From the Chicago Tribune ( Nov. 5 ) , the cartoon strip 'Shoe' depicts a middle-aged woman at the Dates 'R' Us Agency saying 'I'm looking for a buff, sensitive, well-groomed, well-dressed man with a great sense of humor,' who is told by the staffer 'Gays-R-Us is next door.'
A tacky tidbit and comment from Rex Reed's review in The New York Times Book Review ( Nov. 4 ) of Ed Sikov's bio Dark Victory: The Life of Bette Davis—'Davis longed for a husband who was a homosexual and proposed to several such men ( Lord knows how that would have set back the gay liberation movement ) .' The book appears to suggest that Davis was, um, bonkers.
From the 'Yeah-OK-We-Missed-It-So-Get-It-Next-Year' file, The New York Times ( Oct. 28 ) highly recommends the newly issued DVD of 1976's The Paul Lynde Halloween Special starring the barely closeted Lynde, Margaret Hamilton ( reprising that famous green-faced witch role ) , Kiss, Betty White, Donny & Marie ( singing, not dancing ) and Florence Henderson ( kissing Lynde, who is being Florence of Arabia; figure out the sexuality of that one, I double-dare you ) .
The New York Times ( Nov. 7 ) , in an article about gay Muslims in the United States, covers all the bases and positions: the Koran hates homosexuality, doesn't care, is neutral. Homosexuality is/is not a sin. Muslim countries allow it/ ignore it. You can reconcile it with your religion or you can't. The point seems to be that you can talk about it and practice it in this country. ( And there are some very odd arguments: Sunnis and Shias agree that homosexuals have to be killed but that no one is allowed to do it. Hmm. )
An exhibit of 33 of Andy Warhol's flick is being held in Astoria, Queens, according to The New York Times ( Oct. 21 ) . Although Warhol was not liked by contemporary biggies in the avant-garde such as Jasper Johns and Robert Rauschenberg because he was 'too swish, ' [ t ] hat swish is critical to Warhol's films, where beautiful butch boys in tight jeans and leather jackets share the screen with transvestites in elegant dime-store drag,' according to the Times. ' ... [ I ] t's all the male bodies—adorned, adored and at times stripped bare—that underscore the radical politics of Warhol's gaze. Warhol presents gay desire as something perfectly ordinary, which in and of itself was extraordinary.'
Finally, vindication after 700 years: The Chicago Tribune ( Oct. 28 ) tells us the Vatican has changed its mind and declared the Knights Templar, a medieval military order that protected pilgrims going to the Holy Land, as not guilty of heresy and sodomy, after all. All innocent. All dead, too—most dying from people carrying out those sentences. Oh well, these things happen. ( Check out these guys in The Da Vinci Code. )