General Mills Finally Does Right By Greg Louganis

Finally!

Next month, Greg Louganis, the openly gay Olympic diving great will be featured on the cover of Wheaties boxes.

The move by General Mills comes eight months after an HBO documentary about Louganis sparked both renewed interest in his story and in the reasons why one of our Olympic greats was never given the Wheaties treatment.

And a great deal of the credit goes to Julie Sondgerath who saw the documentary on Louganis and then started an online petition at Change.org:

"From the moment I hit send on the petition, I knew this was possible."

Forty-one-thousand signed petitions, and a month, later, Julie Sondgerath went to General Mills and used her story and Greg’s story to get the deal done.

Greg Louganis became the only man in diving history to win back-to-back Olympic gold medals in both springboard and platform diving in 1984 and '88, but he found that opportunities available to other Olympic stars eluded him because he’d come out as gay:

"The times have changed so drastically and so fast. When I came out to my mom, she feared I'd always be a second-class citizen and never have a chance to be married. But Johnny [Chaillot] and I are married and we're making a life together."

And again, in 2016, you’re an inspiration to athletes, both gay and straight.

Congratulations!

ESPN

Honor Greg Louganis On A Wheaties Box ... It's Long Overdue

Earlier this month HBO aired Will Sweeney’s documentary, Greg Louganis: Back on Board and one viewer was struck by something she saw in the film, or rather, something she didn’t see.

Julie Sondgerath watched a piece in the film where Greg Louganis is looking at a display of Wheaties boxes featuring Olympic athletes like Amy Van Dyken, Laura Wilkinson and Brooke Bennett, and she realized that Louganis, one of the greatest divers ever, had never been on the cover of a Wheaties cereal box as so many other American Olympians had before, and after, him.

And in terms of what Wheaties looked for in their cover athletes — being great champions — Greg Louganis certainly deserves the recognition. He won 13 world championships, a silver medal at the 1976 Olympics,  2 gold medals at the 1984 games, and 2 more gold at the 1988 Olympics; he is also made history at the 1982 World Championships the first diver ever awarded a perfect score. And yet he is one of the few star athletes, and Olympic multi-medalists never given the Wheaties box.

The question is why? And the answer might be homophobia. Even Louganis says so in the documentary, though there was not one person from General Mills in agreement; a spokesman for the cereal-maker said no one from that period was left to discuss the decision-making.

But there were rumors, both in 84 and 88, that Greg Louganis was gay; he was out, to be sure, but only to friends and family, and did not publicly come out as gay until the Gay Games in 1994, In 1995, in his autobiography Louganis revealed that he had tested positive for HIV before the 1988 Olympics, and, out of fear, he did not inform the doctor of his condition when he treated the bloody wound caused when Louganis hit his head on the springboard during a preliminary dive.

Greg Louganis seems almost fine with the omission from Wheaties, seeming to suggest that his being ignored by the cereal giant be placed in the context of the 1980s, a different time in America for gay people, and those with HIV.

“It was such a different time. There was a mentality of fear.” — Greg Louganis

But Will Sweeney, the producer of Back on Board, isn’t quite so understanding:

“Here was a guy who by any metric or evaluation was the dominant figure in his sport. And here he was standing against a wall of Wheaties boxes of people who people don’t know. How was it possible he never had a Wheaties box?”

Perhaps that can change now, almost thirty years after Greg Louganis’ last gold medal dive. I mean, General Mills recently honored the late Jim Thorpe with a Wheaties box, and has also honored many athletes after their retirement. Now, to be fair, Thorpe’s achievements occurred decades before Wheaties featured athletes, and he died in 1953, long before the medals that were revoked for his being a professional were reinstated in 1983, but in 2001 he was finally honored with a Wheaties box of his own.

Julie Sondgerath was so moved by the documentary, by Louganis’ talent, and by the desire to see him honored, that she created a petition on Change.org [HERE] asking that General Mills correct the error.

For his part, Greg Louganis is not campaigning for a box cover, but he is pleased by the sudden attention and the drive to make this change:

“I know that it’s done out of love and compassion. It comes from such a loving place that I’m just grateful to have that kind of support.”

Wheaties is well aware of the petition and released this statement:

“Greg Louganis was certainly a world-class diver and truly embodied the championship mentality of a Wheaties athlete. While we do not discuss future marketing decisions, we will look into how we celebrate his accomplishments.”

How you celebrate them is the same way you celebrated Mary Lou Retton and Carl Lewis and Michael Phelps, among others.

Put Greg Louganis on a Wheaties box. It’s that simple, and it’s well past time.

NYT

Greg Louganis Olympics photo
Greg Louganis photo
Change.org Petition

Random Musings

I’ve said it before: I am an Awards Show Whore™. I love ‘em all—well, for the most part … I think there are far too many country music awards and the Kid’s Choice? Oh honey, no—but I love a good show and a good host; or hosts.

And so this is why I was rolling out the red carpet to the news that Tina Fey and Amy Poehler — who killed at The Golden Globes last year — will be back hosting in 2014 and again in 2015.

I’m as giddy as a schoolgirl!

Ted Nugent, faded rock star, gun nut, Teabagger and serial baby-maker has said he might run for President.

His own proposed campaign slogan — and this is real y’all … it came straight from Nugent’s ever-running piehole: 

“Hi, I’m Ted Nugent. I have nine children from seven women and I’m running for president.”

He really just ought to run for sperm donor. On second thought …. Ick.

Greg Louganis traded his Olympic Gold Medals for a band of gold.

He’s married. Greg married his partner, the adorably hot Johnny Chaillot last week in Malibu:

"It was amazing because I have so many people from all facets of my life here tonight and they are all here and celebrating it is all wonderful, I already feel different. The ceremony was so reflective and representative of who we are." 

The two men — and it’s still a rush to say “the two men” when speaking of newlyweds — are asking for donations to charities like the Human Rights Campaign and Mending Kids International, in lieu of a traditional wedding registry:

"We are both in our mid fifties and don't need another blender so we really wanted to give back."—Johnny Chaillot 

Congrats to the happy, cute couple.

I loves me some Nashville, even before they added the closeted gay country star played by hottie-in-tight-jeans Chris Carmack.

That show really plays to its gay audience with some of the hottest men around, like …

Michiel Huisman , who plays Liam, the renegade record producer and Rayna’s new love interest, and blond beauty Charlie Bewley, who joined the show last week as Juliette’s new love interest.

I’m also interested.

In other same-sex wedding news …

Indiana's first openly gay countywide official, Zach Adamson, will be making history once more by marrying his longtime partner Christian Mosburg in Washington D.C. this week.

"It's important that people see this doesn't have to be the wedge issue or the divisive issue that it is often portrayed as. We are just doing what other people do."—Zach Adamson

He added that the positive reception he and Christian have received as an engaged, same-sex couple “speaks to how far we've come."

We’ve still got a way to go, but each couple that married breaks down the walls.

Congrats.

What’s this, North Dakota? You now have a tax form for married same-sex couples even though you don’t recognize such marriages?

Well, since the IRS announced in August that it would allow same-sex couples to file as married couples if they were legally married in a state that allows such marriages, even if they live in a state that doesn’t, North Dakota saw that as a problem.

But Lorie Bowker, of the North Dakota tax department, says the answer lies in a new form: ND-1S, which allows for the divvying up a couple’s federal tax filing so they can file as individuals in North Dakota.

Bowker said, like the federal government, there is a “marriage penalty” built into the North Dakota tax code, so filing as individuals could be beneficial to same-sex couples who would then save on their tax debt.

All well and good, but some advocates for same-sex marriage say the discrepancy between federal and state tax filings could be grounds for lawsuits based on the equal protection clause of the U.S. Constitution.

And that would mean … channeling Oprah … Everyone gets a marriage. You get a marriage! And you get a marriage!

So, the new TV season is basically in full swing, although I am awaiting the return of Grimm ­— with the delicious David Giuntoli — and the start of Dracula — with the oozing with sex appeal Jonathan Rhys Meyers.

Loving:  AHS: Coven.
Also loving: The Crazy Ones, especially the adorable, and funny, James Wolk.

Liking ... for now: Sean Saves The World.

Beginning to loathe: Trophy Wife and Hostages

Annoyed: It took three weeks to bring Brody back to Homeland, and then when the episode aired it was dull, dull, and dull.

And you? What do you love, like or loathe?

File this under It’s About Freakin’ Time:

The Harvey Milk Foundation has announced that the United States Postal Service will issue a stamp in honor of LGBT political icon Harvey Milk.

This makes Harvey Milk, who made history as the first openly gay man to win political office in California when he was elected to San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors in 1977, the first openly LGBT official ever featured on U.S. postage.

“Harvey Milk’s legacy is alive and well. His historic run paved the way for a new generation of LGBT leaders who can be open and honest about who they are, and it’s encouraging to see the U.S. Postal Service honoring his legacy of perseverance and pride today.”— Chuck Wolfe, President and CEO of the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund and Institute

The stamp is expected to be introduced in 2014, and though I rarely snail mail any more, you can bet I’ll be lignin up for the stamps and whatever else I can get.

It’s about time an LGBT icon and hero was recognized.

The Houston Chronicle has come out and apologized for endorsing Ted Cruz for political office in light of Cruz’s recent descent into egomaniacal insanity:

Does anyone else miss Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison? We're not sure how much difference one person could make in the toxic, chaotic, hyperpartisan atmosphere in Washington, but if we could choose just one it would be Hutchison, whose years of service in the Senate were marked by two things sorely lacking in her successor, Ted Cruz. When we endorsed Ted Cruz in last November's general election, we did so with many reservations and at least one specific recommendation - that he follow Hutchison's example in his conduct as a senator. Obviously, he has not done so. Cruz has been part of the problem in specific situations where Hutchison would have been part of the solution. We feel certain she would have worked shoulder to shoulder with Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, in crafting a workable solution that likely would have avoided the government shutdown altogether. But we'll never know.

Suh-nap!

I Didn't Say It ....

President Obama, on the Russian Olympics:

"I know that one question that's been raised is how do we approach the Olympics. I want to just make very clear right now I do not think it's appropriate to boycott the Olympics. We've got a bunch of Americans out there who are training hard, who are doing everything they can to succeed. Nobody's more offended than me by some of the anti-gay and lesbian legislation that you've been seeing in Russia. But as I said just this week, I've spoken out against that, not just with respect to Russia, but a number of other countries where we continue to do work with them but we have a strong disagreement on this issue. And one of the things I'm really looking forward to is maybe some gay and lesbian athletes bringing home the gold or silver or bronze, which I think would go a long way in rejecting the kind of attitudes that we're seeing there. If Russia doesn’t have gay or lesbian athletes, it will probably make their team weaker." 

Once again, I agree with The President.

Cyd Zeigler, Outsports founder, on the Russian Olympics:

"Asking the United States and other nations to boycott the Olympics simply punishes 19-year-old athletes, not Vladimir Putin. Buying Ketel One instead of Stolichnaya might take a swipe at a business owner in Moscow or a factory worker in St. Petersburg, but it's just a pesky mosquito to the Russian government. And caviar? Who eats it anyway? To make a real statement, to send a message to the Russians that these laws cannot stand, the IOC has to go a step further. Instead of the rest of the world refusing to go to Sochi, there's one step that the IOC can take that will land a wake-up slap on the face of the Kremlin: Ban Russia from competing in their own Winter Olympic Games."

I agree that a boycott by any country only hurts their athletes; and dumping Stoli in the streets doesn’t hurt the Russian government, it hurts Russian people. But telling the Russians they can’t attend their own Games? That would be monumental.

Of course, Russia would then cancel the whole thing and we’re back to square one …

Greg Louganis, on why he's against an Olympic boycott:

"There’s a better way to speak out against President Putin and call out his bigotry for exactly what it is: speaking up for equal rights and educating people around the world about the persistence of homophobia. I’ve spent my post-diving career doing just this. I’ve promoted HIV/AIDS awareness, defended the civil liberties of the LGBT community, and taken a stand against “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” Rather than boycott, I, along with several amazing organizations including Athlete Ally and All Out, plan to use the Sochi Games as a teachable moment for the world."

I like the idea of a ‘teachable moment’ unless it turns out that the teachers would be arrested and jailed.

What then?

Todd Starnes, Fox News commentator, on Obama’s position on the Russian Olympics:  

"Obama said he is looking forward to 'maybe some gay and lesbian athletes bringing home the gold or silver or bronze, which I think would go a long way in rejecting the kind of attitudes that we’re seeing there.' It sounds like the president is suggesting a litmus test for membership on the U.S. Olympic team. The president also suggested that Olympic teams without gay or lesbian athletes are somehow weaker than heterosexual athletic teams. 'If Russia doesn’t have any gay or lesbian athletes, then that would probably make their team weaker,' the president said during the nationally televised press conference. Why can’t President Obama support all of our Olympic athletes — regardless of who they choose to love, regardless of their sexual orientation?"

Toddy.Toddy.Toddy.

How can you call yourself a commentator when you apparently can’t read? Obama never said he’d only be happy to have LGBT Olympic winners. He simply said that it would be a great thing to have LGBT Olympic medalists at the games to show Russia, and other homophobic countries, and homophobes such as yourself, that LGBT people can do anything anyone else can do, and do it just as well.

Get off the Fox, asshat.

Chuck Schumer, the Democratic Senator from New York, ridiculing Russian President Vladimir Putin over his country's recent anti-gay legislation and how he thinks we should respond:

"When we march initially, all the countries should wave the multicolored flag for gay rights. That would be pretty embarrassing for Putin, let our athletes participate and still take a stand. … All these athletes train for so long, standing up to Putin right now is important because he’s a bully. He resents being an old KGB guy, being brought up when the Soviet Union and the US went head to head...He resents that Russia is no longer the major power in the world that it used to be. Its population, of course, with all the states – Ukraine, all the Baltic states, the east Asian states gone -- they’re no longer a big power."

Sounds like Schumer wants to go head-to-head with Putin.

And since Putin loves to fight the mens without his shirt, he might go for it.

Alexy Sorokin, Russian World Cup head, on Russia’s anti-gay laws and athletics:

"Would you like a World Cup where naked people are running around displaying their homosexuality? The answer to that is quite obvious. The Olympics and World Cup are not a stage for various views, not for Nazis, not for any other ways of life. It should be about football and nothing else. They have nothing more to fear. They have guarantees and assurances that they will not be affected. The minister of sport [Vitaly Mutko] has given a full and detailed explanation. It would be strange to see someone choose such an event as the Olympic Games as a stage to propogate these ideas. We suppose people come to participate or to watch and be part of it not to display their views. Private life should remain private."

Excepot, Alexy, when your private life can get you arrested or killed. Then we should speak up, loudly.

Now, to answer your first question: Yes, yes, oh god yes!

Dmitriy Kiselyov, a Russian state-funded TV host who said gay people’s hearts are not suitable for organ donation, is going off again on The Gays, and the attacks of The Gays in his country—like a recent attack where a gay man was raped with a beer bottle:

“Our [Russian] problem with homosexuals is that they behave in a provocative, victim like way. They deliberately provoke situations, so that they become victims. Nobody prevents them from loving each other the way they want to. They are aggressively foisting minority’s values on majority. It is likely that society would counteract this. Naturally, right? In various ways, including brutal ones. Since they are brutally foisting this [on others]. Wanna fight? Get it, then. So what?”

So, I guess holding your partner’s hand, or living with your partner, or, god forbid, marrying your partner, would be foisting you’re your values on Dmitriy?

And then it’s okay to beat me, rape me, murder me, because I’m a victim who asked for it. 

I Didn't Say It ....

Greg Louganis, Olympic champion diver and out gay man, on the controversy over LGBT athletes and the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics:

"I can't begin to imagine what it must be like for a gay athlete in Russia. It was hard enough to compete closeted representing the United States, a country that is considerably evolved on LGBT rights. It is unfathomable to consider what it's like for the Russian athlete - knowing that if you were to come out you could lose everything you've worked your entire life to achieve and then on top of that to be considered a criminal. It is both heartbreaking and heinous."

No one, anywhere on Earth, should be criminalized for their sexual orientation, and we need to stand up against this intolerance wherever it rears its ugly head, be it Africa or Russia.

We can’t let this type of persecution happen, again.

Oprah Winfrey, on the N-word:

"You cannot be my friend and use that word around me. It shows my age, but I feel strongly about it. … I always think of the millions of people who heard that as their last word as they were hanging from a tree."

Y'all know I have my issues with O, but I gotta hand it to her this time.

Heartbreaking. Succinct. To the point. Perfect.

John Baird, Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs, on the proposed boycott of the Winter Olympics in Russia due to their anti-LGBT laws:

"As concerned as we are about the Olympics, that's nothing. That's two, three, four weeks for the athletes and participants and the visitors. This mean-spirited and hateful law will affect all Russians 365 days of the year, every year. It is an incitement to intolerance, which breeds hate. And intolerance and hate breed violence. We wanted more than a verbal commitment to the IOC. And now the comments by the Russian sports minister, Vitaly Mutko, are of deep concern. The Olympics is a great celebration of international sport, of international co-operation. This type of law being enforced flies in the face of the entire Olympic spirit."

Baird, like many, hope the controversy now, will lead to an end of the laws in Russia. But what do we do if the games arrive and the laws haven’t changed?

Particulate in the name of the LGBT community and risk some kind of international incident, and sweep the whole mess under the rug.

Or, do we stay away, which only serves to punish the athletes who’ve trained for years to be there?

Cheyenne Jackson, on how he felt about being an out gay man having to issue a statement about his divorce:

“Yes, it is weird. But it’s a fact. And you just have to accept the way things are. Sometimes I think I am a little naïve to think that people even care, but they do. So you have to understand the significance that your relationship had to other people and I know that our marriage meant a lot to a lot of people…so that’s not lost on me, and I respect that…I didn’t want to have to say anything. The royals, the monarchy over in England always say ‘Never complain, never explain.’  And so I’d love to adhere to that, but the fact of the matter is, I did have to say something.  It was getting a little ugly, and my sister and brother were like ‘What’s up?’ So, it is kind of weird to have to make a statement about it….and Monte [Lapka] and I talked about it and decided what we wanted the statement to say…and it was nobody else’s business….yes, it is weird, but it is a fact.”

One part of equality is that gay couples will divorce, just like straight couples. And, if you’re an out celebrity, your divorce becomes fodder just like a straight couple.

Equality is equality, the good and the bad.

Matthew Mitcham, out gay Olympic champion diver, on the controversy over gay athletes and the Sochi 2014 Games:

"It's really sad. The way they are persecuting people in Russia is quite horrific...The Olympics is the best experience you will ever have as an athlete. Their whole memory and experience is going to be marred by this stuff. They are going to be made to feel unacceptable, inappropriate, and it is a really awful, awful feeling. The Olympics are supposed to be somewhere where they can go to be relieved of that feeling. A place where you can compete and feel that gender and sexuality is not an issue."

Again, how do we handle this? Does Russia get a pass during the games and then we go back to trying to change their laws? Or do we stand up and say No, we won’t be there?

Or, do we go, and stand proud, from every country around the globe, and show the Russian government and the Russian people that the LGBT community does not deserve the vile treatment they are receiving?

Stephen Colbert, on his, and the media's, confusion about the extent and severity of the recent terror threats:

"Without any details, I'm not even sure how panicked I'm supposed to be. At least during the Bush years I could look at this helpful chart and know that my sphincter tightness was orange. But even that's gone now because Obama gave all those colors to the gays for their rainbow."

Just a giggle, but then a question? How come the Rainbow Flag became a part of the terror alert system?

Do I thmell a conthpiracy?

Frank Bruni, for the NYT, on the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi:

"Imagine this: it’s the opening ceremony of the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, Russia. A huge television event, watched the world over. The American Olympians join the proud march of nations. They’re our emissaries, our exemplars. And as the television cameras zoom in on Team U.S.A., one of its members quietly pulls out a rainbow flag, no bigger than a handkerchief, and holds it up. Not ostentatiously high, but just high enough that it can’t be mistaken. Another American follows suit. Then another, and another. Within minutes the flags are everywhere in the American delegation, subtly recurring bursts of color and of honor, a gay-rights motif with a message: we’re here in Russia to compete, but we’re not here in Russia to assent. We have gay sisters. Gay brothers. Gay neighbors and friends and fans and probably teammates, and we reject the laws of a land that deems it O.K. to arrest them for speaking their truth or us for speaking up for them." 

I’d like to see that, and not just from the American delegation, but from every athlete. Imagine a sea of Rainbow Flags walking through that stadium.

It’d be a beautiful, powerful, message.

Stephen Fry, in an open letter to the IOC and British Prime Minister David Cameron, on the homophobic new laws in Russia:

"I am gay. I am a Jew. My mother lost over a dozen of her family to Hitler's anti-Semitism. Every time in Russia (and it is constantly) a gay teenager is forced into suicide, a lesbian 'correctively' raped, gay men and women beaten to death by neo-Nazi thugs while the Russian police stand idly by, the world is diminished and I for one, weep anew at seeing history repeat itself. 

'All that is needed for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing,' so wrote Edmund Burke. Are you, the men and women of the IOC going to be those 'good' who allow evil to triumph? The Summer Olympics of 2012 were one of the most glorious moments of my life and the life of my country. For there to be a Russian Winter Olympics would stain the movement forever and wipe away any of that glory. The Five Rings would finally be forever smeared, besmirched and ruined in the eyes of the civilised world."

As I said at the beginning, we cannot let this happen, again.

Random Musings

Arizona Governor, Jan “Eva Braun” Brewer has signed an elections bill that basically wipes out Libertarian and other third-party candidates, because it requires that they collect a practically unattainable number of signatures to be placed on the ballot in Arizona. For example, Green Party candidates would actually have to collect more signatures than they have party members.

That’s Jan Brewer, effectively saying that certain people in Arizona do not have the right to run for office. Maybe she’s less Eva and more Adolf?

I think everyone has a doppelganger—German for look-alike—and some people try make themselves look like someone else. I mean, women have done the Farrah hairstyle, and then the Rachel; people dress like celebrities, change their makeup like celebrities, but for most of us, it’s just a thang.

Not so for one Nicholas Ryan, a 32-year-old aspiring actor from New Jersey, who has undergone extensive cosmetic procedures so he can look like Ryan Gosling. In a two hour surgery, he underwent $5,000 worth of Botox and filler injections to make his face look like Gosling. His temples were filled out, his brow was Botoxed; his cheeks were injected with fillers to make them less hollow; his laugh lines were filled, too. And his entire jaw was rebuilt. He hopes the procedures will help him hit the big time in Hollywood—as well as make him a hit with the ladies.

Um, Nicholas? One thing, hon? If a movie producer or director wants Ryan Gosling, wouldn’t they just hire Ryan Gosling? Especially given that even after the 5K you spent, you don’t even look like Ryan’s long lost cousin, Jaime Gosling.

I like this story.

The mayor of Vicco, Kentucky, Johnny Cummings, has won special recognition from the state's Commission on Human Rights.

The commission said it honored Cummings with the Kentucky Unbridled Spirit for Justice Award for his efforts to create local LGBT civil-rights protections in his community. Vicco gained national fame last winter for adopting an LGBT-rights ordinance. Vicco is the fourth Kentucky community to pass an LGBT-rights ordinance and the first rural town to do so.

Way to go, Vicco, and way to go Mayor Cummings.

James Gandolfini died yesterday and the whole world seems to have come to a stop.

Now, I have nothing against Gandolfini, and am sorry for his family having to endure the death of a husband and father, but this is the big news story this morning?

Wildfires are taking people’s homes out West and we’re gonna spend fifteen minutes on GMA sitting in a New Jersey diner talking about an actor who passed away?

If you’ve ever wondered why we get nothing done in this country, it’s because we come to a halt when a TV actor dies, but keep on moving when people lose their homes.

Just sayin’. And before anyone gets all pissy about me denigrating this actor, let me say again, I’m sorry to his family for their loss, but this is not, and should not be, the big news story of the day.

Proponents of marriage equality have a new victory to toast with more and more wineries coming out in support of the cause.

Stein Family Wines, for example, will donate $1 to the nonprofit Freedom to Marry for every purchase of its wonderfully named Same-Sex Meritage, a Bordeaux-style red that blends notes of advocacy with a witty title. 

Stand Tall Wine Co. donates 1% of its proceeds of the sales of its Generic Pinot Noir to the Napa LGBTQ Project, while one of the largest labels, Barefoot Wine & Bubble, has been donating to LGBT organizations for 25 years.

Biogio Cry & Estate Wines, a New York-based company, has created Égalité, a sparkling wine from Burgundy whose name translates to “Equality” and has pledged $1,000 donations  to groups like GLSEN [Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network], the Trevor Project, and the Ali Forney Center, and hopes that same-sex brides and grooms will raise a glass of their bubbly at their weddings.

And many wineries are also creating special weekend visits for the LGBT community. Out in the Vineyard, a company that curates wine events for LGBT travelers, is hosting the Gay Wine Weekend 2013 where visitors will have the opportunity to celebrate Pride Month with tastings and tours of 10 of the leading vineyards of the Sonoma Valley, with proceeds benefiting the Face-to-Face AIDS Project.

Wine and LGBT rights. It's a good blend.

I like me some Joseph Gordon-Levitt.

In addition to making some rather interesting movie choices--from 50/50 to Inception to Batman to Looper to Premium Rush--he is also quite a handsome lad.

Just sayin'.

And this one kills me …. Down there in Texas, Congressman, and rabidly anti-LGBT Republican—it kinda goes hand-in-hand in Texas—Ralph Hall showed up at an event last week, mingling with other guests, making small talk, enjoying the food and drink. But, apparently, Hall had no idea it was an LGBT event for the Victory Fund.

As Astro might say, Ruh roh.

Hall and his staffers were under the impression that they were attending an event for a fellow congressman, an event scheduled for that same day but in a different location. After being welcomed into the event and offered refreshments, Hall inquired about the congressman whom he was there to support and after being told it was a Big Old Queer Party, Hall quickly made his exit, presumably after using the men’s room to wash off The Gay.

Good news …. Four-time Olympic gold medalist and LGBT activist Greg Louganis is getting married to Johnny Chaillot, his longtime partner.

"I finally met my soul mate – the more I fall in love with Johnny, the more I fall in love with myself. This is what the universe had in store for both of us."—Greg Louganis

Congrats to both of them!

Just because ..... Joe Manganiello on a raft, in a pool is what I would call a wet dream in every sense of the word.

Again .... Just sayin'.

Paula Deen is being sued by Lisa Jackson, a former manager of one of her restaurants, who claims Deen’s brother, Bubba—and I’m’a just leave that there—Hiers sexually assaulted her, but since the release of Deen’s deposition that case has become all about Deen’s use of the n-word.

Deen doesn’t deny these allegations at all, and was very open about her use of the n word and dressing waiters as slaves in plantation-themed restaurants. Here are some excerpts of her deposition from The Huffington Post:

Paula Deen on her use of the n-word:

Lawyer: Have you ever used the N-word yourself?

Deen: Yes, of course.

Lawyer: Okay. In what context?

Deen: Well, it was probably when a black man burst into the bank that I was working at and put a gun to my head.

Lawyer: Okay. Well, did you use the N-word to him as he pointed a gun in your head at your face?

Deen: Absolutely not.

Lawyer: Well, then, when did you use it?

Deen: Probably in telling my husband.

Lawyer: Okay. Have you used it since then?

Deen: I’m sure I have, but it’s been a very long time. Paula Deen on her brother sexually assaulting a woman:

Lawyer: Are you aware of Mr. Hiers admitting that he engaged in racially and sexually inappropriate behavior in the workplace?

Deen: I guess.

Lawyer: Okay. Well, have you done anything about what you heard him admit to doing?

Deen: My brother and I have had conversations. My brother is not a bad person. Do humans behave inappropriately? At times, yes. I don’t know one person that has not. My brother is a good man. Have we told jokes? Have we said things that we should not have said, that — yes, we all have. We all have done that, every one of us.

Paula Deen on a plantation-style wedding for her brother:

Lawyer: Do you recall using the words “really southern plantation wedding”?

Deen: Yes, I did say I would love for Bubba to experience a very southern style wedding, and we did that. We did that.

Lawyer: Okay. You would love for him to experience a southern style plantation wedding?

Deen: Yes.

Lawyer: That’s what you said?

Deen: Well, something like that, yes. And -–

Lawyer: Is there any possibility, in your mind, that you slipped and used the word “n—-r”?

Deen: No, because that’s not what these men were. They were professional black men doing a fabulous job.

Lawyer: Why did that make it a -– if you would have had servers like that, why would that have made it a really southern plantation wedding?

Deen: Well, it –- to me, of course I’m old but I ain’t that old, I didn’t live back in those days but I’ve seen the pictures, and the pictures that I’ve seen, that restaurant represented a certain era in America.

Lawyer: Okay. What era in America are you referring to?

Deen: Well, I don’t know. After the Civil War, during the Civil War, before the Civil War.

Lawyer: Right. Back in an era where there were middle-aged black men waiting on white people.

Deen: Well, it was not only black men, it was black women.

Lawyer: Sure. And before the Civil War –- before the Civil War, those black men and women who were waiting on white people were slaves, right?

Deen: Yes, I would say that they were slaves.

Lawyer: Okay.

Deen: But I did not mean anything derogatory by saying that I loved their look and their professionalism.

Lawyer: And when you described it [the restaurant] to Miss Jackson [...] Do you know what word you used to identify their race? [...] Black or African-American?

Deen: Black. I would use the word black. I don’t usually use African-Americans. I try to go along with whatever the black race is wanting to call themselves at each given time.

Wow. She just digs in deeper.

Now I get that times have changed, and they certainly have since Paula Deen was a child, but her use of the n-word today is quite upsetting. And her notion that the ‘black waiters doing a fabulous job’ don’t count as an n-word, is equally troubling.

And this last line of hers, “I try to go along with whatever the black race is wanting to call themselves at each given time” is the most troubling of all.

Now, does her use of the n-word, or her backwards, moronic, racially-tinged opinions have anything to do with the case? Not really. If Deen has used, and continues to use, racist epithets, it has no bearing on whether or not her brother sexually assaulted one of her managers, but it does give us a glimpse into the mind of Paula Deen, and that doesn’t look very pretty.

Y'all know I ain't no fan of Find-Em-Date-Em-Dump-Em-Write-A-Song-About-Em Taylor Swift, but I gotta give the old gal props for her Tweet this week after the birth of Reality Show Whore and Egotistical Rapper's spawn: