DOMINICA: Gay Cruise Ship Passengers Charged With Public Buggery [Updated]

Two passengers of an all-gay cruise docked in the tiny Caribbean nation of Dominica (different from the Dominican Republic) have been charged with public buggery. Dominica residents also claim that they could see men having sex on the ship from their places on the shore. From a clearly biased local news source:

Police Chief Cyrille Carrette has confirmed that two males from California, John Robert Hart and Dennis Jay Mayer, have been charged with buggery and indecent exposure and are expected to appear in court on Thursday morning. The visit of the cruise ship to Dominica apparently carrying only male passengers is generating heated debate online, especially on Dominica News Online after the website posted the story earlier Wednesday. The ship evoked mixed reaction from observers who noted that “only men” were disembarking from the “Celebrity X Cruises” ship docked at the bayfront. Some members of the public gathered there appeared not amused with the development. A few told Dominica News Online that they were protesting what they consider to be “immoral behavior” on that cruise ship. One hair braider told DNO that she was “mentally disturbed, first time I am seeing that in my life”.

Knowing how many Caribbean nations regard homosexuality, I'm betting the two men were merely holding hands as they shopped. Or perhaps, scandal, they kissed. I call bullshit on this story.NOTE: It appears that this is the same all-gay cruise whose passengers photographed Rick Santorum on Saturday. According to the Atlantis Events schedule, that ship is docked in Dominca today.

UPDATE: An honest report from the Associated Press reveals that the two men were actually arrested for having sex ON BOARD the the ship.

Police Constable John George said police boarded the cruise ship and arrested the two men on suspicion of indecent exposure and “buggery,” a term equivalent to sodomy on the island. He identified the men as John Robert Hart, 41, and Dennis Jay Mayer, 43, but did not provide their hometowns. George said the men were seen having sex on the Celebrity Summit cruise ship by someone on the dock. The two were later charged with indecent exposure and are scheduled to appear before a magistrate Thursday morning. If found guilty, they could be fined $370 each and face up to six months in jail.

Atlantis Events president Rich Campbell is also on the ship and says his company will "happily return" to Dominica despite this trifling incident. Insanity.

Harry Jackson & Cindy Jacobs Speak In Tongues Against Gay Perversion

The demon of same-sex marriage is hovering over Maryland. THEY'VE SEEN HER, people.

Enter NOM's Newest Spokesliar

Always hard-pressed to find actual victims to support their new Marriage Anti-Defamation Alliance, NOM reached into Canada to hire sportscaster and "devout Roman Catholic" Damian Goddard as the group's official spokesman. If you saw the video I posted yesterday, you know that Goddard claims he was fired from Sportsnet for sending a single tweet in support of "one man, one woman marriage." Slight problem: Goddard's former employers say he's full of shit.

In response to questions about Mr. Goddard, Sportsnet released the following statement: “Mr. Goddard is aware of the reasons — which are well documented ­— why he is no longer with Sportsnet. Out of respect for our employees we do not discuss personnel issues in the press.” Mr. Gale said he contacted Sportsnet in May to see if there was an amicable way of settling the situation. He spoke to a senior person in human resources, who said Sportsnet had already made the decision to terminate Mr. Goddard for cause before the May 10 tweet and the company had lots of documentation to support its case.

Whatever Goddard did do to get fired, his employers won't say publicly. Which means it's probably pretty juicy. But NOM has never let the truth get between them and any chance to demonize LGBT Americans, even if they have to import a foreigner to do it.

OUTRAGE: Hate Crimes Charges Dismissed In Brooklyn Murder Of Jose Suzuchanay

Unbelievable. Hakim Scott, on trial for the brutal 2008 murder of Ecuadorean immigrant Jose Sucuzhanay, has been convicted of manslaughter only. The jury dismissed the hate crimes charge, despite overwhelming evidence that Scott and his accomplice screamed anti-gay and anti-Hispanic epithets as they beat Sucuzhanay to death with a metal baseball bat. The second jury is still deliberating the case of Scott's accomplice, Keith Phoenix.

Scott was accused of breaking the bottle over the head of Sucuzhanay as he walked arm-and-arm with his brother, Romel, on a cold night in Brooklyn. The brothers were returning home from a bar; Jose was drunk, and Romel was helping him walk. Prosecutors said Scott, 26, and Phoenix, 30, mistook the brothers for gay men, and yelled anti-Hispanic and anti-gay slurs at them. Scott smashed the bottle over Jose Sucuzhanay's head and chased after Romel with the broken bottle, while Phoenix beat Sucuzhanay with an aluminum baseball bat so badly he cracked open his skull, prosecutors said. Sucuzhanay died several days later at a hospital. Phoenix has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder, manslaughter and attempted assault, all as hate crimes. His jury began deliberations Thursday evening. Phoenix's defense attorney, Philip Smallman, said Thursday in closing arguments that the case was about a fight that escalated, not a premeditated attack.

New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn is livid. Via press release:

“I am outraged by the dismissal of hate crime charges in one of the most heinous acts of hate our city has witnessed in recent memory. It is incomprehensible to me that such violent acts of hate could receive a verdict of not guilty. Hakim Scott viciously attacked Jose Sucuzhanay while calling him derogatory names and stood by and watched while his fellow attacker, Keith Phoenix, beat Jose with a baseball bat. Jose was attacked simply because of who he was and who these two criminals perceived him to be. His attack was motivated and fueled by pure hatred. I urge all New Yorkers to join me in condemning this verdict, as we did when we originally learned of this attack.

"Justice was served with guilty verdicts on manslaughter and attempted assault charges. With these two charges combined, Hakim Scott faces up to forty years in prison. The fact is, however, that Mr. Scott has escaped serving any time for his vicious hate, hate that was at the heart of this horrible crime and murder. This is a sad day for the family of Jose Sucuzhanay and for all those who uphold and fight for tolerance and acceptance. I pledge to the Sucuzhanay family that our fight is not over and we will do all that we can to see Mr. Scott in jail for the rest of his life. We remain hopeful that Keith Phoenix will ultimately be found rightfully guilty in the hate charges he faces."

I just really cannot believe this. These monsters singled out the Suzuchanay brothers, thinking they were gay because they had their arms around each other. They then beat Jose to death while screaming "Faggot ass niggers!" at them. How the FUCK was this not a hate crime?

RELATED: My extensive coverage of the attack, the vigil, the memorial, and the trial can be found here.

VA Gov. Bob McDonnell: I'm Not Making It Illegal, But You Shouldn't Discriminate

After weeks of criticism over his explicit exclusion of LGBT people from an executive order banning discrimination against some groups, today Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell issued a statement ordering state agencies not to discriminate against gays. The statement has no force of law and is effectively useless to any homosexual fired for being gay.

In a strongly worded edict, Gov. Bob McDonnell today instructed state agencies not to discriminate against gay and lesbian workers during the hiring process or in the workplace. His directive comes in the wake of a recent firestorm ignited after Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli wrote to Virginia college and university officials telling them they lack the legal authority to adopt employment policies with protection for gay workers. While McDonnell's missive takes a strong stand on Virginia's non-discrimination posture, it doesn't carry the weight of law, as an executive order does.

His Democratic predecessors, former Govs. Mark Warner and Timothy M. Kaine, both included sexual orientation as a protected category in their anti-discrimination executive orders. McDonnell has said it is up to the General Assembly to change state law; he and then- Gov. Kaine clashed over that point in 2006 when McDonnell was the new attorney general. Efforts to add sexual orientation protections to state law have been rejected by the Republican-controlled House this year. McDonnell's directive is a firm reiteration of what the governor previously has said: He does not support workplace discrimination and hires people based on merit. Per the directive, that policy now is extended to all wings of Virginia government. "I hereby direct that the hiring, promotion, compensation, treatment, discipline and termination of state employees shall be based on an individual's job qualifications, merit and performance," the McDonnell directive reads. "No employee of the Executive branch shall engage in any discriminatory conduct against another employee."

Hurray? No. Window dressing. Damage control. Bullshit.

Facts Evasion

Here are the audio clips of Matt Sanchez' appearance on the Michelangelo Signorile Show today, thoughtfully broken into 4 topics by Sirius producer David Guggenheim. (Thanks, David!) As those who listened live have already commented in the post below, Sanchez was annoyingly evasive during Signorile's questioning, often responding to a question with a question. Signorile was led in circles for most of the interview, getting Sanchez to at least declare that he is not gay, never was, and that he willed himself into erections during all that man-fucking. Set your bullshit detectors on high.

Sanchez on DADT: Stream. Download.
Sanchez on his porn career: Stream. Download.
Sanchez on his sexuality: Stream. Download.
Sanchez on gay bloggers: Stream. Download.

And with this, we are hopefully done with Mr. Sanchez. As Signorile said on-air after Sanchez left the studio, the right-wing is probably puking right now that they ever lionized Matt Sanchez. And I don't see him winning any HRC visibility awards real soon. Signorile also said that Sanchez told him off-air that he'd "heard" from the Marine Corps and they told him not to worry about getting kicked out. Anybody buying that?

UPDATE: Sirius has provided me with the unedited interview. Stream. Download.
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