Disqus - Latest Comments for mattymatt

Re: The Oura Ring Is a $300 Sleep Tracker That Provides Tons of Data. But Is It Worth It?

mattymatt — Thu, 12 Jun 2025 22:11:27 -0000

Oura recently added an "AI advisor" feature that's just dreadful. It gives me totally made-up "insights," at one point even claiming that it had acquired data about my sleep quality from the future! When I told it I saw no value to receiving inaccurate information, it added a note to my file that I was "interested" in information that was "completely wrong"!
The data the ring collects can be useful, but the AI stuff is so bad I'll cancel my subscription if they don't remove it. https://uploads.disquscdn.c...

Re: How Harvey Fierstein Broke the Gay Dry Spell on ‘Cheers’ and Lots of Other Barriers as Well: WATCH

mattymatt — Wed, 04 Mar 2020 16:30:05 -0000

Aw thank you! :D

Re: Yesterday’s Crimes: The White Night Riot at 40

mattymatt — Thu, 25 Jul 2019 00:53:28 -0000

Great article. One note, though -- that Rick Gerharter photo is from the Castro Sweep in 1989, not the White Night Riots. The sign in the background references ACT UP, which didn't exist in the 70s.

Re: All the news Trump doesn’t want you to know in under 2-minutes

mattymatt — Fri, 28 Apr 2017 13:07:39 -0000

I can't promise I'll see Ru this weekend but I'll try!

Re: NEXUS Condominum provides a glimpse into the future of Downtown Seattle living

mattymatt — Fri, 17 Mar 2017 14:41:46 -0000

https://www.youtube.com/wat...

Re: Matt Baume: There Was SOME Good News This Year

mattymatt — Fri, 30 Dec 2016 14:19:42 -0000

Here ya go

https://uploads.disquscdn.c...

Re: Matt Baume Slams Article Outing Gay Athletes at the Olympics As ‘Lurid Clickbait’ – WATCH

mattymatt — Fri, 12 Aug 2016 14:27:03 -0000

Haha ok! There's plenty of me to go around. Follow me and say hi over on Twitter to keep on top of all the various things I'm working on -- http://twitter.com/mattbaume

Re: Matt Baume Slams Article Outing Gay Athletes at the Olympics As ‘Lurid Clickbait’ – WATCH

mattymatt — Fri, 12 Aug 2016 14:25:55 -0000

Aw shucks

Re: Matt Baume Shares True Life Love Stories (Including His Own) for Valentine’s Day – WATCH

mattymatt — Sun, 14 Feb 2016 01:57:28 -0000

Hey thanks for sharing my video! (He's not my husband, though. We're happy just being partners!)

Re: Matt Baume On Kim Davis At GOP Debates [VIDEO]

mattymatt — Thu, 17 Sep 2015 23:58:42 -0000

Harris will be my guest next week.

Re: Matt Baume On Kim Davis Vs SCOTUS [VIDEO]

mattymatt — Tue, 15 Sep 2015 03:53:26 -0000

Yes! I'm everywhere!

Re: Matt Baume on the Horrible History of ‘Ex-Gay’ Conversion Therapy: VIDEO

mattymatt — Mon, 31 Aug 2015 16:52:16 -0000

Walter Freeman indeed. Here's some more about his work: http://www.davidmixner.com/...

Re: How did sitcoms handle gay characters in the ’70s and ’80s?

mattymatt — Sun, 16 Aug 2015 20:28:11 -0000

Holy cow, I would love to see that episode of Mork & Mindy! Do you remember anything else about it that would help me find it?

Re: Matt Baume Digs Into the the Controversial ‘Stonewall’ Trailer and Who the Real Heroes of the Riot Were: VIDEO

mattymatt — Sat, 08 Aug 2015 20:28:06 -0000

Thanks for pointing that out. It's associated with Stonewall pretty much everywhere it appears, and I found it included alongside a mention of Stonewall in this Harvard article, which seemed credible: http://cyber.law.harvard.ed...

But the article doesn't site a source, and now that you mention it, it would be unusual for protestors to be using the word "queer" at that time. It was generally more about "gay" or "homosexual" or "homophile" in the late 60s. I've done a little more searching and couldn't find an authoritative source -- a lot of sites simply identify it as Stonewall photos without credit. So on reflection it's hard to know confidently whether it's actually from the riots. A lot of people say that it is but as I do more research I'm not turning up any definite confirmation, so I'm starting to have some doubts, unfortunately.

Re: Matt Baume Digs Into the the Controversial ‘Stonewall’ Trailer and Who the Real Heroes of the Riot Were: VIDEO

mattymatt — Thu, 06 Aug 2015 23:47:38 -0000

I think the fact that no person can be all of the letters in LGBT is precisely the point. It's a term that describes our diversity, a sort of bucket in which gender-nonconforming people of all different types can spend time together. Is there another, better term for that community? I'm not sure. I like to say "queer," but as you note, it comes with a lot of baggage when describing historical figures, which I should have been more cautious about in this video.

Re: Matt Baume Digs Into the the Controversial ‘Stonewall’ Trailer and Who the Real Heroes of the Riot Were: VIDEO

mattymatt — Thu, 06 Aug 2015 23:44:08 -0000

That's a good point, and I'll admit it's historically insensitive for me to use the word "queer" when talking about figures who existed at a time when that word meant something different from what it means today. The problem, of course, is that it's hard to find a word that works better. "LGBT" didn't exist. "Gay" or "homosexual" erases a lot of people. "Queen" might be good but what about butch lesbians? I welcome suggestions for better terminology.

Re: Matt Baume Digs Into the the Controversial ‘Stonewall’ Trailer and Who the Real Heroes of the Riot Were: VIDEO

mattymatt — Thu, 06 Aug 2015 23:41:24 -0000

This is absolutely correct. It's very difficult to talk about who was trans* back then because the language just hadn't coalesced like it has today. I don't think it's possible to slap definitive "transgender" and "transvestite" labels on any of those folks, or that it's even necessary. At best, I think they can be called gender-nonconforming or non-binary. I like to use the word "queer." But I know that word comes with a lot of problems too.

Re: Matt Baume On Stonewall

mattymatt — Thu, 06 Aug 2015 17:22:12 -0000

Oh wow thanks so much for sharing that! So interesting to hear the stories of the people who were there. I see the photos and have so many questions about what their lives were like.

Re: Do You Know When The U.S. Had Its First Same-Sex Marriage? Matt Baume Has The Answer – VIDEO

mattymatt — Wed, 05 Aug 2015 13:05:05 -0000

There was a similar situation in 1971. Two men were issued a marriage license in MN. One of them had legally changed his name to Pat, and the clerk assumed Pat was a woman. But, Boulder 1975 was the first time a government official intentionally granted a marriage license to a same-sex couple.

Re: Matt Baume On Marriage History

mattymatt — Tue, 04 Aug 2015 19:11:54 -0000

It's pretty amazing that over 40 years later the dispute isn't over! They've been waiting a long time to have that license recognized, and I hope they don't have much longer to wait.

Re: Matt Baume On Marriage History

mattymatt — Tue, 04 Aug 2015 19:11:09 -0000

I wish it was that straightforward -- there's still a lot of dispute about the validity of the license even to this day, so it really depends who you ask. The county instantly declared it invalid back in the 70s, and although it was never rescinded the license was never recognized as valid by the government after it was discovered they were men. It's like it simply didn't exist, as far as any official was concerned. As recently as 2006, federal courts refused to recognize it. But Jack and Michael have never given up trying to get it recognized, so hopefully soon this debate about its validity will be resolved.

Re: Matt Baume On Marriage History

mattymatt — Tue, 04 Aug 2015 16:49:03 -0000

Yes, see my comment below about Richard and Michael's 1971 license. It's a tricky case, since they used a gender-neutral name to apply for an opposite-sex marriage license without the county knowing that they were both men. When the county found out, officials invalidated their license.

Clela was the first government official to intentionally issue licenses to same-sex couples. That's why the Boulder couples are considered the first same-sex marriages to be recognized by the government.

Re: Matt Baume On Marriage History

mattymatt — Tue, 04 Aug 2015 16:43:50 -0000

Oh, that's a complicated one. It's true, Richard John Baker and Michael McConnell were issued a marriage license in Minnesota in 1971. But officials there didn't KNOW that they were a gay couple, since Richard had legally changed his name to Pat Lyn McConnell. Officials assumed that they were an opposite-sex couple.

Clela was the first official to intentionally issue a license to same-sex couples. Those were the first openly same-sex marriage recognized (albeit briefly) by the government.

But yes, Baker and McConnell deserve recognition.

Re: Matt Baume: A Salute To Sissies

mattymatt — Fri, 31 Jul 2015 19:32:00 -0000

Ah, so many great literary sissies. I just adored everything David Rakoff did and it's devastating to be without him.

Re: Matt Baume: A Salute To Sissies

mattymatt — Fri, 31 Jul 2015 19:30:56 -0000

Good question. There are certainly plenty of straight men who have played queeny archetypes, and while I don't think that's necessarily bad, it often winds up being an offensive appropriation. Hank Azaria, in my opinion, does a lovely job in The Birdcage, but I know he sets other people's teeth on edge.