Tag: anti-gay

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Catholic League President refuses to follow Pope Francis’ shift from bashing gays

CNN’s Chris Cuomo and Catholic League President Bill Donohue duel over the Pope’s recent comments that said that the Roman Catholic Church has become unduly obsessed with condemning abortion, gay marriage, and contraception. The church, he said, should emphasize compassion and mercy instead of “small-minded rules.”

Bill Donohue is not having any of it.

Cuomo: You have bashed on these issues for years and years. Most infamously, recently, saying that the Church had a homosexual problem, not a pedophile problem. I mean really incendiary, flagrant, divisive stuff…. You’re saying you won’t do that anymore?

Donohue: Oh no, I will always tell the truth…

Cuomo: Well, that wasn’t the truth.

Donohue: If 81% of the victims are male and 100% of the victimizers are male, and if 78% of the victims are post-pubescent, the word in the English language is not pedophilia, it’s called homosexuality.

When Donohue asked Cuomo if he thinks he “made up those figures,” Cuomo replied, “I think you’re parsing them, I think you’re cherry-picking them and I think that the most important part is your motivation. You just heard what the Pope said. Why wouldn’t you try to move past this parsing rhetoric and try to be what your church is supposed to be about?”

Cuomo told Donohue that he thinks the Pope is giving a message of love and understanding, adding that the Pope may think – ‘Jesus wasn’t about what you’re doing right now.’

“So you think the nuns on the bus that are bringing everybody together by going out there in favor of Obamacare against what the Bishops want. They’re the ones who are divisive, typically on the left, but not exclusively,” Donahue said.

Cuomo responded, “I’m thinking what he wants is for you to spend less time bashing nuns….”

(via CNN)

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Rob and Linda Robertson for The NALT Project

I tend to not mention stories with a basis in religion on The Randy Report unless it comes wrapped in such warped distortion from what I know my Christian friends to be. My best friend is a priest and not in any way a bigot. I celebrate other’s religious beliefs as long as they don’t harm others.

But I do want to share this video and story today.  These are the kinds of Christians we need today.  And while I’m no expert, THIS sounds like what my Christian friends believe.  Not the crap you hear from Westboro Baptist Church and other bigots of that ilk.

Rob and Linda Robertson are outspoken advocates for LGBT equality and are passionate about communicating to gay Christians that God loves them exactly as they are and wants to use them exactly as they are to change the world.

Sadly, they lost their openly gay son Ryan when he came out to them and didn’t find the love and support he needed. Truth Wins Out has their story here.

The story of how God taught them to love their gay son can be found at Linda’s blog, http://JustBecauseHeBreathes.com.

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“Marriage and Religous Freedom Act” sponsored by 58 House Republicans = license to discriminate

Rep. Paul Labrador (R-ID), along with 57 other Republican House members, has introduced the “Marriage And Religious Freedom Act.”

Speaking to The Washington Post, Labrador said he began drafting the legislation after the Supreme Court’s June 26 decision out of fear opponents of same-sex marriage could begin to be targeted by the federal government.

“Some people looked at overturning it, or doing a constitutional amendment. I looked at the immediate need, which is the protection of religious institutions and churches, so that they can continue practicing their religion as they see fit,” Labrador said.

The bill, basically a license to discriminate against gays and lesbians, would ban the federal government from taking any “adverse action” against the opponents of same-sex marriage.

Ian Thompson, American Civil Liberties Union legislative representative, says the bill seeks to “reincarnate DOMA and, in doing so, perpetuate discrimination against lawfully married same-sex couples and their children.”

The anti-gay National Organization for Marriage supports the legislation:

“This is a critical piece of legislation to protect religious liberty as a cornerstone of our country and deserves our full support,” said Brian Brown, NOM’s president. “Efforts to redefine marriage pose a direct threat to the free exercise of religion. This legislation would protect the right of organizations to communicate their views about marriage without threat that the tax code will be used to punish them. We applaud Congressman Labrador and his colleagues for their leadership on this important issue.”

The bill also has two socially conservative Democrats: Rep. Mike McIntyre (D-NC), and Rep. Dan Lipinski (D-IL).

(via MetroWeekly)

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NYC: Anti-gay 22 year old stabs gay man in broad daylight

Steven Torres, a 22-year-old Bronx man, has been charged with second-degree murder as a hate crime for stabbing 69-year-old Edward Orozco of Queens to death under the elevated 7 train subway station at 90th and Roosevelt in Queens at 1:30 pm on Monday.

According to NY Daily News reports on what set Torres off:

“He (Torres) said the victim was blowing kisses to him. That’s what set him off,” a source said. “This is what he is claiming.”

Police say Torres tried to run from the scene before they apprehended him.  The assailant reportedly said nothing as he attacked his victim, but laughed when he was finally caught. 

“He was laughing, yes,” witness Julio Lobaton said. “He was laughing like nothing”.

According to the NYPD, Torres has also been charged with the stabbing of a second man, which occurred on September 12th inside 9 Stanton Street near Bowery, because, reportedly, Torres believed that a 47 year old unidentified man was making sexual advances toward him. The second man survived the injuries.

(source)

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Hawaii: Brian Brown distorts truth again on word of special legislative session for marriage equality

Brian Brown, of the ironically named National Organization for Marriage, couldn’t help himself this week as he took to the NOM blog to spread lies and propaganda about possible marriage equality in Hawaii:

“The Governor claims that there have been no complaints or lawsuits in Hawaii — yet. But that’s because marriage has not yet been redefined! Just look around elsewhere. In Vermont, Christian inn-keepers were fined for declining to host a same-sex wedding AND ordered to cease hosting weddings altogether.

Recently, the New Mexico state Supreme Court ruled that Christian photographers must compromise their beliefs and offer their services against their will by photographing same-sex ceremonies. Never mind that same-sex couples can easily find other photographers who are happy to participate in these ceremonies.

“Instead the court said the price of citizenship is having to compromise your faith. Most recently in Washington State, the Attorney General is suing a Christian florist for declining to use their talents to arrange flowers for a same-sex ‘marriage’ ceremony, while a baker in Oregon was driven out of business for declining to bake a wedding cake for a same-sex couple because it violated their deeply held religious beliefs. This is what the future looks like in Hawaii if marriage is redefined.”

What Mr. Brown leaves out of his icky little missive is that that Hawaii already has the same public accommodation law cited in the above cases.

The issues in New Mexico and Washington state are violations of public accommodation – NOT same-sex marriage.

You all do realize that this man is paid to spew this stuff.  This is his job.  When marriage equality is the law of the land across all of the US, he will be unemployed.

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Russian vigilantes torture and rape gay man at gunpoint

An ethnic Uzbek man was reportedly raped at gunpoint in Novosibirsk, Russia after being threatened by a group of “six or seven” vigilantes, who filmed the alleged incident and posted it online where it began circulating on the mobile phone application WhatsApp, Radio Free Europe reports:

The series of short clips, making the rounds on the mobile phone application WhatsApp show the victim, who seems to be an ethnic Uzbek, being bullied into confessing that he is gay.

He is asked to identify himself and is stripped of his clothes, which are later burned. He is then handcuffed, beaten, insulted, and threatened with a gun. Ultimately, he is forced to sodomize himself by sitting on a bottle, which is then pushed with a bat.

The man, visibly terrified, weeps throughout much of the ordeal.

Radio Free Europe tracked down one of the alleged attackers:

The Uzbek-speaking source, speaking from Russia, confirms that the victim was targeted because he is gay.

“We made him sit on a bottle so that he repents for his sins and comes to reason,” he told RFE/RL’s Uzbek Service. “We did this to protect the dignity of Uzbeks. We live and work here, we are in contact with people of different nationalities. There will be no respect for us otherwise.”

According to the purported assailant, the attack took place on September 11 in Novosibirsk, where he himself is a student, and all the participants were ethnic Uzbeks.

He says the man was first detained by a group of Russian antigay vigilantes who lured him to a fake date through a social-networking website.

(source)

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Trail Life USA launches – new anti-gay scouting alternative

From the WashingtonTimes:

At the opening session, John Stemberger, chairman of the board of Trail Life USA, teased the crowd of 1,200, saying he would not be surprised if there were “spies” from Grapevine, Texas — BSA’s home base — in the audience. That would make sense, since everyone from supporters to the curious want to know what’s being planned, he said, adding that Trail Life USA will not be “anti-BSA.”

The conference’s theme is “Honoring the Legacy, Raising the Standard.” Trail Life USA’s name, drawn from more than 300 options, was carefully vetted and is intended not to be political or controversial, organizers said. “Trail” refers to a pathway and being outdoors, but also symbolizes the passage of life, where there are moral choices, and right and wrong paths, said Mr. Stemberger.

Adult leaders will be required to submit to a background check and sign a statement of faith.

According to reports, Trail Life USA will accept boys who are experiencing same-sex attractions or gender confusion, but not those who are openly gay.

So you can “think” about sex with another boy, you just can’t “be” gay.

Got it?

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Cleveland man beaten by mob of 20 in anti-gay attack

Cleveland’s WKYC reports on an attack by a mob of 20 on a single gay man Sunday night:

A man walking to a bar on Cleveland’s west side overnight Sunday was attacked in what police are calling a hate crime.

Jared Fox says he was walking from his car toward Cocktails bar, a well-known gay bar, on West 93rd Street and Detroit Avenue just before midnight Saturday. Fox says a group of 20 young men surrounded him on the sidewalk, using gay slurs.

“They didn’t know if I had money. They didn’t know anything about me,” said Fox. “They saw that there was a gay bar at the corner and they saw me walking to it.”

Then the group attacked Fox, punching him in the face repeatedly and knocking him to the ground. “They said what’s in your pockets and I said, I got no money I’m broke, and they said, ‘oh so you’re one of those broke faggots?’ And then they just started swinging,” said Fox.

He suffered a black eye, a ruptured right ear drum and some hearing loss, as well as dozens of bruises across his body.

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Oregon: Bigoted bakery owner decides to close up shop in the face of state discriminatory charges

Bakery owner Aaron Klein

Big crocodile tears for the bakery bigots in Oregon. They’ve decided to close up shop due to the ramifications of their discriminatory practices.

The Oregon cake shop that was investigated by state officials after refusing to fulfill an order by a lesbian couple has closed its doors, the Williamette Week reported.

According to a Facebook post on Friday, Sweet Cakes by Melissa’s store in Gresham, Oregon closed as of Saturday, with owners Aaron and Melissa Klein saying they would operate their business out of their home.

The Kleins were heavily criticized after refusing to serve a lesbian couple, citing their religious faith and opposition to marriage equality. Their stance made them the focus of not only demonstrations, but an investigation by the state Bureau of Labor and Industries to see if they violated a 2007 law banning discrimination based on sexual orientation.

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Russian government “reassures” International Olympic Committee gays will not be discriminated against at Sochi Olympics

The Russian government has “reassured” the International Olympic Committee that they will not discriminate against gay people during the Sochi Olympics. Kinda, sorta.

The IOC received a letter from Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak giving reassurances the host country will comply fully with the Olympic Charter’s provision against discrimination of any kind.

“The Russian Federation guarantees the fulfillment of its obligations before the International Olympic Committee in its entirety,” Kozak said.

However, Kozak did not back down on the issue of the new law, which penalizes anyone who distributes information aimed at persuading minors that “nontraditional” relationships are normal or attractive. The law applies equally to everyone and “cannot be regarded as discrimination based on sexual orientation,” Kozak said.

The letter still leaves open the question of what would happen to Olympic athletes or fans if they make statements or gestures that could be considered propaganda.

(via JMG)