Tag Archives: oakleigh-marie

Deaf sex abuse victim suing the pope

Posted on September 28, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Comments Off on Deaf sex abuse victim suing the pope

Deaf victim of sex abuse is suing pope, and going public with his story for the first time Editor’s note: A one-hour CNN special, “What the Pope Knew,” will air Sept. 25 and Sept. 26, 8pm and 11pm ET. This story is drawn from that exclusive report. By Scott Bronstein CNN Special Investigations Unit MILWAUKEE, Wisconsin – Terry Kohut has kept a dark secret for nearly 50 years. Now he is breaking his silence, becoming a key figure in the sex-abuse crisis in the Catholic Church and the growing controversy over what Pope Benedict XVI did about it. When Kohut was barely a teen, and for years afterward, he says, he was sexually molested and assaulted by the headmaster and priest of the school where he lived, St. John’s School for the Deaf, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. What occurred there is one of the most notorious cases of sex abuse in the Catholic Church. Kohut was not alone. From 1950 to 1974 the headmaster of St. Johns, Father Lawrence C. Murphy, raped and molested as many as 200 deaf boys, according to court and church documents. Kohut has now filed the first sex-abuse lawsuit against the Vatican actually naming Pope Benedict, previously known as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, as a defendant. Ratzinger was once head of the Vatican’s powerful CDF, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, charged in certain circumstances with investigating the sexual abuse of minors by priests. And though church records show the abuse by Father Murphy was brought to the attention of Ratzinger and the CDF years ago, a church trial against the headmaster was stopped and he was allowed to remain a priest. The Vatican’s “policy of secrecy” in abuse cases, and its “directives to conceal the sexual abuse of children” by priests, the lawsuit says, helped bring about the abuse of Kohut and others by Father Murphy. Kohut has never before gone public or spoken about what Father Murphy did to him. He has remained anonymous in the suit, listed only as “John Doe 16,” one of dozens of men alleging abuse. In an exclusive interview with CNN, Kohut, 60, spoke with his hands and through an interpreter, describing how the abuse by Father Murphy started. “I went into his office, the door was closed,” he said. “And Father Murphy said, ‘Take your pants down. And so I did… you know, he was always in his black attire with a white collar, and you know … I was questioning why he would ask me to do that. Here he is, a priest, and – I have to obey him. And he proceeded to touch me.” more after the jump… added by: SageRockandRoll

Comments Off on Deaf sex abuse victim suing the pope

Posted in Celebrities, Hot Stuff, News

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Transgender Senior Can’t Be Homecoming King

Posted on September 28, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Comments Off on Transgender Senior Can’t Be Homecoming King

http://www.woodtv.com/dpp/news/local/muskegon_county/ACLU-may-enter-school-trans… http://talkaboutequality.files.wordpress.com/2010/09/screen-shot-2010-09-27-at-3… Oakleigh Marshall not allowed to compete for court MUSKEGON, Mich. (WOOD) – Some Mona Shores High School students say administrators stole the homecoming king throne from the rightful winner — a transgender senior. The controversy is playing out in the school's hallways, and on Facebook. Some classmates believe the crown belongs to Oakleigh Reed — who was born as Oakleigh Marie, but who now goes as Oakleigh Marshall, or Oak for short. In fact, friends have started a Facebook page, titled, “Oak is My King.” http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=103699403028170 “It's the senior class that votes for their representative,” Reed said. “What they did was taking away the voice of the senior class.” Assistant Superintendent Todd Geerlings said the issue is simple: The ballots gave two choices — vote for a boy for king and a girl for queen. And, in school records, he said, Oakleigh is still listed as a female. The 17-year-old says the gender struggle has been life-long — with sports, family and friends, even band camp. After years of counseling, Oakleigh plans a sex change operation at age 18. Already, the school has made concessions. “They let me wear a male tux for band uniform, and they're going to let me wear the male robe and cap for graduation.” Teachers, Oakleigh said, use male pronouns. “They call me Oak, and they say, he, him, his,” the teen said. Oak, an honor student, campaigned for homecoming king on Facebook — a one-day campaign. “I just said, 'Vote for me for homecoming king.' I don't see why there's any reasons why someone who's different shouldn't be on court. I thought, 'Hey, why not put myself out there? I have just as much qualifications as anyone else in the school.” The campaign took off. “I knew I had a lot of votes because people were telling me in the hallway, 'Hey, I voted for you, I voted for you.'” Oakleigh was overwhelmed by the support of classmates. Then, last Monday, the principal called Oak into her office. “They told me that they took me off because they had to invalidate all of my votes because I'm enrolled at Mona Shores as a female,” Oakleigh said. Oakleigh was happy with the support from classmates, but “sometimes it's nice to have something tangible.” The teen's mother says she's angry. “He was voted for homecoming king and, according to the votes, he should have been homecoming king, and it's just sad, and it just breaks my heart that all these people all voted and it was taken away, it was completely taken away from him.” The ACLU may enter this case . Oakleigh said he'd be willing to talk with them. added by: toyotabedzrock

Comments Off on Transgender Senior Can’t Be Homecoming King

Posted in Celebrities, Hot Stuff, News

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , ,