Amy DeLong, a United Methodist minister, has been sentenced to a 20 day suspension for performing a same-sex wedding in 2009. She was acquitted of a second charge of being a “self-avowed practicing homosexual”, also known as out, and spared burning at the stake. She will instead be required to retreat to prayer and rumination on her offense. From Post Crescent.com: KAUKAUNA — After nearly six hours of deliberation, a 13-member jury of Wisconsin Methodist clergy suspended the Rev. Amy DeLong from ministerial duties for 20 days, starting July 1, and noted the time is to be used for “spiritual discernment.” DeLong, 44, of Polk County, was convicted Wednesday of performing a 2009 same-sex wedding in Menomonie in violation of United Methodist Church rules. She was acquitted on a 12-1 vote of a second charge of being a “self-avowed practicing homosexual.” [SNIP] “We’ve said all along that we have already been successful,” DeLong said. “We had a 100 percent chance of winning because our goal was to be faithful and to tell the truth. We have done that and we’ve broken the silence. We’ve opened the door a little bit so (gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender) people can hear a good message from the church.”]]>

Cross-posted from MadeMark.net “Hey, Obama! Don’t hate on my two mamas!” – chant heard at protest Everyone was kept across the street from the Sheraton and one entire block, from 52nd to 53rd streets, was shut down. I just saw the tail end of Obama’s speech on NY1, not bad. Meanwhile, we continue to wait for equality in New York. Maybe there will be a surprise, or a letdown, with the morning news.]]>

Why do homophobes insist on comparing us to animals? It often reminds me of the things white people used to say and think about black people. If you read ‘The Help’ – or grew up in my house with a father who gathered us in a back room to cower and pray when negroes were rioting a thousand miles away – you’ll see what I mean: ideas that black people were unclean, diseased, needed their own bathrooms for the safety of white folk, and, of course, fucked like animals. From Queerty: When it became clear that John Christopher Millican would not recover, his partner of 10 years, Terrance James, was the only person at his side. Alone, he made the difficult decision to end the life support. Mr. Millican passed away on June 11th of this year. Wrought with grief, Mr. James filled out the paperwork for his late partner’s obituary for the local publication, the Batesville Guard. When the obituary ran, however, it listed the names of Millican’s deceased parents, his siblings, with whom he had little contact, but no mention of Terrance James or even that there was a surviving partner. We called the Batesville Guard and spoke to Pat Jones, the general manager. She quickly became defensive and told us that we could call her son Oscar, who is a lawyer. She had obviously been through this phone call several times already. When questioned, Pat told Queerty “It’s not a gay thing. We don’t list unmarried couples, in-laws, or pets in the free obituaries.”
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An 86 year old man who was competing in a cycling event at the Senior Games in Houston died after crashing mysteriously. From Houston Culture Map: Champion bike racer Elton Hammond Jr. was one mile from the finish line of the Summer Senior Games 10K time trial on Tuesday when he suddenly crashed. Within hours, the 86-year-old athlete was pronounced dead by paramedics who had immediately taken him to a hospital near the cycling race in Fulshear. Details of the crash have yet to be released by the Fulshear Police Department, which did not immediately respond to a phone call by CultureMap. [SNIP] In some respects, Hammond embodied the Games’ mission of empowering senior athletes who had discovered the joys of an active lifestyle later in life. According to his son, Elton Hammond III, Hammond Jr. began cycling more than 40 years ago, but didn’t enter the field of racing until his 70s. Since then, he immersed himself in bicycling, including jaunts through Europe and New Zealand. Considering the age range of Senior Games competitors, the possibility of mid-event death is a predictable fear. The Games’ oldest competitor, tennis player Roger Gentilhomme, passed away on June 18 at the age 102 shortly before he was scheduled to fly to Houston for the Games.]]>

Meet me at the corner of Alcohol Mary Road and Rehab Street You’ll be relieved to know that Alcohol Mary Road in Greenwood, Maine, will retain its name, despite the effort of some residents to change it. Apparently named after a woman who produced alcohol to make ends meet (it doesn’t say if she was a bootlegger), the road is a point of pride with the community. From the Bangor Daily News: GREENWOOD, Maine — Selectmen voted unanimously Tuesday night against changing the name of Alcohol Mary Road, after hearing from an attorney for the Hertell family and from residents who said they enjoy living on the colorfully named road. Several Alcohol Mary Road residents rallied around the memory of Alcohol Mary and said they were proud of her alcohol-making activity during Prohibition. They said the road was named for her. Arthur Hertell was silent at the meeting as attorney Jennifer Kreckel explained the family’s case to the board. Kreckel said the family is tired of getting calls from people asking whether the road’s namesake was their grandmother. She wasn’t that person, and the question is an insult to Arthur and Edwin’s grandmother, who did live on that road and who was named Mary. “They’re not trying to tell you what to do with your town,” Kreckel said. “They hold her sainted in their memories, and to have Alcohol Mary associated with that is sort of a desecration of the memory,” Kreckel said. Nancy Dewing said she’s been living on the road since the 1970s and said Alcohol Mary was a historical figure and a source of pride.
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