Fierce, Advocate!

A picture may be worth a thousand words, but sometimes one suffices: NOPE. At least that's how The Advocate summarizes Obama's progress on promises to gay voters on the cover of their September issue. Harsh, but true, and clever, too; this pink-hued take on the "Hope" poster has our commander-in-chief not looking upward and inspirational, but sideways, like he's avoiding our eye-contact. Guilty much?

The question mark at the end of "Nope" softens the message a bit; at eight months in, Obama's betrayal is not yet a forgone conclusion. And although they call Obama "a player" for making promises he apparently had little intention of implementing as President, the article criticizes the gay community, too. The gay rights movement is described as "impotent", its leaders torn between "wanting equal rights and wanting to get invited to parties at the White House."

Look we've said it before, and we'll keep saying it until the 45th President is sworn in: we support this President, because we believe he has the best interests of all Americans in mind, but we expect some support in return. And enough with the "he's got a lot on his plate" arguments. Even the White House, on the eve of his 200-days-in-office mark, admits some of his challenges are getting a little easier. The battle for healthcare is a biggie, but the President can offer us more than mere tokens in the meantime. Congress is already moving on ENDAand DADT, with repealing DOMA not far behind...it remains to be seen what response or actions the White House will offer, despite Candidate Obama's pledges to implement all of these civil rights initiatives. We'll wait and see.

Utah Not Quite a Fascist Theocracy (yet)

Salt Lake City prosecutors have dropped criminal tresspassing charges against Matt Aune and Derek Jones. Remember them? They were handcuffed and roughed up by Mormon church security guards after they were spotted kissing and holding hands in a plaza that abuts the LDS temple. Mormon authorities claim the pair were engaging in "groping, profane and lewd language," which Aune and Jones dispute. But since the church owns the plaza, they felt they could police the behavior of anyone walking through.

Prosecutor Sim Gill disagreed, at least in this case, citing the ambiguous nature of Main Street Plaza, which many, including Aune and Jones, mistake for a public park.

"Fairness requires that either that property be not open to the public or you condition that [openness] in a way that the person who comes on understands that it is private property," says Gill, although he stresses his decision "should not be viewed as limiting" the church's right to exercise control over its property in the future. Translation: if you want to operate a iron-fisted theocracy on your church grounds, you need to make that clear to passers-through.

Noted A**hole Calls Twitter "Gay"

"It's gay. If one more person asks me if I have a Twitter, I'm going to tell them, 'Twitter this [bleep], mother[bleep]er," Kid Rock tells Rolling Stone.

Charming.

He also says "I don't have anything to say, and what I have to say is not that relevant."

No arguments here.

Save Giovanni's Room!

Like many independent bookstores these days, Giovanni's Room is facing hard times. Serving Philly's queer community for 36 years, it's now the oldest gay bookstore in America. Two older stores, the Oscar Wilde Bookstore in New York, and West Hollywood's A Different Light, both went under earlier this year.

For many, their first connection with the gay community, or even their first contact with factual information about being gay, came from visiting stores like these. They're an important part of our history, and Giovanni's Room has been an active and vital part of Philly's Gayborhood, too. The store hosts authors and other events at their 12th and Pine location, bought in 1979 after being ousted from a previous rental by a homophobic landlord who wouldn't even set foot in the store. The converted rowhome is now a landmark in the Gayborhood. In addition to furthering gay literature, journalism and history, it serves as the requisite clearinghouse for gay trinkets and sundries like keychains, magnets and bumperstickers. You can't have a proper gayborhood without a place to buy same-sex greeting cards. Do you know how hard it is to find a non-hetero-centric anniversary card? Alex and Andy do.

In today's world of online and big box retailers, times are tough enough for little brick-and-mortar operations like Giovanni's Room. In fact, it's that very brick and mortar that's causing their latest misfortune. The exterior wall facing 12th Street has become structurally unsound, and needs to be rebuilt, costing $50,000. The repairs are set to begin next month, but the store needs help -- and lots of it -- if it's going to survive.

What can you do? For starters, you can shop there; Giovanni's Room will stay open during the renovation, or you can order from their website. Donations are also being accepted. Contact Ed Hermance at Giovanni's Room, 345 South 12th St., Philadelphia, PA 19107215, or call (215) 923-2960. And spread the word: tell your friends to help save Giovanni's Room!

GOP: The Next Generation

I’ve read quite a few news stories about waiting for the “racist generation” to die out. Some say that ignorance fades – and tolerance rises – with each generation. How many of us can say that we’ve seen changes in our own families? Did you have racist grandparents that somehow yielded more tolerant grandkids? But of course when it comes to racism we still have quite a ways to go.

But I’m not here to talk about that. I want to talk more about gay rights, and homophobia. In other words, I want to write about waiting for the “homophobic generation” to die out.

I can already see the changes in my own life. I graduated high school in 1990 – not all that long ago. But it was virtually unheard of to be "out" in High School in my day. Sure, we all speculated about the sexuality of our classmates, just as people likely speculated about mine. There were no same-sex couples at my senior prom, nor was there a gay-straight alliance in my school. That’s changed in the 19 years since I’ve graduated. We’ve all seen the stories – gay couples going to their prom, and teachers and students alike forming and joining gay-straight alliances. And, overall, the number of people who actually know someone gay is on the rise.

Yet in politics it has remained relatively polarized. It has been easy, and often convenient, for me to make simple general statements such as: most gay people are Democrats, the Democratic Party is more tolerant of gays than the Republican Party, and most Republicans don’t support gay rights. The Republicans even used opposition to gay marriage as a huge rallying point in the 2004 presidential campaign, and this certainly riled up the conservative base and got them out to vote. Did people vote for Bush, or against gay rights?

But now in 2009 something is happening. Some Republicans are starting to come out in support of gay rights. Are we seeing a new, more tolerant face to the Republican Party? Or is this simply desperation within a party that most agree is sinking fast?

Or is the “homophobic generation” indeed starting to die out?

Alex and I already posted about Dick Cheney’s support of gay marriage, which was shocking in its own right. Now we have Meghan McCain, daughter of Senator John McCain, speaking openly and loudly in favor of gay rights; she even came out against Proposition 8 in California. And she’s not only a Republican, but the daughter of a Republican that has voiced opposition to gay rights. I guess we can say that she’s the more tolerant generation.

She stated that she feels that the “old time” Republicans are scared of change. Take a listen:



So, is Meghan McCain the face of a new, more tolerant Republican Party? Is she the next generation of a party that will now embrace equality for gay Americans?

Don't get me wrong, I'm not about to go all Log Cabin on you ... trust me. For every Meghan McCain, there's still a hundred Rush Limbaughs. And even if the GOP changes on this one issue, I still have differences, as a liberal, with much of the party platform. But it certainly is a refreshing step.

And Meghan can be my galpal any day!

Kiss Off

Picture it: two lovebirds, strolling hand in hand through a park at night; one leans in and kisses the other on the cheek. A charming little scene, no? Well, not if the park abuts a Mormon temple, and the two lovebirds are both male. In this case, the scene ends with our lovebirds pinned to the ground, handcuffed by church security guards.

This really happened, two weeks ago in Salt Lake City. On July 9th, Matt Aune and Derek Jones say they were walking home from a concert and decided to take a shortcut through Main Street Plaza. Holding hands while walking, Aune says he put his hand on his partner's back and kissed him on the cheek. This attracted church security guards, who told the men to leave the plaza, which just happens to be owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. The guards told the pair that public displays of affection are barred on the plaza, but the men protested, saying they had seen many couples holding hands and kissing there. Tensions flared, and the church guards handcuffed the men, pinned them to the ground, and called the police, who issued both men citations for criminal tresspass.

That's the thing about Main Street Plaza. It is private property; the LDS church aquired it from the city in a controversial land swap in 2003. The church wanted control of the land next to their temple so they could prohibit protests, smoking, sunbathing and other "offensive, indecent, obscene, lewd or disorderly speech, dress or conduct," according to church officials.

According to the Salt Lake City Tribune, "it remains a popular pedestrian thoroughfare, and a site where couples often pose affectionately for photos." I wonder if hand-holding, hugging, or kisses on the cheek are included in that definition of "affection." No doubt the couples in those cases are straight, and left alone by church security guards.

Of course, church spokesperson Kim Farah had a different version of the story. "They engaged in passionate kissing, groping, profane and lewd language, and had obviously been using alcohol." Farah doesn't specify that the "profane and lewd language" occured after the pair were handcuffed and manhandled by church guards. It's also fair to point out that what constitutes " passionate kissing" and "groping" is probably in the eye of the beholder. In the end it's the church's word against the couple's. Who do you believe?

This past Sunday, a protest was held near Main Street Plaza. About 100 people showed up and held a mass "kiss in." Both gay and straight couples took part, engaging in "gentle displays of affection"; hugs and pecks on the cheek. This, of course, was met with counter protesters, carrying signs denouncing homosexuality, and the two groups engaged in shouting matches. Dan Savage has some beautiful photos of the protest here.

Schadenfreude

From AfterElton: "Bruno, the movie that everyone has an opinion about, is tanking at the box office...Ever since the movie opened on July 10th with a very healthy one-day take of $14.4 million, the film's box office news has gone from bad to worse."