Scaasi and Ladd Tie the Knot in New York...Or Do They?

Today's New York Times has a charming article on the wedding of legendary designer Arnold Scaasi and his love of 50 years, publishing executive Parker Ladd (the picture above is from a few colorful years ago).  It was quite the society affair with a reception at Le Cirque and a guest list that included Mayor Bloomberg, Martha Stewart, Barbara Walters, Tory Burch, Liz Smith and Kenneth Jay Lane.  The couple met at a dinner party in 1962 and knew after a courtship of a week that they were to be together.  They also understand the importance of being out and public, as Mr. Ladd said, "At our age, being out about being gay is not chopped liver."


But did they actually get married?  Read about the mystery here.   

The Gay Housewives are Back!

And trashy as ever.  If you enjoy feeling your brain rot in real time, tune in.  If not, read the appaled New York Times' TV critic's review:

"These people make the “Real Housewives,” an acknowledged inspiration for the Logo show, look like the graduating class of a fine Swiss finishing school."


It's true.  These dumb and dumber boys (and one sassy gal this season) with their contrived meetings at empty bars and launch parties for "T-shirt openings" are so shallow and vapid that they make Snookie weep for our culture.  This is truly a new low in the vast wasteland that is American TV.  The only saving grace is Tom and Lorenzo's hilarious recaps.  You must check them out.  The only reason I watch the show is so I can truly appreciate Tand L.  And maybe Reichen's abs.  And Rodiney's pecks.  But that's all!   

Memo to Politicians: It's OK to Come Our for Marriage Equality

The leading pollsters for President G.W. Bush and President Obama have released a joint memo revealing their findings that support for marriage equality is increasingly safe ground for politicians and support for marriage has accelerated dramatically over the past two years.  The memo, (PDF here), by Joel Benenson of the Benenson Strategy Group and Jan van Lohuizen of Voter Consumer Research found a substantial majority of people under 50 support marriage, which isn't so surprising, but support is up among all ages and political persuasions.  The surge of support is being driven by independents.

"Ultimately, things are changing very quickly because support levels are up in all age and party categories. This allows one to conclude that many adults are rethinking their position, and it is taking place at all age levels and among all partisans, including older Americans and Republicans. Attitudes are changing at a slower pace among older adults and conservatives, but they’re changing."

Perhaps most most significantly, the intensity gap between marriage equality opponents and supporters seems to have shifted. 

"Our survey of historical data shows that intensity of opinion is shifting as well. Where previously opponents of marriage for same-sex couples held their views more strongly than marriage supporters, this is no longer the case. Support has not just grown it has intensified as well."

Read the whole thing.  Intensity has always been equality opponent's greatest strength.  They believe in their cause and work tirelessly.  Without that, change will come more quickly than any of us could have imagined.     


h/t LC NY Bureau Chief Doug.

Christopher Mayer: 1954-2011

Do you remember the replacement Duke Brothers, Coy and Vance, on The Dukes of Hazzard?  I sure do.  Gorgeous Christopher Mayer played Vance during the 1982-1983 season when John Schneider and Tom Wopat walked over a contract dispute.  Mayer went on to appear in the soap opera Santa Barbara for 180 episodes and made a number of TV and film appearances, his last in 2000.  I was sad to read that he died on June 24 of unnamed "natural causes" at the age of 57.  His fiance, Catherine Irvine, had this to say:

"I am very, very sad about his death. ... Chip was a troubled soul, but he had a hilarious sense of humor and a big heart."

Polly Platt: 1939-2011

Film producer and production designer Polly Platt has died at the age of 72.  The cause was Lou Gehrig's disease.  She was known primarily for her professional collaboration with two men:  Peter Bogdanovich, who was also her husband, and James L. Brooks.  She was the art director on several Bogdanovich films including The Last Picture Show, What's Up Doc, and Paper Moon.  She was nominated for an Academy Award for her art direction on Terms of Endearment, directed by Mr. Brooks. She also served as art director on the Streisand production of A Star is Born.  She was the producer or executive producer of several Brooks-directed films including Broadcast News, The War of the Roses, and Bottle Rocket.    

A Word to Joshua

Project Runway is back and I already know who took Jay McCarroll's advice to play to the production, not to the judges.  Joshua McKinley took his shirt off in the audition to show Seth Aaron his hairless torso, he has pictures of himself in his portfolio, and he apparently hopes Michael Kors has a pit fetish. 

Apparently his massive arms were too constrained by the sleeves of the scrubs, so he actually cut them off.  I guess he can't work if his pits can't breathe properly.  Honey, we get it.  You're young, cute and fit.  I didn't look that good on my best day and yes,I'm jealous.  That said, you don't have to be so obvious.  Wear the occasional sleeve and for God's sake, wash 1980s GQ cover model goop out of your hair.

Caption This

Jim DeMint Addresses Tea Party Rally

SC Sen. Jim - homosexuals should not be allowed to be teachers- DeMint addressed a Tea Party Rally in Washington. 

Notice something a little odd? 

Audra McDonald on Marriage Equality

Beautiful Broadway star Audra McDonald talked to the ladies of The View about her commitment to equality.  How incredible would it be to have the four-time Tony winner as your wedding singer?



Audra McDonald in Porgy and Bess?  LC NY Bureau Chief Doug better get his hide-a-bed ready for this Charleston boy 'cause I'm coming. 

Quote of the Day

Same-sex attraction is not a choice, but homosexual conduct and homosexual self-identification are choices."

--Tony Toni Tone Perkins, spokesman for the hate group Fag Family Research Counsel trying to salvage the anti-gay cash cow in the face of growing acceptance of our humanity.  In his defense, maybe "homosexual conduct and self-identification" do seem like choices to someone who chose heterosexual conduct and self-identification.   Caution, the link is to a hate group.

Quote of the Day

"She would have been at the first meeting [of the GSA] if we had been allowed to meet when we were supposed to meet," says Fietek. "There's always the 'what if' thing. I wish we would have been given the opportunity to reach out to her. There are many incidents where kids have come to the group and said that what they learned there saved my life."



--Michele Johnson whose daughter, Samantha, killed herself at the age of 13 by sticking a hunting rifle in her mouth.  She had been bullied for being a perceived lesbian at a public middle school in Anoka, MN where her family had recently moved.  The Anoka-Hennepin school district is in Michele Bachmann's district.  Nine kids have committed suicide there in the last two years.  Four are known to have been, or perceived to have been, gay.  In the 90s, the district adopted a formal policy that stated that school employees could not teach that homosexuality was a "normal, valid lifestyle."  Later it was changed to require employees remain "neutral" on gay issues.  These policies were put into place by the Minnesota Family Council, a close Bachmann ally.  The MFC and other Bachmann allies have worked hard against the establishment of a Gay/Straight Alliance in the district.  You should read the entire Mother Jones article here. 




  

Palin Movie Quits

The distributors of the Sarah Palin documentary, The Undefeated, are taking a cue from their subject and quitting theaters.  It'll soon be available on-demand and pay-per-view, so what are you waiting on?  Get over to Netflix and reserve it.

It turns out that second weekend ticket sales sank 63% after a dismal opening weekend.  This happened despite a wider roll out to four more theaters.  Hey, it's not all bad news.  It did have a better weekend than the sixth week of The Green Lantern.  It's all a liberal conspiracy.    

Monday's Man: Married Men

On the second full day of marriage equality in the Empire State, I thought it appropriate to feature newlyweds. 

Honestly, it's a little sad to be sitting here in Texas watching the festivities in New York, but I'm an optimist.  I believe equality will come here, and the rest of the country, sooner than we think.  New York was a major turning point and things will progress at an accelerated pace.  Mark my words. 

Quote of the Day

"Don’t let the door hit you on your way out. Anyone who can’t perform a government job should quit immediately. This is clearly a position for someone who understands the difference between a church wedding and a civil marriage proceeding."

--The editorial board of the New Jersey Star-Ledger on the two municipal clerks in rural New York who refuse to issue marriage licenses to gay couples.  Read it all here.

It's Marriage Day in New York!

Marriage equality has officially come to New York and the weddings are underway!  In Niagra Falls, Mayor Paul Dyster married Cheryle Rudd and Kitty Lambert (above) at the stroke of midnight.  In New York City, 823 couples signed up to get licenses today and the city clerks offices are open for business.  Across the state, in more than a dozen cities and towns, city offices are open and ready to share the joy, including Albany where Edward Delph and Peter Shroeter (left), got their paperwork in order.

 

Over 100 judges across the state have volunteered to officiate at weddings today (a nice answer to the two small town clerks who have gotten a ton of  publicity for refusing to issue licenses to gays).

The so-called National Organization for Marriage is, naturally, planning a sour grapes rally at several sites, but really nobody cares.  It's just so they can put together some deceptive fund-raising mailers.

Mayor Bloomberg is officiating at the wedding of two City Hall staffers.  Brooklyn borough president Marty Markowitz is opening Borough Hall for a wedding marathon complete with free cake and champagne.  At the City Clerk's office in Lower Manhattan, rabbis are set up to conduct weddings under a rainbow huppa.  Even Rod and Ricky from Avenue Q are getting (pretend) married.  On Monday night, three couples will get married on the stage at the St. James Theater after the performance of Hair, there are pop-up chapels in Central Park, and on Fire Island, you can get married on a ferry with a crew of drag queens.    

Amy Winehouse Dead

Grammy winning singer Amy Winehouse was found dead today in her London home.  She was 27.  No cause of death has been announced.  Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, Kurt Cobain, and now Amy Winehouse all died at 27.

Here she is performing "Rehab" on David Letterman:

Tori Spelling is a Hoarder

Tori Spelling summons dramatic skills honed during 1001 Lifetime movies to face her core addiction.  Gays.

Hoarders: Untold sTori from Tori Spelling

I've always liked Tori Spelling in the strangest way, but sometimes she tries too hard to cultivate the gays.  Just relax girl.  You're total camp.  You don't have to work at it. 

DA/DT Repeal Certified

President Obama today signed the certification that signals the end of the military's gay ban, known dishonestly as Don't Ask/Don't Tell.  This means that this bankrupt, pointless, poorly-drafted, constantly-abused, fear-based law that caused me to resign my Army commission after 12 years will finally stop claiming victims of fear and ignorance in 60 days.  About damn time. 

Sec Def To Announce End of DA/DT Today

Secretary of Defense Panetta is expected to announce today that the Department of Defense is ready to end the military's gay ban.  The next step will be certification by President Obama, then Don't Ask/Don't Tell will be officially dead in 60 days.  The DoD still has to make decisions regarding military benefits since the other bankrupt anti-gay law from the Clinton years, DOMA, prohibits recognition of same-sex marriages.  Troops have undergone training for the past five months.  Former Secretary Robert Gates said that people had been "mildly and pleasantly surprised at the lack of pushback in the training."  In other words, the troops are cool with it, this is not a big deal, let's move on.

Franken Destroys Focus on the Family

Watch Sen. Al Franken reveal the emptiness and dishonesty of the anti-gay industry at today's hearings on DOMA repeal:

Quote of the Day

"Almost every current Republican candidate is required to shudder at the very thought of gay people. The current GOP front-runner, Michele Bachmann, has views on gays that were only widely held in the 1950s and 1960s and were dropped by responsible and sane psychologists in the early 1970s. Her husband does incalculable damage to the souls and psyches of those he simultaneously calls "barbarians" - and charges for it. As the general public coalesces around a new consensus, the GOP has taken a stand far, far to the right of Ronald Reagan's in the 1970s. More to the point, their anti-gay extremism is intensifying.



But this is the result of a political party becoming a religious one. The world changes but doctrine cannot."

--Andrew Sullivan

Maybe She Should Wear Flats

It has been revealed that Congresswoman Michele Bachmann gets debilitating migraines.  Apparently she gets them often and, according to unnamed staffers, they leave her "incapacitated."  The Congresswoman responded quickly to the story saying:

“Let me be abundantly clear — my ability to function effectively has never been impeded by migraines and will not affect my ability to serve as commander in chief,”

I'm sure she's quite right.  Migraines are the least of what we have to worry about from a President Bachmann.  One of her sons is apparently a medical resident and has said that his mother already knows the cause:  high heel shoes.  She gets the migraines when she wears heels.  Gay can become straight and heels cause migraines.  Welcome to the world of President Bachmann.   

Buh Bye College Bookstores

Textbook rentals are coming to Kindle.  College bookstores are the new video stores.   

First Ever Openly Gay Man Appointed to Federal Bench

Today, the Senate confirmed J. Paul Oetken to sit on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.  He is the first openly gay man to be appointed to the federal bench.  He joins the Honorable Deborah Batts, who also serves the Southern District of New York, and who was the first openly gay Federal judge.  Judge Vaughn Walker, who presided over the Prop. 8 trial last year, came out publicly as gay after his retirement.  Oetken passed Senate muster fairly easily with bipartisan support.  There were only six no votes, all Republican.  They are as follows:

Sens. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), John Boozman (R-Ark.), Thad Cochran (R-Miss.), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Jerry Moran (R-Ky.) James Risch (R-Idaho), Pat Roberts (R-Kansas) and Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) as well as Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).

Monday's Man: Michael Irvin

 Legendary Dallas Cowboy and NFL Hall of Famer Michael Irvin has come out on the cover of Out as a full-on supporter of gay rights.  His inspiration?  His gay brother Vaughn.

 Irvin wasn't just a great athlete who led the Cowboys to three Super Bowl victories, he was a big-time badass who always had a sexy woman on his arm.     

This super-straight, badass football legend has a new mission in life, to eradicate homophobia.  “I have to make sure we do things to bring people together. The Super Bowls will be the footnotes on my resume.”  His spiritual advisor is Rev. T.D. Jakes of The Potter's House, a major mega church pastor who hasn't exactly been known as a supporter of the gays.  Yet, he's led Irvin on a spiritual path that has caused him to take a very public stand against anti-gay bigotry.  I believe this is a huge deal.    


Finally, if I can be shallow for a moment, Michael Irvin retired from professional sports twelve years ago but damn, he's looking good.  He sure didn't let himself go.  How many pro athletes could carry off this photo shoot twelve years after leaving sports?

Quote of the Day

"We looked online for the latest movie playing, but all the Harry Potters were sold out, and then we saw 'The Undeafeated.' We don't even actually know what we're seeing."

--Jamie Watkins, 22, of Orange County, California who, along with her sister Jessie constituted 2/3 of the audience for a screening of the Sarah Palin documentary.  The other was Atlantic reporter Conor Fiedersdorf who had arrived early to avoid the crowds and had hoped to interview five or six Palin fans.  Jamie and Jesse walked out after 20 minutes. The AMC in the City of Orange is one of only ten nationwide that are showing the Palin doc.   

Looks like The Undefeated is Defeated. 

OK, Keep It Together

Those were the words of actress Melissa McCarthy who, along with Joshua Jackson, announced the Emmy nominations today.  Melissa got a nice surprise when she realized she was nominated for her comedy Mike and Molly. 

The good but (IMHO) ultimately disappointing Mildred Pierce led the nominations with 21.  The most nominated drama series was Mad Men with 19.   The sublime Modern Family was the top nominated comedy with 17 including a nod for each Modern parent.  Kathy Griffin was nominated again for the last season of her Life on the D-List.  Maybe she can add Emmy number three to her collection. 

What were the snubs?  Last year's best actress drama winner Kyra Sedgewick wasn't even nominated.  Kyra's a class act, though, Tweeting this about co-star Mary McDonnell's nomination: 

"I was disappointed this morning for sure, I had a premonition all night about it. But SO happy for sweet Mary!!" 

The lovely continuation of Upstairs Downstairs was left out of the miniseries category, while The Kennedys received a nod.  That's got to be the first ever nomination for The Reelz channel, whatever that is.   Shockingly, Katie Holmes' interpretation of Jacqueline Kennedy wasn't honored.  No word on her tweets. 

Oprah's new OWN network was not snubbed as Becoming Chaz was nominated for Best Nonfiction Special. 

The Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress in a miniseries or movie categories were, as usual, amazing.  The likes of Jean Marsh, Eileen Atkins, Kate Winslet and Maggie Smith were honored and will hopefully all show up.

Click here for a complete list of nominations. 

Savage on Colbert

The Colbert Report
Get More: Colbert Report Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,Video Archive

Quote of the Day

"Cher Tweeted that she thought maybe [Marcus] Bachmann was gay. And Mr. Bachman was so outraged he threw out his vast collection of Cher albums and memorabilia."

--Bill Maher (by way of LCNY Bureau Chief Doug).

Bachmann on Gays

Michele Bachmann has been refusing to answer questions about her husband's "ex-gay" clinic now that it has been exposed.  She may want to avoid talking about gays now that she wants to be President, but she's said plenty in the past.  Here are her words in 2004:

"Any of you who have members of your family that are in the lifestyle—we have a member of our family that is. This is not funny. It’s a very sad life. It’s part of Satan, I think, to say this is gay. It’s anything but gay. And so we are not here tonight -- in fact, I wish this whole room was filled with the gay community -- because we'd reach our hand out in love. The Love Won Out conference was here not too long ago in the Twin Cities, and it’s profoundly sad to recognize that almost all, if not all, individuals who have gone into the lifestyle have been abused at one time in their life, either by a male or by a female."

In case you missed it, Truth Wins Out went to Marcus Bachmann's crackpot clinic and here is what they found:

Shirtless Aladdan

From The Film Experience comes this clip of the cast of the stage musical Aladdin having a shirtless romp on the 4th of July!  You know you want to see it.  I particularly love the Popsicle and doughnut sequence beginning at 2.39.  Enjoy:

Quote of the Day

“This ‘pledge’ is nothing short of a promise to discriminate against everyone who makes a personal choice that doesn’t fit into a particular definition of ‘virtue’. While the Family Leader pledge covers just about every other so-called virtue they can think of, the one that is conspicuously missing is tolerance. In one concise document, they manage to condemn gays, single parents, single individuals, divorcees, Muslims, gays in the military, unmarried couples, women who choose to have abortions, and everyone else who doesn’t fit in a Norman Rockwell painting."

--GOP Presidential candidate and former New Mexico governor Gary Johnson on Bob Vander Plaats' Family Leader pledge.  Johnson is the only candidate to stand up to the bullies and denounce this vile document.  Bachmann and Santorum signed it while the other candidates have been mostly silent. 

Iowa Family Leader Removes Racist Passage From Pledge - Keeps Homophobia

Bob Vander Plaats, the failed candidate for governor who now devotes his life to ending civil rights for gay citizens, has removed a particularly vile, racist passage from the pledge that his group, Family Leader, is requiring GOP candidates to sign.  You may recall that the passage read as follows:

"Slavery had a disastrous impact on African-American families, yet sadly a child born into slavery in 1860 was more likely to be raised by his mother and father in a two-parent household than was an African-American baby born after the election of the USA's first African-American President."



Congresswoman Michele Bachmann already signed the pledge without hesitation.  Thus, she is on record endorsing the utter lie that black children were better off in slavery than they are today.  I'm anxiously awaiting someone in our so-called liberal media calling her on it.  Oh yeah, Santorum signed also, but really, who cares about him?

The remainder of the pledge, dealing with debunked lies about gay people, fidelity to marriage, as well as stuff about seduction, pornography, and everything else that keeps Vander Plaats awake at night, remains. 

Monday's Man: CJ Wilson

I realize I've featured Texas Rangers pitcher CJ Wilson before, even recently.  Sue me. 
 He's a noted liberal who takes a lot of crap on sports blogs run by neanderthals, so he deserves a little praise from our side.  The world of pro sports is kind of like country music.  It's hard out there for a liberal.   

 Plus, he's friends with cute Luke Wilson. 

Bachmann, Santorum Sign Homophobic, Racist, Pledge

Presidential candidates Michele Bachmann and Rick Santorum have signed a bizarre, extremist pledge dreamed up by Bob Vander Plaats, the failed Iowa candidate for governor who successfully spearheaded the push to remove judges who voted for equality from the state's supreme court.  On the surface, the pledge is a vow to oppose marriage equality, "all forms" of pornography, and Sharia law, and pledge fidelity to their spouses.  But, this hideous document goes much further.  According to Think Progress:

  – HOMOSEXUALITY IS A CHOICE: The preface to the pledge reads, “Social protections…have been evaporating as we have collectively ‘debased the currency’ of marriage…in complete absence of empirical proof, that non-heterosexual inclination are genetically determined, irresistible and akin to innate traits like race, gender and eye color; as well as anti-scientific bias which holds, against all empirical evidence, that homosexual behavior in particular, and sexual promiscuity in general, optimizes individual or public health.” Footnote 8 reiterates this notion. [This is complete horseshit and ignores all evidence to the contrary.]


– HOMOSEXUALITY IS LIKE POLYGAMY, ADULTERY, POLYANDRY: Vow 4 requires the candidate to pledge “Vigorous opposition to any redefinition of the Institution of Marriage…through statutory, bureaucratic, or court-imposed recognition of intimate unions which are bigamous, polygamous, polyandrous, same-sex.”

– HOMOSEXUALITY IS A PUBLIC HEALTH RISK: Footnote 4 claims that homosexuality causes shorter life expectancy and a higher probability of a long list of sexually transmitted diseases. The Leader has previously compared same-sex marriage to second-hand smoking.  [This is horseshit that Vander Plaats has made up, like every other so-called fact and statistic in this document.]

– SEX IS BETTER AFTER MARRIAGE: Vow 5 requires the candidate to support the notion that “married people enjoy better health, better sex.” [More horseshit that Vander Plaats made up].

– PORNOGRAPHY SHOULD BE BANNED: Vow 9 stipulates that the candidate must “support human protection of women and the innocent fruit of conjugal intimacy” and protect them from “seduction into promiscuity and all forms of pornography…and other types of coercion or stolen innocence.” [Is "promiscuity" now a form of pornography?]

– REJECT SHARIA ISLAM: Vow 11 requires the candidate to reject Sharia law.  [Notice how Vander Plaats cleverly ties Sharia into the dreated homo agenda.]

But, the passage that's getting much of the attention, is this one:

"Slavery had a disastrous impact on African-American families, yet sadly a child born into slavery in 1860 was more likely to be raised by his mother and father in a two-parent household than was an African-American baby born after the election of the USA's first African-American President."

Got that?  An African-American child born into slavery is better off than an African-American child living today with a single parent.  His premise that children born into slavery were more likely to be raised by mothers and fathers is horseshit that Vander Plaats made up, just like all the other horseshit in this pledge.  Families were ripped apart by slavery; children stolen from parents and husbands from wives.  This is a stunningly ignorant, racist statement from a little nobody from nowhere who is unable to deal with his issues as an adult and instead dreams up paranoid delusions.  The fact that he's gone so far with his lies is a mark of how far to the right the GOP has become. 

Congresswoman Michele Bachmann and Santorum both signed the pledge.  None of the other candidates have done so.  Vander Plaats has given them a deadline of August 1.  This means that Bachmann is on record saying that:

African-American children born into slavery were better off than African-American children born today.

Homosexuality is a choice, we live a shorter lifespan, and are a public health risk.

Michele and Marcus Bachmann have great sex.  Seriously.  That's what she signed. 

And she's surging in the polls. 

Betty Ford: 1918-2011

Former First Lady Betty Ford has died at the age of 93.  She was born in Chicago and raised in Grand Rapids.  At 20, she went to New York, studied dance with Martha Graham and worked as a model on Seventh Avenue.  She returned to Grand Rapids and after a brief marriage and divorce, married a handsome lawyer and former Michigan football star named Gerald Ford. 

As first lady, she broke the mold.  She spoke forthrightly on abortion, the Equal Rights Amendment, premarital sex and marijuana use.  She was completely honest and open about her breast cancer at a time when nobody talked about such things.  She won her cancer battle as well as battles with alcohol and prescription drug addiction.  After the White House years, she founded the namesake clinic that has saved countless lives. 

She celebrated her sobriety with a face lift.  She looked fantastic.

She was once asked if she felt sorry for loosing her breast to a mastectomy.  Her reply:

“No! Oh, no — heavens, no,” she replied. “I’ve heard women say they’d rather lose their right arm, and I can’t imagine it. It’s so stupid. I can even wear my evening clothes.”

What a gal.

DA/DT Dead!

From The Army Times today:

"The Pentagon has ordered a halt to all separations of gay troops under “don’t ask, don’t tell” and will begin accepting applications from prospective recruits who identify themselves as homosexuals. The moratorium issued Friday came after a ruling Wednesday by a federal appeals court in California ordering the Defense Department to immediately stop enforcing the law. The court said the law is unconstitutional because it treats gay Americans differently under the law. Meanwhile, defense officials will continue to prepare for the law’s formal repeal, which Congress approved in December. The law will be formally repealed 60 days after the defense secretary and chairman of the Joint Chiefs “certify” that it will not adversely impact military readiness."

Marriage Equality Opposition Withering Away

The Washington Post is reporting that opposition to marriage equality is loosing its mojo.  The article notes that, while support for equality is growing, there is evidence that the opposition is not only shrinking, but loosing its enthusiasm.  Thus, they'll probably still vote against us in the voting booth, but they don't really care that much if, say a Governor signs a marriage equality bill.  Case in point, New York where polls indicate white Catholics are evenly divided at 48% on marriage equality, while those same Catholics support Gov. Cuomo by a margin of 3-1.  54% of white protestants in New York oppose marriage equality while 60% of those same white protestants approve of the job Cuomo is doing.  Cuomo's support among equality opponents hasn't suffered.  There are apparently many people who oppose equality nominally but don't really care that Cuomo just signed equality into law.  The WaPo article also cited an interesting poll of Republican insider operatives.  54% of them believe the GOP should avoid the issue of marriage equality entirely.  In 2009, that number was only 37%.  Fully 84% of Democratic insiders believe the party should endorse marriage equality. 

All of this indicates that there is a significant and growing upside for politicians who support marriage equality and a significant and growing downside for those who don't.

"That's The Tone That We Want To Strike"

Check out this teaser for Meryl Streep's upcoming Margaret Thatcher movie:



Uncanny as always.  Will this be Oscar number 3?  Number 2 was way back in 1983.  Something to ponder over a hot summer weekend. 

Pyeongchang 2018!

Pyeongchang, South Korea has won the 2018 Winter Olympics, defeating rival cities Munich and Annecy, France in the first round of voting by the International Olympic Committee.  This was Pyeongchang's third bid for the games.  South Korean soldiers who train in Pyeongchang are totally stoked.

Who is the Hottest Dallas Athlete?

Finally there's an interesting article in The Dallas Morning News.  Today's paper asks who is the best looking athlete in DFW?  You can vote in their poll. 

My vote went to Texas Rangers pitcher (if only) CJ Wilson:

 But maybe you prefer Rangers shortstop Elvis Andrus:

 Or cutie patootie Mavericks Point Guard JJ Barea (who is reportedly dating a former Miss Universe).  Just don't ask me what a point guard is:

 Or perhaps FC Dallas (that's soccer, in case you didn't know) Midfielder Ricardo Villar:

Vote now!

Quote of the Day

"The reason gay marriage makes some social conservatives uncomfortable is because it forces them to admit that straight marriage has changed—and that it was straight people who redefined marriage, not gay people."

--Dan Savage, getting to the heart of the matter, as usual.  

There She Is

This is our new Miss Texas, crowned Saturday night in Fort Worth.  Isn't she pretty?  Her name is Kendall Morris and she was Miss Frisco, although her hometown is actually Ennis.  She is a twenty year-old broadcast journalism major at Texas Christian University and she played the piano for her talent.  Her platform was Leukemia: Living for a Cure.  Isn't that nice?  What a fine young lady.  Will we have a winner at Miss America?  It's been a long time since Shirley Cothran. 

From the Miss Texas site, here is a video compilation of Kendall competing:

Happy Fourth!

Hope it's safe and fun. 

And watch out for that rocket's red glare. 

I Hear Marcus Bachmann Loves Wildflowers, Too

You have to go to Boy Culture to see the best take on Dr. Marcus "homosexuals are barbarians who need to be disciplined" Bachmann yet.  I sooo want to steal his idea!

Barbarians at the Gate

LC NY Bureau Chief Doug has tipped me off to this fascinating clip of Dr. Marcus "I'm not Cam on Modern Family" Bachmann explaining his views on homosexuality on the radio:



Homosexuals are barbarians who need to be disciplined?  I think I had that fever dream when I was 13. 

The anti-gay industry is led by people like Marcus Bachmann along with Bryan Fischer, Bryan Brown, Tony Toni Tone Perkins, Bill Donahue; the list goes on.  What a farce.

For Her Serene Highness, Princess Charlene of Monaco on Her Wedding Day

Dan Savage on Book of Mormon, Tony Perkins

In this terrific interview, Dan Savage talks to Keith Olbermann about The Book of Mormon and offers his body to Tony Perkins.  NSFW, but a well worth a viewing: