Anderson Cooper On Harps Story

"This is a learning moment for everybody."

Grocery Store Finds Gay Parenting Magazine Cover Too Offensive For Kids

Last night Twitter user JennHudd tweeted out this photo she took at Harps, a grocery store in Mountain Home, Arkansas. Apparently US Weekly's cover shot of Elton John, his partner, and baby is just too shocking for children. Harps has over 60 locations in Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Missouri. Call their home office at 877-772-8193 or use their contact form if you'd like to register a polite protest.

UPDATE: According to a company spokesperson, the store claims it was responding to customer complaints when it covered up the magazine. GLAAD investigates:

I spoke with Harps Corporate Executive Assistant Marty Yarborough, who told me that every Harps store is equipped with these shields and that they get put up whenever customers complain about the content of a magazine cover. She said the word from the store about this particular cover was that “several” customers had complained, so the shield went up. She also confirmed that these shields are utilized on a store-by-store basis, so the magazine would not have been covered up at any of the other Harps locations, unless customers complained there as well. She also told me that the usage of the shield on this particular cover is “in no way our opinion on this issue.” She quickly added, ”we do not have an opinion on this issue.”

UPDATE II: The Harps corporate office has issued an official press release on the matter.

Joel Olsteen: Homosexuality Is A Sin

More bigotry from the smiling zillionaire "prosperity gospel" scam artist, who says that being gay is not "God's best way" to be a human.

HomoQuotable - Elton John

"I think I have it all. I have a wonderful career, a wonderful life. I have my health, I have a partner of 17 years, and now I have a son. I don't have everything because I don't have the respect of people like the church or like politicians who tell me that I'm not worthy, that I'm lesser because I'm gay, well FUCK YOU!" - Elton John, speaking after performing at an AFER fundraiser in Los Angeles. The event raised $3M for the overturn of Proposition 8.

Elton And David And Son

Elton John and David Furnish give the world its first look of their newborn son via OK Magazine today.

When asked who Zachary's biological father is, Furnish replied: 'We both contributed. For the time being we don't have a clue. We look at him every day and at the moment he has Elton's nose and my hands. 'Neither of us care. He's our child. The important thing is that he's healthy and happy and loved.' Elton also said he and Furnish are both determined to be as 'hands on' as possible with Zachary. He added: 'I feed him. David feeds him. We change his nappies. I mean, it's hands on! We are on nappy patrol.'

February 9th In NYC: amfAR Gala With Elton, Dionne, Gladys, And Stevie Wonder

On February 9th, amfAR will host its New York City gala where Stevie Wonder, Dionne Warwick, Gladys Knight, and Elton John will reunite for a performance of their Grammy-winning smash single That's What Friends Are For, which was recorded 25 years ago as a fundraiser for amfAR. To date, the single has raised more than $3M for AIDS research. Honorees at the 2011 black tie gala will be former President Bill Clinton, Elizabeth Taylor, and Diane von Furstenberg. The evening is a special tribute to amfAR founding chairperson, Dr. Mathilde Krim. Also performing: Liza Minnelli and violinist David Garrett.

Get tickets here.

RELATED: That's What Friends Are For was written by longtime Dionne Warwick collaborator Burt Bacharach and Carole Bayer Sager. It was first recorded by Rod Stewart in 1982.

BBC On Elton John Flap: We Had That "Kill Gays" Guy On For Balanced Coverage

Yesterday the BBC ended a story about the birth of Elton John's son with an "opposing view" from the head of a Christianist hate group that has endorsed Uganda's plan to execute homosexuals. Today Pink News reports that even in face of widespread condemnation, the BBC sees nothing wrong with their action. Here's their terse statement.

The practice of surrogacy is a sensitive subject and remains controversial in some quarters. Our short news bulletin featured Elton John talking about wanting to have a child and an opposing viewpoint. All sides of the debate on surrogacy have been widely reported in the news media and our coverage has reflected this.

Pink News isn't having it.

The decision to include an interview with Stephen Green was hurtful not just to the millions of LGBT license fee payers but also to millions of Christians who do not hold or subscribe to the extremist views of Christian Voice. Most Christians would not support the abhorrent views of Mr Green and his small band of supporters who simply smear the name of the Christian faith. As many on Twitter, Facebook and PinkNews.co.uk comment pages have pointed out, the BBC’s logic would suggest that a racist be asked to comment on a mixed race couple having a surrogate child in order to reflect ‘debate’ in the country. Indeed the membership of Christian Voice is considerably smaller than that of many ‘racist’ organisations.

Here's how to complain to the BBC.

HomoQuotable - Andrew Pierce

"I can’t help feeling that his decision to become a father is another grotesque act of selfishness from Sir Elton, and that the child is a little Christmas bauble he and his partner have awarded themselves. How telling it is that he was born on Christmas Day. [snip] He [Sir Elton] is also an aging, pampered, self-indulgent millionaire — look at the absurd names he and Furnish have given the poor child, for heaven’s sake! And it is the nagging suspicion that Elton — a man who is by nature an obsessive — has simply acquired a son to satisfy his latest fixation that I find repellent." - Andrew Pierce, editor of the UK's Daily Mail, who was adopted from a Catholic orphanage at the age of two.

Pierce adds in today's editorial: "Let me make my position clear. I am a gay man and I believe same sex couples should be allowed to adopt or have their own children — although I think that in ideal ­circumstances a child should be brought up by a mother and father."

Headline Homophobia From The NY Post

Gawker's Brian Moylan weighs in on the latest headline from the New York Post, which is rightfully famed for its witty headlines. Usually.

It is just a cheap, dull, and unoriginal joke, that it's below the NY Post, which prides itself on having some of the cleverest headlines in the business. Oh, and it's doubly offensive to gay men, not only because it says that anyone who would want to enter into a relationship with another man is womanly, but also because it also pokes fun at the fact that we can't even get married if we want to. Then it reappropriates the word "proud," which gay men associate with Gay Pride and celebrating our liberation. Sorry, Post, but only gays get to make fun of Pride—and god knows we do.

And as we pointed out to Us Magazine only yesterday, Elton and his partner are not married, so the "wife" slam doesn't work on any level at all.

Another Anti-Gay Gaffe By The BBC

Pink News reports that as part of the BBC's story on the birth of Elton John's son, the network took an "opposing view" from a Christianist who has publicly endorsed Uganda's plan to execute homosexuals.

With the introduction “not everyone is pleased to see such a high profile same sex couple start to raise a surrogate child”, Mr Mzimba proceeded to interview Stephen Green, of right-wing group Christian Voice, without any warning that he is someone who has in the past supported the death penalty for gay men. In an interview that was visibly edited together, Mr Green told the BBC: “This isn’t just a designer baby for Sir Elton John, this is a designer accessory… [cut] Now it seems like money can buy him anything, and so he has entered into this peculiar arrangement…[cut] The baby is a product of it. A baby needs a mother and it seems an act of pure selfishness to deprive a baby of a mother.”

Amazingly, the BBC even managed to overlook Green's lawsuit against them for their airing of Jerry Springer: The Opera, which Green said was blasphemous for implying that Jesus was gay.

Pink News editorializes:

Given that little more than a year ago, the BBC Trust ruled that the BBC “reinforced homophobic stereotypes”, the broadcast yesterday is all the more shocking. The BBC needs to seriously reconsider not just who it interviews for stories relating to homosexuality but also reconsider its whole approach to how it covers the lives of millions of LGBT people, who themselves have no choice but to pay the television license fee.

RELATED: Last year the BBC earned international scorn for publishing a web survey that asked "Should Gays Be Executed?" The poll was yanked within hours and was followed with an "oopsie" apology from the network's ombudsman.

Elton John & Partner Become Parents

Elton John and his partner David Furnish have announced the birth of a son.

The baby boy, who was born Dec. 25 in California via a surrogate, weighed 7 pounds, 15 ounces. "We are overwhelmed with happiness and joy at this very special moment," John and Furnish tell Us in a joint statement. "Zachary is healthy and doing really well, and we are very proud and happy parents." This is the first child for John, 62, and Furnish, 48. The couple married in 2005 after 12 years together.

Actually, Us Magazine, the couple is civilly partnered in the UK, not married. The baby's full name: Zachary Jackson Levon Furnish-John. Levon? I was hoping for Bennie.

Elton John To Headline AFER Fundraiser

Elton John in November 2008: "We're not married. Let's get that right. We have a civil partnership. What is wrong with Proposition 8 is that they went for marriage. Marriage is going to put a lot of people off, the word marriage. I don't want to be married. I'm very happy with a civil partnership."

Despite that position, Elton will be performing a charity concert for the American Foundation for Equal Rights (AFER), the group backing the repeal of Prop 8. Via press release:

Sir Elton John will perform a concert on Wednesday, January 19 at a private home in Beverly Hills to raise funds for the American Foundation for Equal Rights. The Foundation’s case, Perry v. Schwarzenegger, is the federal constitutional challenge against Prop. 8. The Foundation was victorious in federal district court earlier this year, and will argue before the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals on December 6. “We are deeply honored to have the support of Sir Elton John,” said Chad Griffin, Board President of the American Foundation for Equal Rights. “The American Foundation for Equal Rights stands for the enduring principle that all Americans are created equal, and believes that ending state-sanctioned discrimination is a critical step we must take toward ending the hate crimes and suicides that continue to claim the lives of young Americans.” The event will be held at the "Green Acres" estate of Ron Burkle.

Elton John & Mrs. Limbaugh IV

Wingnut site World Net Daily has posted the just-released wedding photos of Rush Limbaugh and his wife du jour. Caption what Elton is thinking here.

ARIZONA: Elton John Defies Artist Boycott

"We are all very pleased to be playing in Arizona. I have read that some of the artists won't come here. They are fuckwits! Let's face it: I still play in California, and as a gay man I have no legal rights whatsoever. So what's the fuck up with these people?" - Elton John, speaking from the stage at Thursday's concert in Tucson.

Eminem Endorses Gay Marriage

"I think if two people love each other, then what the hell? I think that everyone should have the chance to be equally miserable, if they want." - Rapper Eminem, telling the New York Times that he's matured and become more tolerant. Eminem is now more progressive on LGBT rights than his one-time Grammy performance partner Elton John, who after Prop 8 passed said, "If gay people want to get married, or get together, they should have a civil partnership." But let's definitely not forget Eminem's long track record of anti-gay lyrics, which he now dismisses as "what I was feeling at the time."

Rush Limbaugh Was Married By Arch Homophobe Pastor Ken Hutcherson

Yesterday it was learned that the wedding of Rush Limbaugh was officiated by rabid homophobe Pastor Ken Hutcherson. Among Hutcherson's many anti-gay activities: Leading a walkout of public schools in opposition to the Day Of Silence, attempting a Microsoft shareholder revolt to overturn the company's protections of gay employees, fighting the Matthew Shepard Act, supporting the "ex-gay movement, and campaigning against Washington state's Referendum 71. Hutcherson's 2004 Mayday For Marriage event brought 140,000 anti-gay evangelists to the nation's capital.

And Elton John performed at this wedding.

ATLANTA: Charges Dropped Against Man Who Called For Murder Of Elton John

Charges have been dropped against anti-gay nutjob Neal Horsley, who was arrested in March for calling for the death of Elton John.

Neal Horsley, 65, was arrested in March for writing a post entitled "Why Elton John Must Die" on his website WeChooseLife.net and for protesting with a sign that read "Elton John Must Die" outside John's condominium in Atlanta. Horsley's protests came after the openly gay singer, who lives part-time in Atlanta, described Jesus as a "super-intelligent gay man" in an interview with Parade magazine. Horsley was charged with terroristic threats, criminal defamation and using the Internet to disseminate threats. At Atlanta judge ruled Monday that Horsley's actions did not warrant criminal charges, the Atlanta Journal Constitution reported.

Horsley, who has admitted having sex with a mule, is also behind an internet campaign to out LGBT people in Africa, presumably so that they can be murdered. He is a 2010 Creator's Rights Party candidate for governor of Georgia.

Maddow: Elton, Explain Yourself

(Via - Towleroad)

When Elton Met Rush

While we're still waiting to hear if Elton John is doing anything worthy with that million dollars he earned singing at Rush Limbaugh's fourth wedding last Saturday, at least we now know what spawned the curious pairing.

Rush Limbaugh and Sir Elton John's relationship started with problems. Heart problems, that is. According to conservative talk radio host Mark Levin, a guest at Limbaugh's wedding last weekend, Limbaugh and John were staying at the same hotel in Hawaii when Limbaugh had his heart attack scare earlier this year. John checked up on Limbaugh to see how he was doing, and from there, a friendship formed. "As Elton John explained it to the 400 or so people there, he and Rush have kept up a fairly regular e-mail exchange," Levin said on his show Tuesday.

Numerous Facebook groups have sprung up calling for Elton to donate his fee to his AIDS foundation. Others merely demand a boycott of Elton's music.

Michael Musto Blasts Elton John For Performing At Rush Limbaugh's Wedding

Michael Musto: "Elton’s actually a pretty good gay and he’s done a lot for the causes, but this is kind of gross. I was waiting for the transformation where he was going to sprinkle fairy dust on Rush and he was either come out of the closet or be gay positive. That hasn’t happened, so Elton’s just a whore." I keep hoping for Elton to say the money is going to his AIDS foundation.

(Via - Advocate)