THE SMOKING NUN

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

A Little Balance On NY's Gay Marriage Bill: A Cartoon Perspective

After posting this morning's cantankerous comments from Marriage Equality haters, here's a bit o'balance from cartoonists' perspective...

And finally... not so funny...

Creepy Newsweek Cover Story On 'Undead Diana' Is Just Gross

Celebrity journalist Tina Brown, who wrote a book called The Diana Chronicles, is trying to get poor

decaying Newsweek a little media attention with a creepy cover story called "Diana At 50: If She Were Here Now," featuring an aged, anorexic Princess Di walking with her daughter-in-law Kate Middleton.

Here's one of Brown's highly intellectual observations: "Diana would have been 50 this month. What would she have been like? Still great-looking, that's a given. Her mother, Frances Shand Kydd was a handsome woman to the very end. Fashionwise, Diana would have gone the J.Crew and Galliano route à la Michelle Obama, always knowing how to mix the casual with the glam. There is no doubt she would have kept her chin taut with strategic Botox shots and her bare arms buff from the gym."

Diana also would have married twice more, moved to New York and have 10 million Twitter followers.

There's also a ridiculous image of Diana holding an iPhone. Why, oh why?

With NY Marriage Equality Passed, Sore Losers Spew Shocking Venom

"Legislation recognizing the right to marry regardless of gender is a historic triumph for equality & freedom. We have taken the next big step on our national journey toward a more perfect union."

Republican NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg

That's the good news... While those in favor of liberty and justice for all have much to celebrate following Friday's passage of New York's Marriage Equality bill, opposition has grown predictably fast and furious. Conservatives and religious leaders have become venomous as they sulk & skulk behind the guise of Christianity to spew some of the nastiest public commentary I've seen.

These sore losers are outraged that the status quo has been disrupted, demonizing the entire gay community and any political leader that reasoned it was time for society to step forward. So much for democracy. Freedom. Civil rights. And god knows, the credo to "love one another as yourself" is a mockery to these seething detractors. They're scrambling, too: The only "legitimate" argument any can come up with is that the purpose of marriage is to breed like rabbits.

Let's begin with the most radical, Minnesota Sen. Michele Bachmann. This woman not only is reminiscent of Anita Bryant in the 1970s, but am I correct that she's fucking nuts?

"It isn’t that some gay will get some rights. It’s that everyone else will lose rights. Little children will be forced to learn that homosexuality is normal and perhaps they should try it. Schools will begin teaching homosexuality. Children are the prize for this community, they are specifically targeting our children. Don’t misunderstand. I am not here bashing homosexuals. We need to have profound compassion for people dealing with the very real issue of sexual dysfunction in their life and sexual identity disorders.” Sen. Michele Bachmann, Tea Party candidate vying for the Republican presidential nomination

"I sort of needed a good dose of the Lord's grace and mercy because I've been down a little recently. Society and culture is (sic) at peril if we tamper with what has been cherished through the history of civilization. Marriage is not simply a religious construct. The Natural Law reveals that marriage is between a man and a woman, open to children and intended for life." NY Archbishop Timothy Dolan

"More than half of New Yorkers oppose this legislation [Editor's note: false]. Yet the governor and state legislature have demonized people of faith and identified them as bigots and prejudiced [false]. It is mystifying that this bill would be passed on the last day of an extended session under the cover of darkness [false]. Passage of same sex marriage is another nail in the coffin of marriage. It is destructive because we fail to view marriage in the context of a vocation: a calling to participate in the great enterprise of forming the next generation." Bishop of Brooklyn Nicholas DiMarzio

"This 'freedom' will include much more than a perpetual pansexual pagan party. It will include libel, slander, intimidation, corruption of youth, revolt in congregations, suppression of parental rights, revision of language, disease, loss of employment and loss of life. Welcome to entitlement sex. The New York crowd (lives) in a city that has already earned its Good Sodomizing Seal of Approval." Linda Harvey, founder of Columbus, Ohio-based Mission America

"Marriage should be between one man and one woman. I am not a fan of same-sex marriage. That'll be the view of our state, because I wouldn't sign a bill like the one in New York." neighboring New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie

"I'm a preacher and they say in the Bible there will be a time when good is bad and bad is good. The end is coming and they laugh at me, but the Bible calls on the faithful not to give up. I am Christian first and then a Democrat. All Democrats do is abortion and gay marriage, but the Republican party has always been the party that protects traditional values and family values." New York Sen. Ruben Diaz Sr. (D-Bronx), a black Hispanic & the lone Democrat to vote no on marriage equality

"America is becoming Sodom and will suffer the same fate of destruction. There has never been a civilization that embraced homosexuality and turned away from traditional fidelity, traditional marriage, traditional child-rearing and has survived. The same thing is going to happen to us. Conservative Christian politician and alleged religious leader Pat Robertson

"." Barack Obama, President of the United States

NYC Vintage Image Of The Day: No Spitting! 1896

Back in the gay nineties, spitting was so commonplace on sidewalks and streetcars that health

officials sent out public notices that the deliciously fetching practice could spread lethal diseases, especially tuberculosis, a leading cause of death in crowded, dank neighborhoods.

In 1896, New York became the first city in the nation to outlaw “expectorating,” as the practice was daintily called in the day. Signs went up on public transportation and other spitting hot spots, warning of arrest and a $500 fine. But the new ordinance generated controversy and

wasn’t always taken seriously (much like Mayor Bloomberg's non-smoking maxim, although his holds no proof of any public health hazard).

A 1910 New York Times article reported, “In New York, of the 2,513 arrested, 2,099 were convicted, with one of every seven escaping." Total fines reached $1,936.80, an average of less than $1 per fine.

On the other hand, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle wrote in 1896—before New York adopted the law—that not allowing people to spit might be dangerous, suggesting, "No law can be made strong enough to prohibit public expectoration. The health of the individual might often suffer from such restraint." Offering an alternative: "It is easy for the many who must spit to do so in the street instead of on the sidewalk."

Images courtesy Ephermeral New York.

Monday, June 27, 2011

Gay Pride 2011: That's A Wrap!

What a glorious weekend. From the Brooklyn Heights Promenade, Sunday, June 26, 11:10 p.m.

Olivia Newton-John Gets 'Physical' At Hot NYC Pride Bondi Beach Bash

Along with the joyously colorful Gay Pride March on Sunday and glorious passage of Marriage Equality Thursday, this year's queer weekend included

the spectacular Bondi Beach Aussie-themed Bash on Governor's Island, sponsored by FV Events and Josh Wood Productions.

Yup, it sure was truly magic, with VIP entrance, thousands of hot boyz, booze, access to shoot photos during the performance and the post meet & greet. I'm rolling footage backward, from Livi's performance to the beginning of the night...