Brody's Scribbles... Adult Entertainment Celebrities Versus Gay Incorporated

By Brody Levesque (Washington DC) Apr 2 |  In the aftermath of the publicity surrounding Army Lt. Dan Choi handcuffing himself to the White House fence in protest over the glacial speed that the Obama Administration, the Defence Department, and some members of Congress are approaching the DADT repeal issue comes this tidbit: Gay Inc. has its own views on how the LGBT community needs to be represented and publicised. 

What sparked some of the snarking was reference to a noted comedienne speaking at a rally an hour before Choi ended up handcuffed to the fence. Activists including Choi felt it inappropriate while Gay Inc snarked right back with celebrity carries more political weight. Hmm, okay I'm not sure I buy that argument.

Later on that day, a group of fellow journalists and I were debating the merits of how Gay Inc. has decided it wants its image presented to the general public. Unlike the days of Harvey Milk, Cleave Jones, or the ACT-UP folk who marched in the streets with bullhorns, today's LGBT activism is very dapper, Dolce-Gabbana/Prada perfect, and its spokespersons all seem to fit the Abercrombie & Fitch genre of boy/girl beautiful. 

God forbid that an activist should look any  other way and then there's this.... Adult Entertainment stars who are very proactive about causes that imbue a sense of responsibility in the LGBT community. Gee, we can't have that now can we. I mean please, Gay Inc. doesn't like *ahem* stains on the threads.

Which is why I loved this Op-Ed from the head of Lucas Entertainment online at the Advocate.

Photo of Michael Lucas By Lucas Entertainment

Michael Lucas, who has a passion for LGBT causes worldwide especially in Israel or speaking for and advocating the case for Gay Muslims, wrote:

As an adult performer and entrepreneur, I receive, gratifyingly, a lot of respect in both the gay and the straight community. If I see discrimination, ironically, it’s mostly from our community. 

As far as the establishment goes, I have been invited to speak at some pretty prestigious institutions, including Yale, Rutgers, Stanford, and Oxford, among others. The mainstream press has written numerous articles about me. I have been profiled in New York Magazine and The New Republic. And I have appeared on TV channels from HBO to NY1. 

At the same time, one of my best friends, an anchor at the gay TV station Logo, didn’t just fail to get me on the network (though he tried), he was also told by his superiors not to socialize with me in public. It could damage the channel’s image, he was told.

When I went to the GLAAD Media Awards as the guest of one of the honorees, pictures of me on the red carpet appeared on WireImage.com. They were removed, on the request of GLAAD, within hours. It took some calls from GLAAD donors to have the pictures put back the next day. I guess that shows that GLAAD really does have some clout with the media: It can make pictures appear and disappear at will. But what a pathetic way to use its power.

One of the more bizarre examples of LGBT-on-LGBT discrimination I encountered over the years was from the respected organization Out Professionals. It refused to publish ads from my company (looking for, no, not the next hot porn star, but rather for an accountant) on its job board, depriving its membership of a well-paid job opportunity just to make a stand — well, against what actually?

You can read the rest of Mr. Lucas' article here. [ ADVOCATE.com]

Of course there's quite obviously more than meets the eye with this issue, but still, it does beg the question: "Is Gay Inc. wound too tight these days?"