In an attempt to dole out advice on the n-word, popular talk radio host Dr. Laura Schlessinger slipped into a rant using it.

When a caller -- a distraught African American women who called in to be advised on how to handle racist jokes and comments hurled at her by her white in-laws and neighbors -- asked Schlessinger if it's okay to use the n-word, Dr. Laura needed advice before she advised.

"It depends how it's said. ...Black guys talking to each other seem to think it's OK," Schlessinger told the caller.

Whether used as an expletive or term of endearment, what is it about this word that captures the rage and shame of the American public?

Continue reading "Can blacks rid themselves of the use of the n-word?" »

Today's ad is a montage of perspectives: Navy intel officer Larry Baxley, Air Force spouse Kelly Sayers, and Marine mechanic Jon Martinez. A range of experiences, the overriding theme here is 'secrecy.'

Sixteen years in the service is a big deal. Getting out four years before retirement speaks strongly to many in the defense community, as there presumption is that there must have been a powerful reason for making that decision. For Larry to say living a lie under DADT is reason enough to forgo pending retirement is a significant statement that will resonate to anyone who has worn the uniform.

Continue reading "Damaging Secrets: SU Web Ad Part Two " »

I read the comments in blogs too often, and I've come across gibberish like this before:

homosexual 'GAY' is not of God!!!![...]

The Holy Bible says if your 'GAY' homosexual they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them. This tells me a lot so should we kill them NO. They Need to ask God to forgive them of their sins and mean it turn away from it. They also need to know that when it says that their blood shall be upon them that tells me it is AIDS. That how I feel.

I've wondered what sort of person leaves those comments, but otherwise it's just like the internet threw up because extreme homophobia and bad spelling, grammar, and incoherence go hand-in-hand.

Well, we do know what kind of person left the comment above on Facebook: a Republican candidate for governor in Iowa, Jeremy Walters, who also happens to be a Ron Paul fan. And he's sorry:

Continue reading "No offense, but homosexuals are going to burn in hell" »

As I noted last week, I have decided to work with GetEqual, the non-violent direct action group, as a member of its provisional Board of Directors.

After its first in-person meeting last week, the Board released a public statement.

That statement after the jump, along with a list of the Board members, my personal impression of the Board and its role in GetEqual, and some planned actions.

I recognize that some of you will find these words controversial. I hope that you will stay to discuss the issues with me by making a comment below, positive or negative.

Do you agree with the principles of non-violent direct action? Do you think the LGBTQ community should use non-violent direct action now?

Continue reading "GetEqual Board Statement: Our Issues Will Not Be Ignored" »

Perhaps in Mr. Evans' dreams? Deliciously bad cover art on this gem. Has anyone read it? The "types" are great. My fave is the Beatnik -- the beret really does it for me.

Continue reading "It's a (gay) Jungle Out There: vintage pulp" »

I write this with a hat tip to a friend who suggested this subject and its title, but had only examples of horribly Unsafe Ex illustrating what to avoid but not what to practice.

As the highest form of animal life on the planet, we ought to wonder why no species performs worse than we do at ending relationships. In our evolution, have our relationships become too complex for us to handle? Have our pairings evolved (devolved?) beyond our natural capacity to manage them? If so, we ought to do one of two things: improve the quality of our relationships (our general and ordinary preoccupation) or master the fine art of becoming an ex, which is the subject of this post.

Here are ten rules.

Continue reading "Practicing Safe Ex" »

Editors' Note: Guest blogger Thom Watson was born in a "pro-America" part of the country but then grew up to become a gay, liberal, Harvard-educated atheist living in northern California. He has come to terms with the fact that this pretty much disqualifies him from ever holding public office.

On Sunday, Jeff and I took our tuxedos out of the closet and out of their dry cleaning bags, to let them air out.

You see, we had planned to marry each other tonight. But our marriage won't take place today.

We had planned to marry each other last Thursday. But our marriage didn't take place last week.

In fact, we had planned to marry each other last year. But our marriage never took place in 2009.

Why didn't we marry today, or last Thursday, or last year? It wasn't a case of nerves, second thoughts, or "cold feet," nor was it bad weather. It wasn't that we couldn't get the place we wanted, or that the officiant failed to show up. It wasn't that we didn't really want to. We wanted to... we want to... intensely.

Continue reading "Not Getting Married Today" »

I have had to educate a number of political candidates on the issue of why the word "marriage" means so much to LGBT Americans. In fact, the issue came up last night at the Norfolk Democratic Party Committee meeting I attended.

Explaining the reason why marriage matters is not just because civil unions are a framework of "separate and unequal" - of course, here in Virginia, we don't even get that right to be unequal. No, where the rubber hits the road comes from the fact that so many laws, especially tax laws, use the word "marriage" in dispensing benefits and rights. In terms of taxes, not being able to marry causes LGBT citizens to pay more in income taxes - even though we receive fewer civil rights - and more in the estate tax realm as well.

Continue reading "Gay Or Straight, Marriage Matters -- For Taxes " »

Turns out that the participation the huge US military survey on DADT is self-selected:

Sunday was the deadline for troops to complete the Defense Department's "don't ask, don't tell" attitudes survey, and officials at the Pentagon said the final tally on completed responses was 109,883 -- a response rate of only about 27.5 percent.

A guy I know in the Air Force got the survey and he filled it out (he told me his responses... they weren't half bad). But if I'd hazard a guess the people who filled it out were those who felt strongly on the topic, and we all know that the people who feel strongly on this topic tend to be on the opposite side of the spectrum from the rest of us.

We don't really know who were the 27.5% were, but when you have a response rate that low (of people who knew in advance what the topic of the survey was), it does introduce a new element. Why would some people choose to respond and others wouldn't? Who knows, but whatever the reasons were, they may affect the end result of the survey.

The Stars and Stripes article linked above does mention who's better at filling out these surveys:

Continue reading "DADT survey results won't be accurate" »

You never know when tragedy will strike. All you can hope for is you're not in the middle of it when it does.

Continue reading "The Flat Tire I" »

I like this as an ad. Go MoveOn.org:

Of course, I find this problematic in a few ways; that's after the jump. But I'm still glad that they're putting it out there. Don't try to negotiate with these businesses, because that's fruitless. Their interests are fundamentally opposed to the people's interests.

The left needs to do a better job conscripting the people, because, fundamentally, these issues are about them and people are always the left's greatest resource.

Continue reading "Keep focused on the target, not Target" »

Now that Republicans have found a new boogeyman, they've started to ignore our community somewhat. They've discovered brown people (as versus black people - it's not okay to be racist/xenophobic toward them anymore because they'll loudly complain about it, you see) are more likely to cause knee-jerk panic among their target voters than the threat of gay rights.

Combine that with quickly changing social positions on everything from employment protections to same-sex marriage and suddenly terror babies and Islamic cultural centers are the frenzied new priorities for the GOP. Meanwhile, the Democrats have sat around with their thumbs up their butt waiting for just the right political wind to champion civil rights again. Because, you know, that's what champions do...

Watch this great segment from MSNBC's The Ed Show (which is almost always better when Ed's not there) with guest host Cenk Uygur talking to Keith Boykin about the Democrats' lack of fortitude recently on LGBT issues. Does anyone really believe that Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama oppose gay marriage when even Laura Bush and Glenn Beck support it? The clip is after the jump.

Continue reading "Mexicans & Muslims vs Teh Gayz" »