Gay Pride this coming weekend (as Gay Pride month draws to a close) and next Wednesday (June 28) marks the beginning of the anniversary (54th anniversary) of the historic and momentous Stonewall Uprising
For more of Allen on Stonewall – see here and here
Despite the huge advances since Stonewall, LGBTQ+ rights seem more under threat than ever, right-wing targeting (“what would Allen have said?”). We seem to be witnessing an alarming up-swing in coded (and, frankly, not-so-coded) intolerance and homophobia.
GLAAD (founded in 1985, originally known as the Gay and Lesbian Anti-Defamation League) continues its work to ensure “fair accurate and inclusive representation that rewrites the script for LGBTQ acceptance”
No place for bigotry or turning back the clock.
We here at the Allen Ginsberg Project are proud to continue the legacy of one of the great champions of gay rights and sexual freedom
This week we take to the streets and celebrate
Simon Warner “on the relationship between William S. Burroughs, his debut novel Junkie, the jazz scene and the role of the mob”
Steven Taylor follows up
Last week we featured a Czech rock updating of one of Allen’s poems. Not forgetting Polish band 2nd Hand Beatnix (since 2004, “perform(ing) Beat Poetry with zen punk beats for the benefit of all beings”). Here‘s their rendition of Gary Snyder’s “Smokey The Bear Sutra” and here (again in Polish) their transformation of Allen’s wonderful over-the-top irony, “C’mon Pigs of Western Civilization Eat More Grease!”
“And this is a plate of Black Forest chocolate cake, you deserve it! ”
Speaking of Gary, also last week, we mentioned his early and abiding influence on the great Daniel Ellsberg. The Beat Museum goes into it in more detail – here – ‘Did Gary Snyder Help End The Vietnam War?”
and “from the archives” – this – Gary Snyder and Nanao Sakaki reading “Turtle Island” in 1991 in Japan
