**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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WashingtonPost.com
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/04/AR2008010401279.html
Dear Carolyn:
I've recently started dating a really great girl. She's perfect for me inevery way; she has a decent job, doesn't do drugs and has a stable homelife. However, when the opportunity came for me to meet her family, shewanted to introduce me only as her "friend." Her family knows she is gay andso does mine. She and I definitely do not have a "friendly" relationship;far from it. Am I wrong to feel insulted? Should I break away from therelationship before I get too involved? I just can't see myself being withsomeone who cannot be open and honest about our relationship. I hope I'moverreacting because she really could be the one.
Insulted
Have you asked? She could just hate the terms "girlfriend," "partner" and"lover"; if so, she's got company. Or, she isn't ready to label someone shejust started dating. Another popular stance. Or, she's a player.
In other words, if you haven't asked yet, nonjudgmentally, then you areoverreacting. It may have nothing to do with shame.
Or maybe you're right, it is shame -- but reflexive, not conscious. Pointbeing: Unknowns are to be flushed out and faced, not just assumed, denouncedand dumped.
There's another possible unknown you might want to tackle first. Yourquestion is about being treated with respect -- understandably -- and yetlook at your description of "perfect for me": All it's missing is, "hasn'tkilled anyone lately." These attributes fit almost anyone who's not adelinquent, which makes them minimums, not ideals. Any reason your sightsare so low?
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365gay.com
http://www.365gay.com/Newscon08/01/010408is.htm
Growing Number Of Israeli Cities Recognize Gay Couples
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff
Posted: January 4, 2008 - 5:00 pm ET
(Tel Aviv, Israel) Tel Aviv is the latest Israeli city to announce it willrecognize same-sex couples, a move that has angered rabbis and the religiousparties.
The city said it will accept partnership cards issued by the New Familyorganization, a group that represents couples who are gay or are ofdifferent religious backgrounds who cannot marry in Israel.
New Family arranges for couples to exchange vows in front of an attorney andsign a register and a commitment statement. It then issues the coupleswallet sized cards saying they have been united.
Tel Aviv officials said that couples who have the cards will be recognizedin the same way legally married couples are for all municipal servicesincluded taxes.
Lod and Mevaseret Zion have already done the same, and other cities arelooking into the program.
more . . . . .
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365gay.com
http://www.365gay.com/lifestylechannel/health/10308health.htm
Viagra for Women?
by the Associated Press
A drug that could do for women what Viagra has done for men is being testedat the University of Virginia. The drug is a testosterone-laden ointmentcalled LibiGel and it's intended to boost the libido of women who have lostinterest in sex. It will be prescribed at UVa in coming months to women whoare suffering from hypoactive sexual desire disorder.
The condition is believed to affect one-third of American women.
"It is the most common sexual problem that women have," said Dr. AnitaClayton, a psychiatrist with the UVa Health System and author of the 2007ook "Satisfaction: Women, Sex and the Quest for Intimacy."
UVa joins 99 other medical institutions participating in testing the drug'sefficacy and safety.
If given the green light by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration,Illinois-based BioSante Pharmaceuticals Inc. hopes to offer the drug to anywoman complaining of a low sex drive.
more . . . . .
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Advocate.com
http://www.advocate.com/news_detail_ektid51436.asp
California Upholds Tax Protections for Domestic Partners
01/05/08-01/07/08
The California supreme court declined to review an appeal challenging basicproperty tax protections for domestic partners, according to a jointstatement released Thursday by advocacy groups the National Center forLesbian Rights, Lambda Legal, and Equality California. The decision is amajor victory for same-sex couples because no further appeals are possible.
"We are grateful to the board and the legislature for protecting same-sexcouples," Shannon Minter, legal director for NCLR, said in the release."Today's ruling by the supreme court ensures that this protection issecure."
"The board of equalization has the authority to grant gay and lesbiancouples the same protections in a time of grief as everyone else," BrianChase, Lambda Legal senior staff attorney, said in the statement. "No oneshould lose their home after the death of a partner."
In March 2005, Sutter and Orange counties challenged the protection in statecourt while three same-sex couples along with NCLR, Lambda Legal, EqualityCalifornia, and the law firm of Munger, Tolles, and Olson defended it.
Ultimately, Orange County dropped out while assessors from Tehama and Maderacounties joined, but in 2006, Sacramento County superior court judge JackSapunor rejected the challenge.
more . . . . .
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Advocate.com
http://www.advocate.com/news_detail_ektid51432.asp
Iowa Winners Face New Challenges in N.H.
January 04, 2008
Iowa caucus victories behind them, Republican Mike Huckabee and DemocratBarack Obama vowed to stick with their winning principles Friday in anabbreviated dash to the finish in New Hampshire's presidential primarycampaign, despite facing a different political alignment and, as Huckabeeput it, ''only a few days to close the sale.''
Mitt Romney and Sen. John McCain, GOP poll leaders in New Hampshire, stoodready to try to douse Huckabee's ''prairie fire'' in a state that lacks thereligious voting bloc of Iowa and has an ornery tradition of rejectingIowa's Republican caucus winners. ''It will be a different race here,''Romney said Friday.
Obama, the Illinois senator who dashed Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton'sfront-runner status in his convincing Iowa win, was rallying in Portsmouthand Concord. Clinton was being joined in Nashua by her husband, hoping tobecome the family's newest ''Comeback Kid'' in a state that revived BillClinton's run for the Democratic nomination in 1992.
Obama said he saw no reason to revamp his campaign for new realities: ''No,it's not broken, why fix it?''
Huckabee, on the morning talk shows, pitched his tax plan to antitax NewHampshire Republicans and asserted his campaign is about much more than theChristian conservatives who lifted him in Iowa. ''What we're seeing is thatthis campaign is not just about people who have religious fervor,'' he said.''It's about people who love America but want it to be better and believethat change is necessary and it's not going to happen from withinWashington.''
more . . . . .
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Advocate.com
http://www.advocate.com/news_detail_ektid51437.asp
Hate-Crime Amendment Moves to N.J. Senate, Assembly
01/05/08-01/07/08
Legislation to toughen New Jersey's hate-crime and bullying laws advanced inthe state assembly on Thursday, the Southern Voice reports.
The legislation -- which would mandate two hours of anti-bias training forpolice -- would add gender identity and national origin to the list ofclasses already protected against bias-based crimes. Currently, the state'shate-crime law provides protection based on race, color, religion, gender,handicap, ethnicity, and sexual orientation, according to the article.
After the full senate approved the bill, the assembly judiciary committeeadvanced the bill to the full assembly for consideration on Monday, the lastday of the session. Approval in the committee was followed by 45 minutes ofdebate prompted by conservatives who oppose the legislation, according tothe Voice.
The legislation also proposed requiring school districts to amend theirbullying policies and to make that information available to parents onrequest. The state would also establish a commission to evaluate theeffectiveness of anti-bullying programs in schools and train administratorson those issues. (The Advocate)
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From EuroQueer
REPORT BY THE COMMISSIONER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS
MR THOMAS HAMMARBERG
ON HIS VISIT TO UKRAINE
10 - 17 December 2006
4. LGBT
173. The Constitution of Ukraine contains a set of basicanti-discrimination provisions and everyone can appeal to a court onthe basis of the Constitution's provisions (Article 8 of Ukraine'sConstitution). The notion of "sexual orientation" is not to be foundin any Ukrainian legislation. It is essential to bear in mind that inthe Soviet Union homosexuality was regarded as a crime and a seriousmental disorder. Until 1991, Art.122 of the Criminal Code deemednon-violent homosexual sex between adults to be a crime. Ukraine wasone of the first countries to repeal the criminal responsibilityattached to homosexual sexual intercourse. A change in mentality didnot follow this piece of legislation. Labour legislation, in Art. 22of the Labour Code, lists anti-discriminatory factors, but sexualorientation is not mentioned.
174. Nash Svit/Mir, the Ukrainian gay and lesbian NGO met by theCommissioner, conducted a study and came up with the followingresults. Out of 1,200 people polled, 37% think that associations andclubs for sexual minorities should be banned, 21% disagreed entirelywith that stance and 44% had no definite opinion. Nash Svit/Miridentifies certain areas that are more problematic than others.Discrimination is present in those spheres that are most important fora normal standard of living, and especially in relation to employmentand salary, medical services and social protection. Homosexuals whoare employed often experience discrimination in the workplace. At thesame time, the most frequent instances of discrimination theyexperience relate to unequal rights to medical and social services.Among respondents who indicated sexual orientation as grounds fordiscrimination, the spheres of employment and education were named asparticularly problematic.
more....
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"Gambia: President Yahya Jammeh Affirms that Gay or
Homosexualism is Unacceptable in this Country as Long as He Lives"
Author : Gary Stuart
Comment:
I am a frequent to The Gambia and I have to say that this man (Jammeh) isheld in high contempt by both gay and straight people in the country andabroad. Gambians and the Gambian press are too frightened to say anythingabout him because of the very real danger of arrest, imprisonment and evendeath.He has also opened himself up to charges of hypocracy and ridiculesince he has claimed to be able to cure H.I.V. and A.I.D.S, and has become alaughing stock worldwide. He presents a rather pathetic figure comparable tothe worst despots and facists in history because of his absolutedetermination to rule his poverty stricken country with a fist of iron,while having the heart of a devil and hiding behind the skirts of Islam.
If only he had the intelligence to spend his country's meagre income on oads,infrastructure and health, he would be able to capitalise on the tourist industry which was once growing but is now in sad decline. Gambia andGambians are quite wonderful people and itis a crying shame that they are subject to this mans irrational andultimately irrelevant presidency. May he be booted out of office soon sothat The Gambia can get it's smile back and the people can elect a leaderwho is for them, not for himself.
Gary Stuart - London
You can see all comments on this post here:
http://gayswithoutborders.wordpress.com/2007/10/18/gambia-president-yahya-jammeh-affirms-that-gay-or-homosexualism-is-unacceptable-in-this-country-as-long-as-he-lives/#comments
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WashBlade.com
http://www.washblade.com/2008/1-4/news/national/11819.cfm
Kennedy favors '08 Senate vote on ENDA Gay
Leaked HRC memo suggests putting measure on hold until next year
LOU CHIBBARO JR
Friday, January 04, 2008
Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) is expected to push for a Senate vote in2008 on the same gay-only version of the Employment Non-DiscriminationAct that the House of Representatives passed in 2007, a Kennedyspokesperson said this week.
Kennedy stated on the Senate floor on Nov. 8, one day after the Housepassed ENDA by a vote of 235 to 184, that he hoped the Senate wouldfollow suit by passing the employment protection bill in the currentCongress, which lasts through 2008.
But until this week, Kennedy's office had not stated publicly whereKennedy stood on the demands by many gay and transgender organizationsthat Congress should withhold any action on ENDA unless it includesprotection for transgender persons.
"Although Sen. Kennedy strongly supports protections against jobdiscrimination for transgender workers, inaction won't advance justicefor anyone, and will just make it harder to pass any version of ENDAin 2009," said Kennedy spokesperson Melissa Wagoner.
"We will most likely work to move the House-passed bill, rather thanintroducing a separate Senate bill," Wagoner told the Blade by e-mail."Because the same legislation must pass both the House and Senate, nowthat the House has acted, the only realistic way to get a bill to thepresident's desk this Congress is to have the Senate pass the House bill."
Asked if Kennedy thought ENDA could pass the Senate in an electionyear, Wagoner said, "Yes, if enough Republicans support the bill togive us a realistic chance of breaking a filibuster."
Most political observers have predicted Republican senators opposingENDA will stage a filibuster against the legislation, which requires60 votes to break through a parliamentary move known as cloture.Kennedy and Sen. Gordon Smith (R-Ore.), who has joined Kennedy as achief sponsor of ENDA, have said they were hopeful they could line upa bipartisan "super majority" of at least 60 senators to ensure thebill's passage.
more....
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Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org
http://www.dallasvoice.com/artman/publish/article_7678.php
Valdez faces tough race for re-election
By John Wright Staff Writer
Jan 3, 2008, 22:11
Former sheriff Bowles joins Republican field of 4;3 Democrats challenging lesbian sheriff
It's unlikely Texas voters will have a say in determining the 2008Democratic and Republican presidential nominees.
But there will be some important and potentially heated local races on theballot for the March 4 primaries.
Three Democrats filed before the deadline Wednesday, Jan. 2, to run againstincumbent Dallas County Sheriff Lupe Valdez. Four Republicans, includingformer Sheriff Jim Bowles, will be seeking the Republican nomination tobecome the county's top law enforcement officer.
Valdez, Texas' first Latina lesbian sheriff, has come under fire forrepeated failed state inspections of the jail system she oversees. But KirkMcPike, Valdez's campaign manager, said Thursday, Jan. 3, he's confident shecan win a second term.
"We're excited about the race," McPike said. "This is our opportunity totalk about the things the sheriff has accomplished in office, and we lookforward to doing that. ... Nobody wants a primary challenge, but we'recertainly happy to have the chance to start talking about the sheriff'srecord in January instead of having to wait until April."
Valdez faces Peter Schulte, Sam Allen and Roy H. Williams for the Democraticnomination. Bowles, Lowell Cannaday, Catherine Smit and Charlie Richmond arethe Republicans in the race.
Valdez defeated Allen, a veteran law enforcement officer, for the nominationin 2004. Williams is one of Valdez's deputies. Schulte, a former prosecutor,is a member of Stonewall Democrats of Dallas and has appointed openly gayformer city councilman John Loza as his campaign treasurer. Schulte said hesupported Valdez in 2004.
"If I had felt that she was doing a good job running the department, Iwouldn't be running," Schulte said. "But the Democratic Party has to put thebest candidate forward."
The Dallas County Republican Party has made the sheriff's race its No. 1priority in 2008. Republicans held the office for decades prior to Valdez'svictory, which was a precursor to the Democratic sweep of November 2006.
"After they lose all the countywide races again this year, after they losethe sheriff's election, there's going to be very little that Republicans inDallas County can run for, except the county line," McPike said.
more....
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Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org
PageOneQ - Jan 2, 2008
http://pageoneq.com/news/2008/dnclawsuit_010208.html
DNC officials agree to be deposed in discrimination lawsuit
by Nick Langewis
According to documents obtained by PageOneQ, a series of seniorDemocratic National Committee officials have agreed to be deposed in anongoing discrimination lawsuit by former LGBT outreach director DonaldHitchcock. Those to provide sworn testimony include chairman HowardDean, openly gay treasurer Andy Tobias, and Gay and Lesbian LeadershipCouncil executive Director Brian Bond.
The suit charges that a campaign of infighting, discrimination andretaliation led to the illegal firing of Hitchcock after his partner,former Clinton appointee Paul Yandura, criticized the Party for what heclaimed was a lack of support for LGBT causes, especially on the issueof defeating anti-gay ballot measures.
Hitchcock was fired less than a week after Yandura's criticisms becamepublic. According to Hitchcock, the Gay and Lesbian Leadership Council,of which he became the director in June of 2005, was createdspecifically to raise funds from LGBT supporters. The Party, he says,had no interest in being politically involved in LGBT issues otherwise.
The lawsuit charges that Hitchcock was paid less than his counterparts in comparable positions, while never receiving staff support or a budget. According to FEC records, his bi-weekly pay was $2,156, while the other directors were paid $2,508. The suit also says that Hitchcock, before his firing, was held personally responsible by Ms. Yagen for, and threatened over, Mr. Yandura's statements about the Democratic Party. Dean, Tobias and Tagen, Hitchcock charges, began spreading rumors within the Party in an attempt to discredit him, he claimed.
"The DNC does not comment on pending litigation," DNC General CounselJoe Sandler said this morning.
Hitchcock's suit called for monetary damages, leaving the amount to bedetermined by a jury, along with the retraction of public statementsmade by Dean and Tobias directly related to his firing over supposedlypoor job performance. Brian Bond, the executive director of the Gay andLesbian Leadership Council of the DNC, along with and the Council'sboard chair, Claire Lucas, were issued subpoenas at the DNC WinterMeeting last month, and are on the of those who have agreed tovoluntarily be deposed.
more....
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Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org
http://www.lambdalegal.org
How Do Immigration Policies Affect People With or At Risk for HIV?
The national debate over immigration impacts the health of documented andundocumented people in our communities
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
6:30 - 8:30PM
LGBT Community Center - NYC
208 West 13th Street (Between 7th & 8th Avenues),
Free ~ Open to the public ~ Refreshments provided
Since the beginning of the epidemic, HIV positive immigrants have faceddaunting challenges accessing care and treatment. And HIV negativeimmigrants are at particular risk for HIV due to policies that force them toremain largely underground.
The recently revised entry ban on HIV positive travelers adds disturbing newcriteria while upholding many of the cruel provisions of the original ban -an embarrassment to the country, prohibiting the International AIDSConference from ever being held in the US. For 20 years, HIV positiveimmigrants already in the country have been barred from achieving anyrecognized legal status except in extremely limited circumstances. They'vealso been barred from coming to the US to immigrate.
Join us to discuss the challenges facing immigrants in our increasinglyisolationist country - and learn how to take action!
more....
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From long-time Ray's List subscriber M'Lynn Hartwell
Traverse City & Ann Arbor, Michigan
Warm Greetings,
I am excited about the wonderful year 2008 promises to become! I have beeninvited by Ma. Leah L. Letrero (MICAD, NEDA Regional Office VI) as anAmbassador from Michigan (and the United States), to participate in aspeaking tour in the Philippines. I will be speaking as a Human Rights andEnvironmental Advocate.
Each presentation will be targeted to a specific audience demographic(Philippine government, university, and environmental advocacyorganizations). Each presentation will focus on the impacts of "GlobalClimate Change". Each presentations will provide an overview of the growingglobal Peak Oil challenge, and how we must redefine our fuel and energyproduction options to meet the needs of the world we are living in. Mypartner and data analyst / research specialist and I have been invited toprovide presentations before three groups, as well as two televisionappearances, and the opportunity to meet and greet each of the PhilippineProvincial Mayors (If you have an interest in viewing the entire itinerary,ask, and I will email it to you).
An invitation from the Philippine government to speak before policy makersis a tremendous honor for me, and it is a deeply appreciated affirmation ofthe environmental and human rights advocacy work I have been engaged in formost of my adult life.
I believe that you will agree that it is important to make the most out ofthis opportunity, and to share all I have learned in the Philippines upon myreturn to the United States.
To accomplish this, I will need to extend my itinerary (research anddiscovery time) in the Philippines. Additional funding will be necessary inorder for us to meet this objective, and this is where your interest in thisopportunity becomes important. My goal is to privately raise an additional$7,500 in sponsorship pledges from individuals, business entities, andorganizations.
You may telephone me at (231) 943-5050 or (231) 943-4000 - email: mlynn@traversearea.com
Below you may read the introduction to the first symposium.
Thank you in advance for your kindness and consideration in supporting thisinternational exchange of information about a subject that affects us all.
All the best,
M'Lynn Hartwell
more....
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Gay & Lesbian Leadership
SmartBrier
http://www.smartbrief.com/index.jsp
Go to the website, above, for the following articles:
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All eyes on the Granite State as Dems court LGBT vote
Top Democratic candidates are fielding teams of paid staffers and volunteersto court LGBT support through small, private meetings and fundraisers; phonebanks; and extensive distribution of fliers in gay-friendly bars,restaurants and bookstores. National groups, including HRC and StonewallDemocrats, also are lending their organizational support and helping withthe LGBT get-out-the-vote effort, according to this article. Windy CityTimes (Chicago) (1/3)
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Gay-only ENDA has Kennedy's backing for vote this year
U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., this year will seek to win passage of thegay-only Employment Non-Discrimination Act, which cleared the House latelast year, according to a spokeswoman. In other ENDA-related news, a HumanRights Campaign spokesman is saying a leaked internal memo setting forth atimetable for ENDA passage in 2009 was a draft and not the organization'sfinal position on the measure. Washington Blade (1/4)
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Marriage, LGBT rights on Maryland Legislature's agenda
Maryland lawmakers' new session will include several major LGBT items,notably hot-button measures both to make legal the marriages of "two people"and to ban marriages between couples of the same-sex. Also on the agenda arebills to prohibit transgender discrimination, eliminate a real-estatetransfer tax for same-sex couples, provide partners with an exemption fromthe inheritance tax and grant partners rights for hospital visitation andmedical decisions. Washington Blade (1/4)
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Aussie gay couples who split may gain similar rights as wedded ones
Gay and unmarried straight couples in Australia could gain the same rightsas their married counterparts to use the country's Family Court to divide uptheir joint property, under a new proposal under review by the federalattorney-general. The Australian (1/3)
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Arizona governor's DP benefits plan draws mixed response
Groups are lining up in favor of and against Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano'splan to grant by executive rule change domestic-partner benefits for stateworkers. University of Arizona President Robert Shelton, the NationalOrganization for Women, Planned Parenthood and Equality Arizona are amongthose favoring the plan, which is open for public comment; the Center forArizona Policy, Alliance Defense Fund and other conservative groups opposeit, according to this article. American City Business Journals/Phoenix (1/3)
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Learn to run a winning campaign!
The Gay & Lesbian Leadership Institute is bringing its renowned Candidate &Campaign Training to Charlotte, NC. Join us Feb. 21 to 24 to learn how tobuild a winning campaign. Whether you're running as openly LGBT or workingon a campaign, our training will provide you with the tools you need forsuccess. Click here to learn more and apply by Jan. 28.
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Civil unions are step in right direction
While The Boston Globe still finds civil unions to be an "inadequatesubstitute" for equal marriage rights, the paper views the legalization ofcivil unions in New Hampshire and other states as a step in the rightdirection. Although no other state besides Massachusetts offers marriageequality, "it is still gratifying to see that in New England, the regionwith the most experience in granting rights to same-sex couples, anotherstate has recognized the profound unfairness in withholding those rights,"the Globe writes. The Boston Globe (1/3)
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Sullivan sees Obama's appeal despite political differences
Although the libertarianism of presidential contender Ron Paul is a morenatural fit with his views, the "urban liberal" candidacy of Barack Obamaalso appeals to Andrew Sullivan in large part because, after two terms of"big government Christianism," he says he can learn to live with "unifyingliberalism." Read more at The Daily Dish.
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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:
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There is a myth that marriage has more rights than civil unions/domesticpartners. That myth is born from the fact that civil unions/domesticpartners have only been passed by states which have no power to grant the1138 federal benefits of marriage. However, a federal civil unions policywould. Senators Clinton, Obama, Edwards, Dodd & Biden support a federalcivil unions policy. 48 million votes cast in 29 states, 32 million againstsame sex marriage, we lost 2 to 1. Civil Unions are achievable, same-sexmarriage is not. Federal Civil Unions = Marriage Equality.
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Dealing a second appellate defeat to John Langan in his quest forcompensation for the loss of his partner, a five-member panel of New York'sAppellate Division, 3rd Department, based in Albany, ruled on December 27that Langan, a surviving partner of a Vermont civil union, is not a "spouse"within the meaning of the state's Workers' Compensation Law. This upheld adetermination by the Workers' Compensation Board to deny a survivor'sbenefit to Langan after the death of his spouse, Neal Conrad Spicehandler,as a result of injuries incurred on the job.
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National Gay News
http://nationalgaynews.com/
Go to the website, above, for the following articles:
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N.H. Inns Prepare for Civil Union Guests
If the rainbow-painted deck chairs, fluttering rainbow flag and purpleshutters don't make it clear, the Highlands Inn's toll-free number,877-LES-B-INN, leaves no doubt as to whom this White Mountains resort catersto.
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Majority of Gay Men Unaware HSV-1 Can Spread
Results of a new survey released at the first-ever national GBLT healthconference, Out and Healthy, sponsored by the Human Rights Campaign (HRC)and the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC) provides newinsights into the HSV-1 cold sore virus, including information ontransmission awareness around the virus as well as the external triggers ofcold sore outbreaks.
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GLAF Supports Acceptance for All
This fall, Mac Chisaboon fielded an anguished e-mail sent to the Gay &Lesbian Athletics Foundation www.glaf.org. As founder of the organization,which promotes the visibility and acceptance of GLBT athletes at theprofessional, amateur, and recreational levels, he was used to queries fromcloseted players. But this was different.
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Openly Gay Houston City Council Member Voted in as Vice Mayor
Openly gay Houston city council member Sue Lovell was nominated andunanimously voted by her fellow council members to serve as Houston's vicemayor pro-tem on January 2, according to a press release from Lovell's chiefof staff.
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GLAAD Identifies Worst Anti-Gay Defamation of 2007
The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) today identifiedseveral of the worst anti-gay voices in 2007. GLAAD worked diligentlybehind-the-scenes and publicly to address the anti-gay rhetoric from thesepublic figures.
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Students Continue to Fight Blood Donor Ban Against Gay Men
Student groups are pressing Canadian Blood Services to end the agency'sblood donor ban on sexually active gay men, despite the agency's 2007decision to stick with the status quo.Canadian Federation of Studentsspokeswoman Amanda Aziz said the policy is outdated, discriminatory andneeds to be changed."I think that it's a form of institutionalizeddiscrimination," said Aziz, the federation's national chairperson.
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A Gay Old Time Skiing Canada
Margaret from Seattle just couldn't contain herself. The valley was deep,the mountain high, the sky blue and the powder deep. And the run was calledRhapsody. She lifted her poles and yelled "God loves gays" into the void.
Her joy was so ridiculously infectious that even nearby atheists andheterosexuals giggled wildly. The brilliant sunshine and perfect snow was agift for everyone. But the fact that it came on the last day of gay ski weekafter some patchy conditions did seem like our special bonus.
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Fired Transsexual City Manager Applies For Islamorada Job
The former Largo city manager fired after his sex change plans were madepublic wants to be Islamorada's next village manager.Susan Stanton was knownas Steve Stanton throughout her 14-year tenure as Largo's manager.
=
[Send your comments about articles to Rays.List@Comcast.net]
#####
Saturday, January 05, 2008
NATIONAL & WORLD DIGEST January 5, 2008
**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.
=
NYTimes.com
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/05/us/politics/05huckabee.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print
Huckabee Moves to New Hampshire, With Tweaks to His Message
By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK
January 5, 2008
HENNIKER, N.H. - Fresh from his victory in the Iowa caucuses, Mike Huckabeehas to be considered a serious contender for the Republican presidentialnomination. But that has not sobered up his distinctive BibleBelt-meets-Borscht Belt act on the stump.
After arriving in New Hampshire by chartered jets late Thursday night, mostof the presidential contenders rose early to hit the trail. Not Mr.Huckabee. He gave morning interviews to no fewer than seven televisionnetworks, continuing his strategy of capitalizing on his folksy charm andself-deprecating wit to compensate for the fact that his shoestring campaigncannot afford much advertising.
And at his first face-to-face event with voters, at 4 p.m., he warmed up thecrowd by playing bass guitar with a local rock band ("In the Midnight Hour,""Mustang Sally") and introduced his campaign sidekick, the actor ChuckNorris.
"If you elect me, what about Chuck Norris for secretary of defense?" Mr.Huckabee said, pledging to build up a military so formidable it would be"Chuck Norris approved."
With almost no field organization and only about $2 million in the bank asof last week, the Huckabee campaign has relied on such sideshows as aninexpensive way to drum up the kind of crowds that other campaigns rely ontheir staff to turn out. (Mr. Huckabee's rally was interrupted periodicallyby shouts of "Chuck! Chuck! Chuck!" from a group of teenage fans in thecrowd.)
more . . . . .
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WashingtonPost.com
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/03/AR2008010303758_pf.html
Ready For 2028?
Never Mind This Year's Election. Meet Six Locals Who Might Be Ready To Runfor the White House Two Decades From Now.
By Dan Zak
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, January 6, 2008; N01
It's an election year, and we're trying to get ahead of ourselves. No pollor blog is current enough. Even a live feed seems passe. The media arescrambling to pluck today's scoop from tomorrow.
Let's take a s tep back by taking a bigger step forward. Behold the firstsnippet of coverage of Election 2028. It's a political cycle that could makeor break us as a human race, so someone should start reporting on it.
Where will we be in 20 years? The Arctic may be ice-free during the summer.The world population will crack 8 billion. It'll be the 25th anniversary ofthe invasion of Iraq and the 100th birthday of Mickey Mouse.
And we'll be reaching our "global crisis of maturity," the point at whichour world system (or lack thereof) must be transformed to wrangle a morepopulous, industrialized and inte lligent world facing risks withcataclysmic consequences. So says William Halal, creator of the virtualthink tank TechCast ( http://www.techcast.org) and professor emeritus ofscience, technology and innovation at George Washington University.
"These dilemmas of environment and globalization and conflict are going toreach crisis proportions by 2030," Halal says, "but the power to resolvethese existential issues is going to appear at roughly that same time. Theincrease in knowledge, the awareness of the need for a shift in globalconsciousness, the high technology -- all that stuff will be in place."
more . . . . .
=
New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/05/opinion/05sat1.html?_r=1&ref=opinion&oref=slogin
Editorial: The Political Road Ahead
January 5, 2008
It is dangerous to draw too many conclusions from the Iowa caucuses - atelegenic display of activism by a tiny slice of Americans. No winner ofcontested Iowa caucuses has then gone on to win the White House.
Still some powerful political currents were on display in Iowa, startingwith a yearning for change and inspirational leadership among Democrats.Senator Barack Obama positively soaked it up, growing steadily moreconfident and powerful in his oratory. Senator Hillary Clinton's events weremore like required-attendance lectures than rallying points for a politicalmovement.
Republicans, too, talked about change, but mostly it was changing theirassociation with President Bush. His name was hardly mentioned in Iowa,except by a dozen or so Republicans at a caucus we attended who explainedwhy they had turned out for Mr. Obama.
The big question is whether these political currents remain charged as thecampaign moves through New Hampshire, and into more populous and complexstates.
In Iowa, Mr. Obama erased the gender gap, doing better than Mrs. Clintonamong men and women, and replaced it with something we'll call the post-babyboomer effect. On caucus night, there was a very strong showing by men andwomen under 45, not just the expected 18-to-25-year-olds. Half supported Mr.Obama, a huge show of force in a multiple-candidate race.
more . . . . .
=
New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/05/opinion/05herbert.html?ref=opinion
Op-Ed Columnist: The Obama Phenomenon
By BOB HERBERT
Manchester, N.H.
January 5, 2008
The historians can put aside their reference material. This is new. Americahas never seen anything like the Barack Obama phenomenon.
I was surprised all day Thursday, before the results of the Iowa caucuseswere in, by the apparent serenity of the Obama forces here in New Hampshire.The stakes were enormous, but the campaign staff members and volunteersseemed as cool as the candidate.
The students, veterans, middle-aged moms, retirees and others workingsteadily to make Barack Obama president seemed to accept as fact that thecountry is ready for profound change and that their job is to help make ithappen.
"We've been busy knocking on doors, making phone calls, inputting data andbasically just spreading hope," said Kathryn Teague, a 19-year-old who hastaken a year off from Keene State College to work in the campaign.
There is no longer any doubt that the Obama phenomenon is real. Mr. Obama'smessage of hope, healing and change, discounted as fanciful and naïve byskeptics, drew Iowans into the frigid night air by the tens of thousands onThursday to stand with a man who is not just running for president, buttrying to build a new type of political movement.
more . . . . .
=
New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/05/opinion/05collins.html?ref=opinion
Op-Ed Columnist: What Would Hillary Rodham Do?
By GAIL COLLINS
Des Moines
January 5, 2008
What does Hillary Clinton stand for, if not the spirit of We Can Get ThroughThis?
There she was, taking leave of Iowa at a deeply, deeply depressingpost-caucus party Thursday night. On stage, her posse was lookingdeterminedly cheerful, like heroic musketeers before the firing squad: theLos Angeles mayor (Latino), the New York lieutenant governor (black),Madeleine Albright (female) and Terry McAuliffe (white-man money), alongwith two extremely photogenic little girls and a huge mass of unionofficials.
Hillary, looking remarkably perky, and Bill, looking remarkably pink, turnedtheir game faces to the cameras.
"This is a great night for Democrats," the front-runner who came in thirdannounced firmly. "Together, we have presented the case for change and havemade it absolutely clear that America needs a new beginning."
Meanwhile, over on the happy side of town, Barack Obama was telling hisecstatic supporters that they would "be able to look back with pride and saythis was the moment when it all began."
more . . . . .
=
New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/05/opinion/05sat4.html?ref=opinion
Editorial: Juvenile Detention Trap
January 5, 2008
One way to lessen the chance that troubled young people grow up to befull-fledged criminals is to send them to community-based counseling andprobation programs instead of to detention centers where they are oftentraumatized and inducted into a life of crime. The community-based programsare less expensive than detention and more effective when it comes tocutting recidivism. But states and localities are often hampered by policiesthat provide perverse financial incentives for sending young people to thelockup.
That's the case in New York City, which is struggling to remake its juvenilejustice system. Detaining one youth for a year costs city taxpayers$200,000 - many times what it costs to care for troubled children incommunity-based programs. Unfortunately, the system encourages officials tochoose detention for juveniles. The state reimburses the city 50 percent ofthe cost of pretrial detention, but pays nothing for community-basedalternative programs that can make all the difference in getting troubledyoung people back on track.
Another serious problem, according to a recent study by the city'sIndependent Budget Office, is that the juvenile courts close at 5 p.m. andaren't open on weekends. Police officers who arrest young people at thosetimes usually have no option but to send them directly to detention untilthe courts open. In some cases, the process can take several days. That'soutrageous - especially since statistics show that once young people do makeit to court, two-thirds are defined as low-risk suspects and are released totheir parents pending trial. It would never be tolerated in the adult systemwhere the law requires that suspects be swiftly arraigned.
Thanks to innovative policies, New York City has begun to reduce the numberof low-level young offenders who are sent to state-run detention facilities.Many are now diverted to community-based programs where they can receivemental health and counseling services. That's a good thing, since more than80 percent of young men who are sentenced to detention facilities end uparrested again within three years.
=
New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/05/us/politics/05repubs.html?hp
McCain May Benefit From Huckabee's Jolt to G.O.P.
By ADAM NAGOURNEY and CARL HULSE
January 5, 2008
MANCHESTER, N.H. - Mike Huckabee's defeat of Mitt Romney in the Iowacaucuses jolted a Republican Party establishment already distressed aboutthe state of its presidential field.
But out of the turmoil may rise yet another opportunity for Senator JohnMcCain of Arizona, whose candidacy all but collapsed last year.
If only by default, Mr. McCain is getting yet another look and appears to bein a strong position competing against a weakened Mr. Romney in the NewHampshire primary on Tuesday.
Mr. McCain is the latest beneficiary of the continuing upheaval in theRepublican field that has seen nearly all of the candidates rising atvarious points. Among them were Mr. McCain, former Senator Fred D. Thompsonof Tennessee and Rudolph W. Giuliani, a former mayor of New York.
Mr. Romney's defeat in Iowa only underlined concerns that many Republicanshad expressed about him, while the success of Mr. Huckabee, a formergovernor of Arkansas, gave rise to new worries among the Republicanestablishment.
more . . . . .
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New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/05/washington/05aids.html?hp
In Global Battle on AIDS, Bush Creates Legacy
By SHERYL GAY STOLBERG
January 5, 2008
WASHINGTON - Dr. Jean W. Pape did not know what to expect in early January2003, when he slipped away from his work treating AIDS patients in Haiti andflew to Washington for a secret meeting with President Bush.
Mr. Bush was considering devoting billions to combat global AIDS, a publichealth initiative unparalleled in size and scope. The deliberations had beentightly carried out; even the health secretary was left out early on. IfPresident Bush was going to shock the world - and skeptical Republicans -with a huge expenditure of American cash to send expensive drugs overseas,he wanted it to be well spent.
"He said, 'I will hold you accountable, because this is a big move, this isan important thing that I've been thinking about for a long time,'" recalledDr. Pape, one of several international AIDS experts Mr. Bush consulted. "Weindicated to him that our arms are totally broken as physicians, knowingthat there are things we could do if we had the drugs."
Nearly five years later, the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief -Pepfar, for short - may be the most lasting bipartisan accomplishment of theBush presidency.
With a year left in office, Mr. Bush confronts an America bitterly splitover the war in Iraq. His domestic achievements, the tax cuts and educationreform, are not fully embraced by Democrats, and his second-term legislativeagenda - revamping Social Security and immigration policy - lies in ruins.
more . . . . .
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New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/05/us/politics/05race.html?hp
Daring to Believe, Blacks Savor Obama Victory
By DIANE CARDWELL
January 5, 2008
For Sadou Brown in a Los Angeles suburb, the decisive victory of SenatorBarack Obama in Iowa was a moment to show his 14-year-old son what ispossible.
For Mike Duncan in Maryland, it was a sign that Americans were moving beyondrigid thinking about race.
For Milton Washington in Harlem, it looked like the beginning of somethinghe never thought that he would see. "It was like, 'Oh, my God, we're on thecusp of something big about to happen,' " Mr. Washington said.
How Mr. Obama's early triumph will play out in the presidential contestremains to be seen, and his support among blacks is hardly monolithic.
But in dozens of interviews on Friday from suburbs of Houston to townsoutside Chicago and rural byways near Birmingham, Ala., African-Americansvoiced pride and amazement over his victory on Thursday and the message itsent, even if they were not planning to vote for him or were skeptical thathe could win in November.
more . . . . .
=
New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/05/us/politics/05huckabee.html
Huckabee Moves to New Hampshire, With Tweaks to His Message
By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK
January 5, 2008
HENNIKER, N.H. - Fresh from his victory in the Iowa caucuses, Mike Huckabeehas to be considered a serious contender for the Republican presidentialnomination. But that has not sobered up his distinctive BibleBelt-meets-Borscht Belt act on the stump.
After arriving in New Hampshire by chartered jets late Thursday night, mostof the presidential contenders rose early to hit the trail. Not Mr.Huckabee. He gave morning interviews to no fewer than seven televisionnetworks, continuing his strategy of capitalizing on his folksy charm andself-deprecating wit to compensate for the fact that his shoestring campaigncannot afford much advertising.
And at his first face-to-face event with voters, at 4 p.m., he warmed up thecrowd by playing bass guitar with a local rock band ("In the Midnight Hour,""Mustang Sally") and introduced his campaign sidekick, the actor ChuckNorris.
"If you elect me, what about Chuck Norris for secretary of defense?" Mr.Huckabee said, pledging to build up a military so formidable it would be"Chuck Norris approved."
With almost no field organization and only about $2 million in the bank asof last week, the Huckabee campaign has relied on such sideshows as aninexpensive way to drum up the kind of crowds that other campaigns rely ontheir staff to turn out. (Mr. Huckabee's rally was interrupted periodicallyby shouts of "Chuck! Chuck! Chuck!" from a group of teenage fans in thecrowd.)
more . . . . .
=
New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/05/science/space/05scope.html
Donors Bring Big Telescope a Step Closer
By DENNIS OVERBYE
January 5, 2008
A project to build a digital camera of cosmic dimensions on a mountaintop inChile has received a $30 million boost from a pair of software moguls andphilanthropists.
Charles Simonyi, formerly of Microsoft and now chief executive ofIntentional Software, said Thursday that he would contribute $20 million tothe project, known as the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope, or L.S.S.T. BillGates, founder of Microsoft, agreed to give $10 million.
When completed in 2014, the telescope - 330 inches in diameter and armedwith a three-billion-pixel detector - will survey the entire night skyvisible from its intended perch on Cerro Pachón in northern Chile once everythree nights, allowing astronomers to monitor changes in stars and themotions of asteroids and everything else that moves in the sky. It will alsoallow researchers to map dark matter and the effects of the mysterious darkenergy that is speeding the universe's expansion.
"It'll be a form of celestial cinematography, the biggest movie ever," saidJ. Anthony Tyson of the University of California, Davis, a physicist wholeads a multinational team of 22 universities, observatories and otherinstitutions, including Google, planning to build the telescope.
The resulting data, amounting to 30 terabytes each night - slightly lessthan half the information content of the Library of Congress - will beimmediately available to the astronomical community and the public, Dr.Tyson said, allowing anybody who is interested to "mine the sky."
more . . . . .
=
New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/04/health/04aggression.html
Drugs Offer No Benefit in Curbing Aggression, Study Finds
By BENEDICT CAREY
January 4, 2008
The drugs most widely used to manage aggressive outbursts in intellectuallydisabled people are no more effective than placebos for most patients andmay be less so, researchers report.
The finding, being published Friday, sharply challenges standard medicalpractice in mental health clinics and nursing homes in the United States andaround the world.
In recent years, many doctors have begun to use the so-called antipsychoticdrugs, which were developed to treat schizophrenia, as all-purposetranquilizers to settle threatening behavior - in children withattention-deficit problems, college students with depression, older peoplewith Alzheimer's disease and intellectually handicapped people.
The new study tracked 86 adults with low I.Q.'s in community housing inEngland, Wales and Australia over more than a month of treatment. It found a79 percent reduction in aggressive behavior among those taking dummy pills,compared with a reduction of 65 percent or less in those takingantipsychotic drugs.
The researchers focused on two drugs, Risperdal by Janssen, and an olderdrug, Haldol, but said the findings almost certainly applied to all similarmedications. Such drugs account for more than $10 billion in annual sales,and research suggests that at least half of all prescriptions are forunapproved "off label" uses - often to treat aggression or irritation.
more . . . . .
=
Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/04/AR2008010403512.html?hpid=sec-world
Modern Party, Polygamist Tradition Clash in S. Africa
By Craig Timberg
Washington Post Foreign Service
Saturday, January 5, 2008; A12
JOHANNESBURG, Jan. 4 -- Within the Zulu culture of Jacob Zuma, the newlyelected president of the African National Congress, few moments in a man'slife are more celebrated than taking a wife -- even if he already hasothers.
But news of Zuma's plans to marry a longtime girlfriend this weekend --marking, by most counts, his sixth wedding -- sent waves of unease Fridaythrough this polyglot nation where progressive notions of women's rightsclash with deeply held convictions about respecting South Africa's variedcultural traditions.
The development appeared particularly awkward for the ANC, which over nearlya century has cast itself as a force not just of liberation but also ofsocial modernization. South Africa's dominant political party hastraditionally been led by mostly erudite, professional men who, with fewexceptions, did not have several wives at the same time.
Set against that tradition, Zuma is a new kind of party leader, especiallyfollowing Thabo Mbeki, a cerebral, pipe-smoking economist who remainspresident of the nation. Zuma, 65, is a former guerrilla with no formaleducation and a personal theme song, "Bring Me My Machine Gun," that evokesthe party's history of armed struggle rather than its more recent emphasison the unglamorous work of reconciliation.
As a polygamist with a reported 16 children -- as well as a former rapedefendant acquitted in 2006 -- Zuma has alienated many South African women,and his personal life threatens to tarnish the party's image as a championof gender equality. The wedding, scheduled for Saturday, would bring thenumber of his current wives to four, news reports say.
more . . . . .
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Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/04/AR2008010403233.html?hpid=sec-politics
Obama's Win in Iowa Shakes Up Labor
By JESSE J. HOLLAND
The Associated Press
Saturday, January 5, 2008; 12:26 AM
WASHINGTON -- Despite racking up almost all of the endorsements fromorganized labor, Hillary Rodham Clinton and John Edwards came in behindBarack Obama _ the only Democratic front-runner with no national unionsupport _ in the Iowa caucuses. That left at least one union looking for anew candidate Friday.
International Association of Fire Fighters President Howard Schaitbergercalled the support for Obama "breathtaking," after seeing his union'scandidate, Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., falter in Iowa and drop out ofthe race. Despite the money and the manpower organized labor shifted to Iowafor Clinton, Edwards and Dodd _ one union ran television ads for Clintonwhile another shifted workers in-state to stump for Edwards _ Obama stillwon convincingly.
"The tsunami was far greater than we could attempt to hold off,"Schaitberger said.
Schaitberger said he talked personally with both Obama and Clinton onFriday. But the firefighters would not immediately endorse, he said."Sometime after March, we will begin to reevaluate the remainingcandidates," Schaitberger said.
Union support is supposed to be key to winning the Democratic presidentialprimary, with their money and foot soldiers playing key roles in the earlyvoting states. For example, the political arm of the American Federation ofState, County and Municipal Employees, which has endorsed Clinton, spent atleast $250,000 to air television ads in Iowa urging her victory.
more . . . . .
=
Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/04/AR2008010403528.html?hpid=sec-education
Okla. Bills Target Religious Discrimination Against Students
Associated Press
Saturday, January 5, 2008; B09
OKLAHOMA CITY -- Two state lawmakers have introduced similar measuresdesigned to protect students from religious discrimination.
But critics say no such protections are needed.
Reps. Mike Reynolds and Sally Kern, Republicans from Oklahoma City, haveintroduced nearly identical bills for the upcoming session called theReligious Viewpoints Antidiscrimination Act.
The legislation would require that an expression by a student of a religious viewpoint be treated in the same way as an expression of any secularviewpoint. Both measures would prohibit school districts from discriminatingagainst students based on religious viewpoints and would require everydistrict in the state to adopt a written policy to prohibit suchdiscrimination.
"Oklahoma families need to know their children will not be persecuted forexercising their constitutional rights and expressing religious beliefs atschool," Reynolds said.
more . . . . .
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Sun-Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/features/health/chi-lowlake_03jan03,0,7237968.story
Lake Michigan monthly averages nearing record lows
By James Janega
January 3, 2008
For a couple of days last week, Lake Michigan dropped beneath its recordmonthly low, heightening concerns about lower water levels in the GreatLakes.
The readings lasted only a few days and do not amount to a new record, whichcan only be set by monthly averages, but forecasts suggest it could beofficial by the end of January if expected rains and snowfall do notdeliver.
"This is the closest we've been to the record low line in a while," saidCynthia Sellinger, deputy director of Great Lakes Environmental ResearchLaboratory in Ann Arbor, which is run by the National Oceanic andAtmospheric Administration. "Lake Michigan has been dropping continuouslysince 1997, and it's finally approaching the record lows."
After briefly dropping below its record monthly low of 576 feet above sealevel (set in March 1964), Lake Michigan water levels recovered slightly tostart 2008 at 576.3 feet. But the water is still 13 inches below where itwas a year ago and more than 2 feet below the normal average for December.
This could be the year Lake Michigan sets a new record, lakes researcherssay.
more . . . . .
=
[Send your comments about articles to Rays.List@Comcast.net]
#####
=
NYTimes.com
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/05/us/politics/05huckabee.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print
Huckabee Moves to New Hampshire, With Tweaks to His Message
By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK
January 5, 2008
HENNIKER, N.H. - Fresh from his victory in the Iowa caucuses, Mike Huckabeehas to be considered a serious contender for the Republican presidentialnomination. But that has not sobered up his distinctive BibleBelt-meets-Borscht Belt act on the stump.
After arriving in New Hampshire by chartered jets late Thursday night, mostof the presidential contenders rose early to hit the trail. Not Mr.Huckabee. He gave morning interviews to no fewer than seven televisionnetworks, continuing his strategy of capitalizing on his folksy charm andself-deprecating wit to compensate for the fact that his shoestring campaigncannot afford much advertising.
And at his first face-to-face event with voters, at 4 p.m., he warmed up thecrowd by playing bass guitar with a local rock band ("In the Midnight Hour,""Mustang Sally") and introduced his campaign sidekick, the actor ChuckNorris.
"If you elect me, what about Chuck Norris for secretary of defense?" Mr.Huckabee said, pledging to build up a military so formidable it would be"Chuck Norris approved."
With almost no field organization and only about $2 million in the bank asof last week, the Huckabee campaign has relied on such sideshows as aninexpensive way to drum up the kind of crowds that other campaigns rely ontheir staff to turn out. (Mr. Huckabee's rally was interrupted periodicallyby shouts of "Chuck! Chuck! Chuck!" from a group of teenage fans in thecrowd.)
more . . . . .
=
WashingtonPost.com
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/03/AR2008010303758_pf.html
Ready For 2028?
Never Mind This Year's Election. Meet Six Locals Who Might Be Ready To Runfor the White House Two Decades From Now.
By Dan Zak
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, January 6, 2008; N01
It's an election year, and we're trying to get ahead of ourselves. No pollor blog is current enough. Even a live feed seems passe. The media arescrambling to pluck today's scoop from tomorrow.
Let's take a s tep back by taking a bigger step forward. Behold the firstsnippet of coverage of Election 2028. It's a political cycle that could makeor break us as a human race, so someone should start reporting on it.
Where will we be in 20 years? The Arctic may be ice-free during the summer.The world population will crack 8 billion. It'll be the 25th anniversary ofthe invasion of Iraq and the 100th birthday of Mickey Mouse.
And we'll be reaching our "global crisis of maturity," the point at whichour world system (or lack thereof) must be transformed to wrangle a morepopulous, industrialized and inte lligent world facing risks withcataclysmic consequences. So says William Halal, creator of the virtualthink tank TechCast ( http://www.techcast.org) and professor emeritus ofscience, technology and innovation at George Washington University.
"These dilemmas of environment and globalization and conflict are going toreach crisis proportions by 2030," Halal says, "but the power to resolvethese existential issues is going to appear at roughly that same time. Theincrease in knowledge, the awareness of the need for a shift in globalconsciousness, the high technology -- all that stuff will be in place."
more . . . . .
=
New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/05/opinion/05sat1.html?_r=1&ref=opinion&oref=slogin
Editorial: The Political Road Ahead
January 5, 2008
It is dangerous to draw too many conclusions from the Iowa caucuses - atelegenic display of activism by a tiny slice of Americans. No winner ofcontested Iowa caucuses has then gone on to win the White House.
Still some powerful political currents were on display in Iowa, startingwith a yearning for change and inspirational leadership among Democrats.Senator Barack Obama positively soaked it up, growing steadily moreconfident and powerful in his oratory. Senator Hillary Clinton's events weremore like required-attendance lectures than rallying points for a politicalmovement.
Republicans, too, talked about change, but mostly it was changing theirassociation with President Bush. His name was hardly mentioned in Iowa,except by a dozen or so Republicans at a caucus we attended who explainedwhy they had turned out for Mr. Obama.
The big question is whether these political currents remain charged as thecampaign moves through New Hampshire, and into more populous and complexstates.
In Iowa, Mr. Obama erased the gender gap, doing better than Mrs. Clintonamong men and women, and replaced it with something we'll call the post-babyboomer effect. On caucus night, there was a very strong showing by men andwomen under 45, not just the expected 18-to-25-year-olds. Half supported Mr.Obama, a huge show of force in a multiple-candidate race.
more . . . . .
=
New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/05/opinion/05herbert.html?ref=opinion
Op-Ed Columnist: The Obama Phenomenon
By BOB HERBERT
Manchester, N.H.
January 5, 2008
The historians can put aside their reference material. This is new. Americahas never seen anything like the Barack Obama phenomenon.
I was surprised all day Thursday, before the results of the Iowa caucuseswere in, by the apparent serenity of the Obama forces here in New Hampshire.The stakes were enormous, but the campaign staff members and volunteersseemed as cool as the candidate.
The students, veterans, middle-aged moms, retirees and others workingsteadily to make Barack Obama president seemed to accept as fact that thecountry is ready for profound change and that their job is to help make ithappen.
"We've been busy knocking on doors, making phone calls, inputting data andbasically just spreading hope," said Kathryn Teague, a 19-year-old who hastaken a year off from Keene State College to work in the campaign.
There is no longer any doubt that the Obama phenomenon is real. Mr. Obama'smessage of hope, healing and change, discounted as fanciful and naïve byskeptics, drew Iowans into the frigid night air by the tens of thousands onThursday to stand with a man who is not just running for president, buttrying to build a new type of political movement.
more . . . . .
=
New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/05/opinion/05collins.html?ref=opinion
Op-Ed Columnist: What Would Hillary Rodham Do?
By GAIL COLLINS
Des Moines
January 5, 2008
What does Hillary Clinton stand for, if not the spirit of We Can Get ThroughThis?
There she was, taking leave of Iowa at a deeply, deeply depressingpost-caucus party Thursday night. On stage, her posse was lookingdeterminedly cheerful, like heroic musketeers before the firing squad: theLos Angeles mayor (Latino), the New York lieutenant governor (black),Madeleine Albright (female) and Terry McAuliffe (white-man money), alongwith two extremely photogenic little girls and a huge mass of unionofficials.
Hillary, looking remarkably perky, and Bill, looking remarkably pink, turnedtheir game faces to the cameras.
"This is a great night for Democrats," the front-runner who came in thirdannounced firmly. "Together, we have presented the case for change and havemade it absolutely clear that America needs a new beginning."
Meanwhile, over on the happy side of town, Barack Obama was telling hisecstatic supporters that they would "be able to look back with pride and saythis was the moment when it all began."
more . . . . .
=
New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/05/opinion/05sat4.html?ref=opinion
Editorial: Juvenile Detention Trap
January 5, 2008
One way to lessen the chance that troubled young people grow up to befull-fledged criminals is to send them to community-based counseling andprobation programs instead of to detention centers where they are oftentraumatized and inducted into a life of crime. The community-based programsare less expensive than detention and more effective when it comes tocutting recidivism. But states and localities are often hampered by policiesthat provide perverse financial incentives for sending young people to thelockup.
That's the case in New York City, which is struggling to remake its juvenilejustice system. Detaining one youth for a year costs city taxpayers$200,000 - many times what it costs to care for troubled children incommunity-based programs. Unfortunately, the system encourages officials tochoose detention for juveniles. The state reimburses the city 50 percent ofthe cost of pretrial detention, but pays nothing for community-basedalternative programs that can make all the difference in getting troubledyoung people back on track.
Another serious problem, according to a recent study by the city'sIndependent Budget Office, is that the juvenile courts close at 5 p.m. andaren't open on weekends. Police officers who arrest young people at thosetimes usually have no option but to send them directly to detention untilthe courts open. In some cases, the process can take several days. That'soutrageous - especially since statistics show that once young people do makeit to court, two-thirds are defined as low-risk suspects and are released totheir parents pending trial. It would never be tolerated in the adult systemwhere the law requires that suspects be swiftly arraigned.
Thanks to innovative policies, New York City has begun to reduce the numberof low-level young offenders who are sent to state-run detention facilities.Many are now diverted to community-based programs where they can receivemental health and counseling services. That's a good thing, since more than80 percent of young men who are sentenced to detention facilities end uparrested again within three years.
=
New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/05/us/politics/05repubs.html?hp
McCain May Benefit From Huckabee's Jolt to G.O.P.
By ADAM NAGOURNEY and CARL HULSE
January 5, 2008
MANCHESTER, N.H. - Mike Huckabee's defeat of Mitt Romney in the Iowacaucuses jolted a Republican Party establishment already distressed aboutthe state of its presidential field.
But out of the turmoil may rise yet another opportunity for Senator JohnMcCain of Arizona, whose candidacy all but collapsed last year.
If only by default, Mr. McCain is getting yet another look and appears to bein a strong position competing against a weakened Mr. Romney in the NewHampshire primary on Tuesday.
Mr. McCain is the latest beneficiary of the continuing upheaval in theRepublican field that has seen nearly all of the candidates rising atvarious points. Among them were Mr. McCain, former Senator Fred D. Thompsonof Tennessee and Rudolph W. Giuliani, a former mayor of New York.
Mr. Romney's defeat in Iowa only underlined concerns that many Republicanshad expressed about him, while the success of Mr. Huckabee, a formergovernor of Arkansas, gave rise to new worries among the Republicanestablishment.
more . . . . .
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New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/05/washington/05aids.html?hp
In Global Battle on AIDS, Bush Creates Legacy
By SHERYL GAY STOLBERG
January 5, 2008
WASHINGTON - Dr. Jean W. Pape did not know what to expect in early January2003, when he slipped away from his work treating AIDS patients in Haiti andflew to Washington for a secret meeting with President Bush.
Mr. Bush was considering devoting billions to combat global AIDS, a publichealth initiative unparalleled in size and scope. The deliberations had beentightly carried out; even the health secretary was left out early on. IfPresident Bush was going to shock the world - and skeptical Republicans -with a huge expenditure of American cash to send expensive drugs overseas,he wanted it to be well spent.
"He said, 'I will hold you accountable, because this is a big move, this isan important thing that I've been thinking about for a long time,'" recalledDr. Pape, one of several international AIDS experts Mr. Bush consulted. "Weindicated to him that our arms are totally broken as physicians, knowingthat there are things we could do if we had the drugs."
Nearly five years later, the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief -Pepfar, for short - may be the most lasting bipartisan accomplishment of theBush presidency.
With a year left in office, Mr. Bush confronts an America bitterly splitover the war in Iraq. His domestic achievements, the tax cuts and educationreform, are not fully embraced by Democrats, and his second-term legislativeagenda - revamping Social Security and immigration policy - lies in ruins.
more . . . . .
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New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/05/us/politics/05race.html?hp
Daring to Believe, Blacks Savor Obama Victory
By DIANE CARDWELL
January 5, 2008
For Sadou Brown in a Los Angeles suburb, the decisive victory of SenatorBarack Obama in Iowa was a moment to show his 14-year-old son what ispossible.
For Mike Duncan in Maryland, it was a sign that Americans were moving beyondrigid thinking about race.
For Milton Washington in Harlem, it looked like the beginning of somethinghe never thought that he would see. "It was like, 'Oh, my God, we're on thecusp of something big about to happen,' " Mr. Washington said.
How Mr. Obama's early triumph will play out in the presidential contestremains to be seen, and his support among blacks is hardly monolithic.
But in dozens of interviews on Friday from suburbs of Houston to townsoutside Chicago and rural byways near Birmingham, Ala., African-Americansvoiced pride and amazement over his victory on Thursday and the message itsent, even if they were not planning to vote for him or were skeptical thathe could win in November.
more . . . . .
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New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/05/us/politics/05huckabee.html
Huckabee Moves to New Hampshire, With Tweaks to His Message
By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK
January 5, 2008
HENNIKER, N.H. - Fresh from his victory in the Iowa caucuses, Mike Huckabeehas to be considered a serious contender for the Republican presidentialnomination. But that has not sobered up his distinctive BibleBelt-meets-Borscht Belt act on the stump.
After arriving in New Hampshire by chartered jets late Thursday night, mostof the presidential contenders rose early to hit the trail. Not Mr.Huckabee. He gave morning interviews to no fewer than seven televisionnetworks, continuing his strategy of capitalizing on his folksy charm andself-deprecating wit to compensate for the fact that his shoestring campaigncannot afford much advertising.
And at his first face-to-face event with voters, at 4 p.m., he warmed up thecrowd by playing bass guitar with a local rock band ("In the Midnight Hour,""Mustang Sally") and introduced his campaign sidekick, the actor ChuckNorris.
"If you elect me, what about Chuck Norris for secretary of defense?" Mr.Huckabee said, pledging to build up a military so formidable it would be"Chuck Norris approved."
With almost no field organization and only about $2 million in the bank asof last week, the Huckabee campaign has relied on such sideshows as aninexpensive way to drum up the kind of crowds that other campaigns rely ontheir staff to turn out. (Mr. Huckabee's rally was interrupted periodicallyby shouts of "Chuck! Chuck! Chuck!" from a group of teenage fans in thecrowd.)
more . . . . .
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New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/05/science/space/05scope.html
Donors Bring Big Telescope a Step Closer
By DENNIS OVERBYE
January 5, 2008
A project to build a digital camera of cosmic dimensions on a mountaintop inChile has received a $30 million boost from a pair of software moguls andphilanthropists.
Charles Simonyi, formerly of Microsoft and now chief executive ofIntentional Software, said Thursday that he would contribute $20 million tothe project, known as the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope, or L.S.S.T. BillGates, founder of Microsoft, agreed to give $10 million.
When completed in 2014, the telescope - 330 inches in diameter and armedwith a three-billion-pixel detector - will survey the entire night skyvisible from its intended perch on Cerro Pachón in northern Chile once everythree nights, allowing astronomers to monitor changes in stars and themotions of asteroids and everything else that moves in the sky. It will alsoallow researchers to map dark matter and the effects of the mysterious darkenergy that is speeding the universe's expansion.
"It'll be a form of celestial cinematography, the biggest movie ever," saidJ. Anthony Tyson of the University of California, Davis, a physicist wholeads a multinational team of 22 universities, observatories and otherinstitutions, including Google, planning to build the telescope.
The resulting data, amounting to 30 terabytes each night - slightly lessthan half the information content of the Library of Congress - will beimmediately available to the astronomical community and the public, Dr.Tyson said, allowing anybody who is interested to "mine the sky."
more . . . . .
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New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/04/health/04aggression.html
Drugs Offer No Benefit in Curbing Aggression, Study Finds
By BENEDICT CAREY
January 4, 2008
The drugs most widely used to manage aggressive outbursts in intellectuallydisabled people are no more effective than placebos for most patients andmay be less so, researchers report.
The finding, being published Friday, sharply challenges standard medicalpractice in mental health clinics and nursing homes in the United States andaround the world.
In recent years, many doctors have begun to use the so-called antipsychoticdrugs, which were developed to treat schizophrenia, as all-purposetranquilizers to settle threatening behavior - in children withattention-deficit problems, college students with depression, older peoplewith Alzheimer's disease and intellectually handicapped people.
The new study tracked 86 adults with low I.Q.'s in community housing inEngland, Wales and Australia over more than a month of treatment. It found a79 percent reduction in aggressive behavior among those taking dummy pills,compared with a reduction of 65 percent or less in those takingantipsychotic drugs.
The researchers focused on two drugs, Risperdal by Janssen, and an olderdrug, Haldol, but said the findings almost certainly applied to all similarmedications. Such drugs account for more than $10 billion in annual sales,and research suggests that at least half of all prescriptions are forunapproved "off label" uses - often to treat aggression or irritation.
more . . . . .
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Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/04/AR2008010403512.html?hpid=sec-world
Modern Party, Polygamist Tradition Clash in S. Africa
By Craig Timberg
Washington Post Foreign Service
Saturday, January 5, 2008; A12
JOHANNESBURG, Jan. 4 -- Within the Zulu culture of Jacob Zuma, the newlyelected president of the African National Congress, few moments in a man'slife are more celebrated than taking a wife -- even if he already hasothers.
But news of Zuma's plans to marry a longtime girlfriend this weekend --marking, by most counts, his sixth wedding -- sent waves of unease Fridaythrough this polyglot nation where progressive notions of women's rightsclash with deeply held convictions about respecting South Africa's variedcultural traditions.
The development appeared particularly awkward for the ANC, which over nearlya century has cast itself as a force not just of liberation but also ofsocial modernization. South Africa's dominant political party hastraditionally been led by mostly erudite, professional men who, with fewexceptions, did not have several wives at the same time.
Set against that tradition, Zuma is a new kind of party leader, especiallyfollowing Thabo Mbeki, a cerebral, pipe-smoking economist who remainspresident of the nation. Zuma, 65, is a former guerrilla with no formaleducation and a personal theme song, "Bring Me My Machine Gun," that evokesthe party's history of armed struggle rather than its more recent emphasison the unglamorous work of reconciliation.
As a polygamist with a reported 16 children -- as well as a former rapedefendant acquitted in 2006 -- Zuma has alienated many South African women,and his personal life threatens to tarnish the party's image as a championof gender equality. The wedding, scheduled for Saturday, would bring thenumber of his current wives to four, news reports say.
more . . . . .
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Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/04/AR2008010403233.html?hpid=sec-politics
Obama's Win in Iowa Shakes Up Labor
By JESSE J. HOLLAND
The Associated Press
Saturday, January 5, 2008; 12:26 AM
WASHINGTON -- Despite racking up almost all of the endorsements fromorganized labor, Hillary Rodham Clinton and John Edwards came in behindBarack Obama _ the only Democratic front-runner with no national unionsupport _ in the Iowa caucuses. That left at least one union looking for anew candidate Friday.
International Association of Fire Fighters President Howard Schaitbergercalled the support for Obama "breathtaking," after seeing his union'scandidate, Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., falter in Iowa and drop out ofthe race. Despite the money and the manpower organized labor shifted to Iowafor Clinton, Edwards and Dodd _ one union ran television ads for Clintonwhile another shifted workers in-state to stump for Edwards _ Obama stillwon convincingly.
"The tsunami was far greater than we could attempt to hold off,"Schaitberger said.
Schaitberger said he talked personally with both Obama and Clinton onFriday. But the firefighters would not immediately endorse, he said."Sometime after March, we will begin to reevaluate the remainingcandidates," Schaitberger said.
Union support is supposed to be key to winning the Democratic presidentialprimary, with their money and foot soldiers playing key roles in the earlyvoting states. For example, the political arm of the American Federation ofState, County and Municipal Employees, which has endorsed Clinton, spent atleast $250,000 to air television ads in Iowa urging her victory.
more . . . . .
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Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/04/AR2008010403528.html?hpid=sec-education
Okla. Bills Target Religious Discrimination Against Students
Associated Press
Saturday, January 5, 2008; B09
OKLAHOMA CITY -- Two state lawmakers have introduced similar measuresdesigned to protect students from religious discrimination.
But critics say no such protections are needed.
Reps. Mike Reynolds and Sally Kern, Republicans from Oklahoma City, haveintroduced nearly identical bills for the upcoming session called theReligious Viewpoints Antidiscrimination Act.
The legislation would require that an expression by a student of a religious viewpoint be treated in the same way as an expression of any secularviewpoint. Both measures would prohibit school districts from discriminatingagainst students based on religious viewpoints and would require everydistrict in the state to adopt a written policy to prohibit suchdiscrimination.
"Oklahoma families need to know their children will not be persecuted forexercising their constitutional rights and expressing religious beliefs atschool," Reynolds said.
more . . . . .
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Sun-Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/features/health/chi-lowlake_03jan03,0,7237968.story
Lake Michigan monthly averages nearing record lows
By James Janega
January 3, 2008
For a couple of days last week, Lake Michigan dropped beneath its recordmonthly low, heightening concerns about lower water levels in the GreatLakes.
The readings lasted only a few days and do not amount to a new record, whichcan only be set by monthly averages, but forecasts suggest it could beofficial by the end of January if expected rains and snowfall do notdeliver.
"This is the closest we've been to the record low line in a while," saidCynthia Sellinger, deputy director of Great Lakes Environmental ResearchLaboratory in Ann Arbor, which is run by the National Oceanic andAtmospheric Administration. "Lake Michigan has been dropping continuouslysince 1997, and it's finally approaching the record lows."
After briefly dropping below its record monthly low of 576 feet above sealevel (set in March 1964), Lake Michigan water levels recovered slightly tostart 2008 at 576.3 feet. But the water is still 13 inches below where itwas a year ago and more than 2 feet below the normal average for December.
This could be the year Lake Michigan sets a new record, lakes researcherssay.
more . . . . .
=
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#####
FLORIDA DIGEST January 5, 2008
**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.
=
Sun-Sentinel.com
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/opinion/sfl-brmail893pnjan05,0,7518654,print.story
'Sanctity' of marriage seems to be overlooked by many straight couples
January 5, 2008
The writer of the Dec. 29 letter, "Gay marriage no threat to others," makessome good and concrete points, but let's take it one more step. If the"sanctity of marriage" must continue between a man and a woman, let's hearthese religious fundamentalists, social conservatives and right-wing punditsexplain how they will end the multiple straight marriages of men and women.There are countless straight couples in their second, third and fourthmarriages. Children are brought in, removed and shuffled between homes.
The word "sanctity" seems to be merely a word with little or no meaning forstraight people with several divorces under their belt.
Perhaps with the gay marriage ban, there also should be a "straight divorceban." The word "sanctity" might take on a renewed meaning.
Joe Stapleton
Fort Lauderdale
=
Sun-Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/palmbeach/sfl-flpaffordable0105pnjan05,0,6381457.story
Palm Beach County teachers could get $10,000 subsidy for housingBoard to vote on housing subsidy
By Rhonda J. Miller
January 5, 2008
Palm Beach County teachers will soon be able to get $10,000 to help buy ahome, if the School Board approves an affordable housing partnership withtwo developers Wednesday.
The board will consider a $750,000 grant application to the state CommunityWorkforce Housing Innovation Pilot Program in the latest effort to attractand keep teachers who are being driven away by high housing costs andrelated economic headaches. Under the proposal, teachers working at schoolswhere most of the students are poor will be able to apply for the housingsubsidy.
"We're really serious about helping our teachers get into home ownership,"said Angela Usher, the district's intergovernmental relations manager. "Ifthe School Board approves the partnership, the money is going to beavailable to teachers, regardless of whether or not we get the grant."
The $750,000 will be available from the general fund, with an initialallocation of $500,000 for housing in Village Square in Delray Beach byAuburn Development and $250,000 for homes in Hammon Park in Lake Worth byNew Urban Communities. The allocations could be adjusted based on whereteachers choose to buy. The home ownership assistance is for teachers atTitle I schools, which have a majority of students who qualify for free orreduced lunch, Usher said.
"The housing assistance will give the teachers some stability, and that willbenefit the schools and the students," he said.
more . . . . .
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Miami Herald
http://www.miamiherald.com/457/story/367939.html
Florida looms larger now
By LESLEY CLARK
Posted on Fri, Jan. 04, 2008
Florida stubbornly moved up its presidential primary in the hopes of havinga say in picking the next president -- and the tumult in Iowa suggests itmight yet happen.
As the candidates sped to New Hampshire to regroup and campaign forTuesday's first-in-the-nation primary, observers suggested Mike Huckabee'scome-from-nowhere-win Thursday in Iowa could give Florida a chance to playkingmaker, particularly on the Republican side.
''Florida voters are in the driver's seat,'' said Jim Greer, chairman of theRepublican Party of Florida. He projected that the GOP field may beunsettled by the time Florida votes on Jan. 29, noting that New Hampshiremay favor Mitt Romney or John McCain but that Huckabee has an edge in theJan. 19 GOP primary in South Carolina, where former Tennessee Sen. FredThompson also is making a play.
''No candidate will have this tremendous momentum coming into Florida,''Greer said. ``Even if a candidate has a win, it's not a huge win. You'llhave a second-place nipping at your heels.''
Expectations for a major Florida role could evaporate if one candidate winsdecisively in an early primary state and creates momentum. With that inmind, Rudy Giuliani -- who has banked his campaign on the premise that asplashy win in Florida would propel him into the giant sweepstakes Feb. 5,when nearly two dozen states vote -- hit the trail in New Hampshire onFriday in hopes of cutting his expected losses there Tuesday.
more . . . . .
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ADRIANE REESEY FOR BROWARD SUPERVISOR OF ELECTIONS
P O Box 1593
Dania Beach, Florida 33004
From Bob Adams
Hello Friends,
We have an excellent candidate for Broward County Supervisor of Elections.Adriane Reesey, current Chair of the Broward County Human Rights Board andCommunity Relations Specialist for the Broward Sheriff's Office, filed todayto run for Supervisor of Elections. She is someone that I believe in verystrongly, and she is truly inspiring!
I first met Adriane when she was appointed to the Human Rights Board byCommissioner Rodstrom in 2005. After only one meeting, it became obvious tome that she was someone who would be a strong leader, and I nominated herfor Vice-Chair the following year. Shortly after that Adriane became thefirst woman to Chair the Board in its thirty year history, and has servedwith distinction.
Adriane is an intelligent, highly motivated achiever who consistently thinks"outside the box" and will bring new ideas and boundless energy to theoffice of Supervisor of Elections!
Challenging an incumbent, Adriane obviously has her work cut out for her.However, she has much to offer to all of the voters of Broward County, andis certainly up to the challenge! I am asking everyone that I know to helpAdriane in any way they can, whether that is by making a monetarycontribution, helping on the campaign, working on election day, placing asign in your yard, distributing literature, calling friends, hosting anevent, or any combination thereof. I will be doing all of the above.
Adriane's campaign kickoff will be at ArtServe in Fort Lauderdale onTuesday, February 12, 2008, 5 - 7 pm.
She will face the current Supervisor of Elections in the Democratic Primaryon Tuesday, August 26, 2008.
Warm Regards,
Bob Adams
=
[Send your comments about articles to Rays.List@Comcast.net]
#####
=
Sun-Sentinel.com
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/opinion/sfl-brmail893pnjan05,0,7518654,print.story
'Sanctity' of marriage seems to be overlooked by many straight couples
January 5, 2008
The writer of the Dec. 29 letter, "Gay marriage no threat to others," makessome good and concrete points, but let's take it one more step. If the"sanctity of marriage" must continue between a man and a woman, let's hearthese religious fundamentalists, social conservatives and right-wing punditsexplain how they will end the multiple straight marriages of men and women.There are countless straight couples in their second, third and fourthmarriages. Children are brought in, removed and shuffled between homes.
The word "sanctity" seems to be merely a word with little or no meaning forstraight people with several divorces under their belt.
Perhaps with the gay marriage ban, there also should be a "straight divorceban." The word "sanctity" might take on a renewed meaning.
Joe Stapleton
Fort Lauderdale
=
Sun-Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/palmbeach/sfl-flpaffordable0105pnjan05,0,6381457.story
Palm Beach County teachers could get $10,000 subsidy for housingBoard to vote on housing subsidy
By Rhonda J. Miller
January 5, 2008
Palm Beach County teachers will soon be able to get $10,000 to help buy ahome, if the School Board approves an affordable housing partnership withtwo developers Wednesday.
The board will consider a $750,000 grant application to the state CommunityWorkforce Housing Innovation Pilot Program in the latest effort to attractand keep teachers who are being driven away by high housing costs andrelated economic headaches. Under the proposal, teachers working at schoolswhere most of the students are poor will be able to apply for the housingsubsidy.
"We're really serious about helping our teachers get into home ownership,"said Angela Usher, the district's intergovernmental relations manager. "Ifthe School Board approves the partnership, the money is going to beavailable to teachers, regardless of whether or not we get the grant."
The $750,000 will be available from the general fund, with an initialallocation of $500,000 for housing in Village Square in Delray Beach byAuburn Development and $250,000 for homes in Hammon Park in Lake Worth byNew Urban Communities. The allocations could be adjusted based on whereteachers choose to buy. The home ownership assistance is for teachers atTitle I schools, which have a majority of students who qualify for free orreduced lunch, Usher said.
"The housing assistance will give the teachers some stability, and that willbenefit the schools and the students," he said.
more . . . . .
=
Miami Herald
http://www.miamiherald.com/457/story/367939.html
Florida looms larger now
By LESLEY CLARK
Posted on Fri, Jan. 04, 2008
Florida stubbornly moved up its presidential primary in the hopes of havinga say in picking the next president -- and the tumult in Iowa suggests itmight yet happen.
As the candidates sped to New Hampshire to regroup and campaign forTuesday's first-in-the-nation primary, observers suggested Mike Huckabee'scome-from-nowhere-win Thursday in Iowa could give Florida a chance to playkingmaker, particularly on the Republican side.
''Florida voters are in the driver's seat,'' said Jim Greer, chairman of theRepublican Party of Florida. He projected that the GOP field may beunsettled by the time Florida votes on Jan. 29, noting that New Hampshiremay favor Mitt Romney or John McCain but that Huckabee has an edge in theJan. 19 GOP primary in South Carolina, where former Tennessee Sen. FredThompson also is making a play.
''No candidate will have this tremendous momentum coming into Florida,''Greer said. ``Even if a candidate has a win, it's not a huge win. You'llhave a second-place nipping at your heels.''
Expectations for a major Florida role could evaporate if one candidate winsdecisively in an early primary state and creates momentum. With that inmind, Rudy Giuliani -- who has banked his campaign on the premise that asplashy win in Florida would propel him into the giant sweepstakes Feb. 5,when nearly two dozen states vote -- hit the trail in New Hampshire onFriday in hopes of cutting his expected losses there Tuesday.
more . . . . .
=
ADRIANE REESEY FOR BROWARD SUPERVISOR OF ELECTIONS
P O Box 1593
Dania Beach, Florida 33004
From Bob Adams
Hello Friends,
We have an excellent candidate for Broward County Supervisor of Elections.Adriane Reesey, current Chair of the Broward County Human Rights Board andCommunity Relations Specialist for the Broward Sheriff's Office, filed todayto run for Supervisor of Elections. She is someone that I believe in verystrongly, and she is truly inspiring!
I first met Adriane when she was appointed to the Human Rights Board byCommissioner Rodstrom in 2005. After only one meeting, it became obvious tome that she was someone who would be a strong leader, and I nominated herfor Vice-Chair the following year. Shortly after that Adriane became thefirst woman to Chair the Board in its thirty year history, and has servedwith distinction.
Adriane is an intelligent, highly motivated achiever who consistently thinks"outside the box" and will bring new ideas and boundless energy to theoffice of Supervisor of Elections!
Challenging an incumbent, Adriane obviously has her work cut out for her.However, she has much to offer to all of the voters of Broward County, andis certainly up to the challenge! I am asking everyone that I know to helpAdriane in any way they can, whether that is by making a monetarycontribution, helping on the campaign, working on election day, placing asign in your yard, distributing literature, calling friends, hosting anevent, or any combination thereof. I will be doing all of the above.
Adriane's campaign kickoff will be at ArtServe in Fort Lauderdale onTuesday, February 12, 2008, 5 - 7 pm.
She will face the current Supervisor of Elections in the Democratic Primaryon Tuesday, August 26, 2008.
Warm Regards,
Bob Adams
=
[Send your comments about articles to Rays.List@Comcast.net]
#####
Friday, January 04, 2008
GLBT DIGEST January 4, 2008
**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.
=
Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org
http://www.jamaica-star.com/thestar/20071228/ent/ent9.html
Gay lyrics ban broken at Sting 2007
At the final, in a series of free road shows leading up to the huge BoxingDay event, held outside Ken's Wildflower Lounge, Port Henderson Road,Portmore, on Friday, December 14, the performances were cut short when twoperformers disobeyed the rule, although MC Nuffy had explained thesituation.
In a story published in *The Gleaner* on Wednesday, December 19, under theheadline 'Gay lyrics 'sting' in Portmore', it was reported that after thefirst infraction by Ras Fraser, Nuffy said "all my show whe no have nosponsor yu can sey anyting". With sponsored shows, though, "the sponsor havesuppen inna de paper when de promoter come to dem. If yu breach de contrac'yu no get de res' a de money," Nuffy said, pointing out that if there was no sponsor, there was no concert.
"If yu no like certain man, yu no haffi chat 'bout dem," Nuffy said then.
However, when the real thing came on Boxing Day, it did not take long forthe rule to be tossed out, the huge audience reacting very favourably to thelyrical advocacy of death to homosexuals.
When Harry Toddler demanded just after 1 a.m. that "all who a shot ban tunon yu lighta", some strong language in the mix, he was quickly called offstage and the MC reminded the audience that "as we mentioned earlier, we aretrying our best to make this the cleanest Guinness Sting ever, so we aregoing to cut out the profanities".
more....
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Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org
PETER TATCHELL HUMAN RIGHTS FUND
Donations are requested to help fund Peter Tatchell's campaigns promotinghuman rights, democracy and global justice.
Peter is unpaid and receives no grants.
To continue his human rights work, he depends on donations from friends andsupporters.
Please make cheques payable to: "Peter Tatchell Human Rights Fund".
Send to: Peter Tatchell Human Rights Fund, PO Box 35253, London E1 4YF
To download a donation form or a standing order mandate, go to Donations at:
http://www.tatchellrightsfund.org
To email PTHRF:
info@tatchellrightsfund.org
Thank you. Richard Kirker, Treasurer PTHRF
For information about Peter Tatchell's campaigns:
http://www.petertatchell.net
=
Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org
Lieberman floor remarks on introducing S. 2521
To: lgbtdems@yahoogroups.com
http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getpage.cgi?dbname=2007_record&page=S16008&position=all
Mr. LIEBERMAN. Mr. President, I rise to urge mycolleagues to support the domestic PartnershipBenefits and Obligations Act of 2007, which my goodfriend from the other side of the aisle, SenatorSmith, and I introduced last Congress and areintroducing again today, along with 19 othercosponsors.
This legislation is another step in the processto make the Federal Government more competitive inan ever-changing business world. It would requirethe Government to extend employee benefit programsto the same-sex domestic partners of Federalemployees. It is sound public policy and it makesexcellent business sense.
Under our bill, Federal employee and theemployee's domestic partner would be eligible toparticipate in health benefits, Family and MedicalLeave, long-term care, Federal retirement benefits,and other benefits to the same extent that marriedemployees and their spouses participate. Employeesand their partners would also assume the sameobligations that apply to married employees andtheir spouses, such as anti-nepotism rules andfinancial disclosure requirements.
more.....
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Forrded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2007/12/21/in_nh_churches_candidates_find_a_different_breed_of_evangelical/?page=2
In N.H. churches, candidates find a different breed of evangelical
By Lisa Wangsness, Globe Staff | December 21, 2007
NASHUA - In the dimly lit sanctuary of a large brickchurch at the north end of Main Street, more than100 people move to light Christian rock music.Children, recently resettled refugees from Burundi,are splayed out on the floor with coloring books. Aman in jeans and a sweater stands nearby, swaying!and holding his palms heavenward.
"What can wash away my sins," the group sings."Nothing but the blood of Jesus."
Grace Fellowship in Nashua is part of a growingmovement of evangelical Christians in New Hampshire,a group that includes nearly 1 in 5 Republicanprimary voters and that could play an important rolein the state's Jan. 8 election. Mike Huckabee, theformer Arkansas governor and an ordained Baptistminister, has preached in four New Hampshirechurches, and is hoping to connect with religiousconservatives.
Yet those who worship at Grace Fellowship and otherNew Hampshire churches point to many ways in whichthey differ from evangelicals outside New England,particularly in the South and Southwest, who are thebackbone of the religious right in America and, inIowa and South Carolina, provide a base of supportfor Huckabee.
Outside New England, evangelical megachurches arecommonplace, attracting thousands or even tens ofthousands. In New Hampshire, evangelical churchestend to be smaller - and more independent.
more....
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NYTimes.com
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/02/nyregion/02hiv.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print
New H.I.V. Cases Drop but Rise in Young Gay Men
By SARAH KERSHAW
January 2, 2008
For years he had numbed his pain and fear with drugs, alcohol and anonymoussex. But in a flash of clarity one day, when the crystal meth was wearingoff, Javier Arriola dragged himself to a clinic to get an H.I.V. test, yearsafter he stopped using condoms.
He knew the answer before he received the results, but it was far worse thanhe thought: At age 29, he had full-blown AIDS.
He had planned to have a party for his 30th birthday. Instead he wasthinking of hanging himself in his apartment in Hell's Kitchen.
"There were feelings of terror, like when you were a little kid and there'sthat thing that terrifies you," he said. "This was it. The worst nightmare,and I brought this onto myself."
The number of new H.I.V. infections in men under 30 who have sex with menhas increased sharply in New York City in the last five years, particularlyamong blacks and Hispanics, even as AIDS deaths and overall H.I.V. infectionrates in the city have steadily declined.
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Frwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org
John Edwards For President
by Wayne Besen
http://www.waynebesen.com/2008/01/wayne-besen-endorses-john-edwards-for_03.html
On the day voters head to the Iowa caucuses, I endorse John Edwards forpresident. I want to make it clear that this is not an endorsement fromTruthWinsOut.org - as the group does not take positions on candidates.
Why Edwards?
I was going to go into a long and elaborate defense of his record, butdecided against it. The bottom line is that he is the only one who isspeaking to the middle class (i.e. me). I am fed up with corporate CEO's whoare driving their companies into the dirt and still getting huge pay raises,while the average worker struggles. Conservatives would argue this is thefree market, but this is not true. In a free market, people are rewarded forsuccess - not failure. What we have now is a sick system that needs radicalchange. America is a declining empire that is falling behind the rest of theworld. Edwards is the best candidate to reverse this slide.
Let's face it, our children perform poorly on tests. The dollar is fallingas fast as the price of gas is rising. We have failed the entire world indealing with climate change. And, our sadistic health care system is anational disgrace.
Edwards is the only candidate speaking about the plight of many Americanswho are fighting to get by. He is the candidate who genuinely wants to makeour lives better and is saying the things that I want to hear. This is why Iwill vote for John Edwards.
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WashingtonPost.com
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/01/AR2008010101734_pf.html
Same-Sex Divorce Challenges the Legal System
Most States Lack Law, Precedent To Settle Issues
By Dafna Linzer
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, January 2, 2008; A03
When her three-year-old marriage broke up, the 44-year-old doctor assumedshe and her ex would split their property and jointly parent their twochildren. Her stay-at-home spouse wanted sole custody and the right to movethe children out of Massachusetts.
In pretrial motions, both parents made the same argument to a judge: Thechildren should be with me; I'm their mother.
For years, family court judges leaned toward a maternal preference when itcame to custody disputes. But what to do when both parents are women, orneither is? Judges in Massachusetts have been grappling with that questionsince gay and lesbian couples began filing for divorce in 2004, seven monthsafter the state Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage.
Nearly 10,000 gay and lesbian couples married after the ruling.Massachusetts does not keep records on the number who have divorced, butlawyers who specialize in family cases say it is in the dozens. Those whochoose to end their marriages soon discover that the trauma of divorce iscompounded by legal and financial difficulties that heterosexual couplesgenerally are spared.
"One of the benefits of marriage is divorce," said Joyce Kauffman, a Bostondivorce lawyer who has handled a dozen same-sex divorce cases. "But for alot of couples, that benefit is very complicated and very costly in waysthat heterosexual couples would never have to experience."
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Inside Higher Education
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2008/01/04/calvin
When Identity Trumps Diversity
Jan. 4
“You have a white church and you have a Negro church. You have allowedsegregation to creep into the doors of the church. How can such a divisionexist in the true Body of Christ? You must face the tragic fact that whenyou stand at 11:00 on Sunday morning to sing ‘All Hail the Power of JesusName’ and ‘Dear Lord and Father of all Mankind,’ you stand in the mostsegregated hour of Christian America.”
—Martin Luther King Jr.
King’s words, delivered in 1956, ring true today. Just ask Denise Isom. Isomis an African-American education professor at Michigan’s Calvin College whoasked this fall for an exemption to the evangelical college’s requirementthat all faculty join a Christian Reformed Church (or one in anotherdenomination in “ecclesiastical fellowship” with the Dutch-rooted church,known as the CRC).
“Each day, in formal and informal ways, I must address the issues of raceand culture, often engaging in ways that carry a psychological, emotional,social, and physical cost,” Isom wrote in a letter requesting an exemptionso that she could join a black Baptist church instead. “Though there are CRCchurches and communities that are striving to reflect a multicultural visionin the church’s make-up and worship content, they are not ‘there’ yet. As aperson who has long worked towards those ends in predominately whitesettings, I find myself at a place where, for emotional, social, andspiritual health, I need a place of worship that is already consistent withmy culture and able to grapple with issues of race in ways which make it arespite, a re-charging and growing place for me, as opposed to anotherlocation where I must ‘work’ and where I am ‘other.’”
Furthermore, she wrote, “As someone for whom research, scholarship, andservice are centered around issues of social justice, race, culture, andgender, I need to be intimately tied to populations of people of color.” Sheadded that she plans to conduct research on racialized gender identity amongAfrican-American children in a church setting.
Calvin’s Board of Trustees rejected Isom’s request in October. The board’sdecision to decline the exemption request meant that, unless she joined achurch in accordance with Calvin’s requirement (one of three faith-basedrequirements Calvin faculty must meet), her tenure-track appointment wouldbe reverted to a term appointment that would expire at the end of 2008-9.Isom did not return requests for comment. Others contacted described theball as now being in her court.
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www.stonewalldemocrats.org/census2007
Stonewall Democrats
Who do YOU support for President?
January 03, 2007
Dear Democrat,
Tonight, the nation will tune-in to learn the presidential results of theIowa Caucuses. I am sure that you - like most of us here at NationalStonewall Democrats - will be watching as well.
While our country waits by for the results, you can make your personalchoice known now.
Take a moment to register your preference for President by filling out ourStonewall Census, if you haven't already. We will be announcing the resultsof the presidential preference question on Monday, January 7 - the daybefore the New Hampshire Primary.
This is your opportunity to take a stand for your candidate. It also allowsyou to let us know how we are doing, what we can do better and how we canbetter serve you.
Take a moment. Record your vote. We'll announce the results on Monday,January 7.
NOTE: If you have already complete a Stonewall Census survey, thank you.Your preference has already been recorded. A new vote will not be recorded.
www.stonewalldemocrats.org/census2007
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.baywindows.com/index.php?ch=columnists&sc=editorial&sc2=&sc3=&id=54312
Primary voters: the big three aren’t worth your time or money
by Susan Ryan-Vollmar editor-in-chief
Wednesday Jan 2, 2008
With every Democratic presidential candidate gunning for the LGBT community’ssupport, here’s a dose of reality: On LGBT issues alone, there’s nothingthat makes any of the three frontrunners stand out enough to merit yourmoney, much less the endorsement of this newspaper.
Why do I mention money instead of votes? Because that’s what the candidateswant - and need - from you. They already know that they’ve got your votecome November 2008. Honestly, are you really going to pull the lever forMitt Romney, Mike Huckabee, Rudy Giuliani or John McCain? Not even the LogCabin Republicans -the group of conservative gays who proudly backed BobDole for president in 1996 - can stomach anyone in the GOP field this timearound. The crop of anti-evolution, anti-gay, anti-intellectual Republicansrunning for president is an embarrassment to the country. Giuliani andRomney have disgraced themselves with their backtracking fromwell-documented previous stances on social issues like gay rights in thehopes of garnering support from religious conservatives. McCain hasn’t beenquite as audacious as New York’s former mayor and our former governor inthis regard, but his hat-in-hand performance at the ultra-conservativeLiberty University in spring 2006 should scare off any self-respecting LGBTperson, much less anyone who thinks the U.S. Constitution still meanssomething.
Let’s be clear: All of the LGBT campaign steering committees and lists ofprominent LGBT supporters touted by the Democratic campaigns are propagatedfor one purpose alone - to raise money for the candidates. And if the gaysare good at anything, it’s raising money. An August 2007 CommunityMarketing, Inc. survey of LGBT political participation showed that 31percent of lesbian respondents had donated money in the 2004 presidentialcampaign; 40 percent of gay male respondents had done the same. By contrast,only seven percent of the general population donated money in the 2004campaign.
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.fridae.com/newsfeatures/article.php?articleid=2134&viewarticle=1&searchtype=all
2008's big picture
Alex Au
31 Dec 2007
Progress towards gay equality does not spring in isolation from the broaderenvironment. It is often dependent on trends and events in the political,social, legal and even economic sphere, both local and global. What are afew of these that may be worth watching in 2008?
The big political event of the coming year is the American presidentialelection, due November 2008. The current President, George Bush isconstitutionally barred from seeking reelection and is anyway deeplyunpopular. Unusually even compared to past elections, the field is wideopen, with a good chance that the next president will come from theDemocratic Party.
While none of the three leading Democratic contenders – Barack Obama,Hillary Clinton and John Edwards (above, left to right)– have openly comeout to support gay marriage, it's fair to expect that neither will theyresist moves by any state towards it. Marriage in the US is governed bystate legislation, not federal legislation.
Among Republican candidates, Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee are angling forthe conservative evangelical vote. The former is a Mormon, the latter aSouthern Baptist minister.
Yet another victory by a candidate embraced by the religious rightwing(after Bush's victories in 2000 and 2004) will solidify the hold they haveover US politics, and boost the confidence of anti-gay groups. A newRepublican president will have another four or eight years to stack the USSupreme Court with conservative-leaning judges.
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.windycitymediagroup.com/gay/lesbian/news/ARTICLE.php?AID=17097
Veterans and PTSD
by Bob Roehr
2008-01-02
Gays and lesbians serve in the military despite the policy known as “Don'tAsk, Don't Tell” ( DADT ) . And they suffer the same physical andpsychological wounds as their straight colleagues.
About 25 percent of returning Iraq and Afghanistan veterans received mentalhealth diagnoses, according to a study of the first 100,000 veterans seen atfacilities operated by the Department of Veterans Affairs ( VA ) . The VA islikely to see the more severe cases, so one should be careful inextrapolating its findings.
This was just one of many pieces of information that is helping to bring theveterans' situation into sharp focus. It was presented at the 135th annualmeeting of the American Public Health Association ( APHA ) in Washington,D.C., just prior to Veterans' Day.
Evan Kanter, M.D., Ph.D., staff psychiatrist in the PTSD Outpatient Clinicof the VA Puget Sound Health Care System, said, “The most common [ of mentaldisorders ] were post-traumatic stress disorder ( PTSD ) , substance abuse,and depression. The younger the veterans are, the more likely they are tohave mental health conditions.”
Estimates of the occurrence of PTSD range from 12 to 20 percent. With thenumber of troops deployed to combat zones passing 1.5 million last summer,and the VA having treated only 52,000 persons, it is clear that many vetsare not receiving the help they could use.
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.connectsavannah.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A5876
WWJD? For the Bible Tells Me So explores families’ struggles withhomosexuality
By Robin Wright Gunn
Bishop Gene Robinson at his consecration
POSTED ON JANUARY 2, 2008:
DOES THE BIBLE condemn gays and lesbians? What about when one of those gaysor lesbians is your own child?
This theological debate, in the news for causing rifts within religiousdenominations and local congregations, becomes personal for religious peoplewhen a family member reveals his or her homosexuality.
The personal side of this question is at the heart of For the Bible Tells MeSo, a documentary released in 2007 and screening in Savannah Jan. 6. Thefilm tells the stories of five Christian families with gay or lesbian familymembers. Among the stories are former U.S. Representative Richard Gephardt(D-Missouri) a Baptist whose daughter Chrissy is a lesbian; and, the ex-wifeand parents of Gene Robinson, the first acknowledged gay man to be ordainedas bishop in the Episcopal church in the United States.
Two local organizations, Reel Savannah Film Group and Stand Out Youth, arejoining forces to sponsor the film and a post-screening panel discussion.
Family acceptance is an issue faced by many members of Stand Out Youth,described by board member Dan Watson as a nonprofit organization forgay/lesbian/bisexual/transgender and “questioning” teens and young adults.Stand Out Youth holds weekly facilitated meetings attended by young peopleand occasionally by parents of first-time attendees.
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BY A STUNNING 35-0 VOTE, NEW JERSEY SENATE APPROVES OVERHAUL OF THE STATE'SHATE CRIMES AND SCHOOL BULLYING LAWS
The full Assembly will pass the bill on Monday. Earlier today, the AssemblyJudiciary Committee approved the bill 5-0.
Garden State Equality
www.gardenstateequality.org
Thursday, January 3, 2008
Contact: Steven Goldstein, cell (917) 449-8918
By a stunning 35-0 vote, the New Jersey Senate just approved S2975, sweepinglegislation to strengthen New Jersey's hate crimes and anti-school bullyinglaws. The full Assembly will vote on the bill, conceived by Garden StateEquality and the New Jersey Anti-Defamation League, this Monday, January7th. Earlier today, the Assembly Judiciary Committee approved the bill 5-0.
The bill comes on the heels of a just-released FBI report that ranks NewJersey #2 in hate crimes nationally, behind only California. The primeAssembly sponsors are Wilfredo Caraballo, Valerie Vainieri Huttle, UpendraChivukula and John McKeon. The prime Senate sponsors are Barbara Buono andLoretta Weinberg.
The bill does the following:
1. Adds "gender identity or expression" as a protected class to the statehate crimes law. Combined with the 2006 expansion of the state's Law AgainstDiscimination to include gender identity or expression, the strengthenedhate crimes law will make New Jersey's laws for the transgender communityunsurpassed in all America.
2. It updates other parts of the hate crimes law by adding "nationalorigin" as a protected category, which thus far has been included in the lawby interpreting "ethnicity" to include such; and substitutes the moresensitive term "disability" for "handicap."
3. It specifies that a "mistake of fact" by a defendant committing a hatecrime is not a defense.
4. It requires two hours of hate-crimes sensitivity training for all newpolice officers.
5. It specifies suggested sentencing options to which judges can sentencedefendants, such as anti-hate sensitivity training.
6. It creates a study Commission on Bullying in Schools, which has ninemonths to investigate the problem and make recommendations to the Governorand legislature for further legislation.
7. It requires schools post their anti-bullying policies on their websites,and to distribute their anti-bullying policies, within 120 days afterenactment of the law.
more....
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.gaylesbiantimes.com/?id=11240
Grossmont Union High School District board members join suit challenginganti-discrimination law Equality California, GSA Network file a motion to intervene in lawsuit
by Margie M. Palmer
Published Thursday, 03-Jan-2008 in issue 1045
Four Grossmont Unified High School District governing board members havejoined a federal lawsuit challenging an anti-discrimination bill signed intolaw by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Attorneys for the Alliance Defense Fund and Advocates for Faith and Freedomfiled suit in federal court in San Diego on Nov. 27, attempting to overturnSenate Bill 777. The bill, which becomes effective Jan. 11, adds the terms“gender” and “sexual orientation” to the California Education Code, andexpands the existing term “sex” to include “gender identity,” which means aperson’s self-identified gender.
The lawsuit, filed on behalf of the California Education Committee, aproject of California Family Council, claims SB 777 is unconstitutionallyvague and violates the privacy of all students, teachers and other personspresent on school campuses.
It names Gov. Schwarzenegger, state Attorney General Edmund Brown Jr.,Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell and others asdefendants. On Dec. 21, Equality California and the Gay-Straight AllianceNetwork filed a motion to intervene in the lawsuit, so SB 777 would beenforced in schools.
“Adding [gender identity and sexual orientation] as a special sub group fordiscrimination protection to a law that already protects everyone isunnecessary, and an insidious motive to destroy marriage between a man and awoman and to destroy marriage as God ordained it,” said GUHSD governingboard president, Priscilla Schreiber, who is listed among the plaintiffs inthe lawsuit. Schreiber, along with GUHSD board members Larry Urdahl, RobertShield and Jim Kelly, supports overturning SB 777.
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Fowarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://gaycitynews.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=19165398&BRD=2729&PAG=461&dept_id=568864&rfi=6
Another NY Civil Union Recognition Loss
By: ARTHUR S. LEONARD
01/03/2008
Dealing a second appellate defeat to John Langan in his quest forcompensation for the loss of his partner, a five-member panel of New York'sAppellate Division, 3rd Department, based in Albany, ruled on December 27that Langan, a surviving partner of a Vermont civil union, is not a "spouse"within the meaning of the state's Workers' Compensation Law.
This upheld a determination by the Workers' Compensation Board to deny asurvivor's benefit to Langan after the death of his spouse, Neal ConradSpicehandler, as a result of injuries incurred on the job.
A panel of judges from the 2nd Department of the Appellate Division, basedin Brooklyn, had previously rejected Langan's argument that he should beable to litigate a wrongful death action against St. Vincent's Hospital,whose negligence he charges resulted in Spicehandler dying from his injury.
According to the opinion for the panel by Justice Anthony T. Kane,Spicehandler, in 2002, was engaged in business for his employer, State FarmFire & Casualty Company, when, as a pedestrian, he was struck by a motoristin New York City. He was taken to St. Vincent's Hospital, where he diedsomewhat mysteriously after an apparently successful operation.
The couple, who lived on Long Island, had several years before been unitedas civil partners in Vermont. Langan filed a Workers' Compensation claimwith State Farm's insurer. The insurer determined that the injury created anobligation for compensation to the Spicehandler estate, but that Langan wasnot entitled to a survivor's benefit as a "spouse."
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://gaycitynews.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=19165557&BRD=2729&PAG=461&dept_id=568864&rfi=6
New Asylum Chance for Gay Egyptian
By: ARTHUR S. LEONARD
01/03/2008
A unanimous three-judge panel of the U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals,based in Philadelphia, ruled on December 20 that a gay Egyptian man shouldreceive a further hearing from the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA), whichearlier rejected his bid to stay in the US.
The man, referred to in the opinion as John Doe, argued that he met thestandard for remaining here under both the Immigration and Nationality Actand the international Convention Against Torture.
Writing for the court, Circuit Judge Dolores Sloviter rejected thepetitioner's argument that the BIA's decision should be reversed and he begranted his petition to stay. Instead, wrote Sloviter, the case should goback to the Appeals board, which is part of the Department of Justice, forreconsideration of significant uncontested evidence about torture in Egyptthat it did not address in its earlier opinion.
Doe is a native and citizen of Egypt who left that country in 1989 aftersuffering two beatings because he is gay - one at the hands of his highschool gym instructor and the other by a police officer "who saw Doe holdinghands with, kissing, and hugging his boyfriend" in a public park. Doe movedto Qatar, but claims he suffered additional beatings and threats after "aformer Egyptian classmate began to spread rumors that he is gay."
The man has briefly visited Egypt a few times to see family members, butclaims he suffered harassment on those occasions as well, and that hisfamily has since written to him warning that the police were looking forhim.
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://gaycitynews.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=19163977&BRD=2729&PAG=461&dept_id=568864&rfi=6
Stakes Emerging From Iowa, New Hampshire
By: PAUL SCHINDLER
01/02/2008
With the one-two punch of the Iowa caucuses and the Hampshire primary uponus, it is very tempting to declare this week for one or another of thepresidential candidates, to inject into the political conversation an LGBTmedia endorsement out of New York.
The fact though is that the time for that is not yet here. And thatstatement is made with full knowledge of how national media narratives aboutmomentum, about who exceeded and who fell short of contrived expectationstoo often drive our political choices.
Clear-cut and uniform results coming out of those two relatively small,relatively homogenous states could have inordinate influence on our choicesin November. I recognize that.
And that's a shame, because even with a host of reasonably good options thisyear, the LGBT community and many other groups within our society deservemore time and more attention to their concerns from the candidates. Thepreposterous sums being lavished on a couple of hundred thousand voters inIowa and New Hampshire demonstrate the crying need for presidential primaryreform, but that is an argument for another day.
For now, several rough conclusions are clear.
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.windycitymediagroup.com/gay/lesbian/news/ARTICLE.php?AID=17155
Courting the LGBT Vote in New Hampshire
News update, Thurs., Jan. 3, 2008
by Patsy Lynch
Manchester, NH 1-3-08—Snow and bone-chilling winds whip across the firststate to hold presidential primaries. Unlike past years where the signs forpresidential candidates outnumbered the residents, there are few visiblesigns of support. Still, there is a sense of suppressed excitement buildingas primary day approaches.
New Hampshire is ready to face the nation as the first state to cast itsprimary votes for the next President of the United States. Hundreds of paidand volunteer staff members are filling the candidate's campaign officesmaking phone calls, plotting areas to canvass, licking envelopes andplanning press conferences and rallies in the days leading up to the Jan. 8election day.
For the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender ( LGBT ) community, thesedays are filled with a renewed sense of hope and guarded optimism. Theleading Democratic candidates have a small but efficient section of staffmembers whose job is to handle requests for information regarding theircandidates' view on issues of interest to the LGBT community. These staffmembers, both paid and volunteer are working tirelessly to insure that theneeds of the LGBT community are not ignored. In fact, these staff membersare making a concerted effort to get the LGBT community involved in thecampaign process. Calls are going out to local businesses, including bars,restaurants, book stores and service-oriented concerns in an effort to reachout to as many voters as possible. Candidate's flyers, bumper stickers,buttons and brochures are piled high in these establishments, while ralliesand public demonstrations of support are being planned. Busloads ofsupporters are arriving daily from around the country to work for theircandidate and to get local LGBT voters involved.
National organizations like The Human Rights Campaign ( HRC ) and StonewallDemocrats are providing financial and logistic support to the nationalcampaign staff members in New Hampshire. These groups are using their cloutto encourage LGBT voters, who may be reluctant to vote, to make adifference.
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.windycitymediagroup.com/gay/lesbian/news/ARTICLE.php?AID=17091
Black Gay Activists Fear Violence Pattern
by Amy Wooten
2008-01-02
Local Black LGBT activists are concerned about the recent murders of twoopenly gay Black men on the South Side, and in light of the passing of theanniversary of last year's New Year's Eve South Side shooting, they arecalling for the city to step up on combating what they fear is a pattern ofviolence against the community.
“We are calling on the police department to let the community know what'sgoing on,” said the Coalition for Justice and Respect's Mark Loveless. Heand others feel that the city and police haven't adequately responded to thekillings.
Critical Caucus—a coalition of LGBT organizations such as the Coalition forJustice and Respect—as well as event planners and businesses, held a pressconference at City Hall Dec. 27 to issue a community alert in response tothe news of the murder of an openly gay choir director as well as themid-November killing of a Black gay man. Loveless feels that the killingsshow a continued pattern of violence against Black gay men on the city'sSouth Side.
Since the press conference, the Chicago Police Department has contactedCritical Caucus and requested a meeting. Loveless said that the meeting willtake place early January.
“We are here because we are scared,” Loveless said. Black gay activists arecalling on the Chicago Police Department to provide the community with moreinformation. They also want city officials to help stop what they consider apattern of violence, although police have no information linking the cases,which are still under investigation. Police also have no information as towhether or not the killings were motivated by hate.
more . . . . .
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.windycitymediagroup.com/gay/lesbian/news/ARTICLE.php?AID=17135
Gay Man Attacked, Raped in Cicero
2008-01-02
A man has been charged with sexual assault and a hate crime in Cicero afterattacking a gay man, according to 365Gay.com.
Felipe Rivera, 43, allegedly confessed on video to beating the victim andthen raping him with a metal broom handle. ( They had reportedly gotten intoan argument at a party earlier in the evening. ) Allegedly, Rivera said thathe raped said victim “because he hates faggots, and this is what they get.”
According to the Chicago Sun-Times, Cicero Police spokesman Dan Proft said,“Mr. Rivera got upset apparently because he believed the victim, No. 1,didn't respond to a female and then, No. 2, somehow winked at him—made whathe perceived as a sexual advance.”
Rivera's bond was set at $400,000, including $50,000 for violating parole.
If found guilty, he could receive up to 30 years in jail, and an additional5 years on the hate-crime charge.
more . . . . .
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.gaypeopleschronicle.com/stories08/january/0104081.htm
Former Stonewall Democrats head runs for Congress
Russ Goodwin seeks 12th District seat now held by Pat Tiberi
by Eric Resnick
January 4, 2008
Columbus--The immediate past president of the Stonewall Democrats of CentralOhio is a candidate for U.S. Congress, becoming Ohio’s fourth openly gayfederal candidate.
Russ Goodwin, 53, of Columbus is seeking the 12th District seat currentlyheld by Republican Pat Tiberi. The district includes eastern Columbus,Dublin, Westerville, New Albany, Bexley and Gahanna, along with DelawareCounty and most of Licking County.
“I’m tired of not having my views and the views of the majority representedin Congress,” said Goodwin.
Tiberi, a former Ohio House majority leader, has held the seat since 2001.He has been a reliable vote for George W. Bush and the House Republicansduring his tenure, including racking up a substantial anti-LGBT record.
Goodwin says the district has never been as conservative as Tibieri votes,and with southern Delaware County becoming increasingly Democratic, “there’spotential for him to be replaced.”
more . . . . .
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.gaypeopleschronicle.com/stories08/january/0104082.htm
Equality Toledo director Kim Welter resigns
She moves to board position because group could not fund a full-time post
by Anthony Glassman
January 4, 2008
Toledo--Equality Toledo has lost its founding executive director, althoughshe is now a board member.
Kim Welter left the position on December 31 to seek full-time employmentwith health benefits. She and her partner, Merri Bame, are bothself-employed, which she noted after they became the second couple to signonto Toledo’s domestic partner registry on December 21.
WhileWelter is leaving the position of executive director, she is joiningthe board of directors, and will continue to be the public face of and theguiding hand behind Equality Toledo’s “faith and fairness” initiative, whichbrings together religious leaders to advocate for equality.
The initiative has 98 religious leaders in its database, although not allare public with their support.
“It’s been a difficult time,” said fellow board member Rev. MichelleStecker. “She’s been executive director for about a year and a half. We werepaying her next to nothing, and then we were paying her a little bit moreand a little bit more, and we were hoping we would have enough.”
more . . . . .
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
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http://www.baywindows.com/index.php?ch=news&sc=glbt&sc2=news&sc3=&id=54304
’I’m embarrassed at what I did’
by Laura Kiritsy
associate editor
Thursday Jan 3, 2008
It’s not often we receive letters with the subject heading "Apology To GayCommunity." More often than not we just get complaints about typos, lots ofspam or creepy missives from cranks who just generally hate the gays. Andthese days, it seems the only time people apologize is just before they headoff to rehab, jail or are otherwise forced into contrition by Oprah or JayLeno. So you can imagine our surprise when we saw that subject heading inour inbox on Dec. 22 and opened an email signed by one Stephen Dunne (seebelow), the man more commonly known as "the bar exam flunker."
You’ll recall that Dunne made international news last summer when he filed afederal lawsuit against the Mass. Board of Bar Examiners and the four stateSupreme Judicial Court Justices who ruled in favor of the Goodridgeplaintiffs when he narrowly failed the bar exam after refusing to answer aquestion related to same-sex marriage. Dunne, a 30-year-old Boston resident,alleged, among other things, that the state "engaged in constitutionallyinvidious discrimination" by forcing him to answer an "inappropriate" barexam question requiring him "to write an affirmative response explicitly andimplicitly, accepting, supporting and promoting homosexual marriage andhomosexual parenting ... as a prerequisite to the practice of law" inMassachusetts. Though he found some sympathy on the right, for the most parthis suit was ridiculed by legal experts far and wide (See "Case Dismissed,"July 12). He created a website, www.christianlawsuit.com, in an effort toraise funds to hire a constitutional law expert to represent him. But inSeptember, Dunne withdrew his suit, citing the absence of the gay marriagequestion from a subsequent version of the Mass. bar exam.
But in his letter, Dunne said his suit was "misguided" and that he was"lashing out as a result of failing the bar exam." "I am deeply sorry forthe hurt that I have caused the gay community," Dunne wrote. As far as wecan tell after interviewing Dunne on Dec. 24, he’s not headed off to jail,rehab or Oprah - in fact, he said he’s studying to take the bar exam again -so we give him props for his public mea culpa. The one thing he declined todo was name the law school he attended, stating he didn’t want to drawattention to his alma mater (although he did say it’s in Boston). We have afeeling that’s probably okay with the school.
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/ss/local/73017.php
Az domestic partner plan draws ire, support
Policy hurts marriage if adopted, group says; UA's Shelton backs it
The Associated Press
PHOENIX - State officials have received a flood of public comments on aproposal by Gov. Janet Napolitano's administration to provide domesticpartner benefits to state government employees and retirees.
Department of Administration (DOA) officials on Wednesday were processinghundreds of e-mails and letters received right before the close of thecomment period on Monday and it appeared that a total of more than 1,000 hadbeen received, DOA spokesman Alan Ecker said.
A tally made last month on about half of the comments indicated that morewere in favor of the changes than against but no updated breakdown wasimmediately available, he said.
The domestic partners benefits proposal, which would change state employmentrules, awaits consideration by a state commission.
The proposal touches on the sensitive social issue of gay rights and hasdrawn criticism from some Republican lawmakers and others.
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.fridae.com/newsfeatures/article.php?articleid=2135&viewarticle=1&searchtype=all
australia to get second lesbian parliamentarian
News Editor
Senator-elect for Western Australia Louise Pratt has become the secondopenly lesbian woman - after Climate Change Minister Penny Wong - to servein newly-elected prime minister Kevin Rudd's administration.
Louise Pratt, a former Western Australia Legislative Council member, willtake up her Senate seat in July this year. She had notably become theyoungest woman ever elected to the Western Australia Legislative Council atthe time of her election in 2001.
[PIC]Having served as a regular spokesperson for prominent advocacy groupGay and Lesbian Equality in WA before her appointment to the LegislativeCouncil, the 35-year-old Labor Party member has been credited for playing asignificant role in a gay and lesbian law reform committee that pushed forthe passage of the Acts Amendment (Lesbian and Gay Law Reform) Act 2002. Itis considered to be some of the most progressive laws in the country. Thereforms included a complete ban on discrimination on the basis of sexualorientation, the granting of the right for same-sex couples to adoptchildren, a lowering of the age of consent from 21 to 16, the right forsame-sex couples to inherit from a deceased partner, and the repeal oflegislation which had made it an offence to promote homosexuality inschools.
Pratt was quoted as saying in the gay Sydney Star Observer that law reformfor same-sex couples and GLBT individuals would be high on her agenda andhas vowed to ensure that her party makes good on its promise to implementall 58 federal laws which discriminate against gays and lesbians.
“It is very exciting to be coming in with the change in government,” Prattsaid.
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-6447.html
Straight bouncer wins damages from gay club
3rd January 2008 11:20
A heterosexual woman has been awarded more than £6,000 in damages fromBournemouth's largest gay nightclub.
Sharon Legg, a 33-year-old mum of four, took her case to an employmenttribunal claiming unfair dismissal after being sacked without warning.
"I made this complaint for gay people, straight people, anyone who has everbeen harassed. I'm like a bulldog, I don't let go," Ms Legg told the DorsetEcho .
She told the tribunal she was called 'breeder' and 'straight' by hermanager, Scott Rhodes, while working as a bouncer at Dream Nightclub.
She was dismissed without warning after a dispute with another bouncer.
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-6450.html
Christian MP defends opposition to gay hate law
3rd January 2008 14:02
Tony Grew
A Liberal Democrat MP has defended an amendment designed to ensure thathomophobic Christians can continue to express their views on gay people.
Colin Breed, who is a lay Methodist preacher, claims that the move, which isalso supported by Ann Widdecombe, is about "freedom of speech."
The amendment to the Criminal Justice bill seeks to block a proposed newoffence of incitement to hatred on the grounds of sexual orientation.
It reads:
"Nothing in this part shall be read or given effect in a way which prohibitsor restricts discussion of, criticism of or expressions of antipathytowards, conduct relating to a particular sexual orientation, or urgingpersons of a particular sexual orientation to refrain from or modify conductrelating to that orientation."
Among the MPs asking for the right to show antipathy towards their gayconstituents are: Lib Dem Alan Beith (Berwick Upon Tweed); ConservativesPhilip Hollobone (Kettering) and Ann Widdecombe (Maidstone and the Weald);and Labour MPs David Taylor (North West Leicestershire) and Jim Dobbin(Heywood and Middleton).
more . . . . .
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-6455.html
Brighton hosts its 1,000th civil partnership
3rd January 2008 17:50
PinkNews.co.uk staff writer
Almost two years to the day that they became a legal reality, a lesbiancouple became the 1,000th couple to enter into a civil partnership inBrighton.
Company director Sue McCall and Emma Grose-McCall, a lawyer, have beentogether for six years.
They signed the civil register at Brighton Register Office on 22nd December.
"We had a quiet ceremony but its something we've wanted for some time," saidEmma.
"It's important to have our relationship recognised and have equal rightswith married couples, and Brighton is a place where we both feel reallycomfortable."
more . . . . .
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
Truth Wins Out
http://www.truthwinsout.org/news/huckabee-cavorting-with-dangerous-ideologues-from-religious-fringe-movement/
Huckabee Cavorting With Dangerous Ideologues From Religious Fringe Movement
January 3rd, 2008
In 1998, Mike Huckabee co-wrote the book, “Kids Who Kill” withReconstructionist author George Grant. Grant is an ideologue with extreme,even dangerous religious views. The question is, does the former Arkansasgovernor share Grant’s view of the role of Christianity in government?
This passage is from Grant’s 1987 book The Changing of the Guard (Ft. Worth,
TX: Dominion Press, 1987), pp. 50-51.
“Christians have an obligation, a mandate, a commission, a holyresponsibility to reclaim the land for Jesus Christ - to have dominion inthe civil structures, just as in every other aspect of life and godliness.But it is dominion that we are after. Not just a voice. It is dominion weare after. Not just influence. It is dominion we are after. Not just equaltime. It is dominion we are after. World conquest. That’s what Christ hascommissioned us to accomplish. We must win the world with the power of theGospel. And we must never settle for anything less.
“If Jesus Christ is indeed Lord, as the Bible says, and if our commissionis to bring the land into subjection to His Lordship, as the Bible says,then all our activities, all our witnessing, all our preaching, all ourcraftsmanship, all our stewardship, and all our political action will aim atnothing short of that sacred purpose. Thus, Christian politics has as itsprimary intent the conquest of the land - of men, families, institutions,bureaucracies, courts, and governments for the Kingdom of Christ.
“It is to reinstitute the authority of God’s Word as supreme over alljudgments, over all legislation, over all declarations, constitutions, andconfederations. True Christian political action seeks to rein the passionsof men and curb the pattern of digression under God’s rule.”
Clearly, this sounds like a twisted American version of fundamentalist Iran.
While I doubt these are Huckabee’s views, it is still extremely troublingthat America’s most delusional fundamentalists - who promote violent ideassuch as capital punishment for homosexuals - keep showing up in Huckabee’sRolodex, resume and campaign.
George Grant is a former vice president of Coral Ridge Ministries. In hisbook “Legislating Immorality,” Grant expresses sadness that in the modernworld there are no longer legal codes proscribing the death penalty forhomosexuals.
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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:
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Letter by leland@gayspermbank.com
There is a myth that marriage has more rights than civil unions/domesticpartners. That myth is born from the fact that civil unions/domesticpartners have only been passed by states which have no power to grant the1138 federal benefits of marriage. However, a federal civil unions policywould. Senators Clinton, Obama, Edwards, Dodd & Biden support a federalcivil unions policy. 48 million votes cast in 29 states, 32 million againstsame sex marriage, we lost 2 to 1. Civil Unions are achievable, same-sexmarriage is not. Federal Civil Unions = Marriage Equality.
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FORMER WISCONSIN GOVERNOR AND GAY RIGHTS CHAMPION DREYFUS DIES
Dreyfus, who was elected in 1978 after serving on the faculty and aschancellor at University of Wisconsin Stevens Point, signed the nation'sfirst statewide gay rights law in 1982.According to the AP, "The gay rightsmeasure Dreyfus signed made it illegal to discriminate on the basis ofsexual orientation in housing, employment and public accommodations." Theyadd, "Dreyfus also was a vocal opponent of the state's ban on gay marriageand civil unions, which was approved by voters in 2006."Said Glenn Carlson,interim executive director of Fair Wisconsin: "[Dreyfus' actions] reallyestablished Wisconsin in the forefront of nondiscrimination. He's been agreat leader and will be sorely missed."Added Governor Jim Doyle, whoordered flags to be flown at half mast today: "Lee Dreyfus was one of akind - one of Wisconsin's unique personalities.He was both a wonderfulgovernor and education leader. He led us, educated us, entertained us, allat the same time."
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Anglican archbishop spurs opposition to gays - National - theage.com.au:
Outspoken Anglican Archbishop Peter Jensen is galvanising opposition tohomosexuality in the church, in the lead-up to an unofficial meeting ofconservative bishops in Jerusalem.As rifts in the worldwide Anglican Churchthreaten to become a schism, the Sydney Archbishop said American Anglicanshad become missionaries for homosexuality in defiance of the Bible andAnglican teaching.The Global Anglican Future Conference is provocativelytimed just before the 10-yearly meeting of all the world's bishops atLambeth in London. That meeting must resolve the sexuality crisis orworldwide Anglicans will probably divide into two separate churches.DrJensen denied the Jerusalem meeting in June was an "alternative Lambeth",but liberals are sceptical. Leading Australian liberal Muriel Porter saidthe conference could hijack Lambeth because conservatives would come seekingto impose a predetermined outcome.Meanwhile, the Bishop of Jerusalem said hehad not been consulted, and urged the organisers to abandon the move, sayingit could inflame tensions in the region. Bishop Suheil Dawani said: "I amdeeply troubled that this meeting, of which we had no prior knowledge, willimport inter-Anglican conflict into our diocese.
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WHEN VERMONT legislators legalized civil unions for gay couples in 2000,there was a bitter backlash against the reform. But on New Year's Day, NewHampshire joined Vermont, Connecticut, and New Jersey in extending civilunion rights to gay and lesbian couples, and the event was met with acollective yawn. There are several reasons for this change, but the mostimportant is that residents of New Hampshire have had a chance to observeVermont and Connecticut's civil unions and Massachusetts' same-sex marriage,and realized that extending rights to a minority is no threat to themajority - or to the institution of marriage.
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National Gay News
http://nationalgaynews.com/
Go to the website, above, for the following articles:
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Obama Is Best On Gay Rights
The top three Democrats are mostly similar on our issues, but only Obama canreach out where needed to transform promises into equality. After more thana year of campaigning in the most wide-open primaries in decades, it’sfinally time for voters to pick a president. On the Democratic side, thethree hopefuls with a viable shot at the nomination have all signed on toalmost every item on the so-called “gay agenda.
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Randy Flies Reveal How Booze Affects Inhibitions
Fruit flies that develop homosexual tendencies when drunk may help revealhow alcohol loosens human sexual inhibitions, claim researchers. Kyung-AnHan and her colleagues at Pennsylvania State University in University Parkused a voyeuristic chamber dubbed the "Flypub" to observe the influence ofalcohol on the sexual behaviour of male Drosophila fruit flies.
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No Blue Skies for Bi-National Couples
As 2008 unfolds, those gay and lesbian Americans who are in relationshipswith men and women from beyond our borders are probably wondering what these12 months will bring for them, especially during an election year. As wasthe case during the year that just ended, the news will continue to be grim.
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Women and Gay Men Are 'Worst Drivers'
Women and gay men are likely to be the worst drivers, a new study has shown.
Research has revealed that both perform poorly in tasks involving navigationand spatial awareness when compared to heterosexual men.
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The Gayby Boom
As we careen into full blown campaign season, gay marriage will likely movefrom a simmer to a boil. Declarations will be forced, answers will beparsed, fine lines will be tiptoed. But as both sides of the culturaldivide argue about the rights to a happy and legal union, there is anotherissue that is moving steadily, if quietly toward acceptance.
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Mixed Reaction to NGLTF's Name Change
In the wake of House passage of a sexual orientation-only Employment
Non-Discrimination Act, and the dawn of an election year, the National Gayand Lesbian Task Force is reinventing its political arm with a new name andWeb site. But some bisexual and transgender activists have a mixed responseto the change and how it reflects the organization's inclusive politics.
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Gay Chamber of Commerce Puts Pressure on Small Businesses
The National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce is sponsoring seminars toencourage small businesses to favor homosexual employees. It also is teamingwith the pro-gay Human Rights Campaign to publish a 32-page booklet on howsmall businesses can be more "inclusive."
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Gay Policeman Fights Prejudice
An officer assigned to the riot police has openly declared his homosexualityand vowed to fight social prejudice against ``sexual minorities.'' On Dec.30, Private Kim Hyun-jong (not his real name) posted an article about hishomosexuality on the online riot police community Web site. He is the secondpoliceman from the squad to have openly come out after YooJeong Min-shikidentified himself as being gay and refused to finish his service term forwhich he was prisoned in 2006. In South Korea, men can serve in the riotpolice as part of their mandatory military service.
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The Gay Squad
In the District, the award-winning Gay and Lesbian Liaison Unit of theWashington Metropolitan Police Department has been a much used resource forthe city's GLBT community, especially in times of high-profile crime sprees,when seeking a liaison to the MPD, when fighting community drug addiction,or a host of other reasons. Just south of the District line, in Arlington,the priorities aren't quite the same.
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365Gay.Com
http://www.365gay.com/
Go to the website, above, for the following articles:
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Is New Hampshire Clinton's Last Stand?
(Manchester, New Hampshire) Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton -welcome to New Hampshire, where you each face the biggest test of yourpolitical lives.
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Little Attention Paid To Cowboy Caucus
(Cheyenne, Wyoming) It's been overlooked in the hoopla surrounding Iowa andNew Hampshire, but Wyoming Republicans will caucus Saturday and choosedelegates to the national convention in September.
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Obama Scores Stunning Victory
(Des Moines, Iowa) Democrat Barack Obama has put to rest the question ofwhether a black presidential candidate can win in white America.
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Romney Loss Puts Campaign In Disarray
(Des Moines, Iowa) Republican Mitt Romney failed Thursday to pick up thefirst of two back-to-back wins he hoped would propel him toward his party'spresidential nomination, losing the Iowa caucuses five days before what isnow for him a pivotal New Hampshire primary.
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Researcher: Gay Men Behave Like Women
(London) Gay men navigate in a similar way to women, according to a newstudy from researchers at Queen Mary, University of London.
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NJ Gay Hate Bill Advances
(Trenton, New Jersey) The New Jersey Senate on Thursday unanimously approvedsweeping legislation to strengthen New Jersey's hate crimes and anti-schoolbullying laws.
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Soap Star Auctions Himself For HIV/AIDS Charity
(New York City) Cameron Mathison is putting himself up for auction.
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Ruling Could Impact Lesbian IVF Couples
(Harrisburg, Pennsylvania) The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has ruled that awoman who promised a sperm donor he would not have to pay child supportcannot renege on the deal.
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Majority Supports Arizona DP Benefits Plan
(Phoenix, Arizona) A plan by Gov. Janet Napolitano's administration toprovide domestic partner benefits to Arizona state employees and retireesappears to have the support of most citizens.
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Early Gay Ally Gov. Dreyfus Dies
(Madison, Wisconsin) Former Gov. Lee Sherman Dreyfus, who signed thenation's first statewide gay rights law in 1982, has died. He was 81.
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Express Gay News
http://www.expressgaynews.com/thelatest/thelatest.cfm?blog_id=15846
Judge's call on civil unions puts spotlight on voter signatures
State's verification process angers some political activists
SALEM (AP) | Jan 2, 3:15 PM
The recent decision by a federal judge to block a law allowing gay couplesto form civil unions in Oregon has cast a spotlight on whether a signatureon a petition can be equated to a vote on the ballot.
U.S. District Judge Michael Mosman on Friday suspended the law, set to takeeffect with the new year.
Mosman has set a Feb. 1 court date for lawyers to argue whether electionsofficials wrongly threw out signatures on petitions that would have forced areferendum vote on domestic partnerships.
The outcome of the case will be closely watched by political activists, whoclaim Oregon elections officials are too quick to toss out petitionsignatures.
Elections officials are also paying close attention, concerned that animprobably high standard for verifying the validity of signatures couldcompromise their ability to carry out elections.
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After Elton.com
http://www.afterelton.com/TV/2008/1/wishlist
2008 Gay Pop Culture Wish List
by AfterElton.com Staff
January 2, 2008
2007 was a disappointing year in terms of gay visibility. With it now behindus, we thought we’d offer up fifteen pop culture possibilities that we’d bethrilled to see fulfilled in the coming year. Call it our 2008 wish list.From gay celebrity wedding photos splashed across the tabloids to abreak-out romantic comedy triumphing at the box office, here are our humblesuggestions for making 2008 the best gay year ever.
My Big Fat Gay Wedding – A gay romantic comedy breaks out
With last year a bust in terms of gay movies and movies with gay characters(including the well-intentioned but poorly executed I Now Pronounce YouChuck and Larry and the flat-out homophobic Wild Hogs), we have to believethat this year things can only get better. And what would truly help makethis a banner year is for a small independent romantic comedy about two gaymen to unexpectedly become a huge breakout hit.
What better way to demonstrate to Middle America the unfairness of keepinggays from getting married than with a romantic comedy about two young loverstrying to make it to the altar for their big day? It would have cute flowergirls, mothers weeping with joy, fathers grumbling about paying for theirson's wedding, and all sorts of wacky hijinks. Besides, everyone loves afairytale romance and a happy ending. We think 2002’s My Big Fat GreekWedding, which came out of nowhere to score $356 million in ticket sales, isthe perfect template for what we have in mind.
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The Huffigton Post
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/peggy-drexler/the-gaybe-boom_b_79479.html
The Gaybe Boom
Posted January 3, 2008 | 10:16 AM (EST)
As we careen into full blown campaign season, gay marriage will likely movefrom a simmer to a boil. Declarations will be forced, answers will beparsed, fine lines will be tiptoed.
But as both sides of the cultural divide argue about the rights to a happyand legal union, there is another issue that is moving steadily, if quietlytoward acceptance.
That is gay and lesbian couples - and increasingly singles - adopting,having and raising children. According to The FamilyNet project at the HumanRights Campaign says that a review of American Academy of Pediatricsresearch indicates that there are between one million and nine millionAmerican children under 18 living with gay parents. Other studies put thefigure much lower.
The fact is, nobody really knows. But most sociologists agree that thegrowth is enough to warrant its own snappy trend label: "The Gayby Boom."
Whatever the number, it is increasing despite some formidable obstacles. Asa gay couple I know who have been through the gauntlet twice (and have twoamazing little girls for their effort) told me: "Think how hard it is forhetero parents to adopt a child - all the background checks, all the SocialServices visits, all the bureaucracy. When you're a gay couple, you have allthat to a power of 10. I can't even imagine what it's like if you'resingle - especially a single man."
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Express Gay New
http://www.expressgaynews.com/2008/1-3/news/localnews/4314.cfm
Bilerico’s ‘underground flavor’ draws gay fans
Site boasts political bigwigs among contributors
By REBECCA ARMENDARIZ
Thursday, January 03, 2008
With more than 50 contributors from all walks of life, the Bilerico Project,a blog that grew from a simple domain name and some basic HTML, has evolvedquickly from its earliest incarnation.
Bil Browning, editor of the site, combined his name with his best friendEri's, to create his blog. He purchased bilerico.com nine years ago and theweb site initially focused on gay issues in Bloomington, Ind. Three yearsago, Browning and his partner, Jeremy, changed the blog program so thatmultiple users could post their work to the site. After reaching out to gayleaders in Indiana, the idea spread nationally and today boasts 15 to 20posts per day by a variety of correspondents.
The site features a video section and advice columns as well as the writingof gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people of various races andbackgrounds.
The content varies — one day, a serious post about ENDA will be sandwichedbetween “The Best Gay Books of 2007” and a feature on a freshly outed sexycelebrity.
The Bilerico Project was relaunched in July. Since then, Browning said thesite has received 388,000 unique page views. He did not have updated numberson daily visitors to the site, but said Bilerico takes in a modest $500 permonth in advertising — an amount he says is growing. One of Browning's goalsfor 2008 is to generate enough revenue to pay some of the associate editorsand contributors.
more . . . . .
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Express Gay New
http://www.expressgaynews.com/2008/1-3/news/national/4311.cfm
Data split on benefits of circumcision
Study finds no effect on HIV rates among black, Latino gay men
By RYAN LEE
Thursday, January 03, 2008
ATLANTA — College years are filled with memories, none more exciting forLouis Rahim than the first time he laid eyes on an uncircumcised penis whileattending one of the schools that make up the Atlanta University Center.
He remembers every detail of the encounter, from the screen name of the guyhe hooked up with, to the animal Rahim thought of when he first saw what wasin his pants.
“The skin covered the head, and it reminded me of an elephant trunk,” Rahimsaid.
More skin is almost a dealbreaker for D.J. Levi, 26, who has a “strongpreference” for circumcised men.
“If it’s big enough, I can overlook it,” joked Levi, who added that “myreasons are dumb” for being biased against uncut penises.
“I think circumcised looks better, and it’s more hygienic,” Levi said. “Guyshave to be taught the proper way to clean uncircumcised foreskin, andeveryone isn’t taught that.”
Despite their differing tastes when it comes to their partners’ phallus,Rahim and Levi share the perception that uncircumcised men are more prone tohygiene-related infections and STDs.
“I’ve read about uncut men being more susceptible to STDs, but that’s ifthey aren’t being clean,” said Rahim, who added that despite his preferencefor uncut men, he is glad to be circumcised.
Whether or not circumcision status plays a role in the spread or preventionof STDs is an ongoing topic debated by scientists, with several recentstudies coming to dramatically conflicting conclusions. Two separate studiesconducted by the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention appear to showthat circumcision profoundly reduces the risk for heterosexual men in Africato contract HIV, while having “absolutely no effect” on whether gay andbisexual men in the U.S. contract the disease.
While trying to figure out why black and Latino gay and bisexual men havehigher rates of HIV even though they engage in less risky behavior thantheir white counterparts, CDC researchers looked at data from more than2,000 black and Latino gay men to see if being uncircumcised increased theirprobability of being HIV-positive. About 74 percent of black men in thestudy — which was unveiled at the CDC’s National HIV Prevention conferencelast month — were circumcised, compared to 33 percent of Latinos.
“We found no overall association between circumcision status andHIV-infection status among black or Latino [gay and bisexual men],” said CDCepidemiologist Greg Millet, the study’s author. “We also found no protectivebenefit of circumcision among those men reporting recent unprotected sexwith a male partner in which they were exclusively the insertive malepartner.”
Essentially, men who are sexual tops are not more at risk of contracting HIVif they are uncircumcised, nor are they safer if they are circumcised,Millet said. Circumcision offers gay men a “moderate protective factor, atmost,” Millet said.
When looking at a subset of black male participants who also engaged in sexwith females, the researchers “also found no protective benefit” fromcircumcision.
Millet’s data echoes other studies that have suggested circumcision haslittle effect on HIV transmission among gay and bisexual men. In the U.S., arecent study of STD clinics in San Francisco revealed that circumcisionoffered no protection from HIV for gay and bisexual men, while an Australianstudy of 68 HIV-positive gay men showed that uncircumcised men were no morelikely to have contracted the disease through insertive anal sex.
“Two previous studies conducted in the United States, but primarily amongwhite [gay and bisexual men], did show a possible protective benefit ofcircumcision,” Millet noted. “However, one of those studies also found thatthe protective effect for circumcision was moderate compared with otherfactors associated with HIV seroconversion.”
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Baltimore - wjz.com
http://wjz.com/local/gay.marriage.question.2.622531.html
Lawmakers To Get Gay Marriage Question
ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) ―
Gay marriage has been declared a question for the legislature, not thecourts -- but top Maryland lawmakers doubt any bills on the matter will passin the upcoming legislative session.
The session that begins Jan. 9 will be the first regular session since thestate's highest court ruled in a Baltimore case that the Marylandconstitution's equal-rights amendment does not make a ban against same-sexunions unconstitutional.
In other words, the judges punted the question back to lawmakers.
"Our opinion should by no means be read to imply that the General Assemblymay not grant and recognize for homosexual persons civil unions or the rightto marry a person of the same sex," Judge Glenn T. Harrell Jr. wrote in theSeptember decision.
But top lawmakers say it's unlikely the question of same-sex unions willadvance this session.
more . . . . .
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Express Gay New
http://www.expressgaynews.com/blog/index.cfm?type=blog&start=12/29/07&end=1/5/08#15854
Trans activist crosses the line
Posted by Kevin Naff, Washington Blade Editor
knaff@washblade.com
Jan. 3 at 10:53 AM
The recent remarks by Meredith Bacon, president of the board of the NationalCenter for Transgender Equality, denouncing the Human Rights Campaign’shandling of the ENDA debate, serve as a vivid and disappointing reminder ofwhy the trans movement hasn’t progressed as far as the gay rights movement.
“[A]s the chair of the NCTE Board of Directors, I can assure all who readthis blog that NCTE will not work with HRC in the foreseeable future, untilthe current leadership is completely purged, and until we are convincedthat, unlike its predecessors, any new HRC leadership is totally committedto working for transgender rights,” Bacon wrote.
“As long as HRC is controlled by and is dependent upon white, rich,professional gay men, such collaboration may never occur,” she wrote.
Her comments are offensive, counterproductive and totally unacceptable. Sheshould either retract those comments and apologize or be removed from herposition post-haste if her organization is to retain any credibilitywhatsoever in the gay rights movement.
It’s an unfortunate development, because Mara Keisling, the group’sexecutive director, who has so far declined to comment on Bacon’s statement,has earned a reputation as a hard-working, knowledgeable and reasonableprofessional. Perhaps Keisling is too “professional” for Bacon’s taste.
Bacon’s attack on HRC and other trans advocates’ denouncing of gay Rep.Barney Frank over the ENDA flap will ultimately do more damage to the causeof one day passing an inclusive bill. All of this name-calling isshortsighted and oh-so-predictable.
It’s time for Keisling and other members of the National Center forTransgender Equality board to publicly repudiate Bacon’s offensive andirresponsible remarks.
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The Advocate
http://advocate.com/issue_story.asp?id=50984&page=2
Year in Review 2007 || The Sissy Awards
Every year we have to endure our fair share of idiots, but this year takesthe cake. So we here at The Advocate have reinstated our annual sissyawards, recognizing those who show arrogant stupidity, dishonesty, or just asevere lack of spine. From Paris Hilton to Peter Pace, let's give it up forthis year's winners losers.
By Alonso Duralde
From The Advocate January 15, 2008
Sissy Political Party -- The Republicans
If there’s one thing right-wing pols like better than blocking gay rights,it’s having gay sex. And 2007 gave us multiple orgasms:
--U.S. senator Larry Craig introduced us to the term “wide stance” when hewas busted in a Minnesota airport for putting the moves on an undercover copin the next stall. Craig pled guilty but held on to his seat (no, the one inthe Senate).
-National Association of Evangelicals president Ted Haggard, outed as aregular customer by a gay hustler, magically became heterosexual after justthree weeks in rehab. Lindsay Lohan would kill her dealer for results likethat.
--Glenn Murphy Jr., newly elected chair of the Young Republican National
Federation, resigned in August after his arrest for performing oral sex on asleeping acquaintance. In 1998 he’d committed a similar crime on a dudewhose girlfriend was in the same room!
--Florida state representative Bob Allen offered to pay an undercover cop$20 to let Allen give him a blow job in a restroom. Preferring to play itracist rather than gay, Allen claimed he’d acted out of fear of theAfrican-American men hanging out nearby. Result: He looked racist, gay, andstupid. Allen had been John McCain’s presidential campaign cochair forFlorida.
Sissy Extracurricular Activity of the Year -- Public bathroom sex
-Jim Naugle, mayor of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., lobbied his city to spend$250,000 on “robo-toilets” in order to discourage gay men from having sex inpublic restrooms. Naugle said he was fighting to keep gays from taking overthe city. Only two problems with that reasoning: There’d been no recentarrests for sex in restrooms, and anyway, Jim, it’s not so much gay men inall those stalls -- it's guys like the 20 men arrested in one month at a NewYork roadside restroom. Nineteen of them (including a Rotary Club president)were married. The 20th? A Catholic priest.
Sissy Vacation Destination -- Fort Lauderdale
-Gay visitors to the Florida vacation spot have more to worry about thanautomated pissoirs. You might get verbally queer-bashed at the airport. InMay, as a law professor and his partner waited for their luggage, a voice onthe P.A. system started reading from Leviticus, saying, “A man who lies withanother man as he would a woman is subject to death.” The mystery evangelistdid not share the Bible’s views about parking in a red zone.
Sissy Grandpa -- Vice President Dick Cheney
--Mary Cheney had a baby in May, and Mary’s proud papa huffed tointerviewers that any questions about the blessed event were “out of line.”Does the VP know his alleged boss referred to Mary and her partner, HeatherPoe, as the child’s “parents” on the White House website?
Second Verse, Sissy as the First -- Pope Benedict XVI
--It wouldn’t be a sissy roundup without the pederast enablers at theVatican. Prada-wearing devil Pope Benedict XVI reminded us that the RomanCatholic Church’s opposition to gay marriage is “nonnegotiable,” and anarchbishop kicked in that same-sex marriage is “evil.” Meanwhile a Vaticanmonsignor, caught on hidden camera making advances to a youth, claimed thathe was only pretending as part of his ministry. Is that what the kids arecalling it these days?
Sissy Word of the Year -- FAGGOT!
--An oldie but a goodie, this epithet had a banner year in 2007. IsaiahWashington allegedly used the word on the set of Grey’s Anatomy, definitelyused it at the Golden Globes telecast, then went into “gay rehab” and hireda gay publicist. Results: Washington got fired, GLAAD got a new celebrityPSA, and classy costar T.R. Knight got better story lines.
--Media opportunist Ann Coulter hurled the f taunt at John Edwards, leadingto a public smackdown from the awesome Elizabeth Edwards and, regrettably,lots more TV time for Coulter.
--CBS Sports college basketball announcer Billy Packer -- who, with a namelike that, obviously has issues -- used the term “fag out” on Charlie Rose.
Rose’s viewers were so shocked they woke up.
Sissy Candy of the Year -- Snickers
--Remember this fun Super Bowl commercial? Two mechanics eat a Snickers barfrom opposite ends and wind up accidentally meeting in a kiss. Ew! Torestore the manly vibe, one of them slams a car hood down on his buddy’shead. On the Snickers website folks enjoyed three other versions of the ad,all violent, plus clips of Super Bowl players watching the spots and makingfaces of disgust when the dudes kiss. Sweet!
Sissy Sportsman of the Year -- Tim Hardaway
--When retired NBA player John Amaechi came out, ex-player Tim Hardawayfavored a radio interviewer with the following: “Well, you know, I hate gaypeople, so I let it be known, I don’t like gay people. I don’t like to bearound gay people. Yeah, I’m homophobic. I don’t like it. It shouldn’t be inthe world for that or in the United States for that. So yeah, I don’t likeit.” Hardaway later said he’s sorry. But we knew that already.
Sissy Cinema -- Tie: Wild Hogs and I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry
--Because you can’t really choose between a midlife-crisis movie about foursuburbanites who love to wear leather and ride motorcycles but are TOTALLYIN NO WAY GAY and a comedy about two straight firemen who getcivil-unionized for the health benefits but are TOTALLY IN NO WAY GAY.
Sissy Celebrities -- Mark Wahlberg and John Travolta
Of course, actors were perfectly capable of saying stupid things even ifthey weren’t appearing in awful movies:
--Former underwear model Mark Wahlberg says he turned down the chance to bein Brokeback Mountain because the script “creeped him out.” Mind you, thisis the guy who said yes to Four Brothers and The Truth About Charlie.
--Wild Hogs star John Travolta told the press there was “nothing gay” aboutHairspray. Except its gay director. And the gay director of the originalmovie. And the gay men who wrote the songs. And several of its stars.
Sissy Stud -- Marine Corporal Matt Sanchez
--The Iraq War vet became a right-wing poster boy when he complained aboutbeing silenced by student activists at Columbia University. After he posedfor pictures with the sulfur-reeking Ann Coulter and took hisconservative-victim shtick to Fox News, it turned out Sanchez was already acelebrity in gay circles -- as man-on-man porn star Rod Majors and as(shades of Jeff Gannon) an escort. Shut up!
Sissy Waste of Space -- Paris Hilton
--Arrests aside, it was still a spotty year for the heiress (and onetimegrand marshal of the Los Angeles gay pride parade). In early 2007 an oldtape surfaced in which she used both the n and f words; in September,paparazzi video showed Hilton stepping into a puddle and observing, “Oh, myGod, I have, like, AIDS.”
Sissy Bloviator -- Bill O’Reilly
--Fox’s star windbag keeps claiming he “gets it” about gays. Oh, really?Check out these O’Reilly insights:
There’s a “national underground network” of lesbians terrorizing the nation,raping women, randomly attacking hetero men, and indoctrinating young girls.(O’Reilly later admitted this was “overstated.”)
--It was “insane” and “inappropriate” for the San Diego Padres to host a gaypride night at the same game where kids under 12 got free hats. “Thousandsof gay adults showed up and commingled with straight families,” he reported.--J.K. Rowling is a “provocateur” for saying that Harry Potter’s ProfessorDumbledore is gay. Huffed O’Reilly: “Many parents are worried in Americaabout the gay agenda and indoctrination of their children to seehomosexuality in a certain way.” (In this same segment, O’Reilly had to betold that Rowling is a woman.)
Stop-the-Presses Sissies -- The Hollywood Reporter and Reuters
--Both tried to yank THR writer Ray Richmond’s obituary of Merv Griffinbecause it discussed Griffin’s homosexuality -- the worst-kept secret inshow business outside Kenny Rogers’s face-lifts.
Sissy Internationale -- Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
--At a speech at Columbia University, the Iranian president claimed that hiscountry had no homosexuals. Not true, actually -- but not for lack of tryingon Ahmadinejad’s part.
Four-star Sissy -- Gen. Peter Pace
--During his tenure as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Pacecalled homosexuality “immoral” and compared it to adultery. Pace did notcomment on rumors that his mother wears combat boots.
Senatorial Sissy -- Dianne Feinstein
--Whatever mojo the California senator got out of shakily announcing themurder of Harvey Milk officially expired when the right-leaning Democrat --“Joe Lieberman in a dress,” to some wags -- jumped the aisle and approvedthe nomination of Judge Leslie Southwick for the fifth circuit court ofappeals. Southwick had advocated removing gay parents’ biological childrenfrom their homes.
Supersissy -- Spirit Warriors
--After Marvel Comics finally stopped slapping an adults-only label on anycomic book with a gay or lesbian character, born-again actor StephenBaldwin -- a.k.a. the boring Baldwin -- promoted his crappy Jesus-y graphicnovel Spirit Warriors in this press release: “With the most prominent comicbook company lightening up its rating system, how can parents be sure theiryoungsters won’t get their hands on age-inappropriate material?”
Shabbat Sissies -- Haredi Rabbis and Followers
--After extremist rabbis from the Eda Haredit sect put a curse on JerusalemPride, a Jerusalem city council member and representative of the city’s gaysand lesbians received death threats; his phone number had been posted onHaredi Web forums. Moments before the pride parade began, police arrested anultra-Orthodox Jewish man carrying an explosive device.
“Who Would Jesus Smear?” Sissies -- Focus on the Family and the AmericanFamily Association
--When former Joint Chiefs chairman John Shalikashvili came out against “don’task, don’t tell,” the good folks at Focus and AMA painted the U.S. Armygeneral as a dupe of homosexual activists who took advantage after hesuffered a debilitating stroke. The stroke, alas, happened in 2004.
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The Advocate
http://advocate.com/issue_story_ektid50918.asp
Coming Out in the Big Leagues
Why John Amaechi didn't change the world of professional sports.
By Jeff Pearlman
From The Advocate January 15, 2008
To many gays and lesbians who care about sports, this coming-out was(literally) the big one -- the one that would officially open up the idea ofhomosexuality to a particular culture that has been anything but embracing.
For eons, participants in professional athletics had treated gays andlesbians not as people but slurs. Play soft and you’re a faggot. Dresscolorfully and you’re queer. Step into the shower with a slightly effeminateteammate and you should make sure to grab soap on a rope.
Why, it wasn’t all that long ago that one of my former Sports Illustratedcolleagues walked through the locker room of the NBA’s New Jersey Nets aftera game while wearing (gasp!) a yellow scarf. The nerve! “Ho-mo-sex-u-al!”chanted David Benoit, an eminently forgettable forward. “Ho-mo-sex-u-al!”
The joint broke out in snickers.
But in February 2007 the tide was surely about to turn. A former NBA centernamed John Amaechi appeared on ESPN’s Outside the Lines to speak publiclyabout his life as a closeted professional athlete. No, Amaechi wasn’t thefirst retired jock to come out. But he was easily the most recognizable: Notonly was Amaechi a 6-foot-10, 270-pound mountain of a man, but he had spenthis career battling head-to-head against the Shaquille O’Neals and PatrickEwings and Tim Duncans of the league -- without headgear to make himanonymous.
more . . . . .
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The Advocate
http://advocate.com/issue_story_ektid50913.asp
Public Sex Confidential
Overnight, senator Larry Craig became the poster boy for public sex. But asBenoit Denizet-Lewis reminds us, the phenomenon is anything but new -- andit's not just a closeted republican thing. So what is it that still drivessome in the gay community out of the bedroom and into the Bathroom?
By Benoit Denizet-Lewis
From The Advocate January 15, 2008
In 1980, a short time before AIDS began decimating San Francisco’s gaypopulation, CBS aired a documentary about life in the city called Gay Power,Gay Politics. “For someone of my generation,” journalist Harry Reasoner saidin the report’s sobering introduction, “it sounds a bit preposterous.Political power for homosexuals?” He opined that this strange politicalmovement raised “troubling questions…not only for San Francisco but forother cities throughout the country.”
For CBS, the most troubling aspect of gay life in San Francisco was clear: Homosexuals seemed to be having sex everywhere—in public parks, S/M “torturechambers,” and, if they could get away with it, right in the middle ofCastro Street. In his book The Culture of Desire, Frank Browning noted thatthe total effect of CBS’s report “was that of a strident alarm, a warningthat the hidden agenda of the campaign for gay power was the legitimizationof sex in the streets.”
Many gay men were outraged by the documentary, which they saw as a salaciousattempt to smear them all as public-sex fiends. “I don’t know of anyone whois responsible who feels that [sex in San Francisco’s parks] should becondoned or encouraged,” one local gay man told the National News Council.“It’s a matter of embarrassment to most of the people I know. It’s a smallpercentage of the gay population that’s involved in that scene.”
I was reminded of the old CBS report (and of the ensuing attempt by many gaypeople to downplay the prevalence and acceptability of public sex among gaymen) in the weeks after the Larry Craig scandal broke. In October the Gayand Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation issued a series of recommendationsfor journalists covering arguably the biggest public sex news story ever.After the initial focus on Craig, the media had quickly turned its prurientgaze to toe-tapping, wide stances, and in-depth investigations best summedup as “What Are the Gays Up to in Bathrooms Anyway?”
GLAAD insisted that only a small minority of gay men engage in public sexand most gay people condemn the practice. The organization also highlightedthe words of Michigan State professor emeritus of psychology GershenKaufman, who told ABC News that cruising is practiced mainly by deeplycloseted men: “There is a lot of self-hatred and shame, and they can’t allowthemselves to come to terms with their sexuality.”
more . . . . .
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The Advocate
http://advocate.com/issue_story_ektid50925.asp
The Year in Queer
Timeline
From The Advocate January 15, 2008
January
4: The 110th Congress is sworn in with Nancy Pelosi -- in a baby-blue powersuit -- as House speaker. The same day Democrat Deval Patrick takes the oathof office as the first African-American governor of Massachusetts -- andjust the second black governor in U.S. history. The gay-friendly Patrickushers in a new age for the Bay State, which endured four years of thehomophobic Mitt Romney.
15: Two months after Grey’s Anatomy star Isaiah Washington spat out theother f word during an on-set scuffle with costar Patrick Dempsey --prompting series star T.R. Knight to come out of the closet -- Washingtondrops that f bomb again at the Golden Globes telecast, then lies toreporters about having used the word in the first place. Grey’s creatorShonda Rhimes finally kicks him to the curb in June.
31: Overwhelmingly Catholic Mexico registers its first civil union when two29-year-old lesbians sign papers in Coahuila, the first of the nation’s 31states to legalize gay unions.
February
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Bible Belt Blogger
http://www2.arkansasonline.com/blogs/bible-blog/2008/jan/04/claim-huckabee-/
Claim: Huckabee has launched the Republican Reformation
Posted January 4, 2008
Bible Belt Blogger: Claim: Huckabee has launched the Republican Reformation
Frank Lockwood
David Brooks, in today's New York Times, says the Iowa outcome is a seismicevent.
David Brooks Brooks also writes:
"Mitt Romney is now grievously wounded. Romney represents what’s left ofRepublicanism 1.0. Huckabee and McCain represent half-formed iterations ofRepublicanism 2.0. My guess is Republicans will now swing behind McCain inorder to stop Mike.
Huckabee probably won’t be the nominee, but starting last night in Iowa, anevangelical began the Republican Reformation."
more....
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Sun-Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/obituaries/sfl-flodreyfussbjan04,0,7592314.story
Lee Sherman Dreyfus, ex-Wisconsin governor, dead at 81
The Associated Press
January 4, 2008
MADISON, Wis.
Former Gov. Lee Sherman Dreyfus, who signed the nation's first statewide gayrights law in 1982, has died. He was 81.
Mr. Dreyfus, who was governor from 1979 to 1983, died Wednesday at hisWaukesha home, his son Lee S. Dreyfus Jr. said Thursday. He had sufferedfrom heart and breathing problems.
Mr. Dreyfus was chancellor at Wisconsin-Stevens Point before running forgovernor in 1978. A Republican, he upset Rep. Bob Kasten in the primary anddefeated acting Gov. Martin Schreiber in the general election.
But he surprised party leaders by deciding not to seek a second term fouryears later, saying he wanted to return to private life.
During his term, he earned respect for his businesslike approach topolitics — and for his gifts as a communicator. He famously coined thephrase about Wisconsin's liberal capital: "Madison is 30 square milessurrounded by reality."
more . . . . .
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Sun-Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/nationworld/politics/wire/sns-ap-caucus-gop-analysis,0,5182395.story
Analysis: Head Versus Heart for Iowa GOP
LIZ SIDOTI
Associated Press Writer
3:00 PM EST, January 3, 2008
WASHINGTON
Iowa Republicans chose between their hearts and their heads.
Mike Huckabee appealed to emotions, an ordained Southern Baptist ministerwith rock-solid culturally conservative credentials who is beloved byChristian evangelicals influential in the caucuses. Mitt Romney was thepractical pick, an accomplished businessman with a powerhouse organizationand a seemingly endless supply of money to go the distance -- and thwart thesocially liberal Rudy Giuliani.
After a year of tumult, the race amounted to a classic David vs. Goliathbattle, with a pair of former governors in a high-stakes slugfest for thecoveted prize -- the front-runner mantle heading into the New Hampshireprimary a mere five days later.
Others aimed for better-than-expected showings; Arizona Sen. John McCain,former New York Mayor Giuliani and Texas Rep. Ron Paul sought relevancy,one-time Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson survival.
Iowa had the first say in the most volatile, wide-open GOP nomination racein a half-century, and the state's recent history bodes well for the caucuswinner. It has chosen the Republican who eventually secured the nominationin the two most recent contested GOP competitions -- George W. Bush in 2000and Bob Dole in 1996.
more . . . . .
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[Send your comments about articles to Rays.List@Comcast.net]
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Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org
http://www.jamaica-star.com/thestar/20071228/ent/ent9.html
Gay lyrics ban broken at Sting 2007
At the final, in a series of free road shows leading up to the huge BoxingDay event, held outside Ken's Wildflower Lounge, Port Henderson Road,Portmore, on Friday, December 14, the performances were cut short when twoperformers disobeyed the rule, although MC Nuffy had explained thesituation.
In a story published in *The Gleaner* on Wednesday, December 19, under theheadline 'Gay lyrics 'sting' in Portmore', it was reported that after thefirst infraction by Ras Fraser, Nuffy said "all my show whe no have nosponsor yu can sey anyting". With sponsored shows, though, "the sponsor havesuppen inna de paper when de promoter come to dem. If yu breach de contrac'yu no get de res' a de money," Nuffy said, pointing out that if there was no sponsor, there was no concert.
"If yu no like certain man, yu no haffi chat 'bout dem," Nuffy said then.
However, when the real thing came on Boxing Day, it did not take long forthe rule to be tossed out, the huge audience reacting very favourably to thelyrical advocacy of death to homosexuals.
When Harry Toddler demanded just after 1 a.m. that "all who a shot ban tunon yu lighta", some strong language in the mix, he was quickly called offstage and the MC reminded the audience that "as we mentioned earlier, we aretrying our best to make this the cleanest Guinness Sting ever, so we aregoing to cut out the profanities".
more....
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Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org
PETER TATCHELL HUMAN RIGHTS FUND
Donations are requested to help fund Peter Tatchell's campaigns promotinghuman rights, democracy and global justice.
Peter is unpaid and receives no grants.
To continue his human rights work, he depends on donations from friends andsupporters.
Please make cheques payable to: "Peter Tatchell Human Rights Fund".
Send to: Peter Tatchell Human Rights Fund, PO Box 35253, London E1 4YF
To download a donation form or a standing order mandate, go to Donations at:
http://www.tatchellrightsfund.org
To email PTHRF:
info@tatchellrightsfund.org
Thank you. Richard Kirker, Treasurer PTHRF
For information about Peter Tatchell's campaigns:
http://www.petertatchell.net
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Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org
Lieberman floor remarks on introducing S. 2521
To: lgbtdems@yahoogroups.com
http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getpage.cgi?dbname=2007_record&page=S16008&position=all
Mr. LIEBERMAN. Mr. President, I rise to urge mycolleagues to support the domestic PartnershipBenefits and Obligations Act of 2007, which my goodfriend from the other side of the aisle, SenatorSmith, and I introduced last Congress and areintroducing again today, along with 19 othercosponsors.
This legislation is another step in the processto make the Federal Government more competitive inan ever-changing business world. It would requirethe Government to extend employee benefit programsto the same-sex domestic partners of Federalemployees. It is sound public policy and it makesexcellent business sense.
Under our bill, Federal employee and theemployee's domestic partner would be eligible toparticipate in health benefits, Family and MedicalLeave, long-term care, Federal retirement benefits,and other benefits to the same extent that marriedemployees and their spouses participate. Employeesand their partners would also assume the sameobligations that apply to married employees andtheir spouses, such as anti-nepotism rules andfinancial disclosure requirements.
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Forrded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2007/12/21/in_nh_churches_candidates_find_a_different_breed_of_evangelical/?page=2
In N.H. churches, candidates find a different breed of evangelical
By Lisa Wangsness, Globe Staff | December 21, 2007
NASHUA - In the dimly lit sanctuary of a large brickchurch at the north end of Main Street, more than100 people move to light Christian rock music.Children, recently resettled refugees from Burundi,are splayed out on the floor with coloring books. Aman in jeans and a sweater stands nearby, swaying!and holding his palms heavenward.
"What can wash away my sins," the group sings."Nothing but the blood of Jesus."
Grace Fellowship in Nashua is part of a growingmovement of evangelical Christians in New Hampshire,a group that includes nearly 1 in 5 Republicanprimary voters and that could play an important rolein the state's Jan. 8 election. Mike Huckabee, theformer Arkansas governor and an ordained Baptistminister, has preached in four New Hampshirechurches, and is hoping to connect with religiousconservatives.
Yet those who worship at Grace Fellowship and otherNew Hampshire churches point to many ways in whichthey differ from evangelicals outside New England,particularly in the South and Southwest, who are thebackbone of the religious right in America and, inIowa and South Carolina, provide a base of supportfor Huckabee.
Outside New England, evangelical megachurches arecommonplace, attracting thousands or even tens ofthousands. In New Hampshire, evangelical churchestend to be smaller - and more independent.
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NYTimes.com
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/02/nyregion/02hiv.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print
New H.I.V. Cases Drop but Rise in Young Gay Men
By SARAH KERSHAW
January 2, 2008
For years he had numbed his pain and fear with drugs, alcohol and anonymoussex. But in a flash of clarity one day, when the crystal meth was wearingoff, Javier Arriola dragged himself to a clinic to get an H.I.V. test, yearsafter he stopped using condoms.
He knew the answer before he received the results, but it was far worse thanhe thought: At age 29, he had full-blown AIDS.
He had planned to have a party for his 30th birthday. Instead he wasthinking of hanging himself in his apartment in Hell's Kitchen.
"There were feelings of terror, like when you were a little kid and there'sthat thing that terrifies you," he said. "This was it. The worst nightmare,and I brought this onto myself."
The number of new H.I.V. infections in men under 30 who have sex with menhas increased sharply in New York City in the last five years, particularlyamong blacks and Hispanics, even as AIDS deaths and overall H.I.V. infectionrates in the city have steadily declined.
more . . . . .
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Frwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org
John Edwards For President
by Wayne Besen
http://www.waynebesen.com/2008/01/wayne-besen-endorses-john-edwards-for_03.html
On the day voters head to the Iowa caucuses, I endorse John Edwards forpresident. I want to make it clear that this is not an endorsement fromTruthWinsOut.org - as the group does not take positions on candidates.
Why Edwards?
I was going to go into a long and elaborate defense of his record, butdecided against it. The bottom line is that he is the only one who isspeaking to the middle class (i.e. me). I am fed up with corporate CEO's whoare driving their companies into the dirt and still getting huge pay raises,while the average worker struggles. Conservatives would argue this is thefree market, but this is not true. In a free market, people are rewarded forsuccess - not failure. What we have now is a sick system that needs radicalchange. America is a declining empire that is falling behind the rest of theworld. Edwards is the best candidate to reverse this slide.
Let's face it, our children perform poorly on tests. The dollar is fallingas fast as the price of gas is rising. We have failed the entire world indealing with climate change. And, our sadistic health care system is anational disgrace.
Edwards is the only candidate speaking about the plight of many Americanswho are fighting to get by. He is the candidate who genuinely wants to makeour lives better and is saying the things that I want to hear. This is why Iwill vote for John Edwards.
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WashingtonPost.com
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/01/AR2008010101734_pf.html
Same-Sex Divorce Challenges the Legal System
Most States Lack Law, Precedent To Settle Issues
By Dafna Linzer
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, January 2, 2008; A03
When her three-year-old marriage broke up, the 44-year-old doctor assumedshe and her ex would split their property and jointly parent their twochildren. Her stay-at-home spouse wanted sole custody and the right to movethe children out of Massachusetts.
In pretrial motions, both parents made the same argument to a judge: Thechildren should be with me; I'm their mother.
For years, family court judges leaned toward a maternal preference when itcame to custody disputes. But what to do when both parents are women, orneither is? Judges in Massachusetts have been grappling with that questionsince gay and lesbian couples began filing for divorce in 2004, seven monthsafter the state Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage.
Nearly 10,000 gay and lesbian couples married after the ruling.Massachusetts does not keep records on the number who have divorced, butlawyers who specialize in family cases say it is in the dozens. Those whochoose to end their marriages soon discover that the trauma of divorce iscompounded by legal and financial difficulties that heterosexual couplesgenerally are spared.
"One of the benefits of marriage is divorce," said Joyce Kauffman, a Bostondivorce lawyer who has handled a dozen same-sex divorce cases. "But for alot of couples, that benefit is very complicated and very costly in waysthat heterosexual couples would never have to experience."
more . . . . .
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Inside Higher Education
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2008/01/04/calvin
When Identity Trumps Diversity
Jan. 4
“You have a white church and you have a Negro church. You have allowedsegregation to creep into the doors of the church. How can such a divisionexist in the true Body of Christ? You must face the tragic fact that whenyou stand at 11:00 on Sunday morning to sing ‘All Hail the Power of JesusName’ and ‘Dear Lord and Father of all Mankind,’ you stand in the mostsegregated hour of Christian America.”
—Martin Luther King Jr.
King’s words, delivered in 1956, ring true today. Just ask Denise Isom. Isomis an African-American education professor at Michigan’s Calvin College whoasked this fall for an exemption to the evangelical college’s requirementthat all faculty join a Christian Reformed Church (or one in anotherdenomination in “ecclesiastical fellowship” with the Dutch-rooted church,known as the CRC).
“Each day, in formal and informal ways, I must address the issues of raceand culture, often engaging in ways that carry a psychological, emotional,social, and physical cost,” Isom wrote in a letter requesting an exemptionso that she could join a black Baptist church instead. “Though there are CRCchurches and communities that are striving to reflect a multicultural visionin the church’s make-up and worship content, they are not ‘there’ yet. As aperson who has long worked towards those ends in predominately whitesettings, I find myself at a place where, for emotional, social, andspiritual health, I need a place of worship that is already consistent withmy culture and able to grapple with issues of race in ways which make it arespite, a re-charging and growing place for me, as opposed to anotherlocation where I must ‘work’ and where I am ‘other.’”
Furthermore, she wrote, “As someone for whom research, scholarship, andservice are centered around issues of social justice, race, culture, andgender, I need to be intimately tied to populations of people of color.” Sheadded that she plans to conduct research on racialized gender identity amongAfrican-American children in a church setting.
Calvin’s Board of Trustees rejected Isom’s request in October. The board’sdecision to decline the exemption request meant that, unless she joined achurch in accordance with Calvin’s requirement (one of three faith-basedrequirements Calvin faculty must meet), her tenure-track appointment wouldbe reverted to a term appointment that would expire at the end of 2008-9.Isom did not return requests for comment. Others contacted described theball as now being in her court.
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www.stonewalldemocrats.org/census2007
Stonewall Democrats
Who do YOU support for President?
January 03, 2007
Dear Democrat,
Tonight, the nation will tune-in to learn the presidential results of theIowa Caucuses. I am sure that you - like most of us here at NationalStonewall Democrats - will be watching as well.
While our country waits by for the results, you can make your personalchoice known now.
Take a moment to register your preference for President by filling out ourStonewall Census, if you haven't already. We will be announcing the resultsof the presidential preference question on Monday, January 7 - the daybefore the New Hampshire Primary.
This is your opportunity to take a stand for your candidate. It also allowsyou to let us know how we are doing, what we can do better and how we canbetter serve you.
Take a moment. Record your vote. We'll announce the results on Monday,January 7.
NOTE: If you have already complete a Stonewall Census survey, thank you.Your preference has already been recorded. A new vote will not be recorded.
www.stonewalldemocrats.org/census2007
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Primary voters: the big three aren’t worth your time or money
by Susan Ryan-Vollmar editor-in-chief
Wednesday Jan 2, 2008
With every Democratic presidential candidate gunning for the LGBT community’ssupport, here’s a dose of reality: On LGBT issues alone, there’s nothingthat makes any of the three frontrunners stand out enough to merit yourmoney, much less the endorsement of this newspaper.
Why do I mention money instead of votes? Because that’s what the candidateswant - and need - from you. They already know that they’ve got your votecome November 2008. Honestly, are you really going to pull the lever forMitt Romney, Mike Huckabee, Rudy Giuliani or John McCain? Not even the LogCabin Republicans -the group of conservative gays who proudly backed BobDole for president in 1996 - can stomach anyone in the GOP field this timearound. The crop of anti-evolution, anti-gay, anti-intellectual Republicansrunning for president is an embarrassment to the country. Giuliani andRomney have disgraced themselves with their backtracking fromwell-documented previous stances on social issues like gay rights in thehopes of garnering support from religious conservatives. McCain hasn’t beenquite as audacious as New York’s former mayor and our former governor inthis regard, but his hat-in-hand performance at the ultra-conservativeLiberty University in spring 2006 should scare off any self-respecting LGBTperson, much less anyone who thinks the U.S. Constitution still meanssomething.
Let’s be clear: All of the LGBT campaign steering committees and lists ofprominent LGBT supporters touted by the Democratic campaigns are propagatedfor one purpose alone - to raise money for the candidates. And if the gaysare good at anything, it’s raising money. An August 2007 CommunityMarketing, Inc. survey of LGBT political participation showed that 31percent of lesbian respondents had donated money in the 2004 presidentialcampaign; 40 percent of gay male respondents had done the same. By contrast,only seven percent of the general population donated money in the 2004campaign.
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2008's big picture
Alex Au
31 Dec 2007
Progress towards gay equality does not spring in isolation from the broaderenvironment. It is often dependent on trends and events in the political,social, legal and even economic sphere, both local and global. What are afew of these that may be worth watching in 2008?
The big political event of the coming year is the American presidentialelection, due November 2008. The current President, George Bush isconstitutionally barred from seeking reelection and is anyway deeplyunpopular. Unusually even compared to past elections, the field is wideopen, with a good chance that the next president will come from theDemocratic Party.
While none of the three leading Democratic contenders – Barack Obama,Hillary Clinton and John Edwards (above, left to right)– have openly comeout to support gay marriage, it's fair to expect that neither will theyresist moves by any state towards it. Marriage in the US is governed bystate legislation, not federal legislation.
Among Republican candidates, Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee are angling forthe conservative evangelical vote. The former is a Mormon, the latter aSouthern Baptist minister.
Yet another victory by a candidate embraced by the religious rightwing(after Bush's victories in 2000 and 2004) will solidify the hold they haveover US politics, and boost the confidence of anti-gay groups. A newRepublican president will have another four or eight years to stack the USSupreme Court with conservative-leaning judges.
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Veterans and PTSD
by Bob Roehr
2008-01-02
Gays and lesbians serve in the military despite the policy known as “Don'tAsk, Don't Tell” ( DADT ) . And they suffer the same physical andpsychological wounds as their straight colleagues.
About 25 percent of returning Iraq and Afghanistan veterans received mentalhealth diagnoses, according to a study of the first 100,000 veterans seen atfacilities operated by the Department of Veterans Affairs ( VA ) . The VA islikely to see the more severe cases, so one should be careful inextrapolating its findings.
This was just one of many pieces of information that is helping to bring theveterans' situation into sharp focus. It was presented at the 135th annualmeeting of the American Public Health Association ( APHA ) in Washington,D.C., just prior to Veterans' Day.
Evan Kanter, M.D., Ph.D., staff psychiatrist in the PTSD Outpatient Clinicof the VA Puget Sound Health Care System, said, “The most common [ of mentaldisorders ] were post-traumatic stress disorder ( PTSD ) , substance abuse,and depression. The younger the veterans are, the more likely they are tohave mental health conditions.”
Estimates of the occurrence of PTSD range from 12 to 20 percent. With thenumber of troops deployed to combat zones passing 1.5 million last summer,and the VA having treated only 52,000 persons, it is clear that many vetsare not receiving the help they could use.
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WWJD? For the Bible Tells Me So explores families’ struggles withhomosexuality
By Robin Wright Gunn
Bishop Gene Robinson at his consecration
POSTED ON JANUARY 2, 2008:
DOES THE BIBLE condemn gays and lesbians? What about when one of those gaysor lesbians is your own child?
This theological debate, in the news for causing rifts within religiousdenominations and local congregations, becomes personal for religious peoplewhen a family member reveals his or her homosexuality.
The personal side of this question is at the heart of For the Bible Tells MeSo, a documentary released in 2007 and screening in Savannah Jan. 6. Thefilm tells the stories of five Christian families with gay or lesbian familymembers. Among the stories are former U.S. Representative Richard Gephardt(D-Missouri) a Baptist whose daughter Chrissy is a lesbian; and, the ex-wifeand parents of Gene Robinson, the first acknowledged gay man to be ordainedas bishop in the Episcopal church in the United States.
Two local organizations, Reel Savannah Film Group and Stand Out Youth, arejoining forces to sponsor the film and a post-screening panel discussion.
Family acceptance is an issue faced by many members of Stand Out Youth,described by board member Dan Watson as a nonprofit organization forgay/lesbian/bisexual/transgender and “questioning” teens and young adults.Stand Out Youth holds weekly facilitated meetings attended by young peopleand occasionally by parents of first-time attendees.
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BY A STUNNING 35-0 VOTE, NEW JERSEY SENATE APPROVES OVERHAUL OF THE STATE'SHATE CRIMES AND SCHOOL BULLYING LAWS
The full Assembly will pass the bill on Monday. Earlier today, the AssemblyJudiciary Committee approved the bill 5-0.
Garden State Equality
www.gardenstateequality.org
Thursday, January 3, 2008
Contact: Steven Goldstein, cell (917) 449-8918
By a stunning 35-0 vote, the New Jersey Senate just approved S2975, sweepinglegislation to strengthen New Jersey's hate crimes and anti-school bullyinglaws. The full Assembly will vote on the bill, conceived by Garden StateEquality and the New Jersey Anti-Defamation League, this Monday, January7th. Earlier today, the Assembly Judiciary Committee approved the bill 5-0.
The bill comes on the heels of a just-released FBI report that ranks NewJersey #2 in hate crimes nationally, behind only California. The primeAssembly sponsors are Wilfredo Caraballo, Valerie Vainieri Huttle, UpendraChivukula and John McKeon. The prime Senate sponsors are Barbara Buono andLoretta Weinberg.
The bill does the following:
1. Adds "gender identity or expression" as a protected class to the statehate crimes law. Combined with the 2006 expansion of the state's Law AgainstDiscimination to include gender identity or expression, the strengthenedhate crimes law will make New Jersey's laws for the transgender communityunsurpassed in all America.
2. It updates other parts of the hate crimes law by adding "nationalorigin" as a protected category, which thus far has been included in the lawby interpreting "ethnicity" to include such; and substitutes the moresensitive term "disability" for "handicap."
3. It specifies that a "mistake of fact" by a defendant committing a hatecrime is not a defense.
4. It requires two hours of hate-crimes sensitivity training for all newpolice officers.
5. It specifies suggested sentencing options to which judges can sentencedefendants, such as anti-hate sensitivity training.
6. It creates a study Commission on Bullying in Schools, which has ninemonths to investigate the problem and make recommendations to the Governorand legislature for further legislation.
7. It requires schools post their anti-bullying policies on their websites,and to distribute their anti-bullying policies, within 120 days afterenactment of the law.
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Grossmont Union High School District board members join suit challenginganti-discrimination law Equality California, GSA Network file a motion to intervene in lawsuit
by Margie M. Palmer
Published Thursday, 03-Jan-2008 in issue 1045
Four Grossmont Unified High School District governing board members havejoined a federal lawsuit challenging an anti-discrimination bill signed intolaw by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Attorneys for the Alliance Defense Fund and Advocates for Faith and Freedomfiled suit in federal court in San Diego on Nov. 27, attempting to overturnSenate Bill 777. The bill, which becomes effective Jan. 11, adds the terms“gender” and “sexual orientation” to the California Education Code, andexpands the existing term “sex” to include “gender identity,” which means aperson’s self-identified gender.
The lawsuit, filed on behalf of the California Education Committee, aproject of California Family Council, claims SB 777 is unconstitutionallyvague and violates the privacy of all students, teachers and other personspresent on school campuses.
It names Gov. Schwarzenegger, state Attorney General Edmund Brown Jr.,Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell and others asdefendants. On Dec. 21, Equality California and the Gay-Straight AllianceNetwork filed a motion to intervene in the lawsuit, so SB 777 would beenforced in schools.
“Adding [gender identity and sexual orientation] as a special sub group fordiscrimination protection to a law that already protects everyone isunnecessary, and an insidious motive to destroy marriage between a man and awoman and to destroy marriage as God ordained it,” said GUHSD governingboard president, Priscilla Schreiber, who is listed among the plaintiffs inthe lawsuit. Schreiber, along with GUHSD board members Larry Urdahl, RobertShield and Jim Kelly, supports overturning SB 777.
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Another NY Civil Union Recognition Loss
By: ARTHUR S. LEONARD
01/03/2008
Dealing a second appellate defeat to John Langan in his quest forcompensation for the loss of his partner, a five-member panel of New York'sAppellate Division, 3rd Department, based in Albany, ruled on December 27that Langan, a surviving partner of a Vermont civil union, is not a "spouse"within the meaning of the state's Workers' Compensation Law.
This upheld a determination by the Workers' Compensation Board to deny asurvivor's benefit to Langan after the death of his spouse, Neal ConradSpicehandler, as a result of injuries incurred on the job.
A panel of judges from the 2nd Department of the Appellate Division, basedin Brooklyn, had previously rejected Langan's argument that he should beable to litigate a wrongful death action against St. Vincent's Hospital,whose negligence he charges resulted in Spicehandler dying from his injury.
According to the opinion for the panel by Justice Anthony T. Kane,Spicehandler, in 2002, was engaged in business for his employer, State FarmFire & Casualty Company, when, as a pedestrian, he was struck by a motoristin New York City. He was taken to St. Vincent's Hospital, where he diedsomewhat mysteriously after an apparently successful operation.
The couple, who lived on Long Island, had several years before been unitedas civil partners in Vermont. Langan filed a Workers' Compensation claimwith State Farm's insurer. The insurer determined that the injury created anobligation for compensation to the Spicehandler estate, but that Langan wasnot entitled to a survivor's benefit as a "spouse."
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New Asylum Chance for Gay Egyptian
By: ARTHUR S. LEONARD
01/03/2008
A unanimous three-judge panel of the U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals,based in Philadelphia, ruled on December 20 that a gay Egyptian man shouldreceive a further hearing from the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA), whichearlier rejected his bid to stay in the US.
The man, referred to in the opinion as John Doe, argued that he met thestandard for remaining here under both the Immigration and Nationality Actand the international Convention Against Torture.
Writing for the court, Circuit Judge Dolores Sloviter rejected thepetitioner's argument that the BIA's decision should be reversed and he begranted his petition to stay. Instead, wrote Sloviter, the case should goback to the Appeals board, which is part of the Department of Justice, forreconsideration of significant uncontested evidence about torture in Egyptthat it did not address in its earlier opinion.
Doe is a native and citizen of Egypt who left that country in 1989 aftersuffering two beatings because he is gay - one at the hands of his highschool gym instructor and the other by a police officer "who saw Doe holdinghands with, kissing, and hugging his boyfriend" in a public park. Doe movedto Qatar, but claims he suffered additional beatings and threats after "aformer Egyptian classmate began to spread rumors that he is gay."
The man has briefly visited Egypt a few times to see family members, butclaims he suffered harassment on those occasions as well, and that hisfamily has since written to him warning that the police were looking forhim.
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Stakes Emerging From Iowa, New Hampshire
By: PAUL SCHINDLER
01/02/2008
With the one-two punch of the Iowa caucuses and the Hampshire primary uponus, it is very tempting to declare this week for one or another of thepresidential candidates, to inject into the political conversation an LGBTmedia endorsement out of New York.
The fact though is that the time for that is not yet here. And thatstatement is made with full knowledge of how national media narratives aboutmomentum, about who exceeded and who fell short of contrived expectationstoo often drive our political choices.
Clear-cut and uniform results coming out of those two relatively small,relatively homogenous states could have inordinate influence on our choicesin November. I recognize that.
And that's a shame, because even with a host of reasonably good options thisyear, the LGBT community and many other groups within our society deservemore time and more attention to their concerns from the candidates. Thepreposterous sums being lavished on a couple of hundred thousand voters inIowa and New Hampshire demonstrate the crying need for presidential primaryreform, but that is an argument for another day.
For now, several rough conclusions are clear.
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Courting the LGBT Vote in New Hampshire
News update, Thurs., Jan. 3, 2008
by Patsy Lynch
Manchester, NH 1-3-08—Snow and bone-chilling winds whip across the firststate to hold presidential primaries. Unlike past years where the signs forpresidential candidates outnumbered the residents, there are few visiblesigns of support. Still, there is a sense of suppressed excitement buildingas primary day approaches.
New Hampshire is ready to face the nation as the first state to cast itsprimary votes for the next President of the United States. Hundreds of paidand volunteer staff members are filling the candidate's campaign officesmaking phone calls, plotting areas to canvass, licking envelopes andplanning press conferences and rallies in the days leading up to the Jan. 8election day.
For the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender ( LGBT ) community, thesedays are filled with a renewed sense of hope and guarded optimism. Theleading Democratic candidates have a small but efficient section of staffmembers whose job is to handle requests for information regarding theircandidates' view on issues of interest to the LGBT community. These staffmembers, both paid and volunteer are working tirelessly to insure that theneeds of the LGBT community are not ignored. In fact, these staff membersare making a concerted effort to get the LGBT community involved in thecampaign process. Calls are going out to local businesses, including bars,restaurants, book stores and service-oriented concerns in an effort to reachout to as many voters as possible. Candidate's flyers, bumper stickers,buttons and brochures are piled high in these establishments, while ralliesand public demonstrations of support are being planned. Busloads ofsupporters are arriving daily from around the country to work for theircandidate and to get local LGBT voters involved.
National organizations like The Human Rights Campaign ( HRC ) and StonewallDemocrats are providing financial and logistic support to the nationalcampaign staff members in New Hampshire. These groups are using their cloutto encourage LGBT voters, who may be reluctant to vote, to make adifference.
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Black Gay Activists Fear Violence Pattern
by Amy Wooten
2008-01-02
Local Black LGBT activists are concerned about the recent murders of twoopenly gay Black men on the South Side, and in light of the passing of theanniversary of last year's New Year's Eve South Side shooting, they arecalling for the city to step up on combating what they fear is a pattern ofviolence against the community.
“We are calling on the police department to let the community know what'sgoing on,” said the Coalition for Justice and Respect's Mark Loveless. Heand others feel that the city and police haven't adequately responded to thekillings.
Critical Caucus—a coalition of LGBT organizations such as the Coalition forJustice and Respect—as well as event planners and businesses, held a pressconference at City Hall Dec. 27 to issue a community alert in response tothe news of the murder of an openly gay choir director as well as themid-November killing of a Black gay man. Loveless feels that the killingsshow a continued pattern of violence against Black gay men on the city'sSouth Side.
Since the press conference, the Chicago Police Department has contactedCritical Caucus and requested a meeting. Loveless said that the meeting willtake place early January.
“We are here because we are scared,” Loveless said. Black gay activists arecalling on the Chicago Police Department to provide the community with moreinformation. They also want city officials to help stop what they consider apattern of violence, although police have no information linking the cases,which are still under investigation. Police also have no information as towhether or not the killings were motivated by hate.
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Gay Man Attacked, Raped in Cicero
2008-01-02
A man has been charged with sexual assault and a hate crime in Cicero afterattacking a gay man, according to 365Gay.com.
Felipe Rivera, 43, allegedly confessed on video to beating the victim andthen raping him with a metal broom handle. ( They had reportedly gotten intoan argument at a party earlier in the evening. ) Allegedly, Rivera said thathe raped said victim “because he hates faggots, and this is what they get.”
According to the Chicago Sun-Times, Cicero Police spokesman Dan Proft said,“Mr. Rivera got upset apparently because he believed the victim, No. 1,didn't respond to a female and then, No. 2, somehow winked at him—made whathe perceived as a sexual advance.”
Rivera's bond was set at $400,000, including $50,000 for violating parole.
If found guilty, he could receive up to 30 years in jail, and an additional5 years on the hate-crime charge.
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Former Stonewall Democrats head runs for Congress
Russ Goodwin seeks 12th District seat now held by Pat Tiberi
by Eric Resnick
January 4, 2008
Columbus--The immediate past president of the Stonewall Democrats of CentralOhio is a candidate for U.S. Congress, becoming Ohio’s fourth openly gayfederal candidate.
Russ Goodwin, 53, of Columbus is seeking the 12th District seat currentlyheld by Republican Pat Tiberi. The district includes eastern Columbus,Dublin, Westerville, New Albany, Bexley and Gahanna, along with DelawareCounty and most of Licking County.
“I’m tired of not having my views and the views of the majority representedin Congress,” said Goodwin.
Tiberi, a former Ohio House majority leader, has held the seat since 2001.He has been a reliable vote for George W. Bush and the House Republicansduring his tenure, including racking up a substantial anti-LGBT record.
Goodwin says the district has never been as conservative as Tibieri votes,and with southern Delaware County becoming increasingly Democratic, “there’spotential for him to be replaced.”
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Equality Toledo director Kim Welter resigns
She moves to board position because group could not fund a full-time post
by Anthony Glassman
January 4, 2008
Toledo--Equality Toledo has lost its founding executive director, althoughshe is now a board member.
Kim Welter left the position on December 31 to seek full-time employmentwith health benefits. She and her partner, Merri Bame, are bothself-employed, which she noted after they became the second couple to signonto Toledo’s domestic partner registry on December 21.
WhileWelter is leaving the position of executive director, she is joiningthe board of directors, and will continue to be the public face of and theguiding hand behind Equality Toledo’s “faith and fairness” initiative, whichbrings together religious leaders to advocate for equality.
The initiative has 98 religious leaders in its database, although not allare public with their support.
“It’s been a difficult time,” said fellow board member Rev. MichelleStecker. “She’s been executive director for about a year and a half. We werepaying her next to nothing, and then we were paying her a little bit moreand a little bit more, and we were hoping we would have enough.”
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’I’m embarrassed at what I did’
by Laura Kiritsy
associate editor
Thursday Jan 3, 2008
It’s not often we receive letters with the subject heading "Apology To GayCommunity." More often than not we just get complaints about typos, lots ofspam or creepy missives from cranks who just generally hate the gays. Andthese days, it seems the only time people apologize is just before they headoff to rehab, jail or are otherwise forced into contrition by Oprah or JayLeno. So you can imagine our surprise when we saw that subject heading inour inbox on Dec. 22 and opened an email signed by one Stephen Dunne (seebelow), the man more commonly known as "the bar exam flunker."
You’ll recall that Dunne made international news last summer when he filed afederal lawsuit against the Mass. Board of Bar Examiners and the four stateSupreme Judicial Court Justices who ruled in favor of the Goodridgeplaintiffs when he narrowly failed the bar exam after refusing to answer aquestion related to same-sex marriage. Dunne, a 30-year-old Boston resident,alleged, among other things, that the state "engaged in constitutionallyinvidious discrimination" by forcing him to answer an "inappropriate" barexam question requiring him "to write an affirmative response explicitly andimplicitly, accepting, supporting and promoting homosexual marriage andhomosexual parenting ... as a prerequisite to the practice of law" inMassachusetts. Though he found some sympathy on the right, for the most parthis suit was ridiculed by legal experts far and wide (See "Case Dismissed,"July 12). He created a website, www.christianlawsuit.com, in an effort toraise funds to hire a constitutional law expert to represent him. But inSeptember, Dunne withdrew his suit, citing the absence of the gay marriagequestion from a subsequent version of the Mass. bar exam.
But in his letter, Dunne said his suit was "misguided" and that he was"lashing out as a result of failing the bar exam." "I am deeply sorry forthe hurt that I have caused the gay community," Dunne wrote. As far as wecan tell after interviewing Dunne on Dec. 24, he’s not headed off to jail,rehab or Oprah - in fact, he said he’s studying to take the bar exam again -so we give him props for his public mea culpa. The one thing he declined todo was name the law school he attended, stating he didn’t want to drawattention to his alma mater (although he did say it’s in Boston). We have afeeling that’s probably okay with the school.
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Az domestic partner plan draws ire, support
Policy hurts marriage if adopted, group says; UA's Shelton backs it
The Associated Press
PHOENIX - State officials have received a flood of public comments on aproposal by Gov. Janet Napolitano's administration to provide domesticpartner benefits to state government employees and retirees.
Department of Administration (DOA) officials on Wednesday were processinghundreds of e-mails and letters received right before the close of thecomment period on Monday and it appeared that a total of more than 1,000 hadbeen received, DOA spokesman Alan Ecker said.
A tally made last month on about half of the comments indicated that morewere in favor of the changes than against but no updated breakdown wasimmediately available, he said.
The domestic partners benefits proposal, which would change state employmentrules, awaits consideration by a state commission.
The proposal touches on the sensitive social issue of gay rights and hasdrawn criticism from some Republican lawmakers and others.
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australia to get second lesbian parliamentarian
News Editor
Senator-elect for Western Australia Louise Pratt has become the secondopenly lesbian woman - after Climate Change Minister Penny Wong - to servein newly-elected prime minister Kevin Rudd's administration.
Louise Pratt, a former Western Australia Legislative Council member, willtake up her Senate seat in July this year. She had notably become theyoungest woman ever elected to the Western Australia Legislative Council atthe time of her election in 2001.
[PIC]Having served as a regular spokesperson for prominent advocacy groupGay and Lesbian Equality in WA before her appointment to the LegislativeCouncil, the 35-year-old Labor Party member has been credited for playing asignificant role in a gay and lesbian law reform committee that pushed forthe passage of the Acts Amendment (Lesbian and Gay Law Reform) Act 2002. Itis considered to be some of the most progressive laws in the country. Thereforms included a complete ban on discrimination on the basis of sexualorientation, the granting of the right for same-sex couples to adoptchildren, a lowering of the age of consent from 21 to 16, the right forsame-sex couples to inherit from a deceased partner, and the repeal oflegislation which had made it an offence to promote homosexuality inschools.
Pratt was quoted as saying in the gay Sydney Star Observer that law reformfor same-sex couples and GLBT individuals would be high on her agenda andhas vowed to ensure that her party makes good on its promise to implementall 58 federal laws which discriminate against gays and lesbians.
“It is very exciting to be coming in with the change in government,” Prattsaid.
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Straight bouncer wins damages from gay club
3rd January 2008 11:20
A heterosexual woman has been awarded more than £6,000 in damages fromBournemouth's largest gay nightclub.
Sharon Legg, a 33-year-old mum of four, took her case to an employmenttribunal claiming unfair dismissal after being sacked without warning.
"I made this complaint for gay people, straight people, anyone who has everbeen harassed. I'm like a bulldog, I don't let go," Ms Legg told the DorsetEcho .
She told the tribunal she was called 'breeder' and 'straight' by hermanager, Scott Rhodes, while working as a bouncer at Dream Nightclub.
She was dismissed without warning after a dispute with another bouncer.
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Christian MP defends opposition to gay hate law
3rd January 2008 14:02
Tony Grew
A Liberal Democrat MP has defended an amendment designed to ensure thathomophobic Christians can continue to express their views on gay people.
Colin Breed, who is a lay Methodist preacher, claims that the move, which isalso supported by Ann Widdecombe, is about "freedom of speech."
The amendment to the Criminal Justice bill seeks to block a proposed newoffence of incitement to hatred on the grounds of sexual orientation.
It reads:
"Nothing in this part shall be read or given effect in a way which prohibitsor restricts discussion of, criticism of or expressions of antipathytowards, conduct relating to a particular sexual orientation, or urgingpersons of a particular sexual orientation to refrain from or modify conductrelating to that orientation."
Among the MPs asking for the right to show antipathy towards their gayconstituents are: Lib Dem Alan Beith (Berwick Upon Tweed); ConservativesPhilip Hollobone (Kettering) and Ann Widdecombe (Maidstone and the Weald);and Labour MPs David Taylor (North West Leicestershire) and Jim Dobbin(Heywood and Middleton).
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Brighton hosts its 1,000th civil partnership
3rd January 2008 17:50
PinkNews.co.uk staff writer
Almost two years to the day that they became a legal reality, a lesbiancouple became the 1,000th couple to enter into a civil partnership inBrighton.
Company director Sue McCall and Emma Grose-McCall, a lawyer, have beentogether for six years.
They signed the civil register at Brighton Register Office on 22nd December.
"We had a quiet ceremony but its something we've wanted for some time," saidEmma.
"It's important to have our relationship recognised and have equal rightswith married couples, and Brighton is a place where we both feel reallycomfortable."
more . . . . .
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
Truth Wins Out
http://www.truthwinsout.org/news/huckabee-cavorting-with-dangerous-ideologues-from-religious-fringe-movement/
Huckabee Cavorting With Dangerous Ideologues From Religious Fringe Movement
January 3rd, 2008
In 1998, Mike Huckabee co-wrote the book, “Kids Who Kill” withReconstructionist author George Grant. Grant is an ideologue with extreme,even dangerous religious views. The question is, does the former Arkansasgovernor share Grant’s view of the role of Christianity in government?
This passage is from Grant’s 1987 book The Changing of the Guard (Ft. Worth,
TX: Dominion Press, 1987), pp. 50-51.
“Christians have an obligation, a mandate, a commission, a holyresponsibility to reclaim the land for Jesus Christ - to have dominion inthe civil structures, just as in every other aspect of life and godliness.But it is dominion that we are after. Not just a voice. It is dominion weare after. Not just influence. It is dominion we are after. Not just equaltime. It is dominion we are after. World conquest. That’s what Christ hascommissioned us to accomplish. We must win the world with the power of theGospel. And we must never settle for anything less.
“If Jesus Christ is indeed Lord, as the Bible says, and if our commissionis to bring the land into subjection to His Lordship, as the Bible says,then all our activities, all our witnessing, all our preaching, all ourcraftsmanship, all our stewardship, and all our political action will aim atnothing short of that sacred purpose. Thus, Christian politics has as itsprimary intent the conquest of the land - of men, families, institutions,bureaucracies, courts, and governments for the Kingdom of Christ.
“It is to reinstitute the authority of God’s Word as supreme over alljudgments, over all legislation, over all declarations, constitutions, andconfederations. True Christian political action seeks to rein the passionsof men and curb the pattern of digression under God’s rule.”
Clearly, this sounds like a twisted American version of fundamentalist Iran.
While I doubt these are Huckabee’s views, it is still extremely troublingthat America’s most delusional fundamentalists - who promote violent ideassuch as capital punishment for homosexuals - keep showing up in Huckabee’sRolodex, resume and campaign.
George Grant is a former vice president of Coral Ridge Ministries. In hisbook “Legislating Immorality,” Grant expresses sadness that in the modernworld there are no longer legal codes proscribing the death penalty forhomosexuals.
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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:
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Letter by leland@gayspermbank.com
There is a myth that marriage has more rights than civil unions/domesticpartners. That myth is born from the fact that civil unions/domesticpartners have only been passed by states which have no power to grant the1138 federal benefits of marriage. However, a federal civil unions policywould. Senators Clinton, Obama, Edwards, Dodd & Biden support a federalcivil unions policy. 48 million votes cast in 29 states, 32 million againstsame sex marriage, we lost 2 to 1. Civil Unions are achievable, same-sexmarriage is not. Federal Civil Unions = Marriage Equality.
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FORMER WISCONSIN GOVERNOR AND GAY RIGHTS CHAMPION DREYFUS DIES
Dreyfus, who was elected in 1978 after serving on the faculty and aschancellor at University of Wisconsin Stevens Point, signed the nation'sfirst statewide gay rights law in 1982.According to the AP, "The gay rightsmeasure Dreyfus signed made it illegal to discriminate on the basis ofsexual orientation in housing, employment and public accommodations." Theyadd, "Dreyfus also was a vocal opponent of the state's ban on gay marriageand civil unions, which was approved by voters in 2006."Said Glenn Carlson,interim executive director of Fair Wisconsin: "[Dreyfus' actions] reallyestablished Wisconsin in the forefront of nondiscrimination. He's been agreat leader and will be sorely missed."Added Governor Jim Doyle, whoordered flags to be flown at half mast today: "Lee Dreyfus was one of akind - one of Wisconsin's unique personalities.He was both a wonderfulgovernor and education leader. He led us, educated us, entertained us, allat the same time."
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Anglican archbishop spurs opposition to gays - National - theage.com.au:
Outspoken Anglican Archbishop Peter Jensen is galvanising opposition tohomosexuality in the church, in the lead-up to an unofficial meeting ofconservative bishops in Jerusalem.As rifts in the worldwide Anglican Churchthreaten to become a schism, the Sydney Archbishop said American Anglicanshad become missionaries for homosexuality in defiance of the Bible andAnglican teaching.The Global Anglican Future Conference is provocativelytimed just before the 10-yearly meeting of all the world's bishops atLambeth in London. That meeting must resolve the sexuality crisis orworldwide Anglicans will probably divide into two separate churches.DrJensen denied the Jerusalem meeting in June was an "alternative Lambeth",but liberals are sceptical. Leading Australian liberal Muriel Porter saidthe conference could hijack Lambeth because conservatives would come seekingto impose a predetermined outcome.Meanwhile, the Bishop of Jerusalem said hehad not been consulted, and urged the organisers to abandon the move, sayingit could inflame tensions in the region. Bishop Suheil Dawani said: "I amdeeply troubled that this meeting, of which we had no prior knowledge, willimport inter-Anglican conflict into our diocese.
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WHEN VERMONT legislators legalized civil unions for gay couples in 2000,there was a bitter backlash against the reform. But on New Year's Day, NewHampshire joined Vermont, Connecticut, and New Jersey in extending civilunion rights to gay and lesbian couples, and the event was met with acollective yawn. There are several reasons for this change, but the mostimportant is that residents of New Hampshire have had a chance to observeVermont and Connecticut's civil unions and Massachusetts' same-sex marriage,and realized that extending rights to a minority is no threat to themajority - or to the institution of marriage.
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National Gay News
http://nationalgaynews.com/
Go to the website, above, for the following articles:
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Obama Is Best On Gay Rights
The top three Democrats are mostly similar on our issues, but only Obama canreach out where needed to transform promises into equality. After more thana year of campaigning in the most wide-open primaries in decades, it’sfinally time for voters to pick a president. On the Democratic side, thethree hopefuls with a viable shot at the nomination have all signed on toalmost every item on the so-called “gay agenda.
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Randy Flies Reveal How Booze Affects Inhibitions
Fruit flies that develop homosexual tendencies when drunk may help revealhow alcohol loosens human sexual inhibitions, claim researchers. Kyung-AnHan and her colleagues at Pennsylvania State University in University Parkused a voyeuristic chamber dubbed the "Flypub" to observe the influence ofalcohol on the sexual behaviour of male Drosophila fruit flies.
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No Blue Skies for Bi-National Couples
As 2008 unfolds, those gay and lesbian Americans who are in relationshipswith men and women from beyond our borders are probably wondering what these12 months will bring for them, especially during an election year. As wasthe case during the year that just ended, the news will continue to be grim.
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Women and Gay Men Are 'Worst Drivers'
Women and gay men are likely to be the worst drivers, a new study has shown.
Research has revealed that both perform poorly in tasks involving navigationand spatial awareness when compared to heterosexual men.
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The Gayby Boom
As we careen into full blown campaign season, gay marriage will likely movefrom a simmer to a boil. Declarations will be forced, answers will beparsed, fine lines will be tiptoed. But as both sides of the culturaldivide argue about the rights to a happy and legal union, there is anotherissue that is moving steadily, if quietly toward acceptance.
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Mixed Reaction to NGLTF's Name Change
In the wake of House passage of a sexual orientation-only Employment
Non-Discrimination Act, and the dawn of an election year, the National Gayand Lesbian Task Force is reinventing its political arm with a new name andWeb site. But some bisexual and transgender activists have a mixed responseto the change and how it reflects the organization's inclusive politics.
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Gay Chamber of Commerce Puts Pressure on Small Businesses
The National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce is sponsoring seminars toencourage small businesses to favor homosexual employees. It also is teamingwith the pro-gay Human Rights Campaign to publish a 32-page booklet on howsmall businesses can be more "inclusive."
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Gay Policeman Fights Prejudice
An officer assigned to the riot police has openly declared his homosexualityand vowed to fight social prejudice against ``sexual minorities.'' On Dec.30, Private Kim Hyun-jong (not his real name) posted an article about hishomosexuality on the online riot police community Web site. He is the secondpoliceman from the squad to have openly come out after YooJeong Min-shikidentified himself as being gay and refused to finish his service term forwhich he was prisoned in 2006. In South Korea, men can serve in the riotpolice as part of their mandatory military service.
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The Gay Squad
In the District, the award-winning Gay and Lesbian Liaison Unit of theWashington Metropolitan Police Department has been a much used resource forthe city's GLBT community, especially in times of high-profile crime sprees,when seeking a liaison to the MPD, when fighting community drug addiction,or a host of other reasons. Just south of the District line, in Arlington,the priorities aren't quite the same.
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365Gay.Com
http://www.365gay.com/
Go to the website, above, for the following articles:
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Is New Hampshire Clinton's Last Stand?
(Manchester, New Hampshire) Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton -welcome to New Hampshire, where you each face the biggest test of yourpolitical lives.
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Little Attention Paid To Cowboy Caucus
(Cheyenne, Wyoming) It's been overlooked in the hoopla surrounding Iowa andNew Hampshire, but Wyoming Republicans will caucus Saturday and choosedelegates to the national convention in September.
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Obama Scores Stunning Victory
(Des Moines, Iowa) Democrat Barack Obama has put to rest the question ofwhether a black presidential candidate can win in white America.
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Romney Loss Puts Campaign In Disarray
(Des Moines, Iowa) Republican Mitt Romney failed Thursday to pick up thefirst of two back-to-back wins he hoped would propel him toward his party'spresidential nomination, losing the Iowa caucuses five days before what isnow for him a pivotal New Hampshire primary.
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Researcher: Gay Men Behave Like Women
(London) Gay men navigate in a similar way to women, according to a newstudy from researchers at Queen Mary, University of London.
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NJ Gay Hate Bill Advances
(Trenton, New Jersey) The New Jersey Senate on Thursday unanimously approvedsweeping legislation to strengthen New Jersey's hate crimes and anti-schoolbullying laws.
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Soap Star Auctions Himself For HIV/AIDS Charity
(New York City) Cameron Mathison is putting himself up for auction.
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Ruling Could Impact Lesbian IVF Couples
(Harrisburg, Pennsylvania) The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has ruled that awoman who promised a sperm donor he would not have to pay child supportcannot renege on the deal.
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Majority Supports Arizona DP Benefits Plan
(Phoenix, Arizona) A plan by Gov. Janet Napolitano's administration toprovide domestic partner benefits to Arizona state employees and retireesappears to have the support of most citizens.
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Early Gay Ally Gov. Dreyfus Dies
(Madison, Wisconsin) Former Gov. Lee Sherman Dreyfus, who signed thenation's first statewide gay rights law in 1982, has died. He was 81.
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Express Gay News
http://www.expressgaynews.com/thelatest/thelatest.cfm?blog_id=15846
Judge's call on civil unions puts spotlight on voter signatures
State's verification process angers some political activists
SALEM (AP) | Jan 2, 3:15 PM
The recent decision by a federal judge to block a law allowing gay couplesto form civil unions in Oregon has cast a spotlight on whether a signatureon a petition can be equated to a vote on the ballot.
U.S. District Judge Michael Mosman on Friday suspended the law, set to takeeffect with the new year.
Mosman has set a Feb. 1 court date for lawyers to argue whether electionsofficials wrongly threw out signatures on petitions that would have forced areferendum vote on domestic partnerships.
The outcome of the case will be closely watched by political activists, whoclaim Oregon elections officials are too quick to toss out petitionsignatures.
Elections officials are also paying close attention, concerned that animprobably high standard for verifying the validity of signatures couldcompromise their ability to carry out elections.
more . . . . .
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After Elton.com
http://www.afterelton.com/TV/2008/1/wishlist
2008 Gay Pop Culture Wish List
by AfterElton.com Staff
January 2, 2008
2007 was a disappointing year in terms of gay visibility. With it now behindus, we thought we’d offer up fifteen pop culture possibilities that we’d bethrilled to see fulfilled in the coming year. Call it our 2008 wish list.From gay celebrity wedding photos splashed across the tabloids to abreak-out romantic comedy triumphing at the box office, here are our humblesuggestions for making 2008 the best gay year ever.
My Big Fat Gay Wedding – A gay romantic comedy breaks out
With last year a bust in terms of gay movies and movies with gay characters(including the well-intentioned but poorly executed I Now Pronounce YouChuck and Larry and the flat-out homophobic Wild Hogs), we have to believethat this year things can only get better. And what would truly help makethis a banner year is for a small independent romantic comedy about two gaymen to unexpectedly become a huge breakout hit.
What better way to demonstrate to Middle America the unfairness of keepinggays from getting married than with a romantic comedy about two young loverstrying to make it to the altar for their big day? It would have cute flowergirls, mothers weeping with joy, fathers grumbling about paying for theirson's wedding, and all sorts of wacky hijinks. Besides, everyone loves afairytale romance and a happy ending. We think 2002’s My Big Fat GreekWedding, which came out of nowhere to score $356 million in ticket sales, isthe perfect template for what we have in mind.
more . . . . .
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The Huffigton Post
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/peggy-drexler/the-gaybe-boom_b_79479.html
The Gaybe Boom
Posted January 3, 2008 | 10:16 AM (EST)
As we careen into full blown campaign season, gay marriage will likely movefrom a simmer to a boil. Declarations will be forced, answers will beparsed, fine lines will be tiptoed.
But as both sides of the cultural divide argue about the rights to a happyand legal union, there is another issue that is moving steadily, if quietlytoward acceptance.
That is gay and lesbian couples - and increasingly singles - adopting,having and raising children. According to The FamilyNet project at the HumanRights Campaign says that a review of American Academy of Pediatricsresearch indicates that there are between one million and nine millionAmerican children under 18 living with gay parents. Other studies put thefigure much lower.
The fact is, nobody really knows. But most sociologists agree that thegrowth is enough to warrant its own snappy trend label: "The Gayby Boom."
Whatever the number, it is increasing despite some formidable obstacles. Asa gay couple I know who have been through the gauntlet twice (and have twoamazing little girls for their effort) told me: "Think how hard it is forhetero parents to adopt a child - all the background checks, all the SocialServices visits, all the bureaucracy. When you're a gay couple, you have allthat to a power of 10. I can't even imagine what it's like if you'resingle - especially a single man."
more . . . . .
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Express Gay New
http://www.expressgaynews.com/2008/1-3/news/localnews/4314.cfm
Bilerico’s ‘underground flavor’ draws gay fans
Site boasts political bigwigs among contributors
By REBECCA ARMENDARIZ
Thursday, January 03, 2008
With more than 50 contributors from all walks of life, the Bilerico Project,a blog that grew from a simple domain name and some basic HTML, has evolvedquickly from its earliest incarnation.
Bil Browning, editor of the site, combined his name with his best friendEri's, to create his blog. He purchased bilerico.com nine years ago and theweb site initially focused on gay issues in Bloomington, Ind. Three yearsago, Browning and his partner, Jeremy, changed the blog program so thatmultiple users could post their work to the site. After reaching out to gayleaders in Indiana, the idea spread nationally and today boasts 15 to 20posts per day by a variety of correspondents.
The site features a video section and advice columns as well as the writingof gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people of various races andbackgrounds.
The content varies — one day, a serious post about ENDA will be sandwichedbetween “The Best Gay Books of 2007” and a feature on a freshly outed sexycelebrity.
The Bilerico Project was relaunched in July. Since then, Browning said thesite has received 388,000 unique page views. He did not have updated numberson daily visitors to the site, but said Bilerico takes in a modest $500 permonth in advertising — an amount he says is growing. One of Browning's goalsfor 2008 is to generate enough revenue to pay some of the associate editorsand contributors.
more . . . . .
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Express Gay New
http://www.expressgaynews.com/2008/1-3/news/national/4311.cfm
Data split on benefits of circumcision
Study finds no effect on HIV rates among black, Latino gay men
By RYAN LEE
Thursday, January 03, 2008
ATLANTA — College years are filled with memories, none more exciting forLouis Rahim than the first time he laid eyes on an uncircumcised penis whileattending one of the schools that make up the Atlanta University Center.
He remembers every detail of the encounter, from the screen name of the guyhe hooked up with, to the animal Rahim thought of when he first saw what wasin his pants.
“The skin covered the head, and it reminded me of an elephant trunk,” Rahimsaid.
More skin is almost a dealbreaker for D.J. Levi, 26, who has a “strongpreference” for circumcised men.
“If it’s big enough, I can overlook it,” joked Levi, who added that “myreasons are dumb” for being biased against uncut penises.
“I think circumcised looks better, and it’s more hygienic,” Levi said. “Guyshave to be taught the proper way to clean uncircumcised foreskin, andeveryone isn’t taught that.”
Despite their differing tastes when it comes to their partners’ phallus,Rahim and Levi share the perception that uncircumcised men are more prone tohygiene-related infections and STDs.
“I’ve read about uncut men being more susceptible to STDs, but that’s ifthey aren’t being clean,” said Rahim, who added that despite his preferencefor uncut men, he is glad to be circumcised.
Whether or not circumcision status plays a role in the spread or preventionof STDs is an ongoing topic debated by scientists, with several recentstudies coming to dramatically conflicting conclusions. Two separate studiesconducted by the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention appear to showthat circumcision profoundly reduces the risk for heterosexual men in Africato contract HIV, while having “absolutely no effect” on whether gay andbisexual men in the U.S. contract the disease.
While trying to figure out why black and Latino gay and bisexual men havehigher rates of HIV even though they engage in less risky behavior thantheir white counterparts, CDC researchers looked at data from more than2,000 black and Latino gay men to see if being uncircumcised increased theirprobability of being HIV-positive. About 74 percent of black men in thestudy — which was unveiled at the CDC’s National HIV Prevention conferencelast month — were circumcised, compared to 33 percent of Latinos.
“We found no overall association between circumcision status andHIV-infection status among black or Latino [gay and bisexual men],” said CDCepidemiologist Greg Millet, the study’s author. “We also found no protectivebenefit of circumcision among those men reporting recent unprotected sexwith a male partner in which they were exclusively the insertive malepartner.”
Essentially, men who are sexual tops are not more at risk of contracting HIVif they are uncircumcised, nor are they safer if they are circumcised,Millet said. Circumcision offers gay men a “moderate protective factor, atmost,” Millet said.
When looking at a subset of black male participants who also engaged in sexwith females, the researchers “also found no protective benefit” fromcircumcision.
Millet’s data echoes other studies that have suggested circumcision haslittle effect on HIV transmission among gay and bisexual men. In the U.S., arecent study of STD clinics in San Francisco revealed that circumcisionoffered no protection from HIV for gay and bisexual men, while an Australianstudy of 68 HIV-positive gay men showed that uncircumcised men were no morelikely to have contracted the disease through insertive anal sex.
“Two previous studies conducted in the United States, but primarily amongwhite [gay and bisexual men], did show a possible protective benefit ofcircumcision,” Millet noted. “However, one of those studies also found thatthe protective effect for circumcision was moderate compared with otherfactors associated with HIV seroconversion.”
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Baltimore - wjz.com
http://wjz.com/local/gay.marriage.question.2.622531.html
Lawmakers To Get Gay Marriage Question
ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) ―
Gay marriage has been declared a question for the legislature, not thecourts -- but top Maryland lawmakers doubt any bills on the matter will passin the upcoming legislative session.
The session that begins Jan. 9 will be the first regular session since thestate's highest court ruled in a Baltimore case that the Marylandconstitution's equal-rights amendment does not make a ban against same-sexunions unconstitutional.
In other words, the judges punted the question back to lawmakers.
"Our opinion should by no means be read to imply that the General Assemblymay not grant and recognize for homosexual persons civil unions or the rightto marry a person of the same sex," Judge Glenn T. Harrell Jr. wrote in theSeptember decision.
But top lawmakers say it's unlikely the question of same-sex unions willadvance this session.
more . . . . .
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Express Gay New
http://www.expressgaynews.com/blog/index.cfm?type=blog&start=12/29/07&end=1/5/08#15854
Trans activist crosses the line
Posted by Kevin Naff, Washington Blade Editor
knaff@washblade.com
Jan. 3 at 10:53 AM
The recent remarks by Meredith Bacon, president of the board of the NationalCenter for Transgender Equality, denouncing the Human Rights Campaign’shandling of the ENDA debate, serve as a vivid and disappointing reminder ofwhy the trans movement hasn’t progressed as far as the gay rights movement.
“[A]s the chair of the NCTE Board of Directors, I can assure all who readthis blog that NCTE will not work with HRC in the foreseeable future, untilthe current leadership is completely purged, and until we are convincedthat, unlike its predecessors, any new HRC leadership is totally committedto working for transgender rights,” Bacon wrote.
“As long as HRC is controlled by and is dependent upon white, rich,professional gay men, such collaboration may never occur,” she wrote.
Her comments are offensive, counterproductive and totally unacceptable. Sheshould either retract those comments and apologize or be removed from herposition post-haste if her organization is to retain any credibilitywhatsoever in the gay rights movement.
It’s an unfortunate development, because Mara Keisling, the group’sexecutive director, who has so far declined to comment on Bacon’s statement,has earned a reputation as a hard-working, knowledgeable and reasonableprofessional. Perhaps Keisling is too “professional” for Bacon’s taste.
Bacon’s attack on HRC and other trans advocates’ denouncing of gay Rep.Barney Frank over the ENDA flap will ultimately do more damage to the causeof one day passing an inclusive bill. All of this name-calling isshortsighted and oh-so-predictable.
It’s time for Keisling and other members of the National Center forTransgender Equality board to publicly repudiate Bacon’s offensive andirresponsible remarks.
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The Advocate
http://advocate.com/issue_story.asp?id=50984&page=2
Year in Review 2007 || The Sissy Awards
Every year we have to endure our fair share of idiots, but this year takesthe cake. So we here at The Advocate have reinstated our annual sissyawards, recognizing those who show arrogant stupidity, dishonesty, or just asevere lack of spine. From Paris Hilton to Peter Pace, let's give it up forthis year's winners losers.
By Alonso Duralde
From The Advocate January 15, 2008
Sissy Political Party -- The Republicans
If there’s one thing right-wing pols like better than blocking gay rights,it’s having gay sex. And 2007 gave us multiple orgasms:
--U.S. senator Larry Craig introduced us to the term “wide stance” when hewas busted in a Minnesota airport for putting the moves on an undercover copin the next stall. Craig pled guilty but held on to his seat (no, the one inthe Senate).
-National Association of Evangelicals president Ted Haggard, outed as aregular customer by a gay hustler, magically became heterosexual after justthree weeks in rehab. Lindsay Lohan would kill her dealer for results likethat.
--Glenn Murphy Jr., newly elected chair of the Young Republican National
Federation, resigned in August after his arrest for performing oral sex on asleeping acquaintance. In 1998 he’d committed a similar crime on a dudewhose girlfriend was in the same room!
--Florida state representative Bob Allen offered to pay an undercover cop$20 to let Allen give him a blow job in a restroom. Preferring to play itracist rather than gay, Allen claimed he’d acted out of fear of theAfrican-American men hanging out nearby. Result: He looked racist, gay, andstupid. Allen had been John McCain’s presidential campaign cochair forFlorida.
Sissy Extracurricular Activity of the Year -- Public bathroom sex
-Jim Naugle, mayor of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., lobbied his city to spend$250,000 on “robo-toilets” in order to discourage gay men from having sex inpublic restrooms. Naugle said he was fighting to keep gays from taking overthe city. Only two problems with that reasoning: There’d been no recentarrests for sex in restrooms, and anyway, Jim, it’s not so much gay men inall those stalls -- it's guys like the 20 men arrested in one month at a NewYork roadside restroom. Nineteen of them (including a Rotary Club president)were married. The 20th? A Catholic priest.
Sissy Vacation Destination -- Fort Lauderdale
-Gay visitors to the Florida vacation spot have more to worry about thanautomated pissoirs. You might get verbally queer-bashed at the airport. InMay, as a law professor and his partner waited for their luggage, a voice onthe P.A. system started reading from Leviticus, saying, “A man who lies withanother man as he would a woman is subject to death.” The mystery evangelistdid not share the Bible’s views about parking in a red zone.
Sissy Grandpa -- Vice President Dick Cheney
--Mary Cheney had a baby in May, and Mary’s proud papa huffed tointerviewers that any questions about the blessed event were “out of line.”Does the VP know his alleged boss referred to Mary and her partner, HeatherPoe, as the child’s “parents” on the White House website?
Second Verse, Sissy as the First -- Pope Benedict XVI
--It wouldn’t be a sissy roundup without the pederast enablers at theVatican. Prada-wearing devil Pope Benedict XVI reminded us that the RomanCatholic Church’s opposition to gay marriage is “nonnegotiable,” and anarchbishop kicked in that same-sex marriage is “evil.” Meanwhile a Vaticanmonsignor, caught on hidden camera making advances to a youth, claimed thathe was only pretending as part of his ministry. Is that what the kids arecalling it these days?
Sissy Word of the Year -- FAGGOT!
--An oldie but a goodie, this epithet had a banner year in 2007. IsaiahWashington allegedly used the word on the set of Grey’s Anatomy, definitelyused it at the Golden Globes telecast, then went into “gay rehab” and hireda gay publicist. Results: Washington got fired, GLAAD got a new celebrityPSA, and classy costar T.R. Knight got better story lines.
--Media opportunist Ann Coulter hurled the f taunt at John Edwards, leadingto a public smackdown from the awesome Elizabeth Edwards and, regrettably,lots more TV time for Coulter.
--CBS Sports college basketball announcer Billy Packer -- who, with a namelike that, obviously has issues -- used the term “fag out” on Charlie Rose.
Rose’s viewers were so shocked they woke up.
Sissy Candy of the Year -- Snickers
--Remember this fun Super Bowl commercial? Two mechanics eat a Snickers barfrom opposite ends and wind up accidentally meeting in a kiss. Ew! Torestore the manly vibe, one of them slams a car hood down on his buddy’shead. On the Snickers website folks enjoyed three other versions of the ad,all violent, plus clips of Super Bowl players watching the spots and makingfaces of disgust when the dudes kiss. Sweet!
Sissy Sportsman of the Year -- Tim Hardaway
--When retired NBA player John Amaechi came out, ex-player Tim Hardawayfavored a radio interviewer with the following: “Well, you know, I hate gaypeople, so I let it be known, I don’t like gay people. I don’t like to bearound gay people. Yeah, I’m homophobic. I don’t like it. It shouldn’t be inthe world for that or in the United States for that. So yeah, I don’t likeit.” Hardaway later said he’s sorry. But we knew that already.
Sissy Cinema -- Tie: Wild Hogs and I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry
--Because you can’t really choose between a midlife-crisis movie about foursuburbanites who love to wear leather and ride motorcycles but are TOTALLYIN NO WAY GAY and a comedy about two straight firemen who getcivil-unionized for the health benefits but are TOTALLY IN NO WAY GAY.
Sissy Celebrities -- Mark Wahlberg and John Travolta
Of course, actors were perfectly capable of saying stupid things even ifthey weren’t appearing in awful movies:
--Former underwear model Mark Wahlberg says he turned down the chance to bein Brokeback Mountain because the script “creeped him out.” Mind you, thisis the guy who said yes to Four Brothers and The Truth About Charlie.
--Wild Hogs star John Travolta told the press there was “nothing gay” aboutHairspray. Except its gay director. And the gay director of the originalmovie. And the gay men who wrote the songs. And several of its stars.
Sissy Stud -- Marine Corporal Matt Sanchez
--The Iraq War vet became a right-wing poster boy when he complained aboutbeing silenced by student activists at Columbia University. After he posedfor pictures with the sulfur-reeking Ann Coulter and took hisconservative-victim shtick to Fox News, it turned out Sanchez was already acelebrity in gay circles -- as man-on-man porn star Rod Majors and as(shades of Jeff Gannon) an escort. Shut up!
Sissy Waste of Space -- Paris Hilton
--Arrests aside, it was still a spotty year for the heiress (and onetimegrand marshal of the Los Angeles gay pride parade). In early 2007 an oldtape surfaced in which she used both the n and f words; in September,paparazzi video showed Hilton stepping into a puddle and observing, “Oh, myGod, I have, like, AIDS.”
Sissy Bloviator -- Bill O’Reilly
--Fox’s star windbag keeps claiming he “gets it” about gays. Oh, really?Check out these O’Reilly insights:
There’s a “national underground network” of lesbians terrorizing the nation,raping women, randomly attacking hetero men, and indoctrinating young girls.(O’Reilly later admitted this was “overstated.”)
--It was “insane” and “inappropriate” for the San Diego Padres to host a gaypride night at the same game where kids under 12 got free hats. “Thousandsof gay adults showed up and commingled with straight families,” he reported.--J.K. Rowling is a “provocateur” for saying that Harry Potter’s ProfessorDumbledore is gay. Huffed O’Reilly: “Many parents are worried in Americaabout the gay agenda and indoctrination of their children to seehomosexuality in a certain way.” (In this same segment, O’Reilly had to betold that Rowling is a woman.)
Stop-the-Presses Sissies -- The Hollywood Reporter and Reuters
--Both tried to yank THR writer Ray Richmond’s obituary of Merv Griffinbecause it discussed Griffin’s homosexuality -- the worst-kept secret inshow business outside Kenny Rogers’s face-lifts.
Sissy Internationale -- Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
--At a speech at Columbia University, the Iranian president claimed that hiscountry had no homosexuals. Not true, actually -- but not for lack of tryingon Ahmadinejad’s part.
Four-star Sissy -- Gen. Peter Pace
--During his tenure as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Pacecalled homosexuality “immoral” and compared it to adultery. Pace did notcomment on rumors that his mother wears combat boots.
Senatorial Sissy -- Dianne Feinstein
--Whatever mojo the California senator got out of shakily announcing themurder of Harvey Milk officially expired when the right-leaning Democrat --“Joe Lieberman in a dress,” to some wags -- jumped the aisle and approvedthe nomination of Judge Leslie Southwick for the fifth circuit court ofappeals. Southwick had advocated removing gay parents’ biological childrenfrom their homes.
Supersissy -- Spirit Warriors
--After Marvel Comics finally stopped slapping an adults-only label on anycomic book with a gay or lesbian character, born-again actor StephenBaldwin -- a.k.a. the boring Baldwin -- promoted his crappy Jesus-y graphicnovel Spirit Warriors in this press release: “With the most prominent comicbook company lightening up its rating system, how can parents be sure theiryoungsters won’t get their hands on age-inappropriate material?”
Shabbat Sissies -- Haredi Rabbis and Followers
--After extremist rabbis from the Eda Haredit sect put a curse on JerusalemPride, a Jerusalem city council member and representative of the city’s gaysand lesbians received death threats; his phone number had been posted onHaredi Web forums. Moments before the pride parade began, police arrested anultra-Orthodox Jewish man carrying an explosive device.
“Who Would Jesus Smear?” Sissies -- Focus on the Family and the AmericanFamily Association
--When former Joint Chiefs chairman John Shalikashvili came out against “don’task, don’t tell,” the good folks at Focus and AMA painted the U.S. Armygeneral as a dupe of homosexual activists who took advantage after hesuffered a debilitating stroke. The stroke, alas, happened in 2004.
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The Advocate
http://advocate.com/issue_story_ektid50918.asp
Coming Out in the Big Leagues
Why John Amaechi didn't change the world of professional sports.
By Jeff Pearlman
From The Advocate January 15, 2008
To many gays and lesbians who care about sports, this coming-out was(literally) the big one -- the one that would officially open up the idea ofhomosexuality to a particular culture that has been anything but embracing.
For eons, participants in professional athletics had treated gays andlesbians not as people but slurs. Play soft and you’re a faggot. Dresscolorfully and you’re queer. Step into the shower with a slightly effeminateteammate and you should make sure to grab soap on a rope.
Why, it wasn’t all that long ago that one of my former Sports Illustratedcolleagues walked through the locker room of the NBA’s New Jersey Nets aftera game while wearing (gasp!) a yellow scarf. The nerve! “Ho-mo-sex-u-al!”chanted David Benoit, an eminently forgettable forward. “Ho-mo-sex-u-al!”
The joint broke out in snickers.
But in February 2007 the tide was surely about to turn. A former NBA centernamed John Amaechi appeared on ESPN’s Outside the Lines to speak publiclyabout his life as a closeted professional athlete. No, Amaechi wasn’t thefirst retired jock to come out. But he was easily the most recognizable: Notonly was Amaechi a 6-foot-10, 270-pound mountain of a man, but he had spenthis career battling head-to-head against the Shaquille O’Neals and PatrickEwings and Tim Duncans of the league -- without headgear to make himanonymous.
more . . . . .
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The Advocate
http://advocate.com/issue_story_ektid50913.asp
Public Sex Confidential
Overnight, senator Larry Craig became the poster boy for public sex. But asBenoit Denizet-Lewis reminds us, the phenomenon is anything but new -- andit's not just a closeted republican thing. So what is it that still drivessome in the gay community out of the bedroom and into the Bathroom?
By Benoit Denizet-Lewis
From The Advocate January 15, 2008
In 1980, a short time before AIDS began decimating San Francisco’s gaypopulation, CBS aired a documentary about life in the city called Gay Power,Gay Politics. “For someone of my generation,” journalist Harry Reasoner saidin the report’s sobering introduction, “it sounds a bit preposterous.Political power for homosexuals?” He opined that this strange politicalmovement raised “troubling questions…not only for San Francisco but forother cities throughout the country.”
For CBS, the most troubling aspect of gay life in San Francisco was clear: Homosexuals seemed to be having sex everywhere—in public parks, S/M “torturechambers,” and, if they could get away with it, right in the middle ofCastro Street. In his book The Culture of Desire, Frank Browning noted thatthe total effect of CBS’s report “was that of a strident alarm, a warningthat the hidden agenda of the campaign for gay power was the legitimizationof sex in the streets.”
Many gay men were outraged by the documentary, which they saw as a salaciousattempt to smear them all as public-sex fiends. “I don’t know of anyone whois responsible who feels that [sex in San Francisco’s parks] should becondoned or encouraged,” one local gay man told the National News Council.“It’s a matter of embarrassment to most of the people I know. It’s a smallpercentage of the gay population that’s involved in that scene.”
I was reminded of the old CBS report (and of the ensuing attempt by many gaypeople to downplay the prevalence and acceptability of public sex among gaymen) in the weeks after the Larry Craig scandal broke. In October the Gayand Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation issued a series of recommendationsfor journalists covering arguably the biggest public sex news story ever.After the initial focus on Craig, the media had quickly turned its prurientgaze to toe-tapping, wide stances, and in-depth investigations best summedup as “What Are the Gays Up to in Bathrooms Anyway?”
GLAAD insisted that only a small minority of gay men engage in public sexand most gay people condemn the practice. The organization also highlightedthe words of Michigan State professor emeritus of psychology GershenKaufman, who told ABC News that cruising is practiced mainly by deeplycloseted men: “There is a lot of self-hatred and shame, and they can’t allowthemselves to come to terms with their sexuality.”
more . . . . .
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The Advocate
http://advocate.com/issue_story_ektid50925.asp
The Year in Queer
Timeline
From The Advocate January 15, 2008
January
4: The 110th Congress is sworn in with Nancy Pelosi -- in a baby-blue powersuit -- as House speaker. The same day Democrat Deval Patrick takes the oathof office as the first African-American governor of Massachusetts -- andjust the second black governor in U.S. history. The gay-friendly Patrickushers in a new age for the Bay State, which endured four years of thehomophobic Mitt Romney.
15: Two months after Grey’s Anatomy star Isaiah Washington spat out theother f word during an on-set scuffle with costar Patrick Dempsey --prompting series star T.R. Knight to come out of the closet -- Washingtondrops that f bomb again at the Golden Globes telecast, then lies toreporters about having used the word in the first place. Grey’s creatorShonda Rhimes finally kicks him to the curb in June.
31: Overwhelmingly Catholic Mexico registers its first civil union when two29-year-old lesbians sign papers in Coahuila, the first of the nation’s 31states to legalize gay unions.
February
more....
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Bible Belt Blogger
http://www2.arkansasonline.com/blogs/bible-blog/2008/jan/04/claim-huckabee-/
Claim: Huckabee has launched the Republican Reformation
Posted January 4, 2008
Bible Belt Blogger: Claim: Huckabee has launched the Republican Reformation
Frank Lockwood
David Brooks, in today's New York Times, says the Iowa outcome is a seismicevent.
David Brooks Brooks also writes:
"Mitt Romney is now grievously wounded. Romney represents what’s left ofRepublicanism 1.0. Huckabee and McCain represent half-formed iterations ofRepublicanism 2.0. My guess is Republicans will now swing behind McCain inorder to stop Mike.
Huckabee probably won’t be the nominee, but starting last night in Iowa, anevangelical began the Republican Reformation."
more....
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Sun-Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/obituaries/sfl-flodreyfussbjan04,0,7592314.story
Lee Sherman Dreyfus, ex-Wisconsin governor, dead at 81
The Associated Press
January 4, 2008
MADISON, Wis.
Former Gov. Lee Sherman Dreyfus, who signed the nation's first statewide gayrights law in 1982, has died. He was 81.
Mr. Dreyfus, who was governor from 1979 to 1983, died Wednesday at hisWaukesha home, his son Lee S. Dreyfus Jr. said Thursday. He had sufferedfrom heart and breathing problems.
Mr. Dreyfus was chancellor at Wisconsin-Stevens Point before running forgovernor in 1978. A Republican, he upset Rep. Bob Kasten in the primary anddefeated acting Gov. Martin Schreiber in the general election.
But he surprised party leaders by deciding not to seek a second term fouryears later, saying he wanted to return to private life.
During his term, he earned respect for his businesslike approach topolitics — and for his gifts as a communicator. He famously coined thephrase about Wisconsin's liberal capital: "Madison is 30 square milessurrounded by reality."
more . . . . .
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Sun-Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/nationworld/politics/wire/sns-ap-caucus-gop-analysis,0,5182395.story
Analysis: Head Versus Heart for Iowa GOP
LIZ SIDOTI
Associated Press Writer
3:00 PM EST, January 3, 2008
WASHINGTON
Iowa Republicans chose between their hearts and their heads.
Mike Huckabee appealed to emotions, an ordained Southern Baptist ministerwith rock-solid culturally conservative credentials who is beloved byChristian evangelicals influential in the caucuses. Mitt Romney was thepractical pick, an accomplished businessman with a powerhouse organizationand a seemingly endless supply of money to go the distance -- and thwart thesocially liberal Rudy Giuliani.
After a year of tumult, the race amounted to a classic David vs. Goliathbattle, with a pair of former governors in a high-stakes slugfest for thecoveted prize -- the front-runner mantle heading into the New Hampshireprimary a mere five days later.
Others aimed for better-than-expected showings; Arizona Sen. John McCain,former New York Mayor Giuliani and Texas Rep. Ron Paul sought relevancy,one-time Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson survival.
Iowa had the first say in the most volatile, wide-open GOP nomination racein a half-century, and the state's recent history bodes well for the caucuswinner. It has chosen the Republican who eventually secured the nominationin the two most recent contested GOP competitions -- George W. Bush in 2000and Bob Dole in 1996.
more . . . . .
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