Gay UK football fans lured to hoax meeting and attacked

An LGBTI football supporters group was invited to meet a group similar to theirs, only to find it was a hoax and their members were attacked.

Charlton Rainbows describe themselves as ‘a Charlton Athletic supporters group made up of Bi, Gay, Lesbian and Trans Gender fans who are standing up to homophobia’, who are based in South East London.

Earlier this week (11 January), the group tweeted about the attack which happened the day before.

‘Before yesterday's match, we were told to meet a group equivalent to ours. Unfortunately, this was a hoax and some members were attacked,’ they said.

The group tweeted the perpetrators of the attack did not belong to either Charlton Athletic or Brighton & Hove Albion.

Twitter users flooded them with messages of support.

‘Disgusting what is wrong with people - hope you are all ok,’ said Jamie Thomas.

‘That’s vile. *All* genuine football fans are sickened by this sort of thing,’ tweeted Liquid Spurs.

‘Not much you can add to worrying statement from @proudcafc - but predetermined nature of attack on #LGBT football community deeply troubling,’ tweeted Chris Osborne.

Charlton Rainbows tweeted the incident is being investigated.

‘An investigation's ongoing with CCTV and statements being taken,’ they tweeted.

‘Thank you for the support! Our members shaken, but OK. We can't give more info as this is a criminal matter, but the thugs will be caught.

‘We would also like to thank the public who helped and the emergency services for their quick response and actions. #LookAtThePositives.

‘Once again, thank you for your continued support. This matter is being dealt with through the correct channels. #StandingTogetherStronger.’

Ultimately, the group say this incident will not hold them back.

‘The solidarity and support shown has been fantastic. These were not real football fans and neither will this put us off going to football.’

The group has been inundated with tweets and messages of support. 

Christian Ex-gay Org Loses Court Battle Over London Bus Ads

Core Issues Trust — a Christianist group that sought to promote ex-gay therapy via London bus advertisements — have lost their appeal of a lower court ruling the absolved London Mayor Boris Johnson of any impropriety in banning their ads.

Making good on his 2008 pledge to make London the most “gay-friendly city in the world,” in 2012 Johnson banned the bus advertisements.

The ads read, “Not Gay! Ex-Gay, Post-Gay and Proud. Get over it!” and were a parody of similar ads placed by the UK LGBT group Stonewall that read, “Some people are gay. Get over it!”

In retaliation, the group sued even going so far to accuse Johnson for banning the adverts to court the gay vote during the 2012 election. In 2013, a judge ruled narrowly in favor of Johnson’s ban.

Gay man subjected to ‘interrogation’ in front of his four-year-old son by UK passport official

An American-born, British citizen says that what should have been a routine passport interview with UK officials turned into a half hour interrogation about his sexuality and fatherhood.

The Home Office has suspended a UK passport official, pending disciplinary investigations, after the employee reportedly subjected a gay man to an intrusive line of questioning in front of the man’s four-year-old son.

The interrogation included information on the man’s sexual history and details about the adoption of his children.

American-born Randall Cole, aged 44, is married to a British man Stuart Wales, 42.

They moved to the UK from the US last year and Cole, a charity worker, became a British citizen in May. When he was invited to an interview with immigration officials, he believed that it would be a straightforward formality in order to process his application for a British passport.

He duly turned up to the interview centre in Chelmsford, Essex, with his four-year-old son, but has told The Guardian that he was left feeling ‘violated and dirty’ by the interviewer’s line of questioning, which he felt was ‘clearly homophobic’.

The interview took place in an open-plan office while Cole’s young son sat on his lap.

‘I told her I am here with my son Samuel and that he has an older brother [aged eight] but that my husband is looking after him,’ said Cole, ‘and when I used the term husband that's when you could see something immediately changed in her. She began to fixate on questions about my family.’

British Gay Man Barred from Country Pub for Flirting with Bartender

"A British gay man has been banned from a pub in Farnham, Dorset because he complimented a male bartender.

Philip Poolman, 48, spoke about how he was taken aside by the manageress of The Museum Inn and accused of being a ‘predatory gay man’ for talking to the barman.

The barman reportedly quit his job after finishing his shift because he was so distressed, prompting Mr Poolman to be banned from the premises.

‘I told the young barman I thought he was cute and he took offense at this and then left his job at the end of the session’ he said.

‘I have been told that I lost the guy his job. I was told I am a predatory gay man and that the barman was too frightened to leave the place as it was dark and he was afraid that I was going to jump on him. I might be gay but I am not a rapist!' Full story here via Gay Star News!

UK Codebreaker Alan Turing Receives Royal Pardon

Nearly six decades after he took his own life following a conviction of "gross indecency" for being a homosexual, the famed World War II codebreaker Alan Turing has finally been granted a royal pardon by the UK government. The Guardian reports:

 

Turing was considered to be the father of modern computer science and was most famous for his work in helping to create the "bombe" that cracked messages enciphered with the German Enigma machines. He was convicted of gross indecency in 1952 after admitting a sexual relationship with a man.

He was given experimental chemical castration as a "treatment". His criminal record resulted in the loss of his security clearance and meant he was no longer able to work for Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), where he had been employed following service at Bletchley Park during the war. He died of cyanide poisoning in 1954, aged 41.

Announcing the pardon, [justice secretary Chris] Grayling said: "Dr Alan Turing was an exceptional man with a brilliant mind. His brilliance was put into practice at Bletchley Park during the second world war, where he was pivotal to breaking the Enigma code, helping to end the war and save thousands of lives.

"His later life was overshadowed by his conviction for homosexual activity, a sentence we would now consider unjust and discriminatory and which has now been repealed.

"Dr Turing deserves to be remembered and recognised for his fantastic contribution to the war effort and his legacy to science. A pardon from the Queen is a fitting tribute to an exceptional man."

Christian B&B Owners Who Denied Gay Couple a Room Lose Supreme Court Battle

We've been writing on and off since 2009 about Peter and Hazelmary Bull, who denied a gay couple a double room in their Bed and Breakfast, and then twice lost a court battle in an anti-bias suit brought by the couple. The inn owners, who closed their B&B in September for lack of business, brought their case to the UK Supreme Court where they lost soundly on Wednesday.

The BBC:

Five Supreme Court justices ruled against them on Wednesday after analysing the case at a hearing in London in October...

Lady Hale, deputy president of the Supreme Court, said: "Sexual orientation is a core component of a person's identity which requires fulfilment through relationships with others of the same orientation."

Mike Judge, from the Christian Institute, said after the hearing: "What this case shows is that the powers of political correctness have reached all the way to the top of the judicial tree, so much so that even the Supreme Court dare not say anything against gay rights."

Gay rights group Stonewall said in a statement: "We are pleased that the Supreme Court has defended the laws protecting gay customers that Stonewall fought so hard to secure.

Watch the Bulls give a statement outside the court,

 

British PM David Cameron to Address Gay Rights with Putin at G20

Margot James, the first openly lesbian MP in the Conservative Party, tweeted a short time ago that British Prime Minister David Cameron plans to raise the issue of Russia's anti-gay laws with President Vladimir Putin at the G20 Summit.

Tweeted James: "Europe Minister confirms that PM will raise anti gay discriminatory legislation and attacks on gay people with President Putin at the G20"

The announcement comes as Human Rights Watch urges world leaders to take action on LGBT rights while at the Summit.

Writes the group:

Leaders of G20 countries should take concrete action to show support for human rights and civil society during the G20 summit in St. Petersburg. They should meet nongovernmental organizations, for example. Russia set its priorities for its 2013 G20 presidency as growth through jobs and investment, growth through transparency and trust, and growth through effective regulation. It is hosting the leaders' summit on September 5-6 in St Petersburg. 

"A strong, open society is essential for transparency," said Tanya Lokshina, Russia program director at Human Rights Watch. "Russia's leadership needs to hear from its G20 partners that its crackdown does not serve but instead contradicts the interests of an open society." 

In letters to leaders of select G20 states, including Argentina, Australia, and Brazil, Human Rights Watch urged that they speak out against the crackdown on human rights over the past 16 months. Human Rights Watch asked them to meet with Russian nongovernmental organizations to hear first-hand about the impact of the crackdown on their work.

President Obama will be meeting with some of these groups, it was revealed over the weekend.

Gay Teen Elected Student Head of Top British School for First Time

Will Emery, the 17-year-old son of a banker, is the first openly gay elected student head of a top British school, according to UK media, and was voted in by more than 1,000 pupils and staff at Brighton College.

The Daily Mail reports:

Headmaster Richard Cairns said there was a huge round of applause when the announcement was made and said teenagers between the ages of 13 and 18 see sexuality as a 'so-what' issue.

He added: 'He was a very popular choice - the rugby players voted for him along with many others - but I bet if I wrote to the old boys and said our head boy was openly gay, some of them would think it's very strange indeed.'

Mr Emery has used his new position to speak critically of schools that use policies that stopteachers from discussing homosexuality. Gay rights campaigners have highlighted 40 schools that use sex education policies that forbid 'promoting' homosexuality, similar to the controversial section 28 of the Local Government Act implemented by Thatcher's government.

It's Official: Queen Gives Royal Assent to Marriage Equality in Britain

Queen Elizabeth II gave royal assent to the marriage equality bill that cleared UK Parliament this week, ensuring that it will become law, the AP reports:

House of Commons Speaker John Bercow told lawmakers that the royal assent had been given Wednesday — the day after the bill to legalize same-sex marriage in England and Wales cleared Parliament. The queen’s approval was a formality. It clears the way for the first gay marriages next summer.

Gay couples will have the freedom to marry in England and Wales.

Queen fights for gay rights

The Queen will tomorrow back an historic pledge to promote gay rights and ‘gender equality’ in one of the most controversial acts of her reign.

In a live television broadcast, she will sign a new charter designed to stamp out discrimination against homosexual people and promote the ‘empowerment’ of women – a key part of a new drive to boost human rights and living standards across the Commonwealth.

In her first public appearance since she had hospital treatment for a stomach bug, the Queen will sign the new Commonwealth Charter and make a speech explaining her passionate commitment to it.

Insiders say her decision to highlight the event is a ‘watershed’ moment – the first time she has clearly signalled her support for gay rights in her 61-year reign.

The charter, dubbed a ‘21st Century Commonwealth Magna Carta’ declares: ‘We are implacably opposed to all forms of  discrimination, whether rooted  in gender, race, colour, creed, political belief or other grounds.’ 

The ‘other grounds’ is intended to refer to sexuality – but specific reference to ‘gays and lesbians’ was omitted in deference to Commonwealth countries with draconian anti-gay laws.

Sources close to the Royal Household said she is aware of the implications of the charter’s implicit support of gay rights and commitment to gender equality. 

In her speech, the Queen is expected to stress that the rights must ‘include everyone’ - and this is seen as an implicit nod to the agenda of inclusivity, usually championed by the Left.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2290824/Queen-fights-gay-rights-Monarch-makes-historic-pledge-discrimination-hints-Kate-DOES-girl-means-equal-rights-throne.html#ixzz2X4qiwSuo

Baroness Knight: Parliament can’t help blind people see, so can’t help ‘artistic’ gays get married

During the equal marriage debate during the second reading of the Marriage (same sex couples) Bill, Tory peer Baroness Jill Knight, who introduced Section 28, compared being gay to being blind, said that gay people were “delightful, very artistic”, and said the bill was “built on lies”.

The 85-year-old Conservative peer, made the comments during the second reading of the bill, the debate for which will take place today and tomorrow, before the vote.

She said “a higher authority” than any peer, had “already decided that people are not equal”, because “some people can see, others are blind”.

She went on to offer a stereotype about gay people, saying they are “delightful”, and “very artistic”, before observing that men can’t “bear a child”, that women can’t “produce sperm”, and that “no law on earth can change that”.

Continuing, she argued that the freedom to discriminate based on conscience should be preserved, and claimed that teachers would be made to “teach homosexuality”.

She finished by saying the Marriage (same sex couples) Bill, was “built on lies”, and said she would vote against it.

93 peers have signed up to speak in the House of Lords, during the debate around the bill today and tomorrow, when a vote will be held.