Tucker Carlson Attacks Newspaper Editor Who Doesn't Want Anti-Gay Columns

Today's New York City Tabloids

Today's Irish Daily Mirror

INDIA: Mother Places "Seeking Groom" Matrimonial Ad For Her Gay Activist Son

Via Gay Star News:

An Indian mother has placed what may be the country's first gay matrimonial ad on behalf of her LGBTI activist son Harish Iyer. Thousands of ads are posted in the weekly matrimonial sections of Indian newspapers. But the Times of India, the Hindustan Times and the DNA website all rejected Iyer's ad. The Times of India told him that their "legal department said that it was illegal' – India recriminalized gay sex in 2013. My mom worries about me too much," he told the paper. "She is constantly thinking that I am getting old, will be alone, and all those concerns a mother has. So, she and I had a discussion last week and decided to go ahead with placing a matrimonial ad looking for a gay person."

More from the Times Of India:

Looks like the ad has elicited a good response. "My mum called me this morning saying three people have responded so far. She asked me what to do next, how to proceed, so I told her, 'proceed like you would have if you were looking for a girl for me'," says Harish. "I will take my time before I give my nod. I am an animal lover and would want my partner to be one. And I am going to have the last word in who I choose because I am going to be living with him, not my mother. Having said that, it is my mom who has led me into finding someone for myself.

According to Wikipedia, Iyer is a common surname used by the "Iyer caste of Hindu Brahmin communities of Tamil origin."

NORTH DAKOTA: Paper Publishes Photos Of Pols Who Voted Against LGBT Rights

From the HRC's blog:

The cover of yesterday’s Forum of Fargo-Moorhead made a bold statement for LGBT equality, featuring the photos of North Dakota House Representatives who voted against non-discrimination protections. According to the Forum, this was the third time in six years the House failed to pass a measure that would prohibit bias in housing and employment based on sexual orientation. Earlier this week, The Indianapolis Star published a similar front-page editorial calling for Indiana lawmakers and Governor Mike Pence to ensure that the recently passed religious refusal law cannot be used as a shield for discrimination.

The paper denies that it was trying to shame those legislators. Jim Romenesko has more:

In today’s Morning Report, I said The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead tried to shame lawmakers for voting against a bill that would ban discrimination based on sexual orientation. That’s wrong, says editor Matthew Von Pinnon. “We did not do it to shame anyone, as many people are [implying],” he says. “We did it simply to convey the info people wanted to know, no matter which side of the issue they are on. They wanted to know how each lawmaker voted. We shared all votes, including from the Senate, which had earlier narrowly passed the bill.” The newspaper has received dozens of emails and phone calls, says the editor, “but social media has just blown up over it.” People on Twitter are praising the paper for making “a bold statement for LGBT equality,” and “[calling] out anti-gay reps,” which it’s not doing, according to Von Pinnon.

Tomorrow's Indianapolis Star

UPDATE: Here is some of the editorial.

Only bold action — action that sends an unmistakable message to the world that our state will not tolerate discrimination against any of its citizens — will be enough to reverse the damage. Gov. Mike Pence and the General Assembly need to enact a state law to prohibit discrimination in employment, housing, education and public accommodations on the basis of a person's sexual orientation or gender identity. Those protections and RFRA can co-exist. They do elsewhere.

Laws protecting sexual orientation and gender identity are not foreign to Indiana. Indianapolis, for example, has had those legal protections in place for nearly a decade. Indy's law applies to businesses with more than six employees, and exempts religious organizations and non-profit groups.

The city's human rights ordinance provides strong legal protection — and peace of mind —for LGBT citizens; yet, it has not placed an undue burden on businesses. Importantly, passage of a state human rights law would send a clear message that Indiana will not tolerate discrimination. It's crucial for that message to be communicated widely.

Tomorrow's New York Daily News

Mock-Up Vs Final New York Daily News

Via Mediaite:

Last night, New York Daily News Brooklyn court reporter Oren Yaniv tweeted out what appeared to the Tweetdeck passerby to be the next day’s cover of the paper, which announced “Killer Cop Goes Free." Many were displeased by such an incendiary headline, including trusty Brit Hume. Yaniv later revealed the cover was just a mock-up. It did not actually get used. This morning’s printed cover hedged its bets, telegraphing a sense of anxiety over protests rather than outrage at the decision.

San Francisco Bay Guardian Shuts Down

Slate has the obituary:

Another alt-weekly is dead. But this one wasn’t just another alt-weekly. It was the San Francisco Bay Guardian, one of the most venerable, staunchly independent, and defiantly weird of America’s great alternative weekly newspapers. The paper, founded in 1966, is shutting down for “financial reasons,” the San Francisco Chronicle reported on Tuesday. The decision was made by San Francisco Media Co., the parent company that bought it in 2012 from its founder, Bruce Brugmann. “It is the hardest decision I’ve had to make in my 20-year newspaper career,” the San Francisco Media Co.’s publisher, Glenn Zuehls, said in a statement. A notice on the Bay Guardian’s website says the final issue will be published on Wednesday, although one of the paper's fired leaders vowed to SFist that it will "live on in some form." The loss of the paper in its current incarnation may not deal a great blow to San Francisco. The Guardian, like many alt-weeklies, had been sliding for years as readers and local advertisers turned from print media to the Web. Over the decades, though, the Guardian as an institution had come to stand for something more than just convenient concert listings, seamy classified ads, and snarky coverage of the local political scene. It was an embodiment of a certain vision of the city—a vision of San Francisco as a haven for artists, immigrants, eccentrics, hobos, bohos, gays and lesbians, and any extant members of that perennially endangered species, the local working-class family.

Read the full final issue online.

IOWA: Newspaper Editor Sues After Being Fired For Using The Word "Gaystapo"

An Iowa newspaper editor is suing on the grounds of religious discrimination after being fired for using the word "gaystapo" on his personal blog. Via the Des Moines Register:

Bob Eschliman, former editor of the Newton Daily News, filed a complaint this week with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission office in Milwaukee arguing that he was terminated May 5 because of his religious beliefs. If the dispute isn't resolved to Eschliman's satisfaction, he could sue in federal court to seek financial damages. In late April, Eschliman, 41, a member of Christian Reformed Church of Newton, wrote a personal blog post criticizing the "Queen James Bible," a website that rewrites the Christian Bible to be friendlier to gays. Eschliman accused "the LGBTQXYZ crowd and the Gaystapo" of trying "to make their sinful nature right with God." Jim Romenesko, who hosts a widely read online blog about the news media, reported on Eschliman's post and questioned whether Eschliman, in light of his publicly stated views, would be able to fairly cover issues involving gays. Shaw Media, a Dixon, Ill., company, suspended Eschliman with pay and eventually fired him. Eschliman's attorneys claim that violated his constitutional rights of religious expression. Newton Daily News Publisher Dan Goetz declined to comment Wednesday.

Eschliman, who is is being represented by the Christian Liberty Institute, writes in his suit:

On April 28, 2014, I penned a theologically based article stating my sincerely held religious beliefs about efforts by some to criticize and remold my faith through what I believe is false teaching. In my article, I quoted at length from a variety of sources, most prominently, from the Holy Bible. That blog post described my sincerely held religious beliefs regarding Holy Scripture and the definition of marriage. My comments on my blog were personal in nature and reflective of my sincerely held religious beliefs. Furthermore, I felt compelled by my sincerely held religious beliefs to share my Biblical view with the few folks who read my blog. I would like to have obtained a religious accommodation for my sincerely held religious belief to share my Biblical view with the few family members and friends who read my blog. Shaw Media directly discriminated against me because of my religious beliefs and my identity as an evangelical Christian who believes in Holy Scripture and the Biblical view of marriage.

And another martyr is born. (Tipped by JMG reader Ed)

Editorial Of The Day

From the Salt Lake Tribune:

In rapid succession, the official Utah position on same-sex marriage has gone from mainstream conservative to merely retrograde to downright nasty. The arguments put forth Thursday by Utah’s hired legal eagles in the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals will soon be brushed aside, if not by that tribunal, then by the U.S. Supreme Court, and by the march of human progress. Meanwhile, the state is engaged in a rear-guard action against families it does not like. It is trying to block the adoption petitions filed by at least two of the some 1,200 same-sex couples who were legally wed after Judge Robert J. Shelby ruled in December that Utah’s Amendment 3, banning same-sex marriage in the state, was unconstitutional. The fact that the state is going out of its way to stop the legal formation of two — or more — secure, intact and loving families clearly puts the lie to the argument that the official defense of Amendment 3 is not, in lawyer-speak, "animus" against same-sex couples and their households, but a reasonable state effort to encourage the legal formation of, well, secure, intact and loving families.

Read the full editorial.

Advertiser Backlash For Ugandan Paper

Last month a Ugandan tabloid published a list of that country's alleged "top 200 homos." Following a petition campaign by All Out, one of the paper's major advertisers has pulled out. Via press release:

Orange, a subsidiary of France Télécom, announced its decision to pull their advertising from the website of Red Pepper on Friday, after 77,329 All Out members called on them to remove the advertisements and commit to protecting LGBT employees in Uganda. Red Pepper, a prominent tabloid, recently listed the names and, in some cases, photos and locations of LGBT people in Uganda -- an action reminiscent of the 2009 outing of Ugandan activist David Kato in the (now defunct) tabloid Rolling Stone, who was murdered two days later. “We commend Orange for their leadership in reaction to the Anti-Homosexuality Law” said Andre Banks, Executive Director and co-founder of All Out, an international organization building the global movement for gay rights. “Orange’s decision to withdraw their advertising and to explicitly support their LGBT employees should ring alarm bells for Ugandan politicians and business people about the impact this law could have on the national economy”.

Rupert Murdoch Owns One Of These

Just a little bit obvious, huh? Source.

Ugandan Paper Names "200 Top Homos"

A Ugandan tabloid has published the names of 200 allegedly gay citizens, putting all of these people at the risk of being murdered. Which has happened before. Via the Associated Press:

The Red Pepper tabloid published the names — and some pictures — of alleged homosexuals in a front-page story under the headline: "EXPOSED!" The list included prominent Ugandan gay activists such as Pepe Julian Onziema, who has repeatedly warned that Uganda's new anti-gay law could spark violence against homosexuals. A popular Ugandan hip-hop star as well as a Catholic priest are also on the list. Few Ugandans identify themselves publicly as gay, and the tabloid's publication of alleged homosexuals recalled a similar list published in 2011 by a now-defunct tabloid that called for the execution of gays. A Ugandan judge later condemned the outing of homosexuals in a country where gays face severe discrimination, saying it amounted to an invasion of privacy. A prominent Ugandan gay activist, David Kato, was killed after that list came out, and activists said at the time that they believed he was targeted because of his work promoting gay rights in Uganda. "The media witch hunt is back," tweeted Jacqueline Kasha, a well-known Ugandan lesbian activist who is among those listed in the Red Pepper story.

As noted above, the last time a Ugandan paper did this, it was ordered to pay damages of 1.5M Ugandan shillings (about $650) to the people named and the paper went out of business. But that was before the Anti-Homosexuality Bill was signed into law. Read my coverage of the murder of Ugandan activist David Kato.

Swedish Paper Rebrands In Solidarity

Perhaps having noted the action of Britain's Channel 4, one of Sweden's most-read dailies has rebranded its logo in rainbow colors in solidarity with Russia's LGBT people. From the editor:

"Inauguration ceremonies for the Winter Olympics have begun in Sochi. We will be watching the competition, but we also want to show that we do not like that the organizers have brutally exploited the workers who built Sochi's facilities. Additionally, we want to protest against the Russian authorities and their persecution of homosexuals. We do this by using the LGBTQ movement's rainbow flag. As long as the Sochi Olympics are in progress, the VF logo will be seen in the rainbow's beautiful and tolerant colors. We stand for human rights and equality of all people."

The paper is owned by Sweden's oldest and largest political party, the Social Democratic Workers' Party, which presently holds one-third of the seats in the national legislature. (Tipped by JMG reader Paulo)

New York Post Cover Draws Heat

Rupert Murdoch's New York Post cover is drawing heat from all sides today.  Business Insider recaps:

The New York Post has provoked enraged responses on Twitter with its offensive cover about the murder of an Hasidic Jewish landlord which asked "Who didn't want him dead?" Menachem Stark, a 39-year-old father of eight, was shoved into a light-colored Dodge caravan outside his Brooklyn office late Thursday. His charred body was found this weekend on Long Island. The Post — which referred to Stark as a "slain slumlord" — prompted a number of angry Tweets, including one from Yaacov Behrman, who wrote, "I am deeply disturbed by the cover of the New York Post, "who didn't want him dead." How about this young boy?!" Another person tweeted, "It's heart-wrenching that this is leading the @nypost website today. 'Who DIDN'T want him dead?' SHAME ON YOU!" The lead of the Post story said Stark had "so many enemies that investigators say they almost don't know where to start looking." “He’s a Hasidic Jew from Williamsburg, and we think he’s a scammer," the Post quoted one unnamed investigator as saying.

A Facebook group titled "Condemn The New York Post" already has 2000 members.

Headline Of The Day

Media Matters notes that Louisiana's major newspapers have so far largely refused to report on hate group leader Tony Perkin's vile anti-gay history and his associations with white supremacist groups as he considers a run for the US House.

As he contemplates taking his extremist act to the halls of Congress, it appears that Perkins won't have to worry about Louisiana's top newspapers holding him accountable for his views. An Equality Matters analysis of five newspapers from the state reveals that most major papers have largely ignored his political ascendance, while others have whitewashed Perkins' extremism and hardly any have noted the FRC's hate group status or Perkins' record of inflammatory remarks. The five newspapers examined in Equality Matters' analysis have mentioned Perkins in a total of 29 articles in 2013. The Lafayette Daily Advertiser has not published a single article mentioning Perkins this year, while of the Alexandria Daily Town Talk's six articles featuring Perkins, all but one concerned his role as a trustee of Louisiana College. Of all the articles mentioning Perkins, a mere 10, or 34 percent, examined his political rise in the state. Articles in the New Orleans Times-Picayune and Baton Rouge Advocate have reported on Perkins' recent law enforcement commission appointment, his potential congressional run, and speculation earlier this year that he might challenge Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) in 2014. The Shreveport Times, Alexandria Daily Town Talk, and Lafayette Daily Advertiser completely ignored Perkins' appointment and political ambitions. Coverage of Perkins all too often ignores his and the FRC's rabid anti-LGBT views.

Hit the link and read about more about Perkins' repulsive track record. Most of what's there should be well familiar to longtime JMG readers.

Denver Post To Launch Marijuana News Site, But Will Drug Test Its Reporters

From the news director of the Denver Post:

Colorado will open the doors to legal recreational marijuana sales in the new year. We have been covering the medical marijuana industry for more than a decade. But last year, voters approved legalized recreational marijuana. We have written extensively about the research on marijuana, the regulation, the wrangling in the legislature, cooking with marijuana and growing it. The new year will bring all angles together in a way that is challenging and exciting for us. We plan to do what we do with any major story: throw our best muscle, creative minds and ingenuity at the project. We’re going to have some fun – with a mix of news, entertainment and culture stories. Say what you want about the newspaper industry, but The Post is the most powerful news organization in the region. We know how to cover big stories. And with pot, you ain’t seen nothing yet.

Newspaper Correction Of The Day

Here's the guy that the WaPo called "thickset."

HOUSTON: Hometown Paper Regrets Its Endorsement Of Sen. Ted Cruz

From the editorial board of the Houston Chronicle:

Does anyone else miss Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison? We're not sure how much difference one person could make in the toxic, chaotic, hyperpartisan atmosphere in Washington, but if we could choose just one it would be Hutchison, whose years of service in the Senate were marked by two things sorely lacking in her successor, Ted Cruz. When we endorsed Ted Cruz in last November's general election, we did so with many reservations and at least one specific recommendation - that he follow Hutchison's example in his conduct as a senator. Obviously, he has not done so. Cruz has been part of the problem in specific situations where Hutchison would have been part of the solution. We feel certain she would have worked shoulder to shoulder with Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, in crafting a workable solution that likely would have avoided the government shutdown altogether. But we'll never know.

Suh-NAP!