To Guanabee or not to Guanabee...

Can you force someone to give an apology he or she does not believe in? Of course you can! It happens all the time in major showbiz or in sports.

Does it matter if the apology has been forced out of somebody if only to save face? Perhaps. But I'd rather the apology be sincere rather than half-assed or insincere.

This comes to mind because I took a decision last night to sever my ties with a website I have absolutely adored up to this point and has given this site major support as well (you no longer see their 'Partner Scoops' widget on Blabbeando anymore for one).

When quirky Latino gossip site Guanabee approached me a couple of years ago and asked if I was interested in being a "Featured Partner" I jumped at the chance. It's not that I got any monetary compensation from it but they often highlighted some of my posts which brought a lot of traffic to this site.  The value of that traffic wasn't necessarily the number of hits on Blabbeando but the fact that they came from readers of a non-LGBT Latino site.  In that sense, Guanabee helped to direct a lot of non-LGBT Latino readership to what happens to be a site with an LGBT-focus and I thought that was great.

As a gossip site, Guanabee does engage in campy humor sometimes and probably uses language that would not be used on other newsier sites. But, even within those parameters, yesterday I was alerted to a post that I felt went beyond the pale.

In "Eva Longoria Confronts Bitchy Queen on H8R", Guanabee Associate Editor Marcelo Baez using his Nacomprende nickname writes the following:

The CW is running a new show called H8R (pronounced "hater") where celebrities confront random people who hate them while attempting to win them over [...] We actually enjoyed the episode. In it Eva Longoria confronts a bitchy queen who fags out on her and her supposed self-Mexican hate

In the clip featured on Guanabee, a guy who comes across as an obnoxious twit goes all off on Eva Longoria's 'Latina-ness' and then gets all flustered and embarrassed when Eva Longoria shows up to challenge his views.

Call the guy an obnoxious twit, call the guy insufferable, but Baez instead calls him a "bitchy queen" who "fags out" when she shows up. This, on a site that is marketed to the general Latino public.

Up to this point, I've had a great relationship with the site's leading editors so I reached out to them to privately express my concern.  In response, I was forwarded a message that Baez sent to the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) when they made an inquiry about the post.  In it, Baez stood his ground and argued that the informal tome used on the site and the fact that gays had appropriated terms such as 'queer' gave him the liberty to call someone a 'fag'.  Baez also argued that he wasn't necessarily questioning the man's sexuality but, instead, he was calling him off on his intolerance.

That pissed me off even more so I wrote back again and tried to calmly explain, among other things, the fact that gays appropriating certain language does not mean it gives free reign for these words to be used  at free will, by anyone, on any site or publication - or in day to day conversation.

I never got a response.  Instead, Guanabee posted a follow-up last night titled "Gays, Do The Words "Fag" And "Loca" Offend You? GLAAD Says They Do"in which Baez defends the post making some of the same arguments he made in the response to GLAAD e-mailed to me and expanded on them.

I blew a fuse. And I quickly fired a Tweet severing my relationship with the site.

In the meantime, GLAAD, who alerted me to the post in the first case and had been exchanging messages with the editors as well, also reacted.  They launched an action alert asking people to "Tell Guanabee.com you are not laughing". It mentions the actions I took last night.

In my anger I missed something in Marcelo Baez' latest post: For what I believe is the first time on the site, he tells his readers he is an openly bisexual man.  In retrospective, it does explain his argument about appropriation of words that are used to insult members of the LGBT community even though I still don't agree he should have used the terms.

Does this make any difference? There was no mention of this on the original post that would have led anyone to assume that Mr. Baez was trying to appropriate such language as an openly bisexual man.  Instead the words "fag" and "fagged-out" were used to denigrate the man in the CW show.  I have since had an exchange with Marcelo on my strong feelings that it would have been wrong even if he had disclosed his sexuality in that post and I know he strongly disagrees with my assessment.

This morning, though, I woke up feeling something was missing from all of this.  GLAAD's call to action will continue and sites, like this one, will begin to pick up on it.  Guanabee and Marcelo will decide whether to stick to their guns and push back - or eventually apologize.

But in the larger context of things, I do see an opportunity here to expand the dialogue on usage of these terms in the Latino community as well as whether the fact that the person using the language is a member of the LGBT community changes these dynamics in any way (in some ways, the debate is similar to usage of the 'N'-word among African-American individuals where some African-Americans feel it's always wrong and others feel it's a way to appropriate the term and strip it from it's original intent to hurt someone based on one's race).

As things stand right now, I have asked to be removed from the Guanabee site.  GLAAD is mobilizing against Guanabee. And Baez and Guanabee seem to be standing on their ground. I've had several exchanges with the editors of Guanabee throughout the day, including Marcelo, and they have expressed in no uncertain terms that they are sad to see me go, would love to continue the relationship, but understand my decision to go.

Part of me keeps looking at that post and the way the language was used, with or without the context that it was written by a bisexual man, and wonder how I can keep a relationship with a site that doesn't 'get' why I am so disappointment by the post.

Having said that, if Guanabee had been as homophobic as some are charging - and I am not talking specifically about GLAAD's reaction but that of individuals who might not have ever visited the site and are judging by this post alone - they would have never prominently featured this blog on their site and be so open to promote gay content on their site.  It turns out, according to Marcelo, that he is the editor at Guanabee who promoted most of the Blabbeando content that made it on their site.

I know I don't often ask readers to comment and with such long posts, who is gonna bother reading this entry to this point.  But, if you would please take a moment or two to comment, should I stay or should I go?  Would working with Guanabee promote an editorial decision I do not agree with or would it provide a platform for their general Latino readership to continue having access to my point of view on the issue and on other issues as well.

Photo: Homophobes protest Ricky Martin and Univision in Miami

Today, even as the US Congress FINALLY voted to repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" and paved the way for allowing gays to openly serve in the military, I got this reminder that full-on prejudice remains very much alive in the United States (and I'm not even talking about Senator John McCain's desperate last ditch attacks against the law's repeal on the Senate floor today).

As my Twitter friend @RachelLapp alerted me on Thursday, members of a Hispanic evangelical church in Miami were organizing a protest against national Spanish-language television network Univision claiming they had aired "pornographic, indecent or obscene" content when they ran a November 2 special on pop singer Ricky Martin.

I'm not sure what sort of coverage it will get today, even in Miami, but Rachel, once again, alerted me to this photo posted by Venezuelan actress Maria Elena Heredia on Twitpic (and re-posted here by permission). She apparently wasn't aware of the protest until she drove by it and wrote, in Spanish, "Miami protest against Ricky Martin for his confession!!! UNHEARD OF! Such backwardness #NOH8".

The turn out looks like a healthy number. By this pic alone, it seems there were, at least, 200 people or so. The signs seem to have been printed by the same person and distributed to participants. They are all in Spanish and the ones that I can read say "UNIVISION, CHANGE YOUR WAYS", "U.S.: Return to God and he who blessed you" and "RICKY: You mess up our children's heads".

Hm, I have a feeling that the ones with the messed up heads are pretty visible in this picture.

As I said my previous post, I thought twice about posting the information about the protest because I didn't want to give these loony-tunes more attention than they deserved.  I even kept from providing a direct link to the organizer's website.

My good friends at the GREAT gossip site Guanabee, instead, decided to poke around.  Their reason? I love this Cindy Casares quote in taking up the organizers' assertions that Latinos culture is inherently homophobic: "We hate nothing more than when another Latino presumes to speak for us in the name of some blanket generalization."

Readers commenting on a Joe.My.God. blog post also pointed out something else: Ricky Martin's interview with Maria Elena Salinas, as it ran in "Aqui y Ahora", was in no way pornographic, indecent or obscene.  What has these Miami homobigots all in a tizzy is the fact that someone like Ricky Martin dared to speak up - as a huge figure in Latin America - and say that being gay and coming out has made him a much happier man.  From "Jack": "The complaint is not that a gay person was interviewed but that the interview showed a successful and (now) happy gay person. Miserable, decrepit, poor, suicidal gay people are beautiful. Happy, successful gay people are obscene."

In that regard, see this as what it is in the annals of history: These are the John McCains of the Hispanic community in the United States. They are losing their shit because they know they are grasping at straws and keep slipping into oblivion.

Not that their homophobic hate should be taken lightly: It has and will continue to elicit violence against queers and, in this case, specifically, in the Latino community they purport to represent.

But, ultimately, it speaks to these changing times - and the importance in the Latino community of someone like Ricky Martin saying "Yes, I am".

Related:

• Jamie Taete's internet roundup: World's most hilarious protest uncovered (Vice)

...and I quote:

I understand their frustration. It must be hard seeing gays riding their “sport motorcycles” to their $10 million houses while the best straight role models you can offer your kids are people willing to give up their weekends to protest against the guy who sang “She Bangs”. I certainly know which sexuality I’d choose.

Partner scoops!

This is not one of the biggest blogs out there nor a particularly interesting times sometimes but, weirdly, it's often listed as one of the top five or ten Latino blogs out there and the top Latino gay blog in the United States - if you go by Technorati rankings.

This means that I am often pitched lots of stories, some of which have nothing to do with the topics I cover, and also receive lots of invites to partner on a project.  I mostly turn all of them down as I enjoy keeping the blog free of too much clutter.

Tonight, though, I am proud to announce that I've accepted an invite to join an editorial advertising partnership launched by Guanabee.com called "Partner Scoops" as featured in a widget I placed on the left hand column of the blog.

I've always loved Guanabee's irreverent editorial take on all things Latino and join them and other sites like Latin Gossip to cross-promote each other and ad what I hope will be worthwhile content to the site.

I often complain there aren't enough Latino-focused blogs out there and this is a great way to promote each other.

Mexico: Homophobic cell-phone store ad

Oh, lookie-here! Guess what Guanabee's unearthed:

In this regional spot from Northern Mexico for a cell phone dealer called Ahorro Cel, a woman receives a call from someone asking to speak to her, “maricon,” or faggot, son. To which she replies, “He’s no faggot!” To which her son, who has popped out of the adjoining room in drag, applying blush, replies in his queeniest whine, “Yes I am, mah!” Then the announcer says something about expecting the unexpected from Ahorro Cel. And then there’s a gay little person because all adds about Mexicans must feature a little person.

Oh. Joy.

A commenter at Guanabee says that it's an old spot that has been making the rounds online. Guanabee ads:

We suppose we shouldn’t be surprised, but we are taken aback by the fact that they could use the word “maricon” on television let alone that a brand would want to associate themselves with such bigotry. Even in Mexico. But, then again, this ad is from Sonora which is in the northern part of Mexico which is kind of like saying it’s in Alabama. (Or California.) It has a decidedly machista/homophobic culture. So, if anyone in the world was going to get away with it, it was these people.

Indeed.

The gays MADE Eduardo Verastegui, in return he stabs them in the back

With the presidential election just days away, the other nerve-wracking waiting game for the gays is seeing if attempts to ban same-sex marriages rights in California (Proposition 8), Florida (Proposition 2) and Arizona (Proposition 102) pass muster on Tuesday - with a very real chance of defeating all three (please click on each link and find out more and, if possible, donate).

Although the campaigns to defeat the discriminatory initiatives in AZ and FL must feel relegated to the sidelines as they look at the mammoth battle taking place in CA, it must be said that a California loss will be devastating to efforts to build a future where same-sex couples are not discriminated in the United States based on who they love. If passed, California would also become the first state to strip away marriage rights already granted to its state residents (couples who have gotten married would not lose their marriage status but unmarried partners and future partners would not be able to have access to them).

The extreme right-wing certainly understands that it's the battle to end all battles when it comes to the issue and have been acting accordingly treating it as if it were Armageddon itself or the final End of Days battle (a poll released yesterday shows a 49% to 44% lead for "No on 8" which is good but that lead might evaporate come election day).

Tonight, the Associated Press has the latest ("Anxious eyes on California gay marriage vote").

The Latino vote: Despite the slight lead, it's a slight lead that might easily evaporate.

Unfortunately this has led to some generalizations on both sides of the equation that the minority vote might end up deciding the future of same-sex marriages in California with the common assumption that most blacks and Latinos will vote do deny rights to the gays.

First came fears that a strong minority showing for Barack Obama in the California voting booths might mean additional support for the marriage ban ("Obama surge confounds gay marriage"), then came indications that both sides were targeting Latino voters believing that they might be the ones to push the ban over the treshhold or keep it from passing ("Leaning on Latinos" and "Prop. 4, 8 campaigns battle fiercely for crucial Latino vote").

Let me say this: I don't have much money but I have donated to the "No on 8" campaign to support their efforts (as well as "No on 2" in FL and "No on 102" in AZ); I also know that they have attempted to make inroads among Latino communities; but I was less than thrilled by their discourse in media during these last few days on the issue of Latino voters and not too impressed by their ads targeting Latino media.

Sure, they got the stars of "Ugly Betty" to do an ad in English and and ad in Spanish. Not sure how it plays out to California Latinos and particularly those undecided or supporting Prop. 8 but to me it certainly plays up the stereotype that familia trumps everything in our lives (it may or it may not but not in that La Cosa Nostra creepy way that ends up implying all Latinos are conservative because we love La Familia - which plays right into the right wing's hands). And, secondly, I also have a feeling that Latinos who watch "Ugly Betty" on ABC are not necessarily the Latino population that needs their mind changed on Prop. 8. I mean, they probably get Justin already .

Having Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa be a lead spokesperson and supporter is much better but I have yet to see efforts to engage truly popular Spanish-language television stars or singers that might reach out to a wider Latino community. This, despite the fact that Paulina Rubio and Gloria Trevi - who are hugely popular among the Mexican and Mexican-American communities in California - came out strongly against Prop. 8 this week. They should be in ads today!

[BTW: No poll is perfect but a poll released yesterday and forwarded to me by my friend Evan Wolfson actually shows Latinos in California OPPOSING the ban 51% to 46%].

Now, I've been peppering this post with a few images that seem to have no relation to the topic at hand. Heck, if you go for that metrosexual, pouty-lip, hairless chest bimbo look, you might even still be reading this post because of him. Me? Eek! Not my type at all.

Now, watch this video of the '90's Mexican boy-band (er, man-band?) Kiero and pay attention to the guy with a wife-beater shirt and no leather jacket or - alternatively - no shirt and lotsa sweat plus all his queerrific dance moves:

 

Why it's Eduardo Verestegui! And ever since he was introduced as the Latino face of the "Yes on 8" campaign I have heard nothing but shock and disgust from most of my Spanish-speaking Latino friends throughout the country.



Part of the shock for some friends is that they assumed Verastegui was gay (a lot of them grew up watching him perform with Kiero and playing leads in popular Mexican soap operas). I mean, just by the photos and video above there's no doubt in my mind he knew exactly who his fanbase was and that it was tres-gay. So forgive some from feeling ultra-betrayed.

But those are the gays. He also has a huge female fan base (for some reason they love the bimbo pouty-lipped look too) and he certainly used it to play up his Hollywood debut in the failed attempt at cross-over success otherwise known as "Chasing Papi".

Enter his 2006 anti-abortion message movie "Bella" and his embrace of the whole US right wing enchilada (immigration issues be damned!) and lo-and-behold - he becomes a poster child for the worst right-wing policies being channeled by the McCain camp as of late (Hey! What do ya know! He endorsed McCain this week as well!).

As a matter of fact, bimbo-boy's fabulous right-wing adventure was what elicited reactions from Mexican mega-star Paulina Rubio (who called him "ignorant") and Gloria Trevi (who taped her own message urging voters to vote against the California and Florida propositions).

Let truth win on Tuesday! Vote "No on 8" if you live in California.

Related:

• Pérez Hilton lashes out at Verastegui over Proposition 8 (New York Daily News, Oct. 31, 2008)
• Mexican Soap Star shills for 'Yes on 8' (Joe.My.God, Oct. 28, 2008)
• Tell Eduardo your dreams! (Latin Gossip, Oct. 27, 2008)
• Manic Eduardo Verastegui hearts Prop. 8, McCain (Intersections)
• Perpetually nude dude has no problem with deciding other's morals (Riptide 2.0, Oct. 27, 2008)
• Eduardo Verastegui is against abortion, gays and gaybortions (Guanabee, Oct. 21, 2008)
• Spanish-language gossip show criticizes Paulina Rubio for standing up to Verastegui, Verastegui responds to Rubio's comments (Escandalo)

Gaybriel's favorite stereotypes about gay Latino men

An excerpt:

Gloria Estefan was popular twenty years ago, but you’d think she’s published relevant music every day since. Let me break it to you dear reader: Gloria is an average singer at best. I hate to get all the Cuban-American glittery g-strings in a knot, but por tu vida, please get a new gay idol.

More at Guanabee

Bilerico love and some thanks to start the year

A couple of weeks ago Bil Browning over at The Bilerico Project reached out and asked me to submit what I considered to be the best blog post on Blabbeando from 2007. This as an effort to promote blogs that people might not have read before (how nice!).

It might not be the best post of the year, but if you want to know which post I chose, just head over here and read on.

It's as good an opportunity as well to thank, for my first post of 2008, some of the larger blogs and news aggregator websites that have supported Blabbeando by highlighting some of our posts or linking up to the blog.

They include:

• Bilerico
• Citizen Crain
• Gay News Watch
• Guanabee
• Page One Q
• Rod2.0

Thanks guys!

By the way, two of those, Gay News Watch and Page One Q, are mentioned in an interesting Press Pass Q article posted online today ("News compilation websites get the word out but kinks remain"). It's written by Michael K. Lavers better known as Boy in Bushwick on our blog roll.

Bilerico also gets a nice write up in the Washington Blade this week ("Bilerico's 'underground flavor' draws gay fans").

Machochip delivers! Maximo! Al ataque!!

"His golden dream is to live in Spain because marriage exists NO MATTER THE GENDER!" are the first words that you hear from the MC in the YouTube video above as he introduces Maximo, the "exotic" Mexican wrestler! Of course, we had already introduced you to Maximo back in July when he was featured in the pages of a Sports Illustrated Latino. But now Machochip, a new sports blog from the makers of Guanabee, has unearthed the video above.

It's actually quite funny with Maximo shrieking every time he gets hit and fainting whenever a wrestler takes off his shirt. Unfortunately his unorthodox high kicks are not enough to beat the muscle-bound and saintly The Seducer who seems to bring his hands together in prayer every time he scores a victory against a rival.

The match, of course, is brought to you by Corona.

Related:

• Lucha Libre Gets Its Pink On (Machochip)
• Gay Luchador Pretty in Pink (Guanabee)

Dirty Sexy Money? Best new TV show of the season... So far!

So I've tried the Bionic Woman (yes, I am still in love with Lindsay Wagner). It sucked.

And I've tried the ball-tastic Tell Me You Love Me on HBO (mostly because of the great Ally Walker). It sucked.

And I've tried the Kid Nation (mostly because of the indentured child labor). And, guess what! It sucked too.

And I even tried the Duque clan at the Hispanic-rifick Cane (mostly because I wished it would have taught people how to pronounce my last name). And not even Rita Moreno nor former Colombian beauty queen Paula Turbay - in her first US starring role - could save it (at least the similar Kingpin was upfront about its portentous ridiculousness). By the way, Guanabee wants to know just how many Latino stereotypes have you spotted in Cane?

So it was a surprise to tune in to Dirty Sexy Money tonight and be so entertained! It wasn't only the great Peter Krause (of Six Feet Under fame) or Billy Baldwin (of the mostly hawt Baldwin clan AND a Binghamton University graduate to boot - just like me!) or Donald Sutherland (of the 1978 Invasion of the Body Snatchers re-make AND dad or the just arrested 24 Keiffer-man) or a surprise appearance by eminent journalist Dan Rather! No! It wasn't just that!
And it wasn't even that it out-did Cane with handing a leading role to trans performer Candis Cayne (get it? Cane, Cayne, sometimes I even amuse myself with my wit). Well, not even! It might well be the first time that a trans person performs on TV as a trans person in the United States. But Argentina and Colombia has got the USofA beat (that's Candis in the pic above).

It might just be good writing and pacing and a knack for setting up a great yarn. In any case I will be back for more next week. Let's hope it lives up to my expectations.

• Here is what TV Squad's got to say about the show, including a list of favorite quotes
• Manhattan Offender also gives back some realness

Breaking News: Guanabee concerned about Folsom key-lime pie misshap

Jeeez! Thanks guys! I assure you I've since learned from it and, most importantly, time has passed and I have healed.