Tag: anti-gay

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Tennessee Hardware Store Puts Up Sign “No Gays Allowed”

In response to the recent ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court regarding the Colorado baker who refused to sell a wedding cake for a same-sex wedding in 2012, a Tennessee hardware store put up a sign which read, “No Gays Allowed.”

From USA Today:

Jeff Amyx, who owns Amyx Hardware & Roofing Supplies in Grainger County, Tennessee., about an hour outside of Knoxville, added the “No Gays Allowed” sign on Monday, because gay and lesbian couples are against his religion.

Amyx, who is also a baptist minister, said he realized Monday morning that LGBT people are not afraid to stand for what they believe in. He said it showed him that Christian people should be brave enough to stand for what they believe in.

“They gladly stand for what they believe in, why can’t I? They believe their way is right, I believe it’s wrong. But yet I’m going to take more persecution than them because I’m standing for what I believe in,” Amyx said.

On Tuesday, Amyx removed the “No Gays allowed” sign and replaced it with a sign that says: “We reserve the right to refuse service to anyone who would violate our rights of freedom of speech & freedom of religion.”

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Pogo Backtracks On Anti-Gay Rant: I’m Bi-Curious So I Can’t Be Homophobic

Australian musician Pogo aka Nick Bertke

Australian electronic musician Pogo, aka Nick Bertke, says his anti-gay rant wherein he cheered the Pulse Nightclub massacre posted yesterday was just a bit of fun to attempt to “trigger” people.

YouTube has since deleted the Aussie’s hate rant which probably has something to do with his “explanation” today.

Pogo now claims in a new video the whole bit was a bit of trolling to “grind the gears” of Internet folks who get triggered too easily.

“The things I said in this video I think have deserved the reception that the video has had. I love confusing people. Then I took it too far.”

“There is no pinch of salt big enough to be taken with what I have said. It’s all good and well for me to open a valve and to draw people out into the open – people I don’t like, you know, hypocrites etcetera, but I feel very strongly that it’s been very naive behavior on my part.

“If I’m going to tuck my tail between my legs and admit anything it’s that these posts and these videos and these things I’ve made for the sake of being edgy have not contributed to any productive conversation.”

He then confuses a bit by giving props to professional provocateur Milo Yiannopolous saying, “I like some of the things people like Milo Yiannopoulos say, but I don’t like the way he says them.”

Predictably, he eventually plays the “I can’t be homophobic because I have gay friends” card.

“Apparently I hate gay people,” says Pogo. “Many of my friends and supporters are gay. There is definitely a degree of irony.”

Pogo also shares in an accompanying note that empathy is “muddled” for him because he himself is “bicurious” and also says he has Aspergers and Bipolar disorder.

“I don’t hate gays. I am in fact bicurious myself, and it has not been easy within the culture I have been raised. The 2016 video circulating was a satirical sh*tpost made in bad tastes and I never intended for it go public. I have Asperger’s and Bipolar disorder so my sense of humour and empathy for people is often very muddled. It’s a condition I’ve struggled with for many years as an artist who feels passionately about things and who faces the public eye every hour of my life. The internet has taken the video very far out of context and proportion, but I am very sorry to the people who I the video has hurt or confused.”

I think someone got a talking to.

What do you think? Watch the “explanation” below.

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YouTube Musician Pogo Explains Hating “Disgusting” Gays & Cheering Pulse Nightclub Shooting

Pixar/Nickelodeon musician Pogo reveals he has a "robust resentment" of gays and cheered the Pulse Nightclub massacre
Pogo fist pumps in honor of Pulse Nightclub massacre

I should sub-title this post “How to lose your job in less than two minutes.”

Pogo, aka Nick Bertke, an electronic musician from Western Australia whose videos remixing Disney animated classics have drawn more than 200 million views on YouTube, surprised his fans today in a video explaining the name of his channel – Fagottron.

For years many LGBT fans and outlets have shared his videos assuming his YouTube channel name was a nod to his own out and proud gayness.

But, no.

In the video, Berkte happily breaks down for his fans his “robust resentment” of the gays and actually fist pumps when he references the Pulse Nightclub shooting calling the deadly massacre “just fantastic.”

From the video:

“I came up with ‘Fagottron’ because I’ve always had a very thorough dislike of homosexuals. I’ve never liked a grown man acting like a 12-year-old girl. I’ve always found that to be quite disgusting.

“So, I thought to myself, how can I best express to the world that gays are just an abomination?

“So I thought, here in Australia – well, in America as well – you like to call gays ‘fags’ or ‘faggots.’ I think nothing encapsulates the sissiness of a gay guy quite like the word ‘faggot.’

“So, I thought to myself, I’m going to call myself ‘Fagottron’ and hopefully people get it.

“I have a fairly robust resentment of the gay community. I don’t want to really get into this, but when there was the Orlando shooting and the guy was shouting ‘Allahu Akbar’ or something I was like (pumps fist).

“But yeah, I’ve got to be a bit careful with that because well, you know, I don’t like gays – but I don’t want to see people getting killed in nightclubs either.

“But still, I mean, it’s just fantastic. It just amazes me to see the West welcoming in a culture through the floodgates that wants gays dead (laughing). I think that’s fantastic.”

According to JoeMyGod, Bertke got a gig with Pixar and Nickelodeon after his work remixing Disney’s animated classics drew widespread acclaim. We’ll be curious to see if Pixar likes what they see today…

I wonder if he’ll try walking this back saying he was on Ambien?

Watch the disgusting message below.

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China’s Social Media Weibo Bans Gay Content As Netizens Respond “I Am Gay, Not A Pervert”

In an apparent crackdown by China’s Communist Party to denounce any and everything to do with LGBT folks, the country’s microblogging platform Sina Weibo began deleting “homosexual” content even as protesters reacted with the hashtag #IAmGay.

From Yahoo News:

Weibo said in a statement Friday it had begun a “clean-up campaign” to remove “illegal” content, including “manga and videos with pornographic implications, promoting violence or (related to) homosexuality”.

It is the latest sign in a crackdown by the ruling Communist Party to purge the Internet of any content deviating from its “core values ​​of socialism” while stifling criticism of social norms and established policies.

The popular Twitter-like platform, which boasts 400 million active monthly users, said it was implementing China’s new cybersecurity law and had already removed some 56,240 items by Friday evening.

The announcement provoked a flood of reaction from stunned or outraged Chinese Internet users, with protesters rallying behind the hashtag “I am gay”.

By midday Saturday, it had been used by some 170,l000 Weibo users, before it was apparently banned by the platform.

“There can be no homosexuality under socialism? It is unbelievable that China progresses economically and militarily but returns to the feudal era in terms of ideas,” one angry commenter said.

China only decriminalised homosexuality in 1997, but conservative attitudes remain widespread.

(h/t JoeMyGod) 

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IL GOP Atty General Candidate Told Pageant Officials She’d Place Foster Children With Child Abusers Before Loving Gays

Erika Harold, a former Miss America and currently the frontrunner in the GOP nomination for Illinois Attorney General, once told Miss Illinois pageant officials that she would choose to place a foster child in the home of a child abuser rather than in the home of a loving gay couple.

It will not surprise you to learn Ms. Harold has no recollection of the “alleged exchange.”

From the local NBC affiliate:

NBC 5 has spoken to three people, who all played a role in that Miss Illinois pageant, with direct knowledge of the exchange. They were present when Harold responded to the question.

One of the pageant officials said: “I remember it because it was so shocking. She took some time to answer it. And that drew people in. It stopped the room.”

That pageant official said: “It said a lot about her, she spoke about reading the Bible daily and said her beliefs could not subject a child to the gay lifestyle.”

Harold’s spokesman originally told NBC 5 Harold did not recall this interview since it was nearly 20 years ago. In a second phone call, the spokesman said, “I have a real problem with this story, less than two weeks before the election, unnamed sources are going to say this?”

Another source who was also present for the interview said, “I remember it like it was yesterday. It was shocking.”

Harold’s campaign released a statement to NBC 5 after repeated requests:

“Voters should first know that NBC Chicago has chosen to air an unverified story from anonymous sources twelve days before an election about an alleged event that supposedly occurred nearly two decades ago when Erika was 20 years old. Erika does not recall the alleged exchange, but Erika certainly support[s] same-sex adoption and foster care placement.”

One of the Miss Illinois pageant officials from the 2000 contest who spoke to NBC 5 said, “I find it literally impossible she does not remember, because it cost her the pageant, she did not even make the top 10 that year. There’s no way she does not remember.”

Current Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner, also a Republican, has endorsed Harold and donated $350,000 to her campaign.

(h/t Towleroad)

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Jimmy Kimmel Trolls California Baker Who Refuses To Make Same-Sex Wedding Cake

I recently reported on the ruling by a judge in Kern County, California, that allowed a Bakersfield baker to continue to deny selling a wedding cake to same-sex couples based on the baker’s “deeply held religious beliefs.”

Jimmy Kimmel obviously heard about the ruling and recently staged this little skit to explain why the thinking behind the ruling is flawed.

Here’s the clip description:

A controversial decision came from a court in Kern County, California that ruled in favor of a bakery that refused to make a cake for a same-sex wedding because the owner said it would violate her Christian faith.

This isn’t the first instance of a bakery refusing to make a cake for a same-sex wedding, there’s a case right now in the Supreme Court, but the judge’s ruling in this particular case is interesting. He says the bakery would have violated the law if it refused to sell the gay couple a cake that was already baked, but that they can’t be forced to bake one.

So Jimmy uses a common restaurant dining experience to explain why this isn’t right.

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CA Judge: Baker May Continue To Deny Same-Sex Couples Wedding Cakes While Awaiting Trial

Basing his decision on the distinction between selling a product or creating an artistic expression, Kern County Superior Court Judge David Lampe has ruled that baker Cathy Miller of Bakersfield can continue to refuse to make wedding cakes for same-sex couples.

The case began last August when Miller, a conservative Christian, refused to make a wedding cake for Mireya and Eileen Rodriguez-Del Rio.

Miller claimed it violated her deeply held Christian beliefs.

The Rodriguez-Del Rioses filed a complaint to the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing alleging Miller had violated the Unruh Civil Rights Act, which prohibits public businesses from denying service to anyone on race, gender, religion or sexual orientation.

Note: This ruling is a motion regarding a preliminary injunction. The case has not been tried yet.

From Bakersfield.com:

“A retail tire shop may not refuse to sell a tire because the owner does not want to sell tires to same sex couples. There is nothing sacred or expressive about a tire. No artist, having placed their work for public sale, may refuse to sell for an unlawful discriminatory purpose. No baker may place their wares in a public display case, open their shop, and then refuse to sell because of race, religion, gender, or gender identification,” Lampe wrote.

His distinction, he said, is between the act of selling a product to a same-sex couple and creating a product for the same couple.

“The difference here is that the cake in question is not yet baked,” Lampe wrote. “The State is not petitioning the court to order defendants to sell a cake. The State asks this court to compel Miller to use her talents to design and create a cake she has not yet conceived with the knowledge that her work will be displayed in celebration of a marital union her religion forbids. For this court to force such compliance would do violence to the essentials of Free Speech guaranteed under the First Amendment.”

The ruling doesn’t end the case. It just allows Miller to continue denying same-sex couples wedding cakes until the trial is resolved sometime this summer.

#ItsNotOver

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UK Radio Host James O’Brien Decimates Anti-LGBT Caller With One Question

Radio host James O’Brien

Discussing homosexuality and religion on his LBC radio show in the UK, host James O’Brien shut down a “Christian” caller named Daniel with just one question.

“What did Jesus say in the Bible about homosexuality?”

From Attitude:

Scrabbling for an answer, Daniel begins: “Well, in 1 Corinthians…”

But O’Brien cuts in to point out that the First Corinthians is “a letter written by someone who never met Jesus.”

He adds: “1 Corinthians is a letter that St Paul wrote. What did Jesus say, on the record, in the Bible about homosexuality?”

As Daniel struggles to answer, O’Brien keeps on coming.

“It’s a simple question. What did he say? You can say nothing, because that’s the true answer, or you can carry on blustering,” he says.

In all, O’Brien asks Daniel what Jesus said about homosexuality an incredible 27 times.

He tells the befuddled caller: “Listen, you have a great day. May God go with you. You can’t answer the question about Jesus… which is kind of the point. Which leads me to conclude what you’re really terrified of Daniel is something that’s going on inside of you.”

Check O’Brien’s expert handling of the situation below:

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Egypt: Lawmakers Prepare To Criminalize Homosexuality

In response to the raising of a rainbow flag at a concert last month, lawmakers in Egypt have drafted new legislation that would make being gay a crime punishable with prison time.

On September 22 in Cairo, at a concert performed by Lebanese band Mashrou’ Leila, the rainbow flag was raised.

Nearly 70 people were arrested, and more than 20 have been sentenced to time in prison ranging from six months to six years.

The new legislation would make homosexual behavior punishable by a prison sentence of one to three years. A repeat offense could mean an additional five years in prison.

Anyone identified as an LGBT ally or “supporter” could be imprisoned for one to three years.

Media coverage of events like LGBT Pride, as well as the organizers, could also suffer prison time.

And anyone who displays a “symbol of homosexuality” would be risking one to three years in prison as well.

This is dangerous stuff. I just had friends visiting Egypt on a vacation.

I can definitely tell you where you won’t be finding me anytime soon.

(source)

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Gay Couple Shamed For Attempting To Share Dessert

(image via flickr)

Upscale restaurant The Prime Rib in Washington D.C. prides itself as one of the top-five romantic restaurants in America.

But when Ron Gage, 55, and his partner, Henry McKinnon, 58, ordered one sundae with two spoons to close out their evening, the romantic atmosphere quickly died as their waiter told them two men eating from the same dish “doesn’t go with the ambiance of the restaurant.”

From the Washington Post:

“When it came time for dessert, we asked for one sundae with two spoons,” Gage said. Their server “said he would bring it in two separate dishes. He said ‘It wouldn’t look right with two gentlemen eating out of the same sundae. It doesn’t go with the ambiance of the restaurant.’ ”

The pair didn’t know how to react.

“We were speechless, we nodded,” Gage said. “We weren’t expecting it.”

Stunned, they kept their conversation with the server to a minimum for the rest of the meal, and tipped him 15 percent — they usually tip 20 — and left the restaurant without addressing it with a manager.

“I’m kind of embarrassed to say we didn’t say anything,” McKinnon said. “It just took us back to such a shameful place, in a way.”

But after they had slept on it, they were angry about the encounter and posted about it on Facebook and Yelp.

When contacted by The Washington Post, the Prime Rib’s general manager, James MacLeod, said he was still trying to piece together the situation and hadn’t had a chance to speak to the server in depth yet.

“The waiter in question is Bulgarian, and he does speak four different languages,” said MacLeod, noting that English is not the server’s first language. “I am not sure if he got confused as to what he was saying, or how he was saying it.”

While the manager says he plans to reach out to the couple, Gage and McKinnon say they doubt they’ll return to the restaurant. “It was unbelievable how it made us feel,” McKinnon said.