Federal judge clears way for same-sex marriage statewide in Florida, Betty Bowers Year In Review, preview for Cucumber

Dan Savage says that if Tyler Clementi's roommate can be prosecuted for his death so can the parents of Leelah Alcorn, the transgender teenager who committed suicide because she didn't feel accepted by her Christian parents. Savage goes on to say that Alcorn has siblings, and "We don't leave kids in the care of parents who just killed one of their other children."

Carla Alcorn, Leelah's mother, told CNN that they could not support "him" being transgender "religiously." She does claim they loved her. "But we told him that we loved him unconditionally. We loved him no matter what. I loved my son. People need to know that I loved him. He was a good kid, a good boy."

In Florida, federal Judge Hinkle issued a New Year's Day ruling that his striking down of the state's marriage ban applied statewide. “The preliminary injunction now in effect thus does not require the Clerk to issue licenses to other applicants. But as set out in the order that announced issuance of the preliminary injunction, the Constitution requires the Clerk to issue such licenses.” So that should clear up any doubt that clerks have about issuing marriage licenses January 6. And if they still want to defy the order, he did give them a history lesson. “History records no shortage of instances when state officials defied federal court orders on issues of federal constitutional law. Happily, there are many more instances when responsible officials followed the law, like it or not. Reasonable people can debate whether the ruling in this case was correct and who it binds.”

Which probably makes the three clerks in Northern Florida counties of Duval, Clay and Baker counties who have decided to end all courthouse weddings rather than officiate same-sex weddings pretty happy that they made their decision first. Clay and Baker are fairly rural, but Duval includes Jacksonville, making it a major population center.

A few weeks ago, snicks encouraged you to go vote for the Equine Posterior Achievement Award. Senator Ted Cruz has won the award for the second year in a row with a solid 21 point margin over the next closest opponent, the Texas Board of Education.

Is fat sex the last taboo? Honestly, this is a really interesting discussion, and it ties into local favorite Old Dogs, New Tricks.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt is off the market, having quietly married his girlfriend Tasha McCauley December 20 at their home. Gordon-Levitt has endeavored to keep McCauley out of the spotlight in the past, saying “The girl that I’m with, she really doesn’t want to be a part of that.” McCauley isn't is show business, but is probably smarter than all of us as a founder and CEO of a robotics company that does business with NASA. Has anyone checked on Morgan lately?

Towleroad takes a look at the gay clickbate that is the Try Guys on Buzzfeed, as the guys kiss each other, see each other naked and otherwise titillate audiences by being straight guys doing gayish things. It's not inherently bad, but it's mocking male intimacy in some ways, "there’s something inherently off about treating gay intimacy like a low-budget episode of Fear Factor."

The Weinstein Company has decided to run the rest of their awards series campaign for The Imitation Game by focusing less on the stars and more on a campaign to have Alan Turing himself recognized as a hero. "The print campaign from here on in will be driven by leaders in the field of hi-tech, military, academic and gay and lesbian group leaders, all segments influenced by Turing’s accomplishments and misfortune. The first batch of endorsements focus on hi-tech, based on Turing’s work developing an early version of the computer. Among those lending tribute quotes so far: Yahoo! CEO Marissa Mayer, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings, Google Exec chairman Eric C. Schmidt, Twitter CEO Dick Costolo, PayPal co-founder Max Levchin, YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki, and Wikipedia’s Jimmy Wales. Upcoming will be testimonials by LGBT leaders like Human Right’s Campaign president Chad Griffin and GLAAD CEO Sarah Kate Ellis, followed by military leaders like former CIA Director and Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, who said 'Alan Turing’s unique contribution to winning World War II and his subsequent fate should be a constant reminder of how foolish and self-defeating it is for national leaders to deny themselves the benefit of the mind of a genius, most especially for ignoble reasons. Turing is a hero for all time.'”

Mrs. Betty Bowers, America's Best Christian, takes a look back on the big events affecting God's chosen few over 2014, and explains how a good Christian should view the world that seems to have turned against them.

When I was dozing off during New Year's Rockin' Eve, I saw this promo for TGIT on ABC, and it reminded me how much I missed How To Get Away with Murder. Jack Falahee is so regal, yet Matt McGorry is all of us, just trying to get by until the sweet glow of television gives us that same feeling that Connor can do to a guy's ass to make his eyes water.

rssmikle_url="http://www.thebacklot.com/tag/meme/rss/";

rssmikle_frame_width="100%";

rssmikle_frame_height="600";

rssmikle_target="_blank";

rssmikle_font="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif";

rssmikle_font_size="12";

rssmikle_border="on";

responsive="on";

rssmikle_css_url="";

text_align="left";

autoscroll="off";

scrollstep="3";

mcspeed="20";

sort="New";

rssmikle_title="on";

rssmikle_title_bgcolor="#3399cc";

rssmikle_title_color="#FFFFFF";

rssmikle_title_bgimage="http://";

rssmikle_item_bgcolor="#FFFFFF";

rssmikle_item_bgimage="http://";

rssmikle_item_title_length="175";

rssmikle_item_title_color="#666666";

rssmikle_item_border_bottom="on";

rssmikle_item_description="off";

rssmikle_item_description_length="50";

rssmikle_item_description_color="#666666";

rssmikle_item_date="off";

rssmikle_timezone="no";

rssmikle_item_description_tag="off";

rssmikle_item_podcast="off";

//-->

RSS widget