Birmingham mayor and professional Colonel Sanders impersonator Larry Langford was arrested today by federal authorities on questions about county bond funds and the mayor's own personal finances. The exact charges are under court seal, but according to The Birmingham News:

"Langford, LaPierre and Montgomery investment banker Bill Blount are accused in a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission lawsuit of not disclosing $156,000 in payments to Langford. The SEC has accused Blount of paying Langford through LaPierre as part of a plan to secure Jefferson County financial business when Langford was Jefferson County Commission president."

Langford made national news earlier this year as well when he refused to issue a parade permit to the Birmingham Gay Pride Parade, in addition to refusing any use of public property for the parade. At the time Langford said, “I don’t think I’m intolerant, I just don’t condone the lifestyle. Your personal lifestyle should be nobody’s issue but yours. It’s not a civil rights issue, it’s a personal choice issue.”

Over 100,000 protesters across the country and across the globe attended rallies and marched on Saturday in protest of California's Proposition 8, which outlawed same-sex marriage. From Fairbanks, Alaska, where 32 people stood with signs in 6 degree weather as snow fell to San Diego, where 25,000 people marched on an unseasonably hot autumn day that reached into the 90s, supporters of civil rights demanded equality.

"This is the first time in U.S. history that the majority voted to strip the rights of a minority. Who will be next?" asked Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Center CEO Lori Jean, who also credited young people as the driving force of the movement, saying "We now pass the torch to you!" The protests, organized via the website www.jointheimpact.com, spread through sites like Facebook, Myspace & Twitter.

Many of you sent in photos, videos and stories of the day. After the jump, we present some of these snapshots from across the country. You may want to grab a hankie.

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Promising a smooth transition on behalf of the State Department, an emotional Rice went on to say she's "exceptionally proud" of Obama's place as our nation's first black President.

One of the great things about representing this country is that it continues to surprise. It continues to renew itself. It continues to beat all odds and expectations.
…
As an African-American, I'm especially proud, because this is a country that's been through a long journey, in terms of overcoming wounds… That work is not done, but yesterday was obviously an extraordinary step forward.

This election must be exceptionally astounding for Condi, who grew up in then-segregated Birmingham, Alabama.

Birmingham mayor Larry Langford's hoping to get off easy.

Gay group Alabama Pride filed a discrimination lawsuit against Langford this summer after Langford refused to allow city workers to hang supportive signs on city property, despite the fact that sports and other non-controversial groups can display themselves on similar structures.

Langford has also said he cannot endorse the lavender "lifestyle."

Despite his clearly discriminatory ideals, Langford's hoping a federal judge will toss out the suit…

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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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