Robbie Rogers May Return to Pro Soccer

robbie_rogersRemember Robbie Rogers, the courageous (and gorgeous!) 25-year-old U.S. national soccer star who came out and retired from the sport earlier this year?

Well, it turns out that Rogers was so heartened by the overwhelming support he received from fellow players, fans, and the American public that he’s apparently reconsidered his decision to retire.

Gay Star News reports that Rogers has been practicing with the Los Angeles Galaxy, a Major League Soccer team, in recent weeks. At the 2013 Voice Awards last Sunday, he greeted the crowd, thanked them for their support, and credited them for inspiring him to return to professional soccer.

Speaking to reporter Greg Hernandez, Rogers said that there are still some logistical hurdles to be sorted out with his former team, but he’s optimistic:

It’s just kind of being worked out. Chicago owns my rights and until they trade me to LA, I guess I’m owned by Chicago. It feels amazing to be back in California and obviously back on the soccer field. Just working away…

I’m excited to get back to [playing] and I hope it kind of creates a path for other footballers, for other soccer players to do the same.

Rogers chose not to return to the Chicago Fire because he wants to live closer to his family in Huntington Beach, California.

Here’s hoping that everything gets sorted out so this LGBT trailblazer is able to get back on the field. Welcome back, Robbie Rogers!

BREAKING: UK House of Commons Passes Marriage Equality

uk_parliamentJust now, the UK House of Commons gave final approval to a marriage equality bill. The vote was 366-161.

The bill now moves on to the House of Lords.

Here’s a handy graphic representation of the bill’s progress through Parliament. (Thanks to Joe Jervis for finding it!) Today the House of Commons just completed its third reading, meaning that the equal marriage bill is essentially halfway through the process of becoming law.

joe_marriage_uk

BREAKING: Far-Right Catholic Activist Commits Suicide in Notre Dame Cathedral Over Same-Sex Marriage

notre_dame_cathedralAccording to multiple sources, the iconic cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris was evacuated today after a far-right Catholic activist went to the altar and shot himself in the mouth. The suicide, which was witnessed by hundreds of tourists, appears to have been a protest against same-sex marriage.

The UK’s Daily Mail reports:

The Cathedral was full of visitors when the horrific incident took place, at around 4pm.

‘There was screaming and lot so shouting following a loud bang,’ said one witness. ‘People were naturally very scared and began to run out in panic.

‘Police and other emergency workers including firemen got here very quickly, and then the whole cathedral was evacuated.’

Dominique Venner, age 78, was a well-known essayist and a former member of a paramilitary group known as the Secret Army Organization (OAS), which waged a bombing and assassination campaign in the early 1960s to protest France giving Algeria its independence.

dominique_vennerMr. Venner was also close to the anti-marriage equality movement and an outspoken critic of France’s new marriage equality law, which President François Hollande signed on Saturday. He made no verbal statement before he shot himself, but a letter was found on his person. The contents of Mr. Venner’s letter have not yet been released.

However, just before killing himself, Venner published a disturbing post on his blog today in which he gave a scathing critique of marriage equality and may have alluded to his suicidal intentions:

[Preventing marriage equality] certainly will require new, spectacular, and symbolic actions to wake up the sleep walkers, shake the anaesthetized consciousness, and awaken the memory of our origins. We are entering a time when words must be authenticated by acts…

It is here and now that our destiny is played until the final second. And this final second has as much importance as the rest of a life. That is why we need to be ourselves until the very last instant.

It seems that Mr. Venner chose to end his life so that he wouldn’t have to live to see the day when loving and committed same-sex couples in France are able to marry. What a tragedy, that others’ happiness would make this man want to die.

How profoundly sad. Mr. Venner’s family has my sympathies.

Orthodox Priests in Country of Georgia Lead Violent Anti-Gay Mob

georgia_gayattacksLast Friday, a group of Orthodox priests reportedly led a mob of thousands in a violent attack on a small group of gay rights demonstrators in downtown Tbilisi, the capital of the former Soviet republic of Georgia.

The New York Times reports:

Carrying banners reading “No to mental genocide” and “No to gays,” the masses of mostly young men began by hurling rocks and eggs at the gay rights demonstrators.

The police pushed most of the demonstrators onto yellow minibuses to evacuate them from the scene, but, the attackers swarmed the buses, trying to break the windows with metal gratings, trash cans, rocks and even fists.

At least 12 people were reported hospitalized, including three police officers and eight or nine of the gay rights marchers.

“They wanted to kill all of us,” said Irakli Vacharadze, the head of Identoba, the Tbilisi-based gay rights advocacy group that organized the rally.

Nino Bolkvadze, 35, a lawyer for the group who was among the marchers, said that if they had not been close to the buses when the violence began, “we would all have been corpses.”

Continue reading →

Marriage Equality Round-Up: Illinois, UK

illinois_state_capitolAfter frustrating delays, it looks like marriage equality legislation may be able to finally move forward in Illinois and the U.K.

In Illinois, pro-LGBT lawmakers are hoping to make the Land of Lincoln the 13th state to allow same-sex couples the freedom to marry. The Illinois Senate passed a marriage equality bill on Valentine’s Day, but the measure has been stalled in the House of Representatives. With just days remaining on the legislative calendar (the spring session ends on May 31), LGBT rights leaders in that state say proponents have finally secured the 60 votes required to pass the bill.

Jim Bennett, Lambda Legal’s Midwest regional director, told the Windy City Times: “I have absolutely no doubt we’re going to be done with this by May 31. I believe that this bill is going to pass.”

Rick Garcia of the Civil Rights Agenda added, “I believe we’re there. The cake is baked. We’re waiting for the icing.”

Rep. Greg Harris, chief sponsor of the bill, has said he wouldn’t call for a vote until he knew the votes for passage were there. Pat Quinn, the state’s pro-equality Democratic governor, has campaigned hard for the bill and promises to sign it into law if it reaches his desk. Continue reading →

New York City Rocked by Slew of Anti-Gay Hate Crimes

mark_carsonLiving as we are in a time of astonishingly rapid progress in the movement for LGBT civil rights, it can sometimes be easy to forget how much work still remains to be done — until something happens that jolts us out of our complacency.

For many in the LGBT community, one such jolt is the alarming rash of anti-gay violence currently taking place in New York City, arguably the birthplace of the modern LGBT rights movement and widely considered one of the most gay-friendly cities on the planet. In the last three weeks there have been five attacks on gay men, including several brutal beatings and one murder. And the city’s police commissioner revealed at a news conference on Saturday that bias-related crimes so far this year are up considerably compared to the same period last year.

The latest incident took place late Friday night, when a gunman shouting homophobic slurs chased 32-year-old Mark Carson (above) through the West Village and then murdered him. The suspect, Elliot Morales, reportedly laughed gleefully as police arrested him, boasting to deputies, “I shot him in the face.” Continue reading →

Minnesota Republicans Kill Anti-Bullying Bill

gay_bullyingI’ve written frequently over the past few years about the chilling epidemic of anti-LGBT bullying in the state of Minnesota; the anti-gay animus of the Minnesota GOP; and the spiritual bullying of Twin Cities Archbishop John Nienstedt, one of the most outspoken homophobes in the American Catholic hierarchy.

But today those three topics have intersected in a way that makes me sick to my stomach: Minnesota Republicans have forced the withdrawal of an anti-bullying bill in the state senate after the Minnesota Catholic Conference claimed that if the measure was signed into law, it would turn schools into ”re-education” camps. Continue reading →