• Gerard Butler. Naked. 'Nuff said. [!! omg blog !!]

• It sure is hard being gay in suburbia. Especially when you can't find a whore to settled down with you. [Daily Herald]

• It's alright to be gay in Latin America. Just remember not to try to be too normal. [The Economist]

• Stephen Colbert on 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell'. [PageOneQ]

• The Roxy's closing on Saturday. Get you glitter, glow sticks and shitty club mixes and live it up. [NY Observer]

• South African flick Black Beaulahs takes a look at the lives of three gay men in Soweto. Did you know that "beaulah" is South African slang for beautiful man? Well, now you do... [Mamba Online]

• The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force sez, "Porn stars are just like us!" [AmericaBlog]

• A Forrest Gump sequel? Vomit. [Ain't It Cool?]

• Maryland's Montgomery County School says fuck you to haters and vows to keep teaching about homosexuality. [Washington Times]

Tim Hardaway's seemingly endless apology campaign may not win him any votes with a fellow named Bryan Jones. As an eagle-eyed reader pointed out, if you google Hardaway's name, you'll find an ad for a website Tim Hardaway 4 President on which Jones lauds Hardaway's homophobic revelations. But don't worry, Jones isn't completely deranged, the stunt's just his way of fighting against the Maryland's Montgomery County Public Schools.

Tim Hardaway is my new hero. It is not easy to speak your mind when others (the liberal media) may not like it.

Understand that I am using this website to get your attention about an issue that I feel is important. Hate speach is not something I support.

I don't hate gay people but I do hate how Maryland's Montgomery County Public Schools are trying to teach that people can be born gay. There is no conclusive scientific evidence to support this.

He also apparently doesn't know how to pick his battles. While Montgomery County schools may teach about homosexuality, they've also agreed (however begrudgingly) to distribute pamphlets from pro-ex-gayers, PFOX. So, really, the school isn't only teaching about gay people, but how to get rid of gay people. You'd think Jones would be thrilled...

When parents send their kids to - gulp - public school, they should really expect that the school will teach the state's moral laws. For example, if you reside in a state in which gay marriage has been granted, i.e. Massachusetts, one should anticipate so-called gay issues coming up in the curriculum.

A group of parents in Massachusetts, however, accuse their children's school of trying to brainwash them by teaching acceptance. The school, meanwhile, things it's in their best interest to educate children on all kinds of romantic relationships.

CONTINUED »

Earlier this morning, we took a look at how the First Amendment helped pro-ex-gay non-profit PFOX permeate a Maryland School to pass out pro-ex-gay literature. Well, here's a somewhat-related story with a decidedly different ending...

You may recall Philadelphia's 2004 Outfest, when a group of anti-gay activists took it upon themselves to spout fire and brimstone. Not surprisingly, the homos didn't take too kindly to their hellish prescriptions (and, we're sure, predictions). Surrounded by whistle-blowing queers, the protesters had to be rerouted by police.

After being jostled from place to place, eleven protesters refused to be jostled any longer and resisted the police, resulting in arrest. Said protesters went on to sue, insisting their first amendment rights had been violated. A Pennsylvania court, however (busy day there, no?), ruled otherwise. Federal Judge Lawrence Stengel admitted that while it's the court's duty to uphold freedom of speech, there are also certain stipulations, including proper permits.

(Note: You guys may have noticed that we've changed the picture. We got an email from Repent America director, Michael Marcavage informing us that we'd placed the wrong picture. We acknowledge our mistake and apologize. To make it up Marcavage, here's a picture of him being surrounded by the aforementioned pissed off homos.)

CONTINUED »

We don't know about you guys, but our weekend wasn't so hot. So, let's start this week with a bit of optimistic news: judicial and legislative branches in Maryland and California, respectively will hear arguments in favor of same-sex marriage today.

A Court of Appeals in Maryland will hear arguments that the ban on same-sex marriage violates the constitution. Nine same-sex couples have teamed with the ACLU in their effort to affirm a judge's declaration that, "When tradition is the guise under which prejudice or animosity hides, it is not a legitimate state interest." The state, however, sees the issue as more of a legislative measure, rather than judicial.

CONTINUED »

When Maryland Governor Robert Ehrlich fired one of his Washington Metro transit authority board members for calling homosexuality "deviant" on TV, a brush fire of social controversy was quickly extinguished. Or was it?

On a public access program discussing gay marriage, board member Robert Smith said, "Homosexual behavior, in my view, is deviant. I'm a Roman Catholic." Governor Ehrlich called Smith's comments "highly inappropriate, insensitive and unacceptable." All of which is true, perhaps, except that last term, as conservative Townhall.com columnist John Leo argues.

While Ehrlich was likely tossing out a string of adjectives that even we would have, Leo calls the governor on his "unacceptable" label.

Did he mean that all members of Washington-area boards are required to approve of homosexuality, or just that they must suppress any non-positive views during TV discussions of same-sex marriage? The governor, a Republican who is up for re-election and is trying to move from the right to the center, clearly hasn't thought the issue through. He certainly seems to be banishing Smith for a thought crime. Perhaps he did so because he knew his Democratic opponents would come after him for tolerating "hate speech" if he let Smith stay on. Smith argues that his social opinions have "absolutely nothing to do with running trains and buses" and that they haven't affected his actions or decisions on the board.

Maybe it's not a good idea for government transit specialists to be pronouncing on divisive social issues. But they clearly have a right to do so. The Supreme Court says the First Amendment protects the right of public employees and appointees to speak freely on matters of public concern. So if Smith wants to sue over his firing, he seems likely to win. At any rate, liberals routinely argue that people should not be fired for behavior or speech unrelated to their jobs, such as professors who make loony remarks out of class, or schoolteachers who have children out of wedlock.

Now don't think we've jumped over to the right wing; we haven't. But Leo does raise a good point: Should we force our public officials to stay mum on their personal feelings, under the threat of firing, if they go against the grain? If they're performing their job well, does it matter what belief system they subscribe to?

Yes, perhaps. Racist officials in charge of distributing funding to community groups could deny funding to black organizations. Anti-semetic officials in charge of assigning construction projects could skip over Weisberg Construction in favor of Botelli. But when it comes to homophobic officials, they've got one thing on their sides: sexual orientation is not yet a protected class.

GAYS HAVE EMERGED AS THE NEW PROTECTED CLASS IN AMERICA [Townhall]

• Taye Diggs goes gay. We're jealous of Will. [Rod 2.0]

• Dave Chapelle is doing the tell-all interview on Oprah as to why he bailed on his show. Oprah asks Chapelle whether he was on drugs. Let the photo of him on her site do the talking. [Oprah]

• A lesbian couple, both of whom are in the army, married in England. We’re waiting for two men to do the same: imagine two men kissing in uniform. Hot. [Gay.com]

• A bill to ban gay marriage in Maryland was killed after Democrats amended the bill to allow civil unions with full marriage rights between gay couples. [Fox News]

• The amount of Brokeback art has grown since our post from yesterday. And it’s still really bad. [eBay]

The country continues its constant state of change in all things queer, inclduing gay rights. Usually things change for the better. Take for example Washington Governor Christine Gregoire's signing into law yesterday a bill that simply prevents discrmination on sexual orientation. We call this progress.

But across the other side of the country in Maryland, we have a hint of even more progress. As we mentioned last week, a judge (one of those nasty "activist" judges we presume) shot down the state's ban on gay marriage. But some Republicans are trying to put the brakes on any potential same-sex unions in the state as well as some pre-existing gay rights! It is all due to the complicated language in the proposed constitutional amendment. Those conservatives - always making things unnecessarily complicated.

In any case, how can anyone not allow gays to get hitched in Maryland? There isn't a state in the Union that has a more fitting name for queens.

Gay Marriage Amendment Seen Eroding Current Rights [Washington Post]
Washington Governor Signs Gay Rights Bill [ABC News]

• American Idol might not be so good this season. Paula Abdul seems to be off the meds. [Dot Conor]

• Dan Renzi’s hilarious “brother” is back with another Project Runway recap. [Dan Renzi]

• And you can’t have Dan without having Rich. He’s famous for these posts. [Four Four]

• Gay weddings in Baltimore? Might be sooner than you think. [The Advocate]

• “Q: What’s better than winning a gold medal at the Special Olympics? A: Not being retarded.” We just spit up our coffee. [The FAGAT Guide]