People who see God as male less likely to support gay marriage
Those who think of God as a “he” are much less likely to support gay marriage or civil unions, even controlling for other cultural and political factors, according to a study out of Clemson University. “Those who view God as a ‘he’ are signaling an underlying gendered view of reality that directs them to oppose relationships that contradict traditional gendered roles,” author Andrew Whitehead writes. “Because gay unions cannot symbolize this gendered reality, they are deemed inappropriate.”
Read more at Pacific Standard.
US to partially lift gay blood-donation ban
The advisory group that steers American blood policy has voted that men who have sex with men should be allowed to donate blood, provided they have been abstinent for one year. If the Food and Drug Administration accepts the committee’s recommendations as expected, it will put the US in line with Canada, the UK and Australia on gay blood-donation policy and end a 31-year blanket ban. The Human Rights Campaign, however, said the change has not gone far enough and continues to unfairly and unjustifiably stigmatize men based on their sexual orientation.
Gay newspaper editor detained (Russia)
Oleg Potapenko, editor of the online news site Amurburg.ru, was detained and questioned for hours by authorities and had his electronics confiscated upon returning to Russia from a conference. Potapenko says the government is trying to exert “psychological pressure” on him, though it’s unclear whether he is being targeted because he reported on Russian troops in the Ukraine, because he is gay, or both.
Read more at Radio Free Europe.
Botswana gay rights group allowed by courts
Even though homosexual activity is illegal in Botswana, a national LGBT lobbying group has won a rare victory. A judge overturned a government ban on the group, ruling that while gay sex is illegal, campaigning to change the law is not. Homosexuality is a political taboo in Botswana and a sticking point in the fight against HIV, with which one quarter of adult Botswanans are infected.
UN panel questions US about conversion therapy
The United Nations Committee Against Torture questioned US officials about the persistence of gay conversion therapy during a hearing this week to evaluate US compliance with torture law. US officials did not respond to the questions. The National Center for Lesbian Rights, an American group that brought the issue to the UN, still sees the questions as a victory, however. “Yesterday, the UN Committee Against Torture made conversion therapy an issue in international human rights law. There’s no going back from that,” one organizer said.
Gay-marriage lawsuits piling up in Texas
The state of Texas now has no fewer than 10 pending gay-marriage lawsuits. The latest is from a widow who was cut out of her lesbian partner’s estate because Texas does not recognize them as common-law partners, even though they lived together for 10 years. The Texas Supreme Court seems to be waiting on federal courts to determine whether gay marriage is legal before hearing the cases.
How a gay adoption formed a basketball hero
Max Lenox was born with all the marks of misfortune: black in America, poor, sickly and already in withdrawal from crack cocaine. Nobody held high hopes for his future. After he was adopted by a gay couple, however, he rose to become a star athlete of the US Army’s basketball team and one of the most respected leaders of his West Point class.
Read his story at Sports Illustrated.
Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons
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