Death Of A Porn Star
BY MICHAEL SHERIDAN
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Originally Published:Tuesday, March 9th 2010, 12:20 PM
A simple early morning disturbance call ended with the death of a gay-porn actor.
Dustin Michaels
And it was all captured on video.
Deputies with the Bay County Sheriff’s Department in Florida arrived at the Executive Inn after Andrew Grande (known professionally as Dustin Michaels), 23, allegedly got into a fight with a female friend, according to Panama City Beach’s WJHG.
Police attempted to handcuff Grande, who had reportedly swallowed a bag of marijuana. When he resisted, police Tasered him.
A camera crew from Zoo Productions was at the scene and captured the moments before the incident, as well as after.
Once he was struck by the powerful electrical jolt, Grande yanked the wires from his chest but showed signs of choking. Police tried to help, with one performing the Heimlich maneuver.
Every effort by police to remove the object from Grande’s throat failed. Paramedics later arrived and removed the bag, but it was too late.
Grande was pronounced dead at Bay Medical Center.
“It’s a tragic situation for our officers,” said Sheriff Frank McKeithen, and “a tragic situation for this young man and his family.”
However, he said, it never would have happened had Grande co-operated with police.
“If he’d … allowed them to handcuff him, it would have been over,” the sheriff said. “This would not have happened.”[/QUOTE]
WARNING: BELOW VIDEO CONTAINS GRAPHIC CONTENT!
Lady Gaga’s Grand MTV VMAs Entrance
Lady Gaga’s Grand MTV VMAs Entrance
Posted Sun Sep 12, 2010 6:46pm PDT by Joseph Brannigan Lynch
Yahoo Entertainment
Gaga Wows VMAs Red Carpet
Leave it to Lady Gaga to make sure the 2010 MTV VMA Awards got off to a fashion-forward start-the new Queen of Pop brought a new look to the red carpet and, of course, a touch of political controversy.
The inimitable Lady Gaga arrived in a dress by the late Alexander McQueen: the flowing regal gown wrapped her body in royal shades of gold, dark reds and deep greens. The whole look brought to mind a medieval monarch — only most ancient queens didn’t wear metallic golden feathers on their heads that looked like a Mohawk crossed with a Trojan helmet of war.
Naturally, like any royalty worth her weight in gold, Gaga arrived with military protectors. In Gaga’s case, her Ladyship was flanked by servicemen and servicewomen who had been discharged from the military for refusing to go along with the US’ controversial “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy. Gaga even directly dissed the policy in her red carpet interview and vocalized her support for SDN.org, a 17-year-old organization formed in reaction to DADT policies.
All in all, Gaga’s unforgettable entrance brought to mind her “Alejandro” video by combining commentary about gays in the military with religious iconography. The religious element to Gaga’s dress was less noticeable but still present-there appeared to be the face of a saint sewn onto the décolletage of her dress, bringing to mind Renaissance-era religious paintings.
How Love Lasts
(Just a photo of a gay couple I found on the web)
I was talking with a friend about patience when finding the right person to share your life with. After I wrote this particular email I decided it was good enough to post as a blog here:
You know, I didn’t meet ******* until I was 27 (he was 20).
I don’t think I would have been ready to recognize what he meant to me before that day. Like you, I had spent years wondering why I could never find the person I was looking for. I think it was ‘because’ I was looking too hard.
From my perspective now, years later, it is obvious my own insecurities about finding the one and to have him feel the same way about me were adding negative energy to my “aura” or whatever you want to call it. I don’t believe that is why I had not met him before that time – I think it just wasn’t time for us to meet until the moment we did. I had matured a great deal by 27. I was ready to accept the responsibility of a LTR. He was still very young and had a ways to go to get to that point. He had an advantage I never had – he had me, lol.
In every relationship each partner has a role to play. My role was to be the mature one who could hold us together through the tough times. His role was to be a risk taker and to keep our lives interesting. We had some trials by fire in the beginning. We could be very angry with each other over trivial things and important ones, too. Through it all, we loved each other. Sometimes love isn’t enough. Sometimes you need commitment to work through problems. I had the commitment and love enough for both of us. He was so young and needed time to grow into the maturity I had already found.
To this day we play the same roles. He keeps life interesting and I remain steady like the Rock of Gibraltar. I can’t imagine my life without him in it.
Our partnership isn’t perfect. No one’s is perfect. There is give and take. Sometimes I give more and he takes more and vice versa. Learning to accept the yin yang nature of it is the key.
When the day comes and you are face to face with ‘him’ don’t let it slip away. Don’t be afraid to take a risk. Put yourself out there and see what happens. If he is half the man you are then you will have a good one. Remember what I said about maturity being on your side. You must be willing to let him f**k up and still be committed to him. Never issue ultimatums that you will regret later. One partner must always be willing to compromise in order to keep the love alive. I can tell you are the one that will be willing to make such concessions – just like me.
I have a lot of advice, don’t I? I should write an advice column. (rofl)
I just re-read what I’ve written and it sounds pretty good. I think I’ll dress it up a little more and post in on my blog – it’s good advice if I do say so myself.
I love you a lot my friend and I hope your dreams come true.
Gideon
The Last Gay Pride Parade
Atlanta’s Gay Pride Parade is no longer held the last Sunday in June. It has been relegated to October and I guess that should put an end to all those scantily clad boys prancing about on their floats and the street corners celebrating the anniversary of the Stonewall Riots of 1969.
I hope the City of Atlanta is proud of itself. The sissies are gonna be kept off Peachtree Street and the good people, the straight people of Atlanta can go about their heterosexual way without having to endure those flaming gay boys.
I hope you noticed the sarcasm in those first two paragraphs.
The last Gay Pride Parade I actually enjoyed being a part of was in 1993. The summer was hot and the boys were hotter. We stood on Peachtree Street at the corner of Ponce de Leon Avenue for hours waiting for the Parade and watching the crowd build. The excitement was every where when the Gay Pride Events were schedule for the same week-end all across the country. We were all holding hands across the continent and claiming our moment in the spotlight to tell the whole world – “We’re Here, We’re Queer, Get Used To It”. Those were heady days for sure.
I doubt that I will attend any of the events this year. It has lost it’s momentum, it’s excitement. Perhaps African Americans should celebrate their National Holiday – Martin Luther King’s Birthday – in different months all across the nation. I mean, it would still be a celebration, right?
It is as though our minority is being splintered into smaller minorities. We will lose any cohesion we may have had. We will lose or political position as a very large, unseen force that must be acknowledged. I believe this is part of a plan to reduce our momentum towards equal rights. I believe it is being orchestrated by the right wing, ultra conservative coalition along with the pseudo-religious hate mongers who have always persecuted us.
Here, in Atlanta, where we are a large percentage of the population the City Government has turned it’s back on us. I cannot condone what they have done. I cannot condone the Gay Pride Committee’s complicity with this move to October. Stonewall did not happen in October.
Instead of supporting their so-called Gay Pride Festival charade I will be at home with family and friends who I know love and accept me for who I am. My partner and I have been together for 30 years. My family has accepted him from the very first day. We can openly show our affection within the family. This is where I will be. Not at Piedmont Park pretending what they have done is alright.
Teacher Not Indicted In Student ‘Hit’ Case
Teacher Not Indicted In Student ‘Hit’ Case
By Curt Yeomans
cyeomans@news-dailycom
Posted: 11:55 PM May 27, 2010
Taken from The Henry Daily Herald (our local newspaper)
A former Mundy’s Mill High School special education teacher, who allegedly sought a “hit” on a 16-year-old student, whom the educator believed to be gay, will not face criminal charges in Clayton County Superior Court, the county’s district attorney said on Thursday.
The teacher, Randolph Forde, had been facing a charge of making terroristic threats against the student, for allegedly offering a 17-year-old classmate of the student $50 to kill the 16-year-old, on Oct. 9, 2009.
The case had been bound over from Clayton County Magistrate Court on Oct. 14, but it sat for several months, waiting to be handled by the grand jury. In January, the Clayton County Board of Education terminated Forde’s employment, upon the recommendation of a tribunal panel, which heard two days of testimony from witnesses.
District Attorney Tracy Graham Lawson said she brought in “nine to 10” witnesses, including the intended victim of the alleged “hit,” to testify before the grand jury on Wednesday. In the end, however, the evidence did not prove to be enough to sway jurors toward handing down an indictment, she said.
“They returned a ‘No Bill,’ which means they did not find probable cause to hand down an indictment,” Lawson said.
Forde’s attorney, Borquaye Thomas, said the next step for his client is fighting to get the educator’s job re-instated with Clayton County Public Schools. Thomas said he plans to file an appeal of the school board’s decision to fire Forde, in Clayton County Superior Court today. “We’re working on getting his job back,” Thomas said. “I’ll be happy to just get that.”
The teacher’s attorney said the State Board of Education has already upheld the Clayton County school board’s decision, although no decision regarding Forde has yet been posted on the Georgia Department of Education’s web site.
Even though the grand jury has decided not to indict Forde, Clayton County Public Schools officials, in a written statement, said the district will not reverse the previous decision to fire the teacher.
“The matter regarding Randolph Forde’s employment with Clayton County Public Schools is closed,” according to the district’s written statement. “Mr. Forde, like any other person, can apply for any position posted by the district.”
Terance Madden, an Atlanta-based attorney for the family of the 16-year-old student, contends the alleged request for a “hit” was tied to an incident which occurred a week and a half earlier, in which Forde allegedly took the youth out of a math class, and asked him if he was gay. A day after that incident, there was allegedly a verbal argument between Forde and the youngster, in the same math class.
On Oct. 9, Forde is alleged to have approached the 17-year-old at his school bus, and offered him money to perform the “hit.” The teacher allegedly identified the 16-year-old victim as the intended target, by writing the youngster’s name on a piece of paper for the 17-year-old.
Thomas said the grand jury’s decision to not indict in the case was not a surprise to him, or his client, because it was “what we expected, based on what we knew about the facts of the case.”
With the grand jury’s decision, the criminal portion of Forde’s case is likely over, according to Lawson. But, the family of the intended victim of the “hit” will continue to push the DA’s office for some sort of legal punishment for Forde, according to attorney Terance Madden. “We want the district attorney to use every, and any means to prosecute this case,” he said.
The family’s attorney said the 16-year-old student is “devastated” over the lack of an indictment, and blamed Lawson for it.
Lawson said, however, that she gave the grand jury all of the evidence she had, and it is ultimately up to the jurors to decide if there is enough evidence to hand down an indictment. “It is the ethical duty of a prosecutor to seek the truth, and that is why I presented all of the evidence that I had, and the grand jury made it’s decision,” she said.
Have You Ever Felt Like You Saved Someone’s Life?
If you see someone, be it a friend or a stranger, who is being attacked would you come to their assistance or look the other way?
In 1985 an incident occurred that forced me to answer this question. My partner and I were going out on a Saturday night. We were planning to go to a Country & Western bar on Colfax Ave. in Denver called “Charlie’s”. As we drove up Broadway and past the SouthTowne Lumber Company (another bar) a man came running across the street in front of us as he was being chased by 3 men with baseball bats. My partner locked the brakes and we stopped. I opened the front door and slid over to the middle of the seat so the terrified man could get in.
His face was bloodied and his arm looked broken because it appeared a bone was trying to poke through the skin. As we drove him to Denver General Hospital he recounted what happened.
He said he walked out the front door of the bar when he was approached by 3 guys who were verbally abusive with name calling and threatening body movements. As he walked toward his car behind the building the men began to chase him. He was knocked down and beaten with the bats. He got to his feet and they allowed him to have a head start so they could have the fun of chasing him down again. This is when he ran out in front of our car. The bat-wielding men struck our car’s rear fender as we fled.
When we arrived at the Hospital Emergency Room there was a Policeman stationed there. While the victim was taken back and examined we spoke with the officer and told him what had happened. The officer’s reaction was predictable but shocking non the less.
The officer said we could not lodge a complaint because we had not been harmed. We tried to get him to come out to look at our car. He refused and said the damage could have been done anytime before any attack. He asked us why we wanted to stir up a can of worms by making wild accusations. He said our “friend” was getting the medical attention he needed and we should be happy he wasn’t more seriously injured. We told him we had never met the man before that night and even though we helped him he wasn’t our friend before this incident. He said it would be better if we just took our friend home and not try to make any trouble. I became very irritated and started demanding the officer call a supervisor to come settle the dispute. He asked me “Are you really SURE you want to do that?” At this point my partner pulled me back and we went outside where he calmed me down and reminded me we couldn’t win every battle and we had to choose which ones we fought wisely and obviously this officer was warning us this was one fight we couldn’t win.
I capitulated and went to wait in the car. Some time much later my partner and the injured man returned. We took him back to the bar and I drove his car home for him. He lived only a few blocks from where this all happened. His name was James and he was a very beautiful man. His face was lacerated from the pavement he had been pushed down on. His left arm was in a cast and his eyes were starting to swell and soon he would have both eyes blackened by bruises.
He disappeared out of our lives a few days later. He never reported the attack. No one was ever charged with the attack. The officer was never charged with dereliction of duty because I was too afraid to force the issue.
Do You Remember Your First Kiss?
First Kiss
Do You Remember Your First Kiss?
I certainly do! His name was Greg Lake (no – not the Greg Lake of Emerson, Lake & Palmer, lol).
He had medium brown hair cut in a boyish mop top style. His eyes were a deep green and nestled beneath eyelashes that were full and luxuriously long. His lips were perfectly shaped and formed in a pout. His breath smelled of bubblegum and his skin was lily white with the fragrance of Ivory Soap.
We were friends that spent all our time together. It was not unusual for us to go to the bathroom together. We shared everything. The day came when we were so close we knew each others thoughts. I leaned in towards him and he mirrored my movements. At first we touched lips gently. Then we embraced each other for a much longer kiss. It was my first time to kiss a boy. It was his first time, too.
No one saw us. Somehow we knew it was taboo and if caught there would be consequences. We had never seen other boys kissing. The only kisses we had ever seen were couples with a boy and a girl but we wanted to kiss each other. I have never forgotten that moment. I have never forgotten Greg.
This is a true story. I’ve often said I have always known I was different. In my early years the term “Gay” wasn’t used to describe homosexuals. The only terms used were “Queer” or “Faggot” and probably some other even more derogatory terms, lol.
This “Kiss” happened when we were 5 years old. We both knew it was forbidden but we often practiced our kissing in private. We would hold hands sometimes when no one was around. There was a tree house on the back of our property that my older brothers had built where we would hang out. We played house and I pretended to stay home and wait for him to come in from work. It is a lovely memory and such a revealing one.
Greg’s father was in the Army and one day he told me his family was moving to Germany because his father was to be stationed there. It broke both our hearts and we exchanged pen pal letters. We were always careful what we said. Our signatures always included two plus marks as a sign of our connection.
At some point after about a year the letters stopped and I never knew why. My mother kept the letters that I had long forgotten. After she passed away they surfaced during the clearing out of her things. I have them in my safe.
Gideon
Coming Out Stories
There are many different “Coming Out” stories. The accounts of Coming Out to your family, friends and co-workers. I think I’ll start off with a story about Coming Out to my best friend in high school.
I was 15 and a sophomore in a very small school in my hometown. There were about 40 members of my graduating class and about 120 students enrolled at the school altogether. As I said – small. At the time our community was rural and mostly farms and dairies. All of those wholesome country boys everywhere I looked. It was difficult at times to contain myself. It wasn’t a good idea to be openly gay during my days there. The reasons must be obvious to everyone.
I had spent the first 15 years of my life growing up in the city and our family moved out when the neighborhood began to change. So there I was – a “Big City” boy plopped down in the middle of a very small rural town. I had no trouble making friends. The popular girls were all trying to befriend the new guy (little did they know I wanted the popular guys attentions instead, lol). I was a center of attention and I made the most of it. I knew that all of the jocks and popular guys would flock to the girls and if I happened to be there too my chances of being accepted increased. So, I played it up big time.
There were the blond bimbos who were really kind of slutty, lol. There were the conservative “Nice” girls who would make someone a good wife someday. Then, there was Trudy. She was so beautiful with her bright blue eyes, luscious lips, full breasts and hips and a lovely complexion. Her hair was like a waterfall cascading over her shoulders. She was arguably the most beautiful girl in the whole county. I decided that she would be the best possible friend to have.
At first we studied together, sat near each other during class and took lunch together. We spent the afternoons together doing homework and snacking while listening to rock & roll. She was so intelligent and didn’t really fit in with any of the cliques in school any more than I would have. What I began as a scheme to better my chances of acceptance within the peer group was turning into a “Best Friends Forever” situation.
That first summer I spent working at a local dairy farm milking cows, bailing hay and gathering silage for the cows during winter. The family who owned the dairy had a set of fraternal twins who were in my same class. The parents were Swiss immigrants and they spoke mostly German. I developed a heavy crush on one of the twins – Charles – he was quite the tall, dark handsome young man. His twin – Michael – was a little shorter than me with gorgeous brown hair and eyes of emerald green. Both were very intelligent and highly motivated to succeed in school to earn scholarships for college. We were together in almost every class – the four of us – Trudy, Charles, Michael and I.
When school began for our Junior year the talk was already about the Junior/Senior Prom the next spring. Charles was already involved with a girl from another school he met through his Catholic church. I got over my feelings for him as I grew ever more drawn to Michael. Mike knew Trudy and I were best friends and he asked if I would help him to become friends with her too. Of course I agreed albeit begrudgingly. I didn’t want to be the third party in the triangle of friends as I knew I would end up. By this time I was completely taken with Michael. He knew, I’m sure he knew but that is a different story.
Trudy began dating Mike and all was well until Christmas Break. We were all in the High School Band together – Trudy on French Horn – Michael and Charles on Trumpet and I was on Clarinet. We spent loads of time practicing and going to football games and concerts. It was Thanksgiving week-end when Michael’s older brother decided to turn us on to some pot – I had never smoked pot before and I didn’t even get off that first night. They were all laughing and having a great time and told me to just wait and the next time we smoked it I would feel it too. The next night that is exactly what happened – I got stoned as shit!
Trudy and I left the party in my little 1961 VW bug (the rear window was a small opera window and it had no gas gauge but instead a 1 gallon reserve tank to use when you ran out – and of course no heat to speak of because it was a VW, lol). We went to her house because her father was away and her older sister was cool.
We munched out and played some music and then I opened my big mouth, lol.
I told Trudy that I needed to tell her a secret but only if she promised to never tell. Of course she agreed. I told her about my attraction to guys and that I was completely in love with Michael. I realized as the words came out of my mouth what a mistake I was making but it was too late – the deed was done. I had to suffer an eternity of silence as I waited for her to respond. She burst into a deep laughter that woke her sister, Charlotte. We were sitting on her bed with incense burning and Cheezit crumbs everywhere when Charlotte came through the door. She was grinning from ear to ear.
Apparently, Trudy and Charlotte had already surmised my attraction to Michael and had discussed how long it would be before I said something. At first I was kind of hurt by the laughter and the idea they had figured me out. But within a few seconds I was so relieved that I began to laugh to the point of tears. We all three hugged there on her bed and made a pact to be friends forever.
My fear of rejection by everyone had taught me to try to disguise my difference from them. I was so certain that I had made a mistake in telling Trudy. I risked everything in order to have one friend to trust with my secret. These were the first people I ever came out to – well, besides my older sister who knew before I did, lol.
We continued to be friends throughout high school. We went on double dates together, Trudy and Michael with Dawn and me. We went everywhere together. Trudy was there when I needed her most. She died of brain cancer in 1996 and I miss her. Re-telling this story brought back some very fond memories.
As I said, there are many “Coming Out” stories. This was just one.
I hope some of you will be brave enough and open enough to share some of your own “Coming Out” stories or what it is that keeps you from “Coming Out”. If I can do it so can you. Just post a reply to this thread and let’s become friends who share a little bit of what it is that makes us the people we are.
SwordOfGideon
Hermes/Mercury - The Winged Messenger
Swordofgideon's Blog 