Marijuana-Guarding Bears Get a Chance to Mellow Out

When the Royal Canadian Mounted Police raided a grow-op near Christina Lake in British Columbia, they discovered at least 1,000 marijuana plants along with several black bears wandering among the weed.

It's unclear whether the property owners had been feeding the bears to guard their stash or just because they liked the animals, but the steady supply of dog food had made the bears dependent on people. They were so used to human contact, that they just minded their own business while officers snapped photos a few feet away and conducted their investigation.

While the scene was somewhat amusing, it also posed a serious problem: bears who hang around humans usually end up dead. The government received pleas from around the world to save the bears and, earlier this week, Environment Minister Barry Penner made what he calls one of the strangest decisions his ministry has ever had to make: the property owners have been ordered to continue feeding the bears dog food until winter.

Although it's illegal to feed bears, officials were concerned that letting the bears go hungry would likely cause more problems for their human neighbors. Relocation is expensive and doesn't always work, and there aren't any sanctuaries who can currently take in the 17 black bears. They didn't want to kill the animals either; after all, it was the property owner's fault that they were so acclimated to humans.

So, it's on the property owner's dime that this experimental plan will go into effect. The idea is that the bears will continue to get the food source they're used to, but a little bit less of it — both to wean them off it and because they've gotten a bit chunkier than they should be dining on handouts. In mid-November, the bears will go into hibernation.

The hope is that the natural cycle of a few months laying low will help reboot the bears' instincts and, when they come out of hibernation in the spring, they'll be ready to find their own food again, away from humans. Wildlife officials will monitor the situation to see if the bears are able to forget about the dog food, or if they need to go to a Plan B, which may not be the bear-friendly outcome everyone is hoping for.

Photo credit: dalliedee

http://animals.change.org

Stephanie Feldstein is a Change.org Editor who has been part of the animal welfare and rescue community for over a decade, and most recently worked for an environmental organization

Tabatha Coffey, Wilson Cruz, Peter Paige Named Most Amazing Gays In Showbiz

BY ON TOP MAGAZINE STAFF 
PUBLISHED: SEPTEMBER 01, 2010

Power Up has named Tabatha Coffey, Wilson Cruz and Peter Paige 

in its tenth iteration of 10 Amazing Gay Women in Showbiz and 10 

Amazing Gay Men in Showbiz.

The group supports female filmmakers who are producing gay-themed 

films and documentaries.

Tabatha Coffey is among the women being honored on November 7 in

 Hollywood.

Coffey, who built a career as the hairdresser to the stars, is the host of

 Bravo's hit reality show Tabatha's Salon Takeover, which takes a look
the business of managing a hair salon.

“As a relative newcomer to the entertainment business, I am honored
 to be nominated for this award because I have always been out in my
life and my 

career and I think visibility is so important in our community,
” Coffey said.

Writer Ali Adler, Wolfe Video founder Kathy Wolfe, writer-producer
Savannah Dooley, actress Clementine Ford, LGBT entertainment reporter
Tracy Gilchrist, director Christine Moore, talent scout Martha Sanchez,
 writer-producer

 Elizabeth Sarnoff and actress Kirsten Vangsness round out the rest
 of the

 women being honored.

Celebrity publicist Howard Bragman and actors Wilson Cruz and Peter 

Paige top the list for the men. Also included are Screen Actors Guild
exec

 Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, writer-producer James Duff, agent Keya
Khayatian, Access Hollywood Producer Mark Noble, producer Howard
 Rosenman, USA Network exec Michael Sluchan and actor Steve Tyler.

Bragman, who helped Chely Wright and Meredith Baxter come out gay,
 said:

 “I grew up fat, Jewish and gay in Flint, Michigan feeling like I had three strikes against me and then I moved to Hollywood where I realized it was three rungs 

on the ladder of success.”

“Well, that's just ridiculous,” said Paige, who is best know for playing Emmett Honeycutt on Showtime's groundbreaking gay drama Queer As Folk

Lady GaGa Getting Ordained To Perform Gay Marriages

BY ON TOP MAGAZINE STAFF 
PUBLISHED: SEPTEMBER 01, 2010

Gay icon Lady GaGa wants to become an ordained minister in California
 to officiate over the wedding ceremonies of her gay friends.

According to the UK tabloid Heat Magazine, the star has already taken
 an online course and would like to marry gay fans on stage.

The Alejandro singer is an outspoken supporter of gay rights. In thanking
 MTV for 13 Video Music Award nominations, more than any artist in MTV
 history, she said, “God put me on Earth for 3 reasons: To make loud music,
 gay videos and cause a damn raucous.”

While voters in California banned gay marriage by approving Proposition
 8 in 2008, the law was struck down last month by a federal judge.
 An appeals court decision expected early next year could pave the way
for the resumption of gay weddings in the state.

Lady GaGa said the ruling moved her to make music.

“At the moments notice of PROP 8 DEATH I instantly began to write music,
” GaGa tweeted to her nearly 5.3 million followers. “BUBBLE DREAMS
 FOREVER! FULL EQUALITY! THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING!”

“REJOICE and CELEBRATE gay communities and straight all over the world,”
she tweeted moments later. “Our voices are being heard! Loud! SCREAM
 LOUD AMERICANOS!”

Miss Universe Jimena Navarrete In Favor Of Gay Marriage

BY ON TOP MAGAZINE STAFF 
PUBLISHED: SEPTEMBER 01, 2010

Recently crowned Miss Universe Jimena Navarrete (Ximena Navarrete) 

says she's in favor of gay marriage.

The Mexican beauty beat out 82 other women from around the world

 to earn her title at the Miss Universe pageant held last week in Las Vegas.

In an interview with Mexico's W Radio, the Guadalajara native said: 

“I agree. I think we have to learn to respect because they are people 

just like us, there is no difference and I think it is unfair to 

discriminate against someone because of the sex he or she prefers.”

“The truth is that I am absolutely against discrimination. I have many

 friends who are gay and I adore them,” she added.

While no Mexican state has followed in the footsteps of Mexico City

 in approving a gay marriage law, a recent Supreme Court ruling forces

 Mexico's 30 states to recognize the marriages of gay and lesbian

 couples married in the capital.

Navarrete's views on the subject stand in stark contrast to former

 Miss California Carrie Prejean, who was asked her thoughts on the 

institution during last year's Miss USA pageant. “And, you know what, 

in my country and in my family, I think that I believe that a marriage

 should be between a man and a woman,” she answered.

Leaders Are No Longer Fraidy Cats About The Gays

Oh look who's coming to the Log Cabin Republican's fancy PAC fundraising event. GOProud might have Ann Coulter for Homocon, but LCR has … Sen. John Cornyn and Rep. Pete Sessions? What are the chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee and the chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee doing with a bunch of homos?

The LCR national dinner on Sept. 22, MC'd by Tucker Carlson, brings together some bizarre bed buddies. For a group so concerned with gay rights, LCR is enlisting the brand names of two bigots to raise cash. Both Cornyn (pictured) and Sessions have an impressive zero percent score from HRC.

When we heard the news about Cornyn joining LCR's event, we noted it was nothing more than a political stunt to court some queer votes. But as gay scribe Marc Ambinder notes, "The presence of the top two party political strategists at a gay Republican event means that both men do not believe the criticism they'll get from consorting with gay rights advocates will in any way complicate either their immediate goals as party committee chiefs or the future of their political careers." Read: They're not scared of being associated with gays.

So that's … progress?

Apparently so: Between this, Ken Mehlman, and former McCain campaign manager Steve Schmidt coming out for GOP support of gay marriage, it has Democrats wondering — aloud — whether Team Obama should be worried.

http://www.queerty.com

Adam Lambert Praises Freddie Mercury's Flamboyance

BY ON TOP MAGAZINE STAFF 
PUBLISHED: AUGUST 31, 2010

Pop singer and over-the-top entertainer Adam Lambert has
praised Freddie Mercury for his flamboyance.

The 28-year-old Lambert talked about Mercury's showmanship 
in an NPRMorning Edition story on Mercury's musical legacy.

The lead singer of the legendary band Queen died in 1991 from
complications from AIDS.

“There's definitely something missing in today's music scene,”
Lambert says. “We don't have a lot of men on stage doing flamboyant or theatrical. We have a lot female pop stars doing it, but where are the guys? Where's the classic pop-rock showman?”

The openly gay singer certainly is not shy about theatrics.
 His performance at last year's American Music Awards was labeled
“lewd and filthy” by social conservatives because it featured Lambert
locking lips with a male keyboardist.

Lambert went on to say that Mercury's voice is “supersexy.”

“Freddie's voice has so much texture to it,” he says. “He kind of
 grabs at everything, he squeezes it.”

And he praised Mercury's flamboyant showmanship: “He was
 completely over the top in the best possible way. Music, most
of the time, is about sexuality, whether you are straight, gay
or in between. It's about love and sex. That's rock 'n' roll.”

Watch Out! Wanda Sykes Takes On Ken Mehlman, Sarah Palin

BY ON TOP MAGAZINE STAFF 
PUBLISHED: AUGUST 31, 2010

Wanda Sykes is courting controversy with remarks she made
 Wednesday on CNN'sLarry King Live.

The openly lesbian comedian spoke with King about her coming out,
Ken Mehlman's coming out and Sarah Palin, who's increasingly
 backing anti-gay candidates and groups.

Sykes, who announced she's gay in 2008 to protest California's
 passage of a gay marriage ban, Proposition 8, said she came out
 late in life because she was concerned about how her parents
would react.

“I have parents who are still alive that's why and you suppress all that,
you bury it to try and fit in,” she told King. “I'm 46, so back then, religion everything else. You weren't exposed to gay people. … I know without
 a doubt my family, they love me, we're working on it.”

She wasn't holding anything back when King asked her about former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin.

“She's smart in the way that she's an opportunist but she's not smart
enough to pull it off,” she said, referring to Palin's presidential
aspirations. “All you have to do is just give her enough rope and
 she's going to say something stupid.”

“He's family, I didn't know,” Sykes said about former RNC chief
 Ken Mehlman, who came out gay last week. “Here's this guy,
 he says it's taken him like 43 years to be comfortable with himself.
Which I understand, it took me awhile to publicly come out.
But when he was in the Bush administration, they knew he was
gay and he had to sit there and listen to all this anti-gay stuff.”

“[Mehlman] probably took so many of those showers that, you know,
rape victims take, they're scrubbing themselves. He probably had
 a lot of those kind of showers.”

Sykes is the host of The Wanda Sykes Show, which premiered
 on Fox in November

Mexico's Catholic Church Argues It's Not Homophobic For Opposing Gay Marriage

BY ON TOP MAGAZINE STAFF 
PUBLISHED: AUGUST 31, 2010

The Catholic Church in Mexico has rejected accusations that it is
 homophobic for opposing gay marriage.

In a op-ed published in the weekly Desde la Fe (From the Faith),
the Archdiocese of Mexico said it is “a myth and a fallacy to believe
 that anyone, because of their personal status, is discriminated by
 the church, or excluded from the requirements of the Christian way
to achieve salvation. The Church is not in the world to condemn, but
 to save.”

In the editorial Gays and the Church, the church says it is “absurd”
to believe that gay men and lesbians don't have a place in the
 Catholic Church.

Catholic leaders, led by the Archbishop of Guadalajara Cardinal
 Juan Sandoval Iniguez, have harshly criticized Mexico City's gay 
marriage law and a Supreme Court ruling upholding its constitutionality.

Sandoval Iniguez accused Mexico City Mayor Marcelo Ebrard and
 his government of bribing the high court to rule in favor of its gay
marriage law and condemned the court for betraying Mexico, the
 family and natural law. Ebrard responded with a lawsuit.

“I do not know of any of you who would like to be adopted by a pair
 of lesbians of a pair of fags,” Sandoval Iniguez said during a press
conference in Aguascalientes. “I think not.”

While the church reconsidered the language used over the past
 few weeks, it also reiterated its opposition to gay marriage,
saying such unions should not be called marriage “because they
 lack any element to be considered as such.”

Glenn Beck's Gay Marriage Views Aid 'People Who Want To Use The Anus For Sex'

 '

BY ON TOP MAGAZINE STAFF 
PUBLISHED: AUGUST 31, 2010

Social conservatives are continuing their attack on conservative
celebrity Glenn Beck for his lukewarm support for gay marriage.

Bryan Fischer, director of issue analysis at the Christian conservative
group American Family Association (AFA), says Beck's recent
comments on gay marriage support “people who want to use the
 anus for sex.”

Appearing on Fox News' the O'Reilly Factor, Beck said he didn't cover
 the “culture warrior stuff” on his radio and TV programs because he
felt conservatives have “bigger fish to fry” and added that the
government has nothing to do with marriage. “That is a religious
 right,” he argued, adding that he would get more involved in
 opposing gay marriage if it stifled a church's right to free speech.

Beck's assertion that gay marriage is not “a threat to the country”
riled Fischer.

“Glenn, Glenn, wake up and smell the arsenic, my friend,” Fischer
 wrote at the group's website.

“It's a threat to freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of
association, and worst, represents a clear and present danger to
children. What were you thinking?”

“Glenn, Glenn, Glenn: if special rights are given to people just because
they want to use the alimentary canal for sexual purposes, no social
 conservative will be able to criticize homosexual behavior on biblical
or moral grounds without running the risk of legal punishment.”

“Glenn, Glenn, Glenn: what about vulnerable children who are
 deliberately being stuck in households headed by people who engage in unnatural sexual behavior and in households where they are going
 to grow up missing either the love of a mother or a father or both?”

Fischer has previously called Beck a “deserter” in the “battle for
sexual normalcy” for suggesting he's OK with gay marriage.

Marine Gay Bashers Off The Hook On Hate Crime Charges

Lance Corporal Christopher Stanzel and Corporal Keil Cronauer, the two Marines accused of gay bashing Kieran Daly outside a pizza joint in Savannah in June, won't be facing any felony counts. Which means no hate crime charges for these two.

The pair will face onlymisdemeanor charges for punchingDaly, says the Chatham County District Attorney's office. How come? Because according to DA spokeswoman Alicia Johnson, "for a crime to be considered a felony [which a hate crime is considered to be] there has to be proof of a sustained injury. It’s my understanding Daly suffered only a punch. Based on his medical records we could not upgrade the charge from a misdemeanor to a felony."

On what earth bruising to the brain and causing Daly seizures is considered "only a punch" I will never know. And how the DA can ignore the lead up to the attack — the Marines blasting Daly after finding out he's gay — only they can tell you. It's also unclear how involved the FBI became in using the federal Matthew Shepard Act to bring charges, but their hands might be tied: Without felony charges, there's no way to include the upgrade.

If convicted of the lesser offense, Stanzel and Cronauer face less than a year in jail and bruising fines of up to $1,200.

http://www.queerty.com