San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom looks set to enter the race for Lieutenant Governor of California. (L.A. Times) (Newsom is probably the most LGBT-friendly straight politician in the country. -Ed.)

Stonewall Democrats want you to support Rep. Jared Polis’ Student Non-Discrimination Act, especially in light of the Mississippi prom discrimination debacle (AMERICAblog Gay)

Laura Spanjian, an out lesbian who was a top contender in the race for a seat on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, is leaving the race and the city to take a cool job in the administration of Houston Mayor Annise Parker. (Bay Area Reporter)

Desmond Tutu, the Nobel Peace Prize-winning archbishop emeritus of Cape Town, South Africa, penned a Washington Post op-ed decrying the rise of anti-gay extremism in Africa.

The U.S. State Department issued its annual report on the state of human rights around the globe, and there is a significant amount of content on LGBT issues.  The Council for Global Equality has extracted and summarized those portions of the massive report.  (Kudos to CGE for their hard work focusing the State Dept. on these issues.  –Ed.)

Susan Stanton, who was fired from her job when she transitioned from male to female while she was city manager of Largo, Florida, will be profiled in a documentary special on CNN this weekend. (Tampa Tribune)

Want proof that the times they are a changin’? A lawmaker who once worked for former Congresswoman Marilyn Musgrave attended a gay-rights luncheon today.

Rep. B.J. Nikkel (pictured), of Loveland, was among the nine or so Republican lawmakers at the One Colorado event. She was Musgrave’s district director from 2003 to 2006.

Also present was GOP Sen. Shawn Mitchell of Broomfield, whose 2003 bill limiting schools’ abilities to teach about all forms of human sexuality triggered Tim Gill, a gay multi-millionaire, to open his wallet to help Democrats win control of the legislature in 2004.

Rep. Mark Ferrandino, a Democrat and an openly gay lawmaker, was stunned when he looked around the room and saw the number of Republican lawmakers. Several have long backed gay issues, but he was surprised to see others.

Former U.S. Rep. Marilyn Musgrave (R-Colo.) long championed the Federal Marriage Amendment, which would have banned marriage equality laws across the U.S.  The legislation was defeated twice, and Musgrave was unseated in 2008 by Rep. Betsy Markey (D-Colo.).

Photo:  Denver Post

Florida’s leading GOP candidate for the U.S. Senate, Marco Rubio, doesn’t like to talk about social issues now that he’s the clear front runner for his party’s nomination.  In fact, his campaign Web site is silent on key issues important to the LGBT community–nothing on employment non-discrimination, adoption, partnership rights, etc.

But Rubio, a 39 year-old former State House Speaker, has rocketed past Gov. Charlie Crist in polls of likely Republican voters largely on a message of conservative purity.

Florida LGBT activists say Rubio opposes marriage equality and supports the military’s ban on openly gay troops.   In fact, his early endorsement by the rabidly anti-gay Family Research Council may indicate a more hard-core social agenda than he’d like like to acknowledge as he heads into a general election contest.  ”FRC Action PAC believes that Marco Rubio will be a true advocate for the issues that best uphold and strengthen families. We are proud to support his candidacy,” said FRC’s Tony Perkins, a nationally known anti-gay talking head.

One Florida LGBT activist, who asked not to be named because he works with Tallahassee Republicans, told GayPolitics he believes Rubio and his staff have made a concerted effort to stay silent on LGBT issues.  ”But the truth is Rubio’s horrible,” the source added.

Tony Plakas, an openly gay columnist for the Florida Sun-Sentinel, told GayPolitics Rubio may not be talking about LGBT issues because his GOP primary opponent, Crist, doesn’t dare raise the issues himself.  ”For Rubio, no position is the best position right now.  This is Charlie Crist’s fault,” Plakas said.  ”Apparently Charlie’s closet is big enough for Marco Rubio or any other primary challenger.”

Crist, whose sexual orientation has been the subject press speculation and at least one documentary feature film, has denied he is gay.

But Rubio may also know that going on the record now opposing the LGBT community’s top legislative priorities could alienate moderate voters in the fall, when he will likely face Democratic U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek.  National GOP strategists are increasingly advising social conservatives to tone down their rhetoric on hot-button social issues in order to gain more support from independents, which now outnumber both registered Democrats and Republicans.

Rubio’s campaign did not respond to phone calls seeking comment on his positions on LGBT issues.

“We just don’t want the pendulum to swing too far the other way,” said Sen. Steve Russell (R-Oklahoma City), according to the Oklahoman. ”This protects people to do or say whatever they want, as long as it complies with local ordinances.”

But Sen. John Sparks (D-Norman) said the measure, which must be approved now by the State House, could put local district attorneys in a bind.  ”They could be guilty of obstruction of justice if the federal government requests evidence and they don’t turn it over. This language has all sorts of ramifications,” Sparks told the Oklahoman.

Via Dallas Voice/Istant Tea

According to the Asheville Citizen-Times:

The ACLU said McMillen approached school officials…because she knew same-sex dates had been banned in the past. The ACLU said district officials told McMillen she and her girlfriend wouldn’t be allowed to arrive together, that she would not be allowed to wear a tuxedo, and that she and her girlfriend might be asked to leave if their presence made any other students “uncomfortable.”

…

Anna Watson, a 17-year-old junior at the high school, was looking forward to the prom, especially since the town’s only hotspot is the bowling alley, she said.

“I am a little bummed out about it. I guess it’s a decision that had to be made. Either way someone was going to get disappointed — either Constance was or we were,” Watson said. “I don’t agree with homosexuality, but I can’t change what another person thinks or does.”

Other students are on McMillen’s side.

McKenzie Chaney, 16, said she wasn’t planning to attend the prom, but “it’s kind of ridiculous that they can’t let her wear the tuxedo and it all be over with.”

Employment discrimination of any kind will not be tolerated by this Administration. The Virginia Human Rights Act recognizes the unlawfulness of conduct that violates any Virginia or federal statute or regulation governing discrimination against certain enumerated classes of persons. The Equal Protection Clause of the United States Constitution prohibits discrimination without a rational basis against any class of persons. Discrimination based on factors such as one’s sexual orientation or parental status violates the Equal Protection Clause of the United States Constitution. Therefore, discrimination against enumerated classes of persons set forth in the Virginia Human Rights Act or discrimination against any class of persons without a rational basis is prohibited.

Democrats in the Virginia legislature have tried repeatedly to enact a state law that forbids discrimination in state hiring based on sexual orientation, but the Republican-controlled House of Delegates has blocked the measure each time.

Virginia college students are particularly upset over a recent opinion from Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli that advised the state’s public colleges and universities to drop LGBT protections from their staff policies.

Many media pundits clamored that Parker’s election in Houston marked the advent of the city’s venture to cash in on gay and lesbian visitors - a particularly attractive market in these economic times.

But the city – the fourth-largest in the country -  had begun their campaign years ago. The ad campaign had been years in the making. The timing, it turns out, was almost entirely coincidental with Parker’s election, which electrified LGBT Americans.

Parker’s victory makes Houston the largest city in the U.S. to elect an openly LGBT mayor.

San Francisco Chronicle reporter Demian Bulwa traveled to Kern County, Calif., to talk to local residents about Ashburn’s admission this week that he is gay.  He came out on a local radio talk show after being arrested in Sacramento for driving under the influence.  He had just left a downtown gay bar.

Bulwa writes:

Conservative leaders call him a sinner, while gay-rights activists say he wielded anti-gay votes as a shield to protect his secret. But in cafes, salons and saloons, many regular folks voiced the same opinion: It’s better to have a gay politician voting against gay rights than to have a straight one voting for them.

While lauding him for being a politician who could set aside his sexuality, however, many voters admitted they couldn’t do the same.

They said Ashburn never would have been elected if voters knew he was gay – not even to the Kern County Board of Supervisors, where he started out in 1984. Whether that makes Ashburn a liar or a pragmatic politician who knows his constituency is the subject of hot debate.

“He votes, more or less, along Kern County lines,” said Mel Lawrence, a 68-year-old country musician, as he prepared to take the stage Monday night at Trout’s bar on the edge of Bakersfield. “I know he might have voted against how he truly felt at times. I don’t know if you’d call that hypocritical or just doing his job.”

Like many people, Lawrence described his outlook as deeply rooted but complicated. He grew up in Texas and Phoenix, attending conservative Pentecostal churches, but he also has a lesbian stepdaughter he loves.

“I just don’t believe in it,” he said of same-sex marriage.

Across the bar, Vince Edwards, a 29-year-old electrician and ex-Marine from Texas, said he had no problem with what gay people did “behind closed doors,” but admitted he was “just prejudiced against gays. I’m just not comfortable with them.”

Read the full article here.

“This is an amazing response,” said Jason Mida, vice president of development for the Victory Fund.  ”Our table captains and sponsors deserve a lot of thanks for this early sellout.  I guess next year we’ll need a bigger venue.”

More than 625 people are slated to attend this annual fundraiser that celebrates the previous year’s success electing openly LGBT candidates to public office, and offers attendees a chance to hear from some of the country’s leading LGBT officials.  This year Houston Mayor Annise Parker and Congressman Barney Frank will speak.  The Victory Fund is also planning a special toast to D.C. City Councilman David Catania to recognize his work securing marriage equality in the District.

Learn more about the event here and add your name to the waiting list.

Del. Ken Plum, a Democrat from Reston, moved to revive the gay-rights bill that had languished in a House subcommittee, saying the legislature must respond to Republican Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli’s recent advice to the state’s public colleges and universities that they had no legal ability to add sexual orientation to their nondiscrimination policies. Cuccinelli has recommended that such statements be rescinded.

“It’s particularly timely at this time because the eyes of the nation are upon us,” Plum said.

Del. David Englin (D-Alexandria) also rose to address the House, recalling his parents and grandparents’ stories of anti-Semitic discrimination by employers. Englin said the state must act to protect Virginia’s reputation as a desirable place to do business because some companies might see the state as intolerant.

“Let there be no mistake – Ken Cuccinelli wants to hang a sign in front of the public colleges and universities of this Commonwealth that reads ‘Gays need not apply,’” Englin said.

But Del. Robert Marshall, (R-Prince William) argued that gay people needed no “special protections” and said that the term “sexual orientation” was so broad that it would protect behaviors that could not be discussed in public.

Marshall’s motion passed, 53 to 42, burying the gay rights measure.