One of These Twins is Gay

NatGeo TV takes a look at gay twins and nature vs nurture in homosexuality.

Watch, AFTER THE JUMP...

Gay Nurses Apologize to Lesbian Whose Partner Died Without Her

You may remember the story of Janice Langbehn, the Seattle woman whose partner Lisa Pond suffered an aneurysm on an R-Family cruise out of Miami in February 2007. Even after a power of attorney naming Langbehn was sent to Jackson Memorial Hospital, the hospital refused to allow Langbehn access to Pond, who died about 18 hours after being admitted. Langbehn was finally allowed to see Pond as a priest delivered last rites.

On Thursday in Miami, several nurses from the gay Lavender caucus of the union serving Jackson Memorial hospital apologized to Langbehn for what she went through:

"The apologies came at a town hall-style meeting Thursday night at Unity on the Bay church, in which Langbehn returned to Miami as a speaker. Baker, Molina and two other Jackson nurses, Jim Nicholson and Diane Poirier, along with 60 other people, attended the meeting. Langbehn, whose lawsuit against Jackson was dismissed in September by a federal court in Miami, gracefully welcomed the nurses’ personal gesture. But she still want the hospital to apologize formally."

Langbehn's case against the hospital, you may recall, was rejected by a federal court in September.

Health Care Bill Provision Would Fix Unjust Tax Laws for Gays

The NYT makes note of a provision in the health care bill proposed by Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA) which would correct unjust tax laws for domestic partners:

"Supporters of gay rights have long been trying to change the tax treatment of health benefits provided by employers to the domestic partners of their employees. In effect, such benefits are now treated as taxable income for the employee, and the employer may owe payroll taxes on their fair-market value. Under the bill, such benefits would be tax-free, just like health benefits provided to the family of an employee married to a person of the opposite sex. Representative Jim McDermott, Democrat of Washington, who proposed the change, said it would 'correct a longstanding injustice, end a blatant inequity in the tax code and help make health care coverage more affordable for more Americans.' Joseph R. Solmonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign, a gay rights advocacy group, said federal tax law had not kept up with changes in the workplace. 'I meet people all the time who are gratified they work for companies that offer domestic partner benefits,' he said. 'But they pass on the benefits because they cannot afford the taxes that go with the benefits.'"

HRC Back Story makes note of several other LGBT-related provisions in the health care bill.

After passing the House on a 220-215 vote (chart) over the weekend, the bill now heads to the Senate where it faces as tough, if not tougher, a battle as it did in the House.

Michelle Bachmann's Teabagger Rally Creepier Than Halloween

Rachel Maddow points out the cast of characters attending Michelle Bachmann's health care teabagger rally yesterday.

Watch, AFTER THE JUMP...

Writes Dana Milbank in the WaPo:

"Many of the demonstrators chanted 'Weasel Queen,' their pet name for the speaker of the House. Others wore masks of Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.); they were covered in fake blood and carrying dolls representing aborted fetuses, as the Grim Reaper led them in chains to hell. In the front of the protest, a sign showed President Obama in white coat, his face painted to look like the Joker. The sign, visible to the lawmakers as they looked into the cameras, carried a plea to 'Stop Obamunism.' A few steps farther was the guy holding a sign announcing 'Obama takes his orders from the Rothchilds' [sic], accusing Obama of being part of a Jewish plot to introduce the antichrist. But the best of Bachmann's recruits were a few rows into the crowd, holding aloft a pair of 5-by-8-foot banners proclaiming 'National Socialist Healthcare, Dachau, Germany, 1945.' Both banners showed close-up photographs of Holocaust victims, many of them children...Now, objecting to the health-care bill is one thing. But doesn't it send the wrong message for House Republicans to hold an event on the Capitol grounds full of hateful and gruesome words and images?"

Brandon Beemer Joins NoH8 Campaign, Strips Down for Male Cancer

The Bold and The Beautiful's Brandon Beemer is one of the latest celebs to join Adam Bouska's NoH8 campaign. He also gets bold and beautiful for the Everyman campaign in collaboration with Cosmopolitan to raise awareness about prostate and testicular cancer. You may recall some British athletes doing it in the past.

Anyway, Beemer's awareness-raising centerfold is set to appear in next month's Cosmo, but you can get a sneak peek, AFTER THE JUMP...

Towleroad Guide to the Tube #561

HEALTH CARE: Nancy Pelosi introduces the merged House health care reform bill.

PAUL AND JEANETTE: More resurrected testimony from April's marriage equality in Maine.

CALLING 'EM OUT: Sarah Palin.

SURVIVING: Joy Behar interviews the now free Richard Hatch.

For recent Guides to the Tube, click HERE.