Ohio radio host mocks Caitlyn Jenner with ‘abhorrent’ billboard

A radio host in Toledo, Ohio has come under fire for a billboard that mocks Caitlyn Jenner.

Denny Schaffer recreated Jenner’s iconic Vanity Fair shoot for the ad, which went up last week.

‘TRANSITION to Star 105… and don’t call me Caitlyn,’ it reads.

Schaffer, who has said he would never DJ a at gay wedding, said it was just a ‘parody of a magazine cover’ and described Jenner as a ‘hero.’

But LGBTI organization Equality Toledo isn’t laughing at the ‘abhorrent’ sign.

‘The offensive Star 105 billboard makes a mockery of the transition process many transgender people experience. This is unacceptable,’ the group said in a statement.

‘We at Equality Toledo believe in respecting transgender people and celebrating their lives, the caricaturing of Caitlyn Jenner by Star 105 host Denny Schaffer is hardly that. In fact, his ad continues to perpetuate the stereotype that transgender people are comedic showcase and do not have real identities.’

The billboard was after taken down on Wednesday (5 August) after listeners complained to Star’s parent network, Cumulus Broadcasting network.

Schaffer apologized for any offense caused, but a Change.org petition has already been launched calling for the veteran radio host to be fired.

The post Ohio radio host mocks Caitlyn Jenner with ‘abhorrent’ billboard appeared first on Gay Star News.

Darren Wee

www.gaystarnews.com/article/ohio-radio-host-mocks-caitlyn-jenner-with-abhorrent-billboard/

Owner of Chicago-Area Gay Bar Admits to Arson Scheme

Frank Elliott pleaded guilty to hiring an arsonist to torch the bar he owned, in a fire made to look like a hate crime.

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Trudy Ring

www.advocate.com/crime/2015/08/05/owner-chicago-area-gay-bar-admits-arson-scheme

Kentucky’s anti-gay Rowan County Clerk files lawsuit against governor in marriage license battle

Kentucky’s anti-gay Rowan County Clerk is suing the state’s governor for insisting that she and other clerks in the state issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

Kim Davis has filed a lawsuit against Governor Steve Beshear alleging that he has violated her ‘religious freedom.’

Her lawsuit states: ‘The Commonwealth of Kentucky, acting through Governor Beshear, has deprived Davis of her religious-conscience rights guaranteed by the United States and Kentucky constitutions and laws, by insisting that Davis issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples contrary to her conscience, based on her sincerely held religious beliefs.’

Beshear sent a clear message last month to Davis and other county clerks in his state who continue to refuse to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples following the US Supreme Court’s 26 June ruling that brought marriage equality to all 50 states: Do your job or quit.

‘When you voluntarily decide to run for office, and you win, and you raise your hand and you take the oath to uphold the Constitutions of the United States… that oath doesn’t say “I will uphold the parts of the Constitution that I agree with and won’t with the parts I don’t agree with,”‘ Beshear said during a press conference on 21 July.

He had added: ‘You can continue to have your own personal beliefs but, you’re also taking an oath to fulfill the duties prescribed by law, and if you are at that point to where your personal convictions tell you that you simply cannot fulfill your duties that you were elected to do, than obviously an honorable course to take is to resign and let someone else step-in who feels that they can fulfill those duties.’

Davis claims in her lawsuit that my insisting Davis issue licenses to same-sex couples, he has left her vulnerable to lawsuits.

Davis, who has been married four times, is being sued by the American Civil Liberties Union and wants the governor to pay for those and any other lawsuits filed against her by her constituents.

According to The Lexington Herald-Leader, Davis is seeking protection from ‘Kentucky’s marriage policies’ given her rights under the state’s religious-freedom law which protects ‘sincerely held religious beliefs’ from infringement unless there is ‘a compelling governmental interest.

The post Kentucky’s anti-gay Rowan County Clerk files lawsuit against governor in marriage license battle appeared first on Gay Star News.

Greg Hernandez

www.gaystarnews.com/article/kentuckys-anti-gay-rowan-county-clerk-files-lawsuit-against-governor-in-marriage-license-battle/

Former Sportscaster Sues, Says Fox Fired Him for Antigay Religious Beliefs

Craig James claims Fox Sports didn’t care for the antigay comments he made while seeking political office.

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Trudy Ring

www.advocate.com/media/2015/08/05/former-sportscaster-sues-says-fox-fired-him-antigay-religious-beliefs

Texas Must Recognize Gay Marriage On Death Certificate, Judge Rules

AUSTIN, Texas, Aug 5 (Reuters) – A U.S. judge on Wednesday ordered Texas officials to recognize on a state death certificate the surviving spouse in a same-sex marriage whose husband died earlier this year.

The case comes as states such as Texas, which had barred same-sex marriage, grapple with changes brought by the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision in June that made gay marriage legal in the United States.

Texas, where Republican leaders have tried to push back against gay marriage, had balked at recognizing John Stone-Hoskins as the surviving spouse on the death certificate of James Stone-Hoskins, according to court documents.

U.S. District Judge Orlando Garcia in San Antonio ordered defendants including Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican, and the state’s acting health commissioner to appear in his court next week as he considers whether they should be held in contempt.

The two were not immediately available for comment.

John and James Stone-Hoskins were lawfully married in New Mexico in August 2014 and James died in January 2015. 

Texas refused to recognize John as the surviving spouse at the time of the death and he is seeking to have Texas change its ways now that gay marriage is legal in all states.

He filed a lawsuit on Wednesday in federal court, which prompted the judge’s order. It said Texas has refused to fill in the space on the death certificate for surviving spouse.

Republican Governor Greg Abbott, Paxton, a county clerk and the acting health commissioner were named as defendants. None of them responded to requests for comment on the case.

“Although John has made numerous attempts to have James’s death certificate corrected to reflect John as James’s surviving spouse, Defendants refuse to make this correction – thus refusing to recognize John and James’s marriage,” the lawsuit said.

Neel Lane, an attorney for Stone-Hoskins, said the reason Texas officials refuse to put John’s name on the death certificate is because at the time his spouse died Texas was aggressively denying same-sex couples the right to marry.

“The only reason that he was denied that is because the state was intent on depriving him of his constitutional right,” he said. 

(Reporting by Jon Herskovitz; Editing by Eric Beech)

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Judy Garland’s youngest daughter, Lorna Luft, undergoes mastectomy

Lorna Luft has shared the news on Facebook that she has undergone a mastectomy.

The youngest daughter of gay icon Judy Garland shared the medical update in a Facebook post Wednesday (5 August).

‘I am recovering well,’ she writes. ‘Surrounded by family, friends and an outstanding team of doctors and nurses. I am especially grateful for the outpouring of love and support I have received from all of you. I am so blessed!’

Luft adds: ‘Looking forward to a very bright future.’

Luft, now 62, was still a teenager when her legendary mother died in 1969 at the age of 47 of an accidental drug overdose. She left behind Luft, her younger brother Joey Luft and older sister Liza Minnelli.

But she said earlier this year she doesn’t want anyone to think of Garland as a tragic figure.

‘We all have our problems, every single one of us,’ Luft told the Daily Express. ‘There has long been a myth about my mum being a tragic figure that has driven me nuts and it used to drive my mother nuts too. She never understood it because she truly wasn’t tragic.

‘She was incredibly warm and amazingly funny. She was smart and so gifted. She took us on the movie sets with her and at home she was a regular person.’

Luft  toured the UK earlier this year with new show, Judy – The Songbook Of Judy Garland. In the show, she sang many songs made famous by her mother in such classic films as The Wizard of Oz, A Star is Born and Meet Me In St. Louis.

In addition to her work on the stage, Luft is best known for her role in the 1982 cult classic Grease 2 and was a cast member on the TV series Trapper John M.D.

The post Judy Garland’s youngest daughter, Lorna Luft, undergoes mastectomy appeared first on Gay Star News.

Greg Hernandez

www.gaystarnews.com/article/judy-garlands-youngest-daughter-lorna-luft-undergoes-mastectomy/