Ok so here it is, the fresh new look of my site! I am unfortunately on my way out the door so i have to be brief but tomorrow i will post about the changes, Sozosblog.com (sozo designed it) and a few other bits!!! hope you like...I believe i am in love!

A move to repeal the marriage rights of gay and lesbian couples in Iowa had a setback in the state senate Thursday.

By a party-line vote of 26-24, with Democrats in the majority, the senators decided to not to overrule majority leader Mike Gronstal (pictured, left) and bring the anti–marriage equality measure up for a vote.

The measure is a constitutional amendment that would go before voters after being passed in two consecutive sessions of the legislature. A house committee voted this week to advance the measure to the full house, which plans to hold a hearing on it Monday, but Gronstal has pledged that the senate will not consider it. Iowa has had marriage equality since 2009, thanks to a state supreme court decision. "There are members of Senator Gronstal's party who want to see this issue brought to a vote of the people and he is still stifling Iowans' voices," Republican senator Kent Sorenson (pictured, right) said in the article.

A local pastor attending Friday’s funeral for murdered Ugandan LGBT activist David Kato grabbed the microphone in the middle of the ceremony and decried homosexuality, causing a fight to break out and leading villagers to refuse to bury the body.

During the funeral in Mukono, Uganda, which was attended by about 300 people, according to Reuters, the pastor grabbed the mike and began screaming, provoking strong reaction from Kato’s friends.

"The world has gone crazy," the pastor said. "People are turning away from the scriptures. They should turn back, they should abandon what they are doing. You cannot start admiring a fellow man."

As he screamed, “It is ungodly,” gay activists stormed the pulpit and grabbed the mike. They were wearing T-shirts featuring Kato's face with sleeves with gay pride colors.

"Who are you to judge others?" a female activist yelled. "We have not come to fight. You are not the judge of us. As long as he's gone to God his creator, who are we to judge Kato?"

Villagers then refused to bury Kato’s body, leading his friends to carry the body to his grave and bury it themselves.

The director of a homeless shelter in Columbus, Ga., refuses to budge on his opposition to serving gay and lesbian people.

WRBL-TV reports that House of Mercy director Bobby Harris kicked out two women earlier this month for breaking curfew and smoking a cigarette, claiming that one of the women broke curfew to have a rendezvous with the other.

"That act is not tolerated here at all," Harris said. "Let me tell you one of the reasons why, because of the bible of course, and then we have little children that we won't have tolerate that kind of act here."

Following a media uproar, Harris tried to claim that he kicked the women out solely because of the curfew rule. Later, in another interview with WRBL-TV, he talked about his opposition to homosexuality.

Hope everyone has a great weekend and thanks for stopping by my site. I truly appreciate it!

We're not entirely sure anyone enquired about the actual length of his penis, although we'd quite like to know the exact measurement now, Dancing on Ice star Jeff Brazier has happily admitted that he's pretty proud of the size of it.

Good to know, Jeff!

When the 32-year-old TV presenter was asked by Heat magazine whether he'd ever been tempted to "shove a sock" down those skin-tight trousers for his performances on the ice, Brazier quipped:

"No, I'm alright on that front. Why cheat it when you should be proud of what you've got? I'm sure if my trousers were a little bit tighter you'd get a good eyeful."

Pro-family groups are cheering the decision of Marriot International, one of the nation’s leading hotel chains, to remove access to pornographic content from its in-room televisions, beginning with new hotel constructions in 2013. Marriott joins Omni Hotels, which pulled “adult content” from room entertainment menus in 1999, as the only large hospitality chains to pull the plug on guest access to pornography.

Phil Burress of the Ohio-based Citizens for Community Values (CCV) called the move a “good start,” following the group’s 2009 campaign that exposed a company called LodgeNet as the nation’s largest provider of in-room pornography to hotels. Reportedly one of LodgeNet’s biggest clients was Marriott. Buress said that his group also met with representatives from Marriott to “strongly object to their pornography sales.”

In-room pornography has traditionally been a “profitable but little-discussed revenue stream for hotels,” DeLollis noted, with most of the large hotel chains offering it to guests. But industry reports indicate that there may be a steady move away from the option, and it has more to do with overall economics and than from any pressure applied by concerned citizens.

According to industry analysts, LodgeNet has been losing revenue over the past few years as a tough economy has prompted travelers to cut back on extra spending, and as consumers have begun carrying their entertainment with them on iPods, smart phones, and lap tops.

A January 21st USA Today survey of travelers staying in hotels found that 81 percent do not watch pay-per-view movies in their rooms, with 66 percent opting for free TV, and around 14 percent watching DVDs or accessing content from their laptops or smart phones.

Roy Moore, former Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice and fonder of the Foundation for Moral Law, a religious "freak" liberties legal organization in Montgomery, Ala., filed an amicus curiae brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit defending the constitutionality of DOMA last week.

"Marriage was defined by God at creation as between a man and a woman and no rhetoric or judicial gymnastics can alter that. Congress simply recognized that immutable, self-evident truth when it passed the Defense of Marriage Act,” Moore says. “When judges start attacking traditional marriage and the laws of nature, one wonders whether they ever learned the difference between boys and girls. Activist judges have been rewriting the Constitution for decades and now are attempting to destroy one of the most foundational principles of our society.”

Last year a federal district court judge in Massachusetts held that the federal definition of marriage in DOMA as “only a legal union between one man and one woman” was unconstitutional because it denied certain federal benefits to same-sex couples "married" in Massachusetts.

Another Christian hotel owner is being sued after she told two gay men that it was "against her convictions" to allow them to share a bed. 

This follows the recent case of Peter and Hazelmary Bull who last week were told by Bristol Crown Court that by refusing to let a double room to gay couple Martyn Hall and Steven Preddy, they were acting illegally. 

Now Michael Black and John Morgan are claiming that they were refused a room at the Swiss B&B in Berkshire because they want to "make sure people can't break the sexual discrimination act and get away with it". They claim that Susanne Wilkinson said it was against her convictions to allow two gay men to share a bed. Mr Black said: "We're not trying to stop anyone from observing their beliefs but to make it clear that their beliefs should not conflict with the discrimination laws in this country." 

Two men have been charged with stirring up gender hatred for handing out leaflets outside a mosque suggesting that gay people should be executed.

It is the first time that anyone has been prosecuted for an offence of inciting hatred on the grounds of sexual orientation.

The men charged were named last night as Razwan Javed, 30, and Kabir Ahmed, 27. They are accused of handing out a leaflet entitled "The Death Penalty?" in Derby.

The leaflets, which were also pushed through letterboxes, are understood to have called for homosexuals to be executed.

The defendants will appear at Derby Magistrates' Court today.

Sue Hemming, a lawyer for the Crown Prosecution Service, said: "The charges relate to the distribution of a leaflet, 'The Death Penalty?', outside the Jamia Mosque in Derby in July 2010 and through letterboxes during the same month.

"This is the first-ever prosecution for this offence and it is the result of close working between the Crown Prosecution Service and Derbyshire Police."

Both candidates, Republican Len Suzio and Democrat Thomas Bruenn, have promised to run a campaign on the issues. But on Thursday, state Democratic Chairman Nancy DiNardo claimed that surrogates for Suzio’s campaign are running a telephone push poll that indirectly attacks Bruenn, who is gay.

One of the questions on the poll is, “Would you be comfortable or uncomfortable with a state senator who is openly gay?”

“Attacking a candidate because he is gay has no place in Connecticut politics,” said DiNardo. “Leonard Suzio should take responsibility for this push poll and apologize immediately. The Connecticut Republican Party and Senate Republicans should join me in condemning this despicable attack.”

Suzio denies that he is behind the poll and even questioned whether the poll exists.

“I think the media, before it runs a story, should demand proof that this push poll really exists,” Suzio said. “To me, this is the state Democratic Party trying to distract the electorate’s attention from a pending tax increase that will be the largest in the state’s history.”

Bruenn said he was made aware of the poll when several people who were contacted to take the poll called him.

“What I’ve heard is all second hand, so I’m not going to point any fingers,” Bruenn said. “If Len Suzio says he is not behind this, then I take him at his word. He and I have promised to run a campaign that is focused on the issues and I’m going to stick to that.”

SALT LAKE CITY — Utah State Representative LaVar Christensen, the man who introduced and passed Utah’s 2004 Constitutional Amendment banning gay marriage, has resurrected an old enemy of the LGBT community.


Christensen (R-District 48) has reintroduced a bill he tried to pass in 2006 which prohibits same-sex couples from making contractual agreements, such as wills and financial arrangements.

The bill, known in 2006 as HB 304, but now as HB 182, slides in under the generic title “Voiding Transactions Against Public Policy,” and declares “an arrangement, agreement, or transaction that is illegal or against public policy to be void and unenforceable.”

Call it a clash of the titans: In Syfy's latest creature feature, "Mega Python vs. Gatoroid," two giants face off in an epic battle -- and we're not talking about oversized snakes and lizards here. No, this time it's all about two '80s pop stars: Debbie Gibson and Tiffany.

The story centers on an animal rights activist, Nikki (Gibson). She clashes with a park ranger, Terry (Tiffany), who is trying to save Florida's alligator population from being eaten off by a new breed of giant pythons. Terry's foolproof solution, however, isn't so bright: She feeds the gators steroids that almost immediately make them the size of skyscrapers. "Mega Python vs. Gatoroid" doesn't explain why this is a good idea, but we'll just chalk it up to suspension of disbelief.

Shake your love, I think we're alone now....god I love those songs...Oh to be back in the 80's. Leather ties, Ton Sur Ton, Mustangs, Z Cavaricci's, Girbaud Jeans, wine coolers, Madonna and Sean, valley girls, jean jackets with rock star pins, Aqua net and tons of blow...One can only dream!

Thirty years after endearing herself to '80s sitcom viewers, Facts of Life star Geri Jewell, who played Blair's cousin Geri, has come out as a lesbian.

On The Facts of Life, Jewell played a young woman with cerebral palsy who often said, "I'm not drunk ... I've got cerebral palsy." Jewell comes out in a new memoir, I'm Walking as Straight as I Can: Transcending Disability in Hollywood and Beyond, in which she details tax problems, addiction, disease, and her life as a gay woman.

I loved the Facts Of Life....I still sing the theme song...

AFTER singing "It's been a lovely cruise, I'm sorry it's ended" singer Jimmy Buffett crashed off the stage after his final Sydney concert last night and was rushed to hospital with a head injury.

Shocked fans at the sell-out concert at the Hordern Pavilion were urged to leave the auditorium by Buffett's Australian tour manager Michael Chugg as the 64-year-old entertainer lay on the floor in front of the first row of seating waiting for paramedics and an ambulance to arrive.

He was rushed to Sydney's St Vincent's Hospital, in Darlinghurst, thirty minutes after the accident.

A MCDONALD'S restaurant in the UK has banned young customers wearing tracksuits in an effort to put an end to bad behaviour.

Customers under 18 are refused entry to McDonald's in Leyland, near Preston, northwest England, after 7:00pm if they are wearing sweat pants, The (London) Telegraph reported yesterday.

Manager Rachel Hilliker said, ''Over the last few weeks we've experienced a lot of antisocial behavior from groups of youths. It's almost gang-style fighting at the weekend. My staff have been threatened and been told they will be stabbed when they finish work".

However, some burger fans have complained that they have to go home and change before they can purchase the fast food.

Scott Wilson, a joinery student, said he was refused a meal because of his sporty attire but managed to get served just 15 minutes later when he returned in a suit and tie.

An Arkansas supermarket reversed its decision Wednesday to hide a magazine cover showing Elton John and his same-sex partner David Furnish holding their new baby.

The shield placed over the current issue of Us Weekly read "Family shield to protect young Harps shoppers."

The Arkansas-based grocery chain lets managers at its 65 stores decide when customers complain if the shield is needed, but it is usually for photos that are "sexually provocative or too revealing," Harps Food Stores President Kim Eskew said.

Complaints poured into the chain's headquarters this week after photos of the shielded magazine spread across internet blogs and news websites.

"When we began receiving complaints at our corporate office, we reviewed the magazine in question, removed the shield and are selling the magazine in all our locations today without any cover," Eskew said Wednesday. "Our true intention is not to offend anyone in our stores and this incident happened at just one of our 65 locations, which, when brought to our attention, we reversed."

I want your sex, GEORGE Michael was “furious” last night after a look-alike joined a gay dating site pretending to be him.

Indiana University South Bend has decided to remove Chick-fil-A as a campus vendor following news of food donations from the company to antigay events.

According to WSBT-TV,“The Chick-fil-A sandwiches were only sold on Wednesdays at the Courtside Cafe. Indiana University has full Chick-fil-A restaurants at their Bloomington and Indianapolis campuses.”

Chick-fil-A, which is known as a Christian company, will be donating sandwiches to an upcoming conference about strengthening marriages sponsored by the Pennsylvania Family Institute.

Virginia Delegate Bob Marshall (R - Prince William) proposed a bill in the 2011 Virginia General Assembly that would effectively ban openly gay men and women from serving in the Virginia National Guard.

He introduced the bill after President Obama signed a bill in December that ended the U.S. military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy. For 17 years "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" banned openly gay men and woman from serving in the U.S. Armed Forces.

Watch this dumbass idiot try and defend his statistics. First off he is refers to studies done in 1993 then says how the current statistics show that the majority of service members serving today did not want the repeal of DADT. Ummmm, he is quite a bit off the mark. I believe the numbers he is speaking about are that of all the service divisions in our military it was the Marines (the youngest and, smallest) that had the largest numbers of soldiers against the repeal and even that was a small percentage...Get your facts STRAIGHT asshole...

JAMBI, Indonesia – A rare Sumatran tiger has given birth to three healthy cubs at a zoo in western Indonesia.

The Taman Rimbo Zoo in Indonesia's Jambi province says the big cat also gave birth to one additional cub that died immediately.

Sumatran tigers are on the brink of extinction because of rapid deforestation, poaching and clashes with people. The World Wildlife Fund says their numbers have dwindled to about 400, down from about 1,000 in the 1970s.

Breeding efforts in captivity usually meet with little success.

Oh dear, AT&T is beginning what looks like their fast fall to oblivion.....Why they could never get their shit together with the reception issues in all these years is unbelievable to me...

NEW YORK – AT&T Inc. on Thursday it signed up a net of just 400,000 customers on contract-based wireless plans in the fourth quarter, the lowest number in at least five years.

The result demonstrated that even though sales of the iPhone were strong, it's lost much of its power to attract customers from other carriers. In two weeks, AT&T will face more competition as Verizon Wireless starts selling the iPhone.

A new religious leader at the Islamic community center in Lower Manhattan is raising eyebrows and objections from gay advocates over his views on homosexuality. NY1's Grace Rauh filed the following report.

A fight over the planned Islamic community center in Lower Manhattan centers around its location of being two blocks from the World Trade Center site. But now the controversy is broadening as some gay advocates are airing concerns about the new imam who's joined the project.

In a lecture Imam Abdallah Adhami sells on the Internet, he offers the following explanation for the existence of homosexuality:

"An enormously, overwhelming percentage of people struggle with homosexual feeling because of some form of violent emotional or sexual abuse at some point in their life. Again, not necessarily in their childhood....A small, tiny percentage of people are born with a natural inclination they cannot explain. You find this in the animal kingdom on some level as well."

For gay rights advocates, the words are unacceptable.

"They are destructive. They play into old, worn-out stereotypes that somehow there is an illness to being gay," said Gay City News Editor Paul Schindler.

Adhami joined the center known as Park51 as a senior advisor earlier this month. A spokesman for the project declined to make him available for an interview and would not comment for NY1's story.

Schindler says that unless Imam Adhami is willing to clarify or change his views, Park51's ability to welcome everyone will be compromised beyond repair.

"It's a hostile message and one that I think attacks the dignity of gay people," Schindler said.

WASHINGTON — President Obama on Wednesday appointed two prominent gays to important positions in his administration and nominated an openly gay attorney to a judgeship for the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Roberta Achtenberg, a longtime lesbian civil rights activist in San Francisco and the first openly gay presidential appointee (under President Clinton), has been named as a commissioner on the U.S. Civil Rights Commission. She will be one of eight members of the commission — four of who are appointed by the president and four appointed by Congress.

Jeffrey Levi, who once headed the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, received an appointment as a member of the newly created Advisory Group on Prevention, Health Promotion, and Integrative and Public Health at the Department of Health and Human Services.

And Obama nominated openly gay attorney J. Paul Oetken to become one of 44 judges serving the federal district court that encompasses Manhattan. The U.S. Senate must approve Oetken’s nomination.

WASHINGTON – Social Security's finances are getting worse as the economy struggles to recover and millions of baby boomers stand at the brink of retirement.

New congressional projections show Social Security running deficits every year until its trust funds are eventually drained in about 2037.

This year alone, Social Security is projected to collect $45 billion less in payroll taxes than it pays out in retirement, disability and survivor benefits, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said Wednesday. That figure swells to $130 billion when a new one-year cut in payroll taxes is included, though Congress has promised to repay any lost revenue from the tax cut.

The arson that burned down the house of Chris Staples is not being investigated in Georgia as a hate crime, but those charges could end up coming anyway. The FBI is investigating this case in what could become the first case of a federal hate crime being brought under the Matthew Shepard Act on behalf of a gay victim.

Vandals had threatened Staples, who is 43, on Saturday when they threw a rock into his house with anti-gay slurs. It is unclear whether or not the same people are responsible for the arson that destroyed the house around 6am Sunday and risking the death of Staples. His house was a converted pool house on his family’s land.

The FBI is assisting the Carroll County Sheriff’s Office in processing the crime scene. According to Special Agent Stephen Emmett, a spokesman for the FBI’s Atlanta office, they are also investigating whether or not this falls under the MSA.

Emmett said “We are prepared to take a closer look at it, but everything we have so far indicates that the case will stay with Carroll County authorities. It is not unusual for us to send investigators and crime scene technicians because we are looking to see if it could evolve into a federal prosecution.”

ALAMO, Calif. – BJ Byrd, a physical education teacher at Rancho Romero Elementary School who is a lesbian, says she was the target of graffiti vandals.

Byrd told authorities that she found the anti-gay graffiti written in pencil or pen on an equipment shed on campus on Jan. 3, and she spoke about the vandalism at a meeting of the school board this week.

The graffiti specifically named her and contained an anti-gay slur, description of a sexual act and an expletive.

The Contra Costa Sheriff’s Department says the vandalism is a hate crime but has not identified any suspects.

Last night a lady went to a grocery store in Mountain Home, Arkansas, where she was privy to one of the more offensive things we’ve heard about in a long time. The people over at Harps Supermarketdecided to put a “family shield” (you know, “to protect young Harps shoppers”) over the cover of Us Weekly. But Harps is not trying to protect kids from Snooki or Kim or any other standard tabloid trash. No, they’re trying to “protect” children from a photo of Elton John, his partner David Furnishand their adorable baby Zachary.

"I think that probably, if I were 21 in this society, I would identify myself as a bisexual." But, he told GQ's Kevin Roose: "I'm 54, with children, with a belief system, and I can have enforced boundaries in my life. Just like you're a heterosexual but you don't have sex with every woman that you're attracted to, so I can be who I am and exclusively have sex with my wife and be perfectly satisfied." About former meth dealer and escort Mike Jones, Haggard says: "We never had sex sex. I bought drugs and a massage from him, and he masturbated me at the end of it. That's it." [snip]

He admitted to buying drugs "five or six times" from Jones, but adds: "Sometimes I'd throw it away. Other times, I'd go someplace and masturbate and use it. But it was for masturbation. And that's one of the reasons why I haven't been real clear. I don't want to stand up publicly and say, 'Hey, I'm a masturbation guy!" "You know, that's really the core issue here," he added. "I bought the drugs to enhance masturbation. Because what crystal meth does--Mike taught me this--crystal meth makes it so you don't ejaculate soon. So you can watch porn and masturbate for a long time."  

Glee co-creator Ryan Murphy is still furious that Kings of Leon wouldn't allow their music to be used on his show, and a new war of words has broken out between the gay TV powerhouse and the drummer of the hit-making rock group.

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Murphy called members of Kings of Leon "self-centered assholes" because they denied Murphy the rights to their music last year, while Gleeostensibly promotes musical education. Kings of Leon drummer Nathan Followill took to his Twitter Wednesday and wrote, "Dear Ryan Murphy, let it go. See a therapist, get a manicure, buy a new bra. Zip your lip and focus on educating 7yr olds how to say f---"

A 19-year-old in London was sentenced to seven years in prison Wednesday for manslaughter, stemming from an attack on a gay civil servant.

Ian Baynham, 62, was attacked by Ruby Thomas, 19, and Rachel Burke (pictured), 18 in London's Trafalgar Square in September 2009. Thomas screamed homophobic slurs at Baynham after another teenager, Joel Alexander, knocked him to the ground, the Press Association reports. Then the women kicked Baynham repeatedly.

Here comes the snow again!

Cultural and political homophobia in Latin America remains starkly lethal, as evidence from two divergent societies there demonstrates.

In Honduras, there have been three new murders of LGBT people in recent weeks, bringing the death toll in the officially approved assassination campaign of queers to 31.

Meanwhile, in Brazil a new study by a gay group tracking homophobic and transphobic violence shows that an LGBT person is murdered every day and a half, a significant increase from three years ago, when it was one murder every three days. full deets here

Remember this oldie but goodie?

The Bar on Church(198 Church) has changed hands, having been scooped up by the team behind Double Dutch andBloodhound whose exact plans they still won't reveal. The BOC has been officially closed for a week or so, and now it seems The Edge, at 18th and Collingwood, has closed too, and the building owner may be looking for a new bar operator tenant. Full deets here

An attorney for same-sex couples hoping to overturn Proposition 8 in federal court urged the California Supreme Court on Tuesday to reject a federal appeals court's request to determine whether state law gives initiative sponsors legal authority to defend ballot measures.

The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals asked the state high court earlier this month whether California law gives initiative proponents the right to defend a ballot measure when state officials refuse to do so.

In federal court, the general rule is that only a party that is directly affected by a trial court ruling has standing or authority to appeal it. State officials have refused to appeal the August ruling against Proposition 8.

Christian Nonprofit Announces MyConfession.org Campaign Targeting Christian Hypocrisy and Homophobia

Christians are perceived as hypocritical, homophobic, self-righteous, intolerant, and judgmental, and in most cases the description fits. Changing the Face of Christianity Inc is fighting to reverse those negative Christian stereotypes through its grassroots online and public "My Confession" campaign.

"Christians, despite their good intentions, give Christianity a bad name due to rampant Christian hypocrisy, Christian intolerance, Christian judgmentalism, and Christian homophobia", says R. Brad White, former Atheist and now devoted Christian, and Founder of Changing the Face of Christianity Inc.

Palm Springs police decoys in the 2009 Warm Sands gay sex sting said they did not entice those arrested to expose themselves, as court hearings on whether to drop the charges continued Tuesday in Indio.

“I pretty much just stood there. People would walk up to us,” Palm Springs officer Chad Nordman testified. He did say “show me what you’ve got” to those arrested — but only after they approached him first, Nordman added.

Indio-based public attorney Roger Tansey said videotaped footage of the arrests, which hasn’t been made public, contradicts the decoys’ testimony.

Police in southeast B.C. are investigating an assault at a remote hot spring as a possible hate crime.

Two men who had made their way on skis to the St. Leon's hot spring, 25 kilometres north of Nakusp, told police they were in one of the pools when two men and a woman joined them on Dec. 29, RCMP Cpl. Bryson Hill said Tuesday.

The group socialized for hours before the skiers revealed they were a gay couple and that's when they were attacked, said Hill.

"Suddenly and apparently without any provocation [a man] got up out of the hot pool and stated to his friends he was going to kill these two men," said Hill.

The man — who the couple told police had introduced himself as Terry — then assaulted one of the gay men after his partner ran into the bush, police said.