PHOBE: Catholic Mom is Scared to Leave the House Because of All the Gays!

Stacy Trasancos is a scientist-turned-Catholic-homemaker in Massachusetts with seven kids who suffers from agorahomophobia. In a wrenching blog post, she describes how the gruesome spectacle of gay families hanging out at a local public pool has made her afraid to venture outdoors: I find myself unable to even leave the house anymore without worrying about what in tarnation we are going to encounter. We are responsible citizens. We live by the rules, we pay our taxes, we take care of our things. I'm supposed to be able to influence what goes on in my community, and as a voter I do exercise that right. But I'm outnumbered. I can't even go to normal places without having to sit silently and tolerate immorality. We all know what would happen if I asked two men or two women to stop displaying, right in front of me and my children, that they live in sodomy. 

And what sort of unspeakable PDA has she witnessed at the poolside? I'll tell you. One gay couple was engaged in inappropriate "elbow-rubbing." Another lesbian couple was hugging in a way that was "clearly not friendly." My god!

SERIOUS: Gay Advocates urge Cops to Spot Gay-on-Gay Domestic Violence!

A spike in gay domestic violence slayings has alarmed advocates in Massachusetts, who say the justice system is insensitive to warning signs of gay-on-gay abuse. The state has seen seven such killings since 2010, but attempts to educate police have sputtered, the Boston Globe reports. “It was pretty traumatizing,’’ says one gay advocate of a workshop attended by police—who walked out. 

“As soon as we started in on the content, one officer asked: 'Why are we here? This is just like our diversity training. This is a waste of our time.'" Judges routinely issue restraining orders against both parties in a relationship, unable to spot the abuser—who then becomes empowered, advocates say. Or police fail to identify a troubled relationship as gay, assuming the pair are roommates or friends. At times, even gay abuse victims will hide their sexual identity for fear of being outed. For now, gay advocates are staying friendly with police and planning a vigil for the recent deaths. "If this number of people had died" because of straight violence on gays, says one, "people would be saying this is a crisis."

WARNING: Hurricane Irene's Projected Path Puts NYC, East Coast on High Alert!

At a press conference Thursday morning, NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg updated New Yorkers on city preparations for Hurricane Irene.

Said Bloomberg: “If the worst scenario is going to happen this weekend, we will activate other elements of our Coastal Storm Plan, including the possibility of evacuating of New Yorkers who live in low-lying areas that could be affected by such storm surges. That includes places such as Coney Island and Manhattan Beach in Brooklyn, Far Rockaway and Broad Channel in Queens, South Beach, Midland Beach, and other low-lying areas on Staten Island, and Battery Park City in Manhattan....We don’t yet have enough information yet to make that call. There are still too many unknowns, but we will make a decision on whether to call for evacuating certain areas based on the track, the speed, and the strength of the storm as it moves from the Bahamas up the east coast."

DEFEATED: Gay Couple Married Seven Years Loses Battle , Gets Deportation Order

Bradford Wells and Australian Anthony John Makk, who have lived together for 19 years and were married seven years ago in Massachusetts, have lost their battle with U.S. immigration and DOMA, the SF Chronicle reports. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services denied Makk's application to be considered for permanent residency as a spouse of an American citizen, citing the 1996 law that denies all federal benefits to same-sex couples.

The decision was issued July 26. Immigration Equality, a gay-rights group that is working with the couple, received the notice Friday and made it public Monday. Makk was ordered to depart the United States by Aug. 25. Makk is the sole caregiver for Wells, who has severe health problems.

Despite please to Janet Napolitano and Barack Obama to intervene, the couple has lost their case: The agency's decision cited the Defense of Marriage Act as the reason for the denial of an I-130 visa, or spousal petition that could allow Makk to apply for permanent U.S. residency. "The claimed relationship between the petitioner and the beneficiary is not a petitionable relationship," the decision said. "For a relationship to qualify as a marriage for purposes of federal law, one partner must be a man and the other a woman."

BANNED: Lesbians Booted From Gertrude Stein Exhibit!

The irony was apparently lost on a museum guard who ejected two lesbians from a San Francisco exhibit on Gertrude Stein for holding hands. "We are not leaving and we want to talk to somebody in authority right now," the couple told the guard after they were informed they "couldn't hold hands," a witness tells the San Francisco Chronicle.  A spokesman for the Contemporary Jewish Museum says officials support the gay community and have asked the private company that provides security to reprimand the guard. 

In another discrimination complaint on the other side of the country, a lesbian couple is suing a Vermont inn for refusing to allow them to hold a wedding reception on the grounds. The mother of one of the women was told point-blank that the Wildflower Inn does not host "gay receptions," the suit charges. "The law is clear that any business that provides a service to the public can't pick and choose who they want to serve based on the customer's race, gender, sexual orientation, or gender identity," an ACLU attorney told MSNBC. The inn's owners were not immediately available for comment.

PAY OUT: Mass. City to Pay Stipend to Married Gay Workers!

Some public employees with a same-sex spouse in Massachusetts face a federal income tax their heterosexual counterparts don’t have to pay—so the city of Cambridge is making up the difference. In the city, 22 public workers have put their spouses on their employer-provided health plan. But since the US doesn’t recognize gay marriage, it sees the value of that coverage as taxable income, the AP reports. 

That costs those workers some $1,500 to $3,000 yearly. “Two people who do the exact same job should be paid exactly the same for what they are doing at work,” says a city councilor. Adds another: “This is a city that models what equality really means.” The new stipend plan is expected to cost the city about an extra $33,000 a year—and some aren’t happy about it. “It's a travesty of using taxpayer monies to circumvent a national policy,” says a Massachusetts advocate against gay marriage.

Italian Man Leaves Home— and Pets—to Boston?

Boston just got a new piece of real estate—in Italy. An Italian man whose mother and aunt lived in Boston left his estate to the city, the Boston Globe reports. But if Beantown wants it, it's going to have to do some petsitting. “The City of Boston, MA, USA, is obliged to look after the old dogs Argus and Jak,” says the will of Luciano Vissochi. Also, “To feed the cat Rossina, easily recognizable from her great size, as well as the cats: Giacchino, Rossino, Pasquale, Francesco, and others as well.’’

“It’s unbelievable. I want to know who is going to feed the cats and dogs,” says Boston’s mayor, Thomas Menino. Local politicians in Vissochi’s town of Altina might like the responsibility: they say the estate, reportedly worth $700,000, is rightfully theirs based on a stipulation in Vissochi’s first will, which he later changed. They’re planning a “war of documents” to win back the estate. Meanwhile, Menino is pondering what to do with the place. “I’ll send some departments out there that get on my bad side,” he says.