March 22, 2011

Pep band leader Ryan Kopacsi likes to strip and is also a male model

by Jim Buzinski.

Ryan Kopacsi

Virginia Commonwealth is one of the surprise teams in the NCAA men’s basketball Sweet 16, having been one of the final entries into the expanded field. VCU also has a pep band that goes to every game with a band leader, Ryan Kopacsi, who likes to do apartial strip, not a surprise since he is/was also a male model.

TTS is of course shorthand for Time To Strip, referring to VCU band leader Ryan Kopacsi. … He arrived with a jacket, vest, tie and giant novelty bling. Exactly 5 minutes, 27 seconds into the game, he is already down to his signature white t-shirt with the Superman logo.

As for the modeling part, Kopacsi’s Model Mayhem profile hasn’t been update since 2006, but at least back then he looked good in his tighty-whitetys:

http://outsports.com/jocktalkblog

Professional Footballers’ Association welcomes a gay British soccer player

by Cyd Zeigler jr..

Professional Footballers’ Association chief executive Gordon Tyler says the players union would support an openly gay player, but they would have trouble protecting him from fans.

While we have made massive improvement in crowd behaviour, it would still be a very, very brave move for a player to come out. If anybody comes out it is more acceptable in fashion or entertainment, but not in football because it’s a macho world. It upsets me when Max Clifford says, ‘They [gay footballers] have come to me, and I’ve told them not to go public, the time’s not right’.

Tyler is referring to publicist Max Clifford who has said he told several gay British soccer players to stay in the closet.

It’s a step in the right direction for the PFA to openly support the idea of a gay player, but I’m bothered by their insistence that the public wouldn’t stand for it. The more sports power brokers say there’s a problem, the more problem there is.

Still, Taylor seems like a cool dude; He stood up for Justin Fashanuback in the day.

http://outsports.com/jocktalkblog

Publisher Forced to Cancel Launch of ‘Gay Cure’ Book

The book says Jesus can cure gays and lesbians

A Christian publisher says she had to cancel the launch of a book which claims Jesus can cure homosexuality because of a planned protest by gay rights activists.

Eileen Mohr, who owns Crossbridge Books, said that a hotel in Worcester refused to host the launch after learning of the demonstration.

Where is your brother?’, by Canadian author Marion Heath, is being published in the UK and tells the story of a gay couple who split up when one has a “dramatic” religious experience.

A “peaceful protest” was planned for Saturday’s launch and was advertised online.

Ms Mohr said it was an “attack on free speech”, BBC News reports.

“It’s a novel, it’s fiction and it isn’t offensive because a lot of these men have been corrupted and led astray into their lifestyle,” she said.

“I think they are of course misguided in protesting because what they don’t like is the idea Jesus can heal people of their homosexuality – but it is actually possible.”

Speaking last month, David Allison of gay pressure group OutRage! told PinkNews.co.uk: “Frankly, this is the latest of a number of books written by people who can’t get it into their thick skulls that being gay is not an illness, an ailment or something to cure.

“Christians in particular are worried as science moves towards seeing being gay as a genetic thing – they are running out of ammunition.

“If science says this, Christians cannot say ‘you are evil’ because it’s something you’re born with, like your skin colour.

“It’s just nonsense. The book will have its moment of fame and then disappear into the remainder shelves in the bookshop.

“Most people have finally got the message that being gay is like having blue eyes or brown hair – it’s something you can’t change.”

by Jessica Geen

http://www.pinknews.co.uk

Want to Laugh:Student Who Caused Gay Teen Suicide, Feels “Attacked”

by Natasia Langfelder

Rutgers student, Molly Wei, is infamous. She and another student, Dharun Ravi, allegedly used a webcam to broadcast Ravi’s roommate, Tyler Clementi, having a romantic encounter with another man. If you are reading this, you probably know this story already. Clementi had no idea his encounter was being livestreamed on the internet, when he realized what had happened, the 19 year old commited suicide.

This is no disputing that Molly Wei is a disgusting human being. However, a “friend” is speaking to People magazine about Wei…and he wants us to feel sorry for her. “She feels that everyone is attacking her,” the unnamed “friend” tells People. “She is trying to stay optimistic,” he says. “She’s really upset about this, she definitely feels bad, and wishes it didn’t go the way it did.”

People also reports that there has been no sign of Wei or Ravi or their families for over a week. According to People source, Wei’s friend, that is because “Wei is now living the life of a fugitive.” “She is going to different places,” he says, “because the media is always at her house.”

The poor thing! Just think, deceiving, mentally torturing someone and then driving that person to kill himself has consequences! Who knew? Wei has also received angry messages on Facebook from people who are disgusted by her actions. Unfortunately, social retribution is probably the only real consequence Wei will face. Her and Ravi are charged with with two counts of invasion of privacy and at most will only face up to five years in prison. A life is over and Wei is complaining about her flash in the pan infamy and her flash in the pan punishment.

There is outrage over Tyler Clementi’s suicide, but not nearly enough. This isn’t the first article People has published about Wei and Ravi. In this article, they refer to Wei as “quiet,” “sweet,” and “smart.” Nice words for a murderer. Three days before this article was published, they wrote one called, “Rutgers Suspects Aren’t Bad – Just Made a Bad Mistake.” There is a thin line between publishing the fact that Wei and Ravi have supporters and actually supporting their actions. I think the line might have been crossed. If Ravi and Wei had done this to a straight female, chances are there would be double the outpour of outrage; People would probably openly condemn Ravi and Wei and slut-shame Wei by painting her as a “party girl” instead of as “quiet, sweet and smart.” But we will never know for sure. What we do know for sure is that Wei and Ravi won’t get the jail time they deserve, even if they are given the maximum five years in prison.

http://lezgetreal.com/

Couples In Long Term Relationships Are Not Happy with The Little Sex They r Having

Sex and the Long-Term Relationship

By TARA PARKER-POPE

Are you happy with the frequency of sex in your relationship?

Many men and women are not, according to the findings of a large Australian study that tracked sexual satisfaction and frequency of sex among heterosexual men and women in long-term relationships.

The researchers surveyed 3,240 men and 3,304 women who were married, living with a partner or in a relationship, asking them about their satisfaction with their sex lives. A majority of men (54 percent) and nearly as many women (42 percent) said they were unhappy with the frequency of sex, according to the report, published in the March issue of The Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy.

For most men, the complaint was that they weren’t having sex often enough. Among women who were unhappy about the frequency of their sex lives, two-thirds said they weren’t having enough sex, but a third complained they were having more sex than they wanted.

Among the respondents, 73 percent were married, and 60 percent had been with their spouse or partner for 10 years or more. Men ages 35 to 44 who had been with a woman for six years or longer were the most likely to be unhappy with how often they had sex.

Men and women who were unhappy with the frequency of sex in their relationship were also most likely to report lower levels of overall relationship satisfaction.

“The majority of people in the study would prefer more sex than they’ve been having,’’ said Anthony Smith, professor of public health and deputy director of the Australian Research Center in Sex, Health and Society at La Trobe University in Melbourne. “What we’re seeing is that there is quite a gap between a person’s ideal frequency of sex and what they manage to achieve in their relationships.’’

The fact that both men and women are unhappy with the frequency of sex in their relationships suggests it’s not just an issue of differing sex drives, but of other tasks and obligations competing for a couple’s time.

“The real issue here, I think, is that couples are not finding enough time for sex,’’ said Dr. Smith. “I don’t think you can keep forcing more and more activities in people’s lives and still expect them to take the time it takes to have sex, let alone good-quality sex.”

Anthony Lyons, a study co-author and research fellow at La Trobe, said the main lesson from the study is that couples need to learn how to communicate about their sexual needs or their reasons for not wanting sex.

“Couples need to talk about the frequency of sex,” Dr. Anthony said in an e-mail. “Talking openly about sex and finding a middle ground with regard to frequency appears to be very important for overall sexual and relationship satisfaction.”

One solution may be to schedule time for sex, just as couples set aside time for meals, work and family activities, said Dr. Smith.

“Couples need to ask each other, ‘How much time do we want to spend having sex or being intimate, and what needs to go out of our schedule to make that time available?’ ” said Dr. Smith. “If people value sex as an important part of their relationship, and almost everybody does, then they need to put sex higher up the priority list.’’

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com

Bloomberg Promises He Will Lobby Albany on Behalf of Marriage Equality

Equality

A good Thing

adamfoxie*

Photo: Joe Corrigan/Getty Images

Since 2005, Mayor Bloomberg has been open and public about hissupport for marriage equality, even if he doesn't think that the state's constitution currently makes room for it. And as of 2009, he was telling people that he could use his money to try and help pressure Republicans in Albany into voting for such a measure, but that it wouldn't do any good because the tides were too heavily against it. But then this past fall he took the more aggressive step of taping a video for the Human Rights Campaign advocating that the state adopt a law to allow same sex couples to marry. And the Daily News reports today that he still thinks he can use his money to pressure a GOP state senator or two into changing his or her stance — and that this year, he will actually do it. "If there's a chance to pass a bill, I will do it," he said. "I'll go lobby."

In 2009, a marriage equality bill failed in the State Senate after eight Democrats and every Republican in the body voted against it. But after last year's elections, more Democrats in favor of the bill hold seats in the Senate, and powerful governor Andrew Cuomo is throwing his back behind the issue. With the help of Bloomberg, who is the Senate GOP's largest donor, his hopes of getting one Republican to publicly "come out" for gay marriage in order to build momentum don't seem so far-fetched. In the meantime, Senate Democratic leader John Sampson and openy gay senator Thomas Duane are working on the three Democrats still on the fence: Joseph Addabbo and Shirley Huntley from Queens, and embattled Brooklyn senator Carl Kruger.

If you have time for a brief walk down memory lane, check out this old post from when the marriage equality bill failed in the Senate in 2009. Most of the opponents didn't speak (with the notable exception of anti-gay Bronx pastor Ruben Diaz Sr.), but advocates like Eric Adams, Diane Savino, and Ruth Hassell-Thompson gave eloquent, memorable speeches that are still poignant today.

Mayor Bloomberg to engage Senate Republicans in gay marriage fight [NYDN]

http://nymag.com

Catholic Attitudes on Gay and Lesbian Issues: They R With Us Gays

A Comprehensive Portrait from Recent Research

Catholics are more supportive of legal recognitions of same-sex
relationships than members of any other Christian tradition and
Americans overall. Nearly three-quarters of Catholics favor either
allowing gay and lesbian people to marry (43%) or allowing them to
form civil unions (31%). Only 22% of Catholics say there should
be no legal recognition of a gay couple’s relationship.
When same-sex marriage is defined explicitly as a civil marriage,
support is dramatically higher among Catholics. If marriage for gay
couples is defined as a civil marriage “like you get at city hall,” Catholic
support for allowing gay couples to marry increases by 28 points, from
43% to 71%. A similar pattern exists in the general population, but the
Catholic increase is more pronounced.
Beyond the issue of same-sex marriage, Catholic support for rights
for gays and lesbian people is strong and slightly higher than the
general public. Nearly three-quarters (73%) of Catholics favor laws that
would protect gay and lesbian people against discrimination in the workplace;
63% of Catholics favor allowing gay and lesbian people to serve openly in
the military; and 6-in-10 (60%) Catholics favor allowing gay and lesbian
couples to adopt children.
Compared to the general church-going public, Catholics are significantly
less likely to hear about the issue of homosexuality from their clergy, but
those who do are much more likely to hear negative messages. Only about
1-in-4 (27%) Catholics who attend church services regularly say their clergy
speak about the issue of homosexuality, but nearly two-thirds (63%) of this
group say the messages they hear are negative.
Compared to other religious groups, Catholics are significantly more likely
to give their church poor marks for how it is handling the issue of
homosexuality. Less than 4-in-10 (39%) Catholics give their own church top
marks (a grade of either an A or a B) on its handling of the issue of homosexuality.
Seven-in-ten Catholics say that messages from America’s places of worship
contribute a lot (33%) or a little (37%) to higher rates of suicide among
gay and lesbian youth.
Catholics overwhelmingly reject the idea that sexual orientation can
be changed. Nearly 7-in-10 (69%) Catholics disagree that homosexual
orientation can be changed; less than 1-in-4 (23%) believe that it can be changed.
A majority of Catholics (56%) believe that sexual relations between
two adults
of the same gender is not a sin. Among the general population,
less than half (46%) believe it is not a sin (PRRI, Religion & Politics
Tracking Survey, October 2010).

Read the full report here.

Read the press release here.

Chick-Fil-A Has Given $1.1 Million to Anti-Gay Groups

The anti-gay narrative around the restaurant chain Chick-fil-A is about to intensify in a major way.

Earlier this year, Chick-fil-A came under fire after a franchise in Pennsylvania decided to give a substantial donation to an event organized by the Pennsylvania Family Institute, one of the leading anti-gay groups in the Keystone State and an ardent opponent of marriage equality. Soon after that news broke, bloggers like Jeremy Hooper at Good As You noted that Chick-fil-A's charitable arm, the WinShape Foundation,had hosted retreats for some of the most virulent anti-gay groups in the country, including the National Organization for Marriage, Focus on the Family, the Ruth Institute and more.

Now an in-depth investigation from Equality Matters finds that Chick-fil-A has given over $1.1 million to anti-gay groups around the country, and has employment practices that are hostile toward "sinful" candidates. Talk about a fowl discovery, sure to make Chick-fil-A among the most anti-gay businesses in the entire United States.

According to Equality Matters, Chick-fil-A has given sizable amounts of money to the following groups, all of which oppose civil rights for same-sex couples:

National Christian Foundation: $631,600

Fellowship Of Christian Athletes: $480,000

Serving Marriages, Inc.: $15,000

Alliance Defense Fund: $5,000

Christian Camp And Conference Association: $5,000

Campus Crusade for Christ: $2,850

Georgia Family Council: $2,000

Family Research Council: $1,000

These organizations all have intensely anti-gay standpoints, principles or mission statements. Take the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, whose founder has said: "God freed some people from homosexuality, sexual sins, addictions and even ushered newcomers into His Kingdom."

Or take the Alliance Defense Fund, which believes that religious people should be at war with the LGBT rights agenda, and recently said: "[LGBT Equality] is the principal threat to your religious freedom."

Or take the Family Research Council, whose anti-gay agenda was considered so violent and extreme, that it was dubbed an official hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Wow. If you're partly defined by the company you keep -- not to mention the organizations that benefit from your largesse -- than Chick-fil-A is in bed with practically every major player in the anti-gay industry. Their president, Dan Cathy, continues to insist that his company has nothing against LGBT people. But Chick-fil-A's corporate donations certainly seem to say otherwise.

Check out the entire report over at Equality Matters, and also make sure to check out their section on Chick-fil-A's employment policies, where they note that Dan Cathy prefers employees who don't engage in "sinful" lifestyles.

And if you're on a college campus with a Chick-fil-A, keep up the pressure to hold Chick-fil-A accountable for their anti-gay agenda. Because every time you spend money on a chicken sandwich at Chick-fil-A, you're helping line the pockets of hate groups like the Family Research Council, or groups that believe you can be "freed" from homosexuality. And no chicken sandwich or waffle fry tastes that good to support this kind of agenda.

Photo credit: Chick-fil-A Facebook