THEGAYUK

Tag: USA

  • 50 People Stood By And Watched Anti-Gay Attack in NYC

    New York gay couple attacked in front of 50 people and nobody intervened.

    A gay couple who were celebrating their 10 year anniversary in New York were attacked in front of 50 people and not one person intervened.

    J.P. Masterson and Peter Moore were set upon by a man who hurled anti-gay abuse at them before punching Masterson in his face.

    Masterson said to the CBS:

    ‘I couldn’t believe that in this day and age in the Village, which is where I came out and where I felt most accepted, now I have to be on edge.’

    Masterson was treated at the Lenox Hill Hospital. He suffered a broken nose, a fractured orbital bone and a cut above the eye that required stitches.

    The New York Police Dept. has released a sketch of the man the couple say attacked them.

    According to the New York Times 50 New Yorkers stood by as Masterson was beaten.

    “Police describe the suspect as a white male, 5 feet 8 inches tall, weighs around 170 pounds and is in his late 20s. He may also have a thick Polish accent,” NJ.com reports

    Anyone with information should call Crime Stoppers on 800-577-TIPS, visit NYCCrimestoppers, or text tips to 274637 (CRIMES) then enter TIP577.

  • OPINION | Arizona – The Pink Dollar Wins?

    I’ve watched in total bewilderment as the recent situation in Arizona unfolded. In the past few weeks, we’ve some draconian measures come into force in terms of gay rights and archaic laws adopted in countries around the world but also some breaking down of barriers as gay marriage is accepted in others.

    We seem to win some ground in some parts of the world, and lose it in others – but the recent registration in Arizona beggars belief.
    Let me give you a layman’s view of this legislation:

    Senate bill 1062 was passed by the Republican controlled Arizona legislature last week and would have given Arizona business owners with “sincerely held” religious beliefs the legal right to refuse service to anyone if it would conflict with those beliefs.

    Thats it in a nutshell – it gives a business downer carte blanche to refuse service to anyone the owner believes to contravene their ‘sincere’ religious views. The widely held view is that this is aimed at gays and lesbians and the whole marriage question. Cake shops can refuse to deal with the LGBT community on religious grounds, not personal feelings – but who can differentiate between the two? And how do you prove this?

    This comes hot on the heels of several high profile law suits in America when services were refused to LGBT couples wishing to purchase goods or services, based mainly on the business owners religious beliefs.

    With the new and growing area of LGBT marriage, some businesses are embracing it, as it is a money-spinner in these tough economic times – others seem happy to turn away the business.

    Now, once this bill had been passed, and highly advertised through social media with everyone and his tanning salon having an opinion (and quite rightly), we then come to the next amazing turn of events. I swear to god (pun intended) if this turns out to be an ad campaign for Arizona Tourism, it should win awards.

    My favourite piece on Facebook this week about this actually quotes one Arizonan as saying that they hadn’t realised that “gays spent money” and the whole issue of it being bad for business hadn’t occurred to them. They actually went on to blame the “gays” for this as we (the gays) should have brought it to their attention before they agreed the legislation!

    In what must be a most embarrassing turn of events, the governor for Arizona, a seemingly sensible woman named Jan Brewer has vetoed this bill. The state senators even came out (pardon the pun) against it, stating it would be catastrophic for the state in terms of business, commerce and tourism.

    Even big business came out (yes, I did do it again!) against it, with Apple, American Airlines and Marriott trying to tell the state what a mistake it was making! The NFL was said to be investigating shifting the agreed Superbowl away from the state as it feared a backlash.

    Even Obama’s regime waded in, stating it trusted in the integrity of the state governor – but also doubted the ability of the bill to hold up in the supreme court!

    On behalf of my fellow gays, I apologise for not making the entire state of Arizona aware that we have money and like to spend it. Please be aware that our pink pounds, dollars, euros do actually get used to buy products and services – but not in places that feel they have the right to judge us for what we are. We vote with our very well shod feet honey and go where we are welcomed!

    I feel 2014 is going to be an interested and challenging year for human rights everywhere – watch this space!

     

    Opinions expressed in this article may not reflect those of THEGAYUK, it’s management or editorial teams. If you’d like to comment or write a comment, opinion or blog piece, please click here.

  • HIV returns to bone marrow transplant “cured” men

    There’s been a setback in the fight against HIV today as two men who were previously “cured” of the virus after a Bone Marrow Transplant have had to go back on to their medications.

    In July we reported that two men in the US had been effectively ‘cured’ of HIV after the pair had a bone marrow transplant, which seemingly cleared the virus from their bodies.

    Previously Doctors at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, had cautiously announced that two men, who had a long history with HIV were effectively ‘cured’ of the virus. However today The Boston Globe reported that the two men had both tested positive for HIV again.

    The unnamed patients both had bone marrow transplants – and were asked to come off their medications to work out whether it had been the transplant or the medications that had kept their virus at undetectable levels.

    Read more at The Boston Globe

  • Chris Brown arrested

    Chris Brown allegedly punches and hurls a gay slur at man in Washington DC.

    The singer Chris Brown has been arrested, after a man was punched in the face in an attacked that the victim is calling ‘homophobic’.

    Entertainment website TMZ reports that both Brown and a bodyguard were arrested and charged with assault.

    The alleged incident happened outside the W hotel in Washington DC as Brown was having his picture taken with two women, when two men tried to get in on the act.

    The victim reports that Brown said:

    ‘I’m not into this gay sh*t, I’m into boxing,’

    Brown then apparently punched the man in the face who was taken to hospital for his injuries that included a broken nose, which he may need surgery for.

    TMZ reports that the alleged victim didn’t understand why Brown was ‘so homophobic’. The unnamed man has already hired a lawyer.

    The singer’s team has denied the allegations, suggesting that the man was trying to board Brown’s bus and that the singer was trying to stop him.

    In a ‘worst case scenario’ TMZ reports that because Brown is still on probation for beating Rhianna in 2009, this latest incident could see him behind bars for up to 4 years for ‘violating his probation’

  • Heartbreaking Video About Unmarried Gay Couple Made Into Feature Film

    Four million YouTube views later, Shane Bitney Crone’s emotional story about his partner Tom Bridegroom is made into a film, called Bridegroom.

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  • Texan Gay Man Badly Beaten After App Hook Up

    A 24 year-old man from Springtown, Texas has ended up in hospital after a hook up on the MeetMe app went terribly wrong.

    Arron Keahey was beaten and brutalised by an 18-year-old suspect, after meeting up with him an hour after the two men struck up conversation on the MeetMe app.

    Keahey said to ABC News8 reporter Steve Stoler that he was ‘ambushed almost immediately’ after his arrival at the 18-year-old’s address saying,

    ‘He started getting all frustrated and talking all angrily,” Keahey said. “I don’t remember anything after that.’

    Police in North Texas are currently investigating the attack after Brice Johnson called 911 to say that he had ‘found Keahey outside his house in the trunk of a car.’

    The police later arrested and charged Johnson with aggravated assault, causing serious bodily injury and are treating it as a ‘possible hate crime,’ however as the victim doesn’t remember the attack and Johnson is also saying that he remembers very little about the incident.

    Keahey has broken facial bones, nerve damage and has lost some teeth. He will require corrective cosmetic surgery for his injuries.

     

    A spokesperson for the MeetMe app has said,

    ‘Safety is MeetMe’s top priority. To ensure that our 1 million daily users have a safe and enjoyable experience online, we employ a variety of human and technological filters that include real-time review of every image posted to the site and a zero-tolerance policy for interactions that violate our terms of service.

    ‘As this tragic incident illustrates, offline meetings can carry significant risk – which is why MeetMe prominently displays safety messages to every user of our mobile apps and logged-in users of our website see reminders at the bottom every screen about the dangers of meeting people they don’t know.

    ‘In addition, MeetMe created and operates the website www.socialsafety.org as a resource to help users and their families stay safe online and links to it from throughout MeetMe’s website and app.’

     

    To watch the news report click here.

  • Stephen Crohn Who Helped With AIDS Study Dies At 66.

    The man who’s natural resistance to AIDS helped further the study of the disease has died aged 66.

    Stephen Crohn has died aged 66 in New York City, the cause is being reported as suicide by his sister Amy Crohn Santagata who confirmed that he died on the 23rd August.

    In 1978 his boyfriend Jerry Greenwood was dying of a disease which hadn’t yet been named – and would eventually be one of the first gay men in the US to die of what would be later be named as AIDS.

    Mr. Crohn watched as dozens of his friends succumbed to this new disease which ravaged the gay community in the late 70s and well into the 80s. Yet, Mr. Crohn said that he had been as sexually active as his friends and had taken no special precautions.

    However, Mr. Crohn had a natural resistance to the disease and this led to deeper comprehension and learning about HIV – the virus which causes AIDS.

    He worked throughout his life to help doctors and scientists understand the virus and disease better.

    His resistance to AIDS made him somewhat of a celebrity, with the Independent naming him “The Man Who Can’t Catch AIDS” in an article in March 1996. His story was told in documentaries and interviews around the world.

    He was a freelance editor for Fodor’s Travel and an artist.

    Speaking to the New York Times Ms. Santagata said,

    “My brother saw all his friends around him dying, and he didn’t die,

    “He went through a tremendous amount of survivor guilt about that and said to himself, ‘There’s got to be a reason.’

    “He was quite extraordinary, and then also quite ordinary,” she said.

    To read more about Stephen Crohn life click here

  • Vigil for murder victims link Liverpool and New York

    Friday 2nd August marks the fifth anniversary of Michael Causer’s death. Friends and family will gather for a vigil which will live link Liverpool with New York.

    Five years ago, Michael Causer, 18 was brutally attacked at a house party and never recovered from his injuries. A judge ruled the assault was not homophobic, but it had been investigated by police as a hate crime and his family believe Michael died because of his sexuality.

    As well as remembering Michael, the vigil will also honour Liverpool teenager Anthony Walker, who was murdered in a racist attack in Huyton in 2005; Sophie Lancaster, who was murdered in Bacup, Lancashire, in 2007 for the way she looked; and Ali Forney, who was murdered in New York in 1997.

    At the vigil, everybody will be invited to write a private, personal pledge to be a friend – not only to people they know, but to others, including those who may be considered ‘different’ because of race, gender, sexuality or membership of an alternative culture.

    Friday’s event – Lean On Me: The 5th Anniversary Vigil for Michael Causer – will see the foundation join forces with three other charities to highlight prejudice and hatred, and encourage people to play their part in preventing and tackling it.

    Liverpool Lord Mayor Gary Millar and friends of Michael, Sophie and Anthony are due to speak at the vigil. Organisers are also due to link live via Skype to the Ali Forney Centre in New York, which provides housing for LGBT young people in Ali’s memory.

    The vigil takes place at 6pm in Temple Square, Temple Street, in the heart of Liverpool’s Stanley Street Quarter.

    It has been organised by the Michael Causer Foundation, in partnership with the Ali Forney Centre, The Anthony Walker Foundation and The Sophie Lancaster Foundation.

    Gerry Proctor, chair of trustees at the Michael Causer Foundation, said: “Michael, like Anthony, Sophie and Ali, was a young person with his whole life ahead of him who was denied the chance to reach the great potential that he had.

    “While much progress is being made, people continue to be victimised, attacked and killed because of who they are. We want this to stop. We believe that friendship is key – supporting our friends but also offering friendship, support and tolerance to people we don’t know.

    “We are very pleased to be working with our partners to take a stand and we look forward to welcoming anybody who would like to join us at the vigil.”

  • Two Men ‘Free Of HIV’ After Bone-Marrow Transplant

    Two men in the US have been taken off their HIV medication after bone-marrow transplants seemingly clears the virus from their bodies.

    Doctors at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, have cautiously announced that two men who were infected with HIV have been cleared of the virus for months.

    One of the patients has spent nearly four months off his anti-retroviral drugs – with no signs that the infection is returning. The other man stopped taking his medication 7 weeks ago.

    The two men, who have not been identified, have been living with the virus for 30 years.

    Speaking to the BBC Dr Timothy Henrich said,

    “We have not demonstrated cure, we’re going to need longer follow-up.

    “What we can say is if the virus does stay away for a year or even two years after we stopped the treatment, that the chances of the virus rebounding are going to be extremely low.

    “It’s much too early at this point to use the C-word [cure].”

    He continued in saying that even the virus seemed to have disappeared it could still be hiding inside ‘brain tissue or the gastrointestinal track.”

    Dr Michael Brady, Medical Director at Terrence Higgins Trust, said: “It is too early to know whether HIV has been eradicated from these men’s bodies or whether it might return. However, the case suggests that what happened to Timothy Ray Brown, the Berlin Patient was perhaps not a one-off.
    “A bone marrow transplant is a complex and expensive procedure, which comes with significant risks. For most people with HIV, it would be more dangerous to undergo a transplant than to continue managing the virus with daily medication. While this is by no means a workable cure, it does give researchers another sign-post in the direction of one. Until a cure is found, we urge people to continue using condoms and testing for HIV if they’ve put themselves at risk.”

  • Tensions Rise In The New York Gay Community After Alleged Attack On Subway

    Following the Supreme Court’s ruling on DOMA in the United States, the gay community in New York City were celebrating gay pride, when this alleged attack happened on a Subway.

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  • Delaware Becomes 11th State To Legalise Gay Marriage

    Eleven states of fifty in the US now recognise same sex marriages, after Delaware’s state Senate approved the gay marriage bill 12-9 after a 3 hour debate.

    Just a week after Rhode Island passed a law recognising same sex marriage, Delaware has become the 11th state in the US to legally recognise gay marriage.

    However the bill, which comes into force on the 1st July, doesn’t offer same-sex couples any more rights or laws than they already have under civil unions.

    The state began recognising same-sex civil unions just under a year ago, the new bill is more of a symbolic win for the state’s many lesbian and gay people.

    The new law doesn’t force religious establishments to perform same-sex marriages that conflict with their beliefs, but under an existing law enforced in Delaware is a ban on business owners discriminating based on sexual orientation.

    According to The Republic.com Minnesota is next on the list of states to legalise gay marriage, the mid west state, is poised to make the new law, after a Democratic speaker of the state house said, ‘that a gay marriage bill endorsed by the governor and likely to pass in the state Senate also now has enough backing in his chamber. The House will vote on the measure Thursday, and if it passes, the Democratic-led Senate could vote on it as soon as Saturday.’