Via JMG: Sen. Harry Reid Prompts Standing Ovation For Dan Choi At Netroots Nation, Choi Presents Reid With His West Point Ring

On JMG:

"Sen. Harry Reid's opening remark at his keynote address at Netroots Nation recognized Lt. Dan Choi, who was sitting next to me in the front row. The entire room gave Choi a standing ovation. Later during the question and answer session, the moderator presented Reid with Choi's West Point ring. Reid promised to return the ring to Choi upon the official repeal of DADT, prompting Choi to leap to the stage and salute Sen. Reid (and also sending a couple of Secret Service men scrambling to protect Reid.)

The two then hugged on stage in a moment that will surely live on in LGBT activism history. It was a great moment. (Most of the queer contingent at Netroots had rushed to the tables at the front of the room immediately upon the opening of the doors, as we'd heard rumors that Choi might "do something.") The video below is by Good As You's Jeremy Hooper, who was further back in the room, so the audio is a bit low. That's me in the blue shirt up near where Choi jumps to the stage."


[Top three photos are mine, bottom photo by Pam Spaulding.]

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reposted from Joe

Via JMG: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi Speaks About ENDA At Netroots Nation

Obviously referring to GetEQUAL's protests, Pelosi said, "I would target [politicians] in a positive way. This is America, show your appreciation to those that are with us." More about Pelosi's speech at LGBT POV.

(Video by Good As You's Jeremy Hooper.) reposted from Joe

Via JMG: Obama Addresses Netroots Nation

With a mention of DADT.

reposted from Joe

WHEN SAME-SEX MARRIAGE WAS A CHRISTIAN RITE

By ThosPayne

A Kiev art museum contains a curious icon from St. Catherine's Monastery on Mt. Sinai in Israel. It shows two robed Christian saints. Between them is a traditional Roman ‘pronubus’ (a best man), overseeing a wedding. The pronubus is Christ. The married couple are both men.

Is the icon suggesting that a gay "wedding" is being sanctified by Christ himself? The idea seems shocking. But the full answer comes from other early Christian sources about the two men featured in the icon, St. Sergius and St. Bacchus,² two Roman soldiers who were Christian martyrs. These two officers in the Roman army incurred the anger of Emperor Maximian when they were exposed as ‘secret Christians’ by refusing to enter a pagan temple. Both were sent to Syria circa 303 CE where Bacchus is thought to have died while being flogged. Sergius survived torture but was later beheaded. Legend says that Bacchus appeared to the dying Sergius as an angel, telling him to be brave because they would soon be reunited in heaven.

While the pairing of saints, particularly in the early Christian church, was not unusual, the association of these two men was regarded as particularly intimate. Severus, the Patriarch of Antioch (512 - 518 CE) explained that, "we should not separate in speech they [Sergius and Bacchus] who were joined in life". This is not a case of simple "adelphopoiia." In the definitive 10th century account of their lives, St. Sergius is openly celebrated as the "sweet companion and lover" of St. Bacchus. Sergius and Bacchus's close relationship has led many modern scholars to believe they were lovers. But the most compelling evidence for this view is that the oldest text of their martyrology, written in New Testament Greek describes them as "erastai,” or "lovers". In other words, they were a male homosexual couple. Their orientation and relationship was not only acknowledged, but it was fully accepted and celebrated by the early Christian church, which was far more tolerant than it is today.

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Vai JMG: HomoQuotable - Mike Alvear

"Why do so many effeminate gay men prefer in their partners the very masculinity they've bleached out of themselves? The obvious answer is that they're attracted to their opposites. But that answer only goes so far. Effeminate men may lust for their masculine counterparts but most masculine men don't return the favor.

"Effeminate men get hoisted on their own chiffon petards. The more they take on effeminate characteristics the less able they are to attract the kinds of guys they want to sleep with. This is a mating absurdity. Imagine birds trying to attract mates with red and white plumage when the objects of their affection are attracted to yellow and green. The mis-matched mating call of the merry marys brings up a great question: If effeminacy is counter-productive to attracting the kind of sexual partners you want, then why not butch it up? Is it because like being gay, being effeminate isn't a choice?

"Nobody knows what fuels the gay flame -- nature or nurture. Some believe gay guys turn sissy because they're naturally nelly and some think it's because they're conforming to a culture that expects it. I've always maintained that effeminacy is like obesity. Sometimes it's glandular, but mostly it's cultural. There's an undeniable Pansy Vortex in gay life. You fall into it with baggy jeans and a t-shirt and climb out of it with spandex up the crack of your ass." - Mike Alvear, writing for the Huffington Post.

Read the entire essay.

RELATED: A lot of you took issue with Alvear's last essay quoted here. reposted from Joe

Via Belirico: In Defense of Same Sex Marriage

Editors' Note: Guest blogger Dr. Carlos T Mock is a native Puerto Rican who resides in Chicago, IL and Three Oaks, MI. He has published four books and is the GLBT Editor for Floricanto Press in Berkley, CA.

Since Same-sex marriage in the U.S. began on May 17, 2004 in the State of Massachusetts; for 14 years courts and many Americans began to change their minds on the subject. However, the Federal government has clung to its official definition of marriage as only between a man and a woman. On Thursday, one of the most conservative federal judges, Judge Joseph L. Tauro--named by Reagan--in the same state where it all began, finally stood up and said there was never a rational basis for that definition. The outcome he reached is long overdue.

The unsustainable Federal definition of marriage is contained in the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), signed into law by President Bill Clinton in 1996. At the time, there was no legal same-sex marriage in the United States. But now five states and the District of Columbia issue licenses to all couples. Because of the federal law, thousands of couples in those states cannot receive the same federal benefits as opposite-sex couples, including Social Security survivor payments and spousal burials in national military cemeteries.

Continue reading "In Defense of Same Sex Marriage" »

VIA Belirico: Queer music Friday - Gregory Douglass

Not entirely unrelated to this video, Phil Reese and I joked around via email a few months ago about how a certain genre of rock/pop has subtlety become the domain of the gay musician. Here's Gregory Douglass's "Hang Around."

More music by Douglass after the jump.

Continue reading "Queer music Friday - Gregory Douglass" »

Via JMG: Lt. Dan Choi: The Closet Is A Poison

Lt. Dan Choi discusses his formal discharge from the military under DADT, which was revealed earlier this week.

reposted from Joe

Via JMG: GLAAD Issues Annual Network Rankings

GLAAD has released their fourth annual Network Responsibility Index, which reports on how television's big guns handle LGBT programming. MTV earned its first-ever "excellent" rating, while CBS earned a "fail." Embiggen the below image for a breakdown of this year's rankings or hit the link for more.

reposted from Joe

Via JMG: HomoQuotable - Steve Hildebrand

"I’m very perplexed on the administration’s continued defense of DOMA in the courts. The Justice Department is not required to defend laws passed by Congress -- they have a history of doing it but it’s not a requirement. Their ultimate duty is to defend the Constitution of the United States and if Congress passes a law that is discriminatory and doesn’t pass muster of constitutionality, the Justice Department in my opinion should not defend those laws. In fact, they should find ways to make sure that those laws are stricken down by the courts.

"I’d like to see the president and Attorney General Holder announce that they will no longer defend the Defense of Marriage Act and to agree with the judge’s findings in the Massachusetts’ court case.

"The other thing I would say related to DOMA is that holding out hope that Congress will repeal DOMA is a crazy idea – I don’t foresee in my lifetime Congress having the guts to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act. We can’t even get workplace protections passed – how do we expect them to take on religious institutions in this country who hold marriage [as an institution] only allowed between a man and a woman." - Former Obama deputy campaign manager Steve Hildebrand, speaking to the Advocate's Kerry Eleveld. During yesterday LGBT precon here at Netroots Nation, we were told to add three words after introducing ourselves. Hildebrand's three words: "Don't hate Obama." reposted from joe

Via Alternet.org: GOP Thinks Gays Should Have Fewer Rights

Like the world's children, gays and lesbians have way too many rights. Republicans in several states would like to remedy this problem. The Texas GOP, which actually has the gall to say that homosexuality "tears at the fabric of society, contributes to the breakdown of the family unit, and leads to the spread of dangerous, communicable diseases," opposes same-sex marriage, child custody rights for gays, and insurance and retirement benefits for same-sex couples.

Texas Republicans also think it's unfair that gays have the right to be gay, but that straight people don't have the right to stop them from being gay, so the platform has this ominous plank: "We oppose any criminal or civil penalties against those who oppose homosexuality out of faith, conviction, or belief in traditional values."

Meanwhile, Texas Republicans think civil officials who perform the perverse act of wedding people who love each other should be arrested and charged with a felony. Yes, the Texas GOP wants to jail anyone who performs a ceremony or issues a marriage license to a same-sex couple.

Montana Republicans would like for gay sex to be against the law, promoting legislation "to keep homosexual acts illegal."

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Via Belirico: Teaser Uganda : Killing in the name...

Quote of the Day via Belirico / Kate:

It's unbearably hot because Mother Earth is tired of getting deep drilled, but is that the top news? Oh, no. Levi Johnson and Bristol Palin are getting married. - Kate Clinton

Via Soular Energy Daily

About renowned spirituality author Deepak Chopra

ENERGIZE YOURSELF What is Normal? Flexibility is not limited to psychological states. more »

Via JMG: HomoQuotable - Roy Ashburn

"I should begin with an apology. I am sincerely sorry for the votes I cast and the actions I took that harmed lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. Just as important to me, I am sorry for not stepping forward and speaking up as an elected official on behalf of equal treatment for all people. For nearly 26 years, the voters in my area of California trusted me as their elected representative. I look back now knowing there is so much more I could have done to inform the public about LGBT people and to fight for equal rights under the law. Regrettably and selfishly, I took another path in my life and political career—I chose to conceal who I truly am and to then actually vote against the best interests of people like me. All this was done because I was afraid–terrified, really–that somehow I would be revealed as gay.

"My past actions harmed gay people. In fact, all people are harmed when there is unequal treatment of anyone under the constitution and laws of our country. I do not believe in discrimination, and yet my votes advanced unequal of treatment of gay people and promoted the suspicion and fear that limits people from being forthright and accepted in society.

"Now, from what I have lived and learned, I want to do the best that I can to advance equality and freedom for all people. Given the shame and confusion that many feel over their sexual orientation, perhaps my situation can serve as an example of both the harm that can come from denial and fear, and the opportunity to try to make things right." - Recently outed CA Sen. Roy Ashburn, continuing his campaign of apologies with a lengthy essay for Gay Politics.

reposted by Joe

Breakfast Silliness via JMG

Via JMG: Let's Take The DADT Survey

Another amusing entry from JMG reader Sean Chapin.

reposted from Joe

Via SacBee:

Dan Walters: Proposition 8 still perplexes Californians

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By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com The Sacramento Bee

Published: Tuesday, Jul. 20, 2010 - 12:00 am | Page 3A

Last Modified: Tuesday, Jul. 20, 2010 - 8:07 am

Advocates of same-sex marriage rights were, to put it mildly, stunned when California voters passed Proposition 8 nearly two years ago, placing a ban on such marriages in the state constitution.

Californians' acceptance of same-sex unions had been steadily growing, the state Supreme Court had overturned a statutory ban on gay marriage, and the 2008 presidential election had a big turnout of young and nonwhite voters presumed to support "marriage equality," as advocates call it.

It later became apparent from exit polling, however, that Proposition 8 enjoyed strong support among black and Latino voters, which may have been decisive.

Read more: http://www.sacbee.com/2010/07/20/2901093/dan-walters-proposition-8-still.html#ixzz0uFK1zT9d

Via SacBee: Narrow majority of California voters favor gay marriage in poll

Narrow majority of California voters favor gay marriage in poll

By Susan Ferriss - Updated: 8:07 am

Despite the narrow passage of Proposition 8 in 2008, a slim majority of California registered voters favors allowing same-sex marriage, according to a Field Poll released today.

• Dan Walters: Proposition 8 still perplexes Californians
• Have your views changed?
• Field Poll tabulations

make the jump ere to read the full article