The Tracy Morgan Apology Tour Returns to the Scene of the Homophobic Crime

Tracy Morgan at the Nashville press conference. (Photo via GLAAD)Comedian Tracy Morgan returned to Nashville today to continue his tour of contrition after a man who went to one of Morgan's comedy sets posted a story on Facebook about Morgan making several homophobic jokes, including that if he had a gay son he would murder him. 

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Don Lemon Comes Out of the Glass Closet

If you were surprised by CNN anchor Don Lemon's recent disclosure that he's a homosexual that probably means you're not a hardcore news junkie who lives and dies by the extracurricular activities of TV news anchors.

On top of that, Lemon was never truly "in the closet." There were no pretend girlfriends or allusions to female lovers. There was no charade. Lemon was always himself and like many news anchors and journalists, he wanted to keep himself out of the story. Or as some have called it, "the glass closet" where homosexual men and women who are out to everyone in their personal life -- friends, relatives, co-workers -- but don't discuss their sexual orientation publicly.

There are a lot of public figures and celebrities who are considered to be in "the glass closet," most notably Lemon's fellow CNN co-worker, popular evening anchor Anderson Cooper, who is routinely photographed around New York with his alleged boyfriend. But Cooper has never publicly admitted to being gay. Again citing that who he chooses to spend his time with is not the lead story. News anchors aren't supposed to make themselves the news.

Except there are countless gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people, risking life and limb, battling for acceptance, fighting for equal rights. Individuals who choose to live their lives "out" and that often means facing ridicule, discrimination or even worse, bodily harm. And when people are fighting for acceptance, can someone who is a public figure responsibly sit on the sidelines and not join the fight?

Read the rest at theLoop21.com

Don't Ask, Don't Tell Is Dead

All that's left to do now is for President Obama to sign off on the bill repealing the law after it passed both houses of Congress over the weekend. It was a huge win for equal rights in this country, as soon the men and women of the military won't have to worry about being kicked out of the Armed Forces for simply being who they are. Sen. John McCain did his best "You shall not pass" Gandalf impression, but Gandalf was a good wizard who helped destroy evil. McCain is just a bitter old man who went back on his promise to support the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" after military leaders came out in support of the repeal. But I just think he's still angry because of 2008. If you ask Dana Milbank, all of McCain's "maverick" stuff was really about revenge against those who had the gall to beat him. Which, you know? Just makes him sound incredibly petty and politically expedient. But for those who choose to fight and die for our protection can continue to fight on without facing the same fate as the more than 13,000 troops who were discharged under the policy. (Washington Post)

Aliya S. King's "Mean Girls of Morehouse" Wins Internet, Enrages Others

Photo from VibeVibe Magazine almost crashed their own site Monday when they published Aliya S. King's latest article about transgender/gay subculture at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Ga. The page with her story even went down temporarily from so many people trying to access it. "The Mean Girls of Morehouse" tells the story of a gaggle of gay and transgender men who are current and former students of the private HCBU, who call themselves "The Plastics" after the uber-popular girl clique from the Lindsay Lohan/Tina Fey film "Mean Girls." While the piece has caused the ire of current Morehouse students and alums, what's lost in the furor is the fact that the story is pretty fascinating.

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A Love Worth Dying For

The American Constitution was set up, specifically, to protect the minority from the tyranny of the majority. It was written in a time when in large swaths of Europe the church, primarily the Catholic Church or in our founders' case, the Church of England, dictated the daily lives of most people. If you wished to worship differently you were subjected to everything from harassment to death and this is why there is such an emphasis on the separation of church and state (even though some have forgotten why that separation was placed there to begin with).

Over time, as our country has evolved, the "minority" has gone from protecting religious minorities to different socio-economic groups to ethnic minorities to racial minorities to gender and others. There is a reason why major issues like interracial marriage and women in the workplace didn't come down to a vote. If it had been up to the will of the majority, women wouldn't serve in the military, blacks would still be slaves, all gays would stay in the closet and everything would be as it was in 1787 when only wealthy, white male landowners could cast ballots.

Sometimes the mob is wrong. Horribly, horribly wrong and wants nothing more than to bully those different from themselves. Case in point: the war against gays and Lesbians in parts of Africa.

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Letters From Luvvie: Dear Morehouse (Guest Blogger)

You've probably heard the new dress code that Morehouse College, an all-male HBCU (Historically Black College/University), has given its students. They've released 11 stipulations that students must follow, or risk being suspended from school. They are more than deserving of this week's sternly-worded letter.

Dear Morehouse,

You know you're kind of full of sh*t, right? When I first saw the new dress code you released for your students, I surely thought it was some kind of random joke or satirical piece. Surely, a place of higher learning did not just make an extensive list of things that are unacceptable to rock on a campus. Is the school so on point that the most pressing matter is its students' way of dress? Yeah, NAW I don't think so. Word on the street is that your enrollment rate is down, as well as your retention and graduation rates. I doubt that this will be helping either. I guess that in whatever struggles you may be having, the most important thing is that the men on your campus maintain their segzy and moisturize their situations in the most conservative way possible.

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Don't Ask, But Do Tell (On How To End "Don't Ask Don't Tell)

On Saturday President Barack Obama addressed the Human Rights Campaign, a gay rights organization, vowing to end discrimination against gay and lesbian servicemembers in the Armed Forces via the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell (DADT)" policy. The policy, set up during the Clinton Administration, allows homosexuals to serve as long as they are not "out" or open about their sexuality. It was hastily set up when President Bill Clinton's hopes of ending sexual discrimination in the military hit a wall in the early 1990s.

Attitudes have changed some since the early 1990s. While homosexuals still face discrimination, American society has become more open to the idea of gays and lesbians being open about their sexuality. And with the US in the midst of prosecuting two wars and needing every Marine, soldier and sailor they can gather, news of servicemen and women being discharged due to DADT has come at a cost.

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Should the NAACP Take On Gay Rights Agenda?

Over at Pam's House Blend, Pam Spaulding took NAACP President Benjamin Jealous to task for his recent comments on CNN about the NAACP not getting involved in gay rights issues. Jealous told CNN's TJ Holmes that the NAACP doesn't "take a position on that nationally."

While she called him progressive in his thinking, she argued that Jealous was "getting the message" that gay rights was a "third-rail" issue by the old guard of the NAACP and not a priority. 

Arguing that the fight for gay rights is civil rights, Spaulding criticized Jealous and the NAACP for their weak-kneed response, but praised Jealous for at least discussing the issue without malice.

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Roland Burris Tries to Have It Both Ways In Gay Marriage Debate

My other fair Rolly Rolls, the recently exonerated but rarely imitated, Sen. Roland Burris of Illinois pulled off a ballsy move of attending a gay pride parade only to talk about how marriage is for making babies. Two penises and two va-jay-jays can't procreate so ... Uncle Roland is for Civil Unions?

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