Horrible - 50+ dead in Orlando nightclub shooting spree

[bigsky]

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=H-CAcdta_8I

This clown is exactly what Barry O sounds like to me.

[Krank]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/...b034ff3eef50f4


When Your 4th Grade Son is Called “Gay”

"Now, because of a couple of carelessly spewed words that will certainly be repeated over again, my son will soon be forced to wonder if he’s gay, because other kids are now saying it out loud. Though he doesn’t know what a self-fulfilling prophecy is, I have seen the confusion and anxiety on his face more in 4th grade than ever. Of course, adolescence and puberty are almost within hand’s reach. However, when going into the tumultuous years of adolescence (which is already hard enough for anyone) my son is now going in with the additional, excessive worry of, “am I gay?” He knows that our family doesn’t care, and we will continue to love and support him no matter what.

But I’m learning that just because we’re okay with it, that doesn’t mean it will be easy for him to go through – whether he’s gay, bi, trans, asexual, or questioning – if he’s basically anything that varies from cisgender, straight male, he’s not protected; he is subject to legal discrimination. He is subject to hate crimes. He is even subject to the subtle (but repetitive and tiresome) day-to-day discrimination. Most of us don’t understand the more subtle acts of discrimination. When you see it happen to your child, though, it’s extremely painful, because you realize that people don’t even know they’re doing it. It is born out of assumptions, and we all know what happens when we make assumptions...

...from the first day he wore his sparkly “girls” backpack to school this year, several kids regularly gave him strange looks. Adults, too. In fact, one adult approached us on the way into school for small talk and commented, “I see you got your sister’s hand-me-down backpack,” chuckling at the cleverness of his own joke. My son stared at the ground, embarrassed, and not laughing while I gently told the man that “actually, my son had chosen it himself.” Awkwardness ensued, and we shrugged it off, but after the 18th or 20th of these such daily comments, my son could’ve easily decided to tuck his sparkly rainbow backpack in the corner of his bedroom closet where it would be hidden. He could’ve easily swapped it out for his old one – a neutral shade of pastel blue that he did not pick himself – and have a much easier time walking into the school building every day, blending in with the rest of the boys.

But, he has bravely and independently chosen not to do that. Instead, every day, I watch in awe as this 4th grade boy of mine straps on a “girly girl’s backpack,” wears it like a warrior shield, and in the process, gives a collective “sorry, not sorry” statement to all those who dare to judge. His bravery, day after day, in this single act of noble defiance makes me feel like maybe I’ve done something right after all."

[Krank]

http://mashable.com/2016/06/18/angel.../#WZK0hh20MOq3

Westboro protesters are no match for these 'angels' at Orlando victims' funeral

"Hateful words were no match for crowds of people preaching love and their guardian angels.

The Westboro Baptist Church promised to protest the funeral of an Orlando shooting victim Saturday, but the tiny contingent of four from the homophobic Kansas-based church were drowned out by hundreds of people chanting "We love you!" and "Orlando Strong!"

Among the counter-demonstrators outside 32-year-old Christopher Andrew Leinonen's funeral at the Cathedral Church of St. Luke, were several people dressed as angels. The costumes were a project of the Orlando Shakespeare Company and Angel Action Network, which outfitted volunteers with angel outfits made from white linen.

A line of angels Saturday worked to block the handful of Westboro protesters who shouted phrases like "Why did God destroy Sodom?"

Angel Action Network was founded nearly two decades ago after Westboro church members protested the funeral of Matthew Shepard, a gay man who was brutally beaten, tied to a fence in Wyoming and left to die. He succumbed to his injuries in a hospital days after the attack.

The Westboro Baptist Church, considered an extremist group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, often protests at funerals, and this isn't the first time they were met by people pledging to protect mourners.

Earlier in the week, a "human chain" made by LGBT community members, bikers and other allies was formed at 40-year-old Javier Jorge-Reyes' funeral. It was the first public memorial for one of the 49 victims killed by a terrorist last Saturday night at Pulse, an Orlando gay nightclub, during the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history."

[Krank]

http://abcnews.go.com/US/florida-ass...ry?id=39954404

"A Florida assistant state attorney has been suspended after writing a Facebook post that denigrated the city of Orlando following the Pulse nightclub terror attack, the state attorney's office announced Friday night.

"Downtown Orlando has no bottom," Assistant State Attorney Kenneth Lewis wrote on his Facebook page last Sunday evening -- less than 24 hours after the tragedy -- according to ABC Orlando affiliate WFTV. "The entire city should be leveled. It is void of any redeeming quality...It is void of culture. If you live down there you do it at your own risk and at your own peril." The post continued to paint Orlando and its residents in a negative light."

[CitizenBBN]

The Westboro people are bat crap crazy, everyone knows it. But they're the definition of a fringe group and have no affiliation with any faith association.

But as bad as they are, they're antics aren't as bad IMO as those out there calling for gays to be murdered as a kind of mercy killing. They're despicable, but probably not much of a threat to lead to real violence. They're just too stupid to be taken credibly, and they aren't calling for murder anyway.

[bigsky]

The Westboro people are bat crap crazy, everyone knows it. But they're the definition of a fringe group and have no affiliation with any faith association. But as bad as they are, they're antics aren't as bad IMO as those out there calling for gays to be murdered as a kind of mercy killing. They're despicable, but probably not much of a threat to lead to real violence. They're just too stupid to be taken credibly, and they aren't calling for murder anyway.

They haven't taken over any countries or beheaded anyone. The claimed elsewhere equivalency is ludicrous.

[Krank]

http://abcnews.go.com/International/...Top+Stories%29

"Turkish Police Fire Rubber Bullets, Tear Gas at LGBT Parade"

[Krank]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/natio...f93_story.html

"Presiding Bishop Yvette Flunder of the Fellowship of Affirming Ministries Network, an association of mainly black and gay churches, pointed to the shooting at the historically black Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in South Carolina a year ago, and noted, “we did not hesitate to say that the victims in Charleston were black.”...

...Conservative religious leaders were just as vocal and emotional in their remarks, but the focus of their statements varied...

...But none of these [conservative leaders'] statements specifically mentioned that gays and lesbians had been singled out...

...On the other hand, the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, an association for Latino evangelicals, which helped local churches organize a vigil Wednesday in Orlando, issued a statement calling for “radical love” for all, citing gays in particular, despite the conference’s theological opposition to same-sex relationships.

In St. Petersburg, Florida, Bishop Robert Lynch took the rare step for an American Roman Catholic bishop of saying faith groups had a role in fueling violence like what happened in Orlando.

“Sadly, it is religion, including our own, which targets, mostly verbally, and also often breeds contempt for, gays, lesbians and transgender people,” Lynch wrote on his blog. “Singling out people for victimization because of their religion, their sexual orientation, their nationality must be offensive to God’s ears. It has to stop.”

The Rev. Joel Hunter, pastor of the evangelical Northland, A Church Distributed, in the Orlando area, said the attack and its aftermath have led him to reflect on how he has spoken about the Bible and LGBT people in the past.

Hunter... spent the week in community meetings and at events in response to the shooting, leading to the pastor’s first introduction to Carlos Smith, the government affairs officer for Equality Florida, an LGBT advocacy group...

...“The fact that I didn’t know him was indicative of the cubicle all of us have been operating in and my lack of relationships that I’m now regretting,” Hunter said in a phone interview.

“My relationships and respect for LGBTQ people will not depend on any specific theological finding,” Hunter said of how he will re-examine his approach to gays and lesbians. “My recommitment is to focus on living out the basic nature of God — love — and leaving the judging up to Him.”

[Krank]

https://www.yahoo.com/news/least-1-0...201255451.html

"A large group of demonstrators showed up Sunday outside the California church where a pastor praised the Orlando attack just hours after 49 people were murdered in a gay nightclub.

At least 1,000 people protested Pastor Roger Jimenez at his Verity Baptist Church in Sacramento on Sunday, many of them waving pro-LGBT signs and rainbow flags as parishioners struggled to maneuver through.

Jimenez is seen in a YouTube video of his June 12 sermon calling the clubgoers who were killed at the Pulse nightclub "pedophiles" whose deaths have made the world a safer place...

...In the YouTube video... Jimenez wondered aloud to his congregation "Are you sad that 50 pedophiles were killed today? Um – no – I think that's great! I think that helps society. I think Orlando, Florida, is a little safer tonight."

[Krank]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/...b0fbbc8bea8199

What Parents Of Straight Kids Will Never Understand About Orlando: When others talk about gay people, they are talking about our children

"Here’s what I want parents of straight kids (and others) to understand: Our gay kids are innocent. They were born this way. They did nothing to deserve being disliked, hated or bullied — yet so often they are. No matter how high their self-esteem, they often feel hurt.

As parents, it KILLS us that we can’t protect them from the world...

...We fought hard for two years alongside Equality Maryland to attain the right for our kids to marry. We and our kids even testified before the Maryland legislature.

Many people who testified against the bill actually described gay people as “pedophiles, child abusers, lower than animals, and sexual predators.”

I was outraged. Those are my children you are talking about! And they are sitting right here. I still shake with rage when I think about it.

Last time I looked, the predators were a GOP House Speaker, a Penn State football coach and some Catholic priests.

Our son, more than our daughter, has been ridiculed, called derogatory names, had a friend who was severely beaten ... for just being gay. The threat of violence, for just being who he is, is often on his mind...

...Every time they meet someone new, our kids fear being judged. When a new co-worker, boss or doctor asks if they’re dating anyone, they have to lie or come out all over again. The fear of judgment and rejection is chronic.

Our children can be fired from a job or denied housing because they are gay. Sexual orientation and gender identity has not been added as a protected class, as are race, religion, color, sex, and national origin.

We can’t protect them from this. And my government won’t. What country do I live in?!

When we march at Pride, you can’t imagine how many young people approach us and say, “Thank you for loving your kids.” I don’t even know how to respond to this.

Thank you for loving your kids? I tell them they are our kids, and we love them!

When others talk about gay people, they are talking about our children."

[Doc]

I really see no point in linking any of the THOUSANDS of stories in support of the victims as a counter argument for the maybe dozen dumbasses who say moronic or so idiotic things. Many of those who have supported the victims and / or called out against the violence are faith based organizations. Some are even ones that the LGBT community has visciously attacked.

[Doc]

But then part of me has to wonder if when the liberal agenda has successfully pushed thru elementary school curriculums where children are asked to identify themselves as
A) boy
B) girl
C) boy who likes boy (unsure of the non offensive term)
D) girl who likes girl (lesbian)
E) boy who wants to be girl (transgender)
F) girl who wants to be boy (transgender)
G) boy who likes boys and girls (bisexual)
H) girl who likes girls and boys (bisexual)

Now let's pose this multiple choice questions to second graders then wonder why they are confused.

OR

Keep the government out of it and let parents do their job because government does NOT do a better job teaching sexuality than a parent. See in my opinion this is all part of the unintended consequences of the liberal nanny state agenda

[CitizenBBN]

Yeah, there are some crazies out there, not sure what the point is within the context of the discussion. No doubt gay people face those charges and issues, but I still think we may want to concentrate on the crazies who are actively trying to convince people to kill gays versus those who are just offensive.

[Krank]

http://www.thedailybeast.com/article...-massacre.html

The vast majority of the victims of the LGBT Pulse club massacre were Latino and Hispanic. Richard Blanco, the first openly gay Inaugural Poet, and other LGBT Latinos talk about its impact--and what being LGBT and Latino means.

Before I speak to Herb Sosa, the President of Unity Coalition, which advocates for LGBT Latinos/Hispanics in Florida, Sosa himself has been speaking to a friend who escaped from the LGBT Pulse nightclub in Orlando, where Omar Mateen shot and killed 49 people around him.

“Every one of my friend’s answers to me asking how he was or whatever was one word,” says Sosa. “People are affected physically and emotionally. There are so many layers, like survivors’ guilt: why did I survive, and the person next to me die? Should I have done more? Did I wimp out by not doing more? These are very real feelings.”

As I write this, the funerals of the people who died have begun, accompanied by many wrenching pictures of distraught relatives and friends.

Most were Latino and Hispanic. It was Pulse’s Latino night. "It’s a horrible situation,” says Sosa. “This has been a huge hit for the Latino and Hispanic communities." It was reported that 90 per cent of the victims were Latino/Hispanic, with 23 of the victims from Puerto Rico, specifically...

..."Pulse was a club that meant a lot to a lot of people," says Hector Constanzo of the Orlando Youth Alliance. "It’s a place where everyone could forget their troubles and be themselves. It was the first place where my cousin and I saw two guys dance together, two guys kissing.

"It was a place where I could be with my gay ‘family.’ It was an amazing feeling to be there, and it’s really sad that it’s taken 49 people to die for people to understand something about what LGBT people deal with on a regular basis.

"People need to wake the hell up, and understand that anti-gay violence and homophobia is a problem. We need to address it. At Pulse people could enjoy the happiness and freedom that they couldn’t have outside. It’s sad and terrifying that it’s gone."

[Krank]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/muhsin..._10571444.html

"Islamic extremism, preached in mosques funded by militant Muslim sects, has hijacked Islam. It is this form of Islam that seeks to play on the innocence of ordinary Muslims who only seek to practice Islam to an extent that pleases their creator. As guilty as Omar Mateen may have been for committing mass murder, he, too was a victim of Islamic extremism, homophobia and Islamophobia.

Perhaps this is a time for the Muslim community to reassess its stance on sexual orientation and gender identity. The former is distinct from the atrocities committed by the inmates of Sodom and Gomorrah where sex was used for power and dominance; innocent men became victims of a power play and women become victims of temple prostitution. The orthodox belief that homosexuality is a sin — based on the story of Sodom and Gomorrah — is what leads to the nuances of homophobia around the massacre in Orlando.

My message on behalf of The Inner Circle is a call for us to amplify our stance against oppression in all its forms and against the divisive powers at play. It is a call for us to refocus our attention on peace and social justice, and it is a prayer of condolence for the innocent victims and their families."

[bigsky]

"OM: My name is I pledge of allegiance to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi of the Islamic State." From the call transcript (from which the Attorney General tried to redact all references to Islam.)

[Doc]

http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2016/06/...urch-memorial/

http://www.wtsp.com/news/local/flori...tims/247527415

http://fox59.com/2016/06/13/flowers-...ando-shooting/

http://pix11.com/2016/06/17/man-trav...th-49-crosses/

https://www.facebook.com/events/234719866914077/

http://bungalower.com/event/orlando-...ola-bandshell/

https://www.facebook.com/events/1380704888623393/

https://www.facebook.com/events/1111485722240848/

[Doc]

http://www.villages-news.com/event-v...oting-orlando/

http://today.ucf.edu/ucf-to-remember...lelight-vigil/

https://www.facebook.com/events/1320738334622514/

https://www.facebook.com/events/9985...65924499478412

[Krank]

http://www.theweek.com/articles/6290...gay-christians

"At evangelical colleges, is being straight more important than believing in God?

You might expect that announcing your lack of faith would carry the worst possible social stigma at Asbury University, a conservative Christian college in Kentucky where chapel attendance is required and most classes begin with prayer. But for Taylor Darden, coming out as gay was worse.

"I was much more secretive about my sexuality than my agnosticism," said Darden, who graduated from Asbury in 2010.

Although I was teaching at Asbury while Darden was a student, our paths did not cross until after he graduated. Darden told me he eventually came back to the Christian faith, but considered himself agnostic in college. "It's definitely easier to be a non-believer than to be gay at places like Asbury."...

...A few years ago, a student in one of my journalism classes at Asbury discussed his atheism openly, with no noticeable reaction from the other students. I'm still in contact with him, so I recently asked him if he thought gay students were under more pressure at Asbury than atheists. "I couldn't imagine being an LGBT student on Asbury's campus," said the student, Stephen Gallutia, who graduated from Asbury in the spring. "Without a doubt, I believe that it would be harder than being an atheist."

In fact, atheist students get so much respect at Christian colleges, they can be elected to student government's highest office...

..."I choose to proclaim my atheism very proudly; I prefer to keep my sexuality quiet," said Eric O'Bannon, a bisexual member of Baylor's Secular Student Alliance...

...But what's even more troubling for some LGBT students is that the rules against same-sex intimacy show up right beside condemnation of "sexually exploitative or abusive behavior."

In reaction to that wording, a Messiah student, who spoke to me on condition of anonymity, said the comparison of same-sex intimacy to criminal sexual behavior reinforces negative connotations about the LGBT community. "Seeing the behavior as sinful alongside examples like sexual exploitation definitely doesn't help the stigma," said the student, who identifies as a queer bisexual. "It just feeds into the 'love the sinner, hate the sin' rhetoric."...

...Acceptance of LGBT Christians by evangelical colleges may start to improve as younger believers exert more influence on the debate. As a Pew Research Center report from last year noted, "Roughly half (51 percent) of evangelical Protestants in the millennial generation (born between 1981 and 1996) say homosexuality should be accepted by society."...

..."Strictly speaking, a man who self-identified as gay on Asbury's campus, at least while I was there, would have been looked at as someone fallen, someone in deliberate disobedience to God," said Darden, who now runs a theater program for adults with intellectual disabilities in Philadelphia. "Very few students would have admitted, even privately, to be considered gay, lesbian, or bi, although a good many admitted privately to 'struggling with homosexuality.'"

He added, "The word 'struggle' was key: It meant that you didn't want to be gay, you didn't have to be, and that you were fighting as hard as you possibly could to not be gay."...

...However, despite the setbacks, Darden's spiritual journey had a happy ending. "I returned to my Christian faith later," he said, "after I reconciled my sexuality with Christianity and found a welcoming church community."

[Krank]

http://www.latimes.com/world/la-fg-g...nap-story.html

Where the world stands on gay rights

[Krank]

https://www.yahoo.com/news/man-alleg...000000045.html

"The Orlando nightclub massacre was an act of revenge against gay Latin men not terrorism, alleges a man who claims to be the gunman’s former lover.

The man, wearing a prosthetic facial mask to disguise his features and using the pseudonym “Miguel,” made the accusations during an exclusive TV interview with Univision News.

Miguel said he and Mateen, 29, met on Grindr, a gay dating app, and had a two-month “friends with benefits” relationship last fall...

...Mateen’s rage on June 12, Miguel alleged, may have stemmed from an encounter in which Mateen told him he had sex with two Puerto Rican men, one of whom later revealed he was HIV positive.

“He adored Latinos, gay Latinos, with brown skin — but he felt rejected,” Miguel told Univision. “He felt used by them — there were moments in the Pulse nightclub that made him feel really bad. Guys used him. That really affected him. I believe this crazy horrible thing he did — that was revenge.”...

...“Miguel” said he went to the FBI after learning investigators were seeking formation about Omar Mateen. (Illustration courtesy FBI)
Mateen, an American born to Afghan immigrants, also struggled with his father’s view of Islam and hatred of homosexuals, Miguel said.

“Gay people is the devil and gay people have to die — that’s what his father told him,” Miguel recalled.

A day after the shooting, Seddique Mir Mateen, the gunman’s father, posted a video to Facebook in which he reportedly said, “God will punish those involved in homosexuality,” adding it’s “not an issue that humans should deal with.” The elder Mateen’s Facebook accounts now appear to be deleted.

Miguel said he and Mateen spent 15 to 20 nights together last fall, but stopped dating when Miguel moved from Orlando in late December.

The man said he asked that his identity be hidden because he is worried about his safety."