Pastor Beverly Brown of Redeeming Light Center in Eatonville?located about a half-dozen miles north of Orlando?told the Orlando Sentinel, ?For me as an African American pastor, I?m disappointed. I?m trying to separate his personal view from his political view.? Brown?s support for Obama is separated by the thin wall of his personal support for gay marriage and the possibility that he will press for legalization of it and a reversal of the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). ?I think it can be a game-changer,? offered Rev. Paul Wright, pastor of Calvary Temple of Praise in Sanford, the seat of Seminole County, which includes Kissimmee. ?I think it is going to cause him to lose some support from the faith-based community because of the conviction of a large number of faith-based institutions that this is an immoral act.?

The result, predicts Wright, is that many African-American members of those congregations who flocked to the polls in droves to support Obama in 2008 may stay home?or vote for the presumptive GOP nominee, Mitt Romney. Some suggest that Wright reflects the majority position of African American evangelical ministers, while others think that the backlash is a momentary reaction that will not significantly impact voter turnout among blacks. ?I believe the vast majority of African Americans will support the president,? Rev. Randolph Bracy Jr., the senior pastor of New Covenant Baptist Church of Orlando, told the Orlando Sentinel.

?When all is said and done, African Americans will not abandon the president for Mitt Romney and the Republican Party.? And, Bracy argues, demographics are destiny. ?I think things are changing whether I embrace it or not. Who am I to say these are not children of God? Who am I to stand in judgment??

From its inauguration in 2010, MMP took up residence in half of the bay space occupied by Copy This and Planet Press. “This was going to be a temporary arrangement, with Bruce [Bogan, owner of Copy This] giving up half of his operating space to accommodate us while we built up the newspaper and entertainment magazine into what both publications have become,” according to Bobby Blair, Managing Partner and CEO of MMP, and publisher of the Agenda and Guy.

“It has been such a rewarding partnership, and we were so sad to leave, but we are going to always be grateful to Bruce and Billy [Sands, Bogan’s partner] for their hospitality and for being such gracious ‘roommates’,” adds Blair. “I know it was sometimes crazy.” Bogan, who suffered a heart attack earlier this year, is expanding his successful Copy This and Planet Press operation, and needs the office space formerly occupied by the publishing offices of the Agenda and Guy Magazine, which received the 2011 “Bestie Award” for Best Publisher and the 2012 “Bestie” for Best Entertaining Magazine (the Besties are hosted annually on Academy Awards night at The Manor Restaurant and Nightclub Complex and are awarded based upon the results of online community voting via social media).

On Monday, May 14, 2012, the sister publications formally took possession of their new publishing offices, located within the Sterling Accounting and Tax Services suites, just south of Five Points on Dixie Highway’s antique row. “We are absolutely delighted to welcome the Agenda and Guy to our suites,” says Jeff Sterling, president and owner of Sterling Accounting. A three-day move supervised by project manager Silas Thebert, MMP’s online administrator, was undertaken over an event-filled Mother’s Day weekend, one that incurred no disruption to operations or publication schedule for either weekly print platform.

“Mission accomplished,” said Thebert with a wink. “We loved our experience on Wilton Drive and are equally excited and honored to be welcomed as we have been on the Dixie Highway side of town,” notes Blair. “This part of Wilton Manors and Greater Fort Lauderdale is undergoing a Renaissance, and with the offices of SFGN across the street, we are building our own version of London’s Fleet Street,” he joked, referring to the historic former location of Britain’s major newspapers.

The Most Reverend Peter Akwasi Sarpong, Archbishop Emeritus of Kumasi, condemned secular attempts to change the definition of the sacrament of marriage, defined as between a man and a woman, and said that “politicizing the essential function of the church could only be detrimental to the state, and the church must stand against political intimidation, bigotry, and deceit.”

Sarpong called upon Roman Catholic Church officials to remember their obligation of guiding the faithful through the administration of holy sacraments including baptism, confirmation, the Eucharist, and marriage, and added that it is the function of the church to “[assist] the state” in those policy areas “where the state fell short.”

The Roman Catholic dioceses of Ghana—hich lean towards the more conservative principles of the 2,000 year old institution—upply priests for many underserved regions in the U.S.

Ted Baillieu, Premier of Victoria, has promised to appoint members of the southwestern Australian region’s LGBT community to advise senior government ministers on matters including HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention, bullying, gay teen suicide, and an aging gay population.

The Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex (GLBTI) Health and Wellbeing Committee—which will be appointed by Victoria Minister of Health David Davis and Minister of Mental Health, Women’s Affairs, and Community Services—has received wide praise from LGBT rights groups and others, but some conservative Members of Parliament (MPs) say that such a body is unnecessary and an overreaction to a problem that doesn’t exist.

“I don’t see what used to be known as ‘poofter-bashing’ happening, and I don’t see overt discrimination,” one senior MP told The Sunday Age newspaper. “It’s unnecessary.

You don’t need a committee for everything.” “Poofter” is a negative colloquialism used to describe homosexuals in the United Kingdom and other places with close cultural ties to the U.K., including Australia.

Experts on Australian politics say that the idea of a ministerial-level advisory committee was advocated by both of the state’s major political parties prior to 2010 state elections, as each side attempted to net progressive voters in the urban areas, including Melbourne, the state capital.

Minister of Health Davis applauded the plans for the GLBTI Committee, saying it will give gay rights advocates direct access to government officials and to shaping policies. He also told reporters that the government is considering “different testing approaches” to HIV – including “rapid testing,” which enables individuals to receive HIV test results within minutes, rather than weeks as is currently the case.

Public health experts say that the island nation’s HIV-screening methods are behind those employed by the rest of the industrialized world. “We’re aware of some of the international approaches,” remarked Davis, “and this would be a useful point for the ministerial advisory committee to give some direct advice on.”

“A Melbournian must wait up to two weeks for their HIV result, while a Londoner or a San Franciscan waits 20 minutes,” agreed Victorian AIDS Council executive director Matt Dixon. “Australia is lagging behind the rest of the world regarding this.”

According to the State Board of Elections, approximately 500,000 people cast ballots in early voting— primary record for the state. The victory by a margin of more than 20 points came after acrimonious weeks of campaigning by opponents and supporters of the measure, and millions of dollars spent to win the hearts and minds of the electorate.

“We are not anti-gay—e are promarriage,” said Tami Fitzgerald, the chairwoman of Vote for Marriage NC, at a victory rally in Raleigh. “And the point, the whole point is simply that you don’t rewrite the nature of God’s design for marriage based on the demands of a group of adults.”

Marriage equality supporters raised record amounts of donation money to fight the amendment, which reads “marriage between one man and one woman is the only domestic legal union that shall be valid or recognized in this state.”

Opponents of Amendment One warned that along with denying the legality of all types of same-sex unions, the measure could also affect over 150,000 heterosexual couples who cohabitate but aren’t married, invalidating domestic violence regulations, child visitation and custody arrangements, and hospital access.

“I will not lie to myself anymore about my own sexuality,” said Rep. Zach Wyatt, a first-term member of the state General Assemble. “Today I ask you to stand with me as a proud Republican, a proud veteran, and a proud gay man who wants to protect all kids.” According to the Victory Fund—which supports the recruitment and election of LGBT candidates to public office—yatt, 27, is the only openly-gay Republican member of a state legislature in the U.S.

The legislation, HB 2051, requires a ban on school curriculum, materials, or extracurricular activities in the Missouri public schools that discuss sexual orientation except in “scientific instruction concerning human reproduction.”

A former U.S. Air Force linguist who raises cattle in rural Northern Missouri, Wyatt said that he had been bullied throughout school because of a weight problem and for “not always being perceived as the most masculine of men.”

He said that the thought of “accepting” his own sexual identity was “probably the hardest thing to come to terms with. I’ve always ignored it and didn’t even think about it or talk about it.”

Darnell “Dynasty” Young became the target of bullies after he transferred to Arsenal Technical High School last year. The openly gay 17 year old was harassed by classmates who followed him to his house, spread rumors about his sexual activities, and threw bottles at him. He told the Star that he contemplated suicide but decided against it.

Young’s mother reported the harassment to school officials several times, but was told that administrators were powerless to act because her son wasn’t able to identify his tormentors.

School principal Larry Yarrell is reported to have said, “If you wear female apparel, then kids are kids and they’re going to say whatever it is that they want to say. Because you want to be different and because you choose to wear female apparel, it may happen.”

The teen’s mother gave him the stun gun for his protection, a situation that became all too real for the teen on April 16, when a group of students threatened to attack him. Young, frightened for his life, fired the weapon into the air, drawing the attention of school security personnel, who arrested him.

“While the district does not condone bullying, it also does not allow weapons to be brought on our school campuses for any reason,” an Indianapolis Public Schools spokeswoman said. “Students who violate this rule will be held accountable.” Young will be eligible to return to classes in January.

Speaking with NBC’s David Gregory, Biden said “I am absolutely comfortable with the fact that men marrying men, women marrying women and heterosexual men and women marrying one another are entitled to the same exact rights, all the civil rights, all the civil liberties.”

“I just think that the good news is that as more and more Americans come to understand what this is all about is a simple proposition. Who do you love? Who do you love?” Biden asked rhetorically. “And will you be loyal to the person you love? And that’s what people are finding out is what, what all marriages, at their root, are about. Whether they’re marriages of lesbians or gay men or heterosexuals.”

PITTSBURGH, PA ? Although he publicly defended the hiring of Richard Grenell?the openly gay foreign policy spokesman hired by Republican Mitt Romney?s presidential campaign two weeks ago?he departure of the former Bush State Department aide sent a signal to the religious and social conservative wing of the Republican Party, who remain unconvinced of the presumptive nominee?s commitment to their principles in the public policy arena. While Romney called Grenell, who resigned on May 1, a ?capable individual? and said that he had wanted him to stay on his job, within hours the former Massachusetts governor was meeting behind closed doors with former rival Rick Santorum, who had won his conservative credentials early in the primary season.

LGBT rights groups say that Grenell?s appointment?nd sudden departure?underscore the discomfort with which the religious and social conservative elements of the Republican Party?s base feel towards a GOP ?big tent? that includes gay members. Grenell, who was hired in late April as the spokesman for Romney on matters of foreign policy and national security, previously served as communications director for the U.S. mission to the United Nations.

Grenell?s support for marriage equality earned him sharp rebukes from members of the religious right because of his sexual identity. ?Romney picks out & loud gay as a spokesman,? tweeted American Family Association (AFA) spokesman Bryan Fischer after Grenell?s appointment. Referring to Romney, Fischer added ?If personnel is policy, his message to the pro-family community: drop dead.? Later, appearing on CNN, Fischer declared that ?The homosexual agenda represents the single-greatest threat to religious liberty and freedom of association in America today.?

Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council (FRC) condemned Grenell?s political activism in seeking to classify ?sexual orientation? as a basic human right under the U.N. Charter, and speculated that a Grenell who was highly-placed in the State Department would in effect serve as a gay ?mole.? ?While past performance is not a guarantee of future results,? Perkins offered, ?there is strong evidence that Grenell would lobby for foreign policy more in line with the current administration than the last Republican one.?

Former FRC president Gary Bauer added, ?His appointment was disappointing because it comes at a time when the Romney campaign should be reaching out to the conservative base.

Instead, this appointment seems like a slap at the base.?

?It?s a little disconcerting to see a man just hired by the Romney campaign write passionately about how ?gays are going to win support for their political issues,?? posted Matthew J. Franck, Director of the William E. and Carol G. Simon Center on Religion and the Constitution at the Witherspoon Institute in Princeton, New Jersey, online at nationalreview.com.

Grenell, 45, graduated with a master?s degree from Harvard University?s John F. Kennedy School of Government. In 2001, he was appointed by President George W. Bush to serve as Director of Communications and Public Diplomacy for the United States Permanent Representative to the United Nations.

Following his resignation from the Romney campaign, Grenell said that felt his ability to perform his job was ?greatly diminished by the hyper-partisan discussion of personal issues.?

Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fort Lauderdale) spoke of the unique challenges facing South Florida’s aging LGBT population.

“I represent one of the largest gay populations in the country. We have had for many years a generation of the LGBT community that has been able to live openly,” she noted. “Now, we have unique and specific issues for LGBT seniors that we’re aware of. They always existed, it’s just that they existed in the shadows and there were no services and no attempts to help them.”

Wasserman Schultz, who also serves as chair of the Democratic National Committee, added that “It’s important to have the White House conference on aging because now we can specifically identify and assist when there are unique issues, like there are unique issues with every type of senior community.”

Also attending was Rafael Bostic, Assistant Secretary of Housing and Urban Development for Policy Development and Research, and Kathy Greenlee, the openly gay Assistant Secretary of Health and Human Services Department for Aging.

“These LGBT elder issues are real, and they are going to get bigger as we go on,” said Bostic, who is openly gay. “We’ve got a wave of elders coming in our community and we need to be ready for them.”