Brasil teve 278 assassinatos por homofobia em 2011, diz governo

in: http://noticias.terra.com.br/

Um levantamento realizado pela Secretaria de Direitos Humanos revelou que foram registrados ao menos 278 assassinatos relacionados à homofobia em 2011. Também foi constatada a ocorrência de 6.809 denúncias de violações aos direitos humanos de homossexuais durante o ano passado.

Parte do levantamento, ainda inédito, foi antecipada nesta quinta-feira, Dia Internacional da Cidadania LGBT (Lésbicas, Gays, Bissexuais, Travestis e Transexuais), pela ministra Maria do Rosário. É a primeira vez que um órgão do governo federal divulga oficialmente números ligados à violação dos direitos dos homossexuais, identificados a partir de denúncias feitas aos serviços Disque Direitos Humanos (Disque 100), Central de Atendimento à Mulher (Ligue 180), de dados do Ministério da Saúde e por meio de notícias publicadas pela imprensa. Até agora, a principal fonte de informações sobre o assunto era o Grupo Gay da Bahia (GGB), cujo último relatório, divulgado em abril deste ano, contabilizava 266 mortes violentas durante o ano passado.

O levantamento aponta que, na maioria dos casos de agressão (61,9%), o autor é alguém próximo à vítima, o que pode indicar um nível de intolerância em relação à homossexualidade. Cerca de 34% das vítimas pertencem ao gênero masculino; 34,5% ao gênero feminino, 10,6% travestis, 2,1% transexuais e 18,9% não informado. Foram identificadas ao menos 1.713 vítimas e 2.275 suspeitos.

O coordenador geral de Promoção dos Direitos LGBT da secretaria, Gustavo Bernades, disse que o fato de 49% das vítimas de homicídios serem travestis indica que este é um dos grupos mais vulneráveis à violência homofóbica, junto com os jovens negros. "Há também uma violência doméstica que nos preocupa muito, porque é difícil para o Estado interceder nestes casos. E a violência contra lésbicas também é pouco denunciada".

O levantamento mostrou ainda a existência de um grande número de casos em que a família rejeita os jovens que revelam sua orientação sexual. "Há, nestes casos, a violência dos pais que abandonam ou negligenciam seus filhos. Tudo isso demonstra que precisamos de políticas públicas de enfrentamento à homofobia, especialmente para os jovens, em particular para os jovens negros".

Pouco após divulgar os dados, a ministra anunciou a proposta de incentivar a criação de Comitês Estaduais de Enfrentamento à Homofobia. De acordo com Maria do Rosário, os comitês serão criados em parceria com governos estaduais, com o Conselho Federal de Psicologia e com outras organizações da sociedade civil.

Os grupos servirão para monitorar a implementação de políticas públicas, acompanhar ocorrências de violências homofóbicas, evitando a impunidade, e sensibilizar agentes públicos responsáveis por garantir os direitos do segmento. Também está em estudo a criação de um comitê nacional que se responsabilize por coordenar a ação dos demais comitês.

"É preciso compreender que um crime contra um homossexual atinge não só a pessoa, mas a família e a sociedade como um todo. É assim que nós sentimos no governo brasileiro", disse a ministra, adiantando que a proposta de criação dos comitês ainda está sendo desenhada e vai depender de parcerias. "Há uma vontade política inabalável do governo federal de constituir mecanismos que mobilizem a sociedade contra a violência homofóbica. Acreditamos que, com as parcerias, os recursos necessários não serão tão grandes. O principal valor investido será a mobilização permanente da sociedade", disse.

O presidente da Associação Brasileira de Lésbicas, Gays, Bissexuais, Travestis e Transexuais (ABGLT), Toni Reis, comemorou o anúncio da ministra em pleno Dia Internacional da Cidadania LGBT, mas lamentou os números do levantamento. "Este posicionamento político de estabelecer o comitê nacional e os estaduais é muito importante. Já vínhamos denunciando a situação, mas hoje temos um dado oficial. É o governo brasileiro quem está reconhecendo que houve 6.809 violações dos direitos humanos de pessoas homossexuais", disse Reis, prometendo que as associações não-governamentais irão apoiar qualquer proposta da Secretaria de Direitos Humanos que vise a combater a homofobia, sobretudo a criação dos comitês estaduais.

http://noticias.terra.com.br/

Today in LGBT History

June 26, 2011 - New York City’s gay pride parade turned into a carnival-like celebration of same-sex marriage as hundreds of thousands of revelers rejoiced at the state’s new law giving gay couples the same marital rights as everyone else.

AfterElton rounds up the most memorable LGBT quotes of 2011 - part 4

in:http://www.afterelton.com/people/2011/12/most-memorable-lgbt-quotes-2011?page=0%2C3

I don’t f*cking care if I pissed off some gays, because if they can take a f*cking dick up their *ss, they can take a f*cking joke.

Tracy Morgan to his audience at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium

Life is too serious to not laugh and enjoy some humor. I now no longer enjoy Tracy Morgan’s humor … I'm not angry ... just very very very disappointed.

From Kevin Roger’s Facebook post, "Why I No Longer 'Like' Tracy Morgan"

I hope for his sake that Tracy’s apology will be accepted as sincere by his gay and lesbian coworkers at 30 Rock, without whom Tracy would not have lines to say, clothes to wear, sets to stand on, scene partners to act with, or a printed-out paycheck from accounting to put in his pocket.

30 Rock creator Tina Fey reaction

Booooo!

Audience response to a question by gay soldier Stephen Hill at a Republican Presidential debate hosted by FOX News.

Like being a woman, like being a racial religious tribal or ethnic minority, being LGBT does not make you less human. And that is why gay rights are Human Rights and Human Rights are gay rights.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in a speech to the United Nations

No country should deny people their rights because of who they love, which is why we must stand up for the rights of gays and lesbians everywhere.

President Barack Obama in a foreign policy memorandum

I feel that gay people not being able to get married for generations, forever, meant that we came up with alternative ways of recognizing relationships. And I worry that if everybody has access to the same institutions that we lose the creativity of subcultures having to make it on their own. And I like gay culture.

Rachel Maddow discussing her opinion on same-sex marriage.

Being brought up in a Christian home and still identifying as Christian, I get pretty annoyed with the Christian lobbies around the world who say gay marriage destroys the family and all that kind of rubbish. They claim to follow someone who always stood up for the oppressed and marginalised.

Australian rugby player David Pocock. He and his girlfriend say they won't get married until their lesbian and gay friends can.

Sebastian: One of us has a hard luck case of the gay face, and it ain't me.
Kurt: You smell like Craigslist.

From the December 6th epiosde of Glee, "Hold On To Sixteen"

I promise to stand by you unwaveringly through thick and some day, God willing, through thin.

SiriusXM OutQ personality Frank DeCaro broadcasting his wedding vow to husband Jim Colucci

AfterElton rounds up the most memorable LGBT quotes of 2011 - part 3

in: http://www.afterelton.com/people/2011/12/most-memorable-lgbt-quotes-2011?page=0%2C2

A lot of people are curious why I’m a lesbian. Ladies and gentlemen, the cast of Entourage!

Emmy Awards host Jane Lynch

OMG! Is this true? [Marcus Bachmann] has a Christian clinic where he de-programs gay boys & girls! I’m gonna strangle him with my Boa!

Cher on Twitter

I really think, without trying to give us credit that we don’t deserve, I really feel like Kurt and Blaine are a modern version of Lucy and Ricky. Oh, I’m Lucy for sure.

So says multi-hyphenate Chris Colfer

The Democrats want me to live on their plantation as their slave, because I’m a gay person. And I refuse to do that.

A-List: Dallas cast member and Republican consultant Taylor Garrett commenting after allegedly being assaulted.

This show does something very special for the gay community. There’s a message hidden inside the totally gaudy package that is so fun to watch. It’s all about loving and accepting yourself, and every season I’m surprisingly moved by it

Actor Jesse Tyler Ferguson shares his thoughts on RuPaul's Drag Race

We speak for the entire Giants organization when we say that there is no place in society for hatred and bullying against anyone.

San Francisco Giants pitcher Barry Zito in the first “It Gets Better” video made by a major league sports team

Dad, I’m gay.

Airman 1st class Randy Phillips phoning his father on YouTube after the demise of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”

I kept thinking, this is my first show, I don’t want to get fired. I was young, I was 22. I didn’t know anything. So that sort of started the idea of, okay, well, I’m working a lot, I guess I’ll just keep that gay part of my life on the back burner for now. I went so far as to sleep with women a couple times. It was a very confusing time for me.

Actor Sean Maher reflects on years in the Hollywood closet

I do not comment on my client's personal lives in the media. As for Luke, he did so once, a long time ago when he was an inexperienced, young actor and now with maturity and hindsight, he has learned not to engage the press in his personal life again.

Publicist for actor Luke Evans responds to AfterElton when asked to clarify whether Evans still considers himself openly gay (as he did in a 2002 interview).

AfterElton rounds up the most memorable LGBT quotes of 2011 - part 2

in: http://www.afterelton.com/people/2011/12/most-memorable-lgbt-quotes-2011?page=0%2C1


When I was a kid out here in L.A., I was homeless, I didn’t have any money and I was living in my car. I wasn’t averse to going down to Santa Monica Boulevard and letting a guy buy me a sandwich. Know what I mean?

Hung star Thomas Jane on his early days in Hollywood.

"Niggas is gay. There's millions of gay people in the world. Girls too... I'm a fan of 'Yo, I'm gay. The f*ck.' Like, 2011 you gotta hide that you're gay? Like, you know what I'm saying, like, be real, like 'Yo I'm gay, what the f*ck.' If you gay you gay. Like that's your preference, you know? F*ck it if the people don't like it."

DJ Fat Joe in response to whether he's ever done a song with a gay rapper.

I wanted to show America a different kind of man. If there was someone like me when I was growing up, my whole life would have been different.

Dancing With the Stars contestant Chaz Bono on his elimination from the series.

I’m not ashamed of what I did. It doesn’t define me or who I am.

MTV Real World cast member and former gay porn model Dustin Zito

People from pre-sexual revolution and even from the 60s and the birth of the gay movement still define gay as two men or two women having sex. Our generation defines it from a more emotional standpoint. To be gay means you are drawn to the same sex. But it’s a part of who you are, an identity, not an act.

J. Edgar screenwriter Dustin Lance Black in a WSJ interview.

In the gay world, [relationships] will always be open. There is no curbing the gay man.

Bravo network’s Millionaire Matchmaker Patti Stanger

Well, you show me the science [that being gay is not a choice] and I’ll be persuaded.

Republican presidential aspirant Herman Cain on The View

Is it adultery if I'm committing it at one end of a guy and he's committing it at the other end of that same guy?

Dan Savage when asked by Stephen Colbert if he's ever committed adultery.

AfterElton rounds up the most memorable LGBT quotes of 2011 - part 1

in: http://www.afterelton.com/people/2011/12/most-memorable-lgbt-quotes-2011

In 2011, if they asked, we told. We heard more gay and gay-supportive voices than ever before. There were fights, big and small. But there was also a whole lotta love. Here’s a selection of the most memorable things people had to say about being gay this year.

I'm beautiful in my way 'cause God makes no mistakes. I'm on the right track baby, I was born this way.

Lady Gaga, chorus to "Born This Way"

Make no mistake, I am a Christian and I believe in God and I don’t believe he makes mistakes, so I believe that being gay is not a sin and in fact it’s how you’re made.

Actress Kristin Chenowith appearing on The Joy Behar Show

Remember, the change you want to see in the world, and in your school, begins with you.

Tyler Clementi’s father, Joseph Clementi opening remarks at Rutgers University’s symposium on the use and misuse of social networking

If you don’t like gay marriage, blame straight people. They’re the ones who keep having gay babies.

Sign outside an NYC restaurant

These people who are making a big deal out of gay marriage? I don’t give a f*ck about who wants to get married to anybody else! Why not?! We’re making a big deal out of things we shouldn’t be making a deal out of. They go on and on with all this bullsh*t about ‘sanctity’. Don’t give me that sanctity crap! Just give everybody the chance to have the life they want.

Oscar winner Clint Eastwood

Attention every breeder, you’re invited to the theatre, it’s not just for gays anymore!

Tony Awards host Neil Patrick Harris’ opening number

I'm not ashamed to be a Christian. But you don't have to be in the pew every Sunday to know that there's something wrong in this country when gays can serve openly in the military but our kids can't openly celebrate Christmas or pray in school.

Texas Governor and GOP presidential candidate Rick Perry in his "Strong" campaign commercial

The Republican path to victory is compromised when gay Americans are perceived as being attacked for just being how God created them.

Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus

He was the up and equal homosexual who would not sit at the back of the bus.

Yale Law Professor William Eskridge, honoring the late gay rights pioneer, Frank Kameny

We need marriage equality in every state in this nation. Otherwise, no state really has marriage equality, and we will not rest until it is a reality.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo

The best lesbian and gay parenting books of 2011

in: http://www.baywindows.com/index.php?ch=columnists&sc=mombian&id=127912

This year brought us several new books, fiction and non-fiction, featuring lesbian- and gay-headed families. While we might hope for greater quantity (and greater diversity across the LGBT spectrum), the quality was at least very good. Here are some of the best.

Children’s books

Donovan’s Big Day, by Lesléa Newman, is a delightful story about a boy preparing for the wedding of his two moms. Newman wrote Heather Has Two Mommies, the first picture book for and about children with lesbian parents, over 20 years ago. Unlike in Heather, however, which shows the girl grappling to understand why her family is "different," Newman left "issues" out of Donovan entirely. The young boy has only the problems any child might face while attending a wedding of any sort. He has to dress up, keep clean, and not fidget. Most of all, he has to make sure to hand his moms their rings at the proper moment.

There is just enough light tension to keep young readers engaged as Donovan goes through each step of his preparations. Illustrator Mike Dutton’s dynamic gouache drawings capture Donovan’s earnest spirit with gentle humor.

Monday Is One Day, by Arthur A. Levine (Scholastic Press), is a gay-inclusive (but not exclusive) poem from a working parent to a child. Each page shows a different family and a different activity as they count down to and through the weekend. The families are white and black, with moms and dads, gay dads, single parents, and one older couple who could be the child’s grandparents. They live in cities, suburbs, and on a farm, and all delight in each other. Julian Hector’s bold, colorful illustrations complement the bouncy rhymes. The book reminds us how much of the parenting experience is universal.

Levine, a gay dad himself, is also a publisher of his own imprint at Scholastic, Arthur A. Levine Books, whose titles include the U.S. editions of the Harry Potter series.

Adult novel

Sing You Home, by New York Times bestselling author Jodi Picoult, brings the lives and concerns of lesbian prospective moms to a mainstream audience in an engaging and sympathetic way. Picoult’s novel also tries to educate its readers about some of the real-life legal and social barriers same-sex couples face. A spunky fictional attorney from the real-life Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD) plays a prominent role. If the book sometimes feels jammed with too many Big Social Issues -- marriage equality, alcoholism, abortion, suicidal teens -- Picoult is a good enough writer to weave them into a coherent and compelling tale.

Memoir

Times Two: Two Women in Love and the Happy Family They Made, Sarah Kate Ellis and Kristen Henderson’s memoir of simultaneous pregnancies, is a welcome addition to the small genre of LGBT parenting chronicles. Ellis is a marketing executive in New York City. Henderson is a founding member of the all-female rock band Antigone Rising. In alternating chapters, they tell their intertwining tale of coming out, falling in love, and starting a family.

Although some might consider the tale of double the hormones, mood swings, and post-partum exhaustion to be more of a cautionary tale, Ellis and Henderson manage to emphasize the positive. Along the way to parenthood, they discover their resiliency as a couple as they bond over the side effects of pregnancy -- heartburn, hemorrhoids, and swollen ankles -- and agree to disagree over issues such as whether to know the genders of their children and whether to try natural childbirth. They tell their story with a warmth and honesty that shows on every page.

Nonfiction

Invisible Families, by UCLA sociologist Mignon Moore, is arguably the most groundbreaking work on LGBT parenting published in recent years. Her work is a valuable corrective to the predominant portrayal in media and research of LGBT parents (and LGBT people generally) as almost entirely white. It will complement the emerging demographic data that shows a high percentage of lesbian and gay parents are people of color.

Mignon takes a close look at the community of gay black women in New York City, drawing on personal observations, interviews, and surveys to perceptively trace the connections among sexual orientation, gender expression, race, and class. While she doesn’t focus exclusively on mothers, many of the women in her study are mothers, and must negotiate the assumptions and expectations of motherhood within black communities while also challenging those assumptions by virtue of being gay.

Mignon deftly explores the overlapping influences on these women’s identities in a work that is both valuable in itself and will serve as a model for future research into LGBT families of all types.

Adoption by Lesbians and Gay Men: A New Dimension in Family Diversity, edited by David Brodzinsky and Adam Pertman of the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute, brings together experts across several disciplines -- social welfare, psychology, sociology, and law -- to provide a picture of this "rapidly growing new family form." It summarizes our knowledge of lesbian and gay adoptive families, contributes to it, and points out directions for future research, education, and policy changes. It is an academic book, not a light read, but should become an invaluable reference for adoption professionals, researchers, policy makers, advocates, and lawyers.

Ugandan lesbian rugby player granted asylum in Germany

Ikulmet was granted asylum after her treatment in Uganda

The former head of Uganda’s female rugby team has been granted asylum in Germany after facing harassment, the country’s DW News reports.

Lilian Ikulmet, who was in charge of the She Cranes, said she had been raped, beaten and discriminated against by men for her sexuality.

Ikulmet, a professional journalist also worked as a writer at the Daily Monitor newspaper in her native Uganda.

She said she now wants to leave the gay hostel where she is hiding at the end of the year and move into an apartment of her own.

Ikulmet also expressed a desire to apply for a visa for her girlfriend, whom she hopes to marry.

Earlier this year, Robert Segwanyi was granted leave to apply to remain in the UK as a result of his treatment in Uganda, following protracted questions over whether he was really gay.

Segwanyi said he was harassed and burnt with molten plastic while in Uganda, and feared he would be killed or jailed on his return to the African state.

The UK Border Authority agreed to reconsider his case at the last minute before his deportation.

Switzerland Tourism to offer LGBT training to hotels

in: http://www.travelweekly.com/

Individual cities in Europe, such as Berlin, Stockholm, Nice, Helsinki and Manchester, are proactively gay-friendly, but now Switzerland Tourism says it is the first national tourism organization to offer specialized training on the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender market for interested hotels countrywide.

The tourist office joined the GayComfort training and certification program and is making membership in the program available to hotels across Switzerland. All GayComfort certified properties will be listed on www.MySwitzerland.com/gaylesbian, and staff will receive online training in four languages on key travel issues expressed by LGBT travelers in consumer research studies, such as recognizing the diversity within the LGBT market.


“Here in Switzerland we are a very progressive and tolerant country, which is genuinely gay- and lesbian-welcoming, and we take that very seriously,” said Urs Eberhard, executive vice president of markets and meetings for Switzerland Tourism. “We want to make sure that the welcome our LGBT visitors receive is of the highest possible standard and is in line with our international reputation for industry-leading levels of customer service.

"Our decision to make GayComfort training and certification available to all interested properties across our country is entirely in keeping with this approach,” he said.


But advertising a destination as welcoming is only half the battle, said Ian Johnson, CEO of Out Now, a global LGBT marketing agency.


“LGBT travelers have become increasingly wary after several recent cases of discrimination by frontline hotel staff towards LGBT customers,” Johnson said. “It is no longer enough to claim to be 'gay-friendly' without delivering on the promises made. Hotels, tourist attractions and destinations that demonstrate that they genuinely want to deliver great customer service to this market are the ones that will succeed.”


Johnson added that bad experiences for LGBT customers can “go viral on social media very quickly and create negative publicity, undoing any gains made by expensive gay advertising campaigns.”


Lesbian Couple Sues Over Child's Birth Certificate

via:http://www.kcrg.com/news/Lesbian-Couple-Sues-Over-Childs-Birth-Certificate--133375888.html

A Polk County judge will rule later on a lesbian couple's lawsuit to have both their names on their daughter's birth certificate.

Heather Gartner and Melissa Gartner, of Des Moines, are suing the state health department, claiming that listing only one parent deprives the girl the benefit of two parents being present from birth. A judge heard arguments on Monday and will issue a writing ruling later.

The couple's attorney cites the Iowa Supreme Court case that struck down a same-sex marriage ban in 2009. The ruling cited constitutional rights to basic fairness and equal protection.

The state says Iowa law regarding parentage is gender-specific, and if a woman is married, the husband is the father, absent a court order that says otherwise.

Marcha do Orgulho LGBT chega à 20ª edição na Argentina

http://mundo.gay1.com.br/2011/11/marcha-do-orgulho-lgbt-chega-20-edicao.html

Participantes festejam lei do matrimônio entre pessoas do mesmo sexo.
Evento também protesta contra poucos avanços em igualdade de direitos.

Em sua 20ª edição, a Marcha do Orgulho LGBT, realizada neste sábado (5) em Buenos Aires, na Argentina, festejou a lei do matrimônio entre pessoas do mesmo sexo, mas também criticou os lentos avanços no reconhecimento de igualdade de direitos LGBTs. “Reivindicamos que seja aprovado o pedido das pessoas de serem reconhecidas pelo gênero com a qual se identificam”, disse Esteban Paulón, presidente da Federação Argentina de Lésbicas, Gays, Bissexuais, Travestis e Transexuais.

Parada do Orgulho LGBT chega à 20ª edição na Argentina (Foto: Reuters)

Paulón se refere ao slogan “Lei de identidade de gênero já!”, que é o mote da marcha neste ano e pede que aqueles que assim desejam tenham nos documentos de identidade qual o gênero que se encaixam. Cerca de 150 mil pessoas comparecem ao evento e marcharam rumo à Câmara do Deputados, onde são avaliados atualmente tais projetos de lei. A marcha também exigia mais atos de prevenção ante violências cometidas contra LGBTs.

Participantes festejam lei do matrimônio entre pessoas do mesmo sexo (Foto: Reuters)

A Parada do Orgulho LGBT acontece desde 1992, sempre no primeiro sábado de novembro. No Brasil, a Parada do Orgulho LGBT mais antiga, está em sua 15ª edição.

Lesbian politician Ruth Davidson elected leader of the Scottish Conservative Party

http://www.pinknews.co.uk/

Ruth Davidson MSP has been elected as leader of the Scottish Conservative Party. Her election makes her the first openly lesbian or gay leader of a major British political party.

Ms Davidson was only elected as a member of the Scottish Parliament earlier this year and succeeds Annabel Goldie as the leader of the third largest party in the parliament.

In her victory speech, Ms Davidson said that the Tories in Scotland were still alive and kicking”.

She added: “Annabel [Goldie] has been a fantastic leader of the MSP group and we all owe her a great debt for her service and for her hard work over a number of years.

“But this is the first time that our members have been asked to elect a leader for the whole party in Scotland and I’ve met our members from Selkirk to Shetland and all points in between.

“They’ve been engaged, they’ve been enthusiastic, they’ve been welcoming and they’re excited about our bright future too.

“A political party is not a leader, a political party is its membership and I want to bring our members at all levels much closer together in our party going forward and to take our party forward in unity.”

Following the result, British prime minister David Cameron said: “I am delighted to congratulate Ruth on winning this leadership election and look forward to working with her to strengthen the Union and build a better future for Scotland.”

Ms Davidson presented herself as the only one of the Conservative candidates who could appeal to Scottish voters, a demographic deeply mistrustful of the party since Margaret Thatcher’s days in power.

Gay Man Stabbed, Beaten & Set On Fire In Texas By Homophobes

via:http://perezhilton.com/

Our hearts ache for this guy. We can't even imagine the pain he is feeling, inside and out.

While you were probably out have a great time at a Halloween party on Sunday, this guys was being tortured ruthlessly by bigots, simply because he's gay.

Burke Burnett, a 26-year-old openly gay man in Reno, Texas was viciously attacked by some fellow partiers this weekend when he rubbed a group of man the wrong way. Understand that Burke did nothing but arrive at the party with some friends, leave, then return with another person, a close girl friend, before he was jumped by four guys, who had no mercy to show the man they called a “pussy-ass faggot,” “gay bitch” and “cock-sucking punk.”

According to Burke (and there are clearly pictures to prove it) he was relentlessly beaten by the man in the face, before the stabbed him TWICE with a broken beer bottle, once in the back and then in the arm. They then threw his weak body into a fire, where he sustained second degree burns. He also needed to have 30 stitches to close stab wounds to his back and forearm, as well as a cut above his left eye. (above)

Unfortunately, no arrests have been made at this time, but police have assured the public they are investigating the situation.

The unimaginable things that simple-minded people will do. Just look at that poor kid. He deserves that. He deserves such violence brought upon. Why? WHY?! To make those four guys feel like men? To try and rid the world of something that don't understand, so it must be bad?!

If everything is bigger in Texas, than we imagine these guys are the biggest homophobes in our country. We hope they pay for their ignorance.

Brasil aprova casamento civil gay por 4 votos contra 1

in: http://mixbrasil.uol.com.br/

O Superior Tribunal de Justiça (STJ) aprovou em sessão na tarde desta terça-feira, 25 de outubro, em Brasília, o casamento civil entre pessoas do mesmo sexo – em um processo movido por um casal de lésbicas do Rio Grande do Sul. Foram quatro dos cinco votos a favor, sendo que o ministro Marco Aurélio Buzzi se posicionou contra.

Último a votar, Buzzi pediu vistas do processo na última sexta-feira, 21 de outubro, quando o casamento já tinha os quatro votos favoráveis. No retorno do julgamento nesta terça, o ministro disse que não reconhece o recurso por entender que a competência para decidir é do Supremo Tribunal Federal (STF), que em 5 de maio deste ano legalizou as uniões estáveis entre homossexuais.

O processo julgado foi movido por um casal de mulheres gaúchas que tiveram o pedido para mudar o estado civil negado pelo cartório e também pelo Tribunal de Justiça do Rio Grande do Sul. O casal então recorreu ao STJ e agora virou jurisprudência.

Gay parade banned in capital of Belarus

in: http://en.rian.ru/society/20111018/167785331.html

The administration of the Belarusian capital has prohibited holding a gay parade in Minsk, scheduled for October 22, although the country’s president has nothing against such events, a statement on the website of the parade’s organizers said.

“The municipal executive committee of Minsk banned a parade along the Krasin Street in the district of Sosny, although President Alexander Lukashenko earlier stated that he was not against a gay parade on the outskirts of the city,” the statement said.

Earlier in the month Lukashenko said in an interview with Russian news agencies that he would not ban gay parades in his country, just like they are banned in Russia.

“I would not ban them. Somewhere on the outskirts of the city to marvel people with what they have," the Belarusian president said.

Last May, dozens of members of Belarusian and Russian gay organizations gathered on the Belarusian capital's main street, although the authorities gave no permission to hold the parade.

Special police forces suppressed the parade arresting 10 activists for "disorderly behavior."

The event also attracted anti-gay protestors, who threw eggs into the crowd.

LGBT history and the evolution of the media

http://www.dallasvoice.com/lgbt%E2%80%88history-evolution-media-1091355.html

Editor’s note: October is National Gay History Month, and as the month begins, Rare Reporter columnist David Webb takes a look at the role the media — both mainstream and LGBT — has played in preserving our history.

If an LGBT person went into a coma a decade or so ago and came out of it today, they likely wouldn’t be able to believe their eyes when they recovered enough to survey the media landscape.

There was a time not so long ago when gay activists literally had to plead with or rant at editors and reporters at mainstream publications and television stations to get them to cover LGBT events. Even editorial staffs at alternative publications often dismissed political and cultural events in the LGBT community as unimportant to the majority of their audience.

Editors and reporters at traditional media outlets who happened to be members of the LGBT community often steared clear of gay issues to fall in line with the prevailing policies set by the publishers in the newsroom . Often, they were deep in the closet, or if not, just afraid to challenge the status quo.

I know all this to be true because as late as the early 1990s, I was engaged in legendary battles with my straight editor at an alternative publication who only wanted two or three “gay stories” per year. After the first quarter of one year I heard the editor telling another writer that I had already used up the newspaper’s quota for gay stories for the whole year.

This long-standing scarcity of coverage opened the door for the launch of gay newspapers to fill the void and the thirst for information that was coming not only from LGBT people but also straight allies, straight enemies and the non-committed in the gay rights movement.

After about two decades of working for the mainstream media and later at the alternative publication for a few years, I moved to a gay newspaper. Upon hearing about it, my former editor advised me that the job sounded “perfect” for me.

At the gay newspaper, I not only covered LGBT issues, but I also liked to scrutinize and comment on the coverage or lack thereof I observed in mainstream publications. It was, at the time, a dream job for me. I was flabbergasted to learn that no one at the newspaper had obtained a media pass from local law enforcement officials nor received official recognition at local law enforcement public relations departments.

What gay activists and enterprising journalists had come to realize was that straight people were just as interested in what our community was doing as we were. I also realized that elected and appointed public officials, civic and religious leaders, law enforcement officials and most others love media coverage, and the fact that it was a gay publication featuring them didn’t much matter at all.

As a result, gay publications across the country were providing coverage that gay and straight readers couldn’t find anywhere else. And those newspapers were flying out of the racks at the libraries, municipal buildings and on the street in front of the big city newspapers as fast as they disappeared from gay and lesbian nightclubs.

What it amounted to was that gay publications were enjoying a lucrative monopoly on LGBT news and, in the process, helping LGBT communities to grow strong in major urban areas.

It’s amazing how long it took the powers that be at the giant media companies to figure out what was going on, but they eventually did.

I would love to say that a social awakening was responsible for the new enlightened approach to LGBT issues by the mainstream media, but alas, I fear it was more motivated by dollars and cents. Publishers began to realize that those small gay publications were raking in lots of advertising revenue from car dealers, retail stores, real estate agencies and many other businesses where the owners knew LGBT people spent money.

Today, you can hardly turn on the television or pick up a newspaper or magazine without hearing or reading about something related to LGBT news or gay and lesbian celebrities and politicians. When I fired up my laptop today, I received an e-mail from the Huffington Post directing me to a story written by Arianna Huffington announcing new features that included the debut of “HuffPost: Gay Voices,” a page that will compile LGBT news stories together each day for the convenience of the readers.

With the power of the Internet and its capacity for documenting and archiving news stories, information about the LGBT community for both the present and the past will always be at our fingertips, except for those three decades between about 1970 and 2000 when the mainstream media couldn’t be bothered with us because they had no idea what a force we would one day become.

For information about that period of time we are going to have to scour the coverage of gay newspapers and magazines published before the days of the Internet, read fiction and non-fiction published by LGBT writers and encourage older members of our community to share their recollections in written and oral form.

It’s vitally important to the history of our culture that we not lose those stories, and it’s largely thanks to our communities’ own publications that we won’t.

Escola de pilotos expulsa alunos por suposta homossexualidade

via: Terra Mobile Brasil - Escola de pilotos expulsa alunos por suposta homossexualidade

Uma escola de pilotos de aviação civil chinesa expulsou dois alunos após publicar-se na internet fotos de ambos se beijando e em atitude carinhosa, uma ação que suscitou fortes protestos de grupos chineses de defesa dos direitos dos homossexuais, informou nesta segunda-feira a imprensa do país.

Segundo o Global Times, as fotos dos dois rapazes, vestindo o uniforme da instituição onde estão matriculados, se transformaram em um fenômeno na internet chinesa, onde foram publicadas em milhares de páginas web.

Por causa disso, a escola de voo onde ambos estudavam, chamada Guanghan, ligada à Universidade de Voos de Aviação Civil da China e situada na província de Sichuan (sudoeste), anunciou a suspensão temporária dos dois jovens para submetê-los à "educação moral e crítica". "As imagens criaram uma má impressão da escola e deles mesmos", assinalou ao jornal um responsável do departamento de relações públicas do centro.

Os dois jovens expulsos asseguraram que as fotos eram apenas uma piada que ambos tinham decidido fazer após passar em um exame, mas o assunto captou a atenção de muitos grupos gays do país, que exigiram à universidade que retire o castigo.

A homossexualidade foi durante décadas considerada uma doença mental no regime comunista, e embora esta atitude esteja mudando e os homossexuais chineses cada vez mostram mais abertamente sua opção sexual, ainda sofrem em algumas ocasiões de discriminação.