Soulforce is hoping to put up 16 of these billboards in June in opposition to the Federal Marriage Amendment.  You can help. 

The anti-gay forces are making another attempt to amend the U.S. Constitution to define marriage in such a way as to exclude the families of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people. Senator Bill Frist of Tennessee is their agent for putting the Federal Marriage Amendment before the Senate.

During this summer's fight to defeat the FMA, these billboards will serve as a powerful reminder that Coretta Scott King called for legal protections for same-gender families. And we are placing them in Senator Frist's hometown.

It would be nice to see some in Pennsylvania.  Senator Santorum's former hometown.

While he deftly minces closer to his own heterosexual-style wedding to the lovely and talented Roberta, our good friend and lesbian-lover John McIntire gave gay marriage a big old shout out in his local blog, MacYapper.com. 

In spite of his fondness for large-fonted bold-faced type (I always wondered what his type was), McIntire adroitly dissects the bigot-fawning behavior of Arlen Specter, Dubya and pretty much the entire Republican party (plus Democrat Ben Nelson).

Not to mention members of the general public who like to pussy-foot around their homophobic principles (type faced reduced for non-yelling like reading):

*To those who ask, "why, just because I'm against gay marriage, does thatmake me a bigot or a homophobe?" I extend my sympathies.
You're not necessarily either of those.*You could just be an imbecile.

Edith Bell of Highland Park has got it right:

Mr. Casey is also correct that Pennsylvanians' concerns are health care, the war in Iraq and a living wage, not gay marriage or abortion rights.

Yet both our federal and state legislative bodies are compelled to whip Americans into a puritanical frenzy over anti-gay marriage amendments.  There's no sense in unwhipping (dewhipping?) them.

What we need are constructive solutions to the real problems -- a health insurance plan, a withdrawal plan, etc.  Edith names our great fear:

It is imperative for Mr. Casey to take a stand on at least these important issues, so that we can vote for something positive and not just the "lesser of two evils," which still is evil. I believe, many people will sit out the upcoming election if there are no constructive proposals by the candidate.

We will be stuck with Sen. Santorum for another six years.

I heard Mr. Casey speak with John McIntire last week I wanted him to do well and was pleased when he worked up some passion on particular issues.  If only he could do that across the board.  I was listening for his solutions.  He said he'll be issuing policies over the coming months. 

In the meantime, keep in mind that protecting marriage from marauding homosexuals is not a priority for Pennsylvanians.  No matter what Darryl Metcalfe spews out his hateful little mouth. 

Good job, Edith. 

I woke up with one of those sinus headaches slightly reminiscent of a hangover without the fun memories.  Another crappy Friday to muddle through. I'm scrolling through the online edition of the Post-Gazette and I stumble into the return of my all-time favorite columnist - Mr. Tony Norman.  PLUS, he even makes a gay joke about himself. 

"But here we are again, dear readers, stumbling into each other's arms for yet another awkward dance of indeterminate years. Oh, how I've missed your early morning coffee breath, your sighs of agreement and your belligerent howls of skepticism."

From 365gay comes the tidbit that lawyers for Jennifer Harris, the former player suing Penn State coach Rene Portland for harassment and discrimination, have expanded the scope of the lawsuit.  This move comes after Portland made public statements degrading Harris and dismissing her athletic accomplishments. 

?We're not saying Rene does not have a right to defend herself. Of course she does,? said Harris' attorney, Karen Doering, of the National Center for Lesbian Rights. ?But the law does not permit her to make defamatory statements, which is what she has done by claiming that Jennifer was unable to make contributions to the team.?

The Tribune Review reports that the NCLR has also filed a formal complaint with Penn State's Affirmative Action Office.

"Graham Spanier is the one who said, if she is found to have violated the discrimination policy again, and this is defamation as opposed to harassment, she would be in violation of the school's policy," Doering said. "So, we will see if he does anything."

Of course he won't do anything.  He didn't really mean he would fire the winningest women's coach ever at PSU.  He meant that he would slap her on the other wrist after checking to make sure she didn't violate the real discrimination policy (aka other minority protected classes). 

If Portland were to be fired, she could probably have a nice second career as a housemother for the Duke Lacrosse team.