Internet Hottie Of The Month: Mr. November 2009

I decided to try something new with this blog to sort of spice it up abit and give it some flavor. That is why from now on, every month, I will post a picture of an internet hottie of the month. Give it up bloggers for this beautiful guy from Florida. His name is Sean. He is 23 years old and he lives in New York. And yes guys, he is single and gay. With piercing blue eyes that will send shivers down your spine and make you catch your breath. He is today's winner of the internet hottie of the month. Give it up for Mr. November. Enjoy the picture peeps. I know I did.

Caliente!!!

Pastors defend their 'right' to incite hate crimes against homosexuals

File this under "makes me embarrassed to be human":

On November 16th, pastors and other clergymen (yes, clergyMEN. Get your feminist head out of the gutter.) will be congregating at our nation's capitol to publicly defame homosexuals, in order to "challenge" the Matthew Shepard Act, a congressional act which protects citizens against hate crimes committed because of the victim's perceived sexuality. The pastors don't have a problem with hate crime legislation itself, but specifically with this hate crime legislation, which limits their god-given rights to incite violence against gay people.


Gary Cass of the Christian Anti-Defamantion League (oh, yes) had this to say about what happens when hate crime laws include homosexual victims:

"Christians are singled out for prosecution, with threats, imprisonment and fines simply for refusing to stop doing what Christ commands: proclaiming the truth."


In the interest of sympathy, let's put ourselves in these Christians' shoes. How tragic it is, that so many people devote their lives to spreading hatred, not because they are hateful people, but because they have been indoctrinated-- brainwashed-- with a bronze age story about the origin of the universe. When someone asks you, "Yeah, but what harm does religion do?" point them to examples like this.

Whenever we teach our children that groundless faith is a virtue, we pave the way for groundless violence.


Rest in peace, Matthew Shepard.

LA Freethinking ExaminerCarrie Poppy

Thoughts...It amazes me how people can believe in the Bible which is HUGE and the most important part they take away from it is to hate homosexuals.

Letter From Joe / Maine Let Us Down

Dear Ryan,

A deep and bitter disappointment from Maine yesterday: Maine voters have passed a devastating Proposition 8-style measure overturning the state’s marriage equality law.

Our hearts are with everyone in Maine who fought so hard to win recognition for their families. The legislature passed marriage equality earlier this year, but a divisive anti-LGBT campaign to scare voters seems to have worked.

It is infuriating to see that the same fear-mongering ads that were used to pass Prop. 8 a year ago have triumphed again at the expense of so many. This is a terrible loss.

Although we lost our battle in Maine, we will not allow the lies and hate – the foundation on which our opponents built their campaign – to break our spirits. We are on the right side of history and we will continue this fight with even more vigor.

Our friends at No on 1/Protect Maine Equality waged a strong and smart campaign. Thousands of volunteers exposed hundreds of thousands of Mainers to the real lives of same-sex couples and their families – many for the first time.

I am angry. But more importantly, I am determined that with the anger I feel today from this outcome in Maine, we'll rise ever stronger to demand equal treatment under the law and equal respect for our relationships in Maine, California, New Jersey, and every state in the Union.

And in other state elections yesterday...

In Washington state, voters appear to have cast their ballots to approve Referendum 71, a measure that would expand domestic partnerships to have every state-level right and benefit afforded to married couples. I feel confident that when all of the votes are counted, it will be clear that the voters of Washington chose to provide equal rights and benefits to same-sex couples and their families.

In New Jersey, Governor Jon Corzine – endorsed by HRC – has lost his re-election bid. He has been a strong ally for LGBT people in New Jersey, and he had pledged repeatedly to sign a marriage equality bill that could still be passed by legislators later this year.

In Virginia, HRC endorsed Creigh Deeds for governor and placed 20 staffers at work in key delegate races. Deeds unfortunately lost his bid for governor, but there will be new pro-equality voices in the House of Delegates next year.

In Kalamazoo, Michigan, right-wing groups wanted to make sure it stayed legal to fire or refuse housing to someone just because they’re LGBT. 65% of Kalamazoo voters disagreed and voted to approve Ordinance 1856, expanding the city's existing anti-discrimination law to include sexual orientation and gender identity.

Ryan, I know that the results of today’s elections are frustrating.

But having seen the passion and dedication of volunteers in this election, I know that tomorrow is a new day – and that our movement has the strength and power it needs to keep moving forward.





Joe Solmonese
President

High school teacher suspended after assigning an article on homosexuality in animals

The following is from a blog posting on "Psychology Today" magazine's website, written by Elizabeth Meyer, Ph.D.. The article discusses bullying and harassment, and promoting sexual diversity in schools. It delves into the psychological reasons behind heterosexism and homophobia. The full article is available at their website here.

Yesterday, Mr. Delong, a 10th and 12th grade Honors English teacher in Piasa, IL was suspended for assigning an article about homosexuality in the animal kingdom to his students. Should teachers ask their students to read about controversial topics? Should we allow parents veto power over the curriculum?

The local paper reporting this story quoted the teacher saying, "I have been suspended, but not without pay," Delong, of Carlinville, said Wednesday. "But I would rather not comment further until I speak with my union representative." In true student-activism fashion, a Facebook group called "Bring back Mr. Delong" has been created to show support and share information about this situation. I thank this group for sharing this

Mr. Delong is reportedly a married, heterosexual teacher who identifies as an ally of the GLBTQ community and clearly has the respect and admiration of his students. This is just one of many examples of how teachers are taught to be conservative and non-controversial and why GLBTQ youth don't feel safe in schools.

Nick Carter Wants It That Way

Nick Carter embraced his gay fans before it was trendy -- at 17, he posed for the cover of a gay teen mag, unheard of at the time. Now, with a new Backstreet album in stores, Nick is sober, happy, and, most important, back.

Nick Carter’s excitement over the new Backstreet Boys album, This Is Us, is palpable: It’s a return to form, with track after track of the kind of pop music that put the 1990s boy band on the map. Carter points to Moroccan-Swedish RedOne -- who can take at least a little credit for Lady Gaga’s '80s-inspired dance beats -- as the kind of Scandinavian who has pop music in his DNA. RedOne is among the red-hot producers (including T.I.) who have updated the Backstreet sound just a notch on the new album.

And yet it’s clear that This Is Us represents a crossroads for Carter, who recognizes the album as a return to a successful formula -- and who has cleaned up his act in order to seriously pursue other creative and professional outlets, including writing, directing, acting in, and producing films that explore his self-professed “dark side.”

Advocate.com: This Is Us sounds like the Backstreet Boys from way back, but you worked with a lot of new producers, including RedOne, who has produced Lady Gaga, Robyn, and a lot of current dance music artists. Did working with new producers affect your music much?
Nick Carter: I think that, actually, it made us sound like even more of what we are. RedOne is from Sweden and it’s almost like he does music like ours back in the day. I think it’s a really good combination. It’s very familiar because… he’s from Sweden and a lot of our greatest hits, and the greatest pop songs, came from Sweden. [This album] is our pride and joy. We love it so much. We’ve worked so hard on creating an album that is worthy of radio and worthy of stuff that we’ve done in the past -- just really good music, you know? It’s got a nice little dance vibe to it. It’s music that you can dance to in a club, you can play in your car… it’s feel-good music.

Read the rest of the story at Advocate.com