Date: Sun, 5 Mar 1995 21:39:10 -0500
From: Ttownqueer@aol.com

Tinseltown's Queer!
Free Weekly Column #8:

"THE MOANING LIPSTICK LESBIANS LEAPED FOR LANCE..."

PLEASE FEEL FREE TO PASS THIS ALONG THROUGH CYBERSPACE, THE WORLD WIDE WEB,
ETC.

***CONDITIONS FOR PUBLICATION/DISTRIBUTION FOLLOW COLUMN***
_________________________________________

COLUMN #8 - March 13th thru 20th, 1995
Copyright (c) 1995 by Nicholas Snow, All Rights Reserved

Nicholas Snow is...
TINSELTOWN'S QUEER!
"News, Commentary and Gossip, With a Political Cutting Edge."

"THE MOANING LIPSTICK LESBIANS LEAPED FOR LANCE..."

 Greetings from Tinseltown!  In this particular column, I weave together some
recent true-life experiences (A Loom with a View?) that will hopefully result
in an inspiring tapestry of words.  For starters, however, I'd like to
welcome the Gay & Lesbian Times, based in San Diego, CA, as the most recent
paper to carry this column!  My thanks go out to GLT Editor JERI DILNO for
believing in my work and helping me to expand my circulation by another
15,000 each week.  Thanks to Jeri and other Queer Media Divas across the
globe, "Tinseltown's Queer!" can now be read in print in at least 16 states
and two foreign countries, not to mention the column's eternal life in
cyberspace.  Now, on with the weaving...

 Although I currently do not have an agent (I have a popular TV show in a
major media market, a syndicated column, a concept and songs for a pop album,
and enough celebrity to bring on autograph seekers, but no agent.
 Helloooooooo? William Morris?  ICM?  Anybody home?), I was offered a key
"anchor" position on a new "network".  The "network" is a new,
state-of-the-art, adult-oriented, interactive computer service, backed by big
bucks, and I was being sought after to co-host an issues-oriented, cyberchat
show, to be offered to subscribers along with all sorts of "adult-oriented"
fare. 

 Here's the part where I tell you where to find me in political discourse
with my co-host, CUM-SUCKING CANDY (no joke, and I must say, she seems like a
very admirable individual) on a cyberchannel near you, or I tell you why I
turned down the gig.  The envelope please...

 I AM an advocate of First Amendment rights, and I whole-heartedly support
the adult entertainment industry's role in a free speech society.  I am also
thrilled with the many technological advances of the computer age, and the
prospect of being a "cyberspace personality" fascinated me.  But the primary
reason that I considered this gig was...

 Many homosexual men--deeply, deeply closted, so much so that they are not
gay-identified in the least--are consumers of the "adult entertainment"
offered in cyberspace.  My thought was, "as an out, loud & proud Queer with a
cyberchat show, I could help enlighten and inspire these men to
de-compartmentalize their sexuality, and show up in the world as more
integrated, enlightened, healthy men OUTside their closet doors."  I couldn't
think of a better opportunity to reach a seemingly unreachable target
audience with Queer political discourse, but I TURNED DOWN THE GIG.

 I turned down the gig because I am disgusted with the fact that the media
images of gay men (that WE often create) continue to be those of "WHITE,
'STRAIGHT-ACTING', MUSCLE-BOUND SEX GODS" spending hours a day in the gym,
between video shoots, in preparation for THE WHITE PARTY in Palm Springs (a
gay male porn producer's marketing fantasy).  And when Men Of Color are
represented in gay porn films (made mostly for an affluent white audience),
they are almost always objectified as part of some WHITE fantasy about black
sexuality.  If you don't know what I'm talking about, read "Race Matters" by
Cornell West, and then calculate how many men of African descent play "tops"
in gay porn, as opposed to "bottoms".

 I also turned down the gig because of LESBIANS.  I realized that, if I were
to be a personality on an adult entertainment network that offered an entire
line of programming about lesbians, I would, in fact, be helping to promote
the WHITE, HETEROSEXUAL, PATRIARCHAL, MALE FANTASY OF LESBIANS, which is far
from the truth.

 And finally, I turned down the gig because of KARMA.  I know, through
personal experience, that many people have decided to "perform" in adult
entertainment at very vulnerable times in their lives, often living to regret
these decisions.  And while there may be conscientious producers of porn who
go out of their way to make sure their "actors" are making healthy,
self-aware decisions to perform, there are many more who exploit the
vulnerabilities of youth on our streets, exiled from homophobic upbringings,
struggling to survive, lost...& found by a video camera.

 THE RELEASES HAVE BEEN SIGNED, and today's adult-entertainment fare is
filled with images of exploited economic and emotional vulnerability, filled
with the racism, classism, sexism, looksism and many other isms which plague
us.

 We're talking about the hierarchy of oppression here, starting at the top
with white, rich, straight males, and moving on down to differently-abled
lesbians of color (with everyone else in between).

 I'm not anti-porn in the least, so how about politically correct porn,
including lesbian videos made by and for lesbians;  Personalities instead of
pecs;  And bodies that cum in all shapes, sizes and colors, played by actors
that have embraced their performances with healthy, secure perspectives about
themselves, life, and the world in which we live.

 I would be a hypocrite if I didn't tell you that I attended the Gay Video
Guide Awards in Los Angeles last year, even accepting an invitation to be a
celebrity judge next year (the awards are produced by a dear friend, and
benefit an extremely worthy organization).  But I've had reason to examine
these issues more carefully with all my heart and soul, and I've changed my
mind (a changing mind is a good THINK).  You will not find Nicholas Snow with
Cum-Sucking Candy on a cyberchannel near you.

 Nicholas Snow, self-proclaimed
"Actor-Writer-Singer-Songwriter-Publisher-Columnist-Activist-Diva", is the
producer and host of the syndicated television show, "Tinseltown's Queer!"
 His editorial mission (and the foundation of his entertainment pursuits)
is,"To examine and strengthen the relationship between the entertainment
industry and the Queer (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual, transgenderist)
Civil Rights Movement, thereby positively impacting the movement itself."
 For more information, or with questions, comments, breaking news or gossip,
E-mail Ttownqueer@aol.com, write 7985 Santa Monica Blvd., Suite 450, West
Hollywood, CA  90046, or call Snow's 24-HOUR Audio Press Release at (818)
771-7690.
###

_____________________________________________

CONDITIONS FOR PUBLICATION and/or RE-DISTRIBUTION (modified 1/29/95).

This is a FREE, weekly, syndicated column, distributed electronically via the
internet, available to any interested print publication or on-line user.
 Although this material is copyrighted by the author, you are hereby granted
permission to print (only in newspapers or magazines--no books) and
distribute (electronically) this column on a one-time-per-column basis.

EDITORS/PUBLISHERS:  Please feel free to edit the column for length or
timeliness, as it may simply be too long for your particular publication, or
perhaps outdated, as some of the subscribing publications are monthly, or
bi-weekly, as opposed to weekly.  IF YOU PRINT OR REDISTRIBUTE THIS COLUMN IN
ANY WAY, YOU  MUST LEAVE THE FINAL PROMOTIONAL PARAGRAPH(s) INTACT (That's
why this column is free), and you must send two copies of each issue which
contains the column to Nicholas Snow, The Tinseltown Queer, 7985 Santa Monica
Blvd., Suite 450, West Hollywood, CA  90046.

IF YOU WANT A BLACK & WHITE HEADSHOT TO ACCOMPANY THE COLUMN, PLEASE EMAIL
YOUR REQUEST AND MAILING ADDRESS TO Ttownqueer@aol.com. (On online photo will
be forthcoming in a few weeks, for electronic recipients).

The column is distributed anytime between Sunday a.m. and Monday p.m.,
Pacific Standard Time.  If you have received this column as the result of
being on a list or newsgroup and wish to receive it directly, please notify
me at Ttownqueer@aol.com.

Thank you very much.

Sincerely,

Nicholas Snow
The Tinseltown Queer