Majority of New Jersey voters support marriage equality

From OnTopMag: A majority of New Jersey voters say gay marriage should be legal, according to a Rutgers-Eagleton Poll released Friday.

Fifty-two percent of the 903 adults contacted by telephone (landline and cell phone) from October 6-9 said “same-sex marriage” should be legalized. Approval jumps up to 61 percent when the term “marriage equality” is substituted.

Opposed to the union are 39 percent when the term “same-sex marriage” is used. Opposition drops to 27 percent when the term is exchanged with “marriage equality.”

“Support for legalizing same-sex relations in New Jersey continues to be solid,” said poll Director David Redlawsk, a professor of political science at Rutgers University. “Young people are overwhelmingly in favor, though a majority of all age groups is supportive, except for those 65 and over. Whatever it is called, support for state recognition of same-sex marriage remains strong and most likely will grow over time.”

Rick Perry supports repeal of NH marriage equality

Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry, pandering to conservatives in New Hampshire, praised legislators in the state for working to repeal the state’s same-sex marriage law.

“As conservatives we believe in the sanctity of life. We believe in the sanctity of traditional marriage,” Perry said at the annual banquet for Cornerstone Action, a conservative advocacy group. “And I applaud those legislators in New Hampshire who are working to defend marriage as an institution between one man and one woman, realizing that children need to be raised in a loving home by a mother and a father.”

In June 2009, New Hampshire became the sixth state to legalize gay marriage. A bill to repeal New Hampshire’s gay marriage law passed a House committee this week.

In August, Perry signed a pledge to support a constitutional amendment against gay marriage.

SRSLY. A candidate for public office campaigning for inequality.

Olivia Newton-John conquers Rome Film Festival with new comedy

Translated from abc.es: The Australian actress Olivia Newton-John won the critical acclaim of the International Film Festival of Rome with her performance in the comedy “A Few Best Men”, where she plays a crazed mother-of-the-bride, fond of cocaine and alcohol, at the wedding of her daughter.

The Australian film, directed by Stephan Elliott, was presented out of competition this Friday and received applause from the audience after its screening on the third day of the event, which runs through Nov. 4.

Barbara (John Newton) is married to a wealthy Australian senator. After meeting the fiancé of his daughter Mia (Laura Brent), he instructs his wife to take charge of the ceremony to be held in a few days and which will be in the presence of Australian Parliament.

The groom (Xavier Samuel) of Mia, a Londoner who falls for the girl on a deserted island and decides to ask her to marry, returns to his hometown to report the news to his three best friends, who are responsible for turning the perfect wedding into a nest of problems and surreal situations.

“There is something crazy in this film and I wanted a change of scenery, so I seized the opportunity offered me Stephan Elliott,” Olivia said at a press conference, who was delighted with her new role.

However, she acknowledged that the character of Sandy in the musical “Grease”, with which gained fame for more than 23 years, will be with her forever.

“There are still many girls in the street who stop me and, obviously, none of them were born in 1978. I am very grateful to this character and I must say I deeply love Sandy” said the actress.

The Australian director, also present in Rome, joked about the famous film character “We wanted to kill “Sandy” and that’s why we have her character abusing drugs and alcohol,” he said.

Olivia Newton John explained that in those years, she starred in such films as “Grease” and “Xanadu,” starring roles suited to their age, and although she has a huge affection for them, she now looks for roles that are more serious, more suited to her age. “Although they have to be a little crazy,” he added with a laugh.

Jonathan Groff returns to GLEE

Jonathan Groff is bringing Jesse St. James back to Glee later this season, but there’s a twist — and a juicy one at that: The student has now become the teacher!

At an event celebrating the show’s 300th musical performance on Wednesday, exec producer Ryan Murphy revealed that Groff will appear in multiple episodes as the coach of New Directions’ rival choir Vocal Adrenaline.

Murphy added that Glee Project runner-up Alex Newell would ” have many scenes” with Groff.
(via TVLine.com)

Threat to repeal marriage equality in Spain

Next month’s general elections threaten to undo Spain’s 6-year-old gay marriage law.

The Socialist government of Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, which swept into office in 2004, looks to be on the outs. Polling shows the conservative Popular Party (PP) with a 15-point lead over Socialists.

Zapatero’s government legalized gay marriage over the objections of the Catholic Church and the PP, which filed a legal challenged to the law based on technical grounds.

Mariano Rajoy, the leader of the PP, has previously said he believes the law is unconstitutional and that he would “change” it even if the nation’s highest court ruled it constitutional.

“I will listen to the court, but I don’t like the fact that there is gay marriage and I don’t think it is constitutional,” he told daily El Pais. “What I don’t like is the word ‘marriage.’”

While repeal of the law seems doubtful, gay and lesbian couples in the country are taking the threat seriously. In the past several months, a sharp uptick in the number of couples marrying has been reported in the Spanish press.
(via OnTopMagazine)

Olivia on the red carpet – International Rome Film Fest

Olivia Newton-John, with husband John Easterling and director Stephan Elliott, on the red carpet of the Rome International Film Festival for the European premiere of her new movie “A Few Best Men.”

Click here for video of Olivia on the red carpet with director Stephan Elliott.

Click here to see Italian news coverage of Olivia at the Film Festival.

Looks like she’s having a lot of fun. AND I love the leather dress! Go Livvy!

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Dow on track for biggest monthly gain in history

From ThinkProgress: Despite conservatives’ claims that the rhetoric used by President Obama and the 99 Percent Movement is hurting the economy, the stock market is on track to have one of its best months in history.

The Dow had added about 1200 points this month by the closing bell yesterday, which would be the biggest point gain in the index’s history.

The S&P 500 also had its biggest point gain in history this month. Measured by percentage, both indices are on track for their best month since 1987.

Yeah – President Obama’s policies are clearly bad for business…

Are you paying attention Wall Street?  Seniors – are you seeing your retirement accounts go up?

Thought so.

Joe Manganiello in Las Vegas

Joe Manganiello, star of HBO’s True Blood and the upcoming movie Magic Mike, brought his sexy self to the red carpet at the Palms Hotel in Las Vegas, where he hosted a party at Moon Nightclub on Oct. 27 – just across the street from the Rio Hotel where the Chippendales perform!

Given his role in the upcoming Magic Mike movie and his character “Big Dick Richie” – why couldn’t he have just dropped by for a little “hey!” with his female fans???

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