**IF YOU CAN'T ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE, CONTACT US ATrays.list@comcast.net and we'll be happy to send the full article.
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/printer2/index.asp?ploc=t&refer=http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/302171_hiv02.html
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER
Four local men found to have drug-resistant strain of HIV
Friday, February 2, 2007
By TOM PAULSON
P-I REPORTER
Four men in King County have tested positive for a similar strain of HIVthat is highly resistant to drugs, public health officials said Thursday,raising the concern that others who had sex with them could also be infectedwith this aggressive and often untreatable infection.
"There may be more cases we don't know about," said Dr. Bob Wood, directorof the HIV/AIDS program for Public Health -- Seattle & King County.
"We are still working to learn more about these individuals and the virusthey have contracted," said Dorothy Teeter, interim director of the healthdepartment. "We are concerned for these individuals and their partners, andare continuing our investigation."
What's most concerning, added Wood, is that the virus identified in the fourmen is a similarly resistant genetic strain despite the fact that none ofthem reportedly had any contact with one another. All are gay men who usedcrystal methamphetamine and had many sexual partners, he said.
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.washblade.com/2007/2-2/view/editorial/9929.cfm
Calling a faggot a faggot (Gay)
The debate over Isaiah Washington's homophobic slurs is a silly distractionfrom the real-life problems facing gays.
Friday, February 02, 2007
THE CONSTERNATION and uproar over Isaiah Washington's anti-gay slursdirected at his "Grey's Anatomy" co-star T.R. Knight reveal a lot about ourcelebrity-obsessed culture and our collective misplaced priorities.
One ignorant actor using the dreaded "f-word" doesn't strike me asparticularly surprising, but it has generated more mainstream mediaheadlines than any other gay topic in recent memory. Is it really newsworthythat someone called an out gay colleague a "faggot?"
This story seems to resonate much more among straight people, who forgetthat homophobia remains one of the last legally protected forms ofdiscrimination around.
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.xtra.ca/public/viewstory.aspx?AFF_TYPE=3&STORY_ID=2601&PUB_TEMPLATE_ID=2
Is the religious right getting less scary?
SOCIETY / Even evangelicals are warming to homosexuality
Paul Gallant / Xtra / Thursday, February 01, 2007
you wonder why Canada and the US differ so much on social issues like guncontrol, abortion, the death penalty and, of course, homosexuality, look nofurther than statistics on religion.
Statistics Canada data from 2001 puts the percentage of Baptists here at 2.5percent, and "other Christians" including Apostolic, born-again andself-declared evangelicals at 2. 6 percent - that's a maximum of 5.1 percentof the population who could be said to be evangelical, compared to 43.2percent of the population that considers itself Roman Catholic, 9.6 percentUnited and 6.9 percent Anglican.
In the US, surveys from 2001 put the percentage of Baptists at 16.3, secondonly to Roman Catholics at 24.3 percent. The other denominations that couldbe described as evangelical add up to at least another four percent - morethan 20 percent of the American population is gung ho for God. No wonder weCanadians feel like dope-smoking, godless pinko perverts around them, why weworry when the US-based rightwing group Focus On The Family starts sendingmoney to its offspring in Ottawa. Evangelical views on gay and lesbianadoption, marriage and antidiscrimination laws are the main reason Canadahas such things and the US mostly does not.
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/lancashire/6322075.stm
Gay rights bill 'threatens hotel'
A hotelier who runs a gay-only guest house has said the government'santi-discrimination bill would be a step backward for gay rights.The Sexual Orientation Regulations (SORs), which are due to come into effectin April, outlaw discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.
Mark Hurst, 47, said the proposed legislation would force him to open hisdoors to heterosexual guests.
He said that may put off many of his gay guests and put him out of business.
Mr Hurst, who runs Guyz hotel in Blackpool with his partner Steve, said:"Rather than improve gay rights, it will make things much worse. We run agay hotel exclusively for men.
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Daily Queer News
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http://www.advocate.com/print_article_ektid41695.asp
Poll: 55 percent of Americans support letting gays serve openly in military
A new poll shows for the first time that a majority of Americans supportallowing gays to serve openly in the military.
A new poll shows for the first time that a majority of Americans supportallowing gays to serve openly in the military. The Harris Interactive surveyreveals that 55 percent of those polled say openly gay people should beallowed to serve in the military, and 57 percent agreed with former jointchiefs of staff chairman John Shalikashvili's assertion last month thatopenly gay people will "not undermine the efficacy of the armed forces," theWall Street Journal reports.
Only 19 percent of those polled said that gays could serve if they kepttheir sexual orientation secret, and 18 percent said they shouldn't beallowed to serve at all. In 2000, 48 percent said that gays should beallowed to serve openly.
On the specific question of "don't ask, don't tell," the military's officialban on openly gay servicemembers, 46 percent of respondents said theyopposed the policy, the same as in 2000.
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
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http://www.sovo.com/print.cfm?content_id=6457
Presidential hopefuls 'sincere' on gay issues?
Gay politicos impressed by Edwards, Obama
By JOSHUA LYNSEN
Feb. 02, 2007
Just weeks into their presidential campaigns, former Sen. John Edwards(D-N.C.) and Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) are impressing some politicalobservers for their handling of gay rights issues.
With 21 months to go, Democratic National Committee GLBT Caucus Chair RickStafford and other politicos said Edwards and Obama have quickly outshinedan increasingly crowded field of other 2008 White House hopefuls becausethey're prepared to sincerely discuss gay issues.
Stafford said such genuineness is a key quality that many other candidates -including top Democratic contender Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) - have yetto demonstrate.
"When Obama and Edwards talk about our issues," he said, "I think there's asense that they speak from their hearts and they're willing to show thatthey're not there yet, where I'm not sure that kind of speaking from theheart comes from Hillary."
=
Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
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http://www.washblade.com/print.cfm?content_id=9925
Is faggot the new 'n-word'?
Longtime anti-gay slur matures to taboo status
By RYAN LEE
Feb. 02, 2007
The nickname Brian Thornton's friends gave him four years ago was asendearing as it was irreverent, as innocent as it was inflammatory. Its rootword is harmless enough to be freely bandied about between Thornton and hisgay friends, while retaining a viciousness that can bring the 32-year-old totears.
Thornton's work at the Lesbian & Gay Community Service Center of Clevelandand his presidency of the group that organizes Cleveland's gay Pridefestival inspired a moniker that captured his incomparable queerness:Faggoty Ass Faggot.
"Amongst my group of friends, we're pretty free-using of that word [faggot]," said Thornton, whose nickname eventually evolved into his onlinealter ego at faggotyassfaggot.com.
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
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http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/printer2/index.asp?ploc=t&refer=http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1110ap_same_sex_benefits.html
Friday, February 2, 2007 · Last updated 9:33 a.m. PT
Michigan court: No same-sex benefits
By DAVID EGGERT
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
LANSING, Mich. -- Public universities and state and local governments wouldviolate the state constitution by providing health insurance to the partnersof gay employees, the Michigan Court of Appeals ruled Friday.
A three-judge panel said a 2004 voter-approved ban on gay marriage alsoapplies to same-sex domestic partner benefits. The decision reverses a 2005ruling from an Ingham County judge who said universities and governmentscould provide the benefits.
"The marriage amendment's plain language prohibits public employers fromrecognizing same-sex unions for any purpose," the court wrote.
A constitutional amendment passed by Michigan voters in November 2004 madethe union between a man and a woman the only agreement recognized as amarriage "or similar union for any purpose." Those six words led to thecourt fight over benefits for gay couples.
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
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http://www.kgw.com/sharedcontent/APStories/stories/D8N19OE01.html
WA Senate committee clears domestic partnership measure
02/02/2007
By RACHEL LA CORTE / Associated Press
A measure that would create domestic partnerships for same-sex couples inWashington is headed to a vote on the state Senate floor, over theobjections of opponents who argue the partnerships would essentially be thesame as marriage.
The bill would create a domestic partnership registry with the state, andwould provide enhanced rights for same-sex couples, including hospitalvisitation, the ability to authorize autopsies and organ donations, andinheritance rights when there is no will.
To be registered, couples would have to share a home, not be married or in adomestic relationship with someone else, and be at least 18.
Similar to California law, unmarried, heterosexual senior couples would alsobe eligible for domestic partnerships, if one partner were at least 62.
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http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/politics/4519828.html
Feb. 2, 2007, 1:17AM
Mary Cheney's privacy sparks a journalism debate
By JULIE MASON
Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle
WASHINGTON - Private citizen Mary Cheney's decision to have a baby with herpartner, Heather Poe, raises some impolite questions about whether the grownchildren of elected officials are fair game for journalists.
Certainly her father, Vice President Dick Cheney, finds such inquiry shortof courteous.
"I think, frankly, you're out of line with that question," the vicepresident grumped last week when CNN's Wolf Blitzer ventured the topic in aninterview. "I think you're out of line."
Mary Cheney, 37, said this week that she also felt Blitzer's inquiry crosseda line, according to the New York Times.
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Advocate.com
http://advocate.com/print_article_ektid41658.asp
Mary Cheney: Pregnancy "not a political statement"
The decision to become pregnant and raise a child with her female partnerwas not political, Mary Cheney, the lesbian daughter of Vice President DickCheney, said Wednesday.
The decision to become pregnant and raise a child with her female partnerwas not political, Mary Cheney, a daughter of Vice President Dick Cheney,told a Barnard College audience. ''This is a baby,'' Cheney said Wednesdayat a forum sponsored by Glamour magazine. ''This is a blessing from God. Itis not a political statement. It is not a prop to be used in a debate bypeople on either side of an issue. It is my child.''
Cheney, 37, announced in December that she and her partner of 15 years,Heather Poe, were starting a family. She did not say how the child wasconceived. The baby is due in the spring and will be the vice president'ssixth grandchild.
Dick Cheney became testy last week when CNN's Wolf Blitzer asked him what hethought of conservatives who are critical of his daughter's pregnancy.Cheney told Blitzer he was ''over the line.'' In a brief interview with TheNew York Times after Wednesday's panel, Mary Cheney said she agreed thatBlitzer had crossed a line. ''He was trying to get a rise out of myfather,'' she said.
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Mercury News
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/world/16595059.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp
Posted on Thu, Feb. 01, 2007
Gay and married
HOMOSEXUAL MEN IN CHINA PRESSURED TO WED, HAVE KIDS
By Tim Johnson
McClatchy Beijing Bureau
BEIJING - Like many gay men in China, 22-year-old Chen Lei enjoys thenewfound liberties of urban life. But he says he cannot fight his destiny:to marry a woman for whom he feels no attraction.
For economic, social and cultural reasons, the pressure on gays in China towed and raise families is high.
In Chen's case, his family hails from a village in Inner Mongolia, and hedares not tell them of his private life in the big city, knowing they wouldnot understand.
``I only have an older sister. So I'm definitely going to have to marry andhave children,'' Chen said. His mother already has made introductions to twoyoung women.
Attitudes toward homosexuality in China have relaxed in the big cities,where gay bars flourish and Web sites nurture a sense of community.Mentioning homosexuality no longer is taboo on TV newscasts and publicservice announcements, and government media have stopped lumping gays asdeviants along with prostitutes, gamblers and drug addicts. Gay groups havesprung up on university campuses.
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Bloomberg.com
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601085&sid=apCLTMjLLULU&refer=europe
Vatican, Prodi Headed for Showdown on Gay-Marriage Proposal
By Flavia Krause-Jackson
Feb. 1 (Bloomberg) -- Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi and Pope BenedictXVI are headed for a showdown over gay marriage.
Prodi's cabinet plans to debate tomorrow a draft bill giving legalrecognition to long-standing, unmarried couples, including homosexuals. Thepope, who can wield considerable political power, has made it clear hestrongly opposes the move.
The last time church-state relations were this strained was more than 30years ago, when the Vatican, a city-state in the center of Rome, lostback-to-back battles against divorce and abortion, both of which votersapproved in popular referendums.
``The church is fighting a losing battle to stop some form of recognitionfor gay couples, but where it will succeed is in watering down thelegislation by dividing (Prodi's) coalition and mobilizing Catholics,'' saidAntonio Noto, director of IPR Marketing, a polling firm, in an interview.
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365gay.com
http://www.365gay.com/Newscon07/02/020107putin.htm
Putin: Gays Linked To Declining Russian Birth Rate
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff
Posted: February 1, 2007 - 1:00 pm ET
(Moscow) Russian President Vladimir Putin carefully sidestepped questionsThursday about Moscow's mayor branding gay pride parades as "Satanic".
Putin said he made it a policy not to interfere in local politics, and saidhe supported all minorities in Russia, but then suggested he supportedbanning gay events saying sexual minorities were linked to a declining birthrate in Russia.
Over the past decade Russia has seen its population decline by about 700,000a year. Last year in an effort to curb the decline he signed legislationthat gives Russian families about $10,000 for every child they have afterthe first.
On Monday Moscow Mayor Juri Lushkov, who refused to grant a pride day paradepermit last yet, infuriated gays by telling a Kremlin meeting of the RussianOrthodox Church that gay rights marches were "satanic," and that he willrefuse to grant a permit for a pride parade scheduled for this year. (story)
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365gay.com
http://www.365gay.com/Newscon07/02/020107unions.htm
NH GOP Lawmaker Proposes Civil Unions
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff
Posted: February 1, 2007 - 7:00 pm ET
(Concord, New Hampshire) As a New Hampshire House committee was hearingarguments for an against a proposed amendment to the state constitutionbanning gay marriage a Republican lawmaker was in another part of theCapitol saying he intends to bring in a bill to allow civil unions.
The state already has a law limiting marriage to opposite-sex couples.
Supporters of the proposed amendment say it isn't enough to prevent judgesfrom declaring it unconstitutional. Opponents say it would writediscrimination into the constitution.
The arguments weren't new. They were all made a year ago before thelegislature turned down a similar amendment.
But in a move that surprised some fellow Republicans former Senate LeaderBob Clegg told The Associated Press that he will introduce legislationgiving gays - and other adults who don't choose to marry - the same legalrights as married couples.
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365gay.com
http://www.365gay.com/Newscon07/02/020107exxon.htm
Denies Rights To Gay Workers Exxon Posts Biggest Corporate Profit In USHistory
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff
Posted: February 1, 2007 - 9:00 pm ET
(New York City) ExxonMobil the only major U.S. company to rescind anon-discrimination policy covering sexual orientation on Thursday posted thelargest annual profit by a U.S. company - $39.5 billion
The 2006 profit topped Exxon Mobil's own previous record of $36.13 billionset in 2005.
But for the past seven years the company has thwarted efforts to reinstatesexuality in its written nonbias policies.
Last May shareholders at ExxonMobil's annual meeting have voted down aproposal to include LGBT workers in the company's anti-discriminationpolicy.
LGBT workers had been included in employment policies at Mobil. In December1999 when Mobil merged with Exxon and under Exxon's direction, the policywas abandoned. At the same time, it closed Mobil's domestic partner benefitsprogram to any more employees.
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365gay.com
http://www.365gay.com/Newscon07/02/020107ozAdopt.htm
Australia Moves To Block Gay Couples From Adopting Overseas
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff
Posted: February 1, 2007 - 9:00 pm ET
(Sydney, Australia) The Australian government has announced legislation toprohibit the recognition of adoptions of foreign children by same-sexcouples.
The bill will be introduced in the new session of Parliament that beginsnext week.
Full details of the measure will not be known until the measure is formallybrought before the House but LGBT activists already say it is clear theLiberal government of Prime Minister John Howard wants to use gay couples asa wedge issue going into this year's election.
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/01/AR2007020101167_pf.html
San Francisco mayor apologizes for affair
Reuters
Thursday, February 1, 2007; 5:03 PM
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom admitted onThursday to having an affair with the wife of his former campaign manager,who quit a day earlier after confronting the up-and-coming Democrat knownfor advocating gay marriage.
"I am deeply sorry," Newsom told reporters, admitting the affair after theSan Francisco Chronicle reported that Alex Tourk had resigned from Newsom'sreelection campaign after his wife disclosed the romantic involvement.
Elected in 2003, the 39-year-old mayor, now single, is a photogenicpolitician who gained national fame in 2004 for ordering city clerks toissue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, defying a state law definingmarriage as a union of a man and woman.
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Outsports Tribute
http://outsports.com/local/2007/0124anthonytribute.htm
Anthony Castro, R.I.P.
A tribute to a friend and an athlete
By Jim Buzinski
Discuss this article
Also: ESPN article 'The brilliant life of Anthony Castro'
It's hard to write about a friend who has just died, but people need to knowabout Anthony Castro, killed in a crash in the Southern California mountainson Jan. 21. He was 19.
Anthony was that rarest of people - an athlete out to his team. In Anthony'scase, he was out in high school to his football and wrestling teams, our twomost macho team sports. It took guts to take such a step but Anthony neverthought too much about it - he was not ashamed of who he was and if you wereuncomfortable, that was your problem.
My favorite Anthony story involves his senior year of wrestling. A fellowwrestler used to make snide homophobic remarks to Anthony.
Rather than file a complaint with the school, Anthony addressed the problemhead on - he challenged the wrestler to a put-up-or-shut-up match. It didn'ttake very long, as Anthony had the guy pinned in about 20 seconds. Thatstopped the heckling and Anthony told me the guy quit the team.
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Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org
Free Sex Change and Same-Sex Unions to Come in Cuba
http://www.progresoweekly.com/index.php?progreso=Cuban_Radar&otherweek=1170309600
Change of sex will be free
According to the latest edition of the newsletter Diversidad (Diversity),the National Assembly of Popular Power (parliament) will discuss the issueof free sex change surgery, meaning that the health care public system willtreat all persons who apply.
The measure would complement the present Identity Law that alreadyacknowledges the right of citizens to change name and sexual identity. Thisplaces Cuba at the vanguard of the legislations that acknowledge the rightsof transvestites, transsexuals and transgender in Latin America.
"We have decided to begin with transsexuals because they are the mostvulnerable from the point of view of physical and psychological health,"said Mariela Castro Espín, director of the National Center of SexualEducation (CENESEX).
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Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
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kenslist@groups.queernet.org
http://www.thestranger.com/blog/2007/01/forgive_me_father
Dan Savage
January 31 at 14:28 PM
Slog: Blogosphere
Forgive Me, Father
An Italian newspaper, L'Espresso, has done something wonderful, somethingother magazines and newspapers should do in their own countries. L'Espressosent reporters into confessionals all over Italy to ask the priest-in-a-boxfor advice about "sins" like taking an hopelessly ill person off arespirator, being gay, using condoms to prevent the spread of disease, andaborting a fetus with Down's Syndrome. The Guardian explains it all for us.
=
Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/1/31/114645/388
by CBrachyrhynchos
Wed Jan 31, 2007 at 10:03:35 AM PST
Blogosphere
Daily Kos: Why Gay rights matter for everyone
At the moment, reading a fair quantity of the web chatter regarding thenewly running Democratic presidential candidates, I'm picking up on adisturbing thread going around. Equal marriage rights (often framed as "gaymarriage") is a "wedge" issue exploited by Republicans to shock people awayfrom voting for Democrats. Therefore, Democratic candidates should avoidtaking a position on that issue. After all it's an issue that only affectsa small minority compared to health care or the Iraq War.
Or is it?
I suggest that equal marriage rights is a wedge issue in more ways than one.The tip of the wedge is a moratorium on "gay marriage," but the body is abroader attack on relationship privacy and family law.
CBrachyrhynchos's diary :: ::
The "wedge strategy" was admitted by groups advocating Intelligent Designinstruction in schools. Once the tip of the wedge, intelligent design,created a crack in public education, it would be easier to press morefaith-based curriculum into public schools. ID advocacy groups have neitherbeen adept at hiding this agenda, nor shy about it either.
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Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
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kenslist@groups.queernet.org
EU summit: Year of Equal Opportunities for All
http://pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-3601.html
Gay activists welcome first EU equality summit
30th January 2007 14:43
European and UK gay rights organisations have welcomed the first EU summiton equality, which began in Brussels today.
450 delegates from across Europe launched the 2007 European Year of EqualOpportunities for All at the summit, which is a joint initiative by theEuropean Commission and the German Presidency of the EU.
Representatives from the European branch of the International Lesbian andGay Association (ILGA) are attending.
The association works for equality and human rights for lesbian, gay,bisexual and transgender people in Europe.
Last week the Commission released recent Eurobarometer data ondiscrimination in Europe.
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Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org
Italy government to submit same-sex unions bill
By DPA
Feb 1, 2007, 10:40 GMT
http://news.monstersandcritics.com/europe/news/article_1254382.php/Italy_government_to_submit_same-sex_unions_bill
Rome - Italy's parliament has approved a motion that obliges the RomanoProdi government to draft a bill extending the rights of de facto couples -including same-sex unions - by February 15.
The motion, submitted by members of Prodi's centre-left Union alliance,received 301 votes in favour, 266 against and 10 abstentions in parliament'slower house late Wednesday.
Plans to introduce so-called 'civil pacts of solidarity' (PACS), along thelines of similar legislation adopted by France in 1999, have been met withstrong resistance in overwhelmingly Catholic Italy, particularly from theVatican.
Pope Benedict XVI has repeatedly condemned them as 'pseudo-matrimony' andhas been urging legislators to defend traditional families.
=
Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.nydailynews.com/city_life/advice/v-pfriendly/story/493344p-415540c.html
Asylum available for gays
Thursday, February 1st, 2007
Q Can I get asylum based on my sexual orientation? I am facing removal fromthe United States. I came here originally on a B-2 visitor's visa. I stayedlonger than allowed, then tried to get asylum in Canada. The Canadiansdenied my application and sent me back to the United States. The governmenthere wants to deport me. Will the judge let me apply for asylum given thatCanada has already denied my claim?
Billy, Brooklyn
A: You may apply for asylum to the immigration judge at your removalhearing. Having been denied asylum in Canada is not a bar to your applyingagain in the United States.
To get asylum, you'll need to prove that you were persecuted or that youhave a well-founded fear of being persecuted in your home country. You mustprove that the persecution was or will be because of your race, religion,nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion.Persecution based on sexual orientation comes under the "social group"category. The law considers homosexuals a recognizable social group.
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Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org
EU summit: Year of Equal Opportunities for All
http://pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-3601.html
Gay activists welcome first EU equality summit
30th January 2007 14:43
European and UK gay rights organisations have welcomed the first EU summiton equality, which began in Brussels today.
450 delegates from across Europe launched the 2007 European Year of EqualOpportunities for All at the summit, which is a joint initiative by theEuropean Commission and the German Presidency of the EU.
Representatives from the European branch of the International Lesbian andGay Association (ILGA) are attending.
The association works for equality and human rights for lesbian, gay,bisexual and transgender people in Europe.
Last week the Commission released recent Eurobarometer data ondiscrimination in Europe.
It revealed that 50% of EU citizens consider discrimination on the basis ofsexual orientation to be widespread.
=
Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org
http://www.thestranger.com/blog/2007/01/forgive_me_father
Dan Savage
January 31 at 14:28 PM
Slog: Blogosphere
Forgive Me, Father
An Italian newspaper, L'Espresso, has done something wonderful, somethingother magazines and newspapers should do in their own countries. L'Espressosent reporters into confessionals all over Italy to ask the priest-in-a-boxfor advice about "sins" like taking an hopelessly ill person off arespirator, being gay, using condoms to prevent the spread of disease, andaborting a fetus with Down's Syndrome. The Guardian explains it all for us.
-----
A yawning gulf between the stern doctrines preached by Pope Benedict andthe advice offered by ordinary Roman Catholic priests has been exposedby an Italian magazine.
One reporter for L'Espresso claimed to have let a doctor switch off therespirator that kept her father alive. "Don't think any more about it,"she was told by a friar in Naples. "I myself, if I had a father, a wifeor a child who had lived for years only because of artificial means,would pull out [the plug]."
Another journalist posed as a researcher who had received a lucrativeoffer to work abroad on embryonic stem cells. With the extra cash, hesaid, he and his wife could think about starting a family. So should hetake up the post?
"Yes. Yes. Of course," came the reply.
The church's official teaching is that homosexuality is "disordered" andthat homosexual behaviour is wrong. Yet a practising gay man in Rome wastold: "Generally, the best attitude is to be yourself-what in English iscalled 'coming out'."
=
Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
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kenslist@groups.queernet.org
Italy government to submit same-sex unions bill
By DPA
Feb 1, 2007, 10:40 GMT
http://news.monstersandcritics.com/europe/news/article_1254382.php/Italy_gov
ernment_to_submit_same-sex_unions_bill
Rome - Italy's parliament has approved a motion that obliges the RomanoProdi government to draft a bill extending the rights of de facto couples -including same-sex unions - by February 15.
The motion, submitted by members of Prodi's centre-left Union alliance,received 301 votes in favour, 266 against and 10 abstentions in parliament'slower house late Wednesday.
Plans to introduce so-called 'civil pacts of solidarity' (PACS), along thelines of similar legislation adopted by France in 1999, have been met withstrong resistance in overwhelmingly Catholic Italy, particularly from theVatican.
Pope Benedict XVI has repeatedly condemned them as 'pseudo-matrimony' andhas been urging legislators to defend traditional families.
Prodi's coalition vowed to introduce PACS in its electoral programme butneeds to overcome strong opposition from within its ranks. One of itsmembers, the small but influential Catholic- inspired UDEUR party, votedagainst Wednesday's motion.
Prodi can rely on a comfortable majority in the Chamber of Deputies butenjoys only a one-vote majority in the Senate. But while the UDEUR has threesenators, Prodi can generally count on the support of five or sixlife-appointed senators who have sided with the government in recent votes.
=
Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
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kenslist@groups.queernet.org
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/1/31/114645/388
by CBrachyrhynchos
Wed Jan 31, 2007 at 10:03:35 AM PST
Blogosphere
Daily Kos: Why Gay rights matter for everyone
At the moment, reading a fair quantity of the web chatter regarding thenewly running Democratic presidential candidates, I'm picking up on adisturbing thread going around. Equal marriage rights (often framed as "gaymarriage") is a "wedge" issue exploited by Republicans to shock people awayfrom voting for Democrats. Therefore, Democratic candidates should avoidtaking a position on that issue. After all it's an issue that only affectsa small minority compared to health care or the Iraq War.
Or is it?
I suggest that equal marriage rights is a wedge issue in more ways than one.The tip of the wedge is a moratorium on "gay marriage," but the body is abroader attack on relationship privacy and family law.
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.nydailynews.com/city_life/advice/v-pfriendly/story/493344p-415540c.html
Asylum available for gays
Thursday, February 1st, 2007
Q Can I get asylum based on my sexual orientation? I am facing removal fromthe United States. I came here originally on a B-2 visitor's visa. I stayedlonger than allowed, then tried to get asylum in Canada. The Canadiansdenied my application and sent me back to the United States. The governmenthere wants to deport me. Will the judge let me apply for asylum given thatCanada has already denied my claim?
Billy, Brooklyn
A: You may apply for asylum to the immigration judge at your removalhearing. Having been denied asylum in Canada is not a bar to your applyingagain in the United States.
To get asylum, you'll need to prove that you were persecuted or that youhave a well-founded fear of being persecuted in your home country. You mustprove that the persecution was or will be because of your race, religion,nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion.Persecution based on sexual orientation comes under the "social group"category. The law considers homosexuals a recognizable social group.
Also considered a social group are men and women who have sexual identitiesof the opposite sex, even if they aren't homosexual.
Whether you have a good claim for asylum depends on how gays and lesbiansare treated in your home country, and what persecution you have faced or arelikely to face if you return home. To win your case, you'll want to presentboth evidence that shows how you will be treated as well as general evidenceof persecution of homosexuals in your country. The persecution can be fromgovernment authorities or from private individuals.
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BroadcastBlurbFrom: GLSEN South Florida
To: rays.list@comcast.net
Sent: Thursday, February 01, 2007 9:54 AM
Subject: Colin Higgins $10,000 Youth Challenge Award
Colin Higgins Youth Courage Awards
Now Open for Nominations
Three $10,000 Grants to Be Awarded
The nomination period for the 2007 Colin Higgins Youth Courage Awards is nowopen! Nominators are encouraged to recommend a candidate for a Youth CourageAward through the NOMINATION FORM located on the website. A nomination formmay be downloaded in PDF format (~35K), which can be printed andfaxed/mailed to the foundation.
Please do not contact the Foundation via phone or e-mail regarding yournomination.
Self-nominations are not accepted.
Note: NOMINATIONS MUST BE RECEIVED BY 5PM (PDT), Friday, March 2, 2007 ORSENT THROUGH THE ONLINE NOMINATION FORM BY 5PM (PDT) ON THAT DATE.
Nominations received after the due date/time will not be considered and mustbe resubmitted in 2008.
In 2007, honorees will receive a $10,000 grant which will be presented inNew York City at the Trevor Project Benefit Gala. Honorees will also receivean expense-paid trip to the 2007 National Gay and Lesbian Task ForceCreating Change Conference this fall.
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BBC'S SLURS GAY ICON AS "PAEDOPHILE"
Russian composer insulted with word unknown in his time
London 28 January 2007
In what seems to be an extraordinary blunder the BBC has allowed a characterin a new drama-documentary series on Pyotr Tchaikovsky, the 19th centuryRussian composer of 'Sleeping Beauty', 'Swan Lake' and the 'Nutcracker', tocall him a "paedophile" -- even though the word wasn't coined until threeyears after his death.
'Tchaikovsky: Creation of Genius', the first of a two-part drama-documentaryon the life and work of the composer, was broadcast on BBC2 television onSaturday night. Presented by Charles Hazlewood, the conductor, it alternatesperformances by young Russian artistes of some of Tchaikovsky's best knownworks with dramatized scenes from his life played by British actors. It wasduring one of these scenes, set in a public restaurant in St Petersburgwhere Tchaikovsky is shown talking with some of his close friends, thatanother diner -- supposedly angered at their blatant homosexuality -- callshim a "paedophile bugger".
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