Snippets

Carlos and I went to see The Taking of Pelham 123 last Sunday. It was a hot hot day in Smallville and a movie seemed like a fine idea. And it was a good movie, even though it had John Travolta in it--I do not like John Travolta....sorry Travolta fans.

But, it also starred Denzel Washington and I loves me some Denzel. His subtle, real performance more than made up for Travolta's hammy overacting bad guy.

But, here's the part I loved.

Toward the end of the movie Denzel is hunting down Travolta and is crossing the subway tracks in front of an oncoming train. Now, you know they aren't going to let Denzel get hit by a train, it'd be chaos in the theater. But the scene was so well shot that it was thisclose to Denzel getting hit.

That's when it happened.

Carlos screamed like a girl.

I nearly fell out of my chair.

___________________

My boss became a grandfather last week so the talk at work was all about babies.

I know. Yawn.

Every time someone said something about a baby, I'd say, You know what Tuxedo did today.....?

Crickets.

I had to think of a better way to diffuse the conversation and get off baby talk and back to something, anything, that I might find interesting because, you know, it is all about me.

So, one girl was talking about how when she was born the doctor said she was the most beautiful baby he'd ever delivered.

Wait a beat, and then I said,

A veterinarian delivered you?

And all eyes were on me, just like I like it!

__________________________

I was ranting about Bernie Madoff over breakfast today. I was also ranting about Day Five Of The Michael Jackson Death Reports. I was running both stories together and really on a tear, then I stopped and looked at Carlos and said, in my best King of Siam voice, Et cetera. Et cetera. Et cetera.

Carlos looked up from his coffee and said, You're not Jewel Briner.

Jewel Briner? Jewel Brinner? Jewel Brynner. Yul Brynner.

Gotcha!

Luuuuuuuuuucy!

Welcome

Ken, Kevin Harvie and y78ilm.
Relax and enjoy!

Won't Play Gay.....Or Even Gay Friendly

clockwise from upper left corner:
Patricia Maucer, Saundra Santiago,
Brett Claywell, Scott Evans

I have been a fan of One Life To Live since Viki was married to Joe. or was it Clint? Or Sloane? Or Ben? Charlie?

I forget.

But I remember when OLTL did the first gay teenager storyline about a young man coming out of the closet. it was very well handled, and well told. So, I was happy to hear that OLTL was going to have a new gay couple on the show. Officer Fish, played by openly gay actor and brother of Chris Evans, Scott Evans, and his old college buddy Kyle, played by Brett Claywell..

They're calling them Kish. I hate when they do that.

And I was even more surprised to learn that Patricia Mauceri has been fired from the recurring role of Carlotta Vega on OLTL due to her protests about Carlotta's small role in the upcoming gay storyline. Apparently, OLTL wanted to go against stereotype and show Carlotta as a gay friendly Latina mother.

Mauceri objected to Carlotta's positive attitude about homosexuality, saying it conflicted with her personal beliefs. So, Mauceri was fired and the role was recast with Saundra Santiago, who has no trouble separating her religious beliefs and the part she plays on a soap opera. I wonder how Mauceri would have felt if an actor chose to be fired rather than play out a scene with a Latina. It's called acting, dear; it isn't real life. You can still be a homophobic hater on your days off. It's all good.

Here's how it all went down:

When Officer Fish (Evans) decides to come out to his very religious family, he purchases a book on how to come out to your parents. Somehow this book ends up in Cristian's possession and Carlotta mistakenly believes Cristian, who is her son, is gay, leading to a comedic scene where she is shocked, but then begins to accept "her" son's sexuality citing his sensitivity, artistic temperament and concern for his appearance.

The scene was meant to be played as a comedy of mistaken identities, with Cristian continuing to insist he isn't gay. The laughing stopped when Patricia Mauceri went to the producers and demanded the scenes be re-written, or she wouldn't play them. Patricia felt Carlotta would never accept her son's "gayness".

When the producers informed her the scenes would play out as is, Patricia persisted and the decision was made to recast the role.

Patricia Mauceri has worked extensively with gays in theater and on film over the years, but her personal religious beliefs have changed.

Again, dear, it's a job. Not a lifestyle.

Tuesday Tuxedo

I loves me some Tuxedo.

We rescued him from a life as a blood donor in an animal hospital in Miami. They said he was mean; unadoptable....is that a word? Nothing but trouble. And he was, for the first few days.

Now, four years later he's a loving cat who follows you around the house, sits in the kitchen when you cook, and plays catch the reflection in the bathroom before we go to bed.

He's my boy. I call him 'My boy' just to irk Carlos, and it does.

But anyway, enough of the love story between me and el gato. What I wanted to point out was how he sits at the top of the chair in our home office; his hind claws dug in for support and his front legs dangling down either side.

Cute. Right?

Not so much. He sits like that because he was declawed by a veterinarian who thought it might make him a better candidate for adoption. You know, less mean and aggressive. So they cut off his fingers; cat's claws are not like our finger nails, they are like our fingers. Cats use them to scratch and groom themselves, to pick up things, to play with things, and for protection. Cutting off his fingers wasn't a good idea. It didn't make him less aggressive, it made him more aggressive because now he has only his back feet and claws to use as a defense.

So, if you have a cat or want a cat, don't, don't, don't, let anyone talk you into cutting off their fingers. If you want to declaw a cat because you have a leather sofa, or pretty velvet drapes, then either get rid of the cat or get rid of the couch and drapes. Or, do like Carlos and I have done, train your cats that they cannot claw the furniture.

Because, even though they don't show it, they are listening.

Tuxedo. He's a cutie. My boy.

All Right Already!

I keep having people ask me when I'm gonna write about Michael Jackson on my blog.

You wrote about Ed, they say. Farrah, too.

Don't forget Bea Arthur, I hear.

So, all right already.

But you may not like it.

I didn't like Michael Jackson. His music, I mean; I didn't know the man personally so........Sorry. King of Pop is a name he gave himself. I may dub myself Grand Poobah of Smallville, but it would not make a difference. When you anoint yourself king or queen or grand poobah of something, are you really the king? I think not. But I digress.

Michael Jackson and the Jackson 5. Loved them. I'll Be There. Michael Jackson Off The Wall. Loved it. Thriller? Loved it. Never owned it; but liked what I heard on the radio or MTV.

After that, though, not so much.

It all became too weird, with the crazy outfits, the changing skin tones, the plastic surgery that was obvious but never admitted. Surgical masks. Pajamas in the courtroom. It was more side show than show business. And I won't even get into the child molestation thing. it's all hearsay and innuendo and, unless you were a child who had been molested by Michael Jackson, or Michael Jackson himself, then, well, shut up about it. Because you just don't know.

I'll give you that he was talented; he was very talented. Was he the best ever? That's a subjective question. If you didn't enjoy his music and performances then he wasn't the best. If you did, he was; that's how it goes. But I do get tired of people saying that without Michael Jackson there's be no Usher or Timberlake or NeYo. That's simply negating the talent of anyone who came after Jackson. They have talent; maybe they borrowed a move or a beat or a glove, but that doesn't make them any less gifted, or that they wouldn't be here without Michael Jackson.

If that's the legitimate line of thought then nobody in the music business would be here without the guy, or girl, in the cave a few million years back who began to beat a drumstick on a rock and dance around in a fur outfit.

But no one is thanking him.

Am I sorry Michael Jackson passed away?

Silly question. We are all affected by death whether we knew or liked the person who died. Their death leaves a hole in our collective hearts.

I just don't think the hole is as big or as deep as it's being made out.

When In Doubt Make Your Plight Biblical

All kinds of talk about our lying, cheating, taxpayer defrauding governor of late. And even the asshat himself won't shut up.

Mark Sanford held a televised cabinet meeting this week, and began the meeting by comparing his plight to that of King David, who didn't back down after his own sex scandal.

Mark Sanford:
"I have been doing a lot of soul searching on that front. What I find interesting is the story of David, and the way in which he fell mightily, he fell in very very significant ways. But then picked up the pieces and built from there."

So, as the governor of South Carolina who began an adulterous affair with a woman in Argentina, who used taxpayer money to fund at least one booty call, who disappeared from his job for days on end without telling anyone, you think you're like King David?

Just because someone in the Bible lied and cheated and committed adultery doesn't make it okay, Mark. Don't you get that?

Obviously not, because after the meeting, Governor Asshat took it a step further:

"I remain committed to rebuilding the trust that has been committed to me over the next 18 months, and it is my hope that I am able to follow the example set by David in the Bible - who after his fall from grace humbly refocused on the work at hand. By doing so, I will ultimately better serve in every area of my life, and I am committed to doing so."

By doing so you are trying to scrape together the remnants of your political career and keep yourself so busy that the lovely Jenny doesn't beat the crap out of you every day.

Don't worry, Mark. Jenny may not beat you up, but I will.

A Gay Man's Mother Writes To President Obama

from HuffPo
Randi Reitan, mother, gay rights activist has written to the president--I Ask President Obama for Full Equality for my Gay Son:


Dear President Obama,

I watched you preach on Father's Day and my heart was touched by your words. I listened with a mother's heart. I have been blessed with four dear children. Not a day goes by that I don't thank God for the gift my children are to me.

You told the congregation that the family is the most important foundation. You said we must take responsibility for those we love and we must set an example of excellence for our children. We must give our children dreams without limits and we must teach them the importance of having empathy for others. We must teach them to stand in another's shoes to know another's pain and their challenges so we can lift them up.

You said when you were younger you thought life was all about yourself and now you realize life is about leaving this world a better place for our children.

Your words touched this mother's heart but they also made me wonder if you are truly living your words.

I wonder if you are living those words as you listen to the gay community. There isn't a newspaper across this great nation that has not shared the news of the gay community's fight for equality. You must have heard their pain when your administration affirmed DOMA with their brief. You must have heard their pain as one after another brave and loyal gay soldier has been kicked out of the military because of DADT. You must have heard their pain as Prop 8 snatched marriage away from gay couples.

My youngest child is gay. As parents we were ignorant about homosexuality when Jacob came out to us as a 16 year old young man eleven years ago. We embraced him and we told him we loved him that night, but we were clueless about what it meant to be gay.

We had to educate ourselves. Another part of your message on Sunday addressed the importance of education. I ask you now to educate yourself about homosexuality.When we visited with the medical community on our journey to understanding we learned that homosexuality was simply the sexual orientation our son was given. We learned it was not a choice that Jacob made. We were told it was a given for him and we as his parents should encourage him to embrace his orientation and live his life with dignity and respect.

This began a new chapter in our lives. We learned to live in the empathy you extolled. We met hundreds of young gay people who have had such difficult lives because of the ignorance of our society. We have listened to pastors condemning gays and teaching others to do the same. We have felt the pain of discrimination as our son has been harassed with words and attacks. We have listened to young people with tears in their eyes share that they have been rejected by their own parents. We have watched as our son tried to enlist as a gay man and was instead led away in hand cuffs.

We also took responsibility as you asked parents to do on Sunday. We have spoken out, marched and led rallies. We have been arrested numerous times doing civil disobedience to try to bring the issues of injustice to light. We have poured our financial resources into programs and agencies that work to educate the people. We have lobbied at the Capitol in our state of Minnesota and in Washington, DC. We have written hundreds of letters to law makers, pastors, teachers and now to you our President.

Our country needs your voice on this issue. I am impatient to see my dear son live his life with full equality. Can you imagine if one of your daughters had equality and the other did not? That is the reality for every family with a gay child. It is heartbreaking and it is wrong.

You may not be able to lift DADT today. You may not be able to end DOMA today. You may not be able to bring marriage back for the gay community in California today. But, as our president, you can move legislation that would right those wrongs. You can sit down with my son and others and listen to their stories so you can stand in their shoes with empathy. You can address this nation about the terrible discrimination the gay community faces in our country. You can live out your campaign promises on some level.

Your final lesson in your sermon was on the gift of faith and hope. You spoke of a hope that insists that something better is waiting for us. You spoke of your faith and your love of Jesus. The Jesus that I know would not make outcasts of God's beloved children. The gay community has been made into outcasts by many in our churches. We need to hear from you that no one is less than another. The greatest commandment that Jesus taught was to love one another as He loves us.You talked about the importance of fathers teaching their children. If you don't address the issues of equality for the gay community, the discrimination will not end. Your daughters are watching you. They are learning from you and so are all the sons and daughters in this country.

You can be a president who not only embraces equality but who fights to see the day all God's children actually live it. To be able to bring equality to a group of people should be seen as not only a duty of justice but an honor of the highest level. You must be the one to lead our country by setting an example of excellence in treating all Americans with equality in all areas of life.I sat on the lawn in front of our nation's Capitol on that cold day in January when you took the oath of office. My heart filled with hope that day because I believed the words you spoke as you campaigned. Those words seem hollow to me now.

I ask you with tears in my eyes, with pain in my heart and with a mother's enduring love for her dear children..... please bring equality ... true full equality to my son and to all in the gay community.

Rush OD's With Stupidity Yet Again

Apparently, according to a drug addict blowhard, it's Obama's fault that Mark Sanford is a lying cheater taxpayer defrauding adulterer.

Huh. What. Huh?

Read on:

""Obama wants you to—he—the best way to put it—and it's working—he's trying to kill spirit. All this 'hope' and 'change'—he's trying to kill it. ... So [Sanford] up and leaves for five days, doesn't leave anyone in charge of the state in case there's an emergency. This is, this is almost like, 'I don't give a damn—country's going to hell in a handbasket; I just want out of here.' He had just tried to fight the stimulus money coming to South Carolina; he didn't want any part of it; he lost the battle. He said, 'What the hell. I mean, I'm—the federal government's taking over—what the hell, I want to enjoy life.' ... Before Obama takes away their money, before Obama takes away their house, or the economy takes away their house, there are people who are simply saying, 'Hell with this.' They've tuned out."

Took You Long Enough, Delaware

It took ten years, but Delaware finally did the right thing.

After a decade-long fight, gays and lesbians in Delaware will have legal protection from discrimination under a bill that passed the General Assembly last Wednesday night. The House chamber erupted in applause, cheers and hugs when the measure passed; the Senate passed the same measure an hour earlier. The bill now goes to Governor Jack Markell for his signature; Markell has expressed support for it.

Opponents , of course, argued that the bill pushes their religious convictions aside in favor of "sexual liberties."

Sexual liberties? How about discrimination? That's what it is, discrimination, and your god probably is not a fan of it.

Senator Robert Venables, a Democratic asshat, that's him right there, looking all smug and homophobic, opposes the bill, which means he favors discrimination and inequality, make no mistake about that. He says he does not think discrimination based on sexual orientation exists. He doubted that homosexuals should be given legal protection for what he said was a lifestyle choice.

Discrimination against the gay community doesn't exist?

Apparently Venables has never read a paper or turned on a TV or left his own gay-free house. He didn't hear about the lesbian couple denied the family discount at an Idaho water park because they really aren't a family; he doesn't know about gay people being denied jobs and house simply because they're gay?.

Then, it gets worse.

Robert Venables: "I'm convinced that lesbians can be made. I don't want it taught in our schools that this is a normal lifestyle."

Lesbians can be made? Is there a lesbian factory out there somewhere that I know nothing about? Is he afraid that if we teach lesbianism and gayology in schools that all the kids will want jobs at the Homo Assembly Line?

Seriously? This man is an elected official?

Luckily no one listens much to Robert Venables.

Welcome

...to Micky from It's Getting Better.

He's a nice lad from across the pond.

Asshat Sunday

Two of these three asshats were on Meet The Press Face Of The Nation This Week In Washington show yesterday talking about the third asshat.

Lindsay Graham, Asshat Number One up there, who never met an Obama plan that he didn't scream at like a girl, and Mitt Romney, Asshat Number three, who ran for president, spent millions and still lost, were talking about Middle Asshat, Cheater-Adulterer-Liar-Taxpayer Defrauding, Mark Sanford.

Asked if they believed he should resign his position, both Asshat One and Asshat Three, said they were hoping Mark could just reconcile with his wife, the lovely Jenny, because that's what is important.

That's what's important? His adulterous private life?

Not the fact that he left the state without telling anyone. Not that he used taxpayer money to pay for one of his Argentinean booty calls. Not that he lied to, and defrauded, the people of South Carolina.

No, let's pray he and the lovely Jenny don't divorce.

That's what your Repugs are concerned with: the image of fellow Repugs in the way of family values and morals, not how they run their political offices. Not how they lie cheat and steal.

Just fix the marriage.

Sidenote: Mitt Romney, pretty boy asshat,, when asked about the Obama plan to begin withdrawing troops from Iraq, said he couldn't understand Obama's shift in attitude. he said that when Obama was campaigning against Bush in the Presidential election, he never spoke of a June withdrawal date.

Newsflash Mitt: Obama wasn't running against Bush for the presidency. He was running against McCain and you, and a bunch of other self-involved moralistic prigs. Perhaps that's why you lost: you didn't even know who was running.

And this is your Republican Party.

Graham, Sanford and Romney.

Quite the Trifecta!

These Kill Me!

I got this one from Mark at Tales of the Sissy.
It kills me!
Thanks Mark!


These I found online.

Sunday Funnies

I wondered where she'd gone after the Repugs used her, abused her, tossed her aside and forgot about her.

Stonewall

It was forty years ago, a lifetime to some of us, a minute to others, but it marked a turning point for the LGBT community. It marked one of the first, and definitely the loudest, times that gay men and women stood up en masse and said, No. We will not be treated like this any longer!

The weekend of June 27-29,1969 began what is the modern day gay movement. To be sure, there were gay and lesbian activists before that weekend, but the confrontation between police and demonstrators at the Stonewall Inn in New York lit a fire in the hearts of the LGBT community like it had never been done before.

And like any good story, there is controversy surrounding the Stonewall Riots; there are arguments and differences over what happened, how it started and how it ended. But the fact we all need to remember is that it did happen, and it should continue to be a rallying cry for the LGBT community to be, finally, considered equal in the eyes of America.

It wasn't like there weren't fights for gay rights before Stonewall, because that simply isn't true. There was activity, activism, in the 1950s, when the Mattachine Society was founded by a group of gay men. Mattachine was an activist organization, but it was nice and polite, non-threatening; members were well-dressed and kind, and were not so different than other polite, well-dressed white men except for whom they loved.

Still, Mattachine opened the closet door a little bit, and shone a light on what it meant to be gay, on the fact that gay men and women aren't any different than straight men and women; we all essentially want the same things: Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. The Mattachine Society, while it provided much needed support for gay men, was unable to sustain itself, and the national chapter dissolved in the mid-1960s.

In the mid-fifties, the lesbian organization Daughters of Bilitis, was created and began to publish The Ladder, which lead to an increase in membership. However, internal tensions regarding DOB's involvement in the early women's movement--which some saw as anti-lesbian--caused rifts in the organization. The Ladder ceased publication in 1972, and DOB membership sharply declined.

And while both these groups offered a place for gay men and women to feel safe, to feel less alone, both groups tended to be rather conservative in their activism for social change. Rather than engage in open confrontation with authorities, the goal was to work within the system to lobby for social acceptability. When protests such as picketing did occur, demonstrators acted in an orderly, polite manner; the least of their intentions was to get arrested.

That changed in the 1960s with the civil rights, black power, anti-war, and the women's movements. Acceptance, understanding, and tolerance for who you were, not what you were, was the impetus, the catalyst, for younger gay and lesbian activists. Now the goal was to choose a more radical, militant stance, with the idea of a social revolution. The lesbian and gay community seemed primed and ready for an incident--perhaps any incident--to allow an aggressive Gay Pride movement to spark, catch fire, and burn brightly.

It was Friday, June 27, 1969, and the world was mourning the death of Judy Garland. Could it be that the death of one of the most famous gay icons was what sparked the fire of the modern day Gay Rights Movement? Many people have speculated that Garland's death did indeed push the gay community into the streets of New York that night. But it was also hot, that night, and many say it was the heat that fueled the crowd into action, into reaction. Maybe it was both Garland's death and the hot summer night; or maybe it was just that the gay community had finally had enough of being told what to do, what not to do, and how we should live our lives. Whatever the reason, it was enough. Finally, enough.

In the early morning hours of June 28, police officers raided the Stonewall Inn, a small bar located on Christopher Street in Greenwich Village. Although mafia-run, the Stonewall, like other predominantly gay bars in the city, got raided by the police periodically.

Typically, the more "deviant" patrons--drag queens and butch lesbians, especially if they were black--were arrested and taken away, while white, male customers looked on or quietly disappeared. The bar owners would be levied an insubstantial fine--a sign of corruption and collusion between bar owners and police--allowing them to open for business the following day.

On this night, the charge at the Stonewall was the illegal sale of alcohol. The raid began as they always did: plainclothes and uniformed police officers entered the bar, arrested the employees, and began ejecting the customers one by one onto the street. For some reason, however, the crowd that had gathered outside the Stonewall, a somewhat campy and festive crowd, began to cheer as the patrons were pushed out of the Stonewall Inn. But soon the mood changed; it was Judy Garland's death, or the summer heat, or the fact that the summer of 1969 was a particularly busy one for police raids on gay bars. Or maybe it was watching drag queens and lesbians being pushed and shoved and kicked into paddy wagons.

Whatever it was, the on-lookers lost their patience. No one really knows who threw the first punch; some say it was a drag queen, some say it was a rather butch-looking lesbian. But someone defied the police that night; someone had finally had enough.

The crowd, now numbering several hundred, exploded. People began hurling coins at police officers, then they moved on to rocks and bottles, whatever they could grab. The police, at first stunned that the normally docile and shamed homosexuals would react in such a fashion, soon began beating the crowds with nightsticks. This group, however,was too angry, and could not be pushed down; the police officers were forced to take refuge inside the Stonewall.

As news spread throughout Greenwich Village the crowd grew ever larger; many residents, some gay, some not, ran down to the Stonewall Inn to join the fight. Lighter fluid was squirted inside the bar and someone tried to light it; others grabbed a downed parking meter and used it as a battering ram against the front of the Stonewall. Someone began chanting "Gay Power!"

The riot-control police unit arrived to rescue the trapped officers and break up the demonstration, though it took over an hour before the crowd dispersed. To taunt their attackers a group of drag queens began to sing at the top of their lungs:

We are the Stonewall girls

We wear our hair in curls

We wear no underwear

We show our pubic hair

We wear our dungarees

Above our nelly knees!

That first Stonewall Riot ended the morning of Saturday, June 28, but the fight was far from over. That night a second riot broke out and the crowd now numbered in the thousands, filling the streets in the name of Gay Pride. They marched to the Stonewall Inn and waited for the police to arrive; and they did, in the early morning hours of Sunday, June 29.

For over a week, though in smaller numbers, protests and demonstrations continued in Greenwich Village. There was finally a sense of what could be accomplished by banding together, by being out, by being seen, by being heard. By being angry. It was a new day.

A month after the riots, the Gay Liberation Front (GLF) was formed. Radical and leftist, the GLF was one of many politically focused lesbian and gay organizations formed in the days and weeks following the riots. The number of lesbian and gay publications skyrocketed as well, which led to an even greater sense of community. The LGBT community was no longer strictly marginalized in United States society. Now, out and proud lesbians and gay men were developing their own communities in cities across the country.

Since 1970, marches have taken place in New York City--and all over hte world--every year on the anniversary of the Stonewall Riots. In June 1994, hundreds of thousands of people converged on New York to celebrate Stonewall's 25th anniversary. In 1999 the United States government proclaimed the Stonewall Inn a national historic site. The following year, the status of the Stonewall was improved to "historic landmark," a designation held by only a small percentage of historical sites.

It is our Plymouth Rock. It's where the gay community landed and came together and began the march toward equality. Stonewall was our first glimpse of a new world where we weren't alone, we weren't all that different, where we belonged.

It makes no difference how it started. The death of an icon; the summer heat; a sense of frustration. It makes no difference who started it; drag queens or lesbians; coin tossers or rock throwers. The difference is that it happened.

Forty years ago today.

The Debate Boiled Down

Click it. It gets bigger!

Matthew Shepard Foundation Doesn't Take Hate Money

Let's recap.

Perez Hilton has a blog.
Perez Hilton uses said blog to personally attack celebrities by drawing penises on their pictures, implying or even declaring the celebrity to be gay, and just being a Mean Girl.
Perez Hilton attacks Fergie and the Black Eyed Peas on his "blog."
Perez Hilton goes to a Black Eyed Peas concert.
Perez Hilton gets into a verbal sparring match with will.i.am.
Perez Hilton calls will.i.am a faggot--the most hateful thing, according to Perez, that you can call someone.
Perez Hilton gets punched.
Perez Hilton blog cries.
Perez Hilton won't apologize for his use of the word faggot.
Perez Hilton finally succumbs to good sense--something for which his is not known--and apologizes for saying faggot.
Perez Hilton proclaims he is going to sue the alleged puncher and donate all his winnings in court to the Matthew Shepard Foundation.

The Matthew Shepard Foundation says No, thank you.
Snap!

from the Matthew Shepard Foundation:

The Matthew Shepard Foundation was surprised to learn this morning via media reports that blogger Perez Hilton (Mario Lavandeira) has announced he plans to donate, to our organization, the proceeds of a lawsuit he is contesting over an altercation which has been widely reported in recent days.

We had no advance notice or contact from Mr. Hilton or his representatives regarding this proposal, nor any communication since he posted this plan to his website. We do not know the details of the lawsuit, whether it has been filed, the nature of his claims or the likely outcome.

But because the lawsuit presumably involves the physical attack prompted by Mr. Hilton's admitted use of an anti-gay slur, the Foundation will be unable to accept any funds obtained in such a manner.

We very much appreciate the generosity of the offer to support our continuing work to memorialize Matthew through activism in defense of sexual minorities and in favor of understanding, compassion, and acceptance.

But because so much of our work involves education to reduce the use of hateful language against gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered persons, or those so perceived, it would be inappropriate for us to benefit financially from circumstances in which such a verbal attack was involved.

While we applaud Mr. Hilton's apology to the LGBT community and their loved ones for his use of such a slur, we also feel compelled to point out that use of epithets can often lead to physical violence, as it appears it may have in this case, and that the Matthew Shepard Foundation has worked for more than 10 years to bring to people's attention the consequences of hateful or intolerant language.

Judy Shepard

Chair, MSF Governing Board

Friday Tuxedo

Apparently somebody had a rough night, because, right after breakfast, he was back in bed. Perhaps this explains the empty bottle of vodka I found under the couch.

Come Out

Openly gay actor Ian McKellen has written an article for the Times, in which he urges every gay and lesbian person to come out. Now, McKellen didn't come out until 1988 when he was 49 years old. But in 1988 a new law in England, called Section 28, was passed. It stated that schools and local authorities were not to “promote homosexuality” or teach “the acceptability of homosexuality as a pretended family relationship”. It was because of this legislation, that Ian McKellen came out as a gay man.

“For me, coming out made me unburdened and more self-confident. It made me a better actor. It opened me up emotionally. It’s amazing that it’s an experience that people who you’ll never meet, in places in the world you’ll never go to, can relate to. It’s one of the best things I’ve ever done.
“That’s when I made the connection between the personal and the political. Section 28 made gay people second class and it felt right to stand up and say so, to say: 'I’m not ashamed'. I feel the same way today. Come out, it’s got to be done. Everyone should feel that they have the right and opportunity to live openly."

I agree wholeheartedly with McKellen. I felt so much more alone before I came out; I felt so much more that I didn't belong, that I was less than, that I didn't matter. Before.

And, yes, I had it rather easy. Sure, I lost a few friends, but then, well, with friends like that....yadayadayada. But my family, well, they were so welcoming, accepting, they were 'so what?' about it.

I think everyone should come out because it's easy to deny rights to people you don't know, to 'them,' but try doing it to your neighbor or co-worker or friend. It won't be so easy to deny us marriage, or allow us to serve openly in the military. it won't be so easy for the president to promise and not deliver.

Just come out. It's actually very nice out here.

And there's the added bonus of the Coming Out Toaster Oven from recruitment headquarters!

Birds Do It. Bees Do It. Even Lesbian Fruit Flies Do It.

from Wired.com

"When it comes to same-sex sexual behavior, scientists need to keep an open mind.
Sure, it’s widely recognized that the animal kingdom is full of male-on-male and female-on-female action, from fruit flies on up to bottlenose dolphins and, of course, Homo sapiens.
But though the origins and evolutionary consequences of homosexuality are varied, biologists tend to oversimplify such behavior....

Beyond searching for mechanistics explanations in simple creatures like fruit flies—who rely on smell to recognize each other, and aren’t very good at it—biologists have focused on homosexuality as a paradox.....They’ve tended to explain homosexuality as an adaptation that serves to strengthen social bonds, reduce sexual competition and refine mating technique. "

Examples:

• Male dung flies are believed to mate with other males simply to occupy their time. I know guys, and girls, like that.
• Small male Goodeid fishes camouflage themselves as female, and mate with females while males pursue them. I know guys like that, too.
• Fruit flies seem to do better at heterosexual mating once they’ve had some same-sex practice. Well, then, I guess we know what that means.
• Laysan albatross, where monogamy is common but females outnumber males, nearly one-third of all couples are female-female pairs. They’re better at rearing chicks than single females, and their coupling reduces the likelihood of single females luring married men from the nest. So much for that whole children need a mother and a father nonsense.

"That’s also one possible consequence, albeit unmentioned in this study, for human homosexuality. Perhaps communities in which some non-reproducing, same-sex-preferring members devoted their energies to caring for unrelated individuals have historically been

healthier than those in which heterosexuality was absolute."

Just sayin'.

Farrah Fawcett

Farrah Fawcett passed away today.

Rest in peace, Angel.

A Two-Time Winner In The Asshat Awards

"For the first time in America’s history, we have a president who has no understanding of the Biblical worldview and who has even less understanding of the truths of the Bible. This is evident when he says that support for homosexual “marriage” [unions] can be found in the Sermon on the Mount or that certain passages in Romans are just obscure passages. Whereas George Washington expelled from his military those who practiced sodomy, President Obama honors sodomites by proclaiming an entire month as Gay Pride Month, but he won’t acknowledge one day for our National Day of Prayer.

"We have a president who doesn’t know the difference between God-given rights and sinful, perverted behavior. The Biblical worldview teaches that all are created equal and worthy of respect but it also teaches that some behaviors, such as homosexuality, are wrong because they violate God’s moral law." -

Oklahoma Repugnant Sally Kern

Look Who's Talking

Everyone is talking down here about cheater Mark Sanford.

Forget Iran.

Forget the economy.

Forget Guantanamo.

Forget Obama.

We got ourselves a big juicy scandal. And everyone is weighing in on it.

According to an online poll by The Sate newspaper, 70% of those responding think he should resign. But, do they want him to resign because he's a cheater, an adulterer, or do they want him to resign for his vanishing act?

I include myself in that latter group.

Adultery is not a Republican thang, so let's get off that high horse.

John Edwards anyone?

Bill Clinton, then?

Cheating on a spouse is a bipartisan issue, so lets not run Mark Sanford out of town on a rail for being an adulterer, and a liar and a cheat. Let's give him the boot for acting irresponsibly as governor, and for vanishing without a word. As I said yesterday, though I didn't vote for him, Mark Sanford, in effect, works for me. And as my employee, I expect you to be on the job, or let me know your whereabouts, if you decided to take a walkabout.

I think he should resign for his "let them eat cake" attitude regarding the stimulus package and how he fought that, not out of principle, but out of seeing himself as a viable presidential candidate in 2012.

I think he should resign because he is against marriage equality and has spouted that traditional line of BS, and that sanctity of marriage crap, while living a double life.

I think he should resign because he doesn't even believe in civil unions instead of marriage; he doesn't believe gay Americans deserve the same rights in any, shape or form as so-called regular Americans.

He's against gay adoption. He'd rather see kids raised in group homes by the state rather than in loving homes where they can be nurtured and loved and protected.

He can cheat on his wife all he wants. That's their issue.

My issue is his politics. And his politics suck.

And it's not just me weighing in, here's some other South Carolina voices:

Speaker of the House, Republican, Bobby Harrell:

“Today’s revelations are disturbing and shocking. There is no excuse for the unfortunate events that have transpired in recent days. ... For five days, the governor let his staff deceive the press and the people of South Carolina regarding where he was and what he was doing.”

Carol Fowler, chairwoman of the South Carolina Democratic party:

“When it comes to the real needs and concerns of South Carolinians, Mark Sanford has been pretty much missing in action for the last 6½ years. But it is not acceptable for him to be actually missing.”

Senate Minority Leader, Democrat John C. Land:

“The governor’s office misled the media, the lieutenant governor, and the people of South Carolina. Never in my 32 years as a state senator have I witnessed a governor and his staff act in a more dishonest, secretive and bizarre manner.”

Republican Senator Harvey Peeler:

“I’m deeply disturbed that no one knew where Governor Sanford was over the last five days. He left the country and deliberately made himself unavailable without delegating power to the lieutenant governor. In the process, he misled his staff who unknowingly misled the public.”

Republican Attorney General Henry McMaster:

“We all know that leaving the state without a governor for any period of time is not acceptable. I suspect Governor Sanford now understands that better than anyone else.”

Democratic Senator Vincent Sheheen:

“This is an unfortunate distraction for our state, and we cannot afford to lose sight of the problems that desperately need to be addressed in South Carolina.”

Republican Rep. Nikki Haley first praised Mark Sanford's fiscal conservatism, and then added:

“However, another component is behaving in a manner that allows people to trust in their public officials and feel good about their government. Obviously, the governor has fallen far short in that regard and that is extremely unfortunate.”

Republican Senator Hugh Leatherman, who has clashed repeatedly with Sanford over money issues, said:

“We on the Senate side, and on the House side, are looking to get a definition of what’s an emergency and what’s an abandonment of office.”

S'about Time North Carolina. Now, Send Some Common Sense Down Here

An hour-and-a-half was all it took. Scarcely longer than an episode of Real Housewives of New York. But they did it.

The North Carolina House passed legislation to include specific protections for students who are bullied because of their sexuality in an anti-bullying law. These new anti-bullying laws will state that a child should not be discriminated against or harassed on the grounds of their real or perceived sexual orientation, their race, religious views and disabilities.

Those against the bill, and, in effect then, for bullying, claimed that the largely Democratic group proposing the motion were wrong to focus on the protection of a minority instead of legislating to protect all children in the state.

So, they don't believe we protect the minority?

Repugnant Dale Folwell: "The people of North Carolina are being bullied on this floor tonight."

Democrat Grier Martin: "To oppose this bill because you object to one of those categories is to fight the culture wars on the back of a child."

According to the Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network, only seven other US states with bullying laws in place include specific protection for gay students: California, Iowa, Maryland, New Jersey, Oregon, Vermont and Washington state.

Now, no thanks to asshats like Dale Folwell, so does North Carolina.

Quotes Of The Day

Pennsylvania State Senator Daylin Leach is trying to get marriage equality passed in his state. And if you listen to his words, what he says, how he says it, how he shoots down every 'No' argument, you begin to wonder....is he the new Harvey? I think he might be. This is what Daylin Leach has to say about marriage equality and the fight for it:

Concerns Over "Activist" Courts:"

A court that enacts equality doesn't have to be an activist court. It could just be following the law, which is what Massachusetts did when it legalized same-sex marriage."

Constitutional Amendments and Courts:

"If there's a court that was bent on declaring same-sex marriage legal, they could just ignore a [state's] constitutional amendment and rule under the federal constitution, and its equal protection clause, which overrules any state constitution.

The Illegitimacy of Ballot Measures:

"If you put slavery on the ballot, Jim Crow, even interracial marriage on the ballot in many parts of the country, it would have lost....We revere the legislators that voted for civil rights even though it was unpopular in some of their states, even Al Gore's father who lost his seat over [civil rights]. Our job as legislators is to do what's right, not to give voice to every whim of a majority to oppress a minority."

The Influence of the Civil Rights Movement on LGBT Rights:

"This is in line with the racial civil rights movement and the struggle for equality that women went through, and the struggle for equality that immigrants fought. [LGBT discrimination] is the last sort of acceptable discrimination in society. It's getting less and less, but it's our job [as legislators] to put the nail in the coffin and grant full equality for everyone."

On Trying to Push Through an Amendment Banning Gay Marriage Multiple Times in Pennsylvania:

"[Opponents of marriage equality] attempted to get a ban passed three years ago when there were many more legislators sympathetic [to a ballot measure] than now. And they failed then."

The Future of Marriage Equality:

"In 20 years, all 50 states, it's inevitable, will have same-sex marriage. And we'll wonder, like interracial marriage, why this was ever controversial."

The Fallacy that Gay Marriage will Harm Society:

"The idea that there are tens of thousands of studies [that show gay marriage harms society] is wrong....every study on the issue says that children of gay marriage and gay marriage itself does nothing adverse to society. You would think that if it did, we would notice it."

Dismantling the Slippery Slope Argument that Gay Marriage Could Lead to Bestiality or Polygamy:

"This is an argument not against gay marriage, but against all marriage - if you allow anyone to marry, you have to allow everyone to marry. The idea that if you allow two men to get married, you'd have to allow a man to marry an aardvark or his lawn mower is just not accurate. We draw reasonable lines all the time in society. You can drive 65mph, but not 95mph; you can keep a gun but not a truck bomb. To me the line should be drawn [on marriage] where it allows everyone to marry the one person that they most love in the world."

Step Aside Mark

"When it comes to the real needs and concerns of South Carolinians, Mark Sanford has been pretty much missing in action for the last six-and-a-half years. But it is not acceptable for him to be actually missing....However, as disturbing as it is to walk out on your responsibilities without telling anyone, what's more troubling is that the governor and his staff have been less than truthful about his whereabouts."

--South Carolina Democratic Party Chair Carol Fowler.

And that's why I think he should resign. Not because of the affair. I am not that much of a hypocrite; I didn't want Clinton out of office because he cheated, so I should feel the same about Marky.

But.....for him to disappear for days on end is inexcusable. It was bad enough when we were told he was on a hike, but to actually leave the country is ridiculous.

Resign Governor. You can no longer be trusted to do your job.

Lies On Top Of Lies...And He Wants To Be A Repug President

UPDATE:
Cheater!
Mark Sanford has just admitted to cheating on his wife with a woman in South America.
What's that, Mark?
No more Mr. President?
I vote for no more Mr. Governor!
Ensign, Blair, Sanford. The New Repugs!

The Repugs have trotted out many people they thought able to challenge Barack Obama in 2012 and none of them has lived up to the GOP hype.

First we had Sarah Palin, who would rather spar with a certain gap-toothed talk show host or baby daddy than discuss anything pertinent to the American people.

Then we had Bobby Jindal who looked and sounded like a cartoon dog in his rebuttal to a Barack Obama speech.

Of course, the old dog Newt Gingrich woke up, then changed his mind and his religion, and then changed his mind again.

But strangest of all is our own lil ole guv'nah, Mark Sanford of South Carolina. He was thought to be on the fast-track to GOP front-running until his little disappearing act. David Copperfield, he ain't.

Sanford was gone from the governor's office for five days without telling anyone where he was going. The Lieutenant Governor didn't know. The Legislature wasn't told. His own wife was in the dark. Even SLED, who provide security for the governor, didn't know where he went. But then Marky called. He was on a hike in the Appalachians. And we all--well, not all, really--breathed a sigh of relief.

Except. That was a lie. And he wasn't gone four days. Or five days. He was gone....disappeared....for seven days. To South America. To Buenos Aires!

In an interview with The State newspaper, Sanford said he decided at the last minute to go to the South American country to "recharge" after a difficult legislative session in which he battled with lawmakers over how to spend federal stimulus money. he had considered hiking on the Appalachian Trail, but, "I said 'no' I wanted to do something exotic."

His critics, which right now include most of South Carolina, are slamming his little getaway.

Republican Senator Jake Knotts: "Lies. Lies. Lies. That's all we get from his staff. That's all we get from his people. That's all we get from him. Why all the big cover-up?"

I have a comment as well, Governor, and I use the title loosely.

You were elected by the people of South Carolina, which means you work for us. Which means you don't get to leave your job for days at a time without our knowledge.

Got that?

Have a nice trip back to the private sector. Asshat.