Man Charged In Kentucky Attack Challenges Hate Crimes Law

Anthony Ray Jenkins, one of the Kentucky men accused in the 2011 beating of a gay man named Kevin Pennington, has filed a claim saying he cannot be charged under the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act because the federal government "arbitrarily" created a protected population.

"Providing greater protection for victims of crime based on sexual orientation than other crime victims is advancing the arbitrarily creation of classes of individuals," said Jenkins' attorney Willis Coffey. This trial is the first time someone is being charged under the hate crime law's sexual orientation protections.

A decision on the matter would set a precedent that either cements the law or calls it into question, leading to a potential judicial showdown like the one currently brewing around marriage equality.

Lesbian Couple Told They Are Unwelcome at Public Park in Kentucky, Asked to Leave

A lesbian couple expecting a child were asked to leave E.C. Million Park in Richmond, Kentucky while having a maternity photo shoot over the weekend after one of their companions was told "those type of people were not welcome" there, the Richmond Register reports:

Cheri Chenault and her partner, Destiny Keith, are expecting a baby boy on Sept. 29, and they were having maternity pictures taken by Jessica Miller-Poole, owner of 13 Wishes Photography.

“I had picked one of the flowers (in the park) and was going to use it in the picture,” Miller- Poole said. “The gatekeeper said we were not able to pick the flowers. He left, and we continued to take pictures.”

Miller-Poole then said she asked the couple if they wanted a picture of them kissing.

“They were a little reluctant, and they kissed so quickly that I wasn’t even able to take a picture of it,” she said.

After that, the park gatekeeper approached them again.

“He said that we had to leave and that it was inappropriate,” Miller-Poole said.

Miller-Poole’s husband accompanies her on all photo shoots, she said.

“He talked to the man and said that if it was because they were two women, that he wanted to know,” Miller-Poole said. “The man said, ‘Those type of people were not welcomed there,’” she said. “My husband ended up getting very angry and had to walk away.”

Read the full story HERE.

White Supremacist Loon Protests Kentucky Gay Pride Parade: VIDEO

John King of SaveWhitePeople.com made sure there was at least one complete loon protesting the Kentuckiana Gay Pride Parade in Louisville last week.

Watch and get your laugh of the day, AFTER THE JUMP...

News: Etan Patz, Unabomber, Gay Green Lantern, Broke Levi

Gay marriage turned some Kentucky Democrats against President Obama.

Conservative website WorldNetDaily is charging people $29.99 to send a letter to all members of Congress urging them to support DOMA.

Nepal will soon grant LGBT people full citizenship status.

Channing Tatum on his erstwhile career as a stripper: “I never enjoyed the taking-the-clothes-off part. You are on a stage with people yelling at you, and you feel you’re a rock star, but you’re nothing — you’re just a guy taking off his clothes, looking like a fool in a stupid outfit.”

Levi Johnston, most famous for being the father of Bristol Palin's baby, is reportedly broke and living with his mom.

Take a listen to Jennifer Lopez's new track, "Goin' In."

Rumor has it that DC Comics' new gay character will be Alan Scott, the original Green Lantern.

Parenting and the "normalization" of homosexuality.

Climate change could lead to 150,000 more heat-related deaths in North America by 2099.

Nicole Kidman and Zac Efron strike a pose at the Cannes premiere of their new movie, The Paperboy.

Comedy duo Brian and Nick have a "Boys Night In." [Possibly NSFW.]

Parents of a Florida teen say anti-gay bullying led to their son's suicide attempt.

RIP writer and cultural critic Paul Fussell.

Bill Clinton posed with some porn stars in Monaco. Hillary Clinton is surely thrilled.

A New Jersey man has confessed to strangling 6-year old Etan Patz, a New York youth whose 1979 disappearance played a huge role in the placement of kids' faces on milk cartons. Police remain skeptical that the man, however, is actually Patz's killer.

A former nanny is suing actress Sharon Stone for allegedly being a total nightmare.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt looks pretty fit on the set of his new movie, Don Jon’s Addiction.

Greg Sargent on news that more African-Americans support gay marriage following President Obama's endorsement: "It’s not exactly that Obama influenced black opinions... It’s that African American voters who really don’t care very much one way or another about the marriage issue — but do consider themselves on Team Democrat — are now aware that marriage equality is the normal position of that team."

Unabomber Ted Kaczynski submitted an updated biography for the 50th anniversary of his graduation from Harvard. For awards, he listed "Eight life sentences, issued by the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California, 1998." Occupation? Prisoner.

Anti-gay rabble-rouser Bryan Fischer does not appreciate Richard Grenell and others claiming that LGBT equality is a conservative value: "[Homosexuality] It is a libertarian value, and a liberal value, but it is not a conservative one... Conservatism encourages moral restraint and self-control. Libertarianism, on the other hand, encourages the 'If it feels good, do it' lunacy of the 70s. These are conflicting and incompatible views of moral responsibility."

Pat Robertson Says Prayer Can Stop Tornadoes: VIDEOS

On yesterday's The 700 Club, Pat Robertson was asked about the tornadoes that have ravaged parts the country and killed at least thirty-nine people, Right Wing Watch reports.

Said Robertson: “If enough people were praying He would’ve intervened, you could pray, Jesus stilled the storm, you can still storms.”

In related news, a Kentucky woman tried to pray away an approaching funnel cloud as it passed over her home in a video played on CNN. Nearby West Liberty was ravaged by the storm.

Watch, AFTER THE JUMP...

Towleroad Guide to the Tube #992

THE FAIRNESS CAMPAIGN: Congressman John Yarmuth (KY-03) celebrates 20 years of Louisville's Fairness Campaign fighting discrimination across Kentucky.

LEGO MAN: Strange things wash up in the Florida Keys.

R.E.M.: One of the band's two new videos for "We All Go Back To Where We Belong" features three and a half minutes of Kirsten Dunst. The other features artist and poet John Giorno.

PRODUCTIVITY: Microsoft's vision of the future.

For recent Guides to the Tube, click HERE.