GLBT DIGEST - December 12, 2006

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The Advocate

http://advocate.com/print_article_ektid40301.asp


Another Colorado pastor resigns amid gay sex scandal


Just weeks after the evangelical Christian world was shaken by the gay sexscandal surrounding megachurch leader Ted Haggard, the founding pastor of asecond Colorado church has resigned over gay sex allegations.


The founding pastor of a second Colorado church has resigned over gay sexallegations just weeks after the evangelical Christian world was shaken bythe scandal surrounding megachurch leader Ted Haggard.

Haggard, an opponent of same-sex marriage, admitted to unspecified ''sexualimmorality'' when he resigned last month as president of the NationalAssociation of Evangelicals and pastor of the 14,000-member New Life Churchin Colorado Springs. Paid escort Mike Jones said he'd had sex with Haggardfor three years.



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The Washington Post

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/offbeat/2006/12/evangelical_gay_sex_redux.html


Evangelical Gay Sex Redux


What's going on in Colorado's Evangelical community? First Ted Haggard wasforced to step down in disgrace, and now for the second time in as manymonths a prominent conservative Christian leader is embroiled in a gay sexscandal. This time it's Paul Barnes, founding pastor of the 2,100-memberGrace Chapel, who admitted to his congregation, in a taped confession thathe has had sexual relations with other men.

Unlike Haggard, Barnes has limited political connections and has stayed outof Colorado's gay marriage debate, although he has preached that God viewshomosexuality as a sin. During his tearful confession, the 54-year-oldacknowledged struggling with his identity since childhood and being rackedwith self-loathing because of his "firm moral family." Despite being unableto escape himself, even after being reborn, Barnes claimed he could notaccept that people were "born that way." But if nature did not make him gay,does that mean his strict religious upbringing is the root cause of hislifetime of guilt?



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The Sun-Sentinel.com

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/nationworld/sfl-anigeria12dec12,0,5903151.story


Nigerians debate anti-gay bill
Law would ban all forms of association

By Katharine Houreld
The Associated Press

December 12, 2006


LAGOS, Nigeria · Lawmakers in Nigeria are debating a bill that would bansame-sex marriage and any form of association among gays, even sharing ameal at a restaurant.

Few in Nigeria's deeply closeted gay community have publicly opposed thelegislation, which proposes penalties of up to five years in prison and isexpected to pass.

Engaging in homosexual acts is already illegal in Nigeria, with thoseconvicted facing jail terms in the mainly Christian south and execution inthe Muslim north.

"This meeting, right here, would be illegal," said activist Bisi Alimi,stabbing the air with a french fry for emphasis as he sat at a table withthree gay friends.

Other activities prohibited under the proposed law include belonging to gayclubs or reading books, watching films or visiting Internet sites that"promote" homosexuality.



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http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/editorial/4392456.html


Dec. 10, 2006, 7:43PM
Cheney family values
Their politics are one thing. The Cheneys' family bond seems to be whollyanother.


Conservative or progressive, few Americans have escaped the dispiritment ofwatching a parade of public figures flapping the banner of family values inthe past year, only to be revealed as utter hypocrites. Rep. Mark Foley,R-Florida, decried the ravages of child molesters while making sexualovertures to minors in his power. Pastor Ted Haggard goaded a mammothreligious congregation into demonizing gays - only to be accused of engagingin the legal personal behavior he wanted to deny to others.

By contrast, Vice President Dick Cheney has never been much of a crusader onthe sexual conduct of others. He's never tried to pass himself off as muchmore than a hawkish security maven and tax-cutting conservative. Yet incontrast to so many of his colleagues and associates, Cheney quietlyexemplifies the type of family values that really do make this countrystronger. His relationship with lesbian daughter Mary Cheney consistentlyhas been exhibit A.

When Mary Cheney first came out at 16, her father promptly assured her ofunconditional love. "You're my daughter and I love you and I just want youto be happy," Mary Cheney wrote in her recent memoir.



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http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/altss/printstory/local/35161

Kolbe 'spent far too much time' with pages, report says
BLAKE MORLOCK

Published: 12.09.2006


U.S. Rep. Jim Kolbe "spent far too much time interacting with the pages," aformer top administrator in the U.S. House of Representatives told the HouseEthics Committee.

The statement was in a congressional report Friday that found Republicanlawmakers and aides left male pages vulnerable to former Rep. Mark Foley'simproper sexual advances.

Kolbe, a 22-year Republican congressman from southern Arizona, is retiringnext month but has been drawn into the Foley scandal, which involvedsexually suggestive instant messages and e-mails to former pages.



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The Advocate
http://advocate.com/exclusive_detail_ektid40077.asp


James West under the (publicity) lens
David Ehrenstein takes a look at the mediocre cover-up to save face forformer Spokane mayor James West.

By David Ehrenstein

An Advocate.com exclusive posted December 8, 2006


"Online chatting! Dating men! The divorced mayor was a little stodgy andplenty conservative with an antigay voting record in the [Washington] statelegislature. As Frontline tells it, the reporters seemed to be gunning forhim. But on what grounds?" shrieks Virginia Heffernan in The New York Times.

The usually more reserved critic was fulminating about "A Hidden Life," thePBS Frontline documentary on the late James West, who was the mayor ofSpokane, Wash., famously "outed" by that city's newspaper, TheSpokesman-Review, in May 2005. If you are familiar with the West saga--whichquickly mushroomed from a local scandal to a national news story-then you'reaware that, prompted by reports from young men whom West had solicitedonline for sex, The Spokesman-Review set up a "sting" of sorts to track hisonline trolling for barely legal youths.



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The Express Gay News
http://expressgaynews.com/


http://www.expressgaynews.com/thelatest/thelatest.cfm?blog_id=10424


New law and old prejudices threaten Nigeria's gay community
Watching 'Will & Grace' could be illegal
LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) | Dec 11, 2:26 PM

In the Muslim north of Nigeria, Bisi Alimi could be stoned to death forhaving gay sex. In the south, he could face three years in prison. Now, aproposed law would make it illegal just to share a meal at a cafe with gayfriends.


The proposal under debate in Nigeria's House of Representatives would outlawnot just gay marriages, but any form of association between gay people,social or otherwise, and publication of any materials deemed to promote a"same-sex amorous relationship."




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Historic recognition of LGBT organisations at the United Nations: one ofILGA's regions and two of its members granted consultative status

Yesterday, 11 December 2006, the United Nations Economic and Social Council(ECOSOC) granted consultative status to three gay, lesbian, bisexual andtransgender organisations: to ILGA-Europe, the European Region of theInternational Lesbian and Gay Association, to the Danish and German nationallesbian and gay association, LBL and LSVD. Consultative status granted bythe ECOSOC allows NGOs to enter the United Nations, participate in its workand speak in their own name. No other LGBT group till this day enjoyed thisright, apart from COAL, the Coalition of Activist Lesbians, a group based inAustralia.

"State homophobia has been hit and will not remain unchallenged anymore,"says Rosanna Flamer Caldera, Co-Secretary General of the InternationalLesbian and Gay Association. "It is a very special moment for the LGBTmovement: this historic decision follows the statement made by Norway at theUN Human Rights Council on behalf of 54 countries, pushing that forum toaddress sexual orientation and gender identity.


more....


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Catholics reject gay bully policy

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/uk_news/education/6171977.stm
Published: 2006/12/12 10:46:55 GMT

The Archbishop of Birmingham has defended the way Catholic schools teachchildren about homosexuality.

Giving evidence to MPs investigating citizenship education, Vincent Nicholssaid specific policies to tackle homophobic bullying were unnecessary.

He told them his church makes a clear distinction between sexual orientationand behaviour, saying "sexual intercourse belongs within marriage".

Inspectors have criticised standards of citizenship lessons taught inEngland.


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Lesbians and single mums to get IVF on the NHS
By JULIE WHELDON, Science Correspondent

Last updated at 23:20pm on 10th December 2006
Daily Mail
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/femail/article.html?in_article_id=4216
60&in_page_id=1879

Doctors currently give fertility treatment if they believe their patient hastaken into account a child's need for a father-figure

More single women and lesbians could get IVF under Government plans to scrapthe requirement for doctors to consider a child's 'need for a father'.

Currently doctors can only give fertility treatment if they believe theirpatient has taken into account a child's need for a father-figure.

But now it has emerged that ministers are likely to drop this in a shake-upof Britain's embryology laws expected to be announced this week.



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http://english.pravda.ru/society/sex/85760-0/

Being gay is faddish in today's Russia

Homosexuals were rare species in Russia some 10 years ago. Homosexual malesmet one another in secrecy, they might be sent to prison because sodomy wasa punishable practice under the penal code effective at the time. But thingshave changed dramatically. These days it is faddish to be a gay in Russia.The "lavender invasion" has reached the scale of an epidemic. NowadaysRussia's gays launch they own web sites, open cafes and clubs.

Family man with a "boyfriend" on the side

I did not have to talk Sergei and Pavel into coming for an interview. I justasked them, and they agreed on the spot. Sergei is 21 and Pavel is 23. Bothof them look like real lady killers. They are tall and full of muscles. Theyare stylishly dressed too. There is nothing feminine about them.




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French Back Same-Sex Marriage, Not Adoption

December 12, 2006
Angus Reid Global Monitor

http://www.angus-reid.com/polls/index.cfm/fuseaction/viewItem/itemID/14058

- Many adults in France believe homosexual partners should be allowed toenter wedlock, according to a poll by Ipsos published in Tetu. 62 per centof respondents favour the right of same-sex couples to marry.

France has allowed civil unions for gay and lesbian couples since 2000. InJune 2004, Begles mayor and Green party politician Noël Mamère conducted thecountry's first ever same-sex wedding, claiming that there are noregulations in the country or the European Union (EU) that could thwart sucha ceremony.

Interior minister Dominique de Villepin eventually suspended Mamère from hispost as mayor for four weeks, citing a "grave misunderstanding of the dutiesof his office."



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Gay Rights, One Step at a Time

Tuesday, December 12, 2006. Page 15.
By Michael Schwirtz
Special to The Moscow Times

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2006/12/12/021.html

While the organizers of May's disastrous gay march lick their wounds, oneactivist is waging a more subtle battle for the rights of sexual minoritiesin the face of antagonistic public attitudes and apathy among the people heis trying to help.

Ed Mishin (pictured), director of the Russian National GLBT Center, orTogether for short, does not like waving rainbow flags or holding rallies,and he is certainly averse to being assaulted by neo-fascists or arrested,as were his more pugnacious colleagues in May.

Instead of political agitation, Mishin said, steps need to be taken to builda community out of Russia's atomized gay men and lesbians. Without it, hesaid, homosexuals will never enjoy the rights and freedoms guaranteed toother Russians.



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