Stars Of Broadway - It Gets Better

Debuting on iTunes tomorrow to benefit the Trevor Project.

PhoboQuotable - Jimmy Akin

"Will you be forced to participate in homosexual pride celebrations? Or will your children or grandchildren? Before you scoff at the possibility, recognize that it has already been happening to people. The homosexual lobby is relentless and is not seeking tolerance. It is seeking coerced social approval of homosexual behavior. That includes forcing non-homosexuals to participate in homosexual “pride” celebrations. It happened right here in San Diego, where four firemen were ordered to participated in the local 'San Diego Pride Parade.' [snip]

"And don’t think that just because these men were in California and that they worked for the government was what caused the problem. Private companies also often have pro-homosexual policies, and they also can put pressure on their employees to participate in activities that violate their moral principles—often with less legal accountability than is available when the government is the employer. Public employees also are at risk. Consider the delicate position public school teachers are now in—and which will continue to get worse—regarding the treatment of homosexuality in public schools. Things are already bad in our own time, folks, and it will be worse in the times of our children and grand children." - Jimmy Akin, writing for the National Catholic Register.

RELATED: Last week an appeals court upheld a settlement for the San Diego firemen, who claimed sexual harassment during the pride parade. Their actual motivation for filing the suit is revealed by the below 2008 legal fundraising appeal.

GLAAD Promotes Oct. 20th As "Spirit Day"

GLAAD wants to turn the world purple on October 20th.

The idea behind Spirit Day, first created by teenager Brittany McMillan earlier this month, is a simple one, not dissimilar to the idea of "Spirit Week" held in many high schools, and can be summed up in three words: Everyone Rally Together. Spirit Day honors the teenagers who had taken their own lives in recent weeks. But just as importantly, it's also a way to show the hundreds of thousands of LGBT youth who face the same pressures and bullying, that there is a vast community of people who support them. Purple symbolizes 'spirit' on the rainbow flag, a symbol for LGBT Pride that was created by Gilbert Baker in 1978. As one of the event's Facebook pages says: "This event is not a seminar nor is it a rally. There is NO meeting place. All you have to do is wear purple."

I do have a lovely purple dress shirt.....

New From Sharron Angle

Notice how rarely the teabaggers mention themselves?

MISSISSIPPI: Sheriff's Department Sued By ACLU Over Officer Fired For Being Gay

The ACLU is suing Mississippi's Forrest County Sheriff's Department for firing a corrections officer after learning he is gay.

On June 14, while at home and off-duty, Cooley called 911 after his boyfriend became physically violent. Among the officers who responded to the call was Chief of Corrections Charles Bolton, one of Cooley’s supervisors. After Cooley’s boyfriend told Bolton that he and Cooley were in a relationship, Bolton told Cooley not to return to work before speaking with his immediate supervisor. The next day, Staff Sergeant of Jail Operations Donnell Brannon informed Cooley that he was being permanently terminated. Cooley asked Brannon if he was being fired because he was gay, and Brannon responded, “Yes.” Cooley has never received a written explanation for his firing. He has never been charged or disciplined in connection with the domestic violence precipitated by his former boyfriend the day before he was fired. The official police report of the incident identifies Cooley as the victim. After firing Cooley, the sheriff’s department attempted to deny him unemployment benefits by alleging that Cooley had engaged in unspecified “inappropriate conduct and behavior while off duty, unacceptable for an officer.” But after a hearing, an administrative law judge concluded that the sheriff’s department failed to show that Cooley committed misconduct of any kind.

Another prime example of why we need ENDA.

Hate Crime At West Village Gay Bar

For the second time this month, there's been a hate crime at a West Village gay bar. Paul Schindler reports at Gay City News:

According to the office of Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance, Jr., Frederick Giunta has been arraigned on charges of assault in the third degree as a hate crime and attempted robbery in the third degree in two incidents at Julius’ Bar, New York City’s oldest gay establishment, late in the afternoon on October 11. Giunta is alleged to have grabbed the wallet of one Julius’ patron and punched the man in the face with a closed fist. The suspect is also accused of punching a second patron, while yelling at the man, “What are you going to do, you fucking nigger? You are a fucking faggot.” Giunta was arrested on October 15 and arraigned the following day.

The NYC Anti-Violence Project notes that the 45 year-old suspect has "a known history of luring gay men with the intent to rob and injure them." There have been been four anti-gay hate crimes in NYC so far this October and the month is barely half over.

The Sisters - It Gets Better

Tweet Of The Day - Reid Wilson

Here's the full quote from Sharron Angle:

"So that’s what we want is a secure and sovereign nation and, you know, I don’t know that all of you are Latino. Some of you look a little more Asian to me. I don’t know that. [Note: it's the Hispanic Student Union. The whole room is Hispanic teenagers.] What we know, what we know about ourselves is that we are a melting pot in this country. My grandchildren are evidence of that. I’m evidence of that. I’ve been called the first Asian legislator in our Nevada State Assembly."

The above-linked reporter says he "has no idea" what Angle means about being the first Asian legislator. Angle continues to maintain a slim polling lead over Harry Reid.

IOWA: Christianists Launch Ad Comparing Gay Marriage To Legalized Incest

The Iowa Independent reports:

Tim Hicks, who created and posted the video on YouTube, is a member of Cornerstone World Outreach in Sioux City. In fact, nearly half of the videos he’s posted on YouTube are of the church’s pastor, Cary Gordon. The church is facing a possible IRS investigation over its campaign to convince other pastors around the state to encourage their congregations to vote against retaining three state Supreme Court justices on the ballot this fall. Hick’s video, which is entitled “Vote no on judicial retention,” is a parody of commercials for the online dating website eHarmony. The narrator of the video says the Iowa Supreme Court is the authority on marriage, all while a married couple discusses how they’ve known each other their entire lives. By the end, it is revealed that the married couple are brother and sister, and they thank the Supreme Court for allowing their marriage to happen. In comments below the video, Hicks said he made it to reveal “the obvious next steps for liberal judges to take. What will they legalize next … polygamy, NAMBLA, a feller and his horse?”

Cornerstone Church is also attempting to take over the Sioux City government by getting its members appointed to city commissions.

(Via - Right Wing Watch)

California Nurses Against Meg Whitman

The California Nurses Association is launching a Queen Meg 2010 bus tour in opposition to Meg Whitman. Here's their music video.

HomoQuotable - Jonathan Capehart

"Now, truth be told, with a stroke of a pen, Obama could end don't ask don't tell through a back-door maneuver such as a 'stop loss' order. Meaning all troops who come out or are revealed to be gay or lesbian would not be discharged. The rationale could be that because the nation is at war it needs every ready, willing and able servicemember. And it would be the single-most irresponsible action the president could take.

"Leave aside the antagonism it would create between the commander in chief and the armed forces. Think of the jeopardy Obama would put gay troops in if he did sign an executive order. Once such an order is signed, gay troops would be right to want to come out of the closet to finally live their lives honestly. Here's the problem: if Obama is defeated in 2012 or is succeeded by a Republican in 2016, the new president could rescind the order.

"If the ban, which is an act of Congress, has not been repealed by Congress by then, all those gay and lesbian troops who have come out would then be in violation of the law banning them from serving openly in the military. To please a base constituency in the short term Obama will have endangered the careers of gay troops in the long term." - Jonathan Capehart, writing for the Washington Post.

Rand Paul Vs. Jack Conway

Quote Of The Day - John McCain

"The President of the United States has no military experience, no impact with the military, went over to San Diego and called the corpsman 'corpse' man. I guess he thought it was 'The Day of the Living Dead'. And has made this decision because of a political promise to the gay and lesbian community. Absolutely I will filibuster or stop it from being brought up until we have a thorough and complete study on the effect of morale and battle effectiveness." - John McCain, vowing to block any vote on DADT in the coming lame duck Senate session.

NOM Backs Protect Marriage Lawyer Andy Pugno For California Assembly

NOM issued a press release today to announce their TV ad campaign for Andy Pugno, the lead counsel for Protect Marriage who is running for the California Assembly.

Brian Brown, Treasurer of the NOM California PAC, told the media Friday: “Andy Pugno has been a champion for the people of California and voters need to know his admirable record. Attempts by his opponents to smear him based on his stance on family values issues only clarify what voters in California already know: Andy Pugno identifies with their values and their rights and will fight for them as Assemblyman. The National Organization for Marriage enthusiastically supports Mr. Pugno and applauds his efforts in the Proposition 8 fight.”

Vatican: Homer Simpson Is A Catholic

The official newspaper of the Vatican has decided that Homer Simpson is a secret Catholic.

“The Simpsons are among the few TV programmes for children in which Christian faith, religion, and questions about God are recurrent themes.” The family “recites prayers before meals and, in their own peculiar way, believes in the life thereafter”. It quoted an analysis by a Jesuit priest, Father Francesco Occhetta, of a 2005 episode of The Simpsons, The Father, the Son and the Holy Guest Star, which revolved around Catholicism and was aired a few weeks after the death of Pope John Paul II….”Few people know it, and he does everything he can to hide it, but it is true: Homer J Simpson is a Catholic,” insists L’Osservatore Romano.

"I'm normally not a praying man, but if you're up there, please save me Superman." - Homer Simpson.

Obama Heckled By AIDS Activists

President Obama was heckled by AIDS activists during a speech in Boston on Saturday, prompting the president to fire back.

The President appeared uncharacteristically upset as, mid-sentence, a group of folks in the crowd began to loudly object to his speech as he described the work his administration had done for AIDS research. As the crowd turned their heads up to look at the hecklers, President Obama followed as well, and modified his speech for them, menacingly pointing his finger up at them as he warned that a Republican leadership would be extremely destructive to their cause. After raising his voice mid-sentence in response to them, President Obama continued: “One of the great things about being a Democrat is, we like arguing with each other. But to the folks concerned about AIDS funding, I would say ‘take a look at what the Republican leadership has to say about AIDS funding.’”

Obama was in Boston to support the reelection campaign of Gov. Deval Patrick.

Dallas Cops Arrest 11 In Bathhouse Raid

Claiming to be acting on a complaint, Dallas police arrested eleven men in a raid on the Club Dallas bathhouse on Friday.

Ten patrons of The Club reportedly were charged with either public lewdness or indecent exposure, while one employee was charged with interfering with police. DPD would only release records related to three of the 11 arrests, saying Dallas Voice needed to file a freedom of information request to obtain additional details. Laura Martin, DPD’s liaison officer to the gay community, said the vice unit raided the establishment on Swiss Avenue in response to a complaint. But police wouldn’t say who had complained. Martin said she believes it marked the first time since 2003 vice officers have gone in to the 34-year-old establishment, one of nine similar clubs nationwide. “We’ve done operations in that club since the late ’70s. There just hasn’t been one in a while because there hasn’t been a complaint,” Martin said. “They [officers] were in there for a legitimate reason, and obviously there was illegal activity going on or that many arrests wouldn’t have been made.”

Club Dallas bailed its customers and employee out of jail and have offered them legal representation. The men face up to a year in prison. According to the above-linked Dallas Voice story, the bathhouse is considered a public venue despite its members-only policy.

Interesting that this took place weeks before an election, eh?

The World According To San Francisco

An accurate take on the familiar theme. Japan is my favorite.

(Via - SFist)

NEW YORK: Andrew Cuomo Far Ahead Of Teabagger Nutjob Carl Paladino

Thanks to ten days of unrelenting bad press, teabagger loon Carl Paladino is sinking badly behind Attorney General Andrew Cuomo. All seven New York gubernatorial candidates will debate tonight at Hofstra University, including former madam Kristin Davis and Jimmy McMillan of the Rent Is 2 Damn High Party. Should be quite the entertaining mess.

Auto-Tuned Christine O'Donnell

Press Secretary Robert Gibbs: This President Will End DADT

Teabagger Senate Candidate Ken Buck: Gayness Is A Choice, Like Alcoholism

Today on Meet The Press, teabagger Senate candidate Ken Buck declared that being gay is a choice. Except when it's not, like for alcoholics. Or something. Via Talking Points Memo:

Colorado Senate candidates Ken Buck (R) and incumbent Sen. Michael Bennet (D) met for a debate on Meet The Press this morning and sparred on the budget, the Tea Party and flip-flops. But the most controversial moment came when host David Gregory asked Buck if he believes that being gay is a choice. Buck responded that he thought it was a choice, but allowed that "birth has an influence over it, like alcoholism and some other things." The comments came at the end of the debate, when Gregory asked Buck to expand on some recent comments he'd made about "lifestyle choices" when expressing his support for the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy. Buck said he believed being gay is a choice, and Gregory asked him: "based on what?" "Based on what?" Buck said. "I guess you could choose who your partner is." "I think that birth has an influence over it, like alcoholism and some other things," Buck continued. "But I think that, basically, you have a choice."

Buck currently leads incumbent Sen. Michael Bennet by four to seven points in the polls.

UPDATE: The Human Rights Campaign responds via press release.

"Mr. Buck’s ill-informed views are not only factually inaccurate, but they are extremely dangerous,” said HRC President Joe Solmonese. “In the past six weeks a number of teenagers have taken their own lives after being the victims of anti-gay bullying and harassment. When public figures like Mr. Buck make statements like he did today, kids struggling with their identities question their self-worth and other kids justify bullying. Ken Buck must correct his remarks now." "This is yet another in a long line of examples showing that Ken Buck is out of touch with the majority of Coloradans,” said One Colorado Executive Director Brad Clark. “Instead of focusing on common values of respect for all people, Buck is spewing divisive, extreme rhetoric. His claim that homosexuality is a choice is yet another example of his extreme views falling out of step with everyday Coloradans."

Where The Dems May Lose House Seats

FiveThirtyEight's Nate Silver today takes aim at some of the polls crying doom and gloom for House Democrats previously thought to be safe, cautioning that the volume of losses may not be as bad as some fear.

Many of the polls are either partisan-affiliated, or were “robopolls” that used automated scripts rather than live interviewers, or both. Polls with an explicit partisan affiliation are on average about 6 points friendlier to their candidate than those conducted by independent groups. Robopolls have not shown any persistent bias in the past — but this year, they have been 2 to 4 points more favorable to Republicans than traditional surveys, and the differences have tended to be larger in polls of House races as opposed to conducted in Senate or gubernatorial campaigns. So this is a group of polls that you’d expect to be pretty Republican-friendly.

Silver's own calculations, some of which are shown in the chart above, predict that the GOP will gain 45-70 House seats. But by pretty much everybody's numbers, the Democrats will lose their majority.

Eric Holder: The Feds Will Still Prosecute Pot Crimes In CA If Prop 19 Passes

Attorney General Eric Holder says that even if California voters legalize marijuana via Proposition 19, the federal government will continue to prosecute pot cases there.

On Friday, US Attorney General Eric Holder announced that the Obama administration would “vigorously enforce” federal drug laws against people who sell, distribute or grow marijuana for recreational use. Holder sent a letter to nine former chiefs of the US Drug Enforcement Administration, saying in part: "Let me state clearly that the Department of Justice strongly opposes Proposition 19. If passed, this legislation will greatly complicate federal drug enforcement efforts to the detriment of our citizens." Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca hosted a news conference Friday morning to draw attention to the letter. Prop. 19 would allow Californians 21 and older to grow up to 25 square feet of cannabis plants, and to possess up to an ounce of marijuana. It would also empower cities and counties to regulate marijuana cultivation and sales. Several municipalities are poised to do so if the law passes, with initiatives concerning taxation and regulation on the same ballot as Prop. 19.

The Tenthers are surely salivating at the prospect of this potential clash between state and federal laws. However many have pointed out that the feds simply don't have the manpower to launch any significant campaign against home-grown pot in California.

The World's Most Expensive House

Mukesh Ambani, the fourth-wealthiest person in the world, has built himself the first-ever billion-dollar home in Mumbai.

The lavish building– named Antilia, after the mythical island– has 27 stories, is 173 meters high and has 37,000 square meters of floor space — more than the Palace of Versailles. It contains a health club with a gym and dance studio, at least one swimming pool, a ballroom, guestrooms, a variety of lounges and a 50-seat cinema. There are three helicopter pads on the roof and a car park for 160 vehicles on the ground floors. It's obviously quite a job keeping all this running smoothly, so the house, if you can call it that, also boasts a staff of 600. And all this for just Ambani, his wife and their three children to enjoy.

Spectacularly ugly.

Would-Be Koran Burner Gets Free Car

Florida Pastor Terry "Burn The Koran" Jones is getting a free car from a New Jersey dealership that is making good on their promise to give him one if he didn't follow through on his plan.

Car dealer Brad Benson made the pitch to Florida pastor Terry Jones in one of his quirky radio ads: If you don’t burn a Koran, I’ll give you a new car. He was surprised, though, when a representative for Jones called to collect the 2011 Hyundai Accent, retailing for $14,200. "They said unless I was doing false advertising, they would like to arrange to pick up the car,” Benson recalled. At first he thought it was a hoax, so Benson asked Jones to send in a copy of his driver’s license. He did. Jones, of Gainesville, Fla., told The Associated Press that the free car wasn’t the reason he called off the burning — and that he didn’t even hear about the offer until a few weeks after Sept. 11, when he had threatened to set the Muslim holy book on fire.

At least it's their cheapest car.

This Week In Holy Crimes

Over the last seven days...

Washington: Pastor Greg Scott Glover arrested for stealing oxycontin from the home of an elderly parishioner. She busted him with a hidden camera.
Ireland: Father Brendan Wrixon charged with sexual assault of a teenage boy.
Ontario: Reverend Paul Hartig charged with felony theft for stealing from his own church.
California: Pastor Dino Cardelli arrested for molesting a 13 year-old girl. Cardelli was already charged with molesting another child.
Ontario: Father William Marshall to be tried for molesting more than 15 boys. Marshall is 88.
Florida: Pastor Michael Campbell charged with molesting an underage girl in his church's hearse.
North Carolina: Pastor Robert Lee McQueen sentenced to 14 years in prison for dealing heroin.
Michigan: Pastor Stephen Sparks charged with embezzling over $1M from church and family members.
New Mexico: Pastor Matthew Nichols pleads guilty to distributing child porn. Nichols was his church's youth minister and was previously convicted of criminal solicitation of a minor.
Ontario: Father Dale Crampton commits suicide following $2M lawsuit by molestation victim. Crampton was convicted of molesting seven altar boys during the 1980s.

This Week's Winner
Indiana: Pastor Vaughn Reeves is on trial for orchestrating a multimillion dollar Ponzi scheme built around investments supposedly meant for church construction. Reeves and his three sons are accused of bilking more than 11,000 people by luring them into buying $120M worth of property bonds. Allegedly the four paid off early investors with the money of others while stealing millions for themselves to purchase mansions, luxury vehicles, and a plane. The pastor and his sons face over 40 felony counts of securities fraud.

Barbara Billingsley Dies At Age 94

Barbara Billingsley, perhaps the most famous mother in the history of television, passed away at her California home today at the age of 94.

From 1957 to 1963 and in decades of reruns, the glamorous June, who wore pearls and high heels at home, could be counted on to help her husband, Ward (Hugh Beaumont), get their son Theodore, better known as Beaver (Jerry Mathers), and his older brother, Wally (Tony Dow), extricated from innumerable minor jams, from an alligator in the basement to a horse in the garage. While baking a steady supply of cookies, she would use motherly intuition to sound the alarm about incipient trouble (“Ward, I’m worried about the Beaver”) in their immaculate, airy house in the fictional town of Mayfield. (The house appeared to have no master bedroom, just a big door from which Ward and June occasionally emerged, tying their bathrobes.)

Along with the mothers played by Harriet Nelson (“The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet”), Donna Reed (“The Donna Reed Show”) and others, Ms. Billingsley’s role became a cultural standard, one that may have been too good to be true but engendered fan mail and nostalgia for decades afterward, from the same generation whose counterculture derided the see-no-evil suburbia June’s character represented. The real Barbara Billingsley, who had nothing but respect for June Cleaver, was a former model and career actress who was married three times and spent part of her career as a working single mother (of two boys, at that).

I used to watch Leave It To Beaver and wonder what the hell had gone wrong with my family, not realizing that nobody's family was like that.

Afternoon View - Lincoln Center

Chris Salvatore - It Gets Better

This could totally be a chart hit single. SRSLY.

SAN DIEGO: Court Upholds Settlement For Firemen "Forced" Into Gay Pride Parade

An appeals court has upheld a settlement ordered to be paid to four San Diego firemen who sued the city because they'd been told they must ride in the 2007 gay pride parade. The delicate snowflakes claimed sexual harassment because some parade attendees allegedly made obscene comments as they passed and because they witnessed men in Speedos making out. The anti-gay Alliance Defense Fund represented the firemen.

The 2009 jury found the firefighters were sexually harassed by some parade participants and spectators and awarded them a total of $34,300 plus more than a half-million dollars in legal fees. The firefighters, John Ghiotto, Chad Allison, Jason Hewitt and Alexander Kane, had always maintained money was not the issue and that they had sued because they felt it was wrong to have been forced by their superiors to take part in the parade. By 2008 the fire department had changed its policy saying parades should be staffed only by volunteers. “I’m happy with the ruling,” Ghiotto said Friday. “The amount of money the city has spent on this is amazing — I’ll bet it’s in the millions by now. This whole thing could have been solved in a day. They knew two or three days before that we didn’t want to be in that parade.” Ghiotto said all four firefighters are still with the department.

According to the court: "The record contains substantial evidence to support a finding that the sexual harassment experienced by the Firefighters during the Pride Parade was severe and pervasive, thus altering the conditions of employment and creating a hostile or abusive work environment." The city says it may further appeal the case to a higher court.

Thomas Roberts Interviews Openly Gay Fort Worth City Councilman Joel Burns

A Modern U.S. President

(Tipped by JoeFromSFO)

Daily Grumble

Why do this weekend's NYC Bacon-Palooza and NYC Pickle Day have to be so far apart? They're both downtown, but logic demands they be on the same block. Bother.