I would be remiss not to comment on the gay bar rampage in Massachusetts.  Last night, the murderous Jacob Robida was captured in Arkansas after killing his female passenger and a cop. (365gay.com)

Robida targets gays armed with a hatchet and a gun.  People are asking why and scrambling to link his neo-Nazi fetish with his apparent homophobia. 

Wake up America.  Robida is a natural outgrowth of the hate-spewing homophobes filling your airwaves, newspapers and political parties.  The hate-laced rhetoric of Jimmy Dobson and Rick Santorum feeds the slippery slope down to Robida.  AND his myspace.com cronies that aided and abetted his descent from homo-assailant to cop killer. 

Do you honestly think that a full-frontal assault to shred the civil rights - the human rights - of an entire segment of society does NOT make us fair game to hatchet wielding monsters like Robida?    Think again.  This is what happens when our leaders are successful in bashing gays to win votes and gain power.  If gay bashing is acceptable in Harrisburg, why not in Donny's Place or Pegasus? 

Pam's House Blend on this:

For proof the PG's inevitable downward spiral, one need look no further than "Just Ask Cat," a misguided attempt to offer advice to Pittsburgh's lost and lovelorn. 

Would-be columnist Catherine Specter dishes out bad advice more often than Joe Grata disses Penndot.

Ms. Specter is caught up in a retro-delusion that with the right pair of pumps and a "you go girl" attitude, the average yinzerette can snare herself a good man and aspire to be like ... her?

In this week's uber dosage of the feminine mystique, Specter advises a career woman how to dress pretty for an after-work date.  Her suggestion?  "Remember, if it's done right, a little primp goes a long way."

In one of my favorite columns, Specter labeled a woman who didn't shave her legs as a "yeti" and took pains to reassure her writer that he isn't shallow  You fell for something that looked and felt one way, and now it's changed.   This inspired a missive to the PG.  

I assume the PG is angling for a Carrie Bradshawesque appeal.  Minus the wit and insight. 

Meanwhile, the well-written and thoughtful teen-directed Help Me Harlan column is relegated to the back pages of the classified section. 

Correspondent's Call:  If you want sassy advice from the PG, read LaMont Jones.  Otherwise, read the City Paper. 

Had dinner with my long-time friend Amy (27 years or so) and her adorable two-year old daughter last weekend.  She informed me that her 80ish grandmother had heard my "Lesbian Correspondent" segments on The Temporary John McIntire Show and was very pleased. 

Apparently, Grammy is a big fan of both McIntire and Lynn Cullen.  Obviously a woman of good taste.

Grammy is down with the lesbians.  She also caught my 10 second interview by WTAE on the Catholic Church sex abuse scandal last fall.  Obviously a woman plugged in.

Rock on Grammy!

From the City Paper

Tom Wyse, faculty adviser for Gay-Straight Alliance groups in two Pittsburgh Public high schools, says a new meeting spot in Carnegie Library?s Oakland branch is the start of a community-wide Alliance. The Carnegie?s dedicated teen room will become the ?Safe and Respectful Space? every Wednesday after school, beginning with a post-Valentine?s Day ice-cream social. The space was Wyse?s suggestion: He says it?s necessary, pointing to January?s Harris poll that showed sexual orientation was the second-most common reason for bullying in schools, after appearance or size. Teens in middle or high school who identified as gay were three times as likely to report bullying as their straight peers.