Miss California's Same-Sex Marriage Answer Cost Her The Crown?

Miss North Carolina Kristen Dalton was crowned Miss USA 2009 on Sunday, but on Monday it was Miss California Carrie Prejean's (seen above-l) answer to a question about same-sex marriage from celebrity blogger and pageant judge Perez Hilton, that ended up being the nights biggest story.

During the show Perez asked Carrie, "Vermont recently became the fourth state to legalize same sex marriage. Do you think every state should follow suit? Why or why not?"

Carrie answered, "Well I think it's great that Americans are able to choose one or the other. Um, we live in a land that you can choose same sex marriage or opposite marriage and, you know what, in my country and in, in my family, I think that I believe that a marriage should be between a man and a woman," Carrie said to a mix of boos and applause. "No offense to anybody out there. But that's how I was raised and that's how I think that it should be between a man and a woman."

According to Perez Hilton, Carrie's answer to the hot button question cost her the crown. 

Miss California is very much entitled to her own opinion
however, I was taken aback that she felt all people shouldn't be given the same equal rights. Marriage is marriage, period.

It's a commitment established by two people that pledge to build their lives together, connecting, growing, and living as one family unit. All people are deserving of equal marriage rights no matter the race, creed, color or gender. 

People coming together to vote for President Obama, is the same way folks should come together for the common purpose of equal marriage rights.

And who's to say Miss California would have won the crown if she did answer differently? Obviously, Miss North Carolina Kristen Dalton was the better candidate because she took home the prize.

2009 LA

Two Eleven Year Old Boys Commit Suicide From Anti-Gay Harassment

In the past weeks, two eleven year old boys have committed suicide after being taunted repeatedly in school. 

Both boys suffered from the same taunts of bullying and harassment's of anti-gay epithets and attacks. Obviously, the youth were in desperate need for the pain to go away -- which resulted in their deaths.

The victims names are Carl Joseph Walker-Hoover (seen above) of Massachusetts, and Jaheem Herrera (seen below-r) of Georgia. 

Jaheem's mother stated that she repeatedly complained to the Dekalb school system about her son being harassed, but nothing was ever done to rectify the situation.

Our current culture of accepted homophobia, and the prevalence of bullying hurts LGBT youth and heterosexual kids as well. 

Because students are affected by a climate of anti-gay rhetoric, as a result, these anti-gay taunts were a driving force behind Jaheem and Carls' tragic suicides. 

When children go to school aren't they supposed to be protected? School houses are considered to be second homes to our children, and now we can't feel safe in knowing that our children aren't in good hands?

According to the 2007 National School Climate Survey, 73.6 percent of the students surveyed heard derogatory remarks like “faggot” or “dyke” frequently at school. 

We know that in schools the word “gay” with derogatory intent, can be applied to any student who maybe viewed as different no matter what their actual sexual orientation might be. 

Even in our own government right-wing groups and religious institutions, continually use anti-gay sentiment and rhetoric. Many describe scary imagery and falsify religious arguments to fuel misinformation and fear, many also outright claim that LGBT people are a threat to society.

But how many deaths must we witness before we enact laws to protect our children? 

Eleven states including the District of Columbia have student protections based on sexual orientation, and only seven of those states including the District of Columbia, protect based on gender identity and expression. 

We need to expand these protections to every state and defend the states that have already put in place these protections. 

We must fight back against the misuse of religion as a tool of hatred and intolerance. We must work to create a culture which embraces differences in gender and sexual orientation, just as we work endlessly to end racism, sexism and any other negative -- ism there is. 

We need a powerful movement that will protect our children from all negativity and danger. We must do it fast and we must do it NOW!

2009 LA

Colorado Man Sentenced To Death After Murder Of Transgender

A Colorado man by the name of Allen Andrade (seen-r), was convicted and sentenced to death for brutally murdering Angie Zapata (seen-l), a transgender woman that Andrade met over the Internet. 

This marks the first time a hate crime law resulted in the conviction of a transgender person’s murder. It took the jury two hours to return its verdict, which was praised by members of gay and transgender rights groups.  

"This is a landmark decision," Mindy Barton the legal director of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Community Center of Colorado, told CNN. 

Barton attended the trial daily stating that, "Hearing guilty on first degree murder and guilty of 'bias-motivated crime' was an emotional experience for all the family, friends and supporters of Angie. She will not be forgotten."

Allen Andrade never denied killing Angie Zapata, although his defense team argued for a lesser verdict, contending that he acted in the heat of passion after discovering Zapata was biologically male. Prosecutors referred to Zapata as "she" throughout the trial, while the defense referred to the transgender teen as "he".

Defense attorney Annette Kundelius, argued that "when [Andrade] met him, he met him as 'Angie.’ "When he found out it wasn't 'Angie,' that it was 'Justin,' he lost control."   

The jury was not convinced. "This was an ambush attack," said Chief Deputy District Attorney Robb Miller. "This was an all-out blitz." Zapata was "born in a boy's body but living as a female," added Miller. “Ultimately, she was murdered because of it."

Prosecutors argued that after Zapata, 18, and Andrade 32, met online last summer, they hooked up at Zapata’s apartment in Greeley, Colo., where they spent almost three days together. 

While Zapata was away from the apartment according to court documents Andrade, noticed some pictures that made him think Zapata might be a man, CNN reports. When Andrade confronted Zapata about her sexuality she declared, "I am all woman." 

Andrade then grabbed Zapata and discovered male genitalia. Andrade told police he began pounding Zapata with his fists, and when she fell to the ground he picked up a fire extinguisher and hit her in the head, the documents show.

Believing he had “killed it,” he told police referring to Zapata; he covered the body in a blanket and cleaned up the crime scene. But as he was about to depart he said he heard “gurgling” sounds coming from the body and then Zapata sat up. That’s when Andrade hit her again with the fire extinguisher, the affidavit says. 

The jury heard jailhouse phone conversations including Andrade telling a girlfriend, "gay things must die." He did not testify in his own defense.

Although Zapata may have mislead the 32 year old Andrade into believing she was all woman, that still did not give him the right to take her life. No one has the right to take another person's life no matter what the situation. 

How did Andrade not know Zapata was transgendered after spending three days living with her? 

Maybe Andrade feared that someone would find out he was messing with a man, so he killed Zapata to cover up his tracks? 

Either way, what he did was wrong and I'm glad Zapata and her family have received justice.

2009 LA

The United States Endorses UN Gay Rights Message

The Obama administration formally endorsed a U.N. statement calling for the worldwide decriminalization of homosexuality, a measure that former President George W. Bush, had refused to sign. 

The Obama administration reversed yet another Bush-era decision that had long been criticized as being discriminatory by human rights groups. The United States was the only western nation that didn't sign on to the declaration, when it came up at the U.N. General Assembly in December.

"The United States supports the U.N.'s statement on human rights, sexual orientation and gender identity and is pleased to join the other 66 U.N. member states who have declared their support of the statement," said State Department spokesman Robert Wood.  

"The United States is an outspoken defender of human rights and critic of human rights abuses around the world," Wood told reporters. 

"As such, we join with other supporters of this statement, and we will continue to remind countries of the importance of respecting the human rights of all people in all appropriate international fora." 

The Associated Press reported that the administration would endorse the statement.

"The administration's leadership on this issue will be a powerful rebuke of an earlier Bush administration position that sought to deny the universal application of human rights protections to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals," said Mark Bromley of the Council for Global Equality, which promotes equal rights for same-sex loving individuals.  

"This is long past overdue and we are encouraged by the signal it sends that the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people will now be considered human rights," said Rea Carey, the executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force.

U.S. officials stated that America, opposed discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation but that parts of the declaration raised legal questions that needed further review. There were concerns from the Bush team that those sections could commit the federal government on matters that fall under state jurisdiction. 

In some states landlords and private employers, are allowed to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation; on the federal level gays are not allowed to serve openly in the military.

Twenty-seven European Union members, Japan, Australia, and Mexico, all endorsed the U.S. gay rights message. Seventy U.N. members outlaw homosexuality as homosexual acts can be punished by execution also. 

And more than fifty nations including members of the 'Organization of the Islamic Conference' opposed the declaration. Some Islamic countries stated that protecting sexual orientation could lead to "the social normalization and possibly the legalization of deplorable acts" such as pedophilia and incest. The declaration was also opposed by the Vatican.

How does one compare same-sex relationships to pedophilia and incest? Pedophilia is when an adult has sexual desires for a child. Incest is when closely related people (family members) have sexual intercourse, which is also called "inbreeding."

People's assumptions and personal analogies are downright ridiculous. Pedophiles are allowed to run churches, work in schools, and live next door to us. Incest takes place everyday, and yet no one petitions charges against those that do it.

How can two same-sex loving individuals receive a worse rap than those that violate children? I'll never understand it.

2009 LA

Gay Couple Turned Away From Glen Ridge Country Club

        Picture of Glen Ridge Country Club - taken by Mia Song/The Star Ledger

Michael Norton a Glen Ridge, New Jersey, resident saw an advertisement for new members at the Glen Ridge Country Club in the community newspaper. 

Mr. Norton commented that he wanted a pool to "keep cool this summer", and felt this would be a great club for him and his partner to join.

Norton stated that when he asked a club administrator, "if a membership would include his domestic partner" the same way the club allows married members to include their spouses on their memberships, the club administrator gave him the cold shoulder.  

"It was unbelievable. I thought I was kicked in the stomach," said Norton, 58, of Bloomfield, New Jersey.

Barry Schrager, president of the country club's nine member board said that Norton and his partner Stewart D. Grossman, 62, were "victims of an unfortunate misunderstanding that stemmed from the employee's error in stating the club's membership policy. The club abides by state law which recognizes same-sex couples as civil unions and domestic partners", he said.

Norton and his partner decided not to pursue a membership, and instead the two men are preparing to file suit against the one hundred and fifteen year old club with the N.J. Division of Civil Rights. The couple expressed that the problem is bigger than just one country club's gatekeeper. Their situation could have been avoided if state laws would allow them to say they are married

"The equality is in the word," Grossman said. "If  you tell people you're married, people know what that means." 

Stephen Hyland, a Westwood family law attorney with many gay and lesbian clients commented that the Glen Ridge County Club incident could be attributed to the legal prohibition of the word "marriage" with regard to same-sex couples. "If this couple had been able to marry, then there would not have been any need to explain anything further," Hyland said.

Norton e-mailed Amy Sikkerboll the club's controller on March 23rd, asking about membership fees for the club's house and pool. Sikkerboll responded with an e-mail stating "Memberships include spouses but not significant others."

Schrager the club's board president, released a statement saying the club's policy is to consider all applicants without reference to race, religion or gender. He added that the club recognized all couples sanctioned by state law, including domestic partnerships and civil unions. 

Schrager, also expressed that the Glen Ridge Country Club changed its membership policy more than a decade ago to include women. 

Steven Goldstein, executive director of Garden State Equality stated that Norton and Grossman's experience at the country club was not unique, and that the organization has received thousands of complaints about discrimination against domestic partners stating,"This case is Exhibit A of why we at Garden State Equality are calling  for marriage equality," Goldstein said. 

"This should be a wake up call to everyone of the 120 state legislators. Wake up and smell the inequality that single sex couples endure."  

2009 LA

Gay Student Protests Blood Drive For Discrimination

Dustin Weinstein, a 20-year-old sophomore at Montclair State University, decided to help the New Jersey blood drive since the organization needed donors. 

Last November Dustin, was turned away from a Red Cross blood drive on campus. The rationale for the ban according to the FDA website is that, "Men who have had sex with other men account for the largest single group of blood donors who are found HIV positive by blood donor testing. By eliminating that group, the risk of transmitting HIV is diminished", the report said.

Does the FDA have statistical facts which proves that most HIV tainted blood comes from gay men?

Personally, I gave blood to a blood drive at my Alma mater years ago, and was shocked to find out that 85 percent of the blood had to be thrown out due to HIV infection. Moreover, I discovered that the majority of the tainted blood came from heterosexual people -- not gay people. So the misconception that AIDS is a gay disease is a bunch of baloney.

When AIDS was first reported by the Center for Disease Control in 1981, rumors about where AIDS came from began to circulate like wildfire. 

First we were told that monkeys brought AIDS to America from Africa, then we were told that AIDS came from gay men -- and this rumor stuck for a while due to the overwhelming prejudice against gay people.

After researching where AIDS really came from -- this is what I unearthed:

In 1969 George H.W. Bush explained to Congress (click link and read page 30 and up for facts), how allegedly runaway birth rates for African Americans were down-breeding the "American" population (but since African Americans are Americans, then how could they down-breed the American population?) 

However, Bush felt there needed to be something done in order to control the growth of the Black race and on June 9, 1969, Dr. D.M. MacArthur, Deputy Director of Research and Technology for the Pentagon, requested a sum of ten million dollars from the Congressional House Subcommittee on Appropriations, in order to develop a new contagious micro-organism capable of destroying the human immune system, but first the virus would have to be created. 

Ten years later in America, this resulted in the virus now known as 'Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome' (AIDS).

To read more on this subject matter, I received partial research from here.

Medical Correspondent for the Sunday Times Neville Hodgkinson (seen-r), noted that the virus appeared in America first -- and not in Africa nor anywhere else. 

He explained how increasingly complex procedures were taken -- to diagnose the virus, "but the basic problem was not being able to validate any of these procedures against pure virus taken from patients - still remains."

The medical professional then revealed in detail that both the HIV tests and statistics concerning AIDS, had been manipulated in a duplicitous manner and it would seem that the main beneficiaries would be the pharmaceutical firms. 

As Comedian/Actor Chris Rock once said in his Bigger and Blacker stand-up comedy, "There ain't no money in the cure, the money is in the medicine!"

Dustin Weinstein, this article is a tribute to you. 

No more will you have to feel as if gay people are the epicenter of AIDS, due to a long standing rumor that was conceived out of pure hate as well as the need to cover one's tracks -- as slowly but surely the real truth behind the story comes in to the light. 

2009 LA

Homosexual: Where the Word Really Came From

German Nazi labels seen above; used to separate homosexual Jews from heterosexual Jews; less social Jews; etc.

The first known appearance of the word homosexual in print is found in an 1869 German pamphlet by the Austrian born novelist and activist Karl-Maria Kertbeny, which was published anonymously. 

Mr. Kertbeny, eventually changed his last name to Benkert. His pamphlet is titled: "Paragraph 143 of the Prussian Penal Code of 14 April 1851" and its reaffirmation as "Paragraph 152 in the Proposed Penal Code for the Norddeutscher Bund."

Karl-Maria Benkert argued that the Prussia (German) Sodomy law violated the "rights of men", and by enforcing the law written in Paragraph 175 in the legal code of the German Empire, it states homosexual acts between males is a crime. 

Nazi's indoctrinated this rule back in 1871, amidst Jewish slavery times. In 1907 Nazi's expanded the law to include lesbian sexual acts as crimes; masturbating next to a person was also considered a lewd and criminal act.

Suspected gays were sent to concentration camps during the Holocaust, without any legal justification that they were actually gay. Even if they were acquitted or had already served their sentence in jail, they were still sent to concentration camps and confined. 

The number of gay people in concentration camps were hard to estimate but German American writer Richard Plant, gives a rough estimate of men convicted of homosexuality "between 1933 (when Nazi's came to power in Germany) and 1945 almost 100,000 Jewish men were convicted", and only about 4,000 survived.

In 1945, concentration camps were liberated but homosexual prisoners were not freed. They were made to serve out their sentence under the German legal code of Paragraph 175, with some serving sentences as long as twenty years. In 2002, the German government issued an official apology to the gay community.

Being that the word "homosexual" was created by man in the late 1800's, how did the word get into the Bible in 1942? 

Did Nazi's have that much control that they were able to also control what went into the Bible? And if that's the case, what else could have been rewritten in the Bible that we aren't aware of? 

Is this why new versions of the Bible are constantly being made, as a way to keep order and control by using words that are supposed to be sacred and original? 

Is the Bible used religiously as a way to drive a wedge between families and people? It seems as if Nazi's created or helped to create, an entire divisive process by using labels to separate Jews, all while brainwashing them to judge others who were different.   

The German government apologized to the gay community for the mass killings, imprisonment, and division. If there are any Jewish prisoners from the Holocaust still living the German government should give more than an apology, they should give monetary assets and incorporate an official Gay Pride Day.

There is so much information I hadn't a clue of regarding the Holocaust, and I always thought Jews were only murdered for being Jews; indicative of Blacks being murdered for being Black, but we see how lies or "third party" interpreted news runs a lot deeper than we think.

Check out 'The Pink Triangle': The Nazi War against Homosexuals 1986; German translation, 1991. 

There's also a documentary on this subject from the year 2002, titled 'Paragraph 175' directed by Rob Epstein, Jeffrey Friedman, and narrated by Rupert Everett.  

2009 LA

OutBurst UK Presents Lesbian Drama: She Wasn't Last Night

Outburst UK is proud to present 'She Wasn't Last Night'.

A first full feature film based on black same gender loving women, will premiere in the UK as part of its LGBT History Month. The film will be followed by a Q&A with the director, Darice Jones.

She Wasn't Last Night follows the beautiful activist Shantel Crockett, who's slammed by drama as her relationship with Reyna (a companion 10 years her junior) begins to crumble. To make matters worse charming player Jack (Jacqueline), is determined to make Reyna hers if only for one night. 

With her jewelry making talent long abandoned and her mounting feelings of failure in her work supporting LGBTQ youth, Shantel is forced to face Reyna's despair and has to decide what kind of life she wants for herself. 

Shantel’s best friend Vanessa encourages her to move on and find meaning of her own artistic expressions, and maybe even find a new love. Meanwhile, one of Shantel’s student's Afro-Dominican poet Reggie, struggles to find her own path and voice. With the help of a small community of good friends and mentors both Shantel and Reggie, learn valuable lessons they will never forget.

Griot Soul Films does not save the drama for your mama, in fact, the cast is made up of an eclectic group of social activists, artists, educators, professional actors, beginning actors, and even an engineer. Common to all these strong women is a heartfelt commitment to storytelling coupled with the talent and dedication to tell the story well.

The cast is 100% African descended, majority LGBTQ, and 100% supportive of the creation of complex film images of Black people throughout the Diaspora.

Writer/Director: Darice Jones

Date: Wednesday, 11 February 2009

Venue: London South Bank University

The Keyworth Centre Main Auditorium

Keyworth Street London SE1 6NG

FREE EVENT

Doors Open: 6:30pm Film Starts: 7:00pm

Websites: http://www.griotsoulfilms.org/

2009 LA