Stand up and show that you want the Boy Scouts to end their ban on gay scouts and leaders!
People of faith are standing up for an end to the ban. Read more…
collective striving & struggle: Coming Out Muslim Blog: Resistance as Liberation
http://comingoutmuslim.squarespace.com/com-blog/2012/11/15/resistance-as-liberation.html
Last Saturday, TTG and I met up at Columbia University for the first ever Muslim Writer’s Symposium entitled, The Muslim Protagonist: an opportunity to convene some of the most brilliant writers and…
(via queermuslims)
Source: comingoutmuslim.squarespace.com
‘Ex-gay’ leader says sorry for harm caused, he’s still gay
John Paulk, the former chairman of Exodus International, has apologized for saying religion will cure homosexuality
We want your happiness. And you’re entitled to friendship.
Catholic Cardinal tells gay couples: you’re entitled to friendship, not love. (via think-progress)
Staffordshire: UKIP election leaflet mocks bisexuals and warns of explicit ‘Homosexual Sex Education’
TW: biphobia, monosexism, anti-gay rhetoric
The name of a UKIP candidate has appeared on an election leaflet that mocks bisexuals, blasts the government’s same-sex marriage bill, and warns that it will lead to explicit Homosexual Sex Education.
US radio host: Beware of plan to ‘homosexualize the Scouts’ through ‘boy-on-boy homosexual promotion’
A US radio host has spoken out against the Boy Scouts of America’s (BSA) recent announcement that it may lift its ban on gay members, but retain its ban on gay scout leaders, to say it would be “dangerous”, and would “homosexualize” the organisation.
Mormons on Board With Scouts' Half-Ban on Gays
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints likes allowing out scouts, but banning openly gay leaders.
The Irrepressible Ignorance of Alan Keyes: US May Be 'Preparing our Military Forces to do Violence against Christian Denominations' That Oppose Gay Rights
Alan Keyes is out with a new column today arguing that Christians should not shy away from violence in the face of the “gruesome violence [that] is being done to Christians.” He also argues that the U.S. government may soon join in on the anti-Christian “genocidal threats,” perhaps as a result of the gay rights movement.
“[I]t’s not at all unreasonable to see, in certain recurring reports, signs that the U.S. government is preparing our military forces to do violence against Christian denominations that refuse to abandon God’s Word on matters like homosexuality,” Keyes writes, urging Christians to “be prepared to execute God’s law” and “release the power of God’s Word against the perpetrator of evil.”
Read Keyes’ deranged douchery.
Equality California Issues Statement on Boys Scouts of America’s Proposal to Lift Gay Scout Ban for Youth - Equality California
Today the Boy Scouts of America announced a proposal to lift its ban on gay youth, while continuing to hold its ban on gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender adult leaders. The decision will still need to be ratified by a vote of BSA’s National Council. In response, Equality California Executive Director John O’Connor issued the following statement:
“As we are for full equality and nothing less, the proposed Boy Scout policy change is alarmingly inadequate. Equality California is sponsoring Sen. Ricardo Lara’s Youth Equality Act, which eliminates special tax exemptions for any youth organization in California that discriminates — not just the BSA — now or in the future, against adults as well as youth in those organizations. This bill remains relevant regardless of what the Boy Scouts decide.”
ACTION ALERT! Pride Not Pinkwasing: Israel Out of LGBT Film Festival - The Petition Site
Join Alice Walker, Angela Davis, Susan Stryker, QUIT (Queers for Palestine) and many others to demand an end to pinkwashing at the SF LGBT Film Festival. Despite protests, the Festival continues to accept sponsorship from the Israeli consulate. The consulate’s role is part of a broader campaign by the Israeli government to pinkwash its human rights abuses with gay-friendly PR. Gay filmmakers and other cultural leaders are joining the International Academic and Cultural Boycott of Isreal, calling on Festival producer Frameline to put an end to pinkwashing at the Festival. The worldwide boycott calls on academic and cultural institutions not to sponsor or partner with the Isreali government, as Frameline is doing.
“Boycott, divestment, and sanctions are time-honored nonviolent strategies for political and social change,” said Waker and others in a letter. QUIT, as part of an ongoing campaign to build support for Palestinian self-determination, has held demonstrations and protests at previous festivals, demanding an end to pinkwashing.
Please add your voice!
Op-ed: Time for Westboro to Close Up the Conspiracy Shop
Click the header link to read the full article.
Antigay Neurosurgeon Ben Carson Won't Speak at Johns Hopkins Graduation
Dr. Ben Carson won’t be speaking to the graduating class of Johns Hopkins University this May, reports the Washington Post. Carson, who serves on Johns Hopkins’ faculty, announced today that he will not serve as the University’s commencement speaker after students protested his controversial statements on Fox News in March comparing marriage equality to pedophilia and bestiality. Carson half-heartedly apologized for his statements last month, citing his Christian beliefs and claiming he had no intention to offend anyone.
But even in announcing his withdrawal, Carson struck a defiant tone.
“Given all the national media surrounding my statements as to my belief in traditional marriage, I believe it would be in the best interests of the students for me to voluntarily withdraw as your commencement speaker this year,” Carson told Johns Hopkins Medical School dean Paul Rothman in an email. “My presence is likely to distract from the true celebratory nature of the day. Commencement is about the students and their successes, and it is not about me.”
Carson also played the victim card in his email, claiming he is being unfairly silenced by an overzealous drive for political correctness.
“Someday in the future, it is my hope and prayer that the emphasis on political correctness will decrease and we will start emphasizing rational discussion of differences so we can actually resolve problems and chart a course that is inclusive of everyone,” Carson wrote.
While students called for Carson’s removal, Rothman issued a statement April 5 condemning Carson’s comments as “offensive,” according to the Post.
Tony Perkins: Don't Give Money to GOP Until It's More Antigay
Reince Priebus, Tony Perkins
The head of the Family Research Council, Tony Perkins, who once bragged that he’d written the antigay portions of last year’s Republican Party platform, is now telling his followers to boycott. Perkins wants payback for suggestions by Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus and others who say the GOP should spend less time talking about “traditional” marriage.
“Until the RNC and the other national Republican organizations grow a backbone and start defending core principles, don’t give them a dime of your hard-earned money,” Perkins wrote to followers in a newsletter on Thursday. He suggested that instead they send checks directly to FRC because, “At least then you can relax, knowing that your money will be spent advancing faith, family, and freedom!”
Perkins is unmoved by analysis suggesting the party is alienating young voters, who polls show overwhelmingly support marriage equality.
“Instead of trying to appease millennials, Republicans should try educating them on why marriage matters,” he wrote.
It’s not like Priebus is suddenly in favor of marriage equality. Perkins is reacting to his calls for tolerance and a shift of priorities. “I don’t believe we need to act like Old Testament heretics,” he told the Detroit Free Press. Still, the RNC will vote today during a meeting in Hollywood on a resolution that reiterates the party’s opinion that marriage should be limited to a man and a woman while also calling on the Supreme Court to rule against LGBT activists in two landmark cases it heard in March.
WATCH: Justice Lectures NOM on How the Legal System Works
Kaylan Phillips
The National Organization for Marriage is appealing to keep its donor list secret, but at least one of Maine’s Supreme Judicial Court justices is skeptical.
“You have said, trust us, we did not do anything,” observed Justice Leigh Saufley, challenging NOM’s lawyer Kaylan Phillips during a hearing on Thursday. Saufley said NOM is essentially telling the judiciary that “you’re simply going to have to rely on our word.” But, she lectured, “that’s not how litigation works in the United States.”
The exchange was recorded on video by the Kennebec Journal. The state wants to investigate allegations that NOM illegally funneled money — up to $1.9 million — into a campaign to stop Maine from legalizing same-sex marriage. But NOM continues to insist it has the right to keep its donor list a secret because of the way it solicited the donations. NOM concedes that much of its fundraising was handled in direct conversations, not merely through email. Phyllis Gardiner, assistant attorney general, said the state shouldn’t be restricted in its investigation to “one party’s version of the conversation.”
Although the U.S. Supreme Court had already denied NOM the chance to appeal once again at the federal level, it’s still working its way through the state appeals process. Read The Advocate’s recent investigation of NOM’s fundraising practices, “Dirty Money,” by reporter E.J. Graff.
Click the header link to watch the video.
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