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Wednesday, August 16, 2017

New Movie Takes On Marriage Equality Backlash (AUDIO)














In this exclusive audio interview Emmy Winner Charlotte Robinson host of OUTTAKE VOICES™ talks with actor, producer Emerson Collins about his new film “A Very Sordid Wedding” he appears in and produced with award-winning writer/director Del Shores. The film reunites their all-star cast of iconic characters to explore the acceptance, conflict and bigotry following the Supreme Court Marriage Equality Decision. The ensemble cast of 32 actors is led by Bonnie Bedelia (“Parenthood”), Caroline Rhea (“Sabrina, the Teenage Witch”), Dale Dickey (Independent Spirit Award winner “Winter’s Bone”), Leslie Jordan (Emmy winner “Will & Grace”) with cast members from the original Sordid Lives film Newell Alexander (“August: Osage County”), Rosemary Alexander, Kirk Geiger, Sarah Hunley, Lorna Scott (“Wanted”) and Ann Walker. New additions Levi Kreis (Tony winner “Million Dollar Quartet”), Carole Cook (“Sixteen Candles”), Alec Mapa (“Ugly Betty”), Aleks Paunovic (“Van Helsing”), Katherine Bailess (“Hit The Floor”) and a cameo from Whoopi Goldberg. After premiering at the Palm Springs Film Festival the film went on to play in 31 cities across the U.S. in theatrical runs and festival screenings with 20 sold-out events with another fifteen markets scheduled. “A Very Sordid Wedding” will continue to travel around the country until its DVD release on October 17th. We talked to Emerson about the significance of his new film especially after the events in Charlottesville, Virginia and his spin on our LGBTQ issues.

When asked how he sees our LGBTQ community moving forward in a Trump administration Collins stated, “Vocally, persistently, daily, really I think about we must fight at every level. Fighting for equal rights ordinances against all legislations cropping up in so many places particularly targeting trans people and at the same time fighting for representation culturally. That way we target bigotry and all its form. We have to be accountable to fight for the equal treatment of all marginalized communities because as LGBTQ people we are part of all communities: Black Lives Matter, undocumented immigrants, we are members of every other community. Sort of as a white gay cis man if you only fight for your own rights that’s just self-interest. Then following the leadership of our national organizations that do such great work to inform us, GLAAD, PFLAG, Lambda Legal and the work that they are doing and those of us who have the ability to support them financially and to donate our time. We also have to celebrate the victories as they happen and to take care of ourselves. It is a long fight but we’re in for it. Staying together is how we can continue to push forward.”

Emerson Collins joined Del Shores Productions as Vice-President of Development and began as a producer on the revivals of “Sordid Lives”. He has also starred in four seasons of BRAVO’s hit social series “The People’s Couch”. Emerson won the Desert Theatre League for Best Actor in a Comedy in the first regional theatre production of Jonathan Tolins' one-man show “Buyer & Cellar” with Coyote Stage Works in Palm Springs, California. He returned to the role to close the 95th season of the historic Laguna Beach Playhouse in 2016. Emerson also produced and hosted "A Sordid Affair," the national tour variety and comedy show starring Rue McClanahan, Leslie Jordan, Del Shores and Caroline Rhea.
For More Info: averysordidwedding.com

Friday, August 4, 2017

OutServe-SLDN Addresses Transgender Military Concerns (AUDIO)















In this exclusive audio interview Emmy Winner Charlotte Robinson host of OUTTAKE VOICES™ talks with Matt Thorn, President and CEO of OutServe-SLDN, the national voice for LGBT service members, about Trump’s threatening tweets that transgender service members would be banned from serving in the Armed Forces. Trump claimed in his Tweets that our transgender community should be banned from the military because of the financial cost and disruption associated with transgender service members. Currently there are 15,000 transgender service members in the US military. The financial cost of providing health care to transgender troops would be at most $8.4 million per year according to the New England Journal of Medicine which is one one-hundredth of one percent of the military's annual health care budget. Fifty-six retired Generals and Admirals have warned Trump that if his ban were to be implemented it would degrade military readiness. Transgender troops have been serving honorably and openly for the past year and have been widely praised by commanders. Eighteen foreign nations including the UK and Israel allow transgender troops to serve and none have reported any detriment to readiness. We talked to Matt about what action OutServe-SLDN will take to protect transgender service members and recruits should Trump follow through on his threats to ban transgender military service members and his spin on our LGBTQ issues.

When asked what he hopes to accomplish, Thorn stated, “Well I hope that people have a higher degree of respect for transgender individuals particularly those serving in the military. We have an all-volunteer force regardless of sexual orientation, sex, national origin, race or gender identity. People are signing up to voluntarily defend our country and it is important to recognize that and appreciate that. We don’t have a draft and we don’t have a mandatory service like Israel does. So these are individuals who have a very high degree of commitment to our country and it’s really fundamentally important to brief that awareness. Trans individuals are not just Caitlyn Jenner; these are individuals who are serving in combat zones who have a K-47 or fly an F-35 jet and it is really fundamentally important that they are given the respect and dignity that they serve as human beings, as individuals. Our hope is that as destructive as these tweets are and as much of a distraction that they are that it does raise awareness of the public that Caitlyn Jenner is just one example of a transgender individual but we have 15,000 who are defending our country every single day around the world…”

Matt Thorn a graduate of Catholic University is a fierce advocate for what he believes in and the mission of progressive change. He is committed to uniting and bringing education, awareness and a variety of services to progressive and socially conscious community. OutServe-SLDN is the largest non-profit, legal services, advocacy and policy organization dedicated to bringing about full LGBT equality to America's military and ending all forms of discrimination and harassment of military personnel on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.
For More Info: outserve-sldn.org








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