Queer links
A compilation of most sensual gay movie moments: a couple of the inclusions made me laugh lots. A compilation of romantic gay movie moments: incredibly sweet. More selections to Lady Gaga. One couple montage to the tune of Savage Garden.
About the persecution of gays in Iraq.
About the persecution of gays in Cuba.
The sponsor of the anti-homosexuality bill in Uganda wants to kill every last gay person. Post with embedded video on attitudes to homosexuality in Uganda. Pointing out how ludicrously false the notion that homosexuality in Africa is a white/colonial importation: it is queer-hatred which is the colonial/Western import.
The Blue Power Ranger talks about why he left the show and his “ex-gay” therapy experience.
UK Supreme Court rules in favour of gay refugees.
A novel spruiked as a queer Gone With The Wind.
A statement that one is fairly confident is true (not worksafe):
Lucas is also the first gay porn star to have spoken at the [Oxford] Union.
Post soliciting (and getting) links for the more serious arguments against same-sex marriage.
A WWII GI love letter (a bit work-dubious). About a US Army instructional comic on don’t ask, don’t tell. US poll finds strong majority support for legal recognition of same-sex couples and gays in the military.
A former Chair of the Republican Party comes out as gay. A rightwing Republican site explains why it is sponsoring a gay conservative event.
In the Americas, polling finds same-sex marriage has the most support in Canada, Argentina, Uruguay and the US and the least support in Jamaica. Support for civil unions continues to rise in the US. Poll finds almost half of Americans thinks the US Constitution protects same-sex marriage.
A US federal judge rules the Defence of Marriage Act unconstitutional. More. Being sceptical that the decision will hold up under appeal. Critiquing its downplaying of civil unions. Pointing out that the decision’s logic would undermine a lot of federal US regulation. About that. Tea Parties like the states’ rights aspect. Key elements of the decision striking down the gay marriage ban in California. Noting how many Republican-appointed judges have been upholding gay rights.
Argentinian cardinal warns that same-sex marriage is a machination of the devil. About an Italian magazine article examining the gay life of Catholic priests in Rome:
Father Carlo (another fake name) told the magazine that 98% of the priests in the “Holy City” are queer.
About the Pope Benedict and the Catholic sexuality and priesthood problem:
The idea that the Church authorities simply don’t understand what is going on was further emphasised when the Vatican last month outlined its opposition to the sexual abuse of minors by members of the clergy and to the ordination of women in the same document, and threatened greater punishment for those who got involved in the latter than in the former. …
There are very good reasons why homosexuals have been traditionally attracted to the priesthood. …
Some of the reasons why gay men became priests are obvious and simple; others are not. Becoming a priest, first of all, seemed to solve the problem of not wanting others to know that you were queer. As a priest, you could be celibate, or unmarried, and everyone would understand the reasons. …
That you were gay was something you managed to know about yourself and not know at the same time. …
The shame an adolescent felt about being gay in those years should not be underestimated; the feeling that you were less than worthy, that if people found out the truth about you they would despise you, went deep into your soul. This was another reason to become a priest. You could change your own powerlessness into power. …
This idea of knowing two things at the same time has been essential to gay people in other ways. Gay people have known that our sexuality was actually, despite what we read or were told, quite normal, quite natural; it was only the world that thought otherwise. While the world’s view often ate into the self, there was another part of the self which remained intact, confident, sure. Introspection, the study of the self, for gay people became necessary, fruitful.
… But they might be wiser to pay attention to the words of Christopher Jones, the bishop of Elphin, when he expressed the view that this ‘has been going on for centuries’, that ‘it’s only now, for the first time ever, that victims have been given a voice to publicly express their pain and their suffering. And before that, for centuries, no one spoke.’
… This poses a serious problem for the Catholic hierarchy, serious enough for them to ignore it, which is one of their skills. It is one of the most notable features of the Catholic Church in the United States.
… In attempting to wield influence, and to combat what it viewed as the liberal agenda of the Clinton White House on the issue of abortion, the Church forged alliances with states such as Libya and Iran. The Vatican representative told Arab delegates that he supported their wish ‘to respond to the challenges of the modern world in a way which does not damage what is precious in those traditions’, including ‘the special role of women’.
… He is thus implying that legislation for gay rights has somehow led to an increase in paedophilia. He is careful, however, not to spell this out. This is an interesting moment, the beginning of a culture of denial, a culture in which someone else, somewhere else, had to be blamed.
… While there is something oddly emphatic and absolute and oddly hateful in his diktats, it should be understood that he has taken this tone on other matters besides homosexuality.
About the persecution of gays in Iraq.
About the persecution of gays in Cuba.
The sponsor of the anti-homosexuality bill in Uganda wants to kill every last gay person. Post with embedded video on attitudes to homosexuality in Uganda. Pointing out how ludicrously false the notion that homosexuality in Africa is a white/colonial importation: it is queer-hatred which is the colonial/Western import.
The Blue Power Ranger talks about why he left the show and his “ex-gay” therapy experience.
UK Supreme Court rules in favour of gay refugees.
A novel spruiked as a queer Gone With The Wind.
A statement that one is fairly confident is true (not worksafe):
Lucas is also the first gay porn star to have spoken at the [Oxford] Union.
Post soliciting (and getting) links for the more serious arguments against same-sex marriage.
A WWII GI love letter (a bit work-dubious). About a US Army instructional comic on don’t ask, don’t tell. US poll finds strong majority support for legal recognition of same-sex couples and gays in the military.
A former Chair of the Republican Party comes out as gay. A rightwing Republican site explains why it is sponsoring a gay conservative event.
In the Americas, polling finds same-sex marriage has the most support in Canada, Argentina, Uruguay and the US and the least support in Jamaica. Support for civil unions continues to rise in the US. Poll finds almost half of Americans thinks the US Constitution protects same-sex marriage.
A US federal judge rules the Defence of Marriage Act unconstitutional. More. Being sceptical that the decision will hold up under appeal. Critiquing its downplaying of civil unions. Pointing out that the decision’s logic would undermine a lot of federal US regulation. About that. Tea Parties like the states’ rights aspect. Key elements of the decision striking down the gay marriage ban in California. Noting how many Republican-appointed judges have been upholding gay rights.
Argentinian cardinal warns that same-sex marriage is a machination of the devil. About an Italian magazine article examining the gay life of Catholic priests in Rome:
Father Carlo (another fake name) told the magazine that 98% of the priests in the “Holy City” are queer.
About the Pope Benedict and the Catholic sexuality and priesthood problem:
The idea that the Church authorities simply don’t understand what is going on was further emphasised when the Vatican last month outlined its opposition to the sexual abuse of minors by members of the clergy and to the ordination of women in the same document, and threatened greater punishment for those who got involved in the latter than in the former. …
There are very good reasons why homosexuals have been traditionally attracted to the priesthood. …
Some of the reasons why gay men became priests are obvious and simple; others are not. Becoming a priest, first of all, seemed to solve the problem of not wanting others to know that you were queer. As a priest, you could be celibate, or unmarried, and everyone would understand the reasons. …
That you were gay was something you managed to know about yourself and not know at the same time. …
The shame an adolescent felt about being gay in those years should not be underestimated; the feeling that you were less than worthy, that if people found out the truth about you they would despise you, went deep into your soul. This was another reason to become a priest. You could change your own powerlessness into power. …
This idea of knowing two things at the same time has been essential to gay people in other ways. Gay people have known that our sexuality was actually, despite what we read or were told, quite normal, quite natural; it was only the world that thought otherwise. While the world’s view often ate into the self, there was another part of the self which remained intact, confident, sure. Introspection, the study of the self, for gay people became necessary, fruitful.
… But they might be wiser to pay attention to the words of Christopher Jones, the bishop of Elphin, when he expressed the view that this ‘has been going on for centuries’, that ‘it’s only now, for the first time ever, that victims have been given a voice to publicly express their pain and their suffering. And before that, for centuries, no one spoke.’
… This poses a serious problem for the Catholic hierarchy, serious enough for them to ignore it, which is one of their skills. It is one of the most notable features of the Catholic Church in the United States.
… In attempting to wield influence, and to combat what it viewed as the liberal agenda of the Clinton White House on the issue of abortion, the Church forged alliances with states such as Libya and Iran. The Vatican representative told Arab delegates that he supported their wish ‘to respond to the challenges of the modern world in a way which does not damage what is precious in those traditions’, including ‘the special role of women’.
… He is thus implying that legislation for gay rights has somehow led to an increase in paedophilia. He is careful, however, not to spell this out. This is an interesting moment, the beginning of a culture of denial, a culture in which someone else, somewhere else, had to be blamed.
… While there is something oddly emphatic and absolute and oddly hateful in his diktats, it should be understood that he has taken this tone on other matters besides homosexuality.