consignment store. Decades also has a branch in London within Dover Street Market. Since 2004, Cameron has been the Creative Consultant to the French fashion house Azzaro, which has recently enjoyed a renaissance. At Azzaro, Cameron works with Creative Director Vanessa Seward on the collection’s design, research, and development, as well as initiating and maintaining the brand’s triumphant red carpet dressing of celebrities. In March 2007, he served as Creative Consultant for the global launch of Samsonite’s iconic Fashionaire collection. Decades and Decadestwo were awarded “Retailer of the Year” at the 2006 LA Fashion Awards. In May 2007, Cameron received the “Fashion for Life” award benefiting Friendly House.

 

When Cameron Silver left a successful concert career and opened the doors of Decades Inc, the uber glam vintage boutique on Melrose, he did not expect the business to last more than a decade. Now, 12 years later, the store is not only Hollywood's preferred source of Red Carpet gowns, it is the premier spot for vintage couture for socialites around the world with no sign of slowing down!

At the heart of the business is Silver himself, a dapper and handsome figure with a deep smoothing voice. Discussing vintage couture (especially Hermes) with him is a real treat as he is truly the world's expert on all things vintage!

Franciso Costa--- Who's Who in Fashion

Francisco Costa  was born May 10, 1961 is the creative director of Calvin Klein Collection. Costa won the Council of Fashion Designers America (CFDA) award for best womenswear designer in March 2006 as well as in June 2008. Costa also won the National Design Award in 2009 in the category of Fashion Design. Costa's designs have sometimes estranged longtime Calvin Klein customers. His clothes are lighter and more feminine than those marketed by Calvin Klein previously.


Costa is the second youngest of five children. He grew up in Guarani, Brazil, where his mother, Maria-Francisca, owned a children's wear factory. She began her business producing dresses commissioned by a traveling salesman. Costa's father, Jacy Neves da Costa, ran a small ranch. In his hometown of 8,000 people, Costa put on fashion shows for charities. His size is compact and he has brown eyes. Being civic minded by nature, his mother was like the mayor of the town. She presided over her family. Costa remembers there being fifteen people at his family's lunch table.
When his mother died in 1981 he left with a friend for New York City. He was twenty and spoke no English at the time. He enrolled in a language class at Hunter College and took courses at the Fashion Institute of Technology at night. He obtained employment with Herbert Rounick, whose Seventh Avenue (Manhattan) company made dresses for Oscar de la Renta and Bill Blass. Costa went to work for de la Renta after Rounick's death, designing for the firm's Japanese licenses. Costa credits de la Renta with teaching him the most about both designing clothes and life. He remained with the company for five years.

Klein's partner, Barry Schwartz, brought Costa's name to Klein's attention in 2001.  Costa became the principal designer for Calvin Klein at the age of 42, in September 2003. Earlier in the year Klein sold his company to Phillips-Van Heusen for approximately $730 million. Co sta joined the Klein design group in 2001 after working for Gucci, where he was an assistant to Tom Ford. Their first collaboration is known as the Cher Collection.  Costa was mentioned as a possible replacement when Ford retired from designing for Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent, in late 2003.

He emphasized trouser suits for women as opposed to ruffles in the spring 2004 collections. His creations stress the idea of freedom in dress with female underpinnings. With evening dresses Costa's designs reveal both flesh and underpants, often accentuated by the cool hues of the sea. He is not uptight concerning nudity and lingerie. Costa prefers sensuality in sexual imagery as opposed to the more explicit ads used to market Calvin Klein clothes formerly.
For 2004 his models wore stretch bras and underpants in foundation colors. Costa utilized a clingy, transparent material for daytime skirts. He combined them with cashmere tops, which sometimes gave the look an artificial quality. Costa's loose cotton shorts, modelled with cardigan sweaters, were layered over rumpled white shirts and men's ribbed undershirts. This look reflected the late 1970s styles when designers like Calvin Klein and Perry Ellis came to prominence.

Costa maintains a ledger-size mood book in his studio. In early 2004 photographs of horses by Max Eastman appeared frequently in these volumes. Costa is inspired by the coats of horses, especially in his palettes of sepia and cream. The textures of his collection owe much to pony skin, alpaca, and leather. He enjoys photographs of Lauren Hutton and Charlotte Rampling from the 1970s, particularly ones which have them posed in close proximity with ponies and stallions. Costa said, These women are thoroughbreds.
In the fall of 2004 Costa introduced washed silk dresses and black wool felt coats. The clothing was given weight by the librarian brogue heel, variations of which first appeared at Calvin Klein. The style was exceedingly popular during both the Paris, France and Milan, Italy shows.
In his collection for Spring 2005 Costa showed a sea-green silk dress wrapped like a towel. An alternative of the dress, of like color and style, was unveiled on the runway in September 2004. The silk dress was coveted by many buyers and was shipped to stores in the late fall and early winter.

The original inspiration for this collection were primitive wood sculptures by Brancusi. After spending a week in Wyoming Costa aspired to capture the surreal hues of green, blue, and orange, which he had observed juxtaposed with the western landscape at Yellowstone National Park. Costa purchased silk and viscose jersey (clothing) in the garment center of New York City. He had these dyed to match the colors he had photographed in Wyoming. Next he pinned the fabrics on a model, blending and shaping the patterns until he was pleased with their natural effect. The evening dresses he designed were uncomplicated. They were based on a trapeze, combining viscose jersey with silk to make them appear lively.

Vogue and Harper's Bazaar chose a lime green dress worn by Elle Macpherson as a highlight of 2005. Both publications named her to their best dressed lists after she wore the Costa design, which she combined with casual flats. Macpherson asked Costa to pick the color and he selected lime green. It was especially attractive on her because of her skin color.
Costa's new collection for Calvin Klein was criticized by critic, Cathy Horyn, for conveying largely a surface beauty. She wrote about his February 2006 showing in the New York Times. It featured dresses with many layers of black chiffon and tulle. Horn pointed out that Calvin Klein is a sportswear house, not a dress house, and Costa is gifted with a talent for designing sportswear. His collection was reminiscent of the 1930s, with shapes which were long and relaxed. The models wore chiffon bras with tiny handkerchief points of chiffon on their dresses, which extended nakedly across their backs. Horn wondered if many women would not find the fashions untenable and fussy, if not stifling."
In May 2006 Costa served as chairman of a benefit for the Whitney Museum of American Art. He conceived a project for the museum which created art out of fashion. He approached artists Ghada Amer, Vik Muniz, and Billy Sullivan about making art which would be clearly identified with fashion. After showing at the Whitney Art Party, the work was moved and displayed in the windows of the Calvin Klein boutique on Madison Avenue, Manhattan.

Costa designed a line of long slim dresses and pantsuits which were introduced in September 2007. They were constructed of white stretch cotton. His collection featured long stretch silk T-shirts in egg-wash shades of green or blue. The colors accentuated the refreshing impression of the lines, especially Costa's spare evening halters worn with high-waist silk trousers and a strapless dress of pale jade organza. Reviewer Horyn had only one criticism of a collection she believes will gain more meaning with time. This was Costa's failure to notice that the hemlines of his dresses should have been longer.

As of May 2004 Costa's partner was horse trainer John DeStefano Jr. The two had been together fourteen years. Costa donned a coat and tie to join DeStefano for opening day at Belmont Park, where the latter had horses running in the eighth and ninth races. Costa and DeStefano met at George Smith, the furniture store where Costa worked on Saturdays to supplement the salary he earned on Seventh Avenue.

GLAAD & GMHC Call On NYC To Yank Graphic New HIV Prevention Ad

GLAAD and the Gay Men's Health Crisis are calling on New York City to cease airing an HIV prevention ad that the groups says is "sensationalist and stigmatizing."


The PSA, which is intended to encourage condom usage among gay and bisexual men, claims that those with HIV face a higher risk of bone loss, dementia, and anal cancer. While older adults living with HIV may be at greater risk of these conditions, the PSA creates a grim picture of what it is like to live with HIV that could further stigmatize HIV/AIDS, as well as gay and bisexual men. “We know from our longstanding HIV prevention work that portraying gay and bisexual men as dispensing diseases is counterproductive,“ said Marjorie Hill, PhD, GMHC’s Chief Executive Officer. “Studies have shown that using scare tactics is not effective. Including gay men’s input, while recognizing their strength and resiliency, in the creation of HIV prevention education is effective. Gay men are part of the prevention solution, not the problem.” Both GLAAD and GMHC have reached out to the department to demand that the commercial be pulled and to offer assistance with framing the conversation around HIV/AIDS more accurately.

Here's the clip, which does seem over the top ( Some may find it  offensive, so be forwarned). One image in particular may be quite disturbing.

LGBT Homeless NYC Funds Cut by 50%

Advocates for homeless LGBT youth are outraged over New York City’s decision to slash funding for drop-in shelters and street outreach by 50 percent next year.

Citing high rates of homeless LGBT teenager suicide, drug addiction and prostitution; representatives from the Ali Forney Center and the Bronx Community Pride House attended a City Council Finance Committee hearing on Monday, Dec. 6, to emphasize the need for these programs, which the City Council’s discretionary funds currently provide.

"The main program facing cuts is the shelter bed program, which disproportionately affects LGBT youth, who comprise one-third of homeless kids sleeping on the street tonight" said City Councilmember Member Lew Fidler [D-Brooklyn]. "We have to keep hope as we go into the holiday season that no one would do anything that cruel..., but it is not going to be an easy fight."

City spokesperson Andrew R. Doba said the cuts will not have a significant impact on the number of shelter beds. "Services for runaway and homeless youth have been held harmless from budget cuts over the eight most recent budget reductions," he said. "However, due to a combination of city and state reductions for FY11 and FY12, DYCD [Department of Youth and Community Development] has made the difficult decision to reduce Runaway and Homeless Youth Services funding. This reduction was proportionally less than other reductions in the DYCD portfolio-less than seven percent of the total RHY funding, and will not impact our crisis shelters or transitional independent living programs at all."

Fidler pointed to the recent Commission on LGBTQ Runaway and Homeless Youth report that confirmed the need to expand street outreach, noting teens driven from their homes due to emotional, physical, and sexual abuse were often not trusting of adults in drop-in centers. Because the same people who provide drop-in services and street outreach are the ones who provide shelter beds, Fidler said both programs need to be maintained.

"If you’re gonna talk the talk, you gotta walk the walk," he added. "They are doing the opposite, and that is going to have an enormous impact on these shelter beds.  Carl Siciliano, executive director of the Ali Forney Center, agreed.

"They are talking about how Cyndi Lauper recently lit up the Empire State Building to announce the campaign..., but that doesn’t mean a hill of beans to a kid who can’t have a sandwich at a drop-in center, or see a doctor, or take a shower, a kid who is stranded on the street with nothing," he said.

Ali Forney faced a $500,000 budget gap last year, which Siciliano filled by reducing his staff’s health care coverage and education as opposed to cutting money from youth programs. According to Siciliano, 25 percent of the youth at the drop-in center test positive for HIV-more than all 10 homeless drop-in centers in the city. Sixty percent of these young people have also attempted suicide. "And that’s with support," noted Siciliano. "What will that mean if they are just out there on their own?"

City Council Speaker Christine Quinn has also spoken out against the cuts.  "While I recognize the need to balance the budget, I absolutely oppose doing it on the backs of our most vulnerable youth," she said. "We can-and must-do better than this for our children. I have called on the city to look harder to find alternative savings, and I have presented a number of alternative measures that I urge the city to adopt in lieu of these cuts. My colleagues and I will fight to prevent these cuts from taking place."

Dirk McCall, executive director of the Bronx Community Pride Center, said the current proposal would slash his organization’s budget by 90 percent. "These are the most vulnerable youth on the streets; it’s appalling," said McCall. "We have youth who need referrals to shelter beds, anger management, HIV medication referrals, emotional support. For the LGBT kids of the Bronx and Northern Manhattan, this is where they go. It’s really difficult to see this happen, but I have full faith it will be overturned."

In light of the proposed budget cuts, youth advocates also trained a gimlet eye on the Commission for LGBTQ Runaway and Homeless Youth that Mayor Michael Bloomberg established in Oct. 2009.
"When the mayor announced this commission, two weeks before election last year, I thought, ’Is this the same guy I fight with every June to put half this money back?’ How interesting that he found God at end of October," said Fidler. "So they held all of these wonderful forums on LGBT youth, and right of the middle of that they announce this cut. Does anyone see anything hypocritical in that?  Siciliano agreed.

"They announced the formation of the commission two weeks before the election...and then is going to turn around and endanger them by reducing what’s already available," he said "If they drop those programs, these kids have nothing but... total abject suffering on the streets, prostitution, and drug dealing. The people who are responsible for protecting children have to take that responsibility seriously. I really question the competence of anyone who would make a decision like this."  McCall was more sanguine about the outcome.

"I don’t think the mayor started this commission knowing he would have to make these budget cuts I think he started the commission with the best of intentions, and definitely put a lot of energy into it, spoke up for it, circulated the report, and coordinated work with other city agencies," he said. "But these are the most vulnerable youth on street; it’s appalling. There have to be other funds utilized to protect homeless LGBT youth."

He said he would like to see the mayor baseline funds for these programs to avoid annual budget battles. Siciliano also called upon LGBT New Yorkers to stand up for homeless youth, saying he would pitch tents at City Hall Park and camp out "to show these kids their lives mean something to us" if necessary. On Monday, Dec. 6, a dozen additional members of the LGBTQ Runaway and Homeless Youth Commission had signed on to a letter to Bloomberg and Commissioner Jeanne Mullgrav urging them to not to cut funding.

"I am not one of these guys to say we should spend money we don’t have, nor can we raise the property tax any more," said Fidler. "I get that we need to cut spending, but is this seriously what a civilized society does: cut the funding of kids sleeping on subway grates? That is truly outrageous."

Doba stressed the city acknowledges the importance of these funds, but Siciliano, who spoke with EDGE on the anniversary of the death of the gay teenager after which his organization is named, remained adamant.
"I fought and fought to make New York City safer for gay kids," he said. "I didn’t sit on this commission and do all that work as co-chair to see it go back to how it was."