GLBT DIGEST - November 11, 2006

**IF YOU CAN'T ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE, CONTACT US AT
rays.list@comcast.net and we'll be happy to send the full article.

=

http://www.dailynebraskan.com/home/index.cfm?event=displayArticlePrinterFriendly&uStory_id=962c87d2-f7d8-4a6f-a021-1cf7ea265a7e


WAITE: Bully Christians bring the heat to homosexuality
Cyndi Waite / Junior film studies major
Posted: 11/10/06

Evangelicals are the new schoolyard bullies, and "spiritual restoration"therapy is their new weapon of choice. These bullies may have a new weapon,but their intentions and rhetorical devices haven't changed a bit.

Like the pushing, teasing, lunchbox-stealing bullies that preceded them,these zealots preach (hell)FIRE, an acronym I've designed for your viewingand remembering pleasure.

Fear.

Intimidation.

Repression.

Emasculation.



=

http://www.gaywired.com/article.cfm?section=70&id=11465


Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network Praises North CarolinaStudent's Courage Forming GSA
11.09.06


(New York, NY) - GLSEN, or the Gay, Lesbian and Straight EducationNetwork, has issued a statement congratulating Danielle Smiley for hercourageous effort to form a Gay-Straight Alliance at Currituck County HighSchool despite a lack of support from the school system.

"GLSEN is extremely proud of the courage Danielle Smiley has shown inher effort to establish a Gay-Straight Alliance," said GLSEN Founder andExecutive Director Kevin Jennings, a North Carolina native who as a teacherhelped form the first GSA in 1988. "For Smiley to overcome the culture ofmisinformation and lack of understanding that far too often dominates thesedebates is an inspiration to all of us who value respect and the idea thatall students have a right to a safe learning environment."



=

http://www.sovo.com/print.cfm?content_id=6145

'Love' thrown out

Gays were not so much the target audience at Focus on the Family's Love WonOut conference as we were simply in its targets.


By LAURA DOUGLAS-BROWN
Nov. 10, 2006

Host to two ex-gay conferences in barely two months, Georgia must beconsidered fertile ground to religious conservatives these days. From theresults of Tuesday's elections, when Republicans gained ground here whilelosing around the nation, it's easy to see why.

But the two conferences held in Georgia this fall could not have been moredifferent, revealing much about the true motives of those who produced them.

At the end of September, Southern Voice reporter Zack Hudson attended andcovered an ex-gay conference in Macon. Dubbed "The Philadelphia Conference:Loving Homosexuals as Jesus Would," the event featured two prominent ex-gayspeakers affiliated with Focus on the Family, but was produced independentlyby Christ Chapel, the church where it was held.



=

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=115267


Gay Protestors Arrested in Liberty Bell Park
12:15 Nov 10, '06 / 19 Cheshvan 5767


(IsraelNN.com) Police report that about 30 gay protestors werearrested in Liberty Bell Park, apparently unwilling to accept the compromiseagreement reached by heads of the Open House organization.

The agreement shifted the parade in downtown Jerusalem to a closedforum in the Givat Ram area of the capital. The protestors stated theywished to exercise their right to march.




=

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-foley10nov10,0,1452559,print.story


Anti-Foley blogger speaks out
The man who first posted the now-resigned congressman's e-mails says he wasangry about a culture of corruption.
By Noam N. Levey
Times Staff Writer

November 10, 2006

WASHINGTON - Lane Hudson had no idea he would bring down a congressman whenhe sat in his living room and turned on his laptop one Sunday morning nearlyseven weeks ago.

The former congressional aide, who is gay, had been railing for weeks on hisanonymous blog against congressmen who sexually preyed on young people. Thatday in late September, he decided to post a series of suggestive e-mailexchanges between Rep. Mark Foley and a male former congressional page.




=


The Sun-Sentinel


http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/nationworld/sfl-asafrica10nov10,0,3539283.story

S. Africa panel backs same-sex marriage
Bill heads to Parliament

By Clare Nullis
The Associated Press

November 10, 2006


CAPE TOWN, South Africa · A parliamentary committee approved proposals forsame-sex marriages in South Africa on Thursday, clearing the way for thepassage of legislation that would be unique on a deeply conservativecontinent.

The compromise, reached after heated public debate, upset religious groups,traditionalists and some members of the governing African National Congresswhile gay rights activists said it didn't go far enough.

The civil unions bill will go to a full session of Parliament on Tuesday.Despite the unease in the ANC ranks, it is expected to pass becauselawmakers have been ordered to follow the party line and were told there islittle room for maneuver.




=

The Sun-Sentinel


http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/nationworld/sfl-asafrica10nov10,0,3539283.story

S. Africa panel backs same-sex marriage
Bill heads to Parliament

By Clare Nullis
The Associated Press

November 10, 2006


CAPE TOWN, South Africa · A parliamentary committee approved proposals forsame-sex marriages in South Africa on Thursday, clearing the way for thepassage of legislation that would be unique on a deeply conservativecontinent.

The compromise, reached after heated public debate, upset religious groups,traditionalists and some members of the governing African National Congresswhile gay rights activists said it didn't go far enough.

The civil unions bill will go to a full session of Parliament on Tuesday.Despite the unease in the ANC ranks, it is expected to pass becauselawmakers have been ordered to follow the party line and were told there islittle room for maneuver.


=

The Miami Herald

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/nation/15975379.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp

Posted on Fri, Nov. 10, 2006


MASSACHUSETTS
Same-sex marriage ban unlikely to go before Massachusetts voters

It appeared unlikely that Massachusetts lawmakers would submit to voters aproposal that would ban gay marriage.
By STEVE LEBLANC
Associated Press


BOSTON - Massachusetts lawmakers on Thursday again avoided taking a formalstand on a proposed constitutional amendment that would ban gay marriage,recessing a constitutional convention instead of taking up the thorny issue.

If lawmakers do not vote on the measure before the next Legislature takesoffice, the measure will not appear on the November 2008 ballot. A voteappeared unlikely because they recessed until Jan. 2, the last day thisLegislature is in session.



=

The New York Times


http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Landscapers-Gays.html?pagewanted=print


November 10, 2006
Houston Landscaper Accused of Bigotry
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 2:15 a.m. ET

HOUSTON (AP) -- A few short weeks ago, Garden Guy was just a mom-and-poplandscaping business that promoted itself as ''making Houston beautifulsince 1991'' and promised to treat its customers with respect and honesty.

Since then, though, the business has been vilified around the world as abunch of bigots because its Christian conservative owners refused to do workfor a gay couple.

Michael Lord and Gary Lackey, a gay couple requesting bids for a landscapingjob at their new house, received a polite -- and, well, honest -- e-mailfrom Sabrina Farber, a co-owner of Garden Guy: ''I need to tell you that wecannot meet with you because we choose not to work for homosexuals.''



=

The Sun-Sentinel

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/nationworld/sfl-agaywed10nov10,0,236024.story


Legislators put off vote on gay marriage
Massachusetts fails to act on constitutional amendment

By Steve Leblanc
The Associated Press

November 10, 2006


BOSTON · Massachusetts legislators on Thursday again avoided taking a formalstand on a proposed constitutional amendment that would ban gay marriage,recessing a constitutional convention instead of taking up the issue.

If there is no vote on the measure before the next Legislature takes office,the measure will not appear on the November 2008 ballot. A vote appearedunlikely because they recessed until Jan. 2, the last day this Legislatureis in session.



=

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/world/15975409.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp


Posted on Fri, Nov. 10, 2006

ISRAEL

Israel's gay pride parade downsized to a rally

Facing security concerns and pressure, organizers of Jerusalemn's gay prideparade, planned for today, will instead hold a smaller rally at HebrewUniversity.

BY DION NISSENBAUM
McClatchy News Service

JERUSALEM - Jerusalem's lesbian and gay community has unintentionallysucceeded in doing something that has eluded the world's greatest thinkers:Unite many members of the three major monotheistic religions.

Orthodox Jews, conservative Muslims and prominent Christian leaders areunited in their opposition to a gay pride march in Jerusalem, a city that'sholy to all three religions.

The pope called for today's march to be canceled. Muslim leaders criticizedit as a disgrace. Orthodox Jews organized weeks of violent demonstrations.




=


http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/10/us/politics/10marriage.html?ei=5094&en=483323395748e3b8&hp=&ex=1163221200&partner=homepage&pagewanted=print

November 10, 2006

Gain for Same-Sex Marriage in Massachusetts
By PAM BELLUCK

BOSTON, Nov. 9 - Lawmakers in Massachusetts, the only state where same-sexmarriage is legal, dealt what appeared to be a fatal blow Thursday to aproposed constitutional amendment to ban it.

In a flurry of strategic maneuvering, supporters of same-sex marriagemanaged to persuade enough legislators to vote to recess a constitutionalconvention until the afternoon of Jan. 2, the last day of the legislativesession.

On that day, lawmakers and advocates on both sides said, it appeared likelythat the legislature would adjourn without voting on the measure, killingit.



=

The New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/10/world/americas/10briefs-MEXICOCAPITA_BRF.html?pagewanted=print


November 10, 2006
World Briefing | Americas

Mexico: Capital Legalizes Gay Civil Unions
By ANTONIO BETANCOURT

After an intense debate and opposition from the Roman Catholic Church,Mexico City's legislature voted to give legal status to civil unions betweenhomosexuals, extending those couples benefits similar to marriedheterosexual couples. The mayor is expected to sign the measure into law,which would be the first for this mainly Catholic country. The bill does notallow gays to marry but will let them register their unions with thegovernment and be granted the right to inherit property and receive thepension and social benefits of their partners. The measure passed 43 to 17,with supporters coming from the leftist Party of the Democratic Revolutionand the opponents from the ranks of the National Action Party of PresidentVicente Fox.


=

The New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Haggard-Whats-Next.html?pagewanted=print

November 9, 2006
Haggard Begins Spiritual 'Restoration'

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 4:24 a.m. ET

DENVER (AP) -- There will be prayer, and perhaps the laying on of hands.There will be counseling and a confession. And there will be advice,confrontation and rebuke from ''godly men'' appointed to oversee thespiritual ''restoration'' of the Rev. Ted Haggard.

After tumbling from the pinnacle of the American evangelical movement amidallegations he snorted meth and cavorted with a male prostitute, Haggard hasagreed to a rehabilitation process that could last three to five years.

''I see success approximately 50 percent of the time,'' said H.B. London,vice president for church and clergy at Focus on the Family, theconservative Christian ministry in Colorado Springs. ''Guys just wear outand they can no longer subject themselves to the process.''

Those who fail ''end up selling cars or shoes or something, and beingmiserable and angry the rest of their lives,'' London said.




=

Bloody prejudice

The National Blood Service is stereotyping gay men as modern-day"Typhoid Marys" by rejecting them as donors.

By Peter Tatchell

The Guardian - Comment Is Free - 3 November 2006

http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/peter_tatchell/2006/11/gay_blood_ban_shame.html


Gay blood is banned by the National Blood Service (NBS). No man whohas had oral or anal sex with another man - even just once, with acondom - is allowed to donate blood.

When I recently volunteered to be a donor, I was advised by the NBS:"Sorry, Mr Tatchell, you cannot give blood." Why not, I asked. "Wedon't accept donations from gay men," said the NBS.

The NBS gay ban is based on the unscientific, homophobic presumptionthat all gay and bisexual men are 'high risk' for HIV, regardless oftheir individual sexual behaviour.



=

Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org

Associated Press, November 8, 2006

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2006/11/08/politics/p134004S73.DTL&type=politics

Losses on Ballot Measures Jolt Religious

By DAVID CRARY, AP National Writer

>From the country's heartland, voters sent messages that alteredAmerica's culture wars and dismayed the religious right - defending abortionrights in South Dakota, endorsing stem cell research in Missouri, and, in anational first, rejecting a same-sex marriage ban in Arizona.

Conservative leaders were jolted by the setbacks and looked for anexplanation Wednesday. Gay-rights and abortion-rights activists celebrated.



=

Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org


URGENT ALERT!!! Police Crackdown on the International LGBT Conferencein Minsk

Svara till: lgbtbelarus-owner@googlegroups.com


Gomel, 08 November 2006: Today, at 8:20 pm the special police forces brokeinto the apartment where the meeting of Organizing Committee of theInternational LGBT Conference took place and arrested seven people:Vyacheslav Andreev, Sviatlana Bortnik, Svyatoslav Sementsov, Tanya Ivanova,Aleksei Filipenko, Natallia Kavalchuk, and Viachaslau Bortnik. TheConference materials have been seized. Activists have been brought to theZheleznodorozhnyi Borrow Police Department and interrogated. Police officersasked for detailed information on the program of the conference, list ofparticipants, and venue of the conference. International guests were of thespecial interest of police. Four of activists have been released after towhours of detention.



=

The Express News

http://www.expressgaynews.com/thelatest/thelatest.cfm?blog_id=9993


Gay blogger sought to protect pages
Fired HRC staffer denies political motive in exposing Foley e-mails
LOU CHIBBARO JR. | Nov 8, 9:43 PM


The gay blogger who is credited with posting the first set of e-mails thathelped ensnare former U.S. Rep. Mark Foley (R-Fla.) in a sex scandal insiststhat his motive behind exposing the closeted gay Republican was not partisanpolitics.

'It became clear to me that there was a culture in Washington that knewabout this activity and condoned it by doing nothing about it,' says LaneHudson, the gay blogger credited with triggering the scandal that broughtabout the resignation of former U.S. Rep. Mark Foley. (Photo by J.R. Davis)

Lane Hudson, 29, a South Carolina native who worked for former Sen. ErnestHollings (D-S.C.) from 1995 to 2002, said he created an anonymous websitecalled Stop Sex Predators in July in an effort to draw attention to what hecalled Foley's inappropriate overtures toward teenage pages on Capitol Hill.




=

Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org


http://ih.constantcontact.com/fs095/1098473122089/img/9.jpg?a=1101449757070

2006 ELECTIONS:

DID SEXUAL FREEDOM WIN OR LOSE?

November 08, 2006

Did sexual freedom win or did we lose? We achieved a a majority in the Houseof Representatives. At this point the Senate is evenly divided and we mustwait for either a recount or legal action to determine the victor inVirginia. It apears that we gained six Democratic Governors.

While the victors are generally accepting of sexual freedom issues we haveto acknowledge that they won on the back of sexual freedom.

We know what the public issues were - particularly the anti-incumbentsentiment against the war in Iraq. And there was a strong vote againstcorruption - but that corruption was linked, time and again, to sexualfreedom. What cost the incumbents their seats was the demonization ofsexuality.




=

Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org



US: Dale Carpenter--Same-sex marriage and the election
(Part2)

The Volokh Conspiracy (blog), November 8, 2006

http://volokh.com/posts/1163007674.shtml

Same-sex marriage and the election (Part 2) Dale Carpenter

Much more important to the politics of gay marriage than the nationalelection results are the results in (1) popular votes on stateconstitutional gay-marriage bans and (2) the results in state legislativeraces. Both suggest that we may be headed for more state legislative actiontoward the recognition of same-sex relationships in the form of civil unionsand domestic partnerships (less so, for now, in the form of full marriage).This post will address the first development.

State constitutional gay-marriage bans

There are two huge stories in the votes on gay-marriage bans around thecountry. First, for the first time ever a gay-marriage ban has been rejectedby the voters of a state, Arizona. It's not the same as an endorsement ofgay marriage, but it's an unprecedented and potentially significant defeatfor opponents of gay marriage. Still, I am at a loss to explain the precisereason for the result in Arizona.



=

Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org


Wednesday, November 8, 2006 (SF Gate)

God Hates Gay Evangelicals/Will Pastor Ted's love of hot man sex open thenarrow mind of the religious right?

By Mark Morford, SF Gate Columnist

Let's assume it's all true. Let's assume that Ted Haggard is justdeliriously, stupidly, crazyjuicy gay. I know, not much of a stretch, butlet's go with it.

Yes, Pastor Ted, disgraced former leader of 30 million blithelyhomophobic evangelical Christians, yet another of those flamboyantsemi-insane Liberace-with-a-Bible megachurch preachers, a man who had weeklyconference calls with George W. Bush, a man who lobbied Congress on behalfof homophobic Supreme Court nominees, Ted has had so much gay sex with amale prostitute it makes Mark Foley look like child's play (so to speak).
Fair enough?



=

The Miami Herald

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/front/15965775.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp


Posted on Thu, Nov. 09, 2006


ISRAEL

Israel plans force of 9,000 to guard gay pride parade
Israeli police are mounting an 'unprecedented' operation to head off troubleat a gay pride parade in Jerusalem.

BY STEVE WEIZMAN
Associated Press


JERUSALEM - About 9,000 police will protect gay marchers in Jerusalem, thebiggest internal civilian security operation in Israel's history, the policecommander said Wednesday, after a week of riots by ultra-Orthodox Jews whothreaten to attack the parade.

Jerusalem police chief Ilan Franco said permission was granted for 5,000 gayactivists to march Friday through a nonresidential area away from the citycenter and to hold a closing rally in a university stadium there, while20,000 religious protesters demonstrate about a mile away, near theJerusalem central bus station.




=

Anything But Straight
by Wayne Besen
http://www.waynebesen.com/


Anything But Straight
November 8, 2006


A Return To Reality


In the very week Saddam Hussein was sentenced to hang, George W. Bush hasfound his presidency in the gallows. Hussein now awaits his fate as a deadduck, while Bush will usher in his final two years as a lame duck. Howbitterly ironic it must be that the Democratic landslide victory was fueledon outrage over the quagmire in Iraq and the president's refusal to "changethe course" even after the facts repeatedly changed on the ground. This ismore a victory for reality than a win over a sleazy and atavistic Republicanmajority that empowered lowlifes such as Tom Delay and Jack Abramoff andextremists like Rick Santorum.


The GOP is learning that reality may take extended vacations, but it nevercompletely vacates. Denial may be effective as a tactic, but at the end ofthe day it does not stave off tragedy. In an even a greater state of denialthan the president are Prozac Protestants, who must have become depressedand stayed home in larger numbers this Election Day. Who can blame them?First, we had Ralph Reed "humping in" on accounts with lobbyist JackAbramoff, then we had Foleygate and now we have the fall of Rev. TedHaggard.



=

http://online.logcabin.org/news_views/reading-room-back-up/log-cabin-republicans-blast.html


News Release
For Immediate Release

November 7, 2006
Log Cabin Republicans Blast Social Conservatives for Causing Defeat in House


(Washington, DC)-"Republicans lost this election because independent votersabandoned the GOP," said Log Cabin Executive Vice President Patrick Sammon."Social conservatives drove the GOP's agenda the last several years. Theirdivisive agenda alienated the mainstream Republicans and independents whodetermined this election's outcome. Social conservatives should takeresponsibility for this loss."

"Democrats didn't win because of anything they stood for. They won becauseof Republican mistakes," said Sammon. "GOP leaders lost sight of whatbrought our Party to power in 1994.


=

http://www.edgeboston.com/index.php?ch=news&sc=glbt&sc2=news&sc3=&id=16186&pf=1


Gays Jubilant over Election Results
by Peter Cassels
EDGE National News Editor
Wednesday Nov 8, 2006


GLBTs rejoiced over the 2006 election results, particularly becauseDemocrats gained control of both houses of Congress. Activists say that maylead to progress in federal legislation benefiting the community.

Community leaders also were elated that, for the first time, ananti-equal-marriage amendment to a state constitution was defeated. Votersin Arizona said no to the measure, but they passed in seven other states, although by significantly lower margins than in the past. Now, 27 states will have amendments in their constitutions barring same-sex marriage.



=




Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org

November 8, 2006

Kim Coco Iwamoto Wins State-Level Board of Education Seat

Iwamoto is the First Openly Transgender Person Elected to a State-Level Office in the US

(Washington, DC) - Yesterday's mid-term elections marked a historic first in lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LBGT) movement for equality and civic engagement. With a comfortable victory garnering 81,532 votes, attorney Kim Coco Iwamoto was elected to Hawaii's state-level Board of Education (Oahu-at-Large), a non-partisan office. Ms. Iwamoto, an openly transgender woman, is a member of the National Center for Transgender Equality's (NCTE) Board of Advisors. Iwamoto holds a Juris Doctor from the University of New Mexico School of Law, is a volunteer guardian ad litem for the First Circuit Family Court, and is a frequent speaker at high schools and colleges on civil rights issues and community service.



=

From Marc Adams
HeartStrong
http://heartstrong.org/mailman/listinfo/heartstronglist_heartstrong.org

Almost forgot! 960AM "The Quake" in San Francisco will feature an interview with Michael Jones (Ted Haggard's former escort) followed by an interview with me about this situation as well as the work of HeartStrong.

The show airs from 7-9pm PST. You can listen to the show live online if you are not in the SF area. Go to http://www.quakeradio.com or http://www.queerchannelradio.com and follow the links for listening live.

I should also mention that we are still trying to raise the $2200.00 needed for the remainder of our expenses for this outreach trip. You financial support is greatly appreciated. You can make your donation online at http://www.heartstrong.org or mail it to HeartStrong, PO Box 2051, Seattle WA 98111, OR you can call me to discuss your donation. We need your HELP!




=


http://www.alternet.org/blogs/peek/44115/

Link - Video: Bill Maher Outs Ken Mehlman on CNN




=

http://www.nj.com/printer/printer.ssf?/base/international-9/116305933111300.xml&storylist=international


Latin Americans cheered by GOP setback
11/9/2006, 2:27 a.m. ET
By E. EDUARDO CASTILLO
The Associated Press


MEXICO CITY (AP) - Mexico City traffic officer Raul Cervantes couldn't remember the name of the Republican Party on Wednesday - all he knew was that President Bush had taken a beating and that was enough to make him happy.

Politicians, analysts and ordinary citizens across Latin America cheered the Democrats' takeover of Congress as roping in a president who went to war against Iraq, ignoring widespread world opposition to the invasion.

"When the people who make Bush's plans happen aren't around, we will be better off," said Cervantes, directing traffic on a major Mexico City avenue.



=

The Washington Post


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/09/AR2006110901880_pf.html


Mexico City Officials Legalize Gay Unions
Deep-Seated Opposition Overcome; Activists Hope for Marriage Law

By Manuel Roig-Franzia
Washington Post Foreign Service
Friday, November 10, 2006; A24

MEXICO CITY, Nov. 9 -- The city assembly here legalized same-sex civil unions for the first time in Mexico's history, overcoming long-standing objections from the Catholic Church and prejudices stemming from this country's culture of machismo.

The law gives gay people in the country's largest city the right to make medical decisions for their partners and to list their partners as beneficiaries of pensions and inheritances. Activists hope it will inspire legislation legalizing same-sex marriage, perhaps at the national level.




=

The Miami Herald


http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/breaking_news/15975405.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp


Posted on Fri, Nov. 10, 2006

CHILE
Condom drive riles conservative Chile

A new campaign by Chilean President Michelle Bachelet to promote condom use among youths reignited debate over sexual mores in the mostly Catholic nation.
BY NATHAN CROOKS
Special to The Miami Herald


SANTIAGO, Chile - Chile's leftist government has provoked the ire of the Catholic Church and conservative political parties with a new campaign to reduce the growing levels of HIV/AIDS infection among the country's youth.

The campaign exclusively promotes condoms, makes no mention of abstinence and has reopened a heated debate in this traditionally Catholic country over the use of condoms, gay rights and sexuality.

Chile's Ministry of Health launched the eighth annual AIDS awareness campaign in early November with the slogan, ``I take care of my life; condoms always.''



[ Send your comments about any of the articles in Ray's List Digest to Rays.List@Comcast.net ]

#####