QUEER QUOTE: Alabama LGBT Politician Threatens Hypocritical Legislators With Outing

Patricia Todd has for a longtime been the only openly LGBT elected official in the Alabama state legislature. With a federal judge striking down Alabama's state constitutional ban on marriage equality last week (and on Sunday issuing a 14-day stay on her decision from going into effect to allow the state to fruitlessly appeal to the 11th Circuit) a number of conservative politicians in her state have been spouting a lot of nonsense about "family values" and "defending the sanctity of marriage."

Representative Todd has had enough hypocrisy from politicians opposing marriage equality in the name of family values while breaking their own marriage vows and said these words which are today's Queer Quote.

"I will not stand by and allow legislators to talk about ‘family values’ when they have affairs, and I know of many who are and have. I will call our elected officials who want to hide in the closet out. It is pretty well known that we have people in Montgomery who are or have had affairs. I just want them to be careful what they’re saying, some of it might come back to stick on them."

I have always been in favor of outing closeted politicians in the interests of media fairness. I think it is also a reasonable tactic when faced with hypocrisy. However, I also know that legislation gets accomplished through relationships with colleagues and Rep. Todd may have made herself less able to work with some colleagues because of these words. But I think it was worth it, and I love these other words she said: "But I know I’m on the side that is going to win and I’m sorry they’re so ignorant."

Sometimes you just gotta tell the Truth!

Hat/tip to Joe Jervis and New Civil Rights Movement

QUEER QUOTE: HI Gov. Abercrombie Blames 36 Point Primary Loss On Marriage Equality

Hawaii Governor Neil Abercrombie lost the Democratic nomination for Governor by over 36 percentage points a few weeks ago.

This was quite an astonishing rebuke to the sitting governor of a blue state and it was a surprise to some since Abercrombie outspent his opponent 10-to1 but lost by a 2-to-1 margin to state Senator David Ige. Even more surprising, however, is the supposedly progressive ally blaming his support for marriage equality on his electoral defeat, something the Governor did in interviews recently which becomes today's Queer Quote.

Speaking to reporters in his office, Abercrombie said Republicans, who are allowed to vote in the state's open primary, crossed over to vote against him because of his maneuver to legalize gay marriage. He also claimed that religious leaders urged voters to choose his opponent.

"Republicans crossed over en masse to vote in the Democratic primary, and then the religious factor came in," he said, as quoted by the AP. "Doctrinally I was outside the circle and paid for it."

Who is Abercrombie trying to fool? Does he really think there are enough Republican voters in Hawaii to cause a 35-point deficit in a Democratic primary election? Does he think that voters who were asked about what issues were important to them were lying when they did not mention marriage equality?

QUEER QUOTE: Aaron Schock (R-IL) Outed (Again)

Another year, another round of gay rumors about a closeted, homophobic Republican politician. This time the politician in question is Aaron Schock, a.k.a. The Congressman With Abs, who is a Republican representative of the 18th Congressional District of Illinois. Schock has long been the subject of rumors about his sexuality, possibly because he is attractive enough that he catches attention of most gay men, and the fact that he seems more inordinately interested in his appearance than most politicians.

He is also a target because he has repeatedly expressed anti-gay positions and voted to enact those opinions as public policy.

Former CBS Reporter Itay Hod posted the following comments to Facebook, which will work as today's Queer Quote:

people always say, no one has the right to out anyone. that coming out is a private matter. i disagree. as you can imagine, not a very popular opinion. but bear with me.  

here's a hypothetical: what if you know a certain GOP congressman, let's just say from Illinois, is gay... and you know this because one of your friends, a journalist for a reputable network, told you in no uncertain terms that he caught that GOP congressman and his male roommate in the shower... together. now they could have been good friends just trying to conserve water. but there's more. what if this congressman has also been caught by tmz cameras trolling gay bars. now what if you know that this very same guy, the darling of the gop, has also voted against repeal of don’t ask don’t tell, opposed the repeal of doma, is against gay marriage; and for the federal marriage amendment, which would add language to the us constitution banning gay marriage and would likely strike down every gay rights law and ordinance in the country? 

Are we still not allowed to out him? 

As I have said before many times, I do believe in outing people. In this case, things have become even more interesting  since Rep. Schock responded to this Facebook posting going viral and the associated increased attention to his social media posts along with by making his Instagram account private.

I do not have a problem with someone outing Aaron Schock, but I do have a problem with reporting about someone's sexuality without using the same journalistic ethics that one would use to report any other fact. Hod is not reporting any first-hand knowledge that he has of Schock's sexuality (which is obviously difficult to obtain) but he also does not have multiple identifiable sources supporting the assertion that Schock is gay.

U.S. Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY) Outed As Gay

The number of conservative Republican politicians who vote against LGBT equality yet are outed as members of the LGBT community has increased by one. John Barrasso, the Republican U.S. Senator from Wyoming has been outed as a gay man by Mike Rogers, who has an impeccable record of being correct.

This weekend Rogers posted this tweet:

Curiously, when contacted by media outlets and blogs Rogers just says "my tweets stand on their own."

New Civil Rights Project provides a brief profile of Sen. Barrasso:

Barrasso, who earned a zero percent rating from HRC, voted against the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. He also voted against reauthorizing the Violence Against Women this year, which includes protection not only for women, but for “underserved populations” including sexual minorities and Native Americans. And he voted against the bipartisan expanded background checks bill that 91 percent of all Americans support.

Sen. Barrasso is also the chairman of the Republican Policy Committee, which pretends to be a legislative think tank, publishing policy papers like “Obamacare Exchange Opens Door to Fraud and Identity Theft,” and “Democrats Target Family Farms for Death Taxes.”

Senator Barrasso, 61, is a Presbyterian, divorced, remarried, and has three children. He is up for re-election in 2016. He is on Facebook and Twitter.

Sheesh. With the presence of openly lesbian Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, barely closeted Barbara Mikulski and previously outed Mark Kirk could LGBT people be actually over-represented in the United States Senate?

Queer Quote: San Antonio Councilperson's Private Homophobia Revealed

San Antonio Councilwoman Elisa Chan has been getting a lot of public attention recently after the release of comments she made in private with her staff that reveal a stunningly ignorant level of homophobia and transphobia.

The text of her comments are today's Queer Quote:

I don’t think homosexual people should do adoption. They should be banned by adoption. You’re going to confuse those kids. They should be banned. If you wanted to choose that lifestyle, we don’t want to discriminate you, but you shouldn’t affect the young people… You see two men go into a bedroom. You see two women kissing. Is that not confusing? It’s confusing.  

[...] 

We do not want to attack any group. I’m respectful of their choices, right? Even though I don’t believe that, but they’re free people, they can do whatever they want to do. But … don’t just come back and say you’re being discriminated.

What is confusing to kids about seeing same-sex couples? Apparently Coucilwoman Chan believes (like many Russian people) that somehow if children know that gay people exist it will impact their adult sexual orientation. This belief has no basis in reality and is laughable on its face, since the converse is obviously not true (i.e. the fact that almost all LGBT people have been raised in heterosexual households and yet have non-heterosexual sexual orientations). The problem with this belief is that it can impact how people feel about public policy. In fact the political context of Chan's comments is that the San Antonio City Council is currently considering an ordinance that would prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.

The comments came to light because one of Chan's staffer taped the comments and released it to the local San Antonio media, where it has been getting a  lot of negative and critical attention.

Queer Quote: Ex-Gay Org Head Alan Chambers Apologizes

Alan Chambers is the longtime head of Exodus International, the oldest and largest "ex-gay" organization which for decades has insisted on a promoting a "religious ministry" that it could heal homosexual and turn them straight. Yesterday, at the annual conference of Exodus, Chambers issued an astonishing apology for his actions harming the LGBT community and later announced that Exodus itself would shut down.

An excerpt from Chambers' (somewhat long) apology for three decades of preaching "gay=sin" is today's Queer Quote:

Please know that I am deeply sorry. I am sorry for the pain and hurt many of you have experienced. I am sorry that some of you spent years working through the shame and guilt you felt when your attractions didn’t change. I am sorry we promoted sexual orientation change efforts and reparative theories about sexual orientation that stigmatized parents. I am sorry that there were times I didn’t stand up to people publicly “on my side” who called you names like sodomite—or worse. I am sorry that I, knowing some of you so well, failed to share publicly that the gay and lesbian people I know were every bit as capable of being amazing parents as the straight people that I know. I am sorry that when I celebrated a person coming to Christ and surrendering their sexuality to Him that I callously celebrated the end of relationships that broke your heart. I am sorry that I have communicated that you and your families are less than me and mine.

It occurs to me that it is interesting that just as we wait to see if the expected advances in LGBT equality materialize at the Supreme Court, one of the key bulwarks of the anti-gay movement impeding that progress is going to be going away.

Ex-Gay Movement Definitively Exposed As Fraudulent

The poster boy for the "ex-gay movement, John Paulk, has finally agreed to publicly rebuke the entire notion that "sexual conversion therapy" has any effect, proving (yet again) that the ex-gay movement is an entire fraud.

Portland Quarterly has the scoop:

Until recently, I have struggled all my life in feeling unloved and unaccepted. I have been on a journey during the last few years in trying to understand God, myself, and how I can best relate to others. During this journey I have made many mistakes and I have hurt many people including people who are close to me. I have also found a large number of people who accept me for who I am regardless of my past, any labels, or what I do. 

I no longer support the ex-gay movement or efforts to attempt to change individuals — especially teens who already feel insecure and alienated. I feel great sorrow over the pain that has been caused when my words were misconstrued. I have worked at giving generously to the gay community in Portland where I work and live. I am working hard to be authentic and genuine in all of my relationships.

Paulk is still used by heterosexual supremacists and inveterate homophobes to make the false claim that "sexual orientation is a choice" (although, curiously, they never seem to think being heterosexual is a choice).

The ex-gay movement has always been fraudulent, and they know it. However, the existence of alleged "ex-gays" makes it possible for people like anti-gay Arizona Republican Congressman Matt Salmon to believe that he could change his gay son's sexual orientation. Salmon made headlines recently when the congressman announced that he is opposed to gay marriage despite having an openly gay son (also named Matt).

The notion that "you can choose not to be gay" also greatly harms thousands of young people every year who are uncomfortable with their developing sexual orientation and their sudden realization they live in a society with ingrained, institutionalized homophobia. If they hear that it is possible to change one's sexual orientation and they invariably fail to do so, this can lead to potentially fatal levels of disappointment. It can be very difficult to be openly gay in many environments, especially when LGBT citizens do not enjoy full civil rights and much of public policy reinforces societal homophobia.

The organization Truth Wins Out has been following this case for years and is the go-to organization combating the virulent anti-LGBT movement. It's founder Wayne Besen, wrote the book Anything But Straight about the Paulk and the fraudulent ex-gay movement and his work has been completely vindicated.

hat/tip to LGBT Think Progress

Queer Quote: OH Gov Flip-Flops On LGBT Equality (In 10 Hours)

John Kasich is the Republican Governor of Ohio, serving in his first term, where he has been relatively unpopular. Rob Portman, the junior U.S. Senator from Ohio, made news recently when he came out in favor of marrige equality, the first Republican Senator to do so. That statement was last week's Queer Quote, and it has spurred political reporters go around and ask other prominent Ohio politicians their views on marriage equality.

LGBT Think Progress reports what happened:

Kasich was asked if he could imagine a situation that might cause him to change his position.“I really can’t see one, I mean, I talked to Rob and encouraged him,” Kasich said. “If people want to have civil unions and have some way to transfer their resources, I’m for that. I don’t support gay marriage.”“I’ve got friends that are gay and I’ve told them ‘Look, (same sex marriage) is just not something I agree with’ and I’m not doing it out of a sense of anger or judgment, it’s just my opinion on this issue.”“I just think marriage is between a man and a woman, but if you want to have a civil union that’s fine with me,” Kasich said.

But then a mere 10 hours later, Gov. Kasich's spokesperson "clarified" Kasich's position:

The governor's position is unchanged. He opposes gay marriage and opposes changing Ohio's Constitution to allow for civil unions," said Nichols. "He's opposed to discrimination against any Ohioan and, while he may have used the term 'civil union' loosely in this instance, he recognizes the existing rights of Ohioans to enter into private contracts to manage their personal property and health care issues."

It should be noted that the Governor is up for re-election in 2014 and that Ohio's constitution bans both marriage as well as civil unions ("a legal status for relationships of unmarried individuals that intends to approximate the design, qualities, significance or effect of marriage").

This is a position opposed by the vast majority of Ohioans and Americans, with roughly two-thirds supporting some legal recognition for same-sex couples and about one-quarter banning any recognition under the law.

Queer Quote: Sen. Rob Portman Supports Marriage Equality

Rob Portman was the head of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under President George W. Bush and is now an U.S. Senator from Ohio. He had supported DOMA and a federal constitutional amendment prohibiting recognition of same-sex marriage nationwide. His college-aged son, Will Portman, came out to him as gay two years ago and now Senator Portman has come out in support of marriage equality, the first sitting Republican Senator to do so.

His statement of support (published in today's Columbus Dispatch) is today's Queer Quote:

"I've come to the conclusion that for me, personally, I think this is something that we should allow people to do, to get married, and to have the joy and stability of marriage that I've had for over 26 years. That I want all of my children to have, including our son, who is gay."

Reactions to his statement have been mixed. LGBT activists are happy that a Republican senator is now supporting marriage equality, but some progressives are noting that he is only doing so because he has suddenly discovered that homophobic public policy can negatively impact his family, even though the argument for marriage equality supporters has always been that families all over the country are affected by the lack of empathy towards LGBT people's civil rights. Conservatives are claiming that one can love one's gay family members while still supporting public policies and legislation that discriminate against them and diminish LGBT citizens' civil rights.

It is also not going un-noticed that Portman was a finalist in the Veepstakes last year to be Mitt Romney and that even though Romney's people claim that they knew Sen. Portman's son was gay and that it did not impact their decision to choose Congressman Paul Ryan instead, the fact is that Portman has not publicized this change-of-heart on anti-gay legislation until it was going to have limited negative impact on his political career.

Portman's op-ed also takes a position on gay Götterdämmerung, stating that he thinks that the Supreme Court should leave the questions presented in the Hollingworth v. Perry and United States v. Windsor (on the legalization to marriage equality) to the states.

Here's the important section of the piece, titled "Gay couples also deserve chance to get married":

The process of citizens persuading fellow citizens is how consensus is built and enduring change is forged. That’s why I believe change should come about through the democratic process in the states. Judicial intervention from Washington would circumvent that process as it’s moving in the direction of recognizing marriage for same-sex couples. An expansive court ruling would run the risk of deepening divisions rather than resolving them.

I’ve thought a great deal about this issue, and like millions of Americans in recent years, I’ve changed my mind on the question of marriage for same-sex couples. As we strive as a nation to form a more perfect union, I believe all of our sons and daughters ought to have the same opportunity to experience the joy and stability of marriage.

It's becoming clearer and clearer that opposition to LGBT equality is a more and more isolated (and rare) position. And that's a good thing!

Queer Quote: Scottish Cardinal Confesses Sexual Sins

Cardinal Keith O'Brien, the head of the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland, and one of the most prominent homophobes in Great Britain, suddenly resigned his post recently, leaving the country without a cardinal to represent them in the next conclave to select the next Pope. O'Brien's resignation came after the circulation of multiple anonymous accusations of improper sexual conduct between the cardinal (who was also an archbishop) and at least three priests. O'Brien denied the charges at the time but recently released this statement:

"In recent days certain allegations which have been made against me havebecome public. Initially, their anonymous and non-specific nature led meto contest them.
However, I wish to take this opportunity to admit that there have beentimes that my sexual conduct has fallen below the standards expected of meas a priest, archbishop and cardinal.
To those I have offended, I apologise and ask forgiveness.
To the Catholic Church and people of Scotland, I also apologise.
I will now spend the rest of my life in retirement. I will play no furtherpart in the public life of the Catholic Church in Scotland."

I think we'll take that as today's Queer Quote, shall we? O'Brien's case is stunning for its sheer hypocrisy, because he was proud to be the face and voice of the primary opposition to the marriage equality bill currently working its way through the British Parliament, calling marriage equality “grotesque subversion of a universally accepted human right” while all the time he was a gay man who had sex with men himself, men who were presumably under his authority, since they were Catholic priests and he was the top prelate in all of Great Britain.

That a virulent homophobe turns out to homosexual is no longer a surprise, it is almost a cliche. After all, for most people homosexuality is not a top issue of concern. So when someone is so vocally homophobic it is often motivated by a burning desire to eliminate some part of their own identity, or to try to be so anti-gay that no one would ever dare to think that such a person could be gay themselves. But a long history in gay activism has shown me that obsession with homosexuality is typically limited to homosexual, either openly so or not.

Saturday Politics: Even GOP Supports Popular Vote

It appears as if the Republican plan to attempt to rig the 2016 presidential election by changing how certain blue states (that have Republican-controlled legislatures and Republican governors) like Virginia, Florida, Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin assign electoral votes by congressional district is not working. Only Pennsylvania has not decisively rejected that idea, but they are currently proposing a similarly GOP-skewed scheme.

Interestingly, some Republicans are coming around to supporting a plan to change how electoral votes are allotted that I would support, the National Popular Vote or NPV.

That said, there is polling evidence that GOP voters are become more interested in a national popular vote as 2000 fades into the distance and Democrats expand their reach into more swing states. A Gallup poll this month found 63 percent of respondents supported replacing the Electoral College with a national vote. But the big news was that 61 percent of Republicans now favor the change, a huge shift in support since 2000, when only 41 percent said they were were pro-popular vote. Even in 2011, only a slight majority of GOPers wanted to ditch the current system. 

This might have something to do with the previous race. A week before the 2012 election, Republicans were a lot more worried that Mitt Romney might win the popular vote and lose the election than Democrats were about President Obama thanks to the latter’s relative strength in Ohio, Colorado, Nevada, and Iowa. 

Meanwhile, the conservative movement’s electoral reformers may not have the biggest megaphone in the party, but it is getting louder. Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer (R) came out for a national popular vote shortly after the election, complaining it put too much attention on swing states. (So did Donald Trump, for what it’s worth.)

I don't know how I feel about supporting an idea that both Jan Brewer and Donald Trump both support! But that doesn't mean that NPV is a bad idea; if it passed then every single person's vote everywhere in the country would have equal weight in deciding the presidential election, which is a much more democratic system than the system we have now based on the electoral college.

Hat/tip to Talking Points Memo.

Godless Wednesday: NYT Exposes "The God Glut"

Frank Bruni, an openly gay columnist who writes for The New York Times has a great column this week called "The God Glut" which starts off discussing a senior West Point cadet named Blake Page who is quitting a semester before graduation because he can no longer tolerate the evangelical proselytizing at his school.

The best part of Bruni's piece describes the many ways that "God" and religiosity suffuse American life:

We have God on our dollars, God in our pledge of allegiance, God in our Congress. Last year, the House took the time to vote, 396 to 9, in favor of a resolution affirming “In God We Trust” as our national motto. How utterly needless, unless I missed some insurrectionist initiative to have that motto changed to “Buck Up, Beelzebub” or “Surrender Dorothy.” 

We have God in our public schools, a few of which cling to creationism, and we have major presidential candidates — Rick Perry, Michele Bachmann, Rick Santorum — who use God in general and Christianity in particular as cornerstones of their campaigns. God’s initial absence from the Democratic Party platform last summer stirred more outrage among Americans than the slaughter in Syria will ever provoke. 

God’s wishes are cited in efforts to deny abortions to raped women and civil marriages to same-sex couples. In our country God doesn’t merely have a place at the table. He or She is the host of the prayer-heavy dinner party. 

And there’s too little acknowledgment that God isn’t just a potent engine of altruism, mercy and solace, but also, in instances, a divisive, repressive instrument; that godliness isn’t any prerequisite for patriotism; and that someone like [Cadet Blake] Page deserves as much respect as any true believer.

This is precisely why I devote at least one day a week where I discuss issues of religion, religiosity (and the lack thereof) on the blog and call it Godless Wednesday.

Queer Quote: Barney Frank Shames Gay Republicans

Rep. Barney Frank said the following about the curious case of gay Republicans who support the Romney-Ryan presidential ticket.

"Frankly I’ve been appalled to see the Log Cabin club, in the face of this worse and worse record on public policy by Republicans on our issues. Mr. Cooper said, ‘Well at least they’re not saying bad things about us.' That’s just extraordinary. Again, 30 years ago when we were emerging from the vice of prejudice, I understood that. But no, we shouldn’t be accepting a kind of second class citizenship, [and saying], ‘You can treat us badly as long you don’t yell at us.’ 

"They’re accepted on [the GOP's] terms. They’re willing to be accepted with no rights -- no right to marry, no right to serve in the military, no right to be protected against hate crimes, no right to be protected in employment. I’ll be honest: For 20 years now I’ve heard how the Log Cabins are going to make Republicans better, but they’ve only gotten worse. I now understand why they call themselves Log Cabin: their role model is Uncle Tom."

This is pretty harsh, but is it really untrue? I understand that in order to fully advance LGBT equality it can not be seen as a partisan issue, but there are some basic principles that one can not compromise on, and one of those are basic civil rights of gay people: equal treatment under the law. If Log Cabin Republicans are not willing to apply these principles, then they are indeed vulnerable to all the criticism they get.

What do you think?

Another Virulent Homophobe Caught Molesting Kids

Ahhh, the sweet delicious irony. Heterosexual supremacists often attepmt to tar LGBT activists with the canard that homosexuality is synonymous or associated with pederasty or molestation of children. But, all reasonable evidence suggests that the vast percentage of child molesters are heterosexual (since the vast number of people are heterosexual) and that religious extremists are over-represented in the sample of heinous child sex criminals.

A case in point is one Caleb Hesse, 52, who is well-known in Northern California for his promotion of Proposition 8 and prominent anti-gay activities. According to Back2STonewall, Hesse was recently busted for sexually molesting "numerous underage boys":

A longtime anti-gay activist, California Prop 8 donor, and elementary school teacher was taken into custody on August 17th after admitting inappropriate contact with young boys.Caleb Douglas Hesse, a teacher for the Morongo Unified School District since 1987 (most recently, he was teaching first grade at Friendly Hills Elementary School in Joshua Tree) and a longtime youth volunteer with the virulently homophobic Evangelical Free Church of Yucca Valley, has confessed to sexually abusing “numerous underage boys,” with authorities believe the crimes occurred between the early 1980’s and as recently as a week ago.” Investigators say Hesse met the majority of the victims during overnight outings with a youth group at the  Evangelical Free Church. 

 During his arraignment on August 21st Hess recanted his confession and changed his plea to “not guilty”. 

 Hesse’s bail was set at 2.5 million dollars.

According to the San Francisco Examiner, Hesse is the owner of protectmarriage.com, the primary website for the proponents of Proposition 8, has been charged with four felony counts of lewd and lascivious acts with a child under 14 and is being held at the Morongo Basin Jail. The investigation of his activities is in its early stages but he has been active at the "Evangelical Free Church" for a long time.

What a shocker (not)! Another person with intense, almost obsessive activism and attention to promoting homophobia, preventing gay marriage and opposition to LGBT equality found to be sexually perverse. At this point it has almost become a cliche. After all, how, really, does homosexuality affect you if you're not gay yourself? People who have such significant issues with it are almost always dealing with some internal personal conflict over the issue.

hat/tip to Joe.My.God

Republican Hypocrite Of The Week: Paul Babeu

If it's Tuesday then there must be another news story about a conservative Republican caught up living his or her life privately very differently from the image and ideology he or she is promoting in public.

The latest Republican Hypocrite of the Week is Paul Babeu a 43-year-old conservative Republican who had some national renown in political circles as the elected Sheriff of Pinal County, AZ and who is a declared candidate for the 4th Congressional District of Arizona. He is also apparently a closeted gay man who while maintaining a sexual relationship with a Mexican immigrant has repeatedly aligned himself with Pima County Sherriff Joe Arpaio and the racist, xenophobic nutjobs that fueled passage of Arizona's virulently anti-immigrant legislation SB 1070 into law.

With the astonishing title of "Paul Babeu's Mexican Ex-Lover Says Sheriff's Attorney Threatened Him With Deportation" the Phoenix New Times revealed the house of cards which was Babeu's private, public and political lives on Saturday February 18:

Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu — who became the face of Arizona border security nationally after he started stridently opposing illegal immigration — threatened his Mexican ex-lover with deportation when the man refused to promise never to disclose their years-long relationship, the former boyfriend and his lawyer tell New Times.

The latest of the alleged threats were made through Babeu's personal attorney, who's also running the sheriff's campaign for Congress in District 4, the ex-lover says.

He says lawyer Chris DeRose demanded he sign an agreement that he would never breathe a word about the affair. But Jose (New Times is withholding his last name because Babeu and his attorney have challenged his legal status) refused.

Babeu immediately resigned as co-chair of Mitt Romney's Arizona presidential campaign and held a press conference where he confirmed he was gay but denied all the other allegations in the New Times article. Other papers and political outlets have taken up the story, it was even repeated on NPR's Morning Edition today as a "distraction" for Romney as he tries to concentrate on winning the upcoming Arizona and Michigan Republican primaries.

In fact, the next Republican Presidential candidates debate is on Thursday in Phoenix, AZ! I wonder if Sherriff Babeu will show up? (And will he delete his adam4adam profile "studboi1" now?)

I will take the time to reiterate that I am boycotting the entire state of Arizona while SB 1070 is on the books. The United States Supreme Court should rule on Arizona v. United States by the end of June, resolving the constitutionality of the measure.

I have just two things to say about the entire story: hot mess!


UPDATE 02/21/2012 09:26AM PST
The full name and face of Paul Babeu's ex-boyfriend has been revealed by an Arizona television station. It is Jose Orozco and he is 34 years old and apparently NOT an undocumented immigrant.

Hat/tip to Joe.My.God.

The Flyer Mitt Romney Doesn't Want SC Voters To See

This flyer is from Mitt Romney's 2002 campaign for Governor of Massachusetts. Back in those days, Romney was portraying himself as a typical Northeastern liberal Republican, i.e. pro-choice and pro-gay.

Now that Romney has won Iowa* and New Hampshire it should be interesting to see how South Carolina voters react to Romney when they learn more about his past positions.

(*The Iowa results were essentially a tie.)

Fox News: "No Terrorist Attacks From 2000-2008"

This is not a "Fair and Balanced" news network.

Hat/tip to Joe.My.God

WATCH: Conservative Republicans' Ayn Rand Problem

I hope lots and lots of Republican primary voters watch this video of Ayn Rand spouting her views on religion (which I agree with). It will be interesting to see how they agree with everything he says about capitalism but reject everything she says about "God."

I have no difficulty in saying I reject everything she says about capitalism but agree with what she says about "faith."

Anthony Weiner To Resign

U.S. Representative Anthony Weiner has let it be known that he intends to resign from Congress today.

Politico reports:

Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.) will resign from his seat in Congress, heeding calls from President Barack Obama, House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and dozens of other congressional Democrats, sources confirm to POLITICO.

The resignation ends nearly three weeks of tumultuous political controversy since the New York congressman sent a lewd picture of himself over Twitter on the Friday of Memorial Day weekend. After spending over a week claiming that the photo was sent by someone who hacked his account, Weiner admitted last Monday that he had sent it himself, and that he had carried on online sexual relationships with at least six women in the last three years. 

Weiner is expected to make his resignation official in a statement to the press at 2 p.m. at a senior center in Brooklyn where he announced his first run for the New York City Council in 1993.

I agree with Rachel Maddow that I don't understand why a progressive Weiner has to resign over a virtual sex scandal when it took years for U.S. Senator John Ensign (R-NV) to resign after committing an adulterous affair with a subordinate's wife and then paying hush money AND U.S. Senator David Vitter (R-LA) who repeatedly paid prostitutes to have adulterous, kinky sex refuses to resign and has been re-elected!

Why are Democrats such wimps?

Rick Perry Invites All Governors To Pray

Rick Perry, Republican Governor of Texas

The Governor of Texas has issued an invitation to the governors of every state in the Union to come to Texas and pray with him on August 6, 2011 in Houston. He is collaborating with notorious hate-group American Family Association to put on something called "The Response USA".

The Friendly Atheist reports:

As a nation, we must come together and call upon Jesus to guide us through unprecedented struggles, and thank Him for the blessings of freedom we so richly enjoy.Some problems are beyond our power to solve, and according to the Book of Joel, Chapter 2, this historic hour demands a historic response. Therefore, on August 6, thousands will gather to pray for a historic breakthrough for our country and a renewed sense of moral purpose.
I sincerely hope you’ll join me in Houston on August 6th and take your place in Reliant Stadium with praying people asking God’s forgiveness, wisdom and provision for our state and nation. There is hope for America. It lies in heaven, and we will find it on our knees.

Earlier this year Gov. Perry made headlines when he called on all Texans to pray with him for rain, since there is a fierce drought going on leading to historic wildfires. The Governor went as far to issue an official proclamation:

WHEREAS, throughout our history, both as a state and as individuals, Texans have been strengthened, assured and lifted up through prayer; it seems right and fitting that the people of Texas should join together in prayer to humbly seek an end to this devastating drought and these dangerous wildfires;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, RICK PERRY, Governor of Texas, under the authority vested in me by the Constitution and Statutes of the State of Texas, do hereby proclaim the three-day period from Friday, April 22, 2011, to Sunday, April 24, 2011, as Days of Prayer for Rain in the State of Texas. I urge Texans of all faiths and traditions to offer prayers on that day for the healing of our land, the rebuilding of our communities and the restoration of our normal and robust way of life.

This is clearly a politician who does not believe in a separation between church and state, and who will use a political office to promote a particular religious-based ideology. And now he is thinking of running for President of the United States. He has never lost an election. Beware this man!