Slenders Wonder - Purple

The sleek and streamlined Slender Edition is the perfect blend of subtle, understated design and maximum sensory satisfaction. Slim, sophisticated and waterproof, the Slender`s sexy, ergonomic shape exhilarates, while its powerful, yet whisper-quiet, three-speed motor ensures a mind altering experience. 3 stimulating speeds easy push button controls phthalate-free and body-safe satin-smooth coated controls hygienic medical-grade TPR shower and bath-friendly jelly like material flexes and conforms ultra-powerful motor soothes and seduces maximum intensity with minimum noise

[Via http://playfultoysonline.wordpress.com]

All About New Year's Eve

Here’s a chat I had with Tom Kelly published in The SF Bay Times on December 24th, 2009. Hope you can all come to my NYE show if you’re in town. It’s always a good time.For Tickets go to http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/86090

What better way to ring in the New Year than with laughter? And there aren’t many people on the planet who are wittier than SF’s favorite funny lady Marga Gomez. Named “Best Comedian 2009” in the SF Bay Guardian readers poll, she has appeared on stage, film and television. For a great time… go see Marga at The Marga Gomez New Year’s Eve Spectacular.

(Bay Times) I hear you have a love affair with the City of San Francisco. Care to comment?

(Marga Gomez) I wouldn’t really call it a love affair. I have more of a sexual, torrid crazy apache dance with San Francisco. It’s like that movie Nine and a Half Weeks, and I’m Micky Rourke and San Francisco is Kim Bassinger. I’ve tried leaving San Francisco many times for other cities like New York and LA, but I always come back. Like I always say, “I wish I knew how to quit you.”

Movie references aside, yes, I love San Francisco. It felt like home from the moment I landed on Castro Street as a 19-year-old baby dyke from Manhattan. Everyone was creative here, even the postal workers. I got involved with queer comedy at the Valencia Rose in 1984, and that was it. I found my calling. I wanted to be a famous lesbian comic, so I could meet women.

This is your 6th annual New Year’s event with Theatre Rhinoceros. Why Rhino?

New Year’s Eve is my favorite holiday of the year ever since I was a kid. My parents were performers, and they would come back from their NYE shows with party hats and noisemakers and party favors for me. I dreamed about being a NYE performer, the one at the center of the celebration. It’s always cool to say you have a New Year’s gig when you are a performer. For six years The Rhino has hired me for what is truly a dream NYE gig. I get to perform at The Victoria Theatre, a beautiful former burlesque house, for 500 or more people who are in high spirits but not drunk that I can tell.

I began working with Rhino because I was impressed by their history as the longest running queer theater in America. They have produced three of my shows in the last ten years and have been there for me. I want them to thrive, and these New Year’s Spectaculars help that along. Plus, they have a very sexy audience at these shows, and you know we include NYE countdowns at random just to see our audience kiss.

How will this year’s Spectacular differ from previous ones?

This year will be more spectacular. I will do a completely different hour of comedy than I did last year. But Sarah Palin will still be trashed. Before I take the stage, we will feature not one opening act, but three of the most exciting new gay comics on the scene: local rising sensations Natasha Muse and David Hawkins and – flying in all the way from New York City – ukulele comic Ben Lerman. I can’t wait to hear the audience go nuts for these kids. By popular demand DJ O’DJ will be back spinning live before both shows.

Will there by nudity?

Nudity? Ben Lerman and I are partially nude in some of our publicity shots. If anybody gets naked at the show, I hope it’s our emcee John Fisher, the Artistic Director of Theatre Rhino. I bet he has a nice butt.

Why do you think we should start 2010 laughing?

Because if you start out crying, you’ll ruin your mascara. And 2009 was just ridiculous.

The Marga Gomez New Year’s Eve Spectacular plays Dec. 31 (Thurs 7pm and 9pm) at the Victoria Theatre, 2961 16th Street, San Francisco. For tickets call (800) 838-3006 or at brownpapertickets.com. More info at therhino.org.

[Via http://margagomez.wordpress.com]

Frenzy for new toys builds at Arkansas Walmart stores: Target left wondering, "Why not here?"

With Christmas just a few hours away, we’re seeing a great frenzy developing at Arkansas Walmart stores, especially in the newly-remodeled Bentonville Walmart and always hectic Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market in Pinnacle Hills.While some of the hottest toys of the season are available at Target, there are a few that the buyers at Target left off the list. We found one hot toy you definitely will not find at Target.Check out the following limited edition toys we wish were available only at selected Walmart stores in Arkansas for a limited time:

Eureka Springs Barbee: This Barbee is made of actual tofu. She has long straight brown hair, arch-less feet, hairy armpits, no makeup and Birkenstock with white socks. She prefers that you call her Willow or when it’s dinner time. She does not want or need a Kenny Barbee, but if you purchase two Harrison Barbees and the optional Subaru wagon, you get a rainbow flag bumper sticker for free.

Eureka Springs II Barbee: This versatile Barbee can be easily converted from Barbee to Kenny by simply adding or subtracting the multiple snap-on parts. She still wants you to call her when it’s dinner time.

Fayetteville Barbee: Comes with an assortment of second-hand Kate Spade Handbags, a dented Lexus SUV, and a long-haired foreign dog named Honey that humps everything in sight. She lives in a cookie-cutter McMansion with a mortgage that’s so upside down, well, you know. Available with or without the botched tummy tuck, boob job, and face lift. Alcoholic Kenny sold only in conjunction with the augmented version.

Fort Smith Barbee: The modern day homemaker Barbee is available with the ten-year-old Ford Windstar mini-van on the verge of being repossessed, plus a matching gym outfit complete with torn armpits to match the torn seats in the van. She gets lost easily and has no full-time occupation. Traffic jamming cell phone sold separately.

Harrison Barbee: This pale model comes dressed in her own Wrangler jeans two sizes too small, a NASCAR t-shirt and tweedy bird tattoo on her shoulder. She has a six-pack of Bud light and a Hank Williams Jr. CD set. She can spit over 5 feet and kick mullet-haired Kenny’s butt when she’s drunk. Purchase her pickup truck separately and get a confederate flag bumper sticker absolutely free.

Pinnacle Hills Barbee: This yuppie Barbee comes with your choice of last-year’s BMW or Hummer H2. Included are a personalized Starbucks cup good only at the Starbucks that closed last year, a credit card that’s over the limit, and a faux-country club membership. Also available for this set are Shallow Kenny and Private School Skipper. You can only purchase these at the local bank, because everything was repo’d because daddy was a Northwest Arkansas real estate developer that went bust.

Rogers Barbee: This Barbee is no longer available for political reasons, but can still be found on eBay. Wearing just one shoe, this Barb went broke running a pizza joint in historic downtown Rogers, then got busted for running a Ponzi-scheme, finally committing pretend-suicide by pretending to throw herself off the Beaver Lake Dam.

Springdale Barbee: This Barbee is attired in the traditional chicken-processing job garb, where she chokes Kenny’s little chicken on a daily basis. She comes with a green-card, twelve bambinos, and speaks only Spanish.

SW Little Rock Barbee: This Barbee now comes with a stroller and two in-bred infant Barbee wannabes. Optional accessories include a GED with last year’s maps and an expired bus pass. Gangsta Kenny and his 1971 Caddy were available, but is now very difficult to find since the addition of the mixed-breed infant.

West Memphis Barbee: This recently paroled Barbee comes with a 9mm toy handgun, a fake Ray Lewis knife, and a 64′ Chevy with dark tinted windows. This model is only available after dark and must be paid for in cash (preferably small, untraceable bills) …unless you are a cop, then we don’t know what you are talking about.

Pine Bluff Barbee: This Barbee was never available… she got shot before she made it to the list.

Legal Notice: Please do not confuse these toys with products made by other companies, including Barbie (r) which is made by Mattel (r). Our toys should not be confused with any Mattel ™ or Barbie ™ toy, or any other toy on the market. Any resemblance to any toy or person, living or dead, or anything currently available in a Walmart store is a mere coincidence. Parody comparisons are strictly in the eyes of the reader and not intended. No Rights are Reserved.

[Via http://rogersarkansas.wordpress.com]

Helping LGBT Youth

Geoff Kors of EQCA recently had an op-ed in the Bay Area Reporter announcing EQCA’s new student internship program. It’s worth a read:

Originially appeared in the Bay Area Reporter

Jim Nickoff, my best friend of more than 20 years, came out at age 15 in 1978, a time when very few teenagers came out and even fewer services were available for LGBT youth. The pain he suffered after being rejected by his family, his faith, and community was overwhelming. Jim was determined to heal the wounds, but they never healed no matter how hard he worked at it. The realization that the pain would not end became unbearable. On December 16, 2007, he committed suicide at the age of 44.

Jim not only worked hard to overcome the harm he suffered as a youth, but he also worked hard to prevent other youth from going through what he did. He devoted his life to the fight for equality and created opportunities for LGBT youth through his work at Equality California and many other LGBT and HIV/AIDS organizations.

Creating a safe, accepting environment for LGBT youth is just as crucial today as it was when Jim came out. In fact, although the battles for equality being waged at the ballot box, in the courts, and in legislatures throughout the nation are most often in the spotlight, it is the battle for acceptance in schools that may very well be the most important fight of all.

We know how anti-LGBT forces preyed on parents’ fears about what will be taught in schools to strip away marriage rights at the ballot box in Maine and California. But the fight extends far beyond the issue of marriage and has been going on for decades.

Anti-LGBT organizations fought us every step of the way to prevent the passage of Harvey Milk Day legislation and, having lost, they are now working to keep schools from teaching about Harvey Milk, even urging parents to take their children out of public schools altogether on May 22, Harvey Milk Day, in protest.

Just last week, those leading the effort to repeal LGBT inclusive anti-bullying curriculum adopted by the Board of Education in Alameda, claiming it created “special rights,” reiterated their opposition even after the school board’s recent vote that not only reaffirmed its commitment to teaching respect for LGBT people but also expanded the curriculum to include respect for racial, ethnic, and religious minorities and others who are subject to discrimination-based bullying.

This change did nothing to appease opponents since the special rights argument is really just an excuse. Their true goal: preventing any positive mention of LGBT people in school curriculum.

These are just the latest fights in the many decades of school-related battles we have fought against those opposed to LGBT equality, which started long ago with attempts to prohibit LGBT individuals from being teachers, and they continue today.

Right-wing groups fight safe schools legislation, anti-bullying curriculum, and the establishment of gay-straight alliances because they believe that if straight students are taught to respect LGBT people and get to know LGBT students as friends and classmates, it will counter the bigotry these youth hear from right wing religious leaders, family members, and others, and we will gain greater acceptance.

They are threatening to boycott Harvey Milk Day because they worry that if students learn about the history of discrimination against, and achievements of, LGBT individuals, they will be less likely to hate us and more likely to support equality and acceptance. And they are right.

If students learn the truth, we will help stem the damage that bigotry and bullying cause. That is why Equality California has worked so hard to pass strong, inclusive safe schools legislation – legislation prohibiting negative portrayals of LGBT people in curriculum, and the bill creating Harvey Milk Day in California. It is why we will fight for inclusive curriculum and anti-bullying policies until they are the law in every school district in the state. It is why we need to make sure every California student knows why we are celebrating Harvey Milk Day on May 22, 2010, and every year thereafter.

We need to make it clear to the broader public – and parents in particular – that the danger isn’t in students learning about LGBT people in school, but rather the danger is in students not learning about LGBT people in school. We need to take on our opponents and call out these adult bullies for the very real harm they cause to LGBT youth – harm that lasts a lifetime. It is only by speaking out strongly about how youth are hurt by anti-LGBT prejudice that we have the opportunity to reduce the growing number of hate crimes against LGBT people and the higher rates of substance abuse, drop outs, and suicides among LGBT youth and adults that are a direct result of anti-gay bias.

We owe it to every LGBT youth and the children of LGBT parents, to fight for safe schools and inclusive curriculum. We owe it to Jim and to every LGBT person whose lives have been lost to suicide or a senseless hate crime. In fact, we owe it to every youth, LGBT or not, so that when they grow up and have kids of their own they can pass on the lessons of tolerance and acceptance. In so doing, we will be taking a major step toward ending the bigotry that damages so many lives and toward achieving our goal of true equality and acceptance.

The Equality California Institute has established a student internship in Jim Nickoff’s memory. Applications and information can be found at www.eqca/jobs.

[Via http://queerstockton.com]

PBD is going to NYC!

Hell to the yes! I’m super excited! (If you can’t already tell.)

The reason I’m going to NYC is because I got approved for a month-long internship for a magazine up there. I super excited because isn’t NYC supposes to be brimming with lesbians?

Maybe I’ll catch the eye of a cute boi while I’m up there. *wink*

The down side of all of this is that my mom is worried that this internship will bite me in the butt later in life. Because  it’s a gay mens mag.

(Remember my mom doesn’t know about me she thinks I’m a weird non sexual girl,  and that is fine by her.)

Add to the fact my dad doesn’t know what type of mag it is and my mom hinted that he will blow his top…crap.

But I’m positive about my journey.I’m going to hopefully learn a lot from this job and will get explore the city while checking out th gay scene!

*Gasp* Maybe I might even go to a play part and see sinclar sexsmith! *swoon*

Any tips on where I should hit?Remember though I’m only 19..LOL.

[Via http://princessbabydyke.wordpress.com]

All I Really Want for Christmas

     For Christmas this year, all I really want is some perfect moments. You know what I’m talking about. I want those pockets of time when, for an hour or a few minutes, nothing is worrying me and I am embraced by a feeling of peace. As corny as it sounds, sitting in front of a fire with my girlfriend next to me and our dogs scattered about the room does it for me. No, I’m not a ninety-year old lesbian who has lost my zest for life. But I’ve learned that there is something to be appreciated about being still and drinking in certain feelings, savoring the perfection of  simple pleasures that so often elude us when we are always in a hurry.

     I’ve spent most of  life chasing things that I thought would make me happy. For a large portion of my life, I bought into the mania of conspicuous consumption that we’ve all been tempted by, falsely believing that if I lived in the right house, drove the right car and surrounded myself with plenty of toys, then I’d be happy. It’s funny how busy you can keep yourself striving for this hollow excuse for a life. Personally, I can barely keep up with the technology. It drives me crazy trying to figure it all out. I still don’t have an iPod. I know what you’re thinking and you’re right. I am truly living in the past with my CDs. But I’ve stopped apologizing for it at least. Judge  me as you will.

     When it’s all said and done and the holidays are over for another year, I want to move into the new year remembering the satisfaction and love I felt sitting by the fire in the arms of a soft woman. The crowded malls and 40lb. newspapers dripping with advertisements do not impress me, and instead leave me agitated and as far from jolly as a person can be. Wouldn’t it be grand if we could all go back to the days when you actually made a gift for the people you love with your own two hands. Stop snickering. Some people still do that. And yes, I would rather get a tin of homemade cookies than a new IPhone or iPod or whatever else is the latest gadget de jour.

     Bet you’re wondering if I made all my gifts, thinking I am probably all talk and no action. Well, the truth is, I did make a lot of my gifts. Or rather, I wrote a book of poems for my family and close friends. I know how nerdy that makes me sound, but I have decided to embrace that aspect of my personality in the name of self-love and good mental health, something else that has also eluded me at times. Plus, somebody told me that lesbians are supposed to write a lot of bad poetry, being the serious, cause-oriented women that so many of us are. Since I’m not a huge fan of bumper-stickers like so many lesbians are, I’ll stick with my poetry. Hope I didn’t offend you lesbos with twenty bumper stickers on your car. NOT!

     So pipe down already if you are laughing at me. I know we’re in a recession and that all good Americans need to spend money to get the economy back on its feet. Maybe we should all chip in and save the healthcare system or spend the money we waste on trinkets and new cameras to fund solar and wind energy projects. Wouldn’t that be a good idea. I know. Too hard to wrap, right?

     Don’t worry. You don’t have to read my book of poems. Nobody much reads poetry anymore. My wish for you is that you slow down enough during the holidays to experience some poetry first hand in those perfect moments of each day.

     Happy Holidays.

[Via http://lesbianwink.wordpress.com]

The Female Myth: A Rant By Val

I just need to let off a little.  As I click around and read information, I am astounded by the amount of people, academics included, that seem to claim that almost every female bodily function during sex is a “myth.”  Female ejaculation is a possible “myth.”  The G Spot and the infamous G Spot orgasm? “myth.”  Whether or not women actually like sex? “myth.”

This pisses me off.  Why does nearly EVERYTHING involving women and sex a myth?!  I don’t want to hear bullshit answers like “research needs to be done,” “or we just aren’t advanced enough yet in technology,” “Or there’s no hard scientific evidence.”  I say that is a crock of shit.  If there is ANYTHING that should be the most researched and understood topic, it should be sex.  For fucking crying out loud, we have been having sex since the beginning of human history–it’s how we fucking reproduce!  It’s how we are still here!  How in the world after all of this time, can we not understand the female sexual body functions?!

And what more evidence do you need than a woman screaming at the top of lungs as she rides her guy like he’s an apeshit wildebeast to know that he’s hit her G spot?  Or what about when she comes so much that it’s dripping off of your chin and is literally soaking through the bedsheets to know that she is ejaculating?  And why is it still so uncommon, or mythological, for women to actually enjoy sex?!

Perhaps these so-called myths still exist because too many women are still being silent about sex, with their friends, their partners, and even with themselves.  Maybe some women shouldn’t even be having sex with men, but rather women, but are too afraid to go there.  Same goes with anal sex, porn, masturbation, and just overall sexual exploration and enjoyment.  Maybe the majority of women aren’t ejaculating because they aren’t telling their partners what they like and are just being complicit to their partner’s needs.  And maybe their lazy-ass patriarchal caveman boyfriends are too stupid and selfish to ask.  Maybe women aren’t having the best orgasms, or even an orgasm at all in some cases, because they are too hesitant to demand better sex lives for themselves.

Well ladies, I say its time to put this myth to rest.

I squirt when I come.

I have had a G spot orgasm.

And by God, I like sex.

And you should too.

[Via http://theundercoverlover.wordpress.com]

Not That There Was A Shortage Of Gays In Washington, DC - Gay Marriage Will Be Legalized Soon

The bill was passed yesterday 11-2. Congress now has 30 working days to act on the bill. Thanks to our Mayor Adrian Fenty who has promised to sign the bill and David Catania who introduced the bill and is one of two openly gay council members.

Of course, there are still a few homophobics who will try to get it overturned either in Congress or at the polls. But, according to our beloved district’s nonvoting delegate to Congress, Eleanor Holmes Norton, it doesn’t look like there will be any problem or opposition. The “no” votes included our former mayor and crackhead, Marion Barry, who said, “I don’t,” when it was his turn. I even didn’t now he was still involved with anything DC related.

Considering other four major States – California, New York, Maine, and New Jersey rejected such a law, I guess this is pretty symbolic for DC then. If the bill becomes law, the district will join Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts and Vermont in issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples. They will be able to wed in New Hampshire starting in January.

So, I guess all these rallies worth it

[Via http://awesomedc.com]

Commentary - 2010: the Best Path to Restoration of Equality

There are two ballot initiative measures in circulation related to a proposed constitutional Convention. The first measure is titled the Citizens Constitutional Convention Act and would amend the existing California Constitution to allow a simple majority of California voters to call a constitutional convention. Currently, the state legislature must authorize a constitutional convention.

The second constitutional initiative measure being circulated  is a mandate for forming a  the actual  constitutional convention  commission under the aegis of the Fair Political Practices Commission. The Commission will determine the site and dates of the convention. The deadline for submitting the constitutional initiative petition signatures to the Secretary of State for validation is January 11th, 2010.

This constitutional convention could have adverse consequences for the restoration of marriage equality for members of the LGBT community.

First, because the constitutional convention  would not be allowed to take up marriage, abortion, and some other restricted matters, and, second, because  one of the purposes of such a convention would be to raise threshold for amending the California Constitution  from a simple majority to a two-thirds majority. This would make it virtually impossible to overturn the abolition of marriage equality that was put into the California Constitution with  passage of Proposition 8 in November of 2008.

According to “Repair California”, the group that is pushing the constitutional convention initiatives, roughly 70% of California voters support holding the convention to rewrite the California Constitution. If this group’s claims are accurate then it appears to be a near certainly that the convention will be approved by the voters in 2010. Such a convention will take place in 2011 and the revisions will then be submitted to the voters for approval  in 2012.

Should the LGBT community wait until 2012 to make a concerted effort to wrest back their right to marry? Should they wait until 2012 on the theory that it will take that long to change enough minds for equality to prevail at the ballot box?  But what happens if and when the Constitution is amended to require a two thirds vote in order to restore marriage equality in November of 2012? What will happen if  the higher  amendment threshold is passed in June of 2012?

The faction within the LGBT community that is holding out for 2012 to take it back to the ballot assert that the political climate of a presidential election will be more amenable to a youth turnout  that would yield a better margin for LGBT rights. If that is true, then how can Obama’s vote in California in 2008 be reconciled with the vote for repeal of marriage equality?

No one knows what the political lay of the land will look like in 2012. Right now, Obama is alienating a lot of the progressive base. These are the same progressives who supplied much of his 2008 margin of victory. What happens if the progressive base becomes ever more disenchanted? What happens if they stay home in November, 2012?

The safest and wisest path to restoration of marriage equality is to support the Restoration of Marriage Equality Initiative for the November 2010 ballot. The 2012 holdout faction within the LGBT community needs to realize the very real risks the whole community faces by holding out.  Waiting until the constitutional amendment threshold is raised could forever put marriage equality beyond reach for those who did not make it in during the brief window of marriage equality in 2008.  Delaying justice so that it is forever denied is not a viable option for me. Delaying equality and justice to those who are no longer able to exercise the right that was taken away from them in 2008 should not be an acceptable option for anyone.

Jay Hubbell

For more information on the 2010 Initiative to Restore Marriage Equality:

www.signforequality.com

[Via http://queerbakersfield.com]

Lesbian Fashion and Dressing for Holiday Parties

     Why is it that there are no lines of clothing for lesbians specifically. That’s not to say we aren’t women who can easily dress like other women. But the truth is that often we don’t want to dress exactly like other women. For me, I want to look sexy, without the stiletto heels and uncomfortable high fashion clothes. You could say I want to cheat. I want sex appeal without the pain and discomfort.

     We need women’s dress tuxedo-like suits that fit a woman’s curves. I always cringe when I see lesbians trying to fit their beautiful bodies into men’s tuxedos. It doesn’t typically work that well unless they are tall, thin, and less than voluptuous. Women’s bodies don’t adapt well to men’s clothes. You know it’s true. I’ve tried it. I like men’s clothing too, especially shirts. But the arms are too long, the shoulders are too broad, and the shirt hangs to my knees. So much for adapting.

     When in doubt during the holidays, wear sequins. You can wear an ordinary pair of black slacks and as long as there is some sparkle on the blouse or scarf, with some festive earrings and a necklace, you’re good to go. For those lesbos less inclined to indulge in jewelry, go with sparkles. Even butch girls can do sparkle, without feeling too prissy. Go ahead. You know you want to. Why should the lipsticks have all the fun.

     With scarves being all the rage, you can always go with a gorgeous scarf to dress up an ordinary outfit for the occasion. The stores are full of these perfect accessories. Not only are they affordable, they come in every possible color and fabric for those of you with wool allergies and other issues.

     If you keep three words in mind when you’re dressing for parties this year you’ll be fine. First look for sparkle. Second look for festive, which means anything that says…holiday when you wear it. And third look for a great fit that is comfortable. If your outfit incorporates these three words, you are good to go.

     Happy Holidays!

[Via http://lesbianwink.wordpress.com]

The Rats are Taking Over!!!

Some people would refer to that animal to the left as a dog. I respectfully disagree, chihuahuas are overgrown rats and apparently have infested California! According to the article they’re now the most abandoned pet… right ahead of pit bulls.

So queers do yourselves, and everyone else, a favor and stop buying toy dogs. They’re annoying, break easy and they’re taking over!

[Via http://queerfresno.com]

Wal-Mart Bans Gay Couple for NOT Shoplifting

This recent story I found at Box Turtle Bulletin is a perhaps not so startling example of how far we still have to go.

Timothy Kincaid

Not every confrontation that a gay person experiences in their life is based on their orientation. But sometimes it is very difficult to see any other possible explanation.

Take the experience that Joe Paolucci, Thomas Hitchcock, and their special need twins had recently with Wal-Mart.

Employees at the Niles, MI Wal-Mart store accused Paolucci of shoplifting some Bic lighters. Although he produced the receipt, they refused to back down, insisting that the two men go to a “detention room”. The employees, using vulgarities and hostility, frightened their special needs kids. (South Bend Tribune)

Paolucci said that while he and Hitchcock were attempting to calm down the boys, the employees ordered them to enter a “detention room” for questioning. Fearful of what might happen behind closed doors, he and Hitchcock refused to enter and asked to speak to a manager.

“Some guy came up and said, ‘I’m the manager,’ then turned around and left,” Hitchcock said.

Paolucci said he and Hitchcock then asked store personnel to call police. Within minutes, deputies from the Berrien County Sheriff’s Department’s Niles Township Patrol arrived, pleasing Paolucci who said he thought a few questions and a review of the store’s videotapes and computer records would quickly resolve the matter.

He said he was shocked when he was immediately handcuffed, without a question being asked, and placed in the back seat of a squad car. Hitchcock wasn’t handcuffed but also was placed in the back seat of a second squad car.

The twins, despite the protests of Paolucci and Hitchcock, were turned over to the store’s security personnel, who took them into the “detention room” or what police referred to as a security room.

A review of the security tapes proved that Paolucci and Hitchcock had done no wrong. So the store management profusely apologized and expressed their remose, right? No. They did not.

The two said they expected an apology and were surprised once again when personnel from the store walked up to the squad cars with the twins and read from a statement that Paolucci and Hitchcock had been banned by the store chain for life. Rather than shoplifting, the reason they were given was “being uncooperative.”

By the time they were read the statement, Paolucci and Hitchcock said, the twins had told them that the security staff had allegedly threatened them in the security room and had made disparaging remarks about Paolucci and Hitchcock’s lifestyle. Paolucci and Hitchcock said they asked police to take statements from the boys but the officers refused, telling the couple they’d have to contact Child Protective Services.

Wal-Mart even refused to replace frozen items that had now thawed due to their unprovoked misuse of their customers. Nor did the situation end at the harassment of the couple at the store.

Paolucci said the boys have suffered a type of post-traumatic stress disorder since the experience. Both wet their beds, although one has stopped, and both have had nightmares about one security employee in particular, he said.

“They’re terrified, horrified. We’ve had to change their medication twice,” he said.

And what does Wal-Mart corporate have to say?

Paolucci and Hitchcock e-mailed The Tribune a copy of a letter from a law firm representing Wal-Mart seeking 10 times the retail price of the items the store still claims were shoplifted by Paolucci. The letter states the matter will be dropped if Paolucci submits the $158.40 payment.

Now this is not the first time that Wal-Mart has been perceived as hostile to gay Americans. In 2007, HRC advised against giving our business to Wal-Mart, and just in April of this year, the CEO signed his name to a petition to ban gay couples from adopting.

Wal-Mart doesn’t care about my opinion. And there’s little I can do to impact their decision to treat gay customers with hostility.

But perhaps there are those, even in Niles, MI, who will decide that this situation is just one too many. That they cannot give their custom to bad neighbors. That it may be worth an extra nickle and a further drive to frequent the stores that do not abuse customers solely because they “disapprove of their lifestyle” and who admit it and apologize when they are wrong.

All I can do is spread the word.

Posted to

Box Turtle Bulletin11/07/09

Low prices aren’t always a good reason to shop somewhere.  Principle matters.  I’ve not been in a Wal-Mart in about 2 years, and I don’t plan on shopping in one again.

(as in our disclaimer posted elsewhere, these are my views only, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Queer Visalia, Queer Networks, Inc., or other posters here.)

[Via http://queervisalia.com]

WHITE WOMAN WANTS BLACK MAN FOR CHRISTMAS!

SANTA ALL I WANT IS A BIG BLACK MAN FOR CHRISTMAS!

ILL FIGURE OUT THE REST…..ALSO A BOXX OF COCKSOXXCONDOMS THAT

PUTS A FREE ADULT DVD IN EACH PACK WITH 9 NAMEBRAND CONDOMS AND LUBE!

COCKSOXXCONDOMS.COM

[Via http://imstrapped.wordpress.com]

Gay news update for December 4th

Obama White House supports World AIDS Day

December 2nd – In conjunction with World AIDS Day, a two-story Red Ribbon was hung in front of the white house. While it would be nice to say this reflects the change in administration at the White House, this is not without precedent. Former President Bush is credited with the first red ribbon appearance in 2007. While some say that Bush’s ribbon was more militaristic and clear-cut, other say Obama’s is more flowing and encompassing. No matter what side of the ideological debate you fall, one thing is for certain – the White House is sending a clear message in its support of World AIDS Day.

December 3rd – Remember Actress Meredith Baxter from TV fame “Family Ties?” Well she came out of the closet yesterday when news leaked that she was attending a gay cruise for women. The choice to come out was not voluntary as she was outed by the paparazzi when candid pictures of her partner Nancy Locke appeared on Perez Hilton’s blog. Baxter appeared on an interview with NBC’s Matt Lauer to confirm the story and to state that she wished she had come out sooner stating that is was a personal as much as a political statement to come out. Way to go Meredith!!

December 3rd – Gay marriage advocates were disappointed yet again when the New York Senate voted 24-38 to deny a bill that would legalize same-sex marriage in the state. The vote was delayed by 2 hours as a passionate debate hit the floor. As always is the case when same-sex marriage comes up for debate, members of the religious right and the Catholic and Orthodox Jewish population petitioned to have the bill fail.

December 4th – Watch what internet video blogger Philip Defranco (better known as Sexy Phil) has to say about the New York Senate’s recent vote against same-sex marriage. Why can’t all hetero guys be like him? Open minded, smart, outspoken, a little geeky and always ready to poke fun at both gays and straights.

[Via http://planetqtv.wordpress.com]

I Like How She Likes Me

She likes me. The color of my hair. The smell of my skin. The color of my eyes.

She likes me.

The blonde tips of my eyelashes, she loves.

The curve of my lips… she loves.

My tattoos, she loves.

Sitting, patiently, the anticipation builds up inside of me. She told me she’ll come right back, but that was a few minutes ago. I sigh to myself. I think of her. Sighing and thinking… of her, then she appears and I stand up. “Sit down” she says to me softly, so softly, it’s almost inaudible. She removes me from this world and makes me feel like a woman. How does a woman feel like a woman naturally? There’s no sure answer, but she did it.

She likes me.

She sits down next to me and gently swipe a few curls out of the way, then leans in and kisses me on my cheek. My hearts beats faster. She smells like … like… the scent of heaven and I want to go there with her. Let her know that I am a believer. She puts her hand on my lower back and kisses my neck. Collar bone. Chest. She returns to me and kisses my lips. Ahh. I sigh. Does she know I love her? I wonder. Her skin, smooth, against mine. Kiss me again, I think, and she does! She kisses me like she loves me too!

She likes me

There’s a song in my heart and it’s the title is her name. Every lyric of the song is her name. I love her name. Her hand drops to my lap and she rubs my thigh through my skirt. Touch me! Please?…

To Be Continued…

[Via http://sabrinall.wordpress.com]

Bridget Loves Bernice

In what’s now become a familiar cry around the halls of chez Freem…..I was robbed!

Apparently after three marriages and 62 years, Meredith Baxter Birney has decided to stop shaving all together.

  

She was spotted on a lesbian cruise this past week with her new girlfriend.  Unlike straight cruises, lesbian cruises do not require guests to tip and no one complains about the smell of low tide.

What’s shocking is that it took MBB 62 years, 5 children and some grandrats to switch sides whereas one night with Freem usually does the trick.

So once again, I’ve masturbated under false pretense.

Thanks a lot.

                 This means you too McGillis!

  

          Amish and Lesbian?  I’ma need a refund.

                                                .

            And of course Jodie….although who didn’t see that one coming?

  

I got this when I was 10 years old.   It was part of the Lil’ Lesbo Bubble Gum Trading Card series.  Anyone wanna swap me a Kristy McNichol?

[Via http://freemblap.com]