It’s World AIDS Day, the international day of remembrance which raises awareness about the AIDS pandemic and honors the struggles and triumphs of people living with HIV.
Today we’re talking to groundbreaking actor and activist Michael Kearns.
In the mid 70s, long before coming out of the closet was considered a career move in Hollywood, Michael Kearns was famous for becoming the out gay model and spokesperson for the popular book, “The Happy Hustler” even though he didn’t write it.
Prompted by the AIDS-related death of “Midnight Express” star Brad Davis in 1991, Michael made history when came forward on television as being HIV positive at a time when so many people were afraid to divulge their status.
He later appeared on the TV shows Life Goes On and Beverly Hills 90210 as a man living with HIV.
Today Michael is re-staging his one man show “Intimacies’” for a 20 year anniversary tour. The show features six characters identified by the placement of a red scarf to tell six diferent monolouges on the AIDS crisis of the early 80s. Never in the history of theater has a red scarf meant so much!
Listen as Michael Kearns talks with us about why he came forward back then, why Hollywood still has a long way to go when embracing gay men and he reveals the juicy details of an affair he had with a major music celebrity.
Who was it? Listen to today’s show and find out. And we mean out.
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Featured Books:
Grant Tracy Saxon- The Happy Hustler: My Own Story: Amazon
Michael Kearns- The Solo Performer’s Journey: From the Page to the Stage: Amazon
Michael Kearns- T-Cells & Sympathy: Monologues in the Age of Aids: Amazon
Featured Music:
Baby Teeth- Hustle Beach: iTunes | Amazon
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![Michael Kearns Performs 20th Anniversary Revival Tour of “intimacies” This Sunday [Sponsored]](http://feastoffun.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/michael_kearns-133x100.jpg)
Michael Kearns Performs 20th Anniversary Revival Tour of “intimacies” This Sunday [Sponsored]
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5 Comments
Comments
Hey guys!
was just listening to today’s episode and was absolutely thrilled by michael kearns, and the “musical celebrity” story *grin*!! He is such a likeable person, mr kearns is, or at least he seems to be. THANK you so much for this podcast, and by the way, the song at the end by hustle beach is really good!
Hey, guys — Great interview. I’ve known Michael for many years and it was great to see (well, hear) him getting some well-deserved press. Keep up the great work. Cheers.
I loved this interview and thought it is refreshing to have a new perspective on gay values. Such a gem!
I have an Ikea “Jerker”. And so does a good friend. We’ve joked about this, immaturely, for years.
this was a great interview! thanks guys!
Holy Moley! This was a fantastic interview. What a funny, brave, beautiful person Mr Kearns is!
Only because you keep beating this drum I want to say something about the statistics regarding the African American vote and Gay Equality. I think you misrepresent what the stats revealed. You always claim that people were “blaming” the African American community for Prop 8 passage, and I agree that if that is what people are saying they learned, then they’re being ridiculous.
However, knowing that 70%+ of the African American vote in California went against us, and facing it, and not running from it out of some misguided effort to remain PC and avoid specious accusations of racism is critical to our eventual success. It is critical for us to know who votes against us. Especially when that vote against us is coming from a community that we should be able to reasonably expect some level of understanding and support for an equality battle. It gives us an opportunity to know that working with and in the African American community, talking to their leaders whether they come from purely political and community based organizations or from the African American churches is CRITICAL to our success. They may not be to blame, but I would contend that without shifting that vote among African American voters we cannot succeed and frankly I would personally find the victory a bit hollow.
I don’t think we do ourselves any favors when we constantly try to distance ourselves from those stats that have never been dis-proven. It is not racist to discuss the voting patterns of any voting group. The African American voters of California are not to blame for the passage of Prop 8, but if we can shift the minds and votes of this community who we should be working with anyway and who we should building common cause with and not letting religious attitudes in that community dominate their voting habits then we can eventually win.
Please stop denying those stats or what we can learn form them.
I don’t even remember in what context it was brought up in this show, but I think I think we covered the issue pretty well in this show with Rev Straight.
http://www.feastoffun.com/podcast/2008/11/18/fof-882-rev-straight-talks-about-prop-8-111808/
I guess it sticks in our mind because of the racially charged way some people pitted gay rights activists against the black community. I think it’s important to recognize where we need to make progress but playing the blame game doesn’t help anyone.
I think i just stumbled on a new compliment: this interview was so good i changed the setting on my ipod from 2x to 1x. i didn’t want to miss a word!
Curtis…well said!