Random Musings

Just in time for Christmas weddings ...

The New Mexico Supreme Court has ruled unanimously in favor of marriage equality, making it the 17th state to allow its citizens the freedom to marry.

Congratulations New Mexico!

I’ve always wondered why I go to bed with perfectly normal hair and wake up looking like it went through a blender.

A few weeks back I suggested to Carlos that we forgo getting each other Christmas gifts this year; I mean, we really want for nothing, and really don’t need anything. I suggested that, in lieu of gifting one another, we redo the powder room at Casa Bob y Carlos. A new sink and toilet, new lights, new paint, new tile, new fixtures and we’d have a nice new powder room for guests.

Carlos was all for it and then this week he told me he was taking Tuesday off. I asked why, and he said he had some shopping to do. I asked him what he was shopping for and he said, ‘Christmas gifts for you.’

I reminded him of our discussion just last month and his lip went out and his face went sad and he said, ‘You mean I’m not getting anything for Christmas?’

Looks like I’ll have to hit the stores after all.

Oy.

President Obama has joined the leaders of several European nations in saying he will not attend the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, but he’s going one step further. He has announced that he will be sending some openly gay athletes in what's being called a message to Russia about their strict anti-gay propaganda laws.

Lesbian tennis legend Billie Jean King will attend the opening ceremonies in a delegation led by former Homeland Security secretary Janet Napolitano, with Michael McFaul, United States Ambassador to the Russian Federation, Robert L. Nabors, Assistant to the President and Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy, and figure skater Brian Boitano joining in as well.

Also, out lesbian Caitlin Cahow, Olympic silver medalist and bronze medalist in women’s ice hockey will join the group for the game’s closing ceremonies; this group will be led by William Burns, Deputy Secretary of State, McFaul, Bonnie Blair, five-time Olympic gold medalist and one-time bronze medalist in speed skating, and Eric Heiden, five-time Olympic gold medalist in speed skating.

Good going, Mister Prez, though when did Boitano come out? Or is he part of the non-gay delegation?

UPDATE: 
Brian Boitano has officially come out as gay in a statement released by his publicist:

"I am currently skating in Europe but want to provide a statement regarding my appointment to the Olympic delegation. I have been fortunate to represent the United States of America in three different Olympics, and now I am honored to be part of the presidential delegation to the Olympics in Sochi. It has been my experience from competing around the world and in Russia that Olympic athletes can come together in friendship, peace and mutual respect regardless of their individual country's practices. 

It is my desire to be defined by my achievements and my contributions. While I am proud to play a public role in representing the American Olympic Delegation as a former Olympic athlete, I have always reserved my private life for my family and friends and will continue to do so. I am many things: a son, a brother, and uncle, a friend, an athlete, a cook, an author, and being gay is just one part of who I am. First and foremost I am an American athlete and I am proud to live in a country that encourages diversity, openness and tolerance. As an athlete, I hope we can remain focused on the Olympic spirit which celebrates achievement in sport by peoples of all nations."

Welcome out, Brian. Welcome Out. And of course since you love to cook, we'll be sending you the Coming Out Toaster Oven and a copy of the Gay Agenda.

Welcome out.

Just once I wanna read a story about a bakery owner who happens to be gay and refuses to bake a cake for a Christian wedding.

You think the Christian wingnuts would get their panties in a twist about that?

In the Giggle Dept:

Former Arkansas Governor, and quitter in the last presidential run, Mike Huckabee has told a group of pastors that he will let God decide if he should run for President again in 2016.

Like she has time for that!

So, White Collar. Imean, Matt Bomer is a given hottie, but Tim DeKay also piques my interest, but suddenly this season I’ve begun to notice one Sharif Atkins on the show.

He’s giving me a Bomer.

See what I did there ... just sayin’.

UPDATE:

Administrators at Holy Ghost Preparatory School suffered a sharp and swift backlash this week after firing Michael Griffin the day he applied for a marriage license to marry his partner—see original post HERE.

The school says they had no choice but to terminate Griffin, yet thousands of supporters have protested the move through Facebook groups and petitions demanding that Michael Griffin be rehired; some alumni have even pledged to withhold financial support.

Hitting this school in the bank account might be just the incentive they need. Or, folks could pull their kids and their tuition out of there as well.

Bill O’Reilly has jumped into the Megyn Kelly kerfuffle over Whites Only Santa and Whites Only Jesus for one of two reasons:

1] He’s irrelevant, even on FoxNews, or …

B] He’s thinking this will be a way to jump on Megyn Kelly.

Either way he’s a delusional asshat.

For the third year in a row, the AIDS Healthcare Foundation has a float in the Rose Parade but this time it will feature a live same-sex wedding.

From the AHF:

"Following a United States Supreme Court ruling in June that allowed same-sex marriages to resume in California, AHF’s float this year will celebrate same-sex marriage and the role it can play in helping to reduce new HIV infections among gay men.

As part of its ‘Love is the Best Protection’ theme, AHF’s float will include what is believed to be a first: a same-sex wedding performed live during the parade. …  Aubrey Loots and Danny Leclair, a gay male couple from Los Angeles together over a decade, will be ‘Living the Dream’ as they legally marry on New Year’s Day during the historic parade."

Now that’s what I call a wedding ceremony, with millions of guests watching!

Congrats to the happy couple.

The other night, while perusing the TV channels, I asked Carlos if he wanted to watch a DVR’d episode of Major Crimes and the conversation went like this:

“What show is that?”

“Remember the show last year with the detective who had all the HoHos and Twinkies in her drawer?”

“The guy with the raincoat?”

"No, not a guy. Her name was Brenda Lee Johnson and she always had cakes in her desk? And the actress left the show and they got a new boss, that tough woman?”

:::crickets:::

“Never mind you don’t remember the show.”

Several minutes later …

The guy with the raincoat? What was his name?”

“Columbo.”

“Yeah. Is that the show?”

“No. And Columbo wasn’t eating candy.”

“Yeah he was, he always had a lollipop.”

“You’re thinking Kojak.”

“Yeah. That show?”

“Yes, I’ve DVR’d a pair of shows featuring male detectives from the seventies, but I decided to call them Brenda Lee Johnson.”

“Oh, I don’t like that show.”

Oy.

Hostages features the most implausible storylines ever, but it does feature some delightful Man Candy. I mean, there’s Billy Brown, up top, who has always been a hottie, and now they’ve added Brian White, on the bottom, as an evil military man intent on killing the President.

Evil, but hot in some boxer brief’s y’all.

Keep The Promise On HIV/AIDS March On Washington

So, here are some of the pictures—as well as my oh-so-informative commentary—about last weekend’s Keep The Promise on HIV/AIDS rally and march in Washington DC.

Before the march, there was a quick registration and the handing off of a red umbrella, which would be used in creating a huge AIDS Ribbon at the foot of the Washington Monument.

The rally featured emcee Margaret Cho, a keynote speech by former Ambassador Andrew Young—who seemed more intent, to me, on replaying his connection with Martin Luther King Jr.—Tavis Smiley and Dr. Cornel West, and the Reverend Al Sharpton.

In the interests of fairness, I have never been a fan of Sharpton; I’ve always felt that his activism might be more self-promoting than needed, but he gave quite the fiery speech about HIV/AIDS, activism, the Black community and the rise in infections among African-Americans. He clearly drove home what, for me, was a most vital point, that this is not a “gay” thing, or a “male” thing, or a “white” thing; it knows no color, no gender, no ethnicity, no religion, no age, no social boundary, no wealth, no poverty.

Music was provided Wyclef Jean, and, as you can see, I got rather up close to the man backstage. He’s quite delicious, but, for me, the hottie of the event—and you had to know I was gonna get shallow at some point—was Billy, the sign language interpreter. Billy was hot. Billy was way hot. And when Billy was signing while Wyclef spoke, Billy proved to be quite the dancer.

Billy was hot. Did I mention that?

Anyway, where was I?

Oh yeah….Some of the speakers criticized President Obama—and rightly so I think—for not appearing at the rally. Now, he’d made no plans to attend, though he did send a recorded message to, the AIDS conference that began the next day, and, on the day of the event, he was in Aurora speaking to victims of the shooting out there; in fact, Marine One, possibly with Obama on board, flew over the Mall at one point during the afternoon.

The AIDS Healthcare Foundation [AHF], which organized the rally and march, has repeatedly criticized the White House for what it says is the Obama administration’s inadequate response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic. In addition to the president’s decision not to speak in person at AIDS 2012, he was criticized for cutting funding to the Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, and was also accused of not doing enough to eliminate AIDS Drug Assistance Program [ADAP] waiting lists.

I will, however give Obama his due, because this is the first time since 1990 that the International AIDS Conference was held in the United States. Previously, it had been held outside the country because a ban had been placed on people with HIV entering the U.S. That ban was lifted in 2010 by President Obama, "finishing a process begun under [Yes] the Bush administration."

I was able to meet AHF President Michael Weinstein during the march. He is deeply concerned that, in the South, AIDS and HIV infection are on the rise, and wants to plan a march in Atlanta in the future, and maybe some smaller marches at other cities in the South. Due to religious bias, and deeply rooted conservatism, masking as denial, talking about HIV/AIDS is almost unheard of, and education, treatment, outreach, etc, are almost non-existent.

Speaker Tavis Smiley said, of Obama, ““No matter how well-intentioned he is, no matter how much better he is than the other choice, he will end up another garden variety politician. He will be transactional and not transformational if we don’t… in the spirit of love hold him accountable.”

Dr Cornel West spoke fiercely about how homophobia within the black community impacts the HIV/AIDS epidemic in this country: “We got to recognize that homophobia is as evil as white supremacy, as male supremacy, as anti-Jewish hatred, anti-other bigotry and anti-Islam sensibility. We want integrity and consistency and the only way to get it is you’ve got to bear witness.”

But, as I said, I was most surprised by Sharpton, who said, of the Black community, as well as the religious community, “They have not dealt with the issue because of their own bias and their own homophobia and their own misconception of what this is. Jesus healed people. He didn’t interview people. He never asked people why they were sick, all he asked is do you want to be made whole. Your job reverend, your job rabbi, your job imam is not to condemn people; it’s to heal people. And if you’re not down with the healing, you need to turn in your collar and get another kind of vocation.”

Margaret Cho said, “There’s this idea that AIDS is gone, it’s over. A lot of young people are not paying attention to the way I was raised with it. In my culture there was so much fear around it. There was a lot of not knowing the facts. At this point in time, 30 years later, the fear has subsided. It’s become a kind of apathy.”

Cho also spoke about how impactful a simple march can be—she attended the Millennium March for LGBT Rights back in 2000: “Every time there’s a march on Washington, it is really an inspiring thing. It was so amazing and I really feel like that march really led to people starting to realize that gay marriage can happen and now we’re seeing that over the last 12 years. It’s taken 12 years, but we’re starting to see it happen. That was I think a catalyst. When we have a march on Washington — and this is solely devoted to awareness, AIDS awareness, AIDS education and really just healing this city — that’s really powerful.”

Enough chatter, let’s look at some pictures…..

Creating the Ribbon

The Ribbon on the Jumbotron

Hot Billy

Margaret Cho

Up close with Wyclef

Wyclef onstage

The Rev. Al Sharpton

Jorg Fockele, the documentarian.