Sundance Channel

Naked News: Cynthia Nixon says being gay is a choice… if you’re bisexual

Em and Lo — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 18:00:29 +0000

Cynthia Nixon clarifies her controversial quote, explaining that she is gay "by choice" only because she is bisexual by nature.
Heart patients get the go-ahead for sex... so long as it's with their spouse.

Naked news: Sex and the City, high school cougars, and gaydar

Em and Lo — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 18:00:59 +0000

High school team can't call themselves the Cougars because of its association with sexually-active, single, middle-aged women.
Speaking of cougars and high school: Sex and the City pre-quel pilot on the CW is a go.

The Ricks: Santorum’s boy toys & Perry’s customary greeting

Paul Ohan — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 14:00:32 +0000

Image credit: Gage Skidmore Like any good reality show, the 2012 republican primary race is riddled with hypocritical and anachronistic characters that couldn’t be more entertaining if they were scripted. What makes them so buzz worthy is that they believe in a lot of the rhetoric they’re dishing out. But what’s even more mind blowing is they’re really speaking on behalf of their constituents, who in turn will defend the candidate. So color me, and my log cabin, crazy because I recently found out that Rick Santorum has gay men coming to his defense. I don’t really have a log cabin, it was just the obvious reference, but apparently Rick Santorum might.

2012 New Year’s resolutions for a best girl friend

Alida Nugent — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 19:33:30 +0000

Happy 2012, everybody! It's the year the world might end, but as old "Lady Spears" might sing, until the world ends we’ve got to keep on dancing! However, in my case, dancing means trying to lose the ten pounds I gained after freebasing an entire turkey into my mouth on Thanksgiving. Or maybe trying to stop drinking because my body is starting to look like a leather shoe after the abundance of cocktails I've been slinging at it. However, forget about me. As a gay man’s best friend, there are a couple of NYE resolutions I’ve got to have to keep our relationship alive and flourishing, like a plant that is a gay best friend. Here are my top five:

The forward momentum of gay rights

Em and Lo — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 18:00:19 +0000

We mentioned a recent Pew Research Center survey earlier this week (in Naked News) that shows how public acceptance of same-sex marriage has grown in the past two years, jumping by 9 percentage points, making the country now evenly divided on the issue, with 46% in support legalization and 44% opposed. While reading up on the topic, we found two interesting infographics, both of which show the progress that's been made in the gay rights movement...

Wedding photos from New York’s first day of legal gay marriage

Em and Lo — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 17:00:05 +0000

Our photographer friend David Jacobs (he took our deceptively flattering bio pic) was hired by Human Rights Campaign, a gay rights organization, to document New York's first day of legal gay marriage this past Monday at Manhattan's City Hall. HRC will soon have more on their site, but for now here's a round-up of the day's events by their National Field Director, Marty Rouse. And below is our friend Dave's take on events (he's not gay, but he's married and does rock the occasional pink shirt with flare), followed by more of his cool photos of the happy couples.

DC Comics introduces gay characters

Em and Lo — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 17:00:44 +0000

We're not comics fans, but even we know DC Comics. So now that they're introducing a bunch of gay characters this fall, it'll be nice for us to finally have a serious counterpoint to SNL's Ambiguously Gay Duo. According to The Advocate:

DC Comics grabbed headlines last June when the company announced its entire line of comic books would be overhauled with 52 all-new #1 issues in September. Not only would iconic characters such as Superman and Wonder Woman restart with a fresh number, but costumes and origins for the entire universe of characters would be updated as well.

We heart NY, Gay Marriage & the Empire State Building

Em and Lo — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 19:39:56 +0000

One state at a time! Last Friday evening New York passed a marriage equality bill, allowing gay couples to finally legally marry in the state. Within hours the Empire State building was lit up in a rainbow of colors — woohoo! The pics of the building went Twitterrific all weekend. The most plausible explanation we’ve heard is [...]

Fran Drescher’s gay ex-husband has a show!

Michael Musto — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 19:48:23 +0000

Happily Divorced couldn’t ask for a better lead-in. It premieres on TV Land on June 15 directly after Hot in Cleveland, the biggest phenomenon to hit the upper part of the cable box since Half-Ton Teen. It also has a pretty hot premise: Fran Drescher plays a florist whose 18-year marriage ends when her husband (John Michael Higgins) announces, “Yep, I’m gay”—and for various reasons, they continue living together anyway! What’s more, the show is loosely based on Drescher’s own experience. In fact, Drescher co-writes it with Peter Marc Jacobson, who happens to be her real-life gay ex-husband. There are just two problems with the show, based on my viewing of the pilot: (A) Betty White isn’t in it. (B) It’s not that funny.

Naked News: Declining sperm count just a nasty rumor after all

Em and Lo — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 17:00:30 +0000

The myth is debunked – humankind’s sperm count is a-okay! Alabama passes “fetal pain” anti-abortion bill, with no exceptions for rape and incest. Miami high school elects transgender senior as prom queen. Tracy Morgan says gay is something kids learn from the media. Wyoming grants divorce to same-sex couple despite not performing same-sex marriages. Obama suggests [...]

God is obviously gay-friendly

Em and Lo — Tue, 10 May 2011 18:00:22 +0000

In case you missed this making the rounds this last week, check out this 3 minute video of Representative Steve Simon (DFL Hopkins/St. Louis Park) eloquently — and we mean EL-O-QUENT-LY — urging his fellow Minnesotan lawmakers not to put a gay marriage ban on the ballot in 2012. They did, unfortunately. But that fact [...]

Married same-sex couples refusing to lie on their tax returns

Em and Lo — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 17:00:49 +0000

RefuseToLie.org is an effort to take a stand against the federal government’s refusal to recognize gay marriages across the country. As it is now, the IRS calls for gay couples who are legally married in states that recognize the union to file as “single” — and some people aren’t going to step in line anymore. [...]

“Sex in America with Lisa Ling”

Em and Lo — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 17:00:04 +0000

At least, that's what Ling's new show on OWN (Oprah's new tv network) should be called, instead of "Our America with Lisa Ling." After all, four of the first five episodes focus on matters of sexuality: There's "Pray the Gay Away," which looks at the conflicts between Christianity and homosexuality; "Transgendered Lives," which profiles several different people who were born in the wrong body; "The State of Sex Offenders" which takes a look at criminals once they're out of jail; and tonight at 10pm "Online Brides," which we're guessing (from the promos) follows men to foreign lands who are in search of love (read: paid-for sex slaves). The first three (which we've seen) all take a very personal and intimate look at how these issues are affecting real people -- it's fascinating stuff, all shot very cinematically.

2nd annual Unmarriage Until Gay Marriage ceremony

Em and Lo — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 18:00:55 +0000

For the second year in a row, the Reverend Billy and the Church of Life After Shopping will be celebrating this Valentine’s Day weekend with an un-marriage ceremony for straight married couples who support gay marriage at The Bethesda Fountain in NYC’s Central Park on Sunday from 1 – 2pm. The idea is “no marriage [...]

Best 3-minute argument for gay marriage ever

Em and Lo — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 21:00:32 +0000

Passionate, eloquent, convincing, short and to the point — this is a defense of gay marriage made for the Internet. Zach Wahls, a 19-year-old University of Iowa engineering student, spoke out before the Iowa House of Representatives last week against a resolution which would end civil unions in that state by describing his life with [...]

I can has gay wedding

Em and Lo — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 18:00:50 +0000

We usually hate anything that anthropomorphizes cuddly animals in some inanely cute way, like with tuxedos or having them work at a desk or some shit like that (you know, the kind of stuff your mom forwards to you and her entire address book, NOT bcc’d). But we can’t resist this particular case, since it [...]

Why do lesbians earn more than straight women?

Em and Lo — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 18:00:45 +0000

Research shows that lesbian women earn more than straight women -- even when you control for the facts that lesbian women tend to be better-educated, more likely to be white, live in cities, have fewer children, and more likely to be professionals. So how to explain this wage gap? Economics professor Marina Adshade of Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, examines a hypothesis that it has to do with the division of labor in your typical heterosexual union. In short, the theory goes, a straight woman is raised with the assumption that she will most likely marry a man who earns more than she does for the same amount of work, and also that she will be taking on the lion's share of at-home, unpaid labor. Which means that she is slightly less motivated that her lesbian peers to get ahead at work. Lesbian women -- at least, as long as they have been gay -- don't make this assumption.

No, he’s not trying to turn you gay

Em and Lo — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 17:00:42 +0000

We are completely hooked on the dating research blog OKTrends because of how often it reminds us that the world is, in fact, a sane place -- no matter how many of our politicians think that gay people shouldn't be allowed to teach in schools or die for their country or get married or raise kids. The latest installment of research -- based on OKCupid's 3.2 million gay and straight users -- is another perfect example, debunking some of the most common (and hostile) gay myths out there. For example, take the myth that "the gays" are on a mission to "convert" your precious little Johnny:

A better way to channel our outrage: “It Gets Better”

Em and Lo — Fri, 08 Oct 2010 17:00:38 +0000

A great article in the NYTimes this past weekend about cyberbullying -- and in particular cyberbullying over sexual orientation -- included this line which really made us stop and think: "the punishment must fit the crime, not the sense of outrage over it." It's wise and it's true, but we'd forgotten that -- and it doesn't answer the question, what do you do with all the outrage you feel? The outraged part of us feels that Tyler Clementi's college roommate -- who secretly filmed Clementi hooking up with another guy then posted it online, leading to Clementi's suicide -- deserves to go to jail for a long, long time. Same goes for the assholes who bullied 13-year-old Seth Walsh about his sexual orientation -- Walsh hanged himself from a tree in his backyard last month and died after more than a week on life support. And countless other gay teen suicides across the country -- often as a direct result of peer bullying.

NYC’s 4th Annual Naughty Auction benefiting the National AIDS Fund

Em and Lo — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 17:00:44 +0000

If you’re in New York City next Thursday night and want something fun and fabulous to do, go to the 4th annual Naughty Auction benefiting the National AIDS Fund (which leverages resources, develops leadership and advocacy, and fosters community innovation to prevent new HIV infections and care for people living with HIV/AIDS). The party, held [...]

Al Franken chokes up over Don’t Ask Don’t Tell

Em and Lo — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 17:00:20 +0000

We should all be choking up, now that Congress has blocked the defense authorization bill (the bill that funds the miliatry) for the first time in decades simply because conservative members (and two Democratic senators!) don’t want to support gay rights, either because they think homosexuality is wrong or, more likely, they’re afraid of pissing [...]

Marriage = an institution free from state-mandated gender roles

Em and Lo — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 17:00:23 +0000

Everyone’s saying you’ve just got to read the full text of Judge Vaughn Walker’s overturning of Prop 8 in California last Wednesday — apparently it’s a page turner! You can view it here in full. We admit, we haven’t yet read the whole thing ourselves, but thanks to Rachel Maddow, we were apprised of one [...]

New wedding mag for same-sex couples

Em and Lo — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 20:00:23 +0000

“Equally Wed” is the new online magazine for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender couples who are tying the knot (legally or not). Launched this past March with their Spring Issue, they plan to publish one issue each season (their Summer Issue is up now). It’s got the typical bridal magazine stuff that just feeds the [...]

Guess whose high school yearbook pic?

Em and Lo — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 20:00:50 +0000

Yep, Rachel Maddow's. Out and proud Rachel Maddow of MSNBC's kick-ass liberal politics show "The Rachel Maddow Show." Maddow, who wears as little makeup as the producers will let her get away with, who would never be caught dead in feminine jewelry (let alone pearls!), who's always in jeans and sneaks under her television desk, who gets her haircut with what looks like a Flowbee. Don't get us wrong -- none of that is a dis. We love, love, love that Maddow refuses to abide by the strict beauty rules set for women in our society, especially in our society's television media. Which is perhaps why this picture is so striking -- it's such a 180 for her, the epitome of the feminine ideal, even today: blonde, long-haired, tan, make-up-ed, and accessorized. We admit, our first reaction was: OMG! But why?

10 sexy reasons to love Iceland

Em and Lo — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 17:00:04 +0000

Okay, okay, we know that Iceland really screwed up air travel with that volcano incident. And the collapse of their financial system was a major international bummer. But they deserve to be forgiven -- check it out:

Icelandic Prime Minister Johanna Sigurdardottir just married her long-term partner, making her the world’s first national leader with a same-sex spouse. The wedding took place the day a new law took effect, which defines marriage as a union between two consenting adults, regardless of sex.
Before she got married, her claim to fame was that she was the world's only openly gay prime minister. But it was never a big deal in Iceland. Because, you know, it isn't. Iceland has long been progressive in LGBT matters. All the way back in 1996, they passed a law creating registered partnerships for same-sex couples, which covered nearly all the rights and benefits of marriage.

Kids of lesbian parents may fare better than their peers

Em and Lo — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 20:00:58 +0000

A new study analyzing long-term data on kids from birth to adulthood just came out that suggests children of lesbian parents do better than their peers.

House votes to allow repeal of “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell”

Em and Lo — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 16:42:36 +0000

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy Just in case you missed it over this long holiday weekend, at the end of last week the House voted to allow the repeal of the military’s discriminatory “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” policy against gays, as did the Senate Armed Services Committee. It’s [...]

Perez Hilton says something smart

Em and Lo — Wed, 26 May 2010 17:00:32 +0000

We never thought we’d say this, but Perez Hilton has a point. We’re usually not fans, but he’s got a good bit on the importance of coming out on the fabulous site Big Think, which interviews hundreds of experts, from hedge-fund managers to neuroscientists, to help us plebs make better decisions and form more erudite [...]

Will the real Elena Kagan please stand up?

Em and Lo — Mon, 24 May 2010 20:00:53 +0000

We have mixed feelings about Maureen Dowd: on the one hand she is a totally awesome butt-kicking columnist who can swing with the big boys while pointing out how many of them are actually just whiny little boys. But on the other hand, she seems to phone it in a lot these days. That said, her recent columns about Elena Kagan have made us swoon again.

Illinois state lawmaker makes a personal case for gay marriage

Em and Lo — Mon, 03 May 2010 20:00:52 +0000

Last week, Illinois lawmaker Deborah Mell spoke on the state House floor to announce her “bittersweet” engagement to her girlfriend of six years — “bittersweet” because she’ll have to go next door to Iowa to tie the knot instead of doing it in the state where she grew up, where she now represents 100,000 people [...]

New Jersey vs. California: Which state is worse for sex?

Em and Lo — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 16:00:15 +0000

Remember when former Miss California Carrie Prejean got famous for (a) getting pageant-funded breast implants and (b) saying "I believe that marriage should be between a man and a woman, no offense to anybody out there"? Well, suddenly No-Offense Prejean is looking like the picture of tolerance (after all, she did also say "I think it's great that Americans are able to choose one way or the other. We live in a land where you can choose same-sex marriage or opposite marriage.") Enter Lauren Ashley, who will be representing Beverly Hills in the Miss California pageant this November. She was all like, I'll see your "marriage is between a man and a woman" and I'll raise you "punishment by death." No, seriously.

The Superbowl ad you WON’T see this weekend

Em and Lo — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 20:00:01 +0000

We used to look forward to Superbowl Sunday for the ads (that, and the excuse to over-indulge in junk food). But it looks like CBS is determined to ruin the one sports-related joy in our lives. First of all they went and accepted an anti-choice ad from conservative Christian group Focus on the Family -- apparently CBS no longer bans advocacy submissions or controversial ads, as they have claimed in the past. Of course, Focus on the Family claims the ad is not controversial at all, and is simply about "the issue of life." Riiiight. The ad -- which has not yet been released -- is expected to feature Pam Tebow (mother of college football star Tim) and her decision to carry Tim to term despite a recommendation from doctors that she have an abortion. Sorry: despite a recommendation from doctors regarding the issue of life. Unfortunately CBS's policy on "controversial" ads still holds firm if the ad happens to come from a gay men's dating site.

The first gay superhero comic

Em and Lo — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 16:00:51 +0000

If you suspected a few members of the Justice League of America were gay (hello, Aquaman?) and always wished they'd come out of the closet, there's now a new ALL-gay superhero comic just for you. It's called Spandex. What it lacks in artistic skill (visually speaking, this ain't no DC Comic), it makes up for in fabulous gay pride. There's "Liberty (glamorous transvestite superhero), Diva (a lesbian Wonder Woman), Prowler (absorbs the abilities of gay people), Glitter (male Dazzler), Indigo (beautiful French teleporter), and Mr Muscles & Butch (strong twins)" (see above). We would have thought there'd be at least one big buff or bearded super dude and one super butch without cleavage, but that's just us (and we're neither gay nor comic-book readers, so what do we know?). It's available from the U.K. but you can download a pdf of the first 40-page comic in the series via Paypal here. More excerpts after the jump.

Naked news, gay marriage edition

Em and Lo — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 21:38:44 +0000

Image is a summary of states' attitudes on gay rights issues from a paper recently published in the American Political Science Review

Maine residents will decide Tuesday whether to repeal a law allowing same-sex marriage, an effort that has succeeded in every state where it has been put before voters.
Defenders and haters alike have descended on the state, where it seems the fight is neck and neck.

Penguins continue to wage war on family values

Em and Lo — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 16:00:24 +0000

photo by Paul_Mannix Guess which book, according to the American Library Association, is the title most often requested to be removed from schools and libraries in the U.S.? Give up? For the third year in a row, it’s And Tango Makes Three, which is a guide to building your own bomb while smoking crack and attending [...]

Naked News (10-06-09)

Em and Lo — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 16:00:30 +0000

photo by Brian_L_Romig

One step forward in Texas: A judge in Dallas just ruled that it would hear a divorce suit by a gay couple who were married outside of Texas, even though same-sex marriages are banned in the state. (Perhaps they heard our recent suggestion to the state of Indiana that it's Good Family Values to dissolve a marriage you didn’t think should exist in the first place.)
...and one step back: The University of North Texas student senate voted down a proposal allowing same-sex couples to run for homecoming king and queen.

Bisexuality: Doing it like they do on the Discovery Channel

Em and Lo — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 16:00:11 +0000

photo by Paul Mannix We were tickled pink a few weeks back when we read about the so-called gay penguins who were raising an adopted chick. But "bisexual penguins" would probably have been more accurate; most scientists agree that animals that engage in same-sex activity don't usually shun heterosexual encounters. Rather, they simply have ingrained gay tendencies that are a part of what make their little animal community work. As sociologist Eric Anderson of the University of Bath in England so succinctly puts it, "Animals don’t do sexual identity. They just do sex."

Naked news (06-16-09)

Em and Lo — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 16:00:51 +0000

photo by slushpup

New study shows that two-thirds of men and 40% of women masturbate. Women: shame on you for not breaking the 50% barrier. (Here's inspiration if you need it.) Men: shame on you for lying.

Gay animal kingdom

Matthew Rodriguez — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 17:00:52 +0000

While the issue of same sex relationships ruffles the feathers of various tribes among the supposedly higher brain functioning bipedal primate sub species of homo sapiens, this is barely a controversy in the rest of the animal kingdom who seem to all shrug their collective shoulders or fins or wings at gay and lesbian lifestyles. Scienceray lists ten animals comfortable with same sex partnerships.

Naked news — the super gay extravaganza edition! (06-09-09)

Em and Lo — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 16:00:11 +0000

In honor of 1) June being LGBT Month (officially proclaimed by President Obama) and 2) Bradford Shellhammer joining our li'l SUNfiltered gang, we've compiled a fabulous round-up of recent gay-related news:

In case you live under a rock: New England is officially the coolest part of the country now that New Hampshire is down with gay marriage

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Hopefully, New York will feel the heat from the nearby states to jump on the gay marriage party wagon.

Naked News (05-05-09)

Em and Lo — Tue, 05 May 2009 16:00:23 +0000

From the book I’m Glad I’m a Boy! I’m Glad I’m a Girl! The new documentary OUTRAGE, opening this Friday, exposes closeted gay politicians who publicly oppose gay rights. The theory being, why should they get to stay in the closet if they’re actively holding back the gay rights movement in their day job and [...]

Naked News (04-27-09)

Em and Lo — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 16:00:44 +0000

Study: Children Exposed To Pornography May Expect Sex To Be Enjoyable If Mainers and New Yorkers embrace Iowans’ “mind your own business” mentality, their states could be the next to legalize gay marriage (hope, hope). Of course, then you’ll get whackjob judges like this all over the place refusing to perform any marriages, just so [...]

Gay marriage: be afraid, be very afraid

Em and Lo — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 16:00:53 +0000

It’s this kind of thing — a new, totally rad T-shirt logo from Wordboner — that scares the bejeezus out of homophobes like the National Organization for Marriage. So frightened are they of an imaginary army of gay soldiers forcing them into a life of sodomy that they put together this gem of fear-tactic propaganda [...]

Gay marriage — all the cool kids are doing it

Em and Lo — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 16:00:42 +0000

photo by Maxintosh Love must really be in the spring air this week: not one, but two states have legalized gay marriage in less than 7 days! Last Friday it was Iowa, and just this past Tuesday it was Vermont. That brings the grand total of cool states dedicated to marriage equality up to four, [...]

Who knew Iowa was so cool?

Em and Lo — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 16:00:25 +0000

photo by Kables When you think of Iowa, what do you think of? Corn, perhaps. FIELD OF DREAMS. The cornfields in FIELD OF DREAMS. Famous Iowan natives named “Wood,” like American Gothic painter Grant Wood and that adorable little hobbit, Elijah Wood. Admit it: if you were to play a word association game with Iowa, [...]