Daily Archives: July 24, 2015
VIDEO: Extremists Attack, Pepper-Spray Gays Holding Hands in Kiev
VIDEO: Extremists Attack, Pepper-Spray Gays Holding Hands in Kiev
A social experiment by gay rights activists in Ukraine comes to a disappointing conclusion.
1 – Name:
tw-line
Neal Broverman
www.advocate.com/world/2015/07/24/video-extremists-attack-pepper-spray-gays-holding-hands-kiev
Right-Wing Sen. Jim Inhofe Wonders Which Bathroom Trans Troops Will Use
Right-Wing Sen. Jim Inhofe Wonders Which Bathroom Trans Troops Will Use
Conservative Republican Senator Jim Inhofe expressed confusion about which bathroom transgender troops would use once the ban is lifted against transgender Americans serving openly in the military.
1 – Name:
tw-line
Nicholas Cimarusti
Shocking murder of transgender woman in Fresno is caught on video
Shocking murder of transgender woman in Fresno is caught on video
A transgender woman was stabbed in the neck by someone in a car after being called over to talk.
The murder was captured by surveillance video from a local tattoo shop.
K.C. Haggard, 66, died from wounds suffered in the attack that occurred in the California city of Fresno early Thursday (23 July).
According to the local Fox affiliate, the graphic video of Haggard’s attack shows someone in the passenger seat stabbing her in the neck then the car driving off. The victim is then seen holding her neck as she stumbles down the sidewalk and tries to flag someone down for help.
She then collapses onto the sidewalk.
‘It was premeditated, and it was thought out,’ local transgender advocate Karen Adell Scot tells the station. ‘They had the knife ready. They baited the person to the vehicle and they followed through with tremendous precision on the strike.’
Haggard is the second transgender woman murdered in the US this week and the 11th so far in 2015.
Scot, the founder of Transcare.org, added: ‘We don’t want to be murdered in the dark while we are alone with no one helping us. It has to change.’
No arrests have been made.
The post Shocking murder of transgender woman in Fresno is caught on video appeared first on Gay Star News.
Greg Hernandez
www.gaystarnews.com/article/shocking-murder-of-transgender-woman-in-fresno-is-caught-on-video/
Austin Man Who Allegedly Beat Boyfriend To Death Charged With Animal Cruelty For Strangling Victim’s Dog
Austin Man Who Allegedly Beat Boyfriend To Death Charged With Animal Cruelty For Strangling Victim’s Dog
The 20-year-old Austin man accused of brutally murdering his 18-year-old boyfriend is also now facing animal cruelty charges for attempting to strangle the victim’s dog.
Last week, we told you about the murder of Stephen Roy Sylvester Jr. (above), who was allegedly beaten to death by his boyfriend, Bryan Michael Canchola (right). Canchola apparently went into a drunken rage after the pair returned to their apartment from gay bars on Fourth Street, accusing Sylvester of cheating on him.
In addition to viciously beating Sylvester, Canchola tried to strangle the victim’s Yorkshire Terrier, Harlow, who is now recovering and staying with Sylvester’s family.
KXAN-TV reports:
Police said a roommate heard the couple in an argument after coming home from a night of drinking. During the argument, the roommate said he heard Sylvester’s nine-pound Yorkshire Terrier named Harlow yelp, as if in pain, and Sylvester yelled for the dog to be “let go,” according to the warrant.
The roommate took Sylvester to the hospital. As he was leaving, he told police he heard Canchola say, “when you’re gone, you better hope I don’t find you dog…I’m going to kill it,” according the warrant.
Police later found Harlow, and the dog appeared injured. “She had bloodshot eyes, petechial hemorrhaging and was having difficulty swallowing,” according to the warrant. Police said the injuries are consistent with strangulation.
Sylvester will be laid to rest Saturday in his hometown of Marble Falls, outside of Austin, according to DailyTrib.com. A GoFundMe page raised more than $12,000 for his funeral expenses.
On Sunday, mourners in Houston — where Sylvester lived prior to moving to Austin — held a candlelight vigil for him.
AbOUT Magazine reports:
One of the guys in the crowd was Taylor Shirley.
Every single piece of news coverage of this horrible loss; Shirley is mentioned as a “friend,” but that is almost as painful as the loss Shirley is feeling. Every reporter refers to me as a ‘friend’ he told us.
Shirley was the boyfriend for almost a year before Stephen moved. “He was larger than life. He walked into a room and filled it up in the best way.” says Shirley. “He was the type of person that if you were walking past him and he noticed you looking sad, he would stop you and ask to talk about it.” Shirley tells About Magazine.
The post Austin Man Who Allegedly Beat Boyfriend To Death Charged With Animal Cruelty For Strangling Victim’s Dog appeared first on Towleroad.
John Wright
7 Things List: July 24, 2015
7 Things List: July 24, 2015
Our entertainment and events highlights this week include dinosaurs in heels, staying up with Miss Jackson, and a very hard Jake Gyllenhaal.
Advocate.com Editors
www.advocate.com/arts-entertainment/7-things/2015/07/24/7-things-list-july-24-2015
Brides' Maui Elopement And Underwater Shoot Are What Dreams Are Made Of
Brides' Maui Elopement And Underwater Shoot Are What Dreams Are Made Of
Australian couple Amanda Joy and Kara Voznaks eloped on the beach in Maui in July in a beautifully simple barefoot ceremony.
Credit: Love and Water Photography
Credit: Love and Water Photography
Same-sex marriage still isn’t legal in Australia, so the couple decided to say their “I dos” during their Hawaii trip instead. They didn’t tell any friends or family about their wedding plans until the day before the nuptials.
Credit: Love and Water Photography
“It was just simpler and more relaxed that way!”Amanda told The Huffington Post. “It was time just for the two of us.”
Credit: Love and Water Photography
Credit: Love and Water Photography
The day after the wedding, the newlyweds and their photographer Adam Ravazzano of Love and Water Photography took a boat out to the Molokini Crater for a stunning underwater trash-the-dress shoot.
Credit: Love and Water Photography
Credit: Love and Water Photography
“The boat dropped anchor and we literally jumped off the side into the ocean!” Amanda said. “It appears quite deep but was actually only just a couple of meters below the surface.”
Credit: Love and Water Photography
Credit: Love and Water Photography
Both brides are certified divers, but going under without oxygen tanks was a challenge.
Credit: Love and Water Photography
“I think we must have dove under about 20 times in 20 minutes,” Amanda told HuffPost. “But it was worth every second when we saw the outcome!”
Credit: Love and Water Photography
Check out some more gorgeous photos from the couple’s big day below:
Also on HuffPost:
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Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats reject gay marriage in first faction poll
Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats reject gay marriage in first faction poll
The majority of members of chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Party’s (CDU) Berlin faction oppose gay marriage, a poll has revealed.
It found 45% were against the German government opening marriage to same-sex couples, with 35% of members in support.
The poll, conducted to gauge member’s opinion on marriage throughout the country, also revealed that 3% deemed the question ‘not important’.
Berlin’s general secretary Kai Wegener, who announced the result today, said: ‘I believe this result will accelerate the debate on a national level.’
The result comes ten days after Merkel said she supported gay marriage, as long as it was not called marriage, in an interview with German Youtube star LeFloid.
According to German newspaper Der Tagesspiegel, only 4,750 of the Berlin faction’s 12,500 members took part.
The majority of members over 60 vetoed marriage equality, according to the newspaper, while members younger than 60 tended to support the proposed change.
Berlin’s federal state association for the CDU was the first of 16 – one in each of Germany’s federal states – to take the poll; others are expected to follow in the next weeks.
Germany allows same-sex couples to enter a civil partnership, but adoption is not legal and couples don’t receive all marital benefits.
The post Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats reject gay marriage in first faction poll appeared first on Gay Star News.
Stefanie Gerdes
Mourning K.C. Haggard as the National Crisis of Anti-Transgender Violence Continues
Nine Methodist Ministers Face Discipline For Officiating Ousted Gay Pastor’s Wedding – VIDEO
Nine Methodist Ministers Face Discipline For Officiating Ousted Gay Pastor’s Wedding – VIDEO
Last week, we told you about the case of the Rev. Benjamin Hutchison, who was forced to resign as pastor of a Methodist church in Michigan because he’s gay. Days later, Hutchison married his partner of five years, Monty Hutchison, in a ceremony on the steps of the county courthouse that was attended by 30 clergy members.
Now, nine of those clergy members are facing possible discipline from the United Methodist Church for participating in the ceremony. They are led by the Rev. Michael Tupper (right), who signed Hutchison’s marriage license.
MLive.com reports:
The Rev. Michael Tupper, who signed the marriage license of Benjamin Hutchison after his wedding last Friday, said he has handed over the names of nine West Michigan pastors who pronounced Hutchison and his partner “husband and husband” to the UMC district superintendent in Kalamazoo.
Tupper said in all, about 15 of the 30 pastors present said the words, which go against the church’s doctrine that pastors cannot officiate gay weddings. Tupper said he warned the pastors before the ceremony that they could get in trouble for officiating the wedding.
“Folks were aware that it violated the book of discipline by saying those words,” Tupper said.
Tupper actually wanted more ministers to sign the marriage license in an act of defiance, but the county clerk wouldn’t allow it. Nevertheless, the complaint will now go the local bishop, who will try to work out a resolution to avoid church trials. Tupper previously was disciplined for officiating the wedding of his lesbian daughter. The Methodist church prohibits both openly gay clergy and same-sex weddings.
From The New York Daily News:
“We were all in a sense, officiants. It opened ourselves up to the possibility of being in trouble,” Rev. Michael Tupper told The News.
He could lose his clergy credentials over the stunt, but if that’s the outcome — so be it.
“We’re in trouble with our church and with those in authority over us in the denomination, but I don’t feel like I’m in trouble with God,” Tupper added.
Tupper said he believes the Methodist church is unlikely to change its anti-gay policies at its General Conference next year, due to the influence of churches in Africa, where homosexuality isn’t accepted.
Watch a video report below.
The post Nine Methodist Ministers Face Discipline For Officiating Ousted Gay Pastor’s Wedding – VIDEO appeared first on Towleroad.
John Wright
Nine Methodist Ministers Face Discipline For Officiating Ousted Gay Pastor’s Wedding – VIDEO
