Wednesday, July 31, 2013
The CEO Of Stoli Vodka Speaks To Michael Signoreli
I fully understand the communities need to feel productive in helping our gay brothers and sisters in Russia, but attacking a company that isn't even allowed to sell Vodka in Russia and whose parent company is based in Luxembourg is just mean spirited and harmful, and feels more like we a cutting our noses off in spite our face.
Tuesday, July 30, 2013
WTF?
Christine Quinn, Gay Groups Praise Pope Francis Supporting Gay Priests
New York City mayoral candidate Christine Quinn and gay rights groups were among those applauding Pope Francis' support for gay priests.
“If someone is gay and he searches for the Lord and has good will, who am I to judge?" Francis rhetorically asked reporters aboard the papal aircraft on the journey back to the Vatican from his first foreign trip to Brazil.
But when asked his position on gay marriage, Francis drew a clear line in the sand: “You know perfectly the position of the church.”
Many responded that it wasn't what the Holy Father said, but rather how he said it that made such an impact.
“It's the way he's expressing himself, with great candor, that is surprising people,” John Wauck, a professor of communications at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross, told Time magazine. “Actually, the substance of it is nothing exceptional.”
Chad Griffin, president of the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the nation's largest LGBT rights advocate, agreed.
“While Pope Francis's words do not reflect a shift in Church policy, they represent a significant change in tone,” Griffin wrote in a blog post. “Like his namesake, Francis's humility and respect for human dignity are showing through, and the widespread positive response his words have received around the world reveals that Catholics everywhere are thirsty for change.”
Quinn, who is gay, also cheered the pope during an appearance on cabler Current's Say Anything.
“That's a big statement, you know, from the pope, the head of the Catholic Church, not a place that's been like at all leading in this issue,” Quinn said. “And I know some people are going to say, 'He should have said more, he should have said less,' but that's a big statement from the pope.”
What I see here are gay people so desperate for a crumb of acceptance from an institution that will never be either tolerant or accepting of anything homosexual.
Is Christine Quinn and Chad Griffin so stupid that they couldn't see his follow up statement?
“You know perfectly the position of the church.”
Which is one of complete intolerance of homosexuality.
Get a clue people and quite seeking acceptance from a man and institution that still to this date, hasn't spoken against any kill the gays bill, has vowed they will fight with all their power and influence to deny you even the most basic human rights and has supported regimes that have performed acts of mass murder, just to secure and retain it's power, influence and wealth.
Russia Will Not Suspend Anti-Gay Legislation For 2014 Sochi Olympic Games: Official
Despite assurance by the International Olympic Committee July 26 that attendees of the 2014 Olympic Games in Sochi would not be held under the jurisdiction of Russia's anti-gay legislation, the law's co-sponsor is now articulating a different set of circumstances. Vitaly Milonov, the politician responsible for the "gay propaganda" ban in St. Petersburg later adopted by the country as a whole, claims that the law cannot be selectively enforced nor suspended.
In an interview with Interfax, Milonov stated:
I haven’t heard any comments from the government of the Russian Federation, but I know that it is acting in accordance with Russian law. And if a law has been approved by the federal legislature and signed by the president, then the government has no right to suspend it. It doesn’t have the authority.In effect, it seems as if foreign athletes and spectators at the 2014 Olympic Games will, in fact, be subject to the legalities of Russia's recent stream of anti-LGBT legislation. Signed into law by President Vladimir Putin on June 30, the legislation gives the Russian government agency to detain gay or "pro-gay" foreigners up to 14 days before facing expulsion from the country.
Perhaps most disturbing out of this recent interview with Milonov is the claim that he has "spoken with many American politicians" and that "they support the stance I’ve taken on this issue." He also cites support from German legislators surrounding the anti-gay crackdown.
In a statement released on July 17 to the Windy City Times, the International Olympic Committee attempted to prevent the high-publicity nature of Russia's anti-gay legislation and activity from affecting the 2014 Olympic games.
The International Olympic Committee is clear that sport is a human right and should be available to all regardless of race, sex or sexual orientation,...The Games themselves should be open to all, free of discrimination, and that applies to spectators, officials, media and of course athletes. We would oppose in the strongest terms any move that would jeopardize this principle.Milinov's statements and the fact he say's he has support from both American and German politicians (whose names should be sought out and publicized) I think, is more than sufficient grounds for the Olympics to be moved.
What's clear, is that the IOC is either lying or at the very least hasn't received proper assurances from the Russian government or... the the Russian government is lying to the IOC.
Either way, I can't see how the IOC can legitimately say they can assure the safety of it's athletes or those foreigners planning to attend the Olympics.
Monday, July 29, 2013
Gay Men Arrested For Agreeing To Consensual Sex Under Louisiana's Invalid Sodomy Law
Police in Baton Rouge, Louisiana are arresting gay men for agreeing to consensual sex.
Stings being carried out by a Sheriff's Office task force mainly in Manchac Park, which is known as a cruising area for gay men, have resulted in at least a dozen such arrests since 2011.
Men who agree to have sex with undercover officers are arrested for violating the state's crimes against nature laws, the Baton Rouge Advocate reported.
A July 18 arrest involved a 65-year-old man who was handcuffed after he agreed to follow a deputy to a nearby apartment to have sex.
“There had been no sex-for-money deal between the two. The men did not agree to have sex in the park, a public place. And the count against the man was based on a part of Louisiana's anti-sodomy law struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court a decade ago,” the paper wrote.
That is, the man was arrested for merely agreeing – not participating – to consensual sex with another man.
The Sheriff's Office defended the sting operations.
“This is a law that is currently on the Louisiana books, and the sheriff is charged with enforcing the laws passed by our Louisiana Legislature,” Spokeswoman Casey Rayborn Hicks said. “Whether the law is valid is something for the courts to determine, but the sheriff will enforce the laws that are enacted.”
“The issue here is not the nature of the relationship but the location,” she added. “These are not bars. These are parks. These are family environments.”
“The whole procedure of being arrested and being brought to jail is just intimidation,” a man who was arrested two years ago said.
Metro Councilman John Delgado chided Sheriff Sid Gautreaux, saying that he owed an apology to the men arrested.
“You cannot simply hide behind not knowing that the law had been changed by the U.S. Supreme Court decision in 2003,” Degaldo reportedly wrote in an email to the sheriff's office. “The sheriff's actions are a violation of the civil rights of these men under the 5th and 14th Amendments. Ignorance of the law is no excuse … Doesn't your office tell people that all the time?”
I have a different take on this, did male officers approach females in the park for sex?
Where there female officers propositioning men for sex in the park?
No, they did not.
I view this as a hate crime committed by the sheriffs department and they should be prosecuted for this abuse of authority.
Pope Francis Says: "Who Am I To Judge Gay People?"
“If someone is gay and he searches for the Lord and has good will, who am I to judge? Francis rhetorically asked reporters aboard the papal aircraft on the journey back to the Vatican from his first foreign trip to Brazil.
Reporters raised allegations made by Italian news weekly L'Espresso that a trusted monsignor had a scandalous gay past.
He responded that his investigation found no evidence to back up the paper's claims.
The Pope added that gay people should not be marginalized.
“The Catechism of the Catholic Church explains this very well. It says they should not be marginalized because of this [sexual orientation] but that they must be integrated into society,” the pope said.
“The problem is not having this orientation. We must be brothers. The problem is lobbying by this orientation, or lobbies of greedy people, political lobbies, Masonic lobbies, so many lobbies. This is the worse problem.”
This is what the Catechism says about homosexuality:
“Homosexuality refers to relations between men or between women who experience an exclusive or predominant sexual attraction toward persons of the same sex. It has taken a great variety of forms through the centuries and in different cultures. Its psychological genesis remains largely unexplained. Basing itself on Sacred Scripture, which presents homosexual acts as acts of grave depravity [Cf. Gen 19:1-29; Rom 1:24-27; 1 Cor 6:10; 1 Tim 1:10], tradition has always declared that “homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered.
They are contrary to the natural law. They close the sexual act to the gift of life. They do not proceed from a genuine affective and sexual complementarity. Under no circumstances can they be approved.”
So the Pope says he doesn't judge gay people but then adds that it's our orientation that's a problem and that it's wrong for us to lobby for ourselves...so, basically, the Pope says we just should climb back in the closet, don't have homosexual relationship and don't seek equality because we are still "disordered".
Exactly what part of your belief isn't judging gay people?
Sunday, July 28, 2013
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