GLBT DIGEST March 22, 2007

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Soulforce Equality Ride Update
March 21, 2007

Two weeks ago, 50 young men and women boarded two buses and set out on aremarkable journey. Their mission: to initiate conversations about faith andsexuality at 32 Christian colleges with policies that silence or excludelesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) students. This week, theRiders face their toughest challenges yet as the westbound bus travels toBrigham Young University (BYU) in Utah and the eastbound bus travels toMississippi College in Mississippi.

Thus far, the Riders have shared moments of reconciliation, prayer, andconnection with conservative Christian students at colleges on two separateroutes across the nation, but they have also faced harassment andintimidation. Their bus was defaced with anti-gay slurs in Sioux Center,
Iowa and they were met by armed police on the rooftops at Central BibleCollege in Missouri.

Currently, 5 Equality Riders and 1 Baylor University student are being heldin the McClennan County Jail in Waco, Texas. The Riders were arrestedTuesday on criminal trespassing charges after they wrote messages affirmingLGBT students in chalk on Baylor sidewalks. The Riders' bail has been set at$2,000 each, which is equivalent to the maximum fine under Texas law.

Riders are also facing organized, official resistance as they prepare tovisit BYU, where Mormon Riders have been banned from their own church, andClinton, Miss., where police officials attempted to abridge the Riders'constitutional rights.

To read more of this Equality Ride update click here.
http://www.soulforce.org/article/1208

To help the rider's pay their bail please click here
https://www.soulforce.org/application.phpapplication=donate&campaign_id=6

Throughout their two-month journey, the Equality Riders will be bloggingfrom the buses, including the posting of video clips. To read the dailyblogs go to www.soulforce.org/blogs



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Forwarded from Al-Fatiha - LGBTIQ Muslims
Sat, Mar. 17, 2007

Gay themes introduced in British schools

By Don Melvin
Cox News Service

LONDON - In British schools, young children are learning that the princedoesn't always fall in love with a princess. And not every family includesMama Bear and Papa Bear.

A new pilot project is using picture books, the arts, drama and othertechniques to introduce gay themes to schoolchildren aged of 4 to 11.

In one picture book, "King & King," a prince fails to fall in love withthree different princesses before finally falling in love with a man.

In another, "And Tango Makes Three," a zookeeper realizes that two malepenguins are in love. He gives them an egg; the hatchling, Tango, grows upwith two fathers.

The project, called No Outsiders, is needed to combat the "absolutelymassive" problem of bias against homosexuals among British schoolchildren,said Elizabeth Atkinson, the director.

"There are more homophobic incidents in our schools than racist incidents,"she said.

This bias ranges, she said, from the casual and common use of the word "gay"as an insult to serious bullying of children with two parents of the samegender. Such bullying can do children serious harm, she said, prompting themto withdraw and causing their academic performance to decline.

But the project has had the effect of uniting conservative Christians andMuslims in opposition.

"Islam doesn't approve of that sort of behavior," said Tahir Alam, theeducation spokesman for the Muslim Council of Britain. "It's morallyunacceptable."

Simon Calvert, a spokesman for the Christian Institute, did not return phonecalls seeking comment. But he told the Sunday Observer newspaper that the NoOutsiders project amounted to "the active promotion of homosexuality inschools."

"Let's arrange a series of meetings around the country where parents ofprimary school children can look at these books," he said. "The majoritywould be aghast."

The project has received nearly $1.2 million in government money, funneledthrough the Economic and Social Research Council, a nongovernmentalorganization that makes its own decisions on how to spend the grants itgets. Requests for comment from the council went unanswered.

The pilot project involves 14 schools in England. Atkinson said she hopesthe program will soon be extended.


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The Express Gay News

http://www.expressgaynews.com/thelatest/thelatest.cfm?blog_id=12095

Episcopal bishops firm on gay support
U.S. branch risks losing place in global Anglican family
NEW YORK (AP) | Mar 22, 6:42 AM

Episcopal bishops risked losing their place in the global Anglican familyyesterday by affirming their support for gays and rejecting a key demandthat they give up some authority to theological conservatives outside theU.S. church.

The Episcopal House of Bishops said it views the Gospel as teaching that"all God's children, including gay and lesbian persons, are full and equalparticipants" in the church. The bishops also said they would not agree toan Anglican plan for leaders outside the U.S. denomination to oversee thesmall number of conservative American dioceses that disagree.

"We cannot accept what would be injurious to the church and could well leadto its permanent division," the bishops said in a resolution from a privatemeeting in Texas.

"If that means that others reject us and communion with us, as some havealready done, we must with great regret and sorrow accept their decision."

The Episcopal Church is the U.S. wing of the 77 million-member AnglicanCommunion, a fellowship of churches that traces its roots to the Church ofEngland. But it is at theological odds with the vast majority of Anglicanchurches, which take a more conservative view on sexuality and other issues.



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Times Online

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article1550724.ece

March 22, 2007

Anglicans closer to schism as US bishops reject gay ultimatum
Ruth Gledhill, Religion Correspondent

The Anglican Church took another step towards its apparently inevitableschism when US Episcopal bishops rejected the ultimatum from primates of theAnglican Communion to fall into line over homosexuals.

The bishops of the Episcopal Church accused Anglican primates of trying todrag their Church back into "a time of colonialism". They said late onTuesday night that they would resist the primates' demand that they set up anew pastoral scheme with a "primatial vicar" to make a traditionalistenclave for antigay conservatives who reject the oversight of liberalbishops. They said that the scheme "violated" their canons, or Church law.

Christian gays in Britain yesterday welcomed the US decision and accused theArchbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, who chaired last month'sprimates' meeting in Tanzania, of trying to "sell them down the river" andof pandering to "forces of the extreme Right".

If the wealthy US Church, headed by the Communion's first woman primate,Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, is expelled from the Communion, as nowappears increasingly likely, the Anglican Communion worldwide will beplunged into financial crisis because so much of the central administrationand overseas aid is bank-rolled by the Americans.

Although the 2.3 million American Episcopalians are few among the 77 millionAnglicans worldwide, they are understood to finance up to one third of theCommunion's total international budget.



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The Chicago Tribune

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-070321gay-suit,1,3955343,print.story?coll=chi-news-hed

Teen sues school over her anti-gay shirt
By Meg McSherry Breslin

Tribune staff reporter
March 21, 2007, 11:35 PM CDT

A student at Neuqua Valley High School in Naperville filed suit Wednesday inU.S. District Court in Chicago, arguing that her school violated her civilrights by refusing to let her wear a T-shirt opposing homosexuality on moralgrounds.

The student is represented by the Alliance Defense Fund, a nationalorganization based in Arizona that has filed at least eight similar lawsuitsacross the country, said Gary McCaleb, senior counsel for the group.

McCaleb said the group is trying to "enable Christian students to express acontrasting viewpoint on homosexuality."

According to the suit, Heidi Zamecnik, a 17-year-old Naperville resident anda senior at Neuqua Valley, wore a T-shirt to school last April stating, "BeHappy, Not Gay."

Zamecnik donned her shirt in response to the Day of Silence, a nationalevent recognized by many schools. Students can refuse to speak during theschool day-even in response to faculty questions-to bring attention to theharassment of homosexuals.



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The New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/arts/entertainment-britain-elton.html?pagewanted=print

March 21, 2007
Elton John Urges Fight Against Homophobia

By REUTERS
Filed at 8:12 p.m. ET

LONDON (Reuters) - Elton John has paid tribute to gay rights campaigners andurged others around the world to ``stand up and speak out'' againsthomophobia.

The British singer, who tied the knot with long-term partner David Furnishin a civil ceremony, said people must stand up for the human rights ofhomosexuals.

``In December 2005, I was legally bound to the man I love,'' he wrote in theNew Statesman magazine. ``It's my legal right and my human right. And Iwanted everyone to know, I wanted to shout about it.

``In some countries, my voice would have been drowned out. Maybe evenstamped out.

``Men and women are persecuted and attacked every day all over the world,just because of who they love and who they make love to.''



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The New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Episcopalians-Gays.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print

March 21, 2007
Episcopal Bishops Reject Ultimatum

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 9:01 p.m. ET

NEW YORK (AP) -- Episcopal bishops risked losing their place in the globalAnglican family Wednesday by affirming their support for gays and rejectinga key demand that they give up some authority to theological conservativesoutside the U.S. church.

In strong and direct language, the Episcopal House of Bishops said it viewsthe Gospel as teaching that ''all God's children, including gay and lesbianpersons, are full and equal participants'' in the church. The bishops alsosaid they would not agree to an Anglican plan for leaders outside the U.S.denomination to oversee the small number of conservativeAmerican dioceses that disagree.

''We cannot accept what would be injurious to the church and could well leadto its permanent division,'' the bishops said in a resolution from a privatemeeting in Texas.

''If that means that others reject us and communion with us, as some havealready done, we must with great regret and sorrow accept their decision.''

The Episcopal Church is the U.S. wing of the 77 million-member AnglicanCommunion, a fellowship of churches that traces its roots to the Church ofEngland. But it is at odds theologically with the vast majority of Anglicanchurches, which take a more conservative view on sexuality and other issues.



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The Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/21/AR2007032102755_pf.html

4 Guilty in NYC Attack on Singer

By SAMUEL MAULL
The Associated Press
Wednesday, March 21, 2007; 11:12 PM

NEW YORK -- Four people who were accused of brutally beating a nightclubsinger and recording artist while yelling anti-gay slurs pleaded guiltyWednesday to assault charges.

The four began following Kevin Aviance around 1:30 a.m. on June 10, 2006after he left a gay bar in the city's East Village neighborhood, calling himderogatory names, police said.

They threw two garbage bags and a paint can at the singer before attackinghim and yelling anti-gay slurs, police said.

The defendants punched and kicked Aviance, 39, breaking his jaw and causingother injuries, police said. Passers-by yelled for the attack to stop, andwhen it was over a man walked Aviance to a hospital.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg denounced the attack as "a disgrace."



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The Express Gay News

http://www.expressgaynews.com/thelatest/thelatest.cfm?blog_id=12082

Sweden takes step toward allowing gay marriage
Proposal expected to receive parliamentary approval
STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AP) | Mar 21, 8:13 PM

Sweden took a step toward allowing gay marriage on Wednesday when agovernment-appointed committee proposed expanding the rights of same-sexcouples.

Sweden has recognised civil unions between homosexual couples since 1994,but does not permit gay marriages.

If the new law is passed, couples who have entered such unions wouldautomatically be considered legally married, said Hans Regner, who led thecommittee that presented the proposal.

"Two men or two women should be able to wed, and in the future be calledspouses," Regner said. "All the rules for heterosexual spouses will beapplied also to homosexual couples."

Same-sex marriage is legal in five other countries: Canada, Belgium, theNetherlands, Spain and South Africa. In the United States, only the statesof Massachusetts allows gay marriage.



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The Express Gay News

http://www.expressgaynews.com/thelatest/thelatest.cfm?blog_id=12084

Fate of Indiana's gay marriage ban amendment uncertain
After three hours of testimony, House panel fails to vote
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) | Mar 21, 8:22 PM

Backers and opponents of a proposed state constitutional ban on gay marriagepresented more than three hours of testimony before a House committeeWednesday, but no vote was taken and its prospects for advancing - and inwhat form - were uncertain.

Democratic Rep. Scott Pelath of Michigan City, chairman of the House RulesCommittee, said the panel's members "need time to meditate on this over theweekend" to determine the next step.

That could include voting on the amendment without changes, or voting firstto remove a provision that critics say could have unintended consequences onother laws or domestic partner benefits some employers provide to unmarriedcouples.

Proponents have said that if any of the language is changed, it wouldrestart the lengthy amendment process.



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The Advocate

http://advocate.com/print_article_ektid43195.asp

March 22, 2007
Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act reintroduced

A bill expanding the definition of hate crimes and the government'sauthority to track and fight them was reintroduced late Tuesday in the U.S.House of Representatives, which last year passed the bill only to see it diein the Senate.

A bill expanding the definition of hate crimes and the government'sauthority to track and fight them was reintroduced late Tuesday in the U.S.House of Representatives, which last year passed the bill only to see it diein the Senate.

The Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act was introduced byDemocratic representative John Conyers of Michigan and Republicanrepresentative Mark Kirk of Illinois, along with more than 100 other membersof Congress. The Senate is expected to introduce a bipartisan companion billnext month.

The legislation adds sexual orientation, gender, and gender identity tolocal hate crimes that the U.S. Justice Department has the authority toinvestigate. It makes grants available to states and localities for traininglaw enforcement and for investigating and prosecuting these hate crimes.

It has been approved separately in the House and Senate several times since2000, but final passage has always been blocked by the House'sthen-Republican eaders.



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The Advocate

http://advocate.com/print_article_ektid43179.asp

Syphilis on the rise among gay men in Arizona

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says syphilis, asexually transmitted disease caused by bacteria, is on the rise among gaymen in Maricopa County, Arizona, reports Arizona State University's WebDevil online newspaper, at www.StatePress.com.

Syphilis cases have tripled among gay men in Maricopa County in the pastthree years, reaching 175 cases in 2006. In the same year there were 142cases among heterosexual people. Last year was the first year since the1980s that syphilis cases among gay men outnumbered cases amongheterosexuals.

Syphilis can be transmitted through fluids or skin-to-skin contact and mayincrease risk of HIV infection if herpes and syphilis sores are present.

Freddy Roman, assistant director of the Wellness and Health Promotiondepartment at Arizona State, which is in the Maricopa County of Tempe, saysstudents don't always practice safe sex.

"Young people in general are taking risks that will expose them to sexuallytransmitted infections." Roman said.



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The Advocate

http://advocate.com/print_article_ektid43178.asp

HIV drug exceeding expectations in clinical trials

The Melbourne, Australia-based biotech company Avexa is getting closer todeveloping its antiviral HIV drug apricitabine (ATC), reports the Web siteof The Australian national newspaper. ATC is for the treatment of patientswho have drug-resistant HIV.

Avexa announced this week the results of its latest phase trial for ATC, andCEO Julian Chick said the drug exceeded expectations. All 47 patients in the21-day trial showed significant improvement after taking ATC.

All of the patients who received ATC recorded more than an 85% reduction inthe level of HIV in the blood, and one patient had a decrease of 99.7%. Thepatients in the control group had only a minimal reduction in HIV levels.

"The benefit to HIV patients is that it gives them another opportunity toreduce the virus levels in the blood, therefore prolonging their lives,"said Chick.

No side effects were reported, and researchers found no evidence of anATC-resistant virus developing during the trial phase.



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The National Gay News

http://nationalgaynews.com/content/view/192/173/

Tuesday, 20 March 2007 20:54

Honors Students Committed to Advocacy of Equal Rights

By Rob Sepulveda
NGN Correspondent

It was five years ago that Hofstra University School of Law, based inHempstead, New York on Long Island, launched an unprecedented fellowshipprogram for students engaged in advocacy on behalf of the lesbian, gay,bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community.

"This program demonstrates Hofstra's commitment to equality and its supportfor LGBT individuals," stated Nora V. Demleitner, the newly appointedInterim Dean of the Hofstra School of Law, which was founded in 1970.

As part of the program, each year, the law school selects up to three (3)fellows from among students admitted to the entering J.D. class.

Fellowships are awarded to students who have demonstrated a commitment toand intend to pursue careers advocating on behalf of the LGBT community. Thefellowship is open to persons of all sexual orientations in recognition ofthe diversity of individuals who may ally themselves with sexual equality,and to underscore the importance of alliances between the LGBT community andthe community at large.

Scholarship awards include a substantial tuition fellowship each year overthree years of law school and up to two $5,000 summer stipends to support asummer externship related to LGBT advocacy.


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365gay.com

http://www.365gay.com/Newscon07/03/032107nhadopt.htm

N.H. Moves To Allow Gay Couples To Adopt
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff
Posted: March 21, 2007 - 5:00 pm ET

(Concord, New Hampshire) The New Hampshire House voted Wednesday to allowsame-sex couples to adopt, ending a patchwork of legal rulings in countiesthroughout the state.

Although the state Legislature repealed a ban on gay adoptions in 1999, gayparents in some counties cannot adopt a partner's children because ofvarying interpretations of the law by probate judges.

Single men and women, gay or straight, are allowed to adopt children in allcounties under state law.

Probate court judges in Hillsborough, Merrimack, Grafton and Cheshirecounties do not allow gay or lesbian couples to adopt children together orallow one to adopt the child of the other, because the law specifies thatmarried couples and single adults can adopt. Gays and lesbians are notallowed to marry in New Hampshire.

In the state's other six counties, judges have interpreted adoption law andcourt rulings more broadly to allow adoptions by gay and lesbian partners,as long as they can show they have a stable and loving home.

State Rep. Jayne Spaulding (R) said legislation is needed to end ambiguity,and called the present situation "neither fair nor just".



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National Gay News

http://nationalgaynews.com/content/view/192/173/

Tuesday, 20 March 2007 20:54
Hofstra Law Celebrates 5th Anniversary of LGBT Fellowships

By Rob Sepulveda
NGN Correspondent

It was five years ago that Hofstra University School of Law, based inHempstead, New York on Long Island, launched an unprecedented fellowshipprogram for students engaged in advocacy on behalf of the lesbian, gay,bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community.

"This program demonstrates Hofstra's commitment to equality and its supportfor LGBT individuals," stated Nora V. Demleitner, the newly appointedInterim Dean of the Hofstra School of Law, which was founded in 1970.

As part of the program, each year, the law school selects up to three (3)fellows from among students admitted to the entering J.D. class.

Fellowships are awarded to students who have demonstrated a commitment toand intend to pursue careers advocating on behalf of the LGBT community. Thefellowship is open to persons of all sexual orientations in recognition ofthe diversity of individuals who may ally themselves with sexual equality,and to underscore the importance of alliances between the LGBT community andthe community at large.

Scholarship awards include a substantial tuition fellowship each year overthree years of law school and up to two $5,000 summer stipends to support asummer externship related to LGBT advocacy.


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

http://www.abqjournal.com/news/state/548358nm03-21-07.htm

A call to repeal the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy concerning gays inthe military. A rebuke of a top general's comments on homosexuality. And acall for a special legislative session, in part to deal with a domesticpartners bill.

Gov. Bill Richardson has done all three in less than a week- shortlybefore two planned speeches to national gay rights groups. And onenonpartisan political observer said Tuesday the 2008 Democratic presidentialhopeful appears to be courting the gay vote, which she said is in play.

"It can be a pretty big vote- and it can be worth a lot of money,"said Jennifer Duffy, a senior editor for The Cook Political Report inWashington, D.C. "This does seem to be a group up for grabs, that has been alittle disappointed with the response they've gotten from the
front-runners."

Richardson presidential campaign spokesman Pahl Shipley said Tuesdaythat Richardson has a long record of promoting diversity and equality.

The governor "has been consistent throughout his career in fightingdiscrimination and supporting civil rights for all Americans," Shipley said."This is nothing new."


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

http://www2.indystar.com/articles/7/249878-9777-127.html

Fort Wayne IN --Board declines to hear journalism teacher'ssupporters-Indianapolis Star and another article: East Allen board haltsfree speech questions from the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette


The Associated Press

March 20, 2007 11:53 PM

Dozens of people who attended a school board meeting to support a suspendedjournalism teacher left frustrated when they were not allowed to speak.

The student editor of the Woodlan Junior-Senior High School newspaper saidsome staff members quit on Tuesday, the day after East Allen County Schoolsofficials placed teacher Amy Sorrell on paid leave pending a review ofwhether her contract should be terminated.

The action came two months after the student newspaper published asophomore's editorial advocating tolerance for homosexuals and officialsresponded by requiring the all future issues be approved by the principal ofthe 700-student school east of Fort Wayne.

School Board President Stephen Terry told those attending Tuesday night'smeeting they would not be allowed to discuss Sorrell's suspension, sayingthe board might in the future hear an appeal if she was fired.

"It's to preserve the rights of the teacher," Terry said.


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

http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/journalgazette/16944919.htm



East Allen board halts free speech questions

By Krista J. Stockman

The Journal Gazette

NEW HAVEN - The East Allen County Schools Board refused to allow students,staff and parents to talk about Woodlan Junior-Senior High School'snewspaper controversy during a board meeting Tuesday.

Dozens of people packed into the board room to support journalism teacherAmy Sorrell, who was placed on paid leave Monday, and talk aboutfreedom-of-the-press issues.

But before anyone had a chance to address the board, the Rev. Stephen Terry,president of the board, said people would not be allowed to talk.

"It's to preserve the rights of the teacher," he said. The board at somepoint could be called on to hear an appeal if Sorrell is fired, and Terrysaid the board could not be swayed in any way before an appeal.

He said his decision was based on state law, but when Jack Groch, theIndiana State Teachers representative for East Allen, asked what the statutewas, he was told he was out of order.

Those attending the meeting walked out of the boardroom and stayed in theadministration building lobby while the meeting continued.


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