Ron's Log

When A Gay New England Couple Visits Palm Springs

I don't know these two from Vermont, and nothing scandalous or ridiculous happens. They just have a pretty typical visit to Palm Springs: clothing optional resort, the restaurants, the bars, hiking in Joshua Tree. I wonder, though, at the quantity of raw seafood consumed. This is, after all, the desert, not Boston.

There are no Target stores in Vermont?! Now, that is news.

The Democrats On Gay Issues

Obama gets interviewed by The Advocate. Repeal some of the Defense of Marriage Act, repeal of Don't Ask-Don't Tell, more.

Clinton says she would work to see that gay couples are treated "fairly." Which is a different word from "equally.".

The word "fair" is not in the 14th Amendment. Here are the relevant bits:

Section. 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

Section. 2. Representatives shall be apportioned among the several States according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each State, excluding Indians not taxed. But when the right to vote at any election for the choice of electors for President and Vice President of the United States, Representatives in Congress, the Executive and Judicial officers of a State, or the members of the Legislature thereof, is denied to any of the male inhabitants of such State, being twenty-one years of age, and citizens of the United States, or in any way abridged, except for participation in rebellion, or other crime, the basis of representation therein shall be reduced in the proportion which the number of such male citizens shall bear to the whole number of male citizens twenty-one years of age in such State.

$5 Million Judgement Against Westboro Baptist

U.S. District Court Judge Richard D. Bennett awarded $5 million in a suit against three principals of the Westboro Baptist Church [warning: you probably don't want to click this link] and last Friday ordered liens on the Westboro Baptist Church building and the Phelps-Chartered Law office. If upheld, the church and three principals would probably be forced into bankruptcy.

The $5 million judgement came in "a lawsuit filed...by Albert Snyder, the father of Marine Lance Cpl. Matthew A. Snyder, whose funeral was picketed by church members."

Another of Carlton's Photos

Dinah Shore

A Desert Sun article about some aspects of the Kraft Nabisco weekend. The word "golf" appears in the article only once, in this parenthetical expression: "(formerly known as the Dinah Shore Golf Championship)."

It is, however, rumored that golf is still played.

Yes, indeed, confirmation here: golf.

Art Auction Today To Benefit GAY

The Desert Sun announces that an auction will be held today at Heather James Art and Antiquities, 73-080 El Paseo, Palm Desert, to benefit Gay Associated Youth.

Gay Associated Youth provides a safe place and support for gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, questioning youth (GLBTQ) and their allies in the Coachella Valley and surrounding communities through the provision of guidance, advocacy and resources.

But a close examination of the Desert Sun article and the GAY website will not reveal to you the time of day that the auction will take place, your author kvetches. So I picked up the phone and called Heather James and the answer is 5 to 9 PM this evening.

The Inexorable Advance Of Science

This YouTube video addresses the very latest discoveries in genetic research.

More Log Cabin BS

Governor Schwarzenegger's gay pride letter for this year is out, so to speak, and the brouhaha begins.

In it, Schwarzenegger again states that the Pride events are "a fantastic reminder that California continues to work hard to be a place where every individual and every family can feel at home." He goes on to write that he is "proud to join you in creating a brighter future for all of our state's residents."

Log Cabin California Director James Vaughn takes some credit for helping to secure the letter from the governor. Consistent with Log Cabin's self-hating ways, Vaughn blames the gay organizations for objecting to the governor's false words. He also points out that the governor has obstructed equal rights no worse than Senators Boxer and Feinstein. This is the same sort of logic we read about last week. The governor is supposed to be less anti-gay than anti-democratic (lower case "d").

The trouble with Vaughn's comparison between Schwarzenegger and Boxer and Feinstein is that he's a governor and they're senators. In a legislative body you're going to vote on a ton of stuff and amendments to that stuff. Anybody with a little effort can find a handful of votes to make any legislator look like a monster. It takes a lot of work to rate a legislator based on all her work. It's easier to stick it to a governor. One nice neat bill comes before him. All nuance is in the past. His decision at that point is a simple up or down. Schwarzenegger made his choice. He could have recalled the Republican Party that gave us the 14th amendment and signed the marriage bill. Or he could have gone the way of the modern Republican Party with its bigots, philanderers, crooks and warmongers.

Vaughn says it's hypocritical for pride organizations to object to the governor's letter while publishing letters from the senators without criticism. But according to the Bay Area News article, pride organizations in San Francisco and Los Angeles do not recall receiving pride letters from either senator prior to this year. San Francisco's pride organization did receive a letter this year from Boxer. They won't print it due to space limitations, but will publish it on their website.

Glass Half Empty - Or Just Empty?

Ah, the happy faces of denial! These are Log Cabin Republicans at the California Republican convention.

Granted, McCain is not as pro-gay on certain issues as his Democratic rivals are, particularly when it comes to gays serving openly in the military. But gay GOPers point out that on other LGBT issues the former POW holds positions similar to Senators Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.

IOW, they know that Obama and Clinton are better on gay issues, but they like McCain because...why? "'What I keep trying to explain to people is he may have personal opinions on these issues but it is not a cause for him. That is progress of itself in the Republican Party,' said James Vaughn, Log Cabin's California director." Huh? Does he mean McCain is personally homophobic but won't push it as a political agenda?

Log Cabiners' optimism that their party is turning a lavender corner was buoyed last month at the California Republican Party's state convention, held in San Francisco. The party adopted a new platform that no longer calls for passage of a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage.

The party does still define marriage as being between a man and a woman, though a push to strip that from the platform came close to passing this year. It fell short by only eight votes whereas any attempts to change the party's "pro-life" stance failed "overwhelmingly 2-1," leading Vaughn to believe "the GOP is less anti-gay than it is anti-choice/pro-life."

Well, I can just hardly keep my feet still, I do so want to run down to the polling place right now and elect me a government that is less anti-gay than it is anti-choice. I wonder how far you can push this kind of reasoning. I want to know if the Westboro Baptist Church is less anti-gay than it is anti-choice, and are they less anti-gay and anti-choice than they are anti-American? And what about Republican candidates who are less anti-gay than they are pro-racist? How would a gay black man choose?

"Vaughn did trumpet that the new party position is similar to the view Clinton and Obama hold on marriage." Ya know, this begins to sound like the claims that the quality of American-made cars is similar to the quality of Japanese cars. Most people have learned that if you want the quality of a Japanese car you should buy a Japanese car. And if you want a president with the positions of Obama or Clinton, shouldn't you support Obama or Clinton rather than McCain?

In a poll of Log Cabins on California's domestic partnership laws "More than 75 percent said a top priority for Log Cabin should be defeating any ballot measures that would repeal such laws." IOW, their top priority is to simply prevent movement backwards. How far the Republican Party has fallen since post-Civil War Reconstruction. Suppose they had stopped at the 13th amendment to the Constitution (that's the one banning slavery), deciding to hold there and do nothing except make sure the 13th wasn't repealed? They would never have gone on to adopt the 14th amendment which is surely the greatest amendment to the Constitution outside of the Bill of Rights itself.

California Anti-Meth Ad Campaign

Here's a Bay Area Reporter article about a California anti-meth ad campaign that is supposedly aimed at men who have sex with men. I happened to catch the TV ad last night and while effective, it didn't seem to be targeted to men who have sex with men (I think clinical people abbreviate that as MSM, or something like that). One of the four men does say he is gay. Another seems to say he lost his "man" - and that's what caught my ear. "Did he say 'man?'" I was asking myself. He's speaking quickly and I am not used to people saying "I lost my man" unless they are Loretta Lynn or Barbra Streisand or someone like that. But maybe the media experts have determined that men in whatever ethnic group he is supposed to represent say things like that. I wouldn't know, I'm just a white guy in DHS.

I had noticed the billboard on I-10 near Date Palm that uses this image (cropped differently):

I get peevish when people use illegible text on a sign along a 70 MPH freeway. After a few trips (it's on the way home from Costco) I had it translated, and then I began to try to determine the gender of the model. I finally decided the designers had intentionally settled on a person of indeterminate gender. But in the photo from their website you can clearly see he is male (or she needs a shave). Maybe some emphasis on that adam's apple would have helped.

Sir Arthur C. Clarke, 1917-2008

Sir Arthur C. Clarke, author of 2001: A Space Odyssey has died at age 90. He was more than a science fiction author.

In 1943 he was assigned to work with a team of American scientist-engineers who had developed the first radar-controlled system for landing airplanes in bad weather. That experience led to Mr. Clarke's only non-science fiction novel, "Glide Path" (1963). More important, it led in 1945 to a technical paper, published in the British journal "Wireless World," establishing the feasibility of artificial satellites as relay stations for Earth-based communications.In 1943 he was assigned to work with a team of American scientist-engineers who had developed the first radar-controlled system for landing airplanes in bad weather. That experience led to Mr. Clarke's only non-science fiction novel, "Glide Path" (1963). More important, it led in 1945 to a technical paper, published in the British journal "Wireless World," establishing the feasibility of artificial satellites as relay stations for Earth-based communications.

The N.Y. Times addresses Sir Arthur's gayness thusly:

While sharing his passions for space and the sea with a worldwide readership, Mr. Clarke kept his emotional life private. He was briefly married in 1953 to an American diving enthusiast named Marilyn Mayfield; they separated after a few months and were divorced in 1964.

One of his closest relationships was with Leslie Ekanayake, a fellow diver in Sri Lanka, who died in a motorcycle accident in 1977. Mr. Clarke shared his home in Colombo with Leslie"s brother, Hector, his partner in the diving business, Hector"s wife Valerie; and their three daughters.

Mr. Clarke"s standard answer when journalists asked him outright if he was gay was, "No, merely mildly cheerful."

Syphilis Rate Continues To Rise

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that the national rate of syphilis infection rose 12% from 2006 to 2007. There were 11,181 syphilis cases in 2007. The rate is six times higher among men than women. And, just looking at men, it's six times higher among black men than white men.

But, the good news is that the number of syphilis cases in San Francisco actually dropped in 2007. There were 202 cases there in 2007, compared to 243 in 2006.

If anyone wants an example of hyperbole, check out the WebMD report on this subject. While everyone else reports a "rise" in syphilis cases, WebMD says it "skyrockets." On top of that, it's a "raging epidemic." One would like to think of WebMD as the on-line equivalent of good ol' gray-haired family doctors who give you reliable information in a level voice. But in this article WebMD sounds like a raging Republican from a southern state. "The raging epidemic is skyrocketing! Drink peroxide! Bath yourself in a solution of chlorine bleach and ascorbic acid! Blame it on Islam!"

The Rices of Rancho Mirage

The Desert Sun interviews Anne Rice and her son Christopher, who both live in Rancho Mirage.

"I do get people saying, 'How can you be such a fool to believe in God?' I sense many are young Goth kids who feel abandoned. I just say, look, you're looking for the same things that I was, transcendence and redemption. I found what my characters were looking for."

Rice may appear to have been playing in the shadows of life, not only with her homoerotic vampire novels, but also with her erotic fiction written under a pseudonym.

Rice is a curious kind of Christian. On the one hand, she is resolutely orthodox when it comes to scripture. She "loved" Gibson's controversial movie about Jesus' last hours, "The Passion of the Christ."

"Hollywood is furious because they don't know how to replicate his success, to cash in on the audience he revealed," she says. "But they can't do it. That movie was only a success because (Gibson) believes in Christ."

Rice says despite connections in Hollywood, there's as yet no interest in adapting her Christ books for the screen. "I think executives are just scared of the Christian audience, of jammed fax machines and pickets."

Unlike Gibson, however, Rice is decidedly progressive politically, a longtime Democrat and Hillary Clinton supporter.

Rice's liberal politics also apply to hot-button church issues such as women in the clergy and homosexuality.

"I did wonder for a bit, 'How can I go back to a church that says my son will go to hell?' But in the end, I left it all in God's hands," she says."

The Desert Sun seems to have departed from its usual style and did not call Anne Rice a "Rancho Mirage literary figure," allowing her to continue to belong to the world.

Gay Life In Palm Springs

Via Friday Fishwrap, the L.A. Times has an article about a book by Robert julian [sometimes the article capitalizes his last name, sometimes not] about the real gay life in Palm Springs entitled Postcards from Palm Springs. Oddly (has the L.A. Times been studying from the Desert Sun's stylebook?) the article doesn't give the title of the book until you get to the third paragraph on the second page. Here's the Amazon link and here's the link to Google book search where you can read an excerpt.

I want to point out that in this photo that the Times uses to illustrate the article, the two identified men lounging presumably naked at Inndulge are visiting from Boston and Providence — we see only the knees and foot of the Bostonian, but if you go here you can see their faces.

Not entirely coincidentally, the Inndulge was the resort where I stayed the very first time I visited Palm Springs.

Pink Flight to Sydney's Mardi Gras

After a successful "pink flight" from Auckland to Sydney last year, Air New Zealand experimented with the same concept from San Francisco to Sydney this year. Kathy Griffin was the special hostess on the flight.

"This flight is fantastic," she told the Bay Area Reporter in an interview close to the end of the flight. "It is truly historical and hysterical. It's a 'Pink Flight.' It's the gays. It's the drag queens. And my favorite is that there are a couple of straight people who just aren't supposed to be here. And they are kind of my favorite ones to watch. I think there are about four people who are just flying to Sydney and didn't realize it was the Pink Flight. They're all being very kind."

The average passenger paid $1,200 for the roundtrip flight.

Passengers more than got their money's worth from the flight. It began with a party at the gate at San Francisco International Airport's international terminal. The gate was cordoned off to ticketed passengers and invited guests. The party included free food and drink as well as entertainment from drag queens. The flight crew itself sang and danced in a performance number at the gate. The nose of the jet was positioned in front of the gate decorated with a giant pink boa and pink feathers fashioned as eyelashes on either side of the cockpit.

Even the check-in section outside the gate was decorated in pink with airline employees dressed in pink and wearing pink balloons fashioned as hats. One employee was making pink balloon hats for whoever wanted to stop by and get one. People who were checking in on other airlines stopped by to take in the impromptu show.

The airline created a weblog for the flight.

Here's a report from Ed Walsh about how he spent his time at Sydney's Mardi Gras. He is, BTW, the one who runs the weblog for the flight.

Holy Moly!

Nobody told me about this! "This" is the new building for Fenway Community Health which was my health care provider in Boston (and one of the recipients of Pallota's Boston-New York AIDS Rides). This giant new building is going up at 1330 Boylston in Boston, Massachusetts, which was, I believe, a strip of parking lots, bars and small storefronts between the Burger King and McDonald's. I would think this must be the biggest building on the block, but the live camera is on something called the "Trilogy building" which doesn't ring a bell for me, so maybe other bigger things have been built since I left.

More info about the building here.

I came across this while browsing Fenway's website after getting an email announcing that Senator Ted Kennedy will receive this year's Congressman Gerry E. Studds Visibility Award at the Men's Event. Unfortunately, they don't have that info up on their website yet.

Google street view shows us how it looks from the points of view of Burger King and McDonald's, respectively:

Clinton Talks to Washington Blade

In this interview with the Washington Blade, Hillary Clinton says she would repeal one part of the Defense of Marriage Act and that she would get rid of Don't-Ask-Don't-Tell. She described DADT as a transitional policy of Bill Clinton' administration, but "declined to elaborate when asked to clarify that remark given President Clinton’s failure to revisit the policy during his eight years in office." And, big whoop, she promises to be the first President to walk in a Gay Pride parade.

Has she walked in any Gay Pride parades before? If so, let's see the photos, if not, somebody should let her know that she doesn't have to wait to be President for that. In fact, June comes well before the conventions and elections. That would be an excellent time for her to practice her parade walking.

GNI Registration Opens

GNI is proud to announce that registration is now open for the 24th Annual International Gathering of Male Naturists. The 2008 GNI Gathering will take place from Wednesday, August 20 to Friday, August 29 at the beautiful resort in the bucolic Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania that we've enjoyed for many summers.

GNI is also pleased to report that there is no increase from last year’s pricing for those staying in cabins. Indeed, there is a decrease for the full-week cabin option!

In previous years, registration normally did not open until April, but you can register for the 2008 Gathering right now -- an unprecedented nearly seven months before the fun begins. For complete information and to register, use the Gathering links under Events & Travel on the main menu inside GNI's web site at www.gaynaturists.org.

Here are the prices:

	Cabin	Tent / RV
Aug. 20-29	$878	$778
Aug. 22-29	$698	$628
Aug. 25-29	$498	$438

Blatino Oasis

Last year I was surprised to hear after the fact about "Blatino Oasis" at Helios Resort in Palm Springs, and I guess the organizers were paying attention. They've sent me an announcement about this year's event. It will be May 9-12 at Helios again [annoying music warning - gawd, I think it's Prince] (NSFW).

Scrolling down that page I spotted these links to make hotel reservations:

For some of us, gay-friendly, clothing-optional resorts ARE regular hotels and resorts.

Follow Up On Iowa Husbands

The Des Moines Register does a follow-up article on Tim McQuillan and Sean Fritz, the one couple who was able to marry this past September when it was oh-so-very-briefly legal in Iowa. They're still married and liking it. Earlier article on their marriage here.

Heath Ledger Dead At Age 28

Actor Heath Ledger was found dead in his residence in Manhattan today, the cause is not yet known. Ledger is most well known for his role in Brokeback Mountain, but will appear as the Joker in The Dark Night, to be released later this year.

Jungle Red

A snake-like sculpture erected at the entrance to the Warm Sands neighborhood is entitled Jungle Red as a reference to Joan Crawford's nail polish color in The Women. All very appropriate on many levels. And, since The Women was filmed in black & white, no one can quibble with the red selected by the artist, Delos Van Earl.

Bill Belew, 1931-2007

I find out about more celebrities in Coachella Valley via the obituaries than by any other means.

Bill Belew, the designer of Elvis Presley's black leather 1968 outfit and many of his other famous costumes in the 1970s, as well as costumes for Petula Clark, Ella Fitzgerald, Gladys Knight, Gloria Estefan, Flip Wilson, and Doc Severinsen, died on January 7 at Desert Regional in Palm Springs, according to "Paul Dafelmair, Belew's longtime companion."

"He may have worn a leather jacket, but that's about it," Belew said. "At that time, though, we were into denim, and I said, 'What if I just duplicate a denim outfit in black leather?' Elvis loved it."

Added Belew, who is said to have later helped remove the famous leather outfit from Presley's sweat-soaked body: "He was a great person to dress. He had a terrific build at that point."

"The Advocate" does Ron Paul

The Advocate (the gay one, not the Jewish one) has published an article about Ron Paul and whether gay libertarians like him or not. The article hits on every point where Paul's politics are inconsistent with a libertarian position, like his support for the Defense of Marriage Act. Paul calls himself a Constitutionalist, not a libertarian, but he's also an inconsistent Constitutionalist. He supports Don't Ask/Don't Tell, for example, which certainly violates the 14th Amendment.

says Rob Power, who chairs Outright Libertarians, a gay group within the [Libertarian] party, and supports [Libertarian presidential hopeful George] Phillies's candidacy. "Paul's ideology is socially conservative/traditionalist/federalist. It's not really Libertarian because it still supports government control over individual lives -- merely at the state, not federal, level. Paul is likable and principled, but his principles are biblical, not Libertarian or even Constitutionalist, because he ignores the 14th Amendment's equal protection clause."

When You Read This...

When you read something like this, you know that things have gone just a bit too far:

First, to ensure an extra-added measure of security, along with signing the entry sheets, we will have to institute a mandatory genital check for everyone who attends!

Boston - Provincetown

A telling documentary on the Boston-Provincetown Axis Of Gay (YouTube 3:39). Brief bits border on NSFW if you work in a place where no fun is ever tolerated.

This Is Just Silly

Richard Simmons on Whose Line Is It Anyway in 2000.

Wot?! There's A Santa Speedo Run in Toronto Too (Toto)

Photo by lwcdnman. More photos of the Toronto Santa Speedo run here.

Gift Idea?

At t-shirt hell:

The Gay Adventures Of Burnt Face Man

Although clearly intended for the bored office worker, some parts are NSFW.

Gay Bars In Boston

An article in the Boston Globe that discusses the decline of gay bars in Boston as part of the general decline of niche businesses caused by the popularity of the internet. It compares the general decline of gay bars with the loss of bookstores, delis and art house theaters.

Gay Visitors to Palm Springs

The Bay Area Reporter reviews resorts, bars, restaurants and more for gay visitors to the Palm Springs area. They seem to like almost everything.

Gay Camping

A Portable Tribe will be a documentary about gay men camping, which will be released in 2008.

From men camping in tents to men driving luxury motor homes, to Gay campgrounds and even spiritual retreat centers, A PORTABLE TRIBE presents a unique look into some of the lesser seen parts of Gay male culture.

Judging from this preview video and the still photos on the film's website, they did some filming at both Starland Retreat and at CMEN's West Coast Gathering, along with visits to several other clothed camping areas.

Trent Lott Rumor

This is Benjamin Nicholas, gay escort, who is currently denying he has had a relationship with Senator Trent Lott. Big Head DC intially floated the rumor, and at first Mr. Nicholas just said "No comment."

More On Vallejo Vice Mayor

The S.F. Chronicle tells us what the Desert Sun left out: the vice mayor of Vallejo, Gary Cloutier, who was arrested for public intoxication in Palm Springs had come out of Hunters, is gay, and is running for mayor.

UPDATE: According to the Bay Area Reporter, Cloutier has won the mayorship of Vallejo with a margin of just 4 votes.

Anti-Gay Pastor Vows To Help Keep Microsoft Share Price High

The minister of a large evangelical church in Redmond, Washington, objects to Microsoft Corporation's support of equal rights for its gay employees, and so he wants to start a movement to buy up shares of Microsoft. If he is successful, this should help Microsoft share prices.

"La Ley del deseo"

I've just finished watching The Law of Desire by Almodovar for the first time. Yes, really. I don't know what was happening back in 1987 that I managed to miss its appearance in the theaters. But I've made up for it finally. Four out of five stars.

I can't imagine why this movie got an NC-17 rating. Well, yes, I can imagine. But it's hard to believe that homophobia was so rampant as late as 1987 that one rear butt shot, one brief nude male frontal (flaccid), and one dry humping scene shot from the side so we see even less than we did in Top Gun (rated PG!) would earn the dreaded NC-17. Man, I've had to fast-forward through 10,000 hetero sex scenes in movies rated lower than NC-17.

Or was it the burning of the shrine to the Virgin Mary at the end of the film that pissed off the MPAA folks?

We're #72!

On this list of top 101 American cities with the largest percentage of "self-reported same-sex unmarried-partner households" (which many people interpret as "likely homosexual") your eye will undoubtedly be drawn to line 72 where you will find the city of Desert Hot Springs. This puts DHS higher than Arlington (Virginia), Portland ( Maine), and Chelsea (Massachusetts). The number one spot is held by Wilton Manors (Florida), followed by West Hollywood and Palm Springs. San Francisco is #10. Cathedral City and Rancho Mirage are 16 and 17, respectively. This list includes only cities with populations above 5,000 so Provincetown isn't on it.

Many other top 101 cities lists here.

Is THIS The "Big" Sex Scandal?

If so, then I was half right when I mentioned Hillary Clinton, but I was wrong about Mitt Romney. I see no scandal here (but I may be in the minority - again). Now, if Hillary and Condoleezza were gettin' it on, I'd the first one scandalized.

Now THIS Is News

It's not news that a bunch of men were arrested in the 2nd floor Sears men's room for tapping toes, sneezing, coughing, zipping and spitting out cumwads inappropriately. Nor is it news that one of the men is a politician and another a high school teacher. No, what is NEWS is that the politician, Mike Shallow, is a Democrat! You'll find a lot of weblogs assuming he is a Republican and some more restrained weblogs saying they can't find proof he's a Repubican, but Ron's Log pounded away at Google until this photo of Mike Shallow speaking at a Democratic party gathering in 2005 was found.

On this page you will see that Mike Shallow attended Providence College in Rhode Island. Providence College is "Catholic & Dominican".

"Indio Lee" Comes Out For Torture

Lee Ellis has had an opinion piece published in the Desert Sun saying that it isn't torture if you don't bleed. "As almost any combat veteran can testify, torture is that which causes blood to leak or spurt and causes severe damage to the human body - the cutting off fingers, toes, ears or nose or even blinding people." But, in any case, he seems to be all for it. If we naively continue to hope for peace, he says, "our children and grandchildren will be forced to suffer a future of domination by Middle East forces or Socialist and Communist governments."

Ellis' columns appear frequently in The Valley Breeze, an enterprise in Desert Hot Springs that reduces otherwise good newsprint to a material not fit for the bottom of a bird cage.

A brief bio and more complete list of his opinion pieces can be found here on OpinionEditorials.com including his carefully reasoned piece on gay marriage in California.

Marriage was designed NOT for the civil rights of the adults, but was designed for the rights of potential children produced by the union of a man and a woman. These children need to have a chance of having a family life with a common name that would help establish a family tree for the past, present and future for them and their descendants!

Thus, "Marriage" should be reserved for an union between a man and a woman who have the God-given ability to create children who can have a family life and know those who are related by blood, genes and common parents.

I rarely see right-wingers follow their "logic" to its ultimate conclusion, but here Ellis does seem to be saying that the state should permit marriage only between fertile men and women. That would require a test for fertility before the marriage license is granted, and, I suppose, a mandatory divorce if conception has not occurred within some fixed time after the wedding of the reproductive pair. I don't think any similar obligations would be laid on unmarried couples, who would remain free to try to concieve or not concieve as they themselves decide without state guidance. Doubtless, if Ellis' opinion on marriage was adopted into law, the number of children born out of wedlock would skyrocket.

What Are "Bar Rags" Called Now?

I still call them bar rags, but I'm sure their publishers wouldn't like that. "Community magazines," perhaps? I ask because The Bottom Line has gotten itself dragged into the political brouhaha over Palm Springs' Measure C which has something to do with the Shadowrock development. (Here's Shadowrock where I'm sure they present the total, complete and unbiased story on Measure C -- and here's Friends of Palm Springs Mountains who bring you the other side of that total, complete and unbiased story.) The official voter guide with info on Measure C can be found here.

Anyway, the excitement is that The Bottom Line printed an ad in favor of Measure C and the ad did not say who paid for it. Naturally, a representative for Shadowrock says the ad was submitted with that info included, but that the printers at The Bottom Line removed it. Of course they did, because that's their job, to alter their customer's ads without consulting with the customer.

BTW, to the issue at hand: when I look at the meta tags on The Bottom Line's website I find this "The Bottom Line is the premier gay/lesbian/bisexual/ transgender managzine." So there's my answer, bar rags are now called "managzines." Even if they're lesbian managzines?

"What TOP GUN is really about by Quentin Tarantino"

A 5 minute video, SFW with headphones.

John Waters in City Beat

An interview with John Waters in L.A. City Beat.

How do you feel now about your early films, such as Pink Flamingos?

Pink Flamingos - I don’t think it’s my best movie, but God knows the day I die it will be in the first paragraph of my obituary. It helped make trash more respectable. It lasted longer than I ever would have imagined. I still meet young kids who have just seen it and they react with the same disbelief that people did the first time.

I’m proud of it. It was made to make fun of censorship laws at the time. All that has kind of faded. If I hadn’t done the scene where Divine ate dog shit, Johnny Knoxville would have done it in Jackass. The Jackass movies are the closest in spirit to Pink Flamingos than anything else.

Senator Craig's Music Video

SFW and not bad.

California Marriage Ad

Here you can watch the TV ad produced by Let California Ring to try to build support for marriage in California. News story here.

Iranian Homosexuals Must Immigrate To Our Ally, Saudi Arabia

On account of it's so much more tolerant there. While you'll be killed for homosexuality in Iran, in Saudi Arabi you'll get only 7,000 lashes. They spread those lashings out over some days so that (A) you'll survive and (B) the lasher can go rub some Ben-Gay on his lashing arm and get some rest. With allies like this and Pakistan, we don't need to worry about all the fair-weather friends we've lost around the world.

More Liberation

That's boy Aaron Zaggy being crowned Homecoming Queen at University City High School in University City, Missouri. Female girls who were competing for the Queenship seem to be upset, but school district officials are going with it:

District officials acknowledged that the twosome made an unusual pair as king and queen but said there was a lesson to be learned.

"This situation also presents a life lesson of sorts by demonstrating the importance of voting and knowing that one's actions at the ballot box can have a lasting impact," the board said in a statement.

Today's State Of Opinions On Homosexuality

Mark Fiore explains the current scope of opinion on homosexuals. Probably SFW with headphones.

The Ambiguously Gay Duo...

...is not undone by a Minneapolis airport cop. Video ambiguously SFW, or Not.

Catholic Online Promotes Folsom Street Fair

Finally, some Catholics have gotten with the program and are promoting the Folsom Street Fair here, perhaps as a way of thanking Miller Brewing for supporting the fair. Of course, some of these photos may be NSFW.

The official website for the Folsom Street Fair, where you may notice that their photos are not all so racy as those provided for your delectation by Catholic Online.

Here's the Flickr group for the Fair where there are currently 1,292 photos visible to non-group-members.

Other fresh Folsom photos showing up on Flickr here.

Pink Rifle

The stylish Crickett Model 221. An article in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel saying that the gun industry thinks women will prefer pink guns.

Which reminded me of Pink Pistols. Here's an L.A. Times article about the Los Angeles chapter.

Tammy Faye Memorial Service Monday Night

Victory Christian Center, 34500 Bob Hope Drive, Rancho Mirage; 7 p.m. Monday. Doors open at 6 p.m. Info: 328-3313.

Google map of the Victory Christian Center.

California Legislature Approves Marriage For All - Again

The California Senate approved AB43 by a vote of 22 to 15 (all Republicans voted against it). AB43 defines marriage as a civil contract between two persons.

Now, once again, Governor Schwarzenegger is all that lies between equality and more of the same old shit. You can express your opinion to the Governor easily by going to this web page. In the Subject field select "Gender-neutral Marriage.\AB00043." On the next page check off Pro and then write your message.

If you want to express a Con opinion, be sure to let the Governor know you live outside California.

Meanwhile, at the Republican party state convention going on this very weekend right here in little Coachella Valley, Schwarzenegger urged the party to move to the political center. The state party has lost 370,000 members in the last two years.

Iowa And Massachusetts

Maybe this news already rocked the world and then died down while I was away at Burning Man, but last week one gay couple was fully and completely legally married under state law in Iowa before the state could obtain a stay of the judge's order. Sean Fritz and Tim McQuillan are two more names for the history books. They ARE married.

The Difference Between Gay Men & Lesbians

According to the Bay Area Reporter Rivendell Media did an extensive survey of 12,000 gay men and 10,000 lesbians who had been solicited "through 75 LGBT magazines, newspapers, Web sites, and event organizers across the country." So not a neutral cross section of ALL gay men and lesbians, but of those who are likely to be spending money like middle class people. The aim of the survey was to find ways to market to gay men and lesbians. Lots of differences were found, but here's the significant one:

Some results are not so surprising, such as the finding that 61 percent of gay men and 83 percent of lesbians have a pet. But the survey did debunk one stereotype of lesbians – they are more likely to be cat owners than dog owners. Among lesbians 59 percent reported having a dog while 51 percent said they owned cats. (Among gay men 38 percent were dog owners and 28 percent were cat owners.)

Now you know!

Insignificant

This is news to me, that the Attorney General of California (you may know him as Jerry Brown) is arguing that "marriage is a 'constitutionally insignificant label' and therefore same-sex couples suffer no 'constitutional injury' from being denied marriage licenses." Wow, they're working both ends of this. Either marriage is a sacred institution, or it's constitutionally insignificant.

If it's constitutionally insignificant, I think that puts it somewhere considerably lower than, for example, being a notary public (no offense to notaries public is intended). And I know gay notaries, so why not gay spouses? Other constitutionally insignificant labels are honorary college degrees, emcees of celebrity roasts, and the title "Substitute Teacher Of The Year."

How much is California spending to defend this insignificant label?

Westboro Baptist Church May Be Coming

Fred Phelps' Westboro Baptist Church is threatening to come and protest Tammy Faye Messner's memorial service at Victory Christian Center in Rancho Mirage on September 10. The only thing I've heard of that stops the Westboro Baptist Church demonstrations is organizing a pledge drive in which donors pledge X bucks for every hour the Westborians demonstrate. The funds are then donated to a gay organization, an HIV support organization, a pro-choice organization, or something similar.

Tammy Faye, October 14

A public memorial service for Tammy Faye is being planned for Sunday, October 14 in Palm Springs. No details yet.

Church Decides It Can No Longer Bury Sinners

Well, that should free up a good bit of their calendar. The High Point church in Arlington, Texas, agreed to have a funeral for Navy veteran Cecil Sinclair, who died recently at age 46. But then the church discovered that Sinclair was gay, which is a sin in the eyes of that church...and, of course, that church can have nothing to do with sinners. It must have a very, very tiny congregation, although publicly they claim 5,000 members. Upon discovering that Mr. Sinclair had sinned, the church told his survivors and mourners, in effect, to go to hell. The church was willing to provide a video and food for a hundred people for that trip.

First Openly Gay Tennesseean Elected

Running unopposed, Keith Durban was elected to the Nashville city council this past Thursday. Tennessee is far from being a backward state, so I'm surprised that this is their first gay person elected to office. I'd like to see a list of what other states have also elected no gay people. And we're not counting those Republicans who look for dates in public restrooms and city parks, while keeping the little wifey (or is it "wifie?") at home.

No Kissing In Rome

Two men kissed outside Rome's Colosseum last week and were immediately arrested and charged with "lewd conduct." Conviction could result in up to two years in prison. So, yesterday hundreds met in front of the Colosseum to conduct a mass "kiss-in" Several members of the Italian cabinet also took part.

It's A Small Flickr World

While in San Francisco I stayed at the Day's Inn on Grove, where the nice man at the desk with a Mac just like mine asked me about GNI. Later I saw him at Dore Alley. But it wasn't until today that we realized we were already Flickr friends!

Waitin' For Dore Alley Pics?

While you wait, enjoy the set of photos by Fannybunda, including the one above. Also this primo item:

And if Fannybunda's photos aren't enough, go see Castrowoof's set including this one:

And then there's the set from AirUrso including this:

Also, there's SFBart's set of Dore Alley photos, such as....

UPDATE: xerothecat also has a set of Dore Alley photos.

Finally, Some Clarity

A good video that begins to explain why gay marriages threaten the "sanctity of marriage."

Not Gay 101, Not Even Close

When I first heard about this web page, I was a bit concerned. After all, it starts out like this:

Are you tired of the other kids at Summer Color Camp laughing at you because you thought chartreuse was a shade of pink? Still having nightmares about the time you called a Salmon colored dress Mauve? With our help you’ll never call Azure, Aquamarine again and will be name dropping colors like they’re hot potatoes.

Obviously, we guys know, this is treading dangerously close to chapter 1 of Gay 101, which initiates the course of study that eventually brings you to your Gay ID card. But then I looked at it, and it's only 32 colors. Our secrets are still safe, it seems. Let the frat boys argue over mauve versus lavender.

Pornagraphic Review

A [regrettably, NSFW] video that purports to be a film from the 1960s, but in the opening sequence you'll see a 48-star flag, so it should be earlier than 1960. Its title is "Perversion For Profit" and it surveys all the major genres of printed pornography including the titty magazine, physique pictorials, nudist magazines, so-called S & M fetishists, etc. Hints of sodomy and bestiality abound. In reality, it looks like a film made by the porn industry to help get the word out in those tough and inhibited times. Or...the whole thing could be a fake. The narrator, for instance, is identified as "George Putnam: outstanding news reporter." Is that, like, an official job title?

Tammy Faye Dead At Age 65

Tammy Faye Messner died yesterday morning, but the announcement was delayed until now so that Larry King could be the one to make it. She had been interviewed by Larry King on Thursday night. She weighed only 65 pounds. Her body was cremated this morning and she has been buried in a remote part of Oklahoma.

Brief excerpts from her final TV appearance can be viewed here.

I haven't found an article that says where she died, but I would guess it was North Carolina and she hadn't made her move to Kansas City yet.

Public Gay Sodomy Legalized

In Hong Kong, of all places. Hong Kong law did not criminalize public heterosexual sodomy, but gay public sodomy could be punished with a sentence of up to five years imprisonment. Hong Kong's top court today refused to hear the government's appeal of a lower court's ruling that the law infringed on the rights of gay men.

"Dykes On Bikes" Win Trademark Battle

Dykes On Bikes attempted to trademark their name beginning in 2004. First they had to overcome resistance from the Trademark Office. After winning there, a Michael McDermott filed a lawsuit asserting that "men are subject to attacks and civil rights violations as a result of Dykes On Bikes' appearance at San Francisco's Gay Pride and Dyke marches, and said the very word dyke is synonymous with a 'deep obsessive hatred of men and the male gender.'"

Now, the U.S. Court of Appeals has ruled. "In a 3-0 ruling the court said that as a man McDermott had no legal right to be offended."

Rep. Robert Allen

Robert Allen is a Republican representative in the Florida legislature. Earlier this year he co-sponsored "a bill increasing penalties for public 'Lewdness and Indecent Exposure.'"

The bill would have made it second degree felonies for public exposure and "unnatural and lascivious" acts with another person within 1,000 feet of public parks, as well as other public locations such as schools, child care centers, public beaches and community centers. It also would have made it easier for police to arrest someone for these crimes.

So it will come as no surprise to those of you are familiar with how these things go that Rep. Allen was arrested yesterday for offering $20 to perform a blow job on a police officer in a men's room in Veteran's Memorial Park in Titusville, Florida.

UPDATE: Rep. Allen was also a co-chair for John McCain's Presidential campaign in Florida.

FURTHER UPDATE: You can find Rep. Allen's official webpage here. There we see that he has a wife and daughter, and he has a recreational interest in "water sports." That webpage may be going bye-bye some time, so here's a screenshot of it:

YONDER UPDATE: Pam's House Blend has been good enough to grab and share bits of the police report describing Rep. Allen's behavior leading up to the arrest. In Part 1 he draws the curiosity of a plainclothes officer conducting surveillance relevant to some burglary. In Part 2 the officer washes his hands and upon finding "no paper towels" went into the handicap stall to dry his hands. Uh-huh. Every other man would just walk out with wet hands.

"Seduction Of The Innocent"

I may have posted a link to this (SFW if they let you look at comic books at work) gallery of images from superhero comic books that hinted at gay themes or included phallic imagery long ago, but there are lots more images now.

What's UPS Up To?

In New Jersey, UPS is taking the stand that it must stick to its union contract exactly as written, and will NOT provide health benefits to civil-union-partners, despite a state Supreme Court ruling. Quite OTOH, UPS DOES provide full benefits to same-sex partners of NON-union management and administrative employees.

Is UPS (along with other New Jersey businesses) trying to prove that civil unions are NOT equivalent to marriage, and therefore the New Jersey legislature must upgrade the law to allow marriages for same-sex as well as opposite-sex partners?

Vintage Male Photography

Deak Wooten (who most of us know as simply dcwooten has published Vintage Male Photographs, Book 3, available for only $75 or $85 (soft or hard cover).

You can still buy Book 1 and Book 2.

A sample from his Flickr photostream.

More "Realist"

Last month we told you how eager we were to read issue number 69 of The Realist as something in that issue produced a classic 60s-speak response from "John L. Timmons, Secretary Mattachine Society of N.Y."

And now we have been satisfied! Issue #69 of The Realist including lengthy interview with Timothy Leary is here! And this seems to be the page that set off Mr. Timmons. A bunch of not funny cartoons. Worthy for their historical value, I suppose.

Also available are Issue #26 featuring an interview with Hugh Hefner, back when he looked good; issue #58 where they interview Woody Allen and publish a short piece by Kurt Vonnegut; and issue #84, where we find this:

Issue #58 also included a page of interesting NSFW comics, including this one:

Everything You Need To Know About Rugby

A deliciously NSFW video from ITV that follows a British rugby team from the showers out to the pubs. Lots of full frontal. The only thing they fuzz out is when one party grabs another party's penis. THEN, we get to watch the rugby team watching and reacting to the video.

Edwards Visits LAGLC

In some kind of first, John Edwards, Democrat running for President, visitied the Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Center last week. The LAGLC is one of the two beneficiaries of the AIDS/LifeCycle bike ride. Lorri Jean toned herself down to speak to Edwards on the issue of gay marriage:

During Edwards' visit, Jean implored the candidate to support marriage equality, saying "most of the problems our clients face are problems caused by a homophobic society. A society that tells us from our youngest days–from the moment we have any inklings of such things–that we are wrong, sick, bad, even evil, and that we deserve to be discriminated against. This impacts everything about our health; our mental health, our physical health, substance abuse, homelessness, HIV and more. Political leaders who support discrimination against us give cover for other kinds of anti-gay bigotry. I am yearning for the day when a viable presidential candidate–a candidate like you–will have the courage to lead and to clearly and unequivocally say that my people are also entitled to participate in the promise of America, including the freedom to marry."

Children, Avert Your Eyes!

Staff at East Side High School in Newark, New Jersey, used markers to obliterate this photo from every single copy of their yearbook before it was distributed to the schoolchildren whose eyes, minds and very souls would be reduced to lifeless slag in an instant if they caught sight of this horrid, horrid scene. Better they should watch the evening news.

UPDATE: The school superintendent who made the decision to redact the photo has apologized. Jackson, in the foreground, is a student at East Side High School and paid $150 to have the photo inserted in the yearbook. The school will give an undamaged copy of the yearbook to any student who requests one.

"The Realist"

The Realist was an underground magazine that first appeared in 1958, edited and published by Desert Hot Springs citizen Paul Krassner with varying irregularity until 2001.

The Realist provided a format for extreme satire in its articles, cartoons, and Krassner's editorials, but it also carried more serious material in articles and interviews. Krassner leaned towards hoaxes, such as his "The Parts Left Out of the Kennedy Book", an outrageous parody of William Manchester's The Death of a President. Krassner's article confused some readers who accepted it as legitimate. The magazine was the first to provide a forum for conspiracy researcher Mae Brussell and also published political commentary from Norman Mailer, Ken Kesey, and Joseph Heller.

Now, four issues per month of The Realist will be scanned and made available for your pleasure on www.ep.tc.

On page 2 of issue 74 (May 1967) I find this interesting letter to the editor:

Letter from a Homosexual

For some time now I have been a fan of the Realist. I find it interesting, stimulating, thought-provoking and, all in all, a great publication. Your analysis of major and minor events is superb. For these reasons, I cannot help but wonder why the Realist seems to be anti-homosexual—or at the very best, not informed of the work of the Mattachine Society Inc. of New York.

For an instance, I found "The Fag Battalion" [issue #69] to be as obnoxious to me as I do "The Committee to Fight the Exclusion of Homosexuals from the Armed Forces." We at the Mattachine are aware of the activities of this very small group of people, and we have received a great deal of undeserved criticism from their activities.

I would like to use this opportunity to point out that we are not only non-related groups, but the MSNY vigorously disapproves of their stated policy.

MSNY is a civil-rights group; nothing more, nothing less. Some of us vigorously oppose the war in Vietnam, whereas others in our group favor it. Since the goal of this Society, and the Homophile movement, is to procure the legal rights denied the homosexual by law and to educate the public in regard to homosexuality, we refuse to mix issues by engaging in foreign policy. Our main goals are difficult enough to achieve.

MSNY is not a social organization; nor is its purpose to apologize for homosexuality. We are activists who are convinced that the time for asking to be treated as human beings is past—we are demanding our right to human dignity now. We use the methods of leafleting, picketing and court-action to achieve our goals.

This is the other side of homosexuality, the side I would like to see presented in the Realist. If nothing more, we would appreciate a statement in your pages to the effect that there is no connection between MSNY and the Committee to Fight the Exclusion, etc. We would also like to make it clear to your readers that, not only did we not participate in their leafleting campaign, but we heartily disapproved of it, because it splits the homosexual community into pro-war and anti-war factions.

John L. Timmons, Secretary
Mattachine Society of N.Y.

Editor's note: Fighting the exclusion of homosexuals from the armed forces would certainly qualify as a civil-rights activity; if that form of discrimination is ever remedied, then those homosexuals who don't want to be drafted will no longer be able to exploit their deviation rather than face the consequences of conscientious objection.

I can hardly wait for that issue #69 to be scanned (unless that's part of a joke itself).

Gay Marriage Wins Final Battle To Become Permanent Law In Massachusetts

Boston Globe story here. A proposed constitutional amendment to reverse gay marriage needed 50 votes to get on the ballot, but failed with only 45. Here an opponent of marriage admits that she is sick (like we didn't know that already):

Joyce Durst, an opponent of same-sex marriage from Mattapan, had come the State House today to pray that the measure passed. When the amendment failed, she pulled a crumpled tissue from her pocket and began to sob.

"I'm sick," said Durst, 60. "I'm sick."

Gale Candaras, Democrat from Wilbraham, explains why she switched her vote from anit-marriage to pro-marriage.

They [gay people] deserve and are entitled to the same legal protections enjoyed by all others citizens of our state. This is the law of the Commonwealth, articulated by our Supreme Judicial Court in Goodrich v. The Department of Public Health, decided in November, 2003.

Despite dire predictions, there has been no adverse societal impact from this decision and most people now express little concern about same gender marriage.

Springfield and Western Massachusetts needs these families, and all our families, to help rebuild our neighborhoods and the peaceful and productive society to which I know, whatever our differences on some things, we all aspire. As a practical matter, I believe we simply cannot afford to marginalize our human resources. Most importantly, I feel strongly that no child should ever be made to feel "less than" or "second-best" nor should any of our children be exposed to a public campaign focused on adult matters of personal privacy. There is altogether too much unseemly information brought into our homes and schools already. It is in the best interests of our children that we accept fully these new families.

This Is Not A Polish Joke

Wait, I take that back. It is a Polish joke, but also real. Ewa Sowinska a Polish "government-appointed children rights watchdog" is digging to find out if the Teletubbies are gay! Not just stupid, but so very 1990s.

Charles Nelson Reilly, 1931-2007

Charles Nelson Reilly died May 25 in Los Angeles.

In reading the Wikepedia article about Reilly we learned the interesting fact that he survived the Hartford circus fire, which I had not heard of before. It seems that in those days, circus tents were soaked in gasoline or kerosene and then coated with paraffin to keep them waterproof! How utterly sensible.

Interview With Jason Knight

The Bay Area Reporter interviews Petty Officer 2nd Class Jason Knight, the sailor who, after being discharged for being gay, was called back to service in Kuwait, and is now being discharged again.

"I was going to do the honorable thing and tell my command. I hadn't really known a lot about the 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' policy. I figured, if I told the truth, they'd understand. They didn't react well; they started the legal paperwork to get me out," he said.

Falwell Dead

Imagine the shock his soul has just received!

Cano's Skeleton Tat

neatjunk photographs, uh, rough trade in Miami.

"Huh?"

Tommy Thompson is now saying that his hearing aid failed him during the recent Republican presidential candidate debate and he misheard the question about employers being able to fire gay employees. Here's how that Q and A went:

MR. HARRIS: Governor Thompson, same theme. If a private employer finds homosexuality immoral, should he be allowed to fire a gay worker?
MR. THOMPSON: I think that is left up to the individual business. I really sincerely believe that that is an issue that business people have to got to make their own determination as to whether or not they should be.
MR. VANDEHEI: Okay. So the answer's yes.
MR. THOMPSON: Yes.

Mr. Thompson is now saying "he thought he had been asked whether enough laws are on the books to protect gays." Uh-huh. But then his answer doesn't respond to that question at all.

So here we've got this guy who thinks he can be President and he gets up in the debate without a spare battery or a spare hearing aid in his pocket. After his hearing aids fails he guesses at the questions? He couldn't figure out a way to ask to have a question repeated or to have one of his staff help him with the hearing aid?

Was he asked any questions later in the debate? Did he show any problem hearing them?

Unannounced Reversal of "Don't Ask - Don't Tell?"

Jason Knight was discharged from the Navy in 2005 for being gay. Nine months later he was called back to active service.

[His supervisor] Petty Officer Bill Driver said, "As open as he is now, it was under wraps for quite a while. It wasn't an issue at work."

According to Stars and Stripes, it was unclear whether Knight's recall to active duty was the result of a clerical oversight or what some claim is an unwritten change in policy to keep more gay service members in the ranks at a time of war. He received an honorable discharge when he was kicked out of the Navy in April 2005, the paper reported.

The paper also reported that Knight was promoted to his current rank and sees no reason to hide his sexual orientation.

Steve Ralls, spokesman for the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, says this is the only case he knows of like this, and believes it is unique.

UPDATE: The Navy has clarified their stand, by telling Knight on May 10 that he will be discharged again.

Tammy Faye Prepares For Death

Tammy Faye Messner announced that she has stopped treatment for her cancer. Currently she weighs only 65 pounds. None of the news stories say where she is. The information may be on her own website but its overloaded right now. Is she still in the Coachella Valley?

UPDATE: Tammy Faye's website is up again, and she lives in North Carolina now.

New Location For Hole In The Wall

The Hole In The Wall bar is one of the most charming and libertarian, gay establishments in San Francisco.

You can find other revealing comments on this page.

Anyway, Hole In The Wall is moving to a new location on Folsom, two doors down from Powerhouse. That's good news and bad news. The good news is you won't have to walk three blocks naked to get to Hole In The Wall during Dore Alley. The bad news is that you won't be able to walk three blocks naked to get to Hole In The Wall during Dore Alley. Unfortunately, San Francisco has allowed to many whiners and babies to move into the city, and the bar is running into some resistance from its future neighbors.

Willl they move the melted paraffin pillar from the old location or just start a new one?

Men I Have Known

Bathhouse Guide

Welcome to the Bathhouse: A Straight Man's Guide by Japhet, who is not very gay. Set in, I think, Toronto. SFW.

After some initial hesitation, I dropped all pretense of objectivity and decided to get the ball rolling. Adopting a pose that suggested I was open to whatever, I leaned back and waited for the first guy to approach. He wasn't long in coming and neither was the second or third.

Hunky Jesus

The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence celebrated Easter by selecting a man called "Old Skool Jesus" as this year's winner of the Hunky Jesus contest.

Interview With Jeffrey Sanker

A Desert Sun interview with the promoter of the White Party. Henceforth the White Party will stick to the second weekend in April so that (1) it will not be subject to the vagaries of the Christian church calendar, and (2) it will never conflict with Dinah Shore weekend.

According to Mr. Sanker, the party generates a million dollars in occupancy tax alone for the city of Palm Springs. If a recent commenter is to be believed and there are only 20 participants, then each participant is paying [grabs calculator which is still faster than a widget] $50,000 in occupancy tax for a 3 or 4 day weekend. That is fabulous! I will forward this information to the members of the Desert Hot Springs city council who, bold and progessive as they are, have probably never considered a bed tax in the range of $10,000 to $15,000 per night. What a boon this will be.

First Gay Couple On "Walk Of Stars"

Earl Greenburg and David Peet are the first gay couple to get their own star on the Palm Springs Walk Of Stars. They are being recognized for their humanitarianism. In the photo they are shown holding a daughter and grandson.

More info on the Walk Of Stars is here.

Army Recruiter Makes Fool Of Self - Repeatedly

Sgt. Marcia Ramode demonstrates some her finest qualities when she contacts a potential recruit:

Ramode: YOU GO BACK TO AFRICA AND DO YOUR GAY VOODOO LIMBO TANGO AND WANGO DANCE AND JUMP AROUND AND PRANCE AND RUN ALL OVER THE PLACE HALF NAKED THERE AND PRACTICE YOUR GAY MORALS OVER THERE THAT'S WHERE YOU BELONG

No Pancakes For Lesbians

At least not in Grandview, Missouri, a suburb of Kansas City. Two women, Blair Funk and Eva Sandoval, were booted out of the Grandview IHOP after sharing a chaste kiss.

Judged By Others

It hadn't occurred to me spend any time thinking about the morality or immorality of the sexual relationships the presidential candidates have, but I guess they have more free time than I do, because they've all come up with opinions on mine now. Drawing on this posting on Ben Smith's Blog and this one on The Politico here is a summary:

• McCain: "Don't ask, don't tell." [Huh?]
• Giuliani: vague in one sentence
• Romney: vague in two rambling sentences
• Brownback: You bet it's immoral
• Clinton: not immoral
• Biden: not immoral
• Obama: not immoral
• Edwards: "I don't share that view" [that it's immoral]
• Dodd: "These remarks are just completely out of bounds, completely wrong." [That sounds like 'Don't ask, don't tell.']
• Richardson: evasive
• Kucinich: N/A

Asking The Question

firedoglake asks "Are There ANY Straight Republicans?" He doesn't really answer that question, so I want to nominate Dick Cheney as the token straight Republican. I sure want him to be straight, anyway.

8,129 Criminals in 2006

No, that statistic isn't something derived from Desert Hot Springs' recent population growth. It's the number of recruits with past convictions for felonies or serious misdemeanors who were allowed to join the American military in 2006, a 65% increase since 2003. "Serious misdemeanors" include crimes like "aggravated assault, burglary, robbery and vehicular homicide." It's a great thing in this country that we still give some people a second chance. But recall that while the military is admitting more criminals as a way to try to meet recruitment goals, it has discharged "over 11,000 capable troops, including nearly 1000 considered mission-critical and over 300 foreign linguists, just because they're gay," according to Aaron Belkin. And that's just counting the discharges. There's no easy way to accurately count the number of gay people who never tried to get into the military, knowing they would be barred.

Shoot-em-up at Toucan's

I don't bother weblogging every little shooting and stabbing that happens outside of peaceful Desert Hot Springs, but this one caught my eye.

An investigation determined that a white man was involved in a disturbance inside the building and workers asked him to leave. He allegedly told people he had a gun in his car and he was going to use it to shoot up the bar, police said.

The "building" was Toucan's Tiki Lounge on North Palm Canyon in Palm Springs. After being thrown out of the club, the man did go get that gun and shot out a window in the bar. Police are still trying to identify the suspect.

Prissies

You've probably heard that a lot of prissies are all upset about the Snickers ad shown during the Super Bowl, but the linked article only names Joe Solmonese, HRC president. I loved the ad and was amazed to discover that others out there share my Snickers fetish. I'm coming out now and will be sure to stick a Snickers in my hip pocket next time I head to The Barracks. But I'm just not sure if it should go on the left or the right.

Marriage In Washington State

According to this site, the Washington Supreme Court in last July's decision upholding Washington law restricting marriage to male-female couples was stupid enough to reason that "a 'legitimate state interest' allows the Legislature to limit marriage to those couples able to have and raise children together." So, The Washington Defense of Marriage Alliance is going to take them at their word and will be proposing three initiatives:

1. make procreation a requirement for legal marriage
2. prohibit divorce or legal separation when there are children
3. the third would make the act of having a child together the legal equivalent of a marriage ceremony

Absurd? Very. But there is a rational basis for this absurdity. By floating the initiatives, we hope to prompt discussion about the many misguided assumptions which make up the Andersen ruling. By getting the initiatives passed, we hope the Supreme Court will strike them down as unconstitional and thus weaken Andersen itself. And at the very least, it should be good fun to see the social conservatives who have long screamed that marriage exists for the sole purpose of procreation be forced to choke on their own rhetoric.

Their restraint is admirable. Why not also require fertility tests before issuing a marriage license, and mandate divorce for any childless couple where one member becomes infertile?

Noticed This Ad

I happened to notice this banner ad on slashdot and wondered if T-Mobile was doing some outreach for gay employees, or if they have found that all good networking engineers are drawn in by that good ol' male-bonding thing.

Pee-Wee's Playhouse

Paul Reubens is w