MARRIAGE:
Over the weekend, singer Rufus Wainwright reversed his controversial position on gay marriage. While he says he previously “I wasn’t a huge gay marriage supporter before I met Jorn because I love the whole old-school promiscuous Oscar Wilde freak show of what ‘being gay’ once was,” he’s now come out in favor of marriage equality in light of his five-year relationship with a man who’s not a US citizen. “I have been with Jorn for five years and he’s the light of my life. He’s my inspiration, support and he’s good in the sack, too! But I am very aware of living in the U.S., of the conundrum that you can’t marry your gay partner and give him citizenship.” Wainwright’s partner is an arts administrator and theater producer from Germany, and

It’s easy to feel frustrated with Wainwright – his mainstream success has made him a fairly visible face of the queer community, and a lot of us wince to hear any queer person talk about a “promiscuous freak show” to a public that’s already pretty skeptical about our moral fiber. As Pink is the New Blog says, it’s also easy to feel “a bit disappointed that Rufus didn’t decide to lend his support to marriage equality until he felt the need to marry.” All those feelings are legitimate. But regardless of what you think of Wainwright, I feel like there’s an important life lesson here – people start to care about things when they’re directly affected by them. They all of the sudden want to work to change them. This isn’t something to look down on people for, this is something to capitalize on. With Wainwright, this wasn’t a hard leap to make – he was always a gay man, and was then suddenly a gay man who wanted to get married. With other people, like straight people, it might be a little harder to convince them that this is an issue that matters to them. But if you can do it – if you can, say, convince your uncle who has a framed picture of Glenn Beck above his bed that the niece he loves is honestly devastated that she can’t marry her girlfriend – then bam, you might have another, arguably more important reversal of position. We talk about this a lot – visibility, the importance of coming out, people are more likely to vote in favor of gay issues if they know a gay person – but we don’t always take it as seriously as we should. Do us all a favor today and make sure that what matters to you matters to someone else too. (@aceshowbiz)(pinkisthenewblog)

ANNISE PARKER:
Houston mayor and out lesbian Annise Parker, who presides over a city in which she and her partner can’t legally marry, signed her first piece of gay-related legislation – an executive order banning discrimination against LGBT employees. The Dallas Voice is saying it may actually be the most comprehensive in the country. “The sweeping order, which was signed March 25 and took effect immediately, includes gender identity and gender expression protections. It enforces the policy among contractors, vendors, and city agencies. The order makes it a violation “to fail or refuse to hire, recruit, appoint, promote or train any individual” based on sexual orientation or gender identity. It’s also a violation “to discipline, demote, transfer, lay off, fail to recall or terminate” or to “or to limit, segregate or classify employees or applicants” for those reasons.” (@theadvocate)

TUTU:
In light of the mounting anti-gay government sentiment in African countries like Uganda and Malawi, Archbishop Desmond Tutu has joined over 60 human rights groups in calling for Uganda to rescind its horrifying anti-gay legislation. Western criticisms of the “kill the gays” bill have often been dismissed as the voice of cultural imperialism; hopefully Archbishop Tutu’s support will make a difference. (@guardian)

SALT LAKE CITY:
Speaking of anti-discrimination, Salt Lake City has passed a landmark ordinance that protects gays, bisexuals and transgenders from discrimination in employment and housing. “John W. Bennett, who is gay and a nephew of Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah, praised the capital city for taking the lead in offering the protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender residents. He recalled being fired from a state government job in 1986 for his sexual orientation. “This is truly a good Friday. Today I’m ecstatic,” Bennett said.” (@abc4)

CHRIS KANYON:
Professional wrestler Chris Kanyon (real name Klucsaritis), who came out as gay after leaving the WCW and WWE, was found dead of apparent suicide on April 2nd, seemingly having overdosed on prescription pain pills. He was closeted during most of his time wrestling, and is said to have battled depression and bipolar disorder. (@gather)

CALIFORNIA:
Amazingly, there still exists a law on the books in California that requires physicians to “seek the causes and cures of homosexuality.” It apparently dates back to the 1950s, when a child molestation and murder caused widespread gay panic even though the perpetrator wasn’t gay. California assembly member Bonnie Lowenthal is trying to get it removed, and her bill will face its first hearing on Tuesday. (@theadvocate)

HRC:
Last week HRC Communications Director Brad Luna had his position “eliminated,” and today his departure from the organization was confirmed. It’s unclear whether the HRC’s decision had anything to do with the publicity they received after Dan Choi’s demonstration of civil disobedience and subsequent criticism of HRC’s approach. The HRC’s choice of a replacement Communications Director (or their choice to discontinue the position) might say a lot about the direction they plan on going from now on. (@joemygod)

TEA PARTY:
A lot of people have a lot of feelings about the Tea Party. Liberals critique them for being belligerent, uninformed, and alarmist, as well as overwhelmingly white. But it’s also maybe a good idea to look at the criticisms of the Tea Party from within the conservative community. Lenny McAllister writes at The Root about how he as a black conservative views the Tea Party, and why he doesn’t count himself as a member. “Unless we speak a language to black voters that denotes respect and commonality, black conservatives cannot effectively show that they understand the issues that face black America – and how Republican solutions make sense for black voters. If recent statements are any indication, the fringes of Black conservatism are merely repeating the mistakes of their conservative forerunners. An example was the black Tea Party member talking on national television about how African Americans refused to engage the Tea Party because they were “hypnotized” by President Barack Obama. That kind of talk is not a language that will bring diversity to the movement.” (@theroot)

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