With the wins in California and Washington, some Springfield legislators say they will now make a serious push for equal marriage legislation this year in Illinois.  As they do so, we can expect that the usual suspects to loudly bray about how “unfair” equal rights legislation is, and demonize LGBT people in the process.

Chief among them will be Chicago’s Cardinal Francis George.  George is already on record comparing lesbians and gays to the KKK, and repeatedly defended that insulting comparison before finally issuing what many considered an inadequate apology.  The “apology” implied that he still thinks that many lesbians and gays are fascists, and he justified his blasts against us as being motivated by his alleged fear for “the liberty of the church.”

George, as head of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops, spent tens of thousands backing the anti-gay referendums Proposition 8 in California and Question 1 in Maine.  After the passage of the civil unions bill in Illinois, George pompously predicted, “I expect to die in bed, my successor will die in prison and his successor will die a martyr in the public square.”

As marriage equality moves forward this year in Illinois, look for Cardinal George to once again take his bigotry out from under wraps, trying to lean on Illinois legislators to vote against equality.

As a cover for this bigotry, look for him to try to play the victim role again, falsely stating that equal marriage legislation in Illinois would somehow force the Catholic Church to celebrate marriages it chooses not to.

Look for him to violate the church’s tax-exempt status by using its institutional power to advocate on legislation.

We can sit back and take it – as Californians fatefully did with the Mormon Church before the passage of Proposition 8 – or we can proactively push back against this bigotry now.

Please come to Freedom to Marry Day 2012 at 10:30 AM this Sunday, Feb. 12 in front of Holy Name Cathedral, 735 N. State Street, and stand with the majority of lay Catholics and others of good will who support equal rights for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender people.

This protest was initiated by the Gay Liberation Network and is supported by the 8th Day Center for Justice, Dignity-Chicago, Equality Illinois and the Rainbow-Sash Organization.  For more information, email LGBTliberation@aol.com

See you on Sunday!

(L) Madonna at the 2012 Superbowl Half Time Show, (R) David La Chapelle's 1993 Portrait of Jocelyn Wildenstein

Is Madonna finally embracing her inner Wildenstein?

If you’re like me and have a Google Alert on the Bride of Wildenstein, then your inbox is flooded with daily comparisons between the Material Girl’s (as of late) pumped up features and plastic surgery poster-victim, Jocelyn Wildenstein.  But at today’s halftime show, I seriously began considering if Madge was openly embracing these recent comparisons to the cat woman.  Her initial Cleopatra-look (complete with leopard print) bore a striking resemblance to a 1993 David La Chapelle portrait of Wildenstein.

View more videos at: http://nbclosangeles.com.

Police respond to fight on Hollywood Blvd between Catwoman, Ozzy Osbourne and an Alien. Spiderman and batman just watched… I can’t make this stuff up!

Flikr: Audery Sel

On FOF #1504 Trends and Predictions for 2012, I predicted that in bio-technology, scientists would start performing foreskin restoration using stemcells from the discarded foreskins of circumcized babies.  And now, just days later, the Huffington Post, is reporting that scientists have been testing stem cells on lab rats in the race to make a better rat penis. How long will it be before a stem cell penis cream hits the shelves?

– Marsian is a Los Angeles-based puppet artist, chanteuse, and high art drag personality MarsianDeLellis.com

Francis George said in his “apology” that he never meant to smear “all gays and lesbians” with the KKK analogy.  So, by implication, and by earlier statements, we take it that George did intend to liken some gays to the Klan, particularly some gay activists. In fact, his original Klan remark was directed at something he vaguely called the “gay liberation movement.” This sounds like a specific reference to our organization, the Gay Liberation Network, which he has previously singled out for attack when we have had the audacity to picket the Church hierarchy, including himself, in front of Holy Name Cathedral (George’s charges against us for being “anti-Catholic” have always been disingenuous and incendiary because he knows very well: Our disagreement is with him and other church leaders, not with the Catholic laity which, in poll after poll, backs equal rights for gays and lesbians).

In his apology, George claimed further that his KKK analogy was “motivated by fear for the church’s liberty.”  This, too, is completely disingenuous. No one was challenging the church’s “liberty,”  unless by this George means something like the right of the Catholic Church hierarchy to be free from frank and open criticism for its advocacy of discrimination against women and gays.

Finally, and most importantly—and missed by those individuals and groups who are now heaping undeserved praise on the Cardinal—Francis George’s “apology” contained not a word about the church leadership’s long-standing and aggressive opposition to all equal rights legislation for LGBT people, nationally and in the state of Illinois.

George’s anti-gay animus did not begin by his comparison of gay activists to the KKK.  When the Catholic Church leadership, including George, ceases doing everything it can to oppose our equal participation in society, then we can accept an apology from that leadership

While canceling the January 8 protest, we are redoubling our efforts to secure participation in the Freedom to Marry Day demonstration scheduled for Sunday, February 12 at 10:30 AM in front of Holy Name Cathedral, 735 N. State Street, Chicago.

Watch the video here: wlfriends.org

Posted by Marsian, a Los Angeles-based puppet artist, chanteuse, and high art drag personality www.MarsianDeLellis.com

Throughout the various articles published on her life and death, she is alternately referred to as “transgender” and “drag performer”, and occasionally by the Maori term “whakawahine” (fah-kah-wah-HEE-nay) which refers to ‘one who lives as a woman’ (compare to the Samoan “fa’afafine”).

However you define her, Carmen was a colourful boundary-breaking character, a former street worker turned dancer and entertainment entrepreneur, and once ran for Mayor of Wellington (a position later won by the world’s first openly trans MP Georgina Beyer, also of Maori descent), all during an era still marked by retrograde and phobic attitudes towards homosexuality and rigid gender roles.

A karakia (prayer) for the dead follows, in te reo Maori, the language of the indigenous people of Aotearoa-New Zealand. Phrased so that it is appropriate for pakeha (people not of Maori descent) to say:

Tena Koutou i o koutou tini mate
No reira, haere e nga mate
Haere ki te wa kainga
Haere, haere, haere.

Translated into English:
Greetings to your many dead
Therefore, farewell the dead
Go to the home of all time
Farewell, farewell, farewell.

Perry, current Governor of Texas, is running for the Republican Presidential nomination and currently has the most hated video on YouTube – topping the prior most hated video “Friday” by Rebecca Black.

As of this posting, more than 350,000 people officially “dislike” Perry’s video where as a mere 254,000 people hate Rebecca’s video.

Way to go Gov!

Not one to judge, though, Barrowman’s already forgiven the teenager for his crime and wants to offer him a job working behind the scenes on a Christmas panto, to give him something honest to do rather than rob folks. Say it with me now: awwwwww!

Well, HELL Pizza, a very popular pizza chain here in New Zealand, has crossed a line and infuriated many, with a misfortune cookie containing the message: “You will marry a transgender”. Customer Tamsyn Clemerson was shocked to find it, and shared a photo of the message and cookie wrapper on her Facebook Wall. It was shared several times around, and resulted in several outraged responses on HELL Pizza’s Facebook Page, all generally expressing the sentiment that portraying a relationship with a trans person as a “misfortune” is bigoted and in poor taste.

Calls have been made to local store managers and marketing divisions, and so far no one contacted was at all aware of the transphobic message being among the regular run of misfortunes. No official statement has been released by HELL regarding the message, thus far.

Some past controversies HELL has been known for have included a billboard with a picture of former US President George W. Bush, with the caption: “HELL’s too good for some evil bastards”, and another billboard promoting hot cross buns for Easter: “For a limited time. Kind of like Jesus.” All potentially offensive to someone, but I will argue that, as an immortal religious icon and a wealthy political figure respectively, Jesus and Bush aren’t much affected personally by such statements.

In a world where trans people are still regarded with revulsion, mistreated and attacked on a regular basis, we don’t need more attempts at “shocking” humor like this one. I am generally a fan of HELL Pizza, having them in my regular home-delivery rotation, and sincerely hope they discontinue this particular “misfortune” so we can all have a good customer-service relationship again.

Wouldn’t that technically have been Lady GaGa’s film debut in a major motion picture?

With Guy Fawkes Day behind us, guess they weren’t so successful.

This video has gone viral and Twitter especially is aflame with shock over what appears to be Aransas County Court-At-Law Judge William Adams viciously beating his 16-year-old daughter with a belt for using the internet against his instructions.  This Reddit thread is encouraging people to contact his office and the local media for investigation and confirmation of the events depicted in this video.

Quinto, who released an emotional “It Gets Better” video in October 2010, has never confirmed nor denied his sexual orientation in the past, but it has certainly been the subject of rumor since he burst onto the scene playing Mr. Spock in the JJ Abrams “Star Trek” reboot in 2009.   In the interview, Quinto discusses his latest film, “Margin Call” and the ongoing Occupy Wall Street protests, but the most revealing moment in the interview is where he almost nonchalantly reveals his orientation to the interviewer:

“…For one thing, he’s willing to unambiguously talk about his sexual orientation. His eight-month role in Angels was both “the most challenging thing I’ve ever done as an actor and the most rewarding” he says. Having to inhabit that terrible lost world, if only in his mind, took a toll. “And at the same time, as a gay man, it made me feel like there’s still so much work to be done, and there’s still so many things that need to be looked at and addressed.”

Welcome to the other side of the closet, Zachary!  It’s nice to have you here.

via: Failblog

James on the left is black and gay, while Daniel on the right is straight and white. Both have the same parents and were born on the same day.

The two teenage boys sitting on the sofa opposite are different in almost every way. On the left is James: he’s black, he’s gay, he’s gregarious, and he’s academic. He’s taking three A-levels next summer, and wants to go to university. Daniel, sitting beside him, is white. He’s straight, he’s shy, and he didn’t enjoy school at all. He left after taking GCSEs, and hopes that his next move will be an apprenticeship in engineering.

So, given that they are diametrically opposed, there is one truly surprising thing about James and Daniel. They are twins. They were born on 27 March 1993, the sons of Alyson and Errol Kelly, who live in south-east London. And from the start, it was obvious to everyone that they were the complete flipside of identical. “They were chalk and cheese, right from the word go,” says Alyson. “It was hard to believe they were even brothers, let alone twins.”

– Read the entire article here.

It’s really the only one that rebels against religion or at least ignores it.  People love Halloween, not for the food like Thanksgiving or presents like Xmas or the sex like St. Valentine’s Day or the beer like St. Patrick’s Day, but just because it’s completely antithetical to religion and the religious right (i.e. it is a creative, intelligent holiday.)  

So, they have to poop on another one.  We need to save Halloween from Jesus’-ween(-ie).  [First tea-baggers, now this.  These freaks suck at picking names.  Just call it Jesus’-wang, for Christ’s sake.)

Pole dancers from around the world came to together in Budapest, Hungary for the World Pole Sport Championships.  For the first time, men were also able to show what their stuff.

It is, as the website says, “a showcase event demonstrating sheer physical strength with mesmerizing skill and stamina through individually choreographed routines.”  You can find their performances on youtube, some are really good and easily outperform Nomi Melone from Showgirls.

[Sorry, I had problems to ad this picture as a thumbnail]

Feast your eyes on the new iPhone4s! Now with a photo of me in every box.

And one more thing… and one more thing?

No “one more thing.” Right up until the end, many folks held out hope for a “one more thing”, the traditional surprise ending to Jobs keynotes. The highly anticipated iPhone 5 did a no-show, blasting over a year of rumors and mock-ups of a fancy shmancy new design for Apple’s flagship smart phone. When Apple delayed its release of a new phone until the fall of this year, baby our expectations were like children on Christmas morning on crack. Surely, if we were to wait more than the usual year between versions of the iPhone, the result must be something spectacular.

I always thought the i in iPhone stood for invisible.

I think it was. With a faster processor, improved camera lens and sensor, people’s new iPhones will hopefully hold their own when it comes to taking pictures against their old point and shoots. You can crop your photos, tweet or facebook your pic without having to launch Facebook’s disastrously slow iPhone app. Hopefully the shaky camera you get from shooting movies in HD is a thing of the past. And now, you have full 1080P movies, which will look stunning on your hi-definition TV, or your rickety old CRT analog TV which we still use here at the FOF home studio.

People at Sprint can finally get their accounts on a new iPhone, and the telecom duality wars don’t seem as scary anymore.

One of my favorite new features is Siri, the AI audio interface that learns your voice and commands and helps you do all sorts of things like set your alarm clock, look for a Chinese food restaurant open after midnight and text your “friend with benefits” that you want to hook up. Good boy.

This guy isn't just burning calories, he's also cruising men with his iPhone4s in San Francisco.

This fool robbed a gas station in broad daylight with more than one clerk behind the counter, lots of customers, and A POLICE OFFICER STANDING RIGHT BEHIND HIM!!  Ok, so, he is the dumbest man on the planet.  So dumb that he didn’t wonder why the clerk was laughing his butt off while giving him the money.

source

Looks like the NZTA is waiting until they move 999 of these plates before they switch to another series.  They mention that they’ve disallowed letter series like FAG or FKN . . .   I would think they should disallow any series that could be considered a descriptive noun at all.

For anyone that’s watched the FagBug Documentary I’m thinking if people are prone to busting windshields over an Equality sticker I’m wondering what they’d do to a vehicle with the license plate literally spelling out GAY.  Maybe that only happens in the U.S.?