A Gay Dad Sounds Off on the Elementary School Mob That Cancelled a Play About a Gay Penguin Family

There was a significant hearing this week on Tuesday about same sex relationships and whether to ban them. You likely missed this one because you were focused on that OTHER hearing in front of the Supreme Court, the one on whether all states in the union should perform and recognize same sex marriages.

No, this hearing was smaller, with less attention and could have been held in what might be described as a wholly alternative universe.

This hearing was in front of a school board in Catheys Valley, Mariposa County, California. It was held in a place where same sex marriage legally exists without question.

Unlike the Supreme Court, which was surrounded by folks waving banners of equality, tolerance and the love that creates families, this hearing was full of people who wanted none of that and took offense against anyone who did not look and act like them.

The case before the school board was this: the Sierra Charter Foothill School was scheduled to host a performance of the play, And Then Came Tango, based on the true story of two male penguins who hatched and orphaned egg and raised the chick as their own. New York Theater Now describes Tango as: “Emily Freeman’s timely play for young audiences, shares the tale of six chinstrap penguins at the Central Park Zoo — and the people who care for them. More specifically and touchingly, Freeman zeroes in on Roy and Silo, two males who form a penguin bond akin to their male-female-paired peers, engaging in mating rituals and trying to hatch a rock. Even more touchingly, Lily, the young Junior Keeper, convinces Walter, the zookeeper in charge of the exhibit, to let Silo and Roy incubate an orphaned egg – which they do to loving fruition.”

The booking of the play had been in place for a year with the Fresno State Theater Troup. The school regretted having missed out on the previous year’s performance of TheVelveteen Rabbit, so put in their reservation early to get on the schedule for Tango.

Once the play’s synopsis was sent to them, the administration wretched over what they perceived as a “gay theme.” They immediately made attendance voluntary and sent out “warnings” to all their parents. This effort was not enough for many in the community who demanded that the ability to opt out was not enough. They insisted that the school needed to cancel the production all together or they would boycott it for the day.

Landlord Demands LGBT Center Take Down Its Rainbow Flag

After months of planning, the city of Merced, CA (pop. 80,793) unveiled its very first LGBT community center this summer, proudly raising its rainbow flag and opening its doors to the public on August 30.

Now, that rainbow flag is being forced down.

Earlier this week, the center received a letter from the building’s landlord demanding they immediately stop flying the flag.

“We’re the first LGBT community center to happen in Merced ever,” Chris Jervis, president of Gay Central Valley, which oversees the Merced LGBT Center, told KVPR. “Having the flag up and then taking it down is a real slap in the face to the community because they felt suddenly there’s a place that welcomes them and now the flag is being taken down.”

In the letter, the landlord informed the center that only American and/or California flags were allowed to be flown over the building.

No exceptions.

“What they told us was that if we were allowed to fly our flag then the other businesses in the complex would have to be able to fly their flags as well and it would be too complicated,” Jervis explained.

Sounds like a pretty thin argument to us.

According to Jervis, the letter also stated that the center was forbidden from advertising itself by using the flagpole. But workers insist that they’re not a business, their a community center, and the rainbow flag is recognized the world over as a symbol of gay pride.

Marissa Chavez, an organizer in charge of the center, told KVPR that the lease doesn’t say anything about the flagpole, and that there had been a verbal agreement with the landlord.

“We were kind of confused because when we had gotten the building, we did ask for the key to the flagpole and we received that key,” she said.

But to avoid further conflict, Chavez said the center “complied” with the landlord’s demands. The flag is now hanging in the window and the center remains open.

The landlord did not respond to requests for comment.

12-YEAR-OLD CALIFORNIA BOY TAKES HIS OWN LIFE AFTER FACING ANTI-GAY BULLYING FOR BEING SCHOOL CHEERLEADER

Tragic news out of Folsom, California as a young boy committed suicide Wednesday after facing ongoing bullying for being his school's only male cheerleader. 

Ronin Shimizu, 12, was Folsom Middle School's only boy on the Eagles cheer squad last year. He was being homeschooled this year because the bullying got so bad. 

Sacramento station KXTV reports:

He was bullied very badly," Riley Coleman said as she teared up. The Folsom Middle School sixth grader was on the squad with Ronin last year. "It's not ok to bully people," she said through tears.

"So sad to know that people can hurt you that way," student Allie Flahive said.

"I was devastated when I found out. I started crying," Ronin's friend Grace Velander said. "I've known him since 6th grade. Me and him had classes all last year together."

A school official confirmed the Shimizu family reported multiple times that Ronin was being bullied in school. Said one fellow student: “I heard that people called him gay because he was a cheerleader”.

The school district released a statement saying:

"We are shocked and deeply saddened by this unspeakable tragedy, and our hearts go out to Ronin's family during this difficult time. Many students, teachers and staff who knew Ronin remember him as a positive and outgoing child, and our school communities are truly grieving this loss today. We are moved by the outpouring of support from families and community members asking how they can help."

Friends of Ronin said the young boy was passionate about his cheerleading and loved it. A vigil for Ronin was held  at his home.

SAN DIEGO: Appeals Court To Hear Case Of Man Busted For "Indecent" Pride Outfit

A California appeals court is about to hear the case of Will Walters, a gay man arrested at San Diego's gay pride event in 2011 because his outfit did not fully cover his rear end. Charges were dropped after the man spent the night in jail, but Walters is suing on the grounds that police targeted the pride event while ignoring the far more skimpy outfits wore daily at the city's beaches. Via the San Diego Reader: 

The city attorney's office chose not to prosecute but the damage had been done. Walters wanted to expose what his attorney calls the city's "Gay Special Events Nudity Policy." "The city was asked to turn over copies of all public nudity citations and arrest reports issued by the San Diego Police Department over the last five years," attorney Christopher Morris wrote in the appeal. "The city produced 104 redacted citations and reports. In not one of those reports was a person arrested or cited for wearing a thong or a g-string type bathing suit bottom." Now, as the case makes its way through the courts, some have begun to speak out against the city's policy and the arrest. West Hollywood councilmember, attorney, and openly gay man John Duran wrote an op-ed for the Daily Journal, a legal publication for attorneys, denouncing the city's police force and the city for arguing that the arrest had nothing to do with sexual orientation or discrimination.

The date for Walters' hearing has not yet been set.

California Gov. Jerry Brown Signs Law Outlawing 'Gay Panic' Legal Defense

California Governor Jerry Brown has signed into law a bill outlawing the "gay panic" defense in court. Under previous state law, murder charges could be reduced to manslaughter if it was shown the act took place suddenly or in the heat of the moment (so-called "panic" killings). Now, however, it is no longer viable to claim a person's gender or sexual orientation triggered the "panic."

Equality California adds this is the first measure of its kind in the nation.

'GO HOME FAGS!': Gay couple's wedding day ruined over anti-gay slurs!!!

Police have announced that they intend to investigate after Arizonans Oscar De Las Salas and Gary Jackson had their August 17th California wedding ruined by homophobic slurs coming from the balcony of a nearby condo complex, reports ABC 10 News.

De Las Salas, Jackson and thirty guests had gathered in Centennial Park, Coronado to exchange vows. However, cellphone footage shows the officiant standing in front of the couple while someone is shouting the words "homos" and "go home homos."

De Las Salas has since received a call from Coronado police who are aiming to determine if the attack was free speech or threatening speech and a hate crime.

Responding to Jackson, who said that the abuser “took a chunk of what should have been a beautiful day and turned it into something nasty and full of hate,” Coronado local Alisa Kerr and a group of her friends have offered to throw the couple a vow renewal party.

"We wanted to make it right," said Kerr. “We didn't want that to be a reflection of Coronado. We take a lot of pride in being helpful, kind, generous and accepting. Let's celebrate their love and show them people are one thing that makes Coronado a special place to be."

Kerr added that Loews Coronado Bay Resort, several bands and restaurants and a wedding planner have volunteered their services.

De Las Salas has received more than 2,000 supportive emails since the initial report.

Watch his reaction on being told about Kerr’s offer,

Parents say boy committed suicide after embarrassing video went viral

A San Diego couple says their 14-year-old son committed suicide after an embarrassing video surreptitiously taken of him in a school bathroom went viral and led to him being "mercilessly bullied."

Timothy and Barbara Burdette filed a $1 million claim against the San Diego Unified School District. They say a teacher, an administrator and possibly other employees at University City High School knew their son Matthew, a Boy Scout who was studying for the Eagle rank, was being harassed but did nothing to stop it.

According to their claim, Matthew, who was on the water polo and wrestling teams, was kicked out of class on Nov. 15 for eating sunflower seeds. The teacher didn't give him anywhere to go, so he wandered the halls and ended up in a boys' bathroom, the claim said.

Another student peeked over a bathroom stall and videotaped Matthew, allegedly masturbating. That student posted the video on social media, including SnapChat and Vine, and it quickly went viral among students at schools through the district, the claim said.

"From the moment the video was posted, Matthew was mercilessly bullied, harassed and teased by students who had seen the video. This continued for the next two weeks," the claim said.

The parents said officials with the San Diego Unified School District were aware of the video and the bullying.

Two weeks after the video went public, on Nov. 29, Matthew committed suicide. His family said he left a note saying he could not "handle school" and had "no friends."

"Matthew took his life as a result of the embarrassment and humiliation caused by bullying related to the video and its distribution," the claim said.

The school district rejected the Burdettes' claim, giving the family six months to file a lawsuit, according to U-T San Diego and the Los Angeles Times.

The school district issued a statement Monday saying the safety of its students was "a top priority."

"The district also adheres to the privacy and confidentiality laws and regulations related to students, families and ongoing investigations. For this reason, the district cannot provide details about Matthew Burdette's death. Our hearts and thoughts continue to be with his family and loved ones," the statement said.

KGTV, Channel 10 in San Diego, which first reported on the claim, said the Burdettes believed the boy who took the video had been arrested. The San Diego district attorney's office declined to provide details on the case but said a hearing on the matter is set for July 23 in juvenile court.

Seven-Year-Old Boy Launches Anti-Bully Club To Repent For His Days As A “Former Bully”

A seven-year-old boy in Beaumont, CA is employing a bit of “positive peer pressure” to help his classmates understand the damaging effects of adolescent bullying.

Cameron Thompson, a second-grader at Tournament Hills Elementary school, recently found himself in hot water after making fun of another boy for bringing a Barbie doll to school for show-and-tell. “I didn’t really mean to tease him so much that I made him cry,” Cameron told Today.

His punishment was to write an apology letter to his classmate, but according to his mother, Cameron’s guilt didn’t fade over the following weeks. “He came to me a couple of weeks later and he said, ‘I still feel really bad about what I did to him,’” Cameron’s mother Jessica Southard recalls. “He said, ‘How do I get that feeling to go away?’”

To help others learn from his mistakes, Cameron and his mother joined forces with the boy Cameron bullied to form an “anti-bully club,” which drew a whopping 76 kids in to its first meeting, far exceeding the school’s expectations. “Since I was sad, I thought I could make it up to him and he could feel better and I could feel better too,” Cameron said.

The school’s principal notes that Cameron’s new club has had a positive impact on the school — bullying is “down” and parents have been nothing but overwhelmingly supportive.

To help amplify and spread their message, Cameron’s family commissioned the video below, which re-enacts the bullying incident while featuring Cameron’s comments in a voice-over. “I didn’t really understand a boy bringing a doll to school so I thought it was funny. I told some friends and I convinced them to come make fun of him with me. We all circled him and teased him,” he says. “I struggle to make good choices sometimes.”

Settlement reached in suicide of teen who endured years of anti-gay bullying

The mother of a Central California teenager who committed suicide after years of anti-gay bullying has reached a $750,000 settlement with her son’s school district.

Wendy Walsh, whose 13-year-old son, Seth, committed suicide in 2010, accused the Tehachapi Unified School District of failing to take adequate steps to stop her son from being harassed.

Seth had endured years of relentless bullying and verbal abuse at his Tehachapi, Calif. school. On Sept. 19, 2010, Seth hanged himself from a tree in the family’s backyard after being bullied, threatened and assaulted by at least three teenage boys in a park earlier that afternoon. He died nine days later after his family removed him from life support.

Seth’s mother and close friends reported that teachers and school administrators were aware that Seth was being harassed and, in some instances, participated in the harassment. One teacher allegedly called Seth “fruity” in front of an entire class, and students regularly called him “fag” and “queer.”

On July 1, federal investigators concluded that the Tehachapi Unified School District failed to “adequately investigate or respond appropriately” to reports that Seth was being bullied.

Tehachapi Unified Superintendent Lisa Gilbert says the district now requires bullying to be reported and investigated in a timely manner.Wendy Walsh initially sought more than $6 million. Her attorney, Daniel Rodriguez, says she took the reduced amount in part to avoid the trauma of a trial.

The Bakersfield Californian reports the settlement was reached in March.

A year after Seth’s death, California Governor Jerry Brown(D) signed “Seth’s Law,” an anti-bullying measure aimed at giving public schools tools to prevent and address bullying through mandatory policies, and systems to help discourage harassment and track incidents when they do occur

Long Beach, California Elects Robert Garcia, Its First Out Gay Mayor

City Councilman Robert Garcia was elected mayor of Long Beach, California yesterday. He is the city's first openly gay mayor and its youngest mayor ever.

Said Garcia to NBC Los Angeles: "I think you run, not necessarily to be the first, I know that there are certainly historical implications of my election. I’m in this to be mayor of everyone, no matter the age or the color of their skin or who they love...We have one of the largest Cambodian communities outside of Cambodia, a large Latino community, a large LGBT population, and we have everyone. I really think that’s what makes Long Beach strong."

Garcia was born in Peru and came to the U.S. when he was five-years=old. He was the first in his family to go to college, and received his master's from USC.

Long Beach is the seventh-largest city in California.

SAN DIEGO: County Clerk May Lose Election Over Gay Marriage Opposition

Following last year's overturn of Prop 8, San Diego County Clerk Ernie Dronenburg filed a petition with the California Supreme Court asking that most state clerks be barred from issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples. According to Dronenburg, the SCOTUS ruling only applied to the two counties, Alameda and Los Angeles, where the Prop 8 plaintiffs lived. Dronenburg's action was endorsed by NOM, who called him "courageous." 

Dronenburg is now up for reelection and according to a just-released poll, his opposition to marriage equality might cost him his job.

With less than a week to go until the primary election, more than 4 in 10 people are still undecided on who they will vote for in the San Diego County clerk race, according to a new 10News poll conducted by SurveyUSA. The poll results released Friday found that 44 percent of the likeliest voters were unsure on which way they leaned in the race between incumbent Ernie Dronenburg and challenger Susan Guinn. Among decided voters, Dronenburg held a narrow 21 to 19 percent lead over Guinn, a statistically insignificant lead. But according to the poll, it's the gay marriage issue that could decide the race. When asked whether Dronenburg's decision last year to issue a stay on issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples impacted their vote, 41 percent of respondents said yes and 39 percent said no. 18 percent said the impact was minor. Guinn, who is married to her partner and sits on the board of Equality California, said, "People don't want politicians who abuse their office for their own political agenda. But this race isn't about gay marriage. We don't want a career politician who isn't doing his job."

Neither candidate is expected to get the 50% required to avoid a runoff. The primary is today.

California closer to ending Gay Panic defense

AB2501 passed the California State Assembly on Wednesday and now will be heading to the California State Senate. If approved, the bill will amend Section 192 of the Penal Code, relating to manslaughter and states:

[...]for purposes of determining sudden quarrel or heat of passion, the provocation was not objectively reasonable if it resulted from the discovery of, knowledge about, or potential disclosure of the victim’s or defendant’s actual or perceived gender, gender identity, gender expression, or sexual orientation, including under circumstances in which the victim made an unwanted nonforcible romantic or sexual advance towards the defendant, or if the defendant and victim dated or had a romantic or sexual relationship.

In other words, it would eliminate the "gay panic" defense that's trotted out in the murders of gay people and especially MTF transsexuals. The line of reasoning goes that a man becomes so distressed by being hit on by another man that he loses the ability to control his actions and thus can't be held accountable when he (usually brutally) murders the offender. Absurd as it is - it's really just a contemporary "Twinkie Defense" - it remains surprisingly effective. Fingers crossed that the bill passes the Senate and becomes law.

Massive Pipeline Rupture Coats Streets Of Los Angeles In ‘Knee-High’ Crude Oil

Residents in Atwater Village in northeast Los Angeles woke up Thursday morning to find crude oil flowing down their streets. A 20 inch wide, above-ground oil line ruptured around 1 a.m., sending a geyser of oil 20 feet into the air according to local reports. The oil has coated a half-square-mile area of the mostly industrial neighborhood.

Oil in some areas was reported to be knee-high. According to current estimates, 10,000 gallons of crude oil poured onto the streets before the line could be remotely turned off. Two people were sent to the hospital after they reported feeling nauseous. People at the scene said that the smell of oil was very strong.

The Fire Department and a hazardous materials team remain on the scene. Several businesses — including a nearby strip club, which was evacuated during the spill — have reported damages. The exterior of the strip club was coated in oil from the spewing pipe. Cars parked near the site of the spill have also been affected. Although the pipeline was shut off within 10 minutes of emergency crews reaching the scene, oil continued to flow for 45 minutes.

The AP reported that Fire Department spokesman Erik Scott says there is no “visible evidence” that the oil has made its way down storm drains, but that it was possible that oil had gotten under manhole covers. If oil does end up in the storm water system, the oil will soon appear in the Los Angeles River, and soon after that in the Pacific Ocean. According to the L.A. Times, emergency teams are using sand to try and keep the oil from spreading.

The pipeline was operate by West Coast-Plains American Pipeline. It was carrying oil from Bakersfield to Texas.

California’s most devastating oil spill was back in 1969, when 100,000 barrels of crude spilled into the Santa Barbara Channel — an event that helped spark the modern environmental movement.

One Year Later, Here's What San Jose Looks Like After Raising the Minimum Wage

One year ago, San Jose, Calif., raised its minimum wage to $10 an hour. From the moment an increase was first discussed, opponents quickly painted a grim scenario. San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed (D) said that a higher minimum posed "the biggest threat" of any issue to the city's economic development.

Specifically, a chamber of commerce-backed memo warned that raising the minimum wage would:

1) Cost at least $600,000 in costs just to enforce the law and cover the increased bureaucracy. 

2) Force businesses to slash working hours.

3) Force 30% of employers and 43% of those in charge of hiring minimum-wage workers to lay off employees.

3) Prevent new businesses from opening.

4) Lead to aggressive government overreach, claiming that the city would "investigate financial records of private businesses and individuals" and allow "'private enforcement' lawsuits."

5) Kill jobs left and right and cause hiring freezes.

"Our opponents said it was going to destroy Silicon Valley," said Prof. Scott Myers-Lipton of San Jose State University. But with a 60% majority in favor, Measure D was passed in 2012 and the new wage went into effect on March 11, 2013. 

And guess what happened?

California Poised To Remove Anti-Gay Language From State's Marriage Laws

The California state senate recently approved a bill that would remove language from the state’s Family Code defining marriage as only “between a man and a woman.” The bill (SB1306) would use gender-neutral language calling marriage as “a civil contract between two persons” and also open the door for California to recognize out-of-state same-sex marriages.

These changes would bring the states laws into accordance with the recent Supreme, federal and state court decisions affirming the right of same-sex couples to wed.

The SF Gate reports:

“In June, the U.S. Supreme Court left in place a lower court judge's order striking down as unconstitutional a ballot measure known as Proposition 8, the 2008 voter initiative that outlawed same-sex marriages in California. A 5-4 court majority ruled that the ban's sponsors lacked authority to defend the measure on appeal, though the justices did not directly address the ban's constitutionality.

Marriages resumed in late June after the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals lifted a stay it had imposed on the lower court ruling. The state Supreme Court dismissed a final challenge by the ban's backers in August.”

The SF Gate adds that Republican Senator Jim Nielsen was the only Republican to speak against the bill and that in the California Assembly, only Republicans voted against the bill while two Republicans — Anthony Cannella of Ceres and Ted Gaines of Roseville — voted for it.

25 Ripped Reasons to Celebrate White Party Palm Springs

White Party Palm Springs turns 25 this year and there are plenty of events planned to commemorate the momentous occasion. In case you're not excited enough, here's a video — see below — from party producer Jeffrey Sanker to whet your appetite, with musical accompaniment from Cyndi Lauper (is that a clue as to who's performing?).

Palm Springs White Party happens April 25 (fittingly) and wraps April 28. Click here for more on the event, which recently won an Out Traveler award.

Gay Bar's Brilliant Response To Anti-Gay Legislation

A popular gay bar in West Hollywood, Calif. is giving homophobic politicians a taste of their own intolerance.

The Abbey announced Monday that it is banning, effective immediately, any legislator who supports bills to discriminate against gays and lesbians. The bar is keeping a list of politicians who voted for such bills by the door for the bouncer's reference. Meanwhile, bar staff is currently compiling dozens of headshot photos of the politicians to put up as well, a representative from the bar told The Huffington Post.

The bar's "Deny Entry list" is in response to recent bills in state legislatures that would allow businesses, religious organizations and even public servants to discriminate against gay individuals. Such bills have been put forth in Kansas, Tennessee, South Dakota, Oregon, Arizona, Idaho and Maine. They come after high-profile stories around the countries of businesses getting blowback after denying same-sex couples wedding cakes, photography services and venues.

This isn't the first time in the headlines for the Abbey, once named the "Best Gay Bar in the World." The bar banned bachelorette parties in 2012, calling them a "slap in the face" because marriage wasn't legal for everyone. Staff members began permitting bachelorette parties again after the U.S. Supreme Court overruled California's gay marriage ban last year.

“When we banned bachelorette parties, we got calls from every red state with people saying they would never come to The Abbey. We got calls from blue states complaining about fighting discrimination with more discrimination," David Cooley, founder of The Abbey, said in a statement Monday. "I’ve learned that I can’t stop crazy, ignorant or stupid but I can stop it from coming through my doors."

The Abbey encouraged other brands, hotels, retailers, restaurants, airlines and businesses to join the ban.

“I live in the ‘Real America’ too and more importantly, I live in the real world," Cooley said. "I want to send a message to all those people out there who conflate Christian values with discrimination: we don’t want your kind here.”

Plan To Make Silicon Valley Its Own State Gets Green Light To Collect Votes

Back when we first found out about investor Tim Draper’s plan to break California into six different states (including one for Silicon Valley), we weren’t sure how far the unorthodox plan would go.

But, just this week, Draper got the green light from the state to go ahead and collect signatures to put his plan on the California ballot.

To be sure, he’ll still need to gather about 800,000 signatures to put it before the voters; and, even if it were successful at the ballot box, it could face opposition from federal authorities.

Without a groundswell of support, Draper will have to pay an army of signature gatherers to stand outside grocery-store parking lots and bus stations to wrangle residents for their approval. Such campaigns can pay $3 a signature or more to signature gatherers (a.k.a. the folks that sit outside grocery stores with a clipboard), but Draper told me that he’s willing to put money into a campaign to see this project through.

Earlier this year, the state of California put out an official analysis of what would happen to California if Silicon Valley became its own state. Given the Valley’s high concentration of wealth, a lot of funding for schools and social services would be stripped away from the less financially successful parts of the state if it somehow succeeded.

But Draper says that California has become too unwieldy in its current form and needs to be decentralized. Specifically, the proposed six new states are Silicon Valley, West California, Jefferson, South California, Central California and North California.

It’s still a long shot, but Draper seems to have made it through the first hoop.

NOM Attacks Republican Candidate for 'Holding the Hand of His Gay Lover' in Pride Parade

Some unusually bald-faced hate from NOM reacting to California Congressional candidate Carl DeMaio's campaign ad, which we reported on earlier this week.

Via the NOM blog: 

It's a beautiful summer day in southern California. Throngs of people line streets as paraders march by. They include transvestite brides (men in wedding gowns) who strut their stuff. Nearby a float with bare-chested, heavily muscled men in tight underwear that leaves nothing to the imagination hold hands and dance on a rolling stage as rainbow flags fly behind them. Not far away women kiss other women and tattooed men embrace, pulling their half-naked bodies tight to each other. A confused-looking child watches this scene unfold as she holds a 'we celebrate diversity' sign, not exactly the type of plaything we'd expect innocent youngster to cling to.

In their midst the candidate walks down the street holding the hand of his gay lover. He waves at the crowd and smiles approvingly. These are his people, and he is at home.

Who is he? He's Carl DeMaio. A homosexual activist who calls himself a Republican. And he wants to be a Member of Congress.

Do you want a person like Carl DeMaio in Washington serving as a role model, voting on issues affecting hard-working American families? If not, please help Kirk Jorgensen stop him.

Carl DeMaio claims to be 'one of us' but his vision of America is very different from ours. He comes from an environment where sexual morality is a thing of the past, where children are indoctrinated into questioning their own sexuality, where gender is considered fluid but sexual orientation is fixed, and where a candidate who supports abortion, gay 'marriage,' gun control and medical marijuana can call himself a conservative — and a "reformer."

Writes Jeremy Hooper:

NOM is an anti-gay group. It always has been an anti-gay group, NOM messengers just used to be better about hiding it behind a "protect marriage" veneer. Those days are long gone. Check out this new horror story that reads like something from Anita Bryant's '70s era imagination...

..."Holding the hand of his gay lover"? What next, NOM, are you going to reveal the scandal of this openly gay candidate attending brunch? Buying groceries with his "lover" in tow? Watching Modern Family and seemingly laughing with rather than at the gay couple? Seriously, I can barely stand the anticipation. What other juicy details are you going to unveil to the world, you discriminatory and divisive group, you?

For The First Time, The Speaker Of California’s Assembly Will Be A Lesbian

Rep. Toni Atkins will become the next Speaker of the California Assembly. That position is considered the second only to the Governor as the most powerful position in California politics. California is the most-populous state in the nation.

Karen Ocamb of Frontiers LA writes that today, “out lesbian Assembly Majority Floor Leader Toni Atkins, D-San Diego, was elected the next Speaker of the California Assembly.”

She is the first open lesbian to serve as speaker—and she takes over from the first openly gay man, current Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez. The Speaker of the Assembly has often been described as the second most powerful person in state politics after the governor.

“The announcement ends months of speculation about who would take over the leadership post once Pérez leaves office at the end of 2014,” the Fresno Bee reports.

Pérez emphasized the fact that not a single member of the 55-member Democratic caucus dissented from the selection of Atkins.

“It was unanimous going into the room, it was unanimous coming out of the room,” Pérez said. “There was absolute unanimity about peoples’ support and excitement about having Ms. Atkins as the next speaker.

A formal vote will come some time in the spring, Pérez said. The timeline for Atkins formally taking over has not been fixed.

Atkins has served as Acting Mayor of San Diego, she has been a member of the San Diego City Council, a member of the California State Assembly, a member of the California State Assembly, the Majority Leader of the California State Assembly, and now the California Assembly Speaker.

A Democrat, Atkins lives in San Diego. Her partner is Jennifer LeSar.