BY NATASHA BARSOTTI – "I know the Bible's right, somebody's wrong. I know the Bible's right, somebody's wrong. Romans 1, 26 and 27; ain't no homos gonna make it to heaven," the three-year-old toddler pipes.

And he is rewarded with the obvious delight of an onlooking pastor and an ovation from Greensburg, Indiana's Apostolic Truth Tabernacle congregation. Little consolation that the dislikes (7,183 and counting) outnumber the likes (447 and still ticking up, too) registered by those who have watched the video.

Seems like pastor Jeff Sangl and his flock didn't want their North Carolina counterparts to outdo them in the upping-the-homophobia-ante department. They had to get creative if they were going to trump Charles Worley's brainwave of penning queers within an elecrified fence, or dispensing advice, à la pastor Sean Harris, on violent techniques to cure children perceived to be gay by punching them or breaking their wrists. 

So Apostolic Truth Tabernacle went for the jugular: capitalizing on the cuteness of a kid and coaching him to sing cutely, to their collective way of thinking, about the not-so-cute end gays face at death.

According to one congregant, Gay Star News reports, those who are upset by the message and the church's gleeful reaction to it, "just don't read the word of God. If we don't teach children the truth early, they will never learn."

There's no question someting is "wrong" here. And what the fallout will be is anybody's guess. 

 

BY NATASHA BARSOTTI - Dharun Ravi, sentenced to 30 days in jail for using a webcam to spy on roommate Tyler Clementi's sexual encounter with another man, said May 29 he regretted the "thoughtless, insensitive, immature, stupid and childish choices" he made.

Clementi jumped to his death from New York City's George Washington Bridge in 2010 after discovering Ravi had videotaped him and discussed his personal life on Twitter with other students.

Ravi apologized to "everyone affected" by his choices days after Superior Court judge Glenn Berman told the former Rutgers University student that he had yet to hear him express remorse.

"I heard this jury say 'guilty' 288 times -- 24 questions, 12 jurors. That's the multiplication. I haven't heard you apologize once," Gay Star News quotes the judge as saying.

Ravi, convicted on 15 counts, including invasion of privacy, tampering with evidence and bias intimidation -- a hate crime -- had faced the prospect of serving up to 10 years in prison.

In addition to jail time, Ravi has been ordered to pay $10,000, do community service and serve three years' probation. As the sentence is less than a year, immigration authorities might not seek to have Ravi, a citizen of India, deported, according to an Associated Press report on nydailynews.com.

The judge has recommended against deportation. 

Slate.com's J Bryan Lowder, who was in favour of a lenient sentence for Ravi, offered this analysis in the wake of the May 21 sentencing.

An alternative take on the 30-day sentence is offered here.

 

Landing image: nj.com

BY NATASHA BARSOTTI - In the vein of détente summits of yore, if you will, Jennifer Chrisler, of the pro-gay-marriage Family Equality Council, has invited Tony Perkins, of the notoriously anti-gay Family Research Council, to break bread at her home to try to "open his heart a little bit."

Chrisler extended the invitation after Perkins' May 24 appearance on CNN, where he said he wasn't going to be silent while gay people tried to redefine marriage in the US, change what his children are taught in school and what religious organizations can do.

Asked by CNN's Brooke Baldwin if he'd ever been to the home of a gay couple, Perkins said he had not.

Chrisler's response: "I would like to extend an open invitation for you and your family to visit my home and have dinner with my spouse and children with the full hope that you will witness the love that exists in our families." 

Perkins' May 28 response, read out on CNN: "My wife and I will be glad to respond when we receive the invitation to find a time that works."

Chrisler told CNN that she didn't necessarily expect him to accept but says that if the dinner does come to pass, it'd be great for Perkins to get "a glimpse" into the lives of the one million gay and lesbian parents who raise two million children in the US.

"It's not one family here or there; it's a significant number of kids we're talking about," Chrisler points out.

"What bothers me is when people who haven't taken the time to know me, and to know my children and to know my values, talk about me and then espouse hateful rhetoric that my kids hear, that the children like them hear."

Watch excerpts of CNN's interviews with Perkins and Chrisler here.

 

BY NATASHA BARSOTTI – Progress on the queer rights front in Latin America got another boost May 25 when a Brazilian senate committee gave the thumbs-up to an anti-homophobia bill that could see discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity made punishable by law.

A Gay Star News report says the bill would expand the list of discriminatory acts to include blocking gays' access to government offices or private places, denying service in hospitality venues and hindering someone's career. The report notes the legislation would cover discrimination claims that take place online and in the media, as well as allow people to make claims for discriminatory acts that have occurred in the past. Offenders could receive prison sentences of up to five years under the new bill, which the senate must approve by June 25, to make it the law of the land.

News about the bill comes on the heels of the Brazilian senate human rights committee's approval of a proposal to define a civil union as being between two people, without their having to specify their genders. Like the new bill that would criminalize homophobia, the civil unions proposal would have to jump through the hoops of other committees before it becomes law.

Brazil's judiciary has been ahead of the country's congress on the issue of same-sex marriage, according to an Associated Press report in The Washington Post.

Meanwhile, Colombia also took steps to increase the protection of gays when its constitutional court ruled that the government cannot limit gay couples' right to express affection in public, after two men were told to leave a Cali mall after a security guard found them kissing. 

 

Landing image: gaypridebrazil.org

BY NATASHA BARSOTTI - The Duluth News Tribune reports that two men, aged 18 and 19, have been arrested in connection with the alleged assault of a 21-year-old gay man in an abandoned gravel pit in New Independence Township on May 26.

The attack on Max Pelofske occurred at a gathering of former and current Proctor High School students in the pit, according to the News Tribune.

The report quotes Pelofske as saying a man asked him, "Are you gay? And I said, 'Yes. Is that OK?'" Pelofske told the News Tribune that he was then struck on the head with a beer can and surrounded by a crowd of boys who allegedly threw him to the ground and punched and kicked him. 

A witness to the attack and a friend of Pelofske's, Kelly Johnson, says the attack lasted between five and 10 minutes and involved at least nine boys.

Pelofske, who later underwent a CAT scan, reported that his ribs were sore, his face was swollen and foot marks covered his back and legs.

Pelofske's and Johnson's account is at odds with that of another witness, identified as Megan Bird, who told the News Tribune that Pelofske is the one who started the confrontation, alleging he stole drinks, threw a bottle that hit another person and pushed one of the men, who was later arrested. Bird says she didn't hear anyone ask Pelofske if he was gay, the report states.

Johnson maintains that a large group attacked Pelofske. Moreover, she and Pelofske requested breath tests when police arrived to rule out that they had been drinking, the report further noted.

According to the Tribune, police say a 19-year-old is being held pending charges, which could indicate a crime of bias, while the charges against the 18-year-old are still unknown. 

News of the attack was soon picked up by social media, and a We Support Max Facebook page has been created.