US military to end gay ban this year

US military to end gay ban this year: Gates

(AFP) – 

WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Thursday the US military would be able to scrap a ban on gays serving openly in the military by the end of the year, promising swift action.

Congress voted to repeal the ban last month but rights activists had feared the Pentagon might move slowly to implement the change.

Asked about President Barack Obama's vow on Tuesday to open the doors to gays in the armed forces this year, Gates said: "Yeah, I think we can -- we can do that."

The law requires the Pentagon to make any necessary changes and then the ban would only end 60 days after Obama, Gates and top military officer Admiral Mike Mike Mullen formally inform lawmakers that the military is ready to move ahead.

Speaking to reporters aboard his plane en route to Ottawa, Gates said carrying out the change would involve several phases, including drafting new training material and then introducing the training across the force.

"We don't know how long it'll take to train the entire force, but I'm confident we can get it done this year, and we're shooting to get it done sooner rather than later," said Gates, according to a transcript of his remarks.

In his State of the Union address on Tuesday, Obama said that "starting this year, no American will be forbidden from serving the country they love because of who they love."

Some gay rights groups previously have accused Gates and the Pentagon of taking an overly cautious approach to the issue and have pressed for a clear timeline for when enforcement of the ban would end.

Lawmakers voted to end the prohibition after the Pentagon issued a study that found a solid majority of troops were not bothered by the prospect of lifting the ban and that the military could implement the change without a major disruption or upheaval.

Rachel Maddow Smacks Down CNN For Airing Bachmann's SOTU Response

   

Rachel Maddow criticized CNN for airing Michele Bachmann's Tea Party-themed response to the State of the Union, calling it "inexplicable" 

CNN was the only network to air both the official Republican response, given by Wisconsin congressman Paul Ryan, and Bachmann's speech. Speaking on Tuesday night, after the response had aired, Maddow said she was at a loss to explain CNN's choice.

"Michele Bachmann is not the national spokesperson for the Republican Party," she said. "She is unlikely anytime soon to be chosen to be the spokesperson for her party. But tonight, inexplicably, a national news network decided that they would give Michele Bachmann a job that her own party never did."

Maddow called it "a remarkable act of journalistic intervention to elevate, in effect, a group with which they are co-sponsoring a presidential debate...to the level of the major parties in this country."

CNN, Maddow said, "decided tonight not to just cover the news about the State of the Union, they decided to make their own."

The Huffington Post  Jack Mirkinson  

Ugandan (Threatened) Gay Advocate David Kato Kisulle Murdered at Home

Ugandan LGBT Advocate Murdered; Had Been Named By “Hang Them” Tabloid

Jim Burroway

David Kato (via Facebook)

We have learned that Ugandan LGBT advocate David Kato Kisulle was murdered today at his home in Kampala. Frank Mugisha of Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG) has confirmed that the David’s body was identified at a hospital.

Update: I have also confirmed this with SMUG’s Pepe Julian Onziema, who identified David’s body in the hospital morgue. Police are investigating.

The details surrounding his murder are unknown at this time. He was reportedly beaten in the skull with a hammer at his home. We do not yet know whether it was a single assailant or a group of people, nor do we know any other circumstances surrounding his death.

Update: More details from Human Rights Watch:

Witnesses told police that a man entered Kato’s home in Mukono at around 1 p.m. on January 26, 2011, hit him twice in the head and departed in a vehicle. Kato died on his way to Kawolo hospital. Police told Kato’s lawyer that they had the registration number of the vehicle and were looking for it.

Front cover of the Sept 2, 2010 edition of Rolling Stone, featuring a photo of David Kato (left) and Bishop Christopher Senyonjo (right). (Click to enalrge)

David Kato was a spokesperson for Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG) and one of the plaintiffs (or applicants) in the successful lawsuit seeking apermanent injunction against the Ugandan tabloid Rolling Stone (no relation to the U.S. publication of the same name). Kato was one of three applicants who had been named by the tabloid under a headline tagged “Hang Them!” His photo appeared on the tabloid’s front cover.

LGBT Ugandans have lived under a menacing atmosphere for more than a decade. The anti-gay hysteria has increased significantly since the introduction of the draconian Anti-Homosexuality Bill into parliament in 2009. That bill, which remains under review Parliamentary committee, would impose the death penalty on LGBT Ugandans under certain circumstances and criminalize all advocacy by or on behalf of LGBT people. It would also criminalize even knowing someone who is gay if that person fails to report their LGBT loved one to police within 24 hours. Parliamentary elections are scheduled for February 18, and the bill isexpected to be considered after Parliament returns for a lame-duck session before the new Parliament begins in May.

This horrendous murder adds to the fears that LGBT Ugandans regularly face over their safety. Brenda Namigadde, a lesbian asylum seeker in the U.K. has been threatened with deportation back to Uganda. Just yesterday, she received an ominous message from M.P. David Bahati, the author of the infamous Anti-Homosexuality Bill, in which he said that Brenda must “repent or reform” when she returns home:

Brenda is welcome in Uganda if she will abandon or repent her behaviour. Here in Uganda, homosexuality is not a human right. It is behaviour that is learned and it can be unlearned. We wouldn’t want Brenda to be painting a wrong picture of Uganda, that we are harassing homosexuals.

M.P. Bahati may be technically correct. They are simply killing homosexuals, not harassing them.

David has served as the Advocacy and Litigation Officer for SMUG since 2004, according to his facebook profile. He also attended the University of York where he studied Human Rights.

Update: Mourners are posting message on David’s facebook wall.

Former Long Beach State baller is bisexual

 

by Cyd Zeigler jr..Outsports.com

You can count the number of Div. 1 college basketball players who have come out as gay or bisexual on one hand. Now count former Long Beach State 49er center Travon Free asone of the very rare openly bisexual former collegiate ballers. Free didn’t exactly light it up in college; he played in fewer and fewer games each season and never averaged more than 4 points per game in a season. Still, Free’s coming out is inspiring, and he wrote a long insightful piece on his coming out.

Being a young teen I was deathly afraid to mention my feelings to anyone, given the fact I was the basketball player who spent most of his time around other boys all the time. I didn’t want to make anyone uncomfortable nor did I want to face the possible rejection and ridicule that would come along with thinking you might be anything other than straight. I knew I couldn’t be gay because I knew I was attracted to girls sexually but I knew there was more to me than I could understand at the time.

Free is now a comedian in Los Angeles.

Tom Ford: 'I Eat Naked'

Fashion designer-filmmaker Tom Fords prefers to be nude.

The designer with the looks to hawk his own fashions suggests as
much in a new interview with celebrity glossy Interview.
Ford has been with his partner Richard Buckley for more than 24
years. The pair grace the current cover of gay glossy Out's love
issue. Ford directed last year's A Single Man.
In discussing the differences between beauty and sexuality –
Ford suggested that sexuality is in the eyes, not the naked body
– the 49-year-old Ford revealed he prefers to be nude.
“You have to be really physically perfect, as a woman, in our
culture to be considered beautiful,” Ford said. “But full frontal
male nudity challenges us. It makes men nervous. It makes
women nervous. Other times in history, male nudes have been
regarded in a different way. The Olympics were originally held nude.

The reporter I was explaining this to said, 'This would make
a great story.' I explained how when I come home I actually
take off all my clothes, and I wear no clothes until I leave.
I eat naked. I do everything completely naked.”
Ford went on to say that he agreed to be interviewed by the
reporter in the nude.
“Anyway, we did the interview. The interviewer was straight,
and I made it a point to desexualize the interview even though
I was sitting with my legs wide open, completely naked. At the
end of the interview, I put on a dressing gown and he put on his
clothes, and I sat next to him on the sofa and said, 'Was that
sexual?' He said, 'Absolutely not.' And I said, 'That's because
I didn't make it sexual. Sexuality is in the eyes, it's an expression,
it's in a look.' Then, all of the sudden, I looked at him in a very
different way, and it made him very nervous.”


By OnTop Magazine

Comedy: Just A second of it

Listen to me u ugly puck!

adamfoxie*

Logo Brings Back “The A-List”; Gay Rights and Perceptions Set Back 1,000 Years

I’m afraid this is going to be a snarky.
Logo, according to the headline of a press release I received last week, “Greenlights More Drama with a Second Season of Hit Docu-Reality Series The A-List: New York.”
Ugh.
My powers of articulation are good, but I’m bereft of words to describe how much I detest quite a number of these cruel, loathsome, ultra-narcissistic boy-children who comprise the so-called “cast” of this so-called “show.”
If you haven’t yet been exposed to this TV virus, it’s meant as a kind of Real Housewives, maybe Homotopia, for the under-30 gay set. They’re rich and gaymous, as one piece I read put it.
They’re also some of the most hot-mess queens on earth.
One exception: Rodiney Santiago. In addition to being easy on the eyes, he seems like a decent person and I don’t get the sense, watching him, that he French kisses himself in the mirror each morning, and he’s the one guy on the show good looking enough to justify it. Would that his boyfriend, Reichen Lehmkuhl, who won the fourth season of The Amazing Race with an ex-boyfriend, who dated Lance Bass for 10 minutes and whose name makes me identify with the plight of Anne Frank, could disentangle himself from his vanity long enough to treat Rodiney like a human being.
The rest? Proof that some species evolve backward. They range from simpering, whimpering, catty, batty and awful to simpering, whimpering, catty, batty and awful — not to mention swallow, superficial and supremely self-adoring to a point of inducing vomit from viewers with any stake, any stake at all, in wanting to ensure positive role models for gay men. (Yes, Virginia, this is one of those posts.) For I don’t believe these guys represent much in the way of positive role models for anyone in the LGBT community. Sheboyan or Dubuque or Pacoima see them and all their stereotypes about the gays, even in 2011 — maybe because we’re in 2011 — are inflated up yet again like hot pink air balloons, as if these guys represent reality. As opposed to, say, reality TV.
“Oh, you don’t really know them!,” you’re silently (or not-so-silently) protesting. “That could all be in the editing room! You don’t know what they’re really like! Nah-uh, they’re sweeties! I bet they’re really sweet guys!”
You know what? I don’t know them. And maybe it is all in the editing room. Maybe I don’t know what they’re like for realzzz. Maybe they’re sugar and sweet and appie pie and cotton candy and ready for beatification. But I suspect not.
Derek? To quote Mary McCarthy about Lillian Hellman, whenever he talks, I think every word he says is a lie, including “and” and “the.” Model-turned-modeling-agent this, punk. Your mirror needs a break.
And his friend Ryan, the hairstylist? Well, I think he’s somewhat genuine and certainly not as inherently unpleasant as Derek, but no question he’s besotted with his own glamor-puss-ness — I’d like to talk to him one day when he’s not in a conversation about something gossipy. Mary J., hello? Girl, we need you.No more drama. Sure, I’m glad Ryan has got himself a husband and is going to run a lifestyle empire. I have a husband, too. And Ryan’s is no better than mine. In fact, I could talk of why mine is infinitely better, but that would be too dishy.
And international model Austin Armacost, who caused so much — well, drama — and trouble with the other guys, and who has a boyfriend over here or over there that we may or may not know about, and who dated Marc Jacobs (who is no relation), and…? He’s as much of a perforated ulcer as Derek and Ryan. But at least he seems to fathom how fatuous The A-List really is. He causes trouble because that’s his role — no doubt The A-List directors and editors tell him to do all kinds of things because someone has to be the bad boy and he likes to be a very, very bad boy.
And Mike Ruiz, celebrity photographer? OK, he’s an exception, much like Rodiney. Seriously easy on the eyes. And, by his own admission, older and far wiser than the rest of the crew. He doesn’t really mesh too much, or too often, with the other megalomaniacs. He seems to know what life is really about. He’s gunning for a spin-off. He’ll probably get one.
Is it all about being rich, bitchy and gaymous? Is that, like, a career goal? Is that our definition of being out-and-proud gay? Constantly cutting each other down like Auntie Mame and Vera Charles but without the bangles, the bugles and the beads? We battle for acceptance; we struggle to be normal even as we don’t know what normal is; we look at sitcoms like Modern Family which, while far from perfect, at least shows two men in a loving relationship without swishing and swooping and skipping and stooping across the hills and dales of Pansyland. Every time I see The A-List, every time I see these guys, I wish they could know what I know. Or ask themselves whether they’re a credit to their demographic. Are we prettying up the gayborhood or are we retreating back to the ghetto?

Lemkuhl’s Twitter feed says “Don’t hate.” Oh, beautiful for specious guys. For amber waves of irony.


by Leonard Sharky clydefitchreport.com

OPRAH Winfrey’s BFF Gayle King is worried about the arrival secret half-sister.

OPRAH Winfrey’s BFF Gayle King is worried about the arrival of the media mogul’s secret half-sister.
The 56-year-old talk show host recently discovered she had a secret sibling, Patricia, and sources say Gayle may have to get used to sharing her pal.
“Gayle must have mixed feelings about the arrival of Patricia,” an insider told the PopEater website.
“Of course she wants nothing but the best for Oprah, but there has to be just a little tiny part of Gayle that is asking, ‘What now?’
“Gayle is very protective about her relationship with Oprah and is not used to sharing her with anyone.
“The new addition to the family could be a bigger adjustment for Gayle than for Oprah.”
Oprah recently insisted she and Patricia are taking things “slow”.
“We’re taking it slow. I think it’s about building a relationship one conversation — one experience — at a time,” she said.
“I think we have the common interest of our mother. Everybody who’s dealing with an ailing parent understands that process of getting care for them. And we’re speaking regularly about that.
“She coming into the family at this time has been a great peace offering, a great symbol of peace-making in this family. I would say I see her as a gift.”

www.showbizspy.com

Troubled CHARLIE SHEEN Rushed To Hospital

CHARLIE Sheen was rushed to hospital this morning.
The Two and a Half Men actor was taken out of his Los Angeles home on a stretcher and loaded into an ambulance at 7am, before being taken to the nearby Cedars-Sinai Hospital.
According to gossip website TMZ, Charlie — who was accompanied by two women — was having severe abdominal pains after throwing a wild party, which triggered a phone call to the emergency services.
He is now believed to resting at the hospital and his actor father Martin Sheen and his mother Janet Templeton are with him.
The news comes just days after Charlie hooked up with three porn stars in Las Vegas.
The 45-year-old star and the women — who were in the US gambling city for a porn convention — went on an “epic bender” at The Palms Hotel and Casino, before heading back to his hotel room.
The drinking session followed Charlie firing his sober coach, who had been hired after he trashed a New York hotel room and was found naked by police.
“The sober coach never went back to work for Charlie. He has not heard from Charlie since he told him not to start New Year’s Day,” a source said.
The hotel room incident capped off a bad year for the Charlie.
Following a fight with his estranged wife Brooke Mueller — mother of his 22-month-old twin sons, Bob and Max — on Christmas Day 2009, he paid a trip to rehab and received a 30-day suspended prison sentence for misdemeanour assault.
During his New York trip to October, Charlie was accused of causing $7,000 worth of damage to his hotel suite after tossing furniture around because of the monetary demands of the escort.
Before the alleged incident, the actor — who was enjoying a mini-break with his ex-wife Denise Richards and their daughters Sam, six, and five-year-old Lola — was reportedly found by his assistant naked and covered in cocaine in a restaurant toilet.

showbizspy.com

Michele Bachmann Proposes “Don’t Add, Don’t Spell”

Reflects Core Tea Party Values, Says Minn. Lawmaker

MINNEAPOLIS (The Borowitz Report) – In her official Tea Party response to President Obama’s State of the Union Address, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) offered a bold new policy initiative she called “Don’t Add, Don’t Spell.”

Rep. Bachmann called the proposal “a reflection of core Tea Party values” and said it would  “deliver the American people from the tyranny of arithmetic, spelling, and punctuation.”

In addition to “Don’t Add, Don’t Spell,” Rep. Bachmann suggested slashing the Federal budget by eliminating nine of the first ten Amendments to the Constitution.

“I think you know which one I’d keep,” she chuckled, miming a Western gunslinger with her index fingers.

Rep. Bachmann’s odd onscreen appearance, in which she seemed to be staring off-camera for the duration of her speech, was initially blamed on “a squirrel that got into the studio and distracted her,” said one Tea Party official.

But the Minnesota congresswoman offered her own explanation: “I was looking off to one side because I was trying to read off Sarah Palin’s hand.”

In Washington, House Speaker John Boehner held a press conference after the President’s speech to declare, “This infernal week of civility is officially over.”

“The American people owe its representatives a huge debt of thanks,” Mr. Boehner added.  “Tonight, each of us made the ultimate sacrifice any American can ever be called upon to make: sitting next to a person we despise.”

The Los Angeles Times says Andy Borowitz has “one of the funniest Twitter feeds around.”  
borowitzreport.com

Glee creator Ryan Murphy blasts Kings of Leon "self-centered ass-holes"

The creator of smash-hit TV series Glee has slammed rock band Kings of Leon, calling them "self-centred ass-holes".
According to Music-News.com, the 45-year-old writer made the outburst because the Nashville-based band refused to allow their hit single 'Use Somebody' to be featured in the show.
He said: "Fuck you Kings of Leon. They're self-centred assholes, and they're missing the big picture. They missed that a seven-year-old kid can see someone close to their age singing a Kings of Leon song, which will maybe make them want to join a glee club or pick up a musical instrument.
However, King's of Leon frontman Caleb Followill has hit back. He told Hollywood Reporter magazine: 'This whole 'Glee' thing is a shock to us. It's gotten out of hand. At the time of the request, we hadn't even seen the show. It came at the end of that record cycle, and we were over promoting 'Use Somebody'.

"This was never meant as a slap in the face to 'Glee' or to music education or to fans of the show. We're not sure where the anger is coming from."

Peter Lloyd
/news.pinkpaper.com

'Glee' Murphy: KoL drummer is "homophobe"

© Rex Features

Ryan Murphy has accused Kings Of Leon drummer Nathan Followill of making anti-gay comments.

The Glee creator had previously called the group "self-centred a**holes" for their refusal to license their songs to his show, promptinga response from Followill.

In a letter to celebrity blogger Perez Hilton, Murphy said: "Just read Nathan Followill's Tweet... in which he implied I should 'get a manicure and buy a bra'. Wow. That's a homophobe badly in need of some education.

"I'm all for manicures, don't wear a bra. Would guess most gay dudes don't. But it's telling that Nathan can reduce a group of people to a mean-spirited cliché, in a time where young gay men are killing themselves all over the country because of hatred like this."

He added: "That said, I would love to sit down with Nathan or any member of Kings and Leon (sic), and tell them how on Glee we actually love their music, and support their artistry... but cannot condone or even laugh at their clear disdain of gay people."

Followill has further responded to Murphy's accusations via his own Twitter feed by saying: "I'm sorry 4 anyone that misconstrued my comments as homophobic or misogynistic. I'm so not that kind of person. I really do apologize (sic)."


By Mayer Nissim, Senior Entertainment Reporter
.digitalspy.com/

Shelter: Gay People Deserve to Be Homeless

Elder Bobby Harris is the head of the House of Mercy homeless shelter in Columbus, Georgia. If you're homeless or in need, his religious shelter is there to offer you refuge. Unless, of course, you happen to be gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender. If that's the case, Elder Bobby Harris has a few short words for you: "[Homosexuality] is not tolerated here at all."

So much for that Christian obligation to help all who are in need. At the House of Mercy, there's apparently a sexual orientation and gender identity litmus test.

Elder Harris spoke to WRBL in Columbus this week, after numerous activists (including over 1,000 Change.org members) wrote the shelter criticizing the House of Mercy's policy to deny gay homeless people shelter. Harris stuck to his guns, and reiterated his previous statement that the reason LGBT people weren't welcome at his center was because "of the Bible."

"Let me tell you one of the reasons why, because of the bible of course, and then we have little children that we won't have tolerate that kind of act here," Harris said.

Harris had previously said that LGBT people would receive service at House of Mercy, so long as they commit to changing their sexual orientation. He added that shelter staff would monitor such folks, to make sure that they don't engage in homosexual acts on or off shelter property.

Perhaps House of Mercy should consider a name change to House of Stalking the People We Serve.

In the new report by WRBL, the station notes that House of Mercy hasn't received any local or state grants since 2007. But as Alex Blaze uncovered at Bilerico, the House of Mercy sure looks like it receives some federal grant money, at least according to its 990 form. Moreover,Georgia's government approved a measure last year that earmarked $75,000 for the House of Mercy, via the state's Special Housing Initiatives program. That's an awful lot of taxpayer money to be giving a shelter that refuses to serve and shelter all who are in need.

Other shelters in Columbus have come out and said that they will not refuse service to anyone, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. One shelter staffer at a crisis center in the community even went so far to say that refusing LGBT homeless people service would be "revictimizing the victim."

Shouldn't these shelters -- shelters that truly serve all residents in the area, and don't force those in need to pass a litmus test that requires them to be heterosexual -- be the ones that receive state grant money?

by Michael A. Jones

/gayrights.change.org/

Australia: NSW pilots anti-homophobia program in high schools

New South Wales will trial an anti-homophobia program similar to the Safe Schools Coalition running in Victorian schools.

The $250,000 Proud Schools program will be piloted in 12 NSW high schools.

Safe Schools Coalition Victoria (SSCV) coordinator Roz Ward and said she was pleased to see NSW follow Victoria’s lead, but said funding is still critical for Victoria’s model to continue.

“We look forward to working with [NSW schools] and hope that further funding will be provided by the new [Baillieu] Government to support our work after June 2011,” Ward told the Star Observer.

So far 22 schools have signed on to the Safe Schools scheme in Victoria, which works with school staff to develop anti-homophobia initiatives and to create bullying-free environments in schools.

The program — developed by Rainbow Network Victoria and the Foundation for Young Australians (FYA) — was launched last year after a one-off grant of $80,000 from the Victorian Education and Early Childhood Development department.

With funding almost up, those involved with the program are anxiously waiting for a commitment from the new Government to fund the initiative on an ongoing basis.

Ward said more than 600 students, teachers and school staff had accessed SSCV training. A resource booklet, Supporting Sexual Diversity in Schools: A Guide, has also been delivered to every school in Victoria.
Ward said feedback from school communities so far has been “fantastic”.

“Safe Schools Coalition Victoria has received so much positive feedback since we launched,” she said.

“Schools recognise the negative impact that homophobia has on the lives of young people, teachers and school staff.
“We know that effective school-based programs that address homophobia in schools and support teachers in dealing with this challenge can really make a difference.”

Recent research shows verbal and physical abuse against same-sex attracted (SSA) youth is on the increase.

Writing Themselves In 3 — the third national report of sexuality, health and wellbeing of SSA and gender questioning young people — showed a marked jump in homophobic violence in Australian schools, with strong links to higher levels of self-harm and suicide in abused youth.


Star Online...
by 

padawan

New Thai airline recruits transsexuals as flight attendants

Thai media reported yesterday that a new Thai-based airline has hired three transsexual flight attendants among its first batch of 30 new hires.
It might well be a public relations exercise but it's still a step in the right direction.

Miss Tiffany 2007 winner Thanyarat "Film" Jiraphatpakorn is one of the airlines three newly hired transsexual flight attendants.

Thai media reported yesterday that a new Thai-based airline P.C. Air has hired three transsexual flight attendants – the company's initial quota – alongside 17 cisgender women and 10 men among its first batch of 30 new hires. Among the three is Miss Tiffany 2007 transsexual beauty pageant winner Thanyarat "Film" Jiraphatpakorn.
The 23-year-old was quoted as saying: "At first I thought they would just take applications but not actually recruit us, as happened at other places before."
The company had recently conducted a roadshow accepting applications from "third sex" candidates, who have to check the "unisex" column in the application form, at Bangkok's Esplanade shopping mall.
An airline spokesperson was quoted as saying that the company recognises the potential of transsexuals to work as hostesses and hopes to offer equal opportunities to them. He explained that after passing the preliminary round, the transsexual candidates will undergo training along with female air-hostesses and will have a 'third sex' name tag pinned to their uniform to avoid immigration issues.
Despite their high profile in Thailand, transsexuals are unable to change their legal status, and often report that they are still stereotyped and are often unable to find work outside the entertainment and beauty industry.
The airline plans to launch flights on March 1.
/www.fridae.com

Supermarket Plants 'Family Shield' To Block Photo of Elton John Baby

It is a family photo of two obviously delighted parents and their sleeping newborn son, full of typically cheesy smiles.

But a U.S. supermarket has deemed a magazine cover showing Elton John, his husband and baby Zachary offensive, covering it with a 'family shield' to protect children - the same shield used to cover pornography.

The move has sparked outrage amongst civil rights groups, with representatives from GLAAD (Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) investigating.

Protective shield: Elton John and his newborn son were deemed too offensive for young shoppers at a grocery store in Arkansas, U.S.

The Harps grocery store in Mountain Home, Arkansas even wrapped last week's edition of Us magazine in a protective plastic shield to stop inquisitive youngsters flicking through to learn about the birth.

Proud fathers: But photos of Elton John and partner David Furnish 'offended' shoppers in the U.S.

Only the very top of the magazine was visible, with the cover reading: 'Family shield. To protect young Harps shoppers.'

Local resident Jennifer Huddleston took a photo of the shield and posted it on Plixi. 

'This was taken at my local grocery store,' she wrote. 'I was shocked and horrified. 

'They are saying they need to keep children from seeing it, because it is a gay family.'

The picture immediately sparked controversy across the blogosphere.

But a company spokesperson defended the shield, saying Harps bosses reacted in response to 'several' customer complaints at that particular store.

He insisted the move was 'in no way our opinion on this issue', adding, 'we do not have an opinion on this issue.'

But others were quick to complain about the shield, with many urging a boycott of the chain.

Even international news outlets carried the story.

Canadian newspaper the Globe and Mail wrote: 'Heaven forbid your seven-year-old, while waiting in line with you at the grocery store checkout, be exposed to the gays.'

And British paper the Sun wrote: 'Either Elton's baby is in some way offensive or there's some serious homophobia going on here.'

 http://www.dailymail.co.uk