(TIME-warp): Remembering The Gay March on Washington on its 27th Anniversary!

The March on Washington for Lesbian, Gay, and Bi Equal Rights and Liberation was a large political rally that took place in Washington, D.C. on April 25, 1993. Organizers estimated 1,000,000 attended the March, but the National Park Service estimated attendance at 300,000, details Wikipedia.

In the days surrounding the March, a wide range of events serving different subsets of the LGBT community were held throughout Washington, DC. These included historical exhibits, religious services, lobbying events, social gatherings, art exhibits, political workshops, public service events and candlelight vigils.

Speakers and performers at the rally following the march included Col. Grethe Cammermeyer, Judith Light, Melissa Etheridge, RuPaul, Martina Navratilova, Sir Ian McKellen, Eartha Kitt, Lani Ka'ahumanu, and Urvashi Vaid.

(MNW) NOM's Latest Failure!

The National Organization for Marriage is scrambling to defend Oregon's marriage ban at the last minute, but things aren't exactly going how they'd hoped. The case to overturn Virginia's marriage ban gets a boost from one of the authors of the state's constitution. And the Governor of Pennsylvania wants to skip a trial on marriage and go straight to a ruling.

OVTV: (MNW) Return of the "Procreation" Claims!

A Virginia court finally hears arguments in AFER's marriage case. We'll have all the details. We have a clearer picture of how Utah will fight to keep its marriage ban in place. A new lawsuit hits Wisconsin, with life-or-death stakes for one couple. And this could be the week that we finally learn the fate of Indiana's marriage ban.

(SHOWcase) a MONUMENTAL GEOLOGY Lesson!

Washington D.C.'s monuments are gorgeous and It's Okay to Be Smart's resident smartypants Joe Hanson is about to offer you some related geological factoids with which you can impress your friends on your next visit to the nation's capital.

(POLITICS Weekly) Happy Days; Change; Not Bad; Smart; Grilled; Dream; Bull Dog; Melted; Growing up!

• HAPPY DAYS: Obama Gives 'Most Liberal' Speech Ever!

• CHANGE: Obama's True Predecessor is Reagan!

• NOT BAD: History Might Decide to Like Obama Just Fine!

• SMART: Is the GOP Moving to the Center? Or Just Getting Sane?

• GRILLIN'; GOP Fires Up the Grill for Clinton, Kerry!

• DREAM: Senators Near Deal on Immigration Reform!

• PARTIED: Scott Brown, Drunk Tweeter?

• BULL DOG: Biden in 2016? He Sure Looks Interested!

• MELTED: Sarah Palin Won't Be Back at Fox News!

• GROWING UP: GOP's Teen Superstar Now Part of Liberal Media! 

(SPOTTED) Matt Bomer in DC!

 
Matt Bomer, whose series White Collar returned with new episodes on Last Night, was looking dapper in Washington DC over the weekend at a Creative Coalition event.

Source: After Elton

(POLITICS Weekly) Hagel; Frank; Brown; Boehner; Hillary; Murray!

• BIAS: Obama Picks Chuck Hagel for Pentagon!

• DREAM: Frank on Senate; 'Coach, Put Me In!'

• GAME PLAN: Senate Run Is 'Awfully Tempting' for Brown!

• TYPE-CAST: Get Ready for Another Black President in 2016!

• GAVELED: Boehner Re-Elected as House Speaker!

• DREAM ACT: Immigration Reform NEXT!

(CAUGHT) CNN’s Don Lemon and Oscar winner Dustin Lance Black guests at White House Christmas party!

Via FB

CNN anchor Don Lemon and writer-director-activist Dustin Lance Black, Oscar winner for Milk screenplay, were among the guests at The White House Christmas party over the weekend.

The man in the third photo with Don and Lance is named Robby Rasmussen (Black's Date)!

Looks like everyone had a good time.

(POP NEWS) Bright Red; Bush; Torch; Breach; Hope; Brave; Toots!

• BLOOD: The Reason Rudolph's Nose Is So Bright!

• BUSH: Your Christmas Tree IS Home to 25K Bugs?

• TORCH: Guess Who Katy Perry Brought Home for Christmas?

• BREACH: Jessica Simpson IS Pregnant!

• EVENTUALLY: Kate Middleton Nurse Tried to Kill Herself Twice Before!

• STILL HOPE: Plenty of Room in DC's Inns for Obama's 2nd Inaugural

• BRAVE: Odd Couple Star Jack Klugman Dies!

• TOOTS: Character Actor Charles Durning Dead at 89!

(POLITICS Weekly) Obama's Choice; Biden; Adding Color; Bork; Damage Control; Tiny State; Repented Hagel!

• THE CHOICE: Obama Nominates John Kerry for State!

• TEAM LEAD: Biden Will Lead Charge on Gun Control!

• SOME COLOR: Rep. Tim Scott Tapped for DeMint's Seat!

• INFAMOUS: Robert Bork, Polarizing High Court Nominee, Dies!

• DAMAGE CONTROL: State Defends Clinton From Concussion Conspirators!

• TINIEST STATE: The US' 51st State, New Columbia?

• REPENTED: Hagel Apologizes for 1998 Gay Slur!

(Politics WEEKLY) Gay Navy Moment; Super Tuesday; NY Press Vs. Santorum; Dennis Kucinich; Warren in Trouble; Inslee Serious; Parker may resign; DC Divorce; Game Change!

• Gay Navy Homecoming! 

• Super Tuesday Results: Who Won What!

• Santorum: New York Press Out to Get Me!

• Dennis Kucinich Loses Ohio Seat!

• Scott Brown Beating Warren! 

• GOP Blasts Elizabeth Warren for Hollywood Pals!

• Rep. Jay Inslee to Resign, Run for Governor in Washington!

  Houston Pastor Calls on Mayor Annise Parker to Step Down for Support of Same-Sex Marriage!

• Filmmaker Alexander Payne, Nebraska Football Coach Ron Brown Testify at Omaha Hearing on LGBT Anti-Bias Bill!

• Gay Couples Married in D.C. Can Now Get Divorced More Easily!

• DNCC Chair Antonio Villaraigosa Says Democratic Party Platform Should Include Marriage Equality!

• McCain Blasts Game Change!

LOSS: Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz Breaks Down at Farewell for Rep. Gabrielle Giffords!

Congress bid farewell this morning to Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, and DNC Chair Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz broke down as she said good-bye and read aloud Giffords' resignation letter. Giffords then presented her letter to weeping House Speaker John Boehner.

BOTTOMS UP: Priest Busted With Pants Down in Adult Theater!

Father Mark Stewart Bullock went from priest at the Church of the Immaculate Conception to creepy guy standing around pants-less in a porn shop, Baltimore cops say. Police say they responded to complaints of indecent exposure and found Bullock, nude from the waist down, inside a movie theater at the store. He has since been removed from duty at his church, the Sun reports. Bullock was on a couch, "his pants completely off," according to a police report; he "was not wearing any underwear and [was] exposing his penis" in a public area. He was arrested and charged with indecent exposure. The Baltimore Archdiocese removed Bullock's "faculties to function as a priest and initiated an investigation to learn more about the incident," reads a letter to parishioners.

EDUCATED: D.C. City Council Candidate Who Wanted a Marriage Equality Ballot Measure Now Considers It Settled!

An activist who worked to put D.C.’s same-sex marriage law on the ballot in a voter referendum in 2010 is now running for City Council and says he no longer opposes the law, the Washington Blade reports: “I do not seek to overturn the Marriage Equality Act when elected,” Hunter told the Blade in a statement released on Tuesday.

“I will, however, continue to establish working relationships within the LGBT community to focus on issues that affect the quality of life for all residents of the District of Columbia,” he said...

...Hunter said he now considers the marriage law a “settled issue” and has no intention of raising it as an issue in a special election to fill Thomas’s seat that is expected to take place in May.

“My stance is that I respect the Marriage Equality Act,” he told the Blade. “It gives individuals the right to marry whom they chose. But also it gives our religious institutions the right to ordain marriage according to their beliefs. So that is something that I’m in agreement with. It is settled. It is a moot point.”

(Marriage News Watch): Our Rights in Danger on the Ballot!

by Matt Baume
Marriage News Watch

A victory for DOMA repeal in the Senate Judiciary Committee, but now it faces even greater hurdles in the full Senate. An election night victory in Iowa means marriage is safe, for now; but polling in Minnesota shows cause for alarm. Activists raise the stakes in Washington, Maryland, Oregon, and Maine. And a marriage equality betrayal by the Australian Prime Minister forces a showdown with her own party.

SORDID: Linda Wall, 'Ex-Gay' Candidate in Virginia, Admits Lesbian Affair with Minor

Linda Wall, a conservative independent running for Virginia's House of Delegates who has lobbied Virginia's General Assembly on behalf of the Family Foundation, a group that opposes same-sex marriage, gay adoption, and abortion, says she's an "ex-gay" and admits to having had sexual relations with an underage student that cost her a job forty years ago, the AP reports: In an Associated Press interview on Wednesday, Linda Wall confirmed her sworn 2006 testimony in a lawsuit in which she admitted to "sexual relations with a minor" in the early 1970s when she taught physical education in Prince George County. The 61-year-old Wall said the affair was a long-ago, youthful mistake, not who she is now.

"I've never tried to hide that I was in homosexuality. If anybody Googles me, they would find that out there," Wall said.

"Forty years ago I was a different person. I was a heavy pot smoker with … impaired judgment and made some bad choices," she said. "You do that out of college sometimes. Some people do, some people don't."

(Marriage News Watch): Secret Anti-Gays Unmasked, Then Re-Masked!

by Matt Baume
Marriage News Watch

Hello from our new headquarters! It's been a crazy week, with secret anti-gay activists unmasked and then re-masked in Washington state. A Maryland football player is our new best friend, DOMA contributes to crumble but not before costing taxpayers $520 per hour. And why Australia's Prime Minister resisting a marriage equality measure that would increase public support for her party?

TALK OF TOWN: President Obama's Speech at the HRC Dinner!

Video streaming by Ustream

SELECTED: White House to Name Gautam Raghavan as LGBT Liaison!

Gautam Raghavan, currently  deputy White House liaison at the Department of Defense, is to be named new White House LGBT liaison, Chris Geidner at MetroWeekly reports: Raghavan was one of the Pentagon officials who managed the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" repeal process, according to multiple LGBT advocates involved in repeal, a process that resulted in the end of the 1993 law on Sept. 20.

Winnie Stachelberg, the senior vice president for external affairs at the Center for American Progress praised Raghavan's work on repeal, saying, "He was the point person in the Pentagon for many of us, and was able to juggle a number of competing constituencies ... in an unbelievably competent manner and I think the results speak for themselves."

Brian Bond, former deputy director of the OPE, filled the LGBT liaison role during Obama's first two years in office, but left to work for the Democratic National Committee. MK's Pal,  Raul Alvillar, has been the Interim Liaison since July.

DANGER ZONE: D.C. Trans Community 'in Crisis' Over Violence, Series of Shootings!

Two more incidents (a non-fatal shooting, and the homicide of an unidentified individual found in make-up and heels) in Washington D.C. concerning violence against transgender individuals prompted police to call a news conference on Monday afternoon, the Washington Blade reports: A transgender woman suffered a non-fatal gunshot wound to the neck about 2 a.m. Monday on the 2300 block of Savannah Street, S.E., D.C. police said. The incident was the fourth reported shooting of a transgender person in D.C. since July. The latest case prompted police officials to call a news conference Monday afternoon to discuss this and other transgender related cases.

Transgender activists Earline Budd and Ruby Corado, who spoke at the news conference, said the latest shooting was among more than a dozen violent attacks against transgender women in D.C. this year.

“The transgender community is now in crisis,” Corado said.