GLBT DIGEST September 21, 2007

**IF YOU CAN'T ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE, CONTACT US AT rays.list@comcast.net and we'll be happy to send the full article.


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FLORIDA RED AND BLUE!!!! A week from today!

Do your part to fight the right-wing state-wide anti-gay initiativeto amend the Florida constitution.

Friday, September 28, at the GLCC, Ft. Lauderdale - 11:45am to 1:30pm.

Michael and I promised to get a minimum of 10 people to attend thislow dollar boxed lunch - only $25 - to learn about Florida Red And Blue andthe multiple efforts to overcome this hateful amendment. Florida Red andBlue has already raised over $1 million, but our work is only beginning.

Will you support us with this? Every GLBT person in Florida needs to be apart of this effort.

Boxed Lunch Series
$25
Friday, September 28
Noon - 1:30pm
Networking 11:45am
GLCC - Ft. Lauderdale

Send us an e-mail and let us know if you'll join us on the 28th.

And...... If you can't attend, we'll be glad to accept your check made out to "Florida Red and Blue."

Ray and Michael
rays.list@comcast.net



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The New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Episcopal-Bishops-Gays.html?pagewanted=print

September 21, 2007
Meeting Held on Anglican - Episcopal Split

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 3:38 a.m. ET

NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- In closed-door talks with the archbishop of Canterbury,Episcopal leaders are confronting demands that they roll back their supportfor gay priests or lose their place in the world Anglican fellowship.

The Episcopal Church is the Anglican body in the United States and has amore liberal view of Scripture than most Anglicans overseas. Tensions overBible interpretation erupted in 2003, when Episcopalians consecrated thefirst openly gay bishop, V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire.

Archbishop Rowan Williams, the Anglican spiritual leader, suggested Thursdaythat Episcopalians show greater concern about the impact of their decisionson the wider Anglican Communion, according to Canon Jim Naughton, spokesmanfor the Diocese of Washington.

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The New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/21/nyregion/21schools.html?pagewanted=print

September 21, 2007
New York Just Says No to Abstinence Funding

By JENNIFER MEDINA

New York is rejecting millions of dollars in federal grants forabstinence-only sex education, the state health commissioner, Dr. Richard F.Daines, announced yesterday. The decision puts New York in line with atleast 10 other states that have decided to forgo the federal money in recentyears.

New York has received roughly $3.5 million a year from the federalgovernment for abstinence-only education since 1998. The abstinence programwas approved as part of welfare overhauls under the Clinton administrationand was expanded and restructured under President Bush.

In a statement posted on the Health Department's Web site, Dr. Daines said,"The Bush administration's abstinence-only program is an example of a failednational health care policy directive." He added that the policy was "basedon ideology rather than on sound scientific-based evidence that must be thecornerstone of good public health care policy."

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UK

Government publishes new guidance to help schools tackle homophobic bullying

Stonewall commissioned to produce pioneering advice

Stonewall welcomes today's publication by the Department for Children,Schools and Families (DCSF) of groundbreaking new guidance for teachers:'Preventing and Responding to Homophobic Bullying in Schools'.

www.teachernet.gov.uk/wholeschool/behaviour/tacklingbullying/homophobicbullying/.

The pioneering guidance, commissioned from Stonewall by the DCSF, providesschool governors, heads, teachers and other staff with practicalinformation - including lesson plans - about how to prevent and respond tohomophobic bullying.

The School Report, Stonewall's recently-published research into homophobicbullying in Britain's secondary schools, demonstrated that almost two thirdsof young gay people have experienced homophobic bullying. Ninety seven percent of gay pupils regularly hear homophobic insults at school; three in tenof the 1100 young people surveyed said that it was adults in schools whocarry out the bullying.

Ed Balls MP, Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families, said:"Homophobic insults should be viewed as seriously as racism. Even casual useof homophobic language in schools can create an atmosphere that isolatesyoung people and can be the forerunner of more serious forms of bullying."

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Chicago Tribune

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-hatecrime_20_bothsep20,1,5507632.story?track=rss

2nd girl gets year of probation for anti-gay fliers

By Carolyn Starks
Tribune staff reporter
September 20, 2007

A second teenage girl was sentenced Wednesday to 1 year of probation andordered to write letters of apology for distributing anti-gay fliers earlierthis year outside Crystal Lake South High School.

The girl, 16, also was sentenced to 14 days in the McHenry County Jail, butJuvenile Court Judge Michael Chmiel suspended the sentence as long as sheabides by the rules of her probation.

Prosecutors had asked for a 30-day suspended sentence, but Chmiel noted thegirl had spent 18 days in a Kane County juvenile detention facility afterher arrest.

The girl's mother told Chmiel that her daughter had stopped using drugs andalcohol and had done well in summer school classes.

"I think 18 days of jail was a huge, eye-opening experience," the mothersaid.

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Express Gay News

http://www.expressgaynews.com/blog/index.cfm?type=blog&start=9/15/07&end=9/22/07#14407

by Kevin Naff

O'Malley betrays gays

Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley is the new Mitt Romney.

Just when you thought a politician could sink no lower in the duplicitousart of flip-flopping comes the hidden tale of how O'Malley assured gayrights activists and plaintiffs in the Maryland marriage case that hesupported same-sex marriage, only to reverse course and ultimately invokehis Catholic religious beliefs to justify his support of discrimination.

It's an all-too-familiar story of a Democratic candidate promising to standup for an all-too-loyal gay constituency, then kicking us when we're down.

That's an apt description of O'Malley's actions this week. As gayMarylanders were reeling from the high court decision upholding the state'smarriage ban - shedding tears and canceling wedding plans - the governorreleased a statement that didn't offer sympathy or condolences. Instead, hesaid he respected the court's decision - an opinion unparalleled in itsgratuitously offensive language - and that lawmakers shouldn't tellreligions how to define the sacraments.

With that statement, O'Malley kicked us all at a time when we were down andwe should not forget it. No more gay money. No more gay votes. No moredoor-to-door gay support or green bumper stickers or yard signs. Afterdistinguishing himself as a brash young politician of a new generation, hehas revealed himself to be a typical climber, so blinded by nationalambition that he would break any promise to pad his resume and preserve hispower.

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The Huffington Post

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marc-gunther/gay-rights-gathering-ste_b_65207.html?view=print

by Mark Gunther

Gay Rights, Gathering Steam
Posted September 20, 2007 | 01:32 PM (EST)

A whole lot is happening on the issue of gay rights here in your nation'scapital. A new Human Rights Campaign survey finds a big leap in the numberof companies achieving a perfect score for their workplace practices. TheHouse of Representatives is likely to vote next week on a federal law to banworkplace discrimination against LGBT people. And a record 2,100 people areexpected next week in D.C. for the annual conference of Out & Equal, anetwork of LGBT workplace groups.
Taking them in order:

The HRC Corporate Equality Index brings (mostly) encouraging news. A totalof 195 employers received a perfect score, up from 138 last year and only 13in 2002. This is true even though HRC has raised the bar since then -- now,to get a top ranking, companies must provide full domestic partner benefitprograms, support for transgender inclusion and insurance coverage, supportfor GLBT employee resource groups and either marketing or philanthropicdollars to back gay causes. You can find all the data here.

"Employee non-discrimination is the floor, not the ceiling anymore," saysBob Witeck of Witeck Combs, which consults with Fortune 500 companies onGLBT issues. What was once "a radical concept has become the standard," hetold me.

Joe Solomonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign Foundation, says GLBTemployees looking for a friendly workplace can now "pick and choose fromstrong employers in nearly every major industry."

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Express Gay News

http://www.expressgaynews.com/blog/index.cfm?type=blog&start=9/20/07&end=9/22/07#14421

by Rebecca Armendariz

Cheer up, Maryland

After the ruling in Maryland this week, you might need a pick-me-up. In SanDiego this week, Mayor Jerry Sanders reversed his position on gay marriage.
Here are his remarks in full:

San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders
Gay Marriage Resolution
September 19, 2007

· With me this afternoon is my wife, Rana

· I am here this afternoon to announce that I will sign the resolutionthat the City Council passed yesterday directing the City Attorneyto file a brief in support of gay marriage.

· My plan, as has been reported publicly, was to veto thatresolution, so I feel like I owe all San Diegans an explanation for thischange of heart.

· During the campaign two years ago, I announced that I did notsupport gay marriage and instead supported civil unions and domesticpartnerships.

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Express Gay News

http://www.expressgaynews.com/2007/9-20/news/localnews/4039.cfm

Local governments pass trans ordinances
Transgender bills face hurdles at county and state level

By JUAN CARLOS RODRIGUEZ
Thursday, September 20, 2007

While lobbyists and strategists meet with county and state politicians toadvocate adding the words gender identity and gender expression to humanrights ordinances, several local governments in Florida have moved aheadwith transgender legislation.

Amending current ordinances to include the language protects transgenderedmen and women from discrimination in areas such as employment, housing,public services and accommodations.

On Sept. 19, Oakland Park commissioners were expected to approve a measureto include the language in the city's anti-discrimination policy. Theresolution was unanimously passed at a first reading on Sept. 5 with nopublic opposition. The Oakland Park resolution will apply only to cityemployees, but the city is working on a separate measure that will cover allresidents, said Suzanne Boisvenue, the Oakland Park commissioner whointroduced the resolution.

"It says that we treat all people with respect," Boisvenue said.

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The Advocate

http://advocate.com/news_detail_ektid49063.asp

September 21, 2007
Inmate Recants Story on Boys Don't Cry Murders

One of two men convicted in the 1993 murders that spawned the movie BoysDon't Cry now says he was the only attacker who shot and stabbed atransgender person and two other victims.

Marvin Nissen's new account that he was the lone killer could reignite acase that drew the country's attention to the issues of transgender people.

The man Nissen once blamed for the killings, John Lotter, is now on deathrow in Nebraska and has asked for a new trial.

Brandon Teena was born a female but for a time lived as a man in ruralsoutheast Nebraska and dated a female friend of the two men. Prosecutorssaid the 21-year-old was killed in a farmhouse near Humboldt after reportingbeing raped by Lotter and Nissen. During the trial, Nissen said he hadstabbed Teena but that Lotter fired all the shots that killed Teena and theothers.

''He has finally admitted that the testimony that secured John Lotter'sconviction was all a lie,'' Lotter attorney Paula Hutchinson said Thursday.

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365Gay.com

http://www.365gay.com/Newscon07/09/092007canada.htm

Canadian Province Moves To Amend Family Law For Gay Parents

by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff
Posted: September 19, 2007 - 3:00 pm ET

(Halifax, Nova Scotia) Faced with a human rights complaint that it wasdiscriminating against same-sex parents who are legally married the NovaScotia government Thursday announced it would change its birth-registrationprocess.

Earlier this week Jamie and Emily O'Neill filed a complaint with theprovincial human rights commission over Nova Scotia's refusal to recognizeJamie O'Neil as a parent of the couples newborn baby. (story)

In Nova Scotia only the names of the birth mother and the birth father couldbe listed on a birth certificate.

The O'Neills were legally married in Halifax two years ago, after theCanadian government legalized same-sex marriage in 2005.

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[euro-queer]

Gay Iraqis win asylum

Refusal of refugee status overturned on appeal
Victims of homophobic terror in Iraq defeat the Home Office
London, UK - 21 September 2007

Two gay victims of attempted assassinations by Shia Islamist deathsquads in Iraq have been granted asylum in the UK.

Ibaa, aged 30, worked as a cultural programmes officer for the BritishCouncil in Baghdad. Haider, 29 years old, was a doctor at theAl-Nu'man General Hospital, also in Baghdad. He had lived briefly inEngland as a young boy, when his parents were students at SussexUniversity.

Both men had their initial applications for asylum turned down by theHome Office, despite compelling evidence of homophobic persecution andthreats to kill them.

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http://www.latimes.com/business/careers/work/la-na-transgender16sep16,1,7374883.story

Los Angeles Times, CA, USA

"Transitioning into new jobs and genders"

At the first transgender career expo, men and women meet companiesthat accept them for who they are becoming.
By Jenny Jarvie, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
September 16, 2007

ATLANTA -- -- The woman pulled her resume from a pink file folder andhanded it to a recruiter.

Across the top of the page, in bold type, she had printed her nametwice: first as "Mark," then as "(Meghan)." She was not quite sure ifthis was appropriate.

At the nation's first transgender Career Expo, job seekers wereencouraged to use their new gender names on resumes.

But Meghan, 42, a transsexual who declined to give her last namebecause her current employer knows her as Mark, wanted to make sureprospective employers could find her -- or him -- if they ran abackground check.

The etiquette of transgender resumes was just one of the myriadchallenges facing job seekers who packed the Atlanta convention hall.For transgender people -- at Friday's expo, they ranged fromcross-dressers to those who had changed their gender through hormonetherapy or surgery -- the workplace can be a minefield.

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Picket Akinola Sunday, Sept. 23, outside Chicago

Filed under: Anglican, Anti-Gay Violence, Blogroll, Christianity,Episcopal Church, Isaac Orama, LGBT Rights, Nigeria, Peter AkinolaDavis Mac-Iyalla, director of Changing Attitude-Nigeria

Archbishop Peter Akinola, the infamous anti-Gay bigot and schismaticAnglican, is coming to the Chicago area later this month to celebratethe Eucharist with five local breakaway churches which are part ofthe Anglican Mission in America. He will be greeted by a picket linein protest of his ongoing campaign of intimidation and violenceagainst LGBT Africans.

His visit comes three weeks after a Nigerian bishop he appointed lastyear, named Isaac Orama, denounced Gay people as "inhuman, insane andnot fit to live."

Akinola himself has advocated passing a law in Nigeria which wouldmake all forms of Lesbian and Gay organizing or socializingpunishable by five years in a Nigerian prison. This bill has beencriticized by the U.S. Department of State and the EuropeanParliament.

In addition, Akinola's press secretary, Canon Tunde Popoola, hasconducted a smear campaign against Nigeria's leading Gay activist,Davis Mac-Iyalla, director of Changing Attitude-Nigeria, anorganization of LGBT Anglicans. Mac-Iyalla has been forced to fleehis native country after receiving multiple death threats.

Akinola seeks to split the worldwide Anglican Communion, the world'ssecond-largest Christian church with 70 million members, apparentlyto replace the historic leadership of the Archbishop of Canterburywith himself as head of a new "Global South Communion."

Akinola will appear at the chapel of ultra-conservative WheatonCollege at 10:30 a.m. The chapel is located at the corner ofWashington and Franklin Streets in Wheaton, Illinois, about 30 mileswest of downtown Chicago. (Wheaton College is not the target of thisprotest.)

The demonstration will be peaceful and will not disrupt the churchservice. It is aimed not only at the archbishop but at his Americanenablers, former Episcopalians with a particular antipathy for Gaypeople who are splitting the Church to keep Gay people out.

Gay and Straight Episcopalians will gather at 8 a.m. for Mass at St.James's Cathedral, 65 E. Huron St., Chicago, then drive to Wheatonfor the demonstration, which will last one hour, from 10-11 a.m.Protesters will march in procession on the sidewalk opposite theWheaton College Chapel and will not interfere with those attendingthe church service.

The demonstration is co-sponsored by dailyoffice.org, a prayerwebsite serving the Episcopal Church, and the Gay Liberation Networkof Chicago.

Dailyoffice.org sponsored an American speaking tour for Davis Mac-Iyalla earlier this summer, with appearances in 20 U.S. cities.

For more information contact Josh Thomas at josh@dailyoffice.org

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Conference of European Pride Organisers in Stockholm

By Danny Sonnenschein

http://gayrepublic.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=1854&lead=1

(Sweden) - By tradition EPOA, European Pride Organisers Association, holdsits annual meeting in the city that is hosting the next Europride. Pridefestival organisers from the whole of Europe come to Stockholm for theweekend in order to, among other things, choose who will arrange Europride2010. Delegates come from Spain, Germany, Iceland, Switzerland, Poland andseveral other european countries.

"That members of European organisations visit us in Stockholm is a perfectkickoff before the work really starts with the Europride festival," saidSofia Sjöö, chairperson for Stockholm Pride. "We have never been this earlywith the preparations for a festival."

The organizers look forward towards meeting the guests from all over Europe,in particular from Eastern Europe. Stockholm Pride has financially supportedsome of the activist groups in order to give them an opportunity toparticipate in the conference. During the conference, Stockholm Pride willrelease the theme for EuroPride 2008 in Stockholm and also which artist hasbeen awarded the commission to compose the year's official Pride Song.

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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com

http://ncflr.convio.net/site/PageServer?pagename=press_juvenilejustice091107

September 11, 2007Crisis Of Abuse In Juvenile Justice System Addressed InEQCA-Sponsored Bill

Assembly Approves Migden Measure, Calling for Better Protections for allYouth in California's Juvenile Justice Facilities

(Sacramento, CA, September 11, 2007) - The state Assembly on Monday approvedcritical safeguards to protect youth from abuse and mistreatment inCalifornia's Department of Juvenile Justice facilities.

SB 518, the Juvenile Justice Safety and Protection Act, creates a Youth Billof Rights to protect all young people, including youth who identify aslesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT), from abuse and discriminationin the state's justice system. Authored by Sen. Carole Migden, D-SanFrancisco, and sponsored by Equality California, the measure passed theAssembly with a 46-27 vote. The National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR)helped draft the bill and was a key supporter.

The bill will return to the Senate for a routine concurrence vote beforegoing to the governor for final consideration.

"It is shocking that homophobia in our society results in so many LGBT youthbeing kicked out of their homes and dropping out of school," said EQCAExecutive Director Geoff Kors. "As a result, youth who identify as LGBT aredisproportionately at-risk of entering the juvenile justice system, wherethey report being threatened, harassed and subject to isolation by peers andstaff members," Kors said. "All youth need and deserve adequate protectionsand safeguards when under the supervision of the state's juvenile justicesystem. We have an obligation to protect and support LGBT youth in publicfacilities."

Of the estimated 1.6 million homeless youth in the U.S., between 20 and 40percent identify as LGBT, according to a 2006 report issued by the NationalGay and Lesbian Task Force Policy Institute and the National Coalition forthe Homeless. The Task Force also reported that 26 percent of LGBT teens whocome out to their parents or guardians are kicked out of their family'shome.

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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com

http://citizenchris.typepad.com/citizenchris/2007/09/give-brownback-.html

September 19, 2007

Give the Post 'Fact-Checker' a Pinocchio

The Washington Post's new "Fact Checker" feature gave conservative GOPpresidential candidate Sam Brownback three out of four "Pinocchios" for"significant factual error and/or contradictions" in his oft-repeated claimthat gay marriage is to blame for the plummeting number of married couplesand soaring out-of-wedlock births in Holland.

Here's the Kansas senator's claim, which was a regular Republican refrainduring the Senate debate of the failed federal marriage amendment:

"In countries that have redefined marriage, where they've said, 'OK, it'snot just a man and a woman, it can be two men, two women,' the marriagerates in those countries have plummeted to where you have counties now innorthern Europe where 80 percent of the first-born children are born out ofwedlock... And currently in this country -- currently -- we're at 36 percentof our children born out of wedlock."

Post fact-checker Michael Dobbs reports in response:

Brownback posits a strong correlation between the introduction of civil
unions and gay marriages and the rise in children being born out of wedlock.His argument appears to rely on two premises: (1) the marriage rate hasplummeted in countries that have "redefined" marriage; (2) the decliningmarriage rate has in turn resulted in a dramatic rise in the number ofchildren born out of wedlock. .

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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com

http://editorandpublisher.printthis.clickability.com/pt/cpt?action=cpt&title=New+York+Times+Co.+Rated+Most+Gay-Friendly+Chain&expire=&urlID=24002659&fb=Y&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.editorandpublisher.com%2Feandp%2Fnews%2Farticle_display.jsp%3Fvnu_content_id%3D1003642420%26imw%3DY&partnerID=60

New York Times Co. Rated Most Gay-Friendly Chain

By Mark Fitzgerald
Published: September 18, 2007 1:01 PM ET

CHICAGO The New York Times Co. is the most gay-friendly chain in thenewspaper industry, and the only one to earn a "perfect score," according tothe latest Corporate Equality Index of the Human Rights Campaign (HRC)
Foundation.

HRC describes itself as the largest civil rights organization dedicated toachieving equality for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people. Theannual rating, its sixth, evaluated 519 companies on criteria includingwhether they offer domestic-partner benefits, and include sexual orientationin non-discrimination policies and diversity training and councils.

Only three big newspaper companies are included in the list. Many mediagiants, such as Tribune Co. and E.W. Scripps, were not evaluated at all.

The Times Co. scored a "perfect" 100 in the HRC Index. Cox Communicationswas rated a 95. Gannett Co. was rated 65, and Dow Jones & Co. was scored as30.

The full report is posted on HRC's Web site here.



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

20 September 2007

Contact: Angela Corbalan

Tel: + 32 2 286 94 17. Mobile: + 32 485 57 47 68. Email:
press@youthforum.org

Six European NGO networks co-organise a seminaron Multiple Discrimination as it affects young people

A European Youth Forum (YFJ) seminar on 'Multiple Discrimination as itaffects young people' is being held in Brussels from 20-22 September.

This YFJ event is being organised in partnership with five other civilsociety platforms: the European Region of the International Lesbian and GayAssociation (ILGA-Europe); the European Older Peoples' Platform (AGE); theEuropean Network Against Racism (ENAR); the European Disability Forum (EDF)and the European Women's Lobby (EWL).

Around 50 participants will be attending this seminar which is aimed atraising awareness on multiple discrimination and addressing its main effectson youth. The event will advocate for the development, at EU level, of alegal framework recognising the additional harm that multiple discriminationimplies for victims. EU anti-discrimination and gender equality law hasevolved to include protection, in varying degrees and scope, for six groundsof discrimination (race, religion and belief, gender, sexual orientation,disability and age) without considering the interplay between differentgrounds.

As Bettina Schwarzmayr, President of the European Youth Forum, outlines,'multiple discrimination merits particular attention since thoseexperiencing these complex forms of discrimination are among the mostvulnerable, marginalised and disadvantaged.'

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

Washington Post refuting Marriage Statistics

Politicians on the religious right distorting scientific statistics forpolitical gain? Who would have imagined such a thing? Money quote:

"We are prepared to be persuaded otherwise if more experts weigh in, but forthe moment we can see no factual basis for [Senator Sam] Brownback'sassertion of a connection between same-sex marriage and out-of-wedlockbirths. We award him three Pinocchios."

Jack Drescher, MD
jadres@psychoanalysis.net
www.jackdreschermd.net

--

THE CLAIM

Wednesday, September 19, 2007; A06

"In countries that have redefined marriage, where they've said, 'Okay, it'snot just a man and a woman, it can be two men, two women,' the marriagerates in those countries have plummeted to where you have counties now innorthern Europe where 80 percent of the firstborn children are born out ofwedlock. . . . And currently in this country -- currently -- we're at 36percent of our children born out of wedlock."

-- Sen. Sam Brownback (Kan.), Republican TV debate, Sept. 5

THE FACTS

Republican presidential hopeful Sam Brownback posits a strong correlationbetween the introduction of civil unions and same-sex marriage and theincrease in the number of children being born out of wedlock. His argumentappears to rely on two premises: (1) that the marriage rate has plummeted incountries that have "redefined" marriage, and (2) that the decliningmarriage rate has in turn resulted in a dramatic rise in the number ofbabies born to unmarried parents.

Both parts of Brownback's claim are questionable. The decline in marriagerates and the increase in the number of children born out of wedlock longprecede attempts to "redefine" marriage by permitting civil unions andsame-sex marriage. Domestic partnerships or civil unions were introduced inthe District in 1992, Hawaii in 1997, Vermont and California in 2000, Mainein 2004, Connecticut in 2005, New Jersey in 2006, and Washington state thisyear. Only one state permits same-sex marriage: Massachusetts, since 2004.

Marriage rates in the United States have been falling steadily since atleast 1960, according to the National Marriage Project at RutgersUniversity. They have not dropped appreciably faster in the past decade thanduring the preceding four decades.

According to the latest data from the National Center for Health Statistics,36.8 percent of children born in the United States in 2005 were born out ofwedlock. (The senator is correct on that detail.)

As support for Brownback's statement, his campaign cited articles inNational Review by Stanley Kurtz, an adjunct fellow at the HooverInstitution, on marriage rates in northern Europe, particularly theNetherlands. Kurtz has also cited counties in northern Norway where 80percent of firstborn children are born out of wedlock.

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

To Form a More Perfect Union: Marriage Equality News

Information, news, and discussion about the legal recognition of same-sexcouples and their families, including marriages, domestic partnerships,civil unions, adoptions, foster children and similar issues.

http://samesexmarriage.typepad.com/weblog/

Go to the website, above, for the following articles:

1. Dale Carpenter: Commentary--Republican mayor says I Do to SSM

2. Md. Senate President Won't Back Gay Unions

3. Maggie Gallagher: New Poll--Harris Interactive on SocialIssues/SSM

4. CA: In reversal, [San Diego mayor] Sanders supports gay-marriageresolution

5. Dobson Says He Won't Support Thompson

6. Leonard Link: Washington Appeals Court Rejects Challenge toSeattle Executive Order

7. California Court of Appeal hears arguments in case challengingbasic property tax protections for domestic partners

8. Commentary: Gays and Children

9. GA: Court Asked To Dismiss Jail Sentence For Lesbian Mom

10. Daily Kos: Stuck in the wrong decade at the Politico

11. Fact Checker: Sen Brownback's claim about marriage equality andgeneral drop in rates of marriage

12. Prof. William Eskridge-- Live online discussion of Marylanddecision

13. Calif. Gays Hold Statewide Marriage Protest

14. Romney's New Radio Ad [Against Freedom to Marry

15. CA: Open letter--Arnold Schwarzenegger's lesbian chief of staff,Susan Kennedy, called on to resign

16. MD: Editorial--A civil right


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