Hooray! Today, in answer to our prayers we have the first sex scandal of the 2012 presidential campaign.

Email rendezvous entangles state Rep. Phillip Hinkle

He’s a Republican so we can take as given: he’s married with children; is staunchly pro-family; has introduced at least one resolution to have In God We Trust put on license plates, cigarette packets, kitchen rolls, etc; is vehemently opposed to any gay rights proposal and likes to troll craigslist for young men in need of a ‘suggah daddy’.

“Bert and Ernie are best friends. They were created to teach preschoolers that people can be good friends with those who are very different from themselves. Even though they are identified as male characters and possess many human traits and characteristics (as most Sesame Street Muppets™ do), they remain puppets, and do not have a sexual orientation.” [Sesame Workshop]

While we’re celebrating Blessed Events, meet Sophie Allouache and Penny Wong. Sophie’s due in December, and Penny’s delighted. “Like any expecting parents, the prospect of welcoming this child into our lives fills us both with joy,” she says.

And while Australia has yet to approve gay marriage, best wishes are being offered by such notables as Prime Minister Julia Gillard, Treasurer Wayne Swan, and even Deputy Opposition Leader Julie Bishop, although the NSW Christian Democrats leader would prefer they keep the news to themselves.

Why the high-profile attention? Seems Penny is Australia’s Finance Minister. And we’re having a very difficult time imagining similar news being greeted so gingerly here.

Finance Minister Penny Wong and partner are to have IVF baby [The Australian, via CheapBoy]

“Country star Dolly Parton has personally apologized to a lesbian couple that was stopped at the entrance to her Dollywood theme park because one of the women wore a T-shirt that read, ‘marriage is so gay.'” [NY Daily News]

“We were walking into the gate area and the man taking the tickets told me he would need me to turn my shirt inside-out before entering the park. I questioned why and he told me because it was a family park.” —Olivier Odom, explaining why she couldn’t wear a “Marriage is So Gay” tee while visiting Dollywood Splash Country water park with her partner. Dolly herself supports gay marriage. [Knoxville News Sentinel, via RML]

“Dan is so dreamy!” Sigh.

If, after seeing this, anyone has the stomach to read about Rick and his BFF Dan Savage, here’s a linque to the Huffington Post.

Niagara Falls town council today announced an ambitious plan to snag some of the upcoming wedding bonanza by turning the falls gay-for-pay. (This is the American side: the Canadian side hasn’t come out yet.) Unfortunately, as is obvious from the picture, no gay man was actually involved in designing the transformation.

When asked for his opinion, gay spokesperson Bruce Boner said, “Eww! I’m gay. Not Italian.”