Arts & Entertainment

Buckley vs. Vidal

New doc recalls seminal debates of 1968

Published

11 years ago

August 6, 2015

William F. Buckley Jr., left, with Gore Vidal in their 1968 summer showdown on ABC. (Photo courtesy Magnolia Pictures)

According to “Best of Enemies,” the excellent new documentary by Morgan Neville and Robert Gordon, television news coverage changed forever on the night of Aug. 28, 1968.

During a live television debate on ABC News, conservative icon William F. Buckley Jr. called liberal author Gore Vidal “a queer.”

Gordon explains, “A word like that was way across the line. It was so shocking that ABC pulled the broadcast from the West Coast. The task of this film, which opens on Friday, Aug. 7 at Landmark E Street and Bethesda Row Cinemas, was to put that moment in context.”

In the summer of 1968, there were only three major broadcast television networks. ABC was dead last in the ratings war with CBS and NBC. Executives at ABC News decided to take a desperate gamble. They replaced part of the traditional gavel-to-gavel coverage of the Republican and Democratic presidential nominating conventions with a series of live debates. They went all in by choosing two towering public intellectuals who were both ideological opposites and personal enemies.

On the right was Buckley, editor of the influential “National Review” and host of the popular television show “Firing Line.” A conservative Catholic, Buckley was instrumental in reshaping the Republican Party, ultimately helping to usher in the Reagan Revolution. As Gordon notes, “Buckley tried to make the party more reasonable and respectable.”

On the left was Gore Vidal, a prolific author and an estranged member of the Kennedy clan. Vidal’s groundbreaking 1948 novel “The City and the Pillar” dealt with male homosexuality in a forthright and positive manner and his satirical 1968 novel “Myra Breckinridge” skewered gender norms and conventional sexual practices.

Over the course of 10 nights, the two men sparred under the gentle watch of bemused anchorman Howard K. Smith. The debates were an amazing blend of erudite political commentary and barbed personal invective. This impassioned rhetoric was fueled by a fascinating undercurrent of gay baiting.

On the night of Aug. 28, Vidal upped the ante by calling Buckley a “crypto-Nazi.” Gordon notes that Vidal really hit Buckley “where it hurt. Buckley had gone to great lengths to rid the party of that rhetoric. Gore was trying to undermine all of Buckley’s work.”

Buckley lashed out at Vidal’s insult. Rising from his seat, he shouted, “Now listen, you queer, stop calling me a crypto-Nazi or I’ll sock you in your goddamn face and you’ll stay plastered.”

According to the filmmakers, that moment changed the lives of both men and the nature of political discourse in America. Neville says, “It got a lot of attention. People talked about it for years and they were asked about it for the rest of their lives. For Buckley, it was probably the moment he was most ashamed of. He had prided himself on a lifetime of creating difficult situations and maintaining his cool in them. His outburst meant he lost the debate. It certainly haunted him thereafter.”

The impact for ABC was much more positive. The debates were a hit. Before the broadcasts, Neville notes, “CBS and NBC each had around 300 affiliates and ABC only had 150. After the debates, ABC quickly caught up with its rivals and became the trendsetter in news coverage.” Neville and Gordon contend that a new era in television journalism was launched by the Buckley-Vidal debates.

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Sports

Jason Collins dies at 47

First openly gay man to actively play for major sports team battled brain cancer

Published

23 hours ago

May 12, 2026

Michael K. Lavers

Jason Collins (Washington Blade file photo by Michael Key)

Jason Collins, the first openly gay man to actively play for a major professional sports team, died on Tuesday after a battle with brain cancer. He was 47.

The California native had briefly played for the Washington Wizards in 2013 before coming out in a Sports Illustrated op-ed.

Collins in 2014 became the first openly gay man to play in a game for a major American professional sports league when he played 11 minutes during a Brooklyn Nets game. He wore jersey number 98 in honor of Matthew Shepard, a gay college student murdered outside of Laramie, Wyo., in 1998.

Collins told the Washington Blade in 2014 that his life was “exponentially better” since he came out. Collins the same year retired from the National Basketball Association after 13 seasons.

Collins married his husband, Brunson Green, in May 2025.

The NBA last September announced Collins had begun treatment for a brain tumor. Collins on Dec. 11, 2025, announced he had Stage 4 glioblastoma.

“We are heartbroken to share that Jason Collins, our beloved husband, son, brother and uncle, has died after a valiant fight with glioblastoma,” said Collins’s family in a statement the NBA released. “Jason changed lives in unexpected ways and was an inspiration to all who knew him and to those who admired him from afar. We are grateful for the outpouring of love and prayers over the past eight months and for the exceptional medical care Jason received from his doctors and nurses. Our family will miss him dearly.”

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said Collins’s “impact and influence extended far beyond basketball as he helped make the NBA, WNBA, and larger sports community more inclusive and welcoming for future generations.”

“He exemplified outstanding leadership and professionalism throughout his 13-year NBA career and in his dedicated work as an NBA Cares Ambassador,” said Silver. “Jason will be remembered not only for breaking barriers, but also for the kindness and humanity that defined his life and touched so many others.”

“To call Jason Collins a groundbreaking figure for our community is simply inadequate. We truly lost a giant today,” added Human Rights Campaign President Kelley Robinson in a statement. “He came out as gay — while still playing — at a time when men’s athletes simply did not do that. But as he powerfully demonstrated in his final years in the league and his post-NBA career, stepping forward as he did boldly changed the conversation.”

“He was and will always be a legend for the LGBTQ+ community, and we are heartbroken to hear of his passing at the young age of 47,” she said. “Our hearts go out to his family and loved ones. We will keep fighting on in his honor until the day everyone can be who they are on their terms.”

Photos

PHOTOS: ‘Studio 69’

Glitterati Productions hold party at Bunker

Published

2 days ago

May 11, 2026

Michael Key

'Studio 69' was held at Bunker on Friday. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

Glitterati Productions held the “Studio 69” party at Bunker on Friday, May 8.

(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)

Arts & Entertainment

Washington Blade’s Pride on the Pier returns June 13 to kick off D.C. Pride week

Pride on the Pier officially launches Pride Week in D.C.

Published

2 days ago

May 11, 2026

Staff reports

The Washington Blade’s annual Pride on the Pier celebration returns to The Wharf on Saturday, June 13, 2026 from 4-9 p.m., bringing thousands of LGBTQ community members and allies together for an unforgettable waterfront celebration to kick off Pride week in Washington, D.C.

Now in its eighth year, Washington Blade Pride on the Pier extends the city’s annual celebration of LGBTQ visibility to the bustling Wharf waterfront with an exciting array of activities and entertainment for all ages. The District Pier will offer DJs, dancing, drag, and other entertainment. Alcoholic beverages will be available for purchase for those 21 and older.

“Pride on the Pier has become one of the signature moments of Pride in D.C.,” said Lynne Brown, publisher of the Washington Blade. “There’s nothing like watching our community come together on the waterfront with live music and incredible energy as we kick off Pride week.”

Pride on the Pier is free and open to the public, with VIP tickets available for exclusive pier access to the Dockmaster Building. To purchase VIP tickets visit www.prideonthepierdc.com/vip.

Additional entertainment announcements, sponsor activations, and event details will be released in the coming weeks.

Event Details:

📍 Location: District Pier at The Wharf (101 District Sq SW, Washington, DC)
📅 Dates: Friday, 13, 2026

⏱️ 4-9PM
🎟️ VIP Tickets: www.PrideOnThePierDC.com/VIP