Barack Obama's tapped Tim Kaine to run the Democratic National Committee, which is sorta good and sorta bad for the gay community as Kaine was the only candidate who responded to the Washington Blade's 2005 request for Virginia Governor's candidates to answer questions about gay issues (and said all sorts of nice things),but then once Governor, he signed the Marshall-Newman Amendment, which defines marriage in Virginia as being between a man and a woman, even though he had previously opposed it.

So, Tim Kaine is polite and nice to gays, but lacks the political fortitude to stand-up to anti-gay measures; he really is the perfect person to run the DNC.

The Saturday Night Live crew took some shots at the vice-presidential candidates this weekend when Tina Fey and Jason Sudeikis reenactedSarah Palin and Joe Biden's debate last week.

Each politico's ridiculous attributes were on display, from Biden's apparent worship - and hatred - of John McCain, to Palin's sad reliance on the word "maverick". The incomparable Queen Latifah popped in to play moderator Gwen Ifill and saved a bit of time to take on the candidate's comparable perspectives on gay marriage. This gave Fey an opportunity to skewer Palin's gay "tolerance:"

…Don't think I don't tolerate gay people. Because I do, I tolerate them with all my heart. And I know quite a few, too. Not personally, but I know of them. I've seen Ellen. Oh and there was this one girl on my basketball team, she wasn't officially a gay, but you know, we were pretty sure.

The SNL team also had some fun at gay politician Barney Frank in a bit about the so-called bailout. It's spot on!

Watch both clips, after the jump…

On a somewhat related note, our editor went to the taping Saturday to support his friend, host Anne Hathaway, and spotted CNN analyst and DNC honcho Donna Brazile. It must been past her bedtime, because Ms. Brazile had to "rest her eyes" periodically.

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Faith In America executive director Brent Childers is absolutely tickled pink about Michelle Obama's gay DNC speech, in which she linked the civil rights movement to today's gay rights struggle, "When Michelle Obama makes that connection, it will eventually lead Americans to recognize religion-based prejudice and discrimination as the commonality of not only injustices against African-Americans and the gay and lesbian community but also women, interracial couples as well as religious minorities." Utopia, here we come! [FIA]

National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association president Eric Hegedus thinks Kevin Naff and his Washington Blade team need to keep on trucking despite alleged intimidation from DNC-associated lawyers. Go free press! [Washington Blade]

Fox News will coordinate the Democratic National Convention's press feeds. They've known since last September. Wait, didn't Chairman Howard Dean just smear that network? This is ridiculous. [Democratic Underground]

The National Stonewall Democrats aren't alone in defending the DNC against The Washington Blade's "race riot" emails. The International Federation of Black Prides released a statement last Friday defending Howard Dean, Leah Daughtry and the Democratic National Committee's gay policies. Read what they wrote, after the jump.

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Jim Neal gives us the goods on his campaign ambitions, Chuck Schumer and fatherhood.

Washington Blade editor Kevin Naff and his staff better watch their backs. The National Stonewall Democrats are, like, totally pissed the weekly paper published emails between DNC's Brian Bond and an anonymous Stonewaller. Those emails, which we also published, accused DNC Chief of Staff Leah Daughtry, as well as other prominent black leaders, of homophobia and a racialized bunker mentality. Read the Wallers' wails, after the jump.

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The DNC's gay discrimination case got stickier this week. Washington Blade reports that gay DNC's gay board chair Claire Lucas could potentially face perjury charges for lying about her place of residence.

Legal documents filed in D.C. Superior Court this week and obtained by the Blade allege that Claire Lucas, a longtime Democratic National Committee volunteer and National Stonewall Democrats board member, committed perjury when she filed an affidavit asserting that she does not live in Washington.

The affidavit, filed Jan. 4, was part of efforts to quash a subpoena ordering Lucas to sit for a deposition in a lawsuit that alleges the DNC discriminated against a former gay employee.
…
D.C. property tax records contradict her assertion in the affidavit seeking to quash Hitchcock’s subpoena that she has been a California resident since 2005. Those records show she claimed the Homestead deduction for the tax years of 2005 through 2007, as well as in prior years, according to Hitchcock’s court filings.

The D.C. law creating the Homestead deduction requires, upon possible penalty of perjury, that homeowners affirm that they live in their home as a condition for obtaining the deduction

Just yesterday the DNC released a statement declaring the contemptuous Lucas a Californian.

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• Out's Shana Krochmal talks to Panic At The Disco. Note the lack of exclamation!

• Writer's strike be damned! AfterElton launches Gay People's Choice Awards:

We're asking you to vote on your favorites in the traditional movie, television, music, and internet categories, but at the end we've included several gay-specific categories that you won't find covered anywhere else this awards season!

Vote like your life depends on it!

• Gay panic strikes Kentucky after b-ballers partake in celebratory kiss.

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There's more trouble brewing for the Democratic National Committee. Rumor has it the DNC's gay treasurer, Andrew Tobias, has been revising a bit of homo-related history. Our sources tell us that Tobias recently sent a message to gay Democratic donors claiming that Chairman Howard Dean did not know he was being interview for the 700 Club back in 2006.

Dean misspoke during that interview and claimed the Democrats believed marriage to be between one man and one woman. Tobias has allegedly been telling supporters that Dean thought he was being interviewed for ABC Family, not the Christian Broadcasting Network's long-running news show. He's apparently been tossing this story around for some time, for a May 11, 2006 email to gay Democrats reads,

Howard was NOT a guest on the 700 Club. He agreed to an interview with the CBN/ABC Family channel. Our feeling is that we can't ignore the millions of people who watch CBN/ABC Family Channel programs just because Pat Robertson happens to be on for 30 minutes a day and grabs news content from the network.

CBN reporter David Brody confirmed this weekend, however, that Dean was well aware of the journalist's outlet: "When I interviewed Gov. Dean in 2006 he and his staff knew it was for the 700 Club. That was made very clear.”

Tobias reportedly defended himself this weekend by saying he had been "misinformed" by a DNC staffer.

The fur continues to fly in the DNC gay discrimination case. Yesterday we published some less-than-flattering internal emails in which DNC staffers discuss the gay press, including the Washington Blade. Blade editor Kevin Naff promptly issued a biting response.

Today we hear that gay activist and former National Stonewall Democrats executive committee member Lee Bolin wants to see deputy finance director Julie Tagen fired.

Tagen, of course, derided the Blade and other gay publications thus, "I tend to use the Blade and other gay papers in the bottom of the birdcage." Tagen's candid response led Bolin to write to some pink peers, "If a DNC staffer disparaged black, Latino, or Jewish media the way Deputy Finance Director Julie Tagen did LGBT media, that person would already be out of a job." We're not convinced that Tagen deserves to be fired, for she didn't really insult gay people, just gay press. We do that all the time!

We called the DNC for a statement regarding Bolin's burning desire. Though staffers can't comment, DNC Chief Counsel Joe Sandler sent over this statement:

The DNC has consistently refrained from commenting about ongoing litigation out of respect for the legal process and to protect the interests of everyone involved. It is therefore unfortunate that Donald Hitchcock has chosen to abuse the discovery process by selectively leaking documents.

We can't say where we got the documents, but we can say we don't find anything "unfortunate" about it…

The homo heat's on Howard Dean and the Democratic National Committee.

CONTINUED »

Trans activist Monica F. Helms headed to the Democratic National Committee convention in Las Vegas last weekend. Here's a note from her notes on the noteworthy trip:

During the Issues Briefing, two people had a presentation on the issues facing the DNC and the country. They used a Power Point slide that listed the various areas of the population the DNC include. On the list I saw the words “sexual orientation,” but I didn’t see “gender identity and gender expression.”
…
If any transgender person wants to get involved in getting the “T” out to vote, contact me at mfhelms@earthlink.net. I have a plan on what we need to do in regards to the DNC this time. We need to drive home one simple message. “One Percent.”

Why “One Percent?” Over the last 5 years there have been various independent surveys/studies/researches done that when combined, we get a picture that one percent of the American population falls under the transgender umbrella.

Stick it to the man, girl!