It’s Sunday Funday and Our Haters Are Our Motivators

This Sunday Funday, our haters look like they might be maybe coming around possibly. Maybe we finally got through to them, or maybe they woke up and realized they were being silly. Either way, it means more for us!

Inability to Properly Hate Gay People Because of Rationality Brought Blankenhorn Back

David Blankenhorn wrote “The Future of Marriage” and left us out – on purpose. He also testified for the 2010 Prop 8 defense like a real nice guy. He has been worried, for quite some time, about what gay parenting “does to kids.” And now he’s coming out in favor of gay marriage. He said:

For me, the most important is the equal dignity of homosexual love. I don’t believe that opposite-sex and same-sex relationships are the same, but I do believe, with growing numbers of Americans, that the time for denigrating or stigmatizing same-sex relationships is over. Whatever one’s definition of marriage, legally recognizing gay and lesbian couples and their children is a victory for basic fairness. […]

In the mind of today’s public, gay marriage is almost entirely about accepting lesbians and gay men as equal citizens. And to my deep regret, much of the opposition to gay marriage seems to stem, at least in part, from an underlying anti-gay animus. To me, a Southerner by birth whose formative moral experience was the civil rights movement, this fact is profoundly disturbing.

Zanele Muholi, Awesome Queer Artist

The Advocate spotlighted Zanele Muholi, who is “creating a visual history of black lesbian identity and politics in post-apartheid South Africa” through her photography (and who was recently the victim of robbery of her art.Check it out. All of it. For a long time.

Latino Group Backs Gay Marriage

The National Council of La Raza AKA the largest Latino civil rights organization pretty much ever in the United States, unanimously passed a resolution in favor of marriage equality:

Rodriguez told the Blade that La Raza members believe “that marriage equality is consistent with the mission—the civil rights mission—of our organization.” The group will announce the resolution formally during next month’s annual convention in Las Vegas.

In addition to La Raza, the Blade notes that the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund president Thomas A. Saenz has backed same-sex marriage and the Texas chapter of the League of United Latin American Citizens voted to support marriage equality recently as well, recent changes indicative of the growing support for same-sex marriage among Latinos.

Suze Orman On Marriage Equality

Suze Orman dedicated an entire episode of her show to marriage equality, proving for the trillionth time that she is both intelligent and remarkably good looking for her age:

In a preview for the sobering episode Orman says, “Many of you out there have the ability to get married, have the ability to really share in what that feels like, emotionally as well as financially speaking. But here I sit in front of you, a 61-year-old woman, who has been gay my entire life, who has been in a committed relationship for the past 12 years, and I will die in this relationship a woman who pays more taxes than most, that is a contributing member to the economy in more ways than most, yet, I am not treated equally.”

The Great Minnesota Outing

A Bemidji, Minnesota native has launched a website to help LGBT people come out en masse to stop marriage bans and take over the world, pretty much:

Great Minnesota Outing was born as a way to help institutionalize the coming out process to tell all of those people who normally don’t get told, Jon Staff said.

“I thought if you could make it easier to tell all of these people, people would support the defeat of the ban if they knew a gay person,” Jon Staff said. “It makes it possible for everyone like me to tell everyone.”

Cyndi Lauper and Her True Colors Bring Us Vodka-Supported Tees

The Give a Damn Campaign, a project of Cyndi Lauper’s True Colors Fund, recently added to their Celebrity T-Shirt Project – presented by Van Gogh Vodka.  The limited edition shirts celebrate Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Pride Month and  100% of the sale proceeds will support the Give a Damn Campaign.

Four brand new t-shirts have been designed by Jane Lynch, Alan Cumming & Idina Menzel and Chelsea Handler.

Sunday Funday Fundraiser of the Week

Cati and Mike Gonzalez need help producing a kickass film, and they’re counting on you. This Sunday Funday, our Fundraiser of the Week is Prince & Ekaj, and it can’t happen ’til you Kickstart it.

Prince & Ekaj is a story about two gay Latino teenagers who are completely different from each other. One is a runaway teenager, and the other is a self-taught street hustler who spends his time wandering the streets of NYC at night looking for ways to make money. They both meet by chance and end up realizing that they depend on one another more than they think in a city that is full of crime, drugs, prostitution, and of course, hope.

In today’s society, there is a lot of hatred and bullying directed towards young teens who are attacked because they are gay, and we rarely hear or see what these kids have to go through on an every-day level just to be who they are. This story was truly inspired by all of these young gay hustler kids from New York City who struggle with these issues, but at the same time overcome them through perseverance.

Attractive Celebs With Pets

From Carey Grant to Sophia Loren, there are a million outfits and things to like in this Buzzfeed collection of Classic Movie Stars Spending Time With Their Pets.

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Carmen

Carmen spent six years at Autostraddle, ultimately serving as Straddleverse Director, Feminism Editor and Social Media Co-Director. She is now the Consulting Digital Editor at Ms. and writes regularly for DAME, the Women’s Media Center, the National Women’s History Museum and other prominent feminist platforms; her work has also been published in print and online by outlets like BuzzFeed, Bitch, Bust, CityLab, ElixHER, Feministing, Feminist Formations, GirlBoss, GrokNation, MEL, Mic and SIGNS, and she is a co-founder of Argot Magazine. You can find Carmen on Twitter, Instagram and Tumblr or in the drive-thru line at the nearest In-N-Out.

Carmen has written 919 articles for us.

13 Comments

  1. Well, you certainly quoted the nicest-sounding parts of Blankenhorn’s article. He hasn’t changed, and I still don’t want him on our side. He basically just realized he was losing (he admits this in the article) and is continuing to espouse his same icky beliefs, just in a new way where he hopes all of the gays will stop being so different and buy into his version of marriage and just stop raising kids who aren’t biologically related to both of them, already. Here’s a hint, Blankenhorn: you’re going to lose again!

    Also, in this article that’s about his coming out in favor of gay marriage, he literally blames gay marriage for contributing to rising rates of “unwed childbearing, nonmarital cohabitation and family fragmentation among heterosexuals.” Classy.

    Thanks but no thanks, Blankenhorn, I don’t need a frenemy.

    • “No same-sex couple, married or not, can ever under any circumstances combine biological, social and legal parenthood into one bond.”

      Not to mention that he completely ignores gay trans people!

      • Man, every time I try to mention trans people in the “gay marriage” debate (ie. we shouldn’t called it “gay marriage” because it erases the struggles of straight trans people who can’t get their gender marker changed easily… or whatever other cases I bring up) people get so confused or upset. Come on, allies, I’m sorry I hurt your feelings by undermining your intelligence about a community YOU ARE NOT A PART OF.

        • “Gay marriage” also erases bisexuals in same-sex relationships who want to get married. So that’s why I tend to prefer other terms as well.

    • Anyone who changes their mind during an election year, makes me go hmmmmmm. It’s just so convenient and strategic to do so in the public eye when certain “trendy issues” have a spotlight on them. Then, once you’re in, you can flip flop. It’s no different then going on an interview for a job, where you have a tattoo that may not be looked upon too kindly. Then of course once you’re in and have the job, you can show off what you’re really made off, tattoo’s and all.

      Got to love politics, it’s like the Pied Piper of Hamelin, leading the rats into the streets. I just laugh at the spectacle of it all because of its predictability. But, hey! “Change we can believe in,” “Forward,” “March” “Attentionnnnnnn! Halt! *insert Mr. C’s Cha Cha slide http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZv62ShoStY)… now it’s time to get funky! To the left! 1 hop this time! Right foot two stomps! …and you do the Hokey Pokey and you turn yourself around (keep spinning until you get dizzy), that’s what it’s all about! Yay! Again mommy! Again! /sarcasm

    • And I know this is a side issue, but it’s a personal one for me: His insistence that the biological parents are always the best choice is really insulting for those kids where one or more of their biological parents are abusive or neglectful. And I’m pretty sure the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child thing he’s referring to is more about governments seizing the children of political dissidents or whatever, not that the UN honestly thinks, like Blankenhorn seems to, that children should always be raised by the individuals who contributed the sperm and egg regardless of how well they do the job.

      • It’s also rather hilarious that he mentioned the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child to backup his argument, when the USA are one of the three countries who have refused and continue to refuse to ratify it.

  2. Zanele Muholi’s work is sooooo amazing. I can’t believe the theft of her artwork didn’t get more publicity, especially in the queer community, because it looks like her work was targeted particularly because it was documenting Black queer women’s lives. What a shame.

  3. I just want to say this article was awesome, AND that I’ve been so impatiently looking forward to Sunday because I couldn’t think of any other place where to share this: Jennifer Beals joined Twitter, and she quotes Walt Whitman on her life bio Twitter thing.

  4. I’m a bit confused from the Prince & Ekaj movie thing. I sense the impression that Ekaj is actually trans*, but there isn’t a single mention of that term in the descriptors.

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