Shocked: Anti-gay rant was misunderstood

Getty Images file

For much of Michelle Shocked's career, she was considered (willingly or not) an icon in the gay community. After standing up before a San Francisco crowd and going on what appeared to be an anti-gay rant, you'd think there would be little she could do to recover from the confounding display. Nevertheless, Shocked would like to explain what she said, and she seems to have done so in an open letter printed by the Texas Observer Wednesday.

During Sunday's show Shocked was quoted as saying, "When they stop Prop 8 and force priests at gunpoint to marry gays, it will be the downfall of civilization and Jesus will come back." She told the crowd later, "You are going to leave here and tell people 'Michelle Shocked said God hates f------s.'"

In her letter -- which the Observer notes was given to them by a close friend of the singer, who does not use a publicist -- Shocked refutes the statements and claims aimed at her, claiming that her dismissal of Proposition 8 (a California ballot proposition and state constitutional amendment that restricted recognition of marriage to opposite sex couples passed in 2008 but overturned in 2010 as unconstitutional; a further ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court is expected in June) was not actually meant to be in her own voice, but in the voices of those who are anti-gay rights.

"To those fans who are disappointed by what they've heard or think I said, I'm very sorry: I don't always express myself as clearly as I should.?But don?t believe everything you read on Facebook or Twitter. My view of homosexuality has changed not one iota. I judge not. And my statement equating repeal of Prop 8 with the coming of the End Times was neither literal nor ironic: it was a description of how some folks -- not me -- ?feel about gay marriage," she wrote.

"I do not, nor have I ever, said or believed that God hates homosexuals (or anyone else)," she added.

She claimed her "support for the LGBT community ... has never wavered," and suggested this was no publicity stunt, as "I'm really not that clever."

Shocked also noted that she was sorry, and "if I could repeat the evening, I would make a clearer distinction between a set of beliefs I abhor, and my human sympathy for the folks who hold them. I say this not because I want to look better. I have no wish to hide my faults and -- clearly -- I couldn't if I tried."

Meanwhile, the audio of her statements from the stage on Sunday has surfaced (listen below; warning that some sensitive language is used).

The full letter and follow-up statement??is here. Meanwhile, Shocked was back on Twitter on Thursday, indicating she would be appearing on Nicole Sandler's internet radio show that day. Stay tuned.

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Source: http://entertainment.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/03/21/17399491-michelle-shocked-apologizes-says-anti-gay-statements-were-misunderstood?lite

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Hate mail flies in battle over King Richard III

The bones of Richard III have been discovered in Leicester. NBC's Stephanie Gosk reports.

By Alan Boyle, Science Editor, NBC News

The fight over the final disposition of King Richard III's 528-year-old remains has escalated to the point that people are sending hate mail to York's cathedral, the police are being called in to investigate, and a member of Parliament is pleading with the rivals to avoid sparking another "War of the Roses."

On strictly legal grounds, the matter was resolved even before the remains were unearthed?in a parking lot near Leicester Cathedral last year. Britain's Justice Ministry granted researchers from the University of Leicester a license to conduct the excavation there and to determine the disposition of any human remains found there.

Last month, the researchers announced that a skeleton found at the site belonged to Richard III, based on DNA tests. The discovery resolved a longstanding mystery over what happened to Richard's remains after his death in the Battle of Bosworth in 1485. That battle marked a turning point in the Wars of the Roses, a decades-long contest between the houses of Lancaster and York for the English throne.?

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Richard III has gotten a bad rap through the centuries ??in part because William Shakespeare's play about the monarch cast him as a hunchbacked villain. But historians say he wasn't that terrible of a guy, and since last month's announcement, Richard III's fans have been arguing over whether he should be reburied in Leicester, where he was found; in York, where he had family ties; or in London's Westminster Abbey, the resting place for many of England's kings.

The University of Leicester is already working to arrange a burial at Leicester Cathedral next year, but some of the opponents of that plan?? including nine descendants of Richard III's siblings?? have taken up York's case. The arguments are apparently getting uglier: Hugh Bayley, a member of Parliament representing York Central, said that York Minster's dean, Vivienne Faull, has received some letters "so extreme that she has referred the correspondence to the police."

Faull was dean of Leicester Cathedral before coming to York, and she has shied away from contesting Leicester's claim to the remains. "It has been suggested that opponents have accused her of bias because of her previous links to Leicester Cathedral," The Telegraph reported.

The Yorkshire Post quoted a spokesman for the Dean and Chapter of York as confirming that "a small number" of the letters relating to the fuss over Richard III's remains have been abusive. "These have been passed to the Minster Police, and they continue to monitor the situation closely," the spokesman was quoted as saying.

The British government's current view is that Richard III's final disposition is up to the University of Leicester, but during Tuesday's speech in the House of Commons, Bayley urged the government to establish an independent commission to decide the matter. In the meantime, he called for what Shakespeare might have termed "some little pause" in the battle.?

?I would say to everybody ??calm down," Bayley said. "Let us all respect the memory of a former king of our country, and let us discuss, in a dignified and sober way, where his remains should finally be put to rest. We do not want to reignite the Wars of the Roses.?

More about Richard III:

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Alan Boyle is NBCNews.com's science editor. Connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the log's?Facebook page, following?@b0yle on Twitter?and adding the?Cosmic Log page?to your Google+ presence. To keep up with Cosmic Log as well as NBCNews.com's other stories about science and space, sign up for the Tech & Science newsletter, delivered to your email in-box every weekday. You can also check out?"The Case for Pluto,"?my book about the controversial dwarf planet and the search for new worlds.

Source: http://cosmiclog.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/03/12/17288251-police-investigating-hate-mail-sent-to-york-in-battle-over-king-richard-iii?lite

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Holly Madison: My Daughter Won?t Be Traumatized By Her Name

"I want my daughter to be proud of who she is and learn to speak up and stand up for herself at a young age," Madison explains.

Source: http://feeds.celebritybabies.com/~r/celebrity-babies/~3/BMTbmc3sWKw/

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