The Powerful Ricketts Family Is Obivously Split Politically
2012-05-17 17:27:35
Joe Ricketts and his lesbian daughter Laura Ricketts are on very different sides politically, as shown by an ad campaign that was reportedly in the works to take down President Obama. read more

Add Tokyo Disneyland to Your List of Potential Wedding Venues
2012-05-17 16:44:39
Now same-sex couples in Asia can finally get married in Cinderella's castle, and both can wear gowns if they want. Tokyo Disneyland acquiesced this week to a request by two women to get married on the grounds, reports the Guardian. Koyuki Higashi had written to Disney asking for permission to marry her partner Hiroko and was initially told yes — so long as only one wore a gown and the other a tux. read more

Rapper TI Says He Does Not Care If Gay People Get Married
2012-05-17 16:06:33
Rapper T.I. says everyone should just mind their own business when it comes to same-sex marriage. 'I don't care enough one way or another,' he said during an interview on Hot97, according to Gawker. 'If something doesn't affect you, you should not take a strong position against it.' T.I. seems to have a laissez-faire approach to marriage equality that Gawker points out might be 'a good rule of thumb' for the right wing. read more

Lady of the Night Donna Summer and Her Roots in the LGBT Community
2012-05-17 15:22:31
Writer Clay Cane remembers interviewing the original Lady of the Night about an unrelenting rumor that she was homophobic. read more

Protestors Face Off in Russia for First Time Over Gay Propaganda Law
2012-05-17 14:49:56
Approximately150 protestors faced off against 150 counter-protestors today in St. Petersburg’s first official pride rally held in the Russian city since a new law banning gay “propaganda” took effect last month. The Petrovsky Park rally was organized by the Russian gay rights organization Coming Out to commemorate today’s International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia. Only 17 protestors were expected, but nearly 10 times that many showed up. In opposition, an equal number of counter-protestors shouted antigay chants and slurs. Meanwhile, police used a blockade to stop either side from charging the other. Police and officials have looked largely confused about enforcement of the vague new law. They arrested others in the past but also provided government bus transportation and officer protection to the protestors at today’s rally. Despite the police presence, two activists were reportedly assaulted by counter-protestors. They were shot with a gas gun, a source reports. Then as antigay protestors became frustrated with the police blockade, they turned on a passing bus of immigrants. It is unclear if they believed the bus to be filled with more arriving for the rally. Coming Out blamed the violence on the law being protested. “This incident demonstrates fully how the ‘propaganda’ laws lead to escalation of violence and hatred in society, which could touch the lives of anyone,” the group said in a statement. “All the more important it is for civil society to unite, become stronger and more visible, and say ‘NO’ to violence and homophobic or any other form of xenophobic discrimination.” As peaceful protestors sang songs and held banners, they released into the St. Petersburg sky 500 rainbow-colored balloons inscribed with messages of unity and diversity.Petrovsky Park is bordered by water on two sides and a tall building and a street on the other two, making the location of today’s rally fairly secluded. And the protest itself seems to fall into a grey area created by the new antigay law, which forbids any positive mention of homosexuality, bisexuality, or transgenderism that might be viewed by minors. While the city’s central governing body denied the permit for the protest, sighting the new law, the regional government authorities that control the district where the park is located officially sanctioned the rally. Pictured is a protestor who was hit by the gas gun. View more photos from the rally on the following pages. read more

Dolly Liza Janet Ellen Other Celebs React To Death of Donna Summer
2012-05-17 14:04:19
Janet Jackson says the late Donna Summer 'changed the world of music with her beautiful voice and incredible talent,' while Dolly Parton says Summer had 'one of the greatest voices ever.' 'We will miss Donna Summer! She changed the world of music with her beautiful voice and incredible talent,' Jackson says in a statement released to the media. read more

San Francisco mayor to restore lost federal HIV/AIDS funding
2012-05-17 14:00:30
SAN FRANCISCO -- Mayor Ed Lee will restore all of the nearly million in federal HIV/AIDS funds that the city expects to lose in the fiscal year beginning July 1.

Poll Shows More Black Voters Now Agree With Obama on Marriage
2012-05-17 13:23:17
President Obama might be changing minds with his support for marriage equality, at least among African-American voters, a new poll shows. read more

EXCLUSIVE Donna Summer Denies Making Antigay Remarks That Hurt Her Career
2012-05-17 13:21:51
Donna Summer, whose post-'70s career was compromised by antigay remarks she allegedly made at a 1983 concert, disputed ever making the comments, blaming them on an angry journalist, and lamented the impact of AIDS on her close friends, during a 1989 interview with The Advocate. read more

Barbra Streisand Says Shes Shocked At Death of Donna Summer
2012-05-17 11:42:59
  Barbra Streisand says she is shocked at the death of Donna Summer, with whom she recorded the disco empowerment anthem 'No More Tears (Enough Is Enough),' saying Summer looked so vital when she last saw her a few months ago. The 1979 collaboration between the two vocal powerhouses was recorded for Streisand's Wet album and as a new track for Summer's compilation double album entitled On the Radio: Greatest Hits Volumes 1 & 2. It quickly climbed to the top of the Billboard charts where it remained for two weeks. read more

Gay Nominee to Oklahoma Election Board Not Given a Vote
2012-05-17 11:36:17
State law required Oklahoma's Republican governor to pick a Democrat for its Election Board, but the gay man she selected as most qualified isn't even getting a vote. Jim Roth was Gov. Mary Fallin's choice for the state's election board, having to name someone from a list provided by Democrats. Local newspapers point out Roth's long list of qualifications, including a term on the statewide Corporation Commission, and two terms as county commissioner. read more

Anti-gay Paul Cameron admits to having same-sex attractions as a youth
2012-05-17 11:30:54
Paul Cameron, the anti-gay leader of the Family Research Institute — who last week suggested that President Barack Obama is gay, and that gays should be imprisoned because they want to rape children — now admits that as a child he felt a physical attraction toward men.

It is Time to Ban Reparative Therapy
2012-05-17 11:00:19
Reparative therapy, which seeks to “cure” homosexuality, is a destructive form of consumer fraud, where avaricious practitioners try to profit off their victims by instilling a deep sense of shame and guilt. There is not one shard of evidence supporting such efforts, while there is a long trail of blood and tears from the human casualties who bought into the lie that they were abnormal and needed to be converted into heterosexuals...

New Rules Target Sexual Assault Epidemic Among LGBT Inmates
2012-05-17 10:46:48
Advocates praise the new Justice Department standards, though questions remain about separate rules for immigration detention, to be finalized by the Department of Homeland Security. read more

Donna Summer dead at 63
2012-05-17 10:37:59
Donna Summer. She was disco's biggest star. From the orgiastic 'Love to Love You Baby,' to the bittersweet 'Last Dance' and 'On The Radio,' she could claim some of the most enduring hits of the era. Sadly, TMZ is reporting that the 63-year-old Summer died today, quietly, in Florida, after a battle with lung cancer.

Antigay Leader Paul Cameron Says He Once Had Homosexual Feelings
2012-05-17 10:19:29
One of the most notorious antigay figures admitted during a radio interview this week that he once felt same-sex attraction but claims the culture overcame it. Paul Cameron had most recently claimed that President Obama is secretly gay and reiterated that 'the plausibility is growing' during an interview on David Pakman's radio show. Cameron, now the chairman of the Family Research Institute, still calls himself a psychologist though he was kicked out of the American Psychological Association for his debunked views. read more

Donna Summer Dies At 63
2012-05-17 09:33:52
Donna Summer, whose hit songs like 'I Feel Love,' 'Bad Girls,' and 'Last Dance' made her name synonymous with the hedonistic disco era of the late 1970s, has died of lung cancer at age 63, TMZ reports. The Grammy Award-winning singer is reported to have died in Florida and had been trying to complete work on a new album. read more

Poll Finds Most People Unphased By Romney History as Antigay Bully
2012-05-17 09:06:36
A new poll finds that most people by now have heard about Mitt Romney's past as an antigay bully and more than two-thirds aren't bothered one bit by it. Ipsos asked poll respondents via the Internet about a Washington Post report that while Romney was in prep school, he led a 'posse' of students who held down and forcibly cut the hair of a fellow high-schooler while the student cried, screamed and called for help. read more

Chief Foe of Gay Judicial Nominee: “Sodomy is Not a Civil Right”
2012-05-17 09:00:51
Virginia Delegate Bob Marshall, who helped orchestrate the defeat of gay judicial nominee Tracy Thorne-Begland this week, explained his opposition by saying, “Sodomy is not a civil right.” read more

Rachel Maddow and Jane Lynch Talk About How Obama Affected Them
2012-05-17 08:45:24
MNSBC's Rachel Maddow and comedian Jane Lynch talked Wednesday about how President Obama's support for marriage affected them personally. 'I felt like half of me had to have a talk with the other half,' Maddow said of the internal conflict of being a political journalist who is a lesbian. She said journalists were missing the point, and that the real importance of the president's statement is its potential to change minds. Lynch said the president's statement had awakened something in her. read more