News: Dianne Feinstein, Indiana Poll, Kelly Clarkson, UKIP

As of this writing, almost 50,000 people have signed a petition calling on the White House to designate Westboro Baptist a hate group.

South Carolina's Rock Hill Herald apologized after running an advertisement for guns next to a news story about the shooting. "Advertisements are usually placed days before the newspaper lands on your doorstep. In this case, the advertisement in question was placed Thursday morning," wrote editor Paul Osmundson. "But we at The Herald should have recognized the unfortunate juxtaposition of the advertisement with stories and a photograph about gun violence."

In the wake of the Connecticut shooting, Fox is airing repeats of Family Guy and American Dad tonight instead of new episodes that contain "possibly sensitive material."

From author Liza Long's piece on raising and caring for a mentally ill and potentially dangerous son, "I Am Adam Lanza's Mother": "No one wants to send a 13-year-old genius who loves Harry Potter and his snuggle animal collection to jail But our society, with its stigma on mental illness and its broken healthcare system, does not provide us with other options. Then another tortured soul shoots up a fast food restaurant. A mall. A kindergarten classroom. And we wring our hands and say, 'Something must be done.'"

Sen. Dianne Feinstein says she plans to introduce an assault weapons ban next month. "It will ban the sale, the transfer, the importation, and the possession. Not retroactively, but prospectively. It will ban the same for big clips, drums or strips of more than 10 bullets," she said. "There will be a bill."

The U.S. Army's experiments in chemistry: "In 1953, a catastrophic amount of EA 1298—a version of mescaline—had been injected into a patient named Harold Blauer, who had a violent reaction: shock, coma, and then death. Blauer, a professional tennis player, had been admitted to the institute for depression, and was never told that he was part of a military experiment."

Openly gay Rep. Barney Frank on his forthcoming retirement: "I'm hoping to get paid well to do what I do now for nothing."

Latest polls show Indiana voters split on legalizing gay marriage: "The survey taken for the Bowen Center for Public Affairs at Ball State University and WISH-TV found that 45 percent of those surveyed supported allowing gay people to wed, while 45 percent opposed the idea. Ten percent had no opinion."

Homeland actor Mandy Patinkin was very excited to hear that Fox New York morning show host Dave Price's wife was going into labor.

Kelly Clarkson announced today via Twitter that she and her manager's son, Brandon Blackstock, are getting married.

Can the Spice Girls really exist without Victoria Beckham?

Martin Short knows all the right people in his SNL monologue.

For sperm, it's not just the head that matters, but length too: "Most fertility research has focused on the size of sperm and the size of the swimmers' heads, but a new study suggests the variability in the length of sperm also may put a wrench in successful reproduction. Like a factory churning out products of inconsistent sizes, ejaculates with varying sperm lengths can be a problem, said James Mossman of Brown University in Rhode Island."

British conservatives upset with Prime Minister David Cameron's push for marriage equality appear to be turning toward anti-EU political party UKIP. From Reuters: "UKIP, which wants Britain to exit the EU, has pledged to exploit Conservative divisions over the issue and polls showed its support reaching new highs, putting it in third place ahead of Cameron's junior coalition partners the Liberal Democrats."

RIP: "Gustavo Archilla, whose marriage in Canada in 2003 after almost six decades of a quiet and committed relationship inspired supporters of same-sex marriage, died on Nov. 27 on Marco Island, Fla., where he lived. He was 96."

Finally, an inflatable bee beard.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/12/16/3144695/liberal-icon-frank-eyes-high-profile.html#storylink=cpyFinally, an inflatable bee beard.

News: Ft. Bragg, Indiana Gay Nup Ban, CIA, Iowa Question

The European Court of Human Rights unanimously ruled that the CIA tortured, shackled, beat and sodomized detainee Khaled el-Masri, a German national they claimed had ties to terror groups.

Pennsylvania GOP state Rep. Daryl Metcalfe is going to introduce a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage there. "It is important that we support traditional marriage and have constitutional amendments to protect it at the state level. Marriage is a common good, not a special interest. Special interests should not have the right to redefine marriage for all of us," he said.

Conservatives in Texas are looking for new ways to prohibit abortion, while liberals and concerned doctors in Wisconsin and North Carolina are fighting back against other right-wing attacks on a woman's right to choose.

The new The Knife album is coming soon. Get excited here.

The new poster for The Wolverine movie moves!

Channing Tatum and Mark Ruffalo look beefy on the set of Foxcatcher.

Drew Barrymore debuts new baby Olive on People cover.

Matt Bomer does some pre-holiday shopping.

On marriage equality and affirmative action at the Supreme Court: "Justice Anthony Kennedy is likely to be the swing vote in these cases, and many are predicting he will side with conservatives to limit racial preferences and with liberals to support gay marriage. Paradoxically, the very reasoning that could guide Kennedy to support marriage equality may bolster his decision to curtail race-based affirmative action, spurring colleges to adopt new approaches."

The UK Network Rail Service turned CCTV footage of three ladies' embarrassing escalator moments into a PSA.

Expect to see a lot of nude Matt Damon for his turn as Liberace's long-term lover Scott Thorson in the biopic Behind the Candelabra: "I had to come out of the pool, go over to Michael Douglas, straddle him on a chaise lounge and start kissing him... It's not like I kiss him just once. We drew it up like a football plan."

Congratulations to new married couple Larry Duncan And Randell Shepherd, the Washington couple who became famous after a picture of them getting a marriage license went viral. Even though neither is particularly religious, they still married Sunday in a church. Said Duncan, "Enough people have told me, 'God hates fags. I want someone in a church to say, 'God loves fags,' to have that stamp on it."

The University of Iowa is now asking applicants if they identify as LGBT, making it the first public university and only the second school in the nation to do so. "This is a question whose time had come. We think this will cause them to look more closely at the university because we value that part of who they are. We want students to feel we are receptive to and sensitive to their lifestyle and their description of themselves," said admissions director Michael Barron.

Stephen Saland, one of the four GOP New York Senators to support marriage equality, has conceded defeat in his November election against Democrat Terry Gipson.

Fresh Deepwater leak? "CBS News has learned that BP is set to embark Thursday on the fifth day of a little-known subsea mission under Coast Guard supervision to look for any new oil leaking from the Deepwater Horizon disaster."

Equality and cents: "Gov. Mitch Daniels said Wednesday he has been hearing from companies that fear that a measure that would put Indiana's ban on same-sex marriage into the state constitution might also prevent firms from offering benefits to gay couples"

Ashley Broadway believes she is being excluded from the Association of Bragg Officers’ Spouses in North Carolina, because she is a lesbian. "The facts here are simple: there is no legal need or justification for any spouse to be excluded from a group like this, which exists to provide support to the spouses and families of our military men and women and the communities they serve," said Outserve-SLDN Executive Director Allyson Robinson.

Are One Direction band members truly fascinating?

POLL: Indiana Voters Reject Anti-Gay Constitutional Amendment

As Indiana Republicans say they'll move forward with plans to constitutionally ban same-sex marriage, a new poll shows that a majority of Indiana voters are against such a negative move.

From the Indianapolis Star:

The poll, taken for the Bowen Center for Public Affairs at Ball State University and WISH-TV, found that 54 percent of those surveyed oppose changing the state constitution to bar gay couples from marrying, while 38 percent support doing so.

...

The Indiana House and Senate voted in 2011 for a proposed amendment that not only bans same-sex marriage but also prohibits civil unions or anything else that is similar to marriage. It must vote to approve the identical language again in either the 2013 or 2014 legislative sessions in order for voters to make their decision in the 2014 general election.

That's a lot of time for a Supreme Court decision or grassroots activism to convince Indiana lawmakers looking championing the discriminatory amendment that they're on the wrong side of history.

News: Clowns, Chiefs, Divas, Bucks

The New York Times announced Brenda Sue Fulton and bride Penelope Gnesin's West Point chapel wedding.

Pope Benedict met with lions and clowns and acrobats, oh my!

GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham, ever the voice of optimism, predicts the nation will speed off the dreaded "fiscal cliff".

Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner says social security reform will come only after said fiscal cliff has been avoided.

Hugh Hefner and runaway bride Crystal Harris are actually for real definitely tying the knot.

Hillary Clinton and Meryl Streep at the Kennedy Center Honors. Yeah, some other really famous, accomplished, admirable people were there, but, again, Hillary Clinton and Meryl Streep.

Photographer Alexander Kargaltsev focuses on gay Russian men seeking asylum in the United States.

Leighton Meester, a fashion retrospective.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel's avoiding some touchy gay subjects lest she complicate her reelection bid, and it's upsetting some within her party, the Christian Democratic Union. "The CDU is having to appeal to a broader base, to adapt to a changed reality in society, new family structures and a bigger role for women," said Bonn University political science professor Frank Decker. "A traditional conservative, Christian party must find answers, it must debate these things. But Merkel is refusing to allow this debate to happen, and that breeds resentment."

Here is a trailer for Buck Wild, MTV's new Deep South Jersey Shore-esque reality show.

Shoppers remain unfazed by garment factory fires overseas, like the one in Bangladesh that killed 112 people last week: "Shoppers from Cincinnati to Paris to Singapore all said the same thing: They were aware of the fatal factory fire, but they weren't thinking about it while browsing stores in the days since. Brand name, fit and — above all — prices were on their minds."

More on Timothy Kurek, the straight man who played gay for a year.

A gay man is suing the Lee County Sheriff's Office in Florida for "wrongful arrest" after they took him in during one of many calls to his and his ex-boyfriend's apartment. Among his complaints, the man claims officers taunted him for being gay.

The Kansas City Chiefs are struggling to pick up the pieces after teammate Jovan Blecher killed his girlfriend and then himself yesterday morning.

Now that voters have tossed a constitutional amendment defining marriage as being between one man and one woman, activists in Minnesota are now looking to ways to pass marriage equality there.

Conservative New York Times columnist Ross Douthat discusses America's falling birthrates and its alleged relationship to gay marrige acceptance: "..There’s been a broader cultural shift away from a child-centric understanding of romance and marriage. In 1990, 65 percent of Americans told Pew that children were 'very important' to a successful marriage; in 2007, just before the current baby bust, only 41 percent agreed. (That trend goes a long way toward explaining why gay marriage, which formally severs wedlock from sex differences and procreation, has gone from a nonstarter to a no-brainer for so many people.)"

Meanwhile, when it comes to pursuing marriage equality in Indiana, timing matters: "Some supporters of the ban argue now is the time to push the measure through. But there are more variables than usual for lawmakers to consider heading into 2013. They will have to write their next biennial budget, get acclimated to a new governor for the first time in eight years and measure the possibility that the U.S. Supreme Court will take up the issue and make the whole argument moot."

Speaking of time: there's a lot to learn at the Swiss Watchmaking Institute in Dallas.

Indiana GOP Intend To Move Forward On Anti-Gay Marriage Amendment

Marriage equality's electoral wins in this month's election haven't deterred Indiana State Rep. Eric Turner and his GOP allies from their anti-gay marriage mission.

1010 WCSI reports that Turner plans on moving forward with a proposed amendment that would amend the state's constitution to define marriage as being between one man and one woman, even though same-sex marriage is already illegal in Indiana and that state's GOP made a show of moving away from homophobic politicking. 

Same-sex marriage is already illegal in Indiana, but legislators overwhelmingly voted last year to put that ban in the constitution. It has to pass the House and Senate again in 2013 or 2014 -- but this month‘s election brought the first suggestion public opinion on the issue could be shifting.

Minnesota voted this month to reject a constitutional ban, while Maine and Maryland became the first states to legalize same-sex marriage by referendum. Representative Eric Turner (R-Marion), who authored the amendment, says Hoosiers have more in common with the 30 states which have approved constitutional bans. But Turner says a House leadership meeting next month will discuss when and whether to resubmit the amendment.

Rick Sutton, executive director of Indiana Equality Action told WCSI they're going to let the vote go through as is expected and instead concentrate efforts on fighting conservative forces during the proposed amendment's final test: a public vote in 2014.

Same-Sex Families Don't Count In Pence's Economic Plan

Indiana Rep. Mike Pence has a long history of touting homophobic politics.

He joined forces with the Family Research Council to spread lies about hate crimes laws creating a "special class" of people and he warned of "mainstreaming" gays in the military.

And those exclusionary politics are on full display now that the Republican lawmaker is running for governor.

One of the load-bearing planks in his platform is the idea that "two-parent, intact households" can help eradicate poverty. Gay couples, however, need not apply.

"I understand the desire of some to hurry off to the fault lines of a social issues debate, but I actually think we could create a broad consensus around this where we say in effect, 'Are there ways for us in Indiana to affirm two-parent, married couples and to encourage more kids to get married, to stay married and to wait to have kids until they get married?," Pence said in an AP interview.

Same-sex couples aren't part of his plan because they can't get married, he said. Marriage equality is banned in Indiana, and you can be sure Pence isn't interested in making it legal. "Our focus here is on an affirmative statement about traditional, two-parent married couples," he said.

Aaron Schaler from the Indiana chapter of the Stonewall Democrats responded by saying, "Mike Pence needs to look at the many, many cases where same-sex couples do it well and in many cases have done it better than opposite-sex couples." It may also be helpful for him to look at data showing income disparities between same-sex and heterosexual couples.