10 Fun Facts About Christian Extremist Becky Wegner Rommel

When it comes to spewing nonsense, it seems Becky Wegner Rommel can dish it out, but she can’t always take it.

Yesterday, Queerty was the first to report on the 64-year-old Indiana housewife’s recorded meltdown over marriage equality. It included tears, screaming, yelling, crying for Jesus, and jabs at gays, gay-loving Christians, Muslims, women who have abortions, and, of course, President Obama.

Related: Christian Extremist Records Herself Imploding Over Marriage Equality In Must-See Video

After we posted the video, several other major media outlets picked up the story (some without attribution). And, just like that, Becky became either national laughing stock or a conservative heroine, depending on where you sit on the political scale.

Well today, Mrs. Rommel’s Facebook page (along with the fascinating video, unfortunately) has been deleted. And it appears she’s begun scrubbing the internet of her existence. Luckily, we were able to track her down on Instagram before she deleted that account, and it turns out, she’s quite a colorful character. She also might be a tad forgetful when it comes to the good book. For instance, chapter 19, verse 28 in the book of Leviticus (which is where most of the antigay folks find the scripture they twist and misinterpret) reads: “You shall not make any cuts on your body for the dead or tattoo yourselves: I am the Lord.” Lo and behold, Becky’s foot is sporting some stylish ink that might have led to her being stoned in days of yore. And don’t get us started on the hair…

Seriously, though, it might be fun to have a drink with her some time, but only in a gay bar of course. Upon inspection, we think she has more in common with gay men than she seems to think. Other than her political views, she’s really pretty fabulous.

Without any further ado, here are 10 things we learned about Becky Wegner Rommel from her now-defunct Instagram account…

1. She loves cats

2. She loves showing off her QVC jewelry

3. She knows how to rock a denim vest and knee high boots in front of a fireplace

4. She makes great funny faces

5. Her husband has a cool porn ‘stache

6. She’s not a natural blonde

7. Did we mention she loves showing off her QVC jewelry?

8. She has a tattoo on her foot that says “Joy Unspeakable”

9. When it comes to hair, bigger is better

10. This is the pillow she rests her head on every night

Graham Gremore

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Did Southern Baptist Baylor University Just Sign Off On Gay Sex Among Students?

Gay sex may no longer be explicitly prohibited at Baylor University, as long as the two people are married.

The Southern Baptist school in Waco, Texas, has removed “homosexual acts” from its misconduct policy. However, the policy still states that “physical sexual intimacy is to be expressed in the context of marital fidelity.”

It’s unclear whether the change comes in response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in favor of same-sex marriage. From The Waco Herald-Tribune:

“These changes were made because we didn’t believe the language reflected the university’s caring community,” Baylor spokeswoman Lori Fogleman wrote in an email. “The university has a responsibility to articulate clearly and consistently Baylor’s commitment to its values as a Christian university.”

Fogleman would not elaborate on whether the policy opens the door for married same-sex couples at Baylor in light of the Supreme Court’s ruling knocking down bans on same-sex marriages.

Fugleman also told the newspaper that the policy change was part of a two-year review of all university policies. And she said the misconduct policy — which is now actually called the “conduct” policy — is to be “interpreted in a manner consistent with the Baptist Faith and Message of 1963,” which states:

Marriage is the uniting of one man and one woman in covenant commitment for a lifetime. It is Gods unique gift to reveal the union between Christ and His church, and to provide for the man and the woman in marriage the framework for intimate companionship, the channel for sexual expression according to biblical standards, and the means for procreation of the human race.

The husband and wife are of equal worth before God, since both are created in Gods image. The marriage relationship models the way God relates to His people. A husband is to love his wife as Christ loved the church. He has the God-given responsibility to provide for, to protect, and to lead his family. A wife is to submit herself graciously to the servant leadership of her husband even as the church willingly submits to the headship of Christ. She, being in the image of God as is her husband and thus equal to him, has the God-given responsibility to respect her husband and to serve as his helper in managing the household and nurturing the next generation.

Baylor also still has a Statement on Human Sexuality posted on its website, which says the following:

Baylor University welcomes all students into a safe and supportive environment in which to discuss and learn about a variety of issues, including those of human sexuality. The University affirms the biblical understanding of sexuality as a gift from God. Christian churches across the ages and around the world have affirmed purity in singleness and fidelity in marriage between a man and a woman as the biblical norm. Temptations to deviate from this norm include both heterosexual sex outside of marriage and homosexual behavior. It is thus expected that Baylor students will not participate in advocacy groups which promote understandings of sexuality that are contrary to biblical teaching

Nevertheless, a former student who fought to change the misconduct policy two years ago, Trenton Garza, says it’s a victory:

“In this case, they are applying things universally, to where it’s equal, it’s fair, and by removing anything that would enumerate one subset of students and could be used to subject them to any sort of negative feelings at Baylor,” said Garza, who now works in political and marketing consulting. …

“The fact that the university took the initiative to nix and replace the wording of the previous code and to establish this new policy, I think that is a sign of acknowledgement that the previous code was egregious or was (creating) a sense of separation among its students,” he said.

The post Did Southern Baptist Baylor University Just Sign Off On Gay Sex Among Students? appeared first on Towleroad.

John Wright

Did Southern Baptist Baylor University Just Sign Off On Gay Sex Among Students?

Bobby Jindal Is Trying to Delay Marriage in Louisiana Yet Again

The state of Louisiana is among the last holdouts on recognizing the Supreme Court’s ruling.

read more

Lucas Grindley

www.advocate.com/politics/marriage-equality/2015/07/02/bobby-jindal-trying-delay-marriage-louisiana-yet-again

Black on Gay Hate Has to Stop: Gay Lives Matter Too
As a gay man, I have experienced a great deal of difficulties assimilating and finding my way in this supposed land of the free. Black gay males often find themselves struggling to cope with multiple oppressions. Racism, homophobia, and sexism has prevented us from actualizing many dreams and aspirations and in an incongruous kind of the way we have taught ourselves to overcompensate as a coping mechanism for rejection and hate.

Many black gay men struggle internally with self-acceptance because most of us grew up in a culture where autonomy and diversity weren’t conventional, and we were taught to believe that our “gayness” would somehow further demoralize the already deleterious image of black men. Even worse, was the rejection felt from our family members and peers and the contrived lessons taught by our spiritual institutions that because of our sexuality we was doomed to hell and that God did not love us; which fed into our already low self-esteem and further exacerbated our self-hate and shame.

Unfortunately, my experiences being black and gay has not lived up to the grandiose, hypersexual footage of care-free living and expression as personified on television. Actually, as a gay professional black male I have experienced the exact opposite. Instead of being accepted, I’ve been denied; instead of being trusted, I’ve been distrusted. Instead of being taken by my race, I have met discrimination and bias, which has made me acutely aware of the paradoxical conflict currently going on in America.

Contrary to major belief, being gay in America isn’t about color, status, or financial prowess. Being gay is about being emotionally and psychologically free to express oneself without fear of being ostracized, boxed in or unloved because of one’s sexual identity. A person that identifies as gay does not walk around purporting their sexuality; being gay is an identity and identity is defined as: distinguishing character or personality of an individual.

Identifying as gay resonates with being comfortable in one’s skin, knowing that we can be anything that we want to be and that the only thing that stops us from obtaining the American dream is our fears and inhibitions. As a group of informed people, we have to stop judging our brothers and sisters by the orientation of their sex and learn to fortify each other by the content of their character.

We often glorify our dislike of each other by unnecessarily discriminating against each other and harboring hidden contempt. This has to stop. As sojourners for the oppressed, it is time for us to think differently so that we can have something different as a nation, and people. Everyone deserves to be treated with respect and dignity regardless of who they are, whom they love, and who loves them. I am reminded of a black man first that we want to be respected and afforded the same constitutional rights as all other American’s.

Discrimination is discrimination even when used under the guise of religion. Discrimination is designed to subjugate a group of persons. Just as we don’t want to be victimized for the color of our skin and want to be treated with dignity and respect; we must learn to do the same for our brothers and sisters that identify as gay. Biblically there was one group of people that consistently angered God, and that was the religious self-righteous. The religious self-righteous were prideful and arrogant and acted as if their superiority positioned them for more moral greatness than others. However, these religious elites irritated and saddened God because He saw this group of people as arrogant, unloving, hypocritical, and judgmental. For the past year, we have publicly decreed that “black lives matter” and we have marched diligently to that end. Although, I know that many of my black brothers and sister’s will not take the time to read this post, however, I truly hope that one day we all realize that GAY LIVES MATTER too.

For more than six years Psychotherapist and Life Coach, Dr. Warrick T. Stewart (affectionately known as Dr. Warrick) has been an integral and innovative addition to the counseling, and mental health field. Dr. Warrick is a Board Certified Licensed Professional Counselor in both North Carolina and Georgia. He is also a Licensed Clinical Addictions Specialist a Certified Rehabilitation Counselor and a Diplomate of American Psychotherapy Association.

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Pride Houston outing shows ExxonMobil making progress on LGBTI issues

It’s now common to see corporate staff participating in Pride parades.

However, while big companies in the tech, retail, finance and legal sectors appear to have embraced LGBTI inclusion within their core values, firms in the energy sector sometimes lag behind.

This makes ExxonMobil’s support of Houston Pride last weekend, where staff were given permission to march with an ExxonMobil banner, noteworthy. What makes it more remarkable is the shift it demonstrates in ExxonMobil’s own particular stance.

The company, which is the third largest in the world, came at the very bottom in the Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index in 2014 and 2015. In fact, it scored -25; the only company to ever score a minus figure.

In 2013, HRC President Chad Griffin said, ‘No company has proven itself a worse corporate citizen by betraying its LGBT employees time and again than ExxonMobil.’

That ‘betrayal’ may have been a reference to Exxon passing up an opportunity to do the right thing; when Exxon took over Mobil in 1999, it dropped the latter’s policies prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation and terminated the practice of offering benefits to same-sex partners.

In an indication that the company is edging into the 21st Century, at the beginning of 2015 it re-introduced policies barring discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

Furthermore, this October it will be one of the official sponsors of the annual Out and Equal Workplace Summit in Dallas – an event where hundreds of LGBTI representatives convene to discuss diversity and inclusion.

‘Like other major oil companies, Exxon is increasingly a technology company, Steve Coll, author of Private Empire: ExxonMobil and American Power told the New York Times. ‘They need to attract and retain the top scientific and engineering talent. They’ve been slow to recognize that it’s in their interest to move to a culture of inclusion.’

J.Chris Martin, president of Pride, Exxon-Mobil’s LGBT employee resource group, concurred, saying, ‘I think what’s changed is that we’ve been able to show there’s a business advantage to the company.’

Exxon-Mobil is headquartered in Houston, Texas. This year’s Houston Pride parade took place in the Downtown district, after 36 years in the Montrose neighborhood. Organizers estimate that the relocation helped this year’s event attract something in the region of 700,000 people.

Mike Craig, Co-Chair of advocacy group Out & Equal Houston told Gay Star Business that ExxonMobil’s participation in the event was a positive sign.

‘It was great to see the ExxonMobil contingent in the Houston Pride Parade last Saturday evening – and a fitting celebratory milestone for all the hard work and engagement that LGBT XOM employees and their allies have put in over these last few years.

‘ExxonMobil employees have been active participants in many past Out & Equal Houston events – and were, in fact, part of the business group that came together and proposed establishing the Houston chapter. So it’s gratifying to see their company join the ranks of industry leaders like Chevron, BP & Shell in embracing LGBT-inclusive workplace policies.’

A spokesperson for Human Rights Campaign also welcomed the group’s participation.

‘We are cautiously optimistic about the company strengthening its LGBT inclusion programs,’ said Liz Halloran, who also pointed out the company’s aforementioned change to its Equal Employment Opportunity as move in the right direction.

ExxonMobil have been approached for further comment.

H/T: New York Times

The post Pride Houston outing shows ExxonMobil making progress on LGBTI issues appeared first on Gay Star News.

David Hudson

www.gaystarnews.com/article/pride-houston-outing-shows-exxonmobil-making-progress-on-lgbti-issues/

Honoring the Anniversary of the Civil Rights Act of 1964

Today, we honor the 51st anniversary of the signing of the Civil Rights Act, legislation that marked a milestone in the civil rights movement.
HRC.org

www.hrc.org/blog/entry/honoring-the-anniversary-of-the-civil-rights-act-of-1964?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

Eli Lieb Just Wants To Look Good For You: VIDEO

Out gay singer Eli Lieb is back with another one of his great covers.

In “Good For You” Lieb adds a a soulful and guttural edge to the song originally performed by Selena Gomez. While Gomez comes off as channeling Lana del Rey, Lieb’s cover is laced with pain and urgency.

Watch his video below:

If you haven’t already be sure to check out Lieb’s cover of P!nk’s “Try” and his original songs, “Zeppelin”, “Lightning in a Bottle”, and “Young Love.”

The post Eli Lieb Just Wants To Look Good For You: VIDEO appeared first on Towleroad.

Sean Mandell

Eli Lieb Just Wants To Look Good For You: VIDEO

Coming out of the Closet in Front of the Cast of Mamma Mia

Teachers, management, and even his friends coached Raymond avoid seeming too gay. But Judith Light (Angela from Who’s the Boss) had different advice.

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Matt Baume

www.advocate.com/arts-entertainment/2015/07/02/coming-out-closet-front-cast-mamma-mia