A personal blog by a graying (mostly Anglo with light African-American roots) gay left leaning liberal progressive married college-educated Buddhist Baha'i BBC/NPR-listening Professor Emeritus now following the Dharma in Minas Gerais, Brasil.
Actor and gay activist Glenn Shadix, best known as the snobby interior designer in Tim Burton's 1988 hit comedy Beetlejuice,has died at the age of 58 after a fall at his Birmingham, Alabama home.
"He was having mobility problems, and he was in a wheelchair," Susan Gagne, Shadix's sister, said. "It looks like he fell and hit his head in the kitchen, and that's the cause of death." Besides his breakthrough role as the outlandish Otho in "Beetlejuice" in 1988, Mr. Shadix appeared in two more movies for the writer-director Burton, doing the voice of the mayor in "The Nightmare Before Christmas" in 1993 and playing the orangutan Senator Nado in Burton's 2001 remake of the sci-fi classic "Planet of the Apes." After retiring from Hollywood, Mr. Shadix moved back to Birmingham about four years ago to be close to his family, his sister said. He had been living in a condo on Highland Avenue.
Shadix had worked with Central Alabama Pride and in 2008 rode in the Birmingham Pride Parade. He was particularly involved in fighting the "ex-gay" movement as he had undergone electro-convulsive aversion therapy as a teenager at the insistence of his father. His personal blog remains online.
But three suicides in one year, within one school district, all by students who are gay or lesbian? That's nothing short of an epidemic, and it's the problem currently facing Minnesota's Anoka-Hennepin school district.
The most recent incident occurred in July, when a 15-year-old student took his own life. A concert cello player in his school's orchestra, the student was incessantly bullied because of his sexual orientation.
"I'm not asking you to accept this as a lifestyle for you," his grieving mother recently said in testimony before the Anoka-Hennepin school board. "I'm only asking that you please make the school safe for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender students still alive and in this district today."
Statistics underscore the danger to LGBT students. Nationwide, gay youth are four times more likely to attempt suicide than their heterosexual classmates, in large part because of toxic environments where anti-gay bullying can thrive. Nearly 90% of gay students have experienced harassment in school, and almost two-thirds say they feel unsafe at school because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.
Yet in the Anoka-Hennepin school district, a "neutrality" policy has tied the hands of school administrators and teachers to combat homophobia. This policy was put in place due to the influence of anti-gay groups such as the Parents Action League, which believes homosexuality is a behavior that can be cured, and it requires teachers and school officials to remain silent about subjects pertaining to sexual orientation.
Because of this anti-gay influence, the school board turned down a request by Minnesota's largest gay rights organization to conduct a district-wide anti-bullying program. And it prevented the district from taking action against two teachers who harassed a student believed to be gay until an investigation by the Minnesota Department of Human Rights intervened and punished the teachers.
Stopping the harassment of people based on their sexual orientation shouldn't be a liberal or conservative issue. It's a humanitarian issue, and can literally be a matter of life and death.
Suicide doesn't occur in a vacuum. As we commemorate National Suicide Prevention Week this week, let us remember that we all have influence over the environment in which harassment thrives. If we sit idly by and do nothing, we're part of the problem.
For more news and commentary from this week in change, see the summaries from your favorite causes below.
A number of states have laws on the books banning same-sex marriage. But Wisconsin's law takes the homophobic cake. Gay Rights blogger Maia Spotts notes that on the books in Wisconsin is a law that allows for a gay couple to be fined $10,000, plus a jail term, if they decide to get married. Forget just banning same-sex marriage. This is outright criminalizing love. Read more »
Dominionist, extremist, Christofascist preacher Lou Engle gathered several thousand bigots in California's capital today to pray against same-sex marriage and for "authority over Jezebel and San Francisco values."
The Sacramento event, Engle said, helped to highlight immoral laws being passed out of the Capitol and called on traditional marriage to be restored. "If marriage is going to be upheld between a man and a woman, which we believe is the best for families and children and society, then right now, it seems we need divine intervention," Engle said in an interview between appearances on stage. "That's part of the reason we're coming here, to pray, but also to take a stand and be a prophetic voice to stand for truth."
The above-linked story notes that "offering stations" were set up throughout the audience. Jackpot. Another Lexus for Lou Engle, who, should you have forgotten, is one of the American evangelists responsible for Uganda's "kill gays" bill.
UPDATE: JMG reader Andy sends us the "trailer" for yesterday's event. Scary.
California: Pastor Robert Cowen sentenced to 30 years to life in prison for molesting two pre-teen sisters under the guise of Bible instruction. Arizona: Pastor Christopher Furey charged with multiple felony counts of child molestation. North Carolina: Pastor Darryl Todd charged with multiple felony counts of statutory rape of a 14 year old girl. Pennsylvania: Father Felix Owino charged with molesting an 11 year old girl. South Carolina: Pastor Bill Cabe charged with molesting an 11 year old boy. Cabe was recently released from prison after serving seven years for swindling $8M from his congregation. Texas: Pastor Apostle Nathaniel Calhoun charged with multiple felony counts of sexual assault on a child. Britain: Father Eugene Lewis sentenced to four years in prison for sexually abusing three pre-teen girls. Kansas: Father John M. Fiala charged with four felony counts of child molestation. Fiala is being sued in Texas for sexually assaulting a 16 year old boy at gunpoint. Ohio: Pastor Rodney Stewart busted in internet child sex sting. Stewart used a webcam to send lewd self photos to a detective posing as a 15 year old girl. Pennsylvania: Pastor Laneer Fisher charged with molesting two teenage boys. Washington: Pastor Derwin Pasley pleads guilty to molesting three teenage boys. California: Pastor Jeffery Waisner sued for molesting a 14 year old girl. Waisner's church is also named in the suit for harboring a known pedophile. Tennessee: Father William Casey indicted for aggravated rape of a fifth grade boy.
This Week's Winner Ohio: On trial for embezzling over $1M from his church, Pastor David Thompson said that he was authorized by God to take the money. "As the pastor and as the overseer I was mandated first and foremost from God." Thompson allegedly mortgaged church property to buy himself a Hummer, a BMW, a Ford Expedition, a Cadillac Escalade, and a boat. Thompson also used church funds to send his children to private school and add a pool to his home. Thompson faces 87 years in prison.
Led by well-known drag performers, hundreds marched in Amsterdam today in protest of the city's recent rash of violence against LGBT citizens. The rally was organized by the LGBT group Right To Feel Safe. Posters with the details of each of the attacks were affixed to street poles at the incidents' locations along the march route. A fuller account of today's action can be found in Dutch here.
Fiorina recap: Marriage is between a man and a woman, blasts Judge Walker, supports civil unions, supports DOMA, supports repeal of DADT. "My position [on marriage] is consistent with that of the president."
Rev. Fred Niles, the longest-serving member of the New South Wales parliament and one of Australia's leading anti-gay activists, is front-page news in Sydney today after an audit revealed that he'd used his government computer to view pornography. A really LOT of pornography, it appears.
An audit of NSW parliamentary computers, which has already resulted in the resignation of a Labor minister, reportedly showed up to 200,000 suspect hits linked to Reverend Nile's parliamentary log-on. Today he admitted one of his staff members had viewed online porn "for just a few seconds" for research purposes. But he insisted neither he nor any member of his staff had been "sitting there perving". "My senior researcher has conducted a lot of research into the pornography industry at my request because we have bills dealing with increasing the ban on pornographic materials," he said. "I have not accessed or viewed any of those sites but my researcher has."
Niles claims that the porn hits came from links found on the site of the Australian Sex Party, a grassroots group formed to advocate for same-sex marriage. The Sex Party rejected Niles' claims as ridiculous and have called for his resignation. Niles has fought many LGBT rights laws in New South Wales and has called for abolishing the Sydney Mardi Gras as a "public parade of immorality and blasphemy."
Over at Box Turtle Bulletin Rob Tisinai tips us to this fascinating BBC clip in which openly gay actor John Barrowman undergoes a brain scan while looking at nude images of men and women. Researchers can conclude the primary sexual orientation of their subjects by measuring the brain's electrical responses as the images are viewed. We hereby issue an open challenge to Peter LaBarbera, Matt Barber and Charlie Crist to undergo this test!
Actor and gay activist Glenn Shadix, best known as the snobby interior designer in Tim Burton's 1988 hit comedy Beetlejuice, has died at the age of 58 after a fall at his Birmingham, Alabama home. 
