• NEW HAMPSHIRE Senate Judiciary Committee recommends killing trans-inclusive anti-discrimination legislation and not legalizing same-sex marriage, both of which the House already approved of. “Democratic Committee Chairwoman Deborah Reynolds, a Democrat, said she doesn’t think New Hampshire is ready for gay marriage. However, the state approved civil unions in 2007.” [WCAX]
• MICHELLE Continuing the White House’s very careful orchestration of the Obamas image comes a release about the First Lady attending a welcoming party for John Berry, the new director of the Office of Personnel Management. [WaPo]
• NEW YORK State Assembly passes Gender Non-Discrimination Act (GENDA). But they did so last year to, only to see the measure fail when Senate Republicans refused to support it. [GCN]
• NAKED BOY BANDS Tsuoyoshi Kusanagi, 34, was arrested after police found him naked, drunk, and screaming in a public park at 3am. He’s a member of SMAP, Japan’s big time boy band, and his blood alcohol level was still 5X over the legal limit some five hours after his arrest. [Newser]
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Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
• NOT HOT Bristol Palin’s baby daddy Levi Johnston is not hot enough — or simply not well known enough — to be considered model material. Also, he has a tattoo with the word “Bristol” on his finger. Ew. “I have no idea who he is or what he looks like. I wish I knew more about who that is, but my computers are down,” says one model rep. [Vanity Fair]
• UNGODLY Dutch Christian television host Arie Boomsma gets suspended from his day job for a revealing magazine photo shoot. [Zephyr]
• PHOTO SCANDAL Ray Lam, a candidate for Canada’s New Democratic Opposition Party, resigns over some revealing Facebook photos. [Xtra]
RM
“Not ready for gay marriage”
I doubt South Carolina wasn’t ready for the end of slavery, but we didn’t wait around for them to get over their insecurities.
Fuck Reynolds and anyones else who thinks that’s a legimitate reason to continue injustice.
Alec
If those photos are too compromising, the Facebook/MySpace generation is going to have a tough time of it when it comes time to select future political candidates. We’ll be stuck with sexually repressed, asocial teetotalers.
Ali
The name is “New Democratic Party”. They’re most commonly known as the NDP. They are in opposition but that’s not part of their party name.
Also: the former candidate is gay and young, the Facebook photos were friends-only causing a number of questions about privacy, and yep, he’s been replaced by another young candidate who is married and “uncontroversial”. And the gay community knows exactly what that’s about. You wouldn’t think we’d be thrown under the bus up here in Canada, but here we are.
Kevin@BGFH
@Alec: Hmmmm, possibly. But I’d like to think that over time, such “youthful indiscretions” will be overlooked much like we now seem to be able to get past politicians’ collegiate experimentations with drugs.
ousslander
Now isn’t John Berry an UNcle Mary for working for people who don’t believe he should have equal rights?
Bruno
I think it’s time those in the state of New York focus on these Senate Republicans who are setting back gay rights in a crucial state at every juncture. We may hate what Diaz does, but he wouldn’t be able to wield any power in the situation at all without these stubborn, hateful legislators to back him up.
As for New Hampshire, I’m not surprised. The fact that Vermont passed SSM makes me think they’re even more averse to it next door, and I always expected NH to be the last New England state to adopt SSM. Although Rhode Island is giving it a good run.
Bruno
The NH committee can only recommend to kill these bills, they are still going to be voted on in the full senate:
http://www.theunionleader.com/article.aspx?headline=Panel%3A+No+to+marriage%2C+%27bathroom%27+bills&articleId=2b76a5a3-646f-41b3-881b-1967d07ae1cf
Deborah Reynolds is the culprit on the marriage bill, joining the 2 Republicans on the committee and breaking with the 2 other Democrats. All 5 gave the transgender community the shaft today.
Emily
@Ali: I’ll further clarify that the election Mr. Lam is running for is a provincial one (in British Columbia), not federal. In BC. the NDP is in fact, the opposition party (no third party currently holds seats in the legislature).
Alec
@Kevin@BGFH: Yes I hope so as well. We’re far too Puritan about these matters. I think my generation will be a bit more understanding (I’m so-called Gen Y), but hey, we assumed as much with the Boomers and look where that got us.
If the recent sexting phenomenon is any indication, they’re in for a brutal run. At least Mr. Lam didn’t have to defend himself against the charge of being a teenage sex offender.