Former Pope Benedict: I Broke Up Gay Lobby

The emeritus pope, known for much anti-LGBT rhetoric, makes this assertion in his soon-to-be-published memoir.

www.advocate.com/religion/2016/7/01/former-pope-benedict-i-broke-gay-lobby

Mississippi AG: GOP Lawmakers ‘Duped’ the Public Into Supporting Anti-LGBT ‘Religious Freedom’ Bill 

Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood says Republican lawmakers in his state “duped” the public into supporting HB 1523, an anti-LGBT ‘religious freedom’ law.

Hood’s statement comes on the heels of a decision from a district judge which struck down HB 1523 on Friday before it could take effect. Hood says he might not appeal that judge’s ruling as an Attorney General ordinarily might.

MS News Now reports:

Hood is the only Democrat in statewide office, and his staff had defended the law that was passed by the Republican-majority Legislature and signed by a Republican governor.

But, after U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves wrote a sharply worded order blocking the law, Hood said Friday that “the churchgoing public was duped” into thinking the law would protect religious freedoms.

Hood says an appeal could cost tens of thousands of dollars, and that might not be a good use of tax dollars when the state budget is tight and services such as mental health care are being cut.

Hood also said in his statement,

Our state leaders attempted to mislead pastors into believing that if this bill were not passed, they would have to preside over gay wedding ceremonies.  No court case has ever said a pastor did not have discretion to refuse to marry any couple for any reason.

I can’t pick my clients, but I can speak for myself as a named defendant in this lawsuit. The fact is that the… t.co/aoiqmQUkLE

— Jim Hood (@AGJimHood) July 1, 2016

RELATED – Mississippi Out: Atty General Won’t Allow State to Join Anti-Transgender Lawsuit

You can read Hood’s full statement on HB 1523, below:

I can’t pick my clients, but I can speak for myself as a named defendant in this lawsuit. The fact is that the churchgoing public was duped into believing that HB1523 protected religious freedoms. Our state leaders attempted to mislead pastors into believing that if this bill were not passed, they would have to preside over gay wedding ceremonies. No court case has ever said a pastor did not have discretion to refuse to marry any couple for any reason. I hate to see politicians continue to prey on people who pray, go to church, follow the law and help their fellow man.

The federal court’s ruling was straightforward and clear. On page 9, the court quotes statements made by legislators, the Governor and Lieutenant Governor. The court found that those statements, along with the inclusion of the term “sincerely held religious beliefs” and the definition thereof in HB 1523, were strong evidence that the law was unconstitutional.

In 2014, the state enacted the Religious Freedom and Restoration Act, which created a right of citizens to sue the state in state court if they felt that their religious freedoms were being overburdened. The federal court observed that this act was already in law when those officials went for a second victory lap to reinvigorate the support of churchgoing people by passing HB 1523 in an overtly political fashion.

Our attorneys will evaluate this decision to determine whether or not to appeal all or parts of Thursday’s ruling. We do intend to appeal the Court’s decision earlier in the week to extend the injunction to cover circuit clerks, who were never parties to the case.

I believe in the free exercise of religion and there will be a case in the future in which the U.S. Supreme Court will better define our religious rights. This case, however, is not that vehicle.

In consideration of the individual rights of all our citizens, the state’s current budget crisis and the cost of appeal, I will have to think long and hard about spending taxpayer money to appeal the case against me. An appeal could cost the state hundreds of thousands of dollars. For example, North Carolina has set aside $500,000 for defense of its bathroom law. Even if we won and the injunction were set aside on appeal, the case would be remanded and proceed to trial over about two years. Because of the huge tax breaks handed out to big corporations by these same leaders, the state is throwing mentally ill patients out on the street. This is hardly protecting the least among us as Jesus directed.

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‘Tarzan’ Gets a Gay Adult Film Parody – WATCH

The men behind Men.com have been busy creating a series of gay adult film parodies of popular movies such as Captain America, X-Men, and Star Wars. Their latest effort? A very gay and very adult take on Tarzan.

The parody was released Friday to coordinate with the nationwide release of the Alexander Skarsgard king of the jungle pic, The Legend of Tarzan.

#MENteaser Cumming tomorrow #MENTarzan #gaypornparody ft. @RB_DiegoSans @GreyColton #Tobias @LukeAdamsXXX pic.twitter.com/n1VPkwhjLy

— Men.com (@Men) June 30, 2016

The only question left at this point is what Skarsgard’s reaction would be to news of this parody. If his recent comments on gay sex scenes and his LGBT fan base are any barometer, we’re guessing he’d be a fan.

#MENteaser Human. Nature. FUCKING. The legend is cumming July 1st. #MENTarzan XXX #gaypornparody ft. @RB_DiegoSans pic.twitter.com/l8qR8PHdfK

— Men.com (@Men) June 29, 2016

PREVIOUSLY: Alexander Skarsgard’s Abs Rule the Jungle in ‘The Legend of Tarzan’ Trailer – WATCH

Watch a trailer for the film which is mostly work-friendly, with the exception of a few expletives, below.

The post ‘Tarzan’ Gets a Gay Adult Film Parody – WATCH appeared first on Towleroad.

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‘Drag Race’ Contestant Goes Viral After Justin Bieber Shares ‘Fix Ur Breath’ Video

RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 7 contestant Jasmine Masters has been propelled into the spotlight by Justin Bieber who shared a video called “fix ur breath” to his Instagram account.

RELATED: Justin Bieber Pays Tribute to Pulse Nightclub Victims at Orlando Concert: WATCH

The clip, in which Masters talks about people with bad breath, is captioned “This is my favorite video rn”. The post already has 3.4 million views, a number not difficult to achieve when you’ve got 73 million followers.

Watch:

Here’s the full video:

(h/t nnn)

The post ‘Drag Race’ Contestant Goes Viral After Justin Bieber Shares ‘Fix Ur Breath’ Video appeared first on Towleroad.

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What Does “Pride” Mean To You? We Asked Some Queer Celebs, Here’s What They Said.

Pride month may be over, but if we learned anything this year, it’s that the work is far from over.

What does pride mean, anyways? We like to think of it more as a mindset that helps inform a more empathetic, diverse public.

Queerty’s Rob Smith set out on the red carpet to find out what pride means to the celebs participating in Logo’s Trailblazer Honors.

Here’s what they had to say:

feedproxy.google.com/~r/queerty2/~3/ukM1RrzHnog/pride-mean-asked-queer-celebs-heres-said-20160701

Dolly Parton Admits “Sometimes Drag Queens Look More Like Me Than I Do”

Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images

– Dolly Parton discussing drag queens coming to her concerts dressed as her, via The New York Times.

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Fergie Returns and Vies For Song of the Summer with ‘M.I.L.F. $’ – LISTEN

Fergie is back with a new song, “M.I.L.F. $’, the first track off her upcoming album Double Duchess, her first album in 10 years.

Via Uproxx: 

[“M.I.L.F. $”] features the catchy if somewhat nonsensical chorus of “You got that milk money/ I got that, I got that, I got that MILF money.” While it’s uncertain exactly what qualifies as “MILF money,” one can naturally assume that it would put you into a fairly high tax bracket.
This song is basically what we’ve come to know from Fergie; it’s not rewriting Shakespeare, but it rides a killer beat, and it has a memorably filthy chorus.

#MILFMONEY on @AppleMusic t.co/Www44Kj2OP
Just getting started, video coming sooner than you think… pic.twitter.com/am7uMbjvU8

— Fergie (@Fergie) July 1, 2016

Listen to the track, below. What do you think of Fergie’s return?

The post Fergie Returns and Vies For Song of the Summer with ‘M.I.L.F. $’ – LISTEN appeared first on Towleroad.

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