Saturday, November 10, 2007

Strike Darkens Broadway

The long-feared strike by Broadway's stagehands union began today, darkening 26 theatres on the Great White Way. The first show to be affected was the 11am matinee of Dr. Seuss' How The Grinch Stole Christmas! - The Musical, with local news carrying footage of hundreds of disappointed children.

Broadway shows that will be dark until further notice:

August: Osage County at the Imperial Theatre
Avenue Q at the Golden Theatre
A Bronx Tale at the Walter Kerr Theatre
Chicago at the Ambassador Theatre
A Chorus Line at the Schoenfeld Theatre
The Color Purple at the Broadway Theatre
Curtains at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre
Cyrano de Bergerac at the Richard Rodgers Theatre
Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas at the St. James Theatre
The Drowsy Chaperone at the Marquis Theatre
Duran Duran at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre
The Farnsworth Invention at the Music Box Theatre
Grease at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre
Hairspray at the Neil Simon Theatre
Is He Dead? at the Lyceum Theatre
Jersey Boys at the August Wilson Theatre
Legally Blonde at the Palace Theatre
Les Miserables at the Broadhurst Theatre
The Lion King at the Minskoff Theatre
The Little Mermaid at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre
Mamma Mia! at the Winter Garden Theatre
Monty Python's Spamalot at the Shubert Theatre
The Phantom of the Opera at the Majestic Theatre
Rent at the Nederlander Theatre
Rock 'n' Roll at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre
The Seafarer at the Booth Theatre
Spring Awakening at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre
Wicked at the Gershwin Theatre


Eight non-profit and independently-owned theatres are running shows not affected by the strike: Young Frankenstein, Mary Poppins, The Ritz, Cymbeline, Pygmalion, Xanadu, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, and Mauritiu. All of the Off-Broadway houses remain open. The Christmas Spectacular At Radio City is also unaffected.

No new negotiations are currently scheduled, so the outlook for a rapid resolution to the strike is dim. Ticket holders for closed shows will have their credit cards reimbursed within 2-10 business days of the date of their performance, depending on which ticket vendor was used. Tickets purchased with cash must be refunded at the box office.

Today's strike comes at the height of Broadway's holiday buying season and may particularly damage the shows opening this week, some of which would have depended on strong word-of-mouth to garner sales. In the meantime, Off-Broadway shows will benefit. Check out the 47 Off-Broadway shows here.

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JMG: 2007 Best LGBT Weblog

Thanks to your kind support, this here website thingy won the 2007 Best LGBT Weblog Award yesterday. Squeee! As I could not be in Las Vegas to attend the awards ceremony at BlogWorldExpo, the lovely and talented Pam Spaulding graciously agreed to go up to the podium on my behalf. Pam kindly sent along the above photo last night, what a classy gal! I'm sorry to deprive our Pam of her threepeat (Pam's House Blend won for the past two years), but pleased as acid-spiked punch to win.

I'm not kidding myself, though. These things are often mere beauty pageants, driven as much by the nominated blogs' hit count as their quality. But since ya gotta be doing something right to have those hits in the first place, I'm very honored to follow the amazing Pam into the top spot. Big thanks also go out to Bilerico Project, AMERICAblog, Mombian, Perge Modo, After Elton, HRC Back Story and my hot sexy readers for their congratulations.

I think I'm going to have to attend BlogWorldExpo next year. Bloggers were partying like Siegfried & Roy, according to a couple of stories I've heard. And I'll save my million kroner prize award from this year to use in the slots. Oh, wait.

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Friday, November 09, 2007

Claudia Contrada: New Poster Child For The Cruelties Of The Right-Wing

Last week I told you about Massachusetts teen Claudia Contrada, who bravely came out despite her mother's anti-gay activism with the loathsome MassResistance. Claudia's story caused a flurry of interest from local gay rights organizations. She was invited to appear at a Massachusetts Youth Pride event and publications such as Bay Windows and the Boston Globe requested interviews. Claudia even got an email from Brandeis University's queer student group, suggesting she consider attending Brandeis for its vibrant LGBT community.

And how did Claudia's mother, Amy Contrada respond? By pulling her out of school and by creating an entire page on the MassResistance site in which she announces that Claudia was adopted (horrors!) and that she is a special-needs student. What a vile, despicable revelation of a private health issue, transparently made to in attempt to demonize the gay people who have supported Claudia, casting us as opportunistic predators of sick children. (Nothing new there, eh?) She also reprints the emails from the various publications and gay groups (all of which are carefully worded and respectful) with sidebar commentaries call them "sleazy" and accusing them of "trolling" for teenagers.

Near the top of the post Amy Contrada posts a photo of Claudia's bedroom wall, plastered with Teen Beat-type photos of boys, as proof that Claudia has been lured and confused into declaring her gayness. "Of course, Claudia is no more a lesbian than the man in the moon. She's always had crushes on boys, and her bedroom has always been (and still is) plastered with pictures of boys." Uh, yeah, Amy? My bedroom wall had posters of Farrah Fawcett and Wonder Woman. Which made ME as straight as the man in moon.

The page finishes:
As usual, the homosexual activists cruelly use other people's children, leaving the parents to pick up the pieces. This is ultimately all about the selfish, self-centered nature of the homosexual movement and its obsession with children. It's sick and disgusting. Maybe evil is a better word. But this story isn't all that unique. We've observed for years that homosexual activists first push their way into schools, then seek out the most vulnerable and emotionally unstable kids, befriend them, give them positive attention, and persuade them to "come out" and adopt a "gay" identity. It happens in every school. This is possibly happening to your own children or their friends. You'd better wake up.
I worry for Claudia Contrada. If she is indeed "vulnerable and emotionally unstable" (and there's nothing to indicate that she is, so far), I am quite confident that Amy Contrada MADE HER THAT WAY. Perhaps gay folks should back off Claudia, at least for awhile. She shouldn't be a political football - for either side. On the other hand, maybe she needs us now more than ever. I really don't know about that....but I do know that somebody out there needs to get Massachusetts' Child Protective Services to drop in at the Contrada home. Immediately.
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HomoQuotable - Rex Wockner

"As you know, the U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday passed the GLB-only version of the Employment Nondiscrimination Act -- the one that doesn't include transgender people (the 'T' in GLBT). It was a major, historic moment in the U.S. fight for gay equality.

But you'd never know it from the flurry of press releases that hit my inbox. The only folks in the gay-activist universe who seemed happy were the Human Rights Campaign and the Log Cabin Republicans. Hundreds of other gay groups -- local, state and national -- lined up with the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force in denouncing the bill because the T folks were left out.

The reason the T folks were left out is because Barney did his homework and knew the bill would fail if they were included. America and Congress know and "get" gay people. America and Congress are just starting to get to know transgender people.

I trust Barney. I believe it was just that simple." - Gay journalist Rex Wockner.

Read the rest of the piece in which Wockner reflects on his 20-year relationship with Barney Frank.


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Caption This

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Real Bad = Real Dough

Organizers of the 19th annual Real Bad party, which took place after the conclusion of this year's Folsom Street Fair, had their check presentation ceremony last night, awarding $150,000 to two worthy Bay Area institutions.
San Francisco, CA – (November 8, 2007) – Grassroots Gay Rights West (GRGR/West) announces the donation of record proceeds from REAL BAD XIX. Ticket sales from this year’s nine-hour leather celebration allowed for the beneficiaries, Lavender Youth Recreation and Information Center (LYRIC) and STOP AIDS Project, to each receive $75,000 to support their respective work for the community.

REAL BAD Working Group event chair, Steve Mueller, whose constant drive to enrich the REAL BAD experience and love for the San Francisco dance community led this legendary party to a record-breaking year said, “I’m thrilled to give such amazing awards to the deserving organizations that partnered with us this year. The entire Working Group takes great pride in what we achieved and the happiness we brought our guests that Sunday night in September and the greater community through tonight’s donations."

REAL BAD, produced by GRGR/WEST, operates through its Circle of Friends ritual: friends inspiring friends to gather in celebration to benefit community. Hosts and the generosity of sponsors provide the funding required to produce REAL BAD, allowing 100 percent of ticket proceeds to be donated to its beneficiaries. This tradition of grassroots fundraising has allowed REAL BAD, the longest running, most successful fundraising event of its kind in San Francisco, to donate to Bay Area LGBT civil rights, community services, and/or HIV/health-related organizations.
Congratulations to GGGR/West for their good work!

UPDATE: Per request, the above photo is now embiggenable.

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More Woes For Giuliani

And you thought getting Pat Robertson's endorsement was bad?

Rudy Giuliani's onetime protege and business partner, former NYC police chief Bernard Kerik, was indicted yesterday on 14 federal counts including conspiracy, wire fraud, false statement on a loan application, tax evasion, obstructing an FBI investigation and lying to the federal government. The charges have been long coming, but New York television stations still interrupted daytime programming today to go live to a press conference held by the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York.

Kerik surrendered to the feds earlier today. A one-time nominee for director of Homeland Security, Kerik withdrew his nomination when it was revealed he'd hired an illegal immigrant as a nanny and that he'd had an affair with publishing mogul Judith Reagan. But that was just the beginning.

Kerik is a multi-millionaire thanks to his business relationship with Giuliani (he was CEO of Giuliani Ventures) and from his stock options with stun-gun manufacturer, Taser. Giuliani has been distancing himself from Kerik for years, but today's news will doubtlessly overshadow any other Giuliani news for a long time.

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Crack Is Whack

I really debated directing you folks to this hilarious, digusting, and TOTALLY NSFW post, as it has been heavily covered on DC blogs and broadcast media for the last ten days. But since it will surely go into gay blogging history, I would be a bad, bad homoblogger if I didn't mention it here. I particularly encourage you to embiggen the final photo, which literally made me fall out of my chair laughing. For real. On. The. Floor.

(Via - Famous Author Rob Byrnes.)


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LGBT Abuses Cost Nigeria Sporting Event

Glasgow, Scotland was chosen as host city for the 2014 Commonwealth Games after Changing Nigeria, a group of Nigerian LGBT activists, presented organizers with an 11-page report detailing abuses of gay citizens. Abuju, Nigeria had been a leading candidate, but lost the vote 47-24 at a meeting held in Sri Lanka. Founded as the British Empire Games in 1930, the Commonwealth Games feature competition from 5000 athletes.

British gay activist Peter Tatchell, who accompanied members of Changing Nigeria when they met with the Commonwealth Games Federation, said of the vote, "I would love to see an African country host the games, but not Nigeria. Awarding Abjua the games would have rewarded bad governance, grave social injustices and the denial of civil rights to millions of Nigerians. Nigeria should be offered the 2018 Games, on the condition that within the next three years it makes serious progress on eradicating corruption, election fraud and human rights violations."

According to Nigerian law, anyone who has "carnal knowledge of any person against order of nature or permits a male to have carnal knowledge of him" can be imprisoned for 14 years.

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Broadway Friday

- Let's start off-off-off Broadway with some news from my pals Steve Schalchlin and Jim Brochu:
Theater legend, Zero Mostel, comes back to roaring life in "Zero Hour," a new play written and performed by Jim Brochu of "The Big Voice: God or Merman?" at San Francisco's New Conservatory Theatre Center. In the play, which won Best Play at the Los Angeles Ovation Awards in 2006, a naïve reporter attempts to interview the famously volatile artist, prompting an explosion of memory, humor, outrage and juicy backstage lore. Mostel is remembered for his comedic genius and his definitive roles (Fiddler on the Roof, Ionesco's Rhinoceros, The Producers), but in the 1950's he was equally known for his place on McCarthy's infamous Hollywood blacklist. Brochu's striking portrayal brings all of Mostel's swagger, ferocity, intelligence and fantastic wit back to the stage in this one-man tour-de-force.
Get tickets to Zero Hour here.

- Dr. Seuss' How The Grinch Stole Christmas! - The Musical opens today at the St. James.

- Tony and Grammy winner Melba Moore will headline the Prince Music Theatre's production of the Fats Waller revue Ain't Misbehavin', December 4-31. Other cast members: Eugene Fleming, Ken Prymus, Andrea Dora, Gabrielle Hurtt, and Chanta Layton.

- The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee will close on January 20th after over 1100 performances.

- Former Broadway star Timothy M. Fauvell died of cardiac arrest Wednesday at age 52. Fauvell appeared in Grease, Joseph And The Technicolor Dreamcoat, State Fair, and 1776. Fauvell left the theatre several years ago to pursue a doctorate in theology. In 2006, he was ordained with the United Church of Christ. He leaves his life partner Rob Bowman.

- Broadway's stagehands union finally officially authorized a strike yesterday, but has not set a date for the work stoppage. Producers have declined Mayor Bloomberg's offer of arbitration. The strike would darken 27 Broadway houses, so guide your holiday plans with care.

- Reviews for Young Frankenstein have been generally unkind. From the Telegraph: "Rarely has so much energy been expended for such pitifully small comic returns." I still want to see it.

- Mohammed on Broadway? The Swedish cartoonist whose drawings of Mohammed caused riots around the work is developing his work into a musical.
Never one to leave well enough alone, Swedish artist Lars Vilks decided to keep the scandal going, and last summer, he drew a cartoon depicting the prophet's head on the body of a dog, which was published in the tiny Swedish paper Nerikes Allehanda. The caper earned him numerous death threats and a $100,000 bounty on his head, courtesy of al-Qaida -- who promised a $50,000 bonus if the murder was accomplished by slitting his throat.

Undeterred, Vilks has now come up with a dubious new idea: Why not turn the entire scandal into a musical? He has already started work on the project -- with the working title "Dogs" -- and envisions a stage production in the mold of "Jesus Christ Superstar" or "Cats."

"Muhammad is also a superstar in the modern sense of the term," Vilks told the Swedish daily Dagens Nyheter. Vilks said that other characters in the show might include the Swedish prime minister, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and al-Qaida. There will also be an elegy performed by the "choir of the offended," he told the paper.
I can totally see Harvey Fierstein as Mohammed.
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Thursday, November 08, 2007

Barney Frank: "You know what?
My Country Doesn't Hate Me!"

HRC's Back Story blog has the video of yesterday's celebratory post-ENDA press conference.

Choice quotes:

Barney Frank: "Knowing the feeling of pride and support and vindication that many of us who are gay and lesbians feel, underlines the importance of our extending that to others who aren't allowed to feel that today, and yet they are entitled to that same feeling. [snip] But tonight, tomorrow morning, there are millions of Americans, young and old, who can say, 'You know what? My country doesn't hate me'."

Rep. Tammy Baldwin: "This is a milestone, but not the end of our quest."

Also from Back Story, Ted Kennedy has pledged to introduce the Senate version of ENDA as quickly as possible.
Senator Edward M. Kennedy, a Massachusetts Democrat and a longtime supporter of gay rights legislation, said he would move swiftly to introduce a similar measure in the Senate. Some Senate Republicans said that, if worded carefully, it would have a good chance of passing, perhaps early next year.[...]

Mr. Kennedy, who is chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, issued a statement praising the House vote. He could introduce a measure identical to the House bill or a new version, which might restore language about gender identity.

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No Go For Ro

From Rosie O'Donnell's blog:

"msnbc -one hour
live following keith olbermann
we were close to a deal- almost done
i let it slip in miami
causing panic on the studio end
well what can u do- 2day there is no deal
poof- my career as a pundit is over
b4 it began -just as well
i figure everything happens for a reason
bashert - as we say
and on we go"

Too bad, I was really looking forward to the show.

UPDATE: More Rosie news from the NY Post, regarding her finding out that she'd ripped Bill Clinton while he was in the audience at one of her shows. Clinton then sent O'Donnell a note wishing she had come by to speak to him.
"He disgusts me," O'Donnell recalled saying at the casino show. "And I know I'm not supposed to say this because I'm a good Democrat, but I didn't want to [talk] to him because he lied to me when he said, 'I did not have sexual relations with that woman,' and then put the scarlet-letter [bleep]-job on her for the rest of her life . . . I still hate you!"

When the comic called the phone number Clinton included with his note, Bubba himself picked up, she said. "My knees got weak. I was like, 'Can I [bleep] you?' No, I didn't say it, but I felt it - I was like, 'Whoa! Whoa!' And he said, 'I was at your show the other night, and I was sorry that you didn't come over and say hello to me. And I know that you're still harboring some hard feelings,' " O'Donnell related.

"And I said, 'You know, listen, here's the deal, dude. I've been disappointed by men my whole life. I loved JFK, my mother loved JFK, and you were the JFK to me. And you let me down, man. You killed me and that hurt me a lot, and when you hurt me, I don't know, I didn't expect that out of you and I thought you could do better for your wife, for the country and just in general."

Clinton then worked his charm on O'Donnell. "He goes, 'I'm sorry for all the men who ever hurt you, I'm sorry that I hurt you. Everything you've said to me, I've said to myself, and I hope one day you can forgive me, and I hope I can forgive me.' "

Clinton's mea culpa quickly had O'Donnell's faucets opening up. "I'm hysterical crying," she recalled.
Jeebus, Rosie. Let. It. Go. Already.
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When I Think About You, I...

Food Emporium, First Avenue, Wednesday 7PM

A young mother is shopping with her pre-school son in the produce department.

Mom: Stop touching everything! This is other people's food, don't you understand that?

Kid: What can I touch?

Mom: Nothing! We don't touch things in stores. We only touch ourselves.

She looks at me.

Mom: That came out wrong, didn't it?

I almost told her that I can think of a few stores near Times Square where touching yourself is pretty much required.
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Requires Four D Batteries (Not Included)

The Smart Car finally goes on sale in U.S. dealerships in a few weeks. Father Tony has had the convertible model on order for months, he plans on using it to zip between the gay bars of Hells Kitchen and the East Village, I imagine. Designed by Mercedes, it seems the perfect vehicle for Manhattan, but I'm not sure I'd want to be on the highway in it. I'm also sure it will be about ten minutes before somebody puts a big wind-up key on the top.

UPDATE: Reader Steven sent in this photo of the Smart Roadster he recent drove in Rome.

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Morning View - Weehawken Street Sign

I took this outside the Dugout last weekend. I hate being told what to do.

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Vaccine News Worse Than Thought

More disappointing news about Merck's recently halted HIV vaccine study.
The vaccine is made from a common cold virus with three synthetic HIV genes tucked inside. It's designed to stimulate the immune system to kill any HIV-infected cells encountered in the future.

However, the researchers found that volunteers with pre-existing immunity to this particular cold virus were much more likely to get infected with HIV if they got the AIDS vaccine than if they got the dummy shot. Some 3,000 people, mostly homosexual men and female sex workers, had volunteered to get the experimental vaccine or dummy shots. All were warned to protect themselves from AIDS exposure.

At the time the study was halted in September, Merck said said 24 of 741 volunteers who got the vaccine in one segment of testing later developed HIV; 21 of 762 participants who got dummy shots also were infected. New data released Wednesday showed that to date, 49 of 914 vaccinated men became infected with HIV, compared with 33 of the 922 men who got dummy shots. Only one woman and a small number of heterosexual men were infected.
Obviously, getting volunteers for future vaccine studies could be much more difficult.



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Dance This Mess Around

All this will be over soon, gentle readers. In fact, by 5pm EST today. Then we can continue discussing the critical issues of our time: LGBT rights, bears, disco, and Chris Meloni's sweet, sweet can.

Open Thread Thursday

Are you out at work? If so, do you think it affects your career potential?

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Wednesday, November 07, 2007

ENDA Debate Video Recap


ABOVE LEFT: Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) angrily rips the Republicans for the attempt to kill the bill by recommitting it. If you only watch one of these clips, make it this one. ABOVE RIGHT: Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) on her t-inclusive amendment.

ABOVE LEFT: Speaker Nancy Pelosi speaks in favor of ENDA, just prior to the vote. ABOVE RIGHT: Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY) rips the GOP for not supporting LGBT's. Some great quotes. Keep an eye on this guy.

ABOVE LEFT: Rep. Kathy Castor (D-FL), who lead much of the debate, speaks in favor of ENDA. ABOVE RIGHT: Rep. John Lewis (D-GA) speaks of the time before the Civil Rights Act and its relationship to ENDA.

I pulled all these clips from Nancy Pelosi's YouTube page. No videos of the idiotic GOP responses have been posted as far as I can find. Cowards.

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ENDA Reactions

Matt Foreman - National Gay & Lesbian Task Force
"We are deeply disappointed that House leadership decided to ignore the position of a vast majority of LGBT organizations, ignore the legal assessment that this bill may not even provide adequate protections for gays, lesbians and bisexuals, and ignore the fact that this vote might make it more difficult to persuade members of Congress to support a fully inclusive bill in the future. We are also disappointed that House leadership forced many members of its own caucus to choose between voting for a bill not supported by most in the LGBT community, or voting against a civil rights bill. This entire process has been painful, divisive and unnecessary. And worst of all, we went through all of this on behalf of a bill that the president has already said he would veto.

[snip]

We are relieved this episode is behind us, and starting right now we are going to pick up where we were six weeks ago — namely, working to pass into law in 2009 the ENDA our entire community wants and deserves."
Joe Solmonese - Human Rights Campaign
"Today, we witnessed the making of civil rights history in the U.S. House of Representatives by the passing of ENDA. Our fight for equality will not be won overnight. It will be won one step at a time, and we will not give up until we reach the finish line. This is a critical piece of legislation and a major step toward the finish line for all Americans."
Mara Keisling - National Center For Transgender Equality
"The staff and board of the National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE) are deeply disappointed by today's action in the U.S. House of Representatives in forcing through a flawed, divisive civil rights bill that virtually no civil rights organization wants and that has virtually no chance to pass into law.

NCTE pledges to continue our efforts to educate Congress and the public around issues of both sexual orientation and gender identity.

We praise the efforts of so many who worked tirelessly to protect all LGBT people, including the members of Congress who stood strongly with LGBT people in asking for protections for all LGBT people. We also express deep gratitude to the more than 350 LGBT organizations who are part of the United ENDA coalition. Transgender people should be comforted in their disappointment today knowing that the preponderance of the LGBT movement has stood with us absolutely rock solidly."
Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI)
"Some people have asked why I insisted on bringing an amendment to the floor, only to withdraw it without a vote. The reason is simple. Those left behind by this bill deserve to hear, on the floor of the House, that they are not forgotten and our job will not be finished until they, too, share fully in the American Dream.

Those who would practice employment discrimination, who permit bullying or ostracism on the job, who hire or fire based on stereotyped notions of what is masculine and what is feminine, rather than on a person’s skills and ability, need to hear, from the floor of the House, that such practices are not acceptable in our society.

Irrational hate or fear have no place in our society. If we truly believe in life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, if we truly want to protect the most vulnerable in our society, if we continue to profess that all men are created equal, then we must work toward achieving the American Dream for all…not just for some.

So, I join with my colleagues in celebrating House passage of a bill that bans employment discrimination based on sexual orientation. This is important and necessary legislation. And I remain committed, as we all are, to passing legislation that bans workplace discrimination on the basis of gender identity."

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ENDA APPROVED

By a vo e of 235-184, he House of Represen a ives has approved he Employmen Non-Discrimina ion Ac , which is he first na ional gay righ s legisla ion in he his ory of he Uni ed
S a es.

hirty-five Republicans crossed par y lines to suppor ENDA.
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Stall, Delay, Lie

Unsurprisingly, Republican legislators are trying a number of tactics to stall today's ENDA vote, including a lengthy debate of a procedural issue (requiring a vote) and a call to adjourn for the day, which failed.

Many reps have made impassioned speeches on both sides of the issue. Dennis Kucinich struck early by voicing strenuous objection to the removal of the Baldwin amendment, which would have added transgender protection back to the bill. Republicans have sounded the usual "special rights" and "Christian bookstores will be REQUIRED to hire hummersexshuls!" sorts of lies.

This will be a long day.

UPDATE: The debate is back on, finally. Watch it live online.

UPDATE II: Rep. Mark Souder (R-IN) just used an Andrew Sullivan quote to support his case against the bill.

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Massage w/Unhappy Ending

After a threatened picket by the National Organization of Women, the publishers of New York Magazine have agreed to drop the escort and massage section from the back section of the magazine, becoming the 15th NY-based title to cease taking the thinly-veiled prostitution ads due to pressure from NOW.
The feminist group called the magazine the "marketing arm of the organized-crime world of prostitution and human trafficking" because of ads touting "Asians Gone Wild," "Asian Bliss" or "Hot Latinas."

"We worked to educate them on the connections trafficking and the existing sex industry," said Sonia Ossorio, president of NOW-NYC. "Numerous publications have come to the conclusion that it's not a business they really want to be in."

New York magazine became the 15th publication this year, including Time Out New York and the New York Press, that agreed to end the "escort" and "model" ads that are often codes for prostitution.

New York Magazine says they will lose $10,000 a week in advertising. Gay bar rags like HX and Next Magazine probably make even more from prostitutes, but I'm pretty confident that none of those guys are being trafficked into the city in the holds of Chinese cargo ships, although you never know. Still, the presence of those bar rag hooker ads scares away most mainstream advertisers who would otherwise love to reach an affluent, nightclubbing, urban gay male audience.

Is NOW right to pressure publishers on this issue? Does the gay community have a similar moral obligation to police its titles? Or is the issue of male prostitution enough removed from organized crime for us to recognize it as a valid, even positive aspect of gay life?
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ENDA Vote: Noon Today

French President Nicolas Sarkozy is currently speaking to a joint meeting of Congress, after which the House will vote on ENDA. I'll report the result here immediately.

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Let's Get Physical

If you want the new Eagles album, their first in 28 years and this week's #1 on Billboard, you have to go to Wal-Mart as they are the exclusive retailer for the release. With few retail music chains left and indie record shops vanishing almost completely, for physical, in person sales, the music business is reverting to the sales model of 40 years ago, when albums were either sold from discount store endcaps or in a small corner of stores that primarily sold televisions.

There are a few notable music-only stores struggling along, Amoeba and Rasputin in the Bay Area, for example. But while getting new music has never been easier, the internet has been both boon and bane for emerging artists. How many of us discovered a fantastic new act because we were drawn to an amateurish display created by a teenage fan/clerk in a local record shop? I miss that.

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Go Greyhound

New records were set yesterday when the U.S. dollar continued its decline against foreign currencies. The Canadian dollar, currently the strongest currency in the world (seriously) is now trading at $1.10, the Euro is $1.47, and the British pound is at a 26-year high at $2.10.

So much for foreign vacations this year, eh? Meanwhile, Manhattan is just swamped with international tourists taking advantage of the relatively cheap hotel rooms and electronics, so at least there's that.

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Solmonese On Signorile

HRC head Joe Solomonese appeared on Michelangelo Signorile's radio show yesterday to defend the Human Right Campaign's decision to push for ENDA without transgender protections. It's a tough interview. Listen below.

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Good Work Wednesday

NYC: God's Love We Deliver, which delivers free meals to homebound AIDS and cancer patients, holds their 14th Annual Race To Deliver, a 4K Run in Central Park on Sunday, November 18th. Register, pledge, donate here.

NYC: The Ali Forney Center, New York City's most comprehensive service organization for homeless LGBT youth-announces a memorial celebration of Ali Forney, commemorating his life and recognizing his continued inspiration to others on the ten-year anniversary of his tragic murder. Also commemorated is the 5-year anniversary of the Center itself, providing shelter, safety, and dignity to LGBT young people rejected by their families.The celebration is open to the public, and will place at Judson Memorial Church on Thursday, December 6. Speakers will include Executive Director Carl Siciliano, family and friends of Ali Forney, and others TBA as well as vocal performances.

SF: The Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund will host a fundraiser for LGBT candidates on Wednesday, November 14th at 54 Palm Avenue. Candidates benefiting: Annise Parker, running for re-election as Houston City Controller, and Oregon State Senator Kate Brown, candidate for Oregon Secretary of State. Tickets $175-$1000. Purchase here.

LA: The Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Community Center 36th Annual Gala & Auction takes place on November 17th at the Hyatt Regency Century City. "Singer and Activist Jenifer Lewis and the Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles to be Honored; Chorus to Perform “duet” with the iconic Linda Ronstadt." Tickets: $300 for individuals, $400 for VIP admission which includes preferred seating; $3,000 for a table of 10, and $4,000 for a VIP table of 10.

NYC: The Gay & Lesbian Anti-Violence Project will stage their 2007 Courage Awards at Gotham Hall on November 19th, hosted by B.D. Wong. This year's honorees: New York State Assembly Member Daniel J. O'Donnell, Ms. Verna Eggleston of the Bloomberg Family Foundation, and Sundance Channel.

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Tuesday, November 06, 2007

ENDA+T Coalition Unravels

It was nice while it lasted.

Led by the HRC, the coalition of progressive and labor organizations supporting a trans-inclusive ENDA has significantly unraveled. Joining the HRC in an open letter to Congress in support of a trans-less bill: the NAACP, the National Education Association, the National Employment Lawyers Association, the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, the American Federation of State, County, Municipal Employees, and other groups. The AFL-CIO and the United Auto Workers Union have sent similar letters of their own.

HRC head Joe Solmonese called the move a "pragmatic and strategic decision." Earlier today, the HRC released a poll which claims that 70% of the LGBT community now supports ENDA without gender identity protections. (I'm guessing that not many T's were polled.)

Fearing a voter backlash in 2008, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has been under intense pressure from junior Democrats to not allow a trans-inclusive bill to come to a vote. On Monday, the Rules Committee agreed to send ENDA to a floor vote, with three amendments attached. The first amendment, which adds gender identity protections back in, is now unlikely to be considered. The other two amendments address White House concerns about religious exemptions and DOMA.

(Via - 365gay.com & HRC.org)

UPDATE: An excerpt from today's HRC Backstory blog...
While the bill Congress is set to vote on a non-inclusive ENDA is not what we wanted, the Human Rights Campaign decided to stay at the table with Congress to fight for the best bill possible, and because passage of this legislation is a first and absolutely necessary step toward preventing discrimination based on gender identity.

Throughout this entire struggle, the Human Rights Campaign has been guided by the principle of equality for all. We’ve also been guided by the need to navigate potential roadblocks in order to achieve that equality and we’ve tried not to get ourselves boxed into a corner -- especially if that corner opposes progress.

We believe that staying at the table and negotiating in support of the best possible bill is better than simply walking away. It isn’t right and it’s a disappointing reality of how politics works but if we are going to win we can’t ever be disillusioned by letting the perfect get in the way of the good. But, without a doubt, the only path to achieving a bill protecting our whole community is by achieving a successful House vote tomorrow. A defeat of ENDA tomorrow would set back the possibility of an inclusive bill for many, many years.

Moral and principled advocates for equality can disagree on strategies but we should never question each others commitment to the common goal of equality we all share. We hope that our partners in the ongoing fight for equality will join with us in this step forward and not seek to divide us.

The Family Research Council, Traditional Values Coalition and their allies would like nothing more than for our movement to fail, and for ENDA to die in this Congress. To stand idly by and let that happen would constitute ceding ground.

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Cloudy Times In Sunshine State

The anti-gay Florida4Marriage has gathered 597,000 signatures on a petition demanding that same-sex marriage be outlawed statewide. When they reach 610,000 signatures, an amendment to the state constitution will be placed on 2008 ballot. The amendment would need a 60% vote to pass, something polls indicate it would get.

However:
Gay marriage is already illegal in Florida, because it is a state that adopted the federal Defense of Marriage Act, which defines marriage as between a man and a woman. Writing that into the state constitution would prevent state judges from overturning the law to allow gay marriage, as the Supreme Court did in Massachusetts. But in some states, bans similar to the one proposed in Florida have opened the door to lawsuits challenging all domestic partnership benefits.

In Florida, cities such as Tampa, Gainesville and Miami Beach have domestic partner registries, where unmarried couples, gay or straight, can sign up and be allowed to share health insurance benefits in government jobs, and also receive medical cards allowing each other to visit in the hospital.
Opponents of the amendment point out that the new law would open up the private sector to lawsuits regarding domestic partners benefits. Using last year's successful example in Arizona, pro-gay forces are concentrating on the specter of lawsuits in their campaign against the proposed amendment.

(Via - Bilerico Project.)

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Congress: Mukasey In, ENDA MIA

A Senate panel just cleared the nomination of Michael B. Mukasey as Alberto Gonzales' replacement as Attorney General, despite concern that Mukasey has refused to condemn waterboarding as torture. The full Senate will now likely approve Mukasey later this week.

Over on the House side, I've been monitoring C-SPAN2 for today's supposed ENDA vote, but so far the only business has been several long, droning speeches (to an empty house) in support of a resolution congratulating the Boston Red Sox for winning the World Series. Thankfully, that critically important piece of legislation was passed. Democracy survives.

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Fussy Cat, It's Not Your Fault

When Shelley is displeased with the day's selection of wet food, she buries it by scooping over her dry food (center bowl) on top of it. Even though she makes a mess, I'm impressed with how much dry food makes it into the wet bowl. It's a tense day in Chez Shelley, as we're on stand-by from the vet for her re-spaying operation. The cat carrier is by the door with my fleece sweatshirt (her bed of choice) inside. If the vet gets an opening, she'll go this afternoon. Once she goes in, we'll go to round-the-clock, up-to-the-minute coverage here on MSJMG. Shelter Kitty appreciates your good wishes. Oh, and also your vote.

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Asshattery In The Boone-docks

Faded schlock star Pat Boone produced two homophobic recordings which were used to robo-dial voters urging support of Republican incumbent Ernest Fletcher in today's Kentucky gubernatorial race. The 30 and 60-second calls went to thousands of voters.

The 30-second call: “His opponent is so ultra-liberal he’s just been enthusiastically endorsed by C-FAIR, a prominent gay rights advocacy group. They’re convinced Beshear is their guy. Now you have to ask, ‘Do you really want Kentucky to become another San Francisco?’ Please re-elect Ernie Fletcher.”

The 60-second call. "Hello friends. This is Pat Boone - a fellow Kentuckian by descent from granddaddy Dan'l. I've always been proud of Kentucky's stance on patriotic, military and moral issues - a great heritage. Now, as an American and a Christian I'm very concerned about the upcoming governor's election. Ernie Fletcher is a typical Kentuckian. He's worked long and hard for the state, its people, and its traditions. And of course he's come under attack by political opponents. And now, he faces a man who wants his job, who has consistently supported every homosexual cause - same-sex marriage, gay adoption, special rights to gay, lesbian, bisexual even transgender individuals. The prominent gay advocacy group CFAIR just enthusiastically endorsed Beshear, knowing he's their guy. Kentuckians have already voted to amend the state constitution to prohibit same-sex marriage. Now, do you want a governor who would like Kentucky to be another San Francisco? Please re-elect Ernie Fletcher. This message paid for by the Republican Party of Kentucky."

Go here to listen to the 30 and 60-second recordings. Boone, a former darling of wingnut talk shows, temporarily lost favor with the Christianists in 1997 when he recorded the above-depicted album of heavy metal standards. Ironically, last year he released an album of R&B and disco covers titled, We Are Family.

UPDATE: Boone's boy loses.
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Ro A Go For New Show?

Rosie O'Donnell is in talks with MSNBC about hosting a prime-time talk show. According to early reports, one possibility under discussion would have O'Donnell hosting a live show at 9PM Eastern Time, which would slot her against CNN's Larry King Live and Fox's Hannity & Colmes. The new show would follow MSNBC's Countdown With Keith Olbermann. O'Donnell left ABC's The View six months ago after several contentious on-air fights with her co-hosts.

This sounds like exactly the right vehicle for Rosie.

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Reptile Charged With Child Abuse

Shirley Phelps-Rogers, daughter of Fred Phelps, is in court this week charged with negligent child abuse, endangering a child, flag mutilation, and disturbing the peace. Phelps-Rogers brings her 10 year-old son to the Phelps clan's funeral protests, which constitutes child endangerment, according the charges. The good mother claims her son willingly attended the protests.

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Swag Tuesday

Courtesy of LOGO, this week's Swag Tuesday prize is the DVD of the first full season of The Big Gay Sketch Show, which includes all six episodes, Big Gay bonus sketches, Celesbian Interviews, Team Pimp’s sexy new music video and more. Inside: a bonus disc - Outlaugh on Wisecrack. The DVD becomes available on November 6th via BestBuy.com and the LOGO online shop.

Headed by a cast of eight fresh up-and-coming comedic actors, The Big Gay Sketch Show features a combination of traditional and music-based sketches, pop culture parodies and recurring characters, all from a unique LGBT perspective. Check out the "Gay Werewolf", "Tranny 911", "The Gay Facts of Life", "The Gay All in the Family" and "The Gay Honeymooners" and more! The show is produced by Oh Really! Productions and executive producers are Rosie O'Donnell, Dan MacDonald and Joe Del Hierro. Amanda Bearse (Married with Children, director of numerous episodes of Mad TV), is the series director.
Enter to win by commenting on this post. Only comment once and please remember to leave your email address. Publicists: if you'd like to take part in Swag Tuesday on JMG, please email me.
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Monday, November 05, 2007

It's A Horse Race -UPDATED


And I'm Francis, The Talking Mule.




UPDATE: I've gotten several emails politely chastising me for for my "flip" and "cynical" references to the 2007 Weblog Awards pageant and for not observing proper netiquette by providing links to the other finalists. No apologies for the first bit, but it seems I've been properly served on the netiqette part. Ouch, how embaraskin! Here are the ten finalists for Best LGBT Blog:

Finalist Links
Republic of T
Mombian

I particularly recommend you check out two of the finalists, if you don't read them already:

Pam's House Blend - Hosted by noted LGBT activist, Pam Spaulding, Pam's House Blend is a vital source for up-to-the-minute political news and commentary. Pam has four co-bloggers and her site features numerous Daily Kos-like diaries written by readers. The Blend also has a chat room feature.

The Bilerico Project - Billed as "Daily experiments In LGBTQ", the Bilerico Project is a community LGBT rights blog hosted by Bil Browning and several co-bloggers, with dozens of notable contributors, including nationally renowned activists such as Matt Foreman, Joe Solmonese, Patricia Nell Warren, Lane Hudson, Candice Gingrich, Mike Rogers, and Pam Spaulding .

I also failed to mention that you may vote once every 24 hours and that the voting closes on November 8th. As nine out the nine other finalists have said, vote early, vote often.

As for this here website thingy, [SUCK UP ALERT] I consider all of you my co-bloggers. Group hug! Seriously though, I do have some vague, misty plan to actually get a new fancy non-Blogger template that has all the fancy gee-gaws that could support some fun new features and add some snap to my look. Just gotta get off my ever-shrinking be-yoo-tocks and find a slick web designer. Suggestions welcome. Forums? A Flickr group? M4M-JMG? Heh.

The Mummy Has Two Faces

After reading the story about yesterday's first-ever public unveiling of the King Tut's mummifed face, I kept turning the page back to try and figure out why the computer-generated image of his face seemed so familiar. Ah, got it. Barbara Streisand, circa Funny Girl. It turns out, others think the same thing.

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Egg Lady

The Grill, First Avenue, 8AM......

Two people in front of me, an assistant is taking her boss' breakfast order over her speaker-phone.

Woman On Speaker: You're unbelievable. I told you NO FUCKING EGGS! Omelets are made of EGGS. Breakfast burritos are made of EGGS. No FUCKING eggs! God, what fucking planet are you from? Get me a toasted raisin bagel and a fruit cup. Jesus!

(Hangs up.)

Assistant: Can I get a toasted raisin bagel, please?

Cook: Want me rub some eggs on it?

Assistant: Would you, please?
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The Case Of The Poofter Plate

David Phillips, whom you may recall for telling the world about his scatified encounter with Larry Craig, is in the news again. Phillips has been told by the Virginia DMV that he must surrender his POOFTER vanity plate.
For 11 years, over nearly 200,000 miles, with the blessing of the state of Virginia, David Phillips has driven his Tracker with the "POOFTER" license plate, and nobody has complained -- not even when he parked at the British Embassy, where everybody knows "poofter" is British slang for a gay man.

"It's always a rolling good laugh for them," says Phillips, who is gay and chose his tags' message because "it's just an amusing word that I self-identify with."

The commonwealth of Virginia is not amused. It gave Phillips his vanity plates in error, Carolyn Easley, coordinator of the special license plates office, wrote in a recent letter. "You may have grown fond of your personalized plates," but they are "socially, racially or ethnically offensive or disparaging" and "you must return them." There was no explanation for why it took Virginia 11 years to figure out what "poofter" means.
I knew a gay guy in Fort Lauderdale whose Jeep sported "NO FISH" plates, something a feminist or two probably had a problem with, had they known what he meant. So few Americans know what "poofter" means, I can see why it took Virginia so long to object. Still, knowing that the word is insulting overseas would make me think twice about using it on a license plate. Phillips plans on fighting for his POOFTER plate. What do you think? How far can we go with even a self-mocking plate?

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Bloomie The Indie

The cover story in the current issue of Newsweek discusses the increasing likelihood of Mayor Bloomberg joining the presidential race, something I've been telling you people IS going to happen. Calling him "the billion dollar wild card", the story delves into Bloomberg's motivations and the effect his independent candidacy would have on Clinton and Giuliani. Bloomberg continues to vow that he will not be a candidate, but insiders are dropping hints that he may declare sometime in March after the Texas primary.

Overall, I've been impressed with Bloomberg as mayor of NYC, although there have been a few thorny missteps, such as the way his troops handled protesters at the 2004 Republican convention. However, he is a staunch supporter of gay rights and "personally" favors legalizing same-sex marriage. An independent moderate could take huge numbers of votes from both major parties, but can a Democrat turned Republican turned Independent gain enough cred to make it worth risking abandoning the Dem nominee? At least we know he won't be asking for campaign donations.

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GOP Perv Roll Call

A reader tipped me off to a new site called RepublicanSexOffenders.com, whose mission is "exposing the hypocrisy of Republican 'family values'". Whew, there's lots of baddies in there.

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Obamaween

Barack Obama made a surprise cameo on SNL this weekend in a skit in which all the Democratic candidates come to Hillary's Halloween party. I especially liked the dig at Bill Richardson.

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Can You Hear Them Now? Good.

Anybody out there own a cell-phone jammer yet? Man, I would love to have one of these suckers.
As cellphone use has skyrocketed, making it hard to avoid hearing half a conversation in many public places, a small but growing band of rebels is turning to a blunt countermeasure: the cellphone jammer, a gadget that renders nearby mobile devices impotent.

The technology is not new, but overseas exporters of jammers say demand is rising and they are sending hundreds of them a month into the United States — prompting scrutiny from federal regulators and new concern last week from the cellphone industry. The buyers include owners of cafes and hair salons, hoteliers, public speakers, theater operators, bus drivers and, increasingly, commuters on public transportation.

The development is creating a battle for control of the airspace within earshot. And the damage is collateral. Insensitive talkers impose their racket on the defenseless, while jammers punish not just the offender, but also more discreet chatterers.

“If anything characterizes the 21st century, it’s our inability to restrain ourselves for the benefit of other people,” said James Katz, director of the Center for Mobile Communication Studies at Rutgers University. “The cellphone talker thinks his rights go above that of people around him, and the jammer thinks his are the more important rights.”

The jamming technology works by sending out a radio signal so powerful that phones are overwhelmed and cannot communicate with cell towers. The range varies from several feet to several yards, and the devices cost from $50 to several hundred dollars. Larger models can be left on to create a no-call zone.
I've seen a jammer on sale in Chinatown for $200, but at the time I didn't realize what it was. I don't think I approve of businesses like theatres employing jammers, but a personal cone of silence in public spaces is mighty appealing.

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Morning View - Keychain

I was woken up last night by my super banging on my neighbor's door to tell her that she'd left her keys in the lock. Again. For a middle-aged lady, she seems to have a lot of big nights. The keys are still there this morning. One of these days I'm just gonna take those damn keys and throw them out the window.

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Sunday, November 04, 2007

Afternoon View - NYC Marathon

Today's NYC Marathon runs past my street at the 16-mile mark. The course goes through all five boroughs, although the Staten Island portion is pretty much just the Verrazano Bridge and the runners wisely only step into the Bronx for a few blocks. By the time I took the above photo, the winners had already been interviewed in Central Park, where the race finishes.

Along First Avenue there's a carnival atmosphere, sort of like a tail-gate party with live bands and huge cheering sections for the various international running clubs. Every year, my block hosts big crowds from Holland, Sweden, and France. I got tired just standing there watching all that exertion. Bah.

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Furrific Fun

Furball was a hot, sweaty ball of man fun. There had to have been some kind of attendance record, the place was just on the good side of too crowded. Most of the people I know in NYC were in the house, with rock-god Bob Mould making an appearance with some of his DC crew. I also had a nice chat with DJ Man Parrish, whose seminal Hip Hop Be Bop pretty much laid the ground for today's electro sound back in 1982. Kudos to the LGBT Center and Joe Fiore for a great night.

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Miss South Carolina

I personally believe that U.S. Americans are unable to do so.

Like everywhere and such as.

For our children.