• The 911 call that's sure to be a classic.

• Keith Boykin on Bobby Brown's anti-gay tirade, sexual panic and hate crime legislation.

• Which Republican presidential candidate will shed the most publicist-endorsed tears for Jerry Falwell's death?

• Some gay San Franciscans won't be shedding any tears for Jerry Falwell. They're planning an anti-memorial. Whoa. That's a. unnecessary and b. makes gay people look like jerks.

• California high school student Johnny Vera has our undying respect. This ballsy fucker's not only transgender in high school, but he had the confidence to run for prom queen! And won! You work that shit, girl. You work that shit… (PS: We have to include the picture. Trannie prom queens forever!)

CONTINUED »

The Lesbian Death Angels - a group dedicated to setting "the world back on its axis one hex at a time" - have claimed responsibility for 73-year old Reverend Jerry Falwell's death. The boastful baddies issued a press release reading thus:

[We], concerned that Rev. Falwell's followers will misattribute the cause of their leader's demise to their antigod or to some weenie group like Soulforce, have announced that, in a mass worldwide action, they hexed at 10:30 am today and that the subject of their hex was the Rev. Jerry Falwell. In other words, they are claiming to be responsible for Jerry's death and wish the world to know that they are proud of it to boot.

The LDA also noted that though they don't usually take credit for their high-profile hexings, they feel compelled to break their routine silence.

One member, coochie-loving, spell-casting Connie L. Ingus, remarked: ""Proselytizing is usually so rude". Indeed.

The press release also warns that the ladies will hex again. It did not, however, name a specific target. Be Afraid. Be very, very afraid.

Lesbians Claim Credit For Falwell Demise [bilerico]

Evangelist Jerry Falwell has died. Liberty University colleagues found the Moral Majority leader and all-around homo-hater "unresponsive" in his office earlier today. Paramedics rushed the reverend to a local hospital, but apparently God had other plans for the man who used His name to build the formidable Christian right.

San Francisco Chronicle reports:

Ron Godwin, the university's executive vice president, said Falwell, 73, was found unresponsive around 10:45 a.m. and taken to Lynchburg General Hospital. Godwin said he was not sure what caused the collapse, but he said Falwell "has a history of heart challenges."

"I had breakfast with him, and he was fine at breakfast," Godwin said. "He went to his office, I went to mine, and they found him unresponsive."
….
Falwell, a television evangelist who founded the Moral Majority, became the face of the religious right in the 1980s. He later founded the conservative Liberty University and serve[d] as its president.

While our gay hearts certainly go out to Falwell's family, we can't say we're going to miss the man who started the gay Tele-Tubby scandal, nor the man who once said that gays are unworthy of God's love. We won't even miss the man who described AIDS as God's anti-gay punishment.

Hopefully the G-Man will have some mercy on Falwell's misguided soul. That is, of course, if God exists. Hey, Jerry, what's the word?

Remember Mickey Weems, the homo-journo who professed his non-sensical love for The L-Word?

Sure, we gave him a bit of shit over that piece, but we still heart him like whoa. After reading his latest offering, we love him like whoa times two.

Just in time for Halloween (today, in case you didn't know), Weems gives Hell House, the Christian sin-themed haunted house, the ol' faggot make-over by suggesting a few sulfur-infused punishments for homo haters (and, of course, a few select homos) everywhere.

While they're all fairly clever, our personal favorite has got to be this particular damnation:

For Christian media whores who drive God-fearing homosexuals into ex-gay reparative therapy (I’m thinking Jerry Falwell, Ann Coulter and the late Reggie White), their hell would consist of being irresistibly attracted to Pope Benedict XVI, who would prance before them in a sexy hot-pink thong (body hair untrimmed) and red Prada shoes.

Ahhh! A hairy Benedict XVI in a thong? If that's not hell, we don't know what is…

(We must admit, however, that we object to Benedict getting to flit about in his Prada's. Give 'em Pay Less or nothing at all!)

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]

Members of a gay rights group are packing buses (no, not Priuses or VW’s, but actual BUSES, people) and traveling to Christian colleges all over the country. Their first stop? Liberty University. They’ll be Friday, much to the chagrin of Chancellor Jerry Falwell. And we all know how much he loves The Gays.

Thirty-five people will participate in the ride, and tour co-director Jake Reitan said that as many as 100 people could join them in Lynchburg.

But their presence will not be welcome.

Liberty has issued a statement from its chancellor, the Rev. Jerry Falwell, saying that the Equality Ride, which visited the campus last April in a trial run, will not be allowed to expose students to a "media circus that might present immorality in a positive light."

We want to commend the folks over at Soulforce for braving schools in a city called Lynchburg (where the group is actually based!). Next stop: Gay-bashville!

Gay-rights activists to make stop at Liberty [Richmond Times Dispatch]