Three stories, three different places.

New Zealand:

A lesbian couple has faced two hate crimes within a week, with anti-gay slurs tagged on their home and vehicles, and a fire destroying their business.

Couple Lindsay Curnow and Juliet Leigh have lived peacefully in the small coastal village of Mangawhai Heads, Northland, for seven years. They said their sexuality has never been an issue before in the community.

But now they live in fear, not wanting to leave their home and return to something worse.

Two weeks ago the couple had their home and vehicles tagged with offensive anti-gay slurs.

Then a week later their shed, which is at the heart of their mail-order bulb business, was completely destroyed by fire.

“They’ve really invaded our privacy. It was a bit like being burgled, you know that sort of violation that you have,” Leigh said.

Georgia:

A Carroll County man told Channel 2 Action News that he believes he was the target of a hate crime.

Chris Staples said someone threw a rock through his window with a piece of paper attached that was covered in anti-gay slurs.

“I was watching TV and just finished smoking a cigarette and I heard this big thud. Boom!” Staples told Channel 2’s George Howell.

The rock had a threatening note attached.

“It said, ‘we know you’re gay. And God hates gays. You won’t be raping anybody in the county and God’s going to make sure that you burn in hell.’ And something about my daddy… my daddy will make sure you burn in hell,”

Then hours later, he woke up to flames filling his bedroom.

Toronto:

The principal of Jarvis Collegiate Institute said allegations that students are hurling slushies, shoes and homophobic slurs at residents of the Gay Village are being “treated very seriously.”

However, Enza Anderson, who has been harassed in the past, called the students “teens of terror” and has organized a public meeting to discuss what she describes as homophobia in the community after a recent attack.

Paul Winsor, a local florist, was singled out by a group of about 12 students who soaked him with two frozen beverages last Monday.

The 49-year-old narrowly dodged an airborne chunk of ice as he chased the teens before they ducked into the school at Jarvis and Wellesley Sts.

“A slushie drink is one thing — it stains your clothes and hurts your pride — but when it escalates to chunks of ice, that’s dangerous,” he said.

Just as there are gay people everywhere, in every nation and culture, there are also pig ignorant bigots. Sad, but true.

This is one of those stories that makes me want to slam my head against the desk repeatedly. How do these people grow up in such a vacuum? If y’all think back to elementary, middle and high school, many of you probably will recall your schools having “Spirit Weeks” of some sort, usually leading up to Homecoming. Every school I attended did it, both public and Christian private, and one of the days was always some sort of “reverse day,” where boys would dress up like girls and girls would dress up like boys. It was done in a spirit of fun, and my god, it’s kids. They do not care about “gender politics” at that point. But some parents and an ignorant wingnut pastor north of Toronto saw the plans for a day of this sort and got their little Evangelical panties in quite the wad:

The student council at King City Public School thought a great way to celebrate “school spirit” day would be for the boys to dress like girls and the girls to dress like boys. But their attempt to have fun has turned into accusations that gender identity politics is being forced on young minds, and left the school’s principal distraught over how something generated by 11- and 12- and 13-year-olds became such a minefield.

“This has been a real eye-opening experience for both the students and staff of the school,” said Ross Virgo, manager of public affairs for the York Region District School Board, north of Toronto. “These children are not old enough to even know what ‘gender identity politics’ are.”

The school, which runs from junior kindergarten to Grade 8, decided to cancel the spirit day after several calls from parents who objected for reasons of family values, Mr. Virgo said.

“The last thing we wanted to do was offend any of the parents. The principal of the school has been deeply emotionally affected by the reaction.”

[...]

Reverend Charles McVety, a staunch social conservative who has expressed concerns in the past about a “homosexual agenda” in the school system, raised the issue Thursday after receiving an email that was sent from a parent to Ms. Goan.

The parent wrote:

“The psychological implications of cross-dressing can be a very sensitive issue. Have we thought about children who may be dealing with their own issues of sexual or gender identity and how they might feel? Or about the four year old who witnesses his peers dressing up as the opposite gender? What messages will be sent?”

For his part, Rev. McVety said he found it hard to believe the students came up with the idea on their own and thought the cross-dressing plan reflected a dangerous kind of political correctness that lacks any moral standards in our schools.

Oh, my god. Reverend McVety, were you home schooled or something? Grow up!

Exodus Global Alliance Is Selling False Hope and Faulty Science To Vulnerable and Desperate People, Says TWO

NEW YORK — TruthWinsOut.org denounced a so-called “ex-gay” religious symposium near Toronto that will peddle anti-gay stereotypes, twist legitimate science and promote discrimination. The event, hosted by Exodus Global Alliance, is part of a multi-million dollar worldwide effort to deceive people into believing homosexuality is a casual choice that can be cured through therapy and prayer. The goal is to shift public opinion, so a majority of voters will oppose legal equality for GLBT people.

“Exodus Global Alliance is selling false hope that will ultimately shatter families and ruin lives,” said Wayne Besen, Executive Director of New York City-based TruthWinsOut.org. “It is important that people realize that attempts to change sexual orientation can be dangerous and are rejected by every mainstream medical and mental health association in the world.”

The right wing symposium will take place at Morningstar Church in Scarborough, ON, May 8-10. It will feature several so-called “experts” who will misinform people about GLBT life and distort science to conform to their religious theories.

Exodus Global Alliance is the international component of a movement founded in the United States in 1973 to convince people that homosexuality is not a fixed orientation. Exodus International, based in Orlando, FL has a $1 million dollar budget and thirteen staff members. The organization works closely with Colorado-based Focus on the Family. Exodus Global Alliance has endorsed the criminalization of homosexuality in foreign countries and actively works to support anti-gay laws.