Towleroad Talking Points: Guns, Nipples and a Leather Bar

 

PHOTO OF THE DAY: Obama gets caught by Spiderman

BY SAM GREISMAN

A look back at today's top stories

POLITICS

Today, Time Magazine's Person of the Year Barack Obama continued to wage a war of words with a continually uncompromising John Boehner. 

Piers Morgan had the Director of the Gun Owners of America on his show last night and tore into his foolish pro-gun argument. In the light of what has happened in Newtown and the public outcry for stricter gun control, our Ari Waldman takes a look at the legal approach for dealing with the Second Amendment. 

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ENTERTAINMENT

Check out the trailer for James Franco's new film all about leather bars, based on William Friedkin's classic Cruising. Also the trailer for Pedro Almodovar's "I'm So Excited" is out and it features some very divalicious moments. 

Bradley Cooper stopped by Ellen to show off all five of his nipples. And Neil Patrick Harris shows us all about that time he was caught soliciting sex from puppets. 

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VIDEOS OF THE DAY

This is what happens when two bros are really into each other's physiques. And though this video has been proven to be fake, an eagle snatching a baby in a park is still pretty crazy looking. 

The Great Gatsby Trailer: VIDEO

Here's the new trailer for Baz Luhrmann's adaptation of The Great Gatsby.

Check it out, AFTER THE JUMP...

Federal Appeals Court Upholds Firing of University HR Administrator Who Said Gays 'Violate God's Divine Order'

Those of you who have been following this site for a while will remember Crystal Dixon. In 2008, I posted about the  then University of Toledo associate vice president of human resources, who was fired after writing an article in the Toledo Free Press in which she said gays "violate God's divine order," and later told reporters at her church that she had a divine mandate to write the column.

Said Dixon in the article, "As a Black woman ... I take great umbrage at the notion that those choosing the homosexual lifestyle are civil rights victims. I cannot wake up tomorrow and not be a Black woman. Daily thousands of homosexuals make a life decision to leave the gay lifestyle."

She concluded: "My final and most important point. There is a divine order. God created human kind male and female (Genesis 1:27). God created humans with an inalienable right to choose. There are consequences for each of our choices, including those who violate God's divine order."

Dixon sued. And now a federal appeals court has upheld her firing:

A federal appeals court has upheld the University of Toledo's decision to fire a high-level human-resources administrator who wrote a newspaper opinion column challenging the idea that gay people deserve the same civil-rights protections as members of racial minority groups.

In a ruling handed down on Monday, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit held that the administrator's column "contradicted the very policies she was charged with creating, promoting, and enforcing," and cannot be excused as merely a statement of her own views as a private citizen. The panel affirmed a lower court's decision to dismiss the administrator's lawsuit accusing the public university of violating her constitutional rights by firing her.

More here.

Chris Pratt Shows Conan the Body Work He Did for 'Zero Dark Thirty': VIDEO

Apparently one needs to get quite ripped to play a Navy Seal.

Watch Pratt talk to Conan about his role, AFTER THE JUMP...

Sex-Obsessed Ugandan Pastor Martin Ssempa Faces Off with Brave Trans Activist: VIDEO

Ugandan pastor Martin Ssempa (many of you will recall his "Eat Da Poo Poo"sermon) appeared on Ugandan television's Morning Breeze with trans activist Pepe Onziema and launched into a vitriolic rant about the various ways gays reportedly have sex (with bananas and other objects).

After being attacked by Ssempa, Onziema tells the moderator: "Society has not rejected me...It is the propaganda of the likes of Ssempa. My family loves me as I am."

Ssempa goes on to call Onziema a "hooligan" and attacks the host for allowing him to share the stage.

Watch, AFTER THE JUMP...

Video streaming by Ustream

Towleroad Guide to the Tube #1268

GREATER MEKONG: The WWF identifiesan enormous number of new species.

IN FIVE YEARS: Computers will have a sense of smell.

ROAD RAGE: Maybe the worst case I've ever seen.

MEANWHILE: Here's what happens when you throw boiling water out a window on a -41°С day.

For recent Guides to the Tube, click HERE.