Category: Uncategorized

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Anti-gay NC state senator James Forrester falsifies credentials

Pam’s House Blend breaks the news today that N.C. State Senator James Forrester, who supports banning marriage equality in North Carolina, not only has publicly put forward false information regarding HIV/AIDS – he has falsely claimed credentials as a Fellow of the American College of Preventive Medicine.

Equality supporter Scott Rose has written an open letter to the Senator which, in part, states the following:

“I was dismayed recently to hear your radio interview with Mike Signorile. There is a strong appearance that although you are a licensed physician, you intentionally falsify health care information and health care statistics in a political context in order fraudulently to demonize LGBT human beings and to motivate anti-gay bigots to strengthen the currently pertaining sexual orientation apartheid in our society. Your behavior in that runs counter to medical ethics. And speaking of medical ethics, your online bios claim that you are a Fellow of the American College of Preventive Medicine, but today, ACPM officials told me that you are not a member, still less a Fellow, which is their highest level of distinction, and that they would be asking you to remove your phony claim from the internet.”

Michael Barry, Executive Director of the American College of Preventive Medicine, responded to Scott Rose in a letter:

“Thanks for bringing this to our attention. The quick answer to your questions is that Dr. Forrester is not, and never has been, a member of ACPM (much less a Fellow, which is our highest designation of membership). However, this is troubling to us, too, that he’s apparently claiming to be a Fellow of ACPM, and we would like to know where Dr. Forrester is making these proclamations so that we can approach him and demand that he cease falsely using ACPM credentials in his campaign or wherever else he’s using it.”

I believe the correct phrase here is  – BUSTED.

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Airman Randy Phillips, who came out on youtube, tells his mom he’s gay

It’s such an awkward conversation to have. And Randy Phillips has the whole conversation here. Good for him.

I was lucky that my father took the news really well, and it was a weight off my shoulders. It made my life better being able to be honest with my family about who I am.

I do remember the only thing my grandmother said was “don’t let anyone at work know” – to which I had to explain I worked in musical theater… 🙂

But it’s not such an easy thing for everyone. My husband came out to his parents soon after we met 17 years ago.

We realized we needed to give his parents some time to adjust to the news. I met his mother a couple of years later and she’s great. But in 17 years, giving his father time to “adjust,” his father has never shown any interest in speaking to or meeting me. I realize it’s not my place to force myself into their family, so I continue to wait. 17 years and counting.

I’m very happy Randy Phillips has had the experience he did, and for the rest of his life knows he can move forward with honesty, dignity, and the love and support of his family and friends. This video will let others know that while it can be an uncomfortable conversation, it most often goes much better than we imagine it in our heads.

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Jessica Simpson Postpones Wedding to Eric Johnson

Does anyone think it’s of interest that she’s more concerned
about looking at the camera than the kiss?

Via USmagazine: No race to the altar here!

Jessica Simpson’s ex-hubby Nick Lachey remarried in July, but Jessica is in no rush to say “I do” to fiance Eric Johnson. Although it’s been over 10 months since Johnson, 32, proposed, insiders tell the new Us Weekly — on stands Friday — that all wedding plans have been put on hold.

“Everything is up in the air,” a source tells Us. “She can’t figure out what kind of day she wants. Some days she wants a big wedding in Hawaii, then other days she wants something closer to home.”

But some of the 30-year-old singer’s friends fear the delay is due to more than just venue indecision. “She was so gung ho about planning their wedding, and now she’s gone dark,” says a pal. “She won’t commit to a date.”

Jessica has had quite the long history of famous men. Click here to see some of the more memorable, or not so memorable.

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NJ Gov. Chris Christie keeps saying ‘no’ to running for Prez

Clearly the bulk of the GOP primary voters are not “thrilled” with their choices of candidates, which must make Mitt Romney grind his teeth at night.

As speculation continues as to whether NJ Governor Chris Christie may or may not go ahead and jump in the race – or be “drafted,” this video will clearly provide fodder for the Obama campaign should Christie get in the race after saying over and over again “I’m not ready.”

“First, in your heart, you’ve got to want it more than anything else. I don’t want it that badly.”

“You have to believe in your heart and your mind that you are ready, and I don’t.”

Those could come back to haunt him in some strong political ads should he decide to change his mind…

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Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher split

In the wake of yet another cheating scandal, Demi Moore has had enough of her toy boy husband Ashton Kutcher’s philandering and is ready to call it quits.

According to an exclusive report in Star Magazine, the May to December marriage is over because of Kutcher’s infidelities and the couple have been living apart for some time.

Instead of celebrating his sixth wedding anniversary (which was on September 24), the new star of Two and A Half Men spent last Friday flirting with scantily-clad women at Fluxx nightclub in San Diego, the new issue of Star Magazine exclusively reveals, where he looked nothing like a happily-married man.
(via radaronline)

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45th Anniversary of Marlo Thomas in “That Girl”

From Marlo Thomas on HuffingtonPost: “I received an email wishing me a happy 45th anniversary the other day and my first thought was, “Phil and I have only been married for 30 years.” And then I realized it wasn’t my wedding they were talking about — it was the anniversary of “That Girl.”

“Hard to believe now but 45 years ago, my character Ann Marie, was the only girl in town. In this season’s television lineup, there are nearly a dozen new shows starring bright, funny young women: “New Girl,” “2 Broke Girls,” “Whitney,” and others. And as they did with Ann Marie, the young women watching today will not only be entertained by these “girls”, they’ll also think, “Hey, that’s me!” Or, ” Wow, that could be me!” And that is one of the best things television can do: give people a chance to see themselves transformed.”

“Ann Marie seemed like a revolutionary figure at the time but, in truth, every home had a “That Girl” in it. She was the right character for that moment in time. She moved away from the traditional idea of a young woman in the society — she was independent, living alone, not defined by her family. She was out in the world and working for the life she wanted. She was making her own choices.”

Bill Persky said at the time, “‘That Girl’ threw a hand grenade into the bunker, and all the other female characters walked right through.”

“Every generation has it’s own grenade throwers. Chris Colfer is one as the scene-stealing Kurt Hummel on Glee — a character that truly impacts the lives of gay teenagers. And the loving gay couple on Modern Family. These characters show us television’s willingness — however late-coming — to embrace gay people and their relationships.”

“When I think of the 45th anniversary of “That Girl”, I like to envision a fabulous dinner party with all the women who followed Ann Marie. Mary Richards would be there, throwing her cap up in the air. Kate & Allie, who represented the first contemporary single moms on TV, would be there, too (they’d have to get a sitter, but still). I can see Ann worrying about Rosanne, who’s pretty outspoken and wondering if she’d like anyone. But then sitting her next to Murphy Brown, who’s got a few opinions of her own, and watching those two get along great. And then she’d put Rachel from Friends next to Carrie Bradshaw. We’d invite Donald — but of course, he couldn’t stay over. And Mr Big who could.”

“What a great celebration it would be. And I know every one of those women would love hanging out with each other. After all, they’re all from the same family tree.”

I love that you can now buy the series on Amazon. Click here to peruse That Girl – Season One

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Video: Hunter Parrish and Broadway cast of GODSPELL

From Playbill.com: Hunter Parrish, Telly Leung, Lindsay Mendez and the rest of the cast of the upcoming Broadway revival of Godspell gathered Sept. 26 for a special preview of the show.

Along with performances from the New Testament musical, we hear from the show’s Academy and Grammy Award winning composer/lyricist Stephen Schwartz (Wicked, Pippin) and some of the performers about what makes this production of special.

Godspell begins previews at Circle in the Square Theatre Oct. 13.

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VP Joe Biden Calls Booing Of Gay Soldier ‘Reprehensible’

From Towleroad: The boos during the question from the gay soldier during last week’s GOP debate are still resonating.

Today, VP Joe Biden appeared on The View and called the booing “reprehensible” and Joy Behar scolded the panel for not speaking up or chastising the audience.

Meanwhile, the Democratic National Committee is making hay of the incident in a new attack ad against the GOP.

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“L Word” actress removed from Southwest Airlines flight

Yesterday much news was made about musician and “L Word” actress Leisha Haley being escorted off of Southwest Airlines for kissing her ‘Uh Huh Her’ bandmate and girlfriend Camila Grey. Hailey and Grey have released a formal statement saying they were told Southwest was a “family airline” when they were escorted off for “one, modest kiss”. They say they will be filing a formal complaint.

Hailey and Grey’s statement:
“We have always promoted tolerance, openness and equality both as a band and as individuals. We both come from loving homes where our parents not only love and accept us, but are also proud of who we are. We believe everyone has the right to live openly in this society as equals. In no way were our actions on Southwest Airlines excessive, inappropriate or vulgar. We want to make it clear we were not making out or creating any kind of spectacle of ourselves, it was one, modest kiss. We are responsible adult women who walk through the world with dignity. We were simply being affectionate like any normal couple. We were on the airplane less than 5 minutes when all was said and done. We take full responsibility for getting verbally upset with the flight attendant after being told it was a “family airline.” We were never told the reason the flight attendant approached us, we were only scolded that we “needed to be aware that Southwest Airlines was a family oriented airline.”

“No matter how quietly homophobia is whispered, it doesn’t make it any less loud. You can’t whisper hate. We ask this airline to teach their employees to not discriminate against any couple, ever, regardless of their own beliefs. We want to live in a society where if your loved one leans over to give you an innocent kiss on an airplane it’s not labeled as “excessive or not family oriented” by a corporation and it’s employees. We find it very disturbing that the same airline who lauds itself as being LGBT friendly has twisted an upsetting incident that happened into our behavior being “too excessive.” The above is not an apology and we are in the process of filing a formal complaint with the airline. We hope that when all is said and done a greater tolerance without prejudice will evolve.”

Southwest released this statement yesterday:
“Initial reports indicate that we received several passenger complaints characterizing the behavior as excessive. Our crew, responsible for the comfort of all Customers on board, approached the passengers based solely on behavior and not gender. The conversation escalated to a level that was better resolved on the ground, as opposed to in flight. We regret any circumstance where a passenger does not have a positive experience on Southwest and we are ready to work directly with the passengers involved to offer our heartfelt apologies for falling short of their expectations.”

Southwest released a new statement late today, following the release of Hailey’s statement:
“Additional reports from our Employees and Customers onboard flight 2274 during a stop in El Paso on Sunday now confirm profane language was being used loudly by two passengers.  At least one family who was offended by the loud profanity moved to another area of the cabin.  Although we have reports of what Customers characterize as an excessive public display of affection, ultimately their aggressive reaction led to their removal from the aircraft.  We do not tolerate discrimination against anyone for any reason.  In this situation, their removal was directly and solely related to the escalated conversation that developed onboard the aircraft.”

“Our tenets of inclusion and celebration of diversity among our Customers and Employees-including those in the LGBT communities-anchor our Culture of mutual respect and following the Golden Rule.   The more than 100 million people who fly Southwest each year reflect the great diversity of our country and our Company – and ALL are valued and welcome.  In fact, we’ve been recognized as a leader in diversity throughout our 40 years of service.”

“Our Customer Advocacy Team reached out to extend goodwill and a full refund for an experience that fell short of the passengers’ expectation.”

Stay tuned for further developments in this “she said/she said” situation…