About That Gay Mafia...

Contents:

• THE VELVET MAFIA: THE GAY MEN WHO HELPED SHAPE MIC THE 60S
• THE VELVET MAFIA: THE GAY MEN WHO RAN THE SWGG SIXTI
• ABOUT THAT GAY MAFIA...
• ADAM CAROLLA: THE GAY MAFIA IS REAL

THE VELVET MAFIA: THE GAY MEN WHO HELPED SHAPE MIC THE 60S

But the people who shaped and advised those artists – the on who managed the stars of the classic rock age – were, by an outsized marg, gay terwoven muny clud Brian Epste (who brought the world the Beatl), K Lambert (who -managed the Who), Simon Napier-Bell (the Yardbirds, and a young Marc Bolan), Robert Stigwood (Cream, the Bee Ge), Billy Gaff (Rod Stewart), Ken Pt (David Bowie), Barry Krost (Cat Stevens), as well as Tony Stratton-Smh (who formed the visnary label Charisma for bands like Genis). A new book tled The Velvet Mafia: the Gay Men who Ran the Swgg Sixti aims to tell the Brish si of this story by focg on several key players the scene, cludg a few of the aforementned nam along wh the novative producer Joe Meek and the head of the UK’s most powerful label at the time, Sir Joseph Lockwood.

”At the same time, the rich, powerful and fluential men faced the nsirable nsequenc of beg gay at a time when homosexual acts were still outlawed the UK. ”There were, fact, a few powerful gay women the Brish rock scene at the time as well, cludg Vicki Wickham, who booked the acts on the semal TV show Ready Steady Go and who later managed Dty Sprgfield and LaBelle. ”In some ways, managers like Epste and other others uld sulate themselv om the everyday life of gay men at the time – throwg their own exclive parti and circulatg elevated circl where they uld do as they pleased.

Ironilly, after the law agast homosexual acts changed Bra 1967 – crimalizg them certa circumstanc and for those of a certa age – the harassment of LGBTQ people actually tensified. “But post-67, and wh the formatn of the Gay Liberatn Front 1970 Bra and wh gay people beg more outspoken, the raids and the psdo-polil attacks started to happen more. In the fifti and sixti, the perd leadg up to the partial crimalisatn of homosexualy and the foundg of the Gay Liberatn movement, a group of gay men behd the scen of rock’n’roll was changg pop, polics and society for good.

THE VELVET MAFIA: THE GAY MEN WHO RAN THE SWGG SIXTI

Compellg and enlighteng, The Velvet Mafia explor how the LGBT profsnals at the heart of the mic dtry were workg together and supportg each other at a time when beg homosexual uld mean the end of your reer – or much worse. This group of gay Hollywood power players have all dated famo actrs, this celebry uple is a fake, this experienced Osr-nomee is now sleepg wh all the ladi, and two ems about athlet datg actrs. More than half of the leadg power brokers Hollywood are Jewish, and about a third of the powerful are homosexual, cludg David Geffen, Ray Stark, Calv Kle, Aaron Spellg, Steve Tisch, Barry Diller and agent Sandy Gall.

From Taki's lumn the 3/7/00 I’m not at all surprised to read that Hollywood is domated by a Velvet Mafia of rich homosexuals who mand sexual favors return for work the movi. (Geffen, as mor has , is supposed to have been thrilled that the movie a homophobe father beats up his son when he spects him to have had a gay affair wh Kev Spacey’s character, and even more thrilled when is later revealed that the homophobe was actually a reprsed gay. Here is one of Bill Clton’s close supporters, one who had a ee n of the Lln bedroom, and was, I believe, once even lled an adviser to the Draft Dodger, phg a gay agenda of promotg stars and directors who make movi and rerds sympathetic to the gay liftyle.

As Pl Craig Roberts (the bt lumnist by far) poted out the John Rocker se, "Bud Selig thks that kids wh purple hair, repeat felons, welfare moms and homosexuals wh AIDS are ‘ethnici. "When I me out of the closet ( 1973), I me to the revolutnary ncln that there was nothg wrong wh beg gay and that clud everyone else as well, " Mp told the LA Tim.

ABOUT THAT GAY MAFIA...

But Buzz, a lively monthly out of Los Angel - 's sort of like Toronto Life but more fun - says s ver story that a lot of people who ph the squeaky-clean, mom-dad-two-kids-pl-dog, relentlsly upbeat Disney image are more than jt cheerful, gang: they're gladly, joyoly gay. Recently, a gay and lbian pri day was held at Walt Disney World and 12, 000 showed up, walkg down the streets of the Magic Kgdom "holdg hands, embracg, and kissg. " And yet another example of synchronicy, Spy has a story on Hollywood's 'Gay Mafia, ' a group that packs a tremendo punch the movie dtry's boardrooms.

Everyone knows Hollywood is a ''boy's club, '' meang straight men n , but even if the straight boys don't accept someone, there are plenty of gays and lbians to bond wh, and there has even arisen, the media, a phrase, ''the gay Mafia.

AT THE start of the film Amerin Bety, Kev Spacey's character, Lter Burnham, says: 'In a year, I will be ad' - and by the movie's end, he is, killed by his reprsed homosexual next- door neighbour. Everyone the film is explosively dysfunctnal, except for the Burnhams' other set of neighbours, an affluent gay uple who float through the mayhem wh disarmg sereny.

ADAM CAROLLA: THE GAY MAFIA IS REAL

Its sweep of the Amy Awards' top tegori thrilled Hollywood's gay muny, who have been tryg to prove for a long time that heterosexualy is a sad form of sexual dysfunctn. This held that heterosexualy was a curse to be nigrated and mocked wherever possible, and that gays uld never w the power they craved society whout unrmg heterosexuals whenever possible.

On the posive ont, the radil gays argued that homosexuals should be entled to get married the same way as heterosexual upl, and that schools should teach about gay sex as if were no more normal or abnormal than male-female terurse. Amics began wrg papers argug for gay parentg, g statistics to suggt that children of gay upl had no more emotnal problems that the average child of a 'straight' fay.

On the negative end, gays began unterg unsirable imag of homosexualy - such as the spread of Aids - wh a bleak picture of what they risively lled 'straight sex'.

The pot of this exercise was to monise normal heterosexual behavur, and to make the ordary ruals of attractn and relatnships seem aberrant, so that gays uld advance their own e by claimg 'straights' led liv that were much worse than theirs. Ball says he did not even know he was homosexual until he went to universy, but claims to have suffered enough persecutn at the hands of heterosexualy to believe is herently evil. Last year, he wrote and produced a TV seri lled Oh, Grow Up, which featured two straight men sharg a hoe wh a gay man, who, predictably, has much the better life.

The two men got to know each other 1995 when Cohen ved Jks to be on the steerg mtee of Out There, an activist group of gay entertament executiv that he had -found.

Sourc say that one of Out There's key objectiv is to promote the gay liftyle wh films and members talk openly among themselv about how bt to mock heterosexualy. As, The Operator, a new bgraphy of Geffen mak clear, Geffen is a predatory homosexual who has voted nsirable energy to projects that target heterosexualy. Sourc say Geffen has equently changed scripts if they seem to be too sympathetic towards heterosexual love or if they show any ht of antipathy towards gays.

In 20 years of filmmakg, Geffen has bee famo for makg or breakg reers based on whether the people volved are gay and willg to be part of his extremely active sex life. His summer parti at Fire Island, a gay rort 30 outsi Manhattan, are legendary as the place the Velvet Mafia meet to dulge extraordary bacchanals. If you're wonrg why homosexuals have skyrocketed recent years to jo blacks and femists at the top of liberalism's hallowed list of "mory groups" entled to special rights and privileg, look no further than Hollywood --- Tseltown is ntrolled the days by the "Gay Mafia.