• John Roberts - the same man who brought us Jackie & Debra - has done it again. Send this one along to your mom. Especially if you're not out yet. It'll help her work through it...

• Ivan Marrow, the gay businessman who alleges Zurich Life ruined his business, may love being gay, but he wishes he were born straight.

• Ex-Idol on Sanjaya Malakar on I Love New York 2? Or does TMZ just think all Indian people look alike?

• Can the church save Jamaica's homos? According to American lesbian Reverend Nancy Wilson, yes: "We have strong allies in heterosexual church leaders here, but sometimes they are afraid to speak out for fear of being criticized by others, and so I met with many of them this week and say you have to come out and tell the others that they don't speak for all of you."

• Hey, wanna see pictures of Lindsay Lohan snorting coke? Look no further.

• Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty vetoed the state's domestic partnership bill. Outfront Minnesota executive director Ann DeGroot ain't happy: "This veto is not good government. It’s the state telling local governments what they can and cannot do. We thought the governor supported local control. The governor has chosen to make a political point over good public policy." No wonder Pawlenty is GOP presidential candidate John McCain's election committee co-chair.

• Advertisers are now one step closer to taking over the entire world. Next stop: your dreams.

Republican presidential candidate John McCain has come out in support of the anti-gay military policy, Don't Ask, Don't Tell. The Clinton-era policy prohibits soldiers from asking or telling their sexual orientation. In a letter to Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, the Senator wrote that the controversial law:

...unambiguously maintains that open homosexuality within the military services presents an intolerable risk to morale, cohesion and discipline...

He also erroneously claims that the Supreme Court, "has ruled that the military may constitutionally discharge a service member for overt homosexual behavior," according to a Earth Times.

[Read On ...]

• Slowly but surely, Madonna's becoming a woman.

• The Jewish Theological Seminary has decided to admit queers. Why can't all religions be so cool?

• A group of techie jokesters hacked Republican presidential hopeful John McCain's MySpace and declared, "Today I announce that I have reversed my position and come out in full support of gay marriage…particularly marriage between two passionate females." This, of course, makes one think of McCain masturbating which leads to severe psychological scarring. Thanks, guys...

• Democratic Representative Barney Frank of Massachusetts on gay marriage: "After a couple years, the average heterosexual person forgets gay marriage is there."

• A church security guard apparently pulled a gun on someone trying to take pictures of Britney Spears. Um, church security guards carry guns?

• Greg Scarnici makes a better looking Fergie than Fergie herself.

• Former American Family Association Attorney Joe R Murray on homophobia: "The gay issue is a human issue, and thus I strongly believe that it must be approached with concern and compassion. Furthermore, the individuals engaging in the debate must recognized that behind the theories there are real life human beings that are made in the image of the Creator." We just shat our pants. In a good way, of course...

• Gay performer Charles Knipp aka Shirley Q. Liquor is apparently "not a racist".

Republican presidential hopefuls have heeded HRC and John Amaechi's mutually beneficial calls for an Ann Coulter apology.

As the "faggot" stink became a stench, John McCain, Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney all issued denouncements. McCain and Giuliani's statements sound as if they were prepackaged for such an event. McCain spokesman Brian Jones said simply, "The comments were wildly inappropriate." Giuliani echoed the sentiment, but took the idea to a bit of higher level: "The comments were completely inappropriate and there should be no place for such name-calling in political debate." No way. Politics should be a friendly game of wit and skill.

Meanwhile, Mitt Romney - the former Massachusetts governor known for his politically opportunistic homophobia - and his campaign team had this to say: "It was an offensive remark. Governor Romney believes all people should be treated with dignity and respect." It should have continued, "But not of they're gay and want to marry. That's sinful."

Asked for a reaction to the Republican outcry, Ms. Coulter played down the brouhaha by employing some of her signature flippancy: "C’mon, it was a joke. I would never insult gays by suggesting that they are like John Edwards. That would be mean." Okay, that's pretty funny...

(Image courtesy Pretty On The Outside)

Mitt Romney took a few swipes at his primary GOP presidential competitors. Of Rudy Giuliani, Romney maintained the former mayor of NYC doesn't have the conservative chops on gun control, abortion and gay marriage. It's this issue that forms the crux of his argument against John McCain - although, you wouldn't know it because he can't stop talking about himself.

Speaking to The Christian Broadcasting Network, the former Governor of Massachusetts said :

I don't think there's been a bigger defender of traditional marriage among the political world than me over these last several years than me. I fought for a federal amendment to the constitution to establish marriage as a relationship between a man and a woman. Senator McCain voted against that.

That's funny, because only a few years ago Old Mitten supported gay rights. The converts are the most pious, huh?

[Read On ...]

• Is Barack Obama a sex-offender? Fox News says "yes"!

• Will James Dobson be voting for John McCain? He says "no"!

• Do atheists help bigots? The Guardian op-eder Giles Fraser says "yes"!

• Should gay people act all gay and shit in Malaysia? Travel advisory says "no"!

• Is All My Children's trannie character Zarf a freak? Zarf says yes!

• Is hottie Cord the new editor of Mollygood? He says "yes"! (Do we love sitting next to him at the office? Hell yes!)

Tray Butler may be following his heart, but is Senator John McCain? Not according to UC Santa Barbara professor Aaron Belkin, who has penned a damning condemnation on the possible Presidential candidate.

Writing for The Arizona Daily Star, Belkin takes aim at McCain's homo-related double speak. Despite having an openly gay senior staffer, McCain can't seem to figure out where he stands on gay rights. Sure, he claims to support gay rights, but then turns around to support 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell'. A case of political Sybil? Belkin seems to think so:

[Y]ou cannot be in favor of firing gay people from the military and opposed to discrimination in the workplace. Again, you cannot be a straight-talker and have it both ways. You get to choose only one.
...
Something doesn't add up here. Which is precisely the point. With all his poll-tested hedging, we can't tell where Sen. McCain really stands. That is a disturbing sign for any voter who wants to send a straight-talker to the White House.

...Gay rights are only the beginning of a long and winding road through tough moral decisions that Sen. McCain will face in seeking the presidency. I only hope his Straight-Talk Express does not land at the bottom of a ditch.

For real - we'd much rather have someone who publicly detests gays, rather than someone who can't figure it out.

Although, to be fair, we'd much rather have a president who hopes to further gay rights, rather than one who opposes a federal amendment but supports state-sponsored discrimination, as McCain has in Arizona. But, that's just us.

While we're on the subject of conservative wack-jobs, we've just read over this article detailing soon-to-be ex-Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney's vow to win the...um, hearts of America's GOPpers. His main competition? Why, Senator John McCain and Rudy Guiliani, of course.

Playing the politicial game like a pro (because, quite frankly, he is), Romney conceded that Guiliani has potential. As for McCain? Well, not so much...

Romney was less charitable to McCain, who on Sunday told ABC News: “I believe that the issue of gay marriage should be decided by the states.” McCain also said, “I believe that gay marriage should not be legal.”

Romney seized on the remarks.

“That’s his position, and in my opinion, it’s disingenuous,” he said. “Look, if somebody says they’re in favor of gay marriage, I respect that view. If someone says — like I do — that I oppose same–sex marriage, I respect that view. But those who try and pretend to have it both ways, I find it to be disingenuous.”

We agree - that ain't nothing but political double-speak. But, of course, Romney's not immune to such demogoguery. Consider this snippet from a Bay Windows article penned by Susan Ryan-Vollmar on good ol' Mitt's faggotry flip-flop.

When Romney ran...for the Senate in 1994, he wrote a letter to the Mass Log Cabin Club in which he pledged: “[A]s we seek to establish full equality for America’s gay and lesbian citizens, I will provide more effective leadership than my opponent.” During the same campaign, when he was accused of having once described gay people as “perverse” during a religious meeting of Mormons, Romney’s campaign issued a forceful statement decrying the accusation as false and reiterating that Romney respected “all people regardless of their race, creed, or sexual orientation.”

During his 2001 run for governor, his campaign distributed bright pink flyers at the June Pride parade declaring “Mitt and Kerry wish you a great Pride weekend!” During his inaugural speech, he said it was important to defend civil rights “regardless of gender, sexual orientation, or race.” He appointed eight openly gay and lesbian people to high profile positions in his administration. And before he decided to run for president — that is to say, before he needed to establish some strong anti-gay bonafides — Romney doubled the budget line item for the Governor’s Commission on Gay and Lesbian Youth.

Of course, now that he's got an eye on the White House, Romney's singing a different tune, evidenced by his repeated attacks on gay marriage and nauseatingly anti-gay budget cuts.

Also, Mr. Romney, if you're reading this - a big if - we think you should check out this post from last week. It may help your campaign.

After harshly criticizing hardline Christian Bob Jones University in the 2000 election for its ban on interracial dating and anti-Catholic views, and in turn George Bush for speaking there, Sen. John McCain is now saying he would not turn down an offer to speak there himself.

Apparently they lifted the interracial dating ban and that's good enough for McCain, in that he sees benefits in courting the religious right so he can win the Republican nomination in the 2008 election. Principles matter little in the game of political opportunism, as McCain keeps demonstrating.

McCain would consider Bob Jones University invitation [MercuryNews]

• John McCain reaffirms his support for the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, citing senior armed forces officials' reports that the rules are working. [PageOneQ]

• Prince Manvendra Singh Gohil, an openly gay Indian royal who works for an AIDS organization, has been disowned from his family for – you guessed it – sleeping with men. So stop calling Manvendra's mother his, ahem, mother. [Gay.com UK]

• It took just a year for gay marriage in Spain to look just like straight marriage: ending in divorce. [EITB]

• The Kramer Brothers are no longer the face of homophobia in the family. Today, the famed playwrite and his brother are the face of gay advocacy. [NYT]

• While the rain brought down Atlanta's Gay Pride Parade, the real storm may not be over. Tomorrow, the state's Supreme Court will hear the argument on whether to reinstate the constitiutional ban on gay marriage. [AP]

• Marketers love us, they really love us! [NYT]

We know everyone sat home this weekend to watch John McCain's commencement speech at Liberty University. Riveting stuff, that C-SPAN programming. We were really hung over from a harsh night out Friday, so we watched it during a re-run.

When McCain announced he would deliver the commencement speech at Liberty University, the genesis of Jerry Falwell's Evangelical operations, he drew heavy moderate-voter criticism for seeming to flip-flop on his long-standing political ideals. It wasn't too long ago when McCain blasted Falwell by labelling him as an "agent of intolerance," yet now he'd dump the moderate vote to gain favor with the Evangelicals for the 2008 nominations. Turncoat! Hypocrite! etc. etc.

But rather than praise Falwell's crusade against those who don't follow his brand of Christianity, McCain used the speech to glorify the rights of Americans to disagree with each other on the ways we all live our lives:

We have our disagreements, we Americans...over the social responsibilities we accept in accord with the dictates of our conscience and our faithfulness to the God we pray to; over our role in the world and how to defend our security interests and values in places where they are threatened. These are important questions; worth arguing about. We should contend over them with one another. It is more than appropriate, it is necessary that even in times of crisis, especially in times of crisis, we fight among ourselves for the things we believe in. It is not just our right, but our civic and moral obligation.

Completely ignoring the issue of gay marriage--which, in that room, was probably best, as he will vote against the anti-gay Constitutional marriage amendment--he instead focused on the conflicts in Sudan, and America's obligation to become involved (which we haven't yet). He also defended his support of the war in Iraq, but did so on the grounds we all have the "right and obligation" to voice dissent. From the Washington Post:

McCain added that it is the "right and obligation" of those who oppose the war to speak out against it. "Americans should argue about this war," he said. "It has cost the lives of nearly 2,500 of the best of us. It has taken innocent life. It has imposed an enormous financial burden on our economy. At a minimum, it has complicated our ability to respond to other looming threats."

Honestly, we have no idea what to think of Senator McCain. It's pretty clear he is the front-runner for the 2008 Republican nomination, as many believe he was robbed in 2000 in the first place. The Log Cabin Republicans are undoubtedly doing backflips at the thought of landing a Republican in office who doesn't actively work to erase the gays from society.

But will the rest of the community fare well, if he beats Hillary Clinton the 2008 Democratic nominee? Will he stand up for his previously-moderate ideals, or will he become yet another puppet of the Right Wing? We were horrified when he joined forces with Falwell, but now...the jury is out. Nevertheless, things couldn't be any worse than they are now.

Text of Falwell's speech here [Liberty.edu]

McCain Reconnects With Liberty [WashPost]

• A note to all British gays trying to get married in Hong Kong. "You're in China now, bitch! No marriage for you." [IHT]

• A trannie who served in the Navy during Operation Desert Shield is running for Congress in Missouri as a Republican. Midge Potts is running low on cash, but not on opinions, and we love her. [Columbia Daily Tribune]

• Sen. John McCain is definitely voting against the Federal Marriage Amendment, but supports outlawing samesex marriage in his home state of Arizona. Dammit, he's a federalist not a homo-lover! [Arizona Republic]

• Gays do not have to sit at the back of the bus in D.C., even if the homophobic bus driver tells them to. [Washington Blade]