I Didn't Say It....

Andrew Sullivan, Obama's coming out for equality:

"[T]oday Obama did more than make that logical step. He let go of fear. He is clearly prepared to let the political chips fall as they may. That's why we elected him. That's the change we believed in. The contrast with a candidate who wants to abolish all rights for gay couples by amending the federal constitution, and who has donated to organizations that seek to 'cure' gays, who bowed to pressure from bigots who demanded the head of a spokesman on foreign policy solely because he was gay: how much starker can it get? My view politically is that this will help Obama. He will be looking to the future generations as his opponent panders to the past. The clearer the choice this year the likelier his victory. And after the darkness of last night, this feels like a widening dawn."

Just like in that ad, where Obama makes the call to take out bin Laden, this is the kind of tough call—politically, not personally—that we want our presidents to make.

And, of course, we always knew it would be Barack Obama as the first president to say it.

I’m still grinning about it, and don’t think I’ll stop for a very long time.

Brian Brown, NOM president, challenging Dan Savage to a debate:

"Let me lay down a public challenge to Dan Savage right here and now: You want to savage the Bible? Christian morality? Traditional marriage? Pope Benedict? I'm here, you name the time and the place and let's see what a big man you are in a debate with someone who can talk back. It's easy to make high-school girls cry by picking on them. Let's pick on someone our own size! I'm here, any time, any place you name, Dan Savage. You will find out how venal and ridiculous your views of these things are if you dare to accept a challenge."

Dan Savage debating Brian Brown will be like shooting bigots, er, fish in a barrel.

Savage has the wits and the intelligent and the ability to make cogent thought, while Brown is just a self-loathing closeted flaming foot-stomping goosestepping moron.

Mitt Romney, on the departure of Richard Grenell:

"We select people not based upon their ethnicity or their sexual preference or their gender. But upon their capability. He was a capable individual. We’re sorry to have him go and actually a whole series of the senior people on my team and my supporters called him and encouraged him to stay. But he expressed a desire to move on and I wish him the very best."

This is another one of those times when I think Romney is an inveterate liar.

First off, how long did it take him to comment on Grenell’s departure? Days?

Second off, any fool who thinks they didn’t hire Grenell because he’s gay, and thought that would make Romney seem LGBT-friendly, is, well, I already said it, a fool.

Barney Frank, on Mittsy Romney:

"Any gay or lesbian person with any self-respect should not be voting for any of the Republicans, including Mitt Romney, who made the degrading comment in one of the recent debates about how he kept Massachusetts from being the Las Vegas of gay marriage, kind of cheapening this very profound thing for us. This is a faker who in 1994, when he was trying to beat Ted Kennedy in a different era, said 'Oh, I’ll be better than him on gay rights,' and of course he’s been outrageous....In fact in 2004, when the Massachusetts Supreme Court had ruled in favor of gay rights, there was an effort in the state Legislature to overturn it. Mitt Romney led a fight against a whole lot of legislators who had courageously voted with us to uphold gay marriage, and he tried very hard to defeat them. I think he gave the business I’m in a bad name. He is the most unprincipled, dishonest, intellectually flexible guy I’ve seen. There does not appear to be any public policy to which he’s committed."

Mitt.

Flip.Flop.

Anti-gay.

Anti-woman.

Anti-middle class.

Carl Siciliano, executive director of New York City’s Ali Forney Center, an LGBT homeless youth shelter, on Mayor Bloomberg’s new budget which cuts $7 million to the city’s Runaway and Homeless Youth Services:

“Mayor Bloomberg's plan to throw 160 homeless children out of their shelter beds and into the streets is cruel, reckless and contemptible. These cuts create an even bigger crisis for the LGBT teens who are thrown out of their homes and forced to endure homelessness on the streets of our city. The LGBT community needs and demands political leaders who will protect our children. Instead, Mayor Bloomberg has proposed eliminating more than half of their shelter beds. The Ali Forney Center, and all those who work with and care about LGBT homeless youth, will not be silent in the face of this decision, which offends us as a community and needlessly puts our young people in harm's way.”

Take a young gay man or woman, already tossed aside by their own family, and then, when they finally find a place that will take them in, cut the budget so they are kicked out of a second home.

So, so compassionate.

Joe Biden, Vice President, on marriage equality:

"Look, I am Vice President of the United States of America. The president sets the policy. I am absolutely comfortable with the fact that men marrying men, women marrying women and heterosexual men marrying women are entitled to the same exact rights. All the civil rights, all the civil liberties. And quite frankly I don’t see much of a distinction beyond that."

Maybe Biden said it first—and I thank him for that—but Biden has always spoken off the cuff [Anyone remember Big Fucking Deal-gate?].

If this spurred the president to make his announcement, maybe before he really wanted to, then, Thanks again for that Joe.

It’s time all the politicians who teetered on the edge of equality finally announced their true beliefs.

Chad Griffin, incoming HRC president, on Biden's statement:

"Only in Washington and in politics could someone attempt to parse the words of what the vice president of the United States said on Meet the Press today. His words speak for themselves -- and they send an incredibly important message outside Washington to the young LGBT teenager hearing the vice president of the United States talk about his belief in marriage equality and the fact that he or she can grow up and have the same dreams and aspirations as their friends, their colleagues, their parents."

It was always clear what he said, and anyone who didn’t hear it right, was, as usual, not really paying attention.

Bryan Fischer, AFA spokesbigot, railing against Mittsy for letting Richard Grenell resign, after spending weeks asking for Mittsy to remove him [hypocrite, say what?]:

"... if Mitt Romney can be pushed around, intimidated, coerced, co-opted by a conservative radio talk show host in Middle America, then how is he going to stand up to the Chinese? How is he going to stand up to Putin? How is he going to stand up to North Korea if he can be pushed around by a yokel like me?"

He’s not going to stand up against you, Bryan.

Mitt will kow-tow and bow to whichever interest he thinks might be best able to help him.

That’s why we’ve called him a flip-flopper for so long.

Funny, now you’re finally realizing it, too.

[Note: Romney is now back in Fischer’s good graces after standing firmly against LGBT rights in the aftermath of Obama’s marriage equality support announcement.]\Fischer is a flip-flopper, too.

Ken Hutcherson, Washington state anti-gay "pastor" wants the word 'gay' back:

"Seriously, I am the gayest guy I know...My frustration is that some groups have taken words and symbols away from the Church and from society in general. When I say I'm 'gay,' what I mean is that I am happy, that I am joyful and that I love people. That is precisely what a Christian ought to be so in my opinion we just need to be as gay as we can. Dan Savage says he is gay. He's not gay, not anywhere close. Yeah, he may be a homosexual but he certainly doesn't appear to be happy or joyful when he stands up in front of a classroom and uses profane language. Nope, nothing gay about that."

Ken, you can’t have a heart filled with hate and fear and loathing of anyone and call yourself gay, or happy, or joyful.

You are hate, and there’s nothing gay about it.

PS We aren’t giving up the rainbow.

Cher, on, Mitt Romney, via Twitter:

 "If ROMNEY gets elected I don't know if I can breathe same air as Him & his Right Wing Racist Homophobic Women Hating Tea Bagger Masters"

Now, to be fair, she has since deleted this Tweet and apologized for some of the wordage, but stands behind her loathing of Mittsy and his pandering Tea Party Flying Monkeys.

And, of course, once again, the quote to end all quotes:

President Barack Obama, on marriage equality:

“I have to tell you that over the course of several years as I have talked to friends and family and neighbors, when I think about members of my own staff who are in incredibly committed monogamous relationships, same-sex relationships, who are raising kids together; when I think about those soldiers or airmen or marines or sailors who are out there fighting on my behalf and yet feel constrained, even now that ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ is gone, because they are not able to commit themselves in a marriage, at a certain point I’ve just concluded that for me personally it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same sex couples should be able to get married.” 

Random Musings

Staffers for Minnesota Congresswoman, and certifiable Crazy-Eyed Wacknut, Michele Bachmann, are confirming a Swiss television news report that Bachmann is now a citizen of Switzerland. 

Bachmann's congressional spokes-tool, Becky Rogness, said Bachmann now enjoys dual citizenship with the US and Switzerland: "Congresswoman Bachmann's husband is of Swiss descent so she has been eligible for dual-citizenship since they got married in 1978. However, recently some of their children wanted to exercise their eligibility for dual-citizenship so they went through the process as a family."

I never knew Marcus was a Swiss Miss.

In addition to this story, Bachmann gave Mittsy Romney her endorsement, by saying something like, "Well, he's all we've got, so........Marcus! Take off my dress!"

To say I was dumbfounded by the passage of Amendment One in North Carolina would be a massive understatement. I can't fathom anyone voting to discriminate against another person. But then i took a trip over to Viktor's spot, Maybe It's Just Me--and you ought to stop in on that blog regularly--and saw this little graphic which explains everything:

And then, saw found this:

And Rick "Frothy Mix" Santorum has finally come out--no pun intended--and also endorsed Mittsy for president.
And he did so by having a huge press conference and.....what? Oh, he released an email in the middle of the night where he doesn't so much as say Mittsy's the best man for the job, but reiterates how different he and Mittsy are, and how, "Well, he's all we've got, so.....Hey you! Lady! Stop with the birth control already."

Lots of news about the unpaid prostitute in Columbia who is at the center of the Secret Service scandal.

She wants to stretch her fifteen minutes of fame to the pages of Hustler and wants to sell her story.

Here's her story: she's a prostitute who got a call to go to a hotel and let some guy bang her. She did. He didn't pay. She raised a fuss. It came out that he's Secret Service. Now she says she could have taken all sorts of confidential secret information from him.

Um, Hooker? May I call you Hooker? You couldn't even find his wallet to take your $47.00. How you gonna crack the lock on the Secret Service briefcase and take all the files marked "Top Secret."

You're a hooker. It might be legal in Colombia, but, c'mon, you aren't exactly a paragon of virtue.

Say Buenos Noches already.

Tweet Of The Day:

I love The Borgias because I loves me some Cesare Borgia, played by François Arnaud.

But now, Cesare's murderous henchman--which is kind of an oxymoron--Micheletto, has returned to his village and we learn that he has a bit of a gay past.
With secret lover, Augustino, played by the hot, oh, so hot, Darwin Shaw.

I just hope this wasn't a one-note episode, and that Augustino will be back.

And, speaking of new crushes from TV Land:

GCB. I started watching because it stars Kristin Chenoweth and Annie Potts.
Those two are reason enough.
And I also loveslovesloves the gay husband, played by Mark Deklin, but the newest hunk, who's been there almost all along but suddenly appeared really dreamy this last week, is Tyler Jacob Moore, who plays Pastor John Tudor.

I don't usually go for the blonds, but his smile is.....swoon.

 And speaking of TV. I love the BBC/America. 

I loved Whitechapel.

I find most British television programs to be more interesting, and less predictable, than American shows.

Case in point: The new version of Sherlock Holmes--played by the interestingly named, Benedict Cumberbatch--that is being shown on Masterpiece Theater on Sunday nights. It’s an updating of Holmes to 2011, and the stories are quick, interestingly told, interestingly filmed.

I wish our US networks would take note and try to be a little more inventive.

Little Mittsy Romney: Bully? Prankster?

from The Washington Post via JMG

Little Mittsy Romney

'John Lauber, a soft-spoken new student one year behind Romney, was perpetually teased for his nonconformity and presumed homosexuality. 
Now he was walking around the all-boys school with bleached-blond hair that draped over one eye, and Romney wasn’t having it. 
“He can’t look like that. That’s wrong. Just look at him!” an incensed Romney told Matthew Friedemann, his close friend in the Stevens Hall dorm, according to Friedemann’s recollection. 
Mitt, the teenaged son of Michigan Gov. George Romney, kept complaining about Lauber’s look, Friedemann recalled. A few days later, Friedemann entered Stevens Hall off the school’s collegiate quad to find Romney marching out of his own room ahead of a prep school posse shouting about their plan to cut Lauber’s hair. 
Friedemann followed them to a nearby room where they came upon Lauber, tackled him and pinned him to the ground. 
As Lauber, his eyes filling with tears, screamed for help, Romney repeatedly clipped his hair with a pair of scissors. 
The incident was recalled similarly by five students, who gave their accounts independently of one another. Four of them — Friedemann, now a dentist; Phillip Maxwell, a lawyer; Thomas Buford, a retired prosecutor; and David Seed, a retired principal — spoke on the record. 
Another former student who witnessed the incident asked not to be named.'

Mitt Romney's spokespeople claim he doesn't "recall" this incident that at least five of his classmates do. But, he giggles and recalls the "pranks" he pulled in high school.

He giggles when told the story of another student at his school, a young closeted gay man who, whenever he spoke up in class, Little Mittsy the Bully would say, "Atta girl."

Mittsy laughs as he, sort of, remembers that story.

Does this make him non-presidential?

Well, it's one of the many reasons he should never be president. But, what it shows is that he has a longstanding anti-LGBT slant, and, as a young boy, was not afraid to act on it.

And for him to giggle and chortle about it now, and call it a prank, and then mutter some half-assed apology, is disgusting.

People change--no one more than Mittsy who never met an issue he didn't love and then hate and then love again--but this is a character flaw in Mittsy that was evident 48 years ago, and still evident today.

He doesn't like gay people.

Bishop Won’t Let Foundation Present Scholarship To Gay Student

Keaton Fuller is gay. He attends Prince of Peace Catholic School in Clinton, Iowa, and has done so as an openly gay student. He is believed to be the first openly gay student at any Catholic high school to attend school dances with a same-sex partner. And the school has had no problem with that.

That would be a good story, no?

The Eychaner Foundation, founded by Iowa businessman and gay rights activist Rich Eychaner, has awarded Keaton Fuller the Matthew Shepard Scholarship. The foundation, which named its scholarship after Shepard, who was murdered in Wyoming in 1998 because he was gay, has awarded more than 130 Matthew Shepard scholarships to graduating high school seniors who are LGBT since 2000.

That would be a good story, too.

But ... overruling Prince of Peace Catholic School officials, Bishop Martin Amos has announced that he will not let the Eychaner Foundation, a group that promotes equal rights for gays and lesbians, present that scholarship to Keaton Fuller at an upcoming awards ceremony because the group’s support for gay rights conflicts with church doctrine.

Amos’ announcement comes after a school official promised to let a representative of the foundation present the award to Fuller.

Keaton Fuller says he’s never felt so “invalidated and unaccepted” as he did when he heard that news last week; and he attends a Catholic school. He said he and his family have asked the school to reverse the decision. “This whole ordeal has been incredibly hurtful, and I am even sadder that this will be one of my last experiences to remember my high school years by,” Fuller said.

The bishop’s decision also shocked school officials, who encouraged Fuller to apply for the award, and even wrote letters on his behalf.

Now, Keaton Fuller will get the scholarship, so that’s good news. But he will not be presented with it during the awards ceremony; his award will be reduced to a simple announcement during the proceedings.

Bigot, er, Bishop Amos

Bishop Amos says, “We cannot allow any one or any organization which promotes a position that is contrary to the teachings of the Catholic Church to present at a diocesan institution.”

Funny, they have a policy on that, but nothing about child rapists.

School Board President Edward O’Neill is disappointed by the bishop’s decision. He said Fuller is a talented student who was accepted by his peers after coming out years ago, and had even taken his boyfriend to prom over the weekend and other school dances without controversy.

Edward O’Neill: “We preach tolerance and acceptance but then we turn around and we don’t practice what we preach. If the bishop says we’re not going to do it, I can voice my objection to it, but there’s not a whole lot I can do.”

Maybe you can get the Bishop to listen while you preach tolerance and acceptance because it appears he has no idea what that even means.

Now, all that’s left is for Keaton Fuller to take that scholarship and run with it. Maybe, one day, with his help and his talents, he’ll be able to change the mind of the Catholic Church.

I, for one, will not be holding my breath.

source

You Can Thank The GOP: Colorado Civil Union Bill Dies

“We have reached an impasse,” Republican House Speaker Frank McNulty said. “It is unfortunate that there will be items that will not receive consideration by the House tonight because of this impasse.”

Then chants of “shame on you” erupted from gay rights supporters sitting in the Colorado House.

McNulty

McNulty told reporters that lawmakers had reached an impasse and civil unions would die along with several other bills, including an overhaul of school discipline policies and setting a blood-level marijuana limit for drivers.

The bill had already cleared a key hurdle Tuesday when Republican Representative Cheri Gerou joined Democrats to advance the measure out of its final committee for consideration by the full chamber. 

Gerou

Gerou said, “This isn’t a partisan conversation. This is, in my mind, this is a basic human rights conversation.”

Apparently, though, not all the Republicans in Colorado fight for human rights.

So, how did this happen? I mean, enough Republicans supported the bill to see it through to passage, and yet it died before ever reaching the floor for a vote.

Filibuster. The GOP filibustered long and hard—because they do love the sound of their own voices—forcing the bill to be shunted aside without a vote.

Democrats sought to block that GOP filibuster when it became clear that Republicans were talking at length about other measures, delaying any action on civil unions. And how did the Repoublicans respond to that Democratic challenge? They abruptly stopped working.

They, in effect, took their ball and went home, rather than stay and discuss a bill that seemed destined to pass, easily, and was certain to be signed into law by Governor Hickenlooper.

Unfortunately, for now, Republicans control the House by a 33-32 margin, even though enough of their members supported the legislation to pass it.

That’s the GOP. And, hopefully, the people of Colorado will wise up and vote those human rights obstructionists out of office.

UPDATE:

It seems that Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper has announced that he will call lawmakers into a special legislative session in order to resolve that Civil Unions bill, along with several other bills.

Hickenlooper's announcement was sparked by what he called an "overwhelming need" to discuss the civil unions measure. It died late Tuesday on legislative maneuvering from the GOP. He will announce the details of the special session today.

Republican House Speaker Frank McNulty did not immediately respond or comment. The Democrats have accused him of refusing to call the bill for a vote, even though it had enough support to pass.

Hickenlooper's announcement came at about the same time that President Barack Obama announced he now supports same-sex marriage.

The tide is changing.

source

Architecture Wednesday: A House For The Gardener

Even when we had our house in Miami, with its very small yard, I enjoyed "puttering" around in the garden. Okay, maybe I enjoyed saying "puttering" around more than the actual puttering, but I did work in the garden.

And when we bought this house, we bought a much, much much larger yard. And puttering became a chore; now, it's a chore I enjoy, because I like seeing the yard neat and clean and trimmed and tidy....

Or is that my men? I digress.

But, if people live in an urban environment, and like to putter in a garden, what do they do?

Make the house the garden.

And that's what the architect did for this house in Singapore. While the client was mostly concerned with having a space where they could keep an eye on their kids without the need to be in the same space, the architect was also keen on creating a garden house in a very tight semi-detached site where most of the land is occupied by the building footprint.

To that end, they created a vertical wall planting set within a niche along the front boundary wall and added a shrubbery garden atop the carport roof.

Enclosing part of the home's façade on the upper floor is a layer of planting system that was devised to behave more like a curtain wall. Its primary function is to perform as a privacy screen and to keep the rain out. It resembles an open rack, like a shuttered, louvered window, and the planting shelves are designed to accommodate small potted plants that are easily replaceable from any nursery to ensure ease of upkeep. The planting is irrigated from a single pipe on the top shelf, with the run off feeding the pots on the lower tiers.

It keeps the green outside, and brings some garden into the home.

The sloping roof terrace is derived from the staggered section of the house and retained a continuous flow from the indoor. A setting for outdoor dining and barbeque is created in sunken portion of the deck where the mosaic-clad top becomes simultaneously a tabletop, barbeque pit and bench.

The architects liked the idea of "climbing" to the roof terrace as though climbing a small hill. Plus, the inclined plane is also the perfect spot to catch some sun or take a long nap in the afternoon.

Like I said, I like puttering in the garden, but the idea of watering the walls and the roof seems kinda cool, too.

source

BIG NEWS: Obama Comes Out For Equality

After the travesty that occurred yesterday in North Carolina, and the disappointment that happened last night in Colorado, I don't know whetehr to laugh or to cry at this news.

For the first time in my life, a sitting President of the United States has publicly declared that I deserve equality.

“I have to tell you that over the course of several years as I have talked to friends and family and neighbors, when I think about members of my own staff who are in incredibly committed monogamous relationships, same-sex relationships, who are raising kids together; when I think about those soldiers or airmen or marines or sailors who are out there fighting on my behalf and yet feel constrained, even now that ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ is gone, because they are not able to commit themselves in a marriage, at a certain point I’ve just concluded that for me personally it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same sex couples should be able to get married.” 

President Barack Obama

Miss Lauper Goes To Washington .....

... Oh, not to sing, although that would be nice, but, rather, Cyndi Lauper, advocate for homeless LGBTQ youth, is headed to DC to be honored for her charitable work.

Cyndi Lauper: ''I am doing something really important. 'I am meeting with members of Congress and the Obama administration to discuss ways to better help homeless LGBT youth. I am going to discuss the need for more funding to help runaway and homeless youth, ensuring that LGBT youth experiencing homelessness are not discriminated against in federally funded shelters and other agencies, and that we pass the Reconnecting Youth to Prevent Homelessness Act [read about that HERE]  that Senator [John] Kerry introduced last year. It is my first time visiting Capitol Hill and I am really looking forward to it.''

Kathleen Sebelius, Department of Health and Human Services Secretary, will be marking National Children's Mental Health Awareness Day by presenting Lauper with an award at an featuring an art exhibit, reception and ''Heroes of Hope'' tribute.

Dr. Gary Blau, chief of the Child, Adolescent and Family Branch at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the organization presenting the event, says, ''The theme this year is 'Heroes of Hope'. The award to Cyndi is for her work and support of young people, particularly LGBT, and to give them hope as well.''

Cyndi Lauper says the major vehicle for improving the lives of LGBTQ youth is her True Colors Fund [visit them HERE] which was inspired by the True Colors Tour: "We thought if we could get people this excited with music and some comedy about LGBT issues, then maybe we could do even more on two issues that mattered a great deal to us: getting straight people involved in pushing for LGBT equality, and to help all these kids who are homeless because they were kicked out or ran away from home for being gay or transgender.''

There are a lot of celebrities who talk about LGBTQ issues, but there are few who stand as strong and as loudly, and proudly, as Cyndi Lauper.

No one deserves this honor more.

via Metro Weekly

Constitutional Discrimination For North Carolina

I kind of felt that yesterday was a good day in LGBT Land. We had Josh Dixon, Olympic gymnastic hopeful come out as a gay man, and we saw the Civil Unions bill in Colorado get close to passage--it has since fallen short due to the usual cause, the GOP.

But nothing prepared me to see an entire state add discrimination to their state Constitution.

But North Carolina crawled back into the Dark Ages last night when Amendment One became law, and now the state will recognize only marriage, and only bteween heterosexual couples.

Gay couples? North Carolina doesn't think you matter. And that goes for any straight couple that isn't legally married. You are all Less Than in the eyes of the state.

In America. Where all men are created equal.

And it wasn't even a close vote. No, North Carolina, you proved it last night, that you are 61% bigoted and homophobic.

And that point you cannot argue.

There is some uncertainty among legal experts as to the extent of the law, and what types of partnerships might be affected, since the terminology in Amendment Hate--domestic legal union--does not appear in North Carolina statutes.

So, they voted for something that, actually, doesn't even exist in the state, but, hey, as long as it kept queers from getting married, and punished anyone who chooses not marry, so what.

I wish, sincerely, that every gay couple, every gay person, every straight unmarried couple, and all LGBT-friendly business would simply pack up and go, and leave North Carolina to the bigots.

See, they have to fight someone, they have to discriminate against someone, they have to use their Bible and their so-called faith to punish someone, so let them take their hatred out on themselves.

They disgust me.

source

Democratic Party Chairs Want Marriage Equality Added To Platform

Democratic Party chairs from eleven states have, well, to co-opt another phrase, "come out" to endorse adding Marriage equality to the 2012 Democratic platform.

And they are:

• John Burton of California
• Joan Wagnon of Kansas
• John Walsh of Massachusetts
• Ken Martin of Minnesota
• Jon Wisniewski of New Jersey
• Jay Jacobs of New York
• Meredith Wood Smith of Oregon
• Boyd Richie of Texas
• Jake Perkinson of Vermont
• Dwight Pelz of Washington
• Mike Tate of Wisconsin

These eleven join a growing number of Democrats who have endorsed putting marriage equality in the platform, including Democratic National Convention chair Antonio Villaraigosa, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, U.S. Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren and nearly two dozen U.S. senators.

Freedom to Marry launched its Democrats: Say I Do campaign with the goal of adding marriage equality to the Democratic platform in March.

New York Democratic Party Chair Jay Jacobs: “Nearly a year ago, New Yorkers stood united in supporting full marriage equality for all loving and committed families, and Democrats led the way. We now see first-hand how marriage improves the lives of gay couples and their families, and strengthens businesses and communities throughout the Empire State. Marriage equality is simply the right thing to do, and that's why I strongly believe that the Democratic Party should stand united for a freedom to marry plank in our national Democratic Party platform.”

Nearly 40,000 Democrats have added their names to Freedom to Marry's Democrats: Say I Do online petition.

Why don't you sign it, too?

source

Josh Dixon Comes Out

Josh Dixon could become the first openly gay male gymnast to participate in the Olympics. And he'll be hoping to win gold for the US team.

The Stanford graduate--who finished second out of 72 competitors at last weekend's U.S. Men's Qualifier in Colorado Springs--is publicly addressing his sexual orientation for the first time.

"This would never affect how I'm judged or my position on the U.S. Olympic team," Dixon says.

Dixon, while at Stanford, had a friend come out to him, and it spurred his own coming out process. He soon began dating another athlete at Stanford, and when his teammates found out about it, the general reaction was, "Oh. That's cool."

And so now he's out, and stepping closer to making the US Olympic gymnastics team.

Good luck, Josh, and welcome out.

Of course, the obligatory Welcome Out Toaster oven and copy of The Gay Agenda will be winging their way towards you.

Keep training, and bring home the gold.

And, again, welcome out.

Today's The Day North Carolina: Every1Against1

Same-sex marriage is already illegal in North Carolina. Which means voting AGAINST Amendment One is not a vote to legalize same-sex marriage.

Amendment One may affect the ability of private sector businesses to enforce their own domestic partner benefit contracts. The larger economic impact, however, may be based on the negative perception of North Carolina as a place to live and do business. As reported by The Charlotte Observer, 75 CEOs — including the heads of several Fortune 500 companies — sent an open letter to state legislators opposing the measure because it will have numerous direct, harmful effects on their businesses and the entire state’s economy.

If Amendment One becomes law — in effect writing discrimination, prejudice and injustice into our state’s constitution — what’s next?

Share these images with as many people as you can. They are intended to shock you. To make you think. And to get you to take action and vote AGAINST Amendment One....

Today!

via every1against1