BY NATASHA BARSOTTI — Players on the two teams heading into Sunday's Super Bowl are known for their gay-friendly actions and overtures.

While the San Francisco 49ers became the first NFL team to shoot a video as part of the It Gets Better anti-bullying project, Baltimore Ravens' linebacker Brendon Ayanbadejo not only became a spokesperson on behalf of Marylanders for Marriage Equality, but offered to leverage the media glare on the Super Bowl to highlight gay rights.

But unlike his teammates -- linebacker Ahmad Brooks and defensive tackles Ricky Jean-Francois and Isaac Sopoaga -- who were featured in the It Gets Better video, 49ers cornerback Chris Culliver is not thrilled about the idea of potentially sharing locker-room space with gay players. 

Radio-show host Artie Lange aired a segment of an interview he did with Culliver, who reportedly said, "I don't do the gay guys, man. I don't do that. No, we don't got no gay people on the team; they gotta get up out of here if they do. Can't be with that sweet stuff. Nah . . . can't be . . . in the locker room, man. Nah."

Culliver should be hearing from Minnesota Vikings punter Chris Kluwe any second now.

Landing image: ESPN.com

 

BY NATASHA BARSOTTI — In the wake of Russian State Duma deputies' overwhelming support for a nationwide anti-gay gag law during first reading, Germany and the European Union have signalled their objections to the measure, saying it contravenes the European Convention on Human Rights, to which Russia is a signatory.

"The implementation of this law could reinforce discrimination against lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transsexuals and intersex people as well as all those who support them and their choices, in particular by limiting their freedom of expression and their freedom of association and assembly," says a statement issued on behalf of Catherine Ashton, high representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and
Security Policy and vice-president of the European Commission. "The High Representative calls on the Russian Federation to uphold its national and international commitments – in particular in the framework of the Council of Europe as a signatory to the European Convention on Human Rights – to protect the enjoyment of these rights by all individuals."  

Der Spiegel reports that Germany's foreign minister, Guido Westerwelle, who is openly gay, also condemned the bill during a meeting with the Russian ambassador to Germany, saying it would aggravate relations between Europe and Russia. The report says Westerwelle told Vladimir Grinin that "as a friend of Russia and defender of good relations, he was personally disappointed by the development," adding that "part of democracy is the protection of minorities."

Meanwhile, Coming Out, a queer advocacy organization in St Petersburg, and outloudmag.ru have launched a photo campaign against the bill.

The bill, which is subject to two more readings, would levy fines for violations of up to 5,000 rubles ($165) for individuals and up to 50,000 rubles for officials, while businesses or schools could face fines of up to 500,000 rubles ($16,500) if they broke the law. According to Der Spiegel, if passed, the measure would make gay pride parades a prosecutable offence. "Even something as simple as waving the rainbow flag (a gay symbol) could be punishable," the report states, noting that gay rights activist Nikolai Alexeyev was fined last May for holding a sign that said, "Homosexuality isn't perversion" and for flouting a similar law in St Peterburg.

Venice recently joined another Italian city, Milan, in breaking cultural ties with St Petersburg over its anti-gay law.

The proposed federal bill, introduced by Novosibirsk regional deputies, mirrors a number of anti-gay gag laws that have been enacted in about 10 other cities or regions. Kaliningrad reportedly passed a similar measure Jan 24.

Bucking the national trend, the Duma of the Moscow Region rejected a similar measure meant to make "non-traditional sexual orientation propaganda to minors" illegal.

 

BY NATASHA BARSOTTI — Britannia Hockey Academy goaltender Cory Oskam recently met his namesake Canucks goalie Cory Schneider on the ice at Vancouver's Rogers Arena, where the home team played host to the Calgary Flames Jan 23.

An nhl.com network account of the meeting of the two Corys says the experience is "all a blur" for 16-year-old Oskam. "He remembers the thrill of skating onto the ice, meeting Schneider and standing beside him for 'O Canada.' That’s about it." 

Oskam, who is transgender, said he was in the process of choosing a new name for himself around the time he began collecting Schneider hockey cards. "My mom suggested Cory, and I started using it around the house. It felt very right. Cory felt very right.”

Oskam, who was a presenter at a Dare to Stand Out conference workshop on supporting gender-non-conforming and transgender youth in schools, recalls going to all his classes last year to let fellow students know he was transitioning. He has nothing but praise for the way Britannia’s administration supported him in that process.

“The vice-principal went into my classes, and they just simply said, ‘Look, this is what’s happening, and if you have a problem or questions, please ask,’” Oskam says. “You really need that support staff.”

Oskam sees the conference as a place to build friendships. “It’s great to get everyone together because some people just feel so alone, and this conference shows that you’re not alone.” His mom, Nicole, told him he'd be skating with Schneider and the Canucks before giving his talk at Dare to Stand Out. 

For his on-ice appearance, Oskam wore an old pair of Schneider’s pads that he purchased at a Canucks equipment sale. He got them autographed and they’re now retired in his room.

Last year, the Canucks signed on to the You Can Play campaign, spearheaded by Brian Burke and his son Patrick, which continues to make headlines with its challenge to National Hockey League players to support and welcome gay athletes.

Manny Malhotra also became the first member of the Canucks hockey team to march in the Vancouver Pride parade last August.

 

For more on Xtra's coverage of You Can Play, click on the links below:

Will the Burkes' You Can Play campaign change hockey culture?

Toronto Maple Leafs stars support gay players

Canucks stars have a message for gay athletes: You can play

Marlies sign 'groundbreaking' pledge to support gay teammates

Come out, straight allies

   

BY NATASHA BARSOTTI — Two weeks after thousands of gay-marriage opponents took to the streets of Paris, those who support French President François Hollande's push to legalize same-sex marriage staged a counter-demonstration as the French parliament gets ready to debate the measure tomorrow, Jan 29.

Police estimate Sunday's pro-gay-marriage turnout at 125,000, while organizers put their tally closer to 400,000. On Jan 13, police estimated that 340,000 gay-marriage opponents were out on the streets, as part of mass marches they have held in several French cities.

A France24 report quotes Inter-LGBT's Nicolas Gougain as saying, "We’re not demonstrating in response to our opposition. We’ve been demonstrating for 10 years already." 

France24 cites an interview carried in the weekly Journal du Dimanche in which French Justice Minister Christiane Taubira reportedly described the gay-marriage bill as a bid to address “a situation of flagrant inequality.” 

"The conditions of marriage will go unchanged; nothing will change for heterosexual couples,” Taubira says, as she acknowledged the intense opposition to the measure among Catholics, as well as conservative politicians and groups. “This bill will protect all families. It will protect children’s rights,” she is quoted as saying, noting that thousands of children now "live in homo-parental families in France but lack the same security as their hetero-parental peers." 

Despite the opposition, France24 says a new poll suggests that support for gay marriage and adoption rights has risen. “Following the demonstration on Jan 13 we expected less people to back [it],” Jerome Fourquet, of the polling agency Ifop, says. “But our findings show the opposite. Support for the plan is increasing – particularly on the left.”

The ruling Socialist government also has the necessary number of votes in both houses of parliament to ensure the measure passes.

 

More coverage below:

France: Thousands march against gay marriage

France: Gay marriage fight pits left vs right, urban vs rural

More protests against gay marraige in France

 

Landing image: Screen capture Euro News

BY NATASHA BARSOTTI — Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) spokespeople report that the National Capital Area Council (NCAC) of the Boy Scouts is threatening a Maryland Cub Scout pack with removal from the organization for posting a statement that says it won't discriminate against gay members.

The statement in question reads, "Pack 442 WILL NOT discriminate against any individual or family based on race, religion, national origin, ability, or sexual orientation." 

According to Mother Jones magazine, Pack 442's committee chair, Theresa Phillips, said that after the pack voted to approve the anti-discrimination statement, the NCAC said “they would ‘allow’ us to leave it up based on our right to freedom of speech. Now they are doing a 180 and basically asking us to either conform to BSA's discriminatory policy or get out.”

Mother Jones quotes GLAAD president Herndon Graddick as saying that the Boy Scouts' threat to kick out the Maryland Cub Scout pack is "unconscionable."

"How many young Scouts is the BSA willing to sacrifice in order to preserve its harmful and discriminatory policies? This despicable act of bullying and intimidation is yet another reminder that the BSA is out of touch with its members and the American public at large," Graddick says in the report.

Mother Jones says NCAC Scout executive Les Baron confirmed that if the pack doesn't erase the declaration, "they will not be recognized as an organization, although that's our last resort." Baron reportedly told the magazine the reference to sexual orientation is the main problem. "That's a message that's against our policy, and we don't want it continue to be out in our community."

Last July, at the same time that the BSA reaffirmed its policy of excluding gays, despite ongoing criticism and protests, 19-year-old Eagle Scout and summer camp counsellor Eric Jones was shown the door after revealing he is gay to his camp director. The camp director told Jones, who had been a member for almost 10 years, that while he deserved to be there, BSA policy was BSA policy: no openly gay people allowed.

That same month, Martin Cizmar returned his Eagle Scout badge in protest against the BSA's reaffirmation of that policy.  

"A national policy on sexuality forces good, principled people from scouting. I can only hope that someone inside the BSA has the courage to fix this policy before the organization withers into irrelevance," Cizmar wrote in a July 19 letter to the BSA. 

GLAAD first called on the BSA to end its anti-gay policy in April after Jennifer Tyrrell, a mother and den leader from Ohio, was removed from her seven-year-old’s Cub Scout pack because she's gay. Tyrrell subsequently started a change.org petition that has garnered more than 330,000 signatures in support of ending the BSA's ban on gays.

The CEOs of AT&T and Ernst & Young have also called for an end to the Boy Scouts’ anti-gay policies. AT&T’s Randall Stephenson and Ernst & Young’s James Turley both sit on the national board of the Boy Scouts of America.

Over the past several months, a number of corporate entities, including Intel, UPS and United Way have decided to pull their support for the Boy Scouts because of their discriminatory policy. More recently, the Merck Foundation issued a statement indicating that it, too, will stop funding the Boy Scouts.

"The BSA’s policy of exclusion directly conflicts with the Merck Foundation’s giving guidelines," Merck says on its website. "On that basis the Merck Foundation has decided to suspend funding to the BSA. The decision to suspend support applies to direct funding from the Merck Foundation, the matching of gifts from Merck employees, and paid time off for volunteering."