Author: Randy Slovacek

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Five GOP Pres Candidates – “Re-instate DADT”

During CNN’s presidential debate in New Hampshire, five of the seven Republicans on stage rebuffed Gates and suggested that they would reinstate the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy:

– RICK SANTORUM: The military is “not for social experimentation.” Commanders should have a “system of discipline in place that punishes ‘bad behavior,’” he stressed.

– TIM PAWLENTY: Despite being the first presidential nominee to argue that he would bring back the policy and even go after the Congressional funding to implement repeal, Pawlenty stressed that he would listen to the commanders on the ground. “We’re in a nation in two wars. I think we need to pay deference to our military commanders, particularly our combatant commanders,” he said.

– MITT ROMNEY: “I believe it should have been kept in place until conflict was over.”

– NEWT GINGRICH: He said that he would reinstate the policy, if asked to do so by the military.

– MICHELE BACHMANN: “I would keep the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy”.

Only Ron Paul and Hermain Cain argued that they would not overturn the repeal.

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Possible GOP support for marriage equality in NY

Seven or more Senate Republicans have signaled Gov. Cuomo that they’re ready to legalize same-sex marriage, more than enough to put the controversial and historic measure over the top this week, The NY Post has learned.

A highly knowledgeable Senate insider said yesterday that “far more of the [GOP] members are in play than anyone realizes, including some surprising names from conservative upstate areas.”

Influences contributing to the changes of heart are secret Republican polls showing majority support for gay marriage in key swing districts and the strong possibility that the GOP could lose control of the Senate next year to Democrats campaigning on the issue, sources said.

But despite the growing support, passage of same-sex marriage remains uncertain at the start of the final full week of the legislative session.

This all sounds promising, however, I prefer to remain optimistic but cautious. This has happened before and the LGBT community has had the rug pulled out from under it.

A vote could come up this week.

UPDATE: Sen Alesi became the first (R) to announce that he’ll vote for the marriage bill. We’re two votes away. Stay tuned. Sen. Alesi is very important as the votes are done alphabetically. If he starts out voting ‘yes’ it could mean other will follow.

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More audience members speak about Tracy Morgan rant

It’s hard to imagine sitting in the audience while comedian Tracy Morgan unloaded a string of antigay comments from stage. But Cynthia Wagner and Katie Cleek don’t have to imagine. They were there. And the couple can’t stop reliving those tense moments. Part of them feels relieved to have made it out of the auditorium safely.

Without video of the tirade, it’s all the more difficult to understand what it must have been like to be a lesbian couple, cuddled closely in the pew-style seating of the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, caught with Wagner’s arm around Cleek when Morgan suddenly said over the microphone that there’s no such thing as women loving women. Witnesses say Morgan claimed all lesbians have “daddy issues” and just hate men.

“I wanted so badly to get up and leave but then the fear had me locked in those seats,” Wagner said. “There was no joke. Everyone was waiting with baited breath for the punch line.”

They waited as Morgan said gays should “quit being pussies” when it comes to bullying. They waited through him saying he would stab his son to death if he were gay. They waited for the punch line that should drain the tension out of the moment. But it never came, they say. Instead, much of the audience reacted with hoots and cheers to what sounded to the couple like a speech – a hate speech.

“People were more vocal upstairs but they were not around us,” Wagner said of the crowd’s reaction. “There was a kind of silence in our area because I think they knew.”

The worst part was feeling like the only two gay people, suddenly caught at an event where they weren’t welcome. It must have been like turning down an alley that you realize too late might be dangerous.

When the show was over, “we waited until almost everybody left,” Cleek said. And then they darted to the car. “We didn’t even hold hands as we walked out, and normally we do. We didn’t know what to expect at that point. Is someone going to say or do something to us now? And I’ve never felt like that – ever.”

Read more at Advocate.com

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Omaha Clergy: Being Gay Not A Sin

Omaha area ministers will publicly unveil a proclamation on Wednesday calling for an end to religious and civil discrimination based on sexual orientation.

Rev. Eric Elnes, pastor of Countryside Community Church, said the proclamation was created because, “we were just fed up with the popular notion that the Christian point of view is anti-gay.”

Elnes, who leads an Omaha church of 1,500 members at 87th Street and Pacific Street, said more than 100 ordained Christian ministers have signed the proclamation, including leaders from Lutheran, Episcopalian, United Church of Christ, Methodist and Presbyterian churches.

“We believe homosexuality is not a sin. It’s not a birth defect or a choice. God created people this way. And if God created them this way, they need to be honored for who they are, and fully included in church life and wider society,” said Elnes, whose words are reflected in the document.

More at ketv.com

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Tony Award Preview from NY Times

Going out on a limb here – predictions:

Best Play – War Horse

Best Musical Revival – Anything Goes

Best Revival of a Play – The Normal Heart

Best Musical – Book of Mormon

Best Actress in a Musical – Sutton Foster

Best Actor in a Musical – Norbert Leo Butz

Best Actor in a featured role in a musical – John Larroquette

Best Choreography – Anything Goes

Best Direction of a Musical – Book of Mormon

Best Direction of a Play – War Horse

Best Score and Best Book of a Musical – Book of Mormon

Best Actor and Best Actress in a featured role in a play – The Normal Heart

And Book of Mormon for a lot whole of other awards…

I’ll be watching. 🙂

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A third terrific ONJ review for Adelaide Festival

From smh.com.au: Two years ago Broadway diva Bernadette Peters got the torch song ball rolling for Campbell and his producer wife Lisa’s first cabaret festival.

Last year the honour went to Natalie Cole and, in a further change of pace, Newton-John’s concert may have been more country, pop and rock than cabaret but it hardly mattered given the outpouring of love in the room.

Essentially a collection of popular songs, including Suddenly and Let Me Be There, and such enduring hits as Xanadu and a suitably pumped-up Physical, the show was a reminder of how multi-faceted and evergreen a career it has been.

Backed by a tight band of US musicians and the consummate Adelaide Art Orchestra, the energy level and raunch factor lifted when the singer was joined on stage by Campbell for a rousing and playful You’re the One That I Want followed by a delightfully poised Hopelessly Devoted to You. One thing is certain – and the kids from Glee are right on track – Grease is still most definitely ”the word”.

Remarkably, Newtown-John retains the girl-next-door sweetness that helped make her a star and the resilience, faith and grace that only comes with age. The performance concluded with her signature tune I Honestly Love You penned by Peter Allen. But this was no pat ending. Beautifully arranged and sung, it was genuinely touching and sounded better than ever. On this celebratory night we may have been revelling in nostalgia but everyone was on their feet and having a ball.

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Rep. Gabby Giffords releases 1st photos since being shot

Two photos of a smiling Rep. Gabrielle Giffords were released early Sunday by her office, her hair shorn short but few other telling signs of her gunshot wound to the head.

The Facebook photos, the first clear snapshots of Giffords since the shooting five months ago, showed how far she has come since a gunman shot her in the left side of her forehead during a constituent meet-and-greet in a Safeway parking lot in Tucson.
But her spokeswoman, Pia Carusone, has cautioned that Giffords still has a long way to go in her recovery.

The photos show the congresswoman outside. She smiled directly into the camera in one, while she sat next to a woman in the other while smiling downward.

Giffords has been in a Houston rehab facility since two weeks after the Jan. 8 shooting. Six people were killed and 13 were injured, including Giffords.

Carusone said Friday that Giffords could be released sometime this month.

She said doctors and family are considering “many factors” while making the critical next-step decision to release Giffords from TIRR Memorial Hermann, the hospital where she has been undergoing intensive daily rehabilitation since late January.

Read more on MSNBC.

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Recharged Olivia Newton-John lifts the spirits

From The Australian: A sparklingly in-form Olivia Newton-John sent her audience into raptures at the opening weekend of the 11th Adelaide Cabaret Festival. The event’s headline performer made her long-awaited homecoming to Australia after an extended period overseas in a show of uplifting spirit, energy and generosity.

Looking trim and sprite in a sequined black outfit, she showed that she was thoroughly recharged and her voice is as fresh as ever. Her youthfully high range remains intact, her rhythmic timing is impeccable and she crosses styles from rock and pop to country with alacrity.

Early chart-toppers including Have You Ever Been Mellow, a swag of numbers from Grease, and a laid-back selection of country music songs made for a varied, well-rounded performance that was backed impressively by her own band and the Adelaide Art Orchestra.

But it was Newton-John’s inclusion of newer songs on themes of personal survival that made the performance special. Grace and Gratitude from 2006 and the tender Help Me To Heal, from her Grace And Gratitude Renewed album, revealed a woman of great stamina, optimism and heart. The cancer survivor shared very movingly with her audience the enormously positive spirit that has seen her prevail over hardship.

Cabaret is not her natural bag, but she slipped into this with success too in a memorably languid, breathy version of Over the Rainbow accompanied just by piano. It was transfixing, and proved how our Olivia continues to shine as bright as ever as one of Australia’s most indelible musical jewels.