movieREVIEW: Stained Glass Rainbows - Reviewed by Amos Lassen

Stained Glass Rainbows was recently reviewed by Amos Lassen, a gay man who is pretty conflicted about the film. By conflicted I mean that in the review he calls the film "bogus" (actually he uses the word in his subtitle three times "bogus, bogus, bogus") but then in his opening paragraph he says the film is "new, fresh, and exciting and very, very important." So which is it? Bogus? Or very important?

I think the further Amos got from the film, the less he liked it... in particular, the less he liked the ex-gays who appear in the film. When Amos originally published the review the subtitle was "Love Without Judgment" but later, the review was updated to include several additional negative comments about the film along with his new subtitle "Bogus, Bogus, Bogus".

So what do you think of his review? Check it out for yourself...

gayNEWS: F.D.A. Easing Ban on Gays, to Let Some Give Blood

Interesting news coming out of the FDA just before Christmas. Some gay men (those who have NOT had sex with another male in the last 12 months) will now be able to donate blood. This is a huge shift from the previous lifetime ban for all gay men that has been in place since the early days of the AIDS epidemic in 1983.

"Ics-codablock-blood-bag sample" by ICSident - eigenes Bildmaterial.
Licensed under GFDL via Wikimedia Commons

This issue is being promoted as a rights issue... gay men should have the right to donate blood, just as heterosexuals do. And there is point to be made that monogamous gay men having protected sex are less likely to contract HIV than a heterosexual who sleeps around. But, ultimately, the recipient of the blood donation doesn't want ANY chance of receiving a contaminated supply and that burden falls squarely on the organizations collecting and testing each donation and not on the sexual orientation of the donor. That said, ALL people should be willing to remove themselves as potential donors if there is any chance of them contaminating the supply. It's the honorable and right thing to do.

Here's a snippet from the New York Times article...

"While the burden of H.I.V. in the United States falls disproportionately on gay and bisexual men — Mr. Cahill cited estimates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that two-thirds of an estimated 50,000 new H.I.V. infections in the United States each year occur among men who have sex with men — the vast majority of gay and bisexual men are not H.I.V. positive."

The FDA calculates that these changes to the policy "could add about 317,000 pints of blood to the nation’s supply annually, an increase of 2 percent to 4 percent."

So is this new policy the FDA's Christmas present to the gay community or did they try and bury the story by releasing it at the peak of the Christmas frenzy?

Here's the full article from the New York Times.

transgenderNEWS: Ruling Overturned On Sex-Change Surgery For Mass. Inmate

Should the taxpayers of Massachusetts pay for an inmate who is serving a life sentence in a state prison to have a sex change operation?

"A divided federal appeals court in Boston on Tuesday overturned a lower court’s ruling that a transgender Massachusetts prison inmate, convicted of committing a domestic murder, was entitled to taxpayer-funded sex change surgery."

"Michelle Kosilek, who was born as Robert Kosilek... is serving a life sentence for killing her wife, Cheryl Kosilek, in 1990."

Read more about it at the Boston Globe website...

LGBT COMPLEXities: My Children Don't Know I'm A Lesbian

Today I bring you the first in a new category for the Stained Glass Rainbows Blog... LGBT COMPLEXities.

These articles will speak to the complex nature of some of the overlooked issues that lesbians and gays may face. Now that gay marriage is accepted in many states, here is one of the issues that may be popping up more frequently in the days ahead.

In this first article from the Huffington Post, Georgia Kolias wrestles with telling her little children that she is a lesbian.
She writes...

My 8-year-old son, who's always been rather contemplative, stopped for a moment to think. "What do you mean? You dated girls before you met Dad?"

And that's where one of the COMPLEXities pops up. "Dad" in their family is Georgia's lesbian partner who has transformed into a man. Unfortunately, this article doesn't address the potentially more complex issue of her transgender partner's explanation of the journey from woman to man to their children. Hopefully Georgia will address that in a future article.

Anyhow, it's an interesting read and here it is...

LGBT COMPLEXities: My Children Don't Know I'm A Lesbian

Joe. My. God. Posted Stained Glass Rainbows Trailer

Joe Jervis on his blog Joe. My. God. posted the new trailer to Stained Glass Rainbows today. Lots of comments over there. Check it out...

Stained Glass Rainbows - Directors Promo

"Here's my attempt to address some of the controversies surrounding the nature of Stained Glass Rainbows." - Kent C. Williamson, Director

http://stainedglassrainbows.com/Promos.html

Stained Glass Rainbows - New Trailer

Here's the new trailer for Stained Glass Rainbows! Check it out and let us know what you think...

For more trailers, promos, etc. go here

gayQUOTES: Albert Mohler

"There can be no doubt that Christianity represents the greatest obstacle to the normalization of homosexual behavior. It cannot be otherwise, because of the clear biblical teachings concerning the inherent sinfulness of homosexuality in all forms, and the normativity of heterosexual marriage." - Albert Mohler, President of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

This quote helps set the stage for the struggle that we will explore in the film Stained Glass Rainbows!

gayNEWS... Gay Couple Accused of Sexually Abusing Several Adopted Children

From the Huffington Post...

George Harasz And Douglas Wirth, Gay Couple, Face Trial For Alleged Sexual Abuse Of Foster Sons

"Harasz, 48, was charged with sexual assault in the first degree, two counts of injury to a minor, aggravated sexual assault, sexual assault in the third degree and cruelty to persons. Wirth, 43, was charged with sexual assault in the third degree and injury to a minor."

Learn More at the Huffington Post...

gayNEWS... How Many Gay Members of Congress?

How many openly gay members of Congress are there? Six to be exact according to the New York Times...

Openly Gay, and Openly Welcomed in Congress

"...in the 113th Congress there are six openly gay or bisexual members in the House — a small but tangible sign that their presence at the highest levels of government is no longer something only whispered about."

Does the mere fact that we count people (blacks, latinos, male, females, etc.) lead to equality? Or is that in itself an act of discrimination?

gayNEWS... Ric Alba's Huffington Post Interview

Ric Alba, former bassist with the Altar Boys (whom I interviewed for Stained Glass Rainbows) was recently interviewed by Bert Montgomery. Here's the print interview that appeared over at The Huffington Post... Faith, Self-Discovery and Christian Music: An Interview with Ex-Altar Boy Ric Alba

And here's a SOUNDbite from my interview with Ric for Stained Glass Rainbows... SOUNDbite... Ric Alba

gayNEWS... National Cathedral & Same-Sex Weddings

Now that Gay Marriage has been legalized in Maryland, the Associated Press is reporting that the National Cathedral will begin performing same-sex weddings... 

To quote the article...

"Official Episcopal law still defines marriage as between a man an a woman, so the cathedral says it will be performing weddings that combine civil marriage ceremonies under local law with a blessing from the church. They will use the new language approved for same-sex couples instead of the marriage ceremony from the Book of Common Prayer."


READ MORE...
FAMOUS CHURCH'S BELLS TO RING FOR SAME-SEX COUPLES

I would imagine that this will cause Shirley Phelps-Roper and her friends from Westboro Baptist to return to the DC area for another protest. I captured great conversations for Stained Glass Rainbows with her and her colleagues at a previous protest at the National Cathedral outside of Washington, D.C.

Shirley Phelps-Roper protesting in front of the National Cathedral 

America is Doomed

You're Going To Hell

The Youth of America Speak Out

SOUNDbite... Rev. Dr. Cindi Love

Here's a SOUNDbite from the Stained Glass Rainbows interview with the Rev. Dr. Cindi Love of the Metropolitan Community Church...

Kent - “You’re familiar with GodHatesFags.com?”


Cindi - “Oh, yes! They write me regularly.”


Kent - “I’m sure they do.” (laughter)


Cindi - “They particularly hate me.”


Kent - “You get lovely emails from them, probably... If (Fred) Phelps were here, what would you say to Phelps?”


Cindi - “Oh, wow... I hope I would say. If he would allow me to say, I hope I would say ‘You and I actually believe in the same God and the same Jesus. And when I get to heaven, I hope I get there ahead of you so I can hug you when you come in.’ I hope that’s what I could say...”

SOUNDbite... Jonathan Ervin

Here's a SOUNDbite from the Stained Glass Rainbows interview with Jonathan Ervin...

"AIDS has become one of the greatest blessings in my life. And people are like, 'Woah, how in the world can you say that?' And I can say it because it's brought me into a relationship with God the Father that I've only read about in a book." - Jonathan Ervin

SOUNDbite... Linda Marie Wall

Here's a SOUNDbite from the Stained Glass Rainbows interview with Linda Marie Wall, ex-lesbian and former candidate for the Virginia House of Delegates...

 “Most people who are participating in homosexuality or same-sex attraction live a double life. And that’s what I did... I lived a double life.”

- Linda Marie Wall 

gayNEWS: Lesbian-Raised Zach Wahls Speaks About Family

Mariana Bell, one of the talented musicians who submitted music for the Stained Glass Rainbows Music Quest (and survived Round One of the cuts) posted a link on her Facebook account to this video.

Zach Wahls, is a University of Iowa student who spoke about being raised by lesbians during a public forum on House Joint Resolution 6 in the Iowa House of Representatives. Wahls opposed House Joint Resolution 6 which ultimately passed the Iowa House on February 1st, 2011.

UPDATE: This resolution proposed a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage in Iowa. After being passed in the House it went to the Iowa Senate and is expected to remain active through the current legislative session. Same-sex marriage became legal in Iowa on April 3rd, 2009 and remains so as of this posting (1 DEC 2011).



During the making of Stained Glass Rainbows, I've interviewed many people that are for same-sex marriage and many people who are against it. Some consider it a states rights issue, while others want the battle taken up on the national stage. What do you say? Pro/Con? State/Federal? Marriage/Civil Union?

SOUNDtrackNEWS... ROUND ONE SURVIVORS!

On Saturday we posted the list of bands who have survived Round One of the Stained Glass Rainbows Music Quest... We started with 357 songs from 56 bands and we cut it down to 174 songs from 45 bands. Below is the list of survivors and those who (unfortunately) were cut.

Special Thanks goes out to ALL the musicians who submitted music!

Follow the contest here... http://stainedglassrainbows.com/SGR_Music_Quest.html

Here's the list of Contenders...

Abby SomeOne   FACEBOOK • MYSPACE

After School Spaceship   REVERBNATION

The Afterglow   WEB • FACEBOOK • MYSPACE • YOUTUBE • ITUNES

AñaVaña   WEB • FACEBOOK • MYSPACE

Angela Predhomme   WEB • FACEBOOK • MYSPACE

Austin Echo   WEB • FACEBOOK • MYSPACE

Between The Rain   WEB • MYSPACE • UPLAYA

Clouds Echo in Blue (Derri Daugherty of The Choir)   WEB • FACEBOOK • MYSPACE

Damn Glad   WEB • MYSPACE • REVERBNATION

David Tewksbury   WEB • FACEBOOK • MYSPACE • SOUNDCLOUD

Dead Artist Syndrome (Brian Healy)   WEB • FACEBOOK • MYSPACE

Demi   WEB • FACEBOOK • MYSPACE

Erik Gilbertson   WEB • FACEBOOK • MYSPACE

Erin Echo   WEB • FACEBOOK • MYSPACE

Fires Were Shot   WEB • FACEBOOK • MYSPACE

Freddy Gonzalez   WEB • FACEBOOK • MYSPACE

Harry Bodine   WEB

High Street Hymns (Alex Mejias)   WEB • FACEBOOK • MYSPACE

Ian C. Bouras   WEB • FACEBOOK • MYSPACE • YOUTUBE

Imperial Vipers   WEB • FACEBOOK • MYSPACE

James Shepard   WEB • FACEBOOK • MYSPACE

Jesse Podunk   WEB • FACEBOOK • MYSPACE

John Austin   WEB • FACEBOOK • MYSPACE

John Gribbin   WEB • FACEBOOK • MYSPACE

Jupiter Wind   WEB • FACEBOOK • MYSPACE

Leon Muhudinov   WEB

Luke Fulton   WEB • FACEBOOK • MYSPACE

Mariana Bell   WEB • FACEBOOK • MYSPACE • ITUNES

The Michael Handler Project   WEB • FACEBOOK • MYSPACE • YOUTUBE • ITUNES

Mick Bass   WEB • FACEBOOK • MYSPACE

Moruza (Leslie Moruza-Dripps)   WEB • FACEBOOK

Rebel America   WEB • TWITTER • MYSPACE

Rhoades D'Ablo   WEB • FACEBOOK • MYSPACE

Ric Alba (of Alter Boys, Undercover, Lifesavers)   WEB • FACEBOOK • MYSPACE

Sarah White   WEB • FACEBOOK • MYSPACE • BAND CAMP

Scorpio Rising   WEB • FACEBOOK • MYSPACE • ITUNES • AMAZON

Solardaze   WEB • FACEBOOK • MYSPACE

Spencer Thun   WEB • FACEBOOK • MYSPACE

Steve Ottman   WEB • FACEBOOK • MYSPACE

Stuart Gunter   WEB • FACEBOOK • MYSPACE

SWAG   WEB • YOUTUBE

Tangello Blue   WEB • FACEBOOK • MYSPACE

Todd Harrison   WEB • FACEBOOK • MYSPACE

Veil of Ashes (Sean Doty)   WEB • FACEBOOK • MYSPACE

Xavier & Ophelia   WEB • FACEBOOK • MYSPACE

And here's the list of those knocked out in Round One...

Ben Corkin   WEB • FACEBOOK • MYSPACE

Big 500   WEB • FACEBOOK • MYSPACE

David Mikeska   WEB • FACEBOOK • MYSPACE

Eli Westin   WEB • FACEBOOK • MYSPACE

Janet Mayson   WEB • FACEBOOK • MYSPACE • REVERBNATION

Man V. Fire   WEB • FACEBOOK • MYSPACE

Owen Ross   WEB • FACEBOOK • MYSPACE

Rick Caballo   WEB • FACEBOOK • MYSPACE

TJ Lensing   WEB • MYSPACE

Win Corduan   WEB • FACEBOOK • MYSPACE

Worship Society   WEB • FACEBOOK • MYSPACE • YOUTUBE

SOUNDbite... Brian Healy

Here's a SOUNDbite from the Stained Glass Rainbows interview with Brian Healy, the mind behind Dead Artist Syndrome...

 “Jesus came to heal the sick, not the healthy. Until your church is filled with ex-drug addicts, whores, abusive son-of-a-bitches, fags, whatever ‘insert hate group here’, unless your church is filled with those people you’re not doing the mission of Christ. He didn’t come to heal those us who are well. He came to heal the sick, the demented, the lost, the troubled, the broken. We are saved by grace, not by any stupid, fucking, brilliant, idea we’ve ever had, and the American church has got to get over that concept!” - Brian Healy

SOUNDbite... Ric Alba

Here's a SOUNDbite from the Stained Glass Rainbows interview with Ric Alba, bass player for the Altar Boys and Dead Artist Syndrome...

“People will say, ‘Well, I’m just loving the sinner, but hating the sin.’ You know, Love the Sinner, Hate the Sin. You never hear that when it comes to any other sin. I want to have a t-shirt that says, ‘Love the Sinner, Hate Your Own Damn Sin!’” - Ric Alba

filmUPDATE: Ric Alba, Sean Doty, & Brian Healy

Last week I was in California where I shot three new interviews for the film. All of these guys have amazing stories to tell and all were incredibly influential in the early formation of the Christian alternative music scene.

On Saturday October 15th, I sat down with Sean Doty, a college friend of mine, who (after being kicked out of Moody Bible Institute) went on to front the band Veil of Ashes. His journey through music and his wrestling match with his sexual identity will make for a fantastic contribution to the film.

On Sunday October 16th, I interviewed one of the heroes from my college years, Ric Alba, bass player for bands like Altar Boys, Undercover, Lifesavers, Dead Artist Syndrome, etc. As a bass player myself, I will never forget watching the Altar Boys play the Main Stage at Cornerstone in the late 80's. What a powerful, life shaping event that was. Ric has since fully embraced his gay identity and has some powerful words for the church to hear.

That same evening I had the privilege to sit down and talk with Brian Healy, who's been dubbed "the father of Christian goth". He's the mind behind Dead Artist Syndrome. He's straight, cuts to the chase, and has some insightful and witty commentary directed toward the church as it relates to the issues I'm addressing in the film.

These interviews will give a whole new flavor to the soup and the spices are starting to make the broth sing.

Speaking of singing, both Sean Doty and Ric Alba have contributed music for the film's soundtrack! 

Altogether around 350 songs were submitted during our music quest... now the fun begins of letting the cream begin to rise. We have great submissions from the U.K., Ireland and all across America. So far I've whittled it down to 217 songs... hopefully I'll get it down to under 20 for inclusion in the film.

Thanks to these three guys for the great interviews and to the bands from all over who have sent music for consideration on the soundtrack of Stained Glass Rainbows.