Pat Robertson denounces hate-crimes bill, falsely claims it doesn't cover religious bias

By David Neiwert, Crooks and Liars

On October 28, 2009, a genuinely historic moment passed with scarcely a blip of attention from the media: President Obama signed into law the nation's first genuine federal bias-crimes statute.

Everyone interested in advancing civil rights in America and defending the nation's minorities from the deprivation of their rights by terroristic thugs -- particularly their historic victims, from African Americans and Asian Americans to Latinos, to Jews and other religious minorities, to gays and lesbians and transgender folk -- have real cause to celebrate. Brian Levin has a nice collection of their thoughts at HuffPo.

Then, of course, there's the Religious Right, which is holding its collective breath and pouting over the event. Case in point: Pat Robertson at The 700 Club, ripping into the new law both yesterday and today on his show.

His basis for opposing the law, however, is completely detached from reality. For instance, Robertson argues:

Robertson: You know, there’s a law – what about a law that says it’s a federal crime to attack somebody because of his religious beliefs? Not a chance!

Robertson seems completely unaware that in fact religious bias is one of the categories of bias crime covered by hate-crime laws -- and it has been from the very start, since these laws were first enacted on the state level in the early 1980s!

Hint to Pat: Religion was covered as a bias category from the start because Jews have long been some of the most common victims of bias crimes. For instance, in the FBI's hate-crime statistics for 2007, some 1,400 of the nation's 7,600 or so reported bias crimes were of the "anti-religion" category; of those, some 118 were varieties of anti-Christian bias.

Indeed, he needs only read the text of the the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act to see that religion is one of the categories of bias it covers:

“(1) OFFENSES INVOLVING ACTUAL OR PERCEIVED RACE, COLOR, RELIGION, OR NATIONAL ORIGIN.—Whoever, whether or not acting under color of law, willfully causes bodily injury to any person or, through the use of fire, a firearm, a dangerous weapon, or an explosive or incendiary device, attempts to cause bodily injury to any person, because of the actual or perceived race, color, religion, or national origin of any person—

“(2) OFFENSES INVOLVING ACTUAL OR PERCEIVED RELIGION, NATIONAL ORIGIN, GENDER, SEXUAL ORIENTATION, GENDER IDENTITY, OR DISABILITY.—

“(A) IN GENERAL.—Whoever, whether or not acting under color of law, in any circumstance described in subparagraph (B) or paragraph (3), willfully causes bodily injury to any person or, through the use of fire, a firearm, a dangerous weapon, or an explosive or incendiary device, attempts to cause bodily injury to any person, because of the actual or perceived religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or disability of any person—

, claiming that the law will attack people's free-speech rights. This is, of course, a completely bogus claim, since the bill has very specific free-speech language built into it.

Finally, as Media Matters points out, religious discrimination has long garnered special federal attention in the federal criminal code.

The mewling and fearmongering from the religious right should actually tell progressives they're on the right track here.

Rainbow High

By Brandon Voss, The Advocate

Busy Broadway heartthrob, gay rights activist, and former Advocate coverboy Cheyenne Jackson chats about his Finian’s Rainbow revival, his politically charged cabaret CD, and laying around in his underpants (pic below).

The Elvis-like lead in Broadway’s All Shook Up who memorably portrayed gay rugger Mark Bingham in the Oscar-nominated film United 93, Cheyenne Jackson was rocking roller skates and short-shorts in the surprise Broadway hit Xanadu when I interviewed him for The Advocate’s April 2008 cover story. That November, Out magazine named him “Entertainer of the Year,” but 2009 has shaped up to be even more successful for the openly gay actor and activist.

Reprising the role he played in the City Center Encores! production earlier this year, Jackson currently stars as cocky sharecropper Woody Mahoney in the Broadway revival of the 1947 classic Finian’s Rainbow at the St. James Theatre. The Power of Two, a studio recording of his critically acclaimed cabaret show with out Grammy-nominee Michael Feinstein at Manhattan’s famed Feinstein’s at Loews Regency this past summer, is available November 3.

Though tight-lipped on his upcoming recurring role on NBC’s 30 Rock, the towering 34-year-old talent did open up to Advocate.com about his foot fetishist following, his inharmonious Glee experience, and his lost beefcake photo shoot with Bruce Weber.

Advocate.com: What kind of response did you get to your Advocate cover story?
Cheyenne Jackson: It was definitely a biggie and I know it meant a lot to people. I expected it to make a splash, but I didn’t expect it to open up such a great dialogue. I got so much mail and feedback about it, and probably every other day I’ll see a copy at the stage door. I was very happy with how it came out.

One particular part of that interview got a lot of attention on the blogs, didn’t it?
The Popeye story? Yeah, I got a lot of shit about that, but that’s the way the cookie crumbles. I think my mom would’ve preferred that I left that part out, and a few people were like, “Ew, that’s T.M.I.” But you know what? That’s how I roll. It made me very popular in the foot fetish world, which I didn’t even really know was a thing.

Your publicists at the time tried to steer me away from focusing too much on your sexuality, so they obviously had some issues with the article. Are you still with the same representation?
No, I’m actually not.


We talked about the possibility of you earning a Tony nomination for Xanadu, but that didn’t end up happening. I hope you’re not mad at me for jinxing it.
Oh, please. I fully believe that when it does happen, it’s supposed to happen. Onward and upward.

You and I also spoke at length about your fairly conservative family, so I was surprised to read that you recently took your parents on one of Rosie’s R Family Cruises. How’d that go?
I’ve been asked every year to do the cruise, but I’ve never been able to make it work because of scheduling. When they asked me this year, I was free, and I thought it would be fun to take my mom. She’s grown and expanded her horizons enough, so I thought she could bring one of her forward-thinking friends. When I asked her, she said, “Well, what if I brought dad?” I was like, “Yeah, if you think he would go.” And they were both into it. I thought, This could be really great or a total disaster, but either way it’ll be a nice time to spend some forced family quality time. But they were great. I got a lot of attention because I was performing, so my mom liked that wherever she went people would say, “Oh, you’re Cheyenne’s mom!” But they’ve never really been around anybody gay besides me, [my boyfriend] Monte, and a few other people here and there, so to be trapped on that boat was really good for them. My dad actually had a lot in common with the really butch lesbians onboard. We went on a whale-watching excursion in Alaska and my dad got into a deep philosophical conversation with a big lesbian about fishing and other stuff that I couldn’t relate to. So the cruise showed them a little more of my world and brought us closer together.

At the time of our first interview you said that you felt a certain amount of pressure from the “militant gays” to be even more out and more vocal. Considering how much the marriage equality debate has heated up in the past year, have you felt that pressure increase?
No, I’ve actually gotten more support than ever before, which in turn makes me feel like I want to do more. I think the gay community appreciates the people who are out and making a difference just by being who they are.

But since we last spoke you’ve become more actively involved with many LGBT causes like amFAR, the Hetrick-Martin Institute, and Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. Have you been inspired by the Obama era of change?
Definitely. It would be a sad story if you weren’t. Especially in the gay community, how could you not see the growth? On a day-to-day basis, it’s annoying, frustrating, and scary, but when you look at the big picture of where we’ve come from and where we’re going, it’s very encouraging. I’ve always given back and done charity work, but even more so in the last couple years for sure.


More high-profile Broadway stars like Gavin Creel and Jonathan Groff have officially come out in recent months. Creel told Advocate.com that he’d been inspired by you. Are you aware that you’ve become a role model for young gays on Broadway?
I definitely feel that when I see everybody at events and stuff. Gavin in particular has been a friend for a long time -- my first show after I moved to New York was with him -- so I was very proud of him. It was a big step and I’m happy that he credits me as an inspiration, but the challenge I gave to him was, “OK, you’ve come out, but now you have to do something about it.” And he is. He’s working hard, giving back, and setting an example for the other young people coming up, which is the best thing you can do. But I still feel like everybody has their own journey and path. Yes, it’s great when a David Hyde Pierce or a Cynthia Nixon publicly comes out and puts a face to the cause, but no one should be forced to come out for the sake of politics and moving forward.

What was the impetus for The Power of Two at Feinstein’s at Loews Regency?
Michael and I met about a year ago when we were both booked on the CBS television special for the Christmas tree lighting ceremony in Bryant Park. It was a really cold evening and we met in a warming tent backstage. We bonded rather quickly because we had a lot in common, which I found surprising just because we’re both from such different worlds. We were both fans of each other, so we decided to do a show together. We each brought songs to the table because part of the deal was to bridge the gap not only between our generations but also between our styles of music and the art that we create. I brought some stuff I thought would rock his world and he did the same. One of the songs I brought was “The Power of Two” by the Indigo Girls, who I was pretty sure he didn’t have in his iPod. It’s very outside of what he does, but he loved it and loved the challenge. After that, the show organically fell into place.

Well, it doesn’t get much gayer than the Indigo Girls, but how did you and Michael both being openly gay inform the show otherwise?
I didn’t expect the show to be as political as it was, but it just naturally ended up being that way. One of the songs Michael wanted to do was “We Kiss in a Shadow” [from The King and I]. Everyone knows that Michael is the keeper of the Great American Songbook, and I’ve never met anyone who’s more of a savant when it comes to these songs and keeping the purity of exactly what the writer initially intended. Apparently, that song was written with gay undertones and became a gay anthem even in its day, a time when it couldn’t be talked about. So we decided to do that song but without commenting on it or singing it to each other like we were in love; we just stood on opposite sides of the stage and sang it. But that song ended up being the emotional epiphany in the show for a lot of people and the thing everyone talked about in the reviews.



Two gay men singing traditional love songs could’ve come off as very cutesy and wink-wink. How did you avoid that?
It just really wasn’t an option. We wanted to show these songs in their most raw, purest form. I’ve done a lot of cutesy, wink-wink stuff and I’m kind of over it right now.

Feinstein’s at Loews Regency caters to a wealthy, older clientele that’s probably not the most progressive crowd in town. How did the gay subtext go over?
I’m sure there were some people who were scandalized. I knew the gay guys who saw me in Xanadu were going to come to see me at Feinstein’s, but Michael’s fan base is a lot of straight, rich, Upper East Siders. I know for a fact that some of those people didn’t come because of the thematic elements, but a lot of people who had never seen Michael ended up seeing him because of it. There were times during the show I’d overhear an older couple who couldn’t hear say, “Now, who’s this guy with Michael?” “I don’t know. I think he played Elvis.” So it was definitely a chance for both of us to expand our fan bases. But Feinstein’s is really expensive. Another reason I wanted to do the CD was because hardly any of my friends could afford to come see the show.


Michael has been known to change the gender in lyrics of female-sung standards -- “The Man I Love,” for example, became “The Girl I Love” -- so it’s refreshing to hear him sing about his “taste in men” in the song “Old Friend” on the album.
Michael grappled with that lyric in particular. He’s always sung it as “my taste in friends,” but when we were recording it in the studio, I said, “Try one where you say ‘my taste in men.’” When he listened to it back, he decided that it was the right decision to sing the lyric with “men.” He’s awesome and has nothing to hide.

You’re starring in the Broadway revival of Finian’s Rainbow, a very old-fashioned 1947 musical that deals with racism. Besides the fact that the new poster looks like a gay pride flag, does this production reflect the civil rights struggles of today?
There weren’t a lot of changes that needed to be made. It’s actually incredibly current, and it’s crazy how much stuff in the show we’re still dealing with. One of the reason people have shied away from the show for so many years is the fact that a racist Southern white senator gets turned black by a leprechaun. They used to use black face or masks, but somebody had the great idea to use two different actors, which is what we do.

30 Rock writer and executive producer Robert Carlock has confirmed that you’ll appear on the series this season as the guy Liz Lemon hires as a new TGS cast member to appeal to a more mainstream audience. What else can you tell me about the role? Is he a love interest for Jenna? Does he turn out to be gay? Will you sing? How many episodes have you shot so far?
You know I would tell you everything and shout it from the rooftops if I could, but I can’t divulge too much. They really thrive on the element of surprise over there. I can tell you that I’ve already been filming and the part will pop up throughout the year. 30 Rock is really like the holy grail of comedy -- the subversive, urbane humor that I respond to. That’s why I was so excited when I got a call that Tina Fey and Robert wanted to talk to me about a part on the show. I feel like I’m at the cool kids table.



You were also scheduled to appear on an episode of Glee in September. What happened?
Ryan Murphy wrote the part of the choreographer the glee club hires with me in mind. When I got off the plane, they took me right to the set for some costume fittings, but I felt totally miserable. They took me back to the hotel and the doctor came and said I had a fever of 103. I’m kind of a tank and I don’t normally get sick, but it turns out I had the flu, so I stayed in California for two days watching $14 movies in my hotel room. I didn’t even see that episode because it was too painful for me, but they went a totally different way and hired a funny character-looking guy for the part. It was pretty heartbreaking because I love the show, but hopefully I’ll be on it at some point in a different part.

None of your photo shoots in recent years have quite compared to the revealing pictures from your 2007 reFRESH magazine spread. When are you going to treat fans to more beefcake pics? You’re not going to have that body forever, you know.
That’s true. I actually did a shoot less than a year ago for Vanity Fair with Bruce Weber, and you know his stuff is always sexy and shows some skin. They had shot a bunch of theater people like Liev Schreiber and Stockard Channing, but my section was cut. Then they were going to run them in German Vanity Fair, but that went out of business. So I never even got to see those photos. They’re still floating around somewhere. I’d do another beefcake shoot, but I’m 34, so at this point there’d have to be a really good reason for me to just lie around on a bed in my underpants.

Obama lifts ban on US entry for those with HIV

PDT WASHINGTON (AP) --

President Barack Obama is lifting the United States' travel ban for those who are HIV-positive.

Obama said Friday that the order will be finalized on Monday, completing a process begun during the Bush administration. The U.S. has been one of only about a dozen countries that bar entry to travelers based on their HIV status. The ban has been in place for over 20 years.

The announcement came during Obama's signing of an extension of the Ryan White HIV/AIDS bill.

At a small ceremony at the White House, Obama signed legislation that authorizes the program created in 1990 to continue. The government's Ryan White program provides medical care, medication and support services to about a half a million people, most low-income.

Read full script, Video will be posted as soon as it is available

TRANSCRIPT:

We often speak about AIDS as if it's going on somewhere else. And for good reason — this is a virus that has touched lives and decimated communities around the world, particularly in Africa. But often overlooked is the fact that we face a serious HIV/AIDS epidemic of our own — right here in Washington, D.C., and right here in the United States of America. And today, we are taking two important steps forward in the fight that we face here at home.

It has been nearly three decades since this virus first became known. But for years, we refused to recognize it for what it was. It was coined a "gay disease." Those who had it were viewed with suspicion. There was a sense among some that people afflicted by AIDS somehow deserved their fate and that it was acceptable for our nation to look the other way.

A number of events and advances over the years have broadened our understanding of this cruel illness. One of them came in 1984, when a 13-year-old boy from central Indiana contracted HIV/AIDS from a transfusion. Doctors assured people that Ryan White posed no risk to his classmates or his community. But ignorance was still widespread. People didn't yet understand or believe that the virus couldn't be spread by casual contact. Parents protested Ryan's attendance in class. Some even pulled their kids out of school. Things got so bad that the White family had to ultimately move to another town.

It would have been easy for Ryan and his family to stay quiet and to fight the illness in private. But what Ryan showed was the same courage and strength that so many HIV-positive activists have shown over the years and shown around — show around the world today. And because he did, we didn't just become more informed about HIV/AIDS, we began to take action to fight it.

In 1990, the year Ryan passed away, two great friends and unlikely political allies, Ted Kennedy and Orrin Hatch, came together and introduced the Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency Act — the CARE Act — which was later named after Ryan.

In a few minutes, I'm going to sign the fourth reauthorization of the Ryan White CARE Act. Now, in the past, policy differences have made reauthorizations of this program divisive and controversial. But that didn't happen this year. And for that, the members of Congress that are here today deserve extraordinary credit for passing this bill in the bipartisan manner that it deserves: Tom Harkin and Mike Enzi in the Senate, we are grateful to you for your extraordinary work; Speaker Pelosi, who's always leading the charge on so many issues; Frank Pallone, Jr., Joe Barton, Barbara Lee and Donna Christensen in the House, thank you for your extraordinary work — oh don't worry, I'm getting to Henry. (Laughter.) Nancy is always looking out for members, but we've got a special section for Henry.

And Chairman Henry Waxman, who began holding hearings on AIDS in 1982, before there was even a name for AIDS, was leading here in Washington to make sure that this got the informed attention that it deserved and who led the House in passing the original Ryan White legislation in 1990.

I also want to acknowledge the HIV community for crafting a consensus document that did so much to help move this process forward. Some of the advocates so important to this legislation are with us here today: Ernest Hopkins from Cities Advocating for Emergency AIDS Relief; Frank Oldham, Jr., President and CEO of the National Association of People with AIDS; and Julie Scofield, Executive Director of the National Alliance of State and Territorial AIDS Directors.

And I'm especially honored that Ryan's mother, Jeanne White-Ginder, is here today. For 25 years, Jeanne had an immeasurable impact in helping ramp up America's response to this epidemic. While we lost Ryan at too young an age, Jeanne's efforts have extended the lives and saved the lives of so many others. We are so appreciative to you. Thank you. (Applause.)

You know, over the past 19 years this legislation has evolved from an emergency response into a comprehensive national program for the care and support of Americans living with HIV/AIDS. It helps communities that are most severely affected by this epidemic and often least served by our health care system, including minority communities, the LGBT community, rural communities, and the homeless. It's often the only option for the uninsured and the underinsured. And it provides life-saving medical services to more than half a million Americans every year, in every corner of the country.

It's helped us to open a critical front on the ongoing battle against HIV/AIDS. But let me be clear: This is a battle that's far from over, and it's a battle that all of us need to do our part to join. AIDS may no longer be the leading killer of Americans ages 25 to 44, as it once was. But there are still 1.1 million people living with HIV/AIDS in the United States, and more than 56,000 new infections occur every single year.

Some communities still experience unacceptably high rates of infection. Gay men make up 2 or 3 percent of the population, but more than half of all new cases. African Americans make up roughly half of all new cases. Nearly half of all new cases now occur in the South. And a staggering 7 percent of Washington, D.C.'s residents between the ages of 40 and 49 live with HIV/AIDS — and the epidemic here isn't as severe as it is in several other U.S. cities.

So tackling this epidemic will take far more aggressive approaches than we've seen in the past — not only from our federal government, but also state and local governments, from local community organizations, and from places of worship.

But it will also take an effort to end the stigma that has stopped people from getting tested; that has stopped people from facing their own illness; and that has sped the spread of this disease for far too long. A couple of years ago Michelle and I were in Africa and we tried to combat the stigma when we were in Kenya by taking a public HIV/AIDS test. And I'm proud to announce today we're about to take another step towards ending that stigma.

Twenty-two years ago, in a decision rooted in fear rather than fact, the United States instituted a travel ban on entry into the country for people living with HIV/AIDS. Now, we talk about reducing the stigma of this disease — yet we've treated a visitor living with it as a threat. We lead the world when it comes to helping stem the AIDS pandemic — yet we are one of only a dozen countries that still bar people from HIV from entering our own country.

If we want to be the global leader in combating HIV/AIDS, we need to act like it. And that's why, on Monday my administration will publish a final rule that eliminates the travel ban effective just after the New Year. Congress and President Bush began this process last year, and they ought to be commended for it. We are finishing the job. It's a step that will encourage people to get tested and get treatment, it's a step that will keep families together, and it's a step that will save lives. (Applause.)

We are continuing the work of crafting a coordinated, measurable national HIV/AIDS strategy to stem and suppress this epidemic. I'm pleased to report that the Office of National AIDS Policy, led by Jeffrey Crowley, has already held eight in a series of 14 community discussions in cities across the country. They've brought together faith-based organizations and businesses, schools and research institutions, people living with HIV and concerned citizens, gathering ideas on how to target a national response that effectively reduces HIV infections, improves access to treatment, and eliminates health disparities. And we are encouraged by the energy, the enthusiasm, and great ideas that we've collected so far.

We can't give Ryan White back to Jeanne, back to his mom. But what we can do — what the legislation that I'm about to sign has done for nearly 20 years — is honor the courage that he and his family showed. What we can do is to take more action and educate more people. What we can do is keep fighting each and every day until we eliminate this disease from the face of the Earth.

So with that, let me sign this bill.

President Obama Commemorates Enactment of Hate Crimes Prevention Act

The President speaks about the importance of signing the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act that toughens penalties and expand protections against crimes designed to intimidate as well as harm. October 28, 2009. (Public Domain)

Jack Price Has Not Watched His Own Taped Gay Bashing

Queerty

Glad to see you're up and about, Jack Price. After a brutal gay bashing three weeks ago, the Queens man is finally ready to talk about that horrific caught-on-tape night at the (alleged) hands of Daniel Rodriguez and Daniel Aleman.

But rather than relive the events — he says he hasn't seen the security footage that captured the beating on tape — he's ready to move ahead with his life. Well, after he makes sure his attackers serve their maximum sentences.

How Ken Cuccinelli's Homophobia Gave the Media a Chance to Finally Identify 'Bigotry'

Queerty

Virginia's Attorney General hopeful Ken Cuccinelli, the Republican facing off against Steve Shannon, is the type of social conservative you people love! He wants to give legal rights to fetuses at conception and favors restrictions that would all but shutter many abortion clinics. Oh, and he doesn't want any of you homos pleasuring yourselves.
It's not that gay people are abhorrent, says Cuccinelli. Just their sex lives: "My view is that homosexual acts, not homosexuality, but homosexual acts are wrong. They’re intrinsically wrong. And I think in a natural law based country it’s appropriate to have policies that reflect that. … They don’t comport with natural law. I happen to think that it represents (to put it politely; I need my thesaurus to be polite) behavior that is not healthy to an individual and in aggregate is not healthy to society."

His comments, sadly, are typical. But we're sort of loving what's happened since those remarks went public: A newspaper of record has gone, uh, on the record identifying Cuccinelli's statements sans bullshit, cherry coating, and fluff as this: bigotry.

Kudos to the Washington Post, for this: "Putting aside what Mr. Cuccinelli has to say about homosexuals when he's not trying so hard to be polite, let's call his comments what they are: bigotry. Bigotry is as pernicious today, applied to homosexuals, as it was a century ago or less, when immigrants and minorities were its main victims. And it is just as familiar. Appeals to 'natural law' and 'intrinsic' rights and wrongs were the usual cliches deployed to justify the old-time religion of hatred then directed at African Americans, Jews, Italians, Irish and other immigrants."

We want more of this. More branding of such rhetoric not as "religious beliefs" or "conservative values," but as "hate speech" and "bigotry." We're no longer talking about "opposing viewpoints"; this is a matter of right and wrong.

CNN's John King Interviews Comedian Wanda Sykes

CNN's John King Interviews Comedian Wanda Sykes - 10/29/09

READ: Sigmund Freud's 75-Year-Old Rejection of Conversation Therapy

Queerty

Sigmund Freud, born in Austria in the mid-1800s, liked to have patients lie down on the couch and talk about sex. Adorable! But Freud was more than just the father of the Oedipus complex. He was also a yesteryear Dear Abby, where the forlorn would write him notes begging his advice. Like the mother who told him about her gay son, and what should she do about it?
In 1935, just four years before his death (and nearly 75 years ago), Freud wrote this letter back — striking because, even back then, the idea of "conversion therapy" (which didn't have a name yet) was believed to be bunk by the psychoanalysis founder. Makes sense, given Freud thought everyone was at least a little bit gay.

Click image for larger view:




[via, Truth Tree] April 9th 1935 PROF. DR. FREUD

*************************************************************************

Dear Mrs [Erased],

I gather from your letter that your son is a homosexual. I am most impressed by the fact that you do not mention this term yourself in your information about him. May I question you why you avoid it? Homosexuality is assuredly no advantage, but it is nothing to be ashamed of, no vice, no degradation; it cannot be classified as an illness; we consider it to be a variation of the sexual function, produced by a certain arrest of sexual development. Many highly respectable individuals of ancient and modern times have been homosexuals, several of the greatest men among them. (Plato, Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, etc). It is a great injustice to persecute homosexuality as a crime – and a cruelty, too. If you do not believe me, read the books of Havelock Ellis.

By asking me if I can help, you mean, I suppose, if I can abolish homosexuality and make normal heterosexuality take its place. The answer is, in a general way we cannot promise to achieve it. In a certain number of cases we succeed in developing the blighted germs of heterosexual tendencies, which are present in every homosexual in the majority of cases it is no more possible. It is a question of the quality and the age of the individual. The result of treatment cannot be predicted.

What analysis can do for your son runs on a different line. If he is unhappy, neurotic, torn by conflicts, inhibited in his social life, analysis may bring him harmony, peace of mind, full efficiency, whether he remains a homosexual or gets changed. If you make up your mind he should have analysis with me — I don't expect you will — he has to come over to Vienna. I have no intention of leaving here. However, don't neglect to give me your answer.

Sincerely yours with best wishes,

Freud

P.s. I did not find it difficult to read your handwriting. Hope you will not find my writing and my English a harder task.

NOM Promised to Hide Maine's Hate Donors. Too Bad!

Queerty

As if it weren't clear enough, the National Organization for Marriage must disclose its donor list, which funneled $1.6 million into Stand For Marriage Maine's bigotry effort. Tossing out NOM's own effort to keep its names hidden by suing the State of Maine, a federal judge decided yesterday: too bad, fess up. Why is NOM so aggressively trying to keep its names a secret? Perhaps because it promised donors their names would never be revealed. By giving NOM your anti-marriage money, instead of S4MM directly, you would be able to protect your name from being added to history's list of active bigots. Well, looks like that's not working out so well.

(Photo: Institute for American Values)

Anderson Cooper Is in a LTR. But He'll Never Talk About It

Queerty

It's more than Summer Love for Anderson Cooper! Spotted in June biking with NYC's Eastern Bloc bar owner Benjamin Maisani, it appears the pair are still going strong. (Reader Rick says they began dating in December 2008.) Cooper, who once dated Real World's JD Ordonez, is spending part of the month in Jaipur, India, in a $3,200-a-night Rambagh Palace suite with Maisani. (Clearly, somebody there is leaking the info; Page Six reports, "Anderson's room has a large round bathtub. On the first night it was filled with bubbles and sprinkled with red rose petals.") All of this would actually be noteworth, were Cooper's sexuality much of a secret.
It's the embarrassingly obvious elephant in the room that's become a bore. As Brian Moylan notes, Cooper just wants to be a newscaster — who navigates between reporting on gay rights and chimps — and not "the gay newscaster." But by staying in the transparent closet, he continues making his sexuality a bigger issue than it has to be.

We're not saying Cooper has to be an advocate for gay rights. But we like our newscasters up front and honest. Cute and sparkly eyes don't hurt either. Cooper, meanwhile, has furnished a reputation of … let's say, a fickle lover, flitting between romantic interests. But here he is, in a long-term relationship with a fellow attractive guy, and we want that shit PUT ON DISPLAY. Instead, we'll get more gay-guy-straight-girl on-air flirting with Erica Hill.

(Photo: Pacific Coast News)

And God Said, Let Levi Show His Johnson: Done and Done

Queerty

There will be frontal. And there will be a jock theme. Oooh! Levi Johnston's Playgirl shoot will expose all — and it'll carry an athletic theme, with a gym and boxing ring backdrop. (Sound familiar?) "Everything's gonna hang out. We're talking full johnson," says Johnston's manager Tank Jones.

Not that Johnston is in it to get famous. After all, Levi doesn't want anyone thinking he's "get[ting] naked for fame." Uh huh.

That's also why he hit up The Early Show to demonstrate his workout routine for millions of viewers. Which got Sarah Palin pissed! Via statement: "We have purposefully ignored the mean-spirited, malicious and untrue attacks on our family. We, like many, are appalled at the inflammatory statements being made or implied. Trig is our 'blessed little angel,' who knows it and is lovingly called that every day of his life. Even the thought that anyone would refer to Trig by any disparaging name is sickening and sad. CBS should be ashamed for continually providing a forum to propagate lies. Consider the source of the most recent attention-getting lies — those who would sell their body for money reflect a desperate need for attention and are likely to say and do anything for even more attention."

Fine, but throwing stones, Sarah?


Watch CBS News Videos Online

Photo Credit: NY Daily News

Catholic Church Gives Italian Priest 'Reflection' Vacation After Performing Transgender Wedding

Queerty

Forty-four-year-old Father Alessandro Santoro, a priest in Florence, is getting an unsolicited vacation! It wouldn't have anything to do with his performing a transgender marriage, would it?
Indeed!

Despite criticism from the Catholic Church, Santoro performed the ceremony between Fortunato Talotta, a 58-year-old biological male, and Sandra Alvino, a 64-year-old MTF woman who transitioned some 30 years ago. Now his boss — Florence Archbishop Giuseppe Betori, who called the wedding "devoid of value because of the absence of the necessary components of a religious marriage" — has invited Santoro to take some time off to … reflect.

Reflect on binding two people in love and matrimony? Yeah.

But kudos to Santoro, who's standing by his decision: It was "not an act of rebellion [but rather] an act of loyalty to my congregation, to the church and to the people that I love… It was my duty."

London LGBT Tourist Office welcomes 100th visitor

By Adam Lake, Pink News

The London LGBT Tourist Information Office has welcomed it's one hundredth visitor today. The service, which is London's first ever tourist office aimed specifically for the LGBT community, provides help and advice for community projects, as well as information about Soho's vibrant gay scene.

Project director Shaun Newport told Pinknews.co.uk:

"I'm really pleased with how well it has gone down with the community. We obviously get a lot of people visiting London who want to know about the bars and clubs, but we have also get a lot of people who want advice on health facilities in the area."

The LGBT service, which is situated in London's Chinatown, was launched last Friday and attracted support from local LGBT businesses and community groups.

"Since the awful homophobic attack last week we have had a lot of people wanting to know how they can lend there support to LGBT community projects.

"I think that it's really good to have a place where people can come, have a coffee and find out more about London's vibrant scene.

"We are currently in discussion with a number of venues and businesses and we will soon be selling tickets for events, we really want to have as many people working with us as possible and we are always on the lookout for gay businesses that would like to get involved."

If you would like to get involved in the Gay Tourist Office email Shaun Newport at shaun.newport@gaytouristoffice.co.uk

Video: Cher's son gives television interview about sex change

Pink News

Chaz Bono, son of international star Cher, has spoken candidly for the first time about his sex change, which he started in March this year.

Speaking on the US television show 'Entertainment Tonight,' the forty year old, who's name was formerly Chastity, said:

"I always felt like the male from the time I was a child. There wasn't much feminine about me,

"I believe that gender is something between your ears, not between your legs. That is something I discovered in the early '90s."

"It lowered my voice," he added, "fat redistributes, muscle growth, hair growth, sex drive increases."

"It was just a long process of being comfortable enough to do something about it."

Bono came out to both parents as lesbian at age eighteen. In autobiography 'Family Outing', Bono wrote:

"As a child, I always felt there was something different about me. I’d look at other girls my age and feel perplexed by their obvious interest in the latest fashion, which boy in class was the cutest, and who looked the most like cover girl Christie Brinkley.

"When I was 13, I finally found a name for exactly how I was different. I realized I was gay."

Last month, it was revealed that Bono signed a six-figure publishing deal for a memoir tentatively titled 'Coming Clean'.

It is scheduled to hit shelves in 2011.

The 40-year-old is Cher's only child with late husband Sonny Bono. He is a gay rights activist but also works as a musician, writer and actor.

Watch Video Here:

Thousands expected to attent candle lit vigil in Trafalgar Square

By Adam Lake, Pink News

Up to 10,000 people are expected to take part in a silent candle-lit vigil against Hate-Crime this evening in Trafalgar Square.

The event, organised by the facebook group 17-24-30, is being held to commemorate the homophobic murder of Ian Baynham.

Organiser Mark Healey told Pinknews.co.uk:

"We have been inundated with support from people all around the world. This is the first ever international day of remembrance for the victims of hate crime."

There will also be vigils this evening in Brighton and San Francisco.

A number of high profile speakers will speak at the vigil, which has received support from Stuart Milk, nephew of prominent gay rights campainger Harvey Milk who was murdered in a homophobic attack.

"After the two minutes silence there will be a roll call of all the victims of homphobic hate crime from the last 10 years," Healey told Pinknews.co.uk.

"We are asking everyone to come straight to Trafalgar Square for the Vigil, please do not bring banners and placards – we want to see a sea of candles and faces.

"We have been in contact with some of Ian's friends, to start establishing what needs they have, what ideas they would like us to include.

"Unfortunately it may be a long time before Ian's body is released, the family have indicated that they would like a private service, with ideas for an event for Ian to be staged at a later date.

"Friends and members of the family are planning to attend the Vigil, as well friends and families of other victims of Hate-crime."

The event, which is being organised by volunteers, is seeking donations to assist with running costs. If you would like to donate via paypal visit http://tr.im/172430 or alternatively you can pay directly to the 17-24-30 groups donation account, sort code 40-03-22, account number 41446843.

PE teacher resigns over gay porn photo shoot

Pink News

A PE teacher who was suspended earlier this year over a gay porn photo shoot has resigned.

Sam Handley was suspended from Harvey Grammar School in Folkestone in September when explicit photographs of him intended for a gay porn site were circulated by pupils.

According to the Sun, he was unaware that the link to the porn website had spread around the school via Facebook and mobile phones and turned up for lessons as usual, before being sent home by the deputy head teacher.

In a statement, the school said it had accepted his resignation "following recent media interest" into matters concerning him.

It added: "The school fully accepts Mr Handley’s assurances that the events in question took place prior to him being offered and taking up employment at the school, and that he has not engaged in anything similar whilst employed at the school."

Argentina's Quest for Marriage Equality

by Michael A. Jones, change.org

We've got one country and six U.S. states in North America that recognize marriage equality. But on the other end of the hemisphere, wedding bells aren't necessarily ringing.

That may all be about to change, as Argentina moves forward with debate over whether to recognize marriage equality. The country's parliament is holding hearings concerning a possible change to Article 172 of Argentina's Civil Code. That may sound like drab law speak, but it could have massive implications: the hope is to change the current phrasing which recognizes marriage as only between a "man and woman," to making it so that marriage means "spouses," regardless of gender.

LGBT rights advocates are championing the change, and some of them think they have the momentum to make it a reality.

"We can't expect social equality if the state is legitimizing inequality," said Maria Rachid, president of Argentina's Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Federation, in an interview with the Associated Press.

By legitimating inequality, Rachid is referring to the fact that only civil unions for same-sex couples are recognized in Argentina, and even then it's only four cities in the entire country that allow those. Here's one lesson for Argentina from places like Vermont and New Hampshire: Civil unions are separate and unequal, and they create a second-class system that treats LGBT couples different. A good number of bipartisan commissions found that to be the case here in the states, and according to Rachid, the same is proving true in Argentina.

Any decision on marriage equality in Argentina is certainly down the road. But let's not underestimate how important this could be, especially for a region that hasn't always been a hotbed of hospitality for LGBT folks. Neighboring Brazil, in fact, tends to be one of the most dangerous places in the world for LGBT people (especially for transgender people).

The debate over marriage equality in Argentina may have started in Parliament today.

(Photo courtesy of JohnSeb's photostream on Flickr.)

Video: Rachel Maddow: Gay Marriage Battle In Maine

MSNBC's Rachel Maddow: Gay Marriage Battle In Maine [Question 1] - 10/29/09

Rachel speaks with John Baldacci, governor of Maine, who is now an advocate for same-sex marriage equality and encouraging others to vote no on 1

The Golden Girls: How One TV Show Turned A Generation Of American Boys Into Homosexuals

Yes can you actually believe this? Now is seems religious bigotry has hit a new wave, blaming TV for sexual orientation. Total BS if you ask me!!! Trying to use every excuse possible it seems except the one truth, we are born this way!!!!! Read the article below, just a warning it only gets worse the more you read!



by Stephenson Billings, Christ Wire

The Golden Girls television program was never much to look at. A foursome of Florida geriatrics getting agitated about pharmacy bills and shoulder pads– who could ever find such a thing interesting? But somehow these perky and absurd women wormed their ways into America’s homes for an 8-year run in the 1980s. Maybe it was our desire to see our grandmothers having fun that encouraged us to watch. Maybe we wanted to believe old age wasn’t dominated by infections and hip problems, loneliness and crushing depression before death finally stomps us out like the acrid end of a damp cigarette.

The most unexpected segment of this show’s fanbase was America’s young men. In the 80s, these were boys too delicate for sports, too awkward for girls, too “artistic” for labor-intensive work and too flamboyant for peer acceptance in high school. With no real adults in sight, these poor children became obsessed with the poorly conceived characters on this show. Desperate for a firm hand in their lives, they gravitated to the subversive undercurrent of masculinity in these aged matrons.

Many studies have been done on why the gays love The Golden Girls, but science can’t fathom the moral challenges and social upheaval of those historic times. The 1980s was an epoch of President Reagan’s manly wisdom and the terrifying threat of Cold War annihilation. America had sobered up from the flashy lights of 1970s disco. We were skipping all night cocaine and sex parties to focus on our careers. Spiritual leaders like Jerry Falwell were telling us that Christianity was in the majority again. On the other side, there was a subculture of homosexuality creeping up on our youths. It gave them an excuse to wear tight jeans and to sneak off to public parks for quick releases with hairy men of different ethnicities.



THE GOLDEN GIRLS GAY AGENDA

It was only to be expected that our lonely boys exposed to these conflicted times would succumb to the nagging Golden Girls agenda. These were slender, unathletic children who were left out of the fun militarism of the Reagan years. Skyrocketing divorce rates ruined their faith in traditional relationships. Rock groups like Duran Duran and Styx encouraged big hair and overactive libidos. The show lit a match which enflamed their intense physical urges. With the utmost cruelty and immorality, The Golden Girls seized upon this opportunity to cross the hormonal wires of America’s lost generation.

The results were disastrous. Our horny, lonely boys sought out intimate comforts with likeminded Golden Girls addicts who didn’t mind each other’s theatrical voices and touch-feely hand gestures. Together, these clusters of awkward teens and twentysomethings bonded over their favorite episodes and characters, mimicking the voices and gowns of their tv friends. When the rush of cheesecake and gabfests wore thin, these hairless boys needed a harder thrill. They were so desperate for the next big trend they turned to same-sex sexual experimentation. What woman would have them now, anyway? This led to the worse excesses of early homosexual visibility– the most enormous of drag queens, the dirtiest of leather daddies, the most enticing of twinkie boys, androgyny, overeating, public sex and the birth of “camp.”



THOSE THREE DIRTY OLD LADIES

If you walk down the street today and bump into a middle-aged homosexual, chances are that the nasty comeback he will shout at you is something he picked up from Dorothy Zbornak of the Golden Girls. Played by noted liberal activist and Archie Bunker-foe Bea Arthur, Dorothy had a hard, masculine voice. She was cold and quick-tempered. She taught our modern butt rompers to disparage everyone in their orbit. She schooled them on insulting people’s clothing choices, body odors, organ sizes and educations. Dorothy taught the gays to speak very fast and have the most superior attitude possible. This formula has worked for many of your urban leather daddies and flaming queens, who attack with the swiftness of a ninja. It often happens that by the time I figure out what the insulting gay man has said to me, he is long gone (probably off groping someone’s son in a Sears lavatory). For others, and here I’m talking about your waiters and retail salesmen, Dorothy has given them permission to be two-faced. They smile at you through gritted teeth when you tell them to keep their nail polished fingers off the edge of your pasta dish or when you make them promise that they won’t peek while you’re trying on a swimsuit in the dressing room. Beneath that smile is a sneer. These gays really hate you for your Christianity and your gold card, your mature good looks or the fact you lead a handsome camping group into the hushed mountains of Tennessee. In whatever afterlife world she inhabits, Bea Arthur is surely pleased by your outrageous outrages, you homosexual anarchists of America.

Blanche Devereaux, played by Rue McClanahan on the show, is one of the sluttiest sluts around. She will do anything to get anyone into her bedroom for hours of offensive copulation irregardless of her aging orifices. Like many contemporary gays, she also demands expensive dinners and presents from her “dates” and takes special pride in catching the rich ones. Blanche’s promiscuity is a common model for the personal lives of today’s homosexuals. Most gay relationships last a week. It is no coincidence that this is the amount of time between Golden Girl episodes when they first aired on primetime. Blanche’s appearances on the show taught today’s 30-something homosexuals that you need a new strange man on your arm every seven days or else your viewers/friends will lose interest in your life’s plot. Sadly, with the Golden Girls in weeknight syndication, the youngest gays have confused this timetable to mean they need five new boyfriends a week. Their sexual adventures have become both shockingly fast and befuddling to their next-door neighbors and Twitter followers alike.

Rose Nylund, played by x-rated comedienne Betty White, was added to the show as a sort of comic relief to the other more serious characters. She is thoroughly dimwitted. Her clueless acting style makes me cringe at her obvious senility. Senility is not at all funny, but the careless creators of this awfulness used her stupidity for a relentless barrage of immature jokes. Once again, Rose’s most salient trait was picked up and celebrated by the gay community. Every buff beefcake I’ve ever met has been tremendously brainless. They can bump out the beats to any Madonna song on a club railing, but are incapable of telling you the difference between Acapulco and an avocado. They lack the concentration to finish reading your text message, let alone a fantastic website article you may have forwarded to them. Most homosexuals love to gallop around a conversation, yammering out a bunch of big phrases to show you how smart they are. The truth is that if they slowed down for a minute you would see that the Lady Gaga references, truckstop handjob stories and Kevin Jennings defenses don’t add up to an intellectual argument. They’re just random phrases strung together by psychotropically-medicated, carnally-motivated ridiculous libertines glazed with moisturizer.

For Florida, The Golden Girls completely ruined the reality of Miami’s masculine reputation. It was no longer a city of Scarface and Miami Vice. The Cuban machismo and gorgeous Ferraris melted in the face of lengthy canasta games and comfortable paisley chairs. And then the gays came marching in to South Beach. Not even CSI Miami can win the city back for the straights.



WILL THE GAYS LIVE “GOLDEN GIRL” STYLE IN RETIREMENT?

Today, as this crowd ages we have to wonder what comes next for the Golden Girl generation of American homosexuals. They’re turning 40 and 50 now. Their hair is thinning, their waistlines expanding, their cachet in the cultural scene is long past. Most have settled into heavily mortgaged condos or bungalows in gentrified neighborhoods, bitter at their mid-level jobs with zero hope of becoming a CEO to make their fathers proud. Many are too old at this point to be pursuing anonymous street pickups and have settled into caustic relationships that are only monogamous out of mutual laziness. Maybe they find weekend solace in amateur photography or an overly primped shit-zu.

In a dozen years, the next logical step for these people is Florida. Will we see whole sections of this state devoted to horny gay retirees sporting the worst 1980s fashions? High pants and feathered hair and modern architecture? Will they follow in the lusty steps of their forebears, the Golden Girls? When all these gays are in such close proximity to each other, will we see a huge upsurge in illicit homosexual elderly trysts? Will they vote out Florida’s married Christian Republican leaders, like Governor Charlie Crist? Will they embrace any and every cutting edge social issue that will be hip in 2020? Personally, I do not look forward to the day when we’re having moral debates about robot sex, gay jetpacks or houseplant marriage. And worst of all, will the next generation of television executives see the need for a new Golden Girls show featuring silver daddies, poppa bears, wankers on walkers and 50-year old twinks who sit on your lap and suck Metamucil lollipops? America, I will be turning off my tv for good in 2019 just in case.