News: Gun Rally, Norovirus, Balkanization, 16-bit

The New York Times' Charles M. Blow on the GOP's plans to discard the winner-take-all system that has been favoring Democrats: "One day I will have to visit the evil lair where they come up with these schemes.They pump them out like a factory. Voter suppression didn’t work in November, and it may even have backfired in some states, so they just devised another devilish plan."

Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, an anti-gay Republican, also opposes the measure: "I think winner-take-all is part of how a state matters. Our side would have gotten more votes this go-around but you know I want people to want to fight to win the whole state. It makes the state as a state matter more... We need to build them up and not to Balkanize America. It's the states that created the federal government and not the other way around."

And neither does Haley Barbour, the former governor of Mississippi.

Good news: "Emmanuel Lutheran Church will vote Sunday to openly confirm its acceptance of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender parishioners… The vote would confirm Emmanuel as a Reconciling in Christ congregation and make it the first Rockford church listed with Reconciling Works, which advocates for the full inclusion of LGBT Lutherans in all aspects of church life. Reconciling Works lists 5,893 open Lutheran congregations across the United States."

Never fear, Beyoncé is on site rehearsing for her Super Bowl performance.

Headline of the day: "There's Absolutely No Logical Argument Against Gay Marriage".

Runner-up: "Adam Lambert Got A Birthday Lap Dance From David Arquette Last Night".

No amount of crunches can save your tummy from the norovirus: "It's here. A variant of norovirus first spotted in Australia is now sweeping the U.S. The wily virus causes stomach upset, vomiting and diarrhea. The sickness is sometimes referred to as the stomach flu, though influenza has nothing to do with it."

Which "straight" actors have taken to snogging one another?

New satellite technology lets us finally see what clouds are up to at night.

Thousands turn out for pro-gun control rally in D.C.

On her 55th birthday, 55 reasons to love Ellen DeGeneres.

Troy Stevenson, the new executive director for Garden State Equality, vows to keep fighting for marriage equality there.

  Bryan Singer confirmed that Ellen Page and Anna Paquin have signed on to the next X-movie, "Days of Future Past," based on the classic X-Men story arc of the same name.

Downton Abbey as a 16-bit Super Nintendo video game.

Here's part of what President Obama said a video pre-recorded for the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force annual conference: "Today you are helping lead the way to a future where everyone is treated with dignity and respect... The work will be hard, the road will be long, but I'm more confident than ever that we will reach a better future as long as Americans like you keep reaching for justice and all of us keep marching together."

Leaked Comic Page Shows 'Judge Dredd' in Gay Kiss, Suggests He's Coming Out

A leaked page from a new '2000 AD' comic shows Judge Dredd, the policeman from the future (portrayed by Sylvester Stallone in the 1995 live action film), kissing a young man in a gay club, and teases the idea that he's coming out of the closet, the Independent reports:

Reaction to the teaser, which was released online last month, has been mixed, with some fans so hostile to the idea they have threatened to burn the comic.

A spokesman said: "We have had quite an extreme reaction. "Dredd has always been satirical, while touching on serious issues. This is another example of this."

But wait:

There is a twist in the tale, with all not being as it seems, the spokesman said. Writer Rob Williams said Dredd's sexuality - whatever it is - was buried beneath his love for the law.

He said: "Although, can you imagine what would happen if that repression ever fell away, just for an instant? Sure, Dredd could be gay.

Devoted readers will just have to wait and see. Check out the full leaked page,
AFTER THE JUMP...

Wade Davis: Closeted Gay Players Not 'Chicken'

A few weeks ago, just before the new year, I shared a gay history flashback in the form of a post about Gay Comix, the short-lived, late-70s/early-80s periodical that covered, with tongue in cheek, the burgeoning gay rights movement in illustration.

In that post, I mentioned that a few issues have been reprinted in Robert Triptow's Gay Comics, a collection of LGBT cartoons from that era. My copy of Triptow's anthology came last week, but I didn't had a chance to review it until today.

The first illustration I randomly opened to, a mid-70s cartoon by Charles Ortleb and Richard Fiala originally published in the gay newspaper Christopher Street, is posted above. In case the punchline is too blurry, it reads, "Coach Waldman [no relation] passes out xeroxes of an article asserting that only one in ten of his team could possibly be gay."

This gag, sadly, remains relevant today. Despite all the progress LGBT people have made, the mound, the pitch and the rink all remain relatively closed to sexual honesty.

Wade Davis knows this all too well. The former NFL player had to wait until he retired to come out. Since then, he has dedicated his time to making the collective locker room a more welcoming place for gay players. That doesn't mean, however, that he thinks gay players should be chided for not coming out.

In response to ESPN journalist LZ Granderson's claim that closeted players are "chicken," Davis penned a Los Angeles Times op-ed in which he argues that the onus is on straight players and fans to create a more inclusive environment:

Coming out, or as I like to say, "inviting in," is an individual process that requires a level of safety and security. In women's sports, a number of gay athletes have disclosed their sexual orientation, including tennis champion Amelie Mauresmo, basketball great Sheryl Swoopes and soccer star Megan Rapinoe. It was interesting how little fallout there was from those announcements. But I suspect that women's sports fans are more accepting, in part because of misguided societal notions about femininity and masculinity.

I don't believe another athlete would try to harm a gay male athlete, but professional sports is still full of people happy to express their disapproval of homosexuality, and coming out requires a supportive environment.

It's been about 40 years since Christopher Street published the above cartoon, but this very well could have been run this morning.

News: Missy, Stonewalling Hagel, Da Vinci, Twenty Thirteen

Ask the Blue Coat internet security company to eliminate a filtering function that they themselves admit unnecessarily censors LGBT sites.

A We The People petition argues that a White House-backed reality show about VP Joe Biden would help bipartisanship. "Such a program would educate the American public about the duties and responsibilities of their Vice President, while providing a glimpse of the lighthearted side of politics even in the midst of contentious and divisive national debates," the organizers say. As of this writing, 1,352 people have signed that petition.

Republican Senators are already warning that Defense Secretary nominee to-be Chuck Hagel will face a tough confirmation hearing. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said Hagel's past comments and votes on Iran and Israel will be a "matter of much discussion," even though the Kentucky Republican once said Hagel is a "a clear voice on foreign policy and national security." Sen. Lindsey Graham meanwhile described the nomination as an "in your face" move by a president "high on re-election."

Sen. Graham also said of Hagel, "If confirmed to be secretary of defense, [he] would be the most antagonistic secretary of defense towards the state of Israel in our nation's history."

Thomas Lopez-Pierre, a candidate for New York City Council, wrote an exceptionally offensive email to a black real estate developer blasting him for backing Lopez-Pierre's rival, a Jewish man named Mark Levine. This is how that email ends: "Black people in Harlem can smell the Bitch in you. They know that you are a weak, little short man who sucks White/Jewish cock."

If Leonardo Da Vinci lived today, he would most likely be called "gay," yet he artist's sexuality appears to decidedly straight in the new Starz original series Da Vinci's Demons, the trailer of which was just released.

"I know I am not the best looking man in the world but surely no woman could fail to be dazzled by this shirt? The gold shirt has been one of my dreams." So says 32-year old money lender Datta Phuge of his internationally renowned $22,000 splurge.

Hey Britney, Missy would like to work with you.

"25 Of Jared Padalecki’s Sexiest Photos." Nuff said.

Texas Chainsaw 3D was number one at the box office this weekend.

Actor and former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger says guns in movies are "just entertainment."

The Vatican's semi-official newspaper continues to support the idea that LGBT equality is like socialism and will destroy civilization as we know it. Yawn.

Though "hashtag" was the American Dialect Society's word of the year for 2012, "marriage equality" was voted most likely to succeed: "The argument was that while the word hashtag has been around since 2007, this was the year of the hashtag. This was the year that hashtag was everywhere in the Twittersphere and beyond. It was creating social trends, reflecting social trends, making memes go viral," said ADS voting member and University of Michigan Professor Anne Curzan.

Gay hero Northstar covers next month's Astonishing X-Men #59, and he looks fierce.

Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee hopes that passing marriage equality will help improve the state's image, attracting new business, new visitors and maybe some "creative" new residents. "We want to be very inclusive, welcoming everybody," he said. "And in particular (to the) creative, energetic people that so often are associated with the gay community."

Hendrik Hertzberg on the awkward pronunciation of 2013: "A question... [when] you got to the mention of '2013,' did your inner reading voice say 'two thousand thirteen'? Or did it say, as I hope and expect, 'twenty thirteen'?..."

Gay bowler Scott Norton on the impact his and his husband's on-air kiss has had: "I didn't even know anything was going to come of it. It happened on Sunday and then nothing came of it... And then it exploded and all of the credit goes to Jaime Perez and the International Art of Bowling for all they've done. They've really turned this into something special."

Gay men in Australia are asking the government there to follow in the footsteps of its Commonwealth cousin the UK and expunge old anti-gay convictions from people's records: "For an unknown number of older gay men, historical convictions for consensual sex continue to cast a shadow over their lives. Despite Victoria decriminalizing gay sex in 1981, these men are still prevented from applying for some jobs, such as teaching, or taking on volunteering roles."

British Prime Minister told The Telegraph that he would like to stay in office until 2020 and concedes that his proposals for marriage equality in England were not delivered as concisely as possible, particularly with regard to religious institutions. He made clear, "[The proposal] is about what the state does, this is the civil part of marriage. We're not changing what happens in church or synagogue or mosque."

News: Aurora, Bieber's Blunt, Catholic Hate Group Petition, NZ

Did you get a chance to see Betty White on The Tonight Show this week?

Oh, look, it's anti-gay GOP House Speaker John Boehner with the new gay Congressmen Sean Patrick Maloney and Mark Pocan and their lovely husbands and families.

There's currently a We the People petition demanding the White House to designate the Catholic Church a hate group because of Pope Benedict's repeated denunciations of gay people. Less than 2,000 have signed said petition, which was posted on Christmas.

From NBC News: "The U.S. Supreme Court is set to tackle gay marriage in a matter of months, but legislative action this week in Rhode Island and Illinois shows that supporters aren't in wait-and-see mode. Buoyed by ballot victories in four states in November, they're now on the offensive in two more; wins would mean that more than 20 percent of Americans live in places that have approved same-sex marriage."

Could the Supreme Court decision on marriage equality cases be 3-3-3, not 5-4? "Say, for example, that three justices vote to reverse on the merits, three vote to affirm based on the 9th Circuit's opinion, and three vote to dismiss the appeal on jurisdictional grounds. In that case, I would argue, Proposition 8 is dead and same-sex marriage is once again available and recognized in California. The result would be a brief per curiam explaining the disposition of votes, and at least three separate opinions – maybe even more than that – to chart the outcome. No national precedent would be set in such a case."

Are fans, not players, to blame for keeping European soccer players in the closet? From The Telegraph: "Part of football's appeal is its unreconstructed, largely masculine, largely working-class attitudes. It is easy to imagine that a gay footballer would dread the reaction at away grounds were he to come out."

Almost 54% of New Zealand voters support marriage equality, according to a new poll. Only 38.1% do not. Meanwhile, with regard to the always controversial right to die question, about 60% believe a terminally ill person has the right to request doctor-assisted euthanasia.

Justin Bieber with a blunt.

Clueless photo shoot.

Christians against yoga, one of the easiest and most effective forms of exercise in the world.

Three people were found dead inside a home in Aurora, Colorado, the site of last summer's deadly movie theater shooting, after local SWAT officials shot a gunman who took them hostage. One hostage escaped and called police, leading to a nearly six-hour stand-off.

Either because officials thought them inappropriate or because venues backed out, about half-a-dozen gun shows within an hour drive of Newtown, CT, where the Sandy Hook shooting happened last month, have been canceled.

Peter David is the straight author and comic book writer who makes sure gay heroes Rictor and Shatterstar are prominently featured in the Marvel title X-Factor. Late last year David had a stroke, and he needs your help down the road to recovery.

Here's Ryan Seacrest running around shirtless in St. Barts.

Advice to President Obama.

The return of the Coca-Cola polar bears.

News: Boehner's Potty Mouth, Shirtless Jude, Sci-Fi Faith, Shojo

Stacie Laughton, the first transgender person elected to office in New Hampshire, will not run for the seat she resigned after it was revealed she was convicted of conspiracy to commit credit card fraud.

House Speaker John Boehner had some choice words for Sen. Harry Reid during the fiscal cliff negotiations at the White House: "Go f*ck yourself."

Meanwhile, right-wing website Breitbart is starting to beat the "oust Boehner" drum.

Here's a fun interactive graph about where the 50 United States stand on LGBT rights.

Richard Socarides on the push for marriage equality in Illinois: "Illinois, being the President's home state and containing four per cent of the total U.S. population, would be a big win for marriage-equality advocates."

Hillary Clinton has left New York Presbyterian as she continues to recover from a blood clot near her brain.

Natural born smooth talker: "Just hours after they're born, babies seem to be able to tell the difference between sounds in their native tongue and a foreign one, according to a new study that suggests language learning begins in utero."

A shirtless Jude Law looks fit and fine vacationing in Maui.

Anne Hathaway looks lovely on the cover of Harper's Bazaar UK.

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie reportedly tied the knot on Christmas.

NYE fireworks in reverse.

Take some time to read my old friend Cord Jefferson's wonderful piece about depression, adventure and finding clarity in life.

Katie Holmes and Jake Gyllenhaal are not a couple.

New track from Azaelia Banks, "Bad Bitches Doin'."

Lindsay Lohan has been evicted from her home in Hollywood. Hopefully this will inspire her to get the help she so desperately needs.

"Whatever happened to comic books?"

A completely sci-fi prediction about religion in 2060 from homophobic hate leader David Barton: "Conservative Christians will be treated as second class citizens, much like African Americans were prior to civil rights legislation in the 1960s. Family as we know it will be drastically changed with the state taking charge of the children beginning at birth. Marriage will include two, three, four or any number of participants. Marriage will not be important, with individuals moving in and out of a 'family' group at will. Church buildings will be little used, with many sold to secular buyers and the money received going to the government. Churches will not be allowed to discuss any political issues, even if it affects the church directly." Yeah, right.

A look at the wild popularity of shojo manga, a genre that focuses on teen boys' gay love, among straight women in Japan: "The genre of boys' love, in other words, allows [authors and] readers to place themselves in a position of power and aggrandizement that is rare for women—as the distanced, masterful position, letting his (or her) eyes roam across variegated objects of desire."

"The Private War That Killed Spencer Cox."

If you can, pick up this week's edition of The New Yorker to read Daniel Mendelsohn's incredible piece about how historical novelist Mary Renault's work helped him come to terms with his own sexuality. The magazine's abstract elaborates: "Reading her books, the writer felt a shock of recognition... After reading Renault’s The Charioteer, which is set during the Second World War and wrestles with the issue of 'Greek love,' the writer wrote in his diary, 'I know what I am. Now I must think what to do with it.'"

From "The Catholic Church’s new gay insult:" "It would be unrealistic to expect the Catholic Church to make a sudden about-face on the issue of equality. It’s been doing the 'Homosexuality is an offense to God' shtick a really long time and that’s a hard habit to break. But the religion whose pope declared in 1866 that slavery wasn’t necessarily against 'natural' law does have a track record of sometimes evolving in light of compelling social change."