• NOAH’S THIRD ARC Despite cancellation, the series lives on in fan fiction! [Noah’s Arc Fan Fiction via Project Q Atlanta]
• HISTORICAL GAY LOVERS Sorry to bust the bubble of ignorant same-sex marriage foes, but gay love isn’t anything new. And neither is this crazy idea that we’re trying to “redefine” marriage. Let’s go back to ancient Egypt and the origins of same-sex unions in Africa. [WOW]
• EASTER BASHING At the Sydney Royal Easter Show, a gay couple claim a stall vendor for Mudgeeraba Spices and Curry Blends threw a pot of curry and a glass jar at them after refusing to let them sample a sauce. “No, it’s only for mums and dads,” the vendor reportedly said. “It’s only for people who have families. … I can discriminate against who I want – it’s my product. Now get lost.” [SX News]
• FILM The new coming-of-gay-age flick Finding Me hits DVD this week. See the premiere photos. [TLA]
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
• OPERATION: FALWELL Undercover at Jerry Falwell’s Liberty University, 21-year-old Brown University student (and new author) Kevin Roose explores the lives of Jesus freaks. Hint: They aren’t freaks. [Newsweek]
• PARENTING A British mom was fined for harassment by text and voicemail — against her own estranged son. She’s been sending him homophobic texts ever since spotting the 16-year-old holding hands with another guy. One voicemail she left him: “I will get you, believe me, and you will get your head kicked in.” [BBC]
Wayne
Thanks for the plug on my Gay Marriage/Homo History story!
You can also check out my additional posts on the history of homosexuality and homosexual unions within certain early Native American tribes as well as the long history of same-sex marriages in ancient Greece and Rome:
Native Americans:
http://worldofwonder.net/2009/04/14/Homo_History/
Greece & Rome:
http://worldofwonder.net/2009/04/21/Homo_History/
Brandon
So, obviously Africa has not always been the bastion of homophobia it is 2day and anti-gay sentiment is not inherent in the black race as many of the gay community claim. I wonder what changed?
If only christianity had never been introduced the African continent. Or, the world for that matter.
sparkle obama
@Wayne:
go wayne.
i like it a lot.
keep reading and typing!
that’s a good look, honey.
AlwaysGay
How can a heterosexual male go undercover on a christian university campus and not find the experience postive? These schools teach that heterosexual males are at the top, that everything should be their way, that heterosexual male patriarchy/ heterosexual male hegemony is grand.
rogue dandelion
@AlwaysGay: that article was ridiculous. Newsweek is taking a nosedive in quality
Dan
@AlwaysGay: It depends on the university and the denomination. The United Church of Christ has released several ads supporting LGBT rights and welcoming LGBT people into their churches. Their campuses tend to be very pro-LGBT. Unity, the Friends church, and the Unitarian Universalists are pro-LGBT, and marriage equality in Canada began with the Metropolitan Community Church.
The Gay Numbers
@Brandon: No it’s the rise of all Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam) along with the influence of the west. You can see the see Asian cultures.
Brandon
@ The Gay Numbers
I don’t agree w/ that. Islam existed all across the African Continent for centuries w/out any noted persecution of gays. In northern African countries, like Morocco, there is evidence of same-sex unions being carried out w/ the approval of Muslim communities. It wasn’t untill Christian European colonialism that this became frowned upon and laws created against it. Plus, Judaism really, other than being an influence on christianity, really hasn’t had much of an influence on other cultures by itself. Since, Jews througout history tend to be the minority wherever they go they usually haven’t had much sway throughout Africa, Asia, Latin American etc.
If you trace back through history whenever there has been a marked change in views toward homosexuality in once-tolerant societies you usually see the mark of Western Colonialism and Christianity. Christianity has been the real problem in the world for many years now.
Alec
@Brandon: Islam is hardly tolerant. Yes, there are those accounts from Northern Africa and elsewhere, but it seems that those practices were clearly up against the dominant direction of the Muslim religion. To place the blame on Christianity, rather than all of them, just seems silly.
All of the Hebrew sky god religions are intolerant of homosexuality, because the ancient Hebrews were. Sure, they grow and change, but placing all the blame on Western colonialism is silly.
The Gay Numbers
@Brandon: To add to what Alec says, what you describe is an oasis in a vast desert of violence against gays. The root cause of the evil perpetrated against gays began with Judaism, but this was not its end. In fact, Christianity, if you want to do cross comparisons did not, as I remember, become truly virulent anti-gay until the time of either Aquinas or Augustine as the church sought to consolidate its earthly powers, but it hardly matters. The fact is in the last thousand years it has been these three religions that have systematically tried to claim that homosexuality is against nature. Other religions were not perfect, and are not perfect, but they did not from what I can tell until recently have this level of hostility.
HYHYBT
Am I the only one who thinks the story about the Egyptian manicurists is a fake?
Wayne
@HYHYBT
Though several early scholars speculated that they might be brothers or twins, further study has found there to be absolutely NO evidence at all to indicate they were twins or even related. The two men are often depicted embracing and kissing eachother -no other artwork in Eygpt shows two “brothers” in similiar poses or affectionate embraces, nor are there other Egyptian tombs were two men (brothers or any thing else) ever shared a tomb. And one can’t help but notice that even though their “wives and children” are depicted in the tomb, the wives are never prominently displayed as in most tombs and the wives are never shown in an affectionate embrace with their “husband” though Khnumhotep and Niankhkhnum are constantly depicted as embracing eachother. Another recent theory that tries to explain the overt affection between the two men was that they were conjoined twins; but once again there is no evidence that the two were related. And there are several dipictions of each individual standing by himself which shows they were not conjoined. And, on a side bar, many homosexuals throughout history had wives and children. In fact, there are several homosexuals in modern times that have a wife and kids.
Mark.of.Antares
I feel sorry for that boy and his family.
Makes me happy for my family even though they are in denial about me and my bf. At least they still talk to him and treat him and me as human beings!
REBELComx
@The Gay Numbers:
@Brandon:
You’re both right…somewhat. Islam has a long and even more complicated history than even Christianity. But both were originally sects of, or influenced by, the Hebrews and each other. Christianity’s anti-gay stance stems from its ties to Judaism, which is weird since Christ came to fulfill the law and Christianity is based on the removal of Leviticus laws. And for a while, they did just that. There are even reports of St. Peter actually performing gay marriages between Roman soldiers. Officially documented same-sex marriage (marriage like we have today) in Rome actually dates back to 27BC. Before that, same-sex couples weren’t uncommon, especially pedastric couples (pedastry was considered a form of temporary marriage), and ESPECIALLY in the military. Gay marriage wasn’t officially made illegal by the increasingly conservative Christian government in Rome until 342AD.
Islam, on the other hand, has a very rich history of homosexual reverence due to their entangling of the myths and legends of ancient Syria and other cultures. The epic of Gilgamesh has gay lovers, and even in some of the most strict and conservative parts of the Muslim nations, it is still looked well upon for a man to enjoy the talents of a young male dancer/courtesan. Islamic society though has different definitions of gay than we do though. Usually only the “receptive partner” is considered to be engaging in homosexual activity.
In fact, outside of ancient Judea, no culture had express laws against homosexuality. Scholars speculate that the reason the Hebrews had such laws was because they were such a small tribe of people and were constantly invaded by their neighbors. Outlawing homosexuality would have helped to hammer home the need for tight families and procreation in order to build their numbers and thus their strength. Its also an example of how xenophobia can influence a culture. Having such a loathing for the foreigners who constantly raid and ransack your community, you’d want to do what you can to NOT be like them. And the neighboring Canaanites used homosexual acts in ritual and were accepting of it in life. But, so did the pagans in Europe, which might explain the sudden change of heart of the Roman government…since after adopting Christianity the Empire began to fall and was constantly invaded. It’s just like we did during the Cold War when, to vilify the atheist USSR government, we started using forms of “In God We Trust” in everything, even adding “under God” to the Pledge of Allegiance in ’53.
Most of the Jewish community has taken steps to move away from the archaic stance of Leviticus. Let’s not forget that it was the Jews in Germany who were the greatest allies of the original gay rights movement just before the Holocaust. And most Jews recognize the old Testament as a series of myths and legends to explain where their people come from and should not be taken as historical fact. It’s a shame some Christians (who didn’t write it in the first place) don’t realize this and decide to take the book so literally.
The whole African and Native American thing is pretty basic as they both have similar stories and reasons, and both communities behaved in a manner similar to how paleontologists believe ancient and uncivilized man did. Like Wayne’s link pointed out, a person of “two spirit” was considered a more perfect being and better in tune with nature and spirits, and was usually made a leader or shaman.
Of course, if stone-age man did actually do this, it would kind of mean that homos were responsible for the start of religion in the first place, making this whole debacle kind of our fault…
Dammit…I wrote a friggin book for a comment again.
t money
i think all yall need to go to the http://www.city-data.com forums. there are some really uneducated individuals who would serve as perfect pupils for these lessons.
city-data.com/forum/politics-and-other-controversies/
those nuts will blow your mind.