TENNESSEE: Woman Charged With Beating Son For Acting "Feminine And Gay"

 Via the Memphis NBC affiliate:

Neighbors of Jacqueline Alexander are shocked any mother would beat her son for acting “too feminine and too gay.” According to police, Alexander punched her son in the face around 11 p.m. Tuesday at their home on Mt. Moriah Road. “No, that's not right. I mean that's her flesh and blood, her son," said neighbor Tamika Heard. "No, that's not right.” Police say Alexander's son was lying in bed when she accused him of “being too feminine and gay." One neighbor said, “You don't know who you are living around. It's just terrible.” It is not clear how old Alexander's son is, but he appears to live with his mother.

The mother is being held on assault charges.

Cornhole 4 The Cure

Perhaps unaware of its other meaning, perhaps not unaware, two men in Memphis are staging cancer fundraisers around the classic country fair game cornhole.

"We just started playing the game cornhole," Spurlin said. "It's just a bean bag toss game. Then, we decided why not make some cornhole boards? My mother-in-law makes the bags for us." That was the beginning of 'Cornhole 4 the Cure,' which in just six weeks has developed into a website and weekly tournament. Games are held every Wednesday night at the Boiling Point restaurant in Southaven. "The purpose is we're raising money for St. Jude," Spurlin said. "One hundred percent of our donations go to St, Jude and fifty percent of all proceeds go to St. Jude."

From a commenter on the linked news story: "I have told my wife for years that cornholing can help cure cancer but she didn't believe me, until I found this group. Now, everytime she objects to a cornholing session, I remind her of how many people might die as a result of her refusing to cornhole. So, whenever she tells me 'but I don't like it,' I have to remind her of what people with cancer are going through. Perspective, people. Perspective." You can watch people cornhole on the event's website.

TENNESSEE: Citing Lack Of Support, Backers Pull Proposed LGBT Rights Law

Saying that they have no support on the Memphis City Council, the Tennessee Equality Project has withdrawn their proposed anti-discrimination ordinance which would have protected LGBT residents in hiring and promotion decisions.

TEP members said it was clear the ordinance, which was scheduled for the second of three readings this afternoon, lacked support from the 13-member council and Wharton’s administration, which said two weeks ago that it favors a more general ordinance approved by the Shelby County Commission earlier this year. Michelle Bliss, vice chairwoman of the Shelby County Committee of the TEP, said council members were making decisions based on “fear and prejudice.” “At this time we don’t think we can get a fair hearing,” said Bliss.

A spokesperson for the Tennessee Equality Project says Memphis Mayor AC Wharton has broken campaign pledges to support the LGBT community.

MEMPHIS: Death Threats And A Dead Cat For Sponsor Of LGBT Rights Ordinance

Memphis city councilwoman Janis Fullilove is paying the price from God's Gentle People™ for sponsoring an LGBT rights law. So far she's received four telephoned death threats and the body of a dead cat tossed on her front lawn.

Police think the threats are serious enough have increased patrols around her home to keep her safe. All four calls came Tuesday and each call mentioned the proposed employee non-discrimination ordinance. Someone also threw a dead cat on her lawn. Each phone call mentioned her support for banning discrimination against gays in city government. Distraught, Fullilove reached out to Jonathan Cole with the Tennessee Equality Project. "She essentially said that they were threatening to kill her," said Cole, who thinks the death threats are just another example of intolerance in Memphis. "It's scary and our city needs to stand up to this kind of ugliness." Police are keeping a close eye on Fullilove and her family. She's asked her telephone provider to track the calls. Meanwhile, Cole says the councilwoman's experience should highlight the need for the ordinance to protect gays and lesbians working for the city.

Fullilove (great name!) says the threats will not make her back down. The vote on her legislation is expected to come on August 10th.

Teabagger Convention Falling Apart

Next month's Tea Party Convention is falling apart over questions about where the money will go. Crazy-eyed Rep. Michele Bachmann has joined the list of those pulling out. Oh noes!

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) has become the latest to pull out of a scheduled speaking gig at the controversial National Tea Party Convention next year. Like Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) earlier today, Bachmann's office cited concerns about the event's financial arrangements. Some Tea Partiers have accused the convention's organizer, Judson Phillips of Tea Party Nation, of seeking to profit from the confab.

Reportedly Sarah Palin is also being pressured to pull out of the convention. She and WND founder Joseph Farah are scheduled to be the keynote speakers.

Memphis: Gay Ex-Marine Talks About His Vandalized Billboard

Former Marine and DADT victim Tim Smith tells the Memphis local news that the destruction of the National Coming Out Day billboard with his image "feels like a personal attack." The investigation into the vandalism continues.

(Via - Pam's House Blend)

Memphis: Vandals Destroy National Coming Out Day Billboard

A billboard marking next month's National Coming Out Day was ripped down by Memphis vandals, leaving only the previous ad for a Patti LaBelle event visible. The Triangle Journal reports:

The billboard, which contained a picture of community member Tim Smith dressed in his marine uniform proclaiming “I’m gay, and I defended your freedom,” was completely torn from the Clear Channel Billboard frame, exposing remnants of prior postings. No identifiable portions of the MGLCC billboard remained. The MGLCC billboard campaign honoring National Coming Out Day on October 11 has been underway for one week and will continue for three more weeks. The initiative aims to clarify to the Mid-South that our community is not afraid of being out and that we are unashamed of being who we are. The billboard that was defaced is one of five erected throughout the city as part of the initiative. MGLCC Executive Director Will Batts, who is in Philadelphia attending a national conference for LGBT community centers, was contacted by phone by Triangle Journal and informed of the defacement. He stated, “Some people choose tactics of violence and intimidation in an attempt to silence minority voices. What will happen, though, is that our voices will become louder and stronger and we will become even more relentless in our fight for full equality.”

National Coming Out Day is October 11th.

UPDATE: Via By The Bayou, here's the billboard before it was torn down.

Memphis School Board Backs Principal Who Outed Students

According to the school board of Memphis, the principal who outed two gay students did nothing wrong. You may recall last week's story in which the ACLU demanded that Hollis F. Price Middle High School Principal Daphne Beasley be reprimanded for her actions.

According to the ACLU, Beasley included the two boys on a list she posted of students thought to be romantically involved, outing them to other students, faculty, and their parents. Beasley allegedly told the mother of one of the boys that she "would not tolerate homosexuality" at her school.

But the school board says that Beasley did nothing wrong and was following policy. In a reply to the ACLU the board said that the middle school is located on the campus of LeMoyne-Owen College and that the college had complained "that some of our student couples were involved in explicit sexual behavior in public view on the college campus."

As a result, the school board said "faculty and staff, the principal of Hollis F. Price made several general announcements to the student body that this behavior would not be tolerated."

"Regrettably, the improper behavior continued," the school board said in its reply to the ACLU. "Therefore, the principal felt it appropriate to notify the parents of those children she knew to be involved romantically."

The board said that the parents of students who were opposite sex couples also were notified that Beasley "certainly did not specify the sexual orientation of any student. Additionally, the list was never posted publicly anywhere at the school."

Yet the mother of one of the boys says, "I couldn’t believe it when I went to meet with the principal and that list was right there by her desk where anyone could see it." The ACLU is continuing to investigate. I'll post an update as soon as it becomes available.

Principal Outs Gay High School Couple

The ACLU is protesting the outing of two high school students by their principal, who revealed the students' relationship to other students and teachers, then called one of the student's mother to reveal her son's gayness and tell her that she would not tolerate homosexuality at her school.

In a letter to school board officials in Memphis, the ACLU demanded that the school reprimand the principal and take steps to ensure such actions never happen again. In September of 2007, the principal at Hollis F. Price Middle College High told teachers she wanted the names of all student couples, “hetero and homo,” because she wanted to monitor them personally to prevent students from engaging in public displays of affection.

The two students now represented by the ACLU, Andrew and Nicholas (who have asked that their last names not be revealed), were two A students who had been seeing each other for a short time and were attempting to keep their relationship quiet and private. The principal heard about them through another student, then wrote their names on a list she posted next to her desk, in full view of anyone who entered her office.

One of the boys’ mothers personally witnessed the list when she met with the principal a few days later. “I couldn’t believe it when I went to meet with the principal and that list was right there by her desk where anyone could see it,” said Andrea, Andrew’s mother. “African American people face enough obstacles to succeeding in this world and I want my son to have every opportunity he’s worked so hard for. Our schools should be helping our children do well, not tearing them down for something like this.”

Although the boys had never been observed by any school staff engaging in any sort of display of affection, the principal called Nicholas’s mother Nichole. According to Nichole, the principal said things like “Did you know your son is gay?” repeatedly and went on to say that she didn’t like gay people and wouldn’t tolerate homosexuality at her school.

Both of the boys are "A" students and one of them subsequently was not chosen for a trip to New Orleans to assist in rebuilding. He was told the school was afraid he would engage in embarrassing or inappropriate behavior.