One of the oldest feminist bookstores in the nation was hit with anti-gay graffiti the night it held a standing room only literary event as part of its "Stride into Pride" for Atlanta Pride activities.
Lesbian-owned Charis Books & More, which turns 39 in November and is one of the last remaining feminist bookstores in North America, had anti-gay and anti-women graffiti spray painted on the side of its building Thursday night after a successful literary event, "Stride Into Pride: Atlanta Literary All Star Showcase."
Last week, Emory University's Candler School of Theology honored anti-gay minister Rev. Dr. H. Eddie Fox, head of World Evangelism for the World Methodist Council, with a Distinguished Alumni Award. Controversy surrounded the decision because of Fox's anti-gay stances within the United Methodist Church and plenty of students and faculty joined a chorus of displeasure with the decision.
Holding signs that stated, "Don't honor exclusion," "No Awards for Homophobia" and "Fox is not fantastic," dozen of students, alumni and allies gathered at the "Rally for an Inclusive Emory" at the building where the awards luncheon was held on Sept. 27. Check out some of the action captured on video:
Editor's Note: This story and photo were submitted by Erik Friedly, a gay American living in Uganda working in health communications. You can read an interview the GA Voice conducted with him last year by clicking here.
The second annual Ugandan Gay Pride celebration kicked off on July 31 and ran through Aug. 4, featuring film screenings, HIV counseling and testing, a parade, and, of course, plenty of partying.
Most of the events took place at the expansive Botanical Gardens in Entebbe, located about 45 minutes from the capital, Kampala. Because the Botanical Gardens stretch along the shores of Lake Victoria, the celebration took the name "Beach Pride Uganda 2013" with the theme "Still Here, Going Strong."
The gay man known as Baton Bob who loves to twirl a baton in a tutu while strutting Atlanta's streets was arrested today by the Atlanta Police Department after an alleged altercation with a security guard at Colony Square in Midtown.
APD spokesperson Carlos Campos explained what happened in a statement this evening:
"The preliminary information available on this incident seems to indicate that Bob Jamerson, who performs on the street as 'Baton Bob,' was arrested around noon today after reports of a verbal altercation with security guards at 1197 Peachtree Street. An off-duty Atlanta Police officer working for Midtown Blue was called and made the arrest. Arrest warrants were secured from a Magistrate Court judge and Mr. Jamerson was charged with simple assault and obstruction of a law enforcement officer," he said.
The United States Supreme Court today issued two historic opinions in cases involving same-sex marriage rights. And while both cases could be considered victories for LGBTQ rights supporters, the impact of both cases will have little impact on gay and lesbian couples in states that have banned such marriages – like Georgia.
Anti-gay groups universally condemned the court's rulings yet still claimed victory because the impact of both cases was not as broad as some anti-gay groups had feared.
Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, said today he and his organization were “disappointed” by today's rulings but said he was relieved that the court did not “redefine marriage for the entire country.”
A gay Duluth police officer who says he was harassed by superiors because of his sexual orientation is meeting with city officials today after rejecting a $21,000 settlement offer from the city earlier this week, according to WSB radio.
Officer Bobby Johnson filed a complaint with the EEOC in February naming Lt. Chuck Wilson and Chief Randy Belcher for making anti-gay comments. Johnson said he was often the target of anti-gay jokes.
"The work environment became so hostile, I couldn't stand it," Johnson told the Duluth Patch.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has a good story that was posted late Tuesday night titled "As Supreme Court weighs same-sex marriage, Georgians in 2004 battle look forward."
What we learned from the story:
• Jeff Graham, now executive director of Georgia Equality, said in 2004 Georgia LGBT activists didn't take the right approach when taking their message to voters.
"We didn’t begin to change people’s minds (with) the big politics; it’s about the simple message of wanting to take care of the person you love,” he said. “Once we stopped being afraid to talk about that fact … that’s when the public attitudes about this started to change.”
There will soon be no Chick-fil-A on the campus of Emory University and the student newspaper the Emory Wheel is pleased as sweet iced tea ― regardless of how the decision was made.
FACE, or the Food Advisory Committee Emory, said it decided the controversial food chain based in Atlanta would not be back for another year in Cox Hall because, well, students didn't like it. They just weren't eating there that much. The decision has nothing to do with the controversy surrounding the gay-marriage-hating Dan Cathy and his family's Atlanta-based restaurant, nor the boycott organized by Emory students ― that perhaps led to few students eating there, right?
Democrats in the Georgia General Assembly rolled out their legislative agenda for 2013 today which includes a bill “to prevent student scholarship organizations from funding private schools that discriminate against Georgia’s children.”
Dubbed the Anti-Discrimination Act, the bill is sponsored by Rep. Simone Bell (D-Atlanta) and Rep. Spencer Frye (D-Athens), according to Emily Oh, spokesperson for the House Democratic Caucus.
Bell is the first openly lesbian African-American state lawmaker in the country.
Rev. Louie Giglio, pastor of Atlanta's Passion City Church, will no longer deliver the benediction at President Barack Obama's inauguration after news came out Wednesday the conservative pastor had preached an anti-gay sermon in the past, according to ABC News.
Thinkprogress reported Wednesday that Rev. Giglio in the mid-1990s preached against homosexuality as well as in favor of ex-gay conversion. You can listen to the sermon, titled “In Search of a Standard – Christian Response to Homosexuality,” here.
During the sermon, Giglio discusses an Entertainment Tonight episode that discusses a gay marriage on the TV show "Northern Exposure" as well as the famous same-sex kiss on the hit TV show, "Roseanne." Both shows were hits in the 1990s.
A decade after a Morehouse College student beat another student with a baseball bat because he believed the other young man was gay, the all-male historically black Atlanta campus is set to offer its first class in LGBT studies.
It was in November 2002 when Morehouse student Aaron Price viciously attacked fellow student Gregory Love with a baseball bat because he perceived Love to be gay.
Love, who said he was not gay, suffered a fractured skull and nearly died; Price was sentenced to 10 years in prison. Price had his sentence reduced to seven years in 2006 after a Fulton County judge deemed 10 years behind bars too harsh.