Respect for Marriage: An Open Letter to Jeb Bush
Dear Governor Bush,

On this historic day as marriage equality comes to the State of Florida, I was saddened that your statement [quoted below] reiterates the false dichotomy that providing equal protection for same-sex couples and protecting religious liberty are two “sides of the gay lesbian marriage issue.”

Nothing could be further from the truth.

We live in a democracy, and regardless of our disagreements, we have to respect the rule of law. I hope that we can also show respect for the good people on all sides of the gay and lesbian marriage issue — including couples making lifetime commitments to each other who are seeking greater legal protections and those of us who believe marriage is a sacrament and want to safeguard religious liberty.

With all due respect, this statement categorically fails to show respect for the “good people” who are this very day promising to love, honor and cherish the love of their life until death do they part by dismissing their marriages as an “issue.”

For the record, gay and lesbian Americans don’t pay gay taxes, we don’t pledge gay allegiance to the flag, we don’t fold gay laundry or take out gay trash to the curb and we don’t have “gay marriages.” Marriage is marriage – the civil contract that provides married couples with over 1000 rights and responsibilities. And — as of today: January 6, 2014 — marriage discrimination against gay and lesbian couples has ended in the state of Florida.

Further, with all due respect, I challenge your assertion that there is a dichotomy between believing marriage is a sacrament and wanting to safeguard religious liberty and the fact that couples making lifelong commitments to each other are now receiving the legal protections of marriage. As an Episcopal priest I believe marriage is a sacrament – and as an American citizen I believe safeguarding religious liberty is a fundamental value of our great nation.

Because here’s the deal: The First Amendment protects your right to believe absolutely anything you choose to about what God blesses or doesn’t bless; intends or doesn’t intend; is present or is absent in … up to and including whether there is a God at all. What it does NOT protect is your right to confuse what you believe with what the Constitution protects. And again and again and again the highest courts in the land have agreed that the equal protection guaranteed all Americans is not equal protection unless it equally protects all Americans equally.

Our religious liberty is adequately safeguarded by that First Amendment. No Roman Catholic priest can be compelled to marry a divorced couple against his faith. No Orthodox rabbi can be required to marry an interfaith couple against his tradition. And no clergy person is going to be forced to marry a gay or lesbian couple contrary to their beliefs. Meanwhile, the religious liberty of those of us who do believe the values of marriage transcend the gender of the couple now have the liberty to offer both equal blessing and equal protection to all the couples who stand before us, promising to love, honor and cherish the love of their life until death do they part.

So yes: let’s all agree regardless of our disagreements, we have to respect the rule of law. And yes: let’s respect the dignity of good people of deep faith who come to various conclusions about what their faith tells them about marriage.

But please – with all due respect – let’s stop perpetuating the lie that marriage equality is a threat to religious liberty. Because nothing could be further from the truth. And that, you will recall, is covered in the Ninth Commandment.

Sincerely,
The Reverend Canon Susan Russell
All Saints Church, Pasadena CA

www.huffingtonpost.com/rev-susan-russell/respect-for-marriage-an-o_b_6426418.html?utm_hp_ref=gay-voices&ir=Gay+Voices

NEWS: Jamie Dornan, John Boehner, Gay Adulation, 'Absolutely Fabulous'

Sean Mandell

www.towleroad.com/2015/01/news-2.html

Jeb Bush on Marriage Equality: Respect 'Rule of Law, Safeguard Religious Liberty'

The man widely considered to be a frontrunner in the GOP race for the White House in 2016 still doesn’t support same-sex marriage, but he says he will respect laws that embrace it.

read more

Sunnivie Brydum

www.advocate.com/politics/marriage-equality/2015/01/06/jeb-bush-marriage-equality-respect-rule-law-safeguard-religiou

Interview With Dina Martina, Hilariously Surreal Raconteur
Photo Credit: David Belisle

There are some artists that defy definition by being so fiercely original that any attempt to classify them winds up being reductive, and then there is Dina Martina. For more than 25 years, Dina has been delighting audiences around the country with her profoundly unique performances, causing such luminaries as John Waters to remark that, “Dina Martina goes way beyond drag into some new kind of twisted art.” Whether she is recreating television commercials or covering obscure Neil Diamond songs, there is no mistaking Dina’s art for anyone else’s.

Since Dina is a fully realized individual, I thought it prudent to use this interview not just as a way to really get to know her, but also as means to get her insights about the some of the biggest news stories of 2014. As we all begin our march through this (still relatively) new year, who better to reflect on 2014’s goings-on than this well-seasoned “former child prodigy?”

With so many years of performing under your belt(s), where do you look to draw inspiration for new material?

I’m inspired by so many people: Colonel Sanders, Fatty Arbuckle, Bigfoot, Ke$ha (I know she doesn’t spell her name with a dollar sign anymore, but I couldn’t find a cents sign). Sometimes I’m inspired by Shakespeare too; he used to do shows. I’m also inspired by my dreams. Last night I dreamed I was a wet nurse at the Olive Garden, and instead of mother’s milk I produced creamy Alfredo sauce.

Do you have any pre-show rituals that really help get your motor running?

I usually try to eat some Lipton California Onion Dip before I go on. It’s so important to eat a diet that’s rich in sodium.

What was it that first brought Dina Martina to the stage?

When I was four, my mother entered me into the Little Miss Las Vegas Pageant and I won. Things really took off from there and I started doing a lot of commercials. Baby shampoo commercials, cereal commercials – mostly breakfast cereals – and I was also the original Johnson’s Thumbtacks girl. Then when I was a teenager I got into modeling, mostly for the Braille edition of Vogue.

Singing is a major aspect of your live show – at what point did you realize that you had such a vocal gift?

Well I’ve enjoyed my singing since I was born, but I realized that pretty much everyone else loved it too, during the talent round of the Little Miss Las Vegas Pageant, when I sang a lovely piece by Beethoven. That’s when everyone started calling me “The Pipe,” referring to my golden pipes.

What is your favorite part of being a performer?

Oh man, where do I start? Show Business has more fringe bennies than you can shake a thing at. You get to hang with Industry and Brass, you know, it’s all luxury pavilions and celebrity pleasure domes, chauffeured PT Cruisers, V.I.P. receptions with balloon animals, swag bags with prime rib, men who always wear cummerbunds, iceberg wedges and Cold Duck…it’s pretty dolce. Plus, I love me some smoke and mirrors.

Photo Credit: David Belisle

Now on to some global and domestic politics. What do you make about this year’s kerfuffle surrounding “Obamacare”?

Not much; I don’t pay attention to kerfuffles until they become donnybrooks.

Pretty recently, several hundred people around the country were aware that there was a Midterm election. The democrats lost their majority, and it looks like the entire South is now what highly educated political analysts would refer to as, “red.” What do you think about this apparent cultural shift?

I really empathize with the Democrats, because I remember when I lost my majority, in the back seat of a ’75 Pacer, and my south was pretty red, too.

Any thoughts on the recent hacking of Sony?
I hate it. I’ve always loved Sony and Cher.

I was referring to the hacking of Sony Pictures and the subsequent release of tons of their “classified” information.

Oh. Well see, that’s why I don’t like computers and stuff. I mean, I realize that the Internet can be a wonderful resource and all, but boy, TV never gave us problems like this…’member? You could watch Miami Vice or Mr. Belvedere ’til the cows came home and you never needed a password and North Korea had to actually sit through Hollywood’s movies to find out who Hollywood’s minimally talented actresses were, just like the rest of us. Boy, those were the days.

The latest food trend sweeping the nation is sticking to foods that are gluten-free. Are you a fan of gluten, and if so, does this movement feel a bit like a personal affront to your epicurean preferences?

I am a fan of gluten, thank you for asking. But when I was little, we couldn’t afford it on account of my mother being the sole breadwinner (my father died in childbirth) so gluten was something of a delicacy in my youth. I was pretty much raised on an old family recipe of raisins, butter and Crisco (in a bowl) until I started bringing in money too, which augmented my mother’s income, and at that point we were able to start having things like gluten with Karo syrup, gluten loaf and baby back gluten. Since then, I’ve developed quite a taste for it.

Former child star and current Santa Claus warrior Kirk Cameron recently released his film Kirk Cameron’s Saving Christmas, which has an unbelievable 0% rating on RottenTomatoes.com. As an annual celebrator of the holiday, what about Christmas do you think needs saving?

The bows.

Games played on cellphones (such as Flappy Bird, the sixth most searched term on Google last year), are taking over the free time of adults and children alike. What would your ideal phone-based game be?

It would be a game where the player who figured out how to be removed from the ValPak Coupon mailing list would win a million billion trillion dollars.

Finally, with only about two years to go until our next Presidential election, who would Dina Martina like to see elected to the highest office in the land?

That’s a tough one. Definitely not Rachael Ray or Pitbull, but possibly my friend Doreen…or Lyndon Baines Johnson, if he were still alive, because he had the same initials as Little Baby Jesus.

Photo Credit: David Belisle

Keep abreast of all things Dina Martina:

dinamartina.com/

twitter.com/dinamartina

www.facebook.com/dina.martina.18

www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-podell/interview-with-dina-marti_b_6422436.html?utm_hp_ref=gay-voices&ir=Gay+Voices

Reintroduced Respect for Marriage Act Would Fully Repeal Discriminatory Defense of Marriage Act

RMA would fully remove the DOMA from the books and establish a clear rule for the federal government that all married same-sex couples have access to equal rights, benefits, and protections under federal law.
HRC.org

www.hrc.org/blog/entry/reintroduced-respect-for-marriage-act-would-fully-repeal-discriminatory-def?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

Jamie Dornan’s Junk Looks Like A “Bag Of Grapes” And Other Behind-The-Sex-Scenes Revelations

On-screen sex can be all sorts of hot, even though most of what we see on TV and in film is of the heterosexual variety. There’s a craft involved in making the finished product seem to drip off the screen, and good sex scenes can be masterful storytelling.

But it’s another story entirely for the actors and actresses shooting the scenes. It’s almost reminiscent of first-time experiences — awkward, fumbling, uncomfortable.

Here’s a rundown of some of our favorite actors discussing getting down during a hard day’s work:

Jamie Dornan on the upcoming 50 Shades of Gray

Your dignity is intact as much as it’s all tucked away in a little flesh-coloured bag… As a guy you put all your essentials in a little bag and you tie it up like a little bag of grapes and it’s tucked away.

Neil Patrick Harris on Gone Girl

We had to rehearse the sex scene with David [Fincher], like every inch of it — ‘Then you put your mouth on his dick here, and then this number of thrusts, and then you ejaculate.’ He doesn’t want a lot of reinterpretation once you start rolling.

Daniel Radcliffe on Kill Your Darlings

I was talked through it by the director [John Krokidas]. He would be telling me what I would be feeling in each take. Basically, gay sex, especially for the first time, is really fucking painful. And he said that he had never seen that portrayed accurately on film before. He wanted it to look like an authentic loss of virginity.

Justin Timberlake

It’s actually kind of annoying, you’re there for 12 hours, it’s exhausting.

Jon Hamm on Bridesmaids 

It’s like running in the rain. There’s a certain point when you go, ‘Fuck it, I’m already wet. I’m not going to get any less wet, so I might as well just enjoy how this feels.’ I mean, sure, there’s awkwardness about being in a weird flesh-colored thong, bouncing on top of an actress.

Anna Paquin on True Blood

Maybe it should be weird, simulating sex with your husband in front of people? But it’s really not. When it’s a love scene with someone you actually love, there’s no feeling like, ‘Can I touch him here? Can I touch him there?’ You know what your boundaries are — or what they aren’t, I suppose.

Michael Douglass on Behind The Candelabra

The hardest thing about sex scenes is that everybody is a judge. I don’t know the last time you murdered somebody or blew anyone’s brains out, but everyone has had sex and probably this morning, which means everyone has an opinion on how it should be done.

Dave Franco on Neighbors

It was my first real sex scene where I show my butt. You’re not going to have that reaction when you see it on the big screen. It was nerve-wracking. I was pretty nervous. I met the girl the day before, and she was beautiful and very sweet. But it’s awkward. You meet each other and then you’re grinding. You don’t even know her name … barely.

Jake Gyllenhaal on Love and Other Drugs

I’ve had a pretty illustrious career at this point, but the hardest thing has been pretending to be turned on by Anne Hathaway. And I pride myself on really having pulled it off.

Bradley Cooper on Wet Hot American Summer

I remember saying, ‘What if we wear tube socks, and I’ll go up on the wall, and you’ll come from behind me.’ And I said in the scene, ‘Say my name,’ and Michael says, ‘Ben!’ And I say, ‘No! Say my Christian name,’ and he whispers, ‘Benjamin,’ and that’s when I came.

Dan Tracer

feedproxy.google.com/~r/queerty2/~3/l0_kcwQ1JVU/jamie-dornans-junk-looks-like-a-bag-of-grapes-and-other-behind-the-sex-scenes-revelations-20150106