Smiley face! Because this is a win for Teabagistan!

USA Today recaps: President Obama blamed an imminent government shutdown on House Republicans Monday, and said his health care plan is “moving forward” despite GOP efforts to de-fund it. “You can’t shut it down,” Obama said of the law at the White House. Obama also said a partial government shutdown — which would start at midnight unless there is an …

The NYC Commission On Human Rights is seeking to fine Ultra-Orthodox Jewish businesses for posting dress code notices that target “immodestly” dressed women. Gothamist reports: “There’s nothing wrong with a dress code,” says Clifford Mulqueen, the Deputy Commissioner and General Counsel for the Commission on Human Rights. “What the law says is that you can’t advertise in a way that …

“Dear fans, I’ve read your feedback on my participation with The Salvation Army USA, as an openly gay person whom just happens to also be a celebrity, I took the Salvation Army’s request to participate in their fundraiser as one step in the right direction towards equality. If we simply separate ourselves from those that we assume appose us or …

Tomorrow Lambda Legal will file a lawsuit that seeks to overturn West Virginia’s ban on same-sex marriage. Via the Charleston Gazette: A spokesman for Lambda Legal wouldn’t release details of the West Virginia lawsuit on Monday. According to the group’s website, it has been working with Fairness West Virginia, a gay rights group, “to find a way for all same-sex …

Details.

“The time has come to mass in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 19, and to engage in peaceful civil disobedience, Ghandi and Martin Luther King style, to finally force Obama to resign the presidency and leave office immediately – or else face the music for his recent conviction for election fraud and other crimes. This week, with the failure of Sen. …

Somehow I’ve never seen Berlin, so I’m rather excited about this. Details are here. Trivia: Giorgio Moroder won one of his three Oscars for Berlin’s Take My Breath Away, which was on the Top Gun soundtrack. (His other two were for the score for Midnight Express and for Irene Cara’s title hit from Flashdance.) Here’s Berlin’s 1983 club smash.

Last year Lambertville Mayor David DelVecchhio was named New Jersey’s Mayor Of The Year.  Today he vowed to perform that state’s first same-sex marriage if Governor Chris Christie’s appeal is unsuccessful. DelVecchio, a Democrat, said he will perform the state’s first legal gay marriage ceremony for Beth Asaro and Joanne Schailey at midnight three weeks from today, as long as …

Opening this week at the Woodstock Film Festival. Source.

October is Queer History Month and the Pop-Up Museum of Queer History will launch an exhibit in Brooklyn on Saturday. On the (Queer) Waterfront: Brooklyn Histories is a scatter-site-specific investigation of the queer histories of the beloved borough where the museum got its start. Through a series of performances, talks, community gatherings, and related events, it will explore the waterfronts …

Stay out of the comments if you’ve not yet seen last night’s series finale for Breaking Bad. Otherwise dive in and dish.

“Former attorney general of Ohio Jim Petro and his wife have jumped on the ‘gay marriage’ bandwagon because their daughter Corbin got hitched, so the fantasy goes, to another woman in Massachusetts. He joins another prominent Ohio politician, U.S. Senator Ron Portman, in recently discovering human rights our forefathers missed. This propaganda, using children as guinea pigs, is the rotten …

She sounds a bit like Olive’s Ruth-Ann Boyle.

Brown elaborates on NOM’s blog: The story to which Karger is referring is indeed a testament to how religious liberty works – and Fred’s being miffed about it is an ominous indication of what would happen to religious congregations such as this one, which have the right to hire and fire their own clergy personnel, if Karger and other same-sex …

Today the ACLU and Lambda Legal asked for a summary judgment in their Virginia marriage equality case. Their suit is separate from the Virginia case joined today by AFER. Via press release: “The papers we filed today ask the court to get to the heart of the matter,” Greg Nevins, Supervising Senior Staff Attorney in Lambda Legal’s Southern Regional Office …

Outing kingpin Mike Rogers, who has an unblemished record in these things, yesterday posted the above tweet about GOP Sen. John Barrasso, who has a 15% rating from the Human Rights Campaign. Rogers has not yet expounded on his claim. Barrasso, a former Wyoming state senator, was appointed to the US Senate in 2007 after the death of GOP Sen. …

The New York City Opera’s now-running production of Anna Nicole may be its last. After the curtain falls following the last performance of “Anna Nicole” – an audacious chronicle of tabloid diva Anna Nicole Smith that opened the company’s 2013-14 season – the “People’s Opera” will have only a few days to raise millions of dollars. The 70-year-old company, which …

Earlier today I posted about AFER joining their case.