News: Demarco Majors, Marriage, Methodists, HIV, Kanye and Pharrell

· It's official. This fall, Californians will vote on the right of gay and lesbian couples to marry after "the state supreme court denied a legal challenge by gay and civil rights groups to remove a proposed amendment to ban marriage for gay and lesbian couples, Proposition 8, from the November ballot." The court’s vote was unanimous.

· Los Angeles Times: "Scores of United Methodist pastors in California are putting their careers on the line in an open revolt against religious edicts that forbid them to conduct weddings for gay and lesbian couples. ... Pastors have been emboldened by United Methodist assemblies in California that declared their support last month for the state Supreme Court's recent ruling overturning a ban on same-sex marriage."

· Everything you always wanted to know about basketball player Demarco Majors.

· 50 Cent to hook up with Val Kilmer.

· Politico profiles Lane Hudson, the political strategist and blogger who exposed former congressman and GOPerv Mark Foley.

· ABC News features a report on LGBT youth and discrimination in middle schools. The Washington Post published a similar story Monday, on Saro Harvey, a 15-year-old black gay teen, which you can also watch. To add some context to the precarious position of gay youth, Pride Agenda reports "a North Carolina anti-bullying bill is stalled due to its inclusion of LGBT students."

· HIV/AIDS research is slowing. Swiss pharma giant Roche announces it will suspend its "HIV research because none of its pending medicines represents a significant improvement over existing drugs" and reassign its HIV research scientists to other projects. One recent advancement in HIV research is the announcement by pathologists at The University of Texas Medical School at Houston who believe they have found the Achilles Heel, the weakness that would keep the HIV virus from infecting new cells.

· Want a "RIM job"? Blackberry manufacturer Research in Motion launches new career microsite. Pun intended. (via Queerclick)

· IBM Q2 profits jump 22%.

· The New England Blade: "Despite growing support for same-sex marriage in the United States as measured by several recent polls, black Americans remain steadfastly opposed to gay unions. According to research conducted by the National Black Justice Coalition and several other organizations, as many as two-thirds of black Americans are against gay marriage. Although the numbers vary by poll, research shows most blacks oppose both gay marriage and civil unions."

· Talk Left reports Rod 2.0 faves Pharrell Williams and Kanye West are among the hip-hop acts that will perform in Denver during the Democratic National Convention. Meanwhile, Pharrell and Kanye pushback against rumors on the internets that they employ ghost bloggers to publish their highly popular and frequently updated blogs. To squash the drama, Kanye publishes photos of himself at his computer and on his blog with some choice words (in all caps) for the haterz.

· New York Gov. David Paterson and the NAACP condemn the New Yorker's satirical cover depicting Barack and Michelle Obama.

· Intellectual Conservative, a right-wing blog that boasts "Extremism You Can Believe In," mocks Obama’s LGBT-inclusive policies and public mentions of gays and lesbians.

· Environmental Protection Agency says the value of an American life has decreased. Think Progress reports, "The EPA lowered its 'value of a statistical life' measure to $6.9 million in today’s dollars, which is 'a drop of nearly $1 million from just five years ago.' ... Critics say that the Bush administration is 'changing the value to avoid tougher [environmental] rules.' 'It’s hard to imagine that it has other than a political motivation,' said former senior EPA official Dan Esty."

Comments

[Quinton]

Demarco is such a positive role model. I love him.

[Henry HW]

Demarco Majors is incredible. Beautiful body, beautiful mind, athletic and very out. He is a treasure.

[Blanche DuBois]

I'm fascinated by the media's discovery that blacks are reluctant to accept same sex marriage. Are we the only people? No, quite a few white people are not accepting same sex marriage. It seems the media, esp. teh gay media, always look for black scapegoats.

But fwiw, black gay men and lesbians seems to be more focused and concerened about homophobia, racism, discrimination, unemployment ... basic quality of life issues. Chile, I wish I were well off and could settle down and marry.