Gay Porn As Blog Content. Mediaite Weighs In.
So I thought I’d share a few of mine.
I wrote Michael to thank him for doing the piece because, as I said, our community still needs to and wants to have this discussion. What I’ve learned about the discussion is, perhaps unsurprisingly, my readers, by a large majority, don’t find “porn as content” acceptable, and readers at other sites, like, Bilerico, do. That’s not a judgment, merely a statement of fact, no more surprising or judgmental than some folks like Pepsi, and some like Coke.
But the Mediaite piece does, as one commenter put it quite well (and, full disclosure, I do know the commenter,) “conflate sexy ads, about which no one is complaining, with editorial content of a sexual nature, which was the subject of David’s concern.”
To be clear, as many have missed the point, I resigned because I don’t believe in porn-as-content. Sexy ads, OK. Porn as editorial content, not OK. Not in a serious news and opinion site.
That point, unfortunately, appears to have been cloudy, and even blogger Joe Jervis of Joe.My.God, for whom I have great respect, originally missed that. Of the Mediaite piece, Joe, in “How Sexy Is Too Sexy For Gay Blogs?,” first wrote that I quit over a porn ad. He later changed his post to read that it was a editorial piece, not an ad. But when I read Joe’s original piece, there were already 115 comments, so the point was missed by many. Oh well.
I have to hand it to Joe for actually asking the question, as I did of my readers. Joe (wryly!) wrote,
“Is JMG too porn-ish? Do you tend to dismiss an LGBT activism site as non-serious if they occasionally veer into sexual imagery? Obviously, this is a decades-old dilemma for gay print, but a relatively recent issue for gay blogs which are mostly read at work. Like you are doing right now.”
Back to my comments to the author of the Mediaite piece. I trust Michael won’t mind if I share with you some of my comments to him. Here’s a portion:
Most of all, I wish the discussion had veered into the issue of perception. If we want to be taken seriously as a community striving for equality, we need more people doing real journalism and not packaging it in between pornographic “editorial” content.
I think, and perhaps appropriately for the venue, you looked at the issue from, as you put it, “reality.”
“The reality, however, is that sites with a large gay male following like a little sexy with their news.”
I’ve always worked from the perspective of not trying to do what is expected, but what is possible. And I believe far more in journalism and in credibility and integrity than in “sexy pictures.”
Does sex sell? Of course. But that’s the easy way out. To me, and to many I know, quality, credibility, honesty, integrity, and working hard to achieve our equality is a lot sexier.
I’ll leave it at that.
OK, one last point.
Thank you. Thank you to everyone who emailed me, tweeted me, commented on this blog, DM’d me, texted me, called me, and offered their support. I am so very grateful for the wonderful readers I have here, and friends I have on Twitter and Facebook, and of course, in “real life.” Thank you for supporting me and my work and my goals, and thank you for sharing my work with others. That is a compliment so gratifying you cannot imagine.
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U.S. Rep. Adelita Grijalva (D-AZ) is accusing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents of pepper-spraying her in her face while she was at a local Tucson, Arizona restaurant.
Rep. Grijalva in a video on social media said she saw about 40 mostly-masked ICE agents at a restaurant she frequents weekly.
The agents were “in several vehicles that the community had stopped right here, right in the middle of the street, because they were afraid that they were taking people without due process, without any kind of notice.”
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She said that the community was “protecting their people” when she was “sprayed in the face by a very aggressive agent,” and “pushed around by others when I literally was not being aggressive.”
“I was asking for clarification, which is my right as a member of Congress,” she continued. “So, once I introduced myself, once I did, I assumed that it would be a little calmer, but there was literally only one person that was trying to speak to me in any kind of civil tone, and everyone else was being rude and disrespectful, and I just can only imagine if they’re going to treat me like that, how they’re treating everybody else.”
Congresswoman Grijalva said she saw “people directly sprayed,” including “members of our press” and staff members.
She blasted President Donald Trump, saying that he “has no regard for any due process, the rule of law, the Constitution — they’re literally disappearing people from the streets.”
Critics slammed the agents’ action.
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U.S. Senator Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) wrote that Rep. Grijalva “was doing her job, standing up for her community.”
“Pepper-spraying a sitting member of Congress is disgraceful, unacceptable, and absolutely not what we voted for. Period,” he added.
“This is unacceptable and outrageous,” observed Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes. “Enforcing the rule [of] law does not mean pepper spraying a member of Congress for simply asking questions. Effective law enforcement requires restraint and accountability, not unchecked aggression.”
The Bulwark’s Sam Stein noted, “quite the beginning for Grijalva, who wasn’t seated for weeks, [cast] the decisive vote to get the Epstein files, and now has apparently been pepper sprayed in the face by immigration agents.”
Also calling the action “outrageous,” U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) wrote: “We are Members of Congress with oversight authority of ICE. Rep Grijalva was completely within her rights to stand up for her constituents. ICE is completely lawless.”
“First they tackle a sitting Senator,” noted U.S. Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D-NY). “Now they’re pepper spraying a Representative. It’s clear ICE is spinning out of control. We will hold the agency accountable.”
ICE just conducted a raid by Taco Giro in Tucson – a small mom-and-pop restaurant that has served our community for years.
When I presented myself as a Member of Congress asking for more information, I was pushed-aside and pepper sprayed. pic.twitter.com/gPx0p3IXP2
— Rep. Adelita Grijalva (@Rep_Grijalva) December 5, 2025
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Image via Reuters
A well-known conservative commentator has a warning for the Republican Party: take action now or face a repeat of the 2018 midterms when the GOP lost 41 House seats in a landslide. And this time, he says, the Senate could go to the Democrats as well.
Award-winning writer and journalist Bernard Goldberg reminded readers at The Hill that in 2018, during President Donald Trump’s first term, “Republicans got walloped … and a good chunk of that had President Trump’s name written all over it.”
Trump’s “approval ratings were in the low 40s, and independents — the folks who usually decide elections — had seen enough. They broke hard for the Democrats,” Goldberg noted. “Now here we are, staring down 2026, and you can almost hear history clearing its throat, getting ready to repeat itself.”
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Goldberg noted that Trump’s approval rating is currently the lowest it’s been this term.
“Among Republicans, his support dropped from 91 percent right after the 2024 election to 84 percent last month. Among independents, it cratered — from 42 percent to just 25 percent.”
“If the trend continues,” he warned, “Republicans could be headed for another blue wave — and this time, it could wash away not just the House majority, but control of the Senate too.”
Why?
“It’s the economy — still,” he wrote.
“Trump is out there saying the economy is humming. Biden said the same thing before him. But voters didn’t buy it then, and they’re not buying it now. Why? Because it’s not GDP numbers that matter. It’s affordability,” Goldberg noted.
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That’s a word that President Trump continues to call a “con job,” while his own administration tries to claim he is focused on.
He pointed to a Karl Rove Wall Street Journal column and wrote: “The Republicans may have ‘avoided disaster’ in Tennessee, but the result should be a wake-up call for Republicans. He’s right.”
Goldberg asked: “will anyone in the Republican Party actually pick up the phone?”
“Because if Republicans don’t wake up — and fast — they’re going to find out the hard way what happens when you keep rerunning the same movie and expecting a different ending. To lose in 2026, all they have to do is nothing. And right now, that’s pretty much what they’re doing.”
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President Donald Trump is claiming that the top priority of Democrats is the “total obliteration” of the U.S. Supreme Court. His remarks came just hours after SCOTUS gave Republicans a 6-3 win along partisan lines, in the form of approving Texas’s redrawn mid-decade congressional maps that could help add five GOP-held seats to the U.S. House of Representatives. A lower court had ruled the redrawn Texas maps were likely racially biased.
Although there are different ways to measure, one study by Court Accountability this fall found that the Supreme Court has ruled in Trump’s favor 90% of the time.
“Most of these wins for the president came from the court’s ‘shadow docket’ slate of opinions — where the court has typically, in the past, only ruled on administrative measures,” according to Truthout. “However, in recent years, the Supreme Court has been making announcements on cases, issuing injunctions or allowances of actions to remain in place, that have the same effect, essentially, as a final decision.”
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On Friday, the president declared that the “Democrats number one policy push is the complete and total OBLITERATION of our great United States Supreme Court.”
“They will do this on their very first day in office, through the simple Termination of the Filibuster, SHOULD THEY WIN THE UPCOMING ELECTIONS,” he wrote.
Trump has strongly advocated for Republicans to eliminate the Senate filibuster.
“The Radical Left Democrats are looking at 21 Justices, with immediate ascension,” he wrote, claiming that Democrats would more than double the current size of the court.
“This would be terrible for our Country. Fear not, however, Republicans will not let it, or any of their other catastrophic policies, happen. Our Country is now in very good hands. MAGA!!!”
Some court reform advocates have suggested the Supreme Court be expanded to 13 justices, one for each of the thirteen U.S. Courts of Appeals.
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Image via Reuters
White House Touts Trump’s ‘Track Record’ on Affordability
Trump: Democrats Are Plotting ‘Total Obliteration’ of Supreme Court
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‘Disgraceful’: ICE Slammed After Allegedly Pepper-Spraying US Congresswoman
‘Disgraceful’: ICE Slammed After Allegedly Pepper-Spraying US Congresswoman
Warning Signs Flash as Trump Slump Raises Fears of 2018 Blue Wave Rerun: Conservative
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