Ok, being the "newbie" here, I hesitated when I thought about starting this thread.

Has anyone ever have a movie change your life in a major way?


In 2005 I went and saw Brokeback Mountain, and it blew me away. I left the theater feeling like I had been kicked in the stomach. I was determiend that I was going to bring all my friends to this movie, but that meant I had no one to talk to regarding the movie until they saw it.

Later that same evening, I Googled "Brokeback Mountain forum" and found an online community for fans of the movie. We were from all over the world, and we all had the strong feelings regarding this movie.

In 2006, one of the women who helped to run the forum posted that she had "nothing to do" on the second weekend of August, and she had an acre of land behind her house. Maybe we can all meet up?

I sent her an email, telling her not to expect a big turn out.....Texas in August? Talk about hot!

Well, I was wrong.....we ended up with 85 people in her backyard for the weekend. We all got rooms at a local hotel, and spent the weekend eating, drinking, dancing, and getting to know each other.

Since then, we've been having get-togethers, in different locations. Since 2006, I've been to 15 different states, and 5 countries: England, Italy, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.

I've also had two relationships with guys who were also "Brokies" (as we call ourselves). They didn't last, but they were good relationships, and I have no regrets.


anyone else had an amazing experience in their lives due to a movie?

This is actually good news in a state that has a ban on same-sex marriage in their Constitution.
Nebraska high court clarifies same-sex custody rights

Quote:Friday, August 26, 2011

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The Nebraska Supreme Court issued a decision Friday that clarifies the custody rights of same-sex couples in the state.

The court ruled that a lesbian woman can pursue custody and visitation after her relationship ended with the child's biological mother because she had been acting as the boy's parent.

The ruling will send the dispute between Teri Latham and Susan Schwerdtfeger of Omaha back to a lower court for hearings about whether Latham should be granted visitation rights.

The two lived together as a couple for more than 15 years before having a son together in 2001. The two women chose a sperm donor together and shared the cost of the fertility treatments for Schwerdtfeger's pregnancy. Both sides agreed Latham acted as the boy's mother for the first several years of his life before the relationship ended in 2006.

"The relationship between Latham and Schwerdtfeger, however, is not the deciding factor," the court said in its ruling. "The record is clear that Schwerdtfeger consented to Latham's performance of parental duties. Schwerdtfeger encouraged Latham to assume the status of a parent."

Latham's attorney, Tyler Block, said this ruling will be important for same-sex couples as well as for other non-married couples where someone who is not the biological parent acts as a parent.

"They got it exactly right," Block said. "They applied Nebraska law and helped give clarification on how it applies in these particular situations."

Schwerdtfeger's attorney, Angela Tiritilli, said her client is disappointed with the ruling because it will likely mean several more years of court proceedings. But Tiritilli said the ruling should help clarify parental rights in the state.

"What we're seeing here is a good trend: the court is not simply dismissing same-sex parental rights," Tiritilli said.

Schwerdtfeger had argued that Latham hadn't done enough since the relationship ended to maintain her parental rights. Latham quit providing financial support for the boy and wasn't involved in making decisions on his behalf.

Plus, 10-year-old Parker Schwerdtfeger told a judge last year that he didn't want to continue to have a relationship with Latham.

The court said that it appears the main reason why Latham hasn't had much contact with the boy is because Schwerdtfeger restricted her access to the boy.

"The amount of visitation Latham has been afforded does not appear to reflect a lack of desire on her part to be an active part of P.S.' life," the court said.

But Latham will have to prove at trial that it is in the boy's best interest for her to have a relationship with him, the court said.

The National Center for Lesbian Rights wrote a brief supporting Latham's argument because the center believes courts should recognize the custody rights of same sex couples as long as they meet the legal standard to qualify for parental rights.

The Center for Lesbian Rights said it believes parent-child relationships are intended to be permanent and shouldn't be undone if a child's parents separate.

This case did not deal with the question of whether same-sex couples can marry or get divorced, which is prohibited under the state Constitution.

Think Progress: Top Eight Pro-LGBT Arguments In The Obama Administration’s Anti-DOMA Brief

By Igor Volsky on Aug 22, 2011

Quote:Joe Sudbay reports that the Justice Department has filed a brief in support of Edie Windsor’s challenge to the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act. Windsor was forced to pay exorbitant federal inheritance taxes after her wife passed away because the government could not legally recognize their 44-year relationship (the couple married in Canada in May of 2007 and their union was recognized in New York). Since President Obama announced that he would no longer be upholding the constitutionality of the Act, House Speaker John Beohner (R-OH) has hired former solicitor general Paul Clement to defend the measure from legal challenges.

In its brief, the government argues that Section 3 of DOMA — which defines “marriage” as a legal union between a man and woman for federal purposes — is inconsistent with the equal protections clause, “as it denies legally married same-sex couples federal benefits that are available to similarly situated opposite-sex couples.” The document reviews the the long history of “discrimination based on prejudice and stereotypes” against LGBT people from the federal and state governments and private parties, and articulates the following equality-affirming arguments:

1) DOMA IS GROUNDED IN ANIMUS TOWARD GAYS: “[O]ne of the goals of DOMA was to provide gays and lesbians with an incentive to abandon or at least to hide from view a core aspect of their identities, which legislators regarded as immoral and inferior. This record evidences the kind of animus and stereotype-based thinking that the Equal Protection Clause is designed to guard against.”

2) ORIENTATION IS NOT RELATED TO ABILITY TO PERFORM: “Just as a person’s gender, race, or religion does not bear an inherent relation to a person’s ability or capacity to contribute to society, a person’s sexual orientation bears no inherent relation to his or her ability to perform or contribute.”

3) ORIENTATION IS AN IMMUTABLE CHARACTERISTIC: “Over ten years ago, in considering whether gays and lesbians constituted a “particular social group” for asylum purposes, the Ninth Circuit recognized that “[s]exual orientation and sexual identity are immutable,” and that “[h]omosexuality is as deeply ingrained as heterosexuality.” … “[E]fforts to change an individual’s sexual orientation are generally futile and potentially dangerous to an individual’s well-being.”

4) DISCRIMINATION ON ‘RELIGIOUS GROUNDS’ IS UNCONSTITUTIONAL: “And even if Congress’s opposition to gay and lesbian relationships could be understood as reflecting moral or religious objections, that would remain an impermissible basis for sexual-orientation discrimination…Discouraging homosexuality, in other words, is not a governmental interest that justifies sexual orientation discrimination.”

5) DOMA IS UNRELATED TO DEFENDING TRADITIONAL MARRIAGE: “Section 3 denies benefits to couples who are already legally married in their own states, on the basis of their sexual orientation and not their marital status. Thus, there is not the ‘substantial relationship’ required under heightened scrutiny between an end of defending ‘traditional’ marriage and the means employed by Section 3.”

6) GAYS MAKE GOOD PARENTS: “[T]here is no sound basis for concluding that same-sex couples who have committed to marriages recognized by state law are anything other than fully capable of responsible parenting and child-rearing. To the contrary, many leading medical, psychological, and social welfare organizations have issued policies opposing restrictions on lesbian and gay parenting based on their conclusions, supported by numerous studies, that children raised by gay and lesbian parents are as likely to be well-adjusted as children raised by heterosexual parents.”

7) DOMA HURTS CHILDREN: “Section 3 does nothing to affect the stability of heterosexual marriages or the child-rearing practices of heterosexual married couples. Instead, it denies the children of same-sex couples what Congress sees as the benefits of the stable home life produced by legally recognized marriage, and therefore, on Congress’s own account, undermines rather than advances an interest in promoting child welfare.”

8) ‘RESPONSIBLE PROCREATION’ NOT A MARRIAGE PREREQUISITE “[T]he ability to procreate has never been a requirement of marriage or of eligibility for federal marriage benefits; opposite- sex couples who cannot procreate for reasons related to age or other physical characteristics are permitted to marry and to receive federal marriage benefits.”

Read the full brief here.

I love horror flicks... just finished a marathon of The Thing (1982), Insidious, Scream 4 and The Happening. I loved the Rite and the Priest... and absolutely hated Sin City (too repetitive). Wouldn't it be great to discuss the horror genre here?

Gay Malaysian pastor to tie the knot with his partner

KUALA LUMPUR: A Malaysian self-confessed gay pastor is to marry his African-American partner soon.

Press reports stated that Rev Ou Yang Wen Feng (pic) was likely to wed the Broadway musical producer by the end of the month or early September with ceremonies planned in New York and Malaysia.

Ou Yang told AFP in an interview in Hong Kong that his partner had popped the question on June 26, two days after New York City legalised same-sex marriages.

“He went to a church and wrote a song for me. He proposed at the end of the song in public,” the 41-year-old pastor said.

Ou Yang, who now serves at the Metropolitan Community Church (MCC) in New York, urged gay men and women to speak out to “break the vicious cycle” and help fight misconceptions about the gay community.

According to the MCC homepage, the church is part of an international movement of Christian churches reaching out to all, including homosexuals, bisexuals and transsexuals.

“When society discriminates against gay people, you only push gay people into the closet,” Ou Yang said.

Ou Yang’s “coming out” took place in 2006 when he published the story of his decision to make public his sexual orientation, after a nine-year marriage to his now ex-wife, whom he described as an “angel“.

“She asked for a divorce, and this is the biggest gift she could ever give me, she set me free. I owe her big time,” said the pastor who grew up in a conservative Christian family.

Several netizens praised Ou Yang, who has tattoos on his shoulder and arm, as the “most trendy pastor”. They said they had not spotted other pastors wearing ear-rings.

Some said he looked like Hong Kong actor David Wu and Chinese actor Chang Chen.

Ou Yang, a former columnist with Sin Chew Daily, said Kuala Lumpur was “growing and developing” with Sunday services and bible studies.

Ou Yang’s best friend, known only as Joe, was quoted by Guang Ming Daily as saying that he was happy for the couple.

* I can't post the link to this news as I still haven't reached 50 posts.

Some cool research going on. mile:
Science Daily: Scientist Develops Virus That Targets HIV: Using a Virus to Kill a Virus

Quote:ScienceDaily (Aug. 8, 2011) — In what represents an important step toward curing HIV, a USC scientist has created a virus that hunts down HIV-infected cells.

Dr. Pin Wang's lentiviral vector latches onto HIV-infected cells, flagging them with what is called "suicide gene therapy" -- allowing drugs to later target and destroy them.

"If you deplete all of the HIV-infected cells, you can at least partially solve the problem," said Wang, chemical engineering professor with the USC Viterbi School of Engineering.

The process is analogous to the military practice of "buddy lasing" -- that is, having a soldier on the ground illuminate a target with a laser to guide a precision bombing strike from an aircraft.

Like a precision bombing raid, the lentiviral vector approach to targeting HIV has the advantage of avoiding collateral damage, keeping cells that are not infected by HIV out of harm's way. Such accuracy has not been achieved by using drugs alone, Wang said.

So far, the lentiviral vector has only been tested in culture dishes and has resulted in the destruction of about 35 percent of existing HIV cells. While that may not sound like a large percentage, if this treatment were to be used in humans, it would likely be repeated several times to maximize effectiveness.

Among the next steps will be to test the procedure in mice. While this is an important breakthrough, it is not yet a cure, Wang said.

"This is an early stage of research, but certainly it is one of the options in that direction," he said.

Wang's research, which was funded by the National Institutes of Health, appears in the July 23 issue of Virus Research.

USA Today: Citing new research, psychology group supports gay marriage

Quote:The world's largest organization of psychologists took its strongest stand to date supporting full marriage equity, a move that observers say will have a far-reaching impact on the national debate.

The policymaking body of the American Psychological Association unanimously approved the resolution 157-0 on the eve of the group's annual convention, which opens here [Washington] today.

The group, with more than 154,000 members, has long supported full equal rights for gays, based on social science research on sexual orientation. Now the nation's psychologists — citing an increasing body of research about same-sex marriage, as well as increased discussion at the state and federal levels — took the support to a new level.

"Now as the country has really begun to have experience with gay marriage, our position is much clearer and more straightforward — that marriage equity is the policy that the country should be moving toward," says Clinton Anderson, director of APA's Office on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Concerns.

The resolution points to numerous recent studies, including findings that "many gay men and lesbians, like their heterosexual counterparts, desire to form stable, long-lasting, and committed intimate relationships and are successful in doing so."

It adds that "emerging evidence suggests that statewide campaigns to deny same-sex couples legal access to civil marriage are a significant source of stress to the lesbian, gay and bisexual residents of those states and may have negative effects on their psychological well-being."

Six states (Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York and Vermont) and the District of Columbia currently allow same-sex marriage.

"Psychologists have been very important in helping to keep the discussion at a fact-based level and not let it steer off into stereotypes," says M.V. Lee Badgett, research director at the non-profit Williams Institute on Sexual Orientation Law & Public Policy at the University of California-Los Angeles.

Sociologist W. Bradford Wilcox, director of the non-profit National Marriage Project at the University of Virginia-Charlottesville, says his board is divided on the issue and hasn't taken a stance on same-sex marriage. He says the APA resolution will likely have a broad impact.

"I don't think it's very significant for the population at large, but I do think this move is significant for the ongoing public policy and legal battles in Washington and around the states," he says.

Clinical psychologist Mark Hatzenbuehler, a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health & Society Scholar at Columbia University in New York, whose new research is cited in the resolution, says the courts tend to look at these kinds of policy statements because "they're really looking to see what social science research says about the influence on gay marriage and marriage bans on a whole host of outcomes."

Badgett's research of gay marriage across cultures is also cited in the resolution. She says the Netherlands was the first to allow gay couples to marry, and it showed "very little change in the overall society, but it was very important to gay couples themselves."

The last APA resolution on sexual orientation and marriage was approved in 2004. The resolution notes that since that time, APA has worked on 11 amicus briefs filed in same-sex marriage cases since 2004.

I went to the Myrtle Beach reptile expo today and Jules Sylvester made a special apearance to do snake venom extraction demonstrations. Jules Sylvester is a world famous animal handler and was the snake expert behind the movies such as Snakes On A Plane and Indiana Jones.

Found this one on YouTube last night while searching for something else:


On July 3, two male and 1 female dancer at a local gay night club, along with 1 male and 1 female security guard were at a fast-food restaurant after work.

5 men and 2 women who came into the restaurant and began yelling gay slurs. There was some pushing and shoving and the gay people tried to leave and go to their car. The group followed them into the parking lot and beat them

Neither the mayor nor the city council will sign a resolution denouncing hate crime and neither will issue a proclamation acknowledging this weekend's PrideFest celebration.

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Then found this through Google:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/14...98205.html


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Sad that crap like this is still going on

I can't post links but what basically happened is an American congresswoman, Lori Klein, from Arizona who claimed she had some informal courses training her in gun safety pointed a loaded gun at a reporters chest to demonstrate its laser sighting capabilities in an interview she was giving on her support of gun ownership. To make matters worse the gun model she was using (a .380 Ruger) has no safety feature on it. Now no matter what you think about gun laws I think we think we can all agree this politician was incredibly dumb and reckless for doing this and should not be carrying a firearm in public. I just thought this was both morbid and hilarious.