Last week I blogged about the couple arrested on a gay cruise at the port of Dominica for having sex. I criticized Atlantis Events president Rich Campbell for not coming to the defence of his passengers and even refused to name the two men in question, basically saying that this whole fiasco is none of our business and is a total outrage. 

That was all before I saw the above photo, which allegedly depicts passengers Dennis Mayer and John Hart (who I am now naming because neither appears to be particularly shy) aboard the Celebrity Summit ship, engaging in sex on their balcony. Seeing as how the ship was in the port, and gay sex is illegal in Dominica, it appears that Mayer and Hart are either stupid or were making a defiant statement against the law. 

I certainly don't think they deserved to be taunted and humiliated by police officials as some reports have suggested happened, but their behaviour was inappropriate. They were in clear view of bystanders, and even if they were heterosexuals having sex, their public display would still be illegal.

Carson Daly took to his radio show to talk about the JetBlue pilot who had a mid-air breakdown. Referring to how the man was restrained by passengers, he said:

"Most of the people were on their way to some sort of security conference in Las Vegas. It was like a bunch of dudes and well-trained dudes . . . Thank God. With my luck, it would be like, 'This is the flight going to [the gay pride parade] in San Francisco. I mean, that would be my colleagues." He then did a stereotypically "gay" voice and said, "Uh, we're headed down to Vegas for the floral convention."

He later tweeted an apology: "This morning on my radio show I attempted to make fun of myself & offended others by mistake. I sincerely apologize."

Let's all send thank-you cards to The Voice for dragging this simpleton out of 2002. I'm sick of celebrities being blatantly homophobic and then issuing apologies, as if that makes it all better. Carson's a bigot who reinforces antiquated stereotypes. Tweeting "sowy" doesn't change that. If you weren't a homophobe, that wouldn't have come to your mind in the first place.

A mother of a 9/11 victim feels the same. Alice Hoagland had this to say about Carson's "joke":

Pacific Theatre is running Doubt until March 31. Their website says:

"A progressive priest locks horns with Sister Aloysius, an orthodox nun who guards the young students in her care as fiercely as she upholds order, tradition, and discipline. When a new teacher suspects Father Flynn of paying too much attention to one of her students, Sister Aloysius launches a crusade to expose the truth at any cost. A tightly woven mystery, this Pulitzer Prize winner is an eloquent, provocative investigation of elusive truth and terrible consequence."

I performed this play off-off-Broadway in New York City, and so for that reason, and because of my Catholic upbringing, it's one of my favourite pieces. John Patrick Shanley is a divine playwright, and the story of secrecy and sexual abuse in the Catholic church is as relevant today as in the play's 1964 time period. To catch the show before it closes, purchase tickets here. 

Sal Bardo, director of the 2010 short film Requited, is currently seeking funding for his next short film, Chaser, aboout "bug chasers," a fringe of gay men who actively seek HIV infection. Talking to the Huffington Post, Bardo reveals the resistance he has faced inside the LGBT community, from individuals and organizations who feel his film will "sensationalize" a contentious issue.  

"When I made my first short film, Requited, in 2010, one of the actors, Max Rhyser, and I began sharing stories about men we’d met who are intentionally trying to become infected with HIV. They’re called “bug chasers,” and we mutually expressed our confusion and dismay about the subject. The lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community doesn’t want to talk about it. The activist community is afraid to admit it. The straight world doesn’t know about it. And so Max and I decided to make a movie called Chaser...
 
At that point I was sure the film would be more than just provocative. I told Max we should be prepared to defend it, that our decision not to condemn our main character’s behavior, but instead just tell a story and let the audience make their own judgment, would make people uncomfortable. What I didn’t expect was the pushback that came before we’d even raised the money to make the film, or that it would come from sources seemingly dedicated to eradicating HIV from our community. When we approached one of the country’s oldest and most respected AIDS organizations about partnering with us for our upcoming fundraiser on March 30, a representative accused us of “sensationalizing” the issue, decrying that it was a small “fringe” of the gay community who were engaging in this behavior…
 
We can’t make progress without asking questions. Who are these “chasers”? Why are they doing this? Some of them are men whose families and cultures have shamed them into anonymous, unsafe sex, who have devalued them to the point where they believe their lives aren’t worth protecting. Some are boys sitting in classrooms, watching videos like the one I watched, believing they have no future. These are our people. This is our community. This is our family. And if a member of your family were acting in a self-destructive way, would you ignore it? Would you deny that it was happening? Would you shun those who tried to help? Or would you confront him, find out why, and try to figure out how to stop it?”