MSNBC reports on a pair of male Humbolt penguins at a zoo in Germany that incubated an egg and have continued to raise the chick.

Considering that the egg was originally abandoned by its presumably heterosexual penguin mother, it seems this is quite a good example of why letting same-sex couples adopt is really a good idea. See, it’s like this: the chick would have perished before hatching had the gay pair not incubated the egg. (Zookeepers placed the abandoned egg in their nest.) Similarly, gay couples in the human world can be fantastic parents for children currently being shuffled through foster care because they’ve been taken from abusive, neglectful, or otherwise harmful straight parents.

The “But it’s unnatural!” argument no longer works, folks.

Rachel Maddow brought this up on her show last night. Seems that Pastor Rick Warren’s church decided that unrepentant homosexuals can now indeed be members of his church. Here’s the website before shot that is circulating the interwebs:

The part about “someone unwilling to repent of their homosexual lifestyle would not be accepted at [sic] a member at Saddleback Church” has been changed. Actually, the “Small Group Information” page now redirects to a page that doesn’t include the words “homosexual” or “gay.” Fortunately, the Wayback Machine has preserved the original page for posterity.

So, is Rick Warren trying to be all moderate and stuff, and spin his hateful words? Well, nice try, Rick, but the videos still exist of you comparing gay relationships to incest, pedophilia, and bigamy. You’re a zebra who can’t change your stripes, and you’re still a blight on the inauguration.

I’ve posted my story on Obama’s change.gov, to express my disappointment at his selection of Rick Warren to give the invocation at the inauguration. Here’s what I wrote:

I grew up in rural South Georgia. I was the skinny nerd, the one that got picked on, the one who was called ‘fag’ and ‘sissy.’ I struggled through my teen years, praying every day that God would make me straight, so that I could be like the other kids. I hated myself, and found myself falling into depression.

Finally I left the small town I grew up in to go to college in Atlanta. I met a person who is to this day my best friend, and came out to him. I was surprised and thrilled when he told me he was gay, too. Slowly, I began to accept my sexual orientation, and take pride in who I am, and who I had started to become.

I marched in the Pride Parades, I volunteered to raise money for AIDS charities when it was a “gay disease.” I met many wonderful and dear friends, and I cried when some of them died of that same “gay disease.” But still, my friends and I held on for the day when we would finally be treated equally, and could begin to forget the fear of hate and bigotry.

I thought that when you told us that we were welcome at your table that you were being truthful. I thought, “Finally, a President who says that we are as much a part of the fabric of America as everyone else.”

It appears I was wrong to think that. Instead, I know that when I’m at your inauguration that I’ll have to go silent again, withdraw into that same shell while a man filled with bigotry gives the invocation. I thought that things would be different, that it would be okay to be gay at your inauguration. I guess I was wrong. I can’t tell you how heartbroken and disappointed I am.