Trouble At The Log Cabin Convention

At the Log Cabin Republicans convention in Dallas, an LCR member was assaulted and called "faggot" in the lobby bar of event's host hotel. According to a police spokesman quoted by the Dallas Voice, the Log Cabin member had been whistling at a straight patron of the bar before the attack.

Sr. Cpl. Kevin Janse, a spokesman for DPD, said the incident isn’t currently being treated as a hate crime because the suspect’s use of the word “faggot” was provoked by the Log Cabin member and his friends. Janse said both the Log Cabin member and the suspect were intoxicated when the incident occurred at about 1 a.m. The Log Cabin member and his friends were whistling at the suspect, who got offended and shoved the victim, Janse said. The Log Cabin member suffered minor injuries, described as a cut to his nose. The suspect was cited for class-C misdemeanor assault but was not taken into custody.

“Two groups of intoxicated individuals got into a verbal argument,” Janse said in an e-mail Saturday afternoon. “Supposedly the victim and his friend were whistling at the suspect, who took offense and shoved the victim. Officers interviewed both parties and made a class-C assault. Which is not a jailable offense if the two parties can be separated, which they were. Detectives are interviewing all parties as we speak but there is no indication of a hate crime based on what both parties are telling detectives. Just two drunk people.”

The Log Cabin member disputes the police account of the incident, but has declined to press charges.

Charges Dropped In Dallas Bathhouse Raid

Last October eleven men were arrested at a Dallas bathhouse in a raid that police claim was spurred by an unidentified complaining citizen. Yesterday charges were dropped against seven of the men. The Dallas Voice reports:

Attorney Michael Lowe, who represents one of the defendants, told Instant Tea he expects charges to be dismissed against the remainder of the men in the next few days. Lowe said the Dallas County District Attorney’s Office is dismissing the charges because prosecutors don’t believe they can prove that the defendants are guilty. Seven of the defendants were charged with public lewdness, three were charged with indecent exposure and one was charged with interfering with police. DPD’s vice unit has said it conducted the raid, which made national news and was the first at a gay bathhouse in Dallas in recent memory, in response to a citizen complaint.

Police have yet to identify the supposed complainer.

Update On The Burglarizing Pastor

On Sunday's edition of This Week In Holy Crimes, we learned about the Dallas pastor caught breaking into a congregant's home to steal her fur coats. The interwebs has been having a field day about it and that will only ramp up with Pastor Sandy McGriff's explanation that she was only taking the coats so that the other burglars she saw wouldn't get them.

Dallas Morning News Names Joel Burns Finalist For "Texan Of The Year"

The Dallas Morning News has named openly gay Fort Worth City Councilman Joel Burns as a finalist for their annual Texan Of The Year award. Burns gained national attention for his heartfelt and heartbreaking "It Gets Better" message delivered from his seat during a city council meeting in October.

From an editorial in today's paper:

Joel Burns was the picture of courage. Fort Worth's openly gay City Council member had privately carried the pain of anti-gay bullying he suffered while growing up in nearby Crowley. Even his parents didn't know the depths of his despair – until they found out in a very public way this fall.

In the opening moments of a City Council meeting, Burns used his microphone to reflect on a half-dozen teenagers who ended their lives rather than endure another minute of harassment. And he tearfully talked about his torment. "When someone like him who is so laid back speaks out so passionately, you know it really matters to him," said state Sen. Wendy Davis of Fort Worth.

Burns' appeal has inspired anti-bullying legislation in Texas, an outgrowth that could well save young lives. Burns has appeared on national and international radio and TV shows and received thousands of supportive e-mails and voicemails. Some are emotional and graphic testimonies from youngsters who said they were on the verge of suicide until they heard Burns speak. For his uncommon, selfless courage to spare others, Burns is a finalist for 2010 Dallas Morning News Texan of the Year.

Our congratulations to Councilman Burns!

DC Marriage Bureau Rejects Skype Marriage Of Dallas Gay Couple

The Dallas gay couple who got married via Skype with the help of a DC pastor has had their marriage ruled invalid because it did not take place within the District. From a letter sent to their DC-based pastor:

"The return is invalid because it has come to the attention of the court that the subject contracting parties to the marriage and you, the officiant, did not all personally participate in a marriage ceremony performed within the jurisdictional and territorial limits of the District of Columbia," the letter reads. Alexander-Reid also received a fresh marriage license from the court. Alexander-Reid could use it to re-officiate a Reed-Walkup ceremony, should they choose to marry again in D.C., this time "with all parties . . . in physical attendance."

(Via - Amanda Hess @ TBD)

Dallas Gay Couple E-Marries Via Skype

Dallas couple Mark Reed and Dante Walkup got legally married in a local W Hotel courtesy of Skype and a licensed officiator in Washington DC.

Their “Skype” wedding was officiated via teleconference from Washington, D.C., where same-sex marriage is legal, and they received their license in the mail a short time later. It’s called “e-marriage,” and it’s a sort of high-tech version of the proxy wedding traditionally held when one of the parties can’t be physically present — because, for example, they’re in the military stationed overseas. “The reason we wanted to do it this way is because we wanted to have a wedding here in Dallas with our family and friends,” Reed said. “It was very important that all of our family came. It was the first time they actually met, even though we’ve been together 10 years. If we had to go to D.C., there’s no way we could have had the people there who we wanted to be there.”

Reed and Walkup, co-owners of WDM Lighting on Oak Lawn Avenue, were married in a conference room at the W hotel on Oct. 10, in front of about 80 people with a 6-by-8-foot screen looming behind them. The couple had rented a similar room at a W hotel in Washington, where marriage equality activist Sheila Alexander-Reid officiated the wedding. “When we walked down the aisle, as soon as we reached the front, she comes on the screen like The Wizard of Oz,” Reed said. “It was beautiful. It wasn’t make-believe. It was like she was really there.”

The couple acknowledges that the validity of their wedding could be challenged, even though Washington DC has no law against e-marriages.

Turtle Creek Chorale - It Gets Better

Clip description:

On October 18, 2010, members of Dallas' Turtle Creek Chorale joined singers from over 30 area religious institutions and students from Southern Methodist University in a performance titled, A Night For Peace. WIth just three rehearsals to prepare, the 300+ "Partners In Harmony" massed chorus offered a full-length concert, which concluded with Bach's DONA NOBIS PACEM (Grant Us Peace) from his Mass in B Minor. All stories are real. Featured speakers are current members of the Turtle Creek Chorale.

Dallas Cops Arrest 11 In Bathhouse Raid

Claiming to be acting on a complaint, Dallas police arrested eleven men in a raid on the Club Dallas bathhouse on Friday.

Ten patrons of The Club reportedly were charged with either public lewdness or indecent exposure, while one employee was charged with interfering with police. DPD would only release records related to three of the 11 arrests, saying Dallas Voice needed to file a freedom of information request to obtain additional details. Laura Martin, DPD’s liaison officer to the gay community, said the vice unit raided the establishment on Swiss Avenue in response to a complaint. But police wouldn’t say who had complained. Martin said she believes it marked the first time since 2003 vice officers have gone in to the 34-year-old establishment, one of nine similar clubs nationwide. “We’ve done operations in that club since the late ’70s. There just hasn’t been one in a while because there hasn’t been a complaint,” Martin said. “They [officers] were in there for a legitimate reason, and obviously there was illegal activity going on or that many arrests wouldn’t have been made.”

Club Dallas bailed its customers and employee out of jail and have offered them legal representation. The men face up to a year in prison. According to the above-linked Dallas Voice story, the bathhouse is considered a public venue despite its members-only policy.

Interesting that this took place weeks before an election, eh?

Facebook Campaign Launches To Draft Laura Bush For Dallas Pride

Following her recent declaration of support for marriage equality, which she describes as "inevitable," a Facebook page has sprung up asking that Dallas Pride draft former First Lady Laura Bush as a guest of honor at this year's parade. Were she to be asked and accept, which does seem unlikely given her typically low public profile, OH how the teabaggers would wail. That prospect is delicious to contemplate.

Erykah Badu Fined, Fox News Calls For Boycott, Wanda Sykes Riffs On Clip

Erykah Badu was fined $500 for disorderly conduct for stripping nude at the site of JFK's assassination during the filming of a music video. Badu says she meant no disrespect.

Erykah Badu says her music video, "Window Seat," in which she stripped nude and feigned being shot at the site of President John F. Kennedy's assassination, has been "grossly misunderstood" and was not intended to insult the memory of the late president. "My point was grossly misunderstood all over America. JFK is one of my heroes, one of the nation's heroes," Badu said on The Wanda Sykes Show Saturday night. "John F Kennedy was a revolutionary; he was not afraid to butt heads with America, and I was not afraid to show America my butt-naked truth."

Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly is calling for a boycott of Badu's music.

Last night Wanda Sykes riffed on Badu's clip.