As the Democrats duke it out in Pennsylvania, Republican presidential candidate John McCain's launched yet ridiculously entitled tour.

His last jaunt across the nation, the "Service To America" tour meant to spread McCain's war-torn story and other biographical bits.

Now the Senator from Arizona's launched his "Time For Action" adventure, which is also being referred to as the "Forgotten Places" tour.

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Again proving themselves to be the gayest television network, ABC has launched an undercover investigation examining the public's reaction to gay displays of affection. From Birmingham's Fox affiliate:

ABC is doing a social experiment in Birmingham that includes having same-sex couples show affection for each other in public, according to Birmingham police department sources.

FOX6 first learned about this story from a Southside merchant who pointed out an RV parked at the corner of 20th Street and 11th Avenue South. The merchant said ABC was working on a week-long project to see how people would react to things like public displays of affection by gay and lesbian couples. A FOX6 news reporter approached the RV and talked with an "actor" who said, "Yes, we are working for ABC News."

Hmm, maybe we should have become actors.

A Birmingham copper confirmed that ABC News had registered to park the RV and also told Fox that he has received a number of complaints about gay kissers, but that such activities are not illegal.

Thanks for clearing that one up.

Howard Bayless made history in Alabama yesterday. The politico became the openly gay man elected to a public office and will now sit on the Birmingham Board of Education.

Celebrating his victory, Bayless made sure to thank The Victory Fund, a gay non-profit dedicated to helping queer candidates:

This election was about the future of this community, and the Victory Fund understands that in order to change hearts and minds we all have to roll up our sleeves and work hard for our all our neighbors, and that's what I'm going to do. I'm grateful for everything the Victory Fund has done to help us move our state forward.

Bayless' win comes one year after that of Patricia Todd, the state's first openly gay Representative. Victory Fund president Chuck Wolfe also celebrated the news, "Howard Bayless is a hero to gay people in Alabama, but his election proves that all kinds of voters respond to real leadership."

Here's just one of the many rousing discussions sponsored by the late Gary Aldridge's Thorington Road Baptist Church. They also have another so-called men's retreat entitled, "Called Out".

We're just saying…

Gary Aldridge either planned on finding Jesus or had some serious sexual kinks.

The Alabaman reverend and died last July of "accidental mechanical asphyxia". Or, that's what the reports are saying.

Smoking Gun grabbed the autopsy report and there's more to the story. Also, the Liberty University graduate and Jerry Falwell flack really, really liked leather rubber:

[Aldridge] was found hog-tied and wearing two complete wet suits, including a face mask, diving gloves and slippers, rubberized underwear, and a head mask, according to an autopsy report. Investigators determined that Rev. Gary Aldridge's death was not caused by foul play…

If you think that's nuts, Aldridge had a dildo in his ass. Don't worry, though, he used a condom.

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Talk about a bum rap. Alabama-based youth center worker Lister Portis asked for his job back after being fired for having a gay tryst in his car.

Juvenile Court Judge Edmond Naman dismissed Portis last month after police found him in his car with Mark Bondurant, a 34-year old convicted felon.

Appealing the decision yesterday, Portis' lawyers accuses Naman of firing Portis for being gay. Lawyer Henry Brewster declared, "This is all about the perception that being gay makes you a pedophile."

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Gays have been called lots of things in the past, but Alabama's Department of Homeland Security labeled us terrorists. Or, they did until public outcry persuaded them to alter a list of potentially threatening social groups. Edge Boston reports:

The Web site identified different types of terrorists, and included a list of groups it believed could spawn terrorists. The list also included environmentalists, animal rights advocates and abortion opponents.

The director of the department, Jim Walker, said his agency received a number of calls and e-mails from people who said they felt the site unfairly targeted certain people just because of their beliefs. He said he plans to put the Web site back on the Internet, but will no longer identify specific types of groups.

Gay rights activists were deemed "single-issue terrorists," which "have no problem crossing the line between legal protest and … illegal acts, to include even murder, to succeed in their goals".

The defunct website admitted, however, that these "single issue" groups were only interested in making a "better world". How terrifying…

This, the final installment of the The Totally Frightful Issue actually wasn't on the original editorial schedule.

Like so many good scares, it snuck up on us and sprung from We Want Your Art: our petition for you, our darling (and attractive) readers, to send us your aesthetic wonders.

While we've loved everything we've seen so far, Alabama photographer Eric Sizemore's eerie, evocative work caught our eye, if you will. A real mensch, young Sizemore allowed us the abrupt interview found after the jump, along with some select images from "AutoBioPhotoGraphs".

A grainy recreation of Sizemore's coming out process, this series successfully conveys the universal homo-horror of coming out. Further, The burnt edges and blacked out faces enhance the message, reminding the viewer of the identity-consuming anxiety surrounding closeted sex.

Talk about totally frightful.

(Oh, and to all the people who've sent us art that's yet to be posted: never fear, you'll get your turn.)

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