Tag: Dallas

Posted on

Dallas: Police Officer Urges Pension Board To Recognize Same-Sex Marriage

Thursday’s meeting of the Dallas Police and Fire Pension Board grew heated at times, as the board considered recognizing same-sex marriages. The best moment came when one police officer told the pension board to “grow the nuts that God gave a gnat and do it.”

From WFAA-TV:

The hours of squabbling and litany of failed attempts to spur the board to action stirred the police and fire personnel in the audience to speak out. Ernest Sherman (right) with Dallas police rose and shouted at the trustees.

“I have no dog in this hunt,” Sherman yelled. “But, by God, you’re a [expletive] police officer. So is she. So is she. They have the same right as you! Period!”

“You will vote today as a board, up or down,” Sherman continued, pointing at board members. “Grow the [expletive] that God gave a knat and do it!”

In the end, the board decided to punt the issue down the road until SCOTUS ruled on same-sex marriage.

Posted on

Dallas Billboard Promotes “Ex-Gay” Therapy, Billboard Company Promises To Remove Ad

A Dallas billboard recently went up promoting the use of “ex-gay” or “reparative” therapy.

As many know today, these techniques are used to try and “convert” gays and lesbians from homosexual to straight. Organizations like the American Psychological Association consider the practices harmful and damaging.

From ThinkProgress:

ThinkProgress spoke with Terry Kafka, president of Impact Outdoor Advertising, the small Dallas billboard company that is hosting the ad. Kafka explained that they had been convinced the ad was for couples therapy, having never heard the term “reparative therapy” before.

He described the true content of the ad as “repulsive to me personally,” promising that the ad would be coming down by next week at the latest. “If we had known, we wouldn’t have put it up in the first place.”

The practitioner who placed the ad, David Pickup,  says his techniques are not meant to “suppress” homosexuality but “resolving issues that cause homosexuality.” He tells ThinkProgress that he believes no one is born gay but instead come about due to childhood “gender identity inferiority” and “unmet male emotional needs.”

The Texas Republican Party endorsed ex-gay therapy in its platform last year.

Posted on

Drunk Homophobic Attacker At DFW Airport Gets Slap On The Wrist

Back in October I reported on an incident at Dallas/Fort Worth Airport where an apparently drunk man attacked a man for being perceived to be gay. After his arrest, theories abounded that he would receive a mere slap on the wrist for his violent behavior.

And now, that’s exactly what happened.

Towleroad has the details:

The passenger who went on a drunken, violent, anti-gay rampage that was caught on video at DFW International Airport in October will pay $474 in fines for the incident, according to a court spokeswoman.

McCleish Christmas Benham, now 28, of Shelbyville, Tennessee, assaulted two people while yelling anti-gay epithets, before other passengers tackled him to the ground and he was arrested on Oct. 23.

A bystander captured the incident on video and posted it on YouTube, where it’s been viewed more than 5 million times.

Benham was charged with public intoxication and simple assault, both class-C misdemeanors each punishable by a maximum $500 fine, but no jail time. The case was referred to the Municipal Court in the city of Grapevine, Texas.

When asked by police how many alcoholic drinks he had had, Benham replied: ‘About 100.’

A cellphone video of the altercation has received over 5 million views.

Posted on

Dallas: Drunk Homophobe Gets Taken Down After Attacking Possibly Gay Man

In an apparent anti-gay attack, a seemingly drunk traveler attacked what he clearly assumed was a gay man at Dallas/Fort Worth Airport yesterday.

From Raw Story:

The video is dated Thursday, October 23, and shows an unnamed angry man bellowing and threatening another passenger who is wearing a jacket and a pink shirt.

A tall man in a black cowboy hat approaches and asks the angry man what he’s upset about.

“Queers!” the man shouted. “That’s what I’m upset about. This faggot right here.”

After a tense exchange, the angry man kicks the man in the pink shirt, then slaps at him and grabs his hair.

A number of people rush to intervene as the man is tackled and put on the floor.

The man in the cowboy hat can be heard saying loudly, “No way! No way, you motherfucker. You ain’t doin’ that fucking shit, motherfucker.”

You can hear the man as he’s being handcuffed saying “I punched him square in the mouth in the fuckin’ mouth is what I did. Because this is America. When I get up I’m gonna beat the shit out of him.”

Props to the folks who jump in so quick.  AND to Andrew Kennedy who captured the scuffle on video.

Posted on

Dallas morning show host Amy Kushnir on what’s “appropriate” for TV

Graphic via Memeographs

On Tuesday, Dallas morning show host Amy Kushnir stormed off the set in the middle of a segment because she was so upset that ESPN showed NFL draftee Michael Sam kiss his boyfriend in a moment of celebration.

Last night, she appeared on FOX News to explain that she “loves everyone” but she worries about certain subject matter being shown on television at inappropriate times.

Please note Ms. Kushnir’s excitement when she hosted the world-famous Chippendales on her show in February. At the end of the segment, she ends up – quite comfortably – being picked up and held the handsome hunks.

Now my readers know I love me some Chippendales. The Chippendales offer good, clean fun. The guys even point out during their interview that their show is “production number” based and they don’t do the “strip and tip” thing. No G-strings, no dollar bills. Just fun.

I have no problem seeing the Chipps on morning TV, just as I have no problem with Michael Sam giving his bf a kiss in celebration.  You see WAY more skin and kissing on any soap opera these days.  And I don’t mind that, either… 🙂

But Ms. Kushnir seems to “slice and dice” morality on TV a bit more precisely than I.  In the segment Tuesday, she indicated that it was the Michael Sam kiss on TV that bothered her and had it been a straight couple, she would have said “get a room!” 

OR – is the issue really the fact that openly gay Michael Sam is a problem for her, and heterosexual fun with the Chippendales is not?

Posted on

Dallas talk show host Amy Kushnir heads to FOX News to explain storming off set

According to KVIL, Amy Kushnir – co-host of local morning show “The Broadcast” who stormed off the set over the “Michael Sam draft kiss” – will be appearing on Megyn Kelly on FOX News tonight to explain her comments as she feels very misunderstood.

Amy Kushnir will not appear on today’s airing of The Broadcast as she is not in the city. She’s actually on her way to New York to appear on Fox News to address her comments in front of a national audience.

Steve Kemble has been in touch with Kushnir and producers of The Broadcast since yesterday to confirm the news and bring us the exclusive! He says, Amy is hurting right now. She feels her comments were very misunderstood, and she is looking forward to explaining them further in hopes that people will better understand her viewpoint.

On yesterday’s episode of The Broadcast, Kushnir offered an emotional explanation for her abrupt exit:

I feel personally that I was not able to express my opinions appropriately without bein’ interrupted. I felt like I was bein’ painted to be something that I personally was not.

Everybody that knows me knows that I love everybody, and I’m a deeply lovin’ person, and I get choked up because I truly love deeply.

So with that bein’ said, I felt like I had no choice but to get up, push myself out of the situation because we were goin’ nowhere, as you probably saw, and we have a term around here that we say: we’re goin’ to Midland. And what that means, actually Suzie started this trend, and what that means is we’re going to excuse ourself from the conversation…politely. And that’s what I did. I just decided it was time to go to Midland. And I went to Midland, and I’m back and I’m a happy camper, and I’m ready to move on.

Posted on

Dallas morning show co-host Amy Kushnir storms off set mid-segment

Courtney Kerr (L) and Amy Kushnir (R)

The chat got heated on Dallas’ “The Broadcast” yesterday when co-host Amy Kushnir got so upset over Michael Sam’s “draft kiss” that she stormed off the set in mid-segment. What a real pro.

Said Kushnir, before stomping off:

“When parents do not have a choice about whether or not they want their children to see this, it is wrong…I don’t call it a moment of celebration…It’s being pushed in faces. I don’t want to see that. I don’t want to see cake in your face, kissing each other.”

[snip]

“Here’s the thing. ESPN would not have aired any of it had he been kissing his wife.”

The usual cries of gays “shoving it in my face” make their appearance. If the sentiments weren’t so icky, this would be funny.

Note that Kushnir says she doesn’t like to see public displays of affection. THAT’s what bothered her. But – check out the main image on her Facebook page.  Why, is that a public display of affection?  Is she kissing someone and “shoving it down our throats?” Truth be told, what Ms. Kushnir doesn’t like are PDAs between the gays.

Posted on

Dallas City Council votes overwhelmingly for LGBT resolution

Lone Star Q is reporting that the Dallas City Council today approved a Comprehensive Statement of Support for the LGBT community on Wednesday.

By a vote of 13-2, the Council agreed to support the LGBT equality resolution.  Council members Vonciel Hill and Sheffie Kadane voted against the resolution.

Councilman Jerry Allen chairs the committee and has worked on the resolution over the last three months. After the vote he said, “This is a historic day for Dallas — for equality, civil rights, inclusion.”

While the resolution doesn’t create any specific policies, it does give authorization to the city manager’s office to pursue initiatives, such as equal benefits for LGBT employees, improving the city’s score on a national gay-rights index, and lobbying for pro-equality state and federal legislation.

Posted on

Judith Light to join cast of TNT’s “Dallas”

From the website WeLoveSoaps comes the news that Emmy and Tony Award winner Judith Light will be joining the cast of TNT’s DALLAS for it’s upcoming 2nd season.

Word is she will be playing “an authoritative and controlling battle-ax who will fight to the death to protect the people she loves. And for the people she loves, she uses every psychological trick in the book to make them do what she wants.”

Judith is one of those actresses with the unique ability to play vulnerable characters with strength.

Sound like a good fit for DALLAS. What do you think?