Landmark Gay Weddings in Britain

It seems the United Kingdom is alive and well and operating in the 21st century.  So why aren't we?

This weekend, two high-profile civil partnerships were celebrated in that right little, tight little island.  Labour MP Chris Bryant, 48, currently Minister of State for Europe and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, tied the knot with his sweetheart Jared Cranney, a company secretary, in the first-ever gay union held in the Houses of Parliament.  Because it is still forbidden to hold gay weddings in British churches, the Parliamentary chapel of St. Mary - where straight MP's have been getting married since forever - was not used; instead, the ceremony took place in the House of Commons dining room, overlooking the Thames.

Bryant, who represents a district in South Wales, came in for a lot of criticism when a picture of him - posing in what some fashionistas deemed very unfashionable underpants - was discovered on Gaydar back in '03.  Nevertheless, his political career has continued very successfully.  Imagine that happening over here.

Also this weekend, as reported by The Independent:

One groom wore ceremonial uniform with his Iraq medal, the other morning dress with an orchid. Surrounded by silverware and paintings commemorating great battles, Lance Corporal James Wharton, 23, and his new husband enjoyed their first dance to Tina Turner in the warrant officers' mess of the most prestigious regiment in the land.

The Household Cavalry, famed for escorting the Queen during state occasions and the fact that it counts both her grandsons among its officers, celebrated its first gay wedding in style. L/Cpl Wharton was joined in a civil partnership with his boyfriend, the Virgin air steward Thom McCaffrey, 21, surrounded by members of L/Cpl Wharton's regiment, the Blues and Royals.

"The entire regiment has been really supportive," he said. "When I went to ask the Squadron Leader, Major Nana Twumasi-Ankrah, for permission to get married, he just said 'This is fantastic, congratulations'."

"The lads joked it was the gay event of the year. Everyone was excited. It was the talk of the barracks. This generation of soldiers is completely liberal," added the junior non-commissioned officer, whose only regret was that some of his friends would not be back from Afghanistan in time to enjoy the nuptials.

Just over 10 years ago, before a ban on homosexuality was lifted, gay soldiers faced interrogation and expulsion from the Army if discovered. But, in a very visible sign of the changing times, L/Cpl Wharton was given permission to host his wedding reception at the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment's Knightsbridge barracks.

Wharton was featured on the cover of the British Army's magazine Soldier last year.  The British military has been around for a millennium longer than the American army, and seems to be thriving - surely ours will too, when DADT is kicked into the dustbin of history.

Lovelight: No Matter What

Goodnight guys, sweet dreams.


Scenes from the movie Shelter; song by Boyzone.

My Garden

So yesterday I got outside on my knees in the dirt, and dug and planted and cursed at the weeds and old roots that kept getting in my way.  Okay, okay, I admit it don't look like anything to write home about, even after spending fifty bucks on the flowers.  But it's the best this old garden-ignorant shitkicker could do. 

Still, it adds a little cheerful color to the place, and that helps my feelings.  Here, take a look:

Sunday Drive: I Know That My Redeemer Liveth

Palm Sunday

He hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.

He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.

But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

A favorite aria of your Head Trucker's, appropriate at this season.

Grayson: Republicans Have Nothing Left but Fear and Hatred

What a MAN.  Tell it like it is, Alan:



"It's time to get rid of Republicans entirely" from public office.  Damn straight.

Which of course won't happen.  But it is a lovely thought that perhaps one day the GOP might be replaced by a party of decent conservatives - rather than the circus parade of fools, fascists, and fundamentalists that are the current Republican party and are patently unfit to govern.

Keep Grayson in Congress:  contribute to his "money bomb" website here.


Honk to Joe.My.God.

Today in Texastan: "Gay Jesus" Play Cancelled

In the face of outrage from the local Christianist Taliban and criticism from the Lieutenant Governor of Texas, not to mention security concerns, student director John Otte's professor has cancelled the workshop performance of Terrence McNally's Corpus Christi, which was to have been performed this morning at 8 a.m. before a small audience of classmates and family members on the Tarleton State University campus in Stephenville.

Kudos to university president Dr. Dominic Dottavio, who while asserting his belief that the play is "offensive, crude, and irreverent," nevertheless firmly upheld academic freedom and the student's First Amendment right to produce the play.

Otte:  "Never did I choose this play to attack Christians. I am one."

If you can bear to sit through the painfully amateurish TSU student news broadcast below, you will hear interviews with local mullahs preachers, Dr. Dottavio, and Otte himself.

And get a pretty good idea of the backwards, small-minded, fundamentalist-controlled world your Head Trucker lives in out here on the prairie.



Story begins at the 4:10 mark.

Update:  Houston ABC news report interviews Tarleton State students, who say "Homosexuality is the one unforgiveable sin in our society."

And that, my friends, is what you're up against if you're a gay man living in Texas in the year 2010.

Big Brother Just Friended You

FYI:  Your New Facebook Friend May Be a Federal Agent.  Or even the local police.

You have been warned.

Also:  Facebook, Twitter, and Google Are Out to Screw LGBT Privacy. If You Let Them.

Afternoon Drive: Make It Naughty Tonight

Oh yeah baby, anything you say.



So who are you making naughty with tonight?  Y'all have a good one, see you down the road.

Tired Old Queen at the Movies #24: Jennifer Jones

I love Steve Hayes.  He's like the fabulous edition of Robert Osborne.

Rachel: What Just Happened

The monumental significance of the healthcare victory is still slowly sinking in with me.  Rachel deftly spells it out and sums it up in this report:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

The Next Big Thing: Beer Floats

No, not root beer floats.  Just plain beer floats. 

And shakes.  And cakes and gelato and fritters and candy.  I'm not making this up. 

Those California people need to get their heads on straight.  Why ruin a perfectly good beer by adding ice cream? 

That would definitely be considered a sin around these parts, I tell you what.

Photo:  Deaf Chef at Large.