October 2007

Brent Hartinger and Michael Jensen who are, when video-blogging 'Two Gay Guys on Afterelton.com' decided -- "because our lives have been so incredibly stressful lately" -- to head to Seattle for a "the number-one wild creature isn't any of the fish. It's all the kids."

But they didn't take the weekend off entirely. They took their vid-cam with them and are happy to share their weekend with you.

They seem to have stuck pretty close to their downtown hotel, visiting (with the camera at least) the Aquarium where "the wildest creature here turns out to be all the kids" and strolling along the waterfront ("Having kids looks like hell. It looks like the most miserable existence in the world. I feel sorry for these parents.")

Then it's off to Pike Place Market (which gets a combination of all its names to become "Pike Place Public Farmers Market") to, umm... "shop for a farmer." Too many of those kids there on a Saturday for either of them to be able to sit on Rachel, the Market pig.

There's also a stroll past Seattle Art Museum, and dining somewhere. No brand names mentioned which is always refreshing.

Watch. It's like tagging along with out-of-towners visiting the most-likely-suspect spots. (And sorry about the lame double-control on the video. That's a startup glitch that comes to us, obnoxiously, from the system running this thing. We'll work on getting it fixed. [To-do item #672] )

seattle, state_wa, tourism, 98101

Source: KXLY TV
SPOKANE -- Several days before he met a state lawmaker at his downtown hotel room which led to claims of cross-dressing, solicitation and blackmail, Cody Castagna appeared in a Kootenai County, Idaho courtroom where he pled guilty to stealing a woman's gambling winnings from the Coeur d'Alene Casino in March.

Castagna, 26, pled guilty to a charge of petty theft stemming from an incident at the Coeur d'Alene Casino in Worley, Idaho in March. Castagna stole a woman's $1,700 in gambling winnings from her and then was seen on casino surveillance video cashing out her winnings for himself.

Originally facing a grand theft charge, Castagna agreed to a plea bargain that reduced the charge to petty theft in exchange for his guilty plea. He has yet to be sentenced in the case.

In addition to his arrest and guilty plea on the casino theft charge in Kootenai County, Castagna has been arrested numerous times in Spokane and King County for assault, theft, burglary and malicious mischief as a juvenile. In 2001 he pled guilty to a forgery charge as an adult.

Spokane County deputy prosecutor Larry Steinmetz says it will take weeks to decide whether to charge Castagna for extortion for threatening to "out" state Representative Richard Curtis of La Center. Castagna says he agreed to have sex last week with Curtis in his Davenport Tower hotel room for $1,000.

state_wa, state_id, richard curtis, cody castagna

Source: seaQwa News
Cody Castanga and his lawyer appeared tonight on Dan Abrams Live on MSNBC.

Castagna again said that he didn't steal Curtis's wallet. "He told me to hang onto his wallet until the morning when he said he'd be able to get the money."

Castagna's lawyer, Dave Partovi, said that he expect's the Spokane County prosecutor to file charges against Castangna. "I do expect a charge even though the evidence doesn't support it," he said.

Castagna said he was surprised to hear that Curtis had consistently voted against gay rights laws in the legislature. "That blew my mind when I heard it."

Abrams asked his debate guests in the brief report if the case "reflects a problem with Republican hypocrisy."

Pat Buchanan seemed to be stretching to defend the GOP, but argued that Curtis isn't hypocritical because he resigned "which means he's ashamed of himself... If he resigns, he's done the honorable thing," Buchanan said 

"When you preach about how other people should live, you better be living on the straight-and-narrow," Abrams concluded.

[Update 11/01: Here's the video. (Hat tip: GoodAsYou via Queerty)

state_wa, richard curtis, cody castagna

Source: Baltimore Sun
The brokenhearted father of a Marine killed in Iraq won a long-shot legal fight today after a federal jury in Baltimore awarded him nearly $11 million in a verdict against members of a Kansas church who hoisted anti-gay placards at his son's Westminster funeral.

The jury's announcement 24 hours after deliberations first began was met with tears and hugs from the family and supporters of Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder, whose March 2006 funeral was protested by members of the Westboro Baptist Church with signs including "Thank God for dead soldiers."

Snyder's father, Albert, won on every count of his complaint, as well as $2.9 million for compensatory damages and $8 million for punitive damages.

The groundbreaking verdict is believed to be the first time the fundamental Christian church from Topeka that is composed mainly of family members has been successfully sued for its shock funeral protests.

One legal expert worried that the initial size of the compensatory judgment, which was awarded first, could be a setback for those who believe in broad free-speech protections.

U.S. District Judge Richard D. Bennett, who had sealed the church's financial documents, said from the bench that the compensatory damage award would already eclipse Westboro's assets.

A decision in the free speech case was closely watched after Westboro members criss-crossed the country in recent years, turning somber funerals of soldiers from Iraq and Afghanistan into attention-grabbing platforms to criticize gays as immoral and damned.

Alarmed by Westboro protests, at least 22 states enacted or proposed laws to limit the rights of protesters at funerals. Only months after Matthew Snyder's death, Maryland passed a law prohibiting people from picketing within 100 feet of a funeral, memorial, burial or procession.

The courtroom fight came down to whether Westboro had a legal right to demonstrate at the March 2006 funeral of Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder or whether the protesters crossed the line because their message impugned the grieving family's reputation and unlawfully invaded the Snyders' privacy.

"They turned this funeral into a media circus, and they wanted to hurt my family," Snyder testified, according to the Associated Press. "They wanted their message heard, and they didn't care who they stepped over. My son should have been buried with dignity, not with a bunch of clowns outside."

Fred Phelps took the stand after Snyder and prompted a strong admonition from Bennett when the pastor said he had not considered whether children would see a sign carried by protesters with the words "Semper Fi Fags" and two stick figures that appeared to be engaged in sodomy, according to the AP.

Church members always insisted that their March 10, 2006, demonstration took place legally, 1,000 feet from St. John Roman Catholic Church where the funeral was held. In closing arguments, the two sides battled over the nature of the protest to determine if the speech was constitutionally protected.

bigotry, state_md

Now that he's resigned, Richard Curtis -- the La Center GOP ex-legislator described in Spokane police reports as wearing women's lingerie while he sucked cock in a porn shop -- will probably drift off the news pages and blog posts after a few days. But, until that happens, we've added a special-edition Qticker to the home page here that tracks pretty quickly the posts and stories that have been popping up furiously for the past few days.

You can see the items in a slightly easier to read format here. (Click on the "Posted by" link below the snippet to read the full post from the source site.)

But all of this -- coming on the wide-stance heels of Larry Craig's adventure in Minneapolis -- begs the question: Do we need a special word for the MSM encounters of these (usually) Republican officials? Curtis insisted to The Columbian at the start of all this, "I am not gay." Craig said the same.

And who are we to doubt them? All evidence suggests that they aren't. "Gay" means something other and more than having sex with a person of the same sex. The word has come indicate something about sexual orientation as well as cultural and -- often -- political orientation. It is, broadly, a term that encompasses an "identity."

Health professionals long ago figured out that the word "gay" often didn't work as a term to describe many of the men they serve. "MSM" is the inelegant generic term that health pros use as a catch-all term for men who -- at least occasionally -- have sex with men.

But headline writers, as you can see from the Qticker on the home page, still often use terms like "gay sex scandal" as shorthand for things like Dick's adventure with Cody in Spokane last week. When he interviewed Larry Craig, Matt Lauer went through a series of identity questions. "Are you gay?" "Might you be bisexual?" or something like that.

Some folks who are occasionally into MSM could probably say "No" and be honest with themselves because (we're guessing and projecting here) they doesn't feel any sense of identity with those of us who embrace those terms one or several of the LGBTQ terms.

So I propose that folks out there with actual sway in the blog-cosmos come up with another word that could easily be used in a headline to describe something like the Curtis or Craig incidents.  There must be something.

I like goppy. It has enough alliteration with "sloppy" that it might suggest the often creepy, nasty, and/or santorum-filled elements in so many of these stories. And, then too, it starts off with "gop". And, somehow, that seems appropriate.

state_wa, cody castagna, richard curtis, identity issues, goppy

Source: AP via Seattle Post-Intelligencer
OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) A Republican state legislator who repeatedly voted against gay rights measures resigned his seat Wednesday amid revelations he had sex with a man he met at an erotic video store while in Spokane on a GOP retreat.

In a written statement, Rep. Richard Curtis, of La Center, said that while he believes he's done a lot of good during his time in the Legislature, "events that have recently come to light have hurt a lot of people."

"I sincerely apologize for any pain my actions may have caused," he wrote. "This has been damaging to my family, and I don't want to subject them to any additional pain that might result from carrying out this matter under the scrutiny that comes with holding public office."

Three days earlier, Curtis had insisted to his local newspaper that he was not gay and that sex was not involved in what he said was an extortion attempt by a man last week.

But in police reports, Curtis said he was being extorted by a man he had sex with in a Spokane hotel room. The other man contends Curtis reneged on a promise to pay $1,000 for sex.

House Minority Leader Richard DeBolt, R-Chehalis, said that as more "troubling" details began to emerge "it has become clear that he can no longer effectively represent the constituents who elected him."

Debolt's statement said, "I am very disappointed by the news reports of the conduct by Rep. Curtis last week in Spokane. After discussing this matter with House Republican leaders, he has submitted his resignation, which we feel is best for everyone involved."

His resignation was delivered to Gov. Chris Gregoire on Wednesday afternoon. A Republican successor will be chosen by county Republican leaders, and will serve until the 2008 election.

Numerous efforts to reach Curtis or his lawyer, John Wolfe, by phone have been unsuccessful.

Curtis, 48, told police he was the victim of an extortion attempt by Cody Castagna at the posh Davenport Tower hotel on Oct. 26, search warrant documents said. Castagna, 26, of nearby Medical Lake, told police that Curtis had agreed to pay him for sex, then reneged.

There have been no arrests in the case. On Wednesday, Spokane County Deputy Prosecutor Larry Steinmetz said a decision about possible criminal charges in the alleged extortion case was weeks away.

Castagna, who appeared Tuesday at a Spokane news conference with his lawyer, David Partovi, said Curtis gave him his wallet to hold as collateral "for the money that he promised me." Partovi refused to let his client tell reporters what he did for the money, noting Castagna had already spoken voluntarily with police.

"Cody Castagna admitted threatening to publicly expose Richard Curtis' gay lifestyle to his wife unless Richard Curtis provided the disputed money," the police documents said.

Partovi refused to let Castagna respond to a question about whether he threatened to "out" Curtis.

The lawyer noted extortion "is a violent Class B felony" and declared that his client "didn't do anything wrong, at that level anyway."

On Monday, Curtis told The Columbian newspaper of Vancouver, Wash., that he did not solicit sex.

"I committed no crime," he said. "I did not solicit sex. I was trying to help somebody out."

Curtis, a former firefighter, declared, "I am not gay."

[4:27 pm: This story replaces an earlier, less complete report from Northwest Cable News ]

state_wa, richard curtis, cody castagna, goppy

Three Dollar Bill Cinema, presenters of the Seattle Lesbian & Gay Film Festival, announced last week a long list of award winners for this year's festival, which concluded October 21.

The Witnesses, directed by Andr� T�chin�, won the festival's top juried prize which carries an award of $750. Shelter, directed by Jonah Markowitz was the audience favorite for "Best Narrative Feature". Markowitz also  won a jury award and $250 cash prize for "Best New Director".

Jurors singled out The Witnesses "for its amazing performances, realistically flawed characters, and compelling story that starts out light and darkens as AIDS descends."

Markowitz was congratulated by jurors "for his ability to depict, with sympathy, the complexities of contemporary struggles with class, sexuality and responsibility. We look forward to seeing him develop his voice."

Calling The King and the Clown, directed by Jun-ik Lee, "sumptuous, touching and operatic in scope," jurors chose it as the runner-up in "Best Narrative" category.

A $500 prize and award for "Best local film" was betowed on Blood on the Flat Track: The Rise of the Rat City Rollergirls, Directed by Lainy Bagwell & Lacey Leavitt. It earned the honor "for its gritty, witty and pretty picture of the rise of the Rat City Roller Girls," a roller-derby club.

The film is described this way in the festival program:

This raucous documentary follows the modern resurgence of roller derby in the U.S., profiling the local grassroots effort to form Seattle's first all-female roller derby league. Exploding onto the scene in 2004, the Rat City Rollergirls instantly became a local sensation from selling out bouts at the old White Center skating rink (the original "Rat City") to hosting thousands of fans and out-of-town teams for the 2006 Bumberbout Invitational. With bruises, blood, and, yes, broken bones, the women of the Rat City Rollergirls show that behind the short skirts, outlandish makeup, and punk rock image, these are no-nonsense athletes that are not afraid to beat the snot out of an opponent (even if it's a girlfriend, sister, or mom) for the thrill of the sport.

Derek Himeda's locally-produced We Are GLBTQ was also honored "for providing leadership in telling the diverse and real stories of LGBTQ youth in foster care."

A $750 prize was also awarded for "Best Documentary". It went to Chema Rodriguez's Railroad All-Stars "for its unique and heartfelt depiction of sex workers in Guatemala who form a soccer team to draw attention to the oppression they face."

Six juried awards were presented along with five audience-favorite awards. $3000 in prize money was awarded to the winners.

The festival itself and Three Dollar Bill won their own reward last week when noted LGBTQ film historian and critic Jenni Olson judged it one of the nation's ten best such festivals.

gay seattle, gay events, seattle, org_queerfilm, state_wa

Source: Evening Echo (Cork)
Draft laws to legalise gay marriages will be debated in the D�il today and tomorrow for the second time this year.
The Labour Party tabled its Civil Union Bill last February but the Government decided to stall it for six months knowing it would fall when the 29th Dail was dissolved.

On that occasion, five Green TDs including current leader John Gormley supported the legislation from the Opposition benches.

The Bill aims to give full legal recognition to same sex unions thus creating a status relationship equivalent to marriage for same sex couples.

The Programme for Government said civil partnerships will be legislated for by the Coalition during the lifetime of the Government.

But Labour is re-introducing its Bill to take the lead on the reform of social legislation.

It will be debated during the party's private members' time and voted on tomorrow night.

Proposer of the Bill, Labour's law reform spokesman Brendan Howlin, said that its enactment would represent a very significant step towards the provision of full equality for gay and lesbian citizens.

"I am also confident that Irish society has matured and attitudes have changed sufficiently to a stage where a majority of our people would have no problem with legislation that would provide same-sex couples with the same rights and duties that are generally available to married couples," Howlin said.

"I hope that the Government will now face up to their responsibilities to all our citizens," he added.

[via UK Gay News]

Source: BBC News
An ex-magistrate who says he was forced to resign because he would not place children for adoption with gay couples has lost his appeal.

Andrew McClintock, 63, of Sheffield, claimed he was discriminated against for his Christian beliefs.

An employment appeal tribunal heard Mr McClintock believed gay adoption was an "experiment in social science".

He said he was "deeply disappointed" with the decision, but would now take his fight to the Court of Appeal.

Mr McClintock stood down from dealing with family cases in Sheffield after he was refused permission to opt-out of cases which could result in a same-sex adoption.

The father-of-four, who was a member of the Christian People's Alliance Council, had served as a magistrate in the family courts in Sheffield for 15 years, but the new civil partnership laws meant he could have inadvertently sanctioned the removal of a child from its natural family to be placed in the care of a gay couple.

He said this contradicted both his personal religious beliefs and his duty as a magistrate.

His appeal to the Employment Appeal Tribunal, a division of the High Court, followed a Sheffield employment tribunal's refusal to accept the Magistrates' Court had acted unreasonably.

Source: Los Angeles Times
by David Ehrenstein
Politics have provided gay Americans like myself with no end of schadenfreude in recent years, what with the antics of Mark Foley, Larry Craig and other I'm-not-gay Republicans. But last weekend, a competing Democratic farce debuted: Barack Obama's three "Embrace the Change" concerts featuring Grammy-winning "ex-gay" gospel singer Donnie McClurkin.

All the characters in this melodrama played their roles to the hilt. Gay-rights organizations demanded that McClurkin be dropped. Numerous bloggers cast doubt on the fullness of McClurkin's "recovery." Obama's campaign staff hastily added a gay minister to give an opening prayer. But it was McClurkin who dominated the event.

Adding fuel to this fire was Obama's reply to questions about the concert. He haughtily told a reporter from the gay news magazine the Advocate, "If there's somebody out there who's been more consistent in including LGBT Americans in his or her vision of what America should be, then I would be interested in knowing who that person is." (The answer, of course, is Dennis Kucinich.)

But what's really on Obama's mind isn't LBGT Americans. It's black voters. With so much of the African American vote snugly in Hillary Clinton's pantsuit pocket, the Illinois senator clearly is hoping to make inroads before South Carolina's crucial 2008 primary.

The offspring of a Kenyan father and a white American mother, Obama was raised in Hawaii and Indonesia without much churchgoing until he grew up and ran for office. So he is not only a generation but a world away from the political leadership most of us African Americans have come to know. Putting on Baptist drag and staging a gospel music show is precisely the sort of pandering Obama had scrupulously avoided. Until now.

He'd also previously managed to sidestep -- or stand astride -- the gay-straight schism in the black community.

Black churches are so much at the center of African American public life, and so much in denial about the gays and lesbians in their pews and choir stalls. As the late Marlon Riggs said in "Tongues Untied," his acclaimed 1990 documentary about gay blacks and AIDS, "How many choir directors have to die before we know who we are?" The "Embrace the Change" lineup reflects how this struggle is far from over.

Gays played pivotal roles in African American history, but the community continues to wish away their sexuality. Blues legends Bessie Smith, Alberta Hunter and Ethel Waters all took female lovers. (Impresario Leonard Reed once said Waters was "so mean she married her second husband to spite her girlfriend when she found out she was sleeping with him.") Gay composer Billy Strayhorn gave the Duke Ellington Orchestra its sound, including its theme song, "Take the A Train." The fabled Harlem Renaissance was, frankly, a gay and lesbian movement led by the likes of Zora Neale Hurston, Bruce Nugent and Langston Hughes.

Over and above all these towers James Baldwin, the novelist and essayist whose accounts of the civil rights movement are without peer, and Bayard Rustin, the most important civil rights figure after the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Rustin conceived of the 1963 March on Washington, but thanks to a vice arrest in Pasadena a decade earlier, he was forced to take a back seat during the unveiling of his masterpiece.

Coretta Scott King never forgot Rustin's sacrifice and went on to support the gay-rights movement.

Her daughter, however, the Rev. Bernice King, joined a 2004 march against same-sex marriage.
And so we now find Obama trying, as it were, to court both branches of the King family. It won't work. And his continued relevance to gay and lesbian African Americans is over.