New Mexico Senate Kills Bill Giving Equal Rights to Gays

After brief debate, a bill that would have given registered domestic partners in New Mexico the same rights as married couples was rejected yesterday, despite last minute re-writes to the bill:

"Supporters of the bill did a last-minute rewrite to remove references that could be construed as marriage-related, but that wasn't enough to win the necessary votes. Ten Democrats joined the chamber's 15 Republicans to defeat the bill 25-17. 'I'm disappointed by the Senate's actions today in defeating what is fundamentally an issue of civil rights and equality,' said Democratic Gov. Bill Richardson, who has been pushing the legislation for several years. The bill has gotten snared in the Senate for the past couple of years, although the House has passed it previously. It would have allowed gay or straight unmarried couples to register as domestic partners and have the same legal protections and benefits as married couples. There are still three weeks left in the legislative session, but it appeared unlikely the measure could be revived. 'If you're mad, you should be mad,' Linda Siegle, a lobbyist for Equality New Mexico, told a dejected crowd outside the Capitol. 'The people in this building said you are not equal, you are not worthy, you do not deserve the same rights as most of them have.' Siegle said religious groups were influential in the bill's defeat."

Equality New Mexico's  Siegle and Peter Simonson of the ACLU address supporters after the vote, AFTER THE JUMP...

New Mexico Domestic Partner Bill Dies in Committee

A tie vote in the Senate Judiciary Committee halted the advancement of a domestic partner bill in New Mexico which was approved by a Public Affairs committee last week.

The bill is technically still alive, the Las Cruces Sun News reports:

"Gov. Bill Richardson hasn't given up on getting it passed during the 60-day session. 'We're just going to have to keep working. ... We'd like to get it to a floor vote,' said Eric Witt, the governor's legislative liaison. 'From the governor's viewpoint, this is an issue of fundamental human rights, and we'll keep fighting for it,' he said. But the Judiciary Committee would remain a roadblock. 'We need one more vote in that committee to get it out, and we don't think we can get it,' said Linda Siegle, a lobbyist for Equality New Mexico. The bill would give certain unmarried couples — homosexual or heterosexual — the same legal protections and benefits as married couples. Opponents say it would, in effect, legally recognize gay marriage...One Democrat, Sen. Richard Martinez of Española, joined the four Republicans on the judiciary panel to block the bill on a 5-5 vote. Yet another Democrat, Bernadette Sanchez of Albuquerque, was not in the committee room for the vote but said later she also is opposed to the legislation. She would vote against it if it were to come up again, she said."

Bill Richardson Withdraws as Commerce Secretary Nominee

New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson has declined Obama's nomination as Commerce Secretary because of a grand jury investigation in his home state:

"The grand jury has been investigating 'pay-to-play' allegations concerning a New Mexico state contract awarded to a California firm that has contributed to three political committees formed by Richardson, The Associated Press reported last month. A source close to Richardson told Politico, 'There are too many unanswered questions and while he thinks the results of the grand jury will turn out in his favor, he doesn't want to distract attention from the administration.'"

ABC's Jake Tapper reports that the Obama team felt that Richardson was not forthcoming about the investigation prior to his nomination, though Richardson's camp disagrees:

"President-elect Obama did not ask Richardson to withdraw his name from consideration, sources from both camps say, but the fact that the confirmation seemed untenable in the short term was apparent to everyone involved."

National Latino leaders are pressing for another Hispanic nominee: "Within hours of Richardson pulling his name for secretary of commerce, the head of the League of United Latin American Citizens had compiled a list of 10 Latino elected officials and corporate CEOs that would be offered to the Obama transition team. The list included Rep. Xavier Beccera (D-Calif.), who turned down the U.S. trade representative post, Albuquerque Mayor Marty Chavez and Miami Mayor Manny Diaz."

An MSNBC report on Richardson's withdrawal, AFTER THE JUMP...

News: Tina Turner, Meteorite, Empire State Building, Arizona

India identifies terrorist siege mastermind.

Tina Turner returns to the stage.

Paper: Gay parenting the next skirmish in culture war.

SURVEY: Most Americans favor gay adoptions, openly gay military service. "The Pulse of Equality survey, commissioned by the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) and released today, shows a majority of Americans favors a broad range of policies and protections for gays, as well as supporting them as adoptive parents. More than six in 10 would allow openly gay people to serve in the military. Another 63 percent favor expanding hate laws to include gays, lesbians and transgender people. Also, 69 percent support gays adopting."

Obama receiving more intelligence briefings than Bush: "The president-elect is receiving intelligence briefings every day of the week, exceeding the six days given to President Bush, according to Michael McConnell, the director of national intelligence."

Obama names New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson Secretary of Commerce.

Britney Spears has 27th Bday at Tenjune in NYC.

Model Edilson Nascimento finds being on the cover of Brazil's Junior magazine very funny.

"Don't Ask, Don't Tell" repeal to be a product of consensus-building not an add-on to an appropriations bill: "When it comes to President-elect Barack Obama making good on his campaign promise to repeal 'don't ask, don't tell,' gays and lesbians—70 percent of whom voted for him—may have to be patient. Advocates of the repeal are warning that any action might take a year or more."

Brad Pitt might get married.

New York Daily News steals Empire State Building in 90 minutes: "The News swiped the 102-story Art Deco skyscraper by drawing up a batch of bogus documents, making a fake notary stamp and filing paperwork with the city to transfer the deed to the property. Some of the information was laughable: Original 'King Kong' star Fay Wray is listed as a witness and the notary shared a name with bank robber Willie Sutton. The massive ripoff illustrates a gaping loophole in the city's system for recording deeds, mortgages and other transactions. The loophole: The system - run by the office of the city register - doesn't require clerks to verify the information."

Researchers have put together a new theory about what early Earth looked like, and apparently it looked much like a velvet black light poster from the 70's.

Details: The Rise of the A-Gay. "Make way for the A-gays. Moneyed, successful, educated, and comfortable in their own skin, they're fast becoming the new archetype of cosmopolitan masculinity. The urban man's man. They don't own yappy miniature dogs or time-shares in Fort Lauderdale; they own Labradors and four-bedroom summer homes in Sag Harbor. Instead of cruising in gay clubs, they jet to Gstaad or the TED conference, and party at Sundance with Zooey Deschanel. They don't want to be part of any kind of closeted group or velvet mafia."

Gay rights groups in Canada pressure Ottawa to sign UN declaration against anti-gay discrimination.

Chace Crawford is a cheater.

Remember that meteor that was photographed lighting up the sky as bright as day over Edmonton, Alberta? They found it.

What was behind the Prop. 102 gay marriage loss in Arizona? "In last month's vote, the proponents of Prop. 102 shed their financial disadvantage, receiving over $7 million in contributions and swamping the mere $600,000 raised by the opposition. And they ran what Herrod describes as a 'first class campaign,' with five television ads and even more radio spots. The ads highlighted the simplicity of the ballot initiative and cast doubt on the opposition's argument that Arizona statutory law already defined marriage as between a man and a woman. With courts in Massachusetts, Connecticut, and neighboring California delivering gay marriage to their states by judicial fiat, proponents of traditional marriage in Arizona could see the need to enshrine the definition of marriage in the state constitution. California voters themselves saw the need, approving a ballot initiative last month that nullified the imposition of gay marriage by the state's supreme court in May. Sam Holdren, public affairs director of Equality Arizona, which opposed Prop. 102, blamed California's ballot initiative for fundraising difficulties in Arizona. 'We were only able to talk to a limited number of voters with a very narrow message,' said Holdren, while the supporters 'were able to inundate people's mailboxes and phones. They had a lot of money to run a really effective campaign.'"

News: Passport Breaches, Bill Richardson, HIV, The Office

State Department acknowledges security breaches on Obama, Clinton, and McCain passport information: "[Secretary of State Condoleezza] Rice expressed concern over the privacy violations as well as the fact that they weren't reported right away. Rice said the incident "should have been made known to senior management. It was not to my knowledge and we also want to take every step we can to make sure this kind of thing doesn't happen again."

The Clintons and Rev. Jeremiah Wright: "The recent coverage of Rev. Jeremiah Wright has often cast him as a marginal, almost fringe figure, but Trinity Church is a major Chicago institution, and Wright has long been a prominent pastor on the American scene. And an anonymous blog set up to defend his church offers some compelling photographic evidence of this: A photograph of Wright and President Clinton, which it says was taken on Sept. 11, 1998 — the date of a White House gathering for religious leaders."

Jake Gyllenhaal had some kind of accident.

London protest: a protest will be held opposite Downing Street this Saturday, March 22 from 2-3 pm in support of gay Iranian teen Mehdi Kazemi and to demand Britain recognize the right of refugees to claim asylum on the grounds of sexual orientation.

New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson endorses Barack Obama: "I believe he is the kind of once-in-a-lifetime leader that can bring our nation together and restore America's moral leadership in the world. As a presidential candidate, I know full well Senator Obama's unique moral ability to inspire the American people to confront our urgent challenges at home and abroad in a spirit of bipartisanship and reconciliation."

Dept. of regrettable tattoos: Like father, like son.

Donald Hitchcock vs the DNC: Howard Dean's gay headache.

Jim McGreevey wins a round in divorce court: "Former Gov. Jim McGreevey didn't plan to torment his wife while they were married, a judge in their divorce case ruled Thursday, while allowing her to continue with a claim of marriage fraud. The judge dismissed Dina Matos McGreevey's claim of emotional distress against her estranged gay husband. 'Mr. McGreevey was not out to destroy her emotionally,' Superior Court Judge Karen Cassidy said."

Match drag queens with their baby pictures.

Former Bachelor Andy Baldwin gets juiced.

Stealth form of HIV may hold key to vaccine: "HIV is so dangerous because it is adept at avoiding detection by the immune system, says Carolyn Williamson at the University of Cape Town in South Africa. Some patients, however, have genetic mutations in the machinery of their immune system that are able to track and respond to HIV infection. In these people, the virus sacrifices its ability to grow in order to resist the immune attack. 'HIV strives to survive,' says Williamson, 'It will even compromise its fitness to evade detection – and that might impair its ability to replicate.' Now, Williamson's research team has shown that in its compromised form, HIV is less able to take a grip if it is transmitted to a new host – even if that person doesn't have the beneficial mutations in their immune system."

Butte: Mainstream media ignores victimization of gays. "If the media paid more attention to King's murder and the homophobia behavior that permeates our public schools, perhaps there'd be a public outcry here in the Sunshine State against the Legislature's removal from the proposed Safe School bill language that addresses harassment of GLBT students."

The Office is back - here's the new promo!

Bill Richardson to End Presidential Run

Bill Richardson will announce he's getting out of the race on Thursday after failing to make headway in either of the first two contests in the election season, the AP reports:

"The Richardson campaign would not comment on the governor's decision, reached after a meeting with his top advisers Wednesday in New Mexico. Richardson had one of the most wide-ranging resumes of any candidate ever to run for the presidency, bringing experience from his time in Congress, President Clinton's Cabinet, in the New Mexico statehouse as well as his unique role as a freelance diplomat. As a Hispanic, he added to the unprecedented diversity in the Democratic field that also included a black and a woman. But Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama dominated the spotlight in the campaign, and Richardson was never able to become a top-tier contender. He accused his rivals of failing to commit to bring troops home from Iraq soon enough. He portrayed his campaign as a job application for president, and ran clever ads that showed a bored interviewer unimpressed with his dazzling resume. The commercials helped fuel his move to double-digit support in some early state polls, and advisers argued he was poised to move past former vice presidential nominee John Edwards for the role of third-place challenger. But he was not able to build the momentum and came in a distant fourth place in Iowa and New Hampshire. Richardson didn't get quite 5 percent in the New Hampshire primary Tuesday and came in with just 2 percent in the Iowa caucus last week."

Richardson also made a couple notable gaffes with respect to gays and lesbians. In July, he was forced to apologize after an exchange with radio host Don Imus in 2006 was unearthed in which he had used the slur "maricón" in reference to gay people. Richardson explained that in the Spanish that he grew up with, the word maricón "means simply 'gay,' not positive or negative."

And at LOGO's Presidential Forum on LGBT issues, he told moderator Melissa Etheridge "It's a choice" when asked whether homosexuality was a choice or biological.

A shocked Etheridge said, "I don't think you understood the question. Do you think I -- a homosexual is born that way, or do you think that around seventh grade we go, 'Oh, I want to be gay?'"

Answered Richardson: "I'm not a scientist. I don't see this as an issue of science or definition. I see gays and lesbians as people, as a matter of human decency."

Richardson issued a statement following the debate: "Let me be clear -- I do not believe that sexual orientation or gender identity happen by choice. But I'm not a scientist, and the point I was trying to make is that no matter how it happens, we are all equal and should be treated that way under the law. That is what I believe, that is what I have spent my career fighting for. I ask that people look at my record and my actions and they will see I have been a true supporter of the LGBT community."