Taking it to the White House

CineKink alumni director Scott Bloom (CineKink '06 & '08) reports that a copy of his amazing documentary, Call Me Troy, was handed off to Michelle Obama during yesterday's meet-up with LGBT community leaders.

A profile of gay rights activist and founder of Metropolitan Community Churches, Rev. Troy Perry, the work is an important chronicle of the fight for sexual freedom and a moving tribute to a man who proclaimed that sexuality and religion - Christianity, even! - need not be separate.



Here's hoping the President makes time in his schedule for a screening and, inspired by Troy's example, room in his heart to be a truly "fierce advocate" for LGBT rights.

Oh, Farrah

At one point in time, we thought we wanted to be her. Now, looking back on this scene from the camp classic, Myra Breckinridge, we suspect another slightly confused dynamic might also have been at play.

A fond farewell. (And a bonus sighting of film critic Rex Reed!)

'Sex Positive' in NYC - this weekend!

The CineKink award-winning documentary Sex Positive, a compelling history of safer sex and profile of activist Richard Berkowitz, who helped pioneer the concept, opens this weekend in NYC at The Quad. A special Q&A featuring Richard and the film's director, Daryl Wein, will be held after the 7:45 & 9:45 screenings on Friday through Sunday.

Dates have also been announced for LA and San Francisco, but a good turn-out this weekend will help the film get booked into other cities.

A must-see!

Bring it, America!

We originally noticed the art form in conjunction with the first annual Air Sex World Championship, held last fall in Austin, but haven't yet witnessed the act first-hand.

That will change this week--for much of America--as the competition takes to the road in search of this year's champion Air Sex performer. Kicking off tonight in Atlanta, the tour takes place over the next three weeks in cities across the nation.

Think you've got what it takes? Take a peek at last year's action for some guidelines and be prepared to serve it up!

Oh, TED

As part of the prestigious TED lecture series, Bonk author Mary Roach dips into scientific research to share "Ten things you didn't know about orgasm."

Or maybe you did, but diverting nonetheless.

More "do me," less DOMA!

While it's common belief that each letter received from a constituent represents at least 100 others who held that particular opinion, we're unsure of the equivalency of a mailed flip flop. What is clear, however, is that in the month ahead, President Obama has the opportunity to stand aside and let a lawsuit against the Defense of Marriage Act move forward unchallenged.

A law the President himself has described as "abhorrent," DOMA, which prohibits the Federal recognition of same-sex unions, has been taken on in a lawsuit filed by several Massachusetts couples. And the folks at Operation DOMA Flip Flop want to make sure that President Obama stays true to his principles and refuses to defend the unconstitutional statute:



The decision must come down by June 29th, so whether you choose to send a flip flop--or perhaps a respectful-yet-compelling missive neatly written on a sheet of fine stationery--you have only a limited time to weigh in with your opinion.

Got gang bang?

It's been awhile since our college German studies, but still fairly easy to get the gist of what she's saying...

Ja?

(Snagged via Leather Yenta and apparently from the television show Switch Reloaded )

Hey, Chicago....!

We're looking forward to a full CineKink: Chicago tour run later in the season, but you're in for a tantalizing appetizer this Saturday, when CineKink will be part of an open house taking place at the Leather Archives & Museum.

As part of the event, we'll be offering up a few of our favorite shorts for your viewing pleasure:

Coming Out Spanko
Keeping a video diary of her thoughts, a woman contemplates her entry into a world of kink and her place within it. (Directed by Tanya Bezreh, USA, 15 minutes)

Who's The Top?
In this fantastical S/M musical comedy, one writer finds her true self by determining who's the bottom. (Directed by Jennie Livingston, USA, 22 minutes)

Drop by to tour the museum galleries, take in our flicks, enjoy tasty refreshments and meet up with other Chicago-area kinksters.

Leather Archives & Museum
6418 N Greenview Ave, Chicago

Saturday, May 2 / 3-5 pm

Admission is FREE!

I am a sex worker.

This PSA was created by the first-ever participants in Speak Up!, a new training program presented by Sex Work Awareness.

It's great to see sex activists taking up media tools and producing their own representations!

A fleeting f*@&!

The Supreme Court has upheld a crackdown by the Federal Communications Commission on the use of indecent language--even the fleeting utterance of a single expletive--on broadcast television. At least for now...

An earlier federal appeals panel had overturned recent FCC policy, which had arisen largely in response to brief and spontaneous exclamations during live awards programs from the likes of Cher, Bono and Nicole Richie, chiefly involving the ever-popular and--as referred to by the court-- "f-" and "s-" words.

This latest decision supports the FCC's contention that profanity referring to sex or excrement is always indecent, no matter the context. But, as noted in an AP account of the court's ruling:

Justice John Paul Stevens said in dissent that the FCC missed the mark in failing to distinguish how the offending words are used. "As any golfer who has watched his partner shank a short approach knows," said Stevens, an avid golfer, "it would be absurd to accept the suggestion that the resultant four-letter word uttered on the golf course describes sex or excrement.

While today's ruling dealt solely with whether the FCC had followed proper administrative procedures in establishing the new policy, still to be addressed is whether or not the restrictions are constitutional in the first place, with promising glimmers that the entire question of limits on broadcast speech may be reconsidered whole hog. Though Justice Clarence Thomas sided with the majority on this ruling, the AP story continues, he noted that the court's previous decision and an even earlier case "were unconvincing when they were issued, and the passage of time has only increased doubt regarding their continued validity."

The last major ruling by the Supreme Court on broadcast indecency was in 1978, when it upheld the FCC's case involving George Carlin's classic "seven dirty words," as so infamously recounted below:

Instant replay?

No...make that "play and instant replay."

Another blast from the past, the ad--depicting only "one of thousands of ways to get it on"--promised anyone buying an AKAI video system would be invited to a video taping session with a Penthouse Pet of the Month, such as December 1971's Lynn Parlington, as featured here. Anyone get an offer like that from Sony?

(Full version at Vintage Ads, snagged via joebehrsandiego)

Beyond the green door

Marilyn Chambers starred in the very first porn we ever encountered, Behind the Green Door--which we snuck into with some high school girlfriends back in the day--and it's sad to be passing along the news that the iconic adult film star has died.

Here, in a 1977 interview on Al Goldstein's cable series, Midnight Blue, Marilyn discusses her break into movies, her projects of the time and a forthright enjoyment of kinky sex and S/M...

Hippity, hoppity!

Enjoy the day, however--and with whomever--you best see fit!

Other goings-on...

Don't forget about our CineKink @ KGB screening on Sunday, but a few other (lots, actually!) kink-culture possibilities ahead...

American Swing (NYC)
The new documentary about the rise and fall of Plato's Retreat, the infamous NYC swing club, opens this weekend at the Quad Cinema, with directors Mathew Kaufman and Jon Hart on hand for a Q&A following the Friday, 3/27 @ 8pm screening.

Darklady's Debbie Does Dallas Classic Dinner & Porn Date Night
The title kind of says it all, another evening of dinner, movies and other amusements, this time featuring Debbie Does Dallas and Debbie Does Dallas...Again ... Saturday, March 28.

Buck Angel Uncensored (Toronto)
CineKink alumnus Buck Angel will discuss the ups and downs of ushering a new genre of porn into the adult entertainment industry--how he started and then the pitfalls, obstacles, and joys along the way - Sunday, March 29.

Get Naked with disTHIS (NYC)
Disabilities Network screens the acclaimed documentary Naked on the Inside, along with the short works G.I.M.P. Boot Camp and CineKink award-winning Loree Erickson's Sexxxy ... Monday, March 30.

Pleasure Salon Second Anniversary (NYC)
Has it really been two years already? Created to build networks in the sex-positive community and a place for the open exchange of ideas and sensual expression, this month's Pleasure Salon also celebrates an anniversary... Wednesday, April 1.