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GAME ON: Obama Endorses Gay Marriage, Fires Up Progressive Base

Our latest for EBONY.com is on the front page: "Game On: Obama Endorses Gay Marriage, Fires Up Progressive Base."

President Obama’s bedrock of support in the Black community won’t abandon him over marriage equality. Some 95 percent of Blacks voted for Obama in 2008 and he’ll get—93 percent? 94 percent in 2012. You could argue that White House extensively polled voters in swing states, deciding that coming out for equal marriage would help his campaign. The campaign probably did but it doesn’t matter—it’s just the right thing to do. It re-energizes the progressive wing of the party. Opens up LGBT checkbooks again—gay Democratic fundraising bundlers are ecstatic!!—and wins the president points for moving America forward on civil rights.

Let’s face it. Most people—outside of the Black community—who are dead set against gay marriage were never voting for Obama anyway. And Mitt “Multiple Choice” Romney was going to hammer Obama on this issue—using it as an example of Obama's indecisiveness or saying they had the same position. Obama turned a negative into a positive.

Read the full piece HERE.

NRA Cancels King & Spalding Contract Over DOMA

Last week, there was news that gay-obsessed, far right wing Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli terminated the commonwealth's contract with law firm King & Spalding over its decision to withdraw from the House of Representatives' defense of the Defense of Marriage Act. The National Rifle Association has followed suit, reports Legal Times.

The NRA's letter to the Atlanta-based firm reads in part:

We are writing to notify you of our decision to terminate our legal services agreement with King & Spalding, effective immediately, due to the firm's decision to bow to political pressure and abandon a client in the midst of a legal representation. Specifically, our decision is motivated by your withdrawal as counsel for the Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group of the U.S. House of Representatives in defense of Section III of the Defense of Marriage Act.

We believe King & Spalding's decision is indefensible and raises serious concerns about its ability to be a reliable and effective advocate for any client facing potentially controversial litigation.

To be clear, our decision is not motivated by any position on the statute itself. As you know, the National Rifle Association is a single-issue organization dedicated to the protection of the Second Amendment. We are, however, often involved in controversial issues on which emotions can run high. This is as true in the legal arena as it is in the legislative.

Over the weekend, an estimated 75,000 people attended the National Rifle Association's 140th annual convention in Pittsburgh.

Fantasia to Lip Synch in "Mahalia" Biopic, Jackson's Voice Will Be Used

Grammy Award winning R&B singer Fantasia Barrino has been signed to portray gospel legend Mahalia Jackson in a biopic. Except Fantasia won't be singing—Mahalia will, reports The Times Picayune.

Producer Dave LaCour Simien, whose Los Angeles-based Double Dutch Productions is behind "Mahalia!," said the production has acquired the rights to 18 of Jackson's songs for the film -- all of which have been remastered -- and that Barrino will be lip-synching to those original recordings. It's not a knock on Barrino's voice. Rather, it's an effort to make the film as true-to-life as possible, Simien said. "I really wanted to be authentic," he said. "We wanted to make sure if we do it, we do it right."

"Mahalia!"—which will be based on the 1993 book "Got To Tell It: Mahalia Jackson, Queen of Gospel," and which has the blessing of the Jackson estate—will recount Jackson's impoverished upbringing in New Orleans and her rise to prominence as an American music icon as well as a civil-rights activist.

"We envision this film as a black woman's 'Coal Miner's Daughter,' a colorful rags-to-riches story of a great talent who achieves enormous success and survives personal tragedy," the film's producers say in a synopsis on their "Mahalia!" web page.

If they're using Mahalia Jackson's incredible vocals, what is the point in casting a singer? If that's the case, Kimberly Elise could have owned this role. Sissy Spacek won the Academy Award for Coal Miner's Daughter—she did her own singing btw—but comparing Fantasia's acting skills to Spacek is a bit much.

Anxious to hear your thoughts. Flame away if you disagree.

Pittsburgh Steeler Willie Colon on "Big" Ben's "Gay Sausage Party"

Hanging out with Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was a "sausage party", complains teammate Willie Colon, who says he felt "gay" when women wanted his help getting to "Big" Ben.

The Steelers' 315 pound offensive tackle made the comments in a police interview when he recounted the events of the March 2010 evening that ended with 20-year-old Georgia college student accusing Roethlisberger of sexually assaulting her in a bathroom.

The Smoking Gun:

"As the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) report notes, Colon described how women swarmed around the quarterback as he barhopped with friends in Milledgeville, a college town 90 miles southeast of Atlanta. According to the GBI document, Colon, 27, told investigators that he did not enjoy how "girls continued to try to talk to Roethlisberger through" him, and how the women 'were continually attempting to get Roethlisberger's attention.' So the hulking athlete bolted: 'Colon got up because he felt this was "gay" and he did not want to be used by the girls to communicate with Roethlisberger.' When Roethlisberger's posse later relocated to the VIP room of another club, Colon was not happy with the male/female ratio, terming it a 'sausage party' because 'there were too many males in the VIP room and not enough females.' To rectify the problem, only women were allowed into the exclusive section."

Well, at least one of them managed to get some that night.

In related news: Prosecutors said no charges would be filed against Roethlisberger, who denies the accusations. And another woman has accused the Steelers QB of sexual assault ... Roethlisberger's second rape allegation in the past nine months.

WATCH: Riot Police Use Gas and Sound Cannons At G20 Protests

The Group of 20 summit begins in Pittsburgh with sporadic demonstrations and riots. An "unauthorized protest march" of about one thousand people was the starting point of several smaller demonstrations and the crowd responded to calls to disperse by "rolling trash bins, throwing rocks ... and smashing car windows", reports KDKA.

Riot police and the Pennsylvania National Guard dispersed the crowd with exotic crowd control measures such as O2 canisters, smoke bombs, "stun grenades that exploded with sharp flashes of light" and sound cannons that "emitted shrill beeps, causing demonstrators to cover their ears and back up." Authorities believe this is "the first time" the sonic weapon has been deployed against civilians in the United States.

The march turned chaotic at around the same time President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama arrived for meetings with leaders of the world’s major economies. At least 20 people are behinds bars and there are numerous minor injuries from the gas.

AFTER THE JUMP, watch a CNN report and videos uploaded by residents and protesters. SOUND WARNING: Turn volume down esp. if wearing headphones.

DEVELOPING: Pittsburgh Riot Police Fire Tear Gas at G20 Protestors

This screen capture from KDKA in Pittsburgh via @BreakingNews which reports riot police "are firing gas as up to 1,000 demonstrators gather for unauthorized march towards site of G20 summit."

The G20 Pittsburgh Summit will be held on September 24 and 25. There is an extraordinary counter terrorism and riot presence in the city that will host the leaders of the world's 20 largest economic powers.

UPDATE: "The Secret Service told KDKA-TV police used OC vapor and smoke, not tear gas."

Bill Clinton on "DADT" and Defense of Marriage Act at Netroots Nation

Photo by Andrés Duque

While delivering the keynote address at the Netroots Nation 09 conference in Pittsburgh, former president Bill Clinton was interrupted by a question on "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell" and the Defense of Marriage Act. Washington D.C.-based netroots gay activist and blogger Lane Hudson yelled: "Mr. President, will you call for a repeal of DOMA and 'Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell' right now?"

Clinton joked that Hudson, who was heckled by some in the audience, should take his behavior to a town hall meeting on health care reform, then explained he "didn't have any choice at the time" and "nobody regrets how this was implemented anymore than I do."

You wanna talk about ‘Don’t Ask Don’t Tell’, I’ll tell you exactly what happened. You couldn’t deliver me any support in the Congress and they voted by a veto-proof majority in both houses against my attempt to let gays serve in the military and the media supported them. They raised all kinds of devilment. And all most of you did was to attack me instead of getting some support in the congress. Now, that’s the truth.

When Gen. Colin Powell came up with this ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ it was defined while he was chairman much differently than it was implemented. He said, 'If you will accept this, here is what we’ll do. We will not pursue anyone, any military members out of uniform will be free to march in gay rights parades, go to gay bars, go to political meetings, whatever mailings they get, whatever they do in their private lives, none of this will be a basis for dismissal.' It all turned out to be a fraud [due to] enormous reaction against it among the middle-level officers and down after it was promulgated and Colin was gone.

On DOMA, the former president maintains he was attempting to block a constitutional marriage amendment: "Something had to be done to try to keep the Republican Congress presenting that. The president doesn’t even get to veto that. It’s the Congress that can refer constitutional amendments to the states. I didn’t like signing DOMA, and I certainly didn’t like the constraints it would put on benefits."

Writing at Firedoglake and the Huffington Post, Lane Hudson says he was "shocked" by the response from fellow progressives: "The immediate response shocked me at the time and still does. Those surrounding me yelled at me, booed, and told me to sit down. One elderly lady even told me to leave. While I was among the supposed most progressive audience in the country, they sought to silence someone asking a former President to speak out on behalf of repealing two laws that  took away the rights of a minority."

Lane Hudson adds: "What happened that was really important, however, is that President Clinton did address the issues that I'm pretty sure he wouldn't have without my forcing the conversation."

AFTER THE JUMP, via Firedoglake, video of the exchange.

News: Pittsburgh DPs, Omarion, Janet, DADT, CA Marriage Ban

· Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl signs legislation that creates a new domestic partner registry and "although it carries no legal weight, it is expected to provide documentation for more than 100 Pittsburgh employers, including the city, that give benefits to domestic partners." Ravenstahl: "There's a lot of good, positive momentum in the city of Pittsburgh ... and we will continue to look for ways to show that Pittsburgh is truly a progressive city."

· After ending his 7-year relationship with Sony two months ago, R&B poptart Omarion signs with Timbaland's label.

· Janet Jackson is reportedly "developing a music competition" television reality series and "will serve as mentor to the up-and-coming singers and dancers." Target launch is September 10.

· Three California voters and four gay rights organizations ask the California Supreme Court to prevent a November ballot initiative that would ban same-sex marriage.

· PageOneQ reports the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints "will officially urge its members to take the church stance on marriage rights to the voting booth" and support the proposed November marriage ban. A gay Mormon group criticizes the decision and says "the Church should not be interfering with California politics."

· New York City public health clinics are no longer using OraSure's rapid oral HIV test because of inaccurate results. "The rate of false positives ... rose as high as 1.1 percent over the past eight months, or more than five times the level claimed in the kit's labeling."

· Report: Mexican government should declare HIV/AIDS a "national emergency" to ensure "universal, permanent and sustainable" access to antiretroviral drug.

· Lesbians are disproportionately impacted under the "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell" policy that prohibits openly gay people from serving in the military. "While women make up 14 percent of Army personnel, 46 percent of those discharged under the policy last year were women. And while 20 percent of Air Force personnel are women, 49 percent of its discharges under the policy last year were women." Pentagon officials cannot explain why the numbers for women spiked last year.