Gay Atlantis Passengers Arrested in Dominica Speak Out About 'Inhumane' Treatment: VIDEO

Retired police officer Dennis Jay Mayer and his partner, John Robert Hart, the gay couple arrested on the Atlantis Cruise ship in Dominica are speaking out about their experience, KTLA reports.

"I'm not going to implicate myself one way or another, but we were charged with being naked on the balcony," he said.

A photo shows Mayer and Hart, under police escort, being led from court to go to a bank to withdraw money for their fine, as a crowd of residents watched. "I've never seen something like this," Mayer said. "I've never seen people chanting and protesting in the street. It was amazing."

Mayer and Hart have been together 17 years, and told the station "We weren't trying to put on a show for people." Mayer says the judge called them "rogues and vagabonds and authorities wanted to have them medically evacuated to determine whether or not they had engaged in anal sex.

The charge of "buggery" (sodomy) was dropped. Mayer and Hart say they were taunted all night long in a jail cell with no light, no water, and no toilet.

Watch, AFTER THE JUMP...

Towleroad Guide to the Tube #1090

SOLAR STORMS: A NASA sciencecast on their surprising power.

THE HOST: Up next from the creator of Twilight.

SYNCHRONIZED SWIMMING: TIME reporter Sean Gregory joins the U.S. women’s Olympic synchronized swimming team for a story.

SIBERIA: Unidentified object falls out of the sky.

For recent Guides to the Tube, click HERE.

News: Hunger Games, Kim Kardashian, Malaysia, Whitney Houston

Davidson, North Carolina to hold Saturday rally opposing Amendment One.

GLAAD Commentator Accountability Project indexing high in Google to anti-gays' chagrin.

For Hunger Games fans, a map of Panem.

Kim Kardashian covered in flour.

Michigan Native American tribe considering marriage equality: "Most of the about 4,000 people in the tribe live in Michigan's northern Lower Peninsula. If the measure is approved, at least one of partner would have to be a member of the tribe. The idea was initially encouraged by two tribal citizens in a letter to the tribal council urging consideration of an amendment."

Whitney's death: accidental drowning, chronic cocaine use.

Game Show Network plans "Bible Challenge" starring Jeff Foxworthy.

Malaysian politician Datuk Baharum Mohamad calls for "government to establish a homosexual rehabilitation centre to prevent same-sex relationships from getting rampant in the country."

UK petition calls for Alan Turing to be on the next £10 note.

VIDEO: Lana Del Rey performs "Video Games" on American Idol.

Student at Miami of Ohio files complaint after the university denies him chance to be a residential assistant in an all-male dorm because he is transgender: "Kaeden Kass, who was born a female but identifies as a male, told WLWT-TV that instead, the university offered him the same position — in the all-female dorm."

Mel Wymore, candidate for New York City Council: “I’m not running because I’m transgender, [But, he said, that] doesn’t mean that being transgender doesn’t bring a certain perspective.”

Nepal to unveil first 'gender neutral' public toilet. Sunil Pant: "I decided to use part of my Parliamentary Development Fund to build the toilet that is 'for all', not just for men and women. Toilets and places for praying are simultaneously private and public place, but for those people who don’t identify as male or female, accessing these places might mean that they have to reveal an intimately private aspect of their lives to strangers and authorities and still can be denied access. This can cause huge amount of stress for “third-genders and/or others” as these places has been build exclusively only for male and female these days in this modern world."

Justin Bieber explains how he's a mogul on Ellen.

Joel McHale strips down on Community.

Beth Ditto gets ready to make a joyful noise.

An attack in New Orleans French Quarter may become hate crime case: "NOPD officers arrested 23 year old Jeffrey Lee Sunday night, charging him with simple battery for allegedly beating up a gay couple, for no apparent reason. Now, the NOPD say the Orleans Parish District Attorney is reviewing the case, to see if the battery charge against Lee can be bumped up to a hate crime."

College men walk a mile in high heels.

Oklahoma methods sign pledge of support for same-sex marriage: "Retired Oklahoma City minister Jim Gragg is collecting signatures and says 62 clergy and 203 members have signed the statement. The Oklahoma United Methodist Conference says there about 300,000 Methodists in the state."

New York state Senator Ruben Diaz claims marriage equality has backfired on the Democratic party: “Starting with the defeat of David Weprin by Bob Turner for the Congressional seat vacated by Anthony Weiner, and most recently with the embarrassing defeat of Lew Fidler by David Storobin for the Senate seat vacated by Carl Kruger, the Democratic Party lost...You can spin this any which way you want, but the fact of the matter remains that gay marriage has played a major role in the outcome of each of these elections."

Author of St. Petersburg's Anti-Gay Law Will Attend Madonna Concert, Prosecute If Necessary

The man behind St. Petersburg, Russia's gay "propaganda" bill is threatening Madonna over her plans to speak out against the law when she comes to the city for a concert, ABC News reports.

The bill’s author, city assemblyman Vitaly Milanov, says he wants Madonna charged under the new law if she speaks out against it during her concert. He said he was willing to attend the show “to control its moral content.”

“I’m ready to personally suffer a couple of hours of her concert,” he told the Russian Interfax news agency.

LGBT rights activists in Russia are divided on Madonna's proposal:

A group of Russian gay rights advocates plans to picket the concert, saying Madonna is cashing in on their struggle and urging her to cancel the show. “The law will stay in force, Madonna will leave and the Russian LGBT-community will be humiliated even more,” Nikolai Aleksev, the head of the LGBT advocacy group Gay Russia, wrote on his blog.

Other Russian gay rights groups disagreed with that tactic and welcomed the attention the superstar had given to their cause.“We consider that Madonna’s visit and her address to millions of her Russian fans with words in support of freedom of expression for everyone will bring more good than a boycott would,” said Igor Kochetkov, chairman of the Russian LGBT Network.

As Santorum Shoots Target, Woman Yells 'Pretend It's Obama': VIDEO

Rick Santorum was campaigning at a gun range in Monroe, Louisiana today. As he fired a .45 caliber semi-automatic Colt pistol at a silhouette target, a woman shouted out, "pretend it's Obama."

The Secret Service is investigating. The AP reports: "Santorum was wearing protective ear muffs. He said later that he didn't hear the remark but denounced it as 'absurd.'"

Watch the video (the remark comes at about :36), AFTER THE JUMP...

Anti-Gay NC Blogger Quits Over Racist, Homophobic Obama Image

Tara Servatius, the blogger behind the racist, homophobic image used for a post blasting the Obama campaign's opposition to North Carolina's Amendment One that would ban same-sex marriage, has resigned from the John Locke Foundation, the conservative N.C. think tank which published her post, the Charlotte, Observer reports:

On Thursday, Servatius told the Observer in a statement that she didn’t mean to offend with her portrayal of Obama, and that she considers fried chicken not a racial stereotype but a symbol of Southern cuisine.

“I was searching for a picture of the president in drag to illustrate his Southern political strategy of courting young voters, a majority of whom support gay marriage,” Servatius said. “Regrettably, I didn’t think about the racial implications of the picture when I posted it. I simply don’t think in those terms. Unfortunately some people do. To me, fried chicken is simply a Southern cuisine. So the picture seemed perfect to illustrate Obama’s Southern strategy.”

But others found her decision to use the image out-of-bounds – and cause for dismissal if she hadn’t taken the hint and resigned first.

John Hood, president of the John Locke Foundation, which publishes “Meck Deck” on its Charlotte site, called the illustration “utterly inappropriate.” He also assured one Facebook friend that Servatius “is no longer a contributor to our site … I would have made that decision for her, but she beat me to the punch by ending her role.”

Previously...
NC Group Posts Racist Obama Picture in Gay Marriage Criticism [tlrd]