Friday, September 19, 2008

Olafur Eliasson (The Milli Remix)


Readers of this here website thingy and all New Yorkers know that Danish conceptual artist Olafur Eliasson's Waterfalls installations along the East River have been met with the collective yawn of eight million people - and not a little bit of scorn and derision. So here's a couple of "rappers" giving voice to the massively ego-d Eliasson's reciprocative "fuck you" to Gotham. Give the clip at least a minute to grow on you, there are some damn funny and incredibly filthy rhymes. Besides, when was the last time you heard a rap song that name checked Frank Gehry, Cristo, and Hans Christian Anderson?

Best bit:
Nothing? No flowers? No cards? No thanks?
I should Cloverfield your shit with both of Denmark's tanks.

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Obama Interrupted By Protesters Claiming He Is Endorsed By The Ku Klux Klan


Barack Obama's speech in Coral Gables, Florida today was interrupted by a group of black protesters calling themselves "Blacks Against Obama." The protesters waved signs claiming that he has been endorsed by the KKK.
The signs said Obama was for gay marriage and abortion, and said his candidacy was "endorsed by the KKK." Another sign said, "Jesse Jackson hates Obama." Obama originally said the protesters could stay inside the event, but they were escorted out when they would not stop shouting.
Perhaps the protesters are confusing the KKK with the Florida-based white power groups which have claimed that Obama's candidacy has caused their membership to swell.

This post is as good as any to show you an example of the pro-Obama artwork that can be found on Design For Obama. Cool stuff.

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Broadway Friday

-This should be good:
Cry-Baby writers David Javerbaum and Adam Schlesinger have penned songs for Stephen Colbert's A Colbert Christmas: The Greatest Gift of All! The Nov. 23 Christmas special, which will air Nov. 23 at 10 PM ET/PT on Comedy Central, features special guests Jon Stewart, Feist, Elvis Costello, John Legend, Willie Nelson and Toby Keith. A DVD of the one-hour special will be released Nov. 25.
-Clay Aiken returns to Spamalot tonight after taking time off to care for his newborn son. Via Queerty, Aiken says: "Since leaving Spamalot in May, jokes have just not been funny. Food has lost its taste. The grass is no longer green — the sky no longer blue. And, babies won't stop crying!!" Oh, sister.

-The Tony Awards Committee has decided that both Jeff Bowen and Hunter Bell of [title of show] are eligible for nomination as Leading Actor in a Musical. The 2009 Tonys don't take place until June.

-Naked Boys Singing is offering an $8 admission special for all Friday 10:30PM performances in October. Tickets will be available on October 3rd only. You must visit this site to get a coupon and then you must show the box office the coupon on your cell phone on October 3rd to buy an $8 ticket for any of the four October shows at that price. Complicated! But cheap. Just like your ex.

-This Sunday the Public Theater's cast of the revival of Hair will stage a "Be-in" in Central Park.
The “Be-In” on Sunday will take place from 3:00-7:00 p.m. on Frisbee Hill, located just north of the Sheep Meadow Café in Central Park. The nearest park entrance is at 69th St. and Central Park West. The event will provide HAIR fans with an opportunity to mingle with members of The Tribe while sharing their commitment to ending global violence.
-Forbidden Broadway ends its 27 years of spoofing the Great White Way on January 15th. Definitely check out the final incarnation of the show, Forbidden Broadway Goes To Rehab, before then. The show includes a hilarious rip on Cheyenne Jackson called Xanadude.

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Video Fix

Adobe has just released a Flash update that will resolve an intermittent problem some are having with embedded videos playing in Firefox, Chrome, and Safari (but not IE, for once.) If embedded videos are freezing at the 2-second mark, the recommendation is to uninstall Flash and either revert to an earlier version or update to the beta version of Flash 10, which has the fix. The bug appears to be in Flash 9, but it doesn't happen on all sites and on those that it does, it doesn't happen all the time. Confusing!

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Afternoon View - Life In Florida

My mom sent me this photo this morning. I don't know which is more disturbing, the ginormous snake or that her neighbors have a souvenir birdhouse from Rock City, Tennessee. I guess snakes know all the places to find them delicious bird eggs.

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Gay Seniors Face Loneliness,
Unique Health Challenges

From Newsweek:
Gerontologists haven't traditionally viewed sexual orientation as relevant to their work—and, according to a study by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, most national health surveys of elderly citizens fail to assess sexual orientation. But gay seniors confront unique challenges: they're twice as likely as straights to live alone, and 10 times less likely to have a caretaker should they fall ill. Older gay men are at high risk for HIV, and many suffer the psychological effects of losing friends to the AIDS crisis.

Many face discrimination in medical and social services, and on top of it all, they're less likely to have health insurance: one survey, by the Williams Institute on Sexual Orientation Law, at UCLA, estimates that gay seniors are half as likely to have coverage as their straight counterparts.

"In many ways, this population is a mirror opposite of what the mainstream aging community looks like," says Karen Taylor, director of advocacy and training for the New York-based Services and Advocacy for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual & Transgender Elders, or SAGE, the nation's oldest senior network. "The average senior in the United States lives with one other person; two-thirds of LGBT seniors live alone. If you don't have those informal support networks built into your life, then everything else becomes a bigger issue. Who forces you to go to the doctor? What happens if you fall?"
This is the 30th year of SAGE (Services and Advocacy for Gay Elders) and this month the organization launches a major awareness campaign in New York City with messages hitting subways, phone booths, and buses. The campaign will advise on the many SAGE services available to LGBT seniors and will solicit financial support. The ads are really great (see right), go to the above link for more examples.

October 12-14 SAGE will hold its 4th annual National Conference On LGBT Aging at the New York Marriott. The conference will culminate with the 30th Annual Gala and SAGE Awards at the Metropolitan Pavilion in the West Village. Honorees include Martina Navratilova, tickets available here.

RELATED: Earlier this month, Gotham businessman Eyal Feldman, 30, the owner of Boy Butter lube, did a six mile solo marathon swim across the St. Lawrence River to Canada and back, raising $1000 for SAGE. Check out the video of his achievement, Feldman sets a great example.

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Casting Set For Liberace Biopic

I don't know how I missed last week's news that director Steven Soderbergh is casting Michael Douglas to play Liberace in a biopic about the famously flamboyant Las Vegas showman. Matt Damon is set to play Liberace's lover who sued him for palimony. Right up until his 1987 death from AIDS, Liberace denied his gayness. (The magazines were always depicting him as dating one starlet or another and a lot of people bought it somehow.)

I remember watching Liberace on Merv Griffin in the '70s and thinking, "What is this nonsense?" But today I'd be quite amused and therefore am rather interested to see Douglas' portrayal, even though I'm sure the movie will be somewhat dark.

TRIVIA 1: Liberace played the "evil pianist" villain Chandell on Batman. His episodes were the highest rated of the series.

TRIVIA 2: In a letter to a critic who derided his ostentatious style, he coined the now-famous phrase, "I cried all the way to the bank."

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Brazil's Prez Endorses Civil Unions

More progress from Brazil:
Gay couples exist and we must give them legal recognition, the President of Brazil said yesterday. Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva also questioned why some politicians oppose gay rights but still take gay people's taxes and votes. The President said he is in favour of civil unions.

"We must stop this hypocrisy because we know they exist," he said in an interview with a TV station. "There are men living with men, women living with women, and many times they live extraordinarily well. "They build a life together, they work together and I am favourable."

The President, universally known as Lula, attacked opponents of gay rights. "One thing that amazes me is why politicians who are against do not refuse their votes, why Brazil does not refuse their income tax. The important thing is for them to be Brazilian citizens, for them to be committed to the nation. I support the civil union." He said that Congress was working on the issue.

Homosexuality has been legal in Brazil since 1823 and civil unions are allowed in some areas. However, homophobia and gay-bashing remain significant problems in the country of 184 million people.
In June, Lula denounced homophobia as a "perverse disease."

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If Democrats Control The NYS Senate, What Next For Marriage Equality?

New York Senate Minority Leader Malcolm Smith (D-Queens), who is poised to take over the majority leadership role if Democrats take control of the state Senate in November, yesterday waffled when asked if he would vigorously pursue marriage equality when the day comes.
Although he reiterated his personal support of gay marriage (a position that was in question back when he first became minority leader), Smith declined to say definitively how or when he might address this particular topic if he becomes majority leader - a move that will no doubt disappoint some of the big gay donors who are helping to bankroll the Democrats' effort to flip the chamber this year.

"It's a good question," Smith said. "But I'd rather wait to see what seats I have, you know, who are my members, and at that time, then we can talk."

Former Gov. Eliot Spitzer had a program bill to legalize gay marriage, and Gov. David Paterson has been way out front on this issue, promising to push hard for legalization and recently winning a court case that upheld his directive that state agencies recognize same-sex marriages legally performed outside New York.
Earlier this week the current majority leader, right winger Sen. Dean Skelos (R-Nassau County), made an "unprecedented" appearance at a Log Cabin Republicans fundraiser, where Skelos made no mention of gay marriage, which he vehemently opposes. (During the event the LCR did honor three Republican Assembly members who last year voted in favor of marriage equality.)

Skelos was on hand to urge support for openly gay Republican candidate John Chromczak (pictured at right), an LCR member who is running against another newcomer, Democrat Dan Squadron, for the Senate district covering lower Manhattan and eastern Brooklyn. Chromczak is the first openly gay Republican to run for state Senate. Both Squadron and Chromczak support gay marriage, which may present a conundrum for gay progressives in that district, as the Stonewall Democrats did not support Squadron in the primary, instead pushing for now-ousted 30-year veteran Sen. Marty Connor. However the Victory Fund makes no mention of openly gay Chromczak on their site, so neither candidate apparently has the favor of LGBT politicos.

As long as Skelos remains Senate majority leader (a position he only took over in June when Sen. Joe Bruno retired), the issue of marriage equality will not be allowed to come to a vote. However the Republicans hold a slim 31-29 majority and Democrats are optimistic that they will gain control in November. Still, with Malcolm Smith's tepid enthusiasm, it may be far from a done deal. Last year the lower house overwhelmingly approved marriage equality in New York.

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No Charges For Mark Foley

Disgraced former Rep. Mark Foley (R-FL) will not face charges for sending lewd emails and instant messages to congressional pages, according to sources that say an official announcement is about to be released.
Foley's attorney, David Roth, has acknowledged that Foley sent the messages to the teenagers, but has maintained that the Florida Republican never had inappropriate contact with minors. Roth had no immediate comment on the pending announcement.
State or federal charges were not able to be made because Foley apparently never met the teens in person, all of whom were over the age of consent.

Foley resigned in 2006 shortly after the scandal was made public by former Democratic staffer Lane Hudson, whom Foley had attempted to pick up in a DC bar eleven years earlier. Hudson was later fired from his job at the Human Rights Campaign for using his employers' computers to anonymously leak the story on his blog.

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Judge Rejects "Provoking Smile" Defense In Murder Of Denver Transwoman

Yesterday a Denver judge rejected a request to lower the charge in the case of murdered transwoman Angie Zapata, after her killer's lawyer said that Allen Andrade was "provoked" into killing Zapata when she smiled at him after he demanded to know if she was male.
Only when Andrade grabbed at Zapata's crotch did he discover the truth. But when she smiled at him and said, "I'm all woman," it drove an enraged Andrade to commit murder, attorney Annette Kundelius said. "At best, this is a case about passion," Kundelius said. "When (Zapata) smiled at him, this was a highly provoking act, and it would cause someone to have an aggressive reaction."
Andrade will be tried for first degree murder with a felony hate crime bias charge. The judge said his decision was influenced by anti-gay and anti-trans statements Andrade made while in custody. Andrade may face the death penalty, but no one has been executed in Colorado since 1976. The state presently has only three prisoners on death row.

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Gay Marriage = Train Disasters

As predicted here a couple of days ago, check out the top story at the site of anti-gay marriage Christianist group Campaign for Children and Families. Because if we allow gay marriage, we will have a deadly train collision EVERY FUCKING DAY.

(Image via - Good As You)

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Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-OK)
Launches Anti-Gay Campaign


You may remember that during the 2006 Federal Marriage Amendment debate, Inhofe brought a giant photo of his family onto the Senate floor and crowed, "As you see here, and I think this is maybe the most important prop we’ll have during the entire debate, my wife and I have been married 47 years. We have 20 kids and grandkids. I'm really proud to say that in the recorded history of our family, we've never had a divorce or any kind of homosexual relationship."

Won't it be fun when that little fact gets disproved?

Inhofe has also fought environmental protections and says that global warming is a hoax. That's totally unrelated to the fact that he's taken over $1M in donations from oil companies, of course.

Seriously though, what the fuck is it about Oklahoma's politicians?

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What's A Pirate's Favorite Kind Of Music?

Answer: Arrrrr & B.

You're. Welcome.

International Talk A Pirate Day is upon us again. Let the bad jokes commence.

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Morning View - East 42nd Street

Looking east on 42nd Street from Park Avenue. The next intersection is Lexington.

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Thursday, September 18, 2008

Obama Surges In Latest Gallup Poll

Perhaps driven by this week's horrific financial news, Barack Obama's polling numbers have him back in the lead (according to Gallup, at least) for the first time in two weeks.
Separate Gallup tracking shows that consumer confidence has become significantly more negative as this week progressed, signifying that Americans are clearly paying attention to the major problems facing Wall Street and the big drops in the stock market on Monday and Wednesday. It is not possible to determine precisely how much of Obama's gain this week may have been directly caused by Americans' reactions to the economic stories dominating news coverage in newspapers, television, and on the Internet, although this is a plausible explanation.

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Wesson Scalper Palin....

....is my Sarah Palin baby name. Name generator here. What's yours? I haven't done one of those name generator thingies since I found out my Wu Tang Clan name was Dubious Mastabatah X.

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Wayne Besen Takes The Fight To Alaska

The Anchorage Press covers Wayne Besen's protest at the "ex-gay" conference endorsed by Sarah Palin's church:

[T]he culture wars are raging in Anchorage, too, with Love Won Out descending on the town and the opposition it sparked evident both outside on the sidewalk and in a gay-friendly church that last week hosted speakers who were outraged by this promotion of ex-gay ministries.

Wasilla Bible Church, where Palin has prayed since she was young, promoted Love Won Out in a bulletin it sent out, and a story went out on the Associated Press wire painting Love Won Out as part of the “pray the gay away” movement. Love Won Out took umbrage with that characterization and fired back with a press release inviting journalists to the conference. Melissa Fryrear, Focus on the Family’s Director of the Gender Issues Department, Love Won Out speaker, and former lesbian, stated, “We exist to help men and women dissatisfied with living homosexually understand that same-sex attractions can be overcome. It’s not easy, but it is possible, as evidenced by the thousands of men and women—like me—that have walked this road successfully.”

[SNIP]

Besen, who lives in Brooklyn, New York, has flown to Anchorage specifically to help organize opposition to Love Won Out. A non-practicing Jew, he tells the congregation the story of when he got a job as a television reporter in Bangor, Maine covering politics—until his co-workers discovered him at a gay bar, upon which he was taken off the political beat and later fired.

“This is what we face,” Besen says, noting that if he holds his boyfriend’s hand on a New York subway he has to look around at the people near him to see he’ll end up in a fight because of it. “This industry is out there to keep discrimination strong,” he says of Focus on the Family and Love Won Out. “They do everything in their power to make us miserable. They ask you to lie to God, and have lust in your heart forever, while you bury your head in the sand. They need to open their eyes to the damage they’re doing, destroying families in the name of family values.”


The article goes on to describe Besen's history fighting "ex-gay" movement and the numerous times its leaders have "fallen" back into their old man-lovin' ways.

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Prop 8 Support Wanes In Polls, Others Warn That Battle Remains Close

California Attorney General Jerry Brown's rewording of Proposition 8 may be having an effect; a new poll shows that support for the marriage ban is down by 4%.
The poll found that just 38 percent of likely voters support the measure, while 55 percent intend to vote no. That compares with 42 percent in support and 51 percent opposed in July. Brown amended the Proposition 8 summary language after the state Supreme Court's decision on May 15 to overturn California's previous ban on same-sex marriage. The pollsters found the amended language played a role in that growing opposition, especially among the 30 percent of likely voters interviewed who had never heard of Prop. 8.

Those voters were much more likely to oppose the measure when read Brown's wording (58 percent against it and 30 percent for it) than those in the same category who were read the old version of Prop. 8 (42 percent against and 37 percent for it), according to the Field Poll.

The Brown language reads, in part: "Eliminates the right of same-sex couples to marry." The original version read, in part: "Limit on marriage." Brown's revision makes it clear that voters are taking away someone's rights and that made the difference, said Field Poll Director Mark DiCamillo.

"People are generally in favor of rights for individuals," said DiCamillo. "So eliminating a right has a somewhat negative connotation. It's pulling people who weren't aware of the initiative more to the no side."

Despite this good news, I continue to get daily emails for anti-8 insiders who are warning that the battle is much closer than polls indicate. Please visit the No On 8 site and do your part to help.

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The Rain In Spain Falls Mainly On McCain

Hilarious or terrifying?
Yesterday John McCain was interviewed on the Florida affiliate of Spanish radio network Union Radio. And in the interview McCain appeared not to know who the Prime Minister of Spain was and assumed he was some anti-American leftist leader from South America.

After the interviewer presses him a couple times on the point and tries to focus him on the fact that Prime Minister Zapatero isn't from Mexico and isn't a drug lord either McCain comes back at her saying, "All I can tell you is that I have a clear record of working with leaders in the Hemisphere that are friends with us and standing up to those who are not. And that's judged on the basis of the importance of our relationship with Latin America and the entire region."

Then there's a moment of awkward pause before she says. "But what about Europe? I'm talking about the President of Spain."

McCain: "What about me, what?

Interviewer: "Are you willing to meet with him if you're elected president?"

McCain: "I am wiling to meet with any leader who is dedicated to the same principles and philosophy that we are for humans rights, democracy and freedom. And I will stand up to those who do not."

At this point, the interviewer gets tongue-tied presumably because she can't get over McCain not knowing what Spain is.

Some are defending McCain, saying he was deliberately slighting Spain for pulling out of Iraq in 2004, something Dubya remains angry about. McCain's comments are predictably causing an uproar in Spain.

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Sarah Palin On Sean Hannity


Real Clear Politics has the complete transcript.

Here's what David Zurawik of the Baltimore Sun had to say:
Talk show host Sean Hannity and Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin came together for what Fox News Channel promoted as an exclusive interview. But, in truth, what viewers saw was a carefully staged display of partisan political theater -- from the executive-office backdrop to the non-stop stream of smiley-faced softball questions Hannity served up with great servility.

In TV terms, the imagery was impressive, with an American flag over her left shoulder, a richly appointed china cabinet off to the side and thick carpeting throughout. Every table had flowers in a fine vase. It was all supposed to remind viewers of the White House while sending the message: Look how comfortable and natural she looks here.

Typical of their staged conversation was the following exchange:

Hannity: “Senator Obama yesterday was attacking Senator McCain for saying the fundamentals of the economy are strong. Do you believe the fundamentals of the economy are strong?”

Palin: “It was an unfair attack on the verbiage… because he (McCain) means our work force, of course, and that is what’s strong… So, that was an unfair attack.”

Note that she didn’t answer the question. Instead, she used it as an opening to attack Obama. And Hannity let her go run with that – rather than asking the question again or pointing out that she didn’t answer it.

Even on the friendly confines of the Fox News Channel with Hannity serving up heaping helpings of home cooking, she couldn’t get it right. Her handlers might want to re-think letting her face as skilled an interviewer and journalist as Katie Couric on CBS.

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Ralph Nader Makes Florida Ballot

Via the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel:
Ralph Nader is back. The perennial presidential candidate will be on the Florida ballot in November. Nader's name is anathema to many Democrats in Florida becuase they blame him for President Bush's 2000 election. They argue that the votes he siphoned from Gore made Bush the winner in the state. With Florida's electoral votes, Bush became president.

The Nader campaign, and his vice presidential candidate, Matt Gonzalez, were nominated by the Ecology Party of Florida, the campaign said. Here is the Nader campaign's statement:

Gary Hecker, treasurer of the Ecology Party, is thrilled with the choice of candidates. "Nader and Gonzalez are the only candidates that truly put the environment at the forefront. Mr. Nader was instrumental in establishing the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, and the EPA. Nader/Gonzalez will not sell out to corporate interests. I can't believe that any real environmentalist would support anyone else."

The Nader/Gonzalez campaign has completed its goal of achieving 45 state ballots, and will be a write-in choice in four other states. Mr. Nader and Mr. Gonzalez are pleased to be allying with a party that has initiative, ecological wisdom, and an eye for the future.

In 2000, Nader received 97,426 votes in Florida. Though that was just 1.6 percent of the vote, George W. Bush won the state by just 537 votes. Had he not been on the ballot, many Democrats reason, Gore would have gotten somewhat more than half his votes, and Bush wouldn't have won the state's electoral votes and thus would not have won the presidency in that disputed election.
The Ecology Party? WTF?

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Charlie's McCaingels


Three hot detectives go undercover at Obama headquarters....

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Major Hillary Supporter Endorses McCain


Former Clinton supporter and major Democratic party figure Lady Lynn Forester de Rothschild has defected to the McCain camp. In July she called Obama "elitist", which is totally laughable for somebody with "Lady" in her title.
Lady Lynn Forester de Rothschild is an ardent Hillary Rodham Clinton supporter who raised scads of money for the New York senator's failed presidential campaign. She and her husband, Sir Evelyn Robert Adrian de Rothschild of the prominent Rothschild banking family of England, split their time between New York and a British country estate.

It's not a bad life, she says, and she'd like you to have one just like it. Which is why she's backing Sen. John McCain for president, not her party's nominee. Sen. Barack Obama? He's an elitist, she says.

"I have a wonderful life," the wealthy socialite told CNN's Wolf Blitzer on Wednesday. "I want John McCain and Sarah Palin in the White House so other people can have that wonderful life."

After issuing her endorsement Wednesday, Rothschild resigned her membership of the Democratic National Committee's Platform Committee. But she told Blitzer that she wouldn't give up her party membership. "I'm going to stay a Democrat," she said. "Ronald Reagan might have said it right -- the Democratic Party left me, I didn't leave the Democratic Party."

In a July interview with CNN, Rothschild explained why, despite Clinton's calls for party unity, she couldn't back Obama. "I don't like him," she said. "I feel like he is an elitist." Rothschild revived the elitism argument Wednesday, this time aiming her barbs at Blitzer. When the host asked if she was getting "grief" from Democrats displeased by her endorsement, Lady Rothschild got annoyed. "I'm getting it all the time, particularly from the likes of you, the liberal elite," she quipped. "You're the elite, not me."
In the above clip, Rothschild says she'll remain a Democrat, but will resign from the platform committee. She also says she remains pro-choice, but appears unconcerned that McCain has vowed to work towards a repeal of Roe V. Wade.

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Google Phone On Sale Sept. 23

The Google phone comes out Sept. 23rd.
Putting it firmly in a price point to compete with the iPhone, the Android-running HTC Dream will cost $199, according to the Wall Street Journal. The smartphone will also get an “aggressively priced” data plan from T-Mobile and receive some heavy Google branding.
Some of the readers at Gizmodo find the Android "fugly" and "Fisher-Price looking." Others are delirious that it has a full keyboard. (Looks like a Sidekick to me.) It will be very interesting how it sells against the iPhone, yes?

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Mormons Taking Over Arizona's Anti-Gay Marriage Fight

Via Jim Burroway of Box Turtle Bulletin comes word that the Mormon Church, already leading the fight against marriage equality in California, is now taking aim at Arizona:
The campaign over whether marriage should be defined — and limited — in the state constitution could soon start to look like a fight between two politically polarizing groups: gays and Mormons. Those who want to define marriage as between one man and one woman will try to convince voters that without the constitutional amendment, courts could overturn Arizona's law banning on same-sex marriage and allow gays to wed, citing such an occurrence in California.

Meanwhile, opponents are crafting a strategy to label the amendment an attempt by the Mormon church to clean up its image after a series of polygamy scandals by fringe groups that are not actually affiliated with the church.

Backers of the amendment call that claim "religious bigotry" and a political "scare tactic," pointing to support from other denominations — although members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints do appear to be providing much of the cash fueling the campaign.
Burroway:
Last June, just as the Arizona Legislature voted to place Prop 102 on the ballot, the First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (LDS) sent a letter to California churches to be read during Sunday services which asked its members to “do all you can to support the proposed constitutional amendment by donating of your means and time.” I have it on good authority from Mormon colleagues that a similar campaign has been underway in Arizona since July.
Burroway further reports that 70 of the 190 contributors of more than $10,000 to Prop 102 come from Mesa, home to Arizona's oldest LDS temple and a large Mormon population.

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Today: LGBT Career Fair

Out To Work, the LGBT Career Fair, takes place today at the LGBT Community Center in the West Village. Exhibitors include the NYPD, the NYFD, UPS, Commerce Bank, five agencies of the MTA, ConEd, and many others. Admission is free with your resume.

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Brad Pitt Gives $100K To Fight Prop 8

Actor Brad Pitt will be donating $100,000 to fight California's Proposition 8.
Brad Pitt announced Wednesday that he's donating $100,000 to fight California's Proposition 8, a November ballot initiative that would eliminate same-sex couples' right to marry.

"Because no one has the right to deny another their life, even though they disagree with it, because everyone has the right to live the life they so desire if it doesn't harm another and because discrimination has no place in America, my vote will be for equality and against Proposition 8," the actor said in a statement.

Pitt's donation marks the largest thus far to the anti-Prop. 8 campaign by an A-list celebrity.

Political strategist Chad Griffin, who is helping coordinate efforts in the entertainment industry to defeat the controversial initiative, said he is hopeful that the move will prompt others to get involved. He added that Democratic billionaire Ron Burkle has agreed to host a large fundraiser at his home in October to rally the entertainment industry against Prop. 8, which opponents say will take away important benefits such as health insurance and will complicate decision-making related to medical emergencies and other situations in domestic partnerships.
In years past, Pitt has declared that he and longtime girlfriend Angelina Jolie will not marry until marriage equality has been been achieved for all.

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Open Thread Thursday

Did you play any team sports in high school?

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Morning View - Mercury

I've posted a pic or two of Mercury atop Grand Central in the past, but yesterday's bright skies made this one irresistible. It's hard to tell from the ground, but Mercury is almost 30 feet tall. The clock alone is 13 feet across. Embiggens nicely.

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Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Enquirer: Palin Kids Users & Dealers

The National Enquirer continues their quest to dig up dirt on the Palin family, today revealing that daughter Bristol smoked pot on film and that her high school dropout boyfriend Levi dealt (and smoked) Oxycontin and shot up steroids. Last week the Enquirer reported that Track Palin also regularly smoked Oxy and broke into cars to support his habit. None of which wouldn't be the slightest bit newsworthy unless your mother was a lying hypocritical right-wing crazy running for vice president.

(Via - Gawker)

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Let's Talk About Pep, Baby

Last night Aaron and I attended the book launch party for Sandy "Pepa" Denton's memoir of her life in Salt-N-Pepa, the five-time Grammy winning rap trio that rocked the airwaves and dancefloors of the world beginning in 1985, selling over 13 million albums along the way. As you can see, both Sandy (Pepa ) and Cheryl James (Salt) look fantastic all these years later. (Deidra "Spinderella" Roper was not in attendance.) They were totally charming and kind and I even got to tell them that the gold record for Push It hung on the wall of my office in Miami.

Last night's event doubled as a fundraiser for LIFEBeat, the music industry's HIV/AIDS activism group, and a cause that Salt-N-Pepa strongly supported throughout their career. In 1991, their smash single Let's Talk About Sex was one of the first pop songs that explicitly referenced safer sex. An alternate version, Let's Talk About AIDS, was released to radio stations and was included as a b-side to the single.

Pepa's memoir, Let's Talk About Pep, featuring an introduction from Queen Latifah and an epilogue from Missy Elliot, is now available on Amazon and at booksellers nationwide. And as a peppery Swag Wednesday giftie, I have an autographed copy to give away. Comment on this post to enter and remember to leave an email address you check frequently.

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NOW Endorses Obama

The National Organization for Women, presumably a massive collective of Hillary supporters, has at last endorsed the Obama/Biden ticket.
America's largest women's rights organisation delivered a snub to Sarah Palin's history-making candidacy yesterday by endorsing Barack Obama and Joe Biden's bid for power.

The National Organisation for Women (NOW) is 500,000 strong and hugely influential. The feminist organisation almost never supports a presidential candidate, but the Alaska governor's Christian fundamentalist faith and her opposition to abortion rights has forced its hand.

Other women's rights organisations are also campaigning against Governor Palin, pushed along by a spontaneous anti-Palin movement among women.

In Alaska at the weekend, a Welcome Home rally for Mrs Palin was dwarfed by a demonstration organised by Alaska Women Reject Palin, which was held on the lawn of a downtown Anchorage library.

After triggering a huge surge of enthusiasm for John McCain's campaign and sending him into the lead over Barack Obama, Mrs Palin has come under intense scrutiny from the national media. The investigation known as "Troopergate" threatens to expose her as a bullying governor who fired Alaska's de facto police chief for family rather than professional reasons.

The controversy moved up a notch yesterday when Mrs Palin's campaign team announced her refusal to co-operate with the Troopergate investigation because it was "tainted" by politics.

NOW's decision to back Senator Obama when a woman is within striking distance of becoming elected is a bold step for the group and a setback for John McCain's hopes of luring the millions of women who supported Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primaries.
About time, ladies.

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Pray For Us, Sarah!


In response to Sarah Palin's church's recent "pray away the gay" event, filmmaker Sandi Bachom made this funny and heartwarming short in which gay New Yorkers speak directly to Palin. Watch the whole thing, Bachom found some wonderfully amusing and articulate people.

(Tipped by JMG reader Jeff)

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HomoQuotable - Wayne Besen

"Log Cabin's tragic endorsement of John McCain exhibits an obdurate denial of his anti-gay record and a stubborn unwillingness to admit that their one-time hero is now hopeless. McCain's VP choice, Sarah Palin, a favorite of the fundamentalist fringe, should have lead to a reevaluation, if not reversal of their endorsement. Like Palin, they didn't blink, and are shamefully in cahoots with destructive forces that would deny GLBT people the most basic rights.

"The only chance for gay Republicans to be legitimate players in the GOP is to have the party suffer a string of crushing losses. The defeats have to be so painful and substantial, that they lead to realignment, where the role of social conservatives is significantly diminished. Clearly, the Log Cabin Republicans can only save their party by helping to defeat it.

"Both parties agree that this is the election of "change." Log Cabin can take the lead by changing its endorsement of McCain before they further harm the gay and lesbian community. Their suicidal tendency to help a party that despises them is the pink elephant in the room that needs to be discussed. If they can't reform the GOP -- and there is no evidence that they can -- it may be time to disband." - Truth Wins Out head Wayne Besen, in a piece titled Log Cabin Should Disband.

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The 10 Best Places To Be Gay

Also from The Independent:

1. San Francisco
2. Sydney
3. New York
4. Mykonos
5. Paris
6. Barcelona
7. Amsterdam
8. London
9. Copenhagen
10. Berlin

These lists can be rather silly, but the linked story does provide a paragraph of support for each of their choices. Here's what they say about New York:
The city of Quentin Crisp and Judy Garland is surely the gay capital of the world. It's a place where lesbians and gay men of all ages and races are so integrated into work and political culture that their sexuality is often the least significant thing about them. Obvious gay districts include Greenwich Village, where the Stonewall riots of 1968 began; upmarket Chelsea; and the seedier East Village. Across the East River, Brooklyn is now home to many arty gay men and lesbian families. Tolerance is the norm, but it pays to take care in remoter areas like Harlem and Central Park at night - same-sex marriage is illegal in New York State.
Harlem and Central Park are "remote"?

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The Five Worst Places To Be Gay

Via The Independent, the five worst places in the world to be gay:

Saudi Arabia: Homosexuality is punished with the death penalty or, occasionally, a severe whipping.

Iran: In 2007 President Ahmadinejad declared that homosexuality did not exist in his country. Should the need arise, however, there is a law against it carrying a punishment of anything from jail to public lashing to death.

Jamaica: The worst place in all the Americas to be gay. Male homosexuality is against the law and the punishment is 10 years hard labour.

Afghanistan: The death penalty introduced under the Taliban is no longer officially enforced, but it depends who catches you.

Nigeria: Homosexuality is illegal and punishment can be anything from four years to the death penalty. Even writing or talking about support for gay people can land you in prison.

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Train Crash Engineer Was Gay

Well, shit. The engineer of the commuter train that crashed in California, killing 24 people, was apparently texting teenaged boys rather than watching the track signals. And he was gay. You know where this is going.
In the years before his death, Sanchez led a nomadic life, with public records showing addresses in Oregon, Colorado, Nevada, Arizona, Nebraska and California. In 2000, he and Daniel Charles Burton, a waiter, bought a home in Crestline.

Burton moved to California from West Haven, Conn., his family said, seeking better weather and the freedom to be gay. No one in Burton's family knows how the two men met, but Burton and Sanchez ended up living together in Studio City before moving to the San Bernardino Mountains.

On Feb. 14, 2003, Burton hanged himself in the garage of their home. "Rob, Happy Valentine's Day," read a note Burton left behind that his sister Carolann Peschell kept. "I love you. Please take care of yourself and Ignatia. I love you both very much. Daniel." Ignatia was the greyhound the men owned.

The coroner's report showed that Burton tested positive for HIV. According to the report, Sanchez told investigators that he and Burton had been arguing before the suicide, and Sanchez told Burton that they should break up. Even before the suicide, Sanchez was having problems.

In 2002, he was arrested on suspicion of shoplifting a video game component from Costco, said Wilson Wong, his former attorney. Initially charged with a felony, Sanchez pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge, paid a fine and served 90 days in jail on weekends, Wong said.

"When the incident happened, he was going through some personal issues -- he didn't tell me what they were," Wong said. "He said that's the reason he wasn't able to make good judgments. He said a lot of things were going on that caused him to make stupid mistakes."

[SNIP]

A neighbor there, Oliver Amelsberg, 83, described Sanchez as polite but guarded, someone who liked talking about trains over the backyard fence but didn't reveal much about himself. And, like Barber, he also found Sanchez "different" but likable.

"He was a good man," he said. "He acted and talked like a responsible person." Amelsberg said Sanchez once told him that he knew some teenagers enamored with trains that he'd occasionally wave to on his route. "He only said that once, but I thought about it when they mentioned they were sending messages" over cellphones, Amelsberg said.

Investigators are looking into reports that Sanchez may have been text messaging a group of teenage rail enthusiasts just before the accident, and the NTSB said Tuesday that it had subpoenaed cellphone records to examine the engineer's text messages.
There is no indication that Sanchez ever met the boys, who are currently only described as "teenaged rail enthusiasts".

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Under The Bus

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Obama Rolls Out Faith Swag

The Obama campaign has launched a religious voters outreach which includes lots of faith swag.
The Obama campaign is preparing rolling out a new line of “faith merchandise” – the latest move in an ambitious effort to win over religious voters.

“Check out the Believers for Barack, Pro-Family Pro-Obama, and Catholics for Obama buttons, bumper stickers and signs….” says Obama Deputy Director of Religious Affairs Paul Monteiro in an e-mail obtained by the Beliefnet Web site.

“Believers for Barack rally signs and bumper stickers, along with all Pro-Family Pro-Obama merchandise, are appropriate for people of all faith backgrounds. We'll soon be rolling out merchandise for other religious groups and denominations, but I wanted to get this out to you without delay,” he adds.

Both campaigns have been making a major push for the Catholic vote, which has gone to the winning presidential campaign in every race since 1976, except Al Gore’s 2000 White House bid.

Beliefnet reported that "Clergy for Change" and "Pro-Israel Pro-Obama" merchandise will soon be offered. Last week, the Obama campaign began to offer merchandise with a slightly more worldly appeal: New York’s Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week marked the debut of clothing and accessories by some of the nation’s top designers. The collection, announced earlier this summer, includes totes, shirts and other merchandise designed by about two dozen major industry names, including Narciso Rodriguez, Zac Posen and Vera Wang.
I want my Noodly Appendages For Obama button.

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Morning View - Central Park

Also shot from Top Of The Rock.

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Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Jon Stewart On Sarah Palin

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Ellen To Be New Face Of Cover Girl

Although the word leaked out a day or two early, today Ellen DeGeneres confirmed on her show that she would be the new spokesmodel for Cover Girl cosmetics. The campaign begins in January. This make two superstar lesbian models in a row for Cover Girl, if you count the still-closeted Queen Latifah.

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Not Lovin' It

The ACLU has taken on the case of gay men who were called "faggots" by the employees of a Kentucky McDonald's.
Ryan Marlatt, Teddy Eggers, and three other friends had stopped for lunch at the McDonald's restaurant on July 26, 2008, while visiting Louisville for the weekend. While they waited for their food to be prepared, an employee behind the counter referred to them as "faggots" to another employee. Marlatt and Eggers asked to speak with a manager. As they waited for the supervisor on duty to appear, the employee who had called them "faggots" started arguing with them, repeatedly calling them "faggots" in front of other customers and calling one of them a "cocksucker" and "bitch."

The supervisor on duty refused to refund the group's purchase, claiming that only the restaurant's general manager could authorize a refund. Marlatt said he attempted several times in the following weeks to contact both the general manager of the McDonald's and the corporate offices. But when he filed reports with a corporate customer service number for McDonald's, Marlatt said, he never received any sort of response, and every time he called the McDonald's where the incident took place the staff hung up on him.

Louisville has a local human rights ordinance which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation in public accommodations such as restaurants. Marlatt and Eggers say they want an apology, a refund of the $28 they spent on the McDonald's meal, and appropriate disciplinary action for the employees involved. Status: On September 16, 2008, the ACLU filed an official complaint on behalf of Marlatt and Eggers with the Louisville Human Relations Commission.
McDonald's has recently been in the good graces of the LGBT community after the company shrugged off a Christianist boycott because they'd donated to the National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce.

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Advisor: McCain Created The Blackberry

An Al Gore-invented-the-internet redux:
Move over, Al Gore. You may lay claim to the Internet, but John McCain helped create the BlackBerry. At least that's the contention of a top McCain policy adviser, Douglas Holtz-Eakin. Waving his BlackBerry personal digital assistant and citing McCain's work as a senator, he told reporters Tuesday, "You're looking at the miracle that John McCain helped create." A McCain aide later dismissed the remark as "a boneheaded joke by a staffer." McCain has acknowledged that he doesn't know how to use a computer and can't send e-mail, one of the BlackBerry's prime functions.

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The West Village Cupcake Brigade

Five women and one man calling themselves the Cupcake Brigade donned matching pink dresses on Sunday to perform a mocking musical tribute to the perplexingly popular Magnolia Bakery in the West Village, where Sarah Jessica Sandinistas stand in long lines every day to buy the exact! same! cupcakes! from Sex And The City. They sang God Bless Magnolia (to the tune of God Bless America), further changing the lyrics to bleat about how fabulous Bleecker Street is now that all the designer shops have crowded out all those pesky unique-to-the-Village mom and pop shops. This must be an ongoing project, here's a performance video from May.

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October 12th: Remember The Red Party

Probably the best disco classics party in the universe is approaching. San Francisco's seminal Trocadero Transfer holds it annual Remember The Party reunion on October 12th, with the supreme ruling DJ Jerry Bonham once again at the helm.
Red Parties were all about the love of the party, and the passion for dancing. Songs would include expressions of love's red hot sexiness, exuberance, romance, hope, longing, inspiration and even love's trials and tribulations.

To add to the fabulousness of the festivities, some people would adorn themselves in red, anything from their favorite accessories with a simple t-shirt to a lavish costume and accoutrements to reflect the Valentine's atmosphere.

Since Remember The Party at the Trocadero Transfer is a once yearly event, and 'cause we just love to love you, we thought that this would be a great time to celebrate Valentine's Day early and share some disco love to melt your heart.

So come join the dance, share the love and join us under the magical mirror balls in the true spirit of the Trocadero Transfer Red Party!

Trocadero Transfer Discotheque: Nothing like it, never will be.
Advance tickets are only $20 and are available here. I had a fantastic time at last year's event; check out my review which includes photos and video. The Troc boys do it right.

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Jenga!

Via Gizmodo:
Fresh off the billions of eyes that have been on the beautiful Beijing National Stadium, Swiss architects Herzog and de Meuron have set their sights on NYC with this incredible 57-story residential tower, unveiled today. It consists of 145 unique apartments that are stacked into the sky like a Jenga tower that's already been well-poked by a party of well-lubricated players. Especially when you get up to the penthouse level—if you're motion sick, you might want to think twice about dropping $33 mil for such a beautiful place when you'll wake up every morning feeling like you're dangling off a cliff...
The concept is interesting, but inelegant. The building is set to go up in Tribeca on Leonard Street, but the big question is whether this sucker will actually get built as the economy continues to unravel.

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When To Medicate?

An interesting opinion piece in today's NYTimes discusses the difference between clinical depression and normal situational sadness and how today's doctors may be too quick to recommend antidepressants. However, the psychiatrist author of the piece makes the argument that even a "jilted lover" or somebody whose spouse has died can benefit from drug therapy.

A dozen years ago I suggested to my doctor that I might be interested in Zoloft or whatever, because I'd been in a funk for many weeks. My new job was a disaster, I'd had a tumultuous break up, and I was seriously regretting my move to California. My doctor said, "Oh, I don't think you're medically depressed. Things just really suck for you right now." It was the right call.

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Obama: How Can McCain Fix The Economy If He Doesn't Understand It's Broken?

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The Pop Vs. Soda Map

Via Strange Maps, here's a breakdown of how each county in America tends to refer to carbonated beverages. As the red portion testifies, in the South many people call all soft drinks "Coke." From last week's episode of Logo's Sordid Lives, which I'm loving despite its flaws:

Would you like a Coke?
Sure!
What kind?
Dr. Pepper.

Right out of my childhood in North Carolina.

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The Full Wingnut Travel Package

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Lynne Cheney Endorses Gay Marriage


Well, sorta. When asked by CBS' Harry Smith if she'd like her (openly lesbian) daughter to have the right to marry, Cheney said, "I would wish my daughter to have happiness and freedom to make her own choices. The Vice President said in the debate with Joe Lieberman ever so long ago in 2000 that freedom in this country ought to mean freedom for everyone." The No On 8 people need to immediately begin hounding the Cheneys for an endorsement.

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Governor Coppertone

Once of the first things Sarah Palin did to personalize the governor's mansion after she was elected was to install a tanning bed.
Self-proclaimed "hockey mom" Sarah Palin had a private tanning bed installed in the Governor's Mansion in Juneau, Alaska, Usmagazine.com confirmed on Monday. "She did. She paid for it with her own money," Roger Wetherell, chief communications officer of Alaska's Department of Transportation and Public Facilities told Us.

The Narco News Bulletin first reported on the former beauty queen's penchant for a bronzed body. "It was done shortly after she took office [in early 2007] and moved into the mansion," Wetherell told the Narco News. According to Wetherell, the tanning bed was purchased used, from a health club. Tanning beds can cost up to $35,000 to install in a home - not including the cost of parts, Color Me Tan manager Erin Weise told the Narco News. "I don't think it's normal for people to have a tanning bed in their house, " Wiese, who is based in Fairbanks said. "It's expensive."
A $35K tanning bed sounds like sound fiscal conservatism to me. Several months after the bed was installed, Gov. Palin declared May 2007 to be "Skin Cancer Awareness" month in Alaska. From her own press release: "Skin cancer is caused, overwhelmingly, by over-exposure to ultraviolet radiation from the sun and from tanning beds." I wonder what two-time skin cancer patient John McCain thinks about this, but we'll likely never know.

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Morning View - Above Midtown

I got this shot from Top Of The Rock a few days ago.

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Swag Tuesday

Courtesy of the publisher, today's Swag Tuesday offering is Crisis, the new anthology edited by out furniture mogul Mitchell Gold. Subtitled 40 Stories Revealing the Personal, Social, and Religious Pain and Trauma of Growing Up Gay In America, the anthology contains essays from major gay activists and politicians to midwestern teens and out clergy.
A mental health crisis faces American teens right now--and it is one we can solve. Hundreds of thousands of gay teens face traumatic depression, fear, rejection, persecution, and isolation--usually alone. Studies show they are 190 percent more likely to used drugs or alcohol and four times more likely to attempt suicide. Homophobia and discrimination are at the heart of their pain. Love, support, and acceptance--all within our power to give--can save them. This book is for: clergy, parents, educators, and politicians who cause harm with their words and actions; parents of gay teens; teens navigating this difficult time; and fair-minded people who want to help end the harm. Here are revealing stories by forty diverse Americans, some well known and some not, plus insights from straight clergy and parents explaining their support of gay people as whole human beings guaranteed equal rights by our Constitution.
Contributors include Candice Gingrich, Jim Hormel, Matt Comer, Richard Chamberlain, Jim McGreevey (!), Joe Solmonese, Nate Berkus, Barney Frank, Tammy Baldwin, Hillary Rosen, and dozens of others. Crisis is available now via Lambda Rising and Amazon. Proceeds will benefit gay teens.

Enter to win a copy of Crisis by commenting on this post. Only comment once and please remember to leave an email address you check frequently. Entries will close at midnight Wednesday. Publicists: if you'd like to take part in Swag Tuesday on JMG, please email me.

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