San Diego State University's LGBT Group Causes Controversy by Changing Name to 'Queer Student Union'

San Diego State University's LGBT student group, formerly called the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Student Union at San Diego State University, has changed its name to "Queer Student Union" and the change is not being received well by everyone, FOX5 San Diego reports:

“We’re here and next year, we’re queer,” junior and president-elect Thomas Negron said

A move to be more inclusive, President Michael Manacop and Negron said “queer” is the easiest way to encompass all of the gender and sexual identities on campus without getting too wordy...

...Some older faculty members expressed concerns over the name change when the story was first reported in the Daily Aztec.

“It doesn’t seem like something you’d want to be called,” sophomore Jake Neely said. “I was always taught not to use (certain) words and… that was definitely one of them that shouldn’t really be said in my house.”

San Diego Students Try to Pray a Drag Show Away: VIDEO

Last night, the student run PRIDE group at University of San Diego held an apparently very threatening drag show called 'Supreme Drag Superstar' on campus for the second year in a row.

Catholic students at the school tried to pray it away:

Speaking on the group's behalf, sophomore Ailsa Tirado points out how the drag show advances an ideology that is opposed to natural law, and serves to perpetuate moral confusion rather than provide true spiritual healing.

"The University of San Diego is unquestionably being deceitful by identifying itself as a Catholic University, while permitting the acceptance and promotion of an ideology that is in direct contradiction to the Catholic moral teaching and social tradition," the open letter states.

Watch 10News' report, AFTER THE JUMP...

Where is This Seven-Mile Long Mega-Pod of More Than 100,000 Dolphins Going?

On last night's Downton Abbey, the Dowager Countess of Grantham Violet Crawley so wisely observed: "That's the thing about nature; there's so much of it."

And that would certainly be the case late last week off the coast of San Diego, where this seven mile-long mega-pod of more than 100,000 dolphins was spotted following a boat.

NBC San Diego wrote:

Dutra said the boat tour followed the pod for more than an hour and said he’s never seen anything like it.
“When you see something that is honestly truly beyond belief,” the captain said.

Guests aboard the boat started screaming and pointing when they first saw the school of adult and juvenile common dolphins. Dutra estimated there were about 100,000 dolphins swimming in the area.

“They were coming from all directions, you could see them from as far as the eye can see,” he said. “I’ve seen a lot of stuff out here… but this is the biggest I’ve ever seen, ever.”

Watch the video shot by someone on board, AFTER THE JUMP...

Out Gay Man Elected San Diego City Council President

Todd Gloria is the new president of the San Diego City Council, San Diego Gay and Lesbian News reports:

Gloria, who is openly gay, represents District 3 that includes the LGBT-dominated areas of Hillcrest and North Park. The redrawing of council districts also means that Gloria represents Downtown.

“I am incredibly honored to have the support of my colleagues today. It is an honor to know that these eight people – who are leaders, who love their communities, and who LOVE San Diego – are trusting me to be the Council President,” Gloria said after the vote.

Gloria immediately acknowledged his predecessor, Tony Young, who held the position for the last two years until he resigned from his seat to take a job to head the local Red Cross.

“I have big shoes to fill. Mr. Young elevated the rote of Council President greatly, and the entire City has benefited,” Gloria said.

Gloria was elected unanimously. San Diego's first Democratic mayor in 20 years, Bob Filner, was also sworn in yesterday.

(photo by rex wockner)

The Skies are Getting Very Congested: VIDEO

Here's a cool time-lapse of all landings at San Diego International Airport on Black Friday Nov 23, 2012 between 1030 am and 300 pm fused into a 25-second clip. Enjoy!

Watch, AFTER THE JUMP...

News: Natural Gas, Exhuming, Another Bush, Manbar

90s stars we still know and love today.

Deceased Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's remains will be exhumed on Tuesday as officials investigate yet another rumor that the Israelis poisoned him. Great, just what the region needs: the ghost of Arafat hanging over a cease-fire.

Celebrities react to Larry Hagman's death.

A Chicago-area Catholic Church has offered to confirm Lennon Cihak, the Minnesota teenager denied confirmation at his own church after he supported marriage equality on Facebook.

Early reviews for Les Misérables are sensational.

Bush: The Next Generation: "George Prescott Bush, the son of former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and the nephew of former Texas governor and ex-President George W. Bush, has filed preliminary paperwork to run for office in the Lone Star state in 2014. That leaves the new Bush poised to become a key face in the next generation of Republican politicians."

Umm... "Does being fat make you more jolly?"

A natural gas explosion damaged 42 buildings, including a strip club, in Springfield, Massachusetts.

Critics are not being kind to Liz & Dick starring Lindsay Lohan. Tim Goodman from The Hollywood Reporter called it "spectacularly bad."

Skip It!

The LA Times profiles Dave Roberts, the first Democrat elected to the San Diego Board of Supervisors in over a decade. "He's also gay and married to a retired Air Force master sergeant. The two are adoptive parents to five former foster children, ages 4 to 17, who call them Daddy Dave and Daddy Wally."

From Monika Johnson's article "Making progressivism last": "Creating progressive infrastructure will ultimately yield decisions that change our economy and society. For example, I was struck recently when a relative turned down a lucrative deal because the organization was enacting anti-gay policies in conducting business. In making this decision, he took a stand for what he believed in and created a ripple effect that will influence that business’s chances of success."

Michael O’Kane, the editor of the Irish Daily Star, has resigned for his role in the publication of the nude Kate Middleton pictures.

A mural of a shirtless Prince Harry has become a huge attraction for London's Manbar.

The New York Times magazine spent some time with Scott Fahlman, inventor of the emoticon. "In 1982, as a young professor at Carnegie Mellon University, he realized the need for a symbol to temper the bickering that plagued online forums. The Internet was just a baby then, and yet already flame wars raged. Fahlman decided that a smiley face could be useful as a 'joke marker' (as he called it) to take the sting out of mocking statements or pranks."

Indiana's Purdue University has big plans for World AIDS Day.

Have Richard III's remains finally been found?

George Prescott Bush, the son of former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and the nephew of former Texas governor and ex-President George W. Bush, has filed preliminary paperwork to run for office in the Lone Star state in 2014. That leaves the new Bush poised to become a key face in the next generation of Republican politicians.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1112/84166.html#ixzz2DAwg1UUL