Greg In the Afternoon: Lindsay Lohan’s eHarmony ad; NY guv to introduce same-sex marriage bill

Good afternoon all! Hope it’s been a good day for you.

I begin with Lindsay Lohan and the above video. Is this a joke or not? Whatever it is, Lindsay sounds and looks pretty great in this ad for eHarmony. She makes fun of her recent US Weekly cover, her various arrests, restraining orders and, she said, she’s “a workaholic, a shopoholic and, according to the state of California, an alcoholic.” She also makes clear that she’s looking for “guy or girl.”

PATERSON TO INTRODUCE SAME-SEX MARRIAGE BILL: Vermiont, Iowa and now New York? Gov. David A. Paterson plans to introduce a bill on Thursday that would make same-sex marriage legal in his state, The New York Times reported today.

He has said in recent days that the State Legislature should move ahead now with the legislation regardless of whether it can muster enough votes. His reasoning, which some gay rights advocates have challenged, is that New York should make a statement that it is committed to treating same-sex couples the same way it treats opposite-sex couples.

GAY CONGRESSMAN DECRIES VIOLENCE IN IRAQ: It’s for reasons like this that it makes me feel really good about having an openly gay member of the United States Congress (besides Barney Frank, of course). Colorado congressman Jared Polis, elected last fall, p;aid a visit to Baghdad last week and has called for the United States to investigate the murders of gay men in that country targeted – possibly by family members – because of their sexuality.

“The United States should not tolerate human rights violations of any kind, especially by a government that Americans spend billions of taxpayer dollars each year supporting,” Polis said in a statement. “Hopefully my trip and letters to U.S. and Iraqi officials will help bring international attention and investigation to this terrible situation and bring an end to any such offenses.”

“We will now wait and see whether the Iraqi government is serious about protecting the human rights of all Iraqis and what role our own State Department has to play in helping to protect this minority in Iraq,” he added. “I am most disturbed by allegations that the Iraqi government itself may be involved in the persecutions. This warrants an immediate investigation from both American and Iraqi governments.”

I just don’t think a straight Republican would have made this a priority to speak out about.