US student tweets his homophobic attacker: ‘I’m NOT sorry I’m gay’ and goes viral

Ohio student Cole Ledford posted a defiant message to his attacker, who beat him up for kissing his boyfriend

read more

liamj

www.gaystarnews.com/article/us-student-tweets-his-homophobic-attacker-%E2%80%98i%E2%80%99m-not-sorry-i%E2%80%99m-gay%E2%80%99-and-goes-viral081114

Bryan Fischer: GOP Won the Midterms Because God Answered Anti-gay Prayers – VIDEO

Kyler Geoffroy

www.towleroad.com/2014/11/bryan-fischer-gop-won-the-midterms-because-god-answered-anti-gay-prayers-video.html

Sharing the Stories of LGBT Youth: Riley, 21, From Philadelphia
We Are the Youth is a photographic journalism project chronicling the individual stories of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) youth in the United States. Through photographic portraits and “as told to” interviews in the participants’ own voices, We Are the Youth captures the incredible diversity and uniqueness among the LGBTQ youth population.

Below is the story of Riley, whose portrait is featured in the book We Are the Youth.

* * * * *

By Riley, as told to Diana Scholl

There’s a quote that I like: “Life serves the risk taker.” Last year my brother and I train-hopped in Florida. It was dangerous and illegal, and we were both in it together. It was one of the most beautiful experiences of my life. My mom was terrified, but I’ve been living on my own since I was 16, so she felt more confident in me than in my brother.

I left home when I was 16 because I had a really tumultuous relationship with my dad. He was always physically and verbally abusive. I did get the brunt of it, and I’m not sure why. I went to a friend’s house and was house-hopping until I was 18. School was a big source of solace for me. My senior year Advanced Placement English teacher really liked me and knew about my family situation. She helped me apply to college at Hollins in Roanoke, Virginia. I was awarded one of their higher scholarships, and I got emergency financial aid for anything that wasn’t covered.

But I was very dependent on if my financial aid went through. After a year and a half, I was like, “Fuck this. Why am I spending $40,000 for an education?”

I left university to move to New York with my then-girlfriend, who also hated college. We’d spend our days looking around for food. We’d spend the evenings looking for a place to sleep. It wasn’t too difficult for me because I knew how to get food, and I can sleep pretty much in any situation or surface. It was rough for her since she was never exposed to living outdoors before. I accepted it as a necessary part of my life.

We were only in New York for a month or so. Then we stayed in Pennsylvania with her mom. After a little bit, her mom kicked us out, mainly because we were two female-bodied people who were together, even though I didn’t really identify as a female, and still don’t regard gender as anything. I was always very removed from the female and male genders. People ask me if I’m trans, and I just say, “‘Trans’ as in ‘transcending gender.'” Or they ask me, “Are you a boy or girl?'” I say, “Both!” or sometimes, “Neither!” and laugh. Recently a little kid came up to me and said, “You look like a boy but sound like a girl,” and I asked, “How do boys look, and how do girls sound?” because really, I don’t know the answer to those questions. I don’t think any sort of answer truly exists. The kid couldn’t give me one, either.

After her mom kicked us out, my girlfriend went to school in Philadelphia. I went, and I tried to stay in a homeless shelter and hated it. It was really difficult with my gender — or lack thereof — expression. The shelter wasn’t individualized for different gender expressions. And in order to apply for a job, you had to go to these job classes, and I already knew how to do those skills. They wouldn’t see me at the place I was at. I was like, “This is dumb.” I wanted to go back on the streets.

Now I’m living at my current girlfriend’s house in Philadelphia. I planned to just come to Philadelphia to get my passport and train-hop to L.A., but I derailed my plan. I really enjoy it here. Philadelphia has amazing resources, so I’m getting therapy for free and yoga for free. It’s part of being able to continue to develop myself.

Since the second time I ate acid, I have been becoming the person I’ve always wanted to be, which is super-positive and meaningful. It was a terrible, bad trip, but was the best thing that ever happened to me. It brought up profound feelings of peace and meditation and consciousness.

Photo by Laurel Golio, taken in Philadelphia, 2013

www.huffingtonpost.com/diana-scholl/sharing-the-stories-of-lg_6_b_6122538.html?utm_hp_ref=gay-voices&ir=Gay+Voices

Coming out in business: It’s all about authenticity

Think that your sexuality has no bearing on your work? An LGBT business conference taking place in London today reminded those attending that honesty fosters stronger and more authentic business relationships

read more

davidh

www.gaystarnews.com/article/coming-out-business-it%E2%80%99s-all-about-authenticity081114

HBO's 'Girls' Goes To Iowa In Trailer for Season 4: VIDEO

Brian Sloan

www.towleroad.com/2014/11/hbos-girls-goes-to-iowa-in-trailer-for-season-4-video-1.html

The 10 Most Important Quotes From Yesterday's Sixth Circuit Bombshell

The Sixth Circuit has essentially dared the Supreme Court to take up a marriage case.

read more

Matt Baume

www.advocate.com/politics/marriage-equality/2014/11/08/10-most-important-quotes-yesterdays-sixth-circuit-bombshell

Ruling Against Gay Marriage Leaves Hundreds Of Newlyweds In Limbo
DETROIT — A federal appeals court ruling in favor of anti-gay marriage laws in four states stunned members of the LGBT community and left hundreds of wedded couples in limbo in Michigan, where the lead case of DeBoer v. Snyder began. One newly married gay parent said he had thought maybe the world had changed for the better, only to find himself still waiting for recognition of his family.

In a 2-1 decision on Thursday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit upheld same-sex marriage bans in Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee, a decision that runs counter to multiple other rulings in recent cases. Circuit Judge Jeffrey Sutton wrote that the courts don’t have “a sweeping grant of authority” to decide “whether gay marriage is a good idea” and that social issues should be resolved instead through the political process.

The decision was confounding to Jay Kaplan, a staff attorney with the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Project of the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan. He called the ruling an “outlier.”

“Setting aside the terrible result, it’s a bad decision. It’s fundamentally misguided, it’s wrong and it’s unfair,” Kaplan said. “One of the main functions of the judicial branch is to prevent oppression of minorities in the hands of a majority, and this idea of leaving constitutional safeguards to the voters — that would put most people’s constitutional guarantees in jeopardy.”

Michigan’s gay marriage ban was first struck down in March by a federal judge. Less than 24 hours later, the 6th Circuit stayed the ruling, but not before more than 300 same-sex couples were married in several counties where clerks agreed to perform weddings on a Saturday. Jason McIntosh and Jim Shaffer of Pleasant Ridge, Michigan, were one of those couples, tying the knot after 11 years together.

McIntosh said that in their day-to-day life, he doesn’t imagine Thursday’s ruling will affect them significantly. The couple have thought of themselves as married for a while, and their community and workplaces treat them as such. But it still felt like a huge blow.

“Today is no different than yesterday, except there’s this sort of feeling of the bottom dropping out,” McIntosh said.

After the appeals court granted the stay in March, Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder (R) said that while the same-sex marriages that had taken place were legal, they would not be recognized by the state, a position he reiterated on Thursday. Therefore, the couples will not receive state marital benefits, (though they remain eligible for federal benefits).

In a separate case, the ACLU of Michigan sued Snyder in April on behalf of eight of those same-sex married couples, arguing that the governor had placed the plaintiffs “in an intolerable state of legal limbo that threatens their well-being, health, financial security, and family integrity, and denies their dignity as free and equal citizens.”

One of those plaintiffs, Bianca Racine, serves in the National Guard, but Michigan’s veterans affairs agencies will not recognize her wife, Carrie Miller, as her spouse. In the lawsuit, they argue this could prevent them from accessing benefits they are entitled to and may need in a time of financial hardship.

As new parents of a 10-month-old girl, McIntosh and Shaffer are also worried about what the 6th Circuit’s decision means for the future of their family.

“It’s prolonging the chance for Norah to have two legal parents,” McIntosh said. “Her adoption became finalized in August, but only one of us is her legal parent at this time. … We really just want us both to have the same rights.”

In 2004, 59 percent of Michigan voters approved a state constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. In 2012, April DeBoer and Jayne Rowse filed a lawsuit, sparked by their own desire to have equal parental rights to care for their adopted children. On Thursday, they said they would appeal their case to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Both Kaplan and Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette, who has actively supported the gay marriage ban, said they hope the Supreme Court will take the case.

That would set the stage for a nationwide decision on whether states may ban same-sex marriage. But if the Supreme Court takes the case — which is considered likely — the justices might not rule until June 2016, according to the Associated Press.

“I guess I just assumed in 2014, the way the world has changed just in the last year … there’s something in my core that thought it was going to work out fine,” McIntosh said. “It was a bit of a shock.”

www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/11/08/michigan-gay-marriage_n_6124222.html?utm_hp_ref=gay-voices&ir=Gay+Voices

US radio show littered with sexist, transphobic ‘jokes’

According to right wing pundit Glenn Beck, men watching romantic movies is so emasculating they should get ‘their winkie cut off with a butter knife’

read more

liamj

www.gaystarnews.com/article/us-radio-show-littered-sexist-transphobic-%E2%80%98jokes%E2%80%99081114

Hell Hath No Fury: Ex-Boyfriend Revenge Plots You Should Never Try At Home

Love can drive a person to act in crazy ways. And heartbreak can drive them to act in even crazier ways.

A California man was recently arrested for hacking into his ex-boyfriend’s work email and sending nudie pics of the public school teacher to over 200 of his students and colleagues. He’s now been charged with identity theft, sending obscene matter, and impersonating his ex.

Dreaming up elaborate revenge plots against a bad ex can be a cathartic way to spend a lonely Saturday night, but it doesn’t mean you should actually act on those fantasies.

Just in case your heart’s been recently broken, here are ten ex-boyfriend revenge schemes you should never try at home:

Send him a box of poop.

ShitExpress delivers feces to anyone, anytime, anywhere. And all for the low, low price of just $16.95.

Donate his entire wardrobe to Goodwill.

Then send him a text while he’s at work telling him what you just did.

Sign him up for various dating services, porn sites, and junk email lists.

Just don’t get caught like this cute cop did.

Log into his Amazon account and order a bunch of random shit.

Enema bulbs. Anal beads. Bronze Jesus figurines. You name it…

And if you really want to cause trouble, have it all sent to different addresses.

“Accidentally” forward those x-rated pics you took together to his grandma.

Just be sure you only include the ones that show his face.

Better yet, post them to his Facebook page.

Then tag his entire family.

Harass him with late night automated nuisance phone calls.

Click here to learn more.

Put laxatives in his coffee.

And wave goodbye to him from the front doorstep as he heads out into morning rush hour.

Register his name as a domain.

Then create a website airing all your grievances about him.

Send him a slice of your skin…

…like this totally sane, totally rational lady did.

DISCLAIMER: We’re just kidding! Obviously, you should never do any of these things. Doing so could get you arrested, or sued, or both. If this happens, it’s you’re own damn fault, so don’t blame us.

Related stories:

Scorned Ex-Boyfriend Emails Nude Photos Of Teacher To 250 Of His Students

Eleven Hilariously Shallow Reasons To Break Up With Your Boyfriend

He Said, He Said: How To Survive A High Profile Gay Break-Up

Graham Gremore is a columnist and contributor for Queerty and Life of the Law. Follow him on Facebook and Twitter.

Graham Gremore

feedproxy.google.com/~r/queerty2/~3/RULK-SlY6d8/hell-hath-no-fury-10-ex-boyfriend-revenge-plots-you-should-never-try-at-home-20141108