Hawaii Governor Linda Lingle - a proud Republican - vetoed a bill which would have given Hawaiian same-sex couples the opportunity to form civil unions and receive many of the benefits of married couples. Linda Lingle (which is a lesbian name if I EVER heard one) said she vetoed the bill because civil unions were "marriage by another name" - and apparently only straight people like Rush Limbaugh (married 4 times) and Newt Gingrich (married 3 times) are allowed to enter into the sacred and Holy bonds of matrimony. Praise Jeebus!!!
I hope Linda Lingle chokes on a pineapple and trips over a tiki torch - accidentally lighting that horrible hairdo on fire.
In yet another state, GLBT people's rights are up for a vote. This time it's Maine.
The Catholic Church and anti-gay hate groups are raising money to fight us. If you can - consider donating money to help fight the hate. From the AMERICAblog ActBlue fundraising page...
This year, Maine's legislature passed marriage equality and Governor John Baldacci signed it into law on May 6, 2009.
In Maine, anyone who can gather enough signatures can force a vote on legislation using the "people's veto." The Catholic Bishop in Maine has teamed up with hard-core anti-gay activists to force a public vote on marriage equality. That referendum will be set for November, 2009. On July 31, the ant-gay forces submitted their signatures.
No on 1/Protect Maine Equality is the campaign that will preserve marriage equality. This will be a cutting-edge effort, which, with our help, will be the first referendum victory for full marriage rights for same-sex couples.
Our side will need resources. The anti-gay forces seem to have an unlimited supply of cash to fight against us. So, please give what you can. In Maine, it really will make a difference.
In the last few days some prominent people and organizations have "come out" in favor of equality for the GLBT community.
Surprisingly, two of these people are from the NFL - and they're both straight. I posted before about Baltimore Raven Brendon Ayanbadejo'swords of support. Brendon was followed by New Orleans Saints linebacker Scott Fujita.
According to an interview with the Huffington Post, California native Scott Fujita first became aware of gay and lesbian discrimination when he read about an Arkansas law that mandated ONLY male and female married couples could adopt children. Since Scott was adopted, this bothered him. He knew how many kids were waiting for adoption, and he couldn't understand why any government would make it more difficult for these kids to have a family of their own.
When asked if he faced a backlash from his teammates for his support of gays and lesbians, Fujita replied:
No, I have no concern about that whatsoever. I know who I am. My wife knows who I am. I don't care one way or the other Dave. I imagine that when some of this gets out guys in the locker room might give me a hard time, and they always give me a hard time. They call me the Pinko Communist Fag from Berkeley. I'm used to it. I can take it all.
And considering that Scott "Pinko Commie" Fujita is 6' 5" and weighs 250 pounds, I'm sure he doesn't give a fig what others think - and I thank him for that.
Another ally who went to bat for gay and lesbian rights this week was Microsoft. Microsoft recently donated $100,000 to the Approve Referendum 71 campaign in Washington state. The "Yes on 71" campaign will give Washington domestic partners the same rights as married partners if it is approved/upheld.
The $100,000 from Microsoft is significant, because it's almost double the amount raised by anti-71 "Christian" extremists. Great job, Microsoft!!
And finally, as her newest fan, I must feature the fierce and fabulous Lady Gaga's video which asks you to support the National Equality March in Washington, D.C. As some of you know, Dust Bunny Dan will be representing the Bunny Minions in Washington this weekend - find out how YOU can support the National Equality March HERE.
Attention all California Dust Bunnies. In just a few weeks we will all go to the polls to vote for president and other elected offices. But in California, you will also be voting on whether or not to PROHIBIT gays and lesbians from legally getting married - as they/we are currently. If this law passes, it will amend the California Constitution to PROHIBIT two people who love each other and want to commit to each other from doing so. It will make DISCRIMINATION the law of the land in California by inserting discriminatory language into the state constitution.
I AM ASKING ALL OF YOU WHO LIVE IN CALIFORNIA TO VOTE NO ON PROPOSITION 8. Please tell your friends - this is so very important in the movement toward equality for all.
Both sides have been mobilizing and fundraising for and against Prop 8. The Mormon Church has come out swinging to pass this amendment, and has instructed its 770,000 California church members to vote yes and end gay marriage in the state. At last count, the pro-discrimination forces have out-raised us, $17 million to $11 million. Brad Pitt recently kicked in $100,000 for the NO ON 8 campaign - and gay millionaire and former Mormon Bruce Bastian donated $1 million to help offset some of the efforts of his former church. But in the end, we will probably lose the money battle - so we MUST make sure everyone who believes in equality votes NO ON PROP 8 on Election Day.
If you live in California (and even if you don't) CLICK HERE and sign the pledge to vote NO ON PROPOSITION 8.
I promise EXTRA FUNNY RECAPS, AND EXTRA HOT HOTTIES if my Cali Dust Bunnies come through! Dust Bunnies EVERYWHERE are counting on you!!
The "American Family Association" is one of those organizations with a benevolent name and a hate-filled agenda. In the AFA's case - it's all about hating on the gays. I am used to hearing about such assholes on a regular basis, and have learned to tune out their hate, much as I've learned to tune out the sound of traffic here in Manhattan.
But I cannot stand idly by and let the AFA's latest atrocity go unmentioned. THEY HAVE GONE TOO FAR THIS TIME. They have called for a boycott of my beloved McDonald's. Those dirty bitches.
In my eyes, McDonald's does "the Lord's work" by providing me with comforting Big Macs (extra cheese - no pickle), Chicken McNuggets, and Sausage Biscuits with Cheese. For brief periods of time, McDonald's gave me the McRib, Arctic Orange Shakes, and the Ranchero burger (a quarter-pounder with taco sauce and a big tortilla chip inside - seriously). In my eyes, McDonald's ranks right up there with the Red Cross. When the chips are down, where do I go when I need to feel better? McDonald's. Besides, Arby's doesn't have a Manhattan location anymore.
And McDonald's loves the gays. They were THIS gay boy's employer all throughout my high school and college years (you should have seen this bitch working the drive-thru!). And they recently donated money to the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce, as well as placed an openly gay McDonald's executive on the Chamber's board of directors.
This made the right-wing idiot wingnuts go CRAZY! HEAVEN FORBID a multi-national corporation donates money to a legitimate organization, and shows some compassion toward gay people (and rakes in some gay dollars in return). So the AFA has called for a boycott of McDonald's (see story here).
I don't know about you, but this has me so upset...I better get to Mickey D's RIGHT AWAY.
The House of Representatives currently has two openly gay members – Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and Barney Frank (D-MA).
Since there aren’t enough openly gay members for a traditional “caucus” (like the Black Caucus or the Hispanic Caucus), Representatives Baldwin and Frank will co-chair the LGBT Equality Caucus – consisting of members who are friendly to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender causes.
The Caucus currently consists of 52 members of Congress – all Democrats. One of the Vice Chairs is my Congressman, Jerrold Nadler. We love Congressman Nadler on the West Side of Manhattan – and I have held fundraisers here at the restaurant for him.
To read a complete list of the members of the LGBT Equality Caucus, go here.
Isn’t it wonderful when the DEMOCRATS control Congress?...
Neal Anthony of McMinnville, Tennessee has been a target of anti-gay attacks on his home for the past 13 months. The attacks continued recently (story from Towleroad):
"Vandals sprayed and splattered hate-filled words on his property Friday morning. Anthony said it's because of his sexuality. 'I'm not out there in my yard running naked, or being with my partner doing all these sex acts or anything like that,' said Anthony. Virtually every square foot of the property is within camera range, but this spray paint assault went undetected. The vandals cut the lines to Anthony's cameras, security lights, landscape lights and even severed power to the main house and his phone line. Anthony said this is the ninth assault on his property and he fears the attack might escalate from personal possessions to people. The suspected vandals also spray painted "Dorothy's in Hell' referring to Neal's mother, who passed away in December."
This is some scary shit. He lives out in the middle of nowhere, and someone comes and cuts the power to his property as well as his phone line. He could have been killed and no one would have known. This kind of thing makes ME want to hurt people!...
I realize this is not just a Tennessee thing, or even a southern thing – it’s an IGNORANT ASSHOLE REDNECK COUSIN-FUCKING DIRT-EATING MORON THING. This same thing could have just as easily happened where I grew up (in Central PA) or almost anywhere in rural America. Disgusting.
And the Republicans think we don’t need laws to help prevent gay-bashing and other hate crimes. Furthermore, they don’t even think that teaching TOLERANCE toward gay people is acceptable. So very Christian of them. Again, disgusting.
Bill Welch, the mayor of State College, PA, presided over what some think may be the Pennsylvania’s largest same-sex commitment ceremony ever over the weekend. All four of the couples (2 male, 2 female) had ties to my alma mater – Penn State University – which is based in State College.
This is amazing to me on many levels. When I was at Penn State, there was a Gay & Lesbian student organization, but it was very small and relatively unimportant – due to the fact that most gay Penn Staters were in the closet (like me). Also, State College is smack dab in the middle of the conservative and rural central part of Pennsylvania – which is about as Republican red as you can get. Because of the huge student population, State College is more liberal by definition, but when I was in school, the full-time residents of State College were usually as conservative as the rest of Central Pennsylvania. They don’t call it “Pennsyltucky” for nothing…
So the fact that a small-town Pennsylvania mayor could preside over a same-sex commitment ceremony in the conservative part of the state really gives me hope for the future. Of course, a few “Christian” groups felt the need to protest this heresy. I am amazed that these groups have so much time and energy to spend fighting against equality for gays and lesbians, but have NO PROBLEM with the U.S. fighting an unjust war in Iraq – which we got into based on lies – in which 4000 Americans have died. These asshats are unbelievable, but hopefully their time has ended and a new day is dawning…
