Rep. Simone Bell is emerging as one of the most progressive leaders in Georgia’s General Assembly, and tonight you have a chance to help the openly gay lawmaker return to the Gold Dome for another term.

Bell’s re-election campaign is having a fundraising event at Agave Restaurant tonight from 5:30-7. Bell is one of four openly gay members of the Georgia House of Representatives, and became the first out lesbian African-American elected to a state legislature in 2009, and is now seeking her third term.

Bell’s district includes Grant Park, Reynoldstown and East Atlanta, and she has been at the forefront of issues that affect women, children, LGBT, senior citizens and the working poor.

The organization that regulates competitive cheerleading has told male cheerleaders that they need to show a little less spirit in their routines.

Last month, the U.S. All Star Federation revised its rules to encourage male cheerleaders to “minimize exaggerated or theatrical movements.

One cheerleading coach told Salon.com that the message being delivered is: “We don’t want the guys to look gay!”

Well, there goes the sport of competitive cheerleading.

The butch-it-up mandate for male cheerleaders was part of a larger “image etiquette” that also regulated skirt lengths, make-up amounts and reminded female cheerleaders to stop wearing such big damn bows in their hair.

Six month ago today, Newt Gingrich told ABC News, “It’s very hard not to look at the recent polls and think that the odds are very high that I’m going to be the nominee.”

Gingrich’s hyper-arrogant self-regard has barely diminished since that day in December, even as state after state after state rejected his campaign wholesale. All of Georgia should be ashamed that our state could produce such a delusional lunatic, and be mortally embarrassed to be one of only two states (along with South Carolina) to say we were comfortable with the idea of Gingrich in the White House.

Today, Gingrich again displayed his disconnect from reality by sharing “insider, advance notice” on a topic that has been clear to the rest of America since the Iowa caucuses: “On Wednesday, I’ll be officially suspending the campaign.”

Gingrich thanked the hundreds of thousands of people who wasted their money donating to his campaign, and said that “all of us have an obligation, I think, to do everything we can to defeat Barack Obama.” Ironically, Gingrich’s kamikaze campaign has all but guaranteed Obama will defeat a severely weakened Mitt Romney in November.

In other election news, the Washington Post reported today that Romney’s campaign essentially forced out foreign affairs spokesperson Richard Grenell, who is gay. After conservative leaders blasted Romney for appointing an openly gay spokesperson, Grenell was muzzled by the campaign even as foreign affairs moved to the front page with the anniversary of the death of Osama bin Laden.

Three months ago a self-proclaimed “loser” from Pittsburgh sauntered into our lives. Clad in black and a witch’s hat, the drag queen told us, “I look spooky, but I’m really nice.”

Over the next few weeks, we fell under the spell of the RuPaul’s “Drag Race” contestant who pushed the boundaries of conventional drag and mesmerized us with her wickedly witty charm. She held her own as RuPaul sent one queen after the other home.

And, last night during a live finale on Logo she sashayed away with a crown, $100,000 and the title of America’s Next Drag Superstar.

Today, once again, Fenuxe chatted with the deliciously devilish Sharon Needles. Forgive us for the tease below, but you can find the rest of her interview in the May 17 issue of Fenuxe Magazine.

Fenuxe: So what are you going to do with the $100,000 prize?
Sharon: I don’t know. I’m going to get so much plastic surgery Chad Michaels is going to look natural.

Fenuxe: Who was your favorite guest judge?
Sharon: Oh, Elvira, of course!
Fenuxe: That’s what I thought; I just didn’t want to assume.
Sharon: To be accepted on the show was mind boggling enough but to walk in the first day and be chased down by zombies and vomiting up [fake] blood in front of idols like RuPaul and Elvira was out of this world. I can sincerely say that was one of the most bizarre and best days of my life.

Fenuxe: What traits helped you win the crown?
Sharon: It’s simple. Drag was always meant to be the celebrity of every city’s gay culture. Drag queens are the clowns in a world full of hate and oppression. I think I just reminded people that drag is fun. Drag makes you make a fool of yourself on stage to entertain your friends and community. It’s not something that was designed to polarize or even to be perfected. Drag is just a circus designed to entertain people in the middle of the night in a smoky bar after a couple of cocktails. I think I not only reminded RuPaul but America as well that drag is for fun.

Click HERE to see our first interview with Sharon before the show began in January. We don’t mean to brag, but we know a star when we see one.

The Associated Press is reporting that charges are pending in the death of Robert Champion, a Florida A&M drum major who was killed during a band hazing incident last November.

Champion was from Atlanta and openly gay, although his parents and authorities have said his being hazed was unrelated to his sexual orientation.

Champion’s death was ruled a homicide during the autopsy, which revealed that Champion had endured blunt trauma and died of shock due to significant bleeding. He was attacked by fellow band members after boarding a charter bus following a performance in Orlando.

The incident brought harsh scrutiny on the fraternal hazing that is tolerated – even celebrated – among collegiate organizations, particularly within African-American schools and organizations.

A pair of videos – one from each side in the fight over whether a ban on same-sex marriage should be added to North Carolina’s constitution – create a quirky dynamic heading into next Tuesday’s vote on the proposed marriage amendment. Could a bigot do more to promote gay rights than a gay rights group?

Yesterday, a gleefully ignorant redneck (his wardrobe and use of the term ’round here certifies his self-identification as a redneck) named Alex Wiles expressed his support of banning same-sex marriage by unloading two shotgun blasts into a yard sign that opposes the gay marriage ban.

“That’s how we deal with it ’round here,” Wiles says.

The videotaped target practice should be used as evidence in a hate crime trial against Alex Wiles, even if he is charged with disturbing the peace or illegally discharging a weapon. If he committed a crime, there is no doubt of the hatred in his heart that motivated it. There is no doubt that his crime was intended to strike fear into an entire group of people, warning them not to be caught ’round here.

Ironically, Wiles’s video has the potential to help defeat the anti-gay marriage amendment in North Carolina. There are goodhearted people who oppose same-sex marriage, or think that they should oppose same-sex marriage because they’ve always been taught that God hates gay people.

There are people who plan on voting to ban same-sex marriage – and those who are on the fence – and when they see Wiles’s enthusiastic bigotry, they will reconsider whether they want to align themselves, align their state, with such repulsive hatred.

Alex Wiles may well save the campaign to defeat the North Carolina marriage amendment, as prior to his YouTube idiocy, it seemed as though the Tar Heel state would likely join the rest of the south in adopting an amendment banning gay nuptials.

The Coalition to Protect North Carolina Families, an admirable group of volunteers who are campaigning to defeat Amendment One, unfortunately has fallen into a pattern that has resulted in gay marriage being defeated in every state in which it has been voted on: De-Gaying the Campaign.

This week, Protect NC Families released its third television ad against the amendment, and like the first two, this 30-second clip focuses exclusively on how Amendment One would make it harder for women to file domestic abuse charges against their unmarried boyfriends.

With all due respect, Amendment One is not about domestic violence among heterosexauls. It is explicitly about GAY PEOPLE, and it seems absolutely cowardly to try to distract voters with the former issue because you are afraid to confront them on the latter.

Weakening domestic violence protections may be one of the “far-reaching,” “unintended” consequences of passing Amendment One, but it is foolish to think you can win a campaign by talking only about the “unintended” consequences of an amendment.

What are the INTENDED consequences? Obviously to ban same-sex marriage, but also to assert heterosexual superiority over homosexuals, to prolong religious assault on the dignity of LGBT individuals, to alienate LGBT people from their families and communities by casting them as unworthy of inclusion.

In virtually every ballot initiative that gay activists have fought over the past two decades, we have avoided framing the debate in those fundamental terms. We have deluded ourselves (and insulted the intelligence of the general public) by thinking that we can win the vote if we make it about domestic violence, or senior citizens, or “discrimination” of an undefined group.

North Carolina has more than a decade of case studies on how not to fight an anti-gay marriage ballot initiative, and they opted for the game plan that has failed in Georgia, California and everywhere else this issue has been put to vote.

Let’s hope Alex Wiles can ride in, guns a-blazin’, to rescue the day.

Known as the comedy improv duo GlitterBomb, performers Mandy Butler and Shannon Jenkins don’t shy away from the truth when it comes to the art of theatre. Whether talking smack or giving props, they’ll dish out honest feedback about Atlanta’s hottest shows. They shower glitter where praise is due and drop bombs when criticism is deserved. The pathologically blunt Mandy holds an MFA in acting pedagogy, while the over-dramatic Shannon has covered the arts as a journalist since 2001.

Below you’ll find GlitterBomb’s candid conversation about John Mellencamp and Stephen King’s “Ghost Brothers of Darkland County” showing at the Alliance Theatre through May 13.

From left: Shuler Hensley, Kylie Brown, Lucas Kavner, Emily Skinner and Justin Guarini grapple with the family secret in the Alliance Theatre’s production of Ghost Brothers of Darkland County. Photo by Greg Mooney.

Glitter for Costumes
M: I really loved the chromatic scheme. It was very subtle how the costumes made the actors simultaneously players and set pieces. When the actors weren’t in the action they sort of blended in.
S: With the play taking place in my native Mississippi, I was particularly watching to see how they would dress the characters. The costume designer, Susan Mickey, did her homework.

Representing the South
S: They did a good job of portraying Southerners without making it cartoonish or insulting.
M: As a Southern girl myself, I have a chip on my shoulder about people playing Southerners in a certain way. Their accents were so thick at times they lost their articulation. Yes, that happens in life, but this is a theatrical production and the audience needs to understand you. So articulate, hit your consonants and don’t make it vowel soup.

The Band Plays On
M: The choice to have a live band was a wonderful, ambitious idea but acoustically that’s not going to work in every venue if the show tours. And it didn’t work in this venue. It drowned out the actors, and I lost a lot of the text. Just use tracks. It was just too loud.
S: I like it loud.

Let the Music Play
M: John Mellencamp is amazing. It was all-American Norman Rockwell meets Edgar Allan Poe.
S: The songs told a story, which John often does. The songs really sunk their teeth in me. Whoever was behind us liked it too. Their feet were just a thumping.
M: I was being kicked the entire time.
S: I saw you give them the devil look. I even caught myself tapping my foot a few times but I stopped because I’m a considerate patron.
M: The music was great, but I was nervous in the beginning because it started out flat and low-energy. The actors were singing low. I thought that was going to be the whole show. It picked up with the number “Brotherly Love.”
S: I really liked “Home Again.” It was sweet.

Cruising the Men
S: The biggest stand-out was the actor [Jake La Botz] who played The Shape.
M: We’re going to have to disagree. The work he did was safe and easy. He was costumed well and he could sing. He moved beautifully. Acting wise, he could have gone deeper. I wanted Jeremy Irons, villainous, unapologetic. I wanted a serpentine quality to him.
S: Well, I liked him. Plus, he was scary hot. That’s when a guy looks like he’d shank you but you’re attracted to him anyway. He had all those tats and he didn’t have a shirt on under his vest. I kept staring at his flat abdomen.
M: But I missed his charm. I wanted him to give me more.
S: He can give me more. And Justin Guarini can haunt me any time.
M: Isn’t he handsome?
S: He’s a pretty, pretty man. And he has superb singing chops. I loved the gritty tone to his voice. Also, in case you’re ever watching for a man for me, the actor who played Andy [Travis Smith] has the ideal physique. I wanted to see under that white T-shirt. Did you see his guns? He flexed his arm and I was done.

Peter Albrink, left, and Travis Smith fight it out as brothers in the Alliance Theatre’s world premiere production of Ghost Brothers of Darkland County. Photo by Greg Mooney.

Performances
M: Both the actresses playing Jenna [Kate Ferber] and Anna [Kylie Brown] were physically awkward. They had beautiful bodies but they didn’t know what to do with them. When they were dancing, I wanted women who could move more. The little boy [Royce Mann] was fantastic. The actor who played [Dan Christopher L. Morgan] was phenomenal. The adult Joe [Shuler Hensley] was really good. The woman [Emily Skinner] who played the mother was soooo good. She was dynamic and commanding. Her voice was to die for. The pipes on all the women were amazing.
S: They could all sing.

Did We Care?
S: I’m a huge Stephen King fan.
M: Me too!
S: I read him before I go to bed to wind down.
M: I don’t do that.
S: He doesn’t often write traditionally likeable characters. He doesn’t write drippy sweet protagonists. So I wasn’t cheering for any character in particular. The story took precedent over the characters. Even Stephen’s characters who aren’t written as endearing in the beginning become endearing over the course of the story. He makes me care about them. I just didn’t care about the characters on stage.
M: The playwright gives you the bones; you fill in the guts. But these performances were really lackluster. In the terms of acting choices, specificity and intention, the actors collectively missed the mark. Had they played it more dynamically you would have identified more with their characters.
S: I agree. Overall, the cast did a disservice to Stephen’s work. The performances didn’t have heart and soul. They didn’t breathe life into the story.
M: They rested on the story. It’s an easy trap to fall into. They had an amazing set, music, visuals and script, so all they had to do was show up and remember their blocking and lines.

Final Thoughts
On a glitter scale of 1 to 5, we give this production a 3. But they earned that 3 with the costumes, music, vocals and the set. We would have awarded a 4 if the actors had done more with the playground they were given.

It’s been a queer April for many of the biggest names of our childhood:

– We’ve always known that the Super Mario Bros. were excellent plumbers, but we assumed they were cleaning the pipes of Princess Toadstool. However, it turns out that Mario and Luigi are actually hot for each other. Ignore the incestuous implications of their lip locking, and enjoy this video that will forever change the way you hear the Mario Bros. legendary theme song.

– Just in time for the summer blockbuster “Dark Knight Rises,” all of the walls of Batman’s closet are crumbling down. First, there was Conan O’Brien giving us a peak of how the caped crusader really fights crime: