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Forwarded from Ken's List <Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu>
To: kenslist@groups.queernet.org
Salt Lake Tribune, UT, October 2, 2006
http://www.sltrib.com/contentlist/ci_4429098
Idaho likely to support a ban on same-sex marriage
BOISE, Idaho - Constitutional amendments banning same-sex marriage havepassed in all 20 states where they appeared on the ballot and Idaho isunlikely to break the trend, political observers say.
Idahoans will decide on a state constitutional ban on Nov. 7, along withvoters in seven other states including Virginia, Wisconsin and Arizona.
Even among voters who typically balk at amending constitutions, gaymarriage offends most Americans enough to favor the bans.
''It's one of those things they'd rather be safe than sorry,''Donald Haider-Markel, a University of Kansas political science professor whohas tracked voting results on gay issues, told the Idaho Statesman.
In most states, same-sex marriage bans have passed overwhelmingly, with86 percent in favor in Mississippi, 76 percent in Texas and 66 percent inboth Montana and Utah.
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Forwarded from Ken's List <Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu>
To: kenslist@groups.queernet.org
US: Opposition Research--Gays Use 'Sleight of Hand' to Promote Agenda
Town Hall, October 2, 2006
http://www.townhall.com/Columnists/HarryRJacksonJr/2006/10/02/gays_use_%e2%80%98sleight_of_hand%e2%80%99_to_promote_agenda
Gays Use 'Sleight of Hand' to Promote Agenda By Harry R. Jackson, Jr.Last Monday morning I sat on the set of the prestigious Washington Journalprogram on C-SPAN. Most folks have seen this program which features phonecalls and e-mails from the Democratic, Independent, or Republicanperspective. In this way many points of view are aired. The topic wasreligion in politics. My fellow guest (opponent) was an ordained ministerwho runs a politically liberal non-profit organization. It was a greatdiscussion, but I came away troubled about several things.
My opponent's opening salvos attempted to say that same-sex marriage andabortion were wedge issues. He stated that conservatives were polarizing thecountry. He intimated that fair-minded folks, like himself, wanted to avoidthese incendiary topics in order to "keep the political peace." During theprogram, I thought that the rhetoric being used by the liberal clergy manwas similar to some things I had heard before. Further research revealedthat he was speaking from a "pro-gay marriage, pro-abortion script."
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http://www.sptimes.com/2006/10/03/news_pf/Tampabay/Opinions_split_on_whe.shtml
Opinions split on whether scandal taints gay officials
Activists point out that gay politicians are not more inclined to committing sex offenses.
By CHRIS TISCH, Times Staff Writer
Published October 3, 2006
Fifteen years ago, fewer than 50 elected officials at the state, local andfederal level nationwide were openly gay or lesbian.
Today, that number is 325.
There are mixed opinions about whether the Mark Foley scandal will make itharder for gays and lesbians to join their ranks by winning elections. Gayactivists and political insiders say it won't.
"This is a situation that is specific to Mr. Foley, and it shouldn'ttranslate or spill over to other gay candidates or elected officials,"said Stephen Gaskill, spokesman for the Florida Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual andTransgender Democratic Caucus. "There hasn't been a huge antigay reaction orbacklash at this point."
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http://www.365gay.com/Newscon06/10/100206safblood.htm
South Africa Eases Ban On Gay Blood Donors
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff
October 2, 2006 - 7:00 pm ET
(Cape Town, South Africa) Threatened with a human rights lawsuit SouthAfrica's National Blood Service will allow gay men who have been celibatefor six months to donate blood.
The change will take effect on November 1.
The SANBS followed most other countries at the height of the AIDS crisis inbarring gay men from becoming donors.
The blood service called the change a streamlining of its questionnaire forprospective donors.
Last January the Gay and Lesbian Alliance demonstrated against the ban atblood donor clinics across the country.
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http://www.365gay.com/Newscon06/10/100206fiji.htm
Churches Demand Fiji Abolish Gay Protections
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff
October 2, 2006 - 9:00 pm ET
(Suva) Leaders of 20 denominations in Fiji are demanding the repeal ofconstitutional protections for gays and lesbians in the South Pacificislands
Fiji's constitution provides civil rights in housing and some other areasbut a law, still on the books from colonial days, makes gay sex illegal,punishable by a lengthy prison sentence.
Now church leaders say it is time to amend the constitution to allow for thepublic shunning of gays and to discourage foreign gays from coming to thepristine islands.
The Assembly of Christian Churches in a letter to Prime Minister LaiseniaQarase said that providing employment and housing rights to gays encourages"immoral" sexual behavior.
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http://www.365gay.com/Newscon06/10/100206banton.htm
'I'm Not A Homophobe' Reggae Singer Says
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff
October 3, 2006 - 12:01 am ET
(New York City) Jamaican reggae artists Buju Banton is accusing gay activists of trying to sabotage his career.
Banton is on a cross country tour promoting a new album but in almost everycity he has been met by angry protests and in some cases the cancellation ofhis concerts.
"I have never bashed any gays before, and if I bashed gays, I bashed them 16years ago," Banton tells Billboard magazine in an interview conducted on histour bus. "There's no tolerance from [the gay community]. I'm not agay-basher. I'm not a homophobe."
Gay rights groups disagree, pointing to the 1992 single "Boom Bye Bye" whichwas re-released last year and urges listeners to shoot gay men in the head,pour acid over them and burn them alive.
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http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-pfoley03oct03,0,4523490.story?coll=sfla-home-headlines
More damaging e-mails emerge as Foley page-scandal continues
By Peter Franceschina and William E. Gibson
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
October 3, 2006
While former U.S. Rep. Mark Foley remained in seclusion Monday, newallegations surrounding his sexually explicit Internet messages to teenagersworking as pages on Capitol Hill emerged and a whirlwind of investigationsgained momentum.
More damaging Internet exchanges surfaced Monday, the Florida Department ofLaw Enforcement joined the U.S. Justice Department in investigating Foley'scontacts with minors, and Republicans tried to distance themselves from thepolitically damaging fallout.
An emotionally devastated Foley spent the weekend consulting with family andfriends before announcing he is an alcoholic with behavioral problems andthen checking into a treatment center at midnight Sunday.
"He feels he let everyone down -- his constituents, his family, his lovedones, his party and the people that he hurt," said Foley's attorney, DavidRoth, at a Monday news conference.
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/10/01/MNG9HLGA6Q1.DTL&hw=gay+rights&sn=003&sc=563#container
The FOREVER FAMILY
Finally home:
A white gay couple wanting a family.
Five children of color
needing a home.
A San Francisco church seeking a minister.
Done.
Elizabeth Fernandez, Chronicle Staff Writer
Sunday, October 1, 2006
There was never a particular number, never much of a plan.
Then a boy who'd been abandoned by his parents entered their home and theirhearts.
A second child arrived, snuggled in a cradle. Then a third boy desperate fora home. Finally a fourth turned up, little brother in tow.
And the men who yearned to be parents became dads. And the children who needed a family found one.
Now the family -- two white gay dads and five children of color -- is living in San Francisco.
Dogged by years of racial bigotry and sexual discrimination, Gregory Stewartand Stillman White, partners for 26 years, moved to the city this summer,bringing with them their adopted brood of five boys, ranging from 6 to 13 years old.
Theirs is a singular mission: to be a family.
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-2604.html
Presidential hopeful apologises to South Africa's gay community
29-September-2006
PinkNews.co.uk writer
South Africa's former Deputy President Jacob Zuma has apologise foroffending the gay community and explained that his comments describing samesex marriage as "a disgrace" were misinterpreted.
Zuma, who is fighting for his political life after being fired over acorruption scandal last year, angered activists after a local newspaperquoted him calling plans to legalise same-sex marriages a "disgrace to thenation and to God."
South African lawmakers are currently drafting laws that will make SouthAfrica the first country in Africa to allow gay unions-a move stronglyopposed in the mostly Christian country, with deeply rooted traditions.
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-2607.html
29-September-2006
Torsten Højer
Young Liberal Democrats launch 'homophobia is gay' campaign
Young Liberal Democrats have launched a 'crucial' campaign to stop homophobic bullying in schools.
The Liberal Democrat Youth and Students (LDYS) chose the Liberal Democrat Conference, which was held in Brighton last week, to launch the initiative.
The lynchpin of the campaign is hundreds of pink badges bearing the satirical slogan "Homophobia is Gay". Bundles of the badges are being distributed to freshers fairs across the country and are available to new students via 150 dedicated LDYS stalls.
The pink badge initiative is part of a larger Liberal Democrat campaign calling for the Education and Inspections Bill to be amended. The LDYS wants elements of the bill to be changed, to include training for teachers on how to tackle homophobic bullying and specific policies on anti-gay bullying.
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.cna.com.tw/eng/cepread.php?id=200609300027
MASS HOMOSEXUAL WEDDING HELD IN TAIPEI
2006-09-30 23:26:26
Taipei, Sept. 30 (CNA)
Four couple of homosexuals tied the knot here Saturday in what is touted to be the first mass wedding for homosexuals in Asia.
Dressed in traditional bride's long white gown and groom's tuxedo, the new couples proudly exchanged their wedding rings and marriage pledges in front of a priest and more than five thousands of well wishers. Although their marriages are invalid in the eyes of the law, a new couple said they were pleased that their union was blessed by so many friends, adding that they hoped they could adopt a child one day.
Hsu You-sheng an activist for homosexuals' right and the organizer of the wedding said homosexuals who carry out their legal obligations under the law as heterosexuals should be given the same right to get married as the heterosexuals.
He said an diversified society should tolerate people with different sexual preference and homosexuals should not feel shy about their sexual orientation.
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/5396516.stm
Archbishop in lesbian wedding row
By Robert Pigott
Religious Affairs Correspondent, BBC News
A retired Anglican archbishop has been formally reprimanded after he admitted that he had taken part in the same-sex marriage of a lesbian couple.
Archbishop Terence Finlay officiated in the ceremony during the summer, as the Anglican Communion struggled to resolve the issue of homosexuality.
He has also had his licence to carry out weddings suspended.
The former senior bishop in Ontario had dismissed a priest in the 1990s for his homosexual relationship.
Archbishop Terence Finlay's acknowledgement that he participated in the marriage service comes as a shock to the Anglican Church, not least because such a senior figure took the action as the fate of the Anglican Communion hung in the balance over the issue of homosexuality.
About-turn
Both the Canadian and American Churches have been given what amounts to an ultimatum to stop the blessing in church of same-sex relationships, or be expelled from the Communion.
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Forwarded from Marc Adams,
HeartStrong
Hi Everyone...
We just finished adding many of your to our email list so this will beyour first email from us. Thanks for joining!
We have completed the first portion of our Fall Outreach Trip and we areback in Seattle for three weeks. Our last few educational forums inBerkeley, CA, Placerville, CA, and Santa Rosa, CA, all went very well.There will be a more detailed email about this in a few days.
I have much to report on, and alot of that will be in the newsletter thatshould hit your mailbox later this week or early the next week.
Please note that to conserve funds we combined the September and Octobernewsletters. If you are a monthly donor and you MAIL your donation to us,please do not forget your donation for September and October since youwill only receive one newsletter for these months.
In a few days we will be posting on our site our photo album from thisfirst part of our trip. Watch your emails for information about that.
We still need your financial support as we prepare to embark on the nextsegment of this outreach trip. If you are able to make a donation pleasedo so at http://www.heartstrong.org. You may make your donation onlinethere or print the form and make your check/credit card donation throughthe mail by mailing it to: HeartStrong, PO Box 2051, Seattle WA 98111.
If you are new to this list, don't forget to visit our site and sign theguestbook!
Marc
_______________________________________________
HeartStrongList mailing list
HeartStrongList@heartstrong.org
http://heartstrong.org/mailman/listinfo/heartstronglist_heartstrong.org
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/view.php?StoryID=20060925-012743-1598r
Miss Cleo plays the lesbian card
NEW YORK, Sept. 25 (UPI) -- Late-night psychic Miss Cleo has come out of thecloset and announced that she is a lesbian.
The former card-reading infomercial queen whose catch-phrase "The cardsnever lie" made her a TV fixture, told The Advocate that her godson'shomosexuality prompted her to make her own announcement.
"He was afraid of nothing and I thought, 'I can't be a hypocrite. This boyis going to force me to put my money where my mouth is,'" said Jamaica-bornMiss Cleo, whose real name is Youree Dell CleomiliHarris.
The New York Daily News said Monday that the big news has cost Miss Cleosome friends and stunned family members. Miss Cleo's infomercials werepulled in 2002 due to lawsuits and regulatory inquiries.
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