Sunday, September 6, 2015
And The Most Popular Place For Gay People To Vacation Is...
Spain has been revealed as the most popular country in Europe among LGBT tourists, according to research.
A study by LGBT Capital
has shown that the country makes $6.8 billion a year from LGBT visitors compared to France’s $6.6 billion and the UK’s $4.8 billion.The study also suggests that gay travelers spend 30% more than their straight counterparts.
Spain was the third country in Europe to introduce gay marriage in 2005, and according to Bloomberg, it is estimated that this year’s Madrid Pride brought in $133 million, to the city’s economy.
Carlos Kytka, executive director at the Gay European Tourism Association, told the publication: ‘This is a high-income travel market that is not tied down by school holidays and is generally more adventurous.’
Thursday, September 3, 2015
Steve Grand ‘honored to accept’ US Marine Tanner White’s invite to military ball
US Marine Sgt. Tanner White figured her had nothing to lose when he made a YouTube video asking the singer Steve Grand to be his date to the Marine Corps Ball.
On Thursday (3 September), Grand gave his answer: Yes!A smiling Grand replied, via YouTube video of course, that he would be ‘honored to accept’ the invitation to the event in November that will take place in Wilmington, North Carolina.
‘Thank you so much for your service to this country and I look forward to a really fun evening with you in November. See you soon buddy.’
White’s video asking Grand has now been viewed more than 54,000 times over the past two days.
It's About Time!
A federal judge on Thursday found Kim
Davis, the elected clerk of Rowan County, Kentucky, in contempt for
defying a ruling ordering her to issue marriage licenses to all
qualified couples.
Rather than serve gay and lesbian
couples after the Supreme Court struck down gay marriage bans in all
50 states, Davis stopped issuing marriage licenses altogether and
vowed never to issue a marriage license to a gay couple because it
would conflict with her religious beliefs.
On Monday, the Supreme Court refused to
intervene in the case. Despite having exhausted all of her legal
options, Davis continued to turn away gay couples.
“The court cannot condone the willful
disobedience of its lawfully issued order,” said Judge David L.
Bunning of Federal District Court. “If you give people the
opportunity to choose which orders they follow, that's what
potentially causes problems.”
Bunning ordered Davis jailed. He said
she would be released once she agreed to comply with his order.
Lawyers representing the four couples,
two of whom are gay, who initially sued Davis asked Bunning to hold
her in contempt, arguing that she “continues to collect
compensation from the Commonwealth for duties she fails to perform.”
The lawyers asked the judge to fine the clerk, but not to jail her.
Davis, who has rejected calls for her
resignation, on Tuesday said that issuing such licenses would lead
her to hell.
“To issue a marriage license which
conflicts with God's definition of marriage, with my name affixed to
the certificate, would violate my conscience,” she said. “It is
not a light issue for me. It is a heaven or hell decision.”
Supporters and opponents of Davis
clashed outside the federal courthouse in Ashland. Opponents waved
rainbow flags and said she should do her job, while supporters said
that she had a right to follow her beliefs.
Wednesday, September 2, 2015
Tuesday, September 1, 2015
Pink News Editor Nails The Popes Tits To The Floor
He said gay people shouldn’t be judged, and he’s such a swell guy – he even praised a children’s book featuring same-sex couples!
Except he didn’t. And he wouldn’t. And his inaction and deeply regressive thinking continues to hurt LGBT people around the world every single day.
He might be the darling of the media, but let’s make no mistake: the Pope is no friend of the LGBT community, and we need to start saying so.
Despite early rumblings, his symbolic gay rights reforms have entirely evaporated – much-praised proposals to ‘reach out’ to gay people were ditched at the first hurdle last year. There were promises of a Jesus-style rebirth at this year’s Synod, but it’s since become clear the Church has no plans to discuss the matter again.
On the flipside, the Pope has, if anything, gone further than his predecessors, rallying against same-sex marriage – and even inviting representatives from listed hate groups to a ‘traditional marriage’ conference.
He is indeed a truly radical Pope as commentators fawn, unafraid to interfere in the politics of the day: like urging Slovakians to vote against equal marriage, which he claims “disfigures God’s creation”, and freezing out France’s plans to appoint a gay ambassador to the Vatican.
The real stinger, though, is that he is yet to lift any of the actively homophobic and transphobic policies of his predecessors – or even attempt to.
Shady Catholic donations to anti-gay groups continue. Catholic groups and charities still routinely persecute same-sex couples. Catholic schools around the world continue to harm children by teaching homosexuality is wrong. And the Pope hasn’t lifted a finger, or spoken a word, to stop it.
So why is he so popular on gay rights? Elton John is a fan, branding him a “hero”, while Labour’s Andy Burnham thinks he’s the Pope that will bring change on LGBT rights.
Let’s look closer.
Last week, a story was run in the Guardian claiming that the Pope had ‘praised’ a gay children’s book. Of course, it circled the globe.
But then the Vatican confirmed the story was false: it was a standard courtesy letter sent out to an author who had written to the Pope. The response was not from the Pontiff himself, but a standard blessing sent on his behalf, sight unseen. A far cry from any endorsement of the book, or its content.
To be clear – and I can’t stress this enough – the Vatican’s press office took the unusual step of directly denying the reports. It claimed words had been “exploited” and taken “entirely out of context”, making very clear that “in no way” is the Pope endorsing any behaviors “that are not in line with the Gospel”.
But it’s hard to fight misinformation on the internet. The Guardian story circulated online, racking up thousands of clicks and shares. Though a minor edit (without a public clarification) was eventually made, it continues to be shared online with its original headline.
Then, incredibly, after being directly debunked by the Vatican, the Independent picked up the story, under the headline “Pope Francis ‘praises gay children’s book'”.
The Vatican directly denied that the Pope had praised a gay children’s book… but two of the UK’s leading newspapers continue to run headlines claiming exactly the opposite.
This is how the Pope’s gay-friendly image grows: because people will it to be so. The liberal media wish there were a gay-friendly Pope, and the Catholic media wish there were less gay rights pressure on the Pope, and the misinformation meets somewhere in the middle.
His infamous ‘Who Am I To Judge?’ comments are as prevalent as ever – but context-free snippets omit his endorsement in the same sentence of the existing Church Catechism, which says gay people are “disordered”.
You’ll also see perennial stories about the Pope ‘meeting’ with people – and PinkNews is not infallible on this front either. Pope meets with transgender man. Pope meets with Catholic gay group. Pope meets with gay activist. Pope meets with partially deceased parrot for all the good it does.
What you won’t see is ‘Pope acts’. ‘Pope speaks out’. ‘Pope tells Catholic church to stop discriminating’.
Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to see these headlines, and I’d love to one day write them. But at this point in time they’re just not true.
506 days ago, an LGBT homeless shelter in New York wrote a letter to the Pope in the New York Times with a simple message: come see us. Come see the teens rejected by their parents over Catholic teachings. Come see the teens taught their homosexuality is a sin. And come speak out. Come make sure the children of the future don’t suffer the same way.
506 days, and no reply. The Pope will visit the US this month. He’ll even spend a day in New York. But you won’t see him visit that shelter.
The Pope is not an ally of LGBT people. And it’s about time we all stop pretending he is.
Amen brother Duffy, preach it, I've only been saying this for a couple of years now!
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