And Another Welcome.....

......to Ron, the Mad Professah from The Mad Professah Lectures! he calls himself a "Black Gay Caribbean Liberal Progressive Moderate Fit Married College-Educated NPR-Listening Tennis-Playing Feminist Atheist" and if that isn't enough to get you going over to his place and saying Hello then I don't know what will.

Seriously, get over there!

Welcome......

...........to Bob, from Bob Out. Bob's a 'mo from Georgia who ponders about life and love and, well, hunks, because....you know....that how we roll. Plus, he recently featured Rodrigo Santoro and, well, Mr. Santoro gets my motor running. So, say Hello to Bob, and stop by and check him Out.

Gay TV Moments: A Top Five

Or, as I like to call them, Homoments.

It's been a while since Ellen came out, and a few years since Will & Grace moved out of their swanky TV apartments, but 2009 really was one of the gayest years on TV. Here are the Top five Gayest TV Homoments of 2009, courtesy of Change.org:

NUMBER FIVE: Modern Family is one of the most critically acclaimed comedies of 2009, due in no small part to the show’s leading gay couple. There are the same old arguments in the gay community as to whether the gay storyline is too stereotypical, but when everyone relaxes, it’s evident that in the midst of all the hilarity, there are some really sweet moments. The fifth best gay moment of the year comes in the show’s pilot when the gay couple presents their adopted baby to the family in a Simba-like presentation from The Lion King. The family’s patriarch provides a heartfelt approval when his heart melts at the sight of his new granddaughter.
NUMBER FOUR: RuPaul’s Drag Race is one of the best TV shows of this decade. The show celebrates a part of the gay community that is often shunned in the journey for equality. While political strategists are following polling data and focus group tested messages that often de-gay the gay rights movement, there is a lot to learn from a show that celebrates the world of drag without apology. Ongina, the adorable Pilipino Drag Queen captured one of the most powerful TV Gay moments of the year, when she came out as HIV positive on the show, even though her family in real life did not yet know. Images of AIDS in popular culture have diminished significantly in recent years as the dangerous blasé attitude toward HIV continues to grow. Ongina’s storyline reminded a primarily gay audience that AIDS is not over and prevention/education efforts are still extremely important.

Watch Gay Video & Lesbian Movies

NUMBER THREE: When it was first reported that a group of four gay guys and a trans woman were going to be on America’s Best Dance Crew, I was simultaneously excited and terrified. How would the MTV audience greet them? How would the show’s hip hop loving demographic react? In an amazing moment, Vogue Evolution took the stage and brought an epic performance that won over the crowd and the judges. It was beyond refreshing to see five young talented people be unapologetic about who they are. They showcased the underground gay ballroom scene to the world and they put a different face on the LGBT community. Vogue Evolution didn’t end up winning the show, but they did win over the hearts and minds of a lot of young people.

NUMBER TWO: Glee is quite possibly the gayest show on television, so it isn’t surprising that it would offer such a graceful coming out storyline that is soaked in reality. The moment appeared in one of the most classic episodes of the show’s wildly successful first season. After winning the big football game because of an on-field performance of Beyonce’s "Single Ladies," Kurt’s blue-collar father tells Kurt that he is proud of him, which prompts Kurt to bravely tell his father that he is gay. The show could have had his father react extremely negative or extremely positive, but instead he reacted in a way that an Ohio mechanic who loves his son would hopefully react in reality. He tells Kurt that he has known he was gay since he was three and that while he isn’t crazy about the idea, it doesn’t change how much he loves him. The coming out moment was extremely well-handled, but Glee’s overall power is that it packages a deep gay sensibility within a popular show that transcends demographic.
It’s impact is far reaching, as evidenced by California's Glendale High School football team’s amazing performance of "Single Ladies" in response to the Glee episode.

NUMBER ONE: There was only one lesbian storyline in primetime-scripted television in 2009, which is alarming and depressing, but even though lesbians are severely underrepresented, perhaps solace can be found in the fact that the one lesbian storyline contained the best gay moment on TV in 2009. On Grey’s Anatomy, Callie Torres was disowned by her father after coming out to him, but after much time apart, her father came back to see her, with a priest in tow to “pray away the gay.” The best gay moment came when Callie powerfully counteracts anti-gay biblical verses by yelling a series of quotes by Jesus and closing it by saying “Jesus is my Savior daddy, not you. And Jesus would be ashamed of you for judging me, he would be ashamed of you for turning your back on me, he would be ashamed."
Many people in and out of pop culture have tried to expose the hypocrisy of highlighting Leviticus 18:22, while ignoring all of the other “moral laws” in Leviticus that are now laughed at, but there is something so succinct, strong and moving about Callie’s speech –- it should become the default reply anytime the Bible is being used as a weapon against our rights.

Learn It!

Or I'll cut a bitch!

Blatantly stolen from Joe.My.God.

Scandals: A Top Ten List

I loves to read about a good juicy scandal, unless it involves my internship under, and I do mean under, a certain president, and I loves loves loves to pass on a good juicy scandal. So, here's a top 10 from 2009:

NUMBER TEN: Rod Blagojevich, aka The Hair From Chicago. The year began with Illinois firing its governor for the first time in history. Bad enough, but that wasn't the end of "The Blago Show." Bad Roddy went on every talk show he could to deny rumors that he is a corrupt politician--corrupt politician.....it's funny, 'cuz it's true. He denied to everyone from Barbara Walters to Harry Smith that he did not try to sell the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Barack Obama's election as president. He repeatedly denied that jimmy Hoffa is buried in his hair. And The Blago Show goes on when he faces off with that other Man Of The Mystery Hair, Donald Trump, on the next installment of "The Celebrity Apprentice."

NUMBER NINE: Michael David Barrett, aka The Erin Andrews Peeper, who used a peephole to videotape Miss Andrews showering in various hotel rooms. Talk about a boy with a mission. he is also accused of being a stalker, and to that I say, Duh! He followed her around the country to peephole tape her. That's the very definition of stalker! But he took it a step further and posted the Erin Andrews Shower Tapes on the Internet. His trial is far from over, but he could get up to five years in prison. He won't need a camera for those showers!

NUMBER EIGHT: Carrie Prejean. While Mark Sanford used state money to fly South Of The Border to get his rocks off, CarrieCarrieCarrie let her fingers travel south, and then taped the show for various, ahem, "boyfriends. The year started off good for her, I guess. After the Miss USA Hates Gay Marriage question she became became the darling of Christian conservatives. But things went south [pun intended] when racy photos of her hit the Internet, followed by news about her pageant-financed breast implants and finally that solo, so low [again, pun intended] sex tape. And Carrie disappeared, taking her video camera and her fingerless gloves with her.

NUMBER SEVEN: The Heenes, Richard and Mayumi, aka Mr. and Mrs. Do Anything To Get Our Lazy Asses On TV, were already reality TV veterans and were hoping for a new show when they staged a high-flying hoax that transfixed TV news viewers who were missing the slow speed chases of the last century. These asshats claimed their son Falcon was trapped inside a runaway balloon that soared for 50 miles above Colorado. Oh, but little Falcon was hiding in the house, because that's what his parents told him to do. The story would have been one for the books, were it not for Falcon's unplanned utterance on CNN, telling his parents: "You guys said we did this for the show."

NUMBER SIX: The Gosselins: 'Jon & Kate Plus 8' = hate, and apparently huge ratings for people with nothing better to do; I mean it's no Real Housewives franchise, now is it? But then came bad parenting, nanny booty calls, and ratings that fell flatter that Kate's personality. And a divorce and end to their "show." Buh-bye, and don't let the door hit you on the way out.

NUMBER FIVE: The Salahis, aka Ignorant Media Whores, became the most talked-about attendees at President Obama's first state dinner because, yeah, NO ONE INVITED THEM! Michaele and Tareq Salahi, two publicity-whoring-socialites angling for a reality TV show because their lives are empty and dull, crashed the party and became more famous than they could have imagined. Obama was pissed, the Secret Service took the blame, and the Salahis actually turned down an invitation: the one to be grilled by lawmakers on Capitol Hill.

NUMBER FOUR: Senator John Ensign, from Nevada, is a conservative Repugnant Republican Asshat who can't keeps his pants zipped; oh, and he also belongs to a secretive religious group called The Family. Ensign's indiscretion, oh hell, his fucking, of a former staffer--which he admitted in June--turned out to be part of a real family affair. His lover was the wife of his former top aide. Ensign had his parents pay the woman's family $96,000, then got her husband a job, allegedly in violation of ethics rules. His conservatives must have come as unbuckled as his belt.

NUMBER THREE: Governor Mark Sanford, my hometown fave, told his aides--who told reporters--that he was hiking the Appalachian Trail for a few days in June; that, we have learned, is slang, for "boning an Argentinean woman." See, Mark and his good friend Little Mark had gone South Of The Border for a little salsa and chippie--or as he calls her, his "soul mate"--sorry Jenny. Upon coming back t South Carolina, he was outed as just one more lying cheating hypocritical Republican adulterer who values all marriage except his own. He cried; he moved out of the house; Jenny filed for divorce. He was also officially rebuked--but not impeached--by idiotic south Carolina state lawmakers.

NUMBER TWO: David Letterman. Nope, not funny when the late-night talk show host admitted he'd had sex with women who worked for him. He made the on-air confession last fall after Joe Halderman, a producer for CBS's "48 Hours," allegedly tried to use information about the married comedian's affairs to extort $2 million from Letterman. Halderman was charged with attempted grand larceny. Letterman returned to getting laughs at the expense of others, like our next scandal, the Biggest Mother-Effer Of The Year!

NUMBER ONE: Tiger Woods, once called the "Athlete of the Decade," his new title is King Of The ManWhores. Tiger Woods' nice-guy image was drubbed with a Nine Iron--is that a golf club?--when he admitted to "infidelity" after a mysterious late-night SUV crash outside his Florida home. Now, more than a dozen alleged mistresses who are looking for their own reality TV show have materialized and some of Tiger's big-money endorsement deals evaporated.

Dumb Things Sarah Palin Said: A Top 10 List

Who does she remind me of? Who? Who? What other politician has been known for putting his foot in his mouth every time he opened it.

Oh yeah! Dan Quayle.

Well, then, wouldn't that mean that Sarah Palin is the new Dan Quayle?

Sarah Qualin?

Let's look back at some of the most inane and insane things this wannabe Vice President who quit being governor because it got too hard and then "wrote" a book about all her trials and tribulations.

NUMBER TEN: "I think on a national level your Department of Law there in the White House would look at some of the things that we've been charged with and automatically throw them out." --Sarah Palin, referring to a department that does not exist while attempting to explain why as president she wouldn't be subjected to the same ethics investigations that compelled her to resign as governor of Alaska.

NUMBER NINE: "They are also building schools for the Afghan children so that there is hope and opportunity in our neighboring country of Afghanistan." --Sarah Palin, speaking at a fundraiser in San Francisco, shares her wealth of knowledge about geography.

NUMBER EIGHT: "[T]hey're in charge of the U.S. Senate so if they want to they can really get in there with the senators and make a lot of good policy changes that will make life better for Brandon and his family and his classroom." --Sarah Palin, getting the vice president's constitutional role wrong after being asked by a third grader what the vice president does. So, let's see, she isn't smarter than a third grader?

NUMBER SEVEN: "All of 'em, any of 'em that have been in front of me over all these years." --Sarah Palin, unable to name a single newspaper or magazine she reads. Please, the woman can read just as well as she "writes".

NUMBER SIX: "Well, let's see. There's ― of course in the great history of America there have been rulings that there's never going to be absolute consensus by every American, and there are those issues, again, like Roe v. Wade, where I believe are best held on a state level and addressed there. So, you know, going through the history of America, there would be others but..............." --Sarah Palin, unable to name a Supreme Court decision she disagreed with other than Roe vs. Wade. Well, she doesn't read, and doesn't know what the Veep does, how can we expect her to know any Supreme Court decisions?

NUMBER FIVE: "Ohh, good, thank you, yes." --Sarah Palin, after a notorious Canadian prank caller complimented her on the documentary about her life, Hustler's "Nailin Paylin,"

NUMBER FOUR: "We believe that the best of America is not all in Washington, D.C. ... We believe that the best of America is in these small towns that we get to visit, and in these wonderful little pockets of what I call the real America, being here with all of you hard working very patriotic, um, very, um, pro-America areas of this great nation." --Sarah Palin, speaking at a fundraiser in Greensoboro, N.C.,. She can see Alaska from her house, but she can't find her ass with her won two hands.

NUMBER THREE: "Who calls a shot like that? Who makes a decision like that? It's a disturbing trend." –Sarah Palin, pushing a conspiracy theory that "In God We Trust" had been moved to the edge of coins because of the Obama administration. Nope, Sarah, you dimwit, you uneducated twit, you moron. The change was made by the Bush administration in 2007 and was later reversed by Congress, before Obama took office.

NUMBER TWO: "The America I know and love is not one in which my parents or my baby with Down Syndrome will have to stand in front of Obama's 'death panel' so his bureaucrats can decide, based on a subjective judgment of their 'level of productivity in society,' whether they are worthy of health care. Such a system is downright evil." –-Sarah Palin, in a message posted on Facebook about Obama's health care plan. Her quote has been named The Lie Of The Year, a dubious honor for America's dumbest politico.

NUMBER ONE: "As Putin rears his head and comes into the air space of the United States of America, where– where do they go? It's Alaska. It's just right over the border." --Sarah Palin, explaining why Alaska's proximity to Russia gives her foreign policy experience. I have experience in race relations because a black family lives down the street.

Worldwide Triumphs For LGBT Rights: A Top Five

Okay, so it hasn't all been good news. California was a disgrace; Maine, too. And the idea that Maggie Gallagher continues to speak is horrendous. But we did have some high spots on the subject of LGBT rights around the globe, so let's take a moment to wallow in the sunshine of what might someday be:

NUMBER FIVE: The Nepali government invited Jennifer Pizer, the Marriage Project Director of Lambda Legal, to advise them on how to create a legal framework for LGBT equality. Pizer spent two weeks in the Nepali capital speaking with the eight-member group of legislators and researchers, and that committee is currently reviewing other countries' pro-equality legislation. They will turn their suggestions in to the Nepali Government in 2010.
The committee was formed by court order in 2007, when the activist group The Blue Diamond Society successfully petitioned the Supreme Court for legal recognition of transgender people, measures to address violence against the LGBT community and reparations for LGBT people who were victims of state violence.
This committee is a landmark in the making for international law-- especially considering no other country has considered reparations for LGBT victims of violence.

NUMBER FOUR: This one, well, I'm holding my breath because I don't trust a group of haters like the Catholic Church as far as I can throw them.

At any rate, moving away from the Catholic Church's usual anti-LGBT-anything stance, the Holy See spoke out against human rights abuses based on sexual orientation at a United Nations panel: "[The Holy See] opposes all forms of violence and unjust discrimination against homosexual persons, including discriminatory penal legislation which undermines the inherent dignity of the human person."
Now, let's put aside all the wrongs committed by the church against the LGBT community and look at just this one statement. There is power in those words because this religious, and let us not forget, political, body has diplomatic ties with no fewer than 177 countries.

And this meeting was groundbreaking not only because of the Holy See's statement, but also because it shed light on the connection between U.S. conservative churches and the homophobic legislation that is spreading like wildfire through Africa.
With the addition of an unexpected ally--one which I think we should keep a close eye on--we can look for good things from the international community in the new decade.

NUMBER THREE: The breaking news that a Lebanese judge has ruled homosexual acts are not "against nature." Lebanese activists have long been campaigning to overturn Article 534, which outlaws sexual acts "against nature"--whatever that means. The law has been used to persecute lesbians and gay men, and researcher Nizar Saghiyeh found that it was used in about 50 different cases over the last five years.
When Saghiyeh brought the law to the attention of the courts in the northern city of Batroun, the city judge ruled that the law was inapplicable based on its vagueness. Ya think?
"The concept of the ‘unnatural’ is related to society’s mindset, customs and its acceptability of new natural patterns," reads the verdict. The verdict goes on to refute the idea that any human act can be "unnatural" since humans are part and parcel of nature.

Part and parcel of nature. Amen!
There is speculation that the ruling has the potential to overturn Article 534 completely, since Batroun has now set a precedent in legal writ, and Lebanon appears to be following in the footsteps of the Number Two triumph of the year ...

NUMBER TWO: The High Court of New Delhi declared that the Indian equivalent of sodomy laws, code section 377 which outlawed "carnal intercourse against the order of nature," was not applicable to same-sex acts between consenting adults. This is a big win for the LGBT community in India, and has even been dubbed "India's Stonewall."

The Naz Foundation India, which raises awareness about HIV/AIDS, first brought the case to court eight years ago. After a series of repeals and appeals, they finally succeeded in getting this historical ruling.

NUMBER ONE: Not wanting Mexico to beat them to the punch, Argentina allowed two men to wed in the first same-sex marriage ceremony ever in Latin America. The lucky couple, Jose Maria Di Bello and Alex Freyre, had tried to marry in Buenos Aires earlier in the year, but were refused by city officials. Since Argentina's constitution does not explicitly endorse or forbid same sex marriage, the states have a jumble of different precedents that resemble the mess in the U.S. fifty.
So Maria Di Bello and Freyre traveled to the capital of Tierra del Fuego state, Ushuaia, and received a warm welcome in this southern city. After the ceremony, the government of Tierra del Fuego actually sent out wedding photos of the two men, and the governor called gay marriage "an important advance in human rights and social inclusion" and affirmed, "We are very happy that this has happened in our state."

So, let's not sit and bemoan California and Maine, DADT and DOMA, and so many other issues facing the LGBT for now. Today, let's pop the cork on a bottle of champagne. The world is changing people, slowly but surely.

source

Foot-In-Mouth-Disease: A Top Five

It's almost a given that people will say something stupid, and The Advocate has put together the Top 5 Gay Related Gaffes, Goofs, and Dipshits from the Double 0's.

Here we go:

NUMBER FIVE: George Michael on cruising the woods and park lands for sex.

“The handful of times a year it's bloody warm enough, I'll do it. I'll do it on a nice summer evening. Quite often there are campfires up there. It's a much nicer place to get some quick and honest sex than standing in a bar; E'd off your tits shouting at somebody and hoping they want the same thing as you do in bed.”

Um, George, yeah, maybe a little too much information, honey.

NUMBER FOUR: U.S. congressman Barney Frank on the National Equality March.

"I literally don't understand how [it] will do anything. People are kidding themselves. I don't want people patting themselves on the back for doing something that is useless.”

I usually agree with Barney, but this time he was waaaay off the mark. The march was widely seen as a success, from galvanizing the LGBT community, from making a show of who we are and what we want, and, maybe, just maybe, it helped with the passage of a piece of legislation I like to call the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act. Plus, marriage equality became the law of the land in Washington, D.C.

Barney? Sometimes a march is more than a march.

NUMBER THREE: The BBC poll.

The BBC, in talking about the proposed Kill The Gays legislation, put up a poll on its web-page under the heading, Should homosexuals face execution?”

After bringing forth the nutjobs and the asshats, and facing the ire of an enraged world community, the BBC changed its question to “Should Uganda debate gay execution?”

The BBC later apologized for its asshattedness and generally stupidity.

NUMBER TWO: GLAAD staement[s] on the Adam Lambert AMA performance brouhaha.

They first said: "After it was announced that ABC decided to cancel appearances by openly gay singer Adam Lambert on Jimmy Kimmel Live and Dick Clark’s ‘New Year's Rockin' Eve,' the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) spoke with ABC today regarding concerns that Adam Lambert was being held to a double standard."

ABC's respnse to GLAAD staement: 'Given the live nature of the American Music Awards, Adam Lambert’s performance, which differed greatly from his rehearsal, caught many, including the network, off guard. This is not a question of Lambert’s sexual orientation. As is evidenced by GLAAD’s media report card, ABC is at the forefront of positive gay and lesbian portrayal on television. We welcome openly gay performers and look forward to continuing our great work within the LGBT community.'
"It would appear that the kiss between Adam Lambert and his keyboardist did not factor into ABC’s decision, ABC has a history of positive gay and transgender inclusion that includes featuring kisses between gay and lesbian couples on-air."

GLAAD statement number 2: "Since his American Music Awards performance occurred GLAAD has consistently advocated that Adam Lambert and openly gay artists not be held to a double standard. As we have expressed publicly, it is disappointing that ABC will not give Lambert a chance to perform at this time. GLAAD’s discussions with ABC focused on confirming that his sexual orientation was not a factor in their decisions. ABC confirmed this is not about a same-sex kiss or his sexual orientation but about being 'caught off guard.' GLAAD asked ABC and calls on them for clarification on 'caught off guard' so that the community knows why Lambert is being denied the opportunity to perform on the network."

GLAAD statement number 3: "We appreciate ABC's commitment to gay and transgender inclusion in other programming. However, let us be clear that GLAAD remains steadfast in our assertion that Adam Lambert is being subjected to a double standard by ABC as an openly gay performer. We do not support ABC cancelling Adam Lambert's past and future performances. We urge the community to reach out to ABC and express their concerns that Adam Lambert is being subjected to a double standard."

Can press releases be schizophrenic? Apparently, yes.

NUMBER ONE: Dethroned Former Miss California Carrie Prejean and Her Magic Digits.

“I was all by myself. I was sending a boyfriend at the time, who I loved and cared about, a video of me. I was a teenager at the time and never did I ever think it would come out.”

Of course, we all know now that this quote where she's trying to defend her LadyFingers Extravaganza came out just before seven other, more explicit, videos, of The Carrie Prejean and Her Amazing Finger Puppet Show came out.

I love stupid!

source

Careful Hiram...It's Not Just The Gays Gunning For You

We've all read about New York Senator Hiram Monserrate who said he was voting for marriage equality in New York state almost right up until he voted against it. And we've read how the LGBT community is picketing him at every turn, vowing to remove his sorry hypocritical ass from government. Then there is the story of his slashing his girlfriend's face with a broken bottle during a domestic dispute.

Yup, he's a keeper.

Well, now it appears it isn't just the LGBT community who want him gone, it might well be the New York Senate who seek to oust him from their midst. According to a State Senate committee investigating Monserrate, he "behaved recklessly and callously after his companion was hurt during an argument at his Queens home, failing to call 911, dragging her violently through a hallway and taking her to a hospital miles away."

The committee’s final report concludes that Mr. Monserrate was more concerned with keeping the confrontation last December from becoming public as he was with the safety and health of his companion, Karla Giraldo, and that Monserrate has steadfastly refused to take full responsibility for injuring Ms. Giraldo.

Still, it remains unclear as to what the Senate may do to Monserrate, though the findings by the committee suggest there is some basis for a stiff punishment for Monserrate, possibly even his expulsion.

Monserrate was acquitted in October of felony charges of deliberately slashing Ms. Giraldo’s face with a broken glass, but he was convicted of misdemeanor assault for pulling her through the lobby of his apartment building, an episode captured on security video. He was sentenced to three years of probation, 250 hours of community service and a 52-week counseling program. Many Senators have called on him to resign, but Monserrate continues to say he will not do that.

Still, it looks like he may not have a choice.

Hot, Gay Friendly, and Just Plain Nice...What's Not To Love? Did I Mention The Hot Part?

This story comes to us from Round The Way Gay, Gladys Kravitz Sr, and ISBL Correspondent, Neal!

I make no secret and no apologies of my love-lust-love for Colin Farrell, and now comes the story of his continuous Christmas Day generosity to sick children in Dublin.

It seems as though Hottie O'Hotness--that's Irish for Colin Farrell--paid a secret visit to Our Lady's Hospital in Crumlin, Ireland, on Christmas Day in order to surprise some of the youngest patients there with gifts. Farrell played and chatted with the kids for several hours on Christmas Day, and this apparently wasn't his first holiday visit to the hospital. He has carried out similarly unheralded visits to Crumlin for the past few years.

"He keeps a low profile when he comes in. He doesn't want photographers or anything," a well-placed source told the Herald about the actor's visits. "He comes in every Christmas Day and spends a lot of time with the children. He has bought Nintendo DS and Wiis for them and plays with them for a couple of hours. He's really popular with the staff and really genuine, and the kids really love and appreciate his visit."

Back in Aught-Three, Colin--and I'll call him by his first name because he's hot like that--helped support the Special Olympics which was hosted that year in Ireland. Since then, he has been a tireless campaigner for the cause, regularly giving up any free time he has to help the organisation with their activities and further raise their profile.

See? Hot and nice....and with an accent to boot. There's something about a dark-eyed man with an accent that gets me going. Lucky for me I have one of those at home!

California's Award-Winning Bigots

This was writtn by Maia Spotts for Change.org. She says it all, and I have nothing to add, but it is worth sharing:

**************************************

Do you have a ballot measure that needs passing? Are you worried that logic and basic human rights could stand in your way? Do you need someone with a proven track record of success, based on highly dramatic, totally misleading, and often unfounded claims about your opposition? Have you got a few million dollars? Does Maggie Gallagher make you swoon? Then come to California, one-stop shopping for all your defeat gay marriage needs!
Let me introduce you to Frank Shubert and Jeff Flint, CEO's of Shubert Flint Public Affairs, a Sacramento company. If their names don't ring a bell, certainly their work will. These boys are the dream team that brought you such hits as Yes on Prop 8 in California and Yes on Question 1 in Maine.
Shubert Flint finds itself the leader of what The New York Times called a "cottage industry" fighting against same-sex marriage. The other big money players in that special California niche market are Mar/Com, Inc. (also known as Criswell Associates), a San Fransisco based company who produced those fantastic radio and TV spots, along with campaign printing companies, research companies and "information" services. According to the campaign finance report, about 75% of expenditures for the Yes on Question 1 campaign went to California companies. The rest appears to have been spent on pizza, bagels and office supplies. The Times reports that Mar/Com, Inc. was paid an additions $1.6 million by standformarriagemaine.com.
The numbers on the Prop 8 campaign have yet to be revealed, currently embroiled, as they are, in a minor legal skirmish in the Federal Courts. Some folks don't want us to know what it takes to get 52% of the voting population to believe that extending marriage benefits to same-sex couples infringes upon the Constitutional rights of doctors, teachers, clergymen and five-year olds. I'd imagine it takes some pretty creative, and aggressive, marketing and PR. You don't win 18 Political Consulting awards for a couple of radio spots.
Look, I'm no fool. I'm not a bit surprised about the money. The awards irk me a bit. I, like many folks out there, am supremely ticked off about the tactics. Frank Shubert and Jeff Flint have now written the book on how to defeat gay marriage at the ballot box. Chapter One: Fear Works. Chapter Two: Abusing Faith. Chapter Three: Lie When Necessary. As Ted Olson and company begin their federal court battle in California, the scare tactics of Shubert Flint will (hopefully) be revealed. So decisions to "bet the farm" on schools -- scaring people into believing that marriage equality requires kindergarten teachers to teach homosexuality -- may come back to bite them in the ass. One can only hope.
As the National Organization for Marriage marches on with projects from D.C. to Iowa, Shubert Flint may be able to keep the lights on for another year of fear mongering. With each new campaign, however, they (Shubert Flint, NOM, the Mormon Church, all of them) reveal more and more from their playbook. It's only a matter of time before we can use it against them. I'm talking to you, Jersey.

Another Traditional Marriage [#2] Bites The Dust

Ah, yes, another one of those, one-man-one-woman traditional marriage bullshit spinners has decided he needs more than one woman....more than two, actually.

Karl Rove has been granted a divorce, his second, after 24 years of marriage. But at least Rove's second marriage lasted a while; his first one ended after a year.

“Karl Rove and his wife, Darby, were granted a divorce last week," said family spokesperson Dana Perino. "The couple came to the decision mutually and amicably, and they maintain a close relationship and a strong friendship. There will be no further comment, and the family requests that its privacy be respected.”

Fuck privacy, you repugnant hellhound. You ramble on and on about the sanctity of marriage and how you must protect it from the queers, and yet here you go, casting marriage number two into the dumpster. Save that traditional marriage crap for someone, anyone, who buys it.

I am so tired of these Republican asshats spewing their rhetoric about the sanctity of marriage, while their out boning women who work for them--John Ensign--and traveling to a foreign country to get some tail--Mark Sanford. Why do we listen to these sorts of people talk about sanctity and tradition when, to them, a marriage license and a commitment means absolutely nothing?

Quote Of The Day

Dan Savage:

Before Republicans are allowed to impose their values on our families their political leaders—Sarah Palin, Mark Sanford, John Ensign, et al—should be required to successfully impose their own damn values on their own damn families for for five fucking minutes. In a row.

Another Step

Yes, we all watched and listened as the Senate talked health care reform last week, but they also did something else; apparently they can multi-task. Who knew?

The Senate confirmed Minneapolis assistant police chief Sharon Lubinski as the country’s first openly gay U.S. marshal. Lubinski, who will be marshal for the Minnesota district, is also the first female marshal in the state. Lubinski was actually confirmed last week, and told of her confirmation that day, but the public announcement wasn't made until Monday.

"It was a nice Christmas present," Lubinski said, "It's very exciting. I think it's an exciting time to be serving in the federal system."

Lubinski has been in law enforcement for 31 years, and was big news when, in a 1993 interview, she said she was a lesbian. "Being gay is part of who I am, but I think the even bigger piece here is that it's essential that law enforcement agencies reflect the communities that they serve, whether it's the state, local, or federal level."

Congratulations Ms. Lubinski.

You Know You're A Conservative When...

How To Tell If You're A Conservative By Ken Kupchik

Since almost no one is willing to identify with the GOP these days, it can be difficult to diagnose conservatism. Here are some tips to help determine if you are a conservative:

10) You refused to share your toys in kindergarten, saying it would put you on a dangerous path to socialism.
9) You get angry when there are choices for languages on an automated call because you still don't have a good grasp on English.
8) You hate those "elite Hollywood liberals" but refuse to cancel your Netflix account.
7) You go to tea bagger rallies because you have no job thanks to the recession that "started under Obama."
6) You watch Fox News, but unlike most people actually take it seriously.
5) You become absolutely livid about imaginary tax increases.
4) You are against wasteful programs like Medicare, but also against cutting waste from programs like Medicare.
3) You criticize Michael Moore for his weight, without being able to refute a single claim that he makes in his documentaries.
2) You can enter any collective noun into the following sentence "The ______ are screwing everything up" except for the correct ones.
1) You find yourself saying "no" even to things that you actually want, like ice cream, and health care.

source

Odds and Ends and Loose Stuff

Tyra Banks has announced, a la Oprah, that she will be quitting her talk show at the end of the year. That sound you hear is the entire world saying, "So?"

Tyra, honey, just because you're a rich black woman with a big head--in your case literally and figuratively--doesn't make you Oprah.

Kate Gosselin has, okay, allegedly, been fired from her new TV show before it even aired a single episode. The media whore, I mean, reality show mom was reportedly canned for being “too controversial” for a new pilot called Momlogic--think The View for mothers, or mothers who don't already watch The View. She was to join Paula Deen, Lee Woodruff and Rene Syler, and, again, allegedly, Kate wasn't down with Paula Deen being the main host. She supposedly bitched kvetched and moaned and then was asked to leave.

I've been asking her to leave for like a year now.

Charlie Sheen beat his wife in a drunken rage. Didn't see that one coming from the multi-married, serial-adulterer, drug abusing, alcoholic. He has a show called Two-And-A-Half Men. Guess we all know who the "half a man" is. He's off to rehab, apparently, not to salvage his marriage, or his substance and violence issues, but to keep his show on TV.

He knows what's important.

Say what you will about Colin Farrell--and I'll start by saying he gets my motor running--but he stands up for marriage equality in a big way. Colin, and his five-year-old son James, helped to celebrate Colin's brother Eamon Farrell's marriage to Stephen Manion; he was Eamon's best man when Eamon and Stephen married in Canada last summer.

I like him more, now, but in a different way, though there still is a certain tingle, you know, down there..

They say Jessica Simpson is the dumb one, but Ashlee is giving her sister a run for the money. She is currently in New York preparing to take one of the leads in Chicago [sidenote:when you get down to asking Ashlee Simpson to appear in your show, it's time to close] and appeared on The Today Show recently and Could.Not.Remember.Her.Costar's.

Name.

Classless. Talentless. And just plain stupid.

There's a new movie coming out on Valentines Day called, and they spent big money on this I'm sure, Valentine's Day. It is apparently a romantic comedy starring a whole bunch of romantic comedy stars like Jennifer Garner and Julia Roberts and Eric Dane [sidenote: yum] and Bradley Cooper [sidenote: yummer]. It tells the tales of romance and love, and, be still my heart, Eric and Bradley play lovers in the film ::::swoon::::. But, yes, I know, in the trailer for the film there is not one single scene with Cooper and Dane together. in fact, the only person we see Bradley Cooper with is Julia Roberts, implying they are a couple. Why is a gay love story so taboo? Do they think it'll turn off veiwers? It might, but it might also turn on other viewers.

Moose Mess Meddling Mama

Bristol Palin, that Abstinence Only Until You Wanna Have Sex poster child, is taking a page out of Mama's playbook in her suit for sole custody of baby Trapp. Troop? Trout? Tripp! She had requested that the proceedings remain sealed, but two Superior Court judges issued orders unsealing the court record and denying the use of pseudonyms to protect the feuding parents' identities.

Pseudonyms? Seriously. It's all a bit 007, Bristol, and so unnecessary. Unless you use Hot-To-Trotsy and Nudie Man and Moose Mess. Then i'll give the thumbs up.

Judge Kari C. Kristiansen denied Bristol Palin's motion to close the proceedings and opened the case file to public access and, on the same day, another judge, one Judge Sharon Gleason, denied Bristol's request to use John and Jane Doe in place of Johnston's and her own real names.

Bristol Palin quietly filed for sole custody in November, and Judge Kristiansen initially issued temporary orders limiting access to the case file and allowing the parties to file under pseudonyms. but Levi didn't like that; he knows all about Mama Palin and what she'll do to get what she wants, so he asked that the case be open to the public and that everyone use their real names.

His attorney, Rex Butler, said: "Simply put, this matter is public in nature, the courts are not refuges for the scions of the elite to obtain private dispensation of their legal matters because the public at large has an interest in the proceedings."

Levi wants it all out in the open so that Mama Palin, aka The Quitter, cannot pull strings, lie, cheat, deceive--you know, basically do what she does--or interfere in any way with the proceedings. Levi also fears some retaliation from Grizzly Palin. I hear he's constantly looking to the skies for helicopters carrying the wolf hunter.

"I do not feel protected against Sarah Palin in a closed proceeding," Johnston said in an affidavit accompanying Butler's filings. "I hope that if it is open she will stay out of it. ... I think a public case might go a long way in reducing Sarah Palin's instinct to attack and allow the real parties in this litigation, Bristol and I, to work things out a lot more peacefully than we could if there is any more meddling from Sarah Palin."

Sounds smart to me. See, I don't care about Levi Johnston; I may be one of the few gay men that doesn't find him hot, cute, intelligent or interesting. And if I care the little about Levi, imagine how I feel about Bristol. But, and there is always a but, I agree that keeping this case open and in full public view might just force The Quitter to stay out of it.

If she had been Moose-messing around in their relationship this much from the start, maybe there never would have been a baby Trapp. Troop? Tripp! Think about that, Quitter, and shut yer yap.

PS Does this get me on the enemies list?

Tell Me Why, If You Can

Earlier this month, a conservative gay rights group--how's that for an oxymoron--GOProud announced that it would be a co-sponsor of this year’s Conservative Political Action Conference. Yes, gay mens and womens, who call themselves Republican, were going to co-host a big to-do for a conservative political group. Does it get any nuttier?

Of course it does. It always does when republicans are involved. See, the inclusion of GOProud has led to a backlash from the anti-gay right; I prefer to dub them the anti-gay wrong, but that's just me. Still, that group of asshats is threatening to boycott CPAC if the GOProud sponsorship isn’t removed.

Coll-headed CPAC director, Lisa De Pasquale, is “satisfied” that GOProud “do not represent a ‘radical leftist agenda’ and thus “should not be rejected as a CPAC cosponsor.” But David Keene, the head of CPAC’s main organizing group, attempted to appease his flock of bigots and haters who mask their bigotry and hatred with teabags and religion, by announcing that that GOProud would not have a speaking spot and that gay rights issues would not be “open to debate.”

So, we, and I mean we as gay folks, not we as Republicans, can sponsor your hatefest, but we cannot speak, because gay rights issues are not debatable.

Which begs the question: if you are a gay man or woman, why the fuck are you affiliated with a party that finds LGBT issues to be non-debatable? Do you need more proof that the Republican party neither wants you, nor wants to represent you? If you're gay, and a Republican, goddess help you, tell me why.

Why?

Christmas Eve With The "Round The Way Gays"

Okay, strip the tree, lights down, garland away! It's over. It's done. Box it up until next year.

Christmas was a mild affair at Casa Smallville. In fact, Christmas day was so ugly and rainy and cold and windy and wet, that, except for a quick doggie walk, we were in our jammies all day! But it was a nice way to spend it; just the two of us, a few gifts, and a nice quiet day at home with the kids.

Christmas Eve we spent with our friends, Neal and David, the Round The Way Gays. They are affectionately known as the "other" gay couple in the neighborhood, at least according to our realtor when she showed us this house. I've often thought back on that, and wondered, if Carlos and I were a black couple would she have said, in those oh-so-precious, hushed Southern tones, "There's another Black couple around the corner." Or, howsabout, "You know, I think some Jews live in the green house over there." But no, it was, "There are some other gay people who live in the neighborhood, too."

Bless her heart.

Still, we met the "other" gays and they met us, and we've become friends in the last year or more. Dinners and movies; parties, festivities. all nice. Carlos told of walking the dog right after we moved in and seeing David at his house. I remember Carlos coming home and saying, "I think I saw one of the gay guys!" A couple more dog walks and he'd met Neal at their house.

So, on Christmas Eve, Neal gave us his take on the meeting. Neal was watering his flowers and Carlos strolled by with the PocketDog. He'd assumed Carlos and his "wife" had moved into another house in the 'hood, and as they chatted, Neal wasn't sure who Carlos was or where he lived. Then, Carlos said the phrase, "My boyfriend and I just moved here from Miami." Neal's hose [water hose, people] went all askew and he scarcely remembered what was said after that! The minute Carlos left Neal, or as he has become known after Christmas Eve, Gladys Kravitz Sr--Carlos is Gladys Jr--hightailed it into the house, shouting to David, "I met one of the new homos!"

And that was how it started. It's been nice becoming friends with our Round The Way Gays.

And Christmas Eve was no exception. Just David and Neal, and David's sister Barbara, and Carlos and me, eating some delicioso desserts and, of course, having a sip of something cocktailish. A Poinsettia. And not the flower. Champagne--which makes everything better--and Cointreau and cranberry juice. A couple of those and I was quite festive.

And then we took the Neal Smallville Christmas Light and History Tour. We saw some fabulous light displays [some people never met a light or a blow-up Santa they didn't love] and some tasteful [simple strings of white lights] displays. Along the way, Neal gave us the history of some of the houses and the folks who live there. Even though this truly is a small-ville, I saw some parts I'd never seen before, so it was a great drive.

It was a nice way to settle into Christmas. good friends. Good desserts. and, of course, Champagne!

Bring Me The Used Condom As Proof Of The Deed

From the land Down Under comes the story of a father, standing trial in Queensland, Australia, for allegedly forcing his 14-year-old son to sleep with a prostitute because he thought the boy was gay.

The incident alleged occurred in 2007.

The father, whose name is being withheld because, well, I guess even asshats have rights, is said to have called a prostitute and arranged to meet her at a motel. He took his son to the motel, and waited outside while his son did the deed; he even wanted a used condom brought out as proof of the boy's sexual escapade.

But the oddest thing is that the story came to light because the father called Child Protection Investigation Unit in May 2008. The father was angry that the unit had not acted on his suspicions that his son was abusing his younger brother, and then the father admitted to taking the older boy to a prostitute the year before.

The father is being charged with the rape of his son.

And all because he thought the boy was gay.

Welcome.....

....to Don Joe from WorkForced. This is him, in a nutshell, so to speak: "Ruthlessly enrolled on a graduate recruitment program several years ago, before being passed over for promotion and stimulation, I am the jaded progeny of marketing brochures. Stuck inside the multinational from purgatory, this is a case of one man fighting against a machine, and not inflicting any damage in the process."

Check him out. Funny stuff over there.

Loretta Weinberg: LGBTQ+ Hero

You know, there's all sorts of talk that LGBTQ+ rights will be passed nationwide as the younger generation moves into power, and that may be true. Studies show that those people twenty-five and under are pro-equality, and might just be able to get the job done. But it isn't just the youngsters we have to be thankful for; there's a grandmother in New Jersey workin' overtime to see that the right thing is done.

Loretta Weinberg, grandmother and the Democratic senator from Teaneck, is a co-sponsor of the same-sex marriage bill up against a January 19 deadline. And if she fails? She'll wait, and she'll try again.

That's how Loretta rolls.

It took her over fifteen years to get a needle-exchange legislation, drafted to prevent the spread of disease among intravenous drug users, into law. She worked ten years on banning smoking indoors; and ten years to reduce the blood-alcohol limit to define drunken driving.

She tells the story of when she first became a grandmother and how she wasn't there the night her granddaughter was born; how she first heard the infant's crying over the telephone. "I hope by the time you grow up and read this, you'll think it was all pretty silly in terms of us having to be involved in a legislative process of giving equal rights to people."

Governor Corzine—who chose Weinberg to be his lieutenant governor candidate during his unsuccessful bid for reelection this year—has said he will sign a marriage equality bill, but the deadline is unforgiving: The Legislature's next opportunity to take up the issue is January 4, and Corzine's term ends on the 19th. Chris Christie, the Republican governor-elect, has said he supports New Jersey's civil-union statute but will not approve a bill granting marriage rights to same-sex couples.

He's a separate but equal kind of guy, you see.

But Weinberg's bill, co-sponsored with Raymond Lesniak, would make New Jersey the sixth state to legalize marriage for gays and lesbians. It was approved 7-6 by the Senate Judiciary Committee on December 7th, but was pulled before a full Senate vote.

"I think it's pretty dead right now," said Republican Senator Gerald Cardinale who voted against the bill, of course. "She's done everything that I think she could do to try to get the votes needed in the Senate. The word around the State House is that there are only 13 senators prepared to vote for this bill, so she's eight votes short."

But Loretta Weinberg doesn't give up, and says she is devoting 80 percent of her time to marriage equality. "Overall did I think we were going to be able to get this through more easily than we seem to have been able to? Yes. This is not a big issue to the general population. I campaigned all of the State of New Jersey. I'm talking about campaigning in the street, street fairs, places where you engage the regular public. Nobody ever brought this up to me. Not one person. Most of the people I met were concerned about their own marriages, their property taxes, getting and keeping a good job and how they educate their kids. They couldn't care less if two gay people want to get married."

And neither does this 74-year-old widowed mother and grandmother. Loretta Weinberg is one of our fiercest allies, putting her mouth,m her time, and her votes, where she says they should be.

One Wish Didn't Come True

I made a Christmas wish of having 2010 be More News and Less Palin, and, looky here, it's barley three days past Christmas and, well, you can't always get what you want. So, let me talk about The Quitter.

Y'all probably saw the picture of her in the McCain visor, while on vacation in Hawaii; you know, the one that she took a Sharpie to, and blocked out the McCain on the hat, though you could still see it. And she paraded her wolf-killing-ass all over Hawaii getting her picture taken in the hat. Then, because The Quitter is never one to stay out of the limelight, she released a statement saying she was sorry she blacked out the McCain 2008 on the hat, but, she was, uh, well, trying to be incognito while on vacation, and she needed a visor. Apparently, unlike real Americans, The Quitter doesn't know that they sell hats, even in Hawaii.

And then came word of her Nixon-esque "Enemies List." The list she made up of certain anti-Quitter bloggers and writers; the list she carries with her so she can keep these people from coming to her book signing. Yes, she's a real American, folk; just as long as you don't say anything mean about her uneducated ass. Hmmmm, does that get me on the list?

Of course, then, we now have the award that The Quitter just won. And you betcha she should be proud of this one. Earlier this month, PolitiFact.com awarded Governor Half-Term the Lie Of The Year award for claiming that President Obama's health care reform would set up "death panels" who would decide if seniors and disabled citizens "based on a subjective judgment of their 'level of productivity in society' " would be "worthy of health care."

Y'all remember that one, right?

The Quitter doesn't. She has since called her statement both metaphoric and accurate, and just a month ago, in an interview with the National Review, she said she didn't regret the remark:
"To me, while reading that section of the bill, it became so evident that there would be a panel of bureaucrats who would decide on levels of health care, decide on those who are worthy or not worthy of receiving some government-controlled coverage. Since health care would have to be rationed if it were promised to everyone, it would therefore lead to harm for many individuals not able to receive the government care. That leads, of course, to death."

Liar.Liar.Pants.On.Fire.

And in addition to being an outright liar, in a recent Facebook posting, she laid the blame at her winning the Lie Of The Year award at the feet of "Nancy Pelosi and friends who have tried to call 'death panels' the 'lie of the year.'" Um, Sarah, sweety, get someone to read for you...perhaps the same person that writes for you. It wasn't Pelosi, it wasn't a Democrat, it was PolitiFact.com, you blithering, dithering fool.

Sarah Palin. I wished and wished you'd shut your yap and just go away, but you can't even get that right.

Sunday Funnies