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Archive for the ‘Alabama’ Category

Cool Hunting reports on Alabama-based artist Walton Creel, who uses his rifle to create artwork. Says Creel: “Whatever view a person already holds on guns is the view they project
onto me. If they love guns and think gun ownership is a God-given
right, then they see my work as reinforcement of that view. If they
think guns should be banned, they see my work as an ironic protest.”

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Jody Trautwein, the pastor who tried to persuade Sacha Baron-Cohen's character Bruno to become an "ex-gay" in the recent film, is running for office to replace anti-gay Birmingham, Alabama mayor Larry Langford:

"Trautwein is among 14 candidates in next week's election to replace Larry Langford, who was booted from office in October after being convicted on 60 felony counts in a bribery scheme.

While the minister's scene drew laughter in theaters, he's running a serious campaign. He has a Web site, fliers, volunteers and a platform that includes fighting crime, improving city schools, economic expansion and restoring integrity to City Hall.

But political discussions inevitably begin with Trautwein's part in 'Bruno,' a spoof released this summer in which Cohen portrayed a gay Austrian fashion journalist traveling the United States. 'I haven't seen the movie,' Trautwein, 39, said in an interview. 'From what I understand it's about an hour and a half of darkness and perversion with about three minutes of light.'

Trautwein said he was duped into appearing in the movie through phone calls from a producer and fake Internet sites set up by Cohen's cohorts. Trautwein believed he was helping a German TV crew telling the story of a man who wanted to give up homosexuality.

In the movie, Trautwein counsels 'Bruno' to convert to heterosexuality by believing in Jesus.

"'He wants to come into your heart right now,' Trautwein says earnestly.' Are you hitting on me?' Cohen deadpans."

Trautweing was the former director of the Alabama Coalition Against Same-Sex Marriage. The election is Tuesday.

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Saying the University of Alabama Birmingham's policy of offering health benefits to same-sx partners runs counter to the state's ban on same-sex marriage, state lawmaker DuWayne Bridges has been gathering support for a proposal to block the benefits, the Birmingham News reports:

"Rep. DuWayne Bridges, R-Valley, said support is building among Republi­cans for a bill that would
prohibit the use of tax dol­lars for domestic partner benefits. 'I don't think the univer­sity should waste money by making a liberal or politi­cally correct statement,' he said Thursday. The bill would be aimed at the University of Ala­bama at Birmingham,
which last month began al­lowing employees to enroll domestic partners
of either
sex in its health insurance plan, with benefits
begin­ning Jan. 1. UAB officials have said they need to offer domestic
partner benefits so
their medical school can compete with other top schools, which routinely do so."

Openly gay state rep. Patricia Todd spoke out against the Bridges plan: "We don't know how many gay, lesbian and transgender people there are
in the country or even in Alabama, but we know that we're present and
we make a contribution and we're not asking for any more or less than
any other group of folks. We just want equality. Like it or not, Rep. Bridges, the world is chang­ing and people are accept­ing more diversity."

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Gay Detroit City Council candidate Charles Pugh under scrutiny after Detroit Free Press pulls endorsement because of foreclosure on condominium.

Kathie Lee Gifford as a gay droid for Halloween.

Watch: Britney Spears' new video for "3".

Homophobic bigot Randy Thomasson is urging his followers to call schools and school boards and force them to erase Harvey Milk Day from their curricula.

NYT looks at Annise Parker's race to be the mayor of Houston, Texas: “I always told voters the truth. There is an element of, ‘Well, if she
will tell us the truth about her sexual orientation she will tell us
the truth about anything.’”

LOL: ChristWire on how the Golden Girls turned an entire generation of American boys gay.

WATCH: Brand new trailer for James Cameron's Avatar, starring Sam Worthington.

ICANN votes to liberalize country web domains:
"This means that in a few months, folks will finally be able to type
URLs in languages using non-Latin alphabets.
For instance, in China, websites will be able soon be in Chinese; in
the Middle East they might be in Arabic or Hebrew; in Greece in Greek
letters, Russia in Russian letters."

Pete Wentz got a tattoo of Cobra Starship's Gabe Saporta on his leg.

Autistic artist Stephen Wiltshire draws 18-foot mural of New York City from memory after 20 minute helicopter ride.

Body 2 Body: Malaysian queer anthology is first of its kind.

Rumer Willis to play a lesbian on 90210: "This isn't a fling. We're coming at this [relationship] from a genuine place and not going, 'Let's do a titillating story that will grab some promotion.' This is a real aspect of teenager life that's interesting…And there's been a real void in the 90210 universe in terms of gay and bisexual characters."

Indiewire looks at this year's gay Oscar hopes: "This year could also find as many as three best pictures helmed by gay
men. In addition to 'A Single Man,' there’s Rob Marshall’s 'Nine,' and
Lee Daniels’ 'Precious: Based on the novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire,' the
latter of which also features a major gay character.  What I think is
really interesting here – and what speaks volumes to social systems in
behind-the-scenes Hollywood – is Lee Daniels’s prospective nomination. 
If he gets nominated for best director, it would be much more
monumental because he is African-American than it would be because he
is openly gay."

Twilight's hunk wolf Alex Meraz takes it off.

First look: Cheyenne Jackson on 30 Rock.

The Real World: Starship Enterprise.

Birmingham school board enacts LGBT-inclusive anti-bullying policy.

Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli: "My view is that homosexual acts, not homosexuality, but homosexual acts
are wrong. They’re intrinsically wrong. And I think in a natural law
based country it’s appropriate to have policies that reflect that. …
They don’t comport with natural law. I happen to think that it
represents (to put it politely; I need my thesaurus to be polite)
behavior that is not healthy to an individual and in aggregate is not
healthy to society."

Ever want to hear from a Tired Old Queen who loves movies? Here's your chance.

True Life: MTV looking for athete coming out stories.

Esera Tuaolo on Larry Johnson's "faggot" slur: "What is also crippling to an athlete is hearing slurs like that thrown
around like it's just the thing to do. When you use (gay slurs) and you
use it in a negative term, it's the same as calling a woman a
(expletive). Or the same as calling an African-American the
(expletive). It's demeaning to another human being. And it's not right."

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Birmingham, Alabama Mayor Larry Langford, who in May 2008 refused to sign a Gay Pride proclamation, allow Pride banners on city property, or sign a parade permit because, he said, it was inappropriate for governent to endorse a lifestyle ("If I
were to sign the permit to put up banners on city right of ways I would
be condoning that which I don't condone.") has been convicted on 60 counts of taking bribes:

"A federal jury convicted Birmingham Mayor Larry Langford on
Wednesday on all charges of accepting bribes in exchange for funneling
$7.1 million in bond business to a prominent investment banker. As a convicted felon, Langford was automatically removed from the office that he won in a landslide in 2007. The
jury deliberated less than two hours before returning its sweeping
verdict on all 60 counts after hearing six days of testimony.
Prosecutors claimed Langford accepted cash and luxury items worth some
$236,000 while serving as president of the Jefferson County Commission.
In exchange, they claimed, Langford sent lucrative bond business to
investment banker Bill Blount. Langford, 63, showed no emotion
when the verdict was read. He was allowed to remain free on bond until
his sentencing and he agreed to forfeit $241,843. Outside the
courtroom, Langford and his wife, Melva, blamed the conviction on race. 'They struck as many blacks off that jury as they could,' he said. Three of the 12 jurors were black."

Langford has been involved in controversial scandals in the past, including one involving a charity, and, strangely enough, gay porn star Ryan Idol.

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