LGBTQ news and entertainment
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| Graphic via Memeographs |
Atlantis Cruise Line’s Rich Campbell tells the San Diego Gay and Lesbian News that the line’s Baltic itinerary will skip it’s St. Petersberg, Russia port of call because the hostile anti-gay attitude of the current Putin regime has made Russia an unacceptable destination for a gay cruise.
Great job there, Putin. Thousands of tourist dollars turned away from your economy! Way to go!
A sneak peek at Queer Nation short film, “The Road to Sochi: The Olympic backstory sponsors won’t show you.”
(via Towleroad)
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| Graphic via Memeographs |
Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin (R) announced earlier this month that state-owned National Guard facilities will no longer allow any married couples to apply for spousal benefits, regardless of whether they are same-sex or opposite-sex.
The Supreme Court’s decision overturning the Defense of Marriage Act means that servicemembers with same-sex spouses are now eligible for federal benefits.
Fallin’s unusual tactic is designed to avoid having to recognize those couples, which she asserts would violate Oklahoma’s constitutional amendment limiting marriage to one man and one woman:
FALLIN: Oklahoma law is clear. The state of Oklahoma does not recognize same-sex marriages, nor does it confer marriage benefits to same-sex couples. The decision reached today allows the National Guard to obey Oklahoma law without violating federal rules or policies. It protects the integrity of our state constitution and sends a message to the federal government that they cannot simply ignore our laws or the will of the people.
Although Oklahoma owns most of the state National Guard facilities, they were built almost entirely with Federal funds. AND the federal government provides about 90 percent of the budget for the Oklahoma Military Department, which includes the National Guard.
I would say the Federal guidelines would be in play here.
By making this decision, Gov. Fallin forces all married couples to travel much farther than they should to obtain the appropriate ID card for military benefits.
Mind you – this is all about merely ACCEPTING an application at a National Guard facility. The state-wide policy has been changed and will inconvenience hundreds of married couples, gay and straight, just so Oklahoma can say “we don’t respect same-sex marriages.”
Sad, sad, sad…
(source)
The anti-gay, anti-equal rights National Organization for Marriage and its affiliated “Education Fund” combined to spend more than $16.5 million in 2012, according to the groups’ newly released tax filings. More than $6 million of this money went to fight against same-sex marriage in seven states — six of which now have marriage equality — as well as numerous other failed political efforts.
While the NOM Education Fund (its 501(c)(3) arm) ended the year with about $1.6 million in the bank, NOM’s main 501(c)(4) account ended 2012 more than $2.7 million in debt.
A large portion of the money went to fund the failed campaigns in Minnnesota, Washington, Maine, and Maryland. NOM also gave $425K to fund the successful constitutional ban in North Carolina.
Despite the seven-figure deficit, NOM increased the salaries of its key employees from 2011 to 2012.
More at Talking Points Memo
The virulently anti-gay National Organization for Marriage (NOM) is yet again illegally withholding key financial tax documents from the public, HRC reports:
Federal law requires organizations to publicly release their 990s the same day an in-person request is made. As a result, HRC has filed a complaint with the IRS in order to compel NOM to abide by the law.
“NOM’s inability to meet one of the most basic accounting standards for any organization makes you wonder what exactly is going on – are they simply demonstrating the same flagrant disregard they have for numerous state campaign finance laws, or is there something in these documents that reflects even more poorly on the organization and their failed work?” said Fred Sainz, HRC Vice President of Communications. “Brian Brown apparently had enough time on Friday to pull together a fundraising email feigning outrage at the marriage equality victory in Hawaii, but didn’t have time to ensure his organization was running in accordance with the law. NOM should do the right thing and immediately release these financial documents that the public has a right to see.”
[snip]
According to NOM’s 2011 990s, obtained by HRC last year, the anti-LGBT organization raised only $6.2 million, a precipitous drop from the $9.1 million it raised in 2010. The documents also revealed that nearly 75 percent of NOM’s fundraising came from just two deep-pocketed donors.
What are they hiding this year?
(via Towleroad)
This past weekend, Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) gave the keynote speech at the anti-gay group Florida Family Policy Council’s annual awards dinner.
From the AP report:
“The moral well-being of our nation is our business. It’s everybody’s business,” Rubio said to applause at the Florida Family Policy Council fundraising dinner. “The debate we should be having isn’t whether or not we have a right to talk about values and morals in the public square, the debate we should be having instead is which values and morals our nation should focus on.”
[snip]
The dinner was raising money for the group that led the petition drive to put a gay marriage ban on the state ballot. The constitutional amendment was approved by voters in 2008. Videos shown before and after Rubio spoke showed its president, John Stemberger, speaking against gay marriage, gay scout masters and allowing people who have had sex changes to teach in schools.
Rubio recently voted against the Employment Non-Discrimination Act that would outlaw workplace discrimination against those in the LGBT community.
(via Towleroad)
Alec Baldwin’s fledgling talk show on MSNBC has been suspended for at least two weeks due to the actor allegedly using anti-gay slurs in chasing a photographer who attempted to photograph his family.
The Advocate has the story:
The photographer approached Baldwin, who was with his wife and child, outside his Manhattan apartment Thursday morning, and Baldwin responded by calling him a “cocksucking little fag,” among other things. Video of the encounter was posted by TMZ.
Baldwin apologized for his conduct in a statement posted on the MSNBC website Friday. “What I said and did this week, as I was trying to protect my family, was offensive and unacceptable,” the statement reads in part. “Behavior like this undermines hard-fought rights that I vigorously support. I understand ‘Up Late’ will be taken off the schedule for tonight and next week.”
Openly gay CNN host Anderson Cooper didn’t take to Baldwin’s behavior or response too kindly:
Wow, Alec Baldwin shows his true colors yet again. How is he going to lie and excuse his anti-gay slurs this time?
— Anderson Cooper (@andersoncooper) November 15, 2013
Just read Alec Baldwin’s latest excuses. They are actually so ridiculous they are funny
— Anderson Cooper (@andersoncooper) November 15, 2013
Ron English, recently fired Eastern Michigan University head football coach during his fifth season, has expressed regret about his angry rant against his team that took place in October and included a gay slur, among other expletives. School officials have verified the authenticity of a recording of the tirade, and also that the rant was among the reasons for English’s dismissal.
The Detroit News reports:
“I received a tape of a situation in which Coach English had addressed the team and used wholly inappropriate language,” Eastern athletic director Heather Lyke said in the statement Saturday.
“We hold our coaches and staff to high standards of professionalism and conduct and there is no place, particularly in a student environment, where the language is appropriate. The statements made by Coach English are absolutely unacceptable. My decision to make a change in leadership of our football program was the culmination of a lot of factors including the comprehensive review of our program, the competitive performance and this tape.
In an interview with the AP, English seemed particularly regretful about his usage of the gay slur, and he hoped that this incident would not impede the continuation of his career elsewhere.
“As a man who has coached 21 years, obviously, on this occasion and particular meeting, I lost my poise, got upset and used language that was inappropriate, particularly as it pertains to homosexual slurs. I regret that,” English told the AP in a telephone interview Saturday, hours after the school released a statement explaining why he was fired the previous day.
“I apologize to the university for putting it in this position and tarnishing its reputation. I look forward to continuing a career that has been marked by molding men of integrity, passion, and intensity for 21 years.”
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| Thomas Roberts on the Miss Universe Pageant Red Carpet with husband Patrick Abner |
Speaking on the red carpet of the Miss Universe Pageant in Russia before his hosting duties, MSNBC News anchor Thomas Roberts addressed the anti-gay laws and legislation taking place in Russia:
“I know the law is very vague and still hard to interpret for many people,” Roberts stated. “But it is discrimination and that’s definitive. And I don’t think that the LGBT population in Russia or anywhere should be marginalized to that degree. We are not asking for special protection. We’re just asking for equal respect.”
The anti-gay hating leaders of the world are gnashing their teeth over the upcoming ENDA vote in the US Senate today.
La, la, la, la, la….
🙂
(h/t JMG)