Pitbull Admits it All...

During his last tour in South America to promote his last single "Olè Olè Olè" Pitbull finally admits his sexual orientation to this interviewer.

76+ (more like 81) countries with anti-homosexuality laws

Countries where homosexual activity is illegal.

The International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association, or ILGA, lists 77 countries with criminal laws against sexual activity by lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or intersex people (LGBTIs), but that’s an understatement.
A more realistic, 81-country list is below, including links to this blog’s coverage of individual countries.
The ILGA total as of early 2013 was 81 countries if you included Indonesia, where two large provinces outlaw homosexual acts, as well as political entities that aren’t fully accepted by the international community — Gaza/Palestine, the Turkish-controlled northern portion of Cyprus, and the Cook Islands, a self-governing country whose residents all have citizenship in New Zealand.
On Dec. 11, 2013, that total increased by one — to 82 countries with anti-homosexuality laws — when the Supreme Court of India reversed a lower court ruling that had suspended enforcement of the law. But in January 2014, North Cyprus repealed its law, thus returning the total to 81.

Click on the image for an interactive graphic from The Guardian, showing the status of LGBT rights, country by country, around the world.

The total would actually be 82 countries if you were to include Russia, which does not have a law against homosexual acts but is in the midst of an anti-gay crackdown on the basis of its new law against “gay propaganda.”
Back in 2012, based on a separate, nearly complete count, St. Paul’s Foundation for International Reconciliation cited a total of 76 countries. That list was used in that year’s Spirit of 76 Worldwide program aimed at repealing those laws. It also inspired the name of this blog — “Erasing 76 Crimes.”
Here is the list of 81 countries and independent political entities with anti-homosexuality laws, with links to coverage in this blog:
Africa
1 Algeria
2 Angola
3 Botswana
4 Burundi
5 Cameroon
6 Comoros
7 Egypt
8 Eritrea
9 Ethiopia
10 Gambia
10 Ghana
12 Guinea
13 Kenya
14 Lesotho
15 Liberia
16 Libya
17 Malawi (enforcement of law suspended)
18 Mauritania
19 Mauritius
20 Morocco
21 Mozambique
22 Namibia
23 Nigeria
24 Sao Tome
25 Senegal
26 Seychelles
27 Sierra Leone
28 Somalia
29 South Sudan
30 Sudan
31 Swaziland
32 Tanzania
33 Togo
34 Tunisia
35 Uganda
36 Zambia
37 Zimbabwe
Benin had been included in some editions of the ILGA report, but homosexuality is not illegal there, though the age of consent is higher for same-sex relations than for heterosexual relations. It was removed from this list in May 2014.
Asia, including the Middle East

38 Afghanistan
39 Bangladesh
40 Bhutan
41 Brunei
42 India
43 Iran
44 Kuwait
45 Lebanon (law ruled invalid in one court)
46 Malaysia
47 Maldives
48 Myanmar
49 Oman
50 Pakistan
51 Palestine/Gaza Strip
52 Qatar
53 Saudi Arabia
54 Singapore
55 Sri Lanka
56 Syria
57 Turkmenistan
58 United Arab Emirates
59 Uzbekistan
60 Yemen
Two Asian/Middle Eastern countries were listed separately by ILGA in early 2013 under the heading “Legal status of homosexual acts unclear or uncertain”:

In Iraq, there is no law against homosexual acts, but homophobic violence is unchecked and self-appointed sharia judges reportedly have imposed sentences for homosexual behavior.
In India, enforcement of the law against homosexual activity had been suspended by court action, but the Supreme Court overturned that ruling on Dec. 11, 2013, so India is back on the main list of countries with anti-homosexuality laws.

Americas
61 Antigua & Barbuda
62 Barbados
63 Belize
64 Dominica
65 Grenada
66 Guyana
67 Jamaica
68 St Kitts & Nevis
69 St Lucia
70 St Vincent & the Grenadines
71 Trinidad & Tobago
In the United States, anti-sodomy laws were ruled unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2003, but they are still on the books in 13 states: Alabama, Florida, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, Utah and Virginia. Conservative state legislators refuse to repeal the laws and, in some cases, police still enforce them. Reportedly, in the past few years more than a dozen LGBT people were arrested for violating those laws, but the arrestees were freed because prosecutors won’t seek convictions based on defunct laws.
Oceania
72 Cook Islands
73 Indonesia (Aceh Province and South Sumatra)
74 Kirbati
75 Nauru
76 Palau
77 Papua New Guinea
78 Samoa
79 Solomon Islands
80 Tonga
81 Tuvalu
Europe
No country in Europe has a law against homosexuality. The last one, Northern Cyprus, repealed its law in January 2014.
Also in Europe and worth mentioning but not on that list of countries with laws against homosexuality are:

Russia, which enacted a law in 2013 prohibiting any positive mention of homosexuality in the presence of minors, including online;
Ukraine, which has considered, but so far has not adopted a similar law against “gay propaganda.”
Moldova, which adopted and then repealed such a law in 2013.

For more information, download the ILGA report on state-sponsored homophobia and maps of countries that recognize and those that reject gay and lesbian rights.
Related information:
76 Countries Where Anti-Gay Laws Are As Bad As Or Worse Than Russia’s (Each country’s law summarized in a list compiled by BuzzFeed. With photos.)

New York Times Invents New Euphemism for Being Gay

Today the New York Times published a story about Illinois GOP Congressman Aaron Schock’s “popular Instagram persona” and the many (male) admirers his shirtless photos have accumulated. “Popular Instagram persona” is the Times’s clever way of saying “homosexuality.” Just read the story itself.

Mr. Schock has posted shots of himself surfing in Hawaii and sliding down a sand dune on a wooden plank and splashing into the water. ... “Ride it, baby,” a man from New York wrote. Another man commented, “Rawr!” Someone with an anonymous profile wrote, “URGH marry me you fiscally conservative stud you.” (Mr. Schock has said that he is not gay.)

You’ll notice, of course, that the Times never explicitly states that Representative Schock is gay. Just that two male Instagram users, one of them in New York, happened to compliment the physical attractiveness of the Congressman’s body. Normal stuff like that.

This isn’t the first Times article referring to Schock’s Instagram account, but it is, weirdly enough, the first of those articles to name the Congressman. When a former CBS News freelancer alluded to Schock’s sexuality in a January post on Facebook—and the subsequent discussion became too large for the Times to ignore—the paper refused to print Schock’s name. It did, however, describe (without linking to) the very same Instagram account, “which included photos of him lifting weights at the gym and following the newly out diver Tom Daley,” on which today’s report is based.

We hope the Times continues to closely follow this story.

In the meantime, post your favorite moments of Schock’s personal Instagram persona below.

Religion and being gay

Religion and being gay (1/2)

I believe that if there is a God who created all things, it logically follows that he created gay people too. I cannot believe that any god – being a good, loving, infinitely wise entity - would create gay people with the expectation that they should be unhappy, lonely and repressed, and spend their lives in denial of who they are so that they might be tolerated by others and welcomed into heaven by him.
It’s beyond the scope of this website to discuss all religions' views on homosexuality, especially since the bases for these views are prone to a variety of interpretations. Here I broadly focus on Christianity.
Though you might speak to God via prayer, nobody can actually have a two-way conversation with him. And so we have friends, family, teachers and priests telling us what they think God wants, expects or demands of us. I think that homophobia in religion isn't really about God. It's about how people who believe in him choose to interpret religious texts, teachings and traditions and how that is used to justify anti-gay behaviour i.e. some churches welcome gay members, other do not. Same bible though.

The way they see it

Conservative Christian groups tend to share the following beliefs:

The Bible makes it clear that homosexuality is a sin.
Being gay is fundamentally wrong, unnatural, and a psychological problem.
Being gay is a choice. Homosexual behaviour is something someone deliberately decides to participate in.
A homosexual person can become heterosexual if they want to, through prayer and/or therapy.
God intended everyone to be heterosexual and that by choosing to be gay you are offending him. God hates homosexual acts.
Homosexual behaviour develops due to poor upbringing or bad parenting.
Homosexuality is not genetic and doesn't begins in the womb i.e. God would not create gay people.
Sexually active gay people should not be welcomed by the church or ever be allowed to become priests. Some denominations are more tolerant toward gay people who are celibate (do not have sex) and who are not currently in a same-sex romantic relationship.
Giving gay people the same rights as straight people would encourage more young people to choose homosexuality. This would undermine heterosexual union.
Homosexual relationships undermine and have a destabilising effect on society.

Is homosexuality sinful or evil?

Homosexuality occurs naturally and is considered by many to be a normal type of sexual orientation. Gay people are more or less visible in society depending on its attitude toward homosexuality. A gay person in a very homophobic country with anti-gay laws and fervent religious persecution will likely hide who they are out of fear. This creates the illusion that homosexuality occurs less - or doesn't exist at all - in deeply religious parts of the world.
What comes to mind when you consider what's wrong with the world? War, poverty, environmental decay, animal cruelty, child abuse, bigotry and hatred, racism and homophobia? I doubt you put love and sex at the top of your list. These things are wonderful and natural. Loving someone and sharing your life with that person can bring intense happiness and pleasure, and a great sense of fulfilment and wellbeing. Most people desire romantic love and physical intimacy. It’s human nature. When a man and a woman express love for one another within a committed relationship it is usually celebrated by the church, while a same-sex couple living in a similar way may be condemned.
Homosexuality occurs in animals too. You may have heard of the penguin male couple, Roy and Silo, at Central Park Zoo in New York who hatched and raised baby Tango. Another story from a German zoo revealed that attempts by zoo keepers to turn gay penguins straight by introducing females failed. These birds are following their natural instincts. They form close bonds, have sex, and seek to become successful parents. Homosexual behaviour has been observed in other species too. If homosexuality occurs throughout nature then surely it is a normal part of the natural world. The only difference is that animals don't make value judgements (deciding if something is good or bad). In other words, homosexuality is morally neutral in species other than human.

Does the Bible say that being gay is wrong?

There is ongoing debate about whether the Bible really does condemn homosexuality or just specific instances of same-sex behaviour. Many say that the Bible is open to interpretation and that different meanings can be gleaned from it. It's safe to say that someone from a conservative religious background might be keen to see condemnation of homosexuality and messages that validate his or her own feelings, while a liberal reader might decide that the Bible does not condemn loving and monogamous same-sex relationships. Also, a person studying the Bible today may or may not be willing to question what they read in light of contemporary thinking and scientific progress. Literal interpretation of the Bible would quickly lead to problems in today's world when you consider its outlook on slavery, the rights of woman, the use of corporal punishment and the death penalty, as well as the methods used in both. The Religious Tolerance website has much more on this topic.

Is homosexuality a choice? Can it be changed?

Sexual orientation is not a choice. I didn’t choose to be gay. I’ve never met anyone who claims to have done so. Indeed, I remember being bullied in school for being gay before I knew I was! People knew I was different. Puberty kicks in and you find yourself being sexually attracted to other people, and there's not a thing you can do about it. You can't control or direct those feelings. You can't choose the gender or person you are attracted to.
Since I started this website I’ve read hundreds of emails from young people who’d give anything to be straight. Not because they think that being gay is wrong but because they think being straight is the only way to be accepted by their peers and by God. They would so desperately like to have a choice over their sexuality.
Would it make sense in a world that can be so hostile toward gay and bisexual people for anyone to choose to be anything but heterosexual?
Some groups believe that a gay person can be 'cured' of homosexuality. This is supposedly achieved through prayer, counselling, and reparative - or 'conversion' - therapy. This is based on the idea that since homosexuality is chosen, caused by poor upbringing, or brought about by a distorted sense of how to relate to the genders, it can be treated like any other psychological problem. Many believe that conversion therapy can be dangerous to a person's mental health, causing depression, low self-esteem, subsequent substance abuse, and even suicide. These treatments are unproven and experimental. I think that a person may learn to sidestep or undermine their sexuality, and even participate in a heterosexual relationship, but it's not possible to change sexual orientation or to develop genuine opposite-sex attraction. Of course it's possible to choose not to have sex with people of the same gender or to avoid any sort of same-sex stimulus like looking at gay pornography or spending time with a gay person you find attractive, but that's not the same thing as changing sexual orientation. Many who undergo reparative therapy report failure in their ability to change their sexuality and either feel worse about their situation or move on to accept themselves as they are.
Recently, the largest ex-gay organisation in the world, Exodus International, closed. It admitted that it's not possible to change a persons' sexual orientation. Its president, Alan Chambers, apologised to the gay community for hurt caused. He admitted at a Gay Christian Network conference in 2012 that 99.9% of those who underwent conversion therapy didn't experience sexuality change. I seriously doubt the 0.1% - there's no proof even of that.
Most mental health professionals believe that homosexuality is a naturally occurring type of sexual orientation and cannot be altered through therapy or by other means. I think that being asked to change a fundamental and natural part of yourself, and being told that becoming heterosexual is the only way to be accepted by God, is sinister and deeply dangerous to a person's mental health.
Science suggests that homosexuality is genetic. In other words, you are born gay, just like you are born with a certain eye colour. Whatever weird and wonderful force that creates a straight, gay or bisexual person, happens in the womb.
I think that the only way to be truly happy is to embrace who you are. The closer you come to liking yourself and everything that you are, the happier, healthier and more fulfilled you'll become. You'll also be able to accept and enjoy the love of others if you accept yourself. The alternative to self-acceptance is not a cure, but a path of denial and repression, or worse.
Continues on next page.

Pitbull confess it All...