Project Homophobia, a Teaser: VIDEO

Austrian filmmaker Gregor Schmidinger describes his film Project Homophobia:

An adolescent boy, who serves the Austrian Military Forces, experiences homosexual feelings towards one of his comrades. It's their last night at the Austrian-Hungarian border, socially isolated and armed with loaded weapons.

Watch the (work-unfriendly) trailer, AFTER THE JUMP...

Signorile: The Richard Grenell Fiasco Exposed Romney's Cynical Move

Michelangelo Signorile has a great piece on yesterday's resignation of out gay Romney spokesman Richard Grenell, which extremist right-wing 'pro-family' hate groups like the American Family Association are holding up like a "skinned jackal."

Writes Signorile:

Actually, I believe this is a big win for progressives and for gay journalists and commentators as well. We drew out the conservative leaders in addition to Fischer, like Family Research Council's Tony Perkins, Gary Bauer and other commentators on National Review and Daily Caller, by bringing forth and continually highlighting the true facts about Grenell, which, to most Americans, are completely acceptable, but which, in the eyes of the evangelical right, make him a radical homosexual. As I wrote in a post last week, Grenell isn't just gay, like some other gay Republicans who stay quiet about their homosexuality. He's a gay man who very publicly expressed that he wants to get married to another man and who believes President Obama isn't adequate on LGBT rights.

Why is it that a win? Because Grenell was being used for cover by a candidate with abhorrently antigay positions, a man who has promised to "propose and promote" a federal marriage amendment if elected president. I don't buy the argument made by some that it was a measure of progress that Romney hired a gay man as his foreign policy spokesperson when he's using that gay man to make himself appear moderate to independents while he's promising the GOP base that he'll make gay people into second class citizens. Actual progress in the GOP will come when their presidential candidates stop bowing to bigots and refuse to sign their extremist pledges. Otherwise, it's all window dressing.

Yes, and:

This entire fiasco presents a hard truth to our media, which seems to want to think otherwise: Mitt Romney is anti-gay, no matter what he supposedly truly believes (and can we please not forget he's a devout Mormon?). He can't be anything else and keep the support of his party because the chasm that separates the GOP base from the rest of America is now bigger than the Grand Canyon.

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NC Pastor Sean Harris Issues Non-Apology for Telling Parents to Beat Kids Who Seem Gay

Pastor Sean Harris of the Berean Baptist Church, who advised parents in a sermon to punch their sons if they seem "girlish" and "crack" their son's wrists if they seem "limp", has issued a non-apology for the video of his sermon which went viral yesterday:

Sean Harris, pastor of Berean Baptist Church on Glensford Drive, said he does not advocate hitting children and wishes he could take back a remark encouraging fathers to punch boys who act effeminately.

But he defended his belief in the need to reinforce traditional gender roles in children.

"If I had to say it again, I would say it differently, no doubt," Harris said Tuesday. "Those weren't planned words, but what I do stand by is that the word of God makes it clear that effeminate behavior is ungodly. I'm not going to compromise on that."

More from the Fayetteville Observer:

From within the church, Harris said, "the response was, 'Pastor, we know you didn't mean that.'"

"We know when you're saying something seriously and when were supposed to just understand the intent and not the application,' "

Harris said. Harris said in the sermon that same-sex couples are free to live together. He argued Tuesday that there was "not an ounce of hate being communicated in that," but said in the sermon that such couples live together "in the most sick and ungodly way."

After listening to the sermon Tuesday, a divinity professor at Campbell University called it "one of the most disappointing and un-Christ-like diatribes I have ever heard."

Here's what Harris said, if you missed it:

"So your little son starts to act a little girlish when he is four years old and instead of squashing that like a cockroach and saying, 'Man up, son, get that dress off you and get outside and dig a ditch, because that is what boys do,' you get out the camera and you start taking pictures of Johnny acting like a female and then you upload it to YouTube and everybody laughs about it and the next thing you know, this dude, this kid is acting out childhood fantasies that should have been squashed....Can I make it any clearer? Dads, the second you see your son dropping the limp wrist, you walk over there and crack that wrist. Man up. Give him a good punch. Ok? You are not going to act like that. You were made by God to be a male and you are going to be a male."

Harris also advised parents to "reign in" girls who seem 'butch' with similar behavior.

Listen to his disgusting rant again, AFTER THE JUMP..

Previously...
NC Pastor Sean Harris Urges Parents to 'Punch' Their 'Girlish' Sons, Crack Their Limp Wrists: AUDIO [tlrd]

Transwoman Brandy Martell Murdered in Oakland: VIDEO

Brandy Martell was shot to death in Oakland over the weekend. Investigators are investigating whether the murder was also a hate crime, ABC7 reports:

37-year-old Brandy Martell was sitting behind the wheel of her car around 5:15 a.m. Sunday when one or two men walked up and began a conversation. A witness told ABC7 the conversation was cordial, but then a few minutes later, one of the men became angry and fired into the car right where Martell was sitting...

...Investigators are talking to witnesses and trying to figure out exactly what led up to the shooting. It could be considered a hate crime if they find out that the shooter was motivated by a perception of the victim's sexual identity.

Martell worked at an outreach center for the transgender and transsexual community. Her friends believe her murder was a hate crime.

Watch ABC7's report, AFTER THE JUMP...

Gay for Pay: VIDEO

Greg Scarnici and his BQE project view rough trade gay-for-pay through a mock hipster lens. Shot by our friend Brandon Herman in DUMBO, Brooklyn.

Watch, AFTER THE JUMP...

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Ogden, Utah Holds Bullying Vigil After Death of Gay Teen: VIDEO

Approximately 100 members of the Ogden, Utah community, many of whom described themselves as straight, married, and Mormon, attended an anti-bullying vigil following the recent death of seventeen-year-old Jack Reese, who was bullied for being gay.

FOX13 reports:

One woman said she didn’t know if any of her children were gay, but she would not care if they were — she would love them.

“I, in high school, I’m definitely guilty of using derogatory terms,” said one man. “I wouldn’t be caught dead doing that now. It’s because I love you, and it’s because I care.”

On Tuesday, the Utah Pride Center announced the creation of an anti-bullying hotline for youth, parents and teachers who are dealing with the problem. Utah has no statewide anti-bullying laws or even a statewide educational policy, the center said, so it has counselors volunteering to operate a phone line.

The phone number is 801-580-7680.

Watch, AFTER THE JUMP...