Former Republican Party Chairman, Ken Mehlman, Says He's Gay

Ken Mehlman, the former Republican party chairman and aide to George Bush, has revealed he is gay.

As a senior Republican figure with a high public profile, Mr Mehlman's admission of his homosexuality is a bold move at a time when the Republican party are asserting their opposition to the potential legalisation of same-sex marriage and the repeal of the "don't ask, don't tell" policy.

As reported by Richard Adams in the Guardian, when Mr Mehlman was asked by the Atlantic magazine to explain how he reconciled his sexuality with the Republican party's "gay-baiting tactics", he replied: "I can't change the fact that I wasn't in this place personally when I was in politics, and I genuinely regret that. It was very hard, personally."

It was during the period 2005-2006 when Mr Mehlman was chairman of the national Republican party that strategists used state referendums banning gay marriage in order to galvanise their voters.

Mr Mehlman reportedly told the Atlantic that his move was an important one in order for him to be able to openly support the legalising of marriage for LGBT Americans.

He added: "It's taken me 43 years to get comfortable with this part of my life . . . I've told my family, friends, former colleagues, and current colleagues, and they've been wonderful and supportive . . . It's something I wish I had done years ago."

He also told the Atlantic that he had been working with the American Foundation for Equal Rights, who back the legal challenge to California's Proposition 8 which bans gay marriage in the state, by encouraging Republicans to donate funds.

2010 US Census Will Not Include Gays

The next US census, to be carried out next year, will not ask about sexual orientation or recognise gay marriages, civil unions and domestic partnerships.

If two men or two women who live together list themselves as husband and husband, or wife and wife, they will be counted as unmarried partners.

The federal Defence of Marriage Act, signed in 1996 by President Bill Clinton, does not recognise gay unions sanctioned by states.

US Census Bureau spokeswoman Cynthia Endo said: "This is all about the numbers. This not about lifestyle or anything else."

Sharon Raphael, a sociologist who lives with her partner Mina Meyer, told the Press-Telegram: "Certain numbers of us are not out, and when they hide us under these general descriptions … it just makes us more invisible."

"We should be treated the same. First of all, it's just not good science to leave us out for some dumb political reason."

Gary Gates, a demographer at the UCLA School of Law, said that federal law limits census questions to topics for which there is funding, such as income's influence on poverty funding.

There is not a federal funding category for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered, or LGBT, communities..

He added that the situation is a "classic catch-22″ because it is hard to properly assess needs of a group that has not been counted.Tracy Clark-Flory of Salon.com argued that including such information "could inject some potent political power into the lesbian, gay and transgender community".

She added that the results of the census are used by the federal government to make spending decisions on areas such as healthcare.

However, census questions cannot be changed without an act of Congress. As Congress must approve questions no later than two years in advance of the survey, it is too late to change the 2010 count.

Porn industry seeks federal bailout

Editor's Note: You won't believe this story. Who is else is going to ask for a bailout? Read on...

Another major American industry is asking for assistance as the global financial crisis continues: Hustler publisher Larry Flynt and Girls Gone Wild CEO Joe Francis said Wednesday they will request that Congress allocate $5 billion for a bailout of the adult entertainment industry.

“The take here is that everyone and their mother want to be bailed out from the banks to the big three,” said Owen Moogan, spokesman for Larry Flynt. “The porn industry has been hurt by the downturn like everyone else and they are going to ask for the $5 billion. Is it the most serious thing in the world? Is it going to make the lives of Americans better if it happens? It is not for them to determine.”

Francis said in a statement that “the US government should actively support the adult industry's survival and growth, just as it feels the need to support any other industry cherished by the American people."

“We should be delivering [the request] by the end of today to our congressmen and [Secretary of the Treasury Henry] Paulson asking for this $5 billion dollar bailout,” he told CNN Wednesday.

Flynt and Francis concede the industry itself is in no financial danger — DVD sales have slipped over the past year, but Web traffic has continued to grow.

But the industry leaders said the issue is a nation in need. "People are too depressed to be sexually active," Flynt said in the statement. "This is very unhealthy as a nation. Americans can do without cars and such but they cannot do without sex."

"With all this economic misery and people losing all that money, sex is the farthest thing from their mind. It's time for congress to rejuvenate the sexual appetite of America. The only way they can do this is by supporting the adult industry and doing it quickly."

So far, there has been no congressional reaction to the request.

Source: CNN

Happy New Year from the US Government

As Bush prepares to vacate the White House (it's about time!), he leaves us with this New Years present...