Tuesday, July 13, 2010

News & Pop Culture Round-Up

Confederacy of Amorphosity
Transsexuals and bisexuals are the inside outsiders of the LGBT
(lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) movement. READ MORE

Cameroon denies homosexuals face persecution
Cameroon's government has rejected the claim by a gay asylum seeker in the UK that he would face persecution if he returned home. On Wednesday, the Supreme Court in London ruled in favour of the man, and a similar claimant from Iran. Homosexuality in Cameroon is punishable by up to three years in jail. However, Cameroon's communications minister told the BBC homosexuals were free to behave as they wished in private without any harassment. "Homosexuality is forbidden by the law, there is not doubt. But what I can emphasise is the fact that no homosexual is persecuted in Cameroon"," Communications Minister Issa Tchiroma said. He told the BBC's Network Africa programme that the claimant was simply using the law as an excuse to claim asylum in Britain. "Do you think he is the only gay person in Cameroon?" READ MORE

Actor Kal Penn slams TIME Magazine for racist article

Looks like actor Kal Penn learned a lot from his job in Washington, D.C.. After TIME magazine published Joel Stein's "My Own Private India" -- which mocked the growing Indian population in the author's hometown of Edison, NJ -- Kal Penn wrote a scathing response in the Huffington Post. Penn -- who was named Associate Director of the White House Office of Public Engagement by Barack Obama in 2009 -- wasted no time calling out Stein and TIME for using ethnic stereotypes to get a laugh. In Stein's article, he took jabs at the Indian residents of his hometown. "Gags about impossibly spicy food? I'd never heard those before! Multiple Gods with multiple arms? Multiple laughs! Recounting racial slurs like 'dot-head?' Oh, Mr. Stein, is too good!" Penn wrote. READ MORE

Research suggests 'late-blooming lesbians' may change sexual orientation
A study of lesbians who have left long-term heterosexual relationships suggests that many may have switched sexual orientation in the middle of their lives. Researcher Christan Moran, who interviewed the small sample of more than 200 women, believes this may be evidence that sexual orientation, at least for women, is more fluid than previously thought. Moran claims that many women who came out in middle age or after marriage were wrongly dismissed as having been in the closet or having repressed their feelings. Instead, Moran argues, there was evidence that these women may have made "a full transition to a singular lesbian identity … in other words chang[ing] their sexual orientation". READ MORE

Soccer champ Landon Donovan soaks in the sun
American soccer champ Landon Donovan, 28, soaks in the sun and takes a shirtless dip in the pool at Aria Resort & Casino’s Liquid Pool Lounge on Saturday (July 10) in Las Vegas. (Just Jared)

Director Todd Solondz introduces forgiveness to his latest grim comedy, Life During Wartime
Fifteen years ago, Todd Solondz was the suburban auteur of bleakness that the then-ascendant indie culture needed. His rigorously untranscendent coming-of-age story, Welcome to the Dollhouse, won accolades at Sundance in 1996, and everyone wanted something from him. But he wasn’t seduced: He’s apparently not all that seduceable. “After Welcome to the Dollhouse, every door was open to me. But because I had [spent] most of my life feeling a failure, I was very discomfited at the same time that I was so moved by the success. So I wrote Happiness. I knew I had the liberty, and you always have to write with liberty, and I knew that it would close every door. It was almost a test: Can you still want to work with me?” READ MORE


Brad Pitt finally shaves off his scraggy beard!
Actor, Brad Pitt, 46, was spotted Monday on the Los Angeles set with a fresh new look and no facial hair. Pitt shaved it all off to play Oakland A's general manager Billy Beane in the flick, which also stars Jonah Hill, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Robin Wright. (People)

Finland has begun work on legalising same-sex marriage and adoption by married same-sex couples
Justice Minister Tuija Brax said Finland's constitution bans discrimination based on gender and that public opinion supports letting gay couples marry. The law should be in place by 2012. That will leave Denmark as the only Nordic country without same-sex marriage. Ironically, in 1989, Denmark was the first nation in the world to enact a registered-partnership law. It granted gay couples 99 percent of the rights and obligations of marriage and became a model for numerous other nations. (Pinkpaper)

El Paso man discharged from Navy under DADT after being drugged, raped at gay club

An El Paso man says he was discharged from the Navy under “don’t ask don’t tell” because a commander found out he was gay when he sought treatment at a hospital after being drugged and raped at a gay nightclub in San Diego. Jose Rodriguez, who was missing for three days when he was kidnapped and sexually assaulted by a group of men last June, says he woke up in a hotel room with no clothes. He doesn’t recall much about the incident. READ MORE

Earth younger than previously thought, say scientists
A new geological study has set a more accurate age for planet Earth, according to scientists. Researchers say their investigation shows the Earth is 70 million years younger than the 4.537 billion-year-old planet "we had previously imagined". To confirm Earth's age, the team compared elements in its mantle to those in meteorites that are the same age as the Solar System. The crux of its conclusion was that the formation of the planet took much longer than previously thought. READ MORE

Atlanta Police classify attack of gay couple in Piedmont Park as 'bias crime'
A gay couple beaten and robbed in Piedmont Park by a group of male youths has been classified as a "bias crime" by Atlanta Police officials. Rev. Josh Noblitt of Saint Mark United Methodist Church and his partner were picnicking in the park on the evening of July 2 when they were approached by several young black males and beaten and then robbed at gunpoint. The first three young men who approached Noblitt and his partner asked, "Are y’all gay? Two men laying on a blanket. We ought to beat y’all for that,’” Noblitt told the Georgia Voice. Carlos Campos, spokesperson for the APD, said today they have classified the crime as a "bias crime." READ MORE

Ewan McGregor Is A Boss Man
Ewan McGregor attended the Berlin Hugo Boss show earlier this week and was spotted there with Jessica Alba, who I think has multiple copies of herself - like a Cylon. She's been at nearly every fashion show we've covered this week - well except this one. Anyway, this isn't about her. It's about Ewan. Just look at him and smile. (Socialitelife)

'Bullying' link to child suicide rate, UK study suggests
A bullying prevention charity has called for more official data on child suicide and research into its causes. Beatbullying found that up to 44% of suicides among 10- to 14-year-olds may be bullying-related. The charity said 26 out of the 59 cases reported in the national media were linked to intimidating behaviour. Its report was published to mark the second anniversary of the death of 13-year-old Sam Leeson. Beatbullying said the Office of National Statistics had recorded 176 cases of suicides of 10- to 14-year-olds between 2000 and 2008 in England, Scotland and Wales. It then searched national press reports on the issue and said at least 14% (26 of 176) were clearly linked by the press to bullying. READ MORE

UN grants refugee status to two gay Pakistani men trying to immigrate to Canada
Two gay Pakistani men who are trying to immigrate to Canada have managed to obtain refugee status from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Tehseen Ahmad and Zain Ahmad Khan fled from their homes in Karachi after they were outed in a BBC interview following their participation in a pride parade in the southern Pakistan city. READ MORE

Rosie O’Donnell plays baseball with the cast and crew of Curb Your Enthusiasm
Rosie O’Donnell threw on a baseball jersey and hit the field with the cast and crew of Curb Your Enthusiasm filming on location in New York City on Tuesday (July 6). Showing off the athletic skills she acquired during 1992’s A League of Their Own, the 48-year-old media personality spent the afternoon shooting an outdoor scene alongside Larry David for wildly popular HBO show. (Faded Youth)

From 'homophobe' to rabbi at gay weddings
Evanston Rabbi Peter Knobel likes to say he grew up in a binary world, where everything fit in neat categories: black and white, male-female, gay-straight. Over time, he said, he learned that life doesn't work that way, and changed his position on issues such as gay marriage — which he now supports — while influencing the nation's Reform Jewish population as a leader who helped develop a new prayer book used by hundreds of congregations. READ MORE

Sylvester Stallone is a F-R-E-A-K
Actor Sylvester Stallone was spotted in Malibu on Saturday with freaky veiny bulging arms! (Celebslam)

42% rise in Irish HIV diagnoses among gay and bi men
The number of men who have sex with men being diagnosed with HIV in the last year in Ireland rose by 42 per cent, a report has said. According to the Health Protection Surveillance Centre, 97 diagnoses were made in 2008, rising to 138 in 2009. Most of the men (63 per cent) were born in Ireland and are thought to have picked up the infection in the country. The median age for infection was 35.6 years, and men under the age of 30 accounted for 35 per cent of diagnoses. The study concluded that "urgent" measures should be targeted at younger men and those recently diagnosed. READ MORE

Former St. Cloud police officer sues over gay discrimination
(Minnesota) A former St. Cloud Police Officer is suing the Police Department saying he was discriminated against because he's gay. Sean Lathrop worked for the department from September 2006 until he resigned in April. The 27-year-old says he was subjected to anti-gay comments from police officials and had his responsibilities reduced. The department says is "vehemently denies" the allegations and looks forward to addressing them in court. (ABC News)

Outfest 2010: Incestuous Gay Brothers, Wild Women’s Prison and George Takei in Bed


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