LGBTQ news and entertainment
The Maryland State Senate just passed Marriage Equality on a vote of 25-21.
From here the Civil Marriage Protection Act goes to the more Democratic leaning House of Delegates. Governor Martin O’Malley has indicated he has every intention of signing this bill into law.
Maryland would become the sixth state along with the District of Columbia to have marriage equality.
Go Maryland!
Great speech by the Governor of Hawaii, Gov. Neil Abercrombie.
Thank you state of Hawaii for your respect! Equality is epic.
“E komo mai” – all are welcome!
This video shows a dream-like segment of James Franco and Anne Hathaway acting out the carnival scene from the end of “Grease”.
Kinda cool. Maybe Oscar material???
Bless her heart. But she looked good.
(tip from Bill Nolte)
So I’m feeling very excited.
In less than a month of working on this here blog, The Randy Report just hit it’s 3,000th visit!
Thank you to everyone who stops by to reads my little rants, opinions and soapbox dance.
Please come back often. I hope to entertain and enlighten just a bit.
This morning, during a segment regarding the current protests happening in Wisconsin with that state’s Governor Walker working to strip workers of the right to collective bargaining, co-host Brian Kilmeade referenced a poll by Gallup in today’s USAToday in a discussion with Democratic strategist Robert Zimmerman.
KILMEADE: Wow. But is President Obama out of step with history? Joining us now to debate it, knock it around just a little bit, Democratic strategist Robert Zimmerman and Jim Glassman, Director of the Bush Center and author of the book Safety Net. First things first, Robert, do you think the president is taking a big risk here? ZIMMERMAN: Not at all. I think he’s showing respect for history and respect for our history of supporting the rights and safety of workers, but more than that, he’s speaking for the mainstream of our country and the main stream of Republican governors that are not siding with Governor Walker in his efforts to overturn right to work — collective bargaining. KILMEADE: I think Gallup, a relatively mainstream poll, has a differing view. And here is the question that was posed, should you take away–will you favor or are you in disfavor of taking away collective bargaining when it comes to salaries for government workers? Sixty-one percent in favor of taking it away. Thirty-three percent oppose. Six percent up in the air. [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 2/23/11]
The “network” even made a pretty graphic showing the “results” of the poll: The problem was: the “network” switched the results. 44 minutes later, in the very last minute of the broadcast, Kilmeade corrected his misstatement saying a quick “I apologize.” Here’s the correct results of the Gallup poll: I’m sure it was all just a silly error. I’m also sure I just saw a unicorn.
In a poll released today in USA Today, a strong majority – 61% of those polled – support Americans right to collective bargaining. For eight days now, the country has focused on the fight happening in Wisconsin where Gov. Scott Walker has urged passing a bill stripping workers of their right to collective bargaining. In response to that, 14 state senators have left the state leaving the senate without a quorum to pass legislation. While Walker contends that ending collective bargaining will help balance the budget, union negotiators say they have already agreed to the concessions originally sought by the Governor. State Democrats say the Governor is pursuing this legislation in an effort to “break” the unions due to the traditional union support for Democrats. Similar protests have broken out in Indiana and other states. Union workers across the nation have organized protests in their own state to show support for Wisconsin union members.
According to the NY Times, in a letter sent by Attorney General Eric Holder to Congress today, the Obama Administration stated that it believes the 1996 so-called “Defense of Marriage Act” (which bans the federal government from recognizing the marriages of gay and lesbian couples) is unconstitutional, and the Department of Justice will no longer defend DOMA in court.
From Attorney General Eric Holder: “After careful consideration, including a review of my recommendation, the President has concluded that given a number of factors, including a documented history of discrimination, classifications based on sexual orientation should be subject to a more heightened standard of scrutiny. The President has also concluded that Section 3 of DOMA, as applied to legally married same-sex couples, fails to meet that standard and is therefore unconstitutional. Given that conclusion, the President has instructed the Department not to defend the statute in such cases. I fully concur with the President’s determination.”
Here is a link to his full statement.
Laws that unequally affect a group protected by that test are presumptively unconstitutional, and may only be upheld if lawmakers purpose in enacting them serves a compelling governmental interest.
CA Senator Dianne Feinstein says she intends to sponsor repeal of the law: “As a Member of the Judiciary Committee, it is my intention to introduce legislation that will once and for all repeal the Defense of Marriage Act. My own belief is that when two people love each other and enter the contract of marriage, the Federal government should honor that. I opposed the Defense of Marriage Act in 1996. It was the wrong law then; it is the wrong law now; and it should be repealed.”
House Speaker John Boehner questioned the Obama administration’s decision to halt its legal defense of DOMA. “While Americans want Washington to focus on creating jobs and cutting spending, the President will have to explain why he thinks now is the appropriate time to stir up a controversial issue that sharply divides the nation,” he said in a statement.
In a twist of irony, Boehner has stated that the Republicans came into their majority to create jobs and yet, since taking control of the House, they have focused on repealing health care reform and other issues with no movement on actually “creating jobs.”
Ok, so I usually hate long videos on the internet, but this is actually very straight forward and explains things in a very easy to understand way.
Rachel Maddow takes facts and shows why the governor of Wisconsin, who got all the financial concessions he wanted, still wants to strip Wisconsin union workers of their rights of collective bargaining.
Basically it goes like this: get rid of unions, fewer Democrats, fewer Democrats to win elections.
By the way, he apparently tried a similar tactic earlier in his career firing union security guards and then hired a private security company. A company with a history of partying on the job in Iraq. The security “chief” hired in that instance in Wisconsin had a police record including jail time. And in the end, the move didn’t save nearly as much money as promised by Walker.
It’s a very interesting explanation. Watch.
So, as we go along the journey of The Randy Report you’ll notice I have a few favorite things: great music, the triumph of equality, my husband Michael, my best friend Carlye, and you can add to that mix The Chippendales. Michael is the national press rep for the show, so we’ve gotten to know the guys pretty well over the past five years or so. They are really cool guys, and I always have a great time at the show. (Contrary to popular belief, men are allowed at the show. We see married couples, boyfriends and girlfriends, gay men at the show all the time). The show in Las Vegas is at The Rio Hotel and Casino in The Chippendales’ $10 Million theater complex with it’s own cool lounge/bar and theater. The show isn’t what they used to call “strip and tip” anymore. It’s a “production” show with the vast majority of the show taking place with the guys on stage doing production numbers. It’s never vulgar and a lot of fun – no tipping, no dollar bills or any of that. The guys have been featured on The View, ELLEN, The Wendy Williams Show, Oprah, and tons of reality shows. Michael has gotten press for guests at the show like Ronnie from Jersey Shore, Karina Smirnoff from Dancing With The Stars, Olivia Newton-John, Dorothy Hamill, Mel B from The Spice Girls, Holly Madison from Holly’s World and Peepshow… Just a ton of stuff. Three of the guys – Lind, Billy and Jaymes – are on ELLEN today as a special surprise for a guest. If you can, watch. It’s always fun to watch the audience members lose their minds. I celebrate women having such a good time enjoying the idea of good looking, sexy men. It’s always a good, light-hearted fun time. There’s almost a universal reaction of “look, then scream.” So fun. Oh yeah… I have a good time too. What’s not to like? Watch and have a good time kids.