Equalitopia

North Carolina Pastor: Put Gays And Lesbians In Electrified Pen...

danlev — Tue, 22 May 2012 13:27:00 -0400

North Carolina Pastor: Put Gays And Lesbians In Electrified Pen To Kill Them Off

Pastor Charles L. Worley of Providence Road Baptist Church — located at 3283 Providence Mill Rd, Maiden, NC 28650 — is seen here from a service posted to the church’s website dated May 13, 2012 calling for the starvation and ultimate death of “queers and homosexuals.”

(via Huffington Post)

Mayor of Newark, New Jersey’s impressive response to...

danlev — Sat, 12 May 2012 01:51:00 -0400

Mayor of Newark, New Jersey’s impressive response to marriage equality

After Obama endorsed gay marriage, Cory Booker, Mayor of Newark, New Jersey, reposted a video showing his response to a question about marriage equality.

I rejoice in President Obama’s announcement. But, let us all who believe in equality continue to labor in the cause. We still live in a nation where there are hundreds and hundreds of laws that deny gay Americans the same rights and privileges that straight Americans enjoy. And especially here in New Jersey, it is time for us to treat all of our citizens equally under the law and make marriage equality happen.

White House releases “Progress For The LGBT...

danlev — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 19:41:00 -0400

White House releases “Progress For The LGBT Community” infographic

The White House just published an inforgraphic that overviews the progress of LGBT Americans. @BarackObama tweeted: “From safer schools to ending #DADT, take a look at three years of progress for LGBT Americans.”

From their post:

“Three years ago, “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” was the law of the land, and the words “lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender” appeared nowhere in the federal register.

Today, gay and lesbian men and women can serve their country without hiding who they are. The Obama administration has declared the Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional, and the President is working to make our schools safer for LGBT youth.

As we celebrate three years of progress for LGBT Americans under President Obama — and work toward another four — here’s a look at how far we’ve come since the President took office.”

View the full infographic

A message to the homophobes: It doesn’t get...

danlev — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 17:57:00 -0400

A message to the homophobes: It doesn’t get better
(Warning: explicit language)

FKCH8 released a new video parodying the It Gets Better Project, featuring YouTube personalities. From the video’s description:

Snarky Gay & Straight YouTubers Come Together 2 with FCKH8.com to make a HILARIOUS “It Doesn’t Get Better” Video 4 the Forgotten Victims: HOMOPHOBES!

More information on FCKH8:

NBA, GLSEN and Ad Council’s Official Think B4 You Speak...

danlev — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 23:05:48 -0400

NBA, GLSEN and Ad Council’s Official Think B4 You Speak PSA

NBA players Grant Hill and Jared Dudley shot a PSA for GLSEN and the Ad Council’s Think Before You Speak campaign on April 12, 2011. The PSA is the first phase of a partnership between GLSEN, the NBA and the Ad Council to address anti-LGBT language among teens. Learn more about the campaign at thinkb4youspeak.com

Homophobic #ToMyUnbornChild tweets turned into PSA Charlotte...

danlev — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 16:36:00 -0400

Homophobic #ToMyUnbornChild tweets turned into PSA

Charlotte Moore from Raleigh, North Carolina has created a PSA against homophobia after the Twitter hashtag #ToMyUnbornChild attracted homophobes to publicly announce that they would murder their child if he or she was gay.

#ToMyUnbornChild became a trending topic on Twitter a few weeks ago, and while most people used it to write loving tweets to their future children, some homophobes decided to do just the opposite.

@Homophobes, a Twitter account that retweets homophobes to expose their ignorance, published an article of 100 extremely homophobic tweets, which gained quite a bit of attention around the web.

Charlotte Moore was inspired, and decided to write and direct a PSA using the tweets. The video was produced by Brian Lee and Nick Heim.

From the video’s description:

I got the idea on a Thursday. By Sunday, we — me, my boyfriend, and whatever friends we could find to help us — had it filmed.

It’s easy to dehumanize hate speech online because we’ve gotten so used to seeing it. We tell ourselves that it’s the product of trolls, of random, anonymous strangers.

Except they’re not. They’re real people. Many of them will be parents. And some of their children will be gay.

The homophobic tweets, which were compiled using Storify, gaining nearly 300,000 views, 4,000 tweets, and thousands of reblogs and likes from our Tumblr post and another Tumblr user. The post was covered by the Huffington Post, The New Civil Rights Movement, Queerty, Towleroad, Buzzfeed, AmericaBLOG, and several other blogs.

Last weekend, @homophobes also published a satirical guide on how to “rid the gay” from your child.

More info:

Adorable: Gay marriage proposal in Singapore A heart-warming...

danlev — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 02:49:00 -0400

Adorable: Gay marriage proposal in Singapore

A heart-warming video of a gay couple’s proposal on February 14, 2012 in Singapore.

A Homophobe’s Guide for Dealing with a Gay Child(Warning:...

danlev — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 02:30:36 -0400

A Homophobe’s Guide for Dealing with a Gay Child
(Warning: Post contains shocking and offensive language.)

@Homophobes, a Twitter account that retweets homophobes to expose their ignorance, published a satirical guide on how to “rid the gay” from your child. This guide contains 53 shocking real tweets from real homophobes who publicly tweeted about what they would do if their child was gay.

From the Storify post:

Think your child might be gay? Here are 16 tips from real homophobes on how to rid the gay.

Several weeks ago, @homophobes published a similar post titled “100 Real Tweets from Homophobes Who Would Murder Their Gay Child.”

View the Homophobe’s Guide for Dealing with a Gay Child

Brazil breaks world record for largest straight pride parade,...

danlev — Sun, 01 Apr 2012 18:07:00 -0400

Brazil breaks world record for largest straight pride parade, all twelve participants honored

Members of an anti-gay group in Sao Paulo, Brazil came together on Saturday afternoon to hold a straight pride parade. The twelve participants broke the Guinness World Record for the largest straight pride parade and were honored by city representatives.

The parade, which took place on Paulista Avenue, reached a final tally of twelve attendees. The participants walked down the avenue holding signs with phrases like “NO STR8 H8!” “STRAIGHT IS GREAT!”.

A Guinness representative who was at the event later presented the twelve with a certificate honoring their achievement. City representatives congratulated the attendees.

“We made history today,” said Maiara Goncalves, the event organizer, “I’m so glad that the straight community could come together today and show the gays that we are proud of who we are. It’s time that we stand up against discrimination.”

Equalitopia reached out to Guinness, but they declined to comment.

(Photo credit: Petur M)

It Gets Better - Parents of Transgender Children The first...

danlev — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 13:08:00 -0400

It Gets Better - Parents of Transgender Children

The first “It Gets Better” video of its kind: Featuring parents from PFLAG’s support group for families of transgender children sharing their personal struggles to understand their child’s needs and find support for both themselves and their families.

(via Huffington Post)

Protesters blockade anti-gay truck in New South Wales Protesters...

danlev — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 04:47:00 -0400

Protesters blockade anti-gay truck in New South Wales

Protesters blockaded an anti-gay marriage truck in Lismore, New South Wales on Saturday. The truck was defaced, covered in glitter, streamers and spray paint. One protester chained his neck to the truck and had to be released by the Police Rescue team.

From Fraser Coast Chronicle:

“On Saturday night the minister from Sydney parked his truck, which had billboard-sized anti-gay marriage messages on it, in Cathcart St before heading to a nearby motel to sleep.

He returned the next morning to find the truck defaced and blockaded.

Cars were parked at both ends of the truck and Lismore resident, Fairy Princess Amber, had locked her neck to the back of the truck.”

Full article

100 Real Tweets from Homophobes Who Would Murder Their Gay...

danlev — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 01:33:00 -0400

100 Real Tweets from Homophobes Who Would Murder Their Gay Child

@Homophobes, a Twitter account that retweets homophobes to expose their ignorance, published a collection of 100 horrifying tweets where people said that they would murder their child if he or she was gay. These tweets were all posted within 24 hours.

From the Storify post:

On March 12, 2012, the hashtag #ToMyUnbornChild became a trending topic. People used this hashtag to “tweet to” their future child. Here are 100 real tweets from real people — all within 24 hours — saying they would murder their child if he or she was gay.

View the Tweets

Dad gets “Born This Way” tattoo after son comes out...

danlev — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 04:47:00 -0400

Dad gets “Born This Way” tattoo after son comes out as bisexual

After being so nervous about coming out to his father, Dylan comes home one day to find that his father got a “Born This Way” tattoo on his arm to show his acceptance.

From the video’s description:

“So: my brother came out that he was Bisexual last year and it was one of the hardest things he’s ever had to do and one of the most courageous. He was most nervous about coming out to my old school Italian father who can be a bit of a hardass but mush at heart. So my brother decided to get born this way tattooed on his wrist in gagas handwriting after he met her, for obvious reasons, and it meant and still does a lot to him. My dad yesterday before Dylan came home for spring break got born this way in Italian tattooed on his wrist to show his acceptance and deep love for his only son who he is so proud of every day. I love my family.”

So this is the brother haha my name is Dylan. My sister posted this video through my account on her phone. I can’t believe this happened! I am so grateful for my family and I hope that everyone watches this and takes from it that acceptance is possible! You were born this way!

(via Reddit)

Son comes out to mom, captures it on camera YouTube...

danlev — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 19:26:00 -0500

Son comes out to mom, captures it on camera

YouTube personality Dan Brian built up the courage to come out to his mom and captured the touching event on camera.

(via Towleroad)

A Valentine’s For Homophobes: FCKH8’s new...

danlev — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 23:09:00 -0500

A Valentine’s For Homophobes: FCKH8’s new video

(Warning: Explicit language)

FCKH8 released a new Valentine’s Day-themed video calling out the “hypocrisy of homophobes’ claims to preserve the ‘sanctity of marriage.’”

FCKH8.com will give 5¢ for every Facebook “Share” & Twitter tweet of this video - up to $5,000 - to H8Sux.com, a project that will give thousands of free “OK4U2BGAY” t-shirts to school kids to fight bullies, suicide and H8 in schools! FCKH8.com has raised over $250,000 for the fight for equal rights through T-shirt sales! Tees start at $9.99. Get yours at FCKH8.com!

The press release states that FCKH8’s videos have generated over 6 million views and sold over 70,000 t-shirts with $250,000 raised for gay rights causes.

Join the movement:

“Same-sex couple Frank Capley-Alfano, left, and Joe...

danlev — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 17:58:21 -0500

“Same-sex couple Frank Capley-Alfano, left, and Joe Capley-Alfano kiss as they celebrate outside San Francisco City Hall Feb. 7, 2012, in San Francisco.”

Proposition 8 was ruled unconstitutional on Tuesday by a federal appeals court in San Francisco.

(Photo: Getty Images via CBS News via Peter Galazka)

BREAKING: Proposition 8 Ruled Unconstitutional Proposition 8 was...

danlev — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 13:48:00 -0500

BREAKING: Proposition 8 Ruled Unconstitutional

Proposition 8 was ruled unconstitutional on Tuesday by a San Francisco appeals court, according to Reuters.

The three-judge panel ruled 2-1 that Proposition 8 was a violation of the rights of gays and lesbians. According to the report, a stay has been in place and gay marriages will not resume until the deadline passes for Proposition 8 sponsors to appeal.

Uganda’s “Kill The Gays” Bill reintroduced...

danlev — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 13:08:00 -0500

Uganda’s “Kill The Gays” Bill reintroduced without death penalty

Uganda’s highly controversial Anti-Homosexuality Bill has been reintroduced by its author, David Bahati, according to the BBC.

The original bill was introduced in 2009 and resulted in international media cry before being shelved in 2011.

Homosexual acts are already illegal in Uganda, but the bill aims to increase the penalty to life in prison.

Originally, the legislation proposed the death penalty for those who engage in gay sex where one participant is under the age of 18, disabled, or HIV-positive. The death penalty has been removed from the revised version of this bill.

Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Bill is not only a threat to gays, but to anyone who is aware of individuals participating in homosexual acts and doesn’t report them to authorities.

Ever since the bill was introduced, gay people in Uganda are increasingly facing harassment and threats.

(Photo: AP)

Slap Upside The Head: An illustrated LGBT news blog There are...

danlev — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 12:42:00 -0500

Moscow Fined For Banning Pride

Nigeria: Jail Time For Gay Marriage

Senator on Gay Marriage in Washington

MP Blasts Court For Equal Rights Ruling

Slap Upside The Head: An illustrated LGBT news blog

There are quite a few blogs that just grab any image they can find to image to illustrate an article, but Slap Upside The Head doesn’t settle for that. Slap Upside The Head is an LGBT news blog that illustrates its articles with humorous, satirical, or clever comics.

Run by a 31 year old Canadian man named “Mark,” the blog covers LGBT-related topics such as politics, homophobia, same-sex marriage, and LGBT culture.

Slap Upside The Head has been voted the Best GLBT Blog in Canada for four years in a row at the Canadian Blog Awards.

Visit Slap Upside The Head

(Illustration credits: 1, 2, 3, 4)

14-year-old asks Maryland lawmakers to vote against gay marriage...

danlev — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 02:07:00 -0500

14-year-old asks Maryland lawmakers to vote against gay marriage [audio]

In this audio clip, a girl visits the Maryland’s Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee on her 14th birthday and asks lawmakers to vote against same-sex marriage.

“…I really feel bad for the kids who have two parents of the same gender. They have no idea what kind of wonderful experiences they miss out on…”

(via ThinkProgress, Peter Frank)