Openly Gay Intern Credited With Saving Rep. Giffords' Life

9th US Circuit Sends Prop 8 Question To CA Sup Ct

Perry v. Schwarzenegger (Prop 8 Case): ORDER CERTIFYING A QUESTION TO THE SUPREME COURT OF CALIFORNIA

Which E-mail Program Do You Use?

This interesting chart comes from Talking Points Memo, who snagged it from Business Insider. BI is reporting that Facebook's new planned email service could have a significant impact on other big players on the Internet:

If Facebook's email service is a success, it's bad news for Yahoo and AOL, which are already losing users. It's also bad news for Google, which uses Gmail as a launch point into search, Google Apps, and to small degree social stuff through Buzz.

What would it take for Facebook email to be a success? Well, Facebook has 150 million active users in the United States. It's unlikely to convert all those users, but if it can get just a third of them to start using its email, it would have the second most popular email service in the U.S.

Which email program do you use?

CA-GOV: Brown Endorsed By LA TIMES, SF CHRONICLE, SAC BEE

There are exactly four weeks until the November 2nd statewide election. Actually, starting today, vote-by-mail ballots can be mailed in. One of the most important races is for California Governor, where Jerry Brown is now leading Meg Whitman.


Additionally, many major newspapers in the state, specifically the Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle and Sacramento Bee, all endorsed Brown for Governor this weekend.

First Planet Found In Habitable Zone 20 Lights-Years Away: "Gliese 581g"

Very cool news! NASA announced on Wednesday that researchers at UC Santa Cruz and the Carnegie Institute of Washington have found the first extra-solar planet which scientists believe is not too cold or too hot to sustain life.

From the official report:

The paper reports the discovery of two new planets around Gliese 581. This brings the total number of known planets around this star to six, the most yet discovered in a planetary system outside of our own. Like our solar system, the planets around Gliese 581 have nearly-circular orbits.

The new planet designated Gliese 581g has a mass three to four times that of Earth and orbits its star in just under 37 days. Its mass indicates that it is probably a rocky planet with a definite surface and enough gravity to hold on to an atmosphere. 

Gliese 581, located 20 light years away from Earth in the constellation Libra, has two previously detected planets that lie at the edges of the habitable zone, one on the hot side (planet c) and one on the cold side (planet d). While some astronomers still think planet d may be habitable if it has a thick atmosphere with a strong greenhouse effect to warm it up, others are skeptical. The newly-discovered planet g, however, lies right in the middle of the habitable zone.

The planet is tidally locked to the star, meaning that one side is always facing the star and basking in perpetual daylight, while the side facing away from the star is in perpetual darkness. One effect of this is to stabilize the planet's surface climates, according to Vogt. The most habitable zone on the planet's surface would be the line between shadow and light (known as the "terminator").

Makes the geek in me very happy!

WATCH: Fighter Jet Crash Caught On Tape

UNANIMOUS Vote(s) on Gay-related Bills in CA, IL

Interesting news! Not even Assembly Republicans in California still believe homosexuals should be labeled "sexual deviants" in state law. AB 2199 (Lowenthal) has unanimously passed the State Assembly by a vote of 62-0. Could this be a sign of a thaw in the Neanderthal levels of homophobia that have been witnessed from California Republicans over the last decade or so due to the presence of openly gay Speaker John Pérez ?

What's also interesting about this result is that it's the second unanimous vote on a gay-related bill in as many weeks. In Illinois, an anti-bullying bill (SB3266) was passed 108-0 by the House of Representatives on Friday April 23rd. This legislation requires schools to adopt policies against bullying of students that are inclusive of protections for LGBT students.

The times they are a changin'!

BREAKING NEWS: HI Civil Unions Bill Killed

Whoa! Another stunning defeat for LGBT activists on the question of relationship recognition has apparently occurred in Hawaii a few hours ago:

HONOLULU – Equality Hawaii, the state’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) civil rights organization, and the Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest LGBT civil rights organization, today denounced the Hawaii State House for failing to take up and pass HB 444 SD1, the state Civil Unions bill. The bill would have provided that the equal rights and responsibilities of married couples in Hawaii are afforded to thousands of non-married couples in the state. The House voted by voice vote to postpone the bill indefinitely, effectively killing the bill for the session.

“We’re sorely disappointed that the Hawaii State House refused to take action on the Civil Unions bill,” said Tambry Young, Co-Chair of Equality Hawaii. “Today, the House put its own political interests before the interests of Hawaii’s families and that’s bad policy and bad politics. We pledge that this fight is not over, and we will continue in our efforts to see true equality in our state.”

The decision by the House comes on the heels of swift action in the Senate which saw the bill pass by an 18-7 vote on January 22. House Speaker Calvin Say suggested earlier in the week that the House may not be willing to reconsider the bill if the majority could not garner enough votes to override a possible veto from the Governor. The Governor has never made a veto threat on the topic of Civil Unions.

“We’re stunned that the Hawaii State House would act contrary to their previous position of strongly supporting this bill,” said Joe Solmonese, President of the Human Rights Campaign. “We thank all those who advocate for equality in the Aloha State, especially our friends in the legislature and Equality Hawaii. We have been a proud partner with Hawaii’s fair-minded residents for decades and will continue to stand by their side in the struggle for equality.”

“This fight is not over and we will ultimately prevail,” said Alan Spector, Legislative Affairs Co-Chair for Equality Hawaii. “It is simply unfathomable that politics and election considerations would supersede honor, integrity and common-sense. Today, these Representatives did not represent their constituent’s families – shame on them.”

Just a week ago Hawaii's State Senate has passed HB444 by a veto-proof majority and the battle in the House was expected to be about whether the vote would be veto proof, not whether it would come to a vote or pass.

Presumably, once the Democrats realized that they did not have the votes to actually enact the legislation they decided to kill the bill completely.

NJ Senate Defeats Marriage Bill 14-20

The New Jersey State Senate just voted 14 Yes, 20 No (4 people abstained or did not vote but were present and 2 were absent) to defeat the marriage equality bill.

UPDATED 02:59 PDT 01/07/2010
Here's the roll-call vote:

YES (14)

Sen. Jim Whelan (D-Atlantic)
Sen. Bob Smith (D-Middlesex)
Sen. Barbara Buono (D-Middlesex),
Sen. Raymond J. Lesniak (D-Union), co-sponsor
Senate President Richard Codey (D-Essex)
Sen. Teresa M. Ruiz (D-Essex)
Sen. Sandra B. Cunningham (D-Hudson)
Sen. Brian P. Stack (D-Hudson)
Sen. Nia H. Gill (D-Essex)
Sen. Loretta Weinberg (D-Bergen), co-sponsor
Sen. Robert M. Gordon (D-Bergen)
Sen. Nicholas P. Scutari (D-Union)
Sen. Joseph F.Vitale (D-Middlesex)
Sen. Bill Baroni (R-Mercer)

NO (20)

Sen. Jeff Van Drew (D-Cape May)
Sen. Ronald L. Rice (D- Essex)
Sen. John A. Girgenti (D-Passaic
Sen. Nicholas Sacco (D-Hudson) .
Sen. Fred H. Madden (D-Gloucester)
Sen. Shirley K. Turner (D-Mercer)
Sen. Robert W. Singer (R-Ocean)
Sen. Joseph Pennacchio (R-Morris)
Sen. Christopher Bateman, (R-Somerset)
Sen. Tom Kean Jr. (R -Union)
Sen. Jennifer Beck (R-Monmouth )
Sen. Joseph M. Kyrillos (R-Monmouth)
Sen. Gerald Cardinale (R-Bergen)
Sen. Michael Doherty (R-Hunterdon)
Sen. Kevin J. O'Toole (R-Essex)
Sen. Philip E. Haines (R-Burlington)
Sen. Christopher J. Connors (R-Ocean)
Sen. Anthony R. Bucco (R-Morris)
Sen. Steven V. Oroho (R-Sussex)
Sen. Sean T. Kean (R-Monmouth)

ABSTENTIONS (3)

Sen. Paul A. Sarlo (D-Bergen)
Sen. Stephen M. Sweeney (D-Gloucester)
Sen. James Beach (D-Camden)

DID NOT ATTEND SESSION (2)

Sen. Diane B. Allen (R-Burlington)
Sen. Andrew Ciesla (R-Ocean)

The 3 abstentions (who bizarrely attended the historic session but did not vote on the bill!) and the 6 Democrats who voted NO to equaliy deserve a special place in Hell--if I believed in such a mythical concept!

Kudos go to Bill Barroni, the one Republican who stood up to incoming Governor Chris Christie (R) and voted against the idea that there should be one set of laws for some people, instead of for all the people.

Garden State Equality on New Jersey Marriage vote

GARDEN STATE EQUALITY AND LAMBDA LEGAL ANNOUNCE: BACK TO COURT TO WIN MARRIAGE EQUALITY IN NEW JERSEY

The New Jersey Supreme Court unanimously ruled in 2006, in a case brought by Lambda Legal, that same-sex couples must be treated equally under the state Constitution.

The courts now have monumental proof that the civil union law has failed to provide equal protection.

Garden State Equality: “We are not waiting out the term of any new Administration to bring equality to same-sex couples in our state.”

Below are the remarks of Garden State Equality Chair Steven Goldstein, cell (917) 449-8918, at today's post-Senate vote news conference:

With today’s vote in the state Senate, the New Jersey legislature defaulted on its constitutional obligation to provide same-sex couples in New Jersey equal protection, as unanimously mandated by the New Jersey Supreme Court in 2006. That’s why we at Garden State Equality are here with our partner Lambda Legal, which has an extraordinary track record of advancing LGBT civil rights in the courts.

Now our organizations will announce major news. Our side is going back to court to win marriage equality.

We’ll hear from Lambda Legal in a moment. Let’s be clear about what this news means. We are not waiting out the term of any new Administration to bring equality to same-sex couples in our state.

In 2006, the New Jersey Supreme Court told the legislature it could enact marriage or another structure that provides the equal protection of marriage. But the civil union law failed to do that. Too often, civil union couples too often cannot visit loved ones in hospitals, make medical decisions for their partners or receive equal health benefits from employers. Hospitals and employers have treated civil union couples differently because they’ve been labeled differently. Children have been treated differently at school because their families are labeled differently.

In recent months, including today and at the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in December, New Jersey legislators publicly recognized these failures. They publicly acknowledged that the civil union law has not provided equal protection. That’s important. New Jersey legislators themselves said it. Our opponents in the legislature said it.

In other words, though we didn’t achieve our final victory today, we’re better positioned than we were a few months ago to win marriage equality. So if you’re wondering how we feel, it’s complicated. On the one hand, we resent, more than you can imagine, remaining second-class citizens a bit longer. On the other hand, the ball has moved forward. The public record for the courts is mighty, and we’re closer than ever to winning.

In 2006, New Jersey enacted an experiment called civil union. In 2010, New Jersey has a mountain of proof that the experiment has failed.

Now let’s talk about what happened politically.

Things didn’t go our way in the legislature because of one factor: Governor Corzine lost reelection.

After his win in November, Governor-elect Christie persuaded a number of legislators to reverse their support of the bill. Before the election, nearly every neutral observer in New Jersey thought marriage equality was certain to become law in lame duck. It became the zeitgeist in Trenton, with good reason. In contrast to today’s outcome, before the election we had votes to spare in the Senate, including from a number of Republicans.

But the election changed everything and our national opponents changed nothing. They didn’t do much or spend much in New Jersey. As you saw from our thousands of members at the State House these past few weeks who symbolized the massiveness of our campaign, we overwhelmed our opponents on every front – but one. Our opponents had the Governor-elect on their side, and that’s all they needed to have. It’s ironic given that marriage equality wasn’t even an issue in the election, and that the candidates who favored marriage equality together won a majority.

All this said, we extend to Governor-elect Christie an outstretched hand. He will be the Governor of all of us. We ask him to continue the tradition of his Republican predecessors, Christie Whitman and Tom Kean, who always kept an open door to the LGBT community. And though we differ with the Governor-elect on marriage equality, we also seek to explore with him and his Administration the issues on which we may have agreement and can work together.

No political party should write off any constituency. And no party should take any constituency for granted either. Our fundamental right to equality should never have been left to sudden death overtime by the party to which the LGBT community and our allies have been unstintingly loyal and have given so much.

To be clear, we will continue to support those who support us. Over the past five-and-a-half years, the separate Garden State Equality political committee has provided thousands of campaign volunteers and raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for supportive candidates through contributions to the organization, or through contributions from individuals directly to candidates.

Of course, when we exceed politicians’ expectations in ways they like, we never hear, you’re going too far, your fervor is too much. That double standard, which other minority communities have heard in their own fights for equality, hurts deeply. And it hurts everyone who stands for equality, including supporters in the majority.

Now there will be a sustained response not only from the LGBT community, but also from straight progressive voters who have been our equal partners. Marriage equality stopped being just a gay issue long ago.

To those who let us all down, here’s our policy: Don’t ask, don’t expect. You can’t take progressives’ money and volunteers with one hand, slap us in the face with the other, and then act astonished when we declare our independence. The marketplace of democracy runs along a two-way street.

Members and friends, today was not an outcome lost, but rather a juncture in an otherwise glorious road to justice. Since Garden State Equality’s founding in 2004, New Jersey has enacted 210 LGBT civil rights laws at the state, county and local levels, a national record. We have 64,000 members – LGBT and straight alike – who have improved the lives of millions. A watchdog organization, eQualityGiving.com, just ranked New Jersey #1 in America for LGBT rights, tied with three other states, and we haven’t even won marriage equality yet.

But we will soon. Cesar Chavez said it best. You cannot uneducate the person who has learned to read. You cannot humiliate the people who feel pride. You cannot oppress the people who are not afraid anymore. We have seen the future, and the future is ours.

Before I introduce our colleagues from Lambda Legal, some thanks are in order. Thank you to all our Senate sponsors, including prime sponsors Loretta Weinberg and Raymond Lesniak. We appreciate Loretta and Raymond beyond measure for their indefatigable leadership, and extend to them our love. We thank Senators Bill Baroni and Nia Gill – unwavering voices for justice at our committee hearing. We thank all our Assembly sponsors, including prime sponsors Reed Gusciora, Valerie Vainieri Huttle, John McKeon and Mila Jasey. We thank our Governor Corzine and Speaker Roberts for their support. And let me say this about Governor Dick Codey: He’s been an extraordinary champion of equality who kept his word about a Senate vote. Every progressive in New Jersey should view Governor Codey as a hero.

We thank the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, the Human Rights Campaign, Gill Action, the Civil Marriage Collaborative, the Arcus Foundation and Freedom to Marry, which have given us resources and wisdom. We thank our partners at the state level, including the ACLU of New Jersey, BlueWave, Democracy for America, New Jersey Citizen Action, New Jersey Stonewall Democrats and the state’s progressive voice on the web, Blue Jersey, to which we owe so much.

We thank our spectacular field staff who joined us from across the country. We thank our executive committee, board, staff and donors who make Garden State Equality possible. We thank the New Jersey Lesbian and Gay Coalition for its decades of groundwork. We thank all the supportive staff in the legislature and executive branch. We especially thank our thousands of volunteers – the stars of Garden State Equality – who rallied at the State House and worked in our offices and in the field throughout the year. And if I may, I thank my partner Daniel and all the loved ones of our staff and volunteers who have supported us and sacrificed so much.

Most of all, we thank our colleagues at Lambda Legal, without whom our march toward equality would never have gotten this far. We’re thrilled to reunite with our partner Lambda Legal in the next stage of the battle. Please welcome Leslie Gabel-Brett, Lambda Legal’s director of education and public affairs.

#

New York State Very Likely To Pass Marriage Equality Today

There is breaking news today on the effort to enact marriage equality in New York State. Last night the New York State Assembly passed the marriage equality bill (for the second time this year!) by a vote of 88-51 in a special session.

The New York Senate, acting in the same special session to deal with that state's $2 billion dollar deficit is now getting ready to debate their marriage equality bill, which will gladly be signed into law by Governor David Paterson.

Here's the official word:

"The Senate will reconvene in extraordinary session today at which time it intends to vote on the deficit reduction plan, Tier V pension reform, public authority reform, and marriage equality legislation.

Session is streamed live on the internet at http://nysenate.gov; the debate on marriage equality will be carried via satellite, with coordinates to be released later in the day prior to the bill being brought to the floor."

There are very good chances the bill will pass today. There is no ballot initiative process in New York State by which it can be repealed.

For more updates tune in to @adamjbink on Twitter.

BREAKING NEWS: E. Lynn Harris Reportedly Dead

Rod 2.0 is reporting that the most famous Black, gay author in America, the best-selling Earl Lynn Harris, has died suddenly at age 53.

Anti-Gay Groups Form Mega Hate Coalition

This is not good news. Twenty-six heterosexual supremacist organizations have banded together to form a coalition called the Freedom Federation. The group's members are:

The Freedom Federation is a new and unique federation of some of the largest multi-ethnic and transgenerational faith-based organizations in the country committed to plan, strategize, and work together on common interests within the Judeo-Christian tradition to mobilize their grassroots constituencies and to communicate faith and values to the religious, social, cultural, and policymaking institutions.

-- American Association of Christian Counselors
-- American Family Association
-- Americans for Prosperity
-- Brotherhood Organization of a New Destiny (BOND)
-- Campaign for Working Families
-- Catholic Online
-- Concerned Women for America
-- Conservative Action Project
-- Eagle Forum
-- Exodus International
-- Faith and Action
-- Family Research Council
-- High Impact Leadership
-- Liberty Alliance Action
-- Liberty Counsel
-- Liberty University
-- Life Education and Resource Network (LEARN)
-- Marc Nuttle
-- Morning Star Ministries
-- National Clergy Council
-- National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference
-- Renewing American Leadership
-- Strang Communications
-- Teen Mania
-- The Call to Action
-- Traditional Values Coalition
-- Vision America

Their "Declaration of American Values" is

We the people of the United States of America, at this crucial time in history, do hereby affirm the core consensus values which form the basis of America’s greatness, that all men and women from every race and ethnicity are created equal and are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. We adhere to the rule of law embodied in the Constitution of the United States and to the principles of liberty on which America was founded. In order to maintain the blessings of liberty and justice for ourselves and our posterity, and recognizing that personal responsibility is the basis of our self-governing Nation, we declare our allegiance –

1. To secure the sanctity of human life by affirming the dignity of and right to life for the disabled, the ill, the aged, the poor, the disadvantaged, and for the unborn from the moment of conception. Every person is made in the image of God, and it is the responsibility and duty of all individuals and communities of faith to extend the hand of loving compassion to care for those in poverty and distress.

2. To secure our national interest in the institution of marriage and family by embracing the union of one man and one woman as the sole form of legitimate marriage and the proper basis of family.

3. To secure the fundamental rights of parents to the care, custody, and control of their children regarding their upbringing and education.

4. To secure the free exercise of religion for all people, including the freedom to acknowledge God through our public institutions and other modes of public expression and the freedom of religious conscience without coercion by penalty or force of law.

5. To secure the moral dignity of each person, acknowledging that obscenity, pornography, and indecency debase our communities, harm our families, and undermine morality and respect. Therefore, we promote enactment and enforcement of laws to protect decency and morality.

6. To secure the right to own, possess and manage private property without arbitrary interference from government, while acknowledging the necessity of maintaining a proper and balanced care and stewardship of the environment and natural resources for the health and safety of our families.

7. To secure the individual right to own, possess, and use firearms as central to the preservation of peace and liberty.

8. To secure a system of checks and balances between the Executive, Legislative and Judicial branches within both state and federal governments, so that no one branch – particularly the judiciary – usurps the authority of the other two, and to maintain the constitutional principles of federalism which divide power between the state and federal governments.

9. To secure our national sovereignty and domestic tranquility by maintaining a strong military; establishing and maintaining secure national borders; participating in international and diplomatic affairs without ceding authority to foreign powers that diminish or interfere with our unalienable rights; and being mindful of our history as a nation of immigrants, promoting immigration policies that observe the rule of law and are just, fair, swift, and foster national unity.

10. To secure a system of fair taxes that are not punitive against the institution of marriage or family and are not progressive in nature, and within a limited government framework, to encourage economic opportunity, free enterprise, and free market competition.

We hereby pledge our Names, our Lives and our Sacred Honor to this Declaration of American Values.

Hat/tip to Right Wing Watch and Pam's House Blend.

Michael Jackson, Pop Icon, Is Dead at Age 50

Michael Jackson suffered cardiac arrest on Thursday and died suddenly in Los Angeles. The Pop Icon was 50 years old and is survived by three children: Michael Joseph Jackson, Jr., Paris Michael Katherine Jackson and Prince “Blanket” Michael Jackson II.

Black Homeless L.A. Teen Girl Head To Harvard

(Brian Vander Brug/Los Angeles Times)

There was a great story in Friday's Los Angeles Times about a local homeless African-American teenaged girl who is attending Harvard this fall. Her name is Khadijah Williams:

As long as she can remember, Khadijah has floated from shelters to motels to armories along the West Coast with her mother. She has attended 12 schools in 12 years; lived out of garbage bags among pimps, prostitutes and drug dealers. Every morning, she upheld her dignity, making sure she didn't smell or look disheveled.

On the streets, she learned how to hunt for their next meal, plot the next bus route and help choose a secure place to sleep -- survival skills she applied with passion to her education.

[...]

Khadijah was in third grade when she first realized the power of test scores, placing in the 99th percentile on a state exam. Her teachers marked the 9-year-old as gifted, a special category that Khadijah, even at that early age, vowed to keep.

"I still remember that exact number," Khadijah said. "It meant only 0.01 students tested better than I did."

In the years that followed, her mother, Chantwuan Williams, pulled her out of school eight more times. When shelters closed, money ran out or her mother didn't feel safe, they packed what little they carried and boarded buses to find housing in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Ventura, San Diego, San Bernardino and Orange County, staying for months, at most, in one place.

She finished only half of fourth grade, half of fifth and skipped sixth. Seventh grade was split between Los Angeles and San Diego. Eighth grade consisted of two weeks in San Bernardino.

At every stop, Khadijah pushed to keep herself in each school's gifted program. She read nutrition charts, newspapers and four to five books a month, anything to transport her mind away from the chaos and the sour smell.

At school, she was the outsider. At the shelter, she was often bullied. "You ain't college-bound," the pimps barked. "You live in skid row!"

In 10th grade, Khadijah realized that if she wanted to succeed, she couldn't do it alone. She began to reach out to organizations and mentors: the Upward Bound Program, Higher Edge L.A., Experience Berkeley and South Central Scholars; teachers, counselors and college alumni networks. They helped her enroll in summer community college classes, gave her access to computers and scholarship applications and taught her about networking.

It's exactly programs like these that will be threatened by California's financial mess. How many more Khadijah Wlliams will not be able to be rescued because the safety net has been slashed by budget cuts?

I strongly urge you to read the entire inspiring story by reporter Esmeralda Bermudez, "She finally has a home: Harvard."

Obama Administration To Announce (Some) Federal DP Benefts

What a difference a few days make! It was announced late on Tuesday that the Obama Administration will allow domestic partners of federal employees to receive some benefits, although apparently health benefits will not be included, due to the odious Defense of Marriage Act.

According to the New York Times:

Mr. Obama, in an Oval Office announcement, is expected to offer details about which benefits will be provided. It is the most significant statement he has made on gay issues, and it comes as he faces intense criticism from several gay rights leaders over what they suggest has been a failure to live up to campaign promises in the first months of his presidency.

Mr. Obama will be weighing in for the first time on one of the most delicate social and political issues of the day: whether the government must provide benefits to same-sex partners of federal employees. While he will announce a list of benefits, officials said, they are not expected to include broad health insurance coverage, which could require legislation to achieve.

The initial reaction from some gay rights advocates was mixed.

“Extending benefits to partners of gay federal employees is terrific, but at this point he is under enormous pressure from the gay civil rights community for having promised the moon and done nothing so far,” Richard Socarides, an adviser to the Clinton administration on gay issues, said Tuesday evening. “So more important now is what he says tomorrow about the future for gay people during his presidency.”

Presumably, the President will announce his support for H.R. 2517/S. 1102, the Domestic Partners Benefits and Obligations Act of 2009, co-authored by Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis) which would extend health benefits to same-sex domestic partners of federal employees.

The gay blogosphere is all over the story, and many of them are not impressed. Many people are pointing out that this first announcement of an LGBT initiative is occurring after a furor has blown up over an LGBT Democratic National Committee fundraising event scheduled for next week started receiving high profile defections.

In Jeff Zeleny's article in the Times it is revealed that

"the timing of the announcement was intended to help contain the growing furor among gay rights groups. Several gay donors withdrew their sponsorship of a Democratic National Committee fund-raising event next week, where Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. is scheduled to speak."

Emphasis added by Pam Spaulding over at The Blend. John Aravosis at AmericaBlog is one of the main sparks fanning the flames of the furor.

Excitin times, peeps!

iPhone 3G Reduced to $99; iPhone 3G S Out June 19

Apple announced on Monday that they will be introducing the new iPhone 3G S on June 19th. They have also cut the price of the iPhone 3G (shown above) to $99 (8G) and $199 (16G). The new features of the iPhone 3G S include:

• As the name implies, the new iPhone 3G S is supposed to be faster. Apple boasts that you can load Web pages and launch apps twice as fast as the previous model. It also promises improved 3D graphics for games.
• A 3-megapixel camera with autofocus. You can also focus by tapping on the screen. It will also have settings for white balance, exposure, low-light sensitivity, and a macro mode for close-up photos.
• A camcorder. You can shoot VGA-quality video in 30 frames per second, and after you're done, you can trim the video by adjusting the start and end points. You can then send the video via MMS (included in iPhone OS 3.0) to a friend, to your MobileMe account, or even to YouTube, directly from the phone.
• Voice control, but not just for calls. Not only can you manage phone calls with your voice, you can use your voice to play music. You can ask the phone what song is playing, ask it to play a particular song from an artist or an album, and even to play songs that are similar to the currently playing track.
• A built-in digital compass. It automatically reorients the map to the direction you're facing. It works in conjunction with Maps to give you street view as well.
• Bluetooth tethering is allowed, which means you can use the iPhone 3G S as a wireless modem with your laptop. However, this is not available from AT&T for now.
• Voiceover, an accessibility setting on the new iPhone 3G S that acts as a gesture-based screen reader.
• Compatibility with Nike+ iPod, where it detects the Nike+ sensor in your shoe to track your runs.
• Improved battery life. Apple promises that the iPhone 3G S can hold up to 9 hours in Wi-Fi, 10 hours on video playback, 30 hours on audio playback, 12 hours talk time on 2G networks, and 5 hours talk time on 3G networks.
• The 16GB model will be $199 with a new contract and the 32GB model will be $299 with a new contract. They will be available June 19, 2009.

The new iPhone 3.0 operating system will also be available for older versions of the iPhone for free starting June 19th. It contains all sorta of goodies like copy and paste, multimedia messaging and voice recording.

FRENCH OPEN 2009: Kuznetsova Wins 2nd Major Title

Svetlana Kuznetsova defeated Dinara Safina 6-4 6-2 to win her second major title, the 2009 French Open, in Paris on Saturday. Safina is the World #1 and will remain there on Monday. She has appeared in 3 major finals, 2008 French Open, 2009 Australian Open and the 2009 French Open and lost all 3. She also lost the Gold Olympic medal match to Elena Dementieva in Beijing in August 2008.

Kuznetsova won the 2004 US Open and lost the 2006 French Open final and the 2007 US Open finals to Justine Henin. She is now at 2-2 in major finals, with a surprising 11 wins and 18 losses overall in WTA tour finals.

On to Wimbledon!

LA Mayor Dating (Another) TV Anchor

LA Observed is reporting that Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is dating KTLA weekend anchor Lu Parker. Parker, who is also a former Miss USA, has a blog and Twitter account but the news was revealed when the two were seen looking friendly in a Larchmont Village bookstore last Saturday. She told her bosses the two have been dating since March. And, yes, in her role as television reporter, Parker did read a story about Villaraigosa on the air regarding his role in the 2010 California Governor's race but KTLA claims all interviews Parker did with the Mayor were done before they became romantically linked.

You may recall that this is not the first time the mayor has been romantically linked with a TV anchorwoman. Previously it was Mirthala Salinas of Univision--and the Mayor was married!

Nevada Legislature Passes DP Bill; Gov Threatens Veto

Both houses of the Nevada legislature have passed Senate Bill 283 which would enact a relatively comprehensive domestic partnership law in the Silver State, however the Republican Governor has threatened to veto the measure.

The bill passed the Assembly 26-14 (2 votes shy of a veto proof majority) and passed the Senate 12-9 (also 2 votes shy of a veto proof majority).

Nevada amended its constitution in 2000 and 2002 to ban same-sex marriage. Equality Nevada held its first lobby day this Spring.