The Republicans are totally dominating the news cycle this week. Not only is everyone all over Sarah Palin and the party's national convention, but the gays simply can't stop talking about the Log Cabin Republicans' endorsement of presidential hopeful John McCain.

We were mad, of course, and then Chris Crain piped up, and now Human Rights Campaign president Joe Solmonese has come out swinging:

John McCain claims to be a maverick who breaks with his party, but on matters of LGBT equality, he's shown that he's anything but. He actively campaigned for a constitutional amendment that would have banned marriage and domestic partnerships for same-sex couples in his home state of Arizona.
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Sarah Palin has also supported bans on marriage and even domestic partner benefits in Alaska. The Republican Party, McCain and Palin's party, has declared in its platform that they want to pass the federal marriage amendment.

Their party's platform also calls gay and lesbian Americans unfit for military service, supports policies that would allow faith-based organizations to deny us jobs and services using federal dollars, and attacks judges who acknowledge our equality under the law. The Human Rights Campaign endorses mavericks on both sides of the aisle- neither John McCain nor Sarah Palin is among them.

On another note, if Solmonese and Log Cabin leader Patrick Sammon were to get into a fight, who would win?

Chris Crain, a gay journalist with many conservative politics, definitely does not approve of the Log Cabin Republicans' endorsement of John McCain. How do we know this? He penned a lengthy critique of their queer politics.

Here's but a taste:

It’s as if our gay Republican friends forgot the basic politics of the carrot and the stick. Now that McCain and Palin are happily chomping away on the endorsement carrot that Log Cabin could have kept dangling in front of them, all they’re left with is the stick. With apologies to my friends among their number, including my beloved co-blogger Kevin, gay Republicans aren’t exactly known for carrying a big stick.
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Cynics will no doubt see the rushed endorsement as a desperate ploy by Log Cabin to gain entree into the GOP’s “big tent,” a concept that gay and pro-choice Republicans have demonstrated a much greater commitment to than has the rest of the party.

Crain also quite rightly points out that McCain's opposition to DOMA FMA - the Cabinites' sole gay-related celebration of the candidate - has been faltering: "McCain has been backing away from his opposition to a federal amendment, and he pledged last month to back an amendment if even one judge rules the notorious Defense of Marriage Act is unconstitutional." The journalist goes on to say that McCain could end up being worse on gay politics than President Bush, an idea that makes our blood run cold.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad may have made us all laugh when he said Iran's got no gays, but some of America's queers are agreeing with him. Columbia Queers - of Columbia University - released the following constructionist statement:

We would like to strongly caution media and campus organizations against the use of such words as "gay," "lesbian," or "homosexual" to describe people in Iran who engage in same-sex practices and feel same-sex desire. The construction of sexual orientation as a social and political identity and all of the vocabulary therein is a Western cultural idiom.

As such, scholars of sexuality in the Middle East generally use the terms "same-sex practices" and "same-sex desire" in recognition of the inadequacy of Western terminology.

Such an argument comes up a lot in academic and intellectual circles. Sexuality's a Western construct, hammered out over decades of scientific, psychiatric and religious study.

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It's no secret the Human Rights Campaign likes to think of itself as the biggest, most effective and ultimately best gay rights organization in America. The DC-based has pledged support to fighting for the rights of all American gays. Additionally, HRC often joins fights against other forms of injustice. As part of their mission, the non-profit lent its support to the Jena Six, a group of black teens jailed for allegedly beating up a white classmate.

The altercation came after months of rising racial tensions in the small Louisiana town of Jena. Many people, including the editors of this blog, feel that the Jena police force and school authorities were unfair in their handling of the case. The racial bias seems undeniable: white students were barely penalized for their racist actions - such as hanging nooses from a tree on school property - which only perpetuated historic tensions and led to the violent eruption. It could have been prevented, to be sure, but that doesn't make it any less violent. Nor does the violence make the justice system's harsh treatment and tenacity any less offensive.

Considering all the layers to this case, it's no surprise the Jena Six have become the hot activist ticket in recent weeks. And, as such, it's no surprise HRC stepped out to make their voice heard.

Gay journalist and hate crime survivor Chris Crain, however, wishes Solmonese and HRC had kept their mouths shut.

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Did the media go too far with exposing Larry Craig? Some say yes, a man's private life should remain private. Others disagree - an anti-gay politician deserves to be exposed.

Two of the most vocal journalists in this debate, Michelangelo Signorile and Chris Crain, faced off yesterday to discuss the ins-and-outs of Lewd Larry's newly dissected life…

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• God wants Mary-Kate Olsen to sell weed.

• Chris Crain takes on Mike Gravel's taking on of Hillary Clinton.

• Fuck the election, we want to know who'll be Australia's top 25 queers.

• Former Gay.com president venturing into ad networking business. Says Mark Elderkin, "By developing content-rich marketing programs that span our aggregated audience, we can provide unique marketing vehicles for our advertising partners." And by "unique," he means "gay".

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Democratic presidential candidate Bill Richardson had some explaining to do this weekend after some dirt digging gay activists resurrected a less-than-gay-friendly moment from last year.

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