INFEMNITY™ Arts and Culture News

  Nina Kennedy (photo: Arian Clay-Sirop) New York City -- Several LGBTQ leaders and allies were honored on November 21st for their outstanding achievements and dedication to the community at the ninth annual Gay City News Impact Awards, presented by Bethpage Federal Credit Union. The Impact Awards... "Honors individuals who make a difference to leave people better than they found them." There were honorees from various backgrounds, including activism, the arts, filmmaking, law, education, non-profit, government, and medicine. A VIP Power Hour was held before the actual awards ceremony, where honorees addressed the room from the stage to introduce themselves and their organizations. "It was a very delightful, inspiring evening," said Nina Kennedy. "As the owner of a production company, I've been very concerned about the huge discrepancy between men and women when it comes to film financing. Women are not producing enough feature-length films, as compared to ...

Two years ago I was the only African-American Lammy Finalist in the Lesbian Memoir/Biography category for Practicing for Love . This year there is NOT ONE African-American finalist. WTF!  While there are no African Americans, there are some women of color represented in the category: an Asian-American, a Hispanic/Latina, and a Cambodian immigrant. The two white women represented are a butch dominatrix from West Virginia, and a Jewish woman who falls in love and loses her father to a heart condition around the same time. These were some heavy-hitting publications from major publishing houses. Kathryn Schulz is a staff writer at The New Yorker and a Pulitzer Prize winner. Her book Lost & Found is Longlisted for the National Book Award, is a finalist for the National Jewish Book Award, and is Longlisted for the Andrew Carnegie Medal. It is also one of People Magazine's Ten Best Books of the Year, and is listed as one of the Best Books of the Year in Time , NPR, Oprah Daily , Th...

On April 23rd, I received an email from the Juilliard Alumni Association director. In it was an email from the president of the school addressing an issue concerning a workshop conducted by the Drama Division. Evidently, the Drama Division invited a guest lecturer who conducted a workshop on the African American experience during slavery. In the words of President Woetzel to students, faculty, and staff:       "I write to you to address a September 2020 Drama Division workshop that has impacted our school community. While I am s haring a message below that was sent to the drama community by Evan Yionoulis, dean and director of the Drama Division, I believe it is important for our school community to hear directly from me.      To live our values requires an acknowledgment of mistakes we have made. To that end, I want to state unequivocally that this workshop was ill-conceived and should not have occurred in the manner that it did. I extend a heartfelt ...