In light of this week's announcement that Barack Obama supports gay marriage, making him the first-ever sitting U.S. President to make such a profound statement, response to the news has been mostly positive. Even noted conservative and Hunky Jesus hater Andrew Sullivan described himself as "uncharacteristically at a loss for words," adding, "Obama did more than make a logical step. He let go of fear. He is clearly prepared to let the political chips fall as they may. That's why we elected him. That's the change we believed in." Following are other reactions to Obama's "evolved" stance on same-sex marriage. more ›

Hard French, El Rio's award-winning afternoon queer dance party in the Mission District, turned soft over the weekend after several of its Facebook followers (i.e., commenters) took offense to their naming their Cinco de Mayo's party "Pico de Gallo." Some daytime disco fans thought the salsa-themed title was a touch racist. For whatever reasons. Furthermore, club promoters (quite cleverly) encouraged revelers to come dressed as their favorite Pico de Gallo ingredient — e.g., tomatoes, red onion, jalapenos, garlic, etc. Intended to mock the drunk, white frat boys and brogrammers who party in the Mission wearing sombreros on May 5th, some Hard French fans took umbrage and found the entire bit culturally insensitive. Some were angered yet begged for more "dialogue". Some simply didn't care. Either way it made for interesting commentary and fist-shaking that only voices on the interwebs can muster. A few choice Facebook moments: more ›

Crazy person Sean Harris, senior pastor of the Berean Baptist Church in North Carolina, delivered a terrifying sermon on Sunday to his congregation suggesting that parents "crack" their fey sons' limp wrists, rein in daughters who appear butch, "punch" them if they act gay, and a slew of other child-abuse recommendations that are sure to horrify anyone with commonsense and a heart. Harris was speaking in support for North Carolina's Amendment One, the state's looming ban on gay marriage and civil union. Care of Good As You, who first reported the story, the transcript of the infamous sermon reads as follows: more ›

Before a winner is crowned next week on RuPaul's Drag Race, we implore you to a) you personally see to it that Sharon Needles wins the pageant, and b) buy tickets now (not tomorrow, now) for Miss Needles upcoming July 28th appearance at the Castro Theatre with icon and noted filmmaker Peaches Christ. The two will host a screening of Silence of the Lambs, the Academy Award-winning portrait of a young lesbian FBI agent who befriends an elderly British cannibal who hungers for liver and springtime beans. more ›

The Human Rights Campaign released financial documents today from the National Organization for Marriage (AKA NOM, the organization partially responsible for Proposition 8, California's same-sex marriage ban) that show a staggering $10,000 donation from Governor Mitt Romney's PAC prior the November election in 2008. While Romney's views on civil rights and gay marriage are not terribly surprising (as you can have surmise, the GOP presidential hopeful is staunchly against two dudes getting married), how he went about making the donation should give voters pause for concern. more ›

Two men traveling aboard a gay cruise ship in Dominica were arrested by local authorities on Saturday for participating in sultry acts of homosexuality up to and including indecent exposure and "buggery," the term used for sodomy on the island. John Robert Hart, 41, and Dennis Jay Mayer, 43, were pinched by the local fuzz after someone on the dock spotted the duo going at it on the Celebrity Summit cruise ship. more ›

On today's edition of Homosexualizing the 49ers, we take a look at this week's cover of Sports Illustrated. Chortle. It looks like they're totally doing it. And before you come down on us for puerile humor, the editorial staff at SI knew exactly what they were doing. Of course they used this particular shot for a San Francisco-based team. Because San Francisco is full of gaybirds. Let's take a closer look, shall we? more ›

Staying sober in the Castro is like trying to stay sober in the Castro. It's quite trying, what with all of the bars and dealers within hinged-wrist's length. Enter the Castro Country Club, a tiny clubhouse, if you will, located on 18th Street that allows sober addicts to socialize comfortably within a queer space without getting ripped to the tits. The building housing the space was sold this week. So, does the club once again stand in a state of peril? Not likely. more ›

Confused GOP candidate Newt Gingrich surprised absolutely no one when he told gay voters to back Obama. According to the Des Moines Register, an Iowa gay asked the former U.S. House Speaker how he would support gay Americans if elected. more ›

Guy Fieri (née Guy Ferry) hosts Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives on the Food Network. It is (in)famous as one of the most unpleasant shows in Food Network history. (The Two and a Half Men of FN, if you will.) So it should come as no great shock that, according to David Page, a former producer of DDD, Ferry isn't too keen on the gays and the Jews. Allegedly. more ›

L-Word actress and musician Leisha Hailey took to Twitter yesterday after Southwest Airlines booted her and her girlfriend from a flight for kissing. According to Hailey, "Flt. attendant said that it was a 'family' airline and kissing was not ok." She followed up with, "We were escorted off the plane for getting upset about the issue. @SouthwestAir endorses homophobic employees. No one made her accountable," going so far as to ask for a boycott, saying, "I know plenty of wonderful same sex families I would like to introduce them to. Boycott @SouthwestAir if you are gay. They don't like us." more ›

During last night's GOP debate, it was difficult to watch the Google logo stand next to evil, so unintentionally in contrast with its corporate logo. Case in point: Rick Santorum expressing his opinion on the defeated "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy. More disturbing than Santorum's inaccurate screed ("What we're doing is playing social experimentation with—with our military right now. And that's tragic.") was the fact that the audience loudly booed an active, and homosexual, serviceman for asking about it. more ›

As a friend succulently pointed out just now, "Obama just ended 'don't ask don't tell.' So much for staying in tonight." Indeed. President Barack Obama today signed a certification of Congress' repeal of the United States' antiquated ban on gay men and women from serving openly in the military. The 18-year-old Clinton-era law will officially be squashed on September 20 more ›

The Senate today "voted to advance legislation that would overturn the military ban on openly gay troops known as 'don't ask, don't tell.' " That is to say, the ban on openly gays serving in the military will, most likely, be lifted. Later on Saturday afternoon, the Senate will make the final vote. more ›

While this video featuring Fort Worth, Texas city councilman Joel Burns discussing gay teen suicide has rocked the nation accordingly, we can barely watch the entire thing. (Your editor hasn't attended countless happy hours since turning 17 21 so that he could be reminded of the K-12 years, thank you.) It's pretty brutal. But necessary. It will make you cry. more ›

Well, that was quick. Even after Lady Gaga held some sort of quirky rally in Maine, Republicans successfully blocked the senate bill that would've ended the bizarre military policy that won't allow gays to serve openly in the military. "With the 56-43 vote, Democrats fell short of the 60 votes needed to advance the legislation," AP (via SFGate) reports. "It also would have authorized $726 billion in defense spending including a pay raise for troops." more ›

Brought to us by Allan Hough at Mission Mission, this scene from Dolores Park, shot by Annie/le petit écureuil sums up the park in a nutshell. Sort of. more ›

Whether latching onto gay archetypes (e.g., Gypsy IS the Hamlet of the American musical, pnp party tonight, Diesel, etc.) or self-consciously avoiding them (e.g., I-don't-get-Liza-Minnelli-or-Lady-Gaga-so-take-my-gay-card-please rhetoric, on the DL, hipsterishly eschewing bathing, Dockers), all gay men can agree on one thing: finding themselves endlessly fascinating. So, it's no wonder that the bear community -- a lifestyle involving the indoctrination of plus-sized hairy men -- thrives here in San Francisco, a city endlessly fascinated with itself. more ›

Tired of trying to network with other homosexual types at, say, the Bar On Church when it's packed wall-to-wall with tweaked Lady Gaga fans? Can't get a word in between fistfights at the Lexington? Will no one listen to your deft business proposal in the backroom of the Powerhouse because they're too busy sexually assaulting you? Well then, head over to a brunch for dot429, billed as a "social network for LGBT professionals." more ›

Good news, radio listeners. Karel, the single-named, visibly homosexual radio talk show host, plans on coming back to the San Francisco airwaves next Monday. Rich Lieberman has the scoop, reporting that the "late of KGO and Energy (92.7) is coming back to the SF airwaves, beginning Monday." To start things off, he'll "do the afternoon drive show on Green 960, the Clear Channel outlet that has a loyal, if not humongous following." more ›

Good news for the gays: Negotiations between the police and the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence moved forward last week and after agreeing to a reduction in the number of beer concessions (from 8 to 5), the two parties came to an agreement about Pink Saturday in the Castro. This follows on our earlier report about cops not wanting to agree to beer concessions at all outside of beer gardens, and the Sisters threatening to back out of the event altogether. Pink Saturday, for those who don't know, is the annual drunken block party that happens the Saturday night before Gay Pride on Castro Street, following the Dyke March. This will be the first year it features actual beer concessions, as well as DJs, a "Dyke Landing" and "Fairy Freedom Village," and a performance stage sponsored by 92.7. more ›

Akin to Judy Garland's death or Adam Lambert losing last night's American Idol finale -- damn you to hell, Bill O'Reilly! -- 30 years ago today the White Night riots erupted after supervisor Dan White was given a lenient verdict for murdering supervisor Harvey Milk and Mayor George Moscone. Windows were smashed, property destroyed, and police cruisers set ablaze. Then, after watching the gays get hysterical, SFPD raided a Castro gay bar (Elephant Walk, now known as Harvey's) in retaliation, thus escalating tension. more ›

The always filthy Up Your Alley Street Fair (a.k.a. Dore Alley) -- which is sort of a smaller, gayer, more distilled and urine-soaked version of Folsom Street Fair -- is being threatened with a loss of permit by the SFPD if fair organizers don't crack down on public sex and nudity at this year's fair. The threat stems from complaints by two individuals about last year's event, one of whom put together an entire website devoted to the many disgusting sights he witnessed (and photographed), including a man multiply peed upon by his friends, and another man jacking off out his third-story window onto the crowd. more ›

Although some reports have claimed otherwise, gays in Iraq are being "executed in batches," convicted for the crime of homosexuality. According to Reuters, "Two gay men were killed in Baghdad's Sadr City slum...and police said they had found the bodies of four more after clerics urged a crackdown on a perceived spread of homosexuality." These killings reportedly happened last Thursday. Before the executions -- wherein hundreds of Iraqi gays are currently eligible, if you will, for execution -- sermons "condemning homosexuality were read at the last two Friday prayer gatherings in Sadr City, a sprawling Baghdad slum of some 2 million people." A Sadr City Shi'ite cleric official noted, "this (homosexuality) has spread because of the absence of the Mehdi Army, the spread of sexual films and satellite television and a lack of government surveillance." more ›

If activists, like Michael Petrelis and other Castro frequenters, really wanted to focus attention on a part of the world where gays are suffering, maybe they could take a look at Iraq. Because this is, for lack of a better word, depressing. It's unreal but all too real. Iraqi gays will be "executed in batches" this week, convicted of the crime of being queer. UK Gay News has the details. more ›

We dare you to watch the Courage Campaign's Fidelity video and not get all weepy. We were able to keep it together until it got to the big crowd shots around the end, and then suddenly there was something in our eye. more ›

After years of being blissfully ignorant of the homosexual lifestyle, eHarmony, the online dating site that uses highly intricate and futuristic technologies to find you that perfect match, will now be required to set up a special rainbow-flavored section for gays and lesbians looking for lifetime partners. This comes on the heels of a lawsuit filed by Eric McKinley, a New Jersey bear looking for a cub, accusing the online love portal of discrimination. The new very special section of eHarmony - who still maintains that they were "not found in violation of the law" - will be called "compatible partners." Hm. more ›

We’ll admit, we’ve been aloof to the A’s and this season’s American League West proceedings, what with the Athletics getting ready to juke their hometown for Fremont. But oh baby, do we have a new reason to root for the A’s to engage in some serious divisional ass-whooping. more ›

Republican Missouri Rep. Sam Graves attacks his Democratic nemesis, Kay Barnes, who is running again him. Barnes is tied to the loverly Nancy Pelosi, who threw her a "ritzy" party in her honor, littered with homosexual types. Check out his whimsical yet back-firing attack ad on her and "San Francisco values." more ›

While his Holiness is more or less meh when it comes to non-consensual sex between a man and a boy, same-sex marriage just ain't cool in his book. So stop, says Pope Benedict. more ›