Towleroad Guide to the Tube #267

LOU DOBBS: Ranting about Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's remarks that America still has race issues, Lou Dobbs nearly calls her a "cotton picker". Dobbs: "Not a single one of these cotton...these just ridiculous politicians should be the moderator on the issue of race."

COUGAR CAMP: Camp is in session.

LUKE AND NOAH: Van Hansis interviews Jake Silbermann.

MCCAIN GIRL: Remember "It's Raining McCain"? Well, one of the weather girls isn't too happy about some of the comments left by viewers. (warning: language NSFW)

Check out our previous guides to the Tube here.

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News: Johnny Depp, Eureka Springs, Clark Gable, Bounty Killer

BOOK: Clark Gable was gay for pay. "David Bret’s angle on Clark Gable is this: Gable was 'gay for pay' and 'rough trade,' and he enjoyed having sex 'for bucks.' In addition, he 'would sometimes scrub his penis until it bled' and used a device to prolong erections. If these tidbits from the book’s first few pages aren’t too much information for you, you’re in luck. This breathtakingly trashy biography does not skimp on sordid anecdotes."

Johnny Depp the new, uh, face of Trojan condoms?

Gawker goes to the NYC Black Party.

T.R. Knight steps out with boyfriend Mark Cornelsen: We all have AIDS.

Survey shows increased support for gay marriage in Ireland: "Eighty-four per cent of respondents to an opinion poll conducted this month by Lansdowne Market Research said they supported civil marriage or civil partnerships for gay and lesbian couples. This is the same figure as a similar survey carried out in November 2006. However, 58% said gay and lesbian couples should be allowed to marry in registry offices, compared to 51% in the previous survey."

Did Heath Ledger father a love child?

Could Al Gore be brought in for clean-up duty at the convention? "Let’s say the elders of the Democratic Party decide, when the primaries end, that neither Obama nor Clinton is viable. Let’s also assume — and this may be a real stretch — that such elders are strong and smart enough to act. All they’d have to do would be to convince a significant fraction of their superdelegate friends, maybe fewer than 100, to announce that they were taking a pass on the first ballot at the Denver convention, which would deny the 2,025 votes necessary to Obama or Clinton. What if they then approached Gore and asked him to be the nominee, for the good of the party — and suggested that he take Obama as his running mate? Of course, Obama would have to be a party to the deal and bring his 1,900 or so delegates along."

Madonna on the paparazzi: "The paparazzi are out of control. I haven't been to Los Angeles in quite a while, and I don’t watch television here or in England, and I was told there's now a television show where the paparazzi are the stars of the show—is that true? That they film each other doing paparazzi jobs? Which gives them more fuel. I usually found that type kept their distance—they definitely do in England, because it's illegal to photograph children. But that's not how it is here. They get this close, and don't care how much they scare your children. Being famous has changed a lot, because now there's so many outlets, between magazines, TV shows, and the Internet, for people to stalk and follow you. We created the monster."

Gay couple faces harsh realities in move from New Jersey to Idaho.

Is Regent Entertainment circling gay publications Out and The Advocate?

HIV-positive Canadian Martin Rooney takes on U.S. travel ban: "I said I was on disability. He said what's my disability. I said I have HIV. He hauled me into a backroom. ... He put on a set of rubber gloves to hold each of my fingers. Nobody else wore rubber gloves. Then he fingerprinted me, photographed me, ran me through the FBI's most-wanted list and told me to go back to Canada and not return until I came back with a waiver. I felt like I was being treated like a terrorist."

Arkansas gays converge on Eureka Springs for 'Diversity Weekend': "Homosexual and transsexual residents say that living in Northwest Arkansas has its benefits, such as the small-town atmosphere, natural beauty, and amenities such as shopping and restaurants. But many lament the limited social venues and a lack of connectivity within their own community. 'There is a fairly large population of people that are gay, lesbian or bisexual, but there is no community,' said Fayetteville resident J. Judd Harbin."

Ricky Martin battles human trafficking in Cambodia

Human rights groups halt concerts by 'murder music' singer Bounty Killer: "In Germany, Bounty Killer's performance in Essen was cancelled and other German concert dates are now in doubt as gay human rights groups are coordinating a Europe-wide campaign to halt his 'Deadly Alliance' tour of the Netherlands, France, Belgium, Italy and Switzerland."

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Gay Wedding Couple Broadcast on Polish TV Travels to Warsaw

Brendan Fay and Tom Moulton, the couple whose wedding images were used in a nationally broadcast address by Polish President Lech Kaczynski without their permission, made a trip to Poland over the weekend to open a dialogue with Polish legislators and spread a message of tolerance. Kaczynski had used the couple's video to warn the nation that supporting the Lisbon Treaty, which is linked to the EU Charter of Human Rights, would mean that same-sex marriage could come to Poland.

Polskie Radio reports:

"After a meeting with left wing politician Ryszard Kalisz (below), head of the parliamentary committee on human rights in Poland, Brendan Fay and Tom Moulton , the two gays whose wedding images were used in a TV address by President Lech Kaczynski last week, have given a press conference in Warsaw. Asked why they came to Warsaw – a trip paid for by the private TVN TV station - the Irishman resident in New York, Brendan Fay, told journalists: 'The [President’s] TV address misused our wedding images, which were used in such a way as to cause fear and intolerance. Our civil marriage was a day of beauty and joy and should not be used to promote intolerance...On March 18, when we first heard about this from a reporter from Radio Zet, my response was to write a letter and deliver it to the Consulate General in New York. The Consulate General has been kind and cordial in his dealing with us. And that was only the beginning [of the cordiality and kindness of the Polish people] which has continued till today. We would simply like to say that we are very happy to be hear and have felt welcomed since we have arrived.'"

Said Moulton: "And I want to reiterate that we feel comforted by the Polish people who feel badly how our images have been used. We come here in the hope of opening a dialogue with a community that may have not had much voice and that will make Poland a better place. The issue here is about equality."

Fay and Moulton also wrote a letter to President Kaczynski asking for a meeting.

Previously
Polish President Broadcasts U.S. Gay Couple's Wedding Video to Bash EU Charter of Rights [tr]

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Christopher Rice on Death Threats and His New Thriller Blind Fall

I'm proud to bring you our very first edition of Towleroad TV! This is a special feature we'll be presenting from time to time featuring various personalities and topics.

In the first edition, put together by our correspondents Josh Koll and Josh Helmin, Christopher Rice talks about his new thriller Blind Fall, as well as how he researched the novel and early reactions to it, some of which came in the form of death threats.

Says Rice: "Blind Fall is a thriller. It addresses the issue of gays in the military. It does kind of show you the sacrifices that gay Marines have to make to be Marines. And so that's the political component of the book...I did a YouTube video where I basically talked about...my disdain for the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy which is currently in effect in our nation's military. And so the video went up and maybe within a day there was a storm of comments calling basically for my death — that I disgraced the Marine Corps, that I should be shot between the eyes, everyone like me should be shot between the eyes — and I thought maybe I was overreacting, so I emailed a very good friend of mine who's sort of a gay activist with a long history of working in the community, and I said 'Are these death threats?' And he said 'mmm-hmmm. Yeah. They are.'"

Blind Fall [amazon]

Josh Koll and Josh Helmin write their own blog, Josh & Josh are Rich and Famous.

And the YouTube video to which Rice refers in our segment, AFTER THE JUMP...

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Wax Beckhams Open Kissing Booth at DC's Cherry Blossom Festival

As part of a promotion for the 2008 Cherry Blossom Soccer Tournament, wax versions of David and Victoria Beckham opened a 'kissing booth' near the Mall in DC.

The last time the stiff couple made a headlining appearance was in December 2004 in a celebrity nativity scene. At that appearance, an attacker punched the figures, damaging them, and then fled. It appears they've recovered quite well from their injuries, but they are looking just as stiff.

More photos at Popbytes.

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Million Fag March Targets Fred Phelps' Westboro Baptist Church

Well, their numbers didn't reach a million, but approximately 400 people gathered Sunday in Topeka's Gage Park, near Fred Phelps' Westboro Baptist Church for the 'Million Fag March' I posted about in February. The march was a symbolic demonstration against the WBC, who have for years targeted public gatherings, and more recently, military funerals, with their "God Hates Fags" message.

KSN reports: "People of all ages, races, and sexual orientation were present. The group of more than four hundred people marched throughout Gage Park, but were not allowed to cross any streets without a parade permit. The organizer of the march, Chris Love says he wants to show the Westboro Baptist Church there is an opposing voice equally as powerful. Other marchers feel the same. 'We don't agree with him talking about hatred and how God hates this god hates that,' marcher Angi Boetta said. 'We're just here to show him who we are and we're not going away no matter what you say or do.'...'All the haters and stuff they need to know that its not all about that, its about positivity and we're trying to create a positive influence towards gay people,' marcher Joshua Burch said. The Westboro Baptist Church is known for picketing the funerals of U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq, and says their deaths are God's way of disapproving of homosexuality in America."

In February, Love told Towleroad: "In reality, we know nothing is going to change the Phelps or the Westboro Church. We know they'll continue doing what they are doing. In fact, they'll probably love any press we get for them. The point here is that up until now, there hasn't been a highly-publicized event in which someone made an active protest against the WBC (in other words, where the protest wasn't simply a defensive reaction at the site of a WBC protest... mainly funerals). At most, we're hoping that the WBC hears the message and realizes that there is an opposing voice that is equally as powerful as their own (or at least, the powerful as they perceive it to be). At the least, we hope to hold an event that will bring both homesexual and heterosexual people together for a united cause for one day. And in Kansas, no less."

Westboro Baptist responded to the march on Saturday on its blog: "This little event is a new milestone for the fags and their enablers of this generation. They must do this - heretofore, they have hidden in the dens and rocks and scampered out under cover of darkness to work their mischief - vandalism, theft, etc. They have even had a small protest here and there - just a couple. They NEED to do this - they MUST get their resolve stiffened and they MUST encourage this generation to see that this is a good path for them to take - it will certainly result in making the Word of God disappear from off the land and that means - MAKE US SHUT UP. So - hold onto your hat and stay tuned! We will shortly see the face of this event and what the Lord will do in response! The Lord is coming and america is DOOMED!! Things are getting into place and the very earth is preparing for that awesome and fiery event!! The dummies call it global warming!"

View local news coverage, AFTER THE JUMP...

Million Fag March [official site]
CJVideo: Million Fag March - VIDEO [topeka capital-journal]
March For Love Targets Westboro Baptist Church [myfoxkc]
Hundreds protest Fred Phelps and his church [ksn]
Marching in Protest [27 news]
Hundreds protest peacefully against Westboro Baptist Church [ktka]

Clips via Good As You.

Previously
'Million Fag March' to Target Westboro Baptist Church [tr]

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