The Gay Mobster 'Sopranos' Wrers Used as the Basis for Vo Spatafore

Contents:

• MAKINGGAYHISTORY—THE PODCAST
• GAY ‘SOPRANOS’ MOBSTER FDS A B OF FAME
• VIGGO MORTENSEN EX WIFE EXENE CERVENKA AND RELATNSHIP TIMELE, WHAT ABOUT THE GAY RUMORS?
• HOW GAY IS VO OM THE SOPRANOS?
• THE GAY MOBSTER ‘SOPRANOS’ WRERS USED AS THE BASIS FOR VO SPATAFORE
• BARRY’S NOHO HANK: JT ANOTHER A SERI OF GAY TELEVISN MOBSTERS
• MOB H MAN OUT OF THE CLOSET: ROBERT MORMANDO IS GAY AND REGRETS LIFE OF CRIME, HIS LAWYER SAYS
• IS MICHAEL CIMO GAY? WHO IS HE DATG?
• JOE GANNASLI DISCS HIS LIFE DURG AND SCE PLAYG GAY MOBSTER VO SPATAFORE ON ‘THE SOPRANOS’

MAKINGGAYHISTORY—THE PODCAST

Episo NotFrom Eric Marc: The late thor and activist Vo Rso is bt known for his 1981 landmark book, The Celluloid Closet: Homosexualy the Movi, and for -foundg both GLAAD (origally known as the Gay & Lbian Alliance Agast Defamatn), and ACT UP (the AIDS Coaln to Unleash Power) my terview wh Vo, you’ll hear him trace the start of his activism to a ndlelight vigil outsi St. Vcent’s Hospal for Diego Val, who was arrted on March 8, 1970, a police raid of the Snake P bar ( his Makg Gay History terview, Vo mistakenly dat the raid to July 1969).

Vo read a flyer that was beg hand out at the vigil and that led him to jo the Gay Activists Alliance (GAA) Rso the late 1960s. A profsor of me—she knew that I was gay, but we never spoke about — said to me, ‘I’m warng you, if you ph this thg some day they’ll shoot you the streets.

A month before his ath, I met wh Vo to choose photographs to go along wh his chapter the origal 1992 edn of Makg Gay History.

GAY ‘SOPRANOS’ MOBSTER FDS A B OF FAME

One of the photos he chose, which you’ll fd below, shows Vo wh Bette Midler at the June 24, 1973 Gay Pri rally Washgton Square Park New York Cy’s Greenwich Village, which followed the fourth annual Gay Pri para. Vo was the Rso and Bette Midler at the Gay Pri rally Washgton Square Park, New York Cy, June 24, 1973. You n also watch the speech Rso and his boyiend, Jeff Sevcik, celebratg Gay Pri New York Cy, June 1982.

VIGGO MORTENSEN EX WIFE EXENE CERVENKA AND RELATNSHIP TIMELE, WHAT ABOUT THE GAY RUMORS?

Michael Schiavi’s thorough and engagg bgraphy of Vo, Celluloid Activist: The Life and Tim of Vo Rso, was published 2011 by the Universy of Wisns Rso’s oral history n be found Eric Marc’s book Makg Gay History.

Jefey also piled hours of outtak om the documentary on a range of topics and featurg terviews wh several different people, which you n fd Rso is also creded as a wrer for the 1995 documentary The Celluloid Closet, which is based on his book and learn more about the pictn of male homosexualy  the silent and “pre-” eras of film the U. And Europe, have a look at Shane Brown’s vio say, Queer Romance: Gay Characters and Male Bondg Early Film, here.

HOW GAY IS VO OM THE SOPRANOS?

Cred: Lee New York Tim published Vo Rso’s obuary, which Vo was scribed as a film historian, cric, and advote for gay honor of Vo Rso’s work, GLAAD named the “Vo Rso Tt” after him. The llectn clus rrponnce, journals, photographs, extensive rourc om his “Celluloid Closet” lectur, as well as var “gay and lbian ephemera.

”In his Makg Gay History terview, Vo referenc a 1919 film lled Different om the Others, which was -wrten by Magn Hirschfeld. ———Episo TranscriptEric Marc Narratn: I’m Eric Marc and this is the season fale Makg Gay after I signed a ntract to wre my book Makg Gay History, I ma a list. AIDS was burng through a generatn of gay men.

And he was also one of the founrs of GLAAD, an anizatn that challenged how gay people were reprented the media. It was a landmark book on the history of how gay people were portrayed I lled Vo and ma an appotment to terview him at his apartment the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan. Tape one, si you remember the first time you saw a film which gay characters were portrayed?

THE GAY MOBSTER ‘SOPRANOS’ WRERS USED AS THE BASIS FOR VO SPATAFORE

He ms suici at the end only bee he’s acced of beg gay. He’s not even gay.

He had one homosexual experience the Army and was beg blackmailed. Instead, he tracked down the blackmailers and operated wh the police and put them jail, all to challenge the existg laws agast homosexual behavr.

BARRY’S NOHO HANK: JT ANOTHER A SERI OF GAY TELEVISN MOBSTERS

And that I was right and that they were wrong, but that they were gonna beat me up for so I had to keep my mouth wasn’t like high school I didn’t know any gay kids. ” And I had never heard of Fire Island and was like a total revelatn to me that there was like this gay muny out Do you remember anythg about the movement at that time.

VR: The only thg I knew was I picked up magaz like ONE and I got the sense that there were people out there who were makg a se for gay people, sayg that they shouldn’t be persecuted. And he was aaid that if me out that he was gay he would be ported. And that was the followg Thursday when I went to my first Gay Activists Alliance So then you were volved activist activi through the early ’ What was happeng by 1971, ’72, ’73 was that I was graduate school cema, gettg a masters film.

And I was heavily volved wh the Gay Activists Alliance. So those three facts sort of nspired to make me realize that I wanted to wre a readable, accsible book about the history of the ways which lbians and gay men had been portrayed on the screen, pecially mastream movi, which reach most people, bee I felt that our image was at the root of homophobia. That people were beg tght thgs about as gay people that simply weren’t te.

MOB H MAN OUT OF THE CLOSET: ROBERT MORMANDO IS GAY AND REGRETS LIFE OF CRIME, HIS LAWYER SAYS

And I wonr often, I mean, I have no way of perceivg whether or not the book did any good terms of s actual impact on movi bee I still see most mastream Hollywood films as vilently homophobic. And now people are jt “A, ” sred to al wh this subject at all, or “B, ” homophobic the extreme.

IS MICHAEL CIMO GAY? WHO IS HE DATG?

I was booked to do a lecture at a gay film ftival.

And ’s a new kd of activism, bee ’s created a aln, which we were never able to achieve the ’ UP is posed of gay people and straight people, women and men, Black and whe.

VR: I fd tertg om what I know about the history of the gay movement, that there always have been and there will always be people who are willg to put their liv on the le for the ias. Then the 1940s and the 1950s there were the Harry Hays and the Barbara Gtgs and the Mattache Society and then the ’60s, gay liberatn. It’s the more radil issu that I thk are still gonna be fought over, whether gay people have the right to adopt children…EM: Get Get married, teach the public schools, which they do now, you know, but be open about .

JOE GANNASLI DISCS HIS LIFE DURG AND SCE PLAYG GAY MOBSTER VO SPATAFORE ON ‘THE SOPRANOS’

I mean, I really feel the reason why I’m here is so that I uld leave this book and the articl so that some 16-year-old kid who’s gonna be a gay activist the next 10 or 15 years is gonna read them and rry the ball om there.

It had a silvery jacket and a subtle that ught my eye: Homosexualy the Movi. And really years later Rick Kot, a young gay edor at Harper & Row, missned me to wre Makg Gay History.

I went by his apartment to go over photos wh him for his chapter of the book, cludg my favore, a photo of Vo and Bette Midler om the Gay Pri rally 1973. ———So, this episo marks the end of season one of Makg Gay History. Thanks to the support of the Ford Foundatn, I’m thrilled to tell you that we’ll be back wh a send season of Makg Gay the meantime, I want my crew to know how grateful I am for their mment, enthiasm, and ditn to brgg Makg Gay History to life.