Author: Randy Slovacek

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Arizona Governor looks to Supreme Court to strip same-sex couples of domestic partner benefits

When Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer (R) assumed power in 2009, she quickly advanced a law that would have stripped same-sex couples of their state domestic partner benefits. Lambda Legal fought back in a case now known as Diaz v. Brewer and won in both federal district court and in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, arguing that the law discriminated against same-sex couples who could not otherwise obtain the benefits through marriage.

Now, Brewer is asking the Supreme Court to step in and reverse the Ninth Circuit’s decision. Tara Borelli of Lambda Legal is confident that the injunction against the law taking effect will stand:

BORELLI: We are confident that the lower courts’ decisions upholding domestic partner coverage for lesbian and gay employees will continue to carry the day. Arizona’s arguments have been turned down again and again by the federal courts, and we expect it will be no different here.

The argument against Brewer’s law strongly parallels the case against California’s Proposition 8 banning same-sex marriage, which the Supreme Court will also have an opportunity to hear this coming year. In both cases, the law in question attempted to strip away a right that was already in effect for same-sex couples. The Court could, however, rule that both are unconstitutional for that reason without mandating that either Arizona’s benefits or California’s marriages are fundamental rights that gays and lesbians deserve access to.

Via ThinkProgress

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Chippendales on The Amazing Race?

Jaymes Vaughan & James Davis of the Chippendales and CBS' The Amazing Race

Queerty is reporting that two Chippendales may be racing around the world soon.

Apparently, Jaymes Vaughan and James Davis, who are real life best friends, may be a team on this fall’s THE AMAZING RACE.  I don’t know, but the cast of the next season will probably be announced in the next few weeks.

Queerty raises the issue of their sexuality being unknown.  Actually, I interviewed Jaymes Vaughan for QVegas Magazine last year for a cover story chronicling his coming out.  You can read some of that interview here.   James Davis, who I also know, is straight.

I’m a huge fan of THE AMAZING RACE – I never miss a season. I think it would be way cool for these guys to be a team. If so, I hope there’s ample occasion for them to have to take their shirts off.

See James Davis’ recent calendar shot below…

James Davis of the Chippendales and CBS' The Amazing Race
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Congressman Barney Frank marries longtime boyfriend

Congrats to Rep. Barney Frank, who got married in Newton, Massachusetts last night to Jim Ready: a welder, carpenter, and small-business owner who’s exactly 30 years Rep. Frank’s junior. (That makes Mr. Ready 42.) The ceremony took place on the banks of the Charles River.

The pair met at a fundraiser in 2005. Mr. Ready was involved with his long-time boyfriend, Robert Palmer, who was suffering an unspecified, terminal ailment. Mr. Frank was impressed with Mr. Ready’s devotion to his partner. After Mr. Palmer died, the congressman and the welder became friends, and then more.

On their many days apart, Mr. Frank and Mr. Ready watch the same TV shows while speaking on the telephone.

Mr. Frank is the first member of the United States House of Representatives to marry a member of his own gender.

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Google launches “Legalize Love” campaign to support same-sex marriage

Internet giant Google announced Saturday the launch of a global campaign aimed at legalizing same-sex marriage around the world.

The ambitious project, entitled “Legalize Love,” was outlined at a global LGBT Workplace Summit in London earlier today, reported Dot429.

Mark Palmer-Edgecumbe, Manager of Diversity and Inclusion for Google’s Europe, Middle East and Africa regions, called the initiative, “obviously a very ambitious piece of work.”

The “Legalize Love” campaign officially launches in Poland and Singapore on Saturday, July 7th. Google intends to eventually expand the initiative to every country where the company has an office, and will focus on places with homophobic cultures, where anti-gay laws exist.

On the decision to launch the initial phase in a country like Singapore, Palmer-Edgecumbe says, “Singapore wants to be a global financial center and world leader and we can push them on the fact that being a global center and a world leader means you have to treat all people the same, irrespective of their sexual orientation.”

Google’s strategy involves developing partnerships between companies and organizations to support grass-roots campaigns, efforts that it says will also be good for Google’s business.

“We operate in many countries and have a very globally mobile workforce. We have had a number of instances where we have been trying to hire people into countries where there are these issues and have been unable to put the best person into a job in that country,” said Palmer-Edgecumbe.

Via LGBTQ Nation

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Henry Rollins encourages young people to travel the world

“I beg young people to travel. If you don’t have a passport, get one. Take a summer, get a backpack and go to Delhi, go to Saigon, go to Bangkok, go to Kenya. Have your mind blown, eat interesting food, dig some interesting people, have an adventure, be careful.”

“Come back and you’re going to see your country differently, you’re going to see your president differently, no matter who it is. Music, culture, food, water. Your showers will become shorter. You’re going to get a sense of what globalization looks like. It’s not what Tom Friedman writes about, I’m sorry. You’re going to see that global climate change is very real. And that for some people, their day consists of walking 12 miles for four buckets of water.”

“And so, there are lessons that you can’t get out of a book that are waiting for you at the other end of that flight. A lot of people – Americans and Europeans – come back and go “ohhhhh.”

“And the lightbulb goes on.”

– Henry Rollins

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Broadway’s ANYTHING GOES celebrates it’s closing today – living the “Good Life”

From the cast of the Broadway revival of ANYTHING GOES which closes today at the Stephen Sondheim Theater in NYC.

This is a great answer to the question “what’s it like performing on Broadway?”

Besides being able to live the dream of appearing on Broadway, the camaraderie and sense of family can be amazing. Take a look. This tells a great story.

Congratulations to all on a successful journey.

From the YouTube notes: ANYTHING GOES opened at the Stephen Sondheim Theater on April 7, 2011 and closed on July 8, 2012. From Rehearsals, to Sitz Probe, to Tony Awards, to all the backstage craziness, it has been a pleasure sailing on the SS American with this amazing cast & crew.

“Good Life” sung by OneRepublic

(compiled from a year and a half’s worth of iphone, camera, and digital footage)

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A different version of “Big Spender”

Working on SWEET CHARITY, including the iconic “Big Spender” number with a great cast of ladies, here in Oklahoma City. But with the show staged now, I was remembering of another version of the song thanks to the men of Chippendales at the Rio Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.

Nice to see things from different perspectives sometimes 🙂

NSFW.

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PA: City cuts police and firefighters pay to minimum wage

Ignoring a federal judge’s injunction, Scranton, Pennsylvania moved ahead with its plan to reduce the pay of city workers to the federal minimum wage starting Friday. Scranton Mayor Chris Doherty claims the city is broke and that the minimum wage payments are all it can possibly pay, the Scranton Times Tribune reports:

Amid Scranton’s ever-deepening financial crisis, Mayor Chris Doherty said his administration is going forward with a plan to unilaterally slash the pay of 398 workers to the federal minimum of $7.25 an hour with today’s payroll, insisting it is all the city can afford.

That will likely earn administration officials an appointment with Judge Michael Barrasse, who granted the city’s police, fire and public works unions a special injunction temporarily barring the administration from imposing the pay cuts after a brief hearing Thursday.

With local budgets slammed since the Great Recession. Congressional Republicans repeatedly blocked efforts to extend aid to the states that would have helped shore up their budgets and keep these workers on payroll. In the case of Scranton, such aid may have helped the city actually pay its workers a living wage instead of a federal minimum that hasn’t been raised since 2006 and has less buying power than it had in 1968.

Via ThinkProgress.

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Duke Energy CEO quits first day – eligible for $44 million payout

Hours after new Duke Energy CEO Bill Johnson assumed his new position following the Duke/Progress Energy merger this week, he resigned his post. But Johnson can still qualify for up to $44.4 million for his time and effort:

Despite his short-lived tenure, Mr. Johnson will receive exit payments worth as much as $44.4 million, according to Duke. That includes $7.4 million in severance, a nearly $1.4 million cash bonus, a special lump-sum payment worth up to $1.5 million and accelerated vesting of his stock awards, according to a Duke regulatory filing Tuesday night. Mr. Johnson gets the lump-sum payment as long as he cooperates with Duke and doesn’t disparage his former employer, the filing said.
Under his exit package, Mr. Johnson also will receive approximately $30,000 to reimburse him for relocation expenses.

The Duke board voted for Johnson’s resignation, and since Johnson was eligible for severance if he quit for “good reason,” he is able to collect his $44 million. Grist calculates that Johnson’s pay package comes out to $5.5 million per hour, if he actually put in a full 8-hour day.

Johnson’s golden parachute after his one day of work is emblematic of the disconnect between worker pay and CEO pay that has occurred over the last few decades. Average CEO pay is now 380 times the pay of the average worker, and CEO pay has grown 127 times faster than worker pay over the last 30 years.

I have no problem with folks earning a lot of money, however I don’t understand why middle class income has risen so little compared to that of CEOs and other high level execs.  Why can’t the whole team enjoy the success of these companies?

Via ThinkProgress