Tennessee judge refuses to divorce straight couple, cites gay marriage ruling

A judge in Tennessee has refused to grant a divorce to a straight couple, citing the gay marriage ruling as a reason.

Hamilton County Chancellor Jeffrey Atherton denied the divorce last week after hearing from seven witnesses over four days and going through 77 exhibits, the Chattanooga Times Free Press reported.

Atherton said the Supreme Court needed to clarify ‘when a marriage is no longer a marriage.’

‘The conclusion reached by this court is that Tennesseans have been deemed by the US Supreme Court to be incompetent to define and address such keystone/central institutions such as marriage, and, thereby, at minimum, contested divorces,’ he wrote in his judgment.

Atherton is the latest in a string of public officials who have refused to obey the ruling. Most notorious is Kentucky clerk Kim Davis, who continues to refuse issuing gay marriage licenses despite a Supreme Court ruling against her. She could now face charges of contempt and jail time.

The Chattanooga Times Free Press reported that Atherton’s decision had ruffled the local legal community. Some lawyers questioned the legality of his ruling, while others believe he was expressing his personal opposition to gay marriage.

Asked by the newspaper what the couple could do next, Atherton replied: ‘Hopefully, they can reconcile.’

The post Tennessee judge refuses to divorce straight couple, cites gay marriage ruling appeared first on Gay Star News.

Darren Wee

www.gaystarnews.com/article/tennessee-judge-refuses-to-divorce-straight-couple-cites-gay-marriage-ruling/

Dan Savage: Kim Davis is a hypocrite just ‘waiting to cash in’

Dan Savage has said the Kentucky clerk refusing to issue gay marriage licenses is a hypocrite just ‘waiting to cash in.’

During an interview with MSNBC on Tuesday (2 September) night, the openly gay sex columnist compared Rowan County clerk Kim Davis to the Indiana pizzeria that raised more than $1 million after refusing to cater gay weddings.

‘I think Kim Davis is waiting to cash in,’ he said.

‘I predicted from the beginning that she would defy all the court orders, defy the Supreme Court.

‘She would be ultimately be held in contempt of court, lose her job, perhaps go to prison for a short amount of time and then she will have written for her ghost-written books, she will go on the right-wing lecture circuit and she’ll never have to do an honest day’s work ever again in her life.’

Savage also pointed out that Davis had divorced three times and married four times.

‘She is a hypocrite,’ he said.

‘She’s now onto her fourth husband. Jesus Christ himself in scripture condemns divorce, calls it adultery and forbids it.

‘Jesus Christ himself in scripture says not one word about same-sex marriage.’

Watch the full interview below:

The post Dan Savage: Kim Davis is a hypocrite just ‘waiting to cash in’ appeared first on Gay Star News.

Darren Wee

www.gaystarnews.com/article/dan-savage-kim-davis-is-a-hypocrite-just-waiting-to-cash-in/

Nine gay men arrested in Burma for ‘acting inappropriately’

Nine gay men have been arrested in Mandalay for ‘acting inappropriately’ even though they had not committed any crimes.

The region’s minister of border and security affairs, Myint Kyu, vowed to crack down on LGBTI people and increase police presence at the city’s moat, an oasis for the LGBTI community.

‘The existence of gay men who assume they are women is unacceptable and therefore we are constantly taking action to have the gays detained at police stations, educate them, then hand them back to their parents,’ he told a regional parliamentary session in August.

Kyu also indicated that authorities had recently ‘checked on’ a group of gay men after being informed they were ‘acting inappropriately’ and arrested nine of them.

He said the men were ‘educated’ and then released on bond when it was found they had not committed any crimes.

‘Burma’s government has a responsibility to ensure noxious statements about gay people don’t go unchallenged,’ said Graeme Reid, Human Right Watch’s LGBT rights director.

‘Unless the government speaks out against such hateful words, it could open the door to more abuse of the sort described by this minister.’

Gay sex is illegal in Burma under a British colonial-era law and punishable by up to life imprisonment.

In July 2013, plainclothes police officers arrested 10 gay men and transgender women and abused them in detention.

The post Nine gay men arrested in Burma for ‘acting inappropriately’ appeared first on Gay Star News.

Darren Wee

www.gaystarnews.com/article/nine-gay-men-arrested-in-burma-for-acting-inappropriately/

WATCH: Kim Davis as Heroic as Abolitionists, Says Bryan Fischer

Yep, opposing marriage equality is just like opposing slavery. Or the Nazis, says the antigay commentator.

read more

Trudy Ring

www.advocate.com/marriage-equality/2015/09/02/watch-kim-davis-heroic-abolitionists-says-bryan-fischer

Hottie US Marine Tanner White takes to YouTube to ask Steve Grand to military ball

Steve Grand became a singing sensation when his song All-American Boy went viral on YouTube two years ago.

Now one of the singer’s fans has also taken to YouTube to make one of his dreams come true: he wants a date with Grand.

US Marine Tanner White says on the video: ‘Steve, you’re an amazing singer. I’ve seen some of your blog videos and they were awesome. I would like you to go with me to the 2015 Marine Corps Ball in November hosted in Wlimington, North Carolina, as my date.’

‘Hopefully you say yes. If not, it was worth a shot.’

As of late Wednesday (2 September), the video has been viewed more than 16,000 times.

But so far, no response from Grand.

The post Hottie US Marine Tanner White takes to YouTube to ask Steve Grand to military ball appeared first on Gay Star News.

Greg Hernandez

www.gaystarnews.com/article/hottie-us-marine-tanner-white-takes-to-youtube-to-ask-steve-grand-to-military-ball/

LGBT Supporters to Hillary Clinton: The Battle Isn't Over

Donors to her campaign who represent lesbian, gay, bisexual, and trans voters tell MSNBC, ‘The idea that after marriage, everything’s solved is a very dangerous idea.’

read more

Dawn Ennis

www.advocate.com/hillary-clinton/2015/09/02/lgbt-supporters-hillary-clinton-battle-isnt-over

Bobby Jindal Defends Kentucky Clerk Kim Davis

DENISON, Iowa — Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) said on Wednesday that a Kentucky county clerk had a right to refuse to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples despite an order from a federal judge to do so.

Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis refused to issue marriage licenses on Tuesday, even after the Supreme Court rejected an application for a stay on a federal court order. As HuffPost’s Cristian Farias reported, Davis cannot be fired from her position because she is an elected official. She can only be removed from office if she is impeached by the state legislature or charged with a crime.

Lawyers for the couple have filed a motion to hold Davis in contempt of court and impose financial penalties on her for refusing. A hearing will be held Thursday.

Jindal, who is seeking the Republican nomination for president, told The Huffington Post that Davis shouldn’t have to resign and was justified in her refusal.

“I don’t think anyone should have to choose between following their conscience and religious beliefs and giving up their job and facing financial sanctions. I think it’s wrong to force Christian individuals or business owners. We are seeing government today discriminate against whether it’s clerks, florists, musicians or others. I think that’s wrong. I think you should be able to keep your job and follow your conscience,” he said. “I absolutely do believe people have a First Amendment right, a constitutional right. I don’t think the court can take that away.”

In a ruling last week, a federal appeals court ordered Davis to issue the licenses, saying “it cannot be defensibly argued that the holder of the Rowan County Clerk’s office . . . may decline to act in conformity with the United States Constitution.”

But Davis said on Tuesday that she was refusing to issue the licenses “under God’s authority” and that choosing to do so was a “a Heaven or Hell decision.”

Even though Davis is acting in her official capacity, Jindal still said that Davis shouldn’t have to choose between her religious conscience and her job.

“The United States didn’t create religious liberty. Religious liberty created the United States of America. It’s the reason we are here today. This is an essential freedom and an essential right and I don’t think you give up this right by simply taking a job.”

Jindal’s comments differ from those of Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), another Republican presidential contender, who said that Davis should comply with the law or resign.

Samantha-Jo Roth reported from Denison, Iowa. Sam Levine reported from New York.

Also on HuffPost:

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Kim Davis gets spoofed by Funny or Die with help from Parks and Recreation

The NBC sitcom Parks and Recreation may have ended its acclaimed run this year but two of its characters live on through the comedy of Funny or Die.

The Emmy-winning comedy video website cleverly uses clips of the show about absurd antics of an Indiana town’s public officials to goof on the antics of Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis.

Davis is currently in the national spotlight over her refusal to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples in her Kentucky county.

In the video Clerks and Recreation, previously-used lines from the characters of Leslie Knope (Amy Poehler) and Ron Swanson (Nick Offerman) are re-purposed to describe Davis.

Swanson says Davis is ‘the worst person in the world working at the worst place in the world.’ He says she has no weaknesses because she is a machine ‘programmed by someone from the future to come back and destroy all happiness.’

‘She’s a Grade A bitch, he adds. ‘Every time she laughs, an angel dies. Her birth was payback for the sins of man.’

The post Kim Davis gets spoofed by Funny or Die with help from Parks and Recreation appeared first on Gay Star News.

Greg Hernandez

www.gaystarnews.com/article/rowan-county-clerk-kim-davis-gets-spoofed-by-funny-or-die-with-the-help-of-parks-and-recreation/

Sadistic Frat Boys Allegedly Attack Gay Man, Strip Him Naked, In Possible Hate Crime

Police at the University of North Dakota are investigating a possible hate crime in which a group of drunken Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity brothers sexually assaulted a gay man.

Haakon Gisvold claims he went to a party held at the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity house last weekend. At some point during the evening, four brothers approached him and demanded he leave because his sexual orientation was apparently different than theirs.

Related: Penn State Fraternity Pledge Sues After Being Raped During Rush Party

According to Gisvold, the men followed him outside. They pushed him to the ground then proceeded to choke him. His clothes were stripped from his body, and his belt was used to beat him as they shouted antigay slurs.

If the allegations are true, police say the case could be treated as a hate crime.

“If you label something a hate crime it has to be labeled based on the fact that the suspect knew that that person was something. Whether it was based on race or religion or whatnot,” UND sergeant Danny Weigel told the Grand Forks Herald. “We were informed by the victim that people with the assault had made comments regarding sexual orientation.”

But some students say they are skeptical of Gisvold’s story.

“I’m just surprised,” freshman Cade Hoben told the Herald. “And I feel like there’s more to the story.”

“I guess, I really can’t believe that, but if it’s true, that’s crazy,” added freshman Maria Diepolder. “I think [Lambda Chi Alpha has] a pretty good reputation here in North Dakota.”

Lambda Chi Alpha has not released a statement over the matter. UND’s president, Robert Kelley, released a statement this week saying he was “disturbed” by the news and assuring that “any student or student organization found to have violated the UND Code of Student Life will be subject to disciplinary action.”

Related: Frat Boy Dishes On What It’s Like To Be Gay And Greek

h/t: Grand Forks Herald

Graham Gremore

feedproxy.google.com/~r/queerty2/~3/WdAJwt4fYq4/sadistic-frat-boys-allegedly-attack-gay-man-strip-him-naked-in-possible-hate-crime-20150902

Lindsey Graham to Anti-Gay Clerk Kim Davis: ‘Comply With The Law Or Resign’ – LISTEN

Republican presidential candidate and gay marriage opponent Lindsey Graham shockingly sided with the LGBT community for once on the issue of marriage, saying that Kentucky county clerk Kim Davis needs to abide by the law and issue same-sex marriage licenses, as The Huffington Post reports.

Sen. Graham issued his comments on Hugh Hewitt’s conservative radio program this Tuesday saying that while he agrees with Davis’ ideals on marriage, she still has to comply with the law of the land:

“The rule of law is the rule of law. We are a rule of law nation.

“I appreciate her conviction, I support traditional marriage, but she’s accepted a job in which she has to apply the law to everyone.”

Sen. Graham ended his statement saying that if Davis doesn’t comply with the law then she needs to resign from her position.

The options for ousting Davis are few as Kentucky law prevents Davis, an elected official, from being terminated. She can only be removed from office if she’s charged with a crime or impeached, which the ACLU is quickly attempting to prove in a motion they filed on Tuesday holding Davis in contempt of court.

Although Davis has rallied support from several public-conservative personalities, many including Sen. Graham and also Carly Fiorina are publicly disavowing her contempt of the law.

Listen to Graham’s comments on Hewitt’s show, below:

The post Lindsey Graham to Anti-Gay Clerk Kim Davis: ‘Comply With The Law Or Resign’ – LISTEN appeared first on Towleroad.

Anthony Costello

Lindsey Graham to Anti-Gay Clerk Kim Davis: ‘Comply With The Law Or Resign’ – LISTEN