Liberty & Independence

Delaware is set to become the 11th Marriage Equality state after its senate approved same-sex marriage today. I'm really happy for them, but I'm kind of surprised it took this long given they have had a gay Colonial wedding on their flag for 100 years.

I think the guy in the fabulous green and pink jacket (which I would totally wear) is pissed that his farmer husband-to-be dressed so casually for their big day.

That's about all I have to say about Delaware except it inspired this great song by Loudon Wainwright III (father of notable homosexual Rufus Wainwright):

Come on Minnesota, let's make it a dozen.

Happy 80th Birthday, Willie Nelson!

If Willie Nelson's career had ended 40 years ago, he still would have been one of the most important songwriters in country music ever.

The first concert I ever went to was Willie Nelson in the UNI Dome. I'm not sure of the exact year, but it was sometime during the "On The Road Again" period. My parents became big Willie fans around that time--and that song remains one of their favorites. While I love his original songs, I have to admit that Stardust, his album of songs from the "great American songbook," is what made me a life-long fan. The whole thing is beautiful--sometimes achingly so.



Lastly, and most importantly, a big shout out to Willie for his advocacy on issues that are dear to both our hearts. From the founding of Farm Aid to support family farmers to his outspoken views on drug policy reform (best line: Marijuana "won't kill you unless you let a bale of it fall on you"), he has gone far beyond the typical light-weight celebrity dabbling in politics to become a real leader in social change.

One sign: two great causes

Recently, Willie has spoken out in favor of Marriage Equality:

I never thought of  marriage as something only for men and women. But I'd never marry a guy I didn't like. ...It's about human rights. As humanity, we've come through so many problems from the beginning to here.  I guess it finally had to come around to this. This is just another situation, another problem. We'll work it out and move on.

Something good must have been going on in 1933--the year produced two of my favorite progressive men, Willie Nelson and Paul Hogan, my Dad. This year, 80 is the new fabulous.

Our Liberties We Prize & Our Rights We Will Maintain

Happy 4th Anniversary to Marriage Equality in Iowa!

Wild Roses, the Iowa state flower: and the perfect 4th anniversary gift.

On April 27th, 2009, my home state, Iowa, began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples. The Human Rights Campaign and One Iowa released this video to celebrate:

The thought behind the message is lovely; however, I'm a little surprised to find out any Iowans were involved the production. The place described seems to be a DC lobbyist's idea of a generic, Midwestern farm state. "The cows still get milked"? Seriously? Still, bless their hearts, they meant well and that's what counts.

Congratulations to the 6,000 same-sex couples who have married in Iowa in the last four years. The next step is getting your families to be recognized in all fifty states, and that day is coming. You know, "the arc of the moral universe..." and all.

"The condescension is bad, but the argument is even worse."

Matt Taibbi's blog post today, "Same-Sex Marriage Makes David Brooks Crazy" is really great:

This morning's David Brooks column on same-sex marriage was one of the weirdest, most mean-spirited things I've ever seen in The New York Times.

Entitled "Freedom Loses One," the article is a sarcastic broadside against . . . well, against something, though it's not clear exactly which of the many post-Sixties permissive-society hobgoblins Brooks hates is the real target here.

...Brooks is trying to make a "point" here – he takes something like 800 words to make it, but it boils down to a single snarky observation: "Isn't it ironic that these same people who've been fighting for the right to personal indulgence for all these decades since the Sixties are now fighting for the right to be legally restrained?"

Really, go read the whole thing.

Here's my point: I know I just barely missed being a "Baby Boomer" by a couple of years, but I really can't wait for that generation to retire so we can finally move past the cultural battles of the 60's. I'm especially sick of conservatives using "hippies" as a punching bag on which they work out their anxieties about the crazy ideas of freedom, equality and peace. As David Wilcox wrote:

Now I was just a young thing
When the sixties were in swing
They were singing of Aquarius
And all that it would bring
A lot of dreams got frozen
When the time turned bitter cold
They blossomed like a flower
But what a way to go. 

Frozen in the snow
Singing Spring is coming
Frozen in the snow

You'll Reach Your Destiny

This is probably the second most adorable press conference I've ever seen:

Rob Tisinai at Box Turtle Bulletin expresses beautifully why I cried watching Edie Windsor speak today:

What moved me most was her description of how she’d been closeted for so many years, and how she was so grateful today for the kindness in how the Justices treated her.

She was grateful for their kindness.

Take a moment to realize that for most of her life, this kindness — this civility and dignity and respect — was something she and Thea had no reason to expect. It breaks my heart with regret at what these women had to live through, and it breaks my heart with joy that this heroine has never let it overcome her. Edie Windsor has overcome, no matter what the Court decides.

Edie Windsor & Thea Spyer

I made a (probably completely illegal, copyright-breaking) video two years ago celebrating the arrival of Marriage Equality in New York. I'm posting it again today in honor of Edie Windsor and all the other LGBT people who have found a path from tears and sorrow to love and dignity.

THANK YOU!

Saints Sergius & Bacchus Didn't Have Cellphones

Justice Samuel Alito said this today during the oral arguments in Hollingsworth v. Perry today:

Traditional marriage has been around for thousands of years. Same-sex marriage is very new. I think it was first adopted in the Netherlands in 2000. So there isn't a lot of data about its effect. And it may turn out to be a — a good thing; it may turn out not to be a good thing, as the supporters of Proposition 8 apparently believe. But you want us to step in and render a decision based on an assessment of the effects of this institution which is newer than cellphones or the Internet? I mean, we — we are not — we do not have the ability to see the future.

 Um.... WRONG.

Marriage Equality was part of the LGBT rights movement long before cellphones.
This happened in 1971:

Less than two years after the Stonewall uprising, a group of men and women from the Gay Activists Alliance (GAA) walked into the New York City Marriage License Bureau carrying coffee urns and boxes of cake to hold an engagement party for two male couples and to protest the "slander" of City Clerk Herman Katz, who had threatened legal action against same-sex "holy unions" being performed -- yes, already then, in 1971 -- by the Church of the Beloved Disciple, which had a largely gay congregation.

The best part? Someone filmed it!



Read the whole story and see the other videos at The Atlantic, "The Prehistory of Gay Marriage: Watch a 1971 Protest at NYC's Marriage License Bureau".

Same-sex unions have been around for thousands of years--long, long before the Internet.
This is hardly news. John Boswell's Same-Sex Unions in Pre-Modern Europe was published 18 years ago. "Hell, between the 10th and 12th centuries, Christian churches had little problem performing same sex marriage" ceremonies.

Sergius and Bacchus: Patrons Saints of Gay Marriage?

Even if same-sex marriage were brand new, that would have no impact on whether or not it is a right under the United States Constitution. I'll let Thomas Jefferson make the final argument in regards to Alito's misguided (to put it kindly) comments on the "newness" of same-sex marriage:

I am certainly not an advocate for frequent and untried changes in laws and constitutions. I think moderate imperfections had better be borne with; because, when once known, we accommodate ourselves to them, and find practical means of correcting their ill effects. But I know also, that laws and institutions must go hand in hand with the progress of the human mind. As that becomes more developed, more enlightened, as new discoveries are made, new truths disclosed, and manners and opinions change with the change of circumstances, institutions must advance also, and keep pace with the times. We might as well require a man to wear still the coat which fitted him when a boy, as civilized society to remain ever under the regimen of their barbarous ancestors.

So... Bite me, Alito.

Mr. & Mr. Smith Go To Washington

Image via Maddow Blog

The Supreme Court will hear arguments in Hollingsworth v. Perry on Tuesday, March 26th (tomorrow as I write this--but more likely today as you read this) and in Windsor v United States on Wednesday, March 27th. Just the fact that two Marriage Equality cases are before the SCOTUS is historic. Here are some great resources for following the proceedings:




SCOTUSblog is a great blog for all things related to the Supreme Court.  Their Q&A style post on "How historic Supreme Court gay-marriage cases will unfold" is one of the best overviews I've come across.




The American Foundation for Equal Rights is leading the fight against California's Proposition 8. They will also tell you "Everything You Need to Know: Marriage Equality at the Supreme Court".


Ari Ezra Waldman provides excellent and accessible analysis at Towleroad. His most recent post, "Supreme Court Preview: Roberts, Kennedy, and their Court - Some Final Thoughts on Impacts and Outcomes" is a great cheat sheet for the next couple of days.

The really big news is that the Supreme Court will release same-day audio of the arguments on its own website. We will all get a chance to hear these landmark cases almost live.

If you're reading this blog, you are probably already pro Marriage Equality--but here's the amazing Edie Windsor reminding us what the fight is all about:

PS: If that video doesn't bring a tear to your eye, stop reading my blog.

Et Tu, Donnie?

So, some of the Osmond family have coordinated with the National Organization for Marriage [sic] and are hosting a big anti-gay shindig.

This is all planned to put pressure on the Supreme Court as they are hearing two landmark cases on Marriage Equality. Of course, the Osmonds are Mormons, so I would expect them to be marching in LGBT Pride parades. However, even the Church of Latter Day Saints is evolving on the issue. As Good As You points out:

As you might know, Marie Osmond has a lesbian daughter. But I guess "My gay niece doesn't deserve equal rights" wasn't as catchy of a subtitle.

Also, anyone who wore this on stage:

...or did this on national television:

...should not be judging the gays. Let's face it, they make The Village People look butch.

PS: In the 70's, Flip Wilson had a variety show. I would so watch the shit out of that today if it were on instead of the Real Housewives of Anywhere.

UPDATE: Not all Osmonds think a like. Marie Osmond took a stand for her lesbian daughter and Marriage Equality.

If love was a train but love ain't a train

The L&N don't stop here any more, but apparently it does stop in Crazy Town. Michelle Shocked went on a homophobic rant during her concert in San Francisco last night. I highly recommend Chris Willman's very fair account of the event on the Stop The Presses! music blog.

...After an intermission, Shocked hadn't even gotten to any music when she started talking first about the importance of social media to carry on a dialogue with her fans off-stage, and then about Proposition 8. She started reading some tweets from the stream and having a dialogue about people's impressions, talking about how she was feeling brave at this point and that she was doing the right thing. Then the tone of the conversation became extremely religious and she began talking about the two things most important to her being Jesus Christ and freedom. Then she talked about how she had just come from a prayer meeting the night before, and the people in her prayer meeting were really worried because these are the end times, and they’re the end times because Prop. 8 is going to lead to ministers marrying gay people with a rifle to the head. At which people got a little riled up; then there started to be some call and response from the crowd about what she meant. She started exhorting the crowd very specifically to go ahead and tweet or write and say that Michelle Shocked says God hates f--s, and some other references to the Bible denouncing homosexuality as sinful and abhorrent.

Read the whole thing here.

As you can imagine the blogs--especially the LGBT ones--are all over this.

The Bay Area Reporter had a reporter at the concert:

After the performance Shocked was off the stage and talking with three fans. The B.A.R. asked her to clarify her comments. She seemed interested but a reporter heard one of her fans tell her, "It's a gay paper." Shocked again said, "God bless us everyone." She thanked her fans, began sobbing, and ran from the stage.

 Joe.My.God points out why so many people are so surprised:

The music press has often identified Shocked as lesbian herself, mistakenly it now appears, unless she's gone "ex-gay." Last night her Wikipedia page was changed to read "Michelle Shocked (born Karen Michelle Johnston, February 24, 1962) is a BIGOTED lesbian singer/songwriter." That notation has since been removed.

Queerty also provides a little Shocked's history with gay issues:

“I am a believer. I am a devout practicing Christian,” she told Edge on the Net in 2008. “I don’t like the ring of that because I know so many people who profess the faith, and I look at their social conscious, and I can’t see how they reconcile their faith with their politics.” In that same 2008 interview she confessed to some “inconvenient truths,” like how the Bible teaches homosexuality is immoral. “But homosexuality is no more less a sin than fornication,” she said. “And I’m a fornicator with a capital F.” That’s not the F-word we’re concerned with, Michelle.

I think Jezebel summed up many people's reaction:

Beyond the fact that WHAT THE FUCK, MICHELLE, I honestly just don't understand how human beings can justify wasting their time on shit like "who that dude from spin class wants to marry." And I certainly don't understand how anyone with basic critical thinking skills can characterize those views—that one person wanting to make out with another person has some grave, cosmic, supernatural consequence for the universe—as ANYTHING but mindless-indoctrination-bordering-on-brainwashing. There is no logic here. Even Biblical scholars will tell you that there is no logic here.

Me, I'm mostly just sad. Short, Sharp, Shocked was part of the sound track of my college years. I listened to it pretty much non-stop when it first came out, and it's an album that I often go back to. I really love it.



It feels like I lost touch with a dear college friend only to find out they had joined a cult because, well, that's pretty much what has happened. Thank God I can still count on Tracy Chapman for my leftist, feminist folk music fix.

UPDATE 1: There are rumors and speculation about Michelle Shocked has a history of mental illness, and if that is the case, as seems very likely, I hope she finds a path to wellness and love. Any anger I have is for the homophobic church leaders that got their claws into a vulnerable person and twisted her up to use her as a mouthpiece for their bigotry.

UPDATE 2:  Janis Ian speaks out:

It is sad when a talented person chooses to use that talent in the service of their own misplaced rage, and their disappointment in their own life. I often wonder if people like this die and meet God, who will smack them upside the head and say 'Did I really LOOK like I needed your help?!

It looks like Michelle Shocked will have time to battle whatever demons are chasing her. Not surprisingly, venues are now cancelling Michelle Shocked's shows.

Ambiguously Gay Dads

Is it just me, or are there a lot of possibly gay dads in commercials these days?

Exhibit A: Volkswagen Passat, Toss

Although the term "throwing like a girl" isn't officially slang for gay, it might as well be.

Exhibit B: Tide & Downy, The Princess Dress

As Jezebel pointed out: "When Stereotypical American Clown Father appears in a commercial for some housekeeping chemical, it's usually to demonstrate his utter incompetence (dads don't clean, silly! they spill rib juice all over the couch as they slip into a meat stupor over the course of a lazy Sunday afternoon) and promptly exit stage right, a freshly chastised goon." So it is great to see a dad who is not just a competent parent and housekeeper but also one who loves playing with his daughter. Maybe it's the fact that he embraces both the sheriff and princess roles his daughter plays that makes seem possibly be a little bit cowboy and a little bit queen himself.

Exhibit C: Subaru, Cut The Cord

This is the least obvious. There are no specific gay signifiers in the commercial. Still... Well, it pings my gaydar.

Am I reading too much into these? Am I just so used to seeing the TV trope of the heterosexual fathers being bumbling idiots that if a father shows a modicum of competence, I think he must be gay? That would be a sad statement. Maybe it's the absence of wives/mothers in the commercials that raises makes me look twice at them; however, there are like a million commercials of moms and there kids with no dad in the immediate picture, and I don't read them as lesbians. Perhaps the fact that same-sex couples raising children have been so much in the news because of the recent advances in Marriage Equality that I'm beginning to see them in the broader culture.

Finally, I'd just like to say to each of these three dads: If you're single and looking for a co-parent for your adorable child, call me, maybe?

The North Star Leads To Freedom

Today was a Big Gay Day in Minnesota. Both the Senate Judiciary Committee and the House Civil Law Committee advanced a Marriage Equality bill that would legalize same-sex marriage.

In case you missed it, the announcement of the bill had the cutest press conference ever. I know the competition for "cutest press conference ever" probably isn't that stiff, but this is seriously adorable.

It also helped that this is the kind of witness the committee heard testifying for Marriage Equality. Former Minnesota State Representative (Republican, FYI) Lynne Osterman spoke eloquently and emotionally getting to the real heart of the issue: "Whether you believe in big government or small, do you believe in fair? Respectful? Equal? Is it ever okay to say, well, except for those people?"

The opponents of Marriage Equality, as usual, seem to have been bussed in from Crazy Town. I'll let Gawker explain the next video:

Speaking before the State House was one Mike Frey, a "concerned Minnesotan and father and a husband," who appears to be under the tragically ignorant impression that A) only married people have sex, B) unprotected vaginal sex cannot transmit HIV because the vagina has a "barrier" that protects it from such diseases, and C) the mere act of unprotected anal sex (which only gay men have) causes AIDS.

The bigots are really digging their own graves these days. As they say in Jesup: With enemies like this, who needs friends?

Land Of Lincoln & Speed

The home state of the Great Emancipator (and possible "friend of Whitman") took a big step for freedom yesterday. The Illinois State Senate approved Marriage Equality legislation with a 34 to 21 vote. Several lawmakers delivered moving words in support of the right to marry on, appropriately, Valentine's Day.

Big thanks to State Senator Daniel Biss for honoring Illinois progressive tradition with shout outs to Jane Addams, Richard Wright, Studs Terkel and Aaron Swartz. I'd like to add one more Illinian? Illinoisan? (there really is no good demonym, is there?) to the list: the great liberal champion Adlai Stevenson.



As the fight for Marriage Equality moves forward remember, in the words of Adlai Stevenson: What counts now is not just what we are against, but what we are for. Who leads us is less important than what leads us — what convictions, what courage, what faith — win or lose.

Absolutely My Last Post On The Big Gay Super Bowl

I feel like this is my XLVIIth post on the Super Bowl, but I swear it my last. There were just a few last things kicking around the internet that were too good not to share.

San Francisco writer, Armistead Maupin lost a Super Bowl bet with Baltimore writer, Laura Lippman, and had to write an ode to Ravenstown. Not surprisingly, the result is pretty darn gay:

The Virtues of Baltimore (After Pondering Weak and Weary)
By Armistead Maupin
Who makes Baltimore so fine?
The Duchess of Windsor or Divine?
Poe and his Raven or Mama Cass?
The great John Waters or Ira Glass?
Thurgood Marshall or Adrienne Rich
Barry Levinson or – sonofabitch—
That linebacker who took a stand
For marriage equality in Maryland?
I lift my glass with a way-to-go
To Brendon Ayanbadejo

I'd like to think the stock market momentum was due to the Ravens' win.

Speaking of Ayanbadejo, Chuck Culpepper wrote a very nice piece about meeting him before the big game and getting a chance to say "thank you":

There stood Brendon Ayanbadejo, age 36, born in Chicago to an American mother and Nigerian father, educated at UCLA, three Pro Bowls as a noble special-teams sort, a man whom I had never met but for whom I held a vast gratitude. In a giddy locker room in which the great Ed Reed waltzed around singing Eddie Money's "Two Tickets To Paradise," I momentarily had misplaced Ayanbadejo's face. In fact, in the urgency of the game, I had not thought of him all weekend. Yet here was a man I had never expected to exist in all my life, a heterosexual football powerhouse who had spoken up voluntarily and beautifully and repeatedly for g-g-g-gay people. 

In my imagination this is how Brendon Ayanbadejo looks walking into the locker room (minus the VPL).

Go, read the whole thing: "The Gay Super Bowl" on Sports on Earth.

Miz Sarah B tipped me off to this great video that pretty much sums up many San Franciscans feelings. Guy Branum reads Chris Culliver's beads on Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell:

Finally, via Aaron Heier... The Best "Who Wore It Better?" EVER!

Dr. Frank-N-Furter vs. Beyoncé

The Big Gay Super Bowl

Brendon Ayanbadejo for the NOH8 Campaign

I've been totally scooped on the whole blogging about football with a gay twist schtick. Who knew this year's Super Bowl would be all homo-a-go-go? Here's a quick (and very incomplete) run down.

It all started with Brendon Ayanbadejo of the Baltimore Ravens who has been a big advocate of LGBT rights especially during the past election when Maryland had a Marriage Equality initiative on the ballot. Frank Bruni, the New York Times resident gay, wrote about Ayanbadejo "Carrying a Cause to the Super Bowl" (link behind NYT paywall). Then, everyone from the Huffington Post to Fox News was covering the story.

Then, the homophobia hit the fan. I'm going to steal the always sharp Miz Sarah B's Facebook far better recap than I could write. (To pretend that I'm actually blogging this part, I'll add links and pictures).

So let's recap this 49er crap:

1. Chris Culliver says, "We ain't got no gay people on the team… They gotta get up out here if they do. Can't be with that sweet stuff. ... Nah, can't be ... in the locker room, man."

Confidential to Chris Culliver: If you are worried about gays looking at you in the locker room, perhaps you should not post selfies like this on the Internet.

2. He is at least the mouth-piece for an apology I cannot even unravel: "The derogatory comments I made yesterday were a reflection of thoughts in my head, but they are not how I feel."

3. Ahmad Brooks and Isaac Sopoaga deny their involvement with "It Gets Better" (anti-bullying video campaign).

4. They are shown their own video. (Which was made super publicly a couple years ago ... after a move.org campaign to get them follow the lead of the Giants, and is still easily found on youtube, even after It Gets Better founder Dan Savage takes it down from the It Gets Better website.)

5. These players then claim ignorance of the ad's intentions and refuse to comment further, ultimately suggesting that they are NOT against bullying. Nicely played.  

Fuck you. YOU'RE COOL. Fuck you.

6. Donte Whitner, also in the ad, and openly down for everyone to get to be themselves, points out he does not share Chris Culliver's homophobic sentiments.   

7. All sorts of 49er fans choose to lay aside the chasm between what we say are our values and what is happening right in front of us just in time for Super Bowl Sunday: "San Francisco 49ers Chris Culliver will begin sensitivity training and education immediately after the Super Bowl following his anti-gay remarks this week, then start volunteer work with at-risk homosexual youth nationwide. Culliver is scheduled to begin working with "The Trevor Project," an organization that provides crisis and suicide intervention to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth, according to his public relations representative, Theodore Palmer."  

8. My muscles are taut from all the eye-rolling my face has been practicing this week.

Thanks for the round-up of the cray, Sarah! Now, I'm back.

This whole brouhaha exploded on the Interwebs--and not just on little blogs like mine but notably on big mainstream sites. In fact, Cyd Zeigler at Outsports wrote a post titled "Thank You Chris Culliver for speaking your homophobia out loud" saying the silver lining of all this was that Culliver has brought mainstream attention to homophobia in football (go read the whole thing). Here are some highlights:

• ESPN: Chris Culliver backpedals: Comments, apology, lack of understanding, even as others fight discrimination
• The Nation: Is It Getting Better? Homophobia Rocks The Super Bowl
• Salon: How did the Super Bowl land on the front lines of the culture war?
• The Pioneer Press: Vikings' Chris Kluwe wants Chris Culliver to get a gay rights education
• The Atlantic: How Chris Culliver's Anti-Gay Comments Actually Started a Dialogue in the NFL
• My San Antonio (Dallas Cowboys and the NFL blog): Lombardi would have frowned on Culliver’s homophobic remarks

Then to top it all off, Beyoncé is headlining the halftime. Gawker is saying will be even gayer than last year's show with Madonna. This leads to the biggest gay question about Super Bowl XLVII: Will Beyoncé go with straight hair...

...or wavy...

  

 ...or curly?

Of course, I'm hoping for the most unlikely option: the full-on Foxy Cleopatra.

To sum it up: GO RAVENS!

PS: In the end, it doesn't really matter what any of think about the teams in the Super Bowl, who we want to win, or who we predict will win. 27% of Americans know the truth: God is going to pick the winning team based on their holiness. 

Congratulations (& An Apology) To Jim Nabors

The Big Gay News of the Day: Jim Nabors married his partner of 38 years, Stan Cadwallader!

Hawaii News Now - KGMB and KHNL

First, I owe Nabors an apology for Tweet and Facbook post implying he had, perhaps, passed his sell-by date. I'm sorry for the snark.

In my defense, even Nabors said, "I'm 82 for God's sake, and I'd better not wait any longer." The last news I remember hearing about Nabors was that he was seriously ill. I think it was when he broke his 20 year streak of singing at the Indy 500 due to illness although how I would have heard that is a mystery since I pay absolutely no attention to stupid NASCAR. I may have heard about Nabor's heart surgery last spring, but I don't think so. However, I absolutely did not make the rank amateur mistake of conflating Gomer Pyle with Goober Pyle and getting confusing the actors when George Lindsey sadly died in December.

A rare scene of the Pyle cousins together. If you don't know which is Gomer (Jim Nabors) and which is Goober (George Lindsey) stop reading my blog--we have nothing in common.

Also, I was completely sincere in giving props to Jim Nabors for snagging a firefighter--because you know I love me a hot firefighter. While FDNY gets all the attention thanks to its iconic calendar, Nabors has me thinking I need to cast a wider net and include Hawaii in my hunt for a fireman husband.

Pic from the delightful but possibly NSFW Tumblr Best of Bromance.

The news did make me wonder, did the fact that Jim Nabors is gay really come as, to use Gomer's catch phrase, a...

Jim Nabors clearly always had a little sugar in his tank which is part of what made his portrayal of Gomer Pyle so sweet as evidenced in this delightful scene

WBC vs NFL

The evil Westboro Baptist Church of "God Hates Fags" infamy has decided pro football is taking the United States straight to Hell in a homosexual hand basket.

I'd like to congratulate the individuals targeted by Margie Phelps of the WBC.

@brendon301 is Brendon Ayanbadejo, a linebacker for the Baltimore Ravens. He has been a very vocal Marriage Equality advocate--especially in the recent Maryland ballot initiative. Ayanbadejo also likes to post shirtless pictures of himself which the gays definitely appreciate.

@scottfujita99 is Scott Fujita, is a linebacker for the Cleveland Browns. He has also been a very outspoken advocate for LGBT rights--especially marriage. Who knew linebacker would turn out to be the big pro-gay position in football?

@hudsonism is Hudson Taylor. Here's the funny thing, while Taylor is an athlete and an ally of the LGBT community--in fact he started an organization, Athlete Ally, which works to promote LGBT inclusion and support in sports. However, he is not a football player. He is a wrestler. Oh well, if the Westboro Baptist Church is so wrong about the bible which is supposed to be their area of expertise, they can hardly be expected to get sports facts right.

My biggest problem with the WBC attack on the NFL is that they excluded Chris Kluwe. He's on the Twitter @ChrisWarcraft. He plays professional football as a punter for the Minnesota Vikings. Most importantly, he's arguably the most visible advocate for Marriage Equality in the NFL. He wrote the famous "Lustful Cockmonster" letter. He's been on The Colbert Report and The Ellen Degeneres Show talking about how much he loves the gays. Kluwe did a podcast with Outsports, a website that mixes sports and homosexuality into one big sinful stew. He even posed shirtless

Chris Kluwe On Ellen

The Chris Kluwe Adorable Tour continues. Next stop, The Ellen Degeneres Show. Kluwe is clearly beginning to plant seeds for some sort of media career after retiring from the NFL--which is smart. However, He's not overselling himself. If anything, he's underselling himself. He didn't even mention he has a book coming out this summer with the genius title Beautifully Unique Sparkleponies.

Still, Kluwe gives a great interview--he's great at adapting his style a bit to make it appropriate to the audience while remaining true to himself. Also, after his fashion disaster on The Colbert Report, someone--either his wife or a gay--got a hold of him and got him to dress better. Don't get me wrong, he hasn't become a Beau Brummel, but this is a huge improvement over a stocking cap and flip-flops. Now, if we could just get someone to do something about his hair...

The only disappointment the interview was the even after complimenting Chris Kluwe on his shirtless photos for Out Magazine, Ellen didn't get him to take off his shirt on air. It's worth noting that for a lesbian, she seems to really like having guys take their shirts off on her show--

Chris Kluwe On The Colbert Report

Someone once asked my sister, "What would do you think your mother would say if you were on the Tonight Show?" Without missing a beat, my sister replied, "I don't like what she's wearing."
Well, my crush, Chris Kluwe, gave a great, smart, funny interview on The Colbert Report...

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Chris Kluwe
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor & Satire Blog Video Archive

...and my first thought was: He wore a stocking cap and flip-flops on national television?! I've come to grudgingly accept that some men no longer dress up for late-night television interviews, so I can live with (not like, but live with) the jeans and t-shirt; however, it is simply never acceptable to wear a ski hat and beach footwear at the same time. Keep in mind this was taped in January in New York City, so the flip-flops are doubly inappropriate. Maybe he's worried that people question his sexuality because he's such a vocal supporter of Marriage Equality, so he wore an outfit no self-respecting gay would be caught dead in.

Still, I can't stay mad at Kluwe for long because he introduced the phrases "lustful cockmonster"  and "beautifully unique sparkle pony" into the national debate on Marriage Equality.