Evening View - Moon Over Paris

LIVE VIDEO: Sen. Al Franken's Closing Keynote Address At Netroots Nation

UPDATE: The live stream is concluded. Franken opened with the "NeVAHda vs. NeVEHda" controversy. Preceding him was Tarryl Clark (Michele Bachmann's opponent), and Linda Chavez-Thompson, candidate for Lt. Governor of Texas. Fantastic night!

GERMANY: Tunnel Stampede Kills 18 At Love Parade Techno Dance Party

Sen. Harry Reid Prompts Standing Ovation For Dan Choi At Netroots Nation, Choi Presents Reid With His West Point Ring

Sen. Harry Reid's opening remark at his keynote address at Netroots Nation recognized Lt. Dan Choi, who was sitting next to me in the front row. The entire room gave Choi a standing ovation. Later during the question and answer session, the moderator presented Reid with Choi's West Point ring. Reid promised to return the ring to Choi upon the official repeal of DADT, prompting Choi to leap to the stage and salute Sen. Reid (and also sending a couple of Secret Service men scrambling to protect Reid.)

The two then hugged on stage in a moment that will surely live on in LGBT activism history. It was a great moment. (Most of the queer contingent at Netroots had rushed to the tables at the front of the room immediately upon the opening of the doors, as we'd heard rumors that Choi might "do something.") The video below is by Good As You's Jeremy Hooper, who was further back in the room, so the audio is a bit low. That's me in the blue shirt up near where Choi jumps to the stage.

[Top three photos are mine, bottom photo by Pam Spaulding.]

LIVE VIDEO: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid At Netroots Nation

UPDATE: The Reid live stream is concluded. Sen. Al Franken will take the stage shortly for the closing keynote address.

Tweet Of The Day - Ryan Leslie

MTV Real World: New Orleans cast member Ryan Leslie isn't making any friends. GLAAD responds to the above tweet:

Ryan and his followers need to know that anti-gay violence is a dangerous and pervasive problem plaguing our community today. This month The National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs (NCAVP) released its report on hate violence against the LGBT community in the United States in 2009. This year, 22 victims of hate murder were reported by NCAVP, the second-highest rate in a decade. GLAAD tweeted at Ryan and urges you to do the same.

Cyndi Lauper Goes Off On Bush, Cheney, And Fundamentalists

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi Speaks About ENDA At Netroots Nation

Obviously referring to GetEQUAL's protests, Pelosi said, "I would target [politicians] in a positive way. This is America, show your appreciation to those that are with us." More about Pelosi's speech at LGBT POV.

(Video by Good As You's Jeremy Hooper.)

PAPERS PLEASE: Immigration Checkpoint At Netroots Nation

Obama Addresses Netroots Nation

With a mention of DADT.

Netroots Nation: Friday Recap

I started the day early at a breakfast with openly gay Palm Springs Mayor Steve Pougnet, who is running for Congress against Rep. Mary Bono-Mack. (I'll post my Q&A with Pougnet a bit later.) Then it was off to the grand hall to catch the tail-end of Van Jones' brilliant morning keynote. After that was the "Organizing For Equality in the Obama Era" panel, featuring moderators Pam Spaulding, Evan Wolfson (Freedom To Marry), and Rick Jacobs (Courage Campaign.) Best panel event so far.

Back to the convention hall for lunch, where speakers included Kate Kendall (National Center for Lesbian Rights), Mike Lux (co-founder of Open Left), anti-racism activist Tim Wise, and Lennox Yearwood (Hip Hop Nation). And then all us homogays gathered for the LGBT Caucus, where Mike Rogers, Kerry Eleveld (The Advocate), and Denis Dison (Victory Fund) broke us into four groups to brainstorm how digital activists and LGBT orgs might better collaborate. (Among other topics.) Whew! Full day. Time for cocktails. Many cocktails.

UNRELATED: It looks like some of us will be hitting Fun Hogs tonight. Come hang with us!

HomoQuotable - Mike Alvear

"Why do so many effeminate gay men prefer in their partners the very masculinity they've bleached out of themselves? The obvious answer is that they're attracted to their opposites. But that answer only goes so far. Effeminate men may lust for their masculine counterparts but most masculine men don't return the favor.

"Effeminate men get hoisted on their own chiffon petards. The more they take on effeminate characteristics the less able they are to attract the kinds of guys they want to sleep with. This is a mating absurdity. Imagine birds trying to attract mates with red and white plumage when the objects of their affection are attracted to yellow and green. The mis-matched mating call of the merry marys brings up a great question: If effeminacy is counter-productive to attracting the kind of sexual partners you want, then why not butch it up? Is it because like being gay, being effeminate isn't a choice?

"Nobody knows what fuels the gay flame -- nature or nurture. Some believe gay guys turn sissy because they're naturally nelly and some think it's because they're conforming to a culture that expects it. I've always maintained that effeminacy is like obesity. Sometimes it's glandular, but mostly it's cultural. There's an undeniable Pansy Vortex in gay life. You fall into it with baggy jeans and a t-shirt and climb out of it with spandex up the crack of your ass." - Mike Alvear, writing for the Huffington Post.

Read the entire essay.

RELATED: A lot of you took issue with Alvear's last essay quoted here.

Rep. Tom Tancredo: Impeach Obama

PhoboQuotable - Bryan Fischer

"Richard Land, in arguing for a guaranteed path to citizenship for illegal aliens already in the country, repeatedly stresses how pro-family the Hispanic community is, and assures us they will be the natural allies of the conservative movement. Not so fast. According to the Christian Post, 57% of Latino Catholics in California support homosexual marriage. Let’s not forget that Latinos make up 36.6 percent of California’s population.

"The good news, if you happen to be an evangelical, is that just 22 percent of Latino Protestants support gay marriage. If getting pro-family illegals legalized is the goal, perhaps Dr. Land can be persuaded to amend his recommendation and give preference to Protestant illegal aliens. Also, the illegitimacy rate among Hispanic women is over 50%. I’m not sure pro-family values are as strong in the Hispanic community as Dr. Land wants to believe." - American Family Association radio host Bryan Fischer, simultaneously hating on gays, calling Hispanic women sluts, and saying Catholics don't deserve immigration rights.

Deine Papiere, Bitte

Today's luncheon at Netroots Nation is sponsored by MoveOn.org. And before one can enter the cavernous convention ballroom, agents from ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) will stop you and demand identification. "Joe, you don't look like you're from around here. This ID is unacceptable. I'm going to have to ask you to step aside and be photographed for our records." Everybody laughs and plays along, but the point is made.

#LGBTNN10: Continued....

We continue to be plagued with spotty and slow internet access here at Netroots Nation, much to the anguish of digital activists and writers who came prepared to tweet, Facebook, and live-blog every waking moment. You can still follow the action at the Twitter hashtags #NN10 and #LGBTNN10, where attendees with smartphones are providing minute-by-minute coverage.

Your Daily Minute Of Crazy

GLAAD Issues Annual Network Rankings

GLAAD has released their fourth annual Network Responsibility Index, which reports on how television's big guns handle LGBT programming. MTV earned its first-ever "excellent" rating, while CBS earned a "fail." Embiggen the below image for a breakdown of this year's rankings or hit the link for more.

Morning View - The Cher Store

As I walked by with Strong Enough blasting at 120 decibels, I'm quite certain the clerk was signaling for me to kill her. All Cher, all day, every day? No jury would convict. At Caesar's Palace, of course.

Lt. Dan Choi: The Closet Is A Poison

Lt. Dan Choi discusses his formal discharge from the military under DADT, which was revealed earlier this week.

AFA Launches Home Depot Boycott

The American Family Association has made their threatened boycott of Home Depot official, calling on their membership to cease shopping there and to bombard the company's executives with complaints about their support for them there Satanic homersexshuls. Here's their caption for this photo.

The flags in these Home Depot cups promote a gay website which proclaims itself as "the men's social group for men who have sex with men." The cups were given to children by The Home Depot gay parade marchers, while homosexual activists followed up by introducing them to gay sex websites. The Home Depot has no problem aligning itself with gay activist groups who target children with a pro-homosexual message.

The AFA then ticks off the below "outrages."
TAKE ACTION: Contact Home Depot's public relations office and thank them for their support.

Photo Of The Day - Comic-Con

Westboro Baptist Church picketed this year's Comic-Con, sending hundreds of dorks into ecstasy over the opportunity to wear even sillier outfits for a counter-protest. Lots more signs and silliness here. My favorite sign is above-right.

Today In Crazy Teabaggers

Ed Schultz At Netroots Nation

Tweet Of The Day - James Hartline

Oh noes! Hundreds of penguins have dropped dead in shock over Argentina legalizing gay marriage! (You didn't think he'd stop with the anti-gay killer bees, did you?)

Evening View - THE Village People

Maybe "party" makes "the" OK. But still.

#LGBTNN10

Here's some of the LGBT contingent here at Netroots Nation. No time to label all the photos, but you should recognize a lot of these folks. Follow along on Twitter at hashtag #LGBTNN10.

VIDEO: GetEQUAL Blocks Vegas Strip

Here's the video from Tuesday's closure of the Las Vegas strip by GetEQUAL as they protested Sen. Harry Reid's perceived inaction on ENDA.

Maryland Cop To Courage Campaign: "Don't Make Me Lock You Up"

As we learned yesterday, NOM had the Courage Campaign's cameraman thrown out of the rally in Maryland, but not before its laughable attendance was recorded.

MONTANA: State Sued By ACLU On Behalf Of Seven Gay Couples

Today the ACLU filed suit against the state of Montana on behalf of seven same-sex couples in a move to legalize domestic partnerships. Via press release:

The goal of this lawsuit is ensure that same-sex couples are able to protect their families with the same kind of legal protections that opposite-sex couples are offered through marriage. Because there is a constitutional amendment in Montana barring marriage for same-sex couples, the couples in the lawsuit are seeking the protection of state-recognized domestic partnerships, similar to those in place in several other states. “Mary Anne and I are part of a family unit, bonded by love and mutual respect and a desire to share in a close relationship that benefits not only us, as partners, but our wider family and the entire community,” said Jan Donaldson, a Helena nurse, of her 27-year relationship with her partner, pediatric neurologist Mary Anne Guggenheim. “We depend on one another, in all aspects of our life together. We want to be able to do that with grace and dignity and to feel secure that our relationship will be respected. We want our relationship to be recognized for what it clearly is – a loving commitment of responsibility worthy of security and protection by the state.”

Montana law automatically grants married opposite-sex couples safeguards upon which they can depend in times of need. But, under Montana law, it is possible for same-sex couples to be barred from visiting their partners in the hospital and to be left out of conversations about emergency medical care. Montana inheritance laws refuse to recognize same-sex couples, and can leave surviving partners with nothing if their partners die without valid wills. Today’s lawsuit seeks a mechanism such as the domestic partnership laws adopted by several other states to provide similar protections for committed same-sex couples.

Ouch

(Via - Daniel Baylis)

NEVADA: Sharron Angle Flees Her Own Press Conference

This was supposed to be an official Sharron Angle press conference. But when the speaker at the podium opened up the floor to questions, Angle turned on her heel and fled the venue, pursued by the press that her own campaign had invited.

NOM Spins New Jersey Fail

NOM's Brian Brown took a minute to spin spin spin to a cameraman (from Garden State Equality, I think) about their attendance and the fake families on the side of their Hate Bus. Yeah, yeah, whatevs, Miss Brown. But definitely hang around until 4:30 when PFOX "ex-gay" leader Greg Quinlan talks about his dream spouse. It's classic. Quinlan will be one of Porno Pete's Hate Instructors.

Afternoon View - Netroots Nation

Netroots Nation 2010 officially opened this morning and of course, interwebs access here is completely borked, hence my radio silence for the last few hours. Paid access in the hotel rooms is extremely slow and the free wifi in the convention center just isn't working at all. Several thousand very frustrated bloggers and digital activists are wearing out their refresh fingers or trying to score access to somebody's phone signal. I don't know whose signal I'm on right now, but thank you LeftyGirlPDX, whoever you are.

Quit While You're Ahead

HomoQuotable - Steve Hildebrand

"I’m very perplexed on the administration’s continued defense of DOMA in the courts. The Justice Department is not required to defend laws passed by Congress -- they have a history of doing it but it’s not a requirement. Their ultimate duty is to defend the Constitution of the United States and if Congress passes a law that is discriminatory and doesn’t pass muster of constitutionality, the Justice Department in my opinion should not defend those laws. In fact, they should find ways to make sure that those laws are stricken down by the courts.

"I’d like to see the president and Attorney General Holder announce that they will no longer defend the Defense of Marriage Act and to agree with the judge’s findings in the Massachusetts’ court case.

"The other thing I would say related to DOMA is that holding out hope that Congress will repeal DOMA is a crazy idea – I don’t foresee in my lifetime Congress having the guts to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act. We can’t even get workplace protections passed – how do we expect them to take on religious institutions in this country who hold marriage [as an institution] only allowed between a man and a woman." - Former Obama deputy campaign manager Steve Hildebrand, speaking to the Advocate's Kerry Eleveld. During yesterday LGBT precon here at Netroots Nation, we were told to add three words after introducing ourselves. Hildebrand's three words: "Don't hate Obama."

TRAILER: Uganda - Killing In The Name

Watch this.

Nevada Not Nevahda

Twice yesterday my pronunciation of Nevada was corrected by a local. They's touchy about that here. T-shirts and bumper stickers on that issue abound.

Michele "Crazy Eyes" Bachmann Launches Congressional Tea Party Caucus

Yesterday Rep. Michele Bachmann formally announced the creation of the Tea Party Caucus in the U.S. House. The Washington Post weighs in:

There and then -- on the Capitol grounds 104 days before the midterm elections -- Tea Party activists and Republican officeholders set aside any pretense about the two groups being separate. They essentially consummated a merger: The activists allowed themselves to be co-opted by a political party, and the Republican leaders allowed themselves to become the faces of the movement. Naturally, both protested that nothing of the sort was occurring. "I am not the head of the Tea Party," Bachmann announced as she stood in front of a phalanx of Tea Party leaders. "We are also not here to vouch for the Tea Party." With a dozen House Republicans surrounding her, Jenny Beth Martin, national coordinator of the Tea Party Patriots, announced that her group "wanted to make sure the people in Congress don't become a mouthpiece for the movement." Sorry, ladies. When Tea Party leaders join Republican lawmakers for a private strategy session followed by a campaign rally in the shadow of the Capitol, each has essentially endorsed the other.

Watch the video. "Receptacle," Gracie?

Open Thread Thursday

The complaint box is open. Rant, vent, bitch.

NOM: Those Evil Gays Came THIS CLOSE To Murdering Us In Rhode Island!

LifeSiteNews gets the prize for the most hysterics-laden and fact-twisting coverage of NOM's appearance in Rhode Island. They barely escaped the evil homofacists with their lives, people!

Unhampered by police, a peaceful pro-life rally devolved into chaos Sunday after an army of homosexualist activists shouted down presenters, screamed insults, and even targeted for harrassment small children of families who had come in support of marriage between a man and a woman. A group organized by Queer Action Rhode Island began by chanting loudly through bullhorns as they approached the rally, organized by the National Organization for Marriage (NOM) as part of the month-long Summer for Marriage Tour 2010, in front of the State Capitol building.

But, according to NOM executive director Brian Brown, it became clear that "this was not going to be a normal counter-protest" when the 250-strong red-shirted crowd "kept coming forward" until police gave way and allowed the screaming crowd to flood the stage and podium - for which NOM had obtained a permit from the state. "I've never seen anything like that, and I've been involved in the marriage issue for the last 15 years," Brown told LifeSiteNews.com. Video of the event shows protesters screaming inches from Brown's face as he attempts to continue the presentation.

In addition, he said, the Providence protesters "started jeering and heckling families" and even clearly targeted small children with screams and insults - treatment, said Brown, that left several children, including his own, tearful and asking whether they would be safe. "What they were trying to do was scare [us] and scare little children," he said. "It was so out of bounds that it was surreal. ... I know my kids were crying, other kids were crying too. they were literally crying at the end, asking if they were going to be OK."

You've really got to read the entire thing.

The Strange Case Of Matthew Vanderpool

Yesterday Matthew Vanderpool, an openly gay candidate for the Kentucky state legislature, issued a press release declaring that he had rejected campaign donations from the Victory Fund because he didn't want to be in their "back pocket." Vanderpool said that while he is gay, he "has no gay agenda" and that being gay "does not define my entire life or the things I stand for." He then gave InterstateQ this quote: “Excuse me for putting it this way, but if I prance around my district saying ‘gay this’ or ‘gay that,’ it will destroy me. The guy I’m running against is so conservative and anti-gay he will make it look like that is the only reason I’m running.”

I happened to be sitting next to the Victory Fund's Denis Dison yesterday so I asked him about Vanderpool. Dison offers this response:

"This is a fairly clever stunt, but look closer and you realize how silly and disingenuous the whole thing is. The Victory Fund doesn't offer its endorsement to anyone who doesn't ask for it, and it was certainly never offered to Mr. Vanderpool. Our endorsement comes after a thorough examination of a candidate's viability in a given race. Given the behavior it has exhibited so far, I think I understand why this campaign probably didn't want to face the scrutiny. Ask any of our endorsed candidates who've won elective office whether they consider themselves in the "back pocket" of the Victory Fund. The truth is we do not lobby our own candidates or anyone else on any issue. Period. Mr. Vanderpool is getting some terrible campaign advice."

More about Vanderpool and his apparently wacko campaign manager here.

Sara Gilbert To Launch Chat Show

Sara Gilbert, who starred in Rosanne as a child and is now openly gay, will launch a daily talk show about parenting issues on CBS this fall.

Sources on Wednesday confirmed the plans for the show, which is also set to feature panelists Julie Chen, Holly Robinson Peete, Sharon Osbourne and Leah Remini. Deadline Hollywood first reported that CBS had picked the show as the replacement for "World" -- which goes off the air in September after a 54 year run. The network had also considered a new version of "Pyramid" with Andy Richter as host and a cooking game show with Emeril Lagasse.

Gilbert's show will replace the retiring As The World Turns.

VIDEO: Argentina's President Signs Marriage Equality Bill Into Law

Evening View - Slots & The City

MASSACHUSETTS: Judge Who Authored 2003 Gay Marriage Ruling To Retire

Massachusetts Chief Justice Margaret Marshall, the author of the historic 2003 ruling legalizing same-sex marriage, has announced her retirement.

Marshall said at a news conference that her husband, former New York Times columnist Anthony Lewis, had been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, and she was leaving "so that Tony and I may enjoy our final seasons together." "Tony and I are both at an age where we have learned to value -- value deeply -- the precious gift of time," she said. At the same time, she said, she was retiring, effective at the end of October, with "deep regret" from work that she considered "thrilling." In 2003, Marshall authored the court's majority decision that for the first time in Western legal circles, found that same-sex marriages were a lawful extension of the Massachusetts Declaration of Rights, the state's Constitution. "The Massachusetts Constitution affirms the dignity and equality of all individuals," Marshall wrote for the 4-3 majority. "It forbids the creation of second-class citizens." The ruling authorizing gay marriage is still echoing through the United States, on the state and federal level, and has become part of the legal debate on the meaning of equality in the 21st century, where historic views of the genders are being challenged by science and society.

The comments on the above-linked Boston Globe article are predictably repulsive. Go show our hero some love, if you've got a minute.

(Tipped by JMG reader Liz)

NOM's Eyewitless News

NOM has created a fake newscast about their appearances in Albany and Providence. THEY are the victims here people, not the millions of Americans whose oppression comes at their hands.

#NOMFail: Maryland Edition

Not only the worst attendance so far, Brian Brown had the cops throw out the camera crew from Courage Campaign.

The End Of Andrew Breitbart's Credibility

A Message To NOM's Brian Brown

And more from Blue Jersey's Jay Lassiter on yesterday's NOM Hate Tour visit to Trenton. Watch this, but grab a tissue first.

Tweet Of The Day - Almighty God

Quote Of The Day II - Randy Thomasson

"It's like an armed robber who breaks into a house at night. The homeowners are gun owners and the husband, with a cocked, laser-beam-sited, large-caliber gun in his hands, has the element of surprise over the dangerous intruder. They fear for their lives. But now, imagine that instead of shooting the bad guy, the homeowner turns on bright lights, and starts lecturing him about how he shouldn't break into houses, how he should get a job instead; bottom line, he refuses to point and shoot to kill, as if words were enough.

"If you were the wife of such a man, you would be both angry and scared out of your wits, completely let down and utterly unprotected from the worst that was yet to come. This paints the picture of what the Republican senators on the Judiciary Committee didn’t do. They didn’t use the power they had to stop their mortal enemy, Elena Kagan." - Save California executive director Randy Thomasson, who says the GOP failed to "shoot to kill" Elena Kagan.

The Professors Of Hate

Porno Pete LaBarbera has posted the names of the "instructors" at his upcoming Academy Of Hate, where young Christofascists will learn how to more effectively work to ensure bigotry and violence against America's LGBT citizens. The list is a who's who of assholery and includes Arthur Goldberg from JONAH, the Jewish "ex-gay" group whose "therapy" includes nude self-groping in the presence of creepy older "ex-gay" dudes. HAWT. The instructors and their children of the corn will meet in early August in LaBarbera's lavishly appointed basement dungeon in suburban Chicago.

The Teabagging Bag

The Daily What tips us to the Teabagging Bag.

Tea drinking is now down with the kids with the ‘teabagging bag’. Using ‘Street’ language we have made the ultimate tea bag. It’s completely reusable and allows you to drink tea and smile hoping that the sweet taste of you favourite drink overshadows the disgust at making it.

$12 each in a reusable food-safe muslin material.

Lt. Dan Choi Formally Discharged

Although he has yet to comment on it publicly, Gay City News revealed yesterday that Lt. Dan Choi was formally discharged from the military last month.

Choi lost his battle with the Pentagon on June 29 when his discharge from the Army under the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy was finalized. While Choi’s National Guard unit informed him by registered mail and with phone messages, he has not disclosed the action. He did not respond to an email seeking comment.

Yesterday Choi and seven other GetEQUAL activists were arrested in Las Vegas for blocking traffic in a protest about Sen. Harry Reid's inaction on ENDA. The eight were still in jail last night, but I'll try and get a statement from Choi today or tomorrow here at Netroots Nation.

NEW JERSEY: Cops Shoot And Kill Man In Known Cruising Area

Last Friday night, Georgia executive Dean Gaymon was shot and killed by undercover detectives in a Newark area park known for public cruising. Police claim Gaymon "made a sexual move" towards a detective, which as we all know is a death penalty crime.

According to the officer, he made an arrest in an unrelated case when he realized he has loss a pair of handcuffs during that arrest. After the suspect in that earlier case was secured, the officer told his partner he was going back into the woods, retracing his steps in an effort to find the missing handcuffs. While bending down to retrieve the handcuffs, the plainclothes officer was approached by Mr. Gaymon who was engaged in a sex act at the time. The officer pulled out his badge, identified himself as a police officer and informed Mr. Gaymon he was under arrest. Mr. Gaymon appeared to panic, assaulted the police officer and fled. A foot chase ensued. The officer made repeated commands to Mr. Gaymon to stop and submit. Mr. Gaymon ignored those commands, did not raise his arms or make his hands visible and repeatedly threatened to kill the officer. Mr. Gaymon then lunged at and attempted to disarm the officer while reaching into his own pocket. Fearing for his life, the officer discharged his service weapon, striking Mr. Gaymon once. Gaymon, who was unarmed, was shot once in the stomach and died. The 29-year- old detective who fired the shot was so distraught, he had to be sedated and was not capable of providing a statement for three days. The Gaymon family released a statement: "We know that the police killed an innocent man, with no history of or disposition towards violence." Gaymon, the son of a preacher, leaves behind a wife and four young children.

Is anyone buying that police report? ANYONE? Essex County police are investigating further, so they say. Expect a massive wrongful death suit from Gaymon's family.

PhoboQuotable - Wendy Wright

"HIV/AIDS is transmitted through actions -- not by the economy. HIV/AIDS is clearly more prevalent among the homosexual community and the homosexual community as a whole is [wealthier] than the average American. And so this study seems to want to manipulate people's views in order to direct attention away from the causes of HIV/AIDS -- the actions by which they are transmitted -- onto something like government programs to redistribute wealth." - Concerned Women for America president Wendy Wright, who is angry that the CDC studied HIV prevalence among America's impoverished heterosexuals.

MISSISSIPPI: Constance McMillen Wins Prom Suit Against School District

Openly gay Mississippi teen Constance McMillen and the ACLU have triumphed in their lawsuit against the school district that conspired to exclude her from her senior prom.

Constance McMillen will be paid $35,000 plus attorney fees to settle her lawsuit accusing her former school district of discrimination for canceling the senior prom rather than let her attend with her girlfriend. As part of the settlement, the Itawamba County School District also agreed to follow a non-discrimination policy, although officials said such a policy existed in March, when the dispute began. The district does not admit wrongdoing in settling the suit, which was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union.

"I knew it was a good cause, but sometimes it really got to me. I knew it would change things for others in the future and I kept going and I kept pushing," McMillen, 18, said in an interview today with the Associated Press. Schools attorney Michelle Floyd noted that the district did not admit wrongdoing by settling the suit, filed by the American Civil Liberties Union. "The Itawamba County School District believes that Constance McMillen's rights under the United States Constitution were not violated by any act, omission, policy, custom or practice of the district," she said in a statement.

In April, Constance and some special needs students were lured to a fake prom while most of the student body celebrated at a secret prom in another location. The ACLU responds to yesterday's ruling:

“Constance went through a great deal of harassment and humiliation simply for standing up for her rights, and she should be proud of what she has accomplished,” said Christine P. Sun, senior counsel with the ACLU Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Project. “Thanks to her bravery, we now not only have a federal court precedent that can be used to protect the rights of students all over the country to bring the date they want to their proms, but we also have the first school anti-discrimination policy of its kind in Mississippi.”

Last month Constance served as Grand Marshall at the NYC Pride March and has appeared at several other gay pride events in similar capacities. Congrats to our heroine!

Narsha - Bi-Ri-Bop-A

Feel the Gaga.

Morning View - Chippendales

The Chippendales Theatre is in my hotel and their ads line the casino passageways. There's a Chippendales gift shop too!

Rep. Alan Grayson: GOP Offers "Let Them Eat Cake" Economics

Quote Of The Day - Tony Perkins

"If President Obama can't have a lifetime term, then he knows the next best thing is nominating Elena Kagan to one. She shares the President's disgust for traditional morality, free speech, the military, individual liberty, unborn children, constitutional fidelity, and all things religious.

"It was her rabid pro-homosexual views that led her to restrict military recruitment on Harvard Law School's campus, and, as Solicitor General, to sabotage the defense of our federal marriage law. In both instances, she favored her personal ideology and political calculations over the law. And she may spend 30 more years doing it as a member of America's most powerful court. Elena Kagan was unfit to be Solicitor General, and she definitely doesn't deserve a lifetime promotion to the U.S. Supreme Court. Contact your Senators and tell them to vote 'no' on Kagan." - Family Research Council head crybaby Tony Perkins, throwing a widdle tantrum because the Senate Judiciary Committee approved Kagen's nomination yesterday.

Daily Grumble

Well, I've only been here a few hours and I've already learned that it is definitely not appreciated if you hover near the craps table and chant "Consuela, Consuela, Bo-Buela, CON-SU-AY-LA!" Seriously, any gay man would have been on the floor.

GetEQUAL Blocks Las Vegas Strip

Eight members of GetEqual, including Robin McGehee and Dan Choi, were arrested in Las Vegas today after blocking traffic on the city's busiest street in protest of inaction on ENDA by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV). I'll ask the participants about this tomorrow, if they're out of jail by our planned breakfast. More photos by Steve Freiss are here.

It's Gonna Be An Inside Week

The bottom line cracks me up.

Afternoon View - Vegas Strip

I've arrived for Netroots Nation 2010, which is being held at the Harrah's Rio All-Suites, where interestingly, I do not have a suite. I would have been able to check in an hour ago, but the capacity of the airport shuttles were severely restricted by the number of Larks onboard each one. What happens in Vegas...gets blogged.

PhoboQuotable - Peter LaBarbera

"This is just a really bad idea. We do not want to incentivize people practicing homosexuality to come into the United States -- it's that simple. There are people waiting in line for years and years, normal families, to legally immigrate into the United States. The idea that we would recreate the family to now include two men or two women instead of a mom and a dad, all the while importing more practicing homosexuals into the United States, is absurd. And this is very radical legislation." - Porno Pete LaBarbera, speaking the American Family Association's OneNewsNow.

In the above-linked article, the AFA mischaracterizes the Uniting American Families Act as "designed to allow illegal immigrants with American family members to stay in the country." The UAFA actually provides for legal residence for the "permanent partners of United States citizens and legal residents" and is only one part of the comprehensive immigration reform package now before Congress. Major evangelical groups have vowed to block immigration reform if it includes any mention of dirty queers.

Yesterday Politico noted that except for them damn homos, evangelicals are salivating at the prospect of millions of new converts (and their wallets). The president of the National Association of Evangelicals says, “When people migrate, they’re open to all kinds of change, including religious change." LGBT immigration attorney Lavi Soloway tells Politico that he isn't too worried about opposition from the religious right, adding, “We are a small issue. … I don’t think in the end we’re a deal breaker." I'm not so optimistic.

Today In Teabaggery

Surprisingly slick, considering the source.

Russian Bookies Want That Octopus

Russian bookmakers have offered €100,000 for Paul the Octopus, who accurately predicted the winners of six consecutive World Cup matches.

"100,000 euros (about $129,800) was our starting price," Oleg Zhuravsky, co-owner of Liga Stavok -- "Bet League" in Russian -- told CNN. He said the offer could be increased if need be -- "We are bookmakers, after all." Paul currently lives at the Sea Life Center in Oberhausen, Germany. Zhuravsky said a representative of the center's public relations firm has told him the offer has been received and "they are studying it."

Paul's owners say they have no plan to sell him.

Let's Take The DADT Survey

Another amusing entry from JMG reader Sean Chapin.

Blowoff: The Artwork

Signed and limited editions of Linas Garsys' iconic poster artwork for the Blowoff parties are now available for purchase on the artist's site. Next week his work will be shown during Montreal's Divers/Cite, details here and below.

Sarah Palin - I'm Like Shakespeare!

Syria Bans Veils At Universities

Syria has joined the growing movement to ban veiled women, telling its universities that they may not enroll women who wear the niqab, a full veil that shows only the eyes.

The order affects both public and private universities and aims to protect Syria's secular identity, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly about the issue. Hundreds of primary school teachers who were wearing the niqab at government-run schools were transferred last month to administrative jobs, he added. The ban, issued Sunday by the Education Ministry, does not affect the hijab, or headscarf, which is far more common in Syria than the niqab's billowing black robes. Syria is the latest in a string of nations from Europe to the Middle East to weigh in on the veil, perhaps the most visible symbol of conservative Islam. Veils have spread in other secular-leaning Arab countries, such as Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon, with Jordan's government trying to discourage them by playing up reports of robbers who wear veils as masks.

Last week France's lower legislative chamber voted nearly unanimously to ban the wearing of burqas and niqabs anywhere in public.

Naked Highway - In & Out

You might know NYC's Naked Highway from their remixes for Lady Gaga, The Presets, and Rihanna. The band says this video is their tribute to New Order's Round And Round. I see several regular JMG readers in this clip!

DADT Fallout: Conscientious Objectors?

A longtime counselor of U.S. service members predicts that if DADT were to be repealed, some soldiers will attempt to leave the military by claiming they are conscientious objectors to serving alongside homosexuals. Anti-gay activists have long held that soldiers will simply chose not to re-enlist should the repeal go into effect.

When the House of Representatives voted May 27 to allow the repeal of the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, paving the way for gay men and lesbians in the military to be open about their sexual orientation, Ms. McNeil got a hot-line call that raised a new issue: the caller said he considered homosexuality an abomination and wanted to be a conscientious objector because he could not serve in the military alongside gay soldiers. “I told him I wasn’t trying to criticize, but he was already serving with gays, since there’s lots of gays in the military now,” said Ms. McNeil, the executive director of the Center on Conscience & War, a nonprofit group that supports conscientious objectors. “He said, ‘Yes, but now if they come out, they can be forced out. But if homosexuality is actually allowed, I will be housed with somebody who’s sexually attracted to me.’

The counselor, a Quaker lawyer who has helped thousands of soldiers exit the military, says while she personally approves of the repeal of DADT, she is uncertain whether the military would accept "I can't serve with gays" as a legitimate reason.

The legal standard, she said, is that the person must be conscientiously opposed to participating in war in any form, based on a sincerely held religious, moral or ethical belief. And the person must have had a change of heart since joining the military, when the person signed a form saying he or she was not a conscientious objector and did not intend to become one. “In the ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ situation, they’re not opposed to participating in war, they’re opposed to who they’re participating with,” Ms. McNeil said.

(Tipped by JMG reader Bryan)

HomoQuotable - Roy Ashburn

"I should begin with an apology. I am sincerely sorry for the votes I cast and the actions I took that harmed lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. Just as important to me, I am sorry for not stepping forward and speaking up as an elected official on behalf of equal treatment for all people. For nearly 26 years, the voters in my area of California trusted me as their elected representative. I look back now knowing there is so much more I could have done to inform the public about LGBT people and to fight for equal rights under the law. Regrettably and selfishly, I took another path in my life and political career—I chose to conceal who I truly am and to then actually vote against the best interests of people like me. All this was done because I was afraid–terrified, really–that somehow I would be revealed as gay.

"My past actions harmed gay people. In fact, all people are harmed when there is unequal treatment of anyone under the constitution and laws of our country. I do not believe in discrimination, and yet my votes advanced unequal of treatment of gay people and promoted the suspicion and fear that limits people from being forthright and accepted in society.

"Now, from what I have lived and learned, I want to do the best that I can to advance equality and freedom for all people. Given the shame and confusion that many feel over their sexual orientation, perhaps my situation can serve as an example of both the harm that can come from denial and fear, and the opportunity to try to make things right." - Recently outed CA Sen. Roy Ashburn, continuing his campaign of apologies with a lengthy essay for Gay Politics.

VIENNA: Annie Lennox Talks About Her "HIV POSITIVE" Shirt At AIDS 2010

JMG reader and very funny guy Mark S. King is covering the AIDS 2010 conference in Vienna for TheBody.com. In the below clip, he asks Annie Lennox about her frequently-worn "HIV POSITIVE" t-shirt. Subscribe to Mark's daily video reports from the conference.

RELATED: You may recall Mark from this hilarious video by his alter-ego, Anita Mann.

Black Pearl - Go Go Ssing

A very old school Eurovision sound. K-Pop!

How To Get There

(Source)

Glenn Beck Says He May Go Blind

Glenn Beck told an audience in Salt Lake City that he has been diagnosed with macular dystrophy and may go blind. Of course, who knows when America's Greatest Liar™ is ever telling the truth.

The Field Guide To Teabaggers

Another great dissection of the virulent racism infecting the Tea Party movement, who this week "kicked out" their most infamous racist, Mark Williams.

The Soup Nazi Returns

The real life Soup Nazi of Seinfeld fame is reopening his original store in Hell's Kitchen today, six years after the last of his several Manhattan locations closed. All the famously stringent rules will be enforced: Have your money ready, step to the left, no unnecessary talking. I used to patronize the location at 42nd and Fifth, where a tiny portion of lobster bisque would set you back $12. And was totally worth it.