BlueDogMobile

BlueDog Mobile is moving...

2009-08-14T21:34:03Z

Yep, for real. No, not me. Not yet anyway. But the blog is moving. . For more, see The New Bluedog Mobile. The new site is no where near final, but you can get a glimpse of what's coming soon.

UPDATE: I will no longer be posting to LiveJournal. It's redundant and time-consuming. You will note in my link list a link back to this site for any archived and old postings. At some point, my intent is to move everything to the new site, but it will take time. In the next few days, the url bluedogmobile.net will also transfer to the new site for those of you that may have listed it as one of your favorites in your web browser.

Anita Baker coming to Bayfest

2009-08-13T21:27:26Z

it was announced today that Anita Baker will make an appearance at Mobile's Bayfest 2009 taking the stage on Friday, October 2. For more information and the latest lineup, see Mobile Bayfest 2009.

Nationwide Kiss-in this Saturday, August 15

2009-08-13T18:49:09Z

The Great Nationwide Kiss-In, an event created in response to a spate of anti-gay incidents that arose out of gay men being publicly affectionate, takes place this Saturday, August 15th. Activists across the country have signed-on to take part, check out this Facebook action page for times and locations in your town.

Is there one scheduled for Mobile? I have no idea, but rather doubt it.

HRC looks at race, gender, and sexuality

2009-08-13T18:40:40Z

The Human Rights Campaign has stepped into the hornet’s nest of identity with a new report called “At the Intersection: Race, Sexuality and Gender.” The organization is even having an online conversation about the report today.

The study’s findings are not that earth shattering, especially if you have been paying attention to the “community” chatter since the defeat of Proposition 8. Gays and lesbians of color experience their lives primarily through the lens of race and gender. LGBT people of color are simultaneously accepted and rejected by their communities. Brown and black gays and lesbians see no difference in racism and sexism exhibited by gays or straights.

The report isn’t all downer. It suggests bridges can be built on work against hate crimes and job discrimination. How the HRC study will be received is any one’s guess. For more, see Withers: HRC looks at race, gender, and sexuality‎ .

Blue's Gay News Update, Thursday, August 13, 2009

2009-08-13T18:30:57Z

Mayor still deciding on gay rights veto
Anchorage Daily News
By DON HUNTER Mayor Dan Sullivan said Wednesday he is studying
the anti-discrimination ordinance passed by the Anchorage Assembly
and will announce later ...
See all stories on this topic

Gay-Marriage Bid Is Delayed
Wall Street Journal
By GEOFFREY A. FOWLER SAN FRANCISCO -- California's leading gay-
rights group said Wednesday it would wait until 2012 to put a measure on
the state ballot to ...
See all stories on this topic

Focus on the Family selling its money-losing gay workshops
Denver Post
The Colorado Springs-based ministry made the announcement in The
Washington Blade, the country's oldest gay and lesbian newspaper. ...
See all stories on this topic

Radcliffe supports gay group with 'generous' donation
Hindu
The 20-year-old actor has expressed his support to the cause of gay rights
by handing over funds to the organisation, which helps gay youngsters
struggling ...
See all stories on this topic

Anti-gay rights referendum signature error rate up a bit
Seattle Post Intelligencer
State election crews have now checked more than 48000 Referendum 71
signatures, adding more than 15000 in the latest count. R-71 is the measure
seeking to ...
See all stories on this topic

Crippled ordinance banning gay discrimination approved by ...
Examiner.com
The protests were fierce, and churchgoers were bused in from other
cities to inflate the anti-gay movement's numbers. As a result, the bill
underwent some ...
See all stories on this topic

Gay-marriage advocates target 2012
San Jose Mercury News
By John Woolfolk Wednesday's word that a major gay-marriage advocacy
group was getting cold feet about going to the ballot next year came as a relief to ...
See all stories on this topic

Anna Nicole Smith friend can sue, not for gay claim
Reuters
By Christine Kearney NEW YORK, Aug 12 (Reuters) - A companion of late Playboy
model Anna Nicole Smith can sue an author for defamation but not over gay sex ...
See all stories on this topic

New York Times

After Decriminalization, a Gay Pride March in Mumbai
New York Times
By Lindsay Clinton Adnan Abidi/Reuters Gay rights activists celebrated
during a rally in New Delhi in July after the city's highest court decriminalized ...
See all stories on this topic

Reuters

California gay marriage groups divide on 2010 fight
Reuters
By Peter Henderson SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - The biggest California
gay rights advocacy group on Wednesday said it needed three years to
build a coalition ...
See all stories on this topic

Yes, I have been a slacker once again...

2009-08-12T22:14:02Z

I haven't been posting much this week for a few reasons. Number 1, there's not much gay news happening in Mobile right now. Even the national gay news is slow. Secondly, I was visiting my parents in South Carolina for a few days with a slow DSL internet connection. And last, but not least, I have been working on a blog for Dauphin Realty. The new, revised blog, RealtorUtopia now links off the Dauphin Realty website homepage. It is a work in progress; a project that will never really be complete with constant updates, new links, and more resources. Check it out.

Alabama's Channing Tatum Strips

2009-08-12T22:04:01Z

Blue's Gay News Update, Wednesday, August 12, 2009

2009-08-12T21:58:03Z

The Number: 54% - Gay marriage
Deseret News
At the national level, Americans continue to oppose gay marriage. An April
Pew Research survey found a 54% majority opposing same-sex marriage, ...
See all stories on this topic

An irrational commentary on gay marriage
Baltimore Sun
Is George Deller the result of an incestuous marriage? To me that's the only
thing that could explain his defective and irrational commentary. ...
See all stories on this topic

Gay bishops may further divide Episcopal Church
San Francisco Chronicle
Roughly six years after the consecration of a gay bishop triggered divisions
in the Episcopal Church, clergy and lay leaders have recently voted to accept ...
See all stories on this topic

Examiner.com

More details released in raid on Texas gay bar
Examiner.com
"Mistakes were made, and the relationship between our
agency and the gay and lesbian community, and our agency
and the community as a whole, ...
See all stories on this topic

Hearing for effort to keep anti-gay rights donors secret
Seattle Post Intelligencer
27 as to why donors to the effort to repeal Washington state's gay partnership law
should remain secret. Protect Marriage Washington last week asked the PDC ...
See all stories on this topic

Maine Anti-Gay Activist Blames Bad Weather, Potato
Blight on Gay ...
ChattahBox
And he is now blaming gay marriage for Maine's rainy weather and potato blight.
Heath has certainly said some deranged and bigoted things in the past ...
See all stories on this topic

Blue's Gay News Update, Tuesday, August 11, 2009

2009-08-11T19:33:48Z

Why stop at gay marriage?
Baltimore Sun
"We're just like you," begins the article on the Sun's editorial page of August 7th.
We then learn that the authors, a loving same-sex couple, are active in ...
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Lutherans prepare to debate gay clergy
USA Today
AP 2001 file photo By Tiffany Stanley, Religion News Service The nation's largest
Lutheran denomination will consider lifting its ban on gay and lesbian ...
See all stories on this topic

The end to a cruel hoax
OregonLive.com
He suffered such self-hate and despair over being gay in a rural Kansas culture that
despised his sexual orientation that he may have actually asked someone ...
See all stories on this topic

Next anti-gay rights referendum signature report Tuesday
Seattle Post Intelligencer
The secretary of state's office says the next report on signature checks for Referendum 71
won't be until Tuesday afternoon. R-71 is the measure seeking to ...
See all stories on this topic

On Top Magazine

Soldier Confesses To Threatening Tel Aviv Gay Rally
On Top Magazine
By On Top Magazine Staff The soldier accused of making violent threats
against a gay rally held in Tel Aviv Saturday and who was arrested in Jerusalem ...
See all stories on this topic

Fired gay news anchor, Charles Perez, fires back
365Gay.com
The survey indicates that not only do a majority of gay and lesbian...21 Republican Sen. Mel
Martinez of Florida will resign from the Senate this fall, ...
See all stories on this topic

American Bar Association urges equal benefits for same-sex pairs ...

2009-08-10T23:24:08Z

The American Bar Association says it's time to make sure same-sex couples are eligible for the same federal benefits as couples in heterosexual marriages.

Meeting in Chicago on Monday, the ABA House of Delegates approved on a voice vote a resolution urging repeal of a portion of the federal Defense of Marriage Act that defines marriage as a legal union between one man and one woman.

Proponents say that if Congress eliminated that language it would clear the way for same-sex spouses to get equal treatment in terms of Social Security and other federal benefits. For more, see the story From CBS2Chicago.com.

Are gay churchgoers more devout, more active?

2009-08-10T23:16:25Z

A report on PoliticsDaily.com suggests that gay and lesbians may be more spiritually active than is publicly perceived.

The survey indicates that not only do a majority of gay and lesbian Americans consider themselves Christian, but the pollster’s anecdotal findings suggest that gays and lesbians who actively attend church may be more invested and committed participants in their church than their straight counterparts.

The article on PoliticsDaily.com states: “A new surveyof 9,000 gay, lesbian, and bisexual Americans from George Barna, a well-known evangelical pollster, showed that 70 percent of gay adults describe themselves as Christian and 60 percent say their faith is ‘very important’ in their lives. Granted, those figures are lower than the population as a whole, which register 85 and 70 percent on those rankings, respectively. But Barna, himself a Bible-believing, born-again Christian, points out that the numbers demonstrate that ‘popular stereotypes about the spiritual life of gays and lesbians are simply wrong.’”

Furthermore, while the numbers may suggest that gay and lesbian parishioners may be squeamish when it comes to being officially active participants in institutionalized religious organizations, those who do attend church are serious about it. For the full story on 365Gay.com, see Are gay churchgoers more devout, more active?

Blue Gay News, Monday, August 10, 2009

2009-08-10T23:06:35Z

In light of TABC report, raid at Fort Worth gay bar looks uglier
Dallas Morning News
Instead, the findings to date lend credence to the unhappy suspicion that a bunch
of geeked-up lawmen thought it might be good fun to roust a bunch of gay ...
See all stories on this topic

Calif. diocese first to split on gay divide
SunJournal.com
Anglicans have been moving toward a worldwide schism since 2003, when the
Episcopal Church consecrated the first openly gay bishop, V. Gene Robinson of New ...
See all stories on this topic

Prop. 8 foes to decide whether to fight in 2010
San Francisco Chronicle
Sue Burnside, co-chair of the National Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund Campaign Board,
is "convinced that we should refrain from rushing in 2010, ...
See all stories on this topic

Therapists Urged Not to Change Gay Lifestyle
Voice of America
By Robert D. Burns The American Psychological Association says mental health officials
should not tell homosexual clients that they can become straight by ...
See all stories on this topic

SheWired

Gay Marriage Lawyers Say 'No' to Help
from SF and Rights Groups
SheWired
by Emily Dean | Article Date: 08/09/2009 3:07 PM The attorneys
leading the fight to legalize gay marriage in California told San
Francisco officials and ...
See all stories on this topic

Examiner.com

Obama and gay rights
Examiner.com
... appeal to the Supreme Court to not review a case on DOMA,
a hotly contested piece of legislation and issue regarding states
rights and gay marriage. ...
See all stories on this topic

Court extends remand of soldier who threatened to attack Tel Aviv ...
Ha'aretz
... Defense Forces soldier suspected of making terrorist threats against the organizers
and attendees of a gay solidarity rally held in Tel Aviv Saturday. ...
See all stories on this topic

Blue's Gay News Update, Sunday, August 9, 2009

2009-08-09T14:41:47Z

Couples criticize church role in gay unions
Seacoastonline.com
Jack and Rose Dougherty and Armand and Ann LaSelva,
all of Eliot, say they are not involved in the efforts of gay
marriage proponents such as Equality Maine ...
See all stories on this topic

Parties in Prop. 8 suit reject more plaintiffs
San Francisco Chronicle
The two couples represented by attorneys Theodore Olson
and David Boies note that the gay rights organizations
seeking to intervene in the case share their ...
See all stories on this topic

Gay equality: A year of pride and progress
Minneapolis Star Tribune
Minnesota's gay and lesbian couples see 2009 as pivotal in
their quest for equality. By KRISTIN TILLOTSON, Star Tribune
For second-grade teacher Tess ...
See all stories on this topic

Herbert deserves praise for picking Bell
Salt Lake Tribune
Bell actually supported Amendment 3, which banned gay
marriage in Utah, and has said he opposes legislation that
would create domestic partnerships or civil ...
See all stories on this topic

New Yorkers Get Taste Of Big Gay Ice Cream Truck
NPR
Quint owns and operates the Big Gay Ice Cream Truck. And
with that name emblazoned on the truck — along with a big,
rainbow-colored soft-serve cone logo ...
See all stories on this topic

AFP

Tel Aviv gay solidarity event draws
70000: organisers
AFP
... on Saturday evening for an event to express
solidarity with the homosexual community after
a deadly attack on a gay club a week ago, organisers said. ...
See all stories on this topic

August is National Peach Month and SC kicks GA's butt

2009-08-08T14:58:26Z

South Carolina doesn't have much to brag about other than political scandal, horsing around,the 'Cocks, and Stephen Colbert. But at least the state can still brag about it's peach crop. And yes, I have seen the peach shaped water tower outside Gaffney. I did grow up in the state, just for those of you that didn't know.

and for more from Stephen Colbert -- when he received the key to the city of Columbia on the Horsehoe at the University of SC. Click here.

Among teens, who's gay is less clear than in past

2009-08-08T14:37:23Z

Who's gay and who's not is less clear than it used to be among today's young people — and that's complicating how researchers conduct studies on the sexual behavior of teens and young adults, a developmental psychologist who studies gays, lesbians, and bisexuals told a session today at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association here.

"Who's gay? This is not an easy question," says Ritch Savin-Williams of Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y. "There are many different ways of defining sexuality.".

Savin-Williams, a clinical psychologist who is also in private practice, says such definitions affect researchers' ability to choose appropriate study participants and also affect estimates of the percentage of gays in the population.

For example, estimates could range from as few as 1% of the population to as many as 21%, because many young people do not actually say they're gay, even though they talk about sexual encounters with same-sex partners or same-sex romantic attraction. For more, see the USAToday article, Among teens, who's gay is less clear than in past‎.

And then everyone ate grapes

2009-08-07T19:38:22Z

Now that college football season is just around the corner, here's a little sumpum for all you SEC fans.

Recently released results from the Department of Duh (DOD) census, required each decade by Article 1 of the BCS Constitution, confirm there to be five major conferences, five categorized as "non-Automatic Qualifiers" and the sensational, stand alone, Southeastern.

The SEC is so super it has turned fourth-year South Carolina Coach Steve Spurrier into the Town Crier.

"I'm a 7-and-sort-of-6 coach right now," Spurrier, who led Florida to the national title in 1996, sheepishly said.

It was like Tony Bennett saying, "I'm a 7-and-sort-of-6 singer."

It's OK to rank BCS conferences anyway you want this year, as long as the SEC is the Ferrari out front.

SEC media days in Alabama this summer reminded of Roman rulers and numerals, a decadent time when conquerors convened to brag and gorge.

Render unto Gainesville all that is Gainesville's.

Caesar-Commissioner Mike Slive stood up and addressed the masses.

"We are witness to one of the conference's most successful competitive periods in its long and distinguished history, a period that someday may be called the SEC's Golden Age," Slive said.

And then everyone ate grapes. For the full article in the Los Angeles Times, see Article: It's good to be the SEC

Gay to Straight – No Way Says the APA

2009-08-07T19:04:23Z

The American Psychological Association declared Wednesday that mental health professionals should not tell gay clients they can become straight through therapy or other treatments.

In a resolution adopted by the APA's governing council, and in an accompanying report, the association issued its most comprehensive repudiation of "reparative therapy" - a concept espoused by a small but persistent group of therapists, often allied with religious conservatives, who maintain gays can change.

No solid evidence exists that such change is likely, says the resolution, adopted by a 125-4 vote. The APA said some research suggests that efforts to produce change could be harmful, inducing depression and suicidal tendencies.

Instead of seeking such change, the APA urged therapists to consider multiple options - that could range from celibacy to switching churches - for helping clients live spiritually rewarding lives in instances where their sexual orientation and religious faith conflict.

The APA had criticized reparative therapy in the past, but a six-member task force added weight to this position by examining 83 studies on sexual orientation change conducted since 1960. Its report was endorsed by the APA's governing council in Toronto, where the 150,000-member association's annual meeting is being held this weekend. For more from CBSNews.com see No Evidence for "Gay-to-Straight" Therapy - CBS News.

Blue's Gay News Update, Friday, August 7, 2009

2009-08-07T14:46:40Z

Gay America, get your priorities straight
New York Daily News
By SE Cupp On the cover of this month's The Advocate, the
Lesbian-Gay-Bisexual-Transgendered (LGBT) magazine, is
a version of the now iconic Shepard Fairey ...
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Gay Miami Newsman Fired After Filing Complaint
TMZ.com
An openly gay Miami news anchor has officially been fired from
his job, just one week after the guy filed a sexual discrimination
complaint against his ...
See all stories on this topic

Texas alcohol board reports violations in gay bar raid
Los Angeles Times
Gay rights leaders said the raid evoked memories of past conflicts
with police. The raid was conducted June 28, on the 40th anniversary
of the police raid ...
See all stories on this topic

Lawmaker: It looks like anti-gay rights measure will fail
Seattle Post Intelligencer
One of the key state lawmakers behind expanded gay rights in
Washington said Thursday he's hopeful that a referendum trying
to overturn the new "everything ...
See all stories on this topic

Gunman kills 3, injures 11 at gay club in Tel Aviv
San Jose Mercury News
By IAN DEITCH AP Writer JERUSALEM—Israeli police say a
gunman entered a youth club for gay teens in central Tel Aviv
on Saturday night and sprayed the ...
See all stories on this topic

A big gay thanks but no thanks
Isthmus
The new state policy is being hailed by gay-rights supporters
as a victory. Registered partners get real benefits, including
inheritance protections and ...
See all stories on this topic

Minn. Offers World's First Online Gay School
EDGE Boston
by Kilian Melloy GLBT youth who long for an alternative to schools
where they may be subjected to anti-gay harassment may have
another alternative to look ...
See all stories on this topic

LJ down

2009-08-07T14:44:17Z

Yesterday LiveJournal was down for part of the day and I was unable to post to the blog as usual. Posting will be sparse through the weekend also -- just an FYI.

Can’t Sleep? Adjust the Temperature

2009-08-05T22:53:36Z

Experts agree the temperature of your sleeping area and how comfortable you feel in it affect how well and how long you snooze. Why? “When you go to sleep, your set point for body temperature -- the temperature your brain is trying to achieve -- goes down,” says H. Craig Heller, PhD, professor of biology at Stanford University, who wrote a chapter on temperature and sleep for a medical textbook. “Think of it as the internal thermostat.” If it’s too cold, as in Roy’s case, or too hot, the body struggles to achieve this set point.

That mild drop in body temperature induces sleep. Generally, Heller says, “if you are in a cooler [rather than too-warm] room, it is easier for that to happen.” But if the room becomes uncomfortably hot or cold, you are more likely to wake up, says Ralph Downey III, PhD, chief of sleep medicine at Loma Linda University and one of the specialists treating Roy.

He explains that the comfort level of your bedroom temperature also especially affects the quality of REM (rapid eye movement) sleep, the stage in which you dream.

While a typical recommendation is to keep the room between 65 and 72 degrees Fahrenheit, Heller advises setting the temperature at a comfortable level, whatever that means to the sleeper. For more, see Can't Sleep? Adjust the Temperature.

Well no shock here..Paula gone from Idol

2009-08-05T22:50:04Z

ENDA introduced into Senate

2009-08-05T22:44:57Z

An inclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Act is now on the move in the U.S. Senate. Long-time sponsor Senator Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) introduced the bill today along with Senators Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine).

The Human Rights Campaign launched a lobby effort today to muster support for the legislation, asking supporters to send e-mails to their senators urging their support. The e-mail notes that, in 29 states, there is no law to prevent an employer from firing someone because he or she is gay and, in 38 states, no law to prohibit an employer from firing someone for being transgender.

The National Gay and Lesbian Task, the first national gay political organization to push for a federal law to prohibit job discrimination against gays, in 1974, said it hopes the stated support of President Obama will “play a role in assisting with [the bill's] swift passage in both the House and the Senate.” For more, see ENDA introduced into Senate on 365Gay.com.

Gay-friendly online high school to open

2009-08-05T22:40:00Z

Named the GLBTQ Online High School, it is based in Maplewood and believed to be the first of its kind. (GLBTQ represents gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender or questioning.)

Other online schools exist, as do bricks-and-mortar schools that serve gay students. But the Minnesota program is the first to combine the two features, according to the International Association for K-12 Online Learning.

It is the brainchild of David Glick, the first online learning coordinator at the Minnesota Department of Education.

He has received applications from students across the country and from faculty around the world.

"We may not bring people closer physically — but we will in every other way," Glick said. "We want to make them feel more confident about who they are."

The online nature of the school allows it to reach young people wherever they have Internet access — especially in rural areas, whose smaller populations makes a physical version of his school impossible, Glick said.

It also removes gay students from potentially hostile school environments and places them in what he touts as a "safe and welcoming educational community." Instead of facing bullies every day, students would be learning with other students who understand their concerns.For the full story in the TwinCities.com, see Gay-friendly online high school believed to be first of its kind

Blue's Gay News Update, Wednesday, August 5, 2009

2009-08-05T17:35:31Z

New York Daily News

'Slipping's' gay angst & 'Pied Piper's' boho lovefest
a bit hard ...
New York Daily News
Seth Numrich plays a gay teen and macleon Andrews his abusive
object of desire in 'Slipping.' Through Aug. 17 PS 122 (150 First
Ave., at Ninth St.) Gay teen ...
See all stories on this topic

AFP

New York chapel offers gay marriage service
AFP
NEW YORK — They came to Ave Maria as lovers and left 10 minutes
later as husband and husband, married in a New York chapel
despite a ban on gay marriage in ...
See all stories on this topic

Gay rights, green politics key Newsom's hopes
San Jose Mercury News
"Our guest tonight will be San Francisco Mayor Gay-vin Newsom, a candidate for governor,"
the voice intoned. Not Gavin, but Gay-vin. ...
See all stories on this topic

Signature error rate for anti-gay rights measure increasing
Seattle Post Intelligencer
The secretary of state's office said Tuesday it had checked another 5815 signatures for
Referendum 71, rejecting 14.4 percent. ...
See all stories on this topic

Allen Thornell, 38, gay activist who enjoyed 'all levels of politics'
Atlanta Journal Constitution
Had Mr. Thornell won, he would have been the first openly gay man elected to the
General Assembly. He died Monday from complications of a stroke he'd had ...
See all stories on this topic

Reuters

Club kid, gay, Asian? "Sex and the City" wants you
Reuters
"I was going for the nightclub trendy look, but they also asked for
gay and lesbian and I didn't know what that looked like so I might
fit that as well," ...
See all stories on this topic

Voice of America

US Jews Hold Vigil in Solidarity With Israeli Victims
of Gay ...
Voice of America
By Michael Lipin Jewish leaders in Washington have
held a vigil to show solidarity with Israeli victims of a
shooting attack on a gay community center in ...
See all stories on this topic

Sherlock Holmes gay? (Poll)
Kansas City Star
There's a little bit of buzz today about Guy Ritchie allegedly putting a gay spin on the
relationship of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson in his new movie ...
See all stories on this topic

Tradition and campiness are 2 sides of gay rodeo
Philadelphia Inquirer
Some people might think of gay cowboys largely as Hollywood-created fiction, but gay
rodeos have been around for more than three decades. ...
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Daily Show On South Carolina

2009-08-04T21:22:16Z

Via JoeMyGod,

Horse f&%?ing, Lindsey Graham, and hiking the Appalachian Trail.