Saturday, March 21, 2009

Blackus Interruptus

There probably won't be too much blogging this weekend, what with this marathon weekend of parties stretching over the next two days. At the Eagle last night, every person I ran into delivered the customary night-before-Black-Party greeting: "OMG! Whattimeareyougettingthere?!?"

To plotz over one's arrival time, no small consideration for a 16+ hour party, is a grand Black Party tradition. No matter what you finally decide, your friends will want to overrule your decision for reasons that are plainly apparent and logical, except to you. (And to each other.) I think the storming of the beaches of Normandy took less strategic planning that it takes to get five gay men to the door of the Roseland Ballroom at the same time. Whatever time you do arrive, it will be exactly ten seconds before you hear the other customary Black Party question for the first of 500 times: "Whereareyougoingafterthis?!?"

ABOVE:
A glimpse of Black Party 2005. Here's my (sort of) live blog of the 2006 party.

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Coming Out, Take 2

A couple of days ago active duty National Guardsman and West Point alumnus Dan Choi tried to come out publicly on the Rachel Maddow Show. That didn't go so well, because Choi's microphone went dead shortly after he began speaking. Last night Maddow brought Choi back to come out again.

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Friday, March 20, 2009

Barney Frank Calls SCOTUS Justice Antonin Scalia A Homophobe


The wingnuts are already losing their shit.

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It's Funny Because It's True

You'll have to embiggen to read the captions. Canada is my favorite.

(Via - See My Briefs)

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Caption This

More hilarity here.

(Via - AmericaBlog)

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Northern Irish MP Escapes Hate Speech Charges For Calling Gays Abomination

Relevant to my earlier post today about hate speech laws in the UK, today Northern Ireland member of Parliament Iris Robinson escaped charges for calling homosexuality an abomination. The case has festered for nearly a year as LGBT groups lobbied for Robinson to be charged.
The Public Prosecution Service (PPS) in Northern Ireland confirmed today it was not proceeding with an investigation into the MP's comments. Robinson, who is married to Northern Ireland's first minister, Peter Robinson, also said gay people could be "cured" of their homosexuality by psychotherapy. Eighty complaints were made to the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) accusing the Strangford MP of incitement to hatred. John O'Doherty, the equality officer for the gay rights Rainbow Project, who was one of the people who made a complaint, described the decision as "a complete miscarriage of justice". O'Doherty said: "It is our understanding that Mrs Robinson has not even been interviewed in relation to the allegations made against her. The legislation which we believe to have been broken by these actions clearly calls for intent.
There aren't enough prison cells in the United States to hold all the people that publicly call us abominations. You may want to check out one of the anti-Robinson videos that have floated around YouTube since she called homosexuality "wicked, vile, disgusting, immoral" during a BBC radio interview.

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Vermont: Marriage One Step Closer

Today the Senate Judiciary Committee in Vermont unanimously voted to move the marriage equality bill to the full Senate for a vote next week. An amendment to put the issue to the voters failed. The committee did approve an amendment that reaffirms the right of churches to refuse to perform same-sex ceremonies. The addition stipulates that no civil suits can be brought for such refusal.

Gov. Jim Douglas has refused to state whether he'll sign the bill. If he does, Vermont will become the first state to legislatively approve marriage equality. California's legislature approved same-sex marriage twice; each time to be rebuffed by Gov. Schwarzenegger.

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Yes On 8 Attacker Pleads No Contest To Hate Crimes Charge

Anger management classes, three years of probation, and 100 hours community service for beating a gay man with a Yes On 8 yard sign. Fair?
A 23-year-old father who used a campaign sign opposing same-sex marriage to attack a gay man on a Torrance street was ordered Monday to take lessons on managing anger and intolerance. As part of a deal with prosecutors, Joseph Storm pleaded no contest on March 3 to one hate crime allegation. In exchange for his plea, Storm was ordered by Torrance Superior Court Judge Steven Van Sicklen to attend classes at the Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles and six months of anger management counseling. Storm also received seven days in jail for the time he already served after the Oct. 26 attack around 2a.m. in the 2000 block of 230th Street. He will remain on probation for three years and perform more than 100 hours of community service.
Remember, we're the violent intolerant ones.

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Shena - Can't Stop The Rain

If you've been jonesing for some seriously old-school disco, Shena Winchester is bringing the Chic realness. This song makes me very, very happy. You might remember Sheena as the vocalist from Full Intention's great 2006 track I'll Be Waiting.

(Tipped by Chris @ Remember The Party)

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Daily Ungrumble

So I ran into Ruth Madoff night last. I was in the basement of the Food Emporium under Trump Palace when a huge commotion erupted over in the produce aisle. I stuck my head around the corner and there was Ruth Madoff and some other woman being swarmed by paparazzi. She only lasted a minute before she freaked and ran out of the store. I'm ungrumbling this encounter just because it's one of those only-in-NYC stories in which you run into the wife of the most famous con artist in the history of the world while buying lettuce. The photo here is from the Daily News, who were among the pack that chased Ruth out.

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Obama's Message To Iran


President Obama sends this message to the Iranian people as they mark Nowruz, the Iranian new year holiday which comes on the first day of spring. Only Nixon could go to China; only Obama would use YouTube to speak to Iran.

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Morning View - 3rd & 68th

Snow flurries this morning. Spring starts tomorrow. Supposedly.

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The Anthem Of The New Revolutionaries

Those wacky wingnuts have an anthem to go along with their "Tea Party Movement." The music reminds me of the theme song from a 70's sitcom - it's very Jeffersons. (If Ja'net Du Bois had sung about "socialist schemes" that "kill the American dream" instead of dee-luxe apartments in the sky-y-y, that is.) The American Family Association claims to have over 1000 tea party protests planned to take place across the country on April 15th.

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WA: Domestic Partners Legislation Poised For Approval By House, Gov To Sign

The Washington Values Alliance rallied about 1000 protesters to the state capital yesterday to "Stand Up For Marriage" in a "last gasp" against the state's coming domestic partners legislation. The new law will give gay couples all the rights of marriage except the name. Via Dominic Holden at Slog:
"I think the rally is probably more of an attempt by certain organizations to find a reason for being, to fill their own coffers and keep their own organization going,” says Senator Ed Murray, sponsor of the domestic partnership bill in the senate. The DP bill passed the senate last week by 30 to 18 votes; now it is in the house where the bill has more cosponsors than votes needed to pass—i.e., the bill is going to win regardless of the shrill cries on the Capitol steps. Murray adds, “They are down in polls and down in the legislature. It is not a happy time for them.”
Holden observes that many of the protesters were Eastern European immigrants bussed in from out of town. Gov. Christine Gregoire has pledged to sign the bill into law once it passes in the House.

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Denmark Gets Gay Adoption

Gay couples in Denmark now have the same adoption rights as heterosexuals. In 1999 Denmark became the first country in the world to allow same-sex couples to adopt their partners' children. Although many European countries already permit gay adoption, the Danish parliament narrowly approved the new law by a 62-53 vote. The measure had been voted down six times in recent years.

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Fun With The Past Tense

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Mr. Bean Doesn't Like Hate Speech Laws

In 2008 it became a crime in England and Wales to incite hatred on the grounds of sexual orientation. Under the law, the hateful action must be threatening, not merely insulting or abusive. Now the House of Lords is considering widening that law to cover less than physically threatening speech. Rowan Atkinson, the man most of us know as Mr. Bean, objects.
Comedian Rowan Atkinson has criticised hate speech legislation, saying that the House of Lords must vote against a government attempt to remove a free speech clause in a homophobic hatred offence. The Blackadder actor, addressing a meeting of Lords on Tuesday, warned of creating a culture of "censoriousness" by removing free speech. He said: "Do I think that I would risk prosecution because of jokes or drama about sexual orientation with which I might be involved if we don’t have the free speech clause? Not really – but I dread something almost as bad – a culture of censoriousness, a questioning, negative and leaden attitude that is encouraged by legislation of this nature but is considerably and meaningfully alleviated by the free speech clause. I do not believe that legislation of such a censorious nature as that of hate speech, carrying as it does the risk of a seven-year jail sentence for saying the wrong thing in the wrong way, can ever by justified merely by the desire to ‘send the right message’.” He cited Christian groups as being "particularly concerned" the law will be used against them, adding that "heavy-handed police intervention" had been used before in instances of groups condemning gays and lesbians.
In 2004 Atkinson campaigned against the law that made it a crime to "stir up religious hatred." As I've mentioned here many times, I am very uneasy about hate speech laws such as those in Canada and the UK.

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Top Ten Conservative Sites

Here are the top ten knuckle-dragger sites, as ranked by Alexa's tally of monthly page views. Top ranked World Net Daily claims to have over 50M page views monthly.

1. WorldNetDaily
2. News Max.com
3. Free Republic
4. Townhall.com
5. Infowars
6. National Review Online
7. Heritage Foundation
8. The Weekly Standard
9. Ann Coulter - Official Site
10. Lucianne.com

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My 8th Gothamversary

Today is the 8th anniversary of the day I moved to NYC. Somehow my six years in San Francisco still seems much longer, but time always plays funny tricks on me like that. I definitely regretted moving here for the first couple of years and would log into SFGate every morning just watch their live cam of the fog rolling over Twin Peaks. I'll probably end up back in Fort Lauderdale one day, living out my dotage as one of those wizened men you see careening Flying Dutchman-style down Broward Boulevard, barely visible above the steering wheel. But for the foreseeable future, this is it.

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West Point Alum Comes Out On Rachel Maddow Show, Also Out: His Audio


Maddow says she's "trying not to get all conspiratorial" about the audio failure.

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Balloon Clown

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Thursday, March 19, 2009

Craig Wins, Ted Eiel Spins

This week's swag winner is Craig, who iPhoned us his photo from the locker room of his gym upon receiving notification of his win. Craig and a friend will attend Afterhours, DJ Junior Vasquez' closing set at Black Party XXX (NSFW). Advance tickets for Black Party XXX are available online; tickets for Afterhours are $50 and available at the door only at 10AM. All Afterhours ticket buyers (and Craig) will get advance copies of Junior's new CD, Generation Next, which goes on sale April 7th.

In other leathery news, tomorrow Chicago-based DJ Ted Eiel plays the NYC Eagle. Friends of mine have been raving about Ted for ages and last year I started subscribing to his fantastic podcasts, which you can get free on iTunes. I don't usually go out the night before Black Party as PawPaw needs his disco nap coma these days, but I'll make an exception this year.

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RuPaul - Jealous Of My Boogie

I haven't blogged about it because it's so NSFW, but there's huge fad sweeping Japan in which videos featuring gay porn star Billy Herrington are mashed-up over racing techno beats, with little baby heads popping up over the actors' naughty bits. Japan is weird, y'all. (Check out my pal Brian O'Brian's way NSFW post on this phenomenon over at Fleshbot.) Anyway, below is RuPaul's possibly NSFW homage to the fad.

UPDATE:
A second viewing of this clip makes me reconsider the above "possibly." Don't click at work if you've got an audience behind you.

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Texas To Consider Bill Allowing Master's Degrees In Creationism

Hey, if those God-haters at the higher education board won't let your school grant master's degrees in creationism, just get your friendly local legislator to pass a law that forces them to do it.
State Rep. Leo Berman (R-Tyler) proposed House Bill 2800 when he learned that The Institute for Creation Research (ICR), a private institution that specializes in the education and research of biblical creationism, was not able to receive a certificate of authority from Texas' Higher Education Coordinating Board to grant Master of Science degrees. Berman's bill would allow private, non-profit educational institutions to be exempt from the board’s authority. “If you don’t take any federal funds, if you don’t take any state funds, you can do a lot more than some business that does take state funding or federal funding,” Berman says. “Why should you be regulated if you don’t take any state or federal funding?” HB 2800 does not specifically name ICR; it would allow any institution that meets its criteria to be exempt from the board's authority. But Berman says ICR was the inspiration for the bill because he feels creationism is as scientific as evolution and should be granted equal weight in the educational community. “I don’t believe I came from a salamander that crawled out of a swamp millions of years ago,” Berman told FOXNews.com. "I do believe in creationism. I do believe there are gaps in evolution."
Does this story mean that you can get already get an undergrad degree in creationism?

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PhoboQuotable - Randy Thomasson

"Democrats in the Washington State Senate have passed a bill to award every single right of marriage to homosexuals. Democrat Governor Christine Gregoire says she will sign it if it reaches her desk. “I don't think they have the right to redefine marriage for all of us,” said Sen. Janea Holmquist, a Republican from Moses Lake. The Washington bill copies the core of California’s counterfeit marriage law. [snip]

"Counterfeits always harm society, whether it’s lying or cheating, or a teenager pretending he loves a girl just so she’ll give him sex, or the stealing that banks and other businesses endure, or the false documents that are commonplace in the black market.

"I am greatly concerned how counterfeit marriages in California and other states will teach children that there’s nothing special about marriage and that homosexual relationships deserve the same honor as marriage, just with a different name. The opposite is true. No relationship deserves the same right or status of marriage between a man and a woman because sameness is utterly different from oneness. " - Randy Thomasson, head of the Campaign For Families and Children, writing on their Save California blog.

(Via - Good As You)

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More Charges Of LDS Campaign Fraud

Californians Against Hate has filed a new complaint with the Fair Political Practices Commission, charging that the Mormon Church created the National Organization for Marriage as a "secret front" for their anti-marriage equality activities in at least eight states. According to CAH, the church has not properly disclosed their costs in creating the organization.
The Mormon Church appears to have created the National Organization for Marriage (NOM) in the summer of 2007 to qualify California’s Proposition 8 for the November 2008 ballot. They set it up as a Mormon front group, exactly as they did with a very similar organization called Hawaii’s Future Today (HFT) in that state in 1995. HFT was established to pass a constitutional amendment in Hawaii to ban same-sex marriage. Sound familiar? They have now expanded NOM into seven more states, specifically to fight same-sex marriage in those states. We are posting official Mormon Church documents on this web site, dealing with significant Mormon Church actives in Hawaii. These documents show just how the Church operates and they illuminate the replication of the strategy in California in creating NOM to qualify and pass Proposition 8.
Go to MormonGate.com, the new site launched by the CAH to provide documentation of their claims.

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Guilty Verdict In Murder Of NY Gay Man, Killer Had Called Victim A "Faggot"

A 18 year-old Brooklyn man was found guilty of second-degree murder yesterday for stabbing a 20 year-old gay man to death after calling him a "faggot" and accusing him of coming on to him. Duncan Osborne at Gay City News covered the trial, which nearly ended in a hung jury due to the poor credibility of witnesses.
Following a roughly three-day trial and four days of deliberation, a Brooklyn jury found Omar Willock guilty of second-degree murder in the 2007 stabbing death of Roberto Duncanson, a 20-year-old gay man. "Justice was served," was the only comment from Howard Jackson, the prosecutor in the case, following the March 18 verdict. The trial began on March 9, and the jury started deliberating on March 12. The 12 jurors spent the morning of March 13 listening to trial testimony. A verdict appeared to be in doubt at several points in the deliberations, with the jury repeatedly sending notes to Neil J. Firetog, the trial judge, saying they could not reach a verdict.

"The status from the get-go until Tuesday afternoon was nine to three in favor of conviction," said Beriah Wall, one of the jurors. "It wasn't until Tuesday afternoon that the foreperson really came around... At the point, it was ten to two." The prosecution relied primarily on two witnesses - Belinda Toon, who knew the 18-year-old Willock, but did not see him stab Duncanson, and Jeimar Brown, who saw a man stab Duncanson, but never identified Willock as that man. Wall said one juror, a retired Army sergeant, put the case together for the reluctant jurors. "He was truly patient and tenacious in connecting the dots," Wall said. "Neither of the witnesses were totally credible, especially Belinda... We really had to, step A, step B, run through the narrative numbers of times."
The judge dismissed the hate crime count of the charges, even though the prosecutor cited the Willock's repeated use of "faggot." Willock faces 15 years to life in prison; the hate crimes enhancement would have added five years to his sentence.

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Merriam-Webster: Where Have YOU People Been? We Did That Six Years Ago

It turns out that the wingnuts are a little behind the curve with all this screaming about Merriam-Webster updating the definition of marriage. According to the company, they made the change in 2003. Actually, it's kind of mind-blowing that nobody on either side has picked up on that in six years. Yesterday Merriam-Webster responded to all the nasty emails coming in from Outer Wingnutia:
"In recent years, this sense of 'marriage' has appeared frequently and consistently through a broad spectrum of carefully edited publications, and is often used in phrases such as 'same-sex marriage' and 'gay marriage' by proponents and opponents alike," the statement read. "Its inclusion was a simple matter of providing dictionary users with accurate information about all of the word's current uses." Merriam-Webster spokesman Arthur Bicknell added that the company was surprised the revision was creating a stir only now. "What we are finding odd is that this is neither news nor unusual," Bicknell said. "In fact, we were kind of late to the party. We were one of the last ones among the major dictionary publishers to do this."
American Heritage updated their marriage entry in 2000 to read:
1a. The legal union of a man and woman as husband and wife. b. The state of being married; wedlock. and c. A common-law marriage," is "A union between two persons having the customary but usually not the legal force of marriage: a same-sex marriage."
The Oxford English Dictionary says they are about to make a change, and their proposed entry is the one I wish all the others would use:
marriage: the condition of being a husband or wife; the relation between persons married to each other; matrimony."
Perfect.

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Ted Haggard And Wife To Appear On Divorce Court To Talk About How They Aren't Divorcing

The Ted Haggard Shameless Publicity Tour rolls on.
Former evangelical pastor Ted Haggard and his wife are planning another TV appearance, this time to talk about their marriage. The two are in Los Angeles taping an appearance on the Universal Fox show "Divorce Court," to be broadcast nationally April 1. The show's presiding judge, Lynn Toler, is interviewing the couple about how their marriage survived after a male prostitute from Denver alleged a cash-for-sex relationship with Ted Haggard in November 2006, executive producer Mark Koberg said. The scandal prompted Haggard to resign as president of the National Association of Evangelicals and New Life Church in Colorado Springs. The Haggards say their marriage and Christian faith are stronger than ever, and they want people to know that divorce is not the answer. "This is part of Ted's journey," Gayle Haggard said. "It's made him a better man. I see what has happened as a divine rescue." She said she was helped through her darkest hours by the biblical principles of forgiveness, compassion and steadfastness, along with her husband's genuine repentance. The couple will be paid an undisclosed amount for the interview.
What's next? Fucked Up Family Week on Wheel Of Fortune?

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MTA Reveals Fare Hike Plan

Gothamist reports the MTA's proposed fare hikes, which will likely come unless the state grants a huge bailout.

-Single rides would go from $2 to $2.50—a 25% hike
-7-day unlimited cards would be $31 (now $25)—a 24% hike
-14-day unlimited cards would be $59 (now $47)—a 25% hike
-30-day unlimited card would be $103 (now $81)—a 27% hike

A $22 hike in the monthly card. Yikes. Some have lobbied for smaller fare hikes, with the reduced revenues to be offset by imposing tolls on the East River bridges. Several million Brooklyn and Queens residents didn't care for that idea.

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Five Point Oh

Cafe FiGo, 1st Avenue, 8AM

Hipster 1: Dude, you have to hear this old-school track my dad emailed me, it fuckin' rocks!

(Hands over iPod, Hipster 2 listens)

Hipster 2: Oh, I know this. It's the theme from Hawaii 5.0

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Maddow Interviews Subway Hero

Last night Rachel Maddow interviewed Off Broadway actor Chad Lindsey, who earlier this week rescued an ill man from the subway tracks in Penn Station. Word is, Chad is family.

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Death Threat Against Gay CT Legislators Results In Arrest

Connecticut police have arrested a man for emailing death threats to two gay state legislators who had proposed laws giving Catholic parishioners more control over church finances.
The State Capitol Police Department charged a New Britain man with harassment after he allegedly sent a threatening email to two state legislators. Timothy Kane, 26, of New Britain was charged with Harassment 2nd Degree in connection with an incident that occurred on March 10, 2009. State Capitol Police Department said they were notified March 11, that an email containing an alarming statement had been received by State Senator Andrew McDonald and State Representative Michael Lawlor. Police said the email was sent the prior evening at 9:12 p.m. An investigation determined Kane sent the email which "made reference to the residences of the two legislators insinuating retaliation for their position on Senate Bill 1098 pertaining to the Roman Catholic Church, along with other derogatory statements." Kane was arrested Wednesday without incident. Kane was released on a $500 cash bond andwill be arraigned in Hartford Superior Court on March 27th.
The bill was withdrawn after thousands of church members protested at the state capital. Police says the two gay legislators received more than 10,000 harassing and threatening emails.

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Amnesty International Calls On Pope To Support Decriminalization Of Gays

As he visits Catholic bishops in Cameroon today, Amnesty International is asking the Pope to support the United Nations resolution calling for the global decriminalization of homosexuality.
Cameroon criminalises same-sex relations and the charity has said dozens of young men and women have been jailed or fined for allegedly engaging in homosexual behaviour over the last three years. Tawanda Hondora, the deputy director of Amnesty International’s Africa Programme, said: “The Pope should take the important opportunity of this visit to Cameroon to make clear that the Holy See abhors any attacks or persecution of people based on their sexual orientation, and call on the government to decriminalise homosexuality.”
I'm not holding my breath. After all, we are as great a threat to the world as the destruction of the rainforest.

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Don't Say Gay

Tennessee state Rep. Stacey Campfield doesn't want teachers to be allowed to even say the word "gay" to students.
Rep. Stacey Campfield said he believes the issue of homosexuality can be too complicated for young minds to understand. Campfield filed, the "Don't Say Gay" bill, which would essentially ban teachers from talking about the topic. "I think our teachers need to stick with reading, writing, and arithmetic," Campfield said. "It confuses a lot of children that are already in a difficult part of life, and it's a very complex issue." Campfield pointed to newspaper articles as examples of where homosexuality was being taught in schools, like a program in Knoxville that contains information on AIDS, gay and lesbian sex. He said second graders had access to the information. "Let's take this off the table, lets not talk about this to very young children, I don't see a problem with that," Campfield said.
Yesterday the education committee of the Tennessee House decided to wait a year before voting on Campfield's bill. Campfield has also signed on to a lawsuit challenging Obama's nationality.

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Open Thread Thursday

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer folded a couple of days ago after 146 years of business. Other major dailies are on life support. Do you still read a physical newspaper? How much of your news do you get online? TIME Magazine and the New York Times are contemplating online subscription fees. Would you pay to get news online? What do you think is a fair price to read your favorite paper online every day?

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Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Improv Everywhere: Subway Art Gallery

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Florida To Outlaw Bestiality

This NBC story is filed on Free Republic under "Homosexual Agenda":
It looks like man and dog are going to legally remain best friends if the state of Florida has its say. The State's Senate agriculture committee, in a long overdue measure, has voted unanimously to charge anyone who has sex with animals with a third-degree felony. Amazingly, Florida is one of 16 states that still permits bestiality, despite the obvious harm caused to the victim - in most cases the family pet or farm animal. "There's a tremendous correlation between sexually deviant behavior and crimes against children and crimes against animals," said Sen. Nan Rich, a Sunrise Democrat, told the Miami Herald. "This is long overdue. These are heinous crimes. And people belong in jail."
Freepers react:
-"I suppose a Republican who is known for supporting traditional values would instantly be tarred as a 'bigot' if he or she were to introduce an anti-bestiality bill."
-"But don't they realize that sexual preference is something you're born with? This law would deny these people the right to love the animal of their choice! That is bigoted!!!"
-"Just another attempt to bring unwarranted hardships against the muslim community"
-"What has our nation come to that laws like this aren’t assumed instead of needed. Same for the stupidity of making laws to allow homosexual adoption."
-"Why? I mean, if buggery is permitted and, soon, gay marriage will be sanctioned by the state what is the reasoning behind outlawing bestiality?"
-"Since bestiality and incest are mentioned as equal with homosexuality in the Bible, I suppose we should be TOLERANT of goat love. Excuse me while I barf."
-"Knowing leftists like I do, I’m surprised they haven’t come out with a new non-judgemental term of “interspecies sex”."

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Brandon McInerney's Dad Found Dead

William McInerney, the father of the 15 year-old confessed murderer of gay teen Lawrence King, was found dead this morning.
William McInerney, 45, was found dead about 7:30 a.m. today at his home in the 2500 block of Roosevelt Boulevard. He was found by a friend who was picking him up to take him to his son’s preliminary hearing this morning in Superior Court, said Craig Stevens, a Ventura County senior deputy medical examiner. Stevens said an autopsy was being conducted today to determine the cause of death. There was no indication of trauma, injury or foul play, he said. “There is no obvious cause of death — no note or anything like that,” said sheriff’s Capt. Ross Bonfiglio. Attorney Jay Leiderman, representing William McInerney in a recent domestic violence case, said the family authorized him to issue a statement on their behalf. “The McInerney family asks that you respect their privacy at this difficult time. We understand that Bill McInerney’s death was a tragic accident. Everyone who knew him is devastated by this loss,” the statement read.
William McInerney had been scheduled to stand trial on April 2nd for threatening to kill his sister over an incident unrelated to his son's trial. The younger McInerney's case has riveted the LGBT world and spawned a multi-million dollar lawsuit by the victim's family. Brandon is being tried as an adult and faces 51 years to life in prison.

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Notorious A-I-G


Barney Frank grilled AIG CEO Bill Liddy today and asked for a list of the names of AIG executives that have received post-bailout bonuses. Liddy says he'll only release the names if Frank guarantees their anonymity. Liddy then goes on to read from a list of death threats made against AIG personnel. Frank refused to promise to shield the names and threatened to subpoena Liddy if he had to. Frank did allow that he'll consult with law enforcement first and determine if any of the threats merit investigation. It all starts at the 5:00 mark.

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Openly Gay NY Legislator Jon Cooper May Run Against Gillibrand For U.S. Senate

Lots of folks consider Hillary-replacement Sen. Kristen Gillibrand to be highly vulnerable in the 2010 elections. One of the several Democrats eyeballing her job is openly gay Suffolk County legislator Jon Cooper.
"I consider myself progressive on the important issues," said Cooper, alluding to gun control and gay rights. "And obviously, Sen. Gillibrand has not been a strong supporter in the past on either issue." He added he is "very concerned" that state voters may lack confidence in a candidate who makes "a 180 degree turnabout" on major issues. Gillibrand did not have an immediate comment. But Matt Canter, Gillibrand's spokesman said, "I'm not exactly sure what he's referring to." He added, "As New Yorkers get the facts about her progressive record, they will see Sen. Gillibrand has consistently supported reducing gun violence, allowing gay couples to marry and always protecting a woman's right to choose."
Cooper chaired the Obama campaign's efforts on Long Island.

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MassResistance Celebrates Its Work Against Civil Unions In Hawaii

Anti-gay Massachusetts group MassResistance is celebrating their work towards blocking civil unions in Hawaii.
MassResistance played a pivotal role in helping stop a major "civil unions" bill in the Hawaii Legislature, according to sources on both sides of the issue. At 9:00 a.m. on February 24, the Judiciary and Operations Committee of the Hawaii Legislature convened a public hearing on Bill #444 which would legalize homosexual civil unions in that state. It was a marathon 18-hour session with over 1400 people testifying that finally ended at 3:30 a.m. the following morning! According to observers, a number of the attendees had copies of the MassResistance pamphlet "What Same-Sex Marriage has done to Massachusetts", and much of the testimony came from it. All of the committee members had been given copies, and one of the Senators used information from it in his discussions with other members at the hearing. At 3:30 a.m. when the hearing ended, the committee immediately took a vote. It was a 3-3 tie - and thus the bill got killed in committee! A VICTORY!
In November 2007 the teenage daughter of MassResistance founder Amy Contrada came out as a lesbian after her mother picketed her high school's production of The Laramie Project. The next week good ol' mom created a full page on the MassResistance site to announce that her daughter was adopted, emotionally unstable, and a "special needs" student. Last year the Southern Poverty Law Center rated MassResistance as a hate group.

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Federal Appeals Court Rules Against Anti-Gay Christian Student Group

The Alliance Defense Fund, the losing-est Christianist outfit ever, has lost again.
UC Hastings College of the Law can deny recognition and funding to a Christian student group because it excludes gays, lesbians and non-Christians, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday. The San Francisco law school is entitled to require official student organizations to "accept all comers as members, even if those individuals disagree with the mission of the group," the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco ruled. It said the school's policy is "viewpoint-neutral" and does not violate the rights of the Christian Legal Society.

The brief ruling cited the court's decision last year allowing a Washington state high school to deny recognition to a student Bible club that required members to endorse its religious creed. Last week, the club asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review that case. Both rulings allow public schools to "require religious organizations to include people in their groups who disagree with what the religious groups believe," said attorney Jeremy Tedesco of the Alliance Defense Fund, a Christian legal organization that is involved in both cases on behalf of the student groups. "That's a violation of the First Amendment, free speech and freedom of religion."
The Christian Legal Society has chapters at 165 law schools and in 2004 added a rule that barred membership to anyone engaging in "unrepentant homosexual conduct." Last month a federal judge ruled that California's public universities could deny funding and recognition to any group that practices discrimination.

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Friendly Voices - Paul Donahoe

"I am straight, but on the forums people make a lot of gay jokes about me. I'm not too concerned. They can talk about me all they want, it doesn't matter. If a guy wants to be with a guy, who cares? Obviously, I did it for the money. We kept thinking no one would ever find out because it was a gay website and we really wanted that money. Gay kids in Lincoln wrote, 'Hey, nice website. I saw you.' I wrote back, 'Don't tell anyone,' but with word of mouth, people found out." - Former University of Nebraska wrestler Paul Donahoe.

Donahoe was booted from his team last year because a university logo was visible in his nude photo shoot for a gay porn site. By NCAA rules, athletes are not allowed to personally profit by promoting their image. Donahoe transferred to Edinboro University in Pennsylvania and has been reinstated by the NCAA.

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Minnesota To Prevent End Of The World

You can stop worrying about global warming or nuclear war, the Minnesota Family Council will save us all.
The Minnesota Family Council says it will introduce an amendment banning same-sex marriage, civil unions and domestic partnerships in Minnesota in the next few days. The group announced the new amendment push at a press conference with fundamentalist religious leaders on Tuesday.

Those leaders put forward a multifaith diatribe against gay and lesbian relationships stating that should gays get the right to marry, the world would end. “If everyone is a gay, this world will cease to exist in 10 years,” said Ikram ul-Huq, the imam and religious director of the Muslim Community Center of Bloomington.

“Homosexual unions are forbidden and cannot be licensed with the term marriage,” said Rabbi Moshe Feller, Shliach of the Rebbe to the Upper Midwest, a Chabad-Lubavitch sect of Hasidic Judaism. “We see this as a pivotal issue to life, not just for our nation but the life we have known for 3,000 years,” said Tom Parrish, administrative pastor of Hope Lutheran Church. Another Christian pastor said life itself is at stake if same-sex marriage isn’t banned permanently. “This is not a political issue, or an issue of choice or rights. It is an issue of life,” said Andre Dukes, pastor of Shiloh Temple Ministries in Minneapolis.
The amendment is not expected to make it onto the 2010 ballot.

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NH Stalls On Marriage Equality

New Hampshire's marriage equality bill deadlocked 10-10 in the House Judiciary Committee yesterday. The bill now goes to the full House next week for a debate without a recommendation from the committee. I'm not sure how the lack of a recommendation will affect its progress. Can anyone weigh in on that?

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Scotland To Consider Same-Sex Marriage

All of the UK enjoys "civil partnership" rights, but Scotland may take the next step. The Scottish Parliament has accepted a petition to review the current marriage law.
The petition, brought by Nick Henderson of the LGBT Network, calls for an amendment to the Marriage (Scotland) Act 1977 to allow gay and lesbian couples to legally marry. It also calls on the law to be changed to allow a same sex marriage to be performed by a faith group, if the religious institution consents. Currently, civil partnerships can only be conducted by a civil registrar. A number of MSPs have spoken out in favour of the move, with some calling for Scotland to lead the way on same-sex marriage in Europe. Labour's Marlyn Glen said the call was part of "ongoing progress in society" when it came before Parliament's Petitions Committee. John Wilson, of the Scottish Nationalist Party, said he strongly felt that the marriage legislation should “encompass the whole of society”.
A number of religious and non-religious groups will be asked to weigh in on the petition.

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Daily Grumble

OK, I gave it a few days. Really not liking the new Facebook. Really a lot. Upside: wasting much less time there!

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CNN On Pope's Condom Comments

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Marriage Has Been Literally Redefined

Well kids, we have done it. We have literally redefined marriage. And I say "literally" in the literal sense of the word. Check out the new definition of marriage according to Merriam-Webster.Of course, we'd rather see Section 1 of that definition as only one line saying: "Marriage: the state of being united to another adult in a consensual or contractual relationship recognized by law." But, you know, baby steps. Bonus fun: the wingnuts are already pulling their hair out.
One of the nation's most prominent dictionary companies has resolved the argument over whether the term "marriage" should apply to same-sex duos or be reserved for the institution that has held families together for millennia: by simply writing a new definition. "I was shocked to see that Merriam-Webster changed their definition of the word 'marriage,' a word which has referred exclusively to a contract between a man and a woman for centuries. It has now added same sex," YouTube user Eric B. noted to WND.
Next time they scream, "You're REDEFINING marriage!", just tell them that train has left the station, or that ship has sailed, or whatever transportation metaphor your prefer. Heh.

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U.S. To Sign UN Gay Rights Declaration

Dubya wouldn't sign it, but President Obama will. The AP has been leaked word that the United States will sign on to the United Nations resolution calling for the global decriminalization of homosexuality. If you recall, one of Dubya's last acts was to refuse to sign in December.
The move was made after an interagency review of the Bush administration's position on the nonbinding document, which was signed by all 27 European Union members as well as Japan, Australia, Mexico and three dozen other countries, the officials said. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because Congress was still being notified of the decision. They said the administration had decided to sign the declaration to demonstrate that the United States supports human rights for all.

"The United States is an outspoken defender of human rights and critic of human rights abuses around the world," said one official. "As such, we join with the other supporters of this statement and we will continue to remind countries of the importance of respecting the human rights of all people in all appropriate international fora," the official said. The official added that the United States was concerned about "violence and human rights abuses against gay, lesbian, transsexual and bisexual individuals" and was also "troubled by the criminalization of sexual orientation in many countries." "In the words of the United States Supreme Court, the right to be free from criminalization on the basis of sexual orientation 'has been accepted as an integral part of human freedom'," the official said.
The resolution is non-binding - there aren't going to be any UN peacekeepers swooping into Jamaica or anything. But still!

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Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Adam Lambert - Ring Of Fire

Openly gay American Idol contestant Adam Lambert killed tonight with his strangely affecting gothy take on Johnny Cash's classic, Ring Of Fire. The judges didn't really know what to make of it, but tonight finally got me liking him. The bottom clip is where I suspect Lambert got his arrangement.

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School Bans Rainbow Wristbands

The ACLU is on the case, defending a 14 year-old Peoria, Arizona student whose principal won't let him wear a rainbow wristband. Via press release:
"When I asked my son's principal why he wouldn't be allowed to wear his wristband to school anymore, he said some teachers found it offensive," said Natali Quintanilla, mother of the eighth grader whose wristband was banned. "My son is honest and happy about who he is, and I love him and support his right to be himself. There are a lot of things teachers should be more concerned about than one little wristband - like educating our children." Quintanilla contacted the ACLU last month after her son Chris's principal told her he wouldn't allow her son to wear his cloth wristband with words "Rainbows are gay" to school anymore. When her son was harassed for being gay earlier this school year, Quintanilla said the same principal told her, "If he didn't put it out there the way he does, he wouldn't have much of a problem."
The ACLU is giving the school ten days to respond to their letter before they file a court challenge.

NOTE: This post has been changed to correctly identify the location as Peoria, Arizona. I originally wrote Iowa. Which makes me dumb, two times. Cuz the other Peoria is in Illinois. Facepalm.

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Guilty Plea As "Newark Four" Case Rolls On

The case of the Newark Four rolls on. First, some backstory, as it's been awhile since I've written about this.....

In August 2006 a group of seven black lesbians attacked and stabbed a man in Greenwich Village after he threatened them, told them he was going to "fuck them straight" and spat on them. The melee was caught on video and made national tabloid fodder under headlines like "Lesbian Gang Stab Rampage" and "Attack Of The Killer Lesbians." Bill O'Reilly ran a particularly inflammatory segment which implied that violent lesbian gangs were running amok nationwide.

Four of the women were convicted of assault, turning the case has into a feminist cause, often referred to as the "Jersey Four" or the "Newark Four." It even has its own Wikipedia entry. (I've been getting weekly emails from various groups on this issue for years.) Early last year an appeals court dismissed the charges for one woman and ordered new trials for two others.

Yesterday the second trial of one of the women ended with a guilty plea and a three year sentence. The trial of the fourth woman is pending. Feminist groups continue to decry the prosecutions, but the women have seen little support from LGBT organizations. Critics charge that the women have been ignored because they are poor and black. I've been on the fence about the case, as the attack seemed like self-defense taken to excess. But the case of the Newark Four has been fascinating to watch, if just for the novelty of it becoming a gay version of the Free Mumia movement.

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Hate Groups Visit White House Today

Right Wing Watch reports that a contingent from the nation's most vile anti-gay groups will meet with Obama administration officials at the White House today.
Concerned Women for America and the Family Research Council will meet with Joshua DuBois, the man who leads the administration’s office of Faith Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. Wendy Wright, the president of CWA reached out to the Obama administration and they responded by inviting CWA and some of these other conservative Evangelical groups to The White House. The meeting plans to focus on the need to reduce abortions in the country and on responsible fatherhood programs. Also present at the meeting will be Tom McClusky, Senior Vice-President of the Family Research Council as well as representatives from the Christian Medical Association and Care Net, a pro-life Evangelical pregnancy crisis group.
The ostensible purpose of the meeting is to discuss opposition to Obama's abortion policy. Wanna bet they bring up dirty homos too? Right Wing Watch gets it right:
If the Obama administration thinks that it is going to win support for anything that it does on this issue from groups like CWA and FRC, it is sorely mistaken … which is something they will presumably learn once this meeting takes place. These are not moderate, open-minded groups looking for common ground – they are militant, anti-choice groups committed to, above all, making abortion illegal everywhere and for everyone, with no exceptions. It is hard to understand what the administration expects to gain by meeting with such groups to discuss efforts to reduce abortion considering that the only option such groups support is to outlaw them entirely.
It's hard to believe that the Obama administration is willing to legitimize these organizations, both of which are monitored as hate groups by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

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The Case Of The Tuna Sandwich

Supermarkets around the nation throw out tons of edible food every day to comply with expiration rules. An entire "freegan" movement has sprung up in which people dumpster-dive behind these stores to rescue the most usable items. Here in NYC, an interesting discussion has arisen because Whole Foods fired an employee for theft after he set aside a garbage-destined tuna sandwich in order to eat it at the end of his shift. The case has made it to the state's unemployment court.
Initially, New York State ruled that the tuna sandwich episode was misconduct, based on Whole Foods’ statement about the trash. In New York, as in other states, employers’ unemployment insurance rates are based on the amount of the benefits their former workers collect, giving them an incentive to limit the number of employees who receive unemployment. Mr. Reese challenged the ruling in January. “I knew what they said was wrong,” said Mr. Reese, who earned $11.50 an hour. His version of the story: He was throwing out 30 sandwiches at the end of the shift, and he put the tuna sandwich aside on the counter in plain view. When the supervisor confronted him about it, he said it was going to be thrown out and he was going to eat it. The supervisor then threw the sandwich out. Two days later, Mr. Reese was fired.
Was it really theft if the sandwich was meant for the garbage? Was it theft if the employee didn't actually get to eat it? I understand that some employees would definitely abuse any system in which they were allowed to have expired items. But at least there has got to be a lawsuit-safe way for Whole Foods to get that expired-but-edible food to the homeless. Don't some stores do this already?

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White House Goes Green

It's St. Patrick's Day and White House fountains are flowing green for the first time, by order of the First Lady.
Michelle Obama came up with the idea for the festive touch, said spokeswoman Katie McCormick Lelyveld. She was inspired by the St. Patrick's Day celebrations in her hometown of Chicago, where the city marks the holiday by dyeing the river green. "It's a little piece of home for our new home," said Lelyveld, who is also from Chicago. Lelyveld said it's the first time the water in the White House fountains has been dyed. The green hue will stay until the dye runs outs.
Some party poopers are calling the green fountains "tacky" and undignified for the White House.

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"Birther" Movement Hits Congress

Politico reports that the first Congressional bill requiring that presidential candidates provide their original birth certificates has been filed by Rep. Bill Posey (R-FL).
“Opponents of President Obama are raising the birth certificate issue as a means of questioning his eligibility to serve as president,” Posey said in a statement. “This bill, by simply requiring such documentation for future candidates for president, will remove this issue as a reason for questioning the legitimacy of a candidate elected as president.”
The bill has no co-sponsors yet. Last week Christianist site World Net Daily claimed that Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts agreed to review their 330,000 name petition demanding that the court rule on Obama's nationality.

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Pope: Condom Use Increases AIDS

The Pope has made his first ever statement about safe sex and AIDS. Unbelievably, he says that condom use actually increases the spread of HIV.
Pope Benedict XVI said on his way to Africa Tuesday that condoms were not the answer in the continent's fight against HIV, his first explicit statement on an issue that has divided even clergy working with AIDS patients. Benedict had never directly addressed condom use. He has said that the Roman Catholic Church is in the forefront of the battle against AIDS. The Vatican encourages sexual abstinence to fight the spread of the disease. "You can't resolve it with the distribution of condoms," the pope told reporters aboard the Alitalia plane headed to Yaounde, Cameroon, where he will begin a seven-day pilgrimage on the continent. "On the contrary, it increases the problem."
Got that? On the way to sub-Saharan Africa, the most AIDS-ravaged place on the planet, the Pope is telling people that condom use increases the spread of AIDS. How many of Africa's 130 million Catholics will die because of this Pope?

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Resign Or Commit Suicide

Wow, Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA) didn't pull any punches when it comes to the AIG execs taking responsibility for the company's woes.
"I suggest, you know, obviously, maybe they ought to be removed," Grassley said. "But I would suggest the first thing that would make me feel a little bit better toward them if they'd follow the Japanese example and come before the American people and take that deep bow and say, I'm sorry, and then either do one of two things: resign or go commit suicide. And in the case of the Japanese, they usually commit suicide before they make any apology."
Grassley's poor spokesperson is telling the press that the Senator doesn't really want anybody to commit suicide. Not really! Kidding!

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Swag Tuesday

Courtesy of the Saint-At-Large, today's swag prize is two tickets to Afterhours, DJ Junior Vasquez' closing performance at Rites XXX: The Black Party. Junior takes the stage at 10AM and is scheduled to play until 2:45PM (although he is rather famous for going long.)

Tickets for Junior's Black Party set will be $50 and available at the door only; admissions begin at 10AM. With your Afterhours ticket (and also if you win this contest) comes Generation Next, Junior's new CD.

Enter to win by commenting on this post. Only enter once and please remember to leave an email address you check frequently. Entries close at midnight Wednesday, left coast time. Publicists, if you'd like to take part in Swag Tuesday on JMG, please email me.

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West Point Alumni Come Out

A group of 38 West Point alumni have come out to show support for the repeal of DADT.
Thirty-eight graduates of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., came out of the closet Monday with an offer to help their alma mater educate future Army leaders on the need to accept and honor the sacrifices of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender troops. “Knights Out” wants to serve as a connection between gay troops and Army administrators, particularly at West Point, to provide an “open forum” for communication between gay West Point graduates and their fellow alumni and to serve in an advisory role for West Point leaders in the eventuality — which the group believes is both “imminent and inevitable” — that the law and policy collectively known as “don’t ask, don’t tell” are repealed by Congress. “We’re publicly announcing our sexuality, our orientation,” said 1st Lt. Dan Choi, a National Guardsman with the 1st Bn., 69th Infantry, based in Manhattan. “It’s just one part of who we are in saying that we are standing to be counted.”
Similar alumni groups at the Naval and Air Force academies have come out recently as well

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Hate Crimes Surge In Wake Of Prop 8

CORRECTION: The source for the below story incorrectly states the number of hate crimes in California. The number cited is in fact for Santa Clara County only. I'll update the post with the accurate number shortly.

California saw the number of anti-gay hate crimes increase from three in 2007 to 14 last year, leading some to conclude that the contentious Prop 8 battle spurred the attacks.
Anti-gay incidents accounted for more than half of hate crime cases last year - 56 per cent. This is an increase from only 15 per cent in 2007. There were 14 anti-gay cases out of 25 hate-crime cases in 2008, compared with only three out of 20 in 2007. Deputy district attorney for Santa Clara County, Jay Boyarsky, told the Mercury News that a jump in anti-gay hate crime is due to controversy over the marriage ban. He said: "My belief from having done this work for many years is that surges in types of hate incidents are linked to the headlines and controversies of the day. "Marriage equality and Proposition 8 have been in the news, and we have seen an increase in gay-bashing." However, the former campaign manager for Proposition 8 argued that the statistics did not reflect cases in which opponents harassed and threatened supporters of the ban. "I certainly hope Proposition 8 did not result in more crime," said Frank Schubert of the group Protect Marriage. "But if it did, it did so on both sides."
A total of 14 cases may not seem like many, but if we frame it as an almost 500% increase, then....wow.

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TV Ad From Vermont Freedom To Marry


Hmmm, what feels familiar about this?

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Courage Campaign Asks:
President Obama, Keep Your Promise

The Courage Campaign wants you to sign on to their letter asking President Obama to keep his promise and grant health benefits to the partners of LGBT federal employees.
Dear President Barack Obama,

Your historic election to the presidency shows that any barrier to equality in America can be overcome. We were especially pleased that you demonstrated a clear commitment to ending discrimination by speaking out in support of "extending (full) equal rights and benefits to same-sex couples under both state and federal law."

Unfortunately, your predecessors did not share this commitment, as they discriminated against gay and lesbian federal employees by denying them the same benefits that partners and spouses of their heterosexual colleagues receive. Now, you have an opportunity to provide a fresh start and make good on your campaign commitment to equality.

We, the undersigned, call upon you to allow the federal government to provide the same health benefits to same-sex spouses and partners of federal employees that other federal employee spouses receive. We promise to support you in this effort, especially in the likely event that right-wing opponents attack you for implementing equal rights for all federal employees.

Sincerely,
Your Name Here.

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NAACP Head Julian Bond To HRC:
Gay Rights Are Civil Rights


It's a longish speech, but there are some truly great moments. Julian Bond = hero.

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