A More Literal Kind of Gay Mafia
Devotees of “The Sopranos” will surely recall the character of Vito Spatafore, the closeted Mafia member who was killed after colleagues spotted him at a gay bar. As it turns out, the character has real-life counterparts.
A recent sentencing hearing in federal court prompted an exploration of homosexuality and organized crime, in the New York Times:
High among [the rules of the Mafia] — perhaps right at the top — is the ban on being gay.So when Robert Mormando, a confessed Gambino family gunman, appeared on Monday for a hearing on his sentence for his role in the shooting of a Queens bagel store owner in 2003, he seemed to indicate that La Cosa Nostra’s laws may sometimes be honored less while being practiced than they are while being breached. Mr. Mormando, 44, not only confessed to acting as a government informer, but he also took the extra — and, it should be said, perilous — step of outing himself in court.
So what motivated Mormando’s revelation? An interest in trying out for Project Runway? A burning desire to overshare?
Or a burning desire for a reduced sentence?
The unusual admission was made in a 10th-floor courtroom of Federal District Court in Brooklyn, though it was clearly more an act of self-interest than one of self-expression. He had already pleaded guilty to taking part in the shooting of the bagel store owner, Angelo Mugnolo, and was trying to obtain a lower sentence by persuading Judge Jack B. Weinstein that his cooperation was riskier than most, since he had lived for many years as a closeted homosexual in the mob.
The Times cleverly reached out to Joseph R. Gannascoli, who played Vito Spatafore on “The Sopranos,” for comment:
“Having never been gay or a mobster, I can still tell you that it’s got to be hard,” he said, “almost like a kind of triple life.”
Ah yes — the requisite “I’m not gay, I just play one on TV” statement. We’re glad to know he’s not a real-life mobster either.
“Still, you’d figure even mobsters would be getting with the times. My feeling is it doesn’t really matter if they’re gay. So long as they earn.”
Wise words. And equally true of lawyers, too.
Telling Court He’s Gay, Mob Informer Crosses Line [New York Times]
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Comments
FIRST, MUTHAFUCKAS!!!!
the gayest first of all time
2 - I PWNED your ass.
Sincerely,
1
I am struggling to understand the relevance of this post - other than Lat shoving his gay agenda down everyone's throats.
Are you serious, Lat?
Homosexuality is unnatural, immoral and wrong. Stop forcing your agenda, Lat.
4 - the agenda is that you need to start lovin' taking it up the shitter.
6 is wrong, but come on Lat! Is this a blog about law, or a blog about homosexuality? In case you were unsure, it CANNOT be both.
Lat, you ignorant slut. The guy the article was focused on (the parts you quoted) was not the Sopranos inspiration.
FTA:
"In 1992, for instance, John D’Amato, a former boss of the DeCavalcante crime family, was murdered by an underling when, after an argument, his girlfriend told his cronies he was gay.
...
The case of Mr. D’Amato, in particular, was such a breach of protocol that “The Sopranos” stole his story, introducing a character named Vito Spatafore who was killed after two of his fellow gangsters saw him at a gay bar."
I think that Lat is trying to parody Elie, showing how ridiculous it is when one of the ATL bloggers makes a post solely with the intent of promoting a particular agenda. Let's just hope Elie gets the message.
4 & 6,
You think this is part of a gay agenda? Just saying that a mobster outed himself in court? Seems like a poor agenda if that's true. It's about as agenda oriented as the breeder posts about weddings.
Comment removed by moderator.
This would never hapen at Widener
doing it in the butt will Widener ass. that's what i always say.
Omar would smoke all those Italians. Just point him toward the package and tell him Stringer Bell set him up.
This is related to the law how?
11-
You misunderstand. Lat is pushing the gay agenda by constantly blogging about it.
-6
This would never hapen at Cardozo
Homosexuality is unnatural, immoral and wrong. Stop forcing your agenda, Lat.
6, 17
On no, I understood. I'm just saying you're a horrible political strategist because that's a ridiculous guess of what a gay agenda plot would look like.
I'm also saying it's about a focused on a gay agenda as the weekly wedding posts are about a breeder agenda.
11
12 - so offensive, in so many ways.
9 - Reread the post. Nowhere does it say who was the inspiration for Vito's character.
16 - Because it is based on a LEGAL proceeding? In a federal COURT? Is that not related enough to the LAW for you?
18 - nor in iran
Wow. I logged in to mention that I thought the original posting was homophobic - Project Runway? Oh, that's funny, because clearly all gay men want to be fashion designers, instead of, say, go to top tier law schools! - and then I looked at the comments. ATL, exercise some comment moderation, will you?
Lat, dude. Some of us haven't finished Netflixing Sopranos. Spoiler warning please?
24 - You know that Lat is a big old gay, right? Who speaks at Lavender Law, before Outlaws chapters at law schools, etc.?
22- The post seems to have been edited since I originally posted. "Real life counterparts" used to be "based on a real life mobster" or something along that line.
-9
Right -- a gay agenda. For mentioning that someone is gay. Yup, that's quite an "agenda" there. The agenda being, I guess, to mention homosexuality? Watch out, world!
Good lord. Get over yourselves people. I'm sooooo sorry you were subjected to the horror of reading that someone is gay. How sad. Your day must be ruined now.
How, exactly, is this more of an "agenda" post than the wedding ones? I don't recall reading you all complain about the hetero agenda on those weekly posts.
"Ah yes — the requisite 'I’m not [adjective], I just play [noun] on TV"
You, sir, should be fired.
Where's Mrs. Lat when you need her?
27 - Even if it said "based on a real-life mobster," that still doesn't give rise to a factual error (because the post didn't specify which mobster).
Not that there's anything wrong with that...
I fully expect the ACLU to file a lawsuit against the Gambinos for their discriminatory employment practices. How dare mobsters not treat gays equally!
31- When the post says "based on a real mobster" and then immediately proceeds to give quotes about a gay mobster, it is clearly implying that he was the real life mobster. It was definitely factual error to do so, and then not even mention the person who was the actual source of the character.
What this crap have to do with law anyway? This brog nothing but a crap now. Too gay. Too stupid. David, you need come home this weekend, meet nice Filipino girl through matchmaker, I introduce you, ok? Then maybe your head get un-gayed, not so crazy no more. I make you your favorite rice cake soup too, just for you, then maybe you have energy, brog better.
- Mom
From the excerpts provided, that NYT story seems poorly written.
Your punches do not land as well when they are thrown with a limp wrist.
"Casa" means house.
"Cosa" means thing.
While you didn't do it on purpose, cosa is sort of funny in this case. Excellent job.
Don't listen to my stupid wife. She don't know what she talk about. She just crazy old lady who keep talk about David need to marry Filipino girl. Maybe she try to be funny. I don't know. If you think she annoying now, try being marry to her for 75 years.
Wait, are you saying that you support your son's sexuality?
25 - you are kidding, right? It has been 3 years since that story line. And it was not exactly a secret. Here's another "spoiler" -- Jonny Sack had cancer (as discussed by every entertainment and mob blog in the country, due to similarities to end of John Gotti's life)
Now there's a "Mr. Lat" too??? Awesome.
They must now appear in every comment section of every gay agenda based ATL post.
In Soviet Rusia, we used this trick all the time. After you confess you are gay, you can claim you slept with someone else (thus impuning them as gay in the eyes of other bourgeoisie biggots) as a final act of revenge.
Lat loves Johnny Cakes
Two of the most ridiculous phrases coming from the wingnuts these days:
"gay agenda" - What the fuck does that mean? From context, since no one actually explains it, it appears to mean: "any mention of homosexuality or homosexuals is a long slippery slope to me being forced to gay marry and have gay sex, and that's gross".
"Obama's America" - another dogwhistle that's been showing up in ATL posts. In Drudge and other right-wing outlets, it seems usually attached to stories in which black people commit crimes or say or do something that is offensive. Somehow the president is responsible for these actions, apparently either because he has given black people tacit (or active) permission to take out their resentments on white folks, or because black people have taken the fact that they have one of their own in the White House to act out, or because Obama is a symbol of black people getting what they don't deserve. Any way you slice it, the phrase is about uppity blacks who don't know their place. Believe what you want, but don't delude yourself into thinking that these attidudes are anything but racist, and directly connected to the racism that has been directed towards black people for centuries.
Not that I want this blog to turn into a political forum rather than a place for gossip about lawyers, firms and court cases, but you asshats seem to insist on injecting race and politics into every thread.