Michelle Obama received loads of praise last month when, at an event for gay Democrats, the potential first lady said, "We are all only here because of those who marched and bled and died, from Selma to Stonewall, in the pursuit of a more perfect union."

The "Selma" of which Mrs. Obama spoke refers to a 1965 march in Selma, Alabama, when police beat back civil rights activists trying to march to Montgomery as a protest to a black teenager's shooting. The event immediately became known as Bloody Sunday. The "Stonewall" of which Mrs Obama spoke, of course, refers to the Stonewall Rebellion of 1969, widely seen as the launch of the contemporary gay rights movement. With that geographical reference, Obama sought to - and succeeded in - linking the civil and gay rights movements. The crowd - and the press - went wild, but not everyone agrees with Obama's optimism.

Racism and homophobia, some believe, are so completely and utterly different that drawing a comparison between the two amounts to a mortal political sin. That’s a perfectly reasonable argument. Race and sexuality have exceedingly divergent histories in the United States, and thus result in entirely different emotional experiences. White people can't understand anti-black sentiment anymore than straight people can comprehend homophobia.

Black, gay people have felt both, of course, which puts the National Black Justice Coalition in a precarious position.

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Openly gay Bloc Party singer Kele Okereke had a hell of a weekend.

The twenty-six year old and his band mates were in Spain for the Summercase festival.

Milling about backstage, Okereke saw former Sex Pistols vocalist John "Johnny Rotten" Lydon, one of his favorite artists. Eager to meet the legend, Okereke walked on over and began to chat him up. That's when the trouble began…

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Right wing radio host Rush Limbaugh employed some - um - "colorful" words while explaining the Democrats' relationship with gay and black voters during his June 23rd show:

CALLER: Hello. I want to know how the Republicans [think they] don't need Christians and conservatives, and they think we're 30 percent. Twelve percent black people in the population. Ten percent — they claim — homosexuals in the population. Rush, honey, when did 30 percent get to be a small number?

LIMBAUGH: I don't — I think it's actually larger than 30 percent. But let me see if I can get your question right. You want to know why the Republicans are willing to say, "Screw you," to 30 percent or more of their voters and yet Democrats will bend over, grab the ankles, and say, "Have your way with me," for 10 percent and 2 percent of the population?

Limbaugh later boiled down his reply to one word: "money."

The GOP jokesters (is that an oxymoron?) who came up with this handy pin probably thought they were being original, not knowing that the joke is so old and tired that old and tired Southwesterners in bolo ties were getting in trouble for uttering it in public places months ago.

Nevertheless, Republicanmarket.com printed up the “Orange you glad I didn’t say banana?” of racist political jokes on a bunch of pins and sold them at the Texas Republican Convention last weekend.

Of course, after photos of the pin hit the press yesterday, the state GOP representatives were shocked and appalled, vowing to never again invite the vendor to an event.

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Hilary Rosen may very well be Wonder Woman.

The New Jersey-born activist acted as the Recording Industry Association of America's chairman for five years, acted lesbian social networking site Ourchart's president, served as Human Rights Campaign's interim executive director back in 2004 and currently serves as Huffington Post's political director, a gig she accepted earlier this year.

With all that experience under her belt, you can be sure Rosen, who previously endorsed Hillary Clinton's campaign, has scads to say about the current electoral climate, including the increasingly "blurred" lines between press and politics, her feelings on Clinton's departure, sexism in the press and how the lived experience shapes one's political views. And, thankfully, Rosen shared her thoughts - and many more - with our trusty editor.

Before getting into all of that, however, the duo start things off at the "beginning" of Rosen's queer career: her coming out. Read all about it, after the jump…

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New York-based Hillary Clinton supporter Harriet Christian definitely agrees with Geraldine Ferraro's reverse racism argument.

Geraldine Ferraro's a slow learner.

The failed vice-presidential candidate stepped down from Hillary Clinton's campaign in March after alleging that rival Barack Obama had a leg-up because of the color of his skin.

Well, now that the race is winding down, Ferraro has now blasted fellow Democrats for their sexism and - wait for it - reverse racism! And, as she did before, Ferraro feeds on "affirmative action fears" - black power threatens white dominance.

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A bad internet date turned into a nightmare for Abdulrahman Almoayed.

The Scotland based man had met 59-year old Alan Wiseman on Gaydar, invited him over, but ultimately didn't hook up with him because, as he says, Wiseman was much older than he claimed online. Perhaps that's why Wiseman ended up sending him racist, homophobic messages:

After the disastrous rendezvous, the pair exchanged one more e-mail and then stopped contact.

But a month later, Mr Almoayed's flatmate received a letter containing graphic and offensive sexual abuse, which he realised was directed at his friend.

Although shocked and upset by the insults, they ignored the letter.

Two days later, when Mr Almoayed logged on to a Gaydar chatroom, he was met with another tirade – this time with racial insults thrown in among the sexual jibes.

Throughout the following weeks, each time either Mr Almoayed or his flatmate logged on, they were subjected to homosexual and racist abuse, each time from the same user. "edin23john".

The pair eventually reported the matter to police, and Wiseman was traced through the internet service provider.

Wiseman, who has done this before, must serve 200 hours of community service. We hope they don't put him near anyone of color lest he reveal his dark side again.

As Barack Obama gets closer and closer to locking up the Democratic nomination, the hootin’ and hollerin’ about him being a buh-lack Muzzlin is gaining volume.

The t-shirt at right is for sale in a bar in Cobb County, Georgia; in Indiana, one Obama campaigner was told by a citizen: “Hang that darkie from a tree!“; and it is widely accepted that part of the reason Obama was defeated by such a huge margin in yesterday’s West Virgina primary is because of the color of his skin.

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Oh, Bill, Bill, Bill.

If you're going to tell someone they're misquoting you, make sure you're right. Reporter Mike Memoli caught up with Mr. Clinton today in Pennsylvania and asked him about his remark that Obama played the "race card" after the Jesse Jackson debacle last January.

And, like Hillary's Bosnia memory, Bill's remains a bit hazy.

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Barack Obama's campaign claims they scheduled their interview with The Advocate ahead of outcry over the Senator's perceived gay silence. It seems to us that Kerry Eleveld's first question - "Let’s start with what’s hot, why the silence on gay issues?" - only supports our initial skepticism.

Timing aside, Obama offers Eleveld some more details on his gay policy, like how his Joint Chiefs of Staff won't necessarily have to come out against Don't Ask, Don't Tell…

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Forty years ago today, Martin Luther King, Jr., was murdered in Memphis, Tenn. He was assassinated before his work was done, but his role as a revolutionary has never been forgotten nor have some of his most famous words. There’s a lot of talk on the web today about how far we’ve come or haven’t come — and I think we both know and mostly agree with the arguments on both sides of that coin…

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