Bad news out of Florida this morning, readers. Anti-gay marriage activists Florida4Marriage.org claim they have enough signatures to put a constitutional ban on the ballot next November:

The proposal that defines marriage as "the legal union of only one man and one woman" was offered by a coalition called Florida4Marriage.org. It needed 611,009 signatures from registered voters to go on the ballot.

The amendment's language was drafted by Matthew Staver, founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel, which advocates for religious civil liberties, and his wife, Anita. Liberty Counsel announced in a news release that the proposal had met the signature requirement.

That's the last step to get on the ballot as the Florida Supreme Court already has ruled the proposal meets basic requirements of focusing only on one subject and offering voters a clear and accurate summary of what it would do.

The proposal will need a 60 percent majority at the polls to become part of the Florida Constitution.

The coalition now has until February 1st to turn over their paperwork and get the illiberal ball rolling…

Washington-based professor Stephanie Coontz lets it all hang out in a NY Times> op-ed on marriage:

Why do people — gay or straight — need the state’s permission to marry? For most of Western history, they didn’t, because marriage was a private contract between two families. The parents’ agreement to the match, not the approval of church or state, was what confirmed its validity.

The Evergreen State University educator goes on the explain how marriage become institutionalized, evolved from interfamilial arrangements to an elaborate church-and-state endowed institution. Dissecting the utilitarian aspect of marriage, Coontz concludes:

Possession of a marriage license is no longer the chief determinant of which obligations a couple must keep, either to their children or to each other. But it still determines which obligations a couple can keep — who gets hospital visitation rights, family leave, health care and survivor’s benefits. This may serve the purpose of some moralists. But it doesn’t serve the public interest of helping individuals meet their care-giving commitments.

Perhaps it’s time to revert to a much older marital tradition. Let churches decide which marriages they deem “licit.” But let couples — gay or straight — decide if they want the legal protections and obligations of a committed relationship.

Hopefully the "tradition" worshiping Republicans will take note…

Did presidential candidate Mike Huckabee compare gay marriage to slavery? Washington Blade journalist Rebecca Armendariz says "Eh, maybe…"

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An enthusiastic Wayne Besen and his Truth Wins Out crew are taking a new approach to everyone's favorite day of gay explosion, National Coming Out Day.

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Lance Bass may not be the first person when you think "politics," but the former boy bander definitely gets political in this post over at Logo's Visible '08 blog.

Bass says it's time for Democrats to take a stand for the last gay right frontier: marriage. Not only will it bring gays in line with their straight counterparts, but it may just save a life. Bass writes:

I often wonder how many teens have committed suicide because they’re struggling with their sexuality and feel the incredible weight of the shame their community puts on homosexuality? I am hoping in this election we have Democratic candidates who feel as passionately about this issue as I do.
…
I understand this issue isn’t going to win an election for the Democrats and may even cost votes, but supporting gay marriage is the right thing to do. I think that the Democratic Party needs to rise above the past and help all people have the right to marry whomever they choose. I want to live in a place where no one has to feel ashamed of who they are, who they choose to spend their life with and a place where everyone can make the choice if they would like to get married. Now is the time for our Democratic candidates to stand strong and fight for what’s right

Sing it loud and sing it proud, Bass!

We've said it before and we'll probably say it again: poor Katie Holmes. Not only has she been zombified, used as a womb for Tom Cruise's miracle baby, but now the date for her nuptials to the looney movie-star has been set.

Mark your calendars, ladies and germs: Ms. Holmes will become Mrs. Katie (Sorry, Kate) Cruise on November 18th in Italy. Dressed in Armani, Holmes will go through the traditional Scientology ceremony of having her brain officially removed and replaced with cotton candy, pebbles, and a severe distaste for reality.

On the plus-side, once the "loving" couples reaches the end of the publicity contract (oh, please, you know it's true), there's no doubt Holmes will be a very rich woman.

Of course, she still won't have a brain…

• Project Runway's Vincent Libretti hates blogs. Especially when they're mean to him. Loser. [Defamer]

• Hetero artist sues boss for mistakenly calling her a lesbian. If we sued someone everytime they call us straight we'd be…nevermind. [Gay People's Chronicle]

• Another anti-marriage protest in South Africa. Didn't South Africans already learn that apartheid ain't cool? [News 24]

• Every time Pat Buchanan says flamer, a demon gets its horns. Also, makes a fun drinking game… [Wonkette]

• University of Minnesota joins Arizona on trannie talk. Everytime someone stands up for a trannie, Pat Buchanan feels a sharp pain in the chest. Keep talkin'! [Minnesota Daily]

• It's not gay, but we can't resist the sight of a model eating shit. Hurts so good… [Mollygood]

• Shocker! Not all hospitals able to test for HIV. Thanks, Congress! [Houston Chronicle]

We came across this article by Andy Horwitz (pictured, spreading the love) over at Nerve, the hornball online magazine. In it, Horwitz takes aim at a New York Times article by Katy Butler in which she dissects the so-called Brokeback marriage trend: that is, when gay men marry straight women in an attempt to cover up their sexuality.

Horwitz takes offense at Butler's depiction as men as villains. He writes:

The article revolves around a Lifetime Channel scenario, in which all women are victims of men — either consciously conniving men or men too weak or cowardly to know themselves.
It is also fundamentally sexist. You would never see such a story written about men who marry lesbians and the havoc that wreaks on their sense of masculinity, safety, commitment and trust.
Such articles enforce rigid codes of conventional American masculinity, envisioning non-traditional masculinity as a threat or trick.

While this may be true, Horwitz goes on to say:

Of course, women's sexual freedom is curtailed by the same impulse: it's simply not taken seriously — no real straight man would have a problem with a lesbian wife, he'd just invite the girlfriend over for a three-way!

Maybe we're just not following him, but wasn't he just railing against the perpetuation of socio-sexual stereotypes? Disparities aside, it's a pretty interesting article, particulary when he offers alternative conceptions of marriage.

Ch-ch-check it.

Public hearings began today in South Africa as the country continues to mull over exactly how they'll be dealing with gay marriage. LGBT organizations and politicians gathered in White City in the township of Soweto (yeah, we think it's a bit tacky, too) to debate whether the proposed Civil Union Act creates a separate - and decidedly unconstitutional - class for gays of the marrying type. Obviously, gay activists maintain the Act's inequality, while the conservative folk insist on securing the sanctity of marriage.

The hearings were interrupted temporarily as all the people who lost their lives fighting apartheid rolled in their graves.

We've gotten a few letters over the last month from folks who feel that we new Queerty editors are a bunch of stone cold bitches/a posse of Negative Nancies/a couple of stubborn queer princesses. Well today we're going to show our softer side by admitting something potentially humiliating: this weekend we saw and enjoyed All Aboard! Rosie's Family Cruise.

While flipping channels looking for one of those mean British "what were you thinking when you decorated this house?" home improvement shows, we stumbled upon Rosie O'Donnell's new movie, and started watching purely for its trainwreck value. As we sat tersely nibbling some tortilla chips and waiting for the first mockworthy moments, we didn't even notice the minutes ticking by. Soon we had been watching a half hour.

Review continued after the jump.

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• We've never listened to Fall Out Boy, but there's no reason we can't check out one the band member's own cock shots. BTW, love the Morrissey album. Nice gay touch. [Jossip]

• If you missed last night's Project Runway finale (a dutiful gay would have been glued to his/her TV set at 10 last night), The Malcontent has an extensive wrap-up. [The Malcontent]

• Andy gives us yet another opportunity to ogle a half-naked Jake Gyllenhaal. [Towleroad]

• Our favorite queer rocker, Michael van London (he’s beautiful, nice, and talented, what more could you ask for?), will be giving those queers in West Hollywood a reason to travel North of Santa Monica Boulevard. He’s playing the Sunset Strip next week. [Michael Van London Official Site]

• The Church that is the final resting place for John Adams and his son, John Quincy, will get to hang a pro same-sex marriage banner outside of its entrance after all. [Bay Windows]

Jane Spahr, a lesbian Presbyterian minister has confessed to marrying a couple of dykes two years ago. She’s now going up against the Church’s governing body, the Presbytery of the Redwoods . Is she being tried in Middle Earth?

Spahr tells why she did it:

As the first witness in her trial before a church judicial commission, Spahr testified that while she knew the Presbyterian Church (USA) reserves marriage for a man and a woman, she purposely used the language the couples wanted when she presided over the nuptials.

"I don't care what your sexual orientation is, what's most important to me is what you call it," she said. "They said 'marriage' and I was honored to do their 'marriage,' so they would not be seen as second-class in any way."

Kudos to Spahr, if we had more brave religious leaders like her (straight, gay, whatever), we may not have to deal with some of the discrimination found in most religions. Not that we go to church regularly, but it would be nice for those homos that do to actually be exposed to the one thing most religions seem to preach but not practice: tolerance.

Minister Admits Presiding at Lesbian Unions [AP via Yahoo]

• The MSM has finally discovered the Brokeback Mountain parodies that have been filling our inboxes faster than shirtless pics of Clay Aiken. We're officially over both of them. [NY Times]

• While we're generally pretty unforgiving when celebs record themselves in their most private moments, we're going to take it easy on Texas A&M's Chris Walker. Not because he's half-naked and hot but because he's lip synching "Total Eclipse of the Heart." [Towleroad]

• Soccer star Ashley Cole is suing two UK newspapers for libel for printing gay orgy stories in which his name was never even mentioned. Makes perfect sense to us. [Press Gazette]

• Following the news that gay marriage is good for your health, we now get word that marriage bans are bad for us. [UPI]

• In talking about his being a gay role model, Westlife's Mark Freehily says "I don't know that I necessarily like it too much because, knowing me, I would probably say the wrong thing." We say don't stop talking about your sexuality, Mark. It's the only thing that gets the band press these days. [Sydney Morning Herald]