'Milk'

Jim and I watched 'Milk' last night. What a moving, beautiful film! Of course, whenever I see movies or documentaries about the gay rights movement, I'm just so glad these people did what they did. I'm so grateful that their work has made this a country where I can exist as an openly gay man at work and in my neighborhood without facing (too much) bigotry.

This movie mixes actual footage from the times with tremendous acting by a great cast, especially Sean Penn who completely disappears into the role of Harvey Milk. He does the perfect balance of adding some swish to the role without turning Milk into the stereotypical Hollywood-film homo. From scene one, you forget you are watching an actor play the part (let alone an actor we all are very familiar with). That's really the mark of a master. Plus, unlike Tom Hanks and Antonio Bandares who didn't have the guts to do an onscreen kiss in "Philadelphia" and, as a result, insulted the characters they played, Penn and Franco are both man enough to commit to their roles and not shy away from the fact that gay men kiss just like 'normal people'.

What a hateful bitch that Anita Bryant was! OMG! The horrible things that came out of her mouth! It's amazing to me that after all the examples of civil right movements in our country's history, that people still go to the same tired arguments to demonize massive groups of people. At some point, don't they reflect and think: "These arguments were wrong for blacks, women, Jews, etc. etc. etc....so if these arguments are the only ones I have to use against gays, then maybe I'm as wrong as those people were to use them then?"

Thank you Harvey Milk! And thanks to all the people who have shed their blood and lost their lives so we can live in a better world.