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Watch this candidate for Maryland governor try to 'piss off' Trump by kissing his husband.

Most politicians end their campaign ads with a shot of their family. Richard Madaleno is no exception.

Madaleno, who is running to be the Democratic candidate for governor of Maryland, devoted his latest ad, "Take That," to how he'd "infuriate" Donald Trump. During the short clip, he rattles off a series of accomplishments, such as standing up for Planned Parenthood, banning assault weapons, and supporting public schools.

The video cuts to a shot of Madaleno and his husband and two children in the closing seconds. He says, "And what's the number one way I can piss off Donald Trump and the Republicans?" before leaning in and kissing his husband.


[rebelmouse-image 19534715 dam="1" original_size="500x252" caption="GIF from Richard Madaleno/YouTube." expand=1]GIF from Richard Madaleno/YouTube.

The LGBTQ Victory Fund called the ad "historic" for featuring a same-sex kiss. And sure, probably.

"At a time when the White House and other anti-LGBTQ politicians are attempting to erase our visibility and rollback our rights, Rich Madaleno is boldly stating he’s proud of his family and will fight for all Marylanders if elected," Annise Parker, president & CEO of LGBTQ Victory Fund, said.

"Not long ago, out LGBTQ people were unable to run for statewide offices such as governor, but voters now recognize there is an authenticity to LGBTQ leaders rarely found in today’s politicians. Rich is on-track to win the Democratic primary because of that authenticity, his deep roots in the state, and his 15 years of legislative experience. And it is great to see him share his love for Mark and the kids with voters too — especially in a political ad airing during the president’s favorite television show."

The ad, as Parker hinted, ran in Maryland and the District of Columbia during "Fox & Friends." This really was some top-level trolling. It is worth noting that the number of Republicans who support same-sex marriage is on the rise. There's still a long way to go, however. Pew Research found that in 2017 that 40% of Republicans approve of same-sex marriage, compared to 73% of Democrats.

More LGBTQ representation in government would definitely be an improvement.

Parker, the former mayor of Houston and an out lesbian, raises a really great point about the lack of LGBTQ representation. The Victory Institute (the research arm of the Victory Fund) released a report in Dec. 2017 highlighting just how underrepresented LGBTQ people are in government, noting that they were only aware of 448 LGBTQ elected officials serving in the U.S., just 0.1% of the total. In order to achieve equitable representation, they estimate a need for 21,307 more LGBTQ officials.

Annise Parker speaks during a Family Equality Council event in 2015. Photo by Jason Kempin/Getty Images for Family Equality Council.

"Nothing about us without us" and "No taxation without representation" are common themes throughout history touching on people who are underrepresented in an organization or government or who are simply denied a voice entirely. It's hard for LGBTQ people's concerns to be heard without proportionate representation — the same goes for other underrepresented groups, such as people of color. While nobody is suggesting we find a way to elect another 20,000 LGBTQ people immediately, it certainly couldn't hurt to have a few more in positions of power.

It would really be nice to live in a world where two husbands kissing doesn't immediately conjure shock value.

A quick look at comments on the original video shows that there are still people extremely uncomfortable with the idea that LGBTQ people exist. Unfortunately for them, we absolutely do exist. Straight politicians kiss their spouses so often that we hardly notice it (unless it gets awkward, and yeah, sometimes it gets awkward).

Perhaps the confrontational nature ("Take that!") of the kiss in Madaleno's ad makes an important point of defiance to an administration that's been anything but friendly to LGBTQ people since taking power. Let's just hope it doesn't always have to be that way.

You can watch Madaleno's full ad below.

A pitbull stares at the window, looking for the mailman.


Dogs are naturally driven by a sense of purpose and a need for belonging, which are all part of their instinctual pack behavior. When a dog has a job to do, it taps into its needs for structure, purpose, and the feeling of contributing to its pack, which in a domestic setting translates to its human family.

But let’s be honest: In a traditional domestic setting, dogs have fewer chores they can do as they would on a farm or as part of a rescue unit. A doggy mom in Vancouver Island, Canada had fun with her dog’s purposeful uselessness by sharing the 5 “chores” her pitbull-Lab mix does around the house.

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Representative Image from Canva

Let's not curse any more children with bad names, shall we?

Some parents have no trouble giving their children perfectly unique, very meaningful names that won’t go on to ruin their adulthood. But others…well…they get an A for effort, but might want to consider hiring a baby name professional.

Things of course get even more complicated when one parent becomes attached to a name that they’re partner finds completely off-putting. It almost always leads to a squabble, because the more one parent is against the name, the more the other parent will go to bat for it.

This seemed to be the case for one soon-to-be mom on the Reddit AITA forum recently. Apparently, she was second-guessing her vehement reaction to her husband’s, ahem, avant garde baby name for their daughter, which she called “the worst name ever.”

But honestly, when you hear this name, I think you’ll agree she was totally in the right.

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An English doctor named Edward Jenner took incredible risks to try to rid his world of smallpox. Because of his efforts and the efforts of scientists like him, the only thing between deadly diseases like the ones below and extinction are people who refuse to vaccinate their kids. Don't be that parent.

Unfortunately, because of the misinformation from the anti-vaccination movement, some of these diseases have trended up in a really bad way over the past several years.

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A beautiful cruise ship crossing the seas.

Going on a cruise can be an incredible getaway from the stresses of life on the mainland. However, that doesn’t mean there isn’t an element of danger when living on a ship 200-plus feet high, traveling up to 35 miles per hour and subject to the whims of the sea.

An average of about 19 people go overboard every year, and only around 28% survive. Cruise ship lawyer Spencer Aronfeld explained the phenomenon in a viral TikTok video, in which he also revealed the secret code the crew uses when tragedy happens.

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Kudos to the heroes who had 90 seconds to save lives in the Key Bridge collapse

The loss of 6 lives is tragic, but the dispatch recording shows it could have been so much worse.

Representative image by Gustavo Fring/Pexels

The workers who responded to the Dali's mayday call saved lives with their quick response.

As more details of the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse in Baltimore emerge, it's becoming more apparent how much worse this catastrophe could have been.

Just minutes before 1:30am on March 26, shortly after leaving port in Baltimore Harbor, a cargo ship named Dali lost power and control of its steering, sending it careening into a structural pillar on Key Bridge. The crew of the Dali issued a mayday call at 1:26am to alert authorities of the power failure, giving responders crucial moments to prepare for a potential collision. Just 90 seconds later, the ship hit a pylon, triggering a total collapse of the 1.6-mile bridge into the Patapsco River.

Dispatch audio of those moments shows the calm professionalism and quick actions that limited the loss of life in an unexpected situation where every second counted.

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Yale's pep band had to miss the NCAA tournament. University of Idaho said, 'We got you.'

In an act of true sportsmanship, the Vandal band learned Yale's fight song, wore their gear and cheered them on.

Courtesy of University of Idaho

The Idaho Vandals answered the call when Yale needed a pep band.

Yale University and the University of Idaho could not be more different. Ivy League vs. state school. East Coast vs. Pacific Northwest. City vs. farm town. But in the first two rounds of the NCAA basketball tournament, extenuating circumstances brought them together as one, with the Bulldogs and the Vandals becoming the "Vandogs" for a weekend.

When Yale made it to the March Madness tournament, members of the school's pep band had already committed to other travel plans during spring break. They couldn't gather enough members to make the trek across the country to Spokane, Washington, so the Yale Bulldogs were left without their fight song unless other arrangements could be made.

When University of Idaho athletic band director Spencer Martin got wind of the need less than a week before Yale's game against Auburn, he sent out a message to his band members asking if anyone would be interested in stepping in. The response was a wave of immediate yeses, so Martin got to work arranging instruments and the students dedicated themselves to learning Yale's fight song and other traditional Yale pep songs.

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