In an op-ed piece in today’s Columbia City Paper, closeted South Carolina politicians rank #4 on “JC’s Table-Turnin’ Godly Vengeance and Furious Anger Top Ten List.” Read More.
Dino Boffo, the longtime editor of the official daily newspaper of Vatican bishops, Avvenire, has resigned following accusations of homosexuality published in Il Giornale, the Italian newspaper owned by Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. Boffo denies the charges, accusing Il Giornale of a “gay smear campaign.” Boffo, one of the leading Catholic opinion makers, was accused of hypocrisy for criticizing Berlusconi’s private life while hiding his own. The incident is the latest skirmish in the war of words between the Catholic Church and the flamboyant Berlusconi.
Avvenire has published articles critical of Berlusconi’s private life, following allegations of extramarital affairs with young women. Berlusconi’s wife Veronica Lario announced she was divorcing him after he attended the 18th birthday party of Naples lingerie model, Noemi Letizia. Paparazzi photos taken at Berlusconi’s Sardinian villa featured him cavorting with scantily-clad women enjoying lesbian cuddles and kisses. Sardinian police are reportedly investigating whether women had been paid to attend parties at the premier’s official residences in Rome and Sardinia and that high-class prostitute Patrizia D’Addario had spent the night with him in November last year.
Berlusconi, 72, has denied “improper relations” and claims Church officials “have been taken in by left-wing lies. Many Italians would like to be like me. They are not stupid, and that’s why they vote for me and my government.”
In 2004, Boffo accepted a plea bargain and paid a fine, following charges of harassing a woman. Il Giornale claimed Boffo had been in a homosexual relationship with the woman’s male partner at the time. Boffo claims someone else was bothering the woman using his cell phone. Prosecutors found Boffo’s claim to be not credible.
Dino Boffo
Television guru Swami Baba Ramdev and one of his followers have filed a petition against the recent ruling of the Delhi High Court which voided the colonial-era laws forbidding homosexual conduct in India. Ramdev says legalizing homosexuality will have a catastrohic effect on the moral fabric of Indian society. “What consequences are you talking about,” the judges inquired. The petitioning lawyers replied “there is a likelihood of destruction of matrimonial household.” Another lawyer, representing the Christian Apostolic Churches Alliance, claimed the verdict legalizing homosexuality will lead to brothels for male prostitution and “gay parlours.” The judges submitted a request to the government to respond to the petitions.
Swami Baba Ramdev
Gay rights have been the hot-button issue in India over the past few weeks, since the Delhi High Court threw out the colonial era laws banning homosexuality. Celebrities, including long-time gay rights activist Celina Jaitley have voiced support for the court ruling.
Recently popular television personality Swami Baba Ramdev jumped into the fray claiming that yoga practice could cure homosexuality. Ramdev has made similar claims in the past regarding cures for AIDS, cancer, and other diseases. The yoga maestro said,“We invite all the gay people to come to our ashram in a group of 10 to 50 for nine months and like a mother we will deliver them like new born babies devoid of homosexuality with the practice of dhyan and pranayam. We have cured many people who had come to us and now they are happily married.” Ramdev claims homosexuality is a western contamination of Indian culture, but the opposite is true as the laws banning homosexuality were introduced by the British as part of colonial rule.
Jaitley responded, calling Ramdev’s claims, “Ridiculous. With all due respects to Baba Ramdev he may have the so called ‘cure’ but the point is LGBT community does NOT see homosexuality as a disease. No one is interested in buying this over-the-counter prescription for curing what is not a disease at all . It is who they are. They are not interfering in anyone’s life or religion but unfortunately everyone wants to interfere in theirs and tell them how they should eat, sleep and have sex.”
Gay Indian Prince Mavendra Gohil has challenged Ramdev to cure him, stating “I have been doing yoga for the last 10 years, but I haven’t turned straight. The only thing yoga has given me is that it has made me healthier and more confident.” Referring to self-proclaimed doctors like Ramdev, Gohil said, “They should stop making such baseless claims. Such absurd claims do a disservice to society.”
The 44-year-old prince made headlines a couple years ago when he came out and was disowned by his royal family. He has since become a leading gay rights activist.
Prince Mavendra Singh Gohil
Swami Baba Ramdev
The Salt Lake Tribune has obtained surveillance tape showing LDS security guards confronting, separating and detaining the gay couple caught kissing on Mormon-owned property. On July 9, Derek Jones and Matt Auna were in Main Street Plaza, which they thought was a public area, when they exchanged a hug and a kiss.
The tape shows four bulky black-suited men forming a semi-circle around the two young men while engaging them in an apparently heated conversation. One of the men in black approaches one of the young men, pointing his finger and apparently reaching to touch him, provoking the young man to push back. The others move in to separate the couple and a struggle ensues. The incident sparked “kiss-ins” in Salt Lake and other cities in the US.
The Salt Lake prosecutor has refused to pursue charges against the couple, on the grounds that they believed they were on public property and that guards had no right to eject them. The plaza was formerly public property, purchased by the church in 1999, but there are no signs that indicate it’s now private property and signs of affection are prohibited. State law requires the property owner to let the public know what rules to follow.
Main Street Plaza has reportedly been the scene of all kinds of heterosexual kissing in the past, including wedding celebrations, but the gay smooch set off the alarms in LDS security central.
The Daily Mail is speculating that John Travolta may be thinking about leaving the Church of Scientology, after being one of its most prominent supporters for over 30 years. A number of incidents have reportedly shaken his faith in the cult, particularly the tragic death of his son Jett following a seizure last year. Scientology claims to provide the cure for almost all types of health problems and Travolta may feel they let him down over treatment of his son.
Travolta’s sexuality has also created tensions between him and church leaders at times. In 1991, Time magazine reported that Richard Aznaran, former security chief for the cult, claimed church leader David Miscavige made running jokes about Travolta’s gay sex life. Part of Scientology practice is for members to undergo hours of counseling, called auditing, in which they recount intimate personal details of their lives, which are carefully recorded. The potential for blackmail has often been cited as a reason why high-profile members rarely make public any disputes with the church.
Evidence of the split is found in Travolta’s deposition about Jett’s death, in which he acknowledges his son was autistic. The Church does not acknowledge psychiatric conditions such as autism, and strongly discourages conventional treatments such as drugs and therapy. Church members believe all illness has its basis in toxins or spiritual defects that can be treated with vitamins and auditing. Prior to Jett’s death, his mother Kelly Preston had described his condition as being a rare syndrome, Kawasaki disease, that she believed had been caused by carpet cleaning chemicals. Read more
As the Gallery of Modern Art in Glasgow planned an exhibition exploring faith and sexuality, they decided to invite religious organizations representing the LGBT community to contribute concepts. Members of The Metropolitan Community Church, Quest, Al Jannah Muslim Group and individuals from a range of faiths responded, and the result is Made in God’s Image, which opened June 25. It’s part of the sh(Out) programme developed by GOMA to promote LGBT rights. Artists Anthony Schrag and David Malone were asked to help bring the resulting ideas into fruition. Almost all of the contributing artists are out gay.
One of the exhibits, the brainchild of Reverend Jane Clarke of MCC, has already worked up a heated reaction from members of mainstream religious organizations including the Church of Scotland and the Roman Catholic church. Untitled 2009 consists of an oversized Bible, an assortment of writing utensils, and an invitation to creativity. “If you feel you have been excluded from the Bible, please write your way back into it.” Clarke’s idea was that people might write their names in the margins, to indicate their feeling of marginalization. Gallery visitors responded enthusiastically.
To some, the impulse to go further was irresistible. The Times, with uncharacteristic sensationalism, screamed, “Gallery’s invitation to deface the Bible brings obscene response.” The article repeats a few choice bits of supposed sacrilege such as “This is all sexist pish, so disregard it all.” and “I am Bi, Female & Proud. I want no god who is disappointed in this.” “Skywalker” has been added to the title of The Gospel of Luke.
Andrea Minichiello Williams, director of the Christian Legal Centre, focused her criticism on the metaphorical impact of the artwork: “This is symbolic of the state of our broken and lawless society.”
Clarke has distanced herself somewhat from the results, claiming “The Bible should never be used like that. It was our intention to reclaim it as a sacred text.” But she doesn’t regret it, because after all, “For many of the visitors to the Gallery this will be the first time in a long time that they have actually opened a Bible.”
Exhibit producers have been compelled to consider removing some of the more offensive pages of the Bible — I suppose they mean those with the most offensive graffiti on them. Please contact the Museum to let them know what you think.
Among the other works is a video by Roxanne Claxton featuring a young woman ripping pages out of the Bible and stuffing them in her underwear and in her mouth. As Schrag describes it, “Roxanne gave a performance where she ate a Bible and it became part of her.”
Made in God’s Image runs through August 22, and admission is free.
Untitled 2009
Anthony Schrag, photo by James Glossop for The Times
The “ex-gay” movement claims homosexuality can be cured, usually by religious means. One of their prominent spokesmen, Matthew C. Manning, is the co-founder, with his wife Christa, of Lighthouse World Evangelism, Inc. offering “counseling services” based in San Francisco. Manning first came to public notice when he spoke from the audience of the Roseanne show, claiming that God delivered him from homosexuality and healed him of HIV/AIDS to boot. He’s since made the rounds of religious television talk shows including The Joni Show and Pat Robertson’s 700 Club.
A recent report on Ex-Gay Watch, a site that monitors the ex-gay movement, documents several incidents that might indicate the ex-gay pastor is not so ex, including a 2005 arrest, charging that “he did willfullly and unlawfully touch an intimate part of JOHN DOE.” Manning pleaded “no contest” and was ordered to stay away from the victim (reportedly a straight 22-year-old man) and also to no longer frequent the 24 Hour Fitness center where the alleged incident occurred.
Things are heating up in the Church of Scotland. The Reverend Scott Rennie, openly gay, sparked protests after he was appointed minister at Queen’s Cross Church in Aberdeen. 400 other ministers signed a petition of protest and the Archbishop of Rochester, Michael Nazir-Ali, called on homosexuals to “repent and be changed.” Now the Very Reverend Kelvin Holdsworth, Rector and Provost of the Cathedral Church of St Mary the Virgin in Glasgow, has spoken publicly about being gay himself. In a lengthy interview with Scotland on Sunday Holdsworth responds to the archbishop, “I wish he wasn’t making the comments he makes and the only thing I can do is wish him a blessing of peace.”
Holdsworth says his fellow priests and his congregation have long known of his homosexuality, but have been supportive. And he says he’s not alone. “For all my time in the Church I have always known there were gay men, and more recently gay women, working in the priesthood. Anyone who knows the clergy of the Church, anyone who sits in the synod of the Church is sitting with gay people and has been doing so for a long time.”
The recent controversies compelled him to speak out to the public. Although he once opposed same-sex marriage, the forward-thinking clergyman now favors it even for two priests. “I don’t know how long it will take before clergy can have a same-sex marriage ceremony that is acknowledged by the whole church, but I do believe it is far more likely to happen in Scotland rather than England. I think in some ways Scotland is a more grown-up society than England.”
The Very Reverend Kelvin Holdsworth
Not that he would ever ask such a question, but it’s interesting to fantasize about isn’t it? In a thought-provoking article, pastor Ron Hamman redefines the meaning of homosexual, sodomy, nature, sin, know, perversion, violence, and acceptance. You be the judge. Read More
Queer of the Month | December 2009
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