Obama's Inaugural Parade to Include Gay Band

UPDATE II: A friend and reader points out to me that both Clinton inaugural parades included a large contingent from the Names Project, marching with quilt panels. That was a big deal, and in fairness to the Clinton administration, I should point that out (yes, folks, I'm actually acknowledging something positive about the Clintons. It must be Christmastime...).

UPDATE: Looks like the word is out. Go LGBA!

The Lesbian and Gay Band Association (LGBA) has announced that a marching contingent comprised of people from its members bands has officially been accepted to march in Obama's Inaugural Parade.

This is the first time in history an openly gay group will be in the parade (Clinton okayed gays taking part on the side lines in his two inaugurations).

I hope my friends at LGBA will make sure to get the word out, as the fact that our community actually has LGBT bands is a well kept secret. And some folks are already getting antsy about gay visibility in the festivities.

Obama Knows I'm Gay

Okay, so I signed up on Obama's Web site early in the game...also filled out supporter cards in Nevada and Pennsylvania and Ohio at Obama events.

No where, whether on line or standing in line at an Obama rally did I check off "I'm an Obama supporter and I like other guys."

Yet today I get an email from the campaign entitled "Photos: LGBT Pride Events" that begins:

Thanks to supporters like you, we made a big impact during Pride month.

Okay, you all know how I feel about Pride and I was in the mountains playing Brokeback with the LTR during DC's Pride event. And yet the email exhorts me to host my own "Obama Pride" event.

So how does Obama know I'm gay?

As far as I know from my site meter, no one from the campaign has ever been here (nor would I expect them too, wee blogger that I am).

The only thing I can figure is that somewhere along the way I clicked on something gay related on his Web site or in an email his campaign sent. And so I've been segmented. Or Micro-Targeted, to use Mr. Penn's phrase.

Pretty slick.

So, yes, Mr. Obama, I'm gay, as you suspected. I'll think about hosting an Obama Pride event...but you need to think a bit more about this marriage between a man and a woman thing. You're moving in the right direction, and I think you're more sincere than your former opponent on this issue, but recent events have made me a bit wary.

You understand, right? Since others in the recent past have wanted to turn our gay pride into campaign donations and votes? Only to drop us at the first sign of political trouble?

We can overcome this obsolete view of marriage only between a man and a woman, can't we? We can win over enough votes in California and elsewhere to protect marriage equality if we just work together?

Yes, we can.

Top Gay-Friendly Vacation Spots

Take Gambia off the list.

Barf-Inducement of the Day

If you need to shed a few pounds from over indulging during the weekend, sample this over-indulging:

“Chelsea, the gays love you!” one fan exclaimed, as she took the microphone at Bump, a restaurant and bar that was her first stop.

Reminding King's Followers to Embrace Gays

A speaker at the Ebeneezer Baptist Church where Martin Luther King Jr. was once pastor made these comments yesterday:

For most of this country’s history, we in the African-American community have been at the receiving end of man’s inhumanity to man. And all of us understand intimately the insidious role that race still sometimes plays – on the job, in the schools, in our health care system, and in our criminal justice system.

And yet, if we are honest with ourselves, we must admit that none of our hands are entirely clean. If we’re honest with ourselves, we’ll acknowledge that our own community has not always been true to King’s vision of a beloved community.

We have scorned our gay brothers and sisters instead of embracing them. The scourge of anti-Semitism has, at times, revealed itself in our community. For too long, some of us have seen immigrants as competitors for jobs instead of companions in the fight for opportunity.

The speaker was Barack Obama. I've said before he mentions gays to audiences he doesn't have to and has chided black ministers for the hostility that sometimes emanates from African-American pulpits towards gays. This is another example.

Sully has the whole speech.

Iran Executes Man for Gay Sodomy

Well, back to sad reality:

The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission
(IGLHRC) has learned today that despite an order by the
Iranian Chief Justice to nullify his death sentence,
Mr. Makvan Mouloodzadeh was executed in Kermanshah Central
Prison at 5 a.m. this morning,Iranian time.
Neither Mr. Mouloodzadeh's family or his lawyer were told
about the execution until after it occurred.

Mr. Mouloodzadeh was convicted of committing anal rape of other boys when he was 13. All his accusers have recanted their testimony, saying it was coerced. The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission has more details about his case.

Human Rights Watch press release (pre-execution) here.

Learn more about the treatment of gays in Iran from the IRanian Queer Organization (and contribute -- I have -- they are doing good work, such as trying to prevent the deportation of gays back to Iran where they will likely meet the same fate as Mr. Mouloodzadeh.

What Matters: The Obama Controversy

What matters more -- that Sen. Barack Obama supports the most gay-positive policies (other than marriage) or that he shares the stage with an anti-gay black preacher?

That President Bill Clinton said all the right things about gays ("he says our name!" a gay democrat friend of mine swooned back in the mid-90s) but gave assent to two of the most anti-gay policies to come out of that decade (DOMA and DADT)?

Or in other words, political correctness vs. correct policies?

I go with policy...

Iran's Non-Existent Gays

Farsad and Farnma. They began life secretly as a couple in Tehran, and 15 minutes into a small gathering they put together to celebrate their relationship, the Iranian police burst into their apartment and arrested them. They received 60 lashes. Each.

"We were beaten to the point that my spine hurt permanently; I still feel the pain caused by the fists pounding my face," Farsad says.

Iran's code on intercourse between two men (lavat):

Article 110: The hadd [punishment] for lavat where penetration has occurred is death and the method of execution is at the discretion of the Sharia judge.

There is an Iranian gay rights organization called the IRanian Queer Organization. I intend to donate.

They Take Our Money, Take Our Votes

But don't wanna be in the same room with us.

Hardaway Hates Gays

What causes this? It goes beyond mere prejudice -- I could understand a "pre-judgement" that all gay men are sissies, for example. I don't understand the hatred. At its root is insecurity, I'm sure. I just don't understand why a successful straight man like Hardaway (ironic last name, given the circumstances) would be so insecure. Unless he's got some feelings for men deep down he is too frightened to face.