Gay Blogs
How hilarious and adorable—this 17-month-old's very first word is "Ma-don-na!"...
Conan O'Brien realizes that Indiana GOP Rep. Bob Morris was right, and the Girl Scouts really do have a pro-gay, pro-abortion, feminist agenda.
Watch, AFTER THE JUMP...
Former Senator Alan Simpson (R-WY) tore into Rick Santorum, calling him "rigid and...homophobic" on Face to Face with Bob Schieffer, adding that he was alarmed at how Republicans are grabbing on to social issues:
"I am convinced that if you get into these social issues and just stay in there about abortion and homosexuality and even mental health they bring up, somehow they're going to take us all to Alaska and float us out in the Bering Sea or something."
Said Simpson of Santorum:
"He said, 'I want a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage,' and they said, 'Well, what about the people who are already married?' And he said, 'Well, they would be nullified.' I mean what is, what's human, what's kind about that? We're all human beings, we all know or love somebody who's gay or lesbian so what the hell is that about? To me it's startling and borders on disgust."
Watch, AFTER THE JUMP...
Simpson made similar remarks last April, in an interview with Chris Matthews:
"We have homophobes on our party. That’s disgusting to me. We’re all human beings. We’re all God’s children. Now if they’re going to get off on that stuff—Santorum has said some cruel things—cruel, cruel things—about homosexuals. Ask him about it; see if he attributes the cruelness of his remarks years ago. Foul."
A major ruling from U.S. District Court Judge Jeffrey White, a Bush appointee, who has ruled the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) unconstitutional for violating the Constitution's guarantee of equality.
Our legal expert Ari Ezra Waldman will have analysis coming up this evening. Check back with us...
U.S. District Court Judge Jeffrey White, who sits in San Francisco and was appointed to the bench by President George W. Bush, issued the ruling Wednesday afternoon in a case involving federal judicial law clerk Karen Golinski's request for benefits for her female spouse. White said the stated goals of DOMA, passed in 1996 and signed by President Bill Clinton, could not pass muster under a so-called "heightened scrutiny" test or even a lower "rational basis" threshhold.
"The imposition of subjective moral beliefs of a majority upon a minority cannot provide a justification for the legislation. The obligation of the Court is 'to define the liberty of all, not to mandate our own moral code,'" White wrote. "Tradition alone, however, cannot form an adequate justification for a law....The 'ancient lineage” of a classification does not render it legitimate....Instead, the government must have an interest separate and apart from the fact of tradition itself."
Check out the ruling here.
Reuters' Dan Levine adds:
White, who was appointed by President George W. Bush, a Republican, issued a permanent injunction preventing the government from further interfering with Golinski's ability to enroll her wife in the insurance program.
Chris Geidner at MetroWeekly pulls out some key pieces:
The Court has found that DOMA unconstitutionally discriminates against same-sex married couples. Even though animus is clearly present in its legislative history, the Court, having examined that history, the arguments made in its support, and the effects of the law, is persuaded that something short of animus may have motivated DOMA’s passage:
Prejudice, we are beginning to understand, rises not from malice or hostile animus alone. It may result as well from insensitivity caused by simple want of careful, rational reflection or from some instinctive mechanism to guard against people who appear to be different in some respects from ourselves.
Board of Trustees of University of Alabama v. Garrett, 531 U.S. 356, 374-75 (2001) (Kennedy, J., concurring).
Lambda Legal Staff Attorney Tara Borelli tweets: "This ruling spells doom for #DOMA."
Adds Borelli, in a press release:
"The Court recognized the clear fact that a law that denies one class of individuals the rights and benefits available to all others because of their sexual orientation violates the constitutional guarantee of equality embodied in the Fifth Amendment. The Court agreed with us that sexual orientation discrimination by the government should receive heightened scrutiny under the constitution. It then concluded that DOMA could not meet that standard, and that there was not even a rational justification to deny Karen Golinski the same spousal health care benefits that her heterosexual co-workers receive."
And here's some extra background on the case from Lambda Legal:
Judge White's ruling is the latest victory in a battle that began in 2008, when Golinski, a 20-year employee of the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, sought to enroll her wife, Amy Cunninghis, in the employee health plan. It is the first DOMA-related ruling since U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder announced that the Department of Justice had determined DOMA was unconstitutional and would no longer defend it, and the majority leadership of the U.S. House of Representatives hired outside counsel to defend the discriminatory statute. A similar ruling holding DOMA unconstitutional in a separate case is on appeal in the 1st Circuit.
Golinski's struggle to enroll her spouse in the family health plan, a benefit routinely granted to her married heterosexual co-workers, travelled a torturous path, including two separate orders by Ninth Circuit Chief Judge Alex Kozinski directing that Golinski be allowed to enroll Cunninghis in the health plan, orders ignored by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM), citing DOMA. In April 2011, Lambda Legal and Morrison & Foerster filed an amended complaint directly challenging the constitutionality of DOMA. Judge White heard arguments on this amended complaint on December 16.
Said Golinski: "I am profoundly grateful for the thought and consideration that Judge White gave to my case. His decision acknowledges that DOMA violates the Constitution and that my marriage to Amy is equal to those marriages of my heterosexual colleagues. This decision is a huge step toward equality."
Our legal expert Ari Ezra Waldman will have analysis coming up this evening. Check back with us...
When New Mexico governor Susana Martinez had her people called hair stylist Antonio Darden and book her another appointment (whether to touch up her roots or file down her horns, we’re not sure), he said enough is enough.
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Tagged: marriage equality, New Mexico, Santa Fe, state politics
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New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez will be finding somewhere else to get her hair cut, Think Progress LGBT reports.
Said Antonio Darden, who has been with his partner for 15 years and still can't marry: “The governor’s aides called not too long ago, wanting another appointment to come in. Because of her stances and her views on this I told her aides no. They called the next day, asking if I’d changed my mind about taking the governor in and I said no again.”
Watch, AFTER THE JUMP...
Pinal County Sheriff and congressional candidate Paul Babeu, who yesterday asked for an investigation into claims by his ex-boyfriend Jose Orozco that he threatened him over exposing their relationship, has received support from gay former Arizona GOP Rep. Jim Kolbe.
Said Kolbe to Chris Johnson at the Washington Blade:
“I endorse Paul Babeu based on his distinguished record of service to his country both in the military and as a law enforcement officer,” Kolbe said. “I think he has a solid understanding of the short and long-term economic problems that face this country and is willing to make the necessary, tough decisions to tackle them.”
Kolbe, who came out in 1996 after being hit with criticism for voting in favor of DOMA, said he knew Babeu was gay prior to last weekend when Babeu announced it in response to the allegations.
Added Kolbe: “I knew he was gay. That is the only thing that I can say that I knew. We had several little discussions about that in my conversations with him. That’s all I would say about that.”
Tanya Ditty, a Georgia schoolteacher and the state director of Georgia's branch of the extremist wingnut group Concerned Women for America, testified against a bill that would ban discrimination against the state’s LGBT employees before a House panel on Tuesday, Project Q Atlanta reports.
Ditty warned that approving the bill would allow gay people, who according to Ditty are pedophiles and necrophiliacs (she has a whole list), to get jobs as teachers or janitors and prey on students. She also tells a personal story about her 'shocking' encounter with a transgender person in the restroom.
Whether her hateful testimony was influential or not, the panel effectively killed the bill by tabling it in a 3-2 vote.
Watch Ditty's disgusting rant, AFTER THE JUMP...
Bill to reinstate 'DADT' in Oklahoma National Guard is shelved.
Kellogg's creates 'Totes Amazeballs' cereal for Twitter user.
Adam Levine joins the contraception debate, endorses the withdrawal method.
Action on "Don't Say Gay" bill delayed for amendment: "The House Education Committee put off discussion of a measure meant to curb discussions about homosexuality in elementary and middle school for a week so new language can be added specifically protecting some talks between students and their teachers, school nurses and guidance counselors."
Chace Crawford plays shirtless football, poses for paparazzi in Cabo San Lucas.
Mark Ronson talks about his work on the new Rufus Wainwright album. "It has a sort of really warm, mid '70s T Rex, Young Americans, Lauren Canyon kind of vibe to it."
Serbia to open first shelter for gays: "Dusica Davidovic, an official in the southern city of Nis, about 120 miles (200 kilometers) south of Belgrade, says the city needs a "safe house" where gays from the area could seek protection. A 19-year-old Serbian man was kicked out of his home last year after he publicly said he was gay. Stefan Radovic says his family has cut all ties with him and he has nowhere to live."
Nicki Minaj goes Smurf blue.
10 members of Congress pose for the NOH8 Campaign.
Amazing Race advance producer Jeff Rice poisoned in Uganda after attempted shakedown. "Details are sketchy, but the source said that after refusing to give in to the demands of local thugs, Rice and another facilitator ended up very sick with poisoning of some kind."
LOGO announces 2012 slate of shows, veers away from gay-specific programming: “These new projects are anchored by stories that go deep into today’s world: Wanting to start a family is a universal desire, no matter who you love. Families in business together during a recession could be the ultimate drama. Pets are now surrogate children for a lot of people—who go to great length to celebrate them.” Check out the new offerings here.
VIDEO: Justin Theroux breakdances for Ellen DeGeneres.
S.C.U.M. Manifesto: Andy Warhol shooter annotated her own book in the NY Public Library.
Andy Warhol died 25 years ago today.
Scientists discover steamy "water world" planet.
UK serial killer of gay men dies in prison: "He made a New Year’s Resolution on January 1, 1993 to become a serial killer and over the next six months killed five men he met at the Colherne pub in Earls Court. It was reported at the time he went back to his victim’s homes, got them to agree to be tied up, tortured and suffocated them."
Opening statements could begin today in Tyler Clementi roommate case: "Jury selection in 19-year-old Dharun Ravi's trial began Tuesday in New Brunswick, N.J., where Ravi faces charges of bias intimidation, in addition to invasion of privacy. Because the two bias intimidation charges are considered hate crimes, each carries a potential prison term of 10 years. "
And Fingergate begins!Happy Birthday to Julie Walters, who turns 62, Ellen Greene is 61, Kyle MacLachlan is 53, Jery Ryan is 44, Thomas Jane is 43, Clinton Kelly is 43, Lea Salonga is 41, Drew...
Queer films and filmmakers have done pretty well at the 84th Annual Academy Awards so far: Christopher Plummer is a shoo-in for Best Supporting Actor for Beginners, and if The Help nabs Best Picture, it’ll have out writer/director Tate Taylor to thank. Other LGBT-interest nominees include Rooney Mara as bisexual bad girl Lisbeth Salander in The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo and Glen Close and Janet McTeer as Victorian gender rebels in Albert Nobbs.
But there were quite a few queer films in 2011 that didn’t get nominated—either because they went straight to video, didn’t have the bucks for a full-on Oscar blitz or were only played the film-festival circuit. Sunday night will be all about the big boys, but today we’re praising independent films—like Xavier Dolan’s Heartbeats, above—that brought fresh queer perspectives to the world of cinema.
Click through for Queerty’s picks of best non-nominated gay films in 2011
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Tagged: awards season, Films, gigola, gun hill road, heartbeats, Movies, Oscars, Pariah, screening room, Sons of Tennessee Williams, three, Weekend
Read more articles at Queerty or GayCities
Apparently the Downton Abbey Christmas special was quite divisive among fans. Apparently Julian Fellowes experienced a Steven Moffat level of grief for doing the things he did to his characters over...
The plot is thickening in the scandale surrounding Arizona sheriff—and Mitt Romney’s former state co-chair—Paul Babeu (above), as information surfaces about a threeway with a Democratic politico and his boyfriend (complete with a political payoff) and Babeu turns the tables on his Latin ex, Jose Orozco.
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Tagged: Arizona, matt heinz, paul babeu, state politics
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Governor Neil Abercrombie and Director of the State Department of Health Loretta Fuddy have filed two separate answers in a response to a lawsuit challenging Hawaii's ban on same-sex marriage, according to a news release from Attorney General David M. Louie, Hawaii News Now reports:
In his response, Gov. Abercrombie said that "Under current law, a heterosexual couple can choose to enter into a marriage or a civil union. A same-sex couple, however, may only elect a civil union. My obligation as Governor is to support equality under law. This is inequality, and i will not defend it."
"It's bittersweet, but I do feel great that agrees and that he's actually standing by us in that way," said Natasha Jackson, who filed the lawsuit with her partner, Janin Kleid, after they were denied a marriage license by the Department of Health last November. The two have entered a civil union, but want the same benefits of marriage that opposite-sex couples have, including having their marriage recognized in all states. "If we get the rights here, we don't want to go someplace where we don't have the rights. It just doesn't make sense so it limits our mobility," said Kleid.
The lawsuit has another plaintiff as well, Gary Bradley, who hopes to marry his now civil partner.
Fuddy said she was obligated to defend the law:
"The Department of Health is charged with implementing the law as passed by the Legislature. Absent any ruling to the contrary by competent judicial authority regarding constitutionality, the law will be enforced. Because I am being sued for administering the law, I will also defend it."
Read the full news release, AFTER THE JUMP...
News Release 2012-04Cloris Leachman and Timothy Bottoms in The Last Picture ShowNewsflash: I can't stop thinking about the Oscars. I'm writhing around in my bathrobe crying Irving Thalberg's name and opening every...
After a horrific incident last spring in which Chrissy Lee Polis, a transgender woman, was beaten for using the female restroom at a Rosedale McDonald’s, Baltimore County has finally passed legislation to protect transgender people from discrimination, reports the Baltimore Sun.
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Tagged: Baltimore, chrissy lee polis, county politics, McDonald's, transgender rights
Read more articles at Queerty or GayCities
