Senior Saturday ... Stephen Fry ....

At the gentle age of 57, Mr Fry would probably be rather bemused by me calling him an LGBT Senior :) - but he is an out gay man who is wonderfully intellectual and beautifully flawed.  He celebrates his flaws and owns them.  He is passionate about people and history.  He is also a great advocate for our community.

He is honest of his life with manic depression and his disappointment with the lack of intellect in the world and how mediocrity is celebrated as "reality TV".

His intellect brings forth a wonderful humour, a sharp wit and a gorgeous celebration of 'words'.  I wish we had more of him, but then he wouldn't be as special. 

Dear Mr Fry, you have helped so many rediscover that knowledge IS a beautiful thing and language is a hard but glorious task-mistress.  Thank you for presenting that smart can be humorous and interesting.  You are a delight Sir.

Shalom

D
xox

Senior Saturday... Col. Ret. USAR Margarethe Cammermeyer...

Text reprinted from Col. Cammermeyer's Wiki Entry.....


Margarethe "Grethe" Cammermeyer (born March 24, 1942) served as a colonel in the Washington National Guard and became a gay rights activist. Born in Oslo, Norway, she became a United States citizen in 1960. In 1961 she joined the Army Nurse Corps as a student. She received a B.S. in Nursing in 1963 from the University of Maryland. At the University of Washington School of Nursing, she earned a master's degree in 1976 and a Ph.D. in 1991.

 

She had a 15-year marriage to a man and they had four sons. In 1988, when she was 46, she met her partner, Diane Divelbess.

In 1989, responding to a question during a routine security clearance interview, she disclosed that she is a lesbian. The National Guard began military discharge proceedings against her. On June 11, 1992, she was honorably discharged. Cammermeyer filed a lawsuit against the decision in civil court. In June 1994, Judge Thomas Zilly of the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington ruled that her discharge and the ban on gays and lesbians serving in the military were unconstitutional. She returned to the National Guard and served as one of the few openly gay or lesbian people in the U.S. military while the "don't ask don't tell" policy was in effect, until her retirement in 1997.

A television movie about Cammermeyer's story, Serving in Silence, was made in 1995, with Glenn Close starring as Cammermeyer. Its content was largely taken from Cammermeyer's autobiography of the same name.

After retirement, Cammermeyer ran for the United States Congress in Washington's 2nd congressional district in 1998. She won the Democratic primary, but lost in the general election to Republican incumbent Jack Metcalf.

In June 2010, she was appointed to the Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Services, a committee which is appointed by the United States Secretary of Defense and which reports to the United States Department of Defense.^[1]  The Point Foundation announced plans to honor Cammermeyer with its Point Legend Award in April 2011.^[2]

In 2012, after same-sex marriage was legalized in Washington state, Cammermeyer and her partner Diane Divelbess became the first same-sex couple to get a license in Island County.^[3]

Senior Saturday .... Ms Lily Tomlin ...

I love everything this wonderful woman has done.  Not only is she one of the great comediennes, but she's shown her dramatic chops in several films and TV series.  I particularly liked her as Presidential Executive Secretary Debbie Fidderer in the West Wing.

Thank you Ms Tomlin. 

Senior Saturday ... Mr Alvin Ailey ...

If any dancer gives you a blank look when you ask them who Alvin Ailey was, slap them..... hard.

Alvin Ailey - linked to his Wikipedia page - was a ground breaker not just in the fact that he founded the first professional dance company for People of Colour, but he was a ground breaker in refining and pushing the style of Modern Dance. 

Alvin Ailey was a hard task master in the studio.  He demanded a grounding in classical technique as he believed you only moved forward with the traditions of the past.  He demanded perfection from his dancers down to placement of fingers.  His choreography is some of the most difficult yet joyous to perform. 

The Alvin Ailey Dance Company is now often referred to as "Cultural Ambassador to the World" - a title first given to Mr Ailey, but then transferred to the company after his death in 1989.

Please enjoy some pictures of the dance pioneer himself; the company dancers in Ailey-esque forms; and a small melange of my favourite work of his "Pas de Duke".  This piece is a modern take on the traditional ballet pas de deux.  And if you ever get the chance to see the entire piece live, do it.  Whether you are 18 or 80, you will leave with goosebumps.  It was originally created for the brilliant Mikhail Baryshnikov.

Just three of the honours awarded to Mr Ailey are....
-Springarn Medal from the NAACP 1977
-Kennedy Centre Honours 1988
-Presidential Medal of Freedom 2014 (Posthumously)

I would have loved to have had just 30 minutes with this man.  I can only imagine what I could have learned from him, and that his presence alone would have been both inspiring and humbling.

Mr Alvin Ailey left this world on December 1st, 1989.  A beautiful article remembering him and his work can be found HERE.

Alvin Ailey

 

 Dancers of the Alvin Ailey Dance Company (Click on these to really appreciate them)

Melange from Pas de Duke

Senior Saturday ... Mr Harvey Fierstein ...

If I need to introduce ANYONE here to Harvey Fierstein then you deserve a smack.  "Torch Song Trilogy" is on the required movie watching list for the LGBT Union and you ain't one if you haven't seen it. (My own personal opinion of course and may not reflect the views of others).

Actor.  Performer.  Writer.  Producer.  Activist.  Podcaster with the legendary Robyn Williams (You really need to check those out).  I am in awe of this man and so proud he is one of ours and making sure that we keep it real.

Enjoy.  And thank you Mr Fierstein.

 

And here is a clip of Mr Fierstein telling it how it is.



Shabbat Shalom all.

D
xox

Senior Saturday..

Ms Sykes would probably kick my arse so hard my nose would bleed if she knew I was referring to her as a SENIOR, but this is a lady to be respected.

Yes I know that there are two camps on Wanda.  "Why did she wait?" "Why didn't she do it earlier?"
Or my personal favourite "As a woman of colour she had a duty to come out earlier and serve as a role model and live her life truthfully!"

Yeah bitch - BECAUSE NO BLACK MAN IN HOLLYWOOD WAS EVAH ON THE DOWN LOW!!!!!

Bitch please.  Take a seat and shut your hole.

I love this woman.  I love her energy.  I love her take no prisoners attitude. I love her politics and I love when someone had the nerve to mention that her partner was white she gave them a look that would have made Esther Rolle proud.  (You young kids may have to look up that reference)

So please............ give this lady the respect she is due.  Ms Wanda Sykes boys and girls.

And her take on gay marriage................. beautifully, succinctly, and realistically put.

Bless you Wanda.





Belated Shabbat Shalom to you all.

D
xox

Senior Saturday ... Mr Derek Jacobi ....

So Hot Saturday is on hiatus as we feature our LGBT Senior Citizens, as they rightly deserve.

PLEASE email me your choices for Senior LGBT members to be profiled to dptimms@bigpond.com
I want to hear who YOU admire and respect.

Today it is theatre, tv, and movie artiste Mr Derek Jacobi.  I love this man.  Interestingly in all the roles I've seen him in, it was in Underworld : Evolution that I thought he brought his brilliance to the fore.  He is almost regal as the original immortal - Alexander Corvinus. 

Clip is at the end.

For his full acting profile go to his IMDB profile HERE....

 

PS How powerful is the portrait above? 

 

The stance.  The timbre of his voice.  The nuanced delivery.  Oy vey.  Virtuosic.