Apple Hides Prop 8 Tweets from Lady Gaga Promo Page for Ping (Screenshots)

Apple, Inc. recently launched a new social music service, Ping. Among the features it has is social media integration that lets you view celebrity Twitter streams. In the launch, "Apple's promotional image for the new feature conveniently omits a string of Tweets from Lady Gaga's timeline in which she protests anti-gay marriage legislation Proposition 8," writes Marshall Kirkpatrick after being tipped to the inconsistency by Kevin Marks (on Twitter).

"Apple, we see you," Violet Blue writes on her blog, chiding the company. GLBT sites like The Daily Storm called the service "homophobic" and say the omission is an act of censorship. Now, Apple's certainly not the most sex-positive company, but is this homophobic censorship? That seems harsh. Either way, the controversy clearly shows that Apple's anti-porn position is a slippery slope.

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Miss. lesbian student sues over rejected tux photo – Yahoo! News

Ceara Sturgis has been wearing masculine clothes since ninth grade, but her High School denied her the opportunity to wear a tuxedo in the yearbook photo and opted, instead, to flat-out omit her name. Now Christine P. Sun, the ACLU lawyer who represented Constance McMillen in a similar case earlier this year, "filed a federal lawsuit for Sturgis, claiming the Copiah County district discriminated against her on the basis of sex and gender stereotypes," Shelia Byrd reports. "It's unfair and unlawful to force students to conform to outdated notions about what boys and girls should look like without any regard to who they actually are as people," Sun said. Sturgis said she cried when she saw the yearbook and felt punished "just for being who I am."

This new filing comes weeks after McMillen reached a settlement against the Itawamba County School District. McMillen credits Sturgis, whose own legal battle has been going on far longer, with giving her the inspiration for her own challenge.

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Judge lifts Prop. 8 stay – gay marriages on hold

Last week, Proposition 8 was ruled unconstitutional for the should-be-obvious reason that it's an anti-gay discrimination bill. Proponents' arguments that the ruling "jeopardizes the democratic process" are forgetting that human rights aren't a democratic process, but unalienable rights that American law protects. Nevertheless, that's the argument they're using in a rambling appeal to Walker’s ruling filed before the ruling was announced.

After the ruling Judge Walker issued a stay, preventing same-sex marriages from resuming until August 18. The ban's supporters quickly appealed that ruling as well, and as the deadline quickly approaches they've become ever more anxious for a new panel of 3 Ninth-Circuit Judges, Edward Leavy, Michael Hawkins and Sidney Thomas, to extend Judge Walker's stay order. They still have no reason other than fear as to why, though.

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Captain Jonathan Hopkins, West Point Grad, Hero, Fired By DADT – Lez Get Real

For 9 years, Captain Jonathan Hopkins studied, trained, and served the military as an unquestionably outstanding serviceman. "Hopkins graduated #4 out of 901 commissioned officers in West Point’s Class of 2001, where he was also ranked #1 militarily," Melanie Nathan writes. But regardless of his exemplary record, heroic service, and unequaled dedication to the military, he was honorably discharged this week because he is gay. He says that his commanding officers were "almost seemed like they regretted having to" discharge him.

On The Rachel Maddow Show, Hopkins spoke frankly about life in the military under DADT. "Judging people based on their performance is what has always mattered in the military, whether we were overturning segregation, or integration of women, or with this issue. That's what matters to keeping soldiers alive." Hopkins says he will be doing what he can to help repeal the "self-destructive" policy.

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Mike Verdugo Fired for Gay Porn Role? Or for Complaining About Harassment by Hollywood PD? – Broward Palm Beach News – The Juice

A police officer in Broward County, Florida, is facing revocation of his officers' license for a 15 minute appearance in a gay porn flick 14 years ago. Mike Verdugo, an officer with over 10 years of service on the force, was one of the first openly gay officers in the area. But when he came out of the closet in 2007, "suddenly everything changed," Verdugo says. He faced discrimination and even filed a complaint. Shortly thereafter, he was demoted. But the story doesn't end there.

After a reality-TV show appearance, a fan recognized him from the long-forgotten porn scene and posted a clip online. Now city officials want him off the force, despite a previous sentencing by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) of a year probation and "ethics" training, discipline for omitting the one-off porn role on his original job application years ago. Hm…witch hunt, anybody?

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UPDATE: Picking up this story, SexAndThe405 notes that AVN, an adult entertainment conference, occurred just last weekend, in the same city where Verdugo was being demonized. Coincidence? Maybe not…. But there’s good news, too. As reported by South Florida Gay News, “The State of Florida Criminal Justice Standards and Training Commission has upheld the Settlement Agreement in the case of Mike Verdugo.” This means he is “eligible to be hired by any other department if he so chooses,” one of Verdugo’s lawyers said.

COSTA RICA : Gays Unite Against Referendum on Civil Unions – IPS ipsnews.net

Religious groups in Costa Rica have collected 150,000 signatures (mostly at Christian places of worship) petitioning the government to put a proposed law banning same-sex civil unions to popular vote, rather than have it decided by the legislature. Discussion of passing a same-sex civil union law has been ongoing in the predominantly Catholic nation since 2006.

Alexandra Loría, one of 4 lawyers who began the petition, said the referendum was timed to coincide with municipal elections and would therefore likely get a high voter turnout. She rejects opponents' arguments that the referendum is an attempt to violate human rights. "It is about human rights, which cannot be left in the hands of a group of homophobic Catholics," Ombudswoman Ofelia Taitelbaum said, adding "we are completely against" it. Meanwhile, the Costa Rican Coalition of Sexual Diversity Organisations and Groups (CONODIS) campaigns against it, and says it will take the legal fight to international courts, if it must.

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Birmingham gay couple save life of man who abused them – Sunday Mercury

A gay couple in Birmingham, U.K., grabbed a ladder and rescued their homophobic neighbor and his whole family from the roof of their burning home, Ben Goldby reports. The gay couple, Bryn and James Tudor, had already "made headlines in 2005 when they became the first homosexual couple to tie the knot in a civil partnership in Birmingham." That preceded 3 years of verbal abuse from their neighbor, 29-year-old Baljit Koonar. But in the literal heat of the moment, none of that bigotry mattered. "Our thoughts weren’t about him. We wanted to get the kids down as soon as we could. You don’t think about anything that person has done, it’s just about the value of human life," James said.

As Michael A. Jones wrote, "Kind of makes you think, right? The person you treat with homophobic, transphobic, racist, or sexist remarks today may just end up being the same person who one day saves your life."

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Angilcare flags withdrawal over gay adoption bill — ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Company)

With the decision handed down that names Proposition 8 unconstitutional, the U.S. has taken a step towards sensibility in how it treats the personal freedoms and rights of its citizens. Australia may be taking another such step; but not if Angilcare adoption agencies has anything to say about it.

Angilcare, one of only 3 non-government, accredited adoption services in the state of New South Wales, has threatened to withdraw its services if the state passes a bill that will allow same sex couples to adopt. Chief executive Peter Kell wrote a letter to state MPs outlining 11 reasons why the bill should be rejected, which apparently includes that "children need the opportunity to have both a mother and a father," and says that adoption is not a gay rights issue, but should concern only the interests of the child. Which I suppose has much more to do with good modeling for gender roles than with skill or ability in parenting.

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KTAR.com – AZ gay marriage ban in trouble?

Following the victory against "Proposition Hate" in California, conservatives across America are preparing to defend local challenges to their home State's bigoted bans on same-sex marriage. In Arizona, where a similar law bans gay men and lesbians from marrying their partners, GLBT activists marched to the federal courthouse in downtown Phoenix in celebration, hopeful that "the beginning of the end to discrimination" is near. "While I find marriage equality incredibly important, I think there are a lot of other issues equally important to our community," marcher Pam Weir said. "But, marriage is something that's easily accessible by the entire nation that will pave the way for all of our other rights to come through."

Lawyers at the Alliance Defense Fund, a conservative law firm, say overturning Prop 8 "jeapardizes the democratic process." In reality, it's a victory against tyranny of the majority. (Watch source video from 1:52 for local report.)

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Judge strikes down Prop. 8, allows gay marriage in California – latimes.com

“Moral disapproval alone is an improper basis on which to deny rights to gay men and lesbians,” Judge Vaughn Walker wrote in his decision overturning Proposition 8, the controversial ban on same-sex marriage in California. He concluded that the measure, approved with voter ballot by a slim margin of 52.3%, “fails to advance any rational basis in singling out gay men and lesbians for denial of a marriage license. Indeed, the evidence shows Proposition 8 does nothing more than enshrine in the California Constitution the notion that opposite-sex couples are superior to same-sex couples. … Because Proposition 8 prevents California from fulfilling its constitutional obligation to provide marriages on an equal basis, the court concludes that Proposition 8 is unconstitutional.”

Supports of “Proposition Hate” repeatedly used “think of the children”-style arguments in testimony at the 2 and a half week trial.

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