Bisexual Community Leaders Convene at the White House
HRC Senior Content Manager Beth Sherouse joined 100 bisexual community advocates for a White House Bisexual Community Policy Briefing on Monday, September 21.
HRC.org
Daily Archives: September 24, 2015
PHOTOS: Guys Over 50 Are Super Sexy And Here’s The Proof
PHOTOS: Guys Over 50 Are Super Sexy And Here’s The Proof
We’ve been saying it forever: Guys over 50 are super sexy. Now, California-based photographer Tommy Wu and multimedia designer Alan Reade (known professionally as Tommy+Alan) have produced evidence to support that claim.
The “Men Over 50 Project” celebrates hot everyday guys who have made it past the big 5-0. The project features both photos of the men as well as accompanying one to two minute audio clips.
Related: An Open Letter To Ageist Gay Men
“Many of the men in this project talk with us frankly about both their triumphs and their struggles,” Tommy+Alan write in their artists’ statement. “We felt it was important for you to hear their stories in their own words.”
The interviews include stories of surviving illnesses, struggling with societal conventions, dealing with ageism, and what it means to get older in a youth-obsessed culture.
Scroll down to see some of the photos from the project, and be sure to visit Tommy+Alan’s website to see more and to hear the interviews. You’ll be glad you did.
Graham Gremore
Vladimir Putin Gives Elton John a Call (For Real This Time)
Vladimir Putin Gives Elton John a Call (For Real This Time)
After falling victim to Russian pranksters pretending to be Vladimir Putin, Sir Elton John has received a phone call from the real Russian president. According to the Kremlin, Putin phoned the pop star Wednesday and asked him not to be offended by the prank. Putin also proposed a meeting and said John was welcome to discuss “any issue of interest.”
Earlier this month John, accompanied by his husband David Furnish, met with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko in Kiev to lobby him on LGBT rights. While there he told the BBC he would like to meet Putin and confront him about his country’s anti-LGBT record.
“I’d love to meet him [Putin], I’d love to sit down and talk to him. It’s probably pie in the sky but unless you try, unless you put your foot in the water, your toe in the water … at least if I meet him and say, ‘Listen, come on, let’s have a cup of tea, let’s talk about this’, he might laugh behind my back and then he shuts the door and call me an absolute idiot but at least I can have a conscience and say I’d tried.”
Related, Elton John Responds to Pranksters Pretending to Be Vladimir Putin: ‘Homophobia is Never Funny’
The post Vladimir Putin Gives Elton John a Call (For Real This Time) appeared first on Towleroad.
Kyler Geoffroy
No Retreat, No Surrender For Kim Davis
No Retreat, No Surrender For Kim Davis
The legal team behind Kim Davis at this point might as well quote patriot John Paul Jones, who famously said, “I have not yet begun to fight!”
The Kentucky clerk and her lawyers told the Associated Press they’re not quitting their effort to stop issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples in Rowan County after again asking a judge to postpone his mandate that she license all couples, and again losing.
Federal Judge David Bunning on Wednesday dismissed Davis’ arguments that she is likely to suffer irreparable harm by having to issue the licenses.
“This argument is unpersuasive because Davis has created her own risk of harm by violating a valid order issued by this court,” Bunning wrote in his ruling. ”As for the public interest, the court simply notes that the public has an interest in the enforcement of valid court orders.”
Attorneys with Liberty Counsel, a Florida-based firm that specializes in defending conservative Christians in LGBT rights cases, has repeatedly asked the appeals court to toss Bunning’s order that the Rowan County clerk’s office issue marriage licenses to all couples.
Attorney Mat Staver is arguing that because the couples who sued her received a license, she should not have to issue any more while that case is pending.
As The Advocate reported last week, the appeals court denied her request, citing the legal technicality that her lawyers did not first ask the district judge for a delay, as federal court rules require. That’s why Davis’ legal team redirected the appeal to Bunning.
“It would essentially allow her to reinstate her ‘no marriage licenses’ policy during the pendency of the appeal and likely violate the constitutional right of eligible couples,” the judge wrote.
Staver told the Associated Press the request with the district judge was just “a formality” and announced he will soon file that same motion with the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.
Meanwhile the ACLU has now asked Judge Bunning to order Davis to reissue the licenses, which The Advocate reported she altered to remove Davis’s name, job title and county. The ACLU, which represents gay and straight couples who were denied a license by the clerk, wants Davis threatened with penalties such as fines if she continues to refuse to issue valid licenses.
Another penalty would be to strip Davis of her authority by placing her office under a receivership, which would allow another person to oversee the marriage licensing process.
No word yet from Bunning on that request.
Dawn Ennis
www.advocate.com/marriage-equality/2015/9/24/no-retreat-no-surrender-kim-davis
Pope Francis' Speech To Congress Didn't Mention Abortion, Gay Marriage By Name
Pope Francis' Speech To Congress Didn't Mention Abortion, Gay Marriage By Name
During his historic speech at a joint meeting of Congress on Thursday, Pope Francis hit upon a variety of issues that have defined the Catholic church: protecting the environment, helping the poor, addressing the plight of immigrants, abolishing the death penalty and taking a stand against the proliferation of the weapons trade, to name a few.
Yet, while the pope had strong words on many of these causes, he glossed over two other topics that American bishops have strongly lobbied against in recent years: abortion and same-sex marriage. In fact, he did not even mention them by name.
In his wide-ranging 3,404-word address praising the democratic mission of Congress and the spirit of the American people — touching upon Martin Luther King Jr., Abraham Lincoln, Dorothy Day and Thomas Merton — the pope called for action to protect refugees, eliminate capital punishment and stop war, yet used a mere 21 words to allude to abortion and only 54 to touch vaguely upon the fact that same-sex marriage is now legal across the United States.
On abortion, the pope’s comments were tucked into a larger discussion on the the Golden Rule, which “reminds us of our responsibility to protect and defend human life at every stage of its development.” But he did not say the word “abortion.”
On marriage, the pope had a few more words. “I cannot hide my concern for the family, which is threatened, perhaps as never before, from within and without. Fundamental relationships are being called into question, as is the very basis of marriage and the family. I can only reiterate the importance and, above all, the richness and the beauty of family life.”
Yet, Francis, who was notably the first pope to use the word “gay” — as he did during his famed “Who I am to judge?” interview — and who has been praised and criticized by LGBT activists for his words on the spirituality of gay people, did not explicitly mention same-sex marriage.
U.S. Catholic bishops, by comparison, have lobbied intensely in recent years against abortion, contraception and same-sex marriage, encouraging homilies and teach-ins on the issues on the parish level and hosting extensive policy pages about those topics on the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops website. Bishops have also lobbied against the death penalty, which the pope mentioned in his speech, and on behalf of immigrants and the poor.
By no means does Francis support abortion or gay marriage — but his decision to largely skip over the topics during his speech to Congress is notable, and likely won’t gain him fans among conservative Catholics, who have already criticized the pope for his off-the-cuff remarks on social issues and for his views on climate change.
“Yesterday, Pope Francis said that promoting life and family were the major reason he came to America this week. Yet, disappointingly, the pope did not mention abortion by name in his address to Congress,” said John-Henry Westen, the editor-in-chief of LifeSiteNews, a conservative Catholic website.
Francis has already indicated that his focus as pope is not on sexuality or culture war-related issues. In a landmark interview just six months after he became pope in 2013, he said the church was “obsessed” with abortion, contraception and gay marriage.
“It is not necessary to talk about these issues all the time. The dogmatic and moral teachings of the church are not all equivalent. The church’s pastoral ministry cannot be obsessed with the transmission of a disjointed multitude of doctrines to be imposed insistently,” he said in the interview with Rev. Antonio Spadaro, who edits La Civiltà Cattolica, an Italian Jesuit publication.
“We have to find a new balance,” the pope said at the time. “Otherwise, even the moral edifice of the church is likely to fall like a house of cards, losing the freshness and fragrance of the Gospel.”
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Portland bar owner ordered to pay $400,000 to transgender group he asked to stay away from his venue
Portland bar owner ordered to pay $400,000 to transgender group he asked to stay away from his venue
A Portland bar owner has been told that he must pay $400,000 in damages to a group of transgender customers that he asked to stay away from his venue.
The Oregon Court of Appeals yesterday upheld an earlier ruling that the owner of the Twilight Room Annex, formerly known as the Portsmouth Club, must pay the money.
He had earlier been offered the opportunity to apologize but had decided to appeal and fight the decision instead.
The dispute dates back to 2012, when the venue’s owner, Chris Jenner, told a group known as the Rose City T-Girls not to return to his bar.
The group, according to court papers, is, ‘An informal social group that includes straight people, married couples, nonmarried couples, males who identify as females, cross-dressers, males who have physically transitioned to females, lesbians, and gay males.’
He left voicemail messages for Cassandra Lynn, the group’s founder, saying: ‘Hello, my name is Chris. I’m the owner of the P-Club Bar and Grill. Unfortunately, due to circumstances beyond my control, I’m going to have to ask for you, Cass and your group, not to come back on Friday nights.
‘People think that A.) we’re a tranny bar, or B.) that we’re a gay bar. We are neither. People are not coming in because they just don’t want to be here on a Friday night now.’
The group complained to Oregon’s Labor commission, and in 2013, the venue was investigated – and subsequently fined – by the Bureau of Labor and Industries for violating the state’s non-discrimination law.
The Rose City T Girls – which includes 11 complainants – then asked for a mediated settlement, saying that their dispute wasn’t about money and that all they wanted was an apology from Jenner.
However, he refused and instead decided to appeal the decision. He did not, however, appeal the monetary penalty.
In early 2014, the state began to seize Jenner’s bank accounts and assets in an effort to recover the money. The Annex subsequently closed its doors to business in April 2014 but its owner continued to fight the decision through the Appeals Court.
According to Associated Press, Jenner’s attorney argued that – in contrast to bakeries that have declined to make cakes for same-sex weddings – his client did not bar the women but had merely expressed a desire that they did not return to his venue.
‘Originally, the Rose City T-Girls approached his business and asked if this is going to be a problem and they said, “No.”
‘In essence, he was going back to them and saying, “This is a problem for my business.” We think he’s got a constitutional right to make that inquiry.’
However, the Appeals Court disagreed. It’s ruling can be read here.
Within it, it says, Penner’s request that the T-Girls ‘not to come back’ could be rightly interpreted as meaning that they were unwelcome at the club, and that they were not allowed to meet at the club any longer because of their sexual orientation.
‘When Penner left the voicemails for Lynn, he was verbally barring her and the T-Girls from the P Club on Friday nights.’
Main image: Michael Silberstein, licensed via Creative Commons 2.0
The post Portland bar owner ordered to pay $400,000 to transgender group he asked to stay away from his venue appeared first on Gay Star News.
David Hudson
Director of Social Ministry Heartbroken After Being Fired for Sexual Orientation
Director of Social Ministry Heartbroken After Being Fired for Sexual Orientation
Colleen was heartbroken after she was let go from her job as a Director of Social Ministry at a church in Kansas City.
HRC.org
School Won’t Let Student Bring Another Boy To Homecoming Dance, Warns Him About Murderous Gays
School Won’t Let Student Bring Another Boy To Homecoming Dance, Warns Him About Murderous Gays
All Lance Sanderson (pictured) wants is to bring another boy to his school’s homecoming dance, but administrators won’t let him.
Sanderson is a senior at Christian Brothers High School, an all-boys Catholic prep school in Memphis. Last year, he says he spoke with an administrator about bringing a boy from another school to the dance. That administrator gave him permission, but has since left his position at the school.
Now, school officials have changed their tune.
Related: After Denying FTM Student Homecoming King Title, MI High School Does Away With Prom King + Queen
“I was sitting down talking to one of the current administrators over the summer, and at the end of our conversation, I mentioned it, expecting him to say the same thing. And he had a very different response,” Sanderson tells the Memphis Flyer. “He mentioned a [gay] couple in Texas and said I was a lot like this one person and said that the guy’s boyfriend murdered him. It was a little rough.”
The school cited a policy against boys from other schools attending social functions as its reason for denying Sanderson’s request.
The official policy reads: “CBHS students may attend the dance by themselves, with other CBHS students, or with a girl from another school. For logistical reasons, boys from other schools may not attend.”
According to Sanderson, that policy has been read over the school’s loudspeaker daily for the past week.
“The way they worded it is ‘for logistical reasons, boys from other schools may not attend.’ I asked about it in a meeting [Tuesday] morning, and they said they didn’t want guys from our school getting into disagreements with guys from other schools,” Sanderson says.
The school’s marketing and communications director, John Morris, said it would not be releasing any comment over the matter… Perhaps for “logistical reasons”?
Related: High School Jock Comes Out By Slow Dancing With The Homecoming King
h/t: Raw Story
Graham Gremore
Ellen Unveils the All-Trump 2016 GOP Debate Line Up: VIDEO
Ellen Unveils the All-Trump 2016 GOP Debate Line Up: VIDEO
And you thought one billionaire blowhard was a headache. Try 11 of em.
Hoping to boost her ratings, Ellen DeGeneres created this hilarious (and more than a little terrifying) video that replaces the other 10 GOP candidates at last week’s debate with Donald Trump.
Get ready for a lot of insults and interruptions in the video below:
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The post Ellen Unveils the All-Trump 2016 GOP Debate Line Up: VIDEO appeared first on Towleroad.
Kyler Geoffroy
New Kim Davis Lesbian Erotica Takes Her to the Promised Land
New Kim Davis Lesbian Erotica Takes Her to the Promised Land
Embattled Kentucky county clerk Kim Davis may be best known for her homophobic stance against marriage equality and leaving gay and lesbian couples wanting more. But now she’s the subject of a new lesbian jailhouse erotic novella that is all about satisfaction.
Author Lilith St. Augustine has written a fantasy novel starring the renegade clerk that is “bitingly satirical, unexpectedly funny and unabashedly sexy,” according to the book’s online description. Kim Goes To Jail: An Erotic Story is available now as a Kindle download on Amazon.
Loosely based on Davis’ stint in the slammer on contempt of court charges, the novella has our antihero incarcerated with a “beautiful cellmate” who is “only too eager to acclimate” Davis to her new life behind bars.
“One day I’m standin’ on the side of the Lord against sexual perversion, and the next I’m in prison orange watchin’ a buck nekkid mulatto vixen ‘bout to do impure things to herself and to my soul in one single, terrifyin’ act,” reads one passage. “She was strokin’ my thigh and makin’ her way for the promised land…”
The author told the Huffington Post that she used the story to “poke fun” at religious right zealots who loudly proclaim their homophobia. Studies have shown that the most homophobic people are usually struggling with their own sexuality and act out as a way of reaffirming their heterosexuality.
St. Augustine says she is “giving readers satisfaction not only in the typical erotica sense but also of seeing a character do some things that, in the real world, would obviously be anathema to the kinds of people we’re talking about.”
“There can be pleasure in irony sometimes,” she said. “And hopefully readers will get a chuckle or two while we’re at it.”
The Advocate reached out to Davis’s attorneys for comment but did not receieve a reply by press time.
Bil Browning
www.advocate.com/arts-entertainment/2015/9/24/new-kim-davis-lesbian-erotica-takes-her-promised-land
