Mike Elk | My Grandmother Takes A Stand for Gay Marriage in Church Despite Being a Glenn Beck Follower

Mike Elk, Truthout: "I was shocked when I heard that my conservative Grandma had stormed out of church after her pastor denounced 'being gay as the worst sin' ... It was an absolute scandal throughout the small town where she lives. However, what was was even more shocking was that when, at Thanksgiving dinner, I asked my grandmother which book she was reading, she responded 'Glenn Beck's 'Common Sense.'"

Read the Article

Twelve Men Face Execution for Sodomy in Iran

Ten young Iranian men, including eight teenagers, are currently awaiting execution for sodomy, and two more are being re-tried on the same capital charge. And, in an exclusive interview with Gay City News, an Iranian student gay rights activist confirmed for the first time the existence of queer organizing on multiple university campuses throughout Iran.

The information about the ten youths currently under sentence of death for sodomy (lavaat in Persian) was released on November 25 in a joint appeal by the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC), the Iranian Queer Organization (IRQO), and COC of the Netherlands, the world’s oldest LGBT rights group, founded in 1946. The three organizations called on Western countries “with significant diplomatic and economic ties to Iran, including Germany, France, Canada, as well as the European Union, to pursue diplomatic efforts to cease these executions.”

jump to read the rest of the article here

Rachel Maddow-The Familys Uganda ties

Another gem from JMG

HomoQuotable - Christopher Muther

"If the FCC is going to investigate anything it should be that Lambert may be compromising the reputation of gay men everywhere. Gay men have proudly worked hard for centuries to cultivate the appearance of having good taste. Tom Ford, fashion designer and the living embodiment of homo-sexy refinement, is even bringing his mission to movie theaters this month with "A Single Man.’’ And then comes Lambert with his Mystic Tan, makeup, and eyeliner to steamroll it all back dozens of years.

"Even more offensive than the bump, grind, and kiss is that Lambert is now taking it upon himself to explain why folks had a difficult time digesting his American Music Awards performance. 'People aren’t used to seeing gay men portrayed that way on TV,' he told Ellen DeGeneres last week. 'The gay male image in the media tends to be very cliché.’ So, let me get this straight. Lambert, who dresses like the immaculately conceived love child of Siegfried and Roy, is not a cliché? Cut to me giving the TV the side eye and scratching my head. He’s a bundle of clichés, and represents a very outdated image of the flamboyant gay performer. Freddie Mercury and his stretch unitards were more groundbreaking, and definitely sexier."- Boston Globe style columnist Christopher Muther.

Lifted from JMG

Austria Approves Civil Unions

The Austrian parliament approved a civil unions bill today, bringing the number of EU member nations with such a law to ten.

The bill, slated to become law Jan. 1., will give same-sex couples a series of rights enjoyed by their heterosexual counterparts, including access to a pension if one partner dies and alimony in the event of a split. It bans the adoption of children or artificial insemination. "We are living in the 21st century and I'm very glad this step is being taken today," Justice Minister Claudia Bandion-Ortner said during parliamentary debate leading up to the vote. Christian Hoegl, co-president of the Homosexual Initiative Vienna, Austria's oldest group of gays and lesbians, agreed. "It's a relief, a big success and a reward for two decades of lobbying," Hoegl said. Earlier in the day, Hoegl and co-president Jona Solomon passed out pink rum-filled cupcakes to parliamentarians, along with a letter that urged them to vote yes.

As we saw with Ireland yesterday, some LGBT advocates opposed the bill, arguing that it was too limiting.

a great heads up from JMG

Prop. 8 Opponents To Tell Judge Lawsuit Is Irrational

SAN FRANCISCO -- Two couples who challenged California's ban on same-sex marriage have told a federal judge in San Francisco that they plan to prove at a January trial that the measure is "irrational, indefensible and unconstitutional."

Jump here to read the rest of the article

Same sex marriage & the Baha'i Faith

Same sex marriages – 1
Same sex marriages – 2
Same sex marriages – 3

thank you Sen McGlinn!

Another great find from JMG

JMG says:

Via the Economist: In 2008 Maine had the second highest concentration of gay households, with over eight in every 1,000 households said to be headed by partners of the same sex, according to research based on census data by the Williams Institute, a gay rights think-tank at UCLA. Those states where gay marriage is legal or where same-sex partnerships are recognised have a higher proportion of same-sex couples than the national average of 4.7. The District of Columbia is home to most gay households with over 14 for every 1,000

Another great find on JMG

Straight New York Woman Auctions Her Right To Marry On eBay

JMG reader Scott tips us to this eBay auction:

I'm an unmarried heterosexual woman, and since I probably won't be using my right to get married, I would like to give it away. I would like to sell it to the highest bidder and donate the proceeds to an organization that supports LGBT rights since the government designed to protect all of us is picking and choosing based on what they think is icky, weird, or unkown to them.

Bid now, and you can have my super wonderful privilege and legal ability to get married as many times as you want in a classy place like the one pictured. You don't have to know the person, you don't have to like them, you don't have to think through your decision to get married or anything - you can just do it! Because you can! Come on, it's cool to get married, and think of the pictures you'll have to show people of this person that they will definitely think is so wrong for you and probably is! But heavens to BETSY, do NOT marry someone of the same gender because that would be a mockery of the institution of marriage. And if it doesn't work out, just get divorced. Half the cool people who get married do that anyway.

If eBay somehow allows the auction to remain, Jamie is donating the proceeds to the Point Foundation, a scholarship fund for LGBT students. Jamie Frevele, our straight ally hero for the day!

Courtesy of JMG

From JMG: HomoQuotable - John Corvino

"I have long advocated using the term 'bigot' sparingly when referring to gay-rights opponents. It’s not that I don’t think bigotry is a serious problem. On the contrary, it’s vital to identify bigotry for what it is and to expose its tragic effects. It’s also important to learn the lessons of history, including the ways in which bigotry can hide behind religion, concern for children’s welfare, and other seemingly benign motives.

"But there’s a difference between identifying bigotry, on the one hand, and labeling any and all people who disagree with us as bigots, on the other. Such labeling tends to function as a conversation-stopper, cutting us off from the 'moveable middle' and ultimately harming our progress. It’s also unfair to the many decent people who genuinely strive to understand us even where, for sincere and complex reasons, they cannot accept our position. [snip]

"Many of our opponents are fundamentally decent people. For both principled and pragmatic reasons, we don’t want to saddle them with an identity that suggests their being beyond redemption. In other words, we don’t want to label them 'bigots' prematurely. At the same time, we don’t want to shrink from identifying the evil of anti-gay bigotry, wherever and whenever it occurs. And so, we can distinguish. We can point out the sin of bigotry forcefully while using the epithet of 'bigot' sparingly (though that epithet, too, has its uses). Because, in the end, we do know it when we see it." - John Corvino, writing for Independent Gay Forum.

courtesy of JMG