Queen unveils monument of gay genius codebreaker Alan Turing

by James Park 

The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh yesterday unveiled a monument to commemorate the contribution made by code breakers at Bletchley Park to victory over Nazi Germany in the Second World War. In particular, The Queen paid tribute to the gay codebreaker Alan Turing, who was later forced to undergo chemical castration after being convicted of homosexuality.

The Royal Party toured the museum where restoration projects have taken place to rebuild the machines which assisted with the wartime decryption of enemy codes.  These included the Turing Bombe, brainchild of mathematical genius Alan Turing, and Colossus, the world’s first electronic computer. The machines were used to decode German messages sent using their Engima machines.

The Queen said: “It is impossible to overstate the deep sense of admiration, gratitude, and national debt that we owe to all those men and, especially, women. They were called to this place in the greatest of secrecy – so much so that some of their families will never know the full extent of their contribution – as they set about on a seemingly impossible mission; a massive challenge in the field of cryptanalysis: for the first time pitting technology against technology.

“And so, these huts and buildings became the centre of a world-wide web of intelligence communications, spanning the Commonwealth and further afield.

“This was the place of geniuses such as Alan Turing. But these wonderfully clever mathematicians, language graduates and engineers were complemented by people with different sets of skills, harnessing that brilliance through methodical, unglamorous, hard slog. Thus the secret of Bletchley’s success was that it became a home to all the talents.”

Turing killed himself in 1954 aged 41 after being convicted of having a sexual relationship with another man.

A British court gave him the choice of going either to prison or undergoing chemical castration. He opted for the latter which involved high dosage injections of female hormones. He committed suicide two years later.

In 2009, after a campaign led by Richard Dawkins, Stephen Fry, Peter Tatchell and supported by PinkNews.co.uk, 30,805 people demanded that the then prime minister Gordon Brown issued an apology for Turing’s treatment on behalf of the British government. Mr Brown agreed to do so.

In his apology, Mr Brown wrote: “Thousands of people have come together to demand justice for Alan Turing and recognition of the appalling way he was treated. While Turing was dealt with under the law of the time and we can’t put the clock back, his treatment was of course utterly unfair and I am pleased to have the chance to say how deeply sorry I and we all are for what happened to him. Alan and the many thousands of other gay men who were convicted as he was convicted under homophobic laws were treated terribly. Over the years millions more lived in fear of conviction.

“I am proud that those days are gone and that in the last 12 years this government has done so much to make life fairer and more equal for our LGBT community. This recognition of Alan’s status as one of Britain’s most famous victims of homophobia is another step towards equality and long overdue.

“But even more than that, Alan deserves recognition for his contribution to humankind. For those of us born after 1945, into a Europe which is united, democratic and at peace, it is hard to imagine that our continent was once the theatre of mankind’s darkest hour. It is difficult to believe that in living memory, people could become so consumed by hate – by anti-Semitism, by homophobia, by xenophobia and other murderous prejudices – that the gas chambers and crematoria became a piece of the European landscape as surely as the galleries and universities and concert halls which had marked out the European civilisation for hundreds of years. It is thanks to men and women who were totally committed to fighting fascism, people like Alan Turing, that the horrors of the Holocaust and of total war are part of Europe’s history and not Europe’s present.

“So on behalf of the British government, and all those who live freely thanks to Alan’s work I am very proud to say: we’re sorry, you deserved so much better.”

http://www.pinknews.co.uk

Blake Mycoskie of TOMS " I Spoke At Anti-Gay Group And I’m Sorry"

 by Wayne Besen

Blake Mycoskie, the founder TOMS, that cool and altruistic company that puts shoes on the feet of the poor, got into a bit of a jam.   Apparently he got confused and ended up speaking at the mother ship of anti-gay misinformation, Focus on the Family.
Blake, says he was unaware of Focus on the Family’s disgraceful record on LGBT issues. That may seem a tad naive and difficult to believe for the tens of thousands of people who read this site regularly. However, let’s give Blake the benefit of the doubt and trust that he does not follow hate groups as closely as we do.
Here is the apology:

Had I known the full extent of Focus on the Family’s beliefs, I would not have accepted the invitation to speak at their event.  It was an oversight on my part and the company’s part and one we regret.  In the last 18 months we have presented at over 70 different engagements and we do our best to make sure we choose our engagements wisely, on this one we chose poorly.
Furthermore, contrary to what has been reported, Focus on the Family is not a TOMS giving partner.
So there is no misunderstanding created by this mistake, let me clearly state that both TOMS, and I as the founder, are passionate believers in equal human and civil rights for all.   That belief is a core value of the company and of which we are most proud.

Thank you Blake for doing the right thing and clarifying what happened. We appreciate you warning future speakers and noteworthy people that Focus on the Family should be ignored and marginalized until they quit their gay bashing habit. Although the group has improved since James Dobson left, Focus on the Family still has a ways to go before its name can be spoken in polite company.
Tags: Blake Mycoskie, TOMS

truthwinsout.org

Catholic Charities USA Hires Gay Lobbyist

The Washington office of Catholic Charities USA has contracted with a lobbying firm owned by a noted gay activist, a homosexual-oriented newspaper in the nation’s capital reports.

For the 12-month period ending in April, Catholic Charities USA paid nearly $500,000 to the Sheridan Group, headed by gay activist Tom Sheridan. Although the lobbying group’s work for Catholic Charities did not involve gay-rights issues—it was devoted to anti-poverty campaigns—the Washington Blade story quotes homosexual activists as saying that the Catholic Charities office is sympathetic to their concerns.

Sister Jeannine Gramick, the founder of New Ways Ministry—a group whose work was censured first by the Vatican in 1999 and then by the US bishops’ conference in 2010--gave the Blade this assessment of Catholic Charities USA: “I feel they personally are pro-gay but they can’t do this publicly.”

http://www.catholicculture.org/news
Washington Blade

Oral Roberts' Hunk! Gay Grandson Talks About His Coming Out

Randy Roberts Potts, the grandson of Oral Roberts, will speak Sunday 

at All Souls Unitarian Church in Tulsa about coming out as a gay man from

 an evangelical background. ANGE FITZGERALD/Courtesy

By BILL SHERMAN World Religion Writer 
 

Oral Roberts' gay grandson Randy Roberts Potts says he has been shocked on occasion by how his family has treated him, but that has just inspired him to help other young gay people deal with their own issues of sexuality and religion.

Potts will talk about growing up gay in an evangelical world Sunday at All Souls Unitarian Church. It is the first time he has told his story publicly in Tulsa.

Potts was born in Tulsa, spent his first nine years in Colorado, and then lived in the Roberts family compound just north of Oral Roberts University until he graduated in 1992 from Jenks High School, where he was a junior varsity football player and a class president.

"I lived on the compound about 20 yards down the hill from Oral and saw him often, but we were not close," Potts said in a telephone interview this week from Dallas, where he lives.

"I was always told he was busy."

But he was extremely close to his grandmother, Evelyn Roberts, whom he visited nearly every day.

At age 20, Potts married a woman he met at the University of Oklahoma. After graduating from OU in 1996, he taught English for five years.

Potts said he was aware of having same-sex attractions as a child, but he didn't know what they meant.

When he was 18, he told close friends, and later his fiancee, that he was bisexual.

"This was my way of admitting my attraction but also trying to be more 'normal,' " he said.

He and his wife "spent a few years trying to figure out what that would mean for our marriage. ... We fought for the last five years," he said. "It was an unhealthy relationship."

At age 27, Potts said, he began to identify as gay with a counselor and with himself.

"I told my wife a few years later that I had to leave, and we were divorced legally in June of 2006," he said. "I have been openly gay ever since."

They have joint custody of their three children, ages 8, 10 and 12.

Potts remains estranged from his parents, Ron and Roberta Potts. His father was an ORU basketball player, and his mother is a Tulsa attorney and ORU board member.

"My parents and I stopped speaking in 2003," he said.

Roberta Potts said she learned from her daughter-in-law that her son was gay.

"Randy has never discussed it with us," she said. "We have tried to contact him, and he won't contact us."

The family division runs deep.

At Evelyn Roberts' graveside service in 2005, Potts said, an armed security guard kept him out of the family's seating section.

"I was shocked," he said. "I made a big scene. I was bawling. I was very close to Grandma."

Six months before Oral Roberts died in 2009, Potts and his children visited him at his Newport Beach, Calif., home.

"He was friendly," Potts said. "It was really good to see him."

Yet when his grandfather died, Potts said, he was not notified. And when he went to the funeral, he was not seated with the family, he said.

Roberta Potts said speaking at her father's funeral was one of the most difficult things she's ever done.

"I was so focused, honestly, that it didn't dawn on me to make sure Randy had a seat," she said. "I wish now I had made sure.

"We're not homophobic. We have no ill feelings toward homosexual persons. We have no ill feelings toward Randy at all," she said. "We love him. We'll always love him."

But "children have the power to choose how they're going to live their lives," Potts said. "We'll never stop praying for him. We'll never stop believing in him.

"But that doesn't mean we approve of his conduct. We do believe what the Bible says."

Ron Potts added: "No one set out to ostracize him. He could have called us. Our doors are always open."

Randy Potts said he has begun to speak and write about his life and gay issues.

"I've come into contact with a lot of young gay men and women out there who have heard the message from preachers that gay people are going to hell," he said, "and I want to counteract that message and give those kids hope so that they don't commit suicide or turn to drugs."

Potts is writing a book.

"It's my story, not an exposé," he said. "I'm not interested in digging up dirt on my family. I want to write a book that is healing to people with similar experiences."

Potts said he will speak Sunday about overcoming hardship, coming out as a gay man, and "how I found enough hope to move on after my family and church told me I was going to hell."

Does he still consider himself a Christian?

"I don't use a label to define my spirituality - labels divide rather than unite," he said. "We are all spiritual beings and all attempt to be good, myself included. The values that I hold dear today are by and large the same values I grew up with.

"For some people, that means I am still a Christian; for others, that alone does not qualify me," he said. "For myself, the distinction doesn't really matter." 

http://www.tulsaworld.com

The Administration & The Courts Fight Over Who Can End DADT First

 by Lile Denniston  http://www.scotusblog.com/

Scolding the Obama Administration for skimping on the information it gave judges about its plans to end the “don’t ask/don’t tell” policy, the Ninth Circuit Court temporarily reinstates that policy, in part. That will give it time to consider the next step.

The Ninth Circuit Court on Friday evening put back into effect temporarily the U.S. military’s ban on gays and lesbians from serving openly in the services, but also barred any investigations, penalties or discharges of anyone to carry out that policy.  In a three-page order, the three-judge panel said it was giving itself time to consider the Obama Administration’s strong new challenge to the courts’ authority to decide when to end the policy.  (The Administration’s new challenge, and the Log Cabin Republicans’ reply to it, are discussed in the updated post, below.)

While giving the Administration at least a temporary and largely symbolic victory, the panel also showed some displeasure with the Administration for skimping on the information it had shared with the Circuit Court about how the Pentagon is implementing a new federal law that is to repeal the 18-year-old ban, perhaps by this fall.  The judges ordered the government to file by 5 p.m. Monday an explanation “why they did not present [earlier]…the detailed information” submitted on Thursday.  The panel was referring to a filing by the government on May 20 opposing any order to stop enforcement of the ban.

The panel hinted that it would rule promptly on the Administration’s broad new challenge to the role of the judiciary in determining the timing of the policy’s final end.   It told the Log Cabin Republicans, the advocacy group that persuaded a federal judge to strike down the ban, to file by next Thursday any opposition it has to the government request, with the government allowed a reply by next Friday.   A ruling presumably would come shortly after those filings are in.  That would be at least a week after the Administration had asked for a decision on its challenge; it wanted a ruling by the close of business today (Friday).

This maneuvering does not involve directly the Circuit Court panel’s review of the constitutionality of the 1993 law that has led to thousands of discharges of gays and lesbians from the military services.  That question has been fully briefed, and the panel is to hold a hearing on it in the week of Aug. 29.  Under the present timetable for actual repeal of the ban, it may not occur until October or November.

In putting the policy ban into effect for the time being, the Circuit Court judges explicitly told the Pentagon that it may not carry out any investigation, punishment, or discharge of “anyone from the military pursuant to” the policy.  Thus, what remains in effect is the basic law’s policy declaration that gays and lesbians may not remain in the service if they have revealed their homosexuality or were found to be homosexual.   It appeared that part of the reason the panel was prepared to order a stop to those means of implementing the law was the revelation by the Pentagon Thursday that only one homosexual has been discharged from the service under the policy since Congress passed the repeal of “don’t ask/don’t tell” last December.

World Leaders at The Gay Rituals of 'Bohemian Grove'

 

    Bohemian Grove


by Alex Jones



Forget about Bilderberg. America hosts its own top-secret pow-wow every summer in the woods of California, and some of the past participants at the all-male Bohemian Grove party have included presidents, foreign royalty and Hollywood elite.

They are gathering right now for their two week adventure, and filmmaker Alex Jones says he once snuck his way onto the secret site.“It is a 15 day retreat with music, alcohol, plays, ritualistic behavior,” says Jones, who released a documentary on Bohemian Grove in 2000.Also, says Jones, male prostitutes are shipped in internationally to service the party goers.“Richard Nixon told Harpers magazine,” says Jones, “that it is basically a gay meeting.”He adds, however, that some of the attendees leave the smoke-filled cabins of the Bohemian Grove woods only to go into town where female prostitutes are flown to serve as entertainment.

Jones says, though, that it is more than just a party.World leaders and CEOs come together for the two-week fest, where Jones says some of the biggest decisions in the world are ironed out, including the Star Wars SDI program and the atomic bomb.“Why would these heavy hitters, the most powerful people in the world, travel and spend weeks together for just a party?” asks Jones. “It is a partying atmosphere where they try to . . . submit a consensus for an agenda.”“It’s very pro-world government,” adds Jones, who says the rich and powerful network and try to come to agreement on a massive global agenda.

http://rt.com

After 7 Yrs JLo and Marc Anthony Are History!

 Some people didn't give them anything but a few months. Marc Anthony,  a Woman's Man.  Someone who's previous marriage was broken up by his infidelity and Jlo also a Puerto Rican girl with great anxiety that life was passing her by and she was still not been tagged as married and settled. Someone like her family and the family of any nice puerto Rican girl that implies that someone at her age should be married and settled down already....at least on as far as her love life is concern. But the two of them shocked everyone.

 a lot of people bt not me. unfortunately I had been expecting it and wishing it didn't come. 

jLo Got Pregnant and she even put her career on hold to raise a family. But as the time went on Marc Anthony had to be your average hispanic insecure man.  Like most straight hispanic man, he believes that as long as he keeps his family together, he can have as many women as his levido and wealth will allow it. But Jlo is not that kind of girl, that would allow to share her man. Just like the persona she shows on the screen, she is in real life. Hot and no bull shit girl.  So After 7 yrs as they are both getting older someone decided here that life was passing by and there were still conquests to make. 

As we watch these movie characters with real blood and real emotions we'll see what life will bring to them. I can only wish them both and their kids good luck and vision to get over this. adamfoxie*

The following is the report from People Magazine making the announcement:

Marc Anthony and Jennifer Lopez

Frazer Harrison/Getty

 After seven years of marriage, it's over for Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony.

"We have decided to end our marriage," they tell PEOPLE in a joint statement. "This was a very difficult decision. We have come to an amicable conclusion on all matters."

"It is a painful time for all involved," the statement continues, "and we appreciate the respect of our privacy at this time."

Lopez, 41, and Anthony, 42, wedin June 2004 in a casual – and secret – ceremony at Lopez's Beverly Hills home. 

ON Duty Troops to March in Gay Pride Parade

HOWARD LIPIN

Sean Sala, who served in the Navy, is the organizer of what is believed to be the first active-duty military contingent to march in a gay pride parade.San Diego event will be the first in the nation, organizers say

BY JEANETTE STEELE, SR. REPORTER - MILITARY

 As the U.S. military inches toward the end of its “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, hundreds of service members — both gay and straight — plan to march as a group in San Diego’s gay Pride Parade on Saturday.

It’s the first time the parade has included an active-duty military contingent, organizers say. They also think it’s a first for any gay pride parade in the nation.

The idea came from Hillcrest resident Sean Sala, a 26-year-old former sailor fresh from the ranks. He served as a Navy operations specialist from 2005 to 2011, discharged June 30.

“I’m getting emails from veterans and active-duty officers and enlisted from all over the nation. There are people flying in literally from the four corners of the nation to participate in this,” Sala said.

“It’s turned from a very small idea to, now, a national movement.”

  

About 350 people have signed up for the military-themed parade entry. About 70 percent are active-duty servicemembers and the majority are gay, Sala estimated.

They will not march in uniform, which — especially under “don’t ask, don’t tell,” which banned openly gay service — could be a career-ending move. Instead, they will wear T-shirts emblazoned with Army, Navy, Air Force or Marines.

One active-duty San Diego Marine who will be marching — a veteran of two Iraq tours — said he wouldn’t have made himself so conspicuous before.

The momentum building toward repeal over the past year has made him bolder.

“It’s a great way to say, at least to San Diego, we are proud of who we are and proud of serving our country,” said the Marine, though he spoke on the condition that only his last name, Silva, would be published for fear of damaging his six-year military career.

Sala, the former sailor, said he doesn’t want to make a political statement, just to honor America’s troops — something he thought was missing from the annual gay pride parade, considered the fifth largest in the country.

The reactions to his idea in the gay community have been mixed, he said. Some people told him what he’s doing is dangerous, because “don’t ask, don’t tell” has not yet officially died.

According to Sala, one gay active-duty officer told him: I’m not as brave as you are.

Until recently, the danger of serving as an openly gay sailor was very real for Sala.

Swept up in the emotion of last year’s political debate over ending the military’s gay ban, the then-petty officer decided to reveal his sexuality during an interview with a San Diego television station.

He was lucky. His Navy commanders chose not to punish him.

The official policy on openly gay service has changed almost from month to month in the past year.

In October, a federal judge in Riverside struck down the 17-year-old “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy as unconstitutional. Days later, a higher court stayed that decision when the U.S. Justice Department appealed. Then, after a tough political battle, Congress in December passed a repeal in a lame-duck session.

But the change didn’t immediately apply. The military has spent months briefing troops about the coming policy shift. The law demands that the defense secretary and the president certify that repeal will not harm military readiness.

Last week, a federal appeals court lifted its stay of the Riverside judge’s decision. The Pentagon said it would tell its commands to honor the court ruling and stop enforcing “don’t ask, don’t tell.”

On Thursday afternoon, it looked as though the Justice Department would appeal, again.

And, the Pentagon this week confirmed that the chiefs of the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines submitted their recommendations on the readiness of the forces for repeal. Action by new Defense Secretary Leon Panetta could come any day.

With that topsy-turvy history, the Washington, D.C.-based advocacy group Servicemembers Legal Defense Network continues to advise gays now serving in uniform to keep their sexual orientation private.

That group’s director, Army veteran Aubrey Sarvis, said the San Diego contingent’s parade plans give him “some concerns.”

However, he added, “having said that, they are not in uniform, they are not speaking, no one knows who is gay or who’s straight. I think the risks are minimal for the service members.”

Sarvis said there’s impatience in the gay community to cheer its victory in the long-fought battle against the military’s gay ban.

“There is an eagerness to celebrate, and there’s years of pent-up frustration,” he said. “So what they want to do is very understandable.”

Still, organizers of the San Diego military contingent say their parade entry will be focused on paying tribute to those in uniform.

They plan to present two riderless horses, one draped in the American flag and the other covered in a rainbow flag.

There will be a banner reading “Honoring Service Members.”

jen.steele@uniontrib.com; (619) 293-1030; Twitter: @jensteeley

James Harrison calls saying ‘f’ a ‘careless use of a slang word’

by Jim Buzinski.

Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker says he meant no offense when he called NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell a “faggot” (among other things), saying it was a “careless use of a slang word.”

I also need to make clear that the comment about Roger Goodell was not intended to be derogatory against gay people in any way. It was careless use of a slang word and I apologize to all who were offended by the remark. I am not a homophobic bigot, and I would never advocate intolerance of gay people.

Harrison is in hot water for an interview he gave to “Men’s Journal,” where he not only ripped Goodell, but also teammates Ben Roethlisberger and Rashard Mendenhall. Since his remarks became public, he has tried to backtrack, saying he was misquoted and taken out of context. On Thursday, he issued an apology (complete text here).

I am not sure what a “careful” use of the “slang” word faggot would be in Harrison’s world and his apology rings hollow. This is par for the course, but it continues to show that homophobia in sports is no longer considered cool and anyone using slurs will be called on it, even a guy who poses shirtless with two guns.

http://outsports.com/jocktalkblog/