Did you ever wonder how the Easter Bunny gets the strength to produce all of those chocolate eggs? The Gay Highwaymen reveal the dark truth about the supposedly sweet and lovable Easter Bunny’s eating habits.
Category Archives: SCANDAL: Politics, Crime, Revolution and More.
Over 30 Gay Leather Eagle Bars Worldwide! Will SF’s Eagle Tavern turn straight for a Skylark? #SaveTheSFEagle!
Get into a cab in any big city and say “The Eagle” and you are likely to end up in a gay Leather bar. Amsterdam, Atlanta, Barcelona, Baltimore, Boston, Charolotte, Chicago, Columbus, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Ft. Lauderdale, Guerneville, Hartford, Las Vegas, London, Los Angeles, Madrid, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, New Castle, New York City, Paris, Pittsburgh, Portland, San Diego, San Juan, Seattle, Tampa, Toronto, Tulsa, Vienna, and Washington DC all have or have had, their own versions of unrelated bars called The Eagle.
For the past thirty years, San Francisco has had the Eagle Tavern. Now it is slated to close at the end of the month. Concerns that the site would be sold for ultimate development into condos and shops have dimmed under the glare of the immediate crisis. The Eagle may go straight.
Community member slave jody attended Monday’s “Save the Eagle” organizing meeting and broke it down: “It is about the owner of the Skylark bar on 16th buying the business and turning it into a straight bar. Two separate transactions are involved with the sale of a bar, the sale of the business and sale of the liquor license.”
Former District 8 Supervisor and out gay mayoral hopeful Bevan Dufty is involved with the ad hoc group that is organizing an eleventh hour bid to save the beloved dive. Dufty reports: “Kyle DeVries and Anna Conda did great work turning out hundreds at the Eagle tonight for a rally focusing on saving the bar and then marching to the Skylark (whose owner is believed to be trying to force a purchase and change it from the Eagle) — there will be a rally tomorrow (Tuesday) on City Hall steps @ 1p.m. and then public comment at the Board meeting — Supervisors Kim and Campos expressed strong support for saving the Eagle and Supervisor Wiener met the crowd at the Skylark.”
For more on this unfolding story, including a mock-up of a building proposed for the site earlier this year and a short historical analysis of gentrification South of Market, click here.
Death of a Ugandan Activist: Mourning, Reactions, and Action
News of the murder of David Kato, a prominent Ugandan gay activist who was outed in a Ugandan newspaper last year, has been spreading rapidly across the internet. (Previous Gay Highwaymen post here.) Many Western news sources have picked up the story (New York Times: “Ugandan Who Spoke Up for Gays Is Beaten to Death”), which prompts me to have several thoughts:
This is terrible news – but at the same time, it isn’t news at all. From the LGBT activists I know around the world, I receive news of brutal murders of LGBT people all the time. Jamaica. Turkey. Uganda. I’m glad that David Kato’s tragic death is receiving the media coverage it deserves, but I’m surprised how many people seem surprised to hear that queer people are being murdered. An old activist slogan applies well in this case: “If you’re not outraged, you’re not paying attention.”
As this story is discussed in the West, I hope that we can avoid some of the negative clichés that one hears far too often about LGBT rights and Africa. When news of Uganda’s “Kill the Gays” bill hit the international airwaves last year, many Westerners condemned Ugandans (and Africans in general) as uncivilized and ignorant for considering this bill. But in doing so, they missed a crucial fact: much of the homophobia that produced this bill was imported to Uganda from the West. I don’t want to romanticize the past, but historical evidence suggests that homosexuality was tolerated much more in some pre-Christian African societies, than it is today. The missionaries who brought evangelical Christianity to Uganda also brought homophobia.
It’s a great irony: These conservative, virulently homophobic strains of Christianity that are repugnant to the majority of people in the countries that brought them to Uganda (and other African countries), are practiced enthusiastically in Africa. But how can Europeans and North Americans condemn Africans for these beliefs, and forget that the source (and, arguably, at least some of the responsibility) lies with their own countrymen?
I have received over 40 press releases from LGBT organizations around the world about David Kato’s death. Brazil. Kenya. Germany. Chile. England. Nigeria. Spain. United States. The outpouring of grief is overwhelming. David Kato’s work and his courage touched so many people. The world has lost a truly remarkable person, and extraordinarily brave activist.
Amidst the tears, I am glad to see that many of these groups are making the connections between anti-gay evangelical groups in the U.S. and the hostile climate in Uganda.Sharon Groves of the Human Rights Campaign in Washington, D.C., wrote:
“Since at least 2009, radical U.S. Christian missionaries have added anti-gay conferences and workshops in Uganda to their anti-gay efforts in the U.S. – and now they’re beginning to ordain ministers and build churches across East Africa focused almost entirely on preaching against homosexuality.
These American extremists didn’t call for David’s death. But they created a climate of hate that breeds violence – and they must stop and acknowledge they were wrong.”
SoulForce of Abilene, Texas, concurs:
“[W]e call upon our colleagues in ministry who have contributed to the rise of homophobia in Uganda and around the world to repent of the kind of preaching and public pronouncement that vilify homosexuality as a sin and that purport to offer “cures” for sexual orientation.”
GetEQUAL DC has planned a “Breakfast Without Bigotry” to protest and expose the anti-LGBT group behind the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, D.C.:
“Join LGBTQ folks, people of good will and our religious leaders outside the National Prayer Breakfast as we expose “The Family” — the secretive group hosting it — and their dangerous, gay-hating programs in Uganda, the United States, and elsewhere, made possible by events such as this.”
The HRC has identified Scott Lively, Lou Engle, and Carl Ellis Jenkins, as 3 U.S.-based evangelists who are “stirring up hostility” toward LGBT people in Uganda.
If you wish to sign the HRC’s petition to urging these three to “Stop Exporting Hate,” you may find it at this link.
Aidan Dunn
re-posted from http://aidanabroad.wordpress.com/2011/01/30/death-of-a-ugandan-activist-mourning-reactions-and-action/
Gay Eqypt: Report from the Streets – “enough police brutality and torture!” #JAN25
From GayEgypt.com: “27 January Egypt update: El Baradei expected to arrive from Vienna at 19.15 Cairo international airport terminal 3. Protests already restarted today in Halwan, Cairo, and Ismailia. I can personally verify that on each road leading into Tahrir Square police in vans are already waiting (as of 1pm) for anticipated protesters. If I had to put a number I would say around 100, including those inside vans, at the entrance of each street into the main square.
I saw a large number of police at other points including Medan Opera. Plain clothes officers also waiting and a few already carrying long sticks
Last night police blocked all access to parts of Tahrir Square after 9pm. Hundreds of shield and baton wielding recruits ran from one suspected point of protest to another. Plain clothes officers redirected pedestrians while others carried large sticks, and beat some who failed to escape from repeated small protests near to the Corniche. Even onlookers were effected by a cloud of tear gass. We hope to post some photographs shortly.Egypt’s gay and lesbian community has had enough of years of police brutality and torture and GayEgypt.com calls on all lesbians and gays to join their brothers and sisters on the street to peacefully express their demand for immediate change.”
If Your Government Shuts Down the Internet, Shut Down Your Government.
No idea where this originated, but it showed up on Reddit and the Mother Jones blog and is making the Facebook rounds. It is simple and smart and deserves to go viral. It also makes a nice screen-saver or wallpaper. Background for the baffled: Guy Fawkes and V. for Vendetta. Libertarianism meets anarchism…yet again! For a strange sighting of Tut in San Francisco, click here.
Egyptian Kiss: amid turmoil, protesters show appreciation to low-key government soldiers.
An Egyptian anti-government activist kisses an Egyptian army officer in Tahrir square in Cairo on Saturday, Jan. 29, 2011. Ben Curtis/AP Photo
It could be a blood-bath, but its not. One of history’s ugliest lessons: it can always turn bloody. So far, so good. Some looting, very little shooting, and now a little soldier-kissing. Nothing particularly gay about it. Men do kiss in many cultures. Nevertheless, it is good to see. The young soldier is kissable, at the very least, and the older man looks good in his bomber jacket. Leather in Cairo? Who knew!
Which Six Countries punish Gay Men with the Death Penalty?
The International Lesbian and Gay Association (ILGA) has issued a condemnation of yesterday’s murder of Ugandan activist David Kato. ILGA reports that Uganda is among the countries that punish male to male relationships with imprisonment of 10 years or more. Bad, but not the worst. Death is a legal option in Mauritania, Nigeria, Sudan, Somalia, Saudi Arabia and Iran. For other interesting statistics, including which countries get gold stars, and the status of women check out the interactive map on ILGA’s main page.
Gay Ugandan activist David Kato beaten to death in his Kampala home.
In Oct. 2010, “Rolling Stone,” a newspaper in Kampala, published photographs of gay Ugandans. Included was one of David Kato, a gay activist, who was killed on Wednesday. AP Photo.
In the United States, we worry about marriage and inheritance rights. Activism might mean putting on the old tux for an HRC event. The cheese is divine; try the wine. Elsewhere, things are different. In most of sub-Saharan Africa, our brothers and sisters have to worry about being outed in the press, and activism can mean being beaten to death by thugs with rebars. In Central Asia, family fatwas are common. Try being a little gay twink in Kyrgyzstan. The male members of your family may well be honor-bound to kill you on sight. Give a fuck? When the charity wagon next pulls into your station, consider supporting ILGA, The International Gay and Lesbian Association, where your American dollars and Euros can support gay rights work in Sri Lanka, Tanzania, China, and other places where it is Really Interesting to be queer. R.I.P. David Kato….read the New York Times Article here.
San Francisco Castro District’s New Gay Supe: Scott Wiener sworn in as D8 Supervisor
In the 30-some years since Harvey Milk held the Castro district seat, it has become almost a tradition for the San Francisco District 8 supervisor to be gay. Scott Wiener, who was sworn in on Saturday, follows Bevan Dufty, who replaced Mark Leno. Both gay. Dufty is now planning a run for mayor, and Leno is a state senator. Before that, lesbians Susan Leal and Roberta Achtenberg held the spot. Wiener’s opponents were Rafael Mandelman and Rebecca Prozan. Gay and gay. Wiener beat the further-left Mandelman and the fellow moderate Prozan to take the 8th district. Wiener joins District 9 Supervisor David Campos to double the current gay composition of the board. Congratulations, Scott, and Good Luck!
Soldiers spoof Beach Boys Kokomo: “Protecting human rights, air strikes and firefights” – “Kosovo” video
This anonymous group of soldiers re-does The Beach Boys Kokomo with a hyper-critical anti-war edge. Plus they dance with their shirts off.
“Croatia, Albania, somewhere near Romania. It’s Euro. And NATO. Why the hell do we go? Somalia, Grenada, a rescue in Kuwait, well screw you, Rwanda. Wish we could have helped you.
Protecting human rights. Air strikes and firefights. And we’ll be dropping our bombs wherever Serbian bad guys hide, right up from Kosovo.”
So it’s a dated war. Meet the new war. Same as the old war. These guys got it.
For a parody of Lady Gaga’s Telephone by soldiers in Afghanistan, click here.
The Gay Highwaymen 