News and Notes for Friday August 5th 2011

Happy Friday!

I hope you all had a good week. Did you remember to send President Obama a birthday card? He turned 50 yesterday. I could do my own “Happy Birthday Mister President” ala the late Marilyn Monroe, but trust me, no one wants to see that. Speaking of the lady in the white dress, today marks 49th anniversary of her death (1962).

And on that note, let’s turn to some other news and notes of this week…

From CBS: Mitt Romney has signed a pledge promising to support a federal constitutional amendment “defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman,” The pledge was sponsored by The National Organization for Marriage.

Remember the 2008 murder of a gay teen in Oxnard CA? The trial is still going on and heated up this week when a teacher testified that the victim had taunted his soon to be killer by wearing and family members of the defendant testified to his ongoing abuse at the hands of his father.

The US 9th Circuit Court of appeals heard arguments this week that challenge an LA prosecutor’s decision to remove a lesbian juror in a case involving a gay federal inmate. A favorable ruling could extend constitutional discrimination protection to homosexuality as it already does for race, gender, and creed.

GLAAD released its fifth annual Network Responsibility Index this week giving both MTV and ABC both Excellent rating for their programming.

Miley Cyrus’s new tattoo got a lot of attention this week. Her new finger tattoo is yet another way the actress is showing her support for gay marriage.

The Advocate has an article up right now that takes a look at some of history’s greatest unsung gay heroes.

In Washington on Monday, (and by an unanimous vote) the tribal leaders of the Surquamish tribe legalized same sex marriage.

And lastly, not related but oh so very bizarre… a new art installation in Germany is causing a bit of a stir. The statue of a giant woman in the lake is… well, worth a click through at the very least. Yikes!

That’s all for me for now. Have a fun, and safe, weekend!

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