From the "There-Oughta-Be-a-Gay-Angle-Here" department: two homosexual gentlemen share the local spotlight ...the Chicago Tribune ( 7/20 ) reports on the Art Institute's exhibit of photos of Louis Sullivan's buildings which the Trib says "...may be the summer's stop show." All evidence points to Sullivan, who was Frank Lloyd Wright's mentor, being interested only in other gentlemen. The Chicago Sun-Times ( 7/15 ) reviews a new history, The Story of the King James Bible and How It Changed a National Language and a Culture by Alister E. McGrath. The famous quote about the king who commissioned the new translation is "We have had our King Elizabeth; now we shall have our Queen James." There is not a shred of doubt about James' sexuality.
The Chicago Tribune ( 7/12 ) also comments on author ( 'tho he prefers "typist" ) David Sedaris, who was on a book tour for his new work Me Talk Pretty One Day. Sedaris is unfailingly pleasant to his audience of those wishing him to sign books... not a vicious barb in sight and he shows up early for the signings. He also writes thank you notes to every bookstore he visits and to every journalist who interviews him. Waynt Wang, the director of The Joy Luck Club is going to direct a film based on Sedaris' new work which details the adventure of his move to France with his partner, painter Hugh Hamrick.
Richard Christiansen in the Chicago Tribune ( 7/9 ) reviewing Ibsen's Hedda Gabler at Steppenwolf reports more than a tinge of lesbianism has been inserted into this interpretation. No wonder she was bored with her husband! Corpus Christi, which presents Jesus Christ as a "lusty hard-drinking, foul-mouthed homosexual" according to the Tribune ( 7/20 ) ...which had reviewed the play previously ( 7/10 ) referring to it as "an elegant, intelligent show"...was initially cancelled in New York and is the target of a lawsuit in Indiana, where it is being staged at Indiana U./Purdue U. in Ft. Wayne. Twenty state legislators and 11 other people have filed a lawsuit on the grounds that the play destroys religion ( and is performed on state property ) , so is therefore illegal. Perhaps these folks have been following the case against author Salman Rushdie and his book, The Satanic Verses.
The New York Times ( 7/17 ) has an obituary for Rodney Kirk, 67. Rev. Kirk, an Episcopal priest, was the first director of Manhattan Plaza, a NY apartment complex reserved for performing art workers. He had been on the staff of St. John the Divine and is survived by his companion of 42 years, Richard Hunnings.
Episcopalians also mourn the loss of Gerald Francis Burrill, eighth Episcopal bishop of Chicago ( 1954-'71 ) who died at the age of 95. Burrill aggressively supported the civil-rights movement and denounced all forms of discrimination wherever he encountered them. Although not gay himself, he helped save more than one gay priest's career, including Chicago's own Fr. Grant Gallup, who was threatened with expulsion from seminary.
The Chicago Tribune ( 7/15 ) has an article on Dwight McBride, the new openly gay head of the department of African-American studies at the University of Illinois at Chicago. McBride, known for his essay "Can the Queen Speak?" has been analyzing what he sees as an overly restrictive view that the Black community is "poor, urban, and male," thus dismissing women, the middle class and lesbigays. McBride is of the opinion that differences between groups in the Black community can be seen as blocking solidarity or as a source of strength...he opts for the latter.
