News: Gun Rally, Norovirus, Balkanization, 16-bit

The New York Times' Charles M. Blow on the GOP's plans to discard the winner-take-all system that has been favoring Democrats: "One day I will have to visit the evil lair where they come up with these schemes.They pump them out like a factory. Voter suppression didn’t work in November, and it may even have backfired in some states, so they just devised another devilish plan."

Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, an anti-gay Republican, also opposes the measure: "I think winner-take-all is part of how a state matters. Our side would have gotten more votes this go-around but you know I want people to want to fight to win the whole state. It makes the state as a state matter more... We need to build them up and not to Balkanize America. It's the states that created the federal government and not the other way around."

And neither does Haley Barbour, the former governor of Mississippi.

Good news: "Emmanuel Lutheran Church will vote Sunday to openly confirm its acceptance of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender parishioners… The vote would confirm Emmanuel as a Reconciling in Christ congregation and make it the first Rockford church listed with Reconciling Works, which advocates for the full inclusion of LGBT Lutherans in all aspects of church life. Reconciling Works lists 5,893 open Lutheran congregations across the United States."

Never fear, Beyoncé is on site rehearsing for her Super Bowl performance.

Headline of the day: "There's Absolutely No Logical Argument Against Gay Marriage".

Runner-up: "Adam Lambert Got A Birthday Lap Dance From David Arquette Last Night".

No amount of crunches can save your tummy from the norovirus: "It's here. A variant of norovirus first spotted in Australia is now sweeping the U.S. The wily virus causes stomach upset, vomiting and diarrhea. The sickness is sometimes referred to as the stomach flu, though influenza has nothing to do with it."

Which "straight" actors have taken to snogging one another?

New satellite technology lets us finally see what clouds are up to at night.

Thousands turn out for pro-gun control rally in D.C.

On her 55th birthday, 55 reasons to love Ellen DeGeneres.

Troy Stevenson, the new executive director for Garden State Equality, vows to keep fighting for marriage equality there.

  Bryan Singer confirmed that Ellen Page and Anna Paquin have signed on to the next X-movie, "Days of Future Past," based on the classic X-Men story arc of the same name.

Downton Abbey as a 16-bit Super Nintendo video game.

Here's part of what President Obama said a video pre-recorded for the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force annual conference: "Today you are helping lead the way to a future where everyone is treated with dignity and respect... The work will be hard, the road will be long, but I'm more confident than ever that we will reach a better future as long as Americans like you keep reaching for justice and all of us keep marching together."

Virginia's First Out Gay Judge Faces Interview Before Legislature

Richmond General District Court Judge Tracy Thorne-Begland, who was appointed to the bench by Circuit Court judges last June on an interim basis after he was rejected by Virginia's Republican-controlled House, will face Senate and House committees again today, the AP reports:

Thorne-Begland’s appointment expires next month unless the legislature makes it permanent. Democrats applauded the circuit court’s action, but GOP leaders criticized the court for appointing Thorne-Begland over their objections. They said the law allowing circuit courts to fill vacancies when the legislature is not in session was not intended as an appeals process for rejected candidates. Republicans are sponsoring legislation to prohibit such appointments.

Conservative Republican Delegate Bob Marshall told WTVR in June that the decision puts the judges at odds with lawmakers who appointed them and that to put Thorne-Begland, a former Air Force pilot who spoke out against 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' before its repeal, was a "disgrace."

“To place someone on the board like that who, when he was offered an opportunity to rebut a presumption that he wasn’t committing a felony, under the uniform code of military justice, declined to do so, is a disgrace," said Marshall.

VCU Investigation Says Coach Not Fired For Being Gay

Officials at Virginia Commonwealth University say that an "exhaustive" investigation found former women's volleyball coach James Finley's claims was not fired for being gay, as he believes; the claims were "unfounded," they said.

"The Office of Institutional Equity’s exhaustive investigation confirmed that the employment decision was made in accordance with VCU policies and not as the result of any discriminatory action by our athletic director," said University President Michael Rao in a statement. "I continue to have confidence in the process that produced the report and in Ed McLaughlin as VCU’s athletic director."

He went on to say that the school works "vigorously" to be as inclusive as possible. "I have a personal, passionate commitment to advancing diversity in all of its forms and expect the same of my senior leadership team.

Athletic Diretor McLaughlin made similar remarks, "Diversity and inclusiveness are core values for me, too, and VCU’s diverse environment was one of the reasons my family and I chose to come here."

Finley, whose women's volleyball team just had its best season, said in November he was particularly suspicious of the circumstances around his "non-renewal" because a lesbian athletic official was demoted soon after his firing, again for no apparent reason.

Evangelical College Chancellor Says Gays 'Don't Exist' on His Campus Because Everyone Signs an Honor Code

Dr. Michael Farris, the Chancellor and Founder of Patrick Henry College in Purcellville, Virginia, claims there are no gay students on his campus:

It’s simple, really. Homosexuals can’t exist at Patrick Henry College because the students sign an honor code, Farris claimed. “[Homosexuals] could not sign our honor code,” Farris said, adding that he considers the actions of gay men and women “sinful.”

“Part of the honor code is to be sexually pure,” he added.

So you can imagine the chancellor’s consternation when he learned of Queer at Patrick Henry College, a six-month-old, provocatively-titled blog operated by three pseudonymous writers – all of whom graduated from or have taken classes at the school.

Patrick Henry has threatened to sue the blog.

"Kate Kane", one of the bloggers behind QueerPHC, responds to Farris' statements about the existence of gay students:

There’s a stark difference in the definition of our terms. In the eyes of those like Farris, homosexuality is just a sexual action or sexual lifestyle. For us, it’s an orientation, a marker of personal identity. Is it possible that there are no students having gay sex while enrolled at PHC? Entirely possible. But that doesn’t erase the existence of LGBTQ students at the school.

In a student body where there are so many virgins, why is it difficult to believe in the existence of a gay virgin?

It’s difficult if you believe homosexuality is completely synonymous with having gay sex.

In addition, Farris seems to think that any LGBTQ student who signed the honor code would be lying. But if a student’s sexuality has been repressed for years, they may not even realize they are anything other than straight or cisgender until after they enroll at the school. Personally, I did not begin to come to terms with my orientation until I was nearly ready to graduate. A student may also realize they are LGBTQ, but attempt to suppress it because they believe that being queer is wrong. Enrollment at a school like PHC could be part of a larger attempt to continue to live as straight or cisgender. Finally, since many parents hold the purse strings, some LGBTQ students might not have much of a choice as to where they attend school.

But regardless of why we enrolled at the school, we have all studied at PHC. It’s time to acknowledge our existence.

Ellen Welcomes Gay Virginia Teen and the Mechanic Who Fixed His Homophobic Slur-Laden Car for Free: VIDEO

A couple of weeks ago I featured the story of Jordan Addison, a bullied gay teen in Roanoke, Virginia and Richard Henegar Jr., a car repair shopw owner. Jordan's car was vandalized with anti-gay graffiti four times between March and May of this year. Someone even keyed “die” into the side of Jordan's car.

Henegar, who owns Quality Auto Paint and Body, heard Jordan's story and decided to help him by fixing his car for free and improving it.

This week Ellen had them on her season premiere and gave each of them a huge check.

Watch, AFTER THE JUMP...

Virginia Auto Repair Shop Stands up for Bullied Gay Teen, Restores, Improves His Slur-Laden Car: VIDEO

Here's a Roanoke, Virginia business worth applauding.

WTVR reports:

Jordan Addison told WDBJ-TV that his car was vandalized four times between March and May of this year and that someone even keyed “die” into the side of the vehicle because he is gay.

Addison said the lowest estimate he received to fix the car was $2,500, but that he just couldn’t afford to repair it. Some Roanoke businesses heard what happened and pitched in to fix the damage for free.

“Once I saw the vandalism that was done to it I said that’s uncalled for we’re gonna fix your car that’s the least we can do,” said Quality Auto Paint and Body’s Richard Henegar Jr.

The auto body shop repainted the car and even added in $10,000 worth of extras for Addison.

Watch, AFTER THE JUMP...