Conservative activist Bryan Fischer of the American Family Association calls anchor Carol Costello the "gay gestapo" after she stopped an interview with him.
N.C. man says church confined him for being gay
BY MICHAEL GORDON, THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- A 22-year-old man has accused his former Rutherford County church of holding him for four months against his will while he was physically and emotionally abused because he is gay.
Michael Lowry filed a complaint in February against Word of Faith Fellowship Church, a nondenominational Christian congregation in Spindale that has made national headlines with some of its practices.
In a statement given to a sheriff’s department investigator last week, Lowry said he was kept in a church building from Aug. 1 to Nov. 19, 2011. He said he was knocked unconscious during his first day of confinement.
Lowry’s former pastor, Jane Whaley, said Sunday that all of his allegations are “lies.”
Whaley said Lowry was not held or beaten. She said the church only learned that he was gay when his family did – after watching a news report by an Asheville television station Thursday.
Lowry said he first told his family and church leaders of his sexual orientation when he was 15 or 16. That set off years of harassment and abuse, he said, as church members tried to expel the demon that they believed caused his homosexuality.
A Hickory advocacy group has called for a federal investigation.
Hundreds attend Michael Feinstein book festival appearance; he performs Monday at Hard Rock
Entertainer Michael Feinstein appeared Sunday night at the Alper Jewish Community Center in Kendall, where he performed several George and Ira Gershwin standards and discussed his new book, The Gershwins and Me: A Personal History in Twelve Songs (Simon & Schuster, $45 including CD).
Hundreds, including a large representation of LGBT fans from throughout South Florida, packed the Alper auditorium for Feinstein's appearance, part of the 32nd annual Jewish Book Festival.
Afterward, Feinstein – keeper of The Great American Songbook – signed copies of his book. His husband, Terrence Flannery, sat nearby.
The singer-pianist also performs 8 p.m. Monday at Hard Rock Live, 1 Seminole Way, Hollywood; $39-$69; 954-797-5531, ticketmaster.com.
Obama and Romney divided over marriage equality for gay couples, abortion, contraception
From a McClatchy News story by Anita Kumar comparing political positions of President Barack Obama and former Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney:
Here’s where the two major party candidates stand on these major issues:
GAY MARRIAGE
Obama this year became the first sitting U.S. president to endorse same-sex marriage, though he said the matter should be left to the states. The change came in May amid pressure from gay rights activists and some members of his own party, including Vice President Joe Biden.Obama has supported other gay causes – including repealing the military’s requirement that gay service members keep their sexual preferences secret and offering LGBT workers – lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender – family leave, but he had long insisted his views on gay marriage were “evolving.” He said he reached his decision after speaking with his wife, Michelle, and contemplating his religious beliefs.
“When we think about our faith, the thing at root that we think about is, not only Christ sacrificing himself on our behalf, but it’s also the Golden Rule, you know, treat others the way you would want to be treated,” he told ABC News.
Obama opposes the Clinton-era Defense of Marriage Act, which bars the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriage even for couples married under state law. He says the 1996 law that defines marriage as between only one man and one woman is unconstitutional and directed the Justice Department to stop defending the law in court.
Romney opposes same-sex marriage and civil unions but does not object to benefits for homosexual couples.
Romney would preserve the Defense of Marriage Act and fight for a similar federal constitutional amendment, which could not be altered by individual states.
Nearly two decades ago, Romney vowed to be a better advocate for LGBT equality than his opponent at the time for the Massachusetts Senate seat, Democrat Ted Kennedy, though as governor he backed a failed attempt to amend the state constitution defining marriage as between a man and a woman.
“Marriage is a status. It’s not an activity that goes on within the walls of a state,” he said at a debate last year. “And a result our marriage status relationship should be constant across the country.”
Click here to read the complete article, including stands on abortion and contraception.
Miami City Ballet dancers go purple for Spirit Day, speaking out for LGBT youth and against bullying
Posted Friday to Facebook:
Miami City Ballet goes purple for Spirit Day!!!!
From GLAAD:
Spirit Day is annual day in October when millions of Americans wear purple to speak out against bullying and to show their support for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) youth.
Gallery | Miami City Ballet 2012-13 Program I: 'Apollo,' 'Les Patineurs' and 'Piazzolla Caldera'
Miami City Ballet has opened its 27th season with performances in Miami, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach. Here are details from the Ballet, along with photos from Thursday night's dress rehearsal:
Program 1 opens the 12-13 Season with works by leading choreographers of the 20th century. Returning to the repertory after long absences are George Balanchine’s APOLLO, from 1928 with its ravishing Stravinsky score, and Sir Frederick Ashton’s LES PATINEURS - also called THE SKATING PARTY -- with all the charm and nostalgia it’s been celebrated for since it was first seen in 1937. And, in a very different mood, Paul Taylor’s tango-flavored spectacular PIAZZOLLA CALDERA closes the exciting program, with its seductive choreography and thrilling Piazzolla music.
Click here for more information or to purchase tickets.
Boxer Orlando Cruz wins first fight since announcing he's gay
ASSOCIATED PRESS
KISSIMMEE, Fla. -- These last two weeks have weighed heavily on Orlando Cruz.
But as soon as he walked out to a cheering crowd displaying flags of his native Puerto Rico, boxing's first openly gay fighter could finally breathe and do what he came to do, slugging his way to a victory by unanimous decision over Jorge Pazos.
"That was my moment, my opportunity, my event," Cruz said Friday night after the bout, his mother Dominga Torres-Rivera seated beside him. "And I won."
Cruz was touched by the support on display at the Kissimmee Civic Center outside of Orlando, the latest in a continual outpouring since his announcement two weeks ago that made him the first active male athlete in a major sport to come out.
"I was very happy that they respect me. That's what I want - them to see me as a boxer, as an athlete and as a man in every sense of the word."
GLAAD: Honey Boo Boo stands up to bullying - 'Ain't nothing wrong with bein' a little gay'
From GLAAD:
Honey Boo Boo and her family are going purple to stand up against bullying for #SpiritDay 10/19: http://glaad.org/spiritday
See what other celebs are participating: http://www.glaad.org/spiritday/entertainment
http://www.glaad.org/blog/just-announced-honey-boo-boo-goes-purple-spiritday
Long-held files about abuses in Boy Scouts released; about 30 South Florida cases included
BY CURTIS TATE AND STEVE ROTHAUS, SROTHAUS@MIAMIHERALD.COM
The records, known within the Boy Scouts itself as the “perversion files,” cover the years 1965-1985 and detail the names of the alleged perpetrators, their hometowns and other information, including religion, when it was known.
About 30 of the 70 Florida cases occurred between the early 1960s and mid-1980s in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach Counties, according to documents released Thursday.
Half of those cases occurred in Miami-Dade County, including Miami, Opa-locka, Hialeah, Virginia Gardens and North Miami Beach.
The files were results of the organization’s own internal investigations into sexual abuse among its leaders and include court documents, newspapers clippings in cases where charges were actually filed and other material.
Not every person whose name was contained within the thousands of pages — which the Scouts officially called the “Ineligible Volunteer Files” — ever actually faced charges or was convicted. Some files only reflected concerns about someone.
But they span the nation, involving Boy Scouts organizations and leaders from small towns to bustling cities. Their disclosure also again marks an embarrassing betrayal of public trust by another prominent and respected social institution.
“This is like 2002 for the church’s abuse scandal,” said Miami attorney Jeff Herman, who since 1997 has handled more than 100 abuse cases against the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Miami. “That’s when it all snowballed and so many victims came forward.”
Herman said he currently is working on three South Florida cases involving youths allegedly molested by Scouts leaders.
