School board members in Fulton, Mississippi have taken a harsh stance against girls dating girls. On February 5, 2009, the school board circulated a memorandum stating that same-sex couples will not be allowed to attend prom, in direct violation of legal protections against discrimination. Constance McMillen, however, wanted to take another girl to the prom as her date.

It didn’t take long for the opponents of equal rights to scream “BIAS!” when the San Francisco Chronicle reported that the justice presiding over the Perry case (the Prop 8 case) is a homosexual. On the blog for the leading anti-equality organization, the National Organization for [Heterosexual Only] Marriage (NOM), its executive director, Brian S. Brown, had this to say about the justice:

“He’s been an amazingly biased and one-sided force throughout this trial, far more akin to an activist than a neutral referee.”

To begin with, let’s take a brief quiz. For each statement listed below, answer which person made the statement

“By increasing the number of married couples who might be interested in adoption and foster care, same-sex marriage might well lead to fewer children growing up in state institutions and more growing up in loving adoptive and foster families.”

Was it:

(A) George W. Bush;
(B) Barack Obama;
(C) David Blackenhorn, President of the Institute for American Values;
(D) Joe Solomenese, President of HRC;
(E) Lady Gaga;
(F) Rachel Maddow?

Yesterday, William Tam, who previously won a jaysays.com Stupid Things People Say About Gays nod, not only won the title again while be questioned by Attorney Boies, but set the bar to a new level. During testimony, Tam advised that he thinks legalizing gay marriage would result in legalizing prostitution.

Boies: You said that you thought Prop. 8 would lead to legalizing prostitution. Why?

Tam: *** I saw some homosexuals hanging around there. [Regarding “Measure K”, which if passed by voters, would have stopped the enforcement of laws against prostitution in California, among other things.]

On Day 4 of the Proposition 8 trial, the Defendants (those opposed to same-sex marriage) attempted to make the Plaintiffs’ expert, San Francisco’s Chief Economist, Edwin A Egan, say that allowing gay marriage will increase the costs to the city. The theory of the Defense being that clerks will be required to use their time to issue marriage licenses to more people and print more marriage licenses increasing paper and ink costs.

This argument fails at “common sense” but also fails because there is a fee (as pointed out by Egan) for anyone seeking to obtain a marriage license. That fee covers the costs associated with the clerk’s time, printing and other such expenses that would otherwise be borne by the city.

San Francisco Deputy City Attorney Therese Stewart took the stage in the Proposition 8 trial this afternoon with a redirect examination of Yale Professor Chauncey. During the examination, Ms. Stewart asked Professor Chauncey to read from a Vatican statement regarding same-sex marriage. These are the words of the Vatican:

“Allowing children being adopted by gay couples would do violence to these children. Their condition of dependency would stunt their full human development.”

Yesterday, the judge and lawyers assembled in the courtroom at 8:24 a.m. Pacific Time to debate, and ultimately decide, upon the rights of same-sex couples to marry. The case, Perry v. Schwarzenegger, resulted after a “majority” of California voters decided that the judicial granting of equal marital rights to same-sex couples violated their sense of… uhm… of… well, ego.

Since the trial started (and even before) we’ve heard the opponent’s of equality claiming that the majority spoke and such majority rule must be honored. In fact, the news keeps repeating an annoying little phrase whenever they talk about the case, referring to Proposition 8 as a “voter approved” measure.

The trial that may repeal the disgustingly discriminatory Proposition 8 in California (which denies couples of the same sex from entering into the civil contract of marriage) begins January 11, 2010. With that trial will come many “stupid things” that people say about gays. The opposition will be presenting their ridiculous arguments (including one where they claim gay marriage will result in children having sexual fantasies about their same-sex friends). Thus, it’s a proper time to start the Proposition 8 Series for Stupid Things People Say About Gays.

For those that may not be familiar with Bilerico.com, essentially, it is an LGBT blog community which reports on issues relevant to our community. The Bilerico Project has over 80 contributors/editors and alumni including some of the most respected names in the LGBT rights movement like, Donna Rose, Jillian T. Wise, David Badash, Joe Solomenese, Kip Williams, Kate Clinton and many, many more. Their list includes the L, the G, the B and the T and reads as a who’s who in the equality movement. Many authors there are my friends, many have been guests on Closet Talk and I always value their opinions and ideas.

According to recent news reports, Tarlach MacNiallais, 47, a prominent LGBT activist was tackled and beaten by a bouncer at the Guadalajara De Noche restaurant in Jackson Heights, New York. According to reports, MacNiallais was beaten because he was dancing with a man.

MacNiallais has indicated that the bouncers approached him during the dance and advised him that he could not “do that here,” because, the Guadalajara De Noche restaurant, “is not a gay bar.”

The attack ensued when MacNiallais retorted, “I have just as much right as anyone else.” The bouncer tackled MacNiallais and even hit him with a chair – a response that seems appropriate for the crime of dancing with someone of the same sex [insert sarcasm here].