In today’s New York Times a front page article discussed the presence of openly gay law clerks working at the Supreme Court in Washington, D.C. In that story a quotation from Justice Scalia was printed from his 2003 dissent against the Lawrence v Texas (to protect the privacy two consenting adults). He said, “Today’s opinion,”
Dirt, Tribes and Queers–How humanity Loves to Hate Itself
I travel a lot and I wonder a lot: why is there so much hostility, repression and brutality in the world? It’s easy to see from my perspective as a adult gay male, especially in the summer time when many LGBTs mount their festivals and parades. Year after year come the reports of attacks on
Unusual Gay Destinations Worldwide
These days it’s easy enough to find appealing LGBT travel destinations with comfortable lodgings, good food and pleasant tourist site. Whether by cruise ship, plane or on a bicycle the world is clearly accessible to anyone with a budget and desire to see distant places. In addition to the popular ports of call such as
England’s Queen Elizabeth Signs Human Rights Document–Omits Naming Gays
Queen Elizabeth II of England takes a half-step forward against discrimination–signs a 2013 charter addressed to members of the Commonwealth of present and former British-controlled colonies and states. But by not directly mentioning sexual orientation or homosexuality she continues the age-old glacial movement of positive human rights against the darkness of politico-religio-based homophobia. When England
Van Cliburn’s Death is a Great Cultural Loss
He was very much the consummate artist, musician and humanist who proved beyond any doubt that being gay has nothing to do with being a hero, a role model, a benefactor and an asset to American culture. He was far beyond a mere stigmatized label reviled by homophobes who demean and dismiss LGBT people
The ex-Pope, Archbishop Georg Gaenswein and Andrew Sullivan–Swirling Gossip
Gay American writer Andrew Sullivan claims ex-Pope Benedict will not go into hidden retirement but will instead continue living in the Vatican with trusted secretary Archbishop Georg Gaenswein http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2013/02/28/catholic-blogger-andrew-sullivan-speculates-the-pope-could-be-gay/ The deeper sadness in all this speculation is that the artifice of religious dogma and tradition have polluted whatever love two people may have for each
Death and Victory Stalk the Gay Teen World
Succumbing to Defeat Life is not often easy when you are different, especially when that difference is being gay. It can be a self imposed death sentence if you are a young, gay, harassed, bullied, humiliated and stigmatized student. Listed here are eight young men who could not overcome the force of enmity and hatred
Very Small Town in Kentucky Makes Very Big Ordinance.
Here is a down home rural story from the highly urban New York Times. The report is a poignant yet positive portrait of very small town America where the Commissioners voted in favor of a ban on discrimination against LGBT citizens of that place. How is this possible? In Kentucky? I think the answer is
Gay High School Boy Trapped in a Hetero School Milieu
Gay High School Boy Trapped in a Hetero School Milieu http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2013/01/10/comment-the-truth-about-being-a-gay-16-year-old-at-an-all-boys-boarding-school/ I understand this boy’s feeling of being trapped in an alien environment of a ridiculing and humiliating hetero school culture. Straight students (and the larger straight population) have no clue about the crushing oppression of having to wear a mask of identity and bear
The Past and Future of America–and Gay America
I am looking at two journal reports from the NY Times that look across two very different plains in gay America. One is a full-page coverage of a September 2012 gay wedding of two well-off gay men in the prime of their lives and professions. The other is a recent opinion piece, entitled ‘Excluded From
Brave LGBT Ugandans Stage Pride Walk Against the Odds
These LGBT participants have to be among the bravest souls on the planet to arrange a gay Pride parade and march unarmed into enemy territory against armed police and abusive opponents in an effort to exercise their right to free expression. It pits peaceful truth against savage ignorance, political poison and religious hatred. What appears
The Toxic Reach of Caribbean Homophobia –Against Straight Children
The long reach of Caribbean homophobia does not only effect gay people. It also has a toxic influence on young (mostly heterosexually inclined) schoolboys who purposely under-achieve in school in order not to appear too smart which is considered a girlish and gay trait. These comment are the result of a 2011 study of school-age
European Parliament Condemns Violence Against Lesbians in Africa
European Parliament Condemns Violence Against Lesbians in Africa “The European Parliament yesterday adopted a resolution on violence against lesbian women and gay and transgender rights more generally in Africa. MEPs acted in response to increasing reports of arrests and violence against LGBTI people, and particularly lesbian women, on the continent…” Read full report: http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2012/07/06/european-parliament-condemns-violence-against-lesbians-in-africa/ This
Gay Cruise Ship Forbidden Morocco Landing
Editorial Comment: Gay Cruise Ship Forbidden Morocco Landing This is a story of a forbidden cruise ship landing and the homophobia whipped up by local media despite no official government ban. After the incident Morocco’s Tourism Minister Lahcen Haddad said “no official decision had been made to prevent the ship from stopping in Morocco.” Too
The Sandusky Abuse of Children–A Tragic Vortex
The Sandusky sex scandal currently rattling in the media is of course very sad, confusing and more complicated than is publicly reported. Part of this awful event and issue is that children are by nature vulnerable, incomplete and easily intimidated by adults who are bigger and more powerful. Any child can be a victim of
Award Winning Film Debuts June 2, 2012; Tribute to a Turkish Honor Killing Victim
Saturday June 2 will see the American debut of the Turkish film ‘Zenne Dancer‘ a drama based on the life an death of Ahmet Yildiz who was murdered in cold blood by his own father who refused to accept his son’s homosexuality. Information about the screening in San Diego is at: http://filmoutsandiego.tix.com/Event.asp?Event=467884 This real life
Psychiatry Giant Sorry for Backing Gay ‘Cure’
Princeton, N.J. — The simple fact was that he had done something wrong, and at the end of a long and revolutionary career it didn’t matter how often he’d been right, how powerful he once was, or what it would mean for his legacy. Dr. Robert L. Spitzer, considered by some to be the father
America Behind Bars
Yesterday I accompanied my partner to the small (for U.S.) embassy here in Podgorica, Montenegro to deal with a passport issue. (photo right) As usual I expected a prison-like campus surrounded by walls or tall fences. I was not disappointed. Here in this ‘remote’ corner of the Balkan mountains, in a tiny country of fewer
Obama Approves Gay Marriage
This “contentious” and “controversial” issue swirling around the media is really a non-issue simply because it is the right thing to do. There is no other intelligent choice. Those who oppose gay marriage remain in the dark about human nature and will go down along with advocates of other non-issues such a racial equality and
Lesbian Boy Scout Leader Trashed by Scout National Leaders
My name is Jennifer Tyrrell. I am a devoted partner, mother, friend and community leader in Bridgeport, Ohio. I’m also a former Tiger Cub den leader with the Boy Scouts of America (BSA). I was recently removed from this volunteer position, and my membership was revoked after nearly a year of service – just because
Homophobic? Maybe You’re Gay
WHY are political and religious figures who campaign against gay rights so often implicated in sexual encounters with same-sex partners? In recent years, Ted Haggard, an evangelical leader who preached that homosexuality was a sin, resigned after a scandal involving a former male prostitute; Larry Craig, a United States senator who opposed including sexual orientation
Leo Tolstory and Hoodie Skaters
I am reading a biography of Leo Tolstoy, the irascible and wordy Russian novelist who in his long and restless life went to participate in the Crimean War (1853-56) between Russia and the combined forces France & England, the Ottomans and Sardinians. (photo right) The struggle was for power over territories of the fading Ottoman
Delta Airlines, Gays and Mecca
April 19, 2012 At 6535 miles we were quite far from Mecca, a quarter way round the world, at 35,000 feet somewhere over the Atlantic. I know this because our TV monitor on Delta flight 73 from Istanbul to New York showed that distance every couple of hours with an arrow pointing to the holy
Murdered by a Church: Remembering Daniel Zamudo
Remembering Daniel Zamudo–another brutally murdered young gay man Santiago, Chile April 13, 2012 24-year-old Chilean Daniel Zamudio (photo right) died March 28, 2012 from severe head trauma, a broken right leg and body burns which he suffered in a horrific homophobic beating on March 3. A swastika was marked on Daniel’s chest by neo-Nazis skinheads
The Price of Peace is the Cost of Fear
April 7 2012 I recently visited a formerly top secret Soviet submarine base that was dug into a mountain to hide it from prying eyes, spy planes or a bomb attack. It is in southern Crimea in the little town of Balaklava on the Black Sea in Ukraine–formerly Soviet territory. (Read more here.) Much has