I Didn't Say It ...

George Takei, on Donald [t]Rump's announcement that he supports traditional marriage:

“I think Donald’s Trump interpretation of marriage is something he doesn’t really believe in….I think he’s a business man. He will go with the wind. He’s saying [that he believes in traditional marriage] because he’s got to win the Republican primary and his base is really the far right wing…I think he’s capable of saying anything that will be good business.”

He's pandering, that's for sure, and it's something they all do, but if he cannot stand up for his own beliefs--if he does in fact believe in marriage equality--then why elect such a man to public office.

Plus he's a racist f**k-monkey.

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Todd Starnes, posting to Facebook, on the recent rains in Washington and blaming, wait for it, The Gays and Obama:

"Record-breaking floods have inundated Washington, D.C. just days after the Supreme Court decided they knew better than God. I seem to remember another time in history when there was a record-breaking flood. God painted the sky with rainbow colors after that flood. This go-around - Obama painted the White House with rainbow colors. Anybody got an ark?"

I'd build one, Todd, if you'd sail away, never to be heard from again.

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Jeremy Renner, on the "gay" rumors:

“When you Google yourself and the first thing that comes up is ‘Jeremy Renner gay,’ it’s like, ‘Oh, now you’ve arrived. You’re now a giant movie star.’ I don’t care, ultimately, if that’s what people want to think, read and care about. F**king say whatever the hell you want about me. Look at where we’re at socially — leaps and bounds ahead of where we started. That’s an amazing thing. To suggest that it’s negative, that being gay is a terrible thing, a perversion or whatever — I just don’t get it. Don’t you wish we were in a world where we’re not shaming, judging and boxing people in?”

It does get tiring, that thought process that calling a male celebrity 'gay' is  a bad thing.

I mean, Renner's a terrible actor; that should be enough, right?

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Ben Carson, on right wing radio, saying that, as president ... excuse me for giggling ... he'd "certainly get involved" in overturning Obergefell:

"I hope it will be revisited because the reason that we have separation of powers is to prevent runaway courts, runaway executive branch, runaway legislative branch. The laws are made by the legislative branch. And, you know, you can make a law to negate virtually anything, you just have to be creative in the way that you do it. So no, I don’t think it’s over by any stretch of the imagination."

Yeah Ben, get yourself elected and ignore every single other thing that's going on in this country and around the world, so you can craft some creative legislation to deny The Gays the right to marry.

And then, if that should ... again, giggling ... explain to all The Gays who now cannot get married how its fair that some did, and are, and some can't.

Asshat. You'd think a neurosurgeon would have access to a functioning brain.

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Mike Huckabee, using the Civil Rights movement to say The Gays don’t deserve marriage equality because we haven’t been physically abused enough yet:

“If you equate same-sex marriage to a civil right … First of all, what an insult to African-Americans, who were hosed in the street, who were beaten, who were truly discriminated against with separate restrooms, separate drinking fountains, separate entrances. That was true discrimination and it was horrible. It’s hard to say that the redefinition of marriage is on the same basis as was racial discrimination throughout our history.”

Well, Mike, since you wanna be president, though you never will, maybe you need to be educated to the fact that marriage is a civil right, as stated by the US Supreme Court fourteen different times before last week's same-sex marriage ruling. 

Second, to say that The Gays haven’t been discriminated against because we haven't been beaten is offensive at best and a lie at worst. Just ask any victim of a gay bashing, the ones who lived of course.

And maybe we never had separate bathrooms and water fountains and restaurants, but as you yourself said, in 1992, people with HIV/AIDS to be quarantined. Not a separate water fountain; a separate place to live.

We have been beaten enough, Mike, it’s just that, for most of us, the bruises and welts are on the inside.

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Reverend William Barber, because I want to end with someone other than that vile human being, on moving on from the shootings in Charleston:

"I believe, in light of this, that real healing would be writing an omnibus bill in the name of the nine Emanuel martyrs. This bill would implement Medicaid expansion, raise public education funding, pass a living wage requirement, pass new gun control laws, and remove the Confederate flag from the state house. And this omnibus bill would be supported and passed by Republicans and Democrats. Further, the very seat Reverend Pinckney held is in jeopardy as long as Section 5 of the Voting Right Act has been gutted. The current bill in the U.S. House, even if passed, would leave out Alabama, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, and Tennessee from coverage. If we want closure, let us name a Voting Rights Act restoration bill after the Emanuel Nine."

What a brilliant idea.

[photo source]

Random Musings

I hate cancer. I lost my Mom to cancer, and lost my sister to cancer. Then a few months ago my Dad called to tell me he’s been diagnosed with prostate cancer.

Yay! Cancer again!

My Dad had told me that during a routine exam, his PSA [prostate-specific antigen] levels were at ten; most healthy men have levels under 4 nanograms per milliliter. Now, my Dad is not one to take things sitting down, so with his doctor’s advice, they decided to watch the levels and recheck them in a few months.

That time they were up to 16; not good. So, again, on doctor’s advice, Dad started a regimen of therapies and a scheduled retest in six months.

Six months is this month.

Dad called me on Monday to tell me his PSA levels were at … one.

One! If only "one" was a multisyllabic word so I could put a ‘f**k’ in the middle of it.

But at least I could breathe, and my Dad could breathe, too. He’ll continue with his therapies and they’ll monitor him again in four months, and then, if the levels are still down, go from there.

I do love good news.

Speaking of which … following in the footsteps of NBC, Macy’s corporation has also fired Donald [t]Rump over those derogatory remarks he made about immigrants.

Univision. NBC. Macy’s. Now, if the GOP voters can fire him, too, this would be really great.

[photo source]

Over the last week, more than 35 million people have super imposed rainbows over their Facebook profile pictures using a free tool provided by the company.

A lot of famous folk, including Russell Simmons, California Attorney General Kamala Harris, and Leonardo DiCaprio, changed their profiles, but one person was not having it.

Vitaliy Milonov, the Russian politician responsible for the country’s “gay propaganda” laws, has said Facebook should be banned for allowing members to add a rainbow flag to their profile pictures.

Facebook. Banned. That little self-loathing closeted queer is on a tear, isn’t he?A 

Philadelphia diner recently changed the names of some items on their brunch menu and, well, could not keep up with the demand.

After the Supreme Court ruled that marriage is a legal right for all Americans, regardless of the couple’s gender composition, Justice Antonin Scalia was just as pissy and bitchy as he could be. So, Sam’s Morning Glory Diner in Philly opted to change the names of some of their breakfast entrées:

“Antonin Scalia is a Douche,” an egg dish with vegetables, cheese, and andouille sausage sold out before 10 AM on Sunday, while “The Supreme Court Finally Got It Right” quiches, available with or without prosciutto, were gone in less time than that.

Carol Mickey, who owns the restaurant, says:

“Not one single person complained. The atmosphere in [the diner] was really wonderful. People were just loving saying it! ‘I’ll have the Scalia is a Douche, please.’”

Loving it here, too.

This is Josh McAree, a model whose picture I stumbled across. There aren’t many men who could pull of a bun, much less a top knot, but, we’ll, he’s really rocking it.

Hair up or down, in a suit, or some jeans. Hot. Steamy, Sultry.

[photographed by Ivan Avila]

Carlos plays in our local community band, and tomorrow night he’ll be performing at a Fourth of July function in town, so he’s been rehearsing and rehearsing all those patriotic tunes.

I, however, don’t help much, because every time he play “You’re a Grand Old Flag,” I come marching into the office singing:

♪ ♫ You’re a grand old fag

You’re a high-flying fag

And forever in peace may you wave♪♫

I’m trying to get Ozzo, Tuxedo, MaxGoldberg and Consuelo to march through the room with me, but so far I’m having no luck.

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A South Dakota county clerk has decided to oppose same-sex marriage, not by setting herself ablaze, but in an equally stupid way: she wants to marry her dog.

Seriously, how do we get from the idea of a same-couple to the idea that people will marry animals?

Are religious wingnut republican conservative asshats really that stupid?

Rhetorical question.

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UPDATE:

Rick Jones, that Utah gay man who reported being gay-bashed, forced to drink bleach, and having the words “Die fag” carved into his skin has been revealed to be a sick and twisted liar.

He did it to himself.

Attorneys for Jones made the admission last week to the sheriff’s office in Millard County:

“Our client is responsible for all of the incidents and that would include the cutting of his own skin as well as his reports of burglary and vandalism at his home and his family business.”

The lawyers also said this was not a hoax, but a cry for help Jones says some family member don’t like him being a ‘mo.

Boo-effing-hoo. Grow a pair, Ricky. Man up, be gay and deal with it, because with your giant lie, you now make every other person who was truly gay bashed seem a little less reliable. i know how hard it is to come out, but to do this to yourself, and then ask for sympathy and money?

Get help, Ricky. And then just STFU.

Oh, and the Jones’ family announced they will not accept the nearly $12,000 raised through a GoFundMe campaign to pay his medical expenses.

Ya think?

Minute Rave: Jeff Amyx Hangs "No Gays Allowed" Sign At His Hardware Store

I know many of you think this post should be a Minute Rant, but, for me, it’s a Rave:

Jeff Amyx, who owns Amyx Hardware & Roofing Supplies in Grainger County, Tennessee, has posted a new sign on his door in the wake of that lovely Supreme Court ruling last Friday; it says:

'No Gays Allowed.’

Amyx, who is also a Baptist minister, put the sign up gay and lesbian couples are against his religion. huh; I guess I missed that part of the Bible — not that I am fully familiar with the text — where it says 'Thou Shalt Not Sell Hardware To Fags or Dykes.'

Anyway, Amyx says that since homosexual people aren’t afraid to stand for what they believe in, Christians should be brave enough to stand for what they believe in.

"They gladly stand for what they believe in, why can't I? They believe their way is right, I believe it's wrong. But yet I'm going to take more persecution than them because I'm standing for what I believe in."

He said he has no plans to take the sign down.

Here’s the rave part: now everyone in Grainger County, in Tennessee, hell, everywhere in the Marriage Equality United States of America, knows where not to buy their hardware.

If you’re gay, stay away; if you’re straight and you hate any form of bigotry or intolerance or hatred, even the kind people mask with a Bible, stay away.

And here’s the queer deal: if I walk past a store that says ‘No Jews Allowed’, I won’t go in, even though I’m not Jewish. If the sign says ‘No Mexicans Allowed’, I’ll stay away even though I’m not a Mexican. No Women Allowed? No Bob going inside; ‘No Blacks,’ ‘No Fats’, ‘No Freckles, No … whatever, I’m staying away, and being thankful that now I know exactly where the bigots and the haters are and where they do business so I can go elsewhere.

Now, the Minute Rave. I see your hate and raise you less business, less money, less profits, and the idea that one day soon your little hardware store will go under and you’ll sit at home in your lonely little house blaming The Gays when all along it was you.

WBIR

Clinton Brentwood Lee's Brazilliant Response To Client Who Fired Him Over His Support For Marriage Equality

Ready for another story about what’s happened in the aftermath of that Supreme Court Ruling? Okay, here goes …

After the ruling, Clinton Brentwood Lee of Brentwood Photography in Saint Petersburg, Florida took to Facebook to show his support for the decision, changing his profile picture and cover photo, but his support for that sliver of equality to The Gays — we can still be fired or denied housing in many places in this country just for being gay — cost him a client.

Lee says that client contacted him to say that they would no longer be “using [his] services” for their upcoming wedding:

“My fiancé and I support traditional marriage between a man and a woman and don’t want to our money going to places that supports otherwise [sic].”

Lee shared a screenshot of the exchange on Facebook, along with the caption:

“Lost a client for supporting gay marriage. But that's ok! We love everyone, even this now former client who may not have liked our reply. Lol.”

But here’s his full response to that client:

Wow, I’m not really sure what to say here. I would say this disappoints me, but I actually find this to be a good thing because our company now would now not like to work with you as well.

It’s not that because you have a different view from us, but it’s because, since you don’t like and support gay marriage, no one else should be able to have it. That’s like me not liking broccoli, and demanding that everyone else in the world should not have broccoli either! If you’re not in favor of gay marriage that’s fine, don’t marry a woman.

Personally, I was taught not to judge others and to love everyone else. So I will try not to judge you here and say anything more as to my opinion of you.

At Brentwood Photography we see love in all forms. Now as far as your retainer goes, I hope you’ll read the first article in the contract you signed stating that this retainer is nonrefundable.

But don’t you worry, I’m not going to keep it!

Because of this conversation, I have decided to donate your $1500 to GLAAD [the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation], a group created to help and support gay rights.

So let me be the first to say [the client’s name was redacted], thank you very much for your donation and support for this great cause!

I couldn’t have done it without your money.

Sincerely and with Love,

Brentwood Photography

See, that’s what I mean about the bigots and the haters. Let me know your true feelings and I will avoid your business and be thankful that you avoid mine.

PS Lee's Facebook post now has over 58K likes, and he says that 90% of the responses have been positive, although he has gotten some hate mail as well. Here’s his page: Brentwood Photography.

Daily Kos

Facebook Photos

Architecture Wednesday: Sausalito Hillside

What started out as a two-unit ranch style dwelling back in the 1940s, has been updated into a serene, single-family home with sweeping views of San Francisco Bay.

The home sits on a steeply sloping hillside above Sausalito — one of those places where I would love to own a home — but the house, while open to bay is nearly hidden from the street, with a cascading series of garden terraces that create an inviting entry sequence along the north side, and allowing the original front-yard to be developed as a private garden.

Inside, floor to ceiling windows and generous ceiling heights allow the living spaces to flow uninterrupted from the lush backdrop of the hillside gardens, to the broad panorama of the bay.

It’s so peaceful, and that view, that view, is ever-changing, gorgeous and sunny, chilly and foggy, or lit up like fireworks at night.

I’d never leave …

Home DSGN

Today In Stoopid: Man Fumes Over NBC 'Pride' Peacock

We’re still hearing from people who are upset about last week’s ruling by the Supremes—apparently the Supremes after Diana left, since there was no “Diana Ross and”?—with pastors deciding not to set themselves afire, and politicians calling on God to, I don’t know, rain damnation down on us all, but this guy really went off the deep end into the Stoopid Pond.

Don Stair was apparently so incensed by all the rainbows shooting out across the country and on social media — with people and groups and organizations using a new app to "Rainbow up" their profile pictures — that he went a little nuts.

Okay, he went a lot nuts because Don took his local Arkansas NBC station, KARK4, to task over flying the Rainbow flag in the shape of a peacock:

Yes, he actually thought NBC changed the color of their logo for marriage equality.  Of course, the station replied, trying to set the record, um, for lack of a better word, straight:

And then came the Tweet showing that NBC has been flying the Gay peacock Banner since the 1950s! Egads!

What’s next? Oh, maybe this:

Luckily, someone out there wanted to make Don feel a part of things and, well, they Gay Colored Don Stairs:

Seriously. What an idiot! Of all the hissy fits in all the towns and all the social media sites, he had to Gay Color everything.

Just when you think it cannot happen, something stoopid this way comes.

Addicting Info

South Carolina Legislators Say The Flag Could Come Down As Early As Next Week

You know, before the shooting in Charleston, I wasn’t holding my breath on this whole #TakeDownThatFlag movement. Since we moved to South Carolina, there have been petitions and request and newspaper articles about removing the Confederate battle flag from the state capitol grounds, but that was it; the requests came, and then nothing happened.

Now, however, I am cautiously optimistic. And our state lawmakers are saying they are actually confident that a bill to remove that flag could be on Governor Nikki Haley’s desk by the end of next week. My fingers are crossed.

Vincent Sheheen, a Democratic state Senator who represents the part of South Carolina where we live — you just know I couldn’t live in a ‘Red’ county — sponsored the bill, which is expected to pass the Senate by next Tuesday, and then go to Haley by Thursday.

But … and ain’t there always a but? … House Speaker Jay Lucas, and he’s a Republican of course, says he will refer flag bills to the House Judiciary Committee “where they will go through the appropriate process” that might take weeks. Jay Lucas has not shared his opinion on removing the flag, so yeah. Hmmmmm.

And holding off any kind of vote, much less a resolution, could be dangerous. This past Monday night, after pro-flag and anti-flag protestors clashed at the capitol, one man was arrested after shots were fired. And someone threw a red-paint filled balloon at the statue of Ben Tillman, a white supremacist who was a governor and U.S. senator.

“It’s July and hot, and the world is watching. “It will only get worse. If we don’t act, we are encouraging problems.” — House Minority Leader, and Democrat, Todd Rutherford

And we still have some loon, and bigots, and out-and-out anti-LGBT asshats in the legislature, most notably state Senator, and Republican, of course, Lee Bright, who has started an online petition to keep the flag on the State House grounds because, he says:

“I hate how these creeps have misused these emblems.”

Creeps. South Carolinians who want a divisive symbol of racism and hate removed from state property are “creeps.” And if that doesn’t tell the people who voted for Bright — and there’s a misnomer if I ever heard one — that it’s time to vote him out, I don’t know what does.

Still, the 123-member House voted 103-10 and the 45-member Senate voted 42-3 to debate the flag, and those numbers indicate there is the two-thirds support required in the House and Senate to take down the flag.

But, it’s quite clear, by the number of South Carolinians who support removal, by the number of our legislators who support removal, by our Republican governor, who supports removal that the time has come to take down that flag.

Put it in a museum, where artifacts and relics from the past belong. It does not deserve a place on honor on state grounds.

Plus, and this would just be delicious, the Ku Klux Klan has scheduled a pro-flag rally for July 18. Wouldn’t it be rich to have the flag down before they ever showed up?

The State