IBM, Sparring With Antigay Jindal, Cancels Louisiana Event

IBM will not be hosting a ribbon-cutting for their new Baton Rouge office, thanks to the governor’s discriminatory executive order.

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Neal Broverman

www.advocate.com/business/2015/06/21/ibm-sparring-antigay-jindal-cancels-louisiana-event

Massive Great White Shark Captured on GoPro as it Feeds on Dead Whale: VIDEO

New footage of a massive Great White Shark spotted feeding on a whale carcass off the coast of Long Island last week has been released. It was shot by a boater with a GoPro Hero 4 camera.
In the new video, the shark circles and approaches the boat before returning to the whale to feast on its underbelly. Video shot earlier in the week shows the shark feeding on the side of the whale at the surface of the water.

Atlantic White Shark Conservancy writes:

The shark has now been ID’d and cataloged by Mass Division of Marine Fisheries scientist John Chisholm. The white shark is the 5th to be ID’d and cataloged this year, including 1 from NC and 3 from Florida. This highlights the value of citizen science!

Video shot earlier in the week:

Ocearch’s founder Chris Fischer and co-captain Brett McBride have been tagging sharks in order to better understand their behavior and you can follow the sharks they have tagged on Ocearch’s website.

Ocearch’s work has inspired a lot of interest on social media and several of the Great Whites they have tagged have their own Twitter accounts, including Katharine and Mary Lee, who has more than 80,000 followers. Both were tagged near Cape Cod.

Massachusetts recently issued new emergency regulations over concern that the proliferation of Great White Sharks around Cape Cod would inspire a rise in shark tourism.

Wicked Local Cape Cod reports:

The summertime presence of these sharks has resulted in substantial public interest and this interest is prompting an increase in deliberate interactions between white sharks and humans, including the development of cage diving and other white shark tourism businesses, as well as incidents of recreational boaters attempting to attract white sharks to their vessels,” said the advisory issued by the state.

The advisory stated that people are prohibited from attracting or capturing white sharks in Massachusetts waters unless they have been issued a permit from the division of marine fisheries. The permit is designed to protect both sharks and people, the advisory said.

Atlantic White Shark Conservancy, a non-profit based in Orleans that has worked with the state on white shark research, has been working to get protective regulations in place since 2013.

Fischer and McBride sat down with CBS Sunday Morning to talk about shark migrations, “grab and release” incidents on humans, and tracking the sharks.

For more on animals and the outdoors, follow our NATURE page.

The post Massive Great White Shark Captured on GoPro as it Feeds on Dead Whale: VIDEO appeared first on Towleroad.

Andy Towle

Massive Great White Shark Captured on GoPro as it Feeds on Dead Whale: VIDEO

Happy Father's Day to My Male-Identified Lesbian Parent

We haven’t always gotten along. In fact, we have had more than our fair share of turbulent years. Stepparenting my brother and I couldn’t have been easy, and there weren’t a lot of other lesbian parents back in the 1970s and ’80s to talk to about it.

Perhaps I fought with you because it was easy — much safer to hurt your feelings than my mother’s or my biological father’s. Perhaps I fought with you because that’s what kids and parents do when they are struggling to balance independence and responsibility. But you always encouraged my dreams, and you always wanted me to be my best self, just like you do for my children.

But one thing I know for sure — no matter what I said or did, you would never go away. There was so many things you couldn’t control, like the simple fact that you were in a same-sex relationship at a time in America when that was abhorred. You couldn’t make us happy, because happiness comes from within. But you could control if you stayed or left, and you always stayed.

I think sometimes life is harder than we think it will be when we are children. I know parenting is harder than I thought it would be. But you managed the most important aspect of parenting — you gave me security. No matter, what, I knew you would love me anyway. No matter what, you would help me if I was in trouble.

I have been poor, depressed, or sick at varying times in my life, and I always knew if I asked, you would be there. Even if you were sick, or hated my spouse, or thought I was making a mistake, you would do whatever you could to help me.

That is the kind of unconditional love we all talk about. It’s not about agreeing about everything, or liking to do the same sorts of activities. It’s about knowing that no matter what, the people who love you will always be there, in good times and bad, sickness and health. Words that we say so often and rarely mean. There is no “unless” in the way you love me — you will love me no matter what mistakes I make or pain I cause. And I have relied on that love more than I have ever admitted, and my children do, too. I see how much they love you, and how gentle and patient you are with them.

So Happy Father’s Day, Pat. I love you, too.

— This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

www.huffingtonpost.com/lara-lillibridge/happy-fathers-day-to-my-m_b_7628316.html?utm_hp_ref=gay-voices&ir=Gay+Voices

Gay Moroccan Men Sentenced To Four Months In Jail For Kissing In Public

Two Moroccan men were sentenced to four months in jail Friday for kissing in public, the latest example of the majority Muslim country’s ongoing crackdown on homosexuality.

The men were charged with “affront to public decency” and an “unnatural act with a person of the same sex,” according to The International Business Times:

They were arrested June 5 after kissing in front of a well-known Rabat landmark, the Hassan Tower, according to i24 News, an international current affairs and news broadcast. Their kiss was a protest against the deportation of two French women for kissing while topless during protests earlier this in June.

In a photo posted June 2 to the Twitter account of FEMEN (above), a feminist protest group that organizes the topless protests, the two women are seen kissing outdoors in Rabat. They are also in front of the Hassan Tower.

In a post on its Facebook page, the Moroccan LGBT group Aswat Collective responded to the sentences:

“These men will be spending the next months behind bars, for what? For being gay. Wanting to love, wanting to live, is unacceptable for our State, in our country. We are outraged by this injustice. We will rise against Article 489 until the last breath is driven out of our union. No to the criminalizing of homosexuality. No to the criminalizing of love. NO TO ARTICLE 489!”

Aswat Collective had gathered more than 75,000 signatures on a petition calling for the two men to be freed, along with others jailed for homosexuality.

BuzzFeed News has more on the recent crackdown in Morocco:

Moroccan authorities have reportedly arrested 20 people accused of homosexuality in Agadir, a coastal resort city in central Morocco, according to a statement sent late Thursday by the LGBT rights group the Aswat Collective. …

Aswat said that it has documented five additional arrests of people accused of homosexuality since February.

“The Moroccan authorities reaffirm their position through this campaign of oppression and arrests targeting homosexuals, while the country is having an intense debate relative to the decriminalization of homosexuality,” the group said.

Back in May, three men were sentenced to three years in jail for engaging in homosexual sex. And last year, a 69-year-old gay man from Great Britain spent 19 days in a Moroccan jail, which he later compared to a concentration camp, for having a relationship with a Moroccan man.

Earlier this month, a Moroccan magazine pulled an edition from the shelves (right) featuring a cover photo of two men gazing into each other’s eyes at a swimming pool, with the headline, “Should homosexuals be burned?”

The post Gay Moroccan Men Sentenced To Four Months In Jail For Kissing In Public appeared first on Towleroad.

John Wright

Gay Moroccan Men Sentenced To Four Months In Jail For Kissing In Public

Celebrating Father’s Day

HRC is proud to celebrate all fathers and all families this Father’s Day.
HRC.org

www.hrc.org/blog/entry/celebrating-fathers-day?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

Android Celebrates Pride with Animated Avatars of Gay Celebrities: WATCH

Android is offering a chance for users to “Androidify” themselves for a chance to have their avatar appear on Android’s floats at pride parades in London, New York and San Francisco. Users’ avatars will appear alongside avatars of gay celebrities and public figures including Conchita Wurst, Sir Ian McKellen, Tom Daley, Sam Smith and Mary Lambert. Watch Android’s ad on how to “androidify” yourself for pride, below:

The post Android Celebrates Pride with Animated Avatars of Gay Celebrities: WATCH appeared first on Towleroad.

Anthony Costello

Android Celebrates Pride with Animated Avatars of Gay Celebrities: WATCH

Enormous Crowds Descend on Rome to Protest Civil Unions

While France, Ireland, and the U.K. have already enacted marriage equality, Italy still struggles with offering any legal recognition to same-sex couples.

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Neal Broverman

www.advocate.com/world/2015/06/21/enormous-crowds-descend-rome-protest-civil-unions