Best News Bloopers Of 2012

Two Republican members of the U.S. House have announced their support for repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), the federal law that defines marriage as between one man and one woman.

U.S. Rep. Charles Bass of New Hampshire on Thursday became the third GOP House member and the second within the past week to support the Respect for Marriage Act, legislation that would repeal DOMA. Bass’ support is largely symbolic, however, as on Nov. 6 he lost his re-election bid to Democrat Ann McLane Kuster.

Reps. Charles Bass (left) and Richard Hanna.

Last week, U.S. Rep. Richard Hanna, a first-term incumbent from upstate New York, also announced his co-sponsorship of the bill in a statement provided to The Advocate.

The 9 Wildest Things Fox News Said In 2012

Episcopal Church Break-Up Over Gay Clergy Leads To Colossal Legal Battle

A schism in the Episcopal Church over gay clergy has lead to one of the largest church-property disputes in U.S. history.

The Texas Supreme Court will decide who owns more than 50 Fort Worth-area churches, since the Fort Worth Episcopal diocese is no longer affiliated with the mother church. (The regional group left over the ordination of openly gay New Hampshire bishop Gene Robinson and other “liberal” moves.)

Conservative Bishop Jack Iker, who led the schism five years ago, claims his diocese holds the deeds to all church properties, which are valued at more than $100,000. But the national church filed a lawsuit in 2009, claiming the breakaway group couldn’t just take the land and buildings with it. 

A district judge had originally given Iker 30 days to turn over the deeds to the national church, but that order was put on hold as the Fort Worth sect files an appeal.

The War on Christmas

America's Best Christian, Mrs. Betty Bowers, FoxNews' embedded reporter in the War on Christmas, is back from the battlefield: A local mall.

Katy Perry Rejected Antigay Rhetoric And Became an Ally

Pop singer Katy Perry accepted an award for being an ally for LGBT youth from The Trevor Project in Los Angeles during the organization's annual gala, Trevor Live.

In the video, she describes how her own thoughts about the LGBT community have evolved, and she explains how meaningful her time spent volunteering for The Trevor Project has been.

"I grew up in a very intolerant environment," she said. "For a long time, I was told that people who were lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender or questioning were an abomination. But when I started to ask questions, it was hard to find an answer that made rational sense from the bubble around me."

Same-Sex Marriage and Lack of God in Schools Cause of Sandy Hook Shooting

Several conservative Christian leaders across the nation are trying to make sense of Friday's deadly shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Conn., which lead to the murders of 26 people — 20 of them children — and they're pointing the finger at a "Godless" nation that they believe is too accepting of liberal evils like abortion and marriage equality.

It all started with former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee. Just hours after news of the massacre broke on Friday, Huckabee said the tragedy should come as no surprise to a culture that has "systematically removed God from our schools." Huckabee clarified his statements on his Fox News program Sunday, saying he didn't really think that prayer in schools would have prevented the massacre, "but we've created an atmosphere in this country where the only time you want to invoke God's name is after the tragedy," according to The Huffington Post. 

The antigay American Family Association's Bryan Fischer echoed Huckabee's claims, telling listeners on his AFA radio show that God could have protected the victims of the massacre but declined to do so because "God is not going to go where he is not wanted," according to video posted on LGBT blog Towleroad.  

On Monday, Focus on the Family founder James Dobson took to the airwaves to blame America's acceptance of marriage equality and abortion specifically for the violence in Connecticut. Speaking on his morning radio show, Dobson outlined a litany of sins that he said have driven God away from America. 

Gender-Neutral Easy-Bake Oven Announced By Hasbro Following 13-Year-Old's Petition

Hasbro says it will soon reveal a gender-neutral Easy-Bake Oven after meeting with a New Jersey girl who started a campaign calling on the toy maker to make one that appeals to all kids.

McKenna Pope, 13, of Garfield, N.J., got more than 40,000 signatures on her online petition at Change.org and the support of celebrity chefs including Bobby Flay, who backed her call for Hasbro to make a gender-neutral oven and to include boys in the ads.

She was prompted to start the petition after shopping for an Easy-Bake as a Christmas present for her 4-year-old brother, Gavyn Boscio, and finding them only in purple and pink.

Hasbro invited McKenna and her family to its Pawtucket, R.I., headquarters to meet with its Easy-Bake team, and on Monday, they drove to Rhode Island from New Jersey. During the meeting, Hasbro executives showed off a prototype of their newest Easy-Bake: one that's black, silver and blue.

Hasbro has been working on the new color scheme and design for about 18 months, and decided to invite McKenna to see it and offer her thoughts, said John Frascotti, Hasbro's chief marketing officer.

McKenna said the company is doing everything she asked, including putting boys in the ads.

USMC Captain Matthew Phelps Proposes To Boyfriend At White House

: Over the weekend U.S. Marine Corps captain Matthew Phelps proposed to his partner, Ben Schock, at the White House. On his blog Phelps, who’s a board member at the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, thanked the Obamas for “lending” their home for the occasion. “The only thing on my mind was making it a memorable and unforgettable night for Ben,” he added.

Pope Denounces Gay Marriage As End Of Society In World Day Of Peace Message

"There is also a need to acknowledge and promote the natural structure of marriage as the union of a man and a woman in the face of attempts to make it juridically equivalent to radically different types of union. Such attempts actually harm and help to destabilize marriage, obscuring its specific nature and its indispensable role in society.These principles are not truths of faith, nor are they simply a corollary of the right to religious freedom. They are inscribed in human nature itself, accessible to reason and thus common to all humanity. The Church’s efforts to promote them are not therefore confessional in character, but addressed to all people, whatever their religious affiliation. Efforts of this kind are all the more necessary the more these principles are denied or misunderstood, since this constitutes an offence against the truth of the human person, with serious harm to justice and peace.”

– From Pope Benedict XVI‘s message for World Day of Peace 2013 (on January 1) entitled “Blessed Are the Peacemakers,”

Gay Marriage Ahead Of Supreme Court Hearings

The Supreme Court is just now getting around to hearing cases on gay marriage, which makes one thing very clear: progress is super slow.

Jon Stewart put a very fine point on it Thursday night with his "LGBTQ Watch: S#@t Just Got Real Edition", where he top-lined the Prop 8 and DOMA cases that will soon go before the nation's highest court.

ILLINOIS LAWMAKERS PUSHING FOR JANUARY VOTE ON MARRIAGE EQUALITY

There's big marriage equality news developing in Illinois, where pro-equality lawmakers say they may vote on a proposed law during January's lame duck session, the period before freshly elected legislators enter office.

From Chicago Business:

After counting heads and consulting with legislative leaders, the chief sponsors of a bill to permit same-sex couples to get married in the state this morning disclosed they intend to push for a vote in the General Assembly's lame-duck session, which will occur over two weeks just after New Year's.

And, in an indication of how big a campaign the pro side is launching, they've hired the firm founded by top presidential adviser David Axelrod to help them with media, organization and outreach to potential supporters, including corporate officials.

“I’m Not Saying Jesus Was Gay, But…”

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Fresh Squeezed Take On Ex-Gay Therapy

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Justice Antonin Scalia’s 7 worst anti-gay statements

On Friday, the Supreme Court agreed to hear two landmark cases on marriage equality. Yesterday, Justice Antonin Scalia reminded us again why gay rights advocates, to put it mildly, aren’t counting on his vote.

Scalia is the Supreme Court’s most outspoken opponent of gay rights. He led the dissent to the two major gay rights decisions of his tenure on the Court, the decisions to strike down Texas’ criminal sodomy law and to overturn Colorado’s ban on local anti-discrimination measures.

Here are seven of his most egregious anti-gay statements:

• Compares bans on homosexuality to bans on murder: On Monday, Scalia asked a gay law student, “If we cannot have moral feelings against homosexuality, can we have it against murder? Can we have it against other things?”
•  …and to bans on polygamy and animal cruelty: In his dissent to the Colorado case,Romer v. Evans, Scalia wrote, “But I had thought that one could consider certain conduct reprehensible--murder, for example, or polygamy, or cruelty to animals--and could exhibit even 'animus' toward such conduct. Surely that is the only sort of ‘animus’ at issue here: moral disapproval of homosexual conduct, the same sort of moral disapproval that produced the centuries old criminal laws that we held constitutional in Bowers.”
• Defends employment and housing discrimination: In his dissent to Lawrence, the decision that overturned Texas’ criminal sodomy law, Scalia went even further, justifying all kinds of discrimination against gays and lesbians: “Many Americans do not want persons who openly engage in homosexual conduct as partners in their business, as scoutmasters for their children, as teachers in their children’s schools, or as boarders in their home. They view this as protecting themselves and their families from a lifestyle that they believe to be immoral and destructive. The Court views it as ‘discrimination’ which it is the function of our judgments to deter.”
• Says decision on “homosexual sodomy” was “easy” because it's justified by long history of anti-gay discrimination: In a talk at the American Enterprise Institute earlier this year, Scalia dismissed decisions on abortion, the death penalty and “homosexual sodomy” as “easy”: “The death penalty? Give me a break. It’s easy. Abortion? Absolutely easy. Nobody ever thought the Constitution prevented restrictions on abortion,” he said. “Homosexual sodomy? Come on. For 200 years, it was criminal in every state.”
• Says domestic partners have no more rights than “long time roommates”:  In his dissent in Romer, Scalia dismissed the idea that a law banning benefits for same-sex domestic partners would be discriminatory,saying the law “would prevent the State or any municipality from making death benefit payments to the ‘life partner’ of a homosexual when it does not make such payments to the long time roommate of a nonhomosexual employee.”
• Says gay rights are a concern of “the elite”: In his Romer dissent, Scalia lashes out at the majority that has upheld gay rights: “This Court has no business imposing upon all Americans the resolution favored by the elite class from which the Members of this institution are selected, pronouncing that 'animosity' toward homosexuality is evil. “
• Accuses those who disagree with him of supporting the “homosexual agenda”: Lifting a talking point straight from the far right, Scalia accused the majority in Lawrence of being in the thrall of the “homosexual agenda”: “Today’s opinion is the product of a Court, which is the product of a law-profession culture, that has largely signed on to the so-called homosexual agenda, by which I mean the agenda promoted by some homosexual activists directed at eliminating the moral opprobrium that has traditionally attached to homosexual conduct.”

GROUP OF SCIENTISTS BELIEVE THEY HAVE UNLOCKED HEREDITARY QUESTION OF WHY PEOPLE ARE GAY

A group of scientists from the National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis say they believe they have the answer to why people are gay, and believe it is an "epigenetic" one linking fathers to lesbian daughters and mothers to gay sons. And they say they can prove whether their theory is right within six months, US News reports:

Long thought to have some sort of hereditary link, a group of scientists suggested Tuesday that homosexuality is linked to epi-marks — extra layers of information that control how certain genes are expressed. These epi-marks are usually, but not always, "erased" between generations. In homosexuals, these epi-marks aren't erased — they're passed from father-to-daughter or mother-to-son, explains William Rice, an evolutionary biologist at the University of California Santa Barbara and lead author of the study.

Justice Scalia Says Constitution is “Dead, Dead, Dead, Dead”

Scalia spoke Monday at Princeton University in New Jersey, where gay freshman Duncan Hosie asked about his dissent in the 2003 Lawrence v. Texas decision, in which he compared laws that ban sodomy to those prohibiting bestiality and murder. The question received more applause than Scalia’s speech, according to the Associated Press.Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia dismissed the notion of the U.S. Constitution as a “living document” that changes with the times, instead describing the bedrock of American law as “dead, dead, dead, dead” in advance of major decisions about marriage equality.

"I don't think it's necessary, but I think it's effective," said Scalia of the bans. He said that he was not equating sodomy with murder, but rather drawing a parallel between the prohibitions on both acts.  

"It's a form of argument that I thought you would have known, which is called the 'reduction to the absurd,'" he told Hosie, who is from San Francisco. "If we cannot have moral feelings against homosexuality, can we have it against murder? Can we have it against other things?"

Scalia answered questions following a lecture to promote his new book, Reading Law. As for the law, Scalia said the Constitution was already “flexible” enough, in his view.

"My Constitution is a very flexible one," he said. "There's nothing in there about abortion. It's up to the citizens. ... The same with the death penalty."

"It isn't a living document," he said. "It's dead, dead, dead, dead."

DOMA Will Be Overturned

Yesterday, conservative pundits and strategists alike proclaimed the anti-gay marriage sentiment in America is “quite literally…dying” and it’s just “common sense” to embrace same-sex marriage. Now, Maggie Gallagher has proclaimed that she believes DOMA, the Defense of Marriage Act of 1996 that bans the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriages, will be overturned by the Supreme Court.

“I think [Justice Anthony] Kennedy will overturn DOMA (perhaps joined by Roberts) and then uphold the right of states to refuse to accept gay marriage (i.e. uphold Prop 8),” she writes in response to a lazy David Blankenhorn blog post.

Illinois governor hopes marriage equality bill goes forward next month

Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn told reporters Monday he hopes Illinois lawmakers will send a marriage equality bill to his desk during the early January lame duck session.

Lately, LGBT rights activists have been signaling that a bill will be called to vote during the brief period of time before the newly-elected state legislators are sworn in Jan. 9 — as soon as they know it has enough votes to pass.

“I hope that bill goes forward,” Quinn said when asked about the bill, reports the Chicago Tribune. “It’s the House that probably the key arena at this time, and I think we’ll see how the members look at that issue. They should study it carefully and vote their conscience.”

NOM's Brian Brown is 'Very Happy' That the Supreme Court Took the Prop 8 Case

NOM's Brian Brown tells FOX News he is looking forward to having the Supreme Court "correct some wrongs that happened" in the 9th Circuit Court by taking the Prop 8 case. Elizabeth Wydra, the chief counsel for the Constitutional Accountability Center, comes on and tells Brown how the Constitution works
.

'THE OPPOSITION TO GAY MARRIAGE IS DYING'

More polls are showing popular opinion shifting toward marriage equality. Public Policy Polling found majorities in Oregon (54%) and New Jersey (53%) and a near majority in Illinois (47%) support extending marriage to same-sex couples. In Illinois, 58% of people under 45 years old say yes to gay weddings. Meanwhile, Politico found 40% of Americans support letting gays and lesbians marry. Again, young people are leading the way.

From today's Politico survey: "A full 63 percent of 18-to-29-year-olds backed marriage...It dropped off to 36 percent support among both 30-to-44-year-olds and 45-to-59-year-olds. Only three in 10 seniors supported gay marriage."

Asked about such numbers and the Supreme Court's decision to hear two cases on marriage equality, journalist George Will broke it down like this: all the seniors brought up pre-gay rights are kicking the bucket.

"There is something like an emerging consensus," he said on ABC News' This Week. "Quite literally, the opposition to gay marriage is dying. It’s old people."

MERCK FOUNDATION SUSPENDS FUNDING TO BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA OVER ITS ANTI-GAY POLICIES

The Merck Foundation has joined Intel and UPS in cutting off funds to the Boy Scouts of America over the group's anti-gay policies

The Merck Foundation's Brian Grill penned a letter outlining the decision, which reads in part:

"The Merck Foundation believes that it is critical to honor and support a foundational policy of diversity and inclusion in all funding decisions. Recently, the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) restated its policy that excludes members on the basis of sexual orientation. The BSA’s policy of exclusion directly conflicts with the Merck Foundation’s giving guidelines.

We know that many of you have personally contributed to the BSA and that this decision may be upsetting to some of you. However, we cannot continue to provide support to an organization with a policy that is contrary to one of our core beliefs. We remain ready and willing to re-consider our funding position in the event that the BSA were to revise its policy."

Prop 8 attorneys confident court will strike down marriage ban

The organizers behind the lawsuit challenging California’s Proposition 8 are excited and optimistic about the prospects for a Supreme Court ruling against the anti-gay measure as one attorney on the team said he hopes the Obama administration will assist in the effort.

Ted Olson, a co-counsel in the Prop 8 lawsuit, made the remarks during a conference call on Friday in response to a question from Politico’s Josh Gerstein. Olson said a friend-of-the-court brief from the Justice Department would have “great effect” in the effort to overturn Prop 8.

"I would hate to predict what the United States government is doing, but given the stand the president of the United States and the attorney general of the United States made with respect to marriage equality, we would certainly hope that they would participate,” Olson said. “And I’m quite confident that if they did participate, they would support our position in this case because the denial of equal rights is subject to close scrutiny by the courts and cannot withstand that scrutiny.”

UC BERKELEY STUDENT GOVERNMENT DEMANDS SCHOOL BAN SALVATION ARMY FROM CAMPUS FOR ITS BIAS AGAINST GAYS

The UC Berkeley Student Government has passed a resolution demanding that the school ban the Salvation Army from campus over its bias against gays, Campus Reform reports:

The resolution, cleared on November 14, accuses the charity of openly discriminating against gay individuals.

“Salvation Army church services, including charity services, are available only to people ‘who accept and abide by the Salvation Army’s doctrine and discipline,’ which excludes homosexuality,” reads the bill, SB 176.

In the resolution, the student body also demands school administrators revoke the Salvation Army’s permit, which currently allows them to collect donations on the Berkeley campus.

“Allowing the Salvation Army to collect donations on campus is a form of financial assistance that empowers the organization to spend the money it raises here in order to discriminate and advocate discrimination against queer people,” it adds.

GOP Should Give In To Obama On Taxes: 'We Lost The Election'

Supreme Court to Hear Prop 8, DOMA Cases

The Supreme Court will hear marriage equality cases including the challenge to Proposition 8 and an elderly lesbian widow’s challenge to the Defense of Marriage Act.

The high court indicated its plan in orders released Friday afternoon,SCOTUSblog reports.

The court has been asked to hear 11 petitions related to marriage equality, including cases about Proposition 8, same-sex domestic partnerships in Arizona, the Nevada constitutional ban, and eight challenges to the Defense of Marriage Act. The cases challenge the section of the 1996 law that prohibits the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriages.

Chad Griffin is now president of the Human Rights Campaign but co-founded American Foundation for Equal Rights, the group that brought the Prop. 8 court challenge.

"The passage of Proposition 8 caused heartbreak for so many Americans," Griffin said in a statement, "but today’s announcement gives hope that we will see a landmark Supreme Court ruling for marriage this term."

HRC also applauded the possibility DOMA could fall.

“I am confident that the Justices will find this law patently unconstitutional and the federal government will get out of the business of picking which marriages it likes and which it doesn’t," said Griffin.

Bullying Led To Gay Michigan Teen's Suicide

Josh Pacheco was a junior at Linden High School in Fenton, Mich., where he loved theater, his Advanced Placement history class, and his friends and family, his mother Lynette Capehart told Michigan Live. But the "sensitive" teen was also the target of relentless antigay bullying, which his parents believe led the 17-year-old to commit suicide on November 27.

Pacheco came out as gay to his mother just two months before he died, Capehart told MLive. Capehart and her husband, Pacheco's stepfather, didn't know the extent to which their son was bullied, being shoved into lockers and harassed both in and outside of school. Their first indication was when Pacheco returned from a homecoming dance on October 6 in tears, but wouldn't elaborate on why he was upset.

"He was having problems with bullying," Capehart said. "He didn't really want to tell us very much. It was very disheartening to me."

Uganda Kill The Gays Bill Vote Is Next On Parliament’s Agenda

Uganda’s “Kill The Gays” bill is the next order of business on Parliament’s agenda, according to the body’s “order list.” Ugandan Speaker of Parliament Rebecca Kadaga has promised the bill will pass as an early “Christmas gift” for Uganda’s Christians.

Mexican Supreme Court strikes down gay marriage ban

The Supreme Court of Mexico issued a unanimous ruling Wednesday afternoon that paves the way to universal marriage rights in the country.

The actual ruling won’t be published for a little while, but the gay rights advocates who brought the case are proclaiming that today’s ruling “opens the door to equal marriage in the whole country.”

The court ruled on behalf of three same-sex couple seeking to marry in the southern state of Oaxaca. The court had already ruled in 2010 that gay marriages performed under a Mexico City ordinance had to be recognized nationwide. With this precedent, the remaining bans on gay marriage in most Mexican states could quickly fall.

This ruling does not immediately eliminate marriage statutes limiting unions to a man and a woman—the Mexican Supreme Court doesn’t have the power to strike down state laws like that en mass as the United States Supreme Court does. But the lawyer who brought the case, Alex Alí Méndez Díaz, said before the ruling that victory would mean the beginning of the end for bans on same-sex marriage.

The court’s ruling that the ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutionally discriminatory is partly based on a February ruling from the Inter-American Court of Human Rights that governments can’t discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation, Karen Atala Riffo y Niñas v. Chile.

This case could have repercussions outside of Mexico—by expanding this precedent to include the right to marry, courts in other Latin American countries that recognize the Inter-American Accord on Human Rights could follow this precedent and determine that marriage rights are also protected in their countries. And the Inter-American Court itself could be more likely to recognize a right to marry—a case brought by three couples trying to strike down Chile’s ban on gay marriage has already begun making its way through the international judicial system.

Robert E. Lee ‘Rolling Over’ In His Grave

Pat Robertson announced three historic Generals must be “rolling over” in their graves upon hearing the news that West Point hosted its first same-sex wedding.

“General Douglas MacArthur, rolling over in his grave. Ulysses S. Grant, rolling over in his. Robert E. Lee, rolling over in his,” was all Robertson had to offer.

Robertson made his remarks of his 700 Club TV show, after the lead-in announcer commented it was a “sad day” to see the gay wedding, almost suggesting the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell was related to gay marriage becoming law in New York.

Maine could begin issuing marriage licenses to gay couples on Dec. 29

Maine's same-sex marriage law is expected to take effect on December 29, and it's likely that that some marriage licenses will be issued on that date, even though it falls on a Saturday.

According to Maine's Secretary of State's office, the Nov. 6 certified election results -- including the ballot measure that legalized same-sex marriage -- were signed off on by Gov. Paul LePage (R) last Thursday. Under Maine statutes, the measures will take effect thirty days afterwards.

In Portland, the state’s largest city, logistics are being considered for offering special hours to ensure couples can get their marriage licenses on the day the new law goes into effect.

There’s no waiting period in Maine, so marriages could take place immediately after the license is issued, according to Kim McLaughlin, president of the Maine Town & City Clerk’s Association.

“The long wait for marriage for same-sex couples in Maine is almost over,” said Betsy Smith, the executive director of EqualityMaine. “Before the end of this year, all loving and committed couples in Maine will be able to stand before their friends, family and community and make a lasting vow to be there for one another.”

Hannukah in Santa Monica

Warwick Rowing Calendar

Warwick Rowing 2013: Brokeback Boathouse from Progressive Media on Vimeo.

For the fourth year running, Warwick Rowing's Senior Men have stripped off to reveal all. Following the club's most successful season in it's 44 year history, the boys are proud to produce yet another calendar for your enjoyment.

The Very Real Dangers of Wind Turbine Herpes

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Marriage Equality in the South

In January of 2013, the Campaign for Southern Equality will be traveling across multiple Southern states for Stage 4 of the WE DO Campaign. The WE DO Campaign involves LGBT couples requesting -- and being denied -- marriage licenses in their hometowns across the South in order to call for full equality under federal law and to highlight the harms of current state laws.

Nothin But Love

The fight for equal marriage shows its face in singer-songwriter Brendan James' new music video "Nothin But Love" from his new album Hope in Transition

‘Bare The Musical’ With Travis Wall Stands Up To Bullying

Choreographer Travis Wall and the team of “Bare The Musical,” and representatives from the Tyler Clementi Foundation and Athlete Ally talk about bullying and homophobia.

Touching Video Reminds Us What It's Like to Grow Up Gay

Sally Field Accepts HRC Ally for Equality Award and Discusses her Gay Son

Why Do Men Wake Up with 'Morning Wood'?

It sounds so scientific...

“There Was No Safe Haven” When I Was Growing Up

"When I was in high school, there was no safe haven, there was no outlet for you to speak your mind. So I did what any self-preserving 14-year-old would do—I signed up for the school play and also the football team to cover my tracks. When that happens, when you aren't allowed to speak about who you are, one of the most authentic parts of who you are— who you love or who you’re attracted to—feels invisible.”

—Out White Collar actor Matt Bomer, accepting the Inspiration Award at GLSEN’s Respect Awards with husband Simon Halls Friday evening in Los Angeles. 

You have to be kidding me...

Weapons of Self Destruction

A Clip from Robin Williams new stand-up show, Weapons of Self Destruction, on the catholic churches issues with homosexuality and problems with pedophilia.

Puerto Rico Votes For Statehood

On November 6, Puerto Ricans voted to adjust the relationship between the territory and the United States and pursue statehood, advancing the quest of many on the island to become the nation's 51st state.

In a two-part referendum, voters supported abandoning the status quo and embracing statehood — the first time such an effort has received a majority.

President Barack Obama pledged in 2011 to respect “a clear decision” of the people of Puerto Rico on statehood. It is unclear if the 60 percent margin on Tuesday meets that test.

Under Article IV the Constitution, Congress would have to approve statehood for the territory — though it is not clear where congressional leaders stand on the issue.

A White House spokesperson, in addition to spokespeople for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Speaker of the House John Boehner, did not respond to a request for comment early Wednesday.

One Commitment

Couples talking about the experience of meeting one another and sets out to prove that love should be the only requirement for two people who want to be married.

What if you couldn't marry the person you love?

Invisible Parents

Catholic Priest Denies Minnesota Teen Confirmation For Supporting Marriage Equality

A Catholic teenager in Barnesville, Minn., has been denied the sacrament of confirmation after he posted a photo to Facebook opposing the state's failed effort to amend the constitution to ban same-sex marriage, reports the Star Tribune.

The Rev. Gary LaMoine at Assumption Church denied confirmation to 17-year-old Lennon Cihak, after the teenager posted a photo to his personal Facebook page showing Cihak in front of a pro-marriage amendment yard sign he had altered to read "Vote NO!" The marriage amendment was rejected by Minnesota voters in this month's election.

Cihak said that friends within his confirmation class "liked" the photo on Facebook, but they were still allowed to be confirmed.

Catholic Church Directed $2 Million to Fight Marriage Initiatives

The Catholic Church, the Knights of Columbus and the National Organization for Marriage provided nearly 65% of the financing for the unsuccessful efforts to defeat marriage equality initiatives in Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, and Washington State.

he Roman Catholic Church leadership directed $2 million toward the campaigns against marriage equality in four states this election cycle, joining its ally the National Organization for Marriage as a major financial backer in the fight against equal civil marriage rights for LGBT Americans, according to an updated report from the Human Rights Campaign.

Gay Kiss-In Held in Front of Hôtel de Ville, Paris as France Mulls Marriage Equality

LGBT people kissing in front of Hôtel de Ville by f100001572602509

Love Comes In Every Shade

Rufus Wainwright and husband Jörn Weisbrodt star as "married love" in Gap's new ad campaign, "Love Comes In Every Shade." "This campaign celebrates these diverse, optimistic views on family and the many forms love can take," said Gap CMO Seth Farbman.

Jon Stewart Slams Bill O'Reilly Over 'Traditional America' Hysteria

Chris Christie Disagrees With Mitt Romney's 'Gifts' Comment

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) said Friday that he agreed that former GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney's recent comment on a conference call with donors that President Barack Obama won reelection because of "gifts" to minority and young voters was wrong.

Christie was asked if he concurred with Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R), who called Romney's remark "wrong."

"Yeah, sure," he said on MSNBC's "Morning Joe," and then pivoted to discuss his fellow Republican governors.

''I'LL SEE YOU IN COURT'

Dan Savage takes apart hate group leader Tony Perkins in this new clip from Take Part TV's 'American Savage', noting that Perkins has threatened Savage with court action:

"I welcome a lawsuit. A witness stand is a lonely place to lie. And that's what you do for a living...I look forward to that day in court. I look forward to seeing you on a witness stand, something you have dodged and ducked for decades."

NIGERIA ADVANCES BILL THAT WOULD CRIMINALIZE HOMOSEXUAL PDA, SAME-SEX MARRIAGE, GAY ORGANIZATIONS

Nigeria's house of Representatives advanced an anti-homosexuality bill that would criminalize public displays of affection between people of the same gender and ban same-sex marriage, The Nation reports:

"It is alien to our society and culture and it must not be imported," House majority leader Mulikat Adeola-Akande said during debate, referring to same-sex marriage. "Religion abhors it and our culture has no place for it," she added.

House minority leader Femi Gbajabiamila said the bill represents "convergence of both law and morality." He said that same-sex marriage "is both illegal and immoral."

Nigeria's senate in November 2011 approved the bill that would make same-sex marriages punishable by up to 14 years for the couple and 10 for anyone abetting such unions. It also set out a 10-year sentence for "any person who ... directly or indirectly makes public show of same-sex amorous relationships".

Push for Marriage Equality in IIlinois

Saying “the time is right” for marriage equality, Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel has thrown his considerable political weight behind getting a same-sex marriage bill passed in Illinois.

The mayor had a letter to that effect published in Tuesday’s Chicago Sun-Times, and he followed that up with a conversation with The Advocate,noting in both that the results of last week’s election make this an opportune time to continue the push for equality.

The election “continued America’s great history of expanding opportunity and equality,” Emanuel, a Democrat, wrote in the letter. “Today, we must take the next step on that journey by affording the opportunity to marry to all Americans — and we can continue that march by quickly enacting marriage equality here in Illinois.”

Speaking with The Advocate, he added, “The time is right, the time is now.” Illinois has offered civil unions to same-sex couples since June of 2011, and momentum for marriage equality is building around the nation, with the victories in Maine, Maryland, and Washington State on Election Day, the defeat of an anti-equality constitutional amendment in Minnesota, and the election or reelection of many supportive politicians, including President Obama.

In Illinois, a marriage equality bill was introduced in February by the state’s three openly gay legislators (there will be a fourth in the next term). Gov. Pat Quinn, also a Democrat, has made it clear he supports such a measure. The Democrats have a majority of seats in both the state Senate and House, and in the next term, beginning in January, will have supermajorities.

All these factors would appear to bode well for the bill, and there has been speculation that a vote on it could come before the end of this year. Emanuel, however, declined to predict when the legislature might take it up or if it would pass. He said he simply wants to ensure marriage equality won’t get lost in the shuffle amid the state’s financial and other challenges, and he thinks it will unless someone makes it a priority. He’s met with the leaders of both houses of the legislature, and he’s calling on citizens to become active. “We have to go to work,” he said.

Secessionists: 'Stop. Wait. Don't Go.'

Accuser retracts claim he had underage sex with Elmo puppeteer Kevin Clash

The man who accused "Sesame Street" puppeteer Kevin Clash of having a sexual encounter with him when he was 16, has retracted his statements.

The accuser, now 24 years old, contacted Sesame Workshop last summer and claimed that, beginning at the age of 16, he had a sexual relationship with Clash.

Kevin Clash

Clash -- the openly gay actor who voices the Muppet character Elmo -- had taken a leave of absence recently to fight the accusations, according to the Sesame Workshop, which announced Monday that their internal investigation "found the allegation of underage conduct to be unsubstantiated."

Today, Andreozzi & Associates, a law firm that said it represented Clash's accuser, said in a statement that “he wants it to be known that his sexual relationship with Mr. Clash was an adult consensual relationship.”

The statement added, “He will have no further comment on the matter.”

Petraeus Affair OK Because ‘He’s A Man’

Pat Robertson seems to be able to justify the actions of General David Petraeus — Paula Broadwell affair because the resigned-in-disgrace now-former CIA Director and retired four-star general is “a man.” Robertson, 82, a pioneer among televangelists, believes the Bible and marital vows don’t apply when you’re “off in a foreign land” and “lonely.”

Former Baptist Minister, former GOP candidate for president, and professional man of God, Pat Robertson, who spends a good portion of his time advocating against the legalization of same-sex marriage, who tells gay people they are going to hell — using the bible as his defense — ignores the Bible when it comes to heterosexual infidelity.

Hypocrisy? 

The Bible demands stoning to death women adulterers, but not men who cheat on their wives.

Robertson has blamed the ACLU for the 9/11 attacks, he has blamed abortion for the Katrina devastation, and blamed a supposed pact with the Devil Haiti made for the 2010 Haiti earthquake.

Jon Stewart Goes Off On Mike Huckabee Over Gay Marriage

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Jon Stewart welcomed back to the show Mike Huckabee and during the course of their two-part interview, Jon got a little heated over the politician Fox News host’s religious-based condemnation of gay marriage in a controversial political ad:  (around 4:00)

“We can come on and have a conversation but when I see that,  and I go, Mike Huckabee doesn’t just disagree with me, he believes that my position, that gay people are members of the species and whoever they love; that marriage strengthens traditional families because gay families are wonderful families raising wonderful kids and that the value of them is not their gayness. Marriage is about honest, trustworthy people working in a loving household, having nothing to do with what their sexuality is. How can you say that me believing that is registered in the book of fire?”

Petraeus Affair Conspiracy Theories

On Monday, Jon Stewart took a look at Fox News and other media outlets' response to General David Petraeus' resignation, and, as is his wont, poked one or two holes in their theories.

I have to admit, I am already tired of this story after 2 days...

Kevin Clash, Elmo’s puppeteer, accused of statutory rape

“In June of this year, Sesame Workshop received a communication from a then 23-year-old man who alleged that he had a relationship beginning when he was 16 years old with Kevin Clash,” reps for the show said in a statement.

Clash, 52, who has been Elmo’s Muppeteer since 1984, adamantly maintains the accusation is false, but the show was forced to investigate. Says Clash, according to TMZ, “I had a relationship with [the accuser]. It was between two consenting adults and I am deeply saddened that he is trying to make it into something it was not.”

“We took the allegation very seriously and took immediate action,” Sesame Workshop said in the statement. “We met with the accuser twice and had repeated communications with him. We met with Kevin, who denied the accusation. We also conducted a thorough investigation and found the allegation of underage conduct to be unsubstantiated.”

Supreme Court Reschedules Prop 8, DOMA Case Announcements

It looks like we'll have to wait a little longer to find out whether or not the Supreme Court will take up the handful of marriage equality cases it faces, including challenges to Prop 8 and the Defense of Marriage Act.

According to the American Foundation for Equal Rights, the Supreme Court has moved back the conference date from November 20 to November 30. We should hear the results of the conference by Monday, December 3.

We Will Marry Your Girlfriends

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Uganda's anti-homosexuality bill may see passage before the end of the year, the AP reports:

 

Speaker Rebecca Kadaga told The Associated Press that the bill, which originally mandated death for some gay acts, will become law this year.

Ugandans "are demanding it," she said, reiterating a promise she made before a meeting on Friday of anti-gay activists who spoke of "the serious threat" posed by homosexuals to Uganda's children. Some Christian clerics at the meeting in the Ugandan capital, Kampala, asked the speaker to pass the law as "a Christmas gift."

"Speaker, we cannot sit back while such (a) destructive phenomenon is taking place in our nation," the activists said in a petition. "We therefore, as responsible citizens, feel duty-bound to bring this matter to your attention as the leader of Parliament ... so that lawmakers can do something to quickly address the deteriorating situation in our nation."

 

UPS Dumps the Boy Scouts Over its Anti-Gay Policies

The UPS Foundation, which gave $167,000 to various Boy Scouts of America entities in 2010, said today that the organization is no longer eligible for grants due to its anti-gay policies, GLAAD reports:

The UPS Foundation posted the following on its site:

 

The UPS Foundation seeks to support organizations that are in alignment with our focus areas, guidelines, and non-discrimination policy. UPS and The UPS Foundation do not discriminate against any person or organization with regard to categories protected by applicable law, as well as other categories protected by UPS and The UPS Foundation in our own policies. These include, but are not limited to race, gender, national origin, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, veteran or military status, pregnancy, age and religion.

And Then There Were Four...

Elton John and David Furnish are expecting their second child, UK tabloid The Sun reports:

A surrogate for the Rocket Man singer and hubby David is due to give birth next year, The Sun can exclusively reveal. Last night a source close to the pair said: “Elton and David love this lady like a sister and they feel indebted to her for life. Naturally she has been well rewarded. But her identity will never be revealed.” The mum — believed to have been recruited via the Center for Surrogate Parenting in Encino, California — is said to be already “several months” pregnant. Zachary will have turned two by the time his sibling arrives.

Papa John's CEO John Schnatter Says Company Will Reduce Workers' Hours In Response To Obamacare

In the wake of President Obama's reelection, one CEO is doubling down on his criticisms of Obamacare.

Papa John’s CEO John Schnatter said he plans on passing the costs of health care reform to his business onto his workers. Schnatter said he will likely reduce workers’ hours, as a result of President Obama's reelection, the Naples News reports. Schnatter made headlines over the summer when he told shareholders that the cost of a Papa John’s pizza will increase by between 11 and 14 cents due to Obamacare.

'You're Turning Into Your Dad!'

New Archbishop Of Canterbury Justin Welby Dances Around Gay Marriage

The Bishop of Durham Justin Welby, a foe of equal marriage in the UK, has been named the next Archbishop of Canterbury, succeeding Dr. Rowan Williams in the post.

The Archbishop of Canterbury is the leader of the Church of England and the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, a 77-million-strong denomination and the third largest Christian sect worldwide.

While his predecessor has admitted the Church’s attitude toward gay relationships has been “harmful” and that it should be advocating equality, Welby is expected to take a more hardline view—even if he wants to keep the dialogue polite.

“I support the House of Bishop’s statement in the summer in answer to the government’s consultation on same-sex marriage. I know I need to listen very attentively to the LGBT communities, and examine my own thinking prayerfully and carefully.

I am always averse to the language of exclusion, when what we are called to is to love in the same way as Jesus Christ loves us. Above all in the church we need to create safe spaces for these issues to be discussed honestly and in love.”

Rachel Maddow Talks The Election And Gays Causing Hurricanes With Stephen Colbert

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MSNBC pundit Rachel Maddow visited Comedy Central fundit Stephen Colber last night where she discussed the after-gloat of Tuesday’s election and how the gays are direct causes of hurricanes.

If SCOTUS Makes Gay Marriage Legal US Will See ‘Firestorm’ Of ‘Revolution’

Tony Perkins yesterday threatened the Supreme Court (SCOTUS), saying if they strike down DOMA or legalize same-sex marriage, they will see America in a “firestorm” of “revolution.”

Claiming “the issue of abortion” is still unresolved in America, Perkins, the head of the anti-gay hate group, Family Research Council, says both abortion and same-sex marriage are “unnatural.”