Watch An Interview With Student Booted From Pageant For Gay Marriage Support: VIDEO

Andy yesterday passed along word about a California student kicked out of a high school competition for saying he hopes gay marriage will be legalized within a decade.

A local CW affiliate snagged an interview with the student, Kearian Gertz, which you can watch AFTER THE JUMP.

Comic Book Tackles Closeted Gay Hero's Drama

 

Comic book company Boom! Studios yesterday released the second installment of Supurbia, a limited series about a super-hero team and their significant others.

One of the team members, Night Fox, has been keeping a bit of a secret from his manager and wife: he's sleeping with his sidekick, Agent Twilight.

Wifey is less than pleased, to say the least, and threatens to expose him. Night Fox isn't so much worried about being outed as he is about what it will do to his lucrative brand -- and how his team leader, vaguely homophobic hero Sovereign, will react.

Though LGBT characters are becoming more common in comic books, it's rare to see a title explore the ins and outs of a hero trying to reconcile his private life with a public career based on super-powered celebrity. If you have a chance, I definitely suggest you check out Supurbia.

It's only running for four issues, so there's no huge time commitment for those of you looking for NSA.

Update: I've just learned that Supurbia has been turned into an ongoing series. Sorry, NSAers! You'll just have to stick around.

NOM Threatens HRC With Federal Investigation Over Leaked Tax Returns

The National Organization for Marriage claims either Human Rights Campaign or an IRS official broke the law by releasing and disseminating the hateful group's 2008 tax returns listing their major donors, including Mitt Romney. Now NOM president Brian Brown is floating the threat of a federal investigation.

"The National Organization for Marriage (NOM), today demanded a federal investigation of the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to determine who was responsible for releasing NOM's confidential federal tax return information to the Huffington Post," the group wrote on their blog.

Brown, that perpetual victim, included his personal take:

It appears that someone with either the IRS or the HRC may have committed a federal crime by illegally obtaining and then releasing a confidential tax return of the National Organization for Marriage.

It's clear that the tax return was stolen, either from NOM or from the government. The Huffington Post article says that HRC claimed they received the document from a ‘whistleblower.' But the term ‘whistleblower' is completely inapt. We're talking about a criminal who has stolen confidential tax return information. We demand to know who this criminal is, whether they work for the HRC or the IRS, and how they obtained confidential tax information filed only with the US government."

I would like to know what the HRC knew and when did they know it. It certainly appears that either the HRC was involved in illegally obtaining this tax return themselves, or they worked with a criminal who stole it from NOM or the IRS. Either way, it appears that a federal crime may have been committed.

So, he's basically calling for an investigation to reveal an anonymous source? I know NOM doesn't respect whistleblowers, but c'mon! But way to try to distract people from that whole race-baiting strategy of yours...

Cops Found Gay Porn And Guns In Former Sheriff Pat Sullivan's Home After Arrest

Former Arapahoe County Sheriff and conservative Republican Pat Sullivan was sentenced to 30 days in jail and two year probation for his meth-for-sex arrest last year.

In detailing the case against the Denver resident, CBS News reports that police found a whole arsenal, some good and some bad, in his apartment:

Evidence forms obtained by CBS4 show that investigators, who were given consent to search Sullivan's home, recovered "49 various pornography DVDs ... Misc gay male porn magazines and DVDs ... envelope with condoms ... three Arapahoe County Deputy Sheriff badges ... "

Additionally, from Sullivan's garage and bedroom, they recovered a 12-gauge shotgun, a Winchester .22 caliber rifle and a 16 gauge shotgun.

Sullivan was arrested after offering an informant drugs in exchange for sex. Also during the sting, he broke out a portable DVD player, put on some gay porn and said, "This is ... what I think you'll enjoy; real young guys."

AFTER THE JUMP, a recap of Sullivan's arrest.

ACT UP Announces 25th Anniversary Occupy Wall Street March

Celebrating its 25th year of rabble-rousing, ACT UP announced today that on April 25th they and their allies will take to the streets to raise awareness for HIV/AIDS issues as well as to lend a hand to the ongoing Occupy Wall Street movement.

From their press release, via Joe.My.God:

To commemorate its 25th anniversary, the AIDS activist group ACT UP will return to its roots and stage a massive demonstration and march on Wall Street — on Wednesday, April 25 — starting at 11 am at City Hall and ending on Wall Street. Hundreds of protestors are expected to converge for a daylong siege in Lower Manhattan.

ACT UP (The AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power) will be joined by Occupy Wall Street (OWS), the organization making history this year and last with its public encampments and series of protests against the global financial community. The groups are joining forces to pump up the volume on a growing nationwide outcry for a "Financial Speculation Tax" (Fi.S.T.) on Wall Street.

The groups are calling on local, state, and federal legislators to "give Wall Street the FiST," which is needed to fill AIDS funding gaps and — once and for all — provide universal healthcare in the US. It’s time for effective healthcare to be made available to everyone — to the 99%, not just the 1%.

Watch a video about so-called Robin Hood taxes and how they could help fight HIV/AIDS, AFTER THE JUMP...

Starbucks Stock Rises After Anti-Gay NOM Boycott

Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz said last week the coffee giant hasn't seen any diminished sales since anti-gay group National Organization for Marriage launched a flailing boycott over the company's LGBT and equality-inclusive policies. Their stock clearly hasn't suffered, either.

Via Good As You, here's an image of Starbucks' stock since the boycott began on March 21.