Wednesday Male Beauty

Documentary Exposes Mormon Church Role in Proposition 8 Effort

A new documentary is coming out that will focus on the role the Mormon Church played in stripping same sex couples of marriage rights in California - something that I continue to believe is unconstitutional under the U.S. Constitution both under the 14th Amendment and as an illegal discrimination based on religious belief. The civil laws should NEVER be allowed to enshrine one particular religious belief system and impose it on all citizens, yet that is exactly what was done with Proposition 8. In addition, it set a very dangerous precedent of allowing a slim majority to strip other citizens of civil legal rights - much like what was done to Jews in Nazi Germany. No doubt we will hear whining of prejudice coming from the Mormon Church, but it is very important that the bright light of day shine on what was done - and is still being done - to harm LGBT Americans and pervert religious freedom for all citizens. Here are a few highlights about the film by Fred Karger at Huffington Post:

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This could well be the movie of the year. Take a look at the web site, read all about the movie and see who is behind it. You will be even more impressed.

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8: The Mormon Proposition will explain once and for all just how the Mormon Church operates, and how they have led the fight against marriage equality all across the United States since Utah became the first state to ban same-sex marriage in 1995. 29 states have followed Utah's lead, and the Mormon Church has made sure of that.

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The film also goes into great depth about how the Mormon Church has destroyed so many lives and families in its desire to impose its will on others. Please tell the world about this incredible documentary. It is a film for all to see.

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I encourage readers to go to the website and read the synopsis here. The narrator of the film is Dustin Lance Black of Milk fame who I was lucky enough to meet at the National Equality march. Here is a trailer from the movie:

Miss California USA Pagent Suing Carrie Prejean

Carrie Prejean, the homophobic former Miss California who was stripped of her crown, is a gift that keeps on giving. Now the pageant is suing Ms. Prejean - who seems to be increasingly delusional and sees herself as some kind of religious martyr - for breach of contract and to recover moneys she received improperly using her short lived title. Any monetary recovery is to be given to charities that will counter some of the hatred that Ms. Christian Taliban has generated. The principal thing that I hope comes out is what a self absorbed, lying psycho Prejean is in reality. Of course, that type of personality makes her a perfect fit with the professional Christians who are only to happy to play along with her image of false martyrdom. I hope the pageant also sues to recover the cost of her boob job too. Here are some highlights from LBGT Pov:

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[A]fter Prejean, 22, was fired last August for breach of contract and subsequently filed suit against him and fellow Miss California USA official Shanna Moakler and publicist Roger Neal, Lewis and K2 Productions needed to respond. On Monday, Lewis and K2 Productions filed a cross-complaint and demurrer in Los Angeles Superior Court.

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[Prejean] treated us terribly. She violated her contract ten ways to Sunday – and she brought a suit against us. She was fired. [If she was] wrongly terminated, why wouldn’t she sue for breach of contract? She didn’t sue for breach of contract because she knows she breached the contract and she knows she should have been fired.She sued for religious discrimination so that she could stand up and she could continue to foster this talking point that she’s been on.”

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Specifically, the cross-complaint says that Prejean agreed to: “give both the Miss Universe Organization and K2 control over rights to her name, likeness, and image; control over her public appearances; and control over her provision of any entertainment, literary, endorsement and related services, both in connection with the State Pageant and during her reign (if she won) as Miss California USA.”

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[W]e have documented behavior and if you look at our lawsuit – we’re specifically giving emails where she says. ‘I’m not going to do this,’ ‘I’m not going there,’ ‘I’m not going to do what you tell me.’” . . . she cast the first stone and what we’re doing is saying, ‘OK – now we’re going to give you the truth.’ And we’re looking to take all of the profits from her book. We’ll donate everything outside of the expense of what we have paid – to a cause that will counter some of the things she’s done, that would counter the damage that’s she done.”

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Lewis notes that current Miss California, Tami Farrell, also does not believe in same sex marriage but - “she’s out every single day, doing the job. Carrie had her own agenda. She had our banner. She had our funding [for breast augmentation, among other things] – and once she was done with what she needed from us, then she went about her own agenda and hijacked our crown and our banner and used it for her own gain.”

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I think the court will really look at the behavior and we believe that we’ll prevail and that we’ll prevail on all of it – anything she profits from being Miss California.”

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You can read the filing by the pageant here. I truly hope Ms. Martyr loses her ass in the lawsuit. No doubt when that happens she will somehow continue to claim that she's being persecuted. She's a whack job plain and simple.

Final Tuesday Male Beauty

HRBOR Reflections - Two and a Half Years Later

This past Saturday I attended the board of directors retreat for Hampton Roads Business Outreach a/k/a HRBOR, the NGLCC affiliate that nine others and myself founded in 2007. Since that time HRBOR has grown and from it I have secured both clients and wonderful friends (the boyfriend first asked me out at a HRBOR networking event). The retreat was a great experience and helped bond the current board more closely together - I am one of the two original board members remaining. From its outset as the only NGLCC affiliate in Virginia, HRBOR has sought to benefit both its members and the larger Hampton Roads area as is visible in its mission statement:

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Hampton Roads Business OutReach (HRBOR) is a broad based coalition of LGBT owned and LGBT supportive businesses and professionals dedicated to the development, growth and advocacy of Hampton Roads and its LGBT community. By promoting an environment in which diversity can flourish, HRBOR is committed to the economic growth and prosperity of our members and our community.

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For those coming out in mid-life, I cannot encourage you enough to get involved in your own GLBT community. Take the time to find organizations that will provide a vehicle to become involved and to make new friends. If you cannot find one, then consider starting an organization as the ten of us original board members did.

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One thing that struck me during the retreat was the fact that the board as a whole does not fit the anti-gay stereotype that our enemies disseminate. We are all professionals or retired professionals. Four board members are former members of the U.S. military, one of whom was discharged under DADT at a great loss to the military. Two of us were forced from larger law firms when our sexual orientation became known. Not all of us are gay. All of us are passionate activists who know that right is on our side and that history is on our side. We all care very deeply about our community - both in terms of the GLBT community and the larger community and we want to make Hampton Roads what it could be if it would throw aside provincial thinking and bigotry.

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HRBOR has been a wonderful experience for me and is a positive influence in the area community. I am very proud of what the original board started and have every confidence that HRBOR will continue to grow under the current leadership.

World War II Vet Stood Up for His Gay Son

Before voters go to the polls to vote in Maine in a few weeks, I hope they will recall some of the statements made before the legislature voted to approve same sex marriage. Nearly 4,000 people attended the hearing, with marriage equality supporters out-numbering the opposition 4 to 1. One supporter was the World War II veteran in the clip below. Would my own dad have spoken up that way? I'm not sure and will never know since he died over three years ago. Sadly, he never lived to meet the boyfriend. He did, however, fully embrace my ex-boyfriend and accept us as a couple. Just maybe he would have stood up for us like this father. I know that I would speak out in support of my son.

More Tuesday Male Beauty

Yet Another Example of Why the Matthew Sheperd Act Is Needed

Of late there seems to be a flood of hate crimes directed at LGBT citizens with attacks ranging from New York to the West Coast to Tulsa, Oklahoma where another outrageous attack has occurred. Meanwhile, the Republicans in Congress and the sleazy professional Christians pontificate that hate crimes legislation is not needed. Or at least not needed to protect GLBT Americans. Christians yes, gays no. As the Tulsa World reports, there was no doubt that this attack was motivated by anti-gay animus plain and simple. Here in Virginia, GLBT Virginians currently have NO protection under the state's hate crimes law, although Christians do have protections. Queerity has mare graphic pictures here. Here are some story highlights:

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What should have been a 10-minute walk to a friend's house ended with a trip to the hospital for Brandon Patrick, a Tulsan who said he was severely beaten Sunday night because of his sexual orientation. Three people followed Patrick down the 1300 block of South Rockford Avenue about 11:45 p.m., yelling homophobic slurs and threats, he said. Patrick, who is gay, said he ignored the group until they closed in and then asked why they were accosting him without provocation. The assailants then started beating, biting and slashing at Patrick with a blade, he said, leaving him with several cuts on his head and body. The 23-year-old has been peppered with insults before, but he said he never thought they would escalate to violence.

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Tulsa Police Officer Leland Ashley said the people who are accused of attacking Patrick are at large and were seen in a maroon Ford Mustang from the late 1990s or early 2000s. Patrick described them as a woman in her early 40s and another woman and man, both in their late teens or early 20s. Patrick said he regularly walks through the neighborhood and doesn't know his attackers. They might have seen him previously and decided to act Sunday, he said.

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Oklahoma's hate-crimes law makes it a crime to "intimidate or harass another person because of the person's race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin or disability." Jenkins noted that the state law excludes sexual orientation from the qualifiers for a hate crime. As a result, police are investigating the case only as an assault and battery. Designation as a hate crime would allow for punishment beyond what would be imposed for the assault.

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Patrick said it's frustrating that race and ethnicity are taken into account by state lawmakers but sexual orientation is not. He said he hopes his ordeal will draw attention to the issue and lead to a change in state law. Although Oklahoma isn't known for being particularly gay-friendly, gay men and lesbians are attacked at about the same rate as their urban counterparts in places such as New York and Chicago, Jenkins said.

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When are legislators going to realize that we gays are just as human as everyone else?

More Anti-Gay Jihad from the Catholic Church

With all of the internal house cleaning the Roman Catholic Church needs to be doing in the wake of the sex abuse scandal - not to mention all the poor and hungry people around the world who need to be clothed and fed per Christ's directive - one would think that the Church would have better things to do than continue obsess over same sex marriage and/or the acceptance of gays as fully human. But such is clearly not the case. First, we have the Catholic Church officials in Finland threatening the Evangelical Lutheran Church about accepting gay marriage. Next we see the Vatican cutting a deal to allow anti-gay Anglicans into the Catholic Church. Sometimes I truly believe that the Vatican deliberately sets off stories such as these merely in the hope that the media will be distracted and not do another story on the still on going sexual abuse lawsuits around the USA and the world. Meanwhile, of course, the message to people is that gays are inferior and a threat to society. First some highlights from IceNews on the situation in Finland:

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Finland’s Catholic Bishop, Teemu Sippo, has warned of an impending rift between the Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Church and Finland’s Catholic Church over the issue of gay marriage. Sippo has expressed his concern over recent events in Sweden where the Lutheran Church is set to extend the performance of religious ceremonies to same sex couples. “The Catholic Church cannot bless same-sex couples. It doesn’t view it as morally acceptable,” Sippo stated. “Everything that happens in Sweden usually reaches Finland sooner or later.”

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In addition to the condemnation of gay marriage Sippo also denounced the practice of the city of Helsinki and liberal groups of distributing free condoms claiming the move incites sex rather than protects the individual. “Handing out condoms is like telling people to use them. I believe youths should instead be encouraged to practice abstinence,” the Bishop said.

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Meanwhile, it turns out that the Vatican has been secretly negotiating a deal that will allow break away Anglicans and married Anglican priests to join the Catholic Church. Apparently, the requirement of celibacy for priests goes out the window if the Pope believes that there's more to gain by turning a blind eye on this alleged theological requirement. How does one say HYPOCRITE?? Here are some highlights from the Washington Post:

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In a bid to attract disillusioned members of the Anglican Communion, the Vatican announced yesterday that it would establish a special arrangement to allow them to join the Catholic Church while preserving their own liturgy and spiritual legacy, including married priests.

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The Catholic Church plan "reflects a really bold determination by Rome to seize the moment and do what it can to reach out to those who share its stance on women priests and homosexuality," said Ian Markham, dean of the Virginia Theological Seminary, an Episcopal seminary in Alexandria. "It is very, very bold and very interesting." . . . These former Anglicans would be considered theologically Catholic but with their own traditions, such as use of the Anglican Book of Common Prayer.

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Between 100 and 200 of the 7,000 Episcopal congregations have broken away in a dispute over the 2003 ordination of Gene Robinson, a gay man, as bishop of New Hampshire, as well as over female clergy and the church's definition of salvation. Many allied themselves with conservative Anglican primates in such countries as Nigeria and Uganda.

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[T]he Vatican's move could strain the sometimes delicate alliances within the breakaway conservative churches, Markham said. One camp sees Anglicanism as a version of Catholic theology, while the other group is more evangelical and suspicious of Catholicism. "This offer by Rome could peel off some of those Anglo-Catholics," he said. "I think some of them will be tempted to go."

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As one who was raised Catholic, NOTHING could ever convince me to return to the Catholic Church which has done - and continues to do - so much damage to LGBT individuals. Between the hypocrisy and corruption of the Church hierarchy and the fact that the faith that is based on guilt and fear with no hint of a loving God, I would never go back. I feel at home and accepted in the Evangelical Lutheran Church which gives me a catholic like mass without all the negative baggage.

Tuesday Male Beauty