My Feed Demon was chock full of interesting things in the last 24 hours, so much so that I thought I would share some of what I found with you here today. Shall we start with the biggest crock first? The Roman Catholic Bishop of Springfield, Illinois Thomas John Paprocki has announced his plan to offer “Prayers of Supplication and Exorcism in Reparation for the Sin of Same-Sex Marriage” at approximately the same time as Illinois Governor Pat Quinn will be signing Marriage Equality into law on the 20th. Yet another sign the leaders and laity of the Catholic Church are totally out of touch with both reality and the majority of their congregants. In his statement to the press Bishop Paprocki said “It is scandalous that so many Catholic politicians are responsible for
enabling the passage of this legislation and even twisting the words of
the pope to rationalize their actions despite the clear teaching of the
church,” he said. “All politicians now have the moral obligation to work
for the repeal of this sinful and objectionable legislation. We must
pray for deliverance from this evil which has penetrated our state and
our church.” Most definitely a big crock of shit.
In New York, Alec Baldwin was caught on video sticking his foot in his mouth again, calling a member of the papparazzi "a cocksucking fag". GLAAD has condemned Baldwin again saying "Mr. Baldwin can’t lend his support for equality on paper, while
degrading gay people in practice. It's clearly time Mr. Baldwin listens
to the calls from so many LGBT people and allies to end this pattern of
anti-gay slurs.". In his latest 'apology tweet' Mr Baldwin claims to have not known cocksucker was an anti-Gay epithet which I find truly hard to believe. His tweet reads "Anti-gay slurs are wrong. They not only offend, but threaten hard
fought tolerance of LGBT rights...I'm grateful to all of the ppl I meet +
hear from who recognize that I would never say something to offend my
friends in the gay community...1-Rich Ferraro from @glaad informs me
that c'sucker is an anti-gay epithet. In which case I apologize and will
retire it from my vocabulary." Really? What guy over the age of 8 doesn't know that cocksucker is a word used to insult someone by inferring they are Gay? Truly another gigantic crock of shit.
The leaders of the nations of the British Commonwealth are meeting in Sri Lanka today. Of the 53 countries in the Commonwealth, 41 of them still criminalize homosexuality. Most of those anti-Gay laws were established by the British in the colonial era but were not repealed when the various nations gained their independence. In protests outside the London offices of the Commonwealth, LGBT advocates accused the Commonwealth of Collusion with Homophobia. Alistair Stewart, Assistant Director of the Kaleidoscope Trust, said: "The Commonwealth has consistently refused to address the issue of human
rights for LGBT people and the forthcoming heads of government meeting
in Sri Lanka will be no different. More than half of all the countries
in the world that still make being gay a crime are in the Commonwealth.
This is a stain on an organisation supposedly committed to equal rights
for all." In an additional statement Edwin Sesange, Director of the African LGBTI Out & Proud Diamond Group, added:
"Although the Secretary General of the Commonwealth continues to condemn
homophobia, we are calling for action. Countries that persecute LGBT
people - such as Uganda, Cameroon and Nigeria - should be suspended from
the Commonwealth. Homophobia and transphobia are violations of human
rights and should be raised at the Commonwealth summit in Sri Lanka by
the Secretary General, Prime Minister David Cameron and other national
leaders. No future Commonwealth meeting should be held in a country that
persecutes LGBT people or violates other human rights." Yes, I think it is about time for the Commonwealth to catch up with the Mother Country, and it is time that Britain used its influence in these countries to effect a change in the laws and the attitudes held therein.
Moving on to some good news, late yesterday Illinois Senator Mark Kirk’s office abruptly canceled access to a Senate
meeting room for a Friday event scheduled by a social conservative
organization that is supportive of Russia’s “homosexual propaganda” ban. The World Congress of Families was set to meet today in a venue at the Dirksen Senate office building. The WCF is a project of the Howard Center for Family, Religion, and Society, based in Rockford, Illinois. The WCF brings together right wing religionists and nut jobs like Brian Brown of the National Organization for Marriage and Tom Minnery of Focus on the Family. Panelist for the discussion at the planned meeting Austin Ruse of the Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute, Dr.
Janice Shaw Crouse, Senior Fellow at the Concerned Women for America’s
The Beverly LaHaye Institute, and Steven Mosher, President of the
Population Research Institute. It was scheduled to be hosted by Howard
Center President Allan Carlson. I am glad to see that someone in the Senate (Thank You Senator Kirk) is paying attention and denying whackos and nut jobs from gaining any credibility by meeting in the Senate Office Building. It also 'breaks my heart' (NOT!) that the WCF is outraged about it. They can find someplace else to espouse their homophobic horse shit.
In other good news, Missouri Governor Jay Nixon has come out in support of Marriage Equality and has issued an Executive Order to the Missouri Department of Revenue to accept joint tax returns from same sex couples married in other states and living in Missouri. In his statement Governor Nixon said “Many Missourians, including myself, are thinking about these issues of
equality in new ways and reflecting on what constitutes discrimination.
For me, that process has led to the belief that we shouldn’t treat folks
differently because of who they are.” Here! Here! and Thank You Governor Nixon. The tide is turning in our favor all over these United States and we as LGBT folks are riding the crest of the wave into the future where all people will be equal in the site of the law.
Your Friday Musical Moment features a classic 1951 recording of Johannes Brahms' Piano Concerto Number 2 recorded live at the Great Hall of the Leningrad Philharmonic by the Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Evgeni Mravinsky and featuring Sviatislav Richter as the Piano Soloist.
Concluding today's post is a delightfully delicious collection of seriously sexy studs who are Naked or Nearly So. Thanks for sharing part of your Friday with me, have a fabulous weekend. Be sure to check back during your weekend for this week's review of the Best of the Web This Week. Until next time as always, Enjoy!
