Courtesy of the show's producers, today's Swag Tuesday prize is two tickets to the premiere Broadway musical production of Priscilla: Queen Of The Desert, which begins previews this week. Get Ready for THE RIDE OF YOUR LIFE! PRISCILLA QUEEN OF THE DESERT: THE MUSICAL is the feel-good theatrical experience of the year! Based on the smash-hit movie, PRISCILLA is the heart-warming, uplifting adventure of three friends who hop aboard a battered old bus searching for love and friendship and end up finding more than they could have ever dreamed of. With a dazzling array of outrageous costumes and a hit parade of dance-floor favorites, this wildly fresh and funny new musical is a journey to the heart of FABULOUS!Tickets for Priscilla are now on sale and you can follow the show and cast on Twitter and Facebook. Enter to win your tickets by commenting on this post. Only enter once and please remember to leave your email address in the text of your entry. If you cannot be in Manhattan to attend the show, your winning entry is transferable to your favorite show queen. Publicists: If you'd like to take part in Swag Tuesday on JMG, please email me.
Jane Russell, voluptuous pin-up model and star of dozens of Westerns and musicals, has died at the age of 89. While her "scandalous" movies and photo shoots at times created controversies over censorship, in her later years Russell embraced far-right conservative Christian politics and openly accepted the label of "bigot." Perhaps best known politically for her anti-feminism and battles against abortion rights (including for rape and incest), in 2003 she told Australia's Daily Mail: "These days I’m a teetotal, mean-spirited, right-wing, narrow-minded, conservative Christian bigot, but not a racist." Russell was an occasional guest on the anti-gay Praise The Lord show hosted by Jan and Paul Crouch, although I'm not finding any examples of her commenting on gay rights issues. For now, let's remember her from before the crazy years.
Former RNC chairman (and 21st century Roy Cohn) Ken Mehlman attended Saturday's GOProud fundraiser in the home of former Dick Cheney adviser Mary Matalin. GOProud has posted dozens of photos.
New Orleans' infamous Pastor Grant Storms, who every year can be found shouting hellfire and brimstone at Southern Decadence attendees, has been arrested for masturbating in his van while watching children in a playground. Storms told deputies that he was merely having lunch at Lafreniere Park, 3000 Downs Blvd., in his van when he decided to relieve himself using a bottle instead of using the restroom, an incident report said. But two witnesses said they saw Storms through the open windows of his van masturbating himself while watching children on the playground, the report said. The two women flagged down a park employee who notified the Sheriff's Office. The employee also detained Storms until deputies arrived. Bond for Storms was set at $5,000. But he was released from the Jefferson Parish Correctional Center in Gretna on Sunday because of overcrowding at the jail. Armed with bullhorns, Bibles and picket signs, Storms and a group of followers in 2003 protested against Southern Decadence, the gay three-day festival held over Labor Day weekend in the French Quarter. Storms' efforts prompted the New Orleans City Council to ban megaphones and other amplification devices.Storms has actually held anti-gay "purity" parades through the French Quarter during Southern Decadence. But not, we're guessing, this year!
The SPLC-certified hate group MassResistance has just issued an e-book attacking former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney over the advances made in LGBT rights during his tenure. Christian Newswire has the press release:Massachusetts pro-family activist Amy Contrada has just released her definitive study of Mitt Romney's role in implementing "gay marriage," promoting GLBT "rights," and supporting the sexual-radical agenda in the Massachusetts schools while Governor. Contrada details how Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney supported the homosexual and transgender agenda on same-sex "marriage," sexual-radical indoctrination in the schools, and societal transformation -- while posing as a defender of the Constitution and traditional family values. Pro-family leaders enthusiastically recommend the book: Peter LaBarbera (Americans for Truth about Homosexuality) says, "In writing the meticulously documented 'Mitt Romney's Deception,' Amy Contrada has done the job that the liberal media was supposed to do. What she has uncovered is stunning even to experienced critics of Romney's equivocation on homosexual issues. Contrada lays bare Romney's servile embrace of the radical Massachusetts 'gay' agenda. Then she exposes his subsequent doublespeak in posing as the stalwart defender of traditional marriage in his bid for the GOP presidential nomination."Longtime JMG readers may recall Amy Contrada for her 2007 reaction to her daughter Claudia's coming out while a high school senior. Contrada accused LGBT activists of "perverting" Claudia's sexuality and yanked her out of school. Then she published a full-page article on the MassResistance site to reveal that Claudia isn't even biologically hers and was adopted. It really does take a vile repulsive bitch like Amy Contrada to actually make us feel (momentarily) sympathetic to Mitt Romney.
"The homosexual lifestyle signifies the triumph of neo-pagan Epicureanism. By its very nature, homosexuality cannot fulfill the primary function of sex: procreation and the reproduction of the human race. It is inherently a socially barren act. A homosexual society is a childless one - doomed to extinction. [snip] Contrary to the claims of liberals, marriage is not a 'civil right' - something to be dispensed at the behest of anyone who wishes it. If this were true, it would unleash the floodgates. Polygamy, 'transgender' unions, bestiality, pedophilia - all forms of deviant sexual behavior could claim discrimination. It is a recipe for moral anarchy and social disintegration. For centuries, public acceptance of homosexuality has been identified with decadence, decline and the fall of civilizations." - Washington Times columnist and wingnut radio commentator Jeffrey Kuhner, who says the other 95% of Americans will stop having babies if same-sex marriage becomes legal.
"I think it is a breach of presidential duty bordering on treason. The oath of office by the president says that he will protect, observe, and defend the Constitution of the United States of America, which means all of its subsequent laws. The fact that he says that he has asked the Department of Justice not to enforce it, to me, is a breach duty as President of the United States." - Potential 2012 GOP presidential candidate Herman Cain, repeating the "enforcement" lie of the Christiantist right. DOMA remains in full effect and IS being enforced.
In a case that has already seen heavy coverage in the American right-wing press, a British high court has backed a local city council decision to ban foster parents who vow to condemn homosexuality to their children. The case involves Eunice and Owen Johns, who say their right to be foster parents is being denied because of their religious views. Lord Justice Munby and Mr Justice Beatson ruled that laws protecting people from discrimination because of their sexual orientation "should take precedence" over the right not to be discriminated against on religious grounds. The Johns are considering an appeal. Derby City Council said previously its first duty was to the children in its care, some of whom were very vulnerable. Speaking outside the court in London, Mrs Johns said: "All we wanted was to offer a loving home to a child in need. We have a good track record as foster parents. "We have been excluded because we have moral opinions based on our faith and we feel sidelined because we are Christians with normal, mainstream, Christian views on sexual ethics. We are prepared to love and accept any child. All we were not willing to do was to tell a small child that the practice of homosexuality was a good thing."You can bet that this case will somehow be injected into the DOMA battle.
Yesterday Porno Pete LaBarbera posted the above boycott letter sent to the management group of Chili's Restaurants because of a donation the company made to support the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force's annual Creating Change conference. LaBarbera is especially angry because his "undercover spies" reported that the conference featured (GASP!) unisex restrooms. Outrageous!
The Wyoming House adjourned without taking action on a same-sex marriage bill that had already passed the state Senate. Passing the measure would have required a two-thirds vote in both houses. House Majority Floor Leader Rep. Tom Lubnau, R-Gillette, said he didn't want to spend hours of floor time debating a bill that didn't have the votes to pass. The Legislature is set to adjourn next week. Another bill was still pending that would change Wyoming law to specify that the state would only recognize marriages between one man and one woman. Disagreement remained between the House and Senate over whether the state should allow same-sex couples who entered civil unions elsewhere to have access to the state court system to resolve any issues that arise in their relationships.A local Christianist group has vowed to revive the bill in the next legislative session.
In over twenty episodes that aired between June 18 and December 7, 2010, the program contained images and language of the nature that is never displayed or is bleeped out of pre-taped English-language programs of the same nature, including the words "pinche" ("f*cking" in English) and "culero" ("assf*cker"), anti-gay language, including epithets such as ""maricón," "joto" and "puñal" (or "f*ggot"), and anti-Latino slurs, such as "mojado" ("wetback"). The program frequently featured blatant nudity and female guests have been shown in violent fights. Hypersexualized images of women's breasts and genitals while stripping for male guests and audience members also make up routine offerings. Guests and audience members were often incited to engage in verbal and even physical attacks, especially against people perceived to be LGBT. Many episodes showed the audience standing and shouting anti-gay epithets and profanity at guests.An online public petition to the FCC has also been launched. The below clip is very NSFW.
Britain now has its first openly gay cricket star.England wicketkeeper Steve Davies has revealed he is gay, becoming the country's first top cricketer to come out. Davies has played eight one-day internationals and five Twenty20 matches for England and was a member of the victorious Ashes squad as back-up gloveman to Matt Prior. Welsh rugby international Gareth Thomas, former NBA player John Amaechi and the late footballer Justin Fashanu are the only other high-profile British sports stars to have come out. Davies told The Sun: "I'm comfortable with who I am and happy to say who I am in public. To speak out is a massive relief for me, but if I can just help one person to deal with their sexuality then that's all I care about.Davies says he was inspired to come out by rugby star Gareth Thomas, who has issued a message of support.
“I’m really disappointed in the President and the Department of Justice in the fact that they’re not going to defend a law that Congress passed overwhelmingly. It’s their responsibility to do that. Now, it’s happened before where administrations have decided they weren’t going to go out and vigorously defend a law that Congress passed but I really am disappointed in the President in his actions but if the President won’t lead, if the President won’t defend DOMA then you’ll see the House of Representatives defend our actions in passing a bill that frankly passed overwhelmingly. I’d be very surprised if the House didn’t decide that they were going to defend law.”
"The chance to be part of a whole new experiment in online and print journalism, in the Daily Beast and Newsweek adventure, is just too fascinating and exciting a challenge to pass up. And to work with media legends, Barry Diller and Tina Brown, and with the extraordinary businessmen Sidney Harman and Stephen Colvin, is the opportunity of a lifetime." - Andrew Sullivan, announcing that his blog is leaving its four-year home at The Atlantic.
Miss Selfridge, one of the UK’s hottest fashion brands, has opened its door to young style-savvy fashionistas at The Dubai Mall’s Fashion Avenue First Floor. Famous for its exciting ‘fashion only’ proposition, Miss Selfridge brings the latest fashion Trend to Dubai giving shoppers the best of the season’s trends. 
