Honest Conversations: Dads & Gay Kids

Happy Father's Day, Mom

Via Ad Age:

"Dadvertising" has become massively popular with marketers in recent years as they try to tap the pride of dads getting more involved in childrearing and tug at the heartstrings of moms who like seeing touching moments of dads with kids. But in a decided zag amid all the dad-back-patting zigs, Angel Soft and its new agency, Interpublic Group of Cos.' Deutsch, Los Angeles, are celebrating single moms in a video titled "Happy Father's Day, Mom," breaking today on Facebook and YouTube. In a series of sometimes tearful accounts, adults in the video recount how their moms had to take on the role of dad too, and wish them a happy Father's Day. What does all this have to do with toilet paper? Single moms, like Angel Soft, have to be both soft and strong, the video points out. The new tagline for the brand, owned by Koch Industries' Georgia-Pacific, is "Be Soft. Be Strong."

The wingnuts are screaming about this, of course.

"This Is White Trash At Its Finest"

OREGON: Teen Confronts Anti-Gay Haters

When high school junior Makaila Ragan noticed two men waving anti-gay signs outside her mother's Oregon workplace, she decided to do something about it.

"I was so irritated because I see them all around town and all they ever do is make people feel like crap about themselves,” said Ragan, a junior at Tillamook High School. The men were standing outside Eyes of Oregon, on 1st Street and Main Avenue, where her mother works. “I went inside and asked her and her boss if it would be all right if I made a poster that stands up for what I believe in,” she said. “They were totally all for it. So I made a sign that said, ‘I love Gays.’” The two men, said Makaila, began insulting her personally. “They were calling me names, and asking my mom questions, like, ‘How many times did you have to get an abortion before you were able to have your daughter?’ and saying, ‘You’re going to burn in hell right along with your daughter.’ The things they were saying were just awful, but I didn’t let them faze me.”

Makaila's one-person counter-protest was soon joined by many others and eventually more than 40 supporters had shown up to stand next to her with signs of their own. After more than six hours, the haters finally went home. Over on Facebook, Makaila has vowed to return. Her mom says, "Makaila stood up. Boy, did she ever! Look what she did – wow! I’m so, so proud of her." 

(Tipped by JMG reader Jay)

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."

Viral Video Of The Day

440K views already.

Headline Of The Day

Via the BBC:

A mother has been found guilty of duping her former partner into thinking she had an abortion in order to give his child to her gay friend. A jury at Perth Sheriff Court found the woman and her male friend guilty of an elaborate fraud. The court heard the pair hatched a "cynical and calculated" plot to cover up who the child's real father was. The woman, aged 29, and her 35-year-old male friend were warned they could face up to five years in prison. Sheriff William Wood described the offence as "very serious" and paid tribute to the child's father for his efforts to obtain justice for himself and his daughter. The 29-year-old woman claimed she had sex with her homosexual friend and thought the baby was his. But the jury did not believe this version of events and found them both guilty of carrying out a fraud against the father for nearly three years.

(Tipped by JMG reader Alex)

FLORIDA: Mother & Toddler Go Into Hiding Over Child's Court-Ordered Circumcision

From the West Palm Beach ABC affiliate:

A judge has ordered the arrest of a local mother who has refused a court order to have her son circumcised. Heather Hironimus was supposed to turn over her 4-year-old son Chase and appear before a judge by 2 p.m. Tuesday. When Hironimus was a no-show, the judge signed a writ of bodily attachment which allows law enforcement to find and bring her to court. Hiroimus's attorney said Tuesday that Chase was "terrified" to undergo the procedure and Hironimus checked into an undisclosed domestic violence crisis shelter to protect him. Due to privacy laws, attorneys did not have to disclose the location of the shelter to the judge or law enforcement. Last month, when Chase's father won a drawn-out legal battle to have his son circumcised, Hironimus went into hiding with her son.

(Tipped by JMG reader DM)

HomoQuotable - Noah Michelson

"From Grindr profiles that demand 'masc only' to men like [Russell] Tovey who think their masculinity -- however manufactured, however antithetical to who they truly were when they landed on this planet -- is what makes them marketable or desirable, our obsession with what it means to be a man and what it means to fall short of that is keeping us from becoming truly liberated.

"If it weren't for my father, I wouldn't be who I am today. I could have been forced to play football in hopes that it would somehow unleash the man dozing inside of me. I could have been sent to therapy in hopes that I could be reprogrammed, repaired, made whole. I could have ended up with a belt around my neck and swinging from the light fixture in our formal dining room. But I wasn't. But I didn't. I am one of the lucky ones.

"My father died eight years ago. He never got to see the man that I've become and we never specifically talked about everything he did for me -- what he made me -- simply by loving me. Without a son of my own, it's a gift that I can only attempt to pay forward to the thousands of boys and men who come after me -- who brush past me in crowded subway cars or surround me on Facebook or might be reading this now -- by speaking up and saying I am a faggot and it didn't happen by mistake. And if you're a faggot too, I hope you know you don't need to toughen up. You never have to stop prancing. You are not a mistake." - Noah Michelson, writing for the Huffington Post.

CHINA: Viral Video Urges Parents To Welcome LGBT Kids Home For New Year

Via Time Magazine:

The video, Coming Home, tells the story of a young man who summons the courage to talk to his mom about being gay, only to be criticized and cast out. After a long period of heartache and estrangement, his mother comes around, tearfully welcoming him home. As the credits roll, real mothers speak directly to the camera, offering words of encouragement and advice to young people facing the journey. The message to parents: “Accept your children, welcome them home.” And for children: “Don’t give up. Your parents might not understand today, but maybe they will tomorrow.” It’s a sentiment that obviously struck a chord: the video has already racked up 100 million views.

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.

Headline Of The Day

If only there'd been another armed three-year old to stop him. Details.

Headline Of The Day

Details. Palin's Facebook post.

Dan Savage On Leelah Alcorn

The suicide of transgender teen Leelah Alcorn has been a trending topic of Twitter for two days and there have been hundreds of stories about her in the mainstream press.

Here's yesterday's coverage by Reuters:

A transgender Ohio teen walked in front of an oncoming truck and was crushed to death on Sunday morning, leaving behind a suicide note that has resonated around the world and led to calls for a federal law to protect other transgender adolescents. Leelah Alcorn, born with the name Joshua, was 17 years old and said she had been forced to undergo conversion therapy, which seeks to change sexual orientation through counseling. The practice has been banned in two states on grounds it is medically unfounded and puts children in danger.

Since Alcorn's death, groups supporting transgenders have called for a national "Leelah's Law" to end conversion therapy, calling it "psychological torture." Nearly 80,000 people have signed a petition on Change.org supporting the proposal. The American Psychological Association has dismissed the idea that sexual orientation is a mental disorder and said mental health professionals should avoid telling clients they can change their sexual orientation through therapy or other treatments. Supporters of the practice say it is an effective way to counsel troubled youths. Transgender adults took to Twitter after Alcorn’s death, offering encouragement to transgender teens with the hashtag #RealLiveTransAdult. "I didn’t think I’d live to be 30. Don't give up," one person wrote.

FLORIDA: Woman Arrested For Putting Son In Drag As Public Punishment

From Orlando's CBS affiliate:

Christle Marie Prado was arrested Thursday on charges of cruelty toward a child and infliction of physical or mental injury. According to Winter Garden police, officers were contacted on November 24 about a possible child abuse incident. Photos were given to authorities that show the 10-year-old boy dressed as a girl, including wearing makeup, while crying. Prado told police that Keith Driscoll, her landlord and roommate, came up with the idea for punishment after she told him that her son often wet his pants and soils himself. Police said the boy has a documented medical condition. A neighbor told Local 6 that Driscoll also made the boy run around outside while others pointed and laughed at the boy because he was dressed as a girl. Neighbors also said the abuse of the boy and his two siblings has been going on for a long time.

Birth Notice Correction

Details. (Tipped by JMG reader Daniel)

Viral Video Of The Day

Via E! Online:

Meet Luke and Adam Monastero. These two 21-year-old fraternal twins from Canada have each known they were gay for years but didn't tell each other until recently. Then they decided to come out to their parents at the same time—and record the whole thing. "They think Luke is gay. They have an idea, but they have no idea about me, like not a single clue," Adam said in the introduction. Luke and Adam placed a hidden camera in their kitchen to catch their parents' reaction to the news, and while initially freaking them out by saying that they have "shocking" news, it turned out to be a great thing.

The clip below has been on YouTube for a month but it apparently went viral in the last few days and now has nearly a million views.

BROOKLYN: City Launches Bus Ad Campaign In Support Of LGBT Youth

Via press release:

For many lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) youth in Central Brooklyn, being rejected by parents or family members can lead to risky and dangerous behavior. Project Accept LGBT Youth (ALY), a CAMBA HIV prevention initiative, is working to change this by encouraging parents, guardians and families to accept these young people. Funded by the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene through Public Health Solutions, Project ALY is mounting a multi-pronged effort to change parents’ attitudes. The goal of this effort is to build awareness, overcome biases, strengthen families and help young people gain self-esteem and self-worth – lowering their risk of future health or mental health problems, including HIV infection and substance abuse.

The current initiative includes a recently launched social marketing campaign, which comprises the bus and bus shelter ads, and Facebook and Twitter posts, combined with community outreach. Interested parents and family members are encouraged to attend small-group meetings to discuss their attitudes and concerns. In a novel approach, Project ALY enlists supportive parents of LGBT youth, who share their stories and become role models for others who are not yet as accepting. “Parents and family members who struggle with acceptance will come to understand the harmful effects that disapproval and rejection can have on LGBT youth,” said Lisa Koffler, CAMBA Program Manager for Prevention Services. “This will help break the silence, remove stigma and motivate change throughout the community,” said Koffler.

Learn more here.

ATLANTA: Gay Teen Daniel Pierce Speaks At Homeless Shelter Open House Event

Via Project Q Atlanta:

Last month, Daniel Pierce was disowned by his family in a violent confrontation as they attempted a "pray away the gay" intervention. Pierce, a 19-year-old college student, recorded the incident in a video that quickly went viral and was viewed by millions of people. On Friday, Pierce was on hand for Lost N Found's open house and thanked supporters during an event on the steps of a Midtown building the group is working to turn into an expanded shelter for gay teens. "This has been a crazy ride," Pierce said. "I just want to thank everyone for the kind comments. It's just helping me get through a lot of this." Volunteers helped clean up the 7,000-square-foot structure earlier this year in the early steps of a $400,000 renovation. On Friday, the group's executive director, Rick Westbrook said fundraising continues and the group hopes to open the facility in 2015. "There are no words to express what you all have done for us," Westbrook told supporters. "You make this possible for us."

VIRAL VIDEO: Kid Comes Out, Family Curses, Disowns Him, Then Assaults Him

440K views in one day of this YouTube clip in which a kid comes out to his family, only to have them curse him because Jesus, then physically attack him. Dan Savage writes:

"That was hard to listen to. Jesus. Fucking. Christ. My heart breaks for that poor, brave, tough kid. What the fuck is wrong with these people? We could have a fundraiser up and running for this poor kid by morning—if we knew who he was and where he was."

Stay out of the YouTube comments, seriously.

UPDATE: A fundraiser has been set up.