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Atlanta-Area Family Terrorized With Repeated Hate Crime Attacks
An arsonist has destroyed a Georgia family’s car, just one month after they hung a rainbow flag outside their home.
Bil Browning
www.advocate.com/georgia/2015/08/27/atlanta-area-family-terrorized-repeated-hate-crime-attacks
Leaked documents show Grindr expects nearly $40 million in revenue for 2015
Documents leaked as part of the Ashley Madison hacking scandal have revealed the state of gay dating app company Grindr’s finances, showing projected revenues of $38 million for the year 2015.
Emails from Ashley Madison CEO Noel Biderman show that parent company Avid Life Media was considering acquiring Grindr and the financial documents, marked ‘private and confidential,’ appear to be part of a presentation to spruik the deal.
According to the documents Grindr had revenues of close to $16 million in 2012, growing to $24 million the following year and the company is projecting revenue growth of around $10 million per year.
The company’s projections go as far as 2018 when Grindr expects to be raking in as much as $77 million in combined revenue from member subscription fees and advertising.
An accompanying graph estimates the time Grindr users spend on social networks – claiming they spend as much as 54 minutes a day on the app – compared to 42 minutes for Facebook users.
Users of the closest ranked dating app, Tinder, only spent around 15 minutes per day on the app.
The app continues to have its largest user base in the United States, with close to 1.3 million monthly active users.
Other top Grindr using countries included the United Kingdom, Brazil and France in that order.
The documents say Grindr has around 10.5 million users worldwide with 3.8 of those using the app at least once a month.
It is unknown whether Avid Life Media is still interested in Grindr or whether it is still in a position to acquire it following the hacking scandal that saw the personal details of more than 30 million users of the infidelity dating site Ashley Madison leaked online.
Grindr is yet to address the leak of the documents via its website or social media accounts.
The post Leaked documents show Grindr expects nearly $40 million in revenue for 2015 appeared first on Gay Star News.
Andrew Potts
Cruz, Santorum, Jindal and Carson sign NOM pledge to repeal gay marriage
Four US presidential candidates have signed a pledge to overturn the Supreme Court’s landmark ruling on gay marriage if elected in 2016.
Ted Cruz, Rick Santorum, Bobby Jindal and Ben Carson all signed the National Organization for Marriage’s pledge.
In doing so, the four Republicans vowed to amend the constitution to ban gay marriage and reverse the US Supreme Court’s ‘illegitimate’ decision in the Obergefell case.
They also promised to ban the promotion of the ‘redefined version of marriage’ in schools, and direct the justice department to investigate cases where anti-gay marriage activists have been ‘harassed or threatened,’ proposing new protections if needed.
‘NOM has invited every candidate for president to sign our pledge, and we encourage those who have not yet signed to do so as soon as possible,’ the group’s president, Brian Brown, said in a statement.
‘While many of the GOP candidates talk the talk about supporting marriage, these four candidates have distinguished themselves as true champions, having pledged to the American people to take very specific actions to advance the cause of marriage.’
The post Cruz, Santorum, Jindal and Carson sign NOM pledge to repeal gay marriage appeared first on Gay Star News.
Darren Wee
www.gaystarnews.com/article/cruz-santorum-jindal-and-carson-sign-nom-pledge-to-repeal-gay-marriage/
Ricky Martin Blasts Donald Trump for 'Racist, Absurd' Comments
The singer lambastes Trump for his anti-Latino rhetoric, capped by his ejection of Univision anchor Jorge Ramos from a campaign event Tuesday.
Trudy Ring
www.advocate.com/politics/2015/08/26/ricky-martin-blasts-donald-trump-racist-absurd-comments
Chris Christie Opposes Anti-LGBT Discrimination Disguised as 'Religious Liberty'
The Republican governor of New Jersey broke ranks with his fellow presidential candidates, saying he does not believe LGBT people should be denied service.
Sunnivie Brydum
What Josh Duggar, Sam Rader and Adam and Eve Have in Common
According to the Bible, the first sinful moment resulted in a realization of nakedness. Instead of Adam and Eve high-fiving each other upon the awesome discovery of their genitals, they hid in shame. This is how the Christian story begins. It starts with sexual shame and repression, and this thread of self-hatred over one’s naughty bits runs through the whole religion.
I know from personal experience. I was a teenage fundamentalist Christian.
Sometimes people ask me when was the moment I knew I was gay. Honestly, I have no idea. When I was coming of age during the late 80s in small town Indiana, there was nothing more horrifically taboo than homosexuality. Absurd philosophies often came from the pulpit on Sunday mornings about how the mythical gay creature came to be. I remember an actual printed pamphlet that circulated my megachurch. In the pamphlet, there were insane calculations of how much poop a gay man might unintentionally eat in his lifetime or how much pressure a colon can take before it ruptures. (Supposedly, it’s just one penis-worth of pressure.) What was the sense in such bizarrely specific speculation? Why was my pastor obsessed with why two dudes might want to bang each other? Why was a great deal of youth group conversation about resisting masturbation? Welcome to the minds of the sexually repressed.
I can’t really pinpoint the moment when I knew I was gay because it was such a gradual unveiling due to constant repression. As soon as puberty unleashed its first rush of hormones, my fantasies were of men. Full-on gay. It’s like my glands were wearing daisy dukes and rollerblading though my body waving glow sticks. Still somehow I was able to convince myself that I was attracted to women while spanking it to the men’s underwear section of the JC Penny Catalog.
My teens were a phase of silent torture. Of falling in “love” with my best friends and trying to cop a feel during sleepovers. Then of course crying to Jesus about it the next day. Go ahead and throw in some “pray away the gay” therapy at now defunct Exodus Ministries. Sexual repression really does a number on a human. It took years before I was finally able to even let the words “I’m gay” into my brain.
Thank God I was eventually found out and essentially ousted. I was poised to marry the preacher’s daughter and had I managed to get away with it, I have no doubt I would currently be a sad liar of a man caught up in my own personal Ashley Madison scandal.
It doesn’t really surprise anyone that Josh Duggar and Christian Youtuber Sam Rader are exposed as sexual hypocrites. Not to misplace blame, but they were screwed from the beginning. If your response to human sexuality is to hide it behind a fig leaf, it’s going to take you to unhealthy and even potentially criminal places.
— 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.
WATCH: Rentboy CEO Defends Embattled Business
After the feds arrested him and six other employees Tuesday, Jeffrey Hurrant argued his company is legitimate.
Neal Broverman
Appeals Court To Defiant Kentucky Clerk: Issue Marriage Licenses To Gays
A federal appeals court has ordered a defiant Kentucky county clerk to begin issuing marriage licenses to gay couples — rejecting her bid to put an earlier ruling against her on hold while she sought an appeal.
Rowan County clerk Kim Davis cannot, on religious grounds, refuse to serve gays and lesbians wishing to marry, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit ruled on Wednesday. The court’s decision cited Obergefell v. Hodges, the landmark ruling in June that legalized gay marriage nationwide.
“In light of the binding holding of Obergefell, 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,” the court said.
Shortly after the Supreme Court decided Obergefell, Davis turned away a longtime Rowan County couple whose thwarted attempts to get married went viral. They eventually sued in federal court.
After a lower court ruled in the couple’s favor, Davis defied the order and sued the Kentucky governor for making her choose between “abandoning the precepts of her religion and forfeiting her position,” according to her lawsuit.
The 6th Circuit’s order echoes the decision of the lower court judge who had initially ordered Davis to issue marriage licenses. As a county officeholder whose “duties include the issuance of marriage licenses,” Davis’ faith is not impacted, the court said, and there was “little or no likelihood” that she would succeed in her full appeal.
The 6th Circuit is one of the more conservative federal appellate courts in the country. Last year, it ruled against gay couples’ right to marry in the states of Kentucky, Ohio, Tennessee and Michigan.
However, that ruling created an opening for the Supreme Court to rule definitively on whether whether gays and lesbians have a constitutional right to marry.
— 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.
Mormon church will continue relationship with Boy Scouts despite its dropping of anti-gay ban
Despite the Boy Scouts of America welcoming gay adult leaders into the fold, the Church of Latter Day Saints said Wednesday (26 August) it will continue its relationship with the organization.
Church leaders cited ‘the positive contributions Scouting has made over the years to thousands of its young men and boys and to thousands of other youth.
‘As leaders of the Church, we want the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) to succeed in its historic mission to instill leadership skills and high moral standards in youth of all faiths and circumstances, thereby equipping them for greater success in life and valuable service to their country,’ they said in a statement.
It was last month that Boy Scouts of America has voted to immediately end the organization’s ban on openly gay and bisexual adults as employees and volunteers. Previously removed leaders were allowed to reapply for their positions and regional governing councils or non-Troop entities such as boy scouts camps are also now prohibited from discriminating against employees and volunteers.
But religious organizations, including the Mormon Church, that sponsor some 70% of scouting units are still allowed to set their own policies – a critical reason why the church is not dumping the BSA.
‘BSA has reiterated that it expects those who sponsor Scouting units (such as the Church) to appoint Scout leaders according to their religious and moral values “in word and deed and who will best inculcate the organization’s values through the Scouting program,”’ the church states.
‘At this time, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will go forward as a chartering organization of BSA, and as in the past, will appoint Scout leaders and volunteers who uphold and exemplify Church doctrine, values, and standards.’
Scouts for Equality Executive Director Zach Wahls, a former scout whose mothers are lesbian, led the fight against the anti-gay ban and cheered the church’s decision.
‘We are heartened by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ decision to continue working with the Boy Scouts of America and to continue offering the program to its young men,’ Wals said in a statement.
‘We have maintained from the beginning of our campaign that the values and life lessons of Scouting are universal, and we would have been saddened to see hundreds of thousands of youth denied the opportunity to participate in the Boy Scouts. We hope to continue to work to build a stronger and more welcoming Boy Scouts of America with friends and allies across the religious and political spectrum.’
The BSA decided to finally ended its ban on openly gay scouts in 2013 but until last month, the ban continued once a scout reached the age of 18 and applied to adults leaders and employees of the organization.
The post Mormon church will continue relationship with Boy Scouts despite its dropping of anti-gay ban appeared first on Gay Star News.
Greg Hernandez
Critical Legislation Introduced To Protect LGBT Pennsylvanians From Discrimination
The Pennsylvania Fairness Act would protect LGBT people from discrimination at work, in housing, and in public places
HRC.org
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