At Least We're Not in Senegal

Via Big Gay News:

A Senegalese court is trying two 17-year-old boys for the crime of homosexuality. According to a Voice of America article the boys come from Darou Mousty, a devoutly religious town in northern Senegal. Their trial in juvenile court is the latest in a series of cases against gay men. From VOA:

Three other young men from Darou Mousty were arrested with the teenagers in June, but were tried in an adult court in August. Two of the men received five-year sentences and a third, who is younger, was sent to jail for two years. In Senegal, homosexuality is punishable by a maximum of 5 years in jail and fines of up to $3,000.

Siré Ba is a lawyer representing two of the men, including one of the seventeen-year-olds. He says the men were in a private house when a neighbor walked in. Ba says the young men were not caught in the act of having sex, but rather were involved in what he calls 'questionable' activities.

Senegalese law requires that people of the same sex be caught in-the-act in order to be convicted. But Ba says the judge's decision in sentencing the men was subjective.

Senegal has a history of intolerance toward gays. When nine men were convicted of unnatural acts and conspiracy and sentenced to eight years in prison in 2008, their convictions were overturned. But that caused violent public backlash . The grave of an out gay man has been repeatedly dug up and dumped outside the Muslim cemetery. And many homosexuals fear for their lives and safety in Senegal.

What were they thinking...

when they elected Oklahoma Rep. Sally Kern? I'm sure you've seen this from CNN:

She claims she wasn't wasting taxpayer dollars on her proclamation of hate. I hope not, as there is allegedly still such a thing as separation of church and state. An elected official is supposed to represent her constituents. All of her constituents. But this bigoted move she claims is trying to encourage people to get back to moral values is not representing all the people. Hate, however, is not a moral value. She's obviously anti-gay and anti-muslim. It seems to me people who have beliefs such as hers (those who believe the world would be a better place if everybody would just accept jeebus as their personal lord and savior) should never hold public office. 

A Sweet Little Fuck You

Via every blog I've read today:

I've got to start listening to more Lily Allen

Another Bullying-Related Suicide

Via Joe. My. God.:

I know you heard the story of the 11-year-old from Massachusetts Carl Joseph Walker-Hoover who committed suicide earlier this month after being bullied. 

Today's Atlanta Journal-Constitution bore the story of another 11-year-old kid, Jaheem Herrera who committed suicide last week after anti-gay bullying. From the AJC:

On Thursday afternoon, after returning home from school, fifth-grader Jaheem quietly went into his room and hanged himself. His 10-year-old sister, Yerralis, also a fifth-grader, discovered Jaheem’s dead body.

[snip]

Jaheem was bullied relentlessly, his family said. Keene said the family knew the boy was a target, but until his death they didn’t understand the scope.

“We’d ask him, ‘Jaheem, what’s wrong with you?’” Keene recalled. “He’d never tell us.”

He didn’t want his sister to tell, either. She witnessed much of the bullying, and many times rose to her brother’s defense, Keene said.

“They called him gay and a snitch,” his stepfather said. “All the time they’d call him this.”

This is what your bullshit "Gathering Storm" and "Silencing Christians" and "Dare to Stand" videos lead to. Propagating this environment where LGBT people are seen as the bad guys leads your children to spread hate. They're bullying kids they perceive as gay because you teach them to not tolerate others. These poor kids don't even have to identify as gay to be targets. 

This shit has to stop.