Colombia: Christmas gay nativity Facebook photo sparks Catholic anger

in: http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2012/12/18/colombia-christmas-gay-nativity-facebook-photo-sparks-catholic-anger/

 

The couple’s nativity scene (Photo: Daily Mail)

 

 

 

A Colombian couple has been condemned by the Catholic Church for posting a photo on Facebook that depicts the nativity scene with two father Josephs and baby Jesus, but no Virgin Mary.

According to the Mail, Andrés Vásquez and Felipe Cárdenas, a gay couple living in the city of Cartagena, posted the image of their nativity plastic figures display without the Virgin Mary to create awareness about the need to legalise equal marriage in the country.

“We did it because we believe in Colombia. We have lived in different cities in the world and we prefer to return to our country,” Mr Vásquez said. “We are beginning to build [a better country] through our new union.”

The city’s Catholic leaders described the display as “sacrilege.”

Earlier this month, during a parliamentary debate about equal marriage, Colombian Senator Edgar Espíndola said the measure would lead to necrophilia, bestiality and paedophilia.

In November, Senator Roberto Gerlein sparked outrage with a similar homophobic rant in which he described gay sex as “dirty and revolting”.

 

  

 

http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2012/12/18/colombia-christmas-gay-nativity-facebook-photo-sparks-catholic-anger/

 

 

Astro de Modern Family sofre homofobia no Facebook

in: http://www.techtudo.com.br/noticias/noticia/2012/11/astro-de-modern-family-sofre-homofobia-no-facebook.html

Homossexual assumido, o ator Jesse Tyler Ferguson está sofrendo com a perseguição de muitos internautas no Facebook. O astro do seriado Modern Family recentemente afirmou que apoia o casamento entre pessoas do mesmo sexo e, por isso, está recebendo muitas críticas de supostos fãs na rede social.

 Jesse Tyler Ferguson está sofrendo perseguição de internautas no Facebook por apoiar o casamento homossexual (Foto: Reprodução/Daily Dot)

 

Por meio de uma publicação em seu mural, o ator comentou a situação chata pela qual vem passando. Segundo Ferguson, nem mesmo o fato de ter se preparado para lidar com a pressão, por ser uma figura pública, foi o bastante para impedir que ele se irritasse com as críticas por conta de sua sexualidade. “Como um ator, aprendi que tenho que desenvolver uma pele forte, mas como um humano estou passando por um momento difícil. A quantidade de críticas que venho recebendo nos últimos dias por apoiar o casamento homossexual é cavalar”, criticou.

Jesse aproveitou ainda para destacar que não entende como há fãs que pensam de uma maneira "tão retrógrada" a ponto de atacá-lo simplesmente por sua opção sexual, e por apoiar a união estável entre pessoas do mesmo sexo. “Estou em choque e envergonhado de muitos dos meus ‘fãs’ por acreditarem que sou menos importante por causa de minha orientação sexual. Para quem se sente dessa forma, mostro a porta de saída tranquilamente e desejo boa sorte em suas jornadas”, escreveu o ator, em post que ganhou mais de duas mil curtidas e cerca de 60 compartilhamentos em poucas horas.

 

Ator desabafou sobre o caso no Facebook (Foto: Reprodução/Daily Dot)


http://www.techtudo.com.br/noticias/noticia/2012/11/astro-de-modern-family-sofre-homofobia-no-facebook.html

Catholic gay Italian priest comes out on Facebook

in: http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/catholic-gay-italian-priest-comes-out-facebook171012


Italian Catholic priest Don Mario Bonfanti is making the headlines after having decided to 'reveal the truth' about being gay

A Catholic priest is now making the headlines in Italy after having decided to come out on Facebook on International Coming Out Day (11 October).

‘I am gay. Or, better, I am a happily gay priest,’ he stated.

Don Mario Bonfanti, 41, is a priest in Pagnano, near Lecco, in the Italian region of Lombardy. And his openness about his sexuality is something of a revolution.

Openly gay priests, in Italy, are a rarity. The Italian Catholic church is know for not being tolerant of LGBT people.

Bonfanti wrote on Facebook: ‘Truth makes us free, so Jesus said.

‘But, strangely, the Church denies this sentence. Catholic LGBT people must come out. They have to accept the truth.’

Last March, don Bonfanti was banned from another parish in Brianza, Lombardy, for having supported same-sex unions.

The local community defendend their priest, but the bishop did not change his mind and moved don Bonfanti to another church.

Now, a new group, with more than 1,200 followers, has been created on Facebook. ‘Io sto con don Mario’ (I support don Mario), is the name of the group.

Don Mario Bonfanti added: ‘I am happy in this way.’

http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/catholic-gay-italian-priest-comes-out-facebook171012

Orthodox activists urge Facebook ban over gay wedding icons

in: http://rt.com/politics/facebook-gay-propaganda-ban-910/

Russian religious activists have demanded Facebook be banned in the country over “gay propaganda” among minors and have launched a campaign to criminalize homosexuality.

The scandal erupted earlier this month after the popular social networking website introduced same-sex marriage status icons: one depicting two brides, the other two grooms.

In response, an Orthodox community in the city of Saratov, southern Russia, issued an ultimatum demanding that Facebook stop “flirting with sodomites” and remove all content promoting homosexuality.

The activists sent a fax to the international network’s office in Russia and gave the company 24 hours to fulfill the demands. If Facebook does not comply, they threatened to sue internet service providers who give users access to Facebook content.

Since the ultimatum was ignored, the Saratov’s community began to collect signatures in support of returning a Soviet-era anti-gay article to the Penal Code, reports TemaSaratov news portal.

The campaign was launched in Saratov and several other Russian regions – including St Petersburg, Novosibirsk and Arkhangelsk – where gay propaganda is banned by law.

In just three days the activists managed to obtain 34,000 signatures, said the leader of the Orthodox public organization, Vladimir Roslyakovsky. The goal is to get the support of at least a million citizens, he stated, adding that Muslim, Catholic and Jewish communities are also participating in the campaign, since “Dealers who cash in on children have neither conscience nor religious beliefs.”

“We demand only one thing: Facebook should be blocked in the entire country because it openly popularizes homosexuality among minors,” Roslyakovsky is quoted as saying.

The organization’s leader has already sent a request to the Prosecutor General’s Office asking it to inspect the social network’s activities in terms of gay, lesbian and pedophile propaganda.

Once a million of signatures are collected, activists are also planning to submit an appeal to the State Duma.

“The US goal is that Russians stop having children. [They want] the great nation to turn into likeness of Sodom and Gomorrah,” Roslyakovsky told Saratov news portal.

According to the public activist, Facebook has already affected a large number of inexperienced youngsters and it is not clear what they will be like when they grow up.

“But I am confident that Russian laws and reasonable citizens will be able to protect their children from a fierce attack of sodomites,” he stated.

Male homosexuality was a criminal offence in the Soviet Union carrying jail sentence as a punishment. This article of the criminal code was canceled in 1993, but the LGBT community still reports discrimination since then.

This year, legislatures of several Russian regions introduced amendments that list “gay propaganda to minors” as an administrative offence that is punished by hefty fines. Some politicians suggested a similar move on a nationwide level, but this has not happened yet.

http://rt.com/politics/facebook-gay-propaganda-ban-910/

Facebook Outs Timeline Icons For Married Gay, Lesbian Couples

in: http://www.ontopmag.com/

Facebook has added new icons to identify gay and lesbian users who are married.

The social networking site added the new married icons to timeline, Facebook's alternative profile which allows users to highlight photos, posts and life events chronologically.

One icon includes two brides, the other two grooms.

Last year, Facebook gave users the option of choosing “In a Civil Union” and “In a Domestic Partnership.” Together the options represent the relationship status of a majority of committed gay couples in America.

The site has also incorporated features aimed at preventing anti-LGBT bullying.

The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) honored Facebook last month at its annual GLAAD Media Awards for its support.

The move comes just weeks after Apple included new gay and lesbian icons in its newest iteration of its popular iPhone. The phone's new iOS 6 operating system sports an expanded emojis keyboard which supports graphic emoticons for text messaging and e-mails. Two of these pictograms represent gay and lesbian couples for the first time.

http://www.ontopmag.com/

Facebook, Google, And Other Tech Companies Show Off Their Gay Pride (Pics)

in: http://techcrunch.com/2012/06/25/tech-gay-pride/

Pride got high tech this weekend as thousands of employees from Google, Facebook, Electronic Arts, Zynga, and more celebrated to support equal rights for everyone. Parades in San Francisco and New York saw search engine, social network, and game developer logos decked out in rainbows as engineers danced in the streets.

Here’s a look at our favorite photos of tech companies representing at Pride…

Google tells me “We support our LGBT [Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender] employees in a number of ways — in taking a stand on matters of policy, putting programs in place that support Gayglers (Gay Googlers) and their families, and hosting and sponsoring events and programs around the world to continue the discussion on equality.”

Over 400 Facebook employees marched down Market Street in San Francisco for Pride yesterday. I wondered if Facebook feared any backlash from conservative countries where it’s popular but tolerance is not. Slater Tow, a member of the Gay @ Facebook employees group assured me “Facebook very much supports diversity” but that its presence at Pride is “not a company led initiative. Its 100% employee driven.”

Both companies have been showing their support online too. Last year Facebook added civil unions and domestic partnerships as relationship status options, and the company won a GLAAD award this month. And just last week, Google added a PrideEaster egg to search, displaying a rainbow banner on results when you search for Gay, Lesbian, LGBT, NYC Gay Pride, or SF Gay Pride, or Gay Pride.

So now let’s check out the awesome photos. If your tech company has pics from Pride too, post them as Imgur links in the comments and I’ll add them in.

You didn’t have to search hard to find Google at Pride. It had almost 700 marchers in New York City and over 1,000 in San Francisco

With such a huge contingent, Google figured it’d bring a bus

…and a trolley in SF

Whose to say what gender the cute little Android robots are?

–

Zynga shows how Words With Friends does Pride

Zynga’s dog logo gets rainbowed

–

All the Electronics Arts characters supporting gay rights

EA is a sports game company after all

–

Facebook brought a huge crew to San Francisco Pride

That looks like about 900 million, right?

Facebook decked out its team with special Pride shirts

And they weren’t shy about showing their colors

It is a social network after all, so Facebook had a DJ playing to the crowd as its trolley car drove through the parade

Because pride connects us

From atop SF’s Dolores Park, Facebook shows its support

That means equality even if you’re dressed up like Katy Perry

And even Facebook’s office got into the spirit, with its giant hack sign painted rainbow to show pride visible from space

[Thanks to Jason Agron, Chandler Abraham, and all the other photographers]

in: http://techcrunch.com/2012/06/25/tech-gay-pride/

Oreo Surprises 26 Million Facebook Fans With Gay Pride Post

in: http://www.adweek.com/

Oreo is widely known to be one of the most successful brands on Facebook, but tonight the brand proved it could be one of the boldest, too. 

Around 8 p.m. Eastern, Oreo posted a gay-pride-themed picture featuring a six-layer cookie colored like a rainbow, with “June 25” and the word “Pride.” 

The caption said “Proudly support love!” (The significance of the date is unclear, at least to me. San Francisco’s famous Gay Pride Parade was the 24th, as was the one-year anniversary of New York’s Marriage Equality Act.) 

The response among Oreo’s 26.9 million fans has been fiercely divided, with many commenting that they planned to stop purchasing Oreos. 

“I'm never eating Oreos again. This is just disgusting,” one commenter said. “Unliking page and the rest of the ‘kraft’ family products... i will not support a company with these views,” wrote another. 

But the post also drew a massive amount of support in the form of 14,800 shares and 87,000 Likes as of this writing. “I didn't think it was possible for me to love oreo's more than I already did!!” said one supportive fan. 

While there’s likely to be plenty of fallout for Oreo over this simple photo post, at least the brand has shown it’s not afraid to tackle a thornier issue than “Do you ever think of Oreo cookies when drinking milk?”

http://www.adweek.com/

Gay Israeli soldier photo goes viral on Facebook

in: http://www.gaystarnews.com/

Image of Israeli Defense Force soldiers holding hands released by army news desk for Pride Month





A photo by the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) showing two gay soldiers holding hands has gone viral on Facebook.

The official image has generated over 10,000 likes, 8,000 shares and a range of comments from the supportive to the comic and from the anti-Israeli to the homophobic.

The IDF posted the picture on the social networking site with the caption: ‘It's Pride Month. Did you know that the IDF treats all of its soldiers equally? Let's see how many shares you can get for this photo.’

From the outset, it created a huge response.

Eyal Resh commented: ‘As a solider I must say it is true! The IDF does treat its soldiers equally!’

While S Asher Gelman said: ‘Awesome photo! Reminds me of when my husband and I were in the army.’

Other comments were even jocular.

‘Gays with guns. I am all for it,’ said Christopher Riess.

But while most messages were positive, others were even homophobic.

Raymond Cisnero said: ‘Then the end of the world really is coming, if this is really happening in Israel, God's favorite country. Then we are doomed, it's gonna be Sodom and Gomorrah once again. All I know is, I'll be going to heaven, don't know about you guys.’

And Graeme Harrison raised the issue of Israel’s military power being abused: ‘Is this before or after they've shot some Palestinian children?’ he asked.

John Bobian, meanwhile, was one of those on Facebook to question whether it was a genuinely gay image at all: ‘Isn't holding hands over there considered normal? I don't see two gay men, I see two bro's chillin' through the burbs',’ he said.

But the Jerusalem Post confirmed with IDF officials that the picture was gay, deliberately posted for Pride Month in Israel and had official backing from senior officers as a pro-LGBT publicity stunt.

‘This is definitely a huge success,’ one officer said. ‘It tells a different story of the IDF, which is important to share with the world.’

Israel’s military was comparatively early in allowing openly gay people to serve. While initial policy tended to view homosexuality as a mental illness, this was changed in 1993.

Discrimination against gay and lesbian soldiers in recruitment, placement and promotion is banned and harassment on the basis of sexual orientation can be prosecuted. Gays even serve in special forces roles.

And the IDF recognize same-sex couples, including widows and widowers of servicepeople and soldiers are allowed to take part in gay pride marches.

However the Israel Gay Youth Movement (IGY) published a survey of openly LGBT soldiers in January which revealed out troops are often victims of verbal and physical violence and commanders frequently ignore the problems.

The Jerusalem Post reports that the IGY have met with a senior officer to discuss this.

‘Our study shows that there is still difficulty within the army with homosexuals and accepting them, although I am happy to say that the intention among the top brass is to change that,’ IGY head Avner Dafni said.




http://www.gaystarnews.com/

Facebook to Receive GLAAD Award for LGBT Efforts

in: http://mashable.com/2012/06/02/facebook-glaad-award/

Facebook will be the first social media company honored at the GLAAD Media Awards, hosted annually by the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD). Representatives from Facebook will accept a Special Recognition Award at tonight’s event, held at the San Francisco Marriott Marquis in California.

This will be the 23rd Annual Media Awards for the notable lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) media advocacy and anti-defamation organization, recognizing fair and inclusive representations of the LGBT community in television, journalism, music and more.

GLAAD announced in March that Facebook would receive the award, citing the social media company’s efforts against bullying as well as the inclusion of various options — such as relationship statuses — for LGBT users of the social network.

Throughout the past two years, Facebook has taken many initiatives to promote and enable LGBT rights and equality. The company worked with GLAAD in October 2010 to monitor a memorial page for LGBT youth after users posted violent anti-gay images and comments. It also launched the Network of Support, a panel of five leading LGBT advocacy organizations with MTV’s A Thin Line campaign to help Facebook address LGBT issues.

More recently, Facebook launched the Stop Bullying: Speak Up campaign with Time Warner, which empowers students, teachers and parents to help prevent bullying. The campaign just launched across Latin America this week. Facebook also added Help Center content that provides guidance on how users can help an LGBT person who has posted suicidal content.

“Facebook has set the bar high for ensuring LGBT people have a safe space to connect with friends and family,” said GLAAD President Herndon Graddick in a statement on Thursday. “GLAAD is pleased to present this award to Facebook in recognition of its efforts to make their platform welcoming to everyone.”

Brittany McMillan, the high school student who founded Spirit Day, will present the Special Recognition Award. Facebook was among leading companies that participated in Spirit Day on Oct. 20, 2011, encouraging employees to turn their Facebook profile pictures purple and wear the color to show support for LGBT youth.

Andrew Noyes, Facebook’s manager of public policy and communications, will accept the award on behalf of the company with Sara Sperling, head of diversity and inclusion. Noyes, who acts as the liaison between Facebook and LGBT groups, was influential in launching the Network of Support.

Although Facebook’s higher-up executives will not be in attendance, a recorded thank-you video from Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg will be played at the awards.

http://mashable.com/2012/06/02/facebook-glaad-award/

Co-fundador do Facebook e o namorado estão entre os principais líderes LGBT do mundo

http://cenag.uol.com.br/

De acordo com a revista norte-americana "Advocate", que publicou uma lista com os principais líderes LGBT com menos de 40 anos, o co-fundador do Facebook, Chris Hughes e o namorado Sean Eldridge, encabeçam a lista.

Chris tinha 19 anos e estudava em Harvard quando, junto com outros três amigos, fundou o Facebook. Quatro anos depois, já formado, ele se mudou para a Califórnia e com os sócios tornaram a rede social um dos fenômenos dos tempos atuais.

Agora, aos 27 anos, Hughes não está mais envolvido com o Facebook, exceto como usuário e um dos principais acionistas, o que lhe rendeu uma fortuna.

O casal, que se conheceu em 2005, tem esperança de se casar em Nova York. Por conta de sua participação de pouco mais de 1% no Facebook, Chris Hughes tem um patrimônio líquido de US$ 700 milhões, o que o torna o gay mais rico do mundo com menos de 30 anos.

http://cenag.uol.com.br/

Beijo entre dois homens é censurado no Facebook

http://mtv.uol.com.br/



Esta foi a foto postada e censurada no Facebook

Um beijo foi censurado na rede social Facebook. Richard Metzger, apresentador de um programa de TV no Reino Unido, postou a imagem de dois homens se beijando e por isso teve sua foto apagada. A imagem fazia parte da comemoração do 'Kiss-in', uma celebração mundial contra a homofobia. Um evento criado para a comemoração também teria sido removido do Facebook. De acordo com uma página na rede social, o 'Kiss-in' é 'um evento que encoraja a todos as pessoas a se expressarem com um beijo, inclusive heterossexuais, para defender o direito de todos serem livres'.

Após postar a foto no Facebook, o apresentador recebeu a seguinte mensagem: "Olá, o conteúdo que você compartilhou foi removido porque violava a Declaração de Direitos e Responsabilidades do Facebook. Ações que contenham nudez, ou qualquer tipo de conteúdo gráfico ou sexualmente sugestivas, não são permitidos no Facebook. Esta mensagem serve como um aviso. Violações adicionais podem resultar no encerramento de sua conta. Por favor, leia a Declaração de Direitos e Responsabilidades com cuidado e se abstenha de publicar material abusivo no futuro. Agradecemos antecipadamente por sua compreensão e cooperação. A equipe do Facebook".

A comunidade GLBT ficou revoltada com a censura, pois de acordo com a própria rede social, cada denúncia de imagem imprópria é analisada permanentemente por um funcionário do Facebook, o que caracterizaria preconceito por parte da rede social. Usuários estão substituindo as fotos de seus perfis pela que foi postada por Metzger.

http://mtv.uol.com.br/

Facebook Adds LGBT-Friendly Relationship Status Options

in: http://mashable.com/2011/02/17/facebook-lgbt-relationships/

Facebook has introduced two relationship status indicators that folks in the LGBT community might find more useful.

Effective immediately, U.S. residents can choose between “In a domestic partnership” and “In a civil union,” along with the usual roster of relationship options, which currently include Single, In a relationship, Engaged, Married, It’s complicated, In an open relationship, Widowed, Separated and Divorced.

These two new options should be rolled out to residents of other countries soon. In countries where same-sex marriages are already legal, these options will not appear.

A Facebook rep told us in an e-mail, “This has been a highly requested feature from users. We want to provide options for people to genuinely and authentically reflect their relationships on Facebook.”

Facebook and the site’s Network of Support have been instrumental in a few LGBT initiatives in recent months.

After last fall’s string of high-profile gay teen suicides, Facebook teamed up with GLAAD (Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) to put a stop to anti-gay bullying on the social network. A few days later, the site’s Network of Support (NOS) was officially formed. At the time, we were told that more good news for LGBT Facebook users would be coming soon.

The new statuses are a double-edged sword, however; the civil union/domestic partnership distinction is one that many LGBT groups are currently trying to erase. In fact, marriage equality is one of the key campaigning points for many groups in the NOS, including the Human Rights Campaign, GLAAD and PFLAG (Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays).

And many couples in same-sex relationships who have already defined themselves on Facebook as “married” aren’t necessarily eager to adopt the new nomenclature. As one user wrote in a Facebook comment on the Trevor Project’s wall, “I’ll just leave myself listed as ‘married’ — after 14 years, that sums it up, even if it isn’t legal!”

Other commenters were more harsh in their statements, saying that Facebook was adopting the “separate and unequal” policies of the many states that do not allow gay marriage.

Still, it’s good that Facebook is finally recognizing the legal relationships that do currently exist between LGBT couples in the U.S. and in other countries. Whether those status distinctions will be needed in the future remains to be seen — and that is a battleground in which Facebook remains decidedly neutral, although highlighting the lack of marriage equality could be seen as a subtle nod to marriage equality groups during a particularly critical time.

In an e-mail, GLAAD President Jarrett Barrios said, “When millions of Facebook users see these relationship status options, they gain a greater understanding of the legal inequalities faced by loving and committed same-sex couples in so many states today.

“Being able to see same-sex couples in civil unions and domestic partnerships who celebrate their relationships no differently than married couples will serve as another reminder that these couples still lack the same legal recognition and protections associated with marriage. Facebook’s noteworthy move also highlights the vast majority of same-sex couples living in states where there are no legal protections whatsoever.”

http://mashable.com/2011/02/17/facebook-lgbt-relationships/