New Anti-Gay Pope: Francis Takes the Reigns of the Oppression Machine

The Vatican has elected Jorge Mario Bergoglio to be the latest star of the Vatican’s reality TV series. He’s chosen the stage name Francis.

This pope thinks that gay people should be respected, but not enough to avoid calling them a perversion or stamping out their civil rights. From Wikipedia:

He strongly opposed legislation introduced in 2010 by the Argentine Government to allow same-sex marriage. In a letter to the monasteries of Buenos Aires, he wrote: “Let’s not be naive, we’re not talking about a simple political battle; it is a destructive pretension against the plan of God. We are not talking about a mere bill, but rather a machination of the Father of Lies that seeks to confuse and deceive the children of God.”

He also doesn’t want you to have your kids:

He has also insisted that adoption by homosexuals is a form of discrimination against children.

Guess we can have another 10 years of battling the dinosaurs in dresses at the Vatican. I wonder if when this guy keels over (he is conveniently old, you rascally cardinals vying for the job) the Church will finally exit the dark ages.

 

Spread the bromo love:

Google has a pretty stellar record with LGBT issues, so why don’t they give us the Google Approved rubber stamp with a dedicated doodle?

The most recent addition to Google’s gay easter eggs is a bubbly little banner that comes up when you search a gender and sexual minority term.

Searchable terms include: lgbt, lgbtq, queer, gay, lesbian, bisexual, transsexual
transgender, homosexual. Pansexual, GSM and asexual didn’t make the cut.

Don’t get me wrong, I like these little forays into advocacy – I just take issue with the ‘little’ part. We’ve been thrown scraps of recognition from Google for years now. Shout outs to gay individuals like Keith Haring and the same sex couples in a Valentine’s Day doodle only go so far. Their promotion of the It Gets Better Project is also appreciated. But they should have learned this lesson last year.

In June 2011, Google added a little rainbow to their search bar, a move described as “keeping Google in the closet.” At the time they issued this statement:

We enjoy celebrating holidays and special events at Google. As you may imagine, it’s difficult for us to choose which events to celebrate on our site, and have a long list of those we’d like to celebrate in the future.

And we didn’t make the cut again this year? Now that a majority of their customers/product support marriage equality, is it really still such a bold political statement to put the gays on the front page? Google needs to get their head of of their ass on this one, pronto. We’ve still got half of June guys and gals, you can do it!

More Americans believe in creationism than support marriage equality. So why take the risk promoting Darwinism?

City Council Approves Pride Funding

And it was unanimous.

Pride will receive funds from the city thanks to a 33-0 unanimous vote

— robyndoolittle (@robyndoolittle) June 7, 2012

Looks like Rob Ford might be looking for new allies.

GSAs OK: Liberals and NDP Pass Bill 13

Ontario high schools just got a little better for our teenagers. The revised Bill 13, which included language affirming the ability to use the term “Gay-Straight Alliance” has passed. From the CBC:

Ontario’s anti-bullying bill, also known as Bill 13 or the Accepting Schools Act, passed through the legislature just before noon today by a margin of 65-36. Only the Progressive Conservatives voted against the legislation.

Duhr, it only took two years but we did it guyz!

No surprise there. The PCs demonstrate again and again that supporting gender and sexual minorities is not a priority for them. The article goes on to state that they believe Dalton McGuinty is stirring the Catholic school funding debate, because he thinks that Ontarians don’t want to fund the Catholic school board anymore. Apparently they don’t know that he’s right:

The Forum Research survey also found more than half of Ontario residents — 53 per cent — oppose the public funding of Catholic schools. [Toronto Star]

From this blogger’s perspective, the PCs are drawing a cultural line in the sand, and they are on the wrong side. The funding of the religiously minded school system is a clear human rights violation, as the United Nations pointed out to us more than a decade ago. It’s time to use this momentum to ensure that all Ontarians are treated with respect under the law – and the Catholic school boards are only standing in the way.

Getting Yourself Under Control

This post is for gaybros with penises. For those of you who don’t want to read about penises, why not check out our review of The Avengers.

Reddit has delivered a surefire way to get an unwanted erection under control. Why we weren’t all taught this back in sex ed is beyond me. If you’re plagued by the occasional (or common) unneeded boner, here’s the trick:

A man can get rid of an erection by flexing a large muscle for about 30 seconds or more, like both thighs. If you’re sitting, rest your feet on your toes and push off the ground as if you’re just about to stand up.

Redditors across the globe are reporting success. And while this author hasn’t had the opportunity to try the trick out (all of my boners are wanted – zing!), here are some examples of satisfied customers:

Havokk: can’t believed this worked…awkward thanks..

Pheon809: By the beard of Zeus! You have done a invaluable service to your fellow man.

sirborksalot: HOLY SHIT i have gone 32 years without knowing this trick

mjthroway: DEAR GOD SIR. You get the Nobel Prize for dickology. Thank you.

tconthepc3: I’m 24 years old, and this may be the best advice I’ve ever received.

And a modification:

roamingandy: i use the same technique during sex to last longer. make sure i’m in a position which a muscle/group of muscles have to work hard to maintain and then focus on the strain of that muscle to keep from getting too excited before i want to

 

Did it work for you?

Don’t Go To Russia

In the wake of a new law in St. Petersburg against “promotion of homosexuality” the Canadian government has updated it’s information on the country, and issued a warning for travelers:

Homosexuality is legal, though some still strongly disapprove of it. Canadians are advised to avoid displaying affection in public, as homosexuals can be targets of violence. A law prohibiting public actions propagandizing homosexuality, lesbianism, bisexuality and transsexuality among minors, and prohibiting public actions propagandizing pedophilia, will come into effect in St. Petersburg on March 17th, 2012. Public actions (including dissemination of information, statements, displays or conspicuous behaviour) contradicting or appearing to contradict this law may lead to arrest, prosecution and the imposition of a fine. Similar laws are already in effect in Ryazan, Arkhangelsk and Kostroma.

The supposedly gay conservative MP John Baird also weighed in at the House of Commons, saying that he  is deeply concerned by the legislation, and that it runs counter to core Canadian values of freedom of speech, human rights and the rule of law. Or maybe they just saw this video: