California Forced To Allow Signatures For Appalling 'Shoot The Gays' Ballot Initiative
It doesn’t matter that a California lawyer’s outrageous Sodomite Suppression Act ballot initiative proposes executing gays with “bullets to the head,” or that it’s unconstitutional and could never become law. California Attorney General Kamala Harris is forced to allow the measure to circulate for signatures, legal experts said.

The initiative, which mandates 10 years in prison and permanent expulsion from California for anyone who advocates gay rights to minors, stands no chance of collecting 365,000 valid signatures it needs to appear on next year’s ballot. But because its backer, Matt McLaughlin, paid the $200 filing fee by the February deadline, Harris is bound by law to prepare a title and summary of the initiative by May so that its sponsor can begin collecting signatures, legal experts told the San Francisco Chronicle.

Joe Mathews, a fellow at the Center for Social Cohesion at Arizona State University, argued on California politics website Fox&Hounds that forcing the attorney general to allow the circulation of such an absurd proposal attacks the integrity of the initiative process. He said a “human rights exception” should be adopted for these instances.

“When you are taking away fundamental human rights -– as in the right to live -– it is appropriate to give our public officials a formal exception that they can invoke to block an initiative that violates fundamental human rights,” Mathews wrote.

An innovative response to McLaughlin’s initiative comes from activist Charlotte Laws, who told Slate she is filing the Intolerant Jackass Act on Monday. The bill reads:

“Any person, herein known as an ‘Intolerant Jackass,’ who brings forth a ballot measure that suggests the killing of gays and/or lesbians, whether this measure is called the Sodomite Suppression Act or is known by some other name, shall be required to attend sensitivity training for at least three (3) hours per month for twelve (12) consecutive months. In addition, the offender or “Intolerant Jackass” must donate $5000 to a pro-gay or pro-lesbian organization.”

McLaughlin may face other repercussions for advocating murder. According to the Sacramento Bee, state Sen. Ricardo Lara (D) has askled the State Bar of California to investigate McLaughlin, and more than 3,800 people have signed a petition asking State Bar President Craig Holden to revoke McLaughlin’s law license.

www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/03/23/california-anti-gay-bill_n_6927464.html?utm_hp_ref=gay-voices&ir=Gay+Voices

Anti-LGBT Pastor Claims Members of Congress Would Rather Go to Jail Than Support Marriage Equality

Last week, anti-LGBT pastor Rick Scarborough announced that members of Congress would partake in civil disobedience acts in opposition to marriage equality, risking arrest and jail time.
HRC.org

www.hrc.org/blog/entry/anti-lgbt-pastor-claims-members-of-congress-would-rather-go-to-jail-than-su?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

Don’t Ask This Pastor To Have Gay Sex Ever Again! He’s Done With All That!

Can a person have gay sex and still be a Christian?

AL.com recently sat down with Rev. Dr. Wesley Hill (pictured), author of Washed and Waiting: Reflections on Christian Faithfulness and Homosexuality, to discuss this hotly debated question.

Hill is a self-hating openly gay man who has chosen a life of celibacy because, he says, “I believe that the Bible and the Christian tradition don’t endorse same-sex sexual activity.”

Instead, he says, he seeks “a life of hospitable community, deep friendship, and genuine love.” (Evidently, he doesn’t consider gay love “genuine.” Perhaps he just hasn’t me the right guy yet.)

Hill calls celibacy “a worthy calling” and a pathway “that the Bible and the Christian tradition have recognized for the stewarding and purifying of our wayward human desires.” (By “purifying” we can only assume he actually means to say “suffocating.”)

Naturally, he’s also opposed to gay marriage.

“The historic Christian teaching is that marriage is meant to be a lifelong covenantal union between a man and a woman that is open to bearing and raising children,” he rambles.”If someone wanted to enter a same-sex union (or was already in one), I would encourage them to consider whether their love for each other could be expressed without sex.”

Better yet, Hill says, if you’re a gay man, why not simply deny yourself real love (and ruin someone else’s life in the process) by marrying an unsuspecting woman? Your everyday existence may become a living hell, but at least you’ll go to Heaven when you die.

“It’s important to say that some gay Christians have married spouses of the opposite sex,” Hill says. “I wouldn’t want to set that up as some kind of norm, but I also don’t want to erase those people’s stories either.”

Because we all know how happily those fairytales have ended.

Related stories:

10 Bible-Based Reasons Why Christians Should Love Homosexuality

New “Christian” Documentary Depicts Tombstone For Gay Past Of Ex-Gay Man

Former “Ex-Gay” Activist Marries A Man And Finally Finds His Happily Ever After

Graham Gremore

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Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore Speaks At Anti-Gay Rally In Texas: VIDEO

John Wright

www.towleroad.com/2015/03/alabama-chief-justice-roy-moore-speaks-at-anti-gay-rally-in-texas-video.html

Antigay Michigan State Rep Warns of Gay Journalist's 'Agenda'

Michigan Rep. Gary Glenn seems to think a gay journalist can’t report the news objectively.

read more

Dawn Ennis

www.advocate.com/politics/2015/03/23/antigay-michigan-state-rep-warns-gay-journalists-agenda

Elizabeth Taylor Would Be 'Horrified' To Learn Of Current HIV Rates In Young Gay Men, Granddaughter Claims
Elizabeth Taylor would be “horrified” to learn about current HIV/AIDS rates in young gay men, the actress’s granddaughter revealed in a new interview.

Naomi deLuce Wilding, 40, tells The Telegraph that “a real complacency” regarding HIV/AIDS in the gay community had already set in before her legendary grandmother’s death at the age of 79 in 2011.

“Even before she died, when my grandmother was pretty ill, she was horrified to see that,” Wilding said. “Sadly I don’t think she had the strength to say what she really felt at that point.”

Describing Taylor as a “very intuitive woman,” Wilding said, “When she saw that people — friends of hers and fellow actors — were being stigmatized [for being HIV-positive], she recognized an opportunity to use her voice and fame to speak up for those who were being discriminated against.”

That mindset, Wilding implied, prompted Taylor to establish the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation (or ETAF) in 1991, following the 1985 death of her good friend, Rock Hudson, due to complications from HIV/AIDS.

During her lifetime, Taylor was reportedly critical of former U.S. President Ronald Reagan’s response to the HIV/AIDS crisis, and lobbied celebrity fans like Michael Jackson and Elton John for support in her cause.

“It is bad enough that people are dying of AIDS, but no one should die of ignorance,” Taylor, who became known internationally as a prominent figure in the fight against HIV/AIDS, is quoted as saying.

www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/03/23/elizabeth-taylor-gay-men-aids_n_6926006.html?utm_hp_ref=gay-voices&ir=Gay+Voices

Australian Rugby Star Takes A Mid-Game Stand Against Homophobia

Australian rugby star David Pocock took a stand against homophobic language during a recent match, and his passionate outcry is being met with both admiration and criticism.

Multiple players on the Brumbies informed their teammate Pocock that a player on their opponents’ team, the Waratahs, was using derogatory antigay slurs to put them down.

26-year-old Pocock, who was formerly the captain of Australia’s national team, has a track record of advocating for LGBT rights, and approached a referee mid-game to bring attention to the situation, informing him that two players had been called “faggots.”

He said afterwards:

“As players, we’ve said the Brumbies aren’t going to tolerate any homophobic slurs, I just made that clear to the referee that it’s unacceptable. You can be the toughest man in the world, but it’s got nothing to do with using that sort of language.”

The incident played out in front of 27,000 fans, with the referee stating the it was “unacceptable.” No official punishments were doled out, though an investigation is currently underway.

While many (including us) praise Pocock for taking a stand, his actions have come under fire from some rugby fans. Here’s the general argument:

“Says Rod, of Surry Hills: “Has sport come to this? I don’t agree with comments like that, but neither do I agree with making such an issue of it. Pocock knows the player(s) involved, and he’d be better served having a stern word to them during the game, or after the game. To bring the referee into it is unnecessary, in my view, although I’m sure plenty of the PC crowd will disagree.”

Pocock naturally has a different take. He said:

“In many ways what happens in sport reflects what’s happening in society. The tide has turned on this, becoming more inclusive and moving towards acceptance and marriage equality at some point is going to happen. I very much see sport playing a role in that.”

via Sydney Morning Herald

Dan Tracer

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