LOUSIANA: Lesbian High School Student Told She Can't Wear Tuxedo To Her Prom

Via the Monroe News-Star:

Carroll High School senior Claudetteia Love, an openly gay student and top academic scholar, won't attend the school's prom this year because the school won't allow her to wear a tuxedo. The school says it's simply a dress code, but Love said the school's prohibition is more about her sexual orientation than her fashion choices. Friday, she sat quietly crying in her living room as she talked about missing one of the signature events of her senior year. The prom is April 24. "I told my mom, 'They're using me. They put me in all these honors and advanced placement classes so I can take all of these tests and get good grades and better the school, but when it's time for me to celebrate the fact that I've accomplished what I need to accomplish and I'm about to graduate, they don't want to let me do it, the way I want to," she said.

Love has earned a full academic scholarship to Jackson State University. The head of the local school board has vowed to attempt to intervene on her behalf.

Tea Party Defender Of Traditional Marriage Busted Wrecking His Traditional Marriage

Freshman Rep. Vance McAllister (R-LA), who campaigned on a platform of "defending our Christian way of life" and on the "defense of natural marriage" has been caught on video making out with a young female staffer. Local news outlets are speculating about an affair. McAllister has issued the usual statement asking for privacy while his family gets through this extremely fucking embarrassing time.

There’s no doubt I’ve fallen short and I’m asking for forgiveness. I’m asking for forgiveness from God, my wife, my kids, my staff and my constituents who elected me to serve. Trust is something I know has to be earned whether you’re a husband, a father or a congressman. I promise to do everything I can to earn back the trust of everyone I’ve disappointed. From day one, I’ve always tried to be an honest man. I ran for Congress to make a difference and not just be another politician.

McAllister was elected in November 2013 special election after GOP Rep. Rodney Alexander resigned to join the administration of Gov. Bobby Jindal. During his campaign McAllister sought and received the endorsement of the Duck Dynasty clan.

LOUISIANA: Bullying Bill Pulled Because Gay Students Don't Actually Get Bullied

Advocates for LGBT students have pulled their anti-bullying bill from consideration after the Louisiana Family Forum pressured legislators to strip the mention of sexual orientation from the bill. Because being gay does not subject a student to bullying.

In what has become a near annual rite at the Louisiana Legislature, civil rights and gay rights advocates failed Wednesday to win approval for a more detailed and, advocates say, stronger anti-bullying law for public schools. Rep. Pat Smith, D-Baton Rouge, pitched House Bill 407 as necessary, given continued evidence of bullying, including a recent suicide by a Point Coupee teenager who had complained to adults many times about being mistreated by her classmates. Opponents, lead by the conservative Louisiana Family Forum and aides to Gov. Bobby Jindal, argued that the measure went too far by listing perceived or actual characteristics that should not subject a student to bullying. The committee voted 10-5 to strip the bill of those key changes, which included sexual orientation. Smith shelved the measure, saying the action gutted its intent.

Louisiana Family Forum head Pastor Gene Mills: "You could make a criminal bully out of a child who holds an orthodox view of Christianity." (Tipped by JMG reader Mike.)

Ruh Roh!

"I will be their fierce advocate to make sure they are getting the compensation they need to get through what is going to be a difficult season." - President Obama, promising Gulf coast business owners that he'll make sure that BP pays up.

Oil Spill Day 36: It's A Nightmare

Welcome To America

Rex Wockner points us to this bit of holiday Americana.

Wayne Spring shot off his mouth. And then a firing squad of Saints fans shot up his 60-inch flat screen - may it rest in pieces. The Louisiana man predicted a Washington Redskins' victory over undefeated New Orleans last Sunday - and offered local fans a chance to blast his beloved television if the Saints prevailed. They did, with a 33-30 overtime triumph. Within minutes, Spring's phone was ringing madly. And then his Albany, La., driveway was filled with Saints fans fueled by vengeance and beer. "They said they were coming with guns," said Spring. "And then they were in my driveway. With guns." The executioners - most in Saints jerseys - shot his television to bits, the fusillade of handgun and rifle fire every bit as accurate as a Drew Brees bomb. "They blew it to smithereens," said Spring, who owns a pair of local trailer parks. He taped the whole thing and posted it on YouTube, where it's collected more than 150,000 600,000 viewings. "I'm not sure if I was drinking or not when I made the offer," Spring said yesterday. "But I know when they came here, some of those fellas were drinking. "Some of 'em were nine sheets to the wind."

About That Renegade Republican....

After his lone GOP "yes" vote on the U.S. House's health care reform bill helped its approval by only a two vote margin yesterday, right wing sites such as Free Republic and others have already launched a campaign against Rep. Joseph Cao (R-LA), branding him a "traitor" and calling for his deportation back to Vietnam, among other unrepeatable things. Cao emigrated to the United States at the age of eight with two siblings and an uncle, while his mother remained in Vietnam awaiting the release of his father from a North Vietnamese Army "reeducation camp."

After earning a master's degree at Fordham and a law degree from Loyola, Cao narrowly defeated Rep. William Jefferson in 2008 to become the first Republican congressional member from New Orleans' heavily Democratic 2nd District since 1891. Cao's win came after Jefferson was indicted on 16 felony counts of corruption. (Jefferson was found guilty on 11 of those counts in August.) Since taking office, Cao has consistently voted as one of the most moderate GOP reps in the House, becoming one of the four GOP co-sponsors of the recently-approved hate crimes act.

You can thank Rep. Cao for his support of health care reform here. In addition to the racist comments on conservative sites, his Facebook page is getting quite ugly, but appreciative progressives are also pouring in with messages of support.

Louisiana: Governor's Commission Won't Consider Adoption By Gay Couples

After a New Orleans-based LGBT rights organization pled their case to allowed unmarried partners to adopt in Louisiana, they were immediately shot down by one of Gov. Bobby Jindal's flacks.

"If anything, they (state marriage and adoption laws) should be strengthened,'' Rep. Frank Hoffman, R-West Monroe, a member of Gov. Bobby Jindal's 29-member Commission on Marriage and the Family, said. "Marriage is between one man and one woman, and we need to do all we can to support that." The commission viewed a 15-minute video titled "Families, Too,'' from the Forum for Equality, a New Orleans-based gay rights organization which supports laws that would allow unmarried heterosexual couples and gay couples to adopt children with each partner having parental control. A married couple, defined in Louisiana as a union of one man and one woman, and a single person of any gender can adopt. If a gay person enters into a relationship with a partner, that partner has no parental authority over the child, said Trey Williams, chief spokesman for the state Department of Social Services.

Most of the 29 members of Jindal's Commission on Marriage and the Family come from conservative and anti-gay organizations.

Gustav Impact Zone Tightens, Louisiana Evacuations Begin

Hurricane forecasters have tightened the probable landfall zone for Gustav and are now saying it may come ashore slightly west of New Orleans, putting the city squarely on the wrong side of the storm's worst winds and flooding. An evacuation of Louisiana's barrier islands is underway at this writing. A mandatory evacuation of Lafourche Parish begins at 8am tomorrow. New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin is in a planning session with Gov. Bobby Jindal and Homeland Security head Michael Chertoff to determine when to make the call to evacuate New Orleans. Jindal says the order may come later tonight or tomorrow morning, depending on the next few hours of the storm's movement. Jindal has ordered the National Guard to prepare to move into the city to protect business areas from looting.

UPDATE: Forecasters now say that Hurricane Gustav will likely be a Category 4 storm when it reaches land. Mayor Ray Nagin says the evacuation order for New Orleans will likely come tomorrow. My contact at Southern Decadence says events will go on as planned until an official order to evacuate is issued.

UPDATE II: Voluntary evacuations have begun in New Orleans. The mandatory evacuation order for the six New Orleans parishes will be given at noon Saturday unless the storm stalls.

UPDATE IV: The latest bulletin from the Associated Press says the mandatory evacuation is on for New Orleans and six surrounding parishes. French Quarter hotels have begun shutting down.

New Orleans police with bullhorns plan to go street to street with a tough message about getting out ahead of Hurricane Gustav: This time there will be no shelter of last resort. The doors to the Superdome will be locked. Those who stay will be on their own.

Authorities issued the warning Friday as new forecasts made it increasingly clear that New Orleans will get some kind of hit — direct or indirect — as early as Monday. And those among New Orleans' 310,000 residents who ignore orders to leave accept "all responsibility for themselves and their loved ones," said the city's emergency preparedness director, Jerry Sneed.

Several parishes in the New Orleans area announced plans for mandatory evacuations beginning Saturday. Mayor Ray Nagin said it was possible thousands of people who need city help could start moving out Saturday as the first wave of a full-scale evacuation.