April 08, 2015
Arizona LGBT-hater launches campaign against pro-gay Florida bakery
Issue 1576
Major tech company reportedly begins helping employees leave Indiana
claims he is “an American evangelist,” a “former pastor,” an “internet and social media personality,” and even a “hope peddler,” is apparently inciting violence against a Florida bakery owner and her employees. In a video posted briefly online, Joshua Feuerstein is shown calling all the way across the U.S. to ask Cut the Cake bakery in Longwood, Fla., to decorate a cake with the words “We do not support gay marriage.”
Joshua Feuerstein
OBSERVER STAFF FOUNTAIN HILLS, Ariz. -- An Arizonan whose website
Inside Stripling Warrior - The world’s first gay Mormon superhero
Bakery owner Sharon Haller can be heard responding, “Is this a crank call? No, we wouldn’t do that, sorry.” So Feuerstein began screeching “religious discrimination.” He called on Continued on page 11
Chelsea Manning begins tweeting from Leavenworth
Hundreds rally at the Indiana state capitol to protest Gov. Mike Pence's signing of a law permitting religious discrimination. What few LGBT protections were available in Indiana have been restored. Story on page 6
First openly gay Boy Scout leader already prepared for lawsuit from Scouts OBSERVER STAFF NEW YORK CITY -- A New York council of Boy Scouts of America announced last week that it had hired apparently the first-ever openly gay leader in defiance of the national organization’s ban on such employees, according to BuzzFeed.
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Kramer to Gay Men’s Health Crisis: Neglect of AIDS amounts to genocide Page 7
Marriott CEO: Indiana’s anti-gay Religious Freedom Act is ‘madness’ and ‘idiocy Page 4
There’s nothing ambiguous about the mess Gov. Pence hath wrought Page 3
LEAVENWORTH, Kan. -- Chelsea Manning, serving a 35-year sentence for spawning the Wikileaks scandal, has joined Twitter under the name @xychelsea. Manning apparently dictates her tweets over a landline phone from the Fort Leavenworth military prison, where she is incarcerated. She was convicted as Bradley Manning in 2013 under the Espionage Act for sharing classified information. She came out as transgendered during her incarceration and became known as Chelsea, fighting an uphill battle for hormone treatments. In February, government doctors approved her request as medically necessary. She said she hopes the tweets develop into a dialogue with the outside world. She will be eligible for parole in seven years. Manning was the subject of Alex Gibney's 2013 documentary, "We Steal Secrets."
Ted S. Warren / AP
Pascal Tessier has been hired by the New York chapter of the Boy Scouts of America despite national leadership barring the hiring of openly gay adults.
The new leader, Pascal Tessier, made headlines in February 2014 when he became the first openly gay Eagle Scout, Scouting’s highest ranking, so he’s no stranger to the limelight. Continued on page 10
LGBT magazine lifts up Bisbee as 1 of 3 prime travel spots in red states OBSERVER STAFF Out Traveler, the LGBT travel magazine, knows about southern Arizona’s best-kept secret. Bisbee is one of three red-state “culinary oases” recommended for LGBT foodies in the magazine’s current issue, along with Asheville, N.C., and Birmingham, Ala. There’s just enough about each place to whet your appetite, of course -- it’s up to you to do further exploration. Continued on page 13
You can’t find accommodations more quaint than The Shady Dell in Bisbee.