Category Archives: Gay

Big Gay Tweets

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This Scoop Shop’s Secret Sauce? Social Marketing.

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Founders Douglas Quint and Bryan Petroff outside of one of the locations of Big Gay Ice Cream, the quirky East Village ice cream shop. |Image: biggayicecream.com.

Great story on Mashable – with video – about Big Gay Ice Cream, the Manhattan-based ice cream truck and bricks and mortar stores of the same name and how they’ve used social media to fuel their brand.

They have found that their quirky take on tweets and Facebook posts have won over fans.

Next time you happen by, try a Salty Pimp. Or a Bea Arthur. You’ll be glad you did.

General Motors To Offer Benefits To All Gay Married Employees

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General Motors made a groundbreaking policy change this week and announced that the company would extend marriage benefits to the spouses of same-sex employees — even if the pair lives in a state where gay marriage isn’t legal.

The only catch? The couple must have been legally married in one of the 14 (soon to be 15!) states in which gay marriage is legal.

via General Motors To Offer Benefits To All Gay Married Employees.

I don’t think that’s a catch. It’s silly to think otherwise. If you get married in Idaho and it’s not legal, why would a corporation give you benefits based on that? That’s ridiculous. It’s also ridiculous that you can’t get married in ANY state in the Union, but I digress.

Still, good on ya, GM. Almost makes me want to go buy a Chevy. Almost.

From Male-on-Male Rape to Lunatics in Flooded Pubs: Why U.K. Soaps Leave the U.S. in the Dust

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John Paul McQueen is about to be raped. That’s the bad news. The good news is that John Paul McQueen is a fictional person and no such real horror will be visited upon the actor who assays the character, James Sutton. But, the fact that he’s about to be raped by another man on television and that the aftereffects will be played out in a long-running storyline, well, that’s something we don’t see everyday. In the United States, that is.

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Schoolteacher John Paul McQueen (James Sutton) on the U.K. soap Hollyoaks. The deep repercussions of the rape of the popular character will be felt for sometime throughout the fictional Chester village. |Image: Lime Pictures.

Soaps in the U.K. have been significantly more LGBT-inclusive than those in the U.S. I’ve written about a few of my favorites before and John Paul, specifically, here.

James Sutton portrayed John Paul during two stints (2006-8 and 2012-present) which have seen him transition from gay teen to father, schoolteacher and generally upstanding member of the community. The show has never shirked away from hard-hitting explorations of important issues, but one of their boldest may be the upcoming rape of John Paul by one of his students.

As one of the counselors that have been integral to story development notes, this is not about straight men and gay men; it’s about power. I’ve always been one to praise continuing dramas on this side of the pond for tackling big issues, but we’ve never been bold enough to go this far. And that’s a pity.

Here’s a terrific piece about the storyline.

Killer Cameron – The Dales’ Crazed Guy Next Door

At this year’s Inside Soap Awards in London, Dominic Power walked away with the statue for “Best Villain.” I’m not sure there was ever any competition.

I’ve been watching continuing dramas for a long, long time and I am pretty certain that I’ve never seen a portrayal as chilling as Power’s of guy-gone-unhinged Cameron Murray in the exceptional ITV soap Emmerdale.

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Dominic Power as Cameron Murray, Debbie Dingle’s seemingly mild mannered mechanic/truck driver boyfriend from Jersey who turned the Yorkshire village of Emmerdale on its head.

And I think that the fact that he didn’t look like a serial killer — none of the classic tropes showed up — that audiences were stunned a year ago when he killed village baddie Carl King (and let then-girlfriend Chas take the rap). Surely his comeuppance would be quick and justice swift. Not so. He killed hapless farmer Alex Moss and, just when it looked like he was going to be exposed by Chas’ half-sister, Genny Walker, he offed Genny as well.

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During the Woolpack seige in October 2013, the hashtag #KillerCameron was trending worldwide, so popular was this storyline featuring Dominic Power as unhinged serial killer Cameron Murray. |Image: ITV

Eventually he got sent down, but escaped from a prison van and armed with old Zac Dingle’s shotgun, took a dozen people hostage in the village pub, the Woolpack, during a near-Biblical flood.

This was gripping, nail-biting television, folks. Part action movie, part horror movie, part exceptional drama, there wasn’t a second of this story that wasn’t among the best of the best of dramatic television broadcasting.

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Cameron Murray (Dominic Power) and Debbie Dingle (Charley Webb) in the flooded Woolpack basement just before she gets away and he inadvertently offs himself at the end of the epic “seige week” on the ITV powerhouse Emmerdale. |Image: ITV

And when Cameron finally met his ignominious end — by electrocuting himself with a live light fixture in the flooded pub basement — you realized that nearly every storyline on the canvas was cinched together and drawn taught. A breathtaking thing. Even more breathtaking, I think, than building a replica of the Woolpack basement at the underwater stage at Pinewood Studios and filming the scenes like a major motion picture.

Give ITV props: they don’t skimp on production values. And it shows.

Dominic Power on the end of the Cameron Murray Era

Said Tony Stewart in the Daily Mirror after the Inside Soap Awards:

But the Yorkshire soap should have had more gongs. For their part in the Best Storyline of Cameron’s killer cover-up, either Charley Webb (Debbie Dingle) or Lucy Pargeter (Chas Spencer) should have walked away with the Best Actress accolade, even if Jacqueline Jossa as Lauren Branning has been one of the saving graces of the blighted EastEnders.

Both Charley and Lucy have been consistently magnificent as the lovers of serial killer Cameron Murray – with Dominic Power rightly celebrated as the Best Bad Boy, if only for his body count of three. Or four if we count his own electrocution in a cellar full of water last week. What a way to go!

Stewart did note that Emmerdale did win Best Soap. Like Murray, was there ever reason to doubt?

Now, if we can ever get some real gutsy storylines for Will and Sonny. After all, shouldn’t we be dealing with the effects of Nick Fallon’s prison rape by now? Days of our Lives’ writers might want to tune into Hollyoaks to get some story ideas. Just sayin.’

John Boehner Opposes ENDA, Dealing Blow To Bill’s Chances

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But for all the nothing-to-see-here protestations, the timing of Boehner’s statement of opposition was indeed newsworthy. Coming amid growing support for ENDA in the Senate, it deflated the optimism of LGBT rights advocates.

“The Speaker, of all people, should certainly know what it’s like to go to work every day afraid of being fired,” said Human Rights Campaign President Chad Griffin. “Instead of letting the far right trample him again, it\’s time for Speaker Boehner to stand with the majority of everyday Republican voters and support ENDA.”

via John Boehner Opposes ENDA, Dealing Blow To Bill’s Chances.

John Boehner is an inhuman asshole of the first order. This is why you have to vote, people. This is why you have to learn about the issues.

Barilla Pasta Announces ‘Diversity And Inclusion’ Campaign Following Gay Backlash

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Italy’s Barilla Pasta came under fire in September when the company’s chairman made comments that sparked a backlash and boycott from the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community.

On Nov. 4, the company made an announcement that seeks to change all of that, telling that public that they would be introducing a Diversity & Inclusion Board to the company and a Global Diversity Officer. In addition, they would participate in the Human Rights Campaign’s (HRC) Corporate Equality Index.

via Barilla Pasta Announces ‘Diversity And Inclusion’ Campaign Following Gay Backlash.

Screw you, Barilla. Anybody who doesn’t understand the words corporate pandering doesn’t understand what’s going on here.

Gay Couple Legally Wed in Oklahoma Despite Statewide Ban

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Gay couple in Oklahoma legally wed despite state ban on same-sex marriage – LGBTQ Nation.
My new favorite tribe! Congratulations!

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In this photo provided by All Shots Photgraphy, the Rev. Floyd Black Bear, left, officiates the wedding of his son, Darren Black Bear, second from left, to Jason Pickel, second from right, at Fort Reno in Oklahoma. They are the third same-sex couple to be issued a marriage license from the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes since 2012.| Brandi Duvall AP

Despite a gay marriage ban in the Oklahoma Constitution, Darren Black Bear, 45, and Jason Pickel, 36, wed before about 50 friends and family members at the Fort Reno chapel after being granted a marriage license from the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes. 

Greenwald On leaving the Guardian

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On leaving the Guardian | Glenn Greenwald | Comment is free | theguardian.com.

Glenn Greenwald is leaving Britain’s The Guardian newspaper to begin a new reporting structure with a couple of other journalists. Greenwald, most famous for his access to Edward Snowden and his NSA leaks, is also partner to David Miranda, who was detained while passing through Heathrow Airport earlier this year.

Greenwald, who lives with Miranda in Brazil, is, I believe, one of the great heroes of the free press in the 21st century. I look forward to his next series of adventures.

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John Arthur, Terminally Ill Ohio Man Who Challenged Gay Marriage Ban, Dies

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CINCINNATI (AP) — John Arthur, who with his longtime partner helped lead a legal challenge to Ohio’s ban on gay marriage, died early Tuesday, his attorney and a funeral home director said.

With Arthur terminally ill from Lou Gehrig’s disease, he and James Obergefell, both 47, flew to Maryland in June to marry. They then then sued in federal court in Cincinnati for recognition of their marriage in Ohio so they could be buried next to each other in Arthur’s family plot.

“Their love is a model for all of us,” attorney Al Gerhardstein said, praising Arthur for fighting in his last days for the rights of all same-sex couples.

via John Arthur, Terminally Ill Ohio Man Who Challenged Gay Marriage Ban, Dies.

Very sad, but a story of a triumphant outcome of hope. John Arthur continued to fight for recognition until the end. His fight may pave the way for more Ohioans to have their marriages legally recognized.

There’s a video embedded on the jump. Watch it. You’ll cry.

Christie Withdraws Appeal of Same-Sex Marriage Ruling in N.J.

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Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey announced on Monday that his administration would drop its legal challenge to allowing gay marriage in the state…

via Christie Withdraws Appeal of Same-Sex Marriage Ruling in New Jersey – NYTimes.com.

I sometimes get the feeling the Christie WANTS to be a progressive, but just can’t quite get there. I applauded him during the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, stood up for him when Clinton’s former doctor called him fat, and decided that I would do anything I could possibly do to unseat him after this marriage equality debacle.

Not only is his referendum idea wrong on its face — you never allow the electorate to vote on basic human rights — but it’s laughable to think that somehow the courts are not a part of government. They are. They did their jobs. Lick your wounds and move on.

Or, perhaps more to the point, you realized that you can’t win another election on the wrong side of history.

Congratulations, Garden State. Fourteen is a lovely number. Fifteen’s a better one.

New Jersey Welcomes You — Or Not — We’re Unsure, Really. (Meanwhile, Enjoy our Turnpike)

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Several New Jersey towns were accepting applications for marriage licenses so gay couples can tie the knot starting Monday – unless the state Supreme Court blocks the nuptials before then.

via N.J. towns accept marriage applications, prepare for same-sex weddings – LGBTQ Nation.