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FORMER RNC CHAIR KEN MEHLMAN: 'I'm gay'.
Mehlman: Chairing Prop 8 fundraiser.
NEW MUSIC: Katy Perry, The Weepies, Fantasia, Heart.
WATCH: Robbie Williams and Gary Barlow go Brokeback...
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I'm intrigued in a very 80's way by Hurts, the Manchester synth pop duo of Theo Hutchcraft and Adam Anderson, who were mentioned earlier in this week's music post. Their debut album, Happiness, is out at the beginning of September, and features a duet with Kylie Minogue.
Here they are covering Kylie's track "Confide in Me" (via arjan). I've also posted the videos for their first tracks "Wonderful Life" and "Better Than Love".
Watch all the clips, and listen to the Kylie duet, AFTER THE JUMP...
Continue reading "Mega Hurts: Brit Synth Duo Confides in Kylie"
Posted 5:30 PM EST by Andy Towle in Hurts, Music, Music Video, News | Permalink
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Earlier this week, I posted about the death threats posted to the front door of gay Kansas House candidate and Army veteran Dan Manning's home. Manning spoke with local station NBC2 about the threats:
"It was very scary. I wondered if there was still someone waiting at the house, someone who was waiting for me to come home. I checked the doors, checked the locks and called the police right away. It clearly has to do with my campaign and my sexual orientation. I was hoping I wouldn't have to talk about this during this campaign, because it really is a distraction from what's important."
Manning's opponent, incumbent Brenda Landwehr, has been using Manning's sexual orientation to stir up her constituents.
Watch, AFTER THE JUMP...
Continue reading "Watch: Gay Kansas Candidate Dan Manning Discusses Death Threat"
Posted 4:45 PM EST by Andy Towle | Permalink
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NYT: Mehlman coming out "no bombshell" in age of fiscal issues.
Ben Cohen's jock strap should attract a few bidders to the UK's Gay Sports Day auction.
John Mayer goes postal over the Huffington Post.
New York State Senator Bill Stachowski records defensive robo-call about his attacks on gay marriage: "It's as though Bill Stachowski is no longer running against his opponent, Tim Kennedy, but he's running against you and Fight Back New York."
Jeremy Renner decides to accept Mission Impossible 4.
Lame Duck Laundry List: GOP includes DADT repeal in bills to block.
Kissimmee, Florida adds "In God We Trust" to the city's motto: "The vote comes after a Kissimmee city commissioner proposed adding the phrase 'In God We Trust,' to the city’s logo earlier in the year. The logo will remain unchanged. That stirred up a lot of controversy after Commissioner Art Otero said he wanted to add the motto in response to issues like gay marriage and abortion."
What gave it away?
Micro frog species discovered in Borneo.
Megachurch uses Modern Family opening for its own ends.
Julian Clary: Is 51 too old for clubbing? "I thought back to my 20s and picked 10 gay men from the circle of my acquaintance and assessed their current circumstances. Back then we were all out and proud and full of frisky fun. What had become of us? Of the 10, six were partnered up, two were single and two were dead. Four had moved to the country, one emigrated to Australia and three remained in London. Four had gone bald. Two had taken cocaine in the last year (and complained that it wasn't as good as it used to be). Three of us had contemplated adopting children or approaching lesbian friends with turkey baster in hand but it had all been talk and no issue resulted. Five had dogs, of which four were small and camp. Three had been out to a gay club in the last year, and two had pulled."
NYC gay bar Chi Chiz to remain open for now.
Real Housewives of New Jersey rehearse for Big Gay Italian Wedding.
Blue Dog Democrat Bobby Bright of Alabama on the reasons he might not have to support Nancy Pelosi for Speaker of the House again: "Heck, she might even get sick and die."
Vintage Dolly Parton.
There seems to be some real life drama on the set of Glee.
Wanda Sykes: Bush administration wasn't anti-gay, but "pro votes".
Why does the Kentucky Farm Bureau hate gays? "Statements adopted by the Kentucky Farm Bureau's 2009 'Farm Bureau Policies' manual show that the institution believes LGBT people are abhorrent and immoral, and that public institutions ought to discriminate against people based on sexual orientation and gender identity."
Posted 3:15 PM EST by Andy Towle | Permalink
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Earlier this week I posted that an LGBT anti-discrimination ordinance in Memphis was withdrawn because of lack of support from the council and the mayor.
At least one gay man came to speak to the council in support of it.
"The reason you don't have gay men and women here speaking to you — is cause they're terrified. Because of threats on their lives. On their jobs. You would not dare say, 'You know, hey, I'm gay'. It's not even about that. It's about putting the picture of the person I'm in love with, that I'd like to marry one day if people wake up, on my desk."
Watch his speech, AFTER THE JUMP...
Posted 2:30 PM EST by Andy Towle | Permalink
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With the Pentagon’s family survey now in the field, Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN), a national, legal services and policy organization dedicated to ending "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" (DADT), will release a letter each day this week from family members and spouses of former service members impacted by DADT. As the Pentagon reaches out to 150,000 straight couples on how their lives are impacted, these letters will share the perspective of those forced to serve under this law alongside their loved ones. SLDN is urging supporters of repeal to call, write, and schedule in-district meetings with both their senators as the defense budget, which contains the repeal amendment, moves to the floor just weeks from now. www.sldn.org/action.
August 27, 2010
Hon. Jeh C. Johnson
General Counsel, U.S. Department of Defense
Co-Chair, Comprehensive Review Working Group
General Carter F. Ham
Commanding General, U.S. Army Europe
Co-Chair, Comprehensive Review Working Group
Dear Mr. Johnson and General Ham:
My name is Angela Trumbauer. I am an Air Force enlisted veteran. I was born and raised in a family of 8 children by my father, a retired Air Force officer (deceased 1979), and my widowed mother, a former Air Force officer, who just turned 78 years young this month. I am married to a retired Air Force Senior Master Sergeant. My stepson is an active-duty Air Force Technical Sergeant. My brother is Lt. Col. Victor Fehrenbach, a highly decorated 19-year Air Force officer. I hail from the “military family” in every sense.
Over Victor’s military career, our family had limited opportunities to see and spend time with him. He came home to Ohio for visits once or twice a year, usually over the Thanksgiving or Christmas holidays. I took my kids to visit him at his assigned Air Force Bases a few times over the years. We prepared and sent him care packages when he was deployed to Iraq. Vic sent me care packages when I was stationed in Greece years ago, while he was still a high school student. Reflecting back, I never gave much thought to his short 2-3 day trips home or the seemingly strained nature of the visits. All that changed in May, 2009, however, when my brother was forced to reach out and seek our family’s support in the most difficult battle of his life – fighting against his discharge under “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell.”
The revelations that have come to light and emotions evoked throughout the past year have brought a great sense of loss and heartache to our family, not unlike that experienced in grief and death. It saddened me deeply to realize that my single, younger brother could never enjoy a close personal relationship, free from fear of persecution or harassment, throughout his near 20 years serving. His family back home was free to enjoy wonderful family relationships with their spouses and children, but Vic was never to experience that same freedom and privilege while in uniform. I often wonder how alone or lonely he must have felt all those years, especially when he couldn’t even share his personal struggles with his very own family.
I recently took the opportunity to ask my brother who he would like us to notify in the event of an emergency or upon his death, after I realized he had no one else to confide in. Most soldiers and airmen have a support system in place, where their spouses or immediate family members are aware of their dying wishes and will share urgent news or handle the appropriate notifications with those closest to their loved one. In my brother’s case, I just figured the military would let us know if something happened to him and that no one else aside from his family members needed to be notified, since he was single and has no children.
Under “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell,” the Fehrenbach family has been robbed of truly knowing and loving our brother for who he is for nearly two decades. He chose to serve in silence to protect his own family – the only family he can legally call his own – from potential exposure to investigation under DADT. We can never get those years back. Nor can we accept the damage to and destruction of our family’s long-standing military history that will result from Lt. Col. Fehrenbach’s discharge under this discriminatory and unjust law. Our family legacy goes back generations, in which our father, mother, grandfathers, spouses, children, uncles and cousins have all answered the call to serve.
Despite all the suffering that Don’t Ask Don’t Tell has caused my brother and our family, we have reaped a benefit far greater than words can measure. Since I’ve come to know and understand my brother’s true identity, and because he no longer has to hide any part of himself from me, our relationship has become much closer and deeper, where we laugh and share more than ever before. Vic can now be completely open and honest with me – an element that was clearly missing in our lives and relationship in the past. I can’t express the immense pleasure I’ve experienced in getting to know my baby brother --- “Uncle Baldy” as some of our 17 nieces and nephews call him.
In light of the infinite family gains that the repeal of “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” will yield, I sincerely believe that allowing open service is necessary, right, and just in every sense. Each and every service member deserves the FULL love and support of their family and friends, without fear of persecution, discrimination and harassment. A strong sense of support and love is essential for our troops at all times. It only stands to reason that overall military performance is enhanced and the resolve to accomplish the mission is strengthened by complete and unhindered family bonds.
Sincerely,
Angela Trumbauer
CC: U.S. Sen. Carl M. Levin
Chairman, Senate Armed Services Committee
U.S. Sen. John S. McCain
Ranking Member, Senate Armed Services Committee
U.S. Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman
Member, Senate Armed Services Committee
Posted 1:45 PM EST by Andy Towle in Don't Ask, Don't Tell, Military, News, Victor Fehrenbach | Permalink
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Pretty fascinating:
"At the centre of the sunspot the temperature is around 3,600C, while the surrounding regions are much hotter, more than 5,800C. The irregular shapes that surround the sunspot are known as granulation and are made of hot gas rising from inside the Sun. Each one is around 1000km in size. The telescope that took the picture is know as the New Solar Telescope which uses adaptive optics, parts that change to adapt to disturbances in the atmosphere and correct distortions in the signals."
In other news, the Kepler satellite team reports the possible discovery of an Earth-sized planet in another solar system: "This is the first announcement of a candidate Earth-size planet by the Kepler mission, which in March 2009 launched a one-ton spacecraft to search for planets like ours that just might harbor life. The planet was among more than 700 candidate planets that the team announced in June. If it is made of similar stuff as Earth, its mass would be three to four times as much."
Also, a very interesting video has been released which illustrates all the asteroids that have been discovered in our solar system from 1980 to 2010. There are a hell of a lot of them.
Watch, AFTER THE JUMP...
Continue reading "Photo: Most Detailed Image of a Sunspot"
Posted 1:00 PM EST by Andy Towle in News, Space | Permalink
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