The Teabaggers' Lament

At NYC's Drag March

Complete with a Judy Garland singalong. Photos here. It fascinates me how the Occupy-ish this was.

Celebrate Fairy Day

Something tells me there's a gay in the marketing department. (Tipped by JMG reader Chris)

Empire Pride

Brownshirt On Blankenhorn

"It is sad when a powerful and compelling voice goes silent—especially when the topic is one as important as marriage, and where the silence is not motivated by a change of view about the nature of marriage but rather a seeming succumbing to the continual pressure of the cultural elite. Yet retreating from the debate is not a path we or our followers will ever travel, for retreat will surely lead to defeat. We intend to fight on, and fight harder, for the truth—that marriage is the unique union of a man and a woman." - Brian Brown, responding to Prop 8 witness David Blankenhorn's decision to support gay marriage.

Google Celebrates Alan Turing

La Raza Endorses Marriage Equality

Following the lead of the NAACP, the nation's largest civil rights group for Latinos has unanimously endorsed marriage equality.

Former NCLR Board Chair Danny Ortega, a Phoenix lawyer whose term ended after the vote, provided broad details of the conversations that he said took place among the 25 board members before the vote. “We had a discussion about this and clearly some people had more questions than others, but at the end of the discussion it was unanimous,” he said. The resolution passed less than a month after the National Association for the Advancement of Colored Persons’ Board of Directors endorsed marriage rights for same-sex couples.

Via Washington Blade.

LCR Responds To Flip-Off Flap

"It is unfortunate that the image conservative America is seeing today of LGBT people is of gay leftists misbehaving at the White House, rather than the millions of patriotic, decent LGBT citizens, many of whom, like Log Cabin Republicans, hold President Ronald Reagan in high esteem.These photographs have hurt our community and make advocating for inclusion and equality more difficult. The participants should be ashamed." - Christian Berle, deputy executive director of the Log Cabin Republicans.

Gays Have Infiltrated Everything

At The NYC Pride Kickoff Party

Last night Father Tony accompanied me to the kickoff party for NYC Pride, where grand marshals Cyndi Lauper and Kiehl's president Chris Salgardo mingled with Ally Sheedy, fashion queen Richie Rich, Ross The Intern, actor Gerald McCullouch, and designer bear couple Robert Tagliapietra and Jeffrey Costello, who are JMG readers! Hot party, literally, we spent most of it parked in front of a fan.

Megachurch Pastor Is A Baby Daddy

Megachurch defender of the family Bishop Noel Jones has been exposed for fathering the child of a married reality television star.

Former "X Factor" U.S. finalist Stacy Francis is making tabloid headlines again for her personal life. Francis is admitting that she was married when she had an affair with Bishop Noel Jones, whom she has now publicly revealed is the father of her 1-year-old daughter, Anastasia. Francis has a 3-year-old son named Donovan from her marriage to ex-husband Darwin Kyle Hayes. Francis, 43, commented to tabloid website Radar Online about 62-year-old Jones: "I love him very much and I am not ashamed of my baby. Our baby."

While Jones has previously been linked to other reality stars, his Wikipedia page solemnly observes: "Jones currently lives a Christian single life." Which must mean knocking up married ladies. Interestingly, Jones is the brother of THE Grace Jones, for real. (Tipped by JMG reader Roman)

New From The Teabaggers' Favorite Artist

Via Buzzfeed:

The Empowered Man—which shows President Obama watching in horror as a thirty something white male, standing in front of the White House holds up the U.S. constitution in one hand and a wad of cash in the other—was released this week. “I wanted this painting to reflect the hope many Americans are having that we can steer our country back on track,” McNaughton emailed BuzzFeed. “I used real models and it took a couple of months to paint.” The Empowered Man is a follow up to another painting called Wake Up America, which included inflammatory images of President Obama standing in a rain shower of corporate cash while American workers trudged along in chains.

Brian Brownshirt: Pissed At Comic Books

"Something is wrong when huge companies push gay marriage into children's literature in order to make money. Something is wrong when a comic book store decides to host a wedding, again for commercial purposes. And something is really wrong when a man proposes because, well, somebody else is going to help pay for the wedding and it might mean a cool trip to New York City. Somewhere there may be some foolish man and woman getting married in a comic book store. But nobody else is paying for it and nobody in the media is covering it. Are we really supposed to believe in the 'sanctity' of gay comic book weddings? The promotion of gay marriage continues apace." - Brian Brownshirt, in a plea for money to stop cartoon weddings.

PHILADELPHIA: Top Catholic Official Convicted Of Child Endangerment

In a historic verdict, today a Philadelphia jury found a high-ranking Catholic Church official guilty of child endangerment for shielding the crimes of pedophile priests. This is the first time an American church official has been convicted of such charges.

Monsignor William Lynn helped the archdiocese keep predators in ministry, and the public in the dark, by telling parishes their priest was being removed for health reasons and then sending the men to unsuspecting churches, prosecutors said. Lynn, 61, had faced about 10 to 20 years in prison if convicted of all three counts he faced — conspiracy and two counts of child endangerment. He was convicted on one of the endangerment counts and acquitted of the other two counts, leaving him with the possibility of up to seven years in prison.

On cross-examination, Lynn acknowledged that he had not helped the 10-year-old altar boy raped by the Rev. Edward Avery in 1999, seven years after Lynn met with another Avery accuser. “And I'm sorry about that,” Lynn said. Avery is in prison after admitting the crime. One of the key exhibits was a gray folder found in a locked safe at the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. The folder contains a list of 35 suspected predator-priests -- and was compiled by Lynn in 1994. At least one priest on the list was a parish pastor until this year. Lynn, the former secretary for clergy, testified that he created the list from secret church files containing hundreds of child sex-abuse complaints.

Bill Donohue is somehow claiming victory.

The witch-hunt has come to an end, and those who have been clamoring for blood lost big time. What made this a witch-hunt was the decision of former Philadelphia D.A. Lynne Abraham to summarily ignore what she was empowered to do in 2001: she was given the charge “to investigate the sexual abuse of minors by individuals associated with religious organizations and denominations.” Had she done so, those cases of minors who may have been sexually molested by ministers, rabbis, and others, would have been investigated. Instead, absolutely nothing was done about these cases.

Maggie To Blankenhorn

Just posted to National Review:

"My friend and mentor and one-time boss David Blankenhorn has just published a New York Times op-ed in which he gives up on opposing gay marriage. I haven’t yet read it carefully enough to respond, except to say that 'the argument from despair' is the single most powerful argument gay-marriage advocates wield. I wish you well, old friend." - Maggie Gallagher.

Public School Prayer Would Have Protected That School Bus Monitor

So claims Truth In Action Ministries.

Regarding the video that shows middle school students verbally bullying a 68-year-old school bus monitor, calling her names and using profanities, people are wondering what's happened to today's youth. Karen Gushta of Truth in Action Ministries believes this cultural demise began when prayer was taken out of public schools. "Unless we return to the moral standards of God's Word, of his laws, of the Ten Commandments -- unless we return those to our public schools, we're just going to continue to see more and more of this kind of behavior," she asserts. "And the prospect of that should truly frighten us all."

Seattle Cops - It Gets Better

Headline Of The Day

Billboard Magazine: "We reflect on 21 musical moments that were pivotal in advancing the understanding and acceptance of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people." Adam Lambert, Ricky Martin, Glee, and more.

Photo Of The Day - Human Tower

Gothamist has the story:

The world record in human tower building was SHATTERED yesterday when a team of brawny Catalonian tower builders climbed on top of each other at the rooftop lounge at 230 Fifth. Human tower building, it seems, is a time-honored tradition in the Catalonian region, where people have built multi-story human towers called "castells" for over three centuries.

The ones at the top are children!

Mary Cheney Got Married Today

The right-wing Daily Caller reports:

In a statement provided to TheDC, both the former vice president and his wife, Lynne, said they are “delighted” the couple could have their “relationship recognized.” “Our daughter Mary and her long time partner, Heather Poe, were married today in Washington, DC,” the Cheneys said. Poe and Mary Cheney have two children: Cheney gave birth to a son in 2007, and a daughter in 2009. They live together in Virginia. “Mary and Heather have been in a committed relationship for many years, and we are delighted that they were able to take advantage of the opportunity to have that relationship recognized,” the Cheneys said. “Mary and Heather and their children are very important and much loved members of our family and we wish them every happiness.”

Commenters on the linked site are conflicted about this.

NASA Celebrates LGBT Pride Month

Prop 8 Witness David Blankenhorn: I've Changed My Mind About Gay Marriage

"No same-sex couple, married or not, can ever under any circumstances combine biological, social and legal parenthood into one bond. For this and other reasons, gay marriage has become a significant contributor to marriage’s continuing deinstitutionalization, by which I mean marriage’s steady transformation in both law and custom from a structured institution with clear public purposes to the state’s licensing of private relationships that are privately defined.

"I have written these things in my book and said them in my testimony, and I believe them today. I am not recanting any of it. But there are more good things under heaven than these beliefs. For me, the most important is the equal dignity of homosexual love. I don’t believe that opposite-sex and same-sex relationships are the same, but I do believe, with growing numbers of Americans, that the time for denigrating or stigmatizing same-sex relationships is over. Whatever one’s definition of marriage, legally recognizing gay and lesbian couples and their children is a victory for basic fairness." - David Blankenhorn, writing for the New York Times.

Cure HIV With Cockroaches

I get some interesting press releases, that's for sure.

Since 1995, we are proposing that the most and 100% effective HIV vaccine is in the Cockroaches. Approaches and solutions: Cockroaches are the oldest living and most powerful on earth. This is estimated to be 350 to 400 million years. They have survived major disasters, weather phenomena and the atomic bombs. There have been strong and resilient because they are loaded with viruses and bacteria and this is the beginning of any immunity. There are thousands of varieties of cockroaches, but specifically those living in the sewers and feed on the waste vaginal, semen and feces. They are immune and are living with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). In the same way as Edward Jenner did his research with the smallpox; we do the same procedure. We say: we must strengthen the capacity of the human body immune cells (lymphocytes T CD +4) with proteins of cockroaches and create antibodies to endure and live with HIV. Thus, the body would be prepared to receive and accommodate this dose of virus or bacteria (antigens). And strengthening and vigorous immune system, will alert to assimilate these pathogens (HIV) that are foreign to the body to recognize and neutralize them quickly.

They have a website, but it's in Spanish.

Activists Flip-Off Reagan Portrait During White House LGBT Pride Reception

Free Republic, Glenn Beck's The Blaze, and other wingnuts sites are going nuts today on the news that several LGBT activists visiting the White House for the Pride reception took turns photographing themselves flipping off the Reagan portrait. The photos were published this morning by Philadelphia Magazine, but thanks to closet-case Matt Drudge's screaming WWIII-style headline, the title's site has crashed. The right-wing Weekly Standard has a quote from one of the activists that took part:

[Matthew] Hart posted his photo on Facebook with the caption, “Fuck Reagan.” [Zoe] Strauss simply posted hers without commentary. After all, the murderous facial expression and double-barreled bird-flipping seem to speak for themselves. Comments ranged from “you forgot to add with a chainsaw” on Hart’s “Fuck Reagan” note, to my personal favorite, “star wars … up yours,” on Strauss’s. “Yeah, fuck Reagan,” reiterates Hart one week after the reception. “Ronald Reagan has blood on his hands. The man was in the WhiteHouse as AIDS exploded, and he was happy to see plenty of gay men and queer people die. He was a murderous fool, and I have no problem saying so. Don’t invite me back. I don’t care.”

Sample comment from The Blaze: "Thank god that by the time their AID’s rotten corpses are defacing a human cemetery, the picture of that hero will still be here loved by all."

Cenk Uygur On "Greedy Gay Republicans"

Electoral Update: Obama Gains Nine

Gay Shame SF: Abolish Pride Events

Website.

TONIGHT: Drag March NYC

Facebook event page.

Let's Have A Video Kiki

Dan Avery tips us to a brilliant video take on my favorite track of the summer.

We thought we loved Scissor Sisters’ “Lets Have a Kiki,” when we first heard it last month. But we didn’t know love until we saw this inspired video remix by Boston party people Craig MacNeil and Blythe Russo, the folks behind Videodrome Discothèque. As Stefan would say, it’s got everything—drag queens, Lilly Tomlin, Cher’s fitness videos, John Travolta in a wig. It’s epic.

Naughty language warning.

CALIFORNIA: "Ex-Gay" Group Denounces Bill To Ban Torturing Gay Children

The self-hating homosexuals behind "Journey Into Manhood" have issued a press release denouncing California's pending bill to ban "reparative therapy" for minors.

"SB1172 is blatant discrimination," said Rich Wyler, founder and director of People Can Change. "It allows and even encourages gay-affirming therapies for minors while banning 'straight-affirming' alternatives. It disregards the client's right to self-determination, and tells him that if he is questioning his sexuality, only a gay identity is politically correct. That is as unconscionable as allowing a pregnant minor to receive abortion counseling but banning counseling that offers adoption or single parenting as possible alternatives."

You might recall that "Journey Into Manhood" is one of those homo-erotic weekend getaways where attendees bro-hug the gay out of each other. All night long!

As a "journeyer," you will have the opportunity to participate in a variety of group and individual exercises - including journaling, visualization, group sharing, safe healing touch and intensive emotional-release work - all in a very supportive yet challenging environment. Journey Into Manhood is an experiential-learning weekend. We limit the use of classroom-style lectures. Instead, we create opportunities for you to experience healing, not just learn about it. One simple example: You won't just talk about what it is like to look another man in the eyes - you'll stand eye to eye with another man while we help you process whatever feelings might arise.

Yeeeah.

Pride Weather Forecast

New York City.San Francisco.Chicago.
Seattle.Houston.Minneapolis.

Petition Of The Day

That's not gonna happen. But Klein probably won't complain.

Ron Paul Delegates Plan "Chaos"

Stock up on popcorn.

An obscure rule change made four years ago by the Republican Party has opened the door for Paul forces to cause a major headache for Mitt Romney when he tries to nominate his choice for vice president at the party convention in August. The Republican National Committee could change Rule 40 in the week leading up to the convention, but that would risk the appearance of jamming Romney's nominee through, and likely cause a subsequent backlash. Republican officials are still waking up to the fact that Paul loyalists -- who control the majority of delegates in Maine, Minnesota and Iowa, and have sizable contingents in a number of other states -- could very likely enter Paul's name into nomination for vice president. This would force a roll call vote where each delegate of each state is polled on the floor of the convention. Such a move would transform a symbolic procedure that has taken mere minutes in the past several conventions into a chaotic and time-consuming spectacle that could eat up the better portion of a day.

The above-linked piece speculates that delegates may attempt to force Ron Paul into the vice presidential slot.

Pride Toronto & Google+

Hate Groups Pile On

Hamptons Fundraiser

Last week GOP flacks went ballistic over "elitist Hollywood-owned" Obama and his celebrity-filled fundraiser at the home of Sarah Jessica Parker. And last month, the president got the same treatment for George Clooney's event. But it'll be radio silence on this David Koch soiree, bet on it. Source.

Fred Karger On Bryan Fischer's Show

After the interview, Fischer tweeted: "Interview w/ Fred Karger today proves disagreement is not hatred. He doesn't hate me, I don't hate him. In fact, I like him." Karger told Fischer that he's ending his campaign next week.

Queensland Rolls Back Rights

A setback in Australia.

The Australian state of Queensland will remove gay couples’ ability to have children through surrogacy and downgrade civil partnerships to the class of ‘registered relationships’, after a debate in Parliament last night. The Legislative Assembly in Brisbane agreed to extensively alter the provisions of the Civil Partnerships Act 2011, which came into force in February this year after control of the house swung to the right. The system, introduced in the final months of the last state government, will be renamed and the option of an official ceremony revoked so it bears less resemblance to marriage. The conservative Liberal National Party took control of the Parliament from the Labor Party in March in the worst election result for a sitting government in Queensland history.

Christian TV On Teavangelicals

FRC Cheers JCP's Downturn

Via their daily press release:

As Ford Motors will tell you, siding with radical homosexuals has its price. And in J.C. Penney's case, the cost is about $163 million. According to the Wall Street Journal, J.C. Penney's stock "has lost more than a third of its value since a disastrous earnings report in mid-May, when Penney's posted a $163 million loss and said sales fell 20% in the first three months of its fiscal year." CEO Ron Johnson also admitted that Father's Day sales were a bust. "Penney's shares fell 8.8% Tuesday to their lowest level in a year, [and] store traffic was down 10%."

Obviously, the company's far-Left approach is driving away shoppers--and its executives. Michael Francis was fired after just eight months on the job. Whether J.C. Penney will learn from its mistakes is yet to be seen. But its freefall should serve as a warning to other companies who are itching to jump on the same-sex bandwagon. Catering to homosexuals may earn you a pat on the back from the Human Rights Campaign, but in the long term, it's bad business. Americans want corporate neutrality in the culture wars, and when they don't find it, they'll go elsewhere--like my family has done with J.C. Penney. Shoppers are shrewd enough to know that speaking up is important--but sometimes what speaks the loudest is their wallets.

The piece ends with a warning to General Mills.

Two Shoes - Turn Me On, Turn Me Out

Perfectly cheesy camp remake. Plus beefcake.

GOP Endorsement Vote Was Close

Chris Geidner at MetroWeekly provides some interesting behind-the-scenes information.

Of the seven GOProud board members, only four supported the endorsement. Only two gay or lesbian board members voted in favor: LaSalvia and Bruce Carroll. The other two gay or lesbian board members voted against the endorsement, and two straight board members voted yes. One straight board member did not vote, LaSalvia tells Metro Weekly. Chris Barron, the former board president and co-founder of GOProud, told Metro Weekly, "I voted no and one other board member voted no." LaSalvia tells Metro Weekly that Jessica Lee was the other vote against the endorsement.

In addition to LaSalvia, Bruce Carroll tells Metro Weekly that he voted yes; Board Chair Lisa De Pasquale, who is straight, tells Metro Weekly that she voted yes; and Bob Carlstrom, another board member who is straight, was described as a Romney supporter in The Wall Street Journal in the midst of the primaries. The final board member, Kathryn Serkes, is straight and the head of the Doctor Patient Medical Association and did not vote, LaSalvia confirms. GOProud did add an eighth person to its board on the night of the vote, Dennis Duquette, who is gay, but he did not participate in the endorsement vote.

Entertainment Weekly On Coming Out

Only a snippet of this week's cover story is online:

Fifteen years ago, when Ellen DeGeneres decided to come out of the closet, it was big news. Not just big: It was the cover of Time magazine, and a major story on Oprah, Primetime Live, and CNN. Last month, another star of a popular TV comedy went public with his homosexuality. But the news that The Big Bang Theory’s Emmy-winner Jim Parsons is gay was reported with such matter-of-fact understatement that many people’s first reaction was a quick Google search to see if maybe he was out already and we’d all just failed to notice.

Via Boy Culture.

Gay Night At DC's Ballpark

Clip description:

For it's 8th annual Night Out at the Nationals, Team DC broke a new record with more than 4,000 tickets sold as part of the nation's largest LGBT night in professional sports. Taking part in the celebrations were Rep. Jared Polis (D-Colo.), who threw out the first pitch; special guests Benjamin Jealous, president of the NAACP and outspoken supporter of marriage equality; the DC Different Drummers; and the Gay Men's Chorus of Washington, who performed the national anthem as well received Team DC's "Team Spirit" Award.

Former Joint Chiefs Of Staff Chair To Headline DADT Repeal Celebration

It's a new world.

From Minnesota's Good Guys

Brian Brownshirt Arrives For SF Pride

JMG reader Dave spotted him at SFO buying a BART ticket into town. Interesting weekend to arrive, innit?

UPDATE: Dave has more about the train ride.

Brown came in through the sliding doors at the end of the car that I was riding to complain to a uniformed officer that there was an obnoxious person in the last car. He said that a man was playing loud music. He's not happy unless he's hassling someone, I mean, he was already in a different car than the offender. The uniformed officer told him that she was not BART security and suggested that he phone them. He sat down and seemed to do just that.

Headline Of The Day II

Details.

FLASHBACK: GOProud And "Faggot"

JMG reader Paul/Toronto reminds us that GOProud isn't above using "faggot" when it suits THEIR purpose. Of course, Jimmy LaSalvia's tweet never made it onto Breitbart or was gleefully forwarded by hate groups.

The Gayest Thing You'll Put In Your Mouth

So claims the Facebook page of Minneapolis restaurant Chino Latino, who cheekily adds "maybe." Pride Roll, now available. (Tipped by JMG reader Tim)

NOM Launches "Dump General Mills"

Technically the campaign is from Minnesota For Marriage, but Good As You's Jeremy Hooper astutely notes that NOM secured the domain name last week.

Southern Baptists Convention Adopts Resolution: Gay Rights Aren't Civil Rights

At their annual meeting, yesterday the Southern Baptists Convention overwhelmingly approved the following resolution: "We deny that the effort to legalize 'same-sex marriage' qualifies as a civil rights issue since homosexuality does not qualify as a class meriting special protections, like race and gender."

The nation’s largest Protestant denomination is attempting to broaden its appeal beyond its traditional white Southern base. At the same time, leaders said they feel it is important to take a public stand on their opposition to same-sex marriage. The resolution acknowledges that gays and lesbians sometimes experience “unique struggles” but declares that they lack the “distinguishing features of classes entitled to special protections.” “It is regrettable that homosexual rights activists and those who are promoting the recognition of ‘same-sex marriage’ have misappropriated the rhetoric of the Civil Rights Movement,” the resolution states.

The group also elected its first-ever black president.

Occupy And Stonewall: A Comparison

"This Sunday, as every fourth Sunday in June, the streets of New York will fill with prideful marchers celebrating Pride Month. There will be similar marches, too, in cities around the country. Sunday marks the forty-third year since the uprising in a Greenwich Village bar called Stonewall that supposedly started the modern gay revolution. The myth is that a few hundred angry people acted out in lower Manhattan, and the world changed. Maybe that’s where Occupy Wall Street got the idea that this is how it’s done.

"It’s the wrong lesson. Stonewall was the product of a handful of brilliant community organizers applying basic principles of social organizing. Without them, Stonewall would have been nothing more than one of several gay-bar pushbacks in the late sixties, or another one of the non-gay street demonstrations that characterized New York in that tumultuous time. It was the dedicated strategizing of the men and women of the nascent gay movement that turned something unremarkable into the Bastille. Their achievement is a field guide to how to make a social movement, and also offers insight into why Occupy is failing." - Renowned historian of the gay movement Linda Hirshman, writing for the New Yorker.

Hit the link for how Hirschman came the above conclusion. Her just-released book, Victory: The Triumphant Gay Revolution, is on sale nationwide.

JC Penney's Gay Dads To March With Employees In New York City Pride

Via press release from GLAAD:

JCPenney is continuing to show support for the community. This weekend the two dads featured in their ad, Cooper Smith and Todd Koch, will be walking alongside JCPenney employees in the NYC Pride March this weekend. Cooper told GLAAD: “When we were asked by JCPenney's LGBT employee group to be part of their float at NYC Pride, Todd and I immediately said yes. Just as they as a company have honored families like ours, we consider this our way of honoring them and the hundreds of employees who are planning to take part,” said Smith. “We're so proud of JCPenney for including families like ours in their celebration of parents and showcasing the diversity of the American experience.”

I predict they'll be this year's most photographed marchers.

Internet Cash Rains Down On School Bus Monitor Viciously Harassed By Students

After a cell phone video of New York school bus monitor Karen Klein being cruelly harassed by students went viral, one guy thought it would be nice to create a small vacation fund for the beleaguered woman. That was two days ago. At this writing over $224,000 has poured in.

Klein, who lives near Rochester, has been deluged with media requests since the video went viral—she's booked to talk with Anderson Cooper on CNN and appear on Fox & Friends—and this morning she was interviewed by Good Morning America. "I was just was trying to ignore them,” Klein tells GMA. "Usually I sit right in back, and I should have that day, but I sat one seat ahead so there was one boy in back of me and one boy in front of me. They just kept it up. They thought it was funny.” Making a senior citizen cry by threatening to defecate in her mouth and stab her? Hilarious. One of the insults was even more sickening than we initially thought. In the video below, you can hear one of the boys say, "You don’t have a family because they all killed themselves because they didn’t want to be near you." The local ABC affiliate reports that Klein's oldest son killed himself ten years ago.

Klein says she doesn't want the involved students arrested, just "grounded all summer, or maybe all year." She adds that she's blown away by the public's response. Below is the clip, you may just want to hold on to that good feeling about the money.

UPDATE: Another $60,000 has been donated since I wrote this post two hours ago.

Help! We're Being Bullied By GLSEN!

Return Of The Rat-Haired Woman!

NEW HAMPSHIRE: Another Christian Group Forms To Repeal Same-Sex Marriage

The Union Leader reports on Families Across NH:

Fueled by the failed effort to repeal the state's same-sex marriage law earlier this year, a group of social conservatives and “politically active Christians of all denominations” have established a new nonprofit issues-advocacy group and state political action committee. They expect to have a “powerful impact” on the 2012 general election and the next session of the Legislature. Families Across New Hampshire (FANH) is the brainchild of veteran Republican political strategist Michael Dennehy, a Concord lobbyist and former senior advisor to John McCain. The financial goal for the PAC, Dennehy says, is to spend $150,000 to advocate for the election of “pro-family” candidates for state office during the 2012 elections and for the nonprofit to air issue-advocacy advertising. Dennehy said FANH will have no affiliation with the National Organization for Marriage, the national group that caused a stir in the state by becoming heavily involved in the same-sex marriage battle.

New Hampshire Republicans For Freedom and Equality respond in a press release headlined GOP PAC Denounces New NOM Front Group:

"They can try to re-invent themselves by claiming a new, friendlier-sounding name, but their mission is still the same - to tear apart loving New Hampshire families," said Owen. "Republicans in the legislature have already rejected this group's anti-gay agenda, with a majority voting against repeal last time. We won't stand for these outside groups trying to hijack our legislative priorities by throwing their out-of-state money around."

General Motors Flies Pride Flag

Somebody's not gonna like this! (Tipped by JMG reader Bill)

Mad Dogs And Englishmen

As the thermometer teases triple-digits and subway platforms bake at 120+ degrees, Mayor Bloomberg has ordered the opening of the city's 455 "cooling centers" for those without air conditioning. Last year's July heat wave killed 31 city residents, mostly seniors. Meanwhile, we're on a brown-out alert.

An excessive heat warning has been issued for New York City and the metropolitan area including Newark, New Jersey, until 8 p.m. because hot weather and humidity may make it feel like temperatures are between 105 and 108. "It's going to be hot and it's going to be humid, and we want to make sure people are taking all the appropriate precautions for that," said Lauren Nash, a Weather Service meteorologist in Upton, New York. New York City residents were urged to limit unnecessary electric use as much as possible while the heat persists, according to a statement from Consolidated Edison Co.

Today's heat is expected to break the record set in 1923. Gothamist has posted a helpful NYC Heat Wave Do's and Don'ts list. My favorite:

Don't wear flip-flops in public if you're a man. Come on, dude: NYC isn't your college campus; you're not strolling across the quad with a bag of laundry and a bottle of Gatorade after an Ultimate Frisbee game. Wear proper shoes like a big boy or move back home to Scarsdale. And this is for your own good: a potentially deadly germ—Staphylococcus aureus—has been found on New Yorkers' flip-flops.

The good news is temps should drop 20 degrees for Pride.

SCOTUS Slaps Down TV Cursing Law

The Supreme Court today unanimously ruled in favor of broadcasters who say they are unfairly punished for "isolated moments" of obscenity and profanity that slip onto the airwaves.

In an 8-0 vote, justices concluded the Federal Communications Commission cannot enforce its current policies against "fleeting" expletives and nudity on over-the-air programs, both live and scripted. The agency had levied hefty fines on all four major broadcasters beginning nearly a decade ago. The court's ruling establishes important First Amendment guidelines over explicit content on the airwaves. "The commission failed to give Fox or ABC fair notice prior to the broadcasts in question that fleeting expletives and momentary nudity could be found actionably indecent," Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote for the majority. The Justice Department had filed an appeal, and helpfully provided the justices with a DVD of a 2003 episode of the now-canceled "NYPD Blue" on ABC in which a naked woman was shown. The content of that program is central to the current legal dispute. ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox are all parties in the case.

The FCC began more aggressively fining networks in 2003 after U2's Bono accepted an award on live television by saying, "This is really, really fucking brilliant." That infraction standard became known as the "Golden Globes Rule."

New Obama TV Ad

NYT On Erik Rhodes

In a piece titled Death Was Early But Perhaps Not Surprising, the New York Times has weighed in on last week's death of gay porn star Erik Rhodes, who died of a heart attack at the age of 30. The article features quotes from Manhattan nightlife figures and fellow porn actors. An excerpt:

Things went from bad to worse. Mr. Rhodes got into fights with boyfriends, and the police would be called. Famous friends like Mr. Jacobs, who did not respond to calls for comment for this article, fell away. Mr. Rhodes went from using steroids to dealing them. And then, a few years ago, he tested positive for H.I.V. According to Mr. Colt, Mr. Rhodes found this out when he went to shoot a scene for Randy Blue, a company that requires testing. “They said, ‘Your test results came back, and you’re H.I.V. positive,’ ” Mr. Colt said. Nevertheless, Randy Blue still managed to get Mr. Rhodes to film a solo scene that day, Mr. Colt said. As the novelty of being in pornographic films wore off, Mr. Rhodes turned increasingly to the Internet, using his Tumblr feed and his Facebook page to discuss his sense of anguish. “I feel so left out ... so alone,” he wrote in a post just weeks ago. On June 13, after a night in which Mr. Rhodes was hired along with another escort to perform for a wealthy client (according to text messages later read by his brother), the two men continued the evening on their own, having sex and doing drugs. But Mr. Rhodes quickly realized that he was not feeling well and cut the evening short.

It's a fascinating, if harrowing story. Hit the link.

Headline Of The Day

Details.

PhoboQuotable - Carl Gallups

"Open homosexuality has been enacted and in less than a year the military is celebrating Gay Pride Month. This downward progression was easy to forecast and I fear the worst is yet to be seen in this matter. The military is actually going to celebrate the fact that two men have sex as though one of them is a woman! The U.S. military is actually going to openly celebrate that one man is going to have physiologically illogical sex with another man! For those of us who come from a Biblical worldview – we know that this is simply inviting the judgment of God upon us. May God have mercy upon us." - Pastor Carl Gallups, quoted on World Net Daily.

Tammy Baldwin's First Senate Ad

(Tipped by JMG reader Samuel)

GOP To Ask SCOTUS To Rule On DOMA

House Republicans say they plan to ask the Supreme Court to overturn last month's federal appeals court ruling that struck down a portion of DOMA. Chris Geidner at MetroWeekly:

That potential Supreme Court case, BLAG [House Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group] details, is Massachusetts v. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the appellate case decided by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit decision on May 31. Referring to that decision, BLAG's lawyers wrote today in the Pedersen filing:

The House now is preparing a petition for certiorari in the Massachusetts case, a petition which it intends to file by the end of this month. Massachusetts is a good candidate for Supreme Court review, as the First Circuit itself recognized: "Supreme Court review of DOMA is highly likely." If the Supreme Court grants certiorari in Massachusetts, which we think is likely, the Court likely will docket the case for briefing, argument and decision during the October 2012 Term.

Savage Slammed For GOProud Tweet

The right wing has renewed their attack on Dan Savage after he called GOProud "house faggots" following their endorsement of Mitt Romney. Last night Bryan Fischer gleefully tweeted the link to this Breitbart.com post:

Two gay slurs in one Tweet. The gay left must be proud of their self-appointed spokesman. So must the Obama Administration, which has labeled this massive bully a hero of the anti-bullying movement, invited him to the White House, and cut videos on behalf of his It Gets Better Project. There's no worse form of anti-gay bullying than to use slurs like the one Savage did here. Will the White House continue to back their man?

GOProud co-founder Chris Barron responded on his personal blog: "Apparently, faggot is an entirely appropriate slur as long as Dan Savage is slinging it and gay people who you don’t agree with are on the receiving end. It gets better my ass."

NEW YORK CITY: Housing Advocates Issue Call For Rent Freeze

New York City's Rent Guidelines Board will vote today on how much to allow rents to increase for the city's one million rent-stabilized apartments. Advocates for the poor are calling for a rent freeze.

The city’s escalating rents are eating away at as much as one-half of low-income New Yorkers’ paychecks, a new study has found. Low-income tenants now fork over a whopping 49% of their pay to landlords, up from 45% six years ago, according to advocacy group Community Service Society. Poor city residents are suffering the most: after they’ve paid their rent bills, they have a measly $4.40 per household member, per day, left over to pay for food, transportation and other essentials, the survey said. “Rents have continued to escalate in good times and bad while employment and incomes have been falling off since 2008,” said Victor Bach, senior housing analyst at the Community Service Society.

Lobbyists for the city's landlords are opposing any freeze, saying that rising costs are beyond their control. Rent stabilization currently applies to units built before 1974 with rents under $2500/month. Very few New Yorkers currently enjoy rent control, which only applies to tenants who have been in their units since before 1971.