Voices of Witness Africa New documentary tells stories of gay Anglicans

Voices of Witness Africa is a new 30-minute documentary intended to help Episcopalians listen to the views and experiences of Anglicans who are gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) and to emphasize that homosexuality is “not just a North American or European issue,” says the Rev. Cynthia Black.

Co-produced by Black, rector of Christ the King Church in Kalamazoo/Texas Corners, Michigan, and Katie Sherrod, a writer and commentator based in Fort Worth, Texas, the documentary features GLBT Africans who talk about their lives and their relationships with God and the church.

“The voices of LGBT folks from around the world need to be heard,” says Black.

Among those interviewed for the documentary is the Rt. Rev. Christopher Senyonjo, retired bishop of the Diocese of West Buganda in the Anglican Church of Uganda, who leads a study and prayer group for gay Anglicans. “I’m sorry about what the church is saying. God loves you, God loves you,” Senyonjo says in support of GLBT Christians. While he acknowledges that speaking out has been “very risky,” Senyonjo adds, “When you know the truth, it should make you free.”

Although homosexuality is illegal in most African countries, “several people in the film cite cause for hope,” said a news release from the Chicago Consultation, a sponsoring organization of the documentary.

“Many, many years ago, when the townships were in smoke and people were dying, we never thought that we would be where we are now,” Yvonne Daki, manager of iThemba Lam Center of Inclusive and Affirming Ministries in South Africa, says in the documentary. “We will have one day a situation where gay people can speak openly about their sexuality.”

For Black, one of the surprises when working on the documentary was “how willing participants were to have their name and image used publicly, even when they knew their bishop would be receiving a copy of the film, and even when there could potentially be horrific consequences for doing so … Their courage is incredible.”

Sherrod was most impressed how the interviewees’ faith “informs their actions every minute of every day. All of them spoke of God as a intimate part of their lives, a presence who gives them hope and strength in the face of terrible oppression and active persecution, not only by the state, but in most cases by the Anglican church leaders in their country. To witness the depth of their faith was inspiring and humbling.”

“Viewers who have followed the plight of GLBT people in Africa will hear familiar and tragic stories of fear, imprisonment and abuse,” the Chicago Consultation news release said. “However, they may also be surprised by the support and hope voiced by some of the film’s subjects, including African Anglican bishops and priests.”

Black said that much inspiration can be found in the stories of hope that were heard — “hope that one day the church will have moved beyond the issues of sexuality that divide it.”

All the instruments of communion have supported a process of listening to the experiences of homosexual people throughout the Anglican Communion. At the 1998 Lambeth Conference, resolution 1.10 committed all the provinces of the Anglican Communion to a listening process. It was not until 2005 that the Listening Process was officially launched with the appointment of a facilitator who would monitor the work being done, share the results and enable further listening.

The Anglican Consultative Council, the communion’s most representative policy-making body, met in Jamaica in May 2009 and supported the renewal of the Listening Process, which has received a 2.5-year grant from the Satcher Health Leadership Institute at the Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia to run five “pilot conversations” around the communion.

The “Voices of Witness Africa” documentary is being released just before the Episcopal Church’s General Convention, which will be held July 8-17 in Anaheim, California. “At the meeting, deputies and bishops will discuss both the church’s mission in the developing world and the inclusion of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people,” the Chicago Consultation news release said. “The film is being mailed in advance to all deputies and bishops. It is also being mailed to all bishops of the Anglican Communion, including those who lead churches that are hostile to GLBT Christians.”

“With General Convention approaching, some people focus on what effect its actions might have on the part of the Anglican Communion that is more conservative than the Episcopal Church,” said Black. “I think the film helps us to remember that there are hundreds of thousands of LGBT folks in the communion who are watching what the Episcopal Church does.”

Further information on the film, including a study guide for use in Episcopal parishes, is available here.

Future public screenings of Voices of Witness Africa will be held on:

June 5: All Saints Church, Pasadena, California

June 6: Christ Episcopal Church, Dearborn

June 7: Episcopal Divinity School, Cambridge

June 8: All Saints’ Episcopal Church, Chicago

June 10: Church of the Ascension, Silver Spring, Maryland

June 12: Christ Church Cathedral, St. Louis, Missouri

June 14: St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, Houston, Texas

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Senate to Hold First-Ever Hearing Addressing Anti-Gay Discrimination in U.S. Immigration Law

June 3rd Judiciary Hearing Will Debate Uniting American Families Act

The Senate Judiciary Committee will hold its first-ever hearing on The Uniting American Families Act (UAFA), a bill to end discrimination against lesbian and gay Americans in U.S. immigration law and allow lesbian and gay citizens to sponsor their partners for residency in the United States.

The hearing was scheduled by Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Chairman of the Judiciary Committee and the lead Senate sponsor of UAFA. Witnesses will include binational couples who have been separated, or face separation, because of discriminatory U.S. immigration law.

An estimated 36,000 binational couples are affected by U.S. laws prohibiting gay and lesbian Americans from sponsoring their partners for residency. Countless lesbian and gay families, including many with children, are torn apart by U.S. immigration law, or are forced to leave the United States to remain together. While 19 other nations allow lesbian and gay citizens to sponsor their partners, the United States continues to discriminate against tens of thousands of families. As the nation prepares to consider immigration reform, the Judiciary Committee hearing will provide an important opportunity for lawmakers to hear from some of those families.

The session is set for Wednesday, June 3, 2009, 10:00 a.m. in Room 226 – Dirksen Senate Office Building, Washington, D.C.

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“Voices of Witness Africa” Screening Set for May 10

The film “Voices of Witness Africa” will be shown at St. John’s at 7:30 pm on Sunday May 10. One of the filmmakers, the Rev. Cynthia Black of Kalamazoo, MI, will be there for this premier showing.

As long ago as 1978, the Lambeth Conference of Anglican Communion bishops urged the church to listen to Anglicans who are gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT). Now a powerful new half-hour documentary film, Voices of Witness Africa, helps Episcopalians keep the church’s commitment to listen.

As we move toward the Episcopal Church’s General Convention this summer, issues involving full inclusion of all the baptized, including LGBT people, will once again be front and center. Much of the U.S. Episcopal Church, like our secular society, has moved toward full inclusion — but this impulse encounters deep resistance from other parts of the Communion where homosexuality is viewed as a foreign, perhaps imperialist, import. VOWA dispels any claim that there are no LGBT Africans — and gives us an opportunity to listen to their hopes and fears. See www.saintjohnsf.org

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Tom Cruise Top Gun Costar McGillis: Yup, She’s Gay E! Online

Who knew when Tom Cruise famously serenaded Kelly McGillis in Top Gun with “You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling” it would be a foreshadowing of things to come?

In a new interview with SheWired.com, McGillis reveals that she’s gay. Now single, the 51-year-old actress told videoblogger Jennifer Corday that she was looking for a girlfriend. “I’m done with the man thing,” she said. “I did that. I need to move on in life.”

McGillis’ breakout role, as an Amish mother in Witness opposite Harrison Ford in 1985, earned her a Golden Globe nomination. Top Gun followed in 1986, and then two years later, she played an attorney for a rape victim (a role which earned Jodie Foster an Oscar) in The Accused.

See Tom Cruise Top Gun Costar McGillis: Yup, She’s Gay

E! Online * Tags = gay men gay news lesbian news transgender bisexual

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Details on same-sex marriage in Iowa

Marriage requirements in Iowa remain the same, with the exception that the ban on same-sex marriage has been eliminated:

–Two people, over 18.

–Not already legally married.

–Not closely related.

-Legally competent to enter into a civil contract.

To get a license:

–Visit a county recorder’s office and fill out an application.

–Show proof of identity.

–Pay a $35 fee.

–Have a witness sign the application.

–Both parties must be present or have the form notarized.

–Submit application and wait three days for license to be valid.

For the ceremony:

–It must be in Iowa, with both parties, an officiate and two witnesses present. All must sign the marriage certificate.

–Officiant, a judge or leader of religious faith, files certificate with county recorder within 15 days

–Same-sex marriage licenses submitted on Monday, April 27, the day Iowa legalizes same-sex marriage, will become valid on Thursday, April 30. Judges can grant a waiver.

What if a same-sex couple has had a ceremony elsewhere?:

–If a same-sex couple has been legally married elsewhere, their marriage is valid in Iowa as of Monday. They do not have to get remarried.

–It is unclear if civil unions from another state or registered domestic partnerships will be recognized in Iowa.

For more see Details on same-sex marriage in Iowa
Chicago Tribune – United States

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Hollywood Bonkers Over Lipstick Lesbians and Bisexual Hotties

“The fantasy has become a reality. Between ads, movies, music, books and TV shows, society just can’t get enough bisexuality. As witnessed in the famous Madonna-Britney-Christina kiss and MTV star Tila Tequila’s adventures, society is fascinated by those who “bat for both teams.”

Bisexual pursuits have become so seemingly commonplace that one would think the world has gone “bi.” But the research on bisexual numbers paints a very different picture:

By all indications, true bisexual orientation is rare.” Yvonne K. Fulbright/ Fox News “Sexpert”

Fullbright is spot on, one sure-fire way to spice up a show and spike the ratings is to have one of the female leads fall in love with a beautiful woman. We can’t get enough of Lindsay Lohan and Samantha Ronson, and we still don’t get bored when a TV station replays the Madonna/Britney Spears kiss for the millionth time.

But the Fox News Sexpert fail to mention, for politically-correct reasons, that Americans are only fascinated by bisexual women. Ninety nine percent of straight men, and most women are fascinated by lipstick lesbians, but 99.99 of straight men and 99.99 percent of women are repulsed by the onscreen depiction of men making love to men.

See Hollywood Bonkers Over Lipstick Lesbians and Bisexual Hotties

NewsBlaze

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Hollywood Bonkers Over Lipstick Lesbians and Bisexual Hotties

Bisexual pursuits have become so seemingly commonplace that one would think the world has gone “bi.” But the research on bisexual numbers paints a very different picture:

By all indications, true bisexual orientation is rare.” Yvonne K. Fulbright/ Fox News “Sexpert”

See Hollywood Bonkers Over Lipstick Lesbians and Bisexual Hotties

NewsBlaze

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Activist dedicates his life to fight for gay rights

Across the floor of the Geneva human rights conference, Arsham Parsi spotted the Iranian government representative.
This was his chance. In 2005, Parsi fled Iran after police found out he was a homosexual rights activist.
But, Geneva was not the Islamic Republic.
Homosexual rights have been mired in controversy worldwide. At present, there are 58 countries that punish it — nine with death. The regime of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is so horrifying, 28-year-old Parsi has dedicated his life to fighting the extreme brutality.
“A friend once told me I didn’t decide to become an activist,” says Parsi. “Society forced me to.”
Parsi felt his heart pound as he approached the official. Understandable. His government punishes kissing with 60 lashes and sodomy with death. Iranian courts’ requirement for witnesses is little assurance. Police will raid birthday parties and formally charge suspected homosexuals for drinking.
Then, there is the interrogation.
“When my friend was arrested, they asked him to identify people by pictures in an album,” says Parsi. See Activist dedicates his life to fight for gay rights
Vancouver Sun* Tags = gay men gay news lesbian news transgender bisexual

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Prosecution Winding Down in Gay Porn Murder Trial

More than 50 witnesses have been called so far in a high profile murder case in Luzerne County. The witnesses were testifying against Harlow Cuadra. He’s charged with stabbing Bryan Kocis to death in Dallas Township in 2007.

The prosecution called witnesses Thursday to help prove Cuadra had the strength to stab and kill Bryan Kocis. Cuadra’s attorneys have painted him as weaker than his boyfriend, admitted killer Joseph Kerekes, and said in opening statements that Cuadra wasn’t strong enough to stab Kocis and slash his throat.

Lance Threadway owns the Virginia Beach gym where Cuadra and his partner, Joseph Kerekes, worked out. He testified Thursday morning, saying Cuadra was strong for his size, and that both men lifted equal weights. See Prosecution Winding Down in Gay Porn Murder Trial

MSNBC

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Businessman offers $100M toward AIDS vaccine research

The hunt for an AIDS vaccine, a scientific quest that has stumped infectious disease researchers for two decades, is receiving a $100 million boost from a Massachusetts technology magnate, whose gift will create a Boston institute fusing the expertise of doctors, engineers, and biologists.

Stunned by scenes of desperation he witnessed in HIV-ravaged South Africa, Phillip Terrence Ragon is spending a considerable chunk of his fortune to accelerate research for a vaccine that would slow the relentless spread of the virus that causes AIDS and now infects more than 33 million people worldwide.

The money, $10 million a year for the next decade, will go to Massachusetts General Hospital but be shared with other research powerhouses, including Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. An announcement of the gift, the largest in Mass. General’s history, is expected this morning from Ragon, 59, the founder and sole owner of InterSystems, a Cambridge company that provides database software to hospitals and other industries.

See Businessman offers $100M toward AIDS vaccine research
The Boston Globe