Barack Obama Gives First Speech to the World, in Berlin

Barack Obama spoke to a crowd estimated at 200,000 at the foot of the German Victory Column, giving a speech entitled "A World That Stands As One".

Politico reports: "His 27-minute speech at the gold-topped Victory Column was interrupted by applause at least 30 times, with occasional audience chants of 'O-ba-MA!' Billed as a speech about Transatlantic relations, it turned out to be a manifesto for the planet, with an appeal to 'the burdens of global citizenship.' Reaching out to skeptics back home, he heralded 'the dream of freedom' and declared firmly: 'I love America.' ... 'People of Berlin, people of the world, this is our moment. This is our time,' he declared, offering himself 'not as a candidate for president, but as a citizen, a proud citizen of the United States and a fellow citizen of the world.' Obama’s speech, the centerpiece of his presidential-style sweep of the Middle East and Europe, set a global agenda as expansive and audacious as any contemplated by a candidate for United States president."

Meanwhile, John McCain visited a German restaurant in Ohio, as if to make some sort of point.

Said McCain: "I'd love to give a speech in Germany. But I'd much prefer to do it as president of the United States rather than as a candidate for president." He spoke outside the Fudge Haus which he mistakenly refers to as the Sausage Haus.

Think Progress debunks charges of media bias coming from the right...

Talking Points Memo has some analysis of the speech here, and you can watch it and read the transcript, AFTER THE JUMP...

OBAMA SPEECH TRANSCRIPT:
Remarks of Senator Barack Obama (as prepared for delivery)

"A World that Stands as One"

July 24th, 2008

Berlin, Germany

Thank you to the citizens of Berlin and to the people of Germany. Let me thank Chancellor Merkel and Foreign Minister Steinmeier for welcoming me earlier today. Thank you Mayor Wowereit, the Berlin Senate, the police, and most of all thank you for this welcome.

I come to Berlin as so many of my countrymen have come before. Tonight, I speak to you not as a candidate for President, but as a citizen - a proud citizen of the United States, and a fellow citizen of the world.

I know that I don't look like the Americans who've previously spoken in this great city. The journey that led me here is improbable. My mother was born in the heartland of America, but my father grew up herding goats in Kenya. His father - my grandfather - was a cook, a domestic servant to the British.

At the height of the Cold War, my father decided, like so many others in the forgotten corners of the world, that his yearning - his dream - required the freedom and opportunity promised by the West. And so he wrote letter after letter to universities all across America until somebody, somewhere answered his prayer for a better life.

That is why I'm here. And you are here because you too know that yearning. This city, of all cities, knows the dream of freedom. And you know that the only reason we stand here tonight is because men and women from both of our nations came together to work, and struggle, and sacrifice for that better life.

Ours is a partnership that truly began sixty years ago this summer, on the day when the first American plane touched down at Templehof.

On that day, much of this continent still lay in ruin. The rubble of this city had yet to be built into a wall. The Soviet shadow had swept across Eastern Europe, while in the West, America, Britain, and France took stock of their losses, and pondered how the world might be remade.

This is where the two sides met. And on the twenty-fourth of June, 1948, the Communists chose to blockade the western part of the city. They cut off food and supplies to more than two million Germans in an effort to extinguish the last flame of freedom in Berlin.

The size of our forces was no match for the much larger Soviet Army. And yet retreat would have allowed Communism to march across Europe. Where the last war had ended, another World War could have easily begun. All that stood in the way was Berlin.

And that's when the airlift began - when the largest and most unlikely rescue in history brought food and hope to the people of this city.

The odds were stacked against success. In the winter, a heavy fog filled the sky above, and many planes were forced to turn back without dropping off the needed supplies. The streets where we stand were filled with hungry families who had no comfort from the cold.

But in the darkest hours, the people of Berlin kept the flame of hope burning. The people of Berlin refused to give up. And on one fall day, hundreds of thousands of Berliners came here, to the Tiergarten, and heard the city's mayor implore the world not to give up on freedom. "There is only one possibility," he said. "For us to stand together united until this battle is won...The people of Berlin have spoken. We have done our duty, and we will keep on doing our duty. People of the world: now do your duty...People of the world, look at Berlin!"

People of the world - look at Berlin!

Look at Berlin, where Germans and Americans learned to work together and trust each other less than three years after facing each other on the field of battle.

Look at Berlin, where the determination of a people met the generosity of the Marshall Plan and created a German miracle; where a victory over tyranny gave rise to NATO, the greatest alliance ever formed to defend our common security.

Look at Berlin, where the bullet holes in the buildings and the somber stones and pillars near the Brandenburg Gate insist that we never forget our common humanity.

People of the world - look at Berlin, where a wall came down, a continent came together, and history proved that there is no challenge too great for a world that stands as one.

Sixty years after the airlift, we are called upon again. History has led us to a new crossroad, with new promise and new peril. When you, the German people, tore down that wall - a wall that divided East and West; freedom and tyranny; fear and hope - walls came tumbling down around the world. From Kiev to Cape Town, prison camps were closed, and the doors of democracy were opened. Markets opened too, and the spread of information and technology reduced barriers to opportunity and prosperity. While the 20th century taught us that we share a common destiny, the 21st has revealed a world more intertwined than at any time in human history.

The fall of the Berlin Wall brought new hope. But that very closeness has given rise to new dangers - dangers that cannot be contained within the borders of a country or by the distance of an ocean.

The terrorists of September 11th plotted in Hamburg and trained in Kandahar and Karachi before killing thousands from all over the globe on American soil.

As we speak, cars in Boston and factories in Beijing are melting the ice caps in the Arctic, shrinking coastlines in the Atlantic, and bringing drought to farms from Kansas to Kenya.

Poorly secured nuclear material in the former Soviet Union, or secrets from a scientist in Pakistan could help build a bomb that detonates in Paris. The poppies in Afghanistan become the heroin in Berlin. The poverty and violence in Somalia breeds the terror of tomorrow. The genocide in Darfur shames the conscience of us all.

In this new world, such dangerous currents have swept along faster than our efforts to contain them. That is why we cannot afford to be divided. No one nation, no matter how large or powerful, can defeat such challenges alone. None of us can deny these threats, or escape responsibility in meeting them. Yet, in the absence of Soviet tanks and a terrible wall, it has become easy to forget this truth. And if we're honest with each other, we know that sometimes, on both sides of the Atlantic, we have drifted apart, and forgotten our shared destiny.

In Europe, the view that America is part of what has gone wrong in our world, rather than a force to help make it right, has become all too common. In America, there are voices that deride and deny the importance of Europe's role in our security and our future. Both views miss the truth - that Europeans today are bearing new burdens and taking more responsibility in critical parts of the world; and that just as American bases built in the last century still help to defend the security of this continent, so does our country still sacrifice greatly for freedom around the globe.

Yes, there have been differences between America and Europe. No doubt, there will be differences in the future. But the burdens of global citizenship continue to bind us together. A change of leadership in Washington will not lift this burden. In this new century, Americans and Europeans alike will be required to do more - not less. Partnership and cooperation among nations is not a choice; it is the one way, the only way, to protect our common security and advance our common humanity.

That is why the greatest danger of all is to allow new walls to divide us from one another.

The walls between old allies on either side of the Atlantic cannot stand. The walls between the countries with the most and those with the least cannot stand. The walls between races and tribes; natives and immigrants; Christian and Muslim and Jew cannot stand. These now are the walls we must tear down.

We know they have fallen before. After centuries of strife, the people of Europe have formed a Union of promise and prosperity. Here, at the base of a column built to mark victory in war, we meet in the center of a Europe at peace. Not only have walls come down in Berlin, but they have come down in Belfast, where Protestant and Catholic found a way to live together; in the Balkans, where our Atlantic alliance ended wars and brought savage war criminals to justice; and in South Africa, where the struggle of a courageous people defeated apartheid.

So history reminds us that walls can be torn down. But the task is never easy. True partnership and true progress requires constant work and sustained sacrifice. They require sharing the burdens of development and diplomacy; of progress and peace. They require allies who will listen to each other, learn from each other and, most of all, trust each other.

That is why America cannot turn inward. That is why Europe cannot turn inward. America has no better partner than Europe. Now is the time to build new bridges across the globe as strong as the one that bound us across the Atlantic. Now is the time to join together, through constant cooperation, strong institutions, shared sacrifice, and a global commitment to progress, to meet the challenges of the 21st century. It was this spirit that led airlift planes to appear in the sky above our heads, and people to assemble where we stand today. And this is the moment when our nations - and all nations - must summon that spirit anew.

This is the moment when we must defeat terror and dry up the well of extremism that supports it. This threat is real and we cannot shrink from our responsibility to combat it. If we could create NATO to face down the Soviet Union, we can join in a new and global partnership to dismantle the networks that have struck in Madrid and Amman; in London and Bali; in Washington and New York. If we could win a battle of ideas against the communists, we can stand with the vast majority of Muslims who reject the extremism that leads to hate instead of hope.

This is the moment when we must renew our resolve to rout the terrorists who threaten our security in Afghanistan, and the traffickers who sell drugs on your streets. No one welcomes war. I recognize the enormous difficulties in Afghanistan. But my country and yours have a stake in seeing that NATO's first mission beyond Europe's borders is a success. For the people of Afghanistan, and for our shared security, the work must be done. America cannot do this alone. The Afghan people need our troops and your troops; our support and your support to defeat the Taliban and al Qaeda, to develop their economy, and to help them rebuild their nation. We have too much at stake to turn back now.

This is the moment when we must renew the goal of a world without nuclear weapons. The two superpowers that faced each other across the wall of this city came too close too often to destroying all we have built and all that we love. With that wall gone, we need not stand idly by and watch the further spread of the deadly atom. It is time to secure all loose nuclear materials; to stop the spread of nuclear weapons; and to reduce the arsenals from another era. This is the moment to begin the work of seeking the peace of a world without nuclear weapons.

This is the moment when every nation in Europe must have the chance to choose its own tomorrow free from the shadows of yesterday. In this century, we need a strong European Union that deepens the security and prosperity of this continent, while extending a hand abroad. In this century - in this city of all cities - we must reject the Cold War mind-set of the past, and resolve to work with Russia when we can, to stand up for our values when we must, and to seek a partnership that extends across this entire continent.

This is the moment when we must build on the wealth that open markets have created, and share its benefits more equitably. Trade has been a cornerstone of our growth and global development. But we will not be able to sustain this growth if it favors the few, and not the many. Together, we must forge trade that truly rewards the work that creates wealth, with meaningful protections for our people and our planet. This is the moment for trade that is free and fair for all.

This is the moment we must help answer the call for a new dawn in the Middle East. My country must stand with yours and with Europe in sending a direct message to Iran that it must abandon its nuclear ambitions. We must support the Lebanese who have marched and bled for democracy, and the Israelis and Palestinians who seek a secure and lasting peace. And despite past differences, this is the moment when the world should support the millions of Iraqis who seek to rebuild their lives, even as we pass responsibility to the Iraqi government and finally bring this war to a close.

This is the moment when we must come together to save this planet. Let us resolve that we will not leave our children a world where the oceans rise and famine spreads and terrible storms devastate our lands. Let us resolve that all nations - including my own - will act with the same seriousness of purpose as has your nation, and reduce the carbon we send into our atmosphere. This is the moment to give our children back their future. This is the moment to stand as one.

And this is the moment when we must give hope to those left behind in a globalized world. We must remember that the Cold War born in this city was not a battle for land or treasure. Sixty years ago, the planes that flew over Berlin did not drop bombs; instead they delivered food, and coal, and candy to grateful children. And in that show of solidarity, those pilots won more than a military victory. They won hearts and minds; love and loyalty and trust - not just from the people in this city, but from all those who heard the story of what they did here.

Now the world will watch and remember what we do here - what we do with this moment. Will we extend our hand to the people in the forgotten corners of this world who yearn for lives marked by dignity and opportunity; by security and justice? Will we lift the child in Bangladesh from poverty, shelter the refugee in Chad, and banish the scourge of AIDS in our time?

Will we stand for the human rights of the dissident in Burma, the blogger in Iran, or the voter in Zimbabwe? Will we give meaning to the words "never again" in Darfur?

Will we acknowledge that there is no more powerful example than the one each of our nations projects to the world? Will we reject torture and stand for the rule of law? Will we welcome immigrants from different lands, and shun discrimination against those who don't look like us or worship like we do, and keep the promise of equality and opportunity for all of our people?

People of Berlin - people of the world - this is our moment. This is our time.

I know my country has not perfected itself. At times, we've struggled to keep the promise of liberty and equality for all of our people. We've made our share of mistakes, and there are times when our actions around the world have not lived up to our best intentions.

But I also know how much I love America. I know that for more than two centuries, we have strived - at great cost and great sacrifice - to form a more perfect union; to seek, with other nations, a more hopeful world. Our allegiance has never been to any particular tribe or kingdom - indeed, every language is spoken in our country; every culture has left its imprint on ours; every point of view is expressed in our public squares. What has always united us - what has always driven our people; what drew my father to America's shores - is a set of ideals that speak to aspirations shared by all people: that we can live free from fear and free from want; that we can speak our minds and assemble with whomever we choose and worship as we please.

These are the aspirations that joined the fates of all nations in this city. These aspirations are bigger than anything that drives us apart. It is because of these aspirations that the airlift began. It is because of these aspirations that all free people - everywhere - became citizens of Berlin. It is in pursuit of these aspirations that a new generation - our generation - must make our mark on the world.

People of Berlin - and people of the world - the scale of our challenge is great. The road ahead will be long. But I come before you to say that we are heirs to a struggle for freedom. We are a people of improbable hope. With an eye toward the future, with resolve in our hearts, let us remember this history, and answer our destiny, and remake the world once again.

Sphere: Related Content

News: AIDS Vaccine, Beijing, Albino Eagle, El Paso, Newlywed Game

Obama will not speak at the Brandenburg Gate, according to Bloomberg, but at the Victory Column just down the road: "A stage will be set up at the column, a 19th-century fluted structure that lies at the opposite end of a tree-lined boulevard from the Brandenburg Gate, the newspaper said. The campaign will announce the plans for July 24 today, it said. An appearance at the Victory Column, capped by its trademark gilded angel, will still give the Illinois senator the Brandenburg Gate as a backdrop in the distance."

Rare albino Golden Eagle discovered in Colorado.

Australia World youth Day pilgrims tell their gay hosts that they will "burn in hell."

K-Fed gets the kids from Britney in Cheeto divorce trial.

Rue McClanahan, Caroline Rhea, Olivia Newton-John, and Leslie Jordan get ready to make LOGO a bit more Sordid...

San Jose City College biology professor sues community college district for firing her over answering question about homosexuality and heredity: " In a lawsuit filed Wednesday in federal court in San Jose, June Sheldon alleges that college officials trampled on academic freedoms and free speech rights by firing her in February. Sheldon is backed in the case by the Arizona-based Alliance Defense Fund, a conservative organization that also has been heavily involved in the legal battles over gay marriage in California and elsewhere. The lawsuit seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages, reinstatement to her teaching job and a court finding that Sheldon's rights were violated."

Proposed George W. Bush Sewage Plant qualifies for ballot in San Francisco.

Gay community center opens its doors in El Paso, Texas: "El Paso's new Gay-Lesbian-Bisexual-Transgendered-Queer Center opened its doors to the public. The center houses non-profit organizations, counselors and even a flower shop. 'We want this place to be the hub of the gay community,' said director Charles Sloane. The facility is the crown jewel of El Paso's emerging gay community; a community that's mobilizing to have their voice heard as never before."

The Watchmen are coming (site not totally sfw).

Same-sex couples ineligible for Game Show Network's new version of The Newlywed Game.

Desperate Housewives gay couple Tuc Watkins and Kevin Rahm will be back in the upcoming flash-forward-five-years season: "...they now have a four-year-old daughter. Cherry said adding them to the show was 'just my commentary on how a gay couple moves in and nothing much happens.'"

VIDEO: A press rehearsal for the 9 to 5 Broadway musical.

Justin Timberlake kisses David Beckham's foot: "‘That's what $250million [£125m] tastes like,’ he told the audience." Maybe Becks can give him some tips on accessorizing.

Going to Beijing and want to know where to find the "gay scene"?

North Carolina anti-bullying bill killed: "The bill was controversial because it listed 'sexual orientation' and other characteristics as reasons schoolchildren might be the targets of bullying. Groups such as the Christian Action League and the N.C. Family Policy Council did not want the term in state law, saying that gay-rights groups would use it to leverage other rights."

Kenneth Cole's brief encounter.

Large U.S. HIV vaccine trial canceled: "...a top federal official said scientists realized that they did not know enough about how H.I.V. vaccines and the immune system interact. The decision is a major setback in an effort to develop an H.I.V. vaccine that began 24 years ago when government health officials promised a marketed vaccine by 1987. Health officials have long contended that such a vaccine would be their best weapon to control the AIDS pandemic."

High school dodgeball player #2 returning to Ugly Betty this season.

Sphere: Related Content

News: Sean Penn, Berlin, Coral, Jake Gyllenhaal, Wisconsin

Is Bush blocking Obama speech at Berlin's Brandenburg Gate?

Jake gets a mane.

No brainer: Guess what they're working on a sequel for...

Not a surprise: Tanzania to oppose ordination of women and gay bishops in Anglican church.

Same-sex Wisconsin couples who marry in California could face prison if they return to their home state: "When Dick Myers heard that California was going to start issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples, he and his partner of nearly 13 years considered traveling there to get married. That is until Myers and his partner, Steve Brondino, learned of an obscure state law that makes it a crime for Wisconsin residents to enter into marriage in another state if the marriage would be prohibited here. The law imposes a penalty for those who enter into a marriage that's prohibited or declared void in Wisconsin of up to $10,000 and nine months in prison."

Focus on the Family inciting trans panic in Colorado.

Tacoma, Washington's county council refuses to go on record supporting gay pride event, spurs outcry by members: "I’m embarrassed. This is a sad, low day for the County Council, that we wouldn’t give you a chance to celebrate who you are and stand against discrimination of all forms."

25% of the world's corals are facing extinction.

New York Governor Paterson to sign expanded domestic violence law: "The new law would make it possible for people in dating relationships, heterosexual or gay, to seek protection from abusers in family court. As it stands, New York has one of the narrowest domestic violence laws in the country, allowing for civil protection orders only against spouses or former spouses, blood relations or the other parent of an abused person’s child."

Damn Yankees, with Cheyenne Jackson, Jane Krakowski, and Sean Hayes: a review.

From the secret diaries of Mario Testino: "Shooting in LA for an issue of V Man I'm editing. The theme is "extreme". I've tried to do it around the extremes of how a male gets perceived today, in the sense that there is ambiguity: sometimes the butcher a man is, the queenier he can be. And sometimes the most feminine men can be the most masculine. I'm influenced by so many different things, though. That's good if you're in the fashion business. Because things change so much. You can't say "I like colour" because the day after tomorrow black and white is in and you're out. And I don't want to be out. I need to work. It's my livelihood. So I'm adaptable."

He's still a traffic-stopper.

Margaret Cho now performing wedding ceremonies: "Cho actually married two couples during the Bay Area's gay pride festivities, she announced last night at the opening of the Outfest film festival in downtown Los Angeles."

Tom Cruise as the Village People.

Gay Star Trek episode to be screened: "Last March, the team of fans behind Star Trek Phase II began producing 'Blood and Fire' a gay-themed script originally written for The Next Generation in 1988 by 'The Trouble With Tribbles' writer David Gerrold. The story would have included the franchise's first gay couple and dealt with a deadly disease that worked as an analogy to AIDS, but the episode never was filmed."

Ciccone tell-all: "When Sean Penn was married to his sister, he made Christopher cut his thumb and then cut his own and merged them to become blood brothers. Penn approached him years later and asked him if he had AIDS."

Sphere: Related Content

News: Harvey Korman, Madison, Clay Aiken, ExxonMobil

University of Wisconsin-Madison to become largest university with a gay leader: "Cornell University Provost Biddy Martin was recommended Wednesday to be the next chancellor at UW-Madison, a top national research university with 40,000 students. Martin, the No. 2 official at Cornell since 2000, is a professor of women's studies and German studies who wrote the 1995 book: 'Femininity Played Straight: The Significance of Being Lesbian.' About eight to 10 openly gay people have become college presidents and chancellors but mostly at small colleges, said Candace Gingrich of the Human Rights Campaign."

R.I.P. Harvey Korman.

DADDY: Clay Aiken impregnates woman through artificial insemination.

Gay activist from Madison, Wisconsin stabbed to death in Mexico: "[Felicia] Melton-Smyth was known for an annual holiday fundraiser that raised money for gifts for people with AIDS. 'She respected and loved all the people within the gay community of Madison,' Finhert said. Finhert said a celebration of her life is being planned and a foundation is being set up for donations to organizations in her honor."

Netflix nabs exclusive rights to LOGO shows. What, no iTunes? Certainly a disappointment for those of us with Apple TV.

Kiss nearly gets lesbian couple tossed out of Safeco Field in Seattle: "Sirbrina Guerrero says she only gave her date a peck, but a mother sitting with her son complained to security and, as a result, they were told to stop or leave. 'And he (the security guard) goes ‘there’s a lady whose son says he saw you guys making out, and I did, too. And you have to stop.’ And I said ‘well, we weren’t making out, but we were kissing and I’m not going to stop,’' said Guerrero…. '(The security guard said) the mom doesn’t want to explain to the kids why two girls are kissing. So I said ‘well, I’m not going to stop, so you’ll have to kick me out. So he said ‘so I suggest you leave then,'’ she said."

A slew of Gossip Girl guy candids.

David Beckham gets a cap in a box.

Rudd government in Australia introduces bill removing discrimination from superannuation laws: "Legislation introduced to Parliament today will extend to same-sex couples and their children the same rights under superannuation enjoyed by married or de-facto couples. 'This bill will take equality for same-sex couples and their children to the next level by introducing long overdue Commonwealth reforms, removing discrimination from superannuation laws as the first step,' Attorney-General Robert McClelland said. 'It will allow reversionary death benefit to be paid to de-facto same-sex partners and their children where they currently have no entitlement.'"

Hot, tranny, or just mess?

L.A. Times editorial: Gay marriage gaining ground. "And why not? Surely the trailing edges of society will soon reflect on the resistance to this phenomenon with chagrin and more than a little embarrassment. It is bracing, after all, to realize how recently much of this nation blanched at interracial marriage, and thrilling to recognize how quickly most of us buried that prejudice, first in law, then in custom."

U.S. News and World Report explores anti-gay hostility in Russia.

Holocaust academic pans gay memorial to Nazi victims: "For many years after the war I had the impression that the Germans understood the immense scope of the crime of the Holocaust which they had committed ... But this time, they made an error. The location was particularly poorly chosen for this monument. If visitors have the impression that there was not a great difference between the suffering of Jews and those of homosexuals, it's a scandal. "A sense of proportion must be maintained."

ExxonMobil shareholders reject resolution to add 'sexual orientation' and 'gender identity' to Exxon’s non-discrimination statement: "Approximately 40% of Exxon’s outstanding shares voted in favor of the clause, but it was not enough to send the issue to the oil company’s board of directors. The shareholder resolution has come up every year since 2000, when it got 8.2% approval among shareholders. The percentage that voted in favor of the resolution has grown every year since then."

Sphere: Related Content

Berlin's Monument to Gay Holocaust Victims: The Kiss Revealed

Just a bit more on the memorial that was unveiled yesterday in memory of gay victims of the Holocaust in Berlin. One of the clips below is the actual unveiling.In the other clip, the artists who created the monument, Berlin-based Norwegian-Danish artist duo Ingar Dragset and Michael Elmgreen, talk about the idea behind their design, and why featuring an endless loop video of a male couple kissing which is viewed as you peer through the tiny window, was important to them. Makes perfect sense.
(image above via daily dish)

And you're probably curious to see exactly what that clip looks like. You can watch it,
AFTER THE JUMP...

You may have missed...
Major Monument to Gay Holocaust Victims Unveiled Today in Berlin [tr]

Sphere: Related Content

Major Monument to Gay Holocaust Victims Unveiled Today in Berlin

A monument remembering gays persecuted by the Nazi regime was unveiled in preparation for a ceremony today in Berlin which was presided over by Germany's federal commissioner for culture, Bernd Neumann, and openly gay Berlin Mayor Klaus Wowereit.

Below, Neumann and Wowereit peer into the monument.

The monument consists of a 3.6 meter-high, 1.9 meter-wide pillar containing a small window through which can be seen a one and a half minute film loop of two men kissing, directed by the Danish director Thomas Vinterberg. Vinterberg directed the 1998 film The Celebration.

A still from the film loop is below.

And here's another shot of the monument, which sits half a block from the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin's Tiergarten Park, across from the Jewish Holocaust memorial.

According to Deustche Welle, "Originally it was debated whether homosexuals should be included in the larger memorial before the decision was made to give homosexuals their own monument. But the design corresponds to the Holocaust Memorial's field of steles, a series of concrete blocks of varying sizes. While the Nazi persecution of the Jews is well known, for many years there was little public acknowledgement of Nazi atrocities towards homosexuals. Estimates put the number of homosexuals arrested by Nazis at about 54,000 with 7,000 being killed in concentration camps. 'It is not easy for a gay man to live in this country and this society. It's important to remember that this society punished homosexuality for 20 years after National Socialism ended,' said Günter Dworek of the Federation of Gays and Lesbians in Germany (LSVD), a driving force behind the project."

The monument was designed by Berlin-based Norwegian-Danish artist duo Ingar Dragset and Michael Elmgreen (below).

One more shot AFTER THE JUMP...

Related
Harvey Milk Bust Has Coming Out Party [tr]

Sphere: Related Content

Berlin Dedicates Riverbank to Gay Rights Activist Magnus Hirschfeld

Yesterday, on the 75th anniversary of the day Nazis broke into his offices and burned hundreds of books, Berlin dedicated a stretch of the Spree River to sex researcher and gay rights activist Magnus Hirschfeld.

Deustche Welle reports: "Hirschfeld had founded the world's first institute dedicated to fighting discrimination against homosexuals. He went into exile in France and died there in 1935. The stretch of river bank named after Hirschfeld is near his former institute. According to Germany's Lesbian and Gay Association (LSVD) and the Mitte district of Berlin, where 'Marcus-Hirschfeld-Ufer' is located, a bronze monument to Hirschfeld will also be erected along the river. The Charite hospital also commemorated Hirschfeld with an exhibition which opened on Tuesday at its Medical Historical Museum. Called 'Sex Burns,' the exhibition focuses on Hirschfeld's work and his persecution by the Nazis."

Alexander Zinn, head of Germany's Lesbian and Gay Association, called the dedication "a first step in the right direction" in acknowledging gay persecution by the Nazi regime.

Sphere: Related Content

News: Glaciers, Jared Leto, Gay Nursing Home, Kevin Rudd

NYT: Civil unions not enough. "Though such arrangements were created, often under court mandate, with a promise of treating same-sex couples the same as opposite-sex couples, many gays and lesbians say they have not delivered and can never do so because separate institutions are inherently unequal. Many also resent being denied use of the word marriage, which they say carries intangible benefits, prestige and status."

Becks and teammate clutch the family jewels.

First stills of Britney Spears guest appearance on How I Met Your Mother.

Glaciers melting faster than at any time since records began: "The details are revealed in the latest report from the World Glacier Monitoring Service and will add to growing alarm about the rise in sea levels and increased instances of flooding, avalanches and drought. Based on historical records and other evidence, the rate at which the glaciers are melting is also thought to be faster that at any time in the past 5,000 years, said Professor Wilfried Haeberli, director of the monitoring service. 'There's no absolute proof, but nevertheless the evidence is strong: this is really extraordinary.'"

Inside Berlin's Asta Nielsen Haus, the first nursing home in Europe to cater specifically to gays and lesbians: "We just want people to be able to speak freely of their pasts. They shouldn't have to worry about reactions or prejudices. It's simple really: no one should be shocked to go into a man's room and see a picture of another man. No one should have to explain themselves to others at this stage of life."

Halloween in San Francisco's Castro District canceled forever.

Wentworth Miller goes to Jerusalem.

Nun urges Vatican to drop prejudice against gays and lesbians.

Gay Republican runs for seat on Plano, Texas City Council: "Justin Nichols is charting new territory in more ways than one. Nichols, 23, is already the youngest candidate ever to run for Plano City Council. If Nichols wins his race for the Place 1 seat on May 10, he’ll also become the first openly gay member of the body. 'I don’t know that one is harder than the other,' Nichols told Dallas Voice this week. 'I think that each is solved by letting people get to know you.' Nichols also faces a third challenge when it comes to gaining the support of Plano’s small but growing LGBT community: He’s a Republican."

Obama responds to controversial comments of Reverend Jeremiah Wright: "Let me repeat what I've said earlier. All of the statements that have been the subject of controversy are ones that I vehemently condemn. They in no way reflect my attitudes and directly contradict my profound love for this country."

Jared Leto packed on the pounds for his role as John Lennon's killer Mark David Chapman.

Gay groups picket 'prayer breakfast' hosted by anti-gay Fort Lauderdale Mayor Jim Naugle: "The featured speaker at the prayer breakfast, Jim Daly, president of the right-wing religious organization Focus on the Family, is among the most aggressive opponents of the gay rights movement. Daly’s organization is one of the primary backers of an anti-gay marriage amendment that goes before voters in November."

Australian PM Kevin Rudd forcing ministerial staff to list history of sexual partners, reveal extra-marital affairs and detail homosexual experiences before gaining security clearance: "More than 300 ministerial and electorate staffers have been ordered to fill in a 25-page form and attend an in-depth interview into their personal finances, drug habits and sexual history before gaining high-level security clearance. Senior staff say they have been told the security form is designed to protect them from blackmail. But several have told The Sunday Telegraph they were affronted at the personal information they had been forced to divulge."

Sphere: Related Content

Towleroad Guide to the Tube #252

OBAMA on LGBT people and Christianity: Last week, I posted about Obama's statements in Beaumont, Texas. Here's the video.

SUBWAY HARASSMENT: A man harassing a woman on the S-Bahn in Berlin is neutralized by a quick pantsing.

FROZEN TRAFALGAR SQUARE: A British response to this great Grand Central Station clip.

DAN SAVAGE: Visits a Barack Obama rally for last Friday's Real Time with Bill Maher.

Check out our previous guides to the Tube here.

Sphere: Related Content

Madonna's Filth & Wisdom Debuts in Berlin - CLIPS

Madonna made her directorial debut at the Berlin Film Festival last night with Filth & Wisdom.

Agence France Presse reports: "Critics have already begun sharpening their pencils at the prospect of 'Filth and Wisdom' which revolves around a Ukrainian immigrant who finances his dreams of rock stardom by moonlighting as a cross-dressing dominatrix, and his two female flatmates. Madonna, who will add some welcome star power to what has been a rather lacklustre Berlinale, has been less than timid about her ambitions as a filmmaker. 'I have always been inspired by the films of Godard, Visconti, Pasolini and Fellini and hope that I may one day make something that comes close to their genius,' she said in a her director's statement for Wednesday's premiere. Billed as a London-based comedy, 'Filth and Wisdom' stars Eugene Hutz, the Ukrainian frontman for Gypsy punk rock band Gogol Bordello, as well as British cult star Richard E. Grant."

Here are five clips from the film.

UPDATE: The first review is in. "Yet despite its many shortcomings and an ending so mushy and neat it would embarrass Richard Curtis, Madonna has done herself proud. Her film has an artistic ambition that has simply bypassed her husband, the film director Guy Ritchie. She captures that wonderfully accidental nature of luck when people’s lives intersect for a whole swathe of unlikely but cherishable reasons. Altmanesque would be stretching the compliment too far, but "Filth and Wisdom" shows Madonna has real potential as a film director."

Previously
Madonna's Directorial Debut Boasts Filth, Wisdom, Large Mustache [tr]

(source)

Sphere: Related Content

News: Alfie Allen, Huckabee, Alabama, Justin Chambers, Spiral Jetty

Theory that mass grave found in Fort Myers, Florida could be the remains of a serial killer's gay victims gains traction...

Woo! New shrew!

Singer Lily Allen's brother Alfie has taken over Daniel Radcliffe's role in London's Equus. Unlike, Radcliffe, full monty shots of Allen have quickly made it to the internet.

Memorial to gay Holocaust victims in Berlin should be ready within months: "The $890,000 memorial to gay victims will be located in Berlin's Tiergarten Park, across from the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, Culture Minister Bernd Neumann said."

Iowa's Quad-City Times celebrates the gay American Idol contestant I posted about earlier in the week, Leo Marlowe: "Gwen Costello, librarian and drama director at Northeast High School in Goose Lake, Marlowe’s alma mater, remembers the young thespian playing the jester in 'Once Upon a Mattress' and receiving awards on the speech team. In his high school yearbook, Marlowe, who was voted 'Most Likely to be Famous' from the Class of 2002, was asked to pontificate on what he would do if he could not sing. 'I don’t know what I’d do,' he responded. 'I guess I’d be lost.'...'He’s just so down to earth and can make anybody laugh,” Costello said. “We noticed that right away last night, how he made everybody laugh and made everybody comfortable. That’s what he does best besides singing.' Costello said Marlowe comes from 'a wonderful family. We’re thrilled, we’re just thrilled. I thoroughly expect him to be schmoozing with the big guys soon. He’ll probably be Simon’s best friend someday.'"

Paula: dancing like there's no tomorrow.

Grey's Anatomy's Justin Chambers admitted to same psych ward as Britney Spears — for sleep disorder.

Robert Smithson's Spiral Jetty threatened by oil drilling.

Gay populations booming in Alabama and Utah: "In the past 17 years, Utah's gay population has shot from the 38th largest in the country to 14th. Birmingham, Ala., meanwhile, is now home to all-night gay bars and pride parades; the South's gay tally has outpaced any other region. 'What many of the bigger cities like New York were experiencing during the late '60s and '70s is happening here now, but quietly,' says Danny Upton, the head of Equality Alabama."

Pro-gay bills advance in Virginia legislature.

Jesse Metcalfe: Single, hating it.

Oregon fans target UCLA basketball player with homophobic chants: "The target was Kevin Love, the gifted freshman who grew up near Portland but left his home state last year for Westwood. Some Ducks fans, lost in their immaturity, view Love as a traitor. From the warm-ups to the final seconds, they heaped scorn on the Bruins' No. 42 and his family. There's cheering and booing that is within the bounds of civility. But sometimes it goes out of bounds, into a realm society should not condone. You know it when you see it, know it when you hear it. This was out of bounds. There were stabs at Love's looks, at his mother, father and the history of mental illness in his family. This was disgusting. What drew my ire the most were reports of long, loud, homophobic chants directed at UCLA's young center."

Straight teen sues high school, claiming she was prevented from peacefully supporting gay rights: "Heather Gillman, who is represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, filed suit in federal court against the School Board and Ponce de Leon High School Principal David Davis. According to the complaint, Davis suspended several students for 'expressing their support for the fair treatment of gays and lesbians.'...'I think everybody should be able to support what they believe in and not be punished for it,' Gillman said Thursday during a conference call with reporters."

Mike Huckabee on what's beautiful about America: “The beauty of America is that a person can come and even make a disruption, and you know what, that person is not going to be taken out and shot.”

The power of persuasion: reality show supermodels sittin' in a tree...

Sphere: Related Content

News: Coral, Indiana, Rufus Wainwright, Berlin, Neil Patrick Harris

Indiana Senate votes 39-9 to ban same-sex marriage: "The amendment now goes to the House, where it died last year and where it's stalled again this year. State Rep. Scott Pelath, D-Michigan City, the chairman of the House Rules and Legislative Procedures Committee, which was assigned the bill, has already said he will not give it a hearing because this session's focus is on property taxes."

Someone commit him: Ambulance-chasing Bobby Trendy holds Britney vigil outside UCLA medical center.

Elton John holds fundraiser for gay London mayoral candidate and former top cop Brian Paddick.

California same-sex marriage foes relaunch drive for constitutional amendment: "Signature gatherers have been spotted by people out in the field, [Geoff Kors, executive director of Equality California] told the Bay Area Reporter Tuesday, January 29. He said the measure's supporters have raised over $350,000 so far, and he said signatures are being collected in the Sacramento and Central Valley areas, as well as in Southern California. Kors said there isn't "extensive visibility" yet and that he wasn't aware of signatures being gathered in the Bay Area. Kors said the anti-gay groups need about 1.1 million signatures by April 21 in order to collect the nearly 700,000 valid signatures needed to put the measure before voters. Kors said he and others just learned of the group's efforts last week, and are working to develop plans of their own."

Gray January: NYC gets no snow for first time in 75 years.

Carson Kressley on Carson Kressley: "I can't say what people are thinking, but I'm never going to defend my actions as being one way or another. I defend them as me being me. If I say I was being stereotypical and I do what "shouldn't" be stereotypical, then I'm living my life for somebody else and I'm marching to the beat of somebody else's drummer, and that, I think, is a worse thing."

The case for Katie Holmes faking the NY Marathon.

Researchers: Human sunscreen killing off coral reefs around the world. "Four commonly found sunscreen ingredients can awaken dormant viruses in the symbiotic algae called zooxanthellae that live inside reef-building coral species. The chemicals cause the viruses to replicate until their algae hosts explode, spilling viruses into the surrounding seawater, where they can infect neighboring coral communities. Zooxanthellae provide coral with food energy through photosynthesis and contribute to the organisms' vibrant color. Without them, the coral "bleaches"—turns white—and dies...The researchers estimate that 4,000 to 6,000 metric tons of sunscreen wash off swimmers annually in oceans worldwide, and that up to 10 percent of coral reefs are threatened by sunscreen-induced bleaching."

More Becks on the beach photos.

Rufus, Rufus, Rufus: Victoria Beckham isn't the only one appearing naked on those new Marc Jacobs T-shirts.

New York City comptroller William Thompson leads anti-discrimination charge with the LGBT Community Center and the New York City Pension Funds, calling on more than two dozen large companies including ExxonMobil to ban discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity: "We must work together to make sure that corporate America embraces acceptance and affords all employees the same protections..."

New York Post endorses Barack Obama.

Neil Patrick Harris and David Burtka to duet for Broadway Backwards 3, the gender-bending concert of show tune favorites benefiting the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center.

Hundreds of Pennsylvania students sign petition to force administrators to take on anti-gay bullying: "The petition circulated after an openly gay senior student left school halfway through the year, claiming he was repeatedly harassed by fellow students. Superintendent David Volkman says the district has formed a new committee to look at the issue. He says the school is already looking at ways to reinforce its harassment policy, and has created 'safe rooms' for students who would like to talk with teachers about the issue."

Europe's first gay old folks home fully booked.

New York's Gay City News endorses Obama: "The McClurkin episode, unfortunate as it was, pales in comparison to the divisiveness that Senator Clinton has allowed her campaign to devolve into. Her comparison between the roles played by Dr. King and President Lyndon Johnson in advancing civil rights can be chalked up to inartfulness. The comments coming from her surrogates are far more disturbing, forming a pattern that sadly can no longer be ignored."

Sphere: Related Content

News: Interview Magazine, Tony Romo, Gayelle, Finger Length

Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama exchange nasty radio ads here and here.

Tony Romo can't shake off the albatross that brought down the Dallas Cowboys.

Underground movement underway by lesbians who don't want to be called 'lesbian' anymore. Their replacement name: Gayelle.

Washington state legislature has largest gay caucus in the U.S.: "Marko Liias, a 26-year-old Democrat from Mukilteo, started the legislative session earlier this month, replacing former Rep. Brian Sullivan, who left the Legislature for the Snohomish County Council. Liias' arrival gives Washington six openly gay lawmakers, ahead of California's five. That makes Washington the state with the largest Capitol gay caucus, according to the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund, a Washington, D.C.-based political action committee. 'Anything that we can do, me as an individual, or us as a state, to be leaders on this issue and be role models is excellent,' Liias told The Associated Press Wednesday. 'The message really is, everyone deserves a stake in Washington, and everyone has a stake in Washington's future.' Liias joins Reps. Jamie Pedersen, D-Seattle, Jim Moeller, D-Vancouver and Dave Upthegrove, D-Des Moines, and Sens. Ed Murray, D-Seattle, and Joe McDermott, D-Seattle." (CORRECTION: Victory Fund issues - statement: NH has most out legislators)

CLICK HERE if you're interested in knowing the funky name for the new James Bond film.

And guess who else has a new name? P Diddy.

Publisher Sandra Brant and editor-in-chief Ingrid Sischy leave Interview magazine.

Ceremony to be held on Monday in Westminster will remember Holocaust victims, including gays: "Groups such as the Roma, gay people and people with disabilities who also suffered under Nazi rule will be commemorated through song and imagery along with victims of other genocides.The event is part of a wider programme of education in Westminster's youth centres to explore the issues of racism, homophobia and sexism."

A closer look at finger lengths.

John Travolta had an obsession with Heath Ledger: "I wanted to meet him because I was very impressed with him from the very beginning. His agent introduced me to him at a party, and I just fell — I used every accolade. Actors need other actors to be inspired by, and he was 'my' actor....My feeling on Heath is I don't want to lose him at any age, 28 or 88, like Marlon Brando. I didn't like his passing, he was special to me, and he was a friend. At any age you don't want to lose someone like that — he was a valuable guy. I am truly sorry and my heart goes out to everyone who knew him and loved him, and actually, my heart goes out to me, I really don't like it. I don't like it…"

New South Wales police fight back against accusations of homophobia related to the recent surge of anti-gay violence in and around Sydney: "It should be pointed out that it can be very difficult for police officers to ask a victim whether they believe a crime was motivated by homophobia, or if it is a hate-related crime, especially if the victim has not voluntarily stated their sexuality. It is a sensitive topic that can lead to allegations of police either making inappropriate assumptions about someone’s sexuality or, or on the other hand, not treating a crime as a hate crime."

Jude Law spends a day at the beach.

Queerty talks to author Tom Dolby about his new book The Sixth Form.

Berlin film fesitval Panorama arthouse sidebar featuring a bunch of gay films: "Discrimination against gays and lesbians is one of this year’s hot topics in Dokumente and the subject of several films, including 'Das andere Istanbul,' by Doendue Kilic; 'East/West — Sex & Politics,' by Jochen Hick; 'Suddenly, Last Winter,' by Gustav Hofer and Luca Ragazzi, as well as Rosa von Praunheim’s 'Tote Schwule — lebende Lesben.'"

Maryland marriage bill gets new sponsors.

Sphere: Related Content

Madonna's Directorial Debut Boasts Filth, Wisdom, Large Mustache

These are the first shots released from Filth & Wisdom, Madonna's directorial debut, which will be premiering in the Panorama sidebar at the Berlin Film Festival which begins on February 7th.

The shots feature Eugene Hutz, the Ukrainian frontman for gypsy punk band Gogol Bordello, and the movie is described as "a low-budget music-based comedy." It also features Richard E Grant and Stephen Graham (Gangs of New York).

No doubt she's hoping her directing will be better received than her acting.