Israeli Enlisted And Reservist Soldiers Battle Over Homophobic Remark, Czech Republic Refutes European Union Claim Phallometric Testing Of Gay Asylum Applicants Violation Of Human Rights Convention, Belmont University Donor Mike Curb Calls On School To Rehire Lisa Howe, Christian Couple Who Denied Gay Couple Double Bed Because Homosexuality Is An “Affront To Their Faith” Are Sued

YNET reports that earlier in December, two Israeli soldiers in mandatory service who passed two reservists playing a game of backgammon, were called “homosexuals” for serving alongside female soldiers. The two returned with “back-up” and a violent brawl broke out, the reservist hit in the head with a chair. One of his friends, allegedly attempting to fight back the soldiers, reached for a nearby gun, loaded the magazine, and shouted at one of the soldiers, yelling, “Move or I’ll shoot a bullet in your head.” The Military police investigated and have arrested one soldier with assault with intent to injure and one of the reservists with unlawful possession of a weapon. The attorney for the soldier believes that the reservists’ testimonies were false and were intended to justify their actions.

The Czech Government has rejected a European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights criticism of the country’s test of the credibility of gay asylum applicants, the Associated Press reporting that the Czech Republic is only known EU country to employ the so-called “phallometric testing," a method that tests whether men seeking asylum on the grounds of homosexuality are in fact sexual around by heterosexual pornographic material. The Czech Interior Ministry released a statement that said the testing is conducted only after obtaining written consent, and when it is not possible to use a different method of verification. A spokesperson for the Ministry said that the test has been enacted in less than ten cases and then only used on unreliable applicants from countries like Iran, where homosexuality is grounds for severe punishment, adding that all those who passed the test were granted asylum. The EU released a report that the reliability of the test is questionable because “it is dubious whether it reaches sufficiently clear conclusions” and that the practice might violate the EU convention “since the procedure touches upon a most intimate part of an individual’s private life.”

Mike Curb, who formed the Mike Curb Congregation, whose saccharine song “It’s A Small World" is forever a part of the Disney cannon, says that Belmont University must change its policy and publically affirm its commitment to diversity, reports the Tennessean. Curb, now president of Curb Records, donated $10 million to the Christian college based in Nashville, and says that “It’s time for Belmont to change and to recognize that we have gay students, faculty and staff. I want to see this board and the school leadership act like Christians.” To that end, Curb, who is a trustee emeritus at Belmont, is asking the university to rehire former women’s soccer coach Lisa Howe. Curb, a Republican, said “Belmont has to decide whether they want to be a nationally recognized university – particularly with their school of music business – or they want to be a church.”

The Christian owners of a seaside Bed and Breakfast in England are being sued by a gay couple they refused a room to in March, 2008, the Sun reporting that Peter and Hazelmary Bull told Martyn Hall and Steven Preddy it would be “an affront to their faith” if the men, who are in a civil partnership, shared a double bed. Instead, the two were offered separate single rooms, which they refused. The couple left and reported the incident to police. Now, they are using the 2007 Equality Act Regulations to sue the owners of the B&B for sexual orientation discrimination. The case will be heard beginning Monday, and is scheduled to last two days. Mike Judge, of the Christian Institute, a charity that is financing the Bull’s defense, said that the case could have “far-reaching ramifications for religious liberty” and that the Bull’s “have rights too, and they should not be forced to act against their sincerely held religious beliefs under their own roof. This Christian couple are being put on trial for their beliefs. Equality laws are being used as a sword rather than a shield.”