Minnesota Church Closes Over Gay Rights Row

The Grace Community United Church of Christ in St. Paul, MN, is confirmed rumors that it's looking for new digs after a majority of the congregation left over the pastor's support for equality.

From the Star-Tribune:

A St. Paul church faced with closing after most of the congregation left over the pastor's support of gay marriage said Friday it's leaving its worship space and will look for a new church home.

Grace Community United Church of Christ, the only UCC church in Minnesota with a predominantly black congregation, declined to extend its Saturday deadline to raise about $200,000 to pay off a high-interest loan and legal fees, said church pastor the Rev. Oliver White (pictured).

After days of tense negotiating this week between the church and the investor holding the loan, Grace leadership decided it did not want to keep paying to stay in the beige stucco building on the east side of St. Paul.

Rev. White says that he has received about $55,000 in donations and hopes to buy a new church that will welcome all people. He also says that this experience, though trying, only reinvigorated his faith.

"I'm overwhelmed with a lot of belief in the power of humankind," he told the paper. "It's been an amazing display of human kindness. There will be sadness [when the congregation leaves]. But it's still a building. We are the church. We don't have to be in that building to be Grace Community Church."

GOP-Led House Group Asks Supreme Court To Review DOMA Ruling

As expected, Rep. John Boehner and his fellow Republicans on the GOP-controlled House Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group petitioned the Supreme Court today to rule on a First Circuit Court's decision that the Defense of Marriage Act violates the Constitution.

Chris Geidner from Metro Weekly reports:

In a filing obtained by Metro Weekly, BLAG asks the Supreme Court, which must agree to consider the case, to take the appeal for three reasons: (1) the constitutionality of DOMA Section 3 is "an issue of great national importance" and raises separation-of-powers questions; (2) the First Circuit decision conflicts with the Supreme Court's 1972 decision in Baker v. Nelson and other appellate decisions; and (3) the First Circuit "invented a new standard of equal protection review."

In the course of the filing, called a petition for a writ of certiorari, BLAG states that "[t]he executive branch has ... abdicated its traditional role of defending the constitutionality of duly-enacted statutes."

Boehner's fellow Republicans, Majority Leader Eric Cantor and Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy sided with the House Speaker. The group's two Democrats, Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Minority Whip Steny Hoyer, voted against petitioning the court, which must now decide whether or not to hear the case.

Speaking about the filing, Pelosi blasted Boehner and other Republicans, saying, "Democrats have rejected the Republican assault on equal rights, in the courts and in Congress. We believe there is no federal interest in denying LGBT couples the same rights and responsibilities afforded to all couples married under state law. And we are confident that the Supreme Court, if it considers the case, will declare DOMA unconstitutional and relegate it to the dustbin of history once and for all."

Liberty Counsel Radio Host Calls ENDA 'Insanity:' VIDEO

Insanity and its variations are the buzz words for right wingers today. First we had Mike Heath calling marriage equality "monstrous insanity," and now we have Steve Crampton, host of conservative group Liberty Counsel's radio show "Faith and Freedom," describing the Employment Non-Discrimination Act as "insanity."

As RightWingWatch reports, Crampton was discussing the Pentagon's decision to forbid the publication of Bibles that bear any service seal and then he veered into a Senate hearing about ENDA during which Kylar Broadus became the first openly transgender person to testify before Congress.

Apparently the concept of gender identity and the inclusive impact of ENDA are too much for Crampton to understand, so he just calls the whole thing "insanity."

Watch video of Crampton's discriminatory confusion AFTER THE JUMP...

Fred Karger Officially Ends 2012 Presidential Run: 'It's Been One Hell Of A Ride'

Fred Karger, the Republican presidential candidate who ran to show his peers that there are gay Republicans who care about the party's future, officially ended his campaign today. Karger's statement:

After 2 ½ years of campaigning as a candidate for President of the United States I am officially ending my historic campaign today June 29, 2012. It’s been one hell of a ride, and I want to thank the thousands of people across this country who volunteered, contributed, opened their homes, came to our events and cheered me on. Special thanks to the thousands more who shared their stories with me in person, via email, facebook, twitter, etc.

Every one of you kept me going. It’s been the experience of a lifetime. I’ve made many new friends and undoubtedly picked up a few more detractors. I hope and trust that my discussion of the key issues helped to open dialog on fixing the economy, balancing the federal budget, creating jobs, education reform, the environment, immigration reform, ending the Iraq and Afghanistan wars and fighting for full equality for all lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Americans.

Karger will no doubt use his new prominence to advocate other issues close to his heart, like combating homophobia within the Mormon Church.

Towleroad Guide To The Tube #1156

JERK: Canadian hockey coach trips 13-year old.

ATTACK ATTACK: Mitt Romney uses Hillary Clinton against Barack Obama.

IRON FISTS: Trailer for RZA and Eli Roth's forthcoming martial arts flick.

CERN ART: Time-lapse video shows making of mural inspired by hypothetical Higgs boson particle.

For recent Guides to the Tube, click HERE.

News: Adele, Plea Deal, Hangover Cure, 'Husbands'

The Good Stuff diner in Chelsea apparently has an AstroGlide dispenser. Does this make it more or less appetizing?

The Republican Party reportedly brought in $4.2 million after the Supreme Court health care ruling.

Gay gamers will be out in full force during Toronto's gay pride parade this weekend to fight what they say is an increasingly anti-gay video game community: "As the audience for games grows wider, there’s a hostile and deeply conservative reaction to it opening up."

A Gallup poll finds the nation split on the Supreme Court's health care ruling.

In honor of Magic Mike, a collection of male stripper clips. (Some of the videos, as you can imagine, are not so friendly for work.)

Congratulations to Adele and boyfriend Steve Konecki, who are expecting their first child. "I’m delighted to announce that Simon and I are expecting our first child together," Adele wrote on her website the 24-year-old singer wrote on her official website. "I wanted you to hear the news direct from me, obviously we’re over the moon and very excited but please respect our privacy at this precious time."

Speaking of Adele, here's "Rolling in the Deep," doggie style.

This is incredible: color blind artist Neil Harbisson uses a prosthetic eyepiece to convert hues into sound. "This gadget detects the light’s hue, and converts the light into a sound frequency that I can hear as a note [wavelength is inversely proportional to frequency so it can easily convert the wavelength of the light into a sound frequency]," he said. "It also translates the saturation of the colour into volume. So if it’s a vivid red I will hear it more loudly."

Lauryn Hill appeared in court today to fight her tax evasion charges. Apparently the singer is not aware that simply disagreeing with government policy is not a valid reason to not pay said government.

How to cure a hangover - with science!

As Pentagon celebrates pride, a gay soldier tells his tale.

DC prosecutors are preparing a plea deal for the three people accused of stabbing a 16-year old during a hate crime this week.

30 Rock actor Alec Baldwin went off on another photog today. Those pictures will make photogs a mint, no doubt.

Illinois State Rep. Greg Harris discusses the prospects of passing marriage equality there.

This is a stain on our United States: 1,000,000 school-aged children were homeless during the 2010-2011 school year.

Good news! Gay web series Husbands will have a second season.

Jamal Brown, 26, discusses how racism stopped him from coming out to his mother.

Tea Party Republican Congressman and all around wingnut Allen West says that Nancy Pelosi is "delusional" for supporting President Obama's health care law.