07/02/2008
News: Newsom's New Quest, Is Eating Ribs Presidential?, Boyfriends Will Be Boyfriends, It's A Rubyfruit Jungle Out There & More
Two-term San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom—famous for his support of legalizing gay marriage—launches an exploratory bid for California governor. He's expected to face opposition from a crowded field of fellow Democrats when Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger vacates in 2010.
Via Queerty: New Jersey Congressman Steve Rothman has changed his position on gay marriage—thanks to the advice of his lesbian stepdaughter. He's also joined the House Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Caucus.
A special court has upheld the Nepal Army's decision to expel a woman for being a lesbian.
Two women in Iceland will become the first same-sex couple to have their relationship "validated" in a church following new laws that took hold there on June 27. The laws do not define same-sex validations as "marriage." The official who will perform the service, Rev. Sigurdur Grétar Sigurdsson, says, "In my opinion it is a very appreciated development because many priests in the State Church have already organized ceremonies for many years where they pray for and bless gay coupes who have earlier had their cohabitation confirmed by state officials."
Buzzkill: About 600 Starbucks locations will close in the next year, 70% of which opened after 2006.
The NRA will be gunning for Barack Obama's chances this fall, spending $40 million dollars to paint him as a Second Amendment foe.
Clay Felker, New York Magazine founder and husband of Gail Sheehy, dies at 82 after battling throat cancer. Felker and co-founder Milton Glaser were forced out of their jobs in 1977 by Rupert Murdoch, leading to a staff walk-out. The magazine's most famous article, "Tribal Rites of the New Saturday Night," was the basis for Saturday Night Fever, and its "best" lists have made it a staple for actual and aspiring New Yorkers. Amazing quotes here.
Is Bush the best president ever...on AIDS issues? (Consider the source.)
Guess which presidential candidate is the more desirable barbecue guest, according to an AP poll?
T.R. Knight and boyfriend Mark Cornelsen spotted giving gay angst a bad name.
Heart-Breaking: Marriage does not do the trick for all of us, even those lucky enough to live in states where it's legal.
Interfaith Advocates for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender People in Rochester (New York) issues a doctrine for achieving Dr. King's "Beloved community" that includes banning hate crimes against transgendered people.
Rubyfruit Bar and Grill is joining Florent as a memory. The bar, named after Rita Mae Brown's Rubyfruit Jungle, is the victim of higher rent (it's up from $6,500 to $11,000 since 1994) and, perversely, the greater acceptance of gay people in the past decade. "Back then in 1994 there wasn’t this liberation yet for lesbian women, so it became a haven with private, intimate dinners, great wines, a place to hold hands and feel comfortable being out and having dinner Here we are in 2008, where they no longer need to have their own place. They can go anywhere and do whatever they want. It’s kind of a good thing, I guess," said Rubyfruit’s owner, Debra C. Fierro.
Posted 10:11 AM EST by Matthew Rettenmund in Gavin Newsom, Gay Marriage, Gay Marriage Quotes, Iceland, Military, Nepal, T.R. Knight | Permalink
Like it?
Subscribe to FREE Towleroad daily headlines with our RSS feed!
RECENT STORIES:
Comments
You can follow this conversation by subscribing to the comment feed for this post.
We live in Vermont, where we have a wonderful AIDS organization, VT CARES. In 2004 they declined $100,000 in federal funds because the "strings attached would have been too onerous," according to a press report. Specifically, the group said that accepting federal money would require it to "disclose potentially identifying information" of people who wanted anonymous HIV testing. Government regulations, it says, would also require it to provide abstinence-based education and to "question the effectiveness" of condoms for HIV prevention."
I think our "tax refund" from the famous Bush plan that year went to VT CARES.
Posted by: Kevinvt | Jul 2, 2008 3:53:58 PM
Furthermore, it was not Clinton who "created" the policy banning people with HIV from immigration. THAT policy was created in 1987 (NOT CLINTON!). It was enacted into law in 1993 by Congress (Not Clinton) but then signed by Clinton, because it was part of the important NIH reauthorization, not a separate policy.
Posted by: Kevinvt | Jul 2, 2008 4:07:07 PM
"19 year olds smell like zit medicine, cheap alcohol, and confusion."
Yes, JIMMY, but they get new hard-ons every half hour after cuming! You remember. I can buy them good liquor.
Posted by: Derrick from Philly | Jul 2, 2008 4:22:31 PM
I graduated from college when I was 19, and I had clear skin, fine taste in alcohol, and little confusion (maybe some depression). But would I have dated someone 10 years older than me, much less 40? No way. Finishing college is one thing, but a person who hasn't even held a real job is forever going to be under the thumb (financially, intellectually, or otherwise) of someone that much older than them.
And the same goes the other way: a much older man dating a much younger man will always have to be concerned about trying to keep up, in more ways than one. But more to the point---how much do they have in common, and what do they have to talk about? As I said, their points of reference would diverge enormously.
Even if not the stereotypical daddy-son relationship, it veers into professor-student or some other coupling on unequal footing. I don't understand why anyone would want that or how they could enjoy it. But if it works for some people, so be it. I'd rather grow and mature and share experiences with someone near the same station in life as myself. But I am not all people...
Alex, I didn't mean to sound like I was attacking you. I just think the world of difference between a 19 year old and 29 year old is not all that great in the context of a 40-year age gap.
Posted by: Paul R | Jul 2, 2008 5:17:26 PM
Michael Bedwell, don't be unfair. George's library will certainly also contain "My Pet Goat."
Posted by: Paul R | Jul 2, 2008 5:19:19 PM
LOL
Derrick
Posted by: Jimmyboyo | Jul 2, 2008 6:10:00 PM
The whole purpose of this article was for Benkof to promote his anti same-sex marriage crusade and trying to cast gay people in a bad light while misleading his readers in the first sentence into thinking that he is a gay activist.
He used to be a gay activist. He is now a frothing at the mouth anti-gay activist.
I'm really stunned that so many reputable publications are picking up and printing this chalatan's crap; especially considering all the times he's been caught misrepresenting, misquoting and outright lying to make his anti-gay points. He is cut for the same cloth as Cameron, LaBarbara, Perkins, Wildmon, Sheldon and the rest of the homophobic hee haw gang except Benkof is worse because he passes himself off as speaking on behalf of the gay community as a gay activist when in fact he has gone on record denouncing homosexuality and stating that he does not consider himself gay.
The man is a very conflicted and unhappy person trying desperately to deny his nature by attacking anything and everything pro-gay. He should be ignored when he tries to hijack comment threads but vociferously challenged when he gets his propaganda published in print or online.
Posted by: Zeke | Jul 2, 2008 11:12:44 PM