A Queer Take on Jam Fran's 'Straight Jam / Gay Jam' - Lambda Lerary

i'm gay james

Recent Posts

GAY TONY MISSIONS LISTDecember 28, 2024
CLIPS GAYDecember 28, 2024
GAY BATHROOM MEMEDecember 28, 2024
GAY JEWISH WEDDING TRADITIONSDecember 28, 2024
GAY ROMANCE FILMS ON NETFLIXDecember 28, 2024
GAYNDAH MEDICAL PRACTICEDecember 28, 2024
BIG BROTHER AUSTRALIA GAYDecember 28, 2024
GAY WANDA SYKESDecember 28, 2024
SIT GAYEDecember 28, 2024
INDIA GAY COMDecember 28, 2024

Tags

Is he gay? Do you still re? Did you ever?

Contents:

A QUEER TAKE ON JAM FRAN’S ‘STRAIGHT JAM / GAY JAM’

"There is a b of overfocg on my sexualy, both by the straight prs and the gay prs ... why do they re?" * i'm gay james *

And recent years, two groups of people particular have bee creasgly fed-up wh (and creasgly hostile to) the celebry provotr: poets and gay men.

It should e as no surprise, then, that gay poets n get pecially riled about Fran’s play wh inty and “lerary manspreadg, ” to borrow a phrase om Purvi Shah’s piece for Vida on the Michael Derrick Hudson yellowface ntroversy. And yet Fran’s “queer public persona, ” as he scrib his latt poetry chapbook, Straight Jam / Gay Jam (Hansen Publishg Group), is meangfully distct om Hudson’s ce, as is om Rachel Dolezal’s, and om the cultural appropriatn of Katy Perry and Iggy Azaela—all of whom I’ve wnsed whe gay poets pare Fran to.

Do the succs of this public persona, then, of which his intifitn as a poet is most certaly a part (see: his affy for gay poets Frank Bidart, Allen Gsberg and Hart Crane), pend on the tails of Fran’s private life?

JAM FRAN SAYS HE'S 'A LTLE GAY'

* i'm gay james *

From this poem on, which the speaker intifi himself as a “sister clown, / Wh a se pated / So thick / I looked mad-happy, always, ” Straight Jam / Gay Jam ncerns self primarily wh problems of persona. Fran don’t want to fuck Lana Del Rey so much as to be her—not unlike the relatnship to women he characteriz “Hello Woman, ” and not, as happens, unlike many gay men’s relatnship to Del Rey.

Intertgly, when Del Rey’s mic vio for “Summertime Sadns” told the story of a lbian affair spe the sger’s ostensible heterosexualy, no one acced her of gay-bag.

JAM RANDI: “I’M GAY.”

Jam Fran Addrs His Sexualy: ‘I’m Gay In My Art & Straight In My Life’ Jam Fran giv a sexy stare on the ver of FourTwoNe magaze's latt issue. In the magaze, the 36-year-old actor terviewed himself and is reprented… * i'm gay james *

In his tle poem, which tak the form of an terview between Straight Jam (SJ) and Gay Jam (GJ), and is one of the most engagg the llectn, Fran do fally rpond to the accatns he himself fac, settlg once and for all the qutn of whether he’s gay the most leral sense (not really). Let’s get substantial: are you fuckg gay or what?

JAM FRAN ADDRS HIS SEXUALY: 'I'M GAY IN MY ART & STRAIGHT IN MY LIFE'

Based on the fascatg, te-life story of Michael Glatze (Jam Fran), a gay activist who be an anti-gay Christian pastor. * i'm gay james *

GJ: Well, I like to thk I’m gay my art and straight my life. Although, I’m also gay my life up to the pot of terurse, and then you uld say I’m straight. So I gus pends on how you fe gay.

Gay Jam go on to make the valid, if non-revelatory pot about how sex acts were not, historilly, unrstood as the basis of sexual inty, and Straight Jam later adms, “Sh, I’d love to fuck you, ” to his alter-ego, but the takeaway is clear: Fran is terted—scerely— the trappgs of gay inty, and not terted participatg gay sex. (“I was not the one who pulled my public persona to the gay world; that was the straight gossip prs and the gay prs speculatg about me, ” Fran remds his self-terview.

EMEM 'COM OUT' AS GAY IN HILAR 'INTERVIEW' CAMEOMARSHALL MATHERS' SCENE THE HIGHLY NTROVERSIAL JAM FRAN AND SETH ROGEN MOVIE MAY BE THE FILM'S MOST SHOCKG {FONT:NORMAL 800 1.2REM/1.25 "GRAVY",SANS-SERIF;TEXT-TRANSFORM:NONE;LOR:HER;DISPLAY:LE-BLOCK;PADDG-BOTTOM:6PX;POSN:RELATIVE;TEXT-TRANSFORM:UPPERSE;}{BACKGROUND:#FFFFFF;BOTTOM:0;NTENT:'';DISPLAY:BLOCK;HEIGHT:2PX;LEFT:0;POSN:ABSOLUTE;RIGHT:0;-WEBK-TRANSN:ALL 0.2S EASE;TRANSN:ALL 0.2S EASE;WIDTH:100%;}{LEFT:51%;RIGHT:51%;WIDTH:0;}{FONT:NORMAL 800 1.2REM/1.25 "GRAVY",SANS-SERIF;TEXT-TRANSFORM:NONE;LOR:HER;DISPLAY:LE-BLOCK;PADDG-BOTTOM:6PX;POSN:RELATIVE;TEXT-TRANSFORM:UPPERSE;}{BACKGROUND:#FFFFFF;BOTTOM:0;NTENT:'';DISPLAY:BLOCK;HEIGHT:2PX;LEFT:0;POSN:ABSOLUTE;RIGHT:0;-WEBK-TRANSN:ALL 0.2S EASE;TRANSN:ALL 0.2S EASE;WIDTH:100%;}{LEFT:51%;RIGHT:51%;WIDTH:0;}MOVIBY ADAM FLEISCHERDECEMBER 25, 2014/11:09 {HEIGHT:HER;DISPLAY:-WEBK-BOX;DISPLAY:-WEBK-FLEX;DISPLAY:-MS-FLEXBOX;DISPLAY:FLEX;POSN:RELATIVE;-WEBK-FLEX-WRAP:WRAP;-MS-FLEX-WRAP:WRAP;FLEX-WRAP:WRAP;-WEBK-ALIGN-EMS:CENTER;-WEBK-BOX-ALIGN:CENTER;-MS-FLEX-ALIGN:CENTER;ALIGN-EMS:CENTER;-WEBK-BOX-PACK:CENTER;-WEBK-JTIFY-NTENT:CENTER;-MS-FLEX-PACK:CENTER;JTIFY-NTENT:CENTER;-WEBK-TRANSFORM-ORIG:CENTER;-MS-TRANSFORM-ORIG:CENTER;TRANSFORM-ORIG:CENTER;} IMG{HEIGHT:100%;WIDTH:100%;OBJECT-F:VER;}{HEIGHT:574PX;WIDTH:1020PX;}GARY MILLER / GETTY IMAGEMEMBY ADAM FLEISCHERDECEMBER 25, 2014 / 11:09 AM{"@NTEXT":","@TYPE":"NEWSARTICLE","HEADLE":"EMEM 'COM OUT' AS GAY IN HILAR 'INTERVIEW' CAMEO","THUMBNAILURL":","DATEPUBLISHED":"2014-12-25T16:09:47.000+0000","DATEMODIFIED":"2014-12-25T16:09:47.000+0000","IMAGE":{"@NTEXT":","@TYPE":"IMAGEOBJECT","URL":","WIDTH":1920,"HEIGHT":1080},"URL":","THOR":{"@TYPE":"ORGANIZATN","NAME":"MTV"},"MAENTYOFPAGE":{"@TYPE":"WEBPAGE","@ID":"},"PUBLISHER":{"@TYPE":"ORGANIZATN","@ID":","NAME":"MTV","URL":","LOGO":{"@TYPE":"IMAGEOBJECT","URL":","WIDTH":1280,"HEIGHT":720}},"CREATOR":"ADAM FLEISCHER","ARTICLESECTN":"MOVI"}{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;DISPLAY:-WEBK-BOX;DISPLAY:-WEBK-FLEX;DISPLAY:-MS-FLEXBOX;DISPLAY:FLEX;-WEBK-BOX-PACK:CENTER;-WEBK-JTIFY-NTENT:CENTER;-MS-FLEX-PACK:CENTER;JTIFY-NTENT:CENTER;} .TWTER-TWEET-RENRED, {M-WIDTH:65%;WIDTH:TO !IMPORTANT;} {WIDTH:100%;} {MARG-LEFT:TO !IMPORTANT;MARG-RIGHT:TO !IMPORTANT;} IMG{MAX-WIDTH:100%;WIDTH:100%;} > IAME{BORR:NONE;MAX-WIDTH:100%;} > *{MAX-WIDTH:NONE !IMPORTANT;}{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#F3F3F3;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}OVER THE LAST FEW WEEKS, THERE'S BEEN PLENTY OF FALLOUT OM RECENT SONY HACKS AND NTROVERSY SURROUNDG "THE INTERVIEW" -- OM SONY PULLG THE MOVIE, TO PRINT OBAMA LLG THAT MOVE A "MISTAKE," TO THE FILM NOW BEG RELEASED ONLE AND SOME {BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#F3F3F3;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}MUCH OF WHAT'S BEEN SAID ABOUT THE ACTUAL NTENT OF "THE INTERVIEW" HAS CENTERED ON THE STORY OF CHARACTERS PLAYED BY JAM FRAN AND SETH ROGEN ATTEMPTG TO ASSASSATE KIM JONG-UN. BUT TURNS OUT THERE'S AN EQUALLY, IF NOT MORE, SURPRISG PLOT POT: EMEM IS {BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#F3F3F3;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}OF URSE, ANYONE WHO'S FOLLOWED HIS REER AND LISTENED TO HIS MIC DURG HIS 15 YEARS THE MASTREAM KNOWS THAT EM HAS OFTEN TAKEN HEAT FOR E OF WORDS LIKE "F----T" AND OTHER HOMOPHOBIC NTENT. BUT THIS PRETTY HILAR MEO, HE EXPLAS WHERE THAT ALL {BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#F3F3F3;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}"WHEN I SAY THGS ABOUT GAY PEOPLE, OR PEOPLE THK MY LYRICS ARE HOMOPHOBIC -- 'S BEE I'M GAY," HE SAYS DURG AN TERVIEW WH FRAN'S {BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#F3F3F3;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}NATURALLY, HE AND ROGEN'S CHARACTER, WHO'S PRODUCG THE SHOW, EAK OUT. AND THEN SLIM NTU HIS SHOCKG {BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#F3F3F3;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}"I'M MORE SHOCKED THAT PEOPLE HAVEN'T FIGURED OUT YET; I MEAN, 'S KD OF LIKE I'VE BEEN PLAYG GAY PEEK-A-BOO," HE SAYS. NEXT, THEY READ A LYRIC OM 2009'S "MEDICE BALL," TO WHICH HE REVEALS: "I'VE PRETTY MUCH JT BEEN LEAVG A BREADCMB TRAIL OF GAYNS."{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#F3F3F3;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}SAY WHAT YOU WANT ABOUT THE DETRO RAPPER, BUT 'S HARD TO SAY HE'S NOT {BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#F3F3F3;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}CHECK OUT THE CLIP ABOVE, AND THEN WATCH EMEM RPOND TO THE NTROVERSY THAT SURROUNDS HIS LYRICS A (REAL) TERVIEW WH MTV NEWS {BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;CLEAR:BOTH;}{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;MARG:0 TO;WIDTH:90%;M-WIDTH:288PX;MAX-WIDTH:1440PX;M-HEIGHT:194PX;}LATT NEWS

The rapid cultural sea-change on gay rights and the sudn (if limed) regnn of trans narrativ means that there has never before been so many queer mols accsible the mastream, even as the ins of mastream acceptance (marriage equaly, Calyn Jenner) paradoxilly ero queer difference. This might be key to the problem that persists Fran’s claim to queerns, and what about that rankl so many gay men: a lack of perspective. What do you say to people who cricize you for appropriatg gay culture for your work?

So do Jam Fran have anythg telligent to say about beg gay?

” And while Fran might not yet have mastered the difference, he’s a straight man  2016 whose entire project pends on the assumptn that beg gay would be ls borg. Jam Fran’s sexualy has been the subject of much speculatn, cludg by Jam Fran; the actor/artist/thor once nducted an terview between his straight and gay selv. In a New York Magaze terview published the April 18 issue, the actor once aga elaborated on the subject, scribg himself as “a ltle gay.

'I NEVER ME OUT AS STRAIGHT SO I DON'T SEE WHY OTHER PEOPLE SHOULD HAVE TO SAY 'I'M GAY''

” Notg that Fran has said he’s “gay my art and straight my life, ” the terviewer asks Fran to expla whether he’s not also gay his life, potg out that some gay men have lled him “kd of a gay c—k tease. There is a b of overfocg on my sexualy, both by the straight prs and the gay prs, and so the first qutn is why do they re?

But if your fn of gay and straight is who I sleep wh, then I gus you uld say I’m a gay c—k tease.

Yeah, I’m a ltle gay, and there’s a gay Jam. Dpe intifyg as straight, Fran's put a great al of energy to gay-themed projects like Interr. An enthiastic fan off all thgs leather and rabow-lored or a poser who wants the ol edgs of beg gay--well what's left of --whout the, ya know, sleepg wh men and alg wh discrimatn?

JAM WILLIAMS, GAY ACTIVIST INDIA, DI AT 35

Edor--chief Kev Ssums had Fran tackle the qutn a peculiar way: havg straight Jam Fran terview gay Jam Fran. Here's what we got:Straight Jam: Let's get substantial: Are you fuckg gay or what?

Gay Jam: Well, I like to thk that I'm gay my art and straight my life. Although, I'm also gay my life up to the pot of terurse, and then you uld say I'm straight. In the twenti and thirti, they ed to fe homosexualy by how you acted and not by whom you slept wh.

I’m gay. From some seventy years of personal experience, I n tell you that there’s not much “gay” about beg homosexual.

*BEAR-MAGAZINE.COM* I'M GAY JAMES

A Queer Take on Jam Fran's 'Straight Jam / Gay Jam' - Lambda Lerary .

TOP