GOP extreme Conservative Billionaire is Making Changes thru $ in favor of Gay Marriage

 Over the past year, the main story line in the push for marriage equality has been the ardor and success with which leading Democratic politicians have taken up the fight. 

The Democratic governors of New York, Maryland, Washington all promoted and signed same-sex marriage laws, for which President Obama expressed his support last month. 

But the progress within Republican ranks has also been pivotal, not to mention fascinating. And a compelling character in that subplot just added a new twist to the narrative, one that suggests the rapidly changing political dynamics of this issue and its potential import to a party dogged by an image of being culturally out of touch.

That character is Paul E. Singer, 67, a billionaire hedge-fund manager who is among the most important Republican donors nationwide. In just one Manhattan fundraiser last month, he helped to collect more than $5 million for Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign.

He steadfastly supports conservative candidates. He also steadfastly supports gay rights in general and marriage equality in particular. Along with a few other leading Wall Street financiers, he contributed and helped drum up the majority of the money — more than $1 million — that fueled the campaign for same-sex marriage in New York.

He has given nearly $10 million of his own money to gay-rights initiatives, including the same-sex marriage efforts not only in New York but also in New Hampshire and New Jersey. And that figure doesn’t include his assistance in tapping a broad network of donors for individual candidates. He was pivotal in rounding up about $250,000 apiece for the Republican state senators in New York whose votes for same-sex marriage provided its margin of victory in the Legislature.

Now, Singer says, he’s providing $1 million to start a new super PAC with several Republican compatriots. Named American Unity PAC, its sole mission will be to encourage Republican candidates to support same-sex marriage, in part by helping them to feel financially shielded from any blowback from well-funded groups that oppose it.

In an interview on Tuesday, he said  that he’s confident that in congressional races, which would most likely be the super PAC’s initial focus, there are more than a few Republicans “who could be on the verge of support” or are “harboring and hiding their views.”

“And this kind of effort could be catalytic in generating some more movement,” he said.

Singer doesn’t court a high news-media profile. His willingness to meet at the midtown Manhattan offices of his hedge fund, Elliott Management, and talk about marriage equality reflects the strength of his commitment to the cause. Although he is straight, he has a gay son and son-in-law who were married in Massachusetts, which legalized same-sex marriage in 2004.

Our conversation also reflected a growing awareness among prominent Republicans that embracing marriage equality could broaden the party’s base and soften the party’s image in crucial ways. Many swing voters who find elements of Republicans’ limited-government message appealing and have doubts about Obama’s economic stewardship are nonetheless given serious pause by the party’s stances on abortion, birth control, immigration and homosexuality.

“There’s a feeling among some people that the Republican party is harsh on some things,” acknowledged Singer. Referring to opposition to same-sex marriage, he added: “Atmospherically and tonally, it’s part of the landscape of so-called harshness.”

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/06/13/2848205/the-gops-gay-trajectory.html#storylink=cpy

 

In the face of an irrefutable trajectory of increasing support for same-sex marriage among Americans, especially younger ones. In a CNN/ORC International poll released Wednesday, a whopping 73 percent of respondents between the ages of 18 and 34 said they favored marriage equality. That’s the clear future of this issue, and Republicans are keenly aware that while the party’s formal opposition to abortion rights, for example, doesn’t contradict the prevailing sentiments of a majority of Americans or buck voter trends, opposition to same-sex marriage does.
Ken Mehlman, the former Republican National Committee chairman who came out as gay two years ago and has since pressed the case for marriage equality, said   “A political party that ignores demography or ignores broader cultural trends does so at
its own peril.”  
  But even apart from that, Mehlman, Chad H. Griffin and many other Republicans say that marriage equality, which in fact gets the government out of the business of controlling and casting judgment on people’s private lives, is consistent with conservative principles.

Singer said that it “very well fits within my framework of freedom,” adding that it promotes “family stability” and is a tribute to an institution in need of one.

“Obviously, the institution of marriage in America has utterly collapsed,” he said. That gay and lesbian couples nonetheless want to wed “is kind of a lovely thing and a cool thing and a wonderful thing,” he added.

The shifting Republican reality was underscored when 119 Republicans joined 92 Democrats in the New Hampshire House of Representatives three months ago in a vote to keep same-sex marriage legal in the state. Just three years ago, when it was legalized, only nine Republicans supported it.

In Massachusetts, Richard Tisei, a gay congressional candidate who supports marriage equality, was recently anointed one of the National Republican Congressional Committee’s “Young Guns,” signifying Republican leaders’ especially strong investment in his bid.

“I feel comfortable in the party,” he told me Friday.

Tisei is one type of candidate who might draw financial help from Singer’s super PAC, which, according 

 Singer, will soon have a budget “of a few million dollars,” factoring in expected support from collaborators and friends.Chad H. GriffinSinger said that more than a half-dozen Republicans who back same-sex marriage, who are contemplating it or who seem nudge-able have already attracted the super PAC’s attention.

Chad H. Griffin a progressive Democrat who heads the Human Rights Campaign, a leading advocacy group for gays and lesbians, was asked what he made of Singer’s work on marriage equality.

“It’s absolutely necessary,” said Griffin. “We will never win marriage equality without bipartisan support.”

One Republican who unequivocally opposes marriage equality is the man Singer backs for president: Mitt Romney. Does that trouble Singer?

“I feel very strongly that Obama needs to be fired, and that the Republicans are right on most things,” he said, adding that with continued work on marriage equality, he expects to persuade more Republicans of its rightness, too.

“I think it would be naive of me to take this issue and just upend everything else I believe,” he said. “Because I think we’re making progress.”

miamiherald.com

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/06/13/2848205_p2/the-gops-gay-trajectory.html#storylink=cpy

Catholic Church Changes Mind Now It Back Kills The Gays bill

The Catholic Church in Uganda has apparently changed its position on the country’s so-called “Kill the Gays” bill, calling on parliament to pass the measure.

The Ugandan Daily Monitor newspaper reported that Catholics joined in that new stance at the recent ecumenical conference organized by the Uganda Joint Christian Council, which represents Anglican, Catholic and Orthodox churches.

Bishops at the conference urged the parliamentary committee that is studying the bill to approve it and send it to the House.  They said the proposed Anti-Homosexuality Law is needed in response to “an attack on the Bible and the institution of marriage,” the newspaper reported.

Clergy approving that stance included archbishops Henry Luke Orombi (Anglican), Cyprian Kizito Lwanga (Roman Catholic) and Metropolitan Jonah Lwanga (Orthodox).

In the past, the Catholic Church in Uganda opposed the bill.

Lwanga previously said that, although he opposes homosexuality, the bill is “at odds with the core values” of Christians. He said in 2010:

 “The Church … teaches the Christian message of respect, compassion, and sensitivity. The Church has always asked its followers to hate the sin but to love the sinner… In our view, the proposed [law] is not necessary considering that acts of sodomy are already condemned in the Penal Code.”

Under current Ugandan law, homosexuals can be subject to life imprisonment.

“The Catholic Church had previously been the sole major religion in Uganda in opposition to the bill,” Gay Star News reported. 

The Homosexuality Gene findings By Dr.Andrea Camperio Ciani

 

Paradox solved? As these two men married in California yesterday, scientists came closer to understanding why so-called gay genes persist in a population.

 

Credit: Erin Siegal/Reuters

This is the Abstrat on the studies on the homosexuality gene by Andrea Camperio Ciani^1*, Paolo Cermelli², Giovanni Zanzotto^{3 of the University of Padova Italy.}
The studies that psycho researcher Dr. Andrea Camperio Ciani of Italy has been carrying out for many years seems to be panning out for the gay gene. Most of us that are gay know that this is not a new language that we learnt. It is something that we have always been with. Even those of us that have come out to themselves or others in the latter years of their lives can recall incidents and thoughts very early in their lives that other wise had been buried in the files of our sub-contious of denial and that if we don’t accept it, then we are not it,  syndrome. Details of his studies are beginning to trickle out. Below I posted the abstract to his gene study. On this link.plosone.org/article you can read the whole study and his calculations. The bottom line is that he believes he has narrow down his studies of homosexuality. We shall see what comes out in the following weeks about his studies and when the general media will pick it up.  Iam giving you the information has I have and Im also aware that the Huffington post has written about it today. You might want to check there and compare with what I have here. adamfoxie*

"Several lines of evidence indicate the existence of genetic factors influencing male homosexuality and bisexuality. In spite of its relatively low frequency, the stable permanence in all human populations of this apparently detrimental trait constitutes a puzzling ‘Darwinian paradox’. Furthermore, several studies have pointed out relevant asymmetries in the distribution of both male homosexuality and of female fecundity in the parental lines of homosexual vs. heterosexual males. A number of hypotheses have attempted to give an evolutionary explanation for the long-standing persistence of this trait, and for its asymmetric distribution in family lines; however a satisfactory understanding of the population genetics of male homosexuality is lacking at present. We perform a systematic mathematical analysis of the propagation and equilibrium of the putative genetic factors for male homosexuality in the population, based on the selection equation for one or two diallelic loci and Bayesian statistics for pedigree investigation. We show that only the two-locus genetic model with at least one locus on the X chromosome, and in which gene expression is sexually antagonistic (increasing female fitness but decreasing male fitness), accounts for all known empirical data. Our results help clarify the basic evolutionary dynamics of male homosexuality, establishing this as a clearly ascertained sexually antagonistic human trait.”
http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0002282

Child Star Edward Furlong Tries to Get Back in Shape

He was the child star who stole the film from his A-list co-star Arnold Schwarzenegger in film Terminator 2 back in 1991. 

But after failing to live up to his earlier success Edward Furlong is still trying to achieve his big comeback. 

In April the actor was seen on the set of his new film Bailout looking bloated and dishevelled the actor. But at the Chateau Marmont last night, he cut a slimmer figure - albeit still a broken one.

Thinner: Edward's tucked in shirt revealed a slimmer waistline as he left the party spot

The actor cut an unfit figure on the set of his new film in Canada recently, but it appears he has made an effort to shed some of his non-puppy fat. 

Either that or his party lifestyle may be back in gear again. He was seen leaving the Chateau Marmont in LA last night, bleary-eyed and sweaty with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth. 

Edward was seen sporting a little extra weight around his middle as he stood in a security officer's uniform on set.

While Edward looks somewhat healthier, the smoking habit and his late night's are not helping his unhealthy looking pallor.

The actor was once one of Hollywood's highest paid young stars but has been weathering a series of personal setbacks.

The actor, who has a history of drug problems has had a series of run-ins with the law.

And last year Edward was accused of falling short on his child support payments for the second time in a year.

A court ordered the star to pay more than $15,000 in back child support to his ex-wife Rachel Kneeland an actress he married in 2006.

Kneeland filed for divorce three years later and sought custody of their young son Ethan, who is now five-years-old.

Despite his legal troubles, he continues to get work as an actor and currently has several movies in production.

By DONNA MCCONNELL
Dailymail.co.uk 

Jakarta’s Human Theater

On my quest to find fresh and current events to publish I do find a lot of interesting stuff and useless but interesting details. I have to pass them and forget them because they have nothing to do with the format of this page. However today I gave in to temptation and thus I present to you the Wayang Orang dancer’s group of two.

Wayang Orang dancers sit backstage as they wait for their performance during a show at the Bharata Theatre in Jakarta. The Bharata group performs traditional dances called Wayang Orang or “Human Theaters.” Involving more than 100 people in roles such as dancers and musicians, the Bharata group is one of three troupes in Indonesia that perform every Saturday night. With a revival of traditional culture in recent years, the Wayang Orang troupes have gained the interest of young actors. Wayang Orang is heavily influenced by Hinduism, which can be traced back to the ninth century in Indonesia.

Photo: Beawiharta/Reuters

Sandusky on Third Day of Trial and Victim No.10

The 25-year-old man, identified in the indictment as "Victim 10," said Sandusky performed oral sex on him "and vice versa" in the Sandusky home in 1998, when he was in the seventh grade. 

"He said if I told anyone, I would never see my family again," the man said. Sandusky then apologized and said "he loved me," the man said, adding that he remained silent about incidents until last year "because I was scared, I was ashamed (and) I was embarrassed Although Sandusky's accusers are being identified by name in court, NBC News and msnbc.com do not identify victims of sexual assaults.

Sandusky, 68, the former longtime defensive coordinator at Penn State, denies all 52 counts alleging that he abused 10 boys over 15 years. Two grand jury reports accused him of having used his connection to one of the nation's premier college football programs to "groom" the boys, whom he met through his Second Mile charity for troubled children, for sexual relationships.

It was the third straight day that jurors in Bellefonte, Pa., heard disturbingly graphic descriptions of Sandusky's alleged pedophilia. Two of the alleged victims testified Wednesday, and three more alleged victims are scheduled to testify.

A 27-year-old man identified in the indictment as "Victim 7" testified that Sandusky, whom he first met in 1995 as a young boy, would grab him around the knees "and then eventually he would move his hand up my leg."

"If I was wearing shorts, his hands would go up my leg towards my groin area," he said. If he was wearing longer pants, he said, Sandusky would reach in and "touch my penis." 

Sandusky gave the boy tickets to Penn State football games for more than a dozen years, beginning in 1997, he said. The man testified that he didn't tell his story until last year because "it was just something I didn't want my family or anyone to know. I just figured I'll keep it to myself and I get to to go to these games, so I'll push that part to the back of my mind."

A 23-year-old man identified in the indictment as "Victim 5" later testified that Sanduskey exposed himself to him in a Penn State sauna in summer 2001 and afterward groped him as they were taking a shower.

The man said he tried to get away from Sandusky, "but I didn't have anywhere more to go, and I just felt his penis on my back ... and I felt his arm move forward, and he touched my area — my genitalia — and then he took my hand and he placed it on his," said the man, who had to stop several times to fight back tears.

The man said he didn't tell anyone about the incident until last year because "I wanted to forget and I was embarrassed."

Defense attorneys spent much of their cross-examination questioning the three men on details of their alleged encounters with Sandusky, part of a strategy to raise questions about whether the alleged victims — some of whom have sued the university or have said they plan to sue Sandusky — are making up their  stories for financial gain.

After a conference at the bench, Judge John Cleland allowed prosecutors to play the audio of Sandusky's interview last November on the NBC News program "Rock Center."

Sandusky had little visible reaction as he heard himself deny the charges aginst him and tell NBC News' Bob Costas that he wasn't sexually attracted to young boys. 

Being no dummy the defense played the Costas interview knowing that they can never put Sandusky on the witness stand because he would get burnt by the prosecution.  But they needed to have him deny the charges in some legal way therefore they got that on the tape. Ingenious!

Mormon to Gay GOP’r Fred Karger "a radical idiot,thank goodness he cant procreate."

In the 1850s, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Presidential candidate Fred Karger is still out on the trail campaigning even though Mitt Romney is got the whole thing wrapped up.
Karger, if you don’t  know about him already is a gay Republican running an issues-based campaign to change attitudes within the GOP about same-sex marriage. He took his  campaign  and efforts last week to Utah,  which will be holding their primaries at the end of this month.

Karger spent a few days in the state, meeting with local Republican leaders and urging the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to stop funding efforts against gay marriage.   Karger founded a group called "Californians Against Hate," which focused on Mormon involvement in the campaign to pass Proposition 8, a ballot initiative passed in 2008 banned same-sex marriage.

During his visit to Utah, Karger met with Washington County Republican Party Chairman Willie Billings, who Karger said was "welcoming" and "friendly." After their meeting, which was first reported by the Los Angeles Times, Karger gave Billings some  campaign paraphernalia, including a Frisbee and a T-Shirt. When Billings brought the souvenirs home, however, his wife, Nanette Billings, threw them in the garbage and fired off an email to Karger, calling him "a radical idiot" and saying "thank goodness" he "cant procreate."

Billings confirmed that she sent the email through Karger's website.

"My feeling is the only reason he's running for president is to find more [sexual] partners," Nanette Billings told Yahoo News in a phone interview. "To get more people on his bandwagon.”


"All I did was go on his site and say, 'You're pathetic,'" she said. "We're a very conservative state in Utah, very family-oriented. So he's picked a state just to cause ruckus. He's not thinking of family, he's thinking of himself. He's not running for president to fix something in the country—he's thinking of his own personal agenda, period. And I was just letting him know that I think he's an idiot to think of running.”


Karger said he was shocked, but that the email underscores the reason he traveled to Utah in the first place.
"This is what the Mormon church preaches to its members," Karger said in an interview with Yahoo News. "This is not some isolated woman in Utah."

Italy’s Coach Cesare Prandelli Non Apologizes for His Gay Disparaging Remark

Italy coach Cesare Prandelli and his players are not commenting on Antonio Cassano's remarks on gay soccer players a day before their Euro match with Croatia.sorry "

Cassano said Tuesday that he hopes there are no homosexual players on the national team at the European Championship, then used a derogatory word to describe gays. Hours later, he issued a statement saying, "I'm sincerely sorry that my statements created controversy and protests from gay associations."

  If you read again his apology you will figure out that he did not apologized. He is saying that he is sorry “ that my statement created controversy and protest from gay associations.” 

He does not say that he is sorry for the choice of words or for disparaging remarks against a whole class of people. He is just sorry that the gay associations had protests and controversy. As far as he is concern he is as clean as a baby’s bottom. Well I think this baby had diarrhea of the mouth.
Adam for adamfoxie*

A Homophobe Bites The Dust In Washington DC } Guilty!

 Fat Butt and Pancake Head

  
In Washington DC a jury found a man guilty Tuesday of launching a violent attack on a Capitol Hill Street because his victim was gay.

The name of the guy is Raven Brealan, 35, was convicted for a September 2011 assault that witnesses said began with Brealan yelling "Take this faggot shit somewhere else!" as two homosexual men talked with their two homosexual female friends near the Wildrose. "Maybe you should realize where you are and stop talking like that," one of the men said to Brealan, according to the prosecution.

King County Prosecutors said Brealan punched the other man in the face after the scolding, giving him a bloody nose and also struck him with a "no parking" sign when he followed while dialing 911 as Brealan tried to leave the area.

According to court documents, the defense did not deny Brealan had assaulted the victim but contended that the 35-year-old did so out of anger and drunkenness -- not hate -- saying Brealan was "angry and intoxicated" and "offended" when the man "assumed the role of speech cop." The defense also said Brelean was angry because, "Earlier in the evening, Brelean had an unfortunate encounter with a gay male.” 

I tried searching for a picture of this dude but could not find the right butt to insert on this posting.

Brealan, who has a lengthy criminal record including vehicle theft, robbery and assault charges, now awaits sentencing. The maximum sentence for malicious harassment is five years.

Item sourced by Capitolhillseattle.com

on this link you can read the report of the local paper reporting the previous incident with Raven and a Transexual.
Picture by Wikepedia

Another Death } Should Bullies Be Treated as Criminals?

Pallbearers with pink and orange accents in their hair carry the casket of Kenneth Weishuhn, a freshman at South O'Brien High School who hanged himself. / By Rodney White, The Des Moines Register

By Greg Toppo, USA TODAY

********

&Editorial by adamfoxie*

•  

After Kenneth Weishuhn told classmates at his Iowa high school last winter that he was gay, his family says anonymous voicemail threats began popping up on his cellphone. At school, some of his fellow students yelled anti-gay slurs, and the harassment got so bad that teachers at South O'Brien High School in Paullina, Iowa, began standing guard in hallways. Friends started an online support group for Kenneth, whom they called "K.J." Bullies spammed it, family members say.

On April 15, K.J. hanged himself in the garage of his home in Primghar. He was 14.

K.J.'s suicide generated a rare front-page editorial in the Sioux City Journal, headlined, "We must stop bullying. It starts here. And it starts now." The editorial said bullies' mistreatment of Weishuhn "didn't let up until he took his own life," adding, "We are all to blame. We have not done enough."

Candlelight vigils and rallies for the freshman spread across Iowa, and K.J.'s image served as an onstage backdrop during Madonna's European tour.

Nearly two months later, police are still investigating. O'Brien County Sheriff Michael Anderson said Tuesday that an announcement from the county attorney on whether criminal charges will be filed could come as early as this week.

Tragic suicides such as K.J.'s have galvanized educators into a zero-tolerance stance on bullying, and a recent analysis by the U.S. Department of Education shows that state lawmakers nationwide are increasingly willing to criminalize bullying behavior, even as experts wonder whether doing so will have the intended effect: to curb the behavior and improve the learning atmosphere.

As millions of students head off to their summer breaks, they might leave behind the face-to-face bullying that includes everything from simple taunts to brutal beatings, but too often they can't escape the digital world that gives the predators access to their prey day and night and well beyond the schoolyard gates.

Though bullying is as old as classrooms, only in the past decade or so have states moved to address, legislatively, what once was simply the domain of schools. In 1999, only Georgia had an anti-bullying law. Now every state but Montana does. In the past 13 years, states have enacted nearly 130 anti-bullying measures, half of which came since 2008.

Spurred partly by the Columbine shootings in 1999, in which media accounts suggested the perpetrators had been bullied, states began "rapidly" addressing bullying, a 2011 U.S. Department of Education report found. Eighteen states have laws that allow victims to seek legal remedies for bullying, either from schools that don't act or from the bullies themselves. Among other recent trends:

•32 states require that schools have procedures for investigating bullying incidents.

•17 states require that school staff report bullying to a supervisor, much as they report suspected abuse and neglect.

•Nine states require administrators to report bullying to police.

•11 states require that schools allow anonymous reporting of bullying by students.

Russlynn Ali, the Department of Education's assistant secretary for civil rights, said schools should think hard before turning discipline cases over to police. "It's hugely important to set the (school) culture right and make it safe for all," she said. "That is different from sending children to jail."

Ali said minority students in districts with zero-tolerance policies are frequently punished more severely than other students. She noted new federal data that show that zero-tolerance districts in the 2009-10 school year expelled nearly 30,000 students; 56% were black or Hispanic, though 45% of students enrolled were black or Hispanic.

Even anti-bullying advocates warn that throwing bullies in jail might not be the best remedy. "It's a terrible idea," said Eliza Byard, who heads the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN), a national advocacy group that works on improving the climate at the nation's schools. "Locking children up (and) imposing criminal penalties on children represents a tremendous failure on the part of adults."

Yet in state after state, legislators are stepping forward to address what has been called a national epidemic, one that has gained even greater visibility in recent years as singer Lady Gaga, actress Anne Hathaway and scores of other celebrities have helped to elevate the cause.

Chris Hall, an Iowa state lawmaker from Sioux City, proposed legislation last winter that would require both the bully's and the victim's parents to take part in mediation after a bullying report. If the bully's parents refuse to cooperate, prosecutors could pursue fines or criminal charges, though Hall envisions community service, not jail time, for scofflaw parents. Bringing the parents into the process, Hall says, "helps to connect the dots for a child."

The measure died before getting a hearing, but Hall says K.J.'s suicide, which came at the end of the 2012 legislative session, could make a difference going forward. He plans to reintroduce the legislation in January.

The Prince case

Perhaps the most notorious bullying case in recent years took place in South Hadley, Mass., where on Jan. 14, 2010, Phoebe Prince, also a high school freshman, hanged herself from a stairwell in her home. Police concluded that in the three months before her death, a small group of classmates had relentlessly bullied the 15-year-old.

On March 29 of that year, District Attorney Elizabeth Scheibel announced felony criminal indictments against six teens, five of whom were minors. The most serious charge carried a sentence of up to 10 years in prison. Two years later, none of the six has gone to trial. Prosecutors dropped statutory rape charges against one teen, and the other five struck plea deals on lesser misdemeanor charges for probation and community service.

Attorney Richard Cole, a Massachusetts school safety consultant who testified last year before a state commission reviewing bullying laws, said Massachusetts has "enough criminal statutes right now for police or prosecutors" to go after bullies. Massachusetts prosecuted Phoebe's case under civil rights law, but a spate of new legislation in other states forces schools to clamp down on bullies with the help of law enforcement.

Though anti-bullying advocates welcome the attention the issue has been getting, they say much of the new legislation doesn't address the underlying psychological issues behind bullying or fund training for teachers, counselors and administrators on what to do when victims come forward. As a result, they say, schools are unprepared to react, even as victims' expectations for justice rise.

"Criminalizing these behaviors is not going to be the most effective thing to prevent them," said Elizabeth Englander, director of the Massachusetts Aggression Reduction Center at Bridgewater State University. It's hard to know, she said, whether pursuing criminal charges will prevent bullying or simply "drive the problem underground."

Research shows that children struggling with mental health problems are especially vulnerable to being bullied. Though few would disagree that extreme harassment and intimidation deserve swift punishment, Englander and other experts wonder whether teenagers should be prosecuted if a vulnerable classmate reacts with suicide. "Something in the system fails when children have to resort to extreme violence," she said.

High-profile "bullycide" cases increase the pressure communities feel to punish bullies. An opinion poll conducted in February 2010, weeks after Phoebe's death, found that 61% of Massachusetts voters said school bullying should be a crime.

Byard said sending a bully to jail might seem like the right thing to do, but it's "an easy answer that doesn't work."

She noted that her group's most recent school climate survey in 2009 found that fewer than one in six gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender students said teachers or other school staff consistently intervened when homophobic remarks were made in their presence. Criminalizing bullying, she said, is "part of a move to talk only about the individual," not the entire system's response to abusive behavior.

She said states should look to model legislation in Maine, signed last month by Gov. Paul LePage, a Republican, that focuses on prevention and training for teachers. The state Legislature passed it with wide margins in both the House and Senate. It provides schools with a clear definition of bullying in an attempt to help teachers figure out how to proceed.

What can be done?

Recent federal statistics show that school has never been a safer place but that bullying remains a persistent problem: The U.S. Department of Education's most recent school crime and safety survey showed that from 2005 to 2009, 28% of middle- and high-school students reported having been bullied in school, and 6% said they were victims of cyberbullying, even as the number of students who said they'd been victims of theft or violent crime dropped. About one in 16 students surveyed said he or she was bullied at school "almost every day." Among seventh-graders, nearly one in 10 was bullied every day.

As in many bullying cases, Phoebe's suicide raised questions about how effective her school had been in keeping her safe. In the fall of 2009, Phoebe, a recent immigrant from Ireland, and her mother talked to school counselors about Phoebe's bullying difficulties in Ireland.

Rosalind Wiseman, the author of the 2002 book Queen Bees & Wannabes, a bestseller about teen girls' relationships that was the basis of the movie Mean Girls, consulted with Scheibel, the district attorney, in Phoebe's case. She said the D.A. "chose very carefully" how she charged the teens. "What I wish she had done was hold the adults responsible."

Wiseman met with teens at Phoebe's school after the suicide and found that quite a few "were really jaded" about the case. "Certainly the adults created the culture in which (bullying) was allowed to thrive." A consultant to schools trying to address bullying, Wiseman said students often tell her that administrators turn a blind eye to complaints if eyewitnesses aren't present. She regularly meets parents who "get crazy-angry" because their kids' bullying complaints go unheeded.

"They feel like they're sending their child into a system that's supposed to keep them safe, but it's actually the biggest risk to their child's safety," she said.

Though Phoebe's case didn't send anyone to prison, it had the intended effect, said Cole, the Massachusetts attorney. None of the six students returned to the school. The case "definitely acts as a deterrent to others." Cole and other civil rights experts worry about dragging too many young people into court, but he says, "There absolutely are times when you need to get the criminal justice system involved."

K.J.'s mother, Jeannie Chambers, isn't so sure. Though police and the county prosecutor won't talk about the case, Chambers says she doubts anyone will be charged. In fact, she told police she didn't want anyone going to jail for K.J.'s death. "I just didn't want somebody else's family to suffer," she said Monday.

Four classmates were disciplined for anti-gay bullying directed at K.J. before his death. Chambers said that she believes their behavior directly contributed to his suicide but that the four have already been subjected to withering criticism from classmates. Chambers told police she hoped the students received counseling, not jail time. "I didn't want somebody else to — how do I say it? — go through what my son went through."

Echoing Hall's proposed legislation, Chambers said parents need to be held accountable for their children's hateful behavior. "A lot of people don't understand: These kids learned it from home.”

 adamfoxie*:  I presented above both sides even though I feel the posting above gives more credence to bullies in the sense that it says that the answer is not to throw bullies in jail. I do believe this is  a societal phenomenon fixable by societal measures which I will mention here.
  This is mainly due to the public attitudes that some religious and bigots take against gay and lesbian people.  You hear it all the time in this country going as far as wishing death and reading from the Koran and a couple passages in the bible claiming death to homosexuals. 


In other countries what we hear on the news is even worse where they actually behead, hang and stone to death anyone even being suspected of such crime.  This is what these bullies hear. Then we have the issue of the parents. These are young adults in school.  They do have parents. What happened to the schooling they get at home? Like religion, respect for others, etc.?  The home parenting together with what they hear outside of the home makes up the bully.

 You are not going to find the parents of a bully being gay-educated and pro-civil and human rights towards people unlike them. Take the parents of Rhavi, now doing less than 30 days in jail for driving Tyler Clementi to jump of the George Washington bridge.  Their believes are the same as their son. The media has shielded them like if they had no part in this.  I believe that they should share responsibility.  What did they teach this young man about others?  These parents are very religious and born into an intolerant culture, even though India is slowly changing it’s attitudes towards gay people. So guess where he got the idea of where in creation gays are? He got his attidtudes towards gays at home.  I don’t think he learned it at Rutgers University, even though the guys at Rutgers were described by Tyler’s brother as a "school of small sharks.” 
When you take the whole community of students at Rutgers you will see some similarities in the social-economic scales.  If some of the students are young sharks then the parents must be the adult ones.
Yes, we need to jail anybody that causes the death of another due to bullying. No,  is not murder but it is abuse and abuse we treat either as harrasment or assault.  If the bullying causes a death I think it crossed the harrasment stage and the individual should be jailed. 
But the parents should not be let go as if they don’t have any responsibility for their kids.  Before any of the above happens if the bully is identify early and we involve the parents in this, I think we might see less cases of Rhavi Vs. Tyler Clementi and Kenneth Weishun. 


If you have ideas or comments on this problem you are welcome to leave them below.

The Picture That Went Viral Might Be Staged by Israeli Military

Some people will be asking the question of why the Israeli military(government) would be staging a picture such as this.  The answer is simple, human rights. The government has been accused of human right abuses with the palestinians so many say that the government is involved in a public relations campaign using the gay community as leverage to say if we are so good to the gays that are hated by many around the world and the christian right in the US; How can we be human right abusers? That is the issue.
 Harriet Sherwood in Jerusalem of the  guardian.co.uk got hold of the picture and wrote the following report:
adamfoxie*
 

A picture of soldiers holding hands released by the IDF. It has been claimed that the pair are not a couple and work in the spokesperson's office. Photograph: Israel Defence Forces

The Israeli military has been accused of staging a photograph published to celebrate its progressive attitude to homosexuality.

The image, of two male soldiers holding hands while walking down a street in uniform, was posted on the Israel Defence Forces' Facebook page to coincide with gay pride events in Tel Aviv.

The caption read: "It's pride month. Did you know that the IDF treats all of its soldiers equally? Let's see how many shares you can get for this photo."

By noon on Wednesday it had been "liked" almost 10,000 times and had attracted more than 1,400 comments.

But the Times of Israel news website claimed the photograph was misleading, saying: "The two soldiers in the photo are not a couple, only one of the two is gay, and both the soldiers serve in the IDF spokesperson's office."

A spokesman for the IDF refused to answer a direct question on whether the photograph had been staged, saying it was irrelevant to the military's attitudes to homosexuality.

"The photo reflects the IDF's open-minded attitude towards soldiers of all sexual orientations," it said in a statement. "The IDF respects the privacy of the soldiers featured [in] the photograph, and will not comment on their identities."

The IDF prides itself on its integration of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender soldiers, which it says "stands out in comparison to other militaries worldwide".

According to its website, "the IDF is an accepting environment for homosexual soldiers. The IDF has made groundbreaking progress over time, but it is still trying to improve military service of gay soldiers even further."

The US repealed its ban on openly gay and lesbian service personnel last September. Its previous policy, known as "don't ask, don't tell", had forced gay and lesbian soldiers to "lie about who they are", said the president, Barack Obama. There are an estimated 65,000 gay and lesbian service personnel in the US military.

The ban on gay and lesbian people serving in the British military was lifted in 1999.

Some Israeli activists have accused their government of "pinkwashing" – presenting Israel as enlightened because of its gay-friendly attitudes while denying human rights to Palestinians.