GLBT DIGEST - November 13, 2006

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GAY AND LESBIAN HUMANIST ASSOCIATION
NATIONAL OFFICE
34 SPRING LANE, KENILWORTH
WARWICKSHIRE CV8 2HB
UNITED KINGDOM
TEL AND FAX 01926 858450
EMAIL secretary@galha.org
WEBSITE www.galha.org

Affiliated to Amnesty International & the International Humanist & Ethical Union

NEWS RELEASE
12 November 2006

RUSSIAN GAY ACTIVIST VOWS TO FIGHT ON

The Russian gay activist Nicolai Alekseev has vowed to fight on after MoscowPride 2006 was officially banned by Moscow's mayor and the protest aboutthis was disrupted.

In a moving and inspiring speech to his audience at the GALHA annual lunchin London on Saturday, Alekseev described the hostility which participantsin the protest had to face from a coalition of fascist thugs and OrthodoxChristian religionsts. He said they had been "bloodied but unbowed" andwould certainly be back with a vengeance in 2007. Given time, he predicted,the situation for LGBT people in Russia would be asfavourable as it is now in Western European countries. His speech wasreceived with an ecstatic ovation and he was presented with an award inrecognition of "his courage in challenging homophobia in Russia and beyond".




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The Guardian

http://www.guardian.co.uk/print/0,,329625106-103682,00.html


Religion and politics
God's squads

Leader
Saturday November 11, 2006

Guardian

A disastrous combination of events yesterday must have left many Muslimsfeeling battered. First MI5's warning this week on the Islamist terrorthreat that suggested some 30 plots had been identified and support forviolence was spreading. Then yesterday, the acquittal of the BNP leader NickGriffin on charges of inciting race hatred for a covertly filmed speech thatto many viewers was deeply offensive.

It may be by accident more than design, but the stakes are rising in acultural conflict that should never have been allowed to gain traction. MI5chief Eliza Manningham-Buller issued her alert alongside hints that she wasconcerned the development of parallel communities could worsen things. Sheis right. But in addressing that risk it is essential to recognise thatIslam is far from the only factor pushing religion centre-stage.



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The New York Times


http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/13/business/media/13cnn.html?pagewanted=print


November 13, 2006

Some Names Were Named, but Not for Long
By MARIA ASPAN

The "Larry King Live" talk show on CNN often tries to enliven politicalcommentary with gossip and celebrity guests. But when a postelection sessionlast Wednesday strayed into speculation about some politicians' sex lives,CNN first put the gossip on the air - and then tried to erase the evidence.

During the comedian Bill Maher's appearance on the show Wednesday, he andMr. King discussed several of the factors contributing to the Democrats'election victory the day before, among them scandals involving severalRepublicans, including Representative Mark Foley. Mr. Maher then began tospeculate on the sexual orientation of some high-ranking Republicanofficials, and Mr. King, seeming to forget that he was on the air, asked fornames.

The comments were broadcast live, but CNN's rebroadcast of the show laterthat evening cut a portion of Mr. Maher's remarks.



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http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2006/11/13/war_religion_and_gay_rights?mode=PF

War, religion, and gay rights
By James Carroll | November 13, 2006

IN JERUSALEM, Muslims and Jews have found common cause: attacking gaypeople.

A gay pride parade was scheduled for Friday. In Palestinian areas, Muslimleaders vigorously condemned homosexuality as criminal, and inultra-Orthodox neighborhoods, Jewish demonstrators staged raucous protests.As a result, organizers canceled the parade. One of them said, "Now we arebeing dragged back into the dark world of religion."

In US elections last week, while a wave of change was reversing the nation'sconservative direction, a counterwave crested, and it, too, attacked gays.

On the ballot in eight states were amendments defining marriage as between aman and woman, a direct repudiation of the right of homosexual couples tomarry. In seven of those states, the amendment passed. One of those wasColorado, where a leader of the anti-gay-marriage movement, Pastor TedHaggard, had, the week before, been forced out of his position as head ofNew Life Church in Colorado Springs because of an alleged relationship witha male prostitute. In his resignation letter, Haggard confessed, "I am adeceiver and a liar. There is a part of my life that is so repulsive anddark that I've been warring against it all my adult life."



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The Miami Herald


http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/living/columnists/leonard_pitts/15998239.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp


Posted on Mon, Nov. 13, 2006

IN MY OPINION

A twisted view on 'flaunting' gay identity

BY LEONARD PITTS JR.
lpitts@MiamiHerald.com

Today's topic: flaunting homosexuality. Exhibit A: Doogie.

Meaning Neil Patrick Harris, who, in another life, was the titlecharacter in Doogie Howser, M.D., the tale of a boy genius who becomes adoctor. Recently, Harris was outed on a gossip website. His response in astatement to people.com said in part:

``I am happy to dispel any rumors or misconceptions and am quite proudto say that I am a very content gay man living my life to the fullest.''

That was it. No muss, no fuss. The world continued spinning, the seasdid not boil and the clouds did not bleed.




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The Express Gay News


http://www.expressgaynews.com/thelatest/thelatest.cfm?blog_id=10076


Legislature to hold special session over gay benefits
Alaska under order to have new regs by Jan. 1

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) | Nov 13, 8:24 AM

State legislators will return to Juneau on Monday for the third specialsession in six months.


The session was called by Gov. Frank Murkowski to discuss court-orderedbenefits for same-sex couples.

The state is under an Alaska Supreme Court order to have new regulations inplace by Jan. 1 to provide employment benefits to same-sex domestic partnersof state employees and retirees.

Murkowski called lawmakers back into session after Lt. Gov. Loren Lemanrefused to sign the regulations developed by the state to provide benefits.Leman said the regulations are not legal unless the Legislature passed a lawthat authorizes them.



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Dreams of solidarity

Although today's gay pride march in Jerusalem was downgraded to astadium rally, the fact that it took place at all was a setback forits opponents.

By Peter Tatchell

The Guardian - Comment is Free - 10 November 2006

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

Jewish
and Arab gays have pulled off the biggest diplomatic coup in modernMiddle East history. They have got warring Christians, Judaists andMuslims working together for the first time since the foundation ofthe state of Israel.

Religionists who previously refused to even acknowledge each other'sright to exist, are now talking to each other. In an unprecedentedshow of multi-faith and multi-party unity, Israelis and Palestinianshave formed a common front - reaching out to one another in aground-breaking gesture of unity and solidarity.


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