Lafayette - S6E3

True Blood - Lafayette

Russia passes anti-gay-law

[Source]

Russia passes anti-gay-law

Vladimir Putin signs bill that means people disseminating 'propaganda' about homosexual relationships to minors risk fines

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Associated Press
theguardian.com, Sunday 30 June 2013 17.38 BST

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Vladimir Putin's government wants to promote 'traditional Russian values' over what
it sees as western liberalism and tolerance. Photograph: Mikhail Klimentyev/AP

Russia's president, Vladimir Putin, has signed into law a measure that stigmatises gay people and bans giving children any information about homosexuality.

The lower house of Russia's parliament unanimously passed the Kremlin-backed bill on 11 June and the upper house approved it last week.

The Kremlin announced on Sunday that Putin had signed the legislation into law.

The ban on "propaganda of nontraditional sexual relations" is part of an effort to promote traditional Russian values over western liberalism, which the Kremlin and the Russian orthodox church see as corrupting Russian youth and contributing to the protests against Putin's rule.

Hefty fines can now be imposed on those who provide information about the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community to minors or hold gay pride rallies.

Rachel Maddow Airs Wedding Of Paul Katami And Jeff Zarrillo

[Source]

Rachel Maddow Airs Wedding Of Paul Katami And Jeff Zarrillo, Prop. 8 Victors (VIDEO)

Posted: 06/29/2013 10:49 am EDT

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

"Mazel tov!"

That's how Rachel Maddow congratulated Paul Katami and Jeff Zarrillo, two of the leading plaintiffs who successfully sued for the lifting of California's ban on gay marriage—and whose own wedding on Friday was broadcast live on Maddow's show.

Maddow's entire Friday hour was focused on the surprisingly quick resumption of same-sex marriages in the Golden State. She aired the San Francisco wedding wedding of Kris Perry and Sandy Stier, the other lead plaintiffs in the Prop. 8 case, as well as the Los Angeles ceremony for Katami and Zarrillo.

Maddow also tweeted about how emotional the ceremony was to watch:

For a person who cries at the drop of a hat, this is really too much for a TV host to bear.
— Rachel Maddow MSNBC (@maddow) June 29, 2013

Zachary Quinto: Marriage Equality Acceptance Will Happen

[Source]

Thu, 27 June 2013 at 12:51 am
Zachary Quinto: Marriage Equality Acceptance Will Happen

Zachary Quinto parks his bike and heads down the street on Tuesday (June 25) in New York City.

The 36-year-old actor chatted on the phone as he made his way down the crowded street.

PHOTOS: Check out the latest pics of Zachary Quinto

“[Acceptance] might take longer, and it might not happen tomorrow, but it will happen,” Zachary recently told THR about gay marriage. “Whether that means individually, state by state, or by a sweeping decision, that remains to be seen, but I’ll still do everything I can to fight for and support it and advocate it, and that’s all I can do.”

Dockers® Men of Style | Jeremy Sheffield

[Source]

Zachary Quinto Reads Hilarious Wedding Disaster Stories

[Source]

Zachary Quinto Reads Hilarious Wedding Disaster Stories (VIDEO)

Posted: 06/26/2013 1:52 pm EDT



We've heard some pretty terrible wedding disaster stories here at HuffPost Weddings, but those featured in a new video by Periods. Films may take the cake.

Periods. recently released a feature-length film, "Breakup at a Wedding," that centers around an utterly disastrous fictional wedding. Filmmaker Victor Quinaz took a web survey asking fans to submit their own wedding disaster stories in conjunction with the release of film; in the video above, actor Zachary Quinto reads three of the most harrowing tales. In one story, a former bride remembers the nude portraits of her and her husband drawn in their guestbook, and in another, a guest recalls the time a bridesmaid threw up on the bride and all over the couple's cake. Yikes.

Quinaz also interviewed real-life couples, wedding guests, wedding vendors and others about the most jaw-dropping events they'd ever witnessed at weddings. Click through the slideshow below to take a look at those interviews, and share your wedding horror stories in the comments.

Belfast Telegraph - Zachary Quinto

[Source]

Zachary Quinto: Gay marriage is unstoppable

Zachary Quinto

26 June 2013

Zachary Quinto believes same-sex couples’ push for equal rights in the US is an unstoppable movement and hopes tomorrow’s Supreme Court ruling will prove that.

The US Supreme Court is scheduled to rule on two cases involving the issue on Wednesday.

The decision involves a nearly five-year battle over California's Proposition 8, which removed the right to marry from same-sex couples in the state.

A ruling is also due on the Defense of Marriage Act which forbids same-sex couples the right to marry across the US.

Zachary, who came out as gay years ago, hopes the rulings will be a “galvansing moment”.

“I'm hopeful that [same-sex marriage] will be supported and we'll continue to move forward,” he told The Hollywood Reporter.

Regardless of which way the ruling swings Zachary is certain homosexual couples will eventually share the same rights as heterosexual ones.

While it might not happen as soon as he’d like the star is committed to doing everything he can to push for equal rights.

"I think no matter what happens, it's an unstoppable wave at this point, and I've said that before because I really believe it," he continued.

"[Acceptance] might take longer and it might happen tomorrow, but it will happen. Whether that means individually, state by state, or by a sweeping decision, that remains to be seen, but I'll still do everything I can to fight for and support it and advocate it, and that's all I can do."

Zachary opened up about his sexual orientation in a blog post on his website in 2011.

He feels it’s his duty as a high-profile individual to be an activist for the gay-rights movement.

"It became clear to me in an instant that living a gay life without publicly acknowledging it is simply not enough to make any significant contribution to the immense work that lies ahead on the road to complete equality," he wrote.

"Our society needs to recognise the unstoppable momentum toward unequivocal civil equality for every gay lesbian bisexual and transgendered citizen of this country.”

© Cover Media

Gay Marriage Is 'Unstoppable' - Zachary Quinto

[Source]

Zachary Quinto Says Gay Marriage Is 'Unstoppable'; Openly Gay Actor Fighting For Same-Sex Equality

By McCarton Ackerman June 26, 2013 9:22 AM

Photo: Reuters
Zachary Quinto at the 2013 MTV Movie Awards, April 2013

For Zachary Quinto, it’s only a matter of time before gay marriage is made legal. Quinto spoke ahead of the Supreme Court’s planned ruling on two gay marriage cases and said that gay marriage is an inevitable reality.

“I think no matter what happens, it’s an unstoppable wave at this point, and I’ve said that before because I really believe it,” said Quinto to the Hollywood Reporter. “[Acceptance] might take longer, and it might not happen tomorrow, but it will happen. Whether that means individually, state by state, or a sweeping decision, that remains to be seen… but I’m hopeful that [gay] marriage will be supported and we’ll continue to move forward.”

Zachary Quinto at the LA premiere for 'Star Trek Into Darkness,' May 2013

Quinto, best known for his roles in Star Trek and Heroes, has long been a supporter of gay rights issues. He has worked extensively with the Trevor Project, a suicide prevention initiative for gay teenagers, and contributed a video to the It Gets Better project. He also appeared in the play The Laramie Project: 10 Years Later, which chronicled the 1998 murder of Matthew Shepard.

Quinto came out in an October 2011 interview with New York Magazine while discussing his role in the Broadway play Angels in America, in which he played a gay man who leaves his AIDS-afflicted boyfriend. The actor casually described himself as a “gay man” while discussing the significance of the role. He has remained active in speaking out on gay rights issues since then, including marriage equality and anti-bullying initiatives in schools. He’s also campaigned in support of Barack Obama and appeared in the video Obama Pride: LGBT Americans For Obama.

Zachary Quinto at the Film Independent Spirit Awards, February 2012

"It became clear to me in an instant that living a gay life without publicly acknowledging it is simply not enough to make any significant contribution to the immense work that lies ahead on the road to complete equality," he wrote in an October 2011 blog post shortly after coming out.  I believe in the power of intention to change the landscape of our society, and it is my intention to live an authentic life of compassion and integrity and action."

Quinto’s latest film, Star Trek Into Darkness, was released last month and has already grossed $430 million at the box office. He has been in a relationship since last year with actor Jonathan Groff.

New York Times - Supreme Court Bolsters Gay Marriage With Two Major Rulings

[Source]

Supreme Court Bolsters Gay Marriage With Two Major Rulings

Liptak Sizes Up Court's Marriage Ruling: The Times's Adam Liptak takes a look at how the Supreme Court's decision to overturn the Defense of Marriage Act unfolded.

By ADAM LIPTAK
Published: June 26, 2013

WASHINGTON - In a pair of major victories for the gay rights movement, the Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled that married same-sex couples were entitled to federal benefits and, by declining to decide a case from California, effectively allowed same-sex marriages there.

The rulings leave in place laws banning same-sex marriage around the nation, and the court declined to say whether there was a constitutional right to such unions. But in clearing the way for same-sex marriage in California, the nation’s most populous state, the court effectively increased to 13 the number of states that allow it.

The decisions will only intensify the fast-moving debate over same-sex marriage, and the clash in the Supreme Court reflected the one around the nation. In the hushed courtroom Wednesday morning, Justice Anthony M. Kennedy announced the majority opinion striking down the federal law in a stately tone that indicated he was delivering a civil rights landmark. After he finished, he sat stonily, looking straight ahead, while Justice Antonin Scalia unleashed a cutting dissent.

The vote in the case striking down the federal Defense of Marriage Act was 5 to 4, and Justice Kennedy was joined by the four members of the court’s liberal wing. The ruling will immediately extend many benefits to couples married in the states that allow such unions, and it will allow the Obama administration to broaden other benefits through executive actions.

The case concerning California’s ban on same-sex marriage, enacted in a ballot initiative known as Proposition 8, was decided on technical grounds, with the majority saying that it was not properly before the court. Because officials in California had declined to appeal a trial court’s decision against them, and because the proponents of the ban were not entitled to step into the state’s shoes to appeal the decision, the court said, it was powerless to issue a decision. That left in place a trial court victory for two same-sex couples who had sought to marry.

The vote in the California case was also 5 to 4, but with a different and very unusual alignment of justices. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. wrote the majority opinion, and he was joined by Justice Scalia and Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen G. Breyer and Elena Kagan. The four dissenters — Justice Kennedy and Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel A. Alito Jr. and Sonia Sotomayor — said they would have decided whether Proposition 8 was constitutional. But they did not say how they would have voted.

The case on the federal law was the more important one from a legal perspective, setting the terms for challenges to state bans on same-sex marriage. Justice Kennedy’s reasoning, as Justice Scalia noted at length in dissent, could just as easily have applied to state laws as to the federal one.

“The federal statute is invalid, for no legitimate purpose overcomes the purpose and effect to disparage and injure those whom the state, by its marriage laws, sought to protect in personhood and dignity,” Justice Kennedy wrote. “By seeking to displace this protection and treating those persons as living in marriages less respected than others, the federal statute is in violation of the Fifth Amendment.”

He said the law was motivated by a desire to harm gay and lesbian couples and their families, demeaning the “moral and sexual choices” of such couples and humiliating “tens of thousands of children now being raised by same-sex couples.”

The constitutional basis for striking down the law was not entirely clear, as it had elements of federalism, equal protection and due process. Justice Kennedy said the law’s basic flaw was in its “deprivation of the liberty of the person protected by the Fifth Amendment.”

He added that the ruling applied only to marriages from states that allowed gay and lesbian couples to wed.

Dissenting from the bench, Justice Scalia said that that declaration took “real cheek.”

“By formally declaring anyone opposed to same-sex marriage an enemy of human decency,” Justice Scalia said, “the majority arms well every challenger to a state law restricting marriage to its traditional definition.”

Exactly 10 years ago, Justice Scalia issued a similar dissent in Lawrence v. Texas, which struck down laws making gay sex a crime. He predicted that the ruling would lead to the legal recognition of same-sex marriage, and he turned out to be right.

The court’s four more conservative justices — Chief Justice Roberts and Justices Scalia, Thomas and Alito — issued three dissents between them in the case on the federal law. They differed in some of their rationales and predictions, but all agreed that the law, which passed with bipartisan support and which President Bill Clinton signed, was constitutional.

Chief Justice Roberts said that he “would not tar the political branches with the brush of bigotry,” and that “interests in uniformity and stability amply justified Congress’s decision” in 1996, which, “at that point, had been adopted by every state in our nation, and every nation in the world.”

Justice Scalia wrote that the majority had simplified a complex question that should be decided democratically and not by judges.

“In the majority’s telling, this story is black-and-white: Hate your neighbor or come along with us,” he wrote. “The truth is more complicated.”

The decision will raise a series of major questions for the Obama administration about how to overhaul federal programs involving marriage. Justice Scalia noted some of the difficult problems created by the decision in the case, United States v. Windsor, No. 12-307. “Imagine a pair of women who marry in Albany and then move to Alabama,” he wrote. May they file a joint federal income tax return? Does the answer turn on where they were married or where they live?

The case before the justices concerned two New York City women, Edith Windsor and Thea Clara Spyer, who married in 2007 in Canada. Ms. Spyer died in 2009, and Ms. Windsor inherited her property. The federal law did not allow the Internal Revenue Service to treat Ms. Windsor as a surviving spouse, and she faced a tax bill of about $360,000, which a spouse in an opposite-sex marriage would not have had to pay. Ms. Windsor sued, and last year the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, in New York, struck down the federal law.

The Obama administration continued to enforce the federal law, but it urged the justices to strike it down as unconstitutional, prompting House Republicans to step in to defend it. The justices differed on whether the case’s odd procedural posture deprived the court of jurisdiction, much as the machinations in the Proposition 8 case had.

Justice Kennedy said that the federal government retained a stake in the case, and that the lawyers for House Republicans had made “a sharp adversarial presentation of the issues.” Because the “rights and privileges of hundreds of thousands of persons” were at stake, Justice Kennedy wrote, it was urgent that the court act.

In the California case, Chief Justice Roberts said that the failure of state officials to appeal the trial court decision against them was the end of the matter. Proponents of Proposition 8 had suffered only a “generalized grievance” when the ballot initiative they had sponsored was struck down, the chief justice wrote, and they were not entitled to represent the state’s interests on appeal. The ruling in the case, Hollingsworth v. Perry, No. 12-144, erased the appeals court’s decision striking down Proposition 8.

As a formal matter, the decision sent the case back to the appeals court, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, in San Francisco, “with instructions to dismiss the appeal for lack of jurisdiction.” That means the trial court’s decision stands.

Lawyers for the two sides had different interpretations of the legal consequences of the Supreme Court’s ruling. Supporters of Proposition 8 said it remained the law in California because the trial court’s decision applied only to the two couples who had challenged the law. The lawyers who filed the challenge to Proposition 8, Theodore B. Olson and David Boies, said the trial court decision was binding in all of California.

As a practical matter, Gov. Jerry Brown, a Democrat, instructed officials to start issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples as soon as the Ninth Circuit acts.

If California becomes the 13th state to allow same-sex marriage, about 30 percent of Americans will live in jurisdictions where it is legal. Until last year, when four states voted in favor of same-sex marriage at the ballot box, it had failed — or bans on it had succeeded — every time it had appeared on a statewide initiative.

US Supreme Court in historic rulings on gay marriage

[Source]

26 June 2013 Last updated at 22:33 GMT

US Supreme Court in historic rulings on gay marriage

Doma plaintiff Edith Windsor saluted her late partner Thea Speyer after the Supreme Court ruled in her favour	Outside the Supreme Court in Washington DC as many as 1,000 people gathered to cheer the rulings
The Pentagon has said it will work to extend benefits to same-sex married couples in the military as quickly as possible	Gay marriage may soon be allowed in the state of California as a result of a second Supreme Court ruling on the state's ban, called Proposition 8
Gay marriage advocates have said the twin rulings represent a major victory	Critics have said they are disappointed by the rulings and hope that individual states will write laws defining marriage as between a man and a woman only

The US Supreme Court has struck down a law denying federal benefits to gay couples and cleared the way for same-sex marriage in California.

The justices said that the Defense of Marriage Act, known as Doma, discriminated against same-sex couples.

They also declined to rule on Proposition 8, California's prohibition of gay marriage, in effect allowing such unions to resume in the state.

Opinion polls indicate that most Americans support same-sex marriage.

Wednesday's decisions do not affect the bans on gay unions enshrined in the constitutions of more than 30 US states.

But the California ruling means that 13 US states and the District of Columbia now recognise same-sex marriage.

'We are more free'

The Doma opinion grants legally married gay men and women access to the same federal entitlements available to opposite-sex married couples. These include tax, health and pension benefits and family hospital visits.

The landmark 5-4 rulings prompted celebrations from about 1,000 gay rights advocates gathered outside the Supreme Court in Washington DC and nationwide.

The legal challenge to Doma was brought by New York resident Edith Windsor, 83.

She was handed a tax bill of $363,000 (£236,000) when she inherited the estate of her spouse Thea Speyer - a levy she would not have had to pay if she had been married to a man.

"It's an accident of history that put me here," Ms Windsor said after the ruling was handed down.

"If I had to survive Thea, what a glorious way to do it. She would be so pleased."

Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote: "Doma writes inequality into the entire United States Code.

"Under Doma, same-sex married couples have their lives burdened, by reason of government decree, in visible and public ways," the decision added.

"Doma's principal effect is to identify a subset of state-sanctioned marriages and make them unequal."

Lower courts had also decided in Ms Windsor's favour.

After the ruling Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel said the Pentagon would begin extending benefits to same-sex military spouses as soon as possible.

Defence officials added there were an estimated 18,000 gay couples in the armed forces, although it is not known how many were married.

US President Barack Obama, who is on a state visit to the West African country of Senegal, said: "When all Americans are treated as equal, no matter who they are or whom they love, we are all more free."

But opponents of same-sex marriage said they were disappointed with the ruling.

"As the American people are given time to experience the actual consequences of redefining marriage," said Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, "the public debate and opposition to the redefinition of natural marriage will undoubtedly intensify."

In Washington DC people talked to the BBC about the rulings

'No authority'

Proposition 8 is a ban on gay marriage passed by California voters in November 2008, just months after the state's supreme court decided such unions were legal.

Two same-sex couples launched a legal challenge against Proposition 8. As the state of California refused to defend the ban on gay marriage, the group that sponsored Proposition 8 stepped up to do so.

On Wednesday, the US Supreme Court said a private party did not have the right, or "standing", to defend the constitutionality of a law, because it could not demonstrate it would suffer injury if the law were to be struck down and same-sex marriages allowed.

"We have no authority to decide this case on the merits," Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in the ruling, which was not split along ideological lines.

Their opinion leaves in place a ruling by a lower court, in San Francisco, that struck down Proposition 8.

California Governor Jerry Brown is ordering county officials across the state to comply. The San Francisco appeals court has said it will wait at least 25 days before allowing same-sex marriages to resume in California.

The four dissenting Supreme Court justices said they believed they should have addressed the constitutional question of same-sex marriage before them in the Proposition 8 case.

Further litigation could lie ahead for the California ban, analysts say.

President Obama called the plaintiffs to congratulate them from Air Force One, his official jet, en route to Africa.

A military woman and her wife explain why Doma has
made their life as a married couple difficult

About 18,000 same-sex couples were married in California in the less than five months same-sex marriages were permitted there.

Doma was signed into law in 1996 by former President Bill Clinton after it was approved in Congress with bipartisan support.

But it was subsequently struck down by several lower courts.

In 2011, President Obama said that while he would continue to enforce Doma, his administration would not defend it in court. So Republicans from the House of Representatives hired a lawyer to argue in favour of the measure.

House Speaker John Boehner, the top Republican in Congress, said he was disappointed with Wednesday's ruling.

"A robust national debate over marriage will continue in the public square, and it is my hope that states will define marriage as the union between one man and one woman," he said.

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At the scene

Paul Adams
Washington, United States

Narrow victories perhaps, but there was evident delight among the overwhelming majority of those gathered in the hot sun outside the Supreme Court. After today, public and legal opinion are more closely aligned. No consensus yet, but narrow majorities in favour of gay couples being allowed to marry and enjoy the same rights as their fellow, straight citizens.

The practical implications of today's rulings may be narrow (they only involve 13 states and the District of Columbia), but it was the symbolism of the moment that thrilled the crowd.

They know there will be lots of battles ahead. But for the first time, the Supreme Court has attempted to make sense of the rules around gay marriage. For most of those who gathered in the heat outside this great temple of law, today's results suggest the tide of history is with them.

Lafayette - S6E2

True Blood - Lafayette

Russian parliament passes anti-homosexual laws

[Source]

Russian parliament passes anti-homosexual laws

By Clara Weiss
18 June 2013

On June 11 the Russian parliament adopted—by 436 votes to nil, with one abstention—two civil rights laws, making it a punishable offence to openly practise homosexual relationships, defend homosexuals or “insult religious sentiments”.

Both laws have yet to be approved by the parliament’s upper chamber and signed by President Vladimir Putin. Putin has already publicly declared his support for both laws.

The two laws constitute an assault on basic democratic rights. They are part of a campaign by the Kremlin, which is increasingly responding to growing social unrest and political instability by appealing to nationalist sentiment and exploiting right-wing forces such as the Russian Orthodox Church.

The new anti-gay legislation provides for penalties of up to €100 (US$135) for individuals and €23,000 (US$30,000) for organisations that “promote non-traditional sexual relationships”. Defending the basic democratic right of social equality for homosexuals is therefore made illegal.

Foreigners are not exempt from the laws. Convicted of an offence under the new statutes, they face a fine of €2,300, as well as possible detention for up to 15 days and forced deportation. The distribution of “homosexual propaganda” has already been criminalised in several regions, including St. Petersburg, since last year.

More than 20 people protesting against the laws were arrested at a demonstration in front of the parliament in Moscow. The demonstrators were also violently assaulted by supporters of the Russian Orthodox Church, pelted with eggs and doused with urine, without drawing any intervention from the police.

Arguing for the anti-gay legislation before parliament, Yelena Mizulina, a co-author of the law, declared: “Traditional sexual relationships are relationships between a man and a woman ... which is the basis for the preservation and advancement of the multi-ethnic Russian people. It is precisely these relationships that need special protection from the state”.

President Putin has also repeatedly criticised homosexuals for not contributing to population growth in Russia.

In recent years, the Kremlin has deliberately been encouraging reactionary prejudices and sentiments. According to surveys, the proportion of the population supporting the law increased from 40 to 47 percent last year. Homosexuals are often victims of violent attacks.

A recent survey revealed that 15 percent of the country’s lesbians and gay men had been physically assaulted in the past 10 months. By fomenting this reactionary mood, the Kremlin is building on the legacy of Stalinism, which for decades propagated “traditional family values” and national chauvinism as part of the political reaction to the October Revolution.

The second law passed by the parliament on Tuesday enables the Kremlin to continue blurring the boundaries between church and state. The law makes “insulting religious feelings” a punishable offence. Fines of up to €7,500 can be imposed and “desecration of religious temples” is punishable by up to five years in prison. The “public abuse” of icons and religious literature such as the Bible or the Koran can incur heavy fines.

The Kremlin is thereby siding with the court verdict against three singers of the feminist punk band, Pussy Riot, who were sentenced to several years in prison following a show trial last summer, because they had sung an anti-Putin “punk prayer” in Moscow’s Cathedral of Christ the Saviour. The Kremlin exploited the case to launch a massive nationalist and religious propaganda campaign to divert attention from the economic and social crisis.

The two laws signal the Kremlin’s further shift to the right and closer alignment with the Russian Orthodox Church, a refuge of ultra-nationalist and fascist tendencies.

The Russian Orthodox Church, whose leaders shamelessly enriched themselves during the restoration of capitalism, have played an important role in politics since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Church and state have moved closer together particularly under Putin’s premiership. Confronted with mass protests from urban middle-class layers and growing social discontent, the Kremlin again last year significantly intensified its religious campaign in the press and fanned national tensions.

The Kremlin is currently enforcing brutal austerity measures against a largely impoverished population. More than a third of all universities and many medical facilities are being privatised or closed. Further pension cuts are also under discussion. This week, President Putin announced even more savage cuts and mass layoffs among state employees. These social attacks are bound to provoke opposition from the working population. The ruling elites are introducing repressive laws and the bolstering the authoritarian state in order to prepare for an open confrontation with the working class.

Under the duplicitous pretext of defending “democracy and human rights”, the imperialist powers and the liberal opposition are using the authoritarian laws to put pressure on the Putin regime.

Michael McFaul, the US ambassador to Russia, condemned the anti-gay law that violates “the spirit of a democratic society”. At the outset of the protest movement against Putin in December 2011, former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and President Barack Obama had stressed that the US regarded the defence of the rights of homosexuals as an essential part of the “struggle for human rights”.

The German government’s response to the legislation was particularly sharp. Instructed by Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle, the German foreign office tightened travel restrictions for Russian citizens. Government spokesman Steffen Seibert said that Chancellor Angela Merkel expected a reversal of the law.

The campaign by imperialist powers is completely dishonest. They react brutally to any social opposition in their own countries, set up vast networks for monitoring the population, and ride roughshod over basic democratic rights such as the right to freedom of expression and privacy.

For years, they have been supporting the liberal opposition and pseudo-left forces in Russia, both of which maintain close links to the extreme right. Fascist forces also play an important role in the Western-backed opposition movement. In reality, the imperialist campaign in defence of “democracy and human rights” aims to increase pressure on the Putin regime, which is particularly opposed to the NATO powers’ Middle East war plans against Syria and Iran.

It is the task of the working class to defend democratic rights as part of the struggle for a socialist programme, directed against the Putin regime and capitalism.

Christopher J. Hanke - Major Crimes

It's not Marcus from Brothers & Sisters ;p

He is a kind of cute, isn't he?

Hurts on Attitude 2013 Summer

Recent my favourite pop duo, Hurts is on Attitude Magazine. Love their songs.
I've got their two CDs, Happiness & Exile

Lafayette - S6E1

ABC Television - ABC2 - Funny As: Simon Amstell

[Source]

Funny As: Simon Amstell

9:30pm Saturday, June 15 2013

Simon Amstell: Numb

Synopsis

English comedian, television presenter, screenwriter and actor, Simon Amstell is best known for his roles as former co-host of Popworld, former host of Never Mind the Buzzcocks and co-writer and star of the sitcom Grandma's House.

This one-off special is a performance of Simon's stand-up show, Numb, which he toured to sell-out audiences around the UK and Ireland in 2012, as well as Australia and, more recently, Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York.

Recorded specially for BBC Four at TV Centre, it's a stripped-down, intimate performance, with no set and minimal lighting - a painfully raw, honest and deeply funny exploration of disconnection and loneliness.

“True Blood” Five Gayest Moments - The Backlot

[Source]

Watch: “True Blood” Five Gayest Moments

The Backlot | June 13, 2013

True Blood returns for Season Six on Sunday on HBO, and Via NewNowNext comes this “Megamix Of True Blood’s Queerest Moments” from the first five seasons.

Are any of these your favorite gay moments, or do you have your own favorite scenes?

 

Get More:

Graham Norton splits from boyfriend

[Source]

By Mark Jefferies | 11 Jun 2013 00:30

Graham Norton splits from boyfriend Trevor Patterson after two years together

He is no longer with the Canadian software designer and he is seeking solace from his labradoodle Bailey and terrier Madge

Split: Graham Norton with Trevor Patterson

PA

Graham Norton’s love life is going through a woof patch after he split from his boyfriend.
The chat-show host, 50, revealed he is no longer with Canadian software designer Trevor Patterson and he is seeking solace from his labradoodle Bailey and terrier Madge.

Asked if he was in love, Norton replied: “No, not at the moment.”

And told that someone would be very lucky to be with him, he comically cried: “If only now, if only now. Tweet me.”

Norton insisted he loved living with just his beloved dogs in his London flat after two years with Trevor.

He said: “I love living alone, which sounds so miserable, doesn’t it? But it is one of my greatest joys.

"I have Bailey and Madge – so I’m never truly alone.”

Walkies: Graham with his pet pooches

FilmMagic

 Norton said his mum, Rhoda Walker, feared he would end up living a lonely life when he came out of the closet.

He said: “It’s an alien choice and an alien form of community that my mother wouldn’t understand.

"But I think she’s got over that now. She sees that I’ve made my own family – a family of friends.”
Norton told an Irish radio station he would never want to marry as he would be too afraid to wed in front of his pals. He said: “I find the self-conscious thing of saying ‘I love you’ embarrassing.”

Norton, a BBC top earner on around £2.5million a year, was with Kristian Seeber for about five years but they split in 2006.

He said: “I’ve always lived as a single man but there are definitely moments when I wish it was different.”

GLAAD Blog

[Source]

'Kinky Boots,' 'Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike' win big, Larry Kramer honored at 67th annual Tony Awards

Monday, June 10, 2013 - 12:41pm by Max Gouttebroze, Entertainment Media Strategist at GLAAD

Last night Neil Patrick Harris hosted the 67th annual Tony Awards, recognizing excellence in theater. Cyndi Lauper and Harvey Fierstein’s Kinky Boots received awards in six categories, including Best Musical while playwright and LGBT activist Larry Kramer accepted the Isabelle Stevenson Award.

Inspired by a true story, Kinky Boots recounts the struggles faced by a shoe factory owner who is inspired by a drag queen to reinvent his business. In addition to Best Musical honors, Kinky Boots received the awards for Best Choreography, Best Sound Design of a Musical and Best Orchestrations. Its star, gay performer Billy Porter, received the award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical. Ally Cindy Lauper also made history by becoming the first solo female to receive the Tony Award for Best Original Score.

The Best Play award went to Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, which marks the first Tony Award for gay playwright Christopher Durang. The play was also nominated for a GLAAD Media Awards this year. It recounts the story of a 50-something gay man living with his adopted sister in their childhood home in Bucks County, PA. Their uneventful lives are thrown into disarray when their movie-star sister, whose career is declining, moves back home with a boyfriend twenty years her junior.

Larry Kramer was the recipient of the Isabelle Stevenson Award, a “non-competitive Tony Award given to an individual from the theater community who has made a substantial contribution on behalf of humanitarian, social service or charitable organizations.”

Kramer is known for his work as an HIV/AIDS advocate and is a co-founder of ACT UP and the Gay Men’s Health Crisis. His play, The Normal Heart, is based on his work as an activist in the early days of the epidemic. In 2011, The Normal Heart won the Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play and is currently being adapted into an HBO film by Ryan Murphy, starring Julia Roberts, Matt Bomer, Mark Ruffalo and Jonathan Groff

In his acceptance speech, Kramer announced yesterday was the first day of shooting for the film adaptation of his play. In his speech he also thanked his lover, David Webster as well as The American Theater Wing for recognizing him as an influential activist and gay writer. Watch his remarks below.

Gay-Friendly Harry, A Prince Among Men

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Gay-Friendly Harry, A Prince Among Men

6.10.2013
By Andrew Belonsky

Royal heir stepped up to stop homophobia in his battalion.

If you didn't have a crush on Britain's Prince Harry before, you will now that we know the royal and British Army Captain has a zero tolerance for homophobia in his ranks.

According to Lance Corporal James Wharton, who served as one of battalion leader Harry's gunners in Afghanistan and who is the author of the new memoir, Out In The Army: My Life as a Gay Soldier, Harry took it upon himself to take down anti-gay soldiers who were tormenting, taunting, and threatening Wharton. This excerpt from Wharton's book, published at the Daily Mail, offers the details on what happened when Wharton's fellow soldiers found out he was gay in 2008 and how Harry took them down a notch:

"This was turning into a bit of a situation. Danny told them everything he’d seen and to back off. Under huge pressure I went back to my vehicle to find Prince Harry.

‘Sir, I need to talk to you.’

‘Why? What’s up? Are you OK?’

Harry instantly looked concerned. I told him: ‘I think I’m about to be murdered by the infantry.’

I climbed into the turret and talked Harry through exactly what had happened. He had a complete look of bewilderment on his face.

I didn’t hold back: I told him everything that had gone on. I couldn’t stop the tears from welling up in  my eyes.
He said: ‘Right. I’m going to sort this s*** out once and for all.’

Harry climbed out of the tank and started having a go. I worried he was about to make the whole thing worse, but he wasn’t holding back. Prince Harry was sticking up for me and putting a stop to the trouble. I had been on track for a battering and had been rescued.

He came back ten minutes later and told me the problem had  been ‘sorted’.

He told me: ‘I knew one of his officers and we cleared everything up. I also told those other lads to back the f*** off, too.’"

If the name James Wharton is familiar to you, it's because Wharton was the first openly gay serviceman to appear on the magazine Soldier and subsequently went on to star in his own It Gets Better video, included below. His book will be released June 18th.

Tony Awards' Cancelled TV Show Number Brings Out Stars of Smash, New Normal, Go On

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June 10, 2013 06:13 AM PDT

Video: Tony Awards' Cancelled TV Show Number Brings Out Stars of Smash, New Normal, Go On

Michael Ausiello

Several cancelled series enjoyed some time in the Tony spotlight Sunday night — to uproarious effect.

Newly-unemployed Broadway vets Megan Hilty and Andrew Rannells — whose respective small screen breaks, Smash and The New Normal, were axed last month by NBC — joined host Neil Patrick Harris on stage to literally sing the praises of TV (“The perks, the pay, the private jets… “).

VIDEO | Watch (and Grade) Neil Patrick Harris’ Tony Awards Opening

However, Lauran Benanti — who is coming off the back-to-back cancellations of The Playboy Club and Go On — was far less reverential about her time on the telly.

RELATED | TVline’s Renewal Scorecard: What’s Cancelled? What’s Coming Back?

Press PLAY below and then hit the comments with an answer to this question: Was this your favorite moment from the three-hour telecast? And, if not, what was?

The 67th Annual Tony Awards - Neil And Friends

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Tony Awards 2013 - Kinky Boots

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Tony Awards 2013 Best Original Score - Cyndi Lauper

The Tony Awards

Tony Awards 2013 Opening Number - Neil Patrick Harris

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Bravo!

Gay Kiss Silences Antigay Preacher on Campus - Advocate.com

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WATCH: Gay Kiss Silences Antigay Preacher on Campus

A same-sex kiss elicits hearty applause at a California campus, drowning out a homophobic sermon.

BY Daniel Reynolds June 07 2013 3:47 PM ET

An antigay speaker was upstaged by an impromptu same-sex smooch at California Polytechnic State University earlier this week.

The “gay makeout session,” which was captured on video and posted on YouTube Tuesday received cheers and applause from the crowd gathered around the outdoor steps on the San Luis Obispo campus. The reaction drowned out the words of the woman delivering the sermon, who was rendered momentarily speechless when the couple raced up next to her and embraced.

“So there was this crazy preacher lady yelling in the [University Union] for threehours today, talking about how we're all damned to hell and how we're sinners but she's a saint because she's spreading the word of God (you know, the usual),” wrote the owner of the YouTube channel and an observer of the event. “She was just beginning a rant on traditional marriage and why gay people are evil when this happened.”

“Highlight of my week,” the witness concluded.

Cyndi Lauper Sends 'GMA' Back With 'Time After Time'

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US News | Weird News | More ABC News Videos

US News | Weird News | More ABC News Videos

US News | Weird News | More ABC News Videos

Tony Awards on the 9th June - Barrett Foa

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Watch! Neil Patrick Harris on The Tonys and the Dangers of Plummeting To Earth

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Watch! Neil Patrick Harris on The Tonys and the Dangers of Plummeting To Earth

by snicks | June 4, 2013

Neil Patrick Harris is gearing up to host this Sunday’s Tony Awards, and last night he stopped by The David Letterman Show to talk about the preparations, his son Gideon’s newfound musical talent, and the idiocy of hot air ballooning.

And David reels off a perfect Taylor Swift joke.

Tasty Two For Tuesday With Matt Bomer - The Backlot

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Briefs: “Teen Wolf” Roars Back, Smurfs For Marriage-Equality, and Alyssa Edwards’ Secret

by snicks | June 4, 2013

Here’s your Tasty Two For Tuesday With Matt Bomer. New pics from over the weekend on the set of White Collar (the second with guest star Warren Kole.)

Anderson Cooper’s 10 Most Adorable Moments - The Backlot

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Anderson Cooper’s 10 Most Adorable Moments

by Louis Virtel | June 3, 2013

Anderson Cooper has lived many lives right in front of our eyes, as he’s swiftly evolved from up-and-coming newsman to reality host to CNN anchor to daytime luminary. Today, on Mr. Cooper’s 46th birthday, let’s reflect upon his most adaaaawrable moments, all of which occurred on TV. Gotta love A.C., the smart cookie who remains the gold standard among silver foxes.

10. Anderson delights the fattest cat alive.

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This is a talk show host who’s trying to own how crazy it is to pose with a 37-pound cat. This is also a man unprepared to deal with said cat’s handsiness. The following GIF is a must-see from beginning to end, and I think we can all empathize with that cat’s rabid glee.

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9. This GIF. Right here.

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Though he’s routinely objective and journalistic, Anderson can be pretty expressive. Take this legendary medley of “glance, stare, and contemptuous head-shake.” He’s judging you, owning you, making you reconsider your choices, and devastating you with face angles. He IS the news.

8. That time he “got his crack filled.”

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God bless Hoda Kotb and Kathie Lee Gifford for guesting on Anderson’s talk show, applying a crease-filling goop to the gorgeous crease in Anderson’s face, and announcing they were “filling his crack” to an innocent daytime audience. Anderson muttered, “That’s a phrase I’ve never used before,” but the damage was done: The terms “Anderson” and “crack” were considered in the same sentence, and we watched as The Coop held back heaps of laughter.

7. His vintage Channel One days.

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Even in his teeth-cutting days at Channel One, The Coop was a suavely coiffed, hard-squinting prince of the Fourth Estate. He snuck into Myanmar without a press pass to chronicle the student protests of the Burmese government, and he apparently did so with the glamorous salt-and-pepper cleft you see here.

6. That time he came out.

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Nothing is hotter than a man who can articulate himself, and Anderson’s open letter to Andrew Sullivan — in which he acknowledged he’s gay — shed light on why he decided to come out after years in the spotlight. “I still consider myself a reserved person and I hope this doesn’t mean an end to a small amount of personal space… But I do think visibility is important, more important than preserving my reporter’s shield of privacy.” Succinct and effective. Quintessentially newsmanlike.

5. That time he gnawed on a supersize “gummy snake” with Andy Cohen.

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Anderson and his longtime pal Andy Cohen nibbled on a gigantic gummy snake one afternoon, and the results were (to Cohen’s delight, especially) suggestive as hell. Please note The Coop’s sly, self-conscious tail-biting. Note how heavy that damn thing is. And note… just, everything.

4. That time he gave amazing face as host of The Mole

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I don’t care what anyone (even Anderson) says about The Mole. It was a highly entertaining, very suspenseful reality whodunit that always kept you guessing — and not just about the identity of the show’s titular turncoat. It also made you wonder how a young Anderson Cooper could be so debonair and stern-faced. I wanted to put green thumbprints all over that ferocious mug.

3. That time he visited Sesame Street

Watch Anderson’s hard-hitting work with the reticent Dan Rather-Not in this darling Sesame Street clip.  He learned everything he knows from Oscar the Grouch, apparently.

2. That time he disrobed and swam around with Michael Phelps for the hell of it.

Does a video in which Anderson Cooper strips down and hops in the pool with Michael Phelps need to be explained to you? Try a new planet.

Also for the hell of it, here’s more shirtless AC action. Yes, he’s getting spray-tanned — arguably the least attractive shirtless activity — but at least he’s being ordered to strip by a bossy attendant.

1. The. Giggle.

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I can describe Anderson Cooper’s giggle in four words: The Alpha. The Omega. It is everything, kids. It is the sweetest, sincerest, cuckoo-pitched, most uncontrolled, deviously silly snicker of all time. We first saw it in action when Anderson couldn’t get through a “Ridiculist” feature on AC360 about plane-peein’ outlaw Gerard Depardieu, and we’ve since seem him lose control a few other times, namely alongside pal and New Years’ cohost Kathy Griffin. Anderson’s going to remain in the pop culture game for a long time, but his cutest moment — the one we store in our CNN-branded hope chests — will always be this zany giggle.

What are Anderson’s cutest moments? Shout ‘em out.