Kevin Smith's 'Red State' Gets an Intense Trailer

Adam Lambert Talks About Keeping Quiet in Idol's Closet

In a preview of the upcoming VH1 "Behind the Music" special devoted to Adam Lambert, the Idol runner up talks about how out of control he felt regarding his image on American Idol, as the show forced him to remain closeted. The preview also deals with his close relationship with Idol winner Kris Allen. The show airs on Sunday August 7 at 10 pm.

Get More: Adam Lambert, Behind the Music, Free Music Videos, Top Songs

Massachusetts Congressional Delegation (Except for Scott Brown) Makes 'It Gets Better' Video

The Baltimore Orioles Say It Gets Better

Uganda Kill The Gays Bill Fast-Tracked

Uganda’s infamous Kill The Gays bill is back and is being fast-​tracked through Parliament. The Anti-​Homosexuality Bill, or AHB, which prescribes the death penalty for being gay, was far from dead itself, and was never “shelved,” as many in the media werre falsely reporting. Rather, the Uganda Parliament merely ran out of time to debate and vote on it.

Now, with a new Parliament in session, the bill, which calls for the death penalty for the “crime” of being gay or HIV-​positive, and prison sentences for friends, family, co-​workers, and acquaintances who believe someone is homosexual but does not immediately report them to authorities, may be voted on “by the end of August,” according to Uganda expert Warren Throckmorton.

Who's debt?

Chick-fil-A Sponsors Anti-Gay Golf Event

Months after sparking a national wave of protest in the GLBT community, fast food chain Chick-fil-A has underwritten a gold event that benefits an anti-gay group, On Top Magazine reported on July 25.

Last February, the eatery chain sponsored a seminar on heterosexual marriage titled "The Art of Marriage" organized by anti-gay group the Pennsylvania Family Institute, which opposes legal equality for same-sex couples in that state.

"Chick-fil-A is one of the only large American companies (Domino Pizza under Tom Monaghan was another) with conservative Christianity an integral part of its corporate culture," noted a Jan. 31 EDGE article.

Ann Coulter: I Want DADT For All - I'm Sick Of Hearing About The Gays

Joy Behar talks with Ann Coulter about fair taxes for the rich, debt ceiling debate, Michele Bachmann’s husband, gay marriage in New York, DADT, & Chris Christie.

Trevor Project's David McFarland and Ft Worth Councilman Joel Burns Discuss Anti-Gay Bullying in Bachmann's District

Fort Worth City Councilman Joel Burns talks to Lawrence O'Donnell, and David McFarland, the Acting Director and CEO of The Trevor Project talks to MSNBC's Thomas Roberts, about Anoka-Hennepin's "No Promo Homo" policy and the federal investigations against the Minnesota school district.

Bachmann Continues to Dodge 'Ex-Gay' Questions at National Press Club Event

As her husband looked on at a National Press Club event earlier this afternoon, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) refused to answer a question about the Marcus Bachmann Clinic and its practice of "reparative therapy" for homosexuality, Igor Volsky at Think Progress reports.

Said Bachmann: "I’m running for the presidency of the United States. My husband is not running for the presidency, neither are my children, neither is our business, neither is our foster children and I’m more than happy to stand for questions on running for the presidency of the United States."

Bachmann Has Cold Shoulder for Tough Questions

Bachmann has an increasing amount to answer for. Mother Jones broke a story this week about the "teen suicide epidemic" in Bachmann's district. Nine teenagers have died during the last two years, and some parents are directly assigning blame to Bachmann.

“I feel if I hadn't moved to this district my daughter wouldn't have died,” one mother told Mother Jones.

So far Bachmann has said nothing about the problem, although she wasn't shy about opposing antibullying measures proposed in her state in 2006.

A photojournalist with TV station WQAD in Moline, Ill., said his station has evidently been cut off from Bachmann in retribution for an anchor just asking about whether so-called reparative therapy, aimed at turning gay people straight, is offered by her clinics.

"I'm here today to talk about job creation," Bachmann told the anchor during an on-air interview when the story first broke. "We're very proud of the business that we have created."

As Bachmann dodged the question, behind the scenes, WQAD staff members say, her representatives were threatening to end the interview if the anchor asked follow-up questions. Six minutes into the interview, raw video posted by the station appears to show the feed being cut off.

Michele Bachmann remains silent on teen suicides in her congressional district

GOP presidential hopeful and Tea Party favorite, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) has been noticeably silent on the spate of teen suicides in Anoka-Hennepin school district — Minnesota’s largest school district, which is located in the heart of Bachmann’s district.

Over the past two years, a total of nine teenagers have committed suicide in a Minnesota school district represented by Rep. Michele Bachmann — the latest in May — and many more students have attempted to take their lives.

State public health officials have labeled the area a “suicide contagion area” because of the unusually high death rate.

Some of the victims were gay, or perceived to be by their classmates, and many were reportedly bullied. And the anti-gay activists who are some of the congresswoman’s closest allies stand accused of blocking an effective response to the crisis and fostering a climate of intolerance that allowed bullying to flourish. Bachmann, meanwhile, has been uncharacteristically silent on the tragic deaths that have roiled her district—including the high school that she attended.

-Mother Jones

Rapid Bipartisan Support For Marriage Equality

Top Republican and Democratic pollsters to President Obama and former-​President George W. Bush this morning announced a rapid bipartisan acceleration in public support for same-​sex marriage equality across almost all demographics, including Democrats, Republicans, and Independents, suggesting that politicians should feel more comfortable supporting equality in the institution of marriage, and supporting the repeal of DOMA.

Ghana government official wants to round up, arrest gays

Gays and lesbians living in western Ghana face possible arrest after Paul Evans Aidoo, the minister for the Western Region of Ghana, called for their round-up and arrest, reports The Independent.
“All efforts are being made to get rid of these people in society,” Aidoo reportedly said in a radio interview. “Once they have been arrested, they will be brought before the law.”

Homosexuality isn’t expressly illegal in Ghana, though a constitutional ban of “unnatural carnal knowledge.” makes arrest possible for gay males.

Aidoo has received support from the People’s National Convention (PNC), a small political party.

The general secretary of the PNC told Radio Gold, “Homosexuality is abhorrent. Media discourse across the world is being dictated by the vulgar opinions of homosexuals. Ghana and probably Africa cannot sustain the menace of homosexuals.”

Homosexuality is expressly forbidden in dozens of African countries. Uganda became infamous for introducing a “kill the gays” bill last year, which didn’t pass, but is expected to come up again this fall.

“Arresting this type of person is not going to be easy because you must have proof of the offense – either one person has come to lodge a complaint against the other, or they are caught in the act,” Western Regional Police Commander Ransford Ninson said by telephone to Reuters.

Will Latest Attempt to End Gay Blood Ban Work?

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is once again looking at changing its policy that bars men who have sex with men from donating blood.

HHS described the current policy as "suboptimal" and asked a group of experts, known as the Blood, Organ, and Tissue Safety Working Group, to look into ways of changing it. As it stands, any man who had sex with another man since 1977 cannot donate blood. A new policy could allow certain gay or bisexual men, possibly those who have abstained from homosexual sex for a certain time, to donate.

“This announcement by HHS means we’re moving in the direction of finally ending this antiquated and discriminatory policy,” Rep. Mike Quigley told the National Journal. “Senator [John] Kerry and I will continue to push for a behavior-based screening process both in the name of fairness and a safer blood supply.”

Colombian Court Rules for Marriage Equality

Colombia must extend marriage rights to same-sex couples within two years, the nation’s Constitutional Court ruled Tuesday.

The Colombian Congress must create an equivalent of marriage for gay couples by June 20, 2013, or else couples will automatically gain the right to go to any judge or notary public to formalize their union, according to the ruling. The country already offers civil unions, which grant almost all marriage rights.

The decision came in a case brought by the gay rights group Colombia Diversa, the legal aid group DeJusticia, and other organizations and citizens to challenge the nation’s law defining marriage as an exclusive contract between a man and a woman with the purpose of procreation.

“This is an historic decision for equality in Colombia,” Colombia Diversa executive director Marcela Sánchez said in a statement. Colombia Diversa had joined other organizations in bringing an earlier suit that resulted in civil union rights for gay couples in 2007. She held out little hope, however, for action from the Congress, which has considered and defeated six bills for marriage equality.

A Mom's Conversation with Her Son About Growing Up Gay

"It's Gonna Be A Bloody Mess In New York"

NOM, the National Organization For Marriage, in a press release published Monday, falsely stated that “nearly 10,000 people were present” at their anti-​gay, anti-​same-​sex marriage, anti-​equality hate rally in midtown Manhattan, fallaciously titled, “Let The People Vote!” But police reports put the attendees at “more than 3,000 supporters,” (i.e., under 4,000) with news outlets mostly recording the attendees as “several thousand people.” Of course, NOM’s own press release fraudulently adds, “NOM estimates that well in excess of 10,000 supporters attended the four rallies” that they held across the state. Fantasy numbers like these, while ludicrous, are also embarrassing for Maggie Gallagher and her National Organization For Marriage. Why?

First, you should know, even that bastion of conservatism, The Wall Street Journal, didn’t look too kindly upon NOM’s rally antics. “If the National Organization for Marriage were a commercial enterprise, its ‘Let the People Vote’ campaign would be a case of deceptive advertising,” the Journal wrote Monday, adding, “the language on [NOM’s Let The People Vote] site implies that the Legislature acted illegitimately when it ‘imposed same-​sex marriage on New York with no vote of the people.’ Such a vote is not part of the ordinary procedure for enacting legislation in New York, and it is misleading to pretend otherwise.”

Straight Marriage Is Only Thing Killing Straight Marriage

Site Offers $10,000 for Proof That Marcus Bachmann is Gay

Pure Film Creative, a group site run by writer/director James Killough, is offering $10,000 for proof that Marcus Bachmann is gay.

Jon Stewart Compares Debt Ceiling Fight To A Bad Breakup

"Do you want out of this relationship so bad, but dont have the balls to leave, so you've all decided to act like giant a**holes to force us to break up with you? Because if so, get the f**k out."

Ballot Measure Initiative to Overturn California's LGBT History Law Gets Green Light

LGBT POV's Karen Ocamb reports that anti-gay efforts to overturned California's recently-passed FAIR Education Act, which requires LGBT curriculum to be taught in public schools, have been approved by the Secretary of State:

The Capitol Resource Institute received the OK today from the California Sec. of State to begin circulating signatures-gathering petitions to place a ballot initiative on the June 2012 ballot to overturn SB 48, the California FAIR Education Act. SB 48 is a natural extension of Harvey Milk Day, requiring public schools to stop discriminating against LGBT people by rendering the LGBT minority invisible in public education. The bill requires schools to start teaching about LGBT history and contributions starting Jan. 1, 2012. Inclusion in California textbooks has been deferred until 2015 because of the economy.

Supporters of the ballot measure must collect 504,000 valid signatures by mid-October. The measure would go on the June 2012 ballot.

Ballot Measure Initiative to Overturn California's LGBT History Law Gets Green Light

LGBT POV's Karen Ocamb reports that anti-gay efforts to overturned California's recently-passed FAIR Education Act, which requires LGBT curriculum to be taught in public schools, have been approved by the Secretary of State:

The Capitol Resource Institute received the OK today from the California Sec. of State to begin circulating signatures-gathering petitions to place a ballot initiative on the June 2012 ballot to overturn SB 48, the California FAIR Education Act. SB 48 is a natural extension of Harvey Milk Day, requiring public schools to stop discriminating against LGBT people by rendering the LGBT minority invisible in public education. The bill requires schools to start teaching about LGBT history and contributions starting Jan. 1, 2012. Inclusion in California textbooks has been deferred until 2015 because of the economy.

Supporters of the ballot measure must collect 504,000 valid signatures by mid-October. The measure would go on the June 2012 ballot.

NY Attorney General Files Brief in DOMA Case

New York attorney general Eric Schneiderman filed a brief Tuesday in the case of Windsor v. United States to challenge the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act, arguing that DOMA violates same-sex couples’ right to equal protection under the law and must be invalidated.

The friend-of-the-court brief, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, argues that DOMA, which in section 3 prohibits the federal government from recognizing same-sex unions valid in the state, violates same-sex couples' right to equal protection under the law. The Obama administration announced earlier this year that it would no longer defend DOMA.

"Today We Start The War!" Against Same-Sex Married Couples

NY State Senator and Reverend Rubén Díaz, who threatened judges who performed same-​sex marriages on Sunday in New York, also literally declared war on same-​sex married couples in his state, and threatened to have their marriages annulled. Hundreds of same-​sex marriages were performed in New York State Sunday, the first day the new marriage equality law went into effect.

“We’re going to show them next week that everything they did today was illegal,” Diaz (image, left,) said, speaking in Spanish, reports ABC News, while at the National Organization for Marriage (NOM) anti-​gay hate rally in front of the Governor’s NYC office Sunday. “Today we start the battle! Today we start the war!”

Lies are commonplace in religious right data

The big news from last week’s DOMA hearing was how Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) called out Focus on the Family’s Tom Minnery for his distortion of a study.

Minnery cited a Department of Health and Human Services study to make the case that children do better in a heterosexual household as opposed to a same-sex household. Franken, however, proved that Minnery had distorted the study’s wording.

While everyone is reveling (with good reason) in this pivotal moment from the hearing, let’s not forget one thing.

What Minnery did was not an anomaly. His distortion was not a one-time thing from a lazy employee of an otherwise honorable organization.

Minnery’s misreading of study in order present a bad picture of same-sex households is commonplace in religious right data. Often times, religious right spokespeople will cite studies which have nothing to do with same-sex households in order to claim that these households are not the best place to raise children.

Maggie Gallagher of the National Organization for Marriage committed this grievance last year by misrepresenting a study of abused children.

Peter Sprigg of the Family Research Council committed the same intentional faux pas earlier this year by citing two studies, neither having anything to do with same-sex households.

And we’re not just talking about studies regarding households, either.When groups like Focus on the Family, the Family Research Council, or the National Organization for Marriage aren’t busy scaring people with how the gay community wants to “recruit children,” they busy themselves distorting all sorts of legitimate data, creating conclusions that the researchers never intended or worked for.

We know this because at least 11 of these researchers complained about this. They include:

• National Institute of Health director Francis Collins, who rebuked the right-wing American College of Pediatricians for falsely claiming that he stated sexual orientation is not hardwired by DNA.
• Six researchers of a 1997 Canadian study (Robert S. Hogg, Stefan A. Strathdee, Kevin J.P. Craib, Michael V. Shaughnessy, Julio Montaner, and Martin T. Schehter), who complained in 2001 that religious right groups were distorting their work to claim that gay men have a short life span.
• The authors of the book Unequal Opportunity: Health Disparities Affecting Gay and Bisexual Men in the United States (Professors Richard J. Wolitski, Ron Stall, and Ronald O. Valdiserri), who complained that their work was being distorted by Focus on the Family.
• University College London professor Michael King, who complained that the American Family Association was distorting his work on depression and suicide in LGBT individuals.
• University of Utah professor Lisa Diamond, who complained that NARTH (the National Association of Research and Therapy of Homosexuality), a group which also share board members with the American College of Pediatricians, distorted her research on sexual orientation.
• Dr. Carol Gilligan, Professor of Education and Law at New York University, who complained that former Focus on the Family head James Dobson misrepresented her research to attack LGBT families.
• Dr. Kyle Pruett, Ph.D., a professor of child psychiatry at the Yale School of Medicine, who has also complained that Focus on the Family distorted his work.
• Dr. Robert Spitzer, Professor of Psychiatry at Columbia University, who has consistently complained that religious right groups distorted his study to claim that the LGBT orientation is easily changeable.
• Judith Stacey, Professor of Sociology at New York University, who has had to, on more than one occasion, cry foul over how religious right groups distorted her work on LGBT families.
• Greg Remafedi, Professor at the University of Minnesota, who has complained several times about how religious right groups such as the American College of Pediatricians and PFOX have distorted his work, all to no avail. The American College of Pediatricians refused his request to remove his work from their site.
• And late last year, John Horgan, a science journalist and Director of the Center for Science Writings at the Stevens Institute of Technology, became the 11th researcher to complain.

These are the reasons why many of us are celebrating Franken’s dressing down of Minnery. It revealed to so many what a lot of us in the gay community have known about the religious right for years – that all of their talk about “morals” and “values” and “personally held religious beliefs” are a dodge. They are a smokescreen which these organizations use to hide their deceptions.

When it comes to the gay community, the vast majority of religious right studies and data have been fallacious distortions designed to exploit fear, not educate.

It’s not unintentional. These folks – Maggie Gallgher, Peter Sprigg, James Dobson, et. al. – know that when they misrepresent studies, particularly in front of Congress, they are committing fraud but they don’t care as long as they can get away with it.

Tim Pawlenty: Traditional Marriage Needs To Be Elevated Above Same-Sex Marriage

Presidential Candidate Tim Pawlenty appeared today on CNN's State of The Union with Candy Crowley to explaon why he thinks same-sex couples are not deserving of equal rights.

"A man and a woman are joined together for obvious reasons," said the presidential candidate.

He continued, "I think when society devalues traditional marriage by saying all other domestic relationships are the same as traditional marriage you then dilute and devalue traditional marriage."

Maryland Governor O'Malley Announces Support for Marriage Equality Bill, Calls It 'Administration Priority'

Stephen Colbert Takes On Gay History Education In California

Senator Dianne Feinstein Talks About Bill Repealing DOMA

College in California Becomes First to Produce More Energy Than it Uses

Institutes of higher learning are designed to energize and empower communities to reach a brighter future -- but one school in California is taking that mission literally. For the very first time, a college in the United States has managed to not only go off the grid by producing their own clean electricity, but to produce enough of the stuff to power hundreds of homes as well. And the best part of all, with the money they'll save, educators can focus less on dollars and cents and more on teaching.

This week, Butte College in Northern California makes history by becoming the first college to become 'grid positive' thanks to its sustainable energy infrastructure of solar arrays. The college boasts some 25,000 solar panels that can generate over 6.5 million kilowatt hours of electricity per year. All told, the clean energy produced at Butte is equivalent to taking 615 cars off the road, and is enough to power over 900 homes.

When The Boyfriend Crashes The Wedding

Gay 'Archie' Character Kevin Keller So Popular He's Getting His Own Monthly Comic Book

The NYT reports that Archie Comics' gay character Kevin Keller, introduced in Issue 202 of 'Veronica' last September, is a hit and will be getting his own series:

The series, titled Kevin Keller, will follow a four-issue mini-series starring Kevin that began in July and has started filling out his background, including his relationship with his father, who serves in the military and is supportive of his son’s desire to follow in his footsteps. Like those for the other Archie characters, Kevin’s series will deal with his life in high school. “He’s going to be the class president,” said Dan Parent, the writer-artist who created Kevin. But it won’t all be a good time. “Even the most popular kids are not popular with everybody,” Mr. Parent said. “There’s some adversity he’ll have to deal with.”

China's Share of World Commodity Consumption

Joy Behar Talks to Alleged 'Ex-Gay' Stephen Bennett and His Delusional Wife

Stephen Bennett of Stephen Bennett Ministries draws from the old right-wing chestnut playbook to explain his homosexuality — close relationship with his mother, lack of male bonding with his father, sexual abuse by another boy as a child — and claims that he prayed away the gay.

The Gay Who Wasn't Gay Enough

The Cubs and It Gets Better

Dan Savage And Steven Colbert Talk Marriage, Monogamy And Infidelity

The Colbert Report
Get More: Colbert Report Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,Video Archive

Top 5 Reasons 2 Ban Gay Marriage

Marcus And Michele Bachmann on Marriage

Ruben Diaz call on flock to rally against marriage equality on Sunday

The National Organization for Marriage and their BFF, New York state Senator, and Reverend, Ruben Diaz Sr., are calling upon their flock to rally against marriage equality on Sunday, the day New York state legalizes same-sex unions.

If you live in—or anywhere near—New York, I hope you’ll bring the whole family out to join us this Sunday afternoon at 3pm. With simultaneous rallies in Buffalo, Rochester, Albany and Manhattan, we’ll put Governor Cuomo and the political establishment on notice that the same-sex marriage debate is far from over. [...]

This Sunday, as the same-sex marriage law goes into effect, I urge you to join us as we launch a 4-year campaign to “Let the People Vote!”

Al Franken Rips 'Focus on the Family' Witness at DOMA Hearing

Senator Al Franken took Thomas Minnery, Senior Vice President for Public Policy, Focus on the Family, to task for misusing an HHS study in his argument that children are better off with a mother and a father.

Said Franken: "I frankly really don't know how we can trust the rest of your testimony."



And here's some of Minnery's testimony, in which he admits that children of same-sex parents are hurt by the discrimination of DOMA.

Gay Marriage Stops Kids From Knowing Parents Love Them

The man who will become the new Archbishop of Philadelphia in September, Charles Chaput, came out swinging against same-​sex marriage equality today, suggesting that marriage between persons of the same gender is wrong because children need to know that their parents love them, and, somehow, same-​sex marriage denies children the knowledge that their parents love them. Chaput, the first Native American Archbishop, is heralded as an intellectual Evangelical leader. Chaput’s predecessor, Justin Rigali, and his predecessor, Anthony Bevilacqua have both been accused by a grand jury of covering up sexual abuse.

“As children, if we don’t know that our parents love one another, our lives are very unstable. That’s why I think every child deserves a family where the father loves the mother, and the mother loves the father,” Chaput says, illogically, regarding same-​sex marriage.

Marcus Bachmann Acts as Michele's Sometime Stylist

From a 2006 Star Tribune article about the then-Congresswoman-elect's "haute" style:

Shopping help comes from another quarter, as well. Before Vice President Dick Cheney's visit this past summer, Bachmann's husband, Marcus, hit the stores -- "he's got a good sense of style" -- and came home with "a sleek, simple hourglass dress with a yoke collar in winter white." He even bought a matching coat and shoes. "I just slipped it on."


Read more: http://www.towleroad.com/#ixzz1Sg6uXeV4

Conservative group seeks voter referendum to overturn California’s LGBT history law

A California-based conservative group on Friday filed documents seeking to place a voter referendum on the 2012 ballot to overturn a new state law that would require public schools to include the historical contributions of LGBT Americans in history lessons and classroom materials.

The proponent of the proposed referendum, Paulo Sibaja, filed a request for a title and summary with the attorney general’s office.

Sibaja said he acted on behalf of the Capitol Resource Institute, which had officially opposed the bill throughout the legislative process before Gov. Jerry Brown signed it Thursday. Sibaja is the legislative director of that organization.

The Capitol Resource Institute is a hard-line, socially conservative organization that has long opposed efforts in California to expand rights for the LGBT population. Backers eventually would have to collect 433,971 signatures to allow voters to decide whether to keep the law in place or reject it.

Sibaja said that a coalition has formed behind the proposed measure, though he would not name the other members. He said a news conference Wednesday would give more details.

Head of Iowa anti-gay Family Leader enjoys a lame joke at the expense of ‘fags’

In a short video clip released Tuesday by independent watch-dog group Think Progress, the homophobic president of the anti-gay, conservative christian group “The Family Leader” is seen erupting in laughter at after being told a joke about “fags.”

During an event in Audubon, Iowa back in March, Bob Vander Plaats explained that many Iowans were concerned about the state becoming “the butt of jokes” in the aftermath of a state Supreme Court decision which found that a law prohibiting same-sex marriage was unconstitutional.

He was then interrupted by an attendee who recalled a joke his wife tells about the “fags” marrying in Iowa law. Vander Plaats erupts in laughter:


ATTENDEE: You know what my wife says? She says: Iowa, the state where you can’t smoke a fag, but you can marry one.
[Laughter]
VANDER PLAATS: Oh shoot, that’s pretty good, that’s pretty good. Oh shoot.

U.S. Senate confirms first openly gay man to serve as federal court judge

The U.S. Senate on Monday evening confirmed confirmed J. Paul Oetken to the Federal District Court for the Southern District of New York, and the first openly gay man to serve as federal judge in U.S. history.

By a vote of 80-13, Oetken was confirmed with no opposition from Senate Democrats and a majority of the Republicans supporting his nomination as well.

Oetken, 45, will take his seat as a federal judge in Manhattan after President Barack Obama signs his commission, which could be as soon as this week, according to the office of Sen. Charles Schumer (D-New York).

GOProud's Chris Barron Calls Bachmann's Views on His Sexuality a 'Side Show'

Pope accepts Philadelphia archbishop’s resignation

Pope Benedict XVI accepted the resignation of Philadelphia archbishop Cardinal Justin Rigali on Tuesday, sending him into retirement as the archdiocese faces accusations that it covered up a long-running priest sex abuse scandal.
The pope named conservative Denver Archbishop Charles Chaput to succeed him.

The brief Vatican announcement said the resignation of the 76-year-old Rigali was for reason of age. He submitted it on his 75th birthday in April 2010, as required by church law, but the pope did not immediately act on it.

But the Cardinal has been under pressure for his handling of the sex-abuse scandal. In his eight-year tenure, a pair of grand jury reports, one in 2005 and one released in February, have rocked the archdiocese by accusing church officials of covering up abuse allegations against priests.

February’s scathing report resulted in unprecedented criminal charges against a former secretary of clergy for allegedly transferring pedophile priests without warning new parishes.

The grand jury accused church officials of keeping 37 clergy in active ministry despite credible claims that they had sexually abused young people. The allegations came nine years after U.S. bishops promised at the height of the clergy abuse crisis to oust all predators from ministry.

Obama Endorses DOMA Repeal Bill

When asked by The Advocate last month if she believed that President Barack Obama should support marriage equality prior to the 2012 reelection, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who in March introduced legislation to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act, replied, “I believe that support of the president would be very welcomed. I hope he endorses my bill to repeal DOMA.”

On that front, the senior senator from California got her wish today when White House officials announced the president would do so, one day prior to the first Senate hearing on legislative attempts to repeal the 1996 law that deprives same-sex married couples the same federal rights as their heterosexual counterparts.

“The president has long called for a legislative repeal of the so-called ‘Defense of Marriage Act,’ which continues to have a real impact on the lives of real people — our families, friends and neighbors,” White House spokesman Shin Inouye said in a Tuesday statement.

“[Obama] is proud to support the Respect for Marriage Act, introduced by Sen. Dianne Feinstein and Congressman Jerrold Nadler, which would take DOMA off the books once and for all. This legislation would uphold the principle that the federal government should not deny gay and lesbian couples the same rights and legal protections as straight couples,” Inouye said.

Feinstein’s bill and the companion House bill reintroduced by Nadler are unlikely to become law in the current session, as Feinstein indicated to reporters at a Tuesday press conference at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.

"Thriller" an allegory for the AIDS crisis in the 1980s

From the recent concert, Totally '80s show,by the Gay Men's Chorus of Los Angeles, - using the Michael Jackson hit Thriller as an allegory for the AIDS crisis.

The arrangement is based on the more somber Imogen Heap cover. The lyrics of Thriller take on a profoundly different meaning in this context. Following it is the song "Out Here on my Own" from Fame.

The Edge of Glory

Sheryl Swoopes is now not a lesbian, engaged to marry a man

Sheryl Swoopes, who came out as a lesbian to much fanfare in 2005, is now engaged to marry a man. Mechelle Voepel of ESPN uncovers the news and says she first learned of Swoopes’ new relationship status last autumn. She writes in a recent piece on Swoopes turning 40:

Yet when Swoopes’ agent mentioned to me last fall that Swoopes was “in a different situation” now, it wasn’t difficult for me to guess what she was referring to. Swoopes was no longer in a relationship with a woman. She was in a relationship with a man whom she’d known for some time.

Swoopes didn’t seem to want to have — for lack of a better way to put it — a “coming out as straight again” interview. She wasn’t renouncing homosexuality or saying she wished she hadn’t said what she did in 2005. But the fact remained that she was no longer in a same-sex relationship.

Estimated 250 active military, veterans march in San Diego gay pride parade

An estimated 250 active-duty service members and veterans on Saturday marched Saturday in San Diego’s gay pride parade, just one day after a federal appeals court reinstated “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” but with a provision that prohibits the military from investigating or penalizing anyone who is openly gay.

Man Prevented From Giving Blood Because He Looks Gay

An Indiana man said he was denied the opportunity to donate blood because he looks gay.

Aaron Pace, 22, of Gary, Ind., said he went to Bio-Blood Components Inc., which pays for both blood and plasma donations. During the screening process, he was told he could not donate blood because he "appears to be a homosexual," according to the Chicago Sun-Times.

“I was humiliated and embarrassed,” he said. “It’s not right that homeless people can give blood but homosexuals can’t. And I’m not even a homosexual.”

Madonna's Gaga Nighmare

Janeane Garofalo Compares Marcus Bachmann to Roy Cohn

Comic actress Janeane Garofalo compared Marcus Bachmann to notorious antigay attorney Roy Cohn and controversial pastor Ted Haggard while making a guest appearance on Countdown with Keith Olbermann.

Garofalo says Marcus Bachmann "seems very gay" to her but hastens to add that's not a criticism and she's certain the "gay community would not like to claim him as one of their own." She goes on to say that he, like many people who are vehemently antigay, seems to be dealing with "personal demons." She likens Bachmann to Cohn, saying "going after whatever your inner demon is and then the whole culture is dragged down with you." Olbermann adds Haggard's name as apt comparison and Garofalo agrees.

Marcus, the husband of potential Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann, has been under fire for his controversial reparative therapy clinic.

Will Apple Follow Microsoft in Pulling Out of Christian Values Network?

Hours after being named in a petition on Change.org, software giant Microsoft removed their online store from a referral service that funds alleged hate groups.

Started by Seattle resident Stuart Wilber, the petition claims that dozens of LGBT-friendly companies — including Apple, Dell, and Netflix — are unknowingly supporting alleged hate groups through the Christian Values Network (CVN), a link referral service that donates money to more than 170,000 charities.

WinRumors.com reports that "Customers can choose to purchase Apple hardware or a Netflix subscription through the service and Apple or Netflix would make a donation to the charity of the customer’s choice through CVN."

But according to Wilber, The Southern Poverty Law Center has declared several of the associated charities — like Focus on the Family, Family Research Council, Summit Ministries, Abiding Truth Ministries, and Liberty Counsel — to be known “hate groups,” for their “blatant and repeated homophobic lies about lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people.”

Freddie Smith (Sonny) and the Gay Developments on 'Days of Our Lives'

American Airlines endorses federal job protections for gays and lesbians

American Airlines announced today that it formally submitted a letter to U.S. Congressional leaders in Washington, DC, stating its continued support for passage of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act to provide federal job protections for gays and lesbians.

American Airlines was the first airline to endorse ENDA; originally communicating its support of ENDA to Congress in 2008 and 2009. In its current letter of endorsement, American Airlines states:

“On behalf of our 80,000 employees, American Airlines is proud to express our strong support for S. 811 and H.R. 1397, the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, which would extend basic job protections to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Americans. We are proud to have been the first major airline to implement same-sex domestic partner benefits, first to implement both sexual orientation and gender identity in our workplace non-discrimination policies, and first to have a recognized LGBT employee resource group – GLEAM.

“Our endorsement of ENDA is consistent with our longstanding ‘Statement of Equal Opportunity.’ The principles fostered by ENDA are consistent with our corporate principles in treating all employees with fairness and respect.”

Stopping Discrimination Is Bad for Business, Governor Says

Stopping businesses from discriminating against gay people would be bad for the economy, or so says the governor of Tennessee.

Gov. Bill Haslam signed a bill in May that voided antidiscrimination ordinances created by cities and counties, which had barred employers and others from discriminating against gay people.

But Haslam told the Nashville City Paper that he's not only against local ordinances. If someone proposed adding gay people to the state's antidiscrimination law, he'd oppose that too.

Jon Stewart Mocks Marcus Bachmann, Gets Help From Jerry Seinfeld With 'Comedy Repression Therapy'

Inexpensive daily anti-HIV pill found to be effective as preventative measure

In a groundbreaking series of recent clinical trials, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that a pill containing either one or two anti-HIV drugs taken daily can reduce transmission of the HIV-virus by as much as three-quarters among heterosexual couples.

Dr. Jonathan Mermin, director of the CDC’s Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention, stated that two clinical trials in Kenya and Uganda along with a separate trial in Botswana, demonstrated that even with a current lack of a vaccine to combat against the HIV virus, this new approach, “termed pre-exposure prophylaxis,” may be the best hope for slowing or even halting the spread of the deadly plague throughout the developing world.

The two-drug combination pills are known commercially as “Truvada” manufactured by Gilead Sciences Corporation, in Foster City, California. The pills are generically obtainable in many developing countries for as little as 25 cents per pill, (U.S.), according to officials from the World Health Organization.

The new results — a breakthrough finding that promises to intensify a new focus on AIDS prevention — are scheduled to be presented next week at the International AIDS Society Conference on HIV Pathogenesis, Treatment and Prevention in Rome, Italy.

“The last year has brought several breakthroughs in AIDS prevention research, in addition to this latest finding and the study involving gay men, a study released last July found that microbicides could sharply reduce HIV transmission in women and a study in HIV-positive people showed that treating the infected person intensively could reduce transmission by as much as 96%,” said Kevin Frost, chief executive of amfAR, the American Foundation for AIDS Research.

Fox News: 'I Don't Remember' Any Terrorist Attacks On America During President Bush's Term

Fox News host Eric Bolling pulled a Rudy Giuliani on Wednesday, asserting that there were no terrorist attacks on "American soil" during President Bush's term in office.

Giuliani famously made a similar assertion in early 2010, saying, "we had no domestic attacks under Bush." Of course, the 9/11 attacks happened under Bush.

Bolling's misstatement came during a discussion on the network's Glenn Beck replacement show, "The Five." He and a panel—which included former Bush spokeswoman Dana Perino—were arguing about whether Bush had been guilty of "fear-mongering" during his tenure. Panelist Bob Beckel said that the former president had used fear-mongering around the non-existent weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. As he attempted to continue his point, Bolling cut him off and started to move on to the next segment.

"America was certainly safe between 2000 and 2008," he said. "I don't remember any attacks on American soil during that period of time." Nobody on the panel challenged this comment.

California Gov Signs Gay Education Bill

California governor Jerry Brown signed landmark legislation Thursday that mandates the contributions of LGBT people be included in school lesson plans.

The Fair, Accurate, Inclusive and Respectful Education Act was introduced by gay state senator Mark Leno partly as a way to combat bullying of students who are gay or perceived to be. The FAIR Act passed the Senate in April and the Assembly earlier this month. Aside from ensuring that the contributions of gays and gay rights are included in textbooks, the legislation adds sexual orientation to the state's existing antidiscrimination protections that prohibit bias in school activities, instruction, and instructional materials.

"Today we are making history in California by ensuring that our textbooks and instructional materials no longer exclude the contributions of LGBT Americans," Leno, a San Francisco Democrat, said in a statement. "Denying LGBT people their rightful place in history gives our young people an inaccurate and incomplete view of the world around them."

Romney Rejects Radical Anti-Gay Campaign Pledge

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney’s campaign said Tuesday that he will not sign a conservative Iowa Christian group’s far-reaching pledge opposing gay marriage, making him the first Republican presidential candidate to reject it.

Anti-LGBT Murder Rate Increased 23 Percent in 2010

The National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs said on Tuesday, July 12, that the rate of reported anti-LGBT murders increased 23 percent in 2010.

NCAVP affiliates told reporters that the coalition documented 27 anti-LGBT murders last year-versus the 22 that were reported in 2009. NCAVP said the 2010 statistic is the second highest yearly total the coalition has ever documented

ABC News Looks into Marcus Bachmann's 'Pray Away the Gay' Clinic

Much attention has been paid over the last couple of weeks to the clinic run by Michele Bachmann's husband Marcus, who has made statements that gays are "barbarians" who need to be "disciplined". The clinic has used public funds and says it can "cure" homosexuality through prayer.

It's now finally catching the attention of mainstream media, and Nightline ran an episode last night which featured a look at the undercover investigation done by Truth Wins Out's John Becker, published last week.

Bachmann Won't Say Whether Clinics Try to Convert Gays

Rep. Michele Bachmann claims it would be immoral to say whether her husband's clinics perform so-called reparative therapy on gay people.

"Those matters are protected by patient-client confidentiality," her campaign staff said in a statement issued to ABC's Nightline, which reported on the issue Monday night. "The Bachmanns are in no position ethically, legally, or morally to discuss specific courses of treatment concerning the clinic's patients."

Sally Kern to the defense of Ruben Diaz: ‘homosexuals mean for evil toward you’

Sally Kern, an Oklahoma state legislator known for her outspoken stance against homosexuality, has come to the defense of New York state Sen. Ruben Diaz Sr. (D-Bronx), a Pentecostal minister and the lone Democrat to vote against marriage equality.

On Monday, Diaz said he wears “a badge of honor” and proudly touted the outpouring of support he has received from the Christian community for his ‘nay” vote on gay marriage, including this message from Kern:

“Sen. Diaz, you are in my prayers. Three years ago I was the target of the homosexuals because of statements I made regarding the dangers of the homosexual agenda. So I know what you are going through.

Continue to stand strong on God’s Word. What the homosexuals mean for evil toward you, God will use for His glory, your good, and the benefit of others. God bless you and your family.”

Senate DOMA Hearing Scheduled for Next Week

The first Senate hearing on legislation to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act will be held July 20, Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Patrick Leahy announced Tuesday.

Did TOMS' Blake Mycoskie Really Not Know About Anti-Gay Focus on the Family?

Blake Mycoskie, founder of TOMS shoes, landed in a heap of trouble when news broke on Friday that he spoke at a June 30 Focus on the Family event in Orange County.

Focus on the Family's longtime anti-gay agenda is ugly and widely known.

Soulforce, the gay rights organization that exposes anti-gay religious groups, notes in a special report that FOTF has pushed such ideas that homosexuality is a mental disorder caused by family problems and bad parenting, that gays want to destroy marriage and the family, that same-gender parents are unfit and seek to hurt children, that homosexuality can be prevented by parents and cured through 'reparative therapy,' and that gays are sick, ungodly people who want 'special rights,' not civil rights.

Mycoskie, who lives on a sailboat in Los Angeles, says he simply didn't know about these things.

"Had I known the full extent of Focus on the Family's beliefs," Mycoskie writes in a recent blog post, "I would not have accepted the invitation to speak at their event."

TOMS has a large gay clientele -- take a walk in any gay neighborhood and you'll see someone wearing a pair of the slipper-like shoes -- and is now ripe for a very public boycott.

Folks on Facebook and elsewhere are willing to take Mycoskie's word that he made a mistake and didn't properly vet Focus on the Family.

Guess a handsome, rich guy with a friendly smile thinks he can charm his way out of this brouhaha, but his excuse doesn't quite pass the smell test.

First of all, in this age of Google -- when it's second nature to do a quick, Internet search of someone or some group -- it's hard to believe no one in his company didn't check out Focus on the Family.

Secondly, Mycoskie is no stranger to the evangelical Christian world, in which FOTF is widely known as a powerhouse.

In response to Mycoskie's apology, Focus on the Family points out in a recent blog post (or tries to throw him under the bus) that the TOMS founder visited and held a TOMS-related event at Texas-based Abilene Christian University last year.

That college refused to allow a gay-straight alliance to form and was featured in a recent New York Times article titled "Even on Religious Campuses, Students Fight for Gay Identity."

Mycoskie also accepted a 2010 invitation to speak with members of Willow Creek Community Church, a mega-church in Illinois led by senior pastor Bill Hybels. That church promotes the idea that gays can change and become straight. Willow Creek also suggests that if gays can't do that, they should be celibate.

Soulforce targeted Willow Creek and Bill Hybels during a 2008 national tour, which sought to educate leading evangelical ministers in the United States on gay issues.

Cult Leader Kills Boy, 4, Fearing Him to be Gay

A cult leader in Durham, North Carolina, killed the 4-year-old son of one of his wives, authorities say, because he thought the child might be gay. The cult leader is also accused of murdering a woman who was not capable of having children, North Carolina news station WRAL reported on July 8.

You love each other... I am going to play ping pong now

A child's reaction to a gay couple.

Rick Santorum Defends Signing Anti-Gay Marriage Pledge

Whoopi Goldberg Rips Michele Bachmann and the 'Marriage Vow'

Whoopi Goldberg ripped Michele Bachmann this morning for signing "The Marriage Vow -- A Declaration of Dependence Upon Marriage and Family", a requirement for earning the Iowa conservative group The Family Leader's endorsement. The pledge also requires opposition to Sharia law and banning pornography.

Chile to Consider Civil Unions for Gay Couples

The government of Chile appears prepared to consider legalizing civil unions for same-sex couples.

Bloomberg reports:

Chile’s government is preparing legislation that would legally recognize civil unions between gay couples, newspaper La Tercera reported today. The bill, which could be presented to Congress by next week, would grant legal rights to gay couples who have lived together for more than one year, the Santiago-based newspaper reported, citing a copy of the draft legislation it obtained.

Last month, Chilean President Sebastian Pinera said he was pushing for the law: "Mr. Pinera told Santiago-based El Mercurio newspaper he wanted to safeguard 'the dignity of those couples, whether of the opposite or even the same sex.'"

Church Won't Accept Cash From Catholics Who Voted for Equality

A Catholic bishop is refusing to accept a donation from a New York assemblyman in retribution for his backing of marriage equality.

As he'd been doing for 20 years, Assemblyman Joe Lentol, a Brooklyn Democrat, sent his annual $50 donation to a scholarship fund at the Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish School. But the New York Daily News reports that it got returned with word that Brooklyn bishop Nicholas DiMarzio won't allow any donations from politicians who voted for same-sex marriage.

“I was certainly surprised because I know the church needs the money and the school certainly needs the money for the scholarship program they run,” Lentol told Pix11 News.

The decision comes despite Archbishop Timothy Dolan's claim last week via his blog that "the real forces of intolerance were unmasked" by the marriage equality debate, and he pointed a finger at proponents of the bill.

The science on whether being gay is a choice ‘is in dispute’

Republican Presidential candidate Tim Pawlenty, appearing Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” said that “the science” on whether being gay is a choice is “in dispute.”

“There’s no scientific conclusion that [being gay] is genetic. We don’t know that,” Pawlenty said.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Presbyterian Church begins ordaining openly gay clergy

The Presbyterian Church on Sunday became the largest Christian denomination to ordain openly gay clergy, as a measure takes effect that will allow gay men and women in same-sex relationships to become ministers.

The new policy goes into effect today after the church’s assembly and 97 of the denomination’s 173 presbyteries approved the change to the church’s constitution on May 10, to allow the ordination of gays as ministers, elders and deacons.

Gays of Thunder

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Daniel Radcliffe: Trevor Hero Award Acceptance Speech

U.S. House approves anti-gay DOMA amendment to defense appropriations bill

he U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday voted in favor of an anti-gay amendment to the defense appropriations bill that reaffirms the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) as component of the Pentagon spending legislation.

The amendment, introduced by Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) was approved by a vote of 248-175, and reads:

“The proposed amendment simply expresses the intent of Congress that in all military policies, regulations, programs, and matters involving benefits, funds may not be used for activities in contravention of the Defense of Marriage Act.”

“This amendment is completely unnecessary and only serves to cloud the debate over ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ repeal by pointlessly injecting the issue of marriage equality into the conversation,” said Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese.

“Since Pentagon officials have made it clear that they are bound by DOMA like every other federal agency, it’s puzzling why Rep. Foxx would question whether our military leaders understand this point. House Republican leaders seem to have no end to their desire to play politics with lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people instead of tackling real problems. It will be up to the Senate to reject the House’s return to using LGBT Americans as a wedge issue,” he said.

The appropriations bill differs from the defense authorization bill in that the appropriations bill confers budget authority on federal agencies.

The House version of the defense authorization bill contained a similar amendment reaffirming the Defense of Marriage Act, and two other anti-gay measures. The Senate Armed Services Committee, however, dropped those provisions in its version of the legislation.

On July 8, 2010, a federal judge struck down the Defense of Marriage Act as unconstitutional.

The Obama Administration has stopped defending DOMA in federal court, although the House GOP leadership has since taken steps to defend the law.

Michele Bachmann first GOP presidential hopeful to sign anti-gay pledge

A prominent Iowa social conservative group called “The Family Leader” has convinced Presidential candidate Michele Bachmann to sign a pledge to uphold “traditional marriage” and ban all forms of pornography.


Bachmann signed the pledge Thursday, becoming the first Republican presidential candidate to do so. Tim Pawlenty was said to be “reviewing” the pledge.

The pledge includes 14 bullet points that signers must agree to. Signers agree to oppose any “redefinition of marriage,” and the pledge likens same-sex couples to polygamists and adulterers:


“Vigorous opposition to any redefinition of the Institution of Marriage . . . through statutory, bureaucratic, or court imposed recognition of intimate unions which are bigamous, polygamous, polyandrous, same-sex.”

The pledge also asserts that homosexuality is a choice, not an innate characteristic.

A footnote also indicates the belief that homosexuality is a public health risk akin to second hand smoking that decreases life expectancy.

Signers agree that female pornography should be banned in an effort to protect women from “seduction into promiscuity and all forms of pornography . . . and other types of coercion or stolen innocence.”

Senate Committee to Hold Hearing on DOMA Repeal

The Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a first-ever hearing on efforts to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act “in the coming weeks,” committee chair Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont announced Thursday.

A committee spokeswoman said a date has yet to be set for the hearing on the Respect for Marriage Act, introduced in March by Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California and currently supported by 25 senate cosponsors, including Leahy and New York senator Kirsten Gillibrand. A witness list for the hearing, which will be webcast, has not been finalized.

“There are tens of thousands of legally married same-sex couples in the United States, and more than 18,000 in my home state of California alone,” Feinstein said at a March news conference on the bill’s introduction. “These couples live their lives like all married people; they share the bills, they raise children together and they care for each other in good times and bad, in sickness and in health, until death do they part. But because of DOMA, they have been denied federal protections. It is time to right this wrong.”

Sen. Gillibrand said of the Thursday announcement, “If Democrats and Republicans can come together to do what’s right in New York, I know we can do the same in Congress to do what’s right for all of America. Now is the time to act on the federal level.”

The judiciary hearing is titled “S.598, The Respect for Marriage Act: Assessing the Impact of DOMA on American Families."

Connecticut Transgender Protections Signed By Governor

Connecticut governor Dan Malloy signed HB 6599 into law Tuesday, making his state the 15th to protect transgender people from discrimination.

Anti-gay preacher claims assault after Grandma kisses him at NC gay pride

A North Carolina woman and gay rights supporter has been charged with assault after she kissed an anti-gay, bible thumping preacher at an LGBT pride event in North Carolina last weekend.




Joan Parker admits she kissed a preacher on the cheek at the Saturday event in Salisbury, N.C., proclaimed by the mayor as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Pride Day.

“He was just waving his arms and has a Bible in one hand, up and down, and screaming at the top of his lungs, ‘sodomites’ and ‘you’re going to hell,’” Parker said in a phone interview with The Associated Press.

“I thought he needed a hug. So I gave him a hug.”

“He claims I kissed him on the lips, and he’s a damned liar,” said Parker. “I believe I did kiss him on his cheek.”

Now the preacher, 49-year-old James Edward Belcher of Taylorsville, N.C. — minister at the New Light Baptist Church No. 2 in Millers Creek, N.C. — is filing charges against the 74-year old woman.

Belcher contends the kiss “was just one of many attempts to silence the preaching to those in need of salvation who practice a death style that they call a lifestyle.”

“If I hadn’t turned my head, I’d have gotten it right on my mouth,” he said.

Police chief Rory Collins said he hadn’t expected Belcher to press charges, but concedes he has every right to. “She might disagree with this, but it wasn’t done as a show of affection,” he said. “It was an unwanted touching.”

Parker is being charged with simple assault which is a misdemeanor.

Bell High School GSA Video

This film was created by a straight ally from Bell High School. It was entered into the school's Film Festival but was not allowed to be viewed.

Court Orders Immediate Halt to ’Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’

A federal appeals court ordered the U.S. government on Wednesday to immediately cease enforcing the longstanding ban on openly gay members of the military.

In a brief two-page order, a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco said the "don’t ask, don’t tell" policy must be lifted now that the Obama administration has concluded it’s unconstitutional to treat gay Americans differently under the law.

Jamie Oliver Serves LAUSD Food To LA's Top Chefs

In the final episode of this year's Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution, Oliver pulls a fast one on some of the biggest chefs in the city.

Oliver lures chefs Amy Pressman of Short Order, Suzanne Tracht of Jar, Eric Greenspan of The Foundry On Melrose, and Ben Ford of Ford's Filling Station (just to name a few) to Rustic Canyon to eat some of the food Oliver is famous for -- "rustic comfort food," as Ford puts it.

Instead, Oliver serves up some of the LAUSD cafeteria's worst offenders: nachos, cheeseburgers, and corn dogs, from the looks of it. And the chefs weren't pleased.

Tract said her (unidentifiable) dish was "hard to look at, let alone smell!" Of the burger, chef Evan Funke of Rustic Canyon says, "It looks super rough. Honestly I wouldn't feed this to my dog." And Chef Ford takes one look at his chicken nuggets before declaring, "I don't know, I can't eat this. This is gross."

Less shocked, chef Seth Greenburg (of The Penthouse) commented, "I grew up in LAUSD, and this looks better than anything I was ever served."

All the gag reflexes and grossed-out faces are enough to convince the group to pledge support to the Food Revolution, both for the rest of the day and beyond the show.

Since the show taped, LAUSD has announced a new cafeteria menu for next year, although the LA Times writes that school officials won't attribute the changes to Oliver's influence. The district is removing chocolate- and strawberry-flavored milk from its menus by July 1, and will introduce multiple healthier meal options for the upcoming school year.

AFA warn companies: gays not a good ‘employment risk’

Linda Harvey, founder of the anti-gay Mission America, is working overtime to earn her “hate monger” badge, this time inviting Gary Glenn of the American Family Association (AFA) to her radio show to warn companies now to hire gay employees.

Glenn: What ridiculous folly to suggest that only those individuals who engage in homosexual behavior given all of its severe medical consequences constitute the best and the brightest. It’s not really bright to engage in behavior that puts you at dramatically higher risk of mental illness and substance abuse and AIDS and cancer and hepatitis, and according to various sources, premature death. So to suggest that engaging in that type of behavior defines someone as the best and brightest, which seems to be the line coming out of corporate America, is just ridiculous.

Harvey: You’re right. And higher rates of domestic violence and unstable relationships. I would not think of a homosexual person as a good employment risk, I just wouldn’t.

Previously, Harvey called the “It Gets Better Project” “wrong,” “evil” and “dark,” and it’s creator Dan Savage “a radical and vicious, vicious, vulgar, profane, anti-Christian,” and said marriage equality will lead to “a perpetual pansexual pagan party”

The AFA, of course, has already earned it’s hate credentials, being labeled a “certified hate group” by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

California Gay History Bill Headed To Governor

California lawmakers on Tuesday sent the governor a bill that would make the state the first requiring public schools to include the contributions of gays and lesbians in social studies curriculum.

The bill, passed on a party-line vote, adds lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people as well as people with disabilities to the list of groups that schools must include in the lessons. It also would prohibit material that reflects adversely on gays.

Democratic Assemblyman Tom Ammiano of San Francisco says SB48 is crucial because of the bullying that happens to gay students. Republicans called it a well-intentioned but ill-conceived bill and raised concerns that it would indoctrinate children to accept homosexuality.

"This bill will require California schools to present a more accurate and nuanced view of American history in our social science curriculum by recognizing the accomplishments of groups that are not often recognized," said Assembly Speaker John Perez, the first openly gay speaker of the California Assembly.

The bill now goes to Gov. Jerry Brown, a Democrat, who has not said whether he would sign it. Former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed a similar bill in 2006.

Assemblyman Tim Donnelly, a Republican from Twin Peaks, said he was offended as a Christian that the bill was being used to promote a "homosexual agenda" in public schools.

"I think it's one thing to say that we should be tolerant," Donnelly said. "It is something else altogether to say that my children are going to be taught that this lifestyle is good."

California law already requires schools to teach about women, African Americans, Mexican Americans, entrepreneurs, Asian Americans, European Americans, American Indians and labor. The Legislature over the years also has prescribed specific lessons about the Irish potato famine and the Holocaust, among other topics.

SB48 would require, as soon as the 2013-2014 school year, the California Board of Education and local school districts to adopt textbooks and other teaching materials that cover the contributions and roles of sexual minorities.

India's Health Minister Warns That Gays Are a "Disease"

Gay sex "should not exist" and is "completely unnatural," according to India's health minister, who used a conference on AIDS in New Delhi Monday to make his point.

A video of his speech is circulating online. In it he blames countries such as the United States for exporting the "disease" to India.

"Unfortunately, this disease where a man has sex with another man, found more in the developed world, has spread in our country," said Ghulam Nabi Azad in the speech. "Gay sex is completely unnatural — it should not exist, but it does."

Estimates say that Azad's country has approximately 2.5 million people living with HIV, a problem he seemed to blame on gay people and how hard it is to find them.

"There's a substantial number of such people in our country, men who have sex with men, but it is difficult to trace them, so we haven't been able to make much progress in identifying them," he said.

Gay Kisses Sweeten Glee Concert

Two surprise same-sex kisses were highlights of the final concert in the Glee tour Sunday in Ireland.

During a skit in the show, Brittany (Heather Morris), being disappointed and left with no one to kiss after she finds out Blaine (Darren Criss) is gay, is compensated when Santana (Naya Rivera) shows up and kisses her, Just Jared reports. After they leave the stage, Criss surprises Chris Colfer, in character as Kurt, with a kiss as well.

Parents of Fallen Gay Patriot to Minnesota Voters: Don’t Forget Our Son’s Sacrifice

When voters in Minnesota go to the ballot box next year and cast their ballots on the civil rights of their gay and lesbian fellow citizens, the parents of a fallen gay patriot hope that they remember their son, killed in action in Kandahar last February, reported British newspaper the Daily Mail on July 4.

31-year-old Andrew Wilfahrt was from Minnesota. He was as openly gay as he could be in the military: His fellow troops knew, and didn’t care. He was the first servicemember known to be gay who was killed following President Obama’s signing of a bill to repeal the anti-gay law that imposes the penalty of discharge from the service on GLTB troops who do not keep the truth about their sexuality a closely guarded secret.

That law, "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell" (DADT), was repealed late last year. It remains in effect, however, until 60 days after the President, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the Defense Secretary all certify that the U.S. military is ready for full integration.

That certification is not expected until mid-summer or later.

As a high schooler, Andrew Wilfahrt stood up in the face of anti-gay bullying from schoolmates, a July 2 CNN article reported.

He was also a peace activist. But at age 29, Wilfahrt signed up for military service in the Army. Even before boot camp, he subjected himself to a regimen of physical training -- part of which was meant to eradicate overt signs that he was gay. Wilfahrt practiced a different walk and a deeper, more "masculine" voice, the CNN article reported, knowing that as a gay man he could be tossed out of the military: Not for his conduct, but rather simply for being who he was.

But the exercises in acting heterosexual weren’t needed, as it turned out. Wilfahrt scored perfectly on his Army aptitude test; he impressed his superiors; he was admired and trusted by his peers, many of whom came to know that he was gay, but didn’t care.

When Wilfahrt was killed by an IED, his father wanted to make sure that there was no cover-up going on. As the CNN article put it, "He wanted to know for sure that this wasn’t a behind-the-shed killing of the gay guy."

In fact, Wilfahrt’s death was in the line of duty, as the deaths of so many other brave Americans in uniform have been. Now his parents hope that voters in their state will factor their son’s willingness to fight and die for his country when they weigh in on the freedoms of gay and lesbian families next year.

Minnesota voters will face a ballot initiative to write anti-gay language into the state’s bedrock law by changing the constitution to say that marriage will be denied to all except for heterosexual couples.

The campaign to pass the initiative is expected to be rough and divisive, with anti-gay ads designed to appeal to voters’ distrust of sexual minorities with claims that do not always represent the facts.

Whatever claims anti-gay activists may toss at voters, this much is true: Andrew Wilfahrt served with such distinction that after his death, his fellow servicemembers named a combat outpost near Kandahar in his honor.

Equality advocates note that in recent years, social acceptance of GLBTs and their families has risen dramatically. A recent poll showed that for the first time ever, a slim majority of American voters favor same-sex marriage for gay and lesbian families that wish to avail themselves of the legal protections and obligations that marriage entails. Equality advocates are hopeful that Minnesotans will make history by rejecting the anti-gay ballot initiative.

But if Minnesota follows the historical precedent set by 31 other states, gay and lesbian families there will see marriage snatched beyond their legal grasp for decades, perhaps longer. Their contributions to society -- and even the ultimate sacrifice by gay Minnesotans in uniform like Andrew Wilfahrt -- will be ignored and forgotten in the heat of a campaign designed to obstruct legal parity for families formed by two people of the same gender.

"The Wilfahrts are asking people to remember their son’s service, and to remember his infectious smile," the Mail article said. "They are asking voters in Minnesota to reject a change to the state constitution that would prohibit citizens like Andrew Wilfahrt from marrying the love of their life.

"They say they are ready to take the fight all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court if they have to," the article added.

"In a state that has produced GOP presidential hopefuls Michele Bachmann and Tim Pawlenty -- who have made careers fighting gay marriage -- these parents of an American hero present a major challenge to the establishment," the CNN article noted.

"Andrew never denied his sexuality," the CNN article said. "But like so many, he struggled with what it means to be gay in America."

"I hope my son didn’t die for human beings, for Americans, for Minnesotans who would deny him civil rights," Wilfahrt’s father, Jeff Wilfahrt, told a crowd at the Minnesota state house as state lawmakers mulled allowing the anti-gay initiative to appear on the 2012 ballot.

But the Republican-dominated Minnesota legislature allowed the measure to be slated as a ballot initiative, leaving the rights of a minority once again to the tender mercies of the general public.

The irony is that heterosexual American families may have Wilfahrt and other like him to thank. The CNN article noted that before he signed up, Wilfahrt sought out a gay former Marine to ask for his insight into serving as a gay man.

Jon Stewart Mocks Mark Halperin's Obama Gaffe

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Human Rights Campaign Shop Vandalized by Radical LGBT Group

A group calling itself 'The Right Honorable Wicked Stepmothers’ Traveling, Drinking and Debating Society and Men’s Auxiliary' vandalized the HRC Store in Washington D.C.'s Dupont Circle on Tuesday night with pink paint, coating the windows and writing the word "Stonewall" across the front sidewalk, the Washington Blade reports.

The group left a lengthy message on the website Pastebin.com outlining its reasons for doing so:

This week marks the 42nd anniversary of the Stonewall Riots...

...The modern LGBT movement owes its success to three days of smashing, burning, punching, and kicking--all of it happily indiscriminate--and the confrontational tactics of groups like ACT-UP that followed in the decades since. Yet, somehow we've forgotten our riotous roots.

The group also explained why it was targeting its own community:

Why, you're asking, did we specifically target the HRC, a massive national gay rights non-profit as opposed to vomiting urine on Rick Santorum or something equally fun?

Put simply, they suck. What do they suck? Cash. Lots of it.

The HRC rakes in something approaching 50 million dollars a year in revenue--their executive director, Joe Salmonellamayonaisemanese pulls in a salary of several hundred grand. What have we gotten out of this bloated carcass? Not a thing worth mentioning and every now and then, they eagerly sell trans people up the river. Seriously, this is an organization that hordes money and does nothing useful. It's a sad, sick dinosaur.

Michele Bachmann’s therapist husband: gays are ‘barbarians’ who need to be ‘educated, disciplined’

The following audio clip is from Michelle Bachmann’s therapist husband, Marcus Bachmann.

“We have to understand: barbarians [gays] need to be educated. They need to be disciplined. Just because someone feels it or thinks it doesn’t mean that we are supposed to go down that road. That’s what is called the sinful nature. We have a responsibility as parents and as authority figures not to encourage such thoughts and feelings from moving into the action steps.

“And let’s face it: what is our culture, what is our public education system doing today? They are giving full, wide-open doors to children, not only giving encouragement to think it but to encourage action steps. That’s why when we understand what truly is the percentage of homosexuals in this country, it is small. But by these open doors, I can see and we are experiencing, that it is starting to increase.”