Liberty Avenue

God Hates Fags church too extreme for KKK

Fri, 16 Apr 2010 16:02:33 -0400

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.

[Source]

Lady Gaga Supports Teen Sent Home For 'Lady Gay Gay' T-Shirt

Sat, 10 Apr 2010 13:46:41 -0400

‘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.”

[Click here to read more.]

Ricky Martin: 'I Am a Fortunate Homosexual Man'

Mon, 29 Mar 2010 19:25:26 -0400

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.”

[Click here to read more.]

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

Wed, 24 Mar 2010 17:27:05 -0400

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.

[Click here to read more.]

Indonesian police ban regional gay conference

Wed, 24 Mar 2010 16:15:51 -0400

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.”

[Click here to read more.]

N.J. gay-marriage battle back in court

Tue, 23 Mar 2010 01:37:54 -0400

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

Mon, 22 Mar 2010 20:37:23 -0400

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.

[Click here to read the full article.]

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

Mon, 22 Mar 2010 15:55:32 -0400

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.

[Click here to read more.]

Gay couple 'turned away from B&B'

Mon, 22 Mar 2010 03:40:50 -0400

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.”

[Click here to read more.]

College instructor faces rebuke for anti-gay comments

Sun, 21 Mar 2010 23:39:00 -0400

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.

[Click here to read more.]

Two things:

Sun, 21 Mar 2010 23:13:50 -0400

I’m sorry for being so inconsistent with posting. Hopefully this will change in the future, but school has been pretty inconsistent for me, so that affects most of what I do. I’m going to try to queue posts so that I will have a more regular posting schedule.
Thank you to all my followers! Right now there are 93 of you, which surprises me. :] I hope I don’t disappoint any of you.

That is all!
- Kaitlyn

NJ gay marriage battle back in court

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 16:51:44 -0400

TRENTON, N.J. — Gay couples who sued New Jersey for the right to marry once before are taking their case back to court.

Six couples plus the surviving partner from a seventh filed a motion Thursday claiming the state continues to discriminate against them even though it offers civil unions to same-sex couples.

The original suit, filed in 2002, resulted in a 2006 New Jersey Supreme Court decision that came one vote short of requiring the state to legalize gay matrimony. After an effort to get lawmakers to legalize gay marriage, the effort fizzled out.

Opponents say that there’s no constitutional right for gay couples to wed and that civil unions are working.

Gay marriage is legal in Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont.

[Click here for source.]

ACLU steps in to save prom for lesbian couple

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 03:37:50 -0400

Controversy is erupting after a Fulton, MS, high school cancelled the prom shortly after a student requested to bring a same-sex date.

The Itawamba County School District in Mississippi and the Itawamba Agricultural High School in particular received a lot of unwanted attention recently when officials decided to cancel the annual prom. It was allegedly canceled when two lesbian students announced their intention to attend together.

ACLU attorney Christine Sun told CNN,”We are determined to get the prom back on the calendar and open to all students… What this case comes down to is the school taking the extraordinary measure of canceling the prom, rather than live up to its legal obligation to fairly treat all students who want to come to it.”

School officials sent students a note the first week of February that stated prom dates must be of the opposite sex. Court documents also show that the district’s superintendent told Constance McMillen, 18, that only males could wear tuxedos to the event. McMillen said, “I never thought the school would try to cancel the prom and hurt everyone just to keep me and my girlfriend from going together.” The ACLU will argue its case before a federal judge on March 22.

Catholic adoption agency can turn away gay couples

Wed, 17 Mar 2010 23:36:51 -0400

Roman Catholic bishops have welcomed a high court ruling that will allow a Catholic adoption agency to reject gay couples as parents.

Catholic Care, which serves Leeds, Middlesbrough and Hallam in South Yorkshire, won its appeal for an exemption from sexual orientation regulations that say it must consider applications from gay couples. The agency warned it would abandon its work of finding homes for children, as many others have done, rather than comply with the law.

The bishop of Leeds, the Rt Rev Arthur Roche, insisted there was no homophobic element to the case and claimed that children would have been “seriously disadvantaged” had Catholic Care not won the appeal.

“Our case has not been brought on an anti-gay agenda of any sort. We respect, and would not want to diminish, the dignity of any person,” he said.

The judgment was condemned by the British Humanist Association and the gay rights charity Stonewall. Jonathan Finney, its head of external affairs, said: “It’s unthinkable that anyone engaged in delivering any kind of public or publicly funded service should be given licence to pick and choose service users on the basis of individual prejudice.”

Caritas Social Action Network, the umbrella group for Catholic care agencies, said an important principle had been upheld.

Episcopal Church Approves 2nd Openly Gay Bishop

Wed, 17 Mar 2010 19:34:49 -0400

A majority of bishops and dioceses of the Episcopal Church have approved the election of the church’s second openly gay bishop, the Rev. Mary D. Glasspool, a decision likely to increase the tension with fellow Anglican churches around the world that do not approve of homosexuality.

The worldwide Anglican Communion, the network of churches connected to the Church of England, has been in turmoil since the Americans elected their first openly gay bishop, V. Gene Robinson, in New Hampshire in 2003. Theological conservatives in the Communion say that the Bible condemns homosexuality, while liberals say the Scripture is open to interpretation.

[Click here to read more.]

Lesbian Air Force Sergeant Dischared After Being Outed by Police

Sun, 14 Mar 2010 22:16:01 -0400

In another case of unfair third-party outing under the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT) policy, a lesbian Air Force sergeant was discharged, after the local police revealed her sexual identity to her military superiors. Air Force Sgt. Jene Newsome, complied with the DADT policy by keeping her homosexuality private. But when the Rapid City, SD police arrived at Newsome’s home with an arrest warrant for her partner, the officers spied an Iowa marriage license, showing that the two women were married. And the police alerted Ellsworth Air Force base, where she worked, that she was gay. As a result, Newsome, 28, was banished from the military with an honorable discharge, after serving for nearly a decade. With the help of the American Civil Liberties Union, Newsome is suing the police department, claiming they violated her privacy and outed her in retaliation for not cooperating with them.

[Click here to read more.]

Hundreds march in support of gay men attacked downtown

Sun, 28 Feb 2010 14:56:29 -0500

Trailing a banner that read “Austin March Against Hate,” hundreds of people walked from a downtown gay bar to City Hall on Saturday to retrace the path of two gay men who were attacked last weekend.

“Ignorance is not the way. Fear is not the answer. Love will conquer hate,” one of the victims, Emmanuel Winston, told the crowd. “Hate will not be tolerated, and we will not be silenced.”

Cori Sansoucy, 44, said she felt moved to attend the rally because “when one person gets hurt, we all get hurt. Two of our brothers got hurt, and we need to support them.”

Scanning the huge crowd of marchers, she added, “You can beat the body, but you can’t kill the spirit.”

[Click here for full article]

Beverly Hills Slams Beauty Contestant for Speaking Out Against Gay Marriage

Sun, 28 Feb 2010 01:04:59 -0500

Former Miss California Carrie Prejean isn’t the only beauty queen open to expressing her objection to same-sex marriage. Miss Beverly Hills 2010 Lauren Ashley is also speaking out in support of traditional nuptials. Miss Beverly Hills and upcoming Miss California contender Lauren Ashley spoke out to Pop Tarts earlier this week against gay marriage — and as a result she has been publicly condemned by the City of Beverly Hills.

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The Maryland attorney general takes a step in the direction of gay marriage

Sun, 28 Feb 2010 00:03:08 -0500

THE ATTORNEY GENERAL of Maryland does not have the power to legalize same-sex marriage; the legislature almost 40 years ago determined that “only a marriage between a man and a woman is valid in this state.” His opinions do not carry the weight of law; only legislative pronouncements and court rulings do.

What he can do is provide an authoritative reading of what the law commands. That is what Maryland Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler (D) has done in concluding that same-sex marriages performed in other jurisdictions may — and should — be recognized under Maryland law. In the process, he has produced a legal compass that should be followed to provide overdue equality for gay and lesbian couples in Maryland.

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Gay Marriage on Trial: 'Today Could Be the Start of Something Historic'

Mon, 11 Jan 2010 20:30:29 -0500

Perry v. Schwarzenneger kicked off today, with early morning candle-light vigils outside the courtroom and, inside the courtroom, a line of civilians hoping to view history in the making. With broadcast footage of the trial currently blocked by the Supreme Court, the four young lawyers who were first in line at 6:30 in the morning were lucky to make it in. All four just passed the bar. “I’m here also for personal reasons. I’m gay and this is a big deal, I want to get married some day. I’m worried but excited,” says Eric Lunsford. With him was Jessica Ourk, who came because “This could be our generation’s Brown v. Board of Education.”

Ourk’s friend Grace So, 26, had a huge engagement ring on her finger. She was Number 3 in line. “I just got engaged last night, to a man. But I feel strongly that everyone should have this opportunity.” She, like Lunsford, says she is a practicing Christian and “is appalled” that Christians are against gay marriage.

Just behind them were David Bowers, 63, and Bruce Ivie, 53, who have been together almost 30 years and are one of the lucky few who are legally married in California. “But I don’t like being in a sub-group of our clan,” says Ivie. “I want what we have from my lesbian sisters and gay brothers.” He and Bowers says they still fill out a patchwork of documents each year, including filing state tax returns as married and federal ones as single. “Today could be the start of something historic” says Ivie. “A change.”

During the plaintiff’s testimony about the process of coming out, homophobia, and the desire to be married, Bowers lowered his head with emotion. “You could feel everything in the room slow down” he said, later by the elevators during a break. “No one couldn’t be moved by that.”

[source]