March 2012
136 posts
Secret's out: Mitt Romney has donated to NOM →
advocate.com
These are not good times for anyone affiliated with the National Organization for Marriage, and not surprisingly, that includes Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney.
Documents circulated by the Human Rights Campaign show that Romney donated $10,000 to NOM a few years ago, a contribution that may well have made a huge impact when NOM was fighting for Prop 8. A while back Romney also signed a pledge from NOM promising to fight marriage equality in this country.
More info on the current NOM controversy:
As a donor and presumably a member of NOM, since a portion of all donations automatically goes toward membership dues, it’s possible that the Romney campaign saw the “confidential” memo in which NOM outlines its strategy to “drive a wedge between gays and blacks — two key Democratic constituencies.”
HRC and others are calling on Romney to denounce NOM. But as a 2012 candidate he’s signed a pledge from the group that commits him to its ideals, including a ban on marriage equality via an amendment to the U.S. Constitution, an effort to repeal marriage equality in Washington, D.C., and the formation of a presidential commission to investigate NOM’s opponents.Crazy stuff. I will never stop saying it: do your research before going to vote in November.
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“She was a courageous poet. She was courageous in that she wrote against the current before it was fashionable to do so, to speak up as a woman and as a lesbian. She was a real pioneer.”
—David Swanger, Santa Cruz County’s poet laureate, on Adrienne Rich
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“We’re not seeing any impact.”
—Zack Hutson, a Starbucks spokesma, on the effect of NOM’s Dump Starbucks campaign over their support of gay marriage, according to a post in The Stranger.
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Theater chains take sides over "Bully" movie
AMC is essentially treating “Bully” as an R-rated film, but with one key difference: Under-17 moviegoers need a written note, though it will also accept verbal permission (mom on the other end of a teen’s cell phone, for example). Exhib also will provide permission slips on its web site and at the box office.
AMC theaters are the second-largest theater chain in the United States.
“Bully” will released without a rating, leaving theaters to decide how to treat the film. Typically, unrated films are treated similarly to NC-17 movies with nobody under 17 allowed.
Cinemark is choosing a different option: They are refusing to screen the film unless it is released with an R rating.
Regal, the largest US movie chain, has not announced its plans.
“It seems to me, that after the gay marriage vote, the Democratic Party has been losing steam and suffering humiliating defeats.”
—Sen. Ruben Diaz, a Democrat, on what he sees as the disastrous effects of gay marriage in New York, according to a statement he posted on his site Friday.
“The total experience was horrendous. They told us that they did not like us, that they did not like gay people.”
—Dennis Jay Mayer, 53, a retired sheriff, on being arrested for indecent exposure and buggery while on a cruise that stopped in the port of Dominica, in the Caribbean, according to the Associated Press.
Madonna's pledge to speak for LGBT rights in Russia sparks backlash, may lead to fine
“I will come to St. Petersburg to speak up for the gay community, to support the gay community and to give strength and inspiration to anyone who is or feels oppressed,” she wrote on her Facebook page this week. “I don’t run away from adversity. I will speak during my show about this ridiculous atrocity.”
The law, which took effect earlier this month, prohibits “the propaganda of homosexuality.” LGBT activists say the law essentially outlaws speaking, reading or writing about gay issues.
By speaking out at her concert, Madonna could earn herself a hefty fine — of up to $17,000.
Russian LGBT activists are responding to Madonna’s pledge differently.
“The law will stay in force, Madonna will leave and the Russian LGBT-community will be humiliated even more,” Nikolai Aleksev, leader of Gay Russia said on his blog according to ABC News. (His blog is in Russian, so I’m trusting their translation.)
Other activists are more positive about the visit.
“We consider that Madonna’s visit and her address to millions of her Russian fans with words in support of freedom of expression for everyone will bring more good than a boycott would,” said Igor Kochetkov, chairman of the Russian LGBT Network, ABC reported.
X-Men's Northstar may be getting married →
examiner.com
If this works out, I’d love to see it fly off shelves just like Kevin Keller’s marriage issue did. Maybe another Million Mom temper tantrum?
Months after Archie Comics made the brilliant decision to have character Kevin Keller marry his boyfriend, Marvel may see its first same-sex marriage as well.
A “source inside Marvel” has revealed that the X-Men character Northstar may soon marry his boyfriend Kyle. Marvel also sent out a cryptic “Save the Date” message promising something exciting in X-Men #51, set to come out in June.
This. Is. So. Cool.
“I want to see the president evolve because I believe that is right; marriage equality is morally right … I’d be glad to see it included in the Democratic platform. It helps raise awareness of the impact of DOMA and it helps build support to repeal it.”
—Elizabeth Warren, who is running for U.S. Senate in Massachusetts, in an interview with the Washington Blade. Obama has spent the past year and a half “evolving” on the issue of same-sex marriage, although where he has evolved to is unclear. He recently spoke against Amendment 1 in North Carolina, which would ban gay marriage.
“I wasn’t biased. I didn’t act out of hate and I wasn’t uncomfortable with Tyler being gay. … I’m never going to regret not taking the plea. If I took the plea, I would have had to testify that I did what I did to intimidate Tyler and that would be a lie. I won’t ever get up there and tell the world I hated Tyler because he was gay, or tell the world I was trying to hurt or intimidate him because it’s not true.”
—Dharum Ravi, in an interview with the Star-Ledger after being convicted of more than a dozen hate crime counts in the case of webcam spying on his gay roommate.
OP-ED: As much as I love lattes and gay marriage, supporting Starbucks still stings
Raised in Seattle, my teen years swirled around the rise in popularity of espresso, and my first several jobs as a barista cemented my lifelong addiction to double tall lattes.
Also, from a very young age, I was a Seattle SuperSonics fan. I still sport the jerseys and T-shirts from time to time. As a kid, one of my first crushes was Jack Sikma (remember him?) and I loved watching Downtown Freddie Brown sink threes. I don’t recall whether I watched the 1979 season that brought home the championship to Seattle, but I celebrated that victory for years to come. The Sonics were the only major professional team in Seattle to win a championship.
And Schultz sold the team a few years ago, leaving me lost in the NBA. (I still don’t know who to root for, and my fantasy team this year is named the SuperSonics.)
But Schultz is also an ardent supporter of LGBT rights. And he’s not afraid to stand up to the National Organization for Marriage.
The company’s support for same-sex marriage “was not something that was a difficult decision for us,” Schultz said.
In a video posted on NOM’s website, shareholders who are members of the anti-gay group press Schultz on his support.
But Schultz stands up to them with ease. And based on shareholders’ applause, most seem to stand with him.
Schultz makes it clear he wants Starbucks to “be the kind of company that embraces diversity.”
As a result of the statement, NOM is urging a “Dump Starbucks” boycott.
“Starbucks has declared a culture war on all people of faith (and millions of others) who believe that the institution of marriage as one man and one woman is worth preserving,” NOM states.
So, I’m torn. I certainly love a good latte. And I am grateful for Schultz’s and Starbucks’ longtime support for LGBT rights.
But supporting the guy who took away my beloved Sonics still stings.
I’ll keep mulling it while I sip on this double tall latte.
“I will come to St. Petersburg to speak up for the gay community and to give strength and inspiration to anyone who is or feels oppressed. I’m a freedom fighter.”
—Madonna, vowing to speak up against a law that bans gay “propaganda,” in an email to Businessweek
Kirk Cameron shows his homophobia again
But after calling gays “unnatural” and “detrimental and ultimately destructive to so many of the foundations of civilization,” it’s very hard to believe that Kirk Cameron is not a homophobe, even though he insists he is not.
Ironically, the interviewer from the Daily Beast, is gay.
So what did Cameron say in to back up his assertion that he is in fact not a homophone?
Well, he reiterated that gays are sinners, but straights are not. (Strike one)
Would you say that being straight is a sin?
No. I don’t think being straight is a sin.
And yet you said being gay is a sin?
That’s how he asked the question.
He then reiterated that what he said on Piers Morgan show was how he truly felt.
“What I said to Piers Morgan about gay marriage—that’s my conviction,” Cameron said. (Strike two)
The interviewer asked Cameron if he could ever change his opinion on gay marriage, at which point his publicist interrupted and said that was enough on the issue.
“I think we’ve gone enough into it. The gay marriage, I just want to stay away from it. It’s just so polarizing.” the publicist said.
Cameron said his publicist knew juijitsu, which struck me as a bit threatening to the interviewer. (Strike three)
Which leads me to my conclusion. Kirk Cameron is, in fact, a homophobe, even if he is unclear on the meaning of the word.
