MANHUNT Daily

The Coolest 10-Year-Old Ever!

Check this kid out! You may have heard about the 10-year-old boy genius (that's my assessment) who refused to say the pledge of allegiance because gays and lesbians don't have equal rights.

CNN got an exclusive interview with the boy, Will Phillips, and his father. All I have to say is that this kid is the smartest and coolest 10-year-old ever! Some people are put off by precocious kids, but I think it's great he's putting himself out there for our rights, even if it means getting picked on.

Check out the video and let me know what you think!

- Andy

Marriage Equality In Portugal?

There's been some buzz for a little over a month that Portugal will be legalizing same-sex marriages, and it seems like we're getting closer and closer to the ultimate moment. After being re-elected in September, Prime Minister José Sócrates has promised that it'd be one of his new team's first actions.

Since 2001, Portugal has had civil union laws for gay and straight couples who have lived together for more than two years, but the new legislation would support full-on marriage equality. Though Sócrates will have little trouble getting enough votes to pass the bill in Parliament, he will face plenty of criticism from the country's predominantly Catholic population. Keep your fingers crossed, but the odds are looking extremely good.

- Dewitt

British Sex Ed To Include Gay Relationships

The British government has recently announced that all schools must offer sexual education courses. Lessons will begin at age five, with primary school students learning about their bodies, puberty, marriages, divorces and civil partnerships. They'll move on from there to learn about contraception, gay and lesbian relationships, the emotional complications of having sex and HIV.

The catch? Faith schools must teach lessons about abortion and tolerance of gay individuals, but they may present both topics within the context of their religion. Sounds reasonable to me, but what do you think of this updated policy?

- Dewitt

Guess Who Has A Sex Tape?

We told ourselves that we'd stop writing about Carrie Prejean a while back, but this is just too good to be true. The former Miss California and "opposite marriage" advocate attempted to sue pageant officials for more than a million dollars. But it only took her fifteen sweet seconds to change her mind about that.

When the lawyer for the pageant whipped out a raunchy home video of her "handiwork", Prejean wound up settling for $100,000. According to TMZ, this will only cover a fraction of her bills for her lawyers and publicist. Was it wrong for the pageant's lawyer to resort to such "blackmail" tactics? Methinks not. 

- Dewitt

Is There Still Hope For Marriage Equality In New Jersey?

Though the wounds from Maine are still fresh, it's important to remember that it wasn't all bad news on Election Day. Washington state managed to push through their "everything but marriage" domestic partnership law. Kalamazoo, Michigan voted 62-38 to extend anti-discrimination protections to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender individuals. Chapel Hill, North Carolina elected Mark Kleinschmidt, an openly gay man, as mayor. And there's even more good news beyond that!

With that said, there's one issue that's looming with an air of hope and potential despair. Republican Chris Christie beat out Jon Corzine in the New Jersey gubernatorial race. Corzine had recently promised to sign a marriage equality bill if it hit his desk, but Christie's been advocating for NJ voters to decide on the matter.

Garden State Equality is now upping their efforts to get same-sex marriage legislation approved before Corzine leaves office. Yesterday, they released a fantastic video that both reinforces that gay couples are just like their heterosexual counterparts and shows that some straight folks think that the idea of "preserving the institution of marriage" is completely ridiculous. Keep your fingers crossed!

- Dewitt

To watch Garden State Equality's ad, follow the JUMP:

Maine Votes To Repeal Gay Marriage Law

See that picture right there? That's how my heart felt this morning when I woke up to discover that fifty-three percent of Maine voters chose to repeal a law legalizing gay marriage. To hear the chief organizer of Stand For Marriage say that the "institution of marriage has been preserved in Maine and across the nation" just makes my stomach drop.

As soon as this sadness clears, I know I'm going to be pissed off. Pissed off for the couples who had set their wedding dates, expecting to celebrate a victory for our side. Pissed off for what this says about our nation, when another state just openly rejected equality for all. I can already feel the anger bubbling up inside of me, so watch out for me today. I might snap.

- Dewitt

Is Anyone Else Getting Nervous About Maine?

In case you've forgotten, residents of Maine will be voting today on whether to keep a law that legalized gay marriage. The polls are predicting that it's extremely close, and I'm seriously about to pull out my hair worrying about this. No matter what happens, I'm going to be really drunk after the results are revealed. Let's just hope I'm not in a drunken state of depression.

While a loss would just suck in general, it'd suck even more on the symbolic front. The defeat would only give more fuel to the opposition, and who knows how this would effect future progress on the quest for equality? ::sigh:: I'm going to just keep breathing and attempt to remain optimistic.

- Dewitt

Shocker! Pat Robertson Doesn't Like Hate Crimes Bill

It's no surprise that Pat Robertson is speaking out against the recent passage and signing of the Federal Hate Crimes Bill. The official line of critics is that the law will allow for persecution of religious leaders and those who simply "speak out on moral issues."

Of course, this is total bulls**t, the law targets violent crime, not speech. Check out his tirade and let me know what you think.

- Andy

Obama Signs Hate Crimes Prevention Act

Yesterday, President Barack Obama signed into law the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act. The legislation extends federal hate crimes protection in cases where the victim is targeted because of their sexual orientation, gender, disability or gender identity.

"After more than a decade of opposition and delay, we've passed inclusive hate crimes legislation to help protect our citizens from violence based on what they look like, who they love, how they pray, or who they are," Obama said in a speech before signing the bill. "I promised Judy Shepard, when she saw me in the Oval Office, that this day would come." And what a day it was!

- Dewitt

To watch the video, follow the JUMP:

Hates Crime Bill Passed, On The Way To Being Signed

The Federal Hates Crime (Matthew Shepard Act) bill was finally passed by the senate by a vote of 68-29. The bill is one the way to being signed by President Obama and will soon become law!

Anderson Cooper hosted Dan Savage and Corey Johnson to talk about that and the President's performance on gay issues so far.

- Andy