PHOTOS: Bangladeshi Hijras Show Their Pride
One year after the Bangladesh government formally recognized a third gender, the nation’s hijras celebrated with their first-ever Pride parade.
Sunnivie Brydum
www.advocate.com/politics/transgender/2014/11/10/photos-bangladeshi-hijras-show-their-pride
Student Punched In The Face For Kissing His Boyfriend Gets The Last Word
Late last week, a stranger punched Cole Ledford in the face for kissing his boyfriend on the sidewalk. But the Ohio State University junior has a message for his attacker: “Love is louder than hate.”
After the tweet below went viral with more than 34,000 retweets, we’d have to say a lot of other people agree.
To the guy who punched me tonight for kissing my boyfriend pic.twitter.com/SMVmTpDCdL
— Cole Ledford (@ColeLedford11) November 7, 2014
The note in his tweet reads:
I’m sorry that you called me fag. I’m sorry you hit me for no reason. I’m sorry whatever insecurities you have don’t allow you to accept others for who they are. I’m sorry I threaten you.
I’m NOT sorry I’m gay. I’m proud to be this way. I’m proud to be confident enough to love who I love and to love me. I’m proud to have friends and family that love me regardless of me. Honestly, I’m not sorry.
Ledford told The Huffington Post he contacted Ohio State’s Bias Assessment and Response Team, tasked with responding to “hate and bias-related incidents,” after the assault. The team responded with a message of support saying it would look into the incident, but Ledford expressed his doubt that the attacker, a complete stranger, would be found. Instead, he hopes to be able to work with the organization to promote tolerance in the student community.
In the hours and days that followed, Ledford has also received an outpouring of love from the Internet.
@ColeLedford11 sorry about the black eye. You’re a good man. And your message is beautiful. Keep on snoggin’ #LoveIsLouder
— Skylar Astin (@SkylarAstin) November 7, 2014
@ColeLedford11 I’m really sorry that you were attacked. Thank you for being brave enough to share your story. Love>Hate #loveislouder #Ally
— Missa (@Jinxtaposition) November 10, 2014
While the LGBT community is certainly no stranger to public hate crimes, Ledford’s defiant effort to spread a positive message has turned the incident around. Help by spreading #LoveIsLouder.
From the bottom of my heart, thank you for showing me, and the rest of the world, that love > hate #LoveIsLouder pic.twitter.com/JiwTzWXnMq
— Cole Ledford (@ColeLedford11) November 9, 2014
Tyler Ritter talks to GSN about famous dad, brother Jason and being mistaken for gay
Star of new sitcom The McCarthys spent years trying to avoid the family business
gregh
The KKK Is Rebranding, Gays and Blacks Are Now Welcome
While conservatives may be intent on getting back to America’s puritanical roots, at least one white supremacist is looking to the future.
John Abarr, one of Montana’s most notorious Ku Klux Klan members, says he’s recruiting members for an all-new, all-inclusive KKK, one that will not discriminate against people because of their race, religion or sexual orientation, the Great Falls Tribune reports.
“The KKK is for a strong America,” Abarr told the newspaper. “White supremacy is the old Klan. This is the new Klan.”
Abarr is calling the group the Rocky Mountain Knights. The non-discriminatory chapter of the KKK will seek to fight against a “new world order,” whatever that means. Members will still be required to wear the creepy white robes and hoods and participate in “secret rituals,” but they will not longer burn down churches or lynch people.
Abarr says he hopes to partner with the NAACP, calling it “a really good organization.”
“I don’t feel we need to be separate,” he said.
Naturally, KKK leaders are not pleased with him. Embracing blacks and gays, they say, is like spitting in the face to their hate group’s founding fathers.
“That man’s going against everything the bylaws of the constitution of the KKK say,” Bradley Jenkins, the KKK’s “imperial wizard,” said. “He’s trying to hide behind the KKK to further his political career.”
Human Rights leaders are also not sure what to make of it.
Rachel Carroll-Rivas, co-director of the Montana Human Rights Network, said if Abarr really wants to form an inclusive organization, he should reconsider his approach.
“They know that their beliefs aren’t popular, so they try to appear moderate. I think it’s just a farce,” she said. “If John Abarr was actually reformed, he could drop the label of the KKK.”
But Abarr says he hopes people will “give him a chance.” If they only got to know him, he claims, they would see he’s ready to lead the KKK in a different, more loving direction.
Related stories:
WATCH: Mother Defends Son’s KKK Costume, Says Man Should Be With Woman
KKK Members Stand Up To Westboro Protest At Arlington Nat’l Cemetary
Hitler, Termites, And Other Things Right-Wingers Compare Gay People To
Graham Gremore is a columnist and contributor for Queerty and Life of the Law. Follow him on Facebook and Twitter.
Graham Gremore
Concerned Christian Woman Rails Against Satanic Monster Energy Drinks – WATCH
Did you know the Monster Beverage Corporation, manufacturer of the popular line of Monster-themed energy drinks, is also a front for the anti-Christ? Emblazoned across every single can of the taurine-rich brand of super soda, according to this concerned Christian woman (who bets you don’t know what a “MILF” is,) is proof positive that Monster portends the imminent apocalypse.
Not only does Monster invite you to “unleash the beast” in its tagline, but the iconic (debatable) M logo associated with the brand also appears to be made of three vavs, a Hebrew numerological value associated with the number six. Three vavs, three sixes. It’s all so clear.
To the woman’s credit Monster has dealt with its fair share of health-related criticism in the past. In 2011 a 14-year old girl died after drinking two cans of Monster that, in total, contained about 475mg of caffeine.
While “cardiac arrhythmia due to caffeine toxicity” was determined to have been the cause of her death, it seems worth mentioning that the girl had a pre-existing heart condition as well as Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, a chronic disease that weakens the connective tissues crucial to healthy muscle function.
The following year another teenager died after consuming two cans of Monster per day for three years straight. Earlier this year a third family filed a lawsuit against the company for the untimely death of Shane Felts, an adult man who died after drinking Monster regularly for a week. Since 2004 there have been 34 documented deaths that have been linked to energy drink use.
The FDA, in response, has made moves to require manufacturers to prominently display warning labels on the beverages, and a number of local legislators have attempted at prohibiting their sale to minors. Generally speaking, however, the push to crack down on Monster and similar energy drinks has more to do with their concentrated amounts of sugar and chemicals as opposed to, you know, the Devil.
Watch a video clip of a concerned consumer dabbling in a little bit of light-hearted anti-semitism in the name of scourging Satanic soft drinks AFTER THE JUMP…
Charles Pulliam-Moore
Wait for Me Until I Welcome: Further Reflections From an Orthodox Rabbi to His Gay Children
As a religious person, I am moved by a sense of divine purpose. While we as Jews do not use the word “calling,” I do feel that I work in the service of realizing God’s will on Earth. As a rabbi and Jewish communal servant, I have a sense of what it means to sacrifice happiness for a cause. How many nights do I spend away from my own children working to enrich the lives of other people’s children? Avraham is a model of someone who lived with divine purpose. Even if God directed Avraham, as a father it is hard for me to imagine that Avraham kicked Yishmael out and almost sacrificed Yitzhak. Did he not love his sons? If he did, why didn’t Avraham protest on behalf of his sons as he did for the people of Sodom (Genesis 18:23-33)? In that case, God actually listens to Avraham and engages him in debate. Or, even better, why didn’t Avraham just politely “take leave” of God for the sake of his sons? At the beginning of the Torah portion, three strangers approach Avraham in the desert. Commenting on this, the Midrash says that “he turned to God and said, ‘With purity of heart, Master of the world, let the Shekhinah [the divine presence] wait for me until I welcome these guests'”(Midrash HaGadol on Genesis 18:2).
What was Avraham thinking when he drove his son Yishmael away and made him wander in the desert? What was Avraham thinking when he brought Yitzhak up to Mount Moriah to sacrifice him? In the case of Sodom, God is willing to engage in debate. In the case of the strangers, God understands that Avraham’s turning away is not disrespectful but in service of another value. Is anything so sacred that we would be unable to welcome those who feel marginalized, are in danger, and need our help? What if they are our own children?
Since the publication of “Promises for My Gay Children,” Pastor John Pavlovitz and I have carved out some time to Skype. We have only begun to talk, learn, and reflect together, but we have much to share regarding how we decided to come out in support of people who might be lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT). We realized that despite our differences of our faith, religion, and culture, we both share some fundamental things. The most obvious one is that we both have a profound love of our children as well as a deep love of all God’s children. For both of us, it is our faith itself that has led us to where we are. We were also both moved to speak about the staggering statistics. Here are a few:
Rejecting who our children are is tantamount to asking them to sacrifice themselves on the altar of our expectations. With these stark numbers, we cannot be silent. Shetikah KeHodaah Damia — silence is acquiescence (Ketubot 14b). We need to argue and debate as if our children’s lives depended on it. Not being intentional and explicit about our unconditional love might drive them out of our lives.
In Vayera, last week’s Torah portion, we read all these stories of Avraham’s trying to manifest his divine purpose on Earth. We should humbly choose which narratives of Avraham to tell in order to ensure that our children are not made to feel like strangers. In the Midrash, Rabbi Aha depicts a speculative dialogue between Avraham and God at the binding of Yitzhak. There we read, “When I [God] commanded you [Avraham], ‘Take now your son [to sacrifice him]’ (Genesis 22:2), I will not alter that which has gone out of my lips. Did I tell you, ‘Slaughter him?’ No! But, ‘Take him up’ (Genesis 22:2). You have taken him up. Now take him down” (Genesis Rabbah 56:8).
If we think our tradition demands we risk our children’s lives by not accepting them, like Avraham, maybe we are misreading our tradition. God does not need our defense, and God will most certainly be there when we get back. All our children are angels who are just waiting to be welcomed into the tent.
This post originally appeared on saidtomyself.com.
Uganda Parliament Introduces Dangerous Anti-LGBT Legislation Again
Members of Uganda’s ruling party have drafted a new piece of anti-LGBT legislation as a response to the recently nullified Anti-Homosexuality Act (AHA).
HRC.org
Forget Gone Girl, Matt Damon Has Seen Ben Affleck’s Penis “Many Times”
Promotion for Gone Girl may have slowed down in the interview circuit, but that doesn’t mean the film’s not-so-biggest star is out of the media cycle for good. And now Matt Damon has added his two cents, for what it’s worth.
First Ben joked that “the penis is in there! It costs extra — it’s IMAX penis. You’ve gotta pay fifteen bucks to see it in 3-D — it looks better in 3-D,” adding, “you should know it was a very cold set.”
That set the internet off on a rampage, and inspired one especially hilarious response from Conan.
And now the investigative folk at TMZ have asked Ben’s old writing buddy Matt if he’s caught a peek at his friends full-frontal debut.
His response? “Oh, I’ve seen it many times before that.” We bet you have, Matt.
For his part, Matt sent Ben a fax of his ass earlier this year. Wonder what he got in return?
Here’s the video of Matt’s response:
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Dan Tracer
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