The Gay Vegans: "Fu**ing Faggot" - proper language at Rutgers

By Dan Hanley

UPDATE: Mike Rice has been fired.

I hesitated writing the title of a blog post that includes words that make me uncomfortable. I assure you this is a direct quote, and because of the power of the two words combined, I decided to go ahead with the title.

I was enjoying morning time with the furries watching the CBS Morning Show and watched as they showed video of the Rutgers (university in New Jersey) head basketball coach Mike Rice hit, pushed, threw basketballs at and shouted gay slurs to his players. One of the things I heard him say on the tape is the title of this post. He also called his players "fairies".

As I have written about many times here, language is huge. In a time when it seems equality is getting stronger and more and more people are getting comfortable with the idea of gay people getting married let alone existing, we get to watch video of a very well paid man call someone this.

How far have we seriously come when the worst thing a coach can think of calling one of his players to denigrate him or make him feel small is a faggot?

And just in case you're wondering, this guy, as of this morning (April 3, 2013) still has his job.

The violence. The words. These are not actions and statements from someone who should be respected in any way. This guy is a coach!

Fire him. Today.

From the athletic director Tom Pernetti on suspending the coach:  "This was not an easy decision for me to make but absolutely necessary to ensure what is best for our program."

Seriously? He saw the video in November! It seems he is now only taking action because of the video becoming public. By the way, thank you ESPN for showing the video. It was not an easy decision to suspend him?

I simply don't get it. Oh, I get the world of sports. I don't get that any university, school, program, etc would want anything to do with a man like Mike Rice.

Fire Mike Rice. Fire him today.

Thanks for reading.

This post originally appeared on Dan Hanley's website The Gay Vegans. Republished with permission.

Chick-fil-A: Straight guy offers to make out with gay guys at Kiss-In...

... and he's cute! (via Reddit)

The Gay Vegans: Non-violent action against discrimination

By Dan Hanley

If you are connected to me on Facebook, Twittter, or Pinterest you know that I recently found out about a bakery in my own town that told a gay couple this past week that they would not make them a wedding cake.

My first thought was that this could not possibly be true. Don't get me wrong, I am not ignorant to the reality of the world. But in Lakewood, CO?

Within a half hour my friend Drew Wilson (MileHighGayGuy) spoke with the owner of Masterpiece Bakery who confirmed that they would not be serving the gay community.

I was stunned.

I did not want to react with anger, hostility or violence, in my actions or in my words. So I went to my world of social media and I got busy.

First to Yelp. Dozens of people had already posted comments and reviews. I wanted to post something on Yelp for the same reason I am writing this blog: so people who support equality and are against bigotry and discrimination in any form will know not to shop at this bakery.

I then got onto Twitter and Facebook and asked those connected with me there to spread the word.  And boy did they.

As all of this was happening I began to write about non-violence. For this guy to not want to do business with the gay community, well, that's his right. I doubt I can change his mind. (He has not stated why. His only comment was "use your imagination".) What I can do is make sure that we, this amazing community of people who will not accept bigotry and discrimination, will not financially support his business. I will keep telling people about this and keep asking them not to shop there.

And I will ask them to speak out against this in a nonviolent way. No threats of violence, no curse-laden phone calls. Simply saying "I heard about your decision on not making a wedding cake for a gay couple, I'm sickened by that, and I will not shop with you" is just fine.

We can stand our ground and fight the good fight without becoming people we do not want to be.

Now I am hungry for cake. Good, vegan cake. I wish Beet Box would deliver to me right now!

Thanks for reading and thank you for your support. My email is vegandude@msn.com is you would like to email me.

This post originally appeared on Dan Hanley's website The Gay Vegans. Republished with permission.

Masterpiece Cakeshop: In violation of the law over refusal to serve gay customers?

Last Friday I wrote about an incident in which a local couple was refused service at the Masterpiece Cakeshop bakery in Lakewood because they are gay. I put a call in to Mindy Barton, Legal Director for The GLBT Community Center of Colorado to get a legal perspective on the situation.

“Without knowing more about this specific situation, it would seem that a bakery could be determined to be a place of public accommodation and, therefore, should be required to comply with the non-discrimination laws in this state,” said Barton. “The Legal & Advocacy Program at The Center encourages those who encounter discrimination in places of public accommodation to proceed with filing a complaint as quickly as possible against such a business that offers its goods or services in the stream of commerce in such a biased manner. Under the law, a complaint needs to be filed within 60 days of the date of the last alleged discriminatory action.”

She then added, “Colorado law supports the idea that goods and services in the marketplace need to be provided for purchase or use in a non-discriminatory manner. That is simply good business.”

The 2008 amendments to the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation in places of public accommodation. According to the law, a place of public accommodation can be ‘any place of business engaged in any sales to the public and any place offering services . . . to the public.’

The Colorado Civil Rights Division – the agency charged with enforcing the anti-discrimination laws in our state - has provided excellent guidance as to how they will interpret the law on their website. Click here for a .PDF of their brochure covering sexual orientation and transgender status discrimination in all three areas of employment, housing and public accommodations.

Masterpiece Cakeshop: Definitely NOT A-List

Check out this 2010 promo video about Masterpiece Cakeshop, the recent subject of an internet firestorm over their homophobic treatment of a local gay couple, that was uploaded by The Denver Channel as part of their annual A-List contest. I don't know about you, but I'm going to leave a comment letting The Denver Channel know exactly why Masterpiece Cakeshop is definitely NOT A-List!

Masterpiece Cakeshop: Serving up cakes, brownies, and homophobia

By Drew Wilson

David Mullins (l) and Charlie Craig (r) were turned away from Lakewood bakery, Masterpiece Cakeshop, on July 19 after attempting to order a cake for their wedding and being refused by owner Jack Phillips.

David Mullins then posted the following to his Facebook page:

So, I'm about as pissed as I've been in a long time. Today, Charlie and I went to cakeshop to get a wedding cake and were turned away and informed they did not serve gay weddings. I AM FURIOUS! But, I'm also not going to take this lying down. Below, I've attached a photo of the storefront for Masterpiece Cakeshop. Their contact information is:

3355 South Wadsworth Boulevard Lakewood, CO 80227
(303) 986-3110
masterpiececakeshop@msn.com

If any of my friends out there is interested in making a statement in support of us and the right of gays to marry, I would most appreciate it if you might drop them a line or an e-mail. Thanks in advance.

I was made aware of the incident this afternoon (thanks to beautiful and talented blogger Dan Hanley) and called Masterpiece Cakeshop to get to the bottom of the situation. When I asked Phillips if it was true that he had a policy against doing business with the gay community, he said, "Correct." I then asked him to explain the reasoning behind his policy and he said, "No. Just use your imagination." He then said he had no further comment and we ended the call.

At 1:39 pm today, Westword posted an article about the incident and quoted Mullins as saying, "It was the most awkward, surreal, very brief encounter ..." The article quoted another source who claimed to also have been refused a wedding cake but received a call from the bakery afterwards with an offer to make something "unlike a wedding cake" instead.

Living nearby, I decided to drive over to Masterpiece Cakeshop before closing time to see if I could speak with Mr. Phillips in person. A small, lean, soft-spoken 50-something man with longish grey hair and a wedding ring prominently displayed on his left hand, Phillips seemed wary but not at all unpleasant. I introduced myself and we shook hands. He didn't seem to mind speaking with me but did ask that I not record the conversation.

I asked him what he thought of the firestorm of controversy the incident had sparked in the form of articles, blog posts, a Change.org petition and a Facebook boycott page but Phillips claimed that he was not really aware of any controversy. I asked him if he had seen the mountain of negative reviews that had been posted to his Yelp page or read the Westword article. Phillips stated that he had not checked Yelp nor had he read the Westword article but did acknowledge that he had spoken with them and told them that they could "make up whatever story they like" for the article.

I then asked him if he was aware of Colorado's Housing and Public Accomodations Nondiscrimination law (one of The Rights Five here in Colorado) and if he thought his policy was in violation. Phillips said that he was not aware of the law, didn't know if he was in violation of it, and didn't know how, if at all, the law would affect his business or his policy.

Despite earlier having claimed to be unaware of any controversy, he then spoke of having received numerous phone calls and threats throughout the day but declined to describe the nature or the content of the threats.

Philips went on to say that he has gay friends and even hires gay people but that he "drew the line" at providing wedding cakes for gay couples.

I have calls in to David Mullins and Charlie Craig as well as The GLBT Community Center of Colorado's legal director, Mindy Barton, for quotes and legal perspective and will update when I have heard from them. In the meantime, an official-sounding commenter over at Boy Culture, where they posted about the story yesterday, had this to say:

... David and Charlie can file a charge of discrimination with the Colorado Civil Rights Division. The cake shop is a place of public accommodation covered by the state anti-discrimination law that prohibits denial of equal treatment based upon sexual orientation. Or they may file a lawsuit against the business directly in court. Filing a charge, however, is cost-free and the Division will conduct an investigation. Here's a link to the agency website:
http://www.dora.state.co.us/civil-rights/

There is a short time limit for filing a charge, only 60 days following the alleged discriminatory act.

Whether or not Mullins and Craig are willing or able to file charges, it seems that at least one positive takeaway of this unpleasant and discriminatory incident is the increase of awareness and activism social media affords us in cases of homophobic business practices. It allows to speak - and listen - to our community and our allies and helps us to make informed choices about which businesses and organizations to support and where we should - and shouldn't - spend our gay dollars.

On his website, Jack Phillips is referred to as a "master pastry chef." The website also says, "If you can think it up, he can make it into a cake!" Obviously, that's not true - if you're gay.

By the way, the following cake pics are from Masterpiece Cakeshop's photo gallery. In this non-master pastry chef's opinion, they're pretty awful. But not as awful as Jack Phillips' homophobic, and possibly illegal, policy.

Chris Brown's homophobic Twitter feud with Raz B

Salon reports on a homophobic Twitter feud between Rihanna's ex Chris Brown (who recently finished a yearlong domestic violence course) and singer Raz B that includes cruel references to Raz B's alleged childhood sexual abuse at the hands of his former manager.

Wow, just when you think a person can't sink any lower than being a woman beater, he goes and makes fun of rape victims.

U.S. preachers stoking homophobia in Africa?

A wave of sometimes violent anti-gay sentiment is sweeping much of Africa, in part fueled by conservative American missionaries preaching homophobia. 

"Here, homosexuality is like you have killed someone," said Sheila Hope Mugisha, a Ugandan activist who was targeted after an anti-gay newspaper article was published.

GMAD and NBJC join GLAAD's protest of anti-gay Grammy nomination

Gay Men of African Descent (GMAD) and the National Black Justice Coalition (NBJC) have announced that they stand with the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) in its petition drive and advocacy work protesting the recent Grammy nomination of reggae singer Buju Banton’s album “Rasta Got Soul.” Banton has a long history of advocating the killing of gay people.

In a popular song released in 1988 entitled “Boom Boom Bye,” Banton says that "faggots have to die" and he will "shoot them in the head" or "burn them." He continues to sing this song at his concerts today. In October 2009, Banton was quoted in news reports saying: "This is a fight, and as I said in one of my songs 'there is no end to the war between me and faggot' and it's clear."

Sharon Lettman, the Executive Director of NBJC says, “We must take a stand against any type of negative expression that encourages violence against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. With music being a major cultural influence, such messages that fuel hate and homophobia place our community in harm’s way.”

Find out more after the jump.


Tokes M. Osubu, GMAD’s Executive Director adds, “By nominating this album, the Recording Academy is sending the message that the violence against the LGBT community especially in Jamaica, which Buju Banton has so wantonly celebrated and encouraged in his music, is not worthy of condemnation, and that protecting our lives is of little importance.”

GLAAD urges community members and allies to protest Buju Baton’s Grammy Nomination and tell Recording Academy members to not support his nomination. The petition can be found at www.glaad.org/bujubantonpetition.

On Wednesday the Recording Academy released the following statement to GLAAD.

The Recording Academy and the GRAMMY Awards have a long history of supporting freedom of speech and creative expression, and of supporting artists and the music they create. Artists of a variety of political or cultural perspectives have been nominated or featured on the telecast, despite protests and backlash. The Academy acknowledges that there are very strong and diverse opinions on many issues and in many instances, we have helped initiate dialogue on matters that require education and further discussion. It takes tolerance to teach tolerance, and it is through dialogue and debate that social discovery may occur. The GRAMMY Awards is a celebration and recognition of outstanding musical achievement by music makers, regardless of politics, and that will continue to be our mission.

GLAAD President Jarrett Barrios issued the following response:

"While we appreciate the Recording Academy issuing a response, we firmly disagree with their justification for nominating Buju Banton for a Grammy Award. Advocating the murder of gay people is not a ‘political or cultural perspective.’ We urge Recording Academy members NOT to support Buju Banton's nomination. Ignoring his continued promotion of brutality against gay people sends a message that violence against our community is OK.”





Twelve Iranian men face execution for sodomy

Ten young Iranian men, including eight teenagers, are currently awaiting execution for sodomy, and two more are being re-tried on the same capital charge.

Check out the full article at GayCityNews.com.

Vintage Homophobia: Boys Beware

Click the link to see a homophobic gem of a PSA produced by the Inglewood, CA police department in 1961.

Mixed in among useful tips such as "don't hitchhike" and "stay with your friends" are the following nuggets of information you may not have been aware of:

1. All homosexuals are not passive, some resort to violence.

2. Public restrooms can often be a hangout for the homosexual.

3. Homosexuality is a dangerous and contagious sickness of the mind.

4. One never knows when the homosexual is about, he may appear normal and it may be too late when you discover he is mentally ill.

Torchwood accused of homophobia

The new 'Torchwood' mini-series 'Children of Earth' had some viewers up in arms and leveling charges of homophobia against the famously pro-gay show. Read more about it at io9.com but watch out for spoilers!

Enjoy sexy 'Torchwood' kisses below.

"I'm not homophobic, but..."

One of my all-time favorite comic book artists, and all-around interesting fella, Brett Booth (self-portrait at left), blogs about a recent instance of homophobia from someone who should know better.

Homophobia destroys lives

Persistent homophobia across Europe continues to force gays and lesbians to live in hiding, damaging peoples' health and careers and preventing them from reporting incidents of homophobic crime, according to the findings of a European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights report. Western Europe is broadly more open to same-sex relationships than countries in the East.

I challenge Brian McFadden to a fistfight

From Towleroad: "Saying pink is a form of red is the same as saying homosexual is a form of male....In the old days there was no such thing as gay. It was frowned upon, the church would burn you at the stake. ..." says former European boyband member and current scrawny weasel Brian McFadden. Let's meet out back and talk about it, says MileHighGayGuy.