Monday, August 07, 2006

GLBT DIGEST August 6, 2006

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Washington Post Company

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/04/AR2006080401272_pf.html

Ind. High Court Lets Gay Adoption Stand

The Associated Press
Friday, August 4, 2006; 6:57 PM

INDIANAPOLIS -- Indiana's Supreme Court let stand a ruling that allows unmarried couples, including those of the same sex, to adopt children through a joint petition that gives both partners equal custody.

In a 4-1 decision posted Friday, the high court refused to hear arguments in the case. That left in tact the April ruling by the Indiana Court of Appeals, which had overturned a lower court's ruling that state law limits adoption to married couples and individuals.

"The court acknowledged that two people can create a caring, stable, loving home for children without being married," said Patricia Logue, senior counsel for Lambda Legal's Midwest office in Chicago. "Not only is this a decision that will keep our clients' family intact, but this is a victory
for the thousands of children in Indiana desperately in need of a caring home."

Logue represented a lesbian couple from Morgan County whose 2004 attempt to adopt a baby girl was approved by a judge in one county but denied by a judge in another.


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http://www.sun-sentinel.com/business/local/orl-tourismside0306aug03,1,2625143.story

Gay tourists find 'welcome' signs across Florida

Beth Kassab
Sentinel Staff Writer

August 3, 2006

During the annual Gay Days in Orlando earlier this summer, the Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau bought a billboard to enticetravelers to head south.

Fort Lauderdale has emerged as a hot spot for gay-friendly travel, a marketso lucrative that state tourism marketer Visit Florida recently created atask force to explore how to better cater to gay travelers, who areestimated to have $641 billion in purchasing power this year.

"We rolled out what we call the rainbow carpet a couple of years ago, andwe've seen a lot of green success," said Nicki Grossman, president of theFort Lauderdale bureau.

Though marketing to those groups isn't new -- Key West began nearly 10 yearsago -- the task force and a report due out this year by the Travel IndustryAssociation of America confirm gay travelers' status as a highlysought-after group.


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The New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/05/us/05beliefs.html?pagewanted=print

August 5, 2006
Religion

Culture Wars Seen Within Political Parties
By PETER STEINFELS

"Despite talk of 'culture wars' and the high visibility of activist groups on both sides of the cultural divide, there has been no polarization of the public into liberal and conservative camps."

That was the conclusion that researchers from the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press and the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life drew from the latest in their periodic surveys of public opinion, conducted from July 6 to July 19 and released Thursday.

Americans, the researchers wrote, "are conservative in opposing gay marriage and gay adoption, liberal in favoring embryonic stem cell research, and a little of both on abortion."


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The current issue of The Express Gay News is online

http://expressgaynews.com



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The Miami Herald

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/living/columnists/steve_rothaus/15186635.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp


Posted on Sun, Aug. 06, 2006

KEY WEST

The gay community's still the same -- just different - Reports of the death of Key West's gay community are wildly exaggerated.
BY STEVE ROTHAUS

srothaus@MiamiHerald.com

It had been 16 years since I covered Key West for The Miami Herald and I looked forward to traveling there for the first time in more than a decade.

People kept warning me: ``You'll be disappointed. It's not gay anymore. Allthe gay people are gone.''

They're wrong. There are still plenty of gay people in Key West. And plentyfor a gay tourist to do.

My partner, Ric Katz, and I spent two nights in Key West a few weeks ago. Wedrove from Miami. Just as it was two decades ago, there is virtually no recognizable gay life along U.S. 1 until you cross the bridge from Stock Island.

But once you enter Key West, you know you're not in Kansas the first time a drag queen rides by on a moped.

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The Express Gay News

http://expressgaynews.com/print.cfm?content_id=2930

Police Beat
Anti-gay attack mars San Diego Gay Pride

By
Aug. 05, 2006

SAN DIEGO (AP) - Attackers wielding baseball bats and shouting anti-gay slurs hit two men on the head and stabbed a third in the back outside a GayPride event July 29, police said. The attack was the first in more than adecade at San Diego's annual Gay Pride festival, which drew 150,000 peopleduring the weekend. "It's being investigated as a hate crime," said policeLt. Margaret Schaufelberger.

Mayor Jerry Sanders said the assailants tauntedtheir victims with anti-gay insults as they were beating them, the San DiegoUnion-Tribune reported. "Clearly, these animals wanted to push these menback into the closet," he said at a City Hall news conference July 31. "Wewon't and shouldn't allow that to occur." The incident took place after thefestival's park venue shut down late Saturday.

The three victims said afight broke out after their assailants taunted them with anti-gay remarks.Two of the men were beaten with bats and the third said he felt a hardobject stab him in the back, police said. All three victims werehospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries, police said. On Aug. 1,police announced that one arrest had been made but declined to discuss
details.


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The New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/06/fashion/06gay.html?pagewanted=print

August 6, 2006

If You Must Know, I'm Straight
By MIREYA NAVARRO
LOS ANGELES

TO issue "the denial" in 2006, do the following:

Step 1: State emphatically what it is you are not.

Step 2: Scoff at the rumor with good humor.

Step 3: Note, for the record, your true feelings about the rumor: not that there's anything wrong with that.

Or, skip steps 1 through 3 and opt for evasion with the nondenial denial: "I don't want to talk about my private life."

We are talking, of course, about denying the Gay Rumor, that surreptitious creature that attacks scores of entertainment, political and athletic personalities and that most recently has prompted disclaimers from Oprah Winfrey, the "Superman Returns" star Brandon Routh and Michael Strahan, the New York Giants defensive end.


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The New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/03/fashion/03marriage_bg.html?pagewanted=print

August 3, 2006

When the Beard Is Too Painful to Remove
By JANE GROSS

THEY spend decades denying their sexual confusion to themselves and others. They generally limit their encounters with men to anonymous one-night stands and tell all manner of lies if their wives suspect.

They consider themselves to be devoted husbands, conscientious fathers and suburban homeowners, and what typically brings them to the point of crisis in their 40's, 50's and even 60's is their first emotional connection with another man.

For gay men in heterosexual marriages, even after the status quo becomes unbearable, the pull of domestic life remains powerful. Many are desperate to preserve their marriages - to continue reaping the emotional and financial support of wives, and domestic pleasures like tucking children in at night.

The demand for support groups for gay, married men, as well as traffic in Internet chat rooms, shows that so-called "Brokeback" marriages have hardly disappeared, as many experts assumed they would, even in an age when gay couples, in certain parts of the country, live openly and raise children just like any family.


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The Express Gay News

http://expressgaynews.com/2006/8-5/news/localnews/lavida.cfm

Gay Latinos on la vida South Florida
Despite friendly atmosphere, discrimination and stereotypes persist

By PHIL LaPADULA
Saturday, August 05, 2006

Roberto Romero recalled the time a gay acquaintance in Charlottesville, Va.,asked him if he had a green card.

"I told him, 'If you're referring to an American Express card, yes I haveone,'" he said. Romero, who is a first-generation U.S. citizen, is one of two members of his family to be born here. The rest, including his mother and nine brothers andsisters, were born in Mexico.

Although he is as American as anyone else born in the USA, he said, he issometimes not treated that way. Once when he tried to apply for a job at aretail store in Charlottesville, the store manager refused to give him anapplication because he didn't have a passport, even though he had a state-issued ID.

"I said, 'I don't need a passport; I'm an American citizen,'" he recalled.



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The Advocate

http://www.advocate.com/news_detail_ektid35147.asp

08/05/06-08/07/06

Vermont high court rules in favor of child custody for lesbian


The Vermont supreme court said Friday that Vermont courts, not those in Virginia, have exclusive jurisdiction in a battle between two women overcustody of a child they had while they were in a relationship. The unanimousruling in Vermont conflicts with a series of decisions in Virginia courts,which held that that state's laws banning same-sex marriage controlled the
case.

Vermont justice John Dooley wrote, however, that it is Vermont's laws that control the case because the women involved in the dispute were legallyjoined in a civil union in 2000 and that is what governs their 2003separation and subsequent child custody disagreement.

Vermont became the first state in the nation to recognize same-sex couples' relationships in 2000 when it enacted a civil union law. Whether such relationships would be recognized in other states has been a matter of litigation. "This is a straightforward interstate jurisdictional dispute
over custody, and the governing law fully supports the Vermont court'sdecision to exercise jurisdiction and refuse to follow the conflicting Virginia visitation order," Dooley wrote.



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Sweden may relax ban on gay blood donors

http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/view.php?StoryID=20060805-013913-6326r

STOCKHOLM, Sweden, Aug. 5 (UPI) -- Sweden's National Board of Health and Welfare is considering ending its ban on gay men donating blood.

The board now recommends to blood banks that they allow no gay donors,defined as men who have ever had homosexual encounters. The recommendation is binding.

Many other countries, including the United States, have similar rules --adopted after AIDS was spread through blood transfusions in the early 1980s.

Anders Tegnell, head of the unit for infectious disease prevention, told The Local the board is reviewing the issue. He said changes might include giving a more specific definition of gay sex.


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Sunday Times.au, Australia, August 6, 2006

http://www.news.com.au/perthnow/story/0,21598,20030673-948,00.html

Nationals say OK to gays
Paul Lampathakis and Joe Spagnolo

THE WA Nationals have thrown their support behind civil unions for gays andlesbians.

In an unprecedented move, the party voted to support legally recognisedunions of same-sex couples at its state conference yesterday.

And Nationals' leader Brendon Grylls confirmed that the party would take thepolicy _ which will shock some conservative supporters _ to the next stateelection.



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US: Ellen Goodman: Wedding Bells Only for Breeders?

TruthDig.com, August 2, 2006

http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20060802_ellen_goodman_breeders/


BOSTON-Now I got it. After hours spent poring over Washington state'sSupreme Court decision upholding the ban on same-sex marriage, I've finallyfigured it out. The court wasn't just ruling against same-sex marriage. Itwas ruling in favor of "procreationist marriage."

This is the heart of the opinion written by Justice Barbara Madsen:"Limiting marriage to opposite-sex couples furthers procreation, essentialto survival of the human race, and furthers the well-being of children byencouraging families where children are reared in homes headed by thechildren's biological parents." In short, the state's wedding bells areringing for procreators.


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UK: Impact Of Gay Unions On Families Studied
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff

August 3, 2006 - 9:00 pm ET

http://www.365gay.com/Newscon06/08/080306ukpart.htm

(London) The first major UK research into attitudes to same sex civil partnerships since they were legalized in December 2005 has shown generalacceptance from families and friends, but with some exceptions.

The study, carried out by sociologists at The University of Manchester, wasbased on interviews and focus groups with 91 gay men and lesbians who areeither planning or have had a civil partnership.

"We found that the reasons couples enter into a Civil Partnership can varyaccording to their age, whether they have children, their need to accesscertain legal rights and their views on the institution of marriage itself,"said Prof. Carol Smart, who led the research.


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OH: First ban amendment case reaches Ohio's high court

by Eric Resnick

http://www.gaypeopleschronicle.com/stories06/august/0804063.htm

August 3, 2006

Columbus--The Ohio Supreme Court is getting ready to take its first look at the state's constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriages.

The court will decide if the domestic violence law still applies tounmarried couples, both same- and opposite-sex, with the amendment in place.Unmarried defendants in domestic violence cases argue that the 2004 measure voided the part of the law they are charged under.

About two dozen county and appeals courts throughout the state have ruledboth ways on the issue, and the first of these cases has now reached the high court.


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365Gay.com, August 1, 2006

http://www.365gay.com/Newscon06/08/080106anglican.htm

Senior Gay Anglican Has Civil Partnership
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff

"(London) The most senior openly gay cleric in the Church of England has entered into a civil partnership with his longtime lover,also an Anglican priest.
...
The Anglican Church is not permitted under the civil partnershiplaw from preventing its clergy from marrying but the event is likelyto stir up conservatives still angry over the election of Gene Robinson, a gay man as bishop of New Hampshire in the United States."


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The New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/06/us/06marry.html?pagewanted=print

August 6, 2006

The New Gender Divide
Facing Middle Age With No Degree, and No Wife

By EDUARDO PORTER and MICHELLE O'DONNELL

Once, virtually all Americans had married by their mid-40's. Now, many American men without college degrees find themselves still single as they approach middle age.

About 18 percent of men ages 40 to 44 with less than four years of college have never married, according to census estimates. That is up from about 6 percent a quarter-century ago. Among similar men ages 35 to 39, the portion jumped to 22 percent from 8 percent in that time.

At virtually every level of education, fewer Americans are marrying. But the decline is most pronounced among men with less education. Even marriage rates among female professionals over 40 have stabilized in recent years.

The decline in marriage can be traced to many factors, experts say, including the greater economic independence of women and the greater acceptance of couples living together outside of marriage.

For men without higher education, though, dwindling prospects in the labor
market have made a growing percentage either unwilling to marry or unable to
find someone to marry them.


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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 3, 2006

Contact: Wayne Besen,
Phone: 917-691-5118
E-Mail: wbesen@TruthWinsOut.org

Web: www.TruthWinsOut.org

RADIO SHOW INCITES HATRED BY FALSELY CLAIMING GAYS HAVE SEX WITH INFANTS AND ANIMALS

Renew America's Guy Adams Reaches 'New Low In Gay Bashing,' Says TWO

Miami Beach, FLA. - Truth Wins Out today called on Renew America's Chairman Alan Keyes to dismiss Guy Adams, the group's Deputy National Grassroots Director, after he made hateful and defamatory remarks against the gay andlesbian community on an Internet radio show. Adams' comments linkinghomosexuality with infant pedophilia reached "a deplorable new low in gay
bashing," said TWO's executive director Wayne Besen.

On August 2, Adams appeared on "The Right View," an Internet radio showhosted by Neo-Puritan operative Stacy L. Harp. While discussing the recentGay Games, a sporting event for the GLBT community that recently took place in Chicago, Adams made his outlandish comments:

"The newest thing in Chicago, it's becoming a trend, and you're gonna find this hard to believe ... sex with infants," Adams said, without offeringevidence to back his preposterous and offensive claim.


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http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article1211299.ece

Iranian woman awaits stoning decision

The chief of Iran's judiciary is to decide whether to have a woman stoned to death for adultery, in a case which has outraged human rights activistsaround the world.

Ashraf Kalhori was sentenced to the punishment in 2002 after she wasconvicted of having an affair with her neighbour and of conspiring with himto kill her husband.

The judiciary head, Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi, declared amoratorium on stoning in December 2002, but it remains on the statute booksand his decision could be reversed. Mrs Kalhori was taken from her prisoncell last month and told by a special verdicts court that she would beexecuted within 15 days. After protests from her lawyer and international rights groups, Ayatollah Shahroudi is reviewing her case.



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www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/08/03/nabuse03.xml

Church faces 140 child abuse claims
By Jonathan Petre, Religion Correspondent

The Roman Catholic Church faced freshembarrassment over child abuse allegations yesterday after one of the country's largestclass actions was launched against a former Catholic children's home.

Up to 140 men are suing the authoritiesresponsible for the St William's Community Home
in Market Weighton, East Yorks, where they claima brutal regime of sexual and physical abuse wasallowed to run unchecked for 30 years.

The action could result in damages running intomillions of pounds, a potentially severe blow to
the Church, which has recently had to make anumber of large payouts to victims.


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Latvians' Attitudes towards Sexual Minorities: Major Survey Findings

In summer 2006, a survey study was conducted in Latvia with the aim of exploring Latvians' attitudes towards sexual minorities, more specifically,towards gay and lesbian people. The results demonstrate that prejudice andintolerant attitudes towards this group are wide-spread in the Latviansociety. The widespread homophobic attitudes in Latvia put the homosexual
people in this country at risk of discrimination, social exclusion, andpossibly even violence. Prejudice and intolerance towards sexual minorities,the study concludes, constitute a problem not just for the homosexualpeople, but for the society in general.

Main research findings:

1. Most Latvians condemn the "homosexual lifestyle," yet an overwhelmingmajority also express a tolerant attitude towards gay people as persons. Onein four Latvians condemn both homosexual people and "homosexual lifestyle." Just as many believe the opposite: that neither homosexual people, nor their lifestyle, deserve condemnation. 37% condemn homosexual lifestyle, but "have nothing against" homosexuals as people.


Note - If you would like the full article, please contact us at
rays.list@comcast.net


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Equality is still a dream

By Peter Tatchell

In its refusal to recognise a foreign lesbian marriage, the high court has revealed the homophobia at the heart of the legal system.
The Guardian - Comment Is Free, 2 August 2006

http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/peter_tatchell/2006/08/marriage_is_for_straights_only.html

If you thought the battle for gay human rights was won, think again.

Because the high court has ruled that lesbian and gay people are not entitled to legal equality.

Sir Mark Potter, president of the family division, dismissed anapplication by a British lesbian couple, Sue Wilkinson and CeliaKitzinger to have their Canadian marriage recognised in the UK. Theywere lawfully married in Canada in 2003 after the marriage laws in theprovince of British Columbia were opened up to same-sex partners.

Potter effectively declared that homophobic discrimination wasjustified in order to protect the tradition of heterosexual marriage.In his view, loving, long-term same-sex relationships clearly do notmerit recognition on a par with their opposite-sex counterparts, and the law is right to uphold the legal supremacy of heterosexuality.


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http://news.independent.co.uk/europe/article1211305.ece

Romanian teenagers with HIV 'facing persecution'

Romania is consigning a generation of HIV-infected teenagers to a life of persecution on the margins of an unsympathetic society, a study shows.

The findings, by Human Rights Watch (HRW), will make uncomfortable reading for Romania, which is to join the EU next year. The report details the problems endured by more than 7,200 Romanians aged 15 to 19 infected with HIV between 1986 and 1991 due to government incompetence.

The teenagers are the survivors of an ill-conceived programme that resulted in more than 10,000 children at hospitals and orphanages across Romania being exposed to contaminated needles. As children, they underwent minor blood transfusions in the mistaken belief that it would boost their immunity.

More than 15 years later, the report warns that the children are in danger of becoming a leper generation. "Unless the authorities take urgent measures now, unchecked discrimination will push far too many of these children to the margins of society," said Clarisa Bencomo, the report's author.

Forty per cent of the teenagers have no access to education, many doctors refuse to treat them for fear of becoming infected, and prospective employers turn them away when told they are HIV-positive.

Nor are the teenagers able to keep their condition quiet; social workers, government and council officials, postal workers, doctors and teachers ignore patient confidentiality.



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Three Attacked at Gay Pride

4 August, 2006
SR International - Radio Sweden

http://www.sr.se/cgi-bin/International/nyhetssidor/artikel.asp?ProgramID=2054&Nyheter=&artikel=910491

Three visitors to Stockholm's Gay Pride were attacked late Thursday night,with one of them being taken to hospital after having sustained injuries tothe back and head.

The two men and a woman left the festival area on the Stockholm island ofSödermalm when two skinheads approached them.

According to the Police, the attack is being investigated as a hate crime with homophobic motives.




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Forwarded from Ken's List <Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu>
To: kenslist@groups.queernet.org

Same-sex marriage to become law by year-end
Pretoria News August 2, 2006

http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=139&art_id=vn20060802040408877C325856

By Angela Quintal

Proposed legislation on same-sex marriages has divided South Africans andneeds to be treated carefully so as not to polarise society even further,says the deputy minister of Justice, Johnny de Lange.

However, by the end of the year there will be a law on the statute booksabout the issue - in line with a Constitutional Court ruling.

"There are many issues in our society that can widen the social cohesiondeficit in this country. This is one of them," De Lange said at a briefingby the justice, crime prevention and security cluster on Tuesday.

In terms of a Constitutional Court judgement, parliament has until December2 to correct section 30 (1) of the Marriage Act, in that the reference towife or husband in the current marriage formula is unconstitutional, becauseit excludes same-sex partners.

The court ruled that the omission of the words "or spouse" after the words"or husband" in the Marriage Act was inconsistent with the Constitution asit did not permit same-sex partners to enjoy the same status as heterosexual couples.


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http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/8/22006c.asp

Georgia Office Seeker Blasts Ruling Favoring High School Gay-Straight Club

By Jim Brown, August 2, 2006

(AgapePress) - A federal judge recently issued a ruling requiring White County High School in Cleveland, Georgia, to allow students in theGay-Straight Alliance (GSA) club "Pride" to meet on campus. However, theRepublican nominee for attorney general in that state says he would like tosee homosexuality-affirming student clubs banned from the state's schools.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) had filed a lawsuit against theWhite County School District in February, claiming school officials violatedPride's rights under the federal Equal Access Act, and a federal judgeagreed. But Perry McGuire, a candidate for Georgia Attorney General, saysthe judge's decision allowing the pro-homosexual club to meet on the school
campus was "terribly unfortunate."




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Gay City News, August 3

http://www.gaycitynews.com/gcn_531/humanrightsatmontreal.html

Human Rights at Montreal

In addition to the Out Games athletes, thousands of activists globally turn out too

BY MICHAEL T. LUONGO

The description on the Out Games Web site was perhaps a little deceptive. Ifyou were poking around for other things going on in Montreal during theathletic competition held this past week, the Human Rights Conference seemeda small aside. Had you attended though, you would have been at the world'slargest LGBT human rights conference ever held. On the final day, this past
Saturday, more than 2,000 people attended the main forum during whichMartina Navratilova spoke to the audience and introduced the MontrealDeclaration on LGBT Human Rights, a document that will be presented to theUnited Nations.

The conference opened with a gala dinner on Wednesday, July 26 with LouiseArbour, the Human Rights Commissioner for the United Nations as the keynotespeaker. Attendees came from more than 110 countries, including some wheremany Westerners would be surprised to imagine any gay rights movement in the works.


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Braves bench Focus on the Family
Team removes anti-gay group from its 'Faith Days' events

By DYANA BAGBY
Friday, August 04, 2006

http://www.southernvoice.com/2006/8-4/news/localnews/braves.cfm

Focus on the Family was on the team that promoted Major League Baseball's first "Faith Days" event at Turner Field July 27, but the Atlanta Braves nowsay the anti-gay group headed by James Dobson is no longer part of itslineup.

"We have asked the promoter [Nashville-based Third Coast Sports] to notinclude Focus on the Family in our other two Faith Day events,"Beth Marshall, Braves spokesperson, said Aug. 1. "We do not feel it is anappropriate connection for Focus on the Family to be part of this event."

Marshall declined further comment on the matter, but said hosting Faith Days was a business decision.

"We were approached by Third Coast about the event and with over 5,000 churches within 75 miles of Turner Field, it made good business sense," she said.



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http://www.washblade.com/2006/8-2/news/national/rights.cfm

U.N. chides U.S. on gay rights

Efforts sought to combat job discrimination, hate crimes

By JOSHUA LYNSEN, Aug. 02, 2006

U.S. officials must do more to protect gay citizens from discrimination and abuse, according to a United Nations report.

In the report released July 28, the U.N. Human Rights Committee says theU.S. must undertake efforts to combat anti-gay job discrimination and hatecrimes. The report "notes with concern" the absence of such protections.

Gay and human rights groups that have pushed for stronger pro-gay laws welcomed the findings.

"The challenge now is for human rights activists back home in the U.S. to use this as another tool - and additional leverage - to force the U.S. to dowhat it's required to under U.S. law," said Mark Bromley, spokesperson for the human rights group Global Rights.


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Can we legislate acceptance?

A friend's wedding makes me wonder: Are we asking for 'marriage' when what
we truly seek is respect?

By CHRISTIE AYOTTE
Aug. 04, 2006

http://www.southernvoice.com/print.cfm?content_id=5767

I NOTICED IT again when I visited Ann Arbor, Mich., last month: No one wasstaring at us. Alone, I am blissfully anonymous, but after seven years ofliving in the South, I am accustomed to being openly gawked at when I walkdown the street with my girlfriend.

Interracial lesbian couples, it seems, are still an oddity in Atlanta. Throwin the little brown kid too, and we are ready to start our own rural Georgiacircus.

You get used to it after a while. It's more benign than allergies ortraffic, but once you see a world without that minor annoyance, it is difficult to not crave it.



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Salt Lake Tribune, UT, August 5, 2006

http://www.sltrib.com/faith/ci_4138478

Gay, Mormon, married
Mixed-orientation LDS couples count on commitment, work and love to beat the odds
By Peggy Fletcher Stack, The Salt Lake Tribune

OREM - Ben Christensen, who is gay, knows the odds are against his marriage. Jessie Christensen, who is not, knows it, too. Still, theChristensens are cautiously optimistic that their mixed-orientationrelationship can work.

They were not naive, stupid or ignorant about the risks they faced whenthey married in the LDS Temple nearly five years ago. Before he proposedofficially, Ben told Jessie about his homosexuality. They talked a lot aboutit. They prayed about it. They both felt marriage was what God wanted themto do.

Now Ben and Jessie have two children, 3-year-old Sophie and 2-month-oldTimothy. They have shared their experiences with other Mormonmixed-orientation couples who have established a community in cyberspace. Inthe past year, blogs dealing with their issues have proliferated. Theconversations are wide-ranging, poignant and often eloquent.



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Mark My Words
By Mark Segal
C 2006 Philadelphia Gay News

Out lawyers, Street deserve anti-bias badge of honor

Yes, heavy topics arise during summer's dog days, such as the ongoing dispute between the Cradle of Liberty Boy Scouts and the city over theScouts' rent-free use of its Benjamin Franklin Parkway headquarters.

First, let's congratulate those who have continued to challenge the Scouts'anti-gay policies and the city's continued subsidizing of the organization'sdiscriminatory practices - an issue that arose almost four years ago duringthe John Street vs. Sam Katz mayoral campaign.

Stacy Sobel, of the Center for Lesbian and Gay Civil Rights, and attorneys Dan Anders, Abbe Fletman, Arthur Kaplan and Duane Perry kept the issue outfront by working tirelessly behind the scenes. These out legal eagles toil to prevent the sort of demoralizing discrimination that occurred to former Life Scout Greg Lattera, banished from the Scouts for declaring he is gay.


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Billings Gazette, MT, August 5, 2006

http://www.billingsgazette.net/articles/2006/08/05/news/state/45-marriage.txt

Democrats reject plank to back gay marriage
By MIKE DENNISON, Gazette State Bureau

LEWISTOWN - A state Democratic Party panel agreed Friday that the party shouldn't campaign on overturning a state constitutional provision that marriage is only between a man and a woman.

That provision was approved by voters in the 2004 election. Panel memberssaid endorsing repeal in the party's platform would hurt candidates in the2006 election.

"This puts our candidates in a tough position if we put this in theplatform," said former state party chair Bob Ream, who spoke against theproposed platform plank.

Yet the same committee, which helps craft the Democratic Party platform, orformal position on issues, confirmed Friday the party's long-standingsupport of civil unions for homosexual couples and for including gays amongthose protected against hate crimes. "We just need to keep chipping away,"said Platform Convention delegate Carl Donovan of Great Falls, who made all
three proposals. "It's just really an important issue."



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Poll shows U.S. majority favors gay civil unions

http://www.gay.com/news/election/article.html?2006/08/04/4

August 4, 2006

Gay.com

A national poll released Thursday shows that despite media coverage focused on the nation's polarization, most Americans' views on gay rights issues areactually somewhere in the middle.

The poll, conducted by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center, was intended toshed some light on what the center called "talk of 'culture wars' --and thehigh visibility of activist groups on both sides of the cultural divide."

The poll studied Americans' views on the most divisive issues of theday: stem cell research, abortion, and gay rights. And while voters did leanliberally on the stem cell issue and hovered around the middle on abortion,the poll found that 56 percent of respondents oppose same-sex marriage and52 percent oppose adoption rights for gays.



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Irish Lesbians Using Canadian "Marriage" to Impose Same-Sex "Marriage" on Ireland

By Peter J. Smith

http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2006/aug/06080405.html

LifeSiteNews.com
Friday August 4, 2006


DUBLIN, August 4, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A court hearing has been set fortwo Irish women who are attempting to force the Irish government torecognize their Canadian same-sex "marriage".

The Irish case comes on the heels of a UK High Court decision that denied asimilar petition to a British couple.

Katherine Zappone and Ann Louise Gilligan, both homosexual activists, usedCanada's same-sex "marriage" laws in order to "marry" on September 13, 2003.

Dr. Zappone is a public policy research consultant and member of the Human Rights Commission, while her partner Dr. Gilligan lectures at St. Patrick's College, Dublin.