Friday, November 30, 2007
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Abstinence BS and Bush religious agenda
Abstinence like an ostrich (head in sand)
Our government uses taxpayer funds to push abstinence worldwide. Much of which is being used as a “shot in the arm” for religious organizations. (http://www.siecus.org/policy/egregrious_uses.pdf )
Since Bushco has taken over, the separation of church and state seems to not exist.
"If what you are asking is, has George Bush as president of the United States established priorities in spending for his administration? The answer is yes," said Wade F. Horn, who as assistant secretary for children and families at HHS oversees much of the spending going to conservative groups. "That is a prerogative that presidents have." (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/21/AR2006032101723_pf.html )
Congress appropriated $50 million in 2006. (http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2006-10-30-abstinence-message_x.htm )
The American Civil Liberties Union and Jenner & Block LLP filed a lawsuit challenging the federal government's misuse of taxpayer dollars to fund religious activities in the "Silver Ring Thing," a nationwide ministry program that uses abstinence-only sex education as a means to bring "unchurched" students to Jesus Christ.
(http://www.aclu.org/reproductiverights/gen/12602prs20050516.html )
Crushing news out of Uganda. The Bush administration’s $1 billion experiment in using abstinence messages as the basis of HIV prevention has born its first fruit: In a public speech on May 18, Uganda’s AIDS Commissioner Kihumuro Apuuli announced that HIV infections have almost doubled in Uganda over the past two years, from 70,000 in 2003 to 130,000 in 2005. And despite this chilling wake-up call, Bush has empowered Christian right activists to continue to push their abstinence-only agenda. (http://www.republicoft.com/2007/05/18/abstaining-from-reality/ )
The Bush administration is funding sexual health projects that teach children that HIV can be contracted through sweat and tears, touching genitals can result in pregnancy, and that a 43-day-old fetus is a thinking person.
The Virginia Governor has cut off state funding for abstinence-only sex education programs, citing recent studies finding that teenagers should also be taught about birth control and condoms to protect against pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases.
(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/12/AR2007111201716.html?hpid=sec-education )
abstinence policy hasn't worked at all
(http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=13076 )
Former Brazilian President Fernando Cardoso criticized the US for using the wrong strategy to fight Aids by promoting abstinence and fidelity. Brazil has halved the Aids death rate by setting up education campaigns, expanding basic health care and providing all those infected with anti-retroviral drugs.
Brazil announced last month that it would refuse to accept $40m in American aid rather than stigmatize prostitutes who Brazilian health workers said were essential to their anti-Aids strategy. Senegal was also cut off from US aid because prostitution is legal there.
While it goes without saying that abstinence is the best way of avoiding HIV infection, it does not make sense to ignore and deny resources to those that are sexually active who are in fact the ones most at risk of catching the virus. (http://www.globalaidsalliance.org/index.php/646 )
Brazil Refuses $40M in U.S. AIDS Grants To Protest Policy Requiring Groups To Condemn Commercial Sex Work (http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/23744.php )
Micro Management is killing us
Our government has micro managed our lives. Perhaps it’s to keep us off balance.
Inundate us with red tape. We are lucky to keep our head above water, much less worry about the slow back stabbing counter attack. Which will pull us under! Complacent people only feed this fire. Instead of questioning they have blind faith.
On state and federal levels our rights are eroding. Pursuit of Happiness is under attack, but they are doing it slowly hoping we won't notice. So it will be a "pain we can learn to live with".
We've all heard it said the government wants to control us with fear. Fear is but a small part! They have us fighting amidst each other causing a “blinder effect” (like a horse with blinders your vision is narrowed). People are so busy fighting each on little issues they can’t see the big issue! Their blind faith can't imagine a corrupt government!
We are taxed much higher then we should be partly because we have far more "government" than needed.
Of course more government means more laws and rules affecting our everyday life and usually costing us more money. Chopping away, bit by bit, at the foundation of survival.
This world is becoming a playground for the greedy, with the bill being paid by a disappearing middle class.
You folks remember in the past when there was a war, the economy always flourished? It was a windfall for the entire nation.
Do you think it's patriotic for a few powerful men in our government to benefit so much from the war? Not only did our government take us into a war we had no business being in, a few of them profited handsomely.
We placed our trust in these individuals when we elected them to office (or when a corrupt government placed them into office). They weren’t placed there so they could help themselves to whatever they want, giving themselves raises and generally act as if they are doing us a favor!
If they want to do us a favor they should all be working for minimum wage. Remember when they used to be called public servants? Who’s the servant now?
Maybe my memory is bad but didn't the government used to fear the people?
They wonder why there is so much crime and why the children are involved.
Maybe my memory is bad but didn't at least one parent used to stay home and raise the children? Perhaps children turn out better when they have parents present? But I suppose the government doesn’t get as much money when only one parent works!
Didn’t adults use to set examples for the younger generation? Didn't politicians, police and other elected/appointed officials use to set examples for the general public?
Come on folks! These things are "no brainers".
We created a machine to better our society. That machine has taken over our lives and is now choking us!
Please stop the complacency.
If we don't change direction soon, in a radical way, our doom is inevitable.
SILENCE = DEATH of life as we know it
In Germany, they came first for the Communists, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Communist;
And then they came for the trade unionists, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a trade unionist;
And then they came for the Jews, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Jew;
And then . . . they came for me . . . And by that time there was no one left to speak up."
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
HOPE: Kucinich
by Bilerico contributor Storm Bear
Most folks I know have a preferred candidate - Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, John Edwards or Al Gore. But the crazy thing is, they will turn right around and say, “You know who I really want to vote for? Kucinich.”
One thing I finally noticed about Kucinich during the AFL-CIO debate was how Kucinich always made more points during his alloted time than other candidates. I have been thinking about this and found the answer when I was reading the transcript. Kucinich doesn’t equivocate.
Going back and watching Kucinich in earlier debates via YouTube, one thing I noticed was how he usually said thank you for the question and was always very polite but firm and stern in his beliefs.
Dennis Kucinich started out as the mayor of Cleveland in 1977 - the youngest mayor of a large city in America.
One of his campaign promises was not to sell Cleveland’s public electricity utility, Cleveland Public Power to Cleveland Electric Illuminating Company - a corrupt company with a stack of federal violations of anti-trust laws held against it. When Kucinich got in office, the mafia figured out that this young Mayor was actually going to keep his word and not sell Cleveland Public Power to Cleveland Electric Illuminating Company so the mafia put a hit out for the murder of Kucinich.
Twenty-seven years later, our economic base, the middle class, has been pushed off a cliff and we are tumbling toward a very nasty end. Our open border policies need to be clamped shut and not over the span of three decades. We need to exit NAFTA, CAFTA, GATT and the WTO today, now, 10 minutes ago. Which candidate has this as a policy? Take a guess. Kucinich.
If you look at Kucinich’s voting record and his anthology of submitted legislation over the past 10 years, they read as if written by someone with prescient abilities. I am not saying he is a soothsayer or a prophet from Ohio, I am saying he is one smart guy and we need more of people like him in Congress, not less.
Our nation is in serious trouble and we have long since passed the point where half-measures would make any difference.
If we, as progressives, keep voting for the person we think can win, we are abject and total failures as citizens. We are betraying everything Paine, Jefferson and Henry stood for - honesty, equality and freedom.
Most of the candidates only have plans on repairing barely half of the damage Bush has done… with the exception of Kucinich. His record, plans and policies all reflect quantum leaps in government, bringing us to a position of being able to manufacture goods in this nation again. Allowing us to feed our families, educate our kids and stay healthy.
He supports real civil marriage equality (as does Gravel), real universal healthcare, real peace, real justice, real...starting to get the picture?
full article
MAINE: Charles Howard foundation
Charles Howard was an openly gay man living in Bangor, Maine. Charlie met a tragic fate in 1984 at the hands of three local teenagers who beat him for being "flamboyantly gay." Afterward, they cast him off the side of the State Street bridge into the Kenduskeag Stream where he suffered an asthma attack and drowned. Charles was 23 years old.
Robin Williams peace plan
Robin Williams, wearing a shirt which says "I Love New York" in arabic, lays out his plan for peace.
1) 'The US will apologize to the world for our 'interference' in their affairs, past & present. You know, Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, Tojo, Noriega, Milosevic, Hussein, and the rest of those 'good 'ole' boys', we will never 'interfere' again.
2) We will withdraw our troops from all over the world, starting with Germany , South Korea , the Middle East , and the Philippines . They don't want us there. We would station troops at our borders. No one allowed sneaking through holes in the fence.
3) All illegal aliens have 90 days to get their affairs together and leave .We'll give them a free trip home. After 90 days the remainder will be gathered up and deported immediately, regardless of whom or where they are. They're illegal!!! France will welcome them.
4) All future visitors will be thoroughly checked and limited to 90 days unless given a special permit!!!! No one from a terrorist nation will be allowed in. If you don't like it there, change it yourself and don't hide here. Asylum would never be available to anyone. We don't need any more cab drivers or 7-11 cashiers.
5) No foreign 'students' over age 21. The older ones are the bombers. If they don't attend classes, they get a 'D' and it's back home baby.
6) The US will make a strong effort to become self-sufficient energy wise. This will include developing non-polluting sources of energy but will require a temporary drilling of oil in the Alaskan wilderness. The caribou will have to cope for a while.
7) Offer Saudi Arabia and other oil producing countries $10 a barrel for their oil. If they don't like it, we go someplace else. They can go somewhere else to sell their production. (About a week of the wells filling up the storage sites would be enough.)
8) If there is a famine or other natural catastrophe in the world, we will not 'interfere.' They can pray to Allah or whomever, for seeds, rain, cement or whatever they need. Besides most of what we give them is stolen or given to the army. The people who need it most get very little, if anything.
9) Ship the UN Headquarters to an isolated island someplace. We don't need the spies and fair weather friends here. Besides, the building would make a good homeless shelter or lockup for illegal aliens.
10) All Americans must go to charm and beauty school. That way, no one can call us 'Ugly Americans' any longer. The Language we speak is ENGLISH..learn it...or LEAVE...
'The Statue of Liberty is no longer saying 'Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses.' She's got a baseball bat and she's yelling, 'you want a piece of me?' '
Saturday, November 24, 2007
Online "encyclopedias" bias
Wikipedia opened its' doors back in 2001.
A "Johnny come lately" Conservapedia came to existence in 2006 and claims Wikipedia is bias.
So let's take a look at the top ten searches in both formats:
Wikipedia:
1. Main Page
2. Wiki
3. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
4. Naruto
5. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock
6. United States
7. Wikipedia
8. Deaths in 2007
9. Heroes (TV series)
10. Transformers (film)
Conservapedia:
1. Main Page
2. Homosexuality
3. Homosexuality and Hepatitis
4. Homosexuality and promiscuity
5. Homosexuality and parasites
6. Gay bowel syndrome
7. Homosexual couples and domestic violence
8. Homosexuality and Gonorrhea
9. Homosexuality and Anal Cancer
10. Homosexuality and mental health
Gay hate causes teen suicide
A popular Ajax teen who would have turned 14 tomorrow hanged himself at home after being viciously cyber-bullied by classmates about being gay, his stepmom says.
Sandria Gillard, 46, said Shaquille Wisdom was online with a friend being told "not to do it" minutes before he hung himself from the stairs of her Annable Lane home on Oct. 20.
Gillard said Shaquille's body was found by his sister, Adrienne, 26, who is still traumatized.
Gillard said Shaquille, who loved school and was a popular student, wanted to be a movie producer. His problems began after he told a trusted friend he was gay.
She said Shaquille was stuffed into a garbage can by students at his school just days before he committed suicide. "I am confused and looking for some answers," Gillard said. "He was right before me on the computer and next thing he's dead."
More -*- Even More
Friday, November 23, 2007
Never in the Closet
by Albert Mohler
The pace of moral change is now accelerated to the point that it is clearly visible and undeniable.
Evidence for this is found in a recent article published in The Boston Globe Magazine. Entitled, "Easy Out," the article makes the case that today's gay teenagers in Massachusetts find leaving the "closet" very easy -- because they never thought themselves to be closeted as homosexual in the first place.
One day Peck heard several female friends giggling over an attractive older
boy, and the next thing he knew, he had joined the conversation. "The girls were
talking about how cute he was. I said something like 'Yeah, he is so cute,'"
Peck remembers. "It just kind of came out, and I was really startled by it." But
his friends were neither startled nor uncomfortable. "They didn't miss a beat,"
says Peck, now 19 and a freshman at New York University. "They totally accepted
me."
Emboldened by his friends' casual reaction, Peck, a slim young man with
curly brown hair, told his parents that he was gay. He was only 15. Their
response was equally positive and accepting. His mother, Nancy Peck, who lives
in Concord, says her only concern was making sure that Russell was "safe, happy,
and healthy." Her son shared his news with friends at Concord-Carlisle that
fall, joined Spectrum - a school-based discussion club about gay and lesbian
issues - and continued, he says, to feel "very comfortable" during his remaining
three years of high school.
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
VIDEO: Happy Holidays
Just some old video I had laying around. Put together a little video post card.
Happy Holidays
Las Vegas gay bashing victim declares hate crime
Thomas Lahey, believes he's the victim of a hate crime. He says he was targeted near a club popular with gays and lesbians.
News of the attack comes just as the FBI is reporting hate crimes are up 8-percent across the country.
Krave is billed as the preeminent gay and lesbian destination in Las Vegas. An accepting place inside, but outside on an early Sunday morning, it turned dangerous.
He told Eyewitness News, "They were calling us faggots, queers. When they were kicking me in the face, Jeremy said they kept saying, do you like that faggot?'"
If police determine Lahey and his friend were targeted because they're gay, the case would be classified as a hate crime. That moves the matter up to a more serious level with more severe punishment.
Miracle Mile says it is fully cooperating with Metro. So, it's just a matter of finding them on surveillance footage.
video interview
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Food for thought: Why all the hate?
by Dave Muskera, M.A.
I’m disappointed and disheartened by many recent events in the arena of conflict between organized religion and gay citizens.
Organized religion has a long and ignominious history of perpetuating self-serving “truths” and biblical interpretations: a long history of turning blind eyes to human suffering while building bigger and bigger churches and cathedrals; while those leading the flock live in luxury on the backs of Sunday alms givers; a long history of violence in the name of one god or another.
If, instead of spreading twisted statistics, egregious untruths and a host of other mean-spirited lies, people would seek factual information…then, some of this stupidity might go away. Probably not - for this issue is one of emotion not intellect.
I do remember counseling in several situations where a marriage was in trouble because one of the partners finally dealt with repressed homosexuality and realized too late they should never have married in the first place.
In truth, heterosexual marriage would be better defended if, in fact, gay folk were given the legal benefits of “marriage” and the full rights and responsibilities granted by government that go with it. Gays would be less likely to become involved in a heterosexual marriage that ultimately leads to divorce and disappointment. Their own relationships would be potentially stabilized. If the Defense of Marriage group was serious and informed, they would applaud and endorse gay unions.
full article
Monday, November 19, 2007
Hate crimes rose 8 percent in 2006
Police across the nation reported 7,722 criminal incidents in 2006 targeting victims or property as a result of bias against a race, religion, sexual orientation, ethnic or national origin or physical or mental disability. That was up 7.8 percent from 7,163 incidents reported in 2005.
Growing up gay
Not one kid in my entire high school ever openly identified as being gay while I was a student there. This isn’t to say that all 500 of us were straight. Obviously, nobody felt comfortable coming out while they were still living in their parents’ house and confined to those gossip-filled beige hallways.
This may partially explain why I didn’t really have any gay friends until college.
Sixteen is now the national average for the age at which someone announces his or her homosexuality; people in the 1970s waited until they were 21.
Whenever people argue that gay couples shouldn’t get married, I think back to the night of May 16, 2004. I was living in Cambridge, Massachusetts and walked over to City Hall just before midnight to join the crowd celebrating the first ever same-sex marriage in the United States. Watching people dancing in the streets, embracing one another, it was clear that I was witnessing a historical moment. The actual granting of civil rights was happening right before my eyes.
Do you know what happened the next day? The sun rose. Traffic buzzed. Society did not fall apart.
full article
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Saturday, November 17, 2007
Seattle: Community Safety Forum Nov. 27th at 6:00pm
A coalition of community organizations and businesses will hold a forum on safety to address growing concerns in the Capitol Hill neighborhood. The forum will be held Tuesday, November 27, 2007 at 6:30 p.m. at the Broadway Performance Hall, doors open at 6:00 p.m. This special, public forum is being called in response to recent news reports about incidents of gay-bashing and malicious harassment on Capitol Hill. “We want to provide a forum for the Capitol Hill and LGBT communities to address safety concerns in our neighborhood.” said Seattle LGBT Community Center Interim Executive Director Dennis Poplin. City Councilmember Sally Clark will moderate a panel including Councilmember Nick Licata, Seattle Police Captain Paul McDonagh, Mike Hogan from the King County Prosecutors Office and other safety experts. “Our intention is to provide a panel of educated, invested community leaders to speak specifically about hate crimes, and then open the forum to public dialogue,” Greater Seattle Business Association Executive Director Louise Chernin said. “We would like this forum to be a first step in creating an on-going taskforce to address safety in our community.” The upcoming Capitol Hill community forum on safety is sponsored by the following organizations and businesses: Bailey Coy Books, Broadway BIA, Broadway Video, Capitol Hill Chamber of Commerce, Equal Rights Washington, Gay City Health Project, Greater Seattle Business Association, Kaladi Brothers Coffee, Seattle Commission for Sexual Minorities, Seattle Gay News, Seattle LGBT Community Center, Seattle Office for Civil Rights and Rosebud Restaurant. For more information contact Broadway BIA at info@broadwaybia.org or (206) 367-8704. Also, if you are interesting in volunteering for the event contact Anna Bacler at anna@seattlelgbt.org or call 206.709.1114.
Friday, November 16, 2007
www.outtakeonline.com
New website, new champion on gay marriage.
www.outtakeonline.com is working on a video concerning gay marriage. Their goal is to develop a documentary. Check out their website to view the video trailer.
Charlotte Robinson, Emmy Award Winning, Producer/Director, created OUTTAKEonline as a media alternative. Charlotte began her career in Boston at WGBH-TV and then joined the staff of WCVB-TV, where she served for four years. She acquired a position with ABC, NY and then accepted a staff position with CBS Inc. During her five years at CBS, her credits included CBS News with Dan Rather as well as post-production director for network news and daytime promos.
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Pistol packin' gays
The founder of Pink Pistols, an organization that advocates members of the gay community arm themselves as a means of protection from violence, will speak about why the group is important tonight at Cornell University.
Guns can provide those in the gay community a level of protection and security, Krick said. “Armed Gays Don't Get Bashed,” reads the organization's Web site.
“It's like wearing a seatbelt,” Krick said. “You pray you will never need it, but if you do, you want to have it.”
"Thirty-one states allow all qualified citizens to carry concealed weapons. In those states, homosexuals should embark on organized efforts to become comfortable with guns, learn to use them safely and carry them. They should set up Pink Pistols task forces, sponsor shooting courses and help homosexuals get licensed to carry. And they should do it in a way that gets as much publicity as possible. "
There are now over 45 Pink Pistols chapters nationwide, and more are starting up every day.
http://www.pinkpistols.org/
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Iran official admits executing gays
In 2005 Mahmoud Asqari and Ayad Marhouni were hanged in Justice Square, Mashhad.
Monday, November 12, 2007
Veterans Day includes gay Americans like me
by H. Lukas Green
I am openly gay. I live in Idaho and I served with honor in the United States Navy as a shipboard radioman onboard a rescue salvage ship about the size of a minesweeper.
I served six years, three years active duty and three years reserve. I lived day after day aboard a small ship with a crew of about 90 to 100 men that frequently sailed from Florida to the Mediterranean and eventually the Suez Canal in Egypt.
Although I wasn't out to myself at the time, I knew full well that my feelings and attractions were not geared toward the opposite sex. But during my active duty service my attention to duty was not overridden by any desire to have a sexual encounter onboard that ship.
Since those days of military service, I have come to know other gay and lesbian veterans who remained silent out of fear of being dishonorably discharged or court marshaled simply for being known or suspected as a homosexual.
On Veterans Day, I want to acknowledge all the men and women in uniform who do their jobs, including those who must hide from the injustice of being discovered as gay or lesbian. When I see the likes of President Bush or Vice President Dick Cheney laying wreaths at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier or talking in scripted sound bites that glorify our troops, it is a struggle for me to put my visceral contempt for them aside when I watch them destroy the same US Constitution that so many who served in uniform pledged to uphold.
To all veterans, including my gay brothers and lesbian sisters who proudly served our nation, I salute you.
To the politicians who cater to the whims of the fanatical rightwing, I urge you to stop voting against my rights to full citizenship under the law.
full story
Sunday, November 11, 2007
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Florida High School fights Gay-Straight alliance group
Attorneys for the Okeechobee County School Board plan to use experts who will testify about the "negative health effects of homosexual sex" in their fight to stop the Gay-Straight Alliance from meeting at Okeechobee High School.
"This is the most rabidly homophobic response that the school board could have taken," American Civil Liberties Union attorney Robert Rosenwald said about a summary of the school board's planned witness testimony in an upcoming trial.
The ACLU represents the Gay-Straight Alliance of Okeechobee High School and former student Yasmin Gonzalez, who sued the school board a year ago, saying it violated federal law by allowing other clubs to meet on campus but not the alliance.
A judge has said the club can meet on school grounds while the case works its way through court. The trial is scheduled to start in March, but Rosenwald asked this week that the date be pushed back to September to allow more time to prepare.
The attorneys have argued that the Gay-Straight Alliance is a "sex-based club" that violates a Florida statute requiring schools to teach abstinence "while teaching the benefits of monogamous heterosexual marriage." However, in his April ruling allowing the club to meet at least temporarily on school grounds, U.S. District Judge K. Michael Moore said the school board had failed to show that the Gay-Straight Alliance would expose students to obscene or explicit material.
Regardless of people's views on homosexuality, Okeechobee High School is obligated under federal law to allow the alliance to meet on school grounds.
Thursday, November 8, 2007
Burger King gay bashing
A Union City, NJ, gay couple were allegedly beaten by Burger King employees after asking for a refund.
The jersey Journal reported on Nov. 3 about the crime and subsequent indictment of Angel Carabello and Christopher Soto, two Jersey City men who were working at the Burger King at the time and who faces charges of aggravated assault, along with a first degree hate crime charge.
The July 22 incident reportedly began with the couple, two men in their 40s, requesting that they be given a refund when an item they had ordered turned out not to be available.
read the entire story
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
SEATTLE: Thanksgiving Potluck November 21
On Wednesday, November 21 at 6pm the Seattle LGBT Community Center along with the Ingersoll Gender Center will be hosting a Thanksgiving Potluck. Often times the holiday season can be tough for LGBT people who may feel uncomfortable or unwelcome at family functions. They may not be out to family members or have a family who is not supportive of them. This event will allow community members to come together with the support and understanding of other LGBTQ people and have a wonderful holiday meal.
Email: info@seattlelgbt.org
Telephone: (206) 323-LGBT (5428) Fax: (206) 323-4444
Drop In: Monday-Saturday, 10:00 am - 9:00 pm Sunday, 11 am - 8 pm
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
PICTURE: USA's worldwide military facilities
Monday, November 5, 2007
Health Tips for GLBT youth
Staying healthy isn't just about eating a balanced diet and getting eight hours
of sleep a night. Your health is made up of a variety of emotional and physical
components. Sometimes this is called a holistic view of health. Here are five
health tips for GLBT teens that are just as important as laying off the
trans-fats and ditching the cigarettes.
Saturday, November 3, 2007
WEST HOLLYWOOD: IHOP discrimination
The iconic breakfast restaurant that has anchored West Hollywood’s West side for decades recently changed hands.
Rite-Aid store throws out gay couple for hugging
Washington, D.C.: In early October a gay couple was thrown out of a Rite-Aid a few blocks away from the city's traditional gay neighborhood for allegedly hugging each other in the store. According to them, while they were shopping, one of them hugged the other one from behind, and the store manager ran up and shouted, "Get out! Get out!" A few seconds later, the security guard told them they had to leave, although he said he didn't know the reason why. The manager, Denny Getachew, won't comment, and Rite Aid spokesperson told the local gay magazine, "We are looking into this matter, and we will take disciplinary action if need be."