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http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/opinion/sfl-11forum23sep11,0,185222.story
MILITARY
`Gung ho,' gay - and alive today
By Jim Rakvica
September 11, 2006
I am in agreement with William Butte's commentary of Sept. 4 on the militarypolicy of "Don't ask, don't tell." It reminded me of my experience in theU.S. Navy in 1964: 43 years and nothing has changed.
Just out of Catholic high school and in a hurry to become a working adult, Ijoined the U.S. Navy. I thought the four years would "teach me to be a man"and allow me to get an education and some worldly knowledge.
I was very innocent and, to be sure, quite ignorant about the ways of theworld. I was very sexually active with boys all during my school years, evenas early as the fourth grade. I liked guys, but didn't consider myself"queer" and had never heard of the term "gay." "Homosexual" was a derogatorydictionary term.
In basic training I decided I would like to go to corps school to become aNavy corpsman. My sister was a registered nurse and I was always interestedin the medical field and health care.
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http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Gay-Senators-Challenge.html?pagewanted=print
September 11, 2006
Gay GOP Candidate Runs in Minn. Primary
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 2:50 a.m. ET
BRAINERD, Minn. (AP) -- State Sen. Paul Koering once fit neatly into theprofile of socially conservative central Minnesota: abortion opponent,supporter of gun and property rights, outspoken supporter of veterans.
But last year, Koering was the only Republican in the Senate to joinDemocrats in opposing an effort to force a floor vote on a constitutionalgay marriage ban.
That stirred up long-standing rumors at the Capitol about Koering's ownsexuality, and within a few days he revealed that he was gay -- a move thearea's GOP chairman called ''political suicide.''
In Tuesday's primary, he will find out if that is true.
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Forwarded from EuroQueer
Uganda - 13 lesbians outed - Tabloid urges: give us more names
Previously, 45 gay and bi men outed
Arrests follow, others go into hiding
"Indiscriminate, uncorroborated and unjustified outing" condemned by OutRage!
"President Museveni is the Robert Mugabe of Uganda," says Peter Tatchell
London - 11 September 2006
Thirteen alleged lesbians were outed by the Ugandan newspaper RedPepper last Friday, 8 September 2006.
They include two boutique owners, a basketball player and thedaughters of a former MP and a prominent Sheikh.
Under the headline, "Kampala's notorious lesbians unearthed", thesleazy tabloid published a photo of two very beautiful unnamed womenembracing at a party.
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Forwarded from EuroQueer
euro-queer@groups.queernet.org
Esquire
NEW YORK Sep 8, 2006 (AP)- Brad Pitt, ever the social activist, says he won't be marrying Angelina Jolie until the restrictions on who can marry whom are dropped.
"Angie and I will consider tying the knot when everyone else in the country who wants to be married is legally able," the 42-year-old actor reveals in Esquire magazine's October issue, on newsstands Sept. 19.
In the article he reflects on "fifteen things I think everyone should know."
Though Shiloh, the world-famous daughter of Pitt and girlfriend/earth mother Angelina Jolie, hogged much attention upon her birth in May, Pitt says he "cannot imagine life" without adopted children, Maddox, 5, and Zahara, 1.
"They're as much of my blood as any natural born, and I'm theirs," says Pitt. "That's all I can say about it. I can't live without them. So: Anyone considering (adoption), that's my vote."
Pitt, who plays a world traveler in the upcoming drama "Babel," subscribes to a laid-back parenting style.
"I try not to stifle them in any way," he says. "If it's not hurting anyone, I want them to be able to explore. Sometimes that means they're quite rambunctious."
Lucky kids.
"I feel it's really important to have that time to sit and talk to them," he continues. "I really like that last minute before they fade off. And always give them a heads-up before you jerk them out of something. You need to tell them, like, `You have three more minutes.'"
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Forwarded from EuroQueer
euro-queer@groups.queernet.org
Mohammad Khatami, Iran's president from 1997 to 2005, speaking through atranslator at the Kennedy School of Government on September 10, 2006. Theellipses are where Khatami paused for translation.
On execution of gays in Iran
"We're at a university, the cradle of science, so we can speak of it scientifically...In all schools of thought and in all religions there ispunishment and punishment is not a form of violence... Punishment is seen as a response toviolence or deviance in society and if there is no punishment in a society asociety cannot run effectively...In regards to the fact that is capitalpunishment a fair reaction to crime this is an issue that has been debatedextensively in legal circles and even some states in the United States still maintain capital punishment and even some other countries in the world so the issue ofcapital punishment is still being largely debated...As an expert of Islamicsciences I tell you that capital punishment is accepted in Islam, but it hasconditions that are so stringent that executions should almostnever happen.
If infact they are happening in Islamic countries it is because, if it happensexcessively in Islamic countries it is a problem of bringing those religiousrulings into practice...In regards to the issue of gay people as well as the issue of adultery, the conditions that are required for capital punishment are sostrict that it is virtually impossible to meet...Of course this is my opinionand a lot of people don't accept my opinion, but I was asked for my opinion sothis is what I believe...In many Islamic countries homosexual relationships aswell as non-consensual heterosexual relationships have been punishable...Thereare also others, there are others in the world that have similar views namelyimportant sects of Christianity...So yes you are correct homosexual activityis a crime in Islam...And crimes are punishable...The fact that could crimesbe punished by execution is debatable...And that we must differentiate betweenpunishment and violence.
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Forwarded from Christian and Leo
Sent: Wednesday, August 23, 2006 6:34 PM
Subject: Video Link - Lewis Black on GAYS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6WW6AFu1RF0
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San Francisco Chronicle
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2002/02/17/PK100104.DTL
Was Handel gay?
Musicologist's provocative new book explains why it might matter
- Joshua Kosman, Chronicle Music Critic
He spent years in Italian courts and English country estates where homosexuality was known to predominate (even if the word didn't exist yet). He was notable even in his own lifetime for the fierceness with which he guarded his privacy. There is no evidence he ever had a romantic attachment with a woman.
Could George Frideric Handel have been gay? And if so, what, if anything, would that tell us about the music he wrote?
These questions -- equally challenging in their respective ways -- have been around for a while, generally at the fringes of musical scholarship. Now they have been raised with fresh urgency by a provocative new book, "Handel as Orpheus," released last month [2002] by Harvard University Press.
In a sober and densely scholarly study, Massachusetts Institute of Technology musicologist Ellen T. Harris analyzes Handel's chamber cantatas, more than 100 dramatic works written mostly during his formative years as a young composer in Italy.
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Forwarded from Ken's List <Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu>
To: kenslist@groups.queernet.org
Michigan Dems: Repeal Proposal 2
Between the Lines | Sept 7, 2006
Michigan Dems: Repeal Proposal 2
Between the Lines | Sept 7, 2006
http://www.pridesource.com/article.shtml?article=20122
By Dawn Wolfe Gutterman
Originally printed
DETROIT - In addition to nominating several fair-minded candidates to headits 2006 slate, the state's Democratic Party took another big step duringits Aug. 26-27 convention.
Saying that Proposal 2 "adds discrimination to our State Constitution," theparty has called for its repeal. In addition, as it did in 2004, the party'splatform calls for a number of other progressive actions, includingrecognizing the adoption rights of same-sex couples and including LGBTcitizens in the Elliot-Larsen Civil Rights Act and MichiganÕs EthnicIntimidation Act, which protect against employment discrimination and definehate crimes.
"I think that the party has realized that being inclusive of all people isthe right thing to do, and particularly right for the LGBT community thathas supported the party for all these years," said Bev Davidson, presidentof the Coalition for Adoption Rights Equality.
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