GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE April 25, 2008

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Keisling

Continued from page 1

Edward Kennedy is backing it in the Senate. Keisling called the Human Rights Campaign a "rogue organization" for supporting the substituted bill against the wishes of nearly 400 other LGBT groups under the name of United ENDA.

'I don't want to hurt HRC. I just want HRC to act responsibly.'

NCTE and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force were among the organizers of United ENDA.

"If [HRC] believed we [transgender people] were part of the family, they would not have done this to us," Keisling said. "If they don't think we're part of the family, they have no right to speak for transgender people."

"NCTE will not do anything with HRC to increase their credibility as a spokesperson for transgender people," Keisling added.

"I don't want to hurt HRC. I don't want to de-fund HRC. I just want HRC to act responsibly," Keisling said.

"It's that 'flinch moment,' "" she added. "That's the point when legislators try to wussie out of some part of a bill that might be difficult, the weak link."

"If the strong link says 'no,' it doesn't come out and the measure gets passed with little controversy," Keisling said. "If the strong links say yes, it comes out."

"We had the votes to pass the unified ENDA bill," Keisling said, "but someone came to HRC and asked them to flinch, and they did."

"HRC misunderstood the LGBT movement," Keisling continued.

Keisling described the events that led to the bill substitution and said the parliamentary maneuver feared by HRC and Rep. Barney Frank if the measure wasn't changed was unlikely.

Keisling expressed concern about ENDA's future in Congress since legislators may be unclear as to who speaks for the movement, or if transgender people are part of the movement.

HRC has not committed to a unified ENDA introduction in 2009, and is, according to Keisling "pushing hard for Senator

Kennedy to pass the bad ENDA in the Senate."

Earlier this month, HRC president Joe Solmonese told the Gay People's Chronicle that their future position depends on convincing 48 conservative Democrats in Congress to support the broader bill.

"In 2009, [transgender inclusion] depends on the degree we move those votes, and who the president is," Solmonese said.

"Since President Bush isn't going to sign it anyway, there's no reason for Kennedy to run the bad bill, and everyone understands that except HRC," Keisling said.

Keisling noted that HRC told lawmakers, hours before the November vote on the gay-only ENDA, that it would put their vote on its biennial legislative scorecard.

"That means that members who wanted to stand on principle and only support a transgender-inclusive bill would ruin their perfect civil rights voting record," Keisling said.

Keisling also criticized HRC's statements that passing a gay-only ENDA now and adding gender identity and expression to it later is the best strategy.

"It would be bad for us to lose, but it is also bad that we won," Keisling said, adding that it was not worth splitting the LGBT movement and causing confusion among members of Congress just to pass an ENDA bill, regardless of how bad it might be.

"[HRC] needs to have victories so they can say they have victories," Keisling said.

"It is not likely that another bill will pass any time soon that will include gender identity," Keisling said. "As transgender people, we don't have the numbers or the money to do it."

Keisling said members of Congress should be told to reject any attempts to take transgender protection out of ENDA.

"They get to decide if we get it, but they don't get to decide who we are as a community," Keisling said.

She said the way around Frank and HRC next time is to get 218 or more votes committed to only supporting ENDA that includes gender identity protection.

Keisling said that Ohio House members on its target listones who voted for the ENDA without transgender protection and against an earlier vote to add it to a hate crime billinclude Ohio Democrats Zack Space of Dover and Charlie Wilson of St. Clairesville; with Republicans Pat Tiberi of Columbus and David Hobson of Springfield.

Keisling said her group is also paying attention to the 15th District House race in Columbus, where Democrat Mary Jo Kilroy and Republican Steve Stivers are vying for the seat of retiring Republican Deborah Pryce.

"The most important thing is helping LGBT people gain power," said Keisling. "Our movement can still be aspirational."

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Araki

Continued from page 8

Jane goes through her phone book, trying to find someone who can lend her money and drive her to Venice Beach so her dealer won't steal her bed. Unfortunately, the only person who is willing to help her is Brevin Ericson, her roommate's friend. Played by The Office's John Krasinski, Brevin has a major crush on Jane, and she takes ruthless, if completely marijuana-addled, advantage of it.

When Brevin's car gets broken into, Jane freaks out, certain that the police officer writing up the report is going to bust her for being stoned. She runs off, stowing away in a sausage truck driven by Danny Trejo (who has been in most of Robert Rodriguez' films) and John Cho, star of Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle.

The presence of Cho is especially amusing, since Whitney Pastorek in Entertainment Weekly compared Smiley Face to that film, "except with just one chick trying to get to the beach."

Somewhere in there, Jane comes into possession of an original manuscript of the Communist Manifesto, meets Jesus, gets stuck on a Ferris wheel, and talks to Roscoe Lee Browne, whose only appearance in the film is as a voice in Jane's head, serving as a narrator. Browne, who died in 2007, may have been gay-almost nothing online refers to his personal life, although the cel-

ebrated black actor was referred to as a "never-married octogenarian."

The movie is filled with Araki's trademark visual strangeness, whether an animated smiley face that Jane draws in the sky, the cartoon pig on the side of a truck winking, or the support pillars of a parking garage moving to and fro while Jane is trying to back her Volvo out of a space. It's one of the few things that remains consistent through most of Araki's films: hallucinatory images. One wonders if he just did waa-a-a-ay too much acid.

It would be tempting to say that, ultimately, Smiley Face was less satisfying than Mysterious Skin, a step back for the director.

That would be fallacious. Comparing a drama like Mysterious Skin and a comedy like Smiley Face is inevitable, since they are by the same director, but it's similar to comparing an apple and a tomato because they were grown in the same county.

Araki skillfully crafts a deft comedy, a bit broad, completely silly, but also immensely enjoyable and totally engaging. Woe betide he or she who watches this film stoned, since First Look Studios gives no warranty against wetting one's pants.

In fact, the only really negative thing one could say about the DVD is the paucity of extra features. The "making of" featurette is cute, but there could be so much more. If nothing else, it would have been interesting to include an accounting of exactly how long Anna Faris is onscreen with her mouth hanging slackly open.