The Catholic Church Wants to Screen Out Gays

The Vatican said Thursday it is considering psychological testing for prospective priests to screen out candidates “with strong homosexual tendencies” and heterosexuals “unable to control their sexual urges.”
The document, released by Vatican’s Congregation for Catholic Education, said that early detection of “sometimes pathological defects” would help avoid tragic experiences - a veiled reference to the sexual abuse scandal that rocked the Church and which the Vatican has blamed on homosexuality, despite evidence showing no link between sexual orientation and pedophilia.
The Vatican said that testing would be decided on a case-by-case basis when seminary rectors feared a prospective priest had “grave immaturity.”
“Such areas of immaturity would include strong affective dependencies; notable lack of freedom in relations; excessive rigidity of character; lack of loyalty; uncertain sexual identity; deep-seated homosexual tendencies, etc.”
The document also said that it was “not enough to be sure that [a candidate for the priesthood] is capable of abstaining from sexual activity” but also to “evaluate his sexual orientation.”
Gay groups have accused the Church of using homosexuals as scapegoats for the abuse scandals.

Prop 8 Is Wrong and It Is Not Fair To People

Obama Set To Trounce McCain

Barack Obama, gunning for a national landslide, now leads in four states won by President Bush in 2004 and is essentially tied with John McCain in two other Republican red states, according to new AP-GfK battleground polling.
The results help explain why the Democrat is pressing his money and manpower advantages in a slew of traditionally GOP states, hoping not just for a win but a transcendent victory that remakes the nation’s political map. McCain is scrambling to defend states where he wouldn’t even be campaigning if the race were closer.
Less than a week before Election Day, the AP-GfK polls show Obama winning among early voters, favored on almost every issue, benefiting from the country’s sour mood and widely viewed as the winning candidate by voters in eight crucial states - Colorado, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia.

Justices Of The Peace May Not Refuse Gay Marriage

Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal has warned justices of the peace they cannot refuse to perform same-sex marriages.
City clerks will begin issuing marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples beginning the week of Nov. 10, following a state Supreme Court ruling that Connecticut’s civil unions law failed to provide equality.
Under the civil union law passed in 2005, justices of the peace could refuse to perform ceremonies for same-sex couples. But in a legal opinion issued Wednesday by Blumenthal, it will be illegal to refuse to perform a same-sex ceremony simply because the couple is gay.
The legal opinion was sought by some justices of the peace who oppose same-sex marriage.
“Although no state law requires justices of the peace to marry any particular couple,” as public officials they “cannot refuse to perform a marriage for discriminatory reasons,” Blumenthal said in a statement.

Prop 8 Is Down To The Wire

With polls showing a tight race less than a week before election day over a proposed ballot measure to ban same-sex marriage, both sides are ramping up their campaigns.
The measure, known as Proposition 8, would overturn the state Supreme Court ruling legalizing same-sex marriages, by instead changing the state constitution to limit marriage to a man and a woman.
This week the No on 8 coalition - the umbrella group opposed to the amendment - unveiled a new ad by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D).
The commercial is running on TV stations statewide. In it, Feinstein speaks directly into the camera, urging voters to oppose the amendment.
“In my lifetime, I’ve seen discrimination and I see it again in Proposition 8,” Feinstein said at the beginning of the spot. The popular senator tells viewers that the measure is “about discrimination and “treats people differently under the law.”
San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom held a fundraiser Tuesday night at his home to help raise money for the No on 8 committee. Earlier in the day he urged students at the University of California - Santa Cruz to vote against the measure.

SC Senate Candidate Manufactures His Own Lies

Republican South Carolina Senate candidate Mick Mulvaney has created one of the most disgusting robocalls of the election season, attempting to connect his Democratic opponent Mandy Powers Norrell, to a "scary" gay group.
A gay group that doesn't even exist.
The call is intended to send voters rushing to Mulvaney using that old chestnut, the frightening homosexual agenda.
In the call, the fake group, called the Alliance for the Advancement of Gays and Lesbians, says:
"Hi, this is Alison calling from the Alliance for the Advancement of Gays and Lesbians. We are a pro gay rights, pro-choice grassroots organization. I'm calling to let you know we're supporting Mandy Powers Norrell in the race for state senate. A proven Democrat, Mandy Powers Norrell supports homosexual unions and abortion rights. We can count on Mandy Powers Norrell to promote a progressive agenda in the state senate and to fight the right-wing fringe at every turn. Again, this is the Alliance for the Advancement of Gays and Lesbians asking you to vote for Democrat Mandy Powers Norrell on Tuesday, November 4th."

Students Support Victims of Gay Bashing

Hundreds of students at the Washington State University wore red Tuesday to show support for gay students who were attacked earlier this month.
The students held a noon rally on the campus and then marched to the administration building calling for greater protections for gays at the university.
There have been no arrests in the three separate attacks.
In one of the assault three men wearing Halloween masks knocked a gay man to the ground and kicked him repeatedly. Police said that the man suffered a collapsed lung.
Victims of the two other attacks were not seriously hurt. In all three instances anti-gay remarks were made by the assailants but police do not know if the three attacks were committed by the same people.
Two of the attacks occurred on campus. The third took place just outside the campus.
If the attackers are found they will likely be charged with hate crimes a Pullman Police spokesperson said.

DADT Undermines Readiness

An organization that represents gays in the military said Tuesday that the Army’s continued use of stop loss is further evidence that the discharge of over 12,500 service members based on sexual orientation since 1993 under “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” undermines military readiness.
The use of known as stop loss, or involuntary combat duty extensions, reportedly is expected to continue through 2009. The number of soldiers affected by stop loss will remain at about 12,000 next year, Army Lt. Col. Mike Moose told USA Today.
U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates and U.S. Navy Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, say the policy is needed to maintain the cohesion of units heading to battle in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“The continued use of stop loss illustrates how the discharge of over 12,500 qualified service members under ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ has greatly strained military readiness at a time when our armed forces are already stretched far too thin around the globe,” said Servicemembers Legal Defense Network executive director Aubrey Sarvis. ” ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ undermines the military’s ability to attract qualified personnel of all backgrounds in order to keep pace with increasing deployment needs.”
The number of soldiers impacted by stop loss each month is approximately the same as the number of service members who have been discharged under “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” – over 12,500.
The number of service members discharged under DADT also roughly equals the number of service members that commanders in Afghanistan are seeking to add to the 32,000 troops already on the ground.

Republicans Come Out Against Prop 8

The latest round of grassroots No on 8 public service announcements started with a simple conversation. Republicans Against 8 campaign director Scott Schmidt ran into Milk scribe Dustin Lance Black, who Schmidt says wanted to know if there was anything more than fund-raising he could do to fight Proposition 8, California's proposed ban on same-sex marriage.
With Black stepping in as director, the two started making some calls, got a bunch of people together, and combined efforts to create two new PSAs, which began making their way around the Web Monday.

Schmidt said the effort is an example of the “unprecedented cooperation in the gay community to beat Prop. 8. I am a Republican, Lance Black isn’t one. ... It doesn’t matter who you are -- Democrat, Republican, Trojan, Bruin -- we want to work together to accomplish the same goal.”
The two ads feature an impressive roster of everyday gay citizens, including a Vietnam veteran and a Boeing rocket scientist, two people who say they have devoted their careers to protecting the rights and lives of Americans. The ads urge Californians to now step up and return the favor on November 4.

Rumor Has It

A top Italian male model has said Hollywood A-lister George Clooney spends lots of time with a young, Italian male at his home in Italy. The model says he has seen Clooney making out several times with the young man, 22, who’s a male model in Milan. Clooney owns a sprawling mansion in Lake Como, Italy.“George Clooney is gay,” the model said. “I’m sure of it. I’ve seen him at clubs with this young boy making out and having a good time. He likes to swing both ways. In the U.S. noone has a clue. But here in Italy, everyone knows George is into men.”Michelle Pfeiffer and Nicole Kidman each bet Clooney $10,000 that he would be a father before he turned 40. When he reached 40 a bachelor, they each sent him a check; he returned them, betting double or nothing that he would remain childless until 50.

Alaska Senator Found Guilty Of Corruption

Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska, the longest serving Republican in history, has been convicted of seven corruption charges by a jury in Washington. The conviction now brings into question Stevens' chances of winning re-election on November 4 against his Democratic opponent Mark Begich, with whom he has been locked in a dead heat according to recent polls.
The 84-year-old Stevens was reportedly ‘visibly shaken’ as he was convicted of every felony charge he faced with respect to lying about free home renovations and other gifts from a wealthy oil contractor. According to an Associated Press report, Stevens’ monthlong trial revealed that employees for VECO Corp., an oil services company, transformed the senator’s modest mountain cabin into a modern, two-story home with wraparound porches, a sauna and a wine cellar.
Though Stevens said he paid $160,000 for the project, which he believed covered all of the upgrades and did not include any freebies, the Washington jury did not buy his story and with their verdict have likely ended the political career of one of Washington’s most well known figures.

Hate Crimes Against Gays On The Rise

Law enforcement agencies reported a slight decrease in hate crimes last year, despite an increase against gays and lesbians.
The FBI reported more than 7,600 hate crime incidents in 2007, down about 1 percent from last year.
Racially motivated hate crimes accounted for more than half of that total. Religious bias was the second-leading motive for hate crimes, followed by prejudice against sexual orientation.
Within those categories, the FBI report found most hate crimes tended to be anti-black, anti-Jewish and anti-gay.
The FBI report is purely statistical and does not assign a cause for the slight overall decrease or the 6 percent increase in anti-gay hate crimes.

Hagel Says That Palin Is Not Qualified

Hagel may be the only senior Republican elected official who has publicly criticized McCain's choice of Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate. "I don't believe she's qualified to be President of the United States," Hagel said. "The first judgment a potential President makes is who their running mate is--and I don't think John made a very good selection." He scoffed at McCain's attempts to portray her as an experienced politician. "To try to make the excuse that she looks out her window and sees Russia--and that she's commander of the Alaska National Guard." He added, "There is no question that this candidate is arguably the thinnest-résumé candidate for Vice-President in the history of America."

Obama Assassination Plot Uncovered

Federal agents have broken up a plot by two neo-Nazi skinheads to assassinate Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama and shoot or decapitate 102 black people, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco Firearms and Explosives said Monday.

In court records unsealed Monday in U.S. District Court in Jackson, Tenn., federal agents said they disrupted plans to rob a gun store and target a predominantly African-American high school in a murder spree that was to begin in Tennessee. Agents said the skinheads did not identify the school by name.

Jim Cavanaugh, special agent in charge of ATF's Nashville field office, said the two men planned to shoot 88 black people and decapitate another 14. The numbers 88 and 14 are symbolic in the white supremacist community.

The men also sought to go on a national killing spree after the Tennessee murders, with Obama as its final target, Cavanaugh told The Associated Press.

"They said that would be their last, final act _ that they would attempt to kill Sen. Obama," Cavanaugh said. "They didn't believe they would be able to do it, but that they would get killed trying."

Sunday Morning -- Easy Wake up

NY's Finest Assault Young Man

Prosecutors are investigating allegations that five New York City police officers attacked a tattoo parlor worker and sodomized him with a walkie-talkie in a subway station.
The 24-year-old man says the officers then wrote him a disorderly conduct ticket and abandoned him as he was writhing in pain.
The police department disputes the allegations and strongly denies the man was sodomized.
“Police officers grappled with an individual who they observed smoking marijuana after he had fled and resisted being handcuffed. His assertion that he was sodomized is not supported by independent civilian witnesses on the scene,” NYPD spokesman Paul Browne said in a statement.
The case is being investigated by the police department and the Brooklyn District Attorney’s office.
The accusations brought back memories of the 1997 assault of Abner Louima, who was beaten and sodomized with a broomstick in a police precinct by officers in one of the most notorious cases of police brutality in NYPD history.
In the latest case, lawyers for the accuser came forward Thursday afternoon with the startling allegations, and a hospital confirmed that he was admitted on the day of the alleged attack and spent four days there.
The man was back in the hospital on Thursday, complaining he was urinating blood and suffering lingering pain, the Daily News reported.
Lawyers say five police officers approached Michael Mineo on Oct. 15 around 12:30 p.m. because they believed he was smoking marijuana near a subway stop in Brooklyn.
When the tattoo parlor employee entered the station, he claims officers jumped him from behind, handcuffed him and wrestled him to the ground, according to attorney Stephen Jackson.
Mineo told his lawyers that he felt a foot on his neck as the officers beat him, then yanked down his pants and sodomized him with the walkie-talkie. The lawyers say the officers took the bleeding Mineo into a police car, wrote him a disorderly conduct ticket and left him at the subway station.

Apple Contributes to Prop 8 Defeat

Apple Inc. announced on Friday that it had donated $100,000 to fight California’s Proposition 8, which aims to change the state’s constitution in order to outlaw marriage equality, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
“Apple was among the first California companies to offer equal rights and benefits to our employees’ same-sex partners, and we strongly believe that a person’s fundamental right -- including the right to marry -- should not be affected by their sexual orientation,” the company said in a statement. “Apple views this as a civil rights issue rather than just a political issue and is therefore speaking out publicly against Proposition 8.”

Jerry Lewis Slams Gays Again

Jerry Lewis made an anti-gay slur on Australian television similar to one he apologized for using on his annual telethon a year ago.
Following a news conference in Sydney Friday, Lewis, 82, was asked by a Network Ten national TV reporter for his opinion on the Australian nation sport of cricket.
"Oh, cricket? It's a f-- game. What are you, nuts?" Lewis replied.
The network broadcast the comment in full on its Friday evening news bulletin along with footage of Lewis handling an imaginary cricket bat with an effeminate gesture.
Lewis apologized in September last year for using a similar anti-gay slur in Las Vegas during his annual Labor Day telethon that raises money for the Muscular Dystrophy Association.

McCain's Brother Calls 911

Anger management issues apparently run in the family. John McCain's brother Joe placed a call to 911 earlier this week because he was stuck in traffic in Alexandria, Virginia:
Operator: 911 state your emergency
Caller: It's not an emergency but do you know why on one side at the damn drawbridge of 95traffic is stopped for 15 minutes and yet traffic's coming the other way?
Operator: Sir, are you calling 911 to complain about traffic? (pause)
Caller: "Fuck you." (caller hangs up)
The operator called back and received this message: "Hi this is Joe McCain I can't take this message now because I'm involved in a very (inaudible) important political project... I hope on Nov. 4th we have elected John."

A Little Humor To Start the Weekend

Is Anybody Going To Support McCain? HaHa

Scott McClellan, President Bush's former press secretary, says he is backing Barack Obama for president.
McClellan made the endorsement during a taping of Comedian D.L. Hughley's new show that is premiering on CNN this weekend. The former Bush administration official said he wanted to support the candidate that has the best chance for changing the way Washington works and getting things done.
He's the second former Bush administration figure this week to publicly back Obama, following former Secretary of State Colin Powell. McClellan caused bitterness among his former co-workers with a tell-all book that criticized Bush.

You Mean -- Austria has Gays Too?

A young Austrian politician named Stefan Petzner recently revealed on Austrian radio that he had been involved in a romantic relationship with Joerg Haider, chairman of the far-right Austrian party BZÖ, who recently died in a car accident.
News of the love affair did not come as a major shock to Austria's population. In the past several months, a rival far-right party, the FPÖ, alluded on many occasions to Haider's homosexuality. Harald Vilimsky, the secretary-general of the FPÖ, was one of his biggest detractors and often made such allegations during press conferences. Haider was chairman of the FPÖ before breaking away in 2000; he created his own party in 2005. The rivalry between the two parties has been fierce.
Haider died in a car accident October 11 at the age of 58. He was driving alone on a highway in Carinthia, a province of which he had been governor for many years. On October 17 the Austrian daily Österreich published pictures of him in a gay bar in Carinthia that were taken only a few hours before the accident.
According to the paper, Haider had been accompanied by a younger man with whom he allegedly shared a bottle of vodka

Palin Says That a McCain Presidency Will Be Most Conservative

Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin stopped by Focus on the Family head Jim Dobson’s radio show this week to assure evangelical Christians that if elected, she’s convinced John McCain will implement more traditional Republican policies on issues including stem cell research, abortion and same-sex marriage.
Though many moderate Republicans have suggested McCain has skewed more conservative than ever before in this election to shore up Republican votes, Palin’s interview with Dobson suggests that if elected, America would see that McCain’s views on social issues are more closely aligned with her own.
“I do, from the bottom of my heart,” she told Dobson. "I am such a strong believer that McCain believes in those strong planks and we do have good conversations about some of the details too, about the different planks and what they represent.”
MSNBC political writer Matthew Berger posted a recount of the interview to the network’s First Read blog. He said Dobson began the conversation by saying that the McCain/Palin platform is the “strongest pro-life, pro-family document to come out of a political party.”

Bette Midler Comes To Krave And Supports Obama

Bette Midler stumped for Obama at Las Vegas' gay nightclub Krave on Monday night:
"Midler perched on a stool at the front of the club's stage, facing a packed dance floor. Wearing a leopard-print mini-dress and matching gloves, she proceeded to tell a few hundred of her closest friends what was on Miss M's mind. 'I am so distressed about this election, oh my God,' she said confessionally. 'I haven't left my house in days. I watch the news channels incessantly. All the news stories are about the election; all the commercials are for Viagra and Cialis. Election, erection, election, erection -- either way we're getting screwed!' Midler said she has sung for candidates and raised money for candidates, but she's speaking out more than ever before in this election because Obama has moved her more than any candidate before him. 'I come from an extremely poor family,' said Midler, whose father was a house painter. 'I know I look divine now, but I was not always divine.' Her humble background, she said, taught her to value hard work. 'I had big dreams,' she said. 'You know me. You've watched me for 40 frickin' years. Every single dream I had my entire life came true. Barack Obama says only in America could his story happen, and I totally understand because only in America could my story happen.'"

Another McCain Gay Staff Member

According to new report published by the Washington Blade, Trevor Potter,general counsel to Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain, is openly gay. His role as the top lawyer to the McCain camp combined with his experience as a former chair of the U.S. Federal Election Commission, long track record in Washington political circles and solid reputation among both Democrats and Republicans, has led many major news outlets to classify Potter as one of the nation’s most highly regarded experts on U.S. election laws.
Of note about Potter is his longstanding relationship with John McCain, who is said to be aware that he is gay, and the level of respect her garners from both sides of the aisle.
In the article, Richard Grenell, a gay Republican activist and former spokesperson for the Office of the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, said he’s known Potter since the two worked on McCain’s 2000 presidential campaign.
“McCain hired him because he is great at his job,” Grenell said. “He also happens to be gay. He is himself.”

Elderly Gay Couple Murdered In Their Home

Indianapolis police say they have few clues in the slayings of an elderly gay couple found in their home earlier this week.
Police have not divulged how Milton Lindgren, 70, and Eric Hendricks, 73, were murdered, or how long their bodies had been inside the house. A police spokesperson would say only that the men died by “violent means.”
Officers were sent to the home after friends notified police that the men had not been seen for some time.
Investigators say they have not determined a motive for the slayings, but friends say they believe the men were killed because they were gay.
One friend, Patrick Beard, told WRTV that the men had been targeted by vandals, with their phone and cable lines cut twice in the past few months, and that homophobic graffiti was found on their front door.
“I firmly believe it was definitely a hate crime. Milt was 70 and his partner was 73 and to go into someone’s home and do something like that, it’s just too coincidental,” Beard told WRTV.
“I’m not a genius, but if someone’s being harassed like that and fagot gets stamped on their door on a piece of paper, it’s not that hard to connect the dots two months later that these two people are brutally killed in their home,” Beard said.
Police say only that they are investigating all possibilities.

Obama is a Very Influential Man

Barack Obama was voted the most influential man of 2008 in an online poll released on Tuesday that asked men to decide who most impacted the way they behave, buy and think.
The Democratic presidential candidate was ranked No.1 by readers on the AskMen.com lifestyle Web site, beating Apple chief executive Steve Jobs and Olympic swimming champion Michael Phelps, who landed in the No. 2 and No. 3 spots, respectively.
Republican presidential candidate John McCain was ranked No. 10 on the list, which was compiled on the basis of 200,000 votes from readers of the Web site whose average age is 27-28 years-old.

RNC Spends Fortune to Dress Sarah

Since her selection as John McCain's running mate, the Republican National Committee spent more than $150,000 on clothing and make-up for Gov. Sarah Palin, her husband, and even her infant son, it was reported on Tuesday evening.

Democrats (in this scenario) are not prone to forgiveness. After all, it was during this same campaign cycle that Republicans belittled the $400 haircut that former Sen. John Edwards had paid for with his own campaign money (the funds were later reimbursed). And yet, the comparison to that once-dominant news story is hardly close: if Edwards had gotten one of his legendary haircuts every singe week, it would still take him 7.2 years to spend what Palin has spent. Palin has received the equivalent of $2,500 in clothes per day from places such as Saks Fifth Avenue (where RNC expenditures totaled nearly $50,000) and Neiman Marcus (where the governor had a $75,000 spree).

The story could not come at a more inopportune time for the McCain campaign. During a week in which the Republican ticket is trying to highlight its connection to the working class - and, by extension, promoting its newest campaign tool, Joe the Plumber - it was revealed that Palin's fashion budget for several weeks was more than four times the median salary of an American plumber ($37,514). To put it another way: Palin received more valuable clothes in one month than the average American household spends on clothes in 80 years. A Democrat put it in even blunter terms: her clothes were the cost of health care for 15 or so people.

High School Student Wins Award for Defending Gay Rights

The American Civil Liberties Union announced today that Heather Gillman has been selected by the Playboy Foundation to receive the Hugh M. Hefner First Amendment Award for "her fearlessness in speaking out on behalf of the rights of gay students" at Ponce de Leon High School, located in Florida's Panhandle.
Gillman won a First Amendment case against her school after her high school principal discriminated against her gay and lesbian friends, banned any sort of symbol or slogan supporting gay rights, and suspended at least 11 students. At trial, the principal testified that he believed clothing or stickers featuring rainbows would make students automatically picture people having sex, and he forbade students from wearing any sort of clothing, stickers, buttons, or symbols to show her support of equal rights for gay people.

Hate Crimes Against LGBT Triple in Scotland

An examination of police complaints across Scotland reveals a tripling of hate crimes against members of the LGBT community, The Daily Record newspaper reported Monday.
The paper said that the situation may be worse than what it uncovered. A spokesperson for one police force admitted to The Record that it does not keep records on crimes based on the victim’s sexuality.
Of those forces which do keep records, the number of hate crimes has jumped from only a handful three years ago to the hundreds this year. The worst area was Strathclyde, where 50 crimes were reported in 2005, but so far this year, 216 have been reported.
One Glasgow gay man whose name was withheld by the paper said that he has been victimized several times.

Tires of Obama Supporters Slashed At Rally

Hours after a Fayetteville, North Carolina Obama rally during which the tires of over 30 vehicles were slashed. Someone slashed the tires of at least 30 vehicles parked outside the Crown Coliseum on Sunday during a rally for Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, authorities said...Sarah Revis, who lives on Wilkes Road, said the slashed tires left several women, including a single mother and a toddler, stranded and upset. At least four tow trucks were sent to move the vehicles from the Crown, Revis said. 'This is an embarrassment to this city and to me as a citizen,' Revis said. 'I’ve seen women out here crying and men cussing. This is a crying shame.' Lynne Steenstra said she thought that the slashings were scare tactics designed to keep her and others from supporting Obama.

Florida Gay Marriage Ban Might Fail, California is a Toss Up

A proposed ban on same-sex marriage in Florida lacks the voter support needed to pass, a poll indicates.
The South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported Sunday that the ballot measure -- Amendment 2 -- would amend the state constitution to bar gay marriage.
A Sun Sentinel and Florida Times-Union poll reveals 53 percent of 600 likely voters said they supported the plan, far short of the 60 percent approval required for the constitutional amendment.
The poll found 77 percent of likely voters favored equal rights for same-sex couples, while 15 percent were opposed and 8 percent were undecided.

The red-hot issue of same-sex marriage continues to sharply divide Californians, according to a poll conducted last week. If a vote were held today on Proposition 8, a state ballot initiative that would reverse the decision of the state's Supreme Court earlier this year and eliminate the right of same-sex couples to marry, 48 percent of likely voters say they would vote yes, supporting a ban, while 45 percent say they would vote to leave the law alone. Seven percent of voters remain undecided. The initiative, which will appear on the ballot in two weeks, requires a majority to pass.

Palin on SNL Is A Ratings Hit

The entertainment summit of the season — Sarah Palin and her impersonator, Tina Fey — earned "Saturday Night Live" its best ratings in 14 years. But if you blinked, you might have missed it.
Fey was answering questions at a news conference, something Palin hasn't done yet as the Republican vice presidential nominee, when Palin walked on the stage. Fey beat a hasty retreat in the opening segment, walking past the real Palin with a barely perceptible nod.
If anyone was hoping for a side-by-side photo of the identically dressed women, they were out of luck.

Palin's guest shot, widely anticipated since Fey began imitating her a month ago, led "Saturday Night Live" to its highest mark in overnight Nielsen Media Research ratings since March 1994, when assaulted skater Nancy Kerrigan was guest host.
Although a complete audience estimate for the rest of the country won't be available until later in the week, it is likely to be around 14 million.
For the first half-hour, when Palin first came out, the audience was about 17 million. That's pretty impressive for a TV program around midnight. The week before, only two other shows in prime time had a bigger audience, Nielsen said.

Man Found Guilty of Murder And Then Eating Lover

A former Mr. Gay UK was found guilty of murdering a former boyfriend before carving, cooking and eating flesh from his thigh, according to The Times.
Anthony Morley, 36, slashed Damian Oldfield’s throat before stabbing him several times after they went to bed together in April.
Morley, wearing a white dressing gown and flip flops, then walked casually down the street to a restaurant and told the staff that he killed someone.
Employees alerted police.
The jury deliberated for just over two hours before returning a guilty verdict. Morley will be sentenced on Monday.

Powell Endorses Obama

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell endorsed Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., for president on Sunday, criticizing his own Republican Party for what he called its narrow focus on irrelevant personal attacks over a serious approach to challenges he called unprecedented.
Powell, who for many years was considered the most likely candidate to become the first African-American president, said in an interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that he was not supporting Obama because of his race. He said he had watched both Obama and his Republican opponent, Sen. John McCain of Arizona, for many months and thought “either one of them would be a good president.”
But he said McCain’s choices in the last few weeks — especially his selection of Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska as his vice presidential running mate — had raised questions in his mind about McCain’s judgment.

Mellow Sunday -- Beautiful Men

Obama Raises a Whopping $150 Million in September

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama reports raising more than $150 million in September in an unprecedented eruption of political giving.
The influx of money has helped the Illinois senator expand the field of competitive states and has widened his financial advantage over Republican rival John McCain.
The monthly figure pushed Obama's total fundraising to $605 million, unseen before in presidential politics. The campaign offered no details, but must submit a monthly report to the Federal Election Commission on Monday.
Obama's numbers are possible because he opted out of the fall campaign's public financing system. McCain chose to be in the system, which limits him to $84 million for the September-October stretch before the election.

Holocaust Exhibit Features Persecuted Gays

A traveling exhibit that gives voice to homosexuals persecuted during the Holocaust has made its way to the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The exhibit from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum uses photographs, documents and artwork to chronicle the Nazis' arrests and persecution of tens of thousands of gay men from 1933 to 1945. The Nazis regarded gay men as a socially deviant subclass whose sexual orientation threatened the elite and masculine Aryan race they sought to establish.

Will Smith -- Gay?

Actor Will Smith has swung both ways for years. According to a notorious Hollywood Madame, Smith was a client of hers for years before she packed up shop and moved her operation to Manhattan earlier this year. She remembers the first time she ever spoke with Smith. “I had to reassure him over and over that I could guarantee discretion,” she said. “Once I convinced him I could, he placed his order. It was for a man. I had 14 women working for me and two guys. You’d be surprised at how many Hollywood stars requested the services of the guys."

Is Condi a Lesbian?

Was Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice considered and later dropped as a possible vice presidential pick by top advisers to GOP presidential nominee John McCain because of persistent rumors that she’s a lesbian?
That’s the opinion of a Republican Party insider who had access to the McCain campaign’s inner circle of advisers, according to investigative journalist and documentary filmmaker Ian Halperin.

“According to a prominent member of the Republican National Committee privy to the [vice presidential] search process, many in McCain’s inner circle argued furiously for the selection of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice over the other top contenders, Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee, and Tim Pawlenty,” Halperin wrote in his blog.
But rumors about Rice’s sexual orientation, fueled by a recent book by Washington Post diplomatic correspondent Glenn Kessler, which reported that Rice jointly owns a house and shared a line of credit with an unmarried woman in California, made it politically untenable for McCain to select Rice as his running mate, Halperin reported the GOP source as saying.
Further speculation about Rice’s sexual orientation surfaced in recent weeks when a reliable, independent source told the Blade that a business adviser to former tennis star and lesbian activist Martina Navratilova boasted about having dated Rice in a clandestine lesbian relationship in Washington a few years ago.

Throat Cancer A Risk For Promiscuous Men

Men are 35 percent more likely than women to develop HPV-related oral cancer, according to the study in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. But both men and women are susceptible.
While scientists don't know yet how sexual orientation factors into the equation, they know the No. 1 risk factor is a high number of sexual partners. So straight or gay, the more partners, the more risk.
"That doesn't mean it's a magic number. Unfortunately, it only takes exposure to one infected partner to actually acquire the infection," Gillison said.

Not Your Normal Mother - Son Relationship

Thursday on "The View" George Hamilton talked about the affair he had when he was 12. "I had a relationship with my stepmother... She was about 28. My father never knew... It was very normal."
Years later when he was famous and his dad was dead, the pair met up again and rekindled their sexual relationship.

Barck a Cultural Terrorist? Give me a Break!!

Buried in today's New York Daily News is a gem of a quote from Stephen Baldwin:
Stephen Baldwin, who has threatened to move to Canada if Barack Obama is elected, has now challenged the candidate to box for charity. "I'd like to knock some good sense into Barack," Alec's right-wing bro said at the Printing House Gym in the Village. "I wouldn't hurt him. But if he wins the election, he'll hurt me. He's a cultural terrorist." This from the man who enriched us all with "Sex Monster" and "Snakeman."

Nobody Wants To Hear It

The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear Richard Hatch’s appeal of his conviction for failing to pay taxes on the $1 million prize he won on the debut season of “Survivor.”
The openly gay Hatch, 47, was sentenced to four years and three months in prison after his 2006 conviction for tax evasion in federal court in Providence. He is scheduled to be released in October 2009.
Hatch’s appeal was already denied by a federal appeals court in Boston and was among more than a thousand rejected last week by the U.S. Supreme Court. The court did not explain its reasoning.
“He’s disappointed with the decision,” Hatch’s attorney, Michael Minns, said Wednesday. “He’s been worried about his family and taking care of them the entire time.”
A spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office in Rhode Island, which prosecuted Hatch, did not comment Wednesday.

Gale Harold In A Motorcycle Accident

Queer as Folk star and recent Wisteria Lane transplant Gale Harold is in serious but stable condition after a motorcycle accident, his publicist confirmed to the Associated Press Wednesday. Harold was admitted to the USC Medical Center Tuesday in critical condition.
Harold was due to report to the set of Desperate Housewives at the time of the accident. Harold is playing the new boyfriend of series star Teri Hatcher.
"We can confirm that Gale Harold was in a motorcycle accident. He has fractured his shoulder and is under observation to assess any possible further injuries. Everyone is hopeful for a full recovery."

School Bus Driver Encourages Students To Beat "Gay" 10 Year Old

An elementary school bus driver has been charged with leading a homophobic attack on a 10-year old student passenger.
The Kankakee Sheriff’s Police Department said that the boy was taunted by the driver who then encouraged other students to chase and beat the child.
Chief Deputy Ken McCabe said the incident occurred on a Bourbonnais Elementary School District bus which was returning students to their homes last Friday.
McCabe said the driver repeatedly called the boy “gay.”
”When the boy got off the bus, the driver encouraged several other students to go after him and tackle him. Our investigation shows that occurred,” McCabe told The Daily Journal.
He also said the driver is under investigation for joining the students in chasing the boy and grabbing him.
Bourbonnais School District officials would only say the driver has been terminated.
Charged with mob action, endangering the life of a child and battery is Russell A. Schmalz, 46.

Harry is the Sexiest Prince

More than a third those questioned expressed a desire for a romance with Harry while William received 23 per cent of the vote. A third of the single gay men said they would steer clear of both.
William's girlfriend Kate Middleton was named as the most lusted after royal date among the nation's lesbians.

Indeed, many gay male singles are so torn they say they would need to date both our young princes, whose female love interests prove only slightly less of a queer pull.
Being part of an inclusive, modern monarchy, William and Harry will be delighted that they and their close circle can arouse such strong emotions from Britain's homosexual subjects.

McCain's Attacks Work Against Him

The McCain campaign’s recent angry tone and sharply personal attacks on Senator Barack Obama appear to have backfired and tarnished Senator John McCain more than their intended target, the latest New York Times/CBS News poll has found.
After several weeks in which the McCain campaign unleashed a series of strong political attacks on Mr. Obama, trying to tie him to a former 1960s radical, among other things, the poll found that more voters see Mr. McCain as waging a negative campaign than Mr. Obama. Six in 10 voters surveyed said that Mr. McCain had spent more time attacking Mr. Obama than explaining what he would do as president; by about the same number, voters said Mr. Obama was spending more of his time explaining than attacking.
Over all, the poll found that if the election were held today, 53 percent of those determined to be probable voters said that they would vote for Mr. Obama and 39 percent said they would vote for Mr. McCain.

Madge is Divorcing Guy

Pop star Madonna and Guy Ritchie, her film director husband, are planning to divorce, British reports said Wednesday.
“Despite huge attempts to patch things up they both knew deep down that divorce was on the cards. It wasn’t a matter of ‘if’ but ‘when’,” a “highly-placed source” told The Sun tabloid.
Sky News and The Daily Mail also reported the split. The reports quoted unnamed sources and could not be immediately confirmed.

Economy Could Hurt AIDS Research

The global economic turmoil is likely to take its toll on AIDS research funding and add to the problems plaguing the search for a vaccine against the virus, scientists warned Tuesday.
Anthony Fauci, director of the U.S. National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said it was impossible to predict whether scientists would ever be able to develop an effective vaccine, as they have for other killers such as smallpox and measles.
“Will there be a guarantee that we will get a vaccine in the classical sense? Realistically you can’t say that,” Fauci said. “But that doesn’t mean we are going to give up trying.”
Nine hundred experts are attending the international AIDS vaccine conference in Cape Town, at the epicenter of an epidemic that has infected an estimated 33 million people, of whom 5.5 million are in South Africa.
The economic downturn has added to the gloom among experts deeply frustrated by research setbacks. A recent trial showed that one potential vaccine not only failed to prevent infection but appeared to increase the risk of contracting the virus.
Now there is added concern that philanthropic organizations, like the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, who have become major players in health and development projects may cut back on funding.

Catholic Priest Removed From His Parish

Geoffrey Farrow, a Roman Catholic priest in Fresno, Calif., took two big risks last week. Not only did he come out during a television interview, he also urged his congregation to turn their backs on Proposition 8, a California ballot measure that could outlaw same-sex marriage in the state. Taking those risks has now resulted in Farrow's removal from his job.
The Los Angeles Times is reporting that Fresno bishop John Steinbock indefinitely suspended Farrow from his position at St. Paul Newman Center on Thursday. Farrow was told to stay away from the church community he led, and his salary and benefits were taken away.
It's not clear what other punishments are in store for Farrow; Steinbock hinted to Farrow that he could be defrocked.
On Thursday, Farrow stood up and asked his congregation, which consists primarily of students and faculty at California State University, Fresno, "How is marriage protected by intimidating gay and lesbian people into loveless and lonely lives? I am morally compelled to vote no on Proposition 8."
In his disciplinary letter to Farrow, Steinbock wrote, "Your statement contradicted the teaching of the Catholic Church and has brought scandal to your parish community as well as the whole Church."
Steinbock's decision to oust Farrow has divided the congregation at St. Paul Newman Center, where Farrow was well-liked.

Only In Rio

Where else would it be possible for millions of people to march for gay pride, worship Brazil’s patron saint, compete in a half-marathon and celebrate Children’s Day activities - all on the same Sunday?
The proposition initially raised a few hackles - with both church officials and gay activists insisting the other postpone their event - but ultimately went off without a hitch at the city’s famed Copacabana beach.
The celebrations began with hundreds of the faithful marching through the streets to honor Our Lady of Aparecida, the country’s patron saint.
By midmorning, participants in the World Half Marathon Championship zipped along the beachfront, while at noontime parents took their young ones to Children’s Day events by the sea.
As evening arrived, the raucous gay pride parade had taken control, with go-go boys gyrating in time to electronic dance music atop 20 semi-trucks.
Few seemed to mind the confluence of such different events.

Ten Years

It's been ten years since 21-year-old Matthew Shepard lost his life after being violently beaten and left for dead along a remote Wyoming road.
His offense? Being himself – a conscientious college student who happened to be gay.

Johnny Depp Voted As Sexiest

45-year old Johnny Depp has been voted as the sexiest man in the world by the UK edition of Cosmopolitan magazine.
The slivering fox George Clooney (47) came in at number two and Jake Gyllenhaal (27) clocked in third.
The young guys just can't compare to the men who got their breaks in the 80's!
Poppa Brad Pitt was ranked #5 and the delicious David Beckham only came in at 9.