Homophobic Attacks Drive Gay Canadian Restaurant Owners to Close Business, Leave Town

Homophobes have essentially run a gay-owned business out of town in rural Manitoba, Canada because of a series of unrelenting verbal attacks, its mayor tells the Winnipeg Free Press:

"It's very sad this has happened, that people have been small-minded enough to make them feel unwelcome," van der Linde said Monday. "It certainly doesn't reflect well on the community."

The two owners are from Winnipeg and felt they were filling a void with their restaurant, which specializes in home-cooked lunch and dinners. But they weren't prepared for the bigotry they experienced in the form of direct comments and confrontations about their sexual orientation.

The owners did not specify what the attacks were:

"It's been very difficult for us. It got to the point of being out of control by this certain group of people," one of the owners told the Free Press on Monday. They originally declined to speak last week, saying only that they were closing for "personal" reasons. But they later changed their minds on Monday after learning many others were expressing concern on their behalf. They asked that their names not be published for fear of ongoing retribution.

"This has been a very difficult decision," said the co-owner. "I cannot tell you how this has affected us on so many levels."

"Both of us understand this small group of individuals don't represent the community of Morris and surrounding communities as a whole," said one. Although it wasn't a secret that the restaurant was owned by two gay men, he said they've done nothing to "flaunt" their sexual orientation.

"But by no means are we ashamed of who we are and how we live," he said,

The paper did catch up with one homophobe (below) who is not unhappy they are leaving:

"They should get the hell out of here. I don't really like them -- the service and who they are," said Aaron Kleinsasser of Morris, as he came out of another restaurant in town. "I agree (they should leave). It makes you feel uncomfortable. I've been in there twice, I believe, and I regret it. I'm never going to go back there again."

Azealia Banks Doesn't Care About the Word 'Faggot': VIDEO

Azealia Banks doesn't care about the C-word, the F-word, or the N-word she tells Channel [V] host Billy Russell. She also talks about how old people don't get the idea of what a "Twitter personality" is, and she'll gladly take the label of icon but it isn't enough:

"I am kind of like an icon so early in my career but I havent' reached that level of superstardom yet where it's like I'm so visible to everyone. That's the moment I'm waiting for where it's like supreme visibility."

Watch, AFTER THE JUMP...

Sony Pictures Co-Chair Amy Pascal: Let's Get Rid of 'Fag, Faggot, Homo, Dyke' in Movies

SONY Pictures Co-Chair Amy Pascal spoke about the need to get rid of gay slurs and steretyping in the movies at the LA Gay & Lesbian Center's gala on Thursday night, Deadline reports.

Said Pascal, in part:

Brokeback Mountain, Milk, Boys Don’t Cry, Philadelphia, The Hours, Gods and Monsters, The Talented Mr. Ripley, A Single Man, My Own Private Idaho, Cloud Atlas – in all these movies, the main character is murdered or martyred or commits suicide or just dies unhappily. And there are far more pernicious and dangerous images that confront gay kids and their parents: the lesbian murderer, the psychotic transvestite, the queen who is humiliated and sometimes tossed off a ship or a ledge. It’s a big joke. It still happens.

How many times have you heard a character imply to another that the worst thing about going to prison isn’t being locked up for the rest of your life, it’s the homosexuality? And old stereotypes still exist. The most benign stereotypes would have a gay kid believe that they will end up being the asexual, witty best friend of the pretty girl, or a drag queen, or a swishy hairdresser. The list goes on...

...Not every gay character needs to be defined by his or her sexuality. Can’t being gay just be one stitch in the fabric of someone’s life? Can’t we depict men and women who just so happen to be gay – perhaps a lawyer or soldier or business executive or scientist or engineer…

We need to create an atmosphere that encourages people to speak up, so we get this right.

How about next time, when any of us are reading a script and it says words like fag, or faggot – homo – dyke – take a pencil and just cross it out. Just don’t do it.

Read the full excerpt at Deadline...

Alt-Folk Singer Michelle Shocked Tells SF Audience 'God Hates Fags', Inspires Mass Walk-Out

Alt-folk singer Michelle Shocked is making headlines after reports she went on an anti-gay tirade during the second half of her show at San Francisco club Yoshi, Meow Online reports:

Michelle Shocked, known for living up to her surname, cleared out San Francisco club Yoshi’s last night, and shut down the venue, after she went on an anti-gay tirade, which she summed up by saying, ”You can go on Twitter and say ‘Michelle Shocked says God hates fags.’”

...

Matt Penfield, onstage live-tweeting the performance for Shocked was, well, shocked.

“Eerie foreshadowing at Michelle Shocked show,” Penfield said. “before the show she talked about how ‘people seem like your friends then they turn on you.’”

Her first set was “all cool. 2nd set, she got up went full hate speech,” he tweeted.

Shocked's Facebook page describes her as "your average anarchist skateboard punk rock born again Christian."

Last night she tweeted: "Truth is leading to painful confrontation #shortsharpshocked".

Video of the incident has yet to appear online.

YouTube Protects Admitted Gay Basher by Removing Video of Him Committing Assault

Is exposing a man on your street who confesses he called you a "faggot" and then assaults you an act of bullying or harassment? Apparently YouTube believes it is, because they took down the video posted yesterday of a man doing just that.

What do you think?

UPDATE: A commenter notes, the clip is back up here. The original is still down as of this update.

Gay Man Gets Called a 'Faggot' Outside His Home, Pursues the Perpetrator, Then Gets Assaulted: VIDEO

Yesterday, a sidewalk bigot did not get away with calling a gay man a "faggot".

Watch, AFTER THE JUMP...

Michael Hartney writes:

This afternoon, my partner Turtle walked out of our apartment to grab a bite. Before he even left our block, a man called him “faggot” as he passed. Rather than let the guy get away with it, Turtle decided to confront this man about his hateful behavior. And he filmed it.

Notice how well Turtle handles himself in this video. No need to fight hate with hate; calling him “slick hair” is as hateful as Turtle gets (which is hilarious and awesome). He lets that ignorant clown have it with poise and decency. Not surprising, considering Turtle is the absolute best guy around and I couldn’t be prouder of him.

Our neighbors saw this altercation, and told Turtle that this man has been harassing their thirteen year-old son for years, sometimes even calling him “faggot” while the kid was in recess at school with his peers.  They know who he is and where he lives.  They’ve been too scared for the kid’s safety to do anything about it.  But it’s going to end today.

Turtle is going to be filing a complaint today, according to Hartney:

I don’t know what’s going to happen yet, but hopefully this jerk will learn that we’re not going to put up with this crap in our neighborhood anymore. On the bright side, this charmer is already in talks with DC Comics to illustrate Orson Scott Card’s Superman story. It’ll be the first comic book drawn completely in douchey hair gel.

Watch, AFTER THE JUMP...