New York, U.S.A. — In the wake of President Obama’s recent backing of same-sex marriage and a Supreme Court decision looming, BeautifulPeople.com is launching Gay and Lesbian versions of its online dating site in a national show of support for equal rights. BeautifulPeople’s billboard campaign, scheduled to launch across the country in support of same-sex marriage legislation, has been banned.

Choosing not to bow to an infringement on their right to free expression, BeautifulPeople has redesigned censored versions of the billboards. The censored images, originally a playful take on political dissonance, have gone up in 10 locations around Los Angeles including West Hollywood, California – one of the largest LGBT communities in the country – and also in Florida.

The original BeautifulPeopleGay.com billboard shows a loving matrimonial union between the Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney and Donald Trump, the billionaire businessman and TV personality. The BeautifulWomenOnly.com billboard features former presidential hopeful Michele Bachmann kissing Sarah Palin, the gun-toting former Alaska governor and darling of the right. Both billboards show President Obama as officiant.

“This is a national campaign championing equal rights for the LGBT community and pledging support in a colorful way,” says Greg Hodge, BeautifulPeople’s Managing Director. “Through a humorous campaign we wanted to showcase how many of our political heavyweights are living in the last century.”

Determined to play an active role in the national effort to legislate equal rights for the LGBT community, BeautifulPeople.com is giving 15% from every same-sex membership to a non-profit organization championing marriage equality.

BeautifulPeople.com, an online dating site exclusively for beautiful people, already has a large gay membership; however only opposite sex voting is allowed to avoid members voting strategically against other beautiful hopefuls. The exclusively gay versions now allow gay members to enjoy the same-sex voting process and vote according to their own unique definition of beauty.

Both sites, www.beautifulpeoplegay.com and www.beautifulwomenonly.com, are now live, coinciding with the BeautifulPeople marriage equality campaign launch.

Images: The following are links to images of the uncensored billboard campaign, and the wedding album images from the BeautifulPeopleGAY photo shoot. Images of the uncensored billboard truck in NYC are also available upon request.

See the billboard here: http://www.beautifulpeople.com/microsites/billboards/

See the wedding album here: http://www.beautifulpeople.com/microsites/WeddingAlbum/

About BeautifulPeople.com

Like BeautifulPeople.com, acceptance to the site is a democratic process, with existing members voting beautiful hopefuls in or out. All members must pass through a strict rating process to make sure they are up to standard. Potential members submit a picture of themselves and existing members then vote. If successful they have exclusive access to a dating site where the one thing they can guarantee is that everyone is good looking and they don’t have to filter through riff raff.

BeautifulPeople is the largest community of attractive people in the world representing almost every ethnic and cultural background. This coveted community shamelessly exists so beautiful people can meet other beautiful people. There have been over 650 marriages through unions founded on BeautifulPeople.com and thousands of beautiful babies born.

Image Courtesy of  davidyuweb

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On the fifth day of The Episcopal Church’s General Convention, the House of Bishops voted 111 to 41 to approve the draft liturgy for the blessing of same-sex unions.

Resolution A049 would not actually allow same-sex couple to marry, but would allow them to have their relationship blessed using a service known as “The Witnessing and Blessing of a Lifelong Covenant.”

Before it went to the House of Bishops, the Resolution was considered by the Committee on the Prayer Book, Liturgy, and Church Music, where it underwent substantial amendment. Most of the amendments were minor tweaks to the wording of the liturgy, but the committee also included a new clause specifying that Episcopal clergy would not be compelled to use the rite. Furthermore, it also declared that no bishop, member of the clergy, or lay person could be penalized because of their conscientious disagreement with the decision to bless same-sex unions.

During his introductory remarks on the resolution, the co-chair of the Prayer Book, Liturgy, and Church Music Committee, Bishop Thomas Ely of Vermont, said that “there is a place in this process for every Episcopalian regardless of their level of support for the material. Read it. Reflect upon it. Use it, but please don’t ignore it.”

Bishop John Bauerschmidt of Tennessee demanded a roll call vote, and called on the House to reject the resolution. “This liturgy that is proposed does not have the basis in scripture, tradition or reason for us to authorize its use.”

His remarks were echoed by Bishop Edward Little of Northern Indiana. “The Christian world will look at that liturgy world and see vows, and exchange of rings, a pronouncement and a blessing and they will understand that to mean the Episcopal Church has endorsed same-sex marriage and changed a basic Christian doctrine. I do not believe that we are free to do that.”

Some of the bishops claimed that the resolution would alienate Hispanic members of the church. But Bishop Leo Frade of Southeast Florida called his brethren out for treating Hispanics as a monolithic block. “The reality is that we, like everybody else, have gay children. We have gay parents. We have gay uncles,” he said.

“You cannot generalize that Hispanics are going to run away from the Episcopal Church because we have a door that’s open. We are going to run from immigration that’s trying to deport us, but not from the Episcopal Church,” he continued.

Bishop Steven Miller of Milwaukee also opposed the resolution, claiming that it would turn LGBTQ Episcopalians into second-class citizens who could receive a blessing, but not marry.

But by and large, most bishops announced their support for the proposal, saying that they were true to the spirit of Anglicanism, which has long aimed to be a ‘big tent’ church that includes diverse theological viewpoints. Bishop Nathan Baxter of Central Pennsylvania exhorted his fellow bishops to “theological, pastoral and canonical inclusion.” He reminded the House that the church had been mulling issues of homosexuality for over 40 years, and it was time to move the conversation forward.

The resolution must now go before the House of Deputies before it can become church law.

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Los Angeles, U.S.A - Artist Michael Becker was recently struck by the disparity of the Los Angeles gay community of today to the one he remembers finding when he first moved there.

“It wasn’t considered OK to be gay in 1963. It was a crime,” said Becker.

His latest exhibit celebrates the liberation of gays from where they were to where they are now. Using photos he took with his camera phone in a 45-minute period of time on the eve of the Gay Pride festival in 2011, Becker captures the essence of acceptance and respect felt by today’s gay population.

Being present at numerous raids at The Four Star – the Rolls Royce of gay bars 50 years ago – Becker would watch friends be arrested for being gay. He himself was beaten and left for dead by young men in a hate crime incident in June of 1968. He was lured from the corner of Robertson and Melrose to Laurel Canyon.

“They kicked me beyond recognition – my nose was broken in five places,” Becker recalls. “I only survived because I pretended my neck was broken so they left.”

Fast forward to 2011 when Becker was visiting a bar and learned it was the eve of the Gay Pride festival.

“I became enveloped by the music emanating from the bar and watched drag queens, lesbians and other people very free in their expression,” he said. “I walked over to almost the same corner where I had been ambushed many years ago and starting taking photos with my Samsung Galaxy phone.”

His pictures are a stark contrast to the images in his mind of Los Angeles past.

He has culled 13 images from the very spontaneous photo session, which have been enlarged and mounted on Plexiglas for the exhibit which will run from June 15 to July 2 at The Julia Dean Photo Workshops, with all proceeds going to the Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Center. An artist’s reception will be held from 6 – 10 pm on June 15 at The JDPW Center, located at 755 Seward St. in Los Angeles.

“This show is different from all my others in one regard – it’s mainly people,” said Becker, who is best known for his architectural photography. CARS – his successful show earlier this year at Gallery Brown, highlighted his stylized photos of classic vehicles.

Smaller versions of some photos from the Gay Pride collection hang in AIDS Project Los Angeles’ new Wellness Center in Baldwin Hills.

“The tie-in is irresistible. My show is in June benefiting the Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Center and the same images are permanently installed in the AIDS Project Los Angeles’ building,” he said.

“Picture it,” said Becker. ”I was left for dead in 1968 and watched joyous young people in 2011. The recollection brings tears to my eyes.”

Image Courtesy of   Guillaume Paumier

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In Africa, homosexuality is frequently treated as a taboo subject, and outspoken opposition to it is a political vote winner. However, according to Richard Dowden, director at the Royal African Society, there is plenty of evidence to suggest that homosexuality was accepted in many societies throughout Africa in pre-colonial times. In his article, ‘Getting Gay Rights Wrong in Africa,’ Dowden wonders if the missionaries in Africa were to blame.

“So, is it the fault of the missionaries? But, the missionaries also preached against theft and corruption, against sex before marriage, against marrying several wives, or covetousness. Why do so many Africans get outraged and censorious about homosexuality, something that isn’t even one of the Ten Commandments, while tolerating so many sins that are?” ponders Dowden in his article.

Homosexuality on the African continent is frowned upon, and those suspected of being gay face dire consequences. Thirty-eight African countries criminalize same-sex conduct, and LGBT people run the risk of lengthy prison sentences for expressing their sexuality. Sudan, Mauritania, and northern Nigeria even impose the death penalty. Despite variations in enforcement, what many African countries have in common is the criminalization of private acts between consenting adults whose sexuality and gender identity are considered “abnormal.”

Like many other nations, new legislation in Liberia calls for punishing homosexuality with longer jail time. Anti-LGBT rhetoric is escalating outside of the Liberian government with a group calling itself the Movement Against Gays in Liberia, or MOGAL, distributing a hit list of people who support gay rights, stating that these people “should not be given space to get a gulp of air.”

Gay rights debate in Liberia began getting this sort of unprecedented attention in the newspapers and radio stations after the U.S. Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, announced in December 2011 that America’s foreign aid budget would promote the protection of gay rights. This, according to Tamasin Ford—a freelance reporter for the BBC and Britain’s newspaper, The Guardian, based in Monrovia —prompted speculation that funds would be tied to countries’ rights records and prompting two new laws.

In the two new bills, one would amend the penal code to make a person guilty of second degree felony if he or she “seduces, encourages, promotes another person of the same gender to engage in sexual activities, or purposefully engages in acts that arouse or tend to arouse another person of the same gender to have sexual intercourse.” The second bill put forward by Jewel Howard Taylor, a senator in Liberia, would make gay marriage a first degree crime punishable by up to 10 years in jail.

Over the years, gay people have been attacked and activists for gay rights killed. In 2010, at least four gay men were attacked in Uganda after a newspaper ran a front-page story listing 100 ‘top’ homosexuals with a heading that read ‘Hang Them’, and a gay activist was killed in 2011.

Image Courtesy of    jerekeys

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On February 29 at Harvard University, Lady Gaga and her mother, Cynthia Germanotta, officially unveiled Born This Way Foundation (BTWF), a new non-profit charitable organization, before a crowd of policy makers, non-profit organizations, foundation leaders, students and youth at the Harvard Graduate School of Education’s Ask with Forum.

The day opened with Oprah interviewing Lady Gaga about her commitment to empowering youth before a packed audience at Sanders Theatre. Lady Gaga then took the stand in a mock trial to testify before a panel of expert “judges” about what she hopes to accomplish with BTWF. Panelists included Deepak Chopra, U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, Kathleen Sebelius, sister of Jamey Rodemeyer Alyssa Rodemeyer, Harvard Law Professor Charles Ogletree, Psychologist Susan M. Swearer and E! News correspondent and LGBT parent and spouse David Burtka.

“The culture of love is not going to change overnight but youth are the answer to creating a braver, kinder world,” said Lady Gaga. “This might be one of the best days of my life.” BTWF will address issues like self-confidence, well-being, anti-bullying, mentoring and career development through research, education and advocacy.

BTWF will create an environment that allows youth to safely express their individuality and one that provides them with the skills needed to encourage self-expression and promote civic engagement, and the resources and opportunities needed to implement solutions whether it be “online, on-the-road, or down the street.” With a focus on digital mobilization to create positive change, BTWF will lead youth into a braver new society where each individual is accepted and loved as the person they were born to be.

The Born This Way Foundation also announced today that Lady Gaga has made a $1.2 million personal contribution to BTWF, dedicating $200,000 to cover the foundation’s overhead costs. Barneys New York has raised more than $750,000 for the foundation through product sales from Gaga’s 2011 Holiday Workshop, and has donated an additional $100,000.

The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation is also committing $1 million in support, with $500,000 going to the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard to lead research efforts, and the remaining $500,000 directly allocated to BTWF to support online and on-the-road efforts to engage young people in civic life and deter bullying.

“Like everything my daughter has done, this is a grassroots initiative asking for the response of the community to help build this movement and shape it,” said Cynthia Germanotta. “Therefore a safe and trusted online community will allow users to share stories about themselves and their lives. Supporters can draw courage from the words of others as they explore Born This Way Foundation’s online community.”

The John D. & Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, The California Endowment and Harvard’s Berkman Center for Internet & Society are partnering with BTWF to explore the best ways to reach youth and create a new culture of kindness, bravery, acceptance and empowerment.

“MacArthur’s partnership with the Born This Way Foundation will apply what we have learned about the power and potential of digital media to reach and engage millions of young people,” said Connie Yowell, MacArthur’s Director of Education. “In classrooms and communities, online and even on-the-road, this effort will enable teachers, parents, students, and communities each do their part to promote positive civic and online participation.”

To engage youth on-the-road, the Born Brave Bus, with design assistance provided by the innovative youth from YOUmedia’s teen library space, will travel the country to serve as a place where kids can go to feel connected and learn about civic engagement opportunities. The bus, along with onsite mentors, will also accompany Lady Gaga’s next North American concert tour, providing additional resources and a safe space to convene.

“A thorough review of decades of academic research has inspired this strategy and over the next several months, we will be rolling out programs based on that data,” said Dr. David Washington, Sr. Advisor to Lady Gaga & BTWF for Philanthropy & Policy. “BTWF has brought together renowned researchers, practitioners and youth organizations and is committed to leveraging this brain trust in order to make a significant difference.”

Visit www.bornthiswayfoundation.org and join the youth-powered movement to build a braver, kinder world.

Image Courtesy of  http://www.flickr.com/photos/10363713@N08/

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Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) is the only Massachusetts member of the state delegation that has refused to take part in a “It Gets Better” promotional video to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered youth. Massachusetts lawmakers released a video for the project, promising young people who are getting bullied that life will eventually get better. Brown, the only Republican member of the group, declined to participate.

State Rep. Carl Sciortino (D-Medford) pointed that Brown’s latest move is just part of a pattern to neglect the fights of LGBT individuals during a press call. Sciortino stated that in 2006 when Brown was a state senator, he was the only member to vote to uphold Gov. Mitt Romney’s veto of a Commission on Gay and Lesbian Youth.

“Sen. Brown’s absence in our congressional delegation’s video sends a message that he supports kids being bullied or harassed,” said Sciortino. “Now, I don’t think that’s the message that Sen. Brown wants to send. I’m asking him, as a senator for the commonwealth, to stand up and show some leadership on behalf of his LGBT constituents, our young people that are facing violence in our schools, our young people that are being bullied in our schools.”

Brown’s office argued that the senator has had a “strong record” on bullying and said his “main focus right now is on creating jobs and getting our economy back on track.”

Meanwhile, Republicans offered a different response, attacking the founder of the “It Gets Better Project” Dan Savage. “Senator Brown believes all people regardless of sexual orientation should be treated with dignity and respect. He has been a leader in fighting for anti-bullying legislation at the state and federal level.

His main focus is creating jobs and getting the economy moving again. In this case, the individual behind the video has made vile and sexually crude comments about Senator Brown. It’s reprehensible for Senator Brown’s opponents to associate with this person in order to score cheap political points,” said Eric Fehrnstrom, a political adviser to Brown.

He pointed to Savage’s nationally syndicated sex column in February 2010 in which he joked about shoving a “Coke bottle, Oscar statuette, [or] Scott Brown action figure” up “someone’s ass and/or twat.”

Dan Savage released a statement later on Thursday night.

I am not the IGB project. The project has had the reach and impact that it’s had thanks to tens of thousands of people from all over the world who’ve participated. And no one who participates is required to crawl into bed with me. ..:

It is interesting, though, that not a single GOP elected official can bring himself or herself to make a video, or participate in the creation of one. No GOP elected official can risk being seen letting bullied LGBT kids know that life isn’t high school and that it will get better for them. it doesn’t require signing off on the entire gay agenda (the president made a video, and he doesn’t support gay marriage).

No GOP elected can back the seemingly radical notion that LGBT kids shouldn’t kill themselves, that they should have hope for their futures.

Image Courtesy of  http://www.flickr.com/photos/1energy/

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It is believed that Thailand is the home of LGBT people in the world. This status was conferred on them due to the fact that the highest number of LGBT people in the world resides in Thailand. It is also a center of sex rearrangement, and to date, no record of violence towards homosexuals has been recorded. Lastly, the winner of the Miss Tiffany (Transgender) World show emerged from Thailand. However, it is wrong to assume that Thailand is a haven for sexual minorities.

We will analyze the prejudice that these people face in midst of this cultural, religiously accepted and tolerated behavior, and hopefully you will grasp why it is a false myth that Thailand is a paradise for sexual minorities.

In the Thai legal system, there is no provision for LGBT persons. Existing laws do not permit LGBT persons to pursue the career path of their choice and the hope for every LGBT person to have an “ideal, permanent partner” an imagination because while Thai LGBT people can live together as lovers, they are not allowed to be legally married under the Thai customary law.

Transgender people who have successfully, and expensively, undergone the sex reassignments are not allowed to change their gender identity, which is why it is not uncommon to see many female-looking persons with a different gender status in their passport and ID card. The negative aspect about this is that it causes the transgender community embarrassment; especially when they travel outside of their country and have to explain and prove why they are different. This poses a lot of risk in countries where such differences are not tolerated and accepted.

Reuters have reported Ladyboys’ picture confuse election officials; “Thailand’s community of lady-boys complained on Wednesday they were being marginalized in next week’s general election because their ID card pictures were too confusing for polling officials.”

Because transgender people are completely changed, it makes no sense for them to carry their birth identification. Since Thai’s legal system has refused to allow them to amend their status based on their physical appearances, and also refuses to grant them a third sex status in their passport and ID card, it further proves why this behavior is not accepted by the Thai law of culture.

In 2004, a top official at the Ministry of Culture proposed removing homosexuals from the media and government posts. In 2006, the Ministry of Defense branded transgender draftees as suffering from “permanent psychosis” in their military exemption documents known as SorDor 43. To this effect, LGBT persons are not qualified to be military personnel, or hold any other serious government position, including working in Immigration.

Seeking an environment where they fit in and are accepted, many LGBT end up as performers, sex workers, street vendors, make-up artist and the like.

The sad truth about this issue is that at the time when many Thai LGBT become transgendered, they really do not know that they are not accepted and they are quick to be impressed by the tolerance and respect they get from heterosexual people.

If the Thai legal system does not accept LGBT in theory and in practice, they should shout it loud! They should campaign against it in schools, stop high school children from cross-dressing. At least it gives them the idea that when they become one, they do so at their own risk or societal marginalization.

Debu55y / Shutterstock.com

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For the first time in Italy next Sunday will be officially celebrated a gay marriage between two homosexual men.

Ciro Celsi, a forty-two years old architect, and Guido Lanza, a sixty-two former computer programmer, both Protestants, will get married in the Waldensian Evangelic Church of Milan. This is a Protestant Reformed Church based mostly in Northern Italy, which has active congregations also in Argentina, Uruguay, United States and other European countries, which were all founded by Italian immigrants.

Waldensians support the LGBT community and encourage the homosexual couples’ blessing. Their commitment for the gay issue and the struggle against homophobia has been always strong. Last year the Waldensian Synod also approved gay couples, making possible in this way the union between people of the same sex.

As other Protestants, the Waldensians don’t recognize the marriage as a sacrament, but only as an official blessing for couples who want to obtain the recognition of their love by their Church. “Waldensians don’t intend to consecrate homosexuality; we just take note of a mutual and reliable bond. It is a wonderful thing. I’m scandalized by the hypocrisy and by the sour spirit of those who use the Holy Scriptures to discriminate and offend,” said the Milan Minister Giuseppe Platone. “Ciro and Guido are not demanding their right to be respected, this would be the State’s duty, but to show their love’s gift,” he added.

And about the Italian law he said: “I’m indignant for the juridical lack on this matter, when for example in a Catholic country as Spain it is also possible the marriage between homosexual people. It’s shameful that a country as Italy is not able to respect the rights of all, of all the people who love each other. The Waldensian Church is not Las Vegas, it’s not a marriage bureau, it asks to God”. “Our choice doesn’t have any juridical value; it’s just an act of faith, a moral commitment”.

Besides the homosexuality issue, the Waldensian Church is involved also in debates regarding other issues as euthanasia, abortion, living will, and stem cell research. Waldensians strongly support the total and complete laity of the state, an objective difficult to achieve in a country as Italy, which is still heavily influenced by the Catholic Church also in its juridical decisions.

Next Sunday’s gay marriage won’t be official but a good sign of respect for people and their love. Why in the 21st century religion is still so strong to influence countries’ legislation and lay societies?

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