|
» Oregon Woman Hit With Rock After Telling Man She's Gay
A 20 year old woman was beaten with a rock in Aloha, OR on Tuesday because she told her attacker she's gay. "The suspect was described as white, 16 to 22 years old, about 6 feet tall and slender with very large ears." [AP] |
» Words…
"There are two issues here. One is the state's responsibility. To me the state's responsibility is to absolutely ensure equality. The other is a religious issue and I leave it to the churches to make that call about marriage. To me it is a sacrament. I will never suggest the state of Washington marry me. The state of Washington gave me responsibilities, it gave me rights, it gave me benefits." - Washington state Governor Christine Gregoire on her faith and gay marriage. Gregoire supports equal benefits, but won't budge on the semantics of it all. [Seattle Times] |
|
Conservatives Balk At "Incremental" Marriage Rights
Less than a year after winning the right to establish domestic-partnership contracts through the state, the gay and lesbian community is seeking the rights that go with divorce. Social conservatives aren't biting, of course, and dismiss the proposed legislation as nothing more than "an incremental step toward gay marriage," said House minority leader Richard DeBolt. |
|
|
|
Defense delineates difference between "kindness" and "sex"
Curtis says he's the victim of an attempt by an alleged male prostitute and would-be extortionist seeking to take advantage of his kindness and generosity after "trying to help somebody out." Fellow politico State Senator Joe Zarelli's advice to Curtis? "Come say your piece and do your thing." It seems doing precisely that is what got Curtis in his present predicament in the first place. "Curtis Denies Wrongdoing, Says He Is Not Gay" [The Columbian] |
|
Under the law, which went into effect yesterday, cohabitating queer couples can enjoy many marriage-esque rights, including inheritance, hospital visitation and the ever-important autopsy authorization. Ring a ling! 64-year old Jim Malatak and his younger beau, 53-year old Rick Sturgill were the first couple registered yesterday. Malatak rejoiced after sharing a civil kiss with his main man, calling the historic event, " Wonderful. Supremely wonderful. I hope this can be the model for young gays coming up." |
|
The non-profit's Initiative 957 will force married couples to have children within three years or have their marriage annulled. It stems from Washington State Supreme Court's 2006 barring gay marriage. In that case, Andersen v. King's County, the majority ruled: The plaintiffs have not established that they are members of suspect class or that they have a fundamental right to marriage that includes the rights to marry a person of the same sex. Therefore, we apply the highly deferential rational basis standard of review to the legislature's decision that only opposite-sex couples are entitled to civil marriage in this state. The state has a vested interest in maintaining the federal bloodline, if you will. The Defense Alliance, then, intends to make the court enforce that ruling. |
|
Too bad for us (among others) that Washington State's Supreme Court has refused to reconsider their ban on same-sex marriage, meaning that their decision this summer stands. 365 Gay reports:
Ug, what's the point of having a supreme court if they don't flex their muscle a little? Sure, checks-and-balances is great and all, but we want results! |
|
Today, Sally Vastola, Rep. Tom Reynold's political aide, went before the Committee today. As usual, there's no word of what she actually said, but we're sure she reiterated the "fact" that Tom Reynolds (R-NY) found out about the emails last spring. Woo. Later in the week, however, the Committee will get the treat of sifting through the (alleged) pile of bullshit that's being funnelled out of Speaker Dennis "Hasturd" Hastert's office. 365 Gay reports:
In other Foley news, you have catched the Washington Post article yesterday about now Foley used to target the "hot" boys. No? Well, here's a snippet discussing one of Foley's correspondence with a would-be hook-up:
Foley's a saucy little man, isn't he? In light of that article (and also that we think it's relevant, interesting, and discussion worthy), we recently received an email from The Stonewall Libertarians - you know, the group that's just like the Libertarian champions of small government, big individuals, and lower taxes, only gay. We've pasted the entire press release after the jump, but the gist of it is that the entire Mark Foley scandal has high-lighted the tyranny of governmental age of consent laws. President of Stonewall Libertarians New York, Jeff Grizlo, says:
Nice… What Grizlo forgets, however, is that not all the boys were "bent wankers" (love that gay speak, by-the-by), but were kids who wanted to support their government. If you recall the Washington Post article:
We're not sure where we stand on this whole issue (and we're also way tired to get into where consent laws comes from, why we have them, where they should be stuck, etc), so we'll let you guys duke it out in the comments. |
|
Those of you who read either Blogactive or Page One Qover the weekend saw the post in which they out notoriously anti-gay Oklahoman Republican Tom Coburn's (pictured) legislative director, Roland Foster. No? Well, head on over there and check it out. Oh, and to that certain ill-adjusted blog that removed our link after our previous Rogers-outing post: that makes us sad. We were just about to ask you to go steady… |
|
Um, who is this guy? Not only is he trying to justify his molestation of a young boy put in his holy charge, but he's doing so with made-up words! His degenerate ways know no bounds! This is like saying a rape victim liked it because she was moaning. Guess what, those weren't moans, those were screams. Oh, and along the same lines of refuting Foley's claim that it was, in fact, abuse, Mercieca says this:
Yeah! Just put it all behind you! Sure, you're career's in the shitter, you may face criminal prosecution, and even if you don't go to jail, you'll be ostracized for the rest of your life. The trauma caused? Feh! Walk it off. Remember when you beat me at Space Invaders? Now that's a memory to cherish… |
|
We couldn't resist posting this comic from Salon. We figured you would all get a kick out of it and given the fact that many of you don't have Times access, we guessed you don't have a Salon membership, either. |
|
Testifying before the House Ethics Committee yesterday, Louisiana Representative Rodney Alexander insisted that while the boy received emails from Foley, he knew nothing of Foley's other contacts. The New York Times reports:
One has to admire this kid's ability to keep mum. If we started a scandal that threatened to take down key members of the government, we'd be all over the television, radio, newspaper, and maybe even a billboard. But that's just us. Apparently, he just wants to put this whole Mark Foley thing behind him. We're sure Mark Foley wants to be behind him, as well. In related news, after extensive interviews, the FBI still hasn't found any evidence proving Foley broke federal sex crime laws. Never fear, though, prosecutors still have about two months to decide how to proceed. We have a feeling something will come up. How could it not? If we've gone through all of this and there's not even a trial, it'll be the biggest let down since…well…we don't know. But it'll be big! (Yep, we've pasted the article for all you cheap bastards.) |
|
While Foley's announcement that he liked boys surprised some, and the next one that he adored the hooch shocked his colleagues (many of whom have publicly questioned his so-called addiction) his next bombshell may have been the biggest yet: he had been molested by a clergyman. What? A drunken homo Congressman was molested by a man of the cloth? Disturbing, yes, but not least of all to the Archdioscese of Miami, under whom Foley practiced when a lad. In the days following the big news, the Archdioscese asked Foley to name his abuser. Foley, in the dry heaves of withdrawal, no doubt, remained mum. Now, as the House Ethics Committee investigation heats up in Washington and GOPers are outed by the second, Foley's decided to name the boy-loving priest. The Palm Beach Post reports: "At a news conference Tuesday, Foley's civil attorney, Gerald Richman, said Foley has decided to identify the priest, who is still living." Goodness gracious, this is more sordid/contrived than Dynasty. |
|
Can't get enough gay political scandal? Neither can we and, thankfully, neither can our friends over The Cup of Joe Blog. We've reprinted them after the jump. Number four is our particular favorite. (As if you care…) |
|
As a crucial Washington and Congressional insider, openly-gay Trandahl's (pictured, looking pretty cheer in The Times) testimony has the potential to make or break this investigation. The New York Times Reports:
So Trandahl served "at the pleasure" of old Speaker Hasturd? That poor, poor man… The issue at hand is whether or not Trandahl actually alerted Turdie's office or if he gave the information to Kirk Fordham. One thing we do know is that Trandahl confronted Foley about the emails last year. Apparently his words fell flat. Determining the exact sequence of events will help investigators piece together who knew what when and whether or not key Republican figures helped cover up Mark Foley's "overly-friendly" emails with Congressional pages. And, yes, we've posted the entire Times article after the jump. |