Gay marriage logo spreads on social media

NEW YORK (AP) — Bud Light said it with beer cans and Martha Stewart with red velvet cake as companies and celebrities from Beyonce to George Takei joined millions of social media users in posting and tweaking a simple red logo in support of gay marriage.

A square box with thick pink horizontal lines (the mathematical equal symbol) was offered for sharing this week by the Human Rights Campaign as the U.S. Supreme Court took up arguments in key marriage rights cases.

The image, replacing profile pictures on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, Pinterest and elsewhere, is a makeover of the advocacy group's logo, usually a blue background with bright yellow lines. The HRC made it available in red — for the color of love — on Monday and estimated tens of millions of shares by Wednesday.

"It shows the enthusiasm and the passion," said Fred Sainz, a spokesman for the nonprofit in Washington, D.C.

Like viral campaigns of yore, supporting breast cancer awareness (pink), President Barack Obama (change your middle name to Hussein) and even Arab Spring (green), a bit of fatigue set in on some social media streams by those questioning whether such efforts serve to change any minds or, put simply, are plain annoying.

"My Facebook feed is a cascading aesthetic nightmare. Thanks, equality," Washington Post writer Dan Zak wryly grumbled on Twitter.

A photo of Justice Anthony Kennedy made the rounds with the quip: "Before we make a ruling, did enough people change their Facebook profile picture?!"

None of that mattered to the masses of same-sex marriage supporters. Some swapped matzoh for the pink lines as Passover got under way, or added frowny Internet star Grumpy Cat, who explained marriage equality would make her happy.

Bert and Ernie showed up against the red background. (They're best friends with no plans to marry, according to Sesame Street.) Another version featured Paula Deen atop the red square and lines turned a shade of yellow akin to her favorite fatty ingredient and the tagline: "It's like two sticks of butter y'all."

Takei, a noted punster with nearly 4 million followers in Facebook, turned the equal sign into the division sign for those opposed to marriage equality.

Beyonce, with more than 44 million followers there, played it straight, leaving the logo alone and adding a personal message: "It's about TIME!!! (hash)EQUALITY (hash)MarryWhoYouLove.

Fergie let the image speak for itself on Twitter, adding: "No words necessary." Montana Sen. John Tester, a Democrat who endorsed same-sex marriage on Tuesday, put the logo up as his profile on Facebook while the clothing site Bonobos swapped its usual Facebook pic for the red square using fancy white pants for the equal sign.

Martha Stewart's Facebook page used a slice of red cake with white icing to make the image and the HBO page for "True Blood" added fangs.

All in good fun?

"There's a lot of serious conversation going on and there's an awful lot of important concepts that the Supreme Court justices are discussing," Sainz said. "What this logo going viral means is individuals have reduced it to a very straightforward concept."

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Follow Leanne Italie on Twitter at http://twitter.com/litalie

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Steubenville verdict fires up social media

Trent Mays and Ma'lik Richmond in the courtroom before their trial (AP/Pool Photo)

The news that two high school football players in Steubenville, Ohio, were found guilty of raping an intoxicated 16-year-old girl lit up Twitter on Sunday, with many users—most of them women—celebrating the verdict while calling for more work to be done to transform America's rape culture.

GUILTY verdict in #Steubenville! Let's hope this serves as a lesson nationally—only yes means yes.

— Jessica Valenti (@JessicaValenti) March 17, 2013

These young men have forced a young woman to relearn trust, dignity, self worth and sexuality. And demonized her afterwards.

— Lizz Winstead (@lizzwinstead) March 17, 2013

Full justice will not be realized for survivors until we stop blaming victims and destroy the culture that feeds this. #Steubenville

— Lily Bolourian (@LilyBolourian) March 17, 2013

There are a lot of tears in the courtroom. Wonder where the tears were for the victim that night? #Steubenville

— Jessica Valenti (@JessicaValenti) March 17, 2013

When I was in college guys used to joke "passed out equals consent" and it made my stomach turn. So glad for the Steubenville verdict.

— Erin Drummond (@ebdrummond) March 17, 2013

Solidarity w/ Jane Doe. Happy for verdict, but it doesn't stop today. She has to live with this when media coverage stops. #steubenville

— Katie Hnida (@KatieHnida) March 17, 2013

Steubenville young men were found guilty ... But it still doesn't fix the problem of society devaluing women.

— Esha Hand (@handesha) March 17, 2013

CONGRATULATIONS, JANE DOE! Justice in Steubenville is in your favor! Next stop: civil court!

— Roseanne Barr (@TheRealRoseanne) March 17, 2013

The verdict came a day after the victim testified she did not remember anything from the night of the attack, but was "embarrassed and scared" to learn what happened to her via text messages from witnesses, Instagram photos and a YouTube video.

#Steubenville rape case had more undeniably damning evidence than many other high profile cases--texts, tweets, photos. Hard to ignore.

— Irin Carmon (@irincarmon) March 17, 2013

#Steubenville case looked at "10s of 1000s of texts found on 17 phones seized." May texting do away with he-said-she-said trials forever.

— Selena Ross (@seleross) March 17, 2013

Steubenville community leaders would have covered up this abuse as they had before, but bloggers and Anons shined a light on it. Well done.

— Random Pinko (@anon_pinko) March 17, 2013

The case "drew wide attention for the way social media spurred the initial prosecution," the New York Times said, "and later helped galvanize national outrage"—outrage that was evident to anyone scanning tweets with the #Steubenville hashtag on Sunday.

Going to have stop commenting on #steubenville case now, as every time I think about it, I cry. I have so much respect/love for the victim.

— Emma Jayne (@EmmaJaynewithaY) March 17, 2013

You will not reduce, redefine, diminish, or take away from what you did. And what you did was rape her. #Steubenville

— Kimberly Hurtt (@MrsHurtt) March 17, 2013

Too much sympathy in court being shown for these disgusting little rapists. It is not a tragedy when a rapist is found guilty.#Steubenville

— Radical Feminist (@RadicalFeminist) March 17, 2013

"She Never said no" is such a hideous defense, and one of the many sad examples of how much work needs to be done. #Steubenville

— Lizz Winstead (@lizzwinstead) March 17, 2013

I wish I had heard the judge utter one word--one word--about respecting women and girls and the issue of consent. #Steubenville

— Truly S. (@hotincleveland) March 17, 2013

"Those poor boys' lives are ruined!" — exactly what you should not be thinking after the #steubenville guilty verdict.

— Matt Binder (@MattBinder) March 17, 2013

So many feelings as a survivor of intoxicated, teenage rape about Steubenville. The howling for blood makes me really sad.

— Suzan Eraslan (@SuzanEraslan) March 17, 2013

Don't feel sorry rapists: Stop airing the men crying. Those were adult actions, they should've been tried as adults. #Steubenville #stopVAW

— Kimberly S. Brusk (@peaceforus4ever) March 17, 2013

The five-day trial put a spotlight on the football culture surrounding Steubenville High School, a point of pride for a city hard hit by the collapse of the steel industry.

The community of #Steubenville should now do some soul-searching about how they treat their boys like gods. It won't.

— Abraham Lincoln (@Mr_Lincoln) March 17, 2013

I guess the question coaches should ask themselves is this: "Is rape culture part of my locker room?"

— Joel D. Anderson (@blackink12) March 17, 2013

#Steubenville coach and adults also #guilty, protecting the rapists, demonizing the victim

— Progressive Voices (@progvoice) March 17, 2013

Sign across the street from Steubenville Courthouse: "Be a parent, not a best friend."

— Maggie Jordan (@MaggieJordanACN) March 17, 2013

Drink responsibly? Children should not be drinking anyway, and if they do should not get raped, no matter how drunk they get. #Steubenville

— Mark Hoggan (@Markho23) March 17, 2013

Breaking: Rape is wrong even if you are good at sports. #Steubenville

— Katy, Esq. (@kayteeod) March 17, 2013

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Quebec cardinal nearly became pope, Italian media reports say

VATICAN CITY - Italian media reports say Canadian Cardinal Marc Ouellet, who was considered a front-runner for the papacy, nearly became pope.

According to Italian news outlet Il Solo 24 Ore, Ouellet was tied with Italian Cardinal Angelo Scola in early voting at the Sistine Chapel, with Argentinian Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio in third place.

The report says Scola was later unable to gain further support after many cardinals decided against choosing a Vatican insider to lead the Roman Catholic Church.

Ouellet then reportedly convinced his fellow cardinals to throw their support behind Bergoglio, who eventually became Pope Francis on Wednesday.

The report is fuelling speculation that Ouellet has now positioned himself for an influential new position at the Vatican.

The 68-year-old native of La Motte., Que., currently heads the Vatican's bishop's office.

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Tech-savvy Newark Mayor Booker: Government flunking social media

AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) - Cory Booker, the constantly tweeting mayor of Newark, New Jersey, who intends to run for the U.S. Senate, said on Sunday that the federal government needs to reinvent the often overly formal way it uses social media.

"It's just using it as an announcement system, like you used to listen to in class: ‘The cafeteria will be serving roast beef, and I will be at this place or that place'," Booker told Reuters after an appearance at the South by Southwest Interactive Festival in Austin, Texas. "But that's not interaction, that's not collaboration."

Booker, 43, a rising star in the Democratic Party who has more than 1.3 million followers on Twitter, told the Austin audience that he can't be a mayor who sits behind a desk and waits for the world to come to him.

Last year, the Newark mayor was hailed as a hero for inviting into his home neighbors who, he learned on Twitter, lost power because of Superstorm Sandy.

He also uses Twitter to give city phone numbers to constituents, share inspirational quotes, declare his love for the TV series Star Trek and answer questions from local students while admonishing them not to tweet in class.

"On it," he replied to a resident who complained recently of a broken street light.

Booker, who made a failed run for Newark mayor in 2002 before winning the job in 2006, said he's been hooked on Twitter since actor Ashton Kutcher called and told him why he should dive into the micro-blogging site.

'TELLING YOUR TRUTH'

Booker said it was important to be himself on social media - and that this would still be true if he were in the Senate.

"Life is about telling your truth and being who you are, 100 percent," he said. "This world desperately needs authenticity, people who have the courage to tell their truth every single day, and I would not stop being who I am just because of the title that's before my name."

One of his Twitter followers, Shuronda Robinson of Austin, said she took her 12- and 13-year-old sons to his appearance at South by Southwest and made sure he shook the boys' hands.

"I was so inspired," she said after Booker's remarks to an audience that didn't fill a large auditorium. "I wanted my boys to see someone living with purpose."

Newark, eight miles from Manhattan and New Jersey's largest city, was once a thriving manufacturing center but for the last half century has battled political corruption, urban blight and high crime.

Booker, a former Rhodes Scholar, has made reducing crime a major priority. In March 2010, Newark experienced its first murder-free month since 1944.

While Booker's national profile is rising, some Newark residents have criticized him for being absent from the city as he travels around the country, appears on TV programs and meets business leaders.

Booker said that traveling has helped him secure benefits to Newark, such as a $100 million gift to its schools from Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg.

"He didn't come to Newark to say, ‘Hey, I want to give you $100 million,'" Booker said. "We were at a conference together."

Booker has filed papers to run for the Senate in 2014. Senator Frank Lautenberg, 89, a long-serving New Jersey Democrat, has said he will not seek re-election. Booker has been leading in New Jersey polls for the seat.

"It is even my intention to run, but I'm not going to come to any conclusions until after November," Booker told Reuters.

(Reporting by Corrie MacLaggan; Editing by Cynthia Johnston and Philip; Barbara)

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Gunmen attack church in Libya's Benghazi: state media

TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Gunmen attacked an Egyptian Coptic church in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi, assaulting two priests, the official LANA news agency quoted the foreign ministry as saying on Sunday.

The foreign ministry said it "strongly condemned Thursday's attack on the Egyptian church ... and the aggression towards Father Paul Isaac and his assistant by the irresponsible armed men," LANA quoted a foreign ministry statement as saying.

It did not elaborate on the attacks but said an inquiry committee involving the interior, defense and justice ministries had been formed and had "taken the necessary measures to secure the church and its occupants".

It expressed "deep concern" over the attack, saying it was "contrary to the rules" of Islam and international human rights laws.

Libya's small Christian community has expressed fears over Islamist extremism as the government struggles to impose its authority over armed groups which have refused to lay down their weapons since the 2011 war that ousted Muammar Gaddafi.

In December, an explosion at a building belonging to a Coptic church in Dafniya, close to the western city of Misrata, killed two Egyptian men and wounded two others.

Last month, four foreigners were arrested in Benghazi on suspicion of being Christian missionaries and printing books about Christianity.

Hussein Bin Hmeid, a spokesman for the government-affiliated security apparatus called the Preventative Security which made the arrests, said the missionaries had since been transferred to Tripoli.

He said the four - an Egyptian, a South African, a Korean and a Swede who was travelling on a U.S. passport - were now in the hands of the Interior Ministry and had been visited by representatives from their countries.

(Reporting by Ali Shuaib; additional reporting by Ghaith Shennib in Benghazi; Writing by Marie-Louise Gumuchian; Editing by Jason Webb)

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