The Secret Court

In 1920, a group of students were expelled from Harvard University during an anti-gay witch hunt, known as The Harvard Secret Court. Many of their lives were ruined, but all of their trajectories were changed forever.

I'm excited to be directing & co-producing Veritas, a play based on those real-life events, at The 2010 New York International Fringe Festival. Our performances begin in mid-August, but we need your help to get this production on its feet now.

For $100 or more, you will receive two VIP tickets to any performance of Veritas at the Fringe. You can get your tickets before they go on sale AND have the best seats in the house. Another bonus: $60 of your $100 is tax deductible.

http://www.veritastheplay.com/please-support-veritas/

The story of Veritas is timely and the cast features some of Broadway's best young actors. Our benefit reading last month attracted so many theatergoers that we had to add extra seating for the sell-out crowd. You don't want to be turned away this year at the Fringe, when you can reserve two VIP seats now.

http://www.veritastheplay.com/please-support-veritas/

Even if you don’t want premium seats in advance, we are grateful for any tax deductible donation you can make. Whether it’s $5, $10 or $20, your generosity will have a significant impact on the success of Veritas and sharing this important story.

Thanks for all your support,

--
Ryan J. Davis
Director & Co-Producer, Veritas
http://www.veritastheplay.com/

Photo from May 2010 reading cast.

Gay Youth Homeless Shelter Vandalized

On Wednesday night, a gay youth homeless shelter was vandalized with anti-gay graffiti that read; "We don't want gay people here."

The shelter, located in Queens, is operated by New York City's Ali Forney Center, the nation's largest organization serving homeless LGBT youth. "Gay shelter" was also scrawled on the building's door.

"I am infuriated that someone would target our kids in this cowardly way" says Carl Siciliano, Executive Director of the Ali Forney Center. "The young people who come to us for help and shelter have already experienced terrible hardship, and I will not stand for them to be further abused." (In April, I interviewed Siciliano on my Gay History: Uncut podcast on the gay homeless situation in New York.)

Community leaders and police have responded and an investigation is in the works.

On Monday at 6:30, thousands will rally in Union Square to protect homeless LGBT youth. While this rally was planned before last night's bigoted, cowardly vandalism, it's only made more vital because of it.

Speakers include Sandra Bernhard & Lt. Dan Choi and the rally has been endorsed by dozens of human rights and LGBT organizations and individuals.

I hope I'll see some of you on Monday night. Showing that there is visible support for this issue is important, because as many as 40% of the homeless youth in the United States are LGBT. That's hundreds of thousands of young people.


Originally posted on The Huffington Post.

June 14th - Rally in Support of LGBT Homeless Youth

I'm helping to organize a big rally next Monday, June 14th in support of LGBT homeless Youth. I'm working closely with The Ali Forney Center, the organization that the Broadway Beauty Pageant benefits. The full press release is pasted below. Please RSVP & share the Facebook event. Hope to see you all there.

On Monday, June 14th at 6:30PM, numerous prominent LGBT and progressive leaders and organizations will come together at a highly anticipated rally at Union Square in support of the LGBT Homeless Youth community. (A list of endorsers can be seen below).

As LGBT youth find the courage to come out of the closet at younger ages, thousands are being rejected by their families and forced out of their homes. Most homeless LGBT youth describe having suffered violence and harassment in their homes due to their sexual orientations and gender identities. As many as 40% of the homeless youth in the United States are LGBT. Homeless LGBT youth are subjected to violence and harassment on the streets and in mainstream youth shelters. They face tremendous risk of HIV infection, drug addiction, and criminalization.

This phenomenon of thousands of LGBT youth being forced from their homes due to homophobia, stripped of economic support, and made to endure homelessness represents the most terrible cruelty and intolerance currently directed at the LGBT community. Any community has an obligation to protect its youth when they are being hurt and attacked. We call on the LGBT Community to stand up for our youth suffering on the streets, and advocate that they receive the protection and care that all young people need and deserve.

We call on the members of the LGBT Community, our straight allies, and on all decent people who believe that youths should not be thrown to the streets for being LGBT, to rally in support of the following goals:

• To show solidarity with homeless LGBT youth, to demonstrate outrage that so many young members of our community face family rejection, violence, and homelessness, and to call on the adult members of the LGBT and allied community to demonstrate increased concern, support and advocacy for our youth.
• To advocate that local, state, and federal government funding be made available to provide the housing and supportive services needed by homeless LGBT youth so they can escape the streets, and that efforts be funded to prevent LGBT youth from being subjected to violence and rejection in their homes.
• To advocate that protecting our youth from abuse, rejection, and homelessness be recognized as a major priority in our local and national LGBT advocacy agendas.

The rally is endorsed by many significant local and national community organizations, including: Ali Forney Center, Broadway Impact, Broadway Speaks Out, Bronx Community Pride Center, The Brooklyn Community Pride Center, Callen-Lorde Community Health Center, The Center for Anti-violence Education, Chris Ryan NYC, CitizeNYC, Congregation Beth Simchat Torah, The Door, Empire State Coalition of Youth and Family Services, FIERCE, Gay & Lesbian Independent Democrats (GLID), Gay Men of African Descent, GLSEN, GMHC, GetEQUAL, Green Chimneys Children's Services, HetRick Martin Institute, Human Rights Campaign, Lambda Independent Democrats of Brooklyn, Integrity NYC, The LGBT Community Center, Make The Road New York, Manhattan Young Democrats, National Youth Advocacy Coalition, New York City Anti-Violence Project, New York AIDS Coalition (NYAC), The NYC Association of Homeless and Street-Involved Youth Organizations, Out Astoria, Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays National, Safe Space NYC and Stonewall Democratic Club of New York City.

Additionally, the rally is also endorsed by many prominent community leaders, including: US Senator Kirsten E. Gillibrand D-NY, Carl Siciliano, Sandra Bernhard, Lt. Dan Choi, Joe Jervis, Brendan Fay, NYC Council Member Lewis Fidler, Ryan J. Davis, Ally Sheedy, Cathy Renna, Reverend Irene Monroe, Peter Staley, David Mixner, Yetta Kurland, NYS Assemblymember Micah Kellner, U.S. Congressman Jerrold Nadler (NY-08), David Badash, Kai Wright, Rod McCullom, Sassafras Lowrey, Editor of "Kicked Out", NYS Senator Tom Duane, NYC Council Member Daniel Dromm, and NYC Councilmember Jimmy Van Bramer.

For more information, visit the AFC website.

Win Tickets To The Broadway Beauty Pageant!

Contest over, congrats @StevenCirillo on winning a pair of tickets. Remember - If you don't win, you can still buy great $25 tickets using the discount code RAC102 by clicking here.

The pageant is coming up on Monday and I'm giving a pair of tickets away today on Twitter!

To enter to win, all you need to do is Tweet; "Just entered to win a pair of tickets to see Broadway Beauty Pageant, via @RyanNewYork at http://ryanjdavis.blogspot.com." I'll draw and announce the winners late tonight. Please be in the New York City area.

If you don't win, you can buy great $25 tickets using the discount code RAC102 by clicking here.

Gay History Uncut: LGBT Gay Homelessness & Ali Forney Center

Last week, I sat down with Carl Siciliano, Executive Director of NYC’s Ali Forney Center, to talk about the problem of LGBT youth homelessness and how AFC helps.

I’m directing The Broadway Beauty Pageant, an annual benefit for AFC in New York City on Monday, April 19th. It’s always a great night, for more details click here.

Listen to the podcast below, or click here to subscribe free on iTunes.

Tonight - Broadway Speaks Out

I'm a guest on the Broadway Speaks Out internet show tonight at 10PM EST. You can watch below or here.


BroadwaySpeaksOUT- Broadcast your self LIVE

Broadway Beauty Pageant Judges Announced!

We've got three great judges at this year's Broadway Beauty Pageant. Get your tickets now, it's on April 19th!

Via Playbill:

Tony Award winner Christine Ebersole, Charles Busch and Jackie Hoffman will serve as judges for the The Broadway Beauty Pageant, which will be held April 19 at Symphony Space.

As previously reported, Tony Award nominee Tovah Feldshuh (Irena's Vow, Golda's Balcony) returns to host the 8 PM event for the third year in a row.

The fundraiser was conceived by Jeffery Self and will be directed by Ryan J. Davis. The Broadway Beauty Pageant benefits New York’s Ali Forney Center.

Watch Me Saturday AM On-Line at CBS

I'll be on CBS News' Backstage at The Early Show tomorrow (Saturday) morning from 9AM-9:20AM. I'll be talking about Don't Ask, Don't Tell and the latest on the ever-growing Catholic Priest scandal. You can tune in on-line only here, or watch below. If you're in the chat room, try and say nice things about me.

Gay History Uncut: Harry Hay & The Temperamentals

Over the weekend I sat down with Jon Marans, author of The Temperamentals, which is currently playing Off-Broadway. We had a great conversation about Harry Hay and the founding of the early gay rights movement in America.

We both recommend reading Stuart Timmons' Trouble With Harry Hay for more information.

Listen below, or subscribe on iTunes. If you missed our first episode on the 1920s Harvard Secret Court, listen here.

Thanks to Veritable Virgo for making me the great podcoast logo!

CitizeNYC Podcast #13

Posting Two Beers In, the podcast I co-host, a few days late. I've been busy! Text from CitizeNYC.

Two Beers In! Taxing Soda, Ravitch's Budget Plan, and Yank, A Love Story

On this week's episode of New York's political talk show, hosts Ryan J. Davis and Greg Palmer discuss Ravitch's new budget plan, taxing soda, Mayor Bloomberg's public health efforts, and Yank The Musical.

Listen online right here!

We start with Lt. Governor Ravitch's plan to fix New York's longstanding budget problems and why legislators need to learn to do their jobs or face our wrath in this fall's elections. We wonder if the state is insolvent and when we're getting our tax returns, and we talk about how the state can generate more revenue.

Ryan thinks we should raise taxes, while Greg says we're already one of the highest taxed states in the country, but we agree that the proposed soda tax is a good idea. Unfortunately, Governor Paterson has gotten behind it, which probably means it's dead on arrival.

Which brings us to Mayor Bloomberg's public health efforts and why a soda tax needs to be partnered with hardcore nutritional education for parents throughout the city. Some kids' best meals are coming from their schools, where the food actually looks like food... unlike a lot of other school cafeterias across the country.

Ryan stops by Yank, a musical love story set in World War II, and thinks we should all go to Monday's equality rally in Brooklyn in response to the vicious gay-bashing that occurred in Carroll Gardens earlier this month. It'd also be a nice gesture to show some support for the 9 year old kid whose teacher taunted him as being "gay."

Coming up next week, loads more fun and a review of the Whitney Biennial. In the meantime, you can subscribe on iTunes and use Facebook Connect to discuss topics from this week's episode below!

CitizeNYC Podcast #12

Greg Palmer and I's new episode of our weekly podcast Two Beers In went up tonight. It's a really good episode. Listen below, more details from CitizeNYC:

On this week's Two Beers In, we talk about Project Runway, some great new theatre, the MTA's latest proposal to cut service, and what's happening in NYC's public schools.

On Runway this week, trash bags became amazing leather pants, keys became a glamorous necklace, and other items from the hardware store became disasters. (Hope that's not too much of a spoiler!) Ryan and I went to see The Temperamentals, a fantastic play starring Ugly Betty's Michael Urie. It's about the rise of the pre-Stonewall gay right movement in 1950's Los Angeles and is playing at New World Stages in Hell's Kitchen.

Back in the world of policy, we discuss the MTA's latest plan to cut service, which has everyone up in arms - except for our friends in Williamsburg in Bushwick, who would see expanded V train service under the new plan. But student Metrocards go back on the chopping block, and we talk about the economics and the necessity of getting students to school.

And - always a hot topic for us - trying to innovate in the city's public schools to provide every child with a good education. It's good for the kids, and good for the future of our city.

Listen on iTunes, and be sure to check out last week's episode about Governor Paterson's fall from grace.