News: Susan Boyle, Washington, Timothy Dolan, Tennessee, Cuba

Washington State legislature passes Domestic Partnerships: "The Democratic-controlled House approved the Senate-passed measure on a mostly party-line 62-35 vote after nearly two hours of debate. It next goes to Gov. Chris Gregoire, who said she will sign it into law." But that may not happen.....

Britain's Got Talent's Susan Boyle on The Early Show!

Illinois Governor says he expects state will have civil unions.

Overheard: UCLA's Lacrosse team pep talk - "Let’s go get those f***ing faggots! Besides … they’ve got blacks too.

Ugandan government: Unicef, Amnesty International "promoting homosexuality" in Uganda. "Ethics and integrity minister Dr. James Nsaba Buturo, in a hard-hitting statement to Parliament, also implicated Human Rights Watch, Frontline Human Rights Defenders and East Horn of Africa Human Rights in the 'racket'.  The organisations, Buturo said, were working with local groups which depend on them for funding, to spread homosexuality in the local population."

A shockingly gaunt Patrick Swayze fights on in cancer battle...

Octo-mommy wants to trademark 'Octo' name. Is NEVER GOING AWAY.

New York's new Archbishop Timothy Dolan on same-sex marriage: "Dolan said he would challenge any efforts to legalize same-sex marriage in New York, but insisted that his position was not anti-gay. 'We love them,' he said of gays and lesbians. 'We would defend their rights.' However, marriage must remain as it always has been, between one man and one woman, he said. 'If we let that definition of marriage go and begin to include other relationships, it will be to a detriment to the civilization,' he said."

Michael Savage warns of "rogue homosexual elements within Homeland Security."

WaPo talks to Lambda Legal Attorney Camilla Taylor about the Iowa marriage victory: "Some people involved in gay rights efforts tried to tell Taylor she was wasting her time. Iowa was, they told her, a conservative, religious state in America's rural heartland, and the effort was better concentrated on the more liberal coasts. 'There were many people telling us we were crazy,' she said, 'that we were foolhardy even thinking of filing a case, and that we might create a backlash.'"

Gay leaders inspired by renewed access to the President.

Cristiano Ronaldo is a winner.

Newt Gingrich pushing Rudy Giuliani to run for New York governor: "While Giuliani didn't discuss his 2010 political intentions directly, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) explicitly called on Giuliani to run for governor and for former GOP Gov. George Pataki to run for Senate."

UVA students plan vigil in response to the recent gay bashing of two men there.

Cancer could soon be detectable in a single drop of blood: "New technology that allows cancer proteins to be analysed in tiny samples could spell the end of surgical biopsies, which involve removing lumps of tissue, often under general anaesthetic."

Obama cracks door to Cuba.

Students and parents want Tennessee public schools to stop blocking access to LGBT websites: "They complained to the American Civil Liberties Union, which on Wednesday gave Metro and Knox County schools an April 29 deadline to announce plans to open access to the non-sexual sites. A letter to the districts threatened lawsuits if they don't comply."

Candace Gingrich Defends Harry Knox from Her Brother Newt

Candace Gingrich appeared on MSNBC's The Ed Show on Friday to discuss her brother Newt's reaction to Obama's appointment of HRC Religion and Faith Director Harry Knox to the Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships.

Newt appeared on Greta van Susteren's show and slammed Knox as "an anti-religious, left-wing zealot." Candace, in a follow-up to this column last week on the Huffington Post, talked about the right-wing disconnect and the useless language of the 90's that Newt is still spewing.

Watch it, AFTER THE JUMP...

Newt Gingrich Slams Iowa's Activist Supreme Court over Gay Marriage

Following a class he has been teaching at the University of Georgia in Athens, Newt Gingrich commented on the recent same-sex marriage victories in Iowa and Vermont, calling the processes by which they were achieved "arrogant" and "healthier", respectively.

The AP reports: "Gingrich said he sees the beginning of a 'major movement' to bring the judicial branch into check in the wake of last Friday's Iowa Supreme Court decision. The ruling said a state law limiting marriage to a man and a woman violates the constitutional rights of equal protection. 'It's the height of judicial arrogance,' Gingrich said. 'You have seven lawyers who have decided, on their own, to fundamentally change Iowa.' ... Vermont's (legislative) process, Gingrich said, was 'healthier.'"

Said Gingrich: "The people of Vermont have every right to elect the legislators they want and if they disagree with this decision they have every right to replace them and so it is the people's branch overriding the governor, who's elected, and it's not an isolated imposition by the elite. Even for people who don't agree with the outcome, it's a much better process."

Gingrich is thought to be planning a run for president in 2012.

Wingnuts Tony Perkins of the Family Research Counsel, Matthew Staver of the Liberty Counsel, and the Concerned Women for America all sounded off on the Vermont victory yesterday.

They're panicking, because they've already lost.

Keith Olbermann Keeps Focus on Prop 8, Talks to Candace Gingrich

Candace Gingrich appeared last night on Countdown with Keith Olbermann to discuss Proposition 8 and the letter she wrote to her brother, Newt, after he appeared on The O'Reilly Factor and said, "I think there is a gay and secular fascism in this country that wants to impose its will on the rest of us...it is a very dangerous threat to anybody who believes in traditional religion." (video below, right)

Wrote Candace to Newt: "The truth is that you're living in a world that no longer exists. I, along with millions of Americans, clearly see the world the way it as -- and we embrace what it can be. You, on the other hand, seem incapable of looking for new ideas or moving beyond what worked in the past. Welcome to the 21st century, big bro. I can understand why you're so afraid of the energy that has been unleashed after gay and lesbian couples had their rights stripped away from them by a hateful campaign. I can see why you're sounding the alarm against the activists who use all the latest tech tools to build these rallies from the ground up in cities across the country."

Watch Candace Gingrich and Keith Olbermann, AFTER THE JUMP...