Gay Cowboys Defeat Texas County Clerk Who Denied Them A Marriage License – VIDEO

Last week, we told you how Katie Lang (below right), the county clerk in Hood County, Texas, was refusing to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, citing her religious beliefs. We also mentioned that a gay couple of 27 years, Jim Cato and Joe Stapleton, were prepared to sue Lang this morning if she had not issued them a license before then.

As it turns out, Cato and Stapleton did in fact file the lawsuit, but then Lang immediately caved and issued them a license. However, the couple’s attorneys say they won’t drop the lawsuit until she agrees to issue licenses to all couples without delay and pay Cato and Stapleton’s attorneys’ fees. From The Dallas Morning News:

In a prepared statement, attorney Jan Soifer says her clients Jim Cato and Joe Stapleton are “delighted that they finally have been issued a marriage license and can get married in their home county.”

However, she adds, “It’s a shame that they needed to hire lawyers and file a lawsuit to make that happen. The issuance of the license this morning immediately after the lawsuit was filed does not change the fact that Hood County Clerk Katie Lang has been willfully violating the U.S. Constitution and the rule of law since Friday, June 26, when the Supreme Court issued its Obergefell opinion. The license was issued this morning, a few hours after the lawsuit was filed, in handwriting on the existing license form, which proves that County Clerk Lang easily could have complied with the law without waiting ten days. Under these circumstances, the lawsuit will not be dismissed until and unless we have an agreement from Clerk Lang that her office will issue marriage licenses to all couples, gay and straight, without delay, and an agreement to pay Jim and Joe’s attorneys’ fees for being forced to file the lawsuit.”

Cato and Stapleton reportedly plan a press conference later this afternoon. More from CBSDFW.com:

Stapleton and Cato have been waiting 27 years to get married. They finally got the chance after the U.S. Supreme Court ruling on gay marriage. The couple believes that the county clerk’s office violated their constitutional rights. “We’re not after her. We’re not after her job,” Stapleton added. “We’re after equality.”

The issue drew protesters from both sides last week, but only one person was taking a stand on Monday morning — in support of same-sex marriage. “It takes a lawsuit being filed for them to finally get their rights,” stated protester Adam Davies. “That’s just really disgusting, that a threat of punishment of some sort is all that will get people to follow their rights. It’s really embarrassing.”

In other news, Texas state Rep. Cecil Bell, who led the charge against same-sex marriage in the recent legislative session, released an anti-gay manifesto Monday in which he calls for, among other things, the impeachment of Supreme Court justices who sided in favor of marriage equality.

Read Cato and Stapleton’s lawsuit below, and watch news reports about it, below.

The post Gay Cowboys Defeat Texas County Clerk Who Denied Them A Marriage License – VIDEO appeared first on Towleroad.

John Wright

Gay Cowboys Defeat Texas County Clerk Who Denied Them A Marriage License – VIDEO

PHOTOS: Big Gay Weddings Across Texas

The capital and largest city of Texas held joint ceremonies for same-sex couples this weekend.

read more

Neal Broverman

www.advocate.com/politics/marriage-equality/2015/07/06/photos-big-gay-weddings-across-texas

Stop in the Shame of Love
Darryl’s self-serving relationship with math should have been the first sign of trouble. After all, his snow white comb-over and liver-spotted hands belied the age he claimed in his online dating profile.

“How does 42 feel?” I asked, having just hit the 40 mark myself. “Are there side effects?” I pitched a joke, hoping he would fess up to the fact that he was an early senior citizen using creative statistics to attract younger dates. With that air cleared, I thought we could continue the evening on honest ground.

“Oh, a number is meaningless,” Darryl said. “In fact, I feel better at 42 than I did at any other age. It’s all about outlook and perspective.”

“I was born in 1975,” I said, “which makes your birth year…?” I wanted to see how quickly he tossed back “1973.”

“Um, 1970?” he blurted as a question, after stumbling over his words for a few seconds.

“Being born in 1970 would make you 45,” I said. “Why add an extra three years?” Both of us knew the gig was up, but Darryl’s misguided confidence made it uncomfortable to watch the flustered facial contortions that were undoubtedly the result of the mental machinations grinding their rusty wheels behind his perfectly Botoxed forehead.

“Did I mention that my best girlfriend and I talk all the time about how aging affects people differently? She is a famous singer, so she feels as though the world has watched her get older.” It was his attempt to shift the spotlight.

Darryl had, in fact, mentioned his “famous” friend more than four times over the course of our initial messages and phone conversations, letting slip early on that they were the same age. And, as it turns out, the well-known chanteuse did, in fact, have a hit song — of the one/wonder variety — on the popular soundtrack of a fan-favorite ’80s film, so it was easy to place both of their ages at 55. She had been public — I Googled it — about being in her mid-20’s during her 15 minutes of fame.

Now, Darryl’s face dropped into an expressionless puddle of skin folds when he realized that he’d basically outed himself as an AARP member. Interestingly, he was the only one at our table for two who had an issue with his actual age. It was the lying that bothered me.

“Will you forgive me?” he asked. “I didn’t think that a 55-year-old could grab your interest, and I just had this feeling we would get along based on your profile.”

Darryl wasn’t wrong about that. His career as a musical theater executive was fascinating, and his good self-esteem was actually a turn on. No, he wasn’t Channing Tatum, but he was smart and funny, two attributes that outweigh matinee idol features on my scorecard.

“I think I can see past it this once,” I answered, “but please be honest going forward, OK?”

“You have my word,” Darryl said. “Now, how about we get out of this restaurant and grab a glass of wine at my house?”

He lied again; there was no glass of wine. He pushed me up against his living room wall with a passionate kiss before he could even ask if I liked white or red. Within minutes, our clothes were off, and Darryl was very vocal about what he wanted and in what positions. He was extremely submissive, making grunting animal noises and begging for sexual release. Admittedly, it was hot, and his stamina could rival that of most of the younger men I had dated. I couldn’t wait to see what vintage he was going to serve up on date two.

Our second meal together was lunch during a workday, leaving no time or place for sex. Darryl’s witty banter and affectionate sensibility, though, made it a great afternoon, leaving us both — or so I thought — anticipating the physical intimacy that would almost certainly come after our third date.

Following a movie and dinner that next weekend, Darryl surprised me by not inviting me into his home when I drove us into his driveway.

“Do you not feel like a glass of wine?” I asked with a wink, nodding to our first date.

“Oh, man, I want to have sex with you more than anything,” he said. “Except for one little problem: I really, really like you.”

Wait, what?

“What I did with you on our first date is what I do with disposable guys whom I don’t plan to see again,” he continued. “It was just dirty sex that I wouldn’t want to bring into the bedroom with someone I actually care about.”

“Let me make sure I am understanding this,” I said. “Are you saying that you didn’t think much of me on our first date, so you engaged in sex acts that you’d consider shameful if applied to a person you might want to see another time?”

“Basically, yeah,” Darryl replied. “Now, I want to do this the right way. I want to keep dating you and make love when the time is right. I want to start over and forget that the first night ever happened.”

For years, I had worked tirelessly to release all of the shame that I’d attached to my own sexual desires, and Darryl’s plan would take me back to that dark place.

“I don’t consider satisfying, consensual sex to be dirty, and I hardly think it’s necessary to forget our first date or to hit the pause button,” I said. “I enjoyed our first time, and I want to feel what comes next — be it frantic, passionate sex or more tender lovemaking.”

“That’s probably a couple of months away for me,” he said. “I need to put some distance between that sleazy banging and the kind of sex I want to ultimately have with you. I just need to move my mind past it.”

“Sort of like the way your mind moved past 1960?” I asked, irritated and feeling jerked around like a yo-yo.

“I know it seems like I am taking a step backward in my attempt to move ahead with you,” Darryl said. “Call me old…”

“Stop right there,” I retorted, before he could get the word “fashioned” out of his mouth. “It was really nice meeting you, but I think this will be our last date.”

“Are you serious?” he shouted, getting out of my silver sports car and slamming the door. “I can’t believe I even considered having ‘real’ sex with you.”

What I couldn’t believe was how concerned a 55-year-old, out-of-the-closet man was about embracing his true physical interests. He was embarrassed about his sexual proclivities and ashamed to act on them with someone he thought highly of — and, at last, I realized that I had too much hard-earned self-respect to run the risk of losing it.

— This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

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Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker’s sons disappointed in dad’s dissing of gay marriage ruling

The two sons of Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker were not happy to see their father take the US Supreme Court to task for making same-sex marriage legal in all 50 states.

After the 26 June ruling, Republican presidential hopeful Walker stated: ‘I believe this Supreme Court decision is a grave mistake,’ blamed ‘five unelected judges’ and called for an amendment to the US Constitution giving states the ability to decide if same-sex couples can marry.

‘We will need a conservative president who will appoint men and women to the Court who will faithfully interpret the Constitution and laws of our land without injecting their own political agendas,’ Walker also stated.

Matt Walker and Alex Walker immediately voiced their displeasure to their mother.

‘That was a hard one,’ Tonette Walker tells the Washington Post. ‘Our sons were disappointed. . . . I was torn. I have children who are very passionate [in favor of same-sex marriage], and Scott was on his side very passionate.’

She adds: ‘It’s hard for me because I have a cousin who I love dearly – she is like a sister to me – who is married to a woman, her partner of 18 years.’

Alex Walker had even been the best man at the wedding of the cousin, Shelli Marquardt, and her wife Cathy Priem.

At his first public appearance after the ‘grave mistake’ statement, the governor toned down his comments on gay marriage and said: ‘We should respect the opinions of others in America. But that in return means that they not only respect our opinions, they respect what is written in the Constitution.’

The sons are still planning to take some time off from college to work on their dad’s presidential campaign – he will formally announce on 13 July – despite their disagreement on the hot button marriage issue.

The post Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker’s sons disappointed in dad’s dissing of gay marriage ruling appeared first on Gay Star News.

Greg Hernandez

www.gaystarnews.com/article/wisconsin-governor-scott-walkers-sons-disappointed-in-dads-dissing-of-gay-marriage-ruling/

Speak Out for the Millions of Americans Affected by the FDA’s Discriminatory Blood Donation Policy

Send a letter to the FDA on why its blood donation policy falls short and how it can be revised to meet the goal all of us share – keeping America’s blood supply safe.
HRC.org

www.hrc.org/blog/entry/speak-out-for-the-millions-of-americans-affected-by-the-fdas-discriminatory?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

These Transgender Working Girls Are Out For Vengence In Hollywood

It’s Christmas eve in Hollywood. Do you know where your pimp is? In director Sean Baker’s sizzling, manic new film Tangerine (shot on an iPhone and opening in select theaters this Friday), trans working girl Sin-Dee (newcomer Kitana Kiki Rodriguez) is back in Hollywood after her unfortunate incarceration and upon hearing that her pimp boyfriend (James Ransone, The Wire) hasn’t been faithful while she was in the slammer, Sin and her best gal pal, Alexandra (newcomer Mya Taylor), hit the mean streets of Tinseltown to get to the bottom of the scandalous rumor.

Check back later in the week for our interview with Baker and watch an exclusive clip (some NSFW language) below.

Jeremy Kinser

feedproxy.google.com/~r/queerty2/~3/qPKAbNdnoAY/these-transgender-working-girls-are-out-for-vengence-in-hollywood-20150706

Fallen Firefighter’s Family Still Trying To Deprive Transgender Widow of Death Benefits – VIDEO

A transgender widow in Texas is still fighting to have her marriage (above) to her late husband recognized, even after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down same-sex marriage bans in Obergefell v. Hodges.

Nikki Araguz Loyd’s husband, Thomas Araguz III, was a volunteer firefighter who was killed in the line of duty in 2010. Shortly after his death, Thomas Araguz’s mother and former wife — Simona Longoria and Heather Delgado — sued Araguz Loyd, seeking to block her from collecting death benefits because she’s transgender. They argued that because Araguz Loyd was born male, the marriage was void under the state’s same-sex marriage ban. This was despite the fact that Araguz Loyd had been living as a woman since she was a teenager, and that both her California birth certificate and her Texas driver’s license were updated to reflect her gender identity.

The case has dragged on for more than five years. In 2011, a district judge granted summary judgment to Longoria and Delgado, before an appeals court overturned that decision and remanded the case for trial. Longoria and Delgado appealed to the Texas Supreme Court, where the case is pending.

Araguz Loyd said she believes now that the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled in favor of nationwide marriage equality, she’ll prevail and collect approximately $700,000 in death benefits. The only argument put forth by Longoria and Delgado has been that Araguz Loyd isn’t entitled to death benefits because it was a same-sex marriage.

From The Texas Observer:

“I’ll celebrate when I have finality, when I know that my fight is truly over, because while we do have marriage equality, there is still pending litigation disputing the validity of the marriage of a trans person based on it being a same-sex marriage, so we don’t completely have marriage equality in Texas yet, but we will,” said Araguz Loyd, who has since remarried. …

Kevin Parker, an attorney for Longoria and Delgado, confirmed he plans to keep fighting and still hopes the Texas Supreme Court will hear the case.

“There’s the issue regarding whether the U.S. Supreme Court decision can affect a marriage, if it existed at all, that ended years before the decision came out,” Parker said. “There’s definitely a potential effect to the U.S. Supreme Court decision, and it does mean we have a higher hill to climb, but it’s still going to go on until the Texas Supreme Court says otherwise.”

Araguz Loyd was the stepmother of Thomas Araguz’s two children, but she’s been unable to see them since his death. However, she told me she is preparing to adopt the two children of her new husband, contemporary artist William Loyd (above right). Araguz Loyd also runs the National Transgender Alliance.

Watch a report on the case, including an interview with Araguz, below.

The post Fallen Firefighter’s Family Still Trying To Deprive Transgender Widow of Death Benefits – VIDEO appeared first on Towleroad.

John Wright

Fallen Firefighter’s Family Still Trying To Deprive Transgender Widow of Death Benefits – VIDEO