Teh Gay Teens

No thanks: Baptist college refuses help from visiting teen group - Louisville Courier-Journal

No thanks: Baptist college refuses help from visiting teen group
Louisville Courier-Journal
The convention, in a vote by more than 8000 participants, found the church — which has gay members — had acted to "affirm, approve or endorse homosexual ...

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In South Florida, students increasingly use hate words as terms of ... - Sun-Sentinel.com

In South Florida, students increasingly use hate words as terms of ...
Sun-Sentinel.com
Paul Battaglia, 18, former president of Cypress Bay High School's Gay Straight Alliance, said a classmate's use of the word gay in casual conversation ...

and more »
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California school district billed over lesbian minister controversy

(California) A school district has been billed $14,700 in law-suit related costs by a Sacramento legal firm representing a group of angry parents. The billing comes after the parents sued the school district, demanding materials related to a "Days of Diversity" presentation by a lesbian minister that caused a stir ...
Read more [365 Gay]

Camp Fyrefly looks to empower LBGTTQI youth - University of British Columbia

University of British Columbia
Camp Fyrefly looks to empower LBGTTQI youth
University of British Columbia
For example, one of the leadership workshops will teach strategies for founding a high school's gay-straight alliance, which is a student organization ...

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Teens debate hot topics - Georgetown News Graphic

Teens debate hot topics
Georgetown News Graphic
Debatable issues chosen by the teen board included school funding of arts and athletic programs, gay rights, healthcare reform and whether abstract art is ...

and more »
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Raid on the Rainbow Lounge, Ft. Worth Texas - Examiner.com

Dallas Voice
Raid on the Rainbow Lounge, Ft. Worth Texas
Examiner.com
Another school of thought is that this was not intended as a gay bashing, but the use of excessive force leads to a violation of civil rights. ...
Candlelight Vigil Planned as Police Chief Floats 'Gay Panic ...Towleroad
DFW Gay Community Upset After Reported Bar RaidCBS 11
Speaking of statements ….Dallas Voice
WFAA -33 KDAF-TV -PR Newswire (press release)
all 513 news articles »
Read more [Google News: Gay Civil Rights]

Police say Teen who Drowned was a Runaway - WSAZ-TV

Police say Teen who Drowned was a Runaway
WSAZ-TV
Posted By: more pc at wsaz: gays in usa sounds like it was written by a gay person,so it was printed.it was,nt written by a gay person.it was a second ...

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Gay marriage stalls as RI lawmakers wrap up - Bay Windows

Gay marriage stalls as RI lawmakers wrap up
Bay Windows
The teen had been in reform school for stealing but was eager to get out and go to the church to have what he thought were his demons driven out, ...

and more »
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Ben Summerskill: ‘Lots of gay and lesbian people don’t actually want marriage’

By Jessica Geen, Pink News In an exclusive interview with PinkNews.co.uk, Stonewall chief executive Ben Summerskill discusses gay marriage, the ‘cancer’ of homophobic bullying and the future of the charity. The gay rights movement celebrates two landmark anniversaries this summer. One is the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall riots in New York; the other is the 20th year since Stonewall, the UK gay rights charity, was founded. Section 28, which banned discussion of homosexuality in school
Read more [Technorati: Gay Marriage]

Lithuanian president vetoes anti-gay bill

(Lithuania) President Valdas Adamkus of Lithuania has vetoed a bill that would have prohibited the discussion of homosexuality in schools and banned it from any public information that could be seen or referenced by children the Advocate reports. The bill, called the "Law on the Protection of Minors against the Detrimental ...
Read more [365 Gay]

How Do YOU Keep it Together? - Conducive

How Do YOU Keep it Together?
Conducive
When I was 16 we tried to start a gay-straight alliance (GSA) at an Orange County high school. This was in the 90s, when GSA groups were just forming. ...

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Not-So-New Rallying Cry: Reverse Discrimination - CQPolitics.com

Washington Post
Not-So-New Rallying Cry: Reverse Discrimination
CQPolitics.com
wrote Sherrilyn Ifill, a professor at the University of Maryland School of Law and a civil rights lawyer. “But it's also got the kind of facts that make ...
The Early Word: Looming Health Care BattlesNew York Times Blogs

all 3,579 news articles »
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Update: ‘Freedom Federation’ Takes on Theocratic Tone

Vision America, an organization formed by Baptist minister Rick Scarborough, has issued a press release concerning their involvement with the newly announced “Freedom Federation.”  In it we find a little more about this organization which is “not an organization.”

Scarborough commented: “These organizations represent some of the nation’s largest constituencies of youth, Hispanics, African-Americans, women, pastors and churches, who are uniting to defend a tradition increasingly under attack.”

The Freedom Federation is committed to defending and extending core values expressed in the Declaration of American Values, the organization’s founding document. These include the right to life, the institution of marriage, parental rights, religious liberty, an environment free of pornography and indecency, the right to property, freedom from excessive taxation, and national sovereignty. The statement is posted on the Vision America website at www.visionamerica.us.

The Declaration of American Values was apparently written by Liberty Counsel’s Mat Staver ( playing the part of Thomas Jefferson).  Staver also wrote the Florida amendment denying marriage (or anything like it) to same-sex couples (which passed).  This new declaration contains a list of ultra-conservative activist top hits, including:

To secure our national interest in the institution of marriage and family by embracing the union of one man and one woman as the sole form of legitimate marriage and the proper basis of family.

Reading through it was a bit eerie for reasons I can’t yet describe fully.  Partly, at least, must be the melodrama of using the Declaration of Independence as a template for something like this.  It has more than just a bit of Constitution Party to it.

Scarborough apparently made his bones in the early 90s by “exposing” a local AIDS awareness curriculum that dared to claim that sex was “safe with condoms.”  While this was not an uncommon statement to make in 1992, it seems the frank discussion of sex in general, transcribed for his congregation, was enough to create a new conservative activist out of Scarborough.

In 1992, Dr. Scarborough gained national recognition when he exposed the contents of a disturbing assembly program at the local high school. Under the auspices of an “AIDS Presentation,” a young lady, sponsored by the AIDS Foundation of Houston, candidly discussed every sex act imaginable expressing the opinion (presented as fact) that “safe sex” was attainable by using condoms. Dr. Scarborough recorded the assembly and then made transcripts available to his congregation the following Sunday morning. The resulting furor that erupted caught the eye of the national media.

Scarborough has also written a few books including In Defense of Mixing Church and State, and Liberalism Kills Kids.  As we said, definitely something to watch.

Supreme Court won't get involved in school's blocking of Bible club - Longview Daily News

KOMO News
Supreme Court won't get involved in school's blocking of Bible club
Longview Daily News
Again with 'Gay Club' it has to do with the exclusivity. I doubt many if any schools have 'Gay/Lesbian Clubs' but more likely 'Gay Straight Alliances' where ...
High Court Won't Hear Bible-Club CaseCitizenLink

all 183 news articles »
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Pride 40 years after Stonewall - Socialist Worker Online

Pride 40 years after Stonewall
Socialist Worker Online
The pro-same-sex marriage organization, "Love Makes a Family" hosted a peace contingent, and the local High School Gay-Straight Alliance marched chanting, ...

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L.A. Schools Chief Outraged Over 'Bruno' Photo With Football Squad

The superintendent of the Los Angeles schools is outraged that Sacha Baron Cohen posed for GQ with high school football players as tres gay Bruno.
Read more [Boston Edge]

Teen lesbians win 'Best Couple' in Bronx high school - Metro Weekly

Teen lesbians win 'Best Couple' in Bronx high school
Metro Weekly
When the papers came out for people to vote, it said 'best couple: pick a boy and a girl.' Deoine asked if I voted and I said 'no,' but then I was thinking ...

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District 191: Co-curriculars OK'd, not funded - Savage Pacer

District 191: Co-curriculars OK'd, not funded
Savage Pacer
Some of the clubs approved by the School Board are already established; like PROUD, Burnsville High School's gay-straight alliance, the BHS Science Quiz ...

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The ‘Gayby Boom:’ Children of Gay Parents are ‘Coming Out’

A couple of generations have passed since Stonewall, and more and more people are acting upon Harvey Milk’s declaration that the closet is the biggest enemy to the queer community. This not only includes those who are gay and lesbian, but those who are children of gay and lesbian couples.

A recent article interviews several of these children, now adults, and how their family structure affected their childhood and well-being.

Opponents claim that raising a child in a home lacking in a parent of either gender will cause the child to become psychologically damaged, experiment more with their sexuality, and grow up “missing” the parent of the gender not present in their lives. They even go so far as claiming that gays and lesbians who adopt children are engaging in a selfish act; treating their child as a “trophy.” The members of the LGBTQ community have long spoken out against such claims, and indeed no mainstream medical organization in America can point to definitive proof that such negative consequences occur with same-sex parenting. But it isn’t just members of the gay community that are fed up with such questions: the children themselves are tired of it.

While many grew up hiding the families they dearly loved from bullies at school, they are now writing memoirs and speaking out about their experiences. It turns out that the children of gay parents are as varied as the children of straight parents. Jesse Levey, a heterosexual republican who believes in “family values,” is fighting for his lesbian moms’ right to marry. Growing up he did not feel sexually confused; nor did he miss having a dad in his life. He was never lacking in male role models, and his mothers were able to provide all the typically “male” activities their son loved, such as hiking or having a catch.

As acceptance grows for gay couples and more and more people personally know someone who is gay, so too is acceptance growing for the children of those couples. Waning are the stereotypes of the damaged, confused child of gays.

Abigail Garner, author of “Families Like Mine: Children of Gay Parents Tell It Like It is,” calls her upbringing a “fabulous gift.” She is the daughter of two gay dads and a straight mom.

She says her interviews with other children of gay or lesbian parents showed that those who shared her upbringing tend to be more empathetic and unafraid to take unpopular stands.

In fact, the ones making children sexually confused are those seeking to spread misinformation and stereotypes about gays:

“I know story after story of children who started to question their sexuality but stayed quiet about it out of fear that the truth would reflect poorly on their parents,” Garner says.

So those seeking to “protect the children” are in fact harming them with their rhetoric. Such children bare the brunt of sexual confusion because they are trying to protect the parents they deeply care for.

The only negative voice in the article is that of Dale O’Leary, a Catholic who believes children can only be raised healthfully in a one-man-one-woman marriage. Not surprisingly, she admits that she does not personally know any same-sex couples or their children. O’Leary spouts off the same tired stereotypes about the children of gay couples, but tides are turning for the side of the LGBTQ community.

And more and more people are getting to know those couples and children.

Advocates Urge White House, Congress To Broaden Teen Pregnancy ... - RH Reality Check

Advocates Urge White House, Congress To Broaden Teen Pregnancy ...
RH Reality Check
Only one organization, the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, has come out publicly supporting the intiative in its current form. ...

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Gay teen exorcism shows "medieval mindset" of 'ex-gay' ministries - PinkNews.co.uk

fairfieldweekly.com
Gay teen exorcism shows "medieval mindset" of 'ex-gay' ministries
PinkNews.co.uk
By Staff Writer, PinkNews.co.uk • June 29, 2009 - 10:29 A group that works to counter religious groups who promote the "ex-gay" movement has spoken out ...
Gay Exorcism Maniafairfieldweekly.com
The Devil Made Her Do ItBeyond Chron
Teenage Exorcism On YouTubeSame Same
Examiner.com -Examiner.com
all 11 news articles »
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Gay teen exorcism shows "medieval mindset" of 'ex-gay' ministries

A group that works to counter religious groups who promote the "ex-gay" movement has spoken out after a video of a child being "exorcised" of gay demons appeared on the internet.

How did a bullying bill become a debate about gay marriage? - Hickory Daily Record

How did a bullying bill become a debate about gay marriage?
Hickory Daily Record
"For us, it's really just a human and civil rights issue," Strickland says. "All kids should be able to go to school and feel safe. ...

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Gay couple voted "Best Couple" in high school yearbook - Examiner.com

Gay couple voted "Best Couple" in high school yearbook
Examiner.com
High school is not always the most supportive place for gay teens, but, like Sergio Garcia, the gay male teen who was voted Prom Queen at his California ...

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Pain kept teen from high school but not high goals - Colorado Springs Gazette

Pain kept teen from high school but not high goals
Colorado Springs Gazette
Her mom, Gay, was in the Air Force Reserves, and her dad, Scott, worked for Academy School District 20. "Then all of a sudden, when I was 13, ...

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One or Two Things He Knows About Teenagers - New York Times

One or Two Things He Knows About Teenagers
New York Times
She's a unique female teen voice in a world of “Gossip Girl” and “90210.” A. I grew up in Winston-Salem, NC Actually went to RJ Reynolds High School. ...

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True-love union began at first kiss - San Francisco Chronicle

True-love union began at first kiss
San Francisco Chronicle
Omar, 16, a gay teen the couple is fostering, is off to high school. Despite all the action, the feeling on the stoop of this East Oakland home is of pure ...

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Gay Teen Exorcism in Connecticut

Pinch me. We are living in the 21st century, right?
Read more [Technorati: Gay Marriage]

Lithuanian President blocks homophobic law

The President of Lithuania has vetoed a new law that would have banned materials that “agitate" for gay relationships from schools.

Video: Gay "exorcism" performed on teenage boy

A video has been posted on YouTube showing horrific abuse of a teenage boy by religious fundamentalists.

Gay law review has advocate - Daily Texan Online

Jason Cordova, president of OUTLaw, is leading the creation of a journal for the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender law community. Legal scholarship at UT might be coming out of the closet by spring 2010 if students in the law school can gather ...
Read more [Gay Marriage]

Group hosting Pride event downtown - Canada.com

Group hosting Pride event downtown
Canada.com
In the year and a half since the Gay-Straight Alliance formed here, meetings have attracted 60 young people from eight Valley schools, she said. ...

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Queer kids prepare for summer camp - Vancouver Courier

Queer kids prepare for summer camp
Vancouver Courier
Earlier this year, 18-year-old Natalie Kalb helped form a gay-straight alliance at mcgee high school. And next weekend the recent graduate will teach other ...

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District completes gay rights program - Gilroy Dispatch

District completes gay rights program
Gilroy Dispatch
John Glass, who taught English at Live Oak High School for eight years and recently advised for the Gay Straight Alliance there, pointed out that 70 percent ...

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Video of church's 'casting out' gay 'demon' in teen sparks anger - CNN International

Daily Mail
Video of church's 'casting out' gay 'demon' in teen sparks anger
CNN International
The video has sparked anger among gay youth advocacy groups and put the small church from Bridgeport, Connecticut, in the middle of an ongoing national ...
Apparent Gay Exorcism in Conn. Church Causes OutrageLos Angeles Times
Gay exorcism video abuse or freedom of religionExaminer.com
Conn. church creates stir with gay exorcism videoThe Associated Press
fox4kc.com -National Post -KCBD-TV -Right Pundits
all 325 news articles »
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Christian Commentator Defends Teenage Gay Exorcism

Dr Gary Cass of the Christian Anti-Defamation Commission has defended a church that performed a gruelling exorcism on a 16-year-old boy.

Manifested Glory Church in Bridgeport, CT, has been widely condemned after a video was released showing the boy writhing around on the floor as a preacher attempted to rid him of the demon supposedly behind his homosexuality. As others held the teenager in place, occasionally propping him up, the preacher shouted, “You homosexual spirit, we call you out right now. You have no power. … Loose your grip, Lucifer, you sex demon,” among other commands to the Devil.

Now Dr Cass has decried critics, accusing them of intolerance:

Where is the tolerance for a church who tried to help a young man who freely asked for help to overcome homosexual temptations? … No church deserves to be maligned for trying to help a troubled teen who asked for prayer.

He insinuates (helped by Christian Newswire’s headline, which unnecessarily identifies Manifested Glory as a black church) that racism is behind the criticisms:

White homosexual activists who demand tolerance for their sexual sin have no right to defame black Christians for practicing their Constitutional religious liberty. … As far as we know, this young man went to church on his own prerogative and left the church physically unharmed.

This kind of demonic deliverance is in fact found in Pentecostal and charismatic churches regardless of ethnicity, which leaves Dr Cass’s accusation baseless.

The real concern here is that a 16-year-old – white, black or anywhere in-between – was subjected to such an intense ordeal. And if he did consent to being treated in this way, to what kind of abusive teaching must he have been exposed to get to the point where he was convinced his sexual orientation was the result of possession by Satan?

Watch the video below:

Poll: Teens, Tweens for Marriage Equality - Advocate

A new poll from Pangea Media shows that 75% of teens and tweens (youth between the ages of 9 and 12) support marriage equality, although 79% of respondents said they were unaware of President Barack Obama’s position on same-sex marriage. The poll ...
Read more [Gay Marriage]

Groups showcase pride in weekend festival - Corvallis Gazette Times

Corvallis Gazette Times
Groups showcase pride in weekend festival
Corvallis Gazette Times
She grew up in Philomath and attended Philomath High School, where she helped found the now-defunct Gay-Straight Alliance. She also helped start Out N About ...

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Reflecting on Boston Pride; anger at Obama - Bay Windows

Reflecting on Boston Pride; anger at Obama
Bay Windows
... to counter-protest the "God Hates Fags" group who showed up on the front steps of East Boston High School to picket the school's gay/straight alliance. ...

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School safety advocates praise DOE pick - Bay Area Reporter

Bay Area Reporter
School safety advocates praise DOE pick
Bay Area Reporter
Jennings became the faculty advisor to the nation's first gay-straight alliance at Concord Academy in Massachusetts in 1988, according to his Web site. ...

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Durham students shine in board awards - Newsdurhamregion.com

Durham students shine in board awards
Newsdurhamregion.com, Canada
In Grade 10, she became part of the Pickering High School Gay-Straight Alliance, of which she was also a founding member. At first, the group experienced some controversy with people calling it the gay club, but since then things have calmed down. ...
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MOVIES Daniel Barnz's world of wonder - Windy City Times

MOVIES Daniel Barnz's world of wonder
Windy City Times, IL
I didn't know it then but that had to do in part with being gay. When I think back to my school experiences there were no gay people, nobody was out, you barely mentioned the word and I think that definitely influenced who I am in some positive ways. ...
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Teen lover tells Portland Mayor Sam Adams 'we are both ruined' - Boston Herald

MiamiHerald.com
Teen lover tells Portland Mayor Sam Adams 'we are both ruined'
Boston Herald
A report by Attorney General John Kroger released Monday said investigators found no credible evidence the openly gay mayor initiated a sexual relationship ...
Breaking: DOJ clears Mayor AdamsBlueOregon

all 348 news articles »
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If Hollywood was a high school... - New York Daily News

New York Daily News
If Hollywood was a high school...
New York Daily News, NY
Robert Pattinson stole plenty of teen girl's hearts when he played a mysterious vampire in "Twilight." What makes the British actor so desirable? Some might say it's his chiseled good looks, his bad boy persona, his charming accent... Enough said. ...
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Pangea Media Survey Finds Most Teens Support Gay Marriage - PR Web (press release)

Pangea Media Survey Finds Most Teens Support Gay Marriage
PR Web (press release)
When asked whether they would look at a teacher negatively if they found out he/she was gay, 71 percent said no. When asked whether they would feel weird ...

and more »
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Teen lover tells Ore. mayor 'we are both ruined' - kgw.com

MiamiHerald.com
Teen lover tells Ore. mayor 'we are both ruined'
kgw.com, OR
A report by Attorney General John Kroger released Monday said investigators found no credible evidence the openly gay mayor initiated a sexual relationship with Breedlove in 2005 before Breedlove turned 18. But Kroger criticized the former legislative ...
Breaking: DOJ clears Mayor Adams BlueOregon
all 319 news articles
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Anatomy of an Activist - Jewschool

Anatomy of an Activist
Jewschool, NY
I remember sitting back down next to my roommate, who knew I was gay but didn't know I was planning on coming out that morning. I know who spoke to me during kiddush and who sat with me at lunch. It was, in the truest sense of the word, momentous. ...
Read more [Gay Teens]

The real life of teens - Irish Times

The real life of teens
Irish Times, Ireland
Although today's teenagers may seem to be growing up faster, this can, as Stephanie Kelly says, "bring a maturity", one that Michael Barron sees in young gay teenagers who have the confidence to come out and demand respect, something that would have ...
Read more [Gay Teens]

The Life and Works of Alex Sanchez - Examiner.com

The Life and Works of Alex Sanchez
Examiner.com
Since the publication of Rainbow Boys, Alex has found himself inundated with emails from young people empowered by the book to come out to their parents or to start Gay-Straight Alliance clubs in their schools.
Read more [GSA News]

NC Approves Anti-Bullying Law, Protects Gay Students

North Carolina's House passed a bill to provide anti-bullying protections to the state's schoolkids. Now the bill heads to the state Senate.
Read more [Boston Edge]