Academy Award winning screenwriter Dustin Lance Black’s play 8 covering the Proposition 8 hearings and starring Morgan Freeman, Anthony Edwards, Cheyenne Jackson, Christine Lahti, Rob Reiner, Yeardley Smith and Marisa Tomei hits Broadway on September 19th in a one-time staged reading at the Eugene O’Neil Theater to benefit the American Foundation for Equal Rights. Tickets start at $500.

AFER was formed specifically to fund the legal challenge against Proposition 8. A previous fundraiser, featuring a full length concert with Elton John was held earlier this year in Los Angeles.

8 is based on the California Supreme Court trial transcripts, and Milk screenwriter Black, who spent six months writing the play, told the New York Times:

I mined the best arguments on both sides, trying to capture everything on their side that was a winning point and anything on our side that was a winning point.

Luckily Black didn’t have to deal with these kind of arguments found on Facebook.

Wow, what’s next, blaming gays for hurricanes? Oh wait the heterosexual Rick Perry’s buddy/partner in Jesuspalooza, James Hagee has already done that.

8 will also be staged at Carnegie Mellon University, Northwest, and the University of Michigan.

[Thanks, Pam Spaulding for FB tip; h/t OnTopMagazine]

photo: creative commons, Mary McTavish

Last night I went to the American Foundation for Equal Rights benefit concert. Full disclosure, I paid for my ticket. AMFR is the sole sponsor of the federal court challenge of California’s Proposition 8, known as Perry v. Schwarzenegger.

Elton John was awesome (more on that later), and it was kinda thrilling to see Theodore Olson and David Boies take the stage together. Olsen said  their plan was for him get to the four Supreme Court Justices that voted his way and the five that voted Boies’ way re: Florida, and that way they’d have all nine. Laughs form the audience. Chairman Rob Reiner said the whole point was being non-partisan. Both John Podesta and the Cato Institute are involved with AFER.

Okay done with the speechifications and on to Elton John: Sir Elton, once he realized the difference between UK civil unions and state civil unions, got involved in the battle against Prop 8. He told the audience of 300 at the start of the 90 minute show that he

would always be there for you standing at the forefront to help you guys

and while he realized he had everything, he didn’t have the right to be married to his partner of 17 years. Midway through the set which included several new songs plus “Levon,” “Philadelphia Freedom,” “Candle in the Wind,” “I’m Still Standing,’ “crocodile Rock,” “Tiny Dancer,” “Rocket Man,” and Benny and the Jets,” plus some awesome jazz, boogey-woogey and barrelhouse  piano improv, Sir Elton, who looked like he was having a ton of fun, got serious with a speech ending with the full force of righteous anger toward the churches, the people and politicians who deny equal marriage rights:

Fuck you! Fuck you!

Celebrity spotting was not the purpose of the evening, though  Adam Lambert,  Golden Globe winner/Glee star Jane Lynch and Bruce Vilanch–who our cat Mr Bruce is partially named for (see photo below)–were two rows in front of me.

The event was held at Ron Burkle’s estate in the benefit section of the vast grounds, with one tent for the concert and another for enormous and elegant buffet, with an open bar. The passed hors d’oeuvres included mini-burgers, brie and pear tarts, shrimp and wee pizzas, plus tables loaded with salads, green beans, vegan mousaka, braised short ribs on puff pastry and some amazing desserts including homemade s’mores.

But Elton, OMG! It was incredible to see him up close like that and for such a good cause.

Mr. Bruce

Bruce Vilanch

Sir Elton John and his partner David Furnish have a adopted a baby, Zachary Jackson Levon Furnish-John, the couple told Us magazine exclusively. ZJLF-J was born via surrogate December 25. The couple’s bid to adopt a Ukranian baby was rejected last year.

Sit Elton and Furnish have been together since 1993 and were joined in a civil partnership December 21, 2005  the first day civil partnerships became legal in the United Kingdom. While the media has often referred to the UK unions as gay marriage, they are technically/semantically not marriage.*

The media is currently reporting that Sir Elton and his partner are “married,” and have used that language in the past.

During the 2008 Prop 8 election Sir Elton famously said:

I don’t want to be married. I’m very happy with a civil partnership. If gay people want to get married, or get together, they should have a civil partnership. The word “marriage,” I think, puts a lot of people off. You get the same equal rights that we do when we have a civil partnership. Heterosexual people get married. We can have civil partnerships.

At the time, Sir Elton seemed unclear in the difference between the U.S. and UK civil unions. His words were used by Yes on Proposition 8 as part of their anti-marriage campaign in California.

But since then Sir Elton appears more aware of lthe difference between the limited (states’) rights granted same-sex unions in the US — in which over 1,000 federal rights are denied to couples — and UK same-sex unions which accord couples equal rights across the board. Equal rights — both state and federal — are what the piece of paper should provide, here in this land where all were created equal.

And now in a show of support for marriage equality in California, Sir Elton is performing a fund raising concert January 19 to benefit the American Foundation for Equal Rights. AFER is The sole sponsor of the landmark federal case against Proposition 8, Perry v. Schwarzenegger (Teddy Partridge has been liveblogging the court cases including the anti-equal righters’ appeal for Firedoglake.com)

There’s a Facebook sweepstakes (entry is free) to win tickets to the Elton John AFER concert concert plus airfare and hotel, but I have poor impulse control and never win contests anyway — so full disclosure –I bought a ticket weeks ago. It’s a cause I support, and a once in a lifetime experience. OMG, Elton John! At a private home! I am soooo excited!

I hope AFER expands their efforts beyond California into other states and turns up the heat on repealing DOMA.

On Christmas Eve day, Vice President Joe Biden told ABC News that

I think the country is evolving. There is a inevitability for a national consensus on gay marriage

in America. Biden also said that President Obama’s attitude towards same-sex marriage is evolving. Well, this clergy-gal can dream (and prays daily) that she’ll be able to officiate at the marriages of her same-sex friends, and that those marriages will grant federal rights.

Sir Elton, thank you for supporting the effort for equal rights. And now that you’re a dad, I hope in addition to working for civil marriage equality, you’ll turn your attention to adoption laws in order to insure that LGBT adoption is legal in every state.

*UK Civil partnerships provide the legal consequences of marriage, including the the same property rights as married opposite-sex couples, the same exemption as married couples on inheritance tax, social security and pension benefits, and also the ability to get parental responsibility for a partner’s children. Civil partnership also incurs responsibility for reasonable maintenance of one’s partner and their children, tenancy rights, as well as granting full life insurance recognition, and next-of-kin rights in hospitals, and other rights. There is a formal process for dissolving partnerships akin to divorce.

Oscar winning actress Anna Paquin taped a video PSA for the True Colors Foundation Give a Damn project, announcing:

I’m Anna Paquin. I’m bisexual, and I give a damn.

Radaronline.com has one of the organization’s videos which features Elton John, Whoopi Goldberg, Cynthia Nixon, Sharon and Kelly Osbourne, Judith Light, Kim Kardashian, Clay Aiken, and Wanda Sykes–all proclaiming they “Give A Damn” about equality no matter what their sexuality, but Paquin’s announcement has caused wegivedamn.org‘s servers to clog as everyone rushes to view her buoyant message.

The True Colors Fund is the non-profit arm of the True Colors Tour. Co-founded by Cyndi Lauper, the organization’s goals are

to inspire and engage everyone, particularly the straight community, to become active participants in the advancement of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered (LGBT) equality and ensure a strong and vibrant LGBT community.