Kansas Pastor Claims She's Received Death Threats For Officiating Same-Sex Weddings

Kansas Pastor Claims She's Received Death Threats For Officiating Same-Sex Weddings
A Kansas pastor is refusing to give in to hate.

Rev. Jackie Carter, a pastor at First Metropolitan Community Church, claims she’s been getting death threats after she started performing same-sex weddings for couples in her area.

After alleged vandals broke windows at the Wichita church, her congregations is considering taking extra security measures — like purchasing cameras and having people stand guard outside during services.

“When you’re here and the phone rings, and there’s heavy breathing and two seconds later the doorbell rings and then somebody’s throwing rocks through the windows. All those things combined create fear,” Carter told KSN.

Despite the threats to herself and to her church community, Carter says she won’t stop helping LGBT couples tie the knot.

“I’m not going to change my message of inclusion, I’m not going to change my message of love, and I’m not going to stop marrying people. I’m going to keep it up!” she told the news station. “This is ridiculous hatred that has no place in this city or state or this country.”

Some counties in Kansas have been issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples since October. However, it is unclear whether the state will continue to recognize these marriages, as Kansas’ ban on same-sex marriage is still being debated in the courts.

Kansas state is currently facing a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of two lesbian couples who weren’t allowed to obtain marriage licenses in Douglas and Sedgwick County, which is where Carter’s church is located. The state wanted to put a stay on gay marriages as it fought the lawsuit, but the U.S. Supreme Court denied that request last month, the AP reports.

As of Thursday, Kansas has issued 23 marriage certificates to same-sex couples, according to the Kansas Department of Health and Environment.

Earlier this year, Carter made history by officiating the weddings of 15 same-sex couples on the steps of the County Courthouse in Wichita.

www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/12/14/jackie-carter-gay-marriage_n_6324040.html?utm_hp_ref=gay-voices&ir=Gay+Voices

Bianca Del Rio Finds It Surreal To Be Called “The Joan Rivers Of Drag”

Bianca Del Rio Finds It Surreal To Be Called “The Joan Rivers Of Drag”

bianca-runway-1Surreal. As a faggot, as a little gay boy, anytime my name is mentioned with hers, it is surreal. Winning Drag Race was amazing, but sitting in bed with this lady who I respected, admired, and loved, and getting a moment to film an episode of In Bed With Joan, was surreal for me. I don’t get nervous. I don’t get excited. I do what I do, and I think over the years you just do it. I have a good time. But that was different. I questioned, ‘Should be I over-friendly? Should I be aloof?’ I didn’t want to be any of that. I didn’t know where to go. But once I was in a room with her, she made me feel totally comfortable. When that little inner boy realized that I was sitting in bed with Joan Rivers and she was laughing at something that I said, it was incredible. She was the sweetest, kindest, and most genuine individual I had ever met. As a comedienne, there are times when people are like, ‘It is my show.’ I never felt that with her. … I don’t know what it seemed like to everyone else, because, shockingly, I haven’t watched it. I can’t even go there, because what I felt, it doesn’t matter what anybody else felt. I had that moment. I remember going into the car leaving Melissa Rivers’ house (because that all happens in her basement). I was third of the four people filming that day, and I had a gig in some other city that day. My manager told me that I had a gig and would have to shift it. I don’t back out of anything, but it was Joan Rivers! I was like, ‘Bitch, no question!’ They said it was the only day she could do it, so we said, ‘Let’s do it.’ Luckily that other gig reworked itself out. It was effortless to have a conversation with her. My heart was like, ‘How do you beat that?’ It’s just like talking with Ru. Surreal.”

 

Drag superstar Bianca Del Rio telling HuffPo how she felt when the New York Times recently profiled her and compared her to Joan Rivers

Jeremy Kinser

feedproxy.google.com/~r/queerty2/~3/EHqZF2vgvOY/bianca-del-rio-finds-it-surreal-to-be-called-the-joan-rivers-of-drag-20141214

Elton John and David Furnish Might Be Getting Married Next Week

Elton John and David Furnish Might Be Getting Married Next Week

UK’s Mirror is reporting Elton John and David Furnish are set to finally tie the knot in a “small and intimate” ceremony next week.

Via The Sydney Morning Herald:

JohnThe couple is said to have invited just 50 of their closest friends and family to their home in Windsor, England to watch them exchange vows.

They will tie the knot on December 21st: a celebration of their 21 years together, and the anniversary of their 2005 civil partnership. 

The move comes after Britain passed legislation on Wednesday to allow couples to convert their civil partnerships to marriages.

The rumoured guest list includes Victoria and David Beckham, Sharon and Ozzy Osbourne and Elizabeth Hurley. 

John, 67, and Furnish, 52, met in 1993. The singer told Parade magazine they “fell in love very quickly” and work hard to keep their relationship strong.

Their young sons Zachary and Elijah will be the ring bearers.

Last September, Elton chatted with Ellen about his wedding plans (and his desire to have a slice of Liam Hemsworth on the side). Check out the interview, AFTER THE JUMP

 

 


Kyler Geoffroy

www.towleroad.com/2014/12/elton-john-and-david-furnish-might-be-getting-married-next-week.html