Daily Archives: April 11, 2015
Bill Maher On Anti-Gay Christian Views: 'They Literally Believe This Stuff'
Bill Maher On Anti-Gay Christian Views: 'They Literally Believe This Stuff'
Bill Maher slammed fundamentalists for their anti-gay views and adherence to Scripture on Friday night.
During “Real Time With Bill Maher,” the host discussed how discrimination against gay people by Christian fundamentalists is rooted in the latter’s literal belief in the Bible.
“The reason fundamentalists are so stubbornly anti-gay is they truly believe that condoning homosexuality will bring on God’s wrath,” he said. “Take fundamentalists at their word. They literally believe this stuff.”
As evidence, Maher pointed to comments made by such prominent fundamentalists as Jerry Falwell, John Hagee, Pat Robertson and Bob Jones III about how gay people should be mistreated and how God has allegedly expressed his anger over Pride parades.
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Billboard Advertising Gay Hookup Site Squirt.org Sparks Controversy In Dallas: VIDEO
Billboard Advertising Gay Hookup Site Squirt.org Sparks Controversy In Dallas: VIDEO
A billboard advertising the gay hookup site Squirt.org is stirring controversy in Dallas, according to a report from Fox 4:
“The main thing that bothers me is that the gay community is trying to, you know, we’re trying to get equal rights,” said John Anderson. “We’re trying to get marriage rights; things like that. And something like this being put up in a public place, it’s completely immoral.”
The app that the billboard is an ad for allows invitations for sex with strange men in public places. …
Not everybody thinks the billboard is out of bounds.
“I don’ think it’s over the top,” said local resident Jessica Tindall. “I don’t think it’s too much. I think it’s catching up with the times and what we’re doing today.”
As far as I can tell, the so-called controversy over the billboard was largely manufactured by a conservative editorial writer at The Dallas Morning News, Tod Robberson (right).
Robberson penned a post on April 3 in which he railed against the billboard, apparently prompting Fox 4 to seek out a story. From Robberson’s post:
Everything about Squirt.org seems focused on the idea (again, sorry to be so blunt) of male orgasm. Even the dot over the letter “I” in Squirt isn’t a dot. It’s a droplet in horizontal flight. You don’t have to be a cloistered nun to be disgusted by this ad and the notion behind Squirt.org. This advertisement does not belong anywhere on a billboard in this city. I would argue that it doesn’t even belong on a billboard in San Francisco.
Regardless of how you feel about the billboard, it’s worth noting that Robberson apparently took no issue with a similar advertisement in January promoting the dangerous practice of gay conversion therapy.
It’s also worth noting that a few years back — on Father’s Day, no less — Robberson published a glowing interview with University of Texas researcher Mark Regnerus about his widely discredited study on gay parenting.
In a follow-up post responding to Fox 4’s story about the billboard on Friday, Robberson wrote:
“It turns out I’m not the only one who finds the Squirt.org billboard at the I-345/Canton overpass to be offensive and in appallingly bad taste. Some gays disagree with it too. And you know what, it’s not really a gay thing. If this billboard depicted a shirtless heterosexual couple embracing, with the ‘Non-stop cruising’ logo attached, the offensiveness of the message would be the same.”
Somehow, that seems a little hard to believe.
Watch Fox 4’s report, AFTER THE JUMP …
John Wright
Obama Isn't Quiet About LGBT Rights, Even in Jamaica Trip
Obama Isn't Quiet About LGBT Rights, Even in Jamaica Trip
Activists had hoped the president would use his influence in Jamaica to highlight LGBT equality. read more
www.advocate.com/world/2015/04/11/obama-isnt-quiet-about-lgbt-rights-even-jamaica-trip
HUD Secretary Julian Castro Addresses 2014 National LGBT Real Estate Conference
HUD Secretary Julian Castro Addresses 2014 National LGBT Real Estate Conference
HUD Secretary Julian Castro addresses the 2014 NAGLREP National LGBT Real Estate Conference. NAGLREP is a stakeholder at HUD.
Obama Isn't Quiet About LGBT Rights, Even in Jamaica Trip
Obama Isn't Quiet About LGBT Rights, Even in Jamaica Trip
Activists had hoped the president would use his influence in Jamaica to highlight LGBT equality.
Lucas Grindley
www.advocate.com/world/2015/04/11/obama-isnt-quiet-about-lgbt-rights-even-jamaica-trip
Justin Timberlake And Jessica Biel Welcome Baby Silas Randall Timberlake
Justin Timberlake And Jessica Biel Welcome Baby Silas Randall Timberlake
This will be one talented baby.
Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel welcomed their first child, a baby boy named Silas Randall Timberlake, on Saturday. Reps told People that the new father is “ecstatic” and everyone is doing well.
Rumors of Biel’s pregnancy first broke in November 2014, and Timberlake finally confirmed the news in January with a touching Instagram photo of himself kissing Biel’s growing belly:
Thank you EVERYONE for the Bday wishes! This year, I’m getting the GREATEST GIFT EVER. CAN’T WAIT. #BoyOrGirl #YouNeverKnow #WeDontEvenKnow #WeAreTakingBets
A photo posted by Justin Timberlake (@justintimberlake) on Jan 31, 2015 at 3:29pm PST
The couple, who has been dating since 2007, tied the knot in October 2012 during an intimate wedding ceremony in Italy. Congratulations to the family of three!
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Rebel Heart: Madonna’s Most High Profile BFF Breakups And What We Can All Learn From Them
Rebel Heart: Madonna’s Most High Profile BFF Breakups And What We Can All Learn From Them
Sandra Bernhard and Andy Cohen recently sat down to critique Madonna’s latest music video “Ghosttown” on Watch What Happens Live.
Of course, anyone who knows anything is aware that, once upon a time, Madge and Sandy were thick as thieves. Back in the late ’80s and early ’90s, the pair were often spotted running around New York City together, making joint appearances on The David Letterman Show, and, at one point, even rumored to be lesbian lovers.
“She came to my show in 1988, came backstage, and then we started hanging out,” Bernhard told Wendy Williams back in 2010. “We would go out, we would have a genuinely great time, and I think we were a really good example of two women being friends.”
Then one day, that all abruptly ended.
“I like to maintain my friendships,” Bernhard said. “But, you know, certain people can’t handle those kinds of friendships.”
Of course, Sandra Bernhard isn’t the only close confidant Madonna has dropped for seemingly no apparent reason. The rebel heart has a long history of ditching her pals.
Scroll down for some of Madonna’s most high profile BFF breakups…
Gwyneth Paltrow
There was a period in the mid-2000’s when Madonna and Gwyneth Paltrow were practically joined at the hip. Both were blonde American women living in the U.K. who possessed an air of cultural superiority sophistication. They could frequently be seen gossiping over lunch, working out together, or attending fashion shows, where they snickered at the models from the front row. Then something happened. And now they hate each other.
Rumor has it the falling out occurred when Madonna fired their shared personal trainer, Tracy Anderson, then told Gwyneth she should, too. When Gwyneth refused, Madonna terminated their friendship contract. In 2011, Paltrow alluded to the feud on her blog Goop when she wrote about an “insufferable” friend who left her feeling “drained, empty and belittled.”
The moral of the story: Nobody belittles Gwyneth Paltrow. And absolutely nobody crosses Madonna!
Niki Haris
Niki Haris sang backup for Madge from 1987 to 2001, appearing in the Who’s That Girl Tour in 1987, Blond Ambition Tour in 1990, The Girlie Show Tour in 1993, and The Drowned World Tour in 2001, as well as in the documentary Truth or Dare, and music videos “Vogue” and “Music.” Then in 2004, she was inexplicably replaced in Madonna’s Re-Invention Tour.
At the time, Haris’s publicist claimed the backup singer had chosen to sit out the tour because she wanted to “focus on her solo career and family,” but insiders said she wasn’t asked to participate after allegedly making off-handed comments about Madge to the press.
In 2009, Haris kinda sorta opened up about what happened, telling an interviewer that “maybe there was some drama” but that ultimately Madonna is “a gem” and she was grateful for having worked with her. “Of course, my ego was involved: ‘Oh, she don’t want me no more!’ But at the end of the day, she gave me the greatest gift,” Haris said.
Unfortunately, these kind words about her former boss still didn’t land her a spot in the 2012 MDNA Tour.
The moral of the story: Once you cross over to the bad side of Madge, there’s no going back.
Christopher Ciccione
In 2008, Madonna’s younger brother Christopher published a tell-all book called Life With My Sister Madonna. Naturally, the “Keep It Together” songwriter wasn’t pleased.
The gloves came off as Christopher, who had worked with Madonna in a variety of capacities over the course of two decades — from backup dancer, to personal assistant, to interior designer — dished about his complex relationship with his famous sister, her career failures, her marriages, and her lack of boundaries when it came to making money, going so far as to accuse her of exploiting their mother’s death in the documentary Truth or Dare.
The book, which reached #2 on the New York Times Bestseller List, was packed with jabs at Madonna’s age, negative personality traits, parenting skills, and inability to truly love. As a result, the singer didn’t speak to her brother for several years. When asked about the book in an interview recently, she it was “very hurtful” but said she and her brother have since made up.
The moral of the story: Madonna’s not the only member of the Ciccone clan who will do anything for a buck.
Donna De Lory
Donna De Lory was Madge’s other longtime backup singer, who, like Niki Haris, began working with her in 1987 and appeared in every one of her world tours, as well as several of her music videos, up until 2007. De Lory loyally stood alongside Madonna as she went from pop starlet to music icon to mother to Kabbalist. And that’s when things seemed to go awry for the duo.
“Kabbalah, all of a sudden, was mandatory,” De Lory recalled in a 2013 interview. “I thought it couldn’t hurt, but it wasn’t my belief system per se. However, two times the teacher tied on the red-string, and two times I watched it untie and come off me. They tie these things and knot them and they aren’t supposed to come off for a long time. After it came off two times on its own, I figured that I didn’t need that to protect me.”
Coincidentally, after De Lory decided Kabbalah wasn’t for her, she wasn’t asked back for Lady M’s 2008 Sticky & Sweet Tour.
“Even though she is very wealthy and very famous,” De Lory said, “Madonna is still human and, like all of us, she is trying to figure it all out.”
The moral of the story: Wear the fucking red bracelet!
Demi Moore
Just like Gwyneth, there was a time when Madonna and Demi Moore were BFFs. When they were younger they’d go nightclubbing together. As they got older they’d go to Kabbalah class together. The women had plenty in common. They both rich. They were both famous. And they both had a taste for younger fellas. But when Demi’s relationship with her younger beau Ashton Kutcher ended, so did her friendship with Madge.
The story goes: Around the time of Ashton and Demi’s split, Ashton signed with Madonna’s long-time manager Guy Oseary. When forced to choose between her relationship with Demi or her business partnership with Guy, Madonna went where the money was and dropped Demi from her Christmas card list.
Talk about getting the shit end of the stick. Poor Demi lost her boyfriend and her best friend all in one fell swoop.
The moral of the story: Money can’t buy you class.
Liz Smith
So what’s with Madonna ditching all her best buddies anyway? We think iconic celebrity columnist Liz Smith explains it best. In a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the 92-year-old veteran reporter opened up about her friendship with Madonna, saying: “She’s an extremely talented, deeply complicated woman. We were close for a while, or as close as anyone can get to her.”
Related stories:
Madonna Makes Her Stand-Up Comedy Debut, But We Laughed More At Her New Song
Madonna Likens Ageism To Homophobia, Has A Message For The Haters
Graham Gremore
Tony Perkins Warns Fascist Pro-Gay Christians Are Committing Heresy: VIDEO
Tony Perkins Warns Fascist Pro-Gay Christians Are Committing Heresy: VIDEO
Tony Perkins, the president of the hate group Family Research Council (FRC) has said Christians who make biblical arguments in favor of homosexuality are committing heresy, reports Right Wing Watch.
Perkins was reacting to a New York Times column by Frank Bruni (right) last weekend on the growing body of work arguing for Christian acceptance of homosexuality.
Arguing that the views of anti-gay groups are not shared by the majority of Christians, Bruni noted that “in the end, the continued view of gays, lesbians and bisexuals as sinners is a decision. It’s a choice. It prioritizes scattered passages of ancient texts over all that has been learned since — as if time had stood still, as if the advances of science and knowledge meant nothing.”
However, Perkins argued:
“Bruni grants no possibility that there is a rich, articulate, persuasive, and sound literature by Christian theologians demonstrating how clear and unchanging is the Bible’s teaching on same-sex intimacy, marriage, and human sexuality in general.
“He is disinterested in such, and instead appeals to outliers like David Gushee and Matthew Vines. And in a particularly desperate move, he notes that the ‘United Church of Christ, the Episcopal Church and the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’ have all affirmed same-sex relationships.
“True, but these historic denominations are no longer mainstream. They are dying, becoming more like social clubs and liberal foundations than proclaimers of a faith delivered with clarity and finality, once for all.”
Perkins concluded with a (loving) stark warning for Bruni:
“We will not be ‘re-educated,’ nor will we be silent. We are not going away. We love you too much to affirm sin in any fashion. We condemn any vitriol you receive from those who, outraged by your dismissive and hostile column, call you names or worse. And we love you too much to reduce Christian faith to simply being ‘nice’ or affirming what the God of Creation and of the Bible says is un-affirmable.
“Sin is sin. Our sin. Your sin. God sets the standard, not us. His standard is not unclear or subjective or ambivalent.”
Watch Perkins weigh on the Indiana #RFRA controversy, AFTER THE JUMP…
Jim Redmond
We gotta get out of this place: The GOP’s war fixation and the lingering curse of Vietnam
We gotta get out of this place: The GOP’s war fixation and the lingering curse of Vietnam
A haunting film about Vietnam re-enactors touches a cultural nerve: America has never gotten past that trauma