The specter of gay marriage made its way into a McCain campaign event in Tennessee this week.

A concerned voter argued that we need to “discuss” gay marriage in the context of infidelity and other nuptial nasties. She went on to say that the government must make it harder for people - all people - to get married.

McCain of course understands this woman’s worries and believes in the “unique status” of marriage being between one man and one woman. And he vowed to fight for that belief, which got the audience all hot and bothered. The gays could be a national issue after all!

Neal Anthony didn’t have a very relaxing weekend.
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Ew. While we on the subject of nausea, a Tennessee principal has come under fire for singling out a gay couple, of whom she openly disapproved. Hollis F. Price Middle College’s Daphne Beasley last year went around and asked teacher to compile a list of all known student couples so that she could “monitor PDA,” which has been an elementary bane since our school days back in the 1800’s.

Of the couples gathered, and displayed on the educator’s desk, homo-partners Andrew and Nicholas received special attention, especially when Beasley - or Beastly - approached Nicholas’ mother and essentially outed him. The principal also told the woman that she disapproved of such behaviors. And that’s hardly the worst of it…
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A Tennessee House subcommittee squashed Representative Stacey Campfield’s proposed prohibition on “gay talk” in the state’s elementary and middle schools. The ACLU, the state Department and a number of other activists argued against the law. The House ruled that endorsing Campfield’s measure would infringe on the Board of Education’s turf. [Knox News]

Tennessee House Representative Stacey Campfield makes us say “Hmmmm…”

The single 40-year old proposed legislation earlier this month that would prohibit “gay speak” in the state’s elementary and middle school. Said Campfield: We’re not going to teach about topics that I think should be taught at home in the first place. We’re not going to teach about homosexuality, the homosexual lifestyle, the lesbian lifestyle, the transgendered lifestyle. We’re going to leave that up to families to decide when it’s age appropriate, when it isn’t appropriate, and what they want to tell their children. Campfield’s exclusion certainly doesn’t break new ground - countless politicians and activists have called for similar bans in the past. Campfield’s timing, however, couldn’t be worse.
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Nice to know the Democrats aren’t above dirty tricks! Apparently some Tennessee supporters of Congressional candidate Nikki Tinker are launching an all out attack against Jewish congressman Steve Cohen: [Reverend George] Brooks produced and distributed the flier on Tinker’s behalf and says “he sent the flier because the 9th Congressional District is ‘about 90-something percent black.’ According to the latest U.S. Census, in 2000, the district was 59.7 percent black…
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Other Tinker fans disguised as men of God have attacked Cohen because he voted– like all but 14 Democrats– to include gay men and women in the Hate Crimes bill. The Tinker supporters have tried using this as a wedge issue against Cohen, failing … Continued…

Keith Durbin made history last night as Nashville voters cast their ballots and made him the state’s first openly gay elected official. Durbin moved from his native Paducah, Kentucky home eleven years years ago to set up a happy homo home with his boyfriend of twelve years, Gary Bynum.

Now that he’s been elected to the city’s council Durbin plans to keep his campaign promises:
…Be a strong voice for neighborhood interests, to emphasize top quality education for our children,[and] to encourage continued economic vitality… Make us proud, Durbin.

And anti-gay religious fundamentalists think gay people are a bad influence? A Baptist minister has been charged in Tennessee with indecent exposure and driving under the influence.

Police said 58-year-old Tommy Tester of Bristol, Va., was wearing a skirt when he was arrested last week after allegedly relieving himself in front of children at a car wash.

A report also accuses Tester of offering police officers oral sex and says an open bottle of vodka and empty oxycodone prescription bottle was found in his car when Tester was arrested Friday. Tester also works for Bristol-based radio station, WZAP, which asks listeners to “pray for Tommy and for WZAP”. We’re praying Tommy has a good lawyer…

Family Research Council have put their anti-hate crime law crusade into overdrive. The “family” champions are circulating a recorded message asking Tennessee voters to pressure Senator Lamar Alexander into voting against the bill.

The Christian group’s worried Alexander, who has previously voted for similar legislation in 2004, plans to vote for the hate crime law, which, as you all know, will lead to our planet’s hellish destruction.

Now they’re pulling out all the telephonic stops to stop Alexander…
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Nashville-native Neal Anthony and his partner, Michael Duncan refused to fold to anti-gay graffiti “artists,” now Anthony’s facing death threats.

The drama started back in April, when childish, horribly unoriginal vandals scrawled homophobic messages (”Fags Deserve To Die”) on the side of their historic house. The disgraceful desecration drew media attention, but did nothing to stop the nasty notes - the couple confronted more hate in May.

Still, they swore they’d stay put and hope that the homophobes could learn to live with them. Apparently they were wrong. The men woke the other day to find some more hate, this time with a more violent message: “Die Neal”.
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Neal Anthony and Michael Duncan are again living in fear down Tennessee way.

As we reported back in April, the McMinnville-based queer couple found themselves on the receiving end of some unimaginative homophobic crime when some punks spray painted anti-gay epithets on their historical home. How unimaginative? “All gays go to hell”. Snoozefest. What the haters lack in imagination, they certainly make up in tenacity.

We’ve received word from the boys’ friend, who writes: Yet another hate crime took place over the weekend when four rocks crashed through his front windows as a Red (possibly Burgundy) Ford Explorer with people screaming “FAGS MUST DIE” drove by Neal’s home. The local Sheriff’s Dep’t was once again called out but the investigating officer claimed they could do nothing as the car was headed into an adjoining county (where they have no jurisdiction) and so the matter could not be pursued. The reader goes on to speculate whether or not the McMinnville police are, in fact, investigation the matter…
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Former Tennessee Senator Jeff Miller’s either really dumb or really desperate. You may recognize Miller’s name from his work pushing for a ban on same-sex marriage. Working tirelessly, Miller succeeded in getting the measure on the ballot, only to find his life crumble around him as his wife filed for divorce over “inappropriate marital conduct: and he lost his seat in a bribery scandal.

Now, it seems, Miller’s charting a new direction, for he’s offered his lobbying services to pro-LGBTer, the Tennessee Equality Project. Of course, the folks over at TEP aren’t jumping for joys. President Chris Sanders remarked that Miller’s request is “certainly not one that we’re going to … Continued…

Boo! We can’t stand when homophobes get their way. How much do we hate it? Well, let’s just say we’d rather wear a polyester body suit two sizes too small. (Pretty serious, no?)

Tennesse has agreed to pay Love in Action’s legal fees after a lawsuit that aimed at forcing the reparative therapy organization to register with the state’s Department of Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities.

The lawsuit arose after a fagling named Zach Stark (pictured) blogged about his parent’s efforts to “cure” him of his homo-ways by sending him to Love in Action. While Stark didn’t want to be there, the Department of Mental Health took an interest in … Continued…

The Tennessee cross burning incident that we wrote about last week cannot be classified as a hate crime even if the perpetrators are caught, according to the FBI, because gays are not included in federal hate crime law. And really that makes sense, because who can tell if a gay person is the victim of a hate crime? How is a hate crime really different than any other crime? Maybe when answering these questions, lawmakers should start with burning crosses.

Legislation to include gays in federal hate crimes legislation was brought up again in May by Sen. Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts and immediately dropped by the Republican-controlled Senate. Senator Kennedy has been trying to get the legislation passed since … Continued…

Police are currently “investigating” whether or not the placement of a burning cross on a gay man’s lawn in Athens, TN along with a “derogatory message” constitutes a hate crime. When has a burning cross on a lawn been anything other than a hate crime? Shouldn’t the investigation last about as long as it takes to read the message that we imagine was along the lines of “Die, Faggot, Die”?

The local sheriff says that this is the first cross-burning incident in the county’s history, and explains, “Right now we are looking at all angles. It’s a concern because it’s a crime.”

Cross burned at gay man’s house [KnoxNews via PageOneQ]