=
http://www.newstatesman.com/200703260025
It could have been me
Elton John
Published 26 March 2007
It's been 40 years since homosexuality was decriminalised in Britain,yet around the world gay people still suffer abuse and discriminationbecause of their sexuality.
On 21 December 2005 I was legally bound to the man I love, on the first daythat civil partnerships were possible. It's my legal right and my humanright and I wanted everyone to know - I wanted to shout about it but I stillfelt nervous about the public's reaction. I was, therefore, delighted andrelieved on leaving the register office in Windsor to find the crowd outsidecheering and supporting our union as I had feared that abusive,banner-waving bigots would try to spoil the occasion. I felt so proud thatday to be British.
There has been substantial progress on gay rights in Britain, but wecan't be complacent, not when homophobia still exists here and not whenpeople around the world live in fear solely because of their sexuality. Insome countries, my voice would have been drowned out - maybe even stampedout. For many, basic rights are still a matter of life and death.
There are individuals suffering because of their sexuality every day.Last year, William Hernández had a gun pressed against his neck outside theSan Salvador offices of his gay rights organisation, the Asociación EntreAmigos. William and his colleagues who speak out for gay rights in ElSalvador had been protesting against moves to amend the constitutionformally to prevent gay marriage.
"We will kill you before you can get married," said his attacker.
=
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6473831.stm
Lords support gay equality laws
Peers have backed the government over gay equality laws at the centre of arow with the Catholic Church.
They voted against an amendment to throw out the Equality Act (SexualOrientation) Regulations, brought by Tory peer Baroness O'Cathain.
She argued that they were "seriously flawed" and would lead to litigation,but was defeated by 168 votes to 122.
Among implications are that Catholic adoption agencies would be forced toplace children with gay couples.
The Equality Act (Sexual Orientation) Regulations, which outlawdiscrimination against gay people by businesses and service providers, andhave already been approved by MPs, will now come into force on 30 April.
But they have proved extremely controversial.
The Catholic Church has said it will be forced to shut its adoptionagencies, which handle some of the most difficult-to-place children, ratherthan act against church teachings.
Some backbench Tory MPs have complained that the draft regulations werebeing "rail-roaded" through Parliament with "unseemly haste".
=
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/cnet/CNET_2100-1030_3-6169621.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
March 22, 2007
Romney Cools Friendship With Utah Mayor
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 5:20 p.m. ET
COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) -- Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romneyhas cooled his friendship with Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson now thatthe liberal Democrat has called for President Bush's impeachment.
In an interview Thursday with The Associated Press, Romney sought tominimize his relationship with Anderson, once a prominent example ofbipartisan camaraderie. The two worked closely together when Romney ran the2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.
''He was a mayor that worked well with me during the Olympics, and Isupported his work as a mayor,'' said Romney, who spoke before an event inheavily Republican western Iowa, where he planned to meet privately with keyactivists. ''I do not endorse or support his views on President Bush oralmost any other issue, particularly that's unrelated to being a mayor.''
Anderson was so impressed with Romney's work on turning around theproblem-plagued Olympics that he backed the Republican in a televisioncommercial during Romney's 2002 campaign for Massachusetts governor.
''People often say I'm a Massachusetts-type Democrat. To me, that's acompliment,'' Anderson said in the spot, which ran in heavily DemocraticMassachusetts. Anderson then urged viewers to ''take it from this liberalDemocrat: If you want an amazing leader, vote for Mitt Romney.''
=
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Gay-Marriage.html?pagewanted=print
March 22, 2007
S.C. Bans Gay Marriage
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 10:28 p.m. ET
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) -- South Carolina officially banned gay marriageThursday as legislative leaders ratified a constitutional amendment approvedby voters in November.
New Hampshire, meanwhile, moved in the opposite direction, with a stateHouse panel endorsing the creation of civil unions for same-sex couples.
South Carolina was among eight states with gay marriage bans on the ballotlast year. The measures passed everywhere except Arizona.
Nearly four out of five South Carolina voters approved the amendment, whichreads, ''A marriage between one man and one woman is the only lawfuldomestic union that shall be valid or recognized in this state.''
The state already had a law against same-sex marriages, but proponents saidthe amendment was needed to prevent judges from opening the door to civilunions, which offer gay couples the legal benefits of marriage but not thetitle.
=
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Gay-Mans-Death.html?pagewanted=print
March 22, 2007
Detroit Attack Could Spur Gay Rights Law
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 6:37 p.m. ET
DETROIT (AP) -- Andrew Anthos had many passions in life, including oldmovies, legendary Hollywood screen sirens and a 20-year campaign toilluminate the state Capitol dome in red, white and blue one night a year.While he never hid that he was gay, he was no gay rights activist.
But after dying of injuries suffered last month in what witnesses portrayedas a gay-bashing, the 72-year-old Anthos has become a powerful symbol in acampaign to amend federal and state hate-crime laws to protect gays.
''The whole point is making sure that people have equal rights in the legalsystem, people aren't picked on or threatened just because they look or actdifferently,'' said state Sen. Hansen Clarke, who plans to introducelegislation to amend Michigan's Ethnic Intimidation Act.
According to police and family members, the Detroit man was riding a citybus home from the library on Feb. 13, singing along quietly to Spanish musicon his headphones. A young man asked him if he was gay and called him a''faggot.'' Anthos ignored him.
The man followed Anthos off the bus, confronting him again. Anthos told theman he was gay as he helped a wheelchair-bound friend who was stuck in asnowbank, witnesses said. The man struck Anthos in the back of the head witha pipe, stood over him as he lay on the ground and ran off after Anthos'friend yelled for him to stop.
=
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/sports/AP-BKW-Penn-St-Portland-Resigns.html?pagewanted=print
March 23, 2007
Penn State Women's Hoops Coach Resigns
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 6:07 a.m. ET
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) -- Rene Portland turned Penn State into one of thetop programs in women's college basketball. In the end, her highlysuccessful 27-year tenure as Lady Lions head coach may be remembered just asmuch for allegations that she may have discriminated against lesbian
players.
Penn State announced Portland's resignation Thursday, more than a monthafter the coach and university settled a lawsuit from a former player whoclaimed Portland had a ''no-lesbian'' policy on her team.
''This was obviously a difficult decision,'' Portland said in a statement inwhich she made no mention why she was stepping down.
Athletic director Tim Curley said Portland was not forced to resign, andthat he wasn't surprised by her decision.
''I am very appreciative of the opportunity to coach at Penn State, whichhas become a special place for me and my family,'' she said. ''I am proud ofwhat we have been able to accomplish with the Lady Lion program through theyears.''
=
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.
=
news.bbc.co.uk
http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/mpapps/pagetools/print/news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/berkshire/6476751.stm
Gay police officers' group formed
A new staff support team for homosexual police officers working inBerkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire has been formed.
The group will focus on tackling homophobic behaviour in the workplace andimproving relations with local gay and lesbian communities.
Work to create the Thames Valley Gay Police Association has been under wayfor the last six months.
A force spokesman said he hoped the team would improve public services.
Pc Alistair Melling, chair of the association, said: "We want to improve ourcontacts in the gay and lesbian communities of the Thames Valley and usethese to benefit the public.
"A good network of contacts will help us provide a better service to victimsof hate crime; give good advice and guidance to people with queries orconcerns and it will allow us to give specialist assistance to our ownofficers in certain operational situations."
=
Tampabays10.com
http://www.tampabays10.com/printfullstory.aspx?storyid=51285
Crowd expected for cross-gender city manager's appeal
By: Alexandra Hackett
Largo, Florida - The Largo city commission chambers are quiet and empty onthis morning, but it's the pre-cursor to what may be the longest and loudestpublic hearing in city history.
"Because of the number of speakers we anticipate to come out we're going tobe using our lobby as a staging area for speakers, so we're not going to beable to have people wait in the lobby," said Largo Communications Manager,Heather Graves.
City manager Steve Stanton's decision to change his sex and his name iscreating quite a buzz - a buzz that drew more than 500 people to a February27th city commission meeting where he was fired from his job.
Stanton is appealing the commission's decision. A public hearing is set forthis Friday but the situation is a first for the city, so officials willspend the week figuring out how to handle the meeting and all the peopleexpected.
"Even if you can't gain access to the building," Graves said, "you will havean option to come into the building when you are called."
=
Reuters.com
http://www.reuters.com/articlePrint?articleId=USHO18579920070321
Behavioral intervention reduces risk of HIV spread
Wed Mar 21, 2007 7:50PM EDT
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - People living with HIV infection who participatein a psychotherapy program can significantly reduce their risk oftransmitting the virus, the results of the Healthy Living Project show.
The program consists of "cognitive-behavioral" therapy, a type of counselingthat focuses on the key role that thinking plays in feelings and behaviors.Proponents of this therapy believe that unwanted feelings and behaviors canbe changed by alteration of the thinking patterns that lead to them.
Dr. Stephen F. Morin of the University of California, San Francisco andcolleagues assigned 936 individuals with HIV infection, and at risk oftransmitting the virus, to the cognitive-behavioral therapy or to nointervention.
The program consisted of fifteen 90-minute sessions, covering three modules.One module consisted of stress, coping and adjustment behaviors; the secondinvolved teaching safer behaviors; and the third was a program of healthybehaviors.
Follow-up assessments were conducted at 5, 10, 15, 20 and 25 months. Thegoal was to see if the behavior intervention reduced a person's HIVtransmission risk, defined as "the number of unprotected sexual risk actswith persons of HIV-negative or unknown status," the team reports in theJournal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes.
=
365gay.com
http://www.365gay.com/Newscon07/03/032207soulforce.htm
Arrests Continue For Gay Equality Riders
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff
Posted: March 22, 2007 - 7:00 pm ET
(Provo, Utah) For the second year in a row members of an LGBT religiousgroup have been arrested at Brigham Young University in Provo.
The nondenominational group Soulforce is crisscrossing the nation on twobuses, stopping at schools that bar openly gay students. At Brigham Young,a Mormon college, the group staged a peaceful rally after being told theywould be arrested if they entered the campus.
But two people - a mother and her son - were charged with trespassing whenthey attempted to deliver a letter to university officials outlining whatthey said was homophobia at the school
Last year, 29 members of Soulforce were arrested when they entered thecampus to engage students in a dialogue and refused an order to leave.
Also on Thursday four Soulforce members were arrested after they walked ontothe campus of Mississippi College in Clinton.
=
365gay.com
http://www.365gay.com/Newscon07/03/032207oregon.htm
Oregon Renews Bid To Pass Gay Equality Law
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff
Posted: March 22, 2007 - 5:00 pm ET
(Salem, Oregon) The Oregon Senate has passed a bill that would bandiscrimination based on sexuality. The measure now moves to the Housefollowing the 21 - 7 vote in the upper chamber.
The Oregon Equality Act would amend the state's non-discrimination laws toprohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation in housing, employment,public accommodation, education and public services statewide.
Currently, there is nothing in state statute making it illegal to evict agood tenant, deny a patron service at a restaurant or refuse to hire aqualified candidate just because of a person's real or perceived sexualorientation.
While non-discrimination ordinances have been successfully implemented in ahandful of Oregon cities and counties, this has resulted in an inconsistentpatchwork of laws across Oregon.
The legislation has the support of Gov. Ted Kulongoski.
=
Advocate.com
http://advocate.com/print_article_ektid43243.asp
Soulforce activists jailed in Texas, threatened with citations inMississippi
Two weeks into Equality Ride 2-wherein 50 young gay and straight activistsare touring the country in two buses with a mission to initiate dialogue at32 Christian colleges that have policies silencing or excluding LGBTstudents-participants have been jailed in Texas and threatened withcitations in Mississippi.
Two weeks into Equality Ride 2-in which 50 young gay and straight activistsaffiliated with Soulforce are touring the country in two buses with amission to initiate dialogue at 32 Christian colleges that have policiessilencing or excluding LGBT students-participants have been jailed in Waco,Texas, where Riders attempted to visit Baylor University, and have beenthreatened with citations at Mississippi College in Clinton, Miss.
Currently, five Equality Riders and one Baylor student are being held inMcClennan County Jail in Waco. They were arrested Tuesday on criminaltrespassing charges after writing messages of support for LGBT students inchalk on sidewalks on the Baylor campus.According to a Soulforce press release, bail has been set at $2,000 each.
Also on Tuesday, eastbound riders were informed by Clinton police that theywould be cited if they attempted to gather in a group of four or more nearthe campus of Mississippi College-this after being told during earliernegotiations that the riders were considered terrorists and would be treated"just like America dealt with 9/11," according to the release.
Soulforce immediately contacted the American Civil Liberties Union ofMississippi, which intervened on the group's behalf. After ACLU-Mississippistaff attorney John Williams cited Supreme Court precedents establishingprior restraint on the right to assemble as "the most serious and leasttolerable infringement on First Amendment rights," Clinton policeimmediately withdrew the restrictions.
On Thursday riders were planning a peaceful vigil on a public sidewalkadjacent to the Baylor campus, while on Friday the westbound riders wereplanning to march around the outskirts of Brigham Young University in Provo,Utah, where they've already received a notice of trespassing andproclamation of arrest if they enter church or university property. (TheAdvocate)
=
Advocate.com
http://advocate.com/print_article_ektid43206.asp
U.S. appeals court blocks order for Ugandan lesbian's deportation
A federal appeals court in Minneapolis has blocked the deportation of aUgandan woman who was seeking asylum because she was persecuted in herhomeland for being a lesbian, sending her case back to the Board ofImmigration Appeals for further proceedings.
A three-judge panel of the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals said the BIAmisapplied the law and overstepped its authority in the case of OliviaNabulwala, who sought asylum after the U.S. government tried to deport herfor overstaying her visitor's visa.
According to Nabulwala, while she was in Uganda her father became very angryand an aunt physically abused her when she came out to her family while shewas inhigh school. She said she needed hospitalization overnight after amob attacked a meeting of a lesbian rights group she belonged to while shewas attending university in Uganda, and on another occasion two relativesarranged for her to be raped by a stranger. She came to the U.S. in 2001.
Courts have established that gay people can qualify for asylum because ofpersecution or a well-founded fear of persecution, the 8th Circuit panelnoted.
But the immigration judge in Bloomington, Minn., who handled Nabulwala'scase, Joseph Dierkes, denied her application, even though he found her story"generally credible" and said he did not doubt she suffered in Ugandabecause of her orientation.
=
Advocate.com
http://advocate.com/print_article_ektid43233.asp
Texas gay bar torched
Police in Denton, Texas, are investigating a fire that started earlyWednesday at a gay nightclub. According to The Dallas Morning News, MablePeabody's Beauty Parlor and Chainsaw Repair was vandalized and then torched.Owner Kelly Sanders said she has owned the club for 13 years.
"I wonder if it could have been a gay-bashing deal," Sanders told the News."I have no idea."
Denton fire marshal Rick Jones said the fire was reported about 5:30 a.m.and that forensic evidence would be tested at a lab. The nature of the fireindicates it is an arson case because several fires were started indifferent areas of the bar.
The club was opened 27 years ago at a time, Sanders said, when it was braveto open a club in that area for gays and lesbians. (The Advocate)
=
Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
gmanews.com
http://www.gmanews.tv/print/35399
PNP warns gay officers not to sway hips
Article posted March 22, 2007 - 11:06 PM
The Philippine National Police issued a warning to gay officers not swaytheir hips or display other suggestive behavior while on duty ? or theycould risk losing their jobs.
"If they sway their hips while marching, or if they engage in lustfulconduct, I think that will be a ground for separation," Philippine NationalPolice or PNP spokesman Chief Superintendent Samuel Pagdilao said Thursday.
Pagdilao said the police department does not discriminate againsthomosexuals, but will not hesitate to fire those who misbehave.
"As an institution, the PNP does not look at or interfere with one's sexualpreference," Pagdilao told Manila Radio DZXL. "But it does look at itsmembers' conduct. If they behave within the norm, I don't think we'll have aproblem."
The Philippines has a reputation for tolerance toward homosexuality.
However, a party representing lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgenderedpeople was recently refused registration for May congressional elections onthe grounds that it does not have nationwide chapters. Its members areappealing. - AP
=
Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
TomPaine.com
http://www.tompaine.com/print/lies_we_teach_teenagers.php
Lies We Teach Teenagers
Julie Sternberg
March 21, 2007
Julie Sternberg is a senior staff attorney with the American Civil LibertiesUnion Reproductive Freedom Project.
Adolescence. We've all been there, and I would bet that most everyoneremembers how awkward it can be. Hormones surge. Bodies transform. Andsuddenly there are a lot of questions about sex, pregnancy and sexuallytransmitted diseases. Teens often cobble together answers to these new andembarrassing questions, yet the information they come up with is oftenuniformed, ill-advised, or downright wrong.
And so we, the adults, attempt to help teens navigate these tricky waterswith instruction in school that provides truthful information, helping themmake healthy choices and avoid the perils of unintended pregnancy anddisease.
The problem is somewhere along the way this system was hijacked by anideological agenda, leaving teens to suffer the consequences.
If you're like the majority of Americans, 75 percent to be exact, by the ageof 20 you've had sex without being married to your partner. By the age of 44that percentage rises to 95 percent. These figures, from a recent studypublished in Public Health Reports, make clear that engaging in sex beforemarriage is the cultural norm in the United States and has been for decades.
Yet our government is downright obsessed with abstinence until marriage. Infact, since 1996, the federal government has poured more than a billiondollars into programs that are required to promote abstinence untilmarriage, and forbidden from teaching about contraception, unless it is toemphasize failure rates.
=
Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
NewswithViews.com
http://www.newswithviews.com/Duke/selwyn60.htm
WHAT IF HOMOSEXUALITY IS BIOLOGICAL?
by Selwyn Duke
March 21, 2007
The Rev. R. Albert Mohler Jr., president of the Southern Baptist TheologicalSeminary in Louisville, Ky., recently penned an article that has both fellowevangelicals and homosexual activists feeling none too gay. Mohler raisedthe ire of the former group by stating that science may very well provethere is a biological basis for homosexuality; he then sent the latter groupinto a tizzy by reasserting that homosexual behavior is sinful and thatmodern science may offer prenatal remedies for it.
That homosexuality may have a basis in biology is rejected by many on theright for the same reason it is embraced by homosexuals. The reasoning isthat if such feelings are biologically-induced, then homosexual behavior isneither sinful nor a choice. Thus, the genesis of same-sex attraction hasbecome a locus of debate in the culture war. The truth is, however, thatboth sides have fallen victim to a misconception, one I have long wanted todispel.
Any biological basis for homosexuality would only be relevant insofar aspreventing the condition is concerned; it has no bearing on morality. Thisis for a very simple reason: Biology doesn't determine morality.
Think about it. Many of the same people who tell us homosexuality is inbornalso claim that sociopaths (those without consciences and who exhibitantisocial behavior) may be born and not made. But, if this is true, wouldthat render it moral for these individuals to trample the rights of others?If one is born with homicidal instincts, would it be licit for him to commitmurder? Don't scoff, for it's precisely the same reasoning; either moralityis dictated by biology or it isn't.
How we answer this question has profound implications for the future, andthis is why relativistic single-issue activists - who are often blinded byan all-consuming passion to promote their cause - are so dangerous. We mustnot embrace the fiction that biology has any bearing on morality whatsoever,not in the name of legitimizing homosexuality or in that of any other issue,no matter how great or small. Even if the issue were a noble one, to do sowould constitute the setting of a dangerous philosophical precedent simplyto achieve a short-term social victory.
=
Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
Philly.com
http://www.printthis.clickability.com/pt/cpt?action=cpt&title=Carol+Towarnicky+%7C+SOME+STRAIGHT+TALK+ON+GAY+MORALITY+%7C+Daily+News+%7C+03%2F21%2F2007&expire=&urlID=21628078&fb=Y&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.philly.com%2Fdailynews%2Fopinion%2F20070321_Carol_Towarnicky___SOME_STRAIGHT_TALK_ON_GAY_MORALITY.html&partnerID=167751
Carol Towarnicky | SOME STRAIGHT TALK ON GAY MORALITY
Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, says yes. It waswhat he was raised to believe, Pace told the Chicago Tribune last week. It'simmoral, like adultery, and that's why the military's "Don't ask, don'ttell" policy should continue. His comments made it inevitable that thequestion would be asked of all the presidential candidates.
First up, Hillary Clinton. She blinked. "Well, I'll leave that to others toconclude," she said.
The next day, Clinton released a statement saying she didn't believehomosexuality was immoral, sort of. Later, she released another, clearerstatement. That didn't do much to assuage the disappointment amongprogressives that she can't seem to say what she thinks on the first try.
To be fair, the leading Republican candidates (McCain, Giuliani and Romney)were able to get away with statements calling for respect and tolerance,while avoiding questions of morality.
Among the other Democrats, Barack Obama initially ignored questions shoutedto him when he was campaigning, then released a statement saying he didn'tagree that homosexuality was immoral. John Edwards said right away that hedidn't "share" Pace's view.
=
Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/03/16/mccain-stumbles-on-hiv-prevention/
March 16, 2007, 4:14 pm
McCain Stumbles on H.I.V. Prevention
By Adam Nagourney
SOMEWHERE in NORTHERN IOWA - The unthinkable has happened. Senator JohnMcCain met a question, while sitting with reporters on his bus as it rumbledthrough Iowa today, that he couldn't - or perhaps wouldn't - answer.
Did he support the distribution of taxpayer-subsidized condoms in Africa tofight the transmission of H.I.V.?
What followed was a long series of awkward pauses, glances up to the ceilingand the image of one of Mr. McCain's aides, standing off to the back,urgently motioning his press secretary to come to Mr. McCain's side.
The upshot was that Mr. McCain said he did not know this subject well, didnot know his position on it, and relied on the advice of Senator Tom Coburn,a physician and Republican from Oklahoma.
His press secretary, Brian Jones, later reported that Mr. McCain had arecord of voting against using government money to finance the distributionof condoms.
All this took place on the second day of the reprise of the "Straight TalkExpress" bus trips that Mr. McCain made a central part of his campaign in2000. It also comes as Mr. McCain has eagerly been trying to ease strainswith social conservatives in the party who, for the most part, do notsupport using government money to pay for condoms.A transcript of the encounter follows.
=
Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article2381063.ece
Voice for homosexuals: A hero in the fight for gay rights
Despite a number of death threats, the efforts of William Hernandez, praisedby Sir Elton John for speaking up for gays and lesbians, are finally beingrecognised. By David Usborne
Published: 22 March 2007
When William Hernandez sees countries as varied as Britain, the UnitedStates and South Africa taking steps towards equal rights for homosexuals,he can be excused for feeling mixed emotions.
Last week, the revolution came even to the neighbours of his owncountry, El Salvador, when Mexico City splashily boasted its first civilunion between two men.
Mr Hernandez celebrates because those changes have been driven by peopleexactly like himself - activists fighting to raise awareness of the plightof gay, lesbian and transgender members of society and agitating forpolitical reform. But he weeps also, because he knows that while thestruggle is scoring victories in some corners of the world, in too manyothers, the road to equality remains daunting and often dangerous.
Indeed, Mr Hernandez, 36, may know that better than almost anyone. Ashead of a gay and lesbian organisation in El Salvador called the AsociacionEntre Amigos - the Among Friends Association - he has made himself a targetnot just of harassment and pressure by what he believes are agents of thepolice, the government and Christian groups but also of repeated deaththreats. The most recent incident came one summer day last year. "I willkill you before you get married," the gunman whispered.
But if the outlook for gay rights in El Salvador remains bleak - withlegislation afoot in congress specifically to outlaw gay marriage though aconstitutional amendment - Mr Hernandez is at least increasingly winning theattention of his brethren activists abroad.
=
Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org
Indiana Gay Marriage Proposal Takes New Turn
Cummins Says It's Against Same-Sex Marriage Ban
UPDATED: 5:14 pm EDT March 21, 2007
INDIANAPOLIS -- The battle over gay marriage took a new turn at the IndianaStatehouse Wednesday as members of a House committee heard the controversialmeasure.
The committee did not vote on the measure, and there's now some doubt ifthey ever will,
House Rules Committee Chairman Scott Pelath, a Democrat from Michigan City,ended a marathon hearing on the same-sex marriage ban by announcing that hewants members to think hard about how they want to handle it. Pelath saidhe's open just about any possible solution.
The measure would be controversial enough with only its first section, whichbans same-sex marriage.
=
Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org
Spring 2007 issue of "mental health AIDS" now available
Dear HIV Educators, Clinicians, Researchers, Colleagues, and Friends:
The Spring 2007 issue of "mental health AIDS," a quarterly biopsychosocialresearch update on HIV and mental health, is available online athttp://mentalhealthAIDS.samhsa.gov.
This issue's "tool box":
"All That Is Sacred: A Primer on Spiritual Assessment"
Numerous studies attest to the importance of religion and spirituality tomany people who are living with HIV/AIDS. Gathering, analyzing, andsynthesizing spiritual and religious information as part of a comprehensiveapproach to clinical assessment can help to answer diagnostic questions andcontribute to treatment planning. A two-stage spiritual assessment process,based on Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations(JCAHO) requirements, is outlined in this tool box.
"mental health AIDS" is sponsored by the Center for Mental Health Services(CMHS) of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration(SAMHSA, an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services) andis disseminated free-of-charge through the SAMHSA Web site in both PDF andHTML formats.
I invite you to click through and explore this issue in the format of yourchoice. I also encourage you to pass along the Web page address toeducators, clinicians, researchers, colleagues, students, and friends(individually or via listserv) who may have interest in gaining access tothis unique Internet resource.
=
http://nationalgaynews.com/component/option,com_frontpage/Itemid,1/
Gay 'Day of Silence' Meets With Protest
Christian Students Respond with 'Day of Truth'
By Norm Kent
Publisher
The voice of silence GLSEN (www.glsen.org) sought for April 18, 2007 theymay not get so quietly or quickly.
As it has in the past, GLSEN, the Gay and Lesbian Straight EducationNetwork, has planned a National Day of Silence for students nationwide nextmonth.
The project allows for students to be quiet all day in a yeoman's effort toprotest the discrimination, harassment and abuse of lesbian, gay, bisexualand transgender students and their allies in schools.
The participating students will be wearing stickers and passing out'speaking cards' that read:
"Please understand my reasons for not speaking today. I am participating inthe Day of Silence, a national youth movement protesting the silence facedby lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people and their allies inschools.
My deliberate silence echoes that silence, which is caused by harassment,prejudice, and discrimination. I believe that ending the silence is thefirst step toward fighting these injustices.
Think about the voices you are not hearing today. What are you going to doto end the silence?"
=
Express Gay News
http://www.expressgaynews.com/thelatest/thelatest.cfm?blog_id=12107
Soulforce members arrested at Miss. College
Baptist college wouldn't allow group on campus
CLINTON, Miss. (AP) | Mar 23, 9:05 AM
Five members of a gay rights group who were arrested after they walked ontothe campus of Mississippi College were released after paying $250 fineseach.
The five were among 20 members of the Soulforce Equality Ride who arrived atthe private Baptist College to protest what the group claims are theschool's oppressive policies.
Mississippi College officials said Wednesday that Soulforce members wouldnot be allowed on campus.
"I've done this a few times now," Katie Higgins, 24, of Charleston, S.C.,said as she was handcuffed and put into a police van.
On its Web site, Soulforce says it stands for "freedom for gay, lesbian,bisexual and transgender people from religious and political oppressionthrough the practice of relentless nonviolent resistance."
=
[Send your comments about articles to Rays.List@Comcast.net]
#####
