Sarah Palin: We Are ALL Teabaggers

What's with the leather Harley jacket? Palin says the controversy over her gunfire rhetoric is just a "ginned up controversy invented by the lamestream media."

Where Europe's Denominations Dominate

Here's the European version of the map I posted earlier in the week. Green dots mean more Catholics, blue dots mean more Protestants.

UPDATE: I'm not really getting this map either. Maybe someone can suss out the methodology at the source.

NYC Meets The $20 Movie Ticket

All these 3D/IMAX movies have pushed ticket prices to near $20 in NYC.

The cost of movie tickets is rising this weekend, with seats for the IMAX 3-D cartoon "How To Train Your Dragon" soaring to $19.50 for adults at one Brooklyn theater. And movie fans say it's Hollywood robbery. "It's pretty absurd that in this economy, they want to charge that much for a movie," said Yelena Mandenberg, 20, of Brooklyn. Some New York theaters are boosting the price for IMAX 3-D movies by $5 a ticket, according to a survey by analyst Richard Greenfield of BTIG. The jump wasn't that steep at the AMC Kips Bay on Manhattan's East Side, but patrons there will find a top price of $19.50 for adults and $16 for kids. That's $71 for mom, dad and two kids to see one film - not counting popcorn - up from the previous cost of $59.

Regular admission tickets at most houses in NYC hovers around $13.

RELATED: It should be noted that most of the "IMAX" theaters in NYC are what critics call LieMAX, regular sized auditoriums with slightly bigger screens and the IMAX aspect ratio. The only "real IMAX" house in Manhattan is the AMC Loews Lincoln Square. There was somewhat of a riot at the AMC in Times Square on the opening day of the most recent Star Trek after fanboys waited in line for hours only to find a regular house once inside. It appears that IMAX will license their name to anybody willing to make slight tweaks to the presentation.

Eurovision 2010: The UK's Josh Dubovie

The UK hasn't won Eurovision since 1997's comeback by Katrina & The Waves. And I suspect that this is not their year again. I suspect it a LOT. Stand back, the cheese is mighty.

Commenting On JMG

Folks, traffic on this here website thingy has more than doubled in the last year and our already comparatively high volume of commenting has zoomed along with that, usually running about 900 - 1000+ comments per weekday. As I simply don't have the time to monitor 25,000+ comments per month, please take this post as my semi-annual caution and plea for restraint.

As the longtime regulars know, I consider our very lightly moderated community of commenters to be the single-most important facet of this blog's success, however you want to measure that. We don't require registration, we allow anonymous messages, and yes, on many occasions that openness can drag the level of discourse down to third grade YouTubery. But as some here already know, I believe in owning our own asshats, rather than censoring them. Troublemakers and trolls may cause a ruckus just because they find it amusing, but such assholery is instructive to the rest of us that not only is our community fractured on many issues, it also contains some total douchenozzles. I'd rather let them expose themselves by their own words than sanitize the comments with rampant bannings and deletions.

That said, there ARE a couple of ironclad rules here. First and most importantly, you simply MAY NOT post the personal information of any person, whether they are a private citizen or public official. This includes home addresses, personal email addresses, and personal phone numbers. Information about elected officials, corporate executives, and members of activist groups (on either side) such as their office numbers, their work email addresses, and their office addresses may be posted. Secondly, you must not make physical threats, however empty, against specific individuals, companies, or organizations. Laws regarding such internet threats, even anonymous ones, are evolving towards prosecutions. Do not risk it. If you see such postings here, please alert me at once by email.

Bishop Francesco Nolè: Gay People Don't Deserve Funerals

Italian Bishop Francesco Nolè says that "irregular" people like homosexuals don't deserve to be honored with a funeral.

In an interview published last Friday on pontifex.roma.it, a website created to ‘prove and defend Christianity’, Bishop Francesco Nolè declared that ‘irregulars’ such as criminals and homosexuals should not be given communions or funerals. This, he said, is not to be seen as discrimination, but rather as ‘healthy medicine’ for those close to the person: “Our behaviour, which could be perceived as mean or cruel, in the long-run often heals and evangelises.” He added: “We must have the courage and tact, perhaps first informing the individual, or the families if he has passed, that it’s not possible to administer a communion or funeral. We would perhaps pray for his soul, which must be done.”

The above-linked story notes that the bishop's remarks came two days after members of the Vatican were exposed as part of a male prostitution ring.

TEXAS: Gay Jesus Play Canceled

And the censors win. Last night Tarleton State University of Texas issued this brief press release:

The four student-directed plays, including “Corpus Christi,” scheduled to be performed at Tarleton State University on Saturday, March 27, 2010, have been canceled this evening by the professor. The professor cited safety and security concerns for the students as well as the need to maintain an orderly academic environment as reasons for canceling the plays. The performance of these four class plays will not be rescheduled.

The cancellation came directly after Texas Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst blasted the production: "Every citizen is entitled to the freedom of speech, but no one should have the right to use government funds or institutions to portray acts that are morally reprehensible to the vast majority of Americans."

And that's that. Apparently, in Texas one cannot even put on a play of their own choosing at 8am on a Saturday morning to a private audience. I expect this will embolden the Christianists. What will be their next target?

Rep. Alan Grayson: The GOP Has Nothing Left But Fear & Hatred

Grayson: "It's time to get rid of Republicans entirely."

Quote Of The Day - Peter LaBarbera

"What about the hateful rhetorical attacks against me and AFTAH and nasty shibboleths that come routinely from the Left? 'Porno Pete'? Honestly, this is the type of malicious, hateful slander I experience on a daily basis (it is analogous in its ugliness to Phelps’ use of the term “Fag”). It appears the SPLC has a glaring double standard that you are now defiantly telegraphing to the world: principled, religious conservatives qualify as 'haters,' while even the most vicious liberal activists get a free pass. On that point: has SPLC ever cited a homosexual activist group like ACT UP for 'hateful' actions/assaults against religious groups? Have you investigated malicious websites like Joe Jervis’ 'Joe.My.God' blog — which revels in grotesque smears against AFTAH and other Christian conservatives?" - Peter LaBarbera, complaining to the Southern Poverty Law Center about his recent designation as an official hate site.

LaBarbera clearly doesn't like my near-daily habit of "smearing" Christian conservatives by quoting their idiocy verbatim. They hang themselves by their own words, Petey, and I rarely need to do more than provide a photo and a headline. If that's hate, you need to speak to my team of writers: Matt Barber, Tony Perkins, Brian Brown, Harry Jackson, Pat Robertson, James Dobson....and YOU.

Students Protest Against Gay Teen Derrick Martin Attending His Prom

While Derrick Martin's high school has grudgingly admitted that they had no rule in place to block him from bringing his boyfriend to the prom, some of his fellow students still don't want him there. In fact, they've held an anti-Derrick rally.

The rally’s organizer, Amber Duskin, sent text messages to high school students Wednesday asking them to show up. The senior said she asked her high school to return her prom ticket money and does not plan to attend because of Martin. “I don’t believe in going up there and dancing with gay guys like that,” she said. “It’s also not just him bringing a boy. It was bringing all this attention to it.” A group of college students also stopped by the rally but not to protest. “We’re for it,” said Carly Nobles, a Middle Georgia College student. “It takes a lot for someone to come out (as gay). “This is a small town. Some of these students are sheltered, and I don’t think they can think for themselves.” Martin said talk at school Thursday was that the prom committee may do away with the traditional “walk through” when students and their dates are announced as they enter the prom. He’s also heard some students are trying to have a separate prom.

Saying they are upset about all the attention, Derrick's parents have kicked him out of the house and he is staying with friends for now. Two bright moments in this story is that tonight Derrick will be the guest of honor at a concert held by the Atlanta Gay Men's Chorus. And Derrick also reports that Ellen DeGeneres has invited him to appear on her show.

TEXAS: Gay Jesus Play Protests Escalate

Merely moving the single performance of Terrance McNally's Corpus Cristi to the ungodly (heh) hour of 8:00am wasn't good enough for the censorious students of Tarleton State in Texas. Via Christian Newswire:

Thousands of Catholic students and concerned parents are calling for the cancellation of a blasphemous play at Tarleton State University in Texas. The offensive production Corpus Christi portrays Christ and the twelve Apostles as homosexuals. Since its 1998 premier the play by Terrence McNally has provoked controversy, outrage and protest. New protest is erupting now as Tarleton State University plans to host the play on Saturday morning, March 27, shortly before the beginning of Holy Week, when Catholics honor the Passion of Jesus Christ. Among those calling for the cancelation of the play is a Catholic group called The American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family and Property -- TFP. Its student members launched an online petition yesterday inviting people to send protest emails to the university. Thousands have already done so at www.tfpstudentaction.org.

"No. Blasphemy is not free speech," the petition reads. "I vehemently oppose the production of the blasphemous play Corpus Christi at Tarleton State University, which includes a Christ-like figure who reportedly has sexual relations with his Apostles," it continues. "The Person of Jesus Christ is sacred and untouchable. To portray Him as a homosexual is an unspeakable blasphemy, which I reject with all my soul." "With this play Tarleton State University is offending the honor of Our Lord, the Apostles, and 68 million Catholics," said TFP Student Action director John Ritchie. "What makes it even worse is the fact that it's taking place right before Holy Week. When it comes to Our Lord, I don't find any tolerance here," he continued.

Actually, blasphemy IS free speech. Jesus Fucking Christ, it's the most enjoyable goddamn kind of free speech there is.

Anti-HCR Teabagger Mike Vanderboegh Is On Government-Paid Disability

Alabama "militiaman" and popular teabagger blogger Mike Vanderboegh calls for his followers to smash Democratic offices. Some are blaming him for the incidents that have already occurred.

"To all modern Sons of Liberty: THIS is your time. Break their windows. Break them NOW. If you wish to send a message that Pelosi and her party [that they] cannot fail to hear, break their windows. Break them NOW. Break them and run to break again. Break them under cover of night. Break them in broad daylight. Break them and await arrest in willful, principled civil disobedience. Break them with rocks. Break them with slingshots. Break them with baseball bats. But BREAK THEM."

Man, he REALLY doesn't want the federal government helping those in need, does he? Oh, except when that person in need is Mike Vanderboegh.

Vanderboegh said he once worked as a warehouse manager but now lives on government disability checks. He said he receives $1,300 a month because of his congestive heart failure, diabetes and hypertension. He has private health insurance through his wife, who works for a company that sells forklift products. Born in Michigan and raised in Ohio, Vanderboegh said he was not always a libertarian. He once was active in the Young Socialist Alliance and the Progressive Labor Party. “In my youth, I was a communist,” he said. But in the mid-1970s, Vanderboegh read Friedrich von Hayek’s “The Road to Serfdom,” among other books, and had an epiphany. “From that point on, I could never take Marxism-Leninism seriously again,” Vanderboegh said.

Vanderboegh is calling for an armed march on Washington DC next month. Overthrow those socialists! But OMG, Mike! What about YOUR FUCKING CHECK?

"Confederate Southern Americans" Want Official U.S. Census Recognition

You can't make it up. Proud Southern descendants of the fight to preserve slavery (among other things) want their own "Confederate nationality" recognized on the census.

Are you tired of Anti-Southern discrimination and bigotry directed at Southern people? Are you tired of being called a racist simply because you are proud of the Confederate Battle flag - the symbol of your ancestry and heritage? The Southern Legal Resource Center (SLRC) is asking Southerners to stand up and be counted as "Confederate Southern Americans" on the 2010 US Census. Question #9 on the Census form asks for information on "Race,." The SLRC suggests you check "Other Race" and in the space below write "Confed Southern Am." This will tell the Census that your families National Origin was the Confederate States of America, for four years a nation independent of the United States. Your spouse, may also so declare even if born outside the South. Those sympathetic to the Confederate Southern American Community may also so declare.

Their website has Dixie on auto-play. 'Nuff said.

Mugabe Blocks LGBT Rights In Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe president Robert Mugabe is blocking the addition of LGBT rights to his nation's new constitution.

Mr Mugabe was quoted by the state-owned Herald newspaper today as saying: "That issue is not debatable, it's not up for discussion. “Those who engage in homosexual behaviour are just crazy. It’s just madness. Insanity. We can’t do it or the dead will turn in their graves." Zimbabwe's prime minister Morgan Tsvangirai agreed with the president. He said: "Women make up 52 per cent of the population… There are more women than men, so why should men be proposing to men?" Mr Mugabe has previously described gay people as worse than "dogs and pigs" and claimed that homosexuality is "un-African" and a "white man's disease." Sodomy is illegal in Zimbabwe, although gay couples are rarely prosecuted and gay groups are usually allowed to continue operating.

Zimbabwe is creating a new national constitution under a power-sharing deal with several parties.

PhoboQuotable - Brian Brown

"Yes, it is wrong to post the personal addresses of Members of Congress (or in this case, mistakenly the address of a brother of a Congressman) on the internet to encourage harassment. But how much worse it is to have thousands of ordinary citizens' home addresses posted on the internet with virtual instructions to go and harass them for donating for Prop 8? To this day these maps remain. One woman I know in her sixties reports she is afraid to walk out her front door after receiving a flood of threatening mail directed to her home. Democracy is not supposed to work like that.

"We have sympathy for what they are going through, but these politicians should come forward to denounce the continued intimidation and harassment of ordinary citizens for participating in the basics of democracy--and demand those eight maps be taken down." - NOM's Brian Brown, comparing the threats to Democrats in Congress over health care reform to evil homofascists hunting down Prop 8 supporters.

SUNDAY: Protest At St. Patrick's Cathedral

This Sunday at NYC's St. Patrick's Cathedral there will be a protest against the Catholic Church's campaign to shield child molesters. Facebook event page here.

Protest this Sunday against Pope's protection of paedophile priests. The Pope must resign over cover up of child sex abuse. "Priests can touch boys, but I can't touch my partner?" Come join us as we protest the Catholic church and their hypocrisy this Sunday. "In a 2001 edict to Catholic Bishops worldwide, the Pope ordered a cover-up of child sex abuse by Catholic clergy. He failed to ensure that priests who raped and sexually abused young people were reported to the police. Pope Benedict has direct personal responsibility for allowing many paedophile priests to escape justice."

This action is scheduled to run from 9:00am until noon.

Maryland GOP: Marriage Recognition Is A Public Health Emergency

Maryland state Delegate Anthony O'Donnell and his GOP counterparts in the state Senate want to reverse the recent decision to recognize out of state same-sex marriages. In fact, they say that overturning the ruling is an emergency matter of public health.

Equality Maryland responds:

House Bill 1532 and Senate Bill 1120 Contains False Assertions About Protecting Public Health Or Safety. This bill contains statements that are just plain insulting. Section 3 of the bill actually says that “this Act is an emergency measure, is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public health or safety." It is absurd that Delegate O’Donnell believes that by providing enhanced protections to committed, loving couples we are somehow creating a public health emergency. There is no emergency, and nothing in these bills would do anything to protect public health or safety. State recognition of the marriages of same-sex couples performed in other jurisdictions harms no one. For example, New York does not license marriages of same-sex couples, but that state has recognized marriages of same-sex couples for six years without harm to anyone.

You can support Equality Maryland here.

USMC Commandant : If DADT Goes, Gays Will Need Separate Barracks

Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James Conway says that if DADT is repealed, gays will have to be placed in separate barracks. "I would not ask our Marines to live with someone that is homosexual if we can possibly avoid it." Conway says unlike the other services, the Marine Corps "billets by twos" and that they'd be forced to spend money to create new one-man housing.

VA Gov. Bob McDonnell: We Don't Need LGBT Rights Because There Is No Discrimination Against Gays

Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell says he sees no need to re-implement his predecessor's ban on discrimination against LGBT state employees. Because there's no evidence that it happens.

Gov. Bob McDonnell said today that Virginia does not need to write protections for gays and lesbians into state statute because he has not seen evidence of discrimination in the state workforce. Breaking with the practice of his Democratic predecessors, McDonnell did not include sexual orientation in an executive order he issued barring discrimination in the state workforce shortly after taking office. He argued that he could not include protections for gays without authority from the General Assembly, which has repeatedly declined to adopt a law on the issue. But in past interviews, McDonnell has never been clear about whether he supported the General Assembly taking action. He told Post columnist Bob McCartney that he might, in fact, sign such a law if passed. But asked today on the "Ask the Governor" program at Richmond's WRVA radio whether he would sign such legislation, he said, "I don't know that we need it based on the numbers that I've seen." He added: "There really isn't any rampant discrimination on any basis in Virginia. If you're going to have a law, it needs to actually address a real problem."

Stand by for the governor's office to be inundated with examples of LGBT state employees who have been discriminated against.

UPDATE: Here's McDonnell discussing his remarks on wingnut radio.

(Tipped by JMG reader Alan)

The Consequences Of Glenn Beck's Hate

Watch this.

Coyote Captured In Manhattan

It's not known if this is the same coyote recently filmed cavorting on a frozen lake in Central Park. Now if they'd just do something about all those giant alligators in the sewers.

(Via - Towleroad)

Your Unique Value

It looks like you're worth about $18/month to Google. Or is per year? Confusing. I'm also not sure where the Twitter revenue even comes from.

(Via - Business Insider)

BOSTON: Rachel Maddow Takes Out Full-Page Ad Against Sen. Scott Brown

Rachel Maddow took out a full-page ad in today's Boston Globe in which she derides Sen. Scott Brown for his claims that she is going to run for his Senate seat.

"I'm not running against Scott Brown," Maddow said. "I never said I was running against Scott Brown. The Massachusetts Democratic Party never asked me to run against Scott Brown. It's just not true. Honestly. I swear. No, really." Maddow hit Brown for trashing one of his constituents. "Do you remember when Mitt Romney ran for President after being our Governor and he went around the country insulting Massachusetts, talking about what an awful state we are?" she wrote. "To have our new Senator raising money around the country by saying how terrible one of his Massachusetts constituents is, kind of feels the same way to me. Maddow wrote that "it's standard now for conservatives to invent scary fake threats to run against," citing death panels and the birther movement. "Senator Scott Brown's only been in DC seven weeks, but he already seems to be fitting right in with how conservatives operate there."

Maddow notes that so far Brown has refused to come on her show.

Controversy At Gay Holocaust Memorial

Berlin's memorial to gay victims of the Holocaust is an austere concrete block with a small window that displays a "never-ending" video loop of two men kissing. Installed in 2008, original plans for the display called for the gender to the two people in the video to change every two years. But now that it's almost time for the switch to a lesbian video, historians are crying foul.

Alexander Zinn, a board member of the foundation that maintains the former Nazi concentration camps near Berlin, said such a move would distort history as there were no known Holocaust victims targeted for being lesbian. "Historical truth must remain the focus," Zinn told AFP on Thursday. He has banded together with other Holocaust experts and fired off a letter of protest to Culture Minister Michael Neumann and Berlin's openly gay mayor, Klaus Wowereit. Neumann defended the plans as true to the original concept of the memorial in addressing present-day discrimination against lesbians and gays as well as the plight of homosexuals at the hands of the Nazis. "The option of using a lesbian film motif in the memorial is in no way meant to put on the same level the persecution of homosexual men and women under the Nazi regime," he said in a statement.

Obama On GOP Attempt To Repeal HCR

"My attitude is 'Go for it!'"

Tribeca Film Festival Vs. GLAAD, Pt. 2

The Tribeca Film Festival has issued a response to GLAAD's call for the removal of Ticked Off Trannies With Knives from their schedule.

“The filmmakers provided a copy of this film to GLAAD in February, and for weeks the organization had been supportive to the filmmakers. In fact, GLAAD representatives advised the film’s producer, director and cast on how to describe the film to its core constituency. Tribeca is proud of its ongoing commitment to bring diverse voices and stories to its audiences, and looks forward to the film’s premiere at our Festival next month.”

Film review site Movieline piles on.

When, exactly, did GLAAD start delineating between what is acceptable or not acceptable humor within the whole Queer spectrum for whom they advocate? According to their logic, drag as a subject is an OK area for broad satire, because it’s “performing,” but transexualism is not. Well, what if the transexual in question also happens to be a raunchy drag performer, like Dirty Sexy Money star Candis Cayne? Doesn’t the voice of the filmmaker count for something? Are transexuals incapable of laughing at themselves? If you can’t love yourself, how the hell are you gonna love someone else? Can I get an amen up in here?! (And don’t f*ck it up.) And even more importantly — isn’t this, like, censorship? Take a cold shower and count downwards from ten, GLAAD. You don’t want to walk down this dark alley. There’s far worse things lurking in it than a couple punnily-named trannies with switchblades.

Eurovision 2010: Lithuania's InCulto

Lithuania's entry is a strange melange of acapella, kazoo, rap and ska. And then it goes kinda disco at the end. Very catchy. Cute boys too.

NYT: The Pope Knew

The New York Times continues to uncover evidence of the Pope's complicity in the cloaking of pedophile priests.

The future Pope Benedict XVI was kept more closely apprised of a sexual abuse case in Germany than previous church statements have suggested, raising fresh questions about his handling of a scandal unfolding under his direct supervision before he rose to the top of the church’s hierarchy. Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, the future pope and archbishop in Munich at the time, was copied on a memo that informed him that a priest, whom he had approved sending to therapy in 1980 to overcome pedophilia, would be returned to pastoral work within days of beginning psychiatric treatment. The priest was later convicted of molesting boys in another parish.

An initial statement on the matter issued earlier this month by the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising placed full responsibility for the decision to allow the priest to resume his duties on Cardinal Ratzinger’s deputy, the Rev. Gerhard Gruber. But the memo, whose existence was confirmed by two church officials, shows that the future pope not only led a meeting on Jan. 15, 1980, approving the transfer of the priest, but was also kept informed about the priest’s reassignment. What part he played in the decision making, and how much interest he showed in the case of the troubled priest, who had molested multiple boys in his previous job, remains unclear. But the personnel chief who handled the matter from the beginning, the Rev. Friedrich Fahr, “always remained personally, exceptionally connected” to Cardinal Ratzinger, the church said.

It just gets worse or worse. Or better and better, depending on how you see it.

Maddow & Choi On DADT Changes

Tired Old Queen At The Movies #24

Broadway Friday

-Reportedly due to creative differences with Tony winning director Joe Mantello, Megan Mullally has abruptly pulled out of the revival of Terrence McNally's Lips Together, Teeth Apart, causing producers to cancel the run. It was scheduled to begin previews on April 9th and producers are scrambling for a replacement show.

-The Off Broadway revival of The Boys In The Band closes tomorrow after only 31 performances.

-A second edition of Broadway Bares: Solo Strips takes place at Splash on April 11th. Xanadu's Marty Thomas will perform.

-Mario Cantone, Carson Kressley, Kristen Johnston, Andrea Martin and others will perform at the April 5th edition of Celebrity Autobiography. "The show features a line-up of rotating performers who interpret the actual words and stories written by the famous and the infamous, in both solo and ensemble 'chamber' pieces culled from the autobiographies of celebrities."

-Stephen Sondheim's 80th birthday party at Studio 54 included a special surprise for the Broadway legend. Henry Miller's Theatre on W.43rd will henceforth be known as the Stephen Sondheim Theatre. The new marquee will be rendered as Sondheim's signature, much like the topper on the Eugene O'Neill.

-Fox is denying widely published rumors that the network is readying a Broadway version of Glee. A Broadway publishing rights company had previously leaked that they were in negotiations with the network.

-Stunt casting: Paula Abdul may be joining the cast of Tony winner In The Heights. The show's producer Kenny Ortega is also reported to want Abdul to choreograph the movie version of the show.

Now On Sale

Get them here.

White Powder Mailed To Rep. Anthony Weiner's New York Office

Today Rep. Anthony Weiner's New York office in Queens received a package containing white powder and a threatening letter.

Emergency service units evacuated the Democratic congressman's fifth-floor office in Kew Gardens, officials said. "They came over the loudspeaker: 'Don't be alarmed. Just the fifth floor is being evacuated,'" said Kathy Farrell, 44, who works at an orthopedic surgeon's office next door. "They weren't in too much of a rush to get us out." The package was received about 1 p.m. No one was injured, but Hazardous Materials experts were still analyzing the contents. Weiner issued a statement saying: "Earlier today an envelope containing white powder and a threatening letter was delivered to my community office in Kew Gardens. The NYPD was immediately alerted and have responded appropriately by sending a Haz-Mat team. Any questions related to their response should be directed to the NYPD. My first priority is the safety of my staff and neighbors, and the authorities are currently taking steps to investigate and resolve the situation."

Remember, the GOP's incendiary language isn't responsible for this.

Trans Student Kicked Out Of Constance McMillen's Mississippi School

Dan Savage reports that the same Mississippi high school that canceled Constance McMillen's prom also kicked out a trans student on his first day.

Juin Baize was a student at Itawamba Agricultural—for a grand total of four hours. Baize, his mother, and his two sisters moved to Fulton, Mississippi, from New Harmony, Indiana, to live with Baize's grandmother at the beginning of the year. (For now Baize says he prefers to use male pronouns.) Baize, age sixteen, enrolled at Itwamba Agricultural High School, where Constance McMillen was also a student. McMilllen clearly recalled Baize's first—and only—day at Itawamba Agricultural. "People were talking about him all day, trying to get a look at him," said McMillen. "It was insane, it was ridiculous, it made me so mad. They said he was causing a distraction with what he was wearing but it was a half day of school and people didn’t have time to get used to him." The other students wouldn't be given a chance to get used to him: the next time Baize came to school, according Kristy Bennett, legal director of the ACLU of Mississippi, Baize was given a suspension notice and sent home. When Juin returned to school after his first suspension, he was suspended again.

After a story about the suspensions made the local newspaper, Baize's grandmother ordered the entire family out of her home. And they've now been asked to leave the home of the friends who took them in. Head over to Dan Savage's post for information on how to help. The ACLU will not be pursuing action against the school because the family no longer lives in the district.

Texas: Threats Upend "Gay Jesus" Play

After receiving threats from the local Christian community, a college performance of Terrence McNally's Corpus Christi has been moved to 8:00. In the morning.

Security concerns prompted Tarleton State University to change the start time and limit the audience of a play in which Jesus is portrayed as gay. The production called "Corpus Christi" was to be performed, at the school in Stephenville, at 4 p.m. Saturday. A news release provided Thursday to The Associated Press says the student-produced play will now start at 8 a.m. Saturday. A private audience of invited guests and relatives of the cast will be the only people allowed to watch the play, the school said. Critics say the Terrence McNally play, which premiered in 1998 in New York, is blasphemous. The TSU statement says the school "has a responsibility to provide a safe and secure educational environmental for students, faculty, staff and visitors." Stephenville is about 70 miles southwest of Fort Worth.

NOTE: The above photo is from a 2008 NYC revival of the play.

GLAAD Angry About 'Transploitation' Flick

GLAAD has issued a call to action against the Tribeca Film Festival over the planned screening of an indie flick called Ticked-Off Trannies With Knives.

By marketing Ticked-Off Trannies with Knives as a "transploitation" film, by using the word "trannies" (a pejorative term for transgender people) in the title of the film, by casting transgender women in some roles, and by citing the murders of Angie Zapata and Jorge Mercado in the trailer, Israel Luna has attempted to place his film squarely within a transgender narrative. However, while some of the actors in the film identify as transgender, the characters are written as drag queens, “performing” femininity in a way that is completely artificial. The very names of these over-the-top female caricatures (Emma Grashun, Rachel Slurr, et al.) drive this point home. Because of its positioning as a transgender film, viewers unfamiliar with the lives of transgender women will likely leave this film with the impression that transgender women are ridiculous caricatures of "real women." It demeans actual transgender women who struggle for acceptance and respect in their day-to-day lives and to be valued for their contributions to our society.

GLAAD has posted a petition calling for the film to be removed from the roster. Here's the trailer, judge for yourselves.

Bryan Safi: Tips To Closeted Politicians

Glee's New Season Promo

Hang on, Gleeks. The new season's all-Madonna episode is almost here.

Pride Protester Jailed Over 2007 Arrest

In 2007 Julian Raven and six other Christians refused to leave a public park in Elmira, New York during a gay pride event. Instead Raven and his party approached the event stage, laid face down in the grass and prayed, resulting in their arrest for causing a public disturbance. Even though his case is still under appeal, Emira police rearrested Raven this week and he is now serving a nine-day sentence for disorderly conduct, turning him into an immediate martyr of the religious right. World Net Daily:

Julian Raven of Elmira, N.Y., said he was "surprised by police at his office," handcuffed and taken into custody this week, according to the Alliance Defense Fund, which is defending Raven. "According to his wife, police escorted him out of a court hearing … in handcuffs in front of his crying children to begin serving his nine-day jail sentence," the organization said in a report. "We are surprised at how eager the city was to arrest Mr. Raven again in light of his appeal. Now he will serve time in jail; however, we will continue to aggressively pursue his appeal in court," said Joel Oster, ADF senior legal counsel.

Originally seven people were arrested June 23, 2007, in Elmira's Wisner Park at a homosexual festival promoted by city officials as open to all. Four were convicted, but three of the convictions already have been overturned. The Christians "made their way to an area in front of the stage and began to pray silently while lying prostrate in the grass. A police sergeant had earlier informed Julian Raven that he could not enter the public park, walk through the park, or talk to anyone in the park about his religion. After the group began to pray silently on their faces, all were arrested and charged with disorderly conduct," ADF reported. Court records show Sgt. Sharon Moyer told Raven he could not disrupt the event. So, ADF reported, he and the others "entered the event to pray silently for event participants and to share the Gospel with them."

"There was plenty of room in the park. No one was being turned away. They walked in silence. Neither the defendant nor anyone from the group bumped into anyone as they entered and they did not force others out of the way," ADF said. They walked to a grassy area near the front, kneeled or laid down, and prayed. "They chose this posture in order to be as non-threatening as possible," ADF said. Moyer then arrested the seven and reported it was because of concern that the homosexual festival participants might react with hostility to the Christians.

Last year the city of Elmira settled a civil lawsuit brought by Raven because he was threatened with arrest for pulling the same stunt during a 2008 pride event. Raven's case has already been a frequent talking point for wingnuts claiming that evil gays suppress religious speech.

Weiner To O'Reilly: Stop Lying About HCR

BREAKING: New DADT Rules Announced

Defense Secretary Robert Gates has just announced changes to the enforcement of DADT which go into effect immediately.

''I believe these changes represent an important improvement in the way the current law is put into practice, above all by providing a greater measure of common sense and common decency for handling what are complex and difficult issues for all involved,'' Gates told a Pentagon news conference. The changes raise the level of officer authorized to initiate a fact-finding inquiry into a case, the level of officer who can conduct an inquiry and of the one that can authorize a dismissal.

To discourage the use of overheard statements or hearsay, from now on any evidence given in third-party outings must be given under oath, Gates said. Cases of third-party outings also have included instances in which male troops have turned in women who rejected their romantic advances or jilted partners in relationship have turned in a former lover. Some kinds of confidential information also will no longer be allowed, including statements gays make to their lawyers, clergy, psychotherapists or medical professionals in the pursuit of health care. The individual service branches will have 30 days to change their regulations to conform to the new rules.

Gates calls the new rules a matter of "common sense and common decency." Nathaniel Frank of the Palm Center isn't satisfied: "Anything that continues to allow the discharge of service members for something that research shows has no bearing on military effectiveness will not go far enough."

UPDATE: Gates does not support repealing DADT until the "full review" is completed.

Sarah Palin's Gun Sights

Sarah Palin has posted a map of Democrats to target in the 2010 election with gun sight icons to indicate the district of each member. Some folks aren't too happy about this.

"RELOAD!" Sarah Palin shouted at right-wing supporters via Twitter on Tuesday after President Obama signed the House health care bill. On her Facebook page, she posted a U.S. map with crosshair targets in states where she's planning to campaign against moderate Democrats who voted in favor of the health insurance overhaul. "We'll aim for these races," she wrote, in the "first salvo" leading up to the midterm elections. A few liberal commentators don't find that kind of rhetoric amusing.

Rob Kezelis, Capitol Hill Blue: Honestly, where in any decent, civilized society is there room for Sarah's latest tweet, "Don't retreat, RELOAD!"? While some may dismiss that as silly rhetoric, or even humor, it is anything but. One only has to recall some of the weirder moments during the last presidential campaign, especially the Sarah Palin rallies. Some of those people were not only whacked-out, conspiracy nuts, they were more than willing to take "justice" as they define it, and use whatever means necessary to achieve it, including violence. And they are armed.

What will Palin say when one of her supporters takes her literally?

Photo Of The Day: Pat Robertson's 80th Birthday Cake

Bible on the bottom, bible on the top, the 700 Club in between. The man in the photo is the son of Robertson's lawyer, Jay Sekulow, who runs the anti-gay American Center for Law & Justice.

Kathy Shaidle - Canada's Ann Coulter

JMG reader Jack tips us to the below email sent out by Kathy Shaidle in which she derides opposition to Ann Coulter's college appearances in Canada as "unadulterated faggotry." Shaidle is considered to be the Canuck version of Coulter and she frequently rails against Muslims, gays, and political correctness. Her blog makes Coulter's almost pale in comparison.

HomoQuotable - Cleve Jones

"I know your values, Madame Speaker, and I know that you strongly support ENDA. Now I want these young people to know what is in your heart. With the knowledge that health care reform has been achieved and that enough votes now exist in the House today to pass ENDA, will you work with Rep. George Miller, Chair of the House Committee on Education and Labor, to ensure that ENDA is passed out of committee and brought to the floor of the house immediately?

"I am writing this open letter to you and sharing it with my friends in the Courage Campaign and GetEQUAL communities, thousands of whom will sign a petition to you asking that ENDA be prioritized for passage now. You can read the petition and Americans can sign on to it here. Congratulations again on your historic achievement. Along with thousands of other people reading this letter, I wish you the best." - Cleve Jones, in an open letter to Nancy Pelosi requesting she move forward on ENDA. Sign the above-linked petition, which will be hand-delivered to Pelosi.

RELATED: Yesterday Barney Frank said that ENDA may be brought to a House vote as soon as mid-April.

GOP Forces HCR Back To House

Oy vey. Just when we thought it was all over. But no.

With the Senate working through an all-night session on a package of changes to the Democrats’ sweeping health care legislation, Republicans early Thursday morning identified parliamentary problems with at least two provisions that will require the measure to be sent back to the House for yet another vote, once the Senate adopts it. Senate Democrats had been hoping to defeat all of the amendments proposed by Republicans and to prevail on parliamentary challenges so that they could approve the measure and send it to President Obama for his signature. But the bill must comply with complex budget reconciliation rules, and Republicans identified some flaws. Under the reconciliation rules, provisions in the bill must directly affect government spending or revenues. The successful parliamentary challenge did not appear to endanger the eventual adoption of the changes to the health care legislation. And Mr. Obama on Tuesday already signed the main health care bill into law.

The Senate didn't adjourn until 3AM this morning.

Vandals Strike At Four House Democrats

Teabaggers are throwing bricks through the office windows of House Democrats.

The window broken Friday at the Niagara Falls office of Rep. Louise M. Slaughter, D-Fairport, was one of at least four cases of vandalism targeting Democratic offices across the country late last week during the debate over health care reform. A window was also broken at the Monroe County Democratic headquarters in Rochester. In Tuscon, Ariz., a window at the office of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords also was broken. And at Democratic headquarters in Sedgewick County, Kan., a brick with anti-Obama and anti-health care messages was thrown. At Slaughter’s office on Pine Avenue, a piece of brick and a broken window were discovered at about 12:30 a. m. Friday. The brick shattered the outermost window but not an interior window. Damage was estimated at $350. Niagara Falls Police Capt. William Thomson, chief of detectives, said officers recovered the brick and found a few scuff marks but were unable to find any fingerprints.

Note that all these incidents happened before the bill was even approved.

(Tipped by JMG reader JoeAO)

GOP Refusing To Condemn Threats Of Violence Against Pro-HCR Democrats

Despite internet postings of the home addresses and phone numbers of Democrats who voted for health care reform, GOP leaders have still not condemned the threats of physical violence pouring in from teabaggers. Local police are now protecting the homes of some Democratic House members.

Eurovision 2010: Iceland's Hera Bjork

Iceland's entry has "gay club anthem" written all over it.

Poll: Majority In CA Now Support Marriage

For the first time, a slim majority of polled Californians support marriage equality. And a whopping 75% support the repeal of DADT.

A Public Policy Institute of California survey released Wednesday found a record high 50 percent of Californians said they back gay marriage, with 45 percent opposed. It comes less than two years after voters approved a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage. Support also is growing for repealing the military's "Don't ask, don't tell" policy. Seventy-five percent of Californians say they support repealing the law, which was passed in 1993. The institute surveyed 2,002 California adults by phone from March 9-16. The poll has a sampling error rate of plus or minus 2 percentage points, higher for subgroups.

We're getting there.

Bennett's DC Marriage Poison Pill Fails

Chris Geidner at Law Dork reports that late last night, Sen. Bob Bennett's poison pill amendment to suspend same-sex marriage in DC failed when it was stricken from the health care reform bill.

After 1 a.m. this morning, as the Senate considers a slew of Republican amendments — many “poison pills” — to the House’s health care reconciliation “fixes,” Sen. Bob Bennett (R-UT) had his anti-LGBT, anti-federalist amendment considered. The amendment would have stopped marriage equality in the District until a popular vote on the matter could be held. By a little past 1:30 this morning, however, the amendment was defeated. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), presiding over the late-night session, announced the roll call vote: 36-59.

Quote Of The Day - Chris Reichert

"He's got every right to do what he did and some may say I did too, but what I did was shameful. I haven't slept since that day. I made a donation (to a local Parkinson's disease group) and that starts the healing process. I wanted this to go away, but it won't and I'm paying the consequences." - Ohio teabagger Chris Reichert, who says he's sorry and ashamed for ridiculing and throwing dollar bills at a man with Parkinson's disease during a teabagger rally in Columbus. Reichert says he'd never been to a political event before and will never attend one again.

Maddow On Changes To DADT

"A more humane enforcement and application"? It looks like third-party outings may be ignored going forward, but the new policy will not apply retroactively to those vindictively outed by others.

NYT: Pope Protected Priest Who Molested Over 200 Deaf Boys

The New York Times has issued a bombshell report charging that Pope Palpatine and others refused to defrock an American priest who had molested over 200 deaf boys.

The internal correspondence from bishops in Wisconsin directly to Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, the future pope, shows that while church officials tussled over whether the priest should be dismissed, their highest priority was protecting the church from scandal. The documents emerge as Pope Benedict is facing other accusations that he and direct subordinates often did not alert civilian authorities or discipline priests involved in sexual abuse when he served as an archbishop in Germany and as the Vatican’s chief doctrinal enforcer.

The Wisconsin case involved an American priest, the Rev. Lawrence C. Murphy, who worked at a renowned school for deaf children from 1950 to 1974. But it is only one of thousands of cases forwarded over decades by bishops to the Vatican office called the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, led from 1981 to 2005 by Cardinal Ratzinger. It is still the office that decides whether accused priests should be given full canonical trials and defrocked.

In 1996, Cardinal Ratzinger failed to respond to two letters about the case from Rembert G. Weakland, Milwaukee’s archbishop at the time. After eight months, the second in command at the doctrinal office, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, now the Vatican’s secretary of state, instructed the Wisconsin bishops to begin a secret canonical trial that could lead to Father Murphy’s dismissal. But Cardinal Bertone halted the process after Father Murphy personally wrote to Cardinal Ratzinger protesting that he should not be put on trial because he had already repented and was in poor health and that the case was beyond the church’s own statute of limitations.

The Times has obtained copies of internal documents discussing the situation. Will this be the end of this Pope?

Georgia Gay Teen Derrick Martin Talks About Going To The Prom

Open Thread Thursday

Pimp your own blog or ones that you've recently discovered.

Fight Back NY Names Its Next Targets

After the successful campaign to defeat Hiram "Slasher" Monserrate, of which Fight Back NY was a big part, they have issued this notice to their next targets. Dig the music.

Hoyer: House Dems Are At Physical Risk Due To Teabagger Threats

Maybe It Really IS The Big Easy

Rubber retailer CondomMania has analyzed the sales patterns of their custom-fit condoms and arrived at the above ranking of American cities by size requests.

"These fitted condoms range in length from 3 to 10 inches and from super slim to extra roomy." says Chris Filkins, Condomania’s Directory of Technology. "After gathering detailed information on over 27,000 penises, we now have the most comprehensive database of penis sizes on the planet! Needless to say, these men's privacy is our utmost concern, and we're interested only in the statistics, and not who's who! But the data itself is pretty interesting." Previously, the largest formal survey of penis sizes was conducted in 1948 by the famous Kinsey researchers, when 2,500 men recorded their erect penis sizes on pre-stamped cards. "Unlike other studies in which participants were measuring their penis size solely for the sake of recording a measurement, and were perhaps more likely to exaggerate," says Filkins, "our database is comprised of men looking for the best fit condom for safety and comfort, and thus, we believe, apt to be more accurate."

Hit the link for a ranking of all 50 states and 20 "biggest" cities.

(Tipped by the appropriately named JMG reader Peter)

GOP Sen. Bob Bennett Tries To Kill DC Marriage With HCR Amendment

Sen. Bob Bennett (R-UT) has attached an amendment to the health care reform bill that would suspend same-sex marriages in Washington, DC until the issue is put to a public vote.

Bennett is emerging as the most stalwart congressional opponent to same-sex marriage in the District. Earlier this month, he sought to attach a similar amendment to a Federal Aviation Administration Reauthorization bill. But that amendment was ruled out of order. Bennett's latest attempt to force a referendum on the city's same-sex marriage law, which went into effect March. 3, has the support of GOP Sens. Roger Wicker (Miss), Pat Roberts (Kansas), Orrin Hatch (Utah), James M. Inhofe (Ok), and John Cornyn (Texas), according to the DCist blog. But Senate Democrats, who are trying to keep all GOP amendments off the reconciliation bill, are widely expected to kill Bennett's amendment, which was first reported by the New York Times. Still, Bennett's determination to force a public vote on same-sex marriage in the District has caught the attention of District leaders. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D), the District's non-voting representative in the House of Representatives, has stated she will have to remain on "daily vigil" to guard against congressional intervention over the issue.

And Sen. Bennett wins a few more brownie points from the knuckle-draggers back home.

GOP Reveals Health Care Reform Plan: No Viagra For Sex Offenders!

They are truly the party of nothing.

Georgia Teen Derrick Martin Kicked Out Of House Over Gay Prom Date

Only yesterday we were cheering the news that Derrick Martin's Georgia high school had approved his request to bring a male date to the prom. But now his parents have kicked him out of the house. Derrick is staying with a friend for now, but has been getting kind messages of support from the LGBT community.

Many gay-rights activists are now posting the story on their Facebook pages. And an Atlanta filmmaker said he hopes to document the story. “I sent flowers to his high school,” said Randi Reitan, a resident of Eden Prairie, Minn., who sent a bouquet of yellow flowers with a rainbow-colored balloon to Bleckley County High on Tuesday to show her support. “We have a gay son. I wish he could’ve danced with a young man at his prom,” Reitan said. She also has offered to buy Martin and his date, who is from Tift County, boutonnieres to wear on prom night. Drew Dowdell from Pittsburgh is setting up a link on his Web site for people to leave donations for Martin to help buy the 18-year-old a limo ride to the prom. “I want to help Derrick have the best prom he can because I worry that anti-gay people in his school will be doing their best to ruin it for him,” Dowdell said. “I’m proud that he was willing to go to the school to make an issue about it.”