Alabama Lesbian Brutally Beaten by Her Girlfriend's Brother in Alleged Thanksgiving Day Hate Crime

A Mobile, Alabama woman is recovering after being beaten in what family members are calling a bias-motivated assault by her girlfriend's brother, WKRG reports:

A family is seeking justice after they say a girl named Mallory Owens was badly beaten on Thanksgiving day for being gay. They want charges upgraded on her alleged attacker, 18-year-old Travis Hawkins Jr. Hawkins turned himself in Sunday for second degree assault charges, but bonded out the same day.

Owens' supporters believe those charges should be upgraded to attempted murder...

...Her mother told News 5 her daughter was beaten by Hawkins because she is in a relationship with his sister and he does not approve. The family is calling this a hate crime and cannot believe her alleged attacker is walking free.

The assault on Owens was also reported in a widely-distributed Facebook post, with photos of her injuries:

Wrote Facebook user Sonia Mason:

FB FAM; pls contact WEAR & WKRG to immediately give media coverage to the vicious attack on this beautiful 23yr old girl, Mallory Owens in Mobile County, AL! Mallory was an invited guest Thanksgiving Day to her gf fam dinner & brother, Travis Hawkins Jr, has been arrested, charged, and released on bail for ONLY 2nd degree assault! Mallory had experienced a brain bleed, reconstructive facial surgeries, (metal plates due to crushed cheek bones), and skull fractures! This at best was an attempted murder! Mallory deserves justice for the horrific attack & by the Grace of God her long road to recover! It is reported that the accused attackers family stood by, did not intervene, and have threatened the victim family! Pls call the Mobile County prosecutor and demand that this case be addressed!

Alabama Democrat Implies GOP Rival Is Gay

Alabama State Rep. Daniel Boman, a Democrat currently running for U.S. Congress, is gaining some national exposure for what's a pretty low blow: suggesting that his Republican rival, U.S. Rep. Robert Aderholt, is secretly gay and that this self-hate has led to his anti-gay legislative record.

In a Facebook posting published last week and just now getting attention, thanks in part to The Advocate, Boman, a former Democrat who switched parties in 2011, asks his fans, "Who would you vote for on Novemeber 6, 2012 between the following two candidates?"

The choices are A) "A republican who is a homosexual who has a voting record of voting AGAINST ALL homosexual legislation. Further, this particular homosexual congressman has ALL homosexuals working on his congressional staff", or B) "A democrat who is a straight male, but has no voting record for or against homosexual legislation."

It's worth noting here that the welcome message on Boman's Facebook page reads, "We need to protect our values and our jobs in Alabama. The Fourth Congressional District needs someone who understands our district, not a Washington insider."

Asked whether he meant to say that Aderholt, who is married and has two children, is gay and staffing his office with gay men, Boman said his question was simply "hypothetical" and tried to pass the buck by blaming his staffers.

"The people running my campaign posed a hypothetical question," he said last week. "The reason they posed the hypothetical question is we received phone calls about a congressman who may be homosexual."

Boman was also asked whether he thinks Aderholt is gay, to which the congressman responded, "The only way to remove the hypothetical is to call and ask him."

Aderholt's campaign had this to say about Boman's tactic: "When someone is making a fool of himself, we hate to interrupt."

Citing Gay Marriage Ban, Ala. Court Denies Lesbian Adoption Rights

The Alabama Court of Appeals offered its thoughts on a lesbian couple's fight to extend adoption rights to both women, and it's thoughts are pretty traditional.

Even though Cari Searcy and Kim McKeand have been together for 14 years and were married during the brief time California allowed same-sex nuptials, Alabama does not recognize gay marriage; Searcy therefore is "not the spouse of the child's mother," the 5-judge court's unanimous decision said, and cannot adopt their 6-year old son.

Of course, I was disappointed, but I guess we were kind of expecting it,” Searcy said after the ruling yesterday. Openly gay state Rep. Patricia Todd offered more pointed, politicized thoughts, "If we truly care about the welfare of children, it’s most important that they be in a loving family. It restricts the ability to raise the child if only one parent can have custody."

Republican lawmaker Gerald Allen, a state senator, of course celebrated the news, saying the ruling "solidifies the fact the institution of marriage includes a man and a woman raising the children."

Gay or straight couples that cannot reproduce or choose not to have children, it appears, need not apply.

Alabama Supreme Court Hopeful Roy Moore Says Marriage Equality Invites 'Ultimate Destruction': VIDEO

Roy Moore's obstinate attempts to maintain a monument of the ten commandments outside the Alabama Supreme Court led the state's Court of the Judiciary to dismiss the then-Chief Justice for ethics violations in 2003.

Since then the former judicial giant has found himself hanging around the government's legislative branch, twice running for governor in Alabama and twice being considered by the Constitution Party as a potential presidential candidates and has appeared at anti-gay marriage rallies. But now he wants back on the judicial side of things and is running for his old position - and he's touting the same blatantly right wing politics that made the ex-judge so objectionable in the first place.

Religion is still at the forefront of the candidate's judicial platform. "People have forgotten why we need God," Moore said at a Tea Party rally this weekend. "But let me tell you, without God, you have no rights." And so too is the hideously homophobic notion that marriage equality will bring about the nation's destruction.

"We cannot continue to borrow the future of our children and our grandchildren or we will suffer the consequences. We can't keep going into debt. We can't keep disparaging our military and promoting things like same-sex marriage, L-G-B-T. To hear the President of the United States say that we are promoting L-G-B-T. Let's think about what that is: lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered rights," Moore says in video included AFTER THE JUMP.

"Same sex marriage will be the ultimate destruction of our country because it destroys the very foundation upon which this nation is based. Divisive, I've been accused of being divisive I'll tell you what's divisive. It's this Democratic platform," he said, a reference to the Democratic Party's inclusive platform.

State Representative Patricia Todd, who hails from Birmingham and is also the chair of Equality Alabama, told The Birmingham News it is "heartbreaking we still have this divisiveness" and described Moore's language as "laughable."

"It's almost laughable to me. We're going to bring the downfall of the country? When you have war and the economy? When you look at states that have same sex marriage, they're all doing pretty good," she said.

Watch Moore's comments and leave your own AFTER THE JUMP.

Alabama High School Students Hoist Homophobic Banner During Nationally Televised Football Game

An Alabama state title high school football team between Daphne and Spanish Fort was televised on ESPN over the weekend, as was a banner hoisted up by Spanish Fort students to mock the other team's colors:

"Purple? Man, that's gay."

Another banner mocked the fact that Daphne is a "girl's name".

Baldwin County Schools Spokesman Terry Wilhite told local news station WPMI:

"It was a gimmick to get national attention, and they were successful at that. What they wont be successful at is doing it again. After the game, the students were spoken to. And then back when school resumed the students were again spoken to by the principal and he, believe me, will carry out a disciplinary action."

News: Mitt And Ron, Navy, Birtherism's Return, Impersonation

Hoping to ease any remaining tensions with Ron Paul's rabid supporters, Mitt Romney is airing a tribute video to the libertarian congressman at the Republican National Convention.

Whatever happened to Ace The Bat-Hound?

Floyd Corkins has pleaded not guilty for his alleged role in the Family Research Council headquarters this month. He's currently being held without bond.

Healthcare professionals and HIV/AIDS activists in New York are strategizing on how to deliver newly approved drugs to thousands of patients. "We need more community groups involved, like faith communities, fraternal organizations, block associations or health entities, to really take on HIV and AIDS," said Dr. Marjorie Hill of GMHC.

Pam Mullarkey, a prominent advocate for abstinence-only sex education, is also a fan of Uganda's "kill the gays" bill. Shocking.

It's okay to be curious about new details about Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise's divorce settlement?

An Alabama man has written a heartfelt and heartbreaking letter to the Dothan Eagle about how his lesbian daughter came out, tried to "cure" herself because of anti-gay attitudes and then committed suicide. "Sometime after Patti died [in 1995], I attended church and a visiting preacher was preaching. About 10 minutes into the sermon, he bashed gays the rest of the way... I was ashamed of myself for sitting there and not defending Patti. I have not been much since."

In this video, pro-equality journalist E.J. Graff and hateful activist Maggie Gallagher discuss sex, marriage and everything in between.

Justin Hawkins from The Darkness won't say if he's gay or not, but will say that he connects to a gay audience.

Mitt Romney tried to crack a birth certificate "joke", saying at a campaign stop in Michigan: "I love being home in this place where Ann and I were raised, where both of us were born. Ann was born at Henry Ford Hospital, I was born at Harper Hospital. No one's ever asked to see my birth certificate. They know that this is the place that we were born and raised."

The California state senate is endorsing a proposal to name a Navy ship after legendary gay activist Harvey Milk.

Zach Udko says Hit & Run, though a heinous film, offers an important lesson on the word "fag".

The Sun tabloid ignored Buckingham Palace and printed those nudie pics of Prince Harry "for the public interest".

Are you buying Kim Kardashian as Diana Ross?

Tank + water = splash!

Doctors in New Zealand say the age of sex-related phone apps is leading to a spike in syphilis cases.

One Million Moms is now going after Skittles for a commercial in which a girl kisses a walrus.

Alex Pettyfer continues to look dashing on the set of Butler.

Evan Rachel Wood has apologized after saying Miley Cyrus' new haircut makes her look like a lesbian.

An Ohio judge refuses to grant a lesbian couple a divorce in Ohio.