The Empire State Pride Agenda is fast out of the gate, today making its first endorsement of an opponent to one of the eight Senate Democrats who voted against marriage equality. Via press release. The Empire State Pride Agenda announced today its endorsement of Assemblymember José Peralta in the 2010 Democratic Primary Election for State Senate District 13 in Queens. …

This is what Brian Bonsall, AKA Family Ties’ Andy Keaton, looked like this week after his arrest for a barroom brawl in Colorado. The other guy probably said sumpin’ about his TV mom.

Yesterday Virgin Galactic publicly unveiled the world’s first commercial passenger spacecraft, which can take six passengers and two pilots into suborbital flight. The passenger capsule is suspended between two more traditional aircraft which will carry the vehicle into the upper atmosphere before releasing it. Already 300 people have paid a total of $40M for the less than ten minute flight. …

A Quaker group in Minneapolis-St.Paul has announced that they will no longer certify marriages until the right is granted to everybody. “We’re simply trying to be consistent with the will of God as we perceive it,” said Paul Landskroener, clerk of the Twin Cities Friends Meeting, in an interview with MPR’s All Things Considered on Monday. The congregation will continue …

Former Missouri GOP House Speaker Rod Jetton has been arrested for felony assault for the Nov.15th beating and choking of his girlfriend. According to Jetton, the beating was part of consensual rough sex. The affidavit attached to the probable cause statement alleges Jetton went to the home of the victim Nov. 15, where he and the victim drank wine and …

Billboard Magazine has named Daniel Powter the one-hit wonder of the decade for his 2006 song Bad Day, which took Powter to #1 on the pop chart for five weeks in 2006. I had never heard this song until now.

Time Out New York’s “101 Things To Do In New York City In The Winter” list has lots of interesting items on it. Number one is the holiday light show at Grand Central Terminal. Agreed. #32- See Jackie Beat’s holiday show. Agreed. #50- Celebrate Festivus on Dec. 23. Agreed! And now, the feats of strength…

Equality activists scored a preliminary victory in New Jersey tonight! The New Jersey Senate Judiciary Committee has narrowly voted to pass a marriage equality bill to the full state Senate. The final tally was 7-6. Whew! That voted is scheduled for Thursday. It is not yet known when, or if, the state Assembly will vote on the issue. The debate …

“Two adults who are consenting and who are like-minded and within their mental capacities should be allowed to be with each other. I think it’s an outrage.” – Anti-marriage equality NY Sen. Hiram Monserrate, clearly oblivious to the meaning of hypocrisy, complaining that a court order prevents him from seeing the woman whose face he slashed with a broken glass. …

If the government doesn’t pay for poor women’s abortions, that means even MORE black and brown babies! What to do?

JMG reader Scott sends us this amusing way to send holiday greetings. To My Democratic Friends: Please accept with no obligation, implied or implicit, my best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low-stress, non-addictive, gender-neutral celebration of the winter solstice holiday, practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice, or secular practices of your …

A coalition of LGBT rights groups including PFLAG, COLAGE, the Equality Federation, and the Family Equality Council has joined forces on a campaign to send pro-LGBT holiday cards to the White House. The group will collect the cards and send them in a giant package for maximum impact. Today national and regional lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) family rights …

Harmless silliness, safe for work. (Via – Towleroad)

In response to the anti-gay Manhattan Declaration, a document calling for the disobedience of LGBT rights laws and co-signed by hundreds of religious leaders, comes The Affirmation Declaration, which calls for pro-LGBT people of faith to sign on as supporters of civil equality. An excerpt from the just-posted document: We assert that the pain brought upon our GLBTI brethren in …

JMG reader John points us to this bit of asshattery. HOME is a crackpot group created by Wayne Lela, who claims (among other things) that the Freemasons are a homosexual front group that routinely hosts “homosexual orgies.” If only! Lela, in addition to staging anti-gay protests at college campuses, and once running for U.S. president, has the backing of NARTH, …

“People want to see me as tragic with all the [casual sex] and drug-taking… those things are not what most people aspire to, and I think it removes people’s envy to see your weaknesses. I don’t even see them as weaknesses any more. It’s just who I am. Elton will not be happy until I bang on his door in …

Air America has rebooted their contest to choose your favorite progressive blogger, discarding all the votes submitted in the first two days and instituting a new system requiring the submission of an email address. Only the votes made from yesterday and onward will be counted. Shortly before the earlier system was ditched, I was behind Media Matters’ Karl Frisch by …

Bollywood may see its first gay love scene, if the film gets past censors. An upcoming Bollywood film will feature what is thought to be the industry’s first gay love scene. I Am Omar, one of four short stories which make up the film I Am, focuses on male sex workers and homophobic police officers. In one scene, actors Rahul …

Box Turtle Bulletin reports that Pepsi sponsored Uganda concerts by murder music reggae singer Beenie Man. BTB notes the following story in a Uganda newspaper. The King of Dancehall stuck a sword of words into gay people through singing and talking. “In my family, we don’t have any gay person but if you’re gay, my brother that’s not my fault,” …