Sainsbury's told lesbian couple to stop kissing or leave supermarket after customer complained

Student Annabelle Sacher was shopping in her local Sainsbury’s when she decided to give her girlfriend a spontaneous peck on the cheek.

One fellow customer, however, didn’t see the ‘light kiss’ as a romantic gesture – and reported the couple to a security guard who allegedly then told them to leave.

The female guard explained that the shopper had complained that the lesbian clinch was ‘disgusting’, and that she was ‘worried for her child’.

Infuriated, the 22-year-old reported the incident to fellow gay rights activists online, declaring that Sainsbury’s was guilty of perpetrating a hate crime and that she had a ‘human right’ to kiss in the supermarket.

The row began on Saturday – which was National Coming Out Day – in a Sainsbury’s in Brighton, a town known for its vibrant gay scene.

In a post on gay rights charity Stonewall’s Facebook page, Miss Sacher said: ‘The security guard later apologised, saying that she herself was gay and had simply been asked to speak to us by another customer who found us “disgusting” and was “worried for her child”.

‘I felt sorry for the guard. However, the fact is that she perpetrated a hate crime on behalf of Sainsbury’s.

‘My partner and myself should not have been made to feel humiliated simply because we were two women. It is our legal and human right to express ourselves and today Sainsbury’s took that right away and made me feel like a lesser human being.’

The English literature student at Sussex University in Brighton added: ‘I am outraged and deeply humiliated by this incident.’

Last night a Sainsbury’s spokesman said that it had made a full apology, promised similar incidents would not happen again and said it had paid money to a charity of Miss Sacher’s choice. 

The spokesman denied the security guard had told Miss Sacher to leave, and instead asked her to stop kissing, but apologised for her treatment all the same.

‘This should never have happened – it is clear that she and her partner were not behaving inappropriately and we are very sorry that they were treated in this way,’ the spokesman said.

‘We have called her to apologise and will be making a donation to a charity of her choice.’

Miss Sacher, who is originally from Hampstead Garden Suburb, north London – where she was brought up by her leading lawyer father Jonathan, 59, and estate agent mother Marla, 55, in a £3million house – said she was delighted with the response. She has since made the supermarket one of her ‘favourites’ on Facebook. 

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Sainsbury's in Brighton has been forced to apologise to the couple for asking them to leave the store if they did not stop kissing  - because another customer had called them 'disgusting'

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2790020/sainsbury-s-told-lesbian-couple-stop-kissing-leave-supermarket-customer-complained.html

Egypt: 7 Held for Alleged Homosexual Conduct

Unlawful Arrests Undermine Basic Freedoms, Rule of Law

(Beirut) – Egyptian authorities should immediately release seven men arrested on September 6, 2014 for allegedly “inciting debauchery,” Human Rights Watch said today.  Prosecutor General Hisham Barakat ordered the men detained and “physically examined” after an online video emerged showing the men attending what appeared to be a same-sex marriage ceremony on a Nile riverboat.

The arrests are the latest of a long line of cases in which Egyptian authorities have persecuted men suspected of homosexual conduct. In the most recent convictions, in April, four men were sentenced to up to eight years in prison.

“Over the years, Egyptian authorities have repeatedly arrested, tortured, and detained men suspected of consensual homosexual conduct,” said Graeme Reid, director of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights program at Human Rights Watch. “These arrests represent another assault on fundamental human rights and reflect the Egyptian government’s growing disdain for the rule of law.”

In a statement announcing the arrests, the prosecutor general’s office accused the men of broadcasting footage that “violates public decency,” and urged investigators to quickly refer the suspects to trial, “to protect social values and mete out justice.” The state news agency said that authorities are still searching for two men allegedly involved in the incident, which they have described as a “devilish shameless party.”

One of the men involved in the incident reportedly phoned in to an Egyptian television news program to deny that he was homosexual or that the filmed event was a gay marriage. He said the publication of the video, on YouTube, had made him afraid to appear in public.

As the prosecutor general had directed, the arrested suspects were subjected to forensic anal examinations—a procedure which the Egyptian authorities have used repeatedly in cases of alleged homosexual conduct—and which violates international standards against torture. In the past, those subjected to the examinations in Egypt said they were forced to bend over while a government doctor working for the police massaged their buttocks and examined and sometimes probed their anus.

“Findings” from such examinations have been used in court, though experts have dismissed them as medically and scientifically useless in determining whether consensual anal sex has taken place. Hisham Abdel Hamid, a spokesman for the Health Ministry’s Forensic Medical Authority, announced on September 8 that, based on results of the forensic anal exams, the men were “not homosexuals.”

Egypt does not explicitly criminalize same-sex sexual relations between consenting adults, but same-sex marriage is not legal, and authorities have routinely arrested people suspected of engaging in consensual homosexual conduct on charges of “debauchery.”  In October 2013, prosecutors ordered 14 suspects detained and subjected to anal examinations for engaging in homosexual conduct at a medical center in Cairo. In April, four men were convicted of “debauchery” and sentenced to up to eight years in prison after holding parties where authorities found makeup and women’s clothing and which allegedly involved consensual homosexual conduct.

The largest such case in recent Egyptian history, known as the Queen Boat Trials, occurred in 2001with thearrests of more than 50 men allegedly involved in a party at a discotheque on a cruise vessel moored in the Nile.

Egyptian authorities have also sexually assaulted women using the excuse of similarly abusive medical examinations. In 2011, seven women were subjected to “virginity tests” by military authorities after protests in Tahrir Square. The military has never adequately investigated the assaults or held any officer accountable.

In 1994, the United Nations Human Rights Committee ruled in the case of Toonen v. Australia that laws criminalizing consensual homosexual conduct between adults violate the rights to non discrimination and privacy. The committee monitors state compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Egypt is party. Furthermore, Egypt’s use of forensic anal examinations violates international standards against torture. The U.N. Committee Against Torture, in its 2002 review of Egypt, investigated the issue of forensic anal examinations and called on the government “to prevent all degrading treatment on the occasion of body searches.”

In the 14 months since President Mohamed Morsi was ousted by the military, at least 22,000 Egyptians have been arrested, many of them for expressing political dissent. One Egyptian non-governmental organization has documented over 41,000 arrests or indictments in the same period. Authorities have held many detainees without charge or trial for months, amid mounting reports of torture and other ill-treatment of detainees.

“Egyptian authorities should immediately end the practice of arbitrarily arresting and torturing adults who are privately engaged in consensual sexual relations,” Reid said. “These latest arrests are an ominous indication that President al-Sisi’s government will show no greater respect for the rights of vulnerable groups than its predecessors.”

http://www.hrw.org/node/128907

Michael Sam: First openly gay NFL player is cut from squad

'The most worthwhile things in life rarely come easy'

Michael Sam, the first openly gay player in the NFL, has failed to make the final 53-man squad for the St Louis Rams.

Sam, 24, became one of America’s only high-profile gay athletes when he came out in February to widespread acclaim, including congratulations from President Barack Obama.

The Rams’ head coach Jeff Fisher said on Saturday that Sam’s failure to make the team was “a football decision.”

He said: “He’s not about drawing about attention to himself. He kept his head down and worked and you can’t ask anything more out of any player for that matter.”

Sam responded to the news on Twitter: “The most worthwhile things in life rarely come easy, this is a lesson I’ve always known. The journey continues.”

As one of 22 players that failed to make the Rams’ final roster ahead of the Saturday deadline for squad submission, Sam has become available to other NFL teams to pick up off waivers.

Having played college football as a defensive end at the University of Missouri, Sam was drafted by the Rams in May, and his celebratory kiss with boyfriend Vito Cammisano was broadcast on national television.

Although Sam’s coming out earlier this year was widely celebrated, some in the sport expressed anger and disgust. Miami Dolphins Don Jones was disciplined for tweeting “omg” and “horrible” after the kiss was aired by ESPN, US radio host Michael Brown called Sam “selfish” for declaring his homosexuality, and Mississippi State player Rufus Warren tweeted to Sam that football “is a MAN sport.”

Sam’s failure to make the NFL squad could kickstart further conversations about the homophobic culture of the National Football League

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/first-openly-gay-nfl-player-is-cut-from-squad-9701948.html
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As Kellie Maloney has experienced, when you're transgender, strangers think it's OK to ask intimate questions – it's not

For the fantastic gains that transgender people have made in human rights and social acceptance, we still have a very long way to go

Famous boxing promoter, Kellie Maloney, recently came out as transgender. She did so as a pre-emptive move, because it had become clear to her that at least two newspapers were going to out her without her permission. It’s a familiar threat that transgender people face. Last year, mixed martial arts fighter Fallon Fox was similarly forced to out herself under essentially identical conditions. Why does this happen?

The obvious answer, perhaps, is that transgender people’s lives pique people’s curiosity. More so if it is seen as newsworthy, something that invites spectacle. This almost always comes at the cost of the trans person’s right to privacy, and indeed their safety. Outing a trans person can open up that person to a number of harms from hate mail (physical and digital) and threatening phone calls, to physical threats and even violence. And, of course, this can coincide with losing friends, family, and employment. All of these are real, widespread possibilities, even in jurisdictions that have legal protections for trans people.

Discrimination

For the fantastic gains that transgender people have made in human rights and social acceptance, particularly in the last few years, we still have a very long way to go. Employment and housing discrimination is still widespread. In many American states, discriminating against someone for being transgender is still fully legal. However, outing someone who’s trans is considered harassment in many jurisdictions where discrimination based on gender identity and expression is prohibited, such as in Canada (particularly Ontario).

In a recent video interview, Maloney revealed that she felt a sense of relief about being out and, in an important sense, finally free to pursue her transition. I can relate to that experience. When you’re out, there isn’t the worry that you’ll be outed and the accompanying sense of panic that can produce (along with the many attendant potential harms).

But being out has its own costs. There’s often a bigger sense of safety to not being out, particularly for public figures.

Referring to transgender people’s past

One important issue is how to refer to a trans person’s past after a transition. I’m asked this question frequently. The short answer is that it depends on the preferences of the person in question: how do they want people to refer to their past? For some, they’re fine with people using their previous pronouns and even name (if they’ve changed their name as part of their transition). But many prefer their past to be referred to with their current name and pronouns. For example, if this is Maloney’s preference, people should only refer to her pre-transition past as “Kellie” and “she/her/hers.”

In general, the safest rule-of-thumb is to assume that the person wants their past referred to only with their current name and pronouns. Mistakenly referring to someone’s past using previous names or pronouns can be deeply hurtful, because it implicitly invalidates their identity. People who haven’t had to battle this often have a difficult time appreciating just how hurtful it can be.

Transgender people aren’t open books

Another frequent question I get involves what one can ask a trans person. For example, it’s common for people’s curiosity to get the best of them, and they’ll ask deeply personal questions. Perhaps the most common inappropriate question is whether a trans person will get or has had “the” surgery. I’ve written before about the barriers that trans people often face in seeking important healthcare. What’s important here is that not all trans people seek the same forms of treatment and that what treatment they do seek is deeply private information that should be left between them and their medical team and perhaps their closest family and friends.

I’m often amazed that, for example, otherwise polite people, who would nearly never walk up to an acquaintance or complete stranger and ask if they’ve had an abortion (or some other similarly private, personal medical information), will blithely ask a trans person whether they’re planning to have genital surgery. Curiosity isn’t a justification for this. If a trans person wants to initiate and to open up that conversation with you, then fine, but don’t think that it’s okay to ask these sorts of personal, private questions – it isn’t.

Since the visibility of trans people is a relatively new phenomenon, it’s understandable that people are intrigued by trans people’s experiences. People are often confronting a trans person for the first time (that they know about at least – they may well have already encountered a trans person and had no idea). People are curious. But unfortunately, this often translates into a trans person being seen as a living library on all things transgender. Trans people often face a barrage of questions: When did you know? Will you change your hair? Do you want me to take you shopping? How did your family react? How did your colleagues respond? Do you still like men/women? What’s involved with a transition?

These are all reasonable questions, in the right context. But those contexts usually involve more intimate conversations between friends and where the trans person has made it clear that they’re open to talk about such things. These questions are generally completely inappropriate between acquaintances and especially strangers.

Think to yourself whether you’d feel comfortable being asked parallel questions about your own life. I suspect that most of us would rather not face such questions, often day-in and day-out, as trans people do.

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/features/as-kellie-maloney-has-experienced-when-youre-transgender-strangers-think-its-ok-to-ask-intimate-questions--its-not-9681722.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

Christian singer Vicky Beeching: 'I knew I was gay when I was 13'

A huge star on the American evangelical Christian scene, Vicky Beeching found the stress of being gay in a very conservative community almost intolerable and became seriously ill. Having come out, she wants to spread the message that you don't have to choose between your faith and your sexuality. Here she tells how she reached breaking point

Why Vicky Beeching coming out matters

Long admired by conservative evangelicals, Beeching can hopefully bring about an acceptance of homosexuality among 

The singer and songwriter Vicky Beeching, who has come out as gay, ‘has been a star of the Bible belt and a mainstay of the British evangelical scene’

The silence was awkward for him and beautiful for me. It happened at a conference last year run by a group from Holy Trinity Brompton, an influential evangelical Anglican church that counts the Archbishop of Canterbury among its supporters. And yet, surely knowing that the audience weren’t exactly Westboro Baptists, the speaker expected us to be noisily complicit with his rabid homophobia.

The preacher spoke of the “darkness” in our nation and with incredulity gave as an example the fact that schools in Northern Ireland teach that homosexuality is acceptable. “Are they doing that here?” he inquired of the hundreds assembled. But the assembly, hitherto effusive with their applause and amens, made no sound. The preacher was peeved and as silent second followed silent second, facetiously asked: “Shall we hold hands and contact the living?”

This moment seemed significant. The evangelical wing of the Church of England was standing up to homophobia. But it was doing so by sitting down and saying nothing.

This is part of the complex backdrop against which last week a woman named Vicky Beeching came out as gay. In 2014, this shouldn’t be a story. But since it may lead to change in Britain’s constitution and save lives, everyone should pay attention.

With 45,000 Twitter followers and a regular slot on BBC Radio 4’s Thought for the Day, Beeching is arguably the most influential Christian of her generation. She is, among other things, a singer and songwriter, and has long been admired by conservative evangelicals on both sides of the Atlantic. She has been a star of the Bible belt and a mainstay of the British evangelical scene, from where she hails.

A perception remains that the C of E’s only relevant contribution to national life is as an organiser of village fetes and purveyor of cake. But it also has a confident and thriving evangelical wing. This often does good in the areas it serves but is part of the barrier to gay people who want to marry in their local Anglican church. Opinions within it vary widely and many evangelicals abhor homophobia. But two truths apply almost invariably to its churches: that they are members of the Evangelical Alliance, which appears equivocal on whether homosexuality is inherently sinful, and that they view Beeching as one of their own. Since knowing a gay person often changes people’s minds on the issue, there can be hope that Beeching coming out can help shift the centre of gravity and end an institutional and constitutional injustice.

But this issue extends beyond the C of E. Beeching’s experience of homophobia among Christians has left her literally scarred: her forehead is marked by a disease resulting from her turmoil. Some have fared even worse – a young gay American killed himself following an alleged “exorcism”, while concerns have been expressed about the effect of homophobic preaching on others who have taken their lives.

Today in Britain, the US and elsewhere, gay young people are being told by men and women in whom they place their trust that their feelings result from demonic possession and can be prayed away. Beeching tells of being “exorcised” at a festival for young Christians. I know gay Christians who speak of similarly scarring experiences. Emotional and spiritual abuse has been and is being perpetrated against gay young people. It must stop.

Church leaders understandably don’t want to appear obsessed with sex but this is a matter of life and death. Festivals for young Christians, such as Soul Survivor, must be explicit about their acceptance of homosexuality, and the wider church’s words on the issue must be matched with actions. The campaign against homophobic bullying in C of E schools is welcome, but when the church itself fails to treat gay relationships as equal to heterosexual relationships, its message is undermined.

Three years ago, the Christian activist Symon Hill embarked on a pilgrimage of repentance for his former homophobia. It’s now time for the church as a whole to follow in his footsteps. As a means of opposing injustice, sitting down and saying nothing may be polite but it’s not what Jesus did, and it’s not what Beeching’s story demands.

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/aug/18/vicky-beeching-coming-out-matters-christians

Lesbian women are 'significantly more likely' to orgasm than straight or bisexual females

Women also have 'less predictable' and more varied orgasms than men

Lesbian women are much more likely to orgasm during sexual activity than either straight or bisexual females, a new study has revealed.

Women also have less predictable and more varied orgasms than men, research looking at orgasm variation by a team at the Kinsley Institute has found.

Their study discovered that for women - but not men - how likely they are to orgasm varied depending on their sexual orientation, with bi-sexual women being the least likely to experience orgasms.

Researchers used an internet questionnaire to collect data from a total of 6,151 single men and women between the ages of 21 and 65 in the US.

The participants were asked about their gender, sexual orientation (heterosexual, gay/lesbian, bisexual), and what percentage of the time they reached orgasm during sex with a familiar partner.

The results from the survey revealed that, on average, men orgasm during sex with a familiar partner 85 per cent of the time, compared with 63 per cent of the time for women. However, lesbian women had a much higher probability of orgasm (75 per cent) than either heterosexual women, at 62 per cent, or bisexual women, at 58 per cent.

The same variation was not found in men.

Researchers suggested this variation could be due to lesbian women being more comfortable and familiar with the female body, Metro reports. 

“Findings from this large dataset of US singles suggest that women, regardless of sexual orientation, have less predictable, more varied orgasm experiences than do men and that for women, but not men, the likelihood of orgasm varies with sexual orientation.

“These findings demonstrate the need for further investigations into the comparative sexual experiences and sexual health outcomes of sexual minorities.”

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/features/lesbian-women-are-significantly-more-likely-to-orgasm-than-straight-or-bisexual-females-9678597.html

'My uncles are gay and we had to go to New Zealand to have their wedding': Girl, eight, writes to Tony Abbott asking for marriage law to be changed

• Eight year old writes to Prime Minister Tony Abbott to ask him to change gay marriage laws so her uncles can get married.
• 'I will write to you once a day for a week' Abbey tells Prime Minister
• Melbourne Couple Gregory Storer and Michael Barnett will star in a TV series to highlight marriage equality.
• 'I was gobsmacked'. Uncle's comments on his niece's letters to Mr Abbott.
• Letters receive plenty of support and praise on social media.

An eight year old girl called Abbey is now the latest of young people to advocate for gay marriage.

The girl, who is the niece of a Melbourne gay couple, has written several letters to Prime Minister Tony Abbott in a bid to get him to change his mind about marriage equality so her uncles can marry.

Couple Michael Barnett and Gregory Storer will star in a TV series, which sees them live for a week with conservative Anglican priest called David who is anti gay marriage.

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Michael Barnett (left) and Gregory Storer (right) are praising their niece Abbey who wrote letters to Prime Minister Tony Abbott asking him to change the law for gay marriage.

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Letter from eight year Abbey asking Tony Abbott to change gay marriage laws

When Abbey found out her uncles were going to appear in the upcoming SBS special : Living with the Enemy :Same Sex Marriage, she felt compelled to write to the Prime Minister, asking him to change the law and legalise marriage equality.

In one of her letters she wrote, 'I will write to you once a day for a week. P.S. I would like the law changed.

 

Mr Storer said he was surprised and gobsmacked that Abbey, his sister's daughter, had decided to write the  letters. 

'It was completely unprompted by us. After the wedding she wanted to know how to make it happen (changing  the marriage equality laws). In her own way she understands.' 

Mr Storer said, 'she was disappointed it might take a while to get back a response from the Prime Minister. But we'll wait for about a month or so to get a response and then look at other avenues, maybe even sending a letter to the Queen.'

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Gregory Storer (left) and Michael Barnett (right) go in for a kiss at a rally to support gay marriage.

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Abbey wrote several letter to Prime Minister Tony Abbott asking him to change the laws so gay people (including her uncles) could get married legally in Australia.

He said ti was becoming more and more common for young people to stand up for gay rights. 

'I think what's interesting is Abbey's motivation. It was just something she thought of herself , shows she understands the importance of treating people the same and equal, really heartwarming.' 

Mr Storer blogged his delight at the letters calling his niece 'awesome', which sparked a lot of supportive comments.

'That is so beautiful, everyone seems to get it but that lot in Canberra.' wrote one follower.

Another wrote 'Well done Abbey, you are a powerful young lady. I have a son who would like to marry one day and I hope that both my son and uncle will be able to do it. Welcome to the rainbow families.'

Another follower also said 'Children just get it, they have not been influenced by prejudice and discrimination. This gives such hope for the future.'

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Michael Barnett and Gregory Storer recently went to a Equal Love Rally to support gay marriage.

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Equal Love Rally : Melbourne couple Michael Barnett and Gregory Storer went this weekend to support gay marriage.

Michael and Gregory who have been together for six years, just got married in New Zealand in January.

The couple were recently at the Equal Love Rally this weekend to support the gay marriage movement and Mr Storer says their decision to be part of a TV series was because he and Michael are very passionate about the cause. 

'It was a fantastic opportunity to make it known, the world isn't going to end if gay people get married.

'It was intense (living with a priest) and a few sparks flew. A rollercoaster ride for 10 days together. It didn't change opinions but we got a different perspective.'

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2727771/Eight-year-old-writes-letters-Tony-Abbott-asking-uncles-married.html?ito=social-twitter_mailonline