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Quote Of The Day - Henry Rollins

"Of course same sex marriage is constitutional! The right to be yourself, to pursue life, liberty, and property, is protected several ways over several amendments. John Boehner should know this. If only he read the Constitution as often as some of us do, he wouldn’t have bothered to lower himself to this time-wasting, pathetic attempt to invigorate his base of supporters.

"Damn, congressman, we’re trying to get up the road here. Either lay out a plan for job creation for all of us to see or get out of the way. You are the Speaker of the House. Scratching around in the ancient dirt of repellent prejudice instead of tackling the real issues is amateur hour. You have a plan? Now’s the time." - Henry Rollins, writing for Vanity Fair.
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David Cameron says Christians should be ‘tolerant’ of homosexuality


Prime minister David Cameron has said that Christians should be “tolerant” and “welcoming”.

He was referring to a recent High Court decision to uphold a ban on a Christian couple becoming foster parents after they admitted that they would refuse to tell a child that homosexuality is acceptable.

Pentecostal Christians Eunice and Owen Johns, of Derby, say they are considering an appeal over the High Court verdict.

Speaking in Derby, where he held a Cabinet meeting yesterday, Mr Cameron backed the decision.

He told the Derby Telegraph: “This matter was decided by a court in the appropriate way and I think we should rest with the judgment that was made.

The prime minister said that he was a churchgoer but added: “I think Christians should be tolerant and welcoming and broad minded.”

A spokesperson for the Johns said Mr Cameron’s comments were “lacking in any understanding of the critical situation and conflict between the two groups involved”.

The Johns are the latest in a series of Christian couples to unsuccessfully challenge equality legislation.

Earlier this year, a couple who own a hotel in Cornwall were ordered to pay £3,600 to a gay couple they refused a double room to.

Peter and Hazelmary Bull, the owners of the Chymorvah Private Hotel, argued that their Christian beliefs meant they could not allow two men to share a bed.
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Fringe event boosts slashed London gay film festival


London’s annual Lesbian and Gay Film Festival may have been cut down to just a week but a community effort will see a fringe event following the main festival.

Due to cutbacks for arts funding, the British Film Institute has slashed next month’s festival down to six days, instead of its usual 14.

The festival’s supporters fear that the event may be cut completely and are petitioning the BFI to save it.

The cuts mean that the festival will show a reduced programme of events, despite celebrating its 25th anniversary this year.

However, a group of artists and creatives plan to hold a four-day fringe festival in east London to follow the end of the usual festival on April 6th.

Titled ‘Fringe! the London gay film fest’, the event will include parties, special screenings, talks and performances.

Twelve films will be shown across four locations, including the Rio Cinema in Dalston, the Aubin Cinema and the George & Dragon.

Alex Karotsch, the festival’s producer and promoter of clubs Dirtbox, Dick & Fanny and Kimono Krush, said: “It’s a grassroots, not-for-profit festival for people who like gays and films.

“We’ll be showing crowd-pleasing classics along with new stuff, talks and performance. There’s also loads of quirky and exciting parties open to everyone during the four days of the festival.”

Anna Leach, the festival’s publicist and editor of lesbian website The Most Cake, added: “We were gutted to hear that the BFI festival had been cut in half and wanted to keep the spirit alive despite the cuts. After a random Facebook conversation we decided to pull together this fun weekend of classic gay celluloid romps, new queer films and great social events.’

The Lesbian and Gay Film Festival will be held between March 31st and April 6th. Fringe will be held between April 7th-10th. For more information
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Judiciary committee approves Colorado civil unions


A judiciary committee of the Colorado Senate has approved a bill to give gay couples the right to civil unions.

Senate Bill 172, if passed, will give gay couples the right to visit each other in hospitals or prisons, make medical decisions, claim some benefits and inherit property.

It was introduced by Denver senator Pat Steadman, who is gay.

He said: “The importance of this issue is that there are literally thousands of families in Colorado that currently do not have the equal protection of state law that are available to others.”

The judiciary committee approved the bill by six votes to three yesterday.

The court chambers heard arguments for and against the bill, including one woman who mentioned Stalin in her opposition.

Rosina Kovar also claimed that the bill would lead to compulsory sex education for five-year-olds.

But gay couple Tom Carllon and Gabe Martinez, who married in California in 2008, also argued against the bill, calling instead for gay marriage.

“Civil unions will be an excuse not to upgrade us to marriage,” Mr Carllon testified. “The public will forever equate civil unions as marriage, or, less hopefully, just ‘good enough’ as marriage.”
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Coronation Street lesbian couple ‘will leave’ if split up


The stars who play Coronation Street’s lesbian couple say they will leave if their on-screen relationship is broken up.

Sacha Parkinson and Brooke Vincent, who play Sian Powers and Sophie Webster, feature in this week’s Heat magazine.

Vincent said: “If they split us up, I’d leave. It’s made too much impact for them to break it up.

“It’s gone past the line. Me and Sach think we should win Best Partnership at the Soap Awards.”

The pair, both 18, were photographed dressed as bunny girls for the magazine and revealed that they are now best friends.

Parkinson said: “We just come as a pair now. We tell each other we love each other all the time. I think we’re really starting to become our characters.”

The stars have joined efforts to fight homophobic bullying and have also supported Manchester Pride.

They said their storyline, in which Sophie admitted her feelings for Sian last April, has had an effect on gay Corrie fans.

Vincent said: “It’s mad when you realise how many people have come out because of the storyline.

“So many people have come up to us and said, ‘Thank you. Without this, I wouldn’t have been able to come out to my parents or have people accept me.’

“There’s a pressure to make it 100 per cent believable. Because we’re not gay ourselves, it could be like watching someone in a film trying to put on an Irish accent and getting it totally wrong.”

Parkinson added: “You don’t realise it at the beginning, but when you’ve been doing it for a while – and especially now becaus
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HomoQuotable - Christopher Doyle

"Putting 'ex-gay' in quotes suggested that such a sexual orientation is not valid, not recognized or both. But thousands of former homosexuals collectively identify themselves as such. The D.C. Superior Court ruled in 2009 that ex-gays are a protected sexual orientation class in the District. Not all persons who experience same-sex attractions choose to live gay lives. Many of us have voluntarily left a homosexual life through therapeutic work or behavioral choice. I did, and I have been happily married to a woman for nearly five years; we have two children. I no longer experience same-sex attraction and have no desire to return to the homosexual life. Please respect this choice." - Christopher Doyle, board member of Parents & Friends Of "Ex-Gays" (PFOX), in a letter to the Washington Post.

RELATED: You might recall that I had a brief encounter with Doyle in the parking lot of last year's evil NARTH convention, where he was supporting a group that spreads the most repulsive lies about gay people imaginable. But don't you dare put "ex-gay" in quotes.
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Michael Stipe: I'm 80% Gay

"On a sliding scale of sexuality I’d place myself around 80-20, but I definitely prefer men to women. I had sex with, and enjoyed sex with, women until I met someone that I fell in love with, and who is now my boyfriend. I wasn’t troubled or confused, but I just felt there wasn’t a place for me. I hate and refuse to apply the term bisexual to myself. It doesn’t seem appropriate. It feels like just another label." - REM lead singer Michael Stipe, speaking to the Observer
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