Garibaldi Gay

An internationally-known MMA fighter … claims a gel that is supposed to enhance sexual performance has ruined his … claiming he now has a bum penis that can’t ejaculate.
Waylon Lowe claims in a new lawsuit … he bought a tube of Kama Sutra Pleasure Balm Prolonging Gel at a Philly sex shop — which is supposed to desensitize the penis and enhance stamina.  He lathered the gel on his junk and then covered it with a Trojan Magnum latex condom and began having sex with his fiancee.
The sex didn’t last long, because their baby started acting up in the next room.  While the fiancee tended to their daughter, Lowe claims he began experiencing excruciating pain in the penis.  He removed the condom and says he was horrified to see a significantly swelled penis.
Lowe says he ended up in the ER and has suffered “catastrophic and permanent damage” to his penis.  Among his many beefs:
– permanent scarring and disfigurement
– permanent loss of sensation
– permanent loss of functioning
– permanent nerve damage
– loss of life’s pleasures
– inability to ejaculate
Lowe is suing for a minimum of $50k … we’re guessing he wants a lot more.
Lowe strongly insinuates in the lawsuit … the damage was caused by placing the condom over the gel, despite the fact that the label gives users the green light to wrap it.
The Kama Sutra Company tells us the lawsuit is BS, claiming the product has worked safely without incident for 40 years.
from TMZ
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ORANGE COUNTY, CALIFORNIA – The number of reported hate crimes in Orange County fell by 21% last year, even though such crimes based on sexual orientation almost doubled, according to a report released Thursday.
The Orange County Human Relations Commission found that 61 hate crimes were reported to authorities in 2012, continuing a general downward trend since reported hate crimes peaked at 101 in 2006.
The most frequent target, the commission said, were blacks and people perceived to be gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender.
But while attacks on blacks dropped by nearly half to 13 last year, the number of cases based on sexual orientation climbed to 13 from 8 in 2011. Among others targeted were Jews (11 cases), Latinos (6) and Muslims (4), the report said.
“It’s very disturbing,” said Kevin O’Grady, executive director of the Center OC, a Santa Ana-based advocacy and service organization for the gay and lesbian community.
“A lot of it has to do with the very public debate that is going on nationally about LGBT civil rights,” notably marriage equality, O’Grady said. “The call for civil rights brings our supporters out, but it also brings the opponents out, including those on the darker side.”
The incidents tracked by the human relations commission included assaults and vandalism. Among the latter: Bricks thrown through the window of a Muslim family’s home; a flower pot hurled through a rabbi’s window; home-made acid bombs left in a black family’s driveway.
“It runs the spectrum,” said Rusty Kennedy, the commission’s executive director.
Nearly a third of all reported hate crimes were physical assaults, Kennedy said. Of those directed at gays and lesbians, more than half were.
“I’m pleased to see the overall downward trend of the last six or seven years,” Kennedy said. “But I’m alarmed by this substantial increase in [hate crimes against] the gay and lesbian community.”
Kennedy stressed that the 61 cases tracked by the commission understated the true number of hate crimes, which often go unreported.
O’Grady said that was particularly true in the gay and lesbian community.
“When something happens in the Jewish community … they immediately call the Anti-Defamation League.” O’Grady said. “There’s not that kind of [reporting] history in the LGBT community in Orange County. But that’s something we’re trying to change.”
from The Los Angeles Times

GRAPEVINE, TEXAS — In a highly anticipated vote Thursday, the Boy Scouts of America lifted its ban on gay youth starting next year, the latest sign of a shift in American attitudes toward gays and lesbians.
The resolution was adopted with more than 60% of the vote.
The vote to allow gay youth in Scouting — but not gay adult leaders — was held from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Central time during the group’s annual meeting in the Dallas suburb of Grapevine.
After about 1,400 members of the Boy Scouts national council voted by secret ballot, their votes were tallied by an outside balloting firm, Washington, D.C.-based True Ballot, and delivered to Boy Scouts President Wayne Perry, who announced the results to the gathering shortly after 5 p.m. Central time, according Boy Scouts spokesman Deron Smith.
The new policy takes effect Jan. 1, Smith said. Gay advocates called the vote a step in the right direction for the 103-year-old group, among the nation’s largest youth organizations with 2.6 million youth members.
“Today’s vote ending discrimination of gay Scouts is truly a historic moment and demonstrates the Boy Scouts of America’s commitment to creating a more inclusive organization,” said Zach Wahls, 21, an Iowa Eagle Scout raised by lesbian mothers who founded Scouts for Equality, which advocates for gays in Scouting, and traveled to Texas for the vote.
He called it “a tremendous victory toward the fight for equality in America. … We look forward to the day where we can celebrate inclusion of all members and are committed to continuing our work until that occurs.”Some local Scouting officials who participated in the vote said they wished the group could have gone further.
“We are disappointed that it doesn’t include everybody,” said Alan Snyder, chairman of the board of the Western Los Angeles County Council of the Boy Scouts of America, who voted for the proposal. “Inclusive should be all-inclusive.”
Opponents vowed to fight the new policy, which they warned would damage flagging membership and funding.
Frank Page, president of the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee, issued a statement: “We are deeply saddened that the voting delegates of the Boy Scouts of America overturned their constitutionally protected expressive message that homosexual behavior is incompatible with the principles enshrined in the Scout Oath and Scout Law. … Our sadness for the Scouting organization as a whole cannot be overstated.”
Jonathan Saenz, president of the Austin-based conservative advocacy group Texas Values, which organized a protest outside the annual meeting, called the vote a “tragic decision” that showed the Boy Scouts had “chosen to place sex and politics above its timeless principles.”
from The Los Angeles Times

Will Baublit

OHIO – Faggot. Queer. Girl.
That’s what Will Baublit says classmates called him every day in the fifth grade.
They tripped him in the hallway, knocked his books out of his hands, threatened to bust his head open. At a football game, a group beat him up.
The year before, the classmates had been his friends. They’d known one another since the first grade at East Knox Middle School in rural Knox County northeast of Columbus. But in fifth grade, Will revealed that he was gay, and everything changed.
After repeated requests to school administrators to stop the bullying, the family sued the district in federal court. Though the district denied the claims, the lawsuit was settled in the family’s favor.
Now, two years after the bullying started, Will and his mother, Kari Baublit, are sharing their experience in the hope that their story will help other bullied children.
“I felt betrayed by the friends I’d had,” Will said. “I had a lot of friends. But once I came out, they were like, ‘We don’t like you anymore. I don’t want a gay friend.’??”
Normally chatty and cheerful, Will withdrew from those around him.
“I’d come home very angry,” he said. “They’d say stuff all day.”
He begged to stay home from school.
“He’d say, ‘My elbow hurts,’ or ‘My hair hurts,’??” his mother said. “Anything he could think of. He was to the point where he was saying he hated me because I made him go to school.”
The harassment got so bad, Will said, that he thought about killing himself. His parents were afraid to leave him alone even after he promised his mother he wouldn’t take that ultimate step.
Complaints to teachers and school administrators brought assurances that the bullies would be “ talked to.” Mrs. Baublit said she spoke more than 30 times to the middle-school principal, the high-school principal and the district superintendent.
“They always tried to turn it around, to say, ‘What did he do to make them do that?’?” his mother said.
When Will showed a teacher a text message calling him a girl, the teacher told him he wouldn’t be harassed “if you wouldn’t act like one,” he said.
The bullying — and his mother’s complaints about it — followed Will into sixth grade. In November 2011, Mrs. Baublit pulled her son out of East Knox and began home-schooling him.
About the same time, Columbus lawyer Alexander M. Spater volunteered to investigate Will’s claims. His law partner, C. Raphael Davis-Williams, sued East Knox administrators, staff members and school board members on behalf of Will and his parents in December 2011.
The federal lawsuit accused the school district of acting “with deliberate indifference to the known acts of sex-based harassment,” which it said were “so severe, pervasive and objectively offensive” that Will was “effectively barred” from an education in the district. “We just wanted him to be able to go to school without getting picked on,” Davis-Williams said.
In court records, the district denied the claims in the complaint. As hearings, depositions and motions in the lawsuit rolled along, home-schooling continued for Will until his family was able to move out of Howard in Knox County into a home in Mount Vernon, about 8 miles to the west. Now 13, Will enrolled in Mount Vernon Middle School as a seventh-grader late last fall.
“I enjoy going to school now,” he said in a recent interview. His mother said that statement was music to her ears. That doesn’t mean he isn’t sometimes called a name or made fun of. It happens occasionally. But that’s quite different from having an entire class picking on you, he said.
“At Mount Vernon, when a person is being bullied, that person and the bully both go to talk to a counselor,” he said. The subject also is discussed in class; Will’s teachers are aware of his earlier problems.
“If you bully other people, it shows you don’t have self-confidence and you hate the whole world,” Will said. “I tell kids who are gay that there are going to be people who make fun of you. But not the whole world.”The lawsuit against East Knox was settled in February. The district did not admit guilt but agreed to pay Will $45,000.
District staff members and administrators won’t discuss the case, on the advice of their attorneys, district Superintendent Steve Larcomb said. He succeeded Matthew Caputo, who was superintendent when Will attended East Knox and is now a school principal in another district.
Also gone is high-school Principal Ryan Gallwitz, who had been assigned to handle student bullying at the time. He’s now a middle- and high-school principal in another district.
Davis-Williams said he couldn’t discuss the settlement because of its confidentiality clause. But he knew that, around the time Will withdrew from East Knox, the district was setting up a program to discourage bullying. He said he has been assured that the program has been instituted.
“There’s going to be another Will,” Davis-Williams said. “If we don’t do something about this 11-year-old kid, what will happen to the next 11-year-old kid?”
Seeing the district make changes was the main objective, the Baublits said.
“We just don’t want this to happen to somebody else’s kid,” Mrs. Baublit said. “They need to know it’s OK to be different. They just want to be accepted, accepted for who they are. Somebody out there is going to benefit from this story.”
from The Columbus Dispatch

One after another, major U.S. corporations have updated anti-discrimination policies to protect gay, lesbian and transgender workers, drawing plaudits from gay-rights groups. There’s one prominent exception: Exxon Mobil Corp.
In the latest rankings of such corporate policies by the Human Rights Campaign, a national gay-rights group, many of Exxon’s Fortune 500 counterparts got scores of 80 or higher on a scale of 100. Exxon, the nation’s largest oil and gas company, became the first firm to get a score below zero.
On Wednesday, in the latest attempt to pressure the company into change, a gay-rights group called Freedom to Work teamed with a high-powered Washington law firm to file what they described as a groundbreaking discrimination complaint against Exxon in Illinois.
The complaint, filed with the state’s Department of Human Rights, says Exxon was sent two nearly identical resumes for a job opening at its office in Patoka, Ill. The only substantive differences were that one of the fictional applicants was clearly depicted as a gay-rights activist, and had higher college and high-school grades than the other applicant.
According to the complaint, Exxon’s human resources office at its home base in Texas confirmed receipt of both applications, then made several efforts to contact the applicant with the lower grades to set up an interview. The applicant who indicated she was gay received no such follow-ups.
“Exxon has repeatedly claimed they do not discriminate,” said Freedom to Work’s president, Tico Almeida. “We are bringing forward proof they’ve broken the law, and we’re hopeful this compelling case will move them over the tipping point.”
An Exxon Mobil spokesman, Charles Engelmann, said the company was reviewing the complaint, and had no immediate comment on its allegations.
“Exxon Mobil’s global policies and processes prohibit all forms of discrimination, including those based on sexual orientation and gender identity, in any company workplace, anywhere in the world,” Engelmann said in an e-mail. “In fact, our policies go well beyond the law and prohibit any form of discrimination.”
The Washington-based law firm Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll, which often works with advocacy groups on workplace discrimination cases, has provided two of its attorneys to handle the Freedom to Work complaint. One of them, Peter Romer-Friedman, contended that Exxon’s handling of the two job applications was a clear violation of Illinois’ anti-discrimination law.
Illinois is one of 21 states that prohibit workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation. Texas has no such law, and Congress has not passed a nationwide ban.
Romer-Friedman said the tactic of submitting fictional, nearly identical applications is a time-tested, legally accepted technique that has been successful in the past in uncovering bias against blacks and women in hiring and fair-housing cases. The Exxon case marks the first time the tactic has been used to allege anti-gay bias, he said.
The next step, Romer-Friedman said, would be for the Illinois Human Rights Department to investigate the complaint – a process which could take a year. At that stage, Freedom to Work could seek a hearing before the state’s Human Rights Commission or take the case to court.
However, the attorney said it’s likely that Illinois human rights officials would invite Freedom to Work and Exxon to negotiate a settlement before the investigation ends. For Freedom to Work, the goal is to get Exxon to include sexual orientation and gender identity as protected categories in its equal employment opportunity policy, and to implement training programs on how to prevent any such bias.
“Our goal is to settle as quickly as possible, so Exxon will let everyone know they’re going to get a fair shot, no matter who they are or who they love,” Almeida said.
Exxon has been criticized over workplace policies in an era where the vast majority of other large U.S. corporations, including rival oil companies, have adopted policies that earn high scores from the Human Rights Campaign. Most, for example, voluntarily offer health benefits to employees’ same-sex partners; Exxon does not do so.
“We’ve seen public opinion on every issue move toward equality, including in corporate America,” said HRC spokesman Paul Guequierre. “To see one company stick out like this is surprising and frustrating.”
Exxon insists its policies toward gay and lesbian employees are fair and supportive, and rejects the HRC scorecard.
Continue reading Complaint Accuses Exxon Mobil Of Anti-Gay Bias

In the new film “Behind the Candelabra,” veteran entertainer Debbie Reynolds has just three major scenes to flesh out one of the most complicated figures in piano-playing showman Liberace’s life: his loving but sometimes manipulative mother Frances.
The Oscar-, Tony- and Emmy-nominated Reynolds didn’t need to do any homework for the part. She knew Frances. Reynolds joined Liberace’s inner circle while both were doing stage shows in Las Vegas.
“I tell the story when Lee called me one night after work,” Reynolds remembered, using Liberace’s nickname. “I was at the Desert Inn, he was at the Hilton, and he said, `Debbie, I’ll pick you up after the show, and we’ll take Tom Jones. It’s his birthday.’”
“I have never had a better time than being Liberace’s date,” the 81-year-old Reynolds continued. “We all knew he was homosexual. That was a friend: You know what they love and the people that they love, and what they are.”
“Behind the Candelabra” picks up the story of Liberace, played by Michael Douglas, in the `70s and focuses on his six-year relationship with the much younger Scott Thorson, portrayed by Matt Damon.
Reynolds, who also knew Thorson, highly praised both of the film’s stars. “They had to immerse themselves: two straight men, to make this come off as loving and real.”
Liberace died from complications of AIDS in 1987 at age 67. He never publicly acknowledged he was gay.
“I don’t want him to be remembered just for being homosexual,” Reynolds explained. “He should be remembered as a great entertainer and loved by so many. And this picture does do that.”
“Behind the Candelabra” premieres on HBO in the U.S. and on HBO Canada Sunday. On the heels of its theatrical world premiere this week in Cannes, the film begins a run in overseas cinemas starting in June.
from The Associated Press
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Harvey Milk

An anti-gay rights group has purchased hourly radio spots to urge parents to keep their children home from school on Harvey Milk Day, which honors the gay rights pioneer.
Randy Thomasson, president of the SaveCalifornia.com, said the group bought more than 100 time slots for a radio ad in Los Angeles and Sacramento. It urges parents to “protect your children from Harvey Milk indoctrination,” by keeping them home from school on Wednesday.
“This is harmful to children,” Thomasson said. “This is not academic, it’s brainwashing.”
John O’Connor, executive director of the group Equality California, said the radio spots “expose homophobia” and “encourage discrimination.”
Milk served less than a year on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors as the first openly gay elected official in California before he was fatally shot in 1978 along with Mayor George Moscone by colleague Dan White. In 2009, the Legislature designated Milk’s birthday, May 22, as a “day of special significance.”
The law encourages schools to have “suitable commemorative exercises” to mark Milk’s life.
Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, the San Francisco Democrat who co-authored the law, called SaveCalifornia.com’s efforts “pathetic.”
from The Sacramento Bee

PARIS, FRANCE – When French President François Hollande set out to legalize gay marriage, he faced an unexpectedly virulent outcry. Protests, including one that was the largest of its kind in 30 years, drew religious leaders, conservatives fighting for the preservation of family values, and those simply looking for a way to express their discontent with the president.
There were attacks at gay bars and clashes between protesters and police. One image, of a man who’d been beaten up while walking with his partner on the streets of Paris, went viral when it was posted on Facebook as the “Face of Homophobia.”
Now that gay marriage has become law – President Hollande signed the act last weekend and the nation’s first gay marriage is expected to take place later this month – has the violent debate reached new levels of drama?
On Tuesday afternoon, just days ahead of major protests against gay marriage scheduled for May 26, a far-right French historian walked into Paris’s famed Notre Dame Cathedral, reportedly walked up to the altar, and turned a gun on himself. He pulled the trigger in front of approximately 1,500 tourists.
It is unclear what exactly his motive was. He is said to have left a letter at the scene that has not yet been made public. But the words and statements that have emerged since yesterday’s event point to a planned and public condemnation of gay marriage, immigration, and other topics considered by the far right as a threat to French society.
On his personal blog the historian, Dominique Venner, condemned the “vile” gay marriage law, in a piece dated May 21, the day of his suicide. He called on protesters planning to amass on May 26 not to limit their discontent to just the law but against the “peril” of immigration to France from North Africa.
In what may have been a reference to his impending suicide, he wrote: “There will certainly need to be new, spectacular, symbolic gestures to shake off the sleepiness … and re-awaken the memories of our origins.”
Hours after the suicide, a message apparently written by Mr. Venner was read by a friend on a conservative radio station: “I believe it is necessary to sacrifice myself to break with the lethargy that is overwhelming us,” the friend read on the air. “I am killing myself to awaken slumbering consciences.”
France’s far-right leader Marine Le Pen, who has risen in polls, wrote in a tweet Tuesday of her respect for Venner, calling his suicide “eminently political.”
Notre Dame – the symbol of French Catholicism – was quickly evacuated. The cathedral this year marks 850 years since construction began – but commemorative events celebrating the anniversary will likely be overshadowed, in history, by Venner’s action.
France’s Interior Minister Manuel Valls told reporters: “Notre Dame is the cathedral of Paris, one of the capital’s – and the country’s – most beautiful monuments, so we realize how symbolic this event truly is.”
from The Christian Science Monitor

Senior members of the Church of Scotland voted Monday to let some congregations choose ministers who are in same-sex relationships – an important compromise that must still pass further hurdles before it can become church law.
The church’s General Assembly backed a motion affirming a traditional conservative view on homosexuality, but permitted liberal congregations to ordain openly gay men or women if they wish.
The assembly’s vote would require the approval of next year’s General Assembly as well as votes by the church’s regional presbyteries to become law. The process is complicated, and is expected to take at least two years.
Monday’s decision came after a lengthy debate on the issue, which has divided the church of about 400,000 members for years. Two congregations have split from the church over the issue.
“This was a major breakthrough for the church but we are conscious that some people remain pained, anxious, worried and hurt,” said Lorna Hood, the assembly’s moderator. “We continue to pray for the peace and unity of the church.”
Albert Bogle, who proposed the motion, said it was a compromise to move the debate between the traditionalists and revisionists forward.
“My motion is to be permissive and to allow those who want to do this to do it. But I want to affirm the position of the Church of Scotland in the historic tradition of the church,” he said. “It will give everyone what they want but it will keep us together.”
The General Assembly, held each May, consists of about 700 members and decides church policy.
from The Associated Press
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Chely Wright

Country singer Chely Wright and her wife Lauren Blitzer Wright have two new additions to their family: The couple welcomed identical twins on Saturday.
The singer, 42, gave birth to their baby boys in New York City, her rep told People.
The Wrights named the boys George Samuel and Everett Joseph after their great-grandfathers. The duo was due this summer but were born a little early and are said to be “thriving,” the mag said.
“We are grateful for all the amazing medical care and the love and support of family and friends,” Wright said.
She and Blitzer, 31, a music exec, married in Connecticut in August 2011, announced the pregnancy in January 2013, and revealed the sex of their twins last March.
In April, the singer had to cancel a show because she believed she was in pre-term labor and was ordered by doctors to rest at home and stop traveling.
Wright burst on the country music scene in 1994, was named top new female vocalist by the Academy of Country Music in 1995 and made it big with hits including “Shut Up and Drive” and “Single White Female.” In 2010, she was the first commercial country music singer to come out as gay and later allowed herself to be the subject of a 2011 documentary of her life called “Wish Me Away,” in which she said she didn’t get much support when she announced her sexual orientation.
“Country music would rather an artist be a drunk — they even encourage and endorse that one,” Wright told The Times. “You get good money from Jim Beam to put that emblem on the side of your bus. I was on the Crown Royal tour, and I have to say it was one of my favorite tours. They would rather you were a drug addict than be gay. They will forgive you if you beat your wife, lose your kids to state, get six divorces, make a sex tape, get labeled as a tramp — any and all of it is better than being gay.”
“On a human level,” she added later. “I wonder why they can’t see the value that I told my biggest secret — particularly when you think it might get you excommunicated from your house of worship, your social circles and your industry.”
from The Los Angeles Times
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Sally Ride

President Barack Obama will bestow the Medal of Freedom posthumously on Sally Ride, the first American woman to fly in space.
Obama says Ride was a role model to young women and showed that achievement has no limits. He says Ride advocated for innovation in science, engineering and math.
Ride rode on the space shuttle Challenger on June 18, 1983. She died in July 2012 at 61 after a long battle with pancreatic cancer.
Ride broke another barrier by disclosing that she was gay at the end of an obituary she co-wrote with her same-sex partner before her death. The White House says Ride’s partner was notified last week of the award along with her mother and sister.
The award will be presented later this year.
from The Associated Press
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Herndon Graddick

One of the nation’s largest and most known LGBT advocacy organizations is now searching for a new leader. GLAAD released a news release on Friday detailing the resignation of President Herndon Graddick who took over as president just 13 months ago. Herndon’s sudden resignation comes as a surprise to many in the LGBT community.
Under Graddick, GLAAD continued to become a major force as an advocate for LGBT issues both within communities and in the media. Some of those issues are the continual fight against the Boy Scouts of America with a primary focus on ending their ban on gay scouts and scout leaders and their strong, vocal leadership in the push for marriage equality throughout the country.
Without Graddick, GLAAD Board of Directors Chair Thom Reilly promises a continuance of the organization’s commitment in its fight for equality and wishes Herndon great success in his future endeavors.
“GLAAD is very grateful for Herndon’s work championing LGBT rights, especially his work on behalf of the trans community. On behalf of the entire organization, I want to wish him the best.”
Graddick took a leave of absence prior to the announcement and seems to be focused on returning to a more private life. He is grateful for the leadership experience he has gained with GLAAD and feels he is leaving it a stronger organization.
“I’m proud to leave GLAAD with a stronger, more efficient organization and an incredibly talented and experienced Board and staff. I’m happy the role I was able to play in advancing the need for our community to fully support the right of our transgender brothers and sisters.”
GLAAD’s Chief of Staff Dave Montez is now serving as Acting President and the GLAAD Board of Directors will schedule a meeting later this month to determine their next steps in finding a replacement for Graddick.
from The Examiner
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GLAAD Elects New President

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Brittney Griner

Former Baylor star Brittney Griner said Sunday that her coach at Baylor, Kim Mulkey, asked her to not be publicly open about being gay out of fear it would hurt recruiting.
“It was a recruiting thing,” Griner told espnW.com. “The coaches thought that if it seemed like they condoned it, people wouldn’t let their kids come play for Baylor.
Not discussing one’s sexuality “was more of a unwritten law,” she said. “It was just kind of, like, one of those things, you know, just don’t do it. They kind of tried to make it, like, ‘Why put your business out on the street like that?’ ”
Griner came out as gay last month, before being chosen by the Phoenix Mercury with the No. 1 overall pick of the WNBA draft.
Mulkey declined to comment on Griner’s statement. “Brittney Griner represented Baylor University proudly on and off the basketball court, and she leaves behind an incredible legacy,” the coach said in a statement issued by Baylor. “I cannot comment on personal matters surrounding any of our student-athletes, but I can tell you Brittney will always be a celebrated member of the Baylor family.”
from The Los Angeles Times

Elliot Morales

The homophobe accused of shooting a gay man to death in the West Village laughed in hideous glee as he confessed, a prosecutor told a judge said Sunday.
Elliot Morales was hauled before a judge and charged with killing Mark Carson with a point-blank head shot from a .38-caliber revolver following a barrage of anti-gay taunts shortly before midnight on Friday.
Morales, 33, got only a few blocks away from where Carson fell on W. 8th St. near Sixth Ave. when police collared him. As he was being restrained on a sidewalk, he laughed and boasted: “I shot him in the face.”
Morales, who had been staying recently with friends in the Rockaways, was ordered held without bail. He was charged with second-degree murder as a hate crime and other counts.
“It’s clear that the victim here was killed only because and just because he was thought to be gay,” NYPD Commissioner Raymond Kelly said. The commissioner added that Carson in no way antagonized his killer.
Carson had recently moved to Brooklyn from upper Manhattan and was working at a yogurt shop, a member of his heartbroken family said.
“He was a courageous person,” Carson’s brother, Michael Bumpars, told The News on Saturday. “My brother was a beautiful person.”
Morales had spotted Carson, 32, dressed in a tank top, cut-off shorts and boots, walking with a friend not far from where he would soon be shot.
“Look at you faggots,” Morales said, according to prosecutors. “You look like gay wrestlers.”
Two pals who were with Morales Friday have been questioned by authorities and released, officials said Sunday.
“They’re cooperating and telling investigators what they know,” Kelly said Sunday.
Investigators have confiscated a rifle Morales brought to the Queens home where he was staying.
There have been about 22 anti-gay incidents this year, cops said, compared to 13 for the same period last year.
Kelly said that he is meeting with police brass to discuss ways they to combat the spike.
from The  New York Daily News

Chris Kluwe

The Vikings released punter Chris Kluwe on Monday, bringing an end to his colorful and outspoken eight-year stay in Minnesota.
Kluwe announced the news on Twitter shortly after meeting with Vikings GM Rick Spielman, a move that had been expected ever since the team spent a fifth-round draft pick on punter Jeff Locke at the end of last month.
“Thank you to all the fans, my teammates, and the Wilf family for the past 8.5 years,” Kluwe tweeted. “I wouldn’t have traded it for anything.”
The 31-year-old Kluwe averaged 44.4 yards per punt over his career in Minnesota, including a career-high 39.7 yard net average last season. But he ranked just 17th in the NFL in punting and was due to make $1.45 million this season, making him a prime target to be cut.
During his time with the Vikings, Kluwe earned a reputation as one of the most opinionated players in the league. He criticized union leadership during the lockout, wore a patch on his uniform to protest the lack of punters in the Hall of Fame and, most notably, became a vocal supporter of gay rights, penning a number of thoughtful, and occasionally profane, columns on the issue for various websites. He also plays in a rock band in his spare time and is an avid video gamer.
“And thank you everyone for your support,” Kluwe tweeted. “Remember, one label does not define who you are as a person.”
Kluwe’s release means the league’s two most vocal advocates for gay rights are now out of work. Linebacker Brendon Ayanbadejo was cut by Baltimore in April.
Vikings special teams coordinator Mike Priefer made it clear later last season that Kluwe’s headline-grabbing nature was wearing thin with him. When Kluwe was fined more than $5,000 for putting a “Vote Ray Guy” over a patch on his jersey commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Pro Football Hall of Fame in December, Priefer voiced his displeasure.
“Those distractions are getting old for me, to be quite honest with you,” Priefer said. “Do I think Ray Guy deserves to be in the Hall of Fame? Absolutely. But there’s other ways of going about doing it, in my opinion.”
When the Vikings drafted Locke, Spielman was asked if Kluwe’s outspoken nature would factor at all into the decision to keep him or cut him.
“I have no issues if Chris Kluwe wants to express his opinion,” Spielman said then. “That’s his right. That’s his freedom of speech. This is just a football decision to bring in a guy and come in and compete.”
In the end, Kluwe didn’t get much of a chance to compete. Locke attended the team’s first rookie camp over the weekend, and Kluwe was out a few days later. It was a move similar to last season when the Vikings drafted kicker Blair Walsh in the sixth round and quickly released the more experienced, and more expensive, Ryan Longwell.
Also factoring into the decision is the Vikings will be playing their final season in the Metrodome before moving outdoors to the University of Minnesota’s TCF Bank stadium while their new stadium is built. Kluwe seemed to have a more difficult time punting outdoors and the Vikings hope the move to the younger Locke will help them in that area.
from The Associated Press
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