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http://www.expressgaynews.com/print.cfm?content_id=2890
www.expressgaynews.com
Religion News
Top Anglican dean attacks anti-gay 'witch-hunt'
Jul. 22, 2006
LONDON - The dean of St. Paul's Cathedral, one of the most influential
leaders of the Church of England, has attacked conservatives in the
worldwide Anglican Communion for conducting a "witch-hunt" against gays.
"The thought that anybody should be shown the door by the church, I just
find deeply offensive," said Very Rev. Dr. John Moses, BBC News reported
July 12.
Moses made the comments on the eve of his last service at St. Paul's before
his retirement. Moses said the Anglican church must adapt to global
conditions. "It has to be recognized that we live in different cultural
contexts, and pastoral questions which are deeply sensitive might have
different solutions in different places," said Moses, BBC News reported. The
Anglican Communion has been bitterly divided over the issue of gay and
female bishops. Moses conceded that he had no answer for the dispute but
"hated" the idea of exclusion from the Church.
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The current issue of The Express Gay News is online
http://expressgaynews.com
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http://www.expressgaynews.com/print.cfm?content_id=2886
The Express Gay News
Let's have a real debate on marriage
The Congressional debate on gay marriage was about as substance-free as most
discussions about abortion. Behind the slogans, the real issue is there
waiting.
By CHRIS CRAIN
Jul. 22, 2006
THE CONGRESS CONSIDERS itself the world's most important deliberative
body, but you wouldn't know it from the recent debates in the SEnate and
House on a constitutional amendment banning gays from marrying.
President Bush was right about one thing. The issue is one of "great
significance" about which "opinions are strong and emotions run deep."
Whether because of those emotions or the depressing state of political
discourse generally these days, the real issues got precious little
attention in Congress and even less from mainstream media.
Instead, encouraged by Democrats and their gay activist allies, the focus
was predictably on the horserace, and whether the amendment was a really
diversionary tactic designed to shore up the conservative base in time for
the fall elections.
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http://www.expressgaynews.com/print.cfm?content_id=2893
Hate can be colorblind
Today's religion-based bigotry against gays is a direct descendent of the
white Southern side of the civil rights era.
By WAYNE BESEN
Jul. 22, 2006
WHITE EVANGELICAL LEADERS have entered into a sordid marriage of convenience
with a few like-minded black preachers.
This unholy alliance is not a beacon of true diversity, but rather a
diversity of ways to attack people who are different or hold divergent
beliefs.
In a perverse way, these ministers have advanced equality in that they have
proven, if nothing else, that hate can be colorblind.
Earlier this month, Rev. O'Neal Dozier, a leading conservative black
preacher, spewed bigoted remarks about Muslims on a right wing radio show.
He said he was leading the charge to block an Islamic center from being
built in a Fort Lauderdale suburb because
"Islam is a dangerous religion."
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http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/printstory.mpl/editorial/4064168
July 21, 2006, 7:51PM
One pill
New AIDS pill is revolutionary, but it should not supplant prevention as the
best means of fighting HIV.
Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle
THE treatment of AIDS and HIV took a great leap forward with the
announcement by the Food and Drug Administration that it has approved a
single daily pill that is expected to simplify patients' struggle to keep
the disease at bay. The breakthrough, while a boon for sufferers, won't be a
panacea: Even with the one-a-day pill, AIDS will remain deadly for millions
of victims around the world well into the foreseeable future.
Development of the pill, which is to be marketed under the brand name
Atripla, combines three drugs - known as Viread, Sustiva and Emtriva. AIDS
experts say the combination drug, while vastly simplifying what is for many
an arduous treatment regimen, has the potential to extend AIDS sufferers'
lives. Some patients will have normal lifespans. Being able to take one pill
instead of the typical prescription of two to 15 medicines consumed over the
course of the day should extend life by increasing treatment compliance.
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http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/sns-ap-focus-on-the-family-protest,0,3177023.story
Gay Rights Group Completes 65-Mile Protest
By MELISSA TRUJILLO
Associated Press Writer
July 21, 2006, 11:18 PM EDT
DENVER -- Advocates of parental rights for gays and lesbians finished a
65-mile relay march Friday to protest what they said was Focus on the
Family's manipulation of research data on the issue.
More than 100 people walked about 4-mile sections of the route from Denver
to the Focus headquarters in Colorado Springs, said Richard Lindsay,
spokesman for the Virginia-based group called Soulforce.
Organizers of the march said they hoped to put a public face on the issue
and open a dialogue with Focus about its portrayal of gay families.
Soulforce has accused Focus founder James Dobson of misusing research data
to say gays and lesbians are not good parents -- a charge the Christian
group has denied.
To end its protest, Soulforce planned a concert and vigil Saturday night at
Focus' headquarters. Focus on the Family also planned a news conference
Saturday night to address the group's charges.
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http://www.365gay.com/Newscon06/07/072106israel.htm
WorldPride Parade Cancelled
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff
July 21 2006 - 1:00 pm ET
(Jerusalem) Organizers of WorldPride to be held next month in Jerusalem on
Friday cancelled the pride parade but say other events will go ahead as
planned.
WorldPride is scheduled to be held in Jerusalem from August 6 - 12.
Police denied Jerusalem Open House a parade permit saying that they are
unable to provide a safe environment for the march in light of the current
hostilities in the region and the excessive stress it puts on the police's
manpower.
"We feel it would be neither responsible nor appropriate to hold the march
until such time that circumstances allow for a safe and peaceful gathering
for all," said a statement from Open House co-chair Hagai El-Ad.
El-Ad said though that the cultural aspects of WorldPride are going ahead.
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http://www.365gay.com/Newscon06/07/072106romney.htm
Romney Abolishes Gay Youth Commission
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff
July 21 2006 - 5:00 pm ET
(Boston, Massachusetts) Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney issued an executive
order Friday abolishing the state's 14-year old governor's commission on gay
and lesbian youth.
The moves comes after a long protracted battle with legislators over the
commission.
In May he attempted to kill the body over its support for gay pride parades
in the state but quickly reversed himself.
The attempt to disband the commission sparked an uproar from lawmakers and
supporters of the commission. The legislature then passed a bill a bill
creating a new commission out of the reach of the governor's office.
Romney vetoed the bill and lawmakers countered by overriding it.
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http://www.365gay.com/Newscon06/07/072106canada.htm
Canada Ends OutGames Visa Delay
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff
July 21, 2006 - 7:00 pm ET
(Montreal, Quebec) Visas have finally been granted to all 315 delegates to
an LGBT civil rights conference to be held next week in conjunction with the
first Outgames in Montreal.
The Canadian government had held up approval of 250 visas and rejected about
a dozen other applicants from the 60 countries being represented.
Ironically, the conference is being sponsored by the Canadian government's
International Development Agency.
Outgames officials in a letter to federal Citizenship and Immigration
Minister Monte Solberg were careful not to accuse the
government of discrimination. The opposition Liberals were quick, however,
to pounce on the issue demanding answers.
Solberg denied allegations that the applicant's sexuality had anything to do
with the delay, citing a backlog in applications because of the peak summer
tourist season.
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http://www.365gay.com/Newscon06/07/072106hatch.htm
Gay Survivor Behind Bars In Oklahoma Federal Pen
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff
July 21 2006 - 9:00 pm ET
(Okalahoma City, Oklahoma) Richard Hatch the gay man who won a million
dollars winning the first season of "Survivor" has been moved from a low
security Massachusetts county facility to the Federal Transfer Center In
Oklahoma, his first stop to a federal penitentiary.
Hatch was sentenced to 51 months behind bars in May for evading taxes on his
$1 million Survivor winnings, on $327,000 he earned for co-hosting a radio
show and $28,000 in rent on property he owned.
However, he was acquitted of seven charges of bank, mail and wire fraud.
He could have been sentenced for up to 13 years in prison and a fine of
$600,000.
How long he will remain in the Oklahoma facility is not know. Federal
officials declined to comment on Friday.
Hatch has appealed his sentence and reportedly has been working with his
lawyers on the case.
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http://www.365gay.com/Newscon06/07/072106cross.htm
Feds Leave Cross Burning At Gay Home To Tennessee To Solve
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff
July 22, 2006 - 12:01 am ET
(Athens, Tennessee) The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation has been called in
to help solve a cross-burning at the home of a gay man three weeks ago.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation briefly checked into the case but left
after determining the attack was homophobic. Gays are not protected under
hate crime laws.
This week Meigs County Sheriff Walter Hickman asked the TBI to become
involved since hate crimes against gays are included in the Tennessee.
District Attorney General Scott McCluen considers the June 29th attack to be
hate crime.
Under the state law if the person or persons involved in the cross burning
are convicted a judge could enhance the sentences.
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http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/living/15089044.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp
Some computer dating sites are organizing -- gasp! -- live events
BY JILL BAUER
jillbauer@worldnet.att.net
A handful of online dating services -- once the go-to places for finding
that significant other -- are realizing that the best way to meet is by
actually -- meeting.
At last count there were 26 million people searching the Web for love, like
or lust. But nowadays more social networking websites are determined to get
their subscribers to log out and get out. Of the house, that is.
''We use the Internet to get people off the Internet,'' says Myles
Weissleder, vice president of public affairs for Meetup.com, an online
social networking service that boasts a membership of more than two million.
The creators of Meetup know that people are relying on the Internet more and
communicating face-to-face less -- so much so that they've developed an
entire online community to help people find others with like interests.
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http://sport.guardian.co.uk/breakingnews/feedstory/0,,-5966711,00.html
Gay U.S. athletes still struggle with 'coming out'
By Ros Krasny
CHICAGO, July 21 (Reuters) - As a 340-pound (154-kg) nose tackle in the
National Football League, Esera Tuaolo was a pretty tough guy. But as a
closeted gay athlete he recalls living in constant fear.
"I felt like if I had come out while still in the NFL I would have been
in physical danger," Tuaolo told Reuters this week. "They would have taken
me out -- gone after my knees, or tried to paralyze me."
Hawaiian-born Tuaolo, who played for the Atlanta Falcons in the 1999
Super Bowl game, was in Chicago to participate in the weeklong Gay Games VII
sports festival, and appeared on a panel called "Brokeback Locker Room,"
about the challenges facing gay and lesbian athletes.
Panelists agreed that although homosexuals now enjoy increased
acceptance in public life, the sports arena has been a tough nut to crack.
"Sports is the last frontier in terms of homophobia," said Helen
Carroll, sports project coordinator with the National Center for Lesbian
Rights in San Francisco.
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http://www.gaycitynews.com/gcn_529/thebattleoveriran.html
The Battle Over Iran
Severity, nature of anti-gay persecution divide rights groups, activists,
journalists
EDITOR'S MEMORANDUM
BY PAUL SCHINDLER
(Paul Schindler is the Editor of Gay City News, New York City's largest gay
weekly newspaper)
One year ago this week, two young men, variously reported to be between 16
and 18, were hanged in Mashad, Iran. The initial reporting stated that the
youths, Ayaz Marhoni and Mahmoud Asgari, were gay lovers executed for their
homosexuality. Quickly, however, human rights groups, most prominently Human
Rights Watch (HRW), pointed to evidence that the two may in fact have been
punished for the rape of a 13-year-old boy. While condemning the death
penalty, particularly for minors, HRW and other groups cautioned against
turning a case of child rape into an international gay rights cause célèbre.
A year later, as dozens of cities worldwide, including New York, held vigils
July 19 to mark the anniversary of the executions, HRW has hardened in its
insistence that there is no support for the charge that the Mashad men were
killed because of their sexuality. The International Gay and Lesbian Human
Rights Commission (IGLHRC) offers a more agnostic assessment, saying that
Iran must clear the air but also warning against inflammatory actions by
LGBT activists that could worsen conditions for gays there.
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Berlin revelers mark Christopher Street Day
July 22, 2006, 9:20 AM EDT
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newyork/ny-bc-ny--germany-gaypride072
2jul22,0,3351705.story?coll=ny-region-apnewyork
BERLIN -- Tens of thousands of gays, lesbians and other revelers packed
downtown Berlin on Saturday for the German capital's annual gay pride
celebration, which draws its name from a street in New York.
An estimated 150,000 people turned out for the city's colorful Christopher
Street Day parade, as several dozen floats carrying dancers _ some bedecked
in feathered, rainbow costumes, others wearing almost nothing at all _ wove
through the heart of the city.
Berlin's openly gay mayor, Klaus Wowereit praised the peaceful party mood,
stressing it was a "true chance to really fight for tolerance."
Christopher Street Day commemorates the start of the gay rights movement in
New York's Greenwich Village in 1969. The parade generally draws large
crowds in Berlin, which has a history as a gay metropolis that goes back as
far as the 19th century.
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/5200962.stm
Gay and Christian police in row
By John McManus
Two staff associations within the UK's police forces are at the
centre of an increasingly bitter dispute.
The row between the Gay Police Association and the Christian Police
Association has been simmering for a while.
A newspaper advertisement taken out by the GPA coincided with
London's Europride event a fortnight ago. -- [Advert on 29th June;
EuroPride on 1st July]
The ad featured a Bible next to a pool of blood under the heading "in
the name of the father", and claimed that religion was the sole or
primary motivation behind most of the homophobic incidents logged by
the GPA's staff helpline.
A minister, Reverend George Hargreaves, complained about the advert
and said its claim was nonsense.
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http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-2031.html
Gay group postpones WorldPride amid war talk
22-July-2006
Marc Shoffman
The Jerusalem WorldPride parade has been postponed until "after the war."
The organisers of the event, Jerusalem Open House (JOH), announced last
night that the rally will no longer take place due to the demands it would
be making on security which is currently caught up in escalating tension in
Lebanon and the Gaza Strip.
A JOH statement said: "This is not the time for celebrations.
"The parade, which requires extensive security, will not take place due to
the situation."
A JOH spokesman told PinkNews.co.uk: "The week of events will go ahead, from
6-12 August, but will be toned down to suit the situation in Israel.
"All the conferences and congresses will go ahead as usual and there will
also be some form of demonstration in favour of pluralism in Jerusalem."
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More - Riga, Latvia from Nicolas at nicolas_alexeyev@yahoo.com
As the speeches of local politicians and foriegne politicians are coming to
an end at the Reval Hotel in a romm where 100 gays and lesbians came to
celebrate what should have been Riga's 2nd Gay Pride, protesters started to
attack those going out of the hotel.
The modern 4 stars hotel is not coordinated with the police to assure the
safety of the participants. The police is very slowly reacting to the
protesters.
The first taxi that was trying to take one of the organizers, was attacked
by the protesters who pushed the cars, through eggs under the eyes the
police.
Journalist were also attacked with eggs and water on them and on their
cameras. Protesters targetting anyone going out of the hotel.
An old woman holding an icon in her hands lied on the car with a bottle that
she called "sacred water".
Taxi are now left and protesters are waiting for the next group.
Speeches continues inside the hotel quietly, as planned.
It is not yet clear how gays, lesbians and their friends will evacuate the
buidling.
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Forwarded from nicolas_alexeyev@yahoo.com
Riga gay pride under siege by fascists (UPDATE)
UPDATE - Riga-22 July 13.30 hours
The press conference of the Latvian LGBT group Mozaika in central Riga is
under siege by a mob of 70 fascists who have assaulted people as they try to
leave. The police presence is merely symbolic, being small and inadequate.
One of those assaulted was the openly gay pastor Rev Maris Sants. The Police
refused him protection as he went to his car, where he was attacked.
"People attending the press conference had to be rushed out into waiting
vans to be ferried away from the baying homophobic ñrowd, " said eye-witness
Peter Tatchell of OutRage.
"Earlier at 1100 hours today, the church service Rev Sants held in support
of Riga Gay Pride was attacked by a dozen neo-nazis. Worshippers were pelted
with shit and rotten fruit. Despite previously requesting police protection,
no police were present to protect the congregation. Dutch MEP Sophie In't
Veld was one of the worshippers prevented from leaving the church by the
homophobic vigilantes.
