Ameriqueer

Well, I was supposed to break this story altogether, but then someone from the Giannoulias campaign leaked it to the Sun Times at 3am--while I was fast asleep--and then an hour before this post went live, the Meister campaign mistakenly sent out the press release... so it really wasn't "breaking" anymore by the time it went live. But I decided NOT to change the title, because, well why bother at that point! Now that Jacob's not in the race anymore, who are you voting for? Giannoulias is adopting his 20/20 plan whole-cloth. That's pretty cool, since I really liked Jacob not just because he was gay, but because he knows what the hell he's talking about and his 20/20 plan is brilliant. But, Alexi hasn't won me over--Jacob did that. And event though Jacob supports Giannoulias, I'm not sure I do yet. We'll see when the press conference is over what was said by who. As for me, like Richard Gere said to Renee Zelwegger at the end of the musical: ...

Two weeks ago, I was very fortunate to interview that amazing Representative Deb Mell, Illinois' only openly lesbian lawmaker. I am only now getting the interview up--thanks so much start of the semester--but its awesome. There's a lot of good stuff there. This is just tip of the iceberg. I really think you should finish this piece over at Bilerico. Near the end we talked about the plan for relationship recognition and how Illinois is going to help the nation pass ENDA. Its really worth checking out. Here's my Bilerico piece " Profile: Openly lesbian Illinois lawmaker Deb Mell " Over the past few months I've told you a lot about the folks who are aspiring to be out LGBT elected leaders in Illinois, but two people I would love to tell you a lot more about are our two openly gay lawmakers Deb Mell and Greg Harris . Both serve the state in the Illinois Assembly. I got a chance to interview Chicago resident, political family scion and freshman lawmaker Deb ...

I promise to write at least a few posts where I do not mention Jacob Meister , but I feel its important to note that Jacob held a townhall here in Champaign yesterday that went absolutely amazing. The after-party at Clark Bar was also pretty sweet. Before Jacob got up to speak, he asked me to say a few words about the Uniting Pride Center of Champaign County --our new initiative to open an LGBT community center here in Champaign-Urbana. If you haven't head yet, we're moving very aggressively to open an LGBT community center here in Champaign county , and we need your voice to help us make it happen. Please join up as a member , and email us your ideas . While at the townhall, Jacob spent quite a bit of time talking about his strongest suit, jobs and the economy; at the Clark Bar event, Jacob began talking very frankly about what I think mesmerizes people about him most--his historic run as the first openly gay Illinoian to run for state-wide office. The crowd ate it up. Wi...

Please check out my newest Bilerico post about openly gay progressive Democrat, David Schroeder: Is openly gay Dave Schroeder heading for a sure Illinois Assembly win? : "David Schroeder has been dealing with a lot of good news lately. Of all of the LGBT Democratic candidates going up against the machine in Illinois, Schroeder is faring best--with a Chicago Tribune endorsement on the morning of the 21st, and several other high profile endorsements. His poll numbers are also soaring, and unlike many of the other LGBT candidates I interviewed, Schroeder is seeing a lot of support from the Illinois Democratic establishment. With good reason, too. Schroeder is a solid progressive that is looking to clean up in a economically diverse district that's just become too accustomed to being ignored by its current State Assembly Representative, Ken Dunkin. Every day it looks more and more as if Dave Schroeder will be joining openly gay Representatives Deb Mell and Greg Harris in the Illin...

My Lundon Calling blog for this week, " Was Jesus black and other mysteries solved (or not solved)… ", started out with: " This week’s Lundon Calling was a DOOZY ! Maybe its because Lance and I were so BOOZY! Ha! Only kidding, Lance only had a jug of wine, and I merely had a case of beer before the show. That is all. Do you know the ‘Colon Lady?’ Ace explains his connection to her and the ‘Tooth Fairy.’ Hopefully not in the same sentence because that would not be sanitary." SURPRISE! Here's my full, titilating blog! Make sure you listen to the podcast, though, by clicking one of the links ! This week’s Lundon Calling was a DOOZY ! Maybe its because Lance and I were so BOOZY! Ha! Only kidding, Lance only had a jug of wine, and I merely had a case of beer before the show. That is all. Do you know the ‘Colon Lady?’ Ace explains his connection to her and the ‘Tooth Fairy.’ Hopefully not in the same sentence because that would not be sani...

My recent Bilerico Project post is one I'm very proud of. Go to the post on the site to read what OPRAH says about having gay friends... Yikes. Stay closeted to win Idol for yourself, lose equality for all | The Bilerico Project : "Former American Idol contestant Kat McPhee thinks gays and lesbians on Idol should stay in the closet so they can get farther on the show--and she's right. Gays and lesbians aren't likely to go as far as someone who looks like someone you can bring home to mama--you know like Clay Aiken. Kat McPhee's advice to Idol contestants is pretty good for a career. But it sucks for the rest of us. Idol contestants who hide their lives in the closet are perpetuating the problem, not solving it. In fact, all of us who live our lives in the closet are allowing the system that forces into that situation to perpetuate a little longer. That doesn't mean that if we're in dire straits we ought to come out to our shift manager. Don't set yours...

Twitter sms stopped coming to my phone yesterday.. grumble!

Why did twitter stop sending sms updates to my phone yesterday? Was I following too many?

Last week I co-interviewed Jim Madigan with Tom Mannis of the Chicago News Bench, and the video of that interview has gone up throughout the week. With 4 out of the 5 video posted of our interview, I posted the lot of it at Bilerico.com. Jim Madigan--if you're new to my blog--is running for the State Senate seat that covers the neighborhood that Rod Blagojevich lives in. His opponent? The State Senator--and former Blagojevich fundraiser--who introduced the Illinois marriage equality bill in the Illinois Senate this spring (despite being expected to introduce the Civil Unions bill instead) and then promptly forgot about it. Heather Steans-- whose drunk husband crashed a Madigan fundraiser last month ! Why is Jim Madigan's election important to anyone outside of his district? Illinois has a shot at becoming one of the next marriage equality states IF we play our cards right, and we play them before Democrats lose their power in Springfield. A constitutional amendment by ba...

Today is the day that Perry V Shwarzenegger begins. AKA the Federal Prop 8 Trial. The trial is not being broadcast on live TV. Instead, it will be uploaded to Youtube in bits and pieces after a delay. Here is the Youtube account--you really ought to subscribe: http://www.youtube.com/usdccand . The schedule for the day is available at http://bit.ly/7nlxw1 Conservatives are already claiming the trial is unfair. Obviously they're already expecting to lose. Find out more at http://bit.ly/4wAKVC Check out the New York Times piece at http://bit.ly/7V7MFy and the New Yorker piece at http://bit.ly/7xOnrl Too soon to petition the Supreme Court? http://bit.ly/6gJVAi Ted Olson in Newsweek: The Conservative Case for Gay Marriage. http://tinyurl.com/yktbvtd What's this trial about? http://ow.ly/V164 LawDork coverage: http://lawdork.net/tag/perry Julian Bond and Dan Choi named to the advisory board of the organization bringing the trial: http://bit.ly/6hTGe8 AFER's webpagae i...

Love Takes Over has re-published the Love Takes Over Letter to the Editor that I submitted to the Champaign-Urbana News Gazette! Love Takes Over - And Love Took Over : "In 44 states, we have created a two-tiered citizenship system – the Americans who get all of the rights and benefits guaranteed in the Constitution, and the second class citizens. Though they are consenting adult law-abiding citizens, they may not choose whom they marry, are denied the rights and responsibilities of marriage, pay more taxes and penalties, have no right to see their spouses in the hospital or make end-of-life decisions for them, and are also often fired from their jobs – not for performance – but because of their employers’ personal feelings..." Read the rest at their blog!

Check out my latest blog at Lundon Calling ! I just got done listening to our 53rd show . How many have I been part of? When’s my anniversary? Where are my fans–when is my anniversary, Phil-heads? Hey, listeners, how was your new year? How was your holiday? I had a pretty good Festivus. I had a decent Christmas too, although I much preferred my Festivus. Maybe next year I’ll celebrate Merlinpeen . Wha are you looking forward to in 2010? Do you smoke and drink? Well stop smoking, and buy me the next round. Are you as sick of Tiger as I am? Lance thinks Elin’s been onto Tiger for longer than she admits. What do you think? Are men naturally monogamous, or is it inevitable that a man with enough temptation going to fall loose his will power? Are sex addictions bullshit? Want a full body scan? I wish I could be a full-body SCANNER! Should we scan everyone randomly, or do you believe in racial profiling? I never thought I’d have to school LANCE on racism! I reminded Ace and Lanc...

L et me tell you about the best duck of my life . That wasn't a typo, I really am going to talk about food today. I rarely mention my boyfriend, Mikey, on here (mostly because I feel like it would deter stalkers and I really need a few more first...) but those of you who do know about Mikey is that -- even though he's a doctor now -- his true talent and genius lies in the kitchen. I know a lot of you gay men out there think you're good at cooking. The things Mikey does in the kitchen, however, will make you look like a McDonald's fry cook. He's beyond good. This, of course, does tend to undermine my diet often. No matter, there's always Monday to get back on the treadmill and work it off. This most recent Monday, I was in the gym working off one of the most infamous recipes in kitchen history: paté de canard en croute : deboned, pastry-covered, paté-filled duck from Julia Child's The Art of French Cooking Volume 1 ... READ MORE OF Julie & Julia and Mike...

I sent it last week, and it finally got published today! My letter to the editor on LGBT Equality is in today's News Gazette . Check it out here! "In 44 states, we have created a two-tiered citizenship system – the Americans who get all of the rights and benefits guaranteed in the Constitution, and the second class citizens. Though they are consenting adult law-abiding citizens, they may not choose whom they marry, are denied the rights and responsibilities of marriage, pay more taxes and penalties, have no right to see their spouses in the hospital or make end-of-life decisions for them, and are also often fired from their jobs – not for performance – but because of their employers' personal feelings. Gay and lesbian Americans are Americans, but aren't treated as such by the country they love and sacrifice for. LGBT – lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered – youth, in their hopelessness brought on by callous disregard and harassment by others around them, grow up in...

This just in from the BBC : "Portugal's parliament has passed a law to legalise same-sex marriage, but rejected proposals to allow homosexual couples to adopt. The bill was approved with the support of the governing Socialist Party and other parties further to the left. Prime Minister Jose Socrates opened the debate with an appeal to back the law, saying it would put right an injustice that had caused unnecessary pain. The law has been fiercely opposed by conservatives in the Catholic country. If the law is ratified by President Anibal Cavaco Silva, it could come into effect in April - just a month before a visit to Portugal by Pope Benedict XVI, a staunch opponent of gay marriage. The bill's ratification would make Portugal the sixth country in Europe to allow same-sex marriages after Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and Norway. Many other countries have introduced civil partnerships, which give lesbian and gay couples some of the rights of married heterosexuals....

UPDATE: My bad, Joe Jervis covered it yesterday over at joe.my.god . Which, by the way, ought to be one of your favorite blogs. If its not... well... I don't know about you. This piece of news came up pretty recently, and I've been waiting for ANYONE BUT Queerty to run with it... but for some reason Americablog, BoxTurtle, Bilerico have all just sort of... glossed over it. So I'm forced to bring you the Queerty story. My apologies, but this time, they are ON it when noone else is: Did Prop 8 Pass Because of Voter Fraud? There Might Not Be Another Statistical Explanation For It / Queerty : "So after pouring over all the exit poll data and conducting an 'exhaustive analysis' on what California voters were telling surveyors about which lever they pulled compared to how they actually voted, the International Humanities Center's Election Defense Alliance has reached this pretty startling conclusion over how Prop 8 passed: voter fraud is at hand. Woah now....

Please check out my latest piece at The Bilerico Project about the Family's role in Scott Lively's favorite "Kill the Gays" bill in Uganda. Scott Lively doesn't want you to think he hates you : "As the Ugandan 'Kill the gays' bill travels toward passage there, all stops are being pulled out to try to end its path toward becoming a law. Rachel Maddow--who has been following the bill since we first heard about it--has been calling to task the American Evangelical leaders who it seems may have empowered the conservative strain within the Ugandan government to pass this bold and vicious bill. First, Maddow and an army of Progressive bloggers forced Rick Warren to come out staunchly against the bill, then last night, Rachel finally interviewed Bob Hunter, a member of the very powerful Evangelical 'Family,' the secret 'C Street' organization from Washington DC. Rachel gives a quick shout-out to the man who organized the anti-gay conference i...