They just want a little meat without the Bible.

Chk-fil-A: Closed on Sundays and strongly anti-LGBT

Wow, Rick Santorum has just had a come to Jesus moment, and I mean the kind, loving Jesus of the Bible, not the uptight, angry dude so many conservatives are trying to pass off as the son of God these days.

One Friday February 17, after a taping of WKAR’s Off the Record, Rick Santorum was asked asked by reporter Kyle Melinn if gay or lesbian couples with children constitute a family. Santorum responded

Yes, of course it’s a family.

The question comes at 6:19. Mellin tried to follow up and Santorum declines, saying basically that he’s tired of being asked questions about the subject.

This gentle alt.rock ditty from Jonathan Mann incorporates a list of anti-gay public figures who have been outed by their own behavior and ties it together with a study which found that homophobic men harbor homosexual feelings.

Sir Elton John and his partner David Furnish have a adopted a baby, Zachary Jackson Levon Furnish-John, the couple told Us magazine exclusively. ZJLF-J was born via surrogate December 25. The couple’s bid to adopt a Ukranian baby was rejected last year.

Sit Elton and Furnish have been together since 1993 and were joined in a civil partnership December 21, 2005  the first day civil partnerships became legal in the United Kingdom. While the media has often referred to the UK unions as gay marriage, they are technically/semantically not marriage.*

The media is currently reporting that Sir Elton and his partner are “married,” and have used that language in the past.

During the 2008 Prop 8 election Sir Elton famously said:

I don’t want to be married. I’m very happy with a civil partnership. If gay people want to get married, or get together, they should have a civil partnership. The word “marriage,” I think, puts a lot of people off. You get the same equal rights that we do when we have a civil partnership. Heterosexual people get married. We can have civil partnerships.

At the time, Sir Elton seemed unclear in the difference between the U.S. and UK civil unions. His words were used by Yes on Proposition 8 as part of their anti-marriage campaign in California.

But since then Sir Elton appears more aware of lthe difference between the limited (states’) rights granted same-sex unions in the US — in which over 1,000 federal rights are denied to couples — and UK same-sex unions which accord couples equal rights across the board. Equal rights — both state and federal — are what the piece of paper should provide, here in this land where all were created equal.

And now in a show of support for marriage equality in California, Sir Elton is performing a fund raising concert January 19 to benefit the American Foundation for Equal Rights. AFER is The sole sponsor of the landmark federal case against Proposition 8, Perry v. Schwarzenegger (Teddy Partridge has been liveblogging the court cases including the anti-equal righters’ appeal for Firedoglake.com)

There’s a Facebook sweepstakes (entry is free) to win tickets to the Elton John AFER concert concert plus airfare and hotel, but I have poor impulse control and never win contests anyway — so full disclosure –I bought a ticket weeks ago. It’s a cause I support, and a once in a lifetime experience. OMG, Elton John! At a private home! I am soooo excited!

I hope AFER expands their efforts beyond California into other states and turns up the heat on repealing DOMA.

On Christmas Eve day, Vice President Joe Biden told ABC News that

I think the country is evolving. There is a inevitability for a national consensus on gay marriage

in America. Biden also said that President Obama’s attitude towards same-sex marriage is evolving. Well, this clergy-gal can dream (and prays daily) that she’ll be able to officiate at the marriages of her same-sex friends, and that those marriages will grant federal rights.

Sir Elton, thank you for supporting the effort for equal rights. And now that you’re a dad, I hope in addition to working for civil marriage equality, you’ll turn your attention to adoption laws in order to insure that LGBT adoption is legal in every state.

*UK Civil partnerships provide the legal consequences of marriage, including the the same property rights as married opposite-sex couples, the same exemption as married couples on inheritance tax, social security and pension benefits, and also the ability to get parental responsibility for a partner’s children. Civil partnership also incurs responsibility for reasonable maintenance of one’s partner and their children, tenancy rights, as well as granting full life insurance recognition, and next-of-kin rights in hospitals, and other rights. There is a formal process for dissolving partnerships akin to divorce.

photo: Kirill Nepomnyaschiy/GayRussia.ru Used with permission

Riot police cornered and beat the forty participants in the Slavic (LGBT) Pride March held in Minsk, Belarus, on Saturday, arresting a dozen marchers according to on-scene blog reports on UKGayNews.com (which has more photos, video and ongoing updates).

Minsk had its gay pride march.  For just 10 minutes, 40  Belarusians and Russians waived a 12 meters long rainbow flag for a short march of approximately 200 meters.  They were at first met by a large group of journalists, photographers and TV crew.  But when they reached the first crossing point, they were trapped by several vans of anti-riot police.  Suddenly, the doors of the vans opened and anti-riot officers ran towards the participants. “I never saw anything of the kind” said Nikolai Alekseev by mobile phone.  “They were brutal and violent” he added.  Another participant who did not want to be named said: “It was like a group of wild dogs”.  The march ended with most of the participants being arrested and violently beaten.  A few managed to escape but the police ran after them…

The participants who were not been arrested are still under shock.  One can feel that they are proud of what they did today, but you can also feel the stress in their voices after the violent police crack down they suffered.

After the arrests, German, Russian and French diplomats were contacted by parade organizers to intervene on behalf of those being held.

The eight of the twelve arrested for participating in an unauthorized march were released on their own reconnaissance and ordered to appear in court on Monday.  Eighteen skinheads were also arrested.

Saturday’s planned route was altered at the last minute after the parade was banned by the authorities who claimed that the parade was to “too close” to the metro.

Threats of violence hung over the event. Friday night’s opening ceremony which including the screening of the Canadian documentary Beyond Gays: The Politics of Pride was disrupted by anti-gay protesters and a bomb threat. The real time blog updates:

21:47: Qote from Pride organisers: ” The way the Crowne Plaza management is handking the situation is far above all we could ever have dreamed of.   Looks like they are more deternined than us that the show must go on!”

21:40: Bomb alert at Crown Plaza.  Film interrupted.   Police asked to stop the film and relocate to another room within the hotel. “So, we are having a break and relocating.”

21:05: Screening of film now started. Just over 100 braved the protestors to get into the hotel.

20:40: Police and riot police have cleared the entrance to the hotel and have cordoned it off.  Participants are entering, but protsters are standing by in front of the hotel.  The room is already full for the film. Alekseev said that the show will start at 9pm instead of 8pm and asked for the understanding for the delay.

20:05 : Minsk Crowne Plaza Hotel is under siege by a few dozen anti-gay protesters.  The hotel is hosting at 8pm local time the premiere of the Canadian documentary Beyond Gays: The Politics of Pride.   At 8pm, the show did not start and only 40 participants out of the 150 who confirmed their presence could make it into the hotel.

20:00 : The event is probably going to be cancelled. The access to the hotel is blocked.  Only a dozen or so participants could reach the hotel.  The police is expected in the premises.

19:55: Hotel is now under seige.  It is not possible to enter, and not possible to leave.

19:50: The premiere of the movie is scheduled in 10 minutes.  Despite organiers keeping the location secret, Radio Liberty Belarus published the location on its website two hours ago. [Activist] Sergey Androsenko reports that he has been informed by phone that protesters are on a tram, on their way to disrupt the event.

Earlier, Amnesty International sent a statement of support published by Belarusian News Agency BelaPAN. The story said

Belarusian authorities must show greater commitment to its obligations under human rights.

Constance McMillen has amended her complaint against the Itawamba County School District to include the “mean prom” held in Evergreen County. The complaint is supported by comments made on La Figa by a student from Constance’s high school after the photos of the “mean prom” surfaced here.

In her original complaint, a federal lawsuit, Constance sought monetary damages for infringement on her free-speech rights. The suit claimed that the Itawamba County School District infringed upon those rights by canceling its original prom on the school property rather than allowing her to attend with a same-sex date and to wear a tuxedo.

The “mean prom” adds a whole ‘nother layer of ugly and damages to the complaint.

Patsy R. Brumfield and Chris Kieffer from NEMS360 reported:

The amended complaint, filed today, also claims that the private prom to which McMillen was invited was “a sham” and that the school district helped plan a second private prom that McMillen was not invited to attend.

School district attorney Michele Floyd did not immediately respond to a call requesting comment about that allegation…

The amended complaint asks for compensatory damages to be determined by a trial for Constance’s “public humiliation and disparagement,” as well as mental health, medical and educational impact she’s felt.

Constance has asked to be transferred to a school outside the Itawamba County School District to complete her senior year. A letter requesting the transfer included as evidence in the amended complaint cites

the misplaced enmity among the student body and the community against Constance for “causing” at least one prom to be canceled.

The complaint posted up on NMissCommentor contains a quote from a student which was originally posted on La Figa by legbeg10, a student at Itawamba Agriculture High School. The complaint states in part:

The next morning, on March 30, 2010, Constance received multiple text messages from classmates that had been sent the night before accusing her of causing the Tupelo prom to be canceled. One such text message said, in words or substance, “Heard you got the other prom canceled. Good job.” Other texts said, in words or substance, “You don’t even deserve to go to our school,” and “Are you going to ruin graduation too?” Later that day, another classmate sent a text message that said, in words or substance, “I don’t know why you come to this school because no one likes your gay ass anyways.”…

In the following days, Constance heard rumors that at least one other prom was being organized for the same night as the Fulton Country Club prom. She unsuccessfully attempted to determine if she was invited to that other prom…

Constance and her date arrived at the Fulton Country Club at approximately 8:30 p.m. When they arrived, they faced a virtually empty room. Only seven other students were in attendance. Defendant Wiygul [the school principal] and several IAHS faculty members were also in attendance as chaperones. When Constance returned home later that evening, she broke down in tears.

In the following days, as the news about the Evergreen Prom surfaced, one classmate asserted in an internet posting that other students had organized the Evergreen Prom specifically to exclude Constance, stating: “We wanted a drama-free gathering to celebrate 3 great years and 1 lousy one together, and we wanted to lay low. We also wanted to do it without the main cause of the lousy.” The student explained that her classmates were unapologetic about excluding Constance, asserting: “So we did, and now we’re getting flack because poor Connie’s ego got a bit of bruising. She’s playing the lesbian card to prove she ALWAYS gets what she wants. This time, we didn’t just let her.”

(photo: kurafire)

Three faces of Pride will ride as Grand Marshals in this year’s New York City Pride March, June 27:

Judy Shepard, mother of hate-slain gay teen Matthew Shepard, co-founded with her husband Dennis the Matthew Shepard Foundation, which is dedicated to working toward the causes championed by Matthew during his life: social justice, diversity awareness and education, and equality for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people.

Lt. Dan Choi, West Point graduate and Iraq veteran fluent in Arabic, received a notice of  discharge from the United States Army for announcing “I am gay” on the Rachel Maddow show, a direct challenge to Don’t Ask Don’t Tell. (That discharge is still classified as “pending.”) A  tireless champion of equal rights, Lt. Choi was recently arrested for chaining himself to the White House fence during a demonstration for LGBT rights.

Constance McMillen, who wanted to wear a tuxedo and take her girlfriend to the prom at her Mississippi high school. When those rights were denied by the administration at Itawamba Agricultural High School, McMillen’s case was taken up by the ACLU, and a federal judge ruled that Constance’s rights were violated. While the school went ahead and organized a prom, the majority of her classmates attended a private “dance party” several miles away. Previously, Constance had stood up for the rights of trans classmate Juin Baize.