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http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/content/nation/epaper/2006/10/01/m1a_FOLEY_1001.html
Foley's secret confounds friends: Ex-congressman, said to be an emotional wreck, loses GOP support
By Brian E. Crowley
(Wild and scary comments follow the article)
Palm Beach Post Political Editor
Sunday, October 01, 2006
Mark Foley spent decades crafting a careful public image, one that wasshattered Friday with revelations of Foley's sexually explicit Internet conversations with teenage boys.
His political career in tatters, the now-former congressman went intoseclusion, leaving his friends to wonder: Who is Mark Foley?
Rumors that Foley is gay have swirled around him for years. Many believe itwas one of the worst-kept secrets in Florida and Washington.
In 2003, during his brief run for the U.S. Senate, he was asked about hissexual orientation. He refused to answer and has not publicly addressed the question since.
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Forwarded from Ken's List <Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu>
To: kenslist@groups.queernet.org
Wisconsin a Gay Marriage Battleground
http://salon.com/wire/ap/archive.html?wire=D8KFA0900.html
Salon.com
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By DAVID CRARY AP National Writer
September 30,2006 | MILWAUKEE -- When it comes to statewide votes on gaymarriage, the score so far is 20-0 in favor of keeping it a one- man, one-woman institution.
If there's a chance to break the streak on Nov. 7, it might be in Wisconsin,where activists believe that support from unions, college students andchurch leaders -- coupled with hoped-for conservative apathy -- could enable them to finally overcome the string of losses.
Among the hopeful are Debbie Knepke and Candice Hackbarth, devoted partners for nine years, raising a 3-year-old daughter and 7-month- old son inpleasant Milwaukee neighborhood. They have joined some 8,000 othervolunteers in a bid to defeat a proposed state constitutional amendment thatwould ban same-sex marriage and civil unions.
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Forwarded from Ken's List <Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu>
To: kenslist@groups.queernet.org
Church of England expected to revise Civil Partnership Guidelines
by Ruth Gledhill weblog - Times Online
September 29, 2006
http://www.virtueonline.org/portal/modules/news/article.php?storyid=4777
VirtueOnLine Voice for Global Orthodox Anglicanism
It now looks almost certain that the Church of England's bishops will nextyear be forced to revise their pastoral guidelines on civil partnerships.
The latest to enter the debate is the Bishop of London, Richard Chartres,who in a private pastoral letter to a number of his concerned parishes hasmade some extremely frank statements about his views on the matter.
In the letter he describes the 1991 Issues document as "incoherent"and "demeaning to the laity". He notes that the bishops' pastoral statementon civil partnerships was drafted at a time when the Government wasofficially giving assurances that they did not intend to introduce same sex marriage by another name. He says:
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Forwarded from Ken's List <Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu>
To: kenslist@groups.queernet.org
HIV Ads Embrace, and Stun, Audience
By Sharon Bernstein
Times Staff Writer
September 30, 2006
<http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/la-me-hiv30sep30,0,6350230.story>
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/la-me-hiv30sep30,0,6350230.story
For 20 years, gay men have vigorously fought the contention that HIV is a disease of homosexuals.
But now, one of Southern California's most influential gay institutions hasembarked on a controversial ad campaign with this stark declaration: "HIV isa gay disease."
With that message and the tag line "Own It. End It" on billboards and inmagazines, the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center says it is trying to reach legionsof gay men who have become complacent about HIV and AIDS.
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http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/state/15648879.htm
Sunday, Oct 01, 2006Florida
Posted on Sun, Oct. 01, 2006
KENTUCKY
Nation Briefs
From Miami Herald Wire Services
LONDON - Anti-gay group protests outside soldier's funeral
Demonstrators squared off Saturday outside a funeral home where a servicewas being held for a U.S. soldier, the first such scene in Kentucky since ajudge suspended a state law that required a 300-foot buffer zone for protests at military funerals.
Dozens of demonstrators surrounded London Funeral Home, waved American flags and exchanged shouts for more than an hour before the service, along withmembers of the Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kan., who have beentouring the United States protesting at military funerals. The protestersmaintain American soldiers' deaths are a sign of God punishing the countryfor tolerating homosexuality.
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http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/broward/sfl-foleyreact01oct01,0,6542507.story
Allies say they're angry, disgusted, feeling betrayed
Foley sought laws punishing behavior that led to his ouster
By Josh Hafenbrack and Anthony Man
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
October 1, 2006
At the height of the Monica Lewinsky scandal, a Republican congressman fromFlorida did something that seemed ordinary at the time: He condemned President Bill Clinton on moral grounds.
"It's vile," Mark Foley, R-Fort Pierce, told the St. Petersburg Times. "It'smore sad than anything else, to see someone with such potential throw it alldown the drain because of a sexual addiction."
Eight years later, Foley's abrupt fall from power appears to stem from asimilar failing.
Local Republicans and allies of Foley recoiled in anger and disgustSaturday, a day after the six-term congressman known for crusading againstsexual predators and Internet pornography resigned amid news reports of sexually suggestive instant-message conversations he had with teenage boys.
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/29/AR2006092901249_pf.html
Gay Rights Pioneer Franklin Kameny's Legacy Is Worth Preserving
Sunday, October 1, 2006; B08
When Franklin E. Kameny began his public career nearly 50 years ago, whatlittle there was of a gay rights movement consisted primarily of frightened,deferential people who hid behind pseudonyms. Many accepted what they weretold by the so-called experts: that they were sick, sinful and criminal.
Meek acceptance was not Frank Kameny's response when he was fired from hisjob with the Army Map Service as an alleged security risk. This World War IIcombat veteran could not walk away from the injustice. His 1961 petition tothe Supreme Court described "a persecution and discrimination not one whitmore warranted or justified than those against . . . other minority groups."
The Supreme Court declined to hear the case, but Kameny was resolved to winfor his fellow gay Americans their birthright of life, liberty and thepursuit of happiness. He set out to fight a second war for his country, thisone on the home front.
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http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Gay-Marriage-Other-States.html?pagewanted=print
September 30, 2006
Some State Campaigns on Gay Marriage
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 12:50 p.m. ET
In addition to Wisconsin, three other states -- Arizona, Colorado and Virginia -- are viewed by gay-rights strategists as having closely contested campaigns this fall over proposed constitutional amendments that would ban gay marriage and civil unions. A brief look at the campaigns:
--ARIZONA: If this election is close, it will be because of a section of the proposed amendment which would bar local governments and state-run schools from recognizing any relationship similar to marriage, such as civil unions or domestic partnerships.
Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon, among others, has criticized the measure, saying a ban on domestic partnerships could hurt the city's ability to recruit skilled employees.
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