Queer Voices

This month marks the 25th anniversary of "Robert Mapplethorpe: The Perfect Moment," a photography exhibition that attracted widespread public outrage for its graphic imagery, so much so that the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. canceled the show before it even began. To pay tribute to the occasion, Sean Kelly gallery in New York presents "Saints and Sinners," a collection of Mapplethorpe's images that similarly evoke art and morality's many shades of gray.

The 1989 exhibition sparked a dialogue on sexually explicit images and the true state of freedom of expression, showcasing, for one, a dramatically lit photograph of a man urinating into another man's mouth. Not surprisingly, the work sparked backlash from conservative politicians wary of funding for the arts, and "The Perfect Moment" soon incited a culture war that swept the nation, exposing the simple power of a monochromatic portrait. The traveling photographs eventually made their way to other locales, becoming a turning point for artistic liberation while leaving Mapplethorpe's transgressive imagery engrained in the nation's cultural memory for years to come.

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Bruce Mailman, 1981 © Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation. Used by permission. Courtesy: Sean Kelly, New York

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Christopher Holly, 1980 © Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation. Used by permission. Courtesy: Sean Kelly, New York

In honor of Mapplethorpe's deviant imagery and fearless eye, Sean Kelly Gallery is exhibiting 54 photographs that reveal the complex dualities and ambiguities in Mapplethorpe's work. The show is divided into 27 pairs of images, partnered for their aesthetic parallels or ideological oppositions. "Bruce Mailman" (1981) and "Christopher Holly" (1980), for example, both peek out from behind a surface, exposing a portion of their face. One wears a hood, the other a mask; one against a white background, the other black. Though little information is disclosed about the subjects, the viewer feels compelled to label one as hero, one as villain, though it's difficult to decipher which is which.

Some of Mapplethorpe's pairings are obvious in their message, but most aren't so black and white. In the end, the images reveal the multiplicity of interpretations lurking in a single image, no matter how straight-forward it may seem. The exhibition's title, "Saints and Sinners," toys with the idea of an unshakeable morality, aligning his formal application of lights and darks to the lightness and darkness of the human spirit.

"His photography is not so much shameless as beyond shame," The New York Times' Michael Benson wrote 25 years ago of Mapplethorpe's work. "Formally and psychologically, he was fascinated by the relationship between light and dark, black and white. Like Andy Warhol, whom he admired, he was raised a Roman Catholic and he continued to depend upon Catholic iconography and ritual: in this self-portrait, he presents himself as bishop or priest."

See more of Mapplethorpe's pairings below and let us know your interpretation in the comments.

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Colin Streeter, 1978 © Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation. Used by permission. Courtesy: Sean Kelly, New York

leather

Leather Crotch, 1980 © Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation. Used by permission. Courtesy: Sean Kelly, New York

Alice Neel, 1984 © Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation. Used by permission. Courtesy: Sean Kelly, New York

javier

Javier, 1985© Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation. Used by permission. Courtesy: Sean Kelly, New York

rob

Courtesy: Sean Kelly, New York

rob

Courtesy: Sean Kelly, New York

paiin

Courtesy: Sean Kelly, New York

"Saints and Sinners" runs until January 25, 2014 at Sean Kelly Gallery in New York.

Last week, The Advocate named Pope Francis its 2013 “Person of the Year,” much like TIME Magazine named him their Person of the Year, for reasons that don’t seem to be much more substantial than the fact that he’s said some kind of decent things about LGBT people, things The Advocate hopes the 1.2 billion Catholics worldwide might agree with and thus be influenced into compassion. I won’t go into all the arguments about why their pick is a bad one — the rest of the internet has already done that for me — but I thought it would be a good exercise in positivity to instead look at 10 women from inside our queer communities who would have been better picks.

The girls are back in town!

Lena Dunham's hit series "Girls" returns to HBO for its third season on Jan. 12, and now the cable network has debuted a new trailer to get you pumped for the new season.

Toward the end of last season, things got a little dark (remember the Q-Tip?!) so it's nice to see Hannah and her friends happily bouncing around Brooklyn again.

Tune in for the third season premiere with back-to-back episodes on Jan. 13 on HBO.

The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has rejected a second request by the state of Utah to put an emergency block on same-sex marriages in the state.

The second emergency motion, filed by acting state Attorney General Brian Tarbet on Monday, came after a similar request was denied by the 10th Circuit on Sunday.

"Utah should be allowed to enforce its democratically chosen definition of marriage until the appropriate appellate court of last resort has declared otherwise," the motion read.

Below, more from the Associated Press:

Hundreds of gay couples lined up at the county clerk's office in Salt Lake City early Monday for a chance to get married as Utah officials went to court to halt the weddings that have been taking place since Friday.

Lawyers for the state waged a legal battle on several fronts as they sought to stop the same-sex weddings. They were twice rejected by the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, and had a hearing Monday morning before a federal judge in attempt to halt the weddings.

Clerks in several counties were issuing the licenses to gay couples Monday morning, and people began lining up Sunday in Salt Lake County. Hundreds of couples were lined up at the clerk's office by the time doors opened.

"We're going to do it until the judge says stop," said Kerri Nakamura, a staff assistant for a county councilman who was helping people process licenses.

U.S. District Judge Robert J. Shelby on Friday overturned the state's same-sex marriage ban, ruling that Utah's law violates gay and lesbian couples' rights under the 14th Amendment.

Lawyers for the state want the ruling put on hold as they appeal the decision that has put Utah in the national spotlight because of its long-standing opposition to gay marriage. Shelby was holding a hearing Monday morning on the request.

On Sunday, a federal appeals court rejected the state's emergency request to stay the ruling, saying it couldn't rule on a stay since Shelby hasn't acted on the motion before him. The court quickly rejected a second request from Utah on Monday.

Following Shelby's surprising ruling Friday afternoon, gay and lesbian couples rushed to a county clerk's office in Salt Lake City to get marriage licenses. More than 100 couples wed as others cheered them on in what became an impromptu celebration an office building about three miles from the headquarters of the Mormon church.

About 25 couples lined up outside the clerk's office in Davis County on Monday morning, the Standard-Examiner reported. The first couple showed up around 6 a.m. and married immediately after receiving their license.

For now, a state considered as one of the most conservative in the nation has joined the likes of California and New York to become the 18th state where same-sex couples can legally wed. Legal experts say that even if a judge puts a halt to the weddings, the licenses that have already been issued will likely still be valid.

Utah is home to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which was one of the leading forces behind California's short-lived ban on same-sex marriage, Proposition 8, which voters approved in 2008. The church said Friday that it stands by its support for "traditional marriage" and that it hopes a higher court validates its belief that marriage is between a man and woman.

In Shelby's 53-page ruling, he said the constitutional amendment Utah voters approved in 2004 violates gay and lesbian couples' rights to due process and equal protection under the 14th Amendment. Shelby said the state failed to show that allowing same-sex marriages would affect opposite-sex marriages in any way.

The decision drew a swift and angry reaction Republican Gov. Gary Herbert, who said he was disappointed in an "activist federal judge attempting to override the will of the people of Utah." The state quickly took steps to appeal the ruling and halt the process, setting up Monday's hearing before Shelby.

The ruling has thrust Shelby into the national spotlight. He has been on the bench for less than two years, appointed by President Barack Obama after GOP Sen. Orrin Hatch recommended him in November 2011.

Shelby served in the Utah Army National Guard from 1988 to 1996 and was a combat engineer in Operation Desert Storm. He graduated from the University of Virginia law school in 1998 and clerked for the U.S. District Judge J. Thomas Greene in Utah, then spent about 12 years in private practice before he became a judge.

"Duck Dynasty" patriarch Phil Robertson is coming under fire once again, having gone on the defensive about an extreme "fire and brimstone" anti-gay sermon that he delivered in 2010.

During a Bible study group on Sunday, Dec. 22, Robertson reportedly told his fellow attendees that he "will not give or back off from my path ... We are a bunch of rednecks from Louisiana, but I am not uneducated, I have a degree from Louisiana Tech. But this week I have been called an ignoramus."

As US Magazine and other outlets are reporting, Robertson continued his message by reiterating the fact that he has both held and been vocal about these beliefs for quite some time.

“This week I have been asked, 'Is this the first time you have brought up sin?’" he continued, as reported by the Daily Mail. "I said, 'Are you kidding? I have been traveling to and fro spreading this message.' Then he said, 'Well do you invite yourself to go and get your Bible and tell people what you are now sharing with us?' I said, 'No they are inviting me.'"

Robertson first landed himself in hot water last week when GQ released a profile on the reality star in which he made anti-gay remarks and compared homosexuality to bestiality. The 2010 sermon in question quickly surfaced in which Robertson states that gay people "will dishonor their bodies with one another, degrade each other. Uh, is that going on in the United States of America? Look around. God's not there... And boy is there some immorality going on around here. Does it get worse?"

Robertson is slated to return to "Duck Dynasty" in January.

BY AMANDA LEE MYERS, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

CINCINNATI (AP) — A federal judge has declared in a ruling that applies only to death certificates that Ohio's ban on gay marriage is unconstitutional.

In his decision Monday, Judge Timothy Black orders state officials to recognize such unions on death certificates. Although his ruling applies narrowly, his statements about Ohio's gay-marriage ban are sweeping and expected to incite further litigation challenging the law.

In his lengthy decision, the Cincinnati-based judge says that "once you get married lawfully in one state, another state cannot summarily take your marriage away."

He says the U.S. Constitution recognizes the right to remain married as a fundamental liberty.

Black's decision stems from a lawsuit filed in July by two gay Ohio men whose spouses recently died and wanted to be recognized on their death certificates as married.

Gay rights activists in Uganda vowed Monday a "fight to the end" to stop an anti-homosexuality bill passed by parliament from becoming law in the African nation.

The draconian bill, passed last week, stipulates that repeat offenders should be jailed for anywhere between two years and life behind bars. The text sailed through Uganda's parliament after a death penalty clause was dropped.

"We shall fight this bill up to the end. We are going to challenge the act in front of the court of law and we are also calling up to the president not to sign the law," prominent gay rights activist Frank Mugisha told reporters.

"Members of parliament have shamed and embarrassed Uganda because they have shown their ignorance in passing this bill. They showed how ignorant Uganda is," he said.

However Mugisha said he feared Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, a devout evangelical Christian, was likely to sign off on the bill despite an international outcry -- saying the legislation did have widespread support in the fiercely homophobic nation.

"There is a lot of pressure coming from the churches and the community, so Museveni is most likely to sign the bill," he said, but added the gay and lesbian community would be campaigning hard for support over the coming weeks.

"We are going to do a lot of campaigning in the media, in the press, with our allies, human rights organisations. When coming back from Christmas, we shall have a lot of support. We are also working with our legal team," he said.

"We are expecting support from the United States, the UK and from most of the EU countries."

Anti-gay moves by Ugandan lawmakers have been widely condemned, with US President Barack Obama describing the bill before it was passed as "odious" and Nobel Peace laureate Desmond Tutu comparing it to apartheid.

Homophobia is widespread in Uganda, where American-style evangelical Christianity is on the rise. Gay men and women in the country face frequent harassment and threats of violence, and rights activists have also reported cases of lesbians being subjected to "corrective" rapes.

In 2011, prominent Ugandan gay rights activist David Kato was bludgeoned to death at his home after a newspaper splashed photos, names and addresses of gays in Uganda on its front page along with a yellow banner reading "Hang Them".

We might as well just change the phrase "Tis the season of giving" to "Tis the season of Steve Kardynal"... because all that man does is give.

If you don't yet have the Christmas spirit, watch his latest chatroulette masterpiece above. If you aren't dancing around your house wearing tinsel within 30 seconds, there's nothing anyone can do for you.

BY BRADY McCOMBS & PAUL FOY, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A federal judge said Monday he will allow gay marriage in Utah to continue, denying a request from the state to halt same-sex weddings until the appeals process plays out.

U.S. District Judge Robert J. Shelby's decision came three days after he overturned the state's ban on same-sex marriage, ruling it is unconstitutional. Utah lawyers are expected to ask a higher court to put the process on hold.

The county clerk in Salt Lake City immediately began issuing licenses after Shelby's ruling Friday, and hundreds more gay couples were lined up Monday to get married.

The ruling has drawn attention given Utah's long-standing opposition to gay marriage and its position as headquarters for the Mormon church.

Lawyers for the state waged a legal battle on several fronts as they sought to stop the same-sex weddings.

On Sunday, a federal appeals court rejected the state's emergency request to stay the ruling, saying it couldn't rule on a stay since Shelby had not yet acted on the motion before him. The court quickly rejected a second request from Utah on Monday.

Following Shelby's surprising ruling Friday afternoon, gay and lesbian couples rushed to a county clerk's office in Salt Lake City to get marriage licenses. More than 100 couples wed as others cheered them on in what became an impromptu celebration at an office building about 3 miles from the headquarters of the Mormon church.

About 25 couples lined up outside the clerk's office in Davis County on Monday morning. The first couple showed up around 6 a.m. and married immediately after receiving their license.

For now, a state considered one of the most conservative in the nation has joined the likes of California and New York to become the 18th state where same-sex couples can legally wed. Legal experts have said that even if a judge put a halt to the weddings, the licenses that already have been issued likely will still be valid.

Many Utah residents belong to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and Mormons dominate the state's legal and political circles.

The Mormon church was one of the leading forces behind California's short-lived ban on same-sex marriage, Proposition 8, which voters approved in 2008. The church said Friday it stands by its support for "traditional marriage," and it hopes a higher court validates its belief that marriage is between a man and woman.

In Shelby's 53-page ruling, he said the constitutional amendment that Utah voters approved in 2004 violates gay and lesbian couples' rights to due process and equal protection under the 14th Amendment. Shelby said the state failed to show that allowing same-sex marriages would affect opposite-sex marriages in any way.

The decision drew a swift and angry reaction from Republican Gov. Gary Herbert, who said he was disappointed in an "activist federal judge attempting to override the will of the people of Utah." The state quickly took steps to appeal the ruling and halt the process, setting up Monday's hearing before Shelby.

The ruling has thrust Shelby into the national spotlight. He has been on the bench for less than two years, appointed by President Barack Obama after GOP Sen. Orrin Hatch recommended him in November 2011.

Shelby served in the Utah Army National Guard from 1988 to 1996 and was a combat engineer in Operation Desert Storm. He graduated from the University of Virginia law school in 1998 and clerked for the U.S. District Judge J. Thomas Greene in Utah, then spent about 12 years in private practice before he became a judge.

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Follow Brady McCombs at https://twitter.com/BradyMcCombs

WASHINGTON -- Change.org has been promoting a petition that defends one of the lead figures in the reality TV show "Duck Dynasty." The social change company elevated the petition to its front page and pushed the petition on its Twitter feed.

The petition argues that family patriarch Phil Robertson, who is under fire for homophobic and racially insensitive remarks, is being deprived by critics of his First and Second Amendment rights. (The reference to Second Amendment rights actually makes no sense, since Robertson's critics are not trying to block him from bearing arms or joining a well-regulated militia, and the petition makes no attempt to explain that claim.) Earlier this month, A&E, which airs "Duck Dynasty," suspended Robertson from the show.

Change.org launched with a focus on social change in a progressive direction. But in the fall of 2012, The Huffington Post reported, based on internal company documents, that Change.org was dropping its liberal litmus test and would allow GOP, pro-life and other conservative groups to buy access to the company's users.

The company furiously objected to the article, and founder Ben Rattray wrote a HuffPost column denouncing the story as misleading:

"[P]eople concerned about this matter have a clear choice between two possible versions of reality:

"The first version is that despite a long history of commitment to social change, Change.org has sold out, aspires to work with only the most polarizing organizations, does so in a secretive manner, and has managed along the way to convince more than 100 of the most accomplished social change movement builders in the world to fight against the things they've dedicated their lives to.

"The second is this: that Change.org is forging new ground that presents both incredible opportunities and difficult choices, that strategy is different than motive, that some articles are hogwash, and that an organization with more than 100 staff who have dedicated their lives to social change might have a more informed understanding of building social power than can be fit into a headline on the Huffington Post.

"If it's still not clear to you which version is accurate, I'd ask you to consider suspending final judgment until you see the impact of our actions once the heat of the rhetoric subsides. Because while the impact that Change.org users have had around the world has been growing rapidly, we're just getting started. And we'd love to work together to change the world."

Since that story appeared, Change.org has partnered with the National Republican Senatorial Committee on a number of campaigns, including one to "dismantle Obamacare." It has also worked with a Fix the Debt offshoot known as The Can Kicks Back, a corporate-funded group that aims to cut Social Security and Medicare as part of a so-called grand bargain on the federal budget.

While Change.org has worked to shed its progressive label, people outside the company still view it that way and see its work on behalf of the "Duck Dynasty" star as evidence that liberals support him. "Users of Change.org -- a site famous for progressive-leaning online petitions -- has gone all out for Duck Dynasty’s Phil Robertson. By 2 p.m. today, there were more than 120,000 total signatories on a host of petitions calling for A&E to lift its suspension of the redneck icon. That’s a lot of people, but it’s especially a lot of people for a site with verticals dedicated to Economic Justice, Sustainable Food, and Gay Rights," National Review wrote last week.

David Karpf, an assistant professor at George Washington University and author of The MoveOn Effect: The Unexpected Transformation of American Political Advocacy, wrote that Change.org's decision to promote the petition altered the way he thinks about the company.

"My thinking yesterday was that (1) Change.org is an open platform that can be used by pretty much anyone, (2) it adds value to petitions by promoting them to the front page and putting organizers in touch with petition-creators, (3) those limited organizing resources tend to be focused more on cultural issues than political issues, and (4) the company has to hold true to its identity, so jumping on this particular bandwagon doesn’t make much sense," Karpf wrote on his blog. "I guess I was wrong about (4). I have no idea what this company stands for."

Asked by HuffPost to elaborate in an email, Karpf said that Change.org has been leaning heavily toward culturally relevant issues that don't strike directly at politics, which may have made the "Duck Dynasty" petitions enticing. "If Change.org currently has a bias, it's a bias in favor of cultural campaigns. My guess is that's what initially drove the Duck Dynasty promotion," he said. "Change likes to promote petitions that are timely and media-friendly, and this certainly fits the bill. Then they got the progressive pushback, offered up the 'we're just a platform' defense, and quietly stopped promoting it so hard."

There is, in fact, a progressive -- or at least reasonable -- case to be made against suspending Robertson: namely, that he is the subject of an ongoing reality documentary, and therefore viewers should be treated to the full reality of his worldview. It's an argument made by MSNBC host Chris Hayes. Airing Robertson's views is therefore no more endorsing them than making a documentary about white supremacy would be endorsing a neo-Nazi worldview.

Hayes also noted that expressions of shock at the comments of an evangelical, self-described redneck were a bit overdone. "It is perhaps not the most shocking thing in the world to have learned the family's fearless leader had some really nasty things to say about gay people," Hayes said.

But though the petition promoted by Change.org discusses freedom of speech, it is framed in culturally conservative terms. "Duck Dynasty has a huge following and WE THE PEOPLE stand behind Phil Robertson and his family. We stand for faith and freedom. We stand for family and values," it reads.

For its part, Change.org may be open to all manner of petitions, but its staff still portrays it as a company working to "change the world." In response to a question about the "Duck Dynasty" campaign, HuffPost received the following autoreply from a Change.org spokesperson: "I've taken a break from helping change the world to go enjoy the world. And I'm having a great time! I'll be back Monday, January 6, and reply as soon as possible upon my return."

A second Change.org spokesperson, Brianna Cayo-Cotter, who is not taking a break from changing the world, said that the petition did not have a paid sponsor, but was submitted organically by a Change.org user. "In total, there were over 170 organic petitions started on the topic with a total of 250,000 signatures. The vast majority of these petitions urged A&E to rehire Phil Robertson," she said.

Cayo-Cotter said Change.org highlights "the most popular petitions in a 24 hour period" on its homepage and via social media, "space permitting."

LONDON (AP) — His code breaking prowess helped the Allies outfox the Nazis, his theories laid the foundation for the computer age, and his work on artificial intelligence still informs the debate over whether machines can think.

But Alan Turing was gay, and 1950s Britain punished the mathematician's sexuality with a criminal conviction, intrusive surveillance and hormone treatment meant to extinguish his sex drive. Now, nearly half a century after the war hero's suicide, Queen Elizabeth II has finally granted Turing a pardon.

"Turing was an exceptional man with a brilliant mind," Justice Secretary Chris Grayling said in a prepared statement released Tuesday. Describing Turing's treatment as unjust, Grayling said the code breaker "deserves to be remembered and recognized for his fantastic contribution to the war effort and his legacy to science."

The pardon has been a long time coming.

Turing's contributions to science spanned several disciplines, but he's perhaps best remembered as the architect of the effort to crack the Enigma code, the cypher used by Nazi Germany to secure its military communications. Turing's groundbreaking work — combined with the effort of cryptanalysts at Bletchley Park near Oxford and the capture of several Nazi code books — gave the Allies the edge across half the globe, helping them defeat the Italians in the Mediterranean, beat back the Germans in Africa and escape enemy submarines in the Atlantic.

"It could be argued and it has been argued that he shortened the war, and that possibly without him the Allies might not have won the war," said David Leavitt, the author of a book on Turing's life and work. "That's highly speculative, but I don't think his contribution can be underestimated. It was immense."

Even before the war, Turing was formulating ideas that would underpin modern computing, ideas which matured into a fascination with artificial intelligence and the notion that machines would someday challenge the minds of man. When the war ended, Turing went to work programing some of the world's first computers, drawing up — among other things — one of the earliest chess games.

Turing made no secret of his sexuality, and being gay could easily lead to prosecution in post-war Britain. In 1952, Turing was convicted of "gross indecency" over his relationship with another man, and he was stripped of his security clearance, subjected to monitoring by British authorities, and forced to take estrogen to neutralize his sex drive — a process described by some as chemical castration.

S. Barry Cooper, a University of Leeds mathematician who has written about Turing's work, said future generations would struggle to understand the code breaker's treatment.

"You take one of your greatest scientists, and you invade his body with hormones," he said in a telephone interview. "It was a national failure."

Depressed and angry, Turing committed suicide in 1954.

Turing's legacy was long obscured by secrecy — "Even his mother wasn't allowed to know what he'd done," Cooper said. But as his contribution to the war effort was gradually declassified, and personal computers began to deliver on Turing's promise of "universal machines," the injustice of his conviction became ever more glaring. Then-Prime Minister Gordon Brown issued an apology for Turing's treatment in 2009, but campaigners kept pressing for a formal pardon.

One of them, British lawmaker Iain Stewart, told The Associated Press he was delighted with the news that one had finally been granted.

"He helped preserve our liberty," Steward said in a telephone interview. "We owed it to him in recognition of what he did for the country — and indeed the free world — that his name should be cleared."

CINCINNATI (AP) — A federal judge's decision ordering Ohio authorities to recognize gay marriages on death certificates may be a narrow ruling, but observers — and even the judge himself — predict it will spark further litigation aimed at striking down the state's ban on gay marriage.

In a broadly written ruling Monday, Judge Timothy Black said Ohio's ban is unconstitutional and that states cannot discriminate against same-sex couples simply because some voters don't like homosexuality. Although the ruling applies only to death certificates, his statements about the ban were sweeping and unequivocal, and are expected to incite further litigation challenging the law. Ohio's attorney general said the state will appeal.

Black cited the Supreme Court's June decision striking down part of a federal anti-gay marriage law, saying the lower courts are now tasked with applying that ruling.

"And the question presented is whether a state can do what the federal government cannot — i.e., discriminate against same-sex couples ... simply because the majority of the voters don't like homosexuality (or at least didn't in 2004)," Black said in reference to the year Ohio's gay marriage ban passed. "Under the Constitution of the United States, the answer is no."

His ruling stems from a July lawsuit by two gay Ohio men whose spouses recently died and wanted to be recognized as married on their death certificates.

The men's attorney, Al Gerhardstein, said he was considering whether to file further litigation right away or let Black's decision "percolate for a little bit."

"I can tell you that the reasoning in this opinion is broad and the principals he set out are firmly rooted in solid legal arguments, but they would support a broader attempt on marriage recognition and marriage celebration in Ohio, so we're looking at that," he said.

Attorney General Mike DeWine said the state will appeal Black's decision to the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, based in Cincinnati. He called Monday's decision "not a huge surprise," given earlier rulings Black made in the case.

"Our job is to defend the Ohio Constitution and state statutes ... and that's what we intend to do," DeWine said.

Bridget Coontz, the attorney who argued on behalf of the state, said Wednesday in Black's Cincinnati courtroom that in the Supreme Court's historic June decision, the justices also found that states have the right to decide for themselves whether to recognize gay marriage, and Ohio voters decided not to in 2004.

"Ohio doesn't want Delaware or Maryland to define who is married under Ohio law," she said. "To allow that to happen would allow one state to set the marriage policy for all others."

Black said constitutional rights trump Ohio's gay marriage ban, questioning whether it was passed for a legitimate state interest "other than simply maintaining a 'traditional' definition of marriage."

He quoted then-Gov. Robert Taft, who said in 2004 that the law was intended "to reaffirm existing Ohio law with respect to our most basic, rooted, and time-honored institution: marriage between a man and a woman."

Black wrote that "the fact that a form of discrimination has been 'traditional' is a reason to be more skeptical of its rationality."

"No hypothetical justification can overcome the clear primary purpose and practical effect of the marriage bans ... to disparage and demean the dignity of same-sex couples in the eyes of the state and the wider community," Black wrote.

Eighteen states and the District of Columbia allow same-sex weddings, up from six before the Supreme Court's decision in June.

Also Monday, a federal judge in Utah allowed gay weddings to continue there, rejecting a request to put them on hold as the state appeals a decision that sent couples flocking to county clerks for marriage licenses.

Judge Robert Shelby overturned Utah's ban on same-sex marriage on Friday, ruling the voter-approved measure is a violation of gay couples' constitutional rights.

New Mexico's highest court also legalized gay marriage Thursday.

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Associated Press writer Dan Sewell contributed to this report. Follow Amanda Lee Myers on Twitter at https://twitter.com/AmandaLeeAP

"I would like to consider myself a 'whatever,' Maria Bello said this month in a column in the New York Times, revealing that after two relationships with men (one of which produced a child) she had fallen in love with a woman.

Bello's decision to come out while consciously eschewing a label is a sentiment echoed by many of those on this year's list who felt no need to declare themselves L-G-B or T but still found it necessary for some reason, like Hot97 DJ Mister Cee, to declare their "sexual freedom."

Trans Bodies, Trans Selves is a new and comprehensive resource guide specifically curated for the transgender community. Covering how areas such as health and wellness, legal issues, history and theory intersect with transgender identity, the text aims to serve as a central informational point for "gender-questioning people, their partners and families, students, professors, guidance counselors, and others to look for up-to-date information on transgender life."

Inspired by the iconic and influential Our Bodies, Ourselves, the book is intended to serve as a place where transgender people can come together and share stories and information about their bodies and lives and, in turn, be a resource for others.

"One of the most important things about this book is that it is written by and for trans people," editor Laura Erickson-Schrot told The Huffington Post. "But that is what makes it so valuable to non-trans people too -- it is a view into trans life that is not edited for another audience. Friends and relatives can learn about identity categories and coming out, parents can read about kids, health professionals can find up-to-date preventive and transitional care information, and partners can find tips on relationships -- all written by the experts -- trans people themselves."

Trans Bodies, Trans Selves will be available through Oxford University Press in June 2014. However, by preordering a copy you can also become one of the first to own the text. Click here to preorder Trans Bodies, Trans Selves, or for more information about the project.

After the firestorm last week on the internets about Beyoncé‘s new visual album and its politics, my colleague and dear friend Vicky Bond and I decided to put on our LezBi spectacles and conduct our own reading of this fine album.

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A federal appeals court ruled on Tuesday that gay marriages can continue in Utah, denying a request from the state to halt same-sex weddings until the appeals process plays out.

The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the state's request for an emergency stay on a federal judge's ruling that found Utah's same-sex marriage ban violates gay and lesbian couples' rights. The judge who made that ruling, U.S. District Judge Richard Shelby, refused the state's first request to put a halt to the marriages Monday.

Utah's last chance to temporarily stop the marriages would be the U.S. Supreme Court.

The appeals court ruling means county clerks can continue to issue marriage licenses to gays and lesbians. Nearly 700 gay couples have obtained marriage licenses since Friday, with most coming in the state's most populous county.

Utah is the 18th state where gay couples can wed, and the sight of same-sex marriages occurring just a few miles from the headquarters of the Mormon church has provoked anger among the state's top leaders.

"Until the final word has been spoken by this Court or the Supreme Court on the constitutionality of Utah's marriage laws, Utah should not be required to enforce Judge Shelby's view of a new and fundamentally different definition of marriage," the state said in a motion to the appeals court.

Shelby's decision to strike down a law passed by voters in 2004 drew attention given Utah's long-standing opposition to gay marriage and its position as headquarters for the Mormon church.

It's estimated that nearly two-thirds of Utah's 2.8 million residents are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and Mormons dominate the state's legal and political circles.

The Mormon church was one of the leading forces behind California's short-lived ban on same-sex marriage, Proposition 8, which voters approved in 2008. The church said Friday it stands by its support for "traditional marriage" and hopes a higher court validates its belief that marriage is between a man and woman.

In court Monday, Utah lawyer Philip Lott repeated the words "chaotic situation" to describe what has happened in Utah since clerks started allowing gay weddings. He urged the judge to "take a more orderly approach than the current frenzy."

"Utah should be allowed to follow its democratically chosen definition of marriage," he said of the 2004 gay marriage ban.

That confusion stretched to county clerks in Utah, some of whom were refusing to issue marriage licenses to gay couples, even though they could face legal consequences.

The Utah attorney general's office warned counties they could be held in contempt of federal court if they refuse to issue the licenses.

A spokesman for the attorney general's office, Ryan Bruckman, said the office was not giving legal guidance to clerks' offices.

In the meantime, state agencies have begun trying to sort out how the gay marriages may impact state services.

Gov. Gary Herbert's office sent a letter to state agencies Tuesday afternoon advising them to comply with the judge's ruling or consult the Utah attorney general's office if the ruling conflicts with other laws or rules.

The Utah Department of Workforce Services, which administers programs such as food stamps and welfare, is recognizing the marriages of gay couples when they apply for benefits, spokesman Nic Dunn told The Associated Press on Tuesday.

It's unclear whether Utah will allow married same-sex couples to jointly file their state income tax returns next year, as they will be able to do for federal returns.

Charlie Roberts, a spokesman for the Utah State Tax Commission, said the agency still needs to consult the Utah attorney general's office about the issue.

In October, the commission stipulated that because Utah did not recognize same-sex marriages, same-sex couples who had married out of state could not file jointly in Utah.

The state income tax forms do not currently require filers to specify gender, so it's possible same-sex couples could have already filed jointly in previous years, but Roberts said the commission never been aware of such as case.

Utah is the 18th state where gay couples can wed or will soon be able to marry. The legal wrangling over the topic will likely continue for months. The 10th Circuit will likely will hear the full appeal of the case several months from now.

Even if the 10th Circuit grants a stay or overturns the ruling, legal analyst say the marriage licenses that already have been issued probably will remain valid.

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Follow Brady McCombs at https://twitter.com/BradyMcCombs

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Associated Press writer Michelle Price contributed to this report.

A gay couple continues to question why they were pulled from the Cactus Canyon dance floor Saturday.

They were told by management that it was against the club's policy for two men to dance to country music together, but they have since learned no such policy exists.

"I don't like that we were lied to," said Justin Meyer, 21 of Victoria. "The confrontation never would have happened if they hadn't lied about the policy."

However, a bar manager said the couple was told to leave because they were disruptive.

On Saturday night, James Douglas, 30, of Karnes City, questioned whether the club actually had a policy or whether the company was discriminating against them.

Jim Harrington, director of the Texas Civil Rights Project, said the line between a private company's and an individual's rights in cases like this largely depends on city ordinances.

"Austin has accommodations that would have prohibited that type of discrimination," Harrington said. "But a lot of it depends on the facts of the case as it emerges."

The city of Victoria has no accommodations.

During his four years as city attorney, Thomas Gwosdz said the city has not considered regulating who would be able to come onto a private business' property.

"The city has not gotten involved with that," Gwosdz said.

The incident started as the closing notes of "Cowboys and Angels" ended, when a member of club management informed Douglas that dancing with his boyfriend, Meyer, was against the club's policy and posed a safety risk for the country music night club.

"Why?" Douglas asked the manager. "Why is it not OK for me to dance with my boyfriend when there are girls here who dance together all the time?"

Douglas said he assured management they would be able to fend for themselves in the event of an attack.

Robert Dillender, director of operations for Cactus Canyon in Victoria, said the couple was asked to leave because they were being disruptive, not for dancing.

Dillender said no such policy exists barring same sex couples from dancing together.

"We've never kicked anyone out of the club for dancing," Dillender said.

"Our obligation to the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission is to maintain the peace."

How the company interprets that obligation is under review, Dillender said.

"We apologize for the misunderstanding," Dillender said.

The Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission enforces the state's liquor laws and issues liquor licenses to clubs.

After being told they could not dance to country music, Douglas closed his tab and went outside, where Meyer asked management for proof of the bar's policy.

The general manager denied Meyer's request.

Meyer then raised his voice and poked the manager in the chest, Dillender said.

But no poking took place, Meyer said.

From there, the manager told the couple they would be arrested if they returned to the club, Douglas said.

"We didn't want to create a problem," Douglas said. "We just wanted answers as to why we couldn't dance together."

The couple left the club soon thereafter.

News reports of the country bar ousting spread nationwide and caught the attention of the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas, said Tom Hargis, ACLU-Texas director of communications.

The organization plans to reach out to the couple, Hargis said.

"We encourage all people to stand up for their individual rights," Hargis said.

Two-Step Nightclub and Lounge President Bryant Price said his club in Victoria has no policies against lesbian or gay patrons.

"We don't do that at our club," Price said. "We have a number of gay and lesbian people who come into our club."

The Texas Civil Rights Project has sued a few places in El Paso and Austin, claiming discrimination, with cases resulting in settlements, Harrington said.

Discrimination against gay couples in private businesses is not uncommon.

A gay couple was told to leave a taxi after kissing in October in Chicago, according to a report by the Chicago Tribune.

In Oklahoma, a Wal-Mart janitor asked a gay couple to leave the store while they were buying cookies, according to a report by the Express-Star in Chickasha. The janitor was later fired.

Wild West, a country-Western bar in San Antonio, kicked out a gay couple for dancing and cited the same safety reasons provided by Cactus Canyon, according to QSanAntonio.

And in some places, discrimination has gone the opposite direction.

Last year, the Copenhagen Post reported a straight couple was kicked out of a gay bar for kissing.

In the Cactus Canyon incident, during their initial confrontation, the manager told Douglas it was acceptable for them to dance together for genres like rap or hip-hop -- just not country music, Douglas said.

"So you're telling me it's OK for me to bump and grind on my boyfriend to the song 'Bubble Butt,' but we can't dance a two-step?" Douglas responded.

Meyer said he has gone to Cactus Canyon since he was 18 years old.

"I'm just kind of shocked," Meyer said. "They know my face, I've been here hundreds of times, and it was just really hurtful that we couldn't dance together." ___

Visit Victoria Advocate (Victoria, Texas) at www.victoriaadvocate.com

Distributed by MCT Information Services

Another year, another holiday season filled with Christmas songs -- new, old, beloved, horrid, requisite, totally unnecessary.

But did you ever find yourself wishing you could listen to some queer Christmas songs?

If you did (and even if you didn't), have we got a treat for you!

Below you'll find 28 of the queerest Christmas songs. Our definition of "queer" is rather loose (or as we like to think of it, inclusive!) and before you scroll down to the comments section to tell us "Who cares!" or "This is stupid!" or log some other totally grinchy complaint, we hope you'll consider what day it is and just enjoy this for what it is: a fun little story with some fun songs that could be fun to play while you're chugging egg nog.

Merry Christmas!

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A federal appeals court has refused yet again to stop gay marriage in Utah, making it more likely that same-sex weddings in the home of the Mormon church are here to stay for the immediate future.

The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals' rejection of Utah's request for an emergency order to put gay marriage on hold marked yet another legal setback for the state. Utah lawyers have repeatedly struck out in their bid to block gay marriage, getting rejected on four occasions in recent days. Utah's last chance to temporarily stop the marriages would be a long-shot request before U.S. Supreme Court. That's what the Utah attorney general's office is prepared to do, spokesman Ryan Bruckman said. Gov. Gary Herbert's office declined to comment on the decision.

"We're disappointed in the ruling, but we just have to take it to the next level," Bruckman said.

Carl Tobias, a constitutional law professor at Virginia's University of Richmond who has tracked legal battles for gay marriage, said he expects the U.S. Supreme Court to make a decision by Friday. He thinks Utah faces long odds to get their stay granted, considering two courts have already rejected it and marriages have been going on for days now.

"The longer this goes on, the less likely it becomes that any court is going to entertain a stay," Tobias said.

Judge Robert J. Shelby's decision last week to strike down a 2004 voter-approved gay marriage ban sent gay couples rushing to county clerk offices to get marriage licenses. About 700 gay couples have obtained licenses since Friday, with most of the activity in Salt Lake City.

The frenzy has put Utah at the center of the national debate on gay marriage given the state's long-standing opposition to same-sex weddings and its position as headquarters for the Mormon church. It made Utah the 18th state where gay couples can wed or will soon be able to marry.

The appeals court said in its short ruling Tuesday that a decision to put gay marriage on hold was not warranted, but said it put the case on the fast track for a full appeal of the ruling.

One of the couples that brought the case, Moudi Sbeity and Derek Kitchen, were driving home from the grocery store when their attorney called with the news. Sbeity said it's wonderful that multiple levels of courts are making it clear that there's no room for discrimination.

"It seems like we win over and over again. This is crazy," Sbeity said. "This has been the best Christmas gift ever."

Shelby's ruling has created a confusing set of circumstances for county clerks, same-sex couples and state officials as they wait on an appeals court to bring some clarity to the issue.

Some county clerks were refusing to issue marriage licenses to gay couples, even though they could face legal consequences.

The Utah attorney general's office warned counties they could be held in contempt of federal court if they refuse to issue the licenses.

In the meantime, state agencies have begun trying to sort out how the gay marriages may affect state services.

Herbert's office sent a letter to state agencies Tuesday afternoon advising them to comply with the judge's ruling or consult the Utah attorney general's office if the ruling conflicts with other laws or rules.

The Utah Department of Workforce Services, which administers programs such as food stamps and welfare, is recognizing the marriages of gay couples when they apply for benefits, spokesman Nic Dunn told The Associated Press on Tuesday.

It's unclear whether Utah will allow married same-sex couples to jointly file their state income tax returns next year, as they will be able to do for federal returns.

Charlie Roberts, a spokesman for the Utah State Tax Commission, said the agency still needs to consult the attorney general's office about the issue.

In court Monday, Utah lawyer Philip Lott described the scenario unfolding in the state as a "chaotic situation." He urged the judge to "take a more orderly approach than the current frenzy."

"Until the final word has been spoken by this Court or the Supreme Court on the constitutionality of Utah's marriage laws, Utah should not be required to enforce Judge Shelby's view of a new and fundamentally different definition of marriage," the state said in the motion to the appeals court.

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Follow Brady McCombs at https://twitter.com/BradyMcCombs

___

Associated Press writer Michelle Price contributed to this report.

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Advocates on both sides of the gay marriage debate predicted that the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in June that overturned part of a federal ban on gay marriage would create a pathway for states to act.

They were right. In the six months since the decision, the number of states allowing gay marriage has jumped from 12 to 18, a trend that started before the high court ruling that's been reinforced since. Judges in New Mexico, Ohio and, most surprisingly, conservative, Mormon-heavy Utah all ruled in favor of same-sex marriage in just the past week. Both Utah's case and another in Nevada will next be heard by federal appeals courts, putting them on the path toward the high court. Ohio's case, which recognized same-sex death certificates, also will likely be appealed.

The series of court decisions has many asking: When will the Supreme Court step in and settle the issue for good?

It may not be that simple.

The cases on the path to the Supreme Court now differ little from a case justices refused to hear in June, at the same time they made their landmark ruling on the federal law denying tax, health and other benefits to legally married same-sex couples.

That case, from California, hinged on a constitutional amendment defining marriage as between a man and a woman.

If the justices had acted, it would have struck down gay marriage prohibitions across the country.

Instead, the justices passed, relying instead on a technical legal argument to resolve the California case and clear the way for same-sex marriage in the state, which resumed at the end of June.

That convinces some legal scholars that the high court won't take up the issue again so soon. In a way, they've already passed the buck to the states, some say, including language in their Defense of Marriage Act ruling saying it relegates same-sex marriages to second-class status, and "humiliates tens of thousands of children now being raised by same-sex couples."

That language makes it clear state bans are ripe for challenge, said Andrew Koppelman, a professor of law and political science at Northwestern University. Language from both Justice Anthony Kennedy's majority opinion and Justice Antonin Scalia's biting dissent have appeared prominently in subsequent court challenges and rulings, including in Utah and Ohio. A federal judge in Ohio ordered officials to recognize gay marriages on death certificates.

"The Supreme Court has given them ammunition to go there if that's where they want to go," Koppelman said.

Alongside state court decisions has come a shift in public sentiment about gay marriage. Only one-third of Americans oppose gay marriage, down from 45 percent in 2011, an AP-GfK October poll showed.

With Utah's ban struck down, 28 states still have constitutional prohibitions on same-sex marriage. Another four states — Indiana, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Wyoming — do not permit it through state laws.

Attorneys and proponents say this is the civil rights issue for the current generation, comparing the scenes of gay couples marrying at county clerks offices to blacks breaking racial barriers in the 1960s.

More state rulings in favor of gay marriage could be in the works in 2014. The thinking goes, if it can happen in ultra-conservative Utah, it can happen anywhere. Utah is home to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which still teaches its members homosexuality is a sin despite a softening of their rhetoric in recent years.

"The ruling has had a symbolic impact already," Jon Davidson, director of Lambda Legal, which pursues litigation on LGBT issues nationwide. "It is recognition that the nation's attitudes, from public to legislative to judicial, are changing very rapidly in all parts of the country."

"And the opponents, many of them, are moving on," said William Eskridge, a professor at Yale Law School. "We are not seeing the same kind of Armageddon rhetoric we saw in the 1990s."

A federal judge in Michigan will hear testimony from experts in February before deciding whether to throw out the state's constitutional ban on same-sex marriage. Two federal lawsuits in Virginia, including one being led by the same legal team that challenged California's ban, are moving forward.

Eskridge disagrees with those who say the Supreme Court won't act, predicting justices will get involved in the gay marriage dispute in the next year or two.

Different branches of the government are acting, he said — lawmakers, state courts, and federal courts — which could convince the justices to step in.

The long-term trend in favor of acceptance of same-sex marriage affects the courts. As each state's same-sex marriage ban is struck down, it serves as a domino effect helping make the next legal challenge easier, said Jon Davidson, director of Lambda Legal, which pursues litigation on LGBT issues nationwide. The Ohio ruling this week cited the Utah ruling from last week.

"You are going to see more federal courts do what just happened in Ohio and Utah," Koppelman predicted.

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Sherman contributed from Washington, D.C.

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Follow Brady McCombs at https://twitter.com/BradyMcCombs.

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