4th U.S. Circuit Hears Oral Arguments in VA Marriage Equality Case

Today the 4th U.S. Circuit heard oral arguments in Bostic v. Schaefer (previously Bostic v. Rainey) which is better known as Virginia's marriage equality case. This past February a federal judge struck down Virginia's ban on marriage equality and today's oral arguments were the appellate circuit level appeal of this decision.

You can hear the audio of the oral arguments yourself at this link. The three judges on the panel are Paul Niemeyer (Appointed by President George H.W. Bush), Roger Gregory (Nominated by President Bill Clinton and then George W. Bush),  and Henry Floyd (Nominated by President Obama). The lawyers conducting the argument for the side of marriage equality were Ted Olson (on behalf of American Foundation for Equal Rights), James Esseks (on behalf of the ACLU) and Stuart Raphael (Virginia's Solicitor General).

Most observers seem to think that the panel will split 2-1 in favor of upholding the lower-court ruling, which would then be appealed to the United States Supreme Court, which could decide whether it wants to use this case to decide the question of marriage equality squarely in 2015 or let marriage equality go into effect in the 4th Circuit (Virginia, South Carolina, West Virginia and North Carolina).

Hat/tip to Equality on Trial

TENNIS TUESDAY: Kei Leapfrogs Rival To Reach World #9

SPECIAL K

Kei Nishikori makes history this week by becoming the first male player from Japan to reach the Top 10. of the ATP World Rankings. Fresh off his impressive performance in the finals of his first Masters 1000 event in Madrid, Nishijori jumps over Milos Raonic, John Isner  and Richard Gasquet (respectively) to land at World #9.

NO SWISS PATERNITY LEAVE?
Roger Federer is back on the Tour less than a week after his twin sons Lenny and Leo were born on Tuesday May 6th. He arrived in Rome on Monday (with wife Mirka's blessings) and will play his first round match against Jeremy Chardy. Last year he lost in the final of Rome to Rafael Nadal.

NOLE OF YOUR BUSINESS
Novak Djokovic refuses to disclose the precise due date of his first child's birth will be, probably since he is not married to the mother (yet)! Nole said "It will happen at the end of the year," presumably after he marries his fiancee Jelena Ristic.

WILL SHE OR WON'T SHE?
Serena Williams withdrew from her defense of her Madrid title rather than face Petra Kvitova in the semifinals with a bum leg, ceding the title to Maria Sharapova, who obliged. Serena still has the bum leg but she is also in Rome hoping to defend her title there as well. Or will she pull out to give her body some more rest instead of a tough first match against Andrea Petkovic before her Roland Garros title defense begins in less than two weeks?

VENUS BACK IN ACTION
Venus Williams won her first two matches in Rome against Annika Beck 6-3 6-1 and Mona Barthel 6-2 6-2 but should face a tougher test in Carla Suarez Navarro in the 3rd round. If she gets past that she has the winner of the Madison Keys-Simona Halep match.

Openly Gay NFL Player Michael Sam Congratulated By Obama

Miichael Sam made history on Saturday by being selected (249th out of 256 players) in the NFL draft as the first openly gay athlete. That occasion was significant enough that the White House issued a statement attributed to President Obama:

"The President congratulates Michael Sam, the Rams and the NFL for taking an important step forward in our Nation's journey," said a White House statement.

"From the playing field to the corporate boardroom, LGBT Americans prove everyday that you should be judged by what you do and not who you are," said the White House of Sam, an award-winning defense end who played at the University of Missouri.

In more Michael Sam news, his jersey for the St. Louis Rams is one of the Top 5 selling jerseys online, something unheard of for a person drafted so late in the draft. The jerseys sell for $100, too, so solidarity with LGBT equality in sports doesn't come cheap!

Hat/tip to Wonder Man

EYE CANDY: Trevon Wray

Hot damn! I don't know much about Trevon Wray except his name and that I want to know more and see more. A little help, people?

2014 MADRID: Nadal Wins When Nishikori Withdraws, Sharapova Outlasts Halep

As I predicted, Rafael Nadal and Maria Sharapova won the Mutua Madrid Open on Sunday, cementing their status as favorites to win the clay court major in Paris in two weeks.

However, no one predicted that the two challengers, Kei Nishikori and Simona Halep would come out so strong and essentially blow away the eventual winner in the first set. Nishikori was up 6-2 4-2 before his back went out and he basically could no longer hit the ball, eventually retiring down 2-6 6-4 3-0 having lost seven consecutive games. This should actually give the rest of the field some hope because if Nishikori had been able to sustain his level of play for just 10-15 more minutes, he almost certainly would have earned his first victory over Nadal. Many commentators that the victory was a karmic one for Nadal, as he lost the 2014 Australian Open to Stanislas  wawrinka primarily due to an injury suffered in the warm-up! Today he was the recipient of a win due to an injured opponent. I'm sure Nadal would rather have another title in Melbourne instead of four in Madrid.

As for Sharapova, she simply started badly, and as she got better in the match, her opponent got worse. It wasn't clear if it was fatigue, but Halep's movement dropped off, her groundstrokes started to have less firepower just as Sharapova was gaining in confidence and pulverizing the ball into the corners, with the score of 1-6 6-2 6-3 the inevitable result.

By winning in Madrid for the first time (after making the final last year), Sharapova earned her 9th career clay court title, 31st overall and improved to 47-3 on clay since 2012, with all three losses coming to Serena Williams. If Serena is not healthy in Paris, she better watch out! I do believe other players on tour can beat Sharapova on clay (Li Na, Petra Kvitova and Simona Halep come to mind) but somehow they have not managed to do so over the last 24 months is a significant fact.
Sharapova will rise to World 37 while Halep remains at World #5.

Nadal's win was his 4th in Madrid, his 63rd career title (44 of which have come on clay). He improved to 30-5 for 2014, the best record on tour and defends his title from last year. He also extends his lead in Masters 1000 events to 27, now six ahead of Roger Federer who has 21.

Generally the person who wins the most of the available 9 Masters shields in the year ends up at #1. Novak Djokovic has 2 (Indian Wells and Miami), Wawrinka has 1 (Monte Carlo) and Nadal has 1 (Madrid) with Rome starting on Monday. Nadal is the defending champion and if he does not repeat as champion and Djokovic gets past the quarterfinal stage, there may be a new #1 in time for the French Open.

Game of Thrones (S4E05) : "First Of His Name"

Episode 5 of Season 4 of Game of Thrones is titled "First of His Name," which is presumably about the coronation of King Tommen, but I think is also a reference to Lord Petyr "Littlefinger" Baelish, who features prominently in this episode.

Circumstances prevented me from seeing this week's episode until the middle of the week, but I want to get my thoughts about S4E05 before S4E06, "The Laws of Gods and Men" airs tonight.

Summary
The show opens with the coronation of King Tommen, which is happenig under the watchful eyes of his mother Queen Regent Cersei Lannister Baratheon, his uncle the Hand of the King, Lord Tywin Lannister and apparently most of the important people in Westeros. Notably unseen are Lord Petyr Baelish and Lord Varys. This is followed by a key scene between Cersei and Margaery Tyrell, whom Cersei basically sounds out for her willingness to marry a third(!) King while simultaneously putting indirect pressure on one of three judges who will be deciding the fate of her brother Tyrion Lannister in his trial for murder of her son, the late unlamented King Joffrey Barratheon. During the episode Cersei has conversations which are intended to influence all three judges: Lord Mace Tyrell, Tywin and Ser Oberyn Martell.

There are three main events in this episode, the last of which resolves the suspense from S4E04 about the fate of Bran Stark and his traveling companions north of the Wall captured by the former Night's Watchmen in Craster's Keep. Bran's half-brother Jon Snow attacks the Keep and  the en result is that three people die: the sadistic leader of the mutineers, the traitorous infiltrator that Roose Bolton had sent to find Jon and kill the two remaining Stark brothers who were thought to be trying to reach Jon and the bumbling member of the Night's Watch who discovers it's not a good idea to keep a direwolf hungry and confined. A key point here is that despite being within earshot and view of each other Bran and Jon do not, reunite continuing the extended story line of the dispersal of the Stark family name that has been occurring since the tragic events at the end of S1E09.

The second main event was very subtle but it involved Dany. Somehow, Ser Jorah has the good news of the death of Joffrey in Westeros, which is tempered with the bad news that the slave cities of Astapor and Yunkai where Day freed the slaves are quickly falling into chaos without her presence and attention. She has to decide whether she should try and sail to Westeros now with her three young Dragons and take the Iron Throne now, abandoning what she has done in Essos to try to fulfill her destiny sooner rather than later. Interestigly, Dany chooses to wait. "If I can not control Slaver's Bay, how can I control seven kingdoms?" Thus the storylines from the two continents remains bifurcated for a lot longer....

The third main event of the episode is the arrival of Littlefinger and Sansa Stark (whom he tells the guardsmen is his niece Alayne) at the Bloody Gate on the way to the Aerie and Lysa Arryn. There we meet Sansa's crazy Aunt Lysa, whom we discover is head-over-heels in love with Littlefinger and whom insists Littlefinger and her get married immediately so she can have some private little finger action of her own with her new husband. During this exchange we also discover that Lysa Arryn started the chain of events which led to the War of the Five Kings in the first place by not only murdering her own husband Jon Arryn (the former Hand of the King that her brother of the law Eddard Stark replaced) at the suggestion of Littlefinger, but also writing a letter to her sister Catelyn Stark which led to the capture and near-execution of Tyrion way back in Season 1. This reveals to the audience that most of the THE most important events in the story to date have been as a result of Littlefinger 's machinations! "Wheels within wheels within wheels" as the saying goes.

Highlights
There were many highlights of this episode

• Brandor! Bran using his abilities to take over Hodor in order to kill one of his captors and stave off assassination is one of the key highlights of the episode. It demonstrates that even in a world where being crippled is one step up from a death sentence Bran can use his mind and other abilities to impact the world around him. Bran and Hodor together make a formidable team.
• He's Not Heavy He's My Brother. The actor playing Jojen Reed is stealing a lot of the scenes he is in as he communicates with eery abandon what "second sight" is like and demonstrates for Bran how powerful non-physical forces can be as well as Bran's own significance.
• Jealous, Much? The scene with Lysa Arryn and her niece Sansa where Lysa reveals her jealously of Sansa's mother Catelyn and her unhinged jealously of Sansa is riveting. Kate Dickie plays the scene to the hilt and we're left wondering what in the world Littlefinger could be seeing in Lysa to marry her. Perhaps the right to call an impregnable mountain castle his very own?

Lowlights
Nothing is perfect; even this excellent episode had some flaws.  The only one I think worth mentioning is:

• Did We Really Need To See That? Usually complaints about the explicit nature of the show involve the almost comical levels of nudity on the show. But this time for me it was about the explicit violence. Several of the fighting scenes were excessively gory, particularly the way that Jon dispatched.
• Where in the World is Lord Varys? Ever since the astonishing scene in the Throne Room in "The Climb" (S3E06) we the audience are pretty sure that Littlefinger and Varys are antipodes to one another, so it is curious indeed that as we see more and more of Littlefinger, as well as his more of his schemes are revealed we have seen hide nor hair of Lord Varys. He is one of my favorite characters because as a eunuch with power (he sits on the Small Council that advises the Hand of the King) he is one of the most prominent gender-variant characters on the show. (Brienne of Tarth is the second most prominent, of course.)

Grade: 10/10 (A).
Overall,  S4E05 was one of my favorite episodes of the show to date. Even though it was not full of action, it was full of really important conversations that revealed motives and actions of several of the characters that explained previous events earlier in the story as well as conversations that foreshadow significant events that will occur later in the story.

T-180 DAYS: Christopher Nolan's Interstellar Poster Revealed

It is exactly 6 months until Christopher Nolan's Interstellar is released on November 7, 2014. The film stars Oscar winners Matthew McConaughey and Anne Hathaway and Oscar nominee Jessica Chastain. Nolan regular Sir MIchael Caine is also in the cast.

The next official trailer will debut on May 16th (before screenings of the new Godzilla movie) but the big news is that the poster for the film has been released and features the tag line: "Mankind was born on Earth. It as never meant to die here."

2014 MADRID: Sharapova-Halep, Nadal-Nishikori Finals Set

The finals of the Mutua Madrid Open are set. orld #1 Rafael Nadal will face soon-to-be-Top 10 Kei Nishikori while on the women's side Maria Sharapova will face Simona Halep. Nadal has never lost to Nishikori in 6 meetings and Sharapova has not lost to Halep in 2.

I would be unsurprised if both Nadal and Sharapova win clay titles on Sunday, and should be considered favorites for Roland Garros, especially with their main rivals, Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams, recovering from injury.

Michael Sam Picked By NFL Team, Kisses BF Live on ESPN!

Michael Sam will most likely become the National Football League's first openly gay player when it was announced that he had been drafted by the St. Louis Rams. Seconds later he made even more history when he kissed his boyfriend on live television (ESPN)!

Vapors!

Arkansas Becomes First Southern State With Marriage Equality!

Well, well, well! The first Southern state in which same-sex couples are issued marriage licenses has become Arkansas! With a state judge  striking down statutory bans on Friday, today same-sex coupes are being issued marriage licenses in Eureka Springs, AK.

The AP reports:

Gay marriage arrived in the Bible Belt on Saturday, beginning with two women who had traveled overnight to ensure they'd be first in line. 

"Thank God," Jennifer Rambo said after Carroll County Deputy Clerk Jane Osborn issued a marriage license to her and Kristin Seaton, a former volleyball player at the University of Arkansas. The Fort Smith couple wed moments later on a sidewalk near the courthouse; the officiant wore a rainbow-colored dress. 

In total, 15 licenses were issued for same-sex couples in northwest Arkansas' Carroll County, Osborn said. 

Pulaski County Circuit Judge Chris Piazza paved the way Friday with a ruling that removed a 10-year-old barrier, saying a constitutional amendment overwhelmingly passed by voters in 2004 banning gay marriage was "an unconstitutional attempt to narrow the definition of equality." Piazza's ruling also overturned a 1997 state law banning gay marriage. 

But because Piazza didn't issue a stay, Arkansas' 75 county clerks were left to decide for themselves whether to grant marriage licenses. 

Rambo, 26, and Seaton, 27, were the first gay couple to be legally married. 

Fascinating to see how things are developing. It was only a question of when, not if, marriage equality would actually come to  the South but I had though it would be a purple state like Virginia or Florida, not a deep-red state like Arkansas. Does anyone doubt now that marriage equality will be a reality in all 50 states sooner rather than later?

2014 MADRID: Serena Gives Kvitova Walkover, Sharapova Outlasts Li

Serena Williams withdrew from Madrid, ruining her chances for a 3rd consecutive title here, citing an upper thigh injury. Serena still intends to play the Rome tournament, which starts on Monday, and of course the French Open. Last year she was undefeated on clay, and is currently the defending champion at Madrid, Rome and Paris. This year she has already lost on clay to World #78 Jana Cepelova in Charleston.

With Serena out of the tournament, the likely winner would seem to be whoever won the clash between two former Roland Garros champions, World #2 Li Na and the second-best clay court player on the women's tour, Maria Sharapova. Sharapova won that fight, coming back from behind to win 2-6 7-6(5) 6-3, improving her head-to-head to 10-5. Sharapova will next face Agnieska Radwanska in the semifinals. Masha leads Aga 9-2 in their career head-to-head and has never lost to her on clay. (In fact the only person to beat Sharapova on clay for the last two years is Serena Williams, and Serena has done it three times in that time periods). The other half of the draw has Petra Kvitova and Simona Halep, both of whom would make interesting foils for Sharapova in Sunday's final.

Arkansas Judge Strikes Down State's Bans On Marriage Equality

A local judge in Arkansas has struck down both a 1997 prohibition of same-sex marriage and a voter-approved 2004 constitutional amendment doing the same thing. This is just another domino in the string of judicial decisions recognizing that there is no rational basis for denying the fundamental right to marry to persons in same-sex relationships.

In his brief, 13-page ruling, Judge Chris Piazza said:

The Arkansas Supreme Court applied a heightened scrutiny and struck down as unconstitutional an initiated act that prohibited unmarried opposite-sex and same-sex couples from adopting children. The exclusion of same-sex couples from marriage for no rational basis violates the fundamental right to privacy and equal protection as described in Jegley and Cole, supra. The difference between opposite-sex and same-sex families is within the privacy of their homes. 

THEREFORE, THIS COURT HEREBY FINDS the Arkansas constitutional and legislative ban on same-sex marriage through Act 144 of 1997 and Amendment 83 is unconstitutional. 

It has been over forty years since Mildred Loving was given the right to marry the person of her choice. The hatred and fears have long since vanished and she and her husband lived full lives together; so it will be for the same-sex couples. 

It is time to let that beacon of freedom shine brighter on all our brothers and sisters. We will be stronger for it.

Piazza also refused to place a stay on the effect of his ruling, which means that couples could be issued marriage licenses as soon as tomorrow morning when some County Clerk offices are open on Saturdays.

The Attorney General of Arkansas (A Democrat who last week announced he personally support marriage equality but will continue to defend the ban on same-sex marriage in court) has announced that he will request that the judge issue a stay while the matter is on appeal before the Arkansas Supreme Court.

Hat/tip to Washington Blade

CELEBRITY FRIDAY: Biddy Martin, Out Lesbian President of Amherst College

I have been covering the phenomenon of openly LGBT college presidents for quite awhile, but somehow I missed the news that the president of Amherst College, one of the preeminent liberal arts colleges in the United States, is an out lesbian, and has been leading that institution since 2011!

I guess LGTQ Presidents in Higher Education needs to update their website!

Frank Schubert's Lesbian Sister Running For Sacramento County DA

Interesting political news out of Sacramento today. Frank Schubert is well-known to readers of this blog as the mastermind behind California's ban on same-sex marriage, Proposition 8, and many other ballot campaigns against marriage equality. It has been well-known for quite awhile that Schubert has a lesbian sister, but now Anne Marie Schubert is running for District Attorney of Sacramento County, as a openly gay Republican. During the Proposition 8 battle back in 2008 it was not known that Schubert existed and many people feel like if she had come out publicly at the time then it may have had an impact on the election.

Most openly gay candidates get the support of the LGBT community, but when you're the sister of the LGBT community's public enemy number one that is unlikely.

The Sacramento Bee's Marcus Breton reports

Schubert isn’t running as a gay candidate but as a champion for public safety. She doesn’t hide her orientation but doesn’t think it should define her, either. 

“Don’t vote for me because I’m gay or not gay. Vote for me because I’m the most qualified for the job,” she said. 

That Schubert is open but not an advocate for anything but the principles of her profession partly describes why Sacramento’s gay community is glaringly outside her varied tent of supporters. 

Ultimately, DAs are best judged by their record of achieving justice. 

But Schubert’s ascension and her disconnect with politically active segments of Sacramento’s gay community would have been unimaginable a few years ago. 

It was only eight years ago that West Sacramento Mayor Christopher Cabaldon “came out” to his constituents after virtually hiding who he was his entire political career.

I think that the main reason Ms. Schubert is not going to be endorsed by the LGBT community in Sacramento County is not that she's a republican but that she is not really friendly to or supportive of the LGBT community.

California Progress Report discussed the dilemma in Sacramento's LGBT community:

Public records show both Schuberts are registered as Republicans, while the candidate's two opponents, Maggy Krell and Todd Leras, are registered Democrats. 

Ms. Schubert's oldest brother, Frank, made millions of dollars stripping away equal marriage rights of homosexuals at the ballot box in California and Maine in 2008. Because of the familial connection to the fight against marriage equality, Ms. Schubert's run for District Attorney has proven to be divisive among the region's LGBT advocacy community. 

"I don't hold Anne Marie accountable for the actions of her brother," Darrick Lawson, the past president of Sacramento's Rainbow Chamber of Commerce whose group surprised many with its recent endorsement of Schubert's leading opponent, Krell. "I hold her accountable for her own actions, and more importantly, her own inactions. 

"I believe there is one Californian in 2008 who was uniquely qualified to make a difference during the Prop 8 campaign, and that was Anne Marie Schubert. If she had stood on the Capitol steps with her partner and their two children, the debate would have changed immediately," Lawson claimed. 

While Frank Schubert designed a successful campaign that promoted the idea that children would somehow be damaged or diminished to be knowledgable of same-sex unions, his sister and now candidate for District Attorney worked and lived in Sacramento with her Domestic Partner, Julie Greenberg, raising two young children the approximate age of the young boy, Joey Wirthlin, politically exploited by her brother to get California voters to strip away the right of their gay fellow citizens to marry.

What do you all think?

What

I
Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2014/03/16/6240784/marcos-breton-why-gays-oppose.html#storylink=cpy

High Court of Australia Recognizes 3rd Sex Category (Neither Male Nor Female)

Interesting and important news out of Australia relating to LGBT people. Apparently the High Court of Australia ruled just over a month ago that a person does NOT have to be registered by the state as either male or female, but can be listed as a 3rd "non-specific" sex by the Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages.

Australia Broadcasting Corporation reported the news:

A Sydney resident who fought to be legally recognised as being of non-specific sex has hailed a High Court ruling that New South Wales laws do permit the registration of a category of sex other than male or female. 

Norrie was born male but had a sex change and now does not identify as specifically male or female. 

After a four-year legal battle, Norrie has won the right to be legally recognised as being of non-specific sex. 

Norrie, who had been quietly confident of winning the case, says the historic verdict is a big win for the wider transgender community. 

"I screamed a squeal of delight. Very loudly. It's very thrilling, very exciting," Norrie said. 

"I'm overjoyed that it has happened. It's important for people to have equal rights in society and if some people are granted the right to have their sex and certain benefits that go along with that, then why shouldn't everyone have that right? 

"Why should people be left out because they're not seen as male or female? They should be recognised as whatever they are and allowed to participate in society at an equal level."

This is a great development, and following a similar ruling by the India High Court in the last month is an indication that the idea that sex and gender are not binary phenomena is starting to gain traction among the international judiciary.

One reason why this is important for LGBT people is because the primary mechanism by which gender and sex roles are maintained and regulated is through the imputation of homosexuality. One primary example of where gender registrations are directly related to the rights and responsibilities of citizens is in the context of marriage. Thus the fact that more and more countries are recognizing

the true nature of gender and sex is exciting. 

GODLESS WEDNESDAY: Supreme Court Rules Wrong Way In Public Prayer Case

The Town of Greece, New York has won its U.S. Supreme Court case about the right to have public prayers ("invocations") before meetings of the city council. The High Court ruled 5-4 (straight conservative-liberal split) in the case of Town of Greece v. Galloway this week.

SCOTUSblog reports:

Narrowly defining what is not allowed in such prayers, the Court said they may not be used to praise the virtues of one faith and may not cast other faiths or other believers in a sharply negative light.  Courts have no role in judging whether individual prayers satisfy that test, but can only examine a “pattern of prayer” to see whether it crossed the forbidden constitutional line and became a form of “coercion.” 

The majority clearly moved the “coercion” test to the forefront of analyzing when government and religion are too closely intertwined.  The alternative test — whether government action “endorsed” a particular faith — was nearly cast aside as taking too little account of the role of religion in America’s history and civic traditions. 

[...] 

The four dissenters complained that the new ruling will strike a heavy blow against the nation’s tradition of religious pluralism, and will lead to prayers that will actively promote a single faith’s religious values.  Justice Elena Kagan wrote the main dissent, joined by Justices Stephen G. Breyer, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and Sonia Sotomayor.  Justice Breyer also wrote a dissenting opinion speaking only for himself; that opinion focused more narrowly on the facts in this specific case.

Godless heathens like myself were outraged by the decision, but the godless have a plan to respond:

So, the Humanist Society, a supplemental arm of the American Humanist Association, launched a website that offers atheists information on secular invocations, including a definition of what these non-theistic prayers consist of, examples of these invocations and an interactive U.S. map showing where individuals who are qualified to deliver them reside. 

“In a way, the concept of a secular invocation is quite simple: It is essentially a short speech that calls upon the audience’s shared human values for assistance and authority in their public discourse,” explains a description on the American Humanist Association website. 

It continues, “Unlike a traditional invocation, a secular invocation does not call upon a supernatural entity as a guide. It redirects our attention away from those supernatural entities towards those common human values that we do in fact share for guidance.”
The American Humanist Association is also offering a program to approve those who wish to begin delivering secular invocations. 

“Non-religious people are often asked to contribute to a ceremonial event, but some struggle to find an alternative to religious wording,” Roy Speckhardt, the organization’s executive director, said in a statement. “We want to make it easier for anyone who wants to give a secular invocation so that legislative meetings can be nondiscriminatory.”

Sounds good to me!

GOSSIP: (22yo Black Gay Athlete) Derrick Gordon Dating Gerald McCullouch (47yo White TV Star)

An update on the Derrick Gordon, who came to our attention last month when he became the first NCAA Division 1 Basketball player to come out as gay, is now making waves because he is dating a television actor, Gerald McCullouch, who is best known for appearing on the television show C.S.I. and the independent film Bear City.

The two were photographed together at the recent GLAAD awards. Gerald is 47 (and white) and Derrick is 22 (and Black) so some people are FREAKING OUT about the age and race differences.


What do you all think, Gentle Readers? Personally, I think people should let people be people and chill the **** out! The two make a cute couple. Though, I must caution people to remember, the boy has been out for literally a month...

hat/tip to Wonder Man

TENNIS TUESDAY: Federer Twins (Leo and Lenny) Are Born!

Roger Federer withdrew from the ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Madrid on Tuesday, hours before his twin sons, Leo and Lenny were born. This is the second set of twins for Roger and wife Mirka. They also have twin girls named Charlene and Myla Rose who were born July 23, 2009.

Congratulations, Roger! What impeccable timing! Now you don't have to miss the Rome tournament next week, where you are defending finalists points. With Novak Djokovic also out of the tournament due to injury, things look good for Rafael Nadal to try and get his mojo back by winning his first clay court tournament of the year. (We often do not have to say that in May!)

Cuba To Host LGBT Conference This Week

Interesting news out of Cuba today. There is an international LGBT conference being hosted there this week.

More than 400 advocates from across the world will travel to Cuba next week to attend the first international LGBT conference that will take place in the Communist country.  

The sixth International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association for Latin America and the Caribbean (ILGALAC) Regional Conference will take place in the beach resort of Varadero. A number of parties and other events are scheduled to take place in nearby Havana, the Cuban capital, during the gathering.  

Mariela Castro Espín, daughter of Cuban President Raúl Castro who is the director of Cuba’s National Center for Sexual Education (CENESEX,) is president of the local committee that organized the ILGALAC conference.

It should be noted that Cuba has national legislation prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, something the United States does not have. Additionally, Fidel Castro personally apologized for the island-nation's previous persecution of gays and lesbians by the communist regime.

Hat/tip to Joe.My.God

QUEER QUOTE: Pasadena's Public Health Director Condemns Homosexuality (& Oprah & Jay-Z!)

Oh dear! I live and work very near to Pasadena, California in the north-east section of Los Angeles. Pasadena is having its own "bigot eruption" right now as the virulently anti-gay (and bizarre) beliefs of
Dr. Eric Walsh, the City Director of Public Health have come to light in the local media.

The Los Angeles Times reports that Dr. Walsh has been put on administrative leave from his taxpayer-funded job, for which he was paid more than $250,000 in 2012.

The reason for his suspension is this list of things that Dr. Walsh believes, according to the Pasadena Star-News, should disqualify him from serving as Pasadena's Public Health Director

• Oprah Winfrey is harboring the spirit of the anti-Christ;• The prophet Muhammad, founder of Islam, was influenced by Satan;• The devil set up Catholicism;• Acceptance of homosexuals is a satanic ploy to destroy America;• Rapper Jay Z is a disciple of Satan;• Single mothers are ruining their children;• Disney movies, which are loaded with violence, sex and magic, are a satanic ploy to split up families;• Darwin’s Theory of Evolution is a “satanic belief”;• The distribution of condoms to a public in need leads to higher AIDS rates;• The pope is the anti-Christ.

But it is this choice quote which makes him today's Queer Quote:

“In our public school system they began to teach moral relativism. They began to teach that there really is no absolute right or wrong. It’s more a matter of what you think or what you accept. And (according to that doctrine) if two adults agree to do something, it’s not wrong because they are both consenting adults. That is doctrine from the pits of hell. What makes something right is not based on man, it is based on God.”

One website thinks that is basically saying that gay people come from the "pits of hell" but maybe that's not what the good doctor meant?
Hat/tip to The New Civil Rights Movement

EYE CANDY: Jerome Walker (Again)

Jerome Walker has an amazing body, which has appeared as Eye Candy here once before (January 20, 2014). According to his Model Mayhem profile, Jerome is 42, 5'9", 168 pounds and lives in Atlanta.

Hmm, I think that seeing him in person would be a good reason to cross the Mason-Dixon line!

Game of Thrones (S4E04) : "Oathkeeper"

Episode 4 of Season 4 (S4E04) of Game of Thrones is titled "Oathkeeper." It aired last Sunday and  even though I was able to see it live unfortunately it has taken me almost a full week to find the time to blog my thoughts about it, similar to what happened with the previous episode, S4E03's"Breaker of Chains."

Oathkeeper ostensibly refers to the name of the new sword given to Ser Jaime Lannister by his father, which was created out of part of the Valyrian steel supplied when the Stark family sword "Ice" was melted down by Tywin Lannister at the very beginning of S4E01's "Two Swords."

Summary
S4E04 contains some very important scenes that  are important turning points in the overall story that Game of Thrones is telling. First, it is revealed almost immediately that Petyr Baelish, a.k.a Littlefinger was involved in the assassination of King Joffrey Barratheon. He basically confirms this fact when he is lecherously boasting to Sansa Stark about his new friends that will protect him from Lannister wrath. Cut immediately to the Queen of Thorns, Olenna Tyrell speaking with her granddaughter Margaery, tacitly confirming her complicity in regicide by saying how she would not have let Margaery "marry that little beast" and then adjusted the necklaces around Margaery's neck. A clue to those in the know that it was the necklace worn by Sansa to the Royal Wedding procured for her by Littlefinger that carried the poison that killed Joffrey.

But, since this is Game of Thrones, finding out who killed the King is not the most important moment in the episode. That would have tp be the capture of Bran Stark by the odious mutineers now raping and pillaging their brains out at Craster's Keep. The same location where Bran's half-brother Jon Snow is on his way to intercept his former colleagues in the Night's Watch before they can let the secret out about how understaffed and unprepared the Wall is for an attack by Mance Ryder's Wildling army. The fact that Jon and Bran might meet North of the Wall, something that does NOT happen in the books is a very interesting development, indicating the television adaptation is diverging from its source material in surprising (and important) ways.

Highlights
There were many highlights of this episode

• Promise Keepers? One of the little-noticed moments in (S4E02) "The Lion and the Rose" due to other more shocking events was the meeting between Brienne and Cersei that led to Brienne realizing she is in love with Jaime. Jaime is the most famous example of an Oathbreaker in the seven kingdoms, because as a member of the Kingsguard as a teenager, he killed the Mad King in order to prevent the slaughter of King's Landing. After Jaime is reminded of the oath that he made to Catelyn Stark to find and return her daughters in exchange for her saving his life and releasing him from captivity, he gives Brienne the sword his father gave him as well as his brother's squire, Podrick Payne and tasks her with fulfilling his oath to find and save Arya and Sansa. Brienne names the sword "Oathkeeper," which is how she sees Jaime and she would like him to see himself. It's a momentous scene and after all the time they spent together in Season 3, you get the impression these two do not expect to see each other again.
• Slaves Are People Too! The episode began with a scene between Grey Worm and Missandei, two former slaves talking about their pasts, as Daenerys' erstwhile translator tried to teach the head of Daeners' army of former slave soldiers, the Unsullied. Later in the episode we see a conversation between actual slaves of the City of Mereen as they consider whether the "Breaker of Chains" can really be the means to the end of their servitude, or is she just the catalyst for another failed slave revolt. 
• Pussy Galore. The scene where Margaery enters soon-to-be-king Tommen's bedroom and seduces/befriends the pre-pubescent boy with her feminine wiles was spellbinding. And we found out Tommen has a cat named Ser Pounce!
• WTF? The  final scene of the episode was one of the most controversial for people who have read the books like me. We discovered that the White Walkers have the ability to convert the human baby children that have been abandoned in the snow by the evil Craster into more un-dead, glowing-eyed zombies with the touch of a finger! This was quite an astonishing reveal.

Lowlights
The only flaw in this episode I can think of worth mentioning is:

• Enough Already! Did we really need to see that the former Night's Watch guys who mutinied and slit Lord Commander Mormont's throat raping Craster's wives? We know that they are bad bad guys. The gratuitous nudity and sexuality in the show is becoming ludicrous.

Grade: 9/10 (A-).
Overall,  S4E04 was quite an important episode. We are almost half-way through Season 4, and the events told in Books 3, 4 and 5 are starting to show up. In fact, some people are speculating that the final scene was something from Book 6. Only time will tell!

Happy Star Wars Day! "May the 4th Be With You!"

Today is Star Wars Day, May 4th. Because of the pun "May the 4th Be With You" this date has become known as a day to celebrate everything Star Wars-y.

SATURDAY POLITICS: Nate Silver Proves White Republicans More Racist Than White Democrats

Nate Silver relaunched his FiveThirtyEight.com website awhile back and continues his mission to bring his analytic skills to non-quantitative fields. For example, in a recent article, Silver analyzes poling data from the General Social Survey to confirm what most people already know, (white) Republicans and more racist than (white) Democrats.

As of 2012, this index stood at 27 percent for white Republicans and 19 percent for white Democrats. So there’s a partisan gap, although not as large of one as some political commentators might assert. There are white racists in both parties. By most questions, they represent a minority of white voters in both parties. They probably represent a slightly larger minority of white Republicans than white Democrats. 

Fortunately, the expression of racism by whites toward blacks has decreased over time, and for Americans in both parties — at least, according to this survey. In 1990, the index of negative racial attitudes stood at 40 percent for white Democrats and 41 percent for white Republicans. 

There hasn’t been much of an overall increase or decrease in the index since Obama took office. On average, between the 2004 and 2006 editions of the surveys — the last two before Obama was either a president or a candidate — the index of negative racial attitudes stood at 22 percent for white Democrats and 26 percent for white Republicans. Those values are within the margin of error for those in the 2010 and 2012 surveys. 

If there’s a discouraging trend, it’s not so much that negative racial attitudes toward blacks have increased in these polls, but that they’ve failed to decrease under Obama, as they did so clearly for most of the past three decades.

So if people thought that "racism was over" because Barack Obama was elected President (I'm looking at your John Roberts!) they should look at this data and think again.

POLL: Majority Support for Marriage Equality In Florida

A new poll from Qunnipiac shows that marriage equality is supported by a strong majority in Florida, less than a decade after a state constitutional ban was passed by voters with more than 60% support.

Florida voters support 56 – 39 percent allowing same-sex couples to marry, with 57 – 39 percent support among women and 55 – 40 percent backing among men. Support is 65 – 31 percent among Democrats and 64 – 30 percent among independent voters, with Republicans opposed 64 – 32 percent. Every age group supports same-sex marriage except voters over 65 years old, who are divided with 45 percent in favor and 49 percent opposed.

There is a federal lawsuit fighting for the rights of same-sex couples to get married in Florida, as there is in 45 other states at this point. There really is a race to see which state beneath the Mason-Dixon line will become the first to have marriage equality. Personally, I think it is going to be Virginia though I am pleased to see more focus on LGBT equality in the South.

CELEBRITY FRIDAY: New Mariah Carey Album Cover Revealed!

Mariah Carey has revealed that she will be dropping a new album on the world on May 27, 2014.
It has the curious name of "Me. I Am. Mariah" based on a self-portrait that Mariah made of herself at age 3!

Hat/tip to Wonder Man

9th U.S. Circuit Finally Has No Vacancy (All 29 Seats Filled)

More judicial good news today! The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which is the nation's largest (and decidedly most liberal) federal appellate court now has a full complement of judges with the confirmation of straight ally Michelle Friedland to the court by a vote of 51-40 this week.

Friedland, 41, attended Stanford University and its law school, from which she graduated second in her class in 2000, and was a Fulbright scholar at Oxford University in England. She worked as a law clerk for Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor and taught law at Stanford before joining the law firm of Munger, Tolles and Olson in 2004. 

While handling business cases at her firm, she has also represented the gay-rights group Equality California in challenging California's now-overturned ban on same-sex marriage and in defending a state law that prohibits therapy aimed at turning gay youths straight. 

Obama first nominated her to the court in August, but Republicans blocked a Senate floor vote. Democratic leaders cleared the way for the confirmation of Friedland and other stalled Obama nominees by pushing through a repeal of filibusters in November for executive-branch appointments and judicial nominations below the Supreme Court level. Those nominations formerly needed 60 votes in the 100-seat Senate but now require only 51 votes to end debate, and a majority among senators taking part in the confirmation vote. The Ninth Circuit handles federal appeals from California and eight other Western states. Congress expanded its authorized judgeships to 28 in 1984 and to 29 in 2009, but the court has had at least one vacancy since 1992.

If the Senate had passed the filibuster reform earlier in President Obama's term then Goodwin Liu would be a federal judge instead of on the California Supreme Court.

Hat/tip to Joe Jervis

WA GOV Appoints Asian Latina Lesbian To State Supreme Court

Washington Governor Jay Inslee has decided to appoint Mary Yu to the state Supreme Court, who would make history as the first openly LGBT, Latina and Asian member of that state's highest court.

From the Governor's office:

Yu, age 57, grew up in Chicago as the daughter of two immigrants who met at a factory, her mother from Mexico and her father from China.

The judge will be the first Asian-American and Latina on the state Supreme Court. She will also be the first openly gay member of the state’s highest court.

“I believe it is clear to everyone that Judge Yu has both the qualifications and experience to sit on our Supreme Court. And her personal story adds a unique perspective that is important as our state’s demographics continue to shift,” Inslee said.

The appointment was immediately praised by judicial observers.

Ain't diversity grand?

GRAPHIC: Every Execution In The U.S. In One Chart

Hat/tip to Time magazine.