Lady Gaga goes all miliary erotic on lost love in her latest video called”Alejandro,” directed by Steven Klein. The CD is under Interscope Records.

I see a little Madonna workshop in the style of this video—with pointed beast cups, and vogue like dance moves—weather it’s subconscious or not! Well it’s Lady Gaga, so just enjoy the Bi Candy!

Lady Gaga and Beyonce Driving

Everyone’s been talking about Lady Gaga’s new song and video Telephone, which features Beyonce and Heather Cassils. It’s been labeled risqué and “too hot to handle”, so much so, that there was even a rumor that MTV had banned it, which turned out not to be true. Of course the video is all over YouTube and other sites, and it’s full of bisexual, genderqueer, gay, and trans themes. Commenters all over are using the word bisexual to describe this video, and/or to describe Lady Gaga, who in interviews has talked about the themes in the video and what she wants them to mean. She herself says the words “queer”, “homosexual” and “transsexual” when talking about it. I wish she would say the word bisexual more, but if she isn’t, it’s good that so many others seem to be picking up on it. One of the main messages she was trying to get across in  the video was was that sexuality isn’t a choice , and that binaries of gender and sexuality need to be broken down more.  Encouraging people to think outside of the box can only be good for the bisexual community. There is also the added bonus of the visibility that an out bisexual performer brings. Lady Gaga has also did an interview where she said that both she and Beyonce “liked women”, so, naturally, now people are asking if Beyonce is bisexual (as nice as that would be, playing a character in one video doesn’t make you a different orientation!).

Telephone starts off where the video Paparazzi left off. In Paparazzi, Lady Gaga had poisoned her boyfriend, and Telephone starts with her being brought into jail for murder. The jail is full of women who very obviously straddle the gender line, including the guards who bring Lady Gaga in, both of whom seem to be trans. They undress her to find out if the rumors about her being intersex are true (they confirm they are not). Having previously had a boyfriend, Lady Gaga goes on to find herself a prison girlfriend, played by Heather Cassils, who in real life is a personal trainer who admits she straddles the gender line in both appearance and attitude. They share a kiss in the prison yard. The sequence is complete with several scantily clothed women, including Lady Gaga, and dancing.

Lady Gaga then gets a call from her girlfriend, Beyonce, who bails her out of jail. They go for a ride in a car called the Pussywagon (from the movie Kill Bill Volume 1 ). They drive to a diner where Lady Gaga is the cook and Beyonce meets up with what seems to be her boyfriend; she also appears to have both a boyfriend and a girlfriend. Lady Gaga and Beyonce proceed to poison everyone in the diner, including Beyonce’s boyfriend. There are a lot of genderqueer visibility and bisexual themes here as well, such as dating both men and women, and having a lot of people in the video straddle the gender line in appearance and attitude. The video ends with the police chasing Lady Gaga and Beyonce, who ride off together and promise each other they will never come back. At the very end there is a female power symbol.

One of the best qualities of the video, and probably what is making so many people both love it and hate it, is that it shows a wide range of human sexual behavior, orientation, identity, and expression, including bisexuality, and has them all come across as normal and accepted. Some artists do this just for shock value, but it seems that Lady Gaga really is trying to send a message and get people to think outside of the many preconceived notions that society has; the biggest being that sexuality and gender identity are somehow a choice.

Love it or hate it, Lady Gaga’s video Telephone has definitely pushed the envelope in entertainment and music, and opened some doors for sexual expression in popular culture. And of course-the song itself is pretty catchy!

Angelina Jolie

Everyone has fantasies. In fact—everyone has sexual fantasies. For bisexual people those fantasies include any variation of men and women that is pleasing – because of that fact, when someone comes out as being bisexual it is sort of a big deal. A celebration is held that maybe, just maybe, the subject of our most intimate fantasies is—to use the vernacular—batting for “our” team. Why does this matter? What possible consequence could there be behind Angelina Jolie, Pink, Billie Joe Armstrong or Daniel Radcliffe are attracted to members of either sex? Beyond the fantasizing outlined above, the only possible reason there could be is—what other people think.

When it comes to men, bisexuality is probably just as common as it is in women. Though there isn’t much research to that effect. While Alfred Kinsey estimated that nearly 46 percent of the male population had engaged in both heterosexual and homosexual activities—there is research from only a few years ago citing that bisexuality simply doesn’t exist in men. Rumors have arisen surrounding the sexual orientation of our favorite celebrities for years—some complete with facts and quotes. Pink, Lady Gaga and Angelina Jolie are all bisexual and the information comes from some very reliable sources. Gerard Butler, Robert Downey Jr. and Billie Joe Armstrong are also reportedly bisexual—though the sources of this information are far less credible than a Barbara Walters special. All of these people may be bisexual.

Gerard Butler

The fact remains, however, that this hot button issue will be met with a decided difference of opinion—seemingly based on gender. Regardless of being a man or woman we all have social standards we’re brought up to believe and for every Barbara Walters interview that makes it safe for a celebrity to come out, there is an article in a reputable newspaper such as Newsday with the headline “Anti-Gay Jock Tells it Straight” making it completely unsafe for a male celebrity to come out. The bias itself isn’t limited to gender. In fact, many women would prefer not to think of their favorite heart throbs as being bisexual and to that end the search begins to refute the “rumors”—sometimes with success. Gerard Butler (Actor of 300), for instance, in fact never stated that he was bisexual and the article that reported it was confirmed as a fake. Regardless of the reasons why, the question of sexual orientation regarding celebrities will likely never go away. Their life in the public eye marks them as the elite of society. Their portrayal of our heroes on television, in sports, in film and on stage make them the role models for ourselves and our children – as such society places importance on their personal live

As long as there is a question of morality a celebrity’s sexual orientation will be questioned. As long as society as a whole believes that same sex relations, particularly between two men is a sign of weakness, a detriment to virility then the question of male sexuality specifically will continue to be a cause for concern. In the face of these concerns, however, there will always be those that admire those in the public eye for being brave enough to be who they are in the face of excessive scrutiny.

Walters' interview with Palin aired on "Good Morning America," November 17. (AP Photo/ABC, Steve Fenn)

Barbara Walters is a name that is almost synonymous with news. Throughout her career she has blazed the trail for all female journalists that would come after her. Her early career is especially noteworthy for breaking down the walls of the male dominated journalistic world. When Walters started her journalistic career as a writer at CBS News, she was extremely limited by gender politics:

According to Walters, she was not allowed to write for the male correspondents or to ask questions in “male-dominated” areas such as economics or politics, and she was forbidden to interview guests on-camera until all of the men on Today had finished asking questions. Source: Museum of Broadcast Communications

She went on to be the first official female co-host and regular on The Today Show for fifteen years. She joined Hugh Downs as co-anchor of the prime time news show 20/20 and she created and produces the morning magazine show The View. These are only her more well known accomplishments. Seeing her in this trailblazing light makes it even more difficult to understand what has happened on the most recent Barbara Walters Special “The Most Fascinating People of 2009”.

The aforementioned “Most Fascinating People” were: Michelle Obama, Lady Gaga, Glenn Beck, Tyler Perry, Kate Gosselin, Adam Lambert, Sarah Palin, Brett Favre, Jenny Sanford, and Michael Jackson’s Three Children. Walters’ interviews were handled with her usual penchant for asking “hard questions” that have been known to make guests squirm – as well as a controversy that is no stranger to Walters.

Two of Walters’ interviewees happen to be a part of the BLGT community – Lady Gaga, who stated in her interview with Walters “I’ve certainly had sexual relationships with women, yes.” and Adam Lambert, who states in his interview, “I’m a homosexual, deal with it.” and “It doesn’t really matter who I’m sleeping with. What matters is I’m singing, it’s my voice.” While there is no controversy in the interviews themselves, both straightforward pieces of journalism, the controversy lies in the handling of each of the star’s sexuality.

In Lady Gaga’s interview, Walters includes a statement notating that “kissing women and scantily clad outfits are not exactly a father’s dream for his little girl.” This statement is augmented by video clips of Lady Gaga’s video “Love Games” including a clip in which Lady Gaga shares a very steamy, suggestive same sex romp with another woman dressed as a police officer.

Check out her video:

By contrast, in Adam Lambert’s interview, Walters chose to show a clip of Lambert’s controversial performance at the American Music Awards of his song “For Your Entertainment.” And as in Lady Gaga’s interview, Walters made a statement about the performer “You groped a female dancer, you kissed a male musician, why did you do this?” though in this interview, she chose to forego the clip in favor of another statement: “He also turned the music industry inside out doing things we won’t show you here.”

Check out his full video:

If you missed out on the guy on guy kiss, don’t think you can just pop over to YouTube and see it – the full AMA performance is blocked there. A low-res video does exist, however.

This latest example of the saying “same sex relationships are okay as long as both women are hot” is the last thing to be expected from a journalist of Walters’ integrity and reputation – the journalist herself having shared a same sex kiss with Julianne Moore, not once but twice, most recently  on The View. It has been immortalized in song that a kiss is just a kiss. Madonna, Lady Gaga, Julianne Moore and several other women have made it okay for women to kiss each other on television and in movies, but Barbara Walters “Ten Most Fascinating People of 2009” leaves us with the knowledge that a kiss is not simply a kiss when shared between two men. Adam Lambert himself put it best in his interview with Walters “Freedom of expression should be alive and well, and sadly its not.”

Lady Gaga Website

So what does this have to do with being bisexual?  Well every year in October when Italian American History Month rolls around, I  fulminate about how much I want nothing to do with Columbus, how little anyone knows about Sacco and Vanzetti, and how I wish I had other Italian American bisexuals, gay men and lesbians to hang around with.  It’s as if I spend the month in a protracted and wide-ranging intellectual version of hide-and-go-seek.  Come out, come out wherever you are.  Please.

In fact, I see the surface level of parades, nostalgic remembrances of Little Italies, and the struggle to ‘make it’ in the United States.  What I see little of is critical discussion of Italian American history and the state of the community as it is.  In fact, one of the few places I see such is the Italian American studies discussion list, which I have been following for a few years now.  What I see nothing of is a continuing discussion of what it is to be BLGT and Italian American so there are moments when I feel on the margins of margins because of my ethnicity and sexuality.

I have an intense hunger for connecting to other BGLT Italian Americans because of our common culture and history.  As an Italian American, I have maintained a certain attachment to tradition.  One of the things this means is that I value community , although not necessarily in ways my ancestors would have understood.

In my great hunt for other Italian American bisexuals, here’s what I’ve come up with so far:

When I was on the board of the Bisexual Resource Center a few years ago, I asked my confederates if they knew of any other Italian American bisexuals-especially men.  My colleague Sheeri mentioned Tom Limoncelli and I immediately went to his web site.  Well, I’m not the only one, I thought.  Anyone else?

Well, there are two women I can think of: Camille Paglia has been out for quite a while and Lady Gaga seems to have joined the ‘party’ lately.

And that’s where my line of inquiry ends.

I also did a web search for works on BLGT Italian Americans, I found Fuori: Essays by Italian/American Lesbians and Gays,  one of whose authors, Giovanna Capone, suggested I also look at the anthology Hey Paesan! Writing by Lesbians and Gay Men of Italian Descent. Although these insightful and poignant books do not mention bisexuals, they have become indispensible to me as a way to assure myself of the existence of other BLGT Italian Americans.  In short, I’ve grabbed on to what was there.

But that is not enough.  I salute the authors of the above works, although it is clear that more is needed.  This more is part of the reason I do this column.  The Italian American community prefers not to talk about ‘alternative sexuality’ and so, maintaining family solidarity, opts for silent tolerance.  The BLGT community, I have found, seems ill-at-ease in discussing ethnic differences that do not fit neatly into the Black/White/Asian/Native American/Latino rubric.   Not that we are all that comfortable discussing race and ethnicity at all in the United States.  We all have an ethnicity-or ethnicities-and it plays in how we view our sexuality and act it out.

Given all that, here’s what I want to see:

I want more Italian American BLGT folk to come out of the closet, tell their stories and build community.  I want the larger Italian American community to listen with respect to and embrace its BGLT members.  I want the BGLT community to understand and honor the fact that its Italian American members come from a different cultural space.  I also want the BGLT community to have more open and honest discussions about race and ethnicity, as well as religion and class, that lead to more effective representation of the community as a whole.

The author can be reached at peter@bisocialnews.com with questions, comments and feedback regarding his posts.

Equality Across America

We’ve come to it at last—what so many have been talking about, wondering about, and even fighting about for the past several months.  The National Equality March—which is on Sunday, October 11, 2009. I’m happy to say there will be a fair amount of bisexual inclusion for once (thanks to the hard work of BinetUSA). The National Equality March (NEM) has four bi speakers: Penelope Williams, Chloe Noble, Michael Huffington, and the famous Lady Gaga herself. We also have an event that everyone should go to and network with he bi community!

Bi Social News (BSN) went around and asked as many people as we could find,  including two of the speakers for our bi community, who are either marching themselves or helped organize—why they were marching, what this march meant to them, and what they hoped to get out of it?  Here are some of their answers:

That we are not numb, that we push forward in the face of discrimination and fear, that we continue to have great faith in Humanity, that we long for a better world, and that we are deeply motivated to work to bring about the change that we wish to see in the world—these are the reasons I am honored to stand with all of you – in this LGBTQ Liberation Movement – and in the Social Justice Movement as a whole. – Chloe Noble

Chloe Noble is a bi/queer activist, who advocates for and helps homeless GLBTQ youth. Check out her projects at PrideWalk2009! NEM states they are very proud and excited to have her as a speaker!

“Equality is not about what’s fair, it’s about what’s needed. To me this means that as bi, trans[sexuals], lesbian and gay people we all have different, yet basic and necessary needs. As a bi Afro/Latina woman, this is important for the well being of my same-sex partner and our future. Therefore, I pray that all of our needs are met swiftly and equally. It as honor to be able to go out and represent the bi community and bi people of color community. I look forward to seeing and hearing all the beautiful bisexual/pansexual and fluid faces that will come out and represent.”—Penelope Williams

Penelope Williams is an Afro-Dominican, bisexual activist for over 20 years. Penelope founded the first Bi youth People of Color group in the 90′s. Her recent experience includes coordinating anti-discrimination policy/law with Lambda Legal and working with WEAVE, a domestic violence prevention organization that outreaches to the GLBT community. NEM is proud and excited to have her as a speaker!

“I am planning on being at the rally site and listening to Penelope and the other speakers. I’m a 4th generation Washingtonian, whose Mom took her to hear Martin Luther King as a teenager speak his magnificent, “I Have A Dream speech and I’ve been hooked on demonstrations as grand spectacles of democracy and people’s ideals ever since! I was at the 79th, 87th and 93rd Marches on Washington for L/G and then LGBT rights. LGBT people have been disrespected for too long and anytime we can get the media’s attention to listen to our demands and our stories—it is worth it!

I’m also marching for and with this new generation of young people who have grown up since the last march, and for the elders, like me—who need the charge of hope and connection a march gives, to help us continue.”—Dr. Loraine Hutchins, Bisexual/GLBT Activist and author of Bi Any Other Name: Bisexual People Speak Out.

“The short answer— because we shouldn’t have to. [The] long answer—[because] I’ve been on this planet for 34 years and I can tell you that I have met about five bisexual men of color. I would have to say there aren’t that many people of color out there. With the absentee faces in most mainstream queer media of people of color—there is literally no stable support for queer men of color, especially bisexual men of color.  So for right now I am going to be marching not for myself, but for the next generation of queer youth of color integrity.

Hopefully, someday—one day, they won’t have to march for equality. They won’t have to fight for respect from the hetero[sexual] or the gay and lesbian community. They won’t take a label that is not theirs just to fit in. I am marching so they won’t have to.”—Sean Graham, Bi activist and comedian.

“My partner and I will be going to the march to add to the numbers of people who just want the same rights others enjoy. We want the right to marry. The ability to get health benefits for our loved ones. The right to make medical decisions for our partners, when they are unable to—to have our wills and death benefits respected and to just be able to love who we want and be able to walk down the street without fear of someone attacking us because of who we love. We want to live the American dream in the same manner as our “straight” citizens do.”—Ruth Hilliard-an out and proud lesbian.

“I hope, in the aftermath of this equality march, there will be major moves for equality for all citizens, regardless of race, gender, class, and sexual orientation. I’m looking for movements of various communities (such as LGBTQIQ, people of color, etc.) to unify and smash the long standing oppression of many people in and outside this country.”—Dawn Gibson, an out and proud bisexual woman.

“I’m marching because I’m proud of who I am. I’m also happy that more people who are bi are being accepted more in the gay & lesbian community.”—Tina Frundt, an out and proud bisexual woman and founder of Courtney’s House.

“It sounds like it’s going to be a good time for a good cause with lots of opportunities for people to get energized and get networked. I feel the National Equality March claims that LGBT people are also guaranteed equal protection under the 14th Amendment of the US Constitution is absolutely correct.”—Cynthia, an out and proud pansexual women and member of the New York Area Bisexual Network (NYABN).

Each of these expresses—a hope that the march will help change the future for the better. We share that hope, for the bisexual community, and for all BLGT/Queer people.  I will be back next week to let you know how it goes!

For more information about bisexual events and where to meet to march, please click on the events.

Maria is a Contributing Writer for BSN and will be covering the march and the bisexual social events throughout the weekend. Check back for all the latest bisexual news and updates.