VIDEO: Homophobia on "So you think you can dance"

Hattip to Jeff for letting me know about this.

Man suing Iris Robinson over her comments on gays

By Lesley-Anne Henry
The Belfast Telegraph

A 23-year-old west Belfast man is taking legal action against Iris Robinson over her controversial comments on homosexuality.

Robert Toner from Poleglass has also written to the Equality Commission asking them to back his complaint over the first lady's anti-gay remarks.

Last night he told the Belfast Telegraph: "It is very, very hurtful to think that someone says I need psychiatric help because I am gay. It is totally uncalled for, it is totally horrendous that a public representative has said this.

"The majority of members of the gay community have been very welcoming to the fact I am taking legal action. And the heterosexual community welcomed it too. Most people agree that something needs to be done about Iris. I am confident that with the support of the Equality Commission we are going to win this.

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McGuinness weighs into Robinson’s gay storm

The Belfast Telegraph

Northern Ireland's deputy First Minister last night branded Iris Robinson's criticism of gay people harmful and distressing.

Martin McGuinness said First Minister Peter Robinson's wife should reflect on the impact her comments would have on the homosexual community.

Mr McGuinness said: "While Iris Robinson is entitled to reflect her beliefs she also has a responsibility to act with due consideration.

Sinn Fein has already called for Mrs Robinson to stand down as head of the Northern Ireland Assembly's health committee.

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Australia: Students out and proud

Melbourne Community Voice

A Melbourne rally against homophobia last Saturday, organised by National Union of Students (NUS) and supported by the queer departments at a range of tertiary institutions, “exceeded all expectations” according to NUS Queer Officer, James Vigus.

The event, protested against the Rudd government’s ban on same-sex marriage and its anti-student union stance.

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'Counselling can change homosexuals'- Iris Robinson

U.tv
Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK

The Royal College of Psychiatrists has rejected Iris Robinson’s claim that homosexuality could be overcome by counselling.

The wife of DUP leader Peter Robinson made her comments in the wake of a homophobic attack that left a man seriously injured in Belfast.

Stephen Scott, 27, was kicked and punched by three youths as he walked home in the Newtownabbey area on Wednesday night.

Mr Scott was treated in hospital for a head injury, a leg injury and broken ribs.

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Homophobic abuse fails to disrupt gay football final

By Staff Writer, PinkNews.co.uk

The Gay Football Supporters' Network (GFSN) National League Cup final ended in victory for Village Manchester FC over Leicester Widecats, in what was described as another nail-biting game.

Homophobic abuse was shouted by some local people who had gained entrance to the ground.

Taunts were directed at players, management and supporters of both clubs – although with help from ground-staff the perpetrators were soon asked to leave the ground.

"Such attitudes are the very reason why sport can be a barrier for LGBT people and why the GFSN and its members will continue its hugely successful campaign to rid homophobia from the terraces, working with professional football clubs and The Football Association," said GFSN campaigns manager Chris Basiurski.

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Cuban TV shows Brokeback Mountain as part of anti-homophobia drive

By Tony Grew
pinknews.uk

Governments local and national marked the International Day Against Homophobia on Saturday.

Cuba took the lead, with the largest meeting of gay activists in the island's history.

In attendance was a leading member of the Castro dynasty, the daughter of the current President, Mariela.

"This is a very important moment for us, the men and women of Cuba, because for the first time we can gather in this way and speak profoundly and with scientific basis about these topics," said Ms Castro.

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Newtown Rally to Protest Homophobia

by Ani Lamont
Sydney Star Observer
AUSTRALIA

International Day Against Homophobia (IDAHO) is celebrated annually on 17 May in remembrance of the World Health Organisation’s decision in 1991 to formally remove homosexuality from its list of mental illnesses. Started in Canada by the Foundation Emergence, IDAHO does not have a particularly strong following in Australia, though many would share the sentiments of equality and gay rights celebrated by the day.

Starting at 6pm on Friday, May 16, the rally, to be staged in Newtown the night before IDAHO, will start outside Gloria Jean’s in recognition of Gloria Jean’s association with the anti-gay Hillsong church and the recent decisions to exempt religious organisations from anti-discrimination legislation.

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iTunes bans Buju, TOK, Ele - Specific songs and albums removed

By Krista Henry, Staff Reporter
The Jamaica Star

Apple Inc has removed songs from dancehall artistes Buju Banton, T.O.K. and Elephant Man from their iTunes site citing that the songs incite violence against homosexuals.

iTunes has removed controversial murder music from Jamaican artistes in its North American markets. Boom Bye Bye from Buju Banton, Chi-Chi Man from T.O.K. and Log On by Elephant Man have all been pulled from iTunes stores and the iTunes website.

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It’s time to fight back against bullies

A study unveiled last week revealed that the word “gay” has become the most frequently used term of abuse in Britain’s schools, with “bitch” and “slag” following close behind.

Eight out of the 10 insults teachers reported most often overhearing were homophobic expressions, and shockingly they were being used by children as young as nursery school age.

Last year’s Bullying Audit, carried out by Liverpool City Council, found that 7% of the city’s young people have been bullied about their sexuality.

“You might not be the perpetrator or the victim, but if you allow certain behaviour to go on without intervening then you are equally as guilty,” says Paul Dagnall, inclusion support manager for Children’s Services in Liverpool.

HOMOPHOBIC bullying is not a new problem, but it is currently a hot topic after a survey of 1,145 gay and lesbian secondary school pupils found that nearly one in three had suffered from it.

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Mount Si High School Principal defends DOS

WASHINGTON: Despite some parents' and students' objections to the Day of Silence, Mount Si High School Principal Randy Taylor told the Snoqualmie Valley School District board last week that the high school's Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) had begun planning this year's event, scheduled for April 25.

Taylor said organizers were working to set expectations of respect for all students - participants and non-participants - on the Day of Silence, which is part of a nationwide effort to raise awareness of gay, lesbian, bisexual, trans-gendered and questioning (LGBTQ) students and allies who do not feel safe enough to speak their true voice.

"The Day of Silence is just one [of many school activities] that sends a powerful message that all students are respected and have the right to learn regardless of the label they wear at school, at home or in the community. We are a better school because of activities like the Day of Silence," Taylor said at the standing-room-only meeting Thursday, March 6.

He said the GSA was working to address "the blatant misconception that participating or not participating in the Day of Silence is about choosing a side and drawing lines over GLBTQ rights."

Taylor added that staff members and students would be educated on expectations for the day, and communication with parents would remain open. Aune said that participating in the Day of Silence is within students' right to free expression, and that "any form of bullying will not be tolerated."

Mount Si parents and other community members belonging to a group called the Coalition to Defend Education (CoDE) wrote in a letter to the school board and Mount Si administration that the Day of Silence creates an unsafe environment for non-participating students, whom they claim are labeled as anti-gay. They also wrote that the Day of Silence is a distraction to learning, and shapes a school environment where school employees feel emboldened to advocate their personal opinions.

Tom's personal opinion:

I find it very telling how the anti-gay community is screaming and yelling about their children having to feel offended if they are non-supportive of DOS.

GLBTQIA's are asking the non-supportive community to feel, for one single day, what the GLBTQIA community feels EVERYDAY!

It seems the non-supportive community can't handle it for even one day. Now who are the weak and pathetic?

VIDEO: Test shows link to homophobia in closet cases

CUBA: Cuban Government Homophobia

Julián Armando Soto, a gay rights activist in Havana, reports that Cuban police Saturday rounded up 34 homosexuals for "putting in danger" security for a Mass being said by Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone. At the time of the arrests, the detainees were either gathered in a park or in front of a movie theater.

"We were on Prado street, and the Mass was at Cathedral Plaza, which is about 1,800 meters away," said Ángela Gorrero, 37, who identified herself as a lesbian, as she was held at a local police station. "Also, look at the ticket, I was about to enter the theater when I was detained."

Also, there is a separate report that police swept in on homosexuals enjoying a beach north of Havana.

"There is no name for the police abuse. Look at my legs. I fell while running on the reefs on the coast so that I would not be imprisoned. They grabbed me, and it didn't matter to them that I was bleeding," said Rigoberto Soto Espinosa, 23, a university economics student.

The report notes that police left fishermen and straight bathers alone.

It is tempting to dismiss these reports as nothing special. This is how the dictatorship treats all Cubans who dare deviate from the official party line.

But the recent gay bashing — which was not out of the unusual, considering that more than 4,000 homosexuals were fined or jailed last year in Havana alone — also illustrates the hypocrisy that lies in the rot of a so-called revolution.

The castros have cast themselves as champions for the little guy, and in a macho culture like Cuba's, perhaps no one is smaller than the homosexual. Well, in Cuba — even with the new dictator's daughter talking a good game — the homosexual is not immune from the worst the revolution has to offer.

You don't have to be gay or even accepting of the gay lifestyle to see that as long as gays are oppressed as described in recent report, Cuban society is that much less free. Their challenge is no greater nor no less than that before all Cubans struggling to be free.

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VIDEO: Silence=Death .. Get angry, hate crime rampant

VIDEO: Homophobia and denial

Unsettling Trend of Anti-Gay Violence in South Florida

Fight OUT Loud is very disturbed to learn of the recent string of anti-gay crimes in Broward County. First, there was the senseless murder of 17 year-old Simmie Williams Jr, which Police are investigating as a possible hate crime based on his sexual orientation or gender identity. Then, a gay couple was brutally attacked and gay-bashed in the popular tourist area of Las Olas Blvd while having anti-gay slurs screamed at them.

These events point to a very unsettling trend in South Florida. There seems to be an atmosphere of intolerance being created in South Florida. We at Fight OUT Loud cannot help but see the connection between the virulent anti-gay rhetoric of people like Jim Naugle and the Florida4Marriage group and wonder if their continued demonization of the LGBT community is leading to this increase in anti-gay violence. The dangerous, hate-filled words of these people have inflamed violence against innocent members of our community and must not go unchallenged.

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Goodyear discrimination: price tag $4.4 million

A Seattle woman who claimed she was antagonized and harassed because of her sexual orientation at the Goodyear store where she worked and then was demoted after she complained about it has been awarded $4.4 million by a King County jury.

Daniel F. Johnson, the attorney for Melissa Sheffield, 47, said Thursday's jury award "sends a message to employers in Washington that discrimination and retaliation will not be tolerated." Sheffield, 47, began working for Goodyear in Seattle in 1994 as a sales representative and received promotions until she was made store manager of a Goodyear store near Northgate in 1999, according to the suit filed last year.

According to the suit, Sheffield neither hid nor flaunted her sexual orientation until her former manager encouraged her to bring her partner to an annual company dinner, where she received an "adverse reaction" from another store manager,

In 2003, her former boss was replaced by a new district manager, defendant Randy Reich, and a new service manager, David Johnson, was assigned to the store, the suit claims.

Johnson "immediately let it be known ... that he knew Sheffield was gay and did not like gays," the suit claims.

When Sheffield learned that Johnson carried a gun to work she confronted him about it and he confirmed it and threatened to pull it out and to urinate on her, she claimed in the suit.

Sheffield complained to Reich and when he took no action she went over his head and reported the conflict to human resources in Goodyear's corporate office.

The company investigated, corroborated the complaint and fired Johnson, according to the lawsuit. But she was demoted to assistant store manager and went from making $55,000 a year to $13 an hour, according to the lawsuit.

full story

NYPD gay cop files discrimination lawsuit

Harrington, who works out of the Manhattan South task force, told the Daily News yesterday he regrets telling colleagues he is gay.

A gay cop charged yesterday he has been persecuted with death threats and homophobic slurs in the NYPD.

Officer Michael Harrington, a five-year veteran, said in a suit filed yesterday the hostility is so pervasive he cannot escape it - despite moving to five different precincts.

One supervisor mockingly told him he was being sent to the West Village "to be with his people," the suit said.

He said an officer at that precinct told him, "All faggots should be shot."

After receiving a death threat in the interdepartmental mail, he complained to his Patrolmen's Benevolent Association delegate, he said. He said the union rep tore up the letter in front of him.

Harrington's is the latest in a long list of complaints of homophobia in the NYPD. In 1997, 800 gay and lesbian cops filed a discrimination suit that was eventually settled out of court.

Hate for gays is endemic

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