Ohio's Republican party simply can't quit gay-baiting!

The Buckeye State's GOP this month sent out fliers claiming Democrat Ray Pryor would be bad for the state because he supports gay adoption. (They failed to mention, of course, that a number of high-ranking Republicans there agree with Pryor's politics.)

Now, just two weeks before election day, the party has again used anti-gay tactics to drum up votes. In a mailer sent on behalf of State Congressional hopeful Michael Keenan, the GOP highlights their candidate's strong "family values" and unwavering religion.

With all the muck being thrown around, one would think it's 2004. But, sadly, it is within Ohio's Republican party. Actually, it's probably closer to about 1982…

Ohio's Congressional elections are turning downright despicable.

The Buckeye State's Republican party recently sent out this flier declaring that Democratic candidate Ray Pryor, a Democratic candidate for the Ohio House, supports gay adoption. Such a stance, of course, is baaaad.

CONTINUED »

Havens Corners Church's Katy Perry wordplay got some backlash this weekend.

The Ohio-based church recently used the lyrics of Perry's "I Kiss A Girl" to spread a "loving warning" to its teenage brethren: "I kissed a girl and I liked it, then I went to hell." Charming.

Well, some obviously more progressive vandals offered Havens Corners a message of their own: "God adores you." Ain't that sweet? It's an acronym for gay! We're sure Havens Corners is simply tickled pink.

Pop music and religion collide at Ohio's Havens Corners Church, where staffers invoked Katy Perry's hit song "I Kissed A Girl" and posted this message: "I kissed a girl and I liked it then I went to hell."

Rev. Dave Allison described the sign as a "loving warning." Local Wendy Olinski described it as "rude."

Two forces have drive Chris Willis' career: the church and music. And, at time, they worked in tandem, like when the Dayton, Ohio, native sang in a gospel quartet with his three siblings.

Those formative years sent him on his aural way, but the experience came with a price: self-hatred. Once on track to spread the good gospel word - in fact, he had a record deal in the 1990s - Willis eventually broke with the genre to pursue more mainstream pursuits.

After singing backup for the likes of Ricky Martin and American Idol, Willis eventually fell in with a French pop group and, through them, met David Guetta, a bona fide house music super star. Since they began working together at the turn of the century, Willis and Guetta have had a string of hits, but none as successful as "Love Is Gone," which recently broke the United States' top 40 chart.

While he's largely turned his back on organized Christianity, Willis' religious roots definitely shine through when asked to discuss racism, coming into his own and rising above harassment.

The singer tells our editor all about it, after the jump…

CONTINUED »

Social conservatives are getting more and more creative with their anti-gay activities:

The Repository, Canton’s daily newspaper, is using a state constitutional ban on same-sex marriage and civil union to forbid the recognition of lesbian and gay couples in print, and has advised all the Ohio newspapers in its chain to follow suit.

“Given the current state of the law in Ohio, the Repository does not currently intend to publish same-sex engagement and wedding announcements. We also don’t intend to address this topic on our editorial page or in letters to the editor,” wrote Executive Editor Jeff Gauger on April 28.

Someone better tell Gauger that ignoring the gays won't make us go away…

Ohio politico Jeff Wagner's anti-gay email rant really pissed off some of his Democratic colleagues. Nearly two dozen fellow legislators sent Wagner the following finger-wagging missive:

It has come to our attention that you have sent an email to all Members and staff with language that we believe is inappropriate and unprofessional for the civil dialogue this august body normally upholds.

We, the undersigned Democratic Members of the House, stand united against any type of discriminatory speech. Discrimination against anyone for any reason is wrong.

We strongly disagree with your statements.

Wagner's statements included assertions that gay equality has basically destroyed the entire world and unleashed a wave of mental illness that will consume us all.

Gay equality has no place in Christian America.

That's what Ohio Representative Jeff Wagner thinks, at least. And, like a fool, Wagner spelled it all out in an email to a constituent who asked about the Buckeye State's Equal Housing and Employment Act, which is currently being debated in the house.

Writes Wagner, illiterately:

[T]his is a dangerous and misguided bill. The bill is not really about people being denied rights to basic needs, but it is about promoting acceptance of an immoral lifestyle. As much as some people would have us to believe otherwise, this country was founded on Christian principles. One of those long honored principles is the tradition of holy matrimony. One man and one woman joined together in a union that goes as far back as Adam and Eve. As our society has gotten further from that standard (not just homosexuality, but easy divorce, cheating on a spouse, etc.) we see a continued collapse of the basic building block of society the family unit.

As that traditional family erodes, we see more sexually transmitted diseases, kids without parents, heartbroken people and I believe a host of mental and physical illnesses…rest assured I can not support a bill in any way promotes or encourages the homosexual lifestyle.

Good thing there are men like Wagner to stop the gays, who have apparently caused every social calamity since the beginning of time. We're such klutzes!

The majority of local gays may enjoy living in Columbus, Ohio, but not everything's peachy keen:

[A survey of about 3,400] found that:

• More than half the participants were in committed relationships, and 80 percent want the right to legally marry in Ohio.

• Nearly 60 percent said they had been called names, threatened, stalked, intimidated or had personal property defaced because of their sexual orientation.

• More than half said they had experienced discrimination; among that group, two of three reported workplace discrimination.

• Thirteen percent either had not been tested for HIV or did not know their HIV status.

None of these are good things, of course…

Kent State's most remembered for the May 4th massacre, but Harry Jackson's hoping to change that.

The Ohio businessman just gave the Akron-area university $2 million to boost students' gay rights activism.

The money, the school's largest LGBT donation ever, will be spent on scholarships, booking pro-gay speakers and offering other lavender-hued programs. Said Jackson: "I'm hoping they'll get politically active and educated. By educating them, they'll become part of the process."