Tuesday night, according to the Oklahoman, Norman, Oklahoma City Council passed a resolution proclaiming October Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender History Month, the vote 7-1. Sadly, council members say that they have been harassed with e-mails and phone calls from constituents opposed to the proclamation, Ward 7 Council Doug Cubberly saying that several messages left on his answering machine “threatened my livelihood.” Mayor Cindy Rosenthal said that the proclamation was brought to council “because of a problem in the community,” adding that “It doesn’t create a special status for anyone. It simply calls for dignity and respect for all people.” She said that those who wish to use the month to study the history of the gay community in Norman “can do so” and that “Others can ignore it. That’s the nature of a free society.”
From the Australian Broadcasting Corporation details on the proposal by the Green Party to amend that country’s Marriage Act, and a response from Prime Minister Julia Gillard saying that she will not allow her Labour Party members to vote with conscience. Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young says that the Prime Minister will face pressure from within her own party and out, saying that the Labour Party are “going to have to start justifying their outdate view, their view to keep discrimination to a group within the community that is growing louder and stronger and bigger.” ABC also reporting that Tasmanian gay rights advocate Rodney Croome says the Prime Minister is making a political miscalculation ignoring the advances made by gays at the state level, Tasmania’s Upper House yesterday voting to recognize same sex marriages from interstate as well as international as being legal. Says Croome “It really says something when the Tasmanian Upper House is more progressive than a Labour, a national Labour leader and I’d say to Ms. Gillard, take your cue from the Tasmanian Upper House and adopt a more practical and pragmatic approach to this issue.”
According to the Guardian, members of the Islamic Defenders Front targeted the Q! film festival in Jakarta, the masked Islamic extremists chanting homophobic slogans and accusing the organizers of the international gay film festival of blasphemy, threatening to burn down a venue of the screening did not stop. Festival co-founder and director John Badalu told the Jakarta Post he and his team were committed to completing the festival according to schedule, saying “We’re still going to go on.”
A study commissioned by the BBC finds that gay, lesbian, and bisexual individuals want to see more authentic depictions of their lives, while agreeing that the corporation has made “great progress” in its portrayal of gay people and gay relationships.
The Hollywood Reporter says that Anderson Cooper is closing a deal to host a syndicated daytime talk show, scheduled to begin production in late summer, 2011. Cooper will also act as executive producer, the show described as being a topical format that will examine everything from celebrities and pop culture to social issues and wide-interest news stories.
From the latest Star magazine: “Mike ‘The Situation” Sorrentino may dazzle the ladies with his amazing abs, but another area of his anatomy is much less impressive! ‘I wouldn’t even call it a one-night stand, because he only lasted a few minutes,’ Florida club promoter Melody Eckerson tells Star about their tryst in the Jersey Shore’s cast Miami Beach pad. Things started out normal enough and Melody admits she was even imagining what it would be like to be his girlfriend. But she got a huge surprise when the reality star dropped his pants and reveals – a very tiny Situation. ‘Let’s just say, I’m thinking of my pinky,’ Melody tells Star.”
Kellan Lutz, smoking sexy, natch, seen Wednesday arriving at a Sherman Oaks gym.
Lance Bass spotted Wednesday attending a screening of The Social Network in New York.
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