The parents of Ryan Keith Skipper, the victim of a gay-hate-crime murder in Polk County, will mark what would have been his 27th birthday Monday by joining others in support of anti-bullying legislation in Tallahassee.
Hate crimes against gays can start with bullying of gay students in high schools, said Brian Winfield, communications director for Equality Florida, a gay civil-rights organization.
"Bullies are the people who grow up to commit hate crimes in early adulthood," he said.
Skipper was stabbed to death March 14, 2007, his body dumped on an unpaved road and his car burned and abandoned beside a Winter Haven lake. Two men have been charged with his murder.
"Ryan endured bullying in school and endured bullying and harassment afterward. It ultimately ended up with his murder," said Lynn Mulder, Skipper's stepfather.
The Safe Schools bill before the Legislature does not specifically include sexual orientation and gender identity but is a major step in addressing the harassment of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender students, Winfield said.
The Mulders' appearance at a noon news conference accompanies a traveling "Gay American Heroes" memorial on display Monday in the state Capitol rotunda. Skipper is profiled among the more than 500 gays who have been killed in hate crimes nationwide.
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Parents of murder victim to urge lawmakers to protect gay kids
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Moscow's mayor bans gay parade, cites violence
The mayor of Moscow said the city will not allow gay Pride marches to take place on this year's May Day holiday, Agence France-Presse reported Wednesday. Mayor Yury Luzhkov has been an opponent of gay pride marches, once calling them "Satan's work." A spokesperson for the mayor told reporters that a permit for the parade is being denied because of Russian society's opposition to the "gay lifestyle and philosophy." He also said the government wanted to avoid what it assumed would be widespread violence as a reaction to the parade.
Nicolai Alexeyev, the leader of LGBT activist group Gay Russia, has been working to get the mayor to allow the events. An unsanctioned parade in May 2007 to commemorate the decriminalization of homosexuality ended in violent gay bashing by ultranationalists.
"This is not a question of security," Alexeyev told AFP. "It is only a question of the personal hatred of the Moscow mayor toward gay people." (The Advocate)
Monday, April 28, 2008
Lake Cowichan man gets three-month conditional sentence in assault of gay man
Punishments have been handed to a Lake Cowichan father and son charged in connection with the beating of a gay man last fall.
On Wednesday, Judge Bruce Mackenzie ruled James Green would receive a conditional sentence for his role in the attack of Mark Edwards last September.
The following day his son, Lundi Green, entered into a peace bond and was handed a $500 fine.
“Mr. Green is prepared to enter into a peace bond for a period of six months and have no contact with Mr. Edwards,” said his lawyer Scott Sheets.
The peace bond prohibits Lundi from contacting Edwards directly or indirectly.
While the younger Green was not convicted of assaulting Edwards, his father was, and received a three-month conditional sentence as a result of the attack.
That sentence carries 14 conditions and will prohibit James Green from using drugs, alcohol or weapons. He was also handed a curfew for three months that will require him to remain home between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m.
Last September, Edwards said he was attacked outside a Lake Cowichan establishment by two men.
He said he was choked, beaten, and suffered a concussion. He suggested the assault was motivated by his sexual orientation.
Harry Potter - Daniel Radcliffe's nude photo threat
Daniel Radcliffe's manhood will be protected by security when he makes his Broadway debut.
The 'Harry Potter' actor will strip naked in play 'Equus' in New York later this year, and theatre bosses are worried audiences may try and sneak cameras in just as some fans did when he starred in the West End version of the play.
Special equipment is now being installed to prevent theatre-goers taking photos of him in the nude.
A source is quoted by Britain's Daily Star newspaper as saying: "When the show opened in the UK, some rather over-enthusiastic female fans sneaked cameras in to snap Daniel when he strips naked on stage.
"They all wanted pictures to circulate to friends and over the internet so we are bringing in tighter security."
Bosses are also considering increasing security at the stage door, so the 18-year-old star can arrive and leave safely without being mobbed.
Daniel - who plays young wizard Harry Potter in the big-screen versions of J.K. Rowling's books - recently confessed he is nervous about making his Broadway debut.
He said: "It will be amazing - but I will be terrified!"
viewed here
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Obama's Abercrombie Boys: Case Closed
Questions regarding the origin of the Obama Abercrombie boys have been answered:
"The so-called Abercrombie boys who showed up behind Senator Barack Obama during his speech Tuesday night in Evansville, Ind., were just random Obama fans...Because they were all wearing T-shirts from Abercrombie & Fitch, they stood out in the crowd, even receiving cell-phone calls from friends who had spotted them on television during the speech. Soon the media mentioned them, wondering whether they were part of an advertising campaign, a shrewd bit of product placement by the retailer, which is geared toward the same young crowd attracted to Mr. Obama’s candidacy. Not so. The young men saw a report on CNN and called the network to say they had not planned anything. One of them works at the Abercrombie & Fitch store in Evansville. He and one of his brothers and a friend decided to go to the rally; they wear A&F clothes all the time and didn’t think twice about the T-shirts. At the rally, a campaign volunteer asked them to stand behind Mr. Obama during his speech. It was not clear what role the T-shirts played, if any, in their selection. Spokesmen for the Obama campaign and A&F said there was no plan to highlight A&F, and both were caught by surprise when the T-shirts drew such attention. Virtually all campaigns strategically select the audiences who appear behind their candidate so as to send a message to television viewers."
As I noted yesterday, folks are already selling Obamacrombie T-shirts.
Said Tom Lennox, VP-corporate communications for A&F: "We appreciate the exposure, but can not take credit for it. So, thanks to the Obama campaign for this great product placement. We wish we had thought of it. If Hillary is interested, we have stores all over North Carolina, Indiana and Oregon."
let us help our next president
Dear Friend,
The next 11 days could be the decisive period in this election.
The Indiana primary is coming up on May 6th. We have the opportunity to help finish this race and secure the nomination for Barack -- and you can make a big difference.
This weekend, supporters across California are organizing grassroots phonebanks, where we'll make calls to Indiana voters and help build our movement before the primary.
There's a phonebank in your area, so sign up now:
http://my.barackobama.com/CAcallIN
Throughout this campaign, California supporters like you have taken a leading role reaching out to voters all across the country.
Right now, our staff and volunteers are working hard to make this happen in Indiana -- but they need your help.
We have just 11 days to make sure Barack finishes strongly in this crucial contest.
All eyes are watching Indiana -- will you join us at a phonebank this weekend?
http://my.barackobama.com/CAcallIN
Thank you for everything you've done,
young gay rites
LAST NOVEMBER IN BOSTON, Joshua Janson, a slender and boyish 25-year-old, invited me to an impromptu gathering at the apartment he shares with Benjamin McGuire, his considerably more staid husband of the same age. It was a cozy, festive affair, complete with some 20 guests and a large sushi spread where you might have expected the chips and salsa to be.
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Erwin Olaf for The New York Times
VASSILI & MARC ENGAGED:. Vassili, 24, and Marc, 24, still live with their parents, who for months didn’t know about their sons’ impending nuptials.
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Photograph Erwin Olaf for The New York Times; Prop stylist Jeffrey W. Miller
BENJAMIN & JOSHUA: In their living room in Boston. Each 25, they were sweethearts in college and married soon after.
“I beg of you — please eat a tuna roll!” Joshua barked, circulating around the spacious apartment in a blue blazer, slim-fitting corduroys and a pair of royal blue house slippers with his initials. “The fish is not going to eat itself!”
Spotting me alone by a window seat decorated with Tibetan pillows, Joshua, who by that point had a few drinks in him, grabbed my arm and led me toward a handful of young men huddled around an antique Asian “lion’s head” chair. “Are you single? Have you met the gays?” Joshua asked, depositing me among them before embarking on a halfhearted search for the couple’s dog, Bernard, who, last I saw him, was eyeing an eel roll left carelessly at dog level. (At the other end of the living room, past a marble fireplace, the straights — in this case, young associates from the Boston law firm Benjamin had recently joined — were debating the best local restaurants.)
As the night went on, the gays and the straights — fueled, I suspect, by a shared appreciation for liquor — began to mingle, and before long the party coalesced into a boisterous celebration. Joshua looked delighted. And in a rare moment of repose, he sidled up to his taller, auburn-haired mate.
“Honey,” Joshua said, “we may be married, but we still know how to have a good time, don’t we?”
Benjamin, sharply outfitted in green corduroys and an argyle sweater over a striped dress shirt, smiled. “Josh is extremely social, and he keeps us busy all the time,” he told me. “I think we may be proof that opposites do attract.”
“If it were up to him,” Joshua said, “we’d barely leave the house! We’re actually a terrific team. He calms me down, and I get him out at night. I’ll say: ‘Honey, this is what we’re doing. Now put this on.’ ”
“I think a lot of straight married couples start hibernating at home once they get married,” Benjamin said.
Joshua kissed Benjamin on the cheek. “No, honey, that’s just your parents.”
“No, that’s a lot of people,” Benjamin insisted. “I think. . . .”
“And I love your parents to death,” Joshua interrupted, “but it scared me senseless to think that if anything were to happen, if you ended up in the hospital, your mother would get to make the decisions.” Joshua looked at me with a devilish grin. “I dare her to try! I’d say, ‘Woman, get away from my man!’ I’m 24, I’ve been with Ben for a long time and we’ve been married for three years. I think I’ve earned the right — the responsibility — that comes with that.”
Benjamin chuckled. “You’re 25.”
“Oh, God,” Joshua said, looking as if he’d just been sucker-punched. “I keep forgetting that I’m 25. I think I’m probably having some issues around that number. Am I desperately trying to hold onto my youth?” He grabbed Ben’s arm. “Honey, am I a gay cliché?”
Benjamin shook his head. “You can’t be a gay cliché when you get married to a man at 22.”
from here
Stanhope pressures PM on gay unions in Australia
KEVIN Rudd has been presented with his first major challenge on gay law reform from within his own party, with ACT Chief Minister Jon Stanhope challenging him to allow gay and lesbian civil unions in the territory.
Mr Stanhope said the Prime Minister - a self-described social conservative - should allow the move, arguing that if Mr Rudd could demand China respect the human rights of Tibetans he should defend the rights of his own citizens at home.
It is the first time Mr Stanhope has spoken publicly about the federal Government's intervention to see the ACT laws blocked.
The Rudd Government is in discussions with the ACT Government to remove clauses in its civil partnerships bill that would allow gay couples to hold a public ceremony marking their union.
In a speech to lawyers, Mr Stanhope said a national bill of rights could protect Australian citizens against such interventions. The Rudd Government has committed itself to an inquiry on a charter of rights, but has ruled out any model that would undermine the authority of parliament.
"I have hopes that a Prime Minister and a Government capable of advocating for the basic rights of the Tibetans will - must - comprehend the justice of formally extending each of those same basic rights to folk back home," Mr Stanhope said.
"I have hopes that this Prime Minister ... will respect the right of the component parts of our federation to legislate as they are constitutionally empowered to do and as they have received a mandate to do."
He said legislating for civil partnerships was within the powers of the states and territories. "We know that what the ACT is attempting to do is no more than to extend to same-sex couples equality with other Canberrans, under ACT laws," he said. "Not commonwealth laws: that would require a national bill of rights. Just ACT laws ... in the community to which they contribute, and to which they belong."
But Mr Stanhope said that unfortunately for the men and women in the ACT who desire recognition of and respect for their long-term "enduring primary relationships, efforts by the ACT Government to deliver these things have been thwarted".
"The evidence suggests the rights of a significant number of Canberra's men and women cannot be guaranteed by my Government, because of church disapproval," he said. "This in a nation that has committed ... to a separation of church and state."
NSW has taken a wait-and-see attitude on a relationships register, with Attorney-General John Hatzistergos saying he wanted to see "how it pans out at national level". The issue is on the agenda of the Standing Committee of Attorneys-General and the states are being urged to adopt a uniform approach by federal Attorney-General Robert McClelland.
But Mr Hatzistergos announced yesterday children born through IVF to lesbian mothers would soon have the same rights as those of heterosexual couples.
He estimated 20per cent of the state's female same-sex couples had children. Legislative changes later this year will grant parenting rights and obligations to the non-biological mother and another 50 state acts will be amended to remove discrimination against same-sex couples in NSW. For example, school authorities would be compelled to recognise both parents and hospitals could accept consent forms from both women.
from here
ANZAC day in Australia
Today is ANZAC day here in Australia and New Zealand. It’s like Rememberance Day or Veterans Day. It is the day we remember all our war veterans and it’s the anniversary of the tragic Gallipoli landing in Turkey by Australian troops. Before dawn the Australian’s boats had drifted further than they realised and they stormed a beach that was surrounded by cliffs and hundreds died, picked off by Turkish troops above.
This clip is from an Australian movie made years ago with Mel Gibson.
from my friend Brenton from Aussielicious
