Malta’s prez opposes homophobia

Muslim team banned after refusing to play gay team

(Paris) A soccer club was permanently banned from the French amateur league on Wednesday after refusing to play a match against a gay team.

Last week, Paris Foot Gay said its members were victims of homophobia when Creteil Bebel, a team of Muslim players, refused to play them this month.

The French …

French gay soccer team snubbed by Muslim team

(Paris) A French gay soccer team says its members were victims of homophobia when a team of Muslim players refused to play a match against them.

The Paris Foot Gay team says Tuesday it received an e-mail from the Creteil Bebel club canceling a match scheduled for last Sunday.

“Because of the …

HBO RANKS HIGHEST IN THIRD ANNUAL “GLAAD NETWORK RESPONSIBILITY INDEX”

ABC Leads Broadcast Networks for Third Year in a Row; NBC and CBS Receive “Failing” Grades for Lack of Inclusion of the LGBT Community

Los Angeles, CA, July 27, 2009 – The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) today released its third annual Network Responsibility Index, a report that maps the quantity, quality and diversity of images of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people on television. Primetime programming on the five broadcast networks was evaluated as well as original primetime programming on 10 of the highest-rated cable networks.

HBO scored the highest rating of the 15 networks evaluated with LGBT characters on shows including True Blood, The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency and Entourage that reflect the ethnic and racial diversity of the LGBT community. Of HBO’s 14 original series, 10 included LGBT content and 42 percent of the network’s total programming hours included LGBT representation.

“This year programming was not only inclusive of LGBT people, but networks like HBO are beginning to reflect the broad diversity within our community,” said Rashad Robinson, Senior Director of Media Programs at GLAAD. “With upcoming fall programming and new storylines there is a tremendous opportunity for networks to share the stories of all members of our community including lesbian, bisexual and transgender people as well as LGBT people of color, all groups which continue to be underrepresented across all networks.”

GLAAD reviewed a total of 4,901 hours of primetime programming for inclusion of LGBT characters or issues on the five major networks (ABC, CBS, The CW, Fox and NBC) from June 1, 2008 to May 31, 2009. GLAAD also examined 1,212.5 hours of original primetime programming on 10 highly-rated cable networks. Each hour was reviewed for on-screen LGBT representations. Based on the quantity, overall quality and diversity of these representations, a rating was assigned by GLAAD’s Entertainment Media Program to each network: Excellent, Good, Adequate, or Failing.

Additional findings from the GLAAD Network Responsibility Index:

Good

- HBO and Showtime received grades of Good, with HBO leading with 42 percent of programming hours featuring LGBT representations.

- ABC, with shows including Brothers & Sisters, Grey’s Anatomy and Ugly Betty, again received the highest ranking of the five broadcast networks, earning a Good grade with 24 percent of their primetime programming hours including LGBT representations.

- The CW also received a grade of Good, with 20 percent of their primetime programming hours including LGBT representations.

Adequate

- While Fox received an Adequate, rising from last place and a Failing grade in 2008; 11 percent of its programming hours were LGBT-inclusive, yet some of those hours included problematic content.

- Among cable networks evaluated, TNT showed the largest growth, jumping from one percent of LGBT inclusive primetime programming hours last year to 19 percent. FX posted the sharpest decline, dropping 32 percent over the previous season. Both were graded

Failing

- NBC and CBS received Failing grades, for their 8 and 5 percent, respectively, of programming hours with LGBT images. CBS moved down from third place in last year’s GLAAD Network Responsibility Index to last among the five major broadcast networks.

- A&E, Sci Fi and TBS received grades of Failing.

“Television shows that weave our stories into the fabric of the series present richer, more accurate representations and are the kinds of images that help Americans understand and embrace their LGBT family members, friends and neighbors in a more meaningful way,” said Robinson.

The third annual GLAAD Network Responsibility Index was delivered to programming executives at the 15 graded networks, and GLAAD’s Entertainment Media Program will continue discussions with them to advocate for improvements in the quality, quantity and diversity of their LGBT representations.

The Executive Summary of the report can be viewed online at GLAAD.org. A PDF of the full report can also be downloaded at GLAAD.org.

The 14^th Annual GLAAD Where We Are On TV report on diversity will be issued in September 2009. This analysis will examine LGBT inclusion as well as the gender and race/ethnicity of all scripted characters scheduled to appear during the 2009-2010 season.

About GLAAD

The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) is dedicated to promoting and ensuring fair, accurate and inclusive representation of people and events in the media as a means of eliminating homophobia and discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation. For more information, please visit www.glaad.org.

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Daniel Radcliffe slams ’stupid’ homophobes

Daniel Radcliffe hates homophobia.

The ‘Harry Potter’ actor – who is dating actress Laura O’Toole – was raised to treat everyone equally and he thinks singling someone out because of their sexuality is wrong.

He said: “I just loathe homophobia. It’s just disgusting and animal and stupid and it’s just thick people who can’t get their heads around it and are just scared.

“I grew up around gay people entirely. I was the only child in my class who had any experience of homosexuality or anything like that.

“I hate any type of prejudice.”

The 20-year-old British star also spoke of his political beliefs and called on people to follow his decision to vote Liberal Democrat in the next election.

He added to Britain’s Attitude magazine: “At the next election I will almost certainly vote Liberal Democrat. See Daniel Radcliffe slams ’stupid’ homophobes

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In UK, New initiative launched to tackle homelessness among LGBT youth

Four leading LGBT charities have announced the launch of a new initiative to reduce homelessness among young LGBT people.

The initiative, known as ‘Jigsaw’, brings together the legal advisers Stonewall Housing, youth homelessness and support charity the Albert Kennedy Trust, the mental health organisation PACE and Galop, which supports victims of homophobic crime.

A joint statement from the groups said: “Despite the greater legal recognition of LGBT people, social acceptance is far from universal.

“Even in London today, many young LGBT people face rejection from their own family, persecution from their own communities, and even physical attack.

“Furthermore, most offenders of homophobic hate crime are aged between 16 and 20″.

Michael Nastari, the co-ordinator of Jigsaw, and a director of LGBT Youth Homelessness Prevention Network, commented: “The effects of homophobia and transphobia on young people’s lives can be devastating. As a result, they can fail to succeed in education, miss out on employment and training, and suffer a range of mental health issues.

See New initiative launched to tackle homelessness among LGBT youth

PinkNews.co.uk

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Rockstar announced tonight that The Ballad of Gay Tony will (ahem) come out on October 29 for 1600 Microsoft Points ($20). The 360-exclusive downloadable content for Grand Theft Auto 4 will put players in the role of Luis Lopez, underling to nightclub impresario Tony Prince (i.e. “Gay Tony”). This pack contrasts against the grittier The Lost and the Damned by showing night-life glamour rather than rough biker gangs. Rockstar will also release the previously announced “Episodes from Liberty City” retail disc on the same day. It will include both DLC packs on a disc for $39.99, and won’t require the original GTA4 disc to play. Finally, the company released a piece of promo artwork (above) available as a desktop background. Of course, it could always be Gay Tony himself, and Rockstar is further tweaking the absurd levels of homophobia among gamers.

See Rockstar Announces Ballad of Gay Tony to Hit October 29

1UP.com

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Football and art against homophobia T

The Justin Campaign will be making a stand against homophobia in football on Trafalgar Square’s fourth plinth this Wednesday the 22nd July 2009.

Over the summer, sculptor Antony Gormley has been inviting people to help create an astonishing living monument as part of his “One & Other” exhibition.

Every hour, 24 hours a day, for 100 days without a break, a different person will make the Plinth their own. And on Wednesday the plinth will be the Justin Campaign’s.

Campaign founder and Brighton-based artist Jason Hall will be donning the Justin Fashanu All-stars strip and creating a top-secret installation atop the plinth between 7:00 am and 8:00 am.

The campaign was founded in memory of Justin Fashanu, the first openly gay professional footballer, who committed suicide on 2nd May 1998.

The aim of the Justin Campaign is to demonstrate the prevalence of homophobia in football and show how damaging the consequences of this can be on a society that holds the sport in such high regard.

Through art, events, education and football the organisation hopes to persuade the football authorities in England to observe Saturday 2nd May 2009 as Justin Fashanu Day and more generally, want 2nd May to become the annual international day of protest against homophobia in sport.

Campaign Founder Jason Hall said: “I wanted to use my hour on the Plinth to highlight the fact that gay and bisexual men are equally passionate about both playing and supporting ‘the beautiful game’, whilst increasing awareness as to how absurd it is that there have been no other ‘out’ gay players since Justin Fashanu.”

Like Hall maintains, “gay and bisexual men are equally passionate about playing and supporting” football, as are many lesbian and bisexual women and people in the trans community.

No doubt all LGB&T football and sports fans will be supporting Jason in challenging homophobia tomorrow night.

See Football and art against homophobia

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Old Game, New Buzz, Gay Community Outraged

Pink News reports on gay groups becoming re-outraged over a game which requires players to shoot gay men. The game is called “Watch Out Behind You, Hunter”, and was originally launched in 2002 by frenchie Stéphane Aguie. The game is banned in France, but that hasn’t stopped it from making the rounds and finding a new host.

The gay group Gay Armenia said it was “completely disgusted” by the game, adding that it was created by “those religious-minded people in Tbilisi, Georgia… who constantly cite Bible to ‘justify’ their homophobia and hatred. A post on the gay group’s blog added: “Is this their ‘orthodox’ way of bringing up children by creating an image of an enemy and teaching them how to deal with it?”
The website’s owner, Jean Christophe Calvet, has rebuked claims of prejudice, saying that he “really didn’t understand why the association was attacking us” . He told news site France24.com: “The guy who came up with the game, Stéphane Aguie, wanted to mock hunters and rednecks, not gay men”.

He continued: “Our games are not politically correct. They’re aimed at teenagers and it’s true that they’re of a juvenile humour”. Mr Calvet said that while the game was removed from French websites after legal action from gay rights groups, it is “impossible to wipe it from all foreign sites too”.

He added: “Incidentally, not everyone in the gay community was supportive of banning the game. “I realise now that this one in particular could be found shocking, but I believe that you should be able to make this kind of joke in the name of freedom of speech.” The site has faced backlash for its games before. In 2001 it was criticised by American groups for a game entitled ‘New York Defender’ where the object was to protect the Twin Towers from plane attacks.

Mr Calvet also commented that the site was attacked over its depiction of Jean-Marie Le Pen, the leader of the French National Front. He took the creators to court after the game involved users throwing axes at his face. He was not the only celebrity depicted in the game, but for him, the axes were changed to swastikas. He added: “In the end, its all a bit of fun.”