When she’s not wearing rotting meat to awards shows, pop star Lady Gaga is beating the drum for equality. The “Poker Face” sensation spent Monday afternoon at a rally in Portland, Maine, where she delivered a poignant speech outlining her opposition to the government’s 1993 “Don’t Ask, Don’t Policy,” prohibits service members from revealing whether or [...]
Posts Tagged ‘Gay rights’
Lady Gaga “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell†Speech Maine Equality Rally [VIDEO]
September 21st, 2010 |
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Lady Gaga “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell†Policy Repeal Campaign
September 14th, 2010 |
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Pop star Lady Gaga has joined the effort to overturn the government’s controversial policy on gays in the Armed Forces. On Monday, the “Poker Face” star turned her website – LadyGaga.com, mind you — into a billboard for the repeal of “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell.” The site now features a splash page asking fans to [...]
50 Cent Gay Jibes Land Rapper In Hot Water With GLAAD
September 13th, 2010 |
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The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) has mounted a campaign against controversial rapper 50 Cent after the star hurled anti-gay messages via his Twitter account last week.It all started when the “In Da Club” hitmaker — who has attracted a barrage of native attention in recent weeks for his seemingly insensitive Tweets, including [...]
“Modern Family†Star Jesse Tyler Ferguson “Fights Back†For Marriage Equality
August 17th, 2010 |
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Openly gay actor Jesse Tyler Ferguson has joined the fight for marriage equality in his adopted homestate of New York. Ferguson — who moved to the City That Never Sleeps to attend acting school in the ’90s — is part of a new internet campaign calling for same-sex marriage to be made legal in The [...]
Miss New York Claire Buffie Wins Pageant On Gay Rights Platform
August 3rd, 2010 |
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Have you meet Claire Buffie? Winner of the Miss New York 2010 pageant, Claire’s making history as the first Miss America contestant to compete on a gay rights platform. Claire says her campaign of “Equality For All” was partially-inspired by the plight her older sister faces as a lesbian in America. A trained dancer from [...]
Madonna Urges Malawians To Rally Around Jailed Gay Couple
May 21st, 2010 |
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On Thursday, a gay couple in Malawi was sentenced to the maximum 14 years in prison with hard labor, after being convicted of sodomy for holding the first same-sex wedding in a country where homosexuality is illegal. Tiwonge Chimbalanga and Steven Monjeza were married in a traditional but symbolic ceremony in southern Malawi last month, [...]
Daniel Radcliffe Suicide Prevention PSA For The Trevor Project
May 17th, 2010 |
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em>Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe is lending his famous face to a suicide prevention public service announcement for The Trevor Project. Founded in 1998, the initiative is the nation’s leading organization devoted to suicide prevention efforts among gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered teens.“I grew up knowing a lot of gay men and it was never [...]
“Glee†Creator Ryan Murphy Urges Newsweek Boycott
May 12th, 2010 |
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Glee has stopped believin’ in Newsweek: Glee creator Ryan Murphy is urging fans of the popular show to boycott The Washington Post-owned Newsweek magazine until the publication’s editors issue an apology for a biting article that took aim at castmate Jonathan Groff, Will & Grace alum Sean Hayes, and other gay actors who play straight [...]
Elton John Banned From Egypt In Wake Of Gay Jesus Controversy
May 10th, 2010 |
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Sir Elton John is no longer welcome in Egypt. The flamboyant music legend, 63, has been banned from performing in the nation after comments he made about Jesus Christ stirred controversy among Christians last February.In a chat with Parade Magazine, the British rocker suggested Jesus was a “super-intelligent gay man” and took aim at the [...]
Westboro Baptist Church Will Protest During Constance McMillen Graduation
April 29th, 2010 |
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A controversial hate group that routinely protests at the funerals and concerts of some of Hollywood’s most noted celebrities will picket at the graduation of a rural Mississippi teenager who made national headlines when she was denied the chance to go to her school’s prom because she is a lesbian.The Kansas-based Westboro Baptist Church announced [...]
Asher Roth Gay? Asher Roth Comes Out On E! Special
December 21st, 2009 |
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Is Asher Roth gay?
Word is the unlikely rap star will appear on E! News this week; where he will reveal that he is gay, discuss his decision to come out of the closet, and express the fulfillment he’s found since moving to a “gay section” of New York City.
According to new reports, the “I Love [...]
Archbishop warns against gay clergy
July 27th, 2009 |
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Rowan Williams says stand taken by US Episcopals could cause isolation and relegation in Anglican communion
The archbishop of Canterbury today reiterated his opposition to ordaining gay clergy and authorising same-sex blessings, warning liberal churches that such practices would lead to isolation and relegation in the Anglican communion.
Rowan Williams was responding in a statement today to developments in the US Episcopal church which earlier this month voted to open the ordination process to gay people and to consider developing blessings for same-sex couples.
In typically lengthy and nuanced prose, the archbishop said that the church’s stance on these matters was unlikely to “repair the broken bridges in the life of the other Anglican provinces” and that “very serious anxieties had already been expressed” in the communion.
Same-sex blessings were “at the very least analogous” to Christian marriage and people living in such unions could not “without serious incongruity” have a representative function in a church whose public teaching was “at odds with their lifestyle”, he said.
This disparity in theology and practice between conservatives and liberals – exacerbated by the consecration of Gene Robinson in 2003 as the communion’s first bishop in a relationship with another man – would lead to a “twofold ecclesial reality”, he added.
“Perhaps we are faced with the possibility of a two-track model, two ways of witnessing Anglican heritage, one of which had decided that local autonomy had to be the prevailing value.”
Those Anglican provinces accepting the covenant – a good behaviour guide for churches – would be able to participate fully in communion matters and in ecumenical and interfaith dialogue. Those who thought it more important to adhere to local pressures would have a lesser, unofficial, role in the life of the communion because there had to be clarity “about who has the authority to speak for whom”.
Williams has been pushing the covenant as the only way to heal the rift between warring factions, but it has found little favour with the Episcopal church, which sees the document as disproportionately punitive towards churches that are more inclusive and liberal.
Neither Williams nor the covenant does enough to tackle the issue of African churches interfering in US parishes, say Episcopalians, interventions that have seen conservative churches flock to African archbishops and bishops for spiritual leadership. In an act of rebellion, some Episcopalians broke away earlier this year to form their own church.
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World Outgames 2009 in Copenhagen
July 27th, 2009 |
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27 July 2009: About 5,500 lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender men and women from 98 countries are gathered in Copenhagen for a nine-day celebration of gay sport and culture
Celebration of gay sport gets under way
July 27th, 2009 |
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• Event opens in Copenhagen with vibrant opening ceremony
• City’s openmindedness tested after three participants attacked
“Come on sugar daddy,” reads the sign on the entrance to a DIY shanty town erected next to Copenhagen’s royal library. This is One Love City, one of the many public art installations designed to coincide with the “Gay Olympics” running this week in Copenhagen.
The contest, formally known as the World Outgames, kick off today after a glitzy opening ceremony in City Hall square on Saturday night.
The director of the event, Uffe Elbæk, has hailed the games as a chance for the world to see Copenhagen as a progressive city and to send a message of hope to people living in homophobic countries around the world.
“We are trying to build a bridge between the LGBT [lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender] community and the rest of the city,” Elbæk says. “Our intention is to make this a celebration and a signal to the rest of the world that this is a tolerant city that we are proud of.”
But events over the weekend have already tested the openmindedness of Copenhagen and its people. Two men were arrested early on Sunday after three participants at the Outgames were attacked near the central square where the opening ceremony took place. The three participants – from Sweden, Norway and the UK – received hospital treatment after they were kicked and punched, police said.
“Obviously it’s scary,” a member of the Canadian curling team told Danish TV. “That fear will haunt you forever. Hate crimes go beyond bruises, go beyond broken bones and they affect you as an individual and it scars you for life.”
An editorial in the liberal newspaper Politiken criticised Danish ministers for not supporting the games by speaking at the opening ceremony. “In Denmark we don’t have a minister responsible for gay rights issues. We also don’t have a minister who wants to welcome all the activists and participants, even though it is an event that gives Denmark unprecedented attention … It’s embarrassing to have a government that doesn’t want to come out of the closet.”
Other sections of the media have been less supportive of the games. The 30m kroner (£3.4m) the city of council of Copenhagen used to fund the games has provoked the ire of some commentators, who have also been less than impressed with the number of participants. When Copenhagen was first announced as the host city four years ago, there were hopes for more than 15,000 people to take part – an estimate that is far off the 5,500 participants who have registered at the Outgames headquarters this week.
But while the opinion-makers slug it out in the press, the swimmers, dancers, wrestlers and footballers will have their mind elsewhere. Today, they will do the talking on the pitch, in the pool and on the bridge table when the sporting side of things kick into high gear.
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Episcopal church to affirm gay clergy
July 14th, 2009 |
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Bishops at the Episcopal General Convention voted 99-45 for a statement declaring “God has called and may call” gays in committed lifelong relationships to the ministry
The Episcopal Church has moved toward affirming their acceptance of gays and lesbians for all roles in the ministry, despite pressure from fellow Anglicans worldwide for a decisive moratorium on consecrating another openly gay bishop.
Bishops at the Episcopal General Convention in Anaheim, California, voted 99-45 with two abstentions for a statement declaring “God has called and may call” to ministry gays in committed lifelong relationships.
Lay and priest delegates to the meeting had comfortably approved a nearly identical statement, and were expected to adopt the latest version before the meeting ends on Friday.
Leaders of the Anglican Communion have been pushing Episcopalians to roll back their support for gays and lesbians since 2003, when the US denomination consecrated the first openly gay bishop, V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire. The Episcopal Church is the US Anglican body.
Robinson’s election brought the 77 million-member Anglican fellowship to the brink of schism. Last month, breakaway Episcopal conservatives and other like-minded traditionalists formed a rival national province called the Anglican Church in North America.
To calm tensions, the Episcopal General Convention three years ago passed a resolution that urged restraint by dioceses considering gay candidates for bishop. No other Episcopal bishops living openly with same-sex partners have been consecrated since then.
Drafters of the latest statement insisted that the resolution only acknowledges that the Episcopal Church ordains partnered gays and lesbians and is not a repeal of what was widely considered a moratorium on consecrating gay bishops.
“The constitution and canons of our church as currently written do not preclude gay and lesbian persons from participating,” in any part of the church, said the Reverend Gay Clark Jennings, on the committee that drafted the statement. “These people have responded to God’s call.”
However, the Episcopal gay advocacy group Integrity, said in a statement on Monday night that the declaration “effectively ends” the temporary prohibition on gays in ministry. Integrity called the vote “another step in the Episcopal Church’s ‘coming out’ process.”
Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, who leads the Episcopal Church, was among the bishops who voted to approve the declaration. The statement also affirms the Episcopal Church’s commitment to participate in and help fund the Anglican Communion, the third-largest grouping of churches worldwide, behind the Roman Catholic Church and Orthodox Christian churches.
Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, the Anglican spiritual leader, had attended the Episcopal national meeting in Anaheim in its opening days last week. He said, “I hope and pray that there won’t be decisions in the coming days that could push us further apart.”
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
Episcopal church to affirm gay clergy
July 14th, 2009 |
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Bishops at the Episcopal General Convention voted 99-45 for a statement declaring “God has called and may call” gays in committed lifelong relationships to the ministry
The Episcopal Church has moved toward affirming their acceptance of gays and lesbians for all roles in the ministry, despite pressure from fellow Anglicans worldwide for a decisive moratorium on consecrating another openly gay bishop.
Bishops at the Episcopal General Convention in Anaheim, California, voted 99-45 with two abstentions for a statement declaring “God has called and may call” to ministry gays in committed lifelong relationships.
Lay and priest delegates to the meeting had comfortably approved a nearly identical statement, and were expected to adopt the latest version before the meeting ends on Friday.
Leaders of the Anglican Communion have been pushing Episcopalians to roll back their support for gays and lesbians since 2003, when the US denomination consecrated the first openly gay bishop, V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire. The Episcopal Church is the US Anglican body.
Robinson’s election brought the 77 million-member Anglican fellowship to the brink of schism. Last month, breakaway Episcopal conservatives and other like-minded traditionalists formed a rival national province called the Anglican Church in North America.
To calm tensions, the Episcopal General Convention three years ago passed a resolution that urged restraint by dioceses considering gay candidates for bishop. No other Episcopal bishops living openly with same-sex partners have been consecrated since then.
Drafters of the latest statement insisted that the resolution only acknowledges that the Episcopal Church ordains partnered gays and lesbians and is not a repeal of what was widely considered a moratorium on consecrating gay bishops.
“The constitution and canons of our church as currently written do not preclude gay and lesbian persons from participating,” in any part of the church, said the Reverend Gay Clark Jennings, on the committee that drafted the statement. “These people have responded to God’s call.”
However, the Episcopal gay advocacy group Integrity, said in a statement on Monday night that the declaration “effectively ends” the temporary prohibition on gays in ministry. Integrity called the vote “another step in the Episcopal Church’s ‘coming out’ process.”
Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, who leads the Episcopal Church, was among the bishops who voted to approve the declaration. The statement also affirms the Episcopal Church’s commitment to participate in and help fund the Anglican Communion, the third-largest grouping of churches worldwide, behind the Roman Catholic Church and Orthodox Christian churches.
Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, the Anglican spiritual leader, had attended the Episcopal national meeting in Anaheim in its opening days last week. He said, “I hope and pray that there won’t be decisions in the coming days that could push us further apart.”
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Archbishop ‘regrets’ move to ordain gay bishops
July 13th, 2009 |
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The archbishop of Canterbury is bracing himself for fresh turmoil in the Anglican Communion ahead of a crucial vote that could overturn a ban on the ordination of gay bishops.
For five years Dr Rowan Williams has succeeded in avoiding an irrevocable schism in the world’s third-largest Christian denomination by persuading Anglican churches to refrain from appointing gay bishops, blessing same-sex unions and cross-border interventions.
A vote in the US Episcopal church could threaten the already fractious relationships in the Communion when its house of bishops decide later this week on a resolution declaring the ordination process open to “all individuals”.
At the General Synod meeting in York today, he told Church of England members: “I regret the fact there is no will to observe a significant part of the moratoria,” he added.
Williams had flown to Anaheim, California, last week for the US church’s triennial meeting. In a sermon given last Thursday, he told the congregation his visit was tinged with “hopes and anxieties”.
The crisis in the Anglican Communion was triggered mostly, but not solely, by the 2003 ordination of Gene Robinson as bishop of New Hampshire. Robinson, a genial churchman well-regarded by his parishioners, is in a committed relationship with another man.
His appointment scandalised conservatives and their dissent culminated last year with the boycott of a flagship Anglican conference by hundreds of bishops.
Last week more than a thousand representatives from the Church of England supported the launch of a UK fellowship for congregations and clergy unhappy with the church’s vague position on the blessing of same-sex unions and the ordination of women and homosexual priests.
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Archbishop ‘regrets’ move to ordain gay bishops
July 13th, 2009 |
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Dr Rowan Williams warns of church split over US decision to ignore ban on homosexual clergy
Dr Rowan Williams, the archbishop of Canterbury, has said he regrets a decision by the US Episcopal church to ignore a ban on ordaining gay bishops and lobby for their inclusion.
Williams’s comments at the general synod in York were in response to a vote held yesterday in Anaheim, California, where the Episcopal church of the United States is meeting for its triennial gathering.
Representatives from the house of deputies, one of two legislative branches in the US church, voted to adopt a resolution declaring the ordination process open to “all individuals”.
If passed by the house of bishops this week, the resolution will be a blow for Williams, who went to Anaheim last week to urge the Americans to show restraint over homosexual clergy.
In a sermon last Thursday, he told the congregation his debut at the general convention was tinged with “hopes and anxieties”.
“Along with many in the communion, I hope and pray that there won’t be decisions in the coming days that will push us further apart. If we – if I – had felt that we could do perfectly well without you, there wouldn’t be a problem.”
Williams arrived in York last Friday for the general synod, the Church of England’s governing body, and answered questions on the Anglican communion.
When told by a synod member, Chris Sugden, that the house of deputies was pressing for the ordination of all individuals to the episcopate, he replied: “It remains to be seen whether the house of deputies will be endorsed by the house of bishops. If they choose to block that then the moratorium stands.
“I regret the fact there is no will to observe a significant part of the moratoria,” he added, referring to three bans aimed at keeping the Anglican communion together.
Gay bishops have proved to be a headache for Williams, who has struggled to maintain harmony in the Anglican communion.
The dissent culminated in an open revolt last year, with the boycott of hundreds of bishops from the flagship Anglican conference and the establishment of a worldwide network for conservatives.
Disaffected Episcopalians in the US have severed their ties with their mother church, setting up a rival church and appointing an archbishop.
This week, more than a thousand representatives from the Church of England endorsed the launch of a UK fellowship for congregations and clergy unhappy with the Church of England’s fuzzy position on the blessing of same-sex unions, the ordination of women and homosexual priests.
To compound Williams’s woes, delegates at the general convention will also debate blessing same-sex unions and consider whether gender-neutral liturgies should be introduced.
Some fear what the changes will mean for the conservative voices within the Episcopal church.
The Rev Ralph Stanwise, from the diocese of Quincy, said: “If we overturn the moratorium we will in effect be urging many remaining conservatives and moderates among us and in our home dioceses, especially our most fragile ones, to search for the exit signs.”
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Gay ‘Olympics’ kick off in Copenhagen
Celebration of gay sport and culture with a focus on human rights in homophobic countries begins this weekend
There will be triathlon and handball – but also bridge and line dancing. Copenhagen is preparing for thousands of gay people from dozens of nations to descend this weekend for the Outgames, a nine-day sporting and cultural olympics for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.
When the 5,500 participants are introduced on a catwalk in Copenhagen’s central square today, it will kickstart nine days of sport, arts and political debates with almost 100 nations represented in more than 30 events, traditional and improvised.
But the event is about much more than podium places. The Outgames has launched itself under the banner of sport, culture and human rights. Participants from a host of cities, including Tel Aviv and Mexico City, will take over public spaces throughout Copenhagen to showcase artists and performers.
At the centre of the political programme is a human rights conference, where speakers include the British basketball player and sports commentator John Amaechi, the first NBA player to have come out.
On the fringe of the games, the people of Copenhagen have been encouraged to embrace the event and play an active role. At the main library you can “take out a gay” for a half-hour chat after you’ve scanned his or her barcode, while many of the participants are staying in private homes throughout the city.
The director of the Outgames, Uffe Elbæk, hopes the Copenhagen event will attract people from countries where gay people still face imprisonment and the organisers have funded the journey to Copenhagen for 250 participants from Asia, Latin America and Africa.
“The world is coming to Copenhagen, and we have worked towards our goal of ensuring that participants from places such as Africa, Asia and not least the Middle East have the opportunity to come to Copenhagen for the Outgames,” he said.
Elbæk sees the games as not just a celebration for the LGBT community, but a global event, highlighting that gay people are still criminalised in a third of the countries represented.
“We want to make this top priority and put the focus on human rights,” he said.