Saturday, October 24, 2009

Key West Day One

Not quite 24 hours on the island and as Divine said in Lust In The Dust, my ass is on its last legs. Steve Smith, our host from the Key West Business Guild picked up our group (myself, Father Tony, EDGE's Michael K. Lavers, freelance journalist Rod McCullom, LOGO's Mike Diamond, SiriusXM's Frank DeCaro, and filmmakers Josh Koll and Josh Helmin) at the airport. Less than an hour after arrival we were whisked off to an absolutely riotous street party and Coronation Ball for the King and Queen of Fantasy Fest. The winners earned their crowns by raising the most money for AIDS Help.

Then came a fancy dinner, then Steve gave Father Tony and me a private tour of some packed and shenanigans-laden bars on Duval Street (more about that later.) At 2am, we finally crawled back to our guesthouse, Island House. (More about that later.) Up with the rooster's call (literally), we breakfasted this morning at Big Ruby's Guesthouse, then took the LGBT Historic Trolley Tour, then had lunch poolside at Casa Marina Resort. I've got just enough downtime to get this post up, then we're off to a sunset dinner cruise. I'm wiped! I'll get a slideshow of the first day up as soon as I get photo approvals from our fussy colleagues. And watch out Key West, we are now on mopeds.

UPDATE: Here's the slidehow for Day One. Some photos possibly NSFW, mostly due to one young entrepreneur who was working the sidewalk outside a Duval Street gay bar.

UPDATE II: Father Tony's first post is up, where he titled the below photo "Curmudgeon By The Sea."

Labels: , , ,


Friday, October 23, 2009

In The Conch Republic

The above creepy-ish tableau greets arrivals at Key West International, a fairly grand name for an airport whose terminal consists of one small room and one luggage carousel. Off to the Royal Coronation Ball, an AIDS fundraiser at La Te Da.

Labels: , ,


Politicos, Activists, Stars Come Out For Pride Agenda's Annual Dinner

Last night I attended the Empire State Pride Agenda's annual dinner, a massive and swank affair held in sprawling ballroom where activists mingled with Gov. Paterson, Mayor Bloomberg, Sen. Chuck Schumer, emcee Margaret Cho, Alan Cumming, Cheyenne Jackson, and Anne Hathaway (who brought her openly gay brother and smokin' hot father - who is an LGBT activist/ally in his own right.) Gay City News' Paul Schindler reports:
During an evening when Governor David A. Paterson employed both his trademark humor and a sobering lesson in the state’s fiscal crisis to reiterate his pledge that “marriage equality is coming to New York State” –– “just in the next few weeks,” no less –– the head of the Empire State Pride Agenda issued a stern warning to members of the State Senate, allies included, who might fail to help make that a reality.

Addressing Senate supporters who have nonetheless “run to the sidelines as fast as they can,” Alan Van Capelle, the executive director of New York State’s LGBT lobby, said, “We have campaigned for you, we have raised money for you, we have supported you in every way imaginable, and we should have no patience for these sorry summer soldiers.” Coming less than a year after ESPA orchestrated the raising of more than $1 million to support the Democratic takeover of the Senate, Van Capelle’s remarks, delivered at the group’s annual Manhattan fall dinner on October 22, reflected his rising frustration with the allies the LGBT community helped install.

“We can find other friends who will do that job for us and do it faster,” he said of the potential that Senate Democrats might fail to heed his call. “We know such friends exist.” The threat to find “other friends” was, in fact, an echo of challenges Van Capelle once issued to the Republican leadership that held sway over the Senate for decades until last November’s election. Then, he warned that if the GOP leadership was unwilling to allow votes on marriage equality, transgender rights, and a school anti-bullying measure, the Pride Agenda would work to put a new team in charge. The group held true to that pledge.
The 1200 attendees of the event raised over $1M for the Pride Agenda. Near the end, I got to shake the governor's hand - he's even tinier than Bloomberg. Here's a slideshow of my photos.

Labels: , , , , , , , , ,


HomoQuotable - Michelangelo Signorile

"The march in fact has only made us all stronger as a movement. We were able to organize in a few months, using new media, and got 200,000 people to D.C. without spending much on traditional advertising. David Mixner is to be lauded for his passion and putting the idea out there. Cleve Jones, for his vision and his steadfastness at doing it quickly and keeping the costs down to a mere $150,000. Robin McGehee, Kip Williams, and all the other young activists, for tirelessly organizing the event and using the Net roots so skillfully.

"We now know it can be done successfully on short notice and for little money. That means a couple of things: We need to continue making a lot of noise — online, but also getting into the streets and protesting everywhere. And we need to march again on Washington — or at least let them know we’re prepared to do so if we don’t see some real action, real soon." - SiriusXM radio host and activist Michelangelo Signorile, from a lengthy Advocate opinion piece on the ramifications of the National Equality March.

Read the entire essay.

Labels: , , ,


Maddow Vs. Dick Cheney

Labels: , ,


Wingnuts Freaking Over Hate Crimes Act

Under the predictable headline Pedophile Protection Act Passes, Christianist news site WorldNetDaily is continuing to lie about the hate crimes act.
Erik Stanley, senior legal counsel with the Alliance Defense Fund, told WND the move is alarming because "this would be the very first governmental and societal disapproval of a sincerely held religious belief, held by a majority of Americans, namely that homosexual behavior is immoral. "It's the first time the federal government is writing into law a disapproval of that belief," he said. While he said he doesn't believe there will be "immediate" prosecutions of pastors and churches for teaching the biblical injunction that homosexual behavior is sin, "I think the effect on speech and religious speech is nonetheless real." He said he does expect that pastors soon will begin being called to testify in "hate crime" cases in court "as to what that pastor preaches, what the church teaches, what the Bible teaches." "When this happens, there will be a shock wave through pastorates in America," he said. Ultimately, he warned that the homosexual advocates who have pushed the "hate crimes" plan consider this law just the first step "toward silencing Christians."
Commenters on Free Republic see more fuel for the coming second Civil War.
"This is an attempt to silence Christianity. They have no idea what a hornets nest they’ve opened up. I can’t wait until the first pink tutu wearing gay opens fire on a Pastor’s sermon. It WILL go to court and the 1st amendment WILL be used in defense. Going to come down one of 2 ways 1) the 1st amendment will be upheld and this ‘law’ will be declared unconstitutional or 2) the 1st amendment will become toilet paper and then CWII opens up as something a mite hotter than rhetoric in forums and chatrooms."

Labels: , , ,


"Ex-Gays" Complain Libraries Won't Stock Their Books

The "ex-gay" movement is complaining that school and public libraries are refusing to stock books that tell people it's possible to change their sexual orientation.
Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays & Gays (PFOX) says there's an entire community of people across the world who say that their sexual orientation changed from gay to straight. But they're not getting their message out, the group says, because libraries across the country refuse to carry literature that describes these experiences or any studies that support them. So a book like "My Genes Made Me Do It!: A Scientific Look at Sexual Orientation" — which argues that sexuality is shaped by a variety of factors, not just biological — can't get a spot on the school library shelf. Neither can "You Don't Have to Be Gay," which describes author Jeff Konrad's struggle to overcome his unwanted same-sex attractions.

But "Baby Be-Bop," the coming-out story of a gay teen, which includes descriptions of his sexual encounters in bathroom stalls with men he never talks to, makes the stacks. So does "Love & Sex: Ten Stories of Truth," which describes a gay teen's relationship with his tutor with excerpts like: "Matt had one leg locked between mine, so that his d—- was smashed between his stomach and my thigh. And as his hand jerked up and down on me his hips humped with the same rhythm." Ask why the "ex-gay" books aren't making the cut, and the answers range. Some say the books simply haven't been reviewed by the proper institutions; others say the idea the books promote — that homosexuality is a treatable condition — can be psychologically damaging to homosexuals.
PFOX's Regina Griggs warns that libraries "can expect more lawsuits nationwide."

Labels: , , ,


Glenn Beck: The OnStar Lady Is Helping Obama Control You

Labels: , , ,


PhoboQuotable - Matt Barber

"Through these childish and dishonest attempts to discourage people from reading 'The Right Hook,' liberal activists and bloggers obtusely prove one of the book's main points: that socialists, atheists, militant 'gay' activists and other secular leftists can't win the debate on the merits. They desperately resort to Orwellian propagandist tactics in an effort to keep the truth from getting out. This appears to be the left's strategy de jour. We're seeing the same thing with the Obama administration's calculated attacks on 'Fox News.' The result? Americans are too savvy to be fooled. That's why 'Fox News' ratings are going through the roof."- Anti-gay activist Matt Barber, complaining to World Net Daily about "fake reviews" of his book on Amazon.com.

RELATED: Peter LaBarbera took his complaints (about my post inviting JMG readers to attend his anti-gay banquet) to to the airwaves on a radio show for Concerned Women for America.
Just as Americans for Truth (AFT), the pro-family group famous for unmasking the homosexual agenda, prepares for its annual banquet this weekend, radical homosexuals have gone on the attack by placing vile and harassing phone calls to AFT's banquet coordinator and posting scorching book reviews on the Web of "Right Hook" the new book by Matt Barber of Liberty Alliance and the AFT banquet's keynote speaker. AFT President Peter LaBarbera has more on this latest example of homosexual "tolerance." Listen | Download

Labels: , , , , , ,


Soupy Sales Dead At 83

Legendary 60's comic and children's show host Soupy Sales has died at the age of 83.
As the star of "The Soupy Sales Show," he performed live on television for 13 years in Detroit, Los Angeles and New York before the program went into syndication in the United States and abroad. Ostensibly for children, the show had broad appeal among adults who found Sales' puns, gags and pratfalls deliciously corny and camp. His cast consisted of goofy puppets with names like White Fang, Black Tooth and Pookie, and a host of off-camera characters, including the infamous naked girl. The high point of every show came when a sidekick launched a pie into Sales' face. Sales once estimated that he was hit by more than 25,000 pies in his lifetime. The gag became more than hilarious; it evolved into a hip badge of honor. Frank Sinatra was first in a long line of celebrities who clamored for the privilege to be cream-faced, including Tony Curtis, Mickey Rooney, Sammy Davis Jr., Dick Martin and Burt Lancaster.
Soupy's show was a big part of my childhood, partly because I could only watch it at my grandparent's house in Newark as we didn't get it in North Carolina. Watching Soupy was a big holiday tradition for us whenever we were in town. My dad thought he was the funniest man alive - until Flip Wilson came along.

Labels: , ,


CNN On Hate Crimes Passage

Dan Savage and NYC activist Corey Johnson joined Anderson Cooper last night to discuss the passage of the Matthew Shepard Act. Savage calls the bill's passage significant but a "largely symbolic" move that will give the Obama administration "cover" for future inaction. Corey Johnson agrees, pointing out that the hate crimes bill has had broad support in Congress for "many, many years," but that this is a "good first step. "

Personal note: I don't know how or when Corey got over to CNN last night, I was hanging out with him for much of the evening. Magic!

Labels: , ,


Thursday, October 22, 2009

Matthew Shepard Act PASSES, On Way To President's Desk

After years and years and years of work, tonight the Matthew Shepard Act passed its final congressional hurdle and at long last is on its way to President Obama's desk for final approval.

The Matthew Shepard Foundation rejoices:
Today, the United States Senate took an historic step toward ensuring justice for the victims of hate crimes targeted for violence due to their sexual orientation, gender, gender identity or disability.

“Dennis and I are extremely proud of the Senate for once again passing this historic measure of protection for victims of these brutal crimes,” said Judy Shepard, president of the Matthew Shepard Foundation Board. “Knowing that the president will sign it, unlike his predecessor, has made all the hard work this year to pass it worthwhile. Hate crimes continue to affect far too many Americans who are simply trying to live their lives honestly, and they need to know that their government will protect them from violence, and provide appropriate justice for victims and their families.”

By voting overwhelmingly to extend to these often-targeted Americans our nation’s decades-old bias crime legislation, senators sent the message that hate crimes will not go unpunished, and local governments and law enforcement agencies will not run out of financial resources to provide justice to these victims and their loved ones.
A wonderful day for LGBT people and a historic day for America! Onward to DADT, DOMA, and ENDA.

Labels: , , ,


NOM Sues Maine To Cloak Fundraising

Rather than comply with Maine's financial disclosure requirements, NOM is suing the state to overturn the law entirely.
The biggest contributor to the group trying to overturn Maine's gay marriage law is suing the state over its campaign reporting requirements. The state ethics commission voted Oct. 1 to take a closer look at contributions by the National Organization for Marriage after it was accused of circumventing Maine law by not reporting the names of many donors. The group responded with a constitutional challenge filed Wednesday in federal court in Bangor. The National Organization for Marriage is the biggest contributor to Stand for Marriage, which is leading a referendum drive to overturn Maine's gay marriage law. Joining in the lawsuit is a second group, American Principles in Action.
The case will not be decided until after the election. Of course.

Labels: , , , , ,


Talking Points From Maine's Yes On 1

Nate Silver provides the below list of insanity from Yes On 1's email to folks planning to call in to Maine's talk radio stations.
Nate Silver:
So, paraphrasing somewhat, the arguments that the Yes on 1 campaign seems to be making are as follows:

1. The new law won't make gay marriage equal to straight marriage. Instead, it will create a new kind of marriage in which gay people and straight people are equal.
2. Although we may not have proven any connection between gay marriage and public education, our opponents haven't disproven the connection, and it's their fault that the subject came up.
3. If gay marriage is upheld, then marriage will exist solely to make people happy.

These arguments run from the literally incoherent (#1) to the sublimely unpersuasive (#3), with #2 somewhere in between. Yet, they are, apparently, the best arguments that the Yes on 1 folks can muster -- the ones they're using to close out their campaign. The fact is that the overwhelming majority of people who dislike gay marriage do so for one of two reasons: either their religion has a taboo against homosexuality, or they find the practice gross. But "Adam and Eve, Not Adam and Steve" does not make for a good tagline in a "serious" political discussion.

Labels: , , , ,


Dominionist Lou Engle Coming To Maine

Good As You notes that evangelical freak show Lou Engle, who rabidly rallied his vacant-eyed troops over Prop 8, is coming to Maine. From Engle's site:
In 2007, in California, thousands of believers fasted for a 40-day period and prayed that God would restrain the spiritual powers that are behind the homosexual agenda and the drive to redefine marriage. Three days before the vote on Proposition 8, 30,000 people gathered together in solemn assembly to invoke heaven's assistance in the great heavenly battle as well as to pray for God's power to be released for the freedom and healing of thousands struggling with same-sex attraction who yearn to be transformed by Christ. Proposition 8 was upheld through the incredible mobilization of the state and we believe through divine assistance as well. [snip]

We know this is last minute, and we don’t have the time to make fancy fliers and websites. We also understand that everyone has already made their plans, but we are asking you to join us Friday and Saturday, October 23rd and 24th, to cry out to heaven and release a sound of deliverance for our land and our nation! We are asking you to burn with the urgency of the call and make the necessary sacrifice to join us. We are asking you to spread the word, to begin the fast, and gather with us over this weekend - whatever the cost may be!
Here's the clip Engle terrified his Christianist troops with for Prop 8. It's nightmarish. Engle is a "dominionist" who wants to install a Christian theocracy in the United States.

Labels: , , , , , ,


The Windows 7 Whopper

Burger King is promoting Microsoft's latest OS in Japan with the Windows 7 Whopper.
Confirming our belief that Japan is at once among the coolest and craziest places on this planet we all call home is Burger King's exclusive Windows 7 Whopper. Seven stacked beef patties extend your usual Whopper to over five inches in height and the whole thing costs an appropriate ¥777 (or $8.55). It'll be available for one week only -- or seven days, get it?

Labels: , , , ,


80's Flashback

Interboro Rhythm Team, Watch The Closing Doors, 1983. IRT's novelty rap/dance hit today provides an amusing look at the state of Manhattan in the early 80's as the vocalist counts off every stop on the 1 train from South Ferry to 137th Street. When Christopher Street/Sheridan Square comes up, he affects a fey accent: "Where all the boys go." Moments later his dismisses all three stops in the then-ungentrified Chelsea with "Not much happenin' here, no one gettin' on, no one gettin' off, no one got nothing to fear." 42nd Street (the "Deuce") is "the place to score" and the Upper West Side is "artists, actors, working class bores, watch the closing doors." Things get a little wild when the train reaches Harlem. True story: I used to run through Watch The Closing Doors in my head before I knew all 1 train stations.

Labels: , ,


Survey: Young People Hold Traditional Relationship Values (Gays Too!)

A survey conducted by the University of Minnesota reveals that young people continue to hold "traditional" values regarding love, monogamy, and commitment - regardless of their sexual orientation.
"Given increases in cohabitation, divorce and debates about same sex marriage, it is easy to think that traditional relationship values have gone out the window," said Ann Meier, U of M sociology professor and one of the study’s lead investigators. "In fact, young people still place a very high premium on love, faithfulness and commitment." The study found modest but significant differences by gender and sexual orientation in relationship values. Some of the findings included: Straight women valued faithfulness and lifelong commitment more than straight men.

Sexual minorities (gay men, lesbians and bisexuals) valued both slightly less than heterosexual women, but about the same as heterosexual men, and there were no significant differences among the different genders of sexual minorities when it came to faithfulness and lifelong commitment. “The lack of differences in the responses of gays and lesbians may be due to the fact that both groups share the legal obstacle to marriage – marriage tends to reinforce different gender norms, but if marriage is off the table, these gender differences may not exist,” said Meier. When all groups were compared, in most cases sexual minorities shared the same relationship values as straight men. It is straight women who appear to have values somewhat different from all other groups – they are particularly enthusiastic supporters of traditional relationship values.
(Tipped by JMG reader Andrew)

Labels: , , , ,


Sunday: Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand To Appear At NYC LGBT Center

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand will appear at NYC's LGBT Center at 3:30PM this Sunday, where she will speak about the repeal of DADT and DOMA.
As a New York progressive, Senator Gillibrand strongly believes in equal rights for all. Since her time in the House of Representatives, she has spoken out in support of full marriage equality, becoming one of the first members of the U.S. Senate to favor full marriage rights for same sex couples. In the U.S. Senate, Senator Gillibrand is working on an aggressive agenda to provide equal rights for all, including eliminating the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy in our armed forces, protecting people of all sexual orientations and gender identities from hate crimes and employment discrimination, and repealing the Defense of Marriage Act. This event is an opportunity for New York City’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender community leaders to meet your new Senator, learn more about her agenda and discuss your priorities.
To attend, RSVP at the above link.

Labels: , , , ,


Senate: Hate Crimes Act Achieves Cloture

Breaking news from HRC Backstory:
The U.S. Senate today achieved cloture (the procedural step to limit debate and proceed toward a vote) on the Department of Defense Authorization Conference Report of which the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act is a part by a vote of 64 to 35. The Senate will now proceed with debate on the Conference Report followed by a vote on final passage.
Almost there....

Labels: , , ,


NY Supreme Court Eases Name Change Rules For Transgenders

The State Supreme Court of New York has dropped the requirement that transgender individuals provide documentation from their doctor before changing their name.
The fund had brought the case on behalf of a transgender man, Olin Yuri Winn-Ritzenberg, who had petitioned the New York City Civil Court seeking to legally change his name from Leah Uri Winn-Ritzenberg. In February, a Civil Court judge in Manhattan, Manuel J. Mendez, denied the petition, ruling that Mr. Winn-Ritzenberg first had to provide a letter from a physician, psychologist or social worker documenting the “need” for the name change. Michael D. Silverman, the executive director of the transgender advocacy group, argued that the state’s common law generally allows an adult “to change his or her name at will, for any reason,” and that transgender petitioners like Mr. Winn-Ritzenberg were being held to a higher standard. About 10 other people, all in Manhattan, have approached the fund with similar reports of having their name-changing petitions denied for the same reason Judge Mendez gave.
Advocates for the rule change point out that for many gender is a social construct and that some transgender people do not desire hormone therapy or sexual reassignment surgery.

Labels: , ,


McCain Voters Wilted On Election Night

A study of men who voted for John McCain last November shows they experienced a "sharp drop" in their testosterone levels after the election results were announced.
By taking multiple saliva samples from 183 young men and women on election night, researchers found that the testosterone levels of men who voted for John McCain or Robert Barr dropped sharply 40 minutes after Obama was announced the winner. The testosterone levels of men who voted for Obama stayed the same throughout the evening. This could be significant because testosterone levels normally rise and fall throughout the day. The study, published in in PLOS One, is one of many that indicates a link between men's moods and testosterone, although which causes which is not clear. Women who voted for a losing candidate did not show a similar drop in testosterone, although in a questionnaire prepared by the researchers they reported feelings of unhappiness, of being controlled and feeling submissive similar to those remarked by men who voted for a losing candidate.
As John Aravosis says over on AmericaBlog, the jokes - they write themselves. In an unrelated but equally hilarious study, it's been demonstrated that men behind the wheel of flashy sports cars experience a huge surge in testosterone, even on streets where women can't see them. Scientists describe the vehicles as "sex signaling devices" that invoke an involuntary response for men to advertise themselves as good breeding stock. Or middle-aged.

Labels: , , ,


Key West Bound

Blogging will be relatively light for the next six days as the Key West Business Guild is bringing me down on a press junket to cover Fantasy Fest. I'll get some posts up tomorrow morning before I leave and probably a couple more during my layover at MIA. After that, it'll be intermittent poolside vacation blogging as the Guild has laid out an eye-popping schedule of events for myself and Father Tony, including snorkeling, parties, contests, pub crawls, historic tours, and even a day trip to the Dry Tortugas. I haven't been to Key West since 1994 and I'm eager to see how gay life there has changed. Full disclosure: The Guild is paying for our airfare, lodging, meals, excursions - the whole shebang. Fuller disclosure: I'm completely open to similar offers from the cities of Rio de Janeiro, Barcelona, Mykonos, Sitges.......

Labels: , , , ,


HUD Proposes New Rules To Protect Gays

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has proposed a series of new rules guaranteeing equal access to their programs regardless of gender identity or sexual orientation.

The initiatives announced today will be a proposed rule that will provide the opportunity for public comment. The proposed rule will:

  • clarify that the term "family" as used to describe eligible beneficiaries of our public housing and Housing Choice Voucher programs include otherwise eligible lesbian, gay, bi-sexual or transgender (LGBT) individuals and couples. HUD's public housing and voucher programs help more than three million families to rent an affordable home. The Department's intent to propose new regulations will clarify family status to ensure its subsidized housing programs are available to all families, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity.
  • require grantees and those who participate in the Department's programs to comply with local and state non-discrimination laws that cover sexual orientation or gender identity; and
  • specify that any FHA-insured mortgage loan must be based on the credit-worthiness of a borrower and not on unrelated factors or characteristics such as sexual orientation or gender identity.

In addition to issuance of proposed rule, HUD will commission the first-ever national study of discrimination against members of the LGBT community in the rental and sale of housing.

HUD says the discrimination study will be "fast-tracked."

Labels: , , , ,


Wingnuts Want Obama Kids Vaccinated For Swine Flu On Live Television

To prove that the shot isn't deadly. Or something.

Labels: , , , ,


Banks And KPMG Named In Madoff Suit

JPMorgan Chase, the Bank of New York, and the accounting firm of KPMG have been named as co-defendants in a lawsuit again super-crook Bernie Madoff.
"KPMG never blew the whistle on fraudulent conduct" at Madoff's British firm, Madoff Securities International Ltd, which the accounting firm audited. KPMG declined comment as did JPMorgan Chase. A representative for Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance, parent company of Openheimer and Tremont funds, could not immediately be reached for comment. The complaint, filed in New York State Supreme Court, also alleges "abuse of drugs and women as a pattern of conduct in the Madoff firm" - Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC in New York. "JPMorgan Chase, the complaint alleges, helped Madoff launder money between the United States and London -- almost $6 billion of investors' money," said Cotchett, whose law firm Cotchett, Pitre and McCarthy is based in Burlingame, California.
(Tipped by JMG reader Stash)

Labels: , , ,


NJ Gun Nut Busted For Obama Threats

Hours ahead of a presidential visit to New Jersey, a Newark International security guard has been arrested for making death threats against President Obama.
Gun-loving John Brek, 55, of Linden, N.J., was taken into custody after his co-workers reported a conversation they had at an airport coffee cart to authorities. He was charged under state law with making terroristic threats against the president. Brek is a Republican and a member of the National Rifle Association, his father told the Newark Star-Ledger. A search of Brek's home turned up 43 firearms - although they all appeared to be registered weapons, officials said. Obama is flying in Air Force One to Newark Airport for a Wednesday campaign stop with fellow Democrat Gov. John Corzine.
The guard is denying making any threats.

Labels: , , ,


Church Of Sweden To Marry Gays

The Lutheran Church of Sweden voted today to allow gays to marry in the church.
The decision, which is based on a proposal from the church’s governing board, means that the Church of Sweden will conduct wedding ceremonies for both heterosexual and homosexual couples. The proposal was approved by 176 of 249 voting members. The decision comes just three days after the 30th anniversary of the date when homosexuality stopped being classified as a disease in Sweden. “The Synod’s decision takes a stance in favour of an inclusive view of people. Regardless of whether one is religious or not, this affects the entire social climate and the view of people’s equal value,” Åsa Regnér, head of the Swedish Association for Sexuality Education (RFSU) - the country's largest gay rights group, said in a statement.
Local Catholic and Orthodox churches are unhappy:
"This is a step backwards, not only from Christian tradition, but also from all of the major world’s religions views of what marriage is,” writes Vicar Fredrik Emanuelson of the Catholic Church and Father Misha Jaksic, coordinator of the family of Orthodox Churches at the Christian Council of Sweden (CCS), in a joint statement.

Labels: , , ,


PhoboQuotable - Val Stevens

"Do you realize what is going on here? Consider the following: In 1970, (on the heels of a "free love" 60's radical culture) sodomy laws were repealed in Washington State, with government turning a blind eye to a behavior commonly considered perversion - and still the case with a majority of Americans. Organizations, such as NAMBLA, (North American Man Boy Love Association) appeared on the horizon seeking to repeal "age of consent" laws (NAMBLA is still in business today).

"Various pro-homosexual websites (most now taken down) have shown that homosexuals' real intent is to "normalize" homosexuality - which means pushing the lifestyle through public schools, beginning with elementary school-aged children. They will settle for nothing less than your full-scale acceptance - whether you like it or not! After 27 years of relentless pursuit, homosexuals finally received protected class status from the Washington State Legislature in 2006, making it illegal for you to refuse to rent them a house, or hire them on account of their homosexuality.

"Canada already has laws making it illegal to speak against homosexuality on the streets. Bills exist presently in the U.S. Congress to do the same. In the last few weeks a Canadian church pastor was arrested for speaking against homosexuality. Now do you see what's happening? Like the proverbial frog who ends up paralyzed and unable to get out of the water as he waits too long and the temperature reaches boiling - the homosexuals have been winning incrementally, taking their time, while we've been asleep at the wheel." - Washington state Sen. Val Stevens, in a letter published on the site of Protect Marriage Washington.

Labels: , , , ,


Gay City News Disses Bloomberg, Endorses Bill Thompson For NYC Mayor

Saying Mayor Bloomberg's actions on gay marriage "are at sharp odds with his words," NYC's sole remaining LGBT newsweekly, Gay City News, has endorsed City Comptroller Bill Thompson for mayor. One of the reasons for the snub of Bloomberg is his support for upstate Republicans who may have blocked progress on marraige equality.
In 2005, at the same time the mayor decided to appeal a Manhattan district court judge’s pro-gay marriage ruling, for the first time he announced his support for marriage equality and pledged to lobby Albany to secure that right. That December, he told Gay City News, “When I say I’ll do something, I’ll do something.”

Yet since that statement, Bloomberg has contributed nearly $3.4 million to support the state Republican and Independence Parties, the bulk of those dollars directly funding State Senate Republican incumbents, at a time when that party’s majority refused to bring marriage equality to a floor vote. A $1.2 million Bloomberg contribution to the Independence Party last year was used to support the three most stridently anti-gay Republican senators. The mayor’s support for one of them, Frank Padavan of Queens, helped him squeak out a victory over Democratic City Councilman James Gennaro, a vocal supporter of equal marriage rights.

It’s fair to note that there are marriage equality opponents among the Senate Democrats, too, and that even after gaining the majority last November, their party did not deliver a floor vote. But it’s a good bet that had Gennaro and perhaps another Democrat or two prevailed in 2008, the two disgraceful senators who this past summer crippled a body riven by a 32-30 split would not have had their opportunity. The best information available to Gay City News indicates that without that disruption, Senator Thomas K. Duane would have gotten the marriage equality vote he seeks.

Labels: , , ,


Barney Frank On Wall Street Pay Limits

Labels: , , ,


Today In Gratuitous Beefcake

Labels: , ,


Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL) To Name Names (Of The Dead....)

Weeks after he announced that the GOP plan for health care reform was for people to "die quickly," Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL) is unveiling a website titled Names Of The Dead, where families and loved ones can share stories about those lost due to lack of proper health care access.
"Every year, more than 44,000 Americans die simply because [they] have no health insurance," the Website says. "I have created this project in their memory. I hope that honoring them will help us end this senseless loss of American lives. If you have lost a loved one, please share the story of that loved one with us. Help us ensure that their legacy is a more just America, where every life that can be saved will be saved." Grayson's comment on the House floor last month that "Republicans want you to die quickly if you get sick" drew immediate condemnation from Republicans -- but has made him something of a hero to some on the left. He has refused to apologize for his comment, and has stepped up his criticism by saying that he would only apologized "to the dead and their families" because of "this holocaust in America."

Labels: , , , ,


Open Thread Thursday

Six months ago I asked, "How's the recession treating you?" If you believe some of the talking heads, the economy has turned around a bit of late. Are you buying that? Has your personal situation improved or worsened in the last six months? How about your outlook?

Labels: ,


Wednesday, October 21, 2009

HomoQuotable - Rachel Maddow

"The women in American cable news look like a beauty pageant. I'm not very pretty. I sorta look like a dude, and I have short hair, and I wear boring gray jackets, and I have a big nose. No one's gonna confuse me with a Fox News anchor. No one's gonna call me the anything-Honey." - Rachel Maddow, quoted by the NY Daily News. Speaking as a Kinsey 5.9, I think Rachel's hawt.

Labels: , , , ,


80's Flashback

Miquel Brown, So Many Men, So Little Time, 1983. As what some say was the first breakout hit of the post-disco Hi-NRG genre, So Many Men, So Little Time is considered to this day to be a gay dance classic. This, despite the fact that gay DJs nationwide ceased playing it upon the onset of the AIDS epidemic, as its lyrics hit too close to home. DJs dropped it not merely for the song's celebration of promiscuity, but also for its titular dead knell. So Many Men was a European pop chart topper, selling two million copies, and hit #1 on Billboard's U.S. dance chart. I liked it when it was new, but I'll admit that today it gives me chills. Cute video, though.

Labels: , ,


But Interracial Prostitution Is OK!

Sen. David "Diaper Boy" Vitter (R-LA) is the only senior elected official from Louisiana who has not denounced the local justice of the peace who refused to marry an interracial couple. And he won't do it here, either.

Labels: , , , ,


Absentee Ballot Requests Overwhelm Maine's Election Officials

Election officials in Maine say they are being "overwhelmed" with requests for absentee ballots and that half of the state's voters may have voted by election day.
Political experts said the push to vote absentee is changing the way campaigns are run, and a whole new strategy has arisen because of it. "It's possible now that half the voters will have voted by Election Day," said Dennis Bailey, a political consultant. During a leaf-letting campaign on Saturday for Question 1, which voters will decide whether to allow same-sex marriages in Maine, supporters of the No on 1 campaign went door-to-door to ask voters if they wanted an absentee ballot sent to them. Experts said there's a reason why campaigns want voters to vote early. "You want to use your resources strategically to get as many as you can before then," Bailey said. "So, on Election Day, you can still target and drive out the voters but you'll be happy to know that almost half of your voters are already out and you know who they are." It's a matter of public record to find out who has already voted and who has not. Campaigns are getting daily or weekly lists from City Halls across the state so they know who has already voted and who they can still pursue.
Let's hope this works out in our favor. I'm hearing a similar situation is unfolding in Washington state.

Labels: , , ,


Christianists Call For California School Boycott Over Harvey Milk Day

Christianist outfit Save California has issued a call for parents to "boycott" California's public schools over last week's approval of Harvey Milk Day by Gov. Schwarzenegger. Via the American Family Association's "news site" OneNewsNow:
Randy Thomasson, president of SaveCalifornia.com, tells OneNewsNow he is calling for a boycott over a law designed to force students to honor a deceased homosexual activist. "With Harvey Milk Gay Day now the law for California government schools, and a handful of sexual indoctrination laws already existing that are in effect throughout the entire school year, parents have to at least boycott Harvey Milk Day or days or week," Thomasson urges. The boycott, he says, needs to be established by parents to protect their children, but also to drive home a point that they do not want their children indoctrinated with a pro-homosexual philosophy. Thomasson feels that taking students out of the government school system is the only way to accomplish this protection. He adds that parents also need to be aware of the quality of education their children are receiving in California. Thomasson reports that "on the academic chart, California is among the lowest academically in the country. On the sexual indoctrination chart, California leads the pack with Massachusetts following."
Thomasson believes that Harvey Milk Day will strike so much terror into parents that they will begin home schooling or send their kids to private religious schools.

Labels: , , , , ,


Steak House Or Gay Bar?

Today's time waster. Maybe a little unfair if you know a lot of gay bars.

(Tipped by JMG reader Croft)

Labels: ,


New Ad For Approve R-71

A very strong new ad has just been released by Washington Families Standing Together.

Labels: , ,


NY Gov. Paterson To Ask State Senate To Vote On Marriage Next Week

According to his aides, New York Gov. David Paterson plans to ask state Senators to finally vote on same-sex marriage during a special session he's called for next week. Democrats continue to hold a slim 32-30 majority in the Senate after Sen. Hiram Monserrate (D) somehow evaded a felony conviction last week for slashing his girlfriend in the face, which would have resulted in his automatic removal.

Monserrate may yet face expulsion over the incident; a bipartisan panel has been formed to determine what discipline he will receive, if any. He has supported same-sex marriage in the past, but was one of the three Democrats who briefly defected to the Republican side of the aisle in June in a power struggle for control of the Senate.

Even with a slight Democratic majority, getting the necessary votes to approve same-sex marriage is highly doubtful, thanks in large part to the work of Democratic anti-gay evangelist Sen. Ruben Diaz. However openly gay Sen. Thomas Duane has frequently stated that he thinks a few Republicans would vote our way, so hope, however slight, persists. My complete file on this Clown Car called the New York Senate is here.

Labels: , , , ,


U.S. Census Reaches Out To Philadelphia's Gays For 2010 Count

The U.S. Census Bureau has placed yellow stickers on the current issue of the Philadelphia Gay News in a test run of an ad campaign encouraging LGBT folks to participate. Via Advocate:
The October 9-15 edition of the weekly paper features a yellow sticker advertisement placed prominently on the upper right-hand corner of the page. It reads, "By filling out the census form, more benefits will come to our community. Show your pride this March." Yvette Nunez, a media specialist for the Philadelphia Census Bureau, said that the federally funded ad was placed after meeting with PGN publisher Mark Segal. "The sticker idea came up, and appears to be very effective because it's smacked right on the front page, and readers actually have to move it to read the article beneath it," she told Advocate.com on Tuesday. "We're definitely on board, and what we're also excited about, for the Philadelphia Gay News, was that the ad was placed during Outfest, which is a large event here in the region covered by the paper."
According to a Philly-based representative of the Census Bureau, the city will see similar campaigns targeting other minority communities.

Labels: , , ,


Adam Lambert - Time For Miracles

Here's Adam Lambert's first post-Idol single, the theme song from the coming apocalypse film 2012. Meh. Who wrote this, Diane Warren? Andy Towle warns that this clip may not be around on YouTube very long, so watch it now while you can. Maybe the inevitable dance remix will be better.

Labels: , ,


NC: Country Singer Banned After Anti-Gay Song At City Festival

Pam Spaulding reports that country singer Matt Boswell and his Hillbilly Blues Band have been banned from future performances by the city of Reidsville, North Carolina after a live broadcast from a city festival where he performed an altered version of a Merle Haggard song that included the anti-gay lyric, "And you can't get married, you stupid gays and queers, so why don't you go somewhere else?"

The most interesting thing about this little incident is that a small town in North Carolina did the right thing afterwards. That's got to give you some hope.

Labels: , , ,


Billy Elliot, With A Gay Twist

Ah, here's a mental palate cleanser to all of the evil in the posts below. Two gays dads in Canada adopted a boy from an abusive home seven years ago. Today the kid is a dance prodigy headed for the National Ballet.
Thomas Jones and Rob Gibson are acutely aware that they are setting themselves up for a barrage of "nature versus nurture" jokes whenever they tell people their son is a budding ballet prodigy. So be it, though. Their adopted offspring, James Gibson-Jones, appears destined for some species of ballet greatness, having been snapped up by the National Ballet of Canada this fall after just two years of lessons. He began dabbling in dance at the urging of teachers and family friends in Bowmanville, who sensed an affinity for rhythm and performance in the charismatic 11-year-old with the "classic Billy Elliot build." Gibson, for one, knows it's going to raise eyebrows, bringing up the (pink) elephant in the room – actually a typical suburban backyard fraught with excitable golden retrievers – unprompted and in good humour. "That was the first thing that I thought of," he chuckles. "Here are the two gay men and their son, the dancer. There are those stereotypes: `We're recruiting.' `Only gay men dance.' Things like that. I just find that incredibly funny. We didn't even push him in dance. We were thinking gymnastics because he was so flexible." "Nobody's actually brought it up," shrugs Jones. "But if it happens, it happens. So be it."
Read the entire story for a sweetness overload.

Labels: , , ,


Guilty Plea In Upstate NY Gay Bashing

Just as his assault trial was to begin, gay basher Joshua Holts was allowed to plead guilty to a lesser charge and now faces seven years in prison.
Joshua Holts pleaded guilty Monday to felony assault for beating a gay man outside a Springville bar last year, leaving the victim with facial injuries that required four surgeries. As Erie County Judge Thomas P. Franczyk was about to start his nonjury trial, Holts pleaded guilty to second-degree assault for the Aug. 3, 2008, beating. Holts, 26, a former Holland resident who recently moved to Poinciana Parkway in Cheektowaga, faces up to seven years in prison. Franczyk refused to give him a sentencing commitment but allowed Holts, a meat supervisor at a supermarket chain, to remain free on previously posted bail pending his Jan. 11 sentencing.Prosecutor Robin J. Deubler said Holts’ 48-year-old victim just underwent his fourth surgery to try to correct the left eye damage and partial facial paralysis caused by the attack. The victim, a carpet installer from Atlanta, was back home visiting his mother the day of the assault. Deubler said the victim likely will need further surgery.
Note the lack of hate crimes charges, despite the fact that a surveillance camera caught the attack and recorded Holts screaming anti-gay slurs.

Labels: , ,


WWII Hero Speaks Out For Maine

I posted this clip back in May, but it's rocketing back around the web this morning, so here it is again. Watch as an 86 year-old WWII veteran describes why he supports marriage equality in Maine. "The woman at my polling place asked me do I believe in equality for gay and lesbian people. I was pretty surprised to be asked a question like that. It made no sense to me. Finally I asked her: what do you think I fought for in Omaha Beach?" Wait for the very end.

Labels: , , ,


Pat Robertson: Gays Don't Want To Get Married, They Want To Destroy Marriage

Labels: , , , , ,


Death Threats Against Obama Soar

The Secret Service is handling so many death threats against the president, they are in danger of being overwhelmed. Some even say the basic mission of the Secret Service should be changed.
The unprecedented number of death threats against President Obama, a rise in racist hate groups, and a new wave of antigovernment fervor threaten to overwhelm the US Secret Service, according to government officials and reports, raising new questions about the 144-year-old agency’s overall mission. The Secret Service is tracking a far broader range of possible threats to the nation’s leaders, the officials said, even as it also investigates financial crimes such as counterfeiting as part of its original mandate. The new demands are leading some officials, both inside and outside the agency, to raise the possibility of the service curtailing or dropping its role in fighting financial crime to focus more on protecting leaders and their families from assassination attempts and thwarting terrorist plots aimed at high-profile events. “If there were an evaluation of the service’s two missions, it might be determined that it is ineffective . . . to conduct its protection mission and investigate financial crimes,’’ according to a inter nal report issued in August by the Congressional Research Service.

Labels: , , ,


Improv Everywhere - Grocery Store Musical

Labels: , , ,


Olbermann: 57% Want Public Option

As usual, Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY) says it well. He's also been a great ally of the LGBT community and has shown up at every anti-bashing rally I've attended.

Labels: , , , ,


Quote Of The Day - Louis Farrakhan

"The Earth can't take 6.5 billion people. We just can't feed that many. So what are you going to do? Kill as many as you can. We have to develop a science that kills them and makes it look as though they died from some disease." - Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, saying that the swine flu vaccine was designed to kill people.

Labels: , , , ,


Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Maddow On Maine Marriage Fight

Labels: , , , ,


910-308-7619

It's not too late to call Donna Miller (910-308-7619) at the Concerned Women for America and book your seat at Saturday's annual dinner for Peter LaBarbera's Americans For Truth About Homosexuality. None other than Matt Barber will be on hand to promote his new memoir, The Right Hook: From The Ring To The Culture War. (Sadly, there are no reviews on Amazon yet. Go ahead, review it!) If you don't want to buy a ticket from Donna (910-308-7619), you can join the Gay Liberation Network at their protest. But you probably would rather help Donna sell out the event: 910-308-7619.

UPDATE: Porno Pete is positively quivering with rage that I'm helping promote his gay soiree.
Folks, imagine if a Christian or conservative group publicized the phone number of a homosexual employee taking calls for a “gay” organization’s fundraiser, in an obvious attempt to harass the person and the group. Such a dirty trick rightly would be condemned by pro-family and conservative leaders as beyond the pale. Well, check out this little bit of nastiness by New York City-based atheist homosexual blogger Joe Jervis, creator of the “Joe.My.God” website [WARNING: this is a very dirty and vulgar website]. Jervis posts (North Carolina-based) AFTAH staffer Donna Miller’s phone number FOUR times in a 100-word post. Creepy. Homosexual militants love to rail against Christian “hate”– falsely equating traditional beliefs about homosexuality with malice and bigotry. But if this isn’t true hate and harassment, then nothing is. (If you have a thick stomach, check out the mean and twisted comments, mostly targeting Barber, that follow Jervis’ post.)
Petey, here's where your analogy is wrong: I don't work for any LGBT or progressive group. I only represent myself. And believe it or not, I genuinely would love for your event to sell out with the readers of this here website thingy. Sure would liven things up, no? And you must be hurting for advance sales, I found that phone number on at least four sites today - it's not exactly a secret, you plugged it again today yourself. It's more than a little bit hilarious for a person who devotes each and every day of his life to causing pain and unhappiness for his fellow Americans to get the fainting vapors when someone else reposts his own message, almost verbatim. But hey, at least for once you didn't call me a "leatherman." Thanks for that, I've gotten a lot of ribbing from my friends over it.

UPDATE II: Dan Savage weighs in.

Labels: , , , ,


80's Flashback

808 State, Pacific State, 1989. Some point to this now-classic track as ushering in the era of "chillout house" and predicting the advent of Chicane, my favorite 90's act. Pacific State reached #10 on the UK singles chart, a position 808 State would hit three more times with The Only Rhyme That Bites, In Yer Face, and the acid house smash Cubic. Shortly after recording Pacific State, 808 State founding member Gerald Simpson split to create A Guy Called Gerald, resulting in another classic of the genre, Voodoo Ray, which became the UK's biggest selling indie single of 1989. In 1993 I attended a rave in Miami's Bayfront Park called Divine Playground, during which 808 State frontman Graham Massey sat on the edge of the stage, mimed playing an un-miked acoustic guitar, and screamed at the unresponsive crowd, "C'mon Mi-ah-mi! Dis ish dansh mooshic!" We called it "dansh mooshic" for quite a while after that.

Labels: , ,


Pope Invites Anti-Gay Anglicans To Join His Extra-Anti-Gay Church

Seizing upon the rift over gays in the Anglican Church, Ill Papa Palpatine has invited gay-haters to join his Super Hate Club.
In an extraordinary bid to lure traditionalist Anglicans en masse, the Vatican on Tuesday announced that it would make it easier for Anglicans who are uncomfortable with their church’s acceptance of women priests and openly gay bishops to join the Roman Catholic Church. A new canonical entity will allow groups of Anglicans “to enter full communion with the Catholic Church while preserving elements of the distinctive Anglican spiritual and liturgical patrimony,” Cardinal William Levada, the prefect for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, said at a news conference here.

Though both Catholic and Anglican leaders sought on Tuesday to present the move as a more coherent, unified response to those seeking conversion, the Vatican appeared to have announced the move to the Anglican Communion only in recent weeks and as a fait accompli. And many Anglican and Catholic leaders expressed surprise, even shock, at something they said would undermine efforts at ecumenical dialogue and capitalize on deep divisions within the Anglican Church over issues like the ordination of gay bishops and blessing same-sex unions.

The move could have wide impact in England, where large numbers of traditionalist Anglicans have protested the Church of England’s embrace in recent years of liberal theological reforms like ordaining women bishops. These Anglicans, and others in places like Australia, might be attracted to the Roman Catholic fold because they have had nowhere else to go. If entire parishes or even dioceses leave the Church of England for the Catholic church, it will probably set off battles over ownership of church buildings and land.
The above-linked articles speculates about American Episcopalians that "proportionally fewer would be eager to join the Catholic fold" than members of Church of England.

Labels: , , , ,


R-71 Names Battle Referred To Full Supreme Court

Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy has referred the R-71 names battle to the full Court for review.
Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy on Tuesday referred to the full Supreme Court a request t0 block the release of names of people who signed petitions seeking to overturn Washington's new "everything but marriage" same-sex domestic partner law. David Ammons, spokesman for Secretary of State Sam Reed, confirmed that Kennedy had referred the matter to the full High Court but had no further details. Gary Randall of the Faith and Freedom Network, which asked for the stay, said in an e-mail to supporters Tuesday morning: "This is very positive." Janelle Guthrie, spokeswoman for state Attorney General Rob McKenna, said it's not uncommon for a justice to refer an application to the entire court. "While they are frequently denied, they are sometimes granted," she said in an e-mail. On Monday, Kennedy blocked Washington state officials from releasing the names of people who signed petitions to get Referendum 71 on the ballot. Kennedy's decision stopped a federal appeals court ruling last week that ordered the release of the names. Kennedy said his order would remain in effect while he considers a request by a group that asked him to reverse the appeals court ruling.
As noted above, it remains to be seen whether the Court will accept the case. Of course, if they do agree to hear it, the election will likely be long over.

Labels: , , ,


20% Of Polled Identify As Republicans

From a story about an ABC News/Washington Post poll about attitudes on health care reform comes this little nugget: "Only 20 percent of adults identify themselves as Republicans, little changed in recent months, but still the lowest single number in Post-ABC polls since 1983."

Labels: , ,


House Bill Would Cut Funding To States That Oppose LGBT Adoption

Rep. Pete Stark (D-CA) has introduced a bill that would restrict federal child welfare funding from any state that discriminates against LGBT people attempting to adopt.
Stark said in an interview that he introduced the legislation, H.R. 3827, in part because thousands of children each year "age out" of the child welfare system without finding homes. "We got 25,000 kids a year maturing out of the welfare system without permanent foster care or adoptive care, and the prospects of those children having a successful adult life are diminished greatly," he said. "These are kids who end up in the criminal justice system, or end up homeless."

States with explicit restrictions on adoption that the pending legislation would affect are Utah, Florida, Arkansas, Nebraska and Mississippi. Florida, for example, has a statute specifically prohibiting gays from adopting, and in Arkansas, voters last year approved Act 1, which prevents unmarried co-habitating couples, including same-sex partners, from adopting children. The legislation, Stark said, also would restrict funds for states where restrictions are put in place by agencies, individual social workers or judges, or where restrictions are part of the common law of the state. For states that don't comply with the law, federal officials could withhold from the states funds provided to them for child welfare services. The bill also calls for a Government Accountability Office study within five years to examine how states are complying with the new rules.
Stark rates the chances of his bill passing as "pretty good," but no hearing is yet planned. A spokesman for the HRC said they'll get behind the bill if it gains traction in Congress.

Labels: , , , ,


Gay Irish Sports Hero: Taunts Have Driven My Mother Away From Games

Irish sports hero Donal Og Cusack, who came out yesterday in advance of the publication of his autobiography, today reveals that homophobic abuse from fans in the stands has driven his mother away from attending his matches.
Donal Og recalled the moment he was waiting to take a free at a championship game in Semple Stadium, when a man started up a hate-filled chant on a megaphone. Team-mate Diarmuid O'Sullivan later asked guards to throw the culprit out and Denis Walsh wrote him a letter about it. "And that's what gets to you," Donal Og said. "Other people. I leaned over the free and took it and struck it well. I have trained for this, but my father is in the back of my mind. "Yerra though, he's tough, he'll get through it." But, he then revealed: "My mother doesn't go to games anymore. The stress is too much. My sister Treasa has been deeply upset a few times by what she has heard. I hate what it does to those around me, especially when it doesn't hurt me at all." Despite the abuse he has had to endure, he said he got the feeling that "something good" should come of it. He said he accepted it was "human nature" and was not going to change. He developed a mental strategy for dealing with it -- "trigger points" so that when he hears abuse positive thoughts come into his head instead. "Mostly it's just the same f***ing thing," he said. "The fellas that want to hurt you will go for the personal stuff. Calling you queer, ingenious stuff like that.
Cusack remains defiant: "It makes no difference to me if you call me Brokeback... and if there are a hundred or a thousand hurlers or rugby players or camogie players out there in their teens, struggling with the idea of what they are, I hope they'll know that fools with megaphones or runny mouths just don't count."

Labels: , , , ,


HomoQuotable - Elton John

"I made the mistake of not having sex until I was 23! I loved being with another man and felt relieved that I finally knew who I was. I made the mistake of falling in love too soon because I was naive and romantic. My advice to you is to never chase love. It will find you when you least expect it. Have fun, have lots of safe sex and enjoy your sexuality. Be proud of who you are. I made a lot of mistakes. Stay away from drugs, they’re a waste of time. Stand up for every human being’s rights. Be loving, kind and strong. Set an example. You’re going to have one hell of a life!” - Elton John, from a coming anthology titled Dear Me: A Letter To My 16 Year-Old Self.

What would you say to your 16 year-old self?

Labels: , , ,