Bulgaria: Orthodox Church Priest Issues Call For Violence At Sofia Pride Parade

Joe.My.God. reports:

All Out sends us an urgent press release:

On Saturday, June 30th, the Fifth Ever Sofia Pride Parade Saturday is scheduled to take place in Bulgaria’s capital city. Last year, marchers in the Sofia Pride Parade were brutally attacked and beaten in the street when walking home after the Parade. The first Pride Parade in 2008 was firebombed with Molotov cocktails by skinheads and members of an extreme right wing party. This year, these same extremists - including the Bulgarian National Union - have now been given a permit to hold a public event — ostensibly a “concert” but in reality a anti-Pride gathering — just a few hours before the Sofia Pride Parade.

Father Evgenii Yanakiev, a local priest in the Orthodox Church, advised people to “throw stones” at the Pride participants and called for politicians who support the march to be “drowned in the sea with millstones tied around their necks”. While the march itself will have police present, an angry stirred-up mob of right wing extremists threatens to turn the day into a violence-filled free-for-all. Nothing prevents the mob from blocking people traveling to the Parade or following them home. The Bulgarian Helsinki Committee, the Sofia Pride Committee, and other human rights activists are asking the Bulgarian Orthodox Church to make an official statement condemning these calls for violence and officially distancing the Church from these statements.

All Out has posted a petition to Sofia’s mayor demanding that he revoke the permit for the anti-gay parade.

Minnesota For Marriage Calls For Execution Of Gays 

Via Good As You.

UPDATE: According to Joe Jervis, Minnesota For Marriage is claiming that the posting of the leviticus verse was a hack:

Do you believe them? I think it might be true they were hacked but, isn’t those kind of verses from the Bible that they take refuge in when spreading their bigotry? So I just think that if they were indeed hacked, the hacker only posted what they truly believe. 

Actress Cloris Leachman is an Atheist

Via Friendly Atheist: 

In an interview with Debra Ollivier of the Huffington Post, actress Cloris Leachman identified unmistakably as an atheist:

• Well, when I was six years old I heard that God was watching me, and I thought, “No, no, no, we’re not going to have any of that.” And then for many, many years I thought that God would get even with me or punish me because I didn’t believe in him, or her, or them. And nothing ever happened except for good things. So I don’t believe at all in God and I’m very relieved that I don’t.
• So you would you consider yourself an atheist?
• Definitely.

Leachman, as a senior citizen, represents a very underrepresented group of atheists so this is a welcome admission. As a celebrity, we know her statements tend to carry more weight with the general public, so maybe it’ll propel those who have been fans of hers since The Mary Tyler Moore Show (or at least Comedy Central’s Roast of Bob Saget) to come out as well.

Later in the interview, Leachman took a stab at those who say that God is the only acceptable answer to all of the unexplainable things that happen in people’s lives:

• So whatever your religious convictions — or lack thereof — you’ve lived a sort of blessed life.
• There’s something extraordinary that we’ll never understand, it’s just beyond anybody. Extraordinary miracles, billions and trillions of them, happen all the time but not because there’s a God.
• So where do all the millions of miracles come from?
• Is the answer God? It’s beyond belief. There are 7 billion people on the planet. Is He hearing 7 billion people at once?
• That’s a good question. I don’t have an answer, but I don’t believe that there’s nothing out there.
• I didn’t say there’s nothing out there, but there certainly isn’t any God. The stuff that’s made up about Jesus — that you have to go through Jesus to get to God and if you’re lucky, after you die, if you’ve done everything right, the reward is you get to sit on the right hand side of God. All that is made up by men. People made it up.

Having such an adamant female figure behind those words is powerful for anyone who is struggling with their disbelief. In the interview, Leachman also discussed growing up the daughter of an Episcopalian minister, so she has come to these conclusions after being immersed in a “fire and brimstone” culture. She is an incredible example of moving past painful or scary church experiences to see those who use fear as a motivator for what they really are: liars.

Thanks to Cloris for coming out so strongly and being a source of inspiration for those in her demographic who may be struggling to find solidarity among their peers.

Moron Of The Week: Pussy-Married Mormon & Gay Torturer Josh Weed

Not sure if he’s really gay himself or not. If he’s not, he’s guilty of trying to pass as such for the only purpose to gain the trust of his victims. He’s an Ex-Gay Reparative Therapist.

He made some comments recently, which went viral on the blogosphere, stating that although he’s gay, and his wife know about it, he’s happily married and says to enjoy a really good sex life.

And if he really is gay, I only see him as worst than peeps like Tony Perkins or Bryan Fischer. At least they’re true to their bigotry.

EXPOSED: Opposite-Married Gay Mormon Is Actually An Ex-Gay Reparative Therapist

Joe.My.God. reports: 

Earlier this week much of the LGBT blogosphere and the mainstream media talked about Josh Weed, the “happily married” gay Mormon who claims while he’s completely homosexual, he has a satisfying marriage with a woman with whom he has a “robust sex life.” But as it turns out, Weed is actually an anti-gay “reparative therapist” who gets paid to torture gay men about their completely natural sexual orientation. Some of you may want to rethink the kind words you said about this motherfucker on Monday’s blog post.

This is Josh’s comments that Joe is refering to:

“Some might assume that because I’m married to a woman, I must be bisexual. This would be true if sexual orientation was defined by sexual experience. Heck, if sexual orientation were defined by sexual experience, I would be as straight as the day is long even though I’ve never been turned on by a Victoria’s Secret commercial in my entire life. Sexual orientation is defined by attraction, not by experience. In my case, I am attracted sexually to men. Period. Yet my marriage is wonderful, and Lolly and I have an extremely healthy and robust sex life. How can this be?

“The truth is, what people are really asking with the above question is ‘how can you be gay if your primary sex partner is a girl?’ I didn’t fully understand the answer to this question until I was doing research on sexuality in grad school even though I had been happily married for almost five years at that point. I knew that I was gay, and I also knew that sex with my wife was enjoyable. But I didn’t understand how that was happening. Here is the basic reality that I actually think many people could use a lesson in: sex is about more than just visual attraction and lust and it is about more than just passion and infatuation. I won’t get into the boring details of the research here, but basically when sex is done right, at its deepest level it is about intimacy.”  

Homophobes At CBN Slam Carrie Underwood For Supporting Marriage Equality

Hate Group FRC Leader Tony Perkins Launches Prayer Rally Against Gays, Asks Americans To Be On Their Knees

Here’s in a nutshell what they’re asking people to pray for:

May the President realize that he is an example and that his actions have an impact for good or for evil! May God wash our nation of the moral dullness and spiritual filth that is covering us as a result of this misguided, evil proclamation! May the Boy Scouts continue to resist pressure to yield to this ungodly agenda (Ps 51:6-7; Is 1:16-20; Jer 2:19-3:15; 4:14; Acts 22:16; Jude 7).

May America become fully acquainted with ENDA and its ominous consequences, and may they demand that their Congressmen and Senators reject it! (Ex 18:21-22a; Pr 28:4; Is 5:20; 59:15; 2 Th 2:7-12)

May the Lord lead each Justice to uphold DOMA and the right of the voters to amend their constitution to uphold marriage as between a man and woman! (Ex 18:20; Dt 16:18-19; Pr 28:4; Lk 12:11-12; Jn 7:24; 1 Tim 2:1-8)

Uganda: Churches Issue Joint Call For Passage Of “Kill The Gays” Bill

Joe.My.God. reports: 

Uganda’s “Anti-Homosexuality” bill, which still includes provisions for the death penalty, remains pending. And this week a coalition of Christian churches issued a call for its speedy passage.

• Speaking after their recent annual conference organised by the Uganda Joint Christian Council (UJCC), an ecumenical body which brings together the Anglican, Catholic and Orthodox churches, the bishops resolved that the parliamentary committee on Gender should be tasked to engage the House on the Bill which is now at committee level. “We also ask the Education committee to engage the Ministry of Education on the issue of incorporating a topic on human sexuality in the curricula of our schools and institutions of learning,” the resolutions signed by archbishops Henry Luke Orombi, Cyprian Kizito Lwanga and Metropolitan Jonah Lwanga, indicated. The clerics also appealed to all the churches in the country “to remain steadfast in opposing the phenomena of homosexuality, lesbianism and same-sex union”. The Anti-Homosexuality Bill was proposed by Ndorwa West PM David Bahati and has become a subject of international discussion with most Western powers describing the Bill as barbaric.

The bill was first proposed in 2009 by Ugandan MP David Behati after visits from American evangelists such as Scott Lively.

Remembering Christopher Hitchens: The Hitch On The BS Of The Exixtance Of Secular Dictatorships

Church Of England: Although We Were Founded On The Principles Of Henry VIII, Marriage Should Be Between 1 Man & 1 Woman

The Church of England cannot support the proposal to enable ―all couples, regardless of their gender, to have a civil marriage ceremony. Such a move would alter the intrinsic nature of marriage as the union of a man and a woman, as enshrined in human institutions throughout history. Marriage benefits society in many ways, not only by promoting mutuality and fidelity, but also by acknowledging an underlying biological complementarity which, for many, includes the possibility of procreation.

We have supported various legal changes in recent years to remove unjustified discrimination and create greater legal rights for same sex couples and we welcome that fact that previous legal and material inequities between heterosexual and same-sex partnerships have now been satisfactorily addressed. To change the nature of marriage for everyone will be divisive and deliver no obvious legal gains given the rights already conferred by civil partnerships. We also believe that imposing for essentially ideological reasons a new meaning on a term as familiar and fundamental as marriage would be deeply unwise.

The Church Understanding Of Marriage

1. In common with almost other Churches, The Church of England holds, as a matter of doctrine and derived from the teaching of Christ himself, that marriage in general – and not just the marriage of Christians – is, in its nature, a lifelong union of one man with one woman. […]

Read the full statement.

FLORIDA: Pastor Terry Jones Hangs President Obama In Effigy Holding Rainbow Flag

Joe.My.God. reports: 

Florida’s Pastor Terry Jones, whom some consider to have caused the deaths of soldiers when riots erupted in Afghanistan after he burned the Koran, is at it again.

• The display in the front yard of Terry Jones’s Dove World Outreach Center (DWOC) in Gainesville features a dummy wearing an Obama mask hanging from a yellow noose. Along with an American flag and a rainbow-striped gay pride flag, the scene includes an Uncle Sam dummy and a child’s doll hanging from the right hand of the Obama figure. Nearby, the words “Obama is Killing America” are printed on a trailer. So, it appears, the creepy Jones is returning the favor.

The Remaining Three Horsemen (Richard Dawkins, Daniel C. Dennett & Sam Harris) + Ayaan Hirsi Ali

Peter Tatchell: The Queen Has Turned Her Back On The Gay Community

Via The Guardian:

Ever since the public relations blunders at the time of Princess Diana’s death, the Queen has gone to great lengths to be more in touch with the mood of country. She presents the monarchy as modern, compassionate and inclusive; often referring to the value of a diverse multicultural, multifaith society.
On one issue, however, she remains curiously out of step with public opinion. Whereas most of us now welcome and embrace lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people, the Queen has never done so.
While I doubt that Elizabeth II is a raging homophobe, she certainly doesn’t appear to gay-friendly. Not once in her 60-year reign has she publicly acknowledged the existence of the LGBT community – or gay members of her own royal family. The Queen has turned her back on queens.
While she has spoken approvingly of the UK’s many races and faiths, for six decades she has ignored LGBT Britons. Judging from her silence, it seems that we are the unspeakable ones – the people she cannot bare to acknowledge or mention in public. Why the double standards?
Regardless of whether these omissions are a reflection of the Queen’s personal views or the result of advice from her courtiers, as monarch she bears ultimate responsibility. Her silence sends a signal of exclusion and disrespect.
Astonishingly, since she became Queen in 1952, the words “gay” and “lesbian” have never publicly passed her lips. There is no record of her ever speaking them. Even when she announced government plans for gay law reform in her Queen’s speeches, she did not use the words lesbian or gay. Apparently, mentioning LGBT people is beneath the dignity of the monarch.
The Queen visits many charities and welfare organisations. But never in 60 years has she visited a gay charity or welfare agency. She has, for example, ignored deserving gay charities like the Albert Kennedy Trustand Stonewall Housing, which support homeless LGBT youth. Although she is a patron of many good causes, none of them are gay or serve the gay community.
Defenders of the monarchy point out that many royal staff are gay men. This is true. So what? Having gay staff wait hand and foot on the Queen is proof of nothing, apart from the fact that she likes well-groomed male servants. It’s the equivalent of rich racists claiming that they can’t be racist because they employ black staff to clean their homes.
Besides, there’s solid evidence of regal prejudice. Gay staff in the royal household used to be banned from bringing their partners to the annual Christmas ball at Buckingham Palace; whereas heterosexual staff were always invited to attend with their partners. This homophobic discrimination was exposed by the LGBT human rights group OutRage! in 1995. It was only after a protest outside the palace and the ensuing bad publicity that the royals dropped the ban.
When there are major tragedies involving the loss of life, the Queen often visits the site and the victims in hospital. This did not happen when neo-Nazi David Copeland bombed the Admiral Duncan gay pub in Soho, London, in 1999, killing three people and wounding 70 others. At the time, it was the worst terrorist outrage in mainland Britain for many years. To most people’s surprise, the Queen did not visit the bombed-out pub or the hospitalised victims.
I wanted to give the Queen a chance to put her side of the story, so I contacted her press office. I asked them whether the Queen has ever uttered in public the words gay or lesbian? Did she use these words in any of her Queen’s speeches when announcing the government’s gay equality laws? Has she ever acknowledged the existence of LGBT people in any public statement? Has the Queen ever visited a gay charity or welfare agency? Is she the patron of any organisation serving the needs of LGBT people?
The Queen’s press office failed to respond. I rest my case. The monarchy is homophobic – if not by conscious intent, then by default.
As head of state, the Queen is supposed to represent and embrace all British people, not just some. How much longer will the LGBT community have to wait for royal recognition and acceptance?

KANSAS: Pastor Defends Call For Government To Execute All Gays

(Via Joe.My.God.)