Springfield, Missouri to Remove Law Against Gay Sex Solicitation

The City Council of Springfield, Missouri is set to remove a 1976 gay sex solicitation ordinance.

Says Ordinance No. 78-224: "It shall be unlawful for any person in a public place to invite, entice, persuade or to address a person of the same sex for the purpose of inviting, enticing or persuading such person to commit [a sexual act]".

The News-Leader reports: "Ordinance No. 78-224, which makes it illegal to solicit sex from a member of the same gender, came under fire in June during the annual PrideFest celebration, and the outcry led City Councilman Doug Burlison to call for its removal. The city, instead, follows a different solicitation ordinance that covers all...The potential removal of the solicitation ordinance drew praise in July from the local Gay and Lesbian Center of the Ozarks. 'We believe that such laws need to be reworded to include anyone regardless of sexual orientation,' [Michael Siepel, communications coordinator for the center] added in his July statement. 'With that, if the ordinance is not removed, it should be worded to the effect that it no longer singles out one group of citizens, but to include all citizens. We believe, however, that other ordinances within Springfield (i.e. 78-225 and 78-229) address this matter and that the ordinance should be removed completely.' City Attorney Dan Wichmer has said ordinance No. 78-224 is unconstitutional and has not been enforced in years. He said the city follows an ordinance that bars sex in public places and is not exclusive."

Of course, idiot wingnuts are somehow worried that by doing this the city is approving same-sex marriage.

Assured Burlison: "This is not a measure approving gay marriage. We're not giving gay people any additional rights.This is a measure, in my mind, that keeps everyone on a level playing field and keeps social engineering out of local law."

WATCH: 'God Hates Fags' Gals Protest Adam Lambert at Idol Concert

The Westboro Baptist Church hit up an American Idol concert in Kansas City yesterday to protest the existence of Adam Lambert. They were met by at least a couple of counterprotesters, who got them on record.

Said Megan Phelps-Roper, while a few others sang some of their own tunes about how "Brokeback Mountain" has ruined America: "These are a bunch of rebels against God and they're teaching rebellion against the standards and commandments of God."

Tweeted Lambert in response late last night: "Thank you all for the support. Love overcomes hate. Love has no color. Love has no orientation. All is love. :)"

Watch, AFTER THE JUMP...

Towleroad Guide to the Tube #522: Town Hall Mob Edition

WITH A BULLET: At the Obama town hall yesterday, the New Hampshire Republican Volunteer Coalition made its voice heard: “Why are we bankrupting this country for 21 million illegals who should be sent on the first bus one way back from wherever they come from. We don’t need illegals. Send them home once. Send them home with a bullet in their head the second time. Read what Jefferson said about the Tree of Liberty — it’s coming baby.”

SWASTIKA: Congressman David Scott (D-GA) finds swastika on a sign outside of his office after Scott accused people of hijacking a meeting about transportation to talk about health care.

ARREST: Man arrested for having gun and knife at Obama town hall event (not the guy bearing the gun from yesterday).

MISSOURI: Senator Claire McCaskill's health care town hall gets unruly.

For recent Guides to the Tube, click HERE.

News: Cat Cora, Prop 8, Adrian Grenier, Divorce, Cheyenne Jackson

San Francisco wants in on Prop 8 lawsuit: "The city would add "a unique local government perspective" to the case, along with its extensive legal experience in defending gay and lesbian rights, if allowed to intervene, City Attorney Dennis Herrera's office said in court papers."

Soap bubble in space?

Adrian Grenier shows off his furry coin slot in Miami.

D.C. enacts Domestic Partnership Judicial Determination Parentage Act of 2009: "Lesbians in the District no longer will need the written consent of their partners to adopt children born to their partners through artificial insemination...The name of a consenting spouse or unmarried partner will appear on the child's birth certificate as the legal parent, a status that previously had to be obtained by same-sex parents through a complicated adoption process."

Katie Holmes tries to do Judy Garland on So You Think You Can Dance.

The once-thought-doomed Boatslip Resort in Provincetown isn't going anywhere.

Iron Chef Cat Cora gave birth to a boy this week. She was carrying a baby conceived with her partner Jennifer's egg. Jennifer, meanwhile, gave birth to a boy in April, conceived with Cat's egg.

I wonder if Tom Cruise got a matching one too?

Gay divorce: After the break-up, what about the lake house?

Missouri's Claire McCaskill makes gay marriage gaffe: "GOProud, a conservative gay group, is attacking Democratic senator Claire McCaskill of Missouri for using “antigay scare tactics” to justify her vote Wednesday on a controversial gun amendment."

Gays force removal of stalls in men's room at Washington Square Park, says Parks and Rec dude.

Is heteroflexible the new gay?

Gatesville, Texas pastor rents town sign: Gay is not the new Black.

Cheyenne Jackson to star in Broadway revival of Finian's Rainbow.

Simon Karlinsky, Berkeley professor and authority on homosexuality in pre-Soviet Russia, has died.

Anti-gay Wisconsin group Wisconsin Family Action has filed a lawsuit challenging the legitimacy of domestic partnerships because the state has a ban on same-sex marriage and civil unions.

It's nice to see Jake Gyllenhaal looking happy for a change.

Colton Ford talks about his new album Under the Covers: "One of the things that I didn’t figure in doing porn was that people were going to have such vehemently negative feelings about it. I’ve gotten emails from people saying that it’s abhorrent and that it goes against what’s right and normal...You know, I still think we’re dealing with a lot of shame in our community. There are people who really get into porn and then lash out against guys who do the films. I guess they don’t feel entitled to enjoy that sexual part of themselves. I will say, however, that there are plenty of people who are more than able to look beyond that part of my career to see what else I have to offer."

TDK shot Andy Warhol.

Is Gwyneth Paltrow the new Julia Child?

News: Singapore, Sam Adams, Cubs, Matthew Mitcham, GI Joe

Singapore women's group AWARE votes out anti-gay fundamentalist leaders in dramatic seven hour stand-off. Background.

Britain's former top cop and London mayoral candidate Brian Paddick to front campaign encouraging same-sex couples to hold hands in public: "The photos are being used to create a same-sex love map of the world. David Watkins, the group's founder, said: 'Hand holding is a simple, liberating gesture that is essential to our communities' health, visibility, and respect.'" Site: A Day in Hand.

Thousands of Cubs fans go deaf at Wrigley Field.

Log Cabin Republicans making gains in NY assembly on marriage equality.

Matthew Mitcham exits Mexico City as swine flu escalates.

El Salvador in last minute gay rights ban: "After weeks of public debate and protest, El Salvador’s Legislative Assembly approved an amendment to the constitution to ban marriage between same-sex couples and same-sex couples’ ability to adopt a child.  This amendment was proposed in the final hours of the current Legislative Assembly session, which ends April 30th."

L.A. Times: Same-sex marriages gradually gaining legal ground.

Eiffel Tower destroyed in trailer for G.I. Joe: The Movie with Channing Tatum, Dennis Quaid.

Loving: this self-portrait of Provincetown resident and filmmaker John Waters at Ptown's McMillan Wharf.

Marc Jacobs to marry in Provincetown.

Dog food vs paté? No difference, much of the time.

The Oregonian calls on Portland Mayor Sam Adams to resign in wake of recent investigations: "An investigation by The Oregonian's Ryan Frank and Brent Walth raised the questions, in a story published Friday, of whether the encounter took place earlier in the year and what it really amounted to. Whether that is the center of the AG's investigation remains to be seen, as does whether any of the conduct described, implied or suspected adds up to criminality." Phone calls...

Male model fix: Joey Kirchner.

Ed Westwick works up a sweat.

Missouri state senator Jolie Justus weds her partner in Iowa.

Manohla Dargis memo to Hollywood: "Enough with the gay slurs, the gay baiting, imitating, limp-wristing, so-not-funny lisping — in other words, enough with the hating...Try this simple test: Every time you feel the need to mock or denigrate gay men or lesbians, replace that joke with an equally vicious dig about African-Americans or Jews. Doesn’t sound so funny anymore, does it?"

Last week in holy crimes...

Miss California: Redefining breasts for the rest of us.

Obama appoints lesbian to become Assistant Secretary, Administration on Aging, at HHS.

AKA accidental wood.

Sweeps warning issued to cottagers: "Sweeps is the time local media often finds itself in bed with the cops to carry out sting operations of men cruising for sex. Just last week we got a report from a Bakersfield, California location where one customer saw not just cop cars and a cop van parked outside, but also a news van for a local television station. I'm sure it was a joint sting in which the media gets to film and photograph those men cops arrest. In fact, I would not be surprised to learn a reporter instigated the whole thing, asking the police to come along so they could get some good footage."

Minnesota, Missouri Same-Sex Couples Board Marriage Bus to Iowa

Despite the fact that the marriages won't be recognized legally in their home states, gay and lesbian couples from neighboring states are heading en masse to Iowa to be married.

Seventeen same-sex couples from St. Louis, Missouri boarded a bus on Friday to wed in Iowa: "One by one, in a 90-minute-long ceremony at the Unitarian Universalist Society of Iowa City, each couple was joined together in a marriage officially recognized by the state of Iowa. 'It feels great,' said 58-year-old Mike Fienup, who married his partner of 15 years, Gerry Humphreys. 'We're citizens. We pay taxes. Why can't we be treated equal?'"

Their journey is chronicled in a beautiful slideshow at The Gazette. Above, Ryan Barker and his husband Lawrence Miskel, and their son William Miskel Barker.

Five same-sex couples from Minneapolis, Minnesota traveled to Davenport, Iowa over the weekend to get married: "The couples are all congregants of All God's Children Church in South Minneapolis. Once Hedgepeth and his partner, Kenn Anderson cross the border back into Minnesota Tuesday, however, their marriage will no longer be recognized. 'I say wherever you are married, you are married and the law will just have to catch up with reality,' Hedgepeth said"

Watch video of the Minneapolis couples and their journey to Iowa, AFTER THE JUMP...