TEXAS: County Judge Rules Same-Sex Marriage Ban To Be Unconstitutional

Via the Austin Statesman:

Travis County Probate Judge Guy Herman ruled Tuesday that the Texas ban on same-sex marriage was unconstitutional, but the county will not issue marriage licenses to gay couples, at least for now. Herman ruled as part of an estate fight in which Austin resident Sonemaly Phrasavath sought to have her eight-year relationship to Stella Powell deemed to have been a common-law marriage. Powell died last summer of colon cancer. Travis County Clerk Dana DeBeauvoir said she will be conferring with Herman and county lawyers to determine the impact of the ruling. “I am scrambling, trying to find out if there is anything I can do. Right now, I think it’s no, but we are checking,” said DeBeauvoir, who in the past has said that she is ready to begin distributing marriage licenses to same-sex couples as soon as allowed by the courts.

The ruling from the Fifth Circuit Court is due any day now so it seems unlikely that any marriages will result from this county ruling. But stranger things have happened.

Read the ruling.

TEXAS: Christian Activist Christine Weick Hijacks Podium At Muslim Event

You'll remember Christine Weick for her conclusive proof that Monster Energy drinks were invented by Satan and from her disruption of a Muslim prayer event at Washington DC's National Cathedral. Today the allegedly homeless Weick found her way to Austin, Texas, where she rushed the microphone during Texas Muslim Capitol Day to scream about Jesus. Via the Austin Statesman:

What was supposed to be a rally at the Texas Capitol Thursday promoting political engagement and tolerance for Muslims and was largely derailed by sustained screams from protesters loudly advocating for something quite apart from peace and love. But not one of the 10 or so speakers at the hourlong event managed to finish a sentence without being heckled by noisome group of maybe two dozen that fanned out about 20 paces from the south steps of the statehouse. A patriotic song by the Houston Koran Academy didn’t even silence the screaming. CAIR-TX spokeswoman Ruth Nasrullah had barely begun the program when a woman briefly commandeered the podium and attempted to claim the Capitol in the name of Jesus Christ. The woman, a native Michigander who said she goes “wherever the Lord calls,” later said she was seized by “righteous anger” and felt she’d accomplished what she attempted to do Thursday morning. “I want to inspire Americans against this and proclaim for Jesus Christ and not their god, Allah,” Christine Weick said.

(Tipped by JMG reader James)

TEXAS: Exorcism At Starbucks

Via Raw Story:

An exorcism performed outside a Starbucks coffee shop in Austin, Texas, was caught on video, mySA reported on Wednesday. In the video, a group of men can be seen with their hands placed another man, who is spewing saliva into a red plastic cup. “All your legions of poison. All your legions out! Out! All your legions of poison out! In Jesus’ mighty name,” the apparent leader of the exorcism says. “You have no legal ground to be in here.” “We ask you to hug this man with your love, God,” he adds. A Reddit user Umgar took credit for uploading the video to YouTube, and insisted the bizarre scene was not “a student film project, prank, or social experiment.” “Just the Bible belt,” the user remarked.

(Tipped by JMG reader Jay)

AUSTIN: Drunk Driver Plows Into SXSW Crowd, Two Killed, Dozens Injured

CNN reports:

An intoxicated driver fleeing police plowed his car into a crowd at the South by Southwest festival in Austin, killing two people, authorities said early Thursday. The man and woman killed were riding their light motorcycles, said Art Acevedo, chief of the Austin Police Department. At least 23 others were hospitalized, some with multiple internal injuries. A suspect is in custody and faces two counts of capital murder and 23 counts of aggravated assault by vehicle, Acevedo said. Before the incident, the man was driving the wrong direction on a one-way street. Authorities attempted to stop the car, but it sped off, almost hitting an officer, according to Acevedo. The car later ran into the crowd.

Billboard reports that among the acts performing last night were the 80s bands Spandau Ballet and X. Lady Gaga was nearby at the time and she posted the below tweet shortly after the incident.

Rick Perry Booed By Kimmel Audience

At a show taped in the Texas capital, no less.

TEXAS: Police Capture Suspect Wanted In Hook-Up Murder Of Austin Gay Man

The man suspected of murdering an Austin gay man after meeting him at a local nightclub has been found already in custody in Louisiana on separate charges.

Matthew Bacon, 26, was arrested close to midnight on July 16 after the West Monroe police received a report that he was trying to sell narcotics at a truck stop in the city, more than 250 miles northwest of New Orleans, according to an arrest affidavit. When Austin police discovered Bacon was booked in jail in Louisiana, a detective traveled there and interviewed him, the affidavit says. Bacon said that he had met Villarreal at Rain, a bar in downtown Austin, and went home with him. Once upstairs in Villarreal’s condo, Bacon said he noticed all of the belongings and while Villarreal was in the bathroom, found a hammer under the kitchen sink and hid it under the couch, the affidavit says. Bacon said he later used the tool to strike Villarreal in the back of the head several times. Afterward, Bacon said he used a knife from the kitchen to cut Villarreal’s throat to “finish him off,” the affidavit says.

Bacon has been charged with murder.

TEXAS: Austin Police Seek Public's Help In Murder Of Gay Man

Austin police have released a surveillance photo of the man they believe may have murdered a local gay man after meeting him at a popular gay nightclub.

David Villarreal, 36, was found dead inside his unit at the 360 Condominiums tower late Monday. Police on Wednesday released surveillance images of the victim and suspect. The images show Villarreal and a man in his 20s to 30s entering the condo tower at 360 Nueces Street sometime early Saturday morning, a police official said. Police believe the victim and suspect met Friday night at the nearby downtown club Oilcan Harry’s and made their way back to the tower early Saturday. The suspect was then seen leaving the towers about an hour later.

(Tipped by JMG reader Warren)

Austin To Endorse Marriage

Today Austin will be become the first city in Texas to endorse same-sex marriage when its city council will approve a symbolic resolution.

The feel-good proposal on Thursday's City Council agenda (Sept. 27) is Item 77, an endorsement of marriage equality in the state of Texas. Sponsored by Mayor Pro Tem Sheryl Cole and co-sponsored by Mayor Lee Leffingwell and Council Member Laura Mor­rison, the symbolic resolution is unlikely to raise much dissent in the chamber and certainly none on the dais. It cites the historical, moral, and political reasons for same-sex equality – notably, the Bill of Rights of the Texas Constitution, which says rights cannot be restricted only to certain people – and should be recommended reading for all Austinites.

Austin Police - It Gets Better

TEXAS: More Sexual Allegations Against Rick Perry From Backer Of Anti-Perry Ad

Ron Paul supporter Robert Morrow appeared on Austin's Outcast radio show this week to make some pretty wild sexual allegations against Rick Perry, including a story about a visit to strip club. This is the guy who last week published a newspaper ad urging anybody who'd had sex with Perry to come forward.

Published In The Austin Chronicle

(Source)

Don't Text At The Movies

TEXAS: Double-Homicide By Man Angry Over Daughter's Lesbian Relationship

A Texas man has been charged with two counts of murder after shooting to death the woman dating his daughter and her mother. The Austin Statesman reports:

Jose Alfonso Aviles, 45, has been charged with capital murder and was arrested early this morning in Bexar County by the Lone Star Fugitive Task Force, said Lt. Gena Curtis. Aviles lives in Austin, but was found in San Antonio, police said. Aviles’ daughter had been dating 24-year-old Norma Hurtado for several months, which was the source of feuding between the Aviles and Hurtado families, Curtis said. Aviles and another Hispanic man, who has not been identified, went to the Hurtado’s home at the 7100 block of Dixie Drive late Monday and knocked on the door, Curtis said. Moments later, Aviles’ daughter, who was in the home, heard gun shots and found that Hurtado and Hurtado’s mother, 57-year-old Maria Hurtado, had been shot, police said. Both women died at the scene, police said

Police declined to say if the murders would be prosecuted as a hate crime.

(Tipped by JMG reader Monty)

They're Even Kissing In the FRENCH Way!

(Tipped by JMG reader Suzanne)

TEXAS: Austin Cops Indifferent To Gay-Bashing Of Two Men

On Christmas night two gay men were attacked outside an Austin, Texas gay bar as dozens of onlookers did nothing. The victims say that responding police seemed indifferent to the attack.

OutCast Austin Radio Interview

If you missed the live stream of my interview with Austin's KOOP-FM last night, they've now posted a podcast of the show on their site. Hopefully I don't sound like a tool.

Austin Radio Interview, 7PM EDT

At 7PM EDT, I'll be on KOOP-FM in Austin, Texas to talk about the Rekers scandal. I've done several of these in the last few days, but THIS time I'm remembering to tell you in advance! Stream the show live here.

UPDATE: I'll post the station's podcast of the interview tomorrow.

Today In Crazy People

The 9/11 Truthers are already claiming that the plane crash in Austin was a "false flag op" by the federal government, presumably to discredit the teabaggers. According to the Crazy People, fire trucks and HazMat teams were already in place outside the IRS office prior to the crash, awaiting the arrival of the plane.

SUICIDE MISSION: Pilot Crashes Plane Into IRS Building In Austin, Texas

A private plane has crashed into an IRS building in Austin, Texas, killing the pilot and his passenger. It appears that the pilot burned his own house down prior to boarding the plane and left a long rambling manifesto decrying the U.S. goverment's bailout of General Motors, among other things.

Why is it that a handful of thugs and plunderers can commit unthinkable atrocities (and in the case of the GM executives, for scores of years) and when it’s time for their gravy train to crash under the weight of their gluttony and overwhelming stupidity, the force of the full federal government has no difficulty coming to their aid within days if not hours? Yet at the same time, the joke we call the American medical system, including the drug and insurance companies, are murdering tens of thousands of people a year and stealing from the corpses and victims they cripple, and this country’s leaders don’t see this as important as bailing out a few of their vile, rich cronies. Yet, the political “representatives” (thieves, liars, and self-serving scumbags is far more accurate) have endless time to sit around for year after year and debate the state of the “terrible health care problem”. It’s clear they see no crisis as long as the dead people don’t get in the way of their corporate profits rolling in.

Some sites are already calling this the action of a deranged teabagger, but there's not clear evidence of that yet.

UPDATE: Teabaggers have created a tribute page to the pilot on Facebook.