GLBT DIGEST January 11, 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.

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Bay Area Reporter

http://www.ebar.com/news/article.php?sec=news&article=2589

Tense meeting with HRC over ENDA
by Cynthia Laird - c.laird@ebar.com

The transgender president of the San Francisco Police Commissionbluntly returned the Equality Award she received from the Human RightsCampaign during what was described as a tense meeting last weekend betweenmembers of the Bay Area trans community and HRC President Joe Solmonese.

"It no longer symbolized equality to me," Commission President TheresaSparks told the Bay Area Reporter upon exiting the two-hour meeting, heldJanuary 5 at the LGBT Community Center. "It's a matter of their integrityand not following through and my own integrity."

Sparks said that she could no longer stand to even look at the etchedglass award when it was on her credenza. She received the award in 2004.

The San Francisco meeting was the latest in several efforts by HRC,the nation's leading gay rights organization, to mend fences with thetransgender community after the fallout over the federal EmploymentNon-Discrimination Act.

While HRC had previously gone on record as supporting only an ENDAthat included both sexual orientation and gender identity protections, itabandoned that position once Representative Barney Frank (D-Massachusetts)and other lawmakers on Capitol Hill determined there were not enough votesfor the inclusive ENDA to pass out of the House of Representatives. Once thecontroversy erupted in late September, HRC stood silently on the sidelinesfor several days before finally issuing a statement that reaffirmed its 2004position of supporting a trans-inclusive ENDA, but said that HRC would notlobby members of Congress against voting for the new version of the billthat contained protections only based on sexual orientation.

It was that sexual orientation-only version of ENDA that passed theHouse in early November. The legislation now moves to the Senate. TheWashington Blade reported last week that Senator Ted Kennedy(D-Massachusetts) wanted a vote on ENDA in 2008, but Solmonese told theB.A.R. Monday that he was unsure when a vote would take place.

more.....



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DIRELAND, January 10

BEWARE THE HUCKABASHER!

Anyone who thinks that Mike Huckabee, the most dangerous presidentialcandidate for the LGBT community, is out of the running because of histhird-place showing in New Hampshire this week is sadly mistaken. To findout why, and for a compendium of this gay-bashing theocrat's worsthomo-hating moments, click on:
http://direland.typepad.com/direland/2008/01/beware-the-huck.html



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From EuroQueer

Irish Independent, Thursday 10 January 2008

Teen 'attacked couple he had mistaken for two gay men'

By Tom Tuite

A teenager attacked a woman he mistook for a gay man because of herhairstyle, a court has heard.

The State was given more time to complete a book of evidence in the caseagainstthe boy who launched a serious attack on the woman, and a man. He mistookboth
for two gay men.

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According to police statistics about 10 percent of all the victims ofhomophobic attacks are heterosexuals. This fact can and should be used as apowerful argument proving that homophobes present a grave danger to thewhole society, not just to gay people.??

Rafael Trujillo,



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Barney Frank And Mark LaFontaine

Join Congressman Barney Frank in supporting Mark LaFontaine's campaign tobecome the first OPENLY-GAY member of the FLORIDA LEGISLATURE!

On Sunday, January 13!

US Rep. Barney Frank, chairman of the powerful House Financial ServicesCommittee, is hosting a special evening for Mark LaFontaine at Lips, thepopular drag eatery which has taken New York and San Diego by storm. Jointhem at the newest Lips location in Oakland Park for an evening of fun, goodfood, and a great cause. - 1421 E Oakland Park Blvd - Oakland Park, FL33334

Dinner and a Show at the ultimate in drag dinning

Sunday January 13th 6:00
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Tickets: Reception only, 75.00, Gourmet Dinner and Show, only 100.00
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For More Info: 954-651-3147



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New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Religion-Briefs.html?scp=8&sq=gay

Religion News in Brief

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
January 10, 2008
Filed at 12:02 p.m. ET

PITTSBURGH (AP) -- A local church that voted to leave the PresbyterianChurch (USA) has filed a lawsuit seeking to bar any threat of seizure of itsproperty by the local presbytery as it joins a more conservativedenomination.

The Memorial Park Presbyterian Church, the largest church in the PittsburghPresbytery, is seeking to confirm its title to 7.5 acres of land andownership of buildings. The church filed suit in Allegheny County CommonPleas Court after its governing body voted unanimously to disaffiliate fromthe presbytery -- a regional body of the denomination -- following nearly ayear of negotiations.

Memorial Park's congregation, which was established 64 years ago and has1,675 members, will vote on whether to disaffiliate during weekend servicesJan. 19-20.

In June, members of the church voted to seek dismissal from the nationalchurch. Memorial Park then offered $360,000 to the Pittsburgh Presbytery toseal the break.

Memorial Park's senior pastor, Rev. Dean Weaver, said the presbyteryinitially offered to settle for $1.7 million but later lowered its requestto $1.2 million. Memorial Park made what it said was a final offer of$500,000 in September.

more . . . . .



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Sun-Sentinel

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/opinion/sfl-brmail906pnjan11,0,5410952.story

Our society needs more sacred, straight marriages

January 11, 2008

The writer of Sunday's letter, "Sanctity of marriage isn't sacrosanct,"suggests banning multiple straight marriages in addition to gay marriages inan attempt to show that straight marriages are not sacred. He uses thislogic to make the point that no marriage is sacred so we should just goahead and allow gay marriage.

To those of us who are in our first marriage for a long time, who have madesacrifices and concerted efforts to make the marriage good and lasting forthe immense benefit of our children and each other, this suggestion isridiculous.

Straight marriage is sacred. Repeated studies have shown that sacredmarriage should be encouraged and promoted for the benefit of children andsociety as a whole. While I don't support other forms of discriminationagainst gay people, I don't support the gay marriage efforts to dilute andridicule that which society most needs: sacred marriages.

Nancy Heise
Parkland



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Express Gay News

http://www.expressgaynews.com/thelatest/thelatest.cfm?blog_id=15964

Washington D.C.

More changes planned for Whitman-Walker
Shift to primary care facility brings new medical director, some layoffs

By LOU CHIBBARO JR. | Jan 10, 4:04 PM

Whitman-Walker Clinic has hired a new chief medical officer, filling aposition that had been vacant for more than a year, and put in place a new,state-of-the-art electronic record-keeping system for patient medicalrecords, its chief executive officer announced this week.

Don Blanchon, who assumed the Clinic's top leadership post in May 2006, saidthe Clinic has nearly completed its goal of transforming itself into theWashington area's preeminent primary care medical facility for the lesbian,gay, bisexual and transgender community. At the same time, he said theClinic has retained its role as the city's largest provider of treatment andsupport for people with HIV and AIDS.

The changes announced this week also included layoffs of an unspecifiednumber of employees, due in part to the Clinic's plan to outsource somefinancial functions.

Blanchon said the Clinic has named Dr. Raymond Martins, assistant clinicalprofessor of medicine at Georgetown University School of Medicine, as itschief medical officer.

Martins most recently worked in private practice in Arlington, Va. He workedfrom 2004 to 2005 at the Dupont Circle Physicians Group, with a practice inHIV and internal medicine. He has an extensive background in HIV/AIDS careand gay health issues, according to biographical information released byWhitman-Walker. He also has served as chief medical resident at GeorgeWashington University Hospital.



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Salon

http://www.salon.com/mwt/broadsheet/2008/01/10/tyranny_of_marriage/index.html

I now pronounce you ... selfish and condescending?

by Carol Lloyd

A personal essay in the recent Newsweek has pinched a serious nerve amongdefenders of marriage. In the piece, Bonnie Eslinger explains why she haschosen to have a commitment ceremony instead of a wedding with her partner,Jeff. Her objections to marriage include not needing a "piece of paper" todefine or protect her relationship, not needing a white dress "to feelpretty" and not wanting to participate in an institution that excludes gaypeople.

Her article doesn't seem terribly radical -- it's something that could havebeen written decades ago in Off Our Backs and pales next to theanti-marriage writing of 17th century feminist Anne-Marie-Louise D'OrleansMontpensier. But talk about stirring up a marital shit storm! Outragedreaders call Eslinger about every name in the book -- pompous, selfish,clueless, condescending, adolescent, rigid, unconvincing, infuriating, weak,ignorant, annoying, presumptuous and stupid -- to repeat but a few.

Full disclosure: My beliefs about marriage don't diverge much fromEslinger's, though I'm a certified/fiable Mrs. For something so exclusionaryand heavy with misogynist baggage, I reason, shouldn't thislegal/spiritual/love bond at least perform better as a bonding substancethan our 50 percent divorce rates suggest? Decades ago my performance artistboyfriend even did a monologue called "Boycott Marriage," suggestingheterosexuals should reject nuptials the same way any self-respectingAmerican would refuse membership to a club that excluded blacks or Jews.Years later, after being invited to several gay weddings with white dressesand all, that boyfriend became my Mr. We got married for all the wrongreasons, I suppose: to mollify his 94-year-old grandmother, who worriedabout a "blue dress in her closet" that she might die before getting achance to wear, to get our fundamentalist landlords to quit asking about our"future plans," to make sure that my conservative in-laws fully understoodour commitment and quit excluding me from family photos. (Yeah, yeah, Iknow. Can you say hymen-pocrisy three times fast?)

In the end, I decided if individuals actually believe in marriage, it's abeautiful thing. But for me, marriage was more about other people's ideas,legal protections and extended family traditions -- I stumbled through therite of passage with the same dazed ambivalence felt by many people whenbuying their first home. My husband and I are still together, loving andfighting and laughing the same way we were when we were livin' in sin.Ironically, the only meaningful benefit to being married for me would comeif the marriage self-destructed and I suddenly needed protection fromdivorce laws.

So I'm not the best person to understand how Eslinger's adamant rejection ofmarriage might enrage those who keep the matrimonial faith alive. Still, thevitriolic response to her decision to define her personal relationships onher own terms also suggests how threatening the idea of not embracingmarriage continues to be. One angry reader pointed out: "Even Gloria Steinemgot married!" If feminists get hitched, does that mean debates overmarriage's meaning and validity should be relegated to the herstorydustbins?



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Express Gay News

http://www.expressgaynews.com/blog/index.cfm?type=blog&start=1/5/08&end=1/12/08#15963

DNC disparages gay press

by Kevin Naff

Queerty created a buzz today with news out of Donald Hitchcock's lawsuitagainst the DNC. The first in what is likely to be a blizzard of leaks fromthe suit included a series of e-mails among senior DNC communications staff.

In the e-mails, the staff debates whether to give lesbian columnist DebPrice access to Howard Dean for an interview. They decide it would be toorisky and expose the DNC to too many "hits."

In another exchange, they complain about the Blade's coverage of the DNC.Spokesperson Damien LaVera writes it is "outrageous" that the Blade didn'tadequately cover the DNC's gay delegate training program. To get back at theBlade for this slight, DNC Communications Director Karen Finney suggestshanding an exclusive story to the Advocate or another Blade competitor.Julie Tagen then adds that she uses gay newspapers for "the bottom of thebirdcage."

I'll take the high road - someone has to - and ignore the personal attacks.It's astounding, though, that the DNC's communications director has time inher day to plot revenge against the Blade.

The reality is that the Blade has covered the DNC and its delegate trainingprogram. In addition to two news stories on the subject in the past year, Ipersonally extended an invitation to the DNC to draft an op-ed on itsprogram, which I later published.

We will continue to cover the news in an objective and non-partisan way.



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The Advocate

http://advocate.com/news_detail_ektid51537.asp

HRC Rates Best Places to Work for LGBT People

January 11, 2008

The Human Rights Campaign has released its 2008 list of "Best Places to Workfor GLBT Equality." Making the list are 195 U.S. companies, and they arealready taking advantage of the recognition to demonstrate their fair andopen-minded policies based on nondiscrimination.

Inclusion on the list is awarded only to companies that score 100% on theHRC's Corporate Equality Index, which measures company policies thatregulate fairness and equality in the workplace, according to an HRC pressrelease. Among the companies listed are Disney, Google, US Airways, the NewYork Times Co., Ford, Nike, and PepsiCo.

"Each of these companies is working hard to transform their workplaces andmake them safer for millions of employees around the country," JoeSolmonese, HRC president, said in the release. "We can now say that at least10 million employees are protected on the basis of sexual orientation andgender identity on the job."

Thirteen states prohibit workplace discrimination against LGBT people, whileseven more have extended such protections to LGB people.

For a full listing of companies, visithttp://www.hrc.org/issues/best_places_to_work_2008.asp



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The Advocate

http://advocate.com/news_detail_ektid51528.asp

New Hampshire

January 11, 2008

Civil Unions at 'Lesbian Paradise' Could Be Boon for Tourism
If the rainbow-painted deck chairs, fluttering rainbow flag, and purpleshutters do not make it clear, the Highlands Inn's toll-free number,877-LES-B-INN, leaves no doubt as to whom this White Mountains resort in NewHampshire caters.

Innkeeper Grace Newman began hosting commitment ceremonies at thisself-proclaimed ''lesbian paradise'' -- in the 1980s. Newman says she haslost track of the number of commitment ceremonies that have happened there;she estimates about 300 couples have honeymooned at the inn after gettingcivil unions in Vermont or marriages in Quebec, Canada, both short drivesaway.

In 2008, the inn's 25th anniversary coincides with another milestone: legalrecognition of civil unions by New Hampshire beginning January 1. Newman,veteran host and overseer of many a union, has not wasted any time ingetting bookings from her own state.

From the North Country to the statehouse steps, other gay couples are makingsimilar plans.

''It would be pretty easy to take a little break from the party andcelebrate some civil unions,'' said Newman, who plans to get her own civilunion with longtime partner Maria Doyle in September at the inn.

more....



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Express Gay News

http://www.expressgaynews.com/2008/1-10/news/national/4322.cfm

N.H., Iowa scramble '08 race
Many gay voters are torn between Obama and Hillary Clinton

By JOSHUA LYNSEN
Thursday, January 10, 2008

Gay voters in Iowa and New Hampshire want their next president to bringchange, but cannot agree who's best for the job.

Beth Barnhill, a 52-year-old lesbian living in Des Moines, said Sen. BarackObama (D-Ill.) is best positioned to transform the nation.

"I think we're desperately in need of change," she said. "Dramatic change."

But Mark Anthony Dingbaum, a 22-yearold gay man living in Iowa City, saidSen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) could better enact the changes thatDemocratic voters want.

"I realize Washington is not going to change overnight, and I can't imaginesupporting a candidate who doesn't know the terrain and how to navigatethat," he said. "So, for me, Hillary was the clear choice."

more . . . . .



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Express Gay News

http://www.expressgaynews.com/2008/1-10/view/editorial/4321.cfm

OBAMA VS. CLINTON
Obama-mania and Hillary's slippage are startling, but gay voters win eitherway

Thursday, January 10, 2008

AFTER THE stunning events of the past week in which Hillary Clinton'scampaign was swamped by Obama-mania, many pundits are speculating thatAmerica is at a crossroads and ready to find consensus on all the divisiveissues of the past 30 years, including gay rights, and move on to a kinder,gentler time.

Kirk Johnson's piece in last Sunday's New York Times advanced this theory.He writes: "From capital punishment to global warming to homosexuality toabortion, many of the social issues that divide us are shifting andevolving - perhaps even in some instances into a new consensus, or at least,and no less profoundly, toward a reframing of the old debates.

"'New ways of looking at the world are emerging, but the language of talkingabout them and what they mean hasn't caught up,' said Anne Fausto-Sterling,a professor of biology and gender studies at Brown University.

It's a comforting thought - that the country might be ready to move pastpartisan gridlock and hot-button social issues to focus on the common good.And it's propelled Barack Obama to front-runner status, not just for theDemocratic nomination but to win the White House.

The unanimity and swiftness of Obama-mania has been startling to watch. It'slike someone threw a switch. Suddenly, the presence of Bill Clinton atcampaign rallies looks like a tired throwback to a bygone era rather than ananticipated appearance by a beloved figure. Hillary Clinton went frominevitable nominee to deflated underdog in record time. Maybe Oprah is ontosomething with "The Secret." Ask, believe, receive!

more . . . . .



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Express Gay News

http://www.expressgaynews.com/2008/1-10/view/letters/4324.cfm

Letters

Dems are not always gay-friendly and Republicans are not always homophobic

Thursday, January 10, 2008

To the Editors:

I find it more than a bit disappointing that the Express publishes lettersridiculing any effort by gay people to lobby elected Republicans to supportgay-related causes. Additionally, these same letters portray the DemocraticParty as staunch supporters of gay issues. This black-and-white portrayal isfar from true and does not parallel reality.

In recent years, some 30 to 35 Republican lawmakers have joined Democrats insupporting repeal of the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" military policy andcodification of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act to protect gays in thework place. These Republicans include at least three GOP U.S. representatives from the South Florida area.

Ohio is another example of GOP tolerance for gay people when the Republicangovernor, two U.S. senators and the attorney general opposed a 2004amendment to define marriage as strictly between a man and a women.

Attempts to portray the Democratic Party as wildly enthusiastic about gaycauses is also very misleading. In the past two decades, some 40 statesallowed their voters to express their views on gay marriage through theballot. Exit polls revealed that over 60 percent of African-American,Hispanic American and union households consistently voted against gaymarriage.

Nor do most northern blue states support gay marriage with state supremecourt directives. State supreme courts in perennially Democratic-votingMaryland, New York and Washington state all voted against gay marriage inthe past year.

Finally, even the nationally popular gay magazine, the Advocate,acknowledges that Hillary Clinton still opposes gay marriage. John Kerryalso came out against gay marriage a few years ago.

Given these harsh realities about both parties toward gay marriage, it ismuch more useful not to be extravagantly partisan and pollyanna, pretendingthat Democrats are exclusively gay-friendly and Republicans are exclusivelyhomophobic. It is extremely wise to continue making friends and allies inboth parties since most historical landmark legislation requires largenumbers of votes from both Republicans and Democrats.

Matthew V. Tsien
Member
Broward County Republican Executive Committee



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To Form a More Perfect Union: Marriage Equality News

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

Go to the website, above, for the following articles:
--
Anglican Bishop John Chapman says he will likely decide within seven monthsor so whether to allow blessings of same-sex unions in the Ottawa diocese.He is to discuss the issue with other clergy in July at the Lambethconference, an international meeting of Anglicans that happens once adecade. "I'm really hoping that, when we have an opportunity to look eachother in the eye that, somehow we will find a way through so that moretraditional-minded dioceses can live together with a more liberal-mindeddiocese under the same roof," he said. "I hope I am not being naivelyoptimistic, but I do put a lot of stock in what can happen when people sitdown and start to reason together."Then, Bishop Chapman said, the threeOntario bishops whose dioceses have asked for same-sex blessings ought to beable to come to some agreement on how to proceed "in a way that will becompatible with the Anglican Church of Canada as well."
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A Republican in the Indiana senate has filed a third resolution calling fora constitutional ban on same-sex marriage in the state. The previous twosuch resolutions failed to make it to the house. Sen. Brandt Hershman, oneof the resolution's sponsors, has been urging the house to take up the issueearly this year, according to the Associated Press, and toward that end,fellow Republican Eric Turner has said he plans to file a matchingresolution in the Democrat-controlled house. House speaker Patrick Bauer, aDemocrat, told the AP that while he is willing to introduce the resolutionin committee for consideration, he doesn't feel it is necessary given anexisting state statute that bans same-sex marriage. To amend the Indianaconstitution, a resolution must pass two consecutive separately electedgeneral assemblies before the measure can be placed on a statewide ballot.



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National Gay News

http://nationalgaynews.com/

Go to the website, above, for the following articles:
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Castro Street Goes Back in Time
San Francisco's famous gay neighborhood, Castro Street, is set for amakeover later this month when the filming starts on Gus van Sant's newmovie about gay rights activist Harvey Milk, the first openly gay manelected to office in the U.S. The Bay Area Reporter reports that some oldhaunts return to Castro Street, like the fabled Toad Hall bar - now part ofWalgreens - and Milk's old camera shop - now the home of gift store Given -as the filmmakers recreate the streetscape from the days when Milk reignedover the area as the "mayor" of Castro Street.
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Professors Push for LGBT Minor, Certificate
Ohio University has already made the charts as one of the 100 best campusesfor lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students, but the universitydoesn't offer a certificate or minor in gay studies. Associate ProfessorJeremy Webster, who teaches Lesbian and Gay Literature this quarter, is onefaculty member trying to expand OU's understanding of the gay community.
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TV's Hit Gay Reality Series Chris and John to the Rescue!
Soon on DVD - Alluvial Filmworks' will release the hit comedy/realitytelevision series Chris & John to the Rescue! featuring the heroic antics oftwo gay best friends on DVD February 12, 2008. With tremendous fan supportsince 2005, Chris & John to the Rescue! has grown from a 5-minute shortseries into a major ongoing series on OUTtv, Canada's premier gay televisionnetwork. The international DVD release will include seven 30-minute episodesand never before seen bonus features. Now viewers around the world can seewhat Canadian fans are raving about and why Chris & John to the Rescue! isgoing against reality shows like the Amazing Race for awards.
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GLBT Affairs Releases 2007 Report
Last year was a busy one for the Mayor's Office of GLBT Affairs, headed byChristopher Dyer and providing five basic services to D.C.'s GLBT community:community outreach, public policy development and advocacy, publiceducation, grant identification/capacity building, and training andfacilitation.
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Lesbian Seeks Seat on Sonoma County Board
Madlyn "Maddy " Hirshfield is looking to make Sonoma County history with herbid for a supervisorial seat. The out lesbian is running to represent SonomaCounty's sprawling 5th District, which includes the gay resort town ofGuerneville as well as parts of Santa Rosa in the east and Bodega Bay andSea Ranch along the coast to the north.
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Sex Row Over New 'Art' Show
A new exhibition of "drawings" created by masturbating over paper has beengreeted with disgust - but the artist insists his work is "beautiful and delicate".Performance artist Jordan McKenzie has created 55 images byejaculating over canvas and sprinkling carbon over the results toimmortalise them.
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British Museum Plans Show on Gay Roman Emperor
British Museum Director Neil MacGregor, who is drawing thousands of visitorswith an exhibition on the Chinese ruler Qin Shihuangdi, plans to feteanother epoch- making sovereign this year: the Roman Emperor Hadrian.
MacGregor, who is among those mentioned as a potential successor to theMetropolitan Museum of Art's retiring director Philippe de Montebello,declined to comment on the New York museum at a press conference today.
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42-Year-Old Builder Guilty of Harassing Gay Teenager
A man who waged a campaign of abuse against a 17-year-old boy has beenconvicted by a court in Wales of harassment. Douglas Inskip, a 42-year-oldbuilder, of The Gables, Brynford, near Holywell, was bailed by Flintshiremagistrates awaiting a pre-sentence report.
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Midwest Teen Sex Show
The black space of American teenage sexual education may have met itsbiggest foe. Who needs to worry about what's being left out of text bookswhen you have the Internet? Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to the MidwestTeen Sex Show, a website and episodic video blog dedicated to sexinformation and the discussion of teen sex.
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American Airlines Flies First Gay Print Ads
Despite its well known presence in the GLBT marketplace, American Airlineshas barely advertised in gay media over the years due to concentration onsponsorships. But now American has committed to its first major multimediaad campaign.



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365Gay.Com

http://www.365gay.com/

Go to the website, above, for the following articles:
--
GOP Contestants Vie To Stand Out
(Myrtle Beach, South Carolina) It was every Republican for himself. Iowa andNew Hampshire now behind them, each GOP presidential candidate is going hisown direction, cherry picking the upcoming states he believes he can win -and trying to siphon votes from his main competitors.
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Obama, Clinton Vie For SC Black Vote
(Charleston, South Carolina) In beauty shops, churches and living rooms,organizers for Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton are in a fiercecompetition for the support of black voters in the upcomingfirst-in-the-South presidential primary.
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NJ Lawmakers Urged To Move On Gay Marriage Bill
(Trenton, New Jersey) The group that won a New Jersey Supreme Court rulingin 2006 that said same-sex couples must have the same legal rights asmarried pairs is urging the state legislature to move forward on a marriageequality bill.
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Gay Paris Mayor Targeted By Terrorists
(Paris) French police have beefed up protection for Paris Mayor BertrandDelanoe after an Islamist website used by Al-Qaeda members listed him as atarget.
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Proteins Found That HIV Preys On
(Washington) The AIDS virus has to hijack human proteins to do its damage,but scientists until now have known only a few dozen of its targets.
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British Teen Driven To Suicide Over Gay Taunts
(London) British police are investigating the suicide of a 14-year girl whohad been subjected to constant bullying by classmates who called her alesbian.
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Controversial SF Health Plan Gets Reprieve
(San Francisco, California) A city program that provides health care to theuninsured and is partly funded by businesses can continue at least until alawsuit challenging the program is resolved, a federal appeals court ruled.



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The current issue of HotSpots is online at

http://www.hotspotsmagazine.com/current/index.htm



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New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/11/science/11hiv.html

Study Finds Possible Targets for H.I.V. Drugs

By DONALD G. McNEIL Jr.
January 11, 2008

Using a new type of genetic screen, researchers at Harvard Medical Schoolhave identified 273 proteins that the AIDS virus needs to survive in humancells, opening up new potential targets for drugs.

Their work, published online on Thursday by Science magazine, used RNAinterference to screen thousands of protein-making genes; previously,scientists had identified only 36 human proteins that the virus uses tobreak into cells, hijack their machinery and start reproducing.

"This is just terrific work," said Dr. Robert C. Gallo, director of theInstitute of Human Virology at the University of Maryland and aco-discoverer of the virus. "I think it's destined to be one of the toppapers in this field for the decade."

Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy andInfectious Diseases and the government's top AIDS expert, called the Harvardteam's work "elegant science," but added a caution.

"It remains to be seen if any of these proteins they identified are usefulclinically," Dr. Fauci said. "This is hypothesis-generating, nothypothesis-solving. It creates a lot of work - someone has to go down eachof these pathways."

more . . . . .


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From Lambda Legal

http://ga4.org/lambdalegal/notice-description.tcl?newsletter_id=18371046

School Fails in First Amendment Rights
Lambda Legal has filed a lawsuit against an Indiana high school after it blocked K.K. Logan, a feminine gay male student, from entering senior prom wearing a dress. Logan expressed a deeply rooted femininity in his appearance and demeanor throughout the school year with support from his classmates and teachers. But when he showed up at prom wearing a dress the principal literally blocked him from entering with her arms stretched across the door. We're arguing that the school violated Logan's First Amendment rights, including the freedoms of speech, symbolic action and expressive conduct, when it rejected him from his prom for wearing a dress.
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New Jersey Hears from Lambda Legal Members
This week, the New Jersey legislative session kicked off, and lawmakers received a message from more than a thousand Lambda Legal supporters: We want marriage equality. Lambda Legal delivered more than 1,200 signatures for marriage equality to Governor Jon Corzine, State Senate President Richard J. Codey and State General Assembly Leader Joseph J. Roberts Jr. The state legislature has the power to pass a marriage equality law, and these ignatures represent New Jerseyans who are sick and tired of an unequal civil union status. A record number of you took action and told your friends to do the same, and we couldn't be more thankful. Because of your support, same-sex couples are now closer to getting the equal rights they deserve.
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35 Years of History, 35 Years of Support
Time sure does fly by when you're busy fighting for equality! It seems like just yesterday when a couple of volunteers crammed into a one room apartment with two phone lines and began what is now Lambda Legal. Three decades later, we're still here and our fight is stronger than ever! Today, we are asking everyone to show their support of our work by becoming a 35th Anniversary Member. Your gift demonstrates support of the progress we've made in 35 years and a commitment to our shared mission of equality! When you make a gift today you will receive a special 35th Anniversary Membership Card along with a subscription to Impact magazine. And make sure to stay tuned throughout the year for special events, new features on our website and trips down memory lane Become a 35th Anniversary Member today!
--
Protecting Laws that Protect
In a victory for registered domestic partners in California, the state supreme court has denied review of a challenge that would have forced surviving partners to pay increased property taxes when one of the partners dies and the other inherits the couple's home. The court's decision is final, and no further appeals are possible. In other news, student rights in alifornia have come under attack by the Alliance Defense Fund and other antigay groups. Lambda Legal, along with several other organizations, filed a motion to intervene in the case, which threatens to weaken California's statutes prohibiting discrimination and harassment in schools and to invalidate California's hate crime laws.


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