They report,Superintendent Julie Carbajal said the district won’t approve the proposed Gay-Straight Alliance, but she will make sure all other school clubs are following the district’s policy. The district already has asked the Fellowship of Christian Athletes to meet off campus while officials meet with attorneys.

Paul Rodriguez, president of the Gay-Straight Alliance at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, said the district is alienating other groups to disallow the creation of a club proposed by senior Bianca “Nikki” Peet, 17.

He called on members of other student groups now restricted from meeting on campus to join him in protest against what he called the district’s discriminatory practices.

“It is unfortunate that the district is punishing those clubs that were already meeting on campus and creating a hostile environment where Nikki and her supporters could be potential targets of taunting, abuse and hate slurs — the very thing that the (Gay-Straight Alliance) is committed to ending,” he wrote in a statement.

School will continue that day as usual, and students will be taking the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills, a state standardized exam, spokeswoman Lynn Kaylor said.

The protests won’t change the district’s decision to adhere to a policy approved in 2005 disallowing student clubs not tied to curriculum to meet on campus, the district said in a statement.

“If there is a protest, even after the district has pledged to solve this issue according to the law and ensuring Flour Bluff ISD policies will be followed, our concern will continue to be for our students,” Carbajal said in a statement.

The federal Equal Access Act mandates schools to offer equal opportunities for all students to organize. In disallowing the Gay-Straight Alliance, the district said it didn’t have to follow the act because its policy didn’t allow any non-curriculum student groups to meet on campus. Since Rodriguez called for the approval of Peet’s club, the district has asked all student groups not tied to school-based curriculum to meet off campus.

Rodriguez has said that disallowing all non-curricular clubs on campus takes away his group’s argument. However, he said because such groups were meeting on campus when Peet petitioned to form a Gay-Straight Alliance, the district set a precedent allowing such clubs. That precedent trumps the district’s 2005 policy, so the district should allow Peet’s club, Rodriguez said.

Full article  -Corpus Christi Caller-Times

Last November in Minsk, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko suggested to German Minister of Foreign Affairs Guido Westerwelle that he should cease being gay.

Lukashenko recently acknowledged the incident, telling reporters that he dislikes “faggots” and confirming he told Westerwelle “it is necessary to live a normal life.”

Russian gay activist Nikolai Alekseev expressed surprise that there was little reaction to the incident from German gay activists or the German government.

“To leave without reaction what Lukashenko said is nothing else than setting a dangerous precedent,” Alekseev said. “If he can bash verbally a German minister on his sexual orientation, then why he would not do it with all Belarusian LGBT people.
“People have to understand that their absence of reaction can have some negative side effects to others.”

“I’m very surprised that there was not widespread condemnation of the remarks,  the utter hostility and homophobia of one countries envoy to another.”   Said Jason Shaw, gay writer, blogger and activist. “I’m very disheartened by the lack of action by our German brothers and sisters, in our global fight against homophobia and for acceptance and equality.  They rather seem to have accepted his kind of insult and homophobia from a close by nation as normal and understandable -  which is not!  he said today.

PinkPaper.com

The England wicketkeeper Steven Davies has announced he is gay Photo: MARTIN POPE

In a brave move, the handsome wicket keeper and star of England’s ashes winning national cricket team has publically come out.   His new revelation makes him the worlds first top flight openly gay cricketer.

He looks cool and collected but his mouth is dry and it’s obvious Steven Davies would rather be somewhere, anywhere, else.

Months of personal conflict have led to this moment, when England’s talented young wicketkeeper is ready to reveal what his colleagues have known, but kept secret, since the Ashes series began last year – he is homosexual, and has struggled for years to conceal it.

The 24-year-old Surrey player made the startling confession to his team-mates just before the tour to Australia, but they agreed to keep the story “in house” to protect him and so that it would not be a distraction.

In a remarkable piece of mentoring, Andrew Strauss, the England captain, and Andy Flower, the coach, undertook to ring every member of the team on Davies’s behalf. “It was a fantastic thing to do,” he says. “It was a massive relief, telling the lads. The difference is huge. I am so much happier.”

Now he admits that concealing his sexuality had become increasingly hard to bear, especially on tour when he would retreat to his hotel room because he felt so “out of the loop” when other players were exchanging banter.

Related Articles in the UK’s Telegraph news paper.

• England’s Steven Davies: I’m gay

• Can Davies change sport?

• Davies can play with freedom now

Today, through The Daily Telegraph, Davies is outing himself to the wider public. “It will be a huge relief to get this over, to be honest,” he confides.

“It’s something I’ve lived with for a long time. Although I feel it is the right time, I am nervous about coming out. Who wouldn’t be? It’s the biggest decision I’ve had to face, and by far the toughest – bigger even than facing Brett Lee [the fearsome Australian fast bowler] in the middle.”

Without the big gloves, he looks vulnerable and sounds taut as a wire. “If I am brutally honest, I never enjoyed touring because of my secret and having to conceal my sexuality,” he says. “My friendships with the guys would reach a certain level, then I’d have to take a step back.

“A two-week tour would feel like two years for me. It was really tough. Cricket was my escape. When I was playing cricket I was at my happiest because all I had to worry about was getting runs and taking the catches. It was a relief to be out in the middle.”

Being selected for the Ashes squad was not an uncomplicated pleasure: it thrilled him professionally, but he knew the social side of a three-and-a-half-month tour would be an ordeal. In dressing rooms, hotel rooms and coffee bars he felt uncomfortable and dreaded being asked even the most innocuous questions about his love life. “Sooner or later, the conversation would come round to whether I had a girlfriend. I was scared of that. I could never be totally relaxed.”

After weeks of angst, he confided in Flower at Loughborough, a few days before the team left for Australia. The coach was practical as well as understanding. They talked for an hour about the best way forward.

“He agreed I had to tell the boys. I couldn’t live like this any more.” Flower and Strauss refused to overplay the tension. “Their line was: ‘Steve wants you to know he’s gay. But it’s not an issue. Let’s just get on with it.’ I owe them both a lot. They were 100 per cent behind me and made me feel everything would be all right. In fact, I felt I was probably making a big deal out of it.”

Davies admits he was sick with nerves before the final batting session at Lord’s, where he faced some team-mates for the first time since the revelation. One by one, they came over to shake his hand and tell him that he had done the right thing.

Matt Prior, the wicketkeeper, Davies’s friend and rival, went out of his way. “He came up to me and gave me a hug and we spoke for about five minutes. He couldn’t believe I had kept it to myself for this long. He said I should have told him. That was special.”

During the Ashes, Hugh Morris, the managing director of England Cricket, told Davies that his homosexuality “would not be an issue” and supported his disclosure.

The effect on Davies was dramatic. “I enjoyed a three-and-a-half-month tour that would previously have killed me. Once the secret was out, those months just flew by. My friendships with the boys blossomed. It’s easier now I’ve got nothing to hide. I can get fully involved in all the banter, which I love. It took a few days to get back to normal. I cracked a joke about myself and after that everything was absolutely fine.”

Not quite, as it turned out. When Davies, reserve wicketkeeper during the Ashes but a top performer in the Twenty20 games, was dropped from the England squad for the current World Cup – in favour of Matt Prior – some cricket insiders suspected it was related to his coming out.

Davies admits he was “shocked and gutted” but does not believe the selectors’ decision had anything to do with his confession. “It was a bitter pill to swallow, I felt sick. But that suspicion never went through my head. Unfortunately for me, Andrew thought Matt would be more suitable.”

The left-handed wicketkeeper and batsman, who began his professional career playing for Worcester, is the first active international cricketer to admit he is homosexual.

The very few sportsmen who have “come out”, notably the rugby player Gareth Thomas, have usually done so at the end of their career. Davies should have his best cricketing years ahead of him.

In a world where it is easier to conform to the machismo of the group ethos than to stand out, his confession is impressive. Self-effacing, he does not see himself as a trailblazer for sport’s sexual tolerance. He had simply reached a point where evasion and dissembling were undermining his morale. “Everyone is different,” he says. “Some people are comfortable doing it [coming out]. Others are not. This is the right time for me. ‘Do I tell them or do I not?’ I didn’t want that to be my life. I feel it is right to be out in the open about my sexuality. If more people do it, the more acceptable it will become. That must be a good thing.”

Davies says he knew he was gay when he was very young “but it was never a big deal because all I’d do was play sport”. He did not tell his parents, Mike and Lin, or his elder sister, Gemma, 26, until he was 19. “The support they have given me has been brilliant. Not everyone is so lucky.”

His parents travelled from the family home in Kidderminster to be with him as he made his announcement. “We are proud of him,” they said, “and love him as a son, as a successful sportsman and now, hopefully, as a role model to any young person dealing with their sexuality.”

Davies knows he has other hurdles — not least the response of cricket fans. Can he take the possible homophobic jibes, the snideness? “Yes, I did worry about it. You go through every scenario. You lose sleep. But if there is anything negative, what can I do? In cricket, the fans are very loyal. They are there to support you, rather than abuse you.

“I have to play my best for Surrey and get back in the England side. I am still the same person. I want to be remembered as a good cricketer, not a gay cricketer.”

Sometimes, he is accused of not being vocal enough behind the wicket. He believes that the confidence he has gained in the past months may even benefit his game. Would he now like to find a partner he could be with openly? “That’s what everyone wants, isn’t it? That special person. I’m no different. I haven’t found that person, but there is no rush. I’m still young and concentrating on my career.”

* Steven has donated his fee for this interview to NSPCC’s ChildLine, the 24-hour helpline for children who have no one else to talk to. In the past two years, the charity has received more than 10,000 calls from children concerned about their sexuality. The number is 0800 1111. To email or talk to a counsellor online, contact www.childline.org.uk.

Congratulations, well done and thank you Steven,  coming out in top flight sport at the height of your popularity and fame in the world of cricket will have far reaching effects.  They may not be apparent yet,  it may take some time,  but you are paving the way for many others in cricket and world class professional sport in general, to be open about their sexuality.

Full report from - Telegraph

Luke must search for hours to bring a lovely collection of handsome youths to our screens. Some are models, some are actors, some are in the porn industry, and some are just simply beautiful specimens of manhood. These are lads, twinks, teens, barely legal boys, handsome youths that offer more than just a quick titillation.


Less is more, can certainly apply to Loco Luke’s Luscious Lads blog as he usually just posts one photo a day, however, always it’s a stunner! A delightful example of youthful male beauty, sometimes it’s the moptop hair, or the searching eyes, the nicely toned body, the ripped physique.

There are sometimes a few still from various movies, or even short films posted that will also entertain you on this little blog with a lot of appeal. First class blogging entertainment.


If you like your guys on the slim youthful twin side, then Loco Luke’s Luscious Lads is a must for you, it’s a lovely enchanting daily blog, worth of a visit on your busy daily blog shuffle.

From Jason Shaw,  Jason’s own personal take on life through the eyes of a slightly eccentric English writer can be found at  www.seafrontdiary.com

A group whose  ‘In your face’ attitude and language  offends many both in and out of the gay community,  the group that famously trashed the whole ‘It gets better’ video collection for The Trevor Project as fucking shit.  The group that used a 4 year old baby shouting obscenities in one of their videos is back to shout in your face again.  Yep, the   FUCKH8 group launched their bold new 2011 charity calendar.

Reinforcing the negative stereotype that us gay folk just cant keep our hands of those straight boys, to the absolute max, they’ve come up with ‘STR8 AGAINST HATE’ calendar!       They’ve pulled out the stops and hired a bunch of straight models (and pulled one of the street)  stripped them,  sprayed them with a ton of oil and photographed them.

Dudes take it off so the homos can get their rights on! is how they see it, and say it in the behind the scenes video which was too explicit to be shown on YouTube without being edited.   The charity group which raises funds for the US fight for equal marriage and ‘queer’ youth counselling and suicide prevention.   The small but cute calendar is just $3,   $2 of which goes to the charity fund.

The stereotypes don’t stop there,  all the guys are muscle bound hunks,  fine specimens of beefcake, because Luke ‘the fag’ behind it,  likes ‘em like that.  It’s hardly representative of the whole community,  but having said that,  they are rather nice eye candy,  it’s reminiscent of a colour version of the muscle pictorial magazines of the 50’s and 60’s!

“STR8 Against H8″ 2011 Charity Calendar

www.seafrontdiary.com

Gay groups and commentators welcomed a court ruling which said Christian hotel owners had acted unlawfully when they refused to let a gay couple stay in a double room.

Martyn Hall and his civil partner Steven Preddy told media the decision showed no-one was above the law.   They had taken Peter and Hazelmary Bull to court after they were turned away from the couple’s hotel in Cornwall in September 2008 after having booked a double room in the Hotel.

In a ruling at Bristol County Court, Judge Andrew Rutherford said the Bulls had acted unlawfully and ordered them to pay the couple £1,800 each in damages and their legal costs.  Mr Hall, 46, and Mr Preddy, 38, from Bristol, made the claim for sexual orientation discrimination under the Equality Act (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2007.

They said: “We’re really pleased that the judge has confirmed what we already know – that in these circumstances our civil partnership has the same status in law as a marriage between a man and a woman, and that, regardless of each person’s religious beliefs, no-one is above the law.”

Mr and Mrs Bull, who run the Chymorvah Private Hotel in Marazion near Penzance, Cornwall, were backed by the Christian Institute. They said they would consider appealing against the decision, which means the case could be heard at the High Court and in Europe.

“We are obviously disappointed with the result. Our double-bed policy was based on our sincere beliefs about marriage, not hostility to anybody,” Mrs Bull said. “It was applied equally and consistently to unmarried heterosexual couples and homosexual couples, as the judge accepted.

“We are trying to live and work in accordance with our Christian faith. As a result we have been sued and ordered to pay £3,600. But many Christians have given us gifts, so thanks to them we will be able to pay the damages.”

Mrs Bull added: “I do feel that Christianity is being marginalised in Britain. The same laws used against us have been used to shut down faith-based adoption agencies. Much is said about ‘equality and diversity’ but it seems some people are more equal than others.”

I’m sure there would be mass outrage if gay owned establishments operated a ban on Christian people staying or entering because Christianity is against their views.  They would be vilified in the media and elsewhere.

Their  success is leading many a gay businessman and entrepreneurs to believe gay sports bars are the next big idea!

Sideline’s in Fort Lauderdale, Crew in Chicago, Fritz in Boston, GYM Sports bar in New York and LA, Score Bar in Columbus, Ohio, and Woof’s in Madison, Wisc.—which bears no official relation to Woofs in Atlanta. The sudden success has even surprised some proprietors. “Quite frankly, we had no idea that gay men and women really loved sports,” says Jennifer Morales, the marketing director of Side-lines sports bar, outside Fort Lauderdale, which recently reopened after a $20,000 renovation.

The bars are profiting from a rare demographic group with a growing amount of disposable income. Market research firm Witeck-Combs Communications puts the buying power of the adult lesbian-gay-bisexual-transgender (LGBT) population at $743 billion, up from $732 billion in 2009. With large populations in metropolitan areas and more households without children, gay sports fans are actually the perfect customers to catch a game on a Wednesday night.

Could the traditional American style sports bar for gay people make it big over in England to?

“They sure could,    in England recently  we’ve seen great moves in the attitudes of gay people in sport and into sport.  There are more and more gay teams and leagues for a number of different sports,  which show no sign of slowing”  Says Jason Shaw,  a blogger and gay commentator from Brighton.   “The internet is alive with forums, blogs, groups dedicated to sport and the gay community.  It’s about time,  we threw off the stereotypical shackles that stipulate that just because we’re gay we cant like sport.  Being gay is no barrier to liking sport,  being good at sport and wanting to watch the big game in a specially dedicated by with other likeminded guys.”

“Bring it on!”

More on Sports Bars in the US here - BusinessWeek

However, it seems no one bothered to tell that to the chief of police.

David Dominguez, was  the top cop in a Californian community where it’s said that very nearly 50 per cent of residents are either  gay or lesbian,  but he has been forced out of his job after instructing officers to mount an undercover “sting” against visitors taking advantage of the desert climate to have outdoor sex.

He’s having to take early retirement and it comes after months of controversy over the operation, in which his officers made dozens of contentious arrests.

The final nail in Mr Dominguez’s career coffin came after the lawman was caught on tape making an “inappropriate comment,” which we’re told included the offensive term “faggot”.

Both the supporters and opponents of gay rights have been galvanised by the affair, which started 2009,  the police chief  ordered male officers to dress ‘gayly’ in flamboyant style  and walk the streets late at night attempting to solicit sex.

The undercover detectives were told to approach the late night revellers who were walking home from the bars and clubs in the gay  Warm Sands neighbourhood of Palm Springs.  Warm Sands is an area that’s very gay friendly  with numerous gay hotels and resorts, the officers would then suggest an amorous liaison.   However, anyone who accepted their advances was handcuffed, and charged with sex offences.

Critics described the operation as unlawful entrapment, and said it was motivated entirely by homophobia, since no similar “sting” was mounted against heterosexuals. It was also pointed that only one of the city’s 99 serving police officers is openly gay.

“What would happen, in a typical scenario, was that three or four of the officers would dress up in tight T-shirts. They would then approach a man, grab his crotch, and say something like ‘What you got?’” Roger Tansey, a lawyer for six victims of the sting said to reporters.  “They would flirt for as long as it took to persuade the target to undress, and then handcuff him.”

Twenty four  of the arrested men are now being prosecuted under Section 290 of the California Penal Code, which will require them, if convicted, to register as sex offenders and spend the rest of their lives on a public database intended to allow concerned parents to identify local paedophiles.

“I’ve never heard of a more discriminatory prosecution,” added Mr Tansey. “My clients aren’t the sort of people who do this normally. They were talked into it.”

Palm Springs,  around  100 miles from  Los Angeles,  had become a top tourist destination for gay people from around the world.  it was known as one of America’s most liberal cities,  similar to San Francisco and Fort Lauderdale.  However,  just this week,  it’s reputation as the gayest town in America has been strongly dented,   two European gay travel companies have decided to stop promoting the destination.   “If we have clients that really really want to go there,  we’ll still sell it,  but  we’ll no longer promote it as an inclusive, welcoming gay destination”  said one of the major operators today.

More on this story

The Independent

Jason Shaw

www.seafrontdiary.com

I checked my online chat contacts,  the guy from Bath who came for a good session in the Summer,  whom usually can be relied upon for a bit of cam to cam jiggery pokery, was alas not online and all the time my stodgy desire for a dose of manlove was increasing to heights above frigging Everest!  Mind you  I do like about of outside stuff,  I’ve recently been on holiday to Florida and had a randy little surfer show me a thing or two -  I’ll tell you about it some other time – although it’s nice to walk on,  sand can be bloody annoyingly painful when it gets up ya chuff.

Right,  so  that’s it, I thought,  time for a play,  but not on me own,   yeah  yeah,  I tried the tugging with my left hand, to see if it felt different,  like a stranger,  but it wasn’t fast enough -  a bit like ya granny giving you a wank – not right, big, clever or satisfying.   I then tried the posh wank, by slamming on a rubber -  but well,  it didn’t quite do the bizz.

Now be fore we go any further,  a couple of things you should know about yours truly, I’m no slim disco bunny, I’m kinda trapped in gay limbo land -  way too old to even be an aged twink, not muscular enough to me a muscle Mary and not quite ready to be a hairy bear yet!     I am also mega shy,  no  really -  I am -  still,  when the horn is on the horn is on – shy or not!

Time for a slutty, dirty, repugnant man cruise,  I kinda thought to myself,  (although I obviously left out the repugnant bit out when I was thinking it,  I only added that bit in just now, in case that boy from work happens to be reading this,  after all  I do have a certain reputation to live down to!)  Thinking to myself wasn’t quite true either,       I did tell the old lady next door,  but she wasn’t much interested,  all she said was “mind you don’t get mud on your new Christmas jumper”.    She had a good point and I went in to change,   pulling a random secret shag in the woods wasn’t gonna happen I ventured if I was wearing a reindeer jumper with bells and flashing lights leading the way!

So I changed  and off I went, in search of a random casual sexual  encounter with a tall dashing handsome stranger,  OK,  so if I’m honest,  cruising isn’t a thing I’m an expert at,  I’m not a regular,  I’m not the bonk in the bush kinda boy, a tug against a tree is about the limit and I’ve never  fucked over a fence – ever. (except that time in Turkey four years ago and it was more a wall than a fence!)
So the point I’m waffling around is,  I’m so not used to cruising for random’s I’ve lost all fairy points and forgotten where all the cruise zones are!   Plus, it’s early January – it’s barely above freezing out there!   – Who in their right mind goes out cruising on foot in this weather?  Well,  me for one!

I went down the prom where in summer I’ve copped more and an eyeful,  but this winters morn it was empty.  I checked out the lawns and save for a few old fishwives and their dogs it was devoid of all souls!  I hanked to the public bogs on the front and they were all locked up!     I even tried the local park, the one up in Hove, I was told once that was a good outdoor action station – if you know what I mean -  but just my luck the only man there was of the snow variety -  no holes in that either!

I was bereft of all ideas,  of all notions and on top of that frostbite was advancing up my fingers to near the knuckle mid way mark,  I’d lost all feeling in my left foot!  And the horn that drove me out into this winter landscape of no men had well and truly packed up and gone south!

My adventures into the world of outside sex took a massive blow,  and not the kind of blow I had in mind when  I set off,  so  home I trudged,  which thinking about it was probably best – frost bitten balls and snow damaged cocks are no damn good to anyone!
Once indoors I made myself  a nice cup of tea instead,  at least it offers a sweet after taste,  and settled down to a nice bit of outside porn on the tinternet thanks to Best G Blogs,    but I guess I just fail at gay cruising,  bang goes my induction to the gay hall of fame,  lost my fairy wings and dust I guess.   Is there any hope for me?

Jason Shaw

www.seafrontdiary.com

There is a huge amount of media coverage in England being devoted to the Christmas day announcement that Elton John and David Furnish have had a baby born by a surrogate mother in the US.

It’s likely to be a story that goes on and on and on,  at least in the British media, which seems to be dividing itself  between shock, horror and absolute hostility to cautious welcomes!  Whilst  I may not think Elton and David are the optimum age for starting a family,  but nor are the countless millions of straight couples who conceive  in the more traditional methods.  According to the media,  with fertility treatments becoming more available at lower costs,  we are seeing ladies of advanced age giving birth.

There was a good bit in the UK’s Telegraph paper this Sunday which talks hopefully of surrogacy for gay couples becoming more acceptable following this news.  Barrie & Tony Drewitt-Barlow – the first gay couple in Britain to have a baby with a surrogate mother, and who advised Sir Elton John and David Furnish over their new son, Zachary – tell Olga Craig about their newest arrival: a “one-stop-shop” surrogate baby centre which they open in Essex next month

Barrie Drewitt-Barlow holds his newborn daughter, Saffron, left, and Tony Drewitt-Barlow, top, with partner Barrie Drewitt-Barlow, centre, pose with surrogate mother Rosalind Bellamy, right Photo: AP

Elton John and David Furnish Photo: REUTERS

It is a morality tale for our times. To the casual observer, they could have been the conventional Christmas festivities seen in any household – turkey and trimmings, excited children, doting parents and a huge pile of presents under the tree.

But this was anything but a traditional gathering. In the Drewitt-Barlow home, the guest list for last weekend’s laughter-filled Christmas lunch consisted of five children, their two fathers and their four mothers.

In our changing moral climate, in which the traditional nuclear family is becoming increasingly outmoded, such a mix of melded families is far from uncommon.

But this household – a happy one, it must be said – is unique. Seated around the table with gay parents Barrie and Tony Drewitt-Barlow and their children were the two women who donated eggs and the pair who were the surrogates, carrying the children.

The youngsters call Barrie Dad and Tony Daddy and refer to all four women as Mum. They live with their fathers in Essex during term time and spend the holidays in California, where the couple also have a home and where they see their mothers – although none of the women has any legal rights over their offspring.

Barrie Drewitt-Barlow, 42, and his partner Tony, 46, were headline news a decade ago when they became Britain’s first gay surrogate parents.

They made history when they travelled to America and, using an egg donor and a surrogate mother, became joint fathers to twins Aspen and Saffron, now 11. The couple launched a legal battle for the right to have both their names on the twins’ birth certificates, being designated as parent one and parent two.

In the years since, having become acknowledged authorities on surrogacy, they have gone on to have three more children – Orlando, now six, and twins Dallas and Jasper, nine months.

Although the unorthodox creation of the Drewitt-Barlows’ children caused considerably controversy in 1999,   things have changed.

For more on this story -

“Thanks to Zacahary, gay surrogacy will become more acceptable” – Telegraph