Gay Rights Activist Questions Hillary Clinton at EU

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called on a man at a Q&A session at the European Parliament today  "because he [was wearing] a T-shirt that [said] 'I Love Hillary'" on it.

The man stood up and said: "My name is Max. I am from Moldova, and I am a gay rights activist. In seven countries in the world homosexuals are sentenced to death and many more to prison. A lot of gay men around the world die because of the HIV AIDS policies that the Bush administration had that did not allow to spend money on prevention for men who have sex with men. How do you see the foreign policy of the United States changing in the coming years in the field of human rights and in particular sexual rights and gay and lesbian rights?"

As I've noted before, things certainly aren't good in Moldova.

Answered Clinton: "Human rights is and always will be one of the pillars of our foreign policy. And in particular, the persecution and discrimination against gays and lesbians is something that we take very seriously. It is terribly unfortunate that right now in unfortunately many places in the world violence against gays and lesbians, certainly discrimination and prejudice are not just occurring but condoned and protected. And we would hope that over the next few years we could have some influence in trying to change those attitudes..."

Watch Clinton's entire answer, AFTER THE JUMP...

Artist Condemned for Mocking European Union with Stereotypes

An art installation commissioned by the Czech Republic, current holders of the EU Presidency, has angered some and amused others for its satirical representations of various nations in the European Union. The artwork, which shows the various nations arranged on a blue grid and is set to "go life" (become animatronic with noises) later this week:

The Daily Mail reports: "France's map is emblazoned with the word GREVE! (French for strike) in red, a reference to its frequent industrial disputes, Romania is a Dracula theme park after its most famous fictional character and Sweden is a do-it-yourself IKEA furniture flatpack. Controversially, Britain has been deliberately left off the map entirely in an apparent jibe at our euroscepticism. Bulgaria is represented as the floor of a toilet, Lithuania features five men in army uniforms urinating on Russia and Greece is on fire - a reference to the violent riots that have blighted the country in recent weeks. Austria is represented as a nuclear power station, Estonia is pictured with a hammer and sickle and Luxembourg is made of Nazi gold with a 'For Sale' sign sticking out of it. The Netherlands is depicted as a sea with minarets rising from the waves, in an apparent reference to simmering religious tensions that culminated in the murder of Dutch film director and Islam critic Theo van Gogh by a Muslim militant in 2004. Poland, one of Europe's most religious nations, has priests waving a rainbow flag - a symbol of pride for gay communities. The decision to leave Britain off the air-fix style map was taken by the British artist Khalid Asadi who sought to highlight Britain's uncertain relations with the EU by cutting it out altogether. However, his official explanation was more baffling. 'This improvement of exactness means that its individual selective sieve can cover the so-called objective sieve,' said Mr Asadi. Lorraine Mullally, director of Open Europe, said Britain was fortunate to have escaped a far more embarrassing national stereotype such as pregnant teenagers, drunken louts vomiting in the street or football hooligans."

The installation is on display outside the EU headquarters in Brussels, and was condemned by the Czech government after they learned the artist, David Cerny, had also lied about its creation:

"The work, entitled 'Entropa', was mean to be the joint work of artists representing each EU member country. However in yet another bizarre twist today, the Czech artist who had the original idea - David Cerny, famed for painting a Soviet tank pink - admitted today that he had duped the EU into thinking artists from each country had contributed. The reality was, he admitted, that all of the sculptures had been done by himself and a friend."

News: Jose Sucuzhañay, MRI, Google Zeitgeist, Ryan Gosling

Day without a Gay fizzles...

Woman to auction brain MRI featuring image of the Virgin Mary.

Anderson Cooper swims with sharks VIDEO.

Gay man arrested for fighting back at gay basher with dinner plate: "Wilson said the incident began when he and four friends were finishing a late dinner at about 2 a.m. at the Bistro Francais. Suddenly, according to Wilson, the two men walked back into the main part of the restaurant, with one of them shouting obscenities and anti-gay names at him and his friends. 'They came running at us,' Wilson said. 'I think one of them said they would throw us through the window.' Wilson said he and his friends had been sitting at a table in front of the restaurant’s front window in a confined area on a raised platform. 'I was cornered between the wall and the window,' Wilson said. 'I had nowhere to go and these guys are charging at me with their arms raised,' he said...Wilson said he grabbed a plate from the table and hit one of the two men in the head."

Gay NYE parties to go on in Bangkok despite unrest.

Becket Fund founder Seamus Hasson, whose organization took out the full-page ad in the NYT accusing peaceful Prop 8 protestors of mob violence, is now comparing them to Al Qaeda: "Well, whether it’s an organized movement like Al Qaeda or whether it’s the Al Qaeda-like, um, inspired acts of terrorism elsewhere, people are right to be concerned about, um, radical Islamist violence..."

Censored gay photos back on the wall at BYU.

Britney Spears and Ellen DeGeneres' version of silent night is anything but serene.

Versace exec hit with sexual harassment claim by receptionist who says she was forced to convey sexually-charged messages to her boss: " One caller said he left his eyeglasses in Patrick Guadagno's apartment, then alleged the 57-year-old fashionista drugged and date-raped him, according to Fay Rodriguez's blockbuster Manhattan Federal Court lawsuit. Another man told Rodriguez that Guadagno, the president of Versace Wholesale USA, gave him a sexually transmitted disease, she charges."

EU countries criticized over same-sex partner rights: "A Commission report showed that 14 states do not give full entry and residence rights to partners of same-sex couples. They are Germany, Austria, France, Greece, Hungary, Poland, Cyprus, Malta, Romania, Slovakia, Ireland, Estonia, Slovenia and Latvia."

Here is the Facebook page for the vigil on Sunday afternoon for Jose Sucuzhañay, who died as a result of the anti-gay, anti-Hispanic attack by four men in Brooklyn in the early hours of Monday morning: "Gather at 2PM at the corner of Myrtle Avenue and Grove Street (Take the L to Myrtle/Wyckoff). We will then walk to the site of the attack (Bushwick Avenue and Kossuth Place) for a vigil at 4pm. THE PREVIOUSLY PLANNED WALK AT 7PM STARTING IN FRONT OF THE ARCHIVE WILL NO LONGER BE HAPPENING. We hope you will join with us at the march and vigil organized by Make the Road."

Rolling Stone shows even Brad Pitt can have a bad day in front of the lens.

"Sarah Palin" was Google's fastest rising search term for 2008: inside the Google Zeitgeist.

Ryan Gosling got a glimpse of the full moon.

Gay grifter goes on $361,000 spending spree in NYC with boyfriend's credit card.

Battlestar Galactica to get gay character.

Obama's Change.gov website has just added an interactive Digg-like area where actual citizens can ask questions, which are then voted up or down. The current top question is: "What will you do to establish transparency and safeguards against waste with the rest of the Wall Street bailout money?" No word on when the answers are coming.

Taxi driver in Britain stands accused of luring a passenger to his home and raping him: " Raja Khan, 52, told his 23-year-old victim that Eid celebrations were taking place at his home, a court heard. Prosecutor Robert Elias QC said the man had agreed to go to his house in Richmond Street, Accrington, but asked to be taken home when he realised there was no party going on. He also became alarmed when Khan locked the front door behind him, Preston Crown Court heard. The jury heard the 23-year-old was left 'frozen and shocked' as Khan raped him. Mr Elias said Khan suggested that they detour to his house. He said there was an end of Eid celebration. The victim had a bottle of cider, which he had started drinking. As they went into the Richmond Street property there was no signs of a celebration and the door was locked behind him."

News: Georgia, Rauschenberg, Jamaica, John Mayer, Sonoma

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Send a personal message of support to Senator Ted Kennedy.

Con man Sonoma County, California attempts to stake claim as same-sex marriage destination.

Who won Dancing with the Stars?

Prayers for Bobby: Sigourney Weaver to play conservative religious mother in Lifetime telepic about gay son's suicide. "In her first telepic role, Weaver will star as Mary Griffith, a devout Christian who winds up becoming an advocate for gay and lesbian youths after her son is driven into a deep depression by his family's disapproval and attempts to 'cure' him of his sexual orientation."

Jamaican prime minister stands behind nation's homophobia: "Jamaica is not going allow values to be imposed on it from outside. We're going to have to determine that ourselves and we're going to have to determine to what extent those values will adapt over time to change, change in perception, change in understanding as to how people live."

Tyler Green on the hetero-normalizing of the late Robert Rauschenberg: "Critics at America's largest publications, including Michael Kimmelman, Alan Artner, Blake Gopnik, Richard Lacayo, and Peter Plagens, mostly avoid the topic. Kimmelman's queasy reference to Jasper Johns, Rauschenberg, and "the intimacy of their relationship" was the closest the Times came to acknowledging that Rauschenberg was gay. The Boston Globe's Mark Feeney, Obit magazine's Phyllis Tuchman and Newsweek's Plagens and others also took the Johns route. The two major papers in Rauschenberg's home state were even more timid."

Court in Malta rules that calling someone "gay" is not defamatory: "Magistrate Michael Mallia ruled that a person’s sexual orientation in the current society was not of social interest bar that of assuring that no discrimination is made. The fact that homosexuality was a criminal offence until 1973, said the magistrate, does not reflect the situation in the 21st century."

Jason Statham has been flogged.

Eric Dane took a few inches off the top.

EU debates sexual preference anti-discrimination guidelines.

Georgia congressman announces plan to introduce federal amendment banning same-sex marriage: "Georgia Congressman Paul Broun announced Tuesday that he will be introducing a constitutional amendment to prevent same-sex marriage in response to a recent decision by the California Supreme Court that recognizes same-sex marriages...'Marriage as an institution exists solely between one man and one woman. Americans have traditionally recognized this definition as being the most beneficial arrangement for the creation of stable family structures and for the upbringing of children. In fact, Americans have repeatedly shown their preference for the traditional definition of one-man, one-woman marriage by passing state and federal laws or by amending state constitutions to preserve the traditional definition,' Broun said."

Hillary Clinton ready for her close-up?

EU Called on to Look at Moldova Following Gay Pride Terror

UK Gay News reports that MEP Raul Romeva has called on the European Union to "reconsider its relations" with Moldova following last weekend's terrifying assault on a bus filled with participants observing Gay Pride festivities there. I posted about the incident on Monday.

According to UK Gay News, "Fifty participants of the parade were blocked in a bus surrounded by several hundred aggressive protestors shouting 'Beat them to death' and 'Don’t let them escape'. After being forced by the neo-fascists to destroy their pride materials – colourful balloons, posters with anti-discrimination slogans and flags of the EU – Pride participant’s bus was eventually allowed to go. Police forces merely observed the violence and attacks and did not bother to intervene."

Said Romeva: "It is unacceptable that Moldova exposes its own citizens, along with foreign visitors, to such violent attacks. Perhaps the European Union should reconsider its relations with a state so gravely breaching International Human Rights Obligations."

(image source)

Poland's PM Says More Gays are Bad for Society

The European Parliament, responding to a mid-March statement by a deputy education minister in Poland that the nation was drafting a law to fire teachers who "promote homosexuality", adopted a resolution condemning Poland's leaders for their ongoing hateful policies against gays, and asked EU anti-racism experts to investigate "the emerging climate of racist, xenophobic and homophobic intolerance in Poland".

According to the BBC, parliament held a debate over the issue on Wednesday, on which several Polish MEPs walked out: "British gay MEP Michael Cashman said a country that had lived under repression should know the value of fundamental human rights. 'You should be teaching us about fundamental values and that is why we will not hesitate to defend human rights and human rights' defenders wherever they are,' he said. But Polish MEP Witold Tomczak said homosexuality was against the law of nature, and called on "so-called defenders of human rights" to tackle 'discrimination against normal families...Every person has a right to life and deserves respect and help, including one who - lost and scarred - has given into homosexual tendencies. The solution is to help those who suffer and to provide them with the cure that they expect us to deliver.'"

Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski was quick to respond to the resolution. Said Kaczynski: "Nobody is limiting gay rights in Poland. However, if we're talking about not having homosexual propaganda in Polish schools, I fully agree with those who feel this way. Such propaganda should not be in schools; it definitely doesn't serve youth well. It's not in the interest of any society to increase the number of homosexuals — that's obvious."

Poland's President Lech Kaczynski and Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the "terrible twins" as they are known to many, have a long anti-gay history despite the fact that Jaroslaw may apparently be gay. Lech Kaczynski was condemned by rights groups in February for his statement that gays would destroy the human race.

Poland urged to halt 'homophobia' [bbc]
Kaczynski rejecte EU criticism of his homophobic comments [iht]