Half-Naked New York Firemen and Don't Ask Don't Tell

First, business. New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, appointed to fill Hillary Clinton's seat, has decided to pull an amendment to the defense bill -- the same one with the Matthew Shepard Act -- that would put a stay on discharges from the military based on "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." She decided that the Senate did not have the necessary 60 votes to end a filibuster. So many things wrong with the thing, including the question of whether we really need to overcome a filibuster every time to get anything done anymore. Remember, it only takes 51 votes to pass, not 60. Meanwhile, Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA) and Rep. Patrick Murphy (D-PA) have promised to propose legislation to end the discriminatory policy. No word on when though.

And, second, you know all how much I love beefcake. Well, the 2010 New York Firemen calendar has come out for purchase. Though, for the most part, it is an experiment in the thought that "men in groups look better than a man alone," it's still quite tasty to look through. Thanks to Queerty for the full photo set and the below video of the making of...

Joe.My.God. points out, astutely, that it's labeled the FDNY calendar -- not the NYFD calendar as in past years after a 2008 model was found performing in Guys Gone Wild video (link -- NSFW) with his massive schlong. The department pulled its support for the calendar soon after.

Purchase the 2010 calendar here.

Re New York

To answer the couple of questions I got via email today...

I have no idea what's going on in New York State, but it vaguely resembles a small coup, with Democrats jumping ship over to the Republican side and people issuing nasty statements and an attempt to disrupt the power structure of the Senate there. 

Seriously, guys, something fucked up this way comes.

Queerty, btw, has a great rundown of what this might mean for marriage. The answer: possibly nothing (as one of the Dems that switched was pro-marriage), possibly everything (Republican leadership not allowing the bill come to a vote). 

Tops versus Bottoms

Via ManhuntDaily...

Do we believe this? Queerty doesn't, who has this to say: 

Then again, maybe Manhunt's data collection methods are flawed: The site polled users on whether they're tops or bottoms, and you know how the typical guy responds to that question.

Yea, Cincinnati's chat rooms are filled with tops who flip the moment you get them home. It's been a vast disappointment for those of us who identify as "bottoms."

Update: Oops! Meant to add this on! This particular survey was done in response to a Craigslist study that found that New York City is the city with the most amount of tops out of major US cities, and Houston with the most amount of bottoms:

Where do you think Cincinnati lies?

Barack Obama on Pride Month

And the mountain moves. 

Barack Obama today released the following statement celebrating June as Pride Month in the US. Aside from the push for the Matthew Shepard Act, this is the first statement since he became President on LGBT anything:

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
A PROCLAMATION

Forty years ago, patrons and supporters of the Stonewall Inn in New York City resisted police harassment that had become all too common for members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community. Out of this resistance, the LGBT rights movement in America was born. During LGBT Pride Month, we commemorate the events of June 1969 and commit to achieving equal justice under law for LGBT Americans.

LGBT Americans have made, and continue to make, great and lasting contributions that continue to strengthen the fabric of American society. There are many well-respected LGBT leaders in all professional fields, including the arts and business communities. LGBT Americans also mobilized the Nation to respond to the domestic HIV/AIDS epidemic and have played a vital role in broadening this country’s response to the HIV pandemic.

Due in no small part to the determination and dedication of the LGBT rights movement, more LGBT Americans are living their lives openly today than ever before. I am proud to be the first President to appoint openly LGBT candidates to Senate-confirmed positions in the first 100 days of an Administration. These individuals embody the best qualities we seek in public servants, and across my Administration — in both the White House and the Federal agencies — openly LGBT employees are doing their jobs with distinction and professionalism.

The LGBT rights movement has achieved great progress, but there is more work to be done. LGBT youth should feel safe to learn without the fear of harassment, and LGBT families and seniors should be allowed to live their lives with dignity and respect.

My Administration has partnered with the LGBT community to advance a wide range of initiatives. At the international level, I have joined efforts at the United Nations to decriminalize homosexuality around the world. Here at home, I continue to support measures to bring the full spectrum of equal rights to LGBT Americans. These measures include enhancing hate crimes laws, supporting civil unions and Federal rights for LGBT couples, outlawing discrimination in the workplace, ensuring adoption rights, and ending the existing “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy in a way that strengthens our Armed Forces and our national security. We must also commit ourselves to fighting the HIV/AIDS epidemic by both reducing the number of HIV infections and providing care and support services to people living with HIV/AIDS across the United States.

These issues affect not only the LGBT community, but also our entire Nation. As long as the promise of equality for all remains unfulfilled, all Americans are affected. If we can work together to advance the principles upon which our Nation was founded, every American will benefit. During LGBT Pride Month, I call upon the LGBT community, the Congress, and the American people to work together to promote equal rights for all, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim June 2009 as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month. I call upon the people of the United States to turn back discrimination and prejudice everywhere it exists.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this first day of June, in the year of our Lord two thousand nine, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-third.
BARACK OBAMA

Two things:

1) I cannot find the original source, but have found it one a few blogs, including Queerty. I'll update as soon as I find the source.

2) It comes from a blogger I didn't even know about -- Kevin Lynch at the Examiner. Fabulous. I'll see if the site is blogroll-able.

Still, welcome back Mr. President. See, we just need a word every now and again :-).

From QRTY...

I wanted to apologize that I haven't been my usual active blogger self these last few days. I am in the midst of two weeks of hell on earth in terms of testing and sleeping patterns; this past weekend's a"gayest two days on earth" did not help at all, though I had fun.

But I'm still around, and I wanted to throw two fabulous things your way, both from QUEERTY...

In an article on "gay rights:"

This is something large LGBT groups don't seem to have grasped quite yet. For decades, their strategy was to win over straight America by convincing them that "we're just like you." It's not a bad strategy, but the protesters and grassroots groups have come up with a better one: "We don't care if you like us, but you must treat us as equals." Unfortunately, the institutional weight of large LGBT rights groups have made it difficult for them to adapt to this new environment, as we saw last week in their tepid non-responses to New York Gov. David Paterson's gay marriage bill announcement. Rather than supporting the move, most expressed a fear that it would not pass.

The underlying message was "We don't want to disappoint people when it doesn't happen." This is a well-meaning but patronizing response; even a loss would be a win for the gay community. Why?

Frankly, we have little to lose.

First of all, I have this one thing to say about Gov. Paterson: on the one hand, thank you saying it -- why not just propose the bill and lose? We try again next year. For that, he inspires me. On the other hand, I wonder if he would be such an adamant supporter of equal marriage if he weren't falling so far down in the polls.

Second of all, there's a lot of the world muttering about us having "turned a corner." A lot of pundits (including me, at times) are suggesting that the fight is being won, after so many years of loss. And, though I am heartened and excited about the great news coming in from all over the country, and though I expect we will see probably 1-3 more states go marriage-friendly before 2010 (mostly in New England), we need not get ahead of ourselves.

We live in Ohio -- in the political morass of "middle America." We are the definition of the swing state. We neither jump ahead of social change, nor do we fall too far behind. We are equally red, and we are equally blue. We have a DOMA, but no protections in employment in housing. We have a smattering of municipalities with protections and DP Registries, but infinitely more with nothing at all. We have abortion, but we don't like it. We supported the Iraq war, but now we're not so sure. Our economy got hit pretty hard, but not as bad as, say, Michigan or West Virginia. We're a lot of white, but we have a large African-American population, and growing Hispanic numbers. Meth and AIDS are here, but not so much as to be the public health disaster like Florida.

In short: we, as a national community, haven't turned the corner until Ohio turns the corner. I don't think we can honestly say we have an absolute win until we start overturning DOMA's in the Midwest. That's when we know it will be time to say, "Yes, we can."

A few wins in New England, me thinks, is equivocable to the far right pushing Intelligent Design in the schoolrooms of Alabama. It's to be expected.

---

And on a slightly lighter note, here's a fun picture of a half naked boy and a link where you can see more (some NSFW):

Deep thought, then shallow motives. You know me.

Thanks to @GeekJames for sending me to Queerty today

Gay Marriage Horse Race

Thanks be to Queerty for this! I think we need a site that does this exclusively.

Live Feed of the Prop 8 Hearings

If you haven't seen this yet, this is the live feed of the Proposition 8 hearings at the Supreme Court of California.

I have no doubt this will show up on YouTube once it's complete.

I'm watching a bit right now, and I'm not real happy with what the court is saying. 

Update: It's over now, as of 320pm EST. Visit Queerty.com for a discussion of the case. And don't miss that newly-reelected LA Mayor, Antonio Villaraigosa, married a few couples last night at the Eve of Justice Rallies.

Update: Towleroad's take and summation of some newssources.