Stray Bullets - Sanity Rally, Gay Kissing Flashmob And Ugandan Rolling Stone In High Court

Rally To Restore Sanity:

Tens of thousands of people have joined Jon Stewart [1] and Stephen Colbert, satirical hosts on USA Comedy Central, for the Rally to Restore Sanity [2] at Washington DC’s National Mall. Orchestrated to lampoon and oppose the fiery Tea Party rallies and Fox TV host Glenn Beck’s Restoring Honour rally (October 31), as well as sensationalist political media coverage, the rally was estimated to be 200,000 people strong. Rally goers carried signs reading, “I Don’t Know What We Are Yelling About”, “I Think Obama Is Doing An Okay Job But I Had Realistic Expectations” and “I Went To The Rally To Restore Sanity And All I Got Was This Lousy Respect For Other People’s Opinions.” [3] Stewart awarded Medals of Reasonableness to wrestler Mick Foley for speaking out on school bullying and Velma Hart for well argued critical questions directed at President Obama during a town hall meeting. Jake Edmonds, a 23 year old student who attended the rally, told the Guardian, “I wanted to come here as a sort of plea for a more commonsense politics. The number of people here is a physical representation of what a lot of people think - that everyone needs to take it down a notch.”

Ugandan Paper Ordered To Stop Outing Gay People:

Vincent Musoke-Kibuuka, a Ugandan High Court Judge [4], has ordered a new Ugandan paper to stop outing gay people (October 31). The two month old Rolling Stone newspaper was issued the order after gay rights group Sexual Minorities Uganda petitioned the High Court. Homosexuality is a crime in Uganda, punishable by life imprisonment or the death penalty, and last month the paper said it would reveal 100 homosexual Ugandans [5]. Giles Muhame, editor of Rolling Stone, told the AFP news [6] agency, “We will publish more pictures but in a diplomatic way, so that we can dodge the law.” To Reuters news [7] agency, Muhame said, “I haven’t seen the court injunction but the war against gays will and must continue. We have to protect our children from this dirty homosexual affront.” Last year, Ugandan newspaper Red Pepper featured a “killer dossier” titled “Top Homos in Uganda Named.”

'Last year, Ugandan newspaper Red Pepper featured a “killer dossier” titled “Top Homos in Uganda Named”'

Gay Rights Group Plans Kissing Protest For Pope: 

Gay rights group Queer Kissing Flashmob [8] plans to hold a gay mass-kissing flash mob [9] in front of Pope Benedict XVI when he arrives in Spain next month. The group, composed of half a dozen friends, have had their Facebook page deleted twice but have gathered over 12,000 supporters who say they would attend the flash mob. Marylene Carole [10], one of the organisers, explained to the Telegraph the reason behind the event: “The reason is to show our unhappiness with an institution which for a long time has been against the sexual and emotional rights of many people who do not practice exclusively reproductive sex or people who not love each in the way the institution thinks is right.” Earlier this year [11] the Pope called gay marriage a “dangerous and insidious” challenge to society.

Words: Richard Lemmer
Photo: Flick user Sion Fullana (iPhoneographer in NYC) [12], from a gay rights march in New York.