We can't speak for everyone, but we here at DC9 at Night are getting pretty excited about this year's Dallas Observer Music Awards. Voting has been open for just shy of a month now, we've been busy booking the bands that will perform at the DOMA showcase, and the festivities themselves -- the showca ... More >>
It's been a little over a week now since voting opened, so we're just going to go ahead and ask: Have you filled out your Dallas Observer Music Awards ballot yet? If yes, congratulations. You're a champ. If not, it's okay; we understand what it's like to play the long game. In fact, voting will be o ... More >>
Monday morning word came down from on high, or wherever it is the Supreme Court proclamations come from, that the court would not hear any of several same-sex marriage cases it could have this term. In turning down cases from the 4th, 7th and 10th federal circuit courts, the Supreme Court paved the ... More >>
Hold onto your butts, Dallas; it's that time of year again. Dallas Observer Music Awards time. DOMA time has moved back to its latest time of year ever, but we couldn't be more excited about it. This year, our annual music awards showcase -- Chevy Music Showcase North Texas Presents the Dallas Obs ... More >>
There are many plausible explanations for the so-called Texas Miracle, the state's decade-plus surge in economic and population growth. Job creators appreciate the low tax burden and light regulation. Workers like the low cost of living and lack of a state income tax. Heretofore unimagined quantitie ... More >>
It'll still be a while before gay couples are allowed to legally allowed to marry in Texas, but they took a big step today when a federal court ruled that the state's same-sex marriage ban is unconstitutional. U.S. District Judge Orlando wrote in an opinion on Wednesday that the constitutional amen ... More >>
In a wholly unexpected and incredibly bizarre turn of events, Republican lieutenant governor candidate Dan Patrick offered an endorsement of gay marriage so enthusiastic that he suggested doing away with heterosexual unions in the process. Patrick, heretofore the most conservative candidate in the ... More >>
U.S. District Judge Orlando Garcia didn't hand down any ruling Wednesday following a hearing on two Texas couples' lawsuit challenging Texas' gay-marriage ban. A decision, on whether to grant the couples' request for a preliminary injunction blocking Texas' constitutional amendment prohibiting same- ... More >>
Vic Holmes and Mark Phariss, the gay Plano couple suing to overturn Texas' ban on same-sex marriage, will be in San Antonio on Wednesday trying to convince a federal judge to allow their case to continue. The battle lines are familiar by now. Gay marriage, proponents say, is a constitutionally prot ... More >>
The United Methodist Church, much like the state of Texas, does not approve of gay marriage -- or, for that matter, of any divergence from the Adam & Eve model of human sexuality set down in Genesis. The UMC's official rulebook says that "sexual relations are affirmed only with the covenant of mono ... More >>
In September, on the heels of the landmark Supreme Court decision in U.S. v. Windsor, which entitled legally married gay and lesbian couples to the same federal perks as their heterosexual counterparts, the Obama administration declared that the opinion encompassed military veteran's benefits. So t ... More >>
For the past few months, the Texas National Guard and the Department of Defense have been in a public brawl over gay rights. And last week, it appeared that the Defense Department, along with gay couples, emerged as the clear victor. Texas, Oklahoma and West Virginia are now complying with the DOD ... More >>
Update at 1:22 p.m.: John Wright reports that the Human Rights Campaign has lowered Dallas' score from 85 to 81 after realizing the city doesn't have an "equal benefits ordinance." We've included HRC's full explanation for Dallas increased score at the end of the post. Original post Good news every ... More >>
If a same-sex marriage happens outside of Texas, but no law in Texas was there to recognize it, did the marriage ever even happen? Earlier this year, a state senator asked Attorney General Greg Abbott to weigh in on the question in light of all the same-sex couples employed by municipal government ... More >>
On October 3, a few weeks after celebrating their 16th anniversary as a couple, Vic Holmes and Mark Phariss of Plano walked into the Bexar County Clerk's Office to apply for a marriage license. Their request was was denied, as they knew it would be. Same-sex marriage is still banned under the Texas ... More >>
This year, we'll celebrate our 25th Dallas Observer Music Awards. Voting is open now, and the ceremony is on November 5 at House of Blues. Over the years, we've seen our fair share of bands appearing on the DOMA nominee list year after year. And, in a few notable cases, they found themselves in the ... More >>
On Saturday, November 2, 58 local artists will play on 8 stages in Deep Ellum for the 25th Dallas Observer Music Awards Showcase. Tickets are $10 or $15 day-of. Representatives of nearly every conceivable genre of music are on the lineup, and we encourage you to sample liberally. There will be plent ... More >>
It ain't the state of Texas, but same-sex couples just got their legal marriages recognized by an entity that wields more influence at home and abroad than Governor Rick Perry ever will -- that's Irving-based oil giant ExxonMobil. The company, known for its insular, white-bread corporate culture, c ... More >>
Jeffrey and Henry Buck were married in Massachusetts on September 22, 2006, some two years after the state recognized same-sex unions. They moved to Texas in 2008 and quickly discovered what heterosexual couples have known for ages about the sanctity of matrimony: Sometimes it just doesn't work out. ... More >>
Back in February, when the Texas legislature was in session the first time, Representative Lon Burnam, D-Fort Worth, authored a bill aimed to authorize "a marriage between two persons of the same sex in this state and repealing the statutory prohibition against the recognition of a civil union or si ... More >>
The new HBO documentary The Out List was supposed to be a response to California's Proposition 8. But it turned into something bigger, director Timothy Greenfield-Sanders told Vanity Fair, where he's a contributing photographer. What it became is a series of interviews with 16 openly gay, lesbian, b ... More >>
There was going to be a rally last night one way or the other. Local activists had scheduled the Dallas Day of Decision Rally for 7 p.m. of whatever day the Supreme Court issued its ruling on Proposition 8 and the Defense of Marriage Act, and depending on how those decisions went the rally would eit ... More >>
The Dallas Voice broke the news Tuesday that Councilman Scott Griggs had won the support from a majority of his colleagues for a resolution supporting marriage equality and would be putting the item on the City Council agenda for a vote. "It's timely, and it's relevant," Griggs later told the Morni ... More >>
Voters didn't mince words in 2005, when they added Article I, Section 32 to the Texas Constitution. "Marriage in this state shall consist only of the union of one man and one woman," it says. "This state or a political subdivision of this state may not create or recognize any legal status identical ... More >>
If you're a human with a computer or maybe just a smartphone or maybe just a head with a brain inside of it, you are likely privy to the Defense of Marriage Act and the Supreme Court hearings this week. Or maybe you changed your profile picture because UGH, SUPREME COURT. It started with this, the ... More >>
The attention of the country, or at least that segment of it that's politically aware enough to pay attention, is focused squarely on the U.S. Supreme Court,which this week is debating a pair of potentially momentous cases. Hollingsworth v. Perry, which was argued today, could do away with Californi ... More >>
In 2005, Texas voters considered adding an amendment to the state constitution declaring that marriage "shall consist only of the union of one man and one woman" and forbidding any formal recognition of same-sex unions ratified elsewhere. The measure, controversial only insomuch as some conservativ ... More >>
Republican state senator John Carona got himself into a bit of hot water with fellow conservatives last week, after he told Dallas Voice senior editor John Wright that he would support several LGBT rights bills during the upcoming legislative session. Those bills would ban employment discrimination ... More >>
Chris Kluwe is prying open America's last closet: major-league sports.
Citing "intolerant bigotry from the left," former Arkansas governor and candidate in the 2008 republican presidential primaries, Mike Huckabee, has called for a "Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day" on August 1. Last week we reported on Chick-fil-A's president Dan Cathy's interview where he condemned sam ... More >>
Dan Cathy, president and COO of Chick-fil-A, recently was a guest on an Atlanta-area radio talk show, where he denounced gay marriage, again, saying: "I think we are inviting God's judgment on our nation when shake our fist at Him and say, 'We know better than you as to what constitutes a marriage.' ... More >>
First Baptist Pastor Robert Jeffress gets most of the press for his outspoken views on homosexuality and Mormonism, but over at the Dallas Voice, John Wright highlights the, um, retrograde views of another prominent local preacher, Dwight McKissic of Arlington's Cornerstone Baptist Church. McKissic ... More >>
The bride wore a strapless dress in shades of blue and white. The other bride wore a battered leather jacket, a shiny, pale pink tie and a snug gray beanie. Hendrix Scott and Jennifer McCluskey rode up to the second floor of the Dallas County Records Building on Main Street this morning to ask John ... More >>
Via.C'mon, Tom, show us the part where you walk on water.Oh, oh, oh -- now I get it. All this time former Mayor Tom Leppert sure seemed to be just a stinking hypocrite, a back-stabbing, forked-tongue phony who turned all anti-gay and old-time religious-y after leaving office and deciding to r ... More >>
Photos by Sam MertenCarol ReedPolitical consultant Carol Reed answered questions about the battle for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Kay Bailey Hutchison, the Dallas mayor's race, the 2012 Republican presidential primary and an assortment of local and state issues last night at a meet ... More >>
Patrick MichelsIn the comments below, a Friend of Unfair Park notes that shortly before Mayor Tom Leppert said his farewells to the Dallas City Council, he hopped on his Twitter account to take issue with President Obama's announcement that he believes Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act is ... More >>
Photos by Andrea GrimesTina Shaft, wearing a feathered headpice, married her partner of nearly a decade, Tiffany Fenimore, in a service at the Interfaith Peace Chapel at the Cathedral of Hope on Friday afternoon.After they were turned away from a private wedding venue in Justin, north of Fort Wor ... More >>
The Skype wedding witnessed 'round the worldThe Skype'd wedding of Mark Reed and Dante Walkup -- held at the Dallas W hotel, officiated over Internet teleconferencing software in Washington, D.C. -- went viral a few weeks after the gay couple was legally married in our nation's capital in October ... More >>
Patrick MichelsMichael Robinson, left, and David Bowling were the sole protesters at today's same-sex divorce hearing downtown.So much for the media circus outside today's highly anticipated (judging by the advance news coverage, anyway) hearing at the George L. Allen Sr. Courts Building, where t ... More >>
Robert Jeffress, senior pastor of First Baptist Church of Dallas Ah, bless you, Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation. Because till GLAAD posted this video on its YouTube channel today, we had no idea that First Baptist Church of Dallas's Robert Jeffress was among temp host Jane Velez-Mitchell's ... More >>
With our DOMA ballot online and ripe for your votin', we figured we'd give you some help: a daily breakdown of each category's nominees. Best Song - "Slow Southern Home" by Doug Burr - "Julianne" by The Crash That Took Me - "Parking Lot Nights" by Ghosthustler - "Maths" by Record Hop - "The Sparrow ... More >>
JohnMcCain.com Two news articles in recent days have shed light on an enigma: John McCain’s Christian faith. Andrea Billups’ story in the Washington Times -- despite its inadvertently funny lede, which appears to have caught multiple people sleeping at the copy desk -- will do nothing to boost ... More >>
Trinity United Church of Christ Barack Obama with the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr., in a now-famous photo taken three years ago There were the “Cocktail Christians”: the Lutherans in my Wisconsin hometown who did their sacred rites on Sunday morning and tipped multiple martinis Sunday night. Pun ... More >>
Terri Leo doesn't like the gays. Or maybe she just doesn't get them. Got a little time to kill this morning? Good, because the Texas Freedom Network Education Fund has just issued its latest report on the religious right's influence on Texas government, God's Lawgivers? Carrying the Water for the Re ... More >>
The election results are a big smack upside the head to American evangelicals--a firm rebuke. Don't explain them away or blame them on gays, the media and godless liberals. Yes, Ted Haggard had something to do with it. Maybe a lot to do with it. Most of all, he exposed our disgusting arrogance. And ... More >>
Run from any political group with "freedom" or "liberty" in its name
Prop 2 could fail, if the right people stay home
Two Texas leaders of the extreme Religious Right get ready to flex their political muscle
Drive-In Movie Critic of Grapevine, TX