3. He's pissed at Obama for wanting equality for LGBT people here and abroad.
2. He thinks women are too dumb to choose what to do with their bodies and wants everyone to be a virgin until they are (straight) married. Of course, when it comes to executions, he's no pro-life advocate. Which gets him lots of cheers, too, by the way.
NOV. 18 UPDATE: The folks at Fox News are upset about the gay innuendo in Benetton's "Unhate" ad campaign. We were waiting for it. Apparently we're going to hell in a hand basket. Or in a Benetton handbag.
The only psychological interpretation of such ads that makes sense to me as a psychiatrist is that the corporate leaders at Benetton literally believe that homosexual sex between world leaders -- or at least homosexuality, as an orientation -- would lead to world peace.
Ablow adds:
Benetton now joins J. Crew as a fashion retailer with a social agenda that is no secret. At J. Crew, Jenna Lyons made it a point to tell Americans that painting boys' toenails pink is a good thing and probably a proper antidote to their rising levels of testosterone. At Benetton, heterosexuality and faith, are now linked to all the problems in our troubled world, problems that can be reversed if men in positions of leadership would just yield to their innate desires to have sex with each other.
Original post below:
President Barack Obama locking lips with Hugo Chavez, the president of Venezuela, is not exactly sexy but sure is, well, shocking. And that's what the Benetton brand is going for in its new "Unhate" Foundation ad campaign. And it's obviously stirring some controversy.
The most controversy surrounds the Photoshopped (and all the images, of course, are Photoshopped) image of Pope Benedict XVI and Sheik Ahmed el-Tayeb (I had to look it up), who is head of Al-Azhar university in Cairo, the top Islamic school in the world (I had to look that up, too). Anyway, the photos are examples of nations that don't get along and Benetton wants them to kiss and make up and stop the hating. And buy their clothes, of course.
Anyway, back the pope and the imam. These two guys do not get along at all and the Vatican is pissed and so Benetton pulled the ad from the campaign after some harsh words from the Vatican. No respect for such an important figure, blah, blah, blah, the Vatican said.
Georgia's own U.S. Rep. John Lewis has joined more than 100 members of Congress in a legal brief arguing that part of the Defense of Marriage Act, the ban on federal recognition of same-sex marriage, is unconstitutional.
“The stories of people in long-term relationships who are denied the right to act on their partners’ final requests are heartbreaking,” Lewis said in a press statement today. “If a state provides the right for gay and lesbian citizens to marry, the federal government should not bar their ability to receive any of the rights and privileges given to any other married citizen.
"To do so seems discriminatory on its face. We must get to the place in our society where we see beyond our own biases and accept each other as one human family," Lewis said.
The Centers for Disease Control & Prevention announced today — National Gay Men's HIV/AIDS Awareness Day — that is is awarding $55 million over five years to 34 community-based organizations, including AID Atlanta and Positive Impact.
The grants amount to approximately $300,000 per organization each year and will be used to expand HIV prevention services for young gay and bisexual men of color, transgender youth of color, and their partners.
AID Atlanta will receive $381,888 per year over five years and Positive Impact will receive $250,000 per year over five years, according to a spokesperson from the CDC.
"Don't Ask, Don't Tell," the policy that ended the military careers of more than 14,000 lesbians and gay men, moved a step closer to the rubbish bins of history Friday as President Obama, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta and Admiral Michael Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, formally certified its repeal.
Congress voted to repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" and Obama signed the bill into law in December 2010. But the legislation required Obama, the secretary of defense and the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff to certify to the House and Senate Armed Services Committees that the military was ready to implement the repeal.
Seriously, some people think Newt Gingrich is endorsing — at least kind of — gay marriage? So not true, people. Don’t be swayed by silly headlines.
The GOP presidential candidate and former Georgia congressman is being credited by some for perhaps going soft on the issue of gay marriage because the thrice married politician said this over the weekend in the wake of New York passing same-sex marriage legislation:
"Iowa was a very different case from New York," Gingrich said.
"I mean, Iowa was seven judges deciding that they would arbitrarily overturn the laws and the culture of the state of Iowa which is fundamentally different," Gingrich said. "I mean New York at least, whether you agree or disagree with the outcome, it is in the elected process and it is in the legislature and it is with the governor and that's the right venue."
The Centers for Disease Control announced today that drugs used to treat HIV infections provide additional protection against initial exposure for gay and bisexual men. According to a CDC press release, a National Institutes of Health study indicates an average of 44 percent additional protection for those who do not have HIV and take the once-daily pill Truvada.
The approach is called pre-exposure prophylaxis or PrEP.
“These results represent a major advance in HIV prevention research. For the first time, we have evidence that a daily pill used to treat HIV is partially effective for preventing HIV among gay and bisexual men at high risk for infection, when combined with other prevention strategies,” Dr. Kevin Fenton, M.D., Director, CDC National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD & TB Prevention said.
Thirteen activists and LGBT veterans were arrested today after handcuffing themselves to the White House fence to call for the end of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."
The action, organized by GetEQUAL, was a call for U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and President Obama to follow through with their promise of repealing the anti-gay policy. The vets and activists say the repeal can be done during the "lame duck" session that began today.
The 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals Wednesday night stopped the enforcement of a federal district court judge’s order that the military stop applying “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”
The Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest gay political group, today released its annual Healthcare Equality Index. Two Atlanta hospitals were among the 178 facilities rated on policies affecting LGBT patients and staff.