Study: Homophobes Repressing Their Own Sexuality

Study: Homophobes Repressing Their Own Sexuality | Mental Wellness | The Advocate

Tennessee Teen Is State's Second Suicide in Two Months

Tennessee Teen Is State's Second Suicide in Two Months
In Tennessee, where lawmakers are once again considering the “don’t say gay” bill aimed at schools, a 14-year-old Gordonsville student named Phillip Parker killed himself Friday.
The Tennessee Equality Project plans a candlelight vigil Thursday at the Cookeville Courthouse Square to remember Parker and to call on lawmakers to stop sending a negative message to students.

The so-called don’t say gay bill would bar teachers from discussing homosexuality in public school classes in kindergarten through eighth grade. It managed to pass the state Senate on a 20-10 vote last year. But the House ran out of time to consider it, and now lawmakers are trying again.

“We are reaching out and we continue to call for our General Assembly to turn from discriminatory legislation and toward positive solutions to bullying,” the Tennessee Equality Project wrote to its followers on Facebook.

They point out that this is the second suicide in Middle Tennessee in two months, with Cheatham County teenager Jacob Rogers killing himself December 7 after repeated bullying.

Friends say classmate killed himself due to anti-gay bullying – LGBTQ Nation

Friends say classmate killed himself due to anti-gay bullying – LGBTQ Nation


ASHLAND CITY, Tenn. — Students at a local school are grieving a classmate. Friends say the young man took his own life because he couldn’t take any more bullying.

And they say school officials knew about the torment but didn’t do enough to stop it.

Friends say that kids bullied Jacob Rogers at Cheatham County Central High School for the past four years, but in the past few months it had become so bad he dropped out of school.

And Wednesday, he ended his life.

“He started coming home his senior year saying ‘I don’t want to go back. Everyone is so mean. They call me a f****, they call me gay, a queer,’” friend Kaelynn Mooningham said.

Kaelynn said her friend Jacob felt ignored.

Uganda "Kill the Gays" Bill Nears Vote

From The Advocate: "Kill the Gays" Bill Nears Vote in Uganda

A bill that would give harsh punishment to gays and lesbians in Uganda for their sexual orientation may have a final vote sometime this week as lawmakers finished a second day of hearings on the matter on Monday.

While the initial version of the bill, introduced in 2009, would have found homosexuality punishable by death, the bill's author, David Bahati, said the Parliament has "moved away" from such a provision, the Associated Press reports. Now, lawmakers are considering a recommendation by prominent Ugandan pastor Martin Ssempa to make homosexuality punishable by up to seven years in prison. Ssempa told the Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee Monday that he does not agree with the proposed death penalty portion of the law, but he said "homosexuality is killing our society."

UPDATE: Uganda Anti-Gay Bill Postponed

Gays and Harding University

Some gay students are ultra-conservative Christian (Church of Christ) Harding University, are using the internet to reach out for help:
The State of the Gay at Harding University

I'm an alumnus from Harding (1983), I went in a Bible Major, and left three years later a gay, atheist socialist :)
It is very oppressive for gays, and there are a lot of gay students there, like many Christian colleges, most of them are sent there by their parents, and they cannot just leave...
I could and did...
Like most fundamentalists, the Church of Christ has no understanding of sexual orientation or identity, only "homosexual behaviors." They are still in the 18th century...
If you are student at Harding.. GET OUT if you can! Go to a public college, they are cheaper! If you can't leave, hang in there, and seek friends and support online and in nearby cities (Little Rock and Memphis)

Read more: http://www.towleroad.com/2011/03/lgbt-students-at-harding-university-cry-out-for-help-in-web-zine-school-immediately-blocks-access.html#ixzz1FbMVVcmI

Conservative Campus Queers Revolt

Ugandan Gay Activist Murdered

Ugandan Gay Activist David Kato Murdered


David Kato, a prominent Ugandan gay rights activist in threatened in October with hanging on the front page of a Kampala newspaper, was found brutally beaten to death Wednesday at his home.  Kato was the advocacy officer for Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG).

The Guardianreports that Kato was bludgeoned to death at his home in the town of Mukono in the afternoon. Witnesses saw a man fleeing the scene in a car.

SMUG called for the police and government to investigate the murder seriously and for religious leaders, politicians, and media to stop demonizing LGBT people. David Bahati, a member of parliament with close connections to American evangelicals, continues to push for a bill that would impose the death penalty on gay people in some circumstances.

Val Kalende, the board chair at Freedom and Roam Uganda, said in the news release,“David’s death is a result of the hatred planted in Uganda by U.S Evangelicals in 2009. The Ugandan Government and the so-called U.S Evangelicals must take responsibility for David’s blood!”

SMUG executive director Frank Mugisha said, “No form of intimidation will stop our cause. The death of David will only be honored when the struggle for justice and equality is won. David is gone and many of us will follow, but the struggle will be won. David wanted to see a Uganda where all people will be treated equally despite their sexual orientation.”

Burial arrangements for Kato are under way for Friday afternoon at his ancestral home in Namataba, Mukono District.

The BBC offers an obituary. Kato was a primary school teacher turned activist who proudly claimed the label of the first out gay Ugandan.

Read Jeff Sharlet's October cover story for The Advocate on the deadly consequences of antigay rhetoric in Uganda.

Update:

U.K. human rights activist Peter Tatchell released the following statement on Kato's murder: 

"David will live on in our memories. He will also live on through the rights and equalities that LGBTI Ugandans will win eventually thanks to his many years of tireless groundwork and campaigning. I express my admiration and appreciation to all the members of SMUG who are battling for LGBTI freedom in conditions of great adversity and danger. Their courage and tenacity is awesome.

"This savage killing will, I hope, finally prompt Uganda's political, religious and media leaders to cease their homophobic witch-hunts. Their hatred helps create the bigoted atmosphere that leads to queer-bashing violence."

The U.S. embassy in Kampala has also issued a statement on Kato's death:

"The U.S. extends its sympathies to David's family, friends and human rights colleagues. David's courageous devotion to promoting the universal human rights of members of Uganda's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community improved the lives of minority populations in Uganda and throughout Africa, and his selfless dedication to defending human rights and speaking out against injustice served as inspiration to human rights defenders around the world."

The White House issued this statement from President Obama:

"I am deeply saddened to learn of the murder of David Kato. In Uganda, David showed tremendous courage in speaking out against hate. He was a powerful advocate for fairness and freedom. The United States mourns his murder, and we recommit ourselves to David’s work.

"At home and around the world, LGBT persons continue to be subjected to unconscionable bullying, discrimination, and hate. In the weeks preceding David Kato’s murder in Uganda, five members of the LGBT community in Honduras were also murdered. It is essential that the Governments of Uganda and Honduras investigate these killings and hold the perpetrators accountable.

"LGBT rights are not special rights; they are human rights. My Administration will continue to strongly support human rights and assistance work on behalf of LGBT persons abroad. We do this because we recognize the threat faced by leaders like David Kato, and we share their commitment to advancing freedom, fairness, and equality for all."

UPDATE:
Violence Erupts at Kato's Funeral

Arkansas Supermarket Censors Elton John Magazine Cover

In my hometown (Mountain Home, Arkansas) a young lesbian took this picture in Harps supermarket showing a "family shield" covering up the US Weekly cover with Elton John, his partner and their new baby.  Evidenlty someone complained to the store manager, and covered the magazine.  Thanks to the young woman who publicized the picture on the internet, Harps Supermarket, located in Arkansas, Oklahoma and Missouri, has apologized and had the Mountain Home store remove the shield.

Joe.My.God  Arkansas Grocery Store Finds Gay Parenting Too Offensive for Kids

GLAAD:  Arkansas Supermarket Censors Elton John US Weekly Cover

Navy Investigates Antigay Sex Videos

Maddow Interview with Ugandan "Kill the Gays" Bill Author

Rachel Maddow Interivews David Bahati

Julie Bulcer, The Advocate:

David Bahati, the Ugandan parliament member who authored the bill that calls for the execution of gay people, told Rachel Maddow that he intends to protect children from being recruited into homosexuality, but he could not produce any facts.

Bahati, who spoke from Washington, D.C., said he had been granted a visa to attend a conference in the United States, but the event denied him entry over his bill. The bill, which is still pending in parliament, would impose life imprisonment for homosexual acts and the death penalty for instances of “aggravated homosexuality.”

Maddow asked him about the part of the bill that has prompted international outcry.

“I know there has been a lot of spin, negative propaganda about this bill, using that clause and I wanted to make the record straight,” he said. “I am not in a hate campaign. I do not hate gays. I love them but at same time, I must protect our children who are being recruited into this practice.”

Pressed for facts about what Maddow called the “foundational myth” of gay recruitment, Bahati could not defend his assertion.

“It is something that is factual and all you need is to get these facts,” he said.

Watch the interview in two parts

It Gets Better

Dan Savage Has Started this project to support LGBT youth struggling with violence and suicide.

Deliverance: The True Story of a Gay Exorcism Critical Eye: Details.com

Deliverance: The True Story of a Gay Exorcism Critical Eye: Details.com

Malawi Court Convicts Gay Couple

Malawi Court Convicts Gay Couple

A court in Malawi has convicted a gay couple of gross indecency and unnatural acts.

Steven Monjeza, 26, and Tiwonge Chimbalanga, 20, were arrested in December 2009 after celebrating their engagement ahead of a wedding planned for 2010.

They have been in jail ever since and now face 14 years in prison.

Their arrest had sparked international condemnation and a debate about homosexuality in the country.

Judge Nyakwawa Usiwa-Usiwa convicted both men of engaging in gay sex, which he said was "against the order of nature". They are to be sentenced on 20 May.

The Guardian News spoke with the couple to which Tiwonge said the following.

"I love Steven so much. If people or the world cannot give me the chance and freedom to continue living with him as my lover, then I am better off to die here in prison. Freedom without him is useless and meaningless."
Next week they are to stand trial. They face up to fourteen years in prison and hard labor. This is an outrage. I am concerned that they will be killed in the prison either by disease or the inherent violence that is part of prison culture.

AP: Malawi Judge Convicts Gay Couple of Unnatural Acts, Gross Indecency

Malawi Police Arrest Two Men for Engagement Ceremony

Malawi Gay Couple to Be Imprisoned

GA Teen Kicked Out of Home Over Prom Date

Georgia Teen Derrick Martin Kicked Out Of House Over Gay Prom Date
Derrick Martin's Georgia high school had approved his request to bring a male date to the prom. But now his parents have kicked him out of the house. Derrick is staying with a friend for now.

Love them "Family Values"

"Tea-Party" Bigots

The tea-baggers really showed their true colors today! There can be no doubt that the "tea-party" movement includes a lot of racist, homophobic bigots.

Members of Congress Callede N*gger, F*ggot, and Spit On

In their last attempt to stop healthcare reform in Congress, "tea-party" protesters spit on members of congress, calling Rep. Barney Frank a "faggot" and Rep. John Lewis (a civil rights hero) a "nigger."

Tuesday tea-party protesters Attack a counter-protester with Parkinsons

Latest pictures and updates from "tea party" protests

Joan Walsh, Too Much Tea Party Racism

"Ex-Gay" Homophobe Donnie McClurkin Attacks Gay Youth

Donnie McClurkin Picks on Gay Youth

From the Advocate:
Donnie McClurkin, the "ex-gay" gospel star who sang for the Barack Obama presidential campaign last year, returns to controversial form with remarks he made about “broken and feminine” gay youths at the Church of God in Christ convention in Memphis on Saturday.

Watch the Video of this sick Man



This is what religious fundamentalism can do to you! I'm so glad the COGIC is moving their annual hate fest out of Memphis! Audios Bigots!

APA Rejects "Reparative Therapy" for Gays

"Gay To Straight" Reparative Therapy Repudiated by American Psychological Association

The American Psychological Association declared Wednesday that mental health professionals should not tell gay clients they can become straight through therapy or other treatments.

In a resolution adopted on a 125-to-4 vote by the APA's governing council, and in a comprehensive report based on two years of research, the 150,000-member association put itself firmly on record in opposition of so-called "reparative therapy" which seeks to change sexual orientation.

No solid evidence exists that such change is likely, says the report, and some research suggests that efforts to produce change could be harmful, inducing depression and suicidal tendencies.

The APA had criticized reparative therapy in the past, but a six-member task force added weight to this position by examining 83 studies on sexual orientation change conducted since 1960. Its comprehensive report was endorsed by the APA's governing council in Toronto, where the association's annual meeting is being held this weekend.

Another Victim of DADT

As Gay Discharges Continue, Gay Sailor Murdered

While the Democratic Congress, and the "fierce advocate" for gay rights President Obama, fiddle around waiting for the "right time" to repeal the anti-gay "Don't, Ask Don't Tell" military policy, another victim dies. A gay sailor, Navy Seaman August Provost, has been murdered.

Seaman Provost of Houston, Texas, reportedly complained to his family that was he being harassed; his sister told a local newspaper that they’d advised him to tell his supervisor. If Provost revealed his sexuality, however, he could have been discharged from the armed services.

The news comes on the heels of the military’s recommended discharge of gay Arabic translator Daniel Choi, and discontent within the gay community about the Obama Administration’s actions on gay rights. President Obama says he will not stop the military discharges, which have resulted in the expulsion of more than 250 servicemembers since he was inaugurated in January.

A spokesman for a group that provides legal counseling to gays in and out of the military said the federal law that mandates discharging gay servicemembers certainly didn’t help.

“While ‘Don’t ask, Don’t tell’ is in place, anybody in the military who is a homosexual has no place to go to get assistance or counseling,” Servicemembers Legal Defense Network’s Ben Gomez told the San Diego Union Tribune.

Will Obama and the Democrats fulfill their promise to repeal DADT, or continue to play political football with the lives of gay soldiers and the security of the United States?

While Obama can and should be doing more to get DADT repealed, it is up to Congress to repeal the law. People, especially many angry gay activists, seem to believe that the President can repeal a law passed by Congress, he cannot. In 1993, Congress took away President Bill Clinton's ability to issue an executive order to end the anti-gay policy. Obama cannot just issue an executive order to repeal DADT, CONGRESS has to pass a law to repeal it. Civics 101 folks!

Obama may be able to change some things about how the policy is implemented, maybe even hold further discharges pending some investigation or based on national securuity, but he cannot repeal the law that CONGRESS made!

See:
Defense Chief Giving "Don't Ask, Don't Tell " a Closer Look

Did Homophobia Kill Michael Jackson?

Of the many things that contributed to Michael Jackson's death (fame, drugs, exhaustion, money, debt, etc.) one has not been getting any media attention, in fact it is not even being discussed--homophobia.

It is a not-so-secret secret that Michael Jackson was gay. It is an unspoken fact that probably only his parents continue to deny. In his book "Unmasked: The Final years of Michael Jackson" Ian Halperin argues that Jackson was the victim of greed, and handlers that pushed him to perform 50 concerts in London to help keep him out of bankruptcy. But he also spills the beans about Jackson's secret gay relationships:

"It is clear to me that Michael was homosexual and that his taste was for young men, albeit not as young as Jordan Chandler or Gavin Arvizo.

In the course of my investigations, I spoke to two of his gay lovers, one a Hollywood waiter, the other an aspiring actor. The waiter had remained friends, perhaps more, with the singer until his death last week. He had served Jackson at a restaurant, Jackson made his interest plain and the two slept together the following night. According to the waiter, Jackson fell in love.

The actor, who has been given solid but uninspiring film parts, saw Jackson in the middle of 2007. He told me they had spent nearly every night together during their affair – an easy claim to make, you might think. But this lover produced corroboration in the form of photographs of the two of them together, and a witness.

Other witnesses speak of strings of young men visiting his house at all hours, even in the period of his decline. Some stayed overnight.

When Jackson lived in Las Vegas, one of his closest aides told how he would sneak off to a ‘grungy, rat-infested’ motel – often dressed as a woman to disguise his identity – to meet a male construction worker he had fallen in love with.

Jackson was acquitted in the Arvizo case, dramatically so, but the effect on his mental state was ruinous. Sources close to him suggest he was close to complete nervous breakdown."

See Ian Halperin, "I"m better Off Dead. I'm Done": Michael Jackson's Fateful Prediction Just A Week Before His Death"

It may be too simplistic to say that homophobia alone killed Michael Jackson, but let me lay out a theory. Jackson lived a life in the closet. From a young age, he was victimized by racism and a father who beat him. He grew up black in a racist, anti-gay society, and gay in a homophobic black culture. He did not love or accept himself as gay or black. As he tried to change his physical appearance through damaging plastic surgery, he tried to cover up his true sexual identity by playing straight. He had to keep his true self secret, from his family and fans. He could not be himself. He found substitutes for a loving gay relationship with fans, female friends, and children (I don't think he was a pederast though). He could NOT be himself.

All of this would drive anybody off the deep end. Add on the pressures of fame, fortune, stardom, and his growing financial problems, and we can see the results...

What IF Michael Jackson had been allowed, or allowed himself, to be an out gay superstar, who could have a healthy loving relationship with another man? Would he still be alive?

See also:
CNN, Jackson Rabbi-friend: Michael was a "Tortured Soul"

International Day Against Homophobia

Pain, Progress, Pride on Day Against Homophobia

The International Day Against Homophobia, initiated by a Quebec organization, will be celebrated in more than 50 countries Sunday, decrying discrimination against gays and lesbians.

Cuban gays and lesbians march against homophobia on May 16, 2009 in Havana, accompanied by Raul Castro's daugther Mariela Castro (C). The International Day Against Homophobia, initiated by a Quebec organization, will be celebrated in more than 50 countries Sunday, decrying discrimination against gays and lesbians. (AFP)"There are 192 countries at the UN, and half of them still ban homosexuality, notably most countries in Africa, in Asia and Arab countries," said Laurent McCutcheon, president of Quebec's Emergence Foundation, an activist group behind the annual fete.

Five countries punish homosexual acts with death, said its website.

In 2003, Emergence launched a national day against homophobia in Canada, which caught on internationally in the past three years.

May 17 was chosen because it was on this date in 1990 that the World Health Organization removed homosexuality from its list of mental illnesses. The acronym IDAHO is often used to delineate this day.

TN Schools Block LGBT Sites

Tennessee schools block LGBT info sites, not 'ex-gay' sites
As many as 107 Tennessee public school districts could be illegally preventing students from accessing online information about lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender issues, according to a letter to sent to school officials by the American Civil Liberties Union.

The letter demands that Knox County Schools, Metro Nashville Public Schools, and the Tennessee Schools Cooperative unblock the Internet filtering category designated “LGBT” so that students can access political and educational information about LGBT issues on school computers.

In its letter, the ACLU gives the districts and the Tennessee Schools Cooperative until April 29 to come up with a plan to restore access to the LGBT sites or any other category that blocks non-sexual websites advocating the fair treatment of LGBT people by the beginning of the 2009-2010 school year.

If that deadline is not met, the ACLU will file a lawsuit, the letter warned.
The Internet filtering software used by Knox County and Metro Nashville school districts blocks student access to the websites of many well-known national LGBT organizations, including: Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays; The Gay Lesbian Straight Education Network; the Human Rights Campaign; The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation; Dignity USA; Marriage Equality USA; and the Religious Coalition for the Freedom to Marry.

In its demand letter, the ACLU notes that websites that urge LGBT persons to change their sexual orientation or gender identity through so-called “reparative therapy” or “ex-gay” ministries – a practice denounced as dangerous and harmful to young people by such groups as the American Psychological Association, the American Psychiatric Association, the American Medical Association, and the American Academy of Pediatrics – can still be easily accessed by students.
No federal or state law requires school districts to block access to LGBT sites. Tennessee law only requires schools to implement filtering software to restrict information that is obscene or harmful to minors.

About 80 percent of Tennessee public schools, including those in the Knox County and Metro Nashville districts, use filtering software provided by Education Networks of America, and the software’s default setting blocks sites ENA categorizes as LGBT the ACLU said.

The ACLU said it believes that most of the 107 Tennessee school districts that use ENA’s filtering software keep the LGBT category blocked. ENA blocks access to a wide category of “LGBT” sites described on the organization’s website as ” Sites that provide information regarding, support, promote, or cater to one’s sexual orientation or gender identity including but not limited to lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, and transgender sites.

Also:
Homophobia Is Killing Our Youth