Mountain Shopper in Southern Kentucky posts anti-gay article: The Fall of UK because of "homosexuals"

The Mountain Shopper, "The Leader for Buying, Selling and Trading; Community News, and Special Events" has been identified as the paper that published an anti-gay article, effectively blaming gay and lesbian people (or homosexuals as the articles refers to our community) as the reason the University of Kentucky has fallen in national rankings of the top schools.

The article sites many religious references as the reason for the "fall" of the University of Kentucky (UK).

Click here to view the article.

Earlier this month, the article drew criticism from Kentucky Equality Federation and Louisville's Fairness Campaign, especially for the articles religious references.

Kentucky Equality Federation reports that no one from the paper will return telephone calls, or respond to emails.

Do you have something you'd like to say to them?

Phone: (606) 495-1528
Email: themountainshopper@windstream.net

Please be sure to read the article first.

Online site refuses gay/lesbian screenplays.

An online site, "Write Like the Pros" lists homosexual screenplays as something they will not accept, and likens it to pornography, and "darkly sinister evil."

The site sells CD's, DVD's, and offers writing tips in addition to them reading your screenplay. They assist in character development, narration, and dialogue.

According to their site:

Submissions should follow normal script structure, using Microsoft Word (no Word Perfect) formatted in Palatino, Times, or Georgia text, black print, sentence case. Work must be e-mailed with the full name, address, and e-mail address of the author. SEND TO submissions@writelikethepros.com

However, they also list the following:

WE DO NOT ACCEPT
We will not accept, read, or report on any writing that involves pornographic material, lesbian-homosexual relationships, darkly sinsiter evil, horror, illicit sexual, or vulgar language manuscripts. If there is any question in your mind about your manuscript fitting into one of these categories, please do not send it to us. (source)

Wow. Our relationships are placed in the same category as pornography, darkly sinister evil (they misspelled the word sinister on their site), horror, illicit sexual, and so on.

Constitutionally, they may refuse anything they want, but this is ridiculous. They have closed themselves to a major market and shown their own homophobia.

We received this tip from a straight ally, who stated:

I am not reporting a personal discrimination. I am not actually gay myself - I have a wife. But I am a screenwriter. And I came across a group on the internet (you can view this webpage at: http://www.writelikethepros.com/screenplays.html who will not have anything to do with screenplays containing gay relationships if you read the very bottom of this webpage). They seem to give a lot do's and don't in terms of the rules of writing screenplays, but to include that they won't accept screenplays containing gay relationships is absolutely unacceptable in my opinion.

Thanks for the tip, and more importantly, thank you for being open minded and supporting LGBT people!

Are you in favor of amending the Constitution to remove language requiring that separate schools for "white" and "colored" children be maintained?

Did you just suffer from a time warp? Would it surprise you to learn that Kentucky citizens voted on that again in 1996?

Political elites were stunned when a third of those voting, and majorities in five counties, rejected the change. Poll result in McLean County, KY (they voted in favor of it)

The upcoming 2010 Kentucky Legislative Session gets closer everyday, and this is going to be a LONG session, so be prepared for anti-gay legislation to be filed, and be prepared to fight it. We've had so many hard fought battles over the past several years.

In 2006, conservative Senators in Kentucky filed legislation to "rein in the Kentucky Court of Justice" by limiting judicial review of legislative acts; conservatives wanted to limit the authority of Kentucky Courts in ruling something "unconstitutional." Senate Bill 236 (sponsored by 9 Senators) and stated:

- The judicial department shall not engage in judicial activism through court orders or the issuance of opinions which are intended to advance policy positions, the determinations on which properly belong to the other departments of government.

- The judicial department shall not declare any act of the General Assembly unconstitutional or void on the basis of the amount of funds provided for a particular program;

- The judicial department shall not construe any provision of this Constitution to permit a local government to grant civil rights entitlements to a class of persons unless authorized by the General Assembly; but courts shall recognize that if the General Assembly authorizes a local government to grant such entitlements to a class of persons based on other than race, color, religion, disability, familial status or national origin, birth, gender, or age, it shall only do so by enacting legislation which specifically identifies the allowable class of persons and entitlements which may be created and conferred.

- The judicial department shall not allow a challenge to the constitutionality, validity, or application of any act of the General Assembly. (source)

When you consider the Kentucky 2004 Constitutional Amendment banning same-sex marriage, the proposed laws and Constitutional Amendments listed above, is it any wonder why we turn to the Judiciary to protect us (the Kentucky Court of Justice, headed by the Chief Justice of the Kentucky Supreme Court, with subordinate courts such as Drug Court, District Court, Family Court, Circuit Court, and the Kentucky Court of Appeals)?

Obviously, the majority cannot always be trusted to make responsible, moral decisions which is why Kentucky has three (3) Government Branches: Executive, Legislative, and Judicial.

Millions of soldiers have died (and continue to die everyday) to protect the "idea" that is this Republic; however, so long as conservatives walk all over the Constitution and deny all of her citizens equality, those solders have died defending a dream, not a reality. But they also died defending our right to demand and fight for equality; allow this entry to be a thank you for their sacrifice and bravery.

Special thanks to the students at Eastern Kentucky University and the Univeristy of Kentucky for contributing to this post.

Several people shot at gay affirming church in Knoxville, Tennessee

Church services were disrupted Sunday at a gay-affirming church in Knoxville when a lone gunman opened fire killing at least one person, and wounded several more.

Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church, 2931 Kingston Pike, Knoxville, was the site of the vicious attack. It occurred while a group of children were singing for the congregation when the gunman opened fire. The children were staring in a production of "Annie" that was taking place as part of the normal Sunday service at the time of the shooting.

A member of the congregation wrote in a national blog that the church just recently put up a sign welcoming gays. One of the goals of the church's long range plan is to "Increase congregational participation in human rights programs for
gay/lesbian/transgendered persons."

Seven people have been injured. Two have died. Two were treated and released and five remain in critical or serious condition at UT Medical Center. Police found a multi-page, handwritten letter in the vehicle of the suspect.

The Associated Press has reported that Knoxville's police chief says the man accused of a shooting that killed two people at a Tennessee church targeted the congregation because of its liberal social stance. Chief Sterling Owen IV said Monday that police found a letter in Jim D. Adkisson's car. Owen said Adkisson was apparently frustrated over being out of work and had a "stated hatred of the liberal movement." The Knoxville News Sentinel reports that Chief Owen said the letter stated his "hatred of the liberal movement," Owen said. "Liberals in general, as well as gays."

Tuition dollars and drag queens

The title says it all.....you can imagine how this blog entry for the Family Foundation of Kentucky's Louisville Policy Analyst reads.

Though I have no idea what the salary of Mr. Brian Buford is (Director of the University of Louisville's for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) Services), a $67,207 annual salary will be the least of anyone's worries if something isn't done soon to raise the value of the U.S. Dollar (economy) and lower gas prices.

Love your neighbor as yourself. - Mark 12:31

That's my family value!

This blog provides a great counterpunch:

1. http://clamourunderbridge.typepad.com/clamour_underbridge/2008/06/moving-kentucky-forward.html

Minister found guilty in gay "therapy" case

Isn't this sick (and typical) of people who think homosexuality can be "cured."

A minister and former Christian college instructor has been found guilty of sexually assaulting a young man who sought counselling after he feared he was homosexual.

A jury returned with the guilty verdict early last night after only a few hours of deliberations. Terrance Lewis, 60, will be sentenced at a later date.

In earlier testimony, the alleged victim, now 29, told court he started meeting Lewis for counselling sessions in early 2000 after his parents caught him viewing gay pornography on the family computer.

Lewis — a family friend and minister — confided he had his own sexual identity issues and the two embarked on weekly counselling sessions designed to “assist me to be straight and to live a straight life,” the man said.

The man said Lewis started a program of “touch therapy,” which included the two kissing and fondling each other and engaging in sexual roleplaying.