My Speech At 2011 Broadway Beauty Pageant

My remarks from Monday, March 21st.

"It’s great to be back for our fifth year and we’re already looking ahead to 2012. I’d like to thank the literally hundreds of people who have helped make this event an annual reality.

Before I bring on Carl to tell you more about the outstanding work done by The Ali Forney Center, I wanted to say a few words on a fairly dry subject, The New York State Budget.

In 1984 New York Governor Mario Cuomo, in his famous keynote address to the Democratic National Convention, spoke of a tale of two cities. In one city, people were doing well and in another “people slept on the city streets,” while the youth slipped into hopelessness.

I’d invite the current Gov. Cuomo to read his father’s speech and learn from it. His latest budget guts funding to homeless organizations, like the one we’re supporting tonight.

When the first Gov. Cuomo spoke that the “struggle to live with dignity is the real story of this city,” he was talking about the youth who benefit from The Ali Forney Center.

Here to tell you more about those young people, it’s my honor to introduce my friend and hero Carl Siciliano."

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.

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!

Mr. Broadway 2010!

It's hard to believe that it's almost time for 2010's Broadway Beauty Pageant, pitting Broadway's hottest guys against each other to benefit The Ali Forney Center. It's an old fashioned beauty pageant with an American Idol twist.

We've just announced that the always marvelous Tovah Feldshuh will return to host for the third time. Announcements on contestants and judges are coming up, it's gonna be a great group!

Get your tickets now, starting at just $25.

This is the forth year that I've co-produced the show with my friends Jeffery Self & Wil Fisher. But, every year the pageant grows and more and more people join to help us make the night a huge success. I'm thankful to all of them!

My New Podcast - Gay History: Uncut on 1920 Harvard Secret Court

For the last few months I've wanted to host a podcast on gay history. There are a few great history podcast, but none that focus on LGBT exclusively. We finally recorded the first episode yesterday!

My guest is Stan Richardson, author of the play Veritas that I'm directing this year. We spoke about the subject of his play, the 1920 Harvard Secret Court.

Download here. Now available on iTunes.

More information:

2002 Harvard Crimson Article

1920 Secret Court on Wikipedia

Harvard's Secret Court at Amazon

Blog from our January Veritas table reading

CitizeNYC Podcast #10

On this week's episode, hosts Greg Palmer and Ryan J. Davis talk about renaming the Freedom Tower to One World Trade, New York's most popular politician, and David Paterson's improbable campaign. Plus, gay activist groups that sound like gay bars.

Listen online right here!




Or listen on iTunes, and be sure to check out last week's episode, all about Governor Paterson's sex habits (kidding... sorta).

Via CitizeNYC.

Tonight: Stonewall Dem Club's Women's Awards.

Tonight I'm a special guest at the Stonewall Democrats fourth annual Women's Awards. Tickets start at just $15, see the details below. Should be a fun night for a great organization and some impressive women.


New York, NY. January 18, 2010. The Stonewall Democratic Club of New York City will honor five community leaders and organizations at the club's fourth annual Women's Awards on Thursday, January 21, 2009 to be held at the Stonewall Inn.

"This year's honorees are not only leaders in the community but role models for many, advancing women and women’s issue in the LGBTQ communities," said Yetta Kurland, founder and chairperson of the Woman's Awards Committee. "Stonewall holds this event to recognize those who have made a difference - both big and small – for women and to ensure that women’s voices are heard in the LGBTQ movement as well as the greater New York community."

The event will be held from 6 to 9 PM at the historic Stonewall Inn at Christopher Street and Seventh Avenue. It will be attended by several elected officials with a host committee that brags the likes of Governor David Paterson, NYC Public Advocate Bill deBlasio and NYC Comptroller John Liu. In addition, Broadway Speaks OUT, an organization that mobilizes people from Broadway and the entertainment world to fight for LGBTQ equality has arranged a host of celebrity appearances including Meredith Patterson from Boston Legal, as well as Broadway stars Brian Charles Rooney, Nick Adams, Kate Pazakis, Ryan J. Davis, and Marti Gould Cummings.

This year's honorees are:

CATHY MARINO-THOMAS is the communications director and board president for Marriage Equality New York, a grass roots, all-volunteer organization with more than 3,000 members and supporters. MENY is oldest marriage equality advocacy organization and will be launching their Political Action Committee with Ms. Marino-Thomas’ leadership this year.

JOANNE SMITH is the executive director of Girls for Gender Equity, an organization she founded in 2000. Girls for Gender Equity serves over 600 NYC girls and boys offering them a safe place to achieve academic excellence, explore career education, and maintain healthy lifestyles.

JANET WEINBERG is the Chief Operating Officer at Gay Men's Health Crisis and previously served as its Senior Managing Director. She previously served as Development Director at the LGBT Community Center in Manhattan.

THE NATIONAL CENTER FOR LESBIAN RIGHTS is a national legal organization committed to advancing the civil and human rights of LGBT persons and their families through litigation, public policy advocacy and public education.

*SNAPSHOT* is a weekly mixed queer party in NYC featuring art, music, film, photography and exposure.

The event is co-sponsored by GO! Magazine, the Stonewall Inn and Broadway Speaks OUT.

Tickets are available at $15 to $75 sliding scale. You can RSVP to the event at kurland@kurlandassociates.com or on Facebook.

Veritas Table Reading

Yesterday, we had the first table reading of Stan Richardson's new drama Veritas. The play deals with the 1920 Harvard Secret Court, an anti-gay witch hunt that ruined the lives of a group of students. We hope to stage a full production later this year, watch the blog for details.

Our reading cast included; Chad Lindsey, Seamus Mulcahy, Kevin Michael Murphy, Steven Kane, Michael Hirstreet, Vince Rimoldi, Brian DeCaluwe, Mitch Dean, Micah Shepard, Saum Eskandani, & Adam J. Thomspon.

Special thanks to midtown's The Ritz for letting us use their upstairs space.

Really? - Bushwick Gay Party - On Friday Night!

On Friday night, starting at 11PM, Bushwick's monthly gay party Really? returns to Tandem with a special Xmas bash. It should be a fun night, with guest DJs & hipster go-go boys.

Tandem is located off the Jefferson Avenue L train stop at 236 Troutman Street. Come out and support gay Brooklyn.

See the Facebook Event here.

Gillibrand For New York

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) filled up a large room with gay activists at New York’s LGBT Community Center yesterday for a 45-minute town hall meeting that touched on many issues important to the community. Questions ranged from gay persecution in Iraq to repealing “Don’t ask, don’t tell.” Although she has been a vocal supporter of LGBT rights since her January appointment, this was the first time she faced an entirely gay audience for open questions. She did quite well.

An early question focused on her positive change of heart on gay marriage, but Gillibrand argued that she has always been “100 percent in favor of gay rights” and her gay congressional voting record is spotless. HRC actually gave her an 80 percent rating, but her current commitment seems passionate and real.

Gillibrand was very optimistic about what could be accomplished legislatively over the next year. She hopes to include gay couples in comprehensive immigration reform, which she believes could be voted on by March. She spoke of a “clear strategy” to end “Don’t ask, don’t tell” and pass an inclusive Employee Non-Discrimination Act. All great things, none very easy.

Over the last several months I’ve worried that Gillibrand was using gay issues primarily to excite the left and ward off a primary challenge. But that primary isn’t a concern anymore. New York Democrats’ main concern is recent polls showing Gillibrand trailing Republicans Giuliani and Pataki in general-election match-ups.

It’s time for New Yorkers to rally around their new senator, regardless of their feelings on lame-duck Paterson. Gillibrand seems ready to provide us with progressive leadership. She has quickly engaged herself in important issues in the Senate, and the last thing we need is some regressive like Pataki taking the seat because voters didn’t feel confident in Kirsten.

Originally posted on The Hill. Photo taken on my iPhone.

LGBT for Mike Bloomberg

On Thursday we joined hundreds of other LGBT New Yorkers at City Winery to show our support for Mayor Bloomberg's reelection camapign. See the video below for some highlights from the event and join LGBT for Bloomberg now.

NYC Dems Vote Tuesday - Support Liu & De Blasio

Tomorrow, New York City Democrats should go to the polls to vote in two contested elections: Comptroller & Public Advocate.

In the race for Comptroller, I’m voting for Councilman John Liu. He's progressive and damn smart. He majored in Mathematical Physics and spent years working in finance at PriceWaterhouseCoopers. He knows how to handle the city's money. Liu has been a real leader in the City Council, constantly standing up for what's right regardless of political consequences. He has also lived the classic New York immigrant experience and if elected would be the first Asian American to hold a citywide office.

Check out his short YouTube documentary on John.

In the race for Public Advocate, the clear choice is Bill de Blasio. Bill has run a strong, impressive campaign. Taking down the former front-runner Mark Green, who ran a campaign based exclusively on name recognition. He didn't bother to show up to debate, after debate. Green's campaign is largely funded by real estate and his interest in Public Advocate stems from his never-ending desire to be elected Mayor. Bill is forward looking and seeks to take the office in a new direction. I'm happy to support him in this race.

Check out Bill's runoff ad here to see the wide range of endorsements he's received.

Find your polling location here.

Both Liu & De Blasio have also been endorsed by Brooklyn's Lambda Independent Democrats, where I currently sit on the Executive Board.

OnStage - Ruined, The Temperamentals, and Jeffery & Cole: Make It Bigger

The New York City stage is packed this summer and the three Off-Broadway productions I'm recommending, Ruined, The Temperamentals, and Jeffery & Cole: Make It Bigger, all represent the wonderful diversity of offerings currently available to theatergoers.

Ruined, which won the Pulitzer Prize this year, is the story of Mama Nadi, a women who owns a brothel in the middle of a civil war in the Congo. Loosely inspired by Brecht's Mother Courage, Ruined offers us a glimpse into the lives of these women as they struggle to survive. It's one powerful story.

The script feels authentic and was carefully researched and developed by interviewing women who live in the region under these deplorable conditions. The production has been running for months at Manhattan Theatre Club, but is still fresh, vital, and beautifully performed.

I'd be shocked if Ruined doesn't get a shot at Broadway soon.

Playing until August 23rd, The Temperamentals is the true story of the creation of American's first gay rights group. Staged both simply & beautifully in the intimate Barrow Group Theater, you feel as if you're a part of their early organizing - both victories & defeats. The entire cast is fabulous; lead with strength by Thomas Jay Ryan and Ugly Betty's Michael Urie.

Harry Hay, the founder of The Temperamentals, wasn't as known to me as Stonewall or Harvey Milk, but he's courageous and intelligent. Anyone currently involved in the fight for gay equality (and who believe it has to do with way more than marriage) will find lots to like in Hay's philosophies. He's no fan of total gay assimilation, and would question the value in the current pursuit of a strictly heteronormative agenda.

In fact, shortly before his death (at the age of 90) in 2002 Hay said, "The assimilationist movement is running us into the ground." Amen brother.

For big laughs, with zero assimilation, head downtown to Earl Dax's Hot! Festival. Queer performers have taken over the uber-trendy Dixon Place. Two of those performers are my good friends Jeffery Self and Cole Escola, extremely funny guys who have scored quite a hit with their current Logo TV show Jeffery & Cole Casserole.

Jeffery & Cole's Hot! Festival offering, 'Make It Bigger,' is loosely based on their story, from YouTube to the boob tube. Wonderfully raunchy and politically incorrect their rise to fame story has lots of familiar elements and big laughs. You can see their final performance on Thursday night.

--
Ryan is a freelance theater director, who is currently directing Vote! at FringeNYC and Street Lights at NYMF. His musical White Noise recently premiered regionally in New Orleans. Read his blog here.

Published on The Huffington Post.

We're surrounded by GDINOs!

An e-mail circulating among NYC gay politicos of a poorly photoshopped wanted poster, attacks the many gay New Yorkers who recently endorsed the reelection of Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

The image contains some familiar faces including Corey Johnson, Brian Ellner, Andrea Batista Schlesinger, Co-founders of Friends of the Highline: Robert Hammond and Josh David, Kelli Conlin, former Clinton aide Richard Socarides, and me. We're all GDINOs, Gay Democrats In Name Only, and wanted for treason against the LGBT Community for supporting Michael "Leviticus" Bloomberg.

We're lucky that the anonymous author, obviously ashamed of their design skills, is only going after gay Democrats. I'd hate to have both Bill Clinton and Barack Obama wanted for treason, after having said favorable things about Bloomberg in public. New York's openly-gay City Council Speaker Christine Quinn has, so far, refused to endorse a Democratic Candidate for Mayor. However, she did appear on stage with Bloomberg at last week's Gracie Mansion Gay Pride Celebration, a wonderfully fun and well attended BBQ. There sure are a lot of GDINOs.

A recent poll, showing the Mayor up 22% against the presumptive Democratic opponent, also had him leading with Democrats by 9%. Bloomberg is just 2 points shy of being the choice of a majority of New York City Democrats. Only 40%, the loyal Democrats, are voting for the party's choice.

It will be interesting to see in November just how many real, loyal, non-treasonous, Democrats will show up to vote for whoever that guy is running against Bloomberg.

Crossposted on The Huffington Post.