Overincarceration-America's Prison Population

730 people out of every 100,000 are locked up in the U. S. It has been reported that “no other society in human history has imprisoned so many of it’s own citizens”

With in keeping with the vain of laying Boy About Town’s most personal moments bare for all the world to see I want to pose the question “Why are America's Prisons reaching the popping point?” Given my state sponsored vacay that just ended I would like to touch on some facts of life behind the fence as well as the struggle to re-enter the free world. Now I am aware that many of you are saying people in prison are there for a reason & they deserve everything they get, and while I too believe if you break the law that there should be a price to pay but at some point life has to move on. I did break the law & I paid my price. What I want to talk about is how we figure the price to be paid, what happens while paying that price and at what point the tab is paid. This is not my story but I will draw on some of my own experiences to drive home a point, and we all know how much I enjoy doing that!

With that said the question needs to be asked “are we sending people to prison for crimes which may not warrant such an extreme punishment?” The Justice Dept. said in it’s annual report for the year 2012, that that public safety can be maximized without maximizing prison spending. While the Justice Dept was mainly speaking to the fact that the budget for the federal prison system is a shocking $6.2 billion per year the same train of thought can be applied to the over crowded state prison system. Ask yourself do you think it makes sense to send someone to a state prison for driving without a valid license? Even if someone has a record of driving without one do you, as a tax paying citizen of your state, want to pay for an inmate to “learn his lesson” while doing hard time in a dorm setting with murders? It cost, on average, $31,000 per year to keep an average inmate. That's average, meaning no big health crisis or sudden change in mental state. On the flip side we spend just $6000 per year to educate the average child in America. I firmly believe if those figures were reversed the number of people “needing” to be locked up would grow much smaller very quickly! In places like Broward County Florida, which has the largest sheriffs dept in the United States, the rate of prosecution had gotten so outta hand that during his swearing in newly elected Scott J. Israel stated that he wanted his term as sheriff to be judged not by how many people Broward County locked up but rather how many people they kept out of jail & prison. It remains to be seen if this rare outlook on crime fighting will catch on in both in Florida as well as the rest of the country but what is clear is that police forces can not continue to arrest people for every minor offence & the states attorney offices can not file charges on every piece of paper that crosses their desk! In short..... A post-it is not an indictment!

There's a new sheriff in town, Scott J Israel.

There are crimes that truly cry out for a prison term. The length of those terms is at times decided by a judge or a jury or as is becoming the case more often, sentencing guidelines. These guidelines fail to take into account all the human factors that come in to play, such as age, either at the time of the crime or at sentencing,the effects a prison term would have on the either the family of victim (if there is one) or the family of the person being sent up the river. But people do end up in prisons everyday, all over this great land of ours. The purpose of that prison term is to keep the inmate away from society. The correction officers are not judge nor jury. Their job is to make sure no harm comes to any inmate as well as make sure that everyone is where they are supposed to be at any given time. For some reason this simply task seems to go to the head of a great number of these “professial C.O.’s” They use the position to abuse, mistreat & at times harm the very people they are supposed to be guarding. And we have all heard of prisoners have wine, cellphones & drugs at their beck & call. It’s all true & let me tell you folks folks, 99 percent of all of those things come in through the officers. They are making a small fortune in cash by walk these items right in the front door & hand delivering them to an inmate. Your tax dollars at work! There are also those that seem to get a sick kick outta the power position they find themselves in. They LOVE to call the the inmates names. If your Black they will call you nigger. Gay? You’re a punk. If you are of Latin descent then your are “Mexico”…even if your from Cuba. Clearly these tend not to be the smartest people working within the prison system. At Dade Correctional Institution where I was there were 2 such hot messes. Sgt Humphries & Ofc Forbes. Miss Humphries had a way of speaking to you that made it clear her education level peaked somewhere around 7^th grade. She had been moved from one end of the prison to the other due to the fact that she LOVED to threaten inmates with violence & fellow Dept of Correction employees with getting them fired. The administration staff dealt with this problem by giving her a promotion & moving her yet again…letsomeone else deal with her was the rule of thumb. Ofc Forbes spent his time explaining his world views to people. He was known to pull Gay inmates out of religions services to tell them that they were going to end up in hell. This fine, upstanding example of your tax dollars at work was treated with disdain by many staff, yet never reprimanded.  I left several messages for Warden Jerry Cummings & for some reason none of my calls were returned? Funny that. But in trying one more time I got a hold of Captain Thomas.  I think that was his name, hard to tell as he was in the middle of a meal the seems to have required a lot of smacking of his lips.  He seemed less then excited to chat about the misdeeds of his fellow officers.

As ones time in prison draws to a close, it never comes fast enough. But there is a great deal of work that goes into getting a person ready for release back into "the free world" and more often then not that work is not done. So for those of you that believe that there are programs that help inmates prepare to enter the workforce after they leave prison let at me explain something to you.....it's all a bunch of state funded manipulation.  Prime example is the "re-entry" program at our troubled Dade Correctional Institution.  What is supposed to happen is that in your last few months in prison the inmate is supposed to go to a class a few times a week that covers everything from job interview skills,

opening a bank account & budgeting to health lessons. In offering these classes the prison gets a grant from the Federal government.  In other words, more of your tax dollars. But really happens is you are handed the work book for the class and are told to complete it yourself.  Thats it.  Nobody checks it. There is no one you can ask questions of.  The only thing that is the same is that the grant is paid to the prison for offering the class, which, to recap, they do NOT do.
Lets bottom line it people. The system is broken, on that we can agree.  But what can we do to fix the problem? Why don't we redirect some of our money from uncaring, unmotivated staff & the programs that don't exists except on paper to hiring people that know what they are doing as well have enough sense to do it & funding programs that work to ensure that the number of people returning to prison is lowered.  Seems to make sense I to me.....
Stay Fabulous!
Boy About Town 
Watch for our upcoming posting on the business of porn

Endings & Beginnings, A Timely Piece All Around

We have a lot to cover so I am just gonna jump right in. Despite months of trying to "make it work"  Khloe Kardashian began divorce proceedings against Lamar Odom. The paper work had been filled out for months but Khole was holding out hope that all of Lamar's hard work would help them move forward. One reason she seemed so ready to file now verse waiting is that Boy About Towns's favorite Kardashian was photographed heading to the gym with baseball star Matt Kemp. I guess having a new one waiting in the wings makes it easier to jump ship. I truly wish I learned that lesson a few weeks ago. But of course Khloe is saying she is just to heart broken to even think about dating. Ummmm, ok!?  But anyway, on some truly amazing news, Red Carpet Refugees has officially become a small biz! Boy About Town spent the other day in LA running all over town filling out the stack of papers that made everything legit! So watch for some exciting news coming your way in regards to guest bloggers as well taking RCR on the road in the upcoming year!      While in LA you know Boy About Town had to catch up with some of the Hollywood set. And who better then actor Bruce Hart. This hottie, hey people I am not blind I am just unlucky in love, sat down with me over coffee to talk about the amazing year he has been having. Not only

Boy About Town & Bruce Hart

did Bruce get the green light on season 3 of his show "Old Dogs & New Tricks" , which btw just released seasons 1 & 2 on DVD, but is working on the series "Boystown" in which he plays a adult film producer with questionable morals...I wasn't aware there was any other kind of producer! And Bruce got to kiss Olympian Greg Louganis while filming their "wedding" scene.  But the icing on the cake has got to be his SAG Award Nomination for Best Guest Star. I am so excited that at least one of the nominees is  such a nice & yes good looking guy. Did I mention Alan Cummings is also nominated, yeah, okay. The only thing that could make it better was if Bruce were to invite Boy to the big night. Just saying....
Stay Fabulous!
Boy About Town!

Back To Boy's Roots!

Well after such a preachy posting like the one I did the other day on Bauard Rustin (btw, thanks for all the re-posts & emails you sent me, you all are fabulous)!  I thought I would lighten the mood and return to my roots...That's right folks I am gonna do some good old Hollywood gossip! It's time resurrect Boy's Buzz Box...
Now as many of you may know I have had spotty relationship with the Kardashian clan. Kim has stood Boy up for 2 interviews & her "PR Man" Jonathan Cheban has been flat out rude.  Guess pretending to be straight is really taking a toll on him...Anywho, I am glad to say that the very sweet & kind Khloe Kardashian continues to reach out to her estranged husband Lamar Odom. The past few days Khloe has been using social media as away to profess her love as the equally kind Lamar struggles with his disease of addiction.  The couple has been trying to save their relationship but is also taking time to honor themselves. Lamar, who owns & operates the clothing line Rich Soil, has been doing everything he can to mend the relationships he damaged.  This includes today's pleading "no contest" to his DUI arrest as well as spending the past two weeks of strenuous workouts with renowned trainer Rob McClanaghan. Lamar is back on his A-Game and is awaiting word on the next step in his NBA comeback. So with his legal drama coming to an end (three years probation just a little bi-product of that), his NBA career back in focus, a loving, understanding wife & sometime with his wife's family (poor bastard) Lamar Odom is due to start being a shinning example of "living in the solution"...Quick shout out to my girl Kelly Rowland. 

Kelly Rowland & Boy About Town

She has been shy of late with her left hand...Could it be that the rumors of her engagement to her manager Tim Witherspoon are true?!  Well even I could not pry the deets from Ms Rowland, and you know I tired! But if anyone deserves to find happiness in love it's the hardest working girl in showbiz! Now about my invite to the wedding?!?!? In a throw back to the golden age of Hollywood  Boy About Town's personal stylist, the very special Elias Luna (blush), recently had dinner the world renowned fashion designer James Galanos. 

Boy About Town & Fashionista Elias Luna

This pioneer of America's fashion movement, that took over the world, has dressed the likes of Roslyn Russell, First Lady Nancy Regan and Heidi Klum!  How's that for a motley crew?! To read about this evening between two powerhouses of fashion visit Elias's blog at EliasLuna.com
Stay Fabulous!
Boy About Town!

A Hero Amongst Us....Bauard Rustin

King At The March Which Mr Rustin Put Together

For a while now I have wanted to write about people that I feel have effected the world in which we live but have failed to grab the attention of the mass media.  So every now & then I will be posting under the title "A Hero Amongst Us".  You folks have never been shy about emailing me your thoughts, both good & bad, so if you know of someone that might fit this mold please let me know RCRNewsBlog@gmail.com
We live in a world where people are still judged by the color of their skin, who they love, or where the worship. But for the most part the world today is a lot more tolerant place then it was years ago. Our President is half Black, TV shows like Will & Grace or Modern Family with characters that are openly Gay have been widely embraced by the American people, and our former Anglo Saxon dominated culture now reflex's the growing number of non Christians amongst us. Now image being a Gay, Black man in the middle of one largest civil rights movements the world has ever seen. Now image all this happening in America during the 1940’s, 50’s and the turbulate 60’s. This is the world that Bayard Rustin braved as he helped set in motion events that are still changing today's landscape of civil rights in America.

Bauard Rustin

Born in 1912 in Pennsylvania into a family heavily involved with the beginnings of the Black civil rights movement. At the age of 24 a young, hopeful Bayard moved to the Harlem neighborhood of New York City. If you were a Black man in the 30’s Harlem was the place to be. Mr. Rustin earned a living in nightclubs in this mecca of the Black community while also remaining active in the movement which was beginning to take on a more defined shape. Working in the nightclub biz to help pay the bills also allowed Mr. Rustin to travel around America and helped form a network of people that would prove very helpful in the years to come. During a trip to California Mr. Rustin was arrested on a vague “sex charge”…think George Michael. This term was used freely at the time to hunt down Gays. What no one knew at the time was that this arrest would later come back to haunt both Bauard as well as the civil rights movement as a whole.
In the 50’s Mr Rustin became more active in the movement and went to Alabama to help with the Montgomery bus boycott. This is when two strong, smart, determined, Black men crossed paths & formed a partnership that would redirect the course of American thinking on the terms of equal rights. Mr. Rustin meet Dr Martin Luther King Jr & became one of his trusted aides & advisers. Between 1956 -1960 Mr. Rustin worked tirelessly to raise Dr Kings national profile. Clearly his years of hard work paid off because not only are we still talking about Dr King today but even the closed mined, racist fools of yesteryear sat up and took notice. The Black civil rights movement had arrived in the hearts & minds of the American people and Bauard Rustin had played a key role in getting it there! But Mr. Rustin’s sexuality opened King and other leaders in the movement to criticism from people such as Senator Strom Thurmond. This ELECTED OFFICIAL (sorry for the caps but this upsets me) represented South Carolina from 1954 until 2003. First as a Democrat and, after 1964, as a Republican. He switched because of his opposition to the Civil Rights Act. And as is the case with most crazy right wing nut jobs he jumped up and down calling Mr Rustin a sexually pervert and applied untold pressure to Dr King to get rid of this hard working, smart man. Bauard offered to resign from Dr Kings inner circle and to his shock Dr King accepted! This started 3 years of estrangement that ended with one of the greatest moments in American history.

2 Great Men Changing The World Together

In June of 1963 planning for “ March On Washington” had started. The plan was to bring the largest protest in American history to the nations Capitol demanding that legal discrimination in America come to an end..This clearly would entail a massive effort from many different sources and would require the leadership of someone of great inner strenght as well as a great deal of patience. That man was Bauard Rustin. After being asked back into the fold by leaders of the Black community Mr Rustin had just 2 months to pull off the moving, housing, feeding & organizing over 250,000 people! Well, we all know what happened next don’t we? Please tell me you do.... People came, King made his now famous “I Have A Dream Speech” and the tide began to change. Slowly at first, then in a tidal wave. But for some reason Bauard Rustin & his life’s work seems to have been lost to the sands of time. Sure President Obama awarded the Presidential Medal of Honor to Bauard Rustin on November 20, 2013. But by then Bauard had been dead for 16 years!  Shame on the Black community for failing to look past it's homophobia. Shame on the Gay community for failing to look back and remembering those that fought to get us where we are today. And shame on all of us for failing to see….A Hero Amongst Us!

Stay Fabulous!
Boy About Town
“The Gay community has a moral obligation to continue the fight…..” Bauard Rustin

The Ghost Of Thanksgiving Past

I don't make a habit of talking about my past. Mainly because so much has been said about it in the "lower press".  And most of it has not been very flattering.  But I can deal with people saying things about my past, it saves me the time. But what has never been talked about, by anyone, is the family that help create the fabulous mess that I am.  Years ago I was a soft spoken, awkward, upper middle class boy living in Littleton, Colorado.  I went through hell everyday for being the fag....You would think a family could see a teen in distress and ask themselves what they could do to help. That was not the case and 20 years ago on Thanksgiving everything came to a nasty, painful head with my Mother & Father.  They knew something was up and thought 30 mins before sitting down to dinner and giving thanks for a wonderful life they would confront me on their suspicion that I was indeed Gay. Ummmm, suspicion? I spent my free time in my room working on my Vogue rountie!!  Anyway, that day marked the end of my relationship with my Mother & Father and began my journey to find my chosen family.  Through 4 countries, 3 continents and endless love affairs...ENDLESS....I have been truly blessed  to find some of the most amazing people that have loved me and allowed me to love them and share there joys & sorrows with them!  These people are my family. If you find yourself in a situation where your "family"  is not giving you the love and support that it is in the job description of FAMILY, well then you just make your own.  I have now been separated from my Mother & Father and in turn my brother longer then I knew them and after so long away they are strangers.  With the "death" of the family of my childhood years so began the birth of my new, loving & supportive family.  For which I am very thankful!

Stay Fabulous

Boy About Town

patric henn 

Boy's Guide To Raising A Child Star

 

Boy & Lori of Gucci Fame!

Elias Luna, one of Santa's freaky elves & Boy About Town

 So before we kick off our indepth coverage of "Child Actors", that very statement is an oxymoron, let me tell ya about my fabulous weekend. Not only did I discover a hot new designer Elias Luna but this hunk with vision had tickets to a tickets to one of this winters hottest parties...Miracle On El Paseo. So of course I invited myself right along!  Held on glamours El Paseo (also known as the Rodeo Drive of the desert) benefited BIGHORN BAM which has raises over $770,000 for  Cancer Charities here in lovely California! The event was built around a Holiday-themed.The evening had it all it! The 60-foot El Paseo Christmas Tree was illuminated, the Valley’s top restaurants and wineries all threw free food & booze down our throats (special thanks to the staff of Wolfgang Puck's)  but most important to Boy About Town was the fact that the event encouraged stores like Gucci, St.John, Bottega Veneta, Ralph Lauren and Optical Shops of Aspen to throw open their doors & host evening shopping with the added perk of everything from music to special deals...quick side note, Lori at Gucci told Boy they are hosting a private sale this Friday night, so if I am MIA you clearly know where I can be found! Stay tuned for more from the effervescent Elias Luna!

  

From This.....

To This.....

CHILD ACTORS WHAT GOES INTO BEING A STAR
*Subtitled Disney Menopause, thanks Phil for the help* We all have heard the jokes about stage mothers. Ya know the Mom’s that drag their kids from one audition to another around LA or NYC just KNOWING that their little angel is the next Shirley Temple when in fact the kid is more Honey Boo Boo! Well for the thousands of families that do live and breath by a casting agents whim there are those that make a living in show biz and very good one at that. Rico Rodriquez of ABC's "Modern Family" earns $20,000 per episode, and the kid is 15 years old. Clearly not every kid will land on one of the funniest & highest rated shows on TV. But what does it take to land the commercial for Cheerios that will lead to a call for a movie that will lead to a Disney tween sitcom and that will lead to rehab? BUT, before all that happens there is a lot of work that goes into making a star. And like everything that requires work it also requires a good deal of money. So this the behind the scenes story of what it takes to bring a kid from the Christmas pageant in the Midwest to the silver screen. So lets track the story from the beginning.
You have a feeling that little Susie would be a instant hit on stage. And she does love to preform. So what do you do with your little nugget? You find true professional to guide you through the process. You will need headshots…not taken at home by Dad with his webcam, but real honest to god headshots. Shop around. This will set ya back a few coins but if you are unwilling to take this easy and least costly of the many steps in front of you might as well stop right now. An agent is a must! They will want headshots but while interviewing several different true agents they maybe able to steer you towards a photographer that will know what you need. With quality headshots in hand an agent’s job is to find your little bread winner…uhhh, I mean little sweetheart, the right auditions. If ever an agent promises you a set number of jobs or a guaranteed income then you are dealing with a con-man. An agent gets his or her clients into castings and then does everything in their power to land them the gig. The agent only makes money when your little star makes money. That fee is somewhere between 10-15%. And if you bring in a manager there goes another chuck of your kids college/rehab fund. At times managers have been know to charge outrageous fees so state of California passed a law which requires that all child actors paychecks have 15% taken off the top a deposited into a trust fund , known as the Coogan Account, that is off limits until the child turns 21 years of age. And when Leno Helmsly said “only little people pay taxes” she was not talking about the Gary Colemans of the world. The tax man will be taking some of that hard earned income.
But this only matters if the kid in question has the chops to woo the casting agent and gets a job. And lets face people there are only a few places in the world that matter in the world of entertainment…New York, Las Vegas and of course right here in Hollywood. So what do you do if you are in the middle America? Well L. A. is not coming to you, so you gotta move the future mega star to California (or NYC or wherever you are trying to find work). It is not uncommon for a family of four, 2 parents & 2 kids, to split the family down the middle for a while. One parent & the actor will come to Hollywood, rent an apartment and start pounding the pavement with the clear goal of landing a spot that will enable the whole clan to relocated and live the Hollywood dream. And while all this is going on the other parent is back home working to support this dream while also carpooling, running the other kid to baseball practice as well dealing with the upkeep of the lives that the two adults had managed before. The whole team has to be on the same page while the “child actor” goes from one casting call to another. And lets face it people most of the time the answer is no. Add the fact that they are in a strange city and this is a true business where time is money, well for a kid that wants to sing & dance or make people laugh or just wants to be the next Hannah Montana this can all become a bit much. Lots of kids burn out. Some parents burn out before their child does. Sometimes the lack of funds and/or stress on the relationships takes its toll and everyone goes home with some great pictures and an amusing story.
But if everything works in FABULOUS fashion and our mini Brad Pitt lands a job, or two, well then the work really starts. There are laws dealing with the amount of hours a child can work and laws requiring education to be seen to for all child actors. Then there is learning lines, setting up the shots and then the actual work of filming or shooting and don‘t forget promoting yourself & your projects. So a kids day may begin at 4 am but with all the leg work that is involved a day may last 16 hours from start to finish. Have any of you dealt with a kid after they have been up for that long?!? Not cute! Child acting is not kids play. If you think you can hang and believe your little angel can as well then come on out to Hollywood.

Enough Said!

If not, well that is why you tube was invented…and just look at Justin Bieber!!!

Stay Fabulous!!

Boy About Town

Chipping Away At Roe v Wade

In 1973 The Supreme Court issued one of it's most controversial & far reaching rulings.  In this landmark decision the Court struck down state laws that banned abortions. Freedom over reproductive choice became the law of the land. From that day forward a woman's right to choose has slowly but surely been chipped away.  City by city, county by county, state by state those opposed to Roe v Wade have launched a grass roots battle to reverse the long standing Court ruling.

This freedom of choice has been around longer then Boy About Town has so I have always known a United States in which a female of lawful age can exercise her constitutional right to ended her pregnancy with a legal, safe & clean abortion.  I have had many friends who have exercised this right to terminate & never looked back.  I have also had friends who have regretted the decision whether it be within days of the abortion or years down the road. My favorite group of people is those who have had abortions themselves but, for whatever reason, feel that the same freedom should not be afforded to other women.

During 2013 alone more then 300 abortion restrictive measures were introduced in state legislative sessions throughout America. These have included everything from banning abortion after the 1st trimester, requiring parental notification and this one is a real fun one folks.....making women view photos of fetuses.  How any health care "professional" could force a young, scared woman to stare at photos of a pinhead size fetus and then try to browbeat them into changing their minds during an already painful & scary time is beyond me.  But that is just what some of our fearless leaders on both the state level as well as the federal have attempted, and in some cases succeed, to do.

The Men Deciding A Woman's Furtue

States such as Alabama, Oklahoma, South Carolina & Texas (come on folks we all knew Texas would be on this list) have taken steps to undo what the Court did 40 years ago.  But what concerns me is why the tide seems to be turning away from this watershed moment in the women's right movement and returning all of us, and it truly is all of us, to the dark ages.  Is it, as some people think, that the anti-choice or pro-life forces have at last focused their energy and resources on their mission?  Is it that we as people have decided that abortion is not for us, although still fight sex education in schools, condoms being given out to teens and the morning after pill is a whole can of worms that gets people foaming at the mouth? Or is it, as Boy About Town believes, that we have forgotten where we came from.  People don't recall that women died at the hands of "dirty doctors" in back alley abortions that were not fit for animals.  People forgot that full term babies were thrown away at a rate that can still not be charted.  When you see rich, middle age white men in Washington D.C. making laws that directly effect poor, black girls in Detroit you have to ask yourself....how did we get here?!

Stay Fabulous

Boy About Town!