Last week, Marcia's "Boze Hadleigh's Hollywood Gays" went up and we're talking to her about the book. The author is Boze Hadleigh. You enjoyed the book.
Marica:
100% and it really goes with the review you two did of Anne Heche's
CALL ME ANNE. We really need Boze Hadleigh's book HOLLYWOOD GAYS and books like it to
reclaim history. A whole group of people have been rendered invisible
and since this people is a community currently under attack and since
you have Republican members of Congress issuing bald face lies about
what has come before, it really does matter.
Is that what stood out the most about the book for you?
Marcia:
It really was. Not only do you have people like Cesar Romero, William
Haines, Randolph Scott, Richard Deacon, Paul Lynde, Waylon Flowers and
others talking about their own lives, they talk about others including
Agnes Moorehead, Tony Randall, Rock Hudson, Cary Grant, Ramon Novarro,
Sal Mineo, Errol Flynn among others. It's a large tapestry and we need
to reclaim it and refuse to allow others to erase us.
Knowledge is power, of course, but there's also the issue of relating.
Marcia:
Right. And that's why WILL & GRACE was so important. As Joe Biden
said, back when he was vice president, it did a lot of good. And there
were people who didn't know any lesbians or gay men -- or realize that
they did. When people can grasp that LGBTQ+ members have always been
with us, always a part of history, it will make a difference.
What chapter of the book was your favorite -- each actor gets his own chapter in the book.
Marcia:
I really loved Paul Lynde a lot. It was funny. But I also like
Richard Deacon's a lot. He played Mel Cooley on THE DICK VAN DYKE SHOW
and he seemed like a nice guy but I felt sorry for him because he wasn't
anyone's idea of a stud or a beauty. Maybe if he were a young man
today, he'd be better appreciated than he was in his own time. But
could I talk about something else for a moment before we wrap up.
Sure.
Marcia:
Actually, I have two things. First up, the State of the Union
Address. One of you, C.I., noted in an Iraq snapshot that it was stupid
for Joe to devote only a single sentence to LGBTQ+ and I think I know
why you said that but I wanted to be sure.
Sure.
Joe's popularity was in the toilet. That's for most of the summer.
Dems haven't delivered and they haven't done much we can be proud of.
That's pretty much the description of 2022. When Joe's popularity moved
up briefly -- before tanking again due to mishandling classified
documents -- it was because he delivered on marriage equality. It
wasn't everything it needed to be. But it was him making a promise and
keeping it. And most Americans -- especially Democrats -- can grasp
that the LGBTQ+ community is under attack. So Joe kept a promise,
delivered on one, and also stood up for a community under attack.
That's what caused his popularity to rise. And then came the classified
documents issue and the thing to do was to shine in the State of
Union. And a single sentence is not enough. He should have made it
longer -- at least several paragraphs. I felt that way before hand.
And since a number of Republicans chose to boo everything, all the more
reason to make it longer -- let them be seen booing and hissing by all
of America.
Marcia: That's
what I thought you were talking about. I did feel Joe delivered on
that. I was feeling kindly towards him. And he should have used the
SOTU to remind us of that. Second question, did Anne mention Alec
Baldwin in her book?
Yes, they knew each other, liked each other and worked together and she had many kind things to say about him.
Marcia: Your thoughts on the lawsuit.
C.I.:
The prosecutor is out of control and they're smart to make that an
issue -- Alec's team is smart. I don't see how she expects to win
because you have to have SAG testify. When the union testifies that
Alec did what he was supposed to do -- what anyone would have done --
then that makes the whole case crumble.
Marcia:
Thank you for answering both of those. I do want to emphasize that I
agree with you and Ava that if someone can't come out in life, at least
come out after you're gone. Do an interview now that can be published
after you pass. There are so many people you would influence. Coming
out now would be great if you can -- and I don't understand why people
can't -- but I came out in elementary. But if you can't come out for
whatever reason now, make sure that your truth will be known when you
pass. We exist. We are part of history and it pains me that we have to
justify ourselves.
Marcia, can we ask you to speak to something.
Marcia: Sure.
A
point we make repeatedly -- in writing, in talks -- is that an elected
official claiming to help children is not helping them with nonsense
like ''don't say gay.'' We point out that these people are ignoring
that gay children are in elementary school.
Marcia:
And you both are right about that. We are there. And some of us
know. We know we're gay. And your decision to pull books or try to
silence conversations are not helpful to us. It's nonsense. I remember
the kids in my class all looking at TIME magazine because it had a KING
KONG story and Jessica Lange was pictured with her top down as Kong
fondled her. You don't know what's already in your libraries, to be
honest. And you can't kid proof them. Even if you could, you're only
hurting someone like me who knows she's a lesbian early on. You're
telling me that I'm not valued. Stop saying you're helping children
because you're not and, let's be honest, it's going to be the LGBTQ+
kids that are more likely to need help and books in school at a young
age. We're navigating and we need the resources.
Thank you so much, Marcia.
Previous book discussions this year:
"Books (Ann, Ava and C.I.)," "Books (Trina, Ava and C.I.)," "Books (Marcia, Ava and C.I.)" and "Books (Ava and C.I.)."