Should Gay Cousins Be Allowed to Marry?

Should gay cousins be allowed to marry?

Independent Irish Senator David Norris told the Seanad’s upper house that “yes,” they should, during a debate over the marriage equality bill on Wednesday evening.

The bill, which has passed the Dáil and today passed its second stage in the Seanad, will undergo more debate at a committee stage tomorrow before it goes to President Michael Higgins to be signed into law.

Norris, a gay man, predicted he would be “pilloried” by the “grotesque Irish media” for his remarks, The Journal reports.

Said Norris to the Seanad:

“It wouldn’t take a feather out of me if two cousin married each other, what’s the problem with that. Really?”

In a poll on the Irish Times website 35% agreed with Norris and 65% disagreed, at the time of this posting.

He added, cheering the change in attitudes regarding same-sex marriage: “When I started off [in politics] it was a world of hatred, contempt and silence. Gay people were regarded as sources of sin, crime and disease… Everything was clouded completely with silence. … I was extraordinarily moved by the many, many young people, both gay and straight, who came home from abroad to vote. I have heard so many moving stories of young people all over Ireland who have been given the courage for the first time to face the reality of their sexuality, come out, declare themselves and live their lives.”

Readers may recall that Norris ran a campaign for the Irish presidency in 2011. He bowed out after the disclosure of letters to Israeli authorities asking for clemency for a former partner.

The post Should Gay Cousins Be Allowed to Marry? appeared first on Towleroad.

Andy Towle

Should Gay Cousins Be Allowed to Marry?

STUDY: LGBT Inmates More Likely To Be Sexually Abused, In Solitary

A report by a prisoners rights group, billed as the largest study of America’s LGBTQIA prison population to date, uncovers some startling statistics and shows LGBT inmates face particularly harsh conditions behind bars.

Prison abolitionist group Black and Pink surveyed 1,118 inmates, 950 of whom identified as LGBT and two-spirit, and found that inmates who identified as such were four times more likely to be sexually assaulted in prison than other inmates.

“I’ve been sexually assaulted about 5 times in 25 years. It’s to the point now that I just go on and sell my body for these gang members because the prison staff won’t put me in safekeeping around other homosexuals,” wrote one of 130 inmates who shared detailed stories with the activist group. Another inmate who shared his story said he tried to report his rape and was told by a commanding officer that “faggots can’t get raped.”

According to the survey, at least 81 percent of respondents reported having to pay a fee to see a doctor and almost half found these fees to be a barrier to seeking medical care. Additionally, 70 percent reported having sex in in prison, though condoms are most often not available, and seven percent of respondents reported being HIV-positive.

The survey found 85 percent of respondents had spent time in solitary confinement, noting that most were placed there for their own safety, and not for an infraction, although some requested isolation due to increased risk of violence. “People did not want to live with someone who has HIV, so I was put in solitary confinement because of this,” wrote one respondent.

“I was placed in solitary after being raped… only released after it drove me to a suicide attempt,” wrote another. Half of those surveyed have spent more than two years in isolation, and the report found transgender and two-spirit prisoners, along with cisgender gay men, were most likely to be put in solitary confinement involuntarily.

Along with dismal data, the report asked prisoners for suggestions regarding what could be done to help. “The most important way to empower prisoners is by giving them a voice, a ‘soap box’ to communicate from,” wrote one inmate.

“Tell people the real truth: prisons don’t deter crime, programs and mentoring do,” wrote another.

Read the full report here.

Elizabeth Daley

www.advocate.com/crime/2015/10/21/study-lgbtq-inmates-more-likely-be-sexually-abused-solitary

The Internet Is In Disbelief Over This Handsome Father-Son Duo

When 20-year-old Correll Stanfield traveled from Baltimore to Atlanta to visit his dad, something so right happened that it felt almost wrong: they took what’s arguably the most thirst-worthy photo of 2015. Stanfield shared the picture on Twitter with the caption: “Pops, he looks more like my brother, this man 46 years old.”

…And the world wasn’t ready.

Stanfield’s photo of him (left) and his youthful-looking father (right) caught the attention of many on social media, gaining more than 16,000 retweets as of Oct. 21, and 21,000 favorites. The photo was also posted on a Twitter account called “Fine Ass Black Men,” because obviously.

“Well, it’s definitely a confidence boost, not that I need one, but it’s cool,” Stanfield told BuzzFeed. “I think it’s a blessing that me and my dad’s physical stature has an overwhelming effect on some women.”

An overwhelming effect, indeed. Here’s what people are saying:

Stanfield is single but his dad is married, which undoubtedly comes as unfortunate news for countless people. However, Stanfield told BuzzFeed that his father is a pastor and he hopes that the attention the two received will “bring more women closer to God.”

No matter your religious belief, however, it’s hard not to appreciate these two divine creations:

Amen.

Also on HuffPost:

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Open Question: LIBERAL'S ISLAM IS NOT ISLAM
LIBERAL'S ISLAM IS FAKE OF ISLAM
LIBERAL'S ISLAM SUPPORT LGBT
ISLAM DIDN'T SUPPORT LGBT?

answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20151021085001AAt7JKQ

#AM_Equality Tip Sheet: October 21, 2015

Check out today’s top headlines courtesy of HRC’s A.M. Equality Tip Sheet.
HRC.org

www.hrc.org/blog/entry/am-equality-tip-sheet-october-21-2015?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

Pharma Bro Martin Shkreli Fakes Injury For Attention, Plan Backfires

Pharma bro/professional douche Martin Shkreli got so pissed off after Bernie Sanders rejected his campaign donation that he allegedly punched a wall and fractured his wrist. Or so he tweets.

Shkreli was named “the most hated man in America” by several media outlets last month after he raised the price of Daraprim, a drug used by some HIV patients, from $13.50 to $750 per tablet. He dug himself into an even deeper hole when he went on a Twitter rampage firing off smug responses at anyone who criticized him. He later said he was going to lower the price of the drug, though he’s yet to actually do so.

Related: Bernie Sanders Rejects Donation From Price-Gouging AIDS Drug CEO Martin Shkreli

Last week, Sanders sent out an email soliciting donations for his campaign. Shkreli sent him $2,700, the maximum amount allowed by law and the cost of approximately 3.6 tablets of Daraprim. But he soon had his donation returned.

“We are not keeping the money from this poster boy for drug company greed,” said Michael Briggs, a spokesman for the Sanders campaign in the email.

Shkreli took to Twitter to express his outrage with Sanders:

SO ANGRY AT @BernieSanders I COULD PUNCH A WALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

— Martin Shkreli (@MartinShkreli) October 18, 2015

Then apparently he punched a wall:

Ugh, does anyone know how to treat a wrist fracture without going to a hospital? — Martin Shkreli (@MartinShkreli) October 18, 2015

Then he tweeted a picture of his x-ray:

This is such bullshit. pic.twitter.com/t0Hgx8xdmy

— Martin Shkreli (@MartinShkreli) October 19, 2015

The x-ray, however, was photoshopped. Gawker did some sleuthing and found a reverse image of it on Google. When someone sent a link to the image, Shkreli replied “thats what the doc sent me IDK.” In an effort to prove he wasn’t lying, Shkreli then tweeted this picture of himself wearing an arm brace:

FML. pic.twitter.com/8ModeaBPVB — Martin Shkreli (@MartinShkreli) October 20, 2015

Since then he’s dropped the fractured wrist act and has instead taken to trolling Bernie Sanders:

Bernie Sanders @BernieSanders @SenSanders raised the donation requested from his supporters by 755% in one day. Price gouging.

— Martin Shkreli (@MartinShkreli) October 19, 2015

Bernie Sanders, exposed. @SenSanders @BernieSanders pic.twitter.com/nXwAuW6kcB

— Martin Shkreli (@MartinShkreli) October 19, 2015

He also took a moment to complain about an unattractive picture of him that’s been circulating around the internet:

WILL EVERYONE PLEASE STOP USING THAT UGLY PIC OF ME. I HATE BLOOMBERG FOR TAKING IT–THERE ARE SO MANY BETTER ONES!!!!!!!!!1111111ONE — Martin Shkreli (@MartinShkreli) October 20, 2015

Here’s the picture:

Graham Gremore

feedproxy.google.com/~r/queerty2/~3/xcVOoxXOdKg/pharma-bro-martin-shkreli-fakes-injury-for-attention-plan-backfires-20151021

D.C. Trans Woman Murdered After Attacker ‘Embarrassed’ in Front of His ‘Crew’

A Washington, D.C. man charged with the murder of transgender woman Zella Ziona (above) on October 15th in Montgomery County shot his victim multiple times because she embarrassed him in front of his friends, reports The Washington Blade.

According to a police statement, witnesses told detectives that Rico Hector Leblond (right) and Ziona knew each other and the shooting took place following a “simmering dispute that had been escalating” between the two.

RELATED: Arrest Made in Murder of Philadelphia Trans Woman Keisha Jenkins

The statement, which refers to Ziona by her birth name, reads:

“It appears that Smith and Leblond had some sort of friendship and that information had now become public. Leblond was very upset with Smith when this information came to light. In the recent past, Leblond was with his crew at the Lake Forest Mall when Smith approached his group and began acting flamboyantly towards Leblond and greatly embarrassed Leblond in front of his peers.

“Detectives believe that Smith was assaulted by a subject with a stick at that time. This event may have served as a precursor to lure Smith into the alleyway to fight and where she was ultimately murdered.”

Capt. Darren Francke, commander of the Montgomery County Police Major Crimes Division, said “it’s clear that this was an absolutely premeditated murder…Leblond sought out the victim and killed her.”

Charged with first degree murder, Leblond was being held without bond since his arrest. He was scheduled to appear in court on Monday. His priors include assault, robbery, theft and trespassing.

[Zella Ziona image via Facebook. Rico Leblond image via Montgomery Country Department of Police]

The post D.C. Trans Woman Murdered After Attacker ‘Embarrassed’ in Front of His ‘Crew’ appeared first on Towleroad.

Michael Fitzgerald

D.C. Trans Woman Murdered After Attacker ‘Embarrassed’ in Front of His ‘Crew’

Top Mormon Official: Kim Davis Is Wrong, Same-Sex Marriage Is 'Valid'

Apostle Dallin H. Oaks, second in line to the presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and a former Utah State Supreme Court justice, told a gathering of believers that renegade Kentucky clerk Kim Davis is abusing the principle of religious freedom to justify her anti-LGBT stance, and urged conservative activists to stop trying to overturn LGBT nondiscrimination laws.

Davis infamously refused to issue marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples despite being ordered to do so by a federal judge and was sent to jail in early September for contempt of court. Many far right politicians and religious activists have championed the lawbreaker’s cause.

Government officials “are not free to apply personal convictions — religious or other — in place of the defined responsibilities of their public offices,” Oaks told the group, according to The Salt Lake Tribune. “A county clerk’s recent invoking of religious reasons to justify refusal by her office and staff to issue marriage licenses to same-gender couples violates this principle.”

Oaks’s speech, titled “The Boundary Between Church and State,” came at the Second Annual Sacramento Court/Clergy Conference yesterday. The LDS church has remained silent on the controversy until now, but Oaks’s high ranking position as part of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles could be inferred to be the church’s position.

“Believers should acknowledge the validity of constitutional laws,” Oaks told the conference attendees. “Even where they have challenged laws or practices on constitutional grounds, once those laws or practices have been sustained by the highest available authority, believers should acknowledge their validity and submit to them.”

Oaks urged the gathering to moderate their stance on religious freedom and opposition to secular laws in favor of LGBT rights and other hot-button social issues. The goal, he said, is a balance between religion and government. He said believers need to find a “center path” with non-believers.

“Parties with different views on the relationship between church and state should advocate and act with civility,” Oaks said. “We all lose when an atmosphere of anger or hostility or contention prevails. We all lose when we cannot debate public policies without resorting to boycotts, firings and intimidation of our adversaries.”

“On the big issues that divide adversaries on these issues, both sides should seek a balance, not a total victory,” Oaks advised. “For example, religionists should not seek a veto over all nondiscrimination laws that offend their religion, and the proponents of nondiscrimination should not seek a veto over all assertions of religious freedom.”

Bil Browning

www.advocate.com/religion/2015/10/21/top-mormon-official-kim-davis-wrong-same-sex-marriage-valid

Big News For Logo TV

It’s been quite the year for Logo TV.

The queer TV network announced recently announced that last year it scored its highest ratings in the 10-year history of the network.

“Logo is celebrating its 10^th anniversary with not only our highest rated year ever, but as the only cable network to achieve 9 consecutive quarters of year-over-year growth,” Chris McCarthy, General Manager of Logo and VH1, said in a press release. “We have no plans to slow down as we roll out a diverse slate of programs that will continue to spark conversations, entertain our audience and drive results.”

Logo also announced a second season of “Cocktails & Classics,” the return of “RuPaul’s Drag Race: Season 5 RuVealed” and the premiere of a documentary about LGBT elders called “Gen Silent.”

Congrats to our queer brothers and sisters at Logo!

Also on HuffPost:

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