An Editorial From The Kansas City Star

A recent poll found that 77 percent of Republicans believe it is wrong for employers to fire people solely because they are gay.

That statistic, from a poll conducted this summer by Fabrizio, McLaughlin and Associates, is encouraging.

But in 31 states, it’s perfectly legal to fire someone because they are openly gay. Too many employers still reject job applicants based on sexual orientation.

And if gay men and women make it into the workplace, their rights to equal pay and equal opportunities for promotion can be ignored.

The reality is that in 2007, four decades after the Civil Rights Act was passed, gay Americans still face discrimination in the workplace. It often is subtle, but it exists.

Gay employees must often hide their sexual identities from their employers and co-workers. They fear harassment or retribution. Many feel self-imposed pressure to work the hardest and the longest, to be the best employee possible, just in case.

African-Americans, women, Hispanics, American Indians and older workers often face similar pressures; it is not a comfortable feeling.

The Employment Non-Discrimination Act, introduced in 2001 by Sen. Ted Kennedy, a Massachusetts Democrat, is now before Congress. It would add sexual orientation to the list of categories covered by federal discrimination law, reinforcing the principle that employment decisions should be based solely on merit. There is no need to delay; Congress should send the bill to the president for his signature.

Many objections to the legislation have been based on false premises. It would not require the Boy Scouts to hire an openly gay individual. The legislation specifically exempts private membership organizations and does not apply to unpaid, volunteer positions. Nor would the legislation prevent clergy from expressing their moral objections to homosexuality.

Those who hold moral objections have the right to their views. But remember, similar arguments were used to deny the rights of African-Americans and other groups earlier in our history. We as a country have learned since then how misguided those objections were.

A majority of Americans support laws ending discrimination against gay workers. Congress should heed their wishes.

We Don't Have Homosexuals In Iran.....

At Columbia University today, Iranian thug President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad made the stupidest comment I've heard in a long time.
When asked about Iran's widely documented abuse of women and gays, Ahmadinejad said, "We don't have homosexuals. I don't know who told you we did."

OMG, that is the most ludicrous, insane comment I have heard in ages. Yeah, you idiot, you may not have many open gays and lesbians in Iran, but you've got them. I've had quite a few Iranian men in my day. They're pretty hot. They love to suck cock and eat ass. And, they're pretty good at it.

And, oh by the way, what about those two teenage boys you killed a couple of years ago for being gay? If you don't have homosexuals in Iran, don't you owe them an apology?????

There is the oddest movie playing on Showtime this month. It's called Shadow Boxer, starring Helen Mirren and Cuba Gooding, Jr. as two professional assassins.....and lovers.

Rose (Mirren) takes Mikey (Gooding) under her wing, and between her legs, after she kills Mikey's father, with whom she shared a romantic relationship.

Rose's and Mikey's professional relationship takes them into the darkest places in the underworld. Between erotic romps between the sheets, they travel the world offing people for lots of money.

At the beginning of the story, Rose has just learned she has terminal cancer. She becomes very introspective and seems to develop a conscience. She feels her cancer is God's punishment for the life she has led.

They are hired by a sadistic crime boss, played by Stephen Dorff, to kill his pregnant wife. Dorff, by the way, has this incredibly hot fuck scene, taking a slut doggie style, in some pretty hot, sweaty sex. There is a brief full frontal shot that shows a pretty big package between those legs.

Rose takes pity on the pregnant wife. Her water breaks right as Rose is about to pull the trigger. She talks Mikey into taking them away, and from then on, they are on the run, hiding the mob moll and her newborn son. That is, until Monique (yes THE Monique) drops a dime on them, and Dorff captures them.

There are many disturbing images, including several torture/execution scenes, along with any of the Helen Mirren sex scenes. I had this revulsion/attraction thing going on every time my favorite British actress was getting her pudenda pumped, her legs thrown high in the air, writhing and groaning like a cheap French whore.

I have to admit, however, that the Gooding/Mirren sex scenes were some of the most erotic I have seen in some time. I don't know if it's the May/December thing, or maybe it was the salt and pepper thing. All I know is, nothing looked hotter than Gooding's firm tight ass going up and down while he was giving it to Helen.

This is one of those "you have to be in the mood for it" movies. And, baby, I was in the mood for it tonight.

So have you ever wondered what the gayest cities in America are? I did, and since I love dicking around with numbers so much, I decided to look it up.

UCLA released a study last year, using census data and field research, to determine the number of gay and bi people who live in America's cities.

I have listed below the top 50 cities ranked on the percentage of their population that is gay or bisexual. Some of it won't surprise you. San Francisco is #1 (duh). But some of it will. Who would have thought Salt Lake City was a bastion of helium heels? It's #11 on the list. And Pittsburgh is all the way down at #45. So much for Queer As Folk.

So, with no further ado, I present the rankings. Enjoy!

1. San Francisco 15.4%
2. Seattle 12.9%
3. Atlanta 12.8%
4. Minneapolis 12.5%
5. Boston 12.3%
6. Sacramento 9.8%
7. Portland 8.8%
8. Denver 8.2%
9. Washington 8.1%
10. Orlando 7.7%
11. Salt Lake City 7.6%
12. Dallas 7%
13. Baltimore 6.9%
14. San Diego 6.8%
15. St Louis 6.8%
16. Rochester 6.8%
17. Hartford 6.8%
18. Columbus 6.7%
19. Kansas City 6.7%
20. Phoenix 6.4%
21. Tampa 6.1%
22. San Jose 5.8%
23. Chicago 5.7%
24. Los Angeles 5.6%
25. Birmingham 5.6%
26. Miami 5.6%
27. Nashville 5.1%
28. New Orleans 5.1%
29. Indianapolis 4.8%
30. Austin 4.8%
31. Providence 4.8%
32. Milwaukee 4.6%
33. Las Vegas 4.6%
34. New York 4.5%
35. Houston 4.4%
36. Virginia Beach 4.4%
37. Louisville 4.2%
38. Cincinnati 4.2%
39. Jacksonville 4.1%
40. Charlotte 3.9%
41. San Antonio 3.8%
42. Oklahoma City 3.8%
43. Memphis 3.5%
44. Cleveland 3.5%
45. Pittsburgh 3.5%
46. Richmond 3.5%
47. Richmond 3.4%
48. Buffalo 3%
49. Riverside 2.5%
50. Detroit 1.5%

When a movie makes you cry during the opening credits, you know you're in for an emotional workout. And that's exactly what I got with Eytan Fox's "The Bubble," which is playing at the Landmark Theatres at Embarcadero Center and in Berkeley. If you're expecting a whimsical gay film, you will be totally taken by surprise.

"The Bubble" is the story of three roommates, 2 gay guys and a girl, who share an apartment in Tel Aviv's trendiest neighborhood. One of the roomies, Noam, serves as a reservist in the Israeli military in addition to his full time job in a music store.

Noam meets a young Palestinian, Ashraf, while working a West Bank checkpoint. The two befriend each other, and quickly find themselves romantically involved.

The other two roommates decide to do everything they can to keep Noam and Ashraf together, even though Ashraf is in Israel illegally. They give him a Hebrew name, get him a job as a waiter in a trendy restaurant, and show him the ropes. Ashraf is completely enthralled with the openness and freedom of Tel Aviv, a complete 180 from his life in the West Bank, where he has an arranged marriage waiting for him.

The friends call Tel Aviv "the bubble" because it is such a beautiful place surrounded by such turmoil. They are active in Israeli left wing causes, particularly arranging protests against Israeli policy toward the Palestinians. Naive they may be, but they truly believe that everyone, Arabs and Jews, should be able to get along if Israel would lighten up on the Palestinians. But, in the end, the politics of the day destroy their perfect world.

The ending scene will leave you a quivering pile of mush in your seat.

I highly recommend you see "The Bubble," but make sure you bring some Kleenex with you.

The California Senate has followed the Assembly in passing an equal-marriage bill that would open the door for gay couples to become legally married in the state.

Whether it sees the light of day or not remains to be seen. Governor Schwarzenegger vetoed a similar bill two years ago. He says the issue should be left up to the people or the California Supreme Court.

Arnie's attitudes about gay rights are pretty well known. My guess is he favors allowing gay marriages, but would prefer the Supreme Court make that decision. He may get his wish, because the Supreme Court is hearing cases related to the San Francisco marriage spree in 2004. They are supposed to rule by mid-October.

My views on gay marriage are somewhat ambivalent, as I've stated before. While I welcome any progress on the road to full equality, I hate handing the Repuglicans an issue they can campaign on and get the electorate all stirred up.

I also recognize the hypocrisy of that statement, since I was married in Canada in 2005. But, since my marriage crashed and burned, I guess my first call will be to a divorce lawyer if gay marriage becomes legal in California anytime soon.

I Am Right Brained

Most right-brained people like you are flexible in many realms of their lives. Whether picking up on the nuances of musical concerto, appreciating the subtle details in a work of art, or seeing the world from a different perspective, right-brained people are creative, imaginative, and attuned to their surroundings.

People probably see your thinking process as boundless, and that might translate to your physical surroundings as well. Some people think of you as messier than others. It's not that you're disorganized, it's just that you might use different systems to organize (by theme, by subject, by color). Straight alphabetization and rigidly ordered folders are not typical of right-brained behavior.

You are also more intuitive than many. When it comes to reading literature, you probably prefer creative writing or fiction over nonfiction. And when it comes to doing math, you might find you enjoy geometry more than other forms like algebra.




The Brain Test

Brought to you by Tickle

Say Goodbye To Bear411?

This is serious shit that needs your attention immediately. Once again, the government is trying to spy on you in your bedroom. And it needs to be stopped.

The Justice Department is proposing new regulations, under the guise of stopping child pornography, to regulate so-called "adult social networking sites" like Bear411, Bearwww, Biggercity, et al.

It's called SECTION 2257. It would require that sites like Bear411 maintain records, including photo id's, of any person who posts an explicit picture of himself/herself. SECTION 2257 would give the Attorney General the authority to conduct warrantless searches of databases. And, of course, there are no restrictions on how the FBI would use this information.

This would be incredibly burdensome on the operators of the sites, and it would discourage people from joining for fear of having their privacy invaded. It's just plain wrong. Another attempt by the government to control our lives.

Child pornography is an evil thing, and we should do everything we can to stop it. But the government is using child pornography as a smoke screen to try to control websites used by consenting adults to meet other consenting adults.

The Justice Department is accepting public comment until September 10 (MONDAY). Everyone should send an email expressing their disapproval of this regulation, or risk losing sites that we all enjoy. The email address is admin.ceos@usdoj.gov. Your subject line must say "Section 2257 Docket No. CRM 104."

I sometimes feel like I'm the only gay man in the East Bay. The place is loaded with lesbians, but the gay male seems few and far between. They seem to prefer their natural habitat, across the bay in San Francisco.

I take Buster to the dog park on a pretty daily basis. And it's always loaded with lesbians and their big dogs. Usually two to three times the size of Buster, and he ain't no chihuahua.

So today, I was on my way into the dog park, and from a distance, I saw this really cute cubbish guy. He was even wearing a t-shirt with a bear paw on it. Hmmmm, I think to myself. This could be interesting.

Imagine my surprise when I got closer and realized this wasn't no cub. This was a lesbian! How disappointing.

We're All Going To Hell

A friend sent me this picture from Southern Decadence. It's a sign that one of the religious crazies was walking around with.

This is one of several reasons I'm glad I didn't go to New Orleans for Labor Day. I had as much fun, or more, as I would have had at Decadence, without the expense, the heat, the humidity, and the religious nuts.

People of that ilk are so rare around the Bay Area, that sitings of them are reported in the newspaper, kind of like bigfoot or UFO's. Just kidding on that one.

I've only seen one such creature in the month I've been back. It was Monday. I was on my way back to Alameda from the city. I was traveling along the 880. And I saw, way in front of me, a car that had a bumper sticker that said "Gay Pervert." Well, at first I thought this was a gay person, but as I got closer I saw the bumper sticker was actually a play on the HRC "=" bumper sticker. With the equal sign between "gay" and "pervert."

Then I saw all the rest of the bumper stickers fully covering the back of his car, and I realized this was a religious nut. I almost called it in as a news story.

Some Things Belong Together

Friday night I received an object lesson on how some things just belong together. Like peanut butter and jelly, chocolate and vanilla ice cream, Liz and Dick, and, add to that list, the East Bay and San Francisco.

Someone got the bright idea to shut down the Bay Bridge for Labor Day weekend, for seismic retrofitting. This pretty much shuts down the link between the East Bay and the city.

But, never fear, they told us, because BART will be running all night. So, I figured I would hunker down in Alameda and take BART over to the city for the bear week events.

Well, what they didn't tell you, is that only two lines are running all night. Only a few stations are open. And the lines only run once an hour. So, needless to say, getting over to the city was going to be a pain in the ass.

I decided to take a cab to the nearest open BART station, but I called three different cab companies and couldn't get anyone to answer. Then I decided to drive my car to the Berkeley station and leave it there. But, when I got to Berkeley, the police were blocking off the street that goes to the BART station with a DUI check. Traffic was backed up for blocks.

By 11PM, I'm beginning to lose hope that I will make it into the city. My only recourse is to drive 40 miles out of my way to the next nearest bridge, but I didn't want to do that. I could see the city, glistening on the water, just a few short miles away, but I couldn't get to it. I looked across the bay longingly, like an East Berliner peering across the wall into freedom.

I finally give up and decide to check out Steamworks, since I'm in Berkeley anyway. Well it kind of sucked too. Pretty dead since all its' customers were cut off. So after hanging out there, I decided to call it a night and go home, feeling kind of blue that I've been cut off from all the fun.

The rest of the weekend will be different. I got a hotel room for Saturday and Sunday night. It's down by SFO, which still isn't terribly convenient, but it beats the hell out of being in the East Bay. As I was driving across the San Mateo Bridge, I felt the sadness lift as I crossed over to the peninsula. I was happy now that I was back in the bubble.

So three things occurred to me last night:

1. Whoever had the bright idea to shut down the Bay Bridge on Labor Day weekend should be shot.

2. I should stop making fun of those city queens who won't leave the city limits of San Francisco. I discovered how much I need it last night as well. I was talking to a friend online and he asked me, "can't you get by without it for one weekend?" The answer was a resounding "NO. Not one weekend."

3. Some things really do belong together. The East Bay may be a great place for me to live, but that's only because San Francisco is only 5 miles away. When cut off from the city, the East Bay sucks ass.