tagged w/ Gay Rights
-
-
The Guardian UK...
.
Father who set up anti-gay-bullying campaign after son's suicide found dead
Roger Crouch's 15-year-old son Dominic leapt off a roof amid rumours he was gay after apparently kissing a boy for a dare
Steven Morris
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 1 December 2011 15.43 EST
PHOTO: Roger Crouch with his son Dominic, taken from the Facebook anti-bullying website.
Photograph: SWNS.com
.
A father who campaigned against homophobic bullying after his son killed himself amid rumours that he was gay has been found dead.
Earlier this month Roger Crouch, 55, who launched a Facebook campaign after 15-year-old Dominic leapt off a roof after apparently kissing a boy for a dare, was named "hero of the year" by the lesbian, gay and bisexual charity Stonewall, beating the likes of Lady Gaga and Joan Armatrading.
He was pronounced dead after Gloucestershire police went to his home in Gretton, near Cheltenham, on Monday following "concerns for the welfare of a man at the address".
A police spokesperson said on Thursday that they were not treating his death as suspicious and that the coroner had been informed.
Crouch, who was clerk of Stow-on-the-Wold town council in the Cotswolds, was also a patron for Diversity Role Models, a charity campaigning against homophobic bullying. He lobbied schools to ensure anti-bullying policies are used and argued young people should be taught coping strategies, and visited the House of Commons to tell MPs what they could do about bullying.
Crouch's wife, Paola, wrote of her and daughter Giulia's heartbreak on the Facebook group she and Crouch created. She posted: "The changes you have started for young people everywhere, the work you have done against bullying, will remain as a towering monument to you."
Dominic leapt from the roof of a six-storey building near his private school, St Edwards in Cheltenham, in May last year. The inquest into his death heard that there had been rumours he might be gay after he was said to have kissed a boy during a spin-the-bottle game.
The inquest recorded a verdict of suicide, and his son's death prompted Crouch to begin his campaign against bullying.
Crouch said at the time: "It is clear that the banter and rumours were based on Dom's alleged sexuality. Some maintain that mystery still surrounds Dominic's death. There's no real mystery around why Dom was driven to take his own life.
"He was desperate that his happiness after the residential trip was punctured by rumours and being the butt of jokes. Over a single morning he felt he went from hero to zero. The real tragedy is not just that he died. It's that his death was preventable."
After receiving the Stonewall award last month, Crouch said: "I see this as an award for Dom. By choosing us for this award you've also chosen to take a stand alongside all the young people whose lives have been ended by bullying.
"We are parents who loved our son. We stood by him in life and we stand by him in death."
.
A spokesman for Stonewall said: "His tireless campaigning against bullying following the death of his son was an inspiration."
Joanne Dunning, of the Lesbian and Gay Foundation, said: "It seemed like he was only just getting the recognition he deserved for his anti-bullying work."
.The Guardian UK...
.
Father who set up anti-gay-bullying campaign after... more
-
-
-
-
-
An Al Jazeera report on the Spanish general election gets photobombed by a pair of gay men furiously sucking face.
The landslide victory of opposition leader Mariano Rajoy and his conservative Popular Party over the ruling Socialist Party is widely viewed as a threat to same-sex marriage, which became legal in Spain in 2005.An Al Jazeera report on the Spanish general election gets photobombed by a pair of gay... more
-
-
Los Angeles Times...
.
Barbara Grier dies at 78; co-founder of lesbian publishing house
Grier, who wanted to provide lesbian readers with stories that could help them lead happier lives, and her longtime partner launched Naiad Press in 1973 and built it into a $1-million business.
Barbara Grier | 1933-2011
.
Photo's Caption: Barbara Grier challenged mainstream prejudices to make literature by and about lesbians widely available in the U.S. and abroad. Her publishing house's top-selling book was the nonfiction “Lesbian Nuns: Breaking Silence” (1985) by Rosemary Curb and Nancy Manahan, which presented the accounts of 51 women, most of whom had been Roman Catholic nuns. (Urscia Mahring / November 12, 2011)
By Elaine Woo, Los Angeles Times
November 13, 2011
.
Barbara Grier, a pathbreaking publisher who challenged mainstream prejudices to make literature by and about lesbians widely available in the United States and abroad, has died. She was 78.
Grier, a founder of Naiad Press, died of lung cancer Thursday in Tallahassee, Fla., said her longtime partner, Donna McBride.
Grier and McBride launched Naiad Press in 1973 with a $2,000 loan and built it into a $1-million business. By the time it folded in 2003, it had published more than 500 titles by authors such as Rita Mae Brown, Katherine V. Forrest, Jane Rule and Sheila Ortiz Taylor.
"She created Naiad Press because the mainstream would not publish any of our books," Forrest, whose career was launched by Naiad in 1983 with the publication of her novel "Curious Wine," told The Times on Friday. "Her accomplishments are just monumental, given the obstacles she faced. There was such virulent homophobia. Barbara was nothing if not fearless."
Before she and McBride, a former librarian, started Naiad, lesbian literature consisted primarily of pulp fiction written by men whose protagonists generally ended up one of three ways: They married a man, went crazy or killed themselves.
Grier wanted to provide lesbian readers with stories that could help them lead happier lives.
"I have always believed that the best thing I might leave behind is a world in which any woman, anywhere, might say to herself 'I am a lesbian' and be able to go to a nearby store or library and find a book that will say to her, 'Yes, you are a lesbian, and you are wonderful,' " she told gay historian Jim Kepner some years ago.
Naiad published primarily romances and mysteries, but its top-selling book was the nonfiction "Lesbian Nuns: Breaking Silence" (1985) by Rosemary Curb and Nancy Manahan, which presented the accounts of 51 women, most of whom had been Roman Catholic nuns. It sold 500,000 copies and gave Naiad Press a national profile.
Born in Cincinnati on Nov. 4, 1933, and reared in Detroit, Grier was aware of her sexual orientation as a girl. When she was 12, she told her mother she was a homosexual — a word she learned from her physician-father's medical books.
Her mother, who came from a theatrical family, took an enlightened view of her daughter's declaration.
"Because Mother and I were always open with each other, I told her immediately," Grier said in the book "Before Stonewall: Activists for Gay and Lesbian Rights in Historical Context" by Vern L. Bullough. "Mother said since I was a woman, I wasn't a homosexual, I was a lesbian. She also said that since I was 12 I was a little young to make this decision and we should wait six months to tell the newspapers."
When Grier was 18, she entered a long-term relationship with a woman 20 years her senior. They moved to Denver and later to Kansas City, Kan., where they both worked for the public library.
In 1957, Grier began writing a column for the pioneering lesbian magazine The Ladder. She became its editor in 1968 and publisher in 1970. When she tried to give the magazine a more feminist orientation, its benefactor withdrew funding and the publication closed in 1972.
She met McBride in 1971 and soon after ended her relationship with the older woman. They launched Naiad Press two years later with financing from a retired attorney, Anyda Marchant, and Marchant's partner, Muriel Crawford. The first book they published was a romance novel Marchant wrote under the pseudonym Sarah Aldridge called "Latecomer."
Forrest, who worked as Naiad's supervising editor from 1984 to 1994, said Grier and McBride overcame many obstacles, including homophobic printers and cover artists who refused to work for a lesbian press. But it gradually established itself as a major force, creating a market for lesbian writing, including Rule's classic "Outlander," a collection of stories and essays about the lives of lesbians.
Other specialized presses and bookstores emerged in the wake of Naiad's success, including Bella Books, the Tallahassee press that took over Naiad's inventory and authors when Grier and McBride retired eight years ago.
In addition to McBride, Grier is survived by two sisters, Diane Grier of Willard, Mo., and Penni Martin of Denton, Texas.
.Los Angeles Times...
.
Barbara Grier dies at 78; co-founder of lesbian... more
-
-
I’ve lived in the same house in the same neighborhood for over 14 years. It took me 10 of those years to prove to the rest of the neighbors that I wasn’t a panting pervert, slobbering to pounce on and molest young children.I’ve lived in the same house in the same neighborhood for over 14 years. It took... more
-
-
Columnist and activist Dan Savage, who founded the "It Gets Better" movement following the rash of gay suicides last year, has openly challenged Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain to prove the candidate's recent claim that being gay "is a choice" by choosing to be gay!
http://veracitystew.com/2011/10/24/dan-savage-to-herman-cain-suck-my/Columnist and activist Dan Savage, who founded the "It Gets Better" movement... more
-
-
LOS ANGELES — Like other aspiring reformers before her, Ani Zonneveld takes positions that make her unpopular with her religion's spiritual leaders, in this case America's Islamic elders.
Not only does she lead prayers — a task normally reserved for men — but she is an outspoken advocate for gay, bisexual and transgender Muslims. Later this year, she plans to officiate at the Islamic wedding of a lesbian couple, which is perfectly acceptable by her reading of the Quran.
http://tinyurl.com/3rxtdmhLOS ANGELES — Like other aspiring reformers before her, Ani Zonneveld takes... more
-
-
LOrion
-
added this
-
4 months ago
- |
-
"It doesn't matter if you're a Tea Partier or an unborn baby, baby. Put your guns up 'cause Michele Bachmann's running for president of the U-S-of-A."
"If you're into same-sex play, get down on your knees and pray. Because my God says you weren't born that way."
"Don't be a gay, get ther-a-py."
"All you sinners can't survive my Bachmann Turner Overdrive."
http://veracitystew.com/2011/10/21/michele-bachmann-not-born-this-way-lady-gaga-parody-video/"It doesn't matter if you're a Tea Partier or an unborn baby, baby. Put... more
-
-
-
http://goo.gl/k28i9 -- I wish there was a modern professor Henry Higgins who could work his courtly English magic on the Republican Party. Only he wouldn’t be focusing on their diction, posture, wardrobe, and manners… well, maybe their manners. If I had my druthers, he’d zero in on their homophobia.http://goo.gl/k28i9 -- I wish there was a modern professor Henry Higgins who could... more
-
-
FILM SYNOPSIS (SHORT VERSION):
Meet Adam. Intelligent, scholarship award-winning college senior—that is until he sees Jason, his bully from high school. This encounter conjures up his painful past: abusive and alcoholic father; his mother who killed herself; and Todd, his brother who's up for parole. Labeled as a geek throughout childhood, Adam now decides to turn from geek to chic, inspired by the gothic drag queen Eve who performs at Midnight Cabaret. He then befriends the wrong crowd, and begins using drugs as an escape, on setting an unexpected journey in finding his true self.
Musicians in Trailer (in the order played):
Bitch Brigade "Be a Man"
Mechanical Moth "Obsession"
Redkay "Downs Even Longer the New Up"
The Fire Tonight "Cannon Canvas"
Candy Creepshow "Letters From Beyond the Grave"
Elkapath "Come Over"FILM SYNOPSIS (SHORT VERSION):
Meet Adam. Intelligent, scholarship award-winning... more
-
-
Coming soon, late fall, Midnight Cabaret! What happens when Adam comes face to face with his high school bully? (hint* a gothic drag queen inspires him). Watch trailer! Join us on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/midnightcabaretComing soon, late fall, Midnight Cabaret! What happens when Adam comes face to face... more
-
-
I’m writing this letter to you because you need to be told off, and I’m the one to do it. You see, this letter has to come from a black gay man; if a white gay man writes you, you can dismiss him as a crazy white queen, or a faggot, or whatever. You can dismiss me as a faggot too, of course, but if I’m in the closet, or you don’t know that I’m gay, you might shake my hand and smile at me during a fundraiser, rally or at church; you might even call me brother, the way black men of my father’s generation always called each other brother, the way some black men still do today. Because the fact is, I am your brother, and I’m also your son. Which is why your betrayal feels particularly painful and devastating.
I do not consider myself to be naïve, Mr. Cain. Given your political affiliations, I’m not surprised by your views on gays. But maybe I am foolish for expecting you to make a connection between the discrimination against blacks in this country, and that against lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgender people. For you, that would be an intellectual connection, one that I assume a successful businessman with an impressive list of achievements such as yourself could make; for me it’s in my blood.
I’m not asking for your sympathy, or pity, it’s just a fact: I’ve been called nigger and I’ve been called faggot. The words hurt equally. The strange irony of my life is that I’ve been called a faggot by niggers and been called a nigger by faggots. We need to see that we are all in the same boat; and that while we stand around arguing about who is more worthy, someone who considers us all to be worthless laughs all the way to the bank. Meanwhile, we step on each other, trying to gain a bit of extra footing on the mountain of “success” while crushing another’s soul.
AND THERE IS MORE!
http://tinyurl.com/3cea5ojI’m writing this letter to you because you need to be told off, and I’m... more
-
-
LOrion
-
added this
-
4 months ago
- |
-
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Mitchell Gold, founder of Faith in America, was honored Wednesday during a reception co-sponsored by both U.S. senators from North Carolina, the Honorable Sen. Kay Hagan and the Honorable Richard Burr, for his work to educate the public about the harm caused to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender youth.
The event paralleled this week's launch of Gold’s new paperbook book "Youth in Crisis: What Everyone Should Know About Growing Up Gay." Gold in 2008 published “CRISIS: 40 Stories Revealing The Personal, Social, and Religious Pain and Trauma of Growing up Gay in America.” He has called the book, which was co-produced with Mindy Drucker, his sister-in-law, one of the most rewarding advocacy projects he has ever undertaken.
Since 2008, Gold has appeared in more than 300 television, newspaper and radio interviews and public forums all across the country to discuss the harm caused to gay youth and families when misguided religious teaching is used to place a moral, religious and legal stamp of disapproval on their very being.
http://tinyurl.com/3umamr5WASHINGTON, D.C. – Mitchell Gold, founder of Faith in America, was honored... more
-
-
LOrion
-
added this
-
4 months ago
- |
-
In this exclusive audio interview Emmy Winner Charlotte Robinson host of OUTTAKE VOICES™ talks with Malcolm Lazin, Founder and Executive Director of Equality Forum. For the past 6 years every October Equality Forum coordinates “LGBT History Month” honoring LGBT leaders and icons. Each day in October, an Icon is featured with a video, biography, bibliography, downloadable images and other educational resources. The 2011 honorees are: Kye Allums – Athlete, John Ashbery – Poet, Alison Bechdel – Cartoonist, John Berry – Gov. Official, Dustin Lance Black – Screenwriter, Keith Boykin – Commentator, Rita Mae Brown – Author, Dan Choi – Activist, Aaron Copland – Composer, Alan Cumming – Actor, Rabbi Denise Eger, Lady Gaga – Singer, Michael Guest – Diplomat, Neil Patrick Harris – Actor, Daniel Hernandez Jr. – Hero, Langston Hughes – Author, Frida Kahlo – Artist, David Kato – Ugandan Activist, Michael Kirby – Supreme Court Justice, Victoria Kolakowski – Judge, Dave Kopay – Athlete, Ricky Martin – Singer, Amélie Mauresmo – Athlete, Constance McMillen – Activist, Ryan Murphy – Writer/Director, Dan Savage – Journalist, Amanda Simpson – Government Official, Wanda Sykes – Comedian, Lilli Vincenz – Gay Pioneer, Virginia Woolf – Author and Pedro Zamora – AIDS Activist & MTV Personality.
LGBTQ teens are up to four times more likely to attempt suicide than their heterosexual peers. We continue to have numerous teens taking their own lives after facing bullying incidents. When asked what advise he would have for these kids, Lazin stated, “One of the things that we’re particularly pleased with was that last year there were over one thousand generators to LGBT history Month and the top 1/10 percent or top ten was The Trevor Project. So youth are coming to this site, they’re finding role models, finding empowerment and life affirming resources. What we’re suggesting is particularly GSA’s (Gay Straight Alliances) but more so to college students is “Make It Better.” I certainly applaud “It Gets Better’ but “Make It Better” really says take on the responsibility yourselves. So we’re asking colleges and universities around the country to download resources from LGBT History Month and create an LGBT History Month 2011 exhibit, particularly in a visible place on your campus like a college student union building. Those are the types of things that make change and certainly if anyone looks at this list of 31 icons for this year they’re hugely impressive and make a civil rights statement as to our national and international contributions.”
The videos are offered without charge to educational institutions, nonprofit organizations, for profit companies and the public. 2011 marks the 6th anniversary of LGBT History Month, featuring 186 Icons from 2006 to 2011.
Listen to Audio Interview & More Info:
http://voices.outtakeonline.com/2011/10/malcolm-lazin-on-lgbt-history-month.htmlIn this exclusive audio interview Emmy Winner Charlotte Robinson host of OUTTAKE... more
-
-
-
Southwest Airlines who originally said that approached openly lesbian singer and actress Leisha Hailey “solely on behavior” because other passengers complained about her same sex kissing her girlfriend is digging themselves deeper now that they are changing thier story and saying that Hailey and galpal Camila Grey got removed from the flight because they had the nerve to get upset and curse AFTER a flight attendent told them to stop kissing and that Southwest was a “family friendly airline”
“Additional reports from our Employees and Customers onboard flight 2274 during a stop in El Paso on Sunday now confirm profane language was being used loudly by two passengers. At least one family who was offended by the loud profanity moved to another area of the cabin. Although we have reports of what Customers characterize as an excessive public display of affection, ultimately their aggressive reaction led to their removal from the aircraft. We do not tolerate discrimination against anyone for any reason. In this situation, their removal was directly and solely related to the escalated conversation that developed onboard the aircraft”
Liesha Hailey responds:
In no way were our actions on Southwest Airlines excessive, inappropriate or vulgar. We want to make it clear we were not making out or creating any kind of spectacle of ourselves, it was one, modest kiss. We are responsible adult women who walk through the world with dignity. We were simply being affectionate like any normal couple. We were on the airplane less than 5 minutes when all was said and done. We take full responsibility for getting verbally upset with the flight attendant after being told it was a “family airline.” We were never told the reason the flight attendant approached us, we were only scolded that we “needed to be aware that Southwest Airlines was a family oriented airline.”
This is nothing more than Southewest Airlines using the same tired spin that many anti-gay groups use of turning the victim into the wrongdoer so they become blamesless.
WELL ITS NOT GOING TO WORK. THIS EVENT NEVER WOULD HAVE HAPPENED IN THE FIRST PLACE IF NOT FOR THE DOUBLE STANDARD HOMOPHOBIC BEHAVIOR OF SOUTHWEST AIRLINES.
End of story.
Let the BOYCOTT and KISS-INS begin! (And someone call Gloria Allred!)
http://tinyurl.com/3rmj5rxSouthwest Airlines who originally said that approached openly lesbian singer and... more
-
-
LOrion
-
added this
-
5 months ago
- |
