This is the third of a series on famous gay athletes.
This past April, Rick Welts, CEO and President of the Phoenix Suns, had a meeting with David Stern, Commissioner of the National Basketball Association. Welts revealed he was gay and intended to go public with the news. Stern's reaction threw Welts ... he already knew. So far the team hasn’t fled for fear of Welts sneaking peaks at them in the shower, or of him potentially changing their uniforms to lavender short-shorts with pink piping up the sides.…
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26 - Jet Gardner
Here's an even better question-Why wasn't Mike McQueery fired for not reporting it to the police and instead going to Paterno.
McQueary should be held to the same "moral" code as Paterno.
Paterno should sue for the remainder of his contract-he did not commit a crime and did not have the resources to hire a baby sitter for every single player and coach on his team.
Yes WAS immoral what Sandusky did to those kids-but it's wrong for Penn States Trustees to selfrigteously use the word "moral" when they passed judgement on JoePa
27 - Dr Dreadful
Thought you might appreciate this, Jet.
28 - Jet Gardner
Thanks Doc, I fell in love with Ambiguously Gay Duo the day I saw them. Have you ever seen an episode featuring their car?
29 - Jet Gardner
As for Batman and Robin, that's a no-brainer. I still miss the suit with the nipples
30 - Jet Gardner
Here's one I'm proud of, Vol I of this article still gets over 150-250 daily readers even though it's six years old.
31 - Jet Gardner
An anti-gay group supported by American christian evangelical missionaries in Liberia distributed fliers over the weekend with a hit list of people who support gay rights, and one member of the group threatened to “get to them one by one.” The fliers distributed over the weekend in parts of Liberia’s capital were signed by the Movement Against Gay’s in Liberia, or MOGAL. The group said those involved in promoting gay rights “should not be given space to get a gulp of air.”
“Having conducted a comprehensive investigation, we are convinced that the below listed individuals are gays or supporters of the club who don’t mean well for our country,” the fliers read. “Therefore, we have agreed to go after them using all means in life.”
“We will get to them one by one,” Tapleh said. “They want to spoil our country.”
Asked what specific action might be taken against those on the list, he said they could be subjected to “dangerous punishments” including “flogging and death.”
The list includes two men who launched a campaign in January to legalize gay marriage, and who have since been subjected to protests by angry mobs and threats of violence.
Liberian law currently does not explicitly address homosexuality. “Voluntary sodomy” is a misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in prison.
One of the two new bills would make same-sex sexual practice a second-degree felony, punishable by up to five years in prison. The other anti-gay bill would make same-sex marriage a first-degree felony, with sentences ranging up to 10 years in prison.
U.S. anti-gay missionaries have spent millions promoting homophobia, and it is rife in many African countries. Last year, Nigeria’s Senate voted in favor of a bill that would criminalize gay marriage, gay advocacy groups and same-sex public displays of affection. A newly added portion of the bill levels 10 years in prison for those found guilty of organizing, operating or supporting gay clubs, organizations and meetings.
And in 2009, a Southern-Baptist backed Ugandan legislator introduced a bill that would impose the death penalty for some gays and lesbians. The bill was reintroduced earlier this year.
Even in South Africa, the only African nation to recognize gay marriage, gangs carry out so-called “corrective” rapes on lesbians.
The flier distributed in Liberia warned that the group would begin taking action shortly. “Let these individuals be aware that we are coming after them soon,” the flier reads. “We urge them to also begin saying their Lord’s prayers.”
32 - Jet Gardner
Update:
LONDON (RNS) London's mayor has axed an ad campaign spearheaded by two conservative Christian groups because their ads suggest homosexuality is a disease that can be cured through prayer.
The groups Core Issues Trust and Anglican Mainstream made posters reading "Post-gay and proud. Get over it!" and had planned to plaster them on the sides of London's iconic double-decker red buses.
The slogan mimicked a recent drive by the pro-gay rights group Stonewall, which used the line, "Some people are gay. Get over it."
The Christian groups' campaign had been scheduled to cover the sides of buses for two weeks starting next Monday (April 16).
But the British capital's mayor, Boris Johnson, stepped in to ban it. "It is clearly offensive to suggest being gay is an illness someone recovers from," the mayor said in a statement on Thursday. "And I am not prepared to have that suggestion driven around London on our buses."
Core Issues and Anglican Mainstream both fund "reparative therapy" for gay men and lesbians to "cure" them of homosexuality.
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33 - jJoan A. Smith
Religious extremists tend not to have a great sense of humour. So I don't imagine that the people who wanted to plaster anti-gay ads on the side of London buses were consciously trying to echo a well-known Monty Python sketch. But some of the phrases used in the campaign - "ex-gay" and "post-gay" - reminded me irresistibly of John Cleese ranting about his "ex-parrot". This is what happens, I'm afraid, when humourless idiots try to be clever at someone else's expense.
Indeed, I was sorry when the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, decided that Londoners wouldn't be able to see these risible ads, due to appear on two-dozen buses in central London from tomorrow. Johnson is running for re-election next month and he was never going to risk alienating the capital's gay vote by nodding through an undeniably offensive slogan. But he now faces a possible legal challenge from one of the Christian groups behind the ads.
They're complaining about censorship and portraying themselves as victims, which is one of several reasons why I believe it was a mistake to pull the bus campaign. It's almost always better to challenge bad ideas than to ban them, which runs the risk of appearing to suggest that they're dangerous and radical. Secular and equality campaigners are wittier and more sophisticated than the anti-gay lobby; think of the fun we could all have had with post-this, that and the other jokes.
In any case, the Christian attempt to subvert Stonewall's slogan in support of gay marriage - "Some people are gay. Get over it!" - backfired spectacularly. If people are "ex-gay, post-gay and proud", why do they need to "get over it"? Is this about "not gay" pride or isn't it?
But there's another reason why I believe the campaign should have been allowed to go ahead. Over the past few months, we've heard a great deal about "aggressive secularism" from Eric Pickles, Baroness Warsi and church leaders. What they're complaining about isn't aggressive - it's the application of principles of equality that don't give special privileges to believers. But aggressive Christianity is on the rise, and a nasty campaign against gay marriage is the latest attempt to halt advances in human rights that benefit women, homosexual people and secularists.
In that sense, the anti-gay ads have already performed a useful service, challenging the notion that the modern church is packed with sunny-tempered coves whose slogan is "live and let live". The Christian groups associated with the campaign are homophobic and irrational; one of them, Anglican Mainstream, has supporters who compare homosexuality to alcoholism. Its website talks creepily about helping gay people to realise their "heterosexual potential", and a letter calls for professional help for people who want to "resolve unwanted same-sex attractions". Its signatories include Lord Carey, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, and Michael Nazir-Ali and Michael Scott-Joynt, former bishops of Rochester and Winchester respectively.
Twenty years ago, gay people were still trying to get rid of Section 28. Now there are civil partnerships and we're moving towards gay marriage. The religious right is becoming more aggressive about equality and human rights issues - abortion as well as gay marriage - because it's losing the arguments. I mean, who really thinks that "not gay" pride will catch on?
34 - Jet Gardner
jJoan, I’m not sure what the religio-political climate is like “across the pond” but this will give you an idea of what we’re dealing with here…
…and thanks for contributing to the conversation.
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