Brokeback Mountain Forum @ ennisjack.com

The Movie & Story => News Coverage, Reviews & Awards => Topic started by: tpe on Jun 06, 2007, 01:20 PM

Title: News Coverage: June 2007
Post by: tpe on Jun 06, 2007, 01:20 PM

From: http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/travel/story.html?id=0870a7c0-42ec-4cbd-9cb8-4c1da04d7095&k=63557

--------------------------------

Brokeback phenomenon
After Brokeback Mountain, Calgary is marketing itself as gay-friendly
Lisa Kadane, CanWest News Service

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Since the release of the film Brokeback Mountain, filmed in and around Calgary, Tourism Alberta has tried to lure fans to the area.

Call it the Brokeback phenomenon. Not only did last year's Oscar nominee for Best Picture catapult Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal to superstardom, it thrust Alberta onto the stage as a scenic must-see for travellers. But not just any wayfarers.

If the characters played by Heath and Jake could find love in the Rocky Mountains, surely gays and lesbians from around the world would have similar luck -- or, at the very least, a fabulous holiday.

Yes, San Francisco, there's a new destination on the gay and lesbian travel radar. Though Cowtown hotels and attractions aren't yet flying rainbow-striped flags, it's fair to say the city is flaunting more colours than just red (necks).

Tourism Calgary and many of its partners are embracing this growing travel niche.

"It's an absolutely massive potential market," says Paul Newmarch, media marketing co-ordinator for Tourism Calgary. "That whole Brokeback Mountain thing, that really opened the door for us."

Gay and lesbian travellers began expressing interest in coming to see where the movie was filmed. They also started asking the question: "Is Calgary gay-friendly?"

The city couldn't afford to say, "No."

According to research by Mintel International Group, the gay holiday market was worth $1.55-billion in 2006, with 1.25 million holidays taken by gay travellers.

Canada is poised to rake in a good chunk of that change -- the country was ranked No. 1 as the world's best travel destination for gays and lesbians (in part because of its stance on gay marriage), according a survey by Community Marketing Inc., a company that tracks the spending habits of American gays and lesbians.

Still, Calgary has a long way to go before its name rolls off gay travellers' tongues as easily as, say, Puerto Vallarta.

In the summer 2007 issue of American magazine The Out Traveler, Vancouver, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Toronto and Montreal are named Canada's top five gay-friendly tourist destinations. Calgary isn't mentioned.

Tourism Calgary would like to change that. The organization is working with a number of gay media outlets as well as local gay-friendly restaurants and hotels, to get the word out.

Newmarch says some hotels are engaging in "sensitivity training" so staff won't even blink when a homosexual couple arrives to check in.

"We are definitely promoting Calgary as a gay (friendly) destination ... but the challenge for us is that some of our partners aren't necessarily gay-friendly-ready," he says.

One that is ready is Hotel Arts, a boutique hotel located in Calgary's Beltline, not too far from Twisted Element, the city's largest gay nightclub.

The five Fairmont hotel properties in Alberta are also officially gay-friendly.

Such accommodations are helping boost Calgary's cachet among gay and lesbian travellers, says Steve Polyak, a native Calgarian and co-owner of GayCalgary.com and GayCalgary magazine. But not everyone is welcoming same-sex couples with open arms.

Even though such attitudes persist, Polyak is positive about Calgary and talks excitedly about all it has to offer. Beyond the restaurants, nightclubs and proximity to those Brokeback mountains, the city hosts a 10-day Pride Festival and the Gay Rodeo in June. Travellers who come for the Gay Rodeo often stay in town for the Stampede, he says.

But Polyak says it's not a good idea at the Stampede Grounds to hold hands or smooch your same-sex partner.

"Calgary is still very much a conservative city. We cannot forget that."

Title: News Coverage: June 2007
Post by: froggy on Jun 07, 2007, 05:36 PM
Was reading through articles..and found this

Quote
EW: Who do you like from that younger generation?
Clooney: I’ll tell ya, Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams are both really good actors. Both have great range and can do all kinds of stuff.
Pitt: I think Heath Ledger is really strong, as well.


From EW http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20035285_20035331_20041613,00.html

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Title: forgotten soon after?
Post by: tpe on Jun 20, 2007, 07:47 AM
Can someone write to this barbarian and disabuse his ignorance?

The AFI's 100 Years, 100 Movies airs tomorrow at 8 PM Eastern/Pacific on CBS, FYI

http://timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=599392&category=ARTS&newsdate=6/20/2007

----------------------------------------------------

10 years later, AFI updates its 100 top films 
 
By KEVIN McDONOUGH, United Features Syndicate
First published: Wednesday, June 20, 2007
 
Morgan Freeman hosts "AFI's 100 Years ... 100 Movies -- 10th Anniversary Edition" (8 p.m., WRGB Ch. 6). That's right, a whole decade has passed since the first "AFI" list was selected and publicized. Over the years, we've seen these American Film Institute specials count down the 100 greatest films, stars, comedies, heroes and villains, best lines and the 100 best "Cheers."
   
The passage of a decade opens up a whole new group of films for consideration in the top 100. American movies released between 1996 and 2006 in contention for the top spots include "American Beauty," "The Aviator," "Brokeback Mountain," "Lord of the Rings," "The Matrix," "Saving Private Ryan," "Sideways," "Traffic" and "Titanic."

Movies are chosen for the top-100 list based on contemporary critical reaction, prizes and nominations, historical significance, cultural impact and enduring popularity. Given these criteria, I'm not sure some of these films should make the cut. "Brokeback Mountain" is the perfect example of a movie that gets talked about in the period leading up to the Oscars and is forgotten soon after.

Does it belong in a list that includes "Casablanca" and "Citizen Kane"?

 
Title: Re: News Coverage: June 2007
Post by: hpv on Jun 20, 2007, 11:41 AM
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Q: Did "Brokeback Mountain" make America faggier? (The answer may subversively titillate you.)

A: Yes, yes it did. Turns out that all those midwestern cineplex owners who were too pansy-ass to screen Ang Lee's "Brokeback Mountain" were just trying to protect their customers' fragile heterosexuality.

Yessir, it's a scientifically proven fact:

Jake & Heath, sitting in a tree...You wish you could quit them...
BUT YOU CAN'T.

Watching cowboy-on-cowboy lovemaking really CAN turn you gay.

How do I know? The modern Oracle at Delphi (a.k.a. Google Trends) told me!

Google's new Trends feature, for those of you who missed my 6,472 earlier posts about it, allows you to create charts tracing the popularity of any given search term over the past couple years.

So: A Trends (U.S.) search for "brokeback mountain" produces the following chart for :


http://www.surprisinger.com/2006/06/q-did-brokeback-mountain-make-america_27.html     :)
Title: Re: News Coverage: June 2007
Post by: tpe on Jun 20, 2007, 12:58 PM
Quote from: hpv on Jun 20, 2007, 11:41 AM
(https://ennisjack.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fphotos1.blogger.com%2Fx%2Fblogger2%2F7237%2F3129%2F1600%2Fz%2F880086%2Fgse_multipart6872.jpg&hash=ad4c7d8aca06d5fc345fdd9f560294681c508c10)


http://www.surprisinger.com/2006/06/q-did-brokeback-mountain-make-america_27.html     :)

I love this article, hpv! Thanks so much for posting it!

 
Title: Re: News Coverage: June 2007
Post by: tpe on Jun 21, 2007, 07:23 AM
A wonderful feedback from the Washington Post:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/15/AR2007061501960.html


---------------------------------------------

'Brokeback' Resonated
Saturday, June 16, 2007; Page A13

In an otherwise lucid June 4 review, " 'Gay Images': A Rainbow Starts Out Black-and- White," Tom Shales found a way to slam "Brokeback Mountain" even as he held it up as a landmark in gay cinema. He wrote, " 'Brokeback Mountain' may not be the most sophisticated, intelligent or even most resonant big-scale mainstream movie about gay life and love, but as an event it towers over most others, and it seemed to commit fewer of the reigning stereotypes and cliches to celluloid than any other major film had ever done."

But sophistication, intelligence and the absence of cliches are the very hallmarks of "Brokeback Mountain," as was witnessed in its extraordinary number of best-picture awards among film societies and critics' circles. As for its resonance, the film generated a phenomenal amount of support and discussion, in a variety of media, among people of all sexual orientations.

 -- Kelly Cresap

Title: Re: News Coverage: June 2007
Post by: tpe on Jun 22, 2007, 07:26 AM
From: http://www.azcentral.com/ent/movies/articles/0621afialternatives.html

-------------------------------------------------

Best films ever? Make room for these 5
Randy Cordova
The Arizona Republic
Jun. 21, 2007 12:00 AM

The American Film Institute revealed on June 20 an updated list of the 100 greatest movies of all time, as voted by a jury of 1,500 film artists, critics and historians.

Yawn.

Well, OK, maybe it's not that big of a yawn this time around. This is the first time the list has been updated in 10 years, which means a whole decade's worth of films are now eligible to be deemed worthy. 
 
"Our perceptions of the movies change over time," said AFI President and CEO Jean Picker Firstenberg. "AFI is proud to conduct this poll every 10 years to mark these changing cultural perspectives."

Did Tobey Maguire make it? Doubtful.

Here are five films from 1996-'06 we'd like to see on the list:

1. Brokeback Mountain: "I wish I knew how to quit you!" "Jack Twist? Jack Nasty!" The movie was moving, a cultural milestone and extremely quotable all at the same time. (2005).

2. Good Night, and Good Luck: Atmospheric film made Edward R. Murrow come to life. Moody, atmospheric and strangely haunting (2005)

3. Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle: Two stoned buddies go looking for sliders to satisfy their munchies. The movie has no chance in hell of making the list, but the film takes stereotypes and twists them around in ways that are remarkably clever. Plus, it's just funny. (2004)

4. Moulin Rouge!: OK, the opening 15 minutes are pretty ghastly. And maybe Nicole Kidman isn't that good a singer. But we're sold as soon as Ewan McGregor starts crooning Elton John's Your Song (2001).

5. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Do not write this off as simply a martial arts film. A magical, mystical love story that will have you reaching for the Kleenex at the end. Plus . . . martial arts! (2000)

What films from 1996-2006 would you like to see make the Top 100?
Title: Re: forgotten soon after?
Post by: LuvJackNasty on Jun 23, 2007, 03:40 PM
Quote from: tpe on Jun 20, 2007, 07:47 AM

Movies are chosen for the top-100 list based on contemporary critical reaction, prizes and nominations, historical significance, cultural impact and enduring popularity. Given these criteria, I'm not sure some of these films should make the cut. "Brokeback Mountain" is the perfect example of a movie that gets talked about in the period leading up to the Oscars and is forgotten soon after.

Does it belong in a list that includes "Casablanca" and "Citizen Kane"?

 


 ^*) Perhaps he meant Crash  ::) I just might send off a letter- I'm in that kind of mood today  ^^)
Title: Re: forgotten soon after?
Post by: boo_boo on Jun 23, 2007, 05:36 PM
Quote from: tpe on Jun 20, 2007, 07:47 AM

Movies are chosen for the top-100 list based on contemporary critical reaction, prizes and nominations, historical significance, cultural impact and enduring popularity. Given these criteria, I'm not sure some of these films should make the cut. "Brokeback Mountain" is the perfect example of a movie that gets talked about in the period leading up to the Oscars and is forgotten soon after.

Does it belong in a list that includes "Casablanca" and "Citizen Kane"?


Hell yes it belongs there.  ^*)
Title: Re: News Coverage: June 2007
Post by: tpe on Jun 25, 2007, 07:48 AM

Thanks boo_boo and LJN. 

LJN, do send a letter to the idiot.  ;)

Title: Re: News Coverage: June 2007
Post by: LuvJackNasty on Jun 25, 2007, 11:20 AM
I have most of it typed up Thomas, now I just need to finish it  O0
Title: Re: News Coverage: June 2007
Post by: tpe on Jun 25, 2007, 01:32 PM
Quote from: LuvJackNasty on Jun 25, 2007, 11:20 AM
I have most of it typed up Thomas, now I just need to finish it  O0

If you want, post it here also.  :)

Title: Re: News Coverage: June 2007
Post by: welshwitch on Jun 26, 2007, 03:25 PM
The Guardian is publishing a five-part list this week of "A Thousand Films to See before You Die". Of course BBM is there; this is what the comment is:

Ang Lee's epic of cowboys in love is multi-layered, achingly subtle, stunningly photographed - a peerless heart-breaker and an instant classic. Jake Gyllenhaal is touching as the puppyish Jack Twist, but it is Heath Ledger's clenched, wrenching performance as the taciturn Ennis Del Mar that's the soul of the film.

[Clearly this man has no idea about Jake, but otherwise he's spot on.]
Title: Re: News Coverage: June 2007
Post by: froggy on Jun 26, 2007, 03:42 PM
Thanx for posting this WW w

Quote from: welshwitch on Jun 26, 2007, 03:25 PM
[Clearly this man has no idea about Jake, but otherwise he's spot on.]

<OT> Spoken like a true Jake fan!!
Title: Re: News Coverage: June 2007
Post by: tpe on Jun 26, 2007, 03:51 PM
Quote from: Froggy on Jun 26, 2007, 03:42 PM
Thanx for posting this WW w

<OT> Spoken like a true Jake fan!!

;)   ;D



Title: Re: News Coverage: June 2007
Post by: tpe on Jun 27, 2007, 07:20 AM
From: http://www.gfn.com/indexArticle.cfm?channelDesRecordID=459

-------------------------------------------------------------

Wal-Mart Bows to Religious Right, Jettisons Gay Groups
Tuesday June 26, 2007

After more than a year of a threatened boycott by Christian groups, Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer has bowed to their demands and has officially suspended its support of gay organizations.

The move comes a year after Wal-Mart joined the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce, or NGLCC, an organization of more than 24,000 gay- and lesbian-owned businesses. The retailer also previously sponsored the annual convention of Out & Equal, a group that promotes gay rights in the workplace, and sold gay-themed jewelry in stores.

"We are not currently planning corporate-level contributions to GLBT [gay] groups," Mona Williams, the company's senior vice president of corporate communications recently told Fortune. Williams cited a policy adopted last fall saying that Wal-Mart would not make corporate contributions "to support or oppose highly controversial issues" unless they directly relate to the company's ability to serve its customers.

The statement is a sharp turnaround from last August when the company partnered with the NGLCC as part of the retailer's stated "ongoing plan to advance diversity among all of its associate, supplier and customer bases." The partnership included a place on the group's advisory council, and sponsorship of the organization's 2006 events and initiatives.

While Williams says the store still supports its gay employees and Wal-Mart Pride, the company's official gay employee group, some members of Wal-Mart Pride sees the move as pandering to the store's most conservative base.

"Pulling funding from GLBT organizations is a slap in the face to gay employees and it sends a very clear message, one Wal-Mart Pride member wrote in an email to Fortune.

The Human Rights Campaign, who ranks companies on their gay-friendly policies, said it will continue to work closely with the retailer.

"With a company as large as Wal-Mart, [change is] not going to happen as fast as many of us would like," said Daryl Herrschaft, who oversees the HRC's workplace project. Wal-Mart does not currently offer health-care benefits to the domestic partners of its gay employees, although more than half of Fortune 500 companies currently do.

Since last summer, anti-gay groups picketed stores, and flooded Wal-Mart with emails expressing their disappointment in the retailer for promoting "homosexual rights," and threatened to boycott all Wal-Mart and Sam's Clubs stores. So-called religious employees also objected to Wal-Mart's apparent support of gay patrons and the sale of pro-gay items like the DVD of "Brokeback Mountain." In April 2006, The American Family Association, an anti-gay lobbying group, began pressuring Wal-Mart to refuse to carry the award-winning movie in its 3,700-plus U.S. stores.

In what appeared to be a nod in support of gay- and gay-friendly customers, a Wal-Mart spokesperson said at the time the chain recognized that a "broad segment of our customer base" wants to buy the latest titles, including "Brokeback," and that no social agenda was ever part of the decision-making process.

The store's "agenda" may not have been social, but it was certainly financial: the retailer sold 1.4 million DVD copies of the film the first day it was offered.
Title: Re: News Coverage: June 2007
Post by: boo_boo on Jun 27, 2007, 08:25 AM
I don't like Walmart anyway...this just gives me another reason to not shop there.

"pro-gay items like the DVD of "Brokeback Mountain."  - I don't see BBM as "pro-gay", I see it as "pro-love".

I love that it sold 1.4 million copies on the first day. :clap:
Title: Re: News Coverage: June 2007
Post by: ethan on Jun 27, 2007, 09:17 AM
Reading these articles just make me upset. Wal-Mart - big thumbs down.
Title: Re: News Coverage: June 2007
Post by: LuvJackNasty on Jun 27, 2007, 11:15 AM
Oh geez- yet another letter to write.  >:(
Title: Re: News Coverage: June 2007
Post by: FlwrChild on Jun 27, 2007, 11:19 AM
Maybe you can help me with mine. You're good at that.  ^^)

In the meantime, not that I shopped there a lot, but I won't be shopping there again. And I will be telling them why.
Title: Re: News Coverage: June 2007
Post by: LuvJackNasty on Jun 27, 2007, 11:26 AM
Ditto FC. I still have to finish up the other one. I need a good parting shot  ;D We'll work on them later.  O0 Maybe the HRC can talk a little sense into them  >:(
Title: Re: News Coverage: June 2007
Post by: froggy on Jun 27, 2007, 12:24 PM
I can't believe this...we have ASDA here, part of the Wall Mart family...I don't think I want to shop there anymore!
Title: Re: News Coverage: June 2007
Post by: LuvJackNasty on Jun 27, 2007, 06:54 PM
 ;D I just finished my letter to Walmart.
Title: Re: News Coverage: June 2007
Post by: tpe on Jun 28, 2007, 08:38 AM
Quote from: LuvJackNasty on Jun 27, 2007, 06:54 PM
;D I just finished my letter to Walmart.

LJN, it is wonderful!  If you want, you can share it with the other members here.  :)
Title: Re: News Coverage: June 2007
Post by: tpe on Jun 29, 2007, 07:34 AM
If you think you've heard all the creative ways people have referenced BBM, think again.

I apologize for the derogatory word used unaplologetically in this article, but I think this article refects the truth out there.

From: http://www.insidehighered.com/views/2007/06/28/pascoe

-----------------------------

‘Dude, You’re a Fag’
By C.J. Pascoe

“There’s a faggot over there! There’s a faggot over there! Come look!” Brian, a senior at “River” High School yelled to a group of 10 year-old boys. The group of boys dashed after Brian as he ran down the hallway, towards the presumed “faggot.” Peering down the hallway I saw Brian’s friend, Dan, waiting for the boys. As the boys came into his view, Dan pursed his lips and began sashaying toward them. He swung his hips exaggeratedly and wildly waved his arms on the end of which his hands hung from limp wrists. To the boys Brian yelled, referring to Dan, “Look at the faggot! Watch out! He’ll get you!” In response, the 10 year olds screamed in terror and raced back down the hallway.

I watched scenes like this play out daily while conducting research for my book Dude, You’re a Fag: Masculinity and Sexuality in High School. I saw and heard boys imitate presumed faggots and hurl the fag epithet so frequently at one another that I came to call it a “fag discourse.” I use the term fag and not gay, advisedly. Boys at River High repeatedly differentiated fags from gay men. For these boys gay men could still be masculine, whereas a fag could never be masculine. Thus the term “gay” functioned as a generic insult meaning “stupid” or “lame” whereas “fag” invoked a very specific gendered slur, directed at other boys. For these boys a fag was a failed, feminine man who, in all likelihood, was also gay. Boys participated in a fag discourse to ensure that others saw them as masculine by renouncing any fag-like behavior or same-sex desire. They did this by imitating fags and calling other boys fags. Boys imitated fags by lisping, mincing and pretending to sexually desire men, drawing laughs from male audiences who howled at these imitations.

They frantically lobbed the fag epithet at one another, in a sort of compulsive name calling ritual. In the context of River High (the pseudonym of the school where I conducted this research) being called a fag had as much to do with failing at tasks of masculinity as it did with sexual desire. More often than not these fag-like behaviors were those associated with femininity. Exhibiting stupidity, emotions, or incompetence, caring too much about clothing, touching another guy, or dancing were all things which could render a boy vulnerable to the fag epithet. In this sense what I call a fag discourse is not just about homophobia, it is about a particularly gendered homophobia as these renouncements of the fag are as much about repudiating femininity as they are about denying same-sex desire.

After listening to my tales about adolescent masculinity at River High people often ask me if this is a phase peculiar to high school, one that boys leave behind as they enter young adulthood and college. While the intensity of the fag discourse may decline with age, observations of and discussions with college students indicate that the gendered rituals central to adolescent masculinity do not disappear as youth leave high school and move to college. While college classrooms are often constructed as non-homophobic and gender equitable spaces and while many colleges have anti-bias policies that cover gay people, students enter the classroom having been steeped in the fag discourse during their former school experiences. Additionally, some college students spend some of their non-class time (after all, courses are only a part of the college experience) engaging in masculinity rituals reminiscent of those I saw at River High.

Two years ago a student reminded me about the way in which the fag discourse might color students’ understandings of what they learn in college classrooms. During my senior seminar entitled “Masculinities,” Bradley, a former Marine and football player, continually sat back of the classroom arms folded defiantly, sneering at students’ attempts at sociological analyses of inequality. As a result, I found my self surprised when he visited my office hours. Apparently inspired by a piece on the social construction of gender in childhood, Bradley poked his head in to my office asking, “You got a sec, teach?” I said “Sure,” taken aback that after his angry outbursts in class he wanted to speak with me.

As he folded himself in to what now seemed a ridiculously small chair he asked, “Teach, now, I have no problem raising a girl to be tough, but what am I gonna do if my son wants to play with Barbie dolls?” I couldn’t answer before he began to tell a story of childhood gender socialization. “You see,” he told me, “when I was little I loved playing with Barbies. My sister, she always told me to put ‘em away. One day she got so fed up she dragged me outside and shoved Barbies in all my pockets and made me stand there while my friends laughed at me.” We spent the next hour discussing a sociological analysis of his experience, how boys have to deny femininity and weakness or suffer teasing and harassment. Bradley, in this instance, serves as a classic example of the legacy of the fag discourse, the way in which some young men might come to class shaped by negative memories of gendered norms. Like some other young men in my classes, Bradley learned early in life to renounce femininity and stereotypically feminine interests or suffer ridicule.

These sorts of classroom experiences to which faculty are privy are only a small part of the college experience for many students. Students play sports, go to parties, organize clubs and pledge fraternities and sororities. In my book I note that the fag discourse runs particularly rampant in primarily male spaces. In auto-shop or the weight-room at River High, boys constantly insinuated that other boys were having sex with one another, that the friend sitting next to them on a weight bench was a fag or that their buddy across the room “loves the c*ck.” Similarly, on college campuses primarily male organizations such as fraternities are particularly fertile ground for the fag discourse. Fraternity members have told me that their pledging rituals are filled with references to femininity and faggots. In these stories fraternity brothers humiliate pledges by teasing them for being feminine or gay. One fraternity member showed me a picture of his fraternity’s relatively mild hazing rituals in which four pledges stood against the kitchen wall. Each boy’s face sported lipstick, blush and eye shadow. One pledge’s hair stuck out from his head in pony tails and another in braids. Other fraternity brothers reported to me that they had to describe themselves as “cum coveting,” “c*ck craving” “faggot magnets,” while fraternity brothers laughed at them.

A look at other fraternities indicates that the rituals described to me by these fraternity members were not isolated ones. Last year, for instance, at the University of Vermont fraternity members were accused of forcing pledges to wear cowboy gear while listening to homophobic insults, an activity seemingly inspired by the movie Brokeback Mountain. Not long ago a fraternity member at the University of Texas was found dead after a night of partying, with homophobic epithets such as “fag” scrawled across his torso and legs. Sometimes fraternities do hold their members accountable for engaging in this type of gendered homophobia. For instance, a member of a Dartmouth College fraternity called a passerby a “fag,” inspiring his fraternity brothers to hold a panel on inclusivity entitled, “Don’t yell fag from the porch.”

It seems that the fag discourse, while particularly pervasive in the social pressure cooker that is high school, doesn’t disappear once young men reach college. While my book documents the sort of gendered homophobic teasing that constitutes masculinity in adolescence, a similar sort of fag discourse is far from absent in a college setting. As with the 10 year-old boys at River High, college men are still watching out for the faggot who might get them, whether that faggot is part of their memory as with Bradley and his Barbies or a part of their social worlds in which they label each other fags as part of fraternity rituals. The official line of most universities, espoused by administrators, teaching assistants, and faculty members, is that the learning process should be non-homophobic and gender equitable. But, faculty, administrators and teaching assistants would do well to remember that the academic portion of college is only a small part of the student experience. Indeed, the world students inhabit and construct outside the walls of our classrooms and offices is a different one than the sheltered worlds within it.

C.J. Pascoe is a sociologist at the Digital Youth Project of the Institute for the Study of Social Change at the University of California at Berkeley.

Title: Re: News Coverage: June 2007
Post by: LuvJackNasty on Jun 29, 2007, 11:26 AM
I despise that word  >:( I would love to get a hold of these people and unleash my brand of insults on them and see how they like it.  >:(
Title: Re: News Coverage: June 2007
Post by: LuvJackNasty on Jun 29, 2007, 11:30 AM
Here is the letter to Walmart

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.
Attn: Customer Service
702 S.W. 8th Street
Bentonville, AR 72716

To Whom it May Concern,            June 27, 2007

I am writing concerning an article I read in which your corporation has caved in to the religious right. That is beyond reprehensible. I cannot begin to accurately convey my utter and complete disgust. I am writing to inform you that I will now be boycotting your stores. Do not delude yourself into thinking I am just one person. I am one person who writes a letter- for every person who does write there are hundreds who don’t. Perhaps you are familiar with the trickle down effect. Well, I have a large family and many friends and they all have friends and family as well, so I’m quite certain that you can see what I am alluding to here. In addition to that, I belong to a Brokeback fan forum and you can rest assured that the article has spread through all of the individual forums of which there are members here and abroad who are also not pleased- you are looking at 15,000 people at the very least, not to mention their family and friends. Please remember that it is not just the gay community that received this slap in the face, it is also the friends and family members of said community that are equally outraged.

I have gotten my family and friends to boycott Heinz, Poland Spring and Nestle Purina to name a few due to their lack of support to their GLBT employees. I work in the supermarket industry and I am very well aware of the fact that it is easier to retain a customer than to get one back. Like everyone else, I have a certain amount of shopper dollars to spend and I do try to look for the most cost effective solution for certain items. Well I’m more than willing to spend a few more dollars on a DVD or CD, toys for my children, etc in a store that supports my values and belief system. I may not have money to throw around but I do have a very firm grip on what is right and wrong, and I will not sell out my morals to the "almighty dollar". I WILL NOT spend my hard earned money in a store that caves into bigotry and discriminates against people who work for them. Perhaps you should examine how large the group is on the other side of that coin you flipped and maybe then you will realize what a grievous error you just made.


Thank you


I'm not sure if we can keep their address on there- if not please edit the post  :)
Title: Re: News Coverage: June 2007
Post by: pierralex on Jun 29, 2007, 11:38 AM
Very good letter LJN, you're good at this! O0
Title: Re: News Coverage: June 2007
Post by: froggy on Jun 29, 2007, 11:52 AM
Fantastic letter x
Title: Re: News Coverage: June 2007
Post by: LuvJackNasty on Jun 29, 2007, 07:29 PM
Thanks guys  ^f^ I've had lots of practice- I've been tormenting Bush for years now  ;D
Title: Re: News Coverage: June 2007
Post by: boo_boo on Jun 30, 2007, 08:18 AM
Hey LJN, can I "borrow" parts of your letter & send one of my own?  You're much better at intelligent ranting than I am!
Title: Re: News Coverage: June 2007
Post by: LuvJackNasty on Jun 30, 2007, 08:24 AM
Feel free Boo Boo  :)
Title: Re: News Coverage: June 2007
Post by: chameau on Jul 01, 2007, 12:11 AM
LJN you're my hero  ^f^