Why This Latina Photographer Documented the Moment She Came Out to Her Parents
Paola Paredes traveled to her native Ecuador to come out to her parents, and took photos of the emotional moment for a project she calls ‘Unveiled.’
Yezmin Villarreal
Category Archives: NEWS
Stop Looking For A Single Reason Men Commit Public Shootings
Stop Looking For A Single Reason Men Commit Public Shootings
Shock. Horror. Debate. Exasperation. Ignore. Repeat. This is the cycle we go through each and every time a public, violent tragedy strikes.
December 14, 2012 was supposed to be a good day. The Huffington Post’s yearly holiday party was that evening, and most of the office arrived at work in the morning thinking more about free food and booze than what news we’d cover that day. Then, at around 9:35 a.m., Adam Lanza shot his way into Sandy Hook Elementary School and slaughtered six adults and 20 children before turning a gun on himself.
It was a devastating thing to witness and cover, even from miles away in a crowded, safe newsroom. The pain among my colleagues was palpable as we all sought details about who Lanza was, how he came to murder first-graders and why. The “why” was most haunting.
Unfortunately, we’ve asked “why?” more times than I can remember off the top of my head during the four years I’ve worked at HuffPost.
We asked “why?” when Wade Michael Page shot up a Sikh temple.
We asked “why?” when James Holmes opened fire on a movie theater in Aurora, Col.
We asked “why?” when Elliot Rodger went on a went on a shooting spree near UC-Santa Barbara.
We asked “why?” Dylann Roof murdered parishioners in cold blood at a church in Charleston.
We asked “why?” when John Russell Houser opened fire on the audience of “Trainwreck” in Lafayette.
Yesterday we, yet again, asked “why?” when a man killed two of his former coworkers, Alison Parker and Adam Wade, on live television.
The reality that mass gun violence has become a cornerstone of American culture feels inconceivable.
It makes sense why we focus on the why — and hope for an easy answer. We grapple with this question, especially in cases of public violence and tragedy, because without a clear answer, the reality that mass gun violence has become a cornerstone of American culture feels inconceivable. We want someone or something to blame, because the idea that we could be complicit in fueling a society that hasn’t gone more than eight days without a mass shooting in 2015 is completely terrifying.
Plus, the real “why” is complicated, not easily solved with one new law or by writing off each shooter as an isolated, mentally ill madman, or the rallying cry of “guns don’t kill people, people kill people.”
“Why” involves our cultural ideas about masculinity and what makes a “real” or “good” or “worthy” man. Mass murderers are nearly always (white) men. Men who feel wronged — either by society or their colleagues or their classmates or their ex-lovers or all of the above. It’s about the entitlement to success, women’s bodies and attention men have been taught they deserve.
As Josie Duffy wrote at Gawker of WDBJ shooter Vester Flanagan: “This guy reminds me of many other men who kill — off the top of my head I can think of at least five mass murders where the killer was fired from a job, dumped by a girlfriend, or rejected. Ending lives essentially because they didn’t feel like they were getting what they deserve. Entitlement.”
We are stuck in a vicious cycle of unfathomable violence, and if we don’t start implicating ourselves, we may never escape.
It’s often about institutional racism. “It must be acknowledged that there are more Dylann Roofs out there, and they exist because we let them,” wrote HuffPost’s Zeba Blay after the Charleston shooting.
In the wake of the UCSB shooting in 2014, Tiffany Xie took a closer look at the research on similar public massacres — specifically at the pattern of white, middle-class men as the people most often behind the gun. “This ‘suicide-by-mass-murder’ is a reflection of a combination of both White and male privilege,” she wrote, “the ideology that White males have social, economic, and political advantages granted to them solely on the basis of their sex and race.” Flanagan was not a white, straight man. But, unfortunately, men of color are not exempt from misogyny — it just plays out differently for them.
It involves easy access to firearms, a conversation we seem doomed to put off indefinitely, as it’s never “the right time” to discuss it. As though grieving parents who spend their mourning days going on television to plead with the American public and politicians to do something are just “pushing an agenda.”
Searching for a “why” brings up important conversations about mental illness treatment — greater access to health care is always a good thing! — but it also encourages us to scapegoat mental illness, when mentally ill individuals are far more likely to be the victims of crimes than commit them.
We seek to distance ourselves from those that commit these horrors. We aren’t “crazy.” We use guns responsibly and it’s our right to carry them. We couldn’t possibly raise a son or befriend a man who sees those guns as his public way out, taking others — often women and children — with him in a blaze of media coverage.
We need to start having those uncomfortable conversations, about racism and toxic masculinity and health care and gun control, and making real change to back our words up. We are stuck in a vicious cycle of unfathomable violence, and if we don’t start implicating ourselves, we may never escape.
Also on HuffPost:
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Catholic School Heeds Inclusive Voice of Laity
Venice Mayor Plans To Ban Gay Pride, Calls It “Farcical” And “Kitsch”
Venice Mayor Plans To Ban Gay Pride, Calls It “Farcical” And “Kitsch”
The mayor of Venice wants to ban gay pride parades in the city, reports The BBC .
“There will be no gay pride in my Venice,” Luigi Brugnaro told La Repubblica newspaper, before describing the event as both farcical and kitsch.
In the article, he claims that he’s not homophobic and, in fact, has gay friends.
Flavio Romani, the head of Italian gay rights group Arcigay group, criticized the mayor’s statement and suggested he come visit the Pride parade in Venice.
“We will be back next year and we invite the mayor to march at the head of the parade with us,” he told AFP news agency. “That way he will see what gay pride really is.”
Romani also accused Brugnaro of trying to impose his rigid viewpoints on a “cosmopolitan city.”
Brugnaro is adamant about his opposition to the event, and certainly the idea of hosting the event.
“Let them go and do it in Milan, or in front of their own homes,” he said.
Jeremy Kinser
News: Michael Fassbender, Nazi Gold Train, Hurricane Katrina, AHS
News: Michael Fassbender, Nazi Gold Train, Hurricane Katrina, AHS
> A look at who’s in and who’s out of the next GOP presidential debate.
> This claimed discovery of a Nazi gold train in western Poland is something straight out of Indiana Jones.
> First look at Michael Fassbender in Assassin’s Creed.
> LGBT activists express anger over Rentboy.com raid. “It’s troubling to think that we’re investing resources and time to target Rentboy and sex workers,” said writer/activist Alex Garner, “when what we really should be having is a reasonable and thoughtful conversation about the decriminalization of sex work.”
> Meet the young people who refuse to define their sexuality.
> Friction between LGBT Catholics and the Church mounts before Pope Francis’s visit to Philadelphia next month.
> Ridley Scott confirms Prometheus 2 is his next movie.
> Donald Trump: “I will be the best thing that ever happened to women”
> One New Jersey man’s blue house is making his neighbors see red.
> Chris Martin and Jennifer Lawrence have reportedly called it quits.
> New concept art reveals the opposing superhero teams in Captain America: Civil War.
> Ellen and Portia have a happy date night together.
> Ben Affleck has officially taken off his wedding ring.
> Oxford Dictonary adds “manspreading,” “hangry,” “wine o’ clock” and other slag terms.
> Celebrate Chris Pine’s 35th birthday today with a GIF tribute to those beautiful blue eyes.
> New report shows average life expectancy among people worldwide has risen by more than six years since 1990.
> Ten years after Hurricane Katrina, presidential historian Douglas Brinkley tallies the cost of George W. Bush’s incompetence. “Unlike Ronald Reagan, after theChallenger explosion, or Bill Clinton, after the Oklahoma City bombing, Bush had failed to feel the profound implications of the moment as his predecessors had. He didn’t scramble into action. He didn’t touch the nation’s heartstrings by using epic oratory to inform the disaster. What we got, instead, were guitar chords and terse speeches void of human pathos. No matter how the Bush library in Dallas tries to spin Bush’s Katrina performance, we all know he deserved an F in crisis management.”
> There may be TWO seasons of American Horror Story in 2016.
The post News: Michael Fassbender, Nazi Gold Train, Hurricane Katrina, AHS appeared first on Towleroad.
Kyler Geoffroy
News: Michael Fassbender, Nazi Gold Train, Hurricane Katrina, AHS
WATCH: Did a Texas Chef Refuse to Cater This Couple's Wedding?
WATCH: Did a Texas Chef Refuse to Cater This Couple's Wedding?
Plans for a same-sex wedding at the Hilton Garden Inn in Plano, Texas, are on hold as the hotel investigates allegations of antigay statements by the chef.
Sunnivie Brydum
www.advocate.com/marriage-equality/2015/08/27/watch-did-texas-chef-refuse-cater-couples-wedding
Man Proposes To Boyfriend At Church, Church Responds Perfectly
Man Proposes To Boyfriend At Church, Church Responds Perfectly
Love is love, and this congregation embraced that.
Trevor Harper and Davis Covin, who have been dating for nine years, are active members of the First United Methodist Church of Austin in Texas. Harper proposed to Covin at the church earlier this month in front of the congregation — a moment which was captured in a video and shared on YouTube.
The congregation responded to the magical moment in the best way possible — with a standing ovation. We must say, we’d totally be lying if we didn’t tear up a bit ourselves while watching the proposal.
Harper told BuzzFeed News that the couple’s church, which they’ve belonged to for two years, has been supportive of the pair’s relationship and welcome people of all sexual orientations to attend. When Harper proposed, the pair had actually been sharing the story of their faith during the service, according to the video.
While clergy belonging to the Methodist church aren’t permitted to perform same-sex marriages, Harper said that his pastor, the Reverend John Wright — who helped plan the moment — thought the proposal in front of the congregation was a great way to celebrate the pair’s love, BuzzFeed reported. The couple hopes that the church will allow them to hold their wedding ceremony there by the time they plan to get married in 2016.
Also on HuffPost:
— 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.
Donald Trump on how he would explain his opposition to same-sex marriage to gay child or grandkid
Donald Trump on how he would explain his opposition to same-sex marriage to gay child or grandkid
Donald Trump recently said he believes same-sex marriage is a dead issue politically but that hasn’t stopped him from opposing it.
The current front-runner for the Republican Party’s presidential nomination was asked by Bloomberg reporters this week how he would explain his opposition to a gay child or grandchild.
‘I wouldn’t speak to them at all about it other than they are who they are and I want them to be happy and will love them and cherish them,’ said the twice divorced Trump.
He went on to say: ‘I’ve gone to gay weddings. I’ve been at gay weddings. I have been against (gay marriage) from the standpoint of Bible, from the standpoint of my teachings as growing up and going to Sunday school and going to church and I’ve been opposed to it and we’ll just see how it all comes out.’
Trump told The Hollywood Reporter recently that he had attended the wedding of gay Broadway theater owner Jordan Roth, who he described as a ‘great guy.’
In June, Trump was asked on CNN what he would say to a lesbian who’s married, or a gay man who is married, who says, ‘Donald Trump, what’s traditional about being married three times?’
Trump replied that the person asking the question would have ‘a very good point.’
Of his failed marriages to Ivana Trump and Marla Maples he said: ‘I blame myself because my business was so powerful for me. I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing.’
In the end, Trump he really didn’t have anything to say to gays and lesbians who want to press him on his own marital record except: ‘I am just … I’m for traditional marriage.’
Below is the full interview with Bloomberg:
The post Donald Trump on how he would explain his opposition to same-sex marriage to gay child or grandkid appeared first on Gay Star News.
Greg Hernandez
Same-Sex Couple Denied Hotel Room During Honeymoon
Same-Sex Couple Denied Hotel Room During Honeymoon
Lucas Kellogg married the love of his life, Corey Silva, on October 5, 2013, in a small ceremony on the front porch of the Baltimore County Courthouse. Surrounded by friends and family, Lucas said that “It was truly the most special day of our lives.”
HRC.org
The Force is Strong in New Star Wars: The Force Awakens Teaser: WATCH
The Force is Strong in New Star Wars: The Force Awakens Teaser: WATCH
A new teaser for Star Wars: The Force Awakens offers fans a tantalizing look at blue lightsaber-wielding Finn (played by John Boyega) facing off against Kylo Ren (played by Adam Driver)
The teaser is only a few seconds long but it’s still well worth a watch as we continue our impatient wait until December 18 (112 days away for those counting)
There has been an awakening… #StarWars #TheForceAwakens
A video posted by Star Wars (@starwars) on
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The post The Force is Strong in New Star Wars: The Force Awakens Teaser: WATCH appeared first on Towleroad.
Kyler Geoffroy
The Force is Strong in New Star Wars: The Force Awakens Teaser: WATCH
