Towleroad Talking Points: ArtPop, Prop 8 and Waffle Fries

PHOTO OF THE DAY: Lady Gaga released details and some very pretentious statements about ARTPOP.

BY SAM GREISMAN

A look back at today's top stories

WINGNUTTERY

Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett is already facing the challenge of being a Republican in a blue state and now he has to decide if he wants to oppose over half the voters on the subject of gay marriage. The supporters of Prop 8 are making a desperate and pathetic attempt to stop gay marriages in California and defy the Supreme Court. Maggie Gallagher of NOM thinks that the world cares more about waffle fries than it does about gay rights.

Big Brother's Aaryn Gries can't believe that everyone thinks she is a racist after she was caught on camera being a racist. Just when Bill O'Reilly seems to be heading toward sanity, he takes two giant steps back as he and his producer made fun of LGBT people at the Mermaid Parade. And a high school principal in Iowa does not want his students to see The Laramie Project. 

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ENTERTAINMENT

Following a call for a boycott of Enders Game over author Orson Scott Card's anti-gay beliefs, Lionsgate is trying to distance the film from Card's bigotry. Macklemore recently spoke with HOT 97 about his fight for gay rights and his inspiration for the song "Same Love". Steve Grand croons a cover of "How To Love" to his cat and check out a list of five summer shows to veg out with. 

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VIDEO OF THE DAY

Dear god I hope this woman got a journalism degree before attempting this in depth expose. 

Justin Timberlake Wants to 'Take Back the Night': VIDEO

Justin Timberlake dropped a new dance track earlier today from the forthcoming second half of the 20/20 Experience.

Rolling Stone reports:

2 of 2 features 11 songs plus a surprise track; The 20/20 Experience – The Complete Experience is also being released, which includes all 21 tracks from the Experience. Both releases are available from pre-order today.

"I originally recorded a massive amount of material and decided on the 20 tracks that I wanted on the album over a year ago," said Timberlake in a statement. "But, when I was mixing and going through all of the songs there were so many that I loved – I couldn't resist. . . . I had to throw in something extra on the 2nd half."

Check it out, AFTER THE JUMP...

North Carolina AG Will Not Block ACLU Suit To Overturn State's Gay Marriage Ban

Some good news out of North Carolina. On Friday, the state's Attorney General Roy Cooper (pictured left) announced that his office would not block the American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina's move to challenge the state's constitutional ban on gay marriage. QNotes reports:

The ACLU wants to amend their current lawsuit challenging anti-gay second-parent adoption bans to include a challenge to the state's Amendment One. The amendment was passed by voters, 61-39, in May 2012.

Noelle Talley, a spokesman for Cooper, said the Democratic attorney general won't oppose the motion. Both cases, she said, were heading to court and combining them is more efficient.

Tami Fitzgerald, leader of the anti-LGBT NC Values Coalition, has called Cooper's actions in question. She said voters overwhelmingly supported the amendment.

"The constitutionality of the amendment is outside of the scope of a lawsuit regarding adoption by gay couples," said Fitzgerald, according to The Associated Press.

Fitzgerald's group was the chief proponent of the anti-gay ballot measure. 

Cooper's announcement, coupled with Pennsylvania AG Kathleen Kane's decision to not defend her state's ban on gay marriage, means that we may very well have two more states in the "equality" column before long. 

Lesbian Couple Denied Marriage License in Poplarville, Mississippi: VIDEO

As reported earlier, the Campaign For Southern Equality has been on a road trip through Mississippi this week to highlight the state's anti-LGBT laws and speak out for equality as part of their "We Do" campaign.

On Wednesday, the campaign traveled to Poplarville (population: 2,894) to test the marriage application process for gay couples. As expected, the application was rejected under Mississippi law stating "any marriage between persons of the same gender is prohibited and null and void from the beginning."

Watch, AFTER THE JUMP...

This Week in Unnecessary Censorship: VIDEO

Jimmy Kimmel's weekly tribute to the FCC includes a choice quote from former President George W. Bush on same-sex marriage.

Watch, AFTER THE JUMP...

SF City Attorney Dennis Herrera Denounces 'Desperate' Attempt by Prop 8 Supporters to Halt Gay Marriages

City Attorney of San Francisco Dennis Herrera has issued a swift response to a request to the California Supreme Court from Prop 8 proponents that the Court immediately halt gay marriages:

San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera will promptly oppose a move by the proponents of Proposition 8 that seeks to block equal marriage rights for same-sex couples in California. The motion filed by ProtectMarriage.com in the state Supreme Court this morning names all California counties -- including San Francisco -- as defendants, and contends that Gov. Jerry Brown did not have the authority to direct county officials to stop enforcing Prop 8 because the measure had not been deemed unconstitutional by an appellate court. The U.S. Supreme Court's June 26 ruling, holding that the measure's sponsors lacked standing to appeal, left intact a U.S. District Court ruling that Prop 8 was unconstitutional. The petition filed with the state high court today is Hollingsworth v. O'Connell.

"This motion is a desperate obstruction tactic used in the vain hope of pursuing an unconstitutional agenda," said Herrera. "The opponents of the freedom to marry have chosen to ignore the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution, a U.S. Supreme Court ruling, and the well-settled California marriage case of Lockyer v. San Francisco, which they themselves celebrated at the time. Their motion has essentially no chance to succeed. The most basic concepts of American law tell us that a state court cannot and will not overrule the federal judiciary. The citizens of California are left wondering when these people will realize that, having lost the moral struggle years and years ago, they have now lost the legal struggle as well. Marriage equality is now the law in the State of California, and will remain so from this point onward. Together we will soon see the day when it is the law all across America."

Herrera has served as co-counsel in the Prop 8 case since 2009.

More on Herrera's response HERE and Protect Marriage's request, HERE.