Living Out Loud with Darian

Here are some of the stories in the news that have caught my attention over the past 24 hours. Get into them.

Homophobe in Denial Wins Lawsuit(Clay Cane)



Well, just when you think the Brits are more progressive—you have Lillian Ladele, a marriage registrar in North London who refused to marry same sex couples even after civil partnerships were given legal recognition in 2005. Ladele, a staunch Christian, rants, "Gay rights should not be used as an excuse to bully and harass people over their religious beliefs."



The Assassination of Barack Obama: Freedom of expression or racism?(Sandra Rose)



A controversial art exhibit was raided and shut down before it could be viewed in NYC yesterday.

According to the NY Times blog: Cityroom, Boston-born performance artist, Yazmany Arboleda, tried to set up a provocative art exhibition in a vacant storefront on West 40th Street in Midtown Manhattan with the title, “The Assassination of Hillary Clinton/The Assassination of Barack Obama”.

The artist thought his racist views were protected under the Constitution because he was expressing himself through his art. Wrong.


Massachusetts Senate passes repeal of 1913 marriage law



The Massachusetts Senate passed a bill yesterday that would repeal a 1913 state law that prevents gay and lesbian couples from most other states from marrying in Massachusetts.

The bill, which had the support of Senate President Therese Murray, passed with no objections on a voice vote. Proponents of the repeal called the 1913 law archaic and discriminatory.

"There are very few laws on the books that I can say that I'm ashamed that they're on the books," said State Senator Mark Montigny, a New Bedford Democrat. He said he opposed the law because of the "immorality of discrimination."

"This is a very simple law, contrived in shame, and it exists in shame and we ought to wipe it off the books," he said.



FASHION ON THE RISE:DURANT(BLEU)

Durant by Robert Durant launched March of 2007. The brand is the brain child of its CEO Mr. Robert Durant. The goal of the brand is to bring Urban Couture Knits to forefront of every mans closet. The time has come to throw those oversize t-shirts to the back of the closet and replace them with fashion knits that can be worn with a suit, slacks or with your favorite pair of designer jeans.





NEW BRANDY INFO + PROMO PIC(Concrete Loop)



Songbird Brandy is gearing up for the release of her new album, and it seems as though she’s got the internet going nuts with this new promo shot that’s leaked. Just a few days ago, she also released a bit of the new material that she’s been in the studio working on, a track entitled “List,” (listen HERE) that also Brandy fans were going up for.

'America's Best Dance Crew 2': Exclusive peek at Janet Jackson episode(L.A. Times)



Randy Jackson's best dance crews will have to get their rhythm on next week on MTV when they will be tasked with stepping to Miss Janet Jackson's hit songs.

We understand that the remaining six crews are digging deep into the Janet Jackson crates, spinning to "Control," "Nasty," "If," "All Nite (Don't Stop)," "I Get Lonely" and "Black Cat."

For the show finale, all the crews will "break color lines" and perform together to Jackson's "Rhythm Nation." Can you hear it? "We are a nation of no geographic boundaries . . . ." Clip reels of Janet's greatest dance moves were given to the crews for inspiration.

Alonzo


(NSFW)

Ok. Well this isn't news but it definitely put a smile on my face.