Mr Leather Europe: ‘I was in a physically abusive relationship for five years’
“My confidence was at an all-time low,” King says. “I secretly fantasized about the day I would be free of him.”
Monthly Archives: June 2017
Michigan Apple Grower Banned From Farmer’s Market For Homophobic Facebook Post
Michigan Apple Grower Banned From Farmer’s Market For Homophobic Facebook Post
A Michigan man says he was banned from an outdoor farmer’s market after he refused to allow gay couples to get married on his property.
Represented by anti-gay litigation group Alliance Defending Freedom [ADF], apple grower Stephen Tennes filed a lawsuit against the city of East Lansing on Wednesday. According to the city, Tennes was not invited back to the farmer’s market because vendors must follow a civil rights ordinance banning discrimination.
RELATED: Southern Poverty Law Center Designates ‘Alliance Defending Freedom’ as an Anti-Gay Hate Group: VIDEO
However, Country Mill Farms owner Tennes says that the ordinance violates his rights to free speech and religion.
Fox Business reports:
Tennes’ farm, 22 miles away from East Lansing in Eaton County, is a popular place to have weddings. In a Facebook post in December, he said he believes in heterosexual marriage and reserves the right to reject weddings that conflict with his beliefs.
“If the government can shut down a family farmer just because of the religious views he expresses on Facebook … then no American is free,” said Tennes’ [ADF] attorney, Kate Anderson.
East Lansing said in a statement that the farm is violating the city’s “long-standing ordinance that protects sexual orientation” and can’t sell fruit at the market.
In a statement, the City of Lansing said:
The Country Mill has been excluded from the East Lansing Farmer’s Market because the East Lansing Farmer’s Market policy requires that all vendors comply with the City’s Civil Rights ordinances while at the market and as a general business practice.
Contrary to this policy and the constitutionally protected rights of all couples, The Country Mill has advertised that their business practice is to prohibit same-sex couples from holding weddings at their orchard in Charlotte, MI.
Their business practices violate the City of East Lansing’s long-standing ordinance that protects sexual orientation as well as the Supreme Court’s ruling that grants the right for same-sex couples to be married.
Tennes – who says he runs his business to “glorify god” – has said that he wants a judge to order East Lansing to allow him back at the market and to stop the city from extending policies to businesses outside the city.
Stephen Tennes doesn’t want to serve everyone. In fact he violated East Lansing’s civil rights ordinance by stating that he refuses LGBT biz
— Pablo Johnstone (@Ptotheftothej) June 1, 2017
“True tolerance,” he said, “is a two way street. The government should not eradicate people of faith from the marketplace.”
Watch ADF’s report on the case below.
The post Michigan Apple Grower Banned From Farmer’s Market For Homophobic Facebook Post appeared first on Towleroad.
Michigan Apple Grower Banned From Farmer’s Market For Homophobic Facebook Post
Ireland Will Have a Gay Prime Minister
Ireland Will Have a Gay Prime Minister
Leo Varadkar was elected leader of the nation’s governing party, and as such he will become prime minister.
www.advocate.com/world/2017/6/02/ireland-will-have-gay-prime-minister
Love himself
This gay autistic swimmer refuses to let anything stop him from being #1
Sapporo Is the First City In Japan To Recognize Gay Relationships
Sapporo Is the First City In Japan To Recognize Gay Relationships
Sapporo has become the first city in Japan to officially recognize same-sex partnerships.
According to Kyodo News, on Thursday the city also became the first to recognize partnerships between heterosexual couples with gender dysphoria.
The initiative is another step towards legalization of same sex unions in Japan and comes after Tokyo’s Shibuya and Setagaya districts became the first to recognize same-sex partnerships in 2015. Iga, Takarazuka and Naha also recognized same-sex partnerships in 2016.
RELATED: Osaka is First City in Japan to Recognize Gay Couple as Foster Parents
The Latin American Herald Tribune reports that large Japanese corporations have also started adopting labor laws that ban discrimination in the workplace.
A 32-year-old woman who received recognition of her same-sex partnership said:
“I am delighted. I was finally able to do it. It may be self-satisfaction but I want other people to use the system without caring what people around them think as they can become happy.”
Upon signing a “partnership vow,” the couple receives copies of their vow and a receipt from the city. These documents do not confer legal rights or obligations, but enable them to become recipients of life insurance money and use family-member discounts for mobile phone and other services.
Japanese civil law does not recognize any rights for same-sex couples. The country’s constitution specifies that marriage should be based only on mutual consent between opposite-sex couples.
The post Sapporo Is the First City In Japan To Recognize Gay Relationships appeared first on Towleroad.
Trump’s Proposal to Dismantle ACA Contraceptive Mandate Puts Employers in Charge of Women’s Health
Trump’s Proposal to Dismantle ACA Contraceptive Mandate Puts Employers in Charge of Women’s Health
HRC condemned Trump’s proposed regulation that could strip millions of women and LGBTQ people of access to critical contraceptive care previously guaranteed under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Vox reported on a leaked draft of the proposal that would allow employers — including for-profit companies — to refuse to provide insurance coverage of birth control on the basis of religious or moral objections.
“Trump is inviting employers to exert control over critical health care choices for their employees,” said HRC Legal Director Sarah Warbelow. “By providing cover to employers who wish to deny contraceptive coverage based upon religious or moral disapproval, he is placing millions of women and LGBTQ people’s health at risk.”
Many in the LGBTQ community, particularly lesbians, bisexual women, and transgender men, have a real need for access to contraception for various healthcare needs including the prevention of pregnancy and family planning, as well as for the treatment of medical conditions like endometriosis, polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) and migraines. Without coverage as part of their health insurance plan, millions will be shutout from these critical services.
The leaked regulation greatly expands the religious exemption currently available to churches and religious organizations under the ACA to any private employer in the country. These exemptions will undoubtedly limit access to care that so many in our community rely on every day.
According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, the ACA’s contraceptive mandate attributed to 63 percent of the overall decline of out-of-pocket spending on prescription drugs. The same report also shows that at 71 percent, the contraception mandate has more support than President Trump’s current approval rating.
IMG_8718
Pastor accused of beating gay man for two hours says she’s innocent because he never asked her to stop
Gay Man Found Murdered In Washington, D.C. Area Apartment
Gay Man Found Murdered In Washington, D.C. Area Apartment
A 26-year-old gay man was found stabbed to death in his Maryland apartment on Tuesday.
According to a police statement, patrol officers arrived at Matthew Mickens-Murrey’s apartment on Newton Street in Hyattsville on Tuesday afternoon in response to a call asking that they check on his welfare.
Mickens-Murrey was pronounced dead at the scene.
Two of Murrey’s friends, Allen James and Terrence Ford, told the Washington Blade that he he had been planning to attend events associated with Washington, D.C.’s Black Pride celebration over the Memorial Day weekend.
RELATED: Gay Murder Victim’s Family Rejects Suspect’s Self Defense Claim He Masturbated in Front of Her
Ford said he thinks Murrey was last seen at D.C. gay bar Nellie’s on the evening of May 28th. On prior occasions he and Murrey would go to D.C. gay bars Fireplace, Cobalt and Bachelor’s Mill.
James said Murrey was a “kind hearted, no-nonsense guy” who worked as a security guard in D.C.
A police spokesperson said there is currently no evidence to suggest the murder was a hate crime.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Prince George’s County Police Homicide Unit at 301-772-4925. A cash reward of up to $25,000 is being offered for information leading to an arrest and indictment in the case.
(Image via Facebook)
The post Gay Man Found Murdered In Washington, D.C. Area Apartment appeared first on Towleroad.
