Thursday, February 28, 2013

Fraternity's New Trans Brother



Phi Alpha Tau fraternity at Emerson College helps their new trans brother.

Calif. support of marriage equality a record high 61 percent

A record 61 percent of Californians now approve of allowing same-sex couples to marry, according to a poll released Thursday.

More Than 100 Republicans Have Signed Supreme Court Brief Supporting Gay Marriage


Now more than 100 Republicans have signed an amicus brief being filed with the Supreme Court in support of same-sex marriage.
The more than 100 prominent Republicans all previously opposed same-sex marriage at one point — the vast majority were until this week still on record as being anti-gay marriage.

You Can Play




Hip-hop ally Macklemore has teamed up with You Can Play, the campaign to make sports a welcoming environment for LGBT people, on a new public-service announcement.

“It could be baseball, football, basketball, soccer, piano, an instrument—if you have the skills, talent and heart, you can play,” says the “Same Love” singer in the spot, above. “Anti-gay language has no place in sports—or in music.”

Saturday, February 23, 2013

Powerful Video About Bullying

Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa Apologizes to LGBT Community on National TV



A few months ago I used a number of inappropriate words that were offensive to LGBT groups and for which I apologized in writing - and I stated I would apologize again after winning [the election] to make sure they knew I wasn't doing it simply for political gain.

Once again I'd like to express my apologies to those LGBT groups for some words that might have escaped me. Each one of us was born and grew up with stereotypes and stigmas and we have to fight against this type of - let's call it deformed - social upbringing, etcetera. But our commitment is to defend everyone's dignity and equality. We are diverse but never unequal.

And I was reminded of this by the leader of a GLBT group who I greatly admire a couple of days ago. You need a lot of courage to lead these type of movements. Let's offer them all our support and - on a personal basis - I offer my full respect and the effort and commitment to eliminate all types of discrimination in this country.


Thursday, February 21, 2013

Southern Baptists urge Boy Scouts to continue its ban on gays


The nation’s largest Protestant group is calling on members of the National Council of the Boy Scouts of America to uphold a ban on gay Scouts and leaders when it votes in May.
The executive committee of the 16-million member Southern Baptist Convention passed the resolution Tuesday, stating that a proposal to alter the ban would “place the Boy Scouts organization at odds with a consistent biblical worldview on matters of human sexuality, making it an organization that would no longer complement, but rather contradict, our belief in God and His moral precepts that serve as the basis for our Christian faith.”

Turkish Court says gay sex is ‘natural’ in ruling against pornography vendor


A Turkish Court ruled Monday that gay sex is “natural,” contradicting a ruling by the country’s Supreme Court of Appeals in a similar case last year.
Ruling in a case of a vendor charged with unlawful sale of 125 DVDs depicting gay and group sex pornography, Judge Mahmut Erdemli stated that an individual’s sexual orientation should be respected, and cited examples of same-sex marriages in Europe and in the Americas.

GOP: EMBRACE MARRIAGE EQUALITY OR 'MARKETPLACE OF IDEAS WILL RENDER US IRRELEVANT'


Former Utah governor and presidential candidate Jon Huntsman warns that "the marketplace of ideas will render us irrelevant, and soon, if we are not honest about our time and place in history" and calls on Republicans to embrace marriage equality:

Huntsman

While serving as governor of Utah, I pushed for civil unions and expanded reciprocal benefits for gay citizens. I did so not because of political pressure—indeed, at the time 70 percent of Utahns were opposed—but because as governor my role was to work for everybody, even those who didn’t have access to a powerful lobby. Civil unions, I believed, were a practical step that would bring all citizens more fully into the fabric of a state they already were—and always had been—a part of.

That was four years ago. Today we have an opportunity to do more: conservatives should start to lead again and push their states to join the nine others that allow all their citizens to marry. I’ve been married for 29 years. My marriage has been the greatest joy of my life. There is nothing conservative about denying other Americans the ability to forge that same relationship with the person they love.

All Americans should be treated equally by the law, whether they marry in a church, another religious institution, or a town hall. This does not mean that any religious group would be forced by the state to recognize relationships that run counter to their conscience. Civil equality is compatible with, and indeed promotes, freedom of conscience.

What happens when a Mormon student tells his friends and family that he is gay?

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

New Marriage Equality Ad



The Respect for Marriage Coalition is launching a $1 million ad buy to support same-sex marriage with full page ads in the New York Times and Wall Street Journal, and a commercial (above) that features President Barack Obama as well as GOP figures like former First lady Laura Bush, former Secretary of State Colin Powell and former Vice President Dick Cheney.

Six Out Of Ten Americans Say DOMA is Discrimination

A new poll finds that six out of ten Americans believe DOMA is discrimination and oppose the law that bans the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriage. Sixty-two percent of Americans believe the 1996 law is discriminatory, fifty-nine percent oppose the law, and fifty-two percent want it repealed.

In opposition to commonly-held beliefs, sixty-one percent of Blacks and sixty-two percent of Hispanics oppose DOMA, the Defense of Marriage Act, along with fifty-seven percent of white Americans.

Monday, February 18, 2013

Clive Davis Comes Out As Bisexual



According to Rolling Stone :
Davis, who has been married and divorced twice, has never before publicly addressed his sexuality. In a candid five-page section toward the end of the book, due in stores today, he writes that he first had a sexual encounter with a man during “the era of Studio 54.” “On this night, after imbibing enough alcohol, I was open to responding to his sexual overtures,” writes Davis, who says he had only been with women before. Being with a man, he writes, provided “welcome relief.”

After a period of “soul searching and self-analysis,” Davis separated from his second wife in 1985, and says that he went on to have simultaneous relationships with two women and a man. In 1990, he entered into a “monogamous relationship” with a male doctor, who is not named in the book. Although that relationship ended in 2004, Davis says he has been in a subsequent relationship with another man ever since. Davis writes that his coming out deeply affected his ties with one of his sons, Mitchell: After what Davis calls “one very trying year,” father and son worked out their differences, Davis says.

Sunday, February 17, 2013

Pope Betty the First



America's Best Christian, Mrs. Betty Bowers, declares she is out of the running to take Pope Benedict XVI's place as the head of a cult called "Roman Catholicism" that worships a goddess called Mary.

Thursday, February 14, 2013

Oregon Launches Marriage Equality Ballot Initiative


Oregon could become the next state to approve marriage equality by popular vote, if a campaign launched this morning by Oregon United for Marriage is successful. 
The newly formed organization, backed by Basic Rights Oregon, this morning took its first step toward putting marriage equality before Oregon voters, reports Erin Rook at PQ Monthly. The campaign established a petition committee that seeks to gather enough signatures to qualify the "Freedom to Marry and Religious Protection Act" for the Oregon ballot in November 2014. 
The legislation would dismantle Oregon's constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage, approved by voters in 2004, according to PQ Monthly.

Emotional Speech After Being Denied Marriage License in Tennessee



Matt and Raymie live in Hamblen County, Tennessee. On Jan. 9, they applied for a marriage license in Morristown as part of the We Do campaign. They were turned away by a very polite clerk who was treated to a beautiful speech about what it would mean for them to be married.


Wednesday, February 13, 2013

You Can Play: Ohio State Men's Hockey



The Ohio State University men's hockey team advocates for LGBT athletes as part of the You Can Play Project. The Buckeyes promise to play with passion, integrity and equality.

'Sh*tty' VP Was 'Wrong Every Time'



"Every time Dick Cheney laughs an angel gets stabbed in the d*ck."

'Billy Madison' Principal Gives Bigoted Indiana Special Ed. Teacher the Sermon She Deserves



Diana Medley, the Special Ed. teacher at Sullivan High School in Indiana, has been all over the news for her remarks about gays and her support of students who want a prom that is heterosexual only
.


Stephen Colbert Thought the Pope Was Coming Out of the Closet

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

ACTIVISTS PROTEST BIGOTED 'SWEET CAKES' BAKERY, HOWEVER...




Sweet Cakes, the Oregon bakery which refused to bake a cake after they found out it was for a lesbian's wedding, was the target of a protest on Saturday, KATU reports:
Dozens of people showed up outside Sweet Cakes by Melissa Saturday afternoon to voice their opposition to Aaron Klein’s decision not to make the cake. “That’s wrong. That’s a crime in Oregon,” said protester Rob Cochran. “I need to let people know if you’re going to do that as a business, there are going to be consequences.”

Monday, February 11, 2013

Panetta extends benefits to same-sex military families


Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta on Monday announced he will extend to nearly the full extent permitted under current law the benefits available to gay and lesbian service members and their families.
Though Panetta’s announcement did not include a number of important items that could have been granted — including burial rights at national cemeteries and some overseas travel for spouses, which remain under consideration — advocates called the package “substantive” and acknowledged that the Pentagon has done almost as much as it can with the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) still on the books.

Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Donald Trump Opposes Marriage Equality



In an interview with satellite radio shock-jock Howard Stern, the former presidential hopeful says everyone knows he opposes same-sex marriage.

Jon Stewart Blasts GOP's 'Messaging' Problem

Fox News' Credibility At 'Record Low'

Fox News has hit a record low in the four years that we've been doing this poll. 41% of voters trust it to 46% who do not. To put those numbers into some perspective the first time we did this poll, in 2010, 49% of voters trusted it to 37% who did not.

Boy Scouts Decide To Uphold Gay Ban, Form Task Force To Study The Issue


The Board of Directors of the Boy Scouts of America have decided to form a task force to further study its controversial ban on gay members and Scout leaders, upholding its discriminatory policy in the interim.

“After careful consideration and extensive dialogue within the Scouting family, along with comments from those outside the organization, the volunteer officers of the Boy Scouts of America’s National Executive Board concluded that due to the complexity of this issue, the organization needs time for a more deliberate review of its membership policy,” the BSA said at the conclusion of their board meeting.


Super Bowl Champ Baltimore Raven Brendon Ayanbadejo Talks Gay Rights and Marriage Equality



Brendon Ayanbadejo gave an AMAZING interview to Don Lemon yesterday on CNN, fresh off his Super Bowl victory
.


West Point Cadet Brings His Boyfriend to Winter Formal



Westpoint
From Knights Out, the West Point alumni support group for LGBT soldiers:

"This, ladies and gentleman, is progress at an Academy in which we can be proud. A member of the Academy's Spectrum group and his boyfriend at Yearling Winter Weekend last weekend."




Tuesday, February 5, 2013

‘Predators As Boy Scouts, Pedophiles As Scoutmasters’



Pat Robertson today falsely claimed that Congress seemed to be getting involved in the Boy Scouts of America‘s decision on dropping their national ban on gay people. Perhaps the octogenarian televangelist was equating the comments from two Senators, Jeff Merkley and Sherrod Brown, who came out in support of the Scouts lifting their discriminatory ban, but Congress is not going to get involved.

Then Robertson claimed that if the Scouts lift the ban on gays, we will see “predators as Boy Scouts, pedophiles who will come in as Scoutmasters.”

Ex-Gay Activist Matt Moore Admits To Grindr Profile



matt moore 2Ex-gay activist Matt Moore has apparently been on grindr.  Moore, confirmed the account is his.
He tells Jones:
The grindr profile was really mine. I’ve been on it on and off for the last couple of weeks.
Like I told the guy who sent you the picture, I am wrong in having been on grindr. I haven’t changed my views on homosexuality, the Bible, etc.
Creating a grindr profile and talking to guys on it was major disobedience on my part….disobedience to Christ. Disobedience to a loving and gracious God. Thankfully, I believe that He forgives me for this disobedience. I believe the blood of Christ covers this disobedience. And I won’t be on grindr again….ever.
The pastor of my church and the church body I am a part of were informed about me being on grindr (I told them) before all of this came out, publicly.
 He blogs about his “coming out of the homosexual lifestyle,” gets interviewed by Christian websites and radio shows, and helps organize things like the Overcoming Same-Sex Attraction conference. 

 On his blog, he reveals his family is confused by his ex-gay stance, and that some friends have stopped talking to him.
Moore’s most recent blogpost, dated January 29, doesn’t directly address the grindr profile:
Many, many days I have failed to fight perfectly. I have at many times in my walk stooped down and willingly spoon-fed myself the familiar, vile vomit that is sin. Yet, in each and every one of my failures— I was given grace; grace to repent and to keep following after Jesus. The Lord gives me grace each and every day, despite the failures or successes of the day, to believe the truth that Jesus Christ died for my sins and that despite my inability to offer God anything, He offers me everything—He offers me His Son. And in believing this truth, the truth above all truths— I am able to wage war against the hopelessness that fights to consume my heart and destroy my soul. The life-enabling grace given to me because of Jesus Christ, and only because of Jesus Christ, sustains me—to the surprise of many. And even often to the surprise of myself.
The power of my testimony is not limited to my road-to-Damascus-like conversion experience, but is really found in my grace-enabled perseverance that points right back to the power, love, patience, faithfulness and goodness of Jesus Christ.

CNN's Carol Costello Doesn't Take Hate Group Leader's Boy Scout BS



CNN's Carol Costello spoke with hate group leader Peter Sprigg of the Family Research Council, the group who took out the full page ad in USA Today urging the Boy Scouts to retain its gay ban
.