Currently listening to Bif Naked (single: Sick)
Kelly McGillis has come out of the closet and, as expected, Republican poster boy Bill O’Reilly responded to that in his usual way - by calling her a pinhead. Very classy, Bill.
When I saw this pic I did a double take as I initially thought it was actor George Eads (aka CSI’s Nick Stokes). But a second look told me it wasn’t Eads auditioning for a gay role in a football movie.
The handsome dude in the picture is Brian Sims, a regular Joe, who happened to play football in college and is gay. Read about his coming out in this gay college football story.
It looks as if he contributed to visibility of gay athletes by defying certain stereotypes, and educated team mates and people around him.
Earlier this week a new Quinnipiac University poll says 56% of Americans support the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” while 37% oppose it:
“The ban on openly gay men and women in the military should be repealed, American voters say 56 - 37 percent, including 50 - 43 percent among voters with family in the military, according to a Quinnipiac University national poll released today. American voters who think being gay is an individual’s choice, 36 percent, are generally less supportive of gay rights than those who think people are born gay, 42 percent. White Catholics say 64 - 29 percent that gays in the military should be allowed to come out, while white evangelical Christians support “don’t ask; don’t tell” 53 - 40 percent. Voters reject 58 - 35 percent, including 56 - 39 percent in military households, the argument that allowing openly gay men and women to serve would be divisive, the independent Quinnipiac University survey of 2,041 registered voters nationwide finds.”
However, the poll shows much different results regarding same-sex marriage results than an ABC / Washington Post poll released today as well. While the ABC/WaPo poll showed 49% in favor of marriage equality, the Quinnipiac poll show 38% in favor of marriage equality with 55% opposed. The Quinnipiac poll, however, does show 57% would be in support of civil unions for same-sex couples.
AND: The Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act, also known as the Matthew Shepard Act, has been passed by the US House of Representatives.
The bill expands federal hate crime laws to include crimes where the victims were targeted on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, gender, and disability. It means the federal government could step in to prosecute in states that request it or in those who choose not to prosecute.
The Senate version of the bill is to be introduced soon by Senator Edward Kennedy, a Massachusetts Democrat.
President Obama has indicated that if the bill comes to his desk he will sign it, releasing a statement prior to yesterday’s vote. He said: “I urge members on both sides of the aisle to act on this important civil rights issue by passing this legislation to protect all of our citizens from violent acts of intolerance.”
He added it would “enhance civil rights protections, while also protecting our freedom of speech and association.”
The bill, which passed 249-175, has been dubbed the Matthew Shepard bill after the gay teenager who was brutally murdered in 1998.
North Carolina congresswoman Virginia Foxx was forced to apologise this week after she called the murder a “hoax” to justify passing the bill, saying Mr Shepard had died in a robbery. She later said she had used “a poor choice of words,” adding that his killers deserved their punishment of life imprisonment terms.
Opponents have argued that the bill is divisive and could cause religious leaders to be prosecuted. Representative Lamar Smith, a Texas republican, said the bill “divides America” by protecting special groups.
“We should focus on the opposite, uniting America,” he said. “The bill is probably unconstitutional and will be struck down.”
Another clear case of ignorant and misinformed men in Saudi Arabia as they’re trying to clamp down unlicenced gyms for women. Yep: segregation still exists.
In the meantime Saudi Arabia may ban marriage for girls below 18, a government minister said after a case of an eight-year-old girl marrying a man more than 40 years her senior drew international criticism and embarrassed the kingdom.
“Among the options that are available and excluding the issue of puberty, is to ban marriage for [people] under 18,” Justice Minister Mohammed al-Eissa told Asharq al-Awsat newspaper. He was responding to a question about his ministry’s plan to deal with the marriage of young girls.
“A girl below 18 is often not fit to take the family responsibility especially if she quickly gives birth [after marriage],” he said.
Saudi Arabia is a patriarchal society that applies an ascetic form of Sunni Islam which bans unrelated men and women from mixing and gives fathers the right to wed their sons and daughters to whomever they deem fit.
Many Saudi clerics, including the kingdom’s chief cleric Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul-Aziz Al al-Sheikh, endorse the practice of marrying underage girls, arguing that in doing so they avoid spinsterhood or the temptation of engaging in relationships outside the wedlock.
A 50-year-old man in the small Saudi town of Onaiza agreed this week to divorce his eight-year-old bride.
Financial considerations could prompt some Saudi families to wed their underage daughters to much older men.
Many young girls in Arab countries that observe tribal traditions are married to older husbands but not before puberty. Such marriages are also driven by poverty in countries like Yemen, one of the poorest countries outside Africa…
My latest contribution for EurOut.org is published online and is about the (in)visibility of queer Asian women. Read it here - and don’t hesitate to leave a comment! (Either there or here below 
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The last thing I heard of Bif Naked was that she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Apparently, she’s battled it AND recorded a new album in the process called “The Promise”. It’ll be released on May 5th in Canada, and her current single is (aptly) titled “Sick”. I like the songs off the album I’ve heard so far!
Watch a recent interview with Bif on The Hour (fast foward till around the 30-minute mark). Oh, and I really like the short ‘do on Bif
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