Towleroad Talking Points: Reese, Wahls and a Bumbling Anchor

BY SAM GREISMAN

A look back at today's top stories

GAY ISSUES

Zach Wahls appeared on CNN over the weekend to discuss the possibility that Boy Scouts will end a part of their gay ban and completely burned a leader of a homophobic scouting group when he tried to claim that the Boy Scouts would be happy to admit gays if they weren't "loud and proud." In an elegant piece of testimony in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Former Republican Congressman Jim Kolbe advocated for LGBT immigration reform for he and his "future husband". And in Singapore a gay couple who have been together for 15 years are challenging the country's law against homosexuality. 

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ENTERTAINMENT

I don't think anyone would have put Reese Witherspoon on a list of even the next 100 celebrities to be arrested but strangely enough she and her agent husband were both arrested in Atlanta over the weekend. She also reportedly used the cringe-worthy words "do you know my name?" Attention-seeking windbag Bret Easton Ellis was apparently banned from the GLAAD awards. I can't imagine why. Roland Emmerich, best known for directing Independence Day, has told Empire Online that he has a film about the Stonewall riots in the offing. 

Pharrell performed a version of Daft Punk's already record-breaking new song "Get Lucky" at an event in NYC over the weekend. Glee's Darren Criss was on-hand at the GLAAD awards on Saturday and performed a gay-rights themed version of "Call Me Maybe". Here is your first look at Cheyenne Jackson's new gig on the very promising Onion News Empire. Also kd lang is now a member of the Canadian Music Hall of Fame and wants us all to let our freak flags fly. 

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WINGNUTTERY

The wave of anti-gay related violence in France continues, this time in Nice where a gay man was reportedly beaten unconscious. This might be the most visual example of how the FRC distorts facts and fittingly NOM leader Jennifer Roback-Morse wears earplugs while she spouts her hate. 

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VIDEOS OF THE DAY

This has to go down as the worst first day ever. Watch as anchor AJ Clemente distracts viewers from how ramshackle the local NBC news in North Dakota is by opening the broadcast with a "gay...f**king....sh*t" bomb. Also a gay filmmaker shows that the gays are great for the Boy Scouts. 

Gay Former Rep. Jim Kolbe Urges Senate Panel to Adopt LGBT-Inclusive Immigration Reform: VIDEO

Earlier today I reported that gay former Rep. Jim Kolbe (R-AZ) had testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee, urging the 'Gang of Eight' to adopt LGBT-inclusive immigration reform.

Kolbe cited his partner Alfonso in his testimony:

On May 18th—just a month from now—Hector and I will legally marry here in the District of Columbia, surrounded by family and friends. We are immensely fortunate that Hector has now secured an investment visa that allows him to remain here with me. Many other couples, however, are not as fortunate. Even if they, like us, have a marriage, civil union or life-long commitment to each other, their ability to secure a permanent solution that would allow them to build a home, family or business together is elusive and difficult to realize. It shouldn’t be that way, and this Committee has an opportunity to fix this problem.

Watch, AFTER THE JUMP...

Kolbe is one of 20 witnesses to testify before the Senate panel and the only one whose sole aim is in the service of gay binational couples. This year, Kolbe signed the Republican SCOTUS brief opposing DOMA. In 1996, he was outed by The Advocate for having voted in favor of it.

Zach Wahls Destroys Anti-Gay Activist in Boy Scout Debate on CNN: VIDEO

CNN's Don Lemon covered the Boy Scouts' gay ban in a segment Sunday in which two Eagle Scouts appeared: Scouts for Equality's Zach Wahls and John Stemberger, an anti-gay activist with the Florida Family Policy Council who started an organization for homophobes opposed to gays in the BSA called On My Honor.

Stemberger said that opening the Boys Scouts to gay people will destroy it and there is not way that the Catholics, the LDS, or the Baptists will allow it. He also tried to argue that the Boy Scouts are actually fine with gays in their organization, and there's not a "witch hunt" against those that are in it because they are "appropriate, discreet, and not loud and proud."

Wahls, when given his opportunity, calmly destroyed him:

"When people try to say that this is about, you know, 'open' or 'avowed' homosexuality, it's really just a code word for the problem they have with gay people. Being an 'open gay person' is not a whole lot different from being a closeted gay person except for the fact that you have somebody trying to lie and violate the very first part of the Scout law which is that a Scout is trustworthy."

Watch, AFTER THE JUMP...

kd lang Inducted into Canadian Music Hall of Fame, Tells Crowd 'Let Your Freak Flags Fly': VIDEO

At last night's Juno Awards, kd lang received a standing ovation from a screaming audience as she was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame with a tribute bestowed on her by her childhood idol Anne Murray.

Said kd after a lengthy video highlighting her tremendous career:

“Thank you so much for all your support over the years.I think the fact that I’m standing here receiving this award actually says more about Canada than it does about me. Because only in Canada could there be such a freak as k.d. lang receiving this award...I am here to tell you my friends and my countrymen that it is OK to be you. It is OK to let your freak flags fly and embrace the quirkmeister that's inside of all of us. And I'm not even just talking artists, I'm talking every single person in this nation has the right to be themselves, live life. Go team go. I love you Canada, thank you so much."

Watch, AFTER THE JUMP...

Towleroad Guide to the Tube #1352

MOBY and MARK LANEGAN: "The Lonely Night".

MUDDY YORK: Toronto's gay rugby team wants to go to the Bingham Cup!

NAILED IT: 30 skiers flip at once.

NEIL DIAMOND: Flew to Fenway Park to sing at the Red Sox game after the bombing.

For recent Guides to the Tube, click HERE.

News: Chrissy Amphlett, Portland, Brendon Ayanbadejo, Vacuum Cat

Paraguay elects anti-gay president.

New Zealand marriage equality bill given royal assent.

Divinyls singer Chrissy Amphlett dies at 53 after battle with breast cancer.

Video: Cat just can't quit vacuum.

Study: Marriage equality would give Minnesota's economy a $42 million boost.

Judge: Lesbian couple can challenge DOMA. "U.S. District Judge Consuelo Marshall also ordered Friday that the lawsuit, filed last year on behalf of Philippines citizen Jane DeLeon and her spouse Irma Rodriguez, can proceed as a class-action case."

Deadline: Ellen and manager Eric Gold part ways.

First look at the 9/11 Memorial Museum.

Senators trying to sneak through a massive online sales tax hike: "As early as Monday, the Senate will vote on a bill that was introduced only last Tuesday. The text of this legislation, which would fundamentally change interstate commerce, only became available on the Library of Congress website over the weekend."

Young and Beautiful: Lana del Rey's Great Gatsby song.

Male model fix: Clark Bockelman.

The Atlantic looks at the Yaoi comic Artifice.

History will remember the 'Gang of Eight' left gays out of immigration reform: "Will you realize that we are human beings in time to include us, or will you decide that we are too politically volatile to risk your broader goals? Will you convince yourself that maybe the Supreme Court will help them, or that you'll do something for the gays later?"

Boston Cardinal O'Malley ties bombings to abortion: “individualism and alienation of our age has spawned a culture of death.”

German football fans unite against homophobia.

Brendon Ayanbadejo on FOX Sports: "The NFL is the most popular and most-watched sport in the U.S., capturing some 59 percent of the entire U.S. population as viewers. With 1,696 players on its opening day rosters, the NFL is also the largest professional sports league in North America....What are they waiting for?"

James Franco's Gucci documentary had its debut.

Prince Harry makes appearance at the London Marathon.

Rupert Everett: Sex is over.

European parliament asks European Commission to step up work against anti-trans discrimination: “In an EU study to be released next month, we learn that over a third of transgender people were physically attacked in the last five years. This shows all the violence and discrimination trans people face, and the EU must now take this as seriously as possible.”

Portland man's parents quit church over anti-gay stance: "I am deeply disappointed in the congregational vote on Sunday, March 17, 2013 and disappointed in Charlie’s leadership of what was once my church. Several members said everyone is welcome at Spring Hill. What I heard was, you are welcome if you believe what we believe. My son lives on the west coast, because he does not feel welcome here. When he returns home for a visit, he waits outside the church on Sunday mornings so he can say hello to some of the folks that he treasures from his childhood in the church. Does that sound like someone who feels welcomed?"