They are perhaps Mexico’s best-known gay couple: one a soap opera actor, the other a theater producer. They were happy enough just being together, until things got better and they could wed. And while it has not been easy, even though they had the law on their side, now Felipe Najera and…
Being gay in America: a 50-year love story
The love between John Darby and Jack Bird has been on solid ground for more than half a century. It is the social landscape around the gay couple that has shifted. After they got together in 1959, they kept their relationship a secret, save for an inner circle of gay friends. Today, Darby and Bird…
I cried when Jason Collins came out
I’m not afraid to admit it: I cried Monday. A couple times.It’s not that the coming out of Jason Collins is somehow the answer to all of our prayers or that those who continue to perpetuate homophobia in sports will now silence their quieting roar. I just kept getting emotional thinking about how far we’d come — those of us who’ve been fighting this battle for so many years — to now see something that many thought was impossible.I thought about Dave Kopay. The former NFL player was the first former professional athlete to come out publicly when he shared his story in 1975. At the time, he expected a wave of athletes to follow, yet he hasn’t even seen a trickle of men take his lead.I thought about Pat Griffin and Helen Carroll and Sue Rankin and all the women who have pushed the sports world for so many years, long before I even came out, to accept them for who they are.Continue Reading… … Read More
When she wants sex more
Once in bed at night, Cathy’s boyfriend would almost instantly curl up in the fetal position facing away from her and begin breathing heavily as though asleep. “But if I put my arm around him, he would stiffen up and hold his breath,” she says. “A couple times, I even saw him hurriedly shut his eyes.” Sometimes the 37-year-old from St. Louis, Mo., would take a more direct approach, telling him, “I want to be with you” — but she often ended up being rebuffed. It wasn’t uncommon for him to ask, “Why do we have to have sex all the time?”This is the gender reversal of what we’re used to hearing: stories about women complaining of a headache or offering a simple, “Not tonight, honey.” Just this week, the Wall Street Journal published a piece ostensibly about “differing expectations about sex” in relationships in general, but which fell back on the stereotype of the frigid wife who withholds sex. The piece presented only one real-life example of such a dynamic and, despite mentioning far, far down in the piece a study on desire that found no significant gender differences, the piece ran with the headline, “He Says ‘More’ and She Says ‘No.’”Continue Reading… … Read More
Family who chose prayer over medicine loses second child
A Rhawnhurst, Pennsylvania couple on probation for the 2009 death of their toddler son from pneumonia is accused of letting a second child die of a treatable illness, opting to pray rather than take the child to a doctor. According to the Associated Press, Herbert and Catherine Schaible are…
With France poised to legalize gay marriage, protests take a violent turn
The French National Assembly is expected to approve a marriage equality bill Tuesday afternoon, making France the 14th country to legalize gay marriage.But even with wide voting margins in the legislature and popular support among the public, opposition to the measure that would grant equal marriage and adoption rights to same-sex couples has intensified in recent weeks. Protests in Paris have turned violent, and gay couples have been the victims of vicious assaults.As The New York Times reports:At the margins, the demonstrations have also become more violent and homophobic, with a series of nightly demonstrations last week around Parliament that resulted in clashes with riot police officers and a number of arrests. Even opposition leaders have bemoaned the way harder-right groups have infiltrated the demonstrations, and there has been a small surge in violence against gay men and lesbians, with some beatings and angry, offensive words on social media. Two weeks ago, a Dutch-born man walking with his partner in Paris was beaten up. The man, Wilfred de Bruijn, posted a photograph of his bloodied face on his Facebook page, calling it “the face of Homophobia.” It has been shared thousands of times. Last week, two gay bars, in Bordeaux and Lille, were attacked, and a same-sex couple was attacked Saturday in Nice outside a gay nightclub.Continue Reading… … Read More
Hakken Couple Could Face Life Sentences for Taking Back Their Children
Joshua and Sharyn Hakken, the
Florida couple who “kidnapped” their own children after a Louisiana
judge terminated their parental rights following a 2012 marijuana
arrest, could be facing life in prison.
The Tampa Bay Times: ;
Because weapons were involved, the Hakkens could be facing
multiple charges carrying lifelong sentences. Kidnapping for the
purpose of committing a felony and burglary with battery are both
felonies punishable by life in prison, Tampa lawyer Rick Terrana
said.
“They are literally legal strangers to the children, therefore
it is straight-up kidnapping,” Marchese said. “They will have a
very difficult time in the criminal arena. You’ll never be able to
tell a biological parent, ‘You are no longer the parent.’ They
don’t understand that.”
That Times story came out lo April 10. A day later,
the paper reported that ;
Prosecutors also added one new charge: child abuse.
The couple inflicted “mental injury” on the children, according
to court records. If convicted, they face up to life in prison.
Child abuse is an odd, maybe even vicious, charge to levy,
considering that Chase and Cole believe they were on vacation.
The Times again: ;
The boys think they took a vacation to Cuba.
They have no idea that, according to deputies, they were
kidnapped by their parents.
On Thursday, a few hours after their parents made their first
appearance before a Hillsborough County judge, Cole and Chase
Hakken, ages 4 and 2, stood before a crush of media on their
grandparents’ front lawn. The boys flashed broad grins and held
hands.
The grandparents simply told the boys Thursday that people
wanted to take pictures of them because of their boat trip and
plane ride.
Bail was denied for both Joshua and Sharyn, which means they’ll
be jailed for the duration of their legal troubles, and probably
for long after. Their next hearing is on May 30, when we might see
some evidence that this tragedy had a point.
As of now, the only arguments I’ve seen that the Hakkens were a
danger to their kids is that they are a) marijuana users b) gun
owners and c) willing to use force to get their kids back. Oh, and
they distrusted the government. ;
Read more
about the Hakkens here. ; … Read More
