2010 MARRIAGE PROTECTION ACT Signature Drive

JMG's Chart Of The Day

(Via - New York Times)

I saw this first on JMG

The Gay State Of The World

(Via - World Focus, tipped by JMG reader Alex)

I read it first on JMG

From JMG: BREAKING: Rush Limbaugh Rushed To Hospital With Possible Heart Attack

Rush Limbaugh was rushed to a Honolulu hospital tonight after complaining of chest pains.

A Honolulu television station is reporting that conservative radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh has been taken to a hospital with chest pains. KITV reported Wednesday that paramedics responded to a call at 2:41 p.m. from the Kahala Hotel and Resort where Limbaugh is vacationing. The station, citing unnamed sources, said paramedics treated Limbaugh and took him to The Queen's Medical Center in serious condition. Queen's spokeswoman N. Makana Shook says the hospital is unable to comment on the report.

I read it first on JMG

Courage Campaign: Julia Louis-Dreyfus

Dear Daniel --

"You're out of your freakin' mind."

That's what Julia Louis-Dreyfus said to me point-blank in the second Courageous Conversations video we filmed on the set of "The New Adventures of Old Christine" a few weeks ago.

Julia was trying to make a point about what NOT to say to someone who may disagree with you about the importance of marriage equality, but she may have gotten a little carried away.

Judge for yourself. Click here to watch the sequel to our first Courageous Conversations video. And help support our friends at the Courage Campaign Institute by making a last-minute tax-deductible contribution before January 1. They need just 103 more donors to reach their critical year-end goal:

http://www.couragecampaign.org/JuliaAndEric

I taped this video with Julia for a reason. We both wholeheartedly support full LGBT rights and think that the Courage Campaign Institute is a uniquely creative, effective and inspiring organization that can help get the job done.

From the remarkable Camp Courage training program to Courageous Conversations, this amazing team is working every day to bring full equality to America.

That's why Julia and I taped this sequel video to spread the word about Courageous Conversations. And it's why we hope you will make a last-minute tax-deductible contribution to support the Courage Campaign Institute. Courage needs just 103 more donors before January 1:

http://www.couragecampaign.org/JuliaAndEric

Thanks for supporting Courage in these last few hours before the New Year.

Eric McCormack

The Courage Campaign Institute is part of the Courage Campaign's online organizing network that empowers more than 700,000 grassroots and netroots supporters to push for progressive change and full equality in California and across the country.

To power our Courageous Conversations program, please chip in what you can today:

This email was sent to:

A sad update on the story...

"Malawi nationals arrested for getting married"

http://www.facebook.com/l/b20b2;www.rfi.fr/actuen/articles/120/article_6340.asp"

Men wed in Malawi's first gay ceremony, risk arrest

LILONGWE (Reuters) - Two Malawian men became the first gay couple to publicly tie the knot, the Nation newspaper reported on Monday, risking arrest in the conservative southern African state where homosexuality is illegal.

Jump here to read the article

Matthew Shepard Foundation Selected for Grant in Chase Community Giving Contest

Matthew Shepard Foundation Selected for Grant in Chase Community Giving Contest

The Matthew Shepard Foundation will receive a $25,000 grant from the JP Morgan Chase Foundation in the new year to further our educational and outreach programs against hatred and bias, thanks to votes cast by Facebook users in the bank’s “Chase Community Giving” program.

Fans of the Matthew Shepard Foundation on the leading online social network cast enough votes to place us in the top 100 community charities nationwide in first-round balloting earlier in December. A second round of voting begins January 15, in which the top vote-getting nonprofit organization will qualify for $1 million, and five runners-up will win $100,000 grants.

“The overwhelming show of support for the Matthew Shepard Foundation is deeply gratifying and will provide us a huge boost as we seek to double our outreach to schools and community groups in 2010,” said Executive Director Jason Marsden.

“We hugely appreciate the thousands of supporters who voted for us on Facebook to give us this unique opportunity and additional exposure,” Marsden added.

The unexpected new grant will also help expedite our ongoing Web development work already under way for 2010, in which our youth-oriented Web resource, MatthewsPlace.com, will be expanded to include more user-generated content and on-demand educational program modules.

While the Foundation personally reached 18 high schools, 23 colleges and 22 community organizations with its seminars and speaking programs in 2009, developing similar programs delivered via the Internet will allow us to reach a vastly larger audience with our message of replacing hate with understanding, compassion and acceptance.

Facebook users can register to participate in the next round of voting by visiting the Chase Community Giving page at http://apps.facebook.com/chasecommunitygiving/ and following the instructions provided.

From JMG: First Gay Marriage For Latin America

After being temporarily thwarted by a judge's stay of a Buenos Aires court ruling in their favor, two men in Argentina have become the first gays to marry legally in Latin America.

An official in Argentina's southern Tierra del Fuego province says two Argentine men have wed there in Latin America's first gay marriage. Provincial spokesman Eduardo Porter says the wedding between Jose Maria Di Bello and Alex Freyre took place at the civil registry in Ushuaia. Their marriage plans in Buenos Aires earlier this month were thwarted when city officials refused to marry them because of conflicting rulings. An official representing the federal government's antidiscrimination agency attended the wedding. Claudio Morgado called Monday's marriage "historic." Argentina's Constitution is silent on whether marriage must be between a man and a woman, effectively leaving the matter to state and city officials.

The court ruling allowing their marriage was specifically for this couple only. It remains to be seen if a precedent has been set.

RELATED: Last week Mexico City legalized same-sex marriage, but that law has not yet gone into effect. Civil unions are available to gay couples in several Brazilian and Mexican states, and in the entire nation of Uruguay.courtesy of JMG

FROM JMG: Quote Of The Day - Rep. Pete Sessions

"I love you and believe in you. If you want my ear/voice — e-mail." - Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX) to billionaire Ponzi swindler Allen Stanford, hours after Stanford was arrested by the feds. After the arrest, Sessions denied that he knew Stanford at all, despite having been photographed with him many times and accepting $44,000 from Stanford for his re-election campaign.

Sessions has a 0% rating from the Human Rights Campaign, having voted against every single bit of pro-LGBT legislation ever put before him. He voted for the failed Constitutional ban on same-sex marriage and for banning gay adoptions in DC. But he loves and "believes in" a man who stole $8B. What's going on there? What's with the trips to Antigua?Courtesy of JMG

This from Fred

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Fred Karger

December 28, 2009 619-592-2008

Check out this excellent editorial calling out NOM for violating Maine's election laws. NOM did not report any of its contributor's names, and it gave $1.9 million (64% of all money raised) to defeat same-sex marriage in last month's election. Then NOM sued Maine election officials to invalidate all campaign reporting:

BANGOR DAILY NEWS

12/26/09

Editorial

Campaign Clarity Needed

By BDN Staff
BDN Staff

A lawsuit involving a national group opposed to gay marriage has far-reaching implications for the state’s campaign reporting and financing laws, especially since the National Organization for Marriage said it plans to advocate for supporters of “traditional marriage” in next year’s election.

In October, NOM filed suit in federal court claiming Maine’s referendum campaign finance reporting requirements were overly burdensome and, therefore, unconstitutional. Earlier this month, the group amended its complaint to U.S. District Court to include candidate elections. If its challenge is upheld, it would leave a big hole in the state’s reporting requirements and its Clean Election financing program, which relies on candidates’ reporting of donations to determine whether matching funds are warranted.

The group, based in New Jersey, contributed nearly $2 million to Stand for Marriage Maine, which successfully advocated a repeal of the state law allowing same-sex couples to marry. NOM has refused to disclose to state election officials where its money came from. State law requires groups or individuals that raise more than $5,000 to support or oppose a ballot question to register as a ballot question committee. Anyone who donates more than $100 to the committee must be identified in campaign finance reports.

The Commission on Governmental Ethics and Elections Practices is investigating whether NOM violated state campaign finance laws by refusing to name its donors in connection with Question 1 on the Nov. 3 ballot.

Attorneys for the group have argued that listing donors would discourage contributions because people would be afraid of retaliation.

Gay marriage is an emotional issue, but citing fear as a reason to flout the law is an unpersuasive argument, especially when thousands of donors are named — complete with their home or businesses addresses and occupations — on campaign finance reporting forms filed by groups on both sides of Question 1. National groups have been involved in many contentious campaigns since Maine’s reporting requirements have been in place. None has refused to comply with the law.

At the same time, there are varying levels of compliance. Some groups simply list “fund transfer” as a source of funding.

NOM’s argument that it raises money nationally to be used in many different states, rather than for a campaign in a specific state, is more complex. A close look at the group’s fundraising literature will clarify whether it was raising money for the Yes on 1 campaign in Maine. If it was, reporting is necessary, as it should also be for other national groups that contribute to Maine campaigns.

It may be that lawmakers need to reconsider Maine’s ballot committee law to clarify how such national fundraising should be handled, especially since it could influence Clean Election funding next year.

The bottom line is that Maine voters should be able to know who is trying to influence their vote.

HELP US FIGHT BACK.

www.FiveforFred.com

Thanks JMG: DJ Earworm - United State of Pop 2009 (Blame It on the Pop) - Mashup of Top 25 Billboard Hits

Best wishes from Brasil where it is almost party time! Crank it up!

The Fabulous Guest Conductor

Bil Browning sent a message to the members of The Bilerico Project.

Subject: Weekly Reader: The Salvation Army, Katy Perry, & Lance Bass

It might have been a holiday week, but we kept plugging away to bring you the best content we could - including tons of holiday-themed posts! Check out some of these great posts from last week:

Sunday
Disturbing: Pelosi & Reid burnt in effigy by schoolchildren
Filed by: Bil Browning
http://www.facebook.com/l/a327f;www.bilerico.com/2009/12/disturbing_pelosi_reid_burnt_in_effigy_schoolchildren.php

The Last Minute Gay Geeks Gift Guide
Filed by: Nathan Strang
http://www.facebook.com/l/a327f;www.bilerico.com/2009/12/the_last_minute_gay_geeks_gift_guide.php

Monday
The year Lance Bass saved Christmas
Filed by: Joe Mirabella
http://www.facebook.com/l/a327f;www.bilerico.com/2009/12/gay_christmas.php

Surprise -- Roses at Christmas
Filed by: Patricia Nell Warren
http://www.facebook.com/l/a327f;www.bilerico.com/2009/12/roses_at_christmas.php

Tuesday
Katy Perry offends LGBT people in a bout of twitterrhea
Filed by: Jerame Davis
http://www.facebook.com/l/a327f;www.bilerico.com/2009/12/katy_perry_offends_lgbt_people_in_a_bout_of_twitter.php

8 Tips for LGBT People to Lower Holiday Stress
Filed by: D Gregory Smith
http://www.facebook.com/l/a327f;www.bilerico.com/2009/12/tis_the_season_for_depression.php

Wednesday
How Newsweek Got It Wrong On Gay Rights
Filed by: Dr. Jillian T. Weiss
http://www.facebook.com/l/a327f;www.bilerico.com/2009/12/how_newsweek_got_it_wrong_on_gay_rights.php

Just say no to the Salvation Army's red bucket
Filed by: Alex Blaze
http://www.facebook.com/l/a327f;www.bilerico.com/2009/12/just_say_no_to_the_salvation_armys_red_bucket.php

Thursday
My Marriage is a Stone
Filed by: Father Tony
http://www.facebook.com/l/a327f;www.bilerico.com/2009/12/my_marriage_is_a_stone.php

Christmas Eve in the Tenderloin
Filed by: Guest Blogger Jerry Weiss
http://www.facebook.com/l/a327f;www.bilerico.com/2009/12/christmas_eve_in_the_tenderloin.php

Friday
Merry Christmas!
Filed by: Bil Browning
http://www.facebook.com/l/a327f;www.bilerico.com/2009/12/merry_christmas_1.php

Don't forget:

Subscribe to the Bilerico Project Report to get all of the previous day's posts sent to you every night at midnight Eastern time.
http://www.facebook.com/l/a327f;feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify?uri=BilericoProject&loc=en_US

Follow Bilerico Project on Twitter for links to new posts, breaking news and contest opportunities.
http://www.facebook.com/l/a327f;www.twitter.com/bilericoproject

Subscribe to the Bilerico Project RSS feed to read posts via a feedreader like Google Reader or Bloglines, or include the feed in a customized homepage like My Yahoo! or iGoogle.
http://www.facebook.com/l/a327f;feeds.feedburner.com/BilericoProject

This from The New Civil Rights Movement

Hey, CNN: “Admit” You’re Gay Is Wrong

by David Badash on December 22, 2009 · Comments (12)

in Celebrities, Discrimination, Media, News

Just a few days ago, we witnessed an “amazing” revelation: Former international rugby star Gareth Thomas said, “I’m gay.”

What’s also amazing is that so many mainstream, big media outlets did not say this:

“Gareth Thomas admits he is gay.”

Except CNN.

In, “Thomas relief after admitting he is gay,” CNN writes,

“Every gay man will tell you that ‘coming out’ is like a weight lifted from your shoulders and beng able to walk down the street knowing that there is nothing for me to hide has been a liberating experience, ” admitted Thomas…”

Because, really, why would anyone use the word “admit” when it comes to coming out? Being gay is not wrong. We “admit” to things we’ve done wrong.

We admit to lying. We admit to stealing. We admit to adultery.

We “come out,” we “acknowledge we’re gay,” we can even “reveal” we’re gay. But “admit?” Why would you “admit” to something that isn’t wrong?

Words matter.

It’s time for the media, especially the MSM, to get it straight: “admitting” you’re gay is like “admitting” you’re human.

Got it?

From The New Civil Rights Movement

Senate Passes Health Care Bill

It's definitely not the bill we wanted, but this morning the Senate voted 60-39 to approve its version of health care reform.

The Senate voted Thursday to reinvent the nation’s health care system, passing a bill to guarantee access to health insurance for tens of millions of Americans and to rein in health costs as proposed by President Obama. The 60-to-39 party-line vote, on the 25th straight day of debate on the legislation, brings Democrats a step closer to a goal they have pursued for decades. It clears the way for negotiations with the House, which passed a broadly similar bill last month by a vote of 220 to 215.

If the two chambers can strike a deal, as seems likely, the resulting product would vastly expand the role and responsibilities of the federal government. It would, as lawmakers said repeatedly in the debate, touch the lives of nearly all Americans. The bill would require most Americans to have health insurance, would add 15 million people to the Medicaid rolls and would subsidize private coverage for low- and middle-income people, at a cost to the government of $871 billion over 10 years, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

Senator Robert Byrd voted this way: “This is for my friend Ted Kennedy. Aye!”

thanks from Brasil to JMG for this!

Utah Congressman Chaffetz Leads Effort to Dump

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Fred Karger

December 22, 2009 619-592-2008

Utah Congressman Chaffetz Leads Effort to Dump

Recently Enacted Gay Marriage Law in Washington, DC

Salt Lake City, UT -- Mormon freshman Congressman Jason Chaffetz (R-UT), ranking Republican on the Congressional subcommittee that oversees Washington, DC, is now trying to undue the District's new law that allows same-sex marriage in our nation's capitol. Congress has 30 days to overturn that law.

The president of the National Organization for Marriage, which was created by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon Church) two years ago to fight gay marriage throughout the country, announced last week that they would go to the ballot and to the courts to overturn marriage equality in Washington, DC. Well, she left out a third avenue, going to the Congress to veto the new law. Maggie Gallagher, NOM's President said that they would defeat it, and here they go again.

NOM is very effective. They were responsible for Proposition 8 qualifying for the California ballot last year which ended same-sex marriage there. They were successful in overturning Maine's gay marriage law last month, having contributed 64% of all money raised ($1.9 million of the $3 million) in that state. Now they have set their sights on our most recent victory in Washington, DC.

"We have been tracking NOM from day one, and while effective, they do all this secretly and utilizing highly questionable practices," said Fred Karger, founder of Californians Against Hate. "Maggie and executive director Brian Brown are single handidly fighting same-sex marriage in 11 sates, and now Washington, DC, all by themselves -- truly amazing."

"That is why we have called for investigations in California and Maine into their fund-raising, which is shrouded in mystery. In Maine they refused to disclose the names of thier contributors even after being ordered to do so by Federal Judge D. Brock Hornby and Maine attorney General Janet T. Mills.

Both California and Maine are investigating NOM right now, and the California investigation has included the Mormon Church. It has been ongoing for the past 13 months (FPPC Case # 08/735)."

"Now we need a Congressional investigation of the National Organization for Marriage as they come charging into out nation's capitol to attempt to undo marriage equality there. They must no longer go unchecked," demanded Karger.

Read the story about Rep. Chaffetz from the Mormon Church owned Salt Lake City Deseret News:

Chaffetz, family differ on gay marriage

By Lee Davidson

Deseret News

Published: Monday, Dec. 21, 2009 11:32 p.m. MST

SALT LAKE CITY — Gay rights groups are flabbergasted that Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, is leading a charge to block gay marriage in the District of Columbia, since his family has some interesting gay and liberal ties.

After all, his father, John Chaffetz, wrote a complimentary book about a gay couple that competed in the "Amazing Race" reality TV show. And liberal, former Democratic presidential nominee Michael Dukakis (whose wife, Kitty, was once married to Chaffetz's father) has been helping the young Chaffetz to pass legislation.

So gay groups are questioning in widespread Internet posts why Chaffetz, with such ties, could do such a thing. They wish aloud that he would listen to his more liberal relations, and stop his pledges to try to overturn a D.C. ordinance signed by its mayor last week to allow gay marriage.

Chaffetz told the Deseret News on Monday that such groups should not hold their breath for that.

"I see my position more as a support of traditional marriage than it is an attack on gay marriage. I think I have a core moral belief in traditional marriage, and I'm willing to stand up and stand tall for traditional marriage," he said.

Although Chaffetz is a freshman, he is the ranking Republican on the House subcommittee that oversees District of Columbia operations. So he said it is part of that job to announce GOP opposition to the new ordinance, and vow to fight it since federal law gives Congress 30 days to overturn any ordinance passed by the D.C. Council.

"It has led to a whole series of very aggressive personal attacks, but go ahead, I don't care. It doesn't phase me much," Chaffetz said. Many of the attacks draw attention to how his father wrote the book "Gay Reality" about the gay couple of Bill Bartek and Joe Baldassare who gained attention as reality show contestants. And attacks point out Chaffetz's ties to Dukakis.

But Chaffetz explains, "I am the only member of my family who is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I am a convert." He joined the church two months after he graduated from Brigham Young University, where he had been recruited as a football placekicker.

Because of that church background, Chaffetz said he is more conservative than many in his extended family, although he said it does include both Republicans and Democrats.

"My younger brother Alex is about as conservative as it gets, other than maybe Attila the Hun," he joked. "My older half-brother (John Dukakis — who changed his last name from Chaffetz to match that of his famous stepfather, Michael Dukakis) is about as liberal as it gets."

That doesn't mean that Chaffetz hasn't sought out the opinion of his half-brother, a former actor who had roles in such films as "Jaws 2" and in such TV series as "Family Ties" and "Taxi."

"I showed my brother John a draft of a campaign piece we prepared. And he said, 'I disagree with everything you say here.' And I thought, 'We have success. We must be on to something,'" Chaffetz said.

In contrast, Chaffetz said his father is a "very conservative person," his book about the gay couple notwithstanding. "I've talked to him about some things, but not about this (gay marriage)."

While Chaffetz is not biologically related to Michael Dukakis, Chaffetz said they became well acquainted and spent time together because John Dukakis would spend the school year with Dukakis and John's mother, Kitty, and the summers with his father and his half-brothers, Jason and Alex, and their mother.

Rep. Chaffetz even headed the Dukakis campaign at BYU in 1988, before his conversions to be a Republican and a Mormon. He said he and Dukakis still keep in close contact, and the former Massachusetts governor has helped him make some Democratic contacts needed to do such things as pass House legislation to ban use of "whole-body imaging" machines at airports.

"One of the interesting phenomena is that Michael Dukakis has been very helpful in opening a lot of doors that wouldn't have been opened otherwise. Some very liberal Democrats have given me the time of day that wouldn't normally have done so, particularly some of the people from Massachusetts," Chaffetz said.

"He (Dukakis) is a passionate believer in good public service, and considers party secondary. He wants to do some things that I could never support, but I respect him," Chaffetz said. "I talked to him the day before yesterday. We keep in contact."

But, again, Chaffetz said he believes strongly in defending traditional marriage, and no one should expect differently even if he has some liberal friends and family. "I'm my own guy on this one," he said.

Still, the Utah Log Cabin Republicans on Monday called for him to change, issuing a statement that it wants him to "get back to tending the issues we sent him to Washington to represent, and stop trying to force others to adhere to his misguided interpretation of what makes a real marriage."

HELP US FIGHT BACK.

www.FiveforFred.com

This from JMG

A Gay First For Martha Stewart

Popular Good As You blogger/activist Jeremy Hooper and his husband Andrew have become the first gay couple to be featured in Martha Stewart Weddings. Jeremy and Andrew were married in Connecticut in June. Congrats, guys!posted by JMG

The Saint of 9/11