(TIME warp) After 34 Years, this show is still the Gold Standard!

The Golden Girls is an American sitcom created by Susan Harris, which originally aired on NBC from September 14, 1985, to May 9, 1992. Starring Bea Arthur, Betty White, Rue McClanahan and Estelle Getty, the show centers on four older women sharing a home in Miami, Florida. It was produced by Witt/Thomas/Harris Productions, in association with Touchstone Television, and Paul Junger Witt, Tony Thomas, and Harris served as the original executive producers.

The Golden Girls received critical acclaim throughout most of its run and won several awards, including the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series twice. It also won three Golden Globe Awards for Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy. All four stars each received an Emmy Award throughout the series' run and had multiple nominations. The series also ranked among the top ten highest-rated programs for six out of its seven seasons.

Betty White is the last remaining Cast Member. Watch Reruns on Logo, Hallmark, Lifetime and TV Land! Wooo!

(TIME Warp) When a Governor Came OUT; 15 Years after the McGreevey Scandal!

On the afternoon of August 12, 2004, James McGreevey coupled the announcement of his decision to resign with a public declaration of his homosexuality and an admission to having had an extramarital affair with a man, Golan Cipel, an Israeli citizen and veteran of the Israeli Defense Forces, whom McGreevey appointed New Jersey homeland security adviser. Cipel, who had joined the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1994 as Chief Information Officer at the Consulate General of Israel in New York, subsequently left the United States and returned to Israel after their affair was revealed. McGreevey was the first and, to date, the only openly gay state governor in United States history. (ed...MK met McGreevey in 2006 and found him Happy to be an Out Gay man.)

 

Since leaving the governorship, McGreevey has attended the General Theological Seminary in New York City to obtain his Master of Divinity degree, a requirement to becoming an Episcopal priest. Reports in April 2011 indicate that McGreevey's bid to be ordained was rejected.

McGreevey's life after politics, his calling as a priest and his ministry to prison inmates is covered in a 2013 HBO documentary film, Fall to Grace, directed by Alexandra Pelosi.

In July 2013, McGreevey was appointed head of Jersey City's employment training commission

(TIME-WARP) Remembering Marilyn Monroe who died 57 Years ago today!

On August 5, 1962, at 4:25 am, LAPD sergeant Jack Clemmons received a call from Dr. Ralph Greenson, Monroe's psychiatrist, saying that Monroe was found dead at her home in Brentwood, Los Angeles, California. She was 36 years old. At the subsequent autopsy, eight milligram per cent of chloral hydrate and 4.5 milligram percent of Nembutal were found in her system, and Dr. Thomas Noguchi of the Los Angeles County Coroners office recorded cause of death as "acute barbiturate poisoning", resulting from a "probable suicide".

(TIME-warp) The Trail of the Versace Killer was 22 years ago this week!

One of the most gripping months ended on July 24, 1997 when former gay hustler turned serial killer,
Andrew Cunanan. Cunanan , who murdered at least five people, including fashion designer Gianni Versace and Chicago tycoon Lee Miglin, during a three-month period in mid-1997. On June 12, 1997, Cunanan became the 449th fugitive to be listed by the FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list.

In his final years, Cunanan had lived as a gay hustler, who befriended wealthy older men and spent their money (or used their credit cards) to impress acquaintances in the local gay community, such as talking about socialite events at clubs or often paying the bill at restaurants. One millionaire friend had dumped Cunanan in 1996, the prior year.

(TIME warp): Harvey Milk A True Gay Hero, BORN 88 yrs ago This Week!

Throughout modern history there have been few individuals who could honestly say that they brought about positive change in the world. This number is even fewer in gay history. Harvey Milk is one of these few. Born on May 22 1930, Harvey was the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in the US and possibly one of the greatest catalysts the gay rights movement has ever known.

(TIME-warp): Remembering Ellen's TV Coming OUT Party 22 years ago TODAY!

Can you believe it has been 20 years since Gays on Television were never the same again? When Ellen Degeneres' LEAD Character came out on 'Ellen' on April 30, 1997 it opened the door to more lead gay characters on television.

Talk about ballsy. Called “The Puppy Episode”, the show garnered 42 million viewers and marked the first gay leading primetime character in television history. Despite speculation that advertisers would try to pull away from the controversy, the only corporate sponsor to cancel was Chrysler, and only for the single episode.

(TIME-warp) When all 'HELL' broke Loose!

It was 27 Yrs ago this Week, the 1992 Los Angeles Riots or South Central Riots, also known as the 1992 Los Angeles Civil Unrest were sparked on April 29, 1992, when a jury acquitted three white and one Hispanic Los Angeles Police Department officers accused in the videotaped beating of black motorist Rodney King following a high-speed pursuit. Thousands of people in the Los Angeles area rioted over the six days following the verdict.

(TIME Warp) Keep Calm and Carry On, The Story!

A brilliant mini-documentary on the famous 'Keep Calm and Carry On' World War II poster, which has become one of the most iconic images of the 21st century after being rediscovered in a second-hand bookshop in 2000.

SPECIAL: (TIME-Warp) The Controversal and Eye-Opening CBS Reports "The Homosexuals" aired 52 Yrs ago!

"The Homosexuals" is a 1967 episode of the documentary television series CBS Reports. The hour-long broadcast featured a discussion of a number of topics related to homosexuality and homosexuals. Mike Wallace anchored the episode, which aired on March 7, 1967. Although this was the first network documentary dealing with the topic of homosexuality, it was not the first televised in the United States. That was The Rejected, produced and aired in 1961 on KQED, a public television station out of San Francisco.Three years in the making, "The Homosexuals" went through two producers and multiple revisions. The episode included interviews with several gay men, psychiatrists, legal experts and cultural critics, interspersed with footage of a gay bar and a police sex sting. "The Homosexuals" garnered mixed critical response. The network received praise from some quarters and criticism from others for even airing the program. Just imagine, 2 years later, Stonewall happened and the Gay Liberation Movement began!

(Time Warp): Elizabeth Taylor, the AIDS and LGBT Activist YEARS!

The extraordinary life of Elizabeth Taylor was, of course, dominated by a legendary movie career that brought her enormous fame at a very young age.


She won Oscars and made classic films that we will love forever. But it was her second act that I believe is her greatest legacy. She was in her early 50s when she became an AIDS activist (co-founder of AmFAR) and it was her most important role for the rest of her life.


Here are some videos of Miss Taylor at some major events over the years where she spoke about AIDS, about LGBT equality and about her activism.

(TIME-Warp): Whitney is a HIT!

In 1991, we were at the verge of the Gulf war, so when it was time to watch the Superbowl and Whitney Houston sang the national anthem, the energy was filled and the mood changed. Whitney was such a HIT, that they released this song as a single! It was revealed recently  that she Lip synched it. No wonder the song was released in such a hurry.

(Time Warp) 1989: Gays Demand Marriage Licenses in Manhattan !

In 1989, 20 gay couples backed by ACT UP marched into the marriage bureau in Manhattan demanding marriage licenses in what WCBS-TV New York called a "violent protest".

Says Thomas Stoddard of Lambda Legal Defense in the report: "Within 20 years at least half the states will permit two men or two women to get married."

(OVTV) TIME warp: The Gay 80's

Please watch some of the video below, which is part of the video projection that played during SPKR: Evolution of the Queer Dancefloor in 2010 at -- a benefit for the GLBT Historical Society and  features the music of five legendary gay clubs in San Francisco: the Trocadero Transfer, Townsend, the I-Beam, the EndUp, and the Box.Party in San Francisco and which featured a Los Angeles local news item on the booming gay culture in San Francisco circa 1981, just before the AIDS crisis came and shut it down for a while. Oh, the good ol days...

(TIME WARP): What's an Internet?

Remember 1994?  But apparently it was a magical time of pre-crazy Mel Gibson, Dems getting trounced in midterm elections, and ... talking heads on the teevee trying to explain something called the "Internet." Observe as Katie Couric and Bryant Gumbel wonder aloud: "What is the Internet anyway?!" Some sort of "giant computer network!" It'll probably never catch on. Clip unearthed by the folks over at Buzzfeed, via HuffPo.

(TIME-warp) The Day when we swooned Swayze!

Dirty Dancing  opened August 21, 1987 (30 years ago this past week). Every Gay man (or woman) swooned over a shirtless, Patrick Swayze. Plus Jennifer Grey (Daughter of Gay Icon, Joel Grey) and Broadway Legend, Jerry Orbach.

The story is a coming of age drama that documents a teenage girl's coming of age through a relationship with a dance instructor whom she encounters during the family's summer vacation.

Originally a low-budget film by a new studio and with no major stars, Dirty Dancing  became a massive box office hit. 

(TIME-Warp) a WEEK of LOSS and RETROSPECTIVE!

This week we pay homage to 2 anniversaries; the 28th anniversary (July 25) of the Death of Studio 54 owner, Steve Rubell and the 27th anniversary (July 28) of the infamous 175-photo retrospective of the work of the late-Robert Mapplethorpe at the Whitney Museum in New York City.

Mapplethorpe worked primarily in the studio, particularly towards the end of his career. Common subjects include flowers, especially orchids and calla lilies, and celebrities, including Andy Warhol, Deborah Harry, Richard Gere, Peter Gabriel, Grace Jones, and Patti Smith. Smith was a longtime roommate of Mapplethorpe and a frequent subject in his photography, including a stark, iconic photograph that appears on the cover of Smith's first album, Horses.

Other work includes homoerotic and BDSM acts (including coprophagia), and classical nudes. Mapplethorpe's X Portfolio series sparked national attention in the early 1990s when it was included in The Perfect Moment, a traveling exhibition funded by National Endowment for the Arts.

(Time-WARP) Tribute to The Guiding Light moved to Television 65 yrs ago!

Guiding Light (known as The Guiding Light before 1975, or simply GL) is an American television soap opera that is credited by the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest running drama in television history, running from 1952 until 2009, preceded by a 15-year broadcast on the radio. When combining its total run of 72 years on radio and television, Guiding Light is the second-longest running program of any kind in history, exceeded only by Music and the Spoken Word. With over 18 000 episodes produced, Guiding Light has more episodes than any program in the history of radio and television, and four times more episodes than Music and the Spoken Word.

(TIME-warp): Remembering when Gay Marriage became Legal in New England, 13 years ago this week!

Same-sex marriage is legal or has been legalized in six of the six New England states: Massachusetts became Legal on May 17, 2004, according to Wikipedia. The New England region has been noted for being the nucleus of the same-sex marriage movement in the United States with the region having among the most widespread and earliest legal support of any region. It was followed by three more states between October 2008 and June 2009. This followed Vermont being the first-in-the-nation with civil unions in 2000.

Currently, 36 states and the District of Columbia are the U.S. jurisdictions performing same-sex marriages, and California performed them for five months in mid 2008. DOMA was struck down in 2013.

(TIME-warp) Remembering Keith Haring!

Today marks what would have been artist Keith Haring’s 58th birthday. (He died at a young age due to an AIDS-related illness in 1991).Haring’s, distinct style led him to become one of the most notable artists of his generation. Happy Birthday, Keith!

As a celebration of his life, Madonna declared the first New York date of her 1991 Blond Ambition World Tour a benefit concert for Haring's memory, and donated all proceeds from her ticket sales to AIDS charities including AIDS Project Los Angeles and amfAR; the act was documented in her film Truth or Dare. Additionally, Haring's work was featured in several of Red Hot Organization's efforts to raise money for AIDS and AIDS awareness, specifically its first two albums, Red Hot + Blue and Red Hot + Dance, the latter of which used Haring's work on its cover.

By expressing concepts of birth, death, sex and war, Haring's imagery has become a widely recognized visual language of the 20th century.

(TIME Warp) The Untold Gay Story of 'Titanic' revealed 105 Yrs later!

The R.M.S. Titanic continues to remain a heartbreaking emblem of maritime history 105 years after her ill-fated maiden voyage. Now one historian is shedding new light on a considerably less-heralded segment of the tragedy: the ship's gay, or at least presumably gay, passengers.

In an OutHistory.org essay, historian James Gifford offers a scholarly survey on the private life of Archibald Willingham Butt, who served as an influential military aide to U.S. presidents Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft prior to his death on the Titanic. Traveling with Butt was his friend Frank D. Millet, an artist who also went down with the ship (the pair, Gifford notes, was berthed separately on the ship).