**IF YOU CAN'T ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE, CONTACT US ATrays.list@comcast.net and we'll be happy to send the full article.
=
Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
Washington Blade
http://www.washingtonblade.com/print.cfm?content_id=10036
State Dept. may hire gays fired by Defense
Arabic linguists were axed under ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’
By ELIZABETH A. PERRY
Feb. 16, 2007
An official from the U.S. State Department called Rep. Gary Ackerman’s (D-N.Y.) office Feb. 7 to tell him they were considering his suggestion to rehire some of the gay linguists discharged from the military under the Defense Department’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy.
“They said it was a good suggestion,” said Jordan Goldes, a spokesperson for Ackerman. “And they are already giving it serious consideration.”
Ackerman, a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice discussed the issue during the State Department’s 2008 budget hearing on Feb. 7. During her testimony, Rice expressed concern about the lack of qualified linguists in the armed forces. Ackerman, a longtime opponent of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” suggested having the State Department hire back gay linguists, because unlike the Defense Department, it doesn’t have such a policy.
“It seems that the military has gone around and fired a whole bunch of people who speak foreign languages such as Farsi, Arabic, etc., after they trained them in their foreign language school for 63 weeks,” Ackerman said. “Presumably they all passed all kinds of security clearances. Many of them told on themselves and were fired.”
=
Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://savannahnow.com/node/228520
Police appoint liaison to gay community
Star Cpl. Tracy Walden: 'I hope this position will help curb their fear and make people call us.'
Kevin Clark knows what it's like to be the target of discrimination.
He's been threatened, had his windows broken and more - all because he's gay, he said.
"I know I'm not the only one experiencing these things," said Clark, a Georgia Equality board member and owner of Under the Rainbow Inn on West 38th Street. "But one of the biggest hurdles in hate crimes is fear, fear of retaliation. That's why not everyone calls the police."
Now, Clark and members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community have someone to call.
Savannah-Chatham Metropolitan Police Star Cpl. Tracy Walden has been appointed liaison for the gay and lesbian community.
=
Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.billingsgazette.net/articles/2007/02/19/news/wyoming/25-legiwolves.prt
Published on Monday, February 19, 2007.
Last modified on 2/19/2007 at 12:16 am
Legislature to discuss wolves, gay marriage
By The Associated Press
CHEYENNE - The Wyoming Legislature this week will take up discussion of two divisive issues: wolf management and a proposed ban on recognizing same-sex marriages performed elsewhere.
The Senate last month voted 21-8 to endorse a bill that prohibits Wyoming from recognizing same-sex marriages. Wyoming law already specifies that marriages performed in the state must be between a man and a woman.
The marriage bill languished on the House side until last week, when Speaker Roy Cohee, R-Casper, assigned it to the Rules Committee, which he chairs. He said he intends to hold a committee hearing on it Thursday morning. If it passes, he said it will hit the House floor on Friday.
Cohee said he believes House members are split about evenly on the same-sex marriage issue.
=
Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
SFGate.com
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2007/02/18/BAGASO6VIQ1.DTL&type=printable
SAN FRANCISCO
Demonstrators protest 'ex-gay' seminar
Tyche Hendricks, Chronicle Staff Writer
Sunday, February 18, 2007
An evangelical Christian minister from Missouri, who came to a San Francisco church to teach gays and lesbians how to become straight, was greeted Saturday by a protest led by a gay theology student who said the preacher's conversion therapy was so psychologically damaging that he twice attempted suicide when he tried it.
Inside the Promised Land Fellowship Church on Market Street, 70 or 80 people participated in a daylong seminar by Desert Stream Ministries aimed at overcoming homosexuality and healing other forms of "sexual and relational brokenness."
On the sidewalk outside, two dozen protesters, many of them seminary students, held signs proclaiming, "I am openly Christian and openly gay" and "I thank God for making me gay."
"We're here because we believe ex-gay therapy is not only poor science but poor theology," said Corey Hidlebaugh, 29, a student at the Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, who said he used the seminar's curriculum during an eight-year attempt to overcome his homosexuality.
=
Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
The Huffington Post
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/aaron-belkin/felons-but-not-gays_b_41207.html?view=print
Felons, But Not Gays (52 comments )
READ MORE: New York, Iraq, Santa Barbara
The New York Times and Associated Press reported today that the number of felons allowed to serve in the military has surged since the invasion of Iraq nearly four years ago. The data, which were obtained by the Michael D. Palm Center at UC-Santa Barbara, show that both the military is letting in more recruits with serious criminal backgrounds, records of drug abuse, inferior educational attainment and other qualities which require a so-called "moral waiver" to allow young Americans to don a military uniform and deploy to the frontlines. It is a measure of how desperate our armed forces are to fill their ranks with bodies to fight in an increasingly unpopular war. (The data are posted at palmcenter.org)
Americans have always believed in second chances and on the face of it, there is every reason to extend that offer to those who have served time. When society metes out punishment with a finite sentence, those who pay their dues and earn their freedom should have the opportunity to-reintegrate into society, so long as it's done with due caution.
The problem is that the Pentagon's current personnel policy is utterly irrational. Under its "don't ask, don't tell" policy, it has fired over 11,000 capable troops, including nearly 1000 considered mission-critical and over 300 foreign linguists, just because they're gay. This despite overwhelming evidence that letting known gays serve does not impair cohesion, recruitment or effectiveness.
=
Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
Denver Post
http://www.denverpost.com/portlet/article/html/fragments/print_article.jsp?articleId=5256271&siteId=36
Flags in Haggard's fall from graceNew Life Church outlines "dark side" that culminated in Ted Haggard's downfall but says congregation will heal
By Eric Gorski,
Denver Post Staff Writer
Denver PostArticle Last Updated:02/19/2007 06:22:12 AM MST
Colorado Springs - The Rev. Ted Haggard's former congregation was told Sunday that while an investigation uncovered new evidence the influential evangelical leader engaged in "sordid conversation" and "improper relationships," the church can heal its wounds.
More than 100 days after Haggard's firing amid a gay-sex scandal, 14,000-member New Life Church received a progress report from its board of overseers, an outside panel of pastors.
The Rev. Larry Stockstill of Baton Rouge, La., an overseer, read a letter describing results of "extensive fact-finding" into Haggard's claim that he had long struggled with a "dark side."
"We have verified the reality of that struggle through numerous individuals who reported to us firsthand knowledge of everything from sordid conversation to overt suggestions to improper activities to improper relationships," Stockstill said. "These findings established a pattern of behavior that culminated in the final relationship in which Ted was, as a matter of grace, caught."
=
Anglican rebuke U.S. Branch over Gay Unions
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/world/international-anglican-meeting.html
February 19, 2007
Anglicans Rebuke U.S. Branch Over Gay Unions
By REUTERS
Filed at 6:22 p.m. ET
DAR ES SALAAM (Reuters) - The Anglican Communion gave the U.S. Episcopal Church a September deadline on Monday to stop blessing same sex unions, but did gave no clear indication of what action it would then take.
Anglican Church leaders are meeting in Tanzania to reconcile conservative and liberal views on homosexuality, exacerbated by the U.S. Episcopal Church's consecration of openly gay Bishop Gene Robinson in 2003.
In a statement issued in the final hour of the tense meeting, the Anglican Communion gave the U.S. church the September 30 deadline to meet the request first issued in 2004.
``If the reassurances requested of the House of Bishops cannot in good conscience be given, the relationship between the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion as a whole remains damaged at best, and this has consequences for the full participation of the church in the life of the communion,'' the statement said.
=
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/20/nyregion/20civil.html
February 20, 2007
Eagerness and Some Resignation as Civil Union Law Takes Effect
By ELLEN BARRY
ASBURY PARK, N.J., Feb. 19 — Mark Rado and Degn Schubert could be forgiven for sounding a little jaded on Monday, as they waited with four other couples in the lobby of the Asbury Park Municipal and Police Complex.
This would be, by their own count, the seventh time that they had tried to make their union official.
They twice registered as domestic partners in California, organized an elaborate commitment ceremony, and then married, ecstatically, under the watch of Mayor Gavin Newsom of San Francisco. Then the state annulled that marriage, along with other same-sex marriages, and Mr. Rado and Mr. Schubert once again registered as domestic partners.
Now they were doing it again: Waiting, with a bouquet of alstroemeria and purple tulips, for Asbury Park’s deputy city clerk, D. Kiki Tomek, to take their application for a civil union in New Jersey.
“It becomes sort of a chore,” said Mr. Schubert, who is 40 and lives in Asbury Park. They discussed which of their proliferating anniversaries they would celebrate. June 28? Feb. 13? Or the date three days from Monday, when their civil union can be performed, Feb. 22?
“I wish they would just call it marriage,” Mr. Schubert said, “and be done with it.”
=
Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/19/AR2007021900201_pf.html
Gay Couples Get Licenses in N.J.
By GEOFF MULVIHILL
The Associated Press
Monday, February 19, 2007; 6:25 PM
TEANECK, N.J. -- Hundreds of gay couples were granted the same legal rights, if not the title, as married couples Monday as New Jersey became the third state to offer civil unions.
More than a dozen other couples applied for licenses for ceremonies later in the week.
The civil unions, which offer the legal benefits but not the title of marriage, were granted automatically to the hundreds of gay New Jersey couples who had previously been joined in civil unions or married in other states or nations.
Couples who had not been joined previously could apply for licenses but must wait 72 hours before they can hold civil union ceremonies, the same waiting period for weddings.
Several, like Marty Finkle and Michael Plake, plan to exchange vows Thursday.
"This is as close to marriage as we're going to get for right now," Finkle said after he and Plake applied for their civil union license at the town hall in South Orange early Monday.
A few dozen friends and local officials cheered as they filled out the requisite form.
=
The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/16/AR2007021602263_pf.html
Goodbye to Girlhood
As Pop Culture Targets Ever Younger Girls, Psychologists Worry About a
Premature Focus on Sex and Appearance
By Stacy Weiner
Special to The Washington Post
Tuesday, February 20, 2007; HE01
Ten-year-old girls can slide their low-cut jeans over "eye-candy" panties. French maid costumes, garter belt included, are available in preteen sizes. Barbie now comes in a "bling-bling" style, replete with halter top and go-go boots. And it's not unusual for girls under 12 to sing, "Don't cha wish your girlfriend was hot like me?"
American girls, say experts, are increasingly being fed a cultural catnip of products and images that promote looking and acting sexy.
"Throughout U.S. culture, and particularly in mainstream media, women and girls are depicted in a sexualizing manner," declares the American Psychological Association's Task Force on the Sexualization of Girls, in a report issued Monday. The report authors, who reviewed dozens of studies, say such images are found in virtually every medium, from TV shows to magazines and from music videos to the Internet.
While little research to date has documented the effect of sexualized images specifically on young girls, the APA authors argue it is reasonable to infer harm similar to that shown for those 18 and older; for them, sexualization has been linked to "three of the most common mental health problems of girls and women: eating disorders, low self-esteem and depression."
=
365gay
http://www.365gay.com/Newscon07/02/021907iraq.htm
Iraq Gov't Sanctioning Anti-Gay Death Squads Conference Told
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff
Posted: February 19, 2007 - 4:00 pm ET, Updated 9:00 pm ET
(London) The leader of an exiled Iraqi LGBT rights group has told a London conference on Homophobia that that militias blamed for the murders of hundreds of gay men and women are sanctioned by the government and the US-led coalition is doing little to stop the killings.
Ali Hili said that the Badr and Sadr militias - the armed wings of the two main Shia parties that control the government of Iraq - are routinely rounding up men and women, primarily in Baghdad, suspected of being gay. The men and women are never heard from again.
Hili, who leads Iraqi LGBT from exile in England and who is the Middle East Affairs spokesperson for UK-based OutRage, made the allegations at a Faith, Homophobia and Human Rights conference in London on the weekend.
About 250 people attended the conference.
"Iraqi LGBTs are at daily risk of execution by the Shia death squads of the Badr and Sadr militias," he said.
"Members of these militias have infiltrated the Iraqi police and are abusing their police authority to pursue a plan to eliminate all homosexuals in Iraq. This is happening with the collusion of key ministers in the Iraqi government."
=
365gay
http://www.365gay.com/Newscon07/02/021907china.htm
China To Allow Detained AIDS Activist To Visit US
by The Associated Press
Posted: February 19, 2007 - 4:00 pm ET
(Washington) Chinese officials have signaled they will allow a prominent AIDS activist who had been confined to her home to visit the United States next month, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton said.
Gao Yaojie, 80, was confined to her home, worrying fellow activists who said the measure was aimed at keeping her from making the trip to the United States to accept an award from a non-profit group.
Clinton had pressed Chinese officials to let Gao travel to accept the reward from Vital Voices Global Partnership, a nonprofit group supported by Clinton, a New York Democrat and presidential candidate.
Clinton aides said the Chinese ambassador called the senator Friday to tell her Gao would be allowed to travel.
"I'm delighted to learn from the Chinese government that our request to President Hu and Vice Premier Wu that Dr. Gao be allowed to travel freely to the United States has been granted," Clinton said in a statement.
=
365gay
http://www.365gay.com/health/fitness/sports/021607sports.htm
Openly Gay Collegiate D'Lineman Speaks
by Cyd Zeigler Jr., Outsports.com
One of the pieces of John Amaechi's legacy will be the discussion that ensued, and the closet doors that opened, after he came out. We pride ourselves in being ahead of the curve and on top of who's who in gay sports. But I read a column today that introduced me to a gay athlete I hadn't heard of. And he's the prototype for the future of gay athletes.
ESPN's LZ Granderson, who is openly gay and a good friend of Outsports, wrote a fantastic column centering on Adam Goslin, a senior defensive lineman at Washington University (the one in St. Louis, not the Huskies of the Northwest). Goslin is openly gay, has been openly gay with his team since his sophomore year, and played a year of baseball as an openly gay athlete as well.
Granderson's column picks up specifically on this crazy idea that gay men will somehow disrupt a locker room, that they will cause havoc in a shower and make teammates feel uncomfortable.
"I mean seriously, what kind of bull---- excuse it that?" Arden Farhi, who played with Goslin on the school's baseball team, told Granderson. "Do the pros really feel threatened in that situation? I can't imagine that they do.
What, do they honestly think someone's going to stare at them, or try to attack them or something like that? I know for sure Goose is the one who feels weird and changes quickly and tries to get out of there as soon as possible."
So many athletes talk about how gay men would suddenly find themselves unable to control their sexual urges around their straight teammates' nudity, as though gay men walk around with permanent erections looking for unsuspecting straight men who might try to pick up a dropped bar of soap.
=
The New York Blade
http://www.newyorkblade.com/print.cfm?content_id=4882
Loehmann’s Transgender Shoppers Can Use Proper Fitting Rooms
Feb. 16, 2007
Discount clothing chain Loehmann’s reached an agreement this week with Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund (TLDEF) that results in the store allowing shoppers to use fitting rooms, restroom and other store facilities that are consistent with their gender identity or gender expression. Loehmann’s also agreed to add “gender identity and gender expression” to its corporate non-discrimination policy.
On April 30, 2006, TLDEF filed a complaint with the New York City Commission on Human Rights on behalf of Jane Galla, a transgendered customer who was denied access to facilities at the chain’s Seventh Avenue store.
“I’m very happy that Loehmann’s has taken appropriate steps to ensure that transgender shoppers are treated with the same respect and dignity as everyone else,” Galla said. “Like all New Yorkers, I appreciate a good bargain, but the price is too high if I have to endure discrimination when I go shopping.”
=
ca.today.reuters
http://ca.today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2007-02-19T195147Z_01_L19313169_RTRIDST_0_NEWS-ITALY-VATICAN-COL.XML&archived=False
Italy, Vatican leaders meet as gay debate rages
Mon Feb 19, 2007 2:51 PM EST
ROME (Reuters) - Leaders of Italy's government, which has proposed a law recognizing unwed and gay couples, held closed-door talks on Monday with senior Vatican officials opposed to the bill.
The law has divided the centre-left government and drawn sharp criticism from the Catholic Church, which has asked lawmakers around the world to oppose the creation of family institutions that could rival marriage.
"We talked about the family ... in terms the Church always uses, with clarity but respect for all positions," said Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone.
The meeting, at which Bertone and other prelates met Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi, President Giorgio Napolitano and other officials, was a regular diplomatic event but was the first since the disputed bill was proposed earlier this month.
Pope Benedict has accused political "lobbies" of damaging the family. "Divorce and free unions are on the rise, meanwhile adultery is viewed with an unjustifiable tolerance," he said on Saturday.
Prodi, a practicing Catholic, has said the Church has nothing to fear from the bill, which guarantees rights to registered couples in areas like inheritance and health care.
=
The Express Gay News
http://www.expressgaynews.com/blog/index.cfm?type=blog&start=2/19/07&end=2/20/07#11482
Anderson Cooper's hypocrisy
There was a flood of e-mail following my recent blog post on the straight-washing of Anderson Cooper’s bio on Wikipedia. That post was picked up by a number of gay- and media-related blogs.
Much of the feedback consisted of the usual complaints that everyone should leave Cooper alone and stop trying to “out” him. He just doesn’t want to talk about it, so we should respect that and quit picking on him. That doesn’t mean he’ll stop seeking attention by appearing on magazine covers or granting interviews to other reporters, of course.
In light of that feedback, it was ironic to see Cooper ask country singer Kenny Chesney in an interview Sunday night on "60 Minutes" if he’s gay. The gay rumors about Chesney began when his wife, Renee Zellweger, filed for divorce, citing “fraud.”
For someone so guarded about his own sexual orientation to turn around and ask another celebrity – one who is married and presumably straight – about gay rumors is the height of hypocrisy. Cooper has said that discussing his sexual orientation would compromise his ability to work effectively as a reporter.
=
The Cincinnati Post
http://news.cincypost.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070219/EDIT/702190315/1003&template=printpicart
Monday, February 19, 2007
Senseless exclusion
It's amazing what the fear - or is it outright terror? - of gays and lesbians drives our state senators to do.
The Senate, that group of 38 men and women meeting in Frankfort these days ostensibly to try to position Kentucky to move forward in this increasingly competitive economy, voted Thursday to ban any government institution from offering health insurance benefits to anyone other than an employee's legally married spouse and children.
The intent of Senate Bill 152, according to Sen. Vernie McGaha, its lead sponsor, is "to protect marriage and to protect the family structure."
It's a logical extension, he said, of a constitutional amendment passed by voters in 2004 to define marriage as existing only between a man and a woman, the vote that explained to gay and lesbian couples that they were ruining society and marriage and the family unit because they wanted legal recognition of their commitment to each other.
It's bad enough that this ill-conceived bill seeks to drive gays and lesbians out of the state (remember Sen. Dick Roeding's infamous "wrong kind of people" remark?).
=
Times Dispatch
http://www.timesdispatch.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=Common%2FMGArticle%2FPrintVersion&c=MGArticle&cid=1149193273366ℑ=timesdispatch80x60.gif&oasDN=timesdispatch.com&oasPN=%21news%21columnists
Coming out can be a gamble, on or off court
MICHAEL PAUL WILLIAMS
TIMES-DISPATCH COLUMNIST
Monday, February 19, 2007
The coming out of a former pro basketball player -- and one venomous response to it -- is a reminder of the risks gays and lesbians face in the workplace.
"I can speak anecdotally. It's still one of the top calls I get," said Dyana Mason, executive director of Equality Virginia, a gay and lesbian rights organization.
John Amaechi is the first former National Basketball Association player to say he is gay, a topic in his soon-to-be released book, "Man in the Middle." WNBA star Sheryl Swoopes came out in 2005.
Tim Hardaway, who like Amaechi left the league in 2003, responded to the news by saying "I hate gay people" and would not want a gay man on his team.
What was Mason's reaction to Hardaway's anti-gay screed?
=
365gay
http://www.365gay.com/Newscon07/02/021907utah.htm
Unmarried Partners Have No Parental Rights Utah Supreme Court Rules
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff
Posted: February 20, 2007 - 12:01 am ET
(Salt Lake City, Utah) In a case involving an ex-partner in a same-sex relationship the Utah Supreme Court has ruled that the woman has no visitation rights to the birth child of her former lover even though both women had decided to have the child and both were involved in the baby's care and upbringing.
In a split decision the court overturned a 2004 lower court ruling that granted Keri Lynn Jones visitation rights to the now five-year old child she and Cheryl Pike Barlow were raising.
The Third District Court applied the widely held doctrine of "in loco parentis" reaching its decision. Under the doctrine a person acts as a parent although they have no blood or legal ties to a child.
But the majority on the state Supreme Court said that recognizing "new class of parents [would] overstep" the bounds of the courts and that the issue of in loco was up to the legislature.
"On the one hand, we recognize that mutual bonds of affection can be formed between a child and an adult who does not fit within the traditional definition of a parent and that such a relationship has the potential to enrich the lives of both the surrogate parent and the child," wrote Justice Jill N. Parrish for the majority.
=
The Express Gay News
http://www.expressgaynews.com/thelatest/thelatest.cfm?blog_id=11497
Texas lesbian couple register in Mexican civil union
They become first international visitors to use Coahuila state's new lawPIEDRAS NEGRAS, Mexico | Feb 20, 12:01 AM
A lesbian couple from Texas became the first international visitors to take advantage of Coahuila state's new civil union law when they registered their union today in Ciudad Acuna, across the border from Del Rio, Texas.
Maria Carreon Lara, 39, and Amparo Maldonado, 24, of Midland, Texas, registered as a "civil solidarity union" under a law that went into effect in January making Coahuila the first of Mexico's 31 states to grant recognition to such unions.
The Coahuila law allows nonresidents to register under the law as long as they are in the state legally. It is not clear if the Mexican union would have any legal standing in the United States.
The couple had been living together for five years, local media reported, and decided to register when they heard about the state's civil union law. They did not declare joint property at the ceremony in the Civil Registry office in Ciudad Acuna.
The law is not designed to imitate a formal marriage contract, but does provide gay couples with numerous social benefits similar to those of married couples.
=
The Sun-Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/sns-ap-gay-marriage,0,3310644,print.story
Gay Couples Get Licenses in N.J.
By GEOFF MULVIHILL
Associated Press Writer
February 20, 2007, 6:58 AM EST
TEANECK, N.J. -- Hundreds of gay couples were granted the same legal rights, if not the title, as married couples Monday as New Jersey became the third state to offer civil unions.
More than a dozen other couples applied for licenses for ceremonies later in the week.
The civil unions, which offer the legal benefits but not the title of marriage, were granted automatically to the hundreds of gay New Jersey couples who had previously been joined in civil unions or married in other states or nations.
Couples who had not been joined previously could apply for licenses but must wait 72 hours before they can hold civil union ceremonies, the same waiting period for weddings.
Several, like Marty Finkle and Michael Plake, plan to exchange vows Thursday.
"This is as close to marriage as we're going to get for right now," Finkle said after he and Plake applied for their civil union license at the town hall in South Orange early Monday.
=
The Miami Herald
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/16737046.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp
Posted on Tue, Feb. 20, 2007
BARBARA GITTINGS, 75
Activist began crusading for gay rights 50 years ago
PHILADELPHIA - (AP) -- Barbara Gittings, a gay rights activist since the 1950s, died Sunday. She was 75. Gittings died of breast cancer, said Mark Segal, publisher of the Philadelphia Gay News.
Gittings helped organize the New York City chapter of the Daughters of Bilitis, a lesbian rights organization, in the 1950s. During her work with that group, she met her life partner, Kay Lahausen. Gittings edited the group's publication, The Ladder, from 1963 to 1966, and worked with Lahausen on her 1973 book, The Gay Crusaders.
She first became known to the public in 1965, when she helped organize gay rights demonstrations at the White House and Independence Hall. In 2005, Gittings and Lahausen attended the unveiling of a state historic marker noting those demonstrations across the street from Independence Hall.
Gittings had served as head of the American Library Association's Gay Task Force; in 2003, the association presented her a lifetime membership.
Gittings was also active in the campaign that led to the American Psychiatric Association's 1973 decision to drop homosexuality from its list of mental disorders.
=
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/world/AP-Anglican-Conference.html?pagewanted=print
February 20, 2007
Anglican Leaders Rule on Gay Bishops
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 4:00 a.m. ET
DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania (AP) -- Anglican leaders demanded Monday that the U.S. Episcopal Church unequivocally bar official prayers for gay couples and the consecration of more gay bishops to undo the damage that North Americans have caused the Anglican family.
In a statement ending a tense six-day meeting, the leaders said that past pledges by Episcopalians for a moratorium on gay unions and consecrations have been so ambiguous that they have failed to fully mend ''broken relationships'' in the 77 million-member Anglican Communion.
The Episcopal Church, the U.S. wing of world Anglicanism, must clarify its position by Sept. 30 or its relations with other Anglicans will remain ''damaged at best.''
''This has consequences for the full participation of the church in the life of the communion,'' the leaders said.
The meeting in Tanzania was the latest of several attempts to keep Anglicans unified despite deep rifts over how they should interpret the Bible. The long-simmering debate erupted in 2003 when Episcopalians consecrated the first openly gay bishop, V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire.
=
The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/19/AR2007021900916_pf.html
The Talented Mr. Romney
By Richard Cohen
Tuesday, February 20, 2007; A13
I have been following the zigs and zags of Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor and now Republican presidential candidate, watching him grow progressively less progressive, sort of making himself up as he goes along. As a result, I surf the Web with trepidation, bracing myself for the story that I fear might be coming: "Romney Says He Is Not Really a Mormon.''
I joke, of course. But the way things are going, I would not be surprised if the possibility of a Romney religious conversion has gone from inconceivable to a focus group for, as they say, further study. After all, the same bloc of voters -- conservative Christians -- that once found Romney suspiciously liberal on abortion and gay rights does not much like his Mormonism, either. This nice touch of intolerance has got to worry Romney. In recent polls, something like one-third of all voters have said they would be less likely to vote for a Mormon candidate -- and the figure is a bit higher (39 percent) among Republicans. Iowa, where conservative Christians comprise about 37 percent of the GOP electorate, could be trouble.
What's an ambitious, square-jawed opportunist to do? He might do as he has done in the past and change his position. He once was nicely supportive of gay issues -- not marriage, but civil unions -- and of repealing the odious "don't ask, don't tell'' provisions relating to military service. Romney once felt so strongly about gay rights that he even went to the left of Ted Kennedy in their 1994 senatorial battle. "The gay community needs more support from the Republican Party,'' Romney said in an interview that year.
And in a letter written in 1994 to the Log Cabin Republicans, he looked forward to the day when gays and lesbians could serve "openly and honestly in our nation's military." That day will not come should he become president, he has said recently. Peering into the homophobic heart of GOP primary voters, Romney now thinks gays ought to stay in the closet. He has changed his mind.
=
Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2003578841_stephens19m.html
By Janet I. Tu
Seattle Times staff reporter
OAK HARBOR -- For decades, a sign outside this light-filled, two-story houseof worship proclaimed it "St. Stephen's Episcopal Church" -- spiritual hometo a congregation of longtime friends and neighbors who often watched moviestogether, walked the beach or shared meals in this middle-class militarytown on Whidbey Island.
But that was before the rift -- before deeply held differences over theordination of a gay bishop officially ended the congregation as it hadexisted since 1952.
Now, in its place are two distinct congregations -- a small one that remainsin the U.S. Episcopal Church and a larger one that has severed ties andaligned itself with a conservative Brazilian bishop in the AnglicanCommunion.
While the two groups worship on the same property, their former closeness isgone, replaced by hard feelings.
Decades-long friendships have been strained or lost. Some in the Episcopalcongregation feel wounded by how they say they were treated. Some in theAnglican congregation resent being considered extreme.
"It's like a divorce or something," said Roger Vehorn, a 60-year-oldengineering manager and member of the Anglican congregation, which hasrenamed itself St. Stephen's Anglican Church. "When your family splits, it'spainful."
=
Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org
http://direland.typepad.com/direland/2007/02/dannys_boat_und.html
Danny's Boat: Under-16 Dutch Gay Youth Win Important
Victory
NEW from DIRELAND, February 19
Netherlands gay youth under the legal age of consent of 16 won asignificant victory last week when Amsterdam Mayor Job Cohen finallygave his approval to a special boat for such youngsters in the annualCanal Pride gay boat parade through the city center's famous waterway --But the victory for Danny and his boat came only after a media feedingfrenzy over allegations of pedophilia from a controversial figure inthe Amsterdam gay community, charges that brought a series of deaththreats to an internationally known gay academic. For all the details,and an exclusive interview with 14-year-old Danny Hoekzema -- whothought up and successfully campaigned for the gay youngsters' boat -- click on: http://direland.
=
Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/gate/archive/2007/02/16/notes021607.DTL
Friday, February 16, 2007 (SF Gate)
I'm A Straight Liberal No More!/After three weeks of brutal counseling, I'mproud to say I am now, at long last, a sad gay Republican. Praise Jesus!
By Mark Morford, SF Gate Columnist
Forced by a gay sex scandal to resign as president of the NationalAssociation of Evangelicals, the Rev. Ted Haggard now feels that after threeweeks of intensive counseling, he is "completely heterosexual," says [theRev. Tim Ralph], overseer of the megachurch Haggard once led.
-- San Francisco Chronicle, Feb 7, 2007
Dear readers,
As a San Francisco columnist, my struggle has been long and treacherousand fraught with guilt and shame and really, really good music. Many nights,lo these past years, as I wailed out my pain to an unforgivingneoconservative God, the stink of liberalness and Astroglide and womanlyscent upon me like the devil's own Minwax, I truly believed my soul wasforever lost in the pits of warm-hearted sex-positive progressive-mindedhell.
But now, at long last, just like the good Rev. Ted Haggard, my heart canrejoice, for I am saved. I am ready to return to public life and the arms ofour angry, all-American Lord once more. Finally, at long last, I can say itfor certain: I am a Republican. And I am miserably gay. Rejoice!
You may ask: What does this mean? You may say: Hey! I'm a good,upstanding American! I want my share of shame and torment and repressedsexuality, too! How can I suffer just like you and Ted? I shall attempt toexplain.
You see, for many years, I have battled with the twin demons of my loveof women and also that most vile of insidious tormenters, independentthought.
=
Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org
MI - Domestic partners deserve stability
Ann Arbor News
|February 18, 2007
http://www.mlive.com/columns/aanews/index.ssf?/base/news-1/117189600317640.xml&coll=2
Just over two years ago, Michigan voters amended the state constitution toban same-sex marriages.
We urged voters to reject the amendment because we feared its vaguelanguage would spark legal challenges by groups wanting to eliminatebenefits for domestic partners.
Sure enough, such a challenge was made and earlier this month the MichiganCourt of Appeals ruled that employers can't provide health insurance tosame-sex partners of gay and lesbian employees. The ruling, which overturneda 2005 decision by an Ingham County judge, is expected to be appealed to thestate Supreme Court. If that fails, the American Civil Liberties Union ofMichigan says it will consider taking the issue to federal court.
Meanwhile, couples in same-sex relationships - and their dependents - arescrambling to figure out how they can pay for the health insurance that's socritical to their families. The ACLU has requested a stay so that healthinsurance and other benefits won't be disrupted as it pursues an appeal.
We need to protect these benefits, and a court appeal is the appropriatemove against this decision.
Supporters of a same-sex marriage ban tie it to the sanctity of the unionbetween a man and a woman. They believe that union is a religious and moralimperative, and that allowing any other type of sanctioned marriage willundermine the very foundation of our society.
=
Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org
HIV incidence rising in older gay men in Holland, most men recently infectedundiagnosed
Michael Carter, Monday, February 19, 2007 Aidsmap
http://www.aidsmap.com/en/news/F8D8A1FB-B1DE-4499-8DCF-A100BA967C02.asp
A study analysing HIV incidence in three cohorts of gay men in theNetherlands has found that increasing numbers of older gay men are beinginfected with HIV in Amsterdam. The study, published in the February 19thedition of AIDS, also found that many gay men attending a sexual healthclinic were refusing HIV tests. The investigators recommend that HIVprevention initiatives specifically for older gay men should be developedand that HIV tests should become routine for gay men in sexual healthclinics.
There have been recent fears of a "second epidemic" of HIV amongst gay men.Some studies have apparently shown that gay men are becoming complacentabout HIV because of the effectiveness of antiretroviral therapy, and therehas been a significant increase in the rates of bacterial and viral sexuallytransmitted infections in many industrialised countries.
However, there are inconsistent data regarding HIV incidence amongst gaymen. Studies from the United Kingdom, Sydney (Australia) and San Francisco(United States) appear to show stable incidence of HIV, whereasinvestigators in Italy and Canada have demonstrated rising trends inincidence. A study published in 2002, including data from 1991 and 2001,showed an increase in HIV incidence amongst gay men aged 35 and over inAmsterdam. During this period HIV incidence amongst younger gay men wasstable.
Investigators now wished to describe HIV incidence in three cohorts of Dutchgay men: the Rotterdam Cohort Study (ROHOCO), the Amsterdam Cohort Study(ACS) and the Amsterdam STI Clinic. In particular, they wished to see ifthere continued to be a difference in HIV incidence between older andyounger gay men. They also sought to determine the HIV testing behaviour ofDutch gay men.
=
Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org
http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?NewsID=1080382
Sex - a fundamental right? Several say 'Yes'
Vikas Hotwani
Friday, February 16, 2007 20:39 IST
In the land of Kamasutra, sex finally gets the recognition of being muchmore than a mere biological need. Now, it's a fundamental right. At leastthis's what the All India Conference of Entertainment Workers (AICEW)starting on Feb 25 in Kolkata believes in.
For seven days, the city will witness sex workers, gay, lesbian andtranssexuals voicing their opinion with eminent filmmakers, actors andactivists and debating their fundamental right to sexual pleasure. DirectorsRituparno Ghosh and Goutam Ghosh are expected to attend.
The meet is organised by the Binodini Shramik Union, an arm of the DurbarMahila Samanwaya Committee (DMSC), the 65,000 strong apex body of sexworkers in West Bengal.
With about 10,000 people expected to turn up, topics discussed will rangefrom 'Festival of Pleasure' to 'Entertainment in Development','Entertainment in Revolution' and, of course, 'Sexual Rights andRelationship'.
=
Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org
Italy's Prodi seeks to defuse gay unions row with Catholic Church
Monday, February 19, 2007 at 14:43
http://www.eux.tv/article.aspx?articleId=3257
Rome (dpa) - Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi hopes to defuse a row withthe Roman Catholic Church over a draft bill granting rights to homosexualcouples during a meeting Monday with top officials from the Holy See.
The afternoon meeting marks the yearly anniversary of the signing of the1929 Lateran Pacts, which regulated dealings between the two sovereignstates, and their subsequent revision, in 1984.
Relations between Prodi's centre-left government and the church hierarchyhave been severely strained by a recent decision to grant new rights to defacto couples, including those of the same sex.
The "rights of cohabiting people," or "DICO" bill, was inspired by France's"civil pacts of solidarity" and was drafted in a special cabinet meetingheld on February 8. It must now be submitted to parliament for approval.
=
Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org
http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070218/NEWS/702180318/1001
Vote targets exotic dancing
By Marty Roney
Montgomery Advertiser
PRATTVILLE -- Commissioner Michael Morgan knows he can't outlaw nearly nudedancing in Autauga County, but he wants to hamstring business owners to sucha degree they "won't fool with offering that stuff here."
Morgan will present legislation at Tuesday night's commission meeting torestrict the activity. The board meets at 5:30 p.m. in the Autauga CountyCourthouse.
"If we can get this passed through the Legislature, Autauga County will havethe most stringent law in the state on nearly nude dancing," he said. "Irealize that under the First Amendment you can't outlaw nearly nude dancing.But we can control a business' hours, we can outlaw dancing in privaterooms. We can put so many restrictions on them, they will just want to gosomewhere else."
The proposed legislation also would target adult book and novelty stores,though there are no such stores operating in the county now.
Morgan's crusade followed a Feb 6. raid on the 31-65 Club. The club's ownerwas cited by the Alabama Beverage Control Board for allowing patrons totouch male dancers.
Nearly nude dancing isn't against the law as long as genitals and a woman'sareolas are covered. However, it's illegal for customers to touch dancers.
=
Herald Tribune
http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070220/BREAKING/70220002&start=1
Tuesday, February 20, 2007, 5:56 am
By BRENDAN FARRINGTON AP POLITICAL WRITER
McCain meets religious broadcasters in Fla., holds town meetings
VERO BEACH -- Republican presidential candidate John McCain met privately Monday with religious broadcasters in Orlando, then later said he isn't catering to conservative Christians as he tries to win his party's nomination.
McCain, who angered the right wing of his party during the 2000 election by calling evangelist leaders Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell "agents of intolerance," told a crowd in Vero Beach that he is only trying to do what's right and not what's best politically.
"This lady made the comment that I flip-flopped on the issue of Roe v. Wade, and others have said I'm courting the conservative religious right and they talk about me going to (Falwell's) Liberty University and speaking at their graduation. My speech was about tolerance," the Arizona senator said.
He noted that he also spoke at New School's graduation in New York City, which is considered liberal, and was booed.
"Nobody accused me of courting and pandering to the liberals when I went to the New School," McCain told a crowd gathered as part of a lecture series organized by a local theater group. "What I have found out in my life, is that every time I have done something for political reasons and not the right reasons, I have paid a very heavy price for it - a big price."
=
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/20/nyregion/20civil.html?pagewanted=print
February 20, 2007
Eagerness and Some Resignation as Civil Union Law Takes Effect
By ELLEN BARRY
ASBURY PARK, N.J., Feb. 19 — Mark Rado and Degn Schubert could be forgiven for sounding a little jaded on Monday, as they waited with four other couples in the lobby of the Asbury Park Municipal and Police Complex.
This would be, by their own count, the seventh time that they had tried to make their union official. They twice registered as domestic partners in California, organized an elaborate commitment ceremony, and then married, ecstatically, under the watch of Mayor Gavin Newsom of San Francisco. Then the state annulled that marriage, along with other same-sex marriages, and Mr. Rado and Mr. Schubert once again registered as domestic partners.
Now they were doing it again: Waiting, with a bouquet of alstroemeria and purple tulips, for Asbury Park’s deputy city clerk, D. Kiki Tomek, to take their application for a civil union in New Jersey.
“It becomes sort of a chore,” said Mr. Schubert, who is 40 and lives in Asbury Park. They discussed which of their proliferating anniversaries they would celebrate. June 28? Feb. 13? Or the date three days from Monday, when their civil union can be performed, Feb. 22?
“I wish they would just call it marriage,” Mr. Schubert said, “and be done with it.”
[Send your comments about articles to Rays.List@Comcast.net]
#####
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment