Arts & Entertainment
‘Superman’ actor Dean Cain slammed for speaking at anti-LGBT event
The star has stated he is an LGBT rights supporter
Actor Dean Cain, best known for portraying Superman on the TV series “Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman,” came under fire after he agreed to speak at the Family Research Council’s Value Voters summit over the weekend.
The Family Research Council has been labeled a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center which describes the group’s intention as “to denigrate LGBT people as the organization battles against same-sex marriage, hate crime laws, anti-bullying programs and the repeal of the military’s ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ policy.” The summit’s lineup included names such as Michele Bachmann, Mike Pence, Tony Perkins and Masterpiece Cakeshop owner Jack Phillips.
Cain appeared at the event in promotion of his upcoming movie “Gosnell,” where he plays a detective who imprisons abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell. Cain has stated before that he is a supporter of LGBT rights but his decision to speak at the summit was a red flag for some including GLAAD.
FRC’s president @tperkins has said this about gay people: “They are intolerant. They are hateful. They are vile. They are spiteful”…”pawns” of the “enemy.”
More on him here: https://t.co/3iTS2UMQfi
— GLAAD (@glaad) September 20, 2018
You’ll even be rubbing shoulders with “conversion therapy” activists if you go to #VVS18. https://t.co/gQrYTDQDmX
— GLAAD (@glaad) September 20, 2018
Here’s the thing, @RealDeanCain: Allies should not turn a blind eye to the people, groups, and rhetoric that propel this event. There is no event on the calendar that is more rabidly against LGBTQ people and our rights. #VVS18
— GLAAD (@glaad) September 20, 2018
Cain defended his decision by saying he would voice his support for LGBT rights and of pro-choice but the main reason for attending the event would be to promote his film.
I hope they ask me about my support for gay rights, and the fact that I’m pro-choice. I’m happy to have that conversation.
— Dean Cain (@RealDeanCain) September 20, 2018
I’m not there to do anything other than discuss the film, GOSNELL. And I’m pro-choice. That will probably take-up the bulk of the time. I’m not there to preach or to lecture—I hope they ask about my support for gay rights. I haven’t studied their record.
— Dean Cain (@RealDeanCain) September 20, 2018
I’m speaking there. And I support gay rights. And I’m pro-choice until viability. End of story.
— Dean Cain (@RealDeanCain) September 20, 2018
I’m discussing a film- and I’m happy to speak to any group. I don’t change my beliefs based on the audience. Perhaps it will spark a good conversation-
— Dean Cain (@RealDeanCain) September 20, 2018
I don’t get paid to promote the film. And I don’t care to listen to your self-righteous prattling. Adios.
— Dean Cain (@RealDeanCain) September 20, 2018
Towleroad reports that at the summit Cain was asked if he was ever pressured on social media for his choice.
“Yes. Certainly. I take that sort of heat and abuse every single day but it doesn’t bother me in the least…it doesn’t make me mad, it just shows people’s intolerance towards listening to another opinion. Just the fact that I’m here, just the fact that I’m here people were blowing me up all day long with the most ridiculous things that you could ever here. Talk about intolerance. It’s ridiculous. I take heat. It doesn’t bother me, I welcome it, because I sleep well at night. I know I’m doing something that matches my convictions and my heart and I’ll happily defend the things that I say and I stand for,” Cain said.
.@RealDeanCain talks about “taking heat” for @GosnellMovie – and for attending the Values Voter Summit #VVS18 @FRCdc @PJMedia_com #Trending pic.twitter.com/H0ZSAdTl6j
— Tyler O’Neil (@Tyler2ONeil) September 22, 2018
Best response to all those negative-minded haters – Dean, you rocked it!
???????????????????? pic.twitter.com/Ms5dDHVrYX— ToniC?? (@tonichiulli) September 22, 2018
Cain endorsed Donald Trump during the 2016 presidential election.
Team DC, the umbrella organization for LGBTQ-friendly sports teams and leagues in the D.C. area, held its annual Night of Champions Awards Gala on Saturday, April 20 at the Hilton National Mall. The organization gave out scholarships to area LGBTQ student athletes as well as awards to the Different Drummers, Kelly Laczko of Duplex Diner, Stacy Smith of the Edmund Burke School, Bryan Frank of Triout, JC Adams of DCG Basketball and the DC Gay Flag Football League.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
The 2024 National Cannabis Festival was held at the Fields at RFK Stadium on April 19-20.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
Covering the @NatlCannaFest at RFK Stadium for @WashBlade . Stop by the LGBTQ+ booth and pick up a paper if you are here. pic.twitter.com/is7hnsaPns
— Michael Patrick Key (@MichaelKeyWB) April 20, 2024
Theater
‘Amm(i)gone’ explores family, queerness, and faith
A ‘fully autobiographical’ work from out artist Adil Mansoor
‘Amm(i)gone’
Thorough May 12
Woolly Mammoth Theatre
641 D St., N.W.
$60-$70
Woollymammoth.net
“Fully and utterly autobiographical.” That’s how Adil Mansoor describes “Amm(i)gone,” his one-man work currently playing at Woolly Mammoth Theatre.
Both created and performed by out artist Mansoor, it’s his story about inviting his Pakistani mother to translate Sophocles’s Greek tragedy “Antigone” into Urdu. Throughout the journey, there’s an exploration of family, queerness, and faith,as well as references to teachings from the Quran, and audio conversations with his Muslim mother.
Mansoor, 38, grew up in the suburbs of Chicago and is now based in Pittsburgh where he’s a busy theater maker. He’s also the founding member of Pittsburgh’s Hatch Arts Collective and the former artistic director of Dreams of Hope, an LGBTQ youth arts organization.
WASHINGTON BLADE: What spurred you to create “Amm(i)gone”?
ADIL MANSOOR: I was reading a translation of “Antigone” a few years back and found myself emotionally overwhelmed. A Theban princess buries her brother knowing it will cost her, her own life. It’s about a person for whom all aspirations are in the afterlife. And what does that do to the living when all of your hopes and dreams have to be reserved for the afterlife?
I found grant funding to pay my mom to do the translation. I wanted to engage in learning. I wanted to share theater but especially this ancient tragedy. My mother appreciated the characters were struggling between loving one another and their beliefs.
BLADE: Are you more director than actor?
MANSOOR: I’m primarily a director with an MFA in directing from Carnegie Mellon. I wrote, directed, and performed in this show, and had been working on it for four years. I’ve done different versions including Zoom. Woolly’s is a new production with the same team who’ve been involved since the beginning.
I love solo performance. I’ve produced and now teach solo performance and believe in its power. And I definitely lean toward “performance” and I haven’t “acted” since I was in college. I feel good on stage. I was a tour guide and do a lot of public speaking. I enjoy the attention.
BLADE: Describe your mom.
MANSOOR: My mom is a wonderfully devout Muslim, single mother, social worker who discovered my queerness on Google. And she prays for me.
She and I are similar, the way we look at things, the way we laugh. But different too. And those are among the questions I ask in this show. Our relationship is both beautiful and complicated.
BLADE: So, you weren’t exactly hiding your sexuality?
MANSOOR: In my mid-20s, I took time to talk with friends about our being queer with relation to our careers. My sexuality is essential to the work. As the artistic director at Dreams of Hope, part of the work was to model what it means to be public. If I’m in a room with queer and trans teenagers, part of what I’m doing is modeling queer adulthood. The way they see me in the world is part of what I’m putting out there. And I want that to be expansive and full.
So much of my work involves fundraising and being a face in schools. Being out is about making safe space for queer young folks.
BLADE: Have you encountered much Islamophobia?
MANSOOR: When 9/11 happened, I was a sophomore in high school, so yes. I faced a lot then and now. I’ve been egged on the street in the last four months. I see it in the classroom. It shows up in all sorts of ways.
BLADE: What prompted you to lead your creative life in Pittsburgh?
MANSOOR: I’ve been here for 14 years. I breathe with ease in Pittsburgh. The hills and the valleys and the rust of the city do something to me. It’s beautiful, it’ affordable, and there is support for local artists. There’s a lot of opportunity.
Still, the plan was to move to New York in September of 2020 but that was cancelled. Then the pandemic showed me that I could live in Pittsburgh and still have a nationally viable career.
BLADE: What are you trying to achieve with “Amm(i)gone”?
MANSOOR: What I’m sharing in the show is so very specific but I hear people from other backgrounds say I totally see my mom in that. My partner is Catholic and we share so much in relation to this.
I hope the work is embracing the fullness of queerness and how means so many things. And I hope the show makes audiences want to call their parents or squeeze their partners.