Richard Branson: No Business With Ugnada

In a recent blog post, Sir Richard Branson condemned Uganda for recently passing a law that severely criminalizes homosexuality. Originally dubbed the "Kill the Gays" bill, the death penalty was ultimately dropped from the law, but it does call for life imprisonment in most cases if found guilty. In his post, Branson says "the dreadful witch hunt against the gay community and lifetime sentences means it would be against my conscience to support this country." He also urges other businesses to take a stand by not doing business with Uganda. Uganda's "Kill the Gays" bill was supported by Tony Perkins, president of the "Family Research Council" in the United States. 

Nebraska Churches Take out Full Page Ad to Oppose LGBT Nondiscrimination Protections

Get this: 214 churches in Nebraska recently pitched in to take out a full page ad in Omaha's World-Herald newspaper to oppose an LGBT nondiscrimination bill. If passed, the bill would provide basic protections to LGBT people in Nebraska. Currently, LGBT people in Nebraska have no protections on the basis of their sexual orientation or gender identity, and thus can be fired from their jobs or denied housing just because they are gay. And 214 churches across the state came together to make sure that keeps happening. Apparently it's just the Christian thing to do. 

New Santorum Campaign Ad

Lagging behind in the polls, it looks like Santorum is trying to appeal to the religious extremists by telling them that God told him to run for President. The ad, by the way, says nothing about why he'd make a good president. 

Jurors in Lawrence King Hate Crime/Murder Trial Speak Out...

...and it will make you sick. The gay panic defense is alive and well. Where is the justice for Lawrence? 

Anti-Gay Direct Mailers Flood Maryland Households

If you live in Maryland or know somebody who does, please send them here to easily voice support to their delegates for marriage equality. The "National Organization for Marriage," which should just be called the national organization for Heterosexual-Only Marriage, has launched a vicious scare tactic direct mail campaign. The mailers include lies such as "Imposing Same Sex Marriage Has Consequences." I've said it 1,000 times and I'll say it again- legalizing same sex marriage never has and never will impose a church to marry anybody. It simply legalizes CIVIL marriage licenses which are government issued and currently only available to opposite-sex couples. Tell your friends. 

Why Some Old People Just Need To Die

And why nobody should ever give the "American Family Association" any shred of credibility:

Holy Crap

I rarely go outside the realm of gay marketing with my blog posts, but you've got to see this:

Hawaii Governor Vetoes Civil Unions

It's a sad week for so many in Hawaii who have been fighting since 1993 just for the separate and unequal institution of a civil union. Yesterday, governor Linda Lingle vetoed the state's civil union bill that had passed in both houses in Hawaii by solid margins. 



Bigotry Wins: Hawaii Gov. Lingle Vetoes Civil Unions from Joe Jervis on Vimeo.

Bill O'Reilly Fuels The Christian Lunatics' Anti-McDonald's Backlash

Take a look. O'Reilly makes the rather offensive remark, "Do they have an al Quaeda ad too?"

GLAAD is calling on people to take action. And while in many cases I think GLAAD oversteps their bounds as with the "Ticked off Trannies with Knives" film, in this case, i think it's warranted. 

Click here to voice your concerns about Bill O’Reilly's history of verbal attacks on LGBT people including this latest incident of comparing the gay community to al Qaeda. Urge O’Reilly and Fox News to apologize and tell the network to stop allowing its airwaves to be used for anti-gay defamation.

The Christian Extremists Are Already Going Bonkers Over McDonald's Gay French Ad

Organizations like the "American Decency Association" are going bonkers over McDonald's TV commercial in France featuring a father and his gay son (you saw it here first on BrandFabulousness). The commercial fits brilliantly  into their new "Come As You Are" campaign currently running in France. That's right, France. So why do these nutcase lunatic groups in the states care so much what brands are doing overseas? Take a look at the outcry from the "American Decency Association" here.

And if you want to write McDonald's in support of their ad, here's their address:

McDonalds Corp

1 McDonald’s Plaza

Oak Brook IL  60523

Phone: 630-623-3000

Fax: 630-623-5004

Toll Free: 800-244-6227 

Avenue Q's puppet cleavage causes concern in Colorado

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.  — Puppet cleavage has been ruled out for advertising posters in Colorado Springs bus shelters. Lamar Advertising rejected posters for a touring production of the Broadway show "Avenue Q" because they show the cleavage of a fuzzy pink puppet. Lamar account executive Jeff Moore says the company takes a conservative approach in Colorado Springs. The city is known for its political conservatism, and some conservative Christian groups have headquarters in the city, including the now infamous Focus on The Family. The poster has been replaced by one showing the face of another puppet. "Avenue Q" is a Tony-winning musical about twentysomething New Yorkers, both human and puppets, searching for life and love.

Florida "Family Policy" Council Purposely Uses Wrong Photo To Mock Adoptive Couple

This is unbelievable. A Christian group in Florida with the deceptive name of "Florida Family Policy Council" has made a deliberate attempt to ridicule a lesbian couple involved in an adoption case. After the lesbian couple was granted adoptive rights, the group used the photo on the left in their press materials about the case. That photo is the first thing that comes up when you do a google image search for "ugly lesbians." The actual couple in the case is the beautiful pair on the right, South Florida trade-show executive Vanessa Alenier and her partner, Melanie Leon. 

What can we do about this?

1. Share this story as widely as you possibly can to shed light on this phony and malicious organization

2. Give them a piece of your own mind at http://www.flfamily.org/contact_us.php

And remember, it's a Christian group, so choose your words accordingly.

The full story can be read here. 

Congress Members Urge Boy Scouts to End Discrimination

Twenty-six members of Congress sent a letter to the Boy Scouts of America on Monday urging the organization to end its policy of antigay discrimination. 

The letter, spearheaded by Democratic U.S. representatives Gary Ackerman of New York and Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, was prompted when the Boy Scouts rejected a lesbian couple in Vermont from volunteering for their 10-year-old son’s Cub Scout pack. The Boy Scouts district director suggested that the couple would “push their lifestyle on the boys.”

Read the letter here.

Illinois GOP blasts ad calling Senate frontrunner gay

This is Andy Martin, the Republican Illinois Senate candidate who aired a radio ad questioning the sexuality of his primary opponent (and U.S. Congessman) Mark Kirk. During the advertisement Martin says that there is a “solid rumor that Mark Kirk is a homosexual.” It goes further to say that Kirk is part of a “Republican Party homosexual club” and that Kirk should come clean about these accusations. 

In a written response, the Illinois Republican Party disavowed the statements made by Andy Martin: "His statements today are consistent with his history of bizarre behavior and often times hate-filled speech which has no place in the Illinois Republican Party. Mr. Martin will no longer be recognized as a legitimate Republican Candidate by the Illinois Republican Party."

Kirk campaign manager Eric Elk issued a statement saying the ad "is degrading to the political process. The people of Illinois deserve better."

Talentless Eminem is at it Again With Another Anti-Gay Song

(MTV.com)

Late Thursday, a pair of brand-new Eminem tracks from his upcoming Relapse: Refill album hit the Internet, and while both are filled with his trademark lyrical irreverence, a line in one of the songs — "Elevator" — is raising more than a few eyebrows.

In the track, Em jabs at former 'NSYNC member Lance Bass and a pair of former "American Idol" contestants, Clay Aiken and Adam Lambert, all of whom have said they're gay. While the actual wording of the lyric is in question, here's what Eminem appears to be rapping, according to several sites, including ThisIs50.com:

"Sorry Lance, Mr. Lambert and Aiken ain't gonna make it/ They get so mad, when I call them both fake/ It's all these f---ing voices in my head, I can't take it/Someone shut that f--king baby up, before I shake it."

However, as gay-news site Towleroad.com has noted, "fake it's" sounds phonetically like "f----ts," a similarity that they claim is anything but coincidental, given the rapper's previous history with the word.

"Eminem cleverly avoids using the word 'f----ts" in his new song 'Elevator' when referring to Adam Lambert and Clay Aiken, replacing it with the words 'fake it's,' " site founder Andy Towle writes in a post. "Of course, phonetically, it sounds just like 'f----ts.' "

Contacted by MTV News on Friday, a label rep for Eminem had no comment, and official lyrics for the song were not available at press time.

At the moment, Lambert seems to be leaning toward the less provocative lyric. On his Twitter account Thursday night, Lambert wrote, "Wow, Eminem mentioned me in a song?! I must be doing something right!? Even if he used the 'F word,' whatever," then followed that up with a second tweet, which reads: "Oh, he says 'fake it.' My bad."

In 2001, Eminem drew the ire of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation over his use of gay slurs on songs like "Kill You" and "Criminal" — from his The Marshall Mathers LP — which featured lines like "You f----ts keep eggin' me on/ Till I have you at knifepoint, then you beg me to stop," and "My words are like a dagger with a jagged edge/ That'll stab you in the head/ Whether you're a f-g or a lez."

GLAAD called the lyrics "homophobic" and "hate filled," and protested outside the Staples Center sin Los Angeles during the 2001 Grammy Awards, where Eminem was nominated for a number of awards, including Album of the Year. During the show, Em answered his critics by performing a now-famous duet with Elton John, which ended with the two embracing and Eminem giving the finger to the crowd.

In the lead up to the 2001 Grammys, Moby also famously called Eminem "a homophobe," which Em responded to by referring to the DJ/Producer as a "36-year-old, bald-headed f-g" on the song "Without Me," and threatening to fight him during the 2002 MTV Video Music Awards. Eminem said in interviews at the time that the content of his songs shouldn't be taken literally, and told MTV News' Kurt Loder,"I think that some people are a little too uptight, and take things a little bit too seriously."

Contacted by MTV News on Friday, a spokesperson for GLAAD declined to comment on the song, but did say our request had been forwarded internally.

LA Fitness May Have Some Explaining To Do...

A gay man says an employee at the newly opened LA Fitness near Love Field in Dallas twice called him a “faggot” on Sunday.

The man, 36-year-old Jason Evans, said he’s notified the gym’s management and plans to file a complaint with the city of Dallas, which has an ordinance prohibiting anti-gay discrimination in public accommodations.

“This is about justice,” said Evans, a member of both the Cathedral of Hope and the Turtle Creek Chorale. “It’s about hate and homophobia and it happened right here in our community, in a gym where a majority of the male members are gay. This is something that I’ve never done, but at 36, I’ve just had enough. I want the community to know what happened to me. Once it happens to me, it happens to all of us, we all take the hit.”

Read the full article here on Instant Tea (Dallas Voice blog)

CONTACT INFO FOR L.A. FITNESS DALLAS-MOCKINGBIRD LN @ LEMMON:
4540 WEST MOCKINGBIRD LANE
DALLAS,  TX   75209
(214) 453-4899 

8: The Mormon Proposition

Cannot wait to see this:

TX rep. Louie Gohmert has lost his mind

How sad. Watch below as an elected official actually associates gay people with being oriented toward animals, corpses, and children. This happened yesterday during a debate on "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," which somehow evolved into a debate on hate crimes.