Gay Bashing Reported at Swarthmore College

An attack on a student and his friend on the campus of Swarthmore College on Sunday has elements of an anti-gay hate crime, according to the Delco Times:

H. Elizabeth Braun, dean of students, wrote a letter Tuesday to the college community saying both victims are OK after being treated for their injuries, both on campus and later at the hospital.

“I am writing both out of concern for the victims and campus safety and because I have been made aware of some additional facts and corrections since the initial (public safety) alert went out that I want to share with you,” she stated.

Braun indicated the Swarthmore student and his friend were on Mertz Field early Sunday when they were assaulted by a group of five males and one female. The initial alert indicated the attack happened when the college males were on Magill walk, near the train tracks, and were met by four males and one female.

“Our student has also shared that he and his friend were being affectionate with one another when they were approached by the high school-aged students. While it still isn’t clear what prompted the assault on our student and his friend, it does appear that homophobia could have been a factor in the attack,” Braun wrote. “I know that you share my distress and concern that any type of physical assault would take place on our campus, particularly one that may have been motivated by hate. I know that you will join me in condemning this act of violence on our campus and I appreciate that many of you have already expressed your concern to me.”

The police and campus security are investigating, though police say the first they heard of "homophobia" was the following morning.

“There was no mention of homophobia,” Craig said, adding that such an attack “would be out of character for this community.”

According to Craig, police suspected the Swarthmore College student and his friend, visiting from the University of Pennsylvania, probably angered a group of high school-aged youth who had asked them for booze.

Because violent booze-thirsty kids and homophobia never go together.

Catholic College Fires Gay Priest After Letter Calls Him a 'Heretic'

Students are angry after Chestnut Hill College, a Roman Catholic college in Philadelphia, fired a professor because he's gay, although Father James St. George has never hidden that fact and was completely vetted before joining the college.

St. George believes it's because the college received a letter from James Pepper, a local lawyer with no ties to the college, branding him a "heretic".

MyFOXPhilly reports:

Father St. George is part of the Old Catholic Church Of The Americas, a faction that broke away from the Vatican back in 1870. In his church, priests are allowed to marry and be gay.

A quick Google search when the college hired him would have revealed that, but the college said in a statement, "it was with great disappointment when we learned through St. George's public statements of his involvement in a gay relationship with another man for the past 15 years."

The college never spoke to Father St. George, he says, they sent a letter, and then refused to take his calls.

Said St. George: "I serve as a trauma chaplain, I help broken people. I run a parish, a small parish in Blue Bell, take care of people who have no hope. I teach kids how to become better adults."

Watch the news report, AFTER THE JUMP...

News: Jonathan Knight, TV Pilots, Gay Jersey Shore, Greenland

Antoine Dodson gets a reality show pilot that will help explain "how a news story sparked a new life for him and his family."

80's pop star Tiffany on dating NKOTB member Jonathan Knight: "He turned gay later. I didn't do it, but he's fabulous, though. I had issues with that. I was thinking that I did. But, no...Now looking back while we were dating. He was so much fun. We used to do facials together. He was so easy to talk to."

Is Prince William's balding the real reason behind his engagement?

Robert Vander Plaats continues his hateful "Capturing the Momentum Tour" in Iowa: "We want to have a marriage amendment that the people of Iowa can vote on. We'd like to re-affirm the Defensive Marriage Act. We would like to change the selection process for judges to the Supreme Court. And we'd love to see the other four resign."

Twitter's involvement in the recent government turmoil in Tunisia.

NBC picks up lesbian sit-com pilot called I Hate That I Love You: "It's from Will and Grace alum Jhoni Marchenko, and the logline is certainly eye-catching: 'A straight couple introduces two of its lesbian friends to one another and what results is both instant attraction and a pregnancy.'"

More TV pilot news: thanks to NBC, David E. Kelley's Wonder Woman pilot will get a shot at being a network series after all.

So-called new "It" boy Alex Pettyfer goes for a run in LA.

Palm Springs Sergent explains to the court that he used an anti-gay slur during a gay sex sting operation so it would serve as an "icebreaker" for his officers.

Record ice melt: "The 2010 runoff was more than twice the average annual loss in Greenland over the previous three decades, surpassing a record set in 2007."

Gender-Neutral toilets cause stir in Brazil.

Rob Lowe buys a round of drinks at a gay bar in the latest episode of "Parks and Recreation."

I guess it was only a matter of time: casting is currently underway for a gay version of Jersey Shore called "Under the Boardwalk."

Gay couple in Philadelphia claim police brutality: “I kept telling him how much it was hurting and he just said, ‘Shut up, pussy faggot.’ I closed my eyes and all I could hear was Jason screaming. And I told him I have a dislocated wrist, and he said, ‘Shut the fuck up, or you’ll have a broken wrist.’ He said, ‘Let me hear you squeal, faggot.’"

Boy Scouts and Philadelphia Settle Real Estate Feud Inspired by BSA's Anti-Gay Policies

The City of Philadelphia has settled its case with the Boy Scouts of America over trying to evict the group from the building they were renting from the city, basically for free, because the Scouts' anti-gay policies violated the city's anti-discrimination ordinances.

The AP reports:

"...a federal jury this year said the eviction would infringe on the private group's right to free association. Rather than appeal, the city will instead sell the building to the Cradle of Liberty Council for $500,000, less than half its $1.1 million value, council lawyer Jason Gosselin said Wednesday. In exchange, the Scouts will forgive the nearly $1 million in legal fees the city was ordered to pay the Scouts after losing the case. 'At the end of the day, the Boy Scouts will be writing a check to the city, rather than the other way around,' Gosselin told The Associated Press. "This is a better solution than having to go through an appeals process.'' City Council will vote on the deal Thursday, although it's not clear that approval is needed to settle the case, he said."

Tea Party 'Diversity' Rally Attracts Gay Teabaggers

On Saturday, the Uni-Tea rally took place in Philadelphia. It was meant to demonstrate the "diversity" among members of the Tea Party, TPM reports:

"Apparently, Uni-Tea wasn't only bridging the racial gap. Brendan Kissam and Matt Hissey wandered into the event carrying signs that said 'proud gay conservative' and 'freedom is fabulous.' They said they were 'the Gayborhood's envoy to the tea party.' The pair said the tea party is welcoming to their minority group, too. 'The Tea Party is accepting of everybody,' said Hissey, adding that 'Skin color diversity -- that's not real diversity. Everyone here has a different life experience.' Hissey recognized that the tea party 'might be against gay marriage,' but that's ok, he said, because he is too."

Apparently, with fewer than 500 in attendance and few non-Whites to be found, it was a major fail: "If you're the kind of tea partier who'd like to see that abounding not-racism result in some actual demographic diversity in the movement, the Uni-Tea rally appeared to be a borderline disaster."

Gay Man Named Music Director of Philadelphia Orchestra

Yannick Nézet-Séguin, a 35-year-old gay Montrealer, has been named the new music director and conductor of the Philadelphia Orchestra. The city feted him on a recent trip there:

"The Montrealer knows most of the best, having conducted the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and the Vienna Philharmonic, in addition to his regular commitments to the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, Montreal's Orchestre Métropolitain, and the London Philharmonic Orchestra. All along the way, Nézet-Séguin gave good-humored syllable-by-syllable lessons on how to pronounce his name (Yah-NEEK Neh-ZAY Say-GUN), a conflation of his mother's maiden name, Claudine Nézet, and the family name of his father, Serge Séguin. The day's best mispronunciation was at City Hall with Nutter: It came out something like 'Unique Cezanne.' At every stop, Nézet-Séguin was introduced with his parents, who help manage his career and celebrated their 43d wedding anniversary yesterday. Usually in the same breath, the conductor's partner, Pierre Tourville, a violist in the Montreal orchestra, was also introduced. The two were visiting Philadelphia between Orchestre Metropolitain performances of the Mahler Symphony No. 8 in Canada."

A slideshow of Nézet-Séguin's visit to Philly, HERE.