Liberty Avenue

God Hates Fags church too extreme for KKK

The Ku Klux Klan has distanced itself from Westboro Baptist Church, saying it “absolutely repudiates” the church’s activities.

The KKK, which is an extreme right-wing hate group in the US, said in a press release about its aims that it did not have any connection with the homophobic church.

Led by pastor Fred Phelps, the Westboro Baptist Church is notorious for causing distress to bereaved families by picketing the funerals of US soldiers killed abroad.

The church believes God is angry that the US “enables” homosexuality.

In the release, the KKK says: “The Ku Klux Klan LLC has not or EVER will have ANY connection with the Westboro Baptist Church. We absolutely repudiate their activities.”

Both, however, are vociferously opposed to same-sex marriage, although the KKK now states it sees no issue with civil unions as an alternative.

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Lady Gaga Supports Teen Sent Home For ‘Lady Gay Gay’ T-Shirt

‘I love you Cole, you just be yourself,’ Gaga tweets to Tennessee student.

Lady Gaga makes a point of taking care of her “little monsters.” That explains why the singer took time out from her busy touring and recording schedule on Wednesday to voice her support for 15-year-old Tennessee high school student Cole Goforth, who was sent home by officials at Greenbrier High School for wearing a T-shirt with the slogan “I Heart Lady Gay Gay.”

“Thank u for wearing your tee-shirt proud at school, you make me so proud, at the monsterball, you are an inspiration to us all. I love you,” Gaga tweeted on Wednesday, explaining that she’d been in the studio “for days and hours of record after record” when she heard one of her monsters was being discriminated against by teachers.

“I love you Cole, you just be yourself,” she added early Thursday morning while on tour in Australia. “You’re perfect the way God made you.”

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Ricky Martin: ‘I Am a Fortunate Homosexual Man’

NEW YORK, N.Y. — After years of keeping quiet about his personal life, pop star Ricky Martin has announced that he is gay.

“I am proud to say that I am a fortunate homosexual man,” Ricky said in a message posted on his offical Web site. “I am very blessed to be who I am.”

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Parents boot out teen son who was given permission to bring boyfriend to prom

COCHRAN, Ga. – The teenager who made national news this week for being allowed to take his boyfriend to the prom has been kicked out of his house because of the media attention.

Derrick Martin, 18, an honor student at Bleckley County High School, told macon.com in a posting today that he was staying with a friend after his parents ordered him to leave home.

Since Derrick’s story hit the news, gay rights supporters – straight and gay – have been lavishing attention on him. He told the newspaper Web site that he has had offers from strangers to buy him and his date boutonnieres and dinners. A man from Pittsburgh is seeking donations via his Web site to rent a stretch limo to take the teen couple to and from the prom.

A Minnesota mother who has a gay son sent flowers to Derrick’s high school, thanking them for allowing the teenager to bring a same-sex date to the prom.

Initially Derrick was denied permission, but then school officials changed their minds.

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Indonesian police ban regional gay conference

JAKARTA, Indonesia — Indonesian police ordered the cancellation Wednesday of a conference of Asian gay activists, saying it could prompt violent protests by conservative Muslim groups.

The conference, organized by the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association, or ILGA, was due to take place this weekend with participants from 16 countries.

The ban was issued by police in Surabaya, East Java’s capital, where the three-day event was to be held, national police spokesman Brig. Gen. Sulistyo Ishak said.

The decision was made after considering public objections by Muslim groups and the Indonesian Ulema Council, an influential board of Muslim clerics, he said.

“There are indications that the event could trigger a social crisis and cause public unrest,” Ishak said. “This ban was issued for the sake of public order.”

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N.J. gay-marriage battle back in court

Advocates for same-sex marriage are taking their case back to the New Jersey Supreme Court.

Lambda Legal filed a motion Thursday seeking a court ruling to allow gay and lesbian couples to marry.

“We are here today to ask the New Jersey Supreme Court to make equality real,” said Hayley Gorenberg, Lambda Legal’s deputy legal director. The civil-rights group filed a motion on behalf of six same-sex couples who first brought a lawsuit in 2002 seeking the right to marry.

The Supreme Court ruled in 2006 that same-sex couples are entitled to the same rights as heterosexual couples. The decision, however, left it up to the Legislature to decide how to provide equal rights. Lawmakers chose civil unions, but gay and lesbian advocates argue that civil unions provide unequal benefits, are misunderstood, especially out of the state, and amount to a separate and unequal right.

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Malawi gay couple to be tried

The two Malawi men detained for three months over homosexual acts will face a full trial in April, a Blantyre court ruled today. The two risk prison sentences of up to 14 years. The two men were detained almost three months ago and have been in custody since then. They are accused of “unnatural offences” and “indecent practices between males” - in reality homosexuality - which is a criminal offence according to colonial parts of Malawi’s penal code. …

Since their arrest, the two have been subjected to inhumane treatments, according to their lawyers. They reportedly have been beaten several times and subjected to forced anal examinations to “confirm” sodomy charges.

Malawi is a deeply conservative country, where modern impulses and values were held back for decades during the Banda dictatorship. The trial will be a test case regarding homosexuality in a country, where the majority of the population had not even heard about sexual minorities before the two young boys have dominated media front pages since their arrest.

As the issue of homosexuality suddenly emerged in Malawi, also liberal forces have woken up. A pro-gay group has been formed - the Centre for the Development of People - as the first in Malawi. In the capital, several politicians say Malawi should reconsider anti-gay legislation, and the Anglican Church - the dominant in the country - even had its first discussion on how to react to homosexuality. Not surprisingly, a majority of church leaders were negative.

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Hillsdale High students prepare counter-rally to anti-gay protest

SAN MATEO — Hillsdale High School students are preparing for a real-life drama.

They are organizing a counterprotest to an anti-gay church’s planned picketing of the school’s production next week of “The Laramie Project,” a play about the town in Wyoming near where 21-year-old Matthew Shepard was kidnapped and severely beaten in 1998 because he was gay. Shepard died a few days later from his injuries.

Members of the Kansas-based Westboro Baptist Church are expected to picket outside Hillsdale on March 27 before the start of a performance.

When Hillsdale senior Meghan Souther first learned about the church’s protest, she said, “I was a little bit shocked.”

But now she’s looking forward to it. “I’m more excited now they are coming (because) we want to show people in San Mateo and our high school that we don’t tolerate hate,” said Souther, 17, a stage manager for the play, which runs several days.

The counter-rally could draw hundreds of supporters — including students from other Bay Area high schools and universities, said Hillsdale Theater Director Allison Gamlen.

Organizers will hold the student rally in the courtyard inside the school and are encouraging participants to wear all white to represent peace or rainbow colors to symbolize diversity, Gamlen said.

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Gay couple ‘turned away from B&B’

A gay couple have claimed they were turned away from a bed & breakfast because the owner said it was “against her convictions” to allow them to share a bed.

Michael Black, 62, and John Morgan, 56, from Brampton, Cambridgeshire, have reported the owner of the Swiss B&B in Cookham to police for discriminating against them.

The couple arrived at the guest house near Maidenhead, Berkshire, on Friday and were met outside by the owner Susanne Wilkinson.

“She could see through the windscreen that we were two men,” said Mr Black. “And when we got out of the car she was immediately distant and unfriendly and then she said, ‘it’s a double room’, and we said ‘yes’. “She said, ‘it’s a large double bed in a double room’ and we said, ‘yes’, and then she said it was against her convictions to let us stay.

“We said it was illegal to discriminate against people who stay in hotels because that’s all we knew at the time and she said it was her private home and it was against her convictions. She said she was sorry and she was polite in a cold way and she was not abusive, so we asked our money back and she gave it to us.”

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College instructor faces rebuke for anti-gay comments

FRESNO – An instructor at Fresno City College who made anti-gay remarks is in trouble with the administration after students complained that he was using the Bible to teach his Health Sciences class.

Administrators at the publicly funded school promised to take appropriate action against Dr. Bradley Lopez, who told his students that homosexuality is a mental disorder and should be treated with psychotherapy.

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