Blogger Pile Up

Last weekend I hosted DC blogger/rugby stud/sci-fi geek Jimbo and of course we had to bring him to Central Park for our regular roller-disco picnic. Tons of mobloggeratti attended, including this winsome four with Jimbo. L-R: Farmboy C, Jimbo, Glenn, Chris, Father Tony.

PhoboQuotable - Richard Land

"The U.S. Senate is expected to vote within the next few days on legislation that could ultimately cost Christians their freedom to share their biblical beliefs on homosexuality." - 2007 Combover Olympics gold medalist and Southern Baptists Convention head Richard Land, lying once again.

Get Away From The Ads, You Bitch!

Argh! I hate the current vogue for reshooting famous scenes from movies with the original actors reciting advertising copy. I must therefore register my extremely anguished reaction to the new DirectTV spot that uses Signourney Weaver's iconic Caterpillar fight scene from Aliens, my favorite sci-fi movie. No, no, NO! Stop that right now, Signourney! What are we gonna do now, put HER in charge? The ads are running on TNT. They mostly come at night, mostly.

Queer Justice League To Protest Caliente

On Sunday at 1pm the Queer Justice League will be protesting in front of the West Village's Caliente Cab Company restaurant in response to their Pride Sunday ejection of a butch lesbian for using the ladies restroom. They plan to repeat this action every Sunday until the restaurant "resolves the situation favorably", which I presume means agreeing to QJL's demand for gender identity sensitivity training for Caliente's staff.

Organic, Free Range, With Added Scam

It looks like John Mackey, the CEO of the Mecca of urban angertwinks nationwide, Whole Foods, is about to lose his job after having been exposed for posting anonymously on Yahoo! Finance forums for the last seven years under the alias "Rahodeb", an anagram of his wife Deborah's name. In over 1000 forum postings as Rahodeb, Mackey blasted the operation and stock value of rival Wild Oats as Whole Foods negotiated to acquire the smaller chain, which they agreed to do earlier this year.

As Rahodeb, Mackey wrote, "OATS has lost their way and no longer has a sense of mission or even a well-thought-out theory of the business. They lack a viable business model that they can replicate." The feds are moving to block the merger under antitrust laws and Mackey's web shenanigans will likely bolster their case.

GOP Blows Off NAACP Forum

Only Rep. Tom Tancredo showed up at the NAACP's forum for Republican presidential candidates. Dig how they had Tancredo field questions amid nine other empty lecterns. Eight Dems showed for their portion.

The Floating Pool Lady

The Floating Pool Lady, a new swimming pool on a barge moored in the East River just off of Brooklyn Heights under the Brooklyn Bridge is drawing capacity crowds. A sand beach has also been installed, although I personally cannot imagine dipping a toe into the East River. The 4-foot deep pool has a capacity of 175 and there are several 90-minute and one-hour swim sessions daily. It's free!

Broadway Friday

- R&B singer Brian McKnight takes over the Billy Flynn role in Chicago on October 8th.

- Xanadu broke box office records for the Helen Hayes theatre after receiving an extremely positive review from the New York Times. Olivia Newton-John attended Tuesday's official opening. Gay hottie Cheyenne Jackson (United 93, All Shook Up) has temporarily stepped into the lead, replacing James Carpinello, who broke his leg roller-skating.

-Happy Days, the Musical. Seriously.

- Frost/Nixon closes on August 19th.

- Jerry Mathers (yes, the Beav himself) joined Hairspray on June 5th for a 3-month stint as Wilbur Turnblad. And Lance Bass joins next month as Corny Collins. Stunt casting, anyone?

- Thanks to rave reviews of her performance, Fantasia has extended her stint in The Color Purple through 2008.

- A straight play based on Columbo is headed for Broadway. Again, seriously. Columbo Takes The Rap will tour nationally before hitting the Great White Way next year.

- Wicked leads last week's grosses at $1.4 million, followed by the 3 Disney shows and Jersey Boys. Looking wobbly: Drowsy Chaperone at only 64% full houses.

- Beauty & The Beast closes July 29th. Win tickets to the final performance here.

Morning View - Staten Island Ferry

I can help it, but every time I see the Staten Island Ferry I still think of Melanie Griffith in Working Girl. There are nine ferries making the 25-minute trip and it's the best free ride in the country, bar none.

Blogs Of The City

Armistead Maupin has launched a blog. Interestingly, he mentions wanting to meet Mike Jones, saying, "Hustlers, for my money, do far more good than pastors." Testify! I sent Mike an email to nudge him to drop by and say hello to Mr. Maupin. You should do the same.

I was rereading a bit of Michael Tolliver Lives last night, and as always, I'm struck by the parallels between Mouse's life and mine. Orlando, San Francisco, a one-time go-go experience, the list goes on. Um, except for the part about having a lover half my age. Not that there's anything wrong with that! Oh, and I was never paralyzed. But still!

See My Vest

"I wouldn't be surprised if she made that African boy into a coat and wore him ... for 15 minutes, and then threw it away." - Morrisey, speaking about Madonna at his concert yesterday in Norfolk, Virginia.

(via - Huffington Post.)

Should this have been a HomoQuotable?

Holsinger Renounces Anti-Gay Views

At his Senate confirmation hearing today, Surgeon General nominee Dr. James Holsinger renounced his previous anti-gay views, saying of his infamous "Pathophysiology of Homosexuals" paper, "The paper does not represent where I am today. It does not represent who I am today," and that he would never advocate a position contrary to his conscience and that he would resign rather than let politics trump his scientific opinions.

Anybody buying this?
.

SiriusFM 3:30PM

Today at 3:30pm EST, I'll be appearing on Michelangelo Signorile's show on Sirius OutQ to chat about the Bob Allen story. Listen here live.
.

Time's 5 Worst Websites

Time Magazine has listed their Top 5 Worst Websites of 2007, so chosen because of cluttered homepages, clunky interfaces, slow loading time, and intrusive advertising.

Time's shitlist:
1. eHarmony
2. Evite
3. Meez
4. MySpace
5. Second Life

Their Top 50 Best Sites list includes LastFM (love it!), StumbleUpon (meh), Twitter (yawn), YouTube (indispensable) and about 46 other sites I've never heard of.

Open Thread Thursday

When I was 13, I bought my first 45 rpm single, Paul Simon's Kodachrome. I can remember excitedly threading the hole in the record over the handlebar of my bike and racing home to dance around my bedroom while Paul Simon's reedy voice scratched out of my aunt's old portable player. Of course, back then "portable" record players were about the size of a fax machine. Still, it was bliss.

What was your first record?
.

Morning View - Pedicab Doldrums

It's too hot for the tourists to take pedicabs, as this row of bored drivers near the entrance of Central Park at Columbus Circle attests.

HomoQuotable - Bob Allen

"I'm not in anyway associated with that they are saying, this is disgusting.'' - Florida state representative Bob Allen (R-Merritt Island), shortly after he was arrested for soliciting a male undercover cop for sex in a Titusville park restroom. The busted pol allegedly offered $20 if the cop would let Allen blow him.

Because we both went to UCF and because he (unfortunately) is the state House representative for several of my friends in my hometown of Orlando, I've been following Bob Allen's shenanigans for some time.

Laugh #1: Rep. Allen is the author of failed Florida House Bill #1475, the "Lewd Or Lascivious Exhibition Act" which would have made public masturbation in the presence of another adult illegal, whether the other adult consented or not. Florida statutes already cover such behavior for when a minor is present and the bill died in committee in two months ago. I'm pretty sure Rep. Allen was violating #1475 when he offered to blow that cop, doncha think? Lucky for him it didn't pass!

Laugh #2: Allen, who is listed as co-chair for John McCain's Florida campaign, was first elected to the Florida House in 2000, is married with one daughter, and lists his recreational interest as "water sports". Hmm, he doesn't look like he skis.

Laugh #3: In 2005, Allen told right-wing Christian site World Net Daily about his "Sexual Predators Elimination Act" which sought mandatory life without parole sentences for those designated as sexual predators. Allen's now-ironic statement to WND: "We can get away from all those expensive law-enforcement time-wasting factors by simply going straight to the root of the problem, and that is the offender, and put them in a locked up place where we know we're safe." The bill was strongly opposed by the Florida ACLU and did not pass.

Laugh #4: The Central Florida Rainbow Democratic Club, which rates policitians using their unique Wizard of Oz-based scale, ranks Bob Allen as a "Wicked Witch", the "absolute worst of the worst".

Laugh #5: The photo credit for the above pic, taken from the Florida House site, goes to one "Mark Foley." I mean, I'm sure it's not THAT Mark Foley, but still - it made me laugh.

But Rep. Allen isn't completely obsessed with sex. He's also into guns!

In April, Allen earned the enmity of Florida's gun lobby when he betrayed them over the "Guns In The Parking Lot" bill (officially HB 1417, the Individual Personal Private Property Protection Act of 2007) which was meant to prohibit businesses from banning customers and employees from keeping guns in their parked cars. Yeah, you read that right. The NRA wanted to prevent businesses from preventing people with guns from parking in their lots.

Allen co-sponsored the bill, then voted "no" on it, aiding its defeat. The bill was ostensibly written to protect employees from "corporate giants" who (according to former NRA head Marion Hammer) "have randomly searched private vehicles in their parking lots, without probable cause, under the pretense of searching for “contraband” - which covers anything they choose - and subsequently fired employees who had firearms in their private motor vehicles." Allen claimed that the bill (written by Marion Hammer) did not go far enough in protecting gun owners and submitted his own version of the bill titled the "True Gun Bill". He was the only one to vote for his bill.

Allen has been positioning himself as even more of a right-wing nut than the Republican state senator whose seat he is, ahem, now gunning for. Obviously, his arrest as a wannabe cocksucker puts all of those plans of Ol' Sex & Guns in jeopardy.

Couldn't happen to a nicer guy.
.

DC Rumor Mill: Cheney On Johns List

It appears to be based on DC coffee-house gossip, but the #1 story on Digg right now is a rumor that Dick Cheney is also on the DC Madam's list of clients. As rumors go, it's a sweet one. However, I imagine that with PDFs of the phone numbers on the list now widely available, Cheney would have been the first name looked for.

LGBT Rights Advance In Cuba

Primarily fueled by the activism of Fidel Castro's niece, Mariela Castro, LGBT rights are advancing in Cuba. The Communist Party is about to introduce a law which would legalize same-sex unions, allow gays to adopt, and grant lesbians access to state-run reproductive services. Trans people are being granted name-change rights, hormone treatments and surgery.

Cuba has been under the rule of Mariela's father, Raul Castro, for the last year since Fidel Castro stepped down "temporarily" for health reasons. Despite the apparent improvements for LGBT folks, dissident groups say the news is a smokescreen for continued human rights abuses in Cuba. Although the number of political prisoners has declined, dissidents say they are being unfairly dealt with in new ways that do not involve imprisonment. Others say that Mariela Castro is being groomed to lead a new post-Fidel/Raul nation.

Breaking News:Hate Crimes Bill Vote May Come Today

Senators Ted Kennedy (D-MA) and Gordon Smith (R-OR) have attached the Senate hate crimes bill, the Matthew Shepard Act, to a Department of Defense reauthorization bill which may come to a vote as early as today.

Call your Senators NOW and urge their support of S.1105. The right wing has been burying Senators with calls opposing the bill. Call them NOW.

Both my Senators are on board, are yours?
.

Naugle Loses Bid To Stop Gay Library Move

Over the protests of Fort Lauderdale Mayor Jim Naugle, the city commission voted to allow the Stonewall gay and lesbian book collection to be housed on city property. The archive is currently stored in a commerical property that is being redeveloped.

Commissioners voted 3-2 to approve the Stonewall Library and Archives request to move the extensive book, magazine and video collection to ArtSpace library at Holiday Park. The county-run library is owned by the city. Some of the titles on a list that city staff compiled: 100 Percent Beef, Arab Slave Boys, and Lesbian Bedtime Stories. "I had no idea this was what the homosexual book collection was all about," Naugle said before the meeting, showing a pack of nude gay magazines that city staff said are part of the Stonewall collection. "It's a shame it had to come out during this whole toilet controversy," he said. "They'll think it's some anti-gay thing — um, anti-homosexual."

The Miami Herald:

Broward County leaders approved the [library's] move last month. The Stonewall Library annually draws about 9,000 users -- who must be 18 or older -- for reading and research. Stonewall has been seeking the right location for more than a year, and believes the 4,350 square feet at the library is a perfect fit. The move will be partially funded through the John C. Graves Charitable Trust, named after a late historian, writer and philanthropist in the gay community.

HomoQuotable- Molly McKay

“We are optimistic and hope this will shed some light on this issue and not have a potential cheap laugh and negative impact on couples fighting for their lives right now. It does have radical impact on same-sex couples and their families.” - Marriage Equality director Molly McKay, speaking about I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry, a film opening this week that depicts two straight NYC firefighters who pose as a gay couple in order to get domestic partners benefits.

I haven't seen the movie yet, but it looks worse than offensive - it looks boring.

Morning View - Lower Manhattan

A Hotter Potter

Tonight my buddy Captain Steve plus-one'd me for a screening of Harry Potter and the Order of Phoenix at the Time-Warner screening room above Columbus Circle. The movie was much less gory than the last installment in the series, but it was also darker, more brooding, with much less humor than has been evident in the last four films. Harry Potter's writhing in mental agony seems to consume at least a reel's worth of screen time - flashbacks, nightmares, daydreams.

Most of the major and minor characters from the series make an appearance, a few of which I don't think we've seen since the first film. Imelda Staunton as Dolores Umbridge, a new teacher at Hogwarts, almost steals the movie. Still, with no quidditch and few laughs, this Potter has a strange feel. It will probably grow on me with repeated viewings, as the Potter films tended to do. Harry is quite rebellious in this one, he mouths off to teachers, breaks the rules right and left. Daniel Radcliffe is turning into quite the hottie. Is it OK to say that? He turns 18 this month.

Anyway, I still just can't believe that they killed Hermione.
.

The Greatest Entrance In Drag History

Tandi Iman Dupree, contestant in the Miss Black American pageant, makes the greatest entrance in drag history. Give the clip about 30 seconds for her to appear. Eternal thanks to Johnny Is A Man for the heads-up. Tandi is totally made of the awesome.

PhoboQuotable - David Vitter

"This is a real outrage. The Hollywood left is redefining the most basic institution in human history, and our two U.S. senators won't do anything about it. We need a U.S. senator who will stand up for Louisiana values, not Massachusetts values." - From the campaign site of Sen. David Vitter (R-LA), who today was revealed to have been a client of the DC Madam.

Ah luvs me some good 'ol Loosiana values.
.

Logo To Host Presidential Debate

LOGO and the Human Rights Campaign will be hosting a debate for presidential candidates on August 9th at 6pm. So far, only Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have confirmed their appearance on the one-hour commercial-free show, which will film live on LOGO before a studio audience with live streaming on LOGOonline.com. Out rocker Melissa Etheridge and HRC head Joe Solomonese will serve as co-hosts, and plan to ask candidates to discuss "relationship recognition, marriage equality, workplace fairness, the military, hate crimes, HIV/AIDS and other important issues." The event will take place in Studio City, California and will be LOGO's first live event.

Anybody betting that a single Republican candidate appears? Maybe Ron Paul?

UPDATE: John Edwards and Chris Dodd have now confirmed for the debate.

UPDATE II: Dennis Kucinich as now confirmed. HRC reports that none of the invited Republican candidates have responded. Additionally, HRC says that candidate Mike Gravel did not meet their standard of having raised $100,000 in fundraising for his campaign. As HRC does not consider him a viable candidate, he was not invited.

NY Times: Reject Holsinger

In an editorial called "A Nominee's Abnormal Views", today the NY Times Op-Ed page calls for Congress to reject Dr. James Holsinger as Surgeon General, saying, "The Senate should not confirm a surgeon general who considers practicing homosexuals abnormal and diseased."

An excerpt:

His [Holsinger's] strongest statement on homosexuality can be found in a murky, loosely reasoned paper that he wrote for a church committee in 1991. Titled “Pathophysiology of Male Homosexuality,” the paper purported to be a scientific and medical review. It argued that gay sex was abnormal on anatomical and physiological grounds and unhealthy, in that anal sex can lead to rectal injuries and sexually transmitted diseases. Dr. Holsinger did not brand the large number of heterosexual women who engage in anal sex as abnormal, failed to acknowledge the huge burden of disease spread heterosexually and implied that women are more likely than men to avoid injuries with generous lubrication.

The Times gets it.
.

Miami TV Host Fired For Accidental Slur

Luisa Fernanda, a television personality on Miami's popular Spanish-language Cotorreando show, has been fired by the station's parent company, Telemundo, for inadvertently using a disparaging slang word for gay men. Fernanda, who is Mexican, did not know that in Cuban Spanish the word for grouper, "cherna", is considered a pejorative term for a gay man. Telemundo fired Fernanda on June 22nd, saying her language was "inconsistent with the company's culture and its respect for diversity."

On one hand, you have to admire Telemundo for attempting to police hate speech with their zero tolerance policy. Spanish radio in particular which has long been the wild, wild west of the American airwaves, often featuring cruel song parodies at the expense of LGBT people. But Luisa Fernanda IS a friend of the community. She has appeared as a presenter at a GLAAD event and has advocated on-air for marriage equality. GLAAD issued a statement expressing their puzzlement and disappointment with Fernanda's dismissal.

In a polyglot Latin culture like Miami, one is always reminded that slang words often mean different things in different countries. As I recall, a "papaya" is a refreshing tropical fruit to some Spanish-speakers in Miami, but to Cubans - it means pussy. Specifically, your mama's pussy, if the insult is properly delivered. It can be very confusing.

Luisa Fernanda is seeing a swelling of support from LGBT folks in Miami, including by the local gay Latino civil rights group, Unity Coalition, which is hosting her at a nightclub as their "queen for a day". Hopefully the brass at Telemundo will reconsider this wrongful firing.

Morning View - Studebaker Factory

The old Studebaker factory on 131st Street in the Manhattanville section of West Harlem near the Hudson River is part of a 17-acre parcel where Columbia University is planning a massive 25-year expansion project. Most of the buildings in the 4-block area along the Riverside Drive Viaduct will be demolished, but three will be preserved, including including the Studebaker site, where Columbia will relocate its administrative offices.

Neighborhood activists have long campaigned against the expansion, with some saying that they welcome Columbia's march northward and the jobs it would bring to a blighted neighborhood, but objecting to the means, eminent domain, and the design, which includes 25-story glass towers. Others predict a mass displacement of Manhattanville's low income residents. Although only 400 people live in the buildings to be razed, the area around the new campus will skyrocket in value. And what is now one of the last low-rise industrial spaces on the island will doubtlessly become another cookie-cutter nabe of Starbucks and sushi bars.

Swag Tuesday

Courtesy of Showtime, this week's Swag Tuesday prize is an advance Season Two DVD box set of their hit series, Weeds, which goes on sale July 24th. And as a bonus, Showtime is throwing in a cute little Weeds gardening kit. From the Amazon product review:

Funnier, darker and more daring, the second season of this acclaimed Showtime series reaches a higher ground. Golden Globe winner Mary-Louise Parker stars as Nancy Botwin, the soccer mom who had to learn how to deal - pot, that is - after the death of her husband. Now, her business is a hit. But keeping up with the neighbors in this suburban utopia isn't easy. She's joined up with a few of her closest friends, and together they're facing life's highs and lows - because even in paradise, nobody's perfect. Don't miss WEEDS, an addictive comedy, the highest grade TV has to offer.

The third season of Weeds kicks off at 10pm on Monday, August 13th and is immediately followed by the debut episode of Showtime's new comedy series, Californication, starring David Duchovny.

To enter to win this week's prizes, you need only comment on this post. Only your first comment counts, please remember to leave your email address. Entries are closed at midnight tonight. Publicists: if you'd like to take part in Swag Tuesday on JMG, please email me.

Where To Go In Manhattan

A new free service in Manhattan called MizPee.com allows you to locate the closest public restroom via your PDA. Restrooms are ranked for cleanliness on a scale of 1-5, in case you can hold it long enough to make it to a higher-ranked location. With the paucity of public restrooms around town (no robo-johns for us, sadly) I can see this service becoming very popular.

JMG john hint: There are four single-stall restrooms in the Times Square subway station just off the hallway that separates the S and 1-2-3 lines. An attendant monitors the doors which he opens remotely upon request. Gothamites: where's your favorite pit stop?

Advocate Comes Out

PlanetOut Partners has announced that the Advocate will now ship to subscribers without the cloaking cover that previously shielded its identity. Out will follow suit shortly. A good move, long overdue. Those that don't want the mailman to know their business can still request their subscriptions be cloaked.

Lesbian Gangs Run Amok Nationwide!Space Aliens Ate My Baby!

To hear Fox News and Bill O'Reilly tell it, we've got us a regular national lesbian gang crime wave on our hands. Oh, brother. Meanwhile here in NYC hardcore lefties are spinning a Free Mumia-ish web of support for the Newark Four, recently incarcerated for their stabbing attack on a straight man. I'm rather disappointed to see FIERCE! (an organization I've supported here many times) joining the call to "Free The Newark Four".


(Via - AndrewSullivan.com)

UPS Ships 2nd Class To Gay Employees

UPS is refusing to grant spousal benefits to gay couples who have civil unioned in New Jersey, saying that they can only do so for couples that are married, as the company does for married gay employees in Massachusetts. UPS joins a growing list of New Jersey companies refusing to recognize state law requiring full benefits be granted to the civil unioned. Garden State Equality says they have received 150 similar complaints about other companies. And again we see an example of how civil unions fall short of providing full rights to gay couples.

Gay Adoption Rights Advance Nationwide

Time Magazine on gay adoption:

While adopted children in gay and lesbian homes were scarce a couple of decades ago, they now number 65,000, or more than 4% of adopted children in the U.S., according to a new study by the Williams Institute at the University of California, Los Angeles, and Washington's Urban Institute. Almost 2% of the nation's 3 million same-sex households include adopted children--and that growing pool, the UCLA study estimates, currently saves U.S. taxpayers as much as $130 million a year in costs for, say, keeping children in foster or institutional care and recruiting adoptive parents for them.

More here.
.

Morning View - Two Bridges

Above are the Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges, as seen from a party boat in the East River. Yesterday the Farmboyz, Chris and I attended Will Clark's Bad Boys On The Hudson cruise. Just your typical party with porn stars, Rollerina, disco, and a beautiful evening on the water. Of course, I can only post pictures of what we saw from the boat, not what we saw on it.

Sheehan Vs. Pelosi?

Anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan is threatening to run for Nancy Pelosi's seat in Congress unless Pelosi files articles of impeachment against George Bush by July 23rd. Sheehan lives in California outside of Pelosi's district but California has no residency requirement for congressional members. Sheehan recently left the Democratic party saying it had "caved in" to the president. I adore Cindy Sheehan.

Pines Invasion Photo Recap

Despite the cool air and the occasional sprinkle, the weather did not wreck this year's Fire Island Pines Invasion, as correctly predicted by humpy weatherman Jeff, seen here assessing the skies outside of the Pavillion. Topical humor was the drag theme of the day as we ran into a coke snorting Nicole Ritchie, a bald Britney, a TomKat & Surrey trio, and the basketball toting Nappy Headed Ho's. Below are some of our favorites pics from the day.