National Gaze

The upcoming Rapture is set to begin on May 21 at 6 p.m. local time in the Pacific Rim, according to doomsday Christian Harold Camping and his followers.

At that time, according to believers, devout Christian extremists – especially, one presumes, those who hate gays, love war and worship money – will begin ascending into heaven by the droves. Everyone else – especially, one presumes, LGBT people, do-gooders, peace lovers, evolution believers, Jews, Muslims, atheists, Hindus, Buddhists and agnostics – will remain on Earth to endure nearly six months of heinous pestilence and war.

Suicide attempts by gay teens – and even straight kids – are more common in politically conservative areas where schools don’t have programs supporting gay rights, a study involving nearly 32,000 high school students found.

Those factors raised the odds of suicide attempts,  even when known risk factors such as depression and being bullied were considered, said study author Mark Hatzenbuehler, a Columbia University psychologist and researcher.

After decades of debate, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) on May 10 struck down a barrier to ordaining gays, ratifying a proposal that removes the celibacy requirement for unmarried clergy.

The change was endorsed last year by the Presbyterian national assembly, but required approval by a majority of the denomination’s 173 presbyteries, or regional church bodies.

After decades of debate, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) on May 9 removed its celibacy requirement for unmarried clergy, making it the latest mainline Protestant denomination to move toward accepting gay clergy.

The church’s national assembly endorsed the change last year, but approval by a majority of the denomination’s 173 presbyteries, or regional church bodies, was required.

Some of the wealthiest financial donors to the Republican Party are bankrolling the campaign to legalize same-sex marriage in New York, The New York Times reported May 13.

According to the newspaper, two-thirds of the funds raised by the campaign so far have come from a group of conservative financiers and wealthy GOP supporters. The donors include Paul E. Singer, a hedge fund manager and top-tier Republican donor, as well as financiers Steven A. Cohen and Clifford S. Asness.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder has asked an immigration panel to reconsider the case of a gay man cleared for deportation. Holder’s request stalled the expulsion of Irishman Paul Wilson Dorman, who is in a civil union with a U.S. citizen.

The decision also put the brakes on the deportation of a Venezuelan man who married a U.S. man in Connecticut.

The sponsors of California’s same-sex marriage ban insist they are not trying to disqualify the federal judge who struck down Prop 8 because he’s gay.

Instead, they argue the judge’s decade-long relationship with another man poses a potential conflict, because they might want to get hitched themselves.