Pope Francis: Who am I to judge gay people?

in: http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2013/07/29/pope-francis-i-wont-judge-gay-priests-and-gay-people-should-not-be-marginalised/


In a significant development Pope Francis has said that gay people should not be judged or marginalized and should be integrated into society.

Speaking to reporters on Monday during a plane journey back to the Vatican following his trip to Brazil, the global Catholic leader said: “If someone is gay and he searches for the Lord and has good will, who am I to judge?”

However, he also referred to the Catholic Church’s universal Catechism, which states that while being gay is not sinful, homosexual acts are.

“The Catechism of the Catholic Church explains this very well. It says they should not be marginalised because of this, but that they must be integrated into society,” he said.

Pope Francis has often used emotive language in order to state his opposition towards equality – and today’s comments are striking.

Three years ago as cardinal he warned that efforts to legalise equal marriage in Argentina would “confuse and deceive the children of God.”

In June, he warned the French against following “fashionable ideas” in relation to the country’s equal marriage law. 

Onboard his flight back to Rome, the 76-year-old was also quizzed by journalists about allegations of indiscretion regarding the Prelate of the Vatican bank, Monsignor Battista Ricca.

Monsignor Ricca is facing claims of inappropriate sexual behaviour and reportedly offered to resign.

Pope Francis said he had investigated the claims and found nothing to back up the allegations.

According to the National Catholic Reporter, he said: “I did what canon law requires, which is to conduct a preliminary investigation. We didn’t find anything to confirm the things he was accused of, there was nothing … I’d like to add that many times we seem to seek out the sins of somebody’s youth and publish them. We’re not talking about crimes, which are something else.

“The abuse of minors, for instance, is a crime. But one can sin and then convert, and the Lord both forgives and forgets. We don’t have the right to refuse to forget … it’s dangerous. The theology of sin is important. St Peter committed one of the greatest sins, denying Christ, and yet they made him pope! Think about that.”
Turning to the issue of women priests, he said the Church had spoken and had said “no”, but the role of women should not be restricted.

“We cannot limit the role of women in the Church to altar girls or the president of a charity, there must be more,” he said.

Pope Francis joked about claims of a “gay lobby” operating at the heart of the Vatican by saying: “There’s a lot of talk about the gay lobby, but I’ve never seen it on the Vatican ID card!”

“When I meet a gay person, I have to distinguish between their being gay and being part of a lobby. If they accept the Lord and have good will, who am I to judge them? They shouldn’t be marginalised. The tendency [of homosexuality] is not the problem … they’re our brothers.”

“The problem is not having this orientation,” he said. “We must be brothers. The problem is lobbying by this orientation, or lobbies of greedy people, political lobbies, Masonic lobbies, so many lobbies. This is the worse problem.”

In June, a Latin American Catholic Church group apologised for the “confusion” caused by the publication of members’ accounts of a meeting with Pope Francis where he was quoted as referring to a “gay lobby” inside the Vatican’s secretive administration, the Curia.

The Latin American and Caribbean Confederation of Religious (CLAR) stressed the Pope’s comments had not been recorded but were what CLAR members remembered of his answers to their questions.
Pope Francis was asked about the panel of cardinals he has set up to help him reform the Curia, the Catholic Church’s central administrative body.

He was quoted as replying: “…it is difficult. In the Curia, there are also holy people, really, there are holy people. But there also is a stream of corruption, there is that as well, it is true… The ‘gay lobby’ is mentioned, and it is true, it is there… We need to see what we can do…”



http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2013/07/29/pope-francis-i-wont-judge-gay-priests-and-gay-people-should-not-be-marginalised/

Rainbow flags burned outside Fort McMurray’s first gay pride event

in: http://www.edmontonjournal.com/Rainbow+flags+burned+outside+Fort+McMurray+first+pride+event/8723395/story.html

 Patrons celebrate on Saturday night at Fort McMurray’s first ever gay pride event by the LGBTQmunity called Pride

 

 

 

 

 

 Fort McMurray’s first gay pride event on Saturday night saw the “hurtful” burning of two gay pride flags, organizers say.

Almost 100 people were at Bailey’s Pub in Fort McMurray for an LGBTQmunity event called Pride @ The Pub when two rainbow flags went missing.

The flags, which represent the diversity of the LGBT community, would later end up burnt in a nearby parking lot.

“I can’t say why they did it and I can’t say if it was hate fuelled,” said Sheldon Parsons, president of the LGBTQmunity in Fort McMurray. “But it’s hurtful to see something like that.”

Patrons were celebrating the event wearing rainbow sashes, fedoras and singing karaoke. Parsons said most people didn’t even know the incident had occurred.

Based on security camera video viewed by LGBTQmunity vice-president Michael Kenny, around 11 p.m. the theft of one of the flags is visible. The incident occurred in the parking lot outside of the pub. Kenny said that once the burning took place, security guards approached those involved and asked them not to return to the pub. Kenny has since turned the videos over to the RCMP, who are reviewing them.

As someone who has grown up in Fort McMurray, Parsons said that the city has been “moving in the right direction” when it comes to accepting the LGBTQ community.

“I have been watching Fort McMurray change and grow,” Parsons said. “But there are still changes that have to happen within the community.”

At at this time, Kenny said they are viewing the incident as a hate crime, but he believes issues such as these are more about awareness than hate.

This was the first large-scale gay pride event the city. Kenny said the more events they hold, the more the community can get used to their presence. Eventually, Kenny hopes to hold a gay pride parade similar to ones in Edmonton and Calgary.

Kenny reviewed the videos on Sunday after he heard of the incident. He filed a complaint with the RCMP Monday morning and said the videos show clear images of the people involved.

Const. Christina Wilkins of the Wood Buffalo RCMP said they have received the complaint and are currently investigating.

There is hope that this incident can have a positive effect in Fort McMurray, Kenny said.

“I believe it will spark a wider public discussion addressing homophobia in the community.”

 

 

http://www.edmontonjournal.com/Rainbow+flags+burned+outside+Fort+McMurray+first+pride+event/8723395/story.html

Vancouver gay bars join in Russian vodka ban to protest persecution

in: http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2013/07/26/21002231.html



Russian vodka is being sent to the gulag by at least two Vancouver nightspots who refuse to serve brands from where Vladimir Putin calls home to protest Moscow’s recent repressive laws against homosexuals.

The Russian president recently enacted laws meant to restrict homosexuals from living openly in the country, even threatening to arrest openly gay tourists who visit for next year’s Sochi Winter Olympics.

The country has also passed laws forbidding Russian babies from being adopted by same-sex couples.

The new laws don’t jive with Drew Watling.

The manager of the Fountainhead Pub has pulled Russian vodka brands from his bar. Furthermore, if Moscow hasn’t backtracked on its new laws by the time of the Games, the sports bar won’t be screening them.

“We’re just taking a stand in solidarity and support for the LGBT community worldwide,” Watling said. “If enough people stand up and say something then hopefully it’ll get a lot more notoriety and get people talking.”

Celebrities nightclub, located across the street from the Fountainhead, said on its Facebook page it also won’t be selling Russian vodka, demonstrating solidarity with numerous watering holes across North America that have started similar boycotts.

Sitting at the bar Thursday, drinking a lager, patron Scott Finch said he’s in support of the boycott, calling Putin’s actions against gays “criminal.” “I’ve tried to avoid anything to do with Russia for a long time,” said Finch

http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2013/07/26/21002231.html

Threatening letters sent to lesbian couple

in: http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2013/07/22/20991881.html

This threatening letter was sent to a same-sex couple in Kingston, Ont. Click here to read the full letter.(Supplied)

 

 

Police are investigation after a same-sex couple in Kingston received two threatening letters urging them to move out of town or face violence.

Susan Belyea and Karen Dubinsky received the letter from “a small but dedicated group of Kingston residents devoted to removing the scourge of homosexuality in our city.”

“Some of the group’s younger members would have fun chasing ‘lesbos,’” the second letter stated. “We have brought them BB guns and today they are going to target practice, so they can hunt you down.”

The group said they “know (the couple) and have been following (them) for the past several weeks and we wish for you to leave this city before it’s too late,” adding that they should relocate to Vancouver or San Francisco.

“This will be the first of many reminders, each escalating to higher and higher levels of harassment and derailment,” the first letter stated.

“If you do not, and take this letter to police, as we expect, we will know about this, since we have contacts in the Kingston police. Our efforts to relocate you will escalate. We wish to avoid this scenario.”

The couple, who notified police upon receiving the letter, has also reached out to local LGBTQ activists to find more information about the assailants.

Deb Kinder, women’s community development coordinator at HIV/AIDS Regional Services, who knows the couple, posted the letters on Facebook after being told of their violent content, hoping to find the source.

“Of course I would guess whoever they might be are very cowardly because they left no way of anyone contacting them.”

This isn't the first time the LGBTQ community in Kingston has faced hatred.

On May 31, anti-gay posters were plastered downtown prior to the city’s flag raising ceremony, which marked the beginning of Pride Month in the city.

Kinder also said another same-sex couple in Kingston reached out to her and told her they had also received similar letters a few years ago.

During the pride parade this year, a woman parked a car to block the parade and refused to move when asked by police.

Despite claims in the letters of police insiders, Kingston police Chief Gilles Larochelle said the force has no connection with the group responsible for the letters, referring to the incident as “bizarre.”

A rally was held Friday in support of the couple.


 http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2013/07/22/20991881.html

Tim Hortons will unblock gay news website on WiFi

in: http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2013/07/19/20987456.html







Tim Hortons said Friday it will unblock the gay and lesbian news website DailyXtra.com on its in-store WiFi networks after the site received complaints from readers who couldn't access it while enjoying their double-doubles.

"The site never should have been blocked in the first place, so we're working at unblocking it and rectifying that situation," spokeswoman Michelle Robichaud told QMI Agency.

DailyXtra.com, the website for the free newspaper Xtra that's distributed in Toronto, Ottawa and Vancouver, said it asked to have the site unblocked but received an e-mail saying the site is "not appropriate for all ages viewing in a public environment."

Robichaud said that response came from the third-party company that runs their screening process.

"Sometimes websites get caught in a screen or in a filter in error - which may have happened in this situation, I'm not exactly sure."

Earlier this year Second Cup unblocked the site on its WiFi network after it was brought to their attention, Xtra said, adding Starbucks "doesn't block anything; watch all the porn you want here, but wear earphones."


http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2013/07/19/20987456.html

Today in LGBT History

July 9, 1986 – The Parliament of New Zealand passes the Homosexual Law Reform Act legalising homosexuality in New Zealand.

Our thoughts on the LGBT Pride Parade 2013 (June 8, in Edmonton, AB, Canada)

Today in LGBT History

July 3, 2005 – Same-sex marriage in Spain becomes legal.

Toronto shows its Pride

in: http://www.torontosun.com/2013/06/30/torontos-pride-parade-attracts-huge-crowd

Toronto’s 33rd annual Pride parade lived up to its expectations as participants strutted through downtown streets in extravagant costumes — or nothing at all.

The huge crowds of spectators — as well as those taking part in the parade — were in high spirits as they took over Yonge St. Sunday for one of the world’s largest Pride events.

“We continue to grow, and our supporters continue to grow, so we’re accommodating for that growth by extending the parade to Yonge and Dundas for the first time,” said Kevin Beaulieu, the Executive Director for Pride Toronto said.

Premiere Kathleen Wynne became the first Ontario premier to take part in the parade. Other politicians who took part in the event included Federal Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau.

Both attended a church service held before the parade kicked off.

Neither Trudeau nor Wynne were willing to comment at the parade itself, but both tweeted they were honoured to march together and show their support for Toronto’s gay community.

It’s an honour shared by Irene Miller, Toronto President of PFLAG (Parents For Lesbians And Gays), and the official grand marshall of Toronto Pride 2013.

“It’s an honor to be the grand marshall this year, especially in a progressive city like Toronto,” Miller said.

Miller added she’s looking forward to meeting with other PFLAG members and organizers from around the world at World Pride, which will take place in Toronto next June.

World Pride will attract people from around the globe. Pride Toronto has been preparing for the event since the group won the bid to host it in 2009, Beaulieu said.

It will be the first time the event will be hosted in a North American city.

“World Pride is an opportunity to remember we are part of a global community that is still facing issues, and after seeing the support, I know Toronto will be a great host,” Beaulieu said.

http://www.torontosun.com/2013/06/30/torontos-pride-parade-attracts-huge-crowd