Today is May 22, which was voted in by the good people of California as Harvey Milk Day to celebrate the iconic gay civil rights leader Harvey Milk. Milk was one of the country’s first openly gay person to win elective office when he won a supervisor seat in 1977.

Above is the 1984 documentary film “The Times of Harvey Milk.” The Oscar-winning documentary film about the successful career of San Francisco’s first openly gay man to be elected to office and hsi assasination. The Gus Van Sant film “Milk” was based on this documentary as well as several books and audio recordings left behind by the slain political leader.

Thanks for giving us hope Harvey! Happy Birthday.

– Here’s a list of all events happening in your city.

Almost a year ago, longtime gay rights activist Cleve Jones announced on this show that he was working on an action inspired by the late politician Harvey Milk, asking people from all across the country to demand full equal rights for all gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people, NOW.

Last Sunday it really happened. Was the turnout a meager 250 thousand or a whopping quarter of a million?

Will the March re-invigorate the gay rights movement or was it just a great opportunity to see Lady Gaga out of her gyroscopic dress?

And most importantly, will President Obama listen to our demands?

Listen to today’s show as we give you highlights from the rally- Cleve Jones, StaceyAnn Chin, Kate Clinton and yes, even Lady Gaga.

Interviews with longtime gay rights activists like Equality Illinois representatives Art Johnston and Rick García, and a whole new generation of fun folks like Zach O’Connor, who started downloading the Feast of Fun podcast in 2005 while in high school- find out what happens to you when you’ve listened to the Feast of Fun during your formative years.

Click here for a photo gallery from Washington D.C. Got any photos to share? Upload them to the Flickr group and we’ll feature the best ones on the site.

Obama once again re-affirms his support for the gays, the only question is when?

Barney Frank calls the March “a colossal waste of time at best” and “the only thing they’re going to be putting pressure on is the grass.” Is he right or is he just smoking too much grass himself?

Gov Schwarzenegger signs a Gay Rights Bill and establishes Harvey Milk Day.

And the ultimate question:

What would you say if you had had the opportunity to speak to thousands of gay people?

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Somebody’s in love! Our friend, blogger Michael Lehet got an unexpected request on Facebook – his boyfriend asked him to confirm that they were in a relationship.

What was Michael’s answer? Find out!

This weekend is full of fun and excitement in Chicago- Cleve Jones is speaking at the Victory Gardens Theater and he’s also set to attend a pie throwing event at Sidetrack to raise money for Equality Illinois. Bring your dollars and plant a pastry in the puss of your favorite politician, bar owner or media personalities.

A contestant on the reality TV show Top Chef balks at a wedding related challenge due to the state of marriage inequality in the country, but was she being a crybaby about it?

Bizarre reactions to Senator Kennedy’s death, including a strange song by Senator Orin Hatch.

Steps you can take to stay optimistic and productive.

Buttered Bridges- do they taste as delicious as they sound?

Rufus Wainwright is set to drop the DVD of his live concert in Milwaukee. Will the scene with X-Tube’s “Good Morning Guy,” Josh Wolter, make the cut?

And get ready to get down as the Soul Train Movie grooves into production and chugs it’s way to theaters in the near future! Here’s a great article form the Chicago Reader about the history of Soul Train.

Make a comment on today’s show using twitter- Include #fof1048 in your update for it to magically appear on the site. To learn more about Twitter hashtags and how the work, please visit the Twitter Fan Wiki.

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You saw him at the Oscars, now on today’s show we have longtime gay rights activist Cleve Jones talking about what it was like to walk the red carpet at the Academy Awards, dance with Madonna at the after-party and hold Dustin Lance Black’s hand during the momentous evening.

The Oscar win for the film Milk certainly gives the national gay rights moment a shot in the arm but can we leverage the movie’s success into a comprehensive bill that ensures equality for all Americans?

Here are some memorable quotes from the interview:
On being at the Oscars with Madonna and a room full of celebrities celebrating Milk:

“It was an odd sensation to be in a room full of people and the only face I did not recognize was my own!”

On what an average citizen can do to fight for equality:

“I always go back to Harvey Milk. The single most important thing that we must all do as individuals is to come out of the closet and reveal ourselves to our families, neighbors and coworkers and let people understand who we are. I think the greatest obstacle that remains that individual queer people have about coming out.”

“The second step is to finally demand that straight people really get with the program and show their support. I think Sean Penn’s speech was very helpful in that regard. Too long we’ve accepted compromise and allowed our own leaders to sell us out. This is what President Clinton did… we need to hold all our leadership accountable.”

Cleve shares with us his thoughts on President Clinton crossing the picket line.

The fishy biological origins of sex.

Here’s another reason for pushing marriage equality: the environment. If Australian Senator Steve Fielding is right and divorce is ecologically unsound, then allowing same-sex couples to legally marry just may save the earth.

American Idol Judge Simon Cowell clarifies the rumors of him wanting to be frozen upon death. For now he’ll just enjoy being icy in life, not in death, thank you very much.

The world’s most unfortunate names.

Check out the world’s most windowed office building. Isn’t it cute? It looks like some cubist block of swiss cheese. Wouldn’t it totally blow if you worked there and didn’t have an office with a window?

How ecologists use magnets to confuse crocodiles.

If you got a moment, please vote for Feast of Fools in the Chicago Reader best of Chicago awards. We’re hoping to win Chicago’s award for the Best Gay News Source.

The podcast enjoyed by most commie, homo-loving sons of guns- Feast of Fools.

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Jeffery Straker – Step Right Up: iTunes | Amazon

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Here’s the simulcast on the interview with did with activist Cleve Jones, best known for conceiving the AIDS Memorial Quilt and being a close friend of the late Harvey Milk. Jones worked as a historical consultant in Gus Van Sant film “Milk” now out in theaters. He was portrayed by actor Emil Jones in the film.

The video was shot by Outworld.tv, a new online video community for GLBT created videos.

PART ONE in a series, click on the jump to watch the other videos.

PART TWO

PART THREE

PART FOUR

PART FIVE

PART SIX

Gus Van Sant’s new biographic film MILK brings forth a chilling timeliness with parallels to the anti-gay measures passed in the last election.

Have we come a long way baby, or have we only just begun?

On today’s show we have the real-life Cleve Jones, Harvey Milk’s protegee and friend portrayed by the hunky actor Emile Hirsch in the film. Since the 1970s, he has been working tirelessly for gay rights and union organization.

On the anniversary of the assassination of Harvey Milk, Cleve conceived the idea for the AIDS Memorial Quilt, the world’s largest community arts project and memorial to the lives of over 85,000 Americans killed by AIDS.

Cleve shares his experience with the film and his thoughts on boycotts and the fight against proposition 8. Cleve is asking for the gay community to boycott Manchester Grand Hyatt in San Diego because the owner of the hotel gave $125,000 to Yes on Prop 8 campaign. They are having a community forum on the boycott on December 6th at the Center on Halsted at noon. Call 773.472.6469 for details.

Will we ever see a political leader like Harvey Milk again, and where’s their Facebook profile?  It seems Obama won the election online, maybe we’ll find the same success as the new generation of queer youth network and organize on the internet.

Join us as Cleve answers how accurate was the movie? Was it a mistake to release the film after the November election? Was Harvey Milk’s lover Scott Smith as attractive as actor James Franco? What was assassin Dan White’s sinister relationship to the San Francisco Police Department? 

And does the potential for winning an Oscar help an actor kick it up a notch on the Kinsey Scale? 

Find out, PLUS- we’ve got Cleve Jones for the hour plus questions from you, our listeners. 

Check out our sponsors:

Steamworks Gym, Sauna and Baths.
Visit Steamwork’s website and register to get a discount
on your next visit. Enter “Feast of Fools” on the promo
code field to get the special discount.

Featured Music:
Gaye Adegbalola – Gaye Without Shame: iTunes | Amazon
Patti Smith- Til Victory: iTunes

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