Dan Savage Explains Why You Should Support Legal Pot: VIDEO

Activist, author and defender of the little guy Dan Savage today posted a video in which he explains why you, the American voter, should join Washington State and Colorado in supporting legalizing recreational marijuana.

Listen to what he has to say AFTER THE JUMP.

Henry Rollins Again Proves Himself An Awesome Gay Ally

In a post called "Gay Marriage is Punk Rock" at LA Weekly, former Black Flag frontman and perennial ally Henry Rollins celebrates marriage equality in Washington State and wonders when we'll finally be able to just call same-sex nuptials what they are: "marriage," no prefix, no suffix, no "othering."

From his piece:

Marriage equality is a term so ridiculous on its face that when you hear it mentioned, you would think you were in Riyadh. Years from now, perhaps we can lose the equality part, the same-sex part and call it what it is -- marriage. As much as the homophobes, an ever-thinning herd, whines and screeches, the earth is shifting underneath their feet and things are getting better all the time. This is going to be an incredible century. Didn't get off to a very good start but we are making some bold and exciting strides forward.

Rollins even predicts that there will come a day when there are no gay pride marches, writing, "One day, there will be no gay-pride parades because there simply won't be a need for them. Years from now, those who marched will be seen as heroic."

Seattle's King County Announces More Than 1,000 Licenses Issued Since Marriage Equality Took Effect December 6

A marriage bounty in Washington state.

Via Slog:

King County marked a milestone just after noon today, with the 1,000th and 1,001st marriage licenses issued since a new marriage equality law took effect in Washington State on Dec. 6.

“December is typically our slowest month for marriage licenses, but due to the new marriage equality law, that’s not been the case this month,” said KC Recording Manager Jon Scherer. “Our volume of business this December has been more like a typical July, when we can issue as many as 2,000 marriage licenses.”

News: Ft. Bragg, Indiana Gay Nup Ban, CIA, Iowa Question

The European Court of Human Rights unanimously ruled that the CIA tortured, shackled, beat and sodomized detainee Khaled el-Masri, a German national they claimed had ties to terror groups.

Pennsylvania GOP state Rep. Daryl Metcalfe is going to introduce a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage there. "It is important that we support traditional marriage and have constitutional amendments to protect it at the state level. Marriage is a common good, not a special interest. Special interests should not have the right to redefine marriage for all of us," he said.

Conservatives in Texas are looking for new ways to prohibit abortion, while liberals and concerned doctors in Wisconsin and North Carolina are fighting back against other right-wing attacks on a woman's right to choose.

The new The Knife album is coming soon. Get excited here.

The new poster for The Wolverine movie moves!

Channing Tatum and Mark Ruffalo look beefy on the set of Foxcatcher.

Drew Barrymore debuts new baby Olive on People cover.

Matt Bomer does some pre-holiday shopping.

On marriage equality and affirmative action at the Supreme Court: "Justice Anthony Kennedy is likely to be the swing vote in these cases, and many are predicting he will side with conservatives to limit racial preferences and with liberals to support gay marriage. Paradoxically, the very reasoning that could guide Kennedy to support marriage equality may bolster his decision to curtail race-based affirmative action, spurring colleges to adopt new approaches."

The UK Network Rail Service turned CCTV footage of three ladies' embarrassing escalator moments into a PSA.

Expect to see a lot of nude Matt Damon for his turn as Liberace's long-term lover Scott Thorson in the biopic Behind the Candelabra: "I had to come out of the pool, go over to Michael Douglas, straddle him on a chaise lounge and start kissing him... It's not like I kiss him just once. We drew it up like a football plan."

Congratulations to new married couple Larry Duncan And Randell Shepherd, the Washington couple who became famous after a picture of them getting a marriage license went viral. Even though neither is particularly religious, they still married Sunday in a church. Said Duncan, "Enough people have told me, 'God hates fags. I want someone in a church to say, 'God loves fags,' to have that stamp on it."

The University of Iowa is now asking applicants if they identify as LGBT, making it the first public university and only the second school in the nation to do so. "This is a question whose time had come. We think this will cause them to look more closely at the university because we value that part of who they are. We want students to feel we are receptive to and sensitive to their lifestyle and their description of themselves," said admissions director Michael Barron.

Stephen Saland, one of the four GOP New York Senators to support marriage equality, has conceded defeat in his November election against Democrat Terry Gipson.

Fresh Deepwater leak? "CBS News has learned that BP is set to embark Thursday on the fifth day of a little-known subsea mission under Coast Guard supervision to look for any new oil leaking from the Deepwater Horizon disaster."

Equality and cents: "Gov. Mitch Daniels said Wednesday he has been hearing from companies that fear that a measure that would put Indiana's ban on same-sex marriage into the state constitution might also prevent firms from offering benefits to gay couples"

Ashley Broadway believes she is being excluded from the Association of Bragg Officers’ Spouses in North Carolina, because she is a lesbian. "The facts here are simple: there is no legal need or justification for any spouse to be excluded from a group like this, which exists to provide support to the spouses and families of our military men and women and the communities they serve," said Outserve-SLDN Executive Director Allyson Robinson.

Are One Direction band members truly fascinating?

More From Third Way's Report On Marriage Equality In Washington

Earlier I cited centrist Democratic think tank Third Way's poll on marriage equality support in Washington, where same-sex marriages just got underway. Well, that report, showing that framing marriage equality as a matter of love, rather than rights wins the fight, is now out.

Here's a telling excerpt about movement among political lines:

The victory for marriage in Washington State was delivered by voters well outside the usual liberal base. Centrist voters supported the marriage refer- endum by large margins, with 66% of moderates voting yes, as well as 59% of Independents.
…
Unlike past elections—including Proposition 8 in California, where Democrats had trouble consolidating their own base in favor of marriage—this time 80% of Obama voters pulled the lever for marriage, as well as 86% of Democrats. Even 79% of moderate and conservative Democrats voted in favor of marriage for gay couples, as well as 38% of liberal and moderate Republicans.

The biggest takeaway of the marriage vote in Washington is that the center is now squarely on the side of marriage advocates. The striking margins of sup- port for the referendum among moderates (+33) and Independents (+21) are indisputable, and they mark both a significant shift and a tipping point for the country on this issue.

Also, a breakdown of who was for and against marriage:

Here's a PDF of their report, as well as a PDF of the core findings.

Survey Says Love Trumps Rights In Marriage Equality Messaging

A new survey of voters in Washington, where marriage equality just passed the ballot box and is already in full swing, again shows that age, party affiliation and religious attendance all impact LGBT support in predictable ways.

Younger voters prefer equality, conservatives and those who attend more religious services do not. But the survey, put out by centrist Democratic group Third Way, also shows that the framing of the issue - rights versus loving commitment - impacts support and opposition.

From Frank Bruni's summation of the report that will released later today.

...Among voters who saw the desire by gays and lesbians to be legally wedded as a bid primarily for the rights and protections that heterosexual couples have, same-sex marriage was a loser. Only 26 percent of them voted for its legalization, while 74 percent voted against.

But among voters who believed that gays and lesbians were chiefly interested in being able to pledge the fullest and most public commitment possible to their partners, same-sex marriage was a huge, huge winner. Eighty-five percent of those voters supported it, while only 15 percent opposed it.

...

When an initiative in this country is framed or understood largely as an attempt by a given constituency to get more, the opposition to it is frequently bolstered, the resistance strengthened. Even if the constituency is trying to right a wrong or rectify a disadvantage.

"Give me" can be a risky approach. "Let me" is often a better one...

Another recent Third Way survey, released in October, showed that among national polls, support for marriage equality jumped 16 points between 2004 and 2011, and that support was spread across all demographics, so clearly LGBT activists and their allies are saying something right.

Meanwhile, AFTER THE JUMP. Third Way's charts of what could happen to marriage equality in the Supreme Court.