Mel Gibson, Whoopi Goldberg, The Today Show, and Victim-Blaming

If you have the stomach for it, you can visit Radar Online and listen to Mel Gibson hurling verbal abuse at Oksana Grigorieva, his former partner and mother of his eight-month-old daughter, such as "You look like a f*cking bitch in heat. And if you get raped by a pack of ni**ers it will be your fault. Alright? Because you provoked it." Gibson also tells Grigorieva that she "deserved" to be hit hard enough by him to break teeth, that she needs "a f*cking bat in the side of the head," and other suggestive death threats.

In response to this, Whoopi Goldberg on The View questioned Grigorieva's motives in releasing the taped phone conversations to the media, suggesting that she failed to protect herself and her daughter, and asserting, "If there's a beef, take it to the cops." Melissa McEwan of Shakesivlle points out that Grigorieva received a restraining order before the tapes went public, and even if she hadn't, when a domestic abuser is rich and powerful sometimes the police can be less than perfectly helpful, so calling media attention to the violence can assure quicker action on the victim's behalf. Yet all Goldberg's anger seems directed toward the potential for someone to expose an abuser out of revenge, rather than the fact that he beat the shit out of a woman.

Goldberg, who identifies herself as a friend of Gibson's, was also busy defending him as not racist because he's spent time with her, an African American woman, despite his repeated use of racial slurs ("raped by a pack of ni**ers"). She also is the one who defended Roman Polanski's assault of a minor as not "rape-rape," which reminds me that, when it comes to domestic violence and celebrities, it seems that you cannot be considered guilty (even if convicted, like Polanski, or caught on tape, like Gibson) if you make really good movies and have hung out with a bunch of other famous people.

Even The Today Show opted for the victim-blaming route, with their "Chief Medical Editor" accusing Grigorieva of provoking the taped verbal assault by "using a soft voice" and being passive aggressive. Dr. Nancy Snyderman further claims that Gibson was acting out of an uncontrollable rage, perpetuating the myth that a domestic abuser just can't help themselves.

Constance McMillen Wins $35,000 for Being Banned From Her Prom

If you don't remember Constance McMillen, she's the lesbian high school student in Mississippi who was banned from attending her own senior prom with a female date. After much legal wrangling and a cruel trick in which Constance's classmates staged an alternative prom without her, and as reported recently she has won a victory, one that LGBT students everywhere can cheer.

As a result of a lawsuit brought on her behalf by the American Civil Liberties Union, Constance will be receiving $35,000 plus attorney fees from Itawamba Agricultural High School, where she was so cruelly denied the chance to attend prom with her girlfriend. Even better, and heartening for LGBT youth everywhere, the school will be instituting a brand-new policy that bans discrimination based on gender identity or sexual orientation.

Essentially, this is the school saying: We were really, really, wrong. So wrong, we're going to create a policy banning ourselves and everyone else from discriminating in exactly the manner we did. Constance's graduation can sparkle with the knowledge that she made a tangible difference in the school she attended, one that will help many future students to pass through its locker-lined halls. How many of us can say we did that at 18?

But while this sets a positive precedent for schools across the country, the only thing that will truly make sure that future LGBT youth don't have to undergo what Constance did is to have Congress pass the Student Non-Discrimination Act and Safe Schools Act, prohibiting discrimination and bullying in high schools nationwide. Ask your representative to get moving and protect our country's children today.

Florida Denies Voters Chance To Decide Their Drilling Future

Florida Gov. Charlie Crist used to champion offshore drilling. He also used to be a Republican.

Some 5.4 million barrels of oil later, he has changed his tune on both charges. Now, he has shifted with the majority of Floridians, as polls show, and is passionately calling for a state ban on offshore drilling as close as three miles from the state's beautiful beaches. He has faced derisive charges of political flip-flopping in the name of his reelection campaign, but, in this case, he has flopped to the right side of history. His state's coastal economy under siege, who wouldn't choose to rationally reexamine his chants of Drill, Baby, Drill?

The answer, but of course, is a good chunk of the Florida state legislature. Amid a protest rally outside the state capitol yesterday, representatives rapidly dispatched a democratic approach to the issue: a November ballot measure to let voters decide the future of an offshore drilling ban. After a huge push from Gov. Crist, the Republican leadership took a break from their vacations and convened the special legislative session yesterday to take up the proposal. Within hours, dictatorial drilling supporters won the day. According to the Miami Herald, the measure failed at the point members were debating whether to debate whether to allow a referendum vote.

Putting Discrimination To a Vote in Bowling Green, Ohio

Did you think 2010 would slip by without an anti-gay ballot measure? Think again, and direct your eyes toward Bowling Green, Ohio.

This November, voters in the city of nearly 30,000 will head to the polls to decide on whether two historic ordinances will be allowed to become law, protecting LGBT folks from discrimination. Those ordinances, originally passed in August 2009, amended city law to prevent LGBT people from being discriminated against when it comes to employment, housing, education and public accommodations. And they were necessary, because currently federal-level anti-discrimination protections don't go far enough to stop discrimination against LGBT people.

But what was a bold move for equality was interpreted by a number of anti-gay folks to be a step toward indecency. And they did what so many anti-gay groups have done in the past decade: they froze the city council ordinances by gathering signatures to put the policies on a November 2010 ballot. Meaning that Bowling Green, Ohio voters will now decide on whether LGBT people should be thrown out of restaurants because of their sexual orientation, or denied an apartment because of their gender identity.

Sen. David Vitter Thinks Rachel Maddow Is a Man

Well, if you're wondering what kind of looks Sen. David Vitter desires in a mistress, it's not Rachel Maddow. The Louisiana Senator, up for re-election this year for the first time since a 2007 scandal broke where he admitted to cheating on his wife with a prostitution service, made a campaign appearance today on Louisiana talk radio. The subject, for some strange reason, turned toward the rather viral Yearbook photo of Rachel Maddow that has been circulating the Internet for the past week.

Speaking to his two radio hosts, Sen. Vitter suggested that everyone should reveal their high school yearbook photos.

Male host: "That'd be cool. Well you know, with Rachel Maddow they had that picture of her..."

Female host: "Looking like a woman."

Male host: "Yeah it was really bizarre."

Sen. David Vitter: (Cackles) "Must have been a long time ago."

Ah, yes. The old Rachel Maddow graduated from high school and subsequently turned into a dude line. Now that's comedy gold. Almost as funny as listening to a man who serially cheated on his wife make fun of another person. Oh wait ...

Sarah Palin's Discovery Channel Show Shoots in Stealth Mode

More than half a million outraged letters haven't yet convinced Discovery executives to cancel their fall show "Sarah Palin's Alaska," The Learning Channel's homage to the wild wonders of the 49th state brought to you by the woman who would to destroy them. What the letters may have have done, however, is persuaded the film crew to operate in stealth mode -- much like the wolves Palin so enjoys brutally hunting from the air above. (Sign a letter here.)

An Alaska local radio station, KTNA, reported last week that out-of-state film crews descended on Talkeetna, a small town at the edge of Denali National Park, to film the ex-governor and her family at the Alaska Mountaineering School taking lessons on glacier travel and climbing. The show's producer denied reporters an interview and the station writes, "Secrecy surrounded the production as locally hired people work under strict confidentiality agreements." The Queen of Twitter may have let the cat out of the bag though, letting fans know that she planned to climb a "sliver of Denali." In old-school Palin style, however, she rather confused the issue by referring to the "Sweet-tooth" peak, which doesn't exist, when she likely meant the "Sugar-tooth," which does exists but is not a Denali route, according to the station. (Geez, you've 140 characters girl! Get 'em right.)

Harsh Laws Against Homosexuality Fuel HIV in Asia

Many of us have heard about proposed harsh anti-gay legislation in Uganda that would criminalize homosexuality with the death penalty or life imprisonment. As that law gained steam in the legislature last year, not to mention headlines around the world, it helped fuel several stories about how laws criminalizing homosexuality only serve to spread HIV. Indeed, even the Lancet came out with a study that showed how devastating laws that criminalize homosexuality are on the continent of Africa. More than 30 countries criminalize sex between people of the same gender (particularly men who have sex with men), and as a result, HIV/AIDS rates in those countries have ballooned.

A new study shows that this phenomenon isn't constrained to the continent of Africa. It's also panning out in a very similar fashion in the Asia Pacific region, where 19 countries (just slightly less than half of the countries in the Asia Pacific region) criminalize homosexuality. That's led the United Nations Development Programme to issue a statement drawing the connections between criminalization and the rampant spread of HIV.

"These laws often taken on the force of vigilantism, frequently leading to abuse and human rights violations. Correspondingly, HIV prevalence has reached alarming levels among men who have sex with men and transgender populations in many countries of the region," the statement said. It's kind of like a simple math equation: a (harsh laws) + b (LGBT people) = c (public health nightmare). Yes, a simple math equation, but a deadly one.

Confessions of a Formerly Anti-Gay Politician

Perhaps is HBO is looking for a sequel to their Taxicab Confessions series, they might want to turn the camera on California State Senator Roy Ashburn, and tweak the title to say "Confessions of a Formerly Anti-Gay Politician."

Sen. Ashburn's career in the California legislature was in many parts defined by his hardcore opposition to gay rights legislation. Whether it was marriage or Harvey Milk Day, any piece of legislation that came his way dealing with LGBT rights seemed to get a thumbs down.

And then, in March of this year, Sen. Ashburn was pulled over by police in Sacramento on suspicion that he was drunk behind the wheel. He was, with a blood alcohol level of .14%, at that. But that's not entirely what dominated the headlines the next morning. Instead, it was the fact that Sen. Ashburn was leaving a gay bar in Sacramento when he was arrested, and that he had an unidentified male passenger with him.

Immediately, Sen. Ashburn became part of the "Republican Politicians Against Gay Rights Who Eventually Get Caught Doing Very Gay Things." There's former Rep. Mark Foley, former Sen. Larry Craig, and current Rep. Mark Kirk. And that's not to mention all of the right-leaning pastors and religious leaders who've been involved in some salacious male-on-male scandals in the past few years (Ted Haggard, George Alan Rekers, Alan Downing ... the list goes on).

But what might make Sen. Ashburn different from all of these controversial cats is that instead of running away from his scandal, or blaming his scandal on some internal demons, he seems to be opening up to folks by saying that (1) yes, he's is gay, and (2) he was wrong ... really wrong ... to back anti-gay legislation in the past.

This week Sen. Ashburn wrote a column for gaypolitics.com, where he urged fellow lawmakers in the Republican Party to get behind gay rights. His scandal, he says, woke him up to the reality that unless he starts speaking out as a gay Republican, others in his situation will remain in the closet, and his party won't change one iota on one of the leading civil rights issues of our time.

Student attacked by a teacher for wearing a Mexican soccer jersey

One of my friends is running the World Cup bracket at her office, and anyone who follows soccer ("football" to the rest of the world) won't be surprised that none of her co-workers bet on the United States to take it all. I mean, we only tied with England because their goalie dropped the ball. So the World Cup is a good time for Americans to cheer on a team with a bigger stake in the games, maybe get in touch with their heritage and root for the land of their ancestors. If I were more of a sports fan, that would probably leave me backing Italy. If I did, nobody would bat an eye.

But if I happened to be a 12-year-old American-born girl supporting Mexico, I might have to worry about being attacked by my middle school teacher for being illegally in the country, as Prerna Lal writes on Race in America. Coral Avilez, a seventh-grader in California, decided to wear a Mexican soccer jersey in anticipation of the Mexico-South Africa game that day. Reportedly, her teacher asked her if she supported Mexico, then demanded, "Then what are you doing in my country?" The teacher then attacked, "people like you make me pay higher taxes and make my insurance rate go up." Ahem ... "people like you"? American-born citizens, she means?

The 12-year-old ran out of the classroom in tears, as you would expect a child to do.

The Vice President of the local League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) says that this isn't the first such instance of blatant racism and xenophobia in the classroom, but that students are usually to intimidated to complain. The girl was further harassed after the incident by school officials who interrogated her and barred her mother from taking her home until she had signed something (what is unclear). The next week, when Coral didn't want to go to class, she was told she could read in the principal's office or pick up trash with the janitor. She felt so uncomfortable around the principal, she opted for garbage duty.

Sarah Palin went to Canada for health care

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin -- who has gone to great lengths to hype the supposed dangers of a big government takeover of American health care -- admitted over the weekend that she used to get her treatment in Canada's single-payer system.

"We used to hustle over the border for health care we received in Canada," Palin said in her first Canadian appearance since stepping down as governor of Alaska. "And I think now, isn't that ironic?"

The irony, one guesses, is that Palin now views Canada's health care system as revolting: with its government-run administration and 'death-panel'-like rationing. Clearly, however, she and her family once found it more alluring than, at the very least, the coverage available in rural Alaska. Up to the age of six, Palin lived in a remote town near the closest Canadian city, Whitehorse.

Officials at several hospitals in that area declined to give out information on patient visits.

Glenn Beck Is Taking Christian Souls to Hell

Glenn Beck presents a conundrum for the Christian right. They appreciate his bigotry, but are in turn bigoted against his Mormon faith. Sometimes the politics of hate is complicated.

“Internet evangelist” (no, I don’t know what that means) Bill Keller is no longer willing to compromise his Christian principles though. Keller, who warned 2008 primary voters that a vote for the Mormon Mitt Romney was a vote for Satan, has launched a campaign to warn Christians that Glenn Beck is taking their “ignorant souls to hell.” (via Think Progress.)

Keller states, “Beck likes to call out people for their lies and deception, yet he portrays himself daily as a Christian. The fact is, the beliefs of the satanic Mormon cult are totally inconsistent with Biblical Christianity. He uses the words “god” and “jesus,” yet the god and jesus of the Mormon cult are NOT the God and Jesus of the Bible!”

Keller continues, “The ‘god’ of the Mormon cult used to be a human who rose to god-like status, just like Beck and all Mormons believe they will too after their death. The ‘jesus’ of the Mormon cult is the natural offspring of their ‘god’ Elohim who had sex with Mary, meaning their jesus is a created being and NOT a deity as the Bible teaches, and is the brother of Lucifer.”

Keller concludes, “I could care less what Beck chooses to believe, but I do care that he lies to people by stating he is a Christian when a person who believes in the lies of the Mormon cult is no more a Christian than a Muslim is. Most appalling are prominent Christians who have sold out the faith to associate with Beck, more worried about what financial gain they will get from that association than helping him lead ignorant souls to hell for following his cult’s beliefs.”

This is completely awful, of course. The Church of LDS is not Satanic and it’s not a cult. It’s certainly weird and fucked up, but no more, no less than other Christian denominations that have a conservative bent.

In fact, right-wing Mormons are a perfect ideological match for right-wing Evangelicals, so it’s pretty funny that totally unwarranted bias and mistrust has maintained a rift between the two. And, it’s surprising that this hasn’t been a bigger problem for Beck in the past. Will his Christian listeners be turned off if Keller’s attention-grabbing ploy takes off?

In other Christian Right vs. Mormons News: The Christian right is demonstrating its relevance to young people by attacking the insanely popular young-adult Twilight series, even though the books’ Mormon author has pumped them full of abstinence-only themes that should make anti-sex Christian crusaders pretty happy. The reason? Vampires make bad role models. (h/t Steve Benen)

Roberta Combs, president of the Christian Coalition of America, which called for a ban on the Potter series, says she’s considering a similar campaign against Twilight because even though it’s pro-abstinence, it’s also pro-vampires.

She says vampires are definitely not good role models, and she blames Hollywood.

“We can let our voices be heard, and anytime you do that you have an effect one way or another,” Combs says. “These Twilight books are very disturbing books for family values. Teen marriage is not the standard, but the part that is more troubling is the vampire. It’s just not normal for young people to idolize a vampire.”