His apology:

“I sincerely regret the fact that I have upset people with the poor word choices and comments I made both during the taping of the ‘So You Think You Can Dance’ audition and on my personal status update. I am not homophobic and it was extremely upsetting for me to be classed as such.

I have been forthright and consistent with my opinion, as a judge, that professional male dancers should move with strength and agility — like Gene Kelly and Rudolph Nureyev. I now realize how this could be misconstrued.

I have been a dancer, and involved in the dance world, for nearly 50 years. Professionally and personally, I believe the sexual orientation of an auditioner or contestant is irrelevant. All that said, the fact that I have unintentionally upset people is distressing to me and it is obvious I have made mistakes that I must learn from. I trust that my humor will be more sensitive and mindful moving forward.”

Nigel Lythgoe, judge and executive producer, SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE

The man, whom KOMO News has chosen to identify as “Mike,” said the three of the four incidents took place over the weekend. The latest message read: “(expletive) rape kids.” [GRW Ed Note: The expletive is "fags"]

“It’s very hurtful, yeah,” he said. “You’d have to be gay to understand how that feels, you know?”

Mike painted over the vandals’ first message with white paint. When they struck again, he scratched it out with a black marker.

“It’s always in the same handwriting. The minute i cross one out, it reappears within 24 hours,” he said.

Tired of the vandals’ persistence, Mike called police. Detectives have no leads as to who may be writing the messages, but Mike said whoever it is is bold enough to write them in broad daylight.

“This is a hate crime, in my opinion,” said Mike. “I’m scared. I feel like I’m being watched constantly. I don’t trust anybody all of a sudden. It’s not a good feeling at all.”

Mike said he wants to stand his ground against hate and wants his message heard as well.

“It just needs to stop,” he said.

“This is about responsibility and dialogue,” said Tom Lang, KnowThyNeighbor.org’s director. “These petition signers need to stand behind their signatures and be responsible for this dehumanizing attack on the gay community. It’s disgraceful that they have chosen to exercise their prejudice at the expense of children who are now being denied access to loving adoptive and foster parents. Such activity must be challenged and cannot be allowed to pass under the cover of darkness.”

As in Massachusetts and Florida, KnowThyNeighbor.org expects that many petition signers will be confronted about their actions as their names are discovered on the website by family members, friends, coworkers, customers, and acquaintances. “These conversations can be uncomfortable for both parties,” says Lang, “but they are desperately needed. The more that gays and lesbians talk about the importance of their relationships and their love for their children, the faster stereotypes break down and both sides begin to realize how much they have in common.”

The data that appears on KnowThyNeighbor.org was provided by the Arkansas Secretary of State’s office and is a matter of public record.

Check it all out here www.knowthyneighbor.org/arkansas.

Via NAACP:

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People today announced support of measures before the California legislature challenging Proposition 8, which altered the California Constitution to deny same-sex couples the freedom to marry and equal protection under the law.

In a letter to legislative leaders, NAACP national board chair Julian Bond and President and CEO Benjamin Todd Jealous urged passage of House Resolution 5 and Senate Resolution 7 to put the legislature on record calling for invalidation of Prop. 8 as an improper and dangerous alteration of the California Constitution.

“The NAACP’s mission is to help create a society where all Americans have equal protection and opportunity under the law,” said President Jealous. “Our Mission Statement calls for the ‘equality of rights of all persons.’ Prop. 8 strips same-sex couples of a fundamental freedom, as defined by the California State Supreme Court. In so doing, it poses a serious threat to all Americans. Prop. 8 is a discriminatory, unprecedented change to the California Constitution that, if allowed to stand, would undermine the very purpose of a constitution and courts – assuring equal protection and opportunity for all and safeguarding minorities from the tyranny of the majority.”

SR 7, sponsored by Equality California (EQCA), will be heard in the Senate Judiciary Committee on Feb. 24th and will proceed to the full Senate for a vote shortly thereafter. Its companion bill, HR 5, also sponsored by EQCA, passed the Assembly Judiciary Committee on Feb. 17th and is eligible for a vote before the full Assembly as early as today.

The California State Conference of the NAACP filed briefs with the California Supreme Court in the legal challenge against Prop. 8, arguing that the measure drastically alters the equal protection guarantee in California’s Constitution and that the rights of a minority cannot be eliminated by a simple majority vote. Several other civil rights organizations, faith leaders, unions and leading corporations also filed briefs urging the invalidation of Prop. 8.

“The NAACP has long opposed any proposal that would alter the federal or state constitutions for the purpose of excluding any groups or individuals from guarantees of equal protection,” said Chairman Bond. “We urge the legislature to declare that Proposition 8 did not follow the proper protective process and should be overturned as an invalid alteration that vitiated crucial constitutional safeguards and fundamental American values, threatening civil rights and all vulnerable minorities.”

The state Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in the case on March 5th and could rule as early as June 2009.

The words that started it all:

“Sen. Chris Buttars: “Homosexuality will always be a sexual perversion. And you say that around here now and everybody goes nuts. But I don’t care.”

“They’re mean. They want to talk about being nice. They’re the meanest buggers I have ever seen.”

And just seconds later, Buttars draws a comparison between some gays and radical Muslims.

“It’s just like the Muslims. Muslims are good people and their religion is anti-war. But it’s been taken over by the radical side.”

Buttars also claims he’s “killed” every gay rights bill in the legislature for the last 8 years.

He also talks about gay marriage being the beginning of the end.

Buttars: “What is the morals of a gay person? You can’t answer that because anything goes.”

And finally, this is how senator Buttars refers to the “radical gay movement.”

“They’re probably the greatest threat to America going down I know of.”

Now, in the interview, senator Buttars also talks about a certain type of reported gay sexual activity which he claims is taking place.

Buttars has been kicked off a judicial committee he chaired after comparing gay activists to radical Muslims. Buttars also told filmmaker Reed Cowan that gay activists are “probably the greatest threat to America going down.”

Waddoups announced this morning that Buttars will be removed as chair and a member of the Judicial Standing Committee. He will remain on the Senate Rules Committee.

There has been outrage over the comments this year because gays have unsuccessfully sponsored a package of bills they say find common ground on the issue of equal rights. Also, Butters has a record of speaking off the cuff when it comes to gays, illegal immigrants, and African Americans.

Waddoups, R-Taylorsville, says the move shouldn’t be viewed as punishment but rather the removal of a distraction.

“I want the citizens of Utah to know that the Senate stands behind Sen. Buttars and his right to speak, that we stand behind him as colleague and support his right to serve in this state,” Waddoups said.

He said this will free Sen. Buttars to be more at ease when speaking his opinions. He also said he stands behind Buttars’ rights to express his opinions and to serve in the Senate.

The LDS has distanced themselves from Buttars in a statement they released:

“From the outset, the Church’s position has always been to engage in civil and respectful dialogue on this issue. Senator Buttars does not speak for the Church.”

Via Joe.My.God
The American Family Association routinely announces boycotts of corporations that have made gay-friendly advertising, employment, or charity decisions. And about a year later, when the boycott remains virtually unnoticed by the American consumer, the AFA fabricates the concession of the company in question and announces the triumphant end to their boycott.

In a few months, expect the AFA to victoriously announce the tumbled revenues of PepsiCo, followed a few months later by the AFA claim that Pepsi has agreed to abandon gay-friendly policies. Lying makes the Baby Jeebus cry, y’all.

The AFA said the following:

PepsiCo has refused a request by AFA to remain neutral in the culture war. The company indicated that it will continue major financial support of homosexual organizations. AFA wrote Pepsi two times (on October 14 and October 29) requesting a meeting to discuss Pepsi’s neutrality in the culture war. On November 17, AFA received a condescending letter (dated Nov. 7) from Paul Boykas, director, public policy, in which he refused to address Pepsi’s support of the homosexual agenda.

In the last two years, Pepsi has given $500,000 to the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) and $500,000 to the Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG). The $1,000,000 was to be used to help promote homosexuality in the workplace. Pepsi refuses to give money to any pro-family organization that opposes the homosexual agenda. Plus, every homosexual organization we know of is overwhelmingly pro-abortion. Both HRC and PFLAG supported efforts in California to defeat Proposition 8 which defined marriage as being between a man and a woman. HRC, the homosexual group financially supported by Pepsi, gave $2.3 million to defeat Prop 8. Pepsi forces all employees to attend sexual orientation and gender identity diversity training where they are taught to accept homosexuality.

A copy of the letter is below the fold.

According to the CDC’s website, someone who has ingested “a significant amount” will develop vomiting and diarrhea within the first 6-12 hours; other symptoms of ricin poisoning include hallucinations, seizures, and blood in the urine. There is no antidote for ricin but ricin exposure is not invariably fatal.

A letter also arrived in The Stranger’s offices, addressed to the attention of “Obituaries.” The letter’s author said the paper should “be prepared to announce the deaths of approximately 55 individuals all of whom were patrons of the following establishments on a Saturday in January.” The listed bars are: the Elite, Neighbours, Wild Rose, the Cuff, Purr, the Eagle, R Place, Re-bar, CC’s, Madison Pub, and the Crescent. “I could take this moment to launch into a diatribe about my indignation towards the gay community,” the letter concludes, “however, I think the deaths will speak for themselves.”

via The Slog

As a Portland resident who loves to visit Seattle, I’ve been to a number of the bars mentioned. It’s honestly pretty scary to think about this. The best way to protect yourself is to simply keep your drink on you all the time. Sort of like what they tell you at the airport, don’t let your luggage out of your possession!

After reading the below article, please take action here.
Via CBS News:
President-elect Barack Obama’s announcement Wednesday that Pastor Dr. Rick Warren will give the invocation at the inauguration has set off a firestorm of criticism from liberal and gay rights activists.

Warren is the best-selling author of The Purpose Driven Life and other books, as well as the pastor of the Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif. He is known as a “new evangelical” who stresses issues like poverty and climate change alongside other traditional conservative Christian issues. He also hosted a forum at his church in August with both Mr. Obama and Republican Sen. John McCain.

His selection by Mr. Obama further cements his place as one of the nation’s preeminent religious leaders and also is seen as a clear sign to reach out to evangelical and conservative voters who didn’t support him in last month’s election.

But it is Warren’s strong opposition to abortion and particularly gay marriage which has many on the left up in arms over him being given such a prominent role in the inauguration.

The Human Rights Campaign, the largest homosexual rights organization in the U.S., sent a strident letter to Mr. Obama, urging him to reconsider and calling the invitation “a genuine blow.”

“By inviting Rick Warren to your inauguration, you have tarnished the view that gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Americans have a place at your table,” says the letter by Joe Solmonese, president of the group. “We feel a deep level of disrespect when one of the architects and promoters of an anti-gay agenda is given the prominence and the pulpit of your historic nomination.”

The letter takes particular issue with Warren’s support of Proposition 8 in California, which banned gay marriage and also tries to tie Warren to Dr. James Dobson, chairman of Focus on the Family and a vocal leader in the social conservative community.

“Rev. Warren cannot name a single theological issue that he and vehemently, anti-gay theologian James Dobson disagree on,” Solmonese says. (You can read the full letter here)

“It’s a huge mistake,” California gay rights activist Rick Jacobs told the Politico. “Can you imagine if he had a man of God doing the invocation who had deliberately said that Jews are not going to be saved and therefore should be excluded from what’s going on in America? People would be up in arms.”

Gay rights groups were not the only ones on the left opposed to Warren’s inclusion in the inauguration.

Kathryn Kolbert, president of the liberal group People For the American Way, called giving Warren this honor a “grave disappointment”

“The sad truth is that this decision further elevates someone who has in recent weeks actively promoted legalized discrimination and denigrated the lives and relationships of millions of Americans,” Kolbert said. (Read the full statement.)

In The Nation, Sarah Posner wrote the following: “Obama had thousands of clergy to choose from, and the choice of Warren is not only a slap in the face to progressive ministers toiling on the front lines of advocacy and service but a bow to the continuing influence of the religious right in American politics.”

“Warren represents the absolute worst of the Democrats’ religious outreach, a right-winger masquerading as a do-gooder anointed as the arbiter of what it means to be faithful,” she added. (Read the full column.)

Mr. Obama himself responded to the growing controversy when prompted by a question during a news conference today designed to announce a trio of financial regulators. The president-elect stressed that he is a “fierce advocate for equality for gay and lesbian Americans,” but said it was also important for Americans to come together despite disagreements on social issues.

Mr. Obama said the inauguration would include people with a wide variety of viewpoints represented and “that’s how it should be.”

He also pointed out that he was invited by Warren a few years ago to speak at his church, despite his disagreement with Warren on those issues. “That dialogue is part of what my campaign has been about,” he added.

Via The Colorado Independent:

Focus on the Family is poised to announce major layoffs to its Colorado Springs-based ministry and media empire today. The cutbacks come just weeks after the group pumped more than half a million dollars into the successful effort to pass a gay-marriage ban in California.

Critics are holding up the layoffs, which come just two months after the organization’s last round of dismissals, as a sad commentary on the true priorities of ministry.