LGBTQ news and entertainment
In a recent match, Mathieu Debuchy, who is a midfielder with Lille, passed the ball to Olivier Giroud who scored the point. Debuchy then ran to Giroud who grabbed his head with both hands and kissed his teammate.
The clip has been shown over and over in Europe, and the hashtag #Debuchy was still a trending Twitter tag on Thursday morning.
Now how do I sign up?
The truth is gas prices have been going up, though they remain below the high reached in mid-2008 and they were kept unnaturally low in late 2008 and 2009 due to the Bush Recession.
But Republican claims about energy independence, the purported need to “drill, baby, drill,” and the alleged refusal of the Obama Administration to allow energy development are simply false.
The fact is US oil production is at an eight year high. The U.S. exported more gasoline, diesel and other fuels than it imported in 2011 for the first time since 1949, and U.S. dependence on foreign oil has declined every year since President Obama took office.
The reality of the situation is that oil and gas prices are set by a global market that is largely beyond the reach of any U.S. President.
The biggest cause of the increase in gas prices is skyrocketing demand for gas and oil in China, India, and other rapidly developing nations which are pushing up prices globally.
Second, supply disruptions in the middle east has at least temporarily reduced global supply.
Third, concerns about a possible military conflict with Iran (which many conservatives are actively cheerleading) has created an opening for financial speculators to drive oil prices up even more.
Contrary to the Republicans’ caterwauling, there is little that President Obama, or any other political leader, can do to force gas prices to decline.
That being said, here’s what President Obama has done:
• significantly increased vehicle efficiency in order to reduce the amount of gas Americans need to purchase. In April 2010, the Administration finalized a regulation increasing Corporate Average Fuel Economy (“CAFE”) standards for cars to 35.5 miles per gallon (“mpg”) by 2016.
• been actively investing in developing alternative fuels, such as algae-based biofuels that could replace up to 17% of our nation’s oil imports.
• sought to end the more than $4 billion of taxpayer subsidies that the oil industry receives every year. When the oil companies are making record profits they don’t need the American tax payers money. The President wants to use those subsidies to help finance the transition to cleaner fuels.
The fact of the matter is the GOP “drill, baby, drill” solution won’t bring gas prices down any time soon. And it’s a short sighted solution to begin with. Fossil fuels will eventually be used up. At SOME TIME in the future we have to commit to finding newer, cleaner, more renewable sources of energy.
In the new Idina Menzel Live: Barefoot at the Symphony — filmed at Toronto’s historic Royal Conservatory of Music and airing on PBS Saturday, followed by an album, DVD, and digital download available Tuesday — Idina reaches back into the amazing musical repertoire that she’s spent over 20 years putting together.
The Advocate: Idina Menzel Live: Barefoot at the Symphony features lots of songs that fans would expect you to perform as well as some surprises. How did you choose the material?
Idina Menzel: The idea of having this magnificent, thrilling orchestra behind you is incredible, and yet it can be daunting, so I wanted music that would live and breathe but also strike a balance and maintain an intimacy. It’s an eclectic mix. There’s a lot of theatricality, but then there are moments when I talk to the audience and get personal, so it sort of came from that. I knew I wanted to share certain aspects of my life, so I figured out which songs would chronicle that.
For your signature songs, is it important to rework them?
Yes, but I have to be careful. A song like “Defying Gravity,” which I’ve sung so many times, in the past I’ve tried to mess with it too much. This time around, with the orchestra behind me, I decided to just sing it. My goal was to evoke that amazing moment in the show [Wicked], so I went back in that respect and really didn’t shy away from the drama and the theatricality of that moment.
Speaking of “Defying Gravity,” why do you think so many people respond to that song?
At some point in our lives, I think all of us feel that we’re weird or different. I know I can be very self-conscious about who I am and how I’m perceived. And it’s at that moment in the show that [Elphaba] decides, “I’m going to do this differently now. I’m gonna stop caring about what people think and just embrace who I am. Fuck what anybody else thinks.” She’s our hero because she stands up and does it. There’s also the other aspect that as a woman, it’s sometimes hard to be really fierce and strong. You want to be kick-ass, and yet as women we’re sometimes afraid we’ll be perceived as a bitch. The song is that character’s way of harnessing her incredible power and using it to change the world and influence people while not fearing her strength. I’m so thankful that I had that show because I could live in her world and be as powerful as I wanted.
Your song “Gorgeous” from your last pop record [I Stand] is a perfect anthem for marriage equality. Was that in your mind when you were writing it?
It totally was. It’s inspired by one of my best friends in the whole world, who moved to Rotterdam, Holland, to be with his boyfriend. It also fed into my own marriage — an interracial marriage — and the idea that it drives me up the wall when people don’t just mind their own business. We should be able to be who we are and live our lives — and the song was my response to feeling frustrated about that.
When did you first become aware of the battle for gay rights?
Probably when I was cast in Rent. By playing Maureen I was educating myself on …
What it was like to be a big, bad lesbian?
Yes! [Laughs] No, more about the experiences of the gay community. After seeing the show, young kids would write me letters saying they saw themselves in these characters and how grateful they were that we were celebrating them. This show gave many of them permission to be who they were. Wicked sort of carries on in that same tradition. It’s not necessarily about whether or not you’re gay, but it’s about finding who you are and celebrating that. So, while it wasn’t something I was necessarily planning on, I really took notice and understood that these people confiding in me was a gift, so I want to be as vocal as I can be for all of those who sat in the audience and made me feel so good.
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| Chad Griffin |
Chad Griffin, the Los Angeles-based political consultant whose central role in the Proposition 8 lawsuit turned him into a national LGBT rights figure, has been named president of the Human Rights Campaign.
A major fundraiser for the Obama campaign who began his career in the early days of the Clinton White House, Griffin will replace current president Joe Solmonese at the helm of the $40 million organization on June 11, HRC announced Friday following a board of directors vote. Solmonese, who joined HRC as president in 2005 and said in August that he would leave after his contract expires at the end of this month, will continue in his role until June. Solmonese was named a national co-chair for the Obama campaign last month.
In its pick of Griffin as president, HRC has chosen someone who was shaped from an early age by Washington political culture yet who is not defined by it, having spent the vast majority of his career outside the Beltway.
Griffin, 38, is a fervent supporter of President Obama with personal ties to White House officials, but has pushed the bipartisan case for marriage equality, notably hiring former George W. Bush solicitor general Theodore Olson to co-lead the Prop. 8 suit and aligning with conservatives including gay former Republican National Committee chair Ken Mehlman, who has raised money for the legal effort.
Griffin has been openly critical of the president’s ‘evolving’ position on marriage equality, calling Obama’s indicated support for state’s rights on deciding who can marry “a step backwards.” And, central to the job, Griffin has a proven ability to be a formidable fundraiser.
Equality Matters Weekly Podcast: February 27-March 2
Equality Matters campaigns for full LGBT equality.
For the teachers.
One of my FAVORITE spoken word poems. Although I do still prefer Taylor Mali, the author, doing his solo version.
(and yes, I have favorite spoken word poems…)
A federal judge, Chief U.S. District Judge Richard Cebull from Montana, admitted sending a racist and bestiality-laden email about President Barack Obama and his mother.
He says he’s not a racist, and adds that he sent it because he is not a fan of the President.
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The email compares African-Americans to dogs, or, alternatively, suggests President Obama’s mother had sexual intercourse with a dog, reads:
“Normally I don’t send or forward a lot of these, but even by my standards, it was a bit touching. I want all of my friends to feel what I felt when I read this. Hope it touches your heart like it did mine.
“A little boy said to his mother; ‘Mommy, how come I’m black and you’re white?’” the e-mail joke reads. “His mother replied, ‘Don’t even go there Barack! From what I can remember about that party, you’re lucky you don’t bark!’”
Judge Cebull did not write it but forwarded it.
Judge Cebull gave this explanation to John S. Adams of the Great Falls Tribune, who broke the story:
“The only reason I can explain it to you is I am not a fan of our president, but this goes beyond not being a fan,” Cebull said. “I didn’t send it as racist, although that’s what it is. I sent it out because it’s anti-Obama.”
It’s one thing to criticize President Obama’s policies or leadership or even his character. But to insult his mother and equate interracial sex with bestiality? SRSLY? And this from a federal judge…
Sad.
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| Dorothy Bond |
The Tennessee high school principal who reportedly told students during an assembly that gay students were going to hell, has resigned.
Haywood County High School Principal Dorothy Bond has resigned, according to the school system’s law firm, reported the Jackson Sun.
In a statement released through Purcell, Sellers & Craig, Inc., the school system said:
“The Haywood County Board of Education acknowledges its student body’s right to free speech. Further, the Haywood County Board of Education strives to provide an atmosphere of tolerance and diversity while maintaining high academic standards.”
Bond allegedly singled out LGBT and pregnant students during a meeting with students, and said, “If you’re gay you’re going to hell and if you’re pregnant, your life is over,” reported WPTY-TV in Memphis.
Since the story broke earlier today, more than 5,000 people signed an HRC petition calling on the Haywood County School District to investigate the allegations.
Think about this folks. Imagine YOUR child attending a school where the principal told them they were “going to hell” or “your life is over.”
Imagine.
Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley signed into law HB 438, a bill legalizing marriage equality, in a 5 p.m. ceremony held at the State House in Annapolis Thursday evening.
Saying, “We are one Maryland,” he declared, “The bill is signed,” at 5:15 p.m.
O’Malley’s signature makes Maryland the eighth state and ninth jurisdiction to legalize same-sex marriage.
Marriage equality is also legal in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, New Hampshire, Vermont, New York, Washington state and the District of Columbia. The Washington law also faces a referendum effort.
Opponents, led by the Maryland Marriage Alliance, the chief organization pushing to repeal the marriage equality law, have vowed to collect more than the 55,736 signatures required to force a referendum on the law onto the 2012 ballot. They are expected to meet the necessary requirements for a referendum.
If upheld by voters via a referendum, the bill will go into effect on Jan. 1, 2013.
Following O’Malley’s signing of the bill, several organizations that played prominent roles in the bill’s passage issued statements celebrating a major milestone for the state’s LGBT community.
“The Governor’s signature today puts Maryland on the road to fairness for all families,” said Joe Solmonese, president of the national LGBT organization Human Rights Campaign (HRC). “This victory was possible thanks to the hard work of so many on the ground in Maryland. Our congratulations go to Governor O’Malley and our legislative allies who were incredible leaders in this effort.”
(Read more at Metro Weekly)
The American Foundation for Equal Rights and Broadway Impact announced that the Brad Pitt will join the cast of the West Coast premiere reading of the Proposition 8 play, 8, which will be live-streamed via YouTube this Saturday, beginning at 7:45 p.m. Pacific.
The staged reading is an unprecedented account of the U.S. district court trial in Perry v. Schwarzenegger (now Perry v. Brown), the suit filed by AFER to overturn Prop. 8, which stripped same-sex couples in California of the fundamental freedom to marry.
Brad Pitt will star as Judge Vaughn R. Walker, the man who found Prop. 8 unconstitutional, joining an already star-studded cast that includes George Clooney, Kevin Bacon, Jane Lynch, John C. Reilly, Chris Colfer, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Cleve Jones, George Takei, The Simpsons’ Yeardley Smith, and many more.
The same-sex couples at the heart of the piece will be played by Christine Lahti and Jamie Lee Curtis (who will star as plaintiffs Kris Perry and Sandy Stier, a lesbian couple together for 11 years and the parents of four boys) and Glee’s Matthew Morrison and White Collar’s Matt Bomer (who will play plaintiffs Paul Katami and Jeff Zarrillo, a gay couple together over 10 years).
The production — sponsored by Bryan Singer, director of The Usual Suspects and X-Men — takes place Saturday at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre in Los Angeles, and proceeds will benefit the fight for marriage equality at the federal level. The free live stream of the event is unprecedented for a cast of this magnitude.
(source)