Friday, January 14, 2011

Know Your LGBT History - Mahogany

Ever since his stellar work in the legendary motion picture Psycho (1960), the late Anthony Perkins was forever typecast as either a jittery momma's boy or a borderline maniac on the brink of going off.

And his work in the Diana Ross vehicle, Mahogany (1975), was an extension of this.

In this movie, where Ross portrays a woman from the ghetto who becomes a successful fashion model then designer, Perkins portrays the photographer who discovers her, christens her as "Mahogany," becomes her champion, and then tries to kill her.

And he does all of this because he supposedly is in love with her. However, Perkins's character has a problem with accepting his homosexuality, as this scene shows him pathetically trying to seduce Ross. When the sex doesn't work out, he turns on her, humiliating her little by little (ignore the brief interlude with Billy Dee Williams fighting the dock worker):



Finally, everything come to a head in this scene, when he attempts what almost every self-hating gay man in the movies does - suicide. However, he is intent on taking Ross with him (the good part starts at .30 seconds):



It's interesting to see Perkins play this character because he was bisexual in real life.

Past Know Your LGBT History Posts:

Know Your LGBT History - Beverly Hills Cop

Know Your LGBT History - Some Like It Hot

Know Your LGBT History - Bring Me The Head of Alfredo Garcia 

Know Your LGBT History - Dirty Laundry

Know Your LGBT History - The Willie Witch Project

Know Your LGBT History - Spartacus

Know Your LGBT History - Caged

Know Your LGBT History - The Birdcage

Know Your LGBT History - Maude

Know Your LGBT History - That Certain Summer

Know Your LGBT History - Boat Trip

Know Your LGBT History - Staircase

Know Your LGBT History - Beautiful Thing

Know Your LGBT History - Armed and Dangerous

Know Your LGBT History - The Proud Family

Know Your LGBT History - Suddenly Last Summer

Know Your LGBT History - Gay TV Now

Know Your LGBT History - Stewardess School

Know Your LGBT History - Up the Academy

Know Your LGBT History - Don't be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood

Know Your LGBT History - A Different Story

Know Your LGBT History - Victim

Know Your LGBT History - The Color Purple

Know Your LGBT History - Making Love

Know Your LGBT History - A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 2: Freddy's Revenge

Know Your LGBT History - Noah's Arc

Know Your LGBT History - Ode to Billy Joe

Know Your LGBT History - Adorable Adrian Adonis

Know Your LGBT History - The Night Strangler

Know Your LGBT History - All in the Family

Know Your LGBT History - Tongues Untied

Know Your LGBT History - The Celluloid Closet

Know Your LGBT History - Querelle

Know Your LGBT History - Theatre of Blood

Know Your LGBT History - Strange Fruit

Know Your LGBT History - Designing Women

Know Your LGBT History - The Children's Hour

Know Your LGBT History - Sylvester

Know Your LGBT History - Once Bitten

Know Your LGBT History - The Boys in the Band

Know Your LGBT History - Christopher Morley, the crossdressing assassin

Know Your LGBT History - Midnight Cowboy

Know Your LGBT History - Dracula's Daughter

Know Your LGBT History - Blacula

Know Your LGBT History - 3 Strikes

Know Your LGBT History - Paris Is Burning

Know Your LGBT History - The Women

Know your LGBT History - Soul Plane

Know Your LGBT History - The Player's Club

Special Know Your LGBT History - Fame

Know Your LGBT History - Welcome Home, Bobby

Know Your LGBT History - Barney Miller

Know your lgbt history - The Jerry Springer Show

Know your lgbt history - Martin Lawrence and that 'gay guy' on his show

Know your lgbt history - The Ricki Lake Show

Know your lgbt history - Which Way Is Up

Know your lgbt history - Gays in Primetime Soaps

Know your lgbt history - Boys Beware

Know your lgbt history - The Boondocks

Know your lgbt history - Mannequin

Know your lgbt history - The Warriors

Know Your LGBT History - New York Undercover

Know Your LGBT History - Low Down Dirty Shame

Know Your LGBT History - Fortune and Men's Eyes

Know your lgbt history - California Suite

Know your lgbt history - Taxi (Elaine's Strange Triangle)

Know your lgbt history - Come Back Charleston Blue

Know your lgbt history - James Bond goes gay

Know your lgbt history - Windows

Know your lgbt history - To Wong Foo and Priscilla

Know your lgbt history - Blazing Saddles

Know your lgbt history - Sanford and Son

Know your lgbt history - In Living Color

Know your lgbt history - Cleopatra Jones and her lesbian drug lords

Know your lgbt history - Norman, Is That You?

Know your lgbt history - The 'Exotic' Adrian Street

Know your lgbt history - The Choirboys

Know your lgbt history - Eddie Murphy

Know your lgbt history - The Killing of Sister George

Know your lgbt history - Hanna-Barbera cartoons pushes the 'gay agenda

'Know your lgbt history - Cruising

Know your lgbt history - Foxy Brown and Cleopatra Jones

Know your lgbt history - I Got Da Hook Up

Know your lgbt history - Fright Night

Know your lgbt history - Flowers of Evil

The Jeffersons and the transgender community   
 


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The deliberate cluelessness of the religious right and other Friday midday news briefs

Teacher claims admin unresponsive to bullying - Then they need to get on the ball.

Vanderbilt Maintains Policy, But Religious Right Declares Victory - The deliberate cluelessness of the religious right personified.

Minneapolis school board passes stringent anti–gay bullying, pro-LGBT curriculum - Good news from Minnesota!

WATCH: CNN's T.J. Holmes Interviews Daniel Hernandez - Lgbt role models needs as much press as we can give them.

Wingnuts Back Crazy Eyes 2012 - Michele Bachmann and the religious right - a match made in the inner sanctum of an insane asylum.


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BET looks at lgbts of color, destroys myths about being gay

Black Entertainment Television has done something extremely positive and it needs to garner more attention.

On its website, BET has a huge feature spotlighting issues of lgbts of color.

This feature spotlights 36 prominent lgbts of color including:




Comedian Wanda Sykes










Former Palm Spring Mayor Ron Oden







Professor, author, and social activist Angela Davis









Oscar nominated director Lee Daniels







The webpage also refutes - in very short fashion -  12 myths about the lgbt community including such questions as:

  • Is being gay simply about sex,
  • Can people change their sexual orientation
  • Do gays "recruit?"

In addition, BET also showcases 10 films dealing with gay issues and spotlights entertainers who have shown support for the lgbt community.

What BET is doing is monumental. It is a HUGE step because young lgbts of color are given potential role models. Also, BET is moving the conversation regarding lgbts of color from the shadows of the black community to the forefront, where it should be. It gives lgbts of color a chance to jump in the conversation rather than simply being talked about - which is nice, for a change.

And I seriously doubt that you will be hearing any pushback from folks like Peter LaBarbera and organizations like the Family Research Council talking about "balance" and "showing the other side of the argument."

You see one thing that people have overlooked when it comes to talking about the lgbt community of color is the fact that the religious right are deathly afraid of entering into any conflict with us. Oh sure they play up the gay vs. black conflict as sort of a "divide and conquer thing," but they don't want to directly confront us lgbts of color because they are afraid of being seen as racist.

It's in their best interest to keep the black and gay community angry and divided. However, with this spotlight, BET demonstrates that both communities need to get over their differences because they have more in common than realized.


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