This is America?

Welcome to the new America! State the fact that your mom is gay in Louisiana, and you earn a trip to the principal's office where you have to sign a contract promising not to use the word gay again.

Oh, and if you're a university in Alabama, a law has been proposed that would make it illegal for you to have books in your library with gay protagonists, or to perform plays with gay characters. Oh, and any scientific evidence of a genetic component to homosexuality better not be in your textbooks either.

Meanwhile, in Michigan, the state wants to re-negotiate contracts with its workers to take away same-sex partner benefits in the wake of that anti-gay marriage vote a few weeks ago. Wait a minute, I thought we were all told that was only about protecting marriage, not taking away existing protections.

While the three stories above make me want to throw up, at least the United Church of Christ is standing up for what's right, and making clear that they welcome everyone into their church. It's too bad that NBC and CBS won't run the ad though, because letting minorities or gays into your church is "too controversial".

[via Andrew Sullivan]

Messenger 7.0

Microsoft has also released the beta of MSN Messenger 7.0.  It seems to work pretty well, with some cool new features, but I wish they'd let me rename my contacts...

MSN Spaces

Looking to start your own weblog in the easiest way possible? Check out Microsoft's new MSN Spaces service. You can be up and blogging in 30 seconds, and it's easy as pie.

What's next?

I beat Halo 2 last week, can't say I was all that impressed with the ending. I was all pumped up to play another mission...and then the credits started to roll. I'm still having a blast on multiplayer, but I was hoping for a longer single player game. All I have to say is Halo 3 better be a launch title for the next Xbox incarnation.

Whose party is it?

I watched this Sunday's Meet The Press, where Rev. Jerry Falwell said the following:

MR. RUSSERT:  On "Desperate Housewives," Newsweek says that the creator of "Desperate Housewives" is a conservative, gay Republican.

REV. SHARPTON:  That's what I was going to say.  Do you find that...

DR. FALWELL:  Well, the fact that he's a gay Republican means he should join the Democratic Party.

So, does this mean that Falwell thinks that Ken Mehlman, newly appointed head of the Republican National Committee, should leave the party as well? He's apparently gay. Or is that okay, because he's willing to hide his sexual orientation while heading a party that denounces his fellow homosexuals? Which is it Jerry?

When Howard Dean talked about wanting to include "guys with Confederate flags on their pickup trucks" in the Democratic party he took a lot of heat. I don't hear any prominent Republicans denouncing what Falwell just said about homosexual members of his party. The silence is deafening.