Newt Gingrich Tells Gay Iowan To Vote For Obama, Beleaguered Rick Santorum Secures Bigoted Anti-Gay Christian Iowa Vote, Why Is The Republican Party Obsessed With Gays, Gay Couple In New York Receives Congratulatory Note From The President And First Lady, Opposite Sex Couples In Illinois Opt For Civil Unions To Show Solidarity With Same Sex Couples Unable To Wed, Dustin Lance Black Asks That You Pray For Ill Brother

Newt Gingrich told a gay man and longtime resident of Oskaloosa Iowa Tuesday that he should vote for President Obama. “I asked him if he’s elected, how does he plan to engage gay Americans. How are we to support him? And he told me to support Obama,” said Scott Arnold, an associate professor of writing at William Penn University.” According to The Des Moines Register, Arnold, a Democrat, said he came to the event at Smokey Row coffee house with an open mind. But he wanted to ask Gingrich about how he would represent him as president after reading past comments the former U.S. House Speaker has made about gay and lesbians. “When you ask somebody a question and you expect them to support all Americans and have everyone’s general interest,” Arnold said. “It’s a little bit frustrating and disheartening when you’re told to support the other side. That he doesn’t’ need your support.” Gingrich has been married three times, two ending after his adultery. Gingrich, who has a half sister who is a lesbian, has previously said in Iowa that same-sex marriage “is a temporary aberration that will dissipate.” In his letter to The Family Leader this month, he advocated a federal constitutional amendment that would deny marriage rights to same-sex couples. “It doesn’t inspire hope at all,” Arnold said of Gingrich’s statements. “And if that’s what he’s trying to do and that’s what he’s trying to say, that this is a collective effort if he’s elected president, yet he tells me to support the other side?”

Rick Santorum received a supposedly big Iowa endorsement Tuesday that might help rally the splintered Christian evangelical community here around him. A social conservative leader in the state, Bob Vander Plaats, backed the former Pennsylvania senator just two weeks before the caucuses here, calling him “the Huckabee in this race,” adding, “I saw him as a champion for the family in the U.S. House, I saw him as a champion for the family in the U.S. Senate. I saw him as a champion for the family on the campaign trail. I believe Rick Santorum comes from us, just not to us, he comes from us.” Vander Plaats heads up the Family Leader, which has not endorsed a candidate before this campaign but said they would this time. But the board deliberated up until last night and “reached unanimity,” according to Vander Plaats, that the organization would not make an endorsement. Chuck Hurley, who heads the Iowa Family Policy Center, part of the Family Leader, also chose to endorse Santorum outside the organization, reports ABC News. In a press conference, Hurley cited Santorum’s commitment to socially conservative issues, adding that he was persuaded by the fact that the Santorum family homeschooled their children, as he did. In the last cycle, home school advocates and the broader evangelical community were able to coalesce around Mike Huckabee, ensuring his victory over Mitt Romney despite the $10 million the Romney campaign poured into Iowa. Hurley told reporters that Santorum “meets and exceeds the biblical qualifications,” but added that he would “have preferred to be here today endorsing a team.” Explaining he would prefer is the other socially conservative candidates in the race would “come together and figure out who has the talent for president, who has the talents for other roles in the federal government” to help the evangelical community coalesce around one candidate instead of being spread between Michele Bachmann, Rick Perry, Newt Gingrich and Santorum, Hurley said, “As we all know, there are several great pro-family candidates and it would be my dream, my ideal and I will continue to pray for and hope for a coalescing for the candidates.” The deliberations were both testy and dramatic, according to Hurley, who said that Vander Plaats received threats before making his decision. “I do regret that one erstwhile friend and cultural warrior has threatened to burn Bob’s body and drag it through the streets and hang it from a bridge if Bob doesn’t endorse who that person wants him to endorse,” Hurley said, refusing to name the person or who that person backed. Hurley ended the press conference by telling Iowa caucus-goers “to take a close look at Rick, to study the scripture, to pray hard and vote their conscience. Above all, we answer to God for our vote.” None of the other campaigns were at the press conference, but Santorum coalitions director Jamie Johnson was in attendance. He said he had no idea Santorum would be chosen, but that their campaign headquarters are in Urbandale. The Bachmann and Gingrich headquarters are also located close by. Johnson said the endorsement will give a big boost to the campaign here and across the country and the backing will help voters give Santorum a “second look” as well as help with much-needed campaign funds. Despite the good news for the campaign, Johnson couldn’t help but hit the other candidates, including Perry and Bachmann, both currently on bus tours. “We are frankly glad they’ve finally decided to visit all of the Iowa communities two months after we finished ours,” Johnson told reporters before zinging Bachmann specifically. “I hope they manage to get places on time. I know a lot of their schedules are pretty tight and pretty packed … one particular candidate seems to arrive 90 minutes late and spend 5 to 10 minutes a stop. We have usually scheduled at least an hour, sometimes an hour and a half to each city stop to give voters there as much time as possible.” Bachmann has scheduled as many as 13 stops in one day and at times spends 15 minutes at each location, while other stops are longer. Neither Vander Plaats nor Johnson believes he will have any official role in the Santorum campaign, but Johnson said those conversations could be “coming” and they are “open to discussing that possibility.”

Why is the GOP gay-obsessed? Jonathan Capehart, writing at The Washington Post, explains.

A gay couple in Brooklyn, New York, were surprised to find a letter in their mailbox six months after their wedding congratulating them, but they were more surprised to find it was from the President. Matt Katz, 32, and Aaron Lafrenz, 36, were married at the Katz family’s Brooklyn home on July 23, 2011, the day before same sex marriage became legal in New York state. The following day, the two went to Brooklyn borough hall and were among the first gay couples to legally be married in the state. This December, Katz and Lafrenz received a letter in their mailbox with the White House seal indented in the paper and the signature of one Barack Obama on the bottom. Obama has been opposed to gay marriage in the past, though he has recently said his views on the topic are “evolving.” Katz told ABC News Tuesday that a family friend, Arlene Weinstock, had requested the letter on their behalf after hearing that the White House would take requests upon the passage of the New York gay marriage bill. Weinstock, of Long Beach, California, assumed that the request had not been fulfilled when the couple hadn’t heard from the White House during the summer, but realized today that she was the cause of the mysterious presidential salutation. “I was so super confused,” Katz said, noting that he was not a major political activist and had no strong ties to gay rights groups. “But Aunt Arlene called me up and said, ‘This is my fault!’” The White House confirmed to ABC News that they sent the letter. The letter reads, in part, “Your union marks the beginning of a lifelong partnership as you share in the joys of your life together. I wish you the very best as you embark on your journey together and hope your bond grows stronger with each passing year.” Katz said he was happy to receive the letter, but acknowledged the president is probably looking to shore up the gay vote ahead of the 2012 election. “I do think he’s trying to (pander), but I don’t blame him,” Katz said. “At this point, this is not necessarily a ploy but he can’t for public office reasons be on one side, so maybe this is his way of winking at the gay public in New York and saying I really need your vote now.” Katz said his father is a longtime supporter of Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, and when he first received the Obama letter, he asked his father whether that had anything to do with it. His father said no. The White House, when asked about the letter today, responded that it “regularly sends congratulatory messages from the president to members of the public.” Richard Socarides, a former adviser to Bill Clinton and current president of Equality Matters, a gay rights group, agreed that it a fairly normal move and did not signal a change in the president’s position on gay marriage rights. “Those letters usually come out of the staff secretary’s office. They’re very careful, but I’m sure that — I don’t think this is reflective of a policy decision. I think it’s sort of curious, but likely serendipitous,” Socarides said. Despite stating in October that the issue of same sex marriage was something he “struggled with,” Obama has never come out in support of gay marriage. He has said he supports “strong civil unions.” Obama also led the repeal of the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, which banned gays from serving openly in the military. Katz said that despite the letter’s mysterious arrival, the couple was happy to receive it and will likely frame and display the letter in their home. “For a minute there I really really thought it was a gag gift, but it has the seal, and it’s him and Michelle. We’ll definitely frame it,” he said.

Lisa Berube, 27, and her spouse Matt Churilla, 29, opted for a civil union license when they said wed at Chicago City Hall this year in a show of “solidarity” with gay couples across Illinois who are not legally allowed to get married. “Part of the reason we chose a civil union over a marriage or over a marriage license was to show solidarity,” Berube said. “It was important for us to be able to define family relationships on our own terms. Marriage didn’t do that for us. Marriage seemed more exclusionary.” The Chicago Sun-Times reports that Berube and Churilla, who live in Chicago’s Logan Square neighbourhood, are among a small fraction of opposite sex couples who obtained civil union licenses in Cook County when the new state-wide law allowing civil unions kicked in June 1. County Clerk David Orr’s office, which issues marriage and civil union licenses, launched a survey in September to find out why the couples – who can legally get married – opted for civil unions. Berube participated in the fall survey involving a member of 46 out of 87 heterosexual couples who had taken out civil union licenses at the time. She was among the bulk of respondents – 12 – who offered the No. 1 reason for obtaining a marriage license: “fairness” and “solidarity with the gay community.” The second most common answer was “obtaining benefits,” according to the clerk’s office. In the first six months civil unions were available - June 1 – November 30 - the clerk’s office issued 1,856 civil union licenses, including 138 to opposite-sex couples. During that same period state-wide, 3,729 couples obtained civil union licenses, according to according to Equality Illinois, a gay and lesbian rights group that’s tracking county-by-county numbers.

On his blog Tuesday, Dustin Lance Black writes “Two weeks ago my older brother’s cancer came back in a way that is inoperable. I flew to Michigan yesterday to pack his things into boxes for the movers. He can’t stand or sit up for more than a few minutes, so step two is to drive him from his home in Holland, Michigan to my Mom’s house in Virginia. Our goal is to make it there by Christmas Eve, but my bigger hope is that all of his treasures I carefully packed into boxes today won’t live there for good. My prayer is that he will be able to unpack them himself soon and that we’ll share many more Christmas mornings together. I love my big brother more than I can describe. We survived a lot of dark days when we were little boys. I won’t go into the details, but I don’t think I would have made it without him. When I finally moved away from my brothers, we each put rings on our right middle fingers to remind us that we’re a family of survivors. You’ll see it in any picture I’ve ever taken. So tonight I’m asking for your help. The doctors are saying it’s going to take a miracle for him to pull through this. So please, all I want for Christmas are your prayers for that miracle.”