Rep. Alcee Hastings (D) of Florida appeared on Rachel Maddow to discuss an amendment he introduced and then later withdrew at the urging of the White House, a measure which would have suspended funding of discharges under DADT, effectively shutting the policy down.

On Tuesday closeted Florida Governor Charlie Crist will announce his candidacy for the U.S. Senate.

From Politico:

Crist’s decision puts Republicans in strong position to hold onto the seat held by retiring Sen. Mel Martinez (R-Fla.) Crist holds high approval ratings among both Republicans and Democrats, according to statewide polling, and has forged a moderate governing style that has won him widespread support. His decision to run came as little surprise to political observers, with the governor and his allies hinting of his interest in running for Congress over the last several months. Crist starts out as the frontrunner to succeed Martinez. But he will first be facing a primary against an up-and-coming conservative challenger, former state House Speaker Marco Rubio. Many Florida conservatives have begun to rally around Rubio over dissatisfaction with Crist’s moderate positions, particularly his vigorous advocacy of President Barack Obama’s stimulus package.

The timing is curious, as Crist is also in the news as one of the primary subjects of the new film Outrage, which  exposes closeted politicians and their anti-gay policies.

A new nationwide study examining the consumption of internet pornography revealed some pretty interesting tidbits, especially when viewed through the prism of faith and politics. Among the conclusions reached by the study, as reported by NewScientist…

The biggest consumer, Utah, averaged 5.47 adult content subscriptions per 1000 home broadband users; Montana bought the least with 1.92 per 1000. “The differences here are not so stark,” Edelman says.

Perhaps getting out of the magical underwear is not as difficult as it appears…

Eight of the top 10 pornography consuming states gave their electoral votes to John McCain in last year’s presidential election – Florida and Hawaii were the exceptions. While six out of the lowest 10 favoured Barack Obama.

What’s the deal Hawaii and Florida? You can operate the computer but not the ballot box?

Church-goers bought less online porn on Sundays – a 1% increase in a postal code’s religious attendance was associated with a 0.1% drop in subscriptions that day. However, expenditures on other days of the week brought them in line with the rest of the country, Edelman finds.

Less guilt, Monday through Saturday I guess…

Residents of 27 states that passed laws banning gay marriages boasted 11% more porn subscribers than states that don’t explicitly restrict gay marriage.

States where a majority of residents agreed with the statement “I have old-fashioned values about family and marriage,” bought 3.6 more subscriptions per thousand people than states where a majority disagreed. A similar difference emerged for the statement “AIDS might be God’s punishment for immoral sexual behaviour.”

Oh the hypocrisy. I wonder how many of those 11% are closeted, homosexual homophobe? Or perhaps like anyone who is repressed, they want what they aren’t supposed to have all the more…

On February 12, 2009 Representative Jerrold Nadler (D, New York, 8th) and Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) introduced the Uniting American Families Act (UAFA) which would eliminate discrimination in immigration laws and allow gay Americans to sponsor their foreign-born partners, providing a legal path to U.S. citizenship.

Representative Nadler…

“In 2009, we should be ready as a society to acknowledge that stable American families come in all varieties. We in fact strengthen our communities – and our nation – by encouraging loving couples and families to stay together and live as cohesive units. Any committed couple deserves the potential to form a life and a family together – this is a basic human right – and whether that couple is gay or straight should be irrelevant. Gay and lesbian Americans in loving, committed relationships deserve the same rights as everyone else.”

Senator Leahy…

“Like many people across the country, there are Vermonters whose partners are foreign nationals and who feel abandoned by our laws in this area: Vermonters like Gordon Stewart who has come to talk to me about the unfairness of our current laws, or a committed, loving couple of 24 years in Brattleboro, Vermont, who travel back and forth between Vermont and England, and who wish nothing more than to be able to be together in the United States. This bill would allow them, and other gay and lesbian Americans throughout our Nation who have felt that our immigration laws are discriminatory, to be a fuller part of our society. The promotion of family unity has long been part of Federal immigration policy, and we should honor that principle by providing all Americans the opportunity to be with their loved ones.

“The idea that immigration benefits should be extended to same-sex couples is not a novel one. Many nations have come to recognize that their respective immigration laws should respect family unity, regardless of a person’s sexual orientation. Indeed, 16 of our closest allies – Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Israel, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, South Africa, Sweden and the United Kingdom – recognize same-sex couples for immigration purposes.”

The UAFA has now been referred to the judiciary committees in both houses for review, which has been the case for each of the previous versions of the bill introduced since 2000. The difference this time however is that there are no longer Republican majorities in those committees so the bill may have legs to walk out of the judiciary and back into the houses for debate and eventually a vote.

Reaching out to members of the judiciary committees — particularly Democrats, and those on the immigration subcommittees (marked by an “x”) — could make a difference in helping move the legislation forward. If you or someone you know would benefit from the passage of the UAFA, please urge the representatives and senators listed below to take action.

United States House of Representatives, Committee on the Judiciary

United States Senate, Committee on the Judiciary

* – chairman of the immigration subcommittee

While the UAFA may be in the judiciary committees, it’s still important to contact your senator and representative and ask them to be co-sponsors. The more momentum the act can generate, the harder it will be to stop.