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• Most Objectionable Book for Kids?

  The American Library Association says the book the public objects to the most was one written for children. (Objections were measured by written complaints filed with a library or school.) Was it the one explaining mommy's plastic surgery--"My Beautiful Mommy"? Nope. The one where Curious George gets high on ether? Nah-ah. So what book was so offensive to folks? The number one challenged book--for the second year in a row, no less...   Read More... Posted May 08 2008, 06:31 PM by Kelly Mills with | with 9 comment(s) Filed under: education, homosexuality, books, reading, families, literature, homophobia, schools, gay, plastic surgery, library, penguins, hetero, queer, kid lit

• UK To Deport Gay Iranian Teen Despite Risk Of Execution

  Those crazy Brits.  They obviously wouldn't recognize a bad PR move if it walked up and smacked them in the face.   First, in January, officials deported a 39-year-old Ghanian woman dependent on the subsidized dialysis she was receiving in Wales - despite the fact that they knew she had no way to pay the exorbitant fees Ghanian hospitals charged for the life-saving procedure.  This led prominent pols like MP Evan Harris to accuse the government of being "amoral," and to mock the assumption that, "if they don't act tough then other people will deliberately develop fatal kidney failure in order to evade immigration control." Now, having learned nothing from that fiasco, the British government has announced its intentions of deporting 19-year-old Iranian Seyed Medhi Kazemi, who is publicly and outspokenly gay - despite the fact that homosexuality in Iran is punishable by death, and that Kazemi's boyfriend has already been executed.   Read More... Posted Mar 12 2008, 05:29 PM by asflutz with | with no comments Filed under: homosexuality, deportation, great britain, execution, seyed medhi kazemi, iran

• When Fictional Characters Come Out Of the Closet

  I went on vacay (with accompanying media blackout) for the weekend, and when I got back I was stunned to hear about J.K. Rowling's announcement that Dumbledore is gay. See, I totally thought that Winnie the Pooh would be the first children's book character to be outed. Other than that, the news about the Hogwarts headmaster just makes me love Rowling and the Harry Potter books even more than I did before, and it also makes me understand the Grindelwald thing a little better... I know, I just lost anyone who hasn't kept up with the series. But here's something fans and non-fans alike might not be too surprised to learn: Conservatives and fundamentalists... Read More... Posted Oct 22 2007, 05:01 PM by Kelly Mills with | with 12 comment(s) Filed under: homosexuality, harry potter, gay, jk rowling, satanism, laura mallory, dumbledore

• It's a Straight World After All: When Will You Teach Your Child About Homosexuality?

  I consider myself quite liberal... defender of public education, gay rights, and the importance of helping others who cannot always help themselves.  So I have been somewhat embarrassed surprised by my latent conservative tendencies evoked by motherhood. When one of my best friends visited last week and began explaining to my daughters how her life partner is a woman, there was a little part of me that cringed.  Not that there's anything wrong with that (a la Seinfeld)! It's just that I want to be the one to teach my children about life partners, and choices, and sexuality and marriage.  It's my job, not the job of my parents or friends or anyone else. Read More... Posted Oct 17 2007, 06:13 PM by Rachael Brownell (Redsy) with | with 8 comment(s) Filed under: kids, homosexuality, marriage, sttraight, sexualitty, bigotry, teaching children

• Kids Beat Bullies Using Pink and I Get Sniffly, In a Good Way

  Here's why I'm now wearing rose-colored glasses. So much of what we get to talk about is "Obesity kills!" and "Lead painted death toys!" and "Your boobs will suffer!" so I don't expect anything to be all heartwarming and restore my faith in humanity and all that. But then I read this story. It starts off harsh: a new ninth grader showed up for school wearing a pink shirt and he was surrounded by a group of six to ten older students who "mocked him, called him a homosexual for wearing pink and threatened to beat him up." Yup, total high school a-holes just like the kind I went to school with. But two twelfth grade students, David Shepherd and Travis Price, decided it was time to take a stand and intervene. You know what they did? Read More... Posted Sep 17 2007, 03:09 PM by Kelly Mills with | with 9 comment(s) Filed under: education, homosexuality, high school, bullies, heroes, threats

• Children's Rights Groups in Poland Object to 'Teletubbies'

  Teletubbies long ago drew the ire from conservative religious groups (especially the late Jerry Falwell) who felt the show promoted homosexuality.  Children's rights groups in Poland are now making the same claim. How one can "promote" homosexuality, especially with poorly dressed chubs with strange headgear, is beyond me.  On the other hand, I do remember The Village People. Apparently, Tinky Winky, the purse carrying "boy" is the troubling character.  Everyone knows boys who carry purses are gay.  On the other hand, I know plenty of straight men who favor the man bag.   Posted May 30 2007, 09:58 AM by Rachael Brownell (Redsy) with | with no comments Filed under: homosexuality, teletubbies, promoting homosexuality

• Rachel Griffiths: "When Does One Know When One's Child is Gay?"

  The fantastic Australian actress Rachel Griffiths (Six Feet Under, Muriel's Wedding, Hilary & Jackie) wondered aloud, in an interview with The Advocate, about the sexual orientation of her 3 year-old son, Banjo Patrick Taylor (dad is Australian artist Andrew Taylor): "Banjo is having gender issues at the moment: He’s looking in the mirror and keeps telling me that the mirror’s telling him he’s a girl. I sometimes wonder when one knows when one’s own child is gay." And if he is?  It doesn't sound like it will be a problem for Rachel, who is currently starring on the gay-positive series Brothers and Sisters, and who is supportive of the gay community, in her life and in her work: " There are many gay men in my life that are very close to our family. I don’t think it’ll be too long before they figure out that sometimes a man loves a man... I’m proud to be on a family drama that’s totally mainstream and can integrate a gay character who’s in no way “other” and who is not deprived of any of the joys and difficulties that his straight siblings go through." If he does turn out to be gay, it sounds like Banjo will be one of the few gay kids who are fortunate enough to have a supportive family.  Posted Mar 27 2007, 09:17 AM by Alisyn with | with 2 comment(s) Filed under: homosexuality, banjo patrick taylor, rachel griffiths, gay kids

• Tony Blair Steps Up, Refuses Catholic Adoption Exemption

  Tony Blair isn't letting the British Catholic adoption agencies get away with an exemption from the new gay rights laws that make it illegal to discriminate against same sex couples. Listen to this excerpt from the Guardian Unlimited: 'A row over the regulation was sparked after the leader of Catholics in England and Wales, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, warned that the agencies would close rather than accept rules that required them to hand over babies to gay couples.' No wonder Blair had to speak out! The church should be ashamed of that statement. Blair says that there is no place in their society for discrimination and that he completely supports the rights of gay and lesbian couples to adopt in the exact same way as more conventional couples. I guess not all friends of George Bush are bad guys.  Posted Jan 30 2007, 08:23 AM by Sarah, Goon Squad Sarah with | with 1 comment(s) Filed under: homosexuality, adoption, Tony Blair

• No-Name Calling Week Draws Ire of Homophobic Parents

  Thirty miles south of the site of the third largest annual celebration of GLBT pride in the country, a few parents protested an anti-bullying event sponsored by the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network. It's not that these Farmington, Minnesota parents are in favor of bullies, no sirree ("We understand that's a problem," says parent Michael Keifer). What they're against is the association with homosexuality, however indirect and vague. Because even thirty miles south of one of the gay-friendliest cities in the nation, there are still people who think that good information is tainted if it comes from a source with different values. Read More... Posted Jan 24 2007, 07:14 AM by Patti with | with no comments Filed under: homosexuality, glbt, minnesota, homophobia, no name-calling week, anti-bully

• Right-Wing Nutjob Says Soy Makes Kids Gay

  Under the heading “A devil food is turning our kids into homosexuals,” some dickhead homophobe named Jim Rutz has written a commentary contending that soy makes kids gay. (Mr. Rutz is also rumored to believe that Spaghetti-Os turn you Mexican and Cheerios make you black.) “Soy is feminizing,” he says, “and commonly leads to a decrease in the size of the penis, sexual confusion and homosexuality. That’s why most of the medical (not socio-spiritual) blame for today’s rise in homosexuality must fall upon the rise in soy formula and other soy products.” He’s basically saying we’d all be a lot better off if we fed the kids a healthy, Republican diet. Lots of red meat and dairy products and whiskey. Then we could all grow up to look rotund and miserable like Dick Cheney, which is essentially the way the rest of the world views Americans anyway. Who is this guy Rutz? What qualification does he have to make this absurd declaration? As I read his homophobic drivel, I see no mention that he did any sort of independent research. As all of the great hate-mongers of our time have done to support their causes, this asshole has simply stolen statistics and coordinated without context to support his assertion that we must drastically reduce our children’s soy intake before they all become – gasp! – fags. Notice that in his attempt scare our kids into Heteroville, Rutz has link homosexuality to leukemia, breast cancer, infertility and testicular atrophy. A confession: I go to Starbucks EVERY DAY and order an iced, venti SOY latte. I have been doing so for five years. Yet despite Rutz The Putz’s assessment, I have not noticed a decrease in my penis size, I am not “sexually confused” and I have not turned gay. That said, I am cordially inviting Jim Rutz to suck my dick. Posted Dec 13 2006, 09:00 AM by Dad Gone Mad with | with 5 comment(s) Filed under: health, politics, homosexuality, soy, glbt, dick cheney, nutrition