GLAA Forum

"Collins 98" jersey is top seller at Wizards online store

ABC News reports:

Washington Wizards center Jason Collins’ jerseys got a boost in online sales after he became the first openly gay athlete on a major U.S. team sport.

Team spokesman Scott Hall told ABC News that 100 percent of custom jerseys ordered from the team’s online store bore Collins’ name and number, 98, on the back, after Collins revealed his homosexuality in an article published on Sports Illustrated’s website on Monday.

Collins began the first-person article, “I’m a 34-year-old NBA center. I’m black. And I’m gay.”

While Hall could not reveal how many custom Collins jerseys were sold, he said that the team’s general merchandise sales and online traffic spiked following Collins’ announcement.

In a statement, the Wizards said they were proud of Collins and “his decision to live his life proudly and openly.”

Get your Collins 98 Wizards jersey here. Collins said that he chose the number 98 for his Celtics and Wizards jerseys this past season as a tribute to Matthew Shepard, a young man who was tortured and murdered in Wyoming in 1998 for being gay. If Collins has made a single wrong step, I haven't seen it. He is a pearl of great price, as Jesus would say.

AP Twitter account hacked, stocks plunge briefly

CBS News reports:

Stocks tumbled briefly Tuesday after hackers hijacked the main Twitter feed of The Associated Press and sent out a false tweet about a terror attack at the White House.

The Dow Jones industrial average plunged more than 130 points, or roughly 1 percent, after the fake Twitter posting before quickly rebounding. As of 1:50 p.m, it was up 130 points, or 0.9 percent, to 14,698. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq also fell sharply, but recovered after AP confirmed that the tweets were false.

The tweet, which came shortly after 1 p.m. Eastern Time, claimed there had been two explosions at the White House and that President Barack Obama had been injured. The AP's mobile application also was compromised.

"The @AP twitter account has been hacked," the wire service said in a statement. "The tweet about an attack at the White House is false. We will advise more as soon as possible."

How embarrassing.

Caesar's Palace: 'We always root for two of a kind'

Good for Caesar's Palace:

@CaesarsPalace
We always root for two of a kind. #UnitedForMarriage pic.twitter.com/grkcpww6G4

Lee on Cheh: Doing to development what broke down booze

Blade business columnist Mark Lee lays into Ward 3 Councilmember Mary Cheh for her latest proposal to regulate business:

Jaws dropped on Tuesday when D.C. Council member Mary Cheh made clear she wants to do to private real estate development what was done to the city’s largest hometown industry.

Cheh is no longer merely pondering introduction of legislation adding layers of regulatory review for moderately large residential construction projects, as she had begun musing less than two weeks ago. This week she introduced a bill designed to mimic the city’s notoriously dysfunctional alcoholic beverage licensing process for bars and restaurants.

Someone might want to remind her how well that turned out....

News that this misguided maven of regulatory ridiculousness had dreamed up a new scheme to make doing business in the District even more difficult and capricious never arrives as a surprise. The stunner is that she doesn’t comprehend the city’s evolving zeitgeist or the lessons to be learned from a broke down and out-of-balance hospitality business licensing system that her colleagues grapple with how best to repair.

Starbucks CEO stands up for marriage equality at shareholder meeting

A proud moment for American capitalism.

Bill Gates, former Boy Scout: end the gay ban "because it's 2013"

One of the world's most successful entrepreneurs succinctly explains why the Boy Scouts should end its ban against gay scouts and scoutmasters. (I'd show my appreciation by apologizing for having switched to Apple products a year and a half ago, but I put up with Microsoft operating systems for three decades, and I'm sorry, but that's long enough.)

Council At-Large Candidate Responses Re ABC Licensing Reform

Thanks to Mark Lee for compiling these responses to GLAA's questionnaire for candidates in the April 23 special election for At-Large Council.

The complete candidate responses are online at http://www.glaa.org/archive/2013/cqresponses.shtml.

ANITA BONDS (D):

CONSUMERS AND BUSINESSES
14. Will you support legislation to eliminate legal standing for ad hoc protest groups, and citizens associations in liquor licensing cases, to permit input by all community stakeholders via the great weight already accorded Advisory Neighborhood Commissions?

Yes. As a former four-term ANC Commissioner, I understand the process of liquor licensing approval and believe the commission's decision should hold more than "great weight" because they are acting on behalf of their constituents in their neighborhood where the license is to be considered. A strong advocate of protest and democracy, I believe those in opposition should argue their concerns to the ANC, not the courts.

__________________________________________________

MICHAEL A. BROWN (D):

CONSUMERS AND BUSINESSES
14. Will you support legislation to eliminate legal standing for ad hoc protest groups, and citizens associations in liquor licensing cases, to permit input by all community stakeholders via the great weight already accorded Advisory Neighborhood Commissions?

[NOTE: The candidate initially did not respond to this question. The following was submitted as an addendum on Tuesday morning, March 12.] As community input is paramount in a democracy, our citizens should use the mechanisms and vehicles that are already in place. When small groups of citizens form to oppose/support a particular measure, it damages the foundation of the ANC process.

__________________________________________________

Icon of Harlem’s Gay Night Life Gives Way to Wreckers

A fascinating story at NYT.

(Hat tip: Craig Howell)

Perkins decries "dangerous" and "totalitarian" ENDA bill

Back2Stonewall reports:

With their battle against same-sex-marriage failing miserably Tony Perkins and the GOP backed Family Research Council hate group are looking to and moving forward on their next major battle against the LGBT community and our fight for full equality. The Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA).

In his most recent right-wing welfare money beg Perkins describes the bill as “dangerous” and “totalitarian” because it limits anti-gay Christians’ ability to discriminate against LGBT’s.

Tatchell: "Why not economic democracy too?"

The man who twice attempted a citizen's arrest of Robert Mugabe takes on Prime Minister Cameron's austerity policies and invokes the dreaded name of John Maynard Keynes. Peter Tatchell proposes his own alternatives to cutting the British welfare state and says, "The poor in our society are bearing the brunt of an economic crisis that they did not create." Listening to his engaging presentation makes me sorry he isn't in the House of Commons. (Note: Peter's voices comes through much more clearly than the introducer's.)

NYT on Obama and Big Business briefs for marriage equality

NYT discusses the briefs for marriage equality filed by the Obama administration and employers.

The red shoes and the pilot's license

The Vatican, pushing back against the popular notion that the Pope Emeritus had his famous red shoes (which he had to give up when he left the Chair of St. Peter) made by Prada, stated that in fact they were made by his personal cobbler. Then they said, with much attitude, "The Pope, in summary, does not wear Prada, but Christ." So Jesus is a fashion designer? Or are they transubstantiating fabric?

It's kind of icky when you think about it, but you're not supposed to think about it. I remember dutifully letting it all wash over me at Mass as a child, when it was still in Latin, and the priest got very dramatic with "Hoc est enim corpus meum" and "Hic est enim calix sanguinis mei" but that may just have been the early stirrings of my inner theater queen. But no, the nun scolded, this really is His body, with only the accidents of unleavened bread, and the wine has been mystically transformed into His blood. But at Villanova, when I told our religious studies professor, Fr. Hamel, that it was essentially a cannibalistic ritual, he took great offense.

Well for goodness sake, Father, what do YOU think all this "take this, all of you, and eat it, for this is my body, this is the cup of my blood" stuff is about? You'd think I were Satan tempting Jesus. Which makes me think of Ratzo's boyfriend Monsignor Georg. I was surprised this morning to learn that His Former Holiness has a pilot's license and can fly the chopper to Castel Gandolfo himself, but he usually lets the big beefy pilot do it for him. What were we talking about?

Employers file brief in DOMA

Nearly 300 employers filed an amicus brief opposing DOMA in the Windsor case. NYT reports.

Below are some funny excerpts from Joe Jervis's twitter feed, needling anti-gay zealots Peter LaBarbera and Bryan Fischer.

JoeMyGod ‏@JoeMyGod
Viagra maker signs DOMA brief. Erections are from Satan! Stay flaccid for Jesus! BOYCOTT! #PeterLaBarbera

JoeMyGod ‏@JoeMyGod
Facebook, Twitter, Google, Apple, Intel, Microsoft join DOMA brief. TRUE Christians must boycott internet AND all computers. BOYCOTT!

Dan Savage ‏@fakedansavage
@PeterLaBarbera Twitter supports gay marriage, Peter. Shouldn't you delete your account? In protest?
Retweeted by JoeMyGod

JoeMyGod ‏@JoeMyGod
Hours after Twitter joined SCOTUS brief to overturn DOMA, @PeterLabarbera and @BryanJFischer continue to post. Why do they hate Jesus?

JoeMyGod ‏@JoeMyGod
RT @BryanJFischer Homosexual agenda lethal threat to religious liberty, freedom of speech. We have to choose. /He says on GAY TWITTER.

Jim Graham's reprimand

Metro Weekly reports on the D.C. Council's action on Monday, February 25 to reprimand Ward One D.C. Councilmember Jim Graham and take away his committee's jurisdiction over the ABC Board. I attended the special Council meeting and have followed recent developments, so I will offer my thoughts here.

At the Monday meeting, Jim Graham appeared ready to move on, which would be smart. Over the previous week, his public comments did him more harm than good. For example, his "you could be next" warning to his Council colleagues was bound to be resented even if true, and all but forced their hand against him (though Chairman Phil Mendelson had made it clear he was determined to act in any case). Also, Jim's pretense that ethics equals non-criminality persuaded no one. Ethics in government must be about more than that. As for his earlier calls for another investigation, it is hard to imagine how that would be in his interest after the investigations by the WMATA board, the Ethics Board, and the Inspector General. Denying everything and playing the martyr were not working for him.

Jim's defense of his record in overseeing the city's alcohol regulation was fine, but he made one unfortunate statement when he called the Washington Post's earlier call for his resignation a "lynching." I am sure that upon reflection, given our nation's history, he would agree that his situation is in no way comparable. As to Councilmember Barry's claim that Graham's due process rights had been violated (in which Barry quoted the 14th Amendment, "nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law"), one wonders which of the specified rights Barry thought Graham was being deprived of. Oversight authority over a government agency is not a legislator's property.

None of that has anything to do with Graham's record on LGBT issues. In case there is any question, let us be clear: Jim deserves his props for being a strong, reliable, longstanding supporter of LGBT concerns. Just because someone is gay does not make this automatic, as we have seen with the closeted ministers who overcompensate by their aggressive opposition to marriage equality. So Jim deserves due credit for his leadership, including (as he mentioned at the Feb. 25 meeting) taking on an unpopular issue like nude dancing when it came up in 2007 as a result of the city's seizure by eminent domain of the old gay club zone to build the Nationals ballpark. Jim did his best in the face of demagoguery by then-Ward 5 Councilmember Harry Thomas Jr. to get a fair shake for the displaced clubs and their customers. That issue was much more controversial, even within the LGBT community, than most of the issues GLAA advocates.

As for Jim's political future, he appears to have good prospects for re-election in 2014. His ward is thriving (unlike that of his defender, Mr. Barry), and it remains to be seen whether anyone can mount an effective challenge against him. Taking his lumps now and moving on, rather than continuing to have his lawyer fight the Ethics Board, would be the smartest course for him. As for potential challengers, voters in every ward of the city would benefit from the development of a stronger class of challengers. Voters, most recently in last year's victory by David Grosso over Michael A. Brown in the At-Large Council race, have shown that they will give a serious look to a challenger when they see one with a record and organization that gives reason to take them seriously.

Are you a good witch or a bad witch?

Chuck Theis tweeted in response to this story by WaPo reporters Tim Craig and Mike DeBonis:

@ChuckTheis “I’ve fought all my life against injustices, and this is unjust.” --@marionbarryjr, on witch hunt vs. @JimGrahamWard1 http://t.co/qabQKu3DRE

Yes, this is totally like the Salem witch trials!

Perfect at the beach

A gay-inclusive ad for Kindle Paperwhite.

Sen. Warren puts the wood to bank regulators at her first hearing

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) stumps bank regulators with the simple question of when they last took a Wall Street bank to trial. She talks about ordinary citizens who are aggressively prosecuted "to make an example of them," while the megabanks that do vastly more harm get off with settlements in which they pay fines out of their ill-gotten gains. "I'm really concerned that 'Too Big to Fail' has become 'Too Big for Trial.' That just seems wrong to me."

Thank the Goddess and the voters of Massachusetts that this woman is in the Senate. (BTW, love the Valentine's red.)

OTOH, would you really want this guy to bake your wedding cake?

This baker would certainly be violating the law if he were based in DC. But I would just as soon not put any food or drink in my or my guests' mouths from someone that hates us so much. I'd be wondering what he put in it. I'm not making any accusations, just expressing apprehension.

As to the serious issue here, it is not acceptable for a business owner to deny someone a public accommodation (in this case a baking service) on account of disliking or disapproving of them. It is one thing for a religious organization or minister to uphold their right to decide whom they allow into their sanctuary, who receives their sacraments, and what they preach from their pulpits; the First Amendment protects those things. But a business enterprise is another matter.

A business owner today might say that serving gay couples is against his religion; fifty years ago he might have said, "I will not serve a child of Ham in my shop!" The only difference is the target of his prejudice. Some people think that defending their own rights gives them the right to deny other people their rights. But in a diverse society, we must respect one another's differences. The bigots and bullies in this case refuse to accept that diversity and demand that their religious doctrines hold sway over everyone. No.

NIMBYs push liquor license moratorium for U Street corridor; YIMBYs respond

The Blade reports on the latest effort by anti-business neighborhood cranks to treat the burgeoning urban development in the District's U Street corridor as a bad thing. Our friend Joel Lawson comments on Facebook about the chief instigators: "Ramon and Elwyn, the same old movie just keeps playing."

The proposed moratorium would be suicidally stupid to impose on a flourishing neighborhood. It would hamstring businesses in the vibrant heart of our city and once again hold the majority hostage to a small and selfish minority who feel entitled to be treated like the only legitimate stakeholders and to turn an historic entertainment corridor into a quiet suburb. Hell no!

GLAA's "Agenda: 2013" discusses the liquor licensing issue further. Meanwhile, a group has emerged that says Yes In My Backyard. Welcome, YIMBYs!

GLAA releases LGBT policy brief, questionnaire for special election

Gay and Lesbian Activists Alliance of Washington, D.C.
P.O. Box 75265
Washington, D.C. 20013
www.glaa.org
www.glaaforum.org (blog)

For Release: Monday, January 28, 2013

Contact: Rick Rosendall 202-667-5139

GLAA releases LGBT policy brief, questionnaire for special election

The Gay and Lesbian Activists Alliance of Washington, D.C., today launches its 2013 Election Project and releases both its questionnaire for D.C. Council candidates and its policy brief on local LGBT issues in Washington, D.C., "Agenda: 2013." This updated compilation of local advocacy on a wide range of issues is intended for candidates in the April 23 special election for At-Large Councilmember as well as journalists, activists, and the general public. "Agenda: 2013" is online, in both PDF and HTM formats, at:
http://tinyurl.com/glaa2013pdf
http://tinyurl.com/glaa2013htm

GLAA's D.C. Council candidate questionnaire is online at: http://www.glaa.org/archive/2013/cqspecial.pdf

GLAA's Election Project 2013 main page is at: http://www.glaa.org/archive/2013/election2013.shtml

The "Agenda: 2013" policy brief is divided into six broad subject areas: Marriage and Family, Public Health, Public Safety and Judiciary, Human Rights, Youth and Seniors, and Consumers and Businesses. It is prefaced by a two-page Action Item Summary listing specific actions GLAA seeks from D.C. officials. Included are 88 footnotes to provide documentation and to facilitate further investigation of the issues raised.

The following are some of the legislative and oversight actions GLAA seeks from D.C. Councilmembers:

• Pass Bill 20-0032, "Surrogacy Parenting Agreement Act of 2013."
• Repeal the so-called Prostitution Free Zones (PFZs) law, which facilitates anti-transgender profiling.
• Allow for the issuance of new birth certificates for individuals who undergo treatment related to gender transition; end the requirement for publishing notice of a name change in the newspaper; and allow issuance of new birth certificates via administrative process instead of a court order.
• Ensure enforcement of LGBT nondiscrimination policies in District homeless shelters and transitional housing.
• Ensure that all health insurance policies sold and used in DC cover the full spectrum of transgender health care needs.
• Enforce the anti-bullying law in all D.C. public and charter schools.
• Ensure equal Medicaid spousal impoverishment protections for same-sex partners.
• Eliminate legal standing for ad hoc protest groups and citizens associations in liquor licensing cases, to permit input by all community stakeholders via the great weight already accorded Advisory Neighborhood Commissions.

GLAA President Rick Rosendall stated, "It is a tribute to the strength of coalition efforts in the District that 'Agenda: 2013' reflects input from allies across the District's entire LGBT community and its supporters. The resulting policy brief is the most comprehensive single document advancing LGBT issues in D.C."

On January 28, 2013, GLAA will email its questionnaire and policy brief to every candidate in the April 23 special election for At-Large Councilmember. (The filing deadline for the primary was January 23.) The deadline for receipt of candidate responses is March 7, after which GLAA will assign ratings to the primary candidates (on a scale of -10 to +10) based on their questionnaire responses and their records on LGBT issues.

For more information on GLAA and its four decades of nonpartisan advocacy, visit GLAA's main website at www.glaa.org and its blog at www.glaaforum.org.

Founded in 1971, the Gay and Lesbian Activists Alliance of Washington (GLAA) is an all-volunteer, non-partisan, non-profit political organization that defends the civil rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in the Nation's Capital. GLAA lobbies the D.C. Council, monitors government agencies, educates and rates local candidates, and works in coalitions to defend the safety, health, and equal rights of gay families. GLAA remains the nation's oldest continuously active gay and lesbian civil rights organization.

###

DCRA to enforce gender neutral signage requirement

The Washington Business Journal reports that the Department of Cosumer and Regulatory Affairs will has adopted rules making failure to adopt gender neutral signage for single occupancy bathrooms a class 3 civil infraction that carries the possibility of a $500 fine for non-compliance with the law.  The Office of Human Rights adopted rules requiring this but they don't have a team of inspectors to ensure compliance.  Initially the effort will be mostly educational with warnings being issued.  The was no opposition from the apartment, office building or restaurant sectors to the proposed regulations.

D.C. Design House for 2013 has $15 million price tag

Isn't this gorgeous? Who wants to help me upgrade to Foxhall?

Straight allies in a pizza line

A story about how times are changing.

The big maple syrup heist

NYT has the goods on an $18 million theft from a Canadian maple syrup cartel. I have no good reason to post this item except that I loved the headline.

Alert: D.C. hospitality venues need your support

The folks at dchospitality.org have launched a sign-on petition to Mayor Gray and D.C. Council members urging them to reform unfair licensing laws. GLAA has long advocated reforms to curtail regulatory abuse, which includes rules that give an advantage to NIMBYs ("Not In My Back Yard" types) who game the system to thwart the wishes of their neighbors who appreciate having the livelier business and entertainment environment that city living affords.

Click here or on the graphic above to see more details and add your name to the petition.

Leftovers #BlackFriday

Random scraps from Facebook, to whose relative safety I retreated on the day after Thanksgiving:

Nick T. McCoy shared the above video from The Telegraph showing the Black Friday shopping frenzy at a Walmart. As a gesture of appreciation to the Brits at the Telegraph for publicizing us Yanks' dark side, I replied, "I believe Sweeney Todd saw this before going on his killing binge."

Scott Button posted from somewhere near Washington, "Story of my life. David is fighting with Siri and is determined to prove her wrong by taking us completely out of the way #thankyoustevejobs." I replied, "You never know what magic you'll find in those out-of-the-way places. #LittleSallySunshine."

That's a big Twinkie

The Week mourns the loss of the Twinkie (it is actually only on a hiatus until another company buys the recipe) by showing clips of five movies in which the snack plays a supporting role. Above, Harold Ramis in Ghostbusters uses a Twinkie to represent "the psychokinetic energy in the New York area." Below, Johnny Depp in Benny & Joon causes a waitress to drop her tray of food as he uses Twinkies in an homage to Charlie Chaplin's classic "table ballet."

Gov. Christie: "It's Bad Enough I Said The Word 'Twinkie' Behind This Podium"

Bizarre: CAGLCC executive director arrested for unlawful entry

LGBTQ Nation reports:

"The leader of the D.C.-area gay and lesbian chamber of commerce, who is scheduled to receive national Chamber recognition this week, was arrested earlier this month and charged with unlawful entry, according to court records obtained by LGBTQ Nation.

"Mark Guenther, Executive Director of CAGLCC (Capital Area Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce) was charged Nov. 5 by the U.S. Attorney's office for the District of Columbia after a male neighbor in Guenther's apartment building was awakened at 3 a.m. on October 26 to find Guenther standing over his bed while he had been asleep."

Very strange. The article raises more questions than it answers. I must say that hot guys never break into my apartment in the middle of the night like that (at least not that I am aware).

USPTO initially refuses trademark application for "Gay Is Good"

The United States Patent and Trademark Office sent a November 6 letter to Ackerman Brown PLLC, Executors of the Frank Kameny estate, preliminarily refusing the trademark of the phrase "Gay Is Good" (which Kameny coined in 1968). The reason cited for the refusal is that the specimen provided with the application, a photograph of a button, does not show the phrase's use in commerce.

Here are excerpts from the USPTO letter regarding application serial number 85676494:

TO AVOID ABANDONMENT OF APPLICANT’S TRADEMARK APPLICATION, THE USPTO MUST RECEIVE APPLICANT’S COMPLETE RESPONSE TO THIS LETTER WITHIN 6 MONTHS OF THE ISSUE/MAILING DATE BELOW.

ISSUE/MAILING DATE: 11/6/2012

...

The specimen does not show the applied-for mark used in connection with any of the services specified in the application, and therefore is not acceptable. An application based on Trademark Act Section 1(a) must include a specimen showing the applied-for mark in use in commerce for each international class of goods and/or services identified in the application....

In this case, the specimen is a photograph of a button. It does not demonstrate use of the mark with the applicant’s services because it does not reference the services or show use of the mark in connection with them in any way. The specimen only shows use of the mark with a button, and use of the mark with association and the other identified services cannot be implied from use with a single button, which is a good, not a service.

A service mark specimen consisting of advertising or promotional materials generally must show a direct association between the mark and the services for which registration is sought....

Pending receipt of a proper response, registration is refused because the specimen does not show the applied-for mark in use in commerce as a trademark and/or service mark for the identified goods and/or services.

I knew and worked with Frank Kameny for over 33 years, and I think he would be horrified at the attempt to monetize and restrict the use of the slogan that he coined for the entire gay rights movement. That is just my personal opinion. It will be interesting to see what justification Ackerman Brown provides in response to the USPTO letter.

(Hat tip: Charlie Watson. Photo courtesy The Kameny Papers)

Update: The USPTO letter is signed by Trademark Examining Attorney Susan R. Stiglitz.

Update 2: Ed Nunes, a trademark expert at the Law Office of Bambi Faivre Walters, PC, provides background information on the importance of "Use in Commerce" in trademark applications. One wonders whether Ackerman Brown filled out the form without hiring a trademark attorney who knew the pitfalls described by Nunes.

Full disclosure: I, Rick Rosendall, was released from a lawsuit over the Kameny Estate at a show cause hearing in D.C. probate court on May 11, 2012. I was involved in the Kameny Papers Project, which was launched by Charles Francis in 2006 to preserve Kameny's historic papers and picket signs.

Hank's Oyster Bar Wins Its Case, Gets Patio Back

City Paper reports the good news. I look forward to celebrating with a meal on the patio at Hank's soon.

Rebuilding

(Freedom Tower on 9 Sep 2012. Photo by Augie Ray)

On this anniversary, I will not post pictures from that awful day eleven years ago. We remember, and rebuild, and recommit ourselves to the never-ending task of rebuilding our country. That last task calls each of us in different ways, according to our gifts and passions. Here's to our unfinished country.

(WTC North Tower Memorial Pool. Photo by Susan Walsh/AP)

MHP: "What Is Riskier Than Living Poor In America?"

The Internet has been justifiably abuzz over this outburst of righteous anger by MSNBC host Melissa Harris-Perry on Saturday morning.

In my latest column I cite the example of Shirley Sherrod to argue that LGBT activists need to learn from and embrace the lessons in discipline by our forebears in the black civil rights movement. But that is not, and cannot be, the whole story. One of the most famous examples of black restraint in the face of overt racism is Jackie Robinson, who broke the color barrier in Major League Baseball in 1947 thanks to Brooklyn Dodgers General Manager Branch Rickey. Robinson had to endure racist taunts and worse while performing at a major-league level.

Robinson famously asked Rickey, "Do you want a ballplayer who is afraid to fight back?" to which Rickey answered, "I want a ballplayer with guts enough not to fight back." But that need to avoid fighting back did not last forever. The effectiveness of polite restraint has its limits. At some point, advancing requires you not just to stand your ground but to push back against barriers. In this case, MHP, who btw had just lost her house to Hurricane Isaac, introduced some reality in response to the notion that it is only the owners of capital who bear the risks in our economy. She was not only right, she was crucially right. It is not enough to be angry and right — you have to make the case. Perry did so splendidly.

The Crunk Feminist Collective comments.

David Koch supports marriage equality, taxes, defense cuts

Politico reports:

Billionaire industrialist David Koch, who is helping steer millions of dollars to elect Mitt Romney and congressional Republicans, on Thursday told POLITICO he disagrees with the GOP’s stance on gay marriage and believes the U.S. needs to consider raising taxes to balance the budget.

(Photo: AP)

What an honor

I don't mean to appear ungrateful, since I'm one of the nominees for "Most Committed Activist" in the Blade's "Best of Gay DC" contest, but what is the point of a contest in which people can vote once per day? Here is the latest tweet from the Blade:

‏@WashingtonBlade Oh for Pete's sake, have you voted yet today? http://goo.gl/RZV3W

The point, of course, is promotion. Presumably at least one of my fellow nominees has asked his friends to help stuff the ballot box, which the sponsor of the contest apparently encourages; so congrats in advance, for what it's worth. This confirms me in the wisdom of GLAA's approach to our Distinguished Service Award winners: We do not say who was nominated, we simply announce the names of our chosen honorees, once they have confirmed that they will accept. If you want to honor someone, honor them. There is something degrading about the "Have you voted today?" approach.

You had help building that

(Hat tip: Americans for Democratic Action)

Nike: "Voices"

NikeWomen explains this cool ad:

Nike celebrates how far women's sports have come by featuring elite athletes who defied convention—women who wanted to play so badly, they wrote their own rules.

Out for chicken

Besen: Chick-fil-A Dustup Shows Freedom for Fundamentalists Is a One-Way Street

Wayne Besen nails it with his commentary on the Chick-fil-A controversy:

Contrary to their insincere shrieks, there is no crisis of religious liberty for fundamentalist Christians. The problem is that they have been drunk on their own power for so long that they equate the exercise of religion with forcing others to live by their restrictive rules. Because they can no longer dominate, dictate and discriminate without pushback, they are whining that they are somehow suppressed.

The truth is, Chick-fil-A should be able to open wherever it wants in the same way that I should be able to marry in any state that I want. However, as long as fundamentalists insist on a puritanical pecking order where the "moral" majority rules, they have no basis in which to complain when they can't have their fowl in Boston. The fundamentalists must decide if they want dominion or democracy, but it is doubtful that both ideas can co-exist in the free society they claim to cherish.

Bloomberg: No Chick-fil-A ban in NYC

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg takes issue with several other U.S. mayors who have said that the homophobe-owned Chick-fil-A restaurant chain is unwelcome in their cities. Politicker reports:

“They’re all friends but I disagree with them really strongly on this one,” Mr. Bloomberg said of his mayoral colleagues. “You can’t have a test for what the owners’ personal views are before you decide to give a permit to do something in the city. You really don’t want to ask political beliefs or religious beliefs before you issue a permit, that’s just not government’s job.”

Mr. Bloomberg went on to argue that blocking a business based on their political beliefs opens a potential slippery slope where liberal cities block conservative establishments and vice versa with conservative cities.

“Freedom of speech — everybody’s in favor of it as long as it’s what they want to hear,” he explained. “Well the only way that you have your freedom of speech is if you give other people freedom of speech. … This is just a bad idea and it’s not going to happen in New York City.”

I hate being odd man out, but I believe Bloomberg is right about this.