Porno Pete Flops At IML

It's International Mister Leather weekend in Chicago and yesterday Porno Pete announced a "press conference" to be held today outside the Leather Archives. Pity the press didn't show up. Via DNA Info:

A handful of anti-gay activists and their cameramen held an event Friday morning dubbing the longstanding Leather Archives & Museum a "perversion museum" that promotes incest, pedophilia and sadomasochism to children. But Rogers Park neighbors weren't having it. Naperville-based hate group Americans for Truth About Homosexuality planned the protest at the 16-year-old, adults-only museum at 6418 N. Greenview Ave. in before the International Mr. Leather conference this weekend Downtown. The four protesters who showed up on behalf of the group (not counting two camera men documenting the whole thing) were quickly outnumbered by local detractors telling them to "go home." LaBarbera said the museum promoted incest, pedophilia and sadomasochism in a residential neighborhood near schools. The museum also promotes "consensual sexual violence" and "consensual slavery," he said. But LaBarbera wouldn't say how passing children could get inside the museum, where only adults are admitted and the door is locked around the clock.

Porno Pete was also very upset because the museum's neighbors ripped up the anti-gay flyers he'd placed on car windshields around the neighborhood. Because that's censorship! And closing down a museum isn't! Accompanying Porno Pete was Mike Heath, who years ago was booted out of the very anti-gay Maine Family Policy Council for being too much of a douchebag, even for them. Hit the link for more about today's nonsensery.

(Tipped by JMG reader Rebecca)

Porno Pete Will Be At IML

Send us your selfies with Porno Pete, boys!

CHICAGO: Gay Aldermen Threaten To Relocate Pride Parade Over Rowdiness

Via the Chicago Tribune:

If the Pride Parade doesn’t clean up its act, 2015 might be the last year it marches through Lakeview, two North Side aldermen are warning. “If there is not a serious improvement in the parade’s impact on surrounding residents' quality of life this year, the next step is to assemble an advisory group to make recommendations for moving the parade out of the Lakeview community,” stated a joint release from Ald. Tom Tunney, Ald. James Cappleman [PHOTO] and the city’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events. The 2014 Pride Parade drew hundreds of thousands of attendees, and eight people were arrested for event-related activities, according to the Tribune. One was charged with criminal damage to property for allegedly jumping up and down on top of a Chicago police squad car, denting the roof. Tunney and Cappleman said that this year’s parade, which will be June 28, will be subject to stricter public safety standards, including more enforcement of laws against drinking in public. If those aren’t successful in taming paradegoers’ partying, the aldermen said, the parade could have to move.

The aldermen have not suggested a new location.

ILLINOIS: Library To Pay Settlement To Kevin DuJan And Creationist Sidekick

Homocon Kevin DuJan and creationist loon Megan Fox have won a $55K settlement from a Chicago-area library over their FOIA complaints that porn was being viewed on its computers. The Chicago Tribune reports:

Orland Park Public Library officials have approved a settlement with two patrons who sued the library over alleged transparency law violations in an ongoing dispute over the library's policy of giving adults unfiltered access to the Internet, including pornography. Last fall, Megan Fox and Kevin DuJan filed two lawsuits against the library, alleging several violations of Illinois' freedom of information law. Orland Park and its police department were also accused in one of the suits of violating the law. The settlement includes a $55,000 payment by the library's insurance company to Fox, DuJan and their attorneys, resolves current complaints over alleged violations of the FOI law and the state's open meetings law and sets up procedures for handling future public records requests from Fox and DuJan, according to a statement from Library Director Mary Weimar. Fox and DuJan have been outspoken critics of the library since October 2013, when they claimed they saw men viewing pornography on library computers, which is permitted under library policies. The pair filed dozens of FOI requests, seeking records on library policies and personnel.

Late last year I reported that the spokeswoman for the library is also suing DuJan and Fox for defamation. That case is apparently still pending. Hit the top link for more on the settlement. (Tipped by JMG reader Larry)

Nineteen Hospitalized After "Intentional" Gas Leak At Chicago Furry Convention

Via the Chicago Tribune:

Several thousand people were evacuated from a Hyatt hotel in suburban Rosemont when an “intentional” chlorine gas leak at a convention led to 19 people being hospitalized early Sunday morning. The incident happened around 12:40 a.m. at the Hyatt, at 9300 West Bryn Mawr Avenue in Rosemont, according to a statement from the Rosemont Public Safety Department. First responders were called to investigate a noxious odor that was spreading across the ninth floor of the hotel, where a high level of chlorine gas was discovered in the air, the statement said. Nineteen people were transported to nearby hospitals after complaining of nausea, dizziness and other medical problems, according to the statement. All people inside the building were temporarily evacuated and sheltered at nearby facilities, including the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center. The annual weekendlong convention, which celebrates art, literature and performance based around anthropomorphic animals, draws thousands of people every year, according to the Midwest FurFest website.

(Tipped by JMG reader Ray)

ILLINOIS: Homocon Kevin DuJan And His Creationist Sidekick Are Being Sued

Demented homocon horcrux Kevin DuJan and creationist loon Megan Fox are being sued for defamation by a Chicago-area library staffer. Via Raw Story:

Fox, a blogger for PJ Media and YouTube commentator, has aggressively campaigned for more than a year to change library policies in Orland Park after she and an associate claimed they saw men viewing porn at the public library. She and Kevin DuJan — who promotes conspiracy theories about President Barack Obama’s birthplace, drug use, and sexual history — have filed hundreds of Freedom of Information Act requests on library policies and employees. They have also filed at least 34 complaints with the Illinois attorney general alleging transparency law violations by library staffers. Fox and DuJan have written numerous blog and social media posts and posted videos of themselves hounding library employees for information. All of this has cost the suburban Chicago library more than $125,000 in legal fees and keeps two library employees busy for about 35 hours a week, according to spokeswoman Bridget Bittman – a primary target for criticism by the conservative pair. Fox apparently found a photo online through a Google image search of Bittman holding a bottle of Champagne, which she posted on her own Facebook page and suggested that she drank alcohol while engaged in work duties at the library. The conservative activist also posted a video in July on her YouTube channel alleging that police had accused Bittman of disorderly conduct and breach of peace, and other claims the library employee described as false. The suit claims DuJan filed a complaint against Bittman related to those charges, but police found no evidence to support his claims.

The suit claims "violations of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act and the Stored Communications Act" and seeks compensatory and punitive damages from Fox, DuJan, and their fellow nutjobs. (Tipped by JMG reader Homer)

PREVIOUSLY ON JMG: DuJan is well-known to JMG readers as the source of Teabagistan's favorite rumor - that President Obama was a regular at Chicago bathhouses before running for the Senate. He has also complained that no one will date him because of his love for Sarah Palin, that gay leftists are trying to poison his cocktails, and that the employees of a popular Chicago gay bar have been ordered to murder him. DuJan gained more national media attention in 2010 when CNN covered his open campaign to rig Dancing With The Stars voting in favor of Bristol Palin. Last year DuJan declared that it was "obvious" that President Obama was high on cocaine on the night of the Benghazi attack.

Dating Website: Chicago Is Top Travel Destination For Closeted Gay Men

According to a dating website that specializes in romantic travel, Chicago is the most popular destination for closeted gay men. Via press release:

Thousands of men are secretly flocking to destinations across the globe. With many counterparts left outside of the picture, many times the real purpose of trips remains undisclosed. MissTravel.com conducted a two-part survey regarding closeted travel. The dating destination website first polled 5,184 male members seeking male travel companions, to find out if they were “out” as homosexuals. The 41% members who were in-fact closeted were then surveyed to discover their top destinations for discreet travel.

Top Closeted Destinations:
1.Chicago, Illinois
2.Sydney, Australia
3.Maui, Hawaii
4.Puerta Vallarta, Mexico
5.Vancouver, British Columbia
6.Las Vegas, Nevada
7.Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
8.Orlando, Florida
9.Buenos Aires, Argentina
10.Minneapolis, Minnesota

The press release adds: "Chicago is known as a major U.S. business hub, making it a plausible destination for prudent travel." 

ILLINOIS: Hundreds Attend Meeting About Gay Music Director Fired By Catholic Church For Announcing Engagement

Hundreds of Catholic parishioners yesterday attended an "emotionally charged" meeting about their former music director, who was fired after using social media to announce his engagement to a man.

Many of the roughly 700 people who attended appeared to support Colin Collette, who received a standing ovation when he entered the sanctuary. Members of the media were not allowed to attend, but parishioners described the scene afterward. Collette was terminated from the job he held for 17 years in late July, after being told that his same-sex relationship violates the tenets of the Catholic Church, he said. Collette has said that church leaders knew he was gay long before he posted the announcement of his wedding plans on Facebook. Kevin Keane of Bartlett, one of dozens of people addressing a panel that included representatives of the Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago, quit his position as cantor in protest of Collette's firing. “He has given his entire life to the church,” Keane said, repeating a portion of his speech. “That leads me to the conclusion if he's not fit to serve, then I am not fit to serve.” Others derided the church and called for change. But some supported the church's decision, such as Frank Girjatowicz of Hoffman Estates. “I am not against homosexuals,” he said. “But their style of life, according to human nature, is not acceptable.”

The church's pastor, Rev. Terry Keenan, released a statement: "Through the use of social media, the Archdiocese of Chicago has become aware that Colin has publicly endorsed a position in conflict with Church teachings. Employees who make such choices cannot remain employed by the Archdiocese." (Tipped by JMG reader Ray)

Porno Pete Has The Sears Sadz

Brian Tashman writes at Right Wing Watch:

Americans For Truth About Homosexuality’s Peter LaBarbera stopped by “Crosstalk” on Monday to warn of divine retribution for the United States, and specifically the Sears company, for supporting gay rights. The anti-gay activist and host Jim Schneider of Voice of Christian Youth America criticized Sears for participating in the Chicago Pride Parade and releasing a video featuring same-sex couples getting married. “There goes Sears,” LaBarbera said. “I watched the video, it’s just so sad and tragic to me. The Bible says there’s a way to seems right to a man but the end of that way is death, basically. Attaching the perversion of homosexuality, which God called an abomination, detestable behavior, attaching that to marriage is just ungodly. It’s sad to see corporations celebrating this to get more sales and we’ll see if Sears suffers for this capitulation to the homosexual activist movement.”

Cardinal Francis George: America Is Being Destroyed By Tyranny Of Gay Marriage

"The imposition of a definition of marriage that destroys the natural meaning of marital union is becoming another test case for religious liberty. The law now holds that men and women are interchangeable in marriage, as if children did not need both a mother and a father to be born and raised with some security. These are laws that mark societies in decline, demographically as well as morally. What has happened to our vaunted American liberties? Except for property rights, they are all being traded off in favor of freedom of sexual expression.That 'freedom' has become the trump card in almost every social dispute. While the public conversation plays the game of liberal versus conservative, there is really only one issue: freedom versus tyranny, a tyranny masquerading as compassion and suppressing legally differences that seem to threaten abstract 'equality'. Americans are concerned about the economy, and rightly so. We are concerned with the loss of our place in the world, and rightly so. We should also be concerned that we are on the wrong side of what nature teaches us and therefore, at least over the long run, headed for historical failure as a society. - Cardinal Francis George, in a Catholic New World column republished by NOM.

PREVIOUSLY ON JMG: In January 2013, Cardinal George demanded that every Catholic in Illinois oppose same-sex marriage. In December 2012, Cardinal George declared that there is no such things as gay marriage because it cannot be consummated. In 2011, Cardinal George compared Chicago's gay pride parade to a parade of the Ku Klux Klan.

Tweet Of The Day - Equality Illinois

Via Huffington Post:

Though Illinois Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Rauner is not planning to attend Sunday's massive Gay Pride Parade in Chicago, his presence will still very much be felt -- thanks to a giant banner erected by LGBT advocates. Equality Illinois and a number of associated community members and elected officials on Thursday unveiled a two-story banner featuring a photograph of Rauner along with his statement, made last year at a Tea Party event, that he would have vetoed Illinois' new marriage equality bill had it come to his desk as governor of the state.

CHICAGO: Willis Tower Skydeck Ledge Cracks As Tourists Pose For Photos

Speaking of  "Ow, my balls." NBC Chicago reports:

Alejandro Garibay, his brother, and two cousins were in the glass enclosure that juts out of the west side of the building shortly before 10 p.m. when Garibay said they heard cracking. They stepped off and alerted staffers. "I walked them over so they could see and they were totally shocked and asked us to step away and then proceeded to start calling staff and techs and I don't know who else. When we pulled our phones to start recording and take pictures they asked us to leave right away," he said.

Willis Tower officials say the ledge remains safe and that it was just the coating on the glass that cracked. The 103rd floor ledge is advertised as capable of bearing five tons. So go ahead, step on out.

HomoQuotable - Rich Juzwiak

"Frankie Knuckles kept the disco in house before 'disco house' or any of the mass sub-genre-ization of house was a thing. The racist and homophobic Disco Demolition Night, held July 12, 1979, largely killed disco's mainstream cool, but Knuckles stuck with it, riding it through the '70s and well into the '90s and beyond. A maligned people had their maligned genre, and from there it grew to become a global phenomenon. Knuckles called house 'disco's revenge.'

"Today, plenty of people listen to house music (whether via EDM or otherwise) without recognizing its roots as gay black music for gay black people. But that is what it is, and that it came to prominence at a time in which the gay community was being ravaged by AIDS, is a triumph. It's but one of several examples of the gays knowing something it would take years for the rest of the world to discover. And it might not have happened without Frankie Knuckles, certainly not in the way it did. He was one of the handful of people who've been on this earth that we could point to and say, 'There. That man changed culture.'" - Rich Juzwiak, writing for Gawker.

RELATED: During last night's Tonight Show, house band The Roots played The Whistle Song in tribute to Frankie Knuckles. Roots percussionist Frank Knuckles takes his name from the late Godfather Of House. My remembrance of Frankie Knuckles is here.  Rolling Stone has published a lengthy retrospective of Knuckles' career and influence.

Frankie Knuckles Dies At Age 59

Dance music fans poured onto social media late Monday night, hoping that reports of the death of house music legend Frankie Knuckles, 59, were an impossibly cruel April Fool's hoax. Sadly, his passing has been confirmed by the Chicago Tribune, which thus far reports only that Knuckles "died unexpectedly at home."

Knuckles was known to all as the Godfather Of House, a title bestowed because of the music style he popularized as a young DJ at Chicago's Warehouse, a club mostly patronized by black and Latino gay men. That style would soon come to dominate dance floors, radio waves, and pop charts all over the world.

More on Knuckles' early days from Complex Music:

Knuckles was born in the Bronx in 1955, and became a disco DJ in the early 1970s, spinning with childhood friend and garage pioneer Larry Levan at the Continental Baths. In 1977, the Warehouse nightclub opened in Chicago, and Knuckles moved to the city to become its premier DJ. As legend has it, the music Knuckles would spin at "The Warehouse" became extremely popular among his regular clubgoers, who would then go to record stores to request "house" music—music spun at "The Warehouse." What Knuckles would spin evolved into its own genre, as producers used drum machines to produce less expensive version of popular dance styles. Knuckles would also begin to do his own edits, lengthening disco tracks to make them work better for a dance floor. The Warehouse became the crucible of a genre that would conquer the world and can still be heard on radio stations to this day.

Beginning in the early 90s, in addition to his own popular releases, Frankie Knuckles lent his golden touch to dozens of club remixes, many of which became classics separate from the original pop singles. In gay and straight clubs around the world, it was a rare night that did not feature at least one (and sometimes several) Frankie Knuckles remixes. Pet Shop Boys, Sounds Of Blackness, Chaka Khan, Michael Jackson, Alison Limerick, Toni Braxton, Lisa Stansfeld - all of them and many more earned dance floor hits via those remixes with his trademark piano runs. At the height of his fame during those years, Frankie Knuckles was even name-checked on Absolutely Fabulous.

In 2004 Chicago named a street for Knuckles near the former location of the Warehouse.

A PERSONAL REMEMBRANCE: Shortly after I moved to NYC in the spring of 2001, I found myself alone as the packed Roxy wound towards the conclusion of its Saturday night. As I leaned on a railing above the dance floor to again ponder my decision to move across the country to a town where I only knew a handful of people, the DJ dropped the needle on the Frankie Knuckles classic The Whistle Song - a track that always did and always will evoke in me a contradictory sense of joy and melancholy - and probably the last song I needed to hear during that moment of self-pitying loneliness in a crowded nightclub. I stood up straight, eyes closed, and clutched the rail tighter, overwhelmed with images of the lost men with whom I'd twirled to that song across the dance floors of Fort Lauderdale and Miami Beach. An older man nearby read my face and leaned over to cup a hand to my ear. Motioning to the dance floor, he half-shouted, "With such gorgeous music in the world, how can ANYBODY be unhappy?" Then he bounded alone onto the floor and began to twirl. As I walked out of the Roxy a few minutes later, still smiling, I vowed that one day I would tell that story to Frankie Knuckles, if I were to ever meet him. About one year later, I got that chance.

VIDEO: The below promotional clip scarcely does justice to the full 12" version, but hey, Frankie is in it.

MORE RECENTLY:  I took this photo at Furball in April 2012. Frankie was chatting in between tracks with my pal and the event's promoter Joe Fiore. I wanted a shot for the blog so I teased Frankie to "do something DJ-y." He dramatically extended one hand to pinch a knob on his console and we all cracked up.

Now Appearing On Chicago Mass Transit

Lambda Legal this week debuted its first-ever mass transit campaign on Chicago's red line.

"This is a celebration campaign," said Jim Bennett, Regional Director for the Midwest Regional Office of Lambda Legal. "We're very happy to have our plaintiff couples as the faces of a campaign on the CTA Red line, a great place to be seen by our community. The people who text to get the Love Unites US bag will also be sent our marriage FAQ and as always we are here to help if the need arises. Lambda Legal has been fighting for equality for a long time, and we want to share the excitement. We all did this together - these ads are full of joy." The campaign bears the slogan,"You make your life, we make it legal." The ads also feature Lambda Legal marriage plaintiffs Lakeesha Harris and Janean Watkins from Chicago and Timothy Rice and Don Julian of Alto Pass, Illinois as well as the organization's Board co-chair, Karen Dixon and her spouse Nan Schaffer formerly of Chicago.

CHICAGO: Taxi Group Threatens To Out Five Gay Aldermen Over Ride-Sharing Plan

CBS Chicago reports that a trade newspaper for the local taxi industry is threatening to out five "closeted homosexual" Chicago city aldermen over their support for ride-sharing services like Uber. But this is probably all a prank.

In an editorial in The Chicago Dispatcher, publisher George Lutfallah said the trade publication “has learned that five of the city’s 50 aldermen are closeted homosexuals. In the next issue of this newspaper, set to be published early next month, we will disclose their names unless our demands are met.” Among a list of 10 demands, Lutfallah said he wants the city to ban ride-sharing services, and to “actively enforce” the current regulations for taxis. “The city is moving forward and will steamroll our industry if we don’t act in earnest. They did it to my grandfather more than a hundred years ago when they destroyed his horse-drawn-carriage business by allowing horseless machines to carry people around the city,” he wrote.

If you read the full editorial, you'll see that Lutfallah also claims that these allegedly gay aldermen watch Duck Dynasty and eat at Chick-Fil-A. He also demands that the city "change the name back to Sears Tower" and says that women should not be allowed to drive. Joke or not, Equality Illinois wants an apology.

"This is an outrageous attempt to blackmail the city of Chicago and scornfully humiliate members of the Chicago City Council. However this article was intended, it is no joking matter. We call on the publication to immediately retract its extremely offensive article and apologize to the city’s LGBT community, women drivers and customers, the City Council and the public at large. Such comments strike at the core of communities that are still fighting for full recognition and equality."

ILLINOIS: Court Rules That Gay Marriages May Commence In Cook County

The Chicago Sun-Times reports that a court has ruled that same-sex marriages may commence immediately in Cook County. The law was due to go into effect statewide on June 1st. 

UPDATE: From the ACLU of Illinois.

I am so pleased to let you know that a short while ago, U.S. District Court Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman ordered Cook County Clerk David Orr to begin providing marriage licenses to same-sex couples seeking the freedom to marry, rather than requiring them to wait until June. The decision comes in a case brought by the ACLU of Illinois, along with our allies at Lambda Legal. Marriage licenses will begin to be issued immediately. As you know, Governor Pat Quinn signed a marriage equality law in November. The default start date for that law is June 1, 2014. The ACLU and Lambda first sought marriage licenses for those couples with one partner who because of a life-threatening illness might not survive until the June start date. Today's decision recognizes the constitutional right of couples to marry the person they love now, without waiting for that arbitrary deadline. It also builds on momentum from decisions across the nation, recognizing the freedom to marry for couples from Virginia to Oklahoma. We are thrilled to be part of this historic decision. Illinois is a fairer, stronger state moving forward.

Bishop Thomas Paprocki: Anti-Gay Exorcisms Are Totally An Act Of Love

PREVIOUSLY ON JMG:  In September 2012, Paprocki told his diocese that if they vote for a Democrat, Satan will take their soul. In January of 2013, Paprocki testified against same-sex marriage before the Illinois legislature. Paprocki then ordered all of the priests in his parish to read an anti-gay letter to their congregations.  Also in January 2013, Paprocki defended a priest in his diocese who was forced to call 911 to get him out of the handcuffs and ball-gag that he'd put on during some totally-not-gay self-pleasuring. According to Paprocki, the priest was merely engaging in "non-sexual self-bondage" as a means of relieving stress. Uh-HUH.

Chicago Cubs Unveil First Mascot

The Chicago Cubs have unveiled the team's first mascot.

Clark, a young bear wearing a Cubs jersey and backward blue baseball cap, was accompanied Monday at Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center by a dozen team prospects. The mascot is named after the North Side Chicago street on which Wrigley Field is located. Team officials say they held focus groups before deciding on Clark, and fans told them they wanted a more family-friendly atmosphere at Wrigley Field. Clark will greet fans at Wrigley before and during games, and the mascot will have a Twitter account and Facebook page.

The announcement has been met with much mocking on Twitter. A sample: "He looks like was paroled from Build-A-Bear as part of work release program." Others are comparing him to Pedobear.

Christians Block Atheist Display

This happened in Chicago last week.

A secular group set up a giant red A in Chicago’s Daley Plaza to make a statement about the separation of church and state, and a group of activists decided to retort by doing the Christian thing: placing a giant banner right in front of it. This led to quite the confrontation between the Christian activists and a rather outspoken counter-protestor in the plaza. One woman cried, “You shouldn’t be protesting the A. Protesting the A means that you are surrendering our freedom of speech!”