The priest, Peter Hullermann, who had previously been identified only by the first letter of his last name, was suspended from his duties only on Monday. That was three days after the church acknowledged that the pope, then Archbishop Joseph Ratzinger, had responded to early accusations of molestation by allowing the priest to move to Munich for therapy in 1980.

And they wonder why people accuse them of hate, intolerance, bigotry and hypocrisy towards homosexuals!

Read more of the above post at: NY Times!

According to the post:

The Employment Non-Discrimination Act, first introduced in 1994, would prohibit job discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. But LGBT people have never been able to achieve the enactment of the bill, known by the acronym of “ENDA”

Want to find out what you can do to help?  CLICK HERE to find out!

Many LGBT bloggers in their subsequent postings expressed outrage, some feigning utter contempt with the use of vulgarity for the entertainment of their readership, in what appears to be the “best keep known secret” in California.

In the days which followed it was reported that many in various local communities knew Ashburn was, or at the very least suspected he was gay, having been seen in several gay bars in California. Many would share a drink or two with Ashburn. It has even been said that local media knew of Ashburn’s “closeted” side.

Yet as many pointed out even before Ashburn admitted in a radio interview on KERN that he was in fact gay, all these people including the press never, so it seems, ever called out Ashburn for being a gay man and yet voting against LGBT issues in the state of California.

In his remarks in the interview Ashburn stated, ”The best way to handle that is to be truthful and say to my constituents and all who care I am gay”.

He continued, “My votes reflect the wishes of the people in my district, I have always felt that my faith and allegiance was to the people there in the district, my constituents.”

More of this excellent post about Roy Ashburn at: Focus On The Rainbow!

At this time, I want to further that thought and delve a bit deeper into the actions of Christ during His time on earth and explore how He treated other, shall we say, diverse parts of society in His time.

In the story of the Samaritan woman, John, Chapter 4, Jesus was traveling with His disciples from Judea to Galilee. His disciples were not pleased when they ended up in Samaria and told him, “surely you made a wrong turn” for Samaria was a part of the House of Israel that most Jews wanted to avoid due to “less than honorable” citizens there (Higgs, 2004). What must be understood here is that the Samaritan woman, named Sychar, was what we now call a slut or a tramp. It must also be understood that there was a very well known well in Samaria, Jacob’s Well, and it still stands today in the Middle East. The journey from Judea to Galilee was long and the weather was hot. In Bible times, they didn’t have canteens they could put water in to carry along with them. Travelers depended on wells such as Jacob’s well for survival during long journey which could only be made on donkey, camel, or by foot

.
More at: Freeonesoft.com!

I personally don’t think Jesus would hate anyone…but unlike many from the religious right, I don’t really speak for deities.

I had the displeasure of attending your recent presentation at the CATO Institute in Washington, D.C. I was amazed to see that you don’t wear a wedding ring. No rings on any fingers. Where is your alleged husband? Why no ring??

Just last year, NOM proudly said it spent over $8 million in a dozen states in your recently released “Investor’s Report.”

That doesn’t even include the millions more in attorney’s fees and money raised through your 501©3 charitable fund.

You fight people’s happiness at the ballot box, state legislatures and through too many law suits to count.

Recently, NOM has lead the effort to undo the Washington, D.C., law through every means possible, including going to Congress, the courts, all the way up to the United States Supreme Court. Brian Brown’s angry email from Friday states, “Don’t believe the lies. It’s not over in D.C. by any means.”

I simply love Fred Karger for his relentless efforts to bring NOM to justice!

More of this open letter from Fred Karger to Maggie Gallagher at: SDGLN!

It has to seen as another, albeit very important, step in a journey where it is not about the big victories but more about gathering people to walk with us and support us as we walk towards the much bigger goal of marriage equality for all across the country.

More at: Queeried!

That demands (and will result in) expressed outrage in the form of meaningful, coordinated grassroots and organizational activism!

Frivolity; reveling in second-class sexual outlaw status and subcultures; demeaning and defaming oneself by use of pejorative and hateful words as self-identifiers; making nice with strident homophobes by trying to reason with them; allowing clergy and politicians to gain power, prestige, and wealth on the backs of LGBT people; in any way sticking a finger in the eye of potential Straight allies; giving credibility and money to homophobic churches by attending them; giving money to LGBT rights organizations and many professional “activists” that merely content themselves with being in proximity to influential politicians and drink the Kool Aid of feel-good rhetoric devoid of substantive civil rights gains, all the while frequently making a handsome living by so doing; allowing civil rights to be put to popular vote rather than having them adjudicated by the courts where they rightfully belong; settling for crumbs of incrementalism, such as Domestic Partnerships, Civil Unions, and the like; denying the fundamental importance of the institution of marriage for same-sex couples; settling for anything less than the very same civil and sacramental rights that heterosexuals enjoy, are both retarding the cause of full and equal civil rights and also giving tacit permission for ignorant and/or mendacious clergy and politicians to externalize the hate in their hearts by using LGBT people as their targets for that hate.

You can read more of this post along with other great commentary about LGBT discrimination at: ChristianLGBTRights.org!

The court agreed Monday to consider whether the protesters’ message, no matter how provocative and upsetting, is protected by the First Amendment. Members of a Kansas-based church have picketed military funerals to spread their belief that U.S. deaths in Afghanistan and Iraq are punishment for the nation’s tolerance of homosexuality.

The justices will hear an appeal from the father of a Marine killed in Iraq to reinstate a $5 million verdict against the protesters, after they picketed outside his son’s funeral in Maryland.

More at: Targana Political News!

With the end of the ‘Noughties’ rapidly approaching, the rise of the gay figures on our screens in the past decade has undoubtedly had an effect on society. It would appear that the success of programmes such as How to Look Good Naked and Will and Grace has prompted a rise in ‘Gayjacents’.

The results show that it was most important to the younger age categories to have a gay friend. 18-24 year olds are twice as likely to rate gay friendships ‘Very Important’ than those aged 41-50. Similarly those aged 25-30 are almost twice as likely to want a gay friend than those aged 36-40. This is arguably a consequence of the increasing diversity in society compared to 15 or 20 years ago.

Unsurprisingly, having a gay friend was 5 time more important to women than it was to men. This trend is undoubtedly influenced by today’s celebrity culture, whether it be Madonna, Kylie or Katie Price, it seems that female celebrities are setting the standard for women everywhere.

More at: Man Central Blog!