Today is National Underwear Day! I wore a special pair of skivvies today and I'm perfectly confident that you did too. Imagine my surprise when I found out I could claim I wore them because it was a holiday! Now, we could celebrate this conventionally with a video of hot buff hairless young guys trying on brandname underwear like this:

Or we can celebrate Bilerico style... We're not all buff and movie star perfect so why should we pretend? After the jump find nine pictures of some guys in their underwear who look more like our readers than super models. I grabbed the photos from Guys With iPhones - a NSFW site I like because the guys pictured are real and not picture perfect.

Finally, do you remember my brief mention of the actor from LA who sent me a pair of his underwear? (That part wasn't exactly an exaggeration!) You can find a NSFW video of him changing in and out of several pairs at the very end and trust me, you want to find it.

Aren't the holidays all about sharing? God, I love a celebration.

Continue reading "National Underwear Day: Celebrate Bilerico Style" »

I never thought I would start crying while listening to an interview with Lieutenant Dan Choi, the Iraq war veteran who recently received notice of his honorable discharge from the US military for publicly acknowledging he's gay. But here I am, crying. I'm watching Democracy Now, and during a break in the conversation the show is broadcasting images of Dan Choi at various actions in favor of the repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell.

"Universal Soldier," Buffy Sainte-Marie's classic antiwar song, plays in the background. While Sainte-Marie sings, "And he knows he shouldn't kill/ And he knows he always will kill/ You'll for me my friend and me for you," Dan Choi is pictured in full uniform saluting a crowd at the National Equality March, removing tape from his lips to declare:

We love our country, even when our country refuses to acknowledge our love. But we continue to defend it, and we continue to protect it, because love is worth it. Love is worth it! ...But when we're telling the truth about our love, our country slaps us in the face and orders us, "Don't ask," and orders us, "Don't tell." Well, I am telling you that the era and the time for asking is over. I am not asking anymore! I am telling! I am telling! I am telling...because in the face of injustice and the face of discrimination, patience is not a plan. In the face of discrimination, silence is not a strategy.

Continue reading "A Fine Romance: Democracy Now's Amy Goodman and Lieutenant Dan Choi" »

Ah, for the days when life was so much simpler and people knew who they were.

Continue reading "Road Trip IV" »

Hello, Brian, Maggie, Louie, and the rest of the NOM crew!

I want to thank you for dropping by. Really. I mean it. I know you read this blog. Let's face it - y'all aren't stupid and must do at least as much research on our side as we do on yours. At the very least I hope you've been entertained by what you've read here; despite our differing political opinions I like to know that everybody's having a good time. (Call it "Hoosier Hospitality.") I know I've been enjoying watching your tour unfold over the past few months, and I figured I'd try to give you a chance to explain yourself further.

Look, I'm gonna be real frank when I say I want to understand your position better. That's politics, right? Coming to an understanding, finding compromise, exploring issues, all that stuff. My only problem right now is this: I don't understand the details of your side's position on marriage.

Please don't take that as an insult, and don't downplay my confusion: I know you hold up "one man, one woman" bonds as super-special and keen and all that, but you haven't been entirely forthcoming and clear on the how for all this.

Continue reading "Hey NOM: care to answer questions for cash?" »

When I see people celebrating the federal court's decision overturning Proposition 8, I feel sad -- not for them, but for me. I wish I had their innocence. I wish I could feel their joy.

The ruling from the district court is indeed wonderful. Judge Vaughn Walker's legal arguments and especially his 80 findings of fact will provide aid and comfort to lawyers battling for marriage equality in other locales. Perhaps the publicity about his ruling will also teach the heterosexual population, or at least a portion of it, that the long, well-financed effort to derail marriage equality hurts same-sex headed families, hurts our children, and is the definition of cruelty.

But I've been around long enough to know that Judge Walker's opinion is only one step in a long process.

Continue reading "Prop 8 and Sadness" »

When it was on the air, Battlestar Galactica was one of my fave sci-fi shows and I never missed an episode during its four year run. I own all four seasons on DVD, the 'Razor' and 'The Plan' standalone episodes as well.

I recently entertained myself on a slow news day by watching 'The Plan.' The story for you non-BSG fans is that Number One, AKA Brother Cavil, hates humanity with a passion. He coordinated along with his fellow Number One avatars the genocidal nuclear sneak attack by the Cylons on the Twelve Colonies that nearly wipes the human race out.

During one scene in it, Brother Cavil is ranting to a Number Six avatar about why his grand plan to exterminate humanity and its remaining 50,000 survivors is failing miserably. Number Six listens, then says to him, 'You can't declare war on love."

.

Continue reading "You Can't Declare War On Love" »

Palm Springs Mayor Steve Pougnet is running against Republican Congresswoman Mary Bono Mack in California's 45th district; Pougnet is openly gay. One of the most interesting aspects of Pougnet's campaign is that, if elected, he would be our first gay legally married parent.

Imagine some of those crusty old homophobes having to look Pougnet in the eyes and say his marriage is worthless and he couldn't be a good father because of his sexual orientation. Bono Mack, supposedly a moderate, doesn't support ENDA even though she has a close trans family member. She also voted against repealing DADT and opposes marriage equality. Which one is the real "family values" candidate?

So if you want to celebrate California's Prop 8 win and make a difference doing it then toss Pougnet's campaign ten dollars. That's, what, two cups of Starbucks or three beers? Surely, we can all pitch in $10 to celebrate marriage equality and make sure we have a married advocate in Congress.

Want to get involved in his campaign? Check out his website and sign up for his e-mail list. You can also follow Steve on Twitter or join Steve's Facebook page. At the least, give his campaign $10 to make Republicans look at a married gay man every day.

My video interview with Pougnet is after the jump.

Continue reading "Interview: Congressional candidate to keep an eye on" »

Editors' Note: Guest blogger Adam G. Bass joined GLAAD in early 2007. Prior to GLAAD, Adam worked for over ten years in electoral politics, working on communications and field work in federal, state, local and issue campaigns.

Your 21st birthday is supposed to be a happy moment; it’s one of those “big” birthdays. Today would have been Angie Zapata’s 21st, but just over two years ago, Angie was murdered. On behalf of GLAAD, I sat through the trial where Angie’s murderer was convicted and sentenced to life in prison. As I thought of how to honor Angie on the occasion of her 21st birthday, I decided to take a look at how her life and her story lives on today. The way the media told Angie’s story, set the bar for media coverage of stories involving transgender people.

It is important to take into account the huge role that the media plays in shaping public perspective, and the fact that media coverage often biases criminal and legal investigations--such as when media coverage implies that an openly transgender victim shares responsibility for being attacked, simply because he or she is transgender.

In 2008, many first responders to the story of Angie Zapata’s murder, including police and media, referred to her with male pronouns and by her male birth name as well as suggesting a “trans panic” defense. GLAAD immediately began working with the media to change this, and subsequent media accounts showed drastic improvement in coverage of Angie’s story.

Continue reading "Remembering Angie Zapata and Reflecting on Media Coverage of Transgender People" »

Here's David Axelrod on MSNBC explaining Obama's position on same-sex marriage after the Prop 8 trial decision. I comprehend that position, but that doesn't mean it makes sense (transcript's after the jump):

This is exactly why people hate Democrats.

Continue reading "So where does Obama stand on the Perry decision?" »

Guessing this was shot in the late 1920s or early 1930s. Two lovely women making merry on a summer's day, sharing a blissful moment in the shade.

Continue reading "Halycon Days of Summer: vintage photo" »

"Here at Sidelines, we have what we call the seventeen second rule," said Laurie Whittaker, co-owner with Marty Kildea of Sidelines, the popular gay owned and operated Wilton Manors, Florida, sports bar.

Before a definition of that rule could be supplied, came the first of a constant string of cordial interruptions from patrons and staff of the friendly watering hole where everyone actually does know your name and the names of Laurie and her partner of thirty years, Jennifer Morales, who handles public relations for the bar.

The affection and dedication that Laurie and Jennifer express for each other while telling their story is infectious and certainly a prime reason for the success of a bar that received a singular honor on July 27th when the City Commission issued a proclamation honoring the bar's fourth anniversary.

Four years in business is no small accomplishment in a world in which 80% of small businesses fold in their first year, but thirty years as a couple is a greater one. Jennifer and Laurie laugh, kiss, joke and finish each other's sentences when telling their love story.

"We met on October 18, 1980, through mutual friends at a party. We did the lesbian U-Haul thing and moved in together within a week." Whether Jennifer or Laurie said this is unimportant. They are two happy voices of one beautifully fused woman. Theirs is the only longterm relationship either has ever had.

Their union has not been without its trials.

Continue reading "Two Women In Love" »

Well, round one in the Perry case is almost over. The effect of Judge Vaughn Walker's decision finding that Prop 8 violates both Due Process and Equal Protection guarantees in the U.S. Constitution is stayed until Friday, when he will hear arguments on whether the injunction he granted against enforcement of Prop 8 will continue to be stayed pending appeal.

Walker's opinion is a thorough legal analysis and a comprehensive review of the factual and quasi-factual bases for each side's arguments in the marriage debates. The Due Process violation is that California denies access to a fundamental right and the form of legal recognition considered to be culturally superior - marriage - and offers only an inferior substitute - domestic partnerships. On the Equal Protection claim, Judge Walker finds that Prop 8 discriminates based on sexual orientation, a classification that he would treat as suspect, but he concludes that because Prop 8 lacks a rational basis, there is no reason to reach the question of heightened scrutiny.

Not a surprising analysis, but well done. Is it a watershed, either legally or culturally? Too soon to know.

Following the jump are the aspects of the 138-page opinion strike me as the most important.

Continue reading "Analysis of Prop 8 Decision" »