PIERSON, FLORIDA – A Volusia County high school teacher accused of having a YouTube video titled “Gay Threesome Sex” appear on a projector in front of his class resigned this week rather than face termination.
Jose Rosario-Gonzalez, 53, a ninth-grade social studies teacher at T. Dewitt Taylor Middle-High School, which serves grades six to 12 in Pierson, resigned on Tuesday.
According to Volusia County Schools, Rosario-Gonzalez was informed on May 25 that allegations against him, if substantiated, would lead to a recommendation of his termination.  He chose to resign instead, school officials said. He was put on 3 days unpaid leave before he resigned.
According to officials, a student’s parent reported that Rosario-Gonzalez had his computer hooked up to a projector in his classroom, and, after he accessed YouTube, the title of the sex video appeared.
Rosario-Gonzalez, who has taught for 12 years, did not deny the incident and said he “did this on his own time, in the privacy of his home and it was never his intention to show students,” according to school documents.
Several students made written statements confirming that the entire class saw the title of the sex video.
“Mr. Rosario was on YouTube, he scrolled through his videos and there was history videos except for one,” a student wrote.  “This was one was titled ‘Gay Threesome Sex.’  The whole class was saying ‘eww’ and ‘What is that doing on there?’ and he just kept scrolling and didn’t say anything.”
School officials said there were several files on Rosario-Gonzalez’s computer classified as homosexual pornography.
Rosario-Gonzalez received an overall “satisfactory” evaluation in 2009 and 2010, according to school documents.  His evaluation for 2011 was redacted for confidential reasons.
Local 6 went to Rosario-Gonzalez’s home, but he said didn’t want to comment on the incident. Local 6 looked into his teaching history in the 14 years in Pierson and found allegations of Rosario-Gonzalez being inappropriate with the students.
The first allegation was in May 2006 when he made improper comments to a student. Two years later, he was cautioned for straying away from teaching guidelines when he didn’t have a classroom plan in place for a substitute. The substitute was convinced by students to show an inappropriate video in class, according to records.
That same month, Rosario-Gonzalez was reprimanded for failing to accurately calculate the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test time cutting 20 minutes out for students.
More recently, reports in October 2011 Rosario-Gonzalez received another letter of reprimand for posting a link to his inappropriate and sexual blog, directing students to go there for class notes and tests.
from WTSP TV
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Charlie Crist

TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA – 10 News has learned of allegations of homosexual affairs, a governor trying to kiss another man, and drunken escapades by former Governor Charlie Crist.
These allegations come in the form of a Florida Department of Law Enforcement Investigative Report in the Republican Party Chair Jim Greer saga.
Jim Greer is facing criminal charges and is set to go to trial on July 30 for allegedly paying himself to raise money for the Republican Party of Florida. Greer maintains that former Governor Charlie Crist approved the deal.
Now, discovery documents released point to allegations that as Governor, Crist paid two men to leave the state to hide his homosexuality and that he was a drunk and a liar.
The allegations come from Damon Chase, Jim Greer’s attorney. Chase told John Morgan of Morgan and Morgan where Charlie Crist works, that if had to depose the former Governor, Crist would be embarrassed by the following issues:
- Charlie Crist is a homosexual and had homosexual relationships with at least two men who were paid to leave the state to avoid embarrassing then Governor Crist.
- Charlie Crist attempted to kiss Greer at a hotel in Beverly Hills, California.
- Governor Crist had drunken escapades and his security detail had to cover for him.
- Charlie Crist attempted to run over people while he was intoxicated and operating a golf cart.
Morgan responded saying that even if Crist was a homosexual, it had nothing to do with the case, and the allegations were just were just an attempt to embarrass Crist.
In addition, Morgan said if the former Governor were a homosexual he would have to be a ‘sick s.o.b. to try to kiss Porky the Pig’ which was a reference to Greer.
Morgan also said the allegations were similar to a cheap lawyer trick, asking when did you stop beating your wife or asking when was the last time he had sexual intercourse although he used a more crude term “with your neighbor’s sheep”.
Chase responded by saying that Crist is a liar and trying to make Greer the fall guy.
We tried to reach the former governor by cell and texted him to get a response and we have not heard back.
Greer is supposed to go to trial July 30 but many believe the Republican Party doesn’t want to happen because there could be many more embarrassing allegations mostly about lying and excessive spending by party leaders including house speaker Dean Cannon, Senate president Mike Haridopolos, State Senator John Thrasher, former Senator George LeMieux and U.S. Senate Marco Rubio.
from WTSP TV

WEST HOLLYWOOD – Much has changed in the three decades Lynn Walker has been coming to the annual L.A. Pride Parade.
Walker, 83, saw parades when there was no talk of gay marriage, a concept that was an impossible dream. He saw parades at the height of the AIDS epidemic, when it took perseverance to find any cause for celebration.
Despite the victories and the disappointments in the gay rights movement, the parade has always been, most of all, “a lot of fun” for Walker, who watched the 42nd annual parade in West Hollywood on Sunday with a smile.
Walker was one of thousands who lined Santa Monica Boulevard, cheering at rainbow-covered floats, female motorcyclists and cheerleaders in drag.
But amid struggles for gay marriage and non-discrimination in the workplace, and in the wake of a recent survey by the Human Rights Campaign showing lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender teenagers are less likely than straight peers to be happy, the fun was mixed with a dose of activism.
“This year, with all the anti-gay legislation that’s come out and the radical homophobic rhetoric, it is important to be vocal and visible and supportive” for the gay community, said Shayna Kessel, a 30-year-old West Hollywood resident watching the parade.
Down the street, a silent, masked person in a bridal gown held a sign reading, “Freedom and Equality 2012.”
Before the parade, Katy Butler, a 17-year-old lesbian activist who was bullied because of her sexual orientation, addressed a crowd from a podium draped with a rainbow flag.
“Now we have to take a stand as youth to come out because it’s our time,” she said. “To all the LGBTQ youth out there: Come out. Come out for your friends and your family and community because youth are so powerful.”
Chris Angel Murphy, a transgender 24-year-old, described his struggle for acceptance. There were no examples of transgender people in his school textbooks or on television, and he was depressed, he said.
“I want you to imagine for a moment that in second grade, I wanted to kill myself,” he said.
He made a plea for other transgender youth: “Just hang in there.”
Dozens of officers with the LAPD and L.A. County Sheriff’s Department marched near the front of the parade.
Most carried small rainbow flags in their pockets — a dramatic change since the first parade in 1970, which members of the Los Angeles Police Commission attempted to prevent, citing the potential for violent reaction from bystanders.
West Hollywood Councilman John Heilman, who is gay, said the parade is extremely important for the city and the gay community.
“Just being out there in the parade is an incredible act of coming out for people,” he said. “It’s inspiring to see a whole group of people, not just LGBT people but also allies, here in support of our community.”
Patrick Moore, an assistant dean of financial aid at USC, could hardly stop smiling as he straightened his red wig as the parade began.
Sunday marked his first L.A. Pride Parade as a member of the West Hollywood Cheerleaders, a group of male cheerleaders in drag that raises money for AIDS services and education. Moore, whose drag name is Hilda Climb, first saw the cheerleaders in the 1987 L.A. Pride parade.
“I’m 47 now, and I’m finally a cheerleader,” he said. “In this parade, you get to celebrate your diversity and express your uniqueness.”
from The Los Angeles Times

President Barack Obama

GAINESVILLE, FLORIDA – The Florida pastor who ignited an international furor by threatening to burn a pile of Korans has applied his subtle touch to the 2012 presidential campaign by constructing a gallows from which a likeness of President Barack Obama now hangs in effigy.
The display in the front yard of Terry Jones’s Dove World Outreach Center (DWOC) in Gainesville features a dummy wearing an Obama mask hanging from a yellow noose. Along with an American flag and a rainbow-striped gay pride flag, the scene includes an Uncle Sam dummy and a child’s doll hanging from the right hand of the Obama figure.
Nearby, the words “Obama is Killing America” are printed on a trailer. So, it appears, the creepy Jones is returning the favor.
Despite the small size of his following, Jones has had an outsized impact due to his inflammatory (and shameless) tactics, which included his 2010 threat to burn Korans on the anniversary of the September 11 terror attacks.
The DWOC has been criticized for cult-like rules detailed in an “Academy Rulebook” prepared by Jones’s wife. Fox example, prospective ministers were directed to cut off most contact with family members. “Family occasions like wedding, funerals or Birthdays are no exception to this rule,” students were warned. “No phone calls. Exceptions can be made under certain circumstances but only after receiving permission.”
from The Smoking Gun
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Becca Fernandez & Destinee Gates

SAN ANDREAS, CALIFORNIA – In a community known for its conservative values, the high school senior class chose the only openly-lesbian students as “cutest couple.”
Destinee Gates was as surprised as anybody that she and her girlfriend, Becca Fernandez, beat out at least three other couples vying for the honor at Calaveras High School.
“It’s a big deal because we’re from a really conservative county and it hasn’t happened before,” said Gates, 18.
The couple has been openly dating since freshman year without any major problems, but worried about a backlash when they were named cutest couple in the yearbook two weeks ago.
“We’ve been pretty well accepted,” said Fernandez, 19.  “I love this school,” Gates added.
Principal Ric Stitt said he understands why outsiders might be surprised by the senior vote, but said he’s found the community to be very tolerant.
“Calaveras County and a lot of our rural counties often get stereotyped as being unaccepting,” Stitt said.  “And I think that’s a false perception.”
Gates and Fernandez graduate tomorrow and both plan to attend Columbia College in Sonora in the fall.
from News 10