Daily Archives: March 3, 2015
Alabama Supreme Court Blocks Same-Sex Marriage
Alabama Supreme Court Blocks Same-Sex Marriage
The Alabama Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered probate judges in the state to stop issuing same-sex marriage licenses.
The ruling adds to the confusion surrounding gay marriage in the state. A federal judge found that the state’s ban on same-sex marriage was unconstitutional in January. Some probate judges refused to comply with that ruling and Alabama Supreme Court Justice Roy Moore said that probate judges didn’t have to follow it.
The conflicting orders prompted Elmore County Probate Judge John E. Enslen to ask for clarification from the Alabama Supreme Court, according to WBRC.
Read the Alabama Supreme Court’s full decision here.
Below, more from The Associated Press:
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — The Alabama Supreme Court is ordering the state’s probate judges to stop issuing marriage licenses to gay couples.
The all-Republican court sided with a pair of conservative organizations Tuesday in ruling that the U.S. Constitution doesn’t alter the judges’ duty to administer state law.
The court says Alabama has defined marriage as between only one man and one woman for about 200 years. And it says a federal court used “sleight of hand” in a case that resulted in most of Alabama allowing gay marriage last month.
The Alabama Policy Institute and the Baptist-run Alabama Citizens Action Program asked the court to halt same-sex unions after a federal judge in Mobile said Alabama laws banning them were unconstitutional.
Extralegal Ruling Shames Alabama Supreme Court
Extralegal Ruling Shames Alabama Supreme Court
The order, which has no foundation in constitutional law, flies in the face a prevailing federal ruling by Judge Callie V.S. Granade issued weeks ago.
HRC.org
Breaking: Alabama Supreme Court Orders Halt On Same-Sex Marriages Statewide
Breaking: Alabama Supreme Court Orders Halt On Same-Sex Marriages Statewide
Just a few weeks after a United States District Court Judge in Mobile ordered a local probate judge to begin issuing same-sex marriage licenses, the Alabama Supreme Court has ordered a halt on statewide same-sex marriage.
“As it has done for approximately two centuries, Alabama law allows for ‘marriage’ between only one man and one woman,” the order said. “Alabama probate judges have a ministerial duty not to issue any marriage license contrary to this law. Nothing in the United States Constitution alters or overrides this duty.”
The order gives probate judges five days to present arguments on why they should be allowed to issue the licenses.
This only adds to the confusion in the state.
Last month, Alabama’s chief justice Ray Moore (the same Ray Morore who defied a federal court order to remove a monument to the 10 commandments from the state courthouse) ordered state judges to disobey the ruling of the federal judge. It resulted in some counties following one authority, and some following another.
That situation prompted Elmore County Probate Judge John E. Enslen to ask for clarification from the Alabama Supreme Court, and thus we have this even more confusing decision form the state supreme court.
David Kennedy, one of the lawyers who represented the couple who initially challenged the same-sex marriage ban, doesn’t think the decision will hold up to federal scrutiny.
“I don’t really think that they can do that. I’m not surprised, but I’m somewhat appalled,” he said. “The Supreme Court of the United States ruled that the stay (on the order striking down the gay marriage ban) would expire on Feb. 9. On Feb. 9, same-sex marriage effectively became legal in Alabama.”
“Whenever state law conflicts with federal law, federal law wins,” he added.
via AL.com
Dan Tracer
One Of Nation's Few Homeless Shelters For LGBT Youth Opens Doors In San Antonio, Texas
One Of Nation's Few Homeless Shelters For LGBT Youth Opens Doors In San Antonio, Texas
One of the nation’s few homeless shelters specifically for LGBTQ youth has opened its doors in San Antonio.
Thrive Youth Center is a 13-bed, 1,400-square-foot facility — including five individual rooms for transgender youth.
The center, which will serve LGBTQ youth ages 18-25, was initially scheduled to open last year at a downtown church, but that plan was nixed due to zoning issues. The shelter finally opened last week through a partnership with Haven for Hope, a larger facility serving the general homeless population.
Texas Public Radio reports:
Thrive Executive Director Sandra Whitley (right) said Haven has changed its intake process since Thrive came on board, asking new applicants if they required LGBT services. “And if they check yes, then they call one of us over at our office and we come over and talk to the person and see if they’ll be a fit for our program.” …
Thrive’s initial mission —getting people back on their feet — is being upheld through Haven’s programs. “The services that we were going to offer, the GED program; the career counseling; the job placement, all those things are now located 25 feet from our door,” said Whitley.
Scott Ackerson, a Vice President for Haven for Hope, said they also found space for certain individuals who did not meet Thrive’s 18-25 age group criteria. “We’ve got the capacity to serve an additional 10 LGBT individuals that don’t necessarily fit within Thrive’s target population,” said Ackerson.
According to Thrive Youth Center’s website, 50 percent of homeless youth in San Antonio are LGBTQ, mostly as a result of family rejection. And homeless LGBTQ youth on the street are more than twice as likely to commit suicide as other youth on the street.
Meanwhile, nearly nearly one in three transgender men and women report being turned away from homeless shelters because they are transgender, according to the National Center for Transgender Equality.
Before opening Thrive Youth, Whitley and other founders visited the Ali Forney Center in New York City and the LA Gay and Lesbian Center in Los Angeles — two of the only other homeless shelters in the nation for LGBTQ youth. Whitley, whose parents once sent her to a mental hospital because she was gay, sold her business last year so she could run the shelter.
For more information on the Thrive Youth Center or to make a donation, go here. And to listen to the stories of some of the youth who’ll be served by the facility, go here.
With any luck, Thrive Youth Center can serve as a model for shelters serving homeless LGBTQ youth across Texas and in other red states — where the facilities are often most needed due to high levels of family rejection.
Watch a video report from last year about plans for the Thrive Youth Center, AFTER THE JUMP …
John Wright
EddY NoVa /LGBT TuLtItLaN
EddY NoVa /LGBT TuLtItLaN
aqui les dejo mis redes sociales por si quisieran saber un poquito mas de mi o solo por si necesitas ayuda www.youtube.com/user/eddycanalnova www.facebook.com/canalnova …
www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnXs_Yx4S_k&feature=youtube_gdata
LGBTQIA Mosaic
Angry Activists Confront Trans Teen in Charlotte Bathroom, As Nondiscrimination Ordinance Fails
Angry Activists Confront Trans Teen in Charlotte Bathroom, As Nondiscrimination Ordinance Fails
Tensions flared in Charlotte, N.C. Monday, as nearly 120 citizens gave passionate speeches for and against an ultimately stymied LGBT nondiscrimination ordinance.
Mitch Kellaway
Gay Group Sex May Soon Be Illegal In China Thanks To This Guy
Gay Group Sex May Soon Be Illegal In China Thanks To This Guy
If it’s always been your dream to partake in a wild gay orgy with a gaggle of hot Chinese men, then you better book your flight to Beijing ASAP because lawmakers there are getting ready to consider a ban on group sex between men.
That’s right. Gay gang bangs may soon be illegal in the communist country of China. And all thanks to dermatologist Dr. Sun Jianfang (pictured) from the Institute of Dermatology at Peking Union Medical College.
Jianfang plans to propose the ban at the country’s upcoming annual legislative sessions. He will argue that banning gay orgies will help prevent the spread of AIDS. According to statistics, the number of HIV cases among men who have sex with men increased from 2.5 percent in 2006 to 25.1 percent in the first half of last year.
Current law criminalizes consensual group sex between three or more people, regardless of gender, so why this random dermatologist feels a new law created to explicitly criminalize gay sex is needed is unclear. But not everyone is pleased with his plan to police what they call “matters of the crotch.”
China’s leading sexologist, Li Yinhe, has been particularly outspoken about the matter.
“The crime of group sex is an outdated law, an erroneous law,” she said. “Its abolishment would not harm social customs, nor corrupt social values…It does not make sense to expand its scope to include same-sex sexual activity between multiple people.”
China’s annual legislative sessions begin March 4.
Related stories:
How A Chinese Gay Dating App You’ve Never Heard Of Just Hit 15 Million Users
WATCH: China’s First Same-Sex Marriage Ad Has A Surprise Twist
Research Finds Tolerance Of Homosexuality In China Dating Back Thousands Of Years
Graham Gremore
Disney Is Bringing The World of 'Avatar' To Life – VIDEO
Disney Is Bringing The World of 'Avatar' To Life – VIDEO
When “Avatar” first hit theaters back in 2009 the film was lauded for the technical innovation used to create a uniquely immersive experience. James Cameron brought Pandora, the home planet of the alien Na’Vi people, to life in a way that invited viewers to lose themselves in the vibrant world.
Though we’re still more than two years out from the first of three Avatar sequels, Disney’s team of Imagineers are hard at work building a real-life analogue to Pandora for Disney’s Animal Kingdom theme park in Florida.
When plans for the Avatar theme-park were first announced, Cameron and his team described a multi-sensory journey that would transport people to the fictional planet that captured their imaginations. Everything from the sprawling landscapes to the lush, bioluminescent forests would be recreated to the T, offering park-goers the chance to experience the most fantastic aspect of the planet from a first-person perspective.
A new video from the park’s production team gives us our first look at what Cameron described, and from the looks of it there’s a good chance you’ll be going to Pandora long before you see the next Avatar film.
Check out some early footage of the real world Pandora AFTER THE JUMP…
Charles Pulliam-Moore
www.towleroad.com/2015/03/disney-is-bringing-the-world-of-avatar-to-life-video-1.html