Human Rights Campaign Calls on Americans to Sign the People’s Brief
The historic effort, joined by Edie Windsor as first signer, gives every American a chance to share their view on marriage equality with the Supreme Court.
HRC.org
Emergency Motion Filed to Force Alabama Probate Judge to Issue Marriage Licenses to Same-sex Couples
Four same-sex couples in Mobile, Alabama have asked U.S. District Judge Callie Granade to order Mobile County Probate Judge Don Davis to issue marriage licenses.
Earlier today, Davis stopped issuing marriage licenses to all couples rather than start issuing them to same-sex couples.
In their request to Judge Granade, the couples explained that each of them appeared at the Davis’s Mobile offices and were denied marriage licenses. The couples’ request explains that they are suffering serious harm each day that they continue to be excluded from marriage.
The Alabama couples are James Strawser and John Humphrey—who previously obtained a ruling from Judge Granade declaring that Alabama’s exclusion of same-sex couples from marriage is unconstitutional—and Meredith Miller and Anna Lisa Carmichael, Robert Povilat and Milton Persinger, and Kristy Simmons and Marshay Safford. The couples are represented by the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR), Birmingham attorney Heather Fann, and the ACLU of Alabama.
Said NCLR Legal Director Shannon P. Minter: “While many same-sex couples in Alabama were able to marry today, many others were denied that basic freedom. We are hopeful that a ruling on this motion will provide clarity regarding the obligations of probate judges across the state and correct the misunderstanding generated by Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore, who has erroneously instructed those judges not to comply with the requirements of the federal Constitution. We are confident that all Alabamians, regardless of where in the state they live, will soon enjoy the freedom to marry.”
Read the emergency motion below via Equality Case Files:
#43 on Scribd”>1:14-cv-00424 #43 by Equality Case Files
Kyler Geoffroy
Ben Carson's History of Bigoted Anti-LGBT Extremism
The World's Richest Poodle Is Dead
Your dog is a pauper compared to Foo-Foo, the former Air Chief Marshall of Thailand.
Allegra Ringo
Is Our Controversial Gay-App Infographic 'An Exercise in Fat Shaming' or an Accurate Reflection of Hookup Culture?
Click to enlarge
Within hours of publishing a funny infographic about gay hookup culture, our inboxes were flooded with complaints. As major gay media outlets published the infographic, they too got their fair share of commenters who wanted them to pull it down. “Can you please NOT post MORE crap that demeans people who are not jock athlete types?” wrote a commenter on Towleroad. “Thanks for an app flow chart that only leads to happiness for hot, hung, models and twinks. Good to reinforce that. Wouldn’t want 16 and 17yo gay guys to think that anything out of the porn ideal can lead to a great relationship,” wrote a commenter on Queerty. And on InstinctMagazine.com one commenter seemed to speak for many when he said, “[W]ho is the A hole who made this???”
Allow the “A hole” to respond.
Our infographic lampoons many of the most common types of profiles and behaviors you’d find on apps like Grindr, Scruff and Jack’d. Almost nobody escapes our art director’s pen — not the guys on the DL who post pics taken from 500 yards away, or the guys who send pics of their gaping anuses as a friendly way of saying hello, or the guys who insist on knowing your penis size before they’ll meet you.
But there’s one object of ridicule that most of the complaints centered on: the reaction of our hapless, shallow protagonist when an overweight guy hits on him: He blocks him without even saying hello.
“An exercise in fat-shaming narcissism,” said one commenter who believes the infographic promotes body shame. But that’s not how we see it at all. We wanted to accurately portray how people behave online, not how we wish them to. Is reflecting (and ridiculing) how people truly behave online off-limits? If you don’t believe that many gays are fat-phobic, then read this comment from someone who saw the infographic on Towleroad:
For those of you who deny that this is what happens, open a grindr account, attach a picture of an overweight guy, and see what the results are. As someone with a less than perfect body, I can tell you that you’re not going to like the results. “Orca” is actually a lot nicer than some of things I’ve been called.
Hookup apps bring out the worst in us. We would never, ever behave in real life the way a lot of us behave online. This was perfectly captured in a hilarious video HuffPost posted recently.
Our own survey of dating-app usage doesn’t paint a pretty picture of online behavior. Almost two thirds of respondents who are HIV-negative say they are unlikely or highly unlikely to initiate contact with or respond to an attractive guy who states he is HIV-positive in his profile. Thirty-three percent admit to lying about their age, height or weight. Forty-six percent say they’ve asked strangers to report their penis size. And a whopping 76 percent say they’ve sent strangers dick pics.
What’s not to make fun of?
Our infographic shows a shallow, superficial egotist surfing through an app and encountering a motley crew of freaks, flakes and fakers, just like real life. If you’re going to voice your objection to online behavior, there’s probably a better way to do it than attacking an infographic that makes fun of it.
Openly Gay Man Confirmed at Director of National Drug Control Policy
Today, the Senate confirmed Michael Botticelli as the new Director of the White House Office of Drug Control Policy (ONDCP).
HRC.org
LISTEN: Madonna's 3 New 'Rebel Heart' Tracks and Her Post-Grammy Phone Call with Ryan Seacrest
Madonna released three new tracks from Rebel Heart — “Iconic (feat. Chance the Rapper and Mike Tyson)”, “Hold Tight”, and “Joan of Arc” — after last night’s Grammys and they are now available for listening online.
Madge also called in to Ryan Seacrest’s radio show from her bed this morning and revealed new details about the show, her tour, and flashing her butt on the red carpet.
Listen to all the clips, AFTER THE JUMP…
About the show, she said it was “a little scary” to be pulled up to the ceiling in the harness.
“The one thing everyone forgot to do,was tell me when I could sit up [in the harness]. So, I’m laying back there, like forever… in this super extreme back bend, hanging over the audience. I was like ‘Can I sit up now? Is the camera off of me? No one said M you can sit up now in my ears. It was the one moment everyone overlooked. Eventually, I sat up and was like ‘Screw this, my back is killing me.'”
Of the red carpet butt flash, she said:
“I had an inspired, accidental wardrobe malfunction moment…Literally, for one second when I walked away, I mooned. It wasn’t really mooning, I just lifted my dress up…Everyone’s seen my naked butt already. Not for a while, not since the 90s. It’s the age of ass, isn’t it? For lack of a better phrase…it was just me having fun and being cheeky. No pun intended….That was a little part of my Rebel Heart.”
She also talked about working with Diplo, NAS, and Mike Tyson, going on tour, and the possibility that she’ll ever get married again.”
Listen to all the clips, AFTER THE JUMP…
Seacrest interview:
Andy Towle
WATCH: Alabama Officials Continue Attempts to Stop Marriage
Despite the start of marriage across most of the state, antigay officials are still flailing wildly for a reason to block weddings.
Matt Baume
Obsessed: Bruce Jenner and the Dichotomy of Gender Expression
Scrolling across my feed, a myriad of trending topics flash repugnantly, as they usually do. Today one caught my eye, one that made me wince. Low and behold, trending as usual: Bruce Jenner, only this time, the headline read: Bruce Jenner in horrible Crash — One person dead. This struck me viscerally, beckoning my memory to an image of Princess Diana’s street car. There are already rumors circulating that it was a “Paparazzi Chase” that caused the accident. Oh, how the press loves to talk about Jenner, I have yet to hear the end of it, I don’t want to talk about it and now a person is dead. I guess now is as good a time to talk about this as any other.
We could start with the endless loads of speculative nonsense. Of course, traditional gender policing has to take place first, right? People had to try to deem Jenner male or female, gay or straight, and all based on appearances (because the world would explode if we couldn’t label Jenner immediately.) When Time magazine stepped forward claiming Jenner’s transition, I stewed in my chair. Was it their place to tell the world? Did it matter how legit the sources were?
Here’s my personal opinion. When people were showing me photographs, did I think Jenner was transitioning? Hell yes I did. Was it my place to perpetuate that idea? Absolutely not. It’s never anybody’s place to out a trans person. It’s never anybody’s place to out a gay person. So why do we, as a society, continue to buy the tabloids that perpetuate the invalidating idea that gender expression is still something shocking? Why do we continue to sensationalize the everyday journey of the transgender person, and make it something other than normal? The dichotomy of gender expression is one that has been repackaged and rebranded over and over again throughout history, and it all boils down to one thing. Heteronormative thinking, or in other words, anything that isn’t straight and cisgender is weird or worthy of a bad photoshopped cover story. Trans people are more than our narratives. We are living, breathing human beings, and Jenner is too.
The year is 2015. Today is a new day. When Jenner is ready to tell the world what’s up, I’ll be waiting. Until then, godspeed.
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