The Toughest Guy in Sicily is Gay.

Governor Rosario Crocetta--or Presidente della Regione Siciliana--elected in October 2012, is the unlikeliest man  to govern the testosterone-fueled Mafiosi Sicily as he is not only anti-mafia, but  openly gay.. Yet, despite the two strikes against him, he won the  support of the people with his accomplishments during his anti-mafia crusade as Gela’s mayor for seven years (2003-2009).  During that time, Crocetta purged the city government of  this dangerous entity, and persuaded many shopkeepers to quit paying extortion fees.  In addition, as Gela's mayor, he put the brakes on the single-bidding contract system that left the city’s garbage collection under Stidda control. He also served on the EU’s Anti-Mafia Commission. Needless to say, he's made a very dangerous enemy, and has fortunately survived three assassination attempts.  Still, Crocetta said his election victory as Sicily's governor means "the Mafia can pack its bags."

“Back when he was mayor of a coastal town plagued by mob violence, Crocetta took on the dons, combating the ingrained practice of pizzo, or forced protection payments, while helping put hundreds of gangsters behind bars. His anti-mafia revolution led crime boss Daniele Emmanuello to call for his assassination, with police subsequently arresting a series of mobsters for plots against his life.

A devoted Catholic, Crocetta claims that southern Italy is "less homophobic than the north." His sexuality rarely became a dominant issue during his governor’s campaign, but it was there, just beneath the surface, and on occasion, even made the headlines. Nevertheless, as a matter of contention, homophobia paled in comparison to the act of declaring "war" on La Cosa Nostra. Not too long ago, anti-Mafia magistrates Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino attempted to serve a far-reaching blow to the Mafia with the introduction of 'mafia association' as a charge before they were murdered in 1992.

“Freedom is about the moment you stand up and rebel. Sicily has stood up and is on its feet. What is happening here? A cultural revolution. I don’t know if we’ll succeed, but it’s about time we tried.” -- Rosario Crocetta

Links:

Inside The Sicilian Mafia's Drug Empire

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Evil People Have Plans! Good People Have Donuts and Word Jumbles.

Clear thinking comedian Lee Camp tells it like it is.

Evil people have plans.



Message to homophobes.



We Can't Control The Monsters We Create



What do Glen Beck and Hugh Hefner have in common?



Stamp out happiness!

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Church Prunes Gay Trees in Sin.

Albemarle Road Presbyterian Church, in Charlotte, NC, has been hit with a $4,000 fine for excessive pruning. That's right...$100 per branch, for trimming its own trees...incorrectly!

The Charlotte Observer reports, that city officials slapped Albemarle Road Presbyterian Church with a fine of $100 per branch for “excessively pruning” its crape myrtles.

Now,  it just so happens that is the same church at which the debate to end the "ban on gays and lesbians becoming clergy and lay leaders in the Presbyterian Church took place, which culminated in a vote of 162-154 to change the denomination's constitution by removing a 1997 amendment that said the ordained must either be single and chaste or in a heterosexual marriage".

The Presbytery of Charlotte added its support Tuesday to ending the ban on gays and lesbians becoming clergy and lay leaders in the Presbyterian Church (USA).

Presbyterian church leaders from the seven-county Charlotte region voted 162-154 to change the denomination's constitution by removing a 1997 amendment that said the ordained must either be single and chaste or in a heterosexual marriage.

Going into Tuesday's local vote, that change already had won the backing of a majority of presbyteries in the country. It was scheduled to become effective in July, whatever the Charlotte vote.

Still, Tuesday's debate at Albemarle Road Presbyterian Church drew about 40 speakers - in addition to the two Charlotte pastors chosen to present the two sides.

Could it be, perhaps, that some of the church's more homophobic members,  who just so happened to be in the employment of the city, blamed, what they assumed were "gay" trees, for influencing the end of the ban on gay clergy? Because, you see, the fine will be dropped if the trees are REPLACED...with homophobic trees, no doubt.

"Tom Johnson, senior urban forester for the Charlotte Land Development Division, said, the fine would be dropped if the church replaced each of the improperly pruned trees".

Just a thought.

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Has C-Street Targeted Africa to Test Out its Murderous Anti-homosexuality Legislation?

Jeff Sharlet, author of  "The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power" and the follow up, "C Street: The Fundamentalist Threat to American Democracy" surely thinks so.  For now, the “Kill the Gays” bill has been shelved, due to world-wide outrage; however, you can be sure it will  reemerge, repackaged, and ready to go at some later date.  This concerted effort to institutionalize homophobia, not only in Uganda, but throughout Africa is, the work of the insidious group,  C-Street,  a.k.a. as the Family or the Fellowship, who have "poured millions of dollars working through a very convoluted chain of linkages passing the money over to Uganda" to get this legislation up and running. Moreover, according to Michelle Goldberg of The Daily Beast, Pastor Rick Warren, who delivered the Invocation at President Obama’s Inauguration, and other "American demagogues"  were also influential.

In the documentary (below), The World’s Worst Place to Be Gay? DJ Scott Mills, who is himself gay travels to Uganda here homophobia "is so severe that Parliament is considering a bill to execute gay people". Mills found plenty of depressing evidence of institutionalized homophobia, and this was before the murder last month of the Ugandan gay-rights activist David Kato.

“David’s death is a result of the hatred planted in Uganda by U.S. evangelicals in 2009,” Val Kalende, the chairwoman of one of Uganda’s gay rights groups, said in a statement. “The Ugandan government and the so-called U.S. evangelicals must take responsibility for David’s blood.”

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Sex Changes to Avoid Persecution and Execution

It is well-known that under Iranian law, homosexual relationships and/or "homosexual tendencies" are punishable by death. Some Iranian leaders believe, "homosexuals deserve to be executed or tortured and possibly both".

Since 1979, according to Omid, a Memorial in Defense of Human Rights in Iran, an electronic database of human rights violations, 146 executions occurred as a result of charges related to homosexuality.

Yet, despite the Iranian government's hatred and barbaric treatment of homosexuals, filmmaker Tanaz Eshaghian discovered, while making her documentary, entitled ‘Be Like Others’, that the Iranian government's solution - or sometimes offered alternative for homosexuality - is forced sex change operations.

Obviously, no organization or political party is permitted to exist that endorses LGBT human rights in Iran as well as throughout much of the Muslim world. However, fortunately, courageous and heroic people - many who risk their lives - struggle and persist in the fight for gay rights in regions where "coming out" can be deadly.

Here are a few examples:

Green Party of Iran - Except for a very short period of history, democracy and freedom of expression has not existed in Iran. The Green Party of Iran believes that establishing democracy in Iran will be the foundation for any progress in the state of the economy, environment and living conditions. It is for this reason that the Green Party of Iran advocates equal rights: Every Iranian citizen is equal by law, regardless of gender, age, race, nationality, religion, marital status, sexual orientation, or political beliefs.

Iranian Queer Railroad IRQR - is an international, non profit, gay human rights organization based in Toronto, Canada. They help Iranian gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered refugees all over the world. IRQR also help Iranian LGBT who are threatened with deportation back to Iran, and assist Iranian LGBT in obtaining asylum in friendly countries.

In another part of the Muslim world, Morocco, where homosexual relations is also considered a crime, punishable by fines and prison sentences of six months to three years, Moroccan writer, Abdellah Taia, author of Salvation Army, as well as four other books, and has made it his mission to win acceptance for homosexuals throughout the Muslim world.

Iraqi LGBT - A Human Rights group Supporting Iraqi lesbians, gay, bisexuals and transgender people .

Parvez Sharma, creator and director of A Jihad for Love - a documentary that seeks to refute the belief that LGBT Muslims do not exist. Sharma, director and cinematographer of the film, came up with the idea after listening to the stories of gay Muslims when he attended American University. He decided to give a voice "to a community that really needed to be heard, and that until now hadn’t been. It was about going where the silence was strongest."

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Same Sex Couples Necessary For the Survival of the Species.

Neil Patrick Harris and partner David Burtka
Homosexual coupling occurs in over 1,000 species, from locusts and fruit flies, to penguins, dolphins and primates and the latest studies claim the pairing of same sex couples is not only widespread, but a "necessary biological adaptation for the survival of the species."

For a number of reasons, same-sex bonds have played a significant role in keeping a variety of species from possible extinction. For example, male-male pairings in locusts killed off the weaker males; female-female pairings in the Laysan albatross population raised offspring due to a shortage of males; same-sex couples amongst the dolphins engage in interactions to facilitate group bonding, and many of us have heard about the gay male penguins who hatched the egg rejected by its biological parents.

These are just a few examples that indicate, that not only has natural selection shaped same sex couples, but that same sex coupling acts as a selective force in and of itself. Therefore, it could be said that prohibiting marriage on the basis of a partners' gender is not only unconstitutional, but could adversely affect the evolution of human beings in the long run.

There is no doubt that same sex couples predate recorded human history, cross all social and cultural boundaries, and have played more than an instrumental role in creating culture which is so crucial to human survival. We don't come equipped with built in defense mechanisms like so many other species, as we lack the speed; endurance; strength; "molar" power; ability to fly; ability to camouflage ourselves; and/or shoot poisonous substances, etc.

Yet, in the transition from hunter-gatherers to modern day humans, despite the aforementioned deficiencies, we continue to thrive. While it is true, that our superior intelligence and our innate power or capacity to create factors heavily in our continued existence, it is our exigency to share the world with others that seals the deal.

Gay men and women, all throughout history - from Alexander the Great to Julius Caesar ["every women's husband, every man's wife"] to Leonardo da Vinci to Barney Frank - have overwhelmingly participated in the process of constructing, maintaining and innovating the culture and civilization we depend, not only for the evolution of our species, but the quality of our lives.

Not that it should matter, but sexuality is not a choice. Aside from the fact that gay men have larger penises, recent studies have demonstrated biological differences between homosexuals and heterosexuals. Amongst many other discoveries, Dr. Allen and Dr. Gorski at UCLA found that the part of the brain structure called the anterior commissure, a "cord of nerve fibers that allows two halves of the brain to communicate with one another, is larger in homosexual men than it is in either heterosexual men or in women." Who is to say that this anatomical difference not only affects sexuality but other spheres as well? Perhaps this difference accounts for what appears to be gay men's large contribution to our political and cultural landscape.

So, if thousands of gay and lesbian couples are forced to leave their American homes and move to one of the countries that do acknowledge homosexual relationships, or we go along with what the right-wing Christian group Family Research Council wants,

"I would much prefer to export homosexuals from the United States than to import them into the United States because we believe homosexuality is destructive to society." -- Peter Sprigg, FRC's Vice President for Policy

there is no question American culture would suffer tremendously, if not collapse all together.

And the real reason for the existence of homophobia:

"Uncovered Kinsey Report data show homosexual members have hetero ones by a head."

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Commemorating Carl Walker's Birthday. The National Day of Silence.

Approximately one week ago I blogged about how children bullying other children can mutilate a child's spirit which can lead to bullicide (suicide by bully), as it did in Carl Walker's case. Sexual orientation is cited as the second most common reason given for bullying after appearance.

Yesterday, April 17, which would have been Carl Walker's 12th birthday, had he not taken his own life, also marked the National Day of Silence. This day is supposed to "bring attention to anti-LGBT name-calling, bullying and harassment in schools. Each year the event has grown, now with hundreds of thousands of students coming together to encourage schools and classmates to address the problem of anti-LGBT behavior."

Essence Magazine interviewed Carl's mother who provided more details of her son's tragic death. Although Carl, only 11-years old, had not declared his sexuality, he was teased for what the other children perceived to be his sexuality.

"He told me that he was being called names and the kids were saying, "You're gay; you act like a girl."

It can't be emphasized enough that 30% of GLBT youth successfully take their own lives, and all of those deaths can be attributed to the acceptance of homophobia throughout all areas of our society. Unfortunately, this includes the child's own family, and friends. Unlike other minorities, who can seek comfort or support within the family, church, or many times, their community, children who are either gay, or perceived to be gay - sometimes before they even know that they are - have no support system whatsoever.

Is it any wonder that the suicide rate is so high within this group of young people?

Homophobia is Killing Our Youth

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New Education Secretary Pushed for Gay High School

Not only is Obama’s new pick for Education secretary, Arne Duncan, head of Chicago Public Schools a good buddy - they play basketball together - he’s been pushing for Chicago to start their first gay high school.

Public school officials in Chicago, recommended approval of a "gay-friendly" high school because harassment and violence are causing gay students to skip class and drop out at alarming rates. According to a 2003 Chicago Public School District survey, gay students are three times more likely to miss school because they feel unsafe, and other studies showed similar trends across the country.

The national study, which the group says is the most comprehensive report ever on the experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students nationwide, found that 86.2 percent of those students reported being verbally harassed, 44.1 percent physically harassed and 22.1 percent physically assaulted at school in the past year because of their sexual orientation. 39 states don't have laws against bullying based on sexual identity

From the Chicago Tribune:

The Chicago Public Schools’ first high school designed for gay, lesbian and transgender teens is among 20 new schools recommended to the school board today by CPS Chief Arne Duncan.

The proposed schools range from technology-focused high schools to the School for Social Justice Pride Campus, which officials said would cater to but not focus exclusively on gay youth.

Backers said they envision a small high school offering a college-preparatory curriculum in which students would take four years each of English and math, three years each of foreign languages and science, as well as fine arts and physical education. It would be a performance school, meaning it would have the same staffing and oversight requirements as other district schools.Backers said they envision a small high school offering a college-preparatory curriculum in which students would take four years each of English and math, three years each of foreign languages and science, as well as fine arts and physical education. It would be a performance school, meaning it would have the same staffing and oversight requirements as other district schools.

The announcement of the schools, which are expected to open in the fall of 2009 and 2010, took place at the Chicago International Charter School's Ralph Ellison Campus, 1817 W. 80th St. Public hearings on the proposed schools are expected before the Board of Education votes on them Oct. 22.

"If you look at national studies, you see gay and lesbian students with high dropout rates...Studies show they are disproportionately homeless," Duncan said. "I think there is a niche there we need to fill."

Supporters have said the Pride Campus would help students find a safe school environment because studies have shown that gay youth are at a greater risk of dropping out of school and abusing drugs and alcohol, and are two to three times more likely to attempt suicide. A 2003 district survey shows that gay and lesbian youths are three times more likely to miss school because they don't feel safe.

Opponents have called the move a misuse of public funds. At a recent public hearing on the proposal, some gay rights advocates have said the move would segregate these students and said the district should work more on fostering acceptance by mainstream students, teachers and other school officials.

Of course, not all are happy with the idea of a gay high school.

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