15 Questions for Someone Religious Struggling With Gay Marriage
I recently had a woman (who was supposedly strong in her Christian faith) grab a dollar from my hand as I was attempting to offer it to a homeless young man. “You know these people make almost $30,000 a year this way, right?” I told her that I was impressed in their economic prowess as I grabbed the dollar back and handed it to the man with the hungry eyes. I then found myself having to explain that “many of them are mentally ill and have no where to go” and that ” I know many of them are drug addicts, but that’s a disease and I’m not going to judge them for that.” I found myself in those two minutes twice the Christian she bragged about being and I don’t even go to church.

The memories I have from bible school (which are admittedly scattered) all point to what I was always told was the most important teaching of Jesus, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.”

Last week, the Supreme Court finally decided that within the United States, you can legally love and marry someone of the same sex because we are all endowed the right to pursue happiness. It was all right there in the original founding documents, but it just took about 239 years to really digest the words I guess.

While a huge majority of the country celebrated this tremendous civil rights victory a minority of Americans found this to be one of the darkest days on record. Preachers threatened to set themselves on fire and congregations prepared for the end of times, yet no men of the cloth set themselves ablaze and unless I missed the emergency warning on my IPhone, I think we can rule out the four horsemen of the apocalypse.

Fair warning, if you use the terms, “Fire and Brimstone,” “God’s Wrath,” “Sodom and Gommorah” or “Damnation”… this is not the questionnaire for you.

If you’re house is Locust proof or if you’ve mapped out your evacuation strategy in preparation for the next Great Flood… this questionnaire is not for you.

If you are a person of faith who is having a hard time finding how you can support gay marriage… this is most definitely for you.

Feel free to take your time, research some of the answers, work on it with a friend or use any tools that help. With that, I give you:

15 Questions for Someone Religious Struggling with Gay Marriage

15. Sally and Jen move in next door to you with their two kids. How does this end up affecting your marriage? How does this affect your relationship with your own children?

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Thank The Lord There’s Already A Parody Of This Hilariously Insulting Antigay Christian PSA

There are so many things to get upset about over the course of this two-and-a-half minute video from conservative nonprofit the Catholic Vote.

Right out of the gate, there’s the co-opting of the closet. “I’m a little bit nervous about people hearing that I am this way…” says one non-threatening voice over inspirational piano music. “Most people think I’m already weird anyways…” says another interviewee.

And what do these tender faces have to share with the world? They’re Christians, of course! And they just want to convey a simple message — gay marriage is wrong. But why are these God-fearing souls so oppressed?! (Tip: oppression defense doesn’t work when nobody is oppressing you.)

Gag us with a spoon.

Then there’s the classic “some of my best friends are gay” tactic thrown in, as if that were anything new, followed by most of them being brought to tears over their passionate belief that gay people shouldn’t be able to get married.

Watch below and marvel at how they manage to get through the whole thing with a straight face, then scroll down for the parody version that perfectly disarms this idiocy:

Dan Tracer

feedproxy.google.com/~r/queerty2/~3/nfknPA3eJLM/thank-the-lord-theres-already-a-parody-of-this-hilariously-insulting-antigay-christian-psa-20150702

Op-ed: What Happened When President Obama Met Two Trans Service Members

Laila Villanueva and her fiancé, Logan Ireland, are both transgender Americans currently serving in the U.S. military. At last month’s White House Pride Reception, they made history.

read more

US Army CPL Laila Villanueva

www.advocate.com/commentary/2015/07/02/op-ed-what-happened-when-president-obama-met-two-trans-service-members

Two Double-Mastectomy Survivors Walked Topless Down A Runway For A Powerful Reason
It was a powerful moment: the event was a fashion show that sought to challenge normative ideas of gender and beauty, and there, walking the runway were two double mastectomy survivors, both topless and wearing nothing but underwear.

The two women are cancer survivors Emily Jensen and Melanie Testa, and they were modeling the creations of Play Out, a New York City-based company that specializes in gender-inclusive undergarments. The show took place during Rainbow Fashion Week, a weeklong event that’s part of NYC Pride.

Abby Sugar, co-founder of Play Out, told Mashable that the point of the show was to challenge gender norms and empower people of all bodies. She said she also hoped to spread awareness about “flattoppers,” or women who have undergone mastectomies and have chosen to remain flat-chested.

“We wanted to … show that you can be yourself, no matter your gender presentation or after a cancer diagnosis,” she said. “We also want to … keep breaking down barriers in terms of gender expectations. It’s underwear, no matter your gender presentation or sexual orientation (gay, straight, bi, pan, etc.), we should all be able to wear whatever underwear makes us feel sexy and affirms our sense of self.”

Earlier this year, Play Out released a powerful photo campaign featuring double-mastectomy survivors. Both Jensen, founder of Flattopper Pride, an organization that supports LGBTQ breast cancer survivors, and Testa took part in the series. They said at the time that they hoped the campaign would serve to empower other survivors.

Models Emily Jenson (left) and Jodi Jaecks (right) in Play Out’s photo campaign

“Living in a society that does not reflect the image of my body [type] — breast-less, scarred, affected by cancer — has great consequence and influence to those who are newly diagnosed,” Jensen told HuffPost in May. “Not all women choose reconstruction or feel that it will make them whole again; some feel quite whole without breasts and without the need to wear breast forms. I choose to embrace my body as is and blithely proceed with grace and dignity. My hope is that other women will see these images in their time of need and that they will feel empowered and informed about flat reconstruction as one option among many.”

Flattopper Pride was also born from a similar sentiment, she said.

“One in eight women [in the U.S.] will have breast cancer in their lifetime. Fifty-eight percent of those women will not have reconstructive surgeries. That is a huge percentage of the population that is flat, yet people are shocked to see flattoppers,” Jensen told HelloGiggles in a recent interview. “Flattopper Pride began as a result of my realization that people like me had nowhere to turn for support, or even for a compassionate ear.”

Find out more about Flattopper Pride here; and visit Play Out’s website to learn more about their underwear, which the company says are designed to appeal to all genders. Play Out told Mashable that the company is planning on expanding its product line to include plus-size products, and new items including tank tops and bandeaus.

— This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

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Uganda national football manager tortured to ‘prove’ he’s not gay

The former Ugandan national football manager was tortured to ‘prove’ he’s not gay, a doctor has said.

Chris Mubiru is facing charges of ‘sodomizing’ one of his team players after he was allegedly ‘exposed’ by a tabloid.

In 2012, Red Pepper splashed pornographic pictures across their front page with the headline: ‘SMOKED OUT! Uganda Cranes boss nabbed sodomizing players – Shocking pictures inside.’

The captions were designed to outrage the conservative population, with one saying: ‘MASTER AT WORK: Mubiru nails the boy’s butt.’

Another said ‘END GAME: The boy struggles to stand up after the bum shattering session.’

The alleged ‘young player’ was not identified and the pictures were unable to verified.

Due to the papers selling so well, the gay pornographic Red Pepper issue was reprinted for another two weeks.

And now, three years later, Mubiru is facing a lifetime in jail for homosexuality.

In the court case, Mubiru’s lawyer asked a doctor to ‘anally probe’ the football manager. During these procedures, popular in Africa and the Middle East, the doctor examines the anus of a suspect for ‘proof’ he has engaged in anal sex and checks for traces of sperm.

The doctor also takes a picture to study the shape of the hole – the larger the width, the more ‘likely’ the person is gay, according to this discredited theory.

These tests are scientifically nonsensical and human rights organizations have condemned them for being inconclusive, degrading and a form of torture.

According to Uganda’s Daily Monitor, Dr Francis Kajumba said: ‘The lining of Mubiru’s genital was intact. I have examined two victims of sodomy, so I have some experience in such cases. There was no darkening or change on foreskin, his anus had a normal tone so it would withhold stool and his HIV/Aids status was also negative.’

Mubiru has claimed he is not gay, saying: ‘I have never, at any one time in my life, committed sodomy acts.’

The post Uganda national football manager tortured to ‘prove’ he’s not gay appeared first on Gay Star News.

Joe Morgan

www.gaystarnews.com/article/uganda-national-football-manager-tortured-to-prove-hes-not-gay/

Hundreds rally around torched LGBT mural in San Francisco

The ‘Por Vida’ (for life) mural that depicts gay couples and a transgender man has been a target of homophobes since it was unveiled in San Francisco’s Mission District last month.

The mural by artist Manuel Paul of Los Angeles’ Maricón Collective was vandalized twice by vandals before it was torched late on Monday night, the most serious attack to date.

Some 400 supporters including District Supervisor David Campos and State Assemblyman Tom Ammiano joined an outdoor rally on Wednesday evening to call for unity and dialogue.

A memorial of flowers and candles had been placed in front of the section of the mural located on the exterior wall of Galería de la Raza that was torched.

‘To go from the incredible high of the Supreme Court using a ruling that extended the Constitution to the LGBT community, to go from that high to seeing this, was an emotional experience,’ Campos was quoted as saying by Misson Local.

‘The Mission has always had that queer presence,’ he said in defiance of anyone who thought otherwise. ‘From every single moment of its existence the Mission has had that queer presence.’

The report noted that the mural was defaced twice on the opening weekend, followed by more tagging after the first mural was replaced. It was replaced again on Friday at the start of Pride weekend.

Galería de la Raza, which has spent $3,000 to get rid of the spray paint, is accepting donations to help with repairs.

The post Hundreds rally around torched LGBT mural in San Francisco appeared first on Gay Star News.

Sylvia Tan

www.gaystarnews.com/article/hundreds-rally-around-torched-lgbt-mural-in-san-francisco/

Morocco Police arrest two over mob beating of trans woman in Fez

Police have arrested two men over a 29 June attack on a Moroccan transgender woman in the city of Fez that went viral online and authorities hope to identify more suspects

Moroccan authorities have announced the capture of two suspects in a brutal and sustained attack by a mob on a transgender woman in the city of Fez last week and are hopeful of making more arrests.

‘Two suspects have been arrested for the time being and the investigation will continue to determine the responsibility of other persons,’ police said in a statement circulated by Moroccan national news agency MAP.

While carrying no comment on the right of LGBTI people to be able to live in safety, the statement stressed the ‘firm determination of the authorities to take action against those who act outside the law.’

In the video the trans woman is seen being punched and hit by several unidentified individuals, and as she tries to flee, she is hunted down by the crowd.

Forcing her to the ground, the crowd is seen striking her and kicking her in the head. One thug used a motorcycle to attack her as she clearly struggled to stay conscious.

Finding the strength to flee once again, the victim then ran towards a market where a police officer protected her from the clutches of her attackers by drawing his pistol and pointing it in the air.

It was reported that several glass bottles were thrown at the police car that took the victim away to safety.

Homosexual acts are punishable by up to three years in prison in Morocco and the country’s laws do not recognise the possibility of gender transition so transgender women could potentially be punished under the same law.

Two gay men were jailed for four months as recently as 19 June for kissing in public – deemed an ‘affront to public decency’ and an ‘unnatural act with a person of the same sex.’

The post Morocco Police arrest two over mob beating of trans woman in Fez appeared first on Gay Star News.

Andrew Potts

www.gaystarnews.com/article/morocco-police-arrest-two-over-mob-beating-of-trans-woman-in-fez/