GODLESS WEDNESDAY: The Protester From Yesterday's Supreme Court Argument

This week for Godless Wednesday I figured I would feature another examples of abusive behavior by the "godfearing." Yesterday, during oral arguments before the United States Supreme Court about whether civil marriage must be available to same-sex couples in every state of the union, the guy pictured above, Rives Miller Grogan, disrupted the proceedings by yelling out "If you support gay marriage then you will burn in hell!" and as he was being hustled out of the room "It's an abomination!"

Lovely, hmmm?

Even more bothersome, in my opinion and others, was Justice Scalia's response, which was "It was rather refreshing, actually." Really? "Refreshing"? In what way, exactly?

2013 FRENCH OPEN: Rafa Wins Record 8th Title; 12th Major

As expected,  Rafael Nadal won his 8th French Open title at Roland Garros, beating David Ferrer 6-3 6-2 6-3 to win his 12th career major. Amazingly, since Nadal is repeating as champion he is not gaining any ATP points so he will actually lose the World #4 ranking to Ferrer when the new rankings come out on Monday.

Nadal has played 60 matches in his career at Roland Garros and won 59 of them (the sole loss to Robin Soderling in 2009), claiming 8 titles. No male player has ever won 8 titles at one of the major championships. Roger Federer has played in 8 Wimbledon finals but he has 7 titles, losing the 2008 men's final to Nadal in what some people call the greatest match of all time (and definitely the greatest match on grass). Nadal was also part of the greatest match at the Australian Open, last year's final win by Djokovic which lasted nearly 6 hours.

Speaking of incredible matches, John McEnroe and other commentators are already calling Friday's semifinal match between Nadal and Novak Djokovic won in 4 hours and 37 minutes by Nadal "the best clay court match of all time."

The result in today's final match was never really in doubt. This year I correctly predicted both finals, 0 of 2 men's semifinal matches and 3 of 4 men's quarterfinal matches. On the women's side I correctly predicted 2 of 2 semifinals and 3 of 4 quarterfinals.

The next major (Wimbledon) starts on Monday June 24th. Nadal did not play any tennis after losing in the 2nd round there last year so he has a very good chance of ending the year as #1 unless Djokovic has a stronger year in the last two majors of the year then he did last year.

Protest in LA Tonight Against Buju Banton at 8:30pm

There's a protest set for tonight, October 15th in Hollywood to protest a quietly rescheduled show by reggae artist Buju Banton, who is unabashedly homophobic and is most well-known for singing what is commonly called "murder music."

What Buju Banton is most well-known for is the song "Boom Bye-Bye" which is basically all about the killing of gay men.

Here's an ACTION ALERT from the L.A. Gay and Lesbian Center's Lorri Jean:

Despite the Cabana Club’s initial decision to do the right thing and cancel Banton’s concert, the venue has quietly re-booked him for a show TONIGHT (Thursday, Oct. 15).

PLEASE JOIN US FOR A PEACEFUL PROTEST IN FRONT OF THE CLUB TONIGHT, and remind Sunset Entertainment Group (SEG), which owns and operates the club, that it is not acceptable to profit from hate-peddlers like Banton.

Where: Cabana Club
1439 Ivar Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90028
When: 8:30 p.m.

Bring your signs and show your solidarity with activists around the world—especially in Jamaica, where prominent LGBT activists have been murdered—against musicians whose hateful lyrics foster this anti-gay sentiment.

Spread the word by joining the “Cancel Buju Banton's Los Angeles Show!” Facebook group, and watch www.lagaycenter.org/stophatelyrics for developments.

You can also contact the Cabana Club’s owners directly and let them know we’re outraged that they are profiting from a singer who won’t apologize for his vile hate speech or promise to stop performing violently anti-gay songs.

Cabana Club owners
Phone: 323-463-1473
Chris Breed – chris@sunseteg.com
Drew Greeley - drew@sunseteg.com

Please join me in demanding that SEG silence murder music!

Interestingly, earlier this week Buju met personally with a bunch of LGBT activists in Northern California that was widely publicized.

Perhaps he thinks that because of that, the boycotts and protests will diminish? Hardly, likely!

NO on Prop 8 Campaign Leaders Call on Community to Stand Together

This statement was issued by the leaders of the NO ON PROP 8 Campaign today:

“This has been an incredibly difficult week for Californians who are disappointed in the passage of Proposition 8, which takes away the right to marry for same-sex couples in our state. We feel a profound sense of disappointment in this defeat, but know that in order to move forward we must continue to stand together as one community in order to secure full equality in California.

“In working to defeat Prop 8, a profound coalition banded together to fight for equality. Faith leaders, labor, teachers, civil rights leaders and communities of color, Republicans, Democrats, and Independents, public officials, local school boards and city councils, parents, corporate law firms and bar associations, businesses, and people from all walks of life joined together to stand up against discrimination. We must build on this coalition in order to achieve equal rights for all Californians.

“We achieve nothing if we isolate the people who did not stand with us in this fight. We only further divide our state if we attempt to blame people of faith, African American voters, rural communities and others for this loss. We know people of all faiths, races and backgrounds stand with us in our fight to end discrimination, and will continue to do so. Now more than ever it is critical that we work together and respect our differences that make us a diverse and unique society. Only with that understanding will we achieve justice and equality for all.”

Geoff Kors, Executive Director, Equality California

Kate Kendell, Executive Director, National Center for Lesbian Rights

Lorri Jean, Executive Director, Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center

Delores Jacobs, Executive Director, San Diego Gay and Lesbian Center

LAPD Brutality: It's Not Just For Black People Anymore...

Hmm, I wonder if this video will start to make Black people realize that they have something of a civil rights tradition in common with LGBT folk after all:


The video was taken at public protests over passage of Proposition 8 in Hollywood on the night of Wednesday November 5, 2008.