Apr

17

Anti-Gay PFOX Director Proposes New Rules for Pepsi Charitable Giving

Filed Under Gays, Lesbians, LGBT, Politics, Religion | Leave a Comment

On behalf of the anti-gay organization AFA, one of its members, Estella Salvatierra, has filed a resolution that would require PepsiCo to provide more information concerning its charitable contributions. This resolution was filed after the AFA started boycotting Pepsi because the company donated $1M to various gay organizations but has refused to donate money to the AFA.

The resolution states: “Current disclosure is insufficient to allow the Company’s Board and shareholders to evaluate fully the proper use of corporate assets by outside organizations and how those assets should be used, especially for controversial causes. For example, PepsiCo, Inc. is the leading corporate sponsor Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, Inc. (PFLAG).”

PepsiCo has responded by informing Salvatierra and other interested parties that PepsiCo discloses its charitable giving on its web site and has made that information available to the public since 1999.

Salvatierra is a federal employee in DC who contributes large amounts of money to the Republican party. She’s also the executive director of Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays (PFOX).

Salvatierra and her “Christian” organization PFOX have a history of making false claims about assaults made on their members by homosexuals.

If PepsiCo had donated $1M to PFOX and $0 to PFLAG, both the AFA and PFOX would be happier than Ted Haggard in a room full of hot, young, naked gay men.

Apr

17

Former McCain Aide Finally Finds His Gay Cojones

Filed Under LGBT, Politics | Leave a Comment

Steve Schmidt, a former McCain aide, is asking for Republican support of gay marriage in a rather bold return to Washingonton politics:

“There is a sound conservative argument to be made for same-sex marriage,” Schmidt will say, according to speech excerpts obtained by CNN. “I believe conservatives, more than liberals, insist that rights come with responsibilities. No other exercise of one’s liberty comes with greater responsibilities than marriage.”

Schmidt, a gay Republican, was McCain’s key aide during the 2008 election. The McCain/Palin ticket never supported same-sex marriage rights and it never supported any kind of same-sex couple rights that resembled marriage rights. Now that the election is over, I guess Schmidt feels safe enough to rally for same-sex marriage rights.

Awww, baby boy finally found his cojones. Or, maybe not.

Apr

17

IL Bar Tells Gays to Go Away

Filed Under LGBT, WTF? | 2 Comments

The Elbo Room, a Karaoke bar in Peoria, IL posted the following sign:

While it’s very insulting, this sign comes as no surprise to me. About 18 months ago, the manager of a local “straight” bar (The Rock*) in Beloit, WI removed Karaoke from its weekly lineup because he didn’t like the fact that the event brought in a large gay crowd. After I learned Karaoke was canceled, I asked the manager when (if at all) it would be returning. He said, “I can’t stand all these people who can’t sing – especially the gay ones.” I responded with, “I’m gay and most of those people you’re talking about are my friends.” He looked shocked and tried to redeem himself. “Oh, I don’t mind gay people. I just don’t like listening to anybody who can’t sing.”

Whatever. If The Rock’s Karaoke crowd was full of drunk college girls in mini-skirts and halter tops, he wouldn’t care if they needed a bucket to carry a tune.

As for the Peoria bar, the article reports:

For decades, the bar on Main Street had been called the Quench Room and was known as a gay bar, longtime residents said. In the 1990s, ownership changed hands and it became a karaoke bar, said Peoria Councilwoman Barbara Van Auken, whose district includes the bar. Although gay patrons continued to frequent the spot, tensions between them and the bar owner have boiled over recently concerning public displays of affection, according to the gay customers.

I’m a bit annoyed by the comment Nick Stroman made. He took a picture of the sign and sent it out to his friends. His actions sparked this debate. He said, “I’m far from the militant person with my fist in the air at a rally. It just surprises me that in this day in age, that this stuff is still happening.”

This sort of thing will continue to happen as long as people like Nick view standing up for what you believe in as a militant act you should avoid. Come on, my gay brothers and sisters. Where’s your fuckin’ backbone?

*Note: The Rock was recently purchased by a new owner. So far, I don’t sense any anti-gay sentiments. Time will tell.

Apr

10

Gay News This Good Friday

Filed Under Gays, Lesbians, LGBT, News | 1 Comment

Attempts To Force Legislature To Take Up Gay Marriage Issue Fail: The first attempt by Republicans to bring the measure of defining marriage as including one man and one woman, failed to be brought to a vote. Democrats refused to bring up the issue on the basis of procedure.

Republicans attempted to force a second vote later in the day, but the only vote that was really taken was to determine if the House should suspend its rules. That too failed.

Question raised in NJ town about gay flags: Flags that symbolize sexual orientation might be stirring a flap in one New Jersey town.

The Neptune Township Committee has been asked to address the issue at the April 28 meeting of the Shark River Hills Property Owners’ Association.

One of 23 questions seeks the municipal government’s comments about flags showing the occupants’ sexual orientation. The person writes, “not just the multicolored “gay’ striped flags, but also banners indicating fetishes and or other “lifestyle’ choices.” The person says there’s no justification for it in a “family oriented neighborhood.”

Colorado Governor Signs Law Protecting Same Sex Couples: A bill that expands the rights of same sex and unmarried couples in Colorado was signed yesterday by Governor Bill Ritter. The legislation (see PDF) allows for individuals to legally identify a ‘designated beneficiary’ with many of the rights and privileges of a married spouse, including the right to inherit property, to act as a medical proxy, to be designated as a beneficiary in retirement plans and pensions, and to visitation in a hospital or other medical facility.

Paterson promises N.Y. same-sex bill: New York Gov. David Paterson says he will introduce a bill to the state Senate that would legalize same-sex unions in his state.

The New York Post said Paterson vowed to introduce the controversial legislation if members of the state Senate do not take action.

“I’m going to put the bill out and just let people fight it out,” Paterson said Thursday.

Wis. high court asked to review gay marriage vote: The Wisconsin Supreme Court was asked Thursday to decide whether the state’s 2006 ban on gay marriage was properly put to voters.

William McConkey, a University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh political science instructor, claims the referendum illegally put two issues to voters at the same time: whether to ban gay marriage and whether to outlaw civil unions. A Dane County judge dismissed the case last year, and the 66-year-old Baileys Harbor man appealed to the District 4 Court of Appeals.

On Thursday, the appeals court in Madison asked the seven-member Supreme Court to take the case instead. The appeals court said the case presents several new legal issues that should be decided by the state’s highest court.

Apr

9

11 Year Old Kills Himself After Dealing With Gay Bullying

Filed Under Gays, Religion, WTF? | Leave a Comment

This is one of the many reasons why the National Day of Silence is necessary:

An 11-year-old Massachusetts boy, Carl Joseph Walker-Hoover, hung himself Monday after enduring bullying at school, including daily taunts of being gay, despite his mother’s weekly pleas to the school to address the problem. This is at least the fourth suicide of a middle-school aged child linked to bullying this year.

Carl, a junior at New Leadership Charter School in Springfield who did not identify as gay, would have turned 12 on April 17, the same day hundreds of thousands of students will participate in the 13th annual National Day of Silence by taking some form of a vow of silence to bring attention to anti-LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) bullying and harassment at school. The other three known cases of suicide among middle-school students took place in Chatham, Evanston and Chicago, Ill., in the month of February.

It’s stories like these that make me despise anti-gay organizations like AFA and the Illinois Family Institute who are encouraging other religious bigots to protest the National Day of Silence.

I guess the only families these homophobic organizations care about are those that do not have homosexual family members.

Apr

8

Anti-Gay Organization Encourages Day of Silence Walk-Out

Filed Under Gays, Lesbians, LGBT, Religion | 3 Comments

The National Day of Silence brings attention to anti-LGBT name-calling, bullying and harassment in schools. Each year the event has grown, now with hundreds of thousands of students coming together to encourage schools and classmates to address the problem of anti-LGBT behavior.

Anti-gay organization AFA is helping the anti-gay Illinois Family Institute organize a walk-out that day:

Parents must actively oppose this hijacking of the classroom for political purposes. Please join the national effort to restore to public education a proper understanding of the role of government-subsidized schools. Please help de-politicize the learning environment by calling your child out of school if your child’s school allows students to remain silent during instructional time on the Day of Silence.

If this was a religious event, I’m sure the AFA and the Illinois Family Institute would be angry if a gay organization called for a walk-out. Right-wing religious fanatics always believe their belief system is more important than everyone else’s.

Apr

8

Blair Says Vatican out of Step With Public on Gay Issues

Filed Under LGBT, Religion | Leave a Comment

Reuters reports:

The Vatican is out of step with ordinary Catholics and the public over homosexuality, former Prime Minister Tony Blair said in an interview on Wednesday.

Blair, who converted to Catholicism in 2007 and advocated pro-gay policies while in power, said average Catholics had more liberal views on homosexuality than Church leaders and would not say condemning it was an important part of their faith.

“If you went into any Catholic Church … on any Sunday here and did a poll of the congregation, you’d be surprised at how liberal-minded people were,” he told gay magazine Attitude.

Apr

8

Rick Warren is a Liar – Claims He Never Supported Prop 8

Filed Under Gays, Lesbians, LGBT, Politics, Religion | Leave a Comment

On Monday night’s Larry King Live, Rick Warren said “I am not an anti-gay marriage activist.”

Just two weeks before the November 4 Prop. 8 vote, Pastor Warren issued a clear endorsement of the marriage amendment while speaking to church members. He said, “We support Proposition 8 — and if you believe what the Bible says about marriage, you need to support Proposition 8.”

Here’s the video showing Rick Warren supporting Prop 8 and encouraging others to support Prop 8:

The following is a complete transcript of Warren’s comments:

“The election’s coming just in a couple of weeks, and I hope you’re praying about your vote. One of the propositions, of course, that I want to mention is Proposition 8, which is the proposition that had to be instituted because the courts threw out the will of the people. And a court of four guys actually voted to change a definition of marriage that has been going for 5,000 years.

“Now let me say this really clearly: we support Proposition 8 — and if you believe what the Bible says about marriage, you need to support Proposition 8. I never support a candidate, but on moral issues I come out very clear.

“This is one thing, friends, that all politicians tend to agree on. Both Barack Obama and John McCain, I flat-out asked both of them: what is your definition of marriage? And they both said the same thing — it is the traditional, historic, universal definition of marriage: one man and one woman, for life. And every culture for 5,000 years, and every religion for 5,000 years, has said the definition of marriage is between one man and a woman.

“Now here’s an interesting thing. There are about two percent of Americans [who] are homosexual or gay/lesbian people. We should not let two percent of the population determine to change a definition of marriage that has been supported by every single culture and every single religion for 5,000 years.

“This is not even just a Christian issue — it’s a humanitarian and human issue that God created marriage for the purpose of family, love, and procreation.

“So I urge you to support Proposition 8, and pass that word on. I’m going to be sending out a note to pastors on what I believe about this. But everybody knows what I believe about it. They heard me at the Civil Forum when I asked both Obama and McCain on their views.”

I’m guessing Rick Warren wants to get his name back in the headlines by annoyin’ the homosexuals (once again) with his comments.

Apr

8

Walgreens Pulls Obama Chia Head

Filed Under Barack Obama | 9 Comments

I want one of these!

Walgreens has pulled a Barack Obama version of the Chia Pet from its stores, and the decision leaves about 200,000 of the pottery plant kits in a West Side Chicago warehouse.

The Deerfield-headquartered drugstore chain made the move Friday after getting a few complaints about the item since the product’s April 1 launch, a spokeswoman said.

The article doesn’t state any specific complaints. I’d love to know what the problem was.

Apr

7

Vermont Legalizes Gay Marriage, 46 More States to Go

Filed Under Gays, Lesbians, LGBT | Leave a Comment

In a historic victory, Vermont became the fourth state to legalize gay marriage. Earlier, Vermont’s governor Jim Douglas vetoed a bill that would allow gay marriage and the state legislature responded by overriding his veto: 23-5 in the state Senate and 100-49 in the House.

Vermont now joins Massachusetts, Connecticut and Iowa as the only states in the union to allow same-sex couples to legally wed.

4 states down, 46 more to go. There’s much work to be done.

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