My God is he cute

It's Friday night, I'm permitted to wander. From TowleRoad:

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Is hate crime murderer mentally incompetent?

I've always had a problem with the whole "mentally incompetent" thing. I mean, how sane can you be to be to decapitate and dismember someone? Read the rest of this post...

Dan Savage on the impending divorce of Mark and Jenny Sanford

Why we love that Dan Savage:

As for the statement Jenny Sanford released..

“As so many of us know, the dissolution of any marriage is a sad and painful process. It is also a very personal and private one."

The dissolution of a marriage is a sad, painful, personal and private process—if you're the straight first lady of South Carolina. If you're just some nice lesbian couple living in Maine or California the dissolution of your marriage is a highly public process, complete with lying campaign ads and anti-gay demagoguery and bigots traipsing to the polls.

Check out the photo in his post. Read the rest of this post...

Lead climate change denialist wanted to test entire population for AIDS and lock up anyone infected, for life

Christopher Monckton, the lead intellectual driving force behind the climate-change-denialist movement, called for mandatory AIDS testing of the entire population in the 1980s, Media Matters revealed today. Monckton then went on to call for the mandatory quarantining, for life, of anyone with HIV.

And keep in mind, this wasn't exactly a mainstream view, even in the 80s. So if Monckton was this wrong in the 1980s, and somewhat of a nut, then what makes him any less of a nut twenty years later? (As an aside, it was also revealed today that Monckton has somewhat of a penchant for accusing young people of being "Hitler youth." He also claimed that climate change adherents had killed more people than Hitler.)

Speaking of Hitler, here is an excerpt of Monckton's piece from the American Spectator of January 1987, calling for the widespread testing and incarceration of people with HIV/AIDS (I have the entire piece, and have read it, this isn't it out of context).





And here's a bit more:

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Accuracy in Media recants latest smear of gay Dept of Education official Kevin Jennings

Another one bites the dust. Seems they accused him of being a pedophile and personally teaching young people "perverted sexual practices." Now they realize it was all a mistake. Never mind. Read the rest of this post...

Austrian parliament legalizes civil unions

Another country now ahead of the land of the free.

Austria joins the following countries in offering civil unions/partnerships: Andorra, Colombia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Ecuador, Finland, France, Germany, Greenland, Hungary, Iceland, Luxembourg, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Slovenia, Switzerland, Wallis and Futuna, United Kingdom, Uruguay.

And these countries have full marriage equality: Belgium, Canada, Netherlands, Norway, South Africa, Spain, Sweden

Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln... Read the rest of this post...

In Houston mayor's race, Annise Parker leads in late polling

We've written several posts about the Houston mayor's race, which pits openly gay Annise Parker, the city controller, against lobbyist Gene Locke. Supporters of Locke's campaign have teamed up with some of the most notorious homophobes in Texas to attack Parker over her sexual orientation. But, in the latest poll, Parker has taken a clear lead:

Parker leads former city attorney Gene Locke 49 percent to 36 percent, according to a poll released Thursday by Rice University in Houston.

Parker has never made her sexual orientation a secret or a focal point during her six years on the City Council and the last six years as controller.

But it took a more prominent role in the mayor's race in the weeks leading up to the runoff as anti-gay activists and conservative religious groups have endorsed Locke and sent out mailers condemning Parker's "homosexual behavior."

Locke has been trying to distance himself from anti-gay attacks while courting conservative voters who could tip the race in his favor.

The problem that Locke has trying to distance himself from the attacks is that two of Locke's top supporters funded an anti-gay political action committee that has been attacking Parker. That revelation, which was first reported earlier this week, has gotten widespread attention -- and may be working against Locke according to the pollster:

Rice political science professor Robert Stein, who oversaw the poll, said the attention on Parker's sexual orientation has probably hurt Locke more than her.

"It denied Locke an opportunity to win over traditional white liberal Democrats," Stein said.

The election is tomorrow. This poll is encouraging, but what matters is what happens when people get into the voting booth. Annise's campaign is in GOTV mode and pulling out all the stops to win. Read the rest of this post...

Rachel on Rick Warren's role in Uganda

First, Rachel reminds us of Rick Warren's role in Prop. 8 (and how he lied about his involvement in that campaign.) Then, she gets into his "intensive involvement" in Uganda and his "better, late than never" statement on the "kill gays" legislation. Rachel also said she is happy to host Rick Warren on her show:

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Rachel always shines. But, on this Uganda issue, she has soared. Read the rest of this post...