Hordes of homos will descend on Chicago this weekend for the International Mr. Leather contest. And, as per tradition, many participants will pop into legendary S&M club, Chicago Hellfire Club. Unfortunately, trans men aren't invited.

Chicago Hellfire Club - one of the oldest S&M clubs in the nation - enacted a strict no female-to-male policy ten years ago, thus barring a significant portion of the S&M community.

Of their unfriendly policy, former Hellfire Club president and long-time member, David Igasaki said:

The general rule of thumb is that there has to be a penile attachment... They don't want to admit women. It's not that people are anti-women or personally discriminate against transgender people. It's just that as a sex club there is a desire to protect a gay environment during play.

Igasaki claims that Hellfire Club can bar FTM's because its a private club.

Critics, however, claim that the Club goes into public space to recruit members. One transman comments: "I don't think that a private club would set up a table at a public venue and allow anybody to talk with you and inquire to attend an event." And transmen aren't the only ones fighting the Hellfire.

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Man oh man, some homophobes in Kosovo have serious issues! An anymous person or persons sent a hateful note to the leader of the gay rights group, Centre for Social Emancipation. The" revolutionary" recipient - known only as Mr. Z - couldn't believe the severity of the threats, which translate thus: "We will fuck you mother, burn you with all your belongings, and will make you carry your intestines in your own hands, you lewd man”. Talk about lewd! The author goes on to accuse Mr.Z of “smearing the pure and freedom-seeking nation" and says he should "prepare his funeral within two weeks”. Yikes!

Despite the imminence of the warnings, the Serbian province's police initially refused to pursue the case. Looking for some justice, the CSE enlisted the help of the Youth Initiative for Human Rights. Under growing pressure, the police opened an allegedly flawed exploration. A CSE spokesperson declares:

We believe that Mr. Z’s right to use all the possible legal remedies has been violated by the police officers... His privacy was not respected as he was being interviewed in the reception room and at least seven different police officers and random citizens walked into the room, thus stopping the interview process and finding out what had happened.

Poor Mr. Z. Always last on the list of priorities...

Gay, Lesbian Youth Leaders Under Serious Death Threats [UK Gay News]

Scotland Yard remains hampered by homophobia, says a new report. The UK-based Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Advisory Group studied ten hate-crimes and found that coppers don't quite have a handle on the queers: an ignorance that may have detracted their investigations. The group writes:

If we borrow the terminology of the Macpherson [racist study] report, historical police practice amounted to 'institutional' homophobia and transphobia.

There were several investigations where we have deep reservations about the way in which the identity of the victim informed investigative decisions at the time. We also found evidence of inappropriate attitudes to the circumstances of some murders.

The reports quick to note, however, that Scotland Yard has made improvements in recent years. Still, there's more work to be done, including getting a better grasp on gay culture.

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It's been a long time coming, but WFNY-FM's radio show, "The Dog House with JV and Elvis" has finally been canned. CBS radio has unceremoniously fired the two loud mouth radio jockeys after the pair played a racist act. NY Post reports:

The pair broadcast a call to a Chinese restaurant; the caller, in an exaggerated accent, placed an order for "shrimp flied lice," claimed he was a student of kung fu and compared menu items to employees' body parts.
...
Vandergrift and Lay were suspended without pay for three weeks, but Asian-Americans demanded the same penalty applied to the much higher-profile Imus.

This isn't the first time JV and Elvis caused a scandal. The unemployed duo raised some eyebrows when they booted A Brief Smile's so-called "pansy" bassist back in March. Here's JV and Elvis' account from their now defunct blog:

After JV continued his bashing of the pansy bass player, said pansy bass player returned to the studio (un-invited this time) to lambast JV for using the word "Faggy". He says he takes offense to that word, being a boy of mixed sexual tastes (that means he's half a fenook like Rudy), and more or less asked for an apology.

Charming...

Online dating service eHarmony isn't taking Chemisty.com's advertorial attacks lying down. The company - which got its start under James Dobson's Bible-thumping thumb - has hired famed lawyer Lanny J. Davis - who helped Clinton during that whole Lewisnky blow job brouhaha.

In an effort to save his client's hide, Davis has asked NBC and People to stop running Chemistry.com's adverts, which highlight eHarmony's irrational, allegedly discriminatory practices.

As you may recall, one commercial features a man saying eHarmony rejected his application because he's gay.

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Big trouble in gay Iran. More than eighty gay and gay-allies have been were arrested at a May 10th party in Isfahan. Men and women had traveled from all over to attend a man named Farhad's birthday celebration. Unfortunately, someone tipped notified the police, who subsequently raised the party, beat attendants and took them off to jail, according to Toronto-based Iranian Queer Organization. One would-be partygoer, Peyman, tells IQO:

I went to buy a gift for Farhad and so I arrived late for the party.

As soon as I turned in to their street, I saw police cars parked everywhere; all my friends were arrested while seven or eight policeman beat them with batons. Fearing the usual punishments for attending a party, two had jumped from the second-floor window and were in a bad condition.

Farhad’s family were [sic] also arrested. Everyone was transported into a big car and taken into custody. All their cell phones are off and we have no information about the situation inside the jail.

Faggotry remains illegal under Iran's Islamic law. In fact, a number of men have been executed for their gay ways, including Shahab Darvishi, who met his unjust fate last November.

UK Gay News reports that female guests have been released, but the men remain in torturous custody. Not much of a birthday present for poor Farhad. IQO has asked for a "prompt release" of all guests. Allah willing...

More gay drama in Latvia. With just four weeks until the small nation's gay pride - an event the government once banned - Catholic Cardinal Jānis Pujāts wants his queer countrymen to know exactly what he thinks of them: they're prostitutes.

Imploring the government to curb the forthcoming celebration, Pujāts (pictured, looking grainy) likened homosexuality to a total corruption in the sexual arena” and went on to call it an "unnatural form of prostitution". In a letter to Rītdiena, Pujāts, who stands as Latvia's highest ranking Catholic, claimed that gay pride's just a clever way to spread "sexual corruption".

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Thirteen Health and Human Services employees quit a diversity committee after state officials barred a lesbian speaker from a planned event.

Becky Gillespie had been invited to discuss her experience raising two children with her lover. Unfortunately, officials weren't down with her lesbianic insight. Reacting to the news, Gillespie said,

Because my partner isn't male, my family doesn't count. It isn't a family. [I was going to speak] so they could be a little more aware when they're discussing their own issues with their own children, so we could stop perpetuating bias and prejudice.

An HHS official, meanwhile, say the committee's meant to address "cultural diversity," according to Omaha's KETV: "We followed the federal protected classes. Sexual orientation is not a federally protected class." The official, however, would like to discuss the matter further.

The brouhaha happens to coincide with a Canadian report saying lesbians have no child-rearing disadvantage. In fact, children may benefit from having two mommies:

A few studies suggest that children with two lesbian mothers may have marginally better social competence than children in 'traditional nuclear' families, even fewer studies show the opposite, and most studies fail to find any differences.

Someone send that along to James Dobson...

Be sure to read Stereohyped's perspective for "the black view."

Reverend Irene Monroe ain't no friend of Barack Obama. The black lesbian has come out against the black presidential candidate on more than one occasion. She first blasted the Illinois junior senator back in November, writing:

..[H]is affinity to conservative Christian beliefs not only informs his decision on the issue of marriage equality, but it also solidifies his decision about us in a community of believers like himself.

Though some black churches have lent their support to the lavender cause, the majority still maintain a decidedly repressive approach - an approach Obama maintains.

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African queers of all colors will gather in Johannesburg, South Africa to discuss the continent's homophobic pandemic. The International Lesbian and Gay Association in Africa will address the thirty-eight African nations that still legally prohibit homosexuality and plan on releasing a comprehensive report on the matter. An ILGA press release remarks:

Although many of the countries listed in the report do not systematically implement those laws, their mere existence reinforces a culture where a significant portion of the citizens need to hide from the rest of the population out of fear.
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Whether imported by colonial empires or the result of legislations culturally shaped by religious beliefs, if not deriving directly from a conservative interpretation of religious texts, homophobic laws are the fruit of a certain time and context in history. Homophobia is cultural.

It's no coincidence the group has chosen South Africa for its first conference - the "Rainbow Nation" has the world's most progressive constitution, including the right to same-sex marriage. Hopefully this conference will help spread the love.

The Republicans don't have the best gay rights track record. Despite their homo-jilting history, the Grand Old Party does its best to remain congenial on the matter - or, at least, as congenial as you can be when denying Americans basic rights.

Presidential candidate and former Wisconsin governor, Tommy Thompson let it all hang out during last night's presidential debate, when asked whether employers have the right to fire a known homosexual:

I think that is left up to the individual business. I really sincerely believe that that is an issue that business people have to got to make their own determination as to whether or not they should be.

When asked to clarify if that's an affirmation, Thompson answered, "yes".

Minutes later, his campaign tried to clean up the mess. From AmericaBlog:

...An astute [reader] wrote Tommy Thompson's main campaign email address at 10:11pm this evening to complain that Thompson was an "ignorant, homophobic fool." Imagine his surprise at 10:20pm, only 9 minutes later, when he received an email from Thompson spokesman Tony Jewell saying that Thompson misheard the question and is opposed to discrimination. Yeah, well, watch the video for yourself - Thompson says it's up the individual employer if he wants to fire someone for being gay. He answered the question twice. Can't be any clearer than that.

What we don't understand is why Jewell would even try to clarify Thompson's tactless comments. Doesn't his base loathe the gays? If anything, you'd think Jewell would celebrate the remark. Such back peddling ain't going to look good. Which, of course, is good news for the gays.

The European Court of Human Rights ruled yesterday that current Polish president Lech Kaczynski violated the law when he tried to ban 2005's Warsaw Gay Pride. Acting as Warsaw's mayor, the fierce homophobe - and rumored homosexual - refused to allow gay men and women to show their pride, thus sparking a two-year legal battle.

In their statement, the court ruled:

The positive obligation of a State to secure genuine and effective respect for freedom of association and assembly was of particular importance to those with unpopular views or belonging to minorities, because they were more vulnerable to victimisation.

They found Kaczynski and his staff guilty of three charges: violating freedom of assembly and violating the right to an effective remedy. Kaczynski did not release a statement. Secretary of State Maciej Lopinski, however, mentioned that the president may take further action.

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