Good to see Ricky Martin speaking out against Arizona’s new immigration law.

At the Billboard Latin Music Awards this week, the now openly gay singer took the stage and said: I want to send a warm greeting to all our Latin America friends who live in the state of Arizona. The SB 1070 is a law that doesn’t make sense. You are not alone. We are with you. Stop discrimination. Stop hate. Stop racism. Enough already. Long live love. Long live peace. And now let the music continue.”

You go boy! This was Ricky’s first public appearance since coming out and he received a standing ovation from the crowd.

Here are some excerpts from the cover piece on him. I’ll reveal other names on the list tomorrow!

Chances are you’ve never heard of Chad Griffin, but this Arkansas native who now lives in Los Angeles has spent the past year of his life trying to make a critical change in the way you’re able to live yours. This time, it’s not an environmental cause he’s championing. It’s Perry v. Schwarzenegger, the federal challenge to California’s Proposition 8, the ballot initiative that repealed same-sex marriage rights. (The case had yet to be decided at the district level as of press time and is more than a year away from what is expected to be an ultimate ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court.)

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Griffin wants to get married someday, and he also wants to have kids. But he says both desires are beside the point; Perry is no self-serving endeavor. “When people ask me about that, I often say I don’t want to talk about it,” he says. “Because it’s wrong to say that my motivation is so that I can get married. My motivation is the young kid in Arkansas who I once was, or in Fresno or East Los Angeles—the kids who are told every day by the government that they are second-class citizens. It licenses the hate that you hear and that you see every day. So we’ll continue to see high suicide rates among gay teens and hate crimes as long as there is this institutionalized discrimination.” The talking point on America’s gay youth is a recurring theme. “Yeah,” Griffin says, “because it’s really all I think about.”

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This work doesn’t mean Griffin sees himself as an activist, even if that’s the term commonly preceding his name in countless articles written about the lawsuit. In his mind an activist is someone on the front lines well before Griffin arrives, someone who fights the fight, often in obscurity, years before most others take notice. “They’re the ones I respect the most,” he says. “The true gift of Prop. 8’s passage is that it inspired thousands of activists—gay and straight, young and old—across the country.” Using that momentum wisely, however, is what Griffin sees as the real challenge for the movement as a whole. “It’s important to remember our audience and not spend too much time talking to ourselves. If we have the same strategy, it speeds up our ability to move people in support of marriage, which then quickly moves our politicians and leaders in line. Let’s win this, and then move on to other important things. At the end of the day our goal should be to all be out of business.”

Here is a LINK to the entire article.

She is a powerful straight ally who is unabashed in her support of same-sex marriage and the repeal of the military’s discriminatory Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy. The star of My Life on the D-List went to the nation’s capitol this week to film an episode of her Emmy winning Bravo series built around a US Senate hearing on DADT.

The videos below are Kathy’s remarks at a DADT rally the next day. She gives us a good idea of just how loathsome Sen. John McCain can be:

“Before the election, I was one of those people who, even though I voted for Obama, I kind of respected McCain – until this morning. I was so disappointed and let down by this man that I thought at least was intelligent and had obviously served the military with honor, questioning the man and woman who stood before him and been dishonorably discharged. [He was] questioning them and accuses them of lying, exaggerating. …He was so condescending in his tone. He kept saying to them: “Wasn’t Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell a policy when you first joined the military? They said ‘Yes’ and he said: “Did you not understand it?” … The woman said, ‘I understood it but I wanted to serve so much that I knew I could serve anyway until I was kicked out.’”

Here is the entirety of her remarks at yesterday’s rally:

It was unthinkable that Republican Scott Brown had a chance in heck of winning the special election in Massachusetts  for the late Ted Kennedy’s seat in the United States Senate.

And yet, it has happened.

His election is a blow to the Democrats because they no longer have a 60 vote majority in the Senate. Since they don’t seem to be able to get much done anyway, I gotta wonder how much more upset I possibly can be. He is supposed to be the vote that will derail health care reform which was the cause of Ted Kennedy’s life.

As you can see from his Cosmo centerfold a few decades back, the new senator is quite easy on the eyes. But then again, so is former Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney who is one of the scarier people out there.

Is Brown just as scary? MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann seems to think so describing the new senator as “an irresponsible, homophobic, racist, reactionary, ex-nude model, tea-bagging supporter of violence against women and against politicians with whom he disagrees.”

Olbermann later apologized for the comment — because he didn’t go far enough: “I’m sorry, I left out the word sexist.”

Egads.

San Francisco’s U.S. District Court Judge Vaughn R. Walker will decide whether Proposition 8′s ban on same-sex marriage violates U.S. constitutional rights of equal protection and due process. The trial is expected to become a landmark case that eventually will be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court.

I have a few friends, Frontiers IN La News Editor Karen Ocamb and Variety Managing Editor Ted Johnson, who have covered the first two days of the trial. You can read Karen’s coverage at her blog LGBT POV and Ted’s at Wilshire & Washington.

Karen has just posted about a quick conversation she had with Dustin Lance Black, who won the Oscar for his screenplay for Milk,  right after the court let out today.

Lance said that listening to the testimony by the plaintiffs Monday was “one of the most moving days” for him personally and for the LGBT movement because of the story-telling. He said it was “unfortunate” that the cameras did not broadcast their stories so more could hear “because that’s what changes hearts and minds.”

“If Harvey Milk had been alive, he would have been furious” and would have tried to get the stories out as reflective not only of the LGBT story, but the American story, as well,” Black said.

Like this part where the woman who plays a terrifying high school physical ed teacher talks about her own high school experience:

Lynch described herself as a floater who coasted from group to group. Socialising on the fringe, she never made enough of an impression to warrant mockery, she says. It wasn’t until later in life that she discovered she was gay, so she missed out on the taunting experienced by the gay character on Glee. “I didn’t know what ‘gay’ was in high school,” she says. “We used the word ‘queer’ when someone was weird – when I finally heard what it really meant, my heart sank, and I thought, ‘Oh God, that’s me.’ ”

The actress, who has been active in various causes for years including being on the board of the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center, is clearly frustrated with the state of marriage equality in the US where states like California allow voters to pass bans on same-sex marriage:

“Shouldn’t there be safeguards against the majority voting on the rights of a minority?” Lynch wonders. “If people voted on civil rights in the 60s, it would have never happened. It took somebody like [President] Lyndon Johnson going, ‘F all of you! I’m going to do this.’” She pauses for a moment, then says, “[President Barack] Obama won’t do it. He’s a huge disappointment to me.”

New York state lawmakers rejected the opportunity to become the sixth U.S. state to allow same-sex couples to wed when they voted against legalizing gay marriage on Wednesday.

Gov. David Paterson had said he would have signed the bill into law if it had passed the State Senate but it was voted down 38 votes to 24. All Republicans voted against equal rights for their gay constituents and were joined by some conservative leaning Democrats.

New York’s Democratic-controlled state assembly has easily passed the bill legalizing same-sex marriage three times, but the legislation was never voted upon in the senate until now.

Sen. Tom Duane was the lead sponsor of the bill was clearly taken aback by the wide margin of the vote and told the New York Daily News: “I wasn’t expected to be betrayed, and so I have some justified anger,” Duane said. “But it’s just going to propel me to – I don’t want to say redouble my efforts, because my efforts have been pretty strong – but I’m not going to let up. … I’m angry. I’m disappointed. I am let down. I’m betrayed. But I am not going away.”

Eight of his fellow Democrats voted no.

“Unfortunately, I think there was a contagious lack of backbone that occurred here today,” Duane said. “And I’m angry about that and sad about that, but it was contagious. Similarly, the opposite would have meant far more votes than anyone had expected but unfortunately that wasn’t the way it went today.”

You try to steel yourself against feeling disappointed when something like this happens and yet that is impossible. It’s always a kick in the gut and it is why I am all for pushing for marriage equality on a federal level where bigoted voters and cowardly politicians won’t have a say in something so deeply personal.

Iowa, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont have legalized gay marriage, while 40 U.S. states have specific laws that ban gay marriage.

After enduring Carrie Prejean on The View,. I’m sure Joy Behar was happy to get back to the set of her nightly HLN show which has quickly turned into must-see TV.

Last night, Joy welcomed Oscar winner Dustin Lance Black to the sh0w for a discussion about the Mormon church and at the end, he shared how damaging the anti-gay rhetoric was for him when he was young: “When I was a little kid in the Mormon Church I heard the head of  the Mormon Church … and he said next to the sin of murder comes the sin of homosexuality. It was so devastating because because I knew I was gay when I was 8.”

When Joy asked if he had any advice for gay kids, she made a lame joke about not “watching Project Runway in front of your parents.”

Lance didn’t just laugh and let it go. He replied: “No, keep watching it and let them know it’s okay.”

This is disappointing news.

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, one of the great straight allies in the LGBT movement for equality, has just announced that he is dropping out of the race for California governor.

“It is with great regret I announce today that I am withdrawing from the race for governor of California,” Newsom said in a statement. “With a young family and responsibilities at City Hall, I have found it impossible to commit the time required to complete this effort the way it needs to — and should be — done. This is not an easy decision. But it is one made with the best intentions for my wife, my daughter, the residents of the city and county of San Francisco, and California Democrats.”

The LA Times reports that Newsom is quitting the race for the Democratic nomination amid lackluster poll numbers and meager fund-raising receipts. This leaves the door wide open for former Gov. Jerry Brown, the current Attorney General, who is seen as the front-runner for the nomination. Brown has had a huge fundraising advantage. At the end of June, Brown reported $7.4 million in the bank; Newsom had $1.2 million.

Newsom is wildly popular in the LGBT community for leading the fight for gay marriage over the last five years going so far as to order San Francisco’s city clerk in 2004 to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. While the marriages ultimately did not stand up in court, they did lead to the CA Supreme Court ruling legalized gay marriage last year – before voters passed Proposition 8.

Below is a photo I snapped of Newsom at this year’s Gay Pride Parade in West Hollywood.

I’m a lot verklempt after watching this video of President Barack Obama signing The Matthew Shepard & James Byrd Hate Crimes Prevention Act earler today in the Rose Garden of the White House.

I’ll try and collect myself and finish this post.

It means so much on so many different levels. It is a testament to a mother’s determination and love in the form of Judy Shepard who tirelessly championed legislation – despite so many disheartening setbacks – so that the hate crime murder 11 years ago of her gay son, Matthew Shepard, would not be in vein. It is a tribute to the memory of James Byrd who was tortured and murdered in a racial hate crime so brutal it is still so difficult to fathom.

It is also a wonderful tribute to the memory of the late Sen. Ted Kennedy who pushed for passage within the congress before his death.

“After more than a decade of opposition and delay, we’ve passed inclusive hate crimes legislation to help protect our citizens from violence based on what they look like, who they love, how they pray, or who they are,” the president said in remarks prior to signing. “I promised Judy Shepard, when she saw me in the Oval Office, that this day would come, and I’m glad that she and her husband Dennis could join us for this event. I’m also honored to have the family of the late Senator Ted Kennedy, who fought so hard for this legislation. And Vicki and Patrick, Kara, everybody who’s here, I just want you all to know how proud we are of the work that Ted did to help this day — make this day possible. So — and thank you for joining us here today.

The hate crimes bill is part of the 2010 National Defense Authorization Act. It allows for added charges and harsher jail sentences for those convicted of what is deemed to be a hate crime, a crime against somebody’s race, religion, sexual orientation or gender identity. It also means the federal government could step in to prosecute in states that request it or in those who choose not to prosecute.

Here is a statement from Judy Shepard:

“When Dennis and I started calling 10 years ago for federal action to prevent and properly prosecute hate crimes against gay, lesbian and transgendered Americans, we never imagined it would take this long,” said Judy Shepard, Matthew’s mother and the president of the Matthew Shepard Foundation Board of Directors.

“The legislation went through so many versions and so many votes that we had to constantly keep our hopes in check to keep from getting discouraged,” she continued. “But with President Obama’s support and the continually growing bipartisan majorities in the House and Senate lining up behind the bill this year, it became clear that 2009 was the year it would finally happen.”
…
“We are incredibly grateful to Congress and the president for taking this step forward on behalf of hate crime victims and their families, especially given the continuing attacks on people simply for living their lives openly and honestly,” Shepard added. “But each of us can and must do much more to ensure true equality for all Americans.”

I look at the young and beautiful face of Matthew Shepard, murdered in an anti-gay hate crime 11 years ago, and I still want to cry for what was lost, and why.

But he had a mom, Judy Shepard, determined to find meaning in the death of her 21-year-old son and earlier today, she finally got it with the United States Senate’s passage of  the “Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act”  which allows for added charges and harsher jail sentences for those convicted of what is deemed to be a hate crime, a crime against somebody’s race, religion, sexual orientation or gender identity. It also means the federal government could step in to prosecute in states that request it or in those who choose not to prosecute.

“Dennis and I are extremely proud of the Senate for once again passing this historic measure of protection for victims of these brutal crimes,” Judy Shepard (pictured with President Barack Obama) said in a statement just posted on the Matthew Shepard Foundation’s web site. “Knowing that the president will sign it, unlike his predecessor, has made all the hard work this year to pass it worthwhile. Hate crimes continue to affect far too many Americans who are simply trying to live their lives honestly, and they need to know that their government will protect them from violence, and provide appropriate justice for victims and their families.”

President Obama has made clear he intends to sign the bill into law.

The final vote was passed 68 to 29 and was part of a larger Defense Department funding bill.

I think Barney Frank, one of the less than a handful of openly gay members of the US House of Representatives, missed an excellent opportunity to be a leader in the LGBT movement by not participating in last weekend’s National Equality March.

That he chose to attend a fundraiser on the opposite coast is one thing, but his public statements essentially saying the march is “a waste of time” and will have no impact are infuriating and an insult to all involved.

“The only thing they’re going to be putting pressure on is the grass,” he told the Associated Press.

Frank, chairman of the House Finance Committee, went on The Joy Behar Show last night to explain himself but didn’t back off from his remarks.

“I am afraid that some people will come to Washington and they will march and think they’ve done it,” he told Joy Behar. “That’s why I said what I did. Marching isn’t a negative thing, but to the extent that people think that having marched they’ve done something effective, they wouldn’t do something that is effective.”

He stresses that the real difference can be made not by marching but by lobbying legislators.

“I didn’t say it’s a terrible thing,” he insisted. “I said it wasn’t in and of itself useful. If people march and then in addition do those other things, then that’s fine.”

Here is video of his appearance with Berhar:

The criticism reached fever pitch this weekend when Solmonese sent an e-mail blast prior to Saturday’s HRC dinner where Obama spoke. Here is the part that got people really ticked off because it seems to be giving the Obama administration a pass to drag their feet:

Here is video of Andrew Sullivan expressing his grievances with HRC and calling on Solmonese to resign:

Towleroad has a good post from some other prominent voices critical of Solmonese and an interview he gave to CNN on Sunday. Here is a LINK.

Today, the beleaguered HRC head responded to critics with a lengthy message on the HRC site. Here are some excerpts:

Between President Obama’s speech at the HRC National Dinner on Saturday night and the inspiring crowd of pro-equality marchers who gathered at the Capitol on Sunday, it was quite a weekend. In my mind, it all reflected the undeniable fact that we in the LGBT community and our allies have a new-found energy and focus on what needs to be done to achieve the equality we’ve been promised and that we deserve.  Of course, we are not a community that sees everything through the same lens (and thank goodness for that!), so there have been nearly as many different views of what really went down this weekend as there were people marching past the White House. With this in mind, I want to address some of the issues people have been discussing and talk about how I see us all moving forward.

Perhaps the biggest surprise for me was the reaction some people had to my comment that on the last day of President Obama’s term, we will be able to look back on many accomplishments in LGBT rights. I still find it hard to believe that anyone thought I was saying that we should be content to wait patiently for our equality. What I said—and what I believe in my heart—is just the opposite.

We all worked hard to elect a President who supports our rights and now that we’re in a position to make change happen, the last thing we should do is wait.  Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell and DOMA are still on the books and an inclusive ENDA has yet to become law.  Real families are left without protections and people living with HIV and AIDS aren’t getting the care they need.  Students are being bullied in school because they’re different and bi-national couples are treated like they’ve never met.  While we’ve started to turn the tide, it’s clear that our community has a lot of reasons to be angry and impatient, and I’m thankful to the tens of thousands who joined us in Washington this weekend to demand a change.

So while I steadfastly believe that we will have accomplished an awful lot by the time President Obama leaves office, I know that wishing won’t make it so.

The fact is, we’ve got an agenda.  It includes repealing Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, passing an inclusive ENDA, repealing DOMA, and getting real protections for families and people with HIV/AIDS. How do we make all this happen? We have to pass laws. When it comes to changing the lives of LGBT Americans, that’s the name of the game.  Whatever the president does or doesn’t say, whatever I say and however anyone decides to read it, there is only one way to pass a law:  secure a majority of votes in the House and a filibuster-proof 60 votes in the Senate.  This is a lot easier said than done, but one thing is certain: when an LGBT bill gets to the Oval Office, this president will sign it.

Here is what Schwarzenegger said about his action:

“Following the passage of Proposition 8, there has been some uncertainty as to how California should treat same-sex couples that married out-of-state while same-sex marriage was legal in California. Consistent with the California Supreme Court’s decision that upheld the validity of those in-state marriages entered into prior to the passage of Proposition 8, Senate Bill 54 clarifies that California must also recognize as married couples that legally married in another state during the same period of time in which same-sex marriage was legal in California.

“In addition, Senate Bill 54 also requires that California recognize the union of couples that marry in states where same-sex marriage is legal. As required by Proposition 8, California will not recognize such couples as “married.” However, Senate Bill 54 will provide the same legal protections that would otherwise be available to couples that enter into civil unions or domestic partnerships out-of-state. In short, this measure honors the will of the People in enacting Proposition 8 while providing important protections to those unions legally entered into in other states.”

If you ask me, it would be far easier to simply make same-sex marriage legal everywhere! Someday.

The governor had vetoed a simlar bill last year and there was fear that he might do so again. But since last year’s veto, the movie Milk was released and won Academy Awards for star Sean Penn and screenwriter Dustin Lance Black. Also, president Barack Obama posthumously awarded Milk with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

He was the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in California as a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.

Milk fought hard against discrimination – including Proposition 6, a ballot initiative that would have made firing gay teachers—and any public school employees who supported gay rights—mandatory. It lost by a million votes. As a supervisor, Milk was responsible for passing a stringent gay rights ordinance for the city but just 11 months into his term, he and Mayor George Moscone were murdered at City Hall by former Supervisor Dan White.

Milk was just 48 years old and had been a gay rights activist for less than a decade. There was so much still ahead.

Karen Ocamb reports on her LGBT POV blog: The Harvey Milks Day bill - AB 2567  requires “the governor proclaim May 22 each year as Harvey Milk Day. It would encourage public schools and educational institutions to conduct suitable commemorative exercises on that date.”

It does not make it a state holiday.

President Barack Obama at last night’s Human Rights Campaign dinner in Washington DC made this wow: “I will end ‘don’t ask, don’t tell.”

He did not offer a time-table for ending the policy that prevents people serving in the military from being openly gay.

Said the president: “We should not be punishing patriotic Americans who have stepped forward to serve the country,” he said. “We should be celebrating their willingness to step forward and show such courage … especially when we are fighting two wars.”

While acknowledging Obama that “our progress may be taking longer than you’d like,” he asked the crowd to trust his administration’s course: “I also appreciate that many of you don’t believe progress has come fast enough. Do not doubt the direction we are heading and the destination we will reach.”

Here is video of Obama’s HRC speech in its entirety and some excerpts in text form:

Now, I’ve said this before, I’ll repeat it again — it’s not for me to tell you to be patient, any more than it was for others to counsel patience to African Americans petitioning for equal rights half a century ago. (Applause.) But I will say this: We have made progress and we will make more. And I think it’s important to remember that there is not a single issue that my administration deals with on a daily basis that does not touch on the lives of the LGBT community.

I know you want me working on jobs and the economy and all the other issues that we’re dealing with. But my commitment to you is unwavering even as we wrestle with these enormous problems. And while progress may be taking longer than you’d like as a result of all that we face — and that’s the truth — do not doubt the direction we are heading and the destination we will reach. (Applause.)
My expectation is that when you look back on these years, you will see a time in which we put a stop to discrimination against gays and lesbians — whether in the office or on the battlefield. (Applause.) You will see a time in which we as a nation finally recognize relationships between two men or two women as just as real and admirable as relationships between a man and a woman. (Applause.)

It is no secret that issues of great concern to gays and lesbians are ones that raise a great deal of emotion in this country. And it’s no secret that progress has been incredibly difficult — we can see that with the time and dedication it took to pass hate crimes legislation. But these issues also go to the heart of who we are as a people.

Are we a nation that can transcend old attitudes and worn divides? Can we embrace our differences and look to the hopes and dreams that we share? Will we uphold the ideals on which this nation was founded: that all of us are equal, that all of us deserve the same opportunity to live our lives freely and pursue our chance at happiness? I believe we can; I believe we will. (Applause.)

Here’s an excerpt:

New Rule: Everyone deserves equal rights. That’s why they’re called “equal” and “rights.” Tomorrow night President Obama will speak before a gay rights group, and on Sunday there will be a massive gay rally in Washington, or as I call it, the Million Mo March. Which makes this weekend the perfect time for Obama to announce he’s repealing “don’t ask, don’t tell” and committing to a full-throated endorsement of gay marriage. One, because it’s the right thing to do and two, because it will throw the conservative base into such a frenzied, pants-shitting panic that they’ll drop all that BS about death panels and socialism and let us all get some actual work done.

But of course that’s not going to happen. I can tell you what the president is going to tell his audience tomorrow: How much he supports them. How much he agrees with them. And how he wishes he was President so he could help them out. But here’s the thing about being president. There isn’t a lot you can do without either Congress, Oprah or Goldman Sachs behind you. But there is one thing the president can do with the stroke of a pen: He can let gays serve openly in the military. It’s called an executive order. Harry Truman wrote one in 1948 for blacks in the military, and that was that.

Here is a LINK to the entire piece which ends this way: And when they get out there on Sunday, Gay Nation also needs to do everything in their power to scare the hell out of right-wing homophobes. I want to see you guys rollerblading down the Mall in nothing but a speedo and a nun’s habit, holding a sparkler in one hand and a penis popsicle in the other.

Yikes!!!

Good morning!

I’m all energized from my night at The Magic Castle in Hollywood last night where I watched the incredible JoAnne Worley perform her one-woman show. I’ll have photos and highlights later today but let me just say, Miss Worley makes the world a better place.

I’m still smiling because of this force of nature’s talent, energy and great humor.

GAVIN FOR GOVERNOR: San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom is running for governor of California. It seems like an impossible job but I sure would like to see if he can make a go of it.

But getting there will not be easy because battling the very pro-gay rights Newsom for the Democratic nomination is former governor Jerry Brown, currently the state’s attorney general. So Newsom is bringing out the big guns: on Monday, former President Bill Clinton showed up in LA to lend a hand.

My good pal Michael Finnegan covered Clinton’s appearances and writes in today’s LA Times: It is highly unusual for a former president to endorse a candidate in a seriously contested Democratic primary for governor of California. Newsom advisors hope that Clinton’s high standing among Democrats will play well with primary voters who are more familiar with Brown, a former governor and Oakland mayor who is now the state attorney general.

They also hope Clinton can help Newsom overcome Brown’s huge fundraising advantage. At the end of June, Brown reported $7.4 million in the bank; Newsom had $1.2 million.

BACK ON TOP: Well, everyone knows Serena Williams has been the best tennis player in the world for the past two years when it comes to the sport’s grand slam tournaments. But she has been ranked number two because she has tanked out of just about every other tournament that’s not Wimbledon or the US and Australian Opens.

This led to poor Dinara Safina spending much of the year as number one because she had been the most consistent despite never having won one of the slams. Everyone focused on her non-slam reign and she seemed to feel the pressure and has been in a free-fall since Wimbledon.

Well, because of Dinara’s terrible play and Serena winning two matches at the China Open, Miss Williams is now number one again. I hope Dinara can relax now, start playing better and win the Australian Open in January to silence her critics.

It shows, once again, the pathetic state of women’s tennis. The number one ranking is no longer special, not like when Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova and Steffi Graf all held it for seven years or more apiece. When younger upstarts like Tracy Austin or Monica Seles were able to wrest it away from them – for awhile anyway – it was a huge deal.

Let’s see if Serena, winner of 11 grand slam singles titles, will finally start playing like the best player in the world more often.

“It feels pretty good. I’m really excited, I guess,” she told reporters. “I don’t want to put too much pressure on myself, but I’m obviously happy to be there because I feel like I’ve been working so hard all year and just happy to be back.”

I’m sure that Florida Gov. Charlie Crist will not be watching HBO tonight because he probably fares the worst of all the polkiticians – past and present – who are profiled in Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Kirby Dick (HBO’s Twist of Faith) searing indictment of politicians with appalling gay-rights voting records who actively campaign against the gay community they reportedly belong to, at least covertly.

The film, which was in theaters last spring, probes the hidden lives of some of the country’s most powerful policymakers – from Crist to now-retired Idaho Senator Larry Craig, to former NJ Gov. Jim McGreevey.

It examines how these and other politicians may have inflicted damage on millions of Americans by denying the truth about themselves, and voting in ways seemingly at odds with their sexuality.

I spoke with Mr. Dick about the film and he said: “Even to people who might be liberal, they’re going to find themselves really stunned and they’re going to think about this for a long time.”

Dick spoke with me last spring about Charlie Crist who has long been dogged by gay rumors:  “He’s a skilled politician. He’s very popular in Florida still. But I think it’s sad. We’ve been aware of these (gay) rumors for a long time. But it was when he came out in support of Amendment 2 which not only outlaws same-sex marriage but also forbids the right of gay and lesbians to even enter into civil unions – it’s that restrictive. And it’s an amendment. It took 60 percent to pass, it’ll take 60 percent to overturn. This may be the most important legacy of his career as governor.”

Crist is a smooth politician but has raised eyebrows with his personal life which has shown a pattern of relationships with women just before important elections. After he was elected governor and angling to be John McCain’s vice presidential pick, Crist got married.

“This is where I think it’s actually kind of tragic,” Dick said. “I actually think Crist was positioned to at some point come out and  be the first significant openly gay candidate for the presidency. I think he possibly could have pulled it off. [The gay marriage] issue is shifting very fast. I think if he in 2014, two years before the end of Obama’s second term – let us hope – he had come out and said, ‘Look I haven’t been completely truthful but it’s been very difficult. I’m a gay American and it’s time to be open and honest about this. I actually think a lot of people and a lot of Democrats would have said,. ‘How refreshing, an honest candidate.’ I think he would have had a shot. Maybe he does.”

Two men prominent in the movie who no longer have political futures are former New Jersey Gov. Jim McGreevey and former Idaho Sen. Larry Craig. Both were part of well-known gay sex scandals but their stories reveal a much deeper story of why these men do what they do.

“From very early on, I was very interested in the psychology of these people,” Dick said. “I do feel a great deal of empathy for them because they also are victims of homophobia. Even Larry Craig who has an incredibly horrible anti-gay voting record, is himself a victim of homophobia. I think if there was no homophobia in this country, why wouldn’t he be out? I think there’s a real personal anguish to being in the closet and I just hope that very soon we come to a time when politicians don’t ever have to make that choice to live that way.”

Of Craig, who was arrested in an airport restroom, he added: “Here’s a man who I suspect has  real difficulty with being gay, has probably compartmentalized it, probably has made the decision that the safest thing for him to do, the safest way for him to have sex is to have it anonymously.”

Craig and his wife of 30-plus years have remained together despite the scandal but McGreevey and his former wife, Dina Matos McGreevey, split soon after he made his “I am a gay American” speech and resigned as governor of New Jersey. Both McGreeveys come off sympathetically in the movie and I asked Dick why the movie isn’t harder on them since they dragged each other through the mud during their divorce proceedings with all kinds of outrageous accusations and being gay was the least of the reasons why McGreevey resigned from office.

“He’s a very savvy politician and he used the multiple scandals that were going to force him to resign anyway, he used that opportunity to in some ways paper it over by saying, ‘I’m a gay American,’” the filmmaker acknowledged. “On the other hand, that was a very important moment in this whole issue of out gay politicians. Even if he was resigning, it still becomes a model and also him talking about his experience.”

In the film, Dina plays the victim card convincingly but during the divorce proceedings, Jim alleged that she knew all along about his sexuality even though that contradicted his own book.

“I believe her,” Dick said. “Even in Jim McGreevey’s book, he said he didn’t tell her until a year or so before he made that speech. She claims it was within a few days of the speech. But either way, he wasn’t honest and he led her through much of their married life to believe a lie. This is very common that people marry someone and they for a long time don’t know they are gay or lesbian. It’s hard to imagine. Everybody thinks people fall in love and they completely know the person. That is a mythology.”

Dick, whose past films include This Film is Not Yet Rated and the Oscar-nominated Twist of Fate, clearly believes his film does a job that the mainstream media has not.

“This hypocrisy,  people are stunned by it and are so unaware of this,” he said. “I want people to learn about it. One of the reasons people don’t know about it is the mainstream media has really stayed away from it. Another thing I hope for this film is that it will contribute to the demise of the closet in American politics. Because the mainstream media hasn’t written about this, people who go in to politics early on their career in their late teens or early 20s, when they are going to make the decision whether to be out or closeted, think, ‘Well, there’s not much coverage of this. I can be a closeted politician.’Hopefully these young people will say, ‘No, it’s the wrong thing to do politically, it’s gonna backfire and it’s the wrong thing to do personally. Why live a lie?’ Once we have these successful models out there, hopefully the closet will be a thing of the past.”

One of the people in Outrage who I was most moved by was former Arizona congressman Jim Kolbe, once a closeted Republican who underwent quite a transformation personally and politically once he was forced out of the closet.

“Even though he came out 13 years ago, to me it still seemed like it was an experience that was very profound for him,” Dick said of Kolbe. “What’s interesting is you see how much a weight was lifted off his shoulders but what you also see is that he changed his voting record. Here’s a man who voted in favor of the Defense of Marriage Act which restricted the rights of gays and lesbians to marry. Then when the Federal Marriage Amendment came up in 2004, he was one of the leading opponents of it. That’s a testament to the damage of the closet by showing the positive side when somebody comes out of the closet.”

Outrage debuts tonight (Oct. 5) at 9 pm on HBO and will repeat several times, check your listings.