Here’s a few stories that have interested me recently, but I haven’t wrote up as individual posts. The items are in no particular order.

- LAPD enlists feral cats for rat patrol. Okay, how do you not love a story with that headline? Hey, I live near a freeway with a large embankment covered with iceplant — plenty of rodents live there. I’m sure my two cats are keeping my apartment free of rodents.

- Greater Boston PFLAG President: Hillary Clinton Fails Gay Families. Interesting piece on why a local PFLAG president finds Clinton’s statements on teaching about LGBT parents in the classroom to be troublesome. Apparently, Clinton’s view on Heather Has Two Mommies is less progressive than many of us would have expected.

- Karen Bachman found this article, noting it in a comment: Smith’s Pick Stirs Gay-Rights Controversy. Apparently, the judge who made the Oregon domestic partnership decision on Friday (H/t: Mad Professah) had confirmation difficulties over LGBT issues. Here’s a thought — should LGBT folk be calling this judge a “judicial activist?” The ruling seems to going against the concept of federalism…

- Inmate Says He Needs Thor’s Hammer, Drum. An inmate is suing the Utah Department of Corrections for denying him his right to practice an ancient Nordic religion while behind bars. Groovy!

- The Candidates On Bhutto; Candidates React To Bhutto’s Assassination; 2008 U.S. hopefuls react to Bhutto death. And, a few thousand more articles — and I do mean a few thousand articles. The candidates speak, and everyone-and-their-dog-Spot has a take on how Benazir Bhutto’s assassination is going to effect the “horse race” in Iowa and New Hampshire.

[Genital reassignment surgery the same as amputating a leg? ; Who counts in the LGBT community? ; Doc took a cell-phone pic of penis tattoo and shared it - the patient isn't happy about that ; and more This and That after the break]

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Harris Interactive® and Witeck-Combs Communications, Inc. posted a survey this morning, comparing pet ownership between LGBT people and heterosexual people. Some interesting (at least interesting to me) results:

Seven out of ten (71%) GLBT adults today say that they own pets, compared with 63 percent of heterosexual adults, according to the results of a new national survey. The same survey also shows that nine in ten (90%) GLBT pet owners say their pet is a member of their family and 64 percent also add that they have bought their pet a holiday present.

…The poll also reports that GLBT pet owners are somewhat more likely than heterosexuals to own a cat. Of the GLBT pet owners, 63 percent said they owned a cat compared to a little more than half (52%) of the heterosexual pet owners. The inverse was found in dog ownership. About seven out of ten (71%) of heterosexual pet owners said they owned a dog compared to 63 percent of GLBT pet owners.

And, even though LGBT people and heterosexual people consider their pats part of their family at roughly the same rate (LGBT = 90%; Heterosexual = 89%), LGBT people were more likely to answer “frequently” to whether or not they bought holiday presents for their pets (LGBT = 48%; Heterosexual = 40%).

The comments on this survey by Wesley Combs were both marketing and family oriented:

“Americans have well deserved reputations as animal lovers and pet owners, and our latest findings underscore that GLBT Americans are among the most avid,” said Wesley Combs, President of Witeck-Combs Communications, Inc. “Moreover, the holiday season reminds us of those closest to us, including our devotion to our pets. Smart marketers will recognize that gay households truly are trend-setters in animal ownership and loving care.”

Combs added, “Anyone who knows me and my partner Greg also knows that our Wheaten Terrier Chester is a big part of our family.”

It’s no doubt a coincidence that EdgeBoston posted an article today that began:

Ah, the holidays: a time of peace; joy; family; friends … tension, pressure and conflict?

For many GLBT people, the long road between Thanksgiving and New Year’s is laced with potholes to be dodged or dealt with: isolation or exclusion from your birth family, disapproval of one’s lifestyle/partner choices, or the ultimatum that attending events means downplaying or denying who you are and what you do the other 364 days of the year…

Although Harris Interactive® and Witeck-Combs Communications, Inc. didn’t report asking LGBT people the question I’d like to know the answer to — Why do you own a pet? — I can’t help but wonder if a significant number of LGBT people have pets to fill the void left by family members who are tepid or hostile.

Echoing Combs sentiment: I’m getting my family kats the present fresh seafood for the holidays — anyone who knows me also knows that my kats Bon-Bon and Maggie are big parts of my family.