Blogging Fusion

Obama Posts His Campaign Pledges on LGBT Rights

 

President-elect Barack Obama has laid out his commitment to LGBT civil rights in an eight-point plan posted on his transition Web site.

It calls for passage of the Matthew
Shepard Hate Crimes Act; 

A gender-inclusive Employment
Non-Discrimination Act;

Repeal of Don?t Ask Don?t Tell;

Repeal of the federal Defense of Marriage Act;

Opposition to any attempt to reintroduce an amendment to the Constitution to ban same-sex marriage,


Support for inclusive adoption rights;

and an expanded war on HIV/AIDS.

?Barack Obama supports full civil unions that give same-sex couples legal rights and privileges equal to those of married couples.? the transition site says.

 

 

The program is identical to Obama?s positions during the campaign and LGBT rights groups said it shows that the president-elect is committed to keeping his word!

Victoria's Secret Annual Holiday Showing at the Fontainebleau in Miami

 

What do you get when you mix Victoria's Secret, fashion,  miami, gay, glitz, glamour, Mariah Carey, and Paris Hilton?
 
The party to kick off all parties, this holiday season!  If you couldn't make it to Miami for the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show this weekend, don't worry, it was filmed for broadcast. 

Old Hollywood's glitz and glamour returned to the Fontainebleau Hotel Saturday night as the recently renovated resort played host to the annual Victoria's Secret Fashion Show. Which will air on December 3rd. (CBS 10pm ET/PT)

This highly anticipated  bra-and-panty giant?s annual fabulous fashion show, left New York this year for the sun and fun of Miami and the glamorous unveiling of  Miami's legendary Fontainebleau  hotel as they celebrated  their  $1 billion re-opening, expansion  and revamped hotel property.

In the '50s and '60s, the Fontainebleau was a bee's nest of celebrity activity: Frank Sinatra played the nightclub. Jerry Lewis filmed The Bellboy. Sean Connery's James Bond swam in the pool in Goldfinger.

On this night, Paris Hilton struck a pose on the pink carpet. Heidi Klum primped and prepped backstage for the catwalk. Robert Duvall and James Caan arrived as a team to work the crowd. Mariah Carey,  Robert Thicke, Diddy, Gwyneth,Venus and Serena,  it was a top-shelf, A-list night!

From the humid air to the no-holds-barred attitude, the scene was steamy as the crowd convened to watch the annual fashion show and celebrate the reinvigoration of the resort.

Electrifying million dollar Ai WeiWei chandeliers  shined on a bevy of Victoria's Secret Angels as they cut the ribbon on the Staircase in the presence of VIP guests, ushering in a new era of flamboyance at Fontainebleau Miami Beach.


Fontainebleau's  $1 billion transformation  took an architectural masterpiece into the 21st century with 1,504 new guestrooms and suites outfitted with Apple(R) technology; 11 restaurants and lounges, including a Chocolate Indulgence experience; a 40,000-square-foot spa with mineral-rich water therapies and co-ed swimming pools; and a dramatic oceanfront pool-scape featuring "walls of water" and a sexy enclave surrounded by cabanas and sun loungers.


Now with its doors open, Fontainebleau will  surely reclaim its seat as a top U.S. destination, attracting today's more discerning global traveler with its high-end resort experience.

Underwear never looked so fabulous! Now when are they going to do a mens underwear fashion show like that?!

 

Fabulous Places of Worship - Beautiful Churches from Around The World Found in My Gay Travels

I love beautiful architecture.
And that is probably why I got out of the small I lived in when I was 18. I wanted to be in a big city. I wanted to see things. And of course since I am gay, I just had to get out of that town with one gay bar!

But seriously, I love when I travel to see new things; new cultures, new landscapes. To me, that is life is about. New experiences. Seeing as much and doing as much as you can!

I am a very visual person and I thank "God" all the time, I was blessed with eyesight. It is something so many of us take for granted.

Not that gay travel is usually associated with religion, I have  a deep appreciation for architecture, like I said. - And  there are so many beautiful churches, I thought it would be fun to run some here.


St. Basils in Moscow - Built in the 1550's.






  

Above left  is St. Joseph Ukrainian Catholic church (Chicago - where I live currently)   is most known for its ultra-modern thirteen gold domed roof symbolizing the twelve apostles and Jesus Christ as the largest center dome.  Next  is  Sagrada Família - a very massive Roman Catholic basilica under construction in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Construction began in 1882 and continues to this day. A very famous architect Antoni Gaudí worked on the project for over 40 years, devoting the last 15 years of his life entirely to this endeavour.

In the remote mountains of southwestern Columbia, Las Lajas Cathedral certainly ranks among the most enchantingly beautiful pilgrimage shrines in all the world. The overall look is really fascinating.

Built in 1916 until 1949 (what took them so long? I can't imagine....)  inside the canyon of the Guaitara river where, according to local legend, the Virgin Mary appeared.

You can find this church in southern Colombian Department of Nariño, municipality of Ipiales, near the border with Ecuador.



  
This is the  very famous Cathedral of Brasília designed by Oscar Niemeyer. This concrete-framed hyperboloid structure, seems with its glass roof to be reaching up, open, to heaven!  Built in 1970.

The Church of Hallgrímur is very very unusual. Construction work began in 1945 and ended in 1986!

It's a Lutheran parish church in Reykjavík, Iceland. At 74.5 metres (244 ft), it is the fourth tallest architectural structure in Iceland after Longwave radio mast Hellissandur, Eiðar longwave transmitter and Smáratorg tower.


And last but not least, churches come in all shapes and sizes! Check out this out!

In  2002 the Los Angeles Times reported that "Praise Christian Center... has been forced outside because of a zoning battle that has caught the attention of several national religious and conservative organizations.

Praise Christian held services inside a converted warehouse at American Landscape Supply on Goldenwest Street until it was ordered from the building because of city zoning codes.

The yearlong dispute between the tiny church (15 people)  and the beach city could become a classic standoff.  The city may have violated the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act that says local governments cannot "substantially burden" the free exercise of religion through zoning laws. - I have no idea why they have a SHELL sign!

Gay Travel In Outer Space? Book A Virgin Galactic Flight Now! Ride with Paris Hilton to the Moon!

Space tourists are getting their own ride.

Space Adventures, a Virginia company that arranges passage for wealthy explorers to ride on Russian Soyuz rockets to the International Space Station, plans to buy a Soyuz flight all its own in 2011, with the option of buying more.

A new investor is likely to occupy one of the two available seats on Space Adventures? 2011 flight: Sergey Brin, a co-founder of Google. He made a $5 million investment in the company that will serve as a deposit on a future flight.

Mr. Brin, who is president of technology at Google, said in a Space Adventures statement, ?I am a big believer in the exploration and commercial development of the space frontier, and am looking forward to the possibility of going into space.?

His company is a sponsor of the Google Lunar X Prize, a $25 million competition to land an unmanned craft on the moon.

Elon Musk, former CEO of PayPal (EBAY) and Zip2, has invested more than $100 million of his own money to start Space Exploration Technologies, or SpaceX, a company that's building a family of launch vehicles. Jim Benson, who founded CompuSearch and invented modern full-text computer indexing and search, is creating a vehicle for space tourism at Benson Space that seeks to minimize the violent impact that spacecraft encounter on re-entry into the earth's atmosphere.

Meanwhile, luxury travel experts Virgin Galactic will be giving you the groundbreaking opportunity to become one of the first ever non-professional astronauts. Virgin Galactic will own and operate its privately built spaceships, modelled on the remarkable, history-making SpaceShipOne. It is these spaceships that will allow affordable sub-orbital space tourism for the first time in the history of the universe. Virgin is taking deposits now, and the first flights are being scheduled for next year or 2010! Tickets cost $200,000 and deposits start from $20,000.  Virgin Galactic already has $35 million in bookings for flights.

Among those reported to have told Virgin  that they wished to be among the first to fly on the spacecraft are actor William Shatner, designer Philippe Starck, former Jane's Addiction and Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist Dave Navarro, Alien star Sigourney Weaver, Hollywood director Bryan Singer, musician Moby, and of course, socialite Paris Hilton.

I think I will wait until Atlantis set up a gay circuit party rocket.....

Everything is BIGGER in Gay New York!

My, what a BIG STAR you have! 

Pop Star FERGIE was in town this week  to  unveil the Swarovski Star, which will adorn the Rockefeller Christmas tree erected yearly on the Rockefeller Plaza  in New York City on Wednesday.

Swarovski is donating $250,000 from the sales of its Annual Edition holiday ornament to Clothes Off Our Back to benefit children?s charities worldwide through charity auctions of today?s hottest celebrity attire.

?I?m happy being a part of this Swarovski program as celebrities and designers come together offering their talents to benefit the lives of children in positive ways,? said Fergie. ?Swarovski?s partnership with Clothes Off Our Back brings cheer to children across the globe.?

The 33-year-old Fergalicious singer unveiled the 550-pound, 9.5-foot star, made of 25,000 crystals which will be set atop the giant X-mas tree.

Check out the celebrity Swarovski Ornament Auction at Clothes off our Backs.

How Gay Is That?!


The Best of Gay New York and the New Gay Travel Guide

Proposition 8 Backlash Across America

 
A series of protests against the passage of Proposition 8 scheduled to take place today in Los Angeles and across the country will be a key test for a loosely formed Internet-based movement that has emerged since California voters banned gay marriage last week.


Across America today people are protesting the passage of California's Prop 8. The blame is flying as to who exactly caused Prop 8 to pass ? African-Americans, Mormons, gay blacklash, Barney Frank, seniors, Barack Obama ? but this movement is still united around the idea that homosexual couples deserve to get married just like the rest of us. Today's protests happened in New York City, Chicago, San Francisco, and Los Angeles,  and 300  other  cities.

Photos  by  Amelia Margritte

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