Gay Priest Dissolves His Union
I don’t totally understand how things like this work in the UK, but according to this article a gay Catholic priest dissolved his civil union with another man and as a result the gay priest is allowed to perform his “priestly duties” again.
No one knew the priest was gay or that he was in a civil union. When it was disclosed the priest entered into a civil union…according to him…to keep his partner in the country I’m guessing the church released the priest from his duties when they found out about it. I’m also guessing it’s legal to have a civil union like this in the UK, because I know that if you try to marry someone just to keep them in the US there can be legal complications. They’re very strict about that here, with everyone.
In any event,
The civil partnership was exposed last year, with the priest telling the Mail On Sunday that he agreed to it in order to keep Hussain in the country.
Saying no sex was involved, Minchew said he and Hussain were ‘old friends’ and their fathers had served together during World War 2.
It is unknown what has happened to Hussain.
In the letter, Newton said: ‘Donald has had time to reflect on the events which led me to withdraw him from public ministry and, after much prayer and discussion with Donald and the Archbishop of Southwark, I have decided to reinstate him in his priestly ministry.’
Here’s where I found this. I don’t like to speculate, and there is a lot of information missing, but it looks pretty self-explanatory in a general sense.
The thing that bothers me the most is that people allow the Catholic church that kind of power over them. I’ll just never get it.
Michael Sam and Dancing With the Stars
This article is more about Michael Sam not talking about Dancing With the Stars than it is about DWtS. I haven’t been watching Sam dancing because I heard he was dancing with women, so I’m not up to date on this angle of the story. And it’s not because I’m against men dancing with women, don’t take that out of context. I would have liked to see Sam dancing with a man on DWtS. But I guess that’s just too soon for US network TV. I hate to be a stickler about this, but in this particular case, because Sam has been so open about being gay, I think it’s a little disingenuous he’s not dancing with a man. Now there’s a long held taboo for you: men dancing with men in public. When was the last time you saw that happen outside of a gay bar?
In any event, the good news is that Michael Sam is still talking about football and still talking about getting into the game as a pro.
‘As long as I still have that will, as long as I’m still healthy and can play this game, you will continue to see me fighting to get in this league,’ Sam told reporters after completing his drills.
‘I am very confident that I will be playing football this year somewhere,’ Sam added. ‘So we’ll leave that at that.’
Sam was cut from the St. Louis Rams before the regular season began last fall then latest cut from the Dallas Cowboys practice squad.
If not signed by an NFL team this year, would he consider going north to play for the Canadian Football League.
‘If that’s an opportunity, then I will take it,’ Sam said.
Michael Sam doing this with football is far more important to me than Michael Sam dancing with a woman on TV, and I’m hoping he gets what he wants. This will not only be a huge breakthrough for gay men and football, but also a way to show those in pro sports who are still in the closet it is possible to come out. And maybe, just possibly, a way to see men dancing with men on TV.
Is Gay Marriage a Shocker?
Someone sent me a private message on facebook this weekend with a link to a post that left me wondering. I’m not linking to it here, but it was written by a woman who writes what she refers to as “same sex” stories and she made a comment stating that gay marriage is not a “shocker” to anyone anymore. It was done in such a glib, presumptuous way I had to force myself to read it a few times to make sure I was being fair and I hadn’t missed something important. And, this is not the first time I’ve seen someone who is not gay refer to gay marriage in this glib way.
However, my first impression was correct. And in coming from her place of privilege because she’s not gay, she knows absolutely nothing…yet claims to know everything… about how LGBT people live and survive in this world. …But you should see her tell everyone how to write gay stories.
This author is not the focus of my post right now. I don’t care about her or her glib attitude. My focus is on how gay marriage is still being received. Just to show you one example of how gay marriage is still something very new to the majority of Americans, here’s a link to an article I found that talks about whether most of America is comfortable with gay marriage…or not.
Beneath marriage equality’s recent progress is “a layer of uneasiness and discomfort,” the executive summary says. “While the public is increasingly embracing LGBT civil rights and equal protection under the law, many are still uncomfortable with having LGBT people in their families and the communities where they live.”
You can read more here, where there are interesting statistics that prove how gay marriage is still, in fact, a “shocker” to most Americans. Again, we have a long way to go. And I don’t need articles, links, or statistics to explain this to anyone. I can tell you from my own personal experiences, as a gay married man, most people are still uncomfortable and it is still a “shocker.” Most people don’t even know how to respond when I introduce Tony as my husband.
Side note that could also apply to people writing “same “sex” stories and blog posts about them: If you’re not an African American and you’re going to write about the African American experience in books, at least find out what issues African American people are dealing with these days. Don’t assume anything just because your BF told you so. That makes you both stupid and politically incorrect (not to mention racist), because you’re basically insulting all African Americans when you do this. This same theory could apply to any minority, including gays.
