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Dear Crate and Barrel Ultimate Wedding Contest Coordinators: I Have A Dream…

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Editor’s note: This article is by David Mailloux, with whom I co-founded “The Great Nationwide Kiss-In” last summer. David is now a board member with Join the Impact Massachusetts, and a co-founder of The Maine LGBT Civil Rights March. He is also my friend.

The voting for Crate and Barrel’s “Ultimate Wedding Contest” ended last night, with same-sex couple Jonathan Howard and Gregory Jones coming in a very close second-place. Final voting results, which count for just 20% of the judges decision, were 21,562 to 20,759, a difference of only 803 votes, or just 3%.

Hi there.

I know you technically don’t know me from Adam, but you do know me. I come into your stores every single day. I look like the mild-mannered academic who wants a nice set of dishes for his next dinner party with the folks who might recommend him for tenure. I look like the quiet, closeted accountant who needs a new kitchen set since his mother has heckled him for years to purchase a new one. I look like the fortunate college student whose parents make six figures each and every year, who can afford to shop in your store weekly with his allowance to deck out his perfect apartment. I am the boyfriend who dreams of registering with your establishment in the days after successfully proposing marriage to the man he loves.

The bottom line: I am gay. And every single one of the people I described is gay. But they could also be straight, with just a tiny switch of the pronouns or modifiers. That’s what I’m talking about here. One of the top couples in your Ultimate Wedding Contest is gay. They are two gay men who live an ordinary life with extraordinary circumstances. They are a psychologist and a retail store manager who live in Washington D.C. but their love, their future marriage isn’t recognized in 90% of the states in this country, nor is it recognized by the country they call home.

I live about 500 miles away from Jonathan Howard and Gregory Jones, and I am an activist. My primary goal in this lifetime is to see a time where Jon and Greg, these two regular 20-something guys, can be married and have their marriage recognized throughout our land of the free and home of the brave. In order for them (truly) to be recognized, we have to change the viewpoint of our society. We have to educate our citizens in the reality that gay men exist, they are real, they have not chosen who they are as much as straight people have chosen who they are, and they are deserving of the beautiful reality that many straight married couples live every single day.

Jon and Greg are in love, as much in love as any straight couple would be. Their love is undeniably, unquestionably real. They have spent nearly three years with each other in both the best and worst of times. In August of 2008, as Jon walked home from a fun night out on the town with friends, he was attacked by a random group of men who clearly held issue with his sexuality. He and one of his best friends were beaten in the middle of what is arguably the friendliest neighborhood for gay men in the city of Boston. When Jon was discovered by a passing motorist, an unidentified man was stomping on his head, and one of his best friends was running for his life, covered in his own blood from this disturbing attack. And as that passing motorist jumped out of her car and approached the scene, Jon lay in the street, nearly dead, because someone hated the way he was born.

I write this through tears because no human being alive should have to suffer through such an experience. I write this through tears because Jon is just an ordinary guy, this sweet and real human being, who happens to be gay and he suffered through this disturbing attack on his well-being, and his confidence, and his life, worse than anyone I know might have experienced. But, when this happened, the beautiful partner he had chosen just a year before stood by his side. He found his unconscious partner in the middle of the night at a local hospital, stayed with him, and brought him home when it was all over.

And through the tears and the nightmares and the trial of his attacker and the regular life they lived in between, they stayed in each other’s arms. They never strayed. They believed in the power of true love. They emerged from an existence fraught with hurt and pain as activists, believing that nobody should have to experience their hurt, believing in a world where their love would be recognized as real and as solid as anyone else’s.

I know these boys who now live in D.C. and I consider them my brothers in a fight that I may never win in my lifetime. I often wonder if my time is limited, if I might never experience the love, the passion, the beautiful realities and disasters of their relationship. I possess a jealousy that one should never have of their friends, but I feel that jealousy with love and admiration at the same time. I believe in their love. I believe in their lives.

And even though they might not have the highest number of votes at 11:59 p.m., CDT on March 31, 2010, I can assure you: they are your guys. They are your winning couple. And not only that, but they are very likely the beginning of the end of our struggle. Because they are a gay couple in love, two men who live like everyone else, who deserve your recognition – these two 20-something guys who have a lifetime of beauty and sharing and… undoubtedly… many sets of Crate and Barrel dinnerware ahead of them.

Jon and Greg are the beginning of the end of our struggle because they took their beautiful love and dared to put it in the spotlight. They will change the landscape with their ordinary, yet extraordinary world. And they can make many people realize that they are just like everyone else. And once they alter our landscape with their love, once they educate people with their normalcy, they can encourage a life worth living for thousands of gay and lesbian couples throughout this beautiful country who have feared the everyday reality of Anytown, USA. And the equality for which I have bled, for which thousands upon thousands of gay and lesbian and bisexual and transgender people have bled and died, may very well happen.

Dearest contest coordinators, it may sound as if I’m suggesting that you make a political statement with your contest, but I’m really not. I’m just asking you to realize that two gay men, just as well as any straight couple, can represent you, represent your company with the grace and ease that will bring you both success and fame. Besides that, though, I have a dream that the battle my friends and I, my brothers and sisters have fought will not be in vain. I pray that I’ll live to see the day that a couple like Greg and Jon can find the recognition they deserve, in light of the pain they have suffered. I have a dream that our society will recognize that Greg and Jon are as regular, as ordinary, as beautiful as any other couple in the world.

Someday, there won’t be talk of gay marriage or same-sex marriage. Someday, couples like Greg and Jon will be married in every one of our 50 states and nobody will think twice about it. The horror of the early days of their relationship might be forgotten, replaced with the realization that they are exactly the same as their brothers and sisters nationwide. And they will walk into your store and not even think twice about who they are, because their lives will recognized as simply, as perfectly as everyone else.

Please think about this. Please choose my friends, my brothers as the winning couple. Please step alongside us and change the world. In the end, we will have made a difference. We will take the first steps together. And they will be beautiful.

Regards,
Dave Mailloux

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Congressman Pummeled for Praising Students Mocking Black Protester With Monkey Sounds

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U.S. Rep. Mike Collins, Republican of Georgia, is under fire after praising University of Mississippi students, some wearing American flag outfits, mocking a Black woman protester by making monkey sounds and shouting, “lock her up.”

“Counter-protestors at the University of Mississippi made racist remarks — including monkey noises and comparisons to Lizzo — towards a Black woman who was part of a planned protest against the war in Gaza,” Los Angeles Magazine reported Friday.

Collins, who tried to defund Vice President Kamala Harris’ Office in November, declared his support for the counter-protesters at “Ole Miss,” as the University is called.

“Ole Miss taking care of business,” he wrote on social media, atop the video (below).

The counter-protesters, as evidenced in the video, appear to be mostly white.

A large number of users on the social media platform X responded, accusing the Congressman and the counter-protesters of racism.

“When is the inevitable ‘I don’t have a racist bone in my body’ tweet coming,” wondered Rewire News Group editor-at-large Imani Gandy.

“Which part is your favorite, Mike?” asked Fred Wellman, the former executive director of The Lincoln Project. “Is it the white kid acting like a monkey at the black woman or the white security guy acting like she’s a threat? I’m trying to figure out which flavor of racism has you all excited the most?”

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Harvard Law Cyberlaw Clinic clinical instructor Alejandra Caraballo responded to the Georgia GOP congressman, “Thanks for confirming you’re a massive racist piece of sh*t.”

Mississippi Free Press news editor Ashton Pittman wrote: “Rep. Mike Collins, R-Georgia, praises a video showing a University of Mississippi frat boy dancing like a monkey and making monkey noises near a Black woman student who was protesting for Palestine while other frat boys chant ‘lock her up.'”

In a separate post describing a separate video taken of the same group Pittman wrote: “Frat bros at @OleMiss chant, ‘Lizzo! Lizzo!’ and shout, ‘F**k you fatass, f**k you b*tch’ at a Black woman who was protesting for Palestine. Do people really think these counterprotestors are doing it to support Jews?”

Journalist John Harwood did not mince words, writing, “Congressman proud of the racism.”

“Okay, Mike. We get it,” wrote podcast host, documentary director, and author W. Kamau Bell. “You want to be famous for being a racist. Fine. I’ll help you become a famous racist. You’re welcome.”

The original video is here.

See Rep. Collins’ post and the video below or at this link.

Caution: the video is disturbing.

READ MORE: Noem Heads to Mar-a-Lago After Branding Kids She Ministered in Church ‘Little Tyrants’

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Noem Heads to Mar-a-Lago After Branding Kids She Ministered in Church ‘Little Tyrants’

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Amid more damning revelations from her soon-to-be released book, embattled South Dakota Republican Governor Kristi Noem will head to Mar-a-Lago this weekend as ex-president Donald Trump auditions potential vice presidential picks in front of high-dollar donors. Noem was also slated to attend a Republican fundraiser in Colorado this weekend but it was canceled over alleged safety concerns after news broke she had bragged about shooting her 14-month old dog.

While Noem’s shooting to death of her wirehaired pointer, Cricket, which she detailed in the book, is still making headlines overnight a new revelation made news: Noem falsely claims in her book she met with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un.

A spokesperson for Noem “seemed to concede that the Kim story was false Thursday night,” and notified her publisher, Politico’s Ryan Lizza reported in his exclusive.

But less noticed appears to be the actual text of Noem’s false story, in which she brands children she ministered in church “little tyrants,” and compared them to the murderous North Korean dictator.

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“Through my tenure on the House Armed Services Committee,” Noem wrote, according to Politico, “I had the chance to travel to many countries to meet with world leaders. I remember when I met with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un. I’m sure he underestimated me, having no clue about my experience staring down little tyrants (I’d been a children’s pastor, after all).”

CNBC reported this week Trump “will mingle with potential vice presidential running mates and wealthy Republican donors at the Republican National Committee’s spring donor retreat. The meetings are likely to act as informal tryouts for a short list of politicos in the running to join the Trump ticket.”

The list of Republican “special guests” includes U.S. Senators Marco Rubio, Tim Scott, and J.D. Vance, Rep. Elise Stefanik, North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum, and South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem.

Also expected to attend are House Speaker Mike Johnson, U.S. Reps. Byron Donalds of Florida and Wesley Hunt of Texas, former GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, and other elected Republicans along with RNC co-chair Lara Trump.

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NBC News, which says Rep. Donalds is also under consideration, on Friday added there will be “a fundraising retreat that could serve as a screening session” for potential vice presidential running mates.

Meanwhile, the Jefferson County, Colorado Republican Party chair announced a fundraising dinner Noem was slated to attend was canceled after threats were made, The Denver Post reports.

“We understood there was a planned organized protest outside of the hotel, led by Progress Now,” Nancy Pallozzi said. “I felt that our event would be negatively impacted, and we could not take the risk that those who made threats would cause physical harm.”

 

 

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RFK Jr., Embracing Far-Right, Spoke at Fundraiser for Anti-Government Group With J6 Ties

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Over the weekend independent 2024 presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. spoke at a fundraiser for a far-right anti-government group in Erie County, New York – a slice of the country that had a large proportion of residents arrested and charged for crimes related to the January 6 insurrection. Kennedy, a conspiracy theorist and vaccine denialist, increasingly is embracing the far-right.

“That group, Constitutional Coalition of New York State, has founders who not only have ties to Donald Trump but are also connected to the stop-the-steal movement through their activist network, which includes groups that had a presence at the Capitol on Jan. 6,” The Daily Beast reported Friday. “It’s yet another instance of Kennedy—who is mounting one of the most well-funded third-party presidential threats in decades—serving as a peculiar bridge between his own anti-establishment movement and Trump’s.”

The Southern Poverty Law Center includes the Constitutional Coalition of New York State (CCNYS) on its page of anti-government groups. Political Research Associates, which detailed the high proportion of January 6 residents arrested and charged, included the Constitutional Coalition of New York State in its February report on “The Rise of the Far Right in Western New York.”

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“If you don’t think the government is lying to you, you’re not paying attention,” Kennedy told attendees at the CCNYS fundraiser, The Buffalo News reports.

“CCNYS founders Nick and Nancie Orticelli are also affiliated with the Watchmen, a nearby militia who Nick has encouraged his social media followers to join. The Watchmen had several members at the Capitol on Jan. 6, and one member, Pete Harding, is still facing charges for violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds,” The Daily Beast noted. “Nancie Orticelli has also hosted the Watchmen’s founder, Charles Pellien, on her weekly radio show on several occasions.”

One of Kennedy’s goals in traveling to New York was to get on the ballot for the November presidential election. Various polls show him taking votes from both President Joe Biden and ex-president Donald Trump, but Kennedy currently has only qualified to be on the ballot in three states, Utah, Michigan and Hawaii, the newspaper reported.

But The Washington Post on Thursday reported The American Independent Party of California, which has a history of “far-right ties,” and “backed segregationist and former Alabama governor George Wallace in 1968, nominated Kennedy for president.”

Kennedy “said this week that he has qualified to be on the ballot in California and will accept the nomination of the American Independent Party, which has a history of associating itself with far-right figures and individuals who have expressed racist views.”

Some news reports and RFK Jr. himself say the Trump campaign was actively courting Kennedy, attempting to convince him to consider being the ex-president’s 2024 vice presidential running mate.

“That MAGA dalliance with Kennedy could be coming back to bite the Trump campaign, some Republicans close to the former president worry,” The Daily Beast also reported.

“’They can only blame themselves,’ a Trump-aligned strategist told The Daily Beast, requesting anonymity to speak candidly about private conversations about the risk Kennedy poses, ‘because they cozied up to him and thought it was funny.’”

Watch WIVBTV’s report on Kennedy’s trip to New York below or at this link.

READ MORE: Trump Won’t Commit to Accepting Election Results if He Doesn’t Win State He Falsely Claims He Won

 

 

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