The Christian Voice (CV) is a “Christian” advocacy group based in the United Kingdom.Its stated objective is “to uphold Christianity as the Faith of the United Kingdom, to be a voice for Biblical values in law and public policy, and to defend and support traditional family life.” It is also an LGBT hate group.
The group tweeted: “Turning gay doesn’t seem to have done Tom Daley any favors at Rio 2016.”
They later added: “And we need to remember that Tom Daley only went gay because he was seduced by an older man.”
The posting caused a Twiiter to explode with anger against CV and put them right.
The leader of Christian Voice is Stephen Green, a former Chairman of the Conservative Family Campaign who has expressed support for the Uganda Anti-Homosexuality Bill (aka. The Kill The Gays Law – 2009) and its associated penalty of death, stating “The Bible calls for the ultimate penalty for sodomy… A Parliamentarian in Uganda is trying to protect his nation’s children. The House of Commons of the United Kingdom is trying to corrupt ours.”
Green’s former wife, Caroline Green, accused him of repeatedly physically assaulting her and their children, including one incident where he allegedly beat her with a weapon until she bled, and another in which their son allegedly required hospital treatment after having been beaten with a piece of wood. The couple subsequently divorced. Stating that the article was “highly defamatory” and calling it a “catalog of smears and distortions stitched together,” Green denied the allegations. On his blog he wrote: “I sincerely tried to lead my marriage and household in a loving and responsible way, and one which was faithful to the Lord.”
The International Olympic Committee has condemned as “simply unacceptable” a since-deleted story on the Daily Beast where a straight reporter posed as gay on Grindr to do a feature on sex at the Olympics. The IOC indicated in an email to Outsports that the writer, Nico Hines, is no longer in Rio.
“We understand the organization concerned recalled the journalist after complaints and withdrew the story,” an IOC spokesperson told Outsports today in an email statement. “This kind of reporting is simply unacceptable.” It’s the IOC’s first response since the controversy broke on Thursday.
It could not be immediately confirmed if Hines is still in Rio. However, his last story on the Daily Beast‘s website was Aug. 9, two days before his story about Olympics sex was posted. He also has not tweeted since Aug. 10, a day before the story appeared. An email to the Daily Beast concerning Hines’ status has not been answered as of now.
Over 9000 signatures have been gathered to have Hines fired. But in all honestly that would be a sacrificial goat for the Daily Beast who in reality not only shares the guilt with Hines but is even more guilty for allowing the article to be published in the first place. The Daily Beast which was founded in 2008 is not a blog. It is a legitimate news source which was part of of Newsweek for sometime. The DB has 21 million unique visitors – a 60% year-over-year increase in readers, accompanied by a 300% increase in the overall size of its social media community. It is a legit news site that can afford to send “journalists” to the Olympic and around the world but obviously cannot or will not properly vet their work.
The premise of the sensationalist clickbait article was simple: The Olympics are a “hotbed of partying athletes, hookups, and sex, Sex, SEX.”
So the reporter Nico Hines of The Daily Beast — a straight man who is married and has one child — headed to the Olympic Village in Rio de Janeiro seeking dates using various apps hook-up apps both gay and straight.
In a single hour he got 3 hook-up attempts on the gay sex app GRINDR and in an article published on Thursday went on to describe in detail the responses he received. No names were mentioned, but the article was so detailed, it might have been possible to guess the identities of the men he had contacted, and not all of them were from gay-friendly countries.
The story was quickly condemned on social media by LGBT and straight ally activists and athletes alike.
LGBTQ advocates, like Athlete Ally Executive Director Hudson Taylor, were infuriated by the article.
“Nico Hines’ article is as unethical as it is dangerous. There are over 200 athletes competing in the Olympics from countries for which being gay is punishable by death,” he told NBC.
“His failure to comprehend the impact of outing closeted athletes is both unacceptable and offensive. For many closeted athletes the internet may be the one place where they are able connect with LGBT culture and community safely,” Taylor added.
The Daily Beast’s editor in chief, John Avlon, said editors had removed details that might identify the athletes. He also responded to complaints that Mr. Hines’s original article mocked or shamed the athletes who responded to Mr. Hines’s overtures on Grindr.
“We do not feel he did this in any way,” he said.
Mr. Avlon said that Mr. Hines received more invitations on Grindr than on straight dating apps and that “he never claimed to be anyone he was not, did not offer anything to anyone, and immediately admitted that he was a journalist whenever he was asked who he was.”
But at 9 p.m., the article and the original editor’s note were gone, and replaced with a note describing how the organization took the “unprecedented but necessary step” of removing the entire article.
“Today we did not uphold a deep set of The Daily Beast’s values,” read a statement on the site. “These values — which include standing up to bullies and bigots, and specifically being a proudly, steadfastly supportive voice for LGBT people all over the world — are core to our commitment to journalism and to our commitment to serving our readers.
“We were wrong. We will do better.”
But will they? And will other news websites even gay ones like the Advocate and OUT? Will they stop posting sensationalist clickbait?
The writer Nico Hines was just part of the problem. The Daily Beast itself is really to blame for not vetting such a piece and seeing the problem in the first place. Especially since the Beast which was founded in 2008 is not a blog. It was part of of Newsweek for sometime and has 21 million unique visitors – a 60% year-over-year increase in readers, accompanied by a 300% increase in the overall size of its social media community. It is a legit news site that can afford to send “journalists” to the Olympic but cannot or will not properly vet his work.
Robert Drechsel, who held James E. Burgess Chair in Journalism Ethics and id the director of the Center for Journalism Ethics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, described the article as “thoughtless, insensitive and unethical.”
He said it was good that the article had been removed but that it came too late.
“It’s hard to find the words to describe,” he said. “Why in the world — why in the world of journalism — would anyone do this?”
Three words clickbait, greed and revenue is the answer
Oiled up superhunk Pita Taukatofua is not the only member of the Tongan Olympic team to be recognized for something special this year at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio.
Amini Founa is proud to be an out and proud gay man and showed this to the world by wearing striped colored trunks with the words “gay” and “lesbian printed on them.
“ There’s not a lot of diversity in swimming It’s a gentle reminder to everyone that I am different and take pride in that difference” said the 26 year old swimmer.
Just how important is it to Fonua to be “out” as an Olympian? “It means absolutely everything to me,” he says. “I want the next generation of athletes who advance through swimming’s world rankings to feel safe and comfortable being themselves. I also believe there’s real strength to be derived from the power of openly LGBT athletes, so to all the others in Rio, I say this: just by being here and being queer and present, you’re making a difference
Gifted by an LGBT organization Fonua has been wearing the trunks during practice and social media photo ops.
This is Founa’s second time competing in the Olympics.
Shirtless and oiled-up Tonga Olympian Pita Taukatofua has sent gay men and women on social media around the world into an epic meltdown.
The Taekwondo athlete led his country’s delegation as its flag bearer during the Olympics opening ceremony — walking into Maracanã Stadium shirtless and completely covered in baby oil.
Taukatofua marched in proudly waving the flag of the tiny Polynesian nation, wearing nothing but a ta’ovala, or Tongan mat.
People watching the ceremony went bonkers over the greasy hunky athlete.
Taukatofua, 32, was born in Australia but wanted to compete for his father’s country.
He qualified in April after trying to make the two previous Olympics.
The website generosity.com says he ‘sacrificed his whole adult life working in homeless shelters with the underprivileged.’
