Senator Joe Biden told reporters on
Tuesday outside of his Delaware home, “I'm not the guy, see ya.”
But it turns out he is the guy for Senator Barack Obama. Hello. And
now, it's Barack & Joe on the campaign trail, not Hillary.
What'cha make of that?
While Joe “ready to be president”
Biden is a fine choice, gay politicos were still hammering for
Senator Hillary Clinton up to the last moment.
Clinton or not, the gay vote is pretty
much Obama's. That's evident by the record number of gay, lesbian,
bisexual & transgender people attending this year's Democratic
National Convention in Denver that opens Monday.
At a four-day pre-convention gay
convention, sponsored by the National Stonewall Democrats, that
started Thursday, gay
leaders gathered to discuss equal rights and anti-discrimination laws,
how to make the most of the National Convention, and strategize on the
fall election.
Of primary concern is gathering support
to defeat anti-gay marriage ballot initiatives that will appear in
three states, Florida, California and Arizona. Proposition 8, the
California initiative, is the most contested, with millions of
dollars pouring into the state from both sides.
Missing at the National Convention will
be Ohio Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones, an outspoken gay ally, who died Wednesday in a Cleveland hospital after suffering a brain hemorrhage.
The loss of her voice in Congress will
be missed by GLBT people. For it's rare to come upon someone who is
able to roll back the smokescreen of prejudice that all too often
accompanies right-wing opposition to equal rights.
That homophobia, unfortunately, still
haunts our society.
Conservative radio talk show host Mike Gallagher recently attempted to equate gay rights with pedophilia.
On Tuesday's show, while
discussing Monday's California Supreme Court decision that bars doctors
from invoking their religious beliefs to deny treatment to gays and
lesbians, Gallagher agreed with a caller
who said, “Because of sexual orientation they can't deny you
service, so does that mean pedophiles could adopt?” Gallagher
congratulated the caller on his “great” question and went on to
agree that it did.
That, of course, is nonsense, since
California has one of the most severe sex offender laws in the
country. Here we are taking stock of his comments.
A New York mother says indifference by Vienna police to find her son is more likely homophobia. Kathy
Gilleran has been searching for her son since October 2007. She says
the police lied to her about efforts being made to find her son. But
worse, they told Gilleran, and the media, that her son committed
suicide due to being infected with HIV, when a recent lab report said
he was negative.
Then, we have new heroes. That would
include the very smart and eloquent Rachel Maddow, who will become the first out lesbian on prime-time cable news to host her own show;
thanks MSNBC.
And it was our own Gay Entertainment Report that brought me news of cable channel here!'s plans to
broadcast a fascinating documentary series on gay porn superstars.
Watch for Everything You Wanted To Know About Gay Porn Stars *but
were afraid to ask this November.
The Gay Slant pops in most Saturdays at
On Top Magazine. Walter Weeks is a writer for On Top and can be
reached at ww@ontopmag.com.