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Atlanta police chief responds to raid at gay bar

activism, lgbt, video 1 Comment »

Police Chief Richard PenningtonAtlanta Police Chief Richard Pennington held a press conference this afternoon responding to the criticisms leveled at his department concerning a raid on the Eagle last week.

Pennington said complaints filed with the APD’s Office of Professional Standards would be fully investigated. He said the department was wrong to not involve LGBT liaison Officer Dani Lee Harris in the raid, and protocols may be changed to require future raids to be videotaped.

Pennington said his officers had conducted an undercover investigation after anonymous complaints about the Eagle received in May. Undercover officers in the club observed “criminal” behavior, according to Pennington. He repeatedly declined to specify the content of the “descriptive” complaints, referring to documents distributed by police after the press conference.

The documents say that undercover officers observed sex acts in the Eagle on occasions prior to the night of the raid. No one was arrested then, Pennington said, becauses the officers were collecting information for their investigation.

Pennington has already issued a conditional apology to the LGBT community, provided it is later determined that police officers overreacted.

While eight individuals were charged for providing adult entertainment without  a permit, no one was arrested on sex-related charges.

Yesterday hundreds rallied to protest the raid. Video below.

After moving to Atlanta in the early 90s, the Eagle was my very first gay bar. And it is one of the few that remain from that period… Backstreets, the Armory… all gone. I wish the Eagle all the best in this fight.


GOP leadership forces Rep. Joe Wilson to call White House and apologize

politics, video 1 Comment »

Rep. Joe WilsonThe now infamous Rep. Joe Wilson of South Carolina who shouted “You lie!” at the President while he was giving an address to a joint session of Congress yesterday, was forced to call the White House and apologize.

Left to his own devices, its unclear how long it would have taken for this southern, Confederate flag loving, former aid to late Senator Strom Thurmond, to make the call. But probably sooner than later, considering the $200K Wilson’s 2010 opponent Rob Miller has raised since the outburst last night. A failure to apologize might have been political suicide.

President Obama of course has since graciously accepted the apology.

By the way… it was nice to see the man I voted for last November finally show up in Washington. I hope he sticks around for a while.


Family values lawmaker resigns after bragging about sexual exploits caught on tape

lgbt, politics, video 2 Comments »

Mike DuvallLess than 24 hours after news broke that California Assemblyman Mike Duvall was caught discussing his sexual conquests on an open mic, the family values loving, marriage equality hating Republican from Orange County… has resigned.

“I am deeply saddened that my inappropriate comments have become a major distraction for my colleagues in the Assembly, who are working hard on the very serious problems facing our state. I have come to the conclusion that it would not be fair to my family, my constituents or to my friends on both sides of the aisle to remain in office. Therefore, I have decided to resign my office, effective immediately, so that the Assembly can get back to work.”

Not surprisingly, Duvall was a strong supporter of Proposition 8, “committed to defending California voters’ definition of marriage.”  It seems Duvall’s definition of marriage also extended to having affairs with female lobbyists.

Coverage from KCAL 9 in Los Angeles:

And below, some of what could not be repeated over the air… and it’s not for the faint of heart.

“She wears little eye-patch underwear… So, the other day she came here with her underwear, Thursday. And
 so, we had made love Wednesday–a lot! And so she’ll, she’s all, ‘I am going 
up and down the stairs, and you’re dripping out of me!’ So messy!”

Ewww…. Sorry. Too gross for further comment.


Signorile takes on NOM’s Brian Brown

lgbt, politics, religion, video No Comments »

Signorile vs. BrownIn what few would consider a fair fight, Sirius XM host Mike Signorile took on National Organization for Marriage (NOM) executive director Brian Brown, making short work of Brown’s feeble, empty-headed arguments.

It’s truly amazing that characters like Maggie Gallagher and Brian Brown are able to keep NOM afloat considering how ineffective they are in defending positions which fail under the mildest of scrutiny. Just take a look back at some of Brown’s earlier work on Penn & Teller’s Bullsh!t.