Congratulations New York and To Christine and Kim } The Meaning of it All

What a wonderful day for all gays in New York State!  Wether you are part of a couple or you are single, you most be proud that your state will legally recognize your relationship if you so desire. 

It’s not religion and is not politics, is about a human path and even experiment in which two people get together to share their lives.

 Because of laws made to recognize people that do that because it was deemed that it was better for society when two people coupled. Yes, children where in mind but also the accomplishment that two people united could do for society. Two united in every way would accomplish more than a single individual. That is not true in every case like nothing in life is uniform in every case.  Early in my career I realized that when I was dating I was better at work.  When I decided to coupled,  my salary when up and promotions starting coming faster my way.  Simply put I was paying more attention to what I was doing.  No need to look for company or sex elsewhere when I had it right next to me. I transcended from a casanova and taking advantage of looks and power of youth to experiment and get even for leading a religious youth studying and following a religion.   When I realized I was gay I realized I had so many things to learn. To be attracted to some men and not be able to know what to do with them once I got them was beyond funny, is sad. It was tragic the way I look at it now. 

Once that phase passed away it was nice being coupled and out.  Of coarse when you couple you never know if you have the right individual or not. Only time tells that. If there is a break up the important thing is to learn what both sides did wrong so you can avoid it next time. It’s beneficial to be critical of one self instead of defensive. It’s easy to blame everything on the other one, but that does not aloud you to learn.  If there is a split then it means there was a mistake made by both individuals. As a couple one need to to always take at least 50% of responsibility and know that even if there is infidelity, one needs to learn why.

Beyond of what I said I come back to the joy of seeing Christine, a real New Yorker in every way. A very human person. Wether you agree with her politics or not you should know her as a person and learn about how good a human being she is.

Congratulations to Christine and Kim Catullo. You make gay New Yorkers proud. Also thank You Gov. Cuomo for keeping a promise. Politicians always forget or have excuses, but you put everything on the line and accomplished what other just paid lip service because they were not honest about the promise to make New York State Modern, humanitarian and a smart state.  When I get aggravated of how expensive things are here and how better I could live some place else with my income like I’ve done before, I think about going to a backward state of which we have 30 of them. Then I say cheap is not better. May be if I could sell hot dogs!

Adam Gonzalez for adamfoxie*

Ravi to be Sentenced within 24 Hrs. Tyler’s Loss is Remembered

   By GEOFF MULVIHILL

  One couple lost their teenage son to suicide in the days after his college roommate used a webcam to see him kiss another man in September 2010; the other fears their son will be sent to prison this week for doing the spying.ail time plus probation on the more serious charges today. He faced 30 days in jail. The judge said this sentenced will make both sides unhappy.   [UPDATE]
On evidence tampering-hindering and witness tampering, lying to the police,violation of privacy-30 days concurrent to the previous 30 days(served together only does 30 days).  Total= 30 days jail  plus probation.  This includes the bias statue of a hate crime. He also will not be deported.  Ravi Sentenced to 30 days jail time plus probation on the more serious charges today. He faced 30 days in jail. The judge said this sentenced will make both sides unhappy.
On evidence tampering-hindering and witness tampering, lying to the police,violation of privacy-30 days concurrent to the previous 30 days(served together only does 30 days).  Total= 30 days jail  plus probation.  This includes the bias statue of a hate crime. He also will not be deported. 

The parents of Tyler Clementi and Dharun Ravi, on opposite sides of a tragedy that would horrify any parents, have been in the public eye throughout the criminal case, but they've remained circumspect when choosing their public words about their predicaments and their sons.

But both families sat through nearly every minute of Ravi's four-week-long trial this year, where he was convicted in March of 15 criminal charges including invasion of privacy and tampering with evidence. And both appeared in public forums last week just before Ravi is to be sentenced for his deeds. The two most serious counts - bias intimidation - could get him up to 10 years in prison, though prosecutors have said that the maximum penalty is not necessary.

A sentence of more than a year would also increase the likelihood that federal immigration authorities will try to deport Ravi to India, where he was born and remains a citizen, though he has lived most of his life in New Jersey.

The case has turned both Clementi and Ravi, who for just three weeks a dorm room shared they were randomly assigned, into widely known symbols. Clementi is seen as an example of what can happen to young gays who are too often bullied even as acceptance of gays has increased. Ravi has been portrayed as a young man victimized by overzealous prosecutors who reacted to a tragedy by piling on charges. In their choices of where to appear, each couple has supported the symbolic perception of its own son.

A judge is to decide Ravi's sentence Monday during what's sure to be an emotional court hearing, including statements from people close to Clementi. Ravi's lawyer said Friday that it was not yet decided whether Ravi will speak.

Ravi's parents, who granted just a few interviews after their son was convicted last month, attended a rally last week at New Jersey's State House in Trenton. Several hundred supporters, nearly all of them Indian or Indian-American like them and their 20-year-old son, called for Ravi to be kept out of prison and for reforms to hate-crime laws that some of the same people rallied in favor of supporting two decades ago.

The protesters said Ravi, an Ultimate Frisbee player and computer whiz who was studying economics, should not have been convicted of hate crimes because he does not hate gay people and that prison is too harsh a punishment for someone who did not mean to hurt anyone.

Ravi's father did not speak at the rally. And his mother, Sabitha Ravi, thanked supporters but mostly chose to aim her words at the journalists who were there, saying those who covered the trial should speak up against her son getting being sent to prison. "You were quiet there. Why don't you wake up now and bring some justice for Dharun?" she asked.

When asked about how her family and her son were doing, she didn't have much to say: "You can all understand what he's going through," she said.

Clementi's parents have communicated with the public mostly through written statements or reading prepared statements after court proceedings. In one, they said that they wanted Ravi to be held accountable but that he need not be subject to a "harsh" punishment.

They did grant a handful of interviews, including one with The Associated Press, in December as they announced the launch of a foundation to honor their son. Then, they talked about how he had come out to gay to them days before he started at Rutgers.

In a handful other public appearances, they have spoken mostly about the work they intend to do through the foundation, which is focusing on promoting online civility, preventing bullying and encouraging the acceptance of gays and others perceived to be different.

On Thursday night, they attended a community theater preview production of "The Laramie Project," a play about fallout of the 1998 murder of Matthew Shepard, a gay University of Wyoming student who was tied to a fence, savagely beaten and left for dead in a horrific case that led to hate-crime laws around the country.

The Clementis joined a panel discussion after the performance by the Bergen County Players. But they declined to say what sentence they believe Ravi should receive.

Instead, they spoke about the power of the play they had just seen. Joe Clementi said that people should take friends who are not accepting of those with differences to see productions of it.

"There are more of us people that think the way we think than there are people who are the haters," he said.

He also said that that his son's plight had echoes of the Matthew Shepard case. "The circumstances were different," he said. "The effect was the same.”

Editorial on sentence-click here

Dusting Lance and President Obama and LGTB

 

By Greg Hernandez  

Dustin Lance Black had a chat with AfterElton.com about his new film Virginia which he wrote and directed.

It opens in New York and Los Angeles this weekend.

But I want to focus on the part of the interview where Lance talks about President Barack Obama’s support last week of same sex marriage.

On those who say Obama’s endorsement was a political calculation:

“I think it is a little bit cynical because it’s not a clear slam-dunk politically, but I do think it had come to a head. I think politically there is no more waiting. He’s starting to look behind the Dick Cheneys, the Laura Bushes, the Ken Mehlmans, the Ted Olsons and everyone around him seemed to be coming out for equality, so I actually give him more credit than that. I think it was the right thing to do, and I think it was very brave of him. And listen, this is coming from the guy who two weeks ago was suggesting that perhaps we just withhold our votes from any candidate who doesn’t have a full equality stance. I got a lot of heat for that. I’m not one to pull my punches when it comes to this.

In this case, my hat’s off to him. I think it was brave. I think probably the most important thing to note about the timing is it happened the day after North Carolina. I was getting Facebook messages and emails from young people who had been fighting in that campaign and they were so despondent. I could hear in their emails the crushed self-esteem, the feeling of being less than, all the things we felt in California in 2008. I know all too well the thoughts that flash through some young LGBT people’s heads when they feel defeat like that, and I think the President’s message the very next day was a real lifesaver.”

If he were to be able to chat with Obama, he would say: “I’m a pushy little…[laughs] I’ll certainly say thank you and say ‘I’m looking forward to your efforts with ENDA [Employment Non-Discrimination Act]’ because I do believe there are people who do not feel comfortable coming out in their hometowns because of the fear of losing their house and their job. We cannot change public opinion in the Red States if we don’t have people coming out and telling their stories.

It’s one of the biggest pieces…without ENDA it just empowers the bullies. So I’ll say I look forward to his work on that, and I do know he’s dedicated to that. I’ll push a little. I’ll say thank you… and then I’ll present the next thing I would love for him to focus on.”

Christians and Muslims Unite to Silence Lady GaGa in Filipinas

 Kate Hodal

 

• The Observer

Reli

A Biblemode Youth member waves placards at an anti-Lady Gaga protest in Manila. Photograph: Noel Celis/AFP/Getty Images

Christian groups in the Philippines have called for a ban on Lady Gaga's Manila concerts, alleging that her song Judas is an offensive mockery of Jesus Christ.

Youths gathered at a rally outside the mayor's office, chanting "Stop the Lady Gaga concerts", while members of the Biblemode Youth Philippines group called her videos religiously offensive.

In the song, she calls herself a "holy fool" who is "still in love with Judas", singing: "Jesus is my virtue/And Judas is the demon I cling to." In the video, Gaga plays a biker chick riding behind a man wearing a crown of thorns, while longing for another biker with "Judas" emblazoned across his leather jacket.

The singer is due to play the 20,000-seat Mall of Asia tomorrow and on Tuesday, and James Imbong, a lawyer filing a petition to ban the concerts, said Christian groups would not accept a compromise as organisers in South Korea did when Seoul authorities agreed to forbid under-12s from attending instead of cancelling the concert.

"She has a song that suggests that she wants to have sex with Judas and performs it with a dance," Imbong told the news website PhilStar. "Of course, it would be accompanied by a costume that has pornographic elements."

Manila's mayor has issued a statement ordering Gaga not to "exhibit any nudity or lewd conduct which may be offensive to morals and good custom", with the stark reminder that the penal code in the primarily Roman Catholic country of 93 million can convict anyone up to six years for offending race or religion.

Tens of thousands of Gaga fans, from Seoul to Jakarta, are campaigning for the singer's right to freedom of expression, after numerous attempts by Christian and Muslim groups to ban shows during her Born This Way Ball Asia tour, calling her music, persona and style the "work of Satan", "dangerous to youth" and "spreading unhealthy sexual culture".

Indonesian activists called the cancellation of a gig in Jakarta a sign of the country's "Talibanisation" after authorities withdrew permission for her concert on 3 June, making her the first foreign artist to be banned despite selling out a 52,000-seat venue.

The 26-year-old has received an outpouring of support on Twitter, where she has 24 million followers, since the trouble over the tour began last month.

Indonesian human rights activist Andreas Harsono has said the concert ban represents "the Talibanisation [of] Indonesia", while sociologist Ida Ruwaida said it was up to the government to "facilitate different interests without allowing the cultural hegemony of one group over another".

Police denied the singer a concert permit amid claims from hardline Islamic groups that the suggestive nature of her show and lyrics would sabotage the country's moral codes of conduct. "During her concerts, Lady Gaga looks like a devil worshipper," said Suryadharma Ali, the religion affairs minister of the nation of 240 million people, mainly Muslims.

The ministry of tourism added that foreign performers should dress modestly on stage, and the government warned music promoters to consider cultural traditions when planning concerts. The hardline Islamic Defenders' Front (FPI) threatened to send 30,000 members to the airport to stop Lady Gaga from getting off her plane. It warned that if she tried to perform, Indonesia "should be prepared for chaos in Jakarta". It said: "We are ready to be thrown in jail and be killed – we will do anything to stop [the show]."

Human rights activists and academics have questioned the government's continued defence of Islamic militants' threats – which have resulted in calls to parliament to ban miniskirts, the banning of beauty pageants and Valentine's Day in some provinces, and the persecution of religious minorities.

Representatives of the country's tens of thousands of Gaga fans have argued that the government's defence of Indonesia's "moral fibre" is dubious given the nation's obsession with dangdut, a form of music known for its provocative dancing and scantily clad singers.

Fans have also questioned the government's worry over Lady Gaga's supposed promotion of homosexuality. "Nothing can stop me from meeting my queen," says Ali, a 26-year-old openly gay banker in Bandung, West Java, adding that the ban would have no impact on homosexuality in Indonesia, because it "will not make gay people turn straight".

The Gaga saga started in April in Seoul, the first stop on her 17-date tour. Calling Lady Gaga's music "the work of Satan", Christian groups held prayer meetings dedicated to banning the concert. Ju-Hyun, a prayer organiser, said the meetings were organised "so that homosexuality and pornography [would] not spread around the country".

Tickets sold to children were eventually refunded after the government rated the concert unsuitable and the Korean Association of Church Communication vowed to take "concerted action to stop young people from being infected with homosexuality and pornography".

It would be a dramatic turn of events if Lady Gaga ended up in jail in Manila this week, but, to quote the lady herself: "In the most biblical sense, I am beyond repentance."

Do You Like B’klyn? 1/3 NYC Murders Occur There

 

Last year, despite some issues including fudged crime stats and a jump in subway crime, New York still saw a drop in overall crime according to the NYPD. Most importantly, the number of murders continued to drop. And, if trends hold, this year promises to have even fewer murders (there have been 136 so far, 20 percent below where we were this time last year). To celebrate that news, the NYPD has sent out its annual analysis of murder victims, and once again it's an interesting read!

You can peruse the full document below—don't be scared! It has got lots of graphics!—but here are some of the facts that jumped out at us:

• Brooklyn may be the hippest, but with 38 percent of the murders in town, it is the not the safest of boroughs


• 9 a.m. and 6 a.m. seem to be the safest hours of day for not getting murdered. Between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m.? Not so much.


• Revenge isn't just a TV show on ABC, its also the top reason (well, "Dispute/Revenge") for murder in town at 38 percent.


• It is still pretty dangerous to be black in New York City. Despite making up just 23 percent of the total population, 62 percent of murder victims last year were black (four percent were Asian, 8 percent were white).


• 74 percent of murder victims last year had prior arrests and one fifth of them were on probation, parole or had a warrant for their arrest.


• The average age for a murder victim in 2011? 33 years. The median age was 29.


• At the same time, five percent of murder victims were between 0-15 years old, and 58 percent of thosevictims were under three years of age. Sigh!


• Ladies aren't big killers, it seems. Just nine percent of the murder suspects in 2011 were women. And nearly 65 percent of those women appeared to have killed durring domestic disputes.
• gothamist.com

Love to Love Your Spider Meat Baby

 

GAYBY star Matt Wilkas — currently starring on Broadway in “Spider-Man” as Flash Thompson (and understudy for Peter Parker) got a nice little profile last week on The Broadway Blog. Here’s a tiny excerpt, click thru to read the rest at The Broadway Blog.

Current Show/Role: Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark/ “Flash Thompson” Also understudy for “Peter Parker/Spidey”. [Matthew is also starring in the film festival hit Gayby watch the preview below, coming to a theater near you this year.]

The most challenging job in show business I ever had was: I have to say—by far—learning the Peter Parker/Spider-Man track has been unbelievably challenging in all respects—vocally, acting-wise, and especially FLYING! It’s pushed me so far beyond my limits and I’m so grateful for that. I’m loving every second of it.

Do You Like Bayer Aspirin? You are Getting 90% of their Pesticide

90 Percent of Corn Seeds Are Coated With Bayer's Bee-Decimating Pesticide

—By Tom Philpott

calxfornia/Flickr

I'm doing something very odd this week: speaking at the annual conference of Croplife America, the main trade group for the US agrichemical industry. Croplife membersinclude Monsanto, Dow, Bayer, and Syngenta, all massive multinational companies I write about regularly and witheringly. I am astonished that Croplife wants to hear what I have to say—what I think of the group's member companies and their products is a matter of public record—and am curious to hear what they have to say to me.

As I prepared for the conference, a few interesting news items on the industry crossed my desk.

• As I've written before, Bayer's neonicotinoid pesticides, which now coat upwards of 90 percent of US corn seeds and seeds of increasing portions of other major crops like soy, have emerged as a likely trigger for colony collapse disorder. Watch this NBC News report from last week linking bee kills in Minnesota to Bayer's highly profitable product.

Meanwhile, the Columbus Dispatch reportssimilar bee die-offs in Ohio farm country, with beekeepers there, too, pointing the finger at Bayer.

• One of my biggest complaints about the agrichemical industry it its market dominance. As I say above, more than 90 percent of corn seeds planted today are treated with Bayer's pesticide. What if a farmer wants to opt out, to plant seeds free of neonicotinoids? Good luck. According to a Pesticide Action Network press release I received today, farmers in the midwest are complaining that it's virtually impossible to buy untreated seeds. In other words, farmers there have two choices: either pay up for Bayer's poison, or exit the corn-growing business.

• Speaking of market dominance, Monsanto essentially owns the market in genetically modified seed traits—a highly lucrative position, given the way GMOs have taken over massive crops like corn, soy, and cotton. And like any well-run company out to maximize earnings for its shareholders, Monsanto invests some of its profit hoard in protecting its market from pesky regulators who might place the public interest over Monsanto's. From theCenter for Responsive Politics, which tracks money in politics:

According to OpenSecrets.org data, in the first three months of this year, Monsanto spent $1.4 million lobbying Washington—and spent about $6.3 million total last year, more than any other agribusiness firm except the tobacco company Altria.

Last year's investment seemed to pay off for the company. Even as Monsanto's Roundup Ready technology faltered under a blitz of resistant "superweeds," the USDA unconditionally approved Roundup Ready alfalfa, after hinting strongly it would place limitations on the crop. The USDA also approved Roundup Ready sugar beets, defying a court order that it delay approval pending an environmental review.

When a company dominates markets and can buy lobbying power in Washington, its products don't actually have to work, I suppose.  MotherJones

March for gay rights in Cuba

 

Help

Hundreds of people took part in a demonstration to mark the International Day Against Homophobia in the Cuban city of Cienfuegos.

The rally against homophobia was led by President Raul Castro's daughter, Mariela.

In the 1960's, homosexuals would be sent to counter-revolutionary camps by the Communist authorities of the island.

Eric Camara 

MIssing Nick Stahl, Terminator 3 Emails He is Alive

Stahl in touch: Nick sent an email to his inner circle to let them know he is OK it has emerged

Missing Terminator 3 star Nick Stahl has calmed the fears of loved ones by sending them an email to say he is alive.

The actor said he was fine and receiving treatment for substance abuse problems in the electronic letter he sent to his inner circle.

The 32-year-old, who played John Conner in the 2003 action hit, also apologised for the raising fears about his safety, and pledged to stick out a period in rehab as he battles to get his drug and alcohol issues under control.

According to TMZ, his friends and family are hopeful he will live up to his word, though they are skeptical.  

In an interesting twist, he did not send the message to his wife Roseann, despite her being the one who reported him missing.

They are currently estranged, and she had gone to court in February so he would be banned from seeing their two-year-old daughter Marlo if he failed a drug test.

It comes after she spoke out in the media to voice her fears he is dead.

She said she feared he may have lost his battle with substance abuse and overdosed.

The 30-year-old reported him missing earlier this week after he failing to get in touch since May 9.

She told People: 'He could have overdosed, that's one thought. 

'And I'm wondering if there will be a body recovered.'

She informed the police Nick as a missing person on May 14, and it came after the pair suffered a number of domestic problems.

In court documents she claimed he was abusing drugs and said she was afraid for their daughter's safety. 

She demanded that his visitation with Marlo be limited to just 8 hours a week and that all visits be supervised.

She also wanted Mr Stahl to prove he wasn't abusing drugs around their child, asking that he present 'proof of a negative result for a test for drugs and alcohol within the 24 hours prior to his scheduled visitation time.'

She claims they both were happy to file the legal paperwork in early February to motivate him to get better, and he had been living away with a male friend since that time.

Roseann also said she does not consider the two of them separated or estranged.

 

PAN American Health Org to Ban "Conversion Therapy"

by Wikepedia

Days after a plan to ban so-called conversion “therapy” moved closer to the State Senate for a full vote, the Pan American Health Organization announced that the purported “cure” of gay people’s sexual orientation lacks any medical justification and should be subject to sanctions.

 Days after a plan to ban so-called conversion “therapy” moved closer to the State Senate for a full vote, the Pan American Health Organization announced that the purported “cure” of gay people’s sexual orientation lacks any medical justification and should be subject to sanctions.By Reza GostarC

State Sen. Ted W. Lieu, whose district includes the Beach Cities and who presented the patient-protection plan approved by a policy committee earlier this month, commended the PAHO’s statement.

“These practices are unjustifiable and should be denounced and subject to sanctions and penalties under national legislation," said Dr. Mirta Roses Periago, PAHO director, in a statement. "These supposed conversion therapies constitute a violation of the ethical principles of health care and violate human rights that are protected by international and regional agreements." 

After the approval of a new version of the World Health Organization’s International Classification of Diseases, the World Health Assembly removed homosexuality from the list of mental disorders 22 years ago on May 17.

Homosexuality is a natural variation of human sexuality and is not caused by mental disease, according to the PAHO. There have been no scientific studies that have demonstrated any ability to change an individual’s sexual orientation. On the other hand, there have been numerous testimonies about the serious harm to the mental and physical health of individuals that such so-called therapies can cause.

Furthermore, there have been a growing number of reports about degrading treatments, including physical and mental harassment under the guise of conversion "therapies," according to a statement from the PAHO.  

In some cases, adolescents have been forced into interventions illicitly, “sometimes kept in isolation for several months,” according to the PAHO.

To address the problem, PAHO has made the following recommendations to governments, academic institutions, professional associations, the media and civil society:  

• “Conversion” or “reparative” therapies and the clinics offering them should be denounced and subject to adequate sanctions. 
• Public institutions responsible for training health professionals should include courses on human sexuality and sexual health in their curricula, with a focus on respect for diversity and the elimination of attitudes of pathologization, rejection, and hate toward non-heterosexual persons.
• Professional associations should disseminate documents and resolutions by national and international institutions and agencies that call for the de-psychopathologization of sexual diversity and the prevention of interventions aimed at changing sexual orientation.
• In the media, homophobia in any of its manifestations and expressed by any person should be exposed as a public health problem and a threat to human dignity and human rights.
• Civil society organizations can develop mechanisms of civil vigilance to detect violations of the human rights of non-heterosexual persons and report them to the relevant authorities. They can also help to identify and report people and institutions involved in the administration of “reparative” or “conversion therapies.”
• PAHO is more than 110 years old and one of the oldest public health organization in the world.

The organization works to improve the health and quality of life of people in the Americas and serves as the Regional Office for the Americas of the WHO. 

By Reza Gostar