Swag Tuesday

Courtesy of the show's producers, today's Swag Tuesday prize is two tickets to the premiere Broadway musical production of Priscilla: Queen Of The Desert, which begins previews this week.

Get Ready for THE RIDE OF YOUR LIFE! PRISCILLA QUEEN OF THE DESERT: THE MUSICAL is the feel-good theatrical experience of the year! Based on the smash-hit movie, PRISCILLA is the heart-warming, uplifting adventure of three friends who hop aboard a battered old bus searching for love and friendship and end up finding more than they could have ever dreamed of. With a dazzling array of outrageous costumes and a hit parade of dance-floor favorites, this wildly fresh and funny new musical is a journey to the heart of FABULOUS!

Tickets for Priscilla are now on sale and you can follow the show and cast on Twitter and Facebook. Enter to win your tickets by commenting on this post. Only enter once and please remember to leave your email address in the text of your entry. If you cannot be in Manhattan to attend the show, your winning entry is transferable to your favorite show queen. Publicists: If you'd like to take part in Swag Tuesday on JMG, please email me.

Jane Russell Dies At Age 89

Jane Russell, voluptuous pin-up model and star of dozens of Westerns and musicals, has died at the age of 89. While her "scandalous" movies and photo shoots at times created controversies over censorship, in her later years Russell embraced far-right conservative Christian politics and openly accepted the label of "bigot." Perhaps best known politically for her anti-feminism and battles against abortion rights (including for rape and incest), in 2003 she told Australia's Daily Mail: "These days I’m a teetotal, mean-spirited, right-wing, narrow-minded, conservative Christian bigot, but not a racist." Russell was an occasional guest on the anti-gay Praise The Lord show hosted by Jan and Paul Crouch, although I'm not finding any examples of her commenting on gay rights issues. For now, let's remember her from before the crazy years.

Photo Of The Day - Mehlman & Matalin

Former RNC chairman (and 21st century Roy Cohn) Ken Mehlman attended Saturday's GOProud fundraiser in the home of former Dick Cheney adviser Mary Matalin. GOProud has posted dozens of photos.

NEW ORLEANS: Anti-Gay Pastor Grant Storms Busted As Pedophile Pervert

New Orleans' infamous Pastor Grant Storms, who every year can be found shouting hellfire and brimstone at Southern Decadence attendees, has been arrested for masturbating in his van while watching children in a playground.

Storms told deputies that he was merely having lunch at Lafreniere Park, 3000 Downs Blvd., in his van when he decided to relieve himself using a bottle instead of using the restroom, an incident report said. But two witnesses said they saw Storms through the open windows of his van masturbating himself while watching children on the playground, the report said. The two women flagged down a park employee who notified the Sheriff's Office. The employee also detained Storms until deputies arrived. Bond for Storms was set at $5,000. But he was released from the Jefferson Parish Correctional Center in Gretna on Sunday because of overcrowding at the jail. Armed with bullhorns, Bibles and picket signs, Storms and a group of followers in 2003 protested against Southern Decadence, the gay three-day festival held over Labor Day weekend in the French Quarter. Storms' efforts prompted the New Orleans City Council to ban megaphones and other amplification devices.

Storms has actually held anti-gay "purity" parades through the French Quarter during Southern Decadence. But not, we're guessing, this year!

Hate Group Issues E-Book Attacking Mitt Romney On LGBT Rights

The SPLC-certified hate group MassResistance has just issued an e-book attacking former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney over the advances made in LGBT rights during his tenure. Christian Newswire has the press release:

Massachusetts pro-family activist Amy Contrada has just released her definitive study of Mitt Romney's role in implementing "gay marriage," promoting GLBT "rights," and supporting the sexual-radical agenda in the Massachusetts schools while Governor. Contrada details how Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney supported the homosexual and transgender agenda on same-sex "marriage," sexual-radical indoctrination in the schools, and societal transformation -- while posing as a defender of the Constitution and traditional family values. Pro-family leaders enthusiastically recommend the book: Peter LaBarbera (Americans for Truth about Homosexuality) says, "In writing the meticulously documented 'Mitt Romney's Deception,' Amy Contrada has done the job that the liberal media was supposed to do. What she has uncovered is stunning even to experienced critics of Romney's equivocation on homosexual issues. Contrada lays bare Romney's servile embrace of the radical Massachusetts 'gay' agenda. Then she exposes his subsequent doublespeak in posing as the stalwart defender of traditional marriage in his bid for the GOP presidential nomination."

Longtime JMG readers may recall Amy Contrada for her 2007 reaction to her daughter Claudia's coming out while a high school senior. Contrada accused LGBT activists of "perverting" Claudia's sexuality and yanked her out of school. Then she published a full-page article on the MassResistance site to reveal that Claudia isn't even biologically hers and was adopted. It really does take a vile repulsive bitch like Amy Contrada to actually make us feel (momentarily) sympathetic to Mitt Romney.

MARYLAND: Mormon Army Doctor Testifies On Behalf Of His Gay Son

JMG reader Michael writes to tip us to the video of his father's marriage equality testimony before the Maryland House of Delegates last week. Michael's dad is an active Mormon, a physician, and a colonel in the U.S. Army. Watch this.

Royal Rubbers

(Source)

Joe Solmonese On DOMA Backlash

Army Issues DADT Guidelines

The U.S. Army has posted a number of DADT-related guidelines on its official site where it notes that due to DOMA "there will be no changes to eligibility standards for military benefits and services." Meaning no on-base housing for gay couples and no medical care for spouses.

Here's the Army list "Top Ten Things Soldiers Need To Know" about the repeal of DADT.

1. Accessions & Separations Policies: Upon repeal, the Army will no longer separate Soldiers solely on the basis of homosexual acts, a statement that a Soldier is gay, lesbian or bisexual, or marriage to a person of the same sex. Statements about sexual orientation or lawful acts of gay and lesbian conduct will not be a bar to military service or admission to any accession program. Sexual orientation will continue to be a personal and private matter.

2. Standards of Conduct Apply Equally to Everyone: All Soldiers will be held to the same standard of conduct. All members are responsible for upholding and maintaining high standards of the U.S. Military at all times and in all places.

3. Personal Privacy: Commanders may not establish practices that physically segregate Soldiers according to sexual orientation. Commanders do have the discretion to alter billeting assignments to accommodate privacy concerns of individuals on a case-by-case basis where it is in the interest of maintaining morale, good order and discipline, and is consistent with performance of the mission.

4. Moral and Religious Concerns: There will be no changes regarding any Soldier's free exercise of religious beliefs, nor are there any changes to policies concerning the Chaplain Corps and its duties. The Chaplain Corps' First Amendment freedoms and its duty to care for all will not change. Soldiers will continue to respect and serve with others who may hold different views and beliefs.

5. Benefits: There will be no changes to eligibility standards for military benefits and services. The Defense of Marriage Act prohibits the Federal Government from recognizing any same-sex marriage, so same sex partners do not qualify as dependents for many military benefits and services. A same-sex partner should be treated the same as an unrelated third party (e.g. girlfriend, boyfriend). All Soldiers will continue to have various benefits for which they may designate any beneficiary regardless of relationship.

6. Equal Opportunity: Sexual orientation will not be placed alongside race, color, religion, sex and national origin as a class under the Military Equal Opportunity Program and therefore will not be dealt with through the MEO complaint process. All Soldiers, regardless of sexual orientation are entitled to an environment free from personal, social, or institutional barriers that prevent Soldiers from rising to the highest level of responsibility possible. Harassment or abuse of any kind, including that based on sexual orientation, is unacceptable and will be dealt with through command or inspector general channels.

7. Duty Assignments: There are no changes to assignment policy. All Soldiers will continue to be eligible for world-wide assignment without consideration of sexual orientation. Soldiers assigned to duty, or otherwise serving, in countries in which gay and lesbian conduct is prohibited will abide by the guidance provided to them by their local commanders.

8. Medical Policy: There are no changes to existing medical policies.

9. Release and Service Commitments: There will be no new policy to allow for release from service commitments for Soldiers opposed to repeal of DADT or to serving with gay or lesbian Soldiers.

10. Collection and Retention of Sexual Orientation Data: Sexual orientation is a personal and private matter. Commanders will not request, collect, or maintain information about the sexual orientation of Soldiers.

WISCONSIN: Pro-Union Protesters Sing Number From Les Miserables

Teabaggers are chortling about this on Twitter with comments like "You know the country’s gone to hell in a handbasket when Wisconsin protesters break out in a song based on a book about the French Revolution." Family Research Council douchenozzle Tony Perkins just tweeted out the video link with the message: "Funny or just sad?"

Jimmy Kimmel's Hottie Body Hump Club

On last night's post-Oscars episode of the Jimmy Kimmel show, he ran the below exercise parody bit in which he enlists help from Kelly Ripa, Emily Blunt, Jessica Biel, Eva Longoria, Sofia Vergara, and even a self-mocking Lindsay Lohan. It's ridiculawesome.

PhoboQuotable - Jeffrey Kuhner

"The homosexual lifestyle signifies the triumph of neo-pagan Epicureanism. By its very nature, homosexuality cannot fulfill the primary function of sex: procreation and the reproduction of the human race. It is inherently a socially barren act. A homosexual society is a childless one - doomed to extinction. [snip] Contrary to the claims of liberals, marriage is not a 'civil right' - something to be dispensed at the behest of anyone who wishes it. If this were true, it would unleash the floodgates. Polygamy, 'transgender' unions, bestiality, pedophilia - all forms of deviant sexual behavior could claim discrimination. It is a recipe for moral anarchy and social disintegration. For centuries, public acceptance of homosexuality has been identified with decadence, decline and the fall of civilizations." - Washington Times columnist and wingnut radio commentator Jeffrey Kuhner, who says the other 95% of Americans will stop having babies if same-sex marriage becomes legal.

Herman Cain: Obama Is Bordering On Treason Over Non-Defense Of DOMA

"I think it is a breach of presidential duty bordering on treason. The oath of office by the president says that he will protect, observe, and defend the Constitution of the United States of America, which means all of its subsequent laws. The fact that he says that he has asked the Department of Justice not to enforce it, to me, is a breach duty as President of the United States." - Potential 2012 GOP presidential candidate Herman Cain, repeating the "enforcement" lie of the Christiantist right. DOMA remains in full effect and IS being enforced.

FRC's Tony Perkins Lies: Obama Has Declared He Won't Enforce DOMA

Family Research Council head bigot Tony Perkins is once again making the Baby Jeebus cry by telling the American Family Association radio audience that President Obama has "unilaterally decided not to enforce DOMA." In fact, as we all know, the president has merely decided not to defend DOMA and its full enforcement remains in effect.

BRITAIN: High Court Upholds Banning Of Anti-Gay Foster Parents

In a case that has already seen heavy coverage in the American right-wing press, a British high court has backed a local city council decision to ban foster parents who vow to condemn homosexuality to their children. The case involves Eunice and Owen Johns, who say their right to be foster parents is being denied because of their religious views.

Lord Justice Munby and Mr Justice Beatson ruled that laws protecting people from discrimination because of their sexual orientation "should take precedence" over the right not to be discriminated against on religious grounds. The Johns are considering an appeal. Derby City Council said previously its first duty was to the children in its care, some of whom were very vulnerable. Speaking outside the court in London, Mrs Johns said: "All we wanted was to offer a loving home to a child in need. We have a good track record as foster parents. "We have been excluded because we have moral opinions based on our faith and we feel sidelined because we are Christians with normal, mainstream, Christian views on sexual ethics. We are prepared to love and accept any child. All we were not willing to do was to tell a small child that the practice of homosexuality was a good thing."

You can bet that this case will somehow be injected into the DOMA battle.

Cut From Last Night's Oscars Show

See? It could have been worse after all.

Porno Pete Launches Boycott Against Chili's For Supporting LGBT Civil Rights

Yesterday Porno Pete LaBarbera posted the above boycott letter sent to the management group of Chili's Restaurants because of a donation the company made to support the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force's annual Creating Change conference. LaBarbera is especially angry because his "undercover spies" reported that the conference featured (GASP!) unisex restrooms. Outrageous!

Lots of companies, of course, donate to the Task Force, but Porno Pete's boycott against Chili's is actually meant as a response to the "hateful anti-Christian" boycott of Chick-Fil-A. But let's use his link anyway and thank Chili's for supporting the civil equality of all Americans.

Thank Chili's for supporting equality.

Selective Punishment

Gaga Releases Born This Way Clip

(Via - Towleroad)

WYOMING: Marriage Ban Dies In House

A bill that would have banned Wyoming from recognizing same-sex marriages from other states has died in the state House.

The Wyoming House adjourned without taking action on a same-sex marriage bill that had already passed the state Senate. Passing the measure would have required a two-thirds vote in both houses. House Majority Floor Leader Rep. Tom Lubnau, R-Gillette, said he didn't want to spend hours of floor time debating a bill that didn't have the votes to pass. The Legislature is set to adjourn next week. Another bill was still pending that would change Wyoming law to specify that the state would only recognize marriages between one man and one woman. Disagreement remained between the House and Senate over whether the state should allow same-sex couples who entered civil unions elsewhere to have access to the state court system to resolve any issues that arise in their relationships.

A local Christianist group has vowed to revive the bill in the next legislative session.

GLAAD Files FCC Complaint Against Anti-Gay Spanish-Language TV Show

In a joint move with the National Hispanic Coalition, GLAAD announced today that it is filing an FCC complaint against the Spanish-language show, Jose Luis sin Censura, which routinely features anti-LGBT hate speech and has encouraged audience members to attack gay guests on the program.

In over twenty episodes that aired between June 18 and December 7, 2010, the program contained images and language of the nature that is never displayed or is bleeped out of pre-taped English-language programs of the same nature, including the words "pinche" ("f*cking" in English) and "culero" ("assf*cker"), anti-gay language, including epithets such as ""maricón," "joto" and "puñal" (or "f*ggot"), and anti-Latino slurs, such as "mojado" ("wetback"). The program frequently featured blatant nudity and female guests have been shown in violent fights. Hypersexualized images of women's breasts and genitals while stripping for male guests and audience members also make up routine offerings. Guests and audience members were often incited to engage in verbal and even physical attacks, especially against people perceived to be LGBT. Many episodes showed the audience standing and shouting anti-gay epithets and profanity at guests.

An online public petition to the FCC has also been launched. The below clip is very NSFW.

TEXAS: School District Bans All Clubs In Order To Block Gay-Straight Alliance

A school district in Corpus Christi, Texas has banned all extracurricular clubs rather than allow the formation of a Gay-Straight Alliance Club. Change.org reports:

Flour Bluff Intermediate School District's move comes after its high school gained national attention by blocking senior Bianca "Nikki" Peet's request to start a GSA. Hundreds of people have emailed the district on behalf of Peet through a Change.org petition, which was also linked to by the Gay Lesbian Straight Education Network (GLSEN). Texas A&M's GSA, which has been advocating for Peet, had called for a protest Monday, Feburary 28, 2011. But Flour Bluff ISD Superintendent Julie Carbajal, in comments to The Daily Caller on Friday, said that there is no chance that district will approve the purposed Gay-Straight Alliance. She also has requested that the student group Fellowship of Christian Athletes meet off campus until they can determine if they are adhering to the 2005 school policy that only student groups tied to curricula are allowed.

The school district claims they are not obligated to adhere to the federal Equal Access Law, which stipulates that schools must provide "fair opportunities for students to form student-led extracurricular groups, regardless of their religious, political and philosophical leanings."

Concerned Women Are Concernstipated About Obama Fiddling With DOMA

Get it? Obama is fiddling while marriage burns. Oh my sides.

(Via - Good As You)

BRITAIN: Cricket Star Comes Out

Britain now has its first openly gay cricket star.

England wicketkeeper Steve Davies has revealed he is gay, becoming the country's first top cricketer to come out. Davies has played eight one-day internationals and five Twenty20 matches for England and was a member of the victorious Ashes squad as back-up gloveman to Matt Prior. Welsh rugby international Gareth Thomas, former NBA player John Amaechi and the late footballer Justin Fashanu are the only other high-profile British sports stars to have come out. Davies told The Sun: "I'm comfortable with who I am and happy to say who I am in public. To speak out is a massive relief for me, but if I can just help one person to deal with their sexuality then that's all I care about.

Davies says he was inspired to come out by rugby star Gareth Thomas, who has issued a message of support.

Brian Brown Vs. Freedom To Marry

John Boehner: I'd Be Very Surprised If The House Doesn't Decide To Defend DOMA

House Speaker John Boehner to CBN:

“I’m really disappointed in the President and the Department of Justice in the fact that they’re not going to defend a law that Congress passed overwhelmingly. It’s their responsibility to do that. Now, it’s happened before where administrations have decided they weren’t going to go out and vigorously defend a law that Congress passed but I really am disappointed in the President in his actions but if the President won’t lead, if the President won’t defend DOMA then you’ll see the House of Representatives defend our actions in passing a bill that frankly passed overwhelmingly. I’d be very surprised if the House didn’t decide that they were going to defend law.”

HomoQuotable - Andrew Sullivan

"The chance to be part of a whole new experiment in online and print journalism, in the Daily Beast and Newsweek adventure, is just too fascinating and exciting a challenge to pass up. And to work with media legends, Barry Diller and Tina Brown, and with the extraordinary businessmen Sidney Harman and Stephen Colvin, is the opportunity of a lifetime." - Andrew Sullivan, announcing that his blog is leaving its four-year home at The Atlantic.

Matt Baume: This Week In Prop 8

WISCONSIN: Fox News Reporters Complain About "Hateful" Pro-Union Protesters

Academy Award Winners

Best Picture - The King's Speech.
Best Leading Actor - Colin Firth, The King's Speech.
Best Leading Actress - Natalie Portman, Black Swan.
Best Director- Tom Hooper, The King's Speech.
Best Supporting Actor - Christian Bale, The Fighter.
Best Supporting Actress - Melissa Leo, The Fighter.
Best Foreign Language Film - In A Better World.
Best Animated Film - Toy Story 3.
Best Song - Randy Newman, Toy Story 3.

There were others, but you've already forgotten them. Not the gayest Oscar night ever, but I did note at least two shout-outs to gay partners, including from one of the Best Picture producers, who thanked his "boyfriend."

Oscars Open Thread

Go nuts, y'all.

CALIFORNIA: Imperial County Doesn't Back Its Own Clerk On Prop 8 Filing

On Friday Imperial County clerk Chuck Storey filed to defend Prop 8 before the Ninth Circuit Court with the help of the anti-gay Christianist legal firm, Advocates for Faith & Freedom. But Storey's own county Board of Supervisors isn't behind him.

“He is taking up the banner, I guess if you will, on something we couldn’t legally do,” said county Board of Supervisors Chairman Jack Terrazas. “I kind of thought we were already out of it, and it was kind of a surprise that (Storey) stepped up to it.” The clerk-recorder, though, is an elected position and as such doesn’t fall under the Board of Supervisors, Terrazas said. The only control the board has is the approval of the clerk-recorder’s office budget. Storey’s decision to enter the case was a surprise for Terrazas, but it doesn’t change the county’s involvement. “As far as I’m concerned we’re out of it,” Terrazas said of the board.

In a top-of-site story on World Net Daily this weekend, lawyers from Advocates for Faith & Freedom claim that the Ninth Circuit will hear Storey's defense because he is an elected official, unlike the appointed deputy county clerk sent by Imperial County last time.

"The court did leave open the question as to whether a county clerk has sufficient standing," Tyler said. "It certainly seems to indicate it believes the county clerk would be appropriate." "Twice the voters of California have voted to uphold Proposition 8 and defend marriages," said Tyler, "and twice they have been challenged in the courts. We believe we have a government defendant who has a sufficient and compelling interest in defending Prop 8." "This case is not only important for influencing nationwide law regarding marriage," added Jennifer Monk, associate general counsel for Advocates. "But it is also important for the people of California to have their vote respected."

Quote Of The Day - Albert Mohler

"When we talk about same-sex marriage, we talk about something that is already legal in one form or another in basically twelve states. So whether they call it marriage, as they do in a few states, or marriage-lite as they have now in twelve states, the reality is that a good number of Americans are living where they're already facing not just the inevitably, but the reality of same-sex marriage. I think it's clear that something like same-sex marriage - indeed, almost exactly what we would envision by that - is going to become normalized, legalized, and recognized in the culture. It's time for Christians to start thinking about how we're going to deal with that." - Albert Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, speaking on a Focus On The Family radio show.

Stand by for the wingnut denouncements.

Who Would Jesus Stab?

(Via - Jesus Needs New PR)

WISCONSIN: Ad Slams Gov. Scott Walker Over Comments Made To Fake Koch

This Week In Holy Crimes

Over the last seven days...

Virginia: Pastor Jason Bolton charged with stalking an underage girl. He has a previous arrest for statutory rape.
New York: Rabbi Nechemya Weberman arrested for molestation of 12 year-old girl.
Georgia: Pastor Albert Turnell charged with possession and distribution of child porn.
Alabama: Pastor Michael Wilkerson charged with writing a bad check to purchase $111K Mercedes. He previously served time in prison for defrauding the builders of his mansion.
Scotland: Sihk priest Surinder Singh convicted of child molestation.
Wisconsin: Father Thomas Marr sentenced to only nine months in jail for stealing over $600K from parishioners.
California: Christian college sued for knowingly placing a convicted child molester ministry student with a family whose children he then molested.
North Carolina: Pastor Greg Metcalf charged with assaulting his daughter and then denying her medical care.
Massachusetts: Father Franklin E. Huntress resigns in face of numerous molestation accusations.
Britain: Pastor Albert Odulele charged with indecent sexual assault on a child.
Arkansas: Pastor Shane Montgomery sentenced to one year in prison for sexual assault on a teenager.
Tennessee: Father William Casey to stand trial for child molestation.
California: Pastor Alonzo McGowan pleads guilty to stealing over $400K from an 87 year-old parishioner.
Ohio: Pastor Daniel Monk sentenced to six years in prison for sexual battery on an underage girl. Monk says he was out of his mind because he'd been fasting.
New York: Father Richard Nachajski charged with stealing $476K from his parish to finance luxury vacations to the Caribbean and Thailand.

This Week's Winner
Illinois: The Belleville Diocese of Southern Illinois is appealing a $5M molestation judgment, saying that they have zero responsibility to warn parishioners about known pedophile priests. In response, a local group of Catholic priests took the unprecedented step of denouncing the appeal as a "disastrous policy" that makes "no common moral sense." The judgment was ordered in the case of Father Raymond Kownacki, who has been sued numerous times for molestation, but has never been arrested due to the statute of limitations.

MARYLAND: Marriage Backers Concerned Over "Eroding" House Support

The coming marriage equality vote in the Maryland House of Delegates is now thought to be in jeopardy due to a ferocious campaign by anti-gay Christianists. Only a couple of days ago the vote was considered to be an easy win. Lou Chibarro reports at Washington Blade:

Backers said that as of this week, the number of delegates who have publicly declared their support for the bill was just short of the 71 votes needed in the 141-member House. “There’s an effort to derail this bill like none I’ve seen before,” said gay State Sen. Richard Madaleno (D-Montgomery County), the author and one of the lead sponsors of the marriage equality bill in the Senate. In a telephone news briefing on Friday, Madaleno said the mainstream media have repeatedly reported an earlier assumption that support for the bill was greater in the House than in the Senate, and approval of the measure in the Senate guaranteed its passage in the House. With opponents, including the Maryland Catholic Conference and the New Jersey-based National Organization for Marriage, applying enormous pressure on wavering delegates, Madaleno and Equality Maryland officials said support in the House might be in jeopardy.

Supporters of the bill had originally planned to pass it as close to the end of the legislative session as possible in order to diminish the time available to collect petition signatures for a ballot referendum. By Maryland law, signature gathering can only begin once the governor signs the bill and must be completed by June 1st. But with support for the bill possibly eroding (one delegate has already removed his name as a cosponsor), backers are now pushing for passage as soon as possible. If the petition requirements are met in time, marriage equality (if passed) then goes on hold until the referendum.

TAKE ACTION: Maryland residents please contact your delegates immediately and urge that they maintain their support of equality.

VIDEO: As yesterday's House debate, nutjob Delegate Don Dywer, who has joined with NOM in an anti-gay robocall campaign, sat next to Maggie Gallagher and opened his testimony with a prayer that God stop the Maryland House from "redefining and destroying forever the God-ordained institution of marriage." According to Dwyer, House delegates that vote in support of same-sex marriage are subject to arrest for perjury, because saying that gay people deserve equality is a lie and they know it. Or something like that.


UPDATE: AmericaBlog reports that Dwyer is distributing materials from the SPLC-certified hate group, Mass Resistance. Here's the email he sent to his constituents.

This is Maryland Delegate Don Dwyer, Jr.

I have been fighting for many years now to keep marriage between a man and a woman as the Creator God intended. We are about to redefine the term “marriage” to include same sex marriages. Please open, print and read the attached files regarding Same Sex Marriage

PLEASE NOTE: THE EFFECTS OF SSM AND THE LITTLE BLACK BOOK ARE VERY DISTURBING BUT YOU MUST KNOW WHAT IS BEING TAUGHT TO CHILDREN IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS

For more information on the educational agenda please click these links. http://www.massresistance.org
http://www.massresistance.org/docs/issues/kevin_jennings/index.html

Montgomery County Maryland is currently teaching homosexuality in their schools.

I NEED YOUR HELP TO WARN PARENTS AND OTHER CHURCH LEADERS

In His Service,
Delegate Don Dwyer, Jr

Bishop Eddie Long-Stroke Announces Late Night "Men Only" Prayer Meetings

"If you're a man. Come. And join us. Bring your friends." (Also: "Make sure you bring an offering worthy of the Lord.")

(Via - Rod 2.0)

Big Week For LGBT Rights

Lawrence O'Donnell Takes On DOMA Lies Of Newt Gingrich & Glenn Beck

This Is Why GOP Rep. Chris "Craigslist" Lee Resigned From Office In Such A Hurry

Once again, Gawker has the scoop:

Lee's sudden exit took many people by surprise. Hadn't other members of Congress admitted to worse than an unconsummated, PG-13 flirtation and managed to stay in office? It turns out Lee may have had good reason to step out of the spotlight so quickly: It wasn't just women that the Craigslist Congressman was hunting for on the Internet. In the past two weeks, two D.C.-area transgender women contacted us, each with a separate story about exchanging emails with the ex-congressman. One sent us an ad that Lee allegedly posted on Craigslist in search of trans women; the other sent us a never-before-seen photo that she says Lee sent her after they started chatting by email. Taken together, they present a possible explanation to those who have wondered why such a tame "sex scandal" forced Lee's hand so quickly.

Gawker also has some evidence that at least one of the trans women Lee pursued is a prostitute.

Thrice-Married Serial Adulterer: Obama Could Be Impeached Over DOMA

Three times married serial adulterer and prospective 2012 GOP presidential candidate Newt Gingrich today suggested that President Obama could be impeached for his DOMA decision.

"I believe the House Republicans next week should pass a resolution instructing the president to enforce the law and to obey his own constitutional oath, and they should say if he fails to do so that they will zero out [defund] the office of attorney general and take other steps as necessary until the president agrees to do his job," said Gingrich. "His job is to enforce the rule of law and for us to start replacing the rule of law with the rule of Obama is a very dangerous precedent."

Gingrich would like to remind everybody that that marriage is between one man and one woman whom you abandon riddled with cancer on her hospital bed while you fuck the shit out of your mistress whom you later marry and cheat on with a third woman while screaming with Godly moral outrage about the infidelities of the president.

Homocon Tweet Of The Day - Gay Patriot

SPLC Brands NYC Anti-Islam Blogger Pamela Geller As Hate Group

The Southern Poverty Law Center has branded vile NYC-based Atlas Shrugs blogger Pamela Geller and her fellow anti-Islam protesters as a hate group. Geller came to national prominence last year when she led the attack against the so-called Ground Zero mosque.

Stop the Islamization of America was included in the civil rights organization's annual roundup of extremist groups - a rogue's gallery that includes everything from the Ku Klux Klan to white supremacists and Nazis. Geller's group was one of the most vocal opponents of the proposed Islamic Center near Ground Zero. The group was also behind ads that were placed on city buses urging Muslims to leave "the falsity of Islam." Geller, who runs a blog called Atlas Shrugs, dismissed the Law Center as an "uber left" group that has "failed to address the greatest threat to our national security." "My group is a human rights group," she said. "And these people are taken seriously? This is the morally inverted state of the world."

Also making the new list is the Dove World Outreach Church, whose Pastor Terry Jones threatened to burn a stack of Korans if the mosque wasn't stopped.

Louis CK To Rumsfeld: Are You A Flesh Eating Alien Lizard Person?

While guest-hosting on the Opie & Anthony Show yesterday, comedian Louis CK repeatedly asked Donald Rumsfeld to deny to that he is a "flesh-eating alien lizard person" and whether he has "tasted human flesh." It all starts around 2:30.

LEAKED: Two & A Half Men Finale

NEW YORK: Gay Man Wins Landmark Suit To Inherit Late Husband's Estate

A New York state appeals court has ruled that a gay man married in Canada has the right to inherit the estate of his late husband, despite claims by the husband's family that their marriage was invalid.

While same-sex couples can't wed in the state, J. Craig Leiby and H. Kenneth Ranftle were legally married in Canada, so Leiby is entitled to recognition as the surviving spouse in a dispute over Ranftle's estate, the appellate judges said. Ranftle died Nov. 1, 2008. His brother Richard contested the will and challenged the legitimacy of the marriage, saying it violated state policy.But the state Supreme Court's Appellate Division wrote, "New York's long-settled marriage recognition rule affords [recognition] to out-of-state marriages" that are valid where they are made.

And once again we thank former Gov. David Paterson!

Full text of the court's ruling.

NEW YORK CITY: Activists Announce Plan To Block Traffic Over Marriage Rights

Perhaps taking their cue from GetEQUAL's blockade of the Las Vegas strip last summer, Queer Rising today issued a press release announcing their plan to blockade Manhattan traffic next Tuesday in a protest over marriage rights.

The LGBTQ activist organization Queer Rising has planned a March 1 demonstration to protest the lack of marriage equality in New York State. A protest and civil disobedience will occur in Midtown Manhattan on the morning of Tuesday, March 1, 2011. Complete details as to the location, action and Queer Rising participants will be released to media on the morning of March 1st. "The federal government has advanced the cause of marriage equality this week, with the decision to stop defending the Defense of Marriage Act," said Queer Rising founding member Natasha Dillon. "But New York State shamefully lags behind on the issue. Marriage equality was defeated in December 2009 and the measure was not included in Governor Cuomo's 2011 Executive Budget. LGBTQ New Yorkers refuse to be persecuted, second-class citizens any longer!"

Sen Patrick Leahy: I Will Cosponsor Feinstein's Bill To Repeal DOMA

Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) emailed his constituents today with a promise to cosponsor Sen. Dianne Feinstein's coming bill to repeal DOMA.

As a Vermonter who has been married for 48 years, I believe it is important to encourage and to sanction committed relationships; relationships that encourage us all to give back to our community; and relationships that complete our lives. Vermont led the way by being the first state to adopt a same-sex marriage law through a legislative process. Now that several states that have voted to give full marriage rights to same-sex couples, I believe that the Federal government should not interfere with those laws or discriminate between marriages sanctioned by State law. Vermont and other states have determined that committed same-sex couples and their families should be entitled to all the protection of that state-sanctioned union. The Defense of Marriage Act denies some Vermont families equal treatment, creating a system of second-class citizens. This goes against American values and it must end. In the coming days, I will join with Senator Dianne Feinstein to introduce legislation to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act. It is a core American value that all people should be treated equally by their government. Vermont has been leading the nation on this important civil rights issue and this week, President Obama and Attorney General Holder moved the Federal government in the right direction.

(Tipped by JMG reader Matthew)

Gay Man Named WH Social Secretary

Longtime Obama fundraiser Jeremy Bernard (on left, with former partner Rufus Gifford), has been named White House social secretary. He's the first openly gay man to hold that position and the third in the job since Obama took office.

“Jeremy shares our vision for the White House as the People’s House, one that celebrates our history and culture in dynamic and inclusive ways,” President Obama said in a statement, “We look forward to Jeremy continuing to showcase America’s arts and culture to our nation and the world through the many events at the White House.” Bernard comes to the White House from the US Embassy in Paris, where he served as Senior Advisor to the Ambassador. Prior to this role, he worked as the White House Liaison to the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Obama's first social secretary departed after that dumbass Real Housewives debacle. The second left to campaign for Rahm Emanuel.

FLASHBACK: Ronald Reagan Declares Union Membership To Be A Basic Right

HRC Launches DOMA Petition To Congress

The Human Rights Campaign today launched a petition to members of Congress, demanding that they not allow a defense of DOMA.

This week, the Obama Administration made history by ending its defense of DOMA in the federal courts. But just as President Obama dealt a blow to this discriminatory law, Speaker Boehner and Republican leaders could step in and begin defending it. Anti-LGBT lawmakers are being pressured by right-wing groups to use taxpayer resources to defend this discriminatory law in court. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-TX) and other members of Congress have already stepped in to defend DOMA in another federal court. Republican leaders could decide within days, so we don't have much time. Congress should be helping Americans in this struggling economy, not wasting our tax dollars to defend an unconstitutional law!

NOTE: You'll probably end up on HRC's mailing list if you sign.

MD House Begins Marriage Debate

I'm hunting for an embeddable video stream, but in the meantime you can watch it live here.

BAHRAIN: Gay Partygoers On Trial

As Bahrain continues to be roiled by widespread civil unrest, the trial has begun for some of the 127 men arrested earlier this month at a purported "gay party." Gay Middle East reports:

Al Wasat News reported today that court proceedings commenced against 52 men who were arrested on the third of February. 49 of the 52 defendants attended the court proceeding, while two are fugitives, and one, who was released on bail, failed to appear before the fifth branch of lower criminal court of Bahrain. Al Wasat reports that 40 of the men are gay while the rest were involved in the running of the party. The men were not named but given numbers. Since there is no law against homosexuality in Bahrain the 40 defendants nevertheless were charged with incitement to immorality/debauchery and prostitution. Of the 40, 29 were also charged with engaging in immoral behaviour "in public" by dressing up like women and dancing in public. Some were also charged with cannabis consumption and being drunk "in public."

All of the defendants denied the accusations. GME notes that since the party was held in private, the charges of "offending public morality" should not apply.

DOMA Renews Immigration Challenge

This week's DOMA news has set activists into high gear on many fronts. Immigration Equality founder Lavi Soloway emails us today with his latest move.

In New York, New Jersey and California three married, same-sex binational couples, two gay male couples and one lesbian couple, are facing Immigration Judges in deportation proceedings. Each will brandish a pending green card petition filed by the American spouse on behalf of the foreign spouse. In each case their lawyer, Lavi Soloway, will argue that deportation proceedings should be halted because the only thing standing between each couple and a green card is the Defense Of Marriage Act which the President and the Attorney General announced this week will no longer be defended in court based on their finding that the statute is unconstitutional. Soloway, an immigration lawyer and long time gay rights activist, argues that the Department of Homeland Security should cease giving effect to this unconstitutional law and put all deportation proceedings on hold where they involve married gay binational couples, who but for DOMA, would be eligible for green cards on the basis of their marriages.

Soloway notes that the issue is quite urgent because deportation from the United States stipulates a ten year ban on ever returning.

Rush Limbaugh Loses Shit Over DOMA

"The president is lawless and the only ones blind to it are his ass-kissers in the media! A lefist is a leftist whether they're a journalist or a pundit."

CALIFORNIA: Imperial County Clerk Files To Defend Prop 8 To Ninth Circuit Court

Even though the Imperial County idiots were essentially laughed out the courtroom on their last attempt, they are trying again and the newly elected county clerk has filed a request to defend Proposition 8 before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Via Rex Wockner, here's the just-posted notice.

Date: Fri, 25 Feb 2011 08:16:32 -0800
From: ca9_ecfnoticing@CA9.USCOURTS.GOV

United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
Notice of Docket Activity

The following transaction was entered on 02/25/2011 at 8:16:30 AM PST and
filed on 02/25/2011
Case Name: Kristin Perry, et al v. Arnold Schwarzenegger, et al
Case Number: 10-16751

Docket Text:
Submitted (ECF) Intervenor brief for review and filed Motion to
intervene. Submitted by Chuck Storey. Date of service: 02/25/2011.
[7659627] (RHT)

UDPATE: Legal costs for Imperial County are being paid by the anti-gay Advocates For Faith & Freedom.

DOJ Notifies Court Of DOMA Withdrawal

Via press release from GLAD:

The Department of Justice followed Wednesday’s withdrawal from two DOMA cases in the Second Circuit, including GLAD’s Pedersen v. OPM by notifying the clerk of the First Circuit that they will also “cease to defend” the two consolidated DOMA cases, Gill v. Office of Personnel Management and Massachusetts v. HHS. The DOJ has not sent a letter to the Congress declining to defend DOMA in toto in the Gill case, so its determination may only apply to the extent the court determines that heightened scrutiny is the proper standard of review for DOMA’s constitutionality. No matter what happens, the case will proceed with DOJ as the attorneys for the government defendants.

“It is increasingly clear to everyone what has been clear to gay and lesbian families for years - that DOMA’s denial of protections available to all other married families is discriminatory, harmful, and unjustifiable,” said Mary L. Bonauto, GLAD’s Civil Rights Project Director and lead attorney on both Gill and Pedersen. “DOJ’s acknowledgement of this is momentous. At the same time, we know this isn’t the end of the road.” In a letter to the court Assistant Attorney General Tony West writes that “the Department will cease its defense of Section 3” in cases including Gill and Massachusetts. DOJ also “notifies the courts of our interest in providing Congress a full and fair opportunity to participate in the litigation of those cases,” and that “we will remain parties to the case and continue to represent the interests of the United State throughout the litigation.”

Tweet Of The Day - Gay Obama

Last night Jon Stewart claimed that this is his account.

WISCONSIN: Assembly GOP Pulls Sneak Attack Vote To Ban Bargaining Rights

The vote took place at 1am with most of the Democrats out of the chamber, sending the entire room into chants of "Shame! Shame! Shame!"

Alan Keyes: Allowing Gays To Marry Is Like Granting The Right To Own Slaves

"Government doesn't endow people with the ability to procreate the species. The Creator takes care of that. Like all unalienable rights, those associated with the natural family exist in consequence of this endowment. A couple that cannot, by nature, procreate has no claim to those rights. Nor can government grant them a semblance of it without impairing the claims of one or both of the parents biologically implicated in the physical conception of the child. The DOMA simply makes more explicit the government's obligation to secure the Creator-endowed unalienable rights of the natural family. This obligation precludes government from fabricating other rights that impair them. In this respect, granting homosexuals the right to marry is like granting plantation owners the right to own slaves." - Alan Keyes, writing for World Net Daily.

(Via - Equality Matters)

Family Research Council Issues DOMA Bulletin For Distribution By Churches

The Family Research Council has posted a "DOMA Alert" bulletin for its followers to print out and distribute at their churches. The document provides the number for the Capitol switchboard and includes a reminder that homosexuals and male prostitutes will never be allowed into heaven. Female hookers apparently get right in.

Altruistic Punishment

It turns out there's another name for that Manhattan phenomenon commonly called "sidewalk rage."

While it sounds like an oxymoron, altruistic punishment is basically how social norms get enforced. So when you expel a huffy "Excuse me!" to the rude sidewalk clogger in front of you who has stopped midstride to check his BlackBerry, you're trying to discourage behavior that endangers other members of the society. It's called "altruistic" punishment, because your efforts to protect civility come at personal cost with little chance of personal benefit: you are far more likely to get an obscene gesture or even a punch in the mouth than a thank you.

Many evolutionary psychologists believe, however, that without altruistic punishment, cooperation could not have evolved. In simulations of "selfish" versus "cooperative" strategies for living, for instance, researchers have found that altruistic or cooperative creatures beat out selfish ones only in an environment in which the failure to cooperate is actively detected and punished. Sidewalk rage — anger over the selfish violation of a cooperative social norm that protects the group — is a nice example of that.

What's the altruistic punishment for the people who argue about their coupons at Walgreens?

Scott Walker Channels Charlie Sheen

Tony Perkins: Obama Conspired With Ted Olson On Timing Of DOMA Decision

"The administration seems to be coordinating these efforts with the assault on marriage in the states. Yesterday, within two hours of the President's statement, a document was quietly filed in the Proposition 8 lawsuit. And not just any document, but a 23-page motion that noted the Justice Department's withdrawal from the DOMA case as a reason to lift the stay on Judge Vaughn Walker's ruling. Why is that significant? Because legal documents of this magnitude take days, if not weeks, to review.

"Obviously, Ted Olson's team had inside knowledge from someone at DOJ that this decision was coming down--and made sure the Prop 8 challengers were strategically positioned to capitalize on it. If this is true, and Olson's team was fed information before Congress or even the Speaker of the House was made aware, there's something fishy going on." - Family Research Council head Tony Perkins, who adds that GOP leaders have assured him that "DOMA is safe on their watch."

Jennifer Hudson - Where You At

Tired Old Queen At The Movies #69

1952's Singing In The Rain, starring Gene Kelly, Debbie Reynolds, Jean Hagen, and Donald O'Connor.

An Update Is Available

(Source)

Mike Huckabee: I Hate Everything In The Entire World To Do With Gay People

In so many words...

MARYLAND: Senate Approves Marriage!

Moments ago the Maryland Senate approved its marriage equality bill by a vote of 25-21. The bill now moves to the Democrat-heavy House of Delegates where it is expected to pass easily before landing on the gay-friendly governor's desk. We're almost there, kiddos! Follow along on Twitter at the hashtag #Marryland.

UPDATE: A reader emails to note that despite some predictions of the bill breezing through the Maryland House, some are cautioning to "take nothing for granted" as by at least one count, the vote may be closer than previously thought. Maryland residents, please contact your Delegates immediately and encourage their support for equality.

Shuttle Discovery Launches For Final Time

Today's is the 39th and final launch of the space shuttle Discovery. I was there at the Cape for the Discovery's first launch in 1984 as a lowly news assistant/gopher for WMFE-PBS in Orlando. It was a terrible gig and my first real post-college jobby-job, but I did get to attend three shuttle launches in the six months I lasted. From outside the media center near the VAB, you can feel the heat of the solid rocket boosters.

Sharpton Gets Abortion Billboard Yanked

Rev. Al Sharpton says he's convinced an outdoor advertising company to pull the controversial anti-abortion billboard that went up in Soho earlier this week. Sharpton: "The billboard was offensive, especially during Black History Month, and I had intended to hold a press conference Friday in front of the billboard to protest the message of racial profiling and against a woman's right to choose."

UPDATE: Gothamist notes that the woman whose child posed for the stock photo used on the billboard is not very happy either. "I would never endorse something like that. Especially with my child's image. It's bad enough you're saying this about African Americans, but then you put a child with an innocent face. I just want the image off of it. Use another image—just not hers."

Vampire Forecloses On Bank

Alternate headline: Bloodsucker Vs. Bloodsucker.

(Via - Daily What)

HATE GROUP ALERT: Family Research Council Launches DOMA Petition

The Family Research Council has just launched a DOMA petition, asking its millions of followers to demand that Congress do "what the president will not" and authorize intervention in DOMA litigation. The petition reads in part:

Now that President Obama has tossed aside federal law, it is up to Congress to intervene and defend DOMA. Congress will be under political pressure from the far Left to leave the issue alone, but with inaction, Congress will join the President in his dereliction of duty. On behalf of me and my family, please work with your colleagues in Congress to quickly intervene by supporting a resolution authorizing Congress to intervene in the ongoing litigation challenging DOMA.

RELATED: Earlier today two Christianist anti-gay legal groups, the Alliance Defense Fund and the Heritage Foundation, indicated their eagerness to intervene in DOMA-related court cases.

NYC LGBT Center Israel Flap Continues

Earlier this week the NYC LGBT Center canceled a planned Israel Apartheid Week meeting after gay porn kingpin Michael Lucas threatened to have the Center's wealthy donors pull their support. Immediately after the event's cancellation, a petition went online with a demand that the Center not let "wealthy bigots censor free speech." Among the petition's sponsors are well-known activists Cleve Jones, Judith Butler, and Sherry Wolf of the International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network.

Today the Village Voice's Steven Thrasher interviews Wolf, who says it's an insult for her group to characterized as a "hate group" by a pornographer. (Snap!)

"More than half of [Siege Busters] is Jewish, and the others are mostly Arabs, and they call us anti-Semitic? Isn't the center a place where different people are supposed to meet and discuss? Shouldn't Jews and Arabs, gay and lesbian and transgender, working together towards peace be something that is celebrated? We cannot allow a wealthy porn entrepreneur to dictate what kind of speech is allowed, at a center whose very mission is to represent the oppressed and the marginalized!"

Read Thrasher's full interview.

Rick Santorum Defends The Crusades

“The idea that the Crusades and the fight of Christendom against Islam is somehow an aggression on our part is absolutely anti-historical. And that is what the perception is by the American left who hates Christendom. They hate Western civilization at the core. That's the problem." - Former Sen. Rick "Frothy Mix" Santorum, who says that Christians have never persecuted Muslims.

ILLINOIS: Bed & Breakfasts Turn Away Gay Couple's Civil Union Ceremony

Two Illinois bed and breakfast hotels have turned away a gay couple's request to hold their civil unions ceremony, with one lodging manager emailing the couple to tell them to repent.

"We will never host same-sex civil unions. We will never host same-sex weddings even if they become legal in Illinois," Timber Creek operators told [Todd] Wathen in an e-mail. “We believe homosexuality is wrong and unnatural based on what the Bible says about it. If that is discrimination, I guess we unfortunately discriminate." When informed of Illinois's new civil unions law, Jim Walder of Timber Creek replied, “The Bible does not state opinions, but facts. It contains the highest laws pertinent to man. It trumps Illinois law, United States law, and global law should there ever be any.” Walder later sent an unsolicited e-mail of Bible passages to Wathen. He wrote, “Hi Todd, I know you may not want to hear this, but I thought I would send along a couple of verses in Romans 1 detailing how the Creator of the Universe looks at the gay lifestyle. It’s not to late to change your behavior.”

The couple has filed complaints with the state, which bans lodging discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. In response, David Smith of the (SPLC-certified hate group) Illinois Family Institute has issued a bizarre demand that Gov. Pat Quinn and President Obama apologize for their support of LGBT rights. According to Smith, the owners of Timber Creek have received "poisonous, hate-filled letters and phone calls from leftists who demand that we accept their life choices." Timber Creek's website presently notes that it is an "upscale Christian" business.

Open Thread Thursday

Oscar picks, let's have 'em. Do you throw one of them there big fabulous gay Oscar watching parties?