Saturday, April 02, 2011

Stephen Colbert & Friends - Friday

There's just no stopping the year's silliest song.

(Via - Towleroad)

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NEW YORK CITY: Gay Bashing Suspect Denies Hate Crime - "I'm Gay Myself"

Last night the NYPD made an arrest in last week's gay bashing of Damian Furtch, who was treated for facial injuries after being attacked outside a West Village McDonald's. The suspect has admitted to the assault, but says he shouldn't be charged with a hate crime because he's gay himself.
Cops busted a 21-year-old homeless man Friday night in connection with the vicious beatdown of a gay man in Greenwich Village. Anthony Bray, collared in Bushwick, Brooklyn, confessed to attacking Damian Furtch outside a McDonald's on W. Third St. - but insisted it wasn't a bias attack because he is also gay. Bray told cops he pummeled Furtch, 26, "because he was disrespectful to him," sources said. Bray, who has prior arrests for marijuana possession, graffitti and robbery, was charged with misdemeanor assault.
Cops say they haven't yet ruled out the hate crime charge. Furtch says the altercation began when his attackers mocked him for his bright pink shirt, which is part of his restaurant uniform.

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Queers Against Equality

Apparently they've been around for a couple of years, but I've only just learned about them via Slog. From the Against Equality about page:
Against Equality is an online archive, publishing, and arts collective focused on critiquing mainstream gay and lesbian politics. As queer thinkers, writers and artists, we are committed to dislodging the centrality of equality rhetoric and challenging the demand for inclusion in the institution of marriage, the US military, and the prison industrial complex via hate crimes legislation. We want to reinvigorate the queer political imagination with fantastic possibility.
On marriage equality:
Gay marriage apes hetero privilege and allows everyone to forget that marriage ought not to be the guarantor of rights like health care. In their constant invoking of the “right” to gay marriage, mainstream gays and lesbians express a confused tangle of wishes and desires. They claim to contest the Right’s conservative ideology yet insist that they are more moral and hence more deserving than sluts like us. They claim that they simply want the famous 1000+ benefits but all of these, like the right to claim protection in cases of domestic violence, can be made available to non-marital relationships.
Against Equality also opposes the repeal of DADT, because nobody should be in the military.
Is it the uniforms? The always flattering navy blue of a seaman’s uniform? The adventurous khaki of a soldier in the desert? Or might it be the rituals of military life, the sado-masochistic infliction of rules and tortuous drills, which drive today’s gays and lesbians to insist that they ought to be allowed to serve freely and openly in the military?
There's a Facebook page for an upcoming speaking engagement by the group at Seattle's Cornish College.

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Clique Chart

(Source)

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Columbus Gay Men's Chorus And
Children's Choir - It Gets Better


(Tipped by JMG reader Gary)

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Friday, April 01, 2011

Name That Tune

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Bryan Fischer: I'm Worried That Donald Trump Doesn't Hate Gay People Enough

American Family Association spokesdouche Bryan Fischer is worried that Donald Trump doesn't hate gay people enough to earn the endorsement of the right wing.
Does he believe the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) is constitutional? Does he believe President Obama violated his oath of office by refusing to defend this law in court? Does he support a federal marriage amendment that would define marriage as a one-man, one-woman institution and prohibit marriage counterfeits like civil unions and domestic partnerships? Would he reverse President Obama’s decision to grant certain spousal benefits to the sexual partners of homosexuals, contrary to DOMA? Would he support reinstatement of the ban on open homosexual service in the military? Would he veto the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) if it came to his desk? Would he sign a repeal of the Hate Crimes act, which will criminalize speech that is critical of homosexual behavior?
Fischer also says that Trump's three marriages "ought to be a huge problem for social conservatives," an issue Fischer doesn't seem to have with thrice-married serial adulterer Newt Gingrich, who regularly appears on Fischer's radio show.

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Crazy Eyes Leads In 2012 Fundraising

Rep. Michele "Crazy Eyes" Bachmann has so far this year raised more money for her 2012 presidential campaign than any other prospective candidate.
Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., raised a combined total of $2.2 million in the first quarter of 2011, outgaining presumed presidential contender Mitt Romney who raised $1.9 million over the same period. Bachmann's political action committee, MichelePAC, raised $500,000 while her Congressional reelection fund took in $1.7 million. The funds raised for her Congressional reelection could be transferred to any federal campaign, including one for president.
The above-linked article notes that most of Bachmann's war chest has come in "small amounts from many individuals" rather than from major donors.

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GOP Sen. Jeff Sessions Grills Solicitor General Nominee Over DOMA

And it goes exactly as you'd expect.

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Ten Years Of Manhunt

The website that almost inarguably did more to recast the social and sexual lives of gay men than any phenomenon in recent history, turns ten years old today. Some, including myself, would say that Manhunt and its copycats are largely responsible for the accelerating demise of gay nightlife, especially the now almost-all-gone gay megaclubs. But as some of you know, this here website thingy was sort of spawned on Manhunt, so even though I haven't been a member in ages, I must give them props for that.

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U.S. Senate Honors Elizabeth Taylor

The U.S. Senate has passed a Boxer/Feinstein-sponsored resolution honoring Elizabeth Taylor. It reads, in part:
Whereas Elizabeth Taylor used her fame to raise awareness and advocate for people affected by HIV/AIDS;
Whereas, at a time when HIV/AIDS was largely an unknown disease and those who were affected by HIV/AIDS were ostracized and shunned, Elizabeth Taylor called for and demonstrated compassion by publicly holding the hand of her friend and former costar, Rock Hudson, after he had announced that he had AIDS;
Whereas Elizabeth Taylor testified before Congress saying, “It is my hope that history will show that the American people and our leaders met the challenge of AIDS rationally and with all the resources at their disposal, for our sake and that of all humanity.”;
Whereas, in 1985, Elizabeth Taylor became the Founding National Chairman for the American Foundation for AIDS Research (commonly known as “amfAR”);
Whereas, in 1991, Elizabeth Taylor founded the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation to provide direct support to those suffering from the disease;
Whereas the extensive efforts of Elizabeth Taylor have helped educate the public and lawmakers about the need for research, treatment, and compassion for those suffering from HIV/AIDS;
Resolved, That the Senate recognizes and honors the courageous, compassionate leadership and many professional accomplishments of Elizabeth Taylor; and offers its deepest condolences to her family.
(Via - LGBTPOV)

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Resistance Is Futile

You will join the Apple Borg, my child.
According to ThinkGeek, the set "introduces children to the magic of Apple technology." There's an entire two-level Apple Store staffed by PLAYMOBIL™ associates, with tiny demo tables filled with minuscule Apple gear, software shelves, and even the kid's corner on the ground floor. Upstairs, there's a Genius Bar and a Keynote Theater staffed by a mini Steve Jobs figure. The Store is designed so that you can use your own iPhone 4 as Steve's screen in the theater, and there are simulated Keynote presentations available for download on the PLAYMOBIL™ website.

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IRELAND: New Anti-Bullying Campaign

Just launched by Ireland's BeLonG To Youth Services. Tagline: "Stand up for your LGBT friends." Lovely clip. You might want to grab a tissue before viewing.

(Tipped by JMG reader Vivian)

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Photo Of The Day

Three weeks after the tsunami, Japanese rescue workers found a dog riding the floating roof of a house, miles out at sea. Video at the link.

UPDATE: Embeddable video has been posted.

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HomoQuotable - Chris Barron

"I think Mr. Trump's position on this has been a pretty common-sense one, and honestly, I can't understand why President Obama wouldn't have released his birth certificate before now to put an end to this once and for all." - GOProud chairman Chris Barron, who says the president's nationality is not among his group's priorities.

Politico's Ben Smith comments: "Trump, incidentally, isn't just overshadowing the candidates. He's dragging other bits of the party down the birther rabbit-hole with him." Trump's candidacy was jump-started when GOProud brought him to the CPAC convention.

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Focus On The Family Readies Its First Year Running Anti-Gay Pro-Bullying Campaign

The Day Of Silence, GLSEN's annual anti-bullying campaign is April 15th. And Focus On The Family's Candi Cushman is ready for her first year running the PRO-bullying Christian response, which was handed over to them last year by Exodus International. FOF's Day Of Dialogue will take place on April 18th.
"The whole idea is to help embolden and encourage students to want to express their biblical viewpoint in a loving and grace-filled way, especially when controversial sexual topics are brought up in their school and they feel like maybe their viewpoint is being stifled. So this just gives them some tools for being able to be confident and loving in expressing their biblical viewpoint. The whole idea of silence seems more like a media opportunity -- but the idea of dialogue is that this is an actual learning opportunity for students and a free exchange of ideas among them."
Focus On The Family is offering cash prizes to anti-gay Christian students who make the best video about how it's totally right to bully, shame, and ostracize gay kids for their sexuality. In the loving name of Jesus Christ, of course.

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Now Appearing Around Chicago

The same group whose anti-abortion billboard was yanked in Soho is posting thirty of the above billboards around Chicago's black neighborhoods. Think Progress reports:
As the Guttmacher Institute notes, these groups are “exploiting and distorting” the fact that “the abortion rate for black women is almost five times that for white women” to falsely blame the “aggressive marketing by abortion providers to minority communities.” In reality, the higher abortion rate reflects higher rate of unintended pregnanices resulting from wider disparities in geographic and financial access to health services — most notably “being able to afford the more effective — usually more expensive — prescription methods.” These obstacles, ironically, are what Planned Parenthood actively seeks to remove.

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AUDIO: Christianist Haters Spew Bile At Colorado's Civil Unions House Debate

Igor Volsky reports at Wonk Room:
Douglas Napier of the Alliance Defense Fund led the formal opposition against the bill and maintained that civil unions would likely lead to same-sex marriage, despite a 2006 voter-approved constitutional amendment that defined marriage as a union between a man and a woman. The debate quickly disintegrated from there, as witnesses began quoting the Bible, regurgitating thoroughly debunked claims about ex-gay therapy and even predicting the end of times. The Family Research Institute’s Dr. Paul Cameron — whose so-called ‘research’ on homosexuality has been condemned and refuted by most major medical organizations in the United States and Canada — provided the most colorful testimony.
Listen to the clip.

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Help Teabagger Sean Duffy

(Source)

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Former Top Cop For NY Marriage

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DELAWARE: Woman In Horrible Wig Calls On Christians To Oppose Civil Unions

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Rep. Louie Gohmert: Libya Is A False Flag Cover For The Obamacare Army

Whackadoodle teabagger Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) yesterday declared that U.S. action in Libya is actually a false flag operation meant to exhaust the military's resources. That way the president can call up his super-secret army as authorized in the health care reform bill. Seriously.
"It's a bad bill. And then when you find out that the prior Congress not only passed that 2,800 page bill with all kinds of things in it, including a new president's commissioned officer corps and non-commissioned officer corps. Do we really need that? I wondered when I read that in the bill. But then when you find out we're being sent to Libya to use our treasure and American lives there, maybe there's intention to so deplete the military that we're going to need that presidential reserve officer commissioned corps and non-commissioned corps that the president can call up on a moment's notice involuntarily, according to the Obamacare bill."
Talking Points Memo notes that Gohmert is repeating a Tea Party conspiracy theory currently making the rounds via chain emails. According to the teabaggers, the Ready Reserves Corps of medical personnel created in the health care reform bill, who are meant to serve in national emergencies such as Katrina, will actually be an army of Obama's private henchmen. The concept of the Ready Reserves Corps was first put forward by the Bush administration after 9/11. As he typically does, Gohmert made his claims from the podium of an empty House chamber. That way, he gets the video clip to score teabagger points, gets his claim on the Congressional record, yet faces no rebuttals.

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Third Grader Bait

(Source)

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Quote Of The Day - Brian Brown

"The gay movement’s tactics smell more and more like Joe McCarthy than Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Hounding people and going after their livelihoods, because they express a view held by numerous mainstream Christians is mean, intolerant, and unacceptable to most Americans. We call on Joe Solomonese, Evan Wolfson and other mainstream gay marriage groups to call off their dogs, renounce these tactics of intimidation and religious bigotry, and restore the face of their movement into something more resembling tolerance and fair play for all Americans." - NOM president Brian Brown, in a press release denouncing Equality Michigan, who is pressuring a local city to fire recently hired human resources executive Crystal Dixon based on her anti-gay past.

In 2008 Dixon lost her job as vice president of human resources with the University of Toledo after penning a viciously anti-gay opinion piece for a local newspaper. Dixon claimed that she was writing as a private citizen, even though she referenced the university in her column. Her case remains among the small handful continuously cited by anti-gay groups as evidence of escalating "homo-fascism."

Equality Michigan: "Jackson residents deserve someone who is qualified to serve as their human resources director. The job in question places Crystal Dixon as lead negotiator for contract agreements and will make her an influential voice in searches for department heads. She needs to be capable of providing equal opportunity and advocating for the interests of all Jackson residents. Her job history simply makes her unqualified to serve the entire Jackson community."

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Eurovision: San Marino's Senit

This will only be San Marino's second Eurovision. And it's a rather blah entry that reveals Senit's roots in musical theater.

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Crazy Eyes: Obama Wants You Poor

"I think that the agenda that we have seen - we know that sixty-three percent of all households have seen a major decline in their personal wealth, a decline in their personal income, and an increase in their debt level. That's all attributable directly to Barack Obama's principles. I don't think it's by accident we're seeing people struggling and we're seeing redistribution of wealth. I think Barack Obama is getting exactly the outcome that he hoped for.

"All of us, I think are perhaps giving the President too much credit thinking, well, he probably just doesn't understand that liberalism actually makes people poorer. I actually think that this is what the President wants. I believe that he wants to see redistribution of wealth because if you ever notice, the President seems to be angry and irritable and sarcastic about people who have succeeded in the United States and job creators. Those seem to be the two sectors that he most wants to punish." - Rep. Michele Bachmann, speaking on the radio show of Pat Robertson's lawyer, Jay Sekulow.

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Bullied Teen Tells Story With Signs

"Words are worse than sticks and stones," says this bullied 8th grader. Her touching clip already has over 225,000 views.

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Thursday, March 31, 2011

COLORADO: Civil Unions Bill Stalls

Colorado's civil unions bill was stalled tonight by the GOP-led House Judiciary Committee, who refused to approve the bill for consideration by the full chamber. Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper had urged the committee to advance the bill, which was approved by the state Senate last week. One Colorado reports via press release:
“Today’s vote was out of touch with everyday Colorado voters. With 72% of Coloradans in support of civil unions, House Republicans are out of the mainstream,” said Brad Clark, Executive Director of One Colorado, a statewide LGBT advocacy organization. “Once again, they have turned their backs on Colorado families and kids.” According to polls, support for civil unions is high. A February 2011 poll by Public Policy Polling found that 72% of Colorado voters support legal recognition of gay and lesbian couples. Additionally, a Greenberg Quinlan Rosner poll conducted in 2010 found support for civil unions across political parties and religious affiliations, including 61% of Republicans, 84% of independents, 70% of Catholics, 67% of Protestants, and 55% of “born again Christians.”
Earlier in the day, a coalition of anti-gay Christians gathered at the state capitol building for a prayer vigil against the bill while pro-gay supporters held their own rally nearby.

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Gay Sailor Wins Discharge Hearing

Petty Officer Derek Morado today won his discharge hearing with the Navy after being told he faced ejection due to a MySpace photograph that was turned in anonymously. In the photo, Morado is seen kissing another man. Morado's lawyer told KMPH News that even though DADT has been repealed, that doesn't mean the military's investigations are over.
"There's nothing illegal about what the Navy is trying to do to this man right now as I understand it," Attorney Mark King said. King says that's because the law, is the law. "If someone does something in January that by June is no longer a crime, there's nothing unconstitutional about prosecuting them in September over what happened in January, because in January it was against the law," King said. A Navy spokesperson tells KMPH News, the repeal of the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy has to be certified by the Secretary of Defense, Chairman and President. After that, it will take another 60 days before it goes into effect. "We have to treat them all with dignity and respect. At the same time there is a law and we have to maintain that law," Navy Commander Danny Hernandez said. But for Derek Morado, it wouldn't matter. On Thursday the board voted against discharging him, which means he can continue his dreams of a decorated military career.
According to a press release from GetEQUAL, the Navy's panel voted 3-0 in favor of Morado's retention.

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Teabaggers Praise Donald Trump

At today's Tea Party rally in DC.

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ILLINOIS: Porno Pete LaBarbera Readies Anti-Marriage Petition Campaign

JMG reader Patrick writes: "I just happened across the old Protect Marriage Illinois website, (the one set up by the Illinois Family Institute a few years back when they unsuccessfully tried to get a marriage referendum on the ballot), and after years of inactivity, it's currently displaying a message stating that a 'Citizen Petitions to Protect Marriage in Illinois' is coming soon, with the Americans for Truth email as a contact."

It was Porno Pete who in 2006 spearheaded the failed attempt to gather 500,000 signatures to put a ban on same-sex marriage on the state ballot. That was when he was president of the SPLC-certified hate group, IFI. It's hard to say whether this latest attempt could be any more successful, but these days, who knows? I'm sure Equality Illinois is watching this.

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Solomon's Temple

As soon as Kentucky's Creation Museum finishes their "full-scale replica" of Noah's Ark, they're going to build an accompanying Solomon's Temple, but "it's not going to be some sort of secular temple where all sorts of weird religious ceremonies are held." Whew! Also on the drawing plans, the Tower Of Babel.

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NYC's Cobra Saga Endsssss

A fun diversion while it lasted, yes? No reaction yet on the cobra's Twitter account.

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TAMPA: Battle Over 2012 GOP Convention

Earlier this year the GOP awarded next year's presidential convention to Tampa. But now GOP state organizations in Iowa and South Carolina say the convention must be relocated if Florida doesn't move its primary to a date after theirs. Currently Florida's primary is scheduled to be the first, an issue the GOP also squabbled over in 2008.
Florida's 2012 GOP presidential primary is scheduled for Jan. 31. Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina are the only states under the RNC rules that are allowed to hold a presidential caucus or primary before March 1. The Republican National Committee is not budging. "The convention will be in Tampa," said RNC spokesman Sean Spicer. "At the same time, we will enforce the rules agreed to by all states with respect to the primary and caucus calendar." In a letter to RNC members today, South Carolina GOP Chairwoman Karen Floyd said Florida's Republican-led Legislature is "thumbing its nose at the RNC" by refusing to change a 2007 law that states Florida must hold their presidential primary on the last Tuesday in January.

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PANAMA: Lesbian Couple Jailed For Kiss

Onscreen clip translation by Andres Duque at Blabbeando. He reports:
On Sunday, 32 year old Valentina Hernandez (right) and her 23 year old girlfriend were enjoying a romantic walk down the streets of the historic Casco Antigüo colonial district of Panama City when she stopped to give her girlfriend a kiss. Hernandez, a psychologist by profession, reached out to Panamanian newspaper Prensa and shared details of what followed. Hernandez says that a member of Panama's presidential guard who had seen them kiss approached them and accused them of improper behavior. When Hernandez asked him to explain clearly which law they had violated, the guard grew exasperated and called for reinforcement. She says that ten other members of the Institutional Protective Service (S.P.I.) quickly showed up and took her ID and cell phone as they whisked the couple to the local police precinct. Hernandez says that, once they reached the precinct, she was given an intrusive body check by a policewoman. "I felt they touched me everywhere," she said, "They rubbed their hands on my genitals, it was disgusting, my girlfriend was asked to take her pants off." Hernandez says that they were both held behind bars for hours until the authorities asked her to sign a three-page document which they did not allow her to read completely but in which she was told she would free the authorities of any responsibility for their detention. "I signed," she said, "because I did not want to spend a night in a jail cell."

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New Blog

Where girls submit photos of their gay high school boyfriends.

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COLORADO: Christianists Gather To Pray Against Passage Of Civil Unions Bill

Happening at the Colorado capitol building right now, according to the Catholic News Agency:
Colorado Catholics and others in a coalition opposed to a civil unions bill will gather on the state capitol’s eastern steps on March 31 for a noontime prayer vigil. Auxiliary Bishop James D. Conley of Denver has invited others to join him at the event. "The domestic Church (founded on marriage between one man and one woman) is the very basis of society and an image of the Triune God," he said. He asked those who cannot make the vigil to "please join in prayer where ever you are for this most important issue." Catholic laity, seminarians and a contingent from the Colorado Springs-based evangelical Christian ministry Focus on the Family will be among the attendees.
(Via -Dan Savage)

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CockNBullKid- Asthma Attack

More lovely 60s-inspired pop from Britain's Anita Blay, AKA CockNBullKid. Some of you enjoyed her last release, Hold On To Your Misery.

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In Which I Sort Of Agree With NOM

Today NOM's blog links to a story on the anti-gay Life Site News, which complains that YouTube has yanked the video of last week's Brown University demonstration by the red-caped loons of the Society for Defense of Tradition.
Days after the videotaped incident was posted on YouTube, the video sharing website pulled down the footage, leaving a message stating: “This video has been removed because its content violated YouTube’s Terms of Service.” TFP’s John Ritchie told LifeSiteNews.com that they were not aware of which Youtube rules the video supposedly broke. “It seems YouTube broke their own guidelines when removing it, because the policy states that the video poster will be notified of any problem, and be given 48 hours to either remove the video or correct the problem,” Ritchie said. YouTube has become notorious among conservative circles for removing several videos that portray abortion or Planned Parenthood in a negative light. The organization, which is owned by Google Inc., has consistently declined to provide explanations for why such videos were removed.
While it is undeniably satisfying to click "offensive" on anti-gay videos, what we're also potentially doing is removing the evidence, the historical record, of these campaigns against us. Aside from the clips that include outright calls for violence against gay people, I say we allow such asshattery to remain online. I fully expect that many of you will strongly disagree.

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DELAWARE: Civil Unions Bill Advances

Yesterday Delaware's proposed civil unions bill advanced out of a state Senate committee after a boisterous debate featuring the usual anti-gay bigots.
The Rev. Rick Hensley, pastor of Grace and Truth Community Church in Felton said he was raised by a single mother who lived a "homosexual lifestyle." But she left that lifestyle, he said, and so did her partner. That proves such orientations are a choice, not innate, he said. "They are wonderful people, and I don't have anything bad to say about them," Hensley said. "I love them. But the lie we are talking about is that this is something innate, unchangeable. ... Freedom to pursue sexual orientation does not necessitate fundamentally redefining marriage in our society." "If you do that, you run a perilous path. And this is a step toward same-sex marriage. We all in this room know that," Hensley said. The Rev. Dale Mast, pastor of Destiny Christian Church of Dover, said he had a dear friend who was gay, whom he counseled and stood beside, who got AIDS and "went on a sexual rampage out of his anger." Mast said he fears what would come next if Delaware adopted civil unions -- heterosexual unions with 14-year-old girls? He said pastors in Southeast Asia have told him of grandfathers taking their granddaughters to hotel rooms."I encourage you not to pass this," he said. "What else will come?"
One former Delaware state Senator said he'd been personally sent to testify against the bill by Jesus Christ, who is apparently worried about having to send all of Delaware to hell.

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Parents Pay Tribute To Fallen Soldier Son Who Died In The Closet Due To DADT

Watch this.

(Tipped by JMG reader Amber)

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Tweet Of The Day - Porno Pete

Presumably PFOX head Quinlan's "testimony" won't include mention of his ex-wife, who dumped his totally gay ass four years ago after they'd paraded themselves on Christian networks as models of reformed homosexuals.

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INDIANA: State GOP Rep Claims Women Will Fake Rape To Get Free Abortions

While the Indiana House yesterday considered what would be one of the nation's most restrictive anti-abortion laws, the bill's GOP sponsor, Rep. Eric Turner, objected to a proposed "loophole" in the law, claiming that women will fake having been raped in order to get free abortions. That set Rep. Linda Lawson (D) off on the tirade also seen in the clip below.

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Open Thread Thursday

What's delicious? Favorites recipes and specialties, please.

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Woman In Pants Are An Abomination

No, wearing leggings AS pants is an abomination.

(Via - On Knees For Jesus)

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Catholic League Vs. Macy's

The Catholic League is pissed at Macy's for the above display window promoting Showtime's upcoming series, The Borgias, which was "written by an atheist who hates the Catholic Church." Bill Donohue: "Why Macy's would want to pick a fight with Catholics during the Lenten season is not known, but that it has is certain." Wikipedia's entry on the Borgia family, one of whom became Pope, notes: "They have been accused of many different crimes, including adultery, simony, theft, rape, bribery, incest, and murder." Which is the real reason Donohue hates seeing the series promoted.

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Pat Condell: The Great Jesus Swindle

Another winner from my favorite YouTube atheist.

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Teabagger GOP Rep. Sean Duffy: I Can't Live On My Terrible Salary Of $174,000

Talking Points Memo reports that the GOP is furiously trying to scrub the net of the below video in which freshman Tea Party-backed GOP Rep. Sean Duffy (WI) complains about his annual salary of $174,000.
A day after TPM posted the video we obtained of Duffy talking about his salary at a Polk County town hall meeting earlier this year, the Polk County GOP contacted the video provider we used to host the video, Blip.tv, and demanded the video be taken down. The tape caused a stir for Duffy, a first-term conservative best known for his past as a reality TV show star on MTV's The Real World. Democrats flagged the comments about his taxpayer-funded salary (which is nearly three times the median income in Wisconsin) and criticisms began to flow Duffy's way.
Duffy, who has six kids, was endorsed for office by the Wisconsin hate group that pushed for a state constitutional ban on same-sex marriage.

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Tax Campaign: Refuse To Lie

Equality Florida tips us to a new campaign in which legally married gay couples will "refuse to lie" and will therefore file joint tax returns.
Each year the federal government demands that thousands of married couples lie. The federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) not only denies legally married gay couples the benefits of heterosexual marriage, but we are also told to disavow our spouses and file our taxes as "single." The Federal Government must stop requiring legally married gay couples to deny the existence of our families and hide our marriages. It is dehumanizing and it is wrong. Across the country, legally married gay couples are taking a stand. We are refusing to lie about the fact that we are married.
Refuse To Lie organizers warn: "Taking this principled stand is not without risk and each person doing so needs to carefully consider those risks before deciding if it is a stand you are willing to take." Facebook page here.

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VIDEO: Manhattan Gay Bashing

Surveillance video has been released of this weekend's gay bashing of Damian Furtch, 26, on a West Village street. GLAAD has been advising Furtch, who eloquently spoke out against the attack on local news channels last night. Furtch to GLAAD: "The attack against me is part of the larger issue of violence against gay and transgender people in New York City. While I am grateful for the opportunity to share my story, I hope to shed light on the larger issue of violence against my community. This has to stop. Under no circumstance should a person be attacked for their sexual orientation." Openly gay NYC Council Speaker Christine Quinn, in whose district the attack occurred, spent time yesterday handing out flyers near the crime scene. No suspects have yet been apprehended.

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House Seat Apportionments

(Source)

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Donald Trump: I'm Proud To Be A Birther

"A lot of the so called birthers, these are great people, these are really great American people. These are hard working, unbelievable, salt of the earth people. I'm proud to be, I mean I'm very proud of it. I don't like the term 'birther.' I think it is a demeaning term to the people that believe that he should have a birth certificate, that some people believe he was not born in this country. And when people ask me that question I just can't be sure because nobody knows. I have a birth certificate. People have birth certificates. He doesn't have a birth certificate. He may have one but there is something on that birth certificate — maybe religion, maybe it says he's a Muslim, I don't know. Maybe he doesn't want that. Or, he may not have one." - Donald Trump, on his new role as birther spokesman.

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Rep. Anthony Weiner Jokes About His Name At Correspondents Dinner

And aims a lot of zingers at the GOP.

(Via - Towleroad)

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Montana GOP Rep Defends Drunk Drivers

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Eurovision: Bulgaria's Poli Genova

Known to some as Bulgaria's version of Pink, at the age of nine Genova was the host of the popular television show Bon-Bon. Her title of her entry translates as Stubborn and is a call for young Bulgarians to resist emigrating to other countries.

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Wednesday, March 30, 2011

WASHINGTON: Legislature Votes To Recognize Out Of State Gay Marriages

Today the Washington state Senate voted 28-19 to recognize all legal partnerships (marriages, civil unions, etc) from other jurisdictions. The state House approved the bill last month.
“This bill is about making sure that people who love one another - and that love and friendship respected and honored in another state or another country - when they come here they have the same opportunity,” Sen. Kevin Ranker, D- San Juan Island, said on the Senate floor. Sen. Don Benton, R-Vancouver, cautioned lawmakers against passing the bill because he argued it would subject the Legislature to laws that other state legislatures pass.
The bill now goes to Gov. Chris Gregoire, who has promised to sign it.

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Matt Barber Claims Death Threats Over Comments On LGBT Youth Suicides

Today Liberty Counsel spokesdouche Matt Barber claims to Porno Pete that he's received death threats since his Monday announcement that gay kids kill themselves because they intuitively know they are immoral. And that doesn't bother Barber, because he knows that gays are really just mad at God.
You know, scripture says ‘woe to those who call evil good and good evil.’ When homosexual activists and other ‘progressives’ in the pro-sin movement are exposed to biblical truth, their reaction is invariably visceral and loud. There’s ‘nothing new under the sun.’ This ‘kill the messenger’ strategy is age-old and knee-jerk. These folks, as a matter of course, call evil good and good evil. Of course their gripe isn’t with me. I’m nothing. I’m nobody. Their problem is with their Creator, the natural order and the fallen state of mankind. They’re just lost. I merely repeated what God’s objective truth about sexual sin has always held: That heterosexual fornication, to include adultery, is sin and that homosexual behavior is always immoral and unnatural. Scripture is unequivocal on these points throughout both the Old and New Testaments. So, essentially I said nothing new. As you know I’ve never been one to mince words or sugarcoat things. That’s how God hardwired me. I also shared my opinion that many of those caught-up in the homosexual lifestyle intuitively know that such conduct is sin – that it’s both immoral and unnatural behavior. Scripture warns that ‘the wages of sin is death.’ Homosexual behavior is demonstrably destructive physically, emotionally and spiritually.
UNRELATED: Both Barber and Porno Pete have complained about the above "trick photo" I regularly use on Barber-related posts, claiming that Barber's fey pose was created with "special camera tricks." Seriously.

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Pastor Ken Hutcherson Issues Bizarre DOMA Warning: This Cobra Will Bite You

This has nothing to do with the Bronx Zoo. Probably. Hutcherson, you may recall, led the failed effort to block Washington state's Referendum 71, which grants most of the rights of marriage, but not the name.

(Source: Towleroad via Pam's House Blend)

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Fastest Growing Big Cities

The U.S. Census has ranked the fastest growing cities whose metro populations exceed one million. My exploding hometown of Orlando ranks at sixth fastest-growing with 2.1M residents. When my family moved there in 1971, the population was around 60,000. The day after we arrived, Walt Disney World opened.

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HomoQuotable - Mike Rogers

"The site has accomplished much in its seven years. Congressmen and Senators who were first reported on here are no longer in office. Political operatives who worked against us are now on our team. The mainstream media has been educated and it’s no longer considered off-limits to report on the hypocrisy of closeted, anti-gay politicians. (Outlets like the Philadelphia Inquirer and Superstaion WGN now take BlogActive reporting as a primary source — times sure have changed.) What a wild ride it has been. Now it’s time to close a chapter on the site and to move in a new direction. I will no longer be blogging at BlogActive." - Outing kingpin Mike Rogers, announcing the end of the site that terrorized political closet cases since 2004.

Take a bow, Mr. Rogers.

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GOProud Backs School Vouchers

Calling on "gay left" groups to drop their "dishonest attacks" on Christian school vouchers, today GOProud issued a press release endorsing a House bill that would pay Washington DC parents to put their kids in private religious schools.
This legislation, sponsored by Speaker John Boehner, would restore and expand the school voucher program for low-income children in the District of Columbia. “Congress has an opportunity to empower parents and dramatically improve educational opportunities for low-income children in DC by passing this important legislation,” said Jimmy LaSalvia, Executive Director of GOProud. “Speaker Boehner’s legislation builds on a successful education reform program that has yielded 91 percent student graduation rates for student participants,” continued LaSalvia. “Unfortunately, President Barack Obama is prioritizing loyalty to national teachers unions over the children and parents of DC by strongly opposing the District’s voucher program.”
What the proposed legislation would do, actually, aside from providing a huge financial boon to anti-gay Christian institutions, is further erode the available funding for public schools who would then see diminished enrollment. That's a typically GOProud "fuck the poor" strategy. GOProud president Jimmy LaSalvia: "Liberal opponents of school choice shouldn’t dishonestly use 'gay rights' as a weapon to destroy a program that improves education for low-income children in D.C." Note the Christianist scare quotes around "gay rights." Somebody's trying to quisle their way back into CPAC.

UPDATE: People For The American Way reports that the House bill has passed.
While Tea Party Republicans are claiming to take the high ground on government spending, they vote to throw millions of dollars at reviving a program that the Department of Education has shown is ineffective. After studying the program for four years, the Department found that use of a voucher had no statistically significant impact on overall student achievement in math or reading. The results were the same when the Department looked only at students who had applied from schools in need of improvement. As the Obama Administration stated in opposing the bill: "The Federal Government should focus its attention and available resources on improving the quality of public schools for all students. Private school vouchers are not an effective way to improve student achievement." So if the program doesn't educate kids effectively, what exactly does it do?

For one thing, it helps religious schools stay open. This voucher program has been in existence since 2003, and more than three fourths of the students in it have used these government funds for private religious schools. While Congress is slashing government spending on public education in communities across the country, the House decided to throw a few million dollars to keep religious schools afloat. This raises significant First Amendment concerns.

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Freep This Indiana Poll

You know what to do. Vote "harm."

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Post-Exposure Prophylaxis Promotion

A new campaign from the Men's Sexual Health Project:
With the kind support of the Elton John AIDS Foundation, M*SHP will be unveiling a program to provide emergency HIV post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) in a streamlined and community-appropriate way. PEP has been recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for high risk sexual exposures since 2006, but very few men in NYC are aware of what PEP is or how to get it. PEP is using HIV medications after a potential exposure to prevent HIV infection. Study after study has demonstrated that PEP works, but if people are unaware of the intervention (or it is hard to get), PEP doesn’t really have a chance to make an impact. Time is of the essence. PEP has to be started within 36 hrs to have maximal effect and continued for 28 days after exposure. Lack of knowledge and medical barriers (like long, unpleasant ER visits, financial concerns, etc) makes PEP nearly inaccessible. M*SHP will introduce its new program dubbed “M*SHP minus 36:00” to provide instant, free access to PEP drugs and connection to follow up services and care.
Learn more at the above link or on their Facebook page.

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Quote Of The Day - Sarah Palin

"It’s unbelievable (literally) the rhetoric coming from President Obama today. This is coming from he who is manipulating the U.S. energy supply. President Obama is once again giving lip service to a 'new energy proposal'; but let’s remember the last time he trotted out a 'new energy proposal' – nearly a year ago to the day. The main difference is today we have $4 a gallon gas in some places in the country. This is no accident. This administration is not a passive observer to the trends that have inflated oil prices to dangerous levels. His war on domestic oil and gas exploration and production has caused us pain at the pump, endangered our already sluggish economic recovery, and threatened our national security." - Sarah Palin, noting on her Facebook page that Obama has been in office for "nearly three years." If you count 26 months as three years, that is.

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Instant Gay Wedding

Women24 reports from South Africa:
We’ve heard of blind dates – but the thought of marrying someone the first time you get hitched to them is a little crazy, isn’t it? As part of a reality wedding show, Lloyd Kandlin and Shane Everts came face to face for the first time on their wedding day. The couple got hitched on Saturday, 26 March, in a stylish ceremony worth R1.4 million. Lloyd Kandin was chosen as the first groom and had to decide between 5 bachelors who he has never met but only spoke to on radio. Under the pseudonym Lekker Larry, Lloyd proposed to proposed to Shane Everts (Hastige Hendrik) at the Grand Daddy Hotel – each of them were wearing masks.
At least there wasn't a rose ceremony.

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Sen. Rand Paul: Public Workers Don't Contribute To Their Pensions

That will come as a shock to public workers.

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Already

(Source)

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TRAILER: Indoctrination, The Movie

More about the movie is here.

(Tipped by Jmg reader Andy)

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Bear Central

Just launched by Armistead Maupin's husband, Chris Turner.

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Crazy Eyes: We Don't Belong In Libya

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Andrew Sullivan On Gay Deportations

"The US government regards gay Americans as sub-human in their needs and wants and rights. Their loves and relationships mean nothing under the law every time they encounter federal authoritah. Aaron and I are total strangers to one another in the eyes of federal law. And because we are legally married, I am paradoxically more vulnerable to being deported than I would be if I were single - because it's plain that I intend to reside in the US indefinitely, even though my visa has an expiration date.

"So I'm a risk - hence my huge anxiety if I ever leave the country. I am lucky to be able to apply for a Green Card on my own merits, under the rubric of what's called extraordinary ability in my field (it's still in process). But most people are not so lucky. They just fall in love. Only to have their own government rip their marriage apart, or force the American into exile. If this isn't wrong, what is?" - Andrew Sullivan, commenting on the news that the foreign partner of legally married binational gay couples may still be deported.

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ACLU To Schools: Don't Filter Gay Sites

The ACLU has issued a call for help in finding schools that block gay-positive websites but allow anti-gay hate sites.

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Gay Partner Deportations To Continue

We celebrated too soon. The foreign partners of legally married binational gay couples can still be deported.
An announcement by immigration officials in Washington on Monday that they were delaying decisions on some immigration cases involving gay couples led to a surge of expectations among gay advocates that the Obama administration had taken a small but significant step toward recognizing same-sex marriage. But on Tuesday, immigration officials moved swiftly to clarify their position and dampen those hopes, saying they have not made any policy changes that would provide an opening to gay couples. The episode added to the legal confusion that has followed the administration’s determination last month that the law that bars the federal government from recognizing gay marriages, the Defense of Marriage Act, is unconstitutional.

In this case, the misunderstandings and soaring hopes arose from an effort in recent days by officials at Citizenship and Immigration Services, the federal agency that awards immigration status, to clarify their policy on granting permanent residency green cards to immigrants legally married to American citizens who are gay. While it is routine for American citizens in heterosexual couples to obtain green cards for their foreign spouses, the Defense of Marriage Act has barred such status for immigrants in same-sex marriages.
Immigration attorney Lavi Soloway warns gay couples that "if they file for immigration status, they may be putting themselves at considerable risk of deportation."

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Frothy Mix: I Am Personally Funding Social Security With My Seven Children

"The Social Security system, in my opinion, is a flawed design, period. But having said that, the design would work a lot better if we had stable demographic trends. We don't have enough workers to support the retirees. A third of the young people in America are not in America today because of abortion. We have seven children, so we're doing our part to fund the Social Security system." - Former GOP Sen. Rick "Frothy Mix" Santorum, speaking yesterday on New Hampshire radio.

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Worst Website Names

(Source)

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Bryan Fischer: Ban Muslim Immigration

"Immigration is obviously a matter for Congress, since authority to control immigration is vested by the Constitution in Congress. But we must never forget that immigration to the United States is a privilege, not a right, and that we should follow the wisdom of the Founders who urged that we only admit to our shores those who will strengthen our nation and assimilate themselves into it, adopting our flag, our history, our heroes, and our values. This is something that devout Muslims simply cannot do. The privilege of immigration should be reserved for those willing to integrate into our culture, become unhyphenated Americans, and adopt American values." - American Family Association spokesbigot Bryan Fischer, renewing his call to ban all Muslims from immigrating to the United States.

Fischer's radio show is heard daily on almost 200 stations nationwide and has become the favorite stopping place for prospective 2012 GOP presidential candidates.

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MONTANA: House Blocks Bill To Decriminalize Homosexuality

Yesterday the Montana House blocked an attempt to bring a bill decriminalizing homosexuality to a vote before the the full body. Earlier this month the GOP-led Montana House Judiciary Committee tabled the bill, but last night openly gay Rep. Diana Sands tried to force the issue before the full chamber.
The motion by Rep. Diane Sands, D-Missoula, to blast Senate Bill 276 out of the House Judiciary Committee, received 51 votes in the 100-member House but failed to secure the 60 votes needed. The vote was 51-47. The Senate passed SB276, by Sen. Tom Facey, D-Missoula, 35-14, but the House Judiciary Committee tabled the bill. Before the court ruling in 1997, gays and lesbians in Montana risked being charged with felonies and if convicted, they could have faced a maximum penalty of a 10-year prison sentence and a $50,000 fine, said Sands, a lesbian. "It's been almost 15 years since the Supreme Court ruling," Sands said. "It's about time we removed that language from the books. Let's bring it to the floor and debate it and take action on it."
The laws against gay sex remain on the books despite being declared unconstitutional by the Montana Supreme Court in 1997, a ruling echoed several years later by the U.S. Supreme Court.

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Sassy Gay Friend - Foul Language

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Eurovision: Romania's Hotel FM

Bright, poppy, cute.

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Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Tweet Of The Day - Bronx Zoo's Cobra

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NYC's Subway: 25 Years Ago

Take a trip back to the time of turnstyle tokens, rampant graffiti, and really big hair via this just-posted clip of the Times Square station in 1986. I never knew there used to be a K train.

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Family Research Council: ENDA Is An Attack On Christians And Constitution

The 2011 version of ENDA doesn't have the remotest chance of passage and the Family Research Council knows it. Nevertheless, they have relaunched their campaign declaring that granting LGBT people to right to keep their jobs is nothing short of all-out assault on Christianity and the U.S. Constitution. And as an example of the coming ENDA-generated avalanche of anti-Christian discrimination, Tony Perkins again trots out Marcia Walden, who was terminated from her job as relationship counselor when she refused to speak with a lesbian client. Nationwide such cases number a mere handful (I can only think of two or three), which is why you see the same anti-gay "victims" over and over.

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NEW YORK: How Outed Anti-Gay Senator Carl Kruger Spent All That Bribe Money

While recently outed anti-gay New York state Sen. Carl Kruger and his gynecologist boyfriend await trial on federal bribery and corruption charges, the New York Times examines what Kruger did with all that looted dough.
Federal corruption charges leveled against State Senator Carl Kruger this month described how he had helped provide luxuries to the two brothers with whom he lives in Brooklyn. The charges say Mr. Kruger, 61, a Democrat, used money from bribes for the mortgage of the waterfront mansion in Mill Basin where the three men live with the brothers’ 73-year-old mother. Then, the charges say, there is the Bentley driven by one of the brothers — bribe money paid for the lease. Also, according to the charges, bribe money went to their credit card bills as well as to mysterious “apparently personal payments.”
Mysterious "apparently personal payments"? Uh HUH. Wanna bet there's a rentboy or ten on the other end of THAT little detail?

RELATED: The loathsome Kruger was one of the eight traitorous Senate Democrats who voted against same-sex marriage in 2009, leading gay activists to denounce him as a self-hating closet case and picket outside of his home. The mainstream media took little notice at the time, something they surely now regret.

UPDATE: Here's the waterfront home paid for by Kruger's crimes. The Times describes the house as "cruise-ship-meets-mob-mansion." Its previous owner was a Luchese family mob boss who ordered a hit on the house's architect. Not pictured is Kruger's 49-foot yacht, Special Delivery.

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