Segal reminds us that the Rigali and his lobbying group almost single-handedly blocked hate-crimes and nondiscrimination legislation in Pennsylvania.

Segal states that he discussed with Rigali the statement of the Vatican to the United Nations Human Rights Conference on Human Rights Day on December 10, 2009.  According to Segal's reportage in PGN, the Cardinal needed to be prodded to recall the statement.

The statement reminds the world that the Holy See (the Vatican) "opposes all forms of violence and unjust discrimination against homosexual persons," and that they "continue to call on all States and individuals to respect the rights of all persons and to work to promote their inherent dignity and worth."

To this Rigali stated, reported Segal, "If the Holy See has that position, than we have that position."

Quite honestly, his statement floored me.  Was Rigali saying now that the Holy See has taken a position against all forms of violence and unjust discrimination against homosexual persons and that he too will now uphold that position?

Need I remind the Cardinal that this has been the official teaching of the Catholic Church for some time now?  The Catechism of the Catholic Church, issued in 1994, states the following:

"The number of men and women who have deep-seated homosexual tendencies is not negligible. This inclination, which is objectively disordered, constitutes for most of them a trial. They must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity. Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided. (paragraph 2358)

Here the Catholic Church calls on all its members, its Pastors, to stand opposed to all forms of (unjust) discrimination.  The call to accept with respect, compassion, and sensitivity is a clear position against any violence against queers.

Rigali must have been fully aware of this teaching when he set out to lobby against hate-crimes and nondiscrimination legislation in Pennsylvania.

To be clear, the Holy See issued NO new directives in their statement to the United Nations; they simply reiterated a long standing teaching, one that suffers long on the pastoral mission of the church save for its dogmatic teaching.

Rigali must have reasoned the difference between unjust and just discrimination and apparently believed that his lobbying efforts were in line with the dogmatic teaching of the Church.  But were they in line with the pastoral mission of the Church?  I believe not.

While I will leave to the experts the theological and philosophical debates over the terms "just" and "unjust", I will continue to espouse the position that to allow any individual to be fired simply because of who they find themselves to be is pastorally unjust.

While I applaud Segal's call to Rigali to begin a dialog with our community, I will not be fooled by the politics of the Church. 

It is my hope that Segal can bring together a broad collation of interested persons into this dialogue so long as Rigali is truly sincere in his agreement to start such a dialogue with us.

One of the darlings of the fashion industry in America these days is queer designer Marc Jacobs. Forever in the spotlight from Vogue to Women's Wear Daily, the forever-creatively-talented Jacobs who is known for hosting incredible parties and parlaying his fashions with his well-known cutting edge runway shows recently oversaw his own "wedding ceremony" to hottie Lorenzo Martone. But the media reports are that it may only have been a "mock event" hosted by Larry Gagosian and dinner guests Russell Simmons and girlfriend Porschla Coleman. All of this took place in St. Barts. Evidently, the couple got officially "engaged" in March of 2009, have been dating for a year, and proclaim to wanting to adopt children. So what's the wait?  What's the reason for the practice wedding?  Social columnist Chiara Atik wrote of the couple's tying of the knot: "The most adorable part of their wedding" The cake toppers, which were molded to look exactly like the couple, with mini-Lorenzo in a tux, and mini-Marc wearing his signature kilt and no shirt so as to best showcase his sponge Bob Squarepants tattoo. Also joining them on top of the cake was Jacob's pitbull, Daisy." No one knows where the couple is honeymooning but there are plenty of photos of them at guestofaguest.com

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Vampires rule!  Actor Ethan Hawke will be closer to bats than hawks despite his surname. He, too, will be playing a vampire in the forthcoming "Daybreakers."  Film critic Monica Weymouth reported in METRO (January 8-10, 2010) that the versatile, independently-minded actor "plays an enlightened, smoldering-eyed bloodsucker with the most flawless of skin, --Drac, help us--Edward, who would rather help endangered humans than dine on them."  While writers/directors/brothers Peter and Michael Spierig said that they had "Hawke in mind for the part" he admits to not exactly feeling like it was a natural fit. "I've never done a movie with so much blood. That was disgusting; it's so sticky and revolting. The truth is that I spend my life avoiding these kinds of movies."  But he liked the immortality factor. "To walk around with the idea that you will not die, it's a little bit like a Zen enlightenment experience," confessed Hawke. Co-star William Dafoe (star of "Shadow of a Vampire" in 2000) plays "the best vampire in recent memory," according to Hawke. "A lot of times, when actors play the undead, they lose all the life inside of them. They become incredibly boring," observed Hawke. Now he has a reputation and challenge to live up to for audiences once the film is released.

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Queer comedian Brad Loekle is really a laugh riot and then some!  There's so much our queer community has to cry about that we need some more good-natured, sometimes naughty, other times provocative, and even, yes, let's all be honest, moments of raunchy comedy as the prefect remedy for all kinds of ills and heartaches!  Loekle who is as sharp as a pin gave an entertaining interview to queer journalist Tommy Raniszewski (Out in Jersey, December 2009-January 2010) wherein he described himself as being "like a unicorn--only gayer."  (Any reference to Tennessee Williams' "The Glass Menagerie" is undoubtedly totally intentional.) Loekle played co-host for three years on Sirius-XM's "Morning Jolt" to millions of listeners if you're trying to place him. He also appeared on the original series, "The Smoking Gun" on TruTV. Since he was asked about "projects" for 2010 the comedian gave a kind of itemized "list."  "Well, I'd like to lose 20 pounds and be able to touch my toes. I don't know if you'll all look forward to that. But I will tell you [that] I'm working on some ideas for possible new show for the TruTV network. As a gay boy, I always dreamed of having my own sin-off show. Like how Mrs. Garrett started on "The Jeffersons" and then they made "The Facts of Life." I'm also into the writing of a few chapters of my own book, tentatively titled, "Gay for Pay: The Misadventures of a Barely Known Gaylebirty." I'm in talks with a couple of publishers and I really hope it works out because the stories in this book will make Chelsea Handler's book read like Mother Teresa's autobiography." These days he can also be seen live and in-person on Sunday nights with his very own show, "The Electro-Shock Therapy Comedy Hour" at the Therapy Comedy Club in Manhattan. For more information, visit bradloekle.com