Dustin Lance Black had a chat with AfterElton.com about his new film Virginia which he wrote and directed.

It opens in New York and Los Angeles this weekend.

But I want to focus on the part of the interview where Lance talks about President Barack Obama’s support last week of same sex marriage.

On those who say Obama’s endorsement was a political calculation:

“I think it is a little bit cynical because it’s not a clear slam-dunk politically, but I do think it had come to a head. I think politically there is no more waiting. He’s starting to look behind the Dick Cheneys, the Laura Bushes, the Ken Mehlmans, the Ted Olsons and everyone around him seemed to be coming out for equality, so I actually give him more credit than that. I think it was the right thing to do, and I think it was very brave of him. And listen, this is coming from the guy who two weeks ago was suggesting that perhaps we just withhold our votes from any candidate who doesn’t have a full equality stance. I got a lot of heat for that. I’m not one to pull my punches when it comes to this.

In this case, my hat’s off to him. I think it was brave. I think probably the most important thing to note about the timing is it happened the day after North Carolina. I was getting Facebook messages and emails from young people who had been fighting in that campaign and they were so despondent. I could hear in their emails the crushed self-esteem, the feeling of being less than, all the things we felt in California in 2008. I know all too well the thoughts that flash through some young LGBT people’s heads when they feel defeat like that, and I think the President’s message the very next day was a real lifesaver.”

If he were to be able to chat with Obama, he would say: “I’m a pushy little…[laughs] I’ll certainly say thank you and say ‘I’m looking forward to your efforts with ENDA [Employment Non-Discrimination Act]’ because I do believe there are people who do not feel comfortable coming out in their hometowns because of the fear of losing their house and their job. We cannot change public opinion in the Red States if we don’t have people coming out and telling their stories.

It’s one of the biggest pieces…without ENDA it just empowers the bullies. So I’ll say I look forward to his work on that, and I do know he’s dedicated to that. I’ll push a little. I’ll say thank you… and then I’ll present the next thing I would love for him to focus on.”

She dropped in on Jay Leno last night and he asked her to weigh in on some hot topics, including President Obama’s recent endorsement of gay marriage.

‘I’m over the moon,’ Wanda told Jay. ‘And for a black person to say over the moon, that’s big. We don’t use that. … I’m very excited. I’m so proud of him.’

She doesn’t understand how some detractors think Obama took the stand to gain votes.

‘It’s so funny, people think he did it for political reasons. How is this going to help him politically?’ she wondered. ‘Him saying he’s for same-sex marriage, there’s someone saying, ‘ This is the last piece of my anti-Christ puzzle.”

Wanda also had a few things to say about Mitt Romney: ‘I bet if you put Mitt Romney in front of a gay organization, he would go, ‘I like gays, I’m all for gays,’ she said. ‘He says whatever should be said in front of that organization. He’s the Forrest Gump of candidates.’

“Why not just short shorts and a popsicle penis in his hand?” Maher wondered.

As for the headline he said: “I don’t know what it means. …. It comes from what Toni Morrison years ago said: Clinton was the first black president. But she said he was the first black president because she said so many things about him were similar to the black experience. … What about Obama is gay? I don’t understand how this translates.”

But then again, Maher admits that he has not yet read the article by Andrew Sullivan than accompanies the cover!

Here are some clips from the Conan appearance. He has some funny and kind of raunchy things to say about Mitt Romney who he clearly is not a fan of.

But, like just about every celeb or politician these days, he’s being asked to weigh in on President Barack Obama’s historic endorsement of same-sex marriage last week.

Jay-Z told CNN that to him, denouncing gay rights “is no different than discriminating against blacks. It’s discrimination, plain and simple.”

“I’ve always thought of it as something that is holding the country back. What people do in their own homes is their business and you can choose to love whoever you love,” he added. “That’s their business.”

But what if it costs Obama votes in the races for president against Mitt Romney?

“I think it’s the right thing to do,” Jay-Z said. “Whether it cost him votes or not, again it’s really not about votes, it’s about people. Whether it cost him votes or not, I think it’s the right thing to do as a human being.”

Actor Will Smith, out promoting his new film Men in Black III, also discussed the topic telling reporters in Berlin: “If anybody can find someone to love them and to help them through this difficult thing that we call life, I support that in any shape or form.”

The Newsweek cover, notsomuch.

It’s not like the magazine did not have plenty of other options besides the rainbow halo over Obama’s head and the misleading headline which read: “The First Gay President.”

Anyway, Newsweek has posted online some of the other covers they were considering and I thought I’d share them with you to see if you prefer any of those over what was ultimately selected.

He talked about a host of things and was pretty charming throughout – seemed very comfortable in his own skin.

We are seeing him completely comfortable on the topic of gay marriage now that he has publicly endorsed it.

He made clear that he believes the Defense of Marriage Act should be repealed – he does not think it is constitutional.

Obama also discussed how he came around on gay marriage: “Part of it was just knowing friends and family, people that I’d gotten to know who had these wonderful relationships and they’d say to me, ‘You know what? The words matter. So even though you’ve been a strong supporter of civil unions, somehow it still says we’re different.’ That particular set of conversations that I had were ultimately what led me to this conclusion.’

Wow. Clay Aiken kind of makes minced-meat out of anti-gay Family Research Council head Tony Perkins when both appeared on Face the Nation on Sunday morning.

A particularly strong point was Clay addressed the religious argument against same-sex marriage with some churches protesting that they would be forced to marry gay couples.

‘When my mother married my stepfather, she went to a Baptist church and said she had been divorced. They wouldn’t let her get married there. So churches are able to decide who gets married at a church.’

Check it out:

Elisabeth had actually appeared with Sarah Palin at political events a few years back but even she could not stomach Bristol’s idiot remarks last week about President Barack Obama’s two daughters and their influence on him in the gay marriage debate.

“You need to mature,” Hasselbeck said to Bristol during the Hot Topics section of the show.

The ladies also discuss the Newsweek cover which calls Obama ‘The First Gay President.”

Remarks Joy Behar: “The first gay president was James Buchanan – look it up. They said he was a ‘bachelor.’ Hello?’

Of Mitt Romney maintaining that he does not remember cutting off a gay classmate’s long hair during prep school Behar said: “I don’t believe he doesn’t remember it. … To bully someone, that stays with you.”

Obama will appear on The View tomorrow!!!

But Babeu tells CNN’s Don Lemon he is confident he will be exonerated once an investigation is complete: “I’m fully confident that I’ll be exonerated because I know how this ends – I know the truth.”

In watching this interview, I must say Babeu does not behave like a man who has anything to hide at this point:  ‘I’m gay, I’m a sheriff and I’m a conservative.’

He regrets that it was the scandal that led him to come out publicly rather than doing so on his own terms.

‘I was [not] out to the public and it was used as a weapon to harm me,’ he says. ‘Now I’m dealing with it. … I’ve always been honest about it [with family and friends]. I never lied about it. I wish, in retrospect, that I shared it with the public.’

So why did he remain silent?

‘To be quite honest, I was a little bit afraid of how people would react and I think people can understand that,’ he says. ‘… I come to find out, a lot of people say it doesn’t matter.’

Read more over at Gay Star News!

Back in February, Phoenix New Times ran a story in which Babeau’s ex-boyfriend, Jose Orozco, accused the lawman of asking him to sign an agreement not to publicly discuss their relationship. When the offer was refused, he said Babeu, and his lawyer, allegedly threatened him with deportation.

Babeau denied the allegation and vowed to continue his run for congress. But he did resign from his position as chairman the Mitt Romney’s presidential effort in Arizona.

In his message to supporters, Babeau makes no mention of the scandal involving Orozco or the hit he took in fundraising as a result. Instead, he said his actions are to keep a promise he made to ‘ensure continuity of leadership in the Sheriff’s Office.’

To read more, see my story over at Gay Star News.

Earlier posts:

See Paul Babeau’s Adam 4 Adam Profile and Snapped! See Paul Babeau and ex Jose Orozco

Well, the daughter of 2008 Republican Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin has some things today about Barack Obama’s endorsement of gay marriage.

Obama mentioned his daughters Sasha and Malia who have friends whose parents are gay and how it wouldn’t dawn on them that somehow their friends’ parents would be treated differently.

“It doesn’t make sense to them and frankly, that’s the kind of thing that prompts a change in perspective,” the president said.

This was just too much for Bristol, best known for her stint on ABC’s Dancing With the Stars.

“While it’s great to listen to your kids’ ideas, there’s also a time when dads simply need to be dads,” Palin said in a blog post. “…It would’ve been helpful for him to explain to Malia and Sasha that while her friends parents are no doubt lovely people, that’s not a reason to change thousands of years of thinking about marriage. Or that — as great as her friends may be — we know that in general kids do better growing up in a mother/father home. Ideally, fathers help shape their kids’ worldview.”

It’s stunning that she would use the mother/father argument when she herself is a single mother but there you have it.

Said Wilson: “I think what the president did yesterday was incredibly brave. What he’s doing is being a leader on this issue. … By the president coming out and saying that he is in favor of same-sex marriage, he’s taking the ball a little further towards the end zone to a day when we do have full rights and privileges. We still live in a country where in 29 states you can still be fired for being gay. You know, we still have on the books things that need to be repealed. We can’t overstate the fact what he did goes a long way to validating teenagers and youth, not only gay and lesbian youth but youth being brought up by gay and lesbian parents.”

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John Lauber never forgot it, according to an article in today’s Washington Post. He told a classmate in the mid-90s: ‘It was horrible. … It’s something I have thought about a lot since then.’

Lauber, who later came out to his friends and family, wore his hair long and blond for the rest of his life. He died in 2004.

You can read the details of this incident in my article posted over at Gay Star News.

This is such a cause for celebration: President Barack Obama made history Wednesday by becaming the first sitting US President to support same-sex marriage.

‘I’ve always been adamant that gay and lesbian Americans should be treated fairly,’ Obama said in an interview with ABC News. ‘… It is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same-sex couples be able to get married.’

Obama’s announcement came amid mounting pressure on him to take a stand on an issue that he had previously said he was still ‘evolving on.’

Said Obama: ‘I have to tell you that over the course of several years as I have talked to friends and family and neighbors when I think about members of my own staff who are in incredibly committed monogamous relationships, same-sex relationships, who are raising kids together, when I think about those soldiers or airmen or marines or sailors who are out there fighting on my behalf and yet feel constrained, even now that Don’t Ask Don’t Tell is gone, because they are not able to commit themselves in a marriage.’

Obama’s remarks come three days after Vice President Joe Biden came out in favor of gay marriage during an appearance on NBC’s Meet the Press and one day after North Carolina voters approved a ban on gay marriage and civil unions.

Chad Griffin, board president of the American Foundation of Equal Rights, said Obama’s words ‘will be celebrated by generations to come.’

‘For the millions of young gay and lesbian Americans across this nation, their President’s words provide genuine hope that they will be the first generation to grow up with the freedom to fully pursue the American dream,’ said Griffin, the incoming president of the Human Rights Campaign. ‘Marriage—the promise of love, companionship, and family—is basic to the pursuit of that dream.  Our Constitution’s promise, the promise of liberty, is one that every generation must realize.  As President Obama recognized today, the fight to secure marriage equality is the defining element of our generation’s search for greater freedom.’

No doubt Obama wants to remain on the fence until after the November election – the latest polls have him and Mitt Romney virtually in a dead heat – but he is going to have a tough time with pressure mounting.

A day after Vice President Joe Biden told NBC’s Meet the Press that he is ‘absolutely comfortable’ with gay people getting married, Education Secretary Arne Duncan did the same when asked about the topic during an appearance on MSNBC’s Morning Joe on Monday.

Duncan’s appearance began with this question: ‘Do you believe that same sex men and women should be able to get legally married in the United States?’

Duncan responded: ‘Yes, I do.’

When he was asked if that was the first time he had publicly expressed his view on the issue, Duncan replied that yes, it was. He also added that it was the first time he had every been asked publicly for his position. Prior to Biden and Duncan, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan had publicly expressed support for gay marriage back in November.

He does not focus on the anti-gayness of the proposed legislation that would ban the state from recognizing civil unions, strip away domestic partner benefits and could eliminate legal protections for all unmarried couples in the state.

The state’s governor, Beverly Perdue, is also against the legislation and says children of unmarried couples could lose their health benefits if Amendment One were to pass.

“I’m calling to urge you to vote against Amendment One on Tuesday May 8.  If it passes, it won’t change North Carolina’s law on marriage.  What it will change is North Carolina’s ability to keep good businesses, attract new jobs, and attract and keep talented entrepreneurs.  If it passes, your ability to keep those businesses, get those jobs, and get those talented entrepreneurs will be weakened.  And losing even one job to Amendment One is too big of a risk.  Its passage will also take away health insurance from children and could even take away domestic violence protections from women.  So the real effect of the law is not to keep the traditional definition of marriage, you’ve already done that.  The real effect of the law will be to hurt families and drive away jobs.  North Carolina can do better.”

She says in part:

“If you see someone being bullied—speak up.

If you’re being bullied—reach out. To a teacher, to a hotline, to a friend. Know that you are not alone. Help is available. We all want you to hang in there.

And if you are bullying someone else—take a hard look at your actions and the pain you cause.  Whether it’s physical, emotional, or social— bullying is wrong.”

But that hasn’t stopped hm from joining in on the debate over North Carolina’s anti-gay marriage measure Amendment One which goes before voters on Tuesday.

He has purchased full-page ads that will appear in 14 newspapers over the weekend. Voters go to the polls on May 8.

‘At 93, I never thought we would have to debate the definition of marriage,’ Graham writes in the advertisement. ‘The Bible is clear — God’s definition of marriage is between a man and a woman. I want to urge my fellow North Carolinians to vote FOR the marriage amendment on Tuesday, May 8.’

Read the full story over at Gay Star News.

Missouri state representative Zach Wyatt is not running for reelection and decided to come out this week and to speak out against the state’s proposed ‘Don’t Say Gay’ legislation.

‘I’m not the first or the last Republican to come out,’ Wyatt said. ‘I’ve just gotten tired of the bigotry being shown from both sides of the aisle on gay issues. Being gay has never been a Republican or Democratic issue and it should never be.’

You can read more over at Gay Star News.

And also such real celebrities like George Clooney, Barbara Walters and Charlize Theron.

But let’s focus on what really matters. What was said about LGBT issues.

President Barack Obama, funny and charming as ever in this kind of situation, noted that ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t’ tell was repealed in his first term. He promised something more if he gets reelected: ‘In my first term we repealed a policy known as Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. In my second term we will replace it with a policy known as “It’s Raining Men.”‘

The evening’s host, Jimmy Kimmel, had a go at  Sen. Rick Santorum’s rabid opposition to same sex unions – Santorum was in the audience.

‘You know, it’s one thing to oppose gay marriage. It’s another all together to do it in a sweater vest.’

Kimmel also had a zinger for former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich: “Newt I have a question. How can you be against gay marriage when you yourself are the son of two gay parents? The Michelin and the Stay Puff Marshmallow Man.”

Kimmel also said of gay marriage: “I don’t understand politicians who are against gay marriage. I don’t understand anyone who’s against gay marriage. When you really think about it, aren’t all marriages kind of gay? I mean, as a man when you get married essentially what you’re saying is, “I will never touch another woman as long as I live. Now let’s put jewelry on each other and dance.”‘

The Obama and Kimmel routines can be found at C-SPAN.