Suddenly the Paintings Look Different

Those gays and lesbians who have supported Maureen Mullarkey with positive reviews and/ or purchases of her artwork are taking a second look now that she has been exposed in the New York Daily News for donating $1,000 in support of Proposition 8, the California Marriage Amendment that defined marriage as between a man and a woman.

Queerty writes that gays and lesbians had thought she was "laughing with" them all these years and now fear she has been "laughing at" them. And they feel betrayed. Mullarkey writes that they have been sending her emails and letters using very ugly language to express their feelings. The comments to the Queerty bog post linked above use similar language.

Photos of Mullarkey's painting series Guise and Dolls is presented on her website. The paintings remind me of German Expressionism and the movie Cabaret that was set in the that time and place.







Her position was always there in her paintings for those with eyes to see it, as the blog Good As You points out. The review of one of her shows in the January 1994 Art in America recognized the subversive nature of her paintings, but did not view this subversion in a positive light:

Mullarkey seems to approach the march and its participants almost as Margaret Mead confronted her aboriginals--as explorer, educator and reporter. The figures are angular, precise, non-naturalistic and presented in what seem to be bright colors toned down. Not to her esthetic credit, however, are her doleful-eyed, elastic-bodied, Tarot-like "Gothic" renderings of, say, a naked, star-titted Button Vendor or an unpleasantly plump drag queen dripping with fake pearls and little else.
She tends to enhance the intentionally freakish by making it seem unwittingly freakish...
Mullarkey's men and women seem frozen forever in their gay misery. In the grip of the lowest forms of campiness, her long-faced revelers seem mighty dolorous. And who can blame them?

Mullarkey wrote in her piece:

However much sympathy, affection--indeed, love--I have for certain gay persons, "gay marriage" burlesques a primal institution rooted in nature. Marriage, as a unique bond between male and female, predates all politics and religious doctrines. And no one has to believe in God to see social anarchy, with children adrift in the wreckage, at the end of the same-sex marriage road.

That reminds me of her painting "The Party":



And that reminds me of the 19th century French artist Bouguereau's genre painting "The Broken Pitcher":



My art history teacher told us that this painting was more popular with visitors to the museum than any of the Impressionist paintings. She thought the museum guests had poor taste and that the painting was "sentimental". She also told us that the theme was an allegory for "lost innocence", a euphemism for child sexual abuse.

HatTip: North Plains Anglican

Donate even $100 to Prop 8 -- Lose Your Job

Marjorie Christoffersen, the Mormon restaurant manager whose $100 donation to Prop 8 inspired the blacklisting of the restaurant, El Coyote, is resigning. Like Scott Eckern, she is resigning, she had not been fired, but one understands that the institution could not serve the boycott and resignation is in the best interest of the other employees.



I guess the $500 the restaurant workers had raised and donated $500 to the organization fighting Prop 8, wasn't enough.

Marc Shaiman has tasted blood, "And it felt fantastic."

The man behind the blacklisting of Scott Eckern gave an interview to the New York Times about his latest exploit, the viral video "Prop 8 - The Musical". (If you haven't seen it, you're lucky. But if you must, go here.) During the interview, Shaiman was asked: "How did you react to the news that Mr. Eckern had resigned from the theater?"

Shaiman replied:

There’s certainly nothing joyous about being partially responsible for a man resigning from his job. I mean, I did not ask for his resignation, nor would it be my place to ask for someone’s resignation. He resigned, though, and I was part of that, and that is a very heavy weight, and I don’t take it lightly. But it has certainly opened up our eyes, and made me get off the couch and out on the street with a picket sign, for the first time in my life. And it felt fantastic.

And the interviewer followed up with: "So this experience has made you more of an activist?"
And Shaiman replied:

Yeah, I was marching in New York, and that was just the greatest experience. And of course this video is just a viral picket sign. And hopefully funny. I hope that doesn’t get lost. I hope that’s what most people get out of it.

What I got out of "Prop 8 - The Musical" was that he HATES Christians.

Torching free speech in the name of tolerance

There was a thoughtful op-ed in the San Francisco Chronicle today by a very brave high school student, David McDiarmid. He points out that:

In attempts to create a climate of tolerance at Acalanes, we have promoted certain types of diversity at the expense of others, and in doing so, we have given up an essential component of education.

and that

In our attempts to create a pleasant learning environment, we have veered from our drive for an educational environment in which beliefs are debated, assumptions questioned and original thoughts developed.

I was not surprised to read that although some sort of secret ballot indicates that 20 percent of his school's students and faculty supported Prop 8, very few were willing to express their views publicly. And when the school newspaper wanted to print a pro 8 article, (I presume to balance a No on 8 article), they could find no one to write it unless they could be anonymous, lest they be branded as homophobes.

I decided to look at the comments as I was preparing to post this and the first is from last night, so I guess this article went online last night. Anyway, of the first three comments posted on line at sfgate.com, two were:

vtxbay
11/24/2008 8:57:20 PM

Wah wah wah, those awful people wouldn't let me spread my hateful agenda wah wah wah. Gosh, how does it feel having to hide? LIKE I DID ALL THROUGH HIGH SCHOOL. At least you didn't get the cr6p beaten out of you.

and

whozzat
11/25/2008 6:58:14 AM

So the writers in support of Prop 8 felt the need to remail anonymous, lest they be branded homophobes. Funny, that reminds me of another group who wears white hoods and robes to remain anonymous.

Op- Ed Editor of the SF Chronicle Gets It

Thank you, Jon Diaz of the San Francisco Chronicle for having the courage to write this:

A supporter of Proposition 8, fed up with what he believed was the gay community's and "liberal media's" refusal to accept the voters' verdict, fired off a letter to the editor.

"Please show respect for democracy," he wrote, in a letter we published.

What he encountered instead was an utter lack of respect for free speech.

Within hours, the intimidation game was on. Because his real name and city were listed - a condition for publication of letters to The Chronicle - opponents of Prop. 8 used Internet search engines to find the letter writer's small business, his Web site (which included the names of his children and dog), his phone number and his clients. And they posted that information in the "Comments" section of SFGate.com - urging, in ugly language, retribution against the author's business and its identified clients.

"They're intimidating people that don't have the same beliefs as they do ... so they'll be silenced," he told me last week. "It doesn't bode well for the free-speech process. People are going to have to be pretty damn courageous to speak up about anything. Why would anyone want to go through this?"

Diaz goes on to give his credentials as a card carrying supporter of gay rights and to reassure gay readers that they will eventually prevail. And he concludes with the "both sides" talking point I have noted before seems to be required of the media by the GLBTQ activists:

Intimidation, through attempts to chill free speech or an independent judiciary, should have no part in this debate. The leaders on both sides should have the honesty to recognize it within their camps - and the courage to condemn it.

But don't blame John Diaz for reciting the required words. The Chronicle would have picketers and his own job would be on the line if he didn't.

In the news section, the Chronicle reported that the anti-Prop 8 rally at the California capital in Sacramento fizzled yesterday, only 5,000 showed up while organizers had intially forecasted 20,000. And their leaders were spouting the ugly rhetoric Diaz cautioned against. One of the speakers was Robin Tyler, one of the plaintiffs in Supreme Court case that resulted in the brief institution of gay marriage.

Tyler, a longtime activist for lesbian rights, argued that same-sex marriage opponents have no right to complain about any physical and verbal attacks they've encountered since election day.

"Get over it," she said. "It's easier to wash a paint stain off a church than to take off the stain they left on the California Constitution."

And comedian Margaret Cho sang a rather ugly song:

Cho, whose comedy routines are anything but G-rated, provided a song she wrote slamming Mormons for their support of the measure, ending with a chorus suggesting that voters not let the Mormons get away with what they did.

Well, the Chronicle published the 5,000 estimate, but the Sacramento Bee is putting it quite a bit lower. In a story published 22 hours ago, one reporter wrote "Thousands of gay rights supporters," but an article by a different reporter published 15 hours ago says:

It drew between 1,500 and 1,800 people to the Capitol's west steps.

How To Blacklist Your Neighbor (Who Supported Prop 8)

The recent efforts to destroy the career of Scott Eckern were so successful that if is worth considering the tactics:

1) Identify a target.
Per the Sac Bee Wednesday story:

The composer, who is openly gay, said he read about Eckern's contribution to the campaign on the Web site www.datalounge.com, and he felt he had to do something.

Per the Sac Bee Tuesday story:
Potential targets can be easily found on the websites provided by gay activists.

Links to Eckern's official donation information began appearing Thursday on sites such as the gay political activism site www.goodasyou.org and the more informal conversational forum www.datalounge.

You can use the official "Anti Gay Blacklist".
Or you can always use the nifty site provided by the San Francisco Chronicle to find anyone in a zipcode or city who contributed to support Prop 8.

2) Start the blacklist boycott by emailing all your friends and colleagues to let them know you will not longer work with this person:
Per the Los Angeles Times:

Shaiman said Tuesday that he phoned Eckern on Friday to protest, then e-mailed more than 1,000 contacts to alert them about the donation.

Per the Sac Bee

Shaiman sent an e-mail which has reverberated through the national theater community and backed the CMT's leaders into the unusual position of doing damage control. He wrote he wouldn't allow his work to be done at California Musical Theatre, and theater workers around the country have followed his lead."No one should be surprised in 2008 at how fast information can be spread, and that's of course a doubled-edged sword," Shaiman said.

Susan Egan, star of "Thoroughly Modern Millie" and "Cabaret," followed with a similar e-mail.

Theater professionals flooded CMT's offices over the weekend with phone calls and e-mails decrying Eckern's actions.

And from Jeff Whitty, whose "Avenue Q" is scheduled to play the Sacramento theater in March, was among those alerted by Shaiman's e-mail, and wrote on his blog:

I'll work to prevent CMT from producing any of my future shows with Mr. Eckern at the helm. To me, he's one of those hypocrites who profits from the contributions of gays, whose soul is fed by us and pockets lined by us, but thinks of us as ultimately damned. And I support anyone who’s moved to cancel subscriptions and tickets and write letters and express their feelings about Mr. Eckern’s actions.

3) Be careful with your wording. You are not asking that he be fired, merely refusing to work with him.
See how cleverly Andrew Sullivan put it in his Atlantic Monthly blog post:

The artistic director of Sacramento's Musical Theatre donated to Yes On 8. He should not be fired, in my view. But I can't see how he can work with any gays any longer. Which might limit his professional options.

4) Know when to let it go.
See how gracefully Jeff Whitty backpedaled as the boycott gained momentum and a real career was at stake:

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

My thoughts on the Scott Eckern situation are below. Well, they're yesterday's thoughts, anyway.

Yesterday Scott made an apology that I find convincing and sincere. He backed it up with a donation to HRC. During our phone call, I sensed that there was some real ambivalence, even regret, over this issue, not necessarily related to his future at California Musical Theatre. While my activist side is saying, "Make an example of somebody!", I also would rather hold an unrepentant bigot's feet to the fire. Scott Eckern isn't that.

Scott has been taking calls and exchanging/enduring dialogue at a time when I think most people would have keep their heads firmly planted in the sand. I applaud him for not shutting down, and instead keeping himself open to an overwhelming degree of criticism. He has engaged in dialogue with some of his angriest critics, which speaks volumes.

I look forward to working with the California Musical Theatre in the future. While I think their artistic director made a grave mistake, it was a mistake he then addressed in an honest and human way.

That's all from me.

5) Or you can just be a jerk and babble incoherent spin as your ugly game is exposed to the world.
Per the Sac Bee

Shaiman hopes the episode leads to better understanding of gay people.

"I love God. And this is how God made me," he said. "How people can say this is a choice? Unless you are – you don't know."

Blacklisting Works -- Artistic Director Quits

The Sacramento Bee has posted on line today the latest installment on this story of the Artistic Director who was black listed in an internet swarm. It begins:

The California Musical Theatre found itaself caught in a dramatic conflict between free speech and civil rights, a situation that ultimately led to today's resignation of artistic director Scott Eckern.

Eckern quit this morning. He became the target of strong criticism after it was learned he donated $1,000 to the Proposition 8 campaign to ban gay marriage.

In an industry long considered gay-friendly and tied to causes such as AIDS research, Eckern's donation outraged theater workers across the country.

In Sacramento, a number of the musical theater's supporters contacted The Bee to rally behind the embattled Eckern, stating that he was now a victim of intolerance and persecution himself.

Playbill and other media have said he issued an apology and plans to donate $1,000 to a nonprofit committed to achieving equal rights for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people.

Can you believe the last words of the article were given to the creep who engineered this, Marc Shaiman, the composer of "Hairspray,":

Shaiman hopes the episode leads to better understanding of gay people.

"I love God. And this is how God made me," he said. "How people can say this is a choice? Unless you are – you don't know."

???
I don't even know what he means.

More on the Blacklisting of Scott Eckern

From yesterday's Sacramento Bee:

Gay and lesbian artists called Monday for an artistic and audience boycott of California Musical Theatre after learning that its artistic director donated $1,000 to a campaign that backed banning gay marriage in California.

Scott Eckern was not available for comment Monday as the revelation has gained stunning momentum on the blogosphere. The California Musical Theatre produces the Music Circus, presents Broadway Sacramento, and recently opened "Forever Plaid" at the capital's newest performing venue, the Cosmopolitan Cabaret.

Richard Lewis, the organization's executive producer, said the board of directors will conduct an emergency meeting on the matter this afternoon. He said it was too early to tell how this would affect Eckern's 25-year employment with California Musical Theatre.

In a statement released Monday, Lewis said: "Any political action or the opinion of Scott Eckern is not shared by California Musical Theatre. We have a long history of appreciation for the LGBT community and are truly grateful for their longstanding support."

Links to Eckern's official donation information began appearing Thursday on sites such as the gay political activism site www.goodasyou.org and the more informal conversational forum www.datalounge. The measure was Proposition 8 on the Nov. 4 ballot.

Cleverly Worded Black Listing Over Prop 8

Andrew Sullivan's Atlantic Monthly blog post:

11 Nov 2008 07:01 pm
Dumbest Man Alive

The artistic director of Sacramento's Musical Theatre donated to Yes On 8. He should not be fired, in my view. But I can't see how he can work with any gays any longer. Which might limit his professional options.

I believe the appropriate phrase for this is "butter wouldn't melt in his mouth".

H/T to DoubleThink

Create Your Own Prop 8 Black List

(UPDATE Due to the large volume of traffic to this page, I wish to clarify my intent. I was appalled that the San Francisco Chronicle had provided this feature, but expressed it through sarcasm. Please see my more recent posts on the sidebar for ongoing coverage of blacklisting over Prop 8.)

I see the San Francisco Chronicle website has provided a nifty feature.

Search the database below to see who has contributed money to the campaigns supporting and opposing California's Proposition 8, which would ban same-sex marriage.

To perform a narrow search, enter a person's name below and click the "Search" button. For a broader search, select from one or more of the drop-down menus to see a list of contributors by state, city and ZIP code.

Just think of all the fun they will have:
Create your own black list
Sort by zipcode to decide which neighbors' houses to egg

A Black List / Boycott Case Study

Here is an example of how Californians Against Hate operates. They identified that a $100,000 donation to help get Prop 8 on the ballot was from William Bolthouse, the founder of Bolthouse Farms. Although William Bolthouse had sold his stake in the company in 2005, Califonians Against Hate targeted Bolthouse Farms, a large producer of fresh-cut carrots in the world and the maker of juices and smoothies sold in foodie haunts and upscale markets.

Demonstrations at the "rock 'n' roll" Ralphs on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood and Whole Foods markets in New York City and Washington, D.C., ensued. The gay blogosphere lit up, indignant.

Read it all here.

More on Prop 8 and Blacklisting

Following up on yesterday's post, there is a "blacklist" at Californians Against Hate that has a two page list of donors giving $5,000 and up to the California Marriage Amendment which they call the Dishonor Roll.The list is based on the required material filed with the state, but has been augmented with contact information and other information if known.

The Protect Marriage group appears to be considering publicizing a list of its own -- the 35 public companies that have made major donations to the opponents of Prop 8. This would include Pacific Gas and Electric, Levi Stauss and AT&T. Protect Marriage sent these 35 companies a letter that indicated they would be exposed to the public unless they made a balancing contribution to Protect Marriage. Now Protect Marriage is being accused of extortion. I guess it would have been better to just pass on the list to a friend to publish under the name of an anonymous group.

The New Blacklisting?

I knew these sorts of lists were kept, but was still disturbed to come across this specific one today. Someone has taken the list of everyone who had contributed to support California's Marriage Amendment, Prop 8, as of early October. The list is conveniently sorted by state and then city to facilitate the research.

This list is an attempt to determine which contributions were from Mormons. But such a list could easily be used to blacklist anyone who contributed in one's community.

Notice the careful way the have framed this as mere information gathering. Can you imagine what the GLBT activists would be saying if a comparable site was set up with the full list of donors for the campaign against Prop 8?