Worried For the Queen; Louisiana and the Bible; Pat Sajak Comes Out As Straight

Worried For the Queen

 

I often like to post several items that are not directly related but all fall into one category, and in this case the category would be: you've got to be joking.

The President of Zimbabwe is worried for Queen Elizabeth because he thinks she's been forced to support gays.

What has happened to Britain? They have grown small in mind. That wisdom which the likes of Churchill had, where is it? You can’t see it in people now with gay habits – shame on them.'

 

He went on, 'I pity the one lady I admire, the Queen, that she is in these circumstances, I’m sure down deep she must be groaning [at] the loss of values in Britain. They’ve gone to the dogs. Countries don’t respect Britain any more. Rule Britannia, Britannia rule the world. Which world? [David] Cameron ... doesn’t talk much, but he acts in the same way as [George W] Bush.'

You can read more here. I'm posting from an iPad and it's hard to get the links right, so I'm just adding them raw this way. http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/zimbabwes-mugabe-i-pity-queen-over-britains-gay-habits200414

Louisiana and the Bible

This article talks about Louisiana making the Bible the state book.

There was some debate about which version of the Bible should be endorsed. Some wanted the oldest edition of the Holy Bible in the Louisiana State Museum system to get the nod.

Others preferred the King James version, but this was nixed because Catholics do not use that volume.
Eventually the bill's text was changed to simply say 'Holy Bible.'

So much for the separation of church and state.

You can read more here. http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/louisiana-considering-making-bible-us-states-official-book200414

Pat Sajak Comes Out As Straight

This is interesting to me because I've seen this before with distant family members on facebook...straight guys coming out as gay as a joke...or whatever the intention. And I'm never sure how to take it. In one case, I just took it as someone who doesn't know any better. But you have to wonder if there is an underlying message? And I'm not the only one who feels this way, because when Pat Sajak recently joked around about coming as "straight" he received a lot of interesting replies.

'Seriously, mocking gay people? Is that all you got?' wrote one.

Another reacted by tweeting: 'Because I have a lot of gay friends that got dumped by their families and lost jobs when they came out. Just not funny.'

Others were supportive of the politically conservative Sajak.

'If Gays think they have to wear their sexuality on their sleeve.. why can't Straights? Be proud of who you are,' tweeted one follower.

Frankly, I will never be as close to that particular distant family member I saw doing this on facebook again. How far can you take the concept of stupid when you have gay cousins and you know...or should know...how important gay marriage is to them?

You can read the rest here. http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/longtime-wheel-fortune-host-pat-sajak-comes-out-twitter-straight210414-0
 

Disney Sponsors Outfest; Queen Makes History; Gay Travel Alert Mississippi

Disney Sponsors Outfest

Outfest is an LGBTI family event being held this July in Orlando, Florida. Other sponsors include Hilton, Macy's, and Nickelodeon.

Organizers are calling Family Outfest: ‘The first of its kind. ‘It is designed to bring LGBT and straight allied families together to experience the city, beautiful theme parks and other family-friendly activities found in Central Florida.'

You can read more here.

It's nice to know we're (gays) not just expected to go to Provincetown, or a handful of other destinations that have always been predominantly gay. Frankly, Tony and I went to Provincetown, MA, for over fifteen years, three times a year...Halloween, Labor Day, and New Year's Eve. I love it and the times we spent there, but it did get tired after a while, which is why we stopped going and went to Vermont to get married this past January.

We've already seen the decline of the gay bar...at least as it once was. In part, that's thanks to the Internet. I think we'll begin to see the decline of the gay ghetto eventually, too. I know I have no intention of retiring early, moving to Wilton Manors or Palm Springs, and living out my last days surrounded by only gay people. I'd like to be part of everything, including the families going to Outfest this year in Orlando.

Queen Makes History

Queen Elizabeth II made history recently when she openly congratulated an LGBTI charity group in Britain. It's the first time she's acknowledged any LGBTI group during her 62 year reign.

“Best wishes and congratulations to all concerned on this most special anniversary,” read the Queen’s message, according to a transcript released by Buckingham Palace.

British Prime Minister David Cameron also congratulated the group, along with Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, London’s Mayor Johnson, and the head of the Labour party in Parliament, Ed Miliband.

These acknowledgements from people like Queen Elizabeth are extremely important to many people, and not just in a grand general sense. They are sometimes even more important on a personal level.

You can read more here.


Gay Travel Alert Mississippi

A group called GetEQUAL is issuing what's being called a "travel alert" for LGBTI people who are planning to go to Mississippi. Where they received the authority to issue this warning isn't clear, and I haven't seen any solid examples of any LGBTI people having issues in Mississippi...at least not any examples more distressing than in any other state in the US.

According to most articles I read, and there are plenty out there, the alert issued is because law makers in Mississippi are trying to pass a bill...SB 2681 Mississippi Religious Freedom Restoration Act...that would allow business owners in Mississippi to refuse business to LGBTI people for religious reasons. It's basically that same as what happened in Arizona not too long ago. The Governor of Arizona vetoed the bill.

GetEQUAL Mississippi alerts those traveling to the state of a continued risk of discrimination based upon sexual orientation and/or gender identity. The State of Mississippi does not currently protect lesbian, gay, bisexual and/or transgender (“LGBT”) people from being legally ejected from their hotel rooms or other places of public accommodation, and is on the cusp of passing legislation that would give business owners even more latitude to legally discriminate against minority groups.
Those who are required to travel to Mississippi are encouraged to take the following precautions:
- Avoid traveling alone in the state.
- Only book travel at hotels which have policies prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.
- Visit only known LGBT-friendly establishments, including restaurants, bars and venues.
- Be aware of your surroundings and adopt other appropriate safety measures to protect yourself while traveling.
GetEQUAL Mississippi will continue to monitor this situation and update travelers as needed.

I get where they are going with this. I don't always like it. I think it helps spread panic and makes things worse. But I get it. I hate these laws and don't fully understand how anyone who calls themselves religious could discriminate.

I know a few LGBTI people in Mississippi who aren't too thrilled about this either.

You can read more here.

Queen Elizabeth Fights Discrimination; Colleen Hoover on Self-Pub Stigma; Bad Boy Billionaires Free Excerpt

Queen Elizabeth will make history today when she signs a charter that fights discrimination and offers equal rights to billions in 54 countries that are part of the British Commonwealth.

The Commonwealth Charter states opposition to "all forms of discrimination, whether rooted in gender, race, color, creed, political belief or other grounds."

Many believe this is the Queen's silent way of taking a stand on LGBT equal rights. And what's most significant is that in 61 years this is the first time she's taken a stand like this. While it's not going to change things overnight because homosexuality is still illegal in many countries that are part of the British Commonwealth it does look as if the Queen is moving forward with changing times in a way no one could have predicted. It also looks as if the important part here is "other grounds." I would imagine that includes LGBT equal rights without actually stating it.

So, as slow as it's moving, and as much as I find it insulting that LGBT equal rights can't be mentioned openly and without shame, I do respect the Queen for doing this. In doing something like this she's helping to break down the shame associated with homosexuality that has existed for so long.

"The queen has to remain politically neutral," Arbiter said. "While we won't hear her personal views on this, the fact that she is endorsing it publicly in front of television cameras, it really does speak volumes."

Most articles I've read have suggested this is the Queen's way of beginning the transition of the shift of power that will come soon within the British monarchy. But I also find it extremely timely because of what's happening in Rome right now. The Catholic Church has lost billions of devoted followers in recent years, and partly (but not only) because of their stand on LGBT issues and equal rights. And I hope they are paying attention to what the Queen is doing today. If the new Pope can't find a way to move the church forward, I see even more Catholics leaving, and not just LGBT Catholics. I think women are getting tired of being discriminated against, and divorced people, too.

Colleen Hoover on Self-publishing Stigma

I'm linking to a post right now that was written by best-selling self-pubbed author, Colleen Hoover. I'm doing this because it's a well written article on her journey into publishing, and how she used self-publishing as a vehicle to reach bestseller lists and get those big books we all dream of getting one day. I'm also doing this because I've self-pubbed a few books myself, I've had a moderate amount of success that's thrilled me, and I've had tons of fun doing this at the same time. In fact, if I had to actually state what I've loved most in the twenty year span I've been getting published it would have to be the first time I released my own self-pubbed book last year.

And frankly, I'm also tired of other authors knocking all self-publishing and perpetuating the stigma that all self-pubbed books are bad, that all self-pubbed authors can't get publishers, and that all self-pubbed books lack in quality. I see this more often than not in small e-press circles, as if they are trying to put down all self-pubbed authors. These are usually authors who have become big fish in small ponds, as they say. And the fact remains that if you're working with a small start up e-press you're only one a step away from self-publishing. In fact, I find most small start up e-presses these days aren't even being run by people with publishing experience. There's nothing wrong with that, but don't be so grand. Frankly, I find myself putting off requests these days from small publishers in order to focus on my next self-pubbed release later this spring. I did it twice this month. I never thought I'd be doing anything like that, but in doing this I can have total control over content, and I can price those books cheaper for readers. And what do readers love most other than a good story?

For many years, self-publishing has been viewed as a tool for authors who couldn’t sell their work to traditional publishers for a myriad of reasons. Perhaps the work wasn’t good enough or the genre they wrote in was a hard genre for a publisher to sell. For whatever reason, self-publishing was a last-ditch effort made by those who wanted to see their work in print but couldn’t get through the traditional publishing obstacles.

Not anymore.

With the advent of the e-reader and the competitive royalty rates provided by companies such as Amazon, Barnes and Noble and many others, self-publishing has changed the publishing world. Some may not say for the better, but others would beg to differ.

I came into self-publishing merely by accident. Call me ignorant, but at the time I finished my first book in December of 2011, I didn’t even know what a query was. I had no idea you needed an agent before you could get a publisher. I didn’t even know people could upload their work to e-reader platforms and actually sell them. I didn’t know, because I never actually thought I’d write a book.

 

This is only a small part of an excellent post written by a bright woman, and I suggest reading it in full. For those who are not familiar with Hoover, self-publishing has opened doors for her that would have been closed ten or fifteen years ago.

 

Bad Boy Billionaire Free Excerpt

 

This excerpt is from The Silicon Valley novel in the Bad Boy Billionaire series. It's still without a formal title. And I'm still working on the book right now and I've enjoyed writing about places like Cupertino and San Francisco. I think the last time I set a novel in SF was "Sleepless in San Francisco," which is probably about four years ago now. I've always maintained that if I had to choose one other place to live and I had to leave this part of the country, I would go to that part of California. The climate is perfect and there's something about the SF area that has always been so romantic to me. I'm actually at the end of the book right now and I'm getting that "I don't want to leave" feeling once again.

 

In this particular scene, the billionaire, Shannon, has a few sockpuppet accounts on his own web site.  

 

After a meeting with the new attorney on Monday morning, Karla and Justin returned to their desks and Shannon logged in to his fake account on lovemetender.com to see if he’d missed anything. He hadn’t checked out this account in a while and he wanted to see how many new requests he had, if there were any personal messages, or if anyone interesting had left any comments on anything he’d posted to his main profile page. Until he’d met Terry, he’d always considered himself a "lurker."

            This time spent on the web site usually turned out to be something that made him smile. He’d learned more about his business this way, first hand, and he’d found that most of the members he came into contact with at lovemetender.com were good, decent people who had nothing but good intentions. He often thought they were too good. They were all interested in having a little fun and meeting other decent people. It always reminded him of something his grandmother had once told him. “No one’s going to remember your name, your clothes, or the kind of car you drive. They won’t remember your phone number or where you live. They might not even remember what you look like. But they’ll always remember the way you treated them and how you made them feel. And if you make them feel good, you did something right.”

            His grandmother wasn’t the most prolific woman, nor was she the wisest he’d ever met. But on occasion she came up with words of wisdom. Unfortunately, he hadn’t always listened.

Photo attribution.

 

 

In Honor of Diamond Jubilee...

Although I'm not the most religious person in the world, I do have respect for those who are.

When I saw this prayer on a web site, here, I wanted to post it in honor of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee.

"The Church of England has composed a prayer of thanksgiving for her remarkable reign."

Once again, global history being made right before our eyes.