CockRing Casanova

Parents, brother seek damages for not enforcing dress code
VENTURA, Calif. (AP) | Aug 15, 10:23 AM

The family of a gay teenager who was fatally shot in class blames the school district for allowing their son to wear makeup and feminine clothing to school — factors the family claims led to the death.
The parents and brother of 15-year-old Larry King of Oxnard filed a personal injury claim against the Hueneme school district seeking unspecified damages for not enforcing the dress code.

King, an eighth-grader at E.O. Green Junior High School, was shot in February. Classmate Brandon McInerney pleaded not guilty to the shooting last week. He was charged as an adult and also faces a charge of a committing a hate crime.

The family’s claim, filed last week in Ventura County Superior Court, said administrators and teachers failed to enforce the school’s dress code when King wore feminine clothing and makeup to school.

His parents, Dawn and Gregory King, said faculty members knew their son had “unique vulnerabilities” and was subject to abuse because of his sexual orientation.

King was a ward of the court and living at a shelter for abused, neglected and emotionally troubled children at the time of the shooting.

A call for comment to district Superintendent Jerry Dannenberg was not immediately returned.

State law requires individuals to file a claim before proceeding with a lawsuit against a public agency.

By 365gay Newscenter Staff
08.15.2008 12:21pm EDT

(Berlin) An Arabic-language magazine published in Germany is being investigated because of an article that warned readers not to shake hands with gays because they can transmit disease.

Send / Share

Add Comment

The article, titled “A flesh-eating bacteria and sexual abnormality,” appeared in al-Salam, a free publication available in businesses throughout Berlin.

“One never knows what kind of bacteria and germs are found on them,” it said of gay men.

The article contained quotes from people the publication said were authorities on skin diseases, and was accompanied by photographs of various skin infections.

The LGBT Association of Berlin-Brandenburg filed an official complaint with police this week.

“It is now being examined to determine whether it should be dealt with as defamation or incitement,” said association spokesperson Alexander Zinn.

Zinn also called on Germany’s large Muslim community to disavow the article.

Incitement against minorities, including gays, is illegal in Germany, but in the past similar cases were not prosecuted after Muslims complained that to do so would infringe on their religious rights.

By Alex Fergusen | Article Date: 8/08/2008 12:00 AM

I’m nervous to even write this. It’s a confession that I’m not sure I should be making. But I’m just going to come out and say it: I think I may have caused The Great Southern California Earthquake of 2008.

The question all the survivors were asked was “where were you when The Great Southern California Earthquake of 2008 hit?” At the exact moment my fellow Californians were rocked with a 5.4 tremor, I was in a subway station in New York City.

I had just finished watching a matinee of The Dark Knight, eating a cupcake from Magnolia and India.Arie was cooing in my iPod, “it’s all about forgiveness… forgiveness… even if… even it you don’t love me anymore.” I was happy. I was peaceful. I was in the greatest city in the world. The day before, I’d had a successful meeting. I was staying in a beautiful hotel. I had an amazing run through Central Park and brunch earlier that morning. And at this very moment, warm red velvet was slowly melting down my throat. Life couldn’t be better.

On the opposite side of the platform, the northbound train pulled away. And on the wall, previously hidden by the train cars, an eight foot long poster of Cooper’s face was suddenly revealed. His giant, vacant eyes stared back at me. You would think New Yorkers wouldn’t be jumpy at a crazy person screaming, “You gotta be fucking kidding me!” but to my surprise, about a hundred people leapt away from me. My blood boiled. My skin turned red. Every muscle in my body clenched. I stood there staring at the poster shaking for about ten seconds, before erupting in a ten second scream.

Cooper, as you may remember, was a passing love interest who began dating a 19-year-old go-go boy. But not before inviting me to the premiere of his movie and then showing up with another guy resembling a cylon. 

I didn’t wait on the train. I bolted back through the turnstile, grunted up the stairs and back out to the street.

I called Ryann. “Heeee…. Helllllo?” her voiced cracked.

“I just saw Cooper! Well, not really Cooper. But his face! It’s like the universe is screwing with me—”

“You do just realize we’re having an earthquake right now, don’t you Alex?! There are more important things than your wayward obsession with a F-list actor.”

She hung up. An earthquake! The voice of Sharon Stone haunted me like a bad 1970s television flashback, “I have to ask myself, is that karma?”

Maybe Sharon was right. Maybe all the bad energy I’ve been harboring toward Cooper climaxed in the shifting of tectonic plates over 3,000 miles away and nearly brought about a natural disaster!

As I learned in The Dark Knight, “you either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain.” And I was apparently evolving into The Dark Alex.

If I were a villain, I think I would be called “The Abbey.” In addition to causing earthquakes, my special abilities would include turning water into vodka, getting out of handcuffs and a kiss of death.

I flew home the next day. As my plane careened over Los Angeles County, I looked out the window at all the tiny lights and cars and realized… I have to let Cooper go or all of these poor, powerless people could be without homes and livelihoods.

Obviously I needed to get laid. I used to be a slut. A huge slut. But as I’ve gotten older, I really hate all the maintenance you have to do. It’s time consuming, all the shaving and waxing and tanning. Frankly, that’s time I could spend watching Mad Men. Besides, if I’m having sexy time with someone who doesn’t know what they’re doing, I don’t have the patience to correct them anymore. I roll off and say, “I’m sorry, I can’t do this.”

But desperate times had called for desperate measures. Jen offered to help.

“I have a guy I want to set you up with. His name is Billy. He’s perfect for you.”

I told her as long as he had a pulse, we would be fine.

I was to meet Billy for a drink at Here Lounge (because I’m nothing if not a predictable cliché). He was thirty minutes late but I was going to see this thing out because waxing, shaving and tanning had taken place.

He arrived. ‘He’ll do,’ I thought. A little shorter than my height requirement, but this was about pure, raw, animal sex, not runway.

‘Sorry I’m late. My class ran late.’

I asked him if he was an actor, assuming it was an acting class.

‘No, biology.’

Oh, you’re pre-med?

‘No, just the core.’

Oh… you’re in college?

‘Freshman.’

I leaned against the bar for support. ‘How old are you?’ 

He smiled, taking a sip of the Heineken I had just purchased for him. ‘I’ll be 19 in eight months.’

I was on a date with a fetus. Is this what my life had come to? I’ve gone through all the available and sane men in West Hollywood (yes, both of them), so my friends are starting me over with a fresh batch? Perhaps this is why T.R. Knight and Cooper had decided to look for dates at the local playground.

My eyes began to race around the bar. I accessed all the exits and scanned the room for anyone who may have recognized me, because you know damn well that after all I’ve said about guys my age dating chicken, I wasn’t about to get caught. I would have thrown this kid into on-coming traffic before admitting what was happening.

‘I love older guys. You’re really hot for forty,’ he said.

‘FORTY!?’ I nearly had a stroke, spewing vodka across the bar. Jen had aged me up. ‘I’m thirty… (had to think about it) five!’ doing the “am I really thirty five… 2008 minus 1972, carry the one… wait, that makes me thirty SIX… oh in November… oh my God I’m going to be thirty six in NOVEMBER!’

His face fell. ‘Oh.’

‘Oh!? You’re not even old enough to drink!’

‘It’s cool. I’ve got a fake I.D. No offense, I’m just into older guys. I mean, you’re still old enough to be my daddy.’

And scene. I knocked back the rest of my martini, slammed the glass on the bar and said, ‘I’m sorry, I can’t do this.’

I spun around and heard a familiar screaming voice outside: “Where is she!?” Ryann. She was dressed like Jackie Brown meets Memoirs of a Geisha.

I pushed the child in front of me, blocking Ryann with his body. ‘I know she’s here!’ She bellowed as she pushed her way inside. She slammed her purse onto the bar and began pulling wadded up dollar bills out. ‘Give me a Long Island Iced Tea!’

Ryann grabbed a young kid by the scruff of his neck, holding him about a foot off the ground. ‘I can smell her cheap perfume on you!’

‘That’s my appletini!’ he cried. She tossed him aside like a building in Cloverfield and locked eyes with me.

“What are YOU doing here!? You told me you were staying home and watching Shear Genius (because I have a deep, inappropriate love for Rene Fris) and eating coffee ice cream—”

“Who are you looking for?” I asked innocently.

“Lisa Chang!”

As you may remember from my last column, Ryann had gone in search of fabulous West Hollywood party girl Lisa Chang at the afterparty for Another Gay Movie 2. Apparently Lisa Chang found out, had no idea who Ryann was and sent an all points bulletin out to her gays wanting to know “who the hell is this bitch?”

One of Lisa’s gays, a “double” (friends with both Ryann and Lisa), informed Ryann that Lisa said something to the effect of, “that C-List wannabe isn’t even relevant!” And hell hath no fury than a fag hag questioned irrelevant.

“Who does she think she is calling ME irrelevant—“ her voice trailed off, spotting my young ward.

“Well, hello there,” her voice dripped like poison.

“I can explain,” I started, but she was already running her three inch ruby red nails through his hair. “You’re awfully… sweet,” she said as she stared into his eyes. “If I were to cut you open and count your rings, would I make it to twelve?”

She turned on me, flames shooting from her eyes and her nostrils flaring.

“I know you are not on a date with this minor! There are laws and you’re too pretty for jail, Alex!”

Before I could explain that he will be 19 in eight months, two has-been reality stars who shall remain nameless, one gay actor I have not dated, an underwear model and a shirtless bartender from the bar next door arrived. They looked like the Gay Injustice League of Santa Monica Blvd.

“Are you Ryann?” one of them asked. (I can’t tell you which one, but his name rhymes with Leichen.)

“Who’s asking?” she spun.

“We’re here to ask you to cease and…”

“WHERE IS SHE!?” she screamed grabbing two of them by the testicles. They immediately dropped to the ground.

“She’s not here! She’s gone back to Portland!” the youngest one cried before running away with the others still standing.

“Bitch is crazy” was heard as they fled from one of them.

“That’s right, girls! Bitch is crazy! Pass that message along!”

During the altercation, Billy scampered away, distracted by the aged ex-husband of a former television star. Truth be told, I hope I look half as good at his age. He’s 39. Or at least that’s what he’s been telling people for the past twenty one years.

“You have to let her go” I told her. “You have to let go of this anger or it will consume and destroy you.”

I know. I heard the words coming out of my mouth and I couldn’t believe them either. It was like I was possessed. I wasn’t sure if I should call The National Enquirer or a priest. In that moment, I realized all the anger I was holding on to had been misdirected. I realized I wasn’t angry at Cooper. I was angry at myself for even entertaining the thought of Cooper. For becoming fixated on “why didn’t he like me?” And for allowing myself to think I wasn’t good enough for someone like him. Not just Cooper, but all the men I’ve had, have in some way contributed to the mask and body armor that I wear into the battle that is dating in West Hollywood. And the only war I’ve been waging is with myself.

We stood there staring at each other in stunned silence, while a Leona Lewis dance remix of “Bleeding Love” blasted from the speakers. I silently told myself, “it’s our song,” then realized Cooper and I never had a song. Cooper and I were never together. Cooper probably hasn’t thought about me since the day I hung up on him. And all the anger and resentment I was holding on to was toxic.

She put her hand on my forehead. “Are you feeling okay?” she asked.

We took a stroll down Santa Monica Blvd. We considered popping by a psychic and having our cards read, but opted for Pinkberry instead, because unlike psychics, fake frozen yogurt has never disappointed me.

I walked Ryann home and we hugged good night. She promised not to threaten to beat up girls she’s never met. I promised to let Cooper go. I’m trying to use my powers for good. I’m trying to not let the dark win. And maybe even one day I’ll meet a guy that I can actually show the face behind the mask.

Perhaps it is all about forgiveness. Forgiveness. And sometimes the hardest person to forgive is yourself. But I’m warning you, West Hollywood, if I don’t get laid soon, I will render forth a fury this world has never witnessed.

Miss the last “Men I’ve Had”? Read it here.

Big Brother 10 with All-Star Marcellas Reynolds

By Marcellas Reynolds | Article Date: 8/14/2008 9:53 AM

Previously on Big Brother, Julie Chen wore one of the worst outfits in the eight year history of the show. How in the hell did they light that gold metallic skirt? And why did she decide to top it off with an off the shoulder shirt in poop brown? A shirt that looked like it was on sale at Limited Express. On the multiple markdown rack. Some stylist needs to be fired. One thing is certain… that stylist wasn’t gay. Metallic is over. And that top would never have left the store.

OK, enough of that. And on to the point; Jessie is gone. The hottest House Guest of this season, and my vote for one of the hottest House Guests ever, finally got booted. Jessie takes his place right up there with Hardy from Season 2, Roddy from Season 3, Justin from Season 4, Scott from Season 6, Me from All-Stars (yeah… I said it), and Alex from Season 9. Big Brother does have a history of casting the hottie.

Alas Jessie is gone… and it’s about time. I liked Jessie. America, it turns out, didn’t. Well I’m sure 10% of America did… That 10% with taste, style and elan. That 10% who had the pic of Jessie naked on all fours made into an “I LUV JESSIE!” muscle tee. I intend to get mine autographed at the BB 10 wrap party!

Now that Jessie is gone all I have is Memphis. And boy do I wish I had Memphis. He’s dreamy. Memphis is a big ole boy, with butt, a lil belly and manages not to have back fat. God bless Tivo. Memphis was shirtless in a towel the other night and I swear I rewound that scene of him 100 times. And then him exiting about 250 times. Memphis has a beautiful back.

I am definitely going to the BB 10 wrap party. I’ll be wearing my “I LUV JESSIE!” muscle tee with my Juicy Couture inspired “I LUV MEMPHIS!” sweats. You know how Juicy Couture sweats have “JUICY” written on the ass… You get the idea.

I’m annoyed with this season. I hate when all the House Guests do is yell at each other. This season is like an extended episode of Jerry Springer.

April is trash. What woman allows herself to be filmed week after week, day after day getting pounded by someone she barely knows? OK, trash is too strong. And I do think she’s cute. And though I don’t like the game she is playing, I do think she’s in a great position (tee hee… I said position) in the game.

And I was watching Big Brother After Dark and heard her say that she wishes I’d done the cameo in the Food/Luxury competition. A sentiment echoed by Michelle, so now I officially love them both.

I hope April wins the $500,000 because that makes her a highly paid porn star. Jenna Jameson would be proud.

I just can’t believe she chose Ollie (who looks like the puppet from Kukla, Fran and Ollie) over Jessie or Memphis.

Now, I’m not a racist. I love a Black man. I am a Black man, but Ollie is about 5′2″ and not cute. Plus he annoys me. He’s hiding behind April’s skirts. Short as they may be. I want him to step up to the plate and win something. Or hatch a strategy. Or do something.

Ollie is a floater and that is a valid strategy. Think about it, no one is even thinking about evicting Ollie or nominating him and it’s just about the half way point in the season.

Ollie has a shot at winning Big Brother 10. He’s in a very safe position.

Speaking of race, I think that Libra is the victim of racism and sexism. Why is that Libra has been asked twice under the guise of “the public wants to know” how she could leave her 5 month old twins for 3 months? If Libra was Leroy, would anyone ask that question?

It’s not like she left them with a nanny, she left them with their father and a support system which includes her mother. I think she’d be remiss to not compete on Big Brother when the opportunity presented itself! Where else is anyone going to have a 1 in 13 chance of winning a cool half million dollars? If she wins the money, it positively impacts the quality of her family’s life! Unfortunately she doesn’t have a chance in hell of winning because she can’t shut up.

I love that she took the Hawaiian vacation from Michelle in the Power of Veto competition. She won the infamous red unitard and, I gotta tell you, I wasn’t looking forward to seeing post pregnancy Libra in it. It was bad enough seeing Jen in it Season 8 and she had a slamming body.

I wish Libra traded with Memphis. Can you imagine all that junk in the unitard? Heaven.

And how about Michelle getting pissed that Libra took the trip from her and not the letter from home from Jessie? Insane. Libra didn’t want that letter! Her oldest child is 4! Hell, her kids can’t write.

I don’t understand why everyone hates Libra. I know she is adversarial, but is she really any more so than April, Keesha or even Renny?

Libra is a very smart player. Last week before nominations, April and Libra figured out that Dan was America’s Player. What April should have done was put Dan up and insured that he was evicted.

Instead the House Guests let that go and then are surprised that Dan didn’t vote as they wanted him to! Stupid.

If you are savvy enough about this game to suspect that the producers are using this stupid and annoying twist then why not disable it? America always wants to vote out the player that gives the show edge. And this year that was Jessie. But I must say, I’m surprised “America” didn’t go after Libra.

If Libra got a TV show, it would be called Everybody Hates Libra. Except me. I like her. I think Libra should stay. She’s the one to take to the end as she can’t win. Hopefully one of these House Guest will recognize that and move to keep her.

I think it is the fact that Libra is African-American that makes some of the House Guests (Jerry) think it is acceptable to call a grown woman and mother of three a bitch. And Jerry, who I sometimes think is senile, actually called Libra dumb. Libra had to check him on that one and point out that she’d graduated from the prestigious Rice University, Magna Cum Laude. I wonder if Jerry even has a degree or attended college? You certainly couldn’t tell from his level of game play.

Libra and Keesha are nominated for eviction. It’s hard to predict who is getting evicted. These House Guests argue and finger point too much.

Honestly, I don’t like Keesha and don’t care if she goes. It’s not that I don’t like her as I don’t personally know her. It’s that she is the type to throw a brick and then hide her hand. She reminds me of Mike Boogie from All-Stars. The kind of player who will lie, cheat, manipulate and then go “What?” “Why are you mad at me?” It’s a valid strategy and, hey… Mike won All-Stars.

If Keesha escapes this nomination (and odds are she just may), look for more of the same weaselly behavior. So unattractive on a woman.

And look for Keesha and April to keep sniping at each other because women on Big Brother can never group together and pick off the men.

Which means this season we can count on Dan, Jerry or Ollie winning because, if a woman is sitting at the end against a man, the man wins. Just ask Erika from All-Stars and Danielle from Season 8. Both women played excellent games that were nicer than their male counterparts yet still lost. And the other women on the jury didn’t vote for them.

Not that I know anything. Hell, I played and lost twice.

Miss the last “Big Brother w/ Marcellas”? Read it here.

Gossip so good it’s got to be gay!

By Ross von Metzke | Article Date: 8/15/2008 9:35 AM

I suppose with the Olympics dominating the airwaves, it was inevitable I’d dedicate this week’s hottie to an athlete. And while I readily admit the hottest men seem to be from other countries, I just felt that, considering out president made an ass out of himself overseas, I should step in and show some love to an American or two.

Thankfully, Men’s Fitness did most of the work for me.

As Americans sit back in awe as Michael Phelps racks up one gold medal after another—I’d give him one for that bod alone—his teammate Ryan Lochte is getting equal attention for being… well… hot. I shouldn’t leave it at that. A bronze medal is nothing to turn your nose up at… he’s certainly holding his own out there in Beijing.

Doesn’t hurt when guys who look this good are representing the U.S.

Frankly, it makes me want to hop a plane to Beijing and help ’em celebrate.

Beyond taking a brief moment to tell the chief of police he has no business commenting on who she is or is not fucking, since getting out of rehab earlier this year and allegedly dating DJ Samantha Ronson, Lindsay Lohan’s been relatively quiet.

And it might have stayed that way had a pap not stopped to ask the starlet how she felt about her sister’s boob job.

Lindsay didn’t like that one bit. She responded on her blog:

WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! my response simply was, “Did you really just ask me that? She is a 14 year old girl, and you are a pedophile!” i was caught out of nowhere so i didn’t really come up with the proper response at the time.. there’s many other things that i felt like saying, but why give it to a random guy with a camera so that he can make money!

She went on to say that even if Ali wanted to go out and get boobs, Dina would have none of that.

What if E! paid for them?

Sadly, I’d like to think Lindsay’s right and that Dina wouldn’t let her meal ticket pump silicone into her chest, but that woman just rubs me the wrong way, so I don’t know.

In news for those of you LoRon fans, Lindsay wants to assure you that, “i miss samantha cuz she’s out of town.”

Awww! I’m sad when the guy who sticks it to me from behind travels too.

In other news you probably could have gone a lifetime without hearing… Ernest Borgnine (yes he’s still with us), who is currently making the talk show circuit to promote his book, Ernie: The Autobiography, claims the secret to staying young is masturbation.

Come again?

If that were true, I’d be a fetus.

Seriously, he turned to some guy on Fox News and said, “I masturbate a lot.” Given the Republican battle camp that is Fox News, the guy probably took it as a come on, handed Ernie the little remote connected to his butt plug and told him to buzz it when they go to commercial.

Not to be completely foul, but does a 91-year-old need to pop a Cialis before he can masturbate. Because seriously, a prescription for Cialis seems like an awful waste if no one else is there to benefit. And I really don’t wanna think about Ernie sitting around watching reruns of Three’s Company for hours on end hoping Chrissy Snow (or if Nick at Night is doing the later years, Cindy Snow) has what it takes to make his limp noodle a manicotte.

He would never jack off to Joyce DeWitt, though… that’s just sick!

Years ago, when Madonna and Cyndi Lauper were both breaking into the biz, Rolling Stone predicted that Madge was just a flash in the pan and Cyndi Lauper was poised to become an international superstar.

Not that I begrudge Cyndi her successes, but I think it’s fairly clear who the bigger name is.

By Cyndi’s a class act—not one ounce of bitterness to her.

In fact, on the eve of Madonna’s 50th birthday—and in an ironic reminder she’s not that girl from Desperately Seeking Susan, she’s nursing a busted ankle—Cyndi took a second out to speak to the energy and the spirit that have kept Madonna on top of the music industry for so many years.

Just, before you watch, one question… exactly how deep in Brooklyn does Cyndi live (and does an yone know if she actually still lives there), cuz beyond Fran Drescher, I don’t know anyone who’s accent’s that thick! 

Seroiusly, I love it, but I’d hate to hear her sob story after three martinis. I’d have to make her write it down.

Sorry, Cyndi—she’s still not doing True Colors.

Those Chinese Olympic officials—seemingly proud of their decision to hide the average looking 7-year-old with the angelic voice from public view so a more polished (and precious) 9-year-old could mouth the words for viewers at home—have some ’splaining to do. The Associated Press has apparently stumbled upon a document from Chinese government news agency Xinhua in which pint sized gymnast He Kexin’s age is listed as 13.

If it’s true and the AP can prove it, that would disqualify the Chinese team from competition and the gold medal would go to the U.S. Not that I really wanna find out what happens to little He if they wind up losing their medals! You know her teammates would totally refuse to play with her on the playground at recess.

And seriously—forget what her teammates are gonna do to her. If He really wants to be scared, she should take a second gander at that Alicia Sacramone. Seriously—that bitch is scary as hell. Earlier this week, we found a video of her knocking one of her much taller, much more masculine classmates to the ground. Check it out.

And finally, in what has been an admittedly weak week in gossip (why oh why did all of those celebutantes have to go and clean their acts up), the pastor’s wife who was accused of bitch-slapping the hell out of flight attendant and giving her hemorrhoids has been cleared… of the hemorrhoids part, that is.

“It’s a great vindication and shows us the faithfulness of God,” pastor Joel Osteen said after a jury ruled his wife hadn’t caused the hemorrhoids.

That may be—but has anybody stopped to talk to Victoria Osteen about the proper way to handle a stain on a seat in first class that hasn’t been cleaned up properly. Hint: You don’t smack the flight attendant and give her an elbow to the tit.

And somehow, I highly doubt God had much to do with any of this.

That’s all this week folks—until we meet again, take some time to stop and smell the gossip!

Miss the last “Hollywood Celebrity Buzz”? Read it here.

In an interview with the Weekly Standard’s Stephen Hayes yesterday, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) said that he wouldn’t rule out former Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge as his running mate even though “he happens to be pro-choice.” McCain added that being “pro-life” is a “fundamental tenet” of the Republican Party, “but that does not mean we exclude people from our party that are pro-choice.”

McCain then indicated that he thought the party could “exclude people” for being “pro-gay rights“:

“I think it’s a fundamental tenet of our party to be pro-life but that does not mean we exclude people from our party that are pro-choice. We just have a–albeit strong–but just it’s a disagreement. And I think Ridge is a great example of that. Far more so than Bloomberg, because Bloomberg is pro-gay rights, pro, you know, a number of other issues.”

Asked if McCain meant someone couldn’t “be pro-gay and still be a Republican,” an anonymous McCain adviser told the Atlantic’s Marc Ambinder that McCain’s Bloomberg comment was actually “a message of inclusion.”

McCain’s comments contradict the inclusive tone he struck in the past when he sought the support of the gay community. In 1998, McCain told Chris Matthews that the Republican Party shouldn’t “discriminate against anyone” because of “their sexual orientation“:

MCCAIN: And I’ll tell you right now, the Log Cabin Party–Republican Party–should be part of our–of our party. And I believe the Christian right should be part of–of our party. I respect their views. My view is that in the case of the military, the don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy was appropriate. And I also believe that–that gays should not be in the military, and I know that that’s a–a s–a–a problem that a lot of people would have. At the same time, I don’t believe that we should discriminate against anyone. And with that–and that includes because of their sexual orientation. [CNBC Hardball, 6/15/98]

Now McCain is more than respecting the views of the Christian right when it comes to gay rights, he’s kow-towing to them. Earlier this year, McCain personally met with the president of the Log Cabin Republicans, but the group has yet to officially endorse him.

What do the Log Cabin members think of a candidate who now supports excluding those who are “pro-gay rights?”

by The Associated Press

Posted: July 5, 2008 - 4:30 pm ET

(Budapest) Dozens of protesters have clashed with police escorting a march by gays and lesbians through the center of the Hungarian capital Budapest.

The protesters pelted the marchers with eggs, bottles and rocks and clashed with police, setting fire to a police van.

Police used water cannon and tear gas to disperse the protesters at several points along a boulevard in downtown Budapest.

Today’s “Dignity March” began at one end of the boulevard, while the protesters gathered at the opposite end and at other intersections along the way.

Police tried to protect the march by setting up high metal barriers on both sides of the road

by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff

Posted: July 7, 2008 - 12:00 pm ET

(New York City) The American Family Association is taking on the nation’s largest fast food chain calling on its members to boycott McDonald’s over the company’s support for the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce.

It is the latest in a series of company boycotts initiated by the conservative Christian group that has, according to financial analysts, had little effect. Previous boycotts have involved Disney, Ford, Proctor and Gamble and Kraft Foods and a threatened boycott of Wal-Mart.

The AFA on its Web Site said that the boycott “is not about hiring homosexuals … It is not about homosexuals eating at McDonald’s …It is not about how homosexual employees are treated.”

Instead, the AFA said: “It is about McDonald’s, as a corporation, refusing to remain neutral in the culture wars.  McDonald’s has chosen not to remain neutral but to give the full weight of their corporation to promoting the homosexual agenda, including homosexual marriage:

McDonald’s recently gave a donation to the Chamber and was invited to have a company representative sit on the organization’s board.

In a letter to the fast food chain AFA chair Donald Wildmon asked the company to rescind its support for the Chamber and “remain neutral” on LGBT issues.

McDonald’s is remaining firm.

“McDonald’s is associated with countless local and national affinity groups here in the United States,” said McDonald’s Global Chief Diversity Officer Pat Harris in a reply to Wildmon.

“We have a well-established and proud heritage of associating with individuals and organizations that share our belief that every person has the right to live and work in their community free of discrimination,” Harris said.

The AFA previously boycotted Disney for several year’s over its support for Gay Days at Disney World, although the company was not an official sponsor of the event.

It boycotted Cincinnati-based Proctor and Gamble over the company’s support for the repeal of a city charter amendment that prevented Cincinnati city council from enacting any laws that would recognize gays and lesbians.

The group boycotted Kraft for its support of the Chicago Gay Games and threatened to boycott Wal-Mart over its involvement with the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce.

The boycotts resulted in little impact on the companies.

The AFA boycott of Ford was heralded as a success by the organization which noted that it had resulted in a drop in sales and share value.  But most financial analysts said that Ford’s problems were really the result of vehicle designs that failed to impress the public. 

The conservative Christian group launched a nationwide boycott of Ford in 2005 over the automaker’s support for LGBT issues, briefly put it on hold and then reinstated it.

The AFA claimed victory when Ford began pulling its ads from LGBT publications, but industry observers and the company said the ad pullout was part of a downsizing of expenses.

by The Associated Press

Posted: July 7, 2008 - 5:00 pm ET

(Washington) Congress should repeal the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy because the presence of gays in the military is unlikely to undermine the ability to fight and win, according to a new study released by a California-based research center.

The study was conducted by four retired military officers, including the three-star Air Force lieutenant general who in early 1993 was tasked with implementing President Clinton’s policy that the military stop questioning recruits on their sexual orientation.

“Evidence shows that allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly is unlikely to pose any significant risk to morale, good order, discipline or cohesion,” the officers states.

To support its contention, the panel points to the British and Israeli militaries, where it says gay people serve openly without hurting the effectiveness of combat operations.

Undermining unit cohesion was a determining factor when Congress passed the 1993 law, intended to keep the military from asking recruits their sexual orientation. In turn, service members can’t say they are gay or bisexual, engage in homosexual activity or marry a member of the same sex.

The study was sponsored by the Michael D. Palm Center at the University of California at Santa Barbara, which said it picked the panel members to portray a bipartisan representation of the different service branches. According to its Web site, the Palm Center “is committed to keeping researchers, journalists and the general public informed of the latest developments in the ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy debate.”

Two of the officers have endorsed Democratic candidates since leaving the military - Army Lt. Gen. Robert Gard, who supports Barack Obama, and Marine Corps Gen. Hugh Aitken, who backed Clinton in 1996.

Air Force Lt. Gen. Robert Minter Alexander, a Republican, was assigned in 1993 to a high-level panel established by the Defense Department to examine the issue of gays in the military. At one point, he signed an order that prohibited the military from asking a recruit’s sexual orientation.

Alexander said at the time he was simply trying to carry out the president’s orders and not take a position. But he now believes the law should be repealed because it assumes the existence of gays in the military is disruptive to units even though cultural attitudes are changing.

Further, the Defense Department and not Congress should be in charge of regulating sexual misconduct within the military, he said.

“Who else can better judge whether it’s a threat to good order and discipline?” Alexander asked.

Navy Vice Adm. Jack Shanahan said he had no opinion on the issue when he joined the panel, having never confronted it in his 35-year military career. A self-described Republican who opposes the Bush administration’s handling of the Iraq war, Shanahan said he was struck by the loss of personal integrity required by individuals to carry out “don’t ask, don’t tell.”

“Everyone was living a big lie - the homosexuals were trying to hide their sexual orientation and the commanders were looking the other way because they didn’t want to disrupt operations by trying to enforce the law,” he said.

By Sara Whitman | Article Date: 7/03/2008 12:30 AM

Last week it was announced that David Vitter and Larry Craig were co-sponsoring a marriage amendment. Two of the most notorious sex offenders in the Senate were out doing their duty, trying to protect marriage from homosexuals.

The prostitute using, anonymous gay bathroom sex lovin’ duo is going to clean up America. Marriage will be between a man and a woman.

Bathrooms, obviously, are outside the bounds of matrimony. Or if you pay for it. Free enterprise- or a good blowjob at a low rate- is good for everyone, right?

Right?

As I read the article, I kept waiting for the punch line or the cymbal crash. There was none. These two men are serious and they have welcomed the press around their efforts.

I couldn’t help but wonder, why would the Republican Party do such a thing? Just as the Democrats have leadership that picks agenda items, so do the Republicans.

Are they stupid, as many people have mused? I don’t think so. You don’t own Washington, DC for as many years as the Republicans have by being stupid.

Are Vitter and Craig acting out of desperation to be re-elected, and outside of the leadership? Perhaps. Neither one stands much of a chance at re-election. Well, maybe Vitter because he was at least doing the deed with a woman he paid for, fair and square- not some guy in a bathroom.

Or is the Republican leadership smart enough to know the tide is changing, and willing to offer up a couple of inconsequential sacrifices in order to appear to care about an issue they are losing hard and fast on.

A friend of mine who has been involved in political lobbying for many years said to me once, Politicians hate to lose. A very superstitious bunch, they believe is you start voting for losing issues enough times, they themselves will start to lose.

As in elections.

They are unwilling to put themselves in awkward if not unpopular places unless it speaks deeply to their constituents. Which makes me wonder if I should move to the 10th district of Ohio, the place that elects Dennis Kucinich year after year.

Are the Republicans simply putting out the lame ducks to take on an issue they know is going to fall apart quickly? Vitter and Craig are ridiculous jokes to be the poster boys of marriage rights. They are also very expendable.

You don’t see Elizabeth Dole, John Warner or Richard Lugar taking this on. Noooooo. What about Mike Crapo? At least his name adds to the pathetic nature of the effort.

Is this the fat lady singing? Is this a sign the Republicans are tossing in the towel?

No one expected the defeat of the Arizona amendment in 2006 to be revisited but it is, in fact, being revisited. A handful of legislators pulled a few funny moves and now it will be voted on again.

In Massachusetts, we’re all resting on our laurels. Instead of fighting the most important fight of our lives—fighting the vote against our marriage equality—we are going to Provincetown, enjoying the beaches and marrying at will.

We are very complacent. Looking at Vitter and Craig makes us laugh.

Should it? Until the California ballot is defeated, until every state in the union has marriage equality and federal benefits to match, I won’t believe it.

Nor should you.

on 07-02-2008 11:03 

With all his dirty deeds there are tons of reasons for us gays to despise President George W. Bush. However, one “gay activist” says there actually is a reason to be thankful to old dubya.

According to an article published in the Minneapolis Star-Ledger, “gay activist” David Benkof says George W. Bush has done more to fight HIV/AIDS than any president in American history, including Clinton.
“The people pushing Bush to fight the epidemic at home and abroad are overwhelmingly conservative Christians — the same people we keep hearing gay leaders tar as narrow-minded and bigoted,” Benkof writes. “Well, those narrow-minded bigots (who never had the president’s ear during the Clinton administration) deserve far more credit for relieving suffering from HIV in this decade than gay men and lesbians did in the previous two decades combined.”

Under George W. Bush, Benkof writes:

•The United States spends more than $3 billion a year, with more to come, on the president’s initiative to treat, prevent and care for millions of suffering people worldwide. Bush’s AIDS plan is the largest health initiative ever dedicated to a single disease. By contrast, Clinton’s last budget contained less than a billion dollars total for both domestic prevention and global AIDS. And instead of trying to help people get the medicine they needed, Clinton’s Justice Department actually sued people and governments worldwide for trying to produce generic antiretrovirals.

•The White House is trying to repeal the heinous restriction on foreign visitors and immigrants with HIV, a policy the supposedly progay Clinton administration actually signed into law. Because of Bush, we may finally have international AIDS conferences in our country again, something that never happened in the pervious administration.

•The president has not hesitated to appoint openly gay experts on the disease to top administration positions, including physician Mark R. Dybul to an ambassador-level HIV post and both National AIDS Policy Coordinator Scott Evertz and his successor, Joseph O’Neill. If bigoted Christians were pulling the strings at the Bush administration, why does Bush keep promoting openly gay men? By contrast, President Clinton had no openly gay AIDS czars. Bush’s AIDS appointments aren’t about winning gay votes any more than his appointment of two African-American secretaries of state was calculated to win black votes. He wants the most qualified people doing important jobs, whatever their identities.

So, who is the author of these claims - the so-called gay activist David Benkof? Officially, Benkof describes himself as gay Republican. Benkof, as David Bianco, lived as a gay man and was actively involved in gay news distribution, serving as founder and contributor to Q-Syndicate from 1995 to 2003. Then in 2003, Bianco announced that he had made some changes in his life. He had changed his identity to bisexual, his religion to Orthodox Judaism, his beliefs about homosexual acts to be unacceptable, his goals to include marriage to a nice Jewish girl, and his name to Benkof. He then went off to Israel for some years to study. And now he’s reemerged and is seeking to be influential in the restriction of gay rights and equality.

Read more about this questionable character here.

on 07-02-2008 09:38 

Grey’s Anatomy actor T.R. Knight and his young boyfriend Mark Cornelsen are doing their part for the cause of gay visibility - and are looking adorable while doing it.

Here are a couple of photos showing the couple doing some shopping close to T.R.’s house in Los Feliz, Los Angeles on Tuesday afternoon.

There are some more photos over at JustJared.

on 07-02-2008 19:36 

Gay media watchdog GLAAD is not too crazy about the fact that Will Smith’s character in the new superhero flick Hancock uses the term “homo” in a derogatory way at least three times.

GLAAD writes:

At approximately 24 minutes into the film, while Jason Bateman’s PR whiz works to rehabilitate the superhero’s tarnished image, he shows Hancock three comic book images in an effort to inspire him. But Hancock rejects the traditional image of costumed superheroes as he responds to each one: “Homo. Homo in red. Norwegian homo.”

The audience is prompted to laugh and there is no response to or retribution for Hancock’s remarks. Bateman’s character, the father of a young son, could have easily spoken up instead of giving Hancock a pass

Better yet, would it have changed the story if that brief interaction had been left on the cutting room floor? No one would have missed the line if it wasn’t there, but an unfortunate choice was made to go for the cheap gay joke. In that moment, young gay people in the movie’s audience are put in the position of being ridiculed by a character they are expected to regard as a hero. People go to films to escape reality — or schoolyard taunts — not to pay ten bucks and be ridiculed some more, especially not by someone the Los Angeles Times calls “the most likable actor in the world.”

Rated PG-13, Hancock is being marketed to families, teens and young adults. This film certainly presents an opportunity for parents to explain to their kids that the usually entertaining character of Hancock is not modeling good behavior. But let’s get real: Hancock’s use of the slur sends a problematic message that it’s okay to discriminate using such hateful words. Every day, people — both gay and straight — are taunted and verbally harassed in their schools and in their communities with these kinds of words, creating an environment that’s hostile, uncomfortable, and often unsafe.  To have a heroic character — and by extension actor Will Smith — use, and by implication approve of, this kind of language is simply unacceptable.
GLAAD understands that sometimes anti-gay language shows up in dramatic narrative to reveal a character’s true colors, or to convey a message. But there’s a big difference between using it to highlight a character’s anti-gay attitudes and making a cheap, unfunny shot at gay people.

On the other hand, I’m Norwegian, so maybe Hancock was in fact referring to me? Honestly, I don’t mind, but it would have been nice if they would at least have added my name to the closing credits…

According to numerous online sources, Justin Hartley—who in my opinion is the CW’s King of wet dreams(sorry, Chad)—is scheduled to reprise his role as Oliver Queen/Green Arrow for Smallville’s eighth season. But wait, it gets better. Hartly will be returning as a series regular to round out the cast in wake of Michael Rosenbaum and Kristin Kreuk departure from the series.

The addition can only be favorable to gay fanyboys and add more spice to the series. The main cast already has two established hunks: the titled character himself, Tom Welling and Aaron Ashmore, who plays nice guy Jimmy Olsen (Now if we can only get Shawn Ashmore to make an appreance). Hartly returning to the cast fulltime can only fuel some certain fantasies we’ve been having since he made his debut back in 2006. But as a fan of the series and a comic nerd, this can only mean good things for Smallville.   

Oliver Queen is notorious in the Smallville-verse as the billionaire & crime-fighter who established the Justice League—something fans all around have been aching to see more of. With his return, hopefully we will be seeing Black Canary, Aquaman, Flash, and many other superheroes make a reoccurring appearance on the show. There is nothing that puts a smile on my face than seeing my favorite superheroes come to life on the small screen. Perhaps the WB would allow a certain Amazon Princess to make a debut? 

Although the show is primarily about the road to becoming a superhero, Hartley and League are the only characters to actually don superhero costumes. And how can I properly describe Hartley in his costume? Well, he’s pretty much the gay equivalent to Princess Leia in the Gold Bikini…a holy grail most gay fanboys have been looking for ever since Luke Skywalker went from delicious twinkie in “A New Hope” to crowning top in “Return of the Jedi.”

Hartley only made one appearance this pass season as the Green Arrow due to commitments to prior projects. Prior to that, he was a reoccurring in season six. Smallville premieres its eighth season this fall on the CW.

Image courtesy SciFi

Mark James

It just keeps getting better — Frameline 32.

The last week of June in San Francisco is always special, but the Frameline festival this year was almost too good to be true. There was a bittersweet note in the departure of Festival cofounder Michael Lumpkin, the low-key impresario behind much of what makes this festival. But if it’s time to go, no better timing than alongside this year’s crop of extraordinary entries. A few standouts:

“Wrangler”
The gay adult industry thrives to this day, more so as the Internet and increasing acceptance of sexuality among younger gays provides the industry so many directions to take and new fans to reach. But through the lens of time the scope gets much narrower, back to the days when a small community of earnest and talented men took what had been a seedy business and brought it out of the closet: Call it Gay Porn Lib. Right in the thick of it all was a guy who transformed himself from a wispy stage actor into super-hunk porn star by sheer force of will and superb timing.

This documentary follows Jack Wrangler from his boyhood in Los Angeles right up to today and — here’s the money shot — the quiet married life he shares with the mid-20th century singing diva Margaret Whiting. By the end of the film it comes as no surprise that a guy who overcame his worries about pleasing others and decided to live a life that would please himself might just choose to settle down with an older straight woman who just so happens to love him. Every minute of this chronicle of his life is at once gripping, funny, heartbreaking and ultimately inspiring, for no particular reason other than the whimsy, wit and honesty of the life the film explores. Find it, see it and enjoy it. We sure did.

“Fun in Boys’ Shorts.” This year’s “Boys’ Shorts,” nine in all, were a real treat. There was not a single repeat in the set — all the material was new — and each film, with the exception of one, had the audience roaring with pleasure.

There is the ostracized and ultimately triumphant protagonist of the hilarious “Bongo Bong.” The budding bad girl (and her beleaguered victims) in Babysitting Andy.” The short “Hirsute” explores the idea of how people evolve and what they accomplish over time — for better or worse — and in the process provides one of the great unexpected comedy/horror moments in the history of film.

“Silver Road” was the only disappointment, but the guys in it are so easy on the eye that it glides by without ruining the mood.

My runner-up favorite is “Pat’s First Kiss,” a deftly executed, knowing cartoon about a gay lad’s first foray into sex. In this year’s great theme — the meaning of same-sex marriage — we have “Over-Stuff,” a poignant, funny short about a couple’s trip to the thrift store. Next, from Spain, is the arresting “In the High School,” a unusually frank and brilliantly funny look into the often-misrepresented subject of how horny young guys can be.

“Screening Party” is a very L.A. story about a bunch of friends who get together to spoof the film “Pretty Woman.”

But the best is the last: The fabulous “The Window” is a visual poem about the things men do in their apartment windows. It has a really great money shot, too. With any luck, you’ll be able to find these on YouTube, if not on DVD.

“Call Me Troy”
Maybe the best storytelling of any film this year is, in fact, a documentary by Scott Bloom about Troy Perry, the founder of the Metropolitan Community Church. This guy has lived free and in the glow of spiritual devotion since before most of us were born, and the telling of his story (mostly in the first person but with the help of a really entertaining cast of cohorts) is so comprehensive and so rich in its scope that you are left feeling as though you lived alongside the man. And what a life it has been. Coming out under the most unlikely conditions, fighting for gay rights when it took real courage to do so, living a sexual and spiritual life without apology. It’s all here, the good, bad and oh-so-very ugly. But no moment in the film is funnier than the good reverend’s tale about being served Florida orange juice during the Anita Bryant era aboard a cross-country flight. It makes you love the idea of air travel all over again.

“Pageant”
In Ron Davis and Stewart Halpern’s excellent and awe-inspiring documentary, the great American phenomenon of Southern drag is finally given its due. If you didn’t grow up gay in the South, you missed a lot. Some good, some not so good. But the drag shows in that region are the best to be found anywhere. For this tribute to the art, the setting is Memphis and the 34th annual Miss Gay America. The subjects are five drag queens who rely entirely on their craft to compete. And what a competition it is. This film, of any at the festival, had the audience going from the opening frame to the last.

Get the in-depth review of “Another Gay Sequel: Gays Gone Wild” by clicking here. (link to the full review).

Watch the trailers now:
“Wrangler“
“Call Me Troy“
“Pageant“

Definitely pick up the Onion’s special “Gay Pride Issue,” the tongue-in-cheek joke paper’s June 26 edition. It’s still on newstands in Washington until a new issue comes out Thursday. It was the funniest issue I’ve seen since the parody paper started distributing in D.C. last year. For me, the laughs started with the front page headline: “Homosexuals — We let them know how gay proud of them we are.” One of my slight disappointments since starting at the Blade was discovering how damn seriously gay activists take themselves. From bristling at the word homosexual (we are what we are!) to making inclusion an alphabet soup of ridiculousness (LGBTQQIA), many gays could stand to deflate their own pompousness a notch or two and this week’s Onion is a good starting point. Don’t get me wrong — I realize it’s a natural reaction to swing toward the earnest side when society hasn’t been taking us seriously for most of the time humans have populated earth. And yet the Onion’s Pride issue absurdities were a nice counter to that trend. Especially clever were the news briefs “Anti-homosexuality sermon suspiciously well informed,” “Catholic Church condemns metrosexuality” and “Area man has sex with man to get out of office blood drive.” Most weeks I’m lucky if the Onion makes me elicit a guffaw — the headlines are usually plenty for me. I find the stories tedious one-trick ponies that aren’t worth the time. But the Pride edition was a glorious exception. Poking fun at minority groups can be dicey — the Onion pulled it off beautifully. I’m keeping a copy for posterity.

True to form, the crazies at Westboro Baptist Church have faxed a press release (why bother saving trees when the earth will be destroyed in an apocaplyptic blood bath, right?) saying that Kermit Love, whom I blogged about last Friday, is for sure in hell.

The church will be picketing his funeral, which is another example of something I think regularly about fundamentalist nut jobs - “Go work in a soup kitchen!” People don’t eat in this country, and you’re worrying about some guy going down on another guy? Or a lady enjoying the sensual pleasures of another lady? Honestly.

The craziest part of the press release comes toward the end:

“I have no hesitancy in declaring that all you living fags who live in fag sins and die in fag sins — will ultimately and inevtiably join Kermit Love in Hell — there to be tormented by the Lord Jesus Christ and his holy angels and people, personally for ever and ever.”

Now, I’m good and screwed according to the fundies because I’m gay and a witch, but it’s my understanding that Jesus doesn’t go about burning sinners with bubbling pitch or sending his faceless homonculi to disembowl the wicked in perdition.

If I’m not mistaken, much of the message was about loving your neighbor as yourself, taking the beam from your own eye and not casting the first stone. I’d be really surprised if the man who hung out with fallen women and lepers did a 180 in the afterlife and became the posterboy for horror and despair.

Regardless of what I think about Jesus’ divine parentage, I do believe that his message was one of peace in a world overrun by madness, and his lessons are still relevant in today’s culture where instead of doing good works for those in need, so-called holy men spend their time damning a man who created a big yellow puppet named Big Bird.

Everyone has picked up on this story today: Tyson Gay, a sprinter from the U.S., won his semifinal for the 100 meters during the Olympic trials. One News Now, a news site for fans of the American Family Association, credits the Associated Press for penning most of the stories on the site’s wire. However, they take some journalistic liberties when the stories relate to the gay community.

Good As You is probably the biggest watchdog of AFA’s penchant for substituting “homosexual” for “gay,” among other words. “Same-sex marriage opponents” gets turned into “advocates of traditional marriage,” for instance.

One News Now got its turn in the mainstream media spotlight today, though, for a blip in its software. Tyson Gay’s last name is actually “Gay.” But all references to Mr. Gay read “Tyson Homosexual.” Apparently, the glitch has been fixed.

O’Dowd still awaiting trial in London on charges of false imprisonment
NEW YORK (AP) | Jul 1, 3:37 PM

Boy George’s plans for a North American tour have run into some bad karma.
The Culture Club singer, whose given name is George O’Dowd, has canceled his summer plans after U.S. authorities denied him a visa to enter the country.

O’Dowd, 47, had planned to officially kick off his 25-city tour in Aspen, Colo., on July 10, and was to throw in a free concert at the New York City Department of Sanitation’s Family Day in August. He worked for the department in 2006 while performing court-ordered community service in a drug case.

That didn’t appear possible, though, when last week O’Dowd’s managers issued a statement saying he had been refused a visa because he’s awaiting trial in London on charges that he falsely imprisoned a man. The Sun newspaper reported in April that a 28-year-old man claimed he was chained and threatened at O’Dowd’s London flat, where he had gone to work as a photo model.

The singer, whose hits include “Karma Chameleon,” has pleaded not guilty.

“I was really hoping that the issue would be resolved and that some kind soul at the U.S. Visa Office would realize that if the police in the U.K. placed no restrictions on my movements, that should have been good enough for them,” O’Dowd said in a statement Tuesday.

“I am very sorry that I will not see all my American fans this year, but I wish them a happy and healthy Fourth of July. I include the Visa Office in those good wishes and realize they are doing a very difficult job and I just got unlucky,” he said.

Meanwhile, O’Dowd intends to reschedule his North American tour for next winter. He’ll continue his concert tours of South America and the United Kingdom in September and October.

By Peter Tatchell | Article Date: 6/29/2008 12:30 AM

A few years ago, Dr. James Watson, the Noble Prize winner who co-discovered DNA, reopened the controversy over the so-called gay gene when he defended a woman’s right to abortion. He was quoted in The Sunday Telegraph as saying: “If you could find the gene which determines sexuality, and a woman decides she doesn’t want a homosexual child, well, let her (abort the fetus)”.

Much of the reaction to Dr Watson’s statement focused on its homophobic versus freedom of choice implications. Largely overlooked was the fact that such an esteemed scientist was giving credibility to the flawed theories which claim a genetic causation of homosexuality.

These theories have been given a recent boost by research suggesting differences in the brain structures of gay and straight people.

According to gay gene theory, genetic factors are responsible for sexual orientation, with our genetic inheritance programming us to desire one sex rather than the other. This is a very simple, deterministic thesis: A causes B.

I don’t disagree that genes (and hormonal exposure in the womb) influence sexual orientation. The scientific evidence for these biological influences is presented in the book, Born Gay, written by Glenn Wilson of the Institute of Psychiatry in London, and Qazi Rahman, a lecturer in psychobiology at the University of East London.

But contrary to what the authors seem to suggest, an influence is not the same as a cause. Genes and hormones may predispose a person to one sexuality rather than another. But that’s all. Predisposition and determination are two different things.

There is a major problem with gay gene theory, and with all theories that posit the biological programming of sexual orientation. If heterosexuality and homosexuality are, indeed, genetically predetermined (and therefore mutually exclusive and unchangeable), how do we explain bisexuality or people who, suddenly in mid-life, switch from heterosexuality to homosexuality, or vice versa?

We can’t.

The reality is that queer and straight desires are far more ambiguous, blurred and overlapping than any theory of genetic causality can allow.

After studying the sexual experiences of thousands of men, Dr. Alfred Kinsey presented evidence, in Sexual Behaviour in the Human Male , that “many males combine in their single histories, and very often in exactly the same period of time, or even simultaneously in the same moment, reactions to both heterosexual and homosexual stimuli.”

Some years later, the Kinsey researchers famously reported the case of a happily married young woman who, ten years into her marriage, unexpectedly fell in love with a female friend.

Divorcing her husband, she set up house with this woman. Many years later, despite a fulfilling on-going lesbian relationship, she had an equally satisfying affair with a man.

Examples of sexual flexibility, like that of this woman, don’t square with genetic theories of rigid erotic predestination.

One of the main original proponents of gay gene theory, Dr. Dean Hamer, now concedes that it is unlikely that something as complex as human sexuality can be explained solely in terms of genetic inheritance. He seems to accept that while genetic factors may establish a predisposition towards homosexuality, a predisposition is not the same as a causation.

Many studies suggest social factors are also important influences in the formation of sexual orientation. These include the relationship between a child and its parents, formative childhood experiences, family expectations, cultural mores and peer pressure.

By about the age of five or six, a combination of biological and social influences seem to lay the basis of an individual’s sexual orientation. Because our sexuality is fixed at such an early age, many lesbians and gay men feel they have been homosexual all their lives and therefore mistakenly conclude that it must be genetic and that they were born queer.

They also see the gay gene explanation as a useful defence against the arguments of the religious right, which dismisses same-sex relationships as a lifestyle choice.

But no one sits down one day and chooses to be gay (or straight). Sexual orientation is not a choice like choosing which biscuits to buy in a supermarket. We don’t have free will concerning the determination our sexual orientation. Our only free will is whether we accept or repress our true inner sexual and emotional desires.

The relative influence of biological versus social factors with regard to sexual orientation is still uncertain. What is, certain, however, is that if gayness was primarily explainable in genetic terms, we would expect it to appear in the same proportions, and in similar forms, in all cultures and all epochs. As the anthropologists Clellan Ford and Frank Beach demonstrated in Patterns Of Sexual Behaviour, far from being cross-culturally uniform and stable, both the incidence and expressions of same-sex desire vary vastly between different societies.

They found, for example, that young men in some tribes (the Aranda of Australia, Siwan of Egypt, Batak of Sumatra, Anga of Melanesia and others) had relationships with boys or older male warriors, usually lasting several years, often as part of manhood initiation rituals. Eventually ceasing homosexual contact, they subsequently assumed sexual desires for women.

If sexual orientation was genetically prefixed at conception, as the proponents of the gay gene claim, these young men would never have been able to switch between heterosexual and homosexual relations with such apparent ease.

Likewise, a glance at history reveals huge disparities between configurations of homosexuality in different eras down the ages. Same-sex behaviour in Ancient Greece was very different, in both its prevalence and particular manifestations, from homosexuality in Confucian China, Renaissance Italy, Meiji Japan, Tudor England and late twentieth century USA.

Moral values, social ideologies and cultural expectations, together with family patterns and parent-child interaction,seem the only credible explanation for these massive historical divergences.

Despite obvious theoretical and empirical weaknesses, the claims that certain genes cause homosexuality have been seized upon and vigorously promoted by many in the lesbian and gay rights movement (especially in the US).

The haste with which these unproven, questionable theories have been embraced suggests a terrible lack of self-confidence and a rather sad, desperate need to justify queer desire. It’s almost as if those pushing these theories believe we don’t deserve human rights unless we can prove that we are born gay and that our homosexuality is beyond our control: ‘We can’t help being fags and dykes, so please don’t treat us badly’. This seems to be the pleading, defensive sub-text of much of the pro-gay gene thesis.

Surely we merit human rights because we are human beings? The cause of our homosexuality is irrelevant to our quest for justice. We are entitled to dignity and respect, regardless of whether we are born queer or made queer, whether our homosexuality is something beyond our control or something freely chosen.

The corollary of the ‘born gay’ idea is the suggestion that no one can be ‘made gay’. This defensive argument was used by some gay leaders during the campaigns against Section 28, which banned the “promotion” of homosexuality by local authorities, and again during the lobbying of parliament for the equalisation of the age of consent.

Supporters of Section 28 and opponents of an equal age of consent justified their stance with the claim that people need to be protected against ‘pressure’ and ’seduction’ into the homosexual lifestyle.

Some gay spokespeople responded by arguing that it’s impossible to ‘make’ someone gay, and that a same-sex experience at an early age cannot ‘persuade’ a heterosexual person to become homosexual.

At one level, they are right. Sexual orientation appears to become fixed in the first few years of life. For most of us, it is impossible to subsequently change our sexual orientation.

However, what definitely can change as people grow older is their ability to accept and express formerly repressed queer desires. A person who is ostensibly heterosexual might, in their mid-30s, become aware of a previously unrecognised same-sex attraction that had been dormant and unconscious since childhood. Society’s positive affirmation of homosexuality might help such a person discover and explore those latent, hidden, suppressed feelings.

The homophobes are thus, paradoxically, closer to the truth than many gay activists. Removing the social opprobrium and penalties from queer relationships, and celebrating gay love and lust, would allow more people to come to terms with presently inhibited homoerotic desires. In this sense, it is perfectly feasible to ‘promote’ lesbian and gay sexuality and ‘make’ someone queer. Individuals who have a homosexual component in their character, but are inhibited by repression or guilt, definitely can be encouraged to acknowledge their same-sex attraction and act upon it.

Were future generations to grow up in a gay-positive, homo-friendly culture, it’s likely that many more people would have same-sex relationships, if not for all of their lives at least for significant periods. With this boom in queer sex, the social basis of homophobia would be radically undermined.

In this state of greater sexual freedom, where homosexuality becomes commonplace and ceases to be disparaged or victimised, gayness would no longer have to be defended and affirmed. Gay identity (and its straight counterpart) would thus, at last, become redundant.

Hurrah!

- Peter Tatchell has campaigned for LGBT human rights for 40 years. For more information about his campaigns, visit www.petertatchell.net. This article first appeared on Spiked-Online.com.

Op-Ed

By UK Gay News | Article Date: 6/28/2008 1:20 PM

It was enough to make anyone with a remote interest in gay men and women from Iran seeking refuge in the United Kingdom—and their problems with the Home Office—choke on their morning corn flakes.

“Iran Is Safe for ‘Discrete’ Gays, Says Jacqui Smith”, the headline in The Independent informed us this past week.

Robert Verkaik, the Independent’s legal editor who was the first to highlight in the ‘mainstream’ Press the plight of the then teenage gay Iranian Mehedi Kazemi, reported that Ms. Smith, the Home Secretary, had written to a Liberal Democrat Peer that gay and lesbian refuge-seekers can be safely deported to Iran as long as they live their lives “discreetly”.

Not only that, but she also said that there was no “real risk” of gay men and lesbians being discovered by the Iranian authorities or “adverse action” being taken against those who were “discreet” about their behaviour, Mr. Verkaik reported.

Frankly, we are wondering what planet Jacqui Smith is on.

No one expects Ms. Smith to know everything concerning her department. She has “advisors”, in the form of senior civil servants.

And as the TV series Yes Minister poignantly portrayed in every episode, these mandarins have a habit of getting their own way.

Perhaps the writer of the letter to the Peer was a Daily Mail-reading official who had never come across any of the background situation reports on Iran by likes of Amnesty International or Human Rights Watch.

Scott Long, the director of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Rights Program at Human Rights Watch, wrote in The Guardian on March 31 this year:

“The UK should recognize—as the Netherlands has done—that with a law prescribing death or torture for gay Iranians, they need not demonstrate the details of past persecution. Lift the burden of proof from Mehdi and his gay compatriots. End the threat of deportation.”

He also said that current policy of the Home Office “is a disastrous evasion of the UK’s responsibilities under international law.”

To coincide with International Day Against Homophobia on May 17, Human Rights Watch added the Home Office to its annual “Hall of Shame” for its policy on the deportation of gay men and women back to less than sympathetic countries, often flouting international law.

The problem with the reasoning of the Home Office is that in all but one of the half dozen cases of gay Iranian men and women seeking refuge that UK Gay News knows about, arrived here having fled because the police were actually on their trail—and not for fearing that the police might one day be interested in their sexuality.

The one exception was Mr. Kazemi who was already in the UK completing his education on a student visa when he learned that his partner had been executed—but not before he had named Medhi.

Jacqui Smith, as the LGBT Greens suggest, is “playing a dangerous game” with the lives of gay Iranian refugees.

“Effectively she’s trying to rubbish the argument that LGBT people are being persecuted for their sexuality in Iran,” LGBT Greens spokesperson Phelim Mac Cafferty said this afternoon.

“Her claim that as long as people are ‘discreet’ a regime notorious for its treatment of LGBT people will somehow stop persecuting them is misled at best—and homicidal at worst.”

Campaigning group GayAsylumUK described the remarks by the Home Secretary in the letter to Lord Roberts as being “outrageous, shameful, inhumane and anti-gay.”

The astounding thing is that, almost four years ago Ms. Smith was in charge of steering the Civil Partnerships Bill through the House of Commons back in 2004 when she was the Women and Equality Minister.

UK Gay News would hazard a guess that Her Majesty’s Government is ‘running scared’ of the xenophobic and largely homophobic tabloid press when it comes to a fair policy on gay refuge seekers.

Who runs this country? The democratically elected Government, or the self-appointed tabloids that huff and puff—and are expert at creating mass hysteria?

Article courtesy of UK Gay News.

By Maggie Taylor | Article Date: 7/01/2008 10:53 AM

Amid a swarm of divorce rumors, Madonna swears that she and hubby Guy Ritchie have the model marriage. But that hasn’t stopped the tabloids from going wild, alleging that the pop icon’s been hitting it with New York Yankee Alex Rodriguez.

A-Rod, as the Yankee is widely known, has been making “numerous solo nighttime visits to Madonna” at her Central Park West apartment and would sneak out “as late as midnight,” according to Us Weekly.

“All the doormen are talking,” a source told the magazine.

The Yankee and the Material Girl have been showing each other some love lately, which could be the source of the pesky rumors.  He attended her concert in New York City on April 30, and she in turn sat in Rodriguez’s seats at a Yankees game on June 22.

In an attempt to quell the wild rumors, Madonna’s rep Liz Rosenberg sent a response to Us magazine’s rival People magazine.

“Madonna’s husband Guy arrived in New York last night to be with his wife and family (not in a last ditch attempt to save his marriage which does not need saving). There are no plans for Madonna and Guy to divorce,” Rosenberg said. “Madonna and Alex have the same manager, Guy Oseary. They have met. They know each other and Madonna took her kids to a Yankees game last week. There’s really not anything to comment on beyond that. It’s nothing new that people are airing tons of dirty laundry Madonna’s way lately… much of it untrue.”

Even gossip monger Perez Hilton got in on the tabloid war and posted, “As for the whole Alex Rodriguez thing, sources reveal exclusively to PerezHilton.com that Madonna and the baseball player are friends and nothing more.”They have mutual friends in common.”

By Eric Hegedus | Article Date: 7/01/2008 1:15 AM

Apparently I’m a 12-year-old girl trapped in a (much older) gay guy’s body.

That’s right: In a humbling act of self-sacrifice, I watched the Jonas Brothers’ Camp Rock movie. Shock of shocks, I made it through fairly unscathed and disturbingly entertained between giggles. And it wasn’t because I think Kevin Jonas pings. (Please tell me I’m not the only one who thinks that.)

Truth is, in good conscience I can’t stick with my original plan of calling it cruel or randy names, like “Camp Shlock” or “Camp Cock.” Sure, it was a silly, predictable electro-pop, full of sugary lyrics punctuated by throaty “oooh-UHs.” But that’s all it ultimately needs to be for the teen and tween set, who according to news reports tuned in en masse.

The bottom line is the Jonas Brothers are the Hansons with less of a future in music but more dough to sustain themselves in the long run (all hail the deity known as Disney). Rest assured, boy fans will get their hair butchered into the Joe Jonas frizzy shag, while girls will keep dripping for his other shag.

Oh, yeah: numerous news outlets are reporting that a Camp Rock sequel is on the table with shooting expected sometime next year. Start, start, start the party!

In other beautiful boy news, we hear that Chace Crawford’s limp wrist is yet again flapping about in an effort to swat away any rumors regarding his questionable sexuality.

We’ve all seen the multitude of photos of the Gossip Girl stud and his connected-at-the-hip travel buddy JC Chasez over the past few months. In hot pursuit of the truth, a reporter from Metro UK asked him about the gay rumors, and he told them, “You haven’t made it unless there’s been a gay rumour about you.”

So, is he boinking JC? “No, of course not,” he practically screamed in the Q&A posted online last Wednesday.

Well, of course, a mere 24 hours later his people were also dismissing rumors that he’s tossing tongues with GG cast mate Ed Westwick. “Absolutely untrue,” his reps told Us Magazine. Gosh, I guess Chace has officially “made it.” Again and again and again. And he probably isn’t finished making it yet.

More on next page…

(continued)

In other outing news: Remember Army Sgt. Darren Manzella, who came out on 60 Minutes last December and has seemingly languished in limbo since then? Well, What-A-Manzella has finally been booted from boot camp under the military’s ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ policy, according to the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network.

Seriously. It took military brass a full six months from when the sexy sarge appeared on a national news program to figure out that, yuppers, there was a problem with his declaration. (Also note that he first came out to an Army supervisor back in 2006. The response at that time was that there was no “evidence” of homosexuality, despite solid photographic, uh, proof.)

Wow. Yet America wonders why there’s no timeline for military withdrawal from Iraq. Turns out it’s because no one’s going to realize there’s a problem until about five years from now.

There were some other guys in “uniform” who caught our attention last week, too. I’m of course talking about the “Brokeback meets Broadway” DC Cowboys who dazzled us with their smiles and tight-tight jeans on America’s Got Talent. Nothing like a flash of red flannel and Levis to stimulate our hearts, not to mention other body parts!

The queer cowpokes sure beat the show’s other gay entry: A scary-tall Dionne Warwick impersonator who needs to retire the mascara and cheek implants. Just walk on by, girl.

Didja hear that Anderson Cooper pretty much got called out as a big ol’ girl on his CNN program last week? And by the Rev. Al Sharpton at that?

Okay, I exaggerate. But during a discussion about evangelicals and the issues they can’t help but rail on, the Rev. Al seemed to be addressing our Coopster as if the conversation were one-on-one in a church confessional, and not in front of a bazillion viewers.

“I may have some very conservative personal feelings but I feel you have the right to live your life differently,” said Sharpton. “I might think that what you do, Anderson, is gonna put you in Hell, but I’m gonna defend your right to get there.”

Responded Anderson in all his gaily grinning glory, “I appreciate all your concerns about my afterlife. I’m personally not all that concerned, but that’s a whole other discussion.”

You can say that again.

The blogosphere naturally exploded with the news that the gay gig was up for Anderson. But the Rev. Al later clarified to Gay City News that he didn’t mean to imply that our graying God was, you know, that way.

“I have no idea of his sexuality. I was not talking about him as an individual anyway. It could have been anybody,” he said.

Thanks, Al. You were almost our hero there.

The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation did some calling out themselves last week.

In an exercise that mixes together people with divergent lives for a month, the FX Network show 30 Days tossed a salad that would leave a truly bitter taste: Two gay dads spending quality time with an anti-gay Christian woman named Kati. Intercut with their not-so-bonding experience was analysis from Peter Sprigg, a rather misguided fellow from the feverishly anti-gay Family Research Council. You know his boilerplate drill: “… higher rates of sexual promiscuity … mental illness … child sexual abuse …” Blah, blah, blah.

Well, our friends at GLAAD asked the network to remove Sprigg’s mirky claims from any future airings, or to at least bring in more credible experts for accuracy’s sake. FX’s response: Not so much.

So GLAAD is pushing its supporters to bombard network highers-up with requisite phone calls and e-mails of complaint. Expect a lot of full voicemails and inboxes at FX headquarters for a while.

In other finger-wagging news, the bombastic blowhards at the American Family Association last week successfullly convinced the Heinz company to pull a witty ad in England that depicts a “homosexual family” (oh, horror!) and a same-sex smooch (more horror!).

In response, gay rights group Stonewall is calling a boycott of Heinz products, labeling the ad’s inclusive content “innocuous,” and adding that they “can’t imagine that Heinz would respond to protests about black people featuring in their adverts.”

Quite true. And I wouldn’t be surprised if the Heinz boycott somehow makes it across the pond and is embraced by gays perusing supermarkets in North America, too. Hold the ketchup and relish, please.

Speaking of homo-centric advertising, be sure to check out the plethora of gay-themed ads that have been rounded up over the years by the Commercial Closet Association at CommercialCloset.org. The nonprofit group is prepping for its annual Images in Advertising Awards, which later this month will shine a bright, stunningly pink spotlight on the best gay-inclusive ads from 2007. Expect that the gay-forward ad that spurred the Heinz debacle will somehow make next year’s cut, even if the company ultimately wimped out.

We couldn’t help but notice that gay faves Pushing Daisies, Ugly Betty, The Wire and Grey’s Anatomy were among the shows listed in last week’s unprecedented release of semifinalists for this year’s Primetime Emmy awards. Look for our own Neil Patrick Harris and Daisies cutie Kristin Chenoweth to announce the final nominations during a live event on July 17, with the Emmy telecast itself set for Sept. 21.

And about our man, our Dirty Dirty Doogie (surely you recall his declaration of having a “versatile” sex life to Howard Stern not too long ago). Is Neil Patrick Harris all over the place lately, or what? In between filming How I Met Your Mother, he’s also popping up in droll print and TV ads for Old Spice products (how SO not gay!). Plus, the trailer for his starring role in the peculiar Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog (“coming soon to a computer near you”) is becoming quite the virtal tease at DrHorrible.com. The more NPH, the merrier, we say.

Another online destination to check out: If you like music videos, meander to MTV’s new FNMTV online network. Every Friday night, the show “FNMTV Premieres” will debut new music vids, sprinkled with guest performances and appearances by the hottest of the hot, from Rihanna to Maroon 5. Bonus: it’s hosted by occasional man-kisser and daddy-to-be Pete Wentz of Fall Out Boy. Consider it bookmarked.

While we’re on man-macking, did you not howl when Will Smith puckered up and lured David Letterman into some chaste yet cheeky smooches on the Late Show last week? And when the Hancock star pushed Davey’s buttons with “Once you go black, you never go back, Dave!” poor Mr. Letterman had no idea where to go from there and wound up changing the subject entirely.

Perhaps he should take some pointers from Pete Wentz.

Then again, we all should

Article Date: 06/26/2008

By Adam Higgins

A female prison guard was raped and murdered by an inmate while on duty at a Daytona Beach prison last night, The Associated Press is reporting.

Donna Fitzgerald had worked at the prison for 13 years. According to the Department of Corrections, 39-year-old inmate Enoch Hall attacked Fitzgerald Wednesday night while she was on duty at Tomoka Correctional Institution.

Hall is already serving two life sentences for a kidnapping conviction from a 1993 case and sexual battery with a weapon from a separate case from 1992, according to United Press International. According to reports, Fitzgerald, 50, discovered Hall hiding in a warehouse area of the prison after lights out on Wednesday.

“Words cannot express the sorrow I feel over the loss of our correctional officer,” said Department of Corrections Secretary Walter McNeil, according to AP. “The entire department grieves the murder of one of our finest officers, and we pray for the victim’s family during this difficult time.”

Charges have yet to be filed against Hall. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is currently investigating the attack.

WASHINGTON — The Army has discharged a decorated medic who was deployed to Iraq despite acknowledging he was gay.

Darren Manzella, 30, said he revealed his sexual orientation to his military supervisor in August 2006, and was redeployed to Iraq anyway. He has since spoken out publicly several times about being a gay service member.

Manzella was discharged this month for “homosexual admission.” His commander’s discharge recommendation included a transcript of an interview he gave to television show “60 Minutes” in December 2007, in which Manzella said he is gay.

He did the same in a number of other interviews and even at a Washington news conference. The military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy prohibits active-duty service members from openly acknowledging they are gay or lesbian.

The discharge was effective June 10, a spokesman for the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network said in a news release. Manzella was traveling and not immediately available for comment.

The Army press office declined comment by phone Friday, but requested an e-mail query, which was submitted and awaiting response.

Manzella first told a military supervisor about his sexual orientation in August 2006 while he was stationed at Fort Hood, Texas, and working in division headquarters. Three weeks after Manzella made the revelation, his battalion commander told him an investigation had been closed without finding “proof of homosexuality.”

A month later, Manzella was redeployed to Iraq. Manzella and his supporters have said his case demonstrates how the military has been arbitrarily enforcing its “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy during the war.

Manzella enlisted in the Army in 2002. In Iraq, he provided medical care to other soldiers and accompanied his unit on patrols. He was awarded the Combat Medical Badge.

Manzella’s last assignment was to Fort Hood with the 1st Cavalry Division.

___

On the Net: Servicemembers Legal Network: http://www.sldn.org

U.S. Army: http://www.army.mil

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.