In a 13-5 vote the Senate approved the immigration reform bill which now heads to the Senate floor without any protections for gay spouses.

Patrick Leahy, the Vermont Democrat who serves as chairman, sparked a debate over his proposal to give same-sex and heterosexual spouses equal rights under immigration law.

‘‘I don’t want to be the senator who asks people to choose between the love of their life and the love of their country,’’ he said, adding he wanted to hear from others on the committee.

In response, he heard a chorus of pleas from the bill’s supporters, seconding private appeals from the White House, not to force a vote that they warned would lead to the collapse of Republican support and the bill’s demise.

‘This would fracture the coalition. I could not support the bill,’’ said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who was a member of the bipartisan so-called Gang of Eight that drafted the core elements of the bill.

via Senate panel approves immigration bill – Business – Boston.com.

In an email to friends, a gay military recruit detailed what is is like in the military post Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell era.  And it ain’t pretty if you don’t like being called Homophobic slurs.  Oh, and gays are not the only ones receiving the slurs. 

) Don’t ask Don’t Tell. Shit may have been repealed, but the USMC sure hasn’t adapted. We’re called faggots 10-50 times a day. “You think that’s yelling? That’s sweet faggot.” “Yeah, you would think that’s a pushup, faggot.” etc. Any time we fuck something up, the DI’s tell us “you stupid fucking thing. That’s more wrong than two boys fucking.” One captain, when giving an ethics class, and talking about how one mistake can change your life/ identity told the entire company “you can be a bridge builder your entire life, but you suck one dick and you’re a cocksucker till you die.” Not much room for bitchassness. Even though only 10% of the corps is infantry, they treat everyone at about like they’ll be going to combat.

full deets below:

via Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, Faggot: Inside Marine Corps Boot Camp.

An anti-gay French historian/activist took his life inside Paris’s  Notre Dame Cathedral, in protest of France’s legalization of gay marriage. Wtf?

People. Can we get a grip?

Dominique Venner, 78, walked past crowds of visitors and stopped beside the cathedral’s altar, where he put a gun in his mouth and fired, London’s Independent reports. Emergency medical personnel attempted to revive him, to no avail, and police evacuated the cathedral, one of the most popular tourist sites in France. Venner, although a Roman Catholic, was not known to be a worshipper at Notre Dame.

Venner has been an outspoken opponent of France’s marriage equality legislation, which was signed into law by President François Hollande over the weekend. Earlier today Venner posted a screed against same-sex marriage on his website.

“His long essay was a tirade against gay marriage but also a warning that the ‘population of France and Europe’ was going to be ‘replaced’ and brought under ‘Islamist control’ and ‘sharia law,’” the Independent reports. He also left a sealed letter on the Notre Dame altar just before shooting himself, but the letter’s contents have not been revealed.

His editor, Pierre-Guillaume de Roux, acknowledged that Venner objected to same-sex marriage but said he also had concerns that went “far beyond” the issue, the BBC reports.

I would beg to say that Venner had some other deep rooted issues besides the big bad gays, that contributed to his suicide. I mean after all, Brian Brown, Tony Perkins and Bryan Fischer have not followed suit…;)

via French Marriage Equality Opponent Commits Suicide at Notre Dame | Advocate.com.

Shortly after New Yorkers protested the recent stint of anti-gay attacks, including the murder of Mark Carson, ANOTHER gay man was attacked and beaten in the SoHo area of lower Manhattan. 

Reports Bruce Yelk at NightlifeGay.com, party promoter Dan Contarino was assaulted at Avenue D and 4th Street last night by a man who screamed “faggot” as he kicked and punched Contarino. Witnesses came to Contarino’s aid, but, unfortunately, his assailant got away.

in another attack:

Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said the two men in the SoHo attack were walking on Broadway between Prince and Houston streets at about 5 a.m. when two men started yelling anti-gay remarks in English and Spanish. The victims, 41 and 42, are Hispanic.

The men were both punched, and one suffered an eye injury, sources said.

Police said two suspects, 32 and 33, were arrested and face a charge of assault as a hate crime.

via (Update) Yet Another Gay Man Was Attacked in New York City Last Night.

After a month of vicious anti-gay attacks, including the hideous brutal murder of Mark Carson, thousands of New Yorkers took to the street today to protest the homophobic attacks that are gripping the city. 

Participants chanted, “Hey hey, ho ho, homophobia’s got to go,” as they marched past several locations where gay men have been assaulted in recent weeks. Out City Council speaker Christine Quinn and DOMA plaintiff Edie Windsor joined the crowd calling for an end to the violence. LGBT and antiviolence organizations including GLAAD, the NYC Anti-Violence Project, the city’s LGBT Community Center, and the Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund announced plans to participate in Monday’s rally, which began at 5:30 p.m

Gay men have been attacked in five separate incidents over a three-week period in New York City. One attack occurred May 10 and another May 5, both near Madison Square Garden.

via Thousands Rally Against Anti-LGBT Violence in New York City | Advocate.com.

A Florida teenager faces criminal charges stemming from her relationship with another young female student.

Kaitlyn Hunt, 18, faces two felony counts of “lewd and lascivious battery on a child 12 to 16″ after the parents of her 15-year-old girlfriend pressed charges earlier this year, according to Examiner.

“These people never came to us as parents, never tried to speak to us… and tell us they had a problem with the girls dating,” Kaitlyn Hunt’s mother, Kelley Hunt-Smith, wrote in an statement posted to Facebook. “…They were out to destroy my daughter. [They] feel like my daughter ‘made’ their daughter gay.”

Hunt-Smith wrote that the girls had started dating at the beginning of the school year, and that their “mutual consenting relationship” had been known to both parents for months prior to the arrest.

The 15 yr olds parents should be ASHAMED of themselves. Not to mention that those sex offender laws pertaining to teenagers need to be changed. An 18 year old should not be labeled as a sex offender for dating a 15 yr old, especially when they are both in High School together and it was consensual. WTF?

please go to change.org and sign the petition. this is a complete injustice. the parent of the 15 yr old should be ashamed of themselves.

read the full deets below.

via Kaitlyn Hunt, Florida Teen, Faces Felony Charges Over Same-Sex Relationship.

With the Boy Scouts deciding next month whether to allow gays or not

In a statement posted to the Council’s website, Council President Michael Abrahamson said this:

Dear Connecticut Yankee Council Scouting family,

The Boy Scouts of America, Connecticut Yankee Council is committed to providing high quality programs that deliver leadership skills, citizenship training, character development and personal fitness to young people in 37 communities in southwestern Connecticut. We are committed to our mission, we respect other’s viewpoints, and we are welcoming of others.

Scouting in the Connecticut Yankee Council is open to all youth and adults who subscribe to the values of the Scout Oath and Law regardless of their personal sexual orientation. All our Scouts and leaders must display the highest levels of good conduct and any sexual conduct within Scouting is unacceptable. Our charter partners retain the responsibility to select the best possible leadership for their units consistent with their moral values.

Our Scouts and leaders repeatedly pledge to respect all people and defend the rights of others. Prejudice, intolerance and unlawful discrimination of any form are unacceptable within our membership.

By remaining true to our values, and keeping our conviction of preparing young people for life, we strive to expand our capacity to serve more youth through high quality programs.

Sincerely,

Michael Abrahamson

Council President

via Connecticut Boy Scouts Chapter Defects, Welcomes Gay Members To Serve Openly / Queerty.

LOLS. Man, their are some humorous sick freaks out there. New York man John Allison, was arrested and charged with public lewdness after he entered a grocery store, pulled out his junk, rubbed a packaged pepperoni on his peen and then put it back on the shelf. Again, LOLS. 

Maybe  Allison, just wanted to see how he measured up. Unfortunately (or fortunately for the public) a loss prevention security officer was watching the dick rub on closed-circuit TV and it was recorded. That should have been for immediate release. 

Allison was also booked on a count of fourth-degree criminal mischief because the store had to dispose of the pepperoni for some reason.

Allison was bonded out on a $2,000 bond.

via NY Man Rubs Pepperoni on His Penis, Puts it Back.