• Out's February issue proves what we already knew: Richard Simmons is the queen of all queens.

• Lauren Williams hung out with Phylicia Rashad and the rest of the cast from the Debbie Allen Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and all we got was this incredible post!

• Hummer inspired by NYC-based fag rag HX? Wouldn't be the first time…

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Judy Shepard ain't shutting up about the House's decision to ditch hate crimes legislation. Nor should she.

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The NY Times wags an editorial finger at the House of Representatives for last week's hate crime turn around. The piece, entitled "Caving In On Hate Crimes," includes some sharp words for Speaker Nancy Pelosi:

Congressional leaders, who have disappointed frequently this year, have done it again. This time, the House leadership has failed to find a way to get a bipartisan law against hate crimes passed and signed into law. Racial, religious, sexual and other minorities have waited long enough. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has to do more than just express her support for the bill; she must find a way to make it the law.
…
President Bush has suggested he would veto the bill. It’s an unfortunate threat, but one he is certainly capable of carrying out. House and Senate leaders planned to get around that threat by attaching it to a Department of Defense Authorization bill, which Mr. Bush would have had trouble vetoing. But House leaders decided last week that since some liberals did not want to vote for the defense bill and some conservatives did not want to vote for the hate crimes bill, they could not piece together a majority to get it through.

Ms. Pelosi says she is still committed to getting the Matthew Shepard Act passed, perhaps early next year. That’s nice, but it is time for her to explain how she intends to do it — and then to make it happen.

That goes for the rest of the Democrats, as well.

Washington's still reeling from yesterday's unceremonious abortion of pro-gay hate crimes legislation.

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Peter LaBarbera popped into Fox's Hannity & Colmes last night to rail against the controversial, leather-centric Folsom Street Fair.

LaBarbera and his Americans For "Truth" are calling on Speaker of The House and San Francisco native Nancy Pelosi to take a stand against this "immoral" display of "tolerance run amok". Sean Hannity feeds into LaBarbera's Democratic bashing, while Alan Holmes pushes the activist on why he doesn't turn his attention to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican. "Because it's Pelosi's district," says LaBarbera. Never mind that Schwarzenegger runs the entire state.

Washington politicos were pretty clever when they attached Hate Crimes laws to a Defense Department appropriate bill. That plan, however, seems to be biting them in the ass. The insanely prolific Lou Chibbaro Jr. reports:

The fate of a gay- and transgender-inclusive hate crimes bill was called into question this week when gay-supportive members of the House of Representatives threatened to vote against a defense authorization bill to which the measure is attached.

As many as 20 House Democrats who are strong gay rights supporters indicated they might vote against the National Defense Authorization Act because it includes provisions that support President Bush’s efforts to continue the Iraq war, Capitol Hill sources said.

The Washington Blade article goes on to say that about 180 conservative politicians from both parties will vote against the bill unless hate crimes stipulations are removed. Rumor has it Speaker Nancy Pelosi will announce the vote's delay for after the Thanksgiving holiday.

It's unclear whether gay group Human Rights Campaign will count "nay" votes against traditionally gay friendly politicians, as they did with the non-inclusive ENDA. We currently have a call into the non-profits DC office and will let you know what they have to say.

Our queer political dreams may come crashing down. One day after legislators stalled a planned vote, The Hill reports that it may be freshman Democrats who are holding up the non-inclusive H.R. 3865:

Reps. Tim Walz (Minn.) and Ron Klein (Fla.), leaders of the class of freshman Democrats, carried a message to Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Tuesday that their fellow first-term lawmakers did not want to vote on an amendment extending civil rights to transgender employees.

House Education and Labor panel Chairman George Miller (D-Calif.), whose committee passed the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, said he told the freshman lawmakers at their Wednesday breakfast with Pelosi that the amendment did not have the votes to pass and would not be brought to the House floor.

Young politicians are afraid to vote against trans rights, but are also afraid that by not voting, they'll doom our nation's first gay-specific legislation.

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Human Rights Campaign's Joe Solmonese asked for some space to reply to yesterday's Necessary Evil: Why We Need - But Shouldn't Always Use - HRC.

Read what he wrote, after the jump.

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Civil society's essential to the democratic process. It's that nebulous, accessible space between the state and the people in which the masses can rally for or against particular issues. Nailing down a definitive meaning of "civil society" has proven to be a matter of political contention, so we're going to settle on a fairly well-regarded and flexible definition from the London School of Economics: "Civil society refers to the arena of uncoerced collective action around shared interests, purposes and values".

The United States constitution reserves a special place for this special social space. Our first amendment reads: "Congress shall make no law…abridging the [freedom] to petition the government for a redress of grievances." Our democratic process thrives on - and incorporates - a variety of civil organizations, including nonprofits such as Human Rights Campaign.

Arguably one of the most well-known and mainstream gay rights organizations, HRC has come under serious fire over what some activists perceive to be a soft stance on trans rights. As more than 300 activist groups coalesce to fight for a trans-inclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Act, HRC refused to actively oppose an orientation-only act. Rather, the group says they're not supporting it, but hesitates to come out for trans rights, despite the fact they've worked on this bill for over three years. So, why's HRC rolling over? One Washington insider has a theory:

HRC can't be trusted on this issue. They're desperate for a legislative victory. They're as desperate for the victory as the democratic leadership is, because they're about to kick up their fundraising and they want the gay money.

While that may be true, such an accusation's only part of the story. And, even if it were the whole truth, it wouldn't necessarily be wrong. Not politically, at least.

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Nancy Pelosi equates gay rights with Let's Make A Deal. The Democratic Speaker of the House committed Friday to putting an inclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Act to a floor vote "as soon as the votes to pass the legislation were delivered." Since those votes don't exist, however, Pelosi and company are also moving ahead with a gay-only ENDA, which effectively excludes trans people.

Human Rights Campaign celebrated the irrational compromise, saying,

[This] is an unprecedented departure from the usual delays seen in Congress on an issue that will have already been considered by the full House.

That press release begins, "The Human Rights Campaign has collaborated with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi". Forget the Good Germans - we've got ourselves the Good Gays.

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Everyone and their fairy godmother's got an opinion on the ENDA/GENDA political showdown, not least of all our trans allies.

Los Angeles Times' Christine Daniels, the all-star sportswriter once called Mike Prenner, spilled some ink against Nancy Pelosi and Barney Frank's political foul. Using a sports analogy, Daniels writes:

The basketball expression for it is "low-bridge." It is the dirtiest foul in the sport, the act of suddenly taking out a player's legs as he or she leaps for a rebound, pass or jump shot. It's a cheap and devious move, in that it may look spontaneous but is almost always premeditated — and almost always a prelude to a fight.

That's what happened to the transgender community on Sept. 26. We were low-bridged. By — of all people — Massachusetts Rep. Barney Frank and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Did Daniels get claws implanted, as well?

• Best lede ever? "To the average man, his penis is one of the most important things he owns. At an early age he discovers it and immediately becomes fascinated by it." Does one really own their own body?

• Another look at HRC's national dinner.

• Nancy Pelosi's speech from said HRC national dinner.

• Texas Stonewall Democratic Caucus president Shannon Bailey stays after blow job scandal.

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Michael Urie, Rebecca Romijn, Nancy Pelosi and other bold-faced names were greeted by protest at HRC's national dinner this weekend.

Dozens of queer activists showed up to picket the gay non-profit's spineless endorsement of the trans-excluding ENDA.

Check out more pictures over at Joe Tresh's website!

You may have blocked it out, but yesterday we brought you the disturbing news that Whoopi Goldberg wants to "do" House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her hubby, Paul.

This here's the video. Watch at your libido's risk.

Representative Rob Andrews of New Jersey should have led the Senate Subcommittee hearing on ENDA today. As we all know, however, that vote's been postponed until politicos can lobby their peers to include trans in the discrimination protection measure. In an effort to get some answers, Blue Jersey sat down with Andrews with a little chat.

While Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the committee wants to wait up to two weeks before voting on the issue, Andrew says it could happen sooner. They just need to win 70-80 votes to support trans rights.