ATLANTA (AP) –
Gay rights advocates were surprised last Thursday that the president of fast-food chain Chick-fil-A has taken a public position against same-sex marriage.

Chick-fil-A President Dan Cathy said that his privately owned company is "guilty as charged" in support of what he called the biblical definition of the family unit.

Chick-fil-A released its own statement, saying it has a history of applying biblically-based principles to its business, such as keeping its stores closed on Sundays.

"The Chick-fil-A culture and service tradition in our restaurants is to treat every person with honor, dignity and respect — regardless of their belief, race, creed, sexual orientation or gender," according to the statement.

"Going forward, our intent is to leave the policy debate over same-sex marriage to the government and political arena," it said.

The Atlanta-based chain opened its first location in a Georgia mall in 1967 and has grown to more than 1,615 restaurants in 39 states and Washington, D.C., with annual sales over $4.1 billion, according to its website.

"We are a family-owned business, a family-led business, and we are married to our first wives. We give God thanks for that," Cathy told the Baptist Press, the news agency of the Southern Baptist Convention.

Chad Griffin, president of the Human Rights Campaign that works for same-sex-marriage, said Thursday that Chick-fil-A "has finally come clean" after cloaking its positions for years.

"While they may have been in neutral, kicking this fight into overdrive now allows fair-minded consumers to make up their own minds whether they want to support an openly discriminatory company," Griffin said in a statement. "As the country moves toward inclusion, Chick-fil-A has staked out a decidedly stuck-in-the-past mentality."

By: Gary Strauss and Charisse Jones - USA TODAY
AURORA, Colo. – In the Colorado theater that was the scene of one of the worst mass shootings in recent memory, the heroics did not occur on the screen, but in the darkened aisles.

Nick Yowler, 32, was watching The Dark Knight Rises with his younger sister, Samantha, 27, and her boyfriend, Matt McQuinn, 27, when gunfire rang out.

"When the gunman started shooting, Matt and Nick… pulled Samantha to the ground and shielded her," says Rob Scott, an attorney representing the McQuinn and Yowler families.

McQuinn was shot three times, and died at the theater, Scott says. Samantha Yowler, shot in the knee, underwent surgery and is recovering, and Nick Yowler was uninjured.

Both men were heroes, Scott says. "I don't know many (young people) who would stand up and take a bullet," he says. "As Americans, we're used to seeing that from our military, but not from private citizens. What Matt did and Nick did certainly demonstrated what's best about us."

As law enforcement officials pieced together a motive behind the Aurora theater shooting, stories emerged about the friends and strangers who rushed to shield others and help the injured.

Colorado's Gov. John Hickenlooper spoke of the many acts of bravery on Meet the Press on Sunday.

One man protected his son's wounded girlfriend. "They're in the front row … so the shooter is right over them and instead of running away he stays there and saves her life in the end, kept her from bleeding to death," Hickenlooper said. Outside the theater, a woman took off her belt and fashioned it into a tourniquet to bind the thigh of one of the wounded. "I mean one after another, acts of heroism."

Sometimes, acts of courage were overcome by the terror and chaos of the shooting.

Despite her own panic, Jennifer Seeger, 22, used her training as a firefighter to calm others. "I told people to lay down and pretend they were dead," she said. When there was a temporary break in the shooting, Seeger said, she checked the pulse of someone who had been wounded in the back.

"I could tell he was fading," she said. "I put my hands under his arms and started to drag him towards the door. Then someone yelled (the shooter) was coming. I got scared and dropped him. … I ran."

When Marcus Weaver, 41, saw the alleged gunman toss two canisters, he thought they were firecrackers and part of a stunt. But then there were blasts of gunfire.

He tried to blanket his friend Rebecca Wingo.

"You could hear people praying and people screaming," including children, he said. "The sounds were unbelievable. I knew I was (a) goner for sure."

The gunman kept shooting, "spraying rows of seats," he said. "When it stopped, I tried to make a break for the door. I was tumbling over people and people were tumbling over me. I got shot as I was trying to get away."

Weaver was wounded twice in the shoulder. Fleeing the theater he caught a glimpse of Wingo with blood on her forehead before the two became separated in the crowd.

A day later, Wingo was listed among the 12 slain.

Chris Ramos, 20, was caught in the bedlam with his 17-year-old sister, Stephanie. He urged those around him to stay low, beneath their seats before they rushed out into the lobby.

"A guy right next to us got shot," Ramos says. "I wish I could have grabbed more people. I was just focused on my sister."

Contributing: Jones reported from New Jersey

Channel 24
Los Angeles - Katie Holmes has enrolled her six-year-old daughter into the same Catholic school Lady Gaga once attended.

The 33-year-old actress - who was given primary custody of Suri after her divorce settlement with estranged husband Tom Cruise was agreed last week - wants her little girl to be educated at New York's Convent of the Sacred Heart School and she will start there this autumn.

Katie is said to be keen for Suri to get a Catholic education instead of the Scientology upbringing Tom reportedly wanted her to have.

According to the Los Angeles Times, Suri - who was previously home-schooled - will start her classes on 6 September, which will be the youngster's first open classroom format.

'Oldest independent school'
The curriculum at Sacred Heart is thought to be extremely strict, requiring students to attend Mass every Thursday, while tuition reportedly costs $38 000 a year.

As well as Lady Gaga, former students at the school - which calls itself on its website "the oldest independent school for girls in New York City" - also include Caroline Kennedy, actress Jordana Brewster and Paris Hilton.

Katie filed for divorce from 50-year-old Tom last month and sources claim one of the reasons behind the split was Tom's desire to have Suri attend a Scientology school like his two other children, Isabella,19, and 17-year-old Connor.

However, they have denied they clashed over their beliefs and released a statement saying: "We are committed to working together as parents to accomplish what is in our daughter Suri's best interests. 

"We want to keep matters affecting our family private and express our respect for each other's commitment to each of our respective beliefs and support each other's roles as parents."

Source: http://www.channel24.co.za/Gossip/News/Katie-enrols-Suri-into-Gaga-school-20120716

By: Rob - journalist for The Huffington Post
Five years after revealing that she had started to study Scientology, Katie Holmes has officially returned to the Catholic faith, registering as a parishioner at the Church of St. Francis Xavier in New York City.

“Everyone is thrilled to have Katie join us,” a member of the church's choir told me. “She has not yet attended a service, but when she does she will be welcomed with open arms.”

The church, located on 16th Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues, is known for inclusive thinking and its welcoming of many gay and lesbian Catholics. Its mission statement indicates that the Roman Catholic Church parish “strives to be a prophetic, welcoming community, inclusive witness to the presence of Christ Jesus in our midst.” Its website proclaims that it is a respectful community, “where seekers and their questions are welcomed, where injustice is challenged, where the poor, the alienated and marginalized find a home, and where people are refreshed, reconciled and renewed.”

Cruise and Holmes just issued a joint statement saying, "We want to keep matters affecting our family private and express our respect for each other's commitment to each of our respective beliefs and support each other's roles as parents."

The New York parish is no stranger to celebrity faces: Nancy Pelosi was seen worshipping there while serving as speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives.

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/09/katie-holmes-catholic-church_n_1659466.html?utm_hp_ref=mostpopular