Gay Activist Swipes Back at Joe the Plumber

Question about his views on homosexuality outrage Wurzelbacher

(NEWSER) - Samuel "Joe the Plumber" Wurzelbacher went on CNN to talk about his congressional run today, and it wasn't exactly a friendly encounter. When host Zoraida Sambolin brought up a past quote in which Wurzelbacher said he wouldn't let his gay friends "anywhere near my children," he got angry. "So this is TMZ, this isn't CNN, is what you're saying," he said. When pressed further he said, "You're trying to do a gotcha moment, it's quite obvious." More»

(NEWSER) - Meghan McCain talks to Out.com about her campaign for gay marriage and her role as pseudo-spokeswoman for a new generation of Republicans, and one line is sure to catch a lot of attention: "Joe the Plumber—you can quote me—is a dumbass," she says of the man who gained fame during her dad's campaign and once said he wouldn't want "queers" near his kids. "He should stick to plumbing.” More»

North Carolina preacher gives an, er, colorful sermon

(NEWSER) - North Carolina pastor Charles Worley has an, er, unorthodox suggestion for how to spread God's love to gay people. "Build a great, big, large fence—150 or 100 miles long—put all the lesbians in there. Do the same thing for the queers and the homosexuals, and have that fence electrified so they can't get out," he suggested in a sermon last week, which was posted to YouTube today and spotted by the Huffington Post and other blogs. More»

'Conversion therapy' is dangerous, bill's sponsor says

(NEWSER) - Psychotherapists who claim they can "cure" gay teenagers may soon be out of business in California. A bill before the state Senate would ban so-called "conversion therapy" for minors and require adults to sign a release form stating that the counseling is ineffective and possibly dangerous, reports AP . Such treatments can "cause extreme depression and guilt" that sometimes lead to suicide, says the bill's sponsor, Democratic Sen. Ted Lieu. More»

Jennifer Tyrrell launches petition for policy shift

(NEWSER) - Earlier this month, a Cub Scout den leader and mom was removed from her post because she's gay. Now she has launched a campaign to change the organization's policy. When Jennifer Tyrrell became a leader in Bridgeport, Ohio, she was aware of the Boy Scouts' rules against openly-homosexual members, but a Cubmaster told her it wouldn't be an issue at the local level. "He said they would stand hand in hand with us and stand behind us all the way," she tells MSNBC . More»