Trial Watch: Opening Statements

The McInerney trial's opening statements were delivered today, with some very differing opinions offered by the defense and prosecution.

The defense was quick to paint Larry King as a sexual predator and oppressor, with McInerney turning to the only possible solution to ending a tragic school-time victimization: shooting his tormentor. 

 

"McInerney’s lawyer, Scott Wippert, argued that King -- and not his client -- was the aggressor. He said King targeted McInerney for sexual harassment, making flirtatious remarks, and had humiliated him.

"King was encouraged in his effeminate behavior and dress by school administrators who said he was within his rights to dress that way, Wippert said.

For his part, McInerney was 'a confused, emotionally torn 14-year-old from a violent home who saw no other way out than to shoot Larry,' Wippert said. 'It was a heat-of-the-moment decision.'"

This story casting King in the role of the bully has serious problems, with the defense outlining upcoming testimony from fellow students indicating that the defendant was overheard giving threats to shoot King the day before.

"King was bullied by McInerney and other boys at the school, Deputy Dist. Atty. Maeve Fox said in her opening statement in the trial, which is being conducted at a courthouse in Chatsworth. But shortly before his death, King had begun wearing high heels, makeup and earrings to school and had become more confident in himself, she said.

"'Larry King for the first time in his life wasn’t taking it anymore,” Fox said. 'And he started to give people what I prefer to call the proverbial chin. Only it was more profane. The proverbial "f ... you."'

"The day before King was shot, the two boys had been bickering in a eighth-grade science class, she said. When King got up to get a drink of water, 'Brandon said "I am going to shoot him." And this is what a student will testify to.'"

McInerney's older brother has been banned from the proceedings, as before the trial he waited outside the courtroom and told jury members "My brother's life is in your hands." The judge declared it inappropriate and insisted the man, James Bing, stay out of the courtroom unless called to witness.

Unfortunately, this trial seems doomed to become a circus, with antics from the defense and McInerney's family aimed at smearing a dead 14-year-old's name.  More updates as the trial continues this week.

Oh, Brad! We Heart You Too.

Extreme hot beast Brad Pitt is almost as happy as the the queers that they can get married in New York, and sent this statement to People magazine to tell us all about it:

"It is encouraging that New York has joined the movement to grant equal marriage rights to its citizens. But it is each American's Constitutional right to marry the person they love, no matter what state they inhabit. No state should decide who can marry and who cannot. Thanks to the tireless work of so many, someday soon this discrimination will end and every American will be able to enjoy their equal right to marriage."

Brad has been a staunch supporter of marriage equality, having donated $100,000 to fight Proposition 8 in California and publicly declaring that he would not marry longtime partner Angelina Jolie until marriage was available to every American.  

Plus, just because I would totally do sodomy stuff with him, I'm going to post pictures of him shirtless.  Ian Awesome + Brad Pitt 4Evah!

This Old Thing? Why, It's Just The Gay Panic Defense!

The trial of Brandon McInerney begins this week more than 3 years after the brutal shooting that cost fellow classmate Larry King's life.  The high-profile case which sparked outrage nationwide (and prompted Ellen to make a tearful plea for sanity on her show) has been in legal hell in the intervening time, leaving some to wonder if Larry King's murderer would ever really come to justice.

His defense team hopes not, deciding to pull out the tried-and-true "gay panic" defense, trying for a downgrade to voluntary manslaughter.  The "gay panic" essentially says that a criminal can't entirely be blamed for their insane actions; being hit on by a gay person can be so offensive that it might be understandable why someone would shoot their admirer.  The LA Times:

"McInerney's lawyers, Scott Wippert and Robyn Bramson, say their client doesn't deny the killing. But they argue it was voluntary manslaughter because the adolescent was provoked by King's repeated sexual advances.

"Fellow students say the two had clashed for days over King's expressing his attraction to McInerney. King, who was living in a children's shelter because of problems at home, had recently gone to school wearing eye makeup and women's accessories.

"McInerney was humiliated by King's advances, his attorneys said. He came from a violent home and decided to end his misery in a way that made sense to him — with a gun. He shot King 'in the heat of passion caused by the intense emotional state between these two boys at school,' Bramson said last week outside the courthouse, where jury selection was underway."

It was okay, because Larry was totally a sexual predator.

Supposedly, this disgusting attempt to excuse the murder of a young boy is going to involve painting King's advances as predatory.  I cannot believe that this ridiculous defense is still in use.  The idea that someone can explain away committing murder by saying "he's gay and he hit on me!" is outrageous.  

DOJ's Balls Quietly Got A Little Bigger This Weekend

Amid the celebration that our nation's third-most populous state now has gay marriage, advocates and activists are quick to caution that this does not apply at the federal level. Just because New York has marriage equality does not mean the United States government recognizes that relationship in any way.

However, something curious has happened in a key court case in the fight to secure health benefits for the partners of federal employees. Karen Golinksi is one such federal employee who is suing the government in order to obtain benefits for her wife, and instead of facing an uphill battle with the Department of Justice, a brief was filed this weekend not just supporting her claim but stating that the court should find DOMA unconstitutional.

This qualifies as holy shizballs amazing, folks.

"Unlike in other cases where DOJ has stopped defending DOMA in accordance with President Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder's decision that Section 3 of DOMA -- the federal definition of marriage -- is unconstitutional, DOJ lawyers today made an expansive case in a 31-page filing that DOMA is unconstitutional. Previously, the government had attached the Feb. 23 letter from Holder to House Speaker John Boehner (R) that announced the DOJ position to filings to courts about the decision to stop defending the law, but it had not laid out any more expansive reasoning.

"But, for Golinski's case, DOJ did so. In describing why heightened scrutiny applies to classifications based on sexual orientation, for example, the DOJ's lawyers -- in describing how 'gays and lesbians have been subject to a history of discrimination -- write, 'The federal government has played a significant and regrettable role in the history of discrimination against gay and lesbian individuals.'"

As the incomparable Daniel Villarreal from Queerty points out, this is indeed a very big deal.

"Basically instead of just saying that section 3 of DOMA is unconstitutional, Obama’s administration said its part of a larger system of nationwide institutional abuses against gay Americans throughout history and THUS the court should find DOMA unconstitutional as well. It sounds curiously like the historical testimony Olson and Boies offered in the Prop 8 trial.

"Basically, it’s a huge boon for the gay community that really shakes up the remaining DOMA lawsuits with an implicit government admission that it has had a direct role in unconstitutional anti-gay discrimination, a history that must stop today—amazing!"

I'm not a legal expert, but it seems very unusual to me for the DOJ to ask a court to rule a previously defended policy unconstitutional. It's kinda ballsy, and it's kinda smart, and it's kinda under the radar, meaning that Obama and Co. are going to get away with it. Neat!

Another Day, Another Bachmann Quote

So basically, at this point, we know that Bachmann is absolutely the dumbest person to run for President ever, right?

If it was in question, this may finally convince you: Bachmann failed Economics 101 during her presidential kick-off tour in an attempt to appeal to gold fans in Rock Hill, SC this past weekend by asserting that if we had stuck to the gold standard, the dollar would have been the same value today as in 1911.

What?

"The shorthand way of describing to you what quantitative easing is is a license to print money without any value behind it…In the last two years of the Obama administration, if you pull a dollar out of your pocket, you have lost 14 percent of the value of that dollar. That means the federal government has stolen that money from you… They’ve been printing essentially valueless money and flooding it into the money supply. I don’t stand for that. A dollar in 2011 should be the same as a dollar in 1911. A dollar should be worth a dollar."

Marie Diamond effortlessly shreds this assertion on ThinkProgress:

"A dollar in 1911 had the same buying power as slightly more than $23 today. Bachmann doesn’t seem to understand that the dollar’s value naturally changes over time and accompanies economic growth — and that’s a good thing. Furthermore, the U.S. experienced inflation even when it was on the gold standard (which ended in 1971). Additionally, gold’s value isn’t fixed and also fluctuates over time — for instance, price of gold is currently at a record high.

"So being on the gold standard and keeping a constant dollar value are inconsistent proposals. To achieve 0 percent inflation — which is itself an absurd idea, even according to Republican economists — a country would need an independent central bank."

At this point, Bachmann has shown herself to be an idiot on just about every score, from marrying someone who possibly espouses a counseling ethic in direct conflict with the American Psychiatric Association to having zero understanding of American history whatsoever.

If this is the future of the Republican Party, then progressives can pretty much hang up their hats.  It's over.  She'll win it for us just by fucking up royally.

Watch Out, Marcus! Cher Gonna Get Ya!

Marcus Bachmann's insane tirade against the gays (urging discipline against gay youth in order to keep them from queering up the place) attracted the ire of HRH Cher I, with her Twitter feed dissolving into a delicious, righteously angry tantrum.  My favorite part?  Where she threatens to strangle him with her boa.

Cain Staffers Quit, Cuz Basically He Sucks

The Herman Cain campaign appears to be heading the way of Newt's own obstacle-ridden run for president, with two key staffers resigning on Friday just days after two others called it quits.

Cain's regional director and New Hampshire state director were joined by the Iowa organizational director and straw poll manager, with Cain's spokesperson attempting to downplay the organizational director's role in Cain's overall presidential bid strategy.

Tina Goff, the staffer in question, cited a lack of Cain's focus on Iowa as the reason for her departure, as CNN reports:

"Goff told CNN that the conservative businessman 'wasn't willing to make the commitment to Iowa necessary to win the [Ames] straw poll.' That contest is seen as an early test of success in Iowa.

"Goff added that she was concerned by the amount of money and time the Cain campaign was committing to that straw poll. However, she declined to discuss specifics.

"'I didn't want it to go this way,' Goff said. 'I'm very sad about it.'"

Break out the lifeboats, kids, cuz this ship's a-sinkin'!  Cain's spokesperson, Communications Director Ellen Carmichael, insisted that Goff was merely junior level and that her assertions about Cain's activities in her state were entirely untrue.  According to her count, the presidential candidate will Iowa 22 times in upcoming weeks and that was more than enough. 

Maybe Herman should stick to making pizza.  Many of the conservatives I've spoken to don't seem to take him any more seriously than I do; at the GOProud mixer I attended in Minneapolis one busty (and tipsy) self-identified Libertarian declared, "We just have him so we can say we have a black person."  Ouch.

Happy Fourth!

From Mashable comes this cool video-- a tiny camera attached to fireworks in order to record their flight, explosion, and fall to earth.




I normally celebrate the Fourth of July by hiding under my bed with the dog (I'm terrified of explosions), but I might take a long bike ride and then go to bed early.  We will see.

Brian Brown And The Infinite Sadness

Poor guy!  This shot is of National Organization for Marriage's Brian Brown as he weeps in Albany about the passage of marriage equality in New York.  AWWWWWWWW.

Gay Soldiers Attacked In Colorado

Two soldiers' Fourth of July won't be nearly as celebratory as the rest of us, as they are recovering from injuries suffered on Saturday night from an anti-gay, slur-filled assault that took place in the wee hours of the morning.

The two men, who chose to be identified as John and Ted (DADT still exists, people), had spent an evening in a local gay bar with a friend of theirs who was go-go dancing.  After the dancer's shift ended, they made an early morning run to local business Albert Taco, where they were accosted by a group of people who first insulted the go-go dancer's attire and then physically assaulted the whole group.

John's statement to the local ABC News affiliate tells an unhappy story:


"'A lot of racial slurs,' John told KRDO. 'A lot of hatred slurs towards like homosexuals.'

"The men said it quickly escalated to physical violence.

"'I ended up getting kicked in the head and in the ribs several times,' John said. 'I have six bruised ribs. And my right eye was completely swollen shut for about nine or 10 hours.'"

The suspects are described as five black males and two black females.  When the suspects are apprehended, the Colorado Springs Police Department plan to level hate-crimes charges against the group.

OneAngryAlly: It Just Keeps Getting Worse

This week, the Ohio House of Representatives passed not one, not two, but THREE laws that restrict a woman's right to choose. Additionally, impatient to join the cool-kids club composed of our glorious allies to the north and west (that is, Wisconsin and Indiana), the word is out that state Senator Kris Jordan is poised to introduce a similar bill that would defund Planned Parenthood entirely.

When Kasich says "For Ohio," he doesn't mean ALL Ohio.

The trifecta of these three bills would leave Ohio with the most restrictive abortion laws in the country. The most well-known of these (in the shocking case you didn't follow my extremely nerdy links to the text of the bill), HB-125, is also known as the heartbeat bill. Right off the bat you know that is not a good sign. Through a convoluted reasoning sequence, the bill concludes that "fetal heartbeat has become a key, medical predictor that an unborn human individual will reach vitality and live birth;" and that "cardiac activity begins at a biologically identifiable moment in time," and therefore no abortion shall be performed after a fetal heartbeat is detected.

For those of you playing along at home, a fetal heartbeat can be detected as early as three and a half to five and a half weeks after conception. Honestly, at that point, very few ladies know they're pregnant, and I'd wager even fewer would have arrived at the heart-wrenching conclusion that they need to have an abortion.

The worst part? It's not just our imbecile of a governor who supports this bill. Most of the Representatives quoted in the article are women. Says Republican Kristina Roegner, "There are over 28,000 abortions in Ohio each year. This bill, if passed, would save the vast majority of them. These are all little babies with a beating heart, each one deserving the chance of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."

Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness? Give me a break. I'm pretty sure a three-week-old embryo doesn't know the first thing about any of these three, but a struggling young woman? Most certainly. To Ms. Roegner, and other members of the Ohio House, I ask: what would you do if it were you, or your daughter, or your sister or your cousin?

The constitutionality of this amendment is questionable, as it likely undermines Roe v. Wade, so there is a little hope that it won't stand up in court. It also allows practically no room for medical emergencies, which is downright terrifying. Ladies: Grab your uteri and run for the border!

LCR Head Named To RNC, Social Conservatives Have A Conniption

Gay Repubs celebrated this week as the central fundraising arm of the GOP, the Republican National Committee, named the executive director of the Log Cabin Republicans to the Finance Committee.  This is a huge step of inclusion for gays in the GOP, as until now the LCR has existed on the fringe of the conservative movement.  Some say the move is signaling a shift away from social issues on the Republican Party's agenda, and a small but very vocal element of the right is very very unhappy about it.

Image via JoeMyGod:

I have to say, I love it whenever Bryan Fischer of the American Family Association throws a hissy.  It means SOMETHING must be going right.

William Shatner: O Canada

Happy Canada Day to our northern neighbors!  To commemorate the occasion, whackadoodle Canadian actor rewrites O Canada in typical style.  Themes included: environmentalism, universal health care, and gay marriage.

Woman Charged With Assault For Kissing Anti-Gay Preacher

A 74-year old gay rights supporter is now the focus of a criminal assault case stemming from an incident at a local LGBT Pride event in Salisbury, North Carolina.

The woman, Joan Parker, was one of 2,000 gay rights supporters that showed up to the rally, with the "victim", James Edward Belcher, being one of 200 protesters that came in order to speak out against the gay lifestyle.

From the AP:

"'He was just waving his arms and has a Bible in one hand, up and down, and screaming at the top of his lungs, "sodomites" and "you're going to hell,"' Parker said in a phone interview. 'I thought he needed a hug. S'o I gave him a hug.'"

Belcher claims she tried to kiss him on the lips (which she vehemently denies), and has now charged her with assault.  He claims her embrace "was just one of many attempts to silence the preaching to those in need of salvation who practice a death style that they call a lifestyle."

The police chief was as surprised as anyone else involved that the preacher has decided to press charges, but acceded that the act of unwanted touching could indeed constitute assault.  Parker's "offense" could earn her up to 30 days of community service.